Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Weekend Reading pt. Deux


The weather here was gorgeous this past weekend and with a clean house and with my (entire!) family out of town, I got to concentrate on just reading!

I ended up finishing two books this weekend ( both from my never ending  GR TBR list = double score).

Second up is my non-fiction section:  



In Spite of Everything: A Memoir
Susan Thomas Gregory
***

Not even sure what made be add this book to my Goodreads TBR list. However during the great TBR purge of 2012, I ended up keeping it on the list and finding it in a local library. I can’t remember what drew me to add this book to the list in way back on July 31, 2011 as I am neither a Gen X’er nor a child for divorce, but I gave it go anyway.

Susan Thomas Gregory rights  a memoir about the scars that divorce has left on the children of Generation X and how she fought hard not to repeat the same sins of her parents. We learn about her childhood growing up with an alcoholic father and a sometimes absent mother; their cross country move and her subsequent struggle when her dad moved out on the family. Later we see her troubled adolescent and college years until she settles into a horrible job after graduating college. The book continues on and focuses on her meeting and eventually marrying her husband and snippets of their life together as it falls apart. Throughout each chapter there are lots of references to Greek Mythology and Eminem ( the rapper) as well as  social commentary and research about a variety of things including starter marriages, children’s’ response to divorce, helicopter parents and the housing market. Mortgage crisis as it relates to generation X. The most interesting part is her commentary and “research” on how sons raised by single mothers are often times victims of emotional incest, from having to be the man of the house. This part was mostly completed by her own personal stories of 2-3 men who fall into this category, but I still found the analogy interesting nonetheless.

When I finished the book, my first thought was that I really wanted to read/know her husband’s version of the story because hers literally left me so lost. In the beginning, it sounded like a mutual decision, but as she gave more detailed toward the end of the book, it seemed to be all on her husband.  HE came off looking like an ass, but with a much more detailed story  behind it. I guess that’s what ends up happening in a divorce memoir.

Part divorce memoir, part Generation X study I felt this book didn’t really have a firm idea of what it was and because I belonged to neither of those groups ( knock on wood), I struggled to  find how she, according to the description,  was stunned to find her marriage coming to an end or how she vowed to never let her kids know divorce.  I’m sure hindsight is 20/20 but she never really focused on how she did those too aside from making a promise to herself and trying to go for some marriage counseling.  I did enjoy her social commentary, but I just wasn’t able to relate to her childhood or her subsequent divorce. 

Weekend Reading

The weather here was gorgeous this past weekend and with a clean house and with my (entire!) family out of town, I got to concentrate on just reading!

I ended up finishing two books this weekend ( both from my never ending  GR TBR list = double score).

First up is my fiction choice:




My sister picked this book up first and I though it sounds interesting and it didn’t appear to be one of those drama for drama’s sake books. Plus the author is attending my Alma Mater, so I had to support Ms. Octavia.

Should have Known Better introduces us to Dawn Johnson a devoted wife, mother and librarian living in Augusta, GA. Dawn exemplifies the working mom struggle which is increased by the fact that her son, has Autism. One day she gets a call from an old college roommate who is in town for a conference and wants to come hang out like old times.  Sasha is Dawn’s sorority sister and once best friend who is now an acclaimed journalist living the fast life in the Atl. While Dawn is excited, she also has some reservations about Sasha coming to visit because she knows that Sasha has never approved of her relationship/marriage to her husband Reginald a blue collar worker who never finished college. Reginald has his own issue with Sasha and her BUPPIE lifestyle. Putting all that aside, Sasha comes to visit and after she and Regional initially but heads,  things soon swing quickly in the other direction. Dawn is never able to put her hands on it, but she sees things changing and her gut tells her that Sasha is desperate for a man and a baby and will do anything to get it.
The story reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend recently. I wanted to visit her and her family in their new military duty station( which for reference was outside the continental U.S.). During the planning process she told me that she would was fine with me staying with her. I remember being taken aback because the only way I could afford this trip was because I didn’t budget a hotel. My friend went on to explain that her mother had warned her not to have her friends staying in her house with her husband unless she could trust them( no clarification on if them included the husband). Apparently, I had made the cut, but many others had not and it caused a riff in the friendships. That conversation stayed with me for years and pops in my head from time to time. After reading this book, I wonder if Dawn could have benefited from a similar conversation.

I really wanted to like Dawn, but I had trouble with the plot. It’s completely plausible, but Dawn was just so slow to act and clueless it was annoying.  Now we have all been in a situation where our gut tells us one thing, but the way Dawn took a back seat was just annoying.

