Brand New Human Being by Emily Jeanne Miller
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: June 12, 2012
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Meet Logan Pyle, a lapsed grad student and stay-at-home dad who’s holding it together by a thread. His father, Gus, has died; his wife, Julie, has grown distant; his four-year-old son has gone back to drinking from a bottle. When he finds Julie kissing another man on a pile of coats at a party, the thread snaps. Logan packs a bag, buckles his son into his car seat, and heads north with a 1930s Louisville Slugger in the back of his truck, a maxed-out credit card in his wallet, and revenge in his heart.
After some bad decisions and worse luck, he lands at his father’s old A-frame cabin, where his father’s young widow, Bennie, now lives. She has every reason to turn Logan away, but when she doesn’t, she opens the door to unexpected redemption—for both of them.
A deftly plotted exploration of marriage, family, and the road from child to parent, Brand New Human Being is a page-turning debut that overflows with heart and grace.
I think that Brand New Human Being was a well-written book with well-drawn characters that had depth. However, all of the characters, especially Julie and Logan, were so deeply flawed that I didn’t like any of them and spent most of the book wanted to reach in and shake them. I think it’s speaks well of the author when she can cause such a strong reaction in a reader. But when I read a book with those kinds of characters, there needs to be at least one likeable character to balance things out.
I also thought that some things wrapped up a little too neatly in the end, while other things that I was wondering about through the whole book never did. For instance, why was Julie losing weight and not eating – was she sick, anorexic, or what?
This book wasn’t my cup of tea necessarily. However, there are plenty of glowing reviews for it out in the blogosphere so clearly it does have appeal to some.
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Powell’s Books
August 1st, 2012 in
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Operation Family Secrets: How a Mobster’s Son and the FBI Brought Down Chicago’s Murderous Crime Family by Frank Calabrese Jr.
Publisher: Broadway
Paperback Publication Date: March 6, 2012
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
In Operation Family Secrets, Frank Calabrese, Jr., tells the story of how he was driven at age thirty-nine to the painful and life-threatening decision to work with the FBI to put his father away for good. It is the dramatic tale of how, for six months – unmonitored and unprotected – he wore a wire in the prison where both he and his father were serving time, as his father revealed the details of decades’ worth of crimes. While the FBI had solved only eight mob murders in a hundred years, Frank’s work solved forty murders and sent two Outfit bosses and twelve of its highest-ranking members to prison. It was the largest organized-crime case in the history of Chicago and one of the largest in US history.
Mafia stories like The Godfather and The Sopranos have always intrigued me. It was interesting to read a real-life Mafia story and see how the “movie Mafia” differs from it. I have to say that there is not much difference at all. Frank Calabrese, Jr. is a brave man to not only refuse to enter the witness protection program but then to also co-author a tell-all book about growing up with a father in the Chicago Mafia, which is known as the Outfit.
I realize that the names of the people were out of the authors’ control since this was a true story, but so many of the people in this book have the same or similar names that at times it was hard for me to keep straight who was who, even with the “Cast of Characters” list that is provided at the front of the book. I did think that the authors did a good job of explaining Outfit slang terms and traditions and customs. It really is a whole other culture. And after hearing the term RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) a million times while watching The Sopranos, I think I finally have a fairly good grasp on what it means thanks to this book.
This was a fascinating first-hand look into the Outfit and particularly the author’s father, Frank Calabrese, Sr. who was so terrifying even by the Outfit’s standards that he caused his own brother and son to cooperate fully with the FBI to put him away. Fans of Mafia movies like The Godfather and Casino will especially enjoy this book.
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(I received this book courtesy of the publisher.)
July 31st, 2012 in
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Starters by Lissa Price
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: March 13, 2012
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie’s only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.
He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders–seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie’s head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator’s grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party–and that Prime Destinations’ plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .
Teen dystopia novels are everywhere these days and they start to run together after a while. I think that Starters was original enough to stand out in the crowd. Callie was a strong, smart, likeable heroine. She is, of course, the center of a love triangle. I really didn’t feel like there was much chemistry with either boy – Michael or Blake. And I think I can say without giving anything away that a certain point Callie remaining interested in Blake got pretty creepy. Luckily, the romance wasn’t a huge part of the book.
The central plot involving Callie trying to figure out what Prime Destinations was up to kept me guessing and took several unexpected turns. The ending was haunting and left me eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.
There are two e-book prequels for this series, Portrait of a Starter and Portrait of a Marshal, that I’m assuming add some more details to the world-building. These books are $1.99 each and the first is only 15 pages long and the second is only 30 pages long. I find it ridiculous to have to pay four dollars for 45 pages of content.
