Coming Soon & An Early Review!

I was lucky enough to snag an early review copy of Pot Luck by K.W. Rust on Library Thing, so as soon as I get that in the next few weeks I will have it up for review for you! I'm pretty excited to be able to get to review a book early and can't wait to share it with everyone.

At the moment I'm doing some personal reading with some more Franzen (Strong Motion) and Steinbeck (The Short Novels Of...). As I have already reviewed Franzen twice and Steinbeck once, I probably won't review the current books I'm reading until a later date unless someone wishes me too. I'm still working on reviews though and plan to get some up in the next week or so.

<3 Jennifyr

Junk[y] by William S. Burroughs

pages: 128

rating: 7/10 stars

summary: Bill explains the drug scene during post world war II america. It's a journal of one man's experience with heroin, and the culture that surrounds it.  

review: "JUNK" has made me a big fan of William S. Burroughs. I think it's an accurate and timeless portrayal of an addict's lifestyle, and the characters that you would meet.

writing style: It is a work of great prose that materializes the hip life of a 50's street hustler through first person insight.  Most of the novel feels like you are experiencing bills life through a drug induced trance with periods of intermittent withdrawal.

summation: This book is extremely anticlimactic to where it feels very abrupt. It's hard to say whether this hurts the story since it really doesn't have an intricate plot. The secondary characters tended to blend together on me, although they are honest portrayals of the petty criminal element that is ubiquitous in the drug culture. Some characters are forgotten altogether but really don't feel too important to the narrative of Bill's survival from heroin addiction. I enjoyed it thoroughly, despite these critiques, and would highly recommend it to the literary enthusiast. Burroughs' pervasive sardonic humor with deadpan honesty is the most charming element to what I would consider a classic. A book that embodies the counterculture ideology of the beat generation.  

reviewed by paul 

The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen

Title: The Corrections   Author: Jonathan Franzen
Pages: 566
Summary: A comic, tragic epic stretching from the Midwest of the midcentury to the Wall street and Eastern Europe of today, The Corrections brings an old-fashioned world of civic virtue and sexual inhibitions into violent collision with the era of home surveillance, hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental health care, and globalized greed.
After almost fifty years as a wife and mother, Enid is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson's disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives. Desperate for some pleasure to look forward to, Enid has set her heart on bringing the family together for one last Christmas at home.

Rating: ********8stars/**********10stars

First Sentence: The madness of an autumn prairie cold front coming through.
Last Sentence: Mouse over --->She was seventy-five and she was going to make some changes in her life.
Random Passage: "Surveillance is not a hobby," he said.
"Dad, yes it is! Mom was the one who suggested it. She said I could start in the kitchen."
It seemed to Gary another Warning Sign of depression that his thought was : The liquor cabinet is in the kitchen."

Writing Style/Character Development: Jonathan Franzen has a very straight forward, brutally honest, yet hilarious writing style. Even amid all the chaos, drama, sadness, and fighting, there is a hint of humor in his writing. I honestly think that Franzen is one of the greatest modern writers we have, and is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Much like in Freedom, in The Corrections, his strongest talent is character development, and you come to get to know each character extremely well. This cast of characters was more likable than the ones in Freedom for me, and I grew quite attached to some of them, including Alfred, the groups father who falls further into his dementia as the book progresses. Once again though, Franzen's characters are complex, and each comes with their own flaws. Some are harder to look past than others, and oftentimes you may not like one or more of the characters he created. The character of Enid, for me, was particularly hard to like, along with Gary. But I think this is one of the authors strong points, making believable characters, and I particularly like the fact that he doesn't always take the easy route of making beloved people that you are going to love throughout the novel. I think it's a case for a strong writer that he can keep you intrigued without making every character instantly likable.

Story-line: At times the story is a little bogged down with scientific descriptions that can be a little hard to drudge through if you are not particularly scientific and may have almost failed science in high school, like me. I'm not really sure if the description of the drug is really needed for the story line or just thrown in there for added effect, because to be honest, the pages containing the stock holders meeting for Corecktall went a little over my head. I got the general gist of it though, and honestly liked that Franzen didn't dumb down his novel for the benefit of his readers, even if it did mean that I felt rather dense at times. For all I know he made it up. Anyway, I felt the rest of the story was captivating, and while the ending made me a little depressed, I never fault a book for evoking an emotional response. The part of the plot concerning Parkinson's disease was a little hard for me to read for personal reasons, but I feel Franzen did a excellent job of describing the general decline of Alfred's mind. The ending was tragic, but perfect. I won't say anymore than that so as not to give anything away.

