Book Blog #331: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Title: Daisy Jones & The Six

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

# of Pages: 369 (ebook)

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary

Rating:★★★★☆

Synopsis: Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

Review: Since I was reading this not that long after reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I can't help but compare. I definitely liked this one a bit less, but it was still a fun read. Coincidentally I recently have seen the play Stereophonic, which is eerily similar to this book likely because both are inspired by the real rock n roll drama from Fleetwood Mac.   

This book is marked as both historical fiction AND contemporary because the story is told documentary-style. The "author"/interviewer is having this conversations in present time, but the characters are retelling a story in the 70s, focusing on height of rock n roll. 

I found myself reading this book in any spare moment I could possibly get. However, closer to the end, I began to feel annoyed with most of the characters (everyone has their own drama, everyone has qualities that kind of suck). What I did enjoy is how despite all the first person POV switching, most of the characters had a distinct voice, and I could envision this book like a documentary playing out in my head. The ending and the surprise twist actually made the documentary style less realistic for me, which is why this book can only get at most 4 stars from me. 

I would still recommend this book. 

Book Blog #321: Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

 

Title: Us Against You

Author: Fredrik Backman

# of Pages: 697 (large print)

Genre: Adult, Fiction, Contemporary 

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow when they hear that their beloved local hockey team will soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in Hed, take in that fact. Amidst the mounting tension between the two rivals, a surprising newcomer is handpicked to be Beartown’s new hockey coach. Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more acute. As the big match approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up and their mutual contempt grows deeper. By the time the last game is finally played, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after all they’ve been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent.

Review: Despite Backman's long-winded writing style, I'm somehow still hooked into his books. 

Since I liked Beartown so much, I knew I would at least halfway like the sequel. That turned out to be true - it's been a while since I felt the desire to read the sequel in the a series, and I was happy to hear more about the characters I was cheering for in the first book. 

That being said, I can't give this book 4 stars for a couple of reasons:

1. Unlike Beartown, Us Against You doesn't have a strong focus. 

I've always had issues with POV switching, but the third person POV switching worked in Beartown. In the sequel, it suffers from the usual issues I usually see - too many parallel stories that are not weaved close enough together. Since there's already so many characters to care about, their lives are inevitably going to diverge from each other, which makes the reader wonder what we are trying to read about in the first place. 

I would rather have Backman try to slim down the updates on different character to favor a strong story line. Beartown had a strong story line from building a plot around a hockey game timeline and rape that are more evenly spread across the entire book. The same can't be said for the sequel - the hockey games are more of an after thought and are not a strong enough device to frame the progression of the plot. 

Instead, Backman adds some new characters. to name a couple: Vidar, who never  got enough time in the spotlight to develop his reputation as a "troublemaker" in the readers eyes, and Richard Theo, who's character's only purpose is demonstrate the political "games" politicians play with the lives of the people they are supposed to serve. These new characters paired with Kira, who battles with balancing her obligations to her family and her career, and Maya, who's interests are always tangential to the ongoing hockey focused events, make the story seem like one jumble of lives between which Backman haphazardly bouncing the narrative.

Backman also cranked up the "deep and meaningful" messaging in this one. I liked the balance he had in Beartown - focusing on a more neutral topic of what sports can mean to different people and then delving into the deeper topic of how people react to rape, what it means for the victim and their loved ones, etc.  In this one, Backman tries to tackle the influence of politicians, gender inequality (particularly the struggle of women living in a man's world), and homophobia.  It reminded me of Grey's Anatomy - a little too forced, a little too obvious to land the same impact as similar messaging that is better blended in to a (better) plot.

2. By the end of the book, it doesn't feel like anything actually HAPPENED.

Yes, of course something happened, but did it warrant a whole book written about it? This was more of a tragic slice of life that didn't particularly bring us anywhere. Without any major spoilers, I'll say that I would have felt about the same as if I didn't read this book. One aspect that Backman did well was giving Benji a lot more time for his character to shine through, and my love for this character has only grown since the first book. 

But as far as everyone else, there's not much that happened to them that made me feel like this was a book that well-deserved a read. From reading the synopsis of the third book, it sounds like it will be more of the same, so I probably won't be reading the last book in the series. 