Even though the e-book prequel situation irritates me and I probably won’t buy them (and if I do, I’ll be grumbly about it), I’m really looking forward to the sequel, Enders, which is scheduled to be released in December.
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(I received this book courtesy of the Amazon Vine program.)
July 30th, 2012 in
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This goofy boy is eight years old today.
July 28th, 2012 in
Cash,
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The After Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer
Publisher: Ballentine Books
Publication Date: July 10, 2012
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
L.A. is no place for widows. This is what forty-four-year-old Hannah Bernal quickly discovers after the tragic death of her handsome and loving husband, John. Misery and red-rimmed eyes are little tolerated in the land of the beautiful. But life stumbles on: Hannah’s sweet three-year-old daughter, Ellie, needs to be dropped off at her overpriced preschool, while Hannah herself must get back to work in order to pay the bills on “Casa Sugar,” the charming Spanish-styled bungalow they call home.
Fortunately, Hannah has her “Grief Team” for emotional support: earth mother and fanatical animal lover Chloe, who finds a potential blog post in every moment; aspiring actress Aimee, who has her cosmetic surgeon on speed dial; and Jay, Hannah’s TV producing partner, who has a penchant for Mr. Wrong. But after a series of mishaps and bizarre occurrences, one of which finds Hannah in a posh Santa Monica jail cell, her friends start to fear for her sanity. To make matters worse, John left their financial affairs in a disastrous state. And when Hannah is dramatically fired from her latest producing gig, she finds herself in danger of losing her house, her daughter, and her mind.
One night, standing in her backyard under a majestic avocado tree, in the throes of grief, Hannah breaks down and asks, “Why?” The answer that comes back— Why not?—begins an astounding journey of discovery and transformation that leads Hannah to her own truly extraordinary life after death.
In The After Wife, Gigi Levangie Grazer has done what I would have thought impossible and made Hannah’s journey after becoming a widow light-hearted and funny. And it’s not in a zany, slapstick way, which I would not have liked. This book has smart humor and a Sex and the City type vibe. I loved the characters in her “Grief Team”, especially Jay – he was hilarious.
I don’t want to give too much away but I will say that after her husband is killed, Hannah discovers she has a unique talent. This talent made the book take an entirely different direction than I thought it would but I think it was what helped keep the story from becoming dark and depressing. I was pleasantly surprised with the unexpected twist the plot took. This was definitely not your typical chick-lit novel.
I think The After Wife is well-written, funny and would be a great summer read.
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(I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.)
July 27th, 2012 in
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Last Friday, I reviewed Pamela Ribon’s You Take It From Here. In the acknowledgements Ribon writes that as part of her research for the book, she watched and “pretty much blew out a tear duct over the moving documentary How To Die In Oregon.” When I Googled the documentary and discovered that it won the 2011 Grand Jury Prize for Documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival, I decided this was a movie I needed to watch.
The subject of How To Die In Oregon is Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, which was passed in 1994 and upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 2006. Oregon was the first state to pass this kind of law. The film opens with a crotchety cancer patient named Roger drinking his lethal dose of Seconal and laying down to await his death.
After that we meet Cody Curtis, a woman in her fifties with terminal liver cancer. When she first appears on camera, she looks healthy and happy. The film follows her decline and how she makes her decision about when it’s time for her to take her life. The filmmaker made a good decision in choosing Cody – she is smart, sensitive, articulate and lovable. I have a HUGE fear of death – my living will basically says keep me alive at all costs. But listening to Cody speak about what dying with dignity means and seeing how she was using her time before her death actually made me understand why someone with a terminal illness would want to choose their date of death.
This film also follows a woman from the state of Washington whose husband died of cancer. At the time he was dying, Washington did not have a Death With Dignity Act. Even though he wanted to take his life before his suffering got too bad, he was not able to. I think hearing about how things were for this man at the end will be eye-opening for a lot of people who do not realize how bad things can get at the end. It’s more than just pain. For instance, this man could not ever close his eyes because his brain tumor was pushing his eyeballs out.
Before he died, he asked his wife to please help make it so that other terminally ill people in Washington would not have to suffer as he did. The film follows his wife’s journey working trying to get a Death With Dignity bill passed in Washington.
I’m really glad I decided to watch this film. I learned so much about terminal illness and how to truly die with dignity. I definitely came away with a new perspective on death. I highly recommend How To Die In Oregon.
Buy this movie at:
Amazon Instant Video
You Take It From Here by Pamela Ribon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
On the heels of a divorce, all Danielle Meyers wants is her annual vacation with sassy, life-long best friend, Smidge—complete with umbrella cocktails by an infinity pool—but instead she’s hit with the curveball of a lifetime. Smidge takes Danielle to the middle of nowhere to reveal a diagnosis of terminal cancer, followed by an unusual request: “After I’m gone, I want you to finish the job. Marry my husband. Raise my daughter. I’m gonna teach you to how to be Smidge 2.0.”
