Mar 6 - Mar 10, 2012

Never Let me Go
Kazou Ishiguro
Sci-Fi
Published 2005
288 pages

7.5/10

  In a society not unlike our own, particular children are raised to be prepared for a necessary but morbid fate.  Though some are never truly informed in outright terms, as they grow they come to understand (and ultimately accept with docile resignation) their final purpose in life...
  There's so little I can say about this book without giving away some pretty major plot points.  I'd rather let people enjoy it as it comes, as opposed to, say, being told the main idea you're supposed to slowly discover before you even read the goddamn book.  Ahem.  I'm talking to you, Janine.  But hell, at least I got to ruin Eat, Pray, Love for you.
  What I can say is that the general tone of the book is almost dreamy.  Once I realized what was going on, I wanted to rage against everything they were heading towards.  Why not run?  Find a place to hide?  Become a weeknight busboy at Denny's or a Thursday feature girl at the local strip club?

  Christ. 
  Maybe it was because our protagonists were raised in such a nice complacent environment.  Maybe if they'd been raised in the ghetto they would have been angrier.  The problem was, because our main protagonist was so accepting of the outcome of herself and her companions, I found it hard to get riled up as well, be it about their situations in particular or the book in general.

Don't get me wrong.  It wasn't a bad book.  It was extremely well written - it reminded me, in fact, of R.L. Stine's books.  Remember how there was always a jump at the end of each chapter, so you HAD to keep reading to see what would happen?  This was the grownup version of that same writing style.

  I just wish they'd gone more into... the stuff that I can't really get into without giving away the whole shebang.  You'll know what I mean if you read Never Let Me Go.  There was a lot of focus on the people, and I wanted to know... the everything else.  Though the people themselves were fairly interesting too, as they were definitely different (like, a LOT different) and reacted differently than other characters in similar situations in other books.  They definitely reacted differently that I would have, that's for sure.  Like I said, I'd probably be picking dollar bills up off a faux-wood floor with my asscheeks before I threw in the non-existent towel.
  It was an interesting book with a really neat premise, though it wasn't my usual cup of tea.  A little too soft and gentle for my taste, but still enjoyable.

Mar 2 - Mar 4, 2012

These Girls
Sarah Pekkanen
General Fiction
Published April 2012
322 pages

7.5/10

  In New York City, three women are drawn together by happenstance via a cramped apartment.  Cate is trying to find her way through a new high-ranking job position; Renee hopes that if she finally loses that stubborn 20 pounds she'll finally get everything she's ever wanted; Abby is running from a terrible secret - and everything she's ever wanted.  Through these trial and tribulations, they begin to discover new relationships with each other - and themselves.
  
  Is it possible to like a book based on how skillfully it was written, but still feel somewhat ambivalent about it?  Because that is exactly what happened with this book.
  On a technical level, it was great.  These Girls immediately drew me in with well-executed attention grabbing opener.  It was hard to stop reading because every time I got to the end of a chapter, I'd get ready to call it a night (or at 2AM, a morning I suppose) but my eyes would involuntarily stray to the next page and BAM - I'd be hooked again like a fat kid on cake, or an alkie on shaving cream.  I've never personally seen someone drink shaving cream, but my mom told me about how she'd seen a guy steal a can of shaving cream from a store and then proceed to run outside with it, pound it, and then immediately unswallowed a massive puddle of fluorescent green vomit in front of said store.  Yes, I grew up in the ghetto. True story.  Anyways, as I was saying, the style of writing made These Girls a super quick and easy read that I never seemed to be able to put down.  Heck, I read it in two days.
  The dialogue was spot on and the author (via her characters) made some really astute observations without going all preachy or indulging in "Look at me, I'm so clever that we're going to beat this point to death just to be sure that you understand how astute I am."which made it a lot more enjoyable.  
  It was fairly fast paced, with enough drama, cattiness, secrets, romance and intrigue to keep me flipping through the pages.  It was exciting enough, and I came thisclose to crying at the end.
  The problem it, it's just not my kind of book.  I had trouble identifying with the protagonists because I've never been in any of those situations.  And to be honest, I just kind of prefer buckets of blood to fistfuls of female relationships.
  But I'm more than willing to concede that just because it's not MY cup of tea, it doesn't mean it's not well written.  If you like this type of book, These Girls is definitely one to pick up.  Trust.

