4 3 2 1: Paul Auster (A book with unusual, strange, or unconventional chapter headings)

I was absolutely fascinated by the premise of this book: four different possible lives of the same person. I was so excited to dig in and get going on this adventure. I wasn't disappointed, but it was very difficult for me to make it through the book. This was my first Paul Auster book, and I've heard good things about his writing, but now that I know what his writing is like, I'm not sure how I feel.

It definitely isn't the light-hearted read I imagined nor was it an easy read. The density was overpowering in many places. It was such a huge book; at several points, I thought it would never end.

Part of what helped, was that a lot of the book consisted of political going-ons and people, about which I couldn't care less. I'm sure that I missed out on a lot of the depth and meaning behind the book, but I skimmed over a majority of that. I don't feel like this ruined the book for me; I enjoyed it immensely. I'm sure if I were to do a real review or write an article or essay on it, I'd have to go back and reread those sections to connect them with the rest of the book. Especially when the last few pages are solely about the politics, I'm sure politics plays a bigger role than I assigned them.

Another issue that I had, which I again solved by skimming, were Auster's long sentences. They were Dickensian in style, but most of them I found to be longer than the average Dickens' sentence. They were just massive sentences, which makes sense considering how massive this novel was.

As to the story itself, I found it really interesting to consider the multitude of different paths a person could take. This book only had four different lives, but in each of those lives, Ferguson made many choices, and those four lives could have gone in any which direction. Where he goes to college, who his friends are, his relationship with his parents, his sexuality, his pen name, his death are just a few of the differences he faces in his four different lives.

And yet, some of the big things remain the same. For Ferguson, no matter which way his life went, he was destined to be a writer. No matter where he went to school (if he went to school), who he dated, where he lived, he had to write. I think that's an interesting thing to consider. Are we all born with these innate desires that won't change no matter what decisions we make in life?

I also enjoyed that in each story, the same people are central to his life. The same girlfriends or boyfriends, the same friends, the same relatives, they all play a role in his life, no matter his choice. The same people entered his life in different ways, times, and places, but they entered his life.

Overall, this was a good read. I have to take a break from Auster now, though, because I don't think I could handle another book like this for a few weeks, at least. I don't mind a challenge, but this book wasn't interesting enough to make me enjoy the challenge. Maybe his other books are different, but I need a break.

I'm using this as my strange chapter headings even though I might be stretching it to make it fit. Each chapter was numbered according to the life it was about. For example, 1.1 was about the first life, 1.2 was about the second life, 1.3 about the third, and 1.4 about the fourth. Then you got into 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4, and so on. I really enjoyed this because it helped me to keep track of which Ferguson I was reading about. It was also really sad that even after there was a death, there was still the chapter heading listed, but nothing was written in the chapter, which was a sad reminder of what had happened. Instead of completely erasing that character, he still took up space in the book.

The 6:41 to Paris: Jean-Philippe Blondel (A book that takes place in a single day)

This was a very fun little read. I was skimming the shelves at the library, and I completely chose this book because of the cover. The cover is cool and makes the book seem interesting, which it ended up being, so score!

I want to call this a psychological drama, but that makes it sound like an episode of CSI or Criminal Minds. No crimes occur in this novel, it really is just a psychological journey into the history of two middle-aged folks who dated when they were young. The back calls it a psychological thriller, but I think that's going a bit too far. It's not really thrilling, it's just dramatic.

First, I enjoyed the writing a lot. The book is written in first person, and each chapter switches perspective from Cecile to Philippe, maintaining that first person. The transitions between characters were smooth and seamless. The reader just rolled along with the narrator, whoever it was at the time. It was very easy to follow along, even though the chapters don't have any headings or numbers. Sometimes, it took a second to catch up, but only when the pages had dialogue in the middle and when it went back it could be a bit difficult to figure out whose perspective it was, but it was usually easy to discover who was doing the thinking at the time.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed a book where only five or six sentences are actually spoken. The rest of the book is just the thoughts of two people who interact three times.

I can't explain why it was a page-turner. Nothing happens, and nothing will happen, but I had to keep reading. I think I wanted to know exactly what happened with them, how they were going to end this "awkward" train ride, and if they were going to have a conversation about the past. The style of writing helps keep up the urgency I felt while reading. I had to keep going; I had to keep reading because I needed to know.

It's also cool that only two hours pass during the 146 pages of this book. It's just the length of a train ride into Paris. I'm impressed that an author can write a book where absolutely nothing happens, time hardly passes, and yet readers are intrigued and turning the pages rapidly throughout the whole story.

It was a good read. It wasn't life altering or changing, and I'll probably never read it again, but it was fun and easy! It took me about an hour (less time than passes in the book), and I had fun reading it!

The Accomplished Guest: Ann Beattie (a book with a plant on the cover)

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Beatrice has a writing style that completely captured me and wouldn't let me go.

Each story that I read made me want more of the story. Each story could have been a novel; I wanted so much more information than the short stories gave. I think that's a sign of great writing.

I had a lot of fun trying to figure out what the title meant it where the title came from. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure most of the stories out.

I found this to be an interesting read full of deeper meaning that if I took the time, I could pull out and share. Each story deals with loss, pain, loneliness, guests, and hosting in some way, and I think Beattie chose an interesting theme to center the book around: guests. It provides readers a different way to think about hosting or being a guest. She also provides readers with ways of dealing with pain and heartbreak, which I thought was lovely.