Tag: america

Review: Where’d You Go, Bernadette

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Where'd You Go, BernadetteMaria Semple, Where’d You Go, Bernadette

Bernadette Fox is a middle-aged wife and mother who is having so much trouble coping with daily life that she outsources all her errands to a virtual Indian assistant. Her loving husband, Elgin, has made a fortune working for Microsoft but is never home as a result. Her 15-year-old daughter, Bee, is always a source of joy, but the other parents at Bee’s school for gifted children drive Bernadette crazy. As Bernadette struggles with social anxiety, hostile neighbors, a house that’s falling apart, and an unexpected visit from the FBI, things slowly begin to slip through the cracks — until one day she vanishes. Devastated, Bee sets out on a quest to find her mother, compiling all the documentary evidence she can find that might give her a clue to Bernadette’s whereabouts. Bee’s search for her mom eventually takes her as far as Antarctica, and it also gives her a greater understanding of Bernadette’s personality by unearthing secrets from her past.

I was a little nervous to read this book, fearing that it wouldn’t live up to the hype, but luckily there was no need to worry! Normally I would have little patience for someone like Bernadette, who doesn’t seem to realize how priveleged she is, with a loving family and plenty of money. But Bernadette is just self-aware enough to realize the ridiculousness of her behavior, so I was able to look past the more obnoxious aspects of her personality. Also, this book is really funny; I especially enjoyed the e-mail conversations between Audrey and Soo-Lin, two of the other parents at Bee’s school, who both hate Bernadette. I loved the book’s quasi-epistolary format — it’s basically a collection of the documentes Bee finds while searching for her mom, with some narration by Bee — and I loved that there was a plausible reason for how Bee obtained all these documents. All in all, this book went much more quickly than I thought it would, and I’d definitely recommend it as a fun vacation read!

Review: Since You’ve Been Gone

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Since You've Been GoneMorgan Matson, Since You’ve Been Gone

Emily and Sloane are best friends; they’ve been inseparable ever since Sloane moved to town two years ago. While Sloane is adventurous and outgoing, Emily is shy by nature and happy to be known simply as “Sloane’s friend.” But one day, Sloane and her family are simply gone, and Sloane isn’t answering any of Emily’s calls or texts. Emily is both shocked and completely overwhelmed — how will she survive the summer without her best friend? Then she finds a list from Sloane, a list of tasks designed to get Emily out of her comfort zone. Not knowing what else to do, Emily decideds to complete the list, hoping that once she does, Sloane will come back. Some of the tasks seem relatively harmless (“Apple picking at night”), while others seem impossible (“Kiss a stranger”). But with help from some surprising sources — including popular class president Frank Porter — Emily makes her way through the list and gains a new identity in the process.

This book is the perfect summer read! It’s got everything — friendship, humor, romance, ice cream, and a sense of infinite possibility. Reading it, I felt nostalgic for the summers I had growing up, playing with the neighborhood kids and feeling like the summer would never end. I found Emily a great, realistic character; she’s more of a follower than a leader, she’s a bit unsure of her own identity, and she relies on Sloane to provide the adventure and excitement in her life. I loved watching her grow as a person and have her own adventures. I also adored the sweet romance with Frank, who is the kind of guy I totally would have had a crush on in high school! But the relationship at the heart of the book is really the friendship between Emily and Sloane, who is an incredibly vivid character even though she’s barely on page. In fact, my only tiny quibble with the book is that I wasn’t satisfied with Sloane’s reason for disappearing on Emily. But I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great beach or vacation read this summer!

Review: Jackaby

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JackabyWilliam Ritter, Jackaby

Abigail Rook has just arrived in the New England town of New Fiddleham with nowhere to go and no way to earn a living. As she sits in a tavern and ponders her next move, she encounters a strange man who turns out to be R.F. Jackaby, a private investigator with an extraordinary gift for detecting paranormal activity. Abigail’s talent for observation lands her a job as Jackaby’s assistant, and she is immediately embroiled in the investigation of a gruesome murder. Jackaby is convinced that the killer is supernatural, but the police scoff at the very idea — except for one young detective named Charlie Cane. With Cane’s help, Jackaby and Abigail pursue the investigation, encountering a banshee, a helpful madwoman, and a possible bridge troll along the way. Meanwhile, Abigail relishes the excitement of her new job, but several people warn her to stay away from Jackaby. She wants to keep her job, but will it cost her her reputation — or even her life?

