{2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge Review} THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE by Lene Kaaberbol & Agnete Friis

ISBN #: 978-1616951696

Page Count: 317

Copyright: September 4,2012

Publisher: Soho Crime; 1st Edition

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, wife, and mother of two, is a compulsive do-gooder who can’t say no when someone asks for help—even when she knows better. When her estranged friend Karin leaves her a key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station, Nina gets suckered into her most dangerous project yet. Inside the locker is a suitcase, and inside the suitcase is a threeyear-old boy: naked and drugged, but alive.

Is the boy a victim of child trafficking? Can he be turned over to authorities, or will they only return him to whoever sold him? When Karin is discovered brutally murdered, Nina realizes that her life and the boy’s are in jeopardy, too. In an increasingly desperate trek across Denmark, Nina tries to figure out who the boy is, where he belongs, and who exactly is trying to hunt him down.

Kathy's Review:

(Reprinted with her permission from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

This book officially completes my 2014 TBR Pile Challenge. I did it! Down to the wire!

Readers of Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series will enjoy this crime novel written by two Danish authors. It’s translated into English and it’s absolutely, page-turningly, wonderful. We come into contact with the titular boy in the first scene, and the action unfolds from there. This is story of a kidnapping gone wrong and a do-gooder’s attempt to right it and solve the mystery of who the boy is, where he came from, and why he was in the suitcase. Pure entertainment, with just the right amount of character development and plot movement.

Highly, highly recommend this one. I can’t wait to see what else these authors have written!

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks to all who follow this blog and my reviews. Looking forward to more good reads in 2015. I’m still trying to finish up my Goodreads challenge of reading 100 books, and finishing this one puts me at 94. I’ve got just 6 1/2 hours to up that number… desperate times call for desperate measures!


*Side Note: Kathy actually finished this book and posted her review on her own blog yesterday.

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge Review} THE CASUAL VACANCY by J.K. Rowling

ISBN #: 978-0316228534

Page Count: 503

Copyright: September 27, 2012

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st Edition

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…. Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

Kathy's Review:

(Reprinted with permission from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

Talk about high expectations. Rowling had some moderate success with a children’s series, the name of which escapes me right now … Porter? Barry Porter? Anyway, this was Rowling’s first foray into the world of grown-ups, and with a pedigree that included such a beloved series, it’s hard to not expect greatness.

Well.

I really struggled to like this book. I don’t know if I ever got there with it. For starters, the book suffers from an ailment known as “TooManyCharacteritis” which is characterized by a meandering plotline including lots of protagonists, leaving the reader confused as to who is the hero at the center of the story. Was it Andrew? Krystal? Each character has good qualities and bad qualities, which I guess is like in real life. But with so many characters (which took me til more than halfway through the book to sort out and remember who was who and married to whom), it’s hard to establish who is driving the story.

The story centers around the death of a member of parish council and the politics and the relationships forged in this small town where everyone knows everyone and everyone knows everyone’s business. From the perspectives of both adults and teens, Rowling provides a complete landscape of Pagford and its intricacies. But at the end, do we care?

Sure, there’s people and events that are recognizable as part of any community. But at 500+ pages, and with an end result that left me extremely disappointed, I’m not sure I would recommend anyone become emotionally invested in this book and its characters. I’m not sure what Rowling was going for, here. In a world like Harry’s, where good ultimately triumphs over evil, I guess I was expecting the “good guys” to win in the end. Not to give anything away, but that doesn’t happen. There. I saved you 500 pages worth of reading. Go re-read Harry Potter, or try her crime fiction written under the pen name of Robert Galbraith, instead.

If I hadn’t been reading this for the 2014 TBR Pile Challenge (one more book to go!), I’d probably have abandoned this one mid-way.

