House Rules – Jodi Picoult

Media outlets have recently picked up on the nations concern about Autism.  Several books, television shows and movies have come out in recent years with characters who have some level of Autism. I feel bringing awareness to this common issue is important, just as important as giving support to those people already struggling with relatives who have been diagnosed on the spectrum. My personal experience with autism is non-existent, only knowing the little I do from friends who are teachers. It appears though that Picoult did her research in attempts to accurately portray Jacob Hunt as a teenager suffering from Asbergers, a high functioning version of Autism. Her attention to detail has always been a quality I’ve enjoyed in her books, and House Rules is no exception.

There are times where I laughed out loud at the interactions Jacob had with his family and peers. At others I could hardly imagine the struggle his mother, Emma, went through day in and day out in order to keep her family a float. Each chapter was told through the point of view of varying characters, Jacob, his brother Theo, Emma, the Detective (who’s name escapes me and I’ve already returned the book to my friend) and the Lawyer, Oliver. Throughout the story, these varying points of view allow the story to unfold with significant clues coming from each person’s perspective.

Sadly this was the first Jodi Picoult book I’ve read that I figured out the “twist” before the end. I won’t reveal it now but after talking to several friends, they too felt that for the first time the ending was very predictable. I still found the story to have a nice pace, enough cliff-hangers to keep me wanting more, and an ending that made sense.

A Mercy by Toni Morrison

The story of primitive americans in the late 1600s, Toni Morrison uses the parallel narratives of several characters to tell the story of lonely, solitary, individuals struggling against disease, poverty and religious persecution.

Although not typicaly something I would read, I found A Mercy a touching story of mothers and daughters and of the early American slave trade. Each main character tells their story through explaining the incidents surrounding the smallpox epidemic in 1692. This novel tells the story of a household of misfits; a poor orphan, Jacob, trying to make a new start, his wife Rebekka, a native of Europe who was essentially sold, Lina, a Native American who survived when smallpox destroyed her tribe, Sorrow, a mixed-race girl given to Jacob, after being shipwrecked and Florens, a young girl offered up by her mother to be used to settle a debt between Jacob and a merchant.

I found the intertwined narratives a little hard to follow, and the language was sometimes difficult to understand. Overall the story was a good read and gave me some knowledge in a subject I hadn’t done much research on. I would not recommend it as a “beach read” but if you are looking for something a little deeper than your standard novella, this is a good choice.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

I read about this book on a blog that I follow, www.unclutterer.com, which has been very insightful in my desire to simplify not only the amount of stuff I have in my house but also how to unclutter things in my life. The other blog that has been helpful in simplifying many aspects of my home and work life is www.zenhabits.net, I would recommend either for anyone who finds life a little too hectic. I would also recommend this book, The Happiness Project to those same people.

Gretchen dedicates each month during a year to tackle various aspects of her life that contribute or detract from her happiness; relationships, energy, appreciation and money are just a few examples. She describes her methods, research, successes and failures. She begins this book by discussing some of the extensive research on happiness that she did in order to prepare for this project. She also reveals Commandments, Secrets of Adulthood and Simple Truths that help guide her life. A few of these include:

Be Gretchen

Let it go.

Lighten up.

There is only love.

Do good, feel good.

Happiness doesn’t always make you feel happy.

These simple statements guide her mission, and through resolution charts and blog (www.happiness-project.com/) she gauges her success and gives herself much earned and needed gold stars for her effort.

In the end she indeed feels happier and she can see the positive effect that her project has had not only on herself but also her family. The book is written candidly and is easy to read. I have to applaud her efforts, particularly during the Extreme Nice Week, which I know for me would be terribly difficult to accomplish.  Although I don’t know if I will start my own Happiness Project, as many readers have, this book did make me think about aspects of my life and personality that could use some improvement. Perhaps with my own research on happiness I will find my own path to removing the negative from my own life, which Gretchen admits did a tremendous amount of good in boosting her daily happy feeling.

I recommend this book for anyone who needs a little inspiration to look into their own lives and evaluate their own sources of happiness, and also to those who just enjoy reading about other people’s journeys towards self-improvement. It is definitely a book that will make you think about your own habits, reactions and tendencies.