Overall: Another great novel from Franzen, and as I said before, he is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I think he has a strong voice for modern family, relationships, and the current state of the country, and that in future generations, readers will be able to look back at books like The Corrections and Freedom and understand how this generation lived much as we read authors like John Steinbeck or Mark Twain. Franzen is an author who doesn't hold back, doesn't gloss over, and doesn't talk down to readers, and I think that's why he has such a love/hate relationship with readers. Some people read books to escape life, but for those that read books to understand life, or see a different side of life, he is a wonderful author to try out, and hopefully, fall in love with.


Keep reading, and supporting the writing community.
xoxo, Jennifyr

The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd

Title: The Mermaid Chair     Author: Sue Monk Kidd


Pages: 335

Summary: The Mermaid Chair is set on a tiny island off the coast of South Carolina, where a monastery has a chair carved with mermaids and dedicated a saint who was supposedly once a mermaid. Jessie Sullivan leaves behind her husband to come back home to this island after her mother's violent and unexplained self-mutilation. Jessie finds herself relieved to be without her husband and also finds herself falling for Brother Thomas, a Benedictine monk about to take his final vows. Jessie embarks on a period of self-discovery while the secret of her father's death decades before appears to hold the key to her mother's actions. (From Review of Books )


Rating: ******6stars/**********10stars

First Line: In the middle of my marriage, when I was above all Hugh's wife and Dee's mother, one of those unambiguous women with no desire to disturb the universe, I fell in love with a benedictine monk.

Last Line: Mouse over---> The beautiful enduring.

Random/Favorite Line: I never could make them understand that what I need was somehow to be alone with myself.

Writing Style/Character Development: The writing style is the one thing that saves this book. Kidd is a terrific, versatile writer. She described things well and overall has a pleasant, alluring technique. The characters, however, fall a little flat in this book. The main character, Jessie, is well written in the present tense, but has very little background aside from one major event in her childhood. The supporting characters are no better off, leaving you with no attachment or emotion towards them, in fact, the character of Whit is the only one with any background besides for Jessie.

Story Line: The basic idea of the story is very interesting, which is one of the reasons why my disappointment in the book is so vast. Nothing in this book really kept me riveted, and often I would put it down in the middle of chapters.

Ending: Cliche and anticlimactic. SPOILER, mouse over ---> The fact that Walter takes her back makes me feel bad for him, not happy for Jessie. While it's nice that she gets to find herself, it's at the expense of her husband and daughter. Not to mention the fact that sleeping with another man is not the way towards finding yourself, and comes off as mid-life crisis smut for bored married ladies.

Overall: I read this after reading The Secret Life of Bees, and was expecting so much more. Secret Life of Bees was incredible and well written, but Mermaid Chair could have been from an entirely different author. The writing style was enjoyable, but not moving, and the book was entertaining, but it was more on the level of what people call "chick-lit" and not literature. Which is fine when you're reading chick-lit but not when you are expecting something with substance beyond finding yourself through an affair and "dealing" with your sick mother. I suppose this makes Mermaid chair amusing, but falls short of it's potential, and very short of the immense potential of Sue Monk Kidd. My recommendation? Skip it all together and read The Secret Life of Bees if you want to enjoy the true talents of Sue Monk Kidd.


xoxo Jennifyr

Freedom - Jonathan Franzen

Title: Freedom Author: Jonathan Franzen
Pages: 562

Rating ********8stars/**********10stars

Summary: (From inside flap) In his first novel since The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen has given us an epic of contemporary love and marriage. Freedom comically and tragically captures the temptations and burdens of liberty: the thrills of teenage lust, the shaken compromises of middle age, the wages of suburban sprawl, the heavy weight of empire. In charting the mistakes and joys of Freedom's characters as they struggle to learn how to live in an ever more confusing world, Franzen has produced indelible and deeply moving portrait of our time.

