Whine & Cheese

The Fault In Our Stars

There does not seem like there is one much could do to recommend a book about a couple of teenagers falling in love after meeting at a cancer support group. But despite the subject matter, there is still plenty of fun and life in John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, though at its core -- and no matter any outcome -- it is still a heart-breaker of a story.

I appreciated the brashness of the story and characters. Nothing is sugar-coated, even when humor is used at a defense mechanism, what the characters are saying and feeling regarding what is essentially their likely death sentence rings true, whether it is the lack of hope or personal doubts concerning an after-life.

My quibble is that the star-struck teenagers, Hazel and Augustus, are too eloquent... too philosophical, too wise, too witty... while it never jolted me out of the book, it was noticeable here and there. Perhaps it is a side-effect (as the characters love to say) of cancer and dying, but it just brought in a more adult hand/voice into the novel.  Oh, by the way, this book is "young-adult" fiction... a classification I continue to dislike as there is nothing age-exclusive about it (or many of the books in this genre/"box").

It was pretty much impossible not to like/love this book. Again, the subject matter makes it difficult to consider the alternative... plus Green throws in a sub-plot re: a love of reading and books, that even makes it more endearing. But while pulling heart-strings always seems to earn bonus points, it doesn't always have a high degree of difficulty... and I am not sure it is as great a book as reader rated... at the time of this writing, it had a stratospheric 4.61 average rating on Goodreads, the highest amongst nearly 200 books I've logged on there... it's not that good/great... but still quite good, enjoyable, heart-breaking and overall a pretty easy recommendation.

I'm Starved For You

Finally back with a book post (well, short story post).. but first a bit of blog business... just on the odd chance that anyone is still reading any of this.  Ok, I know there are a few of you!  

Anyhow, I have had to add that annoying CAPTCHA verification (you know where you have to type a word(s) that you can never read!) for comments.  I had just been getting absolutely pummeled with spam, so that seemed to the only solution.  Kind of frustrating to see that some are still getting in, but not the 50+ spam comments I faced on some mornings.  So, I apologize, I really dislike CAPTCHA and knows it discourages comments, especially when you can't figure it out.

Ok, onto this next read...

Having read The Handmaid's Tale eons ago, I have been meaning to get back to some Margaret Atwood, but for those of us who have mile-high to-be-read lists you know how that goes!  So I was pleased when I saw this Kindle single/short story (about 60 pages at $2.50) available to either encourage or discourage me from seeking more Atwood out.

Not that I was ever expecting the latter, but this short story was something I wish had been blown out into a full novel. It is the story of Stan and Charmaine, a seemingly happy couple living in gated time-share community... well, this is Atwood... so it is a closed society set in a dystopic future where folks trade-off their time between white-picket fence suburbia and a pretty cushy, white-collar type prison. When Stan finds a lipstick kissed note with the erotically-charged "I'm Starved For You" tucked beneath his refrigerator, he assumes it is just a leftover from the other couple who occupies their home while Stan and Charmaine voluntarily incarcerate themselves. But he starts fantasizing about this woman, and that's only the beginning of the exploration of this dysfunctional marriage... and new society.

Well-written, creative, with a good under-current of humor (so lacking in today's dystopia, go figure?!). Again, my only complaint is that I would have liked more of it, but a great way to spend a couple of hours.

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive

Still behind on book post, but this one is going to be short!

Ok, we're up to the 8th installment of the Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series with The Good Husband of Zebra Drive and it is pretty darn review-proof and there is really just not a whole lot to say other than it is yet another perfectly pleasant literary trip to visit some perfectly pleasant friends (well, Mma Makutsi tends to get a bit crabby at times.

To keep me extra entertained while reading this one, I found myself creating a No. 1 Ladies' drinking game:

Mention of Mma. Makutsi's 97% score at Secretarial School?  Drink!

Reference to Mma. Ramotswe's how-to book Clovis Anderson's "The Principles of Private Detection"?  Drink!

A woman being described as "traditionally built"?  Drink!

And to send us over the edge... any mention of tea drinking (and make it a double if it's bush tea)? Drink! Drink! Drink!

Readers know exactly what they're getting when they open one of these books, so it is hard to find any quibbles or, on the flip side, muster up any extra excitement.  I'd still say this was an above average installment with a lot of the regular/core characters getting their own little subplots. 3.5 stars, but with the usual guilty pleasure/literary palate cleanser round down to 3 stars.

Arcadia

I was doing such a good job keeping up with these book posts this year, but suddenly I find myself behind by 3!  Granted I was a bit slow with reading this one... then read a quick palate cleanser, followed that with a Kindle single short-story that took about a day... and currently plowing through a YA (young-adult) book... so guess next book should be a longer, slower one, ha!