Book Blog #319: Beartown by Fredrik Backman

 

Title: Beartown

Author: Fredrik Backman

# of Pages: 681 (large print)

Genre: Adult, Fiction, Contemporary 

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys. Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Review: 

“All adults have days when we feel completely drained. When we no longer know quite what we spend so much time fighting for, when reality and everyday worries overwhelm us and we wonder how much longer we’re going to be able to carry on. The wonderful thing is that we can all live through far more days like that without breaking than we think. The terrible thing is that we never know exactly how many.”

This is a story that starts slowly. It pretends to be a little slice of life of the people who live in quaint Beartown that clings to junior hockey like a lifeline. 

I didn't care for the start of the plot which is focused skipping back and forth between the characters living in Beartown, building up how important hockey is for this town. Didn't exactly sound like my type of book - I'm not a huge sports fan, and a book that focuses on singing the praises of hockey doesn't even make it onto the list of topics I would be interested in. 

Luckily, it's not that type of book. Hockey might frame the story but it's far from the sole focus. 

Even with the slow start, Backman does a great job at emphasizing WHY a sport could mean so much to any small town that doesn't has much else going for it. Even when some may not understand sports, they can understand people want to be part of something, wanting something to believe in and cheer for. 

Backman actually masterfully employs this idea of community in the plot - on a macro scale, the community the people of Beartown (the Pack) feel because of hockey, community between team members,  community between families and friends. Not only is community used to justify why hockey is held at such high stakes in Beartown, but it's also an obstacle for characters to choose between right and wrong. When people want to be part of something so badly, are they still able to do the right thing when their membership in said community is put on the line?

Beartown is also far from a glamorization of hockey. In the start of the book, there is "locker room talk" in an unabashed fashion, making the reader believe that they should just accept the jokingly crude and derogatory comments toward women and LGBTQ are just a part of "how the hockey team acts." But as the plot progresses, Backman slowly adds more and more commentary on how this type of "culture" is actually fostering toxic masculinity.

“Sweet Jesus…you men. It’s never your fault, is it? When are you going to admit that it isn’t ‘hockey’ that raised these boys. It’s YOU LOT. In every time and every place, I’ve come across men who blame their own stupidity on crap they themselves have invented. ‘Religion causes wars,’ ‘guns kill people,’ it’s all the same old bullshit!” - Ramona to Sune, p.541

I wish Backman left some of this messaging to be interpreted by the reader. The messaging via showing through the plot rather than stating it blatantly would have been more powerful. 

“[The boys] don’t have any female friends, and there are no women’s teams here, so they learn that hockey only belongs to them, and their coaches teach them that girls are a ‘distraction.’ So they learn that girls only exist for fucking” p.547 

Hockey might frame the story but it's far from the sole focus. The meat of the plot is actually about the "violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized" (as stated in the synopsis). The messaging here is also about the same as many other stories (both fiction and non-fiction) over women experiencing violence and subsequently seek justice. The justice system is broken, and victims are often disregarded when the perpetrator is in a position of admiration and power. This is why this part of the messaging didn't pack as much of a punch for me; I've heard this message again and again and sympathize with real-life victims that have gone through something similar (e.g. Chanel Miller and her rapist Brock Turner). Although the messaging is tired, it's important in ensuring that we don't forget about these types of injustices. 

This story is told via third person POV switching. This was annoying during the ramp up (and there are A LOT of different characters to switch between), but during the thick of the plot, Backman draws parallels between characters' experiences and cleverly reuses phrases to show their different meanings in different contexts. This was problem one of the better executions of third person POV-switching story telling I've read ever, so I will give it props for that. Beartown wouldn't have been nearly as gripping without it. 

The final thing to note is that some of the sentences didn't flow as easily as they could have - I had to reread some sentences to understand the meaning (perhaps they would have benefited from additional punctuation or rephrasing). I can't tell if this is an issue with Backman's style or if it's a translation issue, but it happened enough to noticeably disrupt my reading flow. 

Even if you aren't immediately interested in the book, I would suggest giving it a shot. By then end, I was surprised how much I cared about these characters without noticing when I came to know them so well. It's definitely not a feel good read (I half-jokingly will say that I felt like I was despairing during part for this book), but it does feel more meaningful than the premise makes it seem. 

