Reading A to Z: L is for Lamb

I became a fan of Wally Lamb, as did most of America, after reading I Know This Much Is True. It was recommended to me at the time by someone for whom I babysat. The story about two adult male twins. One has paranoid schizophrenia. The other is suffering from PTSD from all of the stress in his life. The story unfolds as Dominic, the non-schizophrenic twin, analyzes his life on a therapist's couch and reads the family history through his grandfather's autobiography.


I followed that one with She's Come Undone. Again, the story struck me to the core. It's about a woman who eats her way through her depression, until she is morbidly obese. When she goes to college, she ends up worsening her self-esteem through a series of unhealthy relationships and obsessions. She takes a walk on the beach and sees a beached whale dying. She feels inspired and tries to commit suicide in the water. Her failure institutionalizes her and she tries to come to terms with her life.


The only other book of his that I have read is The Hour I First Believed. This one follows a couple whose lives were forever changed by the shootings at Columbine. Caelum and his wife Maureen were both teachers at the school. In fact, Maureen was hiding in a cabinet during the shootings, not sure that she would even survive. She never got over it.

After some time, the couple moves away from Littleton, Colorado to start over on a farm in Connecticut. Unfortunately, some things just cannot be mended with a change of scenery. Some things stay too deeply inside you and must be addressed there.


Wally Lamb also has a couple of other books. I own Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story, but have not yet had a chance to read it. I am sure it will just as moving as these other three.

Reading A to Z: K is for Krakauer

I first fell in love with Jon Krakauer's writing when I read Into the Wild. I read the book after watching the movie. I was drawn to the story. And having Eddie Vedder create the soundtrack made it worthwhile. So, I went and purchased the book. I was fascinated.


After reading that, I decided to check out Into Thin Air. Jon Krakauer was one of the people up on Mt. Everest during that horrendous storm that led to the largest death toll at one time on the mountain. That book was his account. It is the one that got me hooked on adventure stories. I now devour books about mountain climbing and hiking.


Jon Krakauer is also someone who helped to expose Greg Mortensen's lies in his book Three Cups of Tea. Krakauer and others discovered that the book was not entirely truthful. He published his short book Three Cups of Deceipt in 2011.


Krakauer used to write regularly for my favorite magazine, Outside, prior to embarking upon his career writing books. He likes to dive into the middle of his research, actually living what he writes. It helps to make his writing quite interesting to read.

Reading A to Z: J is for James

I feel like a literary slacker. I have never read the two big James. I am referring to James Joyce and Henry James. I own books by both of them. They are on my bookshelf in my library on the "classic authors" shelf, but have been collecting dust over the past years. It isn't from a lack of wanting to read them. I do. I just haven't gotten around to it, because something else always catches my eye. I also fear being completely underwhelmed when I finally get around to it.

Henry James was born in New York and was friends with the likes of Edith Wharton and Henry David Thoreau, both of whom I have read. His books at the top of my list are A Portrait of a Lady and The Turn of the Screw. Those are two of his most famous.


James Joyce, on the other hand, was born in Ireland. It seems to be a rite of passage to make your way through Ulysses, which is currently on my bookshelf. I have heard it can be dry and tedious, but all must read it. I have heard good things about his short story collection, The Dubliners. And of course, everyone knows his classic Finnegan's Wake. 


Some how, some way, I will get around to reading some of these classics. And then perhaps I will feel more fulfilled.

Reading A to Z: I is for Irving

Ichabod Crane is the main character in one of the first scary stories I ever read. He stars in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a short story by Washington Irving. Ichabod is a superstitious teacher who moves to Sleepy Hollow to work in their school. While preachy in the classroom, he is quite the hypocrite, often engaging in excess. One night, following a party at which his proposal of marriage to his beloved was refused, he is making his way home. He reaches a bridge and encounters the Headless Horseman, a Hessian soldier who was decapitated. He thinks he has made it safely across the bridge, but then the horseman knocks Ichabod off of his horse when it throws its severed head at him. Ichabod is never heard from nor seen again.

It's a classic story and evokes all kinds of creepy images. It is so iconic that it was made into both a Disney movie and a few times into a horror movie (including the Johnny Depp version).


Washington Irving is also famous for his short story about Rip Van Winkle, the man who fell asleep for 20 years. This one is also classic and has been retold time and time again, especially in the form of a children's story.