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge Review} THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green

ISBN #: 978-0142424179

Page Count: 352

Copyright: April 8, 2014

Publisher: Speak; Reprint Edition

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Kathy's Review:

(Copied with permission from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

This book is everything it was supposed to be. Much hyped, much loved. It’s obvious that author John Green “gets” teens. And he also “gets” cancer. He writes about both so believably, it feels like he has recorded the lives of two actual teens – and has captured all their quirks and silly in-jokes and emotions. Hazel and Gus are not your typical teens – both are survivors of cancer. Gus has lost his leg in his battle with cancer, but seems to be in remission. Hazel’s lungs are decimated and she must breathe with the assistance of an oxygen tank or BiPAP machine at all times. Yet, their romance seems as silly and carefree as any other young couple.

I heard the whole “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry” thing about this book. It’s funny. I mean, really, really funny. Every page has something witty on it. Like, so witty that I’m like, man, I wish I had an ounce of this wittiness, and I consider myself to be fairly witty. Hazel and Gus are themselves witty, but in a totally believable teen way. And then the sadness. While I did not shed an actual tear due to a) the ice in my cold, cold heart and b) I had heard what happened, I can see how someone could completely be devastated by what happens in the book.

This is a “YA” novel but it’s so good and so … GOOD that I think it needs to be universally read and enjoyed. I find no fault in this book, not one.

*Oh and btw? This is one of my 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge alternates. Okay? Okay.

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge Review} BLUE BLOODS by Melissa de la Cruz

ISBN #: 978-1423101260

Page Count: 336

Copyright: March 27, 2007

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion; Later Printing Edition

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Schuyler Van Alen is confused about what is happening to her. Her veins are starting to turn blue, and she's starting to crave raw meat. Soon, her world is thrust into an intricate maze of secret societies and bitter intrigue. Schuyler has never been a part of the trendy crowd at her prestigious New York private school. Now, all of a sudden, Jack Force, the most popular guy in school, is showing an interest in her. And when one of the popular girls is found dead, Schuyler and Jack are determined to get to the bottom of it.

Schuyler wants to find out the secrets of the mysterious Blue Bloods. But is she putting herself in danger? Melissa de la Cruz's vampire mythology, set against the glitzy backdrop of New York City, is a juicy and intoxicating read.

Kathy's Review:

(Copied with permission from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

Maybe it’s because I just finished a hoity-toity, Pulitzer-winning novel, but Blue Bloods felt a little, I don’t know, beneath me. It definitely felt like YA writing, and not the John Green kind of YA writing that adults love too. I actually didn’t know going into this book that it was written for a YA audience. Having read Witches of East End, which felt more grown-up, I was ready for this book to read much along those lines.

That having been said, I still ripped through this book and am considering reading more of this series. Basically, the story revolves around rich, teenage vampires. Some nice ones and some bitchy ones. Just like in high school. Except everyone at high school is super rich. And there’s really no blood sucking, at least not in this one. There’s a few attacks, but your basic vampire stuff doesn’t really happen here. de la Cruz means to bust up some of the vampire stereotypes and create a new kind of immortal with this series. Can they go in the sun? Check. Does garlic repel them? Nope. Can you kill them with a wooden stake or silver bullet? Negative. Uh-oh.

So the mystery at the heart of Blue Bloods, and perhaps at this series, is, WHO or WHAT is killing off the vampire Blue Blood race? And how does our main protag Schuyler (sorry, but I can’t stand that name) factor in to this?

Looking for an alternative to Twilight, or just a fun, campy YA series to occupy some of your free time? Give this one a whirl. If you’re looking for something to stimulate your mind, look elsewhere.

BTW – this is another 2014 TBR Pile Challenge Book. Almost done!

