Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 5:01PM Neil Gaiman is consistent in his ability to inspire me, and hopefully a group of young graduates. It seems that all creative people stress the importance to be ok with failure, to make "glorious, interesting mistakes." I hope to have the opportunity to meet Mr Gaiman and thrill him with the detailed list of my glorious mistakes.
Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 7:27PM 
The Fangs are an odd family. Camille (mother) and Caleb (father) are artists who have a unique perspective of what classifies as "art". They came to fame via performance pieces which involved their children: Child A (Annie) and Child B (Buster). Chapters are split between the current events of the novel and the memories of past performance pieces. At first, the pieces seem mostly light-hearted; however, the more examples we are presented the more we have to wonder how this behavior has affected A and B.
As far as the current events in the book, spectacular circumstances send Annie and Buster (now adults) back to their childhood home. Annie, an actress, is disgraced by tabloid fodder. Buster, a writer, is terribly injured in a potato gun incident. Both Annie and Buster experience these situations with complete apathy. This struck me as odd until I read more of the flashback/performance art excerpts. Clearly apathy is how a Fang child survives.
Shortly after returning home, the elder Fangs disappear and are soon presumed dead. Buster is deeply concerned about his parents. Annie, believes this is just another stunt that her parents are pulling. We do find closure regarding this aspect of the book; however, I found these to be the least interesting part of the plot. It was the characters of Annie and Buster that kept me interested. They are incredibly smart and funny, yet incredibly immature.
I would recommend this book to ... fans of David Sedaris, the family dynamic is very similar.
Favorite quote ... "There is no best Fang, we're all exactly the same."
Monday, May 7, 2012 at 9:06AM OK, OK, I know... I'm behind on this read-along. I'm about halfway through A Study in Scarletby Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and it really is fantastic. In this story, we see the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes - who seems to be the incarnation of hubris - as seen through the eyes of Dr Watson.
Unfortunately, I am not ready to discuss this story. Why not head over to this Soho Press Crime Fiction Blog Post to take part in this discussion?
I will follow-up on May 22nd to discuss both A Study in Scarlet and The Man in the Queueby Josephine Tey.
Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 11:42AM 
This book opens on Nick and Amy Dunne's five-year wedding anniversary. Nick wakes to find Amy busy in the kitchen making him breakfast. He leaves for work and receives a phone call - from a neighbor - later in the day, saying that his front door is wide-open and his cat is sitting outside. Nick returns home to find a mess, the living room ransacked, the iron left on, a tea kettle burning... the one thing that he does not find is his wife.
Nick calls the police to report the situation and waits on the front steps until they arrive. After a quick view of the scene, Detectives Boney and Gilpin are called. They asks questions of Nick, he provides answers: however, as the reader is told - by Nick - "it was my fifth lie to the police. I was just starting."
Nick's behavior is not befitting of a man that just lost his wife. You want to believe Nick because he's our narrator, we hope that he will not lie to us. The narrative switches between Nick as the narrator and Amy's diary entries. We are painted a very confusing picture of a marriage that has disintegrated; yet, we have to ask ourselves ... is a person a murdered simply because they are an ass?
I refuse to give any more of this book away, as I do not want to ruin the surprises for you. I was completely enthralled by this story. I can assure you that you will be given closure by the end of this book.
I would recommend this book to ... fans of Tom Perrotta, Flynn's ability to flesh out her characters is amazing and reminded me of Perrotta. I would also recommend this book to readers who enjoyed Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson. I highly suggest that even folks who do not enjoy a good whodunit pick up this book, it really is astounding.
Would I read this book again ... I think I must! I was so excited by the plot that I'm sure that I missed out on the slow unraveling of the story.
Gone Girl will be available on June 5, 2012 by Crown.
Monday, April 23, 2012 at 9:00PM At the end of last year, I decided to prescribe 45 books to myself. Books that I've been wanting to read but always seem to get pushed to the side. One of these books was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The Book Thief is one of the books that I've heard a million good things about but knew practically nothing about the plot.
Around the same time, I volunteered as a World Book Night book giver. World Book Night is a celebration of reading. Over 80,000 volunteers received 20 books each to hand out to their communities. I saw The Book Thief on the list of book options and promised myself to read it before World Book Night, thereby participating in a worthwhile event AND crossing a book of my back list challenge.
Originally, I requested the book in order to hand it out at William's Park in Saint Petersburg, FL. William's Park is a mecca for indigent residents of Downtown Saint Petersburg. My rationale was to give books to people that can't afford to buy books.
Then I actually read the book and the plan changed. I had to get this to a young adult audience. This book was about standing up for what is right. About what it feels like to look at society and want to scream "no!". This needs to get to the kids that will soon be adults, kids that will soon have an impact on society!
However, I goofed. I didn't read the book until 2 weeks before the event. I scrambled to find a organization that would allow me to hand out the books to the teens that attend their centers. Due to the PG-13 language, I was told no - respectfully and gently no - but no all the same.
At the last minute, I decided to bring half the books to work and hand out the rest in Downtown Saint Petersburg. A couple folks laughed at me, a couple tried to give me money, a few thought I was crazy, most said thank you, and 3 teenage boys eagerly accepted the books. So maybe I didn't reach 20 young adults, but 3 is worth something.