Book Blog #304: Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

 

Title: Beautiful World, Where Are You

Author: Sally Rooney

# of Pages: 356 (hardback)

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a warehouse, and asks him if he’d like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend, Eileen, is getting over a break-up and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood. Alice, Felix, Eileen, and Simon are still young—but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They have sex, they worry about sex, they worry about their friendships and the world they live in. Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?

Review: I was flipping between 3 and 4 stars for this book, but I firmly see it as a four star book now that I finished it. 

I can see why this is "John Green for adults" (where the adult part is that it would be more relatable for adults, and there are more descriptive sex scenes); it scrutinizes the little details in the characters' lives and includes at great length Alice's and Eileen's existential pondering. This leads me to the first aspect that I didn't like about this book; every other chapter or so include a letter (written of course in the first person) between Eileen and Alice. This is where most of the existential pondering occurred, and honestly I was bored of it. They would ramble about religion or something they read recently, and overall it really broke the flow of the story. 

The rest of the book is written in third person, switching between Alice and Eileen for the most part. Rooney takes advantage of the third person POV to also go at great lengths to write flowery descriptions of the characters' situation; this I actually enjoyed sometimes or at the very least didn't mind Rooney including these. I found it helpful to understand the sentiment behind the characters' interactions, and I was better able to visualize the scene. 

Nevertheless, Beautiful World, Where Are You is far from groundbreaking; the TLDR is that four people (Alice, Eileen, Simon, and Felix) all have varying degrees of mundane lives and struggle with happiness in their lives. It's very slice of life, albeit one of the better ones, that depicts the cruel plainness of life and how easy it is (especially in adulthood) to feel lost and lack meaning in one's life. 

Definitely not giving me the warm and fuzzies, but I appreciate that it made me feel a mix of happiness and sadness/sympathy toward the characters; if it makes me feel something then it deserves some brownie points. 

It wouldn't be on the top of my recommended list and definitely won't be for everyone (it took me a while to get myself to sit down and read this book because often times I didn't see where this book was going/what the point was). If you like reading slice of life / people struggling with themselves and their relationships with others while they just live their life, then this is the book for you. 

Book Blog #267: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

Title: Ask Again, Yes
Author: Mary Beth Keane
# of Pages: 390 (hardback)
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Mental Illness
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, two rookie cops in the NYPD, live next door to each other outside the city. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne—sets the stage for the explosive events to come.
Review: Overall a solid read, but definitely not a happy one.

Mary Beth Keane has written a gripping slice-of-life story about two families who's lives inevitably become intertwined. However, unlike most slice-of-life stories, Keane tends to quickly fast forward through the happy/funny parts and skips right to the big challenges and struggles.

I found myself tearing up several times because the characters reminded me of relationships I have with loved ones in real life, and it made me think a lot about what I have to appreciate in my current situation and what I may have to face in the future as I build new relationships and strengthen old ones.

There were only a couple of issues I had with this book. There was third person POV switching, which didn't bother me at first but became more frustrating as the story went on. Keane seems to use this third person POV switching to maintain the "grim" tone of the book (so if some characters are experiencing a happy time in their lives, the author might write from a different character's perspective who might not be having such a rosy time). The other problem is sometimes the characters seem to be portrayed in an emotionally disconnected way, which made some of the characters feel unrealistic.

One thing I do love about the book is how no character is truly bad; most people are trying their best, and some are definitely trying harder than others. It sends a good message to show that some people can go through severe hardships but still work on rising above and bettering themselves.

I would recommend this book!

Book Blog #266: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Title: The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Author: Heather Morris
# of Pages: 272 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners. Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive. One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.
Review: I was wavering between giving this book 3 stars or 4 stars.

I read a couple of top Goodreads reviews before starting The Tattooist of Auschwitz and was surprised to find that the biggest criticism - no prose - was not just an opinion but a blatant issue. A love between two people's fate is so uncertain should be a harrowing tale, but the emotionless writing style failed to evoke any emotion in me.

That being said, I'm touched by how this is based off of a true story. There are many times were I felt like the way a certain character's action/dialog were portrayed seemed fake/unrealistic (i.e. Lale's inner thoughts), but the thought of how they are reflective of how real people felt save the book from being dropped to 3 stars.

