Get Lost in Literature

  "This is how we sometimes lose people: not all at once, but little by little, like the wind blowing specks of pollen from a flower." The Land of Lost Things is the long-awaited sequel to The Book of Lost Things. The Book of Lost Things is one of my favorite books and is located on my Top Ten Books to Get Lost on a Deserted Island With list. Having never reviewed The Book of Lost Things , I feel compelled to tell you a little about it first. The Book of Lost Things is about a boy named David; his mother dies and his father remarries. Increasingly unhappy with his homelife, that now includes an infant half-brother, he falls deeper into the stories that bring him comfort... Until he accidentally opens the door to Elsewhere. In a world beyond his own, he finds fairytales and monsters reminiscent of The Brothers Grimm . I know certain adults have the compulsion for lumping all fantasy novels in with YA, but this book was not aimed at young adults. This book is a coming-of-age...

"Everything that's born has to die, which means our lives are like skyscrapers. The smoke rises at different speeds, but they're all on fire, and we're all trapped." This is the second year in a row that I have cheated with letter X and gone with 'Ex', but I bet I'm not the only one who has so maybe that's okay. Even 'Ex' was hard to find a book that suited my reading tastes. I considered Douglas Preston's  Extinction  but found the main character unlikable after the first few chapters, and there was Excavation  by James Rollins which I just wasn't in the mood for. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, chronicles Oskar Schell's search for answers. His father dies on 9/11 and Oskar is the last one to hear his father's voice leaving him feeling both guilty and grief stricken. He plays tambourine and keeps a scrapbook, makes up inventions and bruises himself when he feels bad. But when he finds a key hi...

 So this is the part where I normally drop a quote from the book, but due to restrictions on ARCs, I'm not allowed to do that. Birdie is a flighty, free spirited single mother who drinks too much and despite her love for her daughter, harbors a secret desire for freedom from responsibility. One morning she meets Arthur, a recluse who lives in the mountains. He's a bit odd, talking only in present tense and the townspeople mostly eschew his company with the exception of his father Warren, Birdie and her daughter, Emaleen. As their relationship deepens, Arthur invites Birdie and Emaleen to come live with him in his derelict cabin... But Arthur harbors a dark secret that he keeps from his new family. The setting of the book takes place in rural Alaska and the descriptions of the scenery, flora, and fauna are positively decadent. I've never been to Alaska (although I'd love to visit) but Eowyn Ivey's writing makes me feel right at home there. The characters are flawed i...

  "What's done in the dark always comes to the light." Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones Today's review is short and to the point. I don't really feel the need to summarize the book as it's blurb is pretty accurate, except where it calls Skeet's dog his "prize pitbull." The dog, China reads as her own unique character, same as the kids her fight and loyalty run strong in her blood. But for those of you who've never heard of it, this is about a family living in rural Mississippi. It's about the kids who rule the household as the father drinks himself into a stupor, at a time when Hurricane Katrina is coming ashore to tear their worlds apart. The opening chapter is kind of weird, detailing the dog giving birth, but afterwards, I couldn't put the story down. The bond between the children runs deep, which is good thing because the father is not Father of the Year. His kids take care of him, rather than the other way around. The hurricane bar...

  “He had thought love as a policy made a lot of sense for those who could manage it, and anyone who could manage it belonged in religious life. The rest of us have to struggle with more ordinary love, the common or garden variety: love as a crippling condition. Love as a syndrome.” ― Gregory Maguire, The Next Queen of Heaven So my Q entry is a bit of a stretch, but I hadn't read a book that starts with Q and I settled for a title with a Q in it. Today's review is short and to the point. What do I think about this book? I think anyone who gave it a rating of two stars or less, doesn't understand satire or is too deeply devout to laugh at themselves. I thought it was fantastic to use humor to bring a bit of reality to light; the constant press for moral conformity from religious groups and the conflicts with the flawed individuals who attend. I also thought the parallels between Jeremy's long failed relationship with Willem and Tabitha's recently failed relationship ...

“You want to know what weakness is? Weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you. Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves.” ― Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing SPOILER ALERT!  I couldn't make myself cut down my review to avoid them. I feel like this book should be taught in schools. It's basically about the birth of racism in America. It starts in Africa, where villagers on the Gold Coast strike a deal with the Europeans. The locals are willing to facilitate the trade of other Africans from other villages in exchange for payment. Effia and Esi, two sisters who will never meet, are unfortunately worlds apart. Effia will marry into a life of luxury, while Esi will be sold into slavery. I couldn't really figure out how to review this book, without giving spoilers. I had a US History teacher lecture once on slavery: He said during the days of slave trade, a black woman had more value to a plantation owner than a black man because a woman could be used to make mo...