  *I also had a chance to do a little Q&A with the author (which is pretty damn badass) and I'd like to share her answers with y'all.
1) Out of all the characters, who would you most want for your roommate? Probably Renee, because she has such a huge heart and would be a lot of fun to go out with at night! Renee is also warm and friendly, and I love that about her – I can be a little bit shy at times and she’s the life of the party.

2) Which character would you avoid at all costs? The only one would be the slimy magazine editor who is overly flirtatious with his young female employees. Yuck!

3) Who do you identify with the most, and is this the same character you'd most like to hang out with, or is it someone else? Probably Cate, who is the features editor for Gloss magazine. I’m pretty driven with regard to work, like Cate. But I can identify with parts of each of my main characters – Abby loves nurturing the little girl she cares for in her nanny job, and I have three boys I dote on. And Renee is insecure at times, but also friendly and accepting, and I’m the same way.

4) What was your inspiration for this story? It’s hard to pinpoint – my ideas take shape gradually; I don’t usually have that lightbulb-going-on-over-my-head moments. For me, a book idea is more like cooking a stew – I toss in lots of ingredients and let it simmer while I do other things, like walk the dog and put away laundry. My subconscious is a great help when it comes to figuring out storylines.

5) Are there certain situations, relationships, or characters from These Girls that mirror your own life? Yes and no. My experiences and observations and relationships usually make it through onto the written page – but they’re filtered through a kaleidoscope first, so they don’t resemble reality by the time they make it into my books.

6) What is your strategy for dealing with reviews that are less than glowing? I’ve been pretty lucky with reviews in general, but there’s one publication that I always joke is about to send someone over to chop off my typing fingers – for whatever reason, they just don’t like my books! But I shrug it off. It would be crazy for me to expect every single person who reads my books to love them. Also , I write reviews for places like The Washington Post and I understand that a review is just one person’s opinion on one day. It’s not the last word on your talent or career prospects. What I hear from readers is so much more important to me than what I hear from reviewers, and I have some amazingly supportive readers!

7) Do you feel more confident in your writing now that you have a few books under your belt?  Or was writing your latest book as nerve-wracking as writing the first? These Girls was the first book I’ve ever written on a deadline, so I was definitely nervous. I obsessively plotted the book on index cards before writing a single word, because I was terrified I’d get blocked! But I met my deadline, and it gave me a real confidence, and my fourth book (which I just finished writing this week) came easily. Have I jinxed myself now for book five?

* Thanks so much for having me! And I’d love to connect with any readers on Facebook or Twitter @sarahpekkanen so please come find me if you’d like to chat more!

Oct 10 - Oct 25, 2011

Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood
Dystopian Future
Published 2003
443 pages

7.5/10

  A crusty weirdo recounts his recollection of the events leading up to the end of human civilization, while attempting to survive the current situation in which he is desperately trying to look after himself, as well as a beautiful race of super-humans.  Who don't actually seem to need his help, but he seems to like to feel important.   

  It's a tough thing, when you like the setting of a story, but not the main player - our protagonist, Jimmy AKA Snowman, is kind of an insufferable asshat, and almost wholly unlovable, in my approximation.  I say almost, because he loved his pet mutant rakunk and anyone who loves animals gets a point in my books, but that's it.  A point.  And really, that's all Jimmy gets from me.  He's desperate for approval, willing to compromise his ethics, treats women badly... do I need to continue, or can you take me at my word that I really just don't like him?
  As Snowman, he's somewhat changed, but not much for the better.  Clearly, he's insane.  He wears a bed sheet and sunglasses with one lens and sleeps in trees.  He's decided to make himself a sort of demi-God or go-between or what-have-you to a new race (that might possibly be the only substantial human-like race left) and chooses to deprive himself of their company and possible services.  OK, fine.  You don't want to feel like a burden of a weirdo, and you don't want to take advantage of them.  I can understand that.  It's a totally reasonable human reaction.  But since they seem to be doing just fine without him, why doesn't he go and make himself comfortable somewhere out in what seems to be THE ENTIRE ABANDONED PLANET.  UGH.  Maybe I'm just bitter and I daydream about the day that I'm the last person on the planet, and I can finally hole up in a Chapters and read for a hundred years until I'm a dried up sexy corpse.  I just don't get why you'd deprive yourself like that.  If he has such an affinity to these people, why doesn't he find a nice place nearby and visit them?  Why doesn't he ask for their help in building a proper shelter?  Why doesn't he do a billion things that I'm constantly asking him in my head (and sometimes out loud)?  Why why WHY?
  I think my problem is that I read The Year of the Flood, and was completely taken by Toby and Ren.  Not only were they strong female characters from lower-middle class backgrounds that I could totally root for, and not only did they accept their hardships, move on with their lives, and try to make the best of it, they stories were set in the "pleeblands" which was basically the ghetto, and I find that setting infinitely more interesting than the fancy suburbs where Jimmy lived.  I'll take fanatics, pimps, and grow-ops over... well, just about anything.
    I try not to let other books or movies influence the book that I'm reading, but in this case, I just couldn't help it.  Reading Oryx and Crake after reading The Year of the Flood is kind of like how I imagine watching Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark:

