Second Glance by Jodi Picoult

Another Picoult book...I had a few bad runs with choosing random books (don't judge a book by its cover and all that) and I had to choose one by a trusted author to get myself back on the horse.


Picoult didn't disappoint. Second Glance was an interesting read - pretty fast paced and with all kinds of things that automatically make it a good story...ghosts, mystery, romance. It's actually a pretty long novel (especially as Picoult's books run) but it really doesn't feel like it drags on. One of the things I love about this novel is that it tells a bunch of seemingly separate stories and then weaves them together towards the end - yes, with Picoult you should really know they'll all come together eventually...but this one seemed to have even more separate plotlines than I had come to expect.

As I said above, it was a good read. But it wasn't phenomenal. There are books - characters - that stay with you after you finish a book. You miss them like old friends. You want to know what's going on in their lives (is this just me? I hope not, because it's a sign of a great novel and it would be a shame if I were the only one who had experienced it). This is unfortunately not one of those books. Which may or may not be a good thing - say that you had just read one of those novels, one of the ones that stays with you - you don't necessarily want another right away...so that would be a perfect time to read Picoult.

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but...for a book about ghosts, it wasn't very haunting.

HA!

If I'd Known Then: Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves (What I Know Now) by Ellyn Spragins

Yeah, I'm posting close to midnight on Valentine's Day, which happens to be on a Saturday this year. So what? Single people unite blah blah blah other bullshit.

ANYWAY this book was better than the last - it was in the same vein (people writing about/to themselves at a younger age) and yet the letters spoke to me more than the essays in the previous book. It did bother me slightly that most people were writing to themselves around their teenage years though (just in case the concept is lost - the whole idea is that adults write letters to themselves at earlier, harder points in their lives to show how much they've grown since that point...the idea that it does in fact get better) - I mean, let's be honest - teenage girls are a lost cause. Is it really worth writing anything to them? Seriously, let's just put them all in cages until they're like...I dunno...22? 23? Sometimes I think I should still be in a cage somewhere so we could possibly extend that age limit to 24.

So people write these letters to themselves and tell them to hang in there, it won't be so bad for long, they will come out of the awkward phase they're in and eventually become people famous enough to have a letter to their younger self included in a compilation. Yeah, the essays are good, inspiring, etc, but....really...we don't all grow up to be celebrities. We don't all win gold medals in the Olympics, we don't write bestselling novels, we don't release platinum albums. I think it may have been better - more inspiring - to read a compilation of letters from normal people to their younger selves. To say, yeah, it gets better, even if you don't turn out to be a celebrity, you will be happy, and life still turns out to be pretty darn great. So, keep that in mind.

That is, unless you happen to also be a celebrity. In that case, read this book. It will probably speak to you and reassure you that your life is great and not awkward anymore...which may or may not be because you're rich and famous.

It's a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths About Life in Your Twenties by Emily Franklin

I read this book, hoping that it would help me understand exactly why I'm not as happy in this, the most...highly anticipated of decades of my life...as I expected to be. Believe me, I'm happy. I am honestly probably happier than most people deserve to be - happier than I deserve to be - but I am trying to accept this happiness and these blessings with as much bumbling grace as I can. I'm just not...skipping through fields of flowers with my beloved by the hand, getting paid truckloads of money to do something that is a perfect expression of my hearts desire.


The book is a compliation of essays written by women who have "survived" their 20s and lived to tell about them...and to tell the lessons they've learned about how your 20s aren't exactly all they're cracked up to be. So I read this book, hoping for some sort of validation. Some sort of...relief, maybe, from the guilt I feel from having all this happiness and yet still not quite feeling completely fulfilled. This book was good at making me feel more normal than I previously felt - the essays compiled to make up this book each spoke to me for different reasons, but as a whole I found the book to be less than what I was hoping it would be. Granted, I may have been hoping for something to speak to me in the same way SATC did, but this wasn't it. There were essays that spoke to me more strongly than others, but only one or two that truly "got it" or truly moved me.

All in all, the predominant themes were all the same - the details varied, but all in all the story was the same. Quit worrying. Give up the drama. Let go of the idea of what your 20s are supposed to be and relish instead what exactly your 20s are. Your 20s. Not the life your mother lived, or your sister lived, or your friend is living. Just yours. Love them for what they are, because they'll be gone soon enough, and then you can start worrying about what your 30s are supposed to be.

