**

This book wasn’t a novel, i know, but it was all i had time to read this week, so bear with me. I bought this book when i was in love with Leo at age 10 and titanic had just come out and my obsession was ridiculous. I wanted everything leo. Unfortunately, i didn’t have the discipline to read his biography then, so 13 years later i read it.

That said this particular biography was geared toward tweens i believe. It was simplistic language fueled by an idealised version of leo. Leo the nice modest happy-go-lucky amazing actor who started because he believed in himself and that was all he needed to succeed in life. I would have rather read a more raw to the core version of  events, but it got the necessary details in there. Like how he got his start, how he learned to act, what movies he chose and why, and little know facts (like he’s fluent in german). Needless to say i’d recommend this book to tweens, however it’s quite outdated as it includes every movie before titanic but none after…

By: James Patterson

***

This book was endearing. I find his writing to be reminiscent of nicolaus sparks (whom i find quite simplistic and redundant). I don’t know if his mysteries are any better, but as for romance… quite drawn out.

Jennifer just lost her husband and baby in the same year. She’s had it rough. Now her grandmother has fallen ill and is in a coma. While exploring her grandmother’s house, she finds a stack of letters addressed to her, telling her the secrets of her grandmother’s past and how her grandmother (sam) didn’t really love her grandfather.

Meanwhile she meets a guy.

She falls in love with the guy just to find out he’s dying of a terminal illness that may or may not be cured by very serious and dangerous surgery which he refuses to have because he’s a doctor and he knows how these things turn out.

In the end the grandma wakes up and is fine, and the guy gets the surgery and of the like 10 percent chance of living he has, he lives. And all is well and grandma dies the next year with her sweetheart in hand and it’s butterflies and roses.

I would recommend this book to the die hard romance reader… it was an easy read, and i finished it the day i started it because I was morbidly curious how it ended. However, i’m quite cynical and find it all a bit Deus Ex Machina… if you know what I mean.

By. Mitch Albom

****

This book was excellent. Intreguing from beginning to end. Deep. Happy. Sad. Disturbing. And fairly well written. This book is about an old maintanence man who dies. Upon his death he meets 5 people in heaven who explain everything in his life so he can make sense of it all and reclaim some peace in heaven. First he meets the blue man, who he accidently killed by running in front his car, and causing the blue man a heart attack. The blue man explains that his death allows others to live and he isn’t bitter about any of it. Next he meets his captain from the army, who, after spending 6+ months as prisoners of war, leads his soldiers to escape, with the help of the old man. They then set fire to the vacant village as justice, and the old man swears he sees a kid in the shadows of one of the huts, and goes into the burning hut to save her. His men try to get him to stop and pull him out, but he’s fighting them, and so his captain shoots him in the leg to stop him from killing himself. This leg pain and the horrors of war has caused distress to the old man his entire life, and he’s finally able to forgive his captain for the pain in his leg, even though he did it to save the old man. The captain died a little later saving his men again. The third person he meets is Ruby, whom the pier where the old man works is named after. She convinces the old man to forgive his father, after all these years, because he died to save the life of a man who betrayed him. The fourth person he meets is Margarite, his wife. He spends a long time with her because he loves and misses her so much. He learns that just because life is over doesn’ t mean love is over. Last he meets an asian girl, about 5. He finds out that she was in the hut that was on fire and he killed her. She isn’t bitter about any of it though and he learns to let go of his hatred for himself and his buried feelings about the war. In the end he ends up on the farris wheel with Marguarite.

It is a cute book and apparently, as i just learned, it is also a movie. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, christian or not. It wasn’t awkward for me to read as an Atheist because I believe that people should believe how the want to believe and who am i to belittle your beliefs when i could very well be wrong. Also i think the thought of something beyond this life is a great comfort to many people, justification for all the suffering, and part of me sincerely hopes they are right and i am wrong, but part of me cannot believe they are right.

By: Nicholas Weinstock

***

This is a kitchy romance about a book publisher’s assistant who’s dead end job culminates with the planning of his boss’s wedding to an agent who is cheating on her. Meanwhile he meets Lauren, who is a wedding expose’ article writer who hates her job because she finds herself perpetually alone and is dealing with the departure of her father who left her mother for the hairdresser when she was just a child and has spent nearly her entire adulthood waiting for mr right and believing that love is a joke. They hit it off in their disdain for weddings together at the “butt table”, and they help each other, he edits her articles, and she helps plan his bosses wedding. He doesn’t tell her it’s his bosses wedding because he’s worried that the story might get out and his boss has demanded he keep it secret, so lauren falls in love with him but finds her self at odds thinking he is engaged. In the end the wedding he plans for his boss becomes his wedding and he proposes to lauren and her final article and his last day of work mark the beginning of their lives together.

