Picture Perfect

Grace
T. Greenwood
Fiction

My post title is totally giving me flashbacks. Anyone else remember the Jennifer Aniston rom-com Picture Perfect? It came out in the nineties. Co-starred Jay Mohr. I loved that movie.

This book will make you tear up. A lot. Many, many traumatizing things happen. One of the plots involves bullying. I don’t know why, but I cannot stand reading about kids being bullied. Maybe because I’m aware of how far too often it actually does happen in real life. But don’t let that deter you from reading Grace. It’s a good book.

Grace is about the Kennedy family. They’re having a few problems. Son Trevor is being bullied at school and has no friends. Mom Elsbeth is a kleptomaniac who loves her baby girl more than her accidental-pregnancy-at-seventeen son. Father Kurt is unhappy with his job, his father, and his life in general. Then there’s Crystal, a store clerk who watches Elsbeth and knows what she’s doing. But when Trevor starts taking pictures with a new camera, things take an even darker turn for everybody.

Ms. Greenwood is a great author. I loved her other book, Two Rivers, and that’s why I picked this one up. She makes you feel for her characters and want everything to turn out okay for them. This book has some bleak themes, and I was a little scared of how it might end, but I’m gonna spoil things a little by letting you all know that nothing too horrible happens.

Grace is a great book and I would recommend it to everyone.

Treat Her Like a Lady

The Courtesan’s Lover
Gabrielle Kimm
Fiction

This is one of those books. You know, the kind where you start reading and you think, yeah, this is okay but I don’t think I’ll keep reading. But then a certain plot point interests you, so you decide to stick it out just for those parts and then you end up getting into every part and by the time you get to the last page, you’re glad you didn’t give up on it.

Historical fiction can be very hit-or-miss for me, so I was happy to enjoy The Courtesan’s Lover once I got into it. Francesca is a courtesan living in Napoli in the 1500s. She’s never really considered giving her up her job—until she meets a man who turns her world upside down. But how can she marry a good man when she’s such a whore? Francesca does her best to try and figure that out, and along the way, other people in her life end up helping her and harming her.

The dialogue’s great, the setting is wonderful, and I liked all the characters. My only annoyance would be how many times people raised their eyebrows. Seriously, characters raised their eyebrows every other page, it seemed. At least for the first half of the book. I barely noticed it in the rest when the plot really picked up.

Anyone who who enjoys romance, historical fiction, or just fiction in general, will like this book.

What Do You Want From Me

Ménage
Alix Kates Shulman
Fiction

What the hell? That’s pretty much all I have to say about this book. Not much of it made sense, I didn’t like any of the characters, and most of the time I had no idea what I was reading.

I thought Ménage was about three people caught up in a love triangle. But it’s not. At all. During the first few pages, we are introduced to Zoltan, Heather, and Mack. Zoltan is an author desperate for another best-seller. Mack’s a rich guy who sees a great opportunity when he meets Zoltan and invites him to come live with him and his wife, Heather, at their opulent home to get some work done. Heather is also a writer, and is excited when Zoltan arrives, especially because she finds herself attracted to him and believes he wants her, too. Except he doesn’t. Then things get weird. Very weird. The end is very much a “huh?” moment.

There was no romance in this novel and all the characters suck. Zoltan’s a tool and Heather is just…well, she’s kind of a psychopath. I suppose there’s nothing really wrong with Mack, but he’s not exactly a great guy. They’re all pretty loathsome. Who wants to read a book about loathsome people? Not me.

If you’re interested in a story about enjoyable dysfunctional people, pick up The Hypnotist’s Love Story, not Ménage.

Somebody's Watching Me

The Hypnotist’s Love Story
Liane Moriarty
Fiction

This book is awesome. It sucks you in right from the first page. I read it in two days because every time I had to put it down, I couldn’t wait to pick it back up again and keep reading. I can’t believe I got through such a long book so quickly. That’s the power of a good author.