 Santa Olivia – Jacqueline Carey

Although not clearly stated, I assume that Santa Olivia is set in the future due to the discussion of human genetic research being performed successfully, turning humans in to super-soldiers. Having been a fan of Carey’s Kushiel series for several years I was eager to see try a new set of characters in a completely different setting. Santa Olivia was just as captivating as Carey’s other novels, so much so that I finished the book in less than two days.
The fascinating story begins with the history of the town of Santa Olivia, which as we quickly learn in the first chapter, used to be a town in Texas but has been caught between a civil war involving the United States and a mysterious, Mexican rebel named El Segundo. Santa Olivia is in the “buffer zone” so for all intents and purposes, the citizens of this poor town do not exist outside of the nearby military base. The isolation leads to scattered relationships between the locals and soldiers. Two such unions are the focus of this story.

Through detailed language and imagery Carey tells the story of Carmen Garron, her love affair with a soldier and boxing champion which resulted in the birth of her first child Tommy. When her first love dies prior to Tommy’s birth she is devastated. It is only when a mysteriously dark man appears in town that she finds any sort of passion. Again Carmen is plagued by another pregnancy and her life becomes more mysterious. The man whose child she carries is a “Lost Boy”, a group of men who was experimented on by the government, genetically enhanced to feel no fear, have super strength and speed, to be ‘wolfmen’.  Their union should not have brought a child into the world, and Carmen is left alone with the uncertainty of what their daughter, Loup Garron, will inherit from her father.

In a world where she must ‘be careful’ when Tommy instructs her to be, to slow down and touch lighter than her instincts demand Loup learns to find her place in the obscure society of Santa Olivia. When forced into an orphanage after her mother’s death, Loup joins forces with the other orphans and strives to make a difference in their war-torn town.

I can hardly express how impressed I am with Carey’s ability to create worlds that seem so familiar, but only in the vaguest of ways. It forces you to be drawn into the story, become emotionally attached to the characters and their struggles. For any reader who enjoys the fantasy world I would highly recommend Carey’s work, she combines fantasy and mythology to keep the reader captivated and enthralled.

The End of the Affair – Graham Greene

In February, my book club chose to read The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.  First published in 1951, Greene’s story of a scorned lover in post World War II England was a story that many who first read it could relate. The store is also loosely based on Greene’s own affair with a woman named Catherine; the book is dedicated to her, to C in the British publication and to Catherine in the American publication.

You first meet Maurice Bendrix as he discusses his story as one of Hate and not Love. In the early scenes he meets with his lost lover’s, Sarah’s, husband, Henry, who has confided that he suspects his wife of having an affair. In keeping with his jealous nature, Bendrix tells Henry that he will play the part of a jealous lover and hire a private investigator to sort out his suspicions. It is through this investigation he is given access to Sarah’s diary. He learns that the abrupt ending to their wartime affair was the result of a promise to God.

Greene uses Bendrix, Sarah and Henry to address various conscience issues and religious themes throughout The End of the Affair as well as his first three books. Sarah in particular struggles with religion throughout the course of the book. Only after reading her diary, Bendrix learns that not only did his affair end due to a deal Sarah made with God to spare his life, but that she has struggled with the Catholic message that divorce is unacceptable as well as how she wishes to have her remains honored. In the end, Bendrix brings his story full circle, first proudly admitting that his story is one of Hate, but as you read through his story, told from the perspective of an author (Bendrix) writing a novel, that it truly is a love story. It addresses love in three ways, romantic love, godly love and platonic love.

Along for the Ride – Sarah Dessen

I tend to think that a lot of today’s Young Adult books are not appropriate for kids under the age of 16, heck, some of them are not appropriate for some adults. However there are a few authors that I have experienced that have told both a good story and share positive life lessons with today’s youth. Sarah Dessen is one such author I was just recently introduced to. I have now read two of her books and both Along for the Ride and Lock and Key were excellent reads and kept me so involved that I finished them in hours and not days.

Along for the Ride tells the story of a young woman who was raised with the idea that intelligence was strength not to be taken lightly. Pushed through to the best schools, elite educational environments and a promising collegiate career, Auden finds herself growing weary of her mother’s rendezvous with graduate students and being pushed to focus on her future education instead of enjoying her last summer. She escapes to the beach-town home of her father and stepmom.

In a whirlwind of experiences, Auden finds that not only does she not despise her Stepmom who is the complete opposite of her, but she finds a new world for herself outside of the academic world. After a regretful tryst her first evening at a beach party, Auden meets Abe, a quiet and troubled young man. The beach-town thrives on bike racing and trick riding, Auden learns through Abe and other unlikely companions, that anyone, at any age can learn to ride a bike, all it takes is balance. The story is one of discovery and finding a balance between a life you’ve always known and what is yet to come.

