Monthly Book Review - August

"She read's books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live" - Annie Dillard

Well its offically the last Tueday of August, I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I feel like as soon as I write a book club review I am getting ready to write the next one straight away.
For August the book club listed Landline by Rainbow Rowell and Trokia by Adam Pelzam, lets start with Landline shall we since Rainbow Rowell has been all the rage lately. *Please be aware possible spoilers ahead!*

I was excited to read Landline because Rainbow Rowell has had such success with Eleanor & Park and Fangirl, everywhere I read people where raving about Landline so I thought I would pick it for August. I have to say I was quite disappointed, now don't go hating me just yet but I just couldn't get past the fact that they never explained why the yellow landline was a portal to her past and the characters seemed to annoy me most of the time, I could not relate to Georgie (even though we have the same name) because I know that if I was in her position I would likely have done the complete opposite if it was my family on the line.
I am not saying that I didn't enjoy the book because it was actually quite a quick light hearted and easy to read book I just couldn't stand the characters and felt that certain aspects could have been left out whilst other area's could have used a deeper explanation.

SUMMARY:

Georgie McCool (I hate the fact that her name is McCool straight off the bat) is a career driven television comedy writer married to Neal and mother to 2 girls Alice and Naomi (nick name Noomi for most of the book which I think is adorable). Georgie is one half of a comedy writing duo with her best friend Seth whom she met at college, the duo have just been given the green light to write a pilot episode and another 5 episodes of their own show, the only chat they have a 2 week period to write them which happens to fall over Christmas and Georgie's family have already organised to spend Christmas with Neil's mother in Omaha.
Georgie and Neil's marriage has been slowly dying, he is not going to deny the girls a white Christmas with his mother, so he get on the plane leaving Georgie confused and devastated whilst trying to write the sitcom. Georgie cannot face the long drive from work back to her empty house so opts to stay at her mothers house where her family constantly bombard her with the idea that her marriage has ended (this annoyed me again, I felt that they where putting questions into Georgie's head), to try and fix her marriage she calls Neil from her old room with her old yellow rotary phone which for some unexplained reason transports the call back to 1998 when Neil broke their relationship off the first time.
Georgie spends the next few day's talking to 1998 Neil and deciding whether its worth changing her past and letting Neil go or continue to lie to Neil telling him it will get better when she knows that it never did. Can she and should she change her past to better her future?
THE QUESTIONS:

What did you think of the book?

Did you feel that Georgie made the right decision to stay in LA?

What did you think of Neil's reaction? Did you think he should have called her to talk things through when he got to Omaha?

What where your feelings about the magic phone? Did you wish they had explained it more?
When did you start thinking that perhaps her past had been changed by the phone call she made and that was why Neil proposed?

The monthly book review for Trokia by Adam Pelzam will be updated shortly.

Did you read these books? Do you have any book suggestions?

Monthly Book Review - April

"She read's books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live" - Annie Dillard

Well the month of April is officially over so its time for us to review our April books. The book's this month were Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and The Longest Date, Life as a Wife by Cindy Shupack.
I will start will Never Let Me Go as The Longest Date had to be ordered in and I am still waiting GRRRR, hopefully it will arrived soon and I will review it just a little late.

I personally had a hard time with Never Let Me Go, as someone who has received organ donations in the past, will most likely need them in the future and has a little sister who will need one soon this book really struck me. I imagine I would never accept a donation from a living person with the knowledge that they had been bread to produce the organ however if I my little sister was on deaths door then I would insist she accept the organ. 

SUMMARY:

Never Let Me Go is the story of Kathy a girl who has grown up in a world where human cloning is not only achievable but is a part of everyday life. She grows up at a boarding school where all the students are clones, cannot reproduce, will one day leave the school and become carers for older generations of students who are donating their organs before they eventually become donors too.
The book begins as Kathy is caring for a donor and then jumps back in time to when she was a young girl at Hailsham board school to tell the tale of how she became the carer she is now and the relationships she creates at Halisham which change upon leaving the relative sheltered life at boarding school.