The Hypnotist’s Love Story is about Ellen and Saskia. Ellen is a hypnotherapist and has just recently started dating a man named Patrick. The book begins on their fourth date when he admits that he has a stalker, his ex-girlfriend, Saskia. Ellen is intrigued and wants to know more, but quickly realizes how creepy it is dating a man who has a stalker, especially when she discovers that Saskia has been pretending to be a patient to worm her way even deeper into Ellen and Patrick’s lives. Things take an even weirder turn when Ellen finds out she’s pregnant and she starts to empathize with Saskia...I won’t say any more so as not to spoil the rest. Needless to say, most of the plot twists shocked me. But in a good way.

I can’t say enough great things about Liane Moriarty. All her characters are flawed yet sympathetic. I alternated between pity and loathing for Saskia, and by the end of the book I was actually rooting for her a little bit. The dialogue is great and I loved all the plot twists. My only minor complaint would be that I didn’t like the fact that Ellen’s POV was third person and Saskia’s was first. But other than that, I loved this book.

I would recommend The Hypnotist’s Love Story to anyone and everyone.

The Grand Tetons

Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History
Florence Williams
Health

Another book that scared me. But I guess it’s good to be scared out of complacency every once and awhile, right?

Breasts is about, of course, breasts. Ms. Williams discusses breast implants, why we have breasts, breast-feeding, and breast cancer. She goes into great detail in each chapter, meeting with scientists and researchers and sorting out all the facts and data to make this book very easy to read.

I’ll admit, though, that I skimmed over the chapters about breast-feeding. I don’t have kids yet, so it’s not pertinent to me. I did read with horror the chapters about how using birth control can up a woman’s chances of breast cancer. Glad I know this now, after being on the Pill for ten years. Lordy. The most interesting section to me was the one about breast implants and the different technology that has evolved over the years, not to mention how many women still get them. I can’t even imagine sticking a silicone bag into my boobs. Urgh, no thank you.

This book mainly pertains to women, and I highly recommend it because you will definitely learn stuff you didn’t know. But there's also a chapter about breast cancer in men, so go ahead, guys, you can pick this one up, too.

Mo Money, Mo Problems

The Darlings
Cristina Alger
Fiction

I wanted this book to be better than it was. It had all the ingredients I look for: romance, family drama, a sense of humor. But by the time I got to the end, I was skimming, looking for something to pull me in (and that’s never a good sign, when you’re still looking to be hooked towards the end).

The Darlings is about a wealthy New York family and various other friends and lovers who are all about to be taken down in a Ponzi scheme relating to a fake stock company. I think. Honestly, all the financial and banker talk was really confusing. If you know about that stuff and you speak the lingo, I’m sure you’d find it fascinating. Unfortunately, anything having to do with money and finance makes my eyes glaze over. So my eyes were glazed over a lot during the book.

I only liked a few characters, too, which is a problem because there were a lot of effing characters. I’m surprised Ms. Alger didn’t put a list of them in the front because there were many times I had to stop and remind myself who a person was and how they related to the action.

There wasn’t a whole lot of romance, either. Which is fine, not every book needs a romance. This one did, though.

So if you’re into bankers and money and stocks and Wall Street, you’ll probably enjoy this book. Otherwise, skip it.

Help, I Need Somebody

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life From Dear Sugar
Cheryl Strayed
Psychology

I didn’t know what category to list this book under. It’s a bunch of advice columns. But it’s also more than advice columns. This isn’t your typical Dear Abby stuff. Some of Ms. Strayed’s responses veered into mini essays!

There’s no particular order of topics, just a random collection of people asking for advice. The twist is that instead of being objective like Abby and millions of other advice columnists, Ms. Strayed injects her own life experiences into her answers. One question she begins by answering that her grandfather made her jack him off for three years starting when she was three. I’m pretty sure I stopped and stared at the page for a good minute when I read that. You won’t see a response like that in Dear Abby.

The nice thing about this book is you can skip the questions that aren’t interesting. But even when I skipped them (and there were only a few), I still skimmed her answer because she gives a lot of info. About a whole lot of stuff. Frankly, I admire her for totally and completely putting every part of her self out there. Not many people do that. I certainly wouldn’t.

 I think there’s something for everyone in this book. I encourage you to pick it up. It will make you smile, laugh, and cry. And not necessarily in that order.

