knit one, kill two

knit one, kill two
a knitting mystery #1
maggie sefton
cozy/mystery
berkley books
published 2005

For Kelly Flynn, coming back to Colorado for her aunt's funeral yields a disturbing suspicion: that her death wasn't the result of a burglary, but something more sinister.  After all, why would the sensible sixty-year-old borrow $20,000 just days before her death?  With the help of the knitting regulars at the House of Lambspun, Kelly's about to get a few lessons in creating a sumptuously colored scarf - and in luring a killer out of hiding.

This was a quick cozy mystery read that I found myself enjoying more than I had expected I would.  The characters aren't delved into too deeply and there is still much of Kelly's life that we don't know about.  The ending of the book kind of left you hanging.  The mystery was solved, but once the dust settles, what happened?  But the descriptions of the yarns and knitting had me itching to grab my needles and start again.  I loved that the book included two quick knitting patterns and a recipe for cinnamon rolls too!

ready player one

ready player one
ernest cline
fiction/ya/scifi
crown
published 2011

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place.  The only time teenager Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS.  Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines - puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.  But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize.  The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win - and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

Ready Player One is like a geek version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory drenched in 80's nostalgia.  I read a review that said something about the book being 'sprinkled' with 80's references, but I really feel that no, it was drenched.  You cannot find a page in the book that does not bash you over the head with it.

Now, I love my 80's stuff and geek culture is where my heart is.  This book would have been lovely, but it was sooooooooo 'let me explain every reference to you'.  There was a part where two characters are looking at a scene and one says, 'It looks like Rivendell.' to which the other character responds, 'It looks like Rivendell, from Lord of the Rings.'  Oh, I'm sorry, was the first character talking about a Rivendell from another book?

It was stuff like that that began to get on my nerves.  I listened to the book because it was read by Wil Wheaton, and hello! Wil Wheaton.  But even he couldn't make me not want to scream out loud when 2 and a half hours into the book I've listened to listings of nearly every movie, tv show, band and book that existed in the 1980's.  I almost gave up on the book, but friends assured me that there was a story yet to come.

Once things did get going it was somewhat better.  I don't think I really got into the book until near the end at the final hunt and the epic battle that hopefully will translate to screen very well.  I think that this is one of those books that could possibly make a better movie than a book because it will be forced to edit down quite a bit and this book needed editing.

crazy rich asians

crazy rich asians
kevin kwan
fiction/contemporary
doubleday
published 2013

When Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home, long drives to explore the island, and quality time with the man she might one day marry.  What she doesn't know is that Nick's family home happens to look like a palace, that she'll ride in more private planes than cars, and that with one of Asia's most eligible bachelors on her arm, Rachel might as well have a target on her back.  Initiated into a world of dynastic splendor beyond imagination, Rachel meets Astrid, the It Girl of Singapore society; Eddie, whose family practically lives in the pages of the Hong Kong socialite magazines; and Eleanor, Nick's formidable mother, a woman who has very strong feelings about who her son should - and should not - marry.

I don't know what I expected when I finally got my hands on Crazy Rich Asians, but I wasn't quite prepared for what I got!  Crazy Rich Asians was like a cross between Gossip Girl, Sex and the City and Pretty Little Liars.  I have no dislike for fashion or reading about the ridiculous opulence, but it did get kind of monotonous having to hear every designer of every piece of clothing, jewelry, handbag, shoe, glasses, china, table, bedding, car, etc. etc. etc.  If something could be expensive we were battered on the head with its pedigree.

On the other hand, I loved Astrid, liked Rachel a lot and really had fun with the story.  Sure, it's not anything new (except the insertion of Asians) - girl meets boy who she thinks is just a normal guy, turns out he's filthy rich and doesn't tell her until she's confronted with his rich, snobby family - but the characters were colorful and fun.

I listened to the audiobook as well as read though it on my kindle.  I liked being able to hear the Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations, but the reader's British accents and male voices (she's a female) were slightly distracting.

Kevin Kwan's second book China Rich Girlfriend comes out in June, a sequel to Crazy Rich Asians and I'm sure I'll read it.  I have to find out what happened to Astrid!

last winter we parted

last winter, we parted
fuminori nakamura
mystery/thriller
soho press
published 2014

A young writer arrives at a prison to interview a convict.  The writer has been commissioned to write a full account of the case, from the bizarre and grisly details of the crime to the nature of the man behind it.  The suspect, a world-renowned photographer named Kiharazaka, has a deeply unsettling portfolio - lurking beneath the surface of each photograph is an acutely obsessive fascination with his subject.