THE CHARACTERS: Kathy the main narrator in the book is a curious girl, who seems to accept her fate without too much resistance. Kathy recalls memories throughout the book when she is trying to discover exactly where she learnt her fate. Kathy is a strong and compassionate character that takes to becoming a carer well which is quite possibly why she continues to be a carer much longer than her friends.

Ruth is Kathy's best friend a school, a strong willed yet fragile girl that craves attention. It is clear throughout the book that Ruth has trouble accepting her fate, this is shown through her want to meet her "possible" and her belief of the rumor that Halisham students can defer when met with true love. Throughout the book I can't help but feel sorry for Ruth, she wants so much more than what is given to her in this life.

Tommy is the last main character originally Ruth's boyfriend through out schooling and time at the cottages. Ruth's love of Tommy obviously not the same as Tommy's love for Ruth and this is seen through his constant misunderstandings and squabbles with Ruth. Eventually Tommy and Kathy get together but you can feel the urgency of the relationship and the almost emptiness that perhaps Kathy could be anybody at that point to Tommy as he didn't want to be alone. 

THEMES:
Worth- I felt that the main theme of this book was obviously worth, is one person's life worth more that another person's/creature/animal. If we are to venture down the slippery slope of creating clones for organs at what point does it become to much? When do we stop?

Death -  If we are born knowing what our death will be caused from and that we are there to help prolong another person's life does that make death any less imposing? 

Like I said I finished this book with more questions about what is acceptable in society than I had thought I would have when beginning this book. I am not sure that I would suggest this book to other people as I found it slow in some chapters and almost confusing in others.

THE QUESTIONS:

When did you realize that Hailsham was not a boarding school?

What where your thoughts on the gallery? 

Do you think that the reason Madam and Miss Emily explained taking their cherished possessions really was acceptable?

What is your thoughts on the students having become carers and see all the trauma before becoming donors themselves?

Do you think that Kathy and Tommy should have been able to defer?

What did you think of the ending? Did you feel it left you asking questions?

Did you read these books? Do you have any book suggestions?

Monthly Book Review - March

"She read's books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live" - Annie Dillard

Well the month of March is officially over so its time for us to review our March books. The book's this month where Yes Please by Amy Poehler and Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.

I read this book on the plane ride home from my little 2 week health retreat and I must say I loved it! I have always loved Amy Poehler as a great comedian but also as a strong woman who stands up in a predominately male based business refusing to be silenced. I am a big fan of biographies because you learn so much about a personal and they have the chance to really change any misleading assumptions that a fan can make. Amy certainly provided a deeper insight into the struggle to become such a iconic comedian and enforced the idea that if you really want something bad enough, are passionate about it and work your butt off, you can achieve it.
Whilst writing the book Poehler was going through her divorce from her now ex husband and the beginning of the book has slightly a stressed feel to it when she writes in the opening chapter “It’s clear to me now that I had no business agreeing to write this book.” and whilst that is said with a bit of tongue and cheek humor I feel that perhaps this is more that a joke and she really did struggle to write it.
Amy describes what her life was like growing up, tells a beautiful story about her parents, discusses the awkward teen years with some great pictures, lets us all in on how her friendship with Tina Fey blossomed, her first big gig as a comedian in improve comedy as a founding member of the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater, her marriage to her husband, the birth of her first child and the birth plan (I think every woman should read her birthplan, it certainly changed my idea's) and all the way through to the current break down of her marriage. 
Amy writes with a unabashed honesty that really resinated well with me, there where mulituple moments through the book that I identified with what Amy had gone through or described. The general layout and writing style kept changing with each chapter from lists of advice to poems to actual chapters written by guest writer including her parents and fellow comedian Seth Meyers.
This was a wonderful, fun, light, inspiring and empowering read that I think all women should read at some point in time. It is clear that there is so much more to Amy Poelher that just comedy and if she ever rights another book again I will be first in line to buy that one!

