The Monster of Florence: A True Story

by Douglas Preston & Mario Spezi

(4 Scoops)

I was tempted to give this book a five, but like many true stories it doesn't have the sort of neat resolution that I wish it had. Of course, it seems the purpose of this book is not to let us all sigh a satisfied sigh that the monster has been caught and that all is right in the world, instead, it seems intent on showing how the Italian legal system is deeply flawed and itself a monster.

The Monster of Florence is a work of non-fiction that presents information about a serial killer on the loose in Florence. The first part describes these atrocities in I-can't-read-this-while-eating-or-when-it-is-time-to-go-to-sleep detail; the second tells of the ways in which the two authors find themselves ensnared in the criminal investigation. I picked this book up because my neighbors were having noisy sex and I needed a distraction. This was the wrong book for that! I stayed up until sunrise, too terrified to sleep. I thought for sure the Monster was going murder my neighbors and then I'd be stuck as a witness in a long drawn out court case!

Ultimately, the read was well worth the loss of sleep because what we have here is a deeply engaging set of facts and an excellent piece of writing.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, But Could Not Hold My Attention

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind:

Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope

by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

(2 scoops)

This is a classic example of a great story, but a bad book.

If I hadn't agreed to read it in order to help a lovely young lady with her summer assignment I would have never made it through the first few chapters. The writing is clunky, cliche-filled, and just drags on and on and on. And on.

Sure, there is a quality pay off at the end, but if I'm going to read a book instead of watching a feel good segment on YouTube, then the book-reading-experience should be a pleasurable one. Yes,

I understand that the authors want their readers to understand the cultural context in which Kamkwamba exists, but a few well constructed and well placed anecdotes could have done that a lot better than page after page of rambling. In fact, there is a great bit about boiling goat poop and an exacerbated mother that does just that!

Kamkwamba is truly an inspirational young man and I am glad that I now know a bit more about his homeland and his story. I just wish that the book, which I'm sure will be used in Middle School and High School Science and Humanities courses for years to come, was as inspiringly well written.

Not So Bright

"This Side of Brightness weaves historical fact with fictional truth, creating a remarkable tale of death, racism, homelessness--and yes, love--spanning four generations. Two characters dominate Colum McCann's narrative: Treefrog, a homeless man with a dark and shameful secret, and Nathan Walker, a black man who came north in the early years of the century to work as a "sandhog," digging the subway tunnels beneath Manhattan. Walker's tale is told in alternating chapters with Treefrog's, who, before his slide into homelessness, chose a hazardous profession- a construction worker building skyscrapers." -- from Amazon.com Review

This Side of Brightness

by Colum McCann

(3 Scoops)

While I loved Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, I had a hard time engaging with one of his older novels, This Side of Brightness. I read this book over the course of a week or so, one or two chapters before bed. Now, I know this is how most folks read, but it is atypical of my reading habits which border on obsessive. I usually consume a book in an evening, sacrificing sleep until I've finished. If I really love a book and I want the experience of reading it to last I will spread my reading out to three or four days, but that can start to drive an (impatient) girl crazy.

So, it was strange to find myself content with just a chapter or two. At first it was because the chapters were rich with characterization and lovely prose and seemed to stand alone, like well written short stories. Soon though I realized that it was because I was sort of bored.

By the time I got to the ending I realized that I didn't particularly care about one of the protagonists and the lyrical prose was more confusing than illuminating. I don't think I understood the ending- either from a practical this-is-what-happened point-of-view, or a more thematic understanding of the take away message McCann was aiming at. The beginning of the book was reallyinteresting though, when the story centered around the "sandhogs" and their work digging the tunnels underneath Manhattan and its surrounding waterways. I felt transported to another time and was fascinated by the historical fiction that helped produce this place where I work and live. When it switches to the modern tale of Treefrog's experience with homelessness and mental illness I was less intrigued.

As the two stories began to weave together, a McCann structural staple, I was annoyed by the heavy-handedness of the tunnel metaphor and the "meaning" implied by the contrast between the generations. Maybe all of that is there in Let the Great World Spin too, but it is way better written, with sentences so gorgeous they just filled me up with joy and possibility.

Please Don't Read This Book

Head on over to Please Don't Read This Book and check out my guest review of Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. And don't forget to leave a comment so you can win a copy of this gorgeous work of historical fiction.

One of these things is not like the other...

Catch Light

a poetry collection by Sarah O'Brien

(3 scoops)

This collection plays with white space as it relates to the idea of light and capturing an image on film. The last series was the most compelling- O'Brien used textbook chapter titles as inspiration.

[Sarah O'Brien the poet does not have a website, but there is another Sarah O'Brien all over the web; she is a musician and she just got back from a tour with Yanni. That's funny.]

