Helter Skelter

Helter Skelter Vincent Bugliosi 3.5/5	Published 1974 First Sentence "It was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, you could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in cocktail shakers in the homes way down the canyon."
Publisher's Description: In the summer of 1969, in Los Angeles, a series of brutal, seemingly random murders captured headlines across America. A famous actress (and her unborn child), an heiress to a coffee fortune, a supermarket owner and his wife were among the seven victims. A thin trail of circumstances eventually tied the Tate-LeBianca murders to Charles Manson, a would-be pop singer of small talent living in the desert with his "family" of devoted young women and men. What was his hold over them? And what was the motivation behind such savagery? In the public imagination, over time, the case assumed the proportions of myth. The murders marked the end of the sixties and became an immediate symbol of the dark underside of that era. Vincent Bugliosi was the prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial, and this book is his enthralling account of how he built his case from what a defense attorney dismissed as only "two fingerprints and Vince Bugliosi." The meticulous detective work with which the story begins, the prosecutor's view of a complex murder trial, the reconstruction of the philosophy Manson inculcated in his fervent followers... these elements make for a true crime classic. ​Helter Skelter ​is not merely a spellbinding murder case and courtroom drama but also, in the words of ​The New Republic​, a "social document of rare importance."
Dear Reader, I don't know what I was expecting with this book. Half of me felt like I was pleased but the other half kept thinking how long winded and unnecessary it was for Attorney Bugliosi to tell us EVERY tiny detail of the crime. Maybe this would appeal to those who like to watch "who-dun-it" shows to try and guess what happened... but doesn't EVERYONE know what happened? I guess if you were into criminology or this was taught as a class... but even then, this case is so UNIQUE! I find great fascination in the Manson murders and trial, mostly due to the brutality and crazy mindedness of it all. Manson was truly bonkers and after listening to this audiobook, I know that more than ever. I also learned that he wasn't the craziest of them all, he had an entire gang of looney toons following him. How terrifying is that. I honestly had trouble sleeping a few nights during the intricately detailed sections that dealt with the murders. Some might ask me, why didn't you like this that much if you found it to be so scary? Yes, you might be right because this was one of the most terrifying books I've read BUT also one of the most boring. It all comes down to Bugliosi, I mean look at this way, the guy is a LAWYER, not a writer... so how can we hope that he will write this without a little dull lawyer speak? Okay, let me give him a little credit because he was the lawyer for the case, so he was the most informed and likely candidate to write a book about the case... I'll give him that. I guess I might have been expecting something else, maybe they could have chopped out half of this book and I would have rated it higher. Sure, Helter Skelter is an important piece of work, but the scary thought is this; what if the importance behind it, doesn't have anything to do with the Author. Stay with me here, we could even say that MANSON made a notch in history "important" because he ordered all these people murdered and brainwashed a bunch of teen hippies. I'm not quite sure I'd like to give him that credit... but the ratings of this book and the famousness of the case are like a flashing neon sign that says "look at me!" What do you think? Do you think Manson had fame in mind or was he just a crazy senseless killer? Oh, and for your terror, I have posted a few pictures below of the culprits and the case. Happy Reading, AmberBug The Victims Manson being taken away Some of his main female followers How the disgusting mess looks today

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Everything I Never Told You (Review by AmberBug)

Everything I Never Told You Celeste Ng 4.5 / 5	Published 2014 First Sentences "Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet."
Publisher's Description: A haunting debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio and the tragedy that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia’s older brother, Nathan, is certain that the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it’s the youngest of the family—Hannah—who observes far more than anyone realizes and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened. A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.
Dear Reader, I was pleasantly surprised how much i liked this book. It wasn't on my radar at all but Arianna and her sister Bethany gave it such high reviews, I had to jump on the bandwagon (Check our what Arianna thought). It helped that this book was selected for the short list of the Tournament of Books this year AND was a free audiobook from Ford. I usually don't like to audiobook literary fiction, I don't like to miss a word and I know that when listening that tends to happen sometimes. However, this was a pleasant book to listen to, not sure exactly what made it so effortless, the narrator maybe? EINTY is beautifully written, the characters develop in deep and profound ways and the Author keeps you glued to the page right to the end. There was quite a bit of thoughtful topics brought about a fairly normal story of family struggle. The story starts with a tragedy and goes back and forth from past recollections and memories to how the family copes with that tragedy. The interesting thing is that the story isn't really about the missing daughter, that is more background noise. I liked how the Author tossed in a plot device (missing girl) but didn't focus on that as much as the family dynamic and the character development, this gave a little bit of mystery with a fantastic human touch. This might have been a five star favorite of mine but I'm not sure how memorable this will be for me. As touched as I was about the struggle the family had to go through and the tug and pull of the sibling love/hate, I didn't connect personally. I enjoyed getting that glimpse into a mixed racial family daily struggle, especially in that time period, but I wasn't too impressed with the cliche love affair the professor/father was having with his student assistant, I rolled my eyes but continued reading since everything else fit so nicely. EINTY is bold and beautiful but also dirty, we get to see the inner thoughts of each character and the truth behind it is startling but understandable. I was completely enraptured by the mother, who pushes her daughter to do what she had always wanted, which I guess could be prevalent in many mother/daughter relationships. If I had to compare this family to one thing, it would be an avalanche. The family standing on many loose rocks, a few trips over those rocks and everything starts to crumble. The mother leaving, the affair, the hardships of being mixed race, lydia wanting to please her mother so much that she sacrifices her own childhood - worried her mother will leave again. Truly heartbreaking. I would read/listen to this with the knowledge that this might bring a little rain cloud to follow you around, maybe even suggest carrying around some tissues and a puppy?! Yeah, a puppy. Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Everything I Never Told You