THE QUESTIONS:

1.) What are your thought on the layout of the book, did you find the nature of Amy's writing easier too read?
2.) Did you take any life lessons away with you after reading this books?
3.) What where your thoughts on Amy's birth plan?
4.) Do you think she was under pressure to write this book?
5.) Did you like the detail Amy went into when describing her early days?
6.) What did you think about Amy giving Seth a chapter to write?
7.) Would you recommend this book to your friends?

8.) What are your thoughts on memoirs/ autobiographies? Do you think Amy's lived up to the standars?

I was so incredibly engrossed in Dark Places that it took me only a couple of days to read (which included a few late nights) however I found that I had the most intense nightmares whilst reading this book which scared the life out of me and is so odd because I am normally not a nightmare sort of person. I also happened to be reading this book around the same time the coach of the Australian Football League Adelaide Crows team was murdered by his son so the book to on a eerily coincidence for me which quite possibly caused the night mares.

SUMMARY: Dark Places is the story of Libby Day, she was just 7 years old when her mother and two older sisters where murdered. Libby's brother was tried and convicted of they killings at only 15 years old, Libby's possibly coerced testimony helps prove his guilt. The story then fast forwards to Libby in present day twenty five years later as she continues to struggle with the terrible tragedy and the feelings of guilt and anger towards her brother. Out of a lack of money she decides to met The Kill Club, a macabre fanatics club that is obsessed with the death of her family and will pay greatly for souvenirs. It is at this meeting that she hears new and interesting details about that fateful night and the opinion of her brothers guilt starts to waiver.

THE CHARACTERS: The book is told in Libby's point of view and jumps back and forward between memories of that night and information that she is trying to piece together. Libby is a broken and shattered soul, living on borrowed time she was stunted by the trauma both physically and mentally. I had moments of contempt for Libby and found it hard to identify well with her, I just couldn't contemplate the idea that she had not visited her brother in over 25 years in jail and then was suddenly so easily talked into meeting him by the kill club.

The book was also told in Ben's point of view as it counted down the hours that day until the murders happened. I found Ben to be a typical teenage outcast, wanting acceptance for anyone but lacking it where he needed it most from his father. I could understand how Ben gets caught up in the lie that took place that night as his desperate need for acceptance was almost pitiful. I did find myself screaming internally throughout the end of the book wondering why he wouldn't come clean and tell Libby exactly what he knew happened that night.

Finally the book is also told in Patty Day's point of view leading up to the murder, I felt that Patty was a wonderful single mother. You could feel the pain she felt worrying she wasn't providing the best life for her children but I felt that she did the best that she could do under the circumstances. I did feel that Patty's idea to fix the sale of the farm and the possible court case for Ben was a little ill conceived. I felt that had she lept on that idea she may have changed her mind realizing that in fact that would be the worst thing for the family.

The sub characters that are mentioned in the book include Lyle the young man that helps Libby contact the Kill Club and helps to navigate the sea of questions and information the club have for Libby. I really liked him as a character and was slightly saddened that there was no romantic link between Libby and him. Libby's deadbeat father Runner plays a important role in Libby finding answers, I hated his character from the beginning and really did not enjoy reading the chapters that he was included in. Diondra was Ben's girlfriend and secret mother of his child whom spent most of the time belittling Ben with her other friend Trey, to begin with I thought that it was Trey's baby not Ben's and Diondra was just using Ben. I felt that she was extremely emotionally abusive towards Ben and it saddened me that he was so desperate for her attention that he allowed her to treat him that way.

THEMES:
The myriad of themes in think book are intertwined so carefully as the murder wouldn't have happened if everything hadn't been linked like it did and played out as it happened.

Self Worth - Through out the book you see Ben deal with a complete and utter lack of self worth, it is clear that the lack of a father figure and the ever presence of his sisters really takes a toll on him. Libby also seems to struggle with self worth and more so a sense of identity, it seems that not only did she lose her family and fingers that night she lost any form of character she had. Patty's story line also has a large self worth theme as she is so preoccupied about what people think of her parenting that she is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice just so people know she tried.