He stands accused of murdering two women - both burned alive - and will likely face the death penalty.  But something isn't quite right.  As the young writer probes further, his doubts about this man as a killer intensify, and he struggles to maintain his sense of reason and justice.  Is Kiharazaka truly guilty, or will he die to protect someone else?

This could have been a really good book.  It had a mystery, a possibly wrongly convicted man, a twisted romance, murder and insanity.  But there wasn't much to the book.  It was a very quick read and I think that's why I continued to read.  Not because it was hard to put down, but because it was so short I figured I might as well finish it.  I think I read it in a few hours.

The synopsis talks of this young writer and you would think that his character would keep the mystery going for you, but in truth I don't really know what that writer was doing.  And then all of a sudden he solves the mystery.  It's all rather abrupt.

I don't know.  I really liked the idea behind the book, but I felt the execution fell flat or maybe something was just lost in translation?

the flash: move forward

the flash: move forward

francis manapul & brian buccellato

graphics/superheroes

dc comics

published 2011

Struck by a bolt of lightning and doused in chemicals, Central City police scientist Barry Allen was transformed into the Fastest Man Alice.  But there are some things even the Flash can't outrun.  After years spent on the hunt for vengeance, one of the Flash's oldest friends has returned, with new enemies hot on his tail - an unstoppable mob that seems to grow more quickly than the Flash can stop them.

In the supermax prison called Iron Heights, the Flash's most dangerous enemy plans his escape, dreams of revenge, and prepares to put the Flash on ice for good - driven by a personal grudge the Flash can't see coming.  And deep within the Flash himself, incredible new powers are ready to be unleashed - unforeseen, unexplored abilities fueled by the same Speed Force that makes the Flash run, and which could be his greatest weapon....or his worst nightmare.

When I was talking about subscribing to a new comic I was thinking about Red Hood or Nightwing (which is actually over and restarting as Grayson) or even Damien Son of Batman.  Ray said I should get out of Gotham and try something else.  Since I'd already read some Green Arrow books (though nothing in the New 52) I thought maybe I'd try The Flash.  With his show coming to TV next season it seemed like a good fit.  Plus, the library had the first two volumes so that pretty much sealed the deal.

I thoroughly enjoy Francis Manapul's artwork.  It's pencily looking (can you tell I'm such an artist), not too slick, but the panels are clear and easy to interpret.  The story itself was pretty great as well although we go from some scientific cloning/regeneration talk to time-space rifts to talking gorillas.  It's quite a spectrum.

Basically Barry Allen is trying to balance what every masked hero is balancing.  How to do stuff and not be hated by your girlfriend.  It doesn't seem to matter that Barry is probably the nicest superhero, everyone still kind of blames him for stuff.  Poor guy.

It kept me entertained and I started reading the next volume before I stopped myself and said I should write this review!

the weight of blood

the weight of blood
laura mchugh
fiction/mystery
spiegel & grau
published 2014

The town of Henbane sits deep in the Ozark Mountains.  Folks there still whisper about Lucy Dane's mother, a bewitching stranger who appeared long enough to marry Carl Dane and then vanished when Lucy was just a child.  Now on the brink of adulthood, Lucy experiences another loss when her friend Cheri disappears and is then found murdered, her body placed on display for all to see.  Lucy's family has deep roots in the Ozarks, part of a community that is fiercely protective of its own.  Yet despite her close ties to the land, and despite her family's influence, Lucy - darkly beautiful as her mother was - is always thought of by those around her as her mother's daughter.  When Cheri disappears, Lucy is haunted by the two lost girls - the mother she never knew and the friend she couldn't save - and sets out with the help of a local boy, Daniel, to uncover the mystery behind Cheri's death.

I can't put my finger on exactly why I didn't absolutely love this book, but there is something about it that keeps me from giving it more than three stars.  For one, there was no doubt within the first chapter of the book who was responsible for the girls' disappearances (to me).  But the how, why and where took a little longer, though not much.  My heart broke for Lila and I did enjoy the alternating perspectives, but Lucy....well, something about her just kind of kept her at arm's length for me as well.

I think the biggest thing that bothers me is there are times when Lucy gets information that needs to be shared, but she hold everything too close.  For what reason, I really didn't understand, but still felt odd to me.

