RE-READ ALERT Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was an absolute hoot. Jenny Lawson has the funniest interpretation of things, and the pics embedded in the chapters are quite hilarious. My favs were: James Garfield (the wild boar), Hamlet von Schnitzel (the mouse in shakespearan garb) and of course Jean Louise (The Cuban Alligator wearing a beret and is an amputee). Lawson gives such inanimate objects a personality and actually considers them true friends. Sounds kooky but it makes the book different then many others. The book was like the Glass Castle and Shit My Dad Says combined but with a little more outrageous flair. Definitely had me laughing out loud a lot when I was reading it. A nice break from the harshness of reality.

NOV 19, 2013

JUST FINISHED READING THIS BOOK FOR THE SECOND TIME. JUST AS FRIGGIN HILARIOUS AS IT WAS THE FIRST TIME.

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The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary

The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A True Story of Resilience and Recovery by Andrew Westoll
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was a book that touched so many different emotions. There was the happiness and joy when you could read about the chimps enjoying their encounters with the people at the sanctuary and making friends. There was sadness and heart breaking stories about what it was like to be a lab chimp and all the tests and crappy life instances they were subjected to. There was anger at the people who kept insisting that chimp research is a necessary process, when in reality there is so many differences and reasons why chimps do not make proper candidates for testing. It leads one to think there are plenty of people available in the jail systems, etc. that would make for perfect candidates and we would be testing on our own species so there would be no differences. The chimps truly do have a huge amount of personality and human traits. The Quebec government is and made a huge mistake when they decided to stop allowing fauna to accept chimps to live out their lives in a calming and peaceful setting. There is a page in the back that states websites that you can go to to support the saving of the chimps and make a donation but it still left me thinking there must be something more I could do. (I'd love to take a trip to the sanctuary and actually meet all the staff and whatever chimps are left....it would be a life changing experience).

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The Dinner

The Dinner by Herman Koch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although this book was slow to start, once you found out what the issue involving both families was, it was quite shocking. This book kind of looks at todays society and I could definitely see young teens/adults par-taking in the activities that happened in this book. There was a lot of negative feelings divulged from the book, ie. anger, rage, frustration, insecurity, paranoia. It gave an interesting view of what 'blind rage' might entail and seem like. The book was bizarre, I will say that. On the other hand, it gave gritty descriptions that I just was not expecting, which is something I love. My suggestion is you would have to read the book to get what I mean because my description isn't doing it justice. The only reason I am giving it a 4 stars is because the beginning was quite slow but in all honesty the book deserves a 4.5 because once you get past a certain point you can't put the book down.

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Silver Star

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As usual Walls slams another one out of the park. With her quirky sense of humour and witty characters this book is a must read (like her other two). The mum, Charlotte comes off as a bizarre, free spirit that just decides she is going to stop being a mother and go to San Diego, leaving Bean and her sister Liz to fend for themselves and there's no notice of when she is coming back. Bean and Liz decide to make the trek from California to Virginia via bus and the stories begin to unfold. When arriving in Virginia, they find their Uncle Tinsley and he provides them with shelter and positive living experiences. Like the other books that Walls has written the families are more than their fair share of dysfunctional. The best part of this book was the significance of the Silver Star. It was heart felt and touching. Everyone needs to have one token they hold dear to themselves and the significance is worth millions more then the item itself.

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Confessions of a Sociopath

Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight by M.E. Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this book incredibly interesting and couldn't put it down. The best thing about this book was that it was written by someone that is a high-functioning sociopath and she is not a criminal. Millions of times I have seen books written about or by people that are considered sociopaths but are criminals. This was the first I had seen the broke the mold, so being interested in learning about such topics, I dove right into this book. I liked how the author directed you to visit her website to see how sociopaths and others interact. The website is SociopathWorld.com. I was able to browse around a bit and get a feel for what the author was talking about how people completely condemn and judge those that are sociopaths. The conclusion I came to from reading this book was: all people have some little quality or varying degrees of traits that would/could be related to sociopaths. So before people start judging they need to learn all the facts and take into account people's lifestyles and upbringing. There are so many factors related to the subject that to just lay a blanket statement over everything is really under-estimating people and their abilities. This book got me to think about and view things differently as well as slightly get a look as to how a person, that is considered a sociopath, deals with various tasks and things in everyday life. A very eye opening experience reading this book, but it was all worth it :)

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Presumed Guilty

Presumed Guilty by Tess Gerritsen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

When I was purchasing this book, I saw the cover and that it was by Gerritsen and I was like Yes! A gritty novel that I haven't read by Gerritsen. (I have read all her other novels and was kind of surprised that I had missed this one, but it was only released in the last little while.) As I am getting ready to read the book there is a note to the reader from Gerritsen. The note basically says that Harlequin Mira is releasing her previous works before she was a crime/thriller writer and she hopes that the reader enjoys her works. The only reason this book is getting two stars is because I was unable to guess who the killer was. There were so many possibilities and just when you think it was that particular character a fact was released that proved their innocence. The crime scene that started the book wasn't all that gritty or gorey. There was no real incidents of very in depth detail about a murder or crime scene after the one incident that was the books' main focus. I guess the problem with this book was that I am so used to reading Gerritsen's hardcore, nasty, suspenseful, gorey scenes that this book had no chance of measuring up. I realize that this book and a few other books that are yet to be released, were her starting point before she got to the crime/thriller genre. The book being published by Harlequin, I was kind of surprised. There wasn't any really continuous steamy drama between the main characters, or anything that would really get someone's hormones excited. (Now maybe that is me being prejudice assuming that all Harlequin books are meant to be hot and steamy.) The one thing I did really enjoy and thought Gerritsen did an amazing job capturing was the scenery of Maine and the main town of Bass Harbour where the story took place.

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Trust Your Eyes

Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay


Unfortunately I have to give this book a zero star rating. It was treacherous to read and took much longer then usual. I am a faithful Linwood Barclay fan but this book was a huge disappointment. I kept perservering hoping things would get better or there would be some headway made. This book was a mix up of different perspectives and points of view which all seemed to repeat information multiple times but with a slight twist. The character of Thomas the schizophrenic was very weak and I felt that the book was written from a schizophrenic mindset even though it was not really supposed to be. It dragged on and the storyline was not as compelling and interesting as many other of Barclay's work. Please don't read this book. It is hopefully the only book that Barclay has written or will write that was a shambles. All Barclay's other books are fantastic...this one not so much.

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