Albert Camus’ The Stranger

From back of novel: “A terrifying picture of a man victimized by life itself–he is a faceless man, who has committed a pointless murder–it is a book whose unrelenting grip upon our consciousness has not diminished to this day.”

I fear that if I talk too much about this book, I’ll give away the whole plot because it was so short. I felt so much for the narrator. I wanted to be right there with him, and help him through, even though he makes it seem as though he’s just fine. It was a beautiful book.

Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep

When Lee Fiora decides to attend a boarding school, Ault, she has no clue what’s in store for her. Sittenfeld takes the reader right into the mind of any highschool girl, displaying angst in the least annoying way, establishing Lee’s strong personality, and keeping the reader on the edge of the seat to find out what’s going to happen next. Lee struggles with the concept of boys, sex, friendship, and her own tendency to be introverted. As the years at Ault pass, there is a noticable difference in Lee, and it’s interesting to watch her grow up.

This book was amazing. It was so weird to read about Lee’s family because they are so much like my own. Her whole idea of what boarding school would be like was exactly the way I pictured college, too. I definitely saw myself in Lee, and I know that’s what Sittenfeld wanted to make sure everyone could do. I was cheering her on, scolding her, and sitting by her side throughout the whole novel.

“And then at dinner, we talked about what? Teachers or movies or spring vacation. It was just what you did; you socialized, you interacted. And the things you said, the walk from the chapel to the schoolhouse, your backpack, tests, these were a bridge running above the rushing water of what you actually felt.”

That had to be the premise of the whole novel. Everyone is living their lives, and not really paying attention to those around us. We are all self absorbed and we don’t analyze the small things. Sittenfeld’s language was beautiful, and I would not hesitate to pick up anything else she writes.

“Book Nook” & Friends of the Library

Here I am living in Tampa for the third week, and I hadn’t gone to a used book store in town until day. That’s totally out of my character. Usually by the end of my first week anywhere foreign, I’ve been to every used book store twice. Anyway, this just happened to be a place called “Book Nook” situated inside the public library. I love Friends of the Library book stores because their prices are always great, and they usually have decent novels.

I picked up Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky because I’ve had my eye on it for a while. The cover draws me to it, and the summary makes it even more enticing. I didn’t realize it was an advanced reader’s edition, so once I got it home, I noticed that it only has part 1. Bummer. It was only one dollar, though, and if I like the first part enough, I’ll go out and buy the whole book. I also picked up The Immoralist by Andre Gide. It’s been on my book wishlist for a while now, and I can’t remember why I put it on there in the first place, but I know it’ll be good. It’s an old copy that’s still in decent condition. I love that. Jewel by Bret Lott was there, and I picked that up. I’ve heard a lot of positive things about it, and even though I hate to admit it, Oprah chooses pretty good books for her book club. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. I always see this everywhere! I haven’t read it because I chose to read The Awakening by Kate Chopin instead when I had the chance, but I’ll get into it soon enough. Last is Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Not for any particular reason. I didn’t even read the synopsis on the back, but I always eyed it at Book Warehouse, and I thought it looked really interesting. It’s a young adult book, and I don’t buy many of that genre, so it’ll be refreshing.

I got all of them fo 4.50 which is really really good. I also inquired about volunteering there so hopefully that will come through. I would really really love that.

Josephine Carr’s The Dewey Decimal System of Love

Ally Sheffield is a librarian. She loves her job, and is really close with all of her coworkers. But there’s one problem: Love. She considers herself “celibate” because she hasn’t had sex in years, and she has absolutely no luck with men. And she doesn’t even know where to start. After a Philharmonic Orchestra comes to town with a certain someone she starts to admire, things become slightly bizarre. Ally learns a lot about love and herself while trying to figure out the enigma of men.

 The book was really tough to get into. I felt like it dragged along, and when it finally started to get interesting, it seemed that Carr just wanted it to end. The ending was abrupt, trite, and very disappointing. I enjoyed the random Dewey Decimal add-ins, like “If you want to know about love, check this number, etc.”. I liked the way the narrator spoke directly to the reader, but I probably wouldn’t hail the merits of this book to anyone else. It could definitely use a little more work on the plot, and some of the language had me nearly sleeping. Nevertheless, I was interested in where Carr was taking Ally, and I finished it in a day.

David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day

In a series of essays, David Sedaris gives the reader insight into his life with his eccentric family, and moving to Paris with his boyfriend, Hugh.