I really enjoyed the writing, and the way that Ms. Octavia addressed some really big A’s- Adultery, Alcoholism and Autism and because of her smooth writing, I kept reading even if I didn’t really connect with Dawn and wanted to reach into the book and shake her. Sometimes the sequence of events just seemed over the top and the ending was pretty abrupt which I guess means we can anticipate a sequel. I know love and lust are crazy things, but Sasha and Reginald just seemed far-fetched. Had it not been for the great writing, I probably would have given up on the book halfway through, but the writing flowed so well, it was easy to just keep going. 



Saturday, May 19, 2012

White Lines II


White Lines II: Sunny
Tracey Brown

One of my “literary pet peeves” is “ contemporary street lit”- books about hustler’s  Wives and what not that glorify and glamourize a life that usually ends in the graveyard or a jail cell.  I detest these type of books and stay as far away from them as I can. With that being said, I’m still not sure how I came across the original White Lines but I ended up loving it. It was one book which showed that while it looks like glitz and glamour what’s underneath is often the furthest thing from it.

Over the years I’d seen other Tracey Brown books on the shelves, but I  was only interested in White Lines so imagine my surprise when I found one was finally published.

White Lines II begins a few years after the first one left off. I admits that I had to go back and skim WL, because it had been so long ( 5 years!) since I read the original but in the sequel, Sunny is enjoying life a wife and mother but yet still grieving the loss of her beloved Dorian. She’s come a long way since giving up her addiction a few years ago and aided by 2 stints in rehab is doing good. Except she sometimes misses her old life- the parties, the glitz and glamour and on a trip for her latest business venture,  she finds what she has been missing both in her love life and in her “secret”. As she struggles to maintain both, she ends up risking everything.

While the book mainly focuses on Sunny,  we are also reintroduced to Jada ( my favorite character) who is trying to re-kindle her relationship with Born despite their past and raise her son Sheldon who is fighting his own set of demons. There are some other minor characters- Jada’s sister Ava, Olivia and Zion, whom I gather are from her other books.  As Sunny fight her growing dependence on her old friend, Jada struggles with her own demons regarding her child, his father and her actions while pregnant.

I realize this book was about Sunny and while I enjoyed her perspective, I have to say that I found Jada’s storyline much more interesting and almost wish this was focused just on her.
This book ends in the ultimate cliffhanger and after seeing that this was just recently published, I hope we don’t have to wait too long for the sequel because I am dying to know what happens next.

This book was as gritty or as real to me as WL was, there was lots of references to designer clothing and cars that I don’t remember from the first one but that seems to be a staple in Urban fiction  which I honestly find annoying to describe every outfit complete with what designers- Chanel dress, Loubotioun shoes). Aside from that I enjoyed this book almost as much as the original but it seemed lacking in character development in some areas- for instance- Ava just seemed to be thrown in there for good measure at times- there wasn’t much character development going on there.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It doesn’t live up to WhiteLines in my book, buts its solid on its own and I definitely wasn’t disappointed.

Monday, May 14, 2012

The Selection


The Selection
Kierra Cass

This book was described to me as The Bachelor Meets the Hunger Games and with it introduction like that, how could I NOT read it? Royalty, dystopian literature is almost the trifecta of perfect reading.

In the Selection by Kierra Class were are introduced to America Singer, a young teenaged girl who lives in the Country Illéa, created after the 4th world war from what once was North America. The country of Illéa is  a monarchy  ruled by an Eight caste system and while we are only vaguely introduced to the system we learn that America is a 5 and pretty much stuck in the middle of the system ( Lower Middle Class to Working Class). America’s family is musicians and artists who could always use a little extra money. So when a notice about The Selection arrives at the door and offers money for America’s participation, she is reluctantly talked into joining.

The Selection is the bachelor part of the story. This nationwide completion consists of 32  young, eligible Bachelorettes from Illéa compete to become the new Queen. In Illéa, the Queen is chosen from among the people, the commoners in a Bacheloresqe style completion where the Prince and his family choose the next Queen. All castes are invited to participate Whisked off to a life of luxury in the palace the girls compete for one-on-one dates and stolen kisses with the Prince. The selections is a life changing event for all involved- the families receive compensation for their daughters  and the young women become tabloid  (or what passes for tabloid in Illéa) fodder and their lives and experiences are captured on television for the world to see. 

