Review: Sunnyside Blues (with free giveaway!)

Title:  Sunnyside Blues

Author:  Mary Carter

Published:  June 30, 2009

Page Count:  352

Genre:  Fiction

My Rating:  4/5

Twenty-five-year-old Andes Lane has spent nine years moving restlessly from place to place as she searches for somewhere that feels right. In the little blue houseboat bobbing on a Seattle lake, she thinks she’s found it. But Andes has barely had a chance to settle in before her new life is upended by her landlord, Jay, and his ten-year-old son, Chase. Smart, secretive, and precocious, Chase touches a chord with Andes even as he plays on her last nerve. When Jay needs someone to take care of Chase temporarily, Andes agrees to accompany the boy to Sunnyside, Queens, on a quest she’s sure will prove fruitless. But in this new, strange, unexpectedly welcoming city, Andes will confront the secrets she tried to leave behind and the lies that have kept her running. And against all odds, she’ll discover a place, a man, and a newfound peace of mind that feel very much like home.

I have to admit that Sunnyside Blues was not one of those books that grab me right away.  In fact, towards the beginning of the novel I found myself a little concerned that I wouldn’t like it.  But once I started to get to know the characters, Andes especially, I fell in love with this charming story and I ended up really enjoying it.

I definitely felt for Andes throughout the novel.  She has spent her entire adult life running from her past, from her abusive father and from one event which changed her entire life and basically forced her into hiding.  And because of all this, she hasn’t had too many close relationships, too many friends she can really count on or any place where she can feel at home.  So when she meets Jay and Chase in the beginning of the novel, I thought for sure it would be a story about the three of them becoming a little family (or something to that effect).  What I liked about this novel is that it took a completely different turn – Andes suddenly finds herself responsible for this ten-year-old boy, on a quest to find a person who Chase believes may be very important to him.  And through this journey of theirs, the reader gets to watch as Andes starts to really care about Chase, as Chase starts to trust and depend on Andes, and as they navigate the world together.  Their relationship was just so fun to read about – it was sort of a love/hate relationship, but as they got to know each other better and better it just became so sweet.

Another thing I enjoyed about the novel is the fact that Ms. Carter truly had me guessing through most of the book.  The plot was never predictable, at least I couldn’t predict any of it, and I definitely appreciated that element to this story.  I enjoyed the idea of Andes taking Chase to New York, with no concrete plan other than they’d get there safely and try to find a place to live temporarily, and it all worked out so well for them once they got there.  Maybe it wasn’t the most realistic of situations, but I certainly enjoyed reading about their adventure!

Sunnyside Blues is a sweet, charming story with several twists and turns and I truly enjoyed reading it.  Mary Carter has crafted great characters and an entertaining plot that will leave you smiling and satisfied when all is said and done.

And now, for the giveaway – Mary Carter has generously offered to give away TWO copies of Sunnyside Blues.  The giveaway is open to anyone, regardless of where you live.  Just comment on this post to enter, and I’ll go ahead and throw in an extra entry for anyone who’d like to blog or twitter about this contest.  The giveaway will close on Sunday, July 12 (just under two weeks from today) and I will choose a winner that evening or the next morning.  Good luck and thanks for participating!

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Review: Sleepwalking in Daylight

Title:  Sleepwalking in Daylight

Author:  Elizabeth Flock

Published:  February 24, 2009

Page Count:  368

Genre:  Women’s Fiction

My Rating:  4.5/5

Once defined by her career and independence, stay-at-home mom Samantha Friedman finds that her days have been reduced to errands, car pools and suburban gossip. What was an easy decision for Sam years ago has become a nagging awareness that this life was her choice. Now she deals with a husband who shows up for dinner but is too preoccupied for conversation, and a daughter swathed in black clothing and Goth makeup who won’t talk at all.

