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Book Review: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

June 24, 2013

Bee is a gifted young woman. She is at the top of her class in her private school. Her parents promised her a gift of her choice should she graduate with honors … of course she does well and asked for her wish… a cruise to Antartica. She asks her parents and they can't think of a reason to say no. Bee has been accepted to a ivy league boarding school (by her choice not her parents) and she wants to have an adventure with them before she leaves.

Bee and her parents live in an dilapidated mansion in Seattle, WA. Her mom, Bernadette, is a bit of an odd duck. Bee loves her mom, she considers her to be her best friend, confidant, and co-conspirator. Then one day Bernadette disappears and Bee is left trying to pick up the pieces and clues as to where her mom ran off too. In reviewing the electronic footprints of her mother, she finds some strange e-mails between Bernadette and her Indian personal assistance Manjula. Bernadette, has completely outsourced her life to Manjula. Elgin, Bee's father, is a genius Microsoft employee. He works the majority of the time leaving Bee and her mom alone together. As we find through Bee's research, her mom had an interesting past. Bernadette was once a Macarthur grant winner, but now she is a recluse. So much so that she is completely uninvolved at her daughters school. Her philosophy is to write a check so that folks will leave her alone. There are two "gnats" from the school that just won't leave her life alone, Audrey and Soo-lin. Audrey is clearly insane. She is one of those people who has so little to do in her own life that she completely attaches herself to the idea of stirring up trouble in Bernadette's life. Bernadette's reaction to Audrey ends up getting her in hot water with Elgin. Elign's misinformation begins to accumulate and Bernadette's life spirals out of control.

I loved this book. It's fun and smart. I really adored Bernadette. I know she's a bit crazy but she's a good mom and seems like the type of person I would want to know, especially if espionage is required.

Favorite quote:

"You think it's boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it's on you to make life interesting, the better off you'll be."

Book Review: Inferno by Dan Brown

June 20, 2013

Robert Langdon wakes up in a hospital room in Florence, having no clue as to how he got there. Oh Robert, what did you get yourself into this time? His doctors tell him that he's been shot and has amnesia. Before he has the opportunity to glean more information, an assassin makes an attempt on his life. He is rescued by Sienna, one of his doctors (the attractive one, of course). Sienna stows Langdon away in her flat. While looking around, Langdon gets the impression that there is more to Sienna than meets the eye.

Meanwhile, the reader learns about a madman's, Bertrand Zobrist, plan to destroy the world. He believes that overpopulation will bring the destruction of mankind. Zobrist pieces together a plan that will correct that issue. A plan that is so well executed that it carries on even after his suicide.

Langdon finds himself on the hunt for the Zobrist's virus. Only Robert can find the clues to locate the virus before its too late. Using clues from Dante's Divine Comedy of course.

I was in break room this week and a co-worker asked what I was reading, I said, "oh, the new Dan Brown. What are you reading?" She said, "Anna Karenina." Reading Dan Brown can feel like a fact that you should hide. I am a serious reader, I shouldn't like Dan Brown, right? It's not well written, in form or context. But it's fun. This isn't my favorite Dan Brown book; there are some fun things: car chases, pretty girls, tweed jackets, etc. Unfortunately, the ending fizzles out. I get the feeling that Brown wrote himself into a corner, unable to find a way out.

Book Review Quickie: Saga Vol 1 by Brian K Vaughan

June 18, 2013

Super quickie....

I've seen this book pop up again and again. I finally borrowed it from my library and loved it. The story is told as a child relaying the story of her birth and early life. It starts when she is born in the back of a garage while her parents are hiding from people who want to kill them. They are in a war between two races, they represent one of each. The father is a ram and he's trying to give up his violent ways so that he can live a peaceful life with his new family. The mother, a fairy type, is not willing to give up those ways. She was given orders to watch the ram guy and apparently they fell in love. She is a badass. I love it.

(Audio)Book Review Quickie: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

June 10, 2013

Quick note: Sorry for the blog silence, I've gone through a bit of personal drama, but am now settled enough to get back into this blog, yay!

Anywho, this is a bit of a quickie because I listened to the audiobook several months ago and though I recall general information regarding this book, I've lost the specific details.

The narrator was ok. She tended to often fade into the background, which I believe was a mix between her voice and the author's style of writing, which tended to over explain. The story itself was interesting,

Susannah was a young-writer in NYC. She began to experience what many thought to be psychological issues. So much so that she was diagnosed as bipolar, a diagnosis which quickly escalating to schizophrenia. Her mother and father refused to accept the diagnosis, as it is so far removed from the Susannah that they know. After a month of hospitals, tests, and specialists, the true cause is found and Susannah begins her road to recovery.

This originated as a column explaining the situation and it should have remained as such. Susannah seemed to have to stretch a lot to make this interesting as a book; she peppered the text with phrases such as: "little did I know" or "I would soon find out." She was trying to insert drama into a story that was dramatic enough.

Bookish Stuff You Should Know (vol 4)

May 22, 2013

Mostly slow week in the book world, but here are some cool things that surfaced on the internet:

J.K. Rowling will donate an annotated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for a charity auction. How does this benefit the readers? The Guardian will have the annotations online for viewers to scroll through.

Commencement address given by David Foster Wallace, has been brought to life via this youtube.com clip. It's really amazing, I haven't read Wallace, but this makes me want to, any suggestions of where to begin?

The text originates from a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College on May 21, 2005. He is considered to be one of the top writers of the late 20th century. I'm starting his book Infinite Jest as soon as I can find the time.