I think I will choose to take the advice of those ladies, and I will live my 20s and make the mistakes now that I can live to regret later.

Note to the other 20something ladies reading this blog - pass this one up. Watch reruns of SATC instead.

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

I was recently on vacation outside of the country and found myself out of books...and out of hope that I might be able to find a good book in English to carry me through the rest of my vacation. Reading books in Spanish, while a noble pursuit, was not really what I was hoping for on my beach vacation. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a Jodi Picoult book on the shelf in the resort gift shop (strangely, none of the books in the shop were even in Spanish).

I'm trying to think of what I would compare Picoult to in order to effectively communicate how I feel about her as an author. I guess I might compare her to my car - she's reliable and at times surprisingly powerful...and there's usually nothing ordinary about her (I might be overestimating people's opinions of VWs right now, but anyone else who owns a VW will tell you that they consider their car to be anything but normal).

I've read a number of Picoult's books (7 of what I believe are 14 she has released to date) and she never disappoints. Her books are usually sensational (and I mean that in the most literal sense), focusing on controversial topics. One thing I really like about Picoult is that she does her homework, and it's obvious - she always thoroughly researches the topics she's writing about and you are definitely left with more knowledge after reading her books. Granted, that knowledge is usually about rather obscure things such as the different methods of hanging used in Capital Punishment, but it's knowledge nonetheless.

Change of Heart tells the story of a young man named Shay Bourne who is on Death Row and wants to donate his heart post-execution. Picoult's work isn't full of deep, meaningful metaphors (at least if it is, they're too deep for me because I haven't caught them), but it is full of interesting stories that can at times be deeply moving (I do not recommend that you read My Sister's Keeper in any public place). I would confidently recommend any of her books to a friend - regardless of whether or not they were titles I had read. There's something to be said for an author who can instill such confidence in her readers. Picoult, as an author, is like a smoldering flame - she won't burn bright and die quickly. She'll continue to throw heat.

Are you there Vodka? It's me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler

Before I get into today's post, I just need to say that I bit it walking out of my apartment today. Sheets of ice in the parking lot = not awesome.

So another friend recommended this book to me...(I just typed us and then realized that it's not ok to refer to myself in the 3rd person plural)...and let me just say that strangely enough, the friends who recommend books to me and the books they recommend are eerily similar. I'm not sure which of my friends is going to take the most offense to that, but I'm guessing it might be Kelly and this book - but please keep in mind that I only say that because the book was quirky and at times shocking - not because I think you're a promiscuous alcoholic (although we really do need to have a talk about your drinking habits...jk).

Moving on. Are you there Vodka is a loose collection of somewhat autobiographical essays by Handler. I added the somewhat because I'm pretty sure she wasn't really dropping f-bombs at age 8. Speaking of f-bombs, I lasted until 8:32 this morning before cursing at the car in front of me for driving so slowly. So, as I said above - the book is quirky and at times shocking. It honestly made me somewhat uncomfortable. Granted, I'm not the most liberal person in the world (I'm not even the most liberal person in my group of somewhat conservative friends) - but I'm 24 years old (for a couple more months at least) and it shocked even me. So be warned. The stories are funny, yes, but they explore a part of human nature that I'm really not looking to explore...ever. I would probably describe the book mostly with the words vulgar and distasteful. But I would honestly guess that that was Handler's main idea. I finished the book - it wasn't so bad that I didn't - I guess it's somewhat like a car accident, you have to keep looking even though it's disturbing and morbid...although I'd compare this book more to a train accident when one of the trains was full of circus freaks (is circus freaks still a PC term?).

I will say this - I became so certain that the only thing I would take away from the book was a strangely dirty feeling that I was left unprepared for the multiple times throughout the book that Handler spoke in a voice that all females can relate to and made me laugh out loud. And that's not always an easy thing to do.

So in the end maybe I will just describe the book as I might describe Kelly - smart with a biting wit...overall wholly unpredictable in a way that pushes you out of your comfort zone and makes you redefine your boundaries...but not unhappily.

Tuscan Holiday by Holly Chamberlin

A friend (Sarah) recommended this book as it was quite relevant to my life recently...and it was quite enjoyable. The first book I read on my Kindle, in fact (which is a completely separate topic, the Kindle that is, and as this isn't really a "technology" blog I won't get into it, but I do like the Kindle and am happy to have received it as a surprise for Christmas).

