How to Love by Katie Cotugno

4 Stars

Reena has dreamed of two things her whole life – getting away from her hometown of Broward, Florida and getting together with Sawyer. Little does she know that when dream #2 comes true, it will be Sawyer escaping, leaving Reena left behind to raise his baby. A couple of years pass and Reena’s plans of attending Northwestern, traveling the world and becoming a journalist have long since been replaced with sippy cups and dirty diapers when Sawyer reappears. Reena knows getting involved with Sawyer again is the (second) worst decision she could make (the first was getting involved with him at all), but her heart is having a hard time following directions.

God I’m so white trash. I love reading about hick girls who get knocked up and say stuff like "guess who I saw standing next to the Slurpee machine at the 7-Eleven" (or even better yet, and unfortunately not used in How to Love "down at the Piggly Wiggly"). Woo Wee! I eat that s*^t UP!

Told in alternating chapters of past and present, How to Love is a delightful little guilty pleasure if you want to add some extra sap to your reading repository. In the middle of a hectic week with some extra blargh in my life making it totally craptastic, this book hit the spot. Light, romantic and believable – it was the perfect escape route and I didn’t want to put it down. Bonus - Although the characters are teens, I think this should probably fall under New Adult rather than YA, so have no fear, fellow geezers. On the other hand, if you want lots of sexy-fun-time, this one is truly PG-13.

How to be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman

3.5 Stars

Marta and Hector have been married for 25 years. She has always been a good wife, catering to Hector’s needs, taking care of the house and their son. Hector has always been a good husband, making sure the bills are paid and that Marta takes her medicine as prescribed. Once Marta decides to stop swallowing her pills and throwing them in the bin, strange things begin to happen. A young girl appears to her – various ages, weights and degrees of cleanliness, but always the same girl in the same white pyjamas with little hearts and always tugging Marta along, seeking answers . . .

GAH! I hate when I can’t really tell anything about a book because it will tell EVERYTHING about a book. I’ll say what I always say – don’t follow what the book jacket says. This was nothing like Room and I thought Before I Go to Sleep was a total snoozefest, so I would have NEVER picked this up if that was the big "thrilling" comparison. In short, I liked this book. It was creepy and twisted enough to keep my attention. Plus, it’s super short so even if you don’t REALLY like it, you won’t have to waste a lot of time.



Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

4.5 Stars

Greg has managed to make it to his senior year by being an acquaintance to all and a friend to none one.  When you’re a rodent-faced, chubby kid growing up in a not-so-great area and attend a high school of cliques that run the gamut of nerd to criminal, it’s probably best to just blend in so you never get singled out.  His only friend has always been Earl – a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, vertically challenged, roundhouse-kicking kid from a broken home, who has pretty much raised himself in a house filled with drug dealing, gangbanging brothers.  After Greg decided to give up on having other friends (or ever getting a girl), he and Earl spent all their free time making their own versions of their favorite movies.  That is, until Greg’s mother tells him he has to rekindle a friendship with Rachel, a girl from his Hebrew classes ages ago, who is now battling leukemia.  Begrudgingly following his mother’s demand request, Greg (and Earl) do as they are told, eventually letting Rachel in on their secret and sharing their movies with her.  Rachel’s dying wish of her new two friends is for them to make a new movie for her.  Unfortunately, said movie ends up being the Worst Film Ever Made and Greg finds himself in the spotlight he has hidden from all his life.

How can I even describe how much I liked this quirky little novel.  After realizing he has made the “Worst Film Ever Made”, Greg has taken to paper to write his tale rather than put it on film.  His self-deprecation (i.e., “I can’t believe you’re still reading this.  You should smack yourself in the face a couple of times right now just to complete the outstandingly stupid experience that is this book”) and complete honesty about being an awkward teenager (“He has just gotten home from school and is trying to read “A Tale of Two Cities” for class, but it is difficult for him to maintain focus, because inside his pants he has AN INEXPLICABLE BONER”) made me have a “you had me at hello moment”.  I am always reeled right in by the loveable loser.  (And cover art.  God am I a cheap date for a good cover.) 

Although nearly 100% certain I would like this book right from the get-go, I never imagined what would happen when Earl entered my life.  Earl is one of my favorite characters of the entire year.  He gives you zero time to pity the poverty and drugs he has been raised around – instead he is just a constant ball of hilarity and brilliance and I remain smitten.

