Tag Archives: fiction

Whom God Would Destroy by Commander Pants

Posted by melydia on May 30, 2011 None comments

Whom God Would Destroy by Commander Pants: Oliver is an outreach counselor for the mentally ill, which mainly involves making sure they get to their doctor appointments. His clients include Abbey, who may or may not have multiple personalities; Greg, who may or may not be turning into his therapist; and Doc, who may or may not be communicating with aliens who demand Big Macs. Meanwhile, the ultra-charismatic Jeremy, who may or may not be Jesus, has opened a new age shop and started a television show on public access to spread his message of selfishness. Confused? Believe it or not, the story wasn’t so difficult to follow as long as you just went with it, accepting whatever bizarre new twist was thrown at you. (I’ve found a similar approach is helpful when reading Douglas Adams novels.) This is a bizarre tale of religion, drugs, sex, extraterrestrials, mental illness, and fast food, full of cynical humor and truly strange characters. I would suggest that anyone who is very sensitive about any of these issues (most especially religion) give this one a miss, but if you’re more cynical and/or apathetic, you might find the insanity rather enjoyable. I’ll be curious to see if Commander Pants writes anything else, or if he chooses a different pen name for each novel.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith

Posted by melydia on May 18, 2011 None comments

Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith (unabridged audiobook read by Michael Page; 3 hours on 3 discs): A sort-of retelling of the myth of Angus, Celtic god of dreams and youth and love. The chapters alternate between the story of Angus’s life and more modern vignettes that somehow incorporate Angus in various forms. Though Angus is supposedly a god of love, all the vignettes were rather sad: love lost, doubt, infidelity. I felt very disconnected from the whole thing, really. The parts about Angus’s life came across more like someone was describing the myth to me, while the other stories were so vague (and dreamy, if you’ll forgive me) that I never quite got into them. In short, this book was decent, but did not convince me to seek out other books by this same author.

A note on the audio: Page, on the other hand, was quite good. His English and Scottish accents were lovely, and his Canadian accent was even somewhat convincing. (This is high praise; I have come across very few UK actors who can speak with a convincing North American accent.)

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Dog Park by Ann Elwood

Posted by melydia on May 12, 2011 None comments

The Dog Park by Ann Elwood: This collection of short stories revolves around the regulars at a dog park in southern California. I will say up front that I do not own a dog and have never been to a dog park, so I cannot comment on the accuracy of the setting. However, I don’t think you really need to be a “dog person” to understand or appreciate these stories. Many of the tales are about human drama, though of course dogs play a central role in every one. One thing I noticed was how bittersweet or even downright sad most of the stories were. I even shed a few tears during “Not Just a Dog.” The plots are well-constructed and the characters believable, but don’t expect a bunch of heart-warming doggy stories. Very few have what I would consider happy endings. All, however, do have reasonably satisfying endings, and that’s all I really ask of a story. I remain interested in reading more fiction from Elwood in the future. Maybe she should release a tortoise collection next. I bet she could do that well.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

Posted by melydia on April 21, 2011 None comments

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult (unabridged audiobook read by Cassandra Campbell; 17 hours 20 min on 15 discs): When Paige was five years old, her mother left, abandoning her and her father suddenly one night. The story opens with Paige, as an adult, camped out on her own front lawn, barred by her husband from entering the house or seeing their infant son. Slowly, through flashbacks and memories, we learn about Paige’s childhood, her abortion as a teenager, her flight to Boston after high school, and her fast-paced relationship with medical student Nicholas and his affluent parents. As a wannabe sketch artist myself, I was drawn to Paige’s love for drawings and her mysterious talent for incorporating other people’s secrets into their portraits without realizing it or understanding its significance. I was also a little spooked by Paige’s early experiences with motherhood, as I imagine I would act the same way. My favorite character, however, was Astrid. She started out as a one-dimensional snob of a wicked mother-in-law, but later revealed herself to be an actual human being.

The story itself is just the sort of glurge I’ve come to expect from Picoult, but felt less like she’d come up with the plot from reading a couple of sensational headlines. No kidnapping or murder or suicide or courtroom scenes – just family drama. Sure, most of the conflict came from people not talking to each other (a pet peeve of mine), but I was more patient with that this time around, given how extraordinarily unapproachable Nicholas (whom I imagine as looking like Neal Caffrey) was. I wouldn’t want to talk to him either. In short, this book was decent but nothing spectacular.

A note on the audio version: Campbell was a good choice as narrator, with her natural voice seeming to channel Paige’s soft-spoken angst, while also handling Nicholas’s fury, Patrick’s Irish brogue, and Astrid’s aristocratic air without resorting to caricatures.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Original Sin by Beth McMullen

Posted by melydia on January 27, 2011 None comments

Original Sin by Beth McMullen: Lucy Parks is a stay-at-home mom, simultaneously raising her three-year-old son and trying to hide the fact that she used to be James Bond. Well, that’s only sort of true: in her former life she was known as Sally Sin, a spy for the US Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction, an action-packed thrill ride of a career that allowed for exactly no social life whatsoever. When Lucy met her soon-to-be husband Will, she quit the Agency and dedicated herself to full-time normalcy. The story is an entertaining mix of Lucy’s current pleasantly mundane life and her memories as a spy, which could have been directed by Michael Bay. Though I had trouble buying the relationship between Lucy and Will, as they appear to have pretty much nothing in common, I got a kick out Lucy’s struggle to maintain calm as the madness of her former life comes back to haunt her. From what I understand, this is the first book in an upcoming series – one I might actually try to keep up with. This book is a fun ride.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Paper Towns by John Green

