A Red Herring Without Mustard

Has it really been over a year since I read the second Flavia de Luce novel?!  Well, let me tell ya.  The third installment did not disappoint.  Flavia is back in all of her chemistry-obsessed, crime-solving, British goodness.

This time a mysterious Gypsy woman is attacked, and a string of clues leads everything right back to Buckshaw, the de Luce estate.  It also invites tons of that hysterical sibling rivalry between our heroine and her two older sisters, who mostly despise each other.  My favorite of Flavia's expletives this time around: Saints on skates! 

Further proof of this novel's genius takes shape in the following excerpt from page 132:

Miss Mountjoy was the retired Librarian-In-Chief of the Bishop's Lacey Free Library where, it was said, even the books had lived in fear of her.  Now, with nothing but time on her hands, she had become a freelance holy terror.

Bossypants

You may be wondering what took me so long to read this book.  Well, it took a while to obtain it from the library.  But I'm glad I did.  It's smart, honest, and laugh-a-minute.  There's not much else I can say about Tina Fey, but this excerpt (from page 92) about her vacation on a cruise gives a good idea of what to expect:

It is worth noting that at this time, I had been doing Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live for two full seasons.  I am not recognized by anyone.  Well, I am recognized by the guy who refills the soft-serve ice cream machine by the pool, but not for being on TV, just for lingering.  For O!  The desserts!  Rows and rows of pastries laid out cafeteria-style.  Some of them are unidentifiable squares of pink stuff.  I think we called it junket back in the seventies.  They don't taste good; but like a schoolboy at his first coed dance, I am drawn not so much by their beauty as by their unlimited quantities.

Await Your Reply

It seems that I've been on a roll with some fairly good books lately.  And this one is certainly no exception.

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon is really hard to classify.  It's fiction, yes.  But it really seems like so much more.  And I realize how hokey that sounds.

This is a story of twin brothers (check!) and identity theft (un-check!), but it's engrossing from the very first page.  Each chapter focuses on different characters and the intrepid dynamics between them.  The story definitely has some twists and turns, and it made me think about things in this modern world that had not yet crossed my mind.  I pulled a few references from my banking days, and I made other connections just from being an American consumer. 

And this Dan Chaon knows how to turn a phrase, let me tell yaz.  Every page was rife with lush imagery and plain ol' addictive storytelling.  Example from page 65:

Nebraska was even worse than Ohio--if such a thing were possible.  There was a soundlessness about this place, she thought, though sometimes the wind made the glass in the windowpanes hum, the wind running in a long exhaled stream through the weeds and dust and dry bed of the lake, and sometimes unexpectedly there would be a very startling sonic boom over the house as a military plane broke the sound barrier, and there was the rattle of the grasshoppers leaping from one weed to the next--

But mostly it was silence, a kind of end-of-the-world hush, and you could feel the sky sealing over you like the glass around a snow globe.

Unbearable Lightness

Confession:  I read the following book expressly because of Oprah.  She had Portia de Rossi on her show a few weeks ago, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

This is a memoir that centers around Portia's struggles with eating disorders and body image issues.  And it was fascinating.  Even though I pretty much knew the ending (she is married to Ellen, for those who may not be aware), it was still a page turner. 

I remember Portia from her breakout role on Ally McBeal, which I loved in high school.  She played the ice queen so well.  And then she turned around and did Arrested Development.  Genius.  It showed a totally different side of her and her acting abilities--one that is whip-smart but vulnerable at times.  

Early on in her career, she had lingering insecurity from her teenage years spent as an emotionally needy model.  This book tells the story of her rise to fame while her personal life (and health) spiraled out of control.  All I can say is that she does a great job of taking the reader right to the dark places in her mind at the time.  It's definitely worth the read.  My quote from page 230:

"Not just anyone could have anorexia.  It was a disorder of the highly accomplished, cultured, beautiful.  It belonged to models, singers, and Princess Diana."