If you’re concerned about this being a replay of “A Fault In Our Stars” and turning into a huge boo-bag because you’re reading a book that flat out tells you it’s about a dying girl, have no fear.  Yes, there is a dying girl, but she is really more of an accessory to the story.  Andrews doesn’t let you in Rachel’s life so far as to rip your heart out at her suffering.  He just gives you enough info to get you a little misty.

If you’re a fan of John Green or Matthew Quick or Stephen Chbosky, you should not be disappointed with Jesse Andrews.  I can’t wait for him to write more.

Being Henry David by Carl Armistead

2.5 Stars

NetGalley ARC. Thank you, NetGalley!

A 17-year old boy wakes up at Penn Station with no memory. All he knows is he has $10 in his pocket, along with a copy of Thoreau’s <i>Walden</i>. Rather than confessing his bizarre story, he chooses to introduce himself as Henry David when he meets a kid named Jack who seems to know his way around the train station. Venturing out to the mean streets, he is nicknamed "Hank" by Jack and his sister, Nessa. The three soon run into trouble and "Hank" decides to leave the city and go to Walden Pond. He can think of no reason for him to be carrying the book unless that was his initial destination and the way to find an answer that will cure his amnesia.

The idea behind this novel is a good one. Something horrible has happened and "Hank" is suffering from amnesia. The journey to Walden Pond is good, the piecing back together of his memories is interesting. Unfortunately, it’s just reeeaaaaaaally far-fetched in that "Hank’s" memories return, but luckily he has been taken in by an ultra cool hipster who is more than willing to let him continue to hang for a few days before figuring out how to get him back to his real life. Really, brother? That would be called kidnapping. There’s also a girl storyline (of course there’s a girl, right?) which is fine, but then we add in a random talent show and it all gets a bit convoluted. You can definitely do worse when it comes to YA novels, but you can do a lot better too.

Oh, and if you’re wondering the answer to "What Would Henry David Do?" – apparently he would sing "Blackbird" at a talent show rather than deal with reality.

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night."

Always Watching by Chevy Stevens

3 Stars

Dr. Nadine Lavoie is a doctor in a psychiatric unit. She has always found comfort in her work – being able to help those who have run astray. Especially since she was not able to help her own daughter, whose drug addiction led her to a life on the streets. When Heather, a suicidal patient is admitted to the hospital, Nadine realizes they share a similar story. Now, raather than healing others, Nadine has to look into her own past to uncover an awful truth she has repressed for decades.

Before I even really begin, let me offer a piece of advice. Read EVERYTHING by Chevy Stevens before you read her novel, "Still Missing". There is just no comparison to the sheer terror Stevens is able to provoke in that novel. I can’t help but judge an author’s works against each other (especially when said author does not deviate from the psych-thriller genre) and fear Stevens might have hit her high note with "Still Missing". Now THAT is a book that continues to give me the heebie-jeebies whenever I think about it. Sadly, "Always Watching" was not able to do the same.

This book has some problems. My main issue was my dislike for the heroine. It thought she was kind of an idiot. Her approach to solving the mystery of her past is to tell EVERYTHING about EVERYONE she’s ever interacted with (excluding her own personal history, of course). Obviously the bad guy is going to figure out what a moronic blabbermouth she is. It also didn’t help that the police tell her to go ahead and investigate the case herself since they don’t have enough evidence to do anything. Really? Then we have the fact that she underwent hypnosis therapy YEARS ago with no results, but all of a sudden she starts remembering horrible things from her past and WHOOOOSH the memories just start flooding in.

Now that I’ve just lambasted this poor novel, let me backtrack a bit and say it was not nearly as horrible as the last paragraph makes it sound. There’s a pretty good chance that I’m the jerk in this scenario and everyone else will find Nadine to be a perfectly suitable lead. One thing I know for certain - Chevy Stevens knows how to write a readable book. I saw a couple of the twists and turns coming (note: I’m not allowed to watch any type of "CSI" program with my family because I always know who is the bad guy), but was also surprised by some. The plotline flowed and the action at the end got my ticker pumping a little faster.