When America arrives she is still pinning over the love of her life, Aspen, whom she left back home after a break-up. Not interested in Maxon she is only there for the money and the experience. However, once she arrives she finds that that she actually like Maxon and as the competition heats up, things gets interesting and then the book ends- literally.
True to form, this book is definitely like The Bachelor, especially in the fact that I got sucked into this book and couldn’t put it down, despite a thousand other things I needed to be doing.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story. I thought it was a neat plotline that was original. It did border on more fluffy chick-lit YA than a real Dystopian novel.  While a brief history of Ilea was give, there was no real explanation of what it mean to me a citizen of Ilea or what the caste’s were and why the really existed.
Also, I have to mention how much the names bugged me in this book. The main character in the book is America Singer- we learn where her first name comes from and her last name is her occupation but this does not follow through for others in the book. We meet an Ana Farmer who is a …farmer, but other naming conventions fall short and some are just annoying- Amberly, Maxon. Then we meet Aspen. I know it’s weird but it just annoyed me that some people had names of cities, states then there were normal names and then those names that make teachers cringe when we see them on rosters.
So aside from the lack of “dystopia” and the names, I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the sequel. I hope it is as good as this one and that it won’t be drawn out over three books. 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

The College Experience


The Marriage Plot
Jeffery Eugeinides
One of my favorite literary niche genre’s is coming of age stories- specifically that occur during college. It doesn’t take a psychologist to see where my love of this genre comes from. I loved my undergraduate days that I never left college (sorry a little Student affairs professional humor). I enjoyed my college experience but what I really remember were the people that helped mold and guide me both academically, professionally and even personally. I wanted to be that person and so I re-entered the Ivy Tower, pursued a Masters in Higher education Administration and Student Affairs and have been working the field for 5 years in a variety of positions. So when I see a book about a student’s “coming of age” during college I automatically pick it up. That’s what primarily led me to Jeffery Eugeines- the Marriage Plot (well that and the fact the I loved the Virgin Suicides). The Marriage Plot started showing up on all the “Best of” or “Can’t be Missed books of 2011 so I had high expectations going into the story.
The main character in the book is Madeline, a college senior who is graduating from Brown University in the 1980’s (I believe it was the wonderful and exciting year of 1983). The title of the book comes from Madeline’s Thesis and it follows Madeline as she graduates and moves into the “real world” with her group of friends and boyfriend

I enjoyed this book but I also struggled with it. The first part reads like a literature class which was a little difficult for me to follow. I kept wondering if I had reverted back to my undergrad days. I kept slugging through because this is supposed to be one of the best books of 2011 and I wanted to see what all the hype was about.

The book picked up a little and then slowed down (at least for me) and it took me a lot longer to finish it because some parts were tedious to read. I enjoyed most of the characters but fount Mitchell's narrative to be rather slow. I found Madeline a little infuriating, but I'm sure I was too when I was 21.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but, I also have to say that I am glad to be done with it.

Friday, May 11, 2012

All Hail the Queen



I’m sure a large majority of young girls grow up wanting to be a princess and the ideas is certainly shoved down young girls throats almost everywhere you turn, however as we get older reality comes into play and most girls grow out of it. Until Kate Middleton came along.  I began following the Kate/William fairy tale since probably 2005 and I remember their breakup in 2007 because it closely followed a personal breakup. Then just like Kate, we reconciled and were married (although much sooner than Wills and Kate. Since the wedding (which I woke up early to watch), I’ve had sort of a weird obsessions with the royals. I’ve watched several PBS royal documentaries and became interested in Elizabeth the II and her reign. Here is the story of a young lady who for her childhood had no idea that this would be her future. It’s still a sort of fairytale ( at least from my perspective) I’ve always had been intrigued by her action during WWII ( back to the war again) and her life overall. When I first saw the book, I have to admit I was turned away by the sheer size, but after getting it in the much less intimidating eBook format, I gave it shot. I expected to read the beginning and the end and skim through the middle, but after I started reading, I just kept going. It was fascinating and I loved how the book was written. The middle did get a little boring ( so many primer ministers to remember) and sometimes it seemed tedious, but other than that I founds this a fascinating read and look into the life of the Queen.

This book fall on the series spectrum of biographies and at times, it felt like a British History lesson which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed the little tidbits of the Queen’s personality that while I’m sure they were carefully vetted were interesting and made her seem like anyone else’s grandmother ( well almost).

