—3—

The most recent edition of the Anderson’s Book Club had us reading Fannie Flagg’s Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven.  Unfortunately, with the ridiculousness of PA school, I didn’t finish it in time (and you may have noticed the lack of reviews lately).  But although delayed, I did however finish it!  Overall, I thought it was a nice story, simple, cute, and often funny.  It is basically a “fluff” novel, nothing earth-shattering, just a relaxing summer read that would make just about anyone smile.  And while those are not the type of books I usually pick out, it was nice having a simple story while I was dealing with biochem and anatomy lectures.

The story begins with our main character, Mrs. Elner Shimfissle, at over 80 years old, climbing a ladder to pick figs from her fig tree, which she has been strictly instructed not to do by her overbearing, anxiety-ridden niece Norma.  Besides figs, Elner finds a wasp nest, and she is stung multiple times and falls off the ladder.  And so she begins quite a big journey, meeting some new people, learning some new things, and getting the answer to some of life’s mysteries, such as “which came first, the chicken or the egg?”.  Norma is forced to begin to see her world differently, if she is to deal with all her old aunt is throwing her way, and the entire town begins to realize what a large role Elner plays in their lives.

3/5

—3.5—

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben is a suspense novel exploring how much parents have the right to, and morally should, invade their childs’ privacy in order to protect them.  Mike and Tia Baye are worried about their son Adam, he’s completely changed since the suicide of his best friend, Spencer Hill.  Adam is withdrawn and secretive, dresses different, acts different, and has given up his life’s passion - playing hockey.  Tia is concerned that Adam is into dangerous things, and she is afraid he may be contemplating suicide.  She justifies setting up a spy program on Adam’s computer, arguing that Spencer’s parents must wish they had done more to find out about their son’s life. 

At first they come across normal teenage boy things, until Adam receives an ominous message telling him to keep quiet, and he’ll be safe.  Now Tia and Mike begin to unravel the truth about what Adam has gotten himself into.  Related stories surround Adam’s sister, best friend, and a teacher at school, a psychopathic murderer killing for revenge, and Spencer’s mother.  For most of the book the reader does not know how all these stories will connect, but by the end they intertwine beautifully. 

Hold Tight is very suspenseful, and Coben’s has a wonderful set of characters.  You can empathize with each in their own way - including the psychopath.  However, I felt like Mike and Tia were to apologetic for their spying throughout the novel.  I thought that once you make the decision to do it, right or wrong, you have to follow the path without any reservations to protect your kid.  They often hemmed and hawed over how to explain to Adam how they knew where he was, and I kept thinking that it didn’t matter how they knew.  They caught him doing something bad, and that’s the end of it.  He doesn’t need to know where his parents got the information; he’s doing something wrong.  Basically, I didn’t see the moral dilemma Coben tried to present.  But, the story was fast-paced, the characters well rounded and always had some surprises, and the plot was interesting and timely.

3.5/5

Top 5
1. FEARLESS FOURTEEN, by Janet Evanovich
2. SAIL, by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
3. TAILSPIN, by Catherine Coulter
4. ROGUE, by Danielle Steel
5. THE HOST, by Stephenie Meyer

Top 5
1. WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES, by David Sedaris
2. FLEECED, by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
3. WHAT HAPPENED, by Scott McClellan
4. ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT’S ME, CHELSEA, by Chelsea Handler
5. THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE, by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi

Saw this list over at A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore and stole the idea to post it on my blog.  This is the EW’s list of 100 New Classic Books from 1983-2008.  I thought it was a pretty good list.  I’m going to BOLD the ones I’ve read, and try to link to some I’ve reviewed.  This might be a good list to look on for a book club, or the next time you need some reading inspiration.  Enjoy!

The New Classics: Books

The 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998 )
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988 )
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998 )
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988 )
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998 )
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988 )
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988 )
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World’s Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998 )
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998 )
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998 )
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998 )
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators’ Ball, Connie Bruck (1988 )
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Anyone have any books they think should have made the list but didn’t?  Any you disagree with? (For example, I did not care for either Atonement or The Ruins).  Any favorite books by these authors you think should have been included instead?  (For example, is The Goblet of Fire your favorite Harry Potter book?  Or how about is American Pastoral your favorite by Philip Roth?)  Do you think there was a lack of Nonfiction? Mysteries?  Any of these you think they got dead-on right? Let me know! 