Nonetheless, the book was a decent read.  I did enjoy Lucy's voice, Lila's as well and the other characters were colorful enough.

ruined

ruined
ruined #1
paula morris
ya/horror
point
published 2009

Rebecca Brown couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to live while her dad is away on business.  She's staying in a creepy house with her aunt Claudia, who reads tarot cards for a living.  And at the snooty prep school, a pack of filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible.  Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda.

Then one night, among the oak trees in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend.  Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to show Rebecca the nooks and crannies of New Orleans.  There's just one catch.

Lisette is a ghost.

A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle.

As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend - and as she begins to trust Anton Grey - she also uncovers startling truths about her own history.  Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?

There was something about this book that held me back from completely enjoying it.  It could be that Morris spent 4 pages describing the Mardi Gras parade route.  Or the walk that Lisette and Rebecca take to Tremé that is a four mile walk and we read about every. single. mile.

It was parts like that.  Unnecessarily long passages that added very little, if anything, to the story.  I found myself not caring, a lot.  And,

*****SPOILER*****

It bothered me a little that it was supposed to be okay for the other girl to die just because she 'looked down' on Rebecca.  I mean sure, she was a snob but she didn't go out of her way to make Rebecca's life miserable she just most pretending like Rebecca didn't exist.  So for that, we're relieved that she's the one who is going to die?  I don't know.  The closest person to an antagonist is Toby and nothing happens to him.

It was interesting enough that I'll read the next book - mostly because the next book is a different 'ghost' story altogether.

lies beneath

lies beneath

lies beneath #1

anne greenwood brown

fantasy/ya/romance/thriller

delacorte press

published 2012

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother's death.

It's going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder's job is to gain Hancock's trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love--just as Lily starts to suspect there's more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.

One thing's for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won't be pretty.

This was much better than I expected!

Kind of Twilighty with the whole dangerous guy, girl falls for him anyway, but other than that it was unique and fun.

Mermaids and mermen, or rather, merman.  Lots of betrayal and mystery surrounding Calder and his sisters.  At first I was a little bummed to find out this was the first in a series, but after reading it I felt like we just scratched the surface and I'm interested to see where Brown goes with this.

But if you didn't want to start another series you could just read this one and be pretty satisfied.  I think it ends well, leaving it up in the air a little, but at the same time there's closure there too.  Like I said, I'm interested to see where she goes with this so I'm in for the next one whenever I can get my hands on it!

the night circus

the night circus

erin morgenstern

fiction/fantasy/scifi

anchor

published 2011

The circus arrives without warning.  No announcements precede it.  It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.  Within the black-and-white striped canvas tnts is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements.  It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors.  Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will.  Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

The book jumps back in forth in time to tell the story of before and during and then and while it should be confusing with a jumble of different characters it's not.  You yearn to know how everyone is intertwined - because you know they must be - and you revel in each little step taken through their journey.

Sometimes when I'm reading a book where there is an ensemble of characters I get frustrated when the focus shifts from one character to the next.  Inevitably there is always at least one character I don't care where their story take them.  That is not so with The Night Circus.

I'm enthralled by Bailey, Poppet & Widget and their mysterious adventures.  What Bailey's future holds for him and Poppet & Widget's easy acceptance and friendship.  Isobel is at times seemingly bitter and cunning, but then maybe that's just what I expect her to be and not what she really is.  Of course, Celia and Marco.  Tsukiko, Chandresh, Tante, Lainie & Tara, Mr. Barris, Herr Thiessen....they're all incredibly fascinating and add bits and bits of revelation to the mystery at hand.  

I found Hector/Prospero to be completely horrid.  Alexander showed more love for Marco than Hector ever did for Celia.  Everything Hector ever did was done to Celia, not for her.  The affection he showed her was merely a fake face.  Alexander was the genuine one.  Though that doesn't make him exempt from his choices it does make him more human.

I did get a little confused during October 21-November 1, 1901 & 1902.  Because it was switching back and forth so quickly I would have to double back and see what year I was in.  There were questions and mysteries I felt were never answered, but for some reason I wasn't disappointed.  Some mysterious are better left as mysteries.

pretty little liars

pretty little liars

pretty little liars #1

sara shepard

mystery/ya

harpercollins

published 2006

Three years ago, Alison disappeared after a slumber party, not to be seen since.  Her friends at the elite Pennsylvania school mourned her, but they also breathed secret sighs of relief.  Each of them guarded a secret that only Alison had known.  Now they have other dirty little secrets, secrets that could sink them in their gossip-hungry world.  When each of them begins receiving anonymous emails and text messages, panic sets in.  Are they being betrayed by some one in their circle?  Worse yet: Is Alison back?