This book is about the journey a mother and daughter take to Italy between the daughter's college graduation and her wedding. The daughther leaves the States completely sure of herself and her relationship with her fiance, and comes back a lot more sure of herself and a lot less sure of her fiance. I'll take an international love affair any day.

As a 24 year old who feels like she is at the beginnings of a journey of self, it was an interesting read...I usually try to be eloquent but I'm just going to lay this out there: the daughter in the book was really annoying. Like, I'm an immature somewhat-know-it-all 24 year old, and she was an immature know-it-all-22 year old, and even I found her to be annoying. So take that for what it will. Granted, she's not as annoying as the book develops and much of the story centers on her transition from brat to...less of a brat, but is it really that much of an accomplishment to humanize a character who you created as being ridiculously annoying in the first place? Just a thought.

But, the book did make me think about this - I have no idea how I'm ever going to have children. Or rather, how I'm ever going to like my children. The idea is obviously quite far off in the distance at the moment (it would be nice to have a gentleman caller before I had children), but as of now I consider children to be smaller, stickier, noisier versions of adults. And I don't even like adults that much. The list of why I dislike children could go on and on but it's got very little to do with this blog so I'll leave it alone - anyway - how am I going to like my children? They're going to be annoying for a very, very long time. They're going to be little brats who demand that I care for them. This seems problematic to me. But I digress.

I suppose I should hold on to this book for a few (ahem - 30) years and then read it again from the perspective of the mother of an adult child (I mean, I can only hope I have gotten over my aversion to children by that point). I wonder if the naivete of the adult child would be quite as annoying from the perspective of a mother - or if it would be endearing. That very "wonder" is really just a hope from my end that I have not been that annoying to my mother as I've grown up.

But I'm guessing still annoying.

The book is written from the perspective of the mother watching her daughter experience a crisis of self of sorts - and it made me wonder if all mothers experience the same feelings as they watch their daughters shed the skin of adolescence and take the shape of the people they will become. It made me wonder, actually, when that will happen - when I will shed the skin of my adolescence and take the shape of the person I will become. Maybe it's already happened but it's hard for me to see from an inside perspective. Who knows.

Long story short the book is interesting and is much more about a journey of self than a literal journey - hell, maybe the literal journey the mother and daughter was supposed to be an (obvious) metaphor for the more subtle one running through the plot. I just thought of that and now that I see that it's been staring me in the face, I'm kind of annoyed. At myself, at the author, I don't know. At children, probably. Everything is usually their fault.

It has become clear to me that I'm worthless as a blogger

Ok so I really doubt that I HAVE any loyal readers, but if I do, I apologize for my lack of posting for the past...two months. Oops.

I promise, I have been reading, I just haven't so much been...posting. Oops again.

Ok so I can't even remember all of the books that I've read since I last posted, so I'm just going to try to give you the short and sweet on those that I do remember (please note that was not an attempt to intimidate you with the number of books I read, rather it was a testament to just how bad my memory has become).


So, now, the short and sweet.

Sweet Love by Sarah Strohmeyer

I won't lie, I picked this up at the library because the cover is pink and decorated with a cupcake. It's a story about lost love, etc, etc blah blah blah...that's about how the book goes. No offense to Strohmeyer, but this book taught me that two of my passions are intertwined - baking and reading/writing. If you buy a mix, throw in the necessary ingredients, and pull the result out of the oven, you'll get out what you put in - something that is cloyingly sweet and overall ordinary. You have to add a few personal touches in order to end up with a product that can hit more than just one note. I didn't run to the library to pick up another Strohmeyer book.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

A trusted friend passed this book along to me after she had finished with it and I was not at all disappointed by her recommendation (which reminds me that I have to ask what she's been reading recently). This book is deserving of all the critical acclaim it received. It is an entirely unique story about a young man who essentially runs away with the circus following family tragedy - it's the classic coming of age, boy meets girl story, but with details so unlike any other story I've read that it felt completely new and...refreshing. For once, a book where I could not see the ending 50 pages away (again, not an attempt to brag, just a comment on my apparent lack of ability to choose quality literature off the shelves of the library). I highly recommend this book.

Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen

So hopefully the fact that I read two other books by Gruen will reinforce my recommendation that you read Water for Elephants. I unfortunately read these three books in the order of how much I would end up enjoying them, but I enjoyed the first so much that I wouldn't say it is a negative commentary on the last two.