How Did You Get This Number

I thought I had posted about Sloane Crosley's first book (I Was Told There'd Be Cake), but I guess I'm mistaken.  In the vein of David Sedaris, Crosley has made a name for herself by composing books of short stories/essays.  I read her first book with reckless abandon because it was just so darn funny.  She's roughly my age, so I can relate to a lot of her references of cartoons and foods and the like.

I was pumped when her latest book, How Did You Get This Number, came out last year.  It took that long for me to be able to check it out of the library, but I'm glad I did.  There are stories about running into one of the 'mean girls' from her younger days, scoring some discounted homewares, and taking a solo international trip. 

While there was at least one good laugh for each story, it was nowhere near as endearing as her debut collection.  With that one, I could not put it down.  Nope.  Not at all.  This one was a bit less consuming, if you'll allow me to say so.  Well, of course you will.  I think that there was just less overall nostalgia in this book, to be honest, but it's still worth a read...after you get her first book.  Here's a notable passage from page 152:

"When your classmates move away, it seems impossible that they could ever come back.  As if the world's events since have happened to you but not to them.  It's the reason you can look at your middle-school yearbook and still see your peers.  But someone else's middle-school yearbook looks like a bunch of thirteen-year-olds."

The Magicians

The Magicians by Lev Grossman has been on my must-read list for about a year now.  When I moved to Nashville, it was one of the first catalog searches I did at the public library; much to my dismay, of the dozen or so copies they had across the various branches, all were gone.  They were also on hold.  All of them.  For a long time. 

This was a bittersweet recognition that people here actually read.  No offense to anyone from my hometown, but there was usually not a line on a book, unless it was the latest Harry Potter.  Hmm....speaking of which...

This book was a blatant rip-off of C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling.  I'm surprised he didn't sign his name as L.V. Grossman.  There's nothing new here.  Nothing.  Almost every aspect was apparently 'borrowed' from a highly known book or movie.  I am getting a bit ahead of myself, though.

This is the 400-page story of Quentin Coldwater, a bright high school student who is getting ready to apply to colleges.  His life takes a wild turn when he is accepted into the magic school called Brakebills.  It's a thousand wonders he was not a neglected orphan as well. 

As I mentioned, there's not really anything new here, but there was a bit of magic--at least for me.  It's a definite page-turner, but for this reader, it was more about getting down to when the real story was going to start.  Around page 357 or so, I realized that Grossman was running out of time.  I never got particularly attached to Quentin because he doesn't really seem to have many unique or redeeming qualities.  Maybe this was the magic?  I kept reading, despite myself.  It was a decent book, but it was mostly like Hogwarts with some f-bombs and alcohol thrown in for good measure.

Notable excerpt:

"...perfection is a nervy business, because the moment you spot the tiniest flaw it's ruined."

Everything Matters!

Well, well.  This book is not like anything I've read in quite some time.  As you can glean from the flap, the world is ending relatively soon, and only young Junior Thibodeau knows it.  You can imagine how this might affect any person, much less a child, and it's an interesting predicament to ponder. 

Extremely bright but often misunderstood, Junior seems to grow up with most everyone else at arm's length.  To further complicate the sitch, his silent, absentee father works non-stop, and his mother has drunk herself inert.  Then (cue the predictability factor) he meets Amy, a fellow smartie/similarly troubled youth.

Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr. is not a book I'll read again too soon.  It does have a few poignant (and sometimes funny) moments, but overall it didn't speak to me.  Although Junior is privy to the when and how of the apocalypse, he doesn't seem to do much with it.  For my time, I'd just as soon spend the hours I read this book on watching back episodes of Lost. 

Choice quote from this book, by Junior:

So instead of venting my anger, which is really just hurt dressed up for a night on the town, I ask if anyone needs a drink.

This Is Where I Leave You (the book, not a personal statement)

Wow.  I heart this book. 

