Thursday, January 29, 2015

Sex Criminals, Volume One


Sex Criminals, Volume One
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Chip Zdarsky

4/5


Published 2014


Publisher's Description:

Suzie’s just a regular gal with an irregular gift: when she has sex, she stops time. One day she meets Jon and it turns out he has the same ability. And sooner or later they get around to using their gifts to do what we’d ALL do: rob a couple banks. A bawdy and brazen sex comedy for comics begins here!

By Matt Fraction (Satellite Sam, Hawkeye) and Chip Zdarsky (Prison Funnies, Monster Cops).

Named one of Time Magazine's top 10 graphic novels for 2013.

Collects SEX CRIMINALS #1-5

Dear Reader,

So you probably think this is chock full of sex and sexy stuff... well, guess what? It is! I would like to point out that the sexy stuff is tastefully done(ish). I'm not much into romance or hot/steamy smexy tales, so this didn't cross my radar UNTIL I heard Wil Wheaton endorse it on Goodreads. After that, I saw a bunch of other friends rating this comic high... so I couldn't really pass it up when I saw it on sale at Newbury Comics. I also don't like reading comics one at a time, I like them when they come in big digest formats - the same way I like to watch my TV (online, watching a whole season in a weekend). So I held off on "Sex Criminals" until it was bundled into a volume. I'm SO glad I did, if I had to wait to see what happened next... it might have killed me. I have grabby hands when it comes to cliff hangers, and even now... I want the next volume NOW (not later).

So, you might be asking... would I recommend this? Yes and no... to the right person... Certainly not to my Grandmother, maybe my Aunt, definitely my friends. Do you see what I'm getting at here? I don't want to be responsible for what you can and can't handle (vulgarly speaking - is vulgarly even a word? I checked, it is!) Caution to those who like a little modesty to a story, this might not be for you. I don't want you thinking that this comic is ONLY about sex... because that isn't the case at all. This story has action, adventure, mystery, humor, and so much more. I think part of what I loved about this series is that it shoves so many genres into the mix, it's hard not to be entertained by SOMETHING. Oh, and I need to give a big shout out to the Artist and Writer who threw in MANY amazing 'reading is cool' references. To start off with, the main character is a librarian trying to save her library from shutting down! You can't help but love her. I really hope this comic continues to get rave reviews because I'm digging it, and each non-traditional superhero comic is getting me closer to being a comic junkie.

Happy Reading,
AmberBug

Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick

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Tuesday, January 27, 2015

How to Grow Up: A Memoir


How to Grow Up: A Memoir
Michelle Tea
3.5 / 5


Published January 27, 2015

First Sentence
"I chose the apartment because of the persimmon tree outside the bedroom window."
Publisher's Description:
A gutsy, wise memoir-in-essays from a writer praised as “impossible to put down” (People)

As an aspiring young writer in San Francisco, Michelle Tea lived in a scuzzy communal house; she drank, smoked, snorted anything she got her hands on; she toiled for the minimum wage; and she dated men and women, and sometimes both at once. But between hangovers and dead-end jobs, she scrawled in notebooks and organized dive bar poetry readings, working to make her literary dreams real.

In How to Grow Up, Tea shares her awkward stumble towards the life of a Bonafide Grown-Up: healthy, responsible, self-aware, stable. She writes about passion, about her fraught relationship with money, about adoring Barney’s while shopping at thrift stores, about breakups and the fertile ground between relationships, about roommates and rent, and about being superstitious (“why not, it imbues this harsh world of ours with a bit of magic.”)  At once heartwarming and darkly comic, How to Grow Upproves that the road less traveled may be a difficult one, but if you embrace life’s uncertainty and dust yourself off after every screw up, slowly but surely you just might make it to adulthood.

Dear Reader,

I have long been a fan of Michelle Tea, which is why I picked this book up even though I don't tend to like memoirs. So, Tea's voice in this book balanced out a lot of my disinterest in learning "life lessons" from people. I found it to be, overall, a good read, although certainly nothing life-changing. Tea had a few great pieces of wisdom to impart, particularly (for me) in her chapter on "How to Break Up," advice I really could have used around the time I lived in Boston with a particularly loveless & selfish person. (Although knowing my neediness at that point, I probably would never have heeded it. - Which Michelle Tea also totally understands; she's like a wise & "been there" aunt.) I also really enjoyed "Beware of Sex and Other Rules for Love" (Tea makes herself quite a few ground rules following her "crazy sexual period" where she decides what she really wants in a partner she plans to share her life with). And I had to laugh at the first sentence of the "WWYMD?" chapter: "What would Young Michelle think of today's Michelle? -- Who cares? That Michelle was a jerk.") Tea doesn't take herself too seriously, and has learned to question the beliefs and ideals she once had, which I do appreciate. I also did enjoy how well the author was able to make a memoir - essentially, her collection of essays - flow into a pretty cohesive and overarching life story.