First sentence: The news about Walter Berglund wasn't picked up locally - he and Patty had moved away to Washington two years earlier and meant nothing to St Paul now - but the urban gentry of Remsey Hill were not so loyal to their city as not to read the New York Times.

Last Line: Mouse over--->To this day, free access to the preserve is granted only to birds and to residents of Canterbridge Estates, through a gate whose lock combination is known to them, underneath a small ceramic sign with a picture of the pretty young dark-skinned girl after whom the preserve is named.

Random Line: "Thats exactly right," Jenna's father said "Freedom is a pain in the ass."


Writing Style(including character development): Well written, straightforward and engaging. Franzen intricately writes each character to where you can open any chapter at random and know immediately whose point of view its from. The reader really comes to know each character. It should also be noted that Franzen writes very strong, believable female characters, which I feel is difficult for many male authors. Every character Franzen creates is three-dimensional. Franzen doesn't necessarily want you to like his characters but you are still intrigued by them and believe they could exist.

Storyline: Enticing, every plot and subplot has something going for it. A book that had me wide awake until 4am. I did feel, at times, that there were some unnecessarily vulgar scenes, especially in Joeys chapters, that might put people off because they seemed to come out of left field, and didn't seem to add anything to the story, but when you get past that small bump in the story, the rest was exceptional and intriguing and highly recommended.

Cover design/Aesthetic: The cover design was a little lacking, nothing exceptional.

Overall: With the exception of the unnecessary vulgarity, this book lived up to the hype. Franzen gives us outstanding character development and plot. This is another add to the favorites pile. While not pure gold like East Of Eden, the small personal nitpicks don't take too much away from the over-all enjoyability of the novel. That said, it may not be everyone's cup of tea. The characters are realistic and therefore make mistakes and aren't always likable. Much like life, it's not always clear who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist, and as soon as you think you have it figured out it may change. This was a high point of the book for me, I love when you get into the heads of all the characters and get the whole story, but reading other reviews it is apparent that this book is not for everyone. My advice though, is to give it a try and stick with it, it may grow on you.


xoxo, Jennifyr

East Of Eden - John Steinbeck

Title: East Of Eden     Author: John Steinbeck   Number of Pages: 601

Dates Read: December 30, 2010 - January 04, 2011

Rating: **********10/**********10 stars

First Sentence: The Salinas Valley is in Northern California.
Last Sentence: Mouse over --> His eyes closed and he slept.
Favorite Passage: May be spoiler-ish, mouse over --> He blurted out, "I wish you were my daughter--" he was shocked at himself. He went to the stove and turned out the gas under the tea-kettle, then lighted it again. 

She said softly, "I wish you were my father."

He glanced quickly at her and away. "You do?"

"Yes I do"

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

Summary: The tale of the Trask family, with a sub-plot of the Hamiltons. From the book cover: "Adam Trask came to California from Connecticut to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aron, brings his wide to the brink of madness and Dam is left alone to raise his boys. One boy thrives... and the other grows up in loneliness, enveloped by a mysterious darkness."

Writing Style: A beautiful, easy to understand writing style with believable dialogue. Touching and, at times, very funny, East of Eden is great entertainment, a true classic, and one of those books that you wish would never end. Great to read aloud and share with someone you love.

Plot: Thoroughly enjoyable. Steinbeck tugs at your emotions, plucks you funny bone, and gives his readers a complete work of art. The only thing I would ever change is more about the Hamilton family, because while there is a good amount of time dedicated to them, I feel that after a while, there is less said about them and it leaves you wanting more.


Character Development: Perfect, whether you love or hate the characters, it is because Steinbeck created people you feel, that evoke actual emotion and maybe even attachment. They are incredibly well developed, with even some minor characters getting a chapter dedicated to them. You start to get to know a whole town in a way. My favorite character by far is without a doubt, Lee. His wisdom and blunt sense of humor is endearing and I wish Steinbeck could create a Lee of my own to give me sage advice and coffee every time there is a lull in conversation.