It's all about the life of Judd Foxman, a non-practicing Jew (it comes into play!) whose wife cheats on him with his boss.  Oh, and Judd's father has just passed away.  He returns to his New England childhood home to observe the shiva (see?) with his mother and siblings.  In case you're not familiar, which was me until reading this book, shiva is a Jewish tradition in which the close relatives of the departed person mourn his death and welcome co-mourners for seven days. 

It was fascinating enough just to learn more about this practice, but throw on some family drama, childhood memories, and a ton of hilarity, and you have a real winner.  This was seriously a book that pained me to put down; I have since checked out Tropper's Everything Changes, which is very much in the same vein of being addictive.  (See what I did there.  Vein.  Addiction.  Drugs.  Hehe.)

Favorite quote from this book, spoken by Judd's older brother:

At some point, being angry is just another bad habit, like smoking, and you keep poisoning yourself without thinking about it.

April & Oliver

If you're looking for a particularly season-specific book, I think I've found it.  

This is Tess Callahan's story of April and Oliver, childhood friends whose lives remain intertwined, for better or worse.  Upon the sudden death of April's younger brother Buddy, the title characters are reunited after growing apart post-high school.  Oliver is the preppy, quiet law student, who is engaged to the seemingly perfect blonde Bernadette.  April is the tough-exteriored bartender whose dark hair matches her mood.

As you can probably tell from the rather striking composition of the cover, this is not a feel-good story.  But it's not a total downer, either.  What happened in their respective pasts that caused them to turn out the way they are?  Are they ever going to just hook it up and end the suspense?  Way before the end of the story, I wanted both of the main characters to succeed, in spite of their challenges.  And even though part of it takes place at a beach house, you still get that sort of crispy, cool feeling that's present throughout most of the book.  I read it in bed, as I often do, and it was a nice one to snuggle up with.

What are you reading right now?

Lost

Gregory Maguire is a name that you may not be very familiar with.  It's one of those that you've probably heard a few times (like Mitt Romney or Barry Diller) but are not quite sure who they are.  Well, I have a word for you.  Wicked.  Wicked, to be more precise.  He's the author who inspired the hit Broadway musical with his version of the Oz tale.

Maguire takes classic children's stories and reworks them in a way that is fairly unique.  He usually throws in a dash of intrigue, a romance, and a deeper, more grown-up sense of magic. 

Lost was the last of his big-people books that I had not read.  (He also writes truly kiddy books, which I'm sure are great.)  It seemed to hold the same promise as his other stories, but it fell flat.  And quick.  It was sort of a pastiche of Ebenezer Scrooge, Jack the Ripper, and a modern-day writer who travels back to her ancestral home in England.  Quite simply, there were too many references and not enough cohesion in the storyline.  I did make it to the end, but I really didn't care how it turned out.  (See also: this season of Project Runway.)

Let me say that I really enjoyed the Wicked series.  Ok...the third book (A Lion Among Men) could have been completely left out, but the first two books more than make up for it.  I loved Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and Mirror Mirror, too.  You can see his other books here.  I definitely recommend reading from his catalog, but don't start with Lost, or you may not get much further.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag

Do you happen to remember this post on the first Flavia de Luce novel?  Well, I'm happy to report that I picked up the second book, and it was equally entertaining. 

Just like last time, Flavia is up to her old tricks, but now there's a new mystery afoot.  It all starts when a shady puppeteer and his mysterious female companion show up (or rather break down) in the town of Bishop's Lacey.  Of course Flavia senses that something is fishy from the first minute, and she's completely right.  Throw in some good, old-fashioned town gossip and a rich, visiting aunt, and you've got a few hours of entertainment.

Again, this is a fun story of intrigue, science, and humor.  Best line of the book: Boil me dry!  Flavia is always using really odd expressions, and I'm into it.  Alan Bradley continues to do an excellent job of writing from the perspective of a young girl, even as she begins to mature and see the world in two different ways. 

If you have not read the first book, then, really, what are you waiting for?  The weather is about to get cool, and these would be the perfect start to your hibernation. 