A Necklace of Bees

a poetry collection by Dannye Romine Powell

(2.5 scoops)

Some nice moments, but overall the poems felt overly sentimental and I did not connect with the subject matter. One of the best poems in this collection is Everyone is Afraid of Something.

Splintering

a poetry novel by Eireann Corrigan

(3 Scoops)

Told in a series of poems, this book explores the impact of a violent crime. The two speakers, 15 year old Paulie and her older brother Jeremy, describe the struggles they endure dealing with the aftermath of the attack. I never believed these speakers were real people, instead they read like containers for the author to present emotions and observations about the world. One moment when this was obvious was when Jeremy commented on Evan's dorm room- it read like a 30-something reflecting on her college experience instead of a teenage boy who has never been to college reacting to his environment. There are many powerful poems in this book and it is full of fresh metaphors and similes, but the sequencing feels off. Details are introduced and then forgotten, like when Paulie decides to cultivate dreadlocks and then a few poems later her sister is running her fingers through Paulie's hair with ease. Overall I believe there are too many poems- too many words in each poem-(there are even a couple of typos!) and the plot, especially at the end, seems forced; what could have been a beautiful and evocative collection of thematically linked poems devolves into a silly action sequence, thus rendering the lyrical ending completely unsatisfying. This books feels like one book was layered on top of another book and the finished product is confused as to what it is, but, despite the failure to be a cohesive work, there are poems or lines of poems in these pages that I want to frame and read everyday.

Realm of Possibility

a collection of interrelated monologues written in free verse by David Levithan

(5 scoops)

What can I say, I Iove this book.

I Don't Want to Be Crazy

a poetry memoir by Samantha Schutz

(2.5 scoops)

Most of the time I felt like this was an honest portrayal of having anxiety and confronting the reality of mental illness, but other moments felt like they just skimmed the surface, particularly in regards to the actual work of recovery. Perhaps if the author had waited a few more years to write the book there might have been a more satisfying conclusion for the reader

TTYL

an instant message novel by Lauren Myracle

(4 scoops)

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. The characters seemed a bit cliche at first, but as it moved on I felt the characterization was quite rich. The story definitely went in directions I didn't expect and I appreciated that. The instant message format was fun and it read quickly, like a reading a theatre script.

Paranoid Park

a novel in journal entries by Blake Nelson

(3.5 scoops)

Borrowing from Fyodor Dostoevsky, this novel takes a look at guilt and the effect it has on the human psyche. Alex, the protagonist, is a skateboarder and on the edge of a reckless street scene. I believed the voice and empathized with the character.

All Reviews- All The Time!

Let The Great World Spin

by Colum McCann

(5 Scoops)

[I was given a photocopy of the first five pages to read for a class and was so compelled by the writing that I went out and bought the book. It did not disappoint. The writing is gorgeous. Sentences so well crafted and emotionally rich that I would have to close the book momentarily and just let the words settle in me. This is not generally how I read. I usually read to get to the end; to follow a character arc through to that moment of transformation. This book wouldn't let me plow through it- there was no easy catharsis. It slowed me down- made me look at the little things, the moments that make up a life. And I am grateful for it. The writing is amazing, the characters intriguing, the setting details so specific, and the structure (multiple point of view characters whose lives intersect because of one man walking a tightrope betwixt the Twin Towers) works perfectly for the content and theme of the book.]

Destroy All Cars

by Blake Nelson

(3.5 scoops)

(I heard Blake Nelson speak at the NYC Teen Author Festival hosted by David Levithan. The panel was about taking a work though from first draft to final. I love works that experiment with structure, so I was intrigued when he said his first draft was a long, rambling 1st person manifesto and he turned it into a multiform book complete with school assignments, online questionnaires, and scenes written entirely in dialogue, as if in a play. The novel worked because the protagonist, through his interactions with women and an AP English teacher, grows and changes,he learns to be a more open and less cynical person. Because that is such a straightforward and expected plot-line, I think there was more room to play with the format. All in all, although I liked the specific character that Blake created, the book felt safe and familiar and I had really been hoping for something more original.)

Rock Star Superstar

by Blake Nelson

(3 Scoops)

(After having read Destroy All Cars I was curious to see what else Nelson had written. Rock Star Superstar started out a little slow, with a lot of the beginning of the book really feeling like it could have been back story- mentioned later as a memory if it was necessary at all. The book did seem concerned with painting a realistic life and moving us through it at a realistic speed. It reminded me of seeing a play where there are long blocks of silence while the actor's on stage make a pot of coffee or sweep the floor in an effort to show the audience that they are real people living real lives. I think this choice worked extremely well in the relationship between the protagonist and his alcoholic, present-but-emotionally-absent father, but less well in other parts of the book.)