I found this book to be super cheesy, but i loved it none the less. It was pretty romantic of him to go out on a limb like that for her, and a kind of neat farewell from the boss to pay for his wedding. The writing is pretty rudimentary, with few complex words and phrases and few page long descriptions (which i love!!). It got confusing in parts when the author would switch to taking about him and then talking about her. But if the reader continued reading it made sense eventually. Also there were like philosophical ploys to the reader to ponder before continuing the story which i could’ve done without, but some people will probably enjoy.  All in all i’d recommend this book to 14+ girls who love a good romance.

By: Anne Enright

AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL

*

I had to force myself to get through this book. I think it was mostly because of her cras view on life and everyone in it.

This book is about an irish woman who has a huge irish family because her mother couldn’t stop popping out babies. Her brother dies in england, and she was closest to this brother. He killed himself by drowning in a sea. It’s about the whole family getting together to mourn his death and about her secret about her brother and her memories of her family. It’s not so much plot driven as it is what the protagonist is thinking and remembers. And usually i would like this type of book, but i couldn’t relate to this protagonist at all. She hates her mom and blames her for all the kids her mom had. (11 kids, 7 miscarriages). And then she remembers fondly her grandmother and the story of how her grandmother and grandfather met and then the extra Lambert who is in love with her grandmother but can’t get her, so uses his money as leverage over her.

I wouldn’t recommend this book, unless your despondent view on life needs validation

I wonder if it is just an irish/english take on the world and i just don’t understand it.

By: Elizabeth Berg

MY NEW FAVORITE AUTHOR

*****
I loved this book. Maybe it was because I felt like i was thinking the exact thing she was thinking. We were synched.

Anyway, this book is about a woman who is getting older and feels her maternal clock ticking. She is friends with a wide array of characters from her constant friend Elaine, to her foreign-gullible-neighbor Sophia, to her most loyal customers (who never buy anything) Artie and Muriel.  She is in love with Ethan and has been for years. They used to date and have relations, but he’s decided he’s gay and although he loves her in his own way it will never be like “that” between them. So she tries dating but nothing works out for her, and even her parents are trying to get her to just have a baby and skip the wedding part because she’s getting past her prime.
Ethan also wants children and can’t seem to find a mate either.

So they decide to have sex and as luck would have it, first time they create a baby. Ethan tries to be straight for the baby and to get away from the stress of watching his gay friends die, but he can’t. Patty (our protagonist), is in the middle feeling her chest aching. But when her baby comes and Ethan names it after her ailing mother Patty feels justified. She thinks “this is good enough”.

I would definitely recommend this book, though i think women will appreciate it more than men. I love how she words things and describes what the character is thinking. I feel the emotions she is going through and even think that i think the same things sometimes. It’s relatable. I have wanted a baby for so long, and now that i’m having one it’s awesome. Though i hate being pregnant and know i’ll be so much closer to my son once he’s in my arms and out of my ever stretching belly. And we worry about the vain things like the strech marks and all the blah that comes with pregnancy that we tend to overlook when thinking about becoming pregnant. It is a daunting task i assure you.

By: Lisa Genova

I give this book 4 ****. I figure that i’ll try something different this time around. I’m going to answer the questions in the back of the book.

1. Why doesn’t Alice tell John that she became disoriented in Harvard Square? Is she afraid to face the illness, worried about his reaction, or something else?
               I think she doesn’t tell john because she is embarassed. She is probably worried about his reaction, but moreso i think she would be admitting she is losing her mind. She doesn’t want to seem weak, i think it is a battle with her self to prove she is still competent.

2. When she learns she has Alzheimers why does she dissociate herself?

               She has an out of body experience because she knows it’s coming but probably feels like dealing with it  would be easier separated from herself. I think also describing it like that makes it easier for the reader to understand exactly how she is feeling. Like she got hit by a tornado.

3. Irony? How does her academic ability affect her ability to deal with the disease?
              I think the purpose of having her be a professor at Harvard while having a brian that atrophies, allow us as to experience the full scope of the disease. I think that her academic ability allows her legacy to live on after the disease has taken everything from her.

4. John’s reaction?

         I think John’s reaction is appropriate. Everyone reacts differently to grief. For John to play with his ring is his way of dealing. He doesn’t show emotion too often and i think he doesn’t want Alice to have to worry about him as well as herself, and I think seeing her brilliant mind go causes him great strife and he deals with it by playing with innoculous objects.

5. Why is it form Alice’s perspective?

        I think so that we can truly feel what she is going through and can relate to her train of thought.

6. Why is John so upset about the news about the medicine?

         Because he realizes that there is no hope. The whole time he thought he thought Alice was on the Placebo and that was maybe why it wasn’t working. But the truth is that nothing would help it.

This book was good. VERY DEPRESSING, but a great look into the lives of Alzheimer’s patients. I learned alot about how the brain goes, and how quickly it goes for these patients. I would definitely recommend this book. IT’s well written, and written by a PhD. Very informative.