Followed by a viewing of the same movie, but told via correspondence through Indiana and his kindly grandfather, as they both sit in their nice houses in suburbia drinking lite beer.

  But while I was somewhat turned off by the protagonist and the setting, and therefore spent a lot of time dicking around and studiously avoiding reading this book, when I did actually pick it up, I enjoyed it more so than a fair few books, because Margaret Atwood writes like a motherbitch.  There's a certain flow that lets the reader just kind of zone out into the book, and I find her work an easy read; not because it's fluff (her stuff never is) but because you immediately sink in and find yourself totally enmeshed in the story.  No shitty grammatical and spelling errors, no glaring continuity issues, and no garbage dialogue.  She's pretty fuckin' dialed, that woman. 
  So it was a well written book, about an interesting subject, peopled with characters I didn't like, in a setting that bored me. 
  And still better than some of the bullshit I read. 

Dec 14 - Dec 19 2010

Pariah
Bob Fingerman
Horror
Published August 2010
365 pages

7.5/10

  It's your typical end-of-the-world Zombie Apocalypse: a group of folks are holed up in an apartment building and suffering from in-fighting, cabin fever, an overly aggressive closeted penis-touche that can't cope with his bromance who makes up for it by being a huge douchebag, and slow torturous starvation.  Now lets throw in a freak with Zombie immunity and see who screws it up first!
  There aren't too many places one can go with the Zombie Apocalypse: You're either Team Evade and Survive or Team Pursue and Unlive.  You're either a person doing people stuff (running in terror, looking for a missing loved one, being a wiener or possibly badass) or a Zombie doing undead stuff (eating brains, moaning, shuffling slowly or possibly fast).  Basically.
  So your Zombie story can either be a good old-fashioned (haha, "old-fashioned" ) pow pow shoot-em-up "I'm going to cross hell's half acre to find my lost family/cure/barista from Starbucks who always remembered to put extra cinnamon in my latte and, oh yeah, had a sweet rack, I mean, those things had to be Double D's AT LEAST" while evading Zombie scum kind of adventure story, or you can try to throw together something a little more original.  Pariah gave it a shot.
  I mean, immunity; that's pretty new.  It's a good concept.  And with the book being so well written, it definitely could have worked out.  It was alright, but it had some problems for me.  First off, just because it's an original concept, it doesn't mean that we have to eschew ALL traditional Zombie vehicles and skip out on so much action.  There were a few awesome gory deaths, most of which where surprisingly unexpected, but not a lot else to get the old blood pumping.  There was a whole lot of blah blah blah and soul searching.  And for how much blah blah blah there was, the whole immunity thing wasn't very well explained at all.  She's a crack baby?  OK, fine.  But how is she the only one like this so far?  Our locale is the upper East Side... there HAS to be more than one crack baby.  Hell, there has to be more than one mutant crack baby.  But there's only Mona.   Unrealistic!  And I felt it could have ended on a less cheesy note.  It should have been more like the illustration on the last page, and less like a modern-day Norman Rockwell painting.
  But to be fair, the actual bits of horror that I did find were actually pretty gross.  Eddie's behavior in general was particularly note-worthy.  And the art was fantastic.
  So while it was technically a well done book, it was just too drawn out for me.
  It's hard to find a happy medium between intelligence and action in Zombie fiction.