Believing she’s an adopted mistake, seventeen-year-old Cammy has fallen into sex and drugs and pours herself into a journal filled with poetry and pain. On parallel paths, mother and daughter indulge in desperate, furtive escapism—for Sam, a heady affair with her supposed soul mate, fueled by clandestine coffee dates and the desire to feel something; for Cammy, a secretive search for her birth mother punctuated by pills, pot and the need to feel absolutely nothing.

I have had two great experiences with Elizabeth Flock novels; I read and enjoyed both Me & Emma and But Inside I’m Screaming (both pre-blogging days).  Yet somehow the fact that she recently published this one completely escaped me – that is, until I saw it on the new releases shelf at the library.  Obviously, I grabbed it up and read the book as soon as I returned home that afternoon.

I was not at all disappointed with Sleepwalking in Daylight.  In fact, I can easily say that this is my favorite Elizabeth Flock novel so far.  This is definitely more of a character-driven novel, with the plot running alongside slightly in the background.  What drew me into this book so quickly was how well Flock crafted these two characters.  I was blown away by how distinctive and authentic Sam and Cammy were.  It was almost hard for me to believe that the same author wrote both of them.  What I loved about the way they were written was how well I sympathized with both of them – especially considering they had less-than-great things to say about one another.  Basically, this is what would happen while I was reading the book:  Sam would talk about how difficult a time she was having with Cammy, how impossible it was to reach her daughter, and I would feel her pain and just hope for them to reconcile.  But then Cammy would go on about how her mother doesn’t understand her, how depressing everything in her life is, and how she feels like nobody really cares about what happens to her, and my heart would just break for what she was going through.  Even though I knew Sam was doing everything she could to reach Cammy, and from Sam’s point of view Cammy was just pulling away from her.  See?  I totally got both women – I think it’s amazing that Flock was able to accomplish this.

I cannot talk about the plot of this novel in too much detail because there was a huge thing at the end that I was totally unprepared for, and I want anyone who reads the book to be equally as stunned as I was.  However, I will say that I think Flock did a stunning job helping the reader slowly understand and unravel where this story was going.  Basically the entire book is a terrible snowball – it starts off innocently enough, and then a few issues are revealed that make you think things are not going to turn out well for this family, and you actually read on the pages everything getting worse and worse until really, it can only get better.  You know it has to get better, this family has to figure it out and mke things work.  But will they?  I’m not telling.

I loved this book.  I don’t know what else to say – I thought it was beautiful, wonderfully written, and simply heartbreaking.

More reviews:

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Review: The Accidental Bestseller

Title:  The Accidental Bestseller

Author:  Wendy Wax

Published:  June 2, 2009

Page Count:  432

Genre:  Women’s Fiction

My Rating:  3/5

Once upon a time four aspiring authors met at their very first writers’ conference. Ten years later they’re still friends, survivors of the ultra-competitive New York publishing world. Mallory St. James is a workaholic whose bestsellers support a lavish lifestyle. Tanya Mason is a single mother juggling two jobs, two kids, and too many deadlines. Faye Truett is the wife of a famous televangelist and the author of inspirational romances: no one would ever guess her explosive secret. Kendall Aims’s once-promising career is on the skids—and so is her marriage. Her sales are dismal, her new editor detests her work—and her husband is cheating. Barely able to think, let alone meet her final deadline, Kendall holes up in a mountain cabin to confront a blank page and a blanker future. But her friends won’t let her face this trial alone. Together they collaborate on a novel using their own lives as fodder, assuming no one will ever discover the truth behind their words.

No one is more surprised than they are when the book becomes a runaway bestseller. But with success comes scrutiny and scandal…as these four best friends suddenly realize how little they’ve truly known each other.

When I first started reading The Accidental Bestseller, I was concerned that I wasn’t going to enjoy the read, and I was actually contemplating abandoning it for a few pages.  It just didn’t catch me right away.  But since I had promised to review the book I told myself I would give it 100 pages before putting it down.  I’m so glad I made that choice because about fifty pages in, I was hooked and wouldn’t have abandoned it for anything!  I do have to be honest, though, because while I enjoyed the book there were definitely aspects of it I wasn’t thrilled about, so I’m going to attempt to make this review as balanced as possible.

