Sunday, August 28, 2016

"All the Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS


Rating: 4/5 stars

I read this book in one day, and I can't say that was the best choice as I was left with strong emotions to sort out right before going to bed. This book, though, NEEDED to happen because mental health NEEDS to be talked about, and I applaud Niven for tackling the hard issues of suicide and bipolar disorder.

Initially, I didn't find Finch that believable. He joked around a lot, seemed to have a pretty good life, but thought about ways to die with an unhealthy obsession. I had a hard time believing his struggle because it seemed kind of like an act, which I realize now proves the author's point entirely: mental illness is an issue that goes unnoticed by many, even by those closest to the victim. Once Finch started pulling into himself again, I understood what was going on, and like Violet and her family, I was angered that the people closest to him did not seem to see a need for intervention in his life, but rather dismissed it by saying he'd always been like that.

I loved that this story paints a picture of a person with a mental illness in a positive light and works towards removing the stigma associated with that. Finch was intelligent, creative, loving, imaginative, smart, and articulate, but his mind had unhealthy habits that needed to be addressed. He encouraged Violet to live a full life and seize each moment, even though he couldn't do the same:

 "The problem with people is they forget that most of the time, it's the small things that count. Everyone's so busy waiting in the waiting place." (quote from Finch)

Finch needed to know he was not alone and that he could talk to those who mattered to him, but unfortunately that did not happen in time.

I also love that this story doesn't paint death or choosing to die in some strange, positive light. I had this fear when I first started reading that the author might somehow glorify Finch's decision to end his life, but that is not what happened at all. She showed the devastating effects of someone near to a suicide victim struggling with the loss, anger, guilt, and sorrow. The pain of surviving after the death of a suicide victim is real, just as the pain of the one lost to suicide is real.

This book is hard, but it's necessary. Niven adds some personal notes and resources at the end of the book to help anyone struggling with mental illness. I pray that books like this and the conversation around mental illness will remove the stigma and plant hope in the lives of many.




Saturday, August 27, 2016

"The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver


Rating: 4/5 stars

Just finished this book last night, and I'm afraid my review won't do it justice. That being said, I'll do my best in a limited amount of words.

At the beginning of the story, I wasn't really a fan of the multiple perspectives between the sisters and mother. I wasn't invested in the characters enough to appreciate their unique perspectives or feel connected to them. That changed, however, and I appreciated the varying viewpoints: Ruth May as the innocent and eager child, Rachel as the selfish and materialistic eldest, Leah as the adventurer and explorer who noticed the people, and Adah as the intellectual and thinker. I enjoyed seeing Africa through each one's eyes.

I loved the insight into African and its people. After reading the book, I think of Africa in a whole new light as a place of beauty and horror and untamable wildness. Africa was much more lovely and terrifying than I could have imagined. I enjoyed reading about the Congolese people and how they lived and what mattered to them compared to what mattered to the white men who came to change Africa (either through misguided missionary ventures or down-right vile dealing in the government and mining business).

Coming from a similar church background as the Price family, I was appalled by the soul-saving attempts of Father Price. How could someone be so ignorant, so stubborn? And how often have white men come and tried to change a country in the name of God and progress? It was so very frustrating to me, but the character of Brother Fowels offered some hope. Though people like him were few and far between, he did care about the people and didn't come to change them, but to learn from them and forge relationships.

The members of the Price family each learned (or failed to learn) profound truths from living in Africa, such as:

-Morality isn't always black and white.
-Handicaps and physical impairments are often a side effect of living, and not something to be ashamed of.
-Supposedly "uncivilized" people are often the most civil and generous.
-Christianity is misrepresented by so many "Christians."
-Some people never learn from their life experiences, but stubbornly hold to their lost causes and therefore, can't be saved.
-You can't teach someone what you haven't learned yourself.

Through the Price family, Kingsolver weaves a story of hope, loss, despair, growth, joy, and redemption. Africa forever leaves a mark on each of the family members:

"But we've all ended up giving up body and soul to Africa, one way or another...Each of us got our heart buried in six feet of African dirt...so what do you do now? You go to find your own way to dig out a heart and shake it off and hold it up to the light again."

The True Confessions of a Bookworm: A Day in the Life

What's it like being an incurable book and word addict? you may ask. Here are some things I do on a regular basis that I chalk up to my biblio and logophile tendencies:

- Mull over random words whose meaning is a mystery. An obscure word will pop into my head, and it'll drive me nuts until I look it up in the dictionary and give it a definition.

- Carry a book with me most all the time. I carry a book with me to work every day because who knows, today may be too hot or rainy to eat outside, or maybe I'm just feeling introverted and want to read. I bring books to appointments because the minute I don't, I have a half-hour wait.

- Stalk the Goodwill bookshelves. Goodwill is one of my favorite places to find used books since their paperbacks are only $1. Many of the popular reads and classics on my shelf came from Goodwill. 