So, anyway, Riding Lessons. This book tells the story of an equestrian with Olympic potential whose career is cut off in its prime. It's about her life thereafter, her story as a mother and a daughter, set against the backdrop of the stable and training center her parents own and run.

There's love, family challenges, competition, and animals...so I was entertained. It was Gruen's first novel...no Water for Elephants, but good nonetheless. Good enough that I read the sequel,...

Flying Changes by Sara Gruen

Flying Changes is the sequel to Riding Lessons - another story about life, love, family, and riding. I can't really distinguish at this point whether I liked the first or second novel more - they were both good, but the fact that one does not really stand apart from the other in my mind might tell you something. The second book focuses more intensely on the relationship between the main character and her daughter, which is at points a little less than believable (the teenage daughter is a bit of a drama queen). So, again, recommended, but not as strongly as Water for Elephants - which is definitely Gruen's strongest work so far (in my eyes and apparently those of the American public).

Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger

Another entertaining novel by the author of The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing (if you haven't read either of those, you should read them). This one focuses on the lives of three best friends - three young women in New York City - a little bit like Lipstick Jungle (RIP, and yes I'm still mad about it) but without all the focus on the high powered careers. I'm going to be honest here - this book is for the girls who miss SATC. I have a feeling that Weisberger has a girl crush on Candace Bushnell....which isn't a problem. The SATC/Lipstick Jungle girls (both novels were authored by Bushnell in case you hadn't heard) were older than the girls that Weisberger features - so maybe Weisberger is the Bushnell of our generation (or at least, a little closer to our generation).

The book was good - don't get me wrong - and if I would just stop analyzing things and leave them be, I would even say the book was a great read (specifically for the beach or some sort of vacation, release sort of book). The thing that bothers me is this - all three of the main characters in this book are intelligent women with exciting careers (or exciting lives, in the case of Adriana). So why, then, is the thing that they focus on and talk about all time men? I'm not saying this isn't (entirely and exactly) accurate...but it is still irritating. Books are an escape, a release in which you can pretend life is not exactly the same way it is in reality - so what is refreshing about a book revealing and detailing the prevailing neuroses of women our age?

Again, probably just thinking too hard...but...it's a thought.

The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer - Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn

I'm not going to write a review of these books other than to say these things -

1) Read them now.

2) Then read them again.

3) Then you should probably call your friends and let them know you're alive because they're worried they haven't heard from you.

If you have the chance, see the movie before you read the books, otherwise you will think the movie is trash (Unless, of course, you tune out all dialogue and just watch Robert Pattinson's face).

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

The latest installment in the Cannie Shapiro series of books...this one about her trials as the mother of her teenage daughter, Joy. Jennifer Weiner is a good author, she writes entertaining dialogue and moves the plot along before you get bored. The book is written from both Cannie and Joy's perspectives, which is fun but at times annoying - Joy is 13 years old and if I wanted to read stories from a 13 year old's perspective, I would read young adult fiction (Ummmm, like Twilight). A weak criticism in the face of an overall entertaining and moving story - I won't give anything away, but just when you think the climax has passed and the book is about to wind down, Weiner throws in a curveball that turns the plot on its head and gives the book some muscle. So if you're tempted to throw the book in the corner (a la 13 year old drama), wait it out at least until you know what I'm talking about.

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham

I've always been a big fan of Grisham - I must admit that I miss the days of The Partner (although it appears those days are coming back with a new release available January 27). I am always pleasantly surprised by his ability to transition seamlessly between the worlds of the courtroom and (in this case) the football field...in Italy. There must be something in the water in Charlottesville that produces brilliant writers (I crack myself up).

I particularly enjoyed this novel because lately I have been considering the merit of a culinary tour of Italy (if you want to either accompany me or bankroll me, or hell, both, let me know) and Grisham spent a good while detailing the food his characters enjoyed throughout their time in Italy (I am growing hungrier as I type this). So the book had food - what else did it really need for me to enjoy it? It was also an interestingly new treatment of the classic tale of a fallen hero (a former NFL pro who can't find work in America and moves to Italy to play in the European league)--

Grisham is brilliant because he doesn't crumble under the pressure of the classic Happy Ending - he constructs his own story with the assured confidence that, happy or not, it will still be good.

And it is.

Phew. Ok. So, if my memory were better, I might have a few more books to add to this list - but really, do you want to waste your time reading about books I read in the last two months and can't really remember?

Happy reading. Oh, and send me some recommendations - I'm off on vacation next week and need some great beach reads! :-)