Book Review: The Execution of Noa P. Singleton (Elizabeth L. Silver)

In Elizabeth L. Silver’s debut novel The Execution of Noa. P. Singleton, the reader counts down the months until the title character is put to death for her murder crime.  As is often the case with books nowadays, Silver switches back and forth between time periods…very effectively I might add. 

As Noa is waiting for her November execution date for the murder of Sara, she gets a prison visit from two people: Oliver, a new lawyer eager to look into her case and surprisingly, Sara’s mother, Marlene.  Marlene has had a change of heart since Noa’s trial, and even though she still believes Noa killed her daughter, she does not want her to die for it.  Noa does not want any part of clemency because of the guilt she feels over a twist I guarantee you won’t see coming. With the narrative told in present day, by Noa herself, and through Marlene’s letters to a deceased Sara, the reader is in for a treat with a multidimensional, layered tale that’s filled with suspense.

That being said, the ending was disappointing and was left way too open-ended for my liking. With the exception of one or two characters, none of them were very likeable or entirely innocent for that matter.  However, for a debut novel, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton is fascinating and Silver definitely kept me reading into the night…until she left me hanging at the end.

MY RATING - 4

Book Review: Between You and Me (Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus)

The authors of the wildly successful The Nanny Diaries have written a book that explores the darker side of fame.  Obviously using the troubled life of a pop star we all know as inspiration, Between You and Me reiterates the fact that someone who is rich and famous can also be very lonely and sad.

Logan Wade is trying to distance herself from her unhappy childhood in Oklahoma. At the spur of the moment, she finds herself accepting a job in California as her very famous cousin Kelsey's assistant. Logan hasn't seen Kelsey in a long time for a reason we don't find out about until the end; however, she has been very unlucky-in-love, and sees this job as a new start for herself. It doesn't take Logan long to see that Kelsey has a very troubled life, especially in her relationship with her overbearing parents, Andy and Michelle. As Kelsey begins to pull away from them, she makes horrible decisions in her quest for a more normal life, and Logan must desperately try to save her cousin from herself.

The main problem with Between You and Me is the unlikable main characters. They were written in such a way that I can't really say I was rooting for any of them to succeed. I also felt that the Logan/Kelsey secret was brushed over too much and resolved way too quickly. However, if you're looking for a breezy book for some light reading on the beach, Between You and Me will suffice.

MY RATING - 3

Book Review: Happy This Year! (Will Bowen)

Back in 2006, I became very intrigued by Will Bowen's initiative and subsequent book, A Complaint Free World.  The idea seemed simple enough...ask for a free purple bracelet from their website (you could really use just any old bracelet or even a rubber band) and change wrists every time you complained about something.  The goal was to make it 21 straight days without changing wrists.  Now, I consider myself to be a fairly positive person, so I thought for sure this would be a no-brainer for me.  Imagine my surprise when I found myself having to change the bracelet many times the first day...and the second day...and so on.  I haven't yet completed the program, but I do start it quite a lot!

I was thrilled to get Bowen's latest, Happy This Year! The Secret to Getting Happy Once and for All.  Again, I am generally a happy person, but sometimes life gets in the way.  Bowen offers step-by-step instructions and real-life examples illustrating how your thoughts, words, and actions can all get in the way of your happiness.  He insists that you and only you control your own happiness, and I found myself saying "A-ha!" quite a lot to myself as I listened to the audio book.

Some of the ideas seem a little hokey, like using the word "Abracadabra!" to wipe away any unhappy feelings.  However, there are quite a few helpful ideas here that seem new to the very busy "happiness self-help field."  While A Complaint Free World is still the book that had the most effect on me, there is still much knowledge to be gained from Happy This Year!

MY RATING - 3

Book Review: The Bookman's Tale (Charlie Lovett)

A book about books…my cup of tea.  In The Bookman’s Tale: A Novel of Obsession, Charlie Lovett has written a story that’s perfect for the true bibliophile.  At times, I couldn’t put it down; at other times, I struggled to get through Lovett’s overly melodramatic sentences.  However, it’s a worthwhile read for many…one that seamlessly transitions between various time periods.

Peter Byerly is an antiquarian bookseller with severe social anxiety issues, which are made even worse by the untimely death of the love of his life, Amanda.  He often goes out of his way not to deal with people and is only semi-happy nowadays when he’s with his old books.  One day, as he’s perusing the books of a possible client, he comes across the Holy Grail of the bookselling business, one that could silence forever the doubters that Shakespeare was the author of his own plays.  As he tries to prove the authenticity of this find on what could be a very dangerous investigation, Lovett blends together the mysterious history of the book and the beginnings of Peter’s great love affair.

