Several Book Reviews

Four out of Five Stars

"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers

 

I had a little trouble with this book.

I gave it Four Stars because it did make me laugh out loud at parts, the story was interesting enough, and for the most part, I liked being in his head. But "being in his head" often made me exhausted -- punctuation, PLEASE! I realize that was his unique way of writing, but I swear sometimes one thought would go an entire page without a punctuation mark, and that just exhausted me and hurt my head.

Sometimes I felt like the story was a little too "precious", but I still rather enjoyed it for what it was. 

 4 out of 5 stars

"A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey

I read this knowing about the controversy around it -- was it true, was it partly true, was it total fiction?

I enjoyed it regardless -- but then, I liked "Girl, Interrupted", too.  Any story where the protagonist lifts themselves out of a crap life is a decent story to me.  If I had read this thinking the entire thing was real, I think I'd feel the same way, and consider any fabrications an issue with a completely trashed mind from all the drugs and alcohol.  Of course, I only read one article about the many discrepancies, so if you have others I should read, please let me know!

4 out of 5 stars

"A Bum Deal" by Rufus Hannah

I picked this up on my Kindle during one of their sales.

It's interesting that the last two books I've read have been about either addiction or some sort of misery, true, or in some cases, nearly true.

This book is about the controversy of a group of college boys who thought it would be fun to hire bums (with booze and a free hotel room) purely to see what stupid and dangerous thing they could get the homeless to do, and then record it and sell it. 

The way these idiots treated human beings, human beings incredibly down on their luck, is nauseating.  Rufus Hannah writes about his rise from homelessness to the courtroom when the men who profited handsomely from their ridiculous videos were brought to trial.

An interesting read about homelessness.

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Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs, and wrote the blog An Artist's Year Off.  She is the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party.

Book Review -- "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

I devoured this book. If you liked "The Hunger Games", you'll probably like this one, too.


Set in the dystopia of Chicago, people are separated into "factions", each representing a particular virtue. At the age of sixteen, each person chooses a faction to belong to forever. However, for some people, they're suited for more than one faction, and are known as "Divergent" -- and that's not a good thing. Being Divergent poses a threat to the faction -- being of two minds, two minds that are open to just the values of their home -- so they're all silent about their designation.


The book centers around the initiation into the faction, which is a brutal process not all survives. The main character, Tris, and trainer, Four, are really interesting to follow, and I was thrilled to learn this is a series (I just picked up the book on a whim).


Highly recommended.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs, and wrote the blog An Artist's Year Off.  She is the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party.

Book Review: "The Photograph" by Penelope Lively

5 out of 5 Stars

SPOILER ALERT
Go no further if you want to read the book.

This is a story of how lives can change even ten years after the death of a loved one. 

Glyn, widow of Kath, is a driven professor.  Kath's sister is an equally driven landscape artist.  Kath reads as a free-spirit.  Ten years after Kath's death, a photograph found of her holding hands with her sister's husband.

The book hops chapter to chapter among various people.  One chapter may focus on Glyn's relentless search to find out if Kath was unfaithful in other ways.  (I despised Glyn, by the way.  What a horrible husband.)  Kath's sister struggles with her feelings  of ennui with her husband Nick and uses this new revelation as a way to kick Nick out of the house. 


As I read the book, I was struck by how little ANYONE knew Kath.  She would reach out, but was increasingly left behind and alone by all the people who should have mattered to her.  Ultimately, this strikingly beautiful free spirit commits suicide, but only after phoning and leaving a message to please call back - to her husband, and to her sister.  Neither called until some ten hours later, showing once again, as throughout the book, how little Kath figured into any of their lives.

I read the book in a day, and while it's gotten some bad reviews, it resonated with me, and the way Lively uses words is reason enough to read it.

Recommended.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs, and wrote the blog An Artist's Year Off.  She is the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party.

Book Review -- "The Favored Queen" by Carolly Erickson

Three out of Five Stars

I've been spoiled by Sharon Kay Penman and Phillipa Gregory.  While this book was a very quick read, and interesting, it felt far less genuine and not nearly as well written as books by other authors I mentioned.  At the end of the book, Erickson states this is her interpretation, but I wish she'd put that at the BEGINNING of the book.

I have also watched "The Tudors" which of course just glamorized the heck out of things (such as, Henry VIII never got fat).  I've read a lot of fiction AND nonfiction about this era, so while I was enjoying the book, I kept thinking, "that's not right".

I'm not sure I'd recommend this book since there are so many other books that are better.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs, and wrote the blog An Artist's Year Off.  She is the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party.