Adaptations have their merit, but it is always best to visit the original.

Reading A to Z: H is for Hornby

Nick Hornby is my other male British chick-lit-with-a-male-protagonist love in life. You know him, too, even if you don't realize it. Do you remember John Cusack's movie High Fidelity? That was based on a Hornby book. How about Fever Pitch with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon? That was based on Hornby's book, also, that was actually somewhat of a memoir. And then there was About a Boy that starred Hugh Grant. See?



You also know of him for adapting the screenplay for the Oscar-nominated film An Education. He has also regularly contributed to the magazine The Believer. I have read him all over the place.



When I was perusing websites to help me keep track of some of his other books, I came across a tidbit that says that Johnny Depp is going to produce A Long Way Down. That book wrecked me. A group of people all want to commit suicide on New Years Eve, and end up saving each other. There's even a bit of humor thrown in there. It will be interesting to see how that movie pans out.



My least favorite book by Nick Hornby was Juliet, Naked. It's about a woman who ends up corresponding with Tucker Crowe, who is her boyfriend Duncan's favorite musician. Duncan is obsessed with Tucker, to the point where he starts to ignore Annie. But Annie finds herself drawn to Tucker, creating quite the interesting love triangle. Somehow, I felt unsatisfied when it ended.



One of my all-time favorites is actually a young adult novel of his called Slam. It's about teenage pregnancy, told from the boy's point-of-view. Sam obviously isn't ready to become a dad at the tender age of 16, especially not with his now EX-girlfriend. This book is a coming-of-age kind of story that takes a fresh look at a common topic, from a different point-of-view.



Nick Hornby is a great storyteller, whose characters are often real and can ersonate with both men and women. I love him for a relaxing escape.

Review of Confusing the Seasons

Dan Cavallari's debut novel, Confusing the Seasons, is an intense story chronicling the men of the Coates family. Einar William Coates is adjusting to life without his beloved wife, who recently passed away. She was the glue that held them all together. She always knew what to say and how to handle all of their precarious situations. Jason, the younger son, is adjusting to life without his wife, who left him after finding out he had an affair. Robert seems to still hold a grudge against Jason for childhood battles and for causing his limp. Einar's daughter Bethany has her own problems, with a husband named Askar who can't seem to put down his phone long enough to acknowledge her existence.


Each member of the family is completely screwed up in one way or another. No one seems to know how to have a productive relationship with anyone else. They don't even seem to love themselves. Secrets in all of their pasts seem to continue to eat away at their lives and snowball as more revelations surface. When they try to mend their relationships and resolve some of their past issues, they only seem to succeed in making everything worse. You go from feeling sorry for a character to wanting to punch him in the face and to shake him for being so small-minded and stupid. But you can't stop reading. I found myself waking up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, until I had read a couple more chapters.

The story of the Coates family is a painful one. Cavallari doesn't attempt to sugar coat anything. He doesn't come up with tidy resolutions to conflict. People like to read something that wraps up everything with a big shiny bow. You aren't going to get that here. Life doesn't work that way.

Cavallari seamlessly goes from the past to the present, to help explain the background of each family member's story. As more is revealed, their stories all seem to come together to lead up to the final showdown, which will surprise you. Confusing the Seasons is a book that is going to stay with you long after you read it.



I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookRooster in exchange for my honest review.

Review of Sara's Laughter

Sara's Laughter by Tom Milton is about 35 year-old Sara who has endometriosis and cannot conceive a child. She and her husband really want to have their own children and will try whatever they can, up to a point. Sara is a devout Catholic and does not want to overstep her religious boundaries. Technology is frowned upon, though it would probably be her only hope.

Sara's mother had always admonished her for waiting so long to get married. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes to conceive. Her father is still blinded by his prejudice against her Latino husband and insists there shouldn't be any problems. For a while, she can find some comfort in her best friend Regina, who is also having difficulty conceiving a baby.

A dream in which God tells Sara's husband that she is going to have a baby keeps Sara's hopes alive. When her sister Becky gets pregnant from an extramarital affair, it seems like her prayers are answered. After all, Becky never wanted children and really does not want this one. When Becky decides to change her plan of action, Sara's rage and frustration brings out a crazy side of her that she never knew existed.