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge Review} THE MARRIAGE PLOT by Jeffrey Eugenides

ISBN #: 978-0374203059

Page Count: 416

Copyright: October 11, 2011

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Limited Edition

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

It’s the early 1980s—the country is in a deep recession, and life after college is harder than ever. In the cafés on College Hill, the wised-up kids are inhaling Derrida and listening to Talking Heads. But Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels.
As Madeleine tries to understand why “it became laughable to read writers like Cheever and Updike, who wrote about the suburbia Madeleine and most of her friends had grown up in, in favor of reading the Marquis de Sade, who wrote about deflowering virgins in eighteenth-century France,” real life, in the form of two very different guys, intervenes. Leonard Bankhead—charismatic loner, college Darwinist, and lost Portland boy—suddenly turns up in a semiotics seminar, and soon Madeleine finds herself in a highly charged erotic and intellectual relationship with him. At the same time, her old “friend” Mitchell Grammaticus—who’s been reading Christian mysticism and generally acting strange—resurfaces, obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is destined to be his mate.

Over the next year, as the members of the triangle in this amazing, spellbinding novel graduate from college and enter the real world, events force them to reevaluate everything they learned in school. Leonard and Madeleine move to a biology Laboratory on Cape Cod, but can’t escape the secret responsible for Leonard’s seemingly inexhaustible energy and plunging moods. And Mitchell, traveling around the world to get Madeleine out of his mind, finds himself face-to-face with ultimate questions about the meaning of life, the existence of God, and the true nature of love.

Are the great love stories of the nineteenth century dead? Or can there be a new story, written for today and alive to the realities of feminism, sexual freedom, prenups, and divorce? With devastating wit and an abiding understanding of and affection for his characters, Jeffrey Eugenides revives the motivating energies of the Novel, while creating a story so contemporary and fresh that it reads like the intimate journal of our own lives.

Kathy's Review:

(Copied, with her permission, from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

I loved Eugenides’ work on Middlesex, and so I selected The Marriage Plot, a Pulitzer winner, for my 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge. This book is about smart people. Smart young people. Smart young people in love.

We begin with Madeline, a graduating senior at Brown University, majoring in English with a heavy focus on the Victorian writers, masters of the “marriage plot” novels, in which the story’s central focus is the marriage of its female protagonist. See: Jane Austen, et. al.

Rounding out this trio of young smart people in love is Leonard, Madeline’s boyfriend, who battles manic depression – kicked off after Madeline breaks up with him. And Mitchell, a student of religion, pines after Madeline, believing they should be together.

Crammed full of literary references only a diploma-holding Master of English Lit will understand or appreciate, this book falls short for me — at least in comparison to Middlesex. I found it fairly boring. I had little compassion for Madeline, in whom I felt greatly disappointed. As a character, Madeline lacks anything of substance that I could support as a female. I could empathize with Leonard’s depression and his inability to “snap out of it.” Madeline doesn’t seem to know how to deal with him, and treats it like something he can just decide not to be anymore. Mitchell seems to be some sort of hero in this story, and certainly his travails in Europe, India in particular, make him the most likeable of the three. That, and the fact that he doesn’t take advantage of Madeline when he has the opportunity to do so early on.

Eugenides writes about smart people and smart things but his writing itself is still accessible for the Average Joe. We may not get all the references, and there’s probably metaphorical stuff happening before our eyes that is basically invisible because we’re not smart enough to see it, we can still get through the story and have some basic understanding of the main plot, character development, and resolution. Why it went down the way it went down. If you’re part of the elite club that gets references to Barthes, and doesn’t mind boring characters having boring relationships, then have at it. I’ll stick to Middlesex.

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge} ALWAYS LOOKING UP: THE ADVENTURES OF AN INCURABLE OPTIMIST by Michael J. Fox

ISBN #: 978-1401310165

Page Count: 288

Copyright: March 30, 2010

Publisher: Hachette Books; Reprint Edition

Book Summary:

(Taken from Goodreads)

There are many words to describe Michael J. Fox: Actor. Husband. Father. Activist. But readers of Always Looking Up will soon add another to the list: Optimist. Michael writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual outlook that has served him throughout his struggle with Parkinson's disease. Michael's exit from a very demanding, very public arena offered him the time-and the inspiration-to open up new doors leading to unexpected places. One door even led him to the center of his own family, the greatest destination of all.