This is one of those series that I've thought about reading often, but something else grabs my attention and it gets put on the back burner.  I finally decided to start these and try to get through the whole series before the end of the year.  Maybe a little too ambitious...

It definitely grabs you right away.  Secrets and lies and mystery.  It reminded me a bit of Gossip Girl.  The spoiled kids, the mysterious person who seems to know everything they shouldn't.  There's absolutely no way you can read this book and be done with it.  There's even more questions at the end of Pretty Little Liars than there were at the beginning, but for once it's doesn't bug me it just makes me want to start on Flawless right away!

learning to swim

learning to swim
troy chance #1
sara j. henry
fiction/mystery/suspense
crown
published 2011

"If I'd blinked, I would have missed it. But I didn't, and I saw something fall from the rear deck of the opposite ferry: a small, wide-eyed human face, in one tiny frozen moment, as it plummeted toward the water."
When she witnesses a small child tumbling from a ferry into Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. Harrowing moments later, she bobs to the surface, pulling a terrified little boy with her. As the ferry disappears into the distance, she begins a bone-chilling swim nearly a mile to shore towing a tiny passenger.

Surprisingly, he speaks only French. He'll acknowledge that his name is Paul; otherwise, he's resolutely mute.

Troy assumes that Paul's frantic parents will be in touch with the police or the press. But what follows is a shocking and deafening silence. And Troy, a freelance writer, finds herself as fiercely determined to protect Paul as she is to find out what happened to him.  She'll need skill and courage to survive and protect her charge and herself.  

Troy Chance is a very intriguing character.  I'm not sure that I really liked her, could see myself as friends with her and I definitely can't say that I understood her, but she was very interesting to read about.

The story is really slow, but it is so well written that I didn't mind.  I was wrapped up in Troy's life.  Trying to figure her out, trying to make sense of the strange and sometimes awkward decisions she made.  I could understand her fierce love for the boy she saves and I loved how self aware she is.  Recognizing her faults and when she's gone too far.

The story itself is a bit predictable.  Nonetheless, I was interested enough to continue to go back to it!

the killing joke

batman: the killing joke
alan moore & brian bolland
graphic novel
dc comics
deluxe edition published 2008

One bad day.

According to the grinning engine of madness and mayhem known as The Joker, that's all that separates the sane from the psychotic.  Freed once again from the confines of Arkham Asylum, he's out to prove his deranged point.  And he's going to use Gotham City's top cop, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and his brilliant and beautiful daughter Barbara to do it.

Now Batman must race to stop his archnemesis before his reign of terror claims two of the Dark Knight's closest friends.  Can he finally put an end to the cycle of bloodlust and lunacy that links these two iconic foes before it leads to its fatal conclusion?  And as the horrifying origin of the Clown Prince of Crime is revealed, will the thin line that separates Batman's nobility and The Joker's insanity snap once and for all?

Arguably the most famous Batman story of all time.  Joker's origins, Barbara's fate and the battle that rages on and on between Batman & Joker.

There is sympathy to be had for the Joker.  His flashbacks revealing what happened in his life before he became a cartoon version of himself.  But of course, the Joker is still the Joker and his atrocities are legend, especially here.

A definite must read for the Batman fan.

tampa

tampa
alissa nutting
fiction/crime
ecco
published 2013

In Alissa Nutting’s novel Tampa, Celeste Price, a smoldering 26-year-old middle-school teacher in Florida, unrepentantly recounts her elaborate and sociopathically determined seduction of a 14-year-old student.

Celeste has chosen and lured the charmingly modest Jack Patrick into her web. Jack is enthralled and in awe of his eighth-grade teacher, and, most importantly, willing to accept Celeste’s terms for a secret relationship—car rides after dark, rendezvous at Jack’s house while his single father works the late shift, and body-slamming erotic encounters in Celeste’s empty classroom. In slaking her sexual thirst, Celeste Price is remorseless and deviously free of hesitation, a monstress of pure motivation. She deceives everyone, is close to no one, and cares little for anything but her pleasure.

Tampa is a sexually explicit, virtuosically satirical, American Psycho–esque rendering of a monstrously misplaced but undeterrable desire. Laced with black humor and crackling sexualized prose, Alissa Nutting’s Tampa is a grand, seriocomic examination of the want behind student / teacher affairs and a scorching literary debut.