There is a Neil Gaiman short story available at Audible.com for FREE! Best part is that it's narrated by Neil himself.

Nina Katchadourian has a neat project on her website of poetry made by strategic placement of book spines. Some are funny, some are poignant. The idea is pretty neat, head over to Nina's website to check them out.

Happy Reading!

Book Review Quickie: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

May 20, 2013

I simply did not enjoy this book. Yes, yes, I know that it's on every must read list of any importance, but I just did not find it interesting. The only reason that I did not abandon this book is because of how often it is referenced by my peers.

The story takes place in a future dystopian England. It's set in a confessional/diary format with the main character speaking of memories of her childhood. She grew up in boarding school. It was weird, but you don't really find out why it was strange until about half way through the book. There are very good ideas brought up in the book that I feel are important to consider, but I really can't talk about them without ruining the story. This would have been a great short story, but as a novel it just really bored the hell out of me.

Book Review: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

May 18, 2013

Libby Day's family was brutally murdered when she was a child. The only survivors are Libby and her brother, Ben, who is currently in prison for the crime.

Libby, now 31, has been living off her trust fund - funded by donations of those who were moved when hearing her story - since she was 18, but now the funds are gone. She is a month away from being completely broke.

In an act of serendipity, Libby receives a letter in the mail, offering to pay her to speak to a group. She accepts the offer and speaks to a "Kill Club", which is a group of folks completely fascinated with the slaughter. The group immediately starts interrogating her. They believe that Ben is innocent.

Libby knows that Ben killed her family. He was the only person that fit, but she didn't see him commit the crime.

Fueled by a need for peace and the money that the Kill Club is offering. She begins to trek through her past and interview all parties that may have been in any way involved in the death of her family.

The fantastic part of this is that Flynn has constructed the narrative to switch between current day Libby and her mother Patty's and Ben's actions on the day leading up to and of the murders. It's great because we as the audience can know that Ben is lying or her father is lying, but she doesn't know. She is experiencing first hand.

Gillian's publisher has released Dark Places and Sharp Objects to match the style of her book Gone Girl, so as if you need another reason to buy books... but if you want a matching set, they are available now.

Amazing quote:

"I was raised feral, and I mostly stayed that way."

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist

May 17, 2013

While out one night to pick mushrooms, Lennart finds a baby in a plastic bag. He opens the bag and her cry has a perfect pitch. He knows ... he's a failed musician.

Lennart brings the baby home to his wife, Laila, whom he has a horrible relationship with, and notifies her that he will be keeping the baby and that by no means will he notify the authorities.

He calls the baby, Little One. He won't let his wife spend time with the child other than to feed her. He wants the baby to stay in the basement. While Lennart was out of town on business for the day, Laila took the baby outside, and decided that she loved her.

The couple hide the child from everyone, including their adult son. Until one day, while Laila was sneaking outside with Little One, she falls and her son, Jerry, finds her and the secret is out.

Jerry has had a rough life. His life is full of "could have beens". But what he is, is a kid who got into trouble and let that trouble destroy his life. He lives off welfare, his parents money, and whatever illegal activity he can get an in on. Surprisingly, Jerry seems to like his new little "sister". He calls her Theres (which drove me nuts). He played guitar with her while she sang.

Theres was not a normal child. Other than singing, she made no sound. She doesn't cry. She doesn't talk. She refuses to eat anything besides baby food. She will not look at people. Theres does start to become curious and then suddenly talks, like she knew how to the entire time but didn't feel the need. Laila decides she wants to teach the girl to read and write so that she has hope of adapting to the world.

Lennart tells Theres that she must stay inside always because the big people outside want to eat her. Theres accepts this. This is the factor that sets who she becomes.

When a tragedy occurs and Threse has to live with Jerry, he tries to undo the harm that Lennart has done to the her. She doesn't understand lying, she doesn't understand that Lennart was lying to keep her hidden.

Threse and Jerry move to Stockholm and find an opportunity that will allow the world to hear Threse sing. However, it may be what finally breaks them apart.

To me this book is about choices, Jerry's life is what is is do to choices made when he was young. The same can be said of Threse, what happened in the end, would never have occurred if Lennart didn't make the decision thaat he did, to in effect, kidnap Theres.

The first 400 pages of this book moved in a great flow, 400 - 481 was a bit slow and confusing. Lingvist usually deals in supernatural situations. I guess he never fully explains his creatures.. but I wish I knew what Theres was. How did she get in the plastic bag as a baby? Why is she the way she is? There's no real closure here.

You may know Lindqvist from Let Me In and Handling the Undead, I wouldn't say that this novel was as good as Let Me In but its on par with Handling the Undead. In my opinion, worth the read if you love horror and don't mind gore.

FREE STUFFS!! Shadow of Night Paperback Giveaway!!!!

May 14, 2013

In honor of the paperback release of Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, Deborah's publisher has offered a iamjanesheart.com reader a free paperback copy of Shadow of Night as well as some adorable buttons.

The first reader to leave a comment for this post on iamjanesheart.com will win the book/buttons. Please note that the publisher will only send to the continental US.

No need to leave your address in the comments, I will follow-up directly with you to protect your privacy.

Click here for my review of the novels.

Also, Deborah will be in conversation with Book Talk Nation, reserve your space and personalized book today!

Happy Pub Day!!!!!

May 7, 2013

To Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris. The FINAL book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I have a feeling that many Sookie fans are glad to see this wrapped up. The last 3 or 4 books have had poor reviews. Hopefully, Charlaine will give us a sweet goodbye to Ms Stackhouse.