Live and Let Die

Losing Clementine
Ashley Ream
Fiction

 I’m not gonna lie: this book is depressing. And I almost put it down when I realized just how dark it was going to be. But Ashley Ream is such a good writer that I had to keep reading.

Losing Clementine is about a critically-acclaimed painter named, of course, Clementine. She’s struggled with depression her whole life and been on all sorts of meds. She finally decides it’s time to get off the medications and put everyone, and herself, out of her misery. She gives herself thirty days to figure out what to do (who to send her cat to live with, where her paintings should go, buy drugs to inject herself with to commit suicide, etc.). Each chapter is a day, staring at 30 and ending at 1. I won’t spoil what happens on day one, but needless to say, I was surprised. In a good way.

Books about depression and suicide are typically not my thing, but like I said before, Ashley Ream is an awesome writer so I held on until the end. Not entirely because of Clementine, though. I understand she’s going through a lot of horrible things, but most of the time I found her unsympathetic. But I liked other characters, so I hung in there.

I would recommend this book. It tackles serious topics with humor and aplomb.

Stairway to Heaven

A Land More Kind Than Home
Wiley Cash
Fiction

I started reading this book, saw the really long paragraphs and put it down. Then, because it was the last book in my stack and because it had gotten such rave reviews, I decided to try again. Once I was able to get past all the long sentences and huge chunks of descriptions, I actually found myself enjoying it.

A Land More Kind Than Home is the story of Jess and his mute older brother, Stump (Christopher). They live in a small town where most people attend a church run by Pastor Childress. Only his church is quite mysterious and believes in “healing” and since Jess isn’t allowed to go yet (he’s only eight), he can only wonder what goes on during services. One day, his mother brings Stump to church in hopes of him being healed. Jess witnesses the healing and it scars him for life. The boys also see Pastor Childress in his mother’s bed while their father is out. Following these two incidents, a series of unfortunate events occur, and soon Jess finds himself caught up in something bad.

I worried this book would be really depressing and have lots of physical and sexual abuse but I was wrong, thank god. It had that tone in the beginning, but Jess is a fairly content boy until things to start to happen. I have to admit that I did skim a lot because some of those paragraphs lasted two whole pages! Two pages with no space breaks. My eyes start to glaze over just thinking about it.

Wiley Cash is a great writer and his characters are fully-fleshed out, along with the small town he’s created. I would recommend this book, especially for anyone living in the South.

Perks of the Job

The Great Escape
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Romance

I tend not to review romances, mainly because I can usually skim through them in a couple of hours. This one took me a lot longer, though, because I got really invested in all the characters and storylines. Susan Elizabeth Phillips is good like that.

The Great Escape is the story of Lucy Jorvik, daughter of a former (female) President of The United States. The book opens at Lucy’s wedding to her perfect fiancé. Only Lucy’s not so sure she wants a perfect husband, so she takes off in her wedding dress and stumbles into an alley where she stumbles upon a rough-and-tumble biker on his hog, ready to whisk her away. She soon finds herself attracted to “Panda” and he to her, but after they finally make love, he reveals he’s actually a security agent hired by her parents. Lucy’s furious and ends up taking off to Panda’s home (long story) where he eventually shows up, too, and they run into a whole cast of characters.

Let’s get my main annoyance out of the way first: the hero’s name is Panda. It’s a nickname, and he tells Lucy his real name (Patrick) but throughout the whole book, everyone calls him Panda, even himself. How am I supposed to take a guy named Panda seriously? Halfway through the book I got used to it, but I never liked it. There was also a lot of stuff going on and a whole lot of different characters and stories that start to take shape when Lucy and Panda get to his hometown. I grew to like most of all the new characters, but I was quite irritated by how many new people kept popping up. It almost got hard to keep track of everyone.

But despite a few flaws, I cannot fault Ms. Phillips’ writing. She is wonderful: great dialogue, great characters, and fun plot twists. If you’ve never tried a romance before, start with her. And if you’re a fan, definitely pick up her new book. You will not be disappointed.

Roman Holiday

Empress of the Seven Hills
Kate Quinn
Fiction

This book is epic, to quote a quote from the cover. Not only is the cover design gorgeous, but so is the language, the descriptions, the dialogue. I loved everything about Empress of the Seven Hills.