- Ask for Amazon giftcards for birthday and Christmas. Barnes & Noble giftcards are awesome too, but their books are overpriced. Give me a gently used copy from Amazon any day. 

- Talk about fictional characters like they're real people. Recently, a co-worker and I discussed a character from the 5th Wave series, and lamented about her life choices as if she was someone we knew personally. 

- Talk about books for hours. I'll call my mom and we'll discuss a book we're reading for over an hour. It's one of my favorite things to do.

- Analyze writing style. Because I am a writer too, I'm always noting an author's writing style when I read. Some popular books I can't stand because of the writing style, mainly, and other books may have "just okay" plots but the writing style will redeem the entire book for me. Stringing words together well is a gift. 

- Have a never-ending to-read list. My to-read list will outlive me and haunt my future children, begging to be read.

- Answer the question "If you could meet anyone, who would it be?" with an author's name. When I get asked this, I usually answer C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. I admire those men beyond words.

- Fill your Instagram feed with pics of books. My posts are usually of books, mugs/teacups, and my pets. Who has time for selfies when you have beautiful book covers?

- Give reading advice to strangers. Months ago at Barnes & Noble, I told a complete stranger looking at a book how much I recommended it, and that I really enjoyed it even though it was YA lit and I'm in my 20s (in case he thought he was too old to read it). Barnes & Noble should really hire me.

- Name my pets after literary characters and authors. I had a betta fish named Fitzgerald after the author, a betta fish named Amory after a Fitzgerald character, and a dog named Misty after the "Misty of Chincoteague" books. I also brainstorm literary names for my future children.

- Judge the quality of my weekend by how much I read.  A coworker asked me how my weekend was, and I said it was fantastic because I read nearly 3 books. I had been starved for literature after having to focus on school work exclusively.

- Plan your next read before you're finished with your current read. What will I read next? This depends on if the book I read was emotionally draining and I need to recover, or if it was mentally taxing and now I just need a quick/fun read.

This list is hardly exhaustive, but for the sake of time I'm going to stop there. Can you relate to any of these? What would you add to this list?

Happy reading, my friends!

- The Word Nerdess









Sunday, August 14, 2016

"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

WARNING: MAYBE SPOILERS...NO PROMISES I REMEMBERED TO LEAVE THEM OUT

Rating: 4/5 stars (I might have given it 5 stars, except that I reserve 5 stars for very few books intentionally.)

So many things about this book are beautiful, including the writing style, characters, settings, and themes. (Also, the cover. Let's not forget to admire the cover.) Simply lovely, and not because these things are perfect or whole, but because they're real and dynamic and human amidst a world that is dark and ruthless. The greater the darkness, the brighter the light shines. From the beginning, the book reminded me of The Book Thief, one of my favorite novels. The writing style is stellar and the descriptive language Doerr employs is flawless. Here are some excerpts that show off his knack at imagery (it's difficult to narrow down this list, as there are so many wonderful ones I underlined):

"...leafless trees stand atop slag heaps like skeleton hands shoved up from the underworld."
"He looks out the open door across the silent camp to where the stars are spun in thousands across the sky."
"All around the Opel, the flowers creak on their stems and nod their heliotropic faces as if in some sad accord."

While we're on writing style, I want to point out something I noticed as a writer. The story is written in 3rd person point of view in present tense. I can't remember if I've seen that done before, but Doerr makes it work seamlessly.

The characters are so well-developed and I connected with them and their struggles effortlessly. I didn't have a moment when I didn't care for the characters (truly the mark of a good author). The relationship between Marie-Laure and her father is beautiful; he would give anything for her and he helps her become independent and optimistic despite her blindness. He knows she is special, and he is so proud of who she is becoming:

"There is pride...that he has done it alone. That his daughter is so curious, so resilient. There is the humility of being a father to someone so powerful, as if he were only a narrow conduit for another, greater thing. That's how it feels right now, he thinks...as though his love for his daughter will outstrips the limits of his body. The walls could fall away, even the whole city, and the brightness of that feelings would not wane."

He shows true, sacrificial love for her. And then there is Etienne, Marie-Laure's "crazy" uncle. Marie and Etienne are both broken for different reasons, but together, they help each other overcome their weaknesses and see the beauty despite the war closing in around them. Through Werner, the other main character, Doerr shows a young boy trapped in a system, striving to hold onto truth and goodness in a world being transformed by Germany's goal of genetic perfection. Is there any hope?, he wonders:

"Why bother to make music when the silence and wind are so much larger? Why light lamps when the darkness will inevitably snuff them?"

These are fundamental question we all ask. Why strive to do good, when evil always seems to win? Is it worth it and does it matter? Yes. A thousand times, yes.