So as just mentioned,this one was a bit of a slow one and, to be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to make it through Lauren Groff's Arcadia!

This was a bit surprising as I had fairly high expectations going in given the buzz for this novel and partly due to her well-lauded debut novel, The Monsters of Templeton (which never quite made it off my to-be-read list).  But Arcadia just wasn't doing it for me.  I am just a half-generation-ish too young to have any kind of nostalgia (or disdain) for the 1960s commune scene and the opening section featuring a child narrator is always a dicey proposition.  I had this nagging feeling that I should be liking this book, but just was not. I had trouble keeping tabs on all the characters and there was too much peripheral noise that could not get me/keep me focused.  Granted my "real" life at the time was a bit unfocused and I couldn't get in good reading chunks, so I was fearing it just might have been a potential "right" book at a wrong time in my day-to-day life.

But alas I did make it through, as Groff thankfully provided a re-set button of sorts with each of Arcadia's four sections. So while not much of a fan of the commune-centric first half of the novel, I found it just got better and better as it went along. This wild and crazy story turned in on itself, getting richer and more contemplative.

In retrospect, I am guessing this purposely done as the novel does explore continuum... from utopian to mildly dystopian, from the past to the future, from life to death, from loud and reactive to quiet and reflective. I can add my own Arcadia reading experience to that list... from a good, but honestly bordering on "just okay" 2-star of a start to an emotional 5-star ending. So that averages out to one of my typical bet-hedging 3.5 stars, but I'll round it up for an "official" 4-stars given more weight to the end than the beginning and an appreciation for what I think Groff was doing the whole time along, even if I didn't much like it at the time.

Open City

I am pretty darn sure that Open City by Teju Cole will be the final book that I will read from the 2012 Tournament of Books (ToB).  I thought I was done a couple of times, but then The Sisters Brothers caught my attention, then it just seemed as if I couldn't not read this one as it knocked out two of my favorites - The Marriage Plot and Sisters Brothers - and made the final.  In a fun tournament quirk, fan favorites return to duke it out right before the finale... and Sister Brothers returned to meet Open City in the final... and took it down.  While I thought Open City was a worth competitor, I was still pleased with result.

And just before I put ToB to rest for this year, I am proud to say that I read 12 of the 16 competition books, shattering my previous record of 7 from last year.  It's going to be a tough mark to beat, but I'll see if I can do a better job of predicting potential ToB candidates throughout the year (nicely enough the ToB folks provide a "watch list" for next year's competition), so I don't spend most of January thru March reading just ToB books... tho I will say (again, probably repeating myself), that the ToB is always an interesting set of books.  I didn't love them all, but the were all fascinating even with their flaws.

Ok, onto this book!

... and I reallly don't know where to begin when giving my thoughts about this debut novel. Though, given the nature of it, I think I could pretty much just start anywhere and work my way around it without worrying about where it's going or what I am saying or if it paints the full picture of the book or not.  This is unlike any novel I have read recently and it was pretty much impossible to jump into a new book later the same day given the jolt back to a traditional narrative.  (Sidenote: I really don't know how you folks who have multiple books going at a time do it!).

This is review is already sounding like all "uh-oh" in nature, but it's not. While it is not one of those books that I could not unequivocally recommend to anyone/everyone, this stream of consciousness tale of Nigerian-German psychiatric medical intern with a compulsion for wandering around New York City and sharing pretty much any thought in his head surprisingly enough (mostly) worked for me. The novel has been called plot-less, but I'd almost argue there was too much plot. I could not even fathom a guess at how many threads of Julius' (the narrator's) life, both past and present, were explored... with that only be eclipsed by the vast range of seemingly random topics -- sometimes presented in an essay-like manner, other times in a casual intellectual/high-brow trivia contest response kind of way. So splitting hairs, I'd say the Open City is form-less over plot-less.

I am guessing by now, you probably know by now if this book is for you or not. While I will fully admit to not "getting" it all at times, still the majority of what Cole threw up against the wall managed to stick for me. Though that's not to say/infer that Cole was throwing stuff out there just for heck of it (tho, on second thought, that's likely book club-debatable). This was a contemplative work that I kept thinking shouldn't really be working as well as it is (particularly for a debut novel - tho he was previously published). A fascinating exploration or observation of identity -- race, ethnicity, religion, nationality -- and themes of isolation and alienation in this modern world where we all seem more connected to each other than ever.

The Sisters Brothers

Well, not the biggest surprise in the world... I am back to a book that is part of the Tournament of Books.  While I had originally thought having read 10 of the 16 books before the competition got underway, there always seems to be a book (or two) that piques my interest along the way... and Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers was one of them...