Despite the fact that this book is classified as YA or even middle-grade, I really enjoyed it! The book is narrated by Abigail, a plucky protagonist who is suddenly thrown into a magical world with nothing but her wits to rely on. I like that she is basically ordinary; though smart and brave, she doesn’t have superpowers, so she is very relatable as she encounters the surprises and challenges of this world. Jackaby is a really fun character as well, with more than a few similiarities to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes! I also loved the richly imagined world of this novel, especially the random little gags that didn’t have much to do with the main plot, such as the frog in Jackaby’s office, or what happened to his former assistant. The mystery itself was fairly easy to solve — I figured out whodunnit almost as soon as the guilty character was introduced — but the fun of the book is the characters and setting. I’d definitely recommend this book to fans of historical fantasy, and I’m looking forward to the sequels!

Review: Mambo in Chinatown

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Mambo in ChinatownJean Kwok, Mambo in Chinatown

Charlie Wong is a 22-year-old woman who lives with her Pa and her younger sister, Lisa, in New York City’s Chinatown. Although Charlie has lived her entire life in the U.S., she has very little contact with the world outside Chinatown. She works as a dishwasher in the restaurant where Pa makes noodles, but she dreams of a different life; so when she learns that a ballroom dance studio is hiring a new receptionist, she jumps at the opportunity. At first, her impulsive decision seems disastrous — she’s too shy, her clothes are all wrong, and she has trouble reading and writing down the dancers’ appointments. But when, due to a scheduling error, she is forced to teach an introductory class, Charlie realizes she has a gift for dancing. As Charlie learns more and more about ballroom, she also becomes more confident and optimistic about her future. But when her sister Lisa falls ill, and Pa will only use Eastern methods to treat her, Charlie wonders if she can truly reconcile her two different worlds.

This book is the literary equivalent of a feel-good movie; maybe it’s not great literature, but it’s entertaining and heartwarming. I really liked Charlie, even though her character arc is somewhat unbelievable (she goes from being a receptionist to a teacher in a matter of months!). She feels shy and perpetually clumsy, and she doesn’t really know how to react to this unfamiliar world of ballroom dancing. Watching her struggle to open up and be more confident was a pleasure, and I felt I could relate to her to some extent. I also enjoyed the portrayal of the Chinese community in this book, as Charlie begins to question some aspects of her upbringing while embracing others. I especially liked that Pa, the voice of tradition in the novel, is portrayed as a sympathetic character even though he doesn’t agree with all of Charlie’s choices. There’s also a sweet romance and a few tidbits about ballroom dancing, which I enjoyed. Overall, I’d recommend this to fans of chick lit or feel-good stories — it definitely left me smiling!

Review: Waiting on You

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Waiting on YouKristan Higgins, Waiting on You

This third installment of the Blue Heron series features Colleen O’Rourke, co-owner of the local bar in the small town of Manningsport, New York. Colleen is beautiful, popular, and kind, with a penchant for matchmaking. But while she loves getting other people together, she hasn’t experienced a romance of her own in years — not since her first love, Lucas Campbell, broke her heart. When bad-boy Lucas moved to Manningsport during Colleen’s senior year of high school, she was smitten immediately, and they soon embarked on a passionate, intense relationship. They stayed together despite going to different colleges, and Colleen was convinced that Lucas was her one and only. But shortly after a breakup as unexpected as it was ugly, Colleen heard that Lucas had married someone else. But now Lucas is back in town, and his presence is stirring up some familiar feelings. Do Colleen and Lucas have a second chance, or will she get hurt all over again?

While I really enjoy Kristan Higgins’ contemporary romances, this book wasn’t one of my favorites. I think the biggest problem, for me, was the choppy timeline; it seemed like at least half the book took place in flashback, showing how Colleen and Lucas first met and fell in love. Both characters also have very involved backstories — Lucas’ tough childhood where he always felt like an outsider, Colleen’s reaction to her parents’ difficult divorce — and I didn’t quite get invested in them. I think these backstories were supposed to give the characters depth and make them sympathetic, but to me they felt a bit clichéd. Don’t get me wrong — this is a fun, light, romantic read, and I’d certainly recommend it to fans of contemporary romance. It’s just not my favorite of Higgins’ books, and I’m hoping that she will wrap up the Blue Heron series soon and move on to new endeavors. That said, I wouldn’t mind a book featuring Colleen’s brother Connor as the hero!