I’ve mentioned before how I’m not usually into historical fiction (at least I think I have, and if I haven’t, I’m not). But something drew me to this book and I’m so glad I listened to that something. Empress takes place during the Roman Empire and delves into the lives of several citizens including Vix, an ex-gladiator determined to make his mark and Sabina, a senator’s daughter who wants to travel and be more than an emperor's wife. Their love story is the main plot point, although many other things happen along the way.
I adored Sabina. She was strong, fierce, and sympathetic. Vix, on the other hand, I had a love/hate relationship with, much like he did with Sabina. He could be quite a bastard at times. But then I had to remind myself that during this time in history, most men were bastards.

My only real nit-pick would be the end. I’m assuming there will be a sequel because the book ended on kind of a cliff-hanger. Only a select few had a happy wrap-up and the rest were left with grim futures. I suppose that was the way of it back then, though. I definitely would not have wanted to live during the Roman Empire, that’s for sure.

I recommend this book for anyone who loves history and historical fiction. And even if you’re not into those type of books, you might find something worthwhile here anyway, Kate Quinn is that good.

NYPD Blues

The Daughter She Used To Be
Rosalind Noonan
Fiction

I wanted to like this book. I should’ve liked this book. A novel about a family torn apart? Totally my thing. Except it wasn’t.

According to the description on the back, this book is solely about Bernie, a lone assistant District Attorney in a family of cops who must grapple with right or wrong after her brother is killed. But not only do we get Bernie’s POV, we also get her sister, her sister-in-law, her father, her brother, and her ex-boyfriend. There are way too many character POVs going on. Quite a few times I had to stop and think, okay, who is this again? Not a big fan of that.

Then there are the characters. I did not like any of them. Not even Bernie, really. They all felt so one-dimensional. And there wasn’t enough romance. Plus all the twists and turns got on my nerves.

I would not recommend this book. If you want a story about a messed-up family, grab a Jodi Picoult book. She does a much better job.

Dr. Not-So-Feelgood

Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them
Joe Graedon, MS, and Teresa Graedon, PhD
Health

I have got to stop reading books that scare the crap out of me. Luckily, the next few books on my stack are all fiction, so I should be good for awhile.

Top Screwups is about all the many, many ways doctors can inadvertently mess up and cause your death and serious health problems. There are several real-life examples listed, not to mention tons of facts and statistics from surveys and studies. Basically, you have to be vigilant and stay on top of everything when it comes to your health because, big surprise, doctors have other, more important things to worry about. Based on all the errors reported while most people are in the hospital to have surgery done, I am now praying I never have to have major surgery. I realize this is highly unlikely, but geez.

There's not much else to say except that everyone should read this book. The Graedons do a terrific job laying out exactly what you need to do to take control of your health and stay alive and well. Apparently, it’s by not visiting your doctor! Just kidding. Sort of. Read the book, people, I beg of you.

There Is No Safe Zone

Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Every Day Life Affects Our Heath
Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie
Health/Politics

We are surrounded by chemicals and there is nothing we can do to keep them out of our bodies. That is the basic message of this book, and reading it actually made me quite depressed.

Slow Death by Rubber Duck is about all the dangerous pollutants everyone is unknowingly ingesting every single day. Good lord. Pretty much everything in your house has some kind of awful chemical in it. Soap, water bottles, DVDs, makeup, clothes…you name an item somewhere in your house, it's bad for you. Mr. Smith and Mr. Lourie take the reader chapter by chapter through the most dangerous pollutants, such as BPA and mercury, and point out why exactly they’re so dangerous and where we can find them. At the end of the book, an entire chapter is devoted to advice on how to avoid taking in all these nasty chemicals in the future.

In case you couldn’t tell, this book is terrifying. Everyone should read it, though. We need to understand what’s happening to our environment and our bodies. Pick up Slow Death by Rubber Duck today and start looking at the world differently.

Triangle of Doom

Gold
Chris Cleave
Fiction

When I used to work at a bookstore, everyone raved about Chris Cleave’s Little Bee. Sadly, I never got around to reading it. Now, after having read Gold, I’m glad I didn’t.