Everything I Never Told You Celeste Ng 5 / 5	Published 2014 First Sentences "Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet."
Publisher's Description: A haunting debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio and the tragedy that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia’s older brother, Nathan, is certain that the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it’s the youngest of the family—Hannah—who observes far more than anyone realizes and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened. A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.
Dear Reader, This book was amazing. Nothing like I'd expected - and I certainly didn't expect it to be a five-star book for me, but that was a pleasant surprise. This author is just incredible. She writes her characters so well. I read this book a while ago now (I finished it about a month before writing this post, unfortunately) so I don't have as good a recollection of the story as I would like by now, but I do still recall why I rated it so highly. The novel explored the relationships between an interracial family in the 1970s, one which fosters strange imbalances: the middle daughter unwittingly takes on the hopes and dreams that her parents had always wanted but never found for themselves. They project their need onto Lydia, and the poor girl struggles constantly to be what they want from her, while the other two siblings regularly fly under the parents' radar. It's a tragic story of need and generational expectations, and I can't recommend it highly enough. This book is unique, very true, and incredibly well written. The family members are all revealed to have their own (often heartbreaking) motivations, and the author just wrote all of their struggles (both with each other, and internal ones) with such real emotion, such real personality. Some of my favorite parts were those which explained the parents' backstories, as they really revealed so much about the family's current predicament. I don't want to talk too much about the specifics of this book (if you couldn't tell with my vague writing), but I want to encourage EVERYONE to read this incredible novel about family and love and how to find happiness. Yours, Arianna

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The Interestings

The Interestings Meg Wolitzer 4/5	First Sentence "On a warm night in early July of that long-evaporated year, the Interestings gathered for the very first time."
Publisher's Description: From bestselling author Meg Wolitzer a dazzling, panoramic novel about what becomes of every talent, and the roles that art, money, and even envy can play in close friendships. The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable.  Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed.  In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge. The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age fifteen is not always enough to propel someone through life at age thirty; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence.  Jules Jacobson, an aspiring comic actress, eventually resigns herself to a more practical occupation and lifestyle.  Her friend Jonah, a gifted musician, stops playing the guitar and becomes an engineer.  But Ethan and Ash, Jules's now-married best friends, become shockingly successful--true to their initial artistic dreams, with the wealth and access that allow those dreams to keep expanding.  The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what their talents have become and the shapes their lives have taken.  Wide in scope, ambitious, and populated by complex characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life.  (Published 2013)
Dear Reader, There were parts of this book that I loved, and parts that were very good.  Ultimately, it didn't earn itself status in my Favorite Books Ever category, but I really enjoyed the read.  (Well, actually, the listen - the narrator was great at creating and maintaining distinguishing voices for everyone!)  It's interesting how identifiable I found it, despite that the characters were graduating from high school in the early 70s, not the late 90s. This book recalled to me the sweeping, multi-generational epics of a John Irving novel, complete with the way smaller stories were told in amongst the larger ones.  All of the characters were enjoyable to read about, and it was fascinating to watch as their lives collided, moved apart, and then wove back together, again and again.  I suppose "The Interestings" was an apt title, since the characters' lives were certainly interesting - I didn't want to put the book down, because it was very well-written.  However, naming the entire book after a group that called itself that only once or twice over decades, that was a little odd.  I suppose it really was the one thing that tied them all together - and pretty loosely, at that.  I recall at one point the author having Jules ponder whether they would have all been friends in their adult lives, not having met when they were teenagers.  That's always an interesting thought to ponder, as our friendships progress through years. That reminds me: I have to say, part of what I loved about this story was the nostalgia factor!  I too attended a summer arts camp when I was a teenager, and forged some extremely strong friendships of my own, there.  The memories Jules has of her last days at camp, with everyone upset to be leaving this place that was so theirs - I remember that feeling vividly.  While we'd only spent 5 weeks together, it was an experience that had changed our young lives, and one which we didn't want to end.  So, part of what I loved about this book was the common feelings I could share with Jules, in her long-lasting nostalgia for a place and time which she could not ever truly return to. The characters themselves were quite distinct and strongly written.  Their stories became the reader's stories, and you truly cared about what happened.  Did Goodman truly rape their now-former cohort?  Did his connection with Ash really help Ethan skyrocket to success, while Jules and Dennis struggled to make ends meet?  And Jonah, poor, sad Jonah - what could his life have been without the marring influence of a has-been folk singer? I think this book is a great study in characters and friendships as they grow and change from adolescence through adulthood.  The push and pull of relationships, of envy, of conditional and unconditional love.  I think it will ring true to anyone who has reached adulthood, but feels like maybe they never really did. Yours, Arianna P.S. Reading the Publisher's Description of the book over again reminded me that I kept thinking throughout the book of another book I read this year, called Generation Me. It was a non-fiction work about how children these days are encouraged to pursue their dreams, even if they don't necessarily have the talent or the luck for it.  This seemed to kind of be the case with this group of people; some had "it" and others did not.  And their lives worked out quite differently than they had thought they might when they were young.  Granted, this often happens whether a person is told they are "gifted" or not, but this book strongly reminded me of the arguments Jean M. Twenge makes in her book.