Whoa.  Just whoa.  I haven't really read a book where I hardly cared for any character, especially not the main character.

First of all, yes the book is centered around sex.  Is it sexually explicit?  Yes.  Is it overly so?  No.  I don't think Alissa Nutting goes too far.  I don't think that this is, what I've read some people call, a thinly disguised porn.  It was absolutely not a turn on.  It was revolting and it's supposed to be revolting.

There is nothing redeemable in Celeste.  She's shallow, deceitful, predatory and selfish.  She's a pedophile plain and simple.  But at the same time, I didn't feel sorry for her husband.  And maybe that's because the story is told in Celeste's words so we're colored in that grossness, but I'm not sure there was anything that great about him either.

Jack.  I felt awful for Jack.  I read one reviewer write that they didn't feel sorry for any of Celeste's victims because they all knew what they were getting into, but Jack.  I don't think he signed up for this.  It was just so warped and dark and all I could see was the wasted life in front of him.

Nutting writes very well.  The pages flew by for me, I was sucked right into the this horrid world.  The only thing I wish she had gone into more was why Celeste was the way she was.  I can't imagine losing her virginity is what caused her to lust after middle school kids.

 I never expected things to go the way they went.  I wanted her caught, I wanted justice for the people she had hurt, but I'm not sure if that's what happened.  But it was a good read.  Not something I would have normally read, but sometimes it's good to step out of your comfort zone and if you're looking to do that Tampa is waaaaay out of anyone's comfort zone.

eleanor & park

eleanor & park
rainbow rowell
ya/romance
st. martin's griffin
published 2013

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

When you read a book you enjoy there is a point in the book where you go from not really caring about the book to being enthralled and instantly loving the characters in a way you hadn't just the page before.  In Eleanor & Park that happened for me somewhere around page 53.  And then it just took off from there.

Eleanor stayed away from the N-word, even in her head.  It was bad enough that, thanks to Richie's influence, she went around mentally calling everyone she met a "motherfucker." (Irony.)

He emptied all his handheld video games and Josh's remote control cars, and called his grandma to tell her that all he wanted for his birthday in November was AA batteries.

This book was so rich.  So many emotions were wrung out reading this book.  It felt like being bipolar.  I was enchanted, terrified, elated, sad, relieved and full of wonder.  It brought back those feelings of first love and the angst of high school with this surprising element of family and how you can't choose who brings you into this world.  Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes it's not.

Add in comics, superheroes, music of the 80's, sci fi references and loaded with sarcasm laced with tenderness, it became nearly the perfect book.

Maybe Park had paralyzed her with his ninja magic, his Vulcan handhold, and now he was going to eat her.  That would be awesome.

 Oh and it was.

midwinterblood

midwinterblood
marcus sedgwick
ya/horror/supernatural
roaring brook press
published 2013

In 2073 on the remote & secretive island of Blessed, where rumor has it that no one ages and no children are born, a visitor arrives.  He is greeted warmly, but something is wrong.  Something is hidden on the far side of the island.  Something that, as if in a dream, he cannot reach.

And so it is that under the light of the waxing and waning moon, seven stories unfold: the story of an archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact; of an airman who finds himself far from home; of a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking.  And the story of a love so primal and passionate it slips the bonds of time. 

This is the story of Midwinterblood.

I found this book through my library's recommendation email that I get every couple of weeks.  It sounded so interesting and different so I went and picked it up.  It's a very short read.  I ended up reading it in just under and hour and a half, yet it took me forever to read it because I kept getting distracted by other stuff!

The book is set up in a series of short stories that start in the year 2073 and move backwards in time.  They are always on Blessed Island.  The stories are intriguing and captivating, but for many I just wanted more, which I suppose is what the author wanted!  It's one of those stories that when it's all over you find yourself piecing together moments you didn't put together while you were reading.  Everything is happening in a strange backwards foreshadowing kind of way.  Something is revealed, but there is no explanation for it and when the next story starts it takes place 50-100 years prior to the events you just read.

At times it feels confusing, incomplete, but what is happening is so interesting you have to keep reading.  Even at this point I wish there was more to it instead of just these glimpses into slices of time, but it was a good read nonetheless.

stolen

stolen
lucy christopher
ya/thriller
chicken house
published 2012

A girl: Gemma, 16, at the airport, on her way to a family vacation.