...when it scored an opening round upset over one of the #1 seeds, Ann Patchett's State of Wonder.  While that wasn't a huge surprise to me (I had my issues with SoW -- and Patchett in general -- back in July), many (most?) ToB books have both ardent supporters and detractors, but this one had a notable shift of the former.

Now, even despite living in the now suburbanized wild wild west sprawl of Phoenix, Arizona (tho guns still allowed to be carried unless the establishment says otherwise!), the western genre is typically not my thing... but I was further encouraged to give this one a shot as I heard it was Coen Brothers-ish and/or Quentin Tarantino-esque (fans of both). Both of those proved true with the endearingly quirky, simple-but-wise observationally philosophical characters of the Coens and the tricky mix of violence and humor of Tarantino.

While I have been wow'd by a couple of this year's ToB books, I am not sure I have been more entertained by one more than The Sister Brothers.

It is a deceptively simple plot that leaves plenty of room to be be dismissed as a trifle piece of genre fiction. At first, it even just seems to be this random collection of odd vignettes, but there is always this storm cloud on the horizon and it builds to a conclusion that plays out in many unexpected ways, tackling all those great "big-issue" literary stuff like destiny, fate, and karma.

While western genre cliches (a duel, saloons, bawdy ladies of the night) and derivative comparisons (if you're game, you'll find plenty more than just the Coens and Tarantino) abound, there is a uniqueness and originality to this work with deWitt's prose smart, sharp and efficient. And last but not least, is crazy cast of characters headed by Eli Sisters - a reluctant assassin with a whole lot of heart - who enters my pantheon of memorably great narrators.

Rating-wise, I feel like I am turning into a softy. I handed out (or rounded up) two 5-star ratings all of last year (only 9% among all my Goodreads books!) and here I am already on my 3rd one of this year... and it's only March! While many of those 5-stars get there based solely on technical merit, The Sisters Brothers not only has that but gets that personal nudge up based on its originality, entertainment value, and the intangible of being a surprise - in so many ways - of a book that I never would have picked up on my own.

In ToB tournament update, I am happy to report that Sisters Brothers made it the finals... where it faced, well... that's my next read!  Yes, despite having now read 11 of 16 ToB books (including 7 of 8 of the #1 and #2 seeds), one of the remaining 5 ended up in the finals.  So I'll save that reveal and the ToB winner for the next book post! 

Behind The Beautiful Forevers

Time for the first non-fiction read of 2012!

Katherine Boo's Beyond the Beautiful Forevers is pretty much summed up in its subtitle: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.  Though I'd easily add "Despair" to that list as there is plenty of that in spades in this swirling and eye-opening non-fiction account of life in a slum in the shadow of fancy international airport and five-star hotels. 

It often reads like a novel, or perhaps one hopes that it is a novel as it is hard to believe - or one does not want to believe - that the poverty relayed in this book is truly the everyday life of hundreds of thousands of people, not only in India, but around the world. It is about the struggles for the very bases of life - for food, water, a roof over one's head - with the attainment of that often being based on whole one best can salvage garbage or navigate government and other rampant institutional corruption.

Amazingly enough, there is hope throughout the book. Boo follows a handful of "characters" over several years who, against insurmountable odds, find ways to improve their lives and retain some iota of hope for the future. But this is scary Darwinian "survival of the fittest" stuff from start to finish.

My quibbles with the work is that I found it difficult to follow at times. While I read the book in a fairly quick manner, it often took me a page or two to remember which person was which, especially the amongst the supporting players.  And while I never doubted the veracity of what was being told, the omniscient type narrative made me wonder how this explosive narrative was pulled together.  Her research methodology is explained in the quite interesting author's notes section.  It got me thinking I would have preferred if Boo inserted herself in the narrative.  I do not believe this would have lessened the impact of the story in the least bit.

5-star material for sure, but I'll knock a point off for some of the execution. 4 stars.

... and remember when I said I was done with the Tournament of Books books for this year?  Well, decided on another one and that's next up!

Mockingjay

I am finally done with the 2012 Tournament of Books books... well, unless one 6 unread books left scores an upset and/or sways me otherwise.  While, I love and enjoy ToB it's pretty challenging with the all the literary-ness, so I was definitely looking for a change!

... and there seemed no better quick and "reward"-type book than the final installment of The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  This is my 7th book of 2012 and funny enough, I noticed that my 7th book last year was coincidentally enough the second book in the series, Catching Fire... so about a year between books.