Posted by melydia on December 15, 2010 None comments

Paper Towns by John Green: Margo Roth Spiegelman is larger than life. Tales of her exploits are nothing short of epic, and one night she grabs her neighbor and schoolmate Quentin Jacobsen for one last spree before she disappears from town. Following vague clues left behind, finding Margo becomes an obsession for Quentin that leads him to abandoned buildings, Walt Whitman, and – of course – paper towns. The whole thing culminates in an epic road trip where every noteworthy event that’s ever happened on any roadtrip anywhere happens on this one. Green has somehow managed to distill pure adolescence into prose, filling his narratives with believable characters who have believable feelings and say believable (and often very, very funny) things. Granted, these kids are more like I was in college than high school, but I can still relate. The story is similar in tone to Looking For Alaska, where you have a fairly ordinary teenage boy fascinated with a beautiful, inscrutable, unattainable girl. However, I think I might like this one just a teensy bit more, because Quentin’s philosophical ponderings about how well one can know another person really resonated with me. It’s bittersweet, and once again a book I wish I could have read when I was that age, if only so I could have played Metaphysical I Spy with my friends.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Posted by melydia on November 22, 2010 None comments

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares: This is not your typical YA after-school special kind of novel; this is four typical YA after-school specials in one. Four friends who usually spend the summer together (and who have pretty much nothing in common except their moms did aerobics together while pregnant) spend their first summer apart. Lena goes to Greece to visit/meet her grandparents where she has boy issues; Bridget goes to soccer camp where she has boy issues; Carmen goes to South Carolina where she has daddy issues; and Tibby stays home where she befriends a terminally ill kid. Kind of separately and kind of together, they all learn valuable (and predictable) lessons about life and love, while passing around a pair of “magical” jeans. These jeans are only magical in the way they fit all four of these girls so well despite being different sizes and shapes. The pants themselves don’t appear to do anything in particular. None of the girls were especially distinctive, and I kept getting Carmen and Tibby mixed up in particular. This is not to say this was a bad or even necessarily boring book – there were plenty of funny moments. It just wasn’t very memorable. Probably a good beach read for a teenager.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Posted by melydia on November 9, 2010 None comments

Rules by Cynthia Lord: Catherine’s little brother David has autism, and because of it she feels increasingly invisible to the rest of the world. She’s just that girl with the weird brother. When her new next-door neighbors turn out to have a girl just her age, she’s overjoyed to have a normal person to hang out with. Then she befriends Jason, a mute boy in a wheelchair, who causes her to rethink her definition of normal. I admit, I was worried this story would end with someone dying, since that’s how so many authors “resolve” any relationship with a differently-abled person (I’m not trying to be snarky here; I just don’t know what the correct term is anymore). Luckily, I was granted a happy ending to this tale that is both very sweet and unflinchingly realistic. (And funny. Can’t forget funny.) I don’t know if I’ll necessarily look up any of Lord’s other books, but this one was a nice change of pace. It’s so refreshing to find a Book With a Message that’s actually fun to read and not preachy.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Conversations with the Fat Girl by Liza Palmer

Posted by melydia on October 20, 2010 2 comments

Conversations with the Fat Girl by Liza Palmer: Maggie and Olivia were the two fat girls in school, best friends that shared the bond of being misfits. Fast forward a few years: the girls are still (sort of) best friends, but Olivia had gastric bypass surgery and is now a size two and about to be married to a handsome and wealthy man, while Maggie is still the same size, single, and working at a coffee shop despite having a master’s degree. I remember being Maggie not that long ago: negatively self-absorbed, helplessly inarticulate around attractive men, and walked on by my so-called best friend. Though her inner monologue was very funny in places, she would have been a much less compelling character had I not recognized myself in so many of her flaws. This story says a lot about toxic relationships, family bonds, and inner beauty, but most importantly about self-confidence. I enjoyed watching Maggie’s journey, and I look forward to picking up Palmer’s other novels.

I would like to note that I read this while on the stationary bike at the gym. The title just screamed “gym read” to me. :)

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Jack Fell Down by Kenneth Underhill

Posted by melydia on October 14, 2010 None comments

Jack Fell Down by Kenneth Underhill: Jack Stabbish is a salesman who realized one day that he could make money without actually selling anything. He “works” for four companies at a time, riding on charisma alone and quitting before anyone notices he hasn’t actually done anything. At the start of our tale, one of Jack’s former employers is looking into legal action against him, another is facing a major meltdown due to Jack’s neglect, and his bank is looking askance at his four weekly paychecks. The story deals largely with the impact of Jack’s (in)actions on an assortment of reasonably believable characters, with all subplots tying together in the end. (Well, save the one about Janice. That one didn’t serve any purpose.) Jack is a bit of an anti-hero, beloved by all but generally self-centered and conniving. I spent much of the book hoping he’d get his comeuppance, but I didn’t feel any real animosity toward him, and in the end he came off as more genuine than I’d expected. The ending, though somewhat anti-climatic, was surprisingly satisfying. Usually I don’t appreciate that sort of technique for finishing a story, but it worked in this instance. The writing was decently down-to-earth except during the sex scenes, when awkward and flowery metaphors sprouted all over the page as soon as the clothes came off. It amused me. All in all, a good first novel. I’ll be curious to see what Underhill does next – whether he continues to draw on his experiences as a salesman or branches out to something completely different.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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