The last ten years, which is really the stuff of this book, began with such a loss: my retirement from Spin City. I found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic: the shifting of public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor, then Mike the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD Parkinson's had consumed my career and, in a sense, had become my career. But where did all of this leave Me? I had to build a new life when I was already pretty happy with the old one. .

Always Looking Up is a memoir of this last decade, told through the critical themes of Michael's life: work, politics, faith, and family. The book is a journey of self-discovery and reinvention, and a testament to the consolations that protect him from the ravages of Parkinson's.

With the humor and wit that captivated fans of his first book, Lucky Man, Michael describes how he became a happier, more satisfied person by recognizing the gifts of everyday life.

Kathy's Review:

(Reprinted with her permission from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

When I was six years old, before I knew what a crush was, I had a crush on Alex P. Keaton. Family Ties was my favorite television show growing up, and to this day, if see it on Nick at Nite, I’ll feel a swell of nostalgia as the pencil-drawn canvas of the Keaton family is painted in with colorful brush strokes and becomes a photograph. “What’ll we do baby… without us … sha-na-na-na.”

Michael J. Fox could do no wrong in my book. He starred as Marty McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy, another beloved piece of my childhood. I’ve seen the first movie dozens of times, the other two sparingly, as they don’t live up to the original in my estimation. But still, those films define the 80’s and my formative years.

His posters adorned my bedroom walls in my tween and pre-teen years. My tastes in my teens may have matured (or immatured) to boy band members and bad boy actors like Kiefer Sutherland, but Michael J. Fox always held a special place in my heart.

In Always Looking Up, Fox chronicles some of his triumphs in the past ten years, all of which involve his efforts to battle Parkinson’s disease, of which the actor suffers. A memoir of sorts, Always Looking Up strives to show how positivity and strong family values has helped him through the tough times. Fox jumps around in time, using anecdotes from his family life, political and religious beliefs to illustrate his concepts. Slightly tongue in cheek at times, and using an impressive vocabulary, I enjoyed hearing Fox’s point of view and glimpse into his personal life.

This is one of my heroes, and the fact that he is bravely facing down a disease and trying to help secure stem cell research to help countless others, only serves to raise the pedestal upon which he has stood my entire life. Though he is no longer a pin-up, he is a role model and an inspiration.

*Read for the 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge Review} THE SONG IS YOU by Arthur Phillips

ISBN #: 978-1400066469

Page Count: 272

Copyright: April 7, 2009

Publisher: Random House; First Edition

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Julian Donahue is in love with his iPod.

Each song that shuffles through “that greatest of all human inventions” triggers a memory. There are songs for the girls from when he was single; there’s the one for the day he met his wife-to-be, and another for the day his son was born. But when his family falls apart, even music loses its hold on him, and he has nothing.

Until one snowy night in Brooklyn, when his life’s soundtrack–and life itself–starts to play again. He stumbles into a bar and sees Cait O’Dwyer, a flame-haired Irish rock singer, performing with her band, and a strange and unlikely love affair is ignited.

Over the next few months, Julian and Cait’s passion for music and each other is played out, though they never meet. In cryptic emails, text messages, cell-phone videos, and lyrics posted on Cait’s website, they find something in their bizarre friendship that they cannot find anywhere else. Cait’s star is on the rise, and Julian gently guides her along her path to fame–but always from a distance–and she responds to the one voice who understands her, more than a fan but still less than a lover.

As their feelings grow more feverish, keeping a safe distance becomes impossible. What follows is a love story and a uniquely heartbreaking dark comedy about obsession and loss.

Kathy's Review:

(Reprinted with her permission from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

Another TBR Pile Challenge book. This one has been on my TBR pile since 2010, when it received literary acclaim. I had very high hopes for this one, as it centers around a music producer who falls for a girl in a band. I was hoping for some hip, Nick Hornby-like writing. I think what I got was if Nick Hornby and David Foster Wallace had a baby. And I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I am not a DFW fan.

