By Gillian Flynn
You all know how I liked Gone Girl…. Mr. had bought this book for me for Christmas because I had already bought Gone Girl during the big Amazon sale and he knew I wanted to read it.
Camille Preaker is a reporter for a second-rate newspaper in Chicago when she is assigned a story covering the murder of two girls in Wind Gap, MO, her hometown. On returning to Wind Gap, Camille stays with her mother, her step-father, and 13 year-old half-sister. Throughout Camille’s coverage of the story, more and more sinister and dark details about her family, her past, and Wind Gap are revealed as she uncovers just what happened to the murdered girls.
When we went to see Gillian Flynn, she talked about this book a bit and how she kept thinking she had to write darker and darker. I knew going in that the mother was a piece of a work and the main character was a cutter but that was pretty much it. (Nice, light reading, right?) It was definitely disturbing and I kept thinking what’s wrong with these people? With a mother like that, it is no wonder Camille had some issues.
Gone Girl was more polished for sure but this was still a suspenseful, good read. I was on to some of the reveals not too far in but I have to say, in the end, I was a bit surprised how everything ended up.
May 17, 2013
May 15, 2013
Don't Read This!: Night Watch
By Terry Pratchett
Book challenge: On the BBC list
I picked this book because it was one of the few on the BBC list I hadn't read.
Night Watch is part of the Discworld series. I had never heard of that series and don't know what its deal is but I thought I would mention it.
Sam Vimes is the head of the Ankh-Morpork city watch. While fighting an enemy, he and the enemy are transported back in time thirty years. In this past, Ankh-Morpork is less than a desirable place to live. A revolution is on its way and Vimes is soon caught up in it while pursuing the enemy, mentoring his younger self, and trying to get home.
This book stunk. I do not like fantasy or "trying too hard" humor. I felt this book could have been a lot shorter if it hadn't been for all the shenanigans that weren't needed. There were also no chapters. How annoying is that? I need chapters. I kept getting lost because suddenly the author would be talking about someone else and I would have no idea what was happening.
I disliked ths book so much that I relooked at the list from BBC which was supposed to be the favorite books in the UK. I couldn't imagine I had picked up the right book. But it looks like I did. I guess the Brits and I have different opinions on what a favorite book should consist of.
May 13, 2013
Read This!: An Old-Fashioned Girl
By Louisa May Alcott
Book Challenge: Childhood Favorite
So, again, when trying to pick a childhood favorite, I had a bit of a hard time. I didn’t want to ruin my opinion of books I LOVED as a kid and eventually settled on one of my favorite but not my FAVORITE Louisa May Alcott book.
An Old-Fashioned Girl tells the story of a poor country girl Polly who comes to stay with her wealthy friend Fanny in Boston. While there she is struck by the fashion and glitz of Fanny’s house, friends, and the city. But, pretty Polly doesn’t despair. She wins everyone over with her kindness and open nature. Six years later, Polly returns to Boston to live as a music teacher. Through it all she sticks to her old-fashioned up-bringing even when she is tempted to do otherwise.
Now, I dislike books that lecture on anything and I felt Polly was a little too good now that I read AOFG as a grown-up and frankly, her constant killing the party vibe with her stories about poverty would have not got her on the invite list to my next soiree.
That aside, I did enjoy rereading this story. I read this book a hundred times as a kid that it was crazy how much I didn’t remember and how much on the other hand it was like hanging with an old friend. Even though I knew what was coming, I still loved the last chapter because it still gets me with the romantic tension!
Book Challenge: Childhood Favorite
So, again, when trying to pick a childhood favorite, I had a bit of a hard time. I didn’t want to ruin my opinion of books I LOVED as a kid and eventually settled on one of my favorite but not my FAVORITE Louisa May Alcott book.
An Old-Fashioned Girl tells the story of a poor country girl Polly who comes to stay with her wealthy friend Fanny in Boston. While there she is struck by the fashion and glitz of Fanny’s house, friends, and the city. But, pretty Polly doesn’t despair. She wins everyone over with her kindness and open nature. Six years later, Polly returns to Boston to live as a music teacher. Through it all she sticks to her old-fashioned up-bringing even when she is tempted to do otherwise.
Now, I dislike books that lecture on anything and I felt Polly was a little too good now that I read AOFG as a grown-up and frankly, her constant killing the party vibe with her stories about poverty would have not got her on the invite list to my next soiree.
That aside, I did enjoy rereading this story. I read this book a hundred times as a kid that it was crazy how much I didn’t remember and how much on the other hand it was like hanging with an old friend. Even though I knew what was coming, I still loved the last chapter because it still gets me with the romantic tension!
