Book Nook Club: January 2011

January 23, 2011

Second Glance, By Jodi Picoult

I'm usually a huge fan of Jodi Picoult's novels. Each one that I've read has kept me interested with an engaging plot and well drawn characters.

For me, Second Glance didn't live up to my previous experiences.

Plot: Taking place in a small town in Vermont, Picoult introduces us to Ross Wakeman, a man who has lived through tragedy and is now searching for something just out of reach. He's a ghost hunter, and is brought into the town's strange occurrences surrounding a piece of land slated for development. Surrounding Ross is his sister and her son, a ghost, and an Indian tribe.

If it sounds a little scattered, well, it is. I'm not opposed to a good ghost story, but this was just a bit too far-fetched. Ross falls in love with a ghost to the point of spiraling him further into the depression he's faced with. All I could think was "who falls in love with a ghost?!?" I just couldn't get into the alternate-reality angle.

On top of that, the plot was a bit slow-moving. The love story between Ross and his ghost meanders along for far too long, while the actual mystery and circumstances surrounding the ghost doesn't get going until midway through the book. There are also several love stories that occur between humans that don't get going until you've already suffered through the faux love story.

All I can say is, a little less ghost/human love story, a little more mystery and love story that can actually work out.

Characters: Being in love with a ghost is just one reason I wasn't a fan of Ross. I felt he was weak and didn't like how his depression played out. It's not that I don't love a good sad sack, it's just that he was a little too sad sack. And if I can't get behind a main character, I'm most likely not going to love the book overall.

Structure: The chapters were endlessly long. 20+ pages each. And while there were some natural breaks within each chapter, I'm someone who prefers to tackle a full chapter, but it was so hard to wade through them.

The plot didn't move, most characters didn't move me, and I was stuck in the middle of endless prose. I'd encourage you to pick up a Jodi Picoult book, just not this Jodi Picoult book. 2 stars.

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January 17, 2011

Stay With Me

"Stay With Me" by Sandra Rodriguez Barron begins very mysteriously and captures your interest from the very first page. A luxury boat is found in a marina in Puerto Rico. In the cabin, they find 5 toddlers and no parents. Questions arrise such as "Who are these children?", "Where did they come from?", "Where are their parents?", "Are they related or siblings to each other?", "And what is they reason for the starfish drawing they each have on their hand?". Not only did these questions stump the Puerto Rican authorities, but they continued to boggle the minds of the 5 for over 30 years.

Although they were raised by different families, each being adopted and brought up in various parts of the States and Puerto Rico, they remained close and believed to be siblings. When one of the 5, David, is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, he feels he needs to find out their true origins before time runs out. You travel with this family and their journey to discovering that love is a beautiful choice.

Personally, I loved this book! I thought it was interestingly written and kept me captivated from the beginning. Barron does a wonderful job of bringing you into the book. You can hear the Latin music and taste the flavors of the Caribbean. Her imagery very vividly tells the story and you feel like you're actually there. I laughed out loud, cried, and even found my jaw dropped on several occasions! She writes in several different point of views throughout the book, thus allowing you to understand everyone's feelings, fears and anxieties that surround the story. Each character is unique and beautifully written. And although some phrases of the book are in Spanish, Barron does a great job of translating throughout.

To it's core, this is a love story... for a family. 4 stars.

(Oh, and here's a fun fact: Barron went to my alma mater, FIU! Not that that makes me bias or anything.)

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January 16, 2011

North of Beautiful, By Justina Chen Headley

For some reason, my book club is a little too into Young Adult novels. Which explains how North of Beautiful became this month's choice.

Personally, I'm a bit meh on the genre. Typically, they're pretty easy reads, which I appreciate, especially during a busy month like January has been. However, the plots sometimes leave little to be desired and I find myself missing a more adult approach.