Death - Obviously death is a large theme in this book as Libby's life is completely centered around the death of her family and the inability to cope. There is such a large fear around death and even more so murder that peaks our fascination which is why the Kill Club where so interested in Libby's story and why there where so many different queries about what happened that night. I think that the death of a loved one is always horrible but when it is a murder and when that murder involves children, multiple children society cannot comprehend it.

Family - The book heavily revolves around family and the importance they place on shaping a person, the inadequacy that are seen when a parent is lacking and the role that a single parent must struggle to provide. I do not believe that the murders would have taken place had Runner been more positively involved in Ben's life. This book also shows a incite into the lengths a parent will go to protect their child, even if unborn.

Truth -  The most obvious theme in the book is truth, the murders occurred and Ben was sentenced to life because each of the characters kept a few small lies which ultimately caused the murder. The truth will always come out and is the key.

THE MURDER:
To be honest I changed my mind on the murder suspects and the actual sequence of events multiple times through out the book. I think that Gillian wrote the story carefully and left breadcrumb clues along the way so that we suspected who she wanted us to when she wanted us to. I will admit that I was curious about the angel of death when I first heard him mentioned at the Kill Club night and when Patty was struggling with losing the farm I started to clue into maybe the murders where linked but I had no clue how Ben was involved right up until I was reading it.

THE QUESTIONS:Did you guess who the murder was?Did your mind change about the murder through out the book?Did you think that the Kill Club came on to strong with Libby the first night?Did you think Ben's relationship with Krissi Cates was inappropriate?Did you think Patty's plan was justified?If you had been in Libby's place how would you have coped?

Well that is enough from this book review.

Did you read these books? Did you feel motivated by them? Do you have any book suggestions?

Monthly Book Club - February

"She read's books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live" - Annie Dillard

Well the month of February is officially over so its time for us to review our February books. The book's this month where Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and Wild by Cheryl Strayed.

*Spoiler Alert, I tried not to reveal anything that will spoil the book but just in case only read on after you have finished you wont want to ruin the surprise*
I read this book in under a weekend, I couldn't put it down. I loved that way that it was written in different characters perspectives and leading up to the murder leaving breadcrumb clues as it went onward. I love reading books that aren't just a straightforward narrative as I find it far more exciting jumping back and forward.
SUMMARY: Big Little Lies is the story of 3 women Madeline, Celeste and Jane each with very different backgrounds and social standings thrust together as friends when their children begin kindergarten together at Pirawee Public School in a fictional Australia beach side area. The opening sets the scene of the morning after a murder at the public schools trivia night, it then jumps back 6 months prior and slowly tell's the story of the 3 women, the lies that they live and leaves you guessing who died and who was the murderer throughout the book.

THE CHARACTERS: Madeline is funny, smart, sophisticated and stylish so I felt I related well with her. She has 3 children, a boy and 2 girls, 1 of the girls Abigail is 14 years old and from her first marriage to ex Nathan. We don't hear too much about her son but her youngest daughter is starting kindergarten. Madeline and her current husband Ed have been through the whole kindergarten thing before so are a fixture in the school community and are already good friends with Celeste and her husband.

Celeste is a naturally beautiful woman who married Perry, he is handsome and a very successful businessman which provides a lavish life for them and means that Celeste could quit her job and become a stay at home mother to her twin boys that are also starting kindergarten. Celeste and Perry have the perfect life on the outside however this is all a lie as Perry is abusive.

Jane is the youngest of the 3 women at only 23 years old. She is a single mother to 4 year old Ziggy and has recently moved to the beach side area to give Ziggy a new start at a new home and kindergarten. At first Jane seems to be quite mysterious and the other kindergarten parents think she is promiscuous as they find out Ziggy was a one night stand and doesn't know his father. Much of the commotion that leads to the murder starts on the orientation day when it is believed that Ziggy physically bullied one of the other little girls.