What are you reading now?  Do tell.



Lottery

The last book I read was good, but this one was so much better. 

This is the story of Perry L. Crandall.  Age?  32.  IQ?  76.  Family situation?  Not ideal.

Net worth?  $12 Million.

Perry is quick to tell you that he's not retarded.  He's slow.  Retarded means an IQ of 75.  His is 76.  He is the narrator and main character in this really engrossing novel about people with special needs as well as the effects of money on people.  Although he has several relatives, no one really wanted Perry as a child.  His grandparents, however, jumped at the chance to raise him.  Of course everyone comes out of the woodwork when Perry gets his novelty-sized check and lands in the headlines.

His Gram always told him that words were the key, and she set him on a schedule of learning all the words in the dictionary.  One of my favorite things about the book is that Perry often explains what a word or phrase means.  Example: Convenient means that other people do not have to work so hard.  I found this link that scrolls through some of these gems.

I can't really say too much else about the book without giving away the story, except that it is really great.  Like many of my favorite books, movies, and TV shows, this one strikes a nice balance between being funny and poignant.  Plus, you should be able to find it at your local library for free.

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

Confession: I really had no idea what this book was about, but the cover sucked me right in.

It's a simple but unusual picture, so I had to find out more. 

This is Tiffany Baker's story of Truly Plaice, the title character of the novel, and the events that happen during the first 40 or so years of her life.  For starters, she has a slightly older sister who is beautiful and thin, which is a stark contrast to her bulky lines and plain features.  Of course they rarely get along.  Oh, and then their mother dies while giving birth to Truly.  And then their semi-crappy dad dies.

Easy, peeps.  I'm not giving away anything that the book jacket doesn't already tell.  Truly's life takes some interesting turns as she gets older and larger.  She gets involved with a strict, semi-mysterious doctor whose family has always been involved in medicine--and possibly witchcraft.  But not involved like that.  She's more of a housekeeper.  She also tries to help townspeople with their problems in a special sort of way.   

Now, before you get all enough-is-enough with the magic stuff, I'll say that Baker doesn't harp on it or get too cutesy with it.  Think more Salem witch trials than Diagon Alley.  

Although this book probably won't win many awards or a spot on my must-read-again list, it was a fairly enjoyable story.  There are some nice plots involving friendship, sisterhood, perception, and relationships in general, and the tone is rather interesting.  It never got too schmaltzy or boring, but it wasn't life-changing, either.  If you're looking for a decent way to pass a few hours, then give Truly a try.  

What Brown Did For Me

A few weeks ago I saw this awesome-looking book being terribly overpriced in Williams Sonoma. The pictures were enticing, but the amount on the sticker gave me that sinking feeling. But lo. The publisher's emblem on the spine? Delicious specs from Chronicle Books.

Are you familiar? You should be. It's a great publisher that sells all sorts of books and cool gift/stationery items to all sorts of stores and websites, but their own site is so much cheaper. Plus, if you sign up for their updates, you get seasonal sale notices. To wit, 30% off everything plus free shipping.

Yes, please. I'm so glad the first quarter is over. My order was delivered tonight.

The Right Flavia

Amazon and several magazines that I read recommended this book, so I recently checked it out and finished it yesterday. A murder mystery at heart, this novel by Alan Bradley is set in rural England in 1950 and is narrated by Flavia de Luce, the awesome protagonist.

She's 11, loves chemistry (especially poisons and antidotes--yikes!), proves to be extremely astute, and is completely, endearingly British. Her mother died before Flavia could remember her, and now she's sort of stuck with a standoffish father and two older, dramatic sisters. When the dead body of a shady stranger turns up in the cucumber patch of her family's stately mansion, Flavia immediately goes into sleuth mode to solve the crime and protect members of her household who could possibly have had a motive.

The author writes so convincingly from a girl's perspective that I often forgot that Alan = male. It's a wonderful read, and I was pumped to learn in the author's notes at the end that it's in the process of becoming a series. Give it a whirl, won't you?