A guy: Ty, rugged, tan, too old, oddly familiar, eyes blue as ice.

She steps away. For just a second. He pays for her drink. And drugs it. They talk. Their hands touch. And before Gemma knows what's happening, Ty takes her. Steals her away. To sand and heat. To emptiness and isolation. To nowhere. And expects her to love him.

Wow.  Just wow.

This book sucked me in right from the beginning when I read about it on my library's recommendation page.  It reminded me a bit of Chevy Stevens's Still Missing (a book that I HIGHLY recommend) only because it's the recounting of a kidnapping and the events following.

Of course, it wasn't like Still Missing at all.  Quite different, but engrossing nonetheless.  I spent the time reading feeling claustrophobic for Gemma.  Feeling helpless because she was.  I was creeped out by Ty and constantly felt like bugs were crawling on me.

I must admit that I just couldn't stand the idea of being stuck in this sandy, dusty desert.  I wanted to take a shower everytime I picked up the book!

But it was fascinating.  Gemma's struggle to escape, to not care about Ty and to reconcile her feelings with what the right thing to do was.  Gemma was strong, but compassionate.  I wish that the story followed through a bit longer.  I feel like there was so much more story to tell.  I read a FAQ of Lucy Christopher's in which she's asked if there will be a sequel and now having finished the book I can see why people asked.  There's definitely more.

wandering son, vol. 1 & 2

wandering son, vol. 1
wandering son, vol. 2
shimura takako
graphic novels/manga/drama/ya
fantagraphics books
published 2011

Fifth grade:  The threshold to puberty, and the beginning of the end of childhood innocence.  Shuichi Nitori and his new friend Yoshino Takatsuki enjoy happy homes and loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates.  But they share a secret that further complicates a ime of life this is awkward for anyone:  Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy....

A quietly powerful story about two children trying to figure out how they belong.  Shuichi and Yoshino both feel like they were born in the wrong bodies and they're timidly beginning to try out how it feels to dressing the way they feel.  Discovering that they both have the same secret they quickly become friends.  Yoshino is bolder and ready to jump right in, but Shuichi is more apprehensive.

While I did like the book this was the first time that I felt like some things were lost in translation.  There were times where I felt a little lost, or something didn't quite make sense.  Still, I was able to get the gist of it and enjoy the books nonetheless.  

take what you can carry

take what you can carry
kevin c. pyle
graphic novel/drama
henry holt & co.
published 2012

His father in government custody, Ken is one of more than 110,000 Japanese Americans forced to move to makeshift relocation camps in the tumultuous months after Pearl Harbor.  As traditional family bonds fray, and sometimes break, he stumbles toward a state of gaman: enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity.

Nearly four decades later, another boy also begins a new life.  A recent arrival to his rapidly developing suburb, Kyle assumes the role of daredevil and thief, always willing to take a risk too far.  But when his exploits land him in jail, it's clear that risks have consequence and debts must be paid.

It was the title this time and not the cover itself that caught my eye.  Reminiscent of Only What We Could Carry (a book everyone should read) my hand went to pick it up without even really thinking about it.  As I suspected it did deal with the internment of Japanese Americans, but with a bit of a twist.

The book flips back and forth from a 1978 Chicago suburb and 1941-1944 California.  In 1978 we follow Kyle in bright white & blues.  In the 40's Ken is awash in dark browns and silence.  There are never any words relayed in Ken's story so we're left with pictures which is almost more telling than words.

Incredibly powerful, although I'm not sure if I cry for Ken or for my family.  I wonder if I should have tried harder to get my Grandmother & Great-Uncles & Great-Aunts to talk about their time in the camps.  It was something that they obviously never wanted to talk about.  When asked my Ba-chan (grandmother) would always say she was too young to remember.  My Uncles always changed the subject and with time I understood this was something that they didn't want to to remember.

I wonder what happened when they came home.  How they were treated, what happened to all of the belongings left behind and how they rebuilt everything.  I wonder about Great-Grandparents I never knew, how much they must have suffered.  I wonder what it must have felt like to have always felt like part of a country and then all of a sudden being told you were not, to not belong anywhere.

In class I was once told by an entitled rich kid that the Japanese Americans wanted to go to the camps.  That it was like a vacation for them.  That was the first time I realized people were idiots. 