As Danielle wrestles with this major life decision, she finds herself torn between being true to her best friend’s wishes and being honest with herself. Parenting issues aside, Smidge’s small-town Louisiana world is exactly the one Danielle made sure to escape. Danielle isn’t one for playing the social butterfly, or being the center of attention. And when your best friend tries to set you up on a date night with her husband, it might be time to become the bossy one for a change.
When I first heard about this book, I was intrigued by the premise. Would Danielle want to or be able to step into Smidge’s shoes? I had to find out. (Don’t worry, I won’t spoil it for you.)
Smidge turned out to be a pretty unlikeable woman. She was bossy, rude, and presumptuous. I had a hard time understanding why Danielle was friends with her at all. Their relationship was definitely codependent. I found it to be authentic though; I know women who have friendships very similar to Danielle and Smidge.
Even though I didn’t like Smidge, I still enjoyed the book. The characters were well-developed and layered. I especially loved Smidge’s husband’s best friend Tucker. He was comic relief and the voice of reason at the same time.
Because I am a cold-hearted snake (see my review of Skipping a Beat), this book was not a sob fest for me, although it certainly was sad. However, if you are the type who bawls at movies like Beaches, then this book will give you a good cry. I thought it was a great summer read.
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(I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publicist.)
July 13th, 2012 in
Books |
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I’m pleased to be able to offer a copy of Full Body Burden, which I reviewed yesterday, to one of my readers with a United States address. Just fill out the form below. I will take entries until July 19 at 11:59pm CST. Good luck!
Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats by Kristen Iversen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Full Body Burden is a haunting work of narrative nonfiction about a young woman, Kristen Iversen, growing up in a small Colorado town close to Rocky Flats, a secret nuclear weapons plant once designated “the most contaminated site in America.” It’s the story of a childhood and adolescence in the shadow of the Cold War, in a landscape at once startlingly beautiful and–unknown to those who lived there–tainted with invisible yet deadly particles of plutonium.
It’s also a book about the destructive power of secrets–both family and government. Her father’s hidden liquor bottles, the strange cancers in children in the neighborhood, the truth about what was made at Rocky Flats (cleaning supplies, her mother guessed)–best not to inquire too deeply into any of it.
But as Iversen grew older, she began to ask questions. She learned about the infamous 1969 Mother’s Day fire, in which a few scraps of plutonium spontaneously ignited and–despite the desperate efforts of firefighters–came perilously close to a “criticality,” the deadly blue flash that signals a nuclear chain reaction. Intense heat and radiation almost melted the roof, which nearly resulted in an explosion that would have had devastating consequences for the entire Denver metro area. Yet the only mention of the fire was on page 28 of the Rocky Mountain News, underneath a photo of the Pet of the Week. In her early thirties, Iversen even worked at Rocky Flats for a time, typing up memos in which accidents were always called “incidents.”
And as this memoir unfolds, it reveals itself as a brilliant work of investigative journalism–a detailed and shocking account of the government’s sustained attempt to conceal the effects of the toxic and radioactive waste released by Rocky Flats, and of local residents’ vain attempts to seek justice in court. Here, too, are vivid portraits of former Rocky Flats workers–from the healthy, who regard their work at the plant with pride and patriotism, to the ill or dying, who battle for compensation for cancers they got on the job.
This book had quite a bit of technical and scientific information in it, but it’s written with a narrative that makes it easily readable. I didn’t always understand the nitty gritty of the science that Iversen was writing about but I could understand the points she was trying to make anyway. I don’t have much of a head for science so that is probably mostly my fault anyway.
I liked how she alternated the story between what was happening at Rocky Flats and what was happening in her own personal life. Though it was sometimes hard to make a direct connection between the two, both stories were compelling.
If you care anything about the environment or life on this planet, reading Full Body Burden will make you mad. It’s unbelievable the amount of irresponsibility involved with the management of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant. Even though it wasn’t a feel-good book by any means, I think it’s still an important book to read. The more aware we are of these types of situations, the harder it will be for the people involved to keep shirking responsibility – I would hope anyway.
Tune in tomorrow – I’ll be giving away a copy of this book to one of my US readers!
Buy this book at:
Amazon
Kindle Store
Powell’s Books
(I received this book courtesy of the publisher.)
July 11th, 2012 in
Books |
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Yesterday, I reviewed Cleaning Nabokov’s House which I highly recommend. Today, I am thrilled to be able to give away copies to three of my readers with US addresses. Just fill out the form below. This giveaway will be closed for entries at 11:59pm CST on July 17, 2012.