I really disliked the layout of this book. There were no chapter breaks, just section breaks with the year and location bolded. So that annoyed me right away. Also annoying? The random POV changes. What is with these authors that can’t start a new section when jumping into a different character’s head? It’s very disorienting for the reader. Then we have the actual story, which is about two lifelong friends/rivals named Kate and Zoe who are competing to see who gets to go to the 2012 Olympics. Which are actually starting in a few weeks. I found that weird, as well, reading about something that hasn’t happened yet (can you tell I’m not into futuristic stuff?)

Now let’s get to the meat of Gold. The twisted love triangle between Zoe, Kate, and Jack. In present time, Kate and Jack are married and struggling to deal with their eight-year old daughter’s cancer. Zoe, meanwhile, has stayed focus on the Olympics. She cannot lose. She just can’t. We go back and forth in time and learn the really effed-up relationship between Jack, Zoe, and Kate, who all met on the same fateful day they went to start training together for the Olympics. Needless to say, there were a lot of twists and turns between the three of them. Sometimes I like that. This is one of those times I didn’t. Honestly, I didn’t like anyone except maybe Sophie, Jack and Kate’s daughter. And even she bugged me a lot with all the Stars Wars references (I don’t like Star Wars and have never even seen the movies, so I was pretty lost).

I suppose if you’re really into competitive cycling or the Olympics you might like this book. But if you’re reading it for the relationships or love story, do not pick it up.

Don't Say a Word

The Story of English in 100 Words
David Crystal
History

I worried this book might be kind of old-fashioned, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very pleasantly surprised.

Books about grammar and the English language can veer towards the boring side. The Story of English in 100 Words, however, does not. It helps that the format makes it extremely readable: Mr. Crystal lists all the words starting from 1 to 100, meaning you have plenty of opportunity and time to pick up the book and set it down at will.

I learned all sorts of interesting facts and I even picked up a few words I’d never heard of. Curious about the history of “robot”? How about “dude”? Or “brunch”? Then this is the book for you. There is no rhyme or reason or any sort of order in the way Mr. Crystal lists the words which makes reading really fun because you have no idea what word is coming next.

Writers or anyone who loves learning about the English language will adore this book.

You Give Love a Bad Name

The Cove
Ron Rash
Fiction

I finished this book last night and I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it.
There wasn’t enough dialogue, there were way too many long paragraphs full of boring descriptions, and the ending sucked. Yet…I kept reading. Luckily for Ron Rash, I fell in love with Laurel, the main character.

The Cove is about Laurel, a woman who lives near a cove on the outskirts of her small town. Because of a weird birthmark, people in town think she’s a witch and everyone shuns her except for a select few. Her parents are dead and her brother has just returned from World War I. Then she finds a stranger in the cove, a mute stranger. She nurses him back to health (he’s been stung by dozens of wasps) and he stays on with Laurel and her brother, helping out around their property. Laurel finds herself drawn to this man and falling in love with him until one day she discovers his secret and her life is turned upside down.

About halfway through the book I could tell it wasn’t going to end well, but I forced myself to read on because I liked Laurel so much and wanted to see her have a happy ending after enduring such trauma. And of course, she didn’t get her happy ending. I wish there were more novels with happy endings. I know real life isn’t always like that, but damn. Sometimes I want to pretend it is.

If you don’t mind super long paragraphs, quite a few awful characters and a crappy ending, you should pick up this book. Otherwise, skip it.

Texas Hold 'Em

As Texas Goes…
Gail Collins
Political

I’ve always been fascinated by Texas. I visited my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Houston once and I found myself really liking it, despite the awful humidity. Probably because it reminded me of Arizona in a lot of ways. I’ve also set a novel in Texas and I adore the TV series Friday Night Lights, which is set in, what a coincidence, Texas. So you might say I have a little love affair going on with the whole state. Which is why I grabbed this book when I saw it. And I was not disappointed.

As Texas Goes…is about the history of Texas and all the things wrong with it today. I give Gail Collins credit, she’s really funny and her sense of humor drives this book. I’m sure Texans won’t enjoy it because she delves deep into all the problems and problem people who have created havoc for the state and the rest of the country. The sections about Texas’ educational standards and sex education programs are by far the most ridiculous and depressing. I’m not a huge politics lover and I thought I would end up skimming a lot, but I did not skim once. This book draws you in and does not let go until the last page.