However, I have to admit I was a little bored by other parts of the book, those that just didn't engage me. While I could relate to her adoption of the punk rock fashion and "lifestyle" in her teenage years, I wasn't all that interested in the story of when she achieved her lifelong goal of attending Paris Fashion Week, or purchasing a $900 leather jacket. I was interested in her rationalization for experiencing those things, and I understand that growing up with nothing and suddenly having money can make you see the world differently, but I had to say I cringed when she risked her job to do something that felt so...frivolous. Maybe she knows something I don't know, though. Besides, it is her life, her money, and her passion. So what if it isn't mine? That's okay. (And I actually think that is one of the things Tea tries to express in her book.)

Tea's frank discussions about how she feels about not having gone to college, her recovery from drugs and alcohol, and her newly-established family life were all quite engaging, and I think the true meat of this book. It was what kept me reading, even through her chapters on affirmations (a 12-step concept), her take on Buddhism (kind of yawn), and her validations for getting Botox (blerg). And despite the wildly varying quality and quantity, each chapter did have something valuable to impart on the reader. Tea was able to learn from her life - both her mistakes and her triumphs - and has come out the stronger on the other side. Which is why I think she felt the need to write this, and why I think many will get something out of this.

My three favorite quotes from this book?

"...I was haunted by the question, What do you want to be when you grow up? I never wanted to be a nurse, or a truck driver. There was only one job in the whole world that I had ever heard of that sounded good to me: I wanted to be a librarian."
Not going to college does not mean you've opted out of educating yourself." [Nor does finishing school, at whatever level; you should always be choosing to learn & improve!]
"I try to make choices that will align with my highest beliefs. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't and in between I try not to have a panic attack over it."

I'd suggest picking this book up if you need some inspiration, especially if you worry your life has maybe gone in the wrong direction. Michelle Tea's life has gone pretty much every direction possible, and yet by anyone's standards she is pretty darned successful. It reminds us all to reflect on our own lives more impartially, for some true perspective.

Yours,
Arianna

P.S. While poking around online looking for an image from her wedding (beautiful couple), I stumbled across a photo of the jumpsuit she wears on the book jacket! -- http://elisashea.com/post/5781067153/michelle-tea-tap-dancing-on-her-birthday-at-her

P.P.S. I am including the list of chapter titles here because I typed them all out as I read them in an effort to remember things, and I figured why not share them if the work has already been done?
1. You Deserve This
2. Fashion Victim
3. My $1,100 Birthday Apartment
4. I Have  Trust Fund from God--and So Do You!
5. Beware of Sex and Other Rules for Love
6. How to Break Up
7. Too Cool for School
8. The Baddest Buddhist
9. Getting Pregnant with Michelle Tea
10. Ask Not for Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls
11. You Can't Fire Me; I Quit
12. WWYMD: What Would Young Michelle Do?
13. Eat Me
14. I'm So Vain
15. Confessions of a Gym Rat

P.P.P.S. I received this book as an ARC through the Penguin First-to-Read program.


How to Grow Up

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Sunday, January 25, 2015

The Barefoot Queen: A Novel


The Barefoot Queen: A Novel
Ildefonso Falcones
5/5


Published 2014

First Sentence
"Port of Cádiz, January 7, 1748


Just as she was about to set foot on the dock at Cádiz, Caridad hesitated."

Publisher's Description:

A historical epic full of bravery and romance that follows two women as they make a life for themselves in 18th-century Spain.

It's January of 1748. Caridad is a recently freed Cuban slave wondering the streets of Seville. Her master is dead and she has nowhere to go. When her path crosses with Milagros Carmona's-a young, rebellious gypsy-the two women are instantly inseparable. Milagros introduces Caridad to the gypsy community, an exotic fringe society that will soon change her life forever. Over time they each fall in love with men who are fiercely loyal and ready to fight to the death for their rights as a free people. When all gypsies are declared outlaws by royal mandate, life in their community becomes perilous. They soon find themselves in Madrid-a city of passion and dancing, but also a treacherous one full of smugglers and thieves. Caridad and Milagros must help in the gypsy's struggle against society and its laws in order to stay together; it's a dangerous battle that cannot, and will not, be easily won. From the tumultuous bustle of Seville to the theatres of Madrid, The Barefoot Queen is a historical fresco filled with charaters that live, love, suffer, and fight for what they believe.



Dear Reader,

This was so epic, and I love epic. It reminded me of how I felt after reading Les Miserables, completely fulfilled and wanting MORE (even though both books are pretty large). Unfortunately this book took me a little longer than I had hoped and I didn't get to post this review closer to the publication date, but what has me most upset is that Netgalley has archived it so quickly and I can't get to all my kindle notes. I get frustrated when it comes to the note taking capability of these devices out there now, PLEASE someone... perfect this!? WHY can't there be a way to read the notes you took during reading on your kindle and read them on the desktop (where I always write my reviews) instead of going back and forth from the device?! Anyways, I don't want to get sidetracked here.