I found part of The Bookman’s Tale absolutely fascinating; however, Peter and Amanda’s relationship was almost saccharine sweet.  I’m sure this was written like this to make Peter’s loss that much harder.  However, for me, it was quite jarring to go from reading about this priceless book to Peter and Amanda’s…ahem…numerous times together…on the rare book room’s floor.  Because of this, I liked it, but I did not love it.

MY RATING - 3

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)

Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is usually shelved in the young adult section at the bookstore and in the library.  In fact, I know of many schools that teach it in the 8^th or 9^th grade.  However, PLEASE do not let that keep you from reading this wonderful novel.  For in The Book Thief, you won’t find a wizard, vampire, or bow and arrow in sight; what you will find is Death as the narrator and one of the most beautifully written (and heartbreaking) books of the modern time.  It is literature….and it is literature at its very best.

Where do I begin with how much I loved this book?  Let’s start with Death, the character who takes on this extraordinary journey, telling us the story of Liesel, a girl growing up in Germany during the Holocaust.  At a young age, Liesel saw her brother die, just as the both of them were on their way to a foster home.  At the cemetery, Liesel picked up her first book…one that fell out of a gravedigger’s pocket.  After a tough beginning, she grew to love her new parents, especially Papa.  When a Jewish man shows up at the door, Mama and Papa take him in to hide in the basement.  Liesel and Max develop a friendship that’s based on their love of words.  Max even paints over his copy of Mein Kampf (yes, a Jewish man had the book but used it for a completely different purpose), turning an absolutely hated book into something completely different. 

Throughout the story, Death shows us all of Liesel’s relationships during one of the most tragic times in history.  Zusak does this in the most imaginative way; Death, knowing everything that is going to happen, often tells us the ending first in the most shocking matter-of-fact way.  Only then does he go back to fill in the blanks of what happened.  Of course, most of us hate when someone tells us the ending before we even read the story, but I promise you, in Zusak’s magical hands, it works beautifully.

Between the lyrical language and heartbreaking content, Zusak has written one of the most powerful books I have ever read.  It will stay with me for a long time.

MY RATING - 5

The Book of Secrets (Elizabeth Joy Arnold)

I seem to be on a completely unintentional kick of reading novels with the word "book" in the title.  My "currently reading" list includes Charlie Lovett's The Bookman's Tale and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. There is something about the word "book" that is just so comforting...curling up and going into another world for a little while.  The closing of so many bookstores lately is really alarming to me.  I've gone kicking and screaming into the e-Reader age, but I'm certainly not happy about it.  Elizabeth Joy Arnold's The Book of Secrets seems to be written for people like me, those who love nothing better than to take a book off the bookstore or library shelf and lose themselves in its pages.

Chloe and Nate grew up together in a small town.  Almost every day, Chloe would go over to Nate's house, where the two of them, along with Nate's two sisters, would put on plays based on books.  The children were homeschooled by Nate's mother, Mrs. Sinclair, until she became severely ill.  Chloe hardly ever saw Mr. Sinclair, but when he surprisingly came home early one day, it wasn't hard to see why the children seemed afraid of him.  The Sinclair house had a lot of dark secrets, some of which do not come to light until Chloe and Nate have a son, get married, and open a bookstore together.  When Nate disappears one day, Chloe discovers that he's gone back to their small town to see his family for answers.  Chloe goes after him, of course, and finds the answer to the biggest secret of all.

The final mystery is fairly simple to figure out; however, don't let that stop you from reading this wonderful book.  Arnold imbues the novel with tons of literary references, codes, and dark secrets, making this far from a "fluff" book about a bookstore.

MY RATING - 4

In the Garden of Beasts (Erik Larson)

It’s not always the easiest task to review a work of nonfiction. While with fiction, the reviewer can concentrate on how interesting the characters and plot developments are, she can’t do that with nonfiction. Every word Larson writes is true and well researched using a plethora of sources. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin tells the story of an American ambassador who was one of the only ones who recognized the unprecedented danger of the Fuhrer. When he tried to tell his colleagues back home as well as President Roosevelt, he wasn’t taken seriously enough for the terrible damage to be contained.

Ask almost anyone if they have ever heard of William Dodd, and chances are, they will look at you with a blank stare. But he was a very important historical figure, acting as the American ambassador to Germany during the rise of the Nazi regime. Larson tells the story of Dodd’s surprising ascent to the role, like a fish out of water, and the family’s eventual move to Berlin. Once there, the reader is taken deeply into the terrifying regime, where names like Hitler, Goebbels, Goring, Himmler, and Diels made their unfathomable marks in history. Today in the modern day, one cannot understand why things weren’t done to overthrow the government and deal with the unimaginable injustices, but Larson explores why many German people and foreign leaders just accepted the status quo…some even going so far as to glorify Hitler.

The best nonfiction books delve thoroughly into the subject matter without disrespecting their subjects. Larson does a masterful job at this, never spoon feeding his readers or mincing words. This is a story that deserves to be told, and the author does a masterful job at it.

MY RATING - 4