First, the characters.  I loved reading about the relationships between these four women – I’m a sucker for stories about friendships, I really am.  I loved how in The Accidental Bestseller, even though all four women were dealing with a lot in their personal lives, as soon as Kendall needs them they all come together to support her and help her.  At the same time, it made me so sad to see that they were keeping these HUGE secrets from one another.  Not little secrets – massive, life-changing ones.  It was hard for me to believe that friends who cared about one another as much as these four did would keep this kind of stuff from each other.  Oh well.  Another thing that I have to mention about the characters is that I found all four of them to be a bit cliche.  I hate to say this, but it’s what I kept thinking as I was reading and I just can’t keep it to myself.  None of the four of them surprised me.  Even when I found out their secrets I still felt pretty “meh” about them – even the secrets, to me, were pretty predictable.  The character I most enjoyed, in fact, was a secondary character, Lacy.  Lacy was the assistant to Kendall’s editor, and she was the one who really fought to get the book published.  Lacy seemed authentic to me – gutsy, fought to get this book (which she knew would be a bestseller) more publicity, yet she was still so vulnerable to her editor’s horrid ways and to her crush’s attention to her.  She, out of everyone in the book, seemed the most realistic to me.

I also found it fun to read about the publishing industry and how cutthroat it can be.  I don’t know how realistic some of what happened in this book is, but it was fascinating to read how some books become bestsellers and others get no publicity and languish on the shelves unpurchased for a long time.  Turns out, at least according to The Accidental Bestseller, that it has next to nothing to do with how good the books actually are.  I also enjoyed how the plot in the book unfolded pretty slowly (it’s a longish book).  Wendy Wax really gave the reader a nice opportunity to get to know the characters before getting going with the major plot twists.  While there were a lot of scenes I loved, the scene at the talk show (those who have read this will definitely know what I’m talking about) near the end was by far my favorite part of the book.  I was cracking up while reading this scene – it was absolutely hysterical!  And so sweet, too, the way the four of them were protecting each other.

I enjoyed The Accidental Bestseller and would recommend it for women’s fiction fans like myself.  It wasn’t my favorite book ever, but I did get lost in the story and the interesting tidbits about the publishing industry were definitely an added bonus!

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Review: Beasts of No Nation

Title:  Beasts of No Nation

Author:  Uzodinma Iweala

Published:  November 8, 2005

Page Count:  160

Genre:  Multicultural Fiction

My Rating:  3/5

In this stunning debut novel, Agu, a young boy in an unnamed West African nation, is recruited into a unit of guerrilla fighters as civil war engulfs his country. Haunted by his father’s own death at the hands of militants, Agu is vulnerable to the dangerous yet paternal nature of his new commander. While the war rages on, Agu becomes increasingly divorced from the life he had known before the conflict started—a life of school friends, church services, and time with his family still intact.

I’ve been putting off writing this review for far too long, mainly because I kind of don’t know what to write about Beasts of No Nation.  The book is heavy.  Seriously, this is the most raw, violent, brutal novel I’ve read in a long time.  The entire book is Agu at war.  Literally, that is the premise of the book and 99% of it is details and explanations of what the guerrilla fighters are seeing, thinking, and most of all, doing.  Several times while reading the book  I had to put it down and just take a breather, it was that graphic and difficult to read.

But what did I think of Beasts of No Nation, really?  Well I didn’t enjoy it, exactly, it’s more like I appreciated the novel.  I see what Iweala was doing with this one, it’s definitely one of the most honest books I’ve read in awhile.  And the book is so raw, so gritty, that it’s clear there is a real understanding by the author what is perpetually going on in some African nations.  But it was so very hard to read because Agu was just a child, and the things he was experiencing were so unbelievably beyond his understanding.  They are beyond MY understanding.  I don’t even want to think about or rehash some of the details in this book – it was heartbreaking to read, even moreso when one realizes that actual children ARE recruited by guerrilla fighters and have to live this life.