This is the first book I’ve ever read regarding the monarch and Elizabeth and I was not disappointed. The only thing that did shock me about this was that Diana was portrayed in a very negative light. Having not paid much attention to the monarch after Diana’s death and being fairly young during the marriage and subsequent divorce, I never had any inkling that Diana was seen as unstable by the media. By the time I came along, Diana was the Humanitarian she is portrayed as today.
Anyway, this book can seem intimidating- long and full of history, but it actually moves in a faster pace for most of the book and is enjoyable read. Of course it stops short of divulging any information about Kate’s place in all of this, so if that’s what you are after than skip this. However, if you are interested in the monarchy/British history than this is an excellent start.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis


Lauren Winner's Girl Meets God is probably one of my top ten favorite books. Something about the book and the time period I read it resonated with me. The book also began my curiosity and fascination with Judaism which continued with her follow-up book, so it has a special place on my shelf.  

When I saw that Winner had written a new book I was excited to get my hands on it and read it, even though I was a little worried about the topic and subject matter- not about having a crisis of faith, but on writing about so soon. Ms. Winner is a few years older than me and while I've had my own crises of faith, I also realize that life for me is still young and so it was a little hard for me to take this book seriously. Are we going to get a book after every crisis of faith? Also there wasn’t much spiritual meat in the book, it honestly felt like whining and complaining about life, the end of the marriage and such. Its perfect material for a blog, but as a memoir on faith it fell short for me and I reluctantly abandoned it.
The chapters were very short and seemed somewhat choppy and it felt like I was just rambling along in Lauren’s head. This type of writing isn’t uncommon, but for what a deeper subject was it just seemed too much.  Perhaps I will give this one another go at another time. I found that a lot of time spiritual memoirs resonate differently depending on when they are read.
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I realized that I never got around to writing a review for Girl Meets God. Again, I’m aware that part of the reason that book had such a profound impact on me, was because of where I was in my own spiritual journey at the time. I did find my amazon.com review of her book Mudhouse Sabbath which I enjoyed immensely. I also found a post where I mentioned my love of Ms. Winner’s book.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Composing Amelia



Composing Amelia
Allison Strobel
3.5/5

Another repeat author for me, I really enjoyed her previous novel Heart of Memory which was a nook freebie some time ago and I was really look forward to this novel.
Composing Amelia is the story of a young, broke married couple- Amelia and Marcus who begin the novel living check to check in a cramped L.A. apartment, working three jobs as they each focus on building their dream careers. For Marcus, this career is a as pastor and Amelia hopes to become a renowned pianist. Both have agreed to look for jobs that will offer them both something but all that changes when Marcus gets the opportunity to interview for a coveted senior pastor position in…. Nebraska. Not just Nebraska, but a small town in the middle of nowhere. To complicate matters, Amelia has just accepted a position as a pianist in a newly formed theater group and finally feels as though she is on her way.
Both Marcus and Amelia balk at the turn of events and when Marcus gets the position they decide on an un-easy compromise that turns out to be much harder than it sounds- Marcus goes to Nebraska and Amelia moves in with friends to continue her new gig. They will re-evaluate in 3 months after the opening of Amelia’s first show. What happens next begins Amelia’s downward spiral and struggle with depression and anxiety. Even a reprieve of moving to Nebraska with  Marcus can help Amelia and as she continues on a downward spiral, Marcus caught up in his own spiritual struggle must step aside and help his wife with her own.
This book had several plot twists that I didn’t particularly care for and in my opinion didn’t really fit in with the storyline. I did enjoy the struggle that was portrayed as Amelia and Marcus struggled to find their callings and battle the demons and ghosts that haunted them. I found that struggle really unique and accurate in the way it was portrayed.
Overall, I give this one 3.5 stars. Good overall story, but I feels as though there were some “holes” in the story ( which I explain after the spoiler alert).
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By one main issue with this book, and it was pretty big for me was the way in which Amelia suicide attempt was handled my Marcus. IF he felt strong enough to go hide all potential items but not enough to say anything just seems so phony, especially considering Amelia was pregnant with their child. Without the pregnancy, that would seem somewhat more plausible but to me it didn’t ring true. Also, the fact that there were no repercussions for Amelia's suicide attempt while pregnant seemed suspect.  Even with the mental illness, I suspect that there would be something more than just medication.
That brings me to the 2nd point, the pregnancy plot twist seemed out place. It was almost like an afterthought to the entire story- I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more without it.

Thursday, May 3, 2012




Every August I eagerly await the release of the Beloit College Mindset List. Working in Student Affairs, it's always nice to get a glimpse into the mindset of the incoming freshman class. When I heard that the list had turned into a book, I was excited to see the list expanded.

The book takes generations who would have graduated HS in 1898, 1918, 1931, 1944, 1957, 1970, 1983, 1996, 2009,and looks at the events that have shaped their generation both before they were born as they grew up. We always joke with students and our younger relatives about "how easy" they current generation has it and this book are an interesting historical perspective on that idea. For the average reader, it traces back to their Grand/great grandparents generation to the future and offers insights on the cultural norms experiences.