Anyone interested in the history of Texas will enjoy this book. Anyone from Texas who doesn’t want to remember any of the bad history of the state, should just leave this book alone.

You Dropped a Bomb on Me

Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats
Kristen Iversen
Political

Yet another book to scare the crap out of me. I seem to be grabbing a lot of those lately.

In case you couldn’t tell from the self-explanatory title, Full Body Burden is part history, part memoir. Ms. Iversen recounts what it was like growing up not far from a nuclear plant in Colorado and dealing with an alcoholic father. Meanwhile, she describes the countless horrific going-ons at this nuclear plant where people are building bombs and all sorts of nasty chemicals are being sent towards families and animals.

I’d never heard of Rocky Flats before reading this book, but now I am fully informed. Good lord. It’s really scary how far the government will go for money. How many lies they’ll tell to so many innocent people just to keep getting paid. It’s sickening. While Ms. Iversen’s personal story has a semi-happy ending, Rocky Flats’ journey does not. Nor do most of the people who grew up near it, who are now struggling with a myriad of health problems (this includes Ms. Iversen and her brother and sisters).

This is a great book and an engrossing read. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Spill Your Guts

Heading Out to Wonderful
Robert Goolrick
Fiction

I knew reading this book would be a mistake. I picked up Mr. Goolrick’s first novel, A Reliable Wife, when it came out because I’d heard it was a love story. Which it most certainly was NOT. At least not in my opinion. I hated the characters and I hated the ending. Pretty much everything I wrote applies to his second novel, too. Don’t think I’ll be picking up his third.

Heading Out to Wonderful is about a man named Charlie who one day shows up in a small town in Virginia. He quickly befriends a couple and their young son. Then starts an affair with the younger wife of the most disliked man in town. I’m sure you can see where this is going. Well, actually, you probably can’t because the ending even surprised me.

There was way too much violence and blood in this book. Also, the constant POV changes drove me nuts. You were in Charlie’s head one minute and then all of a sudden, with no page break, you were hearing Sylvan, his married lover’s thoughts (and yes, every time I read her name I couldn’t help but think of Sylvan Learning Center). I did not like any of the characters. I take that back, I liked Charlie’s dog, Jackie Robinson. Then there’s the supposed “love affair” between Charlie and Sylvan. I hate novels where two characters see each other, exchange hardly any words, and then fall into bed together and begin an affair. Where is the falling in love process? How can you fall in love with someone when you don’t know them? At least learn each other’s middle names first. Also, the ending was depressing as hell.

Mr. Goolrick is a decent writer, so if you liked his awful first book, you’ll probably like this.

Truth & Consequences

Carry the One
Carol Anshaw
Fiction

I’ll be honest: I do not get the title of this book. I don’t recall coming across the phrase at any point while I was reading and I suppose I could apply it to most of the characters in an abstract way—Oh, okay, nope. Never mind. Just got it. Looked more closely at the cover and now I get it.

Carry the One begins on Carmen and Matt’s wedding day. Also at their wedding is her sister, Alice, and her brother, Nick. Then there’s Matt’s sister Maude. Plus Nick’s girlfriend, Olivia. After the wedding, everyone except the bride and groom piles into a car and they drive off, a stoned Olivia at the wheel. Suddenly a young girl appears out of nowhere and Olivia hits her, instantly killing her. Everyone is devastated and they carry the burden of this girl’s death with them for years to come.

I actually almost put this down at several points but decided to keep going because Carol Anshaw is an awesome writer. She breathes such life and vitality into each of her characters. As far as plot goes, I could never see what was coming which is both good and bad. Each chapter almost felt like a short story because sometimes years would pass between POV changes, which took a little bit of getting used to and made me confused every so often. I wish the end had been more definitive, but I suppose a vague wrap-up was the only way to go.

Carol Anshaw is a great writer, so I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mainstream fiction.

