Snazzified

Book #9 - The Woman Lit by Fireflies by Jim Harrison

I was given this to read on a recommendation from a friend and am glad I took him up on the offer. Harrison has a straightforward voice without any excessive flowery language, which I appreciate. His characters are well developed, but leave enough mystery so as to keep you reading. This book contained three separate stories, and each served as a snapshot in a longer history. Sure, they could have each been their own novel, but Harrison lets you in on a particular and significant moment in the character’s lives with just enough back story to help you understand how they came to be. It’s a style that clearly works well for him.

Book #8 - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

An unassuming man is faced with a vivid reminder and mystery from his young adulthood, thus bringing into question many things, such as how we remember, evolve, and survive. Though short, this novel packs a subtle bite.

Book #7 - Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell

I typically adore novels like these that portray artists’ lives, but this one was a disappointment. In the end, I didn’t feel as if I understood Monet any better despite slogging through this tedious novel. I’m only harsh about this because I’ve read much, much better.

Book #5 - Micro by Michael Crichton

When life hands you lemons, your pleasure reading starts to look like this year’s line up. Not pure foof, but not high-minded literature either. Crichton is a guilty pleasure and his latest provided a much needed escape from reality. It has all the perfect ingredients for an escape: thrills, violence, heroism, science, greed,  and adventure.

Book #6 - Elliot Allagash by Simon Rich

Even after finishing this novel, I still can’t decide if I think it’d be better as YA or adult fiction. I guess it’s a good crossover, in a sense. The main character, Seymour Herson, is your typical unpopular nerd character who lacks charisma, intelligence, and ambition. Along comes Elliot Allagash, a bajillionaire with too much time on his hands, who makes Seymour is personal pet project. Predictably enough, Seymour eventually does mature to the point where he understands that he shouldn’t be anyone else’s pet project (he’s still rather dull), and Elliot ends up with a new one anyway. Sure, there were funny moments in this short read, but it just didn’t tickle me.

I may also be biased because I am terrified of the author. I made the mistake of turning to the back flap and was shocked to see this:

For some reason, I find this man TERRIFYING. I think it’s because he looks like someone’s creepy younger brother. I realize this is completely irrational and it’s unfair of me to judge him like this, but I can’t help it. My visceral reaction to his face is fear.

Book #4 - Anna Quindlen’s Every Last One

I think I’ve discovered a new genre: Suburban-mom-meets-tragedy. Ever notice that there is a plethora of books that start off with nice, middle class moms (they’re always physically attractive) with two or three kids and either something from their semi-dark past reappears or a tragedy befalls them, forcing them to reassess everything? How is it that I keep picking these books up?

This novel fits perfectly in this genre. Nice mom, three kids, good husband, tragedy, aftermath, rebuilding, rays of hope, the end. It’s not that it’s poorly written or boring or anything like that; it just feels predictable.

Book #3 - Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife

In case you weren’t already aware, this novel is loosely based on Laura Bush. The main character, Alice Lindgren, starts out as a sweet little girl living with her parents and grandmother in a small Wisconsin town and ends the novel as the wife of Charlie Blackwell, the president.

What’s so exciting about novels of this type is that it makes you really think about the character and the person upon which that character was based and wonder which parts hit the nail on the head and which were just creative additions of the author. Did Laura Bush read this, and if so, what did she think? Did Sittenfeld capture some deeper emotion of the former First Lady, or was she way off base? I guess we’ll never know.

Besides the story being so curiosity-raising, it was also quite well written. The characters came alive on the pages with far more range and depth of emotion than their real life counterparts would ever allow.

Book #2 - Save Me by Lisa Scottoline

This novel is tricky as heck! The shocking event from which the rest of the novel stems made me believe that this would be a story of how Rose McKenna, the main character, overcomes guilt, shame, rage, and a plethora of other strong emotions in the time following the aforementioned event. (I’m trying really hard not to give anything away!). She’s a mother put in an impossible situation with no right answer, and I fully expected to follow her on an emotional roller coaster for the rest of the novel…

Except it didn’t quite go in that direction.

It could have easily become a novel about overcoming hardship, but instead, it veered into the territory of mysteries, suspense novels, and thrillers. This didn’t end with an exploration of how Rose grows from the tragic event; it follows her as she hunts down answers and takes brave leaps into dangerous places. The action towards the end was a pleasant twist to what otherwise could have turned into a boring chick lit novel.

Book #1 of 2012: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

This novel captures the all too familiar feeling of being at a crossroads post-college. Madeleine, a lover of Victorian literature, struggles to find her own purpose in life as she strives to support Leonard whose mental health issues further muddle things up in their relationship and in his vision for the future. Meanwhile, Mitchell travels through Europe and then India in order to find his path while pining gingerly for Madeleine. Their lives intertwine, but each character’s inner struggles are painted out for us to read and try to understand. The future may be unclear, but it’s the way in which they arrive there that is so significant.

At the risk of sounding cliche (but seriously, when do I not?), I could really relate to the inner through processes of the three characters. Graduating from college and having the world in front of you to conquer is simultaneously thrilling and exhausting. We set such high bars for ourselves, only to feel disheartened when things don’t fall into our laps with the ease we were led to believe they would. What recent graduate hasn’t felt that? And Eugenides captures this emotion perfectly. His writing is wistful, eager, and desperate in all the right places. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I found it to be a helluva novel.

Book #52 - Michael Levy’s Kosher Chinese: Living, Teaching, and Eating with China’s Other Billion

This was a predictably humorous book written by a former Peace Corps volunteer who found himself spending two years in a part of China often neglected by those in the West. As expected, there were funny anecdotes about the awkward use of English, introductions to strange foods, and reflective moments in which Levy feels either well-acclimated to Guiyang or completely clueless as to how to handle a situation. In turn it is an honest account of one man’s struggle to be and express himself while being respectful and appreciative of all that is foreign and new.

Book #51 - Second Nature by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Sicily Coyne is horribly disfigured as a child at a freak church fire that also kills her father. Her mother’s early death left her in the hands of her spunky aunt who raises her to be a strong despite the stares she receives outside.

After a major twist to the fire incident is revealed and her engagement called off, Sicily pushes to participate in a risky surgical procedure — a face transplant. Without giving too much away, I’ll tell you that there are other “complications” that come up.

This novel seemed to throw quite a bit at the reader, especially at the very end. I was content reading up until the last chapter or so, which skips forward to a conclusion that just felt wrong. Of course, it’s the author’s prerogative to conclude her novel in whatever fashion she desires, but this ending just didn’t work for me.

Book #50 - The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson

Perhaps this book would have been more enlightening had I not studied anthropology and therapy (which inevitably includes a class or two on abnormal psych). My own personal beliefs surrounding definitions of terms like “psychopath” were further validated in that Ronson never arrives at a straightforward dictionary definition of psychopathy.