By: Caroline B. Cooney

***

This book is about a 15 year old girl who one day in the cafeteria discovers herself as a missing child on a milk carton. It is an interesting premise. She has been missing for 12 years and had no idea because she has the perfect life with the perfect parents. She stresses the entire book about telling her parents and discovers a chest upstairs with information about a girl named hannah. Her parents tell her that Hannah is her real mom and that her real mom was a member of a cult and brought Janie (the girl) to their house and asked them to care for her when she was three. They had to change their names and hide from the cult, for fear the cult would fine them. Eventually Janie figures out that Hannah kidnapped her from the Springs in New Jersey and so with the help of her boyfriend they phone the Springs and tell them. This is how the book ends, because the sequel covers everything you want to know in this book.

The writing was really simple and the book was really easy to read, it took me less than 3 hours. I was disappointed though. I don’t remember anything from when I was three, but she remembers the color of her mother’s apron and their dog’s name. I find that hard to believe. And it annoys me that throughout the entire book she is worried about what her parents will think and also worried that she is a bad daughter for just leaving and forgetting her real parents. And I think this is rediculous because she was 3. I don’t think 3 years can consciously decide to leave their families because they are spoiled and selfish. I think that notion is absurd. Furthermore, i’m irritated that the book ends on this note, almost forcing you to read more because everything you worried about the entire book is not resolved. In fact NOTHING is resolved. Also, I don’t like how you are supposed to like and sympathize with her boyfriend Reeve, when he is always pressuring her to have sex (though she’s only 15) and He leaves her and is already having sex with the “school slut” like 2 days later. I realize this is the reality of high school, but it is not this way for everyone and i wish books didn’t romanticize this notion, especially in a novel designed for YA readers. There were also some seeming frivolous parts to this story such as cake decorating with mom and soccer coach dad. Maybe it was to show her relationship with her parents, yet the dispairity among them. I also don’t get why she didn’t just ask her parents in the very beginning save her self all this fretting.

I really did like how the author discribed her feelings, however. I felt like Janie felt, in a fog, paralyzed, etc. Good discriptions without going overboard.

Overall I would recommend this book, esp to young adult readers. Guess I’ll have to go and get the next one, dammit.

Albert Camus

***

This book is a philosophical book about existentialism, or as the author refers to the character and himself, absurdism.

It begins with a character, Mersault, who views the world one day at a time and views it not for its emotions or actions, but for it’s sensory experience (the sun is hot, the sun is blinding). He finds out his mother has died and is going to attend her funeral. He doesn’t express any emotion because she is gone there is nothing he can do about it, and he feels nothing about it. They weren’t close. Other’s find his indifference eerie and view him as heartless, though he isn’t. He gets back home after the funeral and befriends a man named Raymond. Raymond asks his help in seeking revenge on his cheating girlfriend, and Mersault can so no reason why not so helps. He also reconnects with a girl Marie. They all take a trip to the beach where the girlfriend of Raymond’s brother and Arab, find Raymond and beat him and attack with a knife. Later Mersault is walking on the beach having taken the gun from Raymond and happens upon the two. The sun is hot and all he can think about is how the sun is giving him a headache and so he shoots the Arab 5 times. Afterwards he is tried for the crime and is completely indifferent and remorseless because of his philosophy on life. He knows he is guilty but sees no point in living in the past, he is in the present. They find him guilty and sentence him to death via guillotine. He isn’t saddened by this news however, and has a moment of enlightenment when the priest comes to try to convert him from his atheism. He realizes that God doesn’t matter and in the “gentle indifference of the world” he finds peace and is hoping there will be lots of people at his execution and the blade his sharp.

This is an interesting book and I disagree with basically the entire philosophy of Mersault, but it’s an interesting take on the world nonetheless. Sometimes i find myself thinking that regret and remorse are wasted emotions because there’s nothing you can do to change the past. However i cry and care about the feelings of other’s, which apparently existentionalism/ absurdism leaves out.

I wouldn’t recommend this book for the devout christian/Republican.

By: Nicolas Sparks

*

Plot: This book begins with a woman, Denise, and her 4 year old son. They are driving on a highway and it is raining, and Denise is reminiscing about her past and current predicament; Her son’s speech problem, her lack of work, a new town, new place, her ability as a mother, and how she abandoned everything for her son. She wrecks the car and blacks out. While she blacks out her son goes missing and is saved by Taylor McAden, a volunteer firefighter. As time progresses, she develops a relationship with Taylor and they fall in love. Taylor, however, has demons of his own. His father died in a fire trying to save him, and he believes that it is his fault and his entire live is dictated by this one event. He doesn’t allow people to get too close so he pushes Denise away. So they break up, until Taylor finally sees the error of his ways after talking to his mom and losing his best friend Mitch.

It ends happy and they get back together and have a baby named mitch.

It was a classic Nicholas sparks novel, complete with simple language and drawn out romance. I give it one star because there was little to no complexity in the plot and the story line was entirely predictable. That said, i couldn’t help but read the book cover to cover because I love a happy ending, call me cheesy but … it’s true. And I do like the little story about his father, however, i don’t really see the tie in and i think the addition of that story was done poorly. I would reccomend this book to the avid Nicholas Sparks fans and or teen girls, but for the reader seeking a complex novel, this is not for u.