May 8, 2013
Another Mad Men Post
At the risk of this becoming an all Mad Men blog, I have some thoughts on this week’s episode, the best of the season so far.
We had characters burning bridges, be it Don with Jaguar, Pete with Trudy, CGC with the car client they dropped to chase Chevy, or Pete and his father-in-law after their run in at the . . . ummm . . . "hotel". We also had a lot of characters going behind others' backs - Bert, Pete, and Joan with the IPO; Roger chasing the Chevy executive; Don & Roger scheduling a dinner with Jaguar sans Pete; Don & Teddy with the merger; and of course the usual adultery (Pete as always, his father-in-law, Peggy with Teddy, etc.) And finally, change has been the most prevailing theme for the whole show, and we see what happens to those who don’t change or aren’t willing to change – they get left behind. And so it’s really interesting to hear Peggy (really the symbol of change on Mad Men) tell Abe that she doesn’t like change and wants things to stay the same. Well be careful what you wish for Miss Olson, because by the end of the episode her new firm has merged with her old firm, and her old boss is suddenly back in her life. Things are pretty much back to the same as they ever were for Peggy.
The moments I particularly enjoyed:
- Pete falling down the stairs
- Roger keeping copies of his memoir “Sterling’s Gold” in his bag
- Bob Benson offering to pay Pete’s hooker for her services (and really why was Bob there in the first
place, to hold Pete’s pants?)
- A smiling Bob Benson holding two cups of coffee up to Pete and Ken as they discuss the “father-in- law incident" from the night before
- Both Don and Marie in the restaurant scene with Herb and his wife. A drunk Marie insulting them in French was great, as was Don’s “I love puppies” comment.
- Joan telling off Don (isn't it about time someone did?), even though she’s still a partner in the firm so her part in winning Jaguar wasn’t really for nothing
- Peggy’s face when she heard Don’s voice in Teddy’s office - why do I get the feeling she's not super excited to be returning to the old office?
The complications I’m anticipating for the remainder of the season:
- The inevitable Don-Teddy ego clash
- The almost as inevitable Peggy-Don clash
- The potential Roger-Cutler accounts guy clash
- The Peggy-Abe clash after Peggy ends up having an affair with Teddy (even though I really hope they don’t take it any further, as much as I dislike her relationship with Abe)
- The Don-Megan clash after the expected blow-up following Don and Sylvia’s affair coming to light (and with Doctor Rosen having quit his job, it will make it that much harder for Don to continue the affair, right?)
We had characters burning bridges, be it Don with Jaguar, Pete with Trudy, CGC with the car client they dropped to chase Chevy, or Pete and his father-in-law after their run in at the . . . ummm . . . "hotel". We also had a lot of characters going behind others' backs - Bert, Pete, and Joan with the IPO; Roger chasing the Chevy executive; Don & Roger scheduling a dinner with Jaguar sans Pete; Don & Teddy with the merger; and of course the usual adultery (Pete as always, his father-in-law, Peggy with Teddy, etc.) And finally, change has been the most prevailing theme for the whole show, and we see what happens to those who don’t change or aren’t willing to change – they get left behind. And so it’s really interesting to hear Peggy (really the symbol of change on Mad Men) tell Abe that she doesn’t like change and wants things to stay the same. Well be careful what you wish for Miss Olson, because by the end of the episode her new firm has merged with her old firm, and her old boss is suddenly back in her life. Things are pretty much back to the same as they ever were for Peggy.
The moments I particularly enjoyed:
- Pete falling down the stairs
- Roger keeping copies of his memoir “Sterling’s Gold” in his bag
- Bob Benson offering to pay Pete’s hooker for her services (and really why was Bob there in the first
place, to hold Pete’s pants?)
- A smiling Bob Benson holding two cups of coffee up to Pete and Ken as they discuss the “father-in- law incident" from the night before
- Both Don and Marie in the restaurant scene with Herb and his wife. A drunk Marie insulting them in French was great, as was Don’s “I love puppies” comment.
- Joan telling off Don (isn't it about time someone did?), even though she’s still a partner in the firm so her part in winning Jaguar wasn’t really for nothing
- Peggy’s face when she heard Don’s voice in Teddy’s office - why do I get the feeling she's not super excited to be returning to the old office?
The complications I’m anticipating for the remainder of the season:
- The inevitable Don-Teddy ego clash
- The almost as inevitable Peggy-Don clash
- The potential Roger-Cutler accounts guy clash
- The Peggy-Abe clash after Peggy ends up having an affair with Teddy (even though I really hope they don’t take it any further, as much as I dislike her relationship with Abe)
- The Don-Megan clash after the expected blow-up following Don and Sylvia’s affair coming to light (and with Doctor Rosen having quit his job, it will make it that much harder for Don to continue the affair, right?)
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