Please Ignore Vera Dietz

Please Ignore Vera Dietz A.S. King 3.5 / 5	Published 2010 First Sentences "The pastor is saying something about how Charlie was a free spirit. He was and he wasn't."
Publisher's Description: Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything. So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to? Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.
Dear Reader, This was my second experience with this author, and I am glad I gave her another shot. My first was I Crawl Through It, which I REALLY wanted to like, but just could NOT get into. This one, however, felt more real to me, which perhaps contributed to why I enjoyed it more. I could identify with Vera, a teenage girl who feels a bit adrift. Vera is coping with the recent loss of her best friend (and secret love) on top of she and her father having been abandoned by her mother a few years back. She kind of coasts through school (it doesn't play a big role in her life), and most of her story is centered around her job at the local pizza delivery joint, the town's notable Pagoda, and the hiking trails near her house. While she navigates these places, she also slowly unravels the mystery of her best friend's death, and learns how to come to terms with the loss. Vera was a unique and memorable character who definitely marched to the beat of her own drum, and I liked that about her, particularly in a YA protagonist. She was smart and witty and did her own thing, others be damned. (Which, admittedly, sometimes wasn't the best idea. But still.) I did particularly enjoy how Vera's and her father's relationship developed over the course of the book. Neither had dealt very much (at all?) with the leaving of Mrs. Dietz, and their small family was strained because of this. Charlie's death - a second loss - pushed them to acknowledge that they needed to figure out how to be a family in this new landscape. It felt very believable. This book was part of one of the Quarterly boxes that Book Riot sent out before I put my subscription on hold. I don't know if I would have sought it out otherwise, but I'd been meaning to get to it since it arrived in my mailbox. It was an enjoyable weekend read. Yours, Arianna

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Great House

Great House Nicole Krauss 3.5 / 5	Published 2010 First Sentence "Your Honor, in the winter of 1972 R and I broke up, or I should say he broke up with me."
Publisher's Description: A powerful, soaring novel about a stolen desk that contains the secrets, and becomes the obsession, of the lives it passes through. For twenty-five years, a solitary American novelist has been writing at the desk she inherited from a young poet who disappeared at the hands of Pinochet's secret police; one day a girl claiming to be his daughter arrives to take it away, sending her life reeling. Across the ocean in London, a man discovers a terrifying secret about his wife of almost fifty years. In Jerusalem, an antiques dealer is slowly reassembling his father's Budapest study, plundered by the Nazis in 1944. These worlds are anchored by a desk of enormous dimension and many drawers that exerts a power over those who possess it or give it away. In the minds of those it has belonged to, the desk comes to stand for all that has disappeared in the chaos of the world-children, parents, whole peoples and civilizations. Nicole Krauss has written a hauntingly powerful novel about memory struggling to create a meaningful permanence in the face of inevitable loss.
Dear Reader, When I was done with it, this book forced me to sit down and write out a summary of each section so that I could try to more fully comprehend what had just happened. I don’t even know where to start writing this review! It was a gorgeously-written but incredibly complex book, laden with nuances that the reader is never sure whether the author intended. Oy. Luckily, I read this one for my book club, so I was able to sit down with the group and realize that I was not the only one confounded and frustrated by the story! It was funny, because the book would take me some time to pick up, but whenever I did, I found myself flying through, captivated by the beautiful writing. (The character's situation in the first chapter really resonated with me, which initially drew me in.) Overall, it felt like it took me a little while to read, but I did enjoy the process of doing so. However...the reader is left with so much mystery at the end! It was initially very frustrating, and I wanted to rate the book really low in spite of the prose.  It certainly helped to talk the book over with others, though, and to give it some time to sink in. I was glad to learn I wasn’t the only one who had felt confounded, almost swindled by the author! As if we were missing a huge chunk of something that would make the entire story fall into place. However, we came to realize over the course of an hour (and sometimes heated discussion!) it isn’t quite necessary that the book have that sort of closure. The book stood well enough by itself, and most of us agreed it was certainly worth reading.  We discussed also how the author had published versions of the first section as a standalone short story in a couple of publications prior to fleshing it out into a book, and we agreed that that first story really did stand pretty well on its own. We also learned that Krauss had admitted to often being tired & distracted while writing the novel, because she was pregnant at the time. This could also have explained some of the readers’ confusion - but we thought a good editor would have helped if that were truly the problem.  The book club discussed some excellent things: we talked about how every character seemed tortured and unable to move on; we commented on the similarities between the regimes of Hitler and Pinochet; we discussed the very Jewish sensibility of this book, and how ultimately all anyone wanted to do was tell their stories, and be remembered by them. One group member said “story as legacy,” which I think sums the book up nicely. The book touches on estranged parent/child relationships, loss (and the need to hold onto something), writing as catharsis, and the fragility of memory. It was complex and dense at times, and ultimately a very rewarding read (especially after our discussion). So my overall impression is that I think it gives the reader a lot to take away, and I ended up rating it quite a lot higher than I would have when I first closed the book. It makes me so grateful to be able to participate in such a thorough & multifaceted discussion group - and often be introduced to books I might not otherwise have ever encountered! Yours, Arianna

