The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“’Everyone is an unreliable narrator.’”
“Once you lie about your past, you wall yourself off from the present.”
“’You can’t erase the past by not thinking about it’”
The Ghostwriter is about Olivia who is a ghostwriter, and her father who is prolific horror author. Her father, Vincent, has a history and she has been hiding this fact. She has fallen on hard times recently and has just been offered a job. Vincent is the only remaining sibling in a horrific murder that happened in his home. His brother and sister were killed but no one was held responsible. Vincent wants Olivia to ghost write a book for him but can she trust him? The secrets are numerous and are slow to be revealed. Will Olivia be able to uncover the truth about what happened so long ago? Will she be able to forgive her father?
Julie Clark creates a very engaging story and creates tension that lasts. I needed to know what happened. It was slow but painful in a good way. I was yearning for an explanation. I like how she threw in prospectives from other characters occasionally. This is the second or third book I have read recently that has mentioned Topanga, CA which is weird. It was on page 2 too, so right away. The description of Olivia’s house is amazing. I would love to have a very similar house in a very similar location. What she said that got her in hot water was totally the truth. Her rant was awesome and it sucks she was punished because she spoke out. Then she was told to not get too emotional and to calm down. What a load of BS. I could feel the anger physically in my body. There were some moments of levity like with a hamster. I think she is a good writer because some of the phrasing like “I recognize the way he moves, like a memory of a song” and the way she talks about light & dark. It is almost poetic. There is a gay character too which is always welcome. Yay for the best friend. I had such conflicting feelings towards Vincent. He could be a big asshole but then I could almost understand him. I am leaning towards not liking him though. He is extremely unreliable and I don’t love that storytelling technique. When will people learn that lying will only get you in trouble. I do not feel sorry for Olivia and the consequences of her actions. One of the lines struck me. It would have affected me much more in the past but in the present, I don’t necessarily agree with that feeling. “Of being the friend everyone tries to include out of pity.” There is a kind of voiceover at the end. I could picture it as if it was happening in a movie. It was well conceived and written. I didn’t come across any words that jumped out at me. This is exactly the type of book to read if you enjoy books that talk about writing in it and a slow unraveling mystery.
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Tag: California
Super Hot Guy And How Not To Entertain Readers
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
BOOKCLUB PEEPS DON’T READ!
“A third child inspired in me more gratitude for my own circumstances than envy.”
“’If it sounds like I haven’t been in enough therapy, it’s because I’ve chosen Midwestern repression instead.’”
“’The point of life is to find the thing you’re good at and enjoy doing, and to do it for other people.’”
“’Real life is just awkward.’”
Romantic Comedy is about Sally who is a writer for a comedy sketch show. She has been writing sketches for years. She has had varying levels of success and some recurring sketches. On one show they have this musician named Noah Brewster who also acts as the host. He has been singing for years as well. Noah is described as very attractive with a good body. They meet, collaborate on a sketch, and then go to a bar with everyone for an after-party. They talk but that is where they part ways. A couple of years later the pandemic hits and Sally gets an email from Noah. They conversate. Is this real life or a romantic comedy? Will Sally think of herself as worthy? Will a relationship develop? Is Sally worthy of Noah?
Curtis Sittenfeld wrote this book while watching SNL on one screen and a generic romantic comedy on another during the height of Covid, it seems. I mean I don’t know that but that is the way it came across. The first thing I noticed when reading the jacket was the fact that it was an exact copy of SNL. Like couldn’t you move the show date to a Friday or not have the name be three letters? Alter it a little bit. Then the script that was presented as a movie was like a total rip-off of The First Wives Club. I didn’t like Sally as the main character. She was very whiny and insecure. She did some things that I didn’t understand and couldn’t fathom having a reason for. Her ex-husband was an ass. I also didn’t like how the book was arranged. There were like 3 chapters total and 1 was entirely made up of emails. That took up a lot of space without a lot of words. Emailing multiple times a day? Within a few minutes? I was surprisingly thrown when the font changed from the email chapter to the next chapter. It was weird. One thing I did like was the sprinkling in of commentary on the unraveling of our Democracy into Autocracy because of the 2016 election. They were nods to reality and something I felt deeply about and agreed with. “’Remember on election night, when it was like, the worse could happen? And then all of a sudden, it was like, Oh my fucking God, it’s happening. And then it had happened.’” Oh and the author lives in Minneapolis…where I am from! And there was mention of Duluth, MN as well as hot dishes…such a Minnesotan thing! There was also a very sweet moment about Jerry and a guitar. Noah was described as very hot with a great body so maybe a movie version with a hot guy could lift this story? The words that I picked up on when I came across them were vacuous, anodyne, axiomatic, piquant, facile, cloying, epistolary, and obsequiousness. I was not impressed with this book and thought it was generic and bland. It was frustrating and stupid. This is exactly the type of book that an alien could read and understand all romantic comedies ever.