The book would have been better if it was longer, in my opinion.  There was only a tiny glimpse at Agu’s life before being recruited, and I would have liked to see more.  However, I can understand why more details weren’t given – the book was written as if Agu’s life before fighting didn’t exist, because to him he was an entirely different person than he was before becoming a fighter.  So I get why there wasn’t more, but I think more depth would have increased the literary quality of this novel.

Beasts of No Nation was not an easy read.  But if I look at it objectively, it is a good book and it tells an important story.  I would recommend this novel, but with extreme reservations for those of you/us who have a difficult time with overly violent or graphic books.

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Review: Twenty Boy Summer

Title:  Twenty Boy Summer

Author:  Sarah Ockler

Published:  June 1, 2009

Page Count:  304

Genre:  Young Adult Fiction

My Rating:  4.5/5

According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy ever day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie—she’s already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it truly means to love someone and what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.

Twenty Boy Summer is the third and final book about which I have questions from you guys to answer.  I got several questions for this one, so here goes.

Louise asked, “Can you recommend 20 boy summer? And why/why not?” I can absolutely recommend Twenty Boy Summer.  The characters were very well-drawn, the plot was interesting, and I thought the book came together very well in the end.  Ultimately it is a story about moving on after a tragedy, which I think so many people can relate to.  And even though it’s a YA book, adults would definitely relate to the story as well.

Eva asked, “What makes Twenty Boy Summer stand out from similar YA lit? Or did it?” I think that Twenty Boy Summer stands out from other YA lit in that it’s a bit deeper than most books written for teens.  Although it does seem a little shallow from the description, as it sounds like the entire book is about Frankie and Anna spending their entire summer on the hunt for boys and nothing else, there’s a huge emotional current running through the book.  Someone very, very close to them has recently passed away – Frankie’s brother, Anna’s sort-of boyfriend who she was pretty much in love with – and that loss is the backstory of the entire book.  How the two of them deal with that loss, and with everything Matt left behind, is the true focus of the book.

Kim asked, “Lots of YA I read makes me annoyed because of what the take home message of it is (girls need boys to be happy, etc. etc.) What sort of take home message does 20 Boy Summer have?” While the book really focuses on Matt’s death, I think that the “take home” message is more about living.  The end of the book is so hopeful and I think Ockler really wanted to show how important it is to really live.  Without giving too much away, Frankie and Anna have some issues towards the end of the book, and basically have to finally deal with the pain of losing Matt.  The message has a lot to do with how we deal with the bad things that happen to us, how we take those things and produce hope for those around us, and how to really live a full life – including being honest at all times with those around you.  This is really crucial for teens because so many teens carry a lot of emotions around with them, never really explaining or attempting to understand their own pain and anger, and Twenty Boy Summer really encourages teens to embrace those negative emotions and turn them into positive ones.

Jodie asked, “20 Boy Summer sounds light but focuses on a relationship ended by death – is it depressing?” I didn’t find the book to be depressing at all.  Sure, there are some incredibly heartbreaking scenes, as the girls try to work through their pain, and those parts were pretty sad.  But overall this is a hopeful, even happy, book.  The girls grow up a LOT over this one summer, they become mature almost-adults who learn to understand their feelings and who learn that friendship and family are very, very important to them.  Reading about their pain is hard, but the overall feeling of the book is not at all depressing.

So, can you tell I really liked this one?  I found Twenty Boy Summer to be a super fast, enjoyable read.  Frankie and Anna were very sympathetic characters and I really felt for both of them.  I also totally believed the story, and I think Ockler did an amazing job writing such great characters for the reader to empathize with.  I’ll definitely be looking for more from this author in the future.