There is third person POV switching, but in this case, I don't think it distracts from the story too much. It is a short and easy read (the writing style is quite simplistic, like it is meant for early readers). Despite the writing style, I was hooked on learning about Lale's and Gita's fate and couldn't put the book down. The Holocaust is filled with horrors, and although each terrible event might be lackluster in its description, I couldn't help but solemnly consider what it must have felt like to have such things happening around someone without having any means of stopping it.

Overall, an okay read. Since it is such a short read, I wouldn't consider it to be a waste of time reading. The story of Lale and Gita is amazing to hear about, even if the way it is described in this book is lackluster.

Book Blog #265: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Title: Lolita
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
# of Pages: 211 (ebook)
Genre: Fiction, Classics
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. And none more so than Lolita, whom he'll do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster? ...Or is he all of these?
Review: I had to read this book as an ebook because I was traveling and didn't have a physical copy I could bring with me. If a book is already difficult to get through (i.e. is a classic), it becomes 10x harder for me to read it as an ebook.

It goes without saying that Humbert is one weird dude. His not-so-romantic relations with Lolita (Dolly) are told from his first person perspective, so we hear this story through an unreliable narrator. While it was interesting to ponder whether the series of events he describes actually happened as they said they did, Humbert definitely has some mental issues (pedophilia aside, sometimes he sounds straight up insane). Be prepared to read more attentively than you would for other books.

Overall an okay read; I wouldn't recommend it unless you are already interested and are ready to buckle down to read a classic.

Book Blog #264: Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

Title: Bet Me
Author: Jennifer Crusie
# of Pages: 391 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: Minerva Dobbs knows that happily-ever-after is a fairy tale, especially with a man who asked her to dinner to win a bet. Even if he is gorgeous and successful Calvin Morrisey. Cal knows commitment is impossible, especially with a woman as cranky as Min Dobbs. Even if she does wear great shoes and keeps him on his toes. When they say good-bye at the end of their evening, they cut their losses and agree never to see each other again. But Fate has other plans, and it's not long before Min and Cal meet again. Soon, they're dealing with a jealous ex-boyfriend, Krispy Kreme donuts, a determined psychologist, chaos theory, a freakishly intelligent cat, Chicken Marsala, and more risky propositions than either of them ever dreamed of. Including the biggest gamble of all—true love.
Review: I intentionally looked for a chick lit to read.

From my understanding, chick lits are not meant to be great literary works. They are written for the masses, primarily aimed at female audience (dare I say housewives?). I wanted something cheap, easy, and dirty, and I thought a chick lit would satisfy this craving.

My mistake was assuming all chick lits would have an emphasis on the physical aspect of a romantic relationship. Although I'm sure a fair amount do, this one did have nearly as much as I expected. The book concentrates more on the conflicts she has when interacting with Cal, her love interesting in the story who has a not so secret bet to get her into bed within a month of asking her out. Because him getting her into bed is the end goal, there's significantly less romantic action between the two of them than what I was hoping for.

This might be fine for some readers. Personally, if I wanted to read about a complicated romantic relationship, I would choose a book that does not fall under the chick lit genre. Like I said before, these types of books are not amazing pieces of literature. The relationships between friends/family/lovers are quite ridiculous and unrealistic. All the conflicts are petty, and the Min was annoyingly obsessed with Krispy Kreme donuts and chicken marsala.

There was also third person POV switching, and to make matters worse, the narrations were not very distinct. Although humor is not high up on this book's list of genres, I would classify it more as a romantic comedy, except that it's not even that funny.

I had pretty low expectations and was searching for a cheap, romantic read. This didn't quite meet that expectation which is why I am giving it two stars. I would recommend skipping this book for something else if you are searching for a romance novel or a good read.

Book Blog #263: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Title: Me Before You
Author: Jojo Moyes
# of Pages: 369 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is. Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.
Review: I had all intentions to give this book 3 stars.

I checked this book out at the library specifically because I wanted an easy (shallow?) romance read (and I wanted to watch the movie because Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin are in it). I didn't read into the synopsis; the only exposure I had was a clip from the movie where Will appears to be disabled and Louisa is his caregiver.