I have a 50-page rule when it comes to books. I give it until page 50. If I’m not into it by then, I move on. I have too many other books waiting for their turn.

I struggled to get to page 50 with this one, I really did. I wanted to like it, and I just had a hard time with it. Part of it is the writing style. There was at least one word on each page that I had to look up. And I’m by no means a dummy when it comes to language! So this is not for the average reader.

And then, around page 45, I started to like it. I got used to the way Phillips writes, and I charged on. I kind of fell in and out of love with this book, and almost gave up on it several times. Finally, though, I persevered through the end of the book. My conclusions: I’m not sure whether I am to view Julian’s actions as creepy or romantic, although Cait seems to be ok with everything he does, even herself engaging in some creepy/stalkerish/romantic behavior back at him. I’m not sure how the death of Julian’s son several years ago is supposed to factor in, but it does, somehow. And I am hugely disappointed at the many twists of fate that keep Julian and Cait apart. I know that’s what makes the book work, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.

All in all, I think this book is a little bit intellectually bogged down to be digestible by the mainstream reader. If you are into indie music and dig chicks in bands, maybe you want to give this one a try. But otherwise, I’m sorry to say, skip this one. This Song is Not For You.

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge Review} MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs

ISBN #: 978-1594746031

Page Count: 382

Copyright: June 4, 2013

Publisher: Quirk Books; Reprint Edition

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

A mysterious island.



An abandoned orphanage.



A strange collection of very curious photographs.



It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive. 



A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Kathy's Review:

(Reprinted with her permission - Orignally published on her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

I don’t know what I was expecting when I read this novel, but it wasn’t this. Not that this novel is bad – it’s not. It’s just that I was prepared for it to be way more creepy and strange than it actually was.

The creepy and strange aspect comes in part to the multitude of found photos the author has included in this book and weaved into his story. Riggs has amassed a large collection of odd black and white photos of mostly children, some adults, all with an inexplicable creepiness to them. The girl on the cover, who appears to be hovering above the ground, is one of these photos, and Riggs gives her life as a character in his story.

Jacob is our protagonist – a sixteen year old who has just witnessed his grandfather’s death after a brutal attack by … well, he’s not sure what it was. His grandfather, Abe, had told him countless stories as he was growing up about his life on this island, where he attended Miss Peregrine’s school. Jacob dismissed the stories as fantasy, but after he discovers some photographs and letters while cleaning his grandfather’s home, he begins to wonder whether there’s some truth to the stories, after all.

He uncovers the mysterious place, enters a new world, and meets the peculiar children his grandfather spoke of. How does he play into the fate of the peculiars?

This is an entertaining journey, filled with unforgettable characters, mystery and danger. It features a complex relationship between Jacob and his grandfather, as well as his parents. It sets up a tie between the past and the present, and of course, reveals that Jacob might just be peculiar, himself.

Not quite the Halloween read I was looking for, but a thumbs up all the same.  The photos really add to the story, and are in themselves fascinating.

By the way, this was part of my TBR Book Pile Challenge. Not like i have a prayer of finishing it this year, but I’m trying!!!!!

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge Review} A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving

Book Description:

(Taken from Amazon)

I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.

In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary.

Kathy's Review:

(Reprinted with her permission from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

This novel is as close to perfect as a novel can get. It took me months to get through, just because I had other books I had to read first. I wish I had read it the whole way through because the plot covers many years of the lives of Owen Meany and John Wheelwright (our narrator), but every event is an important highlight in a remarkable story.