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Review: Madapple

Title:  Madapple

Author:  Christina Meldrum

Published:  May 13, 2008

Page Count:  416

Genre:  Young Adult Fiction

My Rating:  3/5

Aslaug is an unusual young woman. Her mother has brought her up in near isolation, teaching her about plants and nature and language—but not about life. Especially not how she came to have her own life, and who her father might be.

When Aslaug’s mother dies unexpectedly, everything changes. For Aslaug is a suspect in her mother’s death. And the more her story unravels, the more questions unfold. About the nature of Aslaug’s birth. About what she should do next.

About whether divine miracles have truly happened. And whether, when all other explanations are impossible, they might still happen this very day.

Madapple was another book about which I asked my readers to ask questions that I could answer in my review.  Here goes…

Guatami Tripathy asked, “I like the title Madapple. Why is titled so? What genre? Do you recommend it? To what age group?” The title refers to a slang term for the jimson weed, which despite being an all-natural plant that grows in the ground is a very poisonous substance that has the potential to kill if taken in large enough doses.  Jimson weed/madapple plays a pretty big role in the story, but telling you what that role is would give a lot away so I won’t!  The genre is young adult fiction, and I would recommend it but with some hesitations.  I didn’t love the book as much as I thought I would, but several other bloggers have raved about it so it quite possibly just didn’t click with me.  As for age group, I’d say age 12 or so and up would be fine to read the book.

Softdrink asked, “Do you think the cover of Madapple reflects the story? Why or why not?” Yes, I do think the cover reflects the story.  The book has the same creepy/weird vibe that the cover gives off.  In addition, the cover depicts Aslaug (well, I can only assume it’s supposed to be Aslaug) standing in a field of flowers/plants, very alone in the world.  And I think that is pretty much how she is in the book – surrounded by people sometimes, but mostly alone both physically and emotionally.

Eva asked, “I’m worried that Madapple would be a bit too sensational-istic for me. Did you find the melodrama over the top? Or did it feel authentic?” You know what, this was one of the aspects of Madapple that I liked least.  I did find it to be a bit too melodramatic.  There were just too many aspects to the book that weren’t at all believable, and not only that but the writing style put a dramatic flair on everything which I personally did not love.  I don’t know – I’m torn on this one because I think many people would get wrapped up in all the craziness and love the book because of that, but I was mostly just annoyed by it.

Trisha asked, “Of these three books (if any) which would you recommend to 1) a teenage boy, 2) an adult woman, and 3) an old couple. Why that particular book for each person/couple?” I think I would choose Madapple as my recommendation to a teenage boy because it has somewhat gender-neutral themes.  While the main character is a girl, there is enough weirdness, drama, and intrigue to interest a boy as well.  I don’t know that the book would make a favorites list of a teenage boy, but I think a guy could enjoy this one just as well as a girl.

Overall, Madapple was a bit of a disappointment for me.  I had really high expectations going into the book and I believe that probably ruined it for me.  I just didn’t care enough about an of the characters to get super involved in all of the drama.  Looking back, I did enjoy the book and I think it was written very well – it really was a compelling and interesting story.  But for me, it didn’t work perfectly.  To add to that, there were several pretty big loose ends that I’m even now thinking about and wishing I had a resolution to.  Loose ends are okay, and I can appreciate a good question for the reader to ponder, but in this case I’d just like some answers.  Maybe it’s just me – check out these other bloggers who liked Madapple more than I did:

• Softdrink at Fizzy Thoughts
• Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews
• Reader Rabbit
• Steph at Reviewer X
• Natasha at Maw Books Blog
• Amanda at A Patchwork of Books
• Nicola at Novels Now