The reason why I wanted to give this book three stars: first person POV switching and the cliché plot. The story is mostly told from the first person POV of Louisa. However, Moyes would occasionally switch it up and randomly give Will's mother a chapter to tell the story, or Lousia's sister, or Will's father...but there did not appear to be any good reason as to why the story had to suddenly be told from their perspective.

I'm not going to lie; the plot is predictable anyone who is at all familiar with how emotional romantic novels go can guess how this story will end. I even read some reviews before starting this book and heard how people became emotional while reading. When I finally started reading, it seemed like your average book; a normal, boring girl's life changes when meeting a handsome, wealthy man.

DESPITE THIS, I ended up crying like a baby throughout the second half of the book. I don't know if it's because I've been extra emotionally recently (probably largely attributed to this, actually), but I haven't cried over a book like this in a long time. I was grateful I was reading this in a room by myself, otherwise people would have been concerned.

Although the plot is predictable, what makes this book stand out from other romantic novels is how it it gives readers some perspective on the lives of quadriplegics and some of the struggles they go through trying to live their lives in a world not fully equipped to accommodate. This story also tackled the difficult topic of assisted suicide, a highly debated topic that isn't as black and white as some people may think.

Educational benefits aside, another huge bonus is how realistic the characters are. There is not a single person who is all good nor all bad. The story reveals the complexity of different relationships: between parent and child, siblings, and partners. It's this realism that allowed me to "buy in" to the story and enjoy it.

No, it's not my favorite book. I probably wouldn't read it again, but I am so glad I decided to read it once. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this genre.

Book Blog #261: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Title: Middlesex
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
# of Pages: 529 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Middlesex tells the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides, and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family, who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City and the race riots of 1967 before moving out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction.
Review: This book took me an abnormally long time to finish. It has almost been two months! I had to check this book out at two different libraries because I wasn't able to renew at the first one.

Usually, when books take me this long to read, it's because I don't like them. However, this is not the case for Middlesex. This book was recommended to me by someone who knew I enjoyed books like Pachinko and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Middlesex spans multiple generations and "peels the onion" of Cal's life as a hermaphrodite. It's an interesting story for sure, but for some reason I was having issues staying awake long enough to make significant progress per reading period.

Something that did bother me about this book was how much the narration skipped around the timeline. I enjoyed the story when it was told chronologically, but since Cal is the narrator, he would skip to present day occasionally to give the reader an update on what is going on in his current life. This is a stylist choice, but it is one I didn't enjoy.

If it didn't have the magical power of putting me to sleep after only reading a handful of pages, I would have given it 4 stars. However, usually books that take me a long time to read indicate that I am not hooked by the story, which is why I docked a star off the rating. However, if the synopsis sounds interesting to you, I would recommend reading it. Although I wish it didn't take me as long as it did to read it, I do not regret reading it in the slightest.

Book Blog #256: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Title: Good Omens
Author: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
# of Pages: 412 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Humor
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist...
Review: This book just wasn't my cup of tea.

I only decided to read this book because the TV show just came out, and I saw that Neil Gaiman is one of the authors (although I've only read one of Neil Gaiman's books). I just don't understand the British humor, and my biblical knowledge is pretty limited. It took me a while to finish (over a week), which means I just didn't want to read it.

There is third POV switching between multiple people, and it is VERY sloppy. It was hard to keep track of all of these people, especially since some of the character's POV would only come up once (because the character is insignificant beside the one moment they describe from their POV).

Not worth the read.

Book Blog #249: One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat

Title: One Night at the Call Center
Author: Chetan Bhagat
# of Pages: 320 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Indian
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: Six friends work nights at a call center in India, providing technical support for a major U.S. appliance corporation. Skilled in patience–and accent management–they help American consumers keep their lives running. Yet behind the headsets, everybody’s heart is on the line. Shyam (Sam to his callers) has lost his self-confidence after being dumped by the girl who just so happens to be sitting next to him. Priyanka’s domineering mother has arranged for her daughter’s upscale marriage to an Indian man in Seattle. Esha longs to be a model but discovers it’s a horizontal romp to the runway. Lost, dissatisfied Vroom has high ideals, but compromises them by talking on the phone to idiots each night. Traditional Radhika has just found out that her husband is sleeping with his secretary. And Military Uncle (nobody knows his real name) sits alone working the online chat. They all try to make it through their shifts–and maintain their sanity–under the eagle eye of a boss whose ego rivals his incompetence. But tonight is no ordinary night. Tonight is Thanksgiving in America: Appliances are going haywire, and the phones are ringing off their hooks. Then one call, from one very special caller, changes everything.
Review: This was a borderline between one star and two stars.