My final two cents: With another book already scheduled to be published (making the total 5 books in 4 years by a pretty much unheard of author), it’s time for a break. Slow down, Chevy. We are faithful readers. We will be here (im)patiently waiting for your next book, crossing our fingers that you take us back to those dark corners of your mind again.

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

3 Stars

This was a buddy read with my favorite 12-year old.  (Definition of “buddy reading” with my son:  He takes a week or two to read the book, then goes to school and takes a quiz (Sidenote:  I’m buddy reading the Truman Award Nominees with him – if he reads 4 or more he gets some kind of reward, if he reads all 12 he gets to party like it’s 1999.  I just get to say I’m a middle-aged woman who reads books for pre-pubescents).  After taking and passing the quiz, he comes home and then HOUNDS ME ALL FREAKING NIGHT LONG to “hurry and finish already so we can TAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLK about it”.  In addition, he’s a huge spoiler, so I seriously have about two hours to read a book before he starts blurting out anything and everything that is about to happen.)

Unfortunately, I had a bit of a problem with the plot.  However, since I’m one million seven hundred thousand years old and this book wasn’t written for my demographic, these issues probably don’t even exist for middle-schoolers.  I found the tale of a nomadic lifestyle migrating with the season changes across a desolate wasteland to be pretty awesome (my kid says “this part was sooooooo boring”).  Add in the discovery of a “town” filled with people trying to recreate normalcy and I was still in (kid says “that’s when it started getting a little better”) .  Mix in a bit of drama, prank gone wrong, escalation to WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE annnnnnnnd you lost me (but, the kid says “oooooh, that’s when it was gooooood”).

Bonus – although a bit open ended, it does not appear that this will be part of a series (ugh how I hate how EVERYTHING has to be a freaking series!), I rarely like something that I know is part of a series enough to read more than the first book, so I like that this does not say “#1 of the Plague Series” or some such nonsense after the title.

At the end of the day, “The Eleventh Plague” was a decent little book and I got through it (under duress) in no time at all.  The kid says “it was more good than it was bad and it was pretty short so if you need to read Truman Books, I’d pick this one”.  There you go.  If you’re 12 and “kinda” want to read just enough to get credit for reading, this is a good choice.  If you’re old and like reading post-apocalyptic children’s books, but don’t have a child of you own to help hide your shame, you can say this one is nominated for an award ; )

The Girl by Samantha Geimer

4 Stars

Since 1977 people have speculated about what <i>really</i> happened to “The Girl” Roman Polanski took to Jack Nicholson’s house.  Was she a willing participant?  Did her mother hand to over in order to advance her own/her husband’s/her daughter’s career?  Was Polanski a predator who focused on young girls?  Thirty-five years after that fateful trip up Mulholland Drive, Samantha Geimer (“The Girl”) finally tells the story in her own words.

That voyeuristic part that resides inside me has always been fascinated by this story.  I mean, a man who has spent my entire life in exile has to be guilty, right?  On the other hand, a girl who has never spoken out about her experience might have been a pawn in the situation and set up to be Polanski’s “Lolita”.  Geimer does an excellent job breaking her silence.  In her own words:  “We’ve all done something in our lives we regret, something that is stupid; or something awful and stupid is done to us.  For 90 percent of these situations, there comes a time when you need to let it go – unless you don’t want to.  And then, in a sense, it’s your problem.”  With the years so far removed, the happiness she has found in her adult life and the punishment Polanski has endured from the court of public opinion, Geimer has been left with the ability to tell her story in a very matter-of-fact way.  And what a story it is – still completely horrifying/fascinating.  I couldn’t put it down. 

And what a remarkable woman Geimer has become.  Although very much an innocent party to this entire ordeal (say what you want about the mother/others involved, at 13 Geimer was a CHILD and Polanski a 43 year old man who should have known better), she never plays a “woe is me” card in this novel.  She sticks to the facts, maintaining her belief that Polanski’s punishment at the time of the rape was sufficient, is candid about the rough road she took through her remaining childhood, and finally tells of how she was able to heal and move on.  As she says “The word victim comes from the Latin word meaning the person or animal sacrificed for some religious purpose.  Over time it’s developed to mean a person who suffers from an accident or incident that leaves them injured and compromised in some way.  I imagine it must be terrible to be a victim.”