I chose this book to review from BookCrash because I thought I could possibly relate to the main character's situation. It was an easy read, which I completed within a few hours spread out over a few days. I did not, however, relate to the intense religious debate. I was brought up in Protestant churches and using technology to facilitate contraception has never been a topic of discussion. I was able to relate to the frustration of not being able to have the family about which you have dreamed your entire life.

Sara gets herself into a precarious situation, that takes you somewhat by surprise. Without giving away any spoilers, I will say that I did not forsee her situation. But once it was introduced, I had somewhat of an idea of which direction it would turn. Her situation seems rather far-fetched, but has probably happened to people in the past. It is a situation that would spark some hot debate in some book reading groups. (And the author has included his own book club guide in the back of the book in addition to an interview with him.)

I felt like the ending wrapped up too quickly and too nicely. Then again, miracles do happen in this world. Another difficulty I had with the book was the constant moving back and forth between the past and the present. I appreciated the background knowledge about Sara's relationship with her husband. But the flashbacks were interspersed in such a way that I often had to back up to determine whether it was a current situation or a flashback. Even some subtle differences in the formatting would have created more clarity. Instead of a row of asterisks or even a different chapter, there was just a little extra spacing. And some of the information presented in Sara's past seemed to directly contradict her beliefs and decisions that she has to make during the present story.

That all being said, I did actually enjoy reading most of the book.


I received a complimentary copy from the author via BookCrash, in exchange for my honest review.

Not leaving A to Z!

I feel like I need to put a post on all of my blogs. Yes, I am WAY behind on the challenge. Life keeps getting in my way. I should have listened to that gut instinct of mine that said, "Write them early!" Lol

Anyway, I have a ton of writing time coming up again soon and will be cranking them out and I WILL finish this month! On all of them! Promise!!

Reading A to Z: G is for Gayle

Mike Gayle is a British author upon whom I happened by chance. It was just before my 30th birthday. I was wandering the used section at my local Barnes and Noble and saw a book called Turning Thirty. Considering the timing, I thought it was appropriate. I picked it up and was able to read through most of it in one setting.

Matt Beckford is about to turn 30 and feels like his life is in order. He has a great job, a stellar music collection, and a great girlfriend. His life was in order. But now Elaine has left him. And he has to move back in with his parents. They are on his butt about all kinds of things, though they mean well.

He decides to get back in touch with his old crew to see how they are doing. A lot has changed, but he and Ginny seem to still be attracted to each other. They had a lot of off and on when they were younger. Is it really wise to start that up again at this age?


After reading this book I kept joking that I was obviously really a black British man. Though my situation was obviously different than his, I still found myself relating to a lot of the issues in this book. So, I decided to check out some of other books.
I haven't yet read all of Mike Gayle's books, but I have not been disappointed with those I have read. 
In My Legendary Girlfriend, Will is unable to let go of Aggi, The One That Got Away. Even though it has been three years, he can't stop thinking about her. He still dreams of having a reunion with her and often compares his new girl to her. Martina just can't measure up to Aggi. How much longer will he prolong his relationship with her?


This was Mike Gayle's first novel. While it isn't his best, many people can relate to the heartache of losing the one you think is perfect for you. You pine away, even when you think you have moved on. And you have to learn how to appreciate what you have right in front of you.

One of my favorites was The To-Do List. Written more like a memoir than a fictional novel, Mike Gayle takes us deep into his own life. Approaching his mid-30s, Gayle feels like he is still nowhere near being a grown-up. On the eve of his birthday, he pens a To-Do list of everything he has always wanted to do. And he vows that this time he will get it finished. With over 1000 items, it seems an insurmountable task. But he is able to achieve the real goal, which is happiness with his life as is.


I remember sitting outside reading this book while relaxing on my lawn chair. Again, it was around one of my birthdays. I am just a few years younger than Mike Gayle, so I wasn't quite at that mid-30s point that he was when I first read the book. But I could relate to the need to feel like there was so much to be done to truly embrace adulthood. Again, I was able to relate to this male "character" quite well.

Mike Gayle's books are like chick lit with a male protagonist. Men can also relate to his humorous stories. I sometimes have a hard time finding his books, because he is a British author. On occasion I can find one used, or get a good deal through Amazon or Barnes & Noble.