I usually reserve one star rating for the books I really really hate. However, I saw on that the average rating for this book is 2.49/5 stars, so I had extremely low expectations when I began reading this book. These low expectations actually made me this story readable. Perhaps without any bias, I would have felt differently, but I was surprised that it wasn't as bad as the reviews were telling me it was.

Why would I read this book if there were so many bad reviews? Someone recommended this book to me, but I have no idea who. I'm not sure if Goodreads is buggy and accidentally added it to my recommended shelf, but either way it perked my interest as to how a book could be so bad.

One Night at The Call Center is the soap opera of books. Just because it exceeded my expectations doesn't mean it's a good book (any book that has any sort of plot/structure could exceed the expectations I had). If you don't think anything exciting could happen in just one night at a call center...you'd be right. Yes there were several DRAMATIC events that happen in this one night (and plenty of Shyam having flashbacks to past dates), but the way it's written is not very enthralling. Think The Office, but worse; everything is very mundane, and the "big" events that happen are usually due to people's ridiculousness. 

Spoiler alert: everyone in this book is to some degree miserable with their life. Shyam particularly has a bad attitude that makes this read as unpleasant as his personality. The people at the call center seem to think Americans are stupid, yet they are not geniuses themselves. They come up with dumb plans to meddle with each other’s relationships, and the men (especially Shyam) act like they have more hardships than women just because they’re male.

This must be some man’s fantasy. Of course the protagonist goes from being heartsick and bitter over his ex, only to be proposed to in the end by her. And of course he gets to be the proud male to reject her. Priyanka’s spontaneous decision makes her seems shallow, which I’m sure is how the protagonist sees most women, thus painting her in such a light.

And OF COURSE when the protagonist thinks he’s an idiot, she still accepts him with open arms in the middle of the road.

If this is an accurate portrayal of Indian people's view of Americans, women, etc., then at least I can say I've learned something. At the very least, I can say I learned something about the author and what perspectives he has or has been exposed to.

Would I recommend this book? Nope, not to anyone.

(And yes, he really does thank Bill Gates and MS Word. Microsoft and MS Word seem to be an obsession of the author's).

Book Blog #245: First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton

Title: First Term at Malory Towers
Author: Enid Blyton
# of Pages: 236 (ebook)
Genre: Childrens, Fiction
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: Darrell Rivers begins her happy life at Malory Towers two terms later than the other girls, but she soon makes firm friends with Sally, the steady one, and the adoring Mary Lou.
Review: I have no idea how this book ended up on my to-read shelf. Someone recommended it to me 6 years ago, but I can't remember who nor did I realize it was a children's book.

I can't imagine letting children read this book. It's about a bratty, clique-y group of girls in boarding school. Sure, there is some character growth, but the way many of these girls behaving is simply ridiculous. Some are violent, some like to exclude others, and all of them like to gang up on those who they don't like.

I would not recommend this book, especially not to impressionable young children.

Book Blog #243: Three Worlds Collide by Eliezer Yudkowsky

Title: Three Worlds Collide
Author: Eliezer Yudkowsky
# of Pages: ~100 (ebook)
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Stories
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Three Worlds Collide is a story written to illustrate some points on naturalistic metaethics and diverse other issues of rational conduct. It grew, as such things do, into a small novella. On publication, it proved widely popular and widely criticized. Be warned that the story, as it wrote itself, ended up containing some profanity and PG-13 content.
Review: I read (and listened to the audiobook version of) this because I loved Yudkowsky's HPMOR.

Unlike HPMOR, this book cannot be categorized as "fanfiction" because it is not based off of an existing story (although it has a bit of a Star Trek/Star Wars vibe simply because it takes place in space). Unlike HPMOR, this is obviously something that is very unpolished and not even close to being ready for publication (by traditional means). Although the concepts are interesting, and I can appreciate how Yudkowsky went about presenting such a moral dilemma, the story is all over the place.