—4—

Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Boxis an unusual and exciting modern-day ghost story.  Judas Coyne is the aging lead singer of a famous metal band, who is currently living with his goth girlfriend Mary-Beth, or as he calls her, Georgia.  Jude has a love for collecting dark, disturbing, and strange artifacts, and consequently he jumps at the chance to purchase a ghost being sold on the Internet.  Thinking it nothing more than a hoax, Jude is midly cautious upon the arrival of the dead man’s suit.  However, we find that the suit is in fact haunted, and the ghost was purposefully sent to Jude in order to kill him.  Now he and Georgia must try to escape, before they are killed, or they kill each other.

I thought this book was remarkable for several reasons.  While it is a ghost-story, I never found it particularly scary, just thrilling and unique, which I actually think makes it better.  I was surprised how well Hill developed his two main characters, Georgia and Jude.  They both could have easily been boring stereotypes, with not much background or motivation.  The reader, however, quickly finds that the ghost is not the only thing haunting these two characters, their pasts are as well.  Much of the novel is spent exploring Judas’ life, memories, regrets, and fears.  These recollections were my favorite parts of the novel.  The dynamic between Judas and Georgia also develops, and what you originally assumed about their relationship, because of the type of people they seem to be, is proven wrong again and again.  My only complaint comes from the beginning of the novel when the ghost first arrives.  I felt that the inital part, hiding from the ghost in the house, dragged on too long.  After that, however, the pace is fast and thrilling.  Some readers may not appreciate all the gore, cursing, and the small amount of sexuality, so be warned if these things put you off from novels.  Overall though, this book is very different than anything I’ve read, and I recommend it!

4/5

Top 5
1. NOTHING TO LOSE, by Lee Child
2. THE HOST, by Stephenie Meyer
3. PLAGUE SHIP, by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul
4. LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH, by Emily Giffin
5. BLOOD NOIR, by Laurell K. Hamilton

Top 5
1. WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES, by David Sedaris
2. WHAT HAPPENED, by Scott McClellan
3. THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD, by Fareed Zakaria
4. AUDITION, by Barbara Walters
5. ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT’S ME, CHELSEA, by Chelsea Handler

—5—

In an burned, postapocolyptic America, a father and son walk together, heading for the coast.  Ash falls from the sky and the temperature is freezing.  They have a gun, and not much else.  Together they scavenge for food left in stores and homes.  They come across corpses and cannibals, and must hide from everyone they encounter.  There is nothing and no-one left to live for, except for each other.  The father barely hangs to old-world morality, as he tries to keep his son and himself alive.

I enjoyed Cormac McCarthy’s The Road more than I wanted to.  Sometimes I am resistant to books that everyone has read, or everyone has loved, especially when they come with an Oprah seal.  But I couldn’t resist loving this book.  It prose is simple and succinct, the bare minimum, which is all these two people’s lives are.  It is haunting and powerful, forcing the reader to think about total devastation of the world we know, and how survivors may be worse off than the dead.  The Road presents a world in which hope doesn’t exist, and where memories of the past aren’t enough to sustain two people after complete destruction hits.  The Road is one of the best books I’ve read recently, and I recommend it to all who haven’t read it (the few of you there are).

5/5

—3.5—

John Steinbeck’s The Pearl is the story of Kino, a poor Mexican pearl harvester who finds the pearl of the century one day.  With it comes hopes and dreams of a better future with his family, a wedding for him and his wife Juana, school for his newborn son, new clothes, and a new home.  But when news spreads about Kino’s find, all around begin scheming to take advantage of Kino.  The pearl buyers try to cheat him, and the local doctor sickens Kino’s son so he can then cure him and charge Kino.  The pearl is actually a bearer of bad fortune, instead of good, and Kino must return it from where it came.

I liked this story; it’s actually an old folk-tale.  However, it is a bit depressing.  While I’m sure it wasn’t the intentional message, I felt like the story was saying “when good things happen to you everyone will try and take it away and everything you love out of life will disappear”.  Nice huh? 

3.5/5

—5—

I saw a review of this book on the blog A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore, and it sounded so cute that I had to order it from the library.  And it was really good!  This book is a collection of letters sent between a woman in the US to a group of people working at an antique bookstore in the UK.  The letters span over 20 years, beginning in the 1940’s, and us readers watch as a relationship develops between this woman and her friends in England, and all surrounding books!  This collection is sweet and quaint, and pefect for lovers of literature.  It will only take an afternoon to read, but it will make you wonder if the current age of emails and amazon.com will produce anything as nice as this collection of letters. 

5/5 

It’s the TWO YEAR anniversary of my book review blog.  Hooray!