I loved this book. Every character was brought to life with deep thought and imagination. We got to bounce from one to the other and I didn't mind at all. I'm sure you've experienced those books where you like one narrative over the other, you skim through to get to the "good" parts. I felt this book and the characters were so well balanced that you wanted to play along with everyone. If that isn't a compliment, I don't know what is. The Barefoot Queen follows a gypsy family and the freed slave that happens to stumble into their life. The Grandfather, Melchor, is a wise, proud, strong, revered but very stubborn man who spent his younger years in jail. His daughter, (Ana, mother of Milagros) is the wife of a lout but gathers her own strength and charm as the story grows, you learn how very important she really is. Milagros, the precious girl in the eyes of her Grandfather Melchor, born as a Vega with a fun loving spirit that slowly gets crushed along this thing we call life. Finally, one of my favorite characters, Caridad, the freed slave with no sense of self, grows within the gypsy tribe and her personality slowly starts to shine. These are but a few from the large cast of incredible characters we meet along the way, although I would surmise them to be the most important.

I haven't read too many books on gypsy life and history and I'm kind of glad this was an introduction for me. Yes, I know that this is "historical fiction" but the Author knows his stuff and brought many of the characters to life based on tales from the past. The gypsy struggle reminded me quite a bit of the struggle during the Holocaust and what the Jews had to endure. All gypsies were gathered up and either thrown into workhouses or jails (children, mothers and elderly, essentially ALL of them). The conditions were horrendous and those who didn't comply were executed. This is the story of our world, over and over and over again. They say we can learn the most about ourselves by searching into our pasts. How scary is that? The more I learn of the bigotry from our past, makes me scared for what comes next, the event that'll send people to their graves for what they believe in.

Okay, I'd like to end on a brighter note though. The romantical way of gypsy life is hidden within this book, some of the communal ways they do things made me so giddy. I really want to jump through time and space to be amongst the gypsies. Now... when someone asks me if I had a time machine, where would I go? Back to 1748 to meet Caridad off the ship that sailed her straight into the arms of the most celebrated, romantic and honorable people around. I want to dance with them, sing and clap, smoke cigars with them, pretend objects mean NOTHING and nobody owns ANYTHING. Live free. Doesn't that sounds romantic? Magic, gypsy magic, it's what I want.

Happy Reading,
AmberBug

P.S. - I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
Here are a few resources about the book:
More Info
About the Author

The Barefoot Queen: A Novel

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Kindle - Right

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Knitting Yarns


Knitting Yarns
Ann Hood (editor)
3.5 / 5

Published 2013

First Sentence
"When I picked up knitting needles for the first time in October 2002, I had no idea that I was jumping on a hot trend that had started to sweep the country after 9/11."
Publisher's Description:
“The impressive collection of writers here have contributed essays that celebrate knitting and knitters. They share their knitting triumphs and disasters as well as their life triumphs and disasters…These essays will break your heart. They will have you laughing out loud.” —Ann Hood, from the introduction

Why does knitting occupy a place in the hearts of so many writers? What’s so magical and transformative about yarn and needles? How does knitting help us get through life-changing events and inspire joy? In Knitting Yarns, twenty-seven writers tell stories about how knitting healed, challenged, or helped them to grow. Barbara Kingsolver describes sheering a sheep for yarn. Elizabeth Berg writes about her frustration at failing to knit. Ann Patchett traces her life through her knitting, writing about the scarf that knits together the women she’s loved and lost. Knitting a Christmas gift for his blind aunt helped Andre Dubus III knit an understanding with his girlfriend. Kaylie Jones finds the woman who used knitting to help raise her in France and heals old wounds. Sue Grafton writes about her passion for knitting. Also included are five original knitting patterns created by Helen Bingham.

Poignant, funny, and moving, Knitting Yarns is sure to delight knitting enthusiasts and lovers of literature alike.

Dear Reader,

I can say this with absolute certainty: this book would be a wonderful gift for a knitter in your life. How can I say this? Because it was gifted to me by my own sister (thanks, Bethany!)! It's funny, because I am not one to read knitting novels. Occasionally I will pick one up, but although the craft is a passion of mine, it's not something that is enhanced by reading books about knitting groups. Mostly because those tend to be "chick lit" - novels more about the lives of the women in the group than the knitting itself (and chock FULL of awful knitting puns! - and I do love me a good clever pun, normally). And honestly, it makes sense: how much CAN you really write just about the craft of knitting? It'd be boring. You have to write about the lives, or there really is no novel.

However, this one (perhaps because it wasn't a novel, but a series of essays) was totally different. It DID make me laugh, and cry, and for sure it inspired me to knit more! I would be listening to the book while walking the dog, and get all eager to arrive back home so I could pick up my needles again. The stories in here are real stories about people who knit, people who wish they could knit, people who simply love being around knitters. They are stories about people who are experts and people who will always find bliss in knitting the most basic of garter stitch scarves, over and over again. It's not a book that judges your knitterly-ness. It is simply a book that celebrates the joys and the emotional power of knitting. I know, I know, how can it be emotional? But the things these people craft with their hands - to make for their loved ones, to make to offer comfort to those who have suffered loss - have truly brought peace to their chaos, in many cases.