Now Watch This

Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV
Warren Littlefield
Pop Culture

Did anyone else watch all the shows on NBC on Thursdays? Well, you must’ve because for awhile, NBC was at the top with Friends, ER, Will & Grace, Seinfeld…the list goes on and on. But eventually their glory faded, all those shows went off the air, and Thursday nights just ain’t what they used to be (even The Office has gone downhill).

I picked this book up because I’m always interested in knowing the behind-the-scenes gossip of TV shows. TV networks, however, I’d never read a book about and a small part of me always fantasized about maybe one day moving to LA and trying to become a TV writer (then I snapped back to reality).

Top of the Rock is broken up into sections pertaining to certain hit shows, which I enjoyed. I never watched or cared about Cheers or ER or Mad About You, so I could’ve happily skipped those sections if I wanted to, but I actually did read them because the process that goes into making a TV show and putting it on air is absolutely fascinating to me. My only nitpick was the format, though I suppose this book could not have been done any other way. We get the person’s name and then what they thought. So it’s almost in script form. It’s a hard way to read at first, but I eventually, reluctantly, got used to it.

Anyone who adored the great NBC shows of yore will like this book. It’s a quick read and easy to skip around. You really couldn’t ask for more.

Making a Mess

Keepsake
Kristina Riggle
Fiction

There is nothing better than discovering a new author via browsing the selection of new books at your local library. That’s how I came upon Ms. Riggle’s new book, and you can be sure I’m writing down her previous books on my must-read list.

Keepsake is the story of Trish and Mary (the book alternates first person POV chapters between the two). Trish has two sons, an ex-husband, and a house overflowing with clutter. So much clutter that a bureau fell on her six-year old and sent him to the hospital. Now a social worker is on her case and if Trish can’t keep her hoarding in check, she’ll lose her child. This is the last straw for her teenager, who drives a few hours away to visit Mary and ask if she’ll help mom clean. Mary and Trish are estranged, and have been ever since their mother (also a hoarder) died. But her nephews need her, so Mary goes, hoping maybe she and Trish can get back the relationship they once had.

This book totally sucks you in. I read it in one night, that’s how good it is. Both Trish and Mary are fully fleshed-out characters. Trish’s stubborn denial and resentment of her sister made me dislike her one minute, then soften towards her the next when she revealed how much their childhood still tormented her. Mary is also a pain one minute then sympathetic the next. Real, human emotions. All the characters are great, actually. And the plot is so interesting, you will not want to put this down.

I highly recommend Keepsake, and I’m sure I’ll recommend Ms. Riggle’s other books once I get my hands on them.

Ready to Mingle

The Singles
Meredith Goldstein
Fiction

I did not like this book. I wanted to. I had myself all set for a chick-litty novel about a bunch of single people congregating at a wedding. There’s a lot of humor in that situation. But while certain parts were funny, I just could not get into it. By the middle of the book, I was skimming.

The Singles is about a group of single people invited to the wedding of one Bee Evans. We have Hannah, Rob, Phil, Vicki, and Joe. The various ways in which they know her and each other is quite interesting and of course, when they gather together, emotions run high, harsh words are said, and mistakes are made.

I don’t think I liked one character in this book. They were all fairly vile and did bad things. I wasn’t rooting for anyone. Well, maybe Hannah, a little. But Rob, her supposed love interest? What a tool. He was not redeemed for me by the end, and the vague ending with a question mark over the two of them left me nashing my teeth. Not to mention the dead pet storyline, another pet (no pun intended) peeve of mine. I hate reading about pets dying, there is no entertainment value in that. I love animals and do not want to be reminded that my own dogs will one day not exist, thank you.

Based on my review and how dark and depressing The Singles is, I suppose it can’t really be called chick lit. So if you’re looking for a light, fun read, do not pick this up. Don’t pick it up at all, in fact. You can find something better.

Breaking Away

Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots
Deborah Feldman
Memoir

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m an atheist, so memoirs about people breaking away from their religion are fascinating to me. This one got several good reviews, so I decided to pick it up and I am so glad I did.

