Click

Click: One Novel, Ten Authors David Almond, Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Deborah Ellis, Nick Hornby, Margo Lanagan, Gregory Maguire, Ruth Ozeki, Linda Sue Park, Tim Wynne-Jones 3 / 5	Published 2007 First Sentence "'I can't believe your'e not going to open it!' Jason said. 'Don't you want to know what it is?'"
Publisher's Description: A video message from a dead person. A larcenous teenager. A man who can stick his left toe behind his head and in his ear. An epileptic girl seeking answers in a fairy tale. A boy who loses everything in World War II, and his brother who loses even more. And a family with a secret so big that it changes everything. The world's best beloved authors each contribute a chapter in the life of the mysterious George "Gee" Keane, photographer, soldier, adventurer, and enigma. Under different pens, a startling portrait emerges of a man, his family, and his gloriously complicated tangle of a life.
Dear Reader, I was really excited for this book. It had a lot of promise! So many great authors, and all working for such a great cause. And, I did love most of it - there were some great and beautiful "sub-stories", and the writing was beautiful. However, for those of you who have read A Tale for the Time Being, you'll understand what I mean when I say things got a bit unexpectedly weird. I was hoping for a great resolution to the mystery, but was pretty disappointed by what, ultimately, the explanation turned out to be. However, the characters almost made up for any of the story's shortcomings. I don't think I'll soon forget the tale of the girl and her mother who live alone on the seashore, or the one of the teenager who feels so alone in her despair until she meets a photographer who captures her story with a large piece of jagged glass. Or the Russian prisoner who receives unexpected kindness. I think the main characters - Maggie and Jason, and their grandfather "Gee" - framed the story really well. I'm quite interested to know if the authors all conceived the entire story together, or if they wrote their chapters in order, with no idea where the book would go (even if they tried to gently guide things one way or another). Knowing that would make the story even more strong to me, I think - knowing one way or the other. I remember trying to write a story like that once or twice in my past, and being disappointed to see where my partner had taken the tale I was trying to tell. Each author only gets so much control over the book, which I found endlessly intriguing - especially because, as a writer, I certainly love having control of my own stories! I'd recommend this to writers especially, because I think they'd be fascinated to watch how ten different authors approached the same novel. (And luckily, their different narrative styles don't disrupt the flow of the story in any way.) I think it was a very interesting read, just not quite up to the par I was expecting. Yours, Arianna

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Winesburg, Ohio

Winesburg, Ohio Sherwood Anderson 3 / 5	Published 1919 First Sentence "The writer, an old man with a white mustache, had some difficulty in getting into bed."
Publisher's Description: To Sherwood Anderson, more than to any other American Writer, belongs the distinction of having converted mere sectional writing into a universal experience. As the interpreter of mid-western life, he wrought a change in mood and method that was revolutionary. His masterpiece,Winesburg, Ohio, became the forerunner of a new and vital school of contemporary humanity, its inescapable conviction of truth and its brooding, tender insight make it a book by which Anderson has earned a leading rank among the important novelists of America and certainly among the best of our storytellers.
Dear Reader, Fun fact: This book was published on my birthday...62 years before I was born (yes, you can do the math if you want).  That's pretty neat.  Apparently it was a Thursday.  Not sure if that was just a random day, or if publishers released books on that day of the week regularly, like how Tuesday is the preferred day for releases these days. In any case, to get to the book itself: it was all right.  I didn't love it, perhaps because it didn't feel like any character was given enough time for me to become familiar with.  This is due to it being a collection of related stories, rather than a cohesive novel.  I am not much for short stories (although Short Story Thursdays has helped me overcome that!), but this book appealed to me because it connected everyone's stories - you would be reading about one townsperson's tragic history, and you'd encounter characters who you had already met (with varying levels of intimacy) earlier in the work.  That was an enjoyable aspect.  The particularly outstanding character, who seemed to be at least mentioned in everyone's stories, was George Willard.  I think Anderson ultimately is telling George's story through examining those of his fellow townspeople, and how the character's life is affected by them in so many different ways. Anderson particularly seems to enjoy examining how people experience loneliness and isolation, even in the midst of a (small) town.  His characters almost all seem desperate and unhappy lost souls.  All of the characters seem to believe that nobody else could possibly understand or connect with them, and so they give up before they even try.  One wonders if that is characteristic of this small town which Anderson is writing about, or if he is indicating that this is more of a pandemic which was affecting small-town America in the early 1900s.  It was especially interesting to note the time pre-industrial revolution time period, when not everyone seemed eager to move to the city.  Some want to flee the small town life, but most are content (enough) with their lot. On a different note, I did find it quaint and charming how the book actually deals quite a bit with sex, but never mentions it by name.  Many women end up pregnant out of wedlock, and several of the men are Lotharios, but never once is the subject of sex broached so that people could cry indecency and ban the book.  I mean, not to say Anderson kept his book proper to that end.  I am guessing that was more because of the times during which it was written.  But it was still interesting to read and be forced to kind of read between the lines to get the true understanding of what Anderson was trying to convey. Yours, Arianna