“They would just trade one type of shackles for another, trade physical ones that wrapped around wrists and ankles for the invisible ones that wrapped around the mind.” Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi My rating: 5 of 5 stars I feel like this book should be taught in schools. It's basically about the birth of racism in America. It starts in Africa, where villagers on the Gold Coast strike a deal with the Europeans. The locals are willing to facilitate the trade of other Africans from other villages in exchange for payment. Effia and Esi, two sisters who will never meet, are unfortunately worlds apart. Effia will marry into a life of luxury, while Esi will be sold into slavery. I couldn't really figure out how to review this book, without giving spoilers. I had a US History teacher lecture once on slavery: He said during the days of slave trade, a black woman had more value to a plantation owner than a black man because a woman could be used to make more slaves. (view spoiler) [When Es...

  "...the right book exactly, at exactly the right time."  This story is a wonderfully lighthearted, humorously told, fast-paced adventure, fit for any bookworm who has ever dreamed of having an adventure.  Clay Jannon is deeply relatable (I too was unemployed during a recession) nerd looking for a job; he finds one at a bookstore in the shady part of town. But it's a bookstore where no one ever buys a book and the customers are asking for unusual titles with names that can't be pronounced... The terms of his employment include a promise to his boss that he will not open the books, but the best adventures start with a little rule breaking.   I spent the entire day reading this. No regrets. It's kind of odd to classify this as a fantasy, to call it just fiction is also a tad unfair. This is fantasy like a daydream is a fantasy; no spells are cast and no wild creatures frolic, but there is magic in the written word. Robin Sloan writes an atmosphere fit for a wizard ...

Today I want to talk about some of my favorite contemporary stories. No witches , wizards, time travelers,no vampires, aliens, or zombies or anything else like that. I want to talk about realistic fiction  and characters that are just like you and me, except maybe more entertaining.  I adore Ursula Under by Ingrid Hill. It's about a little girl who falls down an abandoned mine shaft and the miracle of her existence. It's not just about the little girl, it's about her ancestors who nearly didn't live, who nearly didn't conceive children of their own. How a chance survival affects the future.  The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling. The best part about this story is that I could look at these characters and point to their mirror image in my own town. The busybodies, the teenagers who think they're so smart, the moms who don't know when to grow the hell up, the power-hungry and the downtrodden... The town of Pagford is at war over whether or not they should ex...

“Peter Lake had no illusions about mortality. He knew that it made everyone perfectly equal, and that the treasures of the earth were movement, courage, laughter, and love. The wealthy could not buy these things. On the contrary, they were for the taking.” Winter’s Tale starts with as a poetic an image any fairy-tale could manage: a white horse traveling through scenic New York City on perfectly snow covered dawn. This is a story of winter romance, magic and miracles, good vs. evil, spanning the industrial age to modern times, as the characters search for reason and justice in the world. My initial reaction to the book? If you liked Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus , or any of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work, you’ll probably love this story. The painstaking attention to surreal descriptions and the weaving of the fantastic into a canvas as bleak as a city filled with violence and sickness…Well, it dragged me right down to a time where a person could believe anything was pos...

This book should come with a warning. It's absolutely wonderful for the person who  LOVES  words to the point of madness. It is not for the reader looking for something "light." I admit, I am not sure where to start my review (there was sooo much content), so I may ramble a bit. Bruno the chimpanzee always wanted to be human…Then Lydia Littlemore, a primatologist, adopts him from a zoo and teaches him how to speak English. The story starts dramatically, humorously, as Bruno’s animal nature clashes with human society and eventually the story spirals deeper into darker more serious material. Cognitive thought, philosophy, art, shame, love, and grief; what it means to be human and the sacrifices Bruno unknowingly makes to become one. Several times during the reading, I laughed, blushed, and cried… I forgot the story was actually written by a human hand and began to think this the story of Bruno, told by Bruno. And more than once I was surprised to find Bruno pointing o...

Providence: Once Upon a Second Chance by Chris Coppernoll Jack Clayton is a devout Christian, who has spent most of his adult life working to help the poor. He collected the stories of the people who blessed his life, published those stories, and finds himself on a best-seller list with a bossy publishing agent who demands a personal memoir... A memoir Jack doesn't actually want to write because of a misspent youth in which he hurt a lot of people. I had trouble with the book. The writing was straightforward and easy to follow, but in the beginning Jack felt a bit bland. His character develops a bit more, after he's agreed to write his memoir and his character starts to become more flushed out. But then I feel like the story was wrongly titled, Once Upon a Second Chance ...I felt like it could also have been named, Self Flagellation for People Who Blame Themselves for Everything . Jack starts his memoir as he's graduating high school, leaving for Providenc...