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Orange Is the New Black

Orange Is the New Black Piper Kerman 3 / 5	Published 2010 First Sentence "International baggage claim in the Brussels airport was large and airy, with multiple carousels circling endlessly."
Publisher's Description: With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424—one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison—why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they’re there.
Dear Reader, I have just begun watching the TV series that is based on this book, so I won't be discussing much about that. AmberBug gave me this audiobook a few years ago, having received it from a publisher friend. This was well before the show had been made, and so while I was interested in reading it, it wasn't until everyone was talking about the show that I really started to push it up towards the front of my queue. I'm glad I did; it was certainly interesting! A very unique story, really. Piper Kerman is unfortunately forced to pay for a small mistake she made over a decade ago, and must serve time in prison. She is sentenced to 15 months at the Danbury FCI - this also interested me greatly, since until a few weeks ago, I worked at Western Connecticut State University, which is located in the same city. (And, WCSU does get a brief mention! That made me smile.) Kerman is a typical upper-middle-class white woman, which made her experiences so enthralling to me because I would often think about how I might have handled the same situations she encountered while on the inside. Some things she dealt with the way I probably would have; others, she went an entirely unexpected direction, but things always seemed to work out all right. (Which sometimes surprised me!) What I liked best about the book was how the author concluded by realizing that, ultimately, our American correctional system is broken. People are incarcerated and simply left to their own devices; there is no help to minimize recidivism. I've been seeing this for years with my past work in the Prison Book Program: training programs for convicts are abysmal, for the most part. They don't help prisoners prepare the necessary skills (technology they've missed out on being a big one that Kerman mentions) that they'll need for when they are released, and therefore find it much easier to go back to a life of crime. I think that part is what will stick with me most after having read this book. The author herself sometimes bothered me, but she kept the book moving with anecdote after anecdote, and managed to make it one cohesive story. Her interactions with the woman who put her behind bars in the first place was the most interesting part to me: I don't know if I could have reacted the same way Kerman did. However, you never do know until you are in that sort of a situation - and I hope to goodness that I never am! Yours, Arianna

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The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors

The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors Michele Young-Stone 1.5/5	Published 2010 First Sentence "She was a girl like you, or like someone you knew - from a cracked home, a fault line between her parents, for which she felt responsible."
Publisher's Description: When lightning strikes, lives are changed.   BECCA  On a sunny day in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, eight-year-old Becca Burke was struck by lightning. No one believed her—not her philandering father or her drunk, love-sick mother—not even when her watch kept losing time and a spooky halo of light appeared overhead in photographs. Becca was struck again when she was sixteen. She survived, but over time she would learn that outsmarting lightning was the least of her concerns.   BUCKLEY  In rural Arkansas, Buckley R. Pitank’s world seemed plagued by disaster. Ashamed but protective of his obese mother, fearful of his scathing grandmother, and always running from bullies (including his pseudo-evangelical stepfather), he needed a miracle to set him free. At thirteen years old, Buckley witnessed a lightning strike that would change everything. Now an art student in New York City, Becca Burke is a gifted but tortured painter who strives to recapture the intensity of her lightning-strike memories on canvas. On the night of her first gallery opening, a stranger appears and is captivated by her art. Who is this odd young man with whom she shares a mysterious connection? When Buckley and Becca finally meet, neither is prepared for the charge of emotions—or for the perilous event that will bring them even closer to one another, and to the families they’ve been running from for as long as they can remember. Crackling with atmosphere and eccentric characters, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors explores the magic of nature and the power of redemption in a novel as beautiful and unpredictable as lightning itself.
Dear Reader, This book was just trying too hard to be good, and it failed. I hate to say this, but I really wanted to like it (so cliche but true). It had all the makings of a good story, dysfunctional families, teen angst, lightning strike survivors! I mean, how can you go wrong. But wrong... it went. I think the best parts of the book had to be the in between chapters when we hear facts about lightning strikes and those who survive them. Funny thing is, these facts are from a fictional book that was written by one of the characters in this book, and the book SHARES the same title. Groan... I know. I'd like to tell you what this is about but I think the publishers description above basically tells you EVERYTHING that happens, which isn't much. I'd like to say that I could connect to the characters, but I didn't. Maybe this will be better for someone else but this was not for me. Try it if you like, but don't tell me I didn't warn you. Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Horns

Horns Joe Hill 3/5	First Sentence "Ignatius Martin Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things."
Publisher's Description: At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real. Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic. But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . . Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge. . . . It's time the devil had his due. . . .
Dear Reader, I've been devouring Joe Hill's work ever since I discovered him. He fills a void that I've been missing within the horror genre. Maybe I need to take a break from him for a year because he is so distinctly like his father (Stephen King) in many regards, the main one being that it's very easy to overdose on his work. I used to do the same thing with King when I was younger and over the years as I aged, I knew that King is much better in small doses. The problem is... both him and his father pump out books like a crazed teen screams for their idol. I can't keep up, and nor should I. So which to read? I guess that might be the reason people review books right? To help others determine where to go next with their reading endeavors. If someone were to ask me about Horns, I might suggest this book... but only if they've stayed clear of Hill AND King for awhile. Getting to business, the plot follows Ig (short for Ignatius) after he wakes up from a black out drunken stupor and finds horns growing from his temple. We shortly learn that he has experienced a very recent tragedy involving his girlfriends murder and to take things to the next level, Ig is secretly blamed by almost everyone in town... including his loved ones. The great thing about Hill is his imagination and he doesn't fall short with this book. Ig starts to gain powers that seem to originate from his horns, and he utilizes these to come to terms and learn the truth over his girlfriends death. The story is quite plot driven but also very lengthy (another one of the characteristics of a King/Hill book). A few parts of the book started straying away from the interesting and went a little too far into the bizarre, and I usually LOVE bizarre. I guess sometimes if the strange isn't done well, it doesn't give the story much strength. Overall, I would say this is a solid book with a very compelling and exciting plot. Hill produces many interesting aspects to the theme of doom and death that had me thinking. He missed the mark on a few parts that had me wandering, which in the end hurt the rating. I might have liked this more if I didn't overkill the genre recently, this needs to be said for those who enjoy horror and might enjoy this more than a three star book. The last thing I want to do is dissuade someone from Horns because of my three star rating, I would actually recommend this as a good place to start with Hill. Happy Reading, AmberBug