I also wanted to share an excerpt from the book (page 85) that especially stood out:

I detected instantly that she didn't like me. It's a fact of life that a girl can tell in a flash if another girl likes her. Feely says that there is a broken telephone connection between men and women, and we can never know which of us rang off. With a boy you never know whether he's smitten or gagging, but with a girl you can tell in the first three seconds. Between girls there is a silent and unending flow of invisible signals, like the high-frequency wireless messages between the shore and the ships at sea, and this secret flow of dots and dashes was signaling that Mary detested me.

A female co-worker of mine told me (basically) this exact thing several years ago, and reading this passage brought back that idea and made it real for me. Do you agree with this assessment?

A Million Little Years Ago

I'm just a few years late on this one, but it's ok. And my picture (from realsimple.com) doesn't really have anything to do with this post, except I think it's what James may have looked like in rehab. Well, plus a few bruises and stitches and scowls.

Anywho, I'm talking about A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard, both by James Frey. Yes, he lied about some of his experiences in rehab. Yes, Oprah first endorsed and later lambasted him. But he also survived a very dangerous lifestyle. His first book is about his addictions to every kind of drug and alcohol imaginable and how he made it through rehab. The second one is about his best friend from rehab, an intriguing character that he calls Leonard.

At several hundred pages each, the books may seem intimidating at first, but I promise that they're pretty fast reads. It's difficult to say much without stating the obvious or giving anything else away, but I recommend trying them out. If you're offended by f-bombs and run-on sentences, then you should look elsewhere. Honestly, though, these books are stories of survival, and they're moving and funny while having tons of heart. Although he should not have embellished his story, I'm glad he shared the gist of it with us.

Not So Board At Lunch

Here's a shot of today's lunch. When I work in the office that's about 30 minutes from home, I usually eat in the boardroom, which is never used at all. I will take my food, water, and a book way back there and try to steal a few quiet moments, hopefully adding up to one hour. Sometimes I'm interrupted by co-workers who need me to deal with customers, but mostly it's not bad. Today was Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (whole grain brown) with chicken. Yum. 90 seconds in the microwave, a little stir, and voila.

I'm about to finish a book that my pal Ann Marie let me borrow. It's called Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig and is her memoir about having OCD and how it sort of bled over into her religious convictions as a confused child. I was expecting Sedaris-style humor and totally outlandish episodes from her life, but I have to say that it was a bit of a letdown. The cover is mega-cool, though. There were only two or three instances when I laughed out loud. Don't worry, though--the boardroom is waaay in the back.

I wanted to share a quick excerpt that is exactly what I've said before and will probably say again: If I had my way I would never have to drive at all. My plan was to make a lot of money doing something I was actually good at--the tetherball, maybe--and hire a chauffeur. Driving just didn't interest me at all.

Reading on my lunch break is one of my favorite things. It's very calming, and I've made my way through many a book. Plus, it's cheaper and healthier than going out all the time. Give it a try if you can spare the time.

The Sister

No, it's not about a relative or Whoopie in a habit, but I wanted to share a quick post about a book I recently read called (what else?) The Sister. Here's my Amazon.com review.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book from my local library. It has an intriguing cover and was in the new books section, so I snatched it.

Ginny is the narrator of the story, and although some of the action happens in her family's crumbling mansion in the present day, she has several flashbacks to her childhood, which revolved around her slightly younger sister Vivi. The girls had a seemingly idyllic childhood, complete with a scientist father and a quasi-socialite mother, but, of course, everything was a bit darker behind closed doors.

It's hard to say much about the book without giving away the plot, but imagine Grey Gardens with a dash of The Glass Castle set in jolly old England. This story is not the most compelling I've read lately, and parts of it crawl a bit, but it's a worthwhile read. The fact that Adams is also a documentary filmmaker comes across in her detail of the scientific research conducted by Ginny and her father. Plus, the perspective is definitely unique and worth the 200+ pages.