Ending: Believable, but sad, for many reasons. I don't want to spoil it at all, so I will leave it at that. No loose ends, no plot holes, a satisfactory ending that still leaves you wishing there was more to read, not because you have a dissatisfaction with the book, but the opposite, you want to follow these people for the rest of their lives, and their children's lives, and their children's children's lives.

Overall: I added this to my list of favorites immediately. As soon as it started I wanted to sit and read it all the way through, and I tried as hard as I could to do so! And as soon as it ended I wanted to start it all over again. There are a lot of characters in the first few chapters, so if you have trouble with remembering them, as I do, you may want to create a little family tree or chart of some kind. I suppose it's a total cliche to say, and I have already said it in some form or another already, but I can't stress the sense of sadness you feel when closing this book because you never want it to end. John Steinbeck creates such a realistic and wonderful story that you feel could really happen, but still has a sense of magic to it. I'm trying to find something to say about this book that isn't all gushing and praise, but I can't really find fault in it. All I can say is that I wish he had written more chapters about the Hamiltons, because I really loved many of the characters in the Hamilton family, especially Liza, the mother. I very rarely completely love a book, but this is hands down one of my favorites. I feel that everyone should read this at least once, as soon as possible.

Cover Design/Aesthetic: The cover design of the edition I have is a beautiful, classic cover with a grey-scale design. I have a deep love of the classic parchment paper trend they have going on lately, and this edition has that. (I've been trying to collect as many of these books as I can get my hands on.) Overall it has an excellent feel that feels like a big brick of awesomeness in your hands, like something you can really sink your teeth into, especially in the middle of the book when you can get a good hold of it. A lot of people find that it's strange that I put so much emphasis on feel, but I look at reading as an EVENT, and touch is still a sense that can be fulfilled with reading, and should be if done right. That's why as much I would like a Nook or a Kindle for travel, I love the feel of a book to ever give up buying the physical book itself.

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This is my first full review, so it's a little rusty right now, but the more I write, and the more suggestions I get, the better they'll be! I may condense this down a bit and combine a few topics together to create a better flow in the future. I hope this is helpful to you and this site can add to your love of reading.

xoxo, Jennifyr

An introduction

Right now, at this very moment, we are working on reviews for this site, so keep an eye out. For now, though, I wanted to give a quick run down on how we are thinking about writing these reviews. This may change over time, as we want to give you the best reviews possible, but for now, this is what we have in the works. If you have any thoughts, advice, whatever, feel free to let us know.




Title::     Author::    Plot Summary::

Date Started - Date Ended

First Sentence:

Last Sentence: Mouse over to see This will be written in white so that you have to mouse-over to see, as I know this may be a spoiler, or that many people won't want to know. I include it because there ARE some people who do find it interesting, and I think it's fun to see a collection of first and last sentences after I read the books.

Favorite/Memorable/Random Passage: Just a little something that stuck out for me, or that I found to be a touching, or especially well written passage or quote. Will be written in white if there's a chance it may be spoiler-ish.

Rating:: xx out of 10 stars

Topics

Writing Style:: Whether I like a book or not relies heavily on writing style for me, and no matter how interesting a book is, I can't get into it if the writing is poor.

Story Line/Plot:: Basic stuff, whether it made sense, or was interesting, etc.

Character Development:: Did you get to know them, or where they one dimensional? Did you care about the characters, or could you give a hoot? Characters can make or break a book, and so we want to devote some time to this aspect of the book.

Over All:: This is where the real meat of the review will be!

Ending:: Predictable? Anti-climactic? Amazing?

Chapter Length:: How was it broken up, were the chapters very long, or were they short and easy to zip through? I have a personal preference for shorter chapters, or chapters that are sectioned off throughout. Not that this is a make or break issue, but I figure if I am curious, there is at least someone out there who likes to know this about a book!

Cover Design / Paper Quality / Readability:: This is a superficial aspect, but what the hey, I love a good book cover, and even more, I love when a book FEELS good to hold. I especially love a book with parchment paper-esque edges. Besides, when we aren't reading them, they decorate our bookshelves, they are the first part of the book we see, and over all, I feel that while this may not be important to the story, it's still important in some ways.


Alright, we are going to get started writing these reviews for you, so keep checking back! I expect the first one to be up by January 7th, 2011.


xoxo, Jennifyr