A big reason for the delay - and yet another common personal reading phenomena - was sheer procrastination in that I just did not want the series to be over.  Also, I was a bit wary as there seemed to be some consenses that the series deteriorated with each book and there seemed to be a bit more negative buzz about this one (and certainly a drop-off ratings-wise among my some of my friends on Goodreads).   So while there was not much I could do about the series ending, I remained hopefully that it buzz was not true... but unfortunately, I felt that it was the case and that Mockingjay was a fairly steep drop-off from the first two books.

While the whole return to the Hunger Games in Catching Fire was gimmick-y, I still fell hard for it. And while I don't relish the killing of children for sport (okay, maybe just a little), I knew Collins could not pull that trick out for a third time.  So, without a Hunger Games, quite a bit of the magic was lost. Additionally, the creativity and "can't flip the pages fast enough" suspense of the arena was replaced by what I felt was repetitive, somewhat dull, "damsel-in-distress"-oriented action sequences. Also, sorely missing was the camaraderie amongst the main characters -- or at least those who made it this far and/or weren't tossed to the sidelines. The previously charismatic Katniss was downright mopey (not that I can blame her!) and the guys kind of lost their spark as well, particularly Gale even with (or perhaps due to) increased presence in this volume.

It's not that I didn't like it, I just didn't love it... and that makes me pout a bit like Katniss does when Gale and Peeta commiserate on her personality. I was really quite into it and optimistic but it just got sluggish in the middle/later half where it seemed like Collins was struggling to figure out how to end it, but with a surprise twist or two. The post-battle action end sequence and even the tacked-on epilogue won me back, tho probably a bit too little, a bit too late.

I gave the first book 5 stars, the second book 4.5 stars (with the round-up to 5)... Mockingjay gets 3.5 stars and while I am tempted to round-up to 4 stars out of goodwill for the entire series, the odds were just not in its favor for Mockingjay... a reluctant round-down to 3 stars.

The Stranger's Child

One more Tournament of Books book for the 2012 competition!

This is the 3rd year I have followed ToB and this next book was my 10th of the 16 nominees... and unless there is another book that piques my interest and/or scores and upset as the competition gets underway, I think I am done for this year.   In 2010, I read 4 books... last year, 7 of them... so definitely stepped things up and I am glad I did.  While I didn't LOOOOVE every ToB book that I read, they were still all good and, more importantly, interesting.  I felt I could "talk" about them even if I thought they had their flaws.

So onto the next book!

In a world becoming ever increasingly A.D.D., a novel like Alan Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Child takes some patience... or at least it did for me.  While it was on my to-be-read list ever since it was published, but any true impetus to read it did not really happen until it was on the ToB list... though I recalled a positive past experience with Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty several years ago.. though it is certainly a moderate-to-severe case of reader amnesia (i.e. "I don't remember what it was about, but it was good" - will definitely take the time to read my own review I just linked to from January 2006!).

The early parts of the novel have a very British PBS-y period-piece feel about it. It's all very stuffy and stodgy, which will appeal to a lot of folks, but it took some effort for me to plow through it. While I never considered abandoning it, it just felt like it was going to be a slog. Fortunately, at about the midway point (a good couple of hundred pages in), my "wall" with it crumbled and the book started to hit its stride. It became clear that Hollinghurst was building a quite sturdy foundation, creating a from-scratch history, that ends up being a pretty impressive achievement.

Apart from the overall patience required (which ultimately was a good thing - and something that I am trying to consciously work on this year... reading longer/bigger books like the mammoth 1Q84) and the occasional flagging attention span, my only other quibble was the disproportionate amount of "naturally occurring in nature" homosexuality/bi-sexuality in the book.

Needless to say, if you know me or have been around this blog for any length of time (like 4.56 seconds!), you know that I don't have any issues with anything gay.  However, it just got to the point in this book where you just would not even consider that a male character in the book was heterosexual. While I know Hollinghurst is known for his LGBT works, in this particular book, this bizarro 1-out-of-10 guys are hetero alternate-universe was just jolting enough to be a distraction (tho one got used to it after awhile!).

As you know, I don't really like talking "plot" in this book posts and part of the pleasure of this book is how it unfolds, so let's just say it is a book about how history is chronicled and how memories are made and re-made. The book may lack the clarity and closure that some readers desire, but it all felt real and delightfully unreliable as our own "real world" lives and memories.

A literary effort -- that takes some effort -- but was worth it.

More Darren Criss Shirtless

Stumbled upon some more shirtless pix of Darren Criss (aka Blaine from Glee). These are allegedly outtakes from his photoshoot from People's Sexiest Man Alive issue. There are tons of them out there, but here are four of my favorites.

 

 

 

For more hunky shots of the guys from Glee, feel free to peruse the Glee category below.