I loved the story about the mother and daughter who attempted to tackle all of those notorious knitters' banes: the unfinished projects. The ones that you were so gung-ho about beginning, but which got put aside for one thing or another and then languished in your knitting pile for ages - sometimes years. Every knitter has these. Just like every knitter has some sort of yarn stash. They're both something that we almost all have attempted to conquer at one time or another - only to recognize the absurdity of it all. Perhaps there really was a reason you abandoned that piece, be it consciously or not. It's one of the things we just have to accept.

There were some great writers featured in this book, too - it was definitely a book specifically of writers on knitting, and you have to keep that in mind. There are plenty of wonderful other stories that could be told, I am sure. These are just the stories that Ann Hood solicited from professional writers. So you get pieces from Barbara Kingsolver, Sue Grafton, Andre Dubus III, Elizabeth Berg, Ann Patchett. All about various aspects of knitting. Not all of the authors even ARE knitters. And I kind of loved that! They still found something very important to write about the craft.

My favorite thing about the book, though, might have been how two entirely different stories both had to do with two very unique concepts: one, parents who would not let their children sit still in front of the TV (hence they picked up knitting, among other things) and two, the concept of a non-knitter woman who MUST sit next to a knitter for the soothing benefits (I believe the repetitive ticking sound). Both are things I'd never heard of (although the former is something I kind of prescribe to, myself). Overall, this book is a treasure for those who want to be inspired both in the knitting craft and in life. (Normally I don't go for that kitschy stuff, either, but this worked on me!)

Yours,
Arianna


Knitting Yarns

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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Maze Runner


The Maze Runner
James Dashner
2 / 5

Published 2009

First Sentence
"He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air."
Publisher's Description:
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade - a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they've closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up - the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

Dear Reader,

Ehhh. I don't even know what to write about this one... I really have no desire to read further in the series, and I was thinking that for my own edification I might want to read a plot synopsis of the other books, but...I am not even sure I am interested in doing that. I honestly don't think I care what happens to boring Thomas and his compatriots. Maybe this is a book I would have really enjoyed as a teenager, but as an adult, I just didn't. I don't know why. The story was interesting enough, I suppose, and full enough of mystery. Maybe it was just that to me it was just so unbelievable. I could believe what happened to Katniss Everdeen as being a possibility, even when things did lean a little too on the side of magic - when nature the was too easily controlled by the game makers, for instance. But there was just too much of that with Thomas and his maze-running friends - creatures that couldn't possibly be real ended up just annoying me. And knowing there was some real reasoning behind their situation just made me frustrated, not curious.

I think I also hated that the book was titled as it was: Thomas never even really got to BE a maze runner. And why, then, is it just named after ONE of them? And, are the boys who try to figure out the maze really the most important of the group? What about the leaders, what about those who feed and take care of the others? This was a group of boys, all of whom contributed in their own ways.

Hmm, maybe another reason I didn't like the book was because it reminded me of The Lord of the Flies. It just felt like a "modern" retelling of that story, in a way. Even though I know the stranding of the boys in The Lord of the Flies wasn't planned. Actually, it felt like a blend of that and Battle Royale, come to think of it. But both of those books were better, to me. In my vague recollections, anyway.

I guess just what I am trying to say is that if you want to spend your time reading dystopian YA literature, there is so much out there already. This isn't doing anything new, in my mind. Perhaps it is, in the future books? But not now, and this first book was where it needed to get me hooked. I just didn't care enough. (Maybe if it had been females...you know I love my feminist YA books, haha.)

Yours,
Arianna


The Maze Runner

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Thursday, January 15, 2015

Gretel and the Dark


Gretel and the Dark
Eliza Granville
4.5 / 5

Published 2014

First Sentence
"It is many years before the Pied Piper comes back for the other children."
Publisher's Description:
A captivating and atmospheric historical novel about a young girl in Nazi Germany, a psychoanalyst in fin-de-siècle Vienna, and the powerful mystery that links them together.

Gretel and the Dark explores good and evil, hope and despair, showing how the primal thrills and horrors of the stories we learn as children can illuminate the darkest moments in history, in two rich, intertwining narratives that come together to form one exhilarating, page-turning read. In 1899 Vienna, celebrated psychoanalyst Josef Breuer is about to encounter his strangest case yet: a mysterious, beautiful woman who claims to have no name, no feelings—to be, in fact, a machine. Intrigued, he tries to fathom the roots of her disturbance.