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California Grieving And The Edu-gay-tion Of Family
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Do not punch a child, do not punch a child.”
“Guncle Rule number five: If a gay man hands you his phone, look only at what he’s showing you. If it’s a photo, don’t swipe. And for god’s sake, don’t open any unfamiliar apps.”
“Boys can do girl things and girls can do boy things. That’s not even a Guncle Rule, there shouldn’t even be boy things and girl things to begin with. People should just do what they want.”
The Guncle is about an actor, who was on a popular show but who has been hiding away in Palm Spring, who loses his best friend/sister-in-law and must take care of her/his brother’s kids. Patrick is the guncle. He lost his partner and is still in the grieving process. Maisie, his niece, and Grant, his nephew, lost their mother (Sara) and subsequently spend the summer with their GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick). Their dad is dealing with his own personal health issue. How will Patrick be able to handle taking care of kids for 3 whole months without going crazy? Will the kids start their grieving process and what will they learn from their GUP? If Patrick moves on with this life, how will he do it?
Steven Rowley wrote such a fun and enjoyable book! I laughed out loud so many times and wanted to devour it. “’We don’t eat bacon…Bacon is pigs and pigs are our friends. Do you want to eat your friends?’ (Patrick) Without hesitation. ‘If they taste like bacon.’” (Grant). I was excited to find out there was a sequel too! The Guncle Rules that permeated the book were perfect. It matched caring, humor, and a gay sensibility all in a simple, helpful rule. For example, when Patrick gave his niece his phone to record him in a video. “’Higher…Honestly, its like you want me to have four chins. Guncle Rule – What number are we on? Know your angles. Everyone has a good side. Even children, who should be photographable from all sides but aren’t.’” There was so much gay culture sprinkled in such a natural way that it would be easy to miss if you weren’t well versed. Right away Grease, Grease 2, Olivia Newton-John, and Stockard Channing were mentioned when GUP was trying to make a point. So much wit. Patrick gave them an ‘edu-gay-tion.” The messaging is something I thought was much needed but not too heavy handed. I found myself agreeing and wishing society as a whole felt the same way. Whatever you like or want, you do you. “What do you think gay people do? Have done for generations? We adopt a safe version of ourselves for the public, for protection, and then as adults we excavate our true selves from the parts we’ve invented to protect us.” Things like this felt true and hit home. It is the story of a lot of gay people. There are conversations around grief and the way the book approached it was nice. It was described well. “Grief orbits the heart. Some days the circle is greater. Those are the good days. You have room to move and dance and breathe. Some days the circle is tighter. Those are the hard ones.” A word that stuck out to me in this book was maudlin. Steven filled this book with so many witticisms. This is exactly the type of book that I will pick up whenever I need a smile and laugh.
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Historical Horror And A New Imagining Of The Donner Party
The Hunger by Alma Katsu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Snow kept secrets.”
“Hope…could be a very dangerous thing, especially when dealt to desperate hands.”
“Maybe that was the curse of these mountains – they turned you mad, then reflected your own madness back at you, incarnate.”
The Hunger is about the infamous Donner-Reed Party and their ill-fated attempt on the Oregon Trail. It is a well-known story but this take adds a little more supernatural element. The author took some liberties but a lot of the places and people are real. Some of the main characters are Charles Stanton who is single and has a past he berates himself for all the time. He is described as hardy and resourceful but attractive. Tamsen Dooner who is the wife of one of the leaders of the party at certain points. She is very attractive but everyone thinks of her as a type of witch. James Reed who was the leader of the party at one point as well. He was presented as much more urban than country and he had a secret that he would do anything to protect. Edwin Bryant who was on a mission to learn about Indigenous people and had a bit of medical history. This novel takes us on their journey as they try and survive their trek to California. They run into a lot of issues that were all part of the typical expedition but a few more that made this trip scarier. Who will survive and who will succumb to the natural and unnatural alike?