Enjoying HPMOR does not necessarily mean you will enjoy this work from Yudkowsky. However, it is a short read, so if you are curious, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

Book Blog #241: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Author: Khaled Hosseini
# of Pages: 420 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.
Review: This was so much better than I thought it was going to be.

I was apprehensive to read this book because it takes place amongst all of the politics of the Middle East. As someone who is unfamiliar with much of the culture there as well as not being well-versed in the political situation in Afghanistan, I worried that this would be a difficult read for me.

However, since the book begins from the perspective of young Mariam, the book eases the reader into the setting and the cultural norms. The story switches between the third person POV of Mariam and Laila as their lives become intertwined, which is usually disruptive to the flow of the story but was not as detrimental to the story as it usually.

A Thousand Splendid Suns reminded a lot of Pachinko (a story spanning different generations, although ATSS did not span nearly as many as Pachinko) and All the Light We Cannot See (two tragic lives coming together amidst war and devastation). Although perhaps not as moving to me as these other books due to its less effective storytelling tactics, ATSS had me emotionally engaged every step of the way. I would highly recommend this book!

Book Blog #240: Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler

Title: Light from Other Stars
Author: Erika Swyler
# of Pages: 320 (ebook)
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: Eleven-year-old Nedda Papas is obsessed with becoming an astronaut. In 1986 in Easter, a small Florida Space Coast town, her dreams seem almost within reach—if she can just grow up fast enough. Theo, the scientist father she idolizes, is consumed by his own obsessions. Laid off from his job at NASA and still reeling from the loss of Nedda’s newborn brother several years before, Theo turns to the dangerous dream of extending his living daughter's childhood just a little longer. The result is an invention that alters the fabric of time.
Review: I received an advanced copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Although I am writing this review after the book has been published, I read the pre-release version.

What at first sounded like a touching historical fiction story turned out to be a strange science fiction novel.

The book confusingly switches between past and future in an attempt to tell both parts of Nedda’s (the protagonist’s) life story at the same time. Although this might be a better story telling choice than if both parts were told in series, the way it was told was definitely not the best choice.

This book is advertised to be about “fathers and daughters, women and the forces that hold them back,” but I found it was more about the complexity of relationship in a family and that there was more growth between Nedda and her mother than Nedda and her father.

If you are interested from the synopsis, go ahead and give it a read. However, if it sounds like a disorganized read, I would recommend against it.

Book Blog #237: Diary of an AssCan by Andy Weir

Title: Diary of an AssCan: A Mark Watney Short Story
Author: Andy Weir
# of Pages: 4 (ebook)
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Stories
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: This short story gives us a glimpse into Mark Watney’s world just before taking off on his mission for Mars. Read on for more from this exceptional character.
Review: Since I just finished reading The Martian, I was really excited to see there was a free prequel (read it yourself here: https://blog.whsmith.co.uk/andy-weir-the-short-story-prequel-to-the-martian/).

I knew it was going to be a short story, but I didn't realize it was going to be THIS short. Even when I saw that it was about 4 pages long, I was expecting a dense set of 4 pages containing the unknown part of Mark story leading up to his mission on Mars. However, these three short entries reveal nothing the reader doesn't already know.

It will literally take a couple minutes tops to read it, but there's pretty much nothing to this story. If you're interested, I'd say go for it because you're not wasting a lot of time. But afterward you'll understand that what is labelled as a short story is actually no story at all.

Book Blog #236: The Martian by Andy Weir

Title: The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
# of Pages: 369 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
Review: I was very surprised by how much I was able to enjoy this book.

By no means am I a science fiction buff (the opposite actually, aside from a brief obsession with dystopian YA books). However, since this book was so popular, and there was even a movie based on it, I decided to give it a shot.

Weir does a great job making a likable protagonist; his log entries are fun, so the reader actually wants him to survive. The biggest drag on the story is how much science there is. While I appreciate a well researched book, even the dumbed down science in Mark's log entries force readers to slow down to understand what exactly is going on.