Years later, in Nazi-controlled Germany, Krysta plays alone while her papa works in the menacingly strange infirmary next door. Young, innocent, and fiercely stubborn, she retreats into a world of fairy tales, unable to see the danger closing in around her. When everything changes and the real world becomes as frightening as any of her stories, Krysta finds that her imagination holds powers beyond what she could ever have guessed.

Rich, compelling, and propulsively building to a dizzying final twist, Gretel and the Dark is a testament to the lifesaving power of the imagination and a mesmerizingly original story of redemption.

Dear Reader,

A beautiful, haunting, unique book. A fascinating new take on World War II, mixed with the more sinister world of fairy tales (definitely not the Disney brand!).  Gorgeous writing with an ethereal feel to the whole thing, although it is also decidedly rooted in the horrors and everyday realities of WWII. The book alternates storytelling between two very different viewpoints and times: the first being a Viennese psychoanalyst (and those he interacts with) at the end of the 19th century, and the other being a young girl in 1940s Germany. The two stories seem to almost overlap, while at the same time remaining decisively distinct; the reader doesn't learn until the end of the book how the two are related.

I don't have a lot to say about this book; the characters weren't terribly likable, but the story was so beautifully written. It felt like reading a fairy tale. Oh! I did have one thing I wanted to commend the author on: the "translations" were so well done. See, for me, reading a book that throws in a language with which I am unfamiliar (which is all of them, outside of English and French!), while lending the story more color and weight, also makes me feel like perhaps I am missing something important whenever I skim across a foreign word or phrase. However, this author did a wonderful job of guiding the reader to the meaning, working the English equivalent into a character's response, or some other almost invisible echo of the original phrase. I was thoroughly charmed by this whenever I caught the author at it, which was every time a foreign phrase was used (because I always itch to learn its meaning). So, Ms. Granville, well done on that count!

Unrelated but also interesting, here are two wonderful and thought-provoking quotes from the book:
"To take a man's life is not an easy thing--"
"It's the easiest thing in the world," said Lilie. "It's much easier than giving birth. And considerably quicker." 
and
"It's easy to become a father, but being one is rather harder." (an aphorism)

In this book, I loved how we were able to view Nazi Germany through a child's eyes, one who clearly didn't understand what was going on around her. Krysta made up fantastical stories to explain the strange behavior of those around her, to rationalize what she was experiencing. I also liked how this book circles back not once, but twice upon itself - repeating almost verbatim a few passages so that the reader is brought back full force to the place they began. I enjoyed that odd approach to the old in medias res

A final note: It's easy to think that WWII has already been "done" in every way possible. This book proves that is far from true.

Yours,
Arianna

P.S. I am, coincidentally, currently reading two other WWII books which are doing things differently - Code Name Verity and All the Light We Cannot See. More on those soon!


Gretel and the Dark

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Conspiracy Girl


Conspiracy Girl
Karen Chacek &
Abraham Balcazar

2 / 5

Published January 13, 2015

First Sentence
"Nina Complot was born on the sixth day of the sixth month and surprised quite a few people with her arrival."
Publisher's Description:
See that flock of birds over there? Looks pretty normal, right? But Nina sees right through their mangy feathers and divines their plot to end the world in a nuclear ball of white noise. What to do? Save the world armed only with a box of cereal? Perhaps.
Dear Reader,

What the heck?! This book was SO WEIRD. I don't even know what to say about it! It began amusingly enough, with a crazy extended family freaking out in the hospital when a girl was born instead of a boy. But then the second part of the book (it was broken into two very uneven sections) was just ODD. I don't even know what to make of it, and I don't think any number of re-readings would help! I am thinking maybe it's a cultural-difference sort of thing? As the author is Mexican. But, seriously. I want people to read it just because I want someone to talk to about it, to see if there is more to "get" about the book!

The only saving grace for me was the AMAZING artistry - the illustrations in the book, despite being done only in green, black, and white, made the book palatable (and raised it from a less-than-one star to a "2" for me). I was cracking up at the amazing level of detail that Balcazar included in each picture - you could honestly spend ten minutes examining each page for all of its wonderful and understated inclusions.

Please - if anyone else has read the book, DO let me know! I will take you 10 minutes and it's just...WEIRD. I don't know any other way to describe it.

Yours,
Arianna

Conspiracy Girl

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Monday, January 12, 2015

The First Bad Man


The First Bad Man
Miranda July
4/5


Publication Date: January 13th, 2015

First Sentence
"I drove to the doctor's office as if I was starring in a movie Phillip was watching - windows down, just one hand on the wheel."

Publisher's Description:

From the acclaimed filmmaker, artist, and bestselling author of "No One Belongs Here More Than You," a spectacular debut novel that is so heartbreaking, so dirty, so tender, so funny--so Miranda July--readers will be blown away.

Here is Cheryl, a tightly-wound, vulnerable woman who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat. She is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six, who sometimes recurs as other people's babies. Cheryl is also obsessed with Phillip, a philandering board member at the women's self-defense non-profit where she works. She believes they've been making love for many lifetimes, though they have yet to consummate in this one.

