#16 - Wild by Cheryl Strayed

I was so happy when the audio copy of "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed became available on my library's Overdrive system.  This book kept me company during the start of my 1/2 marathon training and really helped keep me motivated to take just one more step in a "If Cheryl can do this practically barefoot, I can do one more mile" kind of way.

There were parts of this story where the mommy part of my brain took over and wanted to scream at her to just STOP YOU IDIOT!  I know that, personally, I would have thrown in the towel after a lot of those adverse conditions occurred.  But at the same time, this sounded a lot like something I would have gotten myself into when I was younger.  Convincing myself that I needed to do some big giant thing and then not preparing myself adequately for the undertaking at all.

I kind of hated some of the parts in the same way that I hated some parts of "Eat Pray Love".  But on the whole I enjoyed Cheryl's journey and rejoiced at the end when she reached her final destination no matter what the circumstances.

Goodreads rating: 4 stars

Date read: March 26, 2014

#15 - Allegiant by Veronica Roth

I was so scared to pick up this book.  I loved the first two novels in the series Divergent and Insurgent but I had heard some really really conflicting reviews about the final installment from readers whose opinions I very much respect. On top of that, I got spoiled to the major plot twist that happens in this book so I was incredibly trepidatious when I started this one up.

The result: I didn't hate it but there are things that irked me. I'm a science geek so I kinda dug on the genetic experimentation aspect of the book, its not the turn that I expected any of this to take when Insurgent ended but I wasn't upset about it either.

What got under my skin though, was the way the story-telling flipped back and forth between Tris and Four.  Even though I know why it had to be done this way, I didn't feel like either one of them had a strong enough voice to make either of them distinct. I was constantly flipping back to the beginning of each chapter to see who was actually speaking to make everything to make sense.

I wish this was a better ending (and I definitely wish I hadn't spent half of the book waiting for what I knew was going to happen) but I didn't hate it either.

Goodreads rating: 3 stars

Read date March 22, 2014

#14 - Travelling Sprinkler by Nicholson Baker

This was a fun find from browsing the Overdrive audio book library and found good feedback on Goodreads that intrigued me.  The final result: this is quirk done right.  This is one of those books that I would classify as a "writers novel", it gets to the heart of what goes on inside the head of the author and runs as a stream of consciousness through his character, Paul Chowder.

Whereas other reviewers I have seen found his forays about the bassoon and music distracting, I found the musical references fitting and somehow appropriate to the feelings that the narrator was going through.

Listening to this book as opposed to reading it was like having a friend in my car telling me stories about his day.  Paul Chowder's voice was like that of one of my friends from high school or college in is eccentricity and made the whole book very enjoyable.

Goodreads rating: 4 stars

Read date: March 17, 2014

#13 - Memoirs of an Invisible Friend by Matthew Dicks

Many thanks to my posse girl Mandi for sharing this sweet book with me.  I remember the two of us wandering the aisles of Target on my birthday last year when she picked it up.  I'm so glad that she did!

This is a novel that really captured the voice, imagination and innocence of a child.  Max is a young boy with autism and the internal dialogue that is used very closely echoes the behaviors and challenges that my friends who are raising children with autism relay back to me. Budo is the imaginary friend and the author builds an entire alternate world in which imaginary friends can talk to other imaginary friends.  Some of the things that Dicks says about the friends are so interesting - how most don't have eyebrows because kids never think about eyebrows when creating an imaginary friends, some only have heads, or distortions because they are at the will of this child who needs them - until they don't.

Although sweetly written I had a massive challenge with the fact that Budo has the ability to leave his child. I could suspend reality up until the point where, in the moment that Max needs him most, Budo is off wandering somewhere else. That sort of defeats the purpose of an imaginary friend in my opinion so it knocked a star off of my rating.

Goodreads rating 4 stars

Read date: March 7, 2014

#12 - Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

I was just transported back to my college years when we all fell to the bible of dating neuroticism that was Bridget Jones Diary.  It was a complete jolt to reality that Bridget is now 50 (!?!?) and it took me some time to adjust to the fact that nearly 20 years have passed since we first met our hapless heroine stumbling through her 30's.  Damned if it doesn't make me feel older than I need to though.

Helen Fielding is a very brave soul with the direction that she took with this installment of Bridget Jones <sidenote: this is going to be hard to write without being spoilerific> but I understand why she did - that decision kept this book with the same feeling and rhythm as the first two but its just not what I wanted for this character with whom I once so closely related.

Regardless, this is a must read for any of us single chicks who entered the world of chick lit while it was still new and exciting.

Goodreads rating: 4 stars rounded up for nostalgia's sake...

Read date: March 4, 2014

#11 - Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by John Boyne

A big thank you to John Boyne, Macmillan Publishing, and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of "Stay Where You Are and Then Leave" by John Boyne.

Even though this book is listed as Children's/YA, after my experiences with "The Boy In the Striped Pajamas" I knew that this would not be your typical kids book.  Set in World War I London, its the story of how a nine year old boy's life gets turned upside down when his father enlists for wartime service.

It's always an interesting perspective to see things like war through the lens of a child.  It's easy to forget how the people on the homefront are affected when the father figure and breadwinner is taken off for military service.  Boys have to grow up before their time, mothers who once were able to focus on child rearing and home making are thrust into the workforce against their  will to keep the household running and then, when it is over, many times the men do not come back the same.

One of the themes that Boyne does a lovely job of capturing is the mental illness that afflicts many of the soldiers that return home from battle.  Even today the care for these men is feeble at best.

My big complaint is the ending - there seems to be a little red bow that ties up all of the ends and its not necessarily in a believable way, but I will chalk that up to the genre rather than a flaw of the book itself.  I will be interested to see what my 13 year old stepson thinks when I have him read it as well.

Goodreads rating: 4 stars.