Review: Story of a Girl

Title:  Story of a Girl

Author:  Sara Zarr

Published:  February 1, 2008

Page Count:  224

Genre:  Young Adult Fiction

My Rating:  3/5

When Deanna’s father catches her having sex in a car when she is 13, her life is drastically changed. Two years later, he still can’t look her in the eye, and though Tommy is the only boy she’s been with, she is branded the school slut. Her entire family watches her as though she is likely to sleep with anyone she sees, and Tommy still smirks at and torments her when she sees him. Her two best friends have recently begun dating, and Deanna feels like an intruder. She tries to maintain a close relationship with her older brother, but Darren and his girlfriend are struggling as teenage parents. Deanna learns to protect herself by becoming outwardly tough, but feels her isolation acutely. Her only outlet is her journal in which she writes the story of an anonymous girl who has the same experiences and feelings that she does. Through this, readers see the potential that Deanna cannot identify in herself. This is a heartbreaking look at how a teenager can be defined by one mistake, and how it shapes her sense of self-worth.

For this book, I asked my readers to ask me questions that I could answer in the review, for a Weekly Geeks topic last weekend.  I only got two questions for Story of a Girl, and here they are.

Bart asked, “Bearing in mind I have Sweethearts on my TBR pile (near the top I might add!) should I read Story of a Girl? (and if you had read Sweethearts, how does it compare?)” My answer to this is that unfortunately I haven’t yet read Sweethearts so I really can’t compare the two.  But I can only assume that Zarr’s books are similar in that Story of a Girl was pretty solid YA with believable characters and a compelling story.  I think that the main character Deanna was written very well, I related to her and felt her pain as everyone treated her like crap and thought the worst of her.  If you are interested in Zarr’s books in general, I would say go ahead and pick up Story of a Girl.  I do plan to read more of her work, including Sweethearts, so I hope I’m right in assuming that it will be as good or better than this one.

Trisha asked, “Of these three books (if any) which would you recommend to 1) a teenage boy, 2) an adult woman, and 3) an old couple. Why that particular book for each person/couple?” I would actually choose Story of a Girl to most recommend to an adult woman because I think most women can relate to some or all of the feelings Deanna dealt with.  Not everyone was labeled a “slut” in high school, but most women have not-so-fond memories of how high school students’ minds work and how the rumor mill worked in those days.  Even if we personally have not been a target of malicious rumor-spreading in high school, we can all remember someone who has and can sympathize with Deanna’s situation.

Overall, I did enjoy Story of a Girl but I do have to admit that it will not end up being one of my favorites.  I liked it and I definitely related to Deanna but generally speaking I have enjoyed many other YA books a lot more.  I think I just had trouble connecting to any character besides Deanna, unfortunately.  I did really like Zarr’s writing style, though, and her portrayal of Deanna was incredibly honest.  I will definitely be reading more from Zarr, most likely seeking out Sweethearts in the near future.  Story of a Girl was a solid YA book – not one of my favorites but still a decent read.

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Review: Lost Boy

Title:  Lost Boy

Author:  Brent W. Jeffs with Maia Szalavitz

Published:  May 19, 2009

Page Count:  256

Genre:  Nonfiction, Memoir

My Rating:  3.5/5

In the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), girls can become valuable property as plural wives, but boys are expendable, even a liability. In this powerful and heartbreaking account, former FLDS member Brent Jeffs reveals both the terror and the love he experienced growing up on his prophet’s compound—and the harsh exile existence that so many boys face once they have been expelled by the sect.

Brent Jeffs is the nephew of Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned leader of the FLDS. The son of a prominent family in the church, Brent could have grown up to have multiple wives of his own and significant power in the 10,000-strong community. But he knew that behind the group’s pious public image—women in chaste dresses carrying babies on their hips—lay a much darker reality. So he walked away, and was the first to file a sexual-abuse lawsuit against his uncle. Now Brent shares his courageous story and that of many other young men who have become “lost boys” when they leave the FLDS, either by choice or by expulsion.

Brent experienced firsthand the absolute power that church leaders wield—the kind of power that corrupts and perverts those who will do anything to maintain it. Once young men no longer belong to the church, they are cast out into a world for which they are utterly unprepared. More often than not, they succumb to the temptations of alcohol and other drugs.