Saturday, August 13, 2016

"Faithful" by Alice Hoffman

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS

Rating: 3/5 stars

This book started slow. I couldn't connect to the main character in the beginning and the plot kind of dragged. The writing style disappointed me, and was going to give it 2 stars or maybe less, but I kept reading and it redeemed itself. About halfway through, I started to care about Shelby and what happened to her. She became dimensional and dynamic because I was beginning to relate to her. The writing style still left something to be desired throughout the whole novel. And I couldn't figure out why the author decided to use third person point of view in the present tense for this kind of novel, unless she was going for an omniscient narrator/onlooker perspective (although there is no narrator character in the book). I think if the book was in first person from Shelby's view, I might have enjoyed it more.

However, the story has some great messages in it. Throughout the book, Shelby is continually reminded that she matters, even when she keeps declaring she's nothing, as if she's trying to convince others of how worthless she believes she is, as if they're crazy for caring about her. But she's eventually persuaded through the love of her mom, best friend and her family, Ben, and eventually James. People believe in her when she doesn't believe in herself, and it brings about a gradual change. She learns to accept herself. She faces setbacks and goes through heartache, but each one teaches her something more and helps her create and define who she is. Contrary to what she believes, she is kind, she does care about others, and she is passionate about life. By the close of the last page, you have the profound sense that everything and everyone passes through your life for a purpose, and nothing is by chance (which fuels hope for the future).

Maybe I couldn't relate to Shelby as much as I had hoped because I haven't lost someone as close to me as a best friend or a parent, nor have I dealt with the guilt that nearly consumes her. But I could relate to her sense of indirection and helplessness, and I think that any woman in her late teens/early 20s will find something in Shelby's story. And any person who has lived through trials and pain will connect with her journey.

Net Galley Reader/Reviewer

Happy Weekend, everyone! Check out my new badge. I review for Net Galley. :) Professional Reader

Saturday, August 6, 2016

"Nerve" by Jeanne Ryan

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS

My rating: 2/5 stars

I jumped into this read after seeing the movie trailer. The premise looked interesting, and my general rule is always read the book before watching the movie. I didn't have high expectations, so I wasn't too disappointed. The plot had great potential, but overall, it just wasn't well-developed. As others have mentioned in their reviews, it feels like a mash-up between Lauren Oliver's Panic, The Selection, and The Hunger Games.

My two biggest disappointments with the book were 1) the cliche characters and interactions, and 2) the writing style. The main character Vee is, of course, your average high school girl who works behind the scenes, literally. She helps with the plays at her school, she feels overlooked, and she's crushing on an attractive loser. Her best friend is the school knockout who takes center stage, also literally. After quickly getting over loser guy, she falls lightning-fast for mysterious Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome (Ian). Quiet and smart guy Tommy is not okay with this, of course, because he likes Vee but doesn't tell her. (Public Service Announcement: Good communication between opposite sexes circumnavigates a lot of problems, but that wouldn't make for an interesting plot now, would it?)

More on Vee: Vee is short for...what? Veronica maybe? Nope. Venus, as in the other name for the goddess Aphrodite. Average girl Vee's real name is Venus, naturally. (*facepalm*) Vee also has tension with her parents because they think she tried to commit suicide because she almost died after falling asleep in the garage with her car still running. And for some reason, this is a big hush-hush secret. Why would her parents not believe her, and why wouldn't people assume it was an accident? There's nothing in her life that hints at a cause for depression or suicidal tendencies. It's confusing. It's also confusing why Ian sees her as the cat's pajamas and the bee's knees, but why should this be surprising? The hot guy and the average Jane character always end of together, miraculously. The author also quickly reveals that Ian's dark secret was that he was abused in the past as a kid, but it's a topic that's only briefly mentioned and not further developed. (Ian reminded me quite a bit of Tobias from Divergent, but not as well-developed of a character.)

The dares Vee and Ian take on are also a little extreme. For one dare, Vee has to pretend to be a hooker and snag a potential client for a certain amount of money. During her stunt as a street walker, she gets cussed out, offered help from a minister who thinks she's actually a young girl in trouble, and solicited by a *drumroll* cop. So she has to run from the cops for a crime she wasn't actually doing. It's all really stupid...except...

That it's believable. As I kept reading the book, I kept thinking this is really dumb what these kids are doing, but this could happen. In the age of internet stardom and materialism, people would do these dares today. And I think that is what intrigued me the most, that this could actually be a reality.

Ok, the writing style: There are some super awkwardly written sentences describing the attraction between Vee and Ian. Here are some of my "favorite":

"That Ian guy strokes my fingers like a mini harp."
"He tastes like berries, the kind you can't get enough of."
"I'm not sure how much I can trust him yet. Certainly not with my life, but probably with certain parts of my body." (This one just makes me want to slap Vee.)

I also don't know what the point of the prologue is. What happens to that girl? Is she shot? Does she survive? The book also ends on a slight cliff hanger that's not resolved. It leaves the book open to a sequel.

Basically, all this is to say the ideas were interesting, but poorly executed. I think the movie might be good, and this is one of those strange and sad instances when I hope the movie is better than the book.