Y2K approaches and the town of Thebes spirals into chaos as Mrs. Leontina Scales sustains a head injury that leaves her senseless and her daughter, Tabitha, of questionable morals, takes control of the household. Jeremy Carr, a gay church choir singer, is torn between his past and his future, and left to perform for a convent full of aging nuns. I loved Gregory Maguire's first step out of the realm of fairy-tales and into that of religious satire and I'm surprised to find I'm one of the few who thought this book earned 5 stars. I think anyone who gave it a rating of two stars or less, doesn't understand satire or is too deeply devout to laugh at themselves. I thought it was fantastic to use humor to bring a bit of reality to light; the constant press for moral conformity in religious groups and the conflicts with the flawed individuals who attend. I also thought the parallels between Jeremy's long failed relationship with Willem to Tabitha's recently fai...

Pi Patel, unfortunately named after a pool, is a peculiarly devout boy growing up in India. His family consider themselves to be "Modern Indians" preferring to put their faith in Business than in God; his practises are unorthodox to his preachers and perplexing to his family.  The shifting of politics in India, force Pi's father to make the decision to sell off the zoo he owned and operated, and emigrate to Canada, beginning Pi's miraculous journey across the Pacific. After the cargo ship, transporting Pi's family and animals goes down, Pis is left stranded on a lifeboat with his belief in a higher power and a dangerous Bengal tiger... I don't consider myself agnostic or atheist, but I'm not traditionally religious... My parents aren't religious, they didn't take me to church or instruct me on what we believed; I was left to make my own conclusions about the world as I saw fit. I grew up believing in the power of books above all else; book...

Smart Mouth Waitress (Life in Saltwater City #2) by Dalya Moon Peridot is an 18 year old smart mouthed waitress. Her mom took off to LA to record an album leaving Perry in charge of her moody dad and her stoner brother. Despite being in charge of her household, Perry's given herself a mission: find a boyfriend. This is great light reading, the story flows with wit that borders somewhere between sarcastic and socially awkward... Grammatically, the comma placement needs a little work, but the sentence structure was hardly the most distracting thing. The characters: eh. They had their high points and low points.  Perry, the main character, comes off as a strong leading lady in some scenes, an image helped by her smart mouth... But her desire to change who she is, simply to impress men and get laid is a bit ridiculous. I know she's 18, but c'mon; she's taking care of her family, working, driving-- one would think she's responsible enough to know better...

Four teenage boys--a ladies man, a lover, a dork, and an oddball--are looking for one last hurrah together, partying it up and trying to get laid, before they have to grow up and go off to college.  Does the plot seem familiar? Tragically, it's the same plot given to us by Adam Herz, in American Pie . David H. Steinberg, who is credited with writing the storylines for American Pie 2  and  American Pie: Book of Love,  should, and probably does, know this. As a fan of the American Pie movies, I entered into this book with slightly more than an open mind; I was pretty damn excited! And even though the first few chapters did make me laugh, the more I read the more I found myself waiting for the story to pick up. I eventually came to a realization: This is all there is . Here's the problem and there is no way of getting around it: This story is like evidence that Steinberg peaked with AP2 . This story reads like a retelling of AP1 , with a slightly less f...

The book blurb just begins to describe what this book is about. Barry Fairbrother, parish council member dies of an aneurysm, his death acting as a catalyst for a war between the inhabitants of Pagford. The small town can first be fit into two groups. Pro-Fields and Anti-Fields. The Fields is a ghetto, for lack of better word, and its addition to Pagford district was unwelcome from the get, and the council been trying to get it rezoned ever since. The deceased was from Fields, and now his seat needs to be filled. As the campaign run begins, you get to see the lives affected by this war: wives who resent husbands, girlfriends who cling desperately to failing relationships, parents who don't understand their kids, teenagers who hate their parents...All of them harboring rich fantasies of who they think they are, conflicting with who they actually are. The biggest virtue of this book is the characters. There is no shortage of characters in this town, each with distinct personalit...

As children, Meredith, Brandon, Greg, and Stephen are childhood friends. Then high school happens. Meredith changes into a "mean girl", Brandon and Greg become star athletes, resorting to bullying to gain more attention. Stephen doesn't really change; for Meredith, Brandon and Greg, that's a real problem because Stephen is gay. Being gay makes Stephen different, it makes him a target. The parents of Meredith, Brandon, Greg, and Stephen have all got their own problems. Meredith's parents' marriage is failing, crumbling apart. Greg's parents ares hiding the spousal abuse. Brandon's parents are hiding mental illnesses and extramarital affairs behind the pretty facade of their lifestyle. Stephen's mom, a grieving widow, is terrified of losing her son. All the while, the endless and unforgiving cycles of domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and self loathing take its toll on the kids...not that they can take the time to notice. Then one night, full ...