Tragically, Brent lost two of his brothers in this struggle, one to suicide, the other to overdose. In this book he shows that lost boys can triumph and that abuse and trauma can be overcome, and he hopes that readers will be inspired to help former FLDS members find their way in the world.

Polygamy has been in the news a LOT in the past few years.  You could even say it’s a “hot topic” for the media – anything related to polygamy, be it reality or fiction, the media gobbles up, and in turn, the public does too.  No denial here – I am completely in this camp.  I am totally fascinated by the idea of polygamy and by the FLDS church (the most famous current example of polygamy in the U.S.).  Needless to say, I was thrilled when I was sent Lost Boy from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program.  I’ve read several memoirs by those few who have escaped the FLDS and lived to tell about it, and I was excited to read yet another one.

There were a lot of great things about this book.  First, Jeffs’ story pulls you in from the beginning and the book is VERY hard to put down.  His accounts of what life was like in the FLDS church were fascinating to read about, and even though I had already read these same types of stories from two other perspectives, both perspectives were female so it was very interesting to hear about his life as a child from a male’s point of view.  It was interesting to me that Jeffs questioned his family’s lifestyle even as a child; since he had the benefit of a public school education for kindergarten he saw firsthand that his way of life was not exactly “normal” and so he started having independent thoughts about polygamy even as a little kid.  I was also fascinated by the dynamics of his immediate family, which was his father, his mother, and his father’s other two wives (one of whom was also his aunt/mother’s sister).  What was interesting was that since his parents had both been raised in the church, even Jeffs’ mother was excited when the second wife (her sister) married his dad.  Everyone in the family truly believed in the principle, even when things got incredibly tough between the sisters conflict-wise, Brent’s mother always believed that they were doing the right thing in the eyes of God by practicing polygamy.

Brent Jeffs’ story is different from other polygamy memoirs because his family actually all left the church together.  Technically, they were declared apostates and forced out, but when Jeffs left the church he took his parents, brothers, and sisters all with him, unlike most individuals who leave the church.  This was interesting because even though his parents left the church, they still remained polygamous and their struggles living polygamy without the shelter of the FLDS were very interesting to read about.  Another thing that was different about Jeffs’ memoir was that he really “outed” Warren Jeffs, his uncle and prophet of the FLDS church for several years before finally being arrested and given a very long sentence last year.  Warren Jeffs, in addition to his many crimes against the women and children in the FLDS, raped Brent Jeffs and many other boys for years when the boys were between the ages of five and seven.  In fact, Brent along with two of his brothers had repressed these memories for years because of how painful they were.  Brent himself didn’t even recall the abuse until he was hypnotized in therapy as an adult.  Brent and his brothers were the main force behind getting Warren Jeffs caught and captured.  Because Jeffs’ memoir is so new, there was a lot of information in the book about Warren Jeffs not previously revealed in other polygamy memoirs.

One aspect of this book really fell short for me, I have to admit, and that is the quality of the writing.  It seems that Jeffs had a co-writer, but even with her assistance, the book is not written all that well.  Jeffs wrote in a very conversational style, which was nice when reading the book – the reader really feels like he is telling him/her his story.  But, it’s almost TOO conversational – some sentences don’t make a lot of sense, there’s a lot of slang and swear words, and tons of sentence fragments, run-on sentences, etc.  Personally, I don’t normally pay too much attention to writing style, but it was starting to get in the way of my enjoyment of the book in this case.  I really feel bad for criticizing what was otherwise a pretty good book, but it stuck out so much to me that I feel compelled to mention it.

Generally, if you are interested in polygamy (as I know MANY of you are!) Lost Boy is well worth the read.  Brent Jeffs provides a new and interesting perspective to the story of the FLDS church and his story really needs to be heard.  I’m glad, for his sake and ours, that he had the opportunity to tell it.