Owen is an unforgettable character. He’s developmentally different – he’s small – only about five feet tall when he is an adult – and he has a very distinguished voice. Author John Irving captures Owen’s speech in all caps, which helps the reader imagine that his voice is loud and slightly unnerving. I’ve read reviews where people are put off by this, but I really liked it. It helped me picture Owen more clearly. Owen is also special – he believes he is an instrument of God. First, very early in the story (this is not a spoiler – you can read this on the book jacket), he hits a baseball that kills John’s mother. From that point on he is convinced that nothing is an accident. As he grows up, we see the impact of Owen on so many people – adults and children alike. From his role in the Christmas play that frightens some and shakes others’ faith to his column “THE VOICE” in his high school newspaper which stirs up controversy, to the heroic act which fulfills his destiny, there is no doubt that Owen Meany lived up to his notion.

I wish I had a book club or even a high school class with which to discuss this book because it is rich with so many themes – religion obviously is a huge one. Owen is not a religious person but he develops a deep friendship with Rev. Merrill, whom he asks to say the titular prayer. He “banishes” his parents from the Catholic church during the Christmas pageant claiming it is sacrilege for them to be there. He defaces a religious statue and later replaces it. And he creates sorts of idols to worship – such as the armadillo seen on this particular cover – which was a gift of John’s that Owen coveted, and the dressmaker’s dummy which belonged to John’s mom, with whom Owen was infatuated. Not to mention the fateful baseball that took John’s mother’s life … which leads John to discover who his true father is…

My least favorite portion of the novel was the present day (1980’s) narrations of John in Canada, displeased with the U.S., and in particular, the Iran-Contra affair. Although it’s an essential piece of the story, because the fact that John is IN Canada has everything to do with Owen. The story itself takes place in the 60’s and American history is woven throughout the story. Owen has strong feelings about JFK (in particular his alleged relationship with Marilyn Monroe), and the Vietnam War is a huge catalyst to the act of heroism that Owen performs.

I don’t think I can gush enough about this one. Just a solid, well-crafted story that is touching and thought-provoking, with an unforgettable central character. I would definitely recommend this — AND I plan on re-reading it at some point in my life. It’s that good.

By the way, I completed this book for the 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge. I believe that makes two books marked off my list!

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge Review} Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

ISBN #: 978-1594484773

Page Count: 406

Copyright: September 7, 2010 (Reprint)

Publisher: Riverhead Trade

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Nick Hornby returns to his roots-music and messy relationships-in this funny and touching new novel which thoughtfully and sympathetically looks at how lives can be wasted but how they are never beyond redemption. Annie lives in a dull town on England's bleak east coast and is in a relationship with Duncan which mirrors the place; Tucker was once a brilliant songwriter and performer, who's gone into seclusion in rural America-or at least that's what his fans think. Duncan is obsessed with Tucker's work, to the point of derangement, and when Annie dares to go public on her dislike of his latest album, there are quite unexpected, life-changing consequences for all three.

Nick Hornby uses this intriguing canvas to explore why it is we so often let the early promise of relationships, ambition and indeed life evaporate. And he comes to some surprisingly optimistic conclusions about the struggle to live up to one's promise.

Kathy's Review:

(Reprinted with her permission from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

I had it in my 2013 Challenge list. However, due to other books taking priority, and maybe due to the fact that this one didn’t really grab me as much as some of my other 2013 titles (11/22/63, anyone?), I never got around to reading it.

Even this year, I started it early in the year and it took me four months to get through it. I usually have a book like this – one where I start, lose interest, then start reading other stuff. I’ve had about two months’ worth of library reads, so this one, which I own, was bumped down the list to accommodate my library books.

So, what can I say about this book? Juliet, Naked refers not to an unclothed woman, as maybe some male readers might hope. ;) Rather, it is the title of a new album by reclusive American singer/songwriter Tucker Crowe, who had a big hit back in the day and then faded into obscurity, except for his small but passionate fan base. One such fan is Duncan, an Englishman who is part of an obsessive fan base that speculates on the current whereabouts and lifestyle of Crowe. He goes so far as to take his girlfriend, Annie, who is a reluctant Crowe fan by association, to America to do a tour of some of the famous places Crowe either recorded at, or played live at. Duncan even visits  the home of the titular Juliet (Julie), who isn’t home at the time, but it doesn’t matter to Duncan. This is a Mecca-like experience for him.