I think that Alma Katsu did a phenomenal job writing this book. Her descriptions are so vivid and real without being too verbose. “Whoever had first thought to call the pioneers’ wagons ‘prairie schooners’ was quite clever; the canopies did look like the sails of ships, blazing white under the brilliant morning sun. And the thick clouds of dust kicked up by wagon wheels could almost be mistaken for the swell of waves carrying their miniature ships across a desert sea.” You can just visualize what this looks like. Some scenes were so pastoral, homey, and calming. “She reached out and let her fingertips dance over the wildflower blossoms. For a moment, she thought of the yellow coneflowers that dotted her brother Jory’s vast wheat fields, untamable and abundant…The blossoms bent and swayed at her touch, so delicate they almost tickled.” The author really knows how to convey apt elucidations that conjure up a very detailed and specific image in my head. “His laugh was like water running over stones in the creek – fast and free and clear” and “thinking of Lydia still brought an ache to his chest, like the first deep breath of cold air.” The way women were depicted seems to align with the time but still can sound familiar in today’s world. It is sad and frustrating in general. “Women were always forced to smile.” I am not sure if this is a positive or negative thought but “So many women seemed to turn their words over in their mouths like sugar cubes, until you could never be sure of the shape of the original thought” was such a good turn of phrase. The horrible attitudes displayed also holds true for how the Indigenous people were treated. It angered me to read about it, especially knowing those attitudes still exist. One scene boiled my blood. One of the themes that I noted took place throughout the book was the idea of truths. What is truth? When should you tell it and when is it good to hold back? “For many people did not like the truth, it seemed – thought it was a dirty and distasteful thing, impolite and complicated…Many simply preferred the sweet, momentary pleasure of hearing whatever they wanted to hear.” There was a scene where the truth was going to come out but didn’t and I gooped out loud. The author was able to write some very tense scenes where it felt like a thriller/horror film was playing out in my head and my body physically reacted by contracting muscles. Granted it wasn’t total world-building but the development of the fictitious elements was incredible. The thoughtfulness and depth behind it shone through. Some of the words I discovered and liked in this novel were sluice, miasma, indefatigable, fetlock, and ravenous. You know how you read some books, and it is just one cliché after another and it seems like they are trying too hard? Well Alma was able to convey a lot of wisdom and thought-provoking phrases without resorting to well-worn and eye-rolling platitudes. One minor thing that did detract from the book was the fact that there were so many characters and it was hard to keep track of the ancillary characters. I did enjoy the ending though. It was angering, surprising, and well done. This is exactly the type of book I would recommend to someone who likes amazing descriptions, getting lost in the scenery, and historical fiction. Well worth it!
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Prison Puzzles And Children With Attitude
The Alcatraz Escape by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Alcatraz Escape is the third book in the Book Scavenger series. Emily is still the focal point but this time several of her friends get more page time as well. The second book left it giving the readers a hint as to what the third book will be about. There is a new game afoot, and it will take place in the infamous Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. The game is intended to be fun and raise money for a local bookstore. Emily, James, and crew, along with many others who won their way into the game, travel to the island and set off on a hunt. This hunt was created by a famous recluse of an author who everyone is curious to see in person. There are elements working against the young group of intrepid puzzle-solvers and they get themselves into plenty of tight scrapes. They must work together as a team and not be torn apart but will they solve it in time?
This book was a quick and easy read like the others. It had elements of tension and excitement to find the solution using clues and each other. Jennifer Chambliss Bertman created a solid children’s book that could draw in many readers. It did keep me reading and wanting to finish. I do like the way Jennifer briefly brings information from the previous books to help set the stage but does not spend too much time on the details. The twist was excellent and I did not see it coming at all. I have said this before, I liked the weaving in of historical elements. At the end she gives a summary of what was fiction vs what was fact. I love this sort of thing. This time around though I found Emily, the main character, getting more on my nerves than the previous books. I know she is young but she had such an attitude. She was defensive, negative, pouty, and self-centered. Emily was childish, which granted she is a child, but this is why I typically stay away from books that are geared towards younger readers. There were plenty of assumptions by many of the characters without evidence. In general, the thought patterns and jumping to conclusions are bothersome. I thought this book was not as well done as the previous two. It seemed a little forced to basically create an escape room instead of a large hunt with many locations. The kickoff to the game at the prison was a little too convenient and lucky for me. There were also many more unlikeable characters without any redeeming qualities this time around. I am still not a fan of Mr. Quisling. I think this is slightly more grown-up than the other two in terms of situations and antagonists. Overall, I would say read it to finish up the series and for some more puzzles & history.
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