Unorthodox is the story of Deborah, a woman raised as an Hasidic Jew. Now, I know next to nothing about Judaism, but Ms. Feldman did an excellent job of describing the beliefs and restricting (often ridiculous) rules of her religion. She’s also a great writer, and, to be shallow here for a moment, I really like the cover. Ms. Feldman begins the book as a naïve child, but after her marriage, she quickly starts to realize that she cannot stay a part of the Hasidic world for much longer. When she finally breaks free, you just breathe a sigh of relief (not that you didn’t know it was coming). I also appreciated how she didn’t desparage her family too much, even though she had plenty of reason to do so. This is just the way they were raised. You can’t ask someone to change when their beliefs and culture are embedded so deeply inside of them.

Anyone interested in other religions and anyone who has broken free of an oppressive religion will enjoy this book.

Post-College Blues

The Fallback Plan
Leigh Stein
Fiction

Despite the odd cover, I really wanted to like this book. I really, really did. The writing was good, the dialogue was funny. If only the main character hadn’t been so unsympathetic.

The Fallback Plan is the story of Esther. She’s just graduated from Northwestern with a theater degree and has moved back home, in with her parents, while she tries to figure out what she wants to do with her life and find a job. I could totally relate to that part, so I quite liked Esther at first. She's witty, funny, and a dreamer, in spite of the fact that she's been battling depression for a long time. Then her mom gets her a job babysitting a neighbor girl during the day while the girl’s mother works and soon Esther finds herself with a purpose, all right—but not a good one.

A big part of the story was Esther’s depression. Okay, I get that, I realize how hard depression can be on a person. But after a couple of truly heinous romantic choices, I wanted to smack Esther upside the head. She had no ambition at all, either. Intercut between normal chapters were slivers of a screenplay (even though it wasn’t in screenplay form, another irritation) about pandas that Esther decided to start writing on a whimsy. That was distracting and annoying. Then I got to the end and I closed the book in a rage. I hate, hate, hate books that end open-ended. In The Fallback Plan’s case, there’s a Fourth of July party thrown by Esther’s parents and Esther leaves the party and then that’s the end. So we have no idea if she finds a new job, moves out, or meets a nice guy. Ugh, what a waste of time.

Despite Leigh Stein’s good writing, I would not recommend this book. There are plenty of better ones about struggling college grads.

Middle of Nowhere

Welcome to Utopia: Notes From a Small Town
Karen Valby
Travel

Anyone (besides my sister, of course) know the album from which I borrowed this blog post title? Bonus points if you do. If you don’t, read my review and at the end I’ll tell you.

Welcome to Utopia is Entertainment Weekly writer Karen Valby’s account of a small town in Texas. Now if you re-read that sentence, you’re probably thinking, so? There are lots of small towns in America. Why would I care about this one? Well, by the end of the book, you will. Valby does an excellent job following several Utopians as they go about their lives during the course of a year. There’s the group of old timers who’ve been around as long as the town, the high school students who want to get out and see the world and the ones who just want to stay and not rock the boat, and plenty of others. Ms. Valby does an excellent job describing the town and the people and she draws you into their stories so completely, I almost wanted to visit Utopia (I said almost—it is in the middle of nowhere in Texas, you know).

I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes reading about small towns and even if you don’t, you’ll want to read about this one.

Middle of Nowhere is the the title of Hanson’s first album.

Trust No One

The Con: How Scams Work, Why You’re Vulnerable, and How to Protect Yourself
James Munton and Jelita McLeod
Psychology

Yet another book that scared the ever-loving s*!t out of me. Good lord.

In case you couldn’t tell by the title, The Con is about all the many (and there are many) scam artists out there and how they reel you in, drain your bank accounts, and leave you with bad credit for the rest of your life. This book is awesome, honestly. And really, really scary. Munton and McLeod go into detail about every type of con out there in each chapter and then at the end give you tips on how to avoid getting caught in their trap. They talk about solicitors (on the phone, coming to the door, and emailing), street swindlers, Ponzi schemes, and identity theft. They use many real-life examples, too, so you can see how other people got lured in. I’m probably asking for it here, but most of the stuff about avoiding scams is just plain common sense. Why would you send a stranger a check for a thousand bucks? Why would you give someone who called you on the phone, claiming to be from your bank, your Social Security number? I mean, really, people. This book made me sad for humanity.

Everyone should read The Con, because anyone can get swept up in a scam these days, and you do not want that anyone to be you.