Book Review -- "Atypical: Life with Asperger's in 20 1/3 Chapters" by Jesse Saperstein

4 out of 5 Stars

I'm really impressed with Jesse Saperstein.  Diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome (a mild form of autism, and one of the most misunderstood), he write his memoirs to not only tell his story but share his insight into how the community at large observes Asperger's.


For those who don't know, Asperger's Syndrome is a mild form of autism, but shouldn't be discounted.  Symptoms range from inability to read social cues, repetitive actions, intense interests or fascinations in certain things, inappropriate outbursts or comments, and in more severe cases, tics (stimming), hand flapping, and meltdowns.  Before Asperger's was recognized by the medical community in the 1990's, people with this disability (as he calls it in his book) had to suffer through school and life with no help, being labeled lazy, weird, and the like.


Saperstein is remarkable in that he grew to be able to work with people.  A very memorable experience touched my heart.  He raised nearly $20,000 for a Pediatric AIDS/HIV foundation by hiking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail (that's 2,178) over seven months.  His story of that hike was both heart-warming and hilarious and showed that there is a little bit of Asperger's in all of us.


One of the things that stuck in my head was Saperstein's comment about how "tolerance" can be a bad word.  "Tolerance" can equal "ignoring".  If people "tolerate" a person with a disability, often that means they don't give that person a second look, a CHANCE.  First impressions for person with Asperger's is difficult, so instead of turning your head in "tolerance" and ignoring -- try giving a chance.  This message of Saperstein's will stick with me always.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs, and wrote the blog An Artist's Year Off. She's also a contributor to Art Bead Scene and is the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party.

"The Winter Sea" by Susanna Kearsley

Wow. This was an amazing book.


I don't think it's a secret that I love the Scottish time period surrounding the Jacobite Uprisings. After all, "Outlander" is my all-time favorite series. So I figured I'd enjoy this book, centered around the doomed '08 Jacobite Uprising.


The book is really two books in one. An author visits the castle Slains in Scotland to begin writing her book about a character involved in the '08. As she writes, she starts to have, for lack of a better work, waking dreams, dreams that allow her to write things that are uncannily real to the history. There's the book that centers around the author, her burgeoning romance with a local historian, and her struggle understanding how she could be having the same memories as her ancestor. Then there's the book about the '08, full on intrigue, betrayals, love, love lost, and all the details in between.


One of the things I loved about this book is it's the first book that succinctly and absolutely explained the '08, the Jacobites, the fight for the crown, and the switching of alliances to me. Anyone who reads historical novels knows how confusing keeping up with who's who can be. There are too many Henry's, Charles's, and Edward's, and the Duke of York is a title, not a person, as the title stays but the name continually changes. "The Winter Sea" did a fabulous job of explaining the '08 and the reasons behind it without bogging things down.


I must admit, I cried at the end, and I truly regretted closing the book when I was done. The hallmark of a 5-Star rating, for me, is missing the characters, and I am already missing them.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs, and wrote the blog An Artist's Year Off.  She's also a contributor to Art Bead Scene.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party.

Book Review -- "Sing You Home" by Jodi Picoult

 This book deeply affected me.

My son was born via in vitro and ICSI. My husband and I were very, very fortunate and only had to go through one cycle, but I could completely empathize with the main character's many shots, invasive procedures, and heartbreaks. It was a trying time for me, and I wouldn't want to go through it again - it's why my husband and I made the conscious decision to only try once.


This book deals with what happens when a husband and wife divorce and frozen embryos are left to be fought over as "property". It's a horrible, sad court room drama with much more involved than just the right of one parent verus another -- and I won't go into that here because I feel it would give away too much of the story.


I will say that Picoult brings up religion, something I rarely talk about. In this case, one side has gone over to a highly polarized church that preaches hate and intolerance of anything but what they choose to pull out of the Bible for convenience's sake. The vileness of the Westboro Baptist Church comes to play and I'm sickened to the bone at just the mention of their name (not just because of their general philosophy, but because they threatened to picket a friend's military funeral -- and wisely chose not to show up).


I am a Christian. I have a deep faith in God. But I do NOT believe in a God who would be as cruel and vile as some of the filth that comes out of the mouths of some of the characters in "Sing You Home". I'm quite certain I'll have dissenters to my opinion, and that's completely ok. I'm open to mature discourse, but not to screaming or damning speech. And that's what I think is wrong with religion today -- the inability for communication between differing opinions. Picoult makes a good show of that, whether she meant to or not.


Like most of her books, this is a tough one. However, for me, it was a page-turner, and left me thinking.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs, and wrote the blog An Artist's Year Off.  She's also a contributor to Art Bead Scene.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party.