Three and a half books

As the summer approached my reading rate started losing it's momentum. Throughout most of the summer months I was lucky enough to have a freelance project to work on, and devoted a lot of my time in the evenings to that instead.

I did manage to whip out four books in May. Wait, scratch that. Three, because one of them I didn't finish 'cause it was dumbo.

May

Category: A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet.
First Boy, Gary Schmidt
Goodreads review: 2 stars

I've read three other books by Gary Schmidt and LOVED them all. Wednesday Wars, Okay For Now, and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. I loved the writing style in each and wished that they wouldn't end. But unfortunately First Boy didn't hold up as well for me. The book is about a teenage boy named Cooper. As the plot opens he's living with his grandfather on a dairy farm in New Hampshire. The country is currently in the throws of a presidential election, although theirs wasn't, um, as hilarious (?) as ours is right now, because they didn't have the privilege of watching Bad Lip Readings after presidential debates. Oh, and one other important thing, his grandfather isn't his biological grandfather—because Cooper doesn't know anything about his true parents and lineage. It's just one of those classic show-up-on-the-doorstep-as-a-baby type things. Anyway, his grandfather passes away and Cooper is left alone with the dairy farm, which is not in good shape financially. But Cooper soon learns, as the title hints, that he's no ordinary orphan, and all these crazy things start happening. One of the presidential hopefuls shows up at his school and invites Cooper to campaign with him. Cooper turns him down. Someone else official looking driving a black sedan shows up at his farm and asks him to come with him to see someone. He turns that guy down too. Someone burns his barn down. Someone breaks into his home and steals some important documents. Then he's kidnapped. Has a special meeting with the president. The usual. In theory it's all very thrilling, but the problem is that none of it is at all believable and even if it were believable, there are way too many unanswered questions. Plus the ending was slightly appalling. Is it too dramatic to use the word appalling? Possibly. I feel like maybe I could have enjoyed this as a 12-year-old, because then perhaps I wouldn't have noticed the gaping plot holes throughout the book. Granted, Gary Schmidt books are marketed towards adolescent readers, but his other books are far more enjoyable even to an adult audience. So unless you're 12, I wholeheartedly recommend Wednesday Wars and Okay For Now (in that order!) instead. I own them and you should borrow them right away.

Category: A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Goodreads review: 4 stars

A distinction I've noticed among "the classics," and a reason they can be harder to read, at least for me, is because of the point of view they're written in. No one writes a story in first person! The stories always have to be told through someone else's recounting of it. I've come across it in several of the classics I've read this year—the plot is told by Rick, the neighbor, or Rhonda, the housemade, or Trixie, the grocer. People that lit-er-ally have nothing to do with the story, but they're placed in it to tell the tale—because heaven forbid we actually hear the story from the person actually involved in the story. In Frankenstein, the story is told through a series of letters that some explorer writes to his sister. While he's out searching the icy arctic he finds Victor Frankenstein, and Victor tells him his whole ordeal and that's how we hear it: through the perspective of somebody who has nothing to do the story. Apparently a first person point of view wasn't something accepted or explored back then. It's one thing I believe modern books have over dated books—we've come a long way in story telling. That being said, Frankenstein is a very interesting, albeit disturbing read. It takes a good 30 pages to really get into it. Maybe more. Most of us are familiar with the story. Victor Frankenstein becomes consumed with this idea of creating life through his knowledge of chemistry and other sciences, but after he succeeds in creating it, things DO NOT GO WELL. First off, his new dude is disgusting, and although I don't remember it specifically mentioning it, he probably stunk to high heaven. Plus he's horrifying, and gross, and huge, and a monster, to name a few. Secondly, the monster gets super ticked off and starts killing off people that Victor is close to. But the poor guy just wanted a friend! I wondered: would it have been so bad if Victor had just created him a friend to spend his life with, like he'd asked? Probably. It probably would have been SO bad. Throughout the whole story—concerning how Victor was dealing with everything—I kept thinking: There has GOT to be a better way of handling all of this. Victor's unwillingness to tell anyone about what he had done—because he accurately assumed no one would believe him—and the consequent deaths that resulted from his silence drove me crazy. Who cares if you don't think anyone's going to believe you? Tell someone anyway! Quit trying to solve the whole problem yourself, bub. So that was the only reason I gave it four stars instead of five, because Victor bugged. I would absolutely recommend this book. It'd really get a book group blazing! It has such great insight on the ideas of how far is too far, or just because you can doesn't mean you should, and things and such. And fun fact: Mary Shelley was only 18 when she wrote the book. That might explain some of Victor's oversight in dealing with mistakes...

Category: A book written by an author with your same initials
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
Goodreads review: 1 star (did not finish)

I got so downright excited when I found this book, because as it turns out, it's difficult finding an author with my initials. And then I thought: Plus they made a movie about it, so it MUST be good! This book wasn't for me. I didn't like it and I didn't finish it. This is especially noteworthy, because up until very recently, I always had the opinion that I HAD TO ALWAYS FINISH a book. But upon making it halfway through, I said to myself, "Self? You don't care about these characters. You're not interested in this circus story. Nor do you even care how it ends." And so I haughtily slammed it shut and flung it back to the library. I'm exaggerating. But really. I didn't like it. It's sexually explicit and the characters are flat. I thought it was dumb right off the bat that Jacob gives up on his veterinary degree and hops on a train to do....what exactly? And his infatuation with the circus performer? What do we know about her? That she looks pretty doing her circus routine all bedecked in sequins? Yes, that's about all we know. (I've always wanted an excuse to use the word bedecked.) Flat, flat, flat. I will not be reading any more books by this author with my same initials.

Category: A book your mom loves
James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
Goodreads review: 5 stars

I don't actually know if this is one of my mom's favorite books. I mean, we didn't really discuss it. BUT. I remember reading this with my mom when I was a little girl and I remember really liking it, so it brings up warm memories in the mom department. Plus, I needed to fit it in somewhere. So mom, if anyone asks, you love this book. Got it? Anyway. I read this with my two oldest and they really enjoyed it. It held their attention—even Maren's. The centipede is really a hoot, with his shoes for all of his feet and all. The story is one of a kind—with a horrific beginning! The girls thought it was funny when the peach rolled through the town with the chocolate factory—since we had recently finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If you haven't read this with your kids (or even by yourself!) I highly recommend it.