Review: One More Thing

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One More Thing-Stories and Other StoriesB.J. Novak, One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories

In this collection of (very) short stories, B.J. Novak — formerly a writer, producer, and actor on the US version of “The Office” — uses his comedic imagination to ask a variety of hypothetical questions. What if the hare who lost the fabled race to the tortoise became obsessed with thoughts of a rematch? What if the handsome man you met in a bar turned out to be a brutally violent African warlord? What if you could literally hold a mirror up to Earth? And what if Chris Hansen, of “To Catch a Predator” fame, were forced to go to a Justin Bieber concert at the insistence of his tween daughter? Novak answers these questions and many more in his debut collection of funny, dark, ridiculous, and often poignant stories.

The first thing to say about these stories is that most of them are very short, some no more than a page or two. So most of the stories don’t have time to delve deeply into plot or character; rather, they focus sharply on a single joke or idea (see, for example, “The Comedy Central Roast of Nelson Mandela” or “The Market Was Down”). In that sense, it’s easy to see the influence of Novak’s TV background. However, even if you aren’t a fan of “The Office” or its style of comedy, you should still find plenty to enjoy in this book! I was very impressed by how smart Novak obviously is; clever wordplay and literary allusions abound. Several of the stories are laugh-out-loud funny, but the comedy is often followed by a swift stab to the gut. One story in particular, “The Ghost of Mark Twain,” gave me chills. Overall, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book, but I was very pleasantly surprised!

I was fortunate to be able to attend a book signing with Novak at which he read a few of the stories out loud. Having heard the stories in his own voice, I would strongly recommend the audiobook to those of you who enjoy that format. Apparently Novak reads many of the stories himself, although there are some “special guest appearances” by other actors such as Mindy Kaling and Lena Dunham.

Review: Transformations

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TransformationsAnne Sexton, Transformations

This book is a collection of poetry, and I don’t really know how to review it, or even whether “reviewing” is appropriate for something that is supposed to strike you in a fundamental, visceral way. The poems are all re-imaginings of fairy tales as told by the Brothers Grimm, and Sexton uses the old stories to shed light on modern themes and concerns. For example, here’s the end of “Cinderella”:

Cinderella and the prince
lived, they say, happily ever after,
like two dolls in a museum case
never bothered by diapers or dust,
never arguing over the timing of an egg,
never telling the same story twice,
never getting a middle-aged spread,
their darling smiles pasted on for eternity.
Regular Bobbsey Twins.
That story.

The stories are all set in that quasi-medieval fairytale past, which is interestingly juxtaposed with some very modern language. When the witch in “Hansel and Gretel” is cooked in the oven, “Her blood began to boil up / like Coca-Cola.” When the prince in “Cinderella” tries the glass slipper on every maiden in the kingdom, the narrator observes, “The prince was getting tired. / He began to feel like a shoe salesman.”

All in all, this collection didn’t make a huge impact on me, but I would recommend it to people who like poetry and fairy tales. I’d definitely like to read more of Anne Sexton’s work!

Review: The Grimm Legacy

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Grimm Legacy, ThePolly Shulman, The Grimm Legacy

High-school student Elizabeth Rew is feeling lonely: her new stepmother is taking up most of her father’s time, and she’s just transferred to a new school where she doesn’t have any friends. So when her history teacher suggests that she get a job with the New York Circulating Material Repository, she looks forward to the new experience. The Repository is a lending library for objects, including famous historical artifacts like Marie Antoinette’s wig; but Elizabeth soon discovers that there are even more important objects to be found. Specifically, the Grimm Collection houses fairytale items with magical properties, including flying carpets and seven-league boots. As Elizabeth explores the wonders of the Grimm Collection, she also befriends her fellow employees, including popular Marc, beautiful Anjali, and standoffish Aaron. When some of the magical items go missing, it’s up to Elizabeth and her newfound friends to discover who is stealing from the Grimm Collection — before they become the thief’s next victims.