Weekly Geeks – catching up on reviews

This week, I’m going back to a classic Dewey topic–#12 to be exact. I chose this for several reasons–one, it’s one of my favorite weekly geeks topics–but more importantly I saw it would work well with two very important bloggy events going on this week.

1. In your blog, list any books you’ve read but haven’t reviewed yet. If you’re all caught up on reviews, maybe you could try this with whatever book(s) you hope to finish this week. (Be sure to leave a link to this post either in the comments of this post, or in the Mister Linky below.)

2. Ask your readers to ask you questions about any of the books they want. In your comments, not in their blogs. (Most likely, people who will ask you questions will be people who have read one of the books or know something about it because they want to read it.)

3. Later, take whichever questions you like from your comments and use them in a post about each book. Link to each blogger next to that blogger’s question(s).

4. Visit other Weekly Geeks and ask them some questions!

Okay so I have three books that I’d LOVE your questions about.  One of them I actually already wrote up an entire review and somehow wordpress just up and died right before it was published and for some strange reason none of it had been saved.  Ugh.  Anyway, here they are (links are to Amazon):

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Madapple by Christina Meldrum

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Please, please ask away.  Keep in mind that you don’t have to normally participate in Weekly Geeks to ask questions about these books.  The more, the merrier!  Thanks so much.

Review: The School of Essential Ingredients

Title:  The School of Essential Ingredients

Author:  Erica Bauermeister

Published:  January 22, 2009

Page Count:  256

Genre:  Fiction

My Rating:  4/5

The School of Essential Ingredients follows the lives of eight students who gather in Lillian’s Restaurant every Monday night for cooking class. It soon becomes clear, however, that each one seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. Students include Claire, a young mother struggling with the demands of her family; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer learning to adapt to life in America; and Tom, a widower mourning the loss of his wife to breast cancer. Chef Lillian, a woman whose connection with food is both soulful and exacting, helps them to create dishes whose flavor and techniques expand beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of her students’ lives. One by one the students are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of Lillian’s food, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love and a peppery heirloom tomato sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another. Brought together by the power of food and companionship, the lives of the characters mingle and intertwine, united by the revealing nature of what can be created in the kitchen. 

The School of Essential Ingredients is a very difficult book for me to review because I liked it, quite a bit actually, but so has every other blogger on the planet.  And I don’t totally feel like I have anything new to add to the conversation about the book.  So, I’m going to just keep this one short and sweet.  I liked how each chapter was told from the perspective of a different character – telling the story this way really helped the cooking class come alive before my eyes and I loved getting to know each and every one of them.  I LOVED Bauermeister’s descriptions of the food they were cooking – I want to email her for every single recipe in this book (Natasha, this would be a GREAT author interview for your tell-me-a-recipe feature!!).  My mouth literally watered on more than one occasion while reading this novel – the descriptions were really that good.  The book left me feeling happy and comforted – a great feeling to have when closing a book every once in awhile.  Not overly emotionally attached to the characters or the story, just an overall feeling of contentment when I turned the last page.  I would recommend this book and I’m going to give you a huge list of other bloggers who would too.

More reviews -

• Kim at I Smell Books
• Lesley at Novels Now
• Wendy at Caribousmom
• Sassymonkey at Sassymonkey Reads
• Jenn at Girls Just Reading
• Molly at My Cozy Book Nook
• Sandy at You’ve Gotta Read This!
• Janel at Janel’s Jumble
• Jill at Fizzy Thoughts
• Bonnie at Redlady’s Reading Room
• Swapna at S. Krishna’s Books
• Staci at Life in the Thumb
• Anna at Diary of an Eccentric
• Julie at Booking Mama
• Jen at Devourer of Books
• Kathy at Bermudaonion’s Weblog
• Michele at A Reader’s Respite
• Lisa at Books on the Brain
• Tara at Books and Cooks
• Carrie at Books and Movies