There are multiple sub characters including Madeline's ex husband Nathan who moves back to the area with his new much younger wife Bonnie a yoga loving hippy and their beautiful blonde little girl who is set to start kindergarten with Madeline's youngest. Tom the young, handsome and possibly gay barista that owns the coffee shop down near the beach that all the mothers frequent. Renata the uppity business woman and the mother of the little girl that is believed to have been bullied by Ziggy. Saxon Banks the man that Jane believes to have fathered Ziggy. 

NARRATIVE:
As I said above the book starts at the day after the murder when the parents are being interviewed by the police and then jumps back to 6 months prior so you actually have no idea who was murdered that night or who was the murderer. Each of the 3 woman that the story follows not only delve deeply into what lead them to be at the scene of the murder but also tell a beautiful tale of lies, deceit, living life as a single mother versus staying in a perfect yet tortuous relationship because its better than nothing mentality.

THEMES:
This book certainly has a mixed range of themes that I think really I could really relate with on a personal level which made me feel personally invested in the characters stories.

Family - The book lists several different family structures from a happy blended family trying to map out the arrangement of joint custody to the shame and struggle of a abusive relationship and the toll it takes on the children to finally living as a single parent and struggling with not being able to provide what is considered normal family traditions.

Abuse - Clearly one of the big ticket topics in this book is the emotional toll domestic violence takes in a family and the associated feelings of guilty, failure and anguish that comes with it. It also outlines the struggle it takes to break away from abuse and fear of the future.

Bullying - The book discusses bullying in a way that makes you think, if one parent is inherently evil does that mean the child will be a bully by nature, do children become bullies when the see their parents domestic violence or can a child just be a bully. What is the nature of a bully, are the always rude or can a quiet, shy and kind child be the one harassing all the children.

Strength of Character - The 3 women that the book centralized around are 3 extremely different personalities which mean they have verifying strengths of character yet at the same time all seem to certain characteristics, does this mean that no matter how different we are as women, we are at the same time similar purely because the fact that we are women. There are several moments in the book where each woman needs to stand up and take charge of the situation at hand which is enjoyable and empowering to read.

THE MURDER:
As the book leads up to the murder the settings change and you learn new secrets and lies about the characters which changes the views on who the murder and the victim are. The book has been written so carefully that there really is now way for you to truly understand who is murdered, who was the murderer and why was the reasoning behind it until you are reading that section. I felt like the last few days leading up to the murder I had worked out who it would be but I certainly didn't guess anywhere close to who killed them and the reasoning behind it. It really was a mystery and that was why I chewed through this book, I couldn't put it down because every time I was about too a new secret or lie was revealed and I had to keep reading.

THE QUESTIONS:
Who did you suspect was the murder victim? 
Did it change throughout the book? 
How did you feel when you found out who it was?
Were you surprised when the culprit was revealed? Did he/she get a fair sentence, in your opinion?
What do you think about Nathan moving into Madeleine’s community, particularly since they have children the same age and in the same school? 
Abigail becomes passionate about doing her part to end child marriage, do you think she would have gone through with her “special project?” 
Did you ever suspect Saxon Banks was Perry? When did you begin to suspect?
Do you think Perry was indeed genuinely sorry for his abuse of Celeste after the fact? Did he truly believe he’d never do it again? 
Would you see the signs of a friends abuse? If not, would you be upset with yourself for not noticing, as Madeleine was?
Did you think Ziggy was the bully? Did you think he was being bullied? Did you suspect it was really Max?
Did you suspect Tom was not, in fact, gay? Were you glad for Jane?
Was it fair of Madeleine to ask Ed to lie about what he saw (or didn’t see) that night on the balcony? What would you have done in his position? 

I apologize for waffling on with this book review but I really did love the book!

Onto book number 2 for February, I knew that Wild was coming out in the cinema's soon and I really wanted to see the movie but I am an avid read the book first kind of girl so I selected it for February's second book. I am also turning 26 in March and love empowering books so thought that this would be a perfect read for me.