When Cheryl's bosses ask if their twenty-one-year-old daughter Clee can move into her house for a little while, Cheryl's eccentrically-ordered world explodes. And yet it is Clee--the selfish, cruel blond bombshell--who bullies Cheryl into reality and, unexpectedly, provides her the love of a lifetime.

Tender, gripping, slyly hilarious, infused with raging sexual fantasies and fierce maternal love, Miranda July's first novel confirms her as a spectacularly original, iconic and important voice today, and a writer for all time. "The First Bad Man" is dazzling, disorienting, and unforgettable.



Dear Reader,

I had NO expectations going into this book, nor did I know much about it since it was placed in my lap to review. Sometimes I think this helps and more often than not, this is how I discover new Authors I end up loving. I'm not overly gaga towards Miranda July after this, but I might be a little starry eyed if I see her in person. Let me explain, the plot of this book was little more than "meh" (with a shrug of your shoulders). So why am I rating it so high? Good question reader! I absolutely LOVE the way July can verbalize on paper the inner thoughts of a person, I'm talking about those deep, down, hidden thoughts.... the ones you probably wouldn't share with your best friend/lover/spouse, THOSE thoughts. Gah, I love when Authors can capture things like that. It makes me remember why I have FAVORITE authors. Funny thing is, I actually bought an "e-book deal" of hers, "No One Belongs Here More Than You" and was planning on reading it... but then I got accepted to read and review this for netgalley. I'm excited to have something else of hers to read sitting on my kindle!

Okay, so the deal is... I have to give a disclaimer to all those readers who don't like anything raunchy, sexually explicit and sometimes controversially upsetting, The First Bad Man has all of that. Remember how I said I didn't really like the story? Well let me give you a tiny breakdown and you can decide to risk it or not. The main character, Cheryl, is a middle aged woman, living alone in a tidy organized apartment and works at a very productive office. One day the owners of the company ask if someone can take in their daughter, who is trying to find her way in life via acting. This task ultimately ends up in Cheryl's lap and this ends up "literally" the case... in her lap (wink, wink... if you know what I mean). So Cheryl has her life turned upside down with this creatures crazy unsanitary ways and ultimately we get to see Cheryl grow into someone different and more tolerable of everything around her. I'm still not sure if she was happier the way before or after, that would be fun to discuss.

The best parts of the book are entwined in the language and writing Miranda July intricately plucks out... right out of our brains. I don't know how to explain it, maybe I should hire her to explain it for me, ha! I believe everyone has quirky habits and sides of themselves they don't want to share with anyone, but I also believe some people let a little bit of that out and then you get those sideways looks from people... the ones that whisper "what's wrong with her?" "Why is she acting so abnormally?". I want to scream at them, NORMAL?!? What the heck is normal? Who decides this and why do we as society suppress others to tone down this "quirky" "socially rejected" behavior??! I ask everyone to stand up tall, read Miranda July and unleash your quirky self (at least for a day). Should you read this book? I dunno, the better question is, will you unleash your inner thoughts willingly? ;)

Happy Reading,
AmberBug

P.S. - I think the style (or lack thereof) of the cover is her thing? The other book I bought of hers is a yellow cover with black writing. 

The First Bad Man

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Sunday, January 11, 2015

Winter Journal (Review by Marsha)


Winter Journal
By Paul Auster
5/5


Published 2012

First Sentence
"You think it will never happen to you, that it cannot happen to you, that you are the only person in the world to whom none of these things will happen, and then one by one, they begin to happen to you in the way they happen to everyone else."
Publisher's Description:


From the bestselling novelist and author of The Invention of Solitude, a moving and highly personal meditation on the body, time, and language itself "That is where the story begins, in your body, and everything will end in the body as well. Facing his sixty-third winter, internationally acclaimed novelist Paul Auster sits down to write a history of his body and its sensations—both pleasurable and painful. Thirty years after the publication of The Invention of Solitude, in which he wrote so movingly about fatherhood, Auster gives us a second unconventional memoir in which he writes about his mother's life and death. Winter Journal is a highly personal meditation on the body, time, and memory, by one of our most intellectually elegant writers.

Dear Reader,

Now this is my new favorite Paul Auster book. I feel this is the beginning of my new adoration of him. This is an autobiography in the coolest sense of the word. It's written in a free verse, run on and totally true way that is so Paul Auster. It makes me feel like I've been there through most of his life, his youth in the 60s and 70s and his very cool reality of living abroad in France for several years in his early 20s. He gives the context that most American readers will be accustomed to. He is the same age as my parents and growing up in that household has made me familiar with the cultural realm in which they grew up in.