Everyone kept telling me to read something by Sedaris, and this was the first book. I was really disappointed, and even more bothered because I already bought Naked and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. I just didn’t think it was hilarious, and I finished it quickly because I was so sick of reading it. I’ll give it to him that there were a few times that I found myself laughing, but not enough to actually warrant me to recommend the book to anyone. Everyone always says that Sedaris is almost the “original” of the plethora of short stories written by gay authors, but original or not, I would not consider him the best. I definitely found anything by Augusten Burroughs much more entertaining, and a hell of a lot more funny. We’ll see, though. I’ll never judge an author by just one book, and I’m still going to give the other two a chance.

Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone

From cover: “Meet Dolores Price. She’s thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Beached like a while in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herselfw ith the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplied. When she finallhy rolled into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she’s determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.”

I finally got around to finishing this novel, and I have to admit, it was a bit hard to get into at first. It might just be that I was in the process of moving into my dorm room during the whole thing, but it still lacked a bit of plot at the beginning. I hated Dolores through out the whole book. A lot of the other characters I enjoyed, and I mostly despised the way that she treated everyone else on account of her “problems”. It was irritating to see a young girl blow everything way out of proportion constantly. Granted, there are times in the book that she deserves to make a big deal out of the things that happen, but the way that she decides to react to many events in her life is ridiculous. A book that can get me this “riled up” isn’t a bad book, though. Despite what I said about Dolores, I enjoyed the book. I’ve read so many novels that I couldn’t stand the main character, but the book turned out to be enjoyable, and this is one of them. (Along with Northanger Abbey, and A Home at the End of the World). Lamb did a good job creating characters that you could really get to know.

 Next up is Howards End by E.M. Forster

L.P. Hartley’s The Go-Between

From Amazon: Summering with a fellow schoolboy on a great English estate, Leo, the hero of L. P. Hartley’s finest novel, encounters a world of unimagined luxury. But when his friend’s beautiful older sister enlists him as the unwitting messenger in her illicit love affair, the aftershocks will be felt for years.

My Review: You know when you read books, and they nearly make you hate reading in general? This is one of them. And for some reason, I just can’t follow the “Read 50 pages, and stop if you don’t like it” rule, so I end up reading a whole book that I totally despise. I thought it was boring. It DID have it’s ups and downs, but overall, I just couldn’t stand it. Leo Colston was irritating, and the book was repetitive. Blech.

Kim Edward’s The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

From Amazon, “Edwards’s assured but schematic debut novel (after her collection, The Secrets of a Fire King) hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father’s disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter’s handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul’s twin died at birth.”

 Edwards uses beautiful language, but the whole time I was eager for the book to end. It dragged along the whole last half, and you had to wonder when something was going to finally happen to change the plot, or heighten suspense. Basically, it was boring, and I don’t know how it received the rave reviews that I’ve read. Very disappointing.

Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club

From Amazon, “In his darkly funny novel that made Chuck Palahniuk’s reputation as his generation’s most visionary satirist, an estranged young man seeks relief from the emptiness of his work and life in the enigmatic figure of Tyler Durden. Flaunting his disregard for the stultifying conventions of a hollow consumer culture, Tyler devises a series of secret after-hours boxing maches held in the basements of bars. Fight Club offers a way for Tyler and his friends to overcome the frustrations of their professional and personal lives, and his idea catches on quickly. But in Tyler’s world, there are no rules, no limits, no brakes.”

75% of this book, I was disappointed. I was confused, for one, and wondering why everyone could love such a thing. I had all of these parts of the novel that I just wanted to complain about because I thought they were absolutely terrible. But then came “the twist”, and I could see some of the allure that the novel held. I can’t say that I ever fell in love with the novel, but I did begin to like it at the end. Isn’t that what makes a great author, though? Someone who can change your mind about a piece of literature with one sentence. And that’s definitely what Palahniuk did.

Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper

Even though my heart’s still raw, and I could fall into a prolonged fit of tears at any moment, I think I can manage to give a review of Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper.

Anna Fitzgerald was basically genetically engineered to donate genetic material to her seriously ill sister, Kate. Kate’s been battling a rare form of leukemia all of her life, and out of desparation, her parents go to the extreme, and decide to engineer an embryo that could inevitably save Kate’s life. Anna feels the grief, but also feels the pressure. She decides to do something that could rip the very foundations of her family, but she knows it’s what needs to be done. Picoult’s novel is a beautiful story of the soul.

So many aspects of this novel were amazing that I’m afraid I could write a five page review of it’s beauty. The different fonts given to each character. I was so entrenched in the novel that I was on the side of my seat waiting to hear about the side plot lines, not only the core. The random humor that alleviated some of the pressure I even began to feel amongst all of the turmoil. I would recommend the novel to anyone. It was so beautiful.