No More Us For You

by David Hernandez

(3 scoops)

(This book initially felt like it was set in the 90's but then as it went on it had pop culture references sprinkled in it to make it seem more contemporary. It was not as dynamic as Suckerpunch, but it was still quite charming. I liked how Hernandez incorporated the Long Beach Contemporary Art Museum into his plot. There were some scenes that felt very honest, like how Carlos acted out when he was grieving, and the relationship between the two point of view characters, Carlos and Isabel, was complicated and endearing. What I appreciated the most, however, was the ending. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that it shows that he trusts the foundation he has created and his reader.)

Busy Week!

Seek

by Paul Fleischman

(5 Scoops)

Cathy's Book- If Found Call (650) 266 8233

by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman

(3.5 scoops)

Ella Minnow Pea

by Mark Dunn

(3.5 scoops)

Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography

by Victor Bockris

(2 Scoops)

My name is Will Grayson...

... and I appreciate this book.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

by John Green and David Levithan

(5 scoops)

* I was so excited to get my hands on a copy of this book that as soon as I did I dropped everything and began reading. And reading. And reading. At 6:00 am when I finally turned out the light I was hardly able to sleep for thinking about the characters and wondering what would come next.

Most reviewers have singled out the character of Tiny as being the one that stole their hearts, but for me it was will grayson, the uncapitalized one. There was a truth to his fear that was deeply compelling. Of course, this did not surprise me, for I have come to expect David Levithan's writing to beautifully convey the complexities of feeling. His characters always seek connection and a sense of community, yet they struggle to accept the very thing they most want. will grayson is no exception; he is so scared of being overcome by feeling that for much of the book he refuses to feel anything. Yet I was completely invested in his journey.

As I'm sure you all know, John Green and David Levithan are two of my favorite authors- Levithan for his rich characterization and talent for revealing emotional truths through simple, honest moments, and Green for his quirky wit and playful use of language. However, I was afraid that reading the book would feel like riding a DNA strand, two separate story tracks merging only once in awhile; but that was not the case. The characterization was seamless and each chapter moved the plot forward. So, I would say that, just like the theme of the book, they were strengthened by their relationship with one another.

Just Kids

Just Kids

by Patti Smith

(3 scoops)

Blue stars and lambs and the moon and Genet and poetry and huaraches and magic.

These are just a few of the words used time and time again in this memoir to make sure the reader understands that this is a book about an artist talking about the life of an artist and the sacrifices one must make for art and the art of Art.

It is not a wonderful book, nor is it a terrible book; it exists somewhere in the space carved out by a constant motion between these two extremes. Take, for example, these two sentences from a three paragraph description of the famed Chelsea Hotel, the first, a wonderfully evocative and succinct sentence, begins the passage, while the second, a tragic mess of half-images, concludes it- 1. The Chelsea was like a doll's house in the Twilight Zone, with a hundred rooms, each a small universe. 2. I sniffed out their spirits as I silently scurried from floor to floor, longing for discourse with a gone procession of smoking caterpillars.

As an artist working and living in New York City for 15 years now, I was inspired by her descriptions of how influential people moved in and out of her life. And throughout the book there are interesting tidbits of information mixed in with an endearing portrait of young love and the wistful, romantic remembrances of a time gone by. Reading this book was like reading a love letter- to Robert Maplethorpe, to New York, and the artistic process. And, in the end, who doesn't like a good love letter?

Saunders Saunders Saunders

Pastoralia: Stories and a Novella

by George Saunders

(5 scoops)

Thought provoking. Amusing. Haunting.

Simply brilliant.

Book Review

The Story of Forgetting

by Stefan Merrill Block

(3 scoops)

I really wanted to like this book more than I did... but something about it just didn't land with me. There was great suspense in the beginning and an interesting intersection of voices, but as I read on the plot became too obvious and the multiple voices inauthentic. Also, the metaphoric quality of the Isidora story line felt forced. Too bad. It had so much potential. And yet it is winning awards out the wazoo. Check it out.

Middle Grade Reviews

No Laughter Here

by Rita Williams Garcia

(4 Scoops)

Walk Two Moons

by Sharon Creech

(4 Scoops)

To Reread or Not to Reread?

Charlotte's Web

by E.B White

(5 scoops)

A classic. 

The themes are still relevant and the language still gorgeous.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

by Judy Blume

(1 scoop)

This book does not stand the test of time. It is poorly structured and the writing is bad. It is not funny, nor salacious, and doesn't even communicate any helpful information about puberty. Also, there is a sub plot, that I had no memory of whatsoever, regarding Margaret's search for an organized religion. It starts out interestingly, but concludes in a wishy-washy way that is extremely unsatisfying. 

