The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

For my second read in September I read, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender.  The story begins when nine year old Rose Edelstein discovers she has a secret gift (or curse?) of being able to taste people's feelings in the food they cook.  This secret allows her to learn much more about her family, friends and world than she really wants to know.

I'm giving this book a bit of a mixed review.  I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.  It's a bit of fantasy mixed with realism, which made it hard for me to really enjoy.  Rose deals with real life issues, but the way in which she discovers them is strange.  Her family while seeming normal is quite flawed, which is never really addressed and I found frustrating.  Her brother is a main character whom we don't really get a sense of until the book is nearly finished.  Parts of the story felt undone to me and there was a lack of character development.

I'm also going to have to go all punctuation police and point out there are no quotation marks on any of the dialogue.  Sometimes whole conversations feel wrapped confusingly into a paragraph that you have to re-read to figure out what was said and what was thought.

I did like the character of Rose, she is interesting and despite her gift, often relatable.  We follow her character from age nine to twenty-two, so it's kind of neat to grow up with her and see what happens to her character over time.

Overall, I don't think I would have read this book had I known it's style before hand.  It just wasn't my cup of tea.  However, if you like fantasy mixed with realism and dash of bummer you might like it.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Murakami

OK, I"m implementing a moratorium on murakami for the next year.  This one was good.  It wasn't great, and the genera wasn't quite me.  I like science fiction, but this was a little to much more me.  INKlings living under the city, muting all sound, encrypting information by running it through your subconscious... all a little extreme.

The story is fairly straight forward.  It seems to be two separate stories being told in alternating chapters, but it's really the mans conscious and subconscious self living simultaneously.  The main character is written well, but all supporting characters lack any depth at all.  His girlfriend, the scientists he works for, the daughter of the scientists (yes, yet ANOTHER underage object of desire... oh Murakami...), all have only one purpose to the story.  They fill that role well, but there is nothing more to them as people living in the same world.  

And, the ending was a bit disappointing.  You're told how the story will end maybe 100 pages from the end, and there are no more surprises.  It ends exactly how you expect it to.  This is why it took me two months to read just the end... yawn.

So yes, Murakami is a good writer, and I generally like his plot lines.  This one was just a bit off for me and a break is needed.     

~Kelly

The Language of Flowers

For my first read in September I read, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  An old college facebook friend recommended this book and I'm so glad she did.  The story is about a girl named Victoria Jones.  Victoria grows up in the foster care system and finds herself at eighteen "aging out".  She is alone except for the comfort she finds in flowers and their secret meanings.  She bumps into a person from her past and starts to question her life and what it is missing.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end.  Victoria is a character you love, despise, want to shake and want to hug.  Her personality is so difficult, yet you want the best for her and you want to see how her life turns out.  All of the main characters in this book have seen so much sadness but also so much joy, I became invested in each one.

The really fun thing about this book is what it's title refers to, the language of flowers.  You'll learn a lot about the meanings of flowers and the messages they can convey.  It left me wanting to find out what my favorite flowers meant and to get some bouquets of the ones whose meanings I particularly liked.

The book goes back and forth in time (from Victoria in the present and Victoria at age ten) but it does so seamlessly and you may be be like me, longing for the next section in each respective time period.  I highly recommend this book, especially to all the lady readers out there.

When It Happens To You

For my second read in August I read, When It Happens To You by Molly Ringwald.  This is a “novel in stories”, so it is a collection of interconnected stories about a couple, their family and friends.  The main plot is about a couple, Phillip and Greta, whom are married and have a daughter named Charlotte.  Something happens in their relationship which leads to some major changes in their family dynamic.  All of the stories somehow connect back to them. 

This was a new release I found randomly and thought might be a good read.  I’m always curious to see if celebrities are able to cross over from one niche to another.  I was pleasantly surprised to find I quite enjoyed this book.  It delves into the complexities of relationships and Ringwald weaves the characters stories together seamlessly. 

The book is short (only 256 pages) so it’s a quick and enjoyable read.  The characters are developed well and you genuinely care to see what will happen to them.  I also found myself looking forward to seeing whose perspective we would be reading next, as it goes to a different character each chapter.  Give this one a read, I think you’ll enjoy it.

The Litigators

For my first read in August I read, The Litigators by John Grisham.  The story follows lawyer David Zinc, who is burnt out at his job at a big law firm and finds his way to the ambulance chaser law offices of Finley & Figg.  F&F are two partners who have a slew of their own issues and shortly after Zinc comes on board they decide to take on the biggest case of their careers in hopes to finally get rich.

Another recommendation from my Grisham fan husband, and I really enjoyed this book.  A lot of Grisham's work comes off as very technical and serious, however this book was fun.  The characters and overall feel felt more laid back.  I enjoyed each character and the cases they worked on were interesting and easy to follow.  I have always appreciated the knowledge that Grisham puts into his work, he really knows his law which makes the stories more engrossing and authentic.

I highly recommend reading this book.  It is very well written, enjoyable and another win for Grisham.

The Last Policeman

For my second read in July I read, The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters.  The book follows Detective Hank Palace as he conducts a possible murder investigation when there is only six months left for humanity.  An asteroid named Maia is going to bring an end to civilization, but that doesn't stop Palace from continuing his search for justice.

This book is the first in a planned trilogy and I look forward to reading the next two in the series.  Winters writes in a concise and clean way.  He goes into detail when needed or most fitting and makes Detective Palace a guy you'd like to meet.  The book has enough surprises to keep you engaged and ends with some closure but also leaves you ready to see what happens in the trilogy's next installment.

I would recommend reading this book.  It's an enjoyable, easy read that keeps you engaged and interested.  Can't wait to see what is up next for Detective Palace!

Gone Girl

For my first read in July I read, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  The story is about a married couple, Nick and Amy Dunne who live in Missouri.  On their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing and Nick becomes the prime suspect of the police investigation. 

This book was awesome!  I have always enjoyed crime thrillers, but I haven't read one quite like this before.  It goes back and forth each chapter from Nick to Amy's perspective (a writing style I love) and so we learn a little bit more about them with each chapter, which makes for wonderful character development.  You go from loving to loathing characters.  You think one thing is going to happen and it goes in a totally different direction.  Nick and Amy have an interesting relationship from the get go and as the story progresses we get to see more and more of what got them into their...situation.

I would definitely recommend reading this book.  It's engaging, dark and kind of addictive. This book has several twists and turns and you probably won't be able to guess the ending.  Read it!