I love how he story tells. One good example is the department store incident. His mother and one of her friend when she was in her 20s and Auster was a toddler.  He describes his frolic with another child in a construction area in this large New Jersy department store. The story ends in a permanent facial scar after having escaped the watchful care of his mother. In this story snippet, he sets up the joy of being free and sliding with his young comrade on his belly along the smooth floor. Becoming more and more daring until he is suddenly rushing face first into a nail that is jutting from a pile of wood boards. We, as readers, can remember that moment in our lives which we received our first serious injury and how it became imprinted both upon our selves both physically and mentally. The feeling of the floor falling away and the realization that death and danger are not far away from everyday situations. It is universal to the human condition and Auster does a flawless job resurfacing that core experience.

He sorts the autobiography narrative into things that scarred his body and how those stories lead to pinnacles of time in his personal development. He sorts his life by the women he loved and the depth or brevity of those affairs. He sorts his life by the physical pleasure and ailments that have arisen and then were handled in the course of his life. He doesn't tell his life story in a chronological pattern but much like the thought patterns of a dream. He jumps forward and back in time to the synchronicity of being in Paris, feeling like he was about to die, or the deaths of people close to him.

I am touched deeply by the vulnerability of the premise of the book, which is defined metaphorically in the title: Winter Journal. This is the winter of his life. He tells the reader about the spring, summer, fall and ends with what he is calling the winter. Not quite old; but no longer young. I have often spent many a moment considering the chronology of my own life. I think about how it'll be to age, and be "old," to have my once young and elastic body become stiff and weakened (even in the amount of time that I have been alive.)
"You never expect it to happen to you." So true. I thought I'd never age, never be given the chance to be an adult with her life together: a car, an office-job, a life-partner, and children. But now I feel I'm the same child I have always been but people are continually born and I seem to be advancing forward and away from the years I was in high school, and in college.
Life is much different after those two eras. Not awful, but no longer full of; unpredictable hi-jinx, wide open possibilities and partying. Now I want to go to bed earlier, I just want to stay at home and cook meals with my life partner and our dog. I want to own a house and have children. The longer lasting pieces of happiness ring true and foretell my actual age.

I like hearing about the life of a writer. A real writer who has done it; made a living from his artistic craft. I can relate to that passion; to write and create something that you've poured your soul into. Something that you can be proud of. It has always been my dream to be able to make a living from one of my artistic crafts.
Paul Auster has done it.

Yours,
Marsha

Winter Journal

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Saturday, January 10, 2015

The Magician's Lie


The Magician's Lie
Greer Macallister
3.5/5


Published 2015

First Sentence
"Tonight, I will do the impossible."
Publisher's Description:

Water for Elephants meets The Night Circus in The Magician’s Lie, a debut novel in which the country’s most notorious female illusionist stands accused of her husband's murder --and she has only one night to convince a small-town policeman of her innocence.

The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young policeman Virgil Holt watching from the audience, she swaps her trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an all-too-real murder? When Arden’s husband is found lifeless beneath the stage later that night, the answer seems clear.

But when Virgil happens upon the fleeing magician and takes her into custody, she has a very different story to tell. Even handcuffed and alone, Arden is far from powerless—and what she reveals is as unbelievable as it is spellbinding. Over the course of one eerie night, Virgil must decide whether to turn Arden in or set her free… and it will take all he has to see through the smoke and mirrors.

Dear Reader,

The Magician's Lie has a little bit of mystery, a little bit of historical fiction and lots of character plot. I liked this book, it held my interest but didn't completely overwhelm me enough to consider it four stars. The story goes back and forth in time, present day consisting of officer interrogating the alleged killer (the magician), past consisting of the magician telling her "story" in order to clear her name. The plot is slightly more complex since the officer is doing this in order to gain back his reputation after an accident in the field caused turmoil, as well as the magician having some kind of "magical" healing powers. This is all told to you in the first chapter or so (not considered a spoiler in my book). The greater mystery lies with, who killed the magician's husband? She claims it wasn't her, but she also fled the scene with a suitcase only to be caught by the officer. The officer wants her to be guilty and get her confession in order to redeem himself.

I was definitely more interested in the past (story-telling) aspect of this book over the present interrogation, thankfully those parts are smaller in scale to the other part. I found the story surrounding the officer and the incident in the field to be blasé and without flare. I honestly can't remember that side story and I enjoyed the story without putting much focus on it. I think the Author could have taken it out completely and the book wouldn't have suffered at all. Who cares about him when the main characters story is so fascinating!? Talk about living a life on the road, creating new illusions for shows, having a crazy special ability to heal oneself, and on and on... Yes, her story is fireworks compared to his.

I'd love to see what others thought of this book, the timing for me was a little off since I was reading this around the same time as reading "The Barefoot Queen", which I adored. I know I shouldn't compare the two (different time periods and histories BUT they both deal with strong female characters undergoing hardship). I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good historical fiction crime novel, it definitely hits all those notes.

Happy Reading,
AmberBug

The Magician's Lie

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Friday, January 9, 2015

Shelf Notes Supports National Readathon Day!




Shelf Notes is proud to support National Readathon Day, coming up this year on January 24! We encourage all of our readers to join in on the fun & spread the word! The more people reading that day, the merrier for sure.