As expected, this book offers a very broad generalization. Some of the items on list ( those that have always been dead for example) won't change, but some of the generalizations depend on class, socioeconomic status and location. For me, reading about my parents’ generation ( graduated around 1970) was not as realistic as what they experienced in their very small, segregated town( or at least what I've been told and seen). My only other complaint is rather personal and trivial but I felt like I personally didn't have a place in the book- 80's babies ( of which I am) were  ignored; too young for the class of 96 and too old for the class of 2009. Anyway- that my personal comment that didn't really effect my enjoyment of this book and the historical perspective it offered. While certainly not as in-depth as Generations by Strauss and Howe, this book offers a quick informative and entertaining overview of the history of the mindset of people today.

Now I just have to wait until August to learn about the mindset of the class of 2016.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012


The Song Remains the Same
Allison Winn Scotch
****~4.5/5

I have to give it to Ms. Scotch, all of her books that I have read have this awesome plots that could become clichéd with another writer, but she manages to keep them fresh and interesting.

The Song Remains the Same follows Nell Slattery, one of only two survivors of a plane crash, who wakes up in a hospital remembering nothing of her former life. Instead she relies on her family- husband Peter, Mom Indira, Sister Rory and other friends and foes to help her piece together who she was in her former life. Much of her journey situates around her relationship or lack there off with her Father, a renowned artist who left the family when Nell was 16. Somehow, Nell feels that finding out more about her father will lead her to find more about herself. During all this she must cope with knowledge of the  baby she miscarried during the crash, and what her feelings about the baby were. To complicate matters even more, she learns upon waking up that just prior to her accident, her husband confessed to a one-night stand and they were separated.

Nell’s world is a lot to handle for a normal person on the day to day and we learn that she had created her own coping mechanisms ( her friends referred to her as “Ice Queen”). Waking up to all this drama/discord provides an interesting opportunity for Nell to reclaim and change her reality. Unfortunately the road to finding herself is rocky and full of the clichéd cliffs and valleys we all find. Although it would be nice to have a “true clean slate” and to start over without everyone else’s hassles. Sometimes that the hardest part of reinventing ourselves.

Now I enjoyed this book, but I wasn’t really in love with it. I was all in for Nell’s journey of self-discovery  but for some reason I just wasn’t completely into it. I got a little bored with her obsession with her dad and wanted to know more about the marriage, the baby and though it all came together perfectly, I just wanted more substances about her past current life.
With that said, this book is still a page-turner. I finished it one glorious Sunday afternoon and couldn't put it down. I wanted to know about the old Nell just as much as she did and that is what makes this a great read. 

Saturday, April 28, 2012


The Baker’s Daughter
4/5- ****
Sarah McCoy
So it’s no secret based on my GR read list that I books involving WWII and the Holocaust is a Genre that I enjoy reading. I think its goes back to my childhood and growing up In Germany.

Anyway, that background leads me to The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy. Another book I learned about while on GR, and by an author whose previous work- The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico,  I enjoyed.
Once I learn that a book is about the Holocaust, I tend to not read the descriptions because I’ve found that it makes me compare books to others and I like reading with a fresh slate.

The Baker’s Daughter is written in the same tone as others such as Sarah’s Key and Those Who Save Us, in that it parallel’s two story lines- one present day and one in Europe during the 1940’s. This particular story focuses on Elise, a young teenaged girl goring up during the last months of the war. The daughter of a Baker, her family struggles under a crippling war and rations that threaten what’s left of their livelihood. Elsie’s older sister is away in the Nazi’s Lebensborn Program ( which I never heard about until reading this book) and it interesting to see a factious Pro-Nazi account ( even if it was only briefly).

The current day story involves Elsie as and the elderly co-owner of a German Bakery in Texas with her daughter when journalist Reeba walks in to write an article on her. Reba’s story follows her love-affair with an Immigration and Customs official and her struggle to understand her family.

I was much more interested in Elsie’s story than Reba’s but found Reba an enjoyable character. I just struggled to place her within the context of the story and felt that Riki’s full story would probably be a better tie-in with the overall story in terms of Riki’s struggle with his job. I was a little worried that when his job was instructed there would be a parallel  between that and what was happening in Elsie’s story, but there wasn’t.

I really enjoyed this story, again Elsie’s much more than Reba’s and I think this book is a great addition to my shelves. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys this “genre” as well as to those who enjoyed Sarah’s Key and Those Who Save Us.