This story is told in first person (the log entries) with the occasional section of third person narration and third person POV from the people at NASA. In this case, jumping between log entries and NASA is fine since there is a clear distinction between these two perspectives and they give a clear picture of what is going on at that moment. However, there still was some overlap between NASA's perspective and Mark's log entries that could have been eliminated to make the way the story was told perfect.

I enjoyed the read and would recommend it to those interested in the book. If you are scared of there being too much science, trying reading an excerpt and see how you fare; it doesn't get much more technical than it is in the beginning.

Book Blog #235: Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Title: Into the Water
Author: Paula Hawkins
# of Pages: 386 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help. Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind. But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped. And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool...
Review:

 “She just wanted the truth. The truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth” (314).

 I'll start out with what I enjoyed about the book. I loved trying to puzzle out the truth behind the deaths that occurred at in the river. However, this may be attributed to my interest in the mystery/thriller genre. Regardless, I was gripped by the suspense of the story.

That being said, there were a lot of issues with the story. There's my biggest pet peeve: first person POV switching. I understand why it was done this way; each character had to tell their version of the truth. Every character believes their side of the story is the real side of the story, and through these different perspectives, the reader is suppose to piece together what really happened to the girls who died in the river. However, this means there's A LOT of overlap between perspectives on the same parts of the story, which is the biggest pitfall of POV switching.

But if first person POV switching isn't confusing enough, there are way too many characters. Although some characters played crucial roles in piecing together this puzzle, others were morel like extras in the story (where their perspective isn't necessary). This book could have benefited from less POVs.

While I was reading, I thought a lot about a book I read a long time ago called Nothing But the Truth which was named after the sworn oath a person would take before testifying (see the second sentence in the quote at the top of this review). Both books observe a situation from different perspectives (and as a result leave major plot holes in their wake), but one is meant for adults and one is meant for younger readers. Nothing But the Truth received a lot of criticism, but part of me wonders whether Into the Water would have received similar treatment if it had to be dumbed down to a children's book.

Suspense novels kind of scare me, and this book was no exception which is why I won't be rereading this book anytime soon. I do admit it was an enthralling read, but it definitely had major issues. I wouldn't put it at the top of your to-read list, but if you are interested in the genre and aren't bothered by POV switching and some mysteries being left unsolved, be my guest.

Book Blog #233: The Weight of a Piano by Chris Cander

Title: The Weight of a Piano
Author: Chris Cander
# of Pages: 336 (ebook)
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: In 1962, in the Soviet Union, eight-year-old Katya is bequeathed what will become the love of her life: a Blüthner piano, built at the turn of the century in Germany, on which she discovers everything that she herself can do with music and what music, in turn, does for her. Yet after marrying, she emigrates with her young family from Russia to America, at her husband's frantic insistence, and her piano is lost in the shuffle. In 2012, in Bakersfield, California, twenty-six-year-old Clara Lundy loses another boyfriend and again has to find a new apartment, which is complicated by the gift her father had given her for her twelfth birthday, shortly before he and her mother died in a fire that burned their house down: a Blüthner upright she has never learned to play. Orphaned, she was raised by her aunt and uncle, who in his car-repair shop trained her to become a first-rate mechanic, much to the surprise of her subsequent customers. But this work, her true mainstay in a scattered life, is put on hold when her hand gets broken while the piano's being moved--and in sudden frustration she chooses to sell it. And what becomes crucial is who the most interested party turns out to be...
Review: I received an advanced copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This story was much more complex than I thought it was going to be.

The Weight of a Piano tells two stories; one of Katya in the Soviet Union in 1962 and the other of Clara in 2012. Although their stories take place during different times, Katya and Clara are connected through a collection of complicated relationships, each revolving around music and a piano.

This story is told in third person, and each chapter alternates between Katya's and Clara's POV. For this story, I think it's appropriate. It felt like peeling two onions at the same time. There's some overlap in the telling of these two stories which is necessary since these stories are happening at different times with different people but is still a bit bothersome for the reader.

My biggest complaint for this book is Clara's romantic life. She's a mess, which is probably on purpose for the sake of the rest of the story. But she's so all over the place, it makes it hard for me to like her and how she treats those around her. Her journey is very much focused on her own healing, without much care for how this process is effecting others.

Overall, it was a good read. It's quick and entertaining, so I'd definitely recommend it!