Annie isn’t nearly as feverish about Crowe, but learns to like the obscure artist’s music through Duncan. When Naked is released after 20 years of no new music, it sets his fan base into a frenzy. Duncan, having obtained a copy before some of the others, writes a very high-falutin’ review on the fan site. Annie, who has reached her breaking point with Duncan, is inspired to write a review basically saying the album is crap. Lo and behold, Crowe reads her review and contacts her via e-mail. Thus begins an intercontinental flirtation between Annie and the musician.

That is a synopsis of some of the action of the novel. Hornby depicts Crowe as having some of the stereotypical characteristics one would expect from a rock musician – namely, several ex-wives and children with each of them; recovering from alchoholism; but other than that, he leads a normal and rather boring life. Annie, whose life is also normal and rather boring, can’t fathom what Crowe is even doing talking to her. It’s not only a clash of lifestyles but of continents. That there’s any kind of common thread is surprising to both of them.

This book examines life from the perspective of Annie, Duncan and Tucker at times, and explores the dynamics of relationships of convenience, of trying to heal broken family ties, and of what happens to your perception when your idol turns out to be a pretty ordinary guy.

For a Nick Hornby book, I’d say this was just ok. I was expecting it to be more than it was. If I were to say yay or nay on this one, I’d probably say nay. Pick something else by Hornby, like High Fidelity or About a Boy. Or better yet, rent those movies. :)

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge Review} COLD COMFORT FARM by Stella Gibbons

ISBN #: 978-0143039594

Page Count: 256

Copyright: March 28, 2006

Publisher: Penguin Classics

Book Summary:

(Taken from Goodreads)

Winner of the 1933 Femina Vie Heureuse Prize, COLD COMFORT FARM is a wickedly funny portrait of British rural life in the 1930s.

Flora Poste, a recently orphaned socialite, moves in with her country relatives, the gloomy Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm, and becomes enmeshed in a web of violent emotions, despair, and scheming, until Flora manages to set things right.

Mandy's Review:

Flora Poste is one determined lady. Once she sets her mind to a task, she doesn't let up until she accomplishes her goal. I admire her doggedness and determination because she's set out to make the Starkadders' lives better. How could you not cheer on someone out to do good for someone else?

Many challenges face Flora when she arrives at Cold Comfort Farm, but her biggest challenge is Aunt Ada Doom. The woman uses guilt, fear, and intimidation to keep her family on the farm so she's not alone. Only one person can leave the farm on a regular basis and that's only so he can deposit the money from the farm into the bank. Is Flora going to be stubborn enough to make the needed changes on the farm or will she succumb to the heaviness of the family's traditions.

I was somewhat hesitant when I began this book. I will admit that I don't always "get" British humor and, while I didn't find much very humorous in this book, I did enjoy it immensely. There was one conversation that I wish I could have "overheard" between Flora and Aunt Ada, but it was kept secret. I'm sure part of it was to keep the reader in wonder over how Flora accomplished what she did, but part of me wonders if the author wrote it that way because even she didn't know what Flora could say to Aunt Ada in order to make her do what she did.

I am curious about the subsequent books in this series and may be purchasing them to continue reading Flora's story. I think you should as well (or, at least, borrow them from your local library).

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge: Review} THE TIPPING POINT by Malcolm Gladwell

ISBN #: 978-0316346627

Page Count: 301

Copyright: January 7, 2002

Publisher: Back Bay Books

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate.

This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

Kathy's Review:

(Reprinted with permission from her personal blog: Grown Up Book Reports)

This book had been recommended to me by a work colleague, and then references to Gladwell’s works started popping up everywhere. I felt like I should probably be familiar with some of his writing in order to sound smart at work, so I added this book to my 2014 TBR Pile Challenge.