The only thing that this book is good for is making fun of! 

See my submission to Book: The Sequel

— From God? It’s Margaret Again… (sequel to Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume)
I’ve got another question. 

My Brother's Keeper

My Brother's Keeper

by Patricia McCormick

(3.5 scoops)

Author Patricia McCormick tackles difficult subjects in her books; the war in Iraq, sexual slavery, cutting, and drug use. My Brother's Keeper follows a 13 year old boy whose father has left, his mother is struggling with finances and his older brother is dealing with his pain through drugs.  The protagonist is an anxious, insecure kid who is actually quite funny and endearing despite the difficulties he experiences in this novel.

The Mall- CONTEST

Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall

by Wendy Mass

(4 scoops)

This novel is written in verse and, for the most part, the short lines enhanced the quick pace and ephemeral quality of the inner monologue, but at other times, the enjambment was so illogical that it stalled my reading. There were many genuinely touching moments in this story about a girl who gets pegged in the head by a dodge ball and finds her self in the hospital teetering between life and death. The ending is a bit didactic and moralistic, but it happens to be a moral I agree with, so I didn't particularly mind! Each section had a very clever ending, which made them fun to read, but since I read the book in one sitting, the predictability made the individual endings seem a bit less clever. Overall, despite a few flaws, I found this book extremely charming. 

And it has inspired another contest!

Tell me about a purchase you made at the mall 

that was significant in some way.

You can write a poem, like Wendy Mass, or just ramble as you see fit. 

Make sure to explain what the purchase was 

and how it turned out to be significant.

 

The winner will be announced on Friday the 23rd

and the prize is a mall inspired gift bag!

So, like, get to it!

A classic?

Harriet the Spy

Louise Fitzhugh

(2 scoops)

What a clumsy, unfocused book! 

I had such a hard time getting through this novel. 

It is quite dated and the plot is preposterous.

Middle Grade

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

e.l. konisburg

(5 Scoops)

Holes

Louis Sachar

(4.5 scoops)

Peter Pan

J.M. Barrie

(3 Scoops)

The Tale of Despereaux

Kate DiCamillo

(2 scoops)

Whitehead Revisited

So, a while back I got into a little online exchange with the author of Sag Harbor, Colson Whitehead.  I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt so I bought the book, gave him my hard earned money, and sat down to read it. I made it about a chapter and a half. 

Fast forward to the day I received a syllabus that listed John Henry Days, another Whitehead book, as required reading. I thought to my self, "Self, give him another shot." I reread the first chapter and a half of Sag Harbor and actually made it all the way through the third. Progress!

But I felt no desire to keep reading. Strange, because I really wanted to have a well formed opinion about this book.

Of course, now it's clear, that this was my opinion. Is my opinion. Neither the protagonist nor the writing is compelling enough to even invest the few hours it would take to complete the book. Ouch.

And it seems I am not alone in this opinion. 

John Henry Days, however, is a marvelous book. 4 Scoops for sure. It weaves together structure, content, and theme masterfully; all three components truly support and enhance each other. 

Mockingbird

Mockingbird

by Kathryn Erskine

(4.5 scoops)

This book does not come out until April 2010 so I can't find a picture of the cover to post here. As of now the book has a light sky blue cover with a few abstract clouds. Centered and about two inches from the top in black ink is the word mockingbird. It is lower case and in a font that resembles a youthful handwriting. A red heart dots the "i". Underneath that, in the same black font, is the phonetic spelling in parenthesis. The author's name is centered at the bottom. The simple and emotionally neutral cover is very appropriate for this book which is about a ten year old girl named Caitlin who has Asperger's Syndrome.

The story is told in first person which presents many challenges, all of which are skillfully and beautifully handled by the author. In reading this book I felt a very strong sense of Caitlin's character as well as the nuances of those around her. The book uses Asperberger's as a way of looking at grief and the hard lesson of learning empathy.

FADE TO BLUE

Fade to Blue

by Sean Beaudoin

Now this is one cracked out read!

Let's start with the cover. So goth. So cool. Reading it on the train certainly broadcasts a certain don't sit next to me unless you're as cool as I am kinda vibe. Or at least it would if you were a Hot Topic shopping teenage girl looking for a black nail polish sportin' boy. And then that super stylized strip of comics on the side. Dizzying. Just like what's inside. The narrative is fragmented. Time and space are distorted. Characters question what is real. For a teenage-person who is just becoming a grownup-person this book might inspire some metaphysical inquiry. 

14 year old me would have been super stoked to stumble upon this book. Present day me...not so much.  But just look at the girl on the cover. She doesn't trust anyone over thirty anyways.