A few years ago I read Polly Shulman’s other book, Enthusiasm, and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me quite as well. I absolutely loved the premise — what if you could actually borrow the magic mirror from Snow White or Aladdin’s lamp? — and many of the details related to this concept worked very well. I especially liked the idea that borrowers had to leave a “deposit” for the items, which could be something like their sense of direction, their singing voice, or their firstborn child. The problem with the book is that it’s geared toward a very young audience. I don’t have a problem with YA in general, and I’ve read many excellent books in the genre, but this one really felt like YA or even juvenile fiction. If I’d read the book at age 11, I probably would have loved it, but as an adult, I found it far too simplistic. There were also a few plot points that weren’t fully fleshed out, such as Elizabeth’s relationships with her dad and stepmom. Overall, the book is a decent read, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re really OK with juvenile or YA fiction.

Review: With a Little Luck

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With a Little LuckCaprice Crane, With a Little Luck

Classic rock DJ Beryl “Berry” Lambert claims she doesn’t believe in luck; but thanks to her gambling-addict father, she has a superstition for almost every occasion. She wears a horseshoe necklace at all times, is appalled when someone opens an umbrella indoors, and believes bad luck comes in threes. So when perpetually single Berry goes on two promising first dates that both end in disaster, she’s convinced that her next boyfriend will be equally unlucky. But then she meets Ryan Riley, a successful “relationship expert” who works at her radio station, and their on-air squabbling soon takes a flirtatious turn. Ryan seems like the perfect guy — witty, handsome, and tolerant of Berry’s superstitious quirks — but she is convinced that he’ll eventually reveal himself as bad-luck boyfriend number three. Is Berry doomed to be perpetually unlucky in love, or will she meet her match at last?

Ever since I read and really liked Crane’s first novel, Stupid and Contagious, I’ve been hoping to enjoy her subsequent books just as much, but I’ve always been disappointed. Sadly, With a Little Luck is no exception; it’s a decently-written chick lit novel, but that’s about all I can say for it. Maybe part of the problem was that I couldn’t relate to Berry at all. Her belief in random superstitions is just so extreme, and while it’s understandable that she would have baggage given her past, she seems determined to sabotage every good thing in her life. I also didn’t particularly warm to Ryan, who is a fairly two-dimensional character throughout the book. I couldn’t figure out what makes him tick or why he’s interested in Berry at all. Even as a person who loves fluffy romance, I still have to believe that the hero and heroine would fall for each other, and that just wasn’t the case here. If you’re a chick lit fan, you could do worse, but you could also do a lot better.

Review: The Girl Is Murder

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Girl Is Murder, TheKathryn Miller Haines, The Girl Is Murder

Fifteen-year-old Iris Anderson is having a hard time. About a year ago, her Pop returned from Pearl Harbor with a missing leg, which meant he was no longer able to do the active work required by his business as a private investigator. As a result, Pop and Iris have moved from their old affluent neighborhood to a poor area on the Lower East Side, and Iris has to go to public school instead of the elite private school she formerly attended. Hoping to get closer to her only surviving parent (her mother committed suicide shortly after Pop returned from the war), Iris tries to help Pop with his cases, but he forbids her from having anything to do with the PI business. When one of the boys at Iris’ new school goes missing, however, she can’t help but do a little sleuthing. Along the way, she makes a few friends at her new school, including the unpopular Pearl and the glamorous, fast-talking Suze; but as Iris navigates her way through various cliques and social minefields, how will she know whom she can really trust?

If you enjoy Haines’ Rosie Winter mysteries, you’ll feel right at home in the world of this novel, set in the fall of 1942. The book isn’t about World War II, yet the war permeates almost every aspect of Iris’ life, from the slang used by Suze and the other cool girls at school to the disturbing racisim and anti-Semitism espoused by some of the characters. (These attitudes are definitely not condoned by the book, however; they simply mirror the atttitudes of many Americans at that time.) I liked Iris as a protagonist; her problems are specific to her era yet also universal, as she struggles with her own identity, fitting in, and building a relationship with a distant parent. Her voice is occasionally too precocious for a 15-year-old, but I found that flaw forgivable since she’s so entertaining. As a mystery, the book is very weak; Iris doesn’t spend much time investigating anything, and she’s not even the one who solves the case! So I’d recommend this to someone looking for an interesting YA book about World War II, but it’s not a great read for a mystery fan.