Plot: North of Beautiful is about a teenage girl who has a port-wine birthmark on her face. It's become a mark of shame that forces her into a life of being masked and hidden. Until she meets a young man with similar issues, yet he doesn't let them get in the way of living his life. As the two of them navigate a new friendship, Terra realizes how freeing it can be to be unmasked -- to just be herself. Throw in a controlling father, a victimized mother, and a trip to China, and you have North of Beautiful.

For me, the plot was fine, but a bit immature. Which is certainly a characteristic of a Young Adult novel. Told from Terra's perspective, it has to have a teen voice. And it would probably appeal to a teen reader. But I was wanting a more mature tone.

Characters: Terra was a well-written character, but a child. Even though her male counterpart is a year younger, he comes across as so much more adult. Then, there's Terra's parents. Though I started the book hating her mother and her inability to stand up to her controlling husband, I fell in love with her by the end of the book.

Structure: As I said, the book was a quick read and the author keeps the plot moving. It's a bit long at 350 pages, but I finished it in just a couple days.

Again, this is a great book for a teenager, but it's a Young Adult book that I'd tell adults to pass on. 3 stars.

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January 12, 2011

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

If you read my reviews about My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes you'll notice that Jodi Picoult is probably one of my favorite all-time authors. Mostly because she is really an incredible writer. Even if I don't love the book, I always admire the way she can get you into the head of all of the characters, heroes and villians alike. Really she can make you question who really is the hero and the victim in each of her books.

Handle with Care is no different. I still was given a glimpse into the life and views of each of the characters, but I wasn't as intrigued or attached to this story as I've been to others. Handle with Care is about a family whose daughter has a disease where her bones literally can break when she sneezes, hence the title of the book. The family really just can't do anything a normal family could do; in fact, on a trip to Disneyworld she slipped on a napkin and broke both of her femur bones. Maybe that's why I had a hard time with this book, I just couldn't imagine something so miserable. I'm sure it really happens, but it was really hard for me to imagine this little girl that could just snap in half with a pat on the back.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I didn't love this book. I was actually okay with it (still didn't love it) until the very end. Which. I. Hated. And I don't hate many books. I thought the end of the book completely ruined the rest of the book for me so I don't recommend this one to anyone. Picoult has so many great books out there, don't waste your time on this one. 2 stars.

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A Woman and Her Workplace by Rosemary Flaaten

I, as are many of us, am a working professional. I work in an office of about 150 people and have great relationships with some of my colleagues, good relationships with others, and a little less friendly relationships with others. I wouldn't say that I have a bad relationship with anyone that I work with, but there's always room for improvement in any relationship. And for that reason, I was pretty excited to review A Woman and Her Workplace by Rosemary Flaaten. I'm always happy to read and learn things that will help me out at work.

And I really think this book will help me out. It is full of practical advice, especially for women, in working in a workplace full of other men and women. The book is broken into topic specific chapters like building relationships, pride, anger, being part of a team, being or not being a boss, and working with men and working with women. In the short 200 pages I found myself thinking oh that's so true numerous times as I read the true-life stories of other professionals trying to get along in their own work lives.

The writing is simple, full of stories, and to the point. It's also filled with practical advice that I feel like men and women alike could use in building better relationships at work. I would recommend this one to anyone really but especially anyone who works with other people on a regular basis. I think we could all stand to be a little more humble, optimistic, and celebratory of our colleagues. This book can help you get there. 4 stars.

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Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go by Lucille O'Neal

I was given Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go to review through BookSneeze.com. This book is about Lucille O'Neal (the mother of NBA star Shaquille O'Neal) and her journey from her childhood to where she is now. The book is full of stories from her life, relationships, and lessons she's learned in her fifty-five years including the biggest lesson she seems to have learned in her life - live your own life rather than living the life others want you to live. Treat every day of your life with a purpose as every day has a purpose and will affect the person you become.