The Readathon will be supporting literacy, a cause near & dear to our hearts. Please consider donating to the Shelf Notes fundraiser. Any dollar amount raised is immensely helpful and will benefit the National Book Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit. Or, sponsor your own fundraising effort! If you create your own, please let us know in the comments below.

For more information regarding this event, please see the National Readathon Day site.

Happy Reading!
With bookish love,
Amber & Arianna



Thursday, January 8, 2015

The Miniaturist


The Miniaturist
Jessie Burton
3.5 / 5



Published 2014

First Sentence
"The funeral is supposed to be a quiet affair, for the deceased had no friends."
Publisher's Description:
On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office–leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.

But Nella's life changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist–an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways...

Johannes's gift helps Nella pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand–and fear–the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation...or the architect of their destruction?

Enchanting, beautifully written, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.

Dear Reader,

Have you ever read a book where you spent the entirety waiting for the story to begin? Only to realize you've gotten through the whole thing and wait, that WAS the story? That is how I felt about this book, although I can't put my finger on exactly why. I did really like it, too - I just felt like there was more coming, perhaps in just the next chapter, even when there never was. I did love the really interesting historical look at homosexuality in 17th century Amsterdam. I did love learning about the Burgermasters (which actually came up in another book I am reading right now, too! fancy that). And I did so love the idea of all of the miniature-scale items which are described in the book - I am a sucker for anything reproduced on a small scale! However, I am uncertain as to why it was called "The Miniaturist" in the first place, as the actual miniaturist & her work seemed entirely peripheral to the story - incidental, almost. They played no real role in the story, as far as I could tell. Perhaps that was because I lean toward discounting the vaguely magical elements of the book, but even were they taken into account, I don't understand quite how the miniaturist has any sort of effect on the story. Except perhaps in showing the women that they are to create their own destinies. Which, considering all that happens to them, I figured would be pretty darn obvious.

I did like the feminist undertones of this book, though - ultimately it ended up being women (well, a band of misfits, including one male) taking care of themselves, in 1686. Not the easiest time for women to do that, but they were able to find their own ways of getting by. I appreciated that the author didn't spend a lot of time expounding on the strength of the females, but rather simply showed their actions by way of explaining their unique-at-the-time characters and reactions.

One thing, though, which I find telling: I cannot for the life of me recall quite how this book ended! Granted, I did finish it a couple of weeks ago, and am writing my review late, but - I feel as if that indicates a kind of weak ending if I am not certain I can recall how things were tied up at the end. Argh!

I'd recommend this book for the strong feel of experiencing 17th century Amsterdam, and for the stances it takes on sexual orientation and feminism (not to mention the story that is woven to make these not feel so much like political statements as much as simply stories about people - which I think is always so important). Read, and be transported.

Yours,
Arianna

The Miniaturist

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(NB: Paperback will be available June 20, 2015.)

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Wednesday, January 7, 2015

All the Bright Places


All the Bright Places
Jennifer Niven
4 / 5


Published January 6, 2015

First Sentence
"Is today a good day to die?"
Publisher's Description:
The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.
 

Dear Reader,

Maybe it was the lack of hype prior to my reading this book, but I enjoyed it far more than I did the two it is compared to above, The Fault in Our Stars and Eleanor & Park. Although it is rightly compared to the two, this book felt like it had so much more to give me. Perhaps it was just that I identified most with these characters, which is strange because one of the things that bothered me most about TFIOS was the unbelievable pretentiousness of the teenaged characters, and Violet and Finch can often be found quoting Woolf. But ATBP is more of a mix between Hazel/Augustus and Eleanor/Park, a good blend between the extremes of the two books in terms of where it explores knowledge and teenage lives. I am not even sure if I liked Finch all that much, but I did sympathize with him and how he often felt. And I think the author did a great job of presenting mental illness in him, and the uncertainty of mourning in Violet. I feel like I can't write much about this book without spoilers, so I will probably keep this review short. I just think it's definitely a great Young Adult read, particularly for those who are struggling with loss and figuring out their own identities. I say this a lot, I know, but I think this would have been a favorite when I was in high school - a book I could identify with, a relationship I could see developing between two very different kids.

I think one of my favorite things about this book was how the author chose to showcase Indiana by having Violet & Finch partner on an "explore our great state" project for school. This allows Niven to introduce the reader to all the nifty, unique, quirky places in IN, from the world's largest ball of paint to the infamous shoe trees. All the places she mentions (and sometimes even the people) are real, and I imagine this book receiving accolades something along the lines of Idaho's legislation on Napoleon Dynamite. It did a great job of introducing me to a state I might not otherwise know much of anything about. Pair that with the budding romance of two teenagers, and you've got yourself a very sweet and magical little book.

With a whole lot of tragedy - and beauty - thrown in.

Yours,
Arianna

All the Bright Places

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