Dessen writes in such a way that keeps the audience intrigued and rooting for Auden to break out of her shell and find a balance of her intellectual reality and the social norms of the world she’s never known. By finding bonds with the unlikeliest of people and redefining her current relationships, Dessen shows the trials of a teen girl finding her own way in the world, and she does it in such a way that readers of any age can relate.

The Diamond Throne – David Eddings

The first book of the Elenium trilogy, The Diamond Throne has everything a classic fantasy series needs: adventure, villains, sword fighting and a knight’s quest to save a damsel in distress. Eddings tells a wonderful story with vibrant characters and a storyline that keeps the reader guessing.

The Queen’s Champion, Pandion Knight Sir Sparhawk, a solemn character who returns from exile to find his beloved Queen Ehlana encased in a magic crystal while seated upon her thrown. In his absence the queen has taken ill and the only way to keep her alive was for the Pandion Knights and the sorceress Sephrenia to cast a spell encasing the queen in a crystal. This crystal gives Sparhawk time to find the source of the illness. The clock is ticking as each month one of the Pandion Knights involved in the spell will lose their life in order to keep the queen stable.

Sparhawk, along with Sehprenia, his squire Kurik and his childhood friend and fellow knight Kalten join with members of the other 3 orders of the Church Knights to combat the conspiracy behind the queen’s illness.  The combination of humor, unstated love and unique, quirky personalities allow Eddings’ characters to come to life and keep the reader wanting more. Religion plays a large part in this book; there are several unique religions, the two main ones being the Ehlenian and Styric Gods. There are also hints at other, more evil gods that will be a more prominent presence in the remaining two books (or so I’ve been told).

I truly enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to finishing this series as well as the others by David Eddings. Eddings is my husband’s favorite author so I have him to think for introducing me to such a wonderful story.

The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell

This month for book club, one of our members chose The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. This club has no rules that govern what books we read, the only one we try to adhere to is that the book is available in paperback. Other than that, we can each choose what anything we’d like to read.

At first I admit that I was having a hard time reading this book. I am typically not a non-fiction reader. I enjoy memoirs and biographies but am not keen on histories or current event books. I find them interesting but difficult to get through, especially when they read like a text book. I was pleasantly surprised that The Tipping Point did not feel as dense as a textbook. The book was written intelligently and did not speak above the reader.

For those not familiar with the book, Gladwell uses this book to examine the 3 rules that govern why epidemics happen. The definition of epidemic in this book is in the broad sense of the word, it covers things from the syphilus outbreaks in Baltimore, to Sesame Street & Blue’s Clues, to fashion trends. The three rules are of Tipping Point are, The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor and The Power of Context.

These rules were explained by using specific examples, to summarize the rules:

The Law of the Few – this refers to the mavens & connectors, people who bring large groups of individuals together. A mainstream example of this is the 6 Degrees of Separation. There have been many studies over the years, which Gladwell touches on, that show this rule in action.

The Stickiness Factor – in order to explain this, Gladwell talks about how advertisements must stay with the consumer after they’ve finished reading or watching them. The book discusses several examples on how both television programs, and advertisements need the Stickiness Factor in order to be successful.

The Power of Context – in this section the focus is split into two chapters, both looking at how the context of a situation can determine whether or not an epidemic will reach its Tipping Point, or not. By looking at subjects such as crime on New York City’s Subway system, to how the magic number 150 plays a role in business and social cultures, Gladwell shows numerous examples where context plays a vital role in causing the Tipping Point.

Overall I did enjoy the book, I found that some of the examples became fairly repetitive as each chapter went on. The book made me think and has already proven to bring on some interesting discussions. In particular I found the sections that dealt with Sesame Street & Blue’s Clues fascinating. This was clearly evident when my husband and I were watching TV one evening and saw commercials for new cartoon shows on Cartoon Network. I had to shake my head as the cartoons looked to be very scattered, no real story, and basically a series of flashing and screaming characters. We began to discuss the caliber of cartoons we watched growing up, and although there were many absurd cartoons, it seemed as though many of the shows we grew up on were structured better. Combining educational messages and morals, intertwined with a concise story line.

I am sure that this book will bring about many interesting discussions in this month’s meeting. I will share these discussions on here after our meeting this week. I would recommend this to anyone who’s ever wondered why certain things become popular, why individual parts of a city experience diseases differently, or how and why 6 degrees of separation is important to the way the world works.

Hello world!

This is going to be a place for me to record my thoughts about books I’ve read. I read approximately one book a week. Check back for reviews, and recommendations.