I have to be honest and say that as intrigued as I was by this book initially, I lost interest about twenty pages in. I really like self-help type books, books that make you think about ways you can improve your life. This wasn't that kind of book. This was a book that really focused on Lucille's journey and as interesting and challenging as her life was, it really didn't teach me or inspire me to change in any way. It gave me a lot of information about Lucille and her family, but it really didn't help me understand how Lucille came to an understanding that she needed to start living her own life rather than the life she thought she should be living. I'm not typically a biography type person and that's what this book was for me - an autobiography.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning about Lucille's life, especially if you're interested in Shaq as she does throw in some interesting tidbits that you may never know about the superstar. But I probably wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this book to anyone else as it wasn't the most interesting, inspiring, or really the most anything for me. 3 stars.

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January 8, 2011

Super Life Secretcodes by Great Sun

I am generally an open-minded person. I have pretty defined views on religion and spirituality in my own life but an pretty open minded when it comes to other people's views and spirituality. I agreed to read Great Sun's Super Life Secretcodes because the premise of the book sounded intriguing - secret codes to help you change your life for the better. Who couldn't use a little help right?

This is one of the first books that i have agreed to review and just couldn't finish, which I feel terrible about but I felt like someone was standing above me saying that up is actually down, vampires actually exist, and the man who write this book was actually able to solve my problems with his spiritual superpowers. I know that sounds harsh, but it was difficult for me to read the first couple of chapters where people's problems were solved just by meeting with someone. I am open-minded, but this supernatural/psychic writing was too much for me after the first 50 pages. I tried reading a couple of the later chapters and was just as uncomfortable. And I made the decision that it may be unprofessional of me to not finish reading the book, but that risk was better than putting my mind through reading something that was so against my beliefs, judgement, and heart.

The writing was fine, but the content was not for me so I give this book just 1 star and don't in any way recommend it to anyone.

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January 4, 2011

Steppin' Into the Good Life

Steppin' Into the Good Life, by Tia McCollors is a story about Sheila Rushmore and her journey into "the good life". Sheila has had her share of ups and downs, but currently her life is on a downward spiral. Her ex-boyfriend chooses to remarry his ex-wife, she is unemployed, her living situation is complicated and friends seem sparse. Sheila decides to try to turn things around and for once, do things for God instead of herself. Little by litte, we see God begin to touch her heart and change her ways, and the light at the end of that tunnel becomes even brighter.
The idea of this story is a good one... one of redemption and hope, however, I felt that it was not portrayed in the best of ways. For one, Sheila is not the type of person I would want to know. She is extremely conceded, always commenting on how "fine" she is and how any man would be lucky to have "this". She is a total gold digger, to the end, and is not at all ashamed of it. She makes comments about how a man's shoes determines his wages. She uses people and then acts innocent about her intentions.
Secondly, although the writing is quick and easy to read, it is filled to the brim with cliche language that just made me roll my eyes. The whole book is sprinkled with "one fine man", "uh-huh girlfriend" and your fair share of baby-mama-drama.
Lastly, as a Christian, I did not feel that it accurately portrayed becoming a Christian. Sheila is constantly talking about "getting right with God", but it doesn't mention Jesus or His gospel. The way Sheila got right with God and eventually "stepped into the good life" was by jamming to gospel music CD's while getting ready, going to a good ol' Baptist church on Sundays and Wednesdays and making a few new friends. All of a sudden, everything started lining up for her. It just seems a little false. Feels like McCollors is selling something that isn't true... "come get your God and all your problems will vanish". Highly unlikely.
I give this story 2 Stars because although the message was weak, the writing flowed well and the story was sometimes funny.

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January 23, 2011

Second Glance, By Jodi Picoult

January 17, 2011

Stay With Me

January 16, 2011

North of Beautiful, By Justina Chen Headley

January 12, 2011

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

A Woman and Her Workplace by Rosemary Flaaten

Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go by Lucille O'Neal

January 8, 2011

Super Life Secretcodes by Great Sun

January 4, 2011

Steppin' Into the Good Life

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