Book Talk

I can't make any promises one way or another, but I have a feeling that my reading/reviewing may be on hold for a little while after this month.  At the very least, it will slow down considerably.  I plan to be attending to my real life stories.

For book club, we read Gone Girl.  I'm sure you've seen this book on a list somewhere recently; it's gotten mixed reviews, but has been on many recommended reading lists this summer.  I really enjoyed this suspenseful - if at times far-fetched - story about Nick and Amy, a young couple whose marriage is on the rocks after a move from NYC to Missouri.  On the morning of their five-year anniversary, when Nick is up to no good of his own, Amy disappears.  At first glance, the manner in which their home is left indicates foul play, and it doesn't take long for Nick to become the prime suspect.  Nick finds himself desperately trying to prove to the cops, his sister, and his friends that he's innocent, even though the evidence is stacked up against him.  All the while, he's remembering and making note of Amy's ability to deceive and calculate.  Throughout much of the book, the reader isn't quite sure what to believe.  By the end, if you're like me, you'll find yourself singing Britney's "Toxic" over and over as you weed back through the ins-and-outs of the twisted plot.

Flat-Out Love was another Kindle daily deal that I selected mostly because I felt like the name indicated an easy read.  My instinct was correct.  When Julie arrives in Boston for college to find that she's been duped into paying for housing that doesn't exist, she ends up getting help from her mom's old college roommate.  She plans to settle in with the Watkins family for just a few days, but finds herself invited to stay for much longer.  Julie finds herself wrapped up in the family's idiosyncrasies, which point to truths she longs to uncover.  As Julie gets to know the members of the Watkins family, her inquisitiveness brings to the surface a secret that reveals great heartache at the center of the family's dysfunction.  With a good balance between suspense and love, this is a quick read that I think you'll enjoy. 

A few months ago, I saw a recommendation for Where the Dog Star Never Glows in a magazine.  Although not much information about the content of the book was offered in the column, I was intrigued because it is written in short stories, and I hadn't read anything written in this format in quite a while.  I really enjoyed this collection of stories, many of which were told in first person and read like journals.  The characters were deep and well developed, and even just a taste of each of their stories was enough to satisfy.  Just when I thought I'd read my favorite story, I found myself loving the next even more.  This book brought me back to my days as an English major sitting in creative writing classes.  It's one that can be read in segments over time, or - because it is so good and also very short - over the course of just a day or two.

"We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading."

B.F. Skinner