SUMMARY: Wild by Cheryl Strayed a memoir of herself, a women that at 26 years old recently divorced from her husband, struggling to over come her mothers sudden death to cancer 4 years earlier and dabbling with a heroin addiction. After a chance encounter with a hiking book Cheryl sets her sights on traversing the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) with out any form of training and alone in hopes of emerging the other side of the trail a new woman, the woman her mother knew she could be.

THE CHARACTERS: The book is told in Cheryl's point of view, she is a strong willed yet broken woman who has decided the best course of action to get her life back on track is to hike a trail she barely knows by pushing herself to both physical and mental limits. I feel like Cheryl aptly describes what it's like to be a self loathing woman and it sadly was easy for me to relate to her in certain situations which surprised me.

Cheryl's pack Monster whilst not an actual character in the book is described in great detail and discussed throughout the book. Cheryl over packs her backpack making it large, heavy and hard to maneuver by herself and aptly names it monster, throughout the book as Cheryl struggles with the trail and her own emotions her attitude to monster changes, from something that is holding her back and causing her to struggle to then a empowering statement that she is stronger than she believes both physically and mentally.

There are smaller sub characters that Cheryl meets on the trail and whom help her to lighten her pack, motivate her to keep going and advise her own tracking through the snow however we don't actually find out too much about these trekkers as their stories do not have any real impact on Cheryl's journey.

THEMES:
I feel that the underlying theme of this book is that you are only as great as you believe you are, we are all limited by limitations and labels we put on ourselves.

Self Worth - Cheryl spends most of the book struggling with self worth and her thoughts on her own future. As she sets out on the trail she is struggling with minimal self worth and using this tough journey to help build her self worth back up. Cheryl has such awful self worth that when she changes her name after her divorce she aptly chooses the last name Strayed as she doesn't believe there are any other names worth for her. Towards the end of the trek she has managed to shift how she see's herself and leaves a resounding idea that if you put your mind to something and believe in yourself you can do anything.

Death - Death is a pretty strong theme in this book and really the driving factor that sets Cheryl off on a journey of self loathing, fear, adultery, drug use and eventually walking the PCT. Cancer is a shocking illness and a horrible way to die, the way that Cheryl describes the death of her mother is terrifying and real. I know that I called my mother and spoke to her after reading the part where her mother died, she describes it in a very real and understandable way.

Family - Cheryl's idea of family seems to be slightly skewed caused by growing up with a abusive father, leaving with her mother, brother and sister then living with a single parent until her mother remarried and her own self worth that caused her to run off and yet married young. I believe that death of her mother and the implode of her family was so troubling because she had such a fairy tale idea of what her family should entail, thus driving her to cheat on her husband and the implode of her own marriage.

Adultery & Drug Use - Adultery and drug use tied together and are a smaller theme throughout the book but it is caused mostly by Cheryl's self loathing and she uses sex and heroin to help numb the pain she feels from the death of her mother. This raises the question can you be forgiven for seeking out sex and or drugs to numb the pain of a tragedy, are you really at fault or would she have sought out adultery and drug use even if her mother didn't die.

THE PCT:The PCT is described in beautiful detail through out the book, Cheryl has a way with words that makes you feel empowered and really describes the physical and mental aspects of hiking. I had never heard of the PCT before I read this book nor had I ever thought of spending my time trekking through the wilderness. After reading this book I was hooked, I am so interested by the thought of packing your whole life up into a backpack and walking around for 3 months that I would like to one day look at following a similar plan.

THE QUESTIONS:
What did you think of Cheryl's reaction to her mothers death?Do you think that you would be as effected as she was?Do you think that her families imposion was to blame for her drug use and adultery?Did you relate to any of Cheryl's self loathing issues?Where you worried about Cheryl heading off by herself?What where your thoughts on Cheryl's one night stand? Should she have gone off with this unknown man in the middle of the night?If you had lost your boot in the middle of the hike what would you do?What was your favourite moment on her hike?Have you ever taken time away to help heal yourself?Would you ever pack up and go on a trek?Has this book inspired you to do something new? 

Well that is enough from this book review.
Did you read these books? Did you feel motivated by them? Do you have any book suggestions?