The Tipping Point is the study of why epidemics start. It can be a viral epidemic such as the eruption of AIDS in the 90s, or a crime epidemic. Or even fashion trends and how they start. Gladwell seeks to explain how epidemics can be started by a small number of well connected people, and fueled by others who are also highly influential in their social sphere. He gives many examples throughout as to the factors which caused the various epidemics to spread.

It’s an interesting read filled with many examples you will recognize: Airwalk shoes, Sesame Street, Blues Clues, the NYC Subway system, AIDS, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and much more. He reveals that one cause does not necessarily lead to the intended effect. It might be a number of causes that lead to the epidemic, something as simple as removing graffiti off the subway cars, for example, leading to a decrease in crime. It’s those fascinating little facts that make The Tipping Point compelling reading.

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge: Review} THE PURLOINED LETTER by Edgar Allan Poe

ISBN #: 978-1492251279

Page Count: 36

Copyright: August 25, 2013

Originally Published: December 1844

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

"The Purloined Letter" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. It is the third of his three detective stories featuring the fictional C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt". These stories are considered to be important early forerunners of the modern detective story. It first appeared in the literary annual The Gift for 1845 (1844) and was soon reprinted in numerous journals and newspapers.

The unnamed narrator is discussing with the famous Parisian amateur detective C. Auguste Dupin some of his most celebrated cases when they are joined by the Prefect of the Police, a man known as G—. The Prefect has a case he would like to discuss with Dupin. A letter has been stolen from the boudoir of an unnamed female by the unscrupulous Minister D—. It is said to contain compromising information. Danton was in the room, saw the letter, and switched it for a letter of no importance. He has been blackmailing his victim. The Prefect makes two deductions with which Dupin does not disagree: 1.) The contents of the letter have not been revealed, as this would have led to certain circumstances that have not arisen. Therefore Minister D— still has the letter in his possession. 2.) The ability to produce the letter at a moment’s notice is almost as important as possession of the letter itself. Therefore he must have the letter close at hand. The Prefect says that he and his police detectives have searched the Ministerial hotel where D— stays and have found nothing. They checked behind the wallpaper and under the carpets. His men have examined the tables and chairs with microscopes and then probed the cushions with needles but have found no sign of interference; the letter is not hidden in these places. Dupin asks the Prefect if he knows what he is looking for and the Prefect reads off a minute description of the letter, which Dupin memorizes. The Prefect then bids them good day.

Mandy's Review:

I've called myself a fan of Poe's. I don't know that I can say that confidently now. I've heard of, and read, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," but I never knew it was part of a 3-story series featuring a fictional detective! How could I not have known that?! I hang my head in shame.

"The Purloined Letter" is an extremely quick read. For a short story, though, it has the intensity that is so familiar to Poe's works. The detail he's able to incorporate into the story is, of course, above par because, let's face it, it's Poe and he doesn't do much of anything sub-par.

I do wish there would've been just a little more action in this story. As it stands, it's mainly two to three gentlemen sitting down discussing what has happened. It can be kind of boring to read, but I'm willing to overlook it for one of my favorite authors.

{2014 TBR Pile Challenge} Mandy's List

Adam (aka Roof Beam Reader) is hosting the 5th annual TBR Pile Challenge! Below is Mandy's list for 2014, which are books that are also on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. She didn't finish her 2013 list, but has high hopes for 2014. To view Kathy's list, click here or visit the 2014 Reading Challenges page link on the right (when it becomes available).

1.) The Unfortunate Traveller by Thomas Nashe

2.) The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius

3.) Love in Excess by Eliza Haywood

4.) The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe

5.) The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

6.) Hunger by Knut Hamsun

7.) News from Nowhere by William Morris

8.) A Room With A View by E.M. Forster

9.) Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

10.) Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

11.) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

12.) The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

Alternates:

1.) Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

2.) The Reader by Bernhard Schlink