What struck me most about this book was the way Pyle chose to voice the time in the internment camp.  With no voice.  No dialogue spoken.  It felt to me as a nod to the quiet that covers the events even to this day.  It is not spoken of, expect mostly by Sansei who want their parents and grandparents stories to be told, to not be forgotten.  Well worth the read.

luther: the calling

luther: the calling
neil cross
suspense/thriller/mystery
touchstone
published 2012

Meet Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. He's a murder detective. A near-genius. He's brilliant; he's intense; he's instinctive. He's obsessional. He's dangerous. DCI John Luther has an extraordinary clearance rate. He commands outstanding loyalty from friends and colleagues. Nobody who ever stood at his side has a bad word to say about him. And yet there are rumours that DCI Luther is bad - not corrupt, not on the take, but tormented. Luther seethes with a hidden fury that at times he can barely control. Sometimes it sends him to the brink of madness, making him do things he shouldn't; things way beyond the limits of the law.

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod

Seriously.

*breathe*

One day I was trolling around the interwebs looking at stuff about when my favorite BBC shows were coming back on and I discovered that there was a book written about Luther.  Now, if you have never seen the show I urge you to go out right now and watch it.  It streams on Netflix.  If you don't have a Netflix subscription get one and watch Luther.  You won't regret it.

I checked my library and lo & behold they actually had the book.  I figured I might as well.  After all, I read the Nikki Heat book 'written' by Richard Castle and that one sucked butt so this couldn't be any worse.  To my utter excitement I found out that the book is written by Neil Cross, creator & sole writer for the TV show.  Score!

And boy did I score.

Luther: The Calling takes place during the events just before the series begins.  It explains everything that has driven John Luther to become the person he now is on the show.  We get to find out exactly what happened just before the opening scene in the first episode of one of the best shows on TV.  And it's so good.

I bit all my nails and then some.  I was immersed and completely lost in this book.  It's suspense, it's a thriller and it's part horror.  It's frightening, grisly, depraved and utterly fantastic.  Neil Cross already speaks Luther.  He made Luther.  Going from television to paper is seamless AND IT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING!!!  If you have watched the show you will read through this book and have those 'holy shit' moments where everything begins to come together.  Things that happen in the second season of the show are given their first breaths of life on these pages.

It's magnificent.  The dust cover promises that this is the first book in a planned series.  I'm not sure if that's still the plan, but if it is I'm all in.  This was an amazing piece of work and I think I would have been blown away even if I'd never seen the show.  This is the first time that I can remember reading a book by an Edgar award winner and being in complete agreement.  Go forth and read this book and then watch the show.  Or watch the show and get the book.  It doesn't matter which way you decide to do it, just do it.

the perks of being a wallflower

the perks of being a wallflower
stephen chbosky
ya/drama/comedy/romance
demco books
published 1999

Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

Another one of those books that I've been meaning to read, but just never got around to it until finally, now and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long!

Charlie is starting his first year in high school.  For every teenager this is an uncertain, exciting, terrifying time and Charlie chooses to deal with it by writing letters anonymously to a person he heard was a good person.  Does that make sense?  He overheard two girls talking about this guy who could have taken advantage of a (possibly) drunk/passed out girl, but he didn't.  Charlie decides that a person like that is someone he can tell all of his secrets to, confide in and that person will keep his secrets.

So he begins by explaining why he's writing and delves into life as a high schooler on the fringes of everything.  He has no friends after his one friend in middle school commits suicide so he starts out his freshman year alone, but not for long.  In an uncharacteristic burst of daring Charlie says hi to a senior in his woodshop class at a football game.  Patrick and the beautiful Sam immediately take Charlie in.  I think about what a wonderful world this would be if everyone was like Sam & Patrick.  Friends just because.  Taking a kid under their wing and truly taking the time to appreciate him.

I've read a few reviews about how Charlie doesn't sound like a 15/16 year old kid.  His speech, his writing is immature.  At first I agreed.  The speech seemed too young, like a 10 or 11 year old.  But then I thought back to my writing when I was in high school, especially when I first started writing and it was probably similar.  We're so used to books & TV shows & movies where the kids talk like the age the actors actually are and not how actual teenagers really talk or write.  Not everyone is Hemmingway.  But also, well, Charlie is immature. 

I wasn't quite expecting the end.  It felt out of left field at first, but then I realized that he was leading up to this revelation from the beginning.  He'd been leading us to this place of honesty and pain and it explained so much.

And now it's over.  I want to gather this book up and hold it inside me forever.