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Perfect

Perfect Rachel Joyce 4 / 5	Published 2013 First Sentence "In 1972, two seconds were added to time."
Publisher's Description: A spellbinding novel that will resonate with readers of Mark Haddon, Louise Erdrich, and John Irving, Perfect tells the story of a young boy who is thrown into the murky, difficult realities of the adult world with far-reaching consequences. Byron Hemmings wakes to a morning that looks like any other: his school uniform draped over his wooden desk chair, his sister arguing over the breakfast cereal, the click of his mother’s heels as she crosses the kitchen. But when the three of them leave home, driving into a dense summer fog, the morning takes an unmistakable turn. In one terrible moment, something happens, something completely unexpected and at odds with life as Byron understands it. While his mother seems not to have noticed, eleven-year-old Byron understands that from now on nothing can be the same. What happened and who is to blame? Over the days and weeks that follow, Byron’s perfect world is shattered. Unable to trust his parents, he confides in his best friend, James, and together they concoct a plan. . . . As she did in her debut, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce has imagined bewitching characters who find their ordinary lives unexpectedly thrown into chaos, who learn that there are times when children must become parents to their parents, and who discover that in confronting the hard truths about their pasts, they will forge unexpected relationships that have profound and surprising impacts. Brimming with love, forgiveness, and redemption, Perfect will cement Rachel Joyce’s reputation as one of fiction’s brightest talents.
Dear Reader, Boy, am I behind on my reviews!  Part of that I blame on BEA, but I can't really be mad at such an amazing experience (plus, how does one express anger at an experience?), so I'll just do my best to catch up quickly! This book took me AGES to get through, which does not mean it was terrible.  It just means that *I* am terrible - at reading ebooks!  It honestly took me forever because I would only rarely pick up my Kindle (in any form) to read a few pages before being called away to other obligations.  For some reason, I find it much easier to get caught up in a physical book, still! In any case, Rachel Joyce is a wonderful writer.  This story had me intrigued from the start, as it is something I myself would speculate on.  What WOULD happen if two seconds were added to the clock?  Would everything be thrown off, much like the effect of flapping butterfly wings?  That is what Joyce argues, and she splendidly details how these minute two seconds could diverge and be experienced by two people very differently indeed.  While time itself doesn't fall apart, we do see lives slowly begin to do so in response.  Byron Hemmings experiences an accident which is his mother's fault, but she is strangely unaware of the incident.  Despite this, Byron soon convinces Diana of the truth, and the two begin to develop an unlikely relationship with the family who was affected, a family who is poor and trashy in striking contrast to the wealthy and reserved Hemmingses.  Life begins to turn upside-down for Byron's family and their new "friends," Beverley and Jeanie.  The Guardian review put it so well: "Guilty, rich and lonely, Diana showers Beverley and daughter Jeanie with gifts, and hosts afternoons during which the two women paint each other's nails and exchange confidences.  But Beverley is envious and as their intimacy grows, so does the risk."  That really is the crux of the book, and through this creeping wariness, you begin to understand how the two alternating voices (that of young Byron and an older, mysterious man named "Jim") are related.   Jim is a troubled man who has lost most of himself to years of electroshock therapy in a mental institution.  He is a loner and full of quirks, but the reader watches as he begins to interact more with the outside world, and then open up to his new friends.  Once the connection between the two main characters is established, the reader may still be thrown for a loop by the ending of the book!  I was smugly certain I had it all figured out, but Joyce easily reminded me of why we shouldn't ever make assumptions. All in all, beautiful writing and a very interesting story.  I know that if I had been reading this as a book or audiobook, I would certainly have raced through it.  I look forward to reading other works by this author. Yours, Arianna P.S. Some notable favorite examples of the gorgeous imagery Joyce evokes: "...Beneath a clear sky that was upholstered with stars" and "A flock of gulls flew east, rising and falling, as if they might clean the sky with their wings."

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Astrid & Veronika

Astrid and Veronika Linda Olsson 3.5 / 5	Published 2005 First Sentence "There had been wind and drifting snow during her journey, but as darkness fell, the wind died and the snow settled."
Publisher's Description: Veronika, 32, a writer whose boyfriend just drowned in New Zealand, rents a house in a small Swedish village next door to recluse Astrid, 81. They share walks, meals, wine, and dangerous memories.
Dear Reader, My oldest sister sent me a copy of this book, because she had so enjoyed it.  I was already pretty sold just from the beautiful cover, haha!  But it took me a while to get around to this slim volume, strangely enough.  I finally picked it up and flew through it, as I'd expected I would. The story centered tightly on the lives of two neighbors, one new to the area, and one who had lived there all her life.  It took me several weeks after I finished it, but I finally realized why this book didn't sit entirely well with me: it reminded me a lot of a blend of chick lit and a Mitch Albom work.  I don't know.  It was good, don't get me wrong.  Very powerful and emotional, and told a beautiful story of unexpected but deep friendship, and it definitely made me cry a bit.  But it felt sometimes too much like it was trying to be preachy about how one should be sure to appreciate the little things, the here and now, and make the most of life.  How not to get trapped in unhappiness.  The women were good for each other, both having suffered terrible losses and struggling to find their way back from them.  I definitely liked how the story was almost exclusively focused on these two women, which worked because they lived in a pretty isolated spot.  So the author was able to keep the camera lens focused narrowly on these women and their pasts, as they began to open up to each other.  It was lovely the way Veronika found the mother she never had in Astrid, and ditto the daughter Astrid needed.  I did love the magical way the women's lives ended up weaving together and how they learned to lean on each other. Overall, I did like the book.  I actually DO appreciate when books send me messages, give me subtle (or not-so-subtle) reminders about why and how to enjoy the little things in life.  I think there was just something slightly off about the way this one was done, despite how well written it was.  Oddly, though, I WOULD recommend it - particularly to other women.  I don't think it would resonate so well with men; it was definitely written to reach out to the female sex. Yours, Arianna

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