Seven Letters: J.P. Monninger (A book published in 2019)

I was so excited when I won this book. I love books about or in Ireland and about or with Irish people. They just make my heart so happy, so I was really excited to win an ARC of this book from a Goodreads Giveaway. This book will be published in October, 2019.

My favorite part of the book was reading the landscape descriptions of Ireland. Every time the Monninger introduced a new landscape, I had to Google it so that I could fully visualize the location, and while that was fun, it made me yearn to visit Ireland all the more, which isn't super helpful...

I enjoyed the first half a lot; I really enjoyed watching the relationship of Ozzie and Kate, and I remember being so confused when they get married and it's not even halfway through the book. I was thinking, "What else can possible happen during the rest of the novel?" Then lots more happened, which was nice.

I struggle to explain how I feel about this book. I had a lot of thoughts in different directions. Yes, I loved watching the romance bloom, but it happened too fast to be believable in any way. There were never conversations (at least, no conversations for the readers to be a part of) that helped grow the relationship to the point we were to believe it was at. They spent a lot of time together, sure, but I never understood how they grew to be in love to the point of marriage.

Which is why I wasn't surprised at all when the marriage ended in the separation. They had no depth to the relationship. It was built on hormones and lust. I can't imaging that works well.

However, even the separation caused me much confusion. They are sailing, they hit a storm, and all of the sudden, Kate realizes that she married a monster, is how I interpret her feelings. So she runs from him. And she never looks back. And that's the part where Monninger really lost me. I didn't understand why she just left without even contacting Ozzie, without even trying or communicating with him at all. She just leaves. And part of the confusion is that I don't understand why she leaves in the first place. Maybe it's because she finally starts to understand how little she actually knows him.

But even then, they never actually get divorced. It seems like all along, Kate is hopping and thinking that Ozzie will come running to her again and they can start fresh. But she never does anything for the relationship, and starts dating other men, never actually letting go of her relationship with Ozzie. Again, for reasons that are confusing to me.

But of course. The book can't end there.

Death strikes, and Kate has to go on this soul searching adventures to find answers for her husband, and I guess along the way heals from the loss? But again, I don't understand this. There relationship seemed surface level at best. There was no depth. There was nothing to support it. Why did she travel the world for answers? Who knows.

Then Ozzie returns, of course, and they live happily ever after... together. What? Why? How? I have no idea.

So to summarize.

I loved the book because I love all things Ireland. I loved the landscapes and the sights and the sounds and the smells that Monninger evokes through the detailed writing. I love the cute doggie. I hate everything else.

The Name of the Wind: Patrick Rothfuss (A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature)

As a rule, I don't like fantasy. My one exception has thus far been Harry Potter. I guess I always had trouble getting caught up in things that are way beyond the possibilities of this life. With this book, however, that was not the case.

I was so intimidated a. by the length of this book and b. by the fact that it's a fantasy novel, but enough people told me to read it, so I did. It took me quite a bit to get into the book. I'm talking about 100 pages, which out of 700ish isn't really that bad. Once I got into it, I really got into it.

I think what captured me was the extraordinary science behind Kvote's learning. It was beautiful and excellent and magical. I wanted it to be as real as the glass of water sitting next to me. I wanted to learn all the Kvote was learning, and I was fascinated by the progress and scope of the teaching he received.

My favorite parts were definitely anything that happened at the University. That's where you have the best enemy, the best friends, the love interest, and, most importantly to me, the vast majority of his learning. And every chapter ended with me wondering if he would be expelled in the next chapter because much of what he did warranted expulsion.

Another fascinating aspect occurred to me as I picked the second book off my shelf. The book says, "The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two." Then I realized that this whole book is the span of one day. 722 pages make up one day. The second book is over 1000 pages, but it's just day two. I'm glad I only just now figured that out because otherwise that would have made it hard for me to keep going.

But I loved the way this book is written. Kvote is narrating his life to an audience of two, and sometimes you get a bit of what is happening in the present, but that's not what's important. I'm sure it will be important later on, but for now, the past matters. It helped keep me engrossed in the story. Switching back to Kvote's present made me yearn for the past and helped keep the momentum going for me.

There are parts with dragons and demons that aren't super great for me because that's not my kind of book, but even those are find to read. I got through them, and I can say that I somewhat enjoyed them. I'm sure there will be more of that in the future books, which I'm not looking forward to, but given how much I enjoyed this first book, I'll enjoy those aspects as well.

The length of this book was the only thing that made it challenging for me. The writing is really easy to understand and follow. Rothfuss writes in a way that is simple yet exciting and engaging. He sucks his readers right in!

"I learned to love the feel of good words."

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.

Scrappy Little Nobody: Anna Kendrick (A book written by a musician)

This was my first foray into the world of memoirs, and I think I liked it. I'll admit that it took me a long time to get into it. A memoir, at least this memoir, is like reading someone's journal. They edit the journal and only include the stories they think are important, but you're nonetheless reading someone's journal.

A friend told me the other day that having to listen to someone's dreams from the previous night is the worst thing you can do to a person. All dreams are are "had to be there" moments. And I feel this is very true for Kendrick's life. Most of the stories are "had to be there" stories, and clearly, I wasn't there. I chuckled at a few of her tales, but for the most part, I kept asking myself, "Why am I reading this?" or "Why was it necessary to include this story?"

This is a very minor complaint, but I was also bummed that she didn't include anything from The Last Five Years which is my favorite of her works that I've seen. When I decided to read the book, I was excited to hear her take on that musical, but she didn't really give her take on anything she was in, which I guess makes sense because that's not the point I guess?

Which does lead me to another question: What is the point of this memoir? Is it supposed to lead to some earth shattering revelation in it's readers? Are we supposed to feel good about ourselves in the end because now we know that Anna Kendrick is a completely normal, down-to-earth human being? Are we just supposed to laugh a few times? Is there a lesson? Or is it just pointless? I'd like to hear from Kendrick herself as to why she wrote the book. Was it just another way for her to make money, or did she have a grander purpose in writing? Perhaps she has said as much somewhere, and if so, please direct me there. I'm very curious.

It took me two weeks to get through this, not because it was long but because I had to convince myself to keep going every time I thought about it. And that's because, again, I didn't understand why I was reading it. I was reading someone's reflection on their life, and this person is only 33, so really, she hasn't lived much life. Maybe I'm missing the entire point of memoirs (very possible as this is my first). I won't give up on the genre because there are a lot of people I want to read a memoir about. Anna Kendrick just isn't one of those people. I chose to read this because I needed to fulfill a category for my reading challenge: a book written by a musician, and someone suggested this. 

The book itself was well-written and had some fun pictures sporadically placed throughout, which was a nice addition. Aside from having to convince myself to keep reading, it was a very easy read. It just wasn't a fun read, as I thought it would be.

My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel: Kitty Curran (A "choose-your-own-adventure" book)

This was actually a terrible book. I tried to convince myself that it was good for what it was: a choose-your-own-adventure romance book, but even with that in mind, it was bad.

Someone in my reading challenge Goodreads group recommended this to fulfill the CYOA, and I thought it sounded interesting! It wasn't.

I thought it would be fun to read a CYOA book meant for adults, because I remember liking those as a kid. Every time you read the book, you could get a completely different story, and the same is true for this one. I followed two different paths, just to see, but each were no good.

It's hard because I'm sure a lot of the plot was written to fit the theme of the book, but what plot there was sorely lacked creativity and originality. The author tried to throw in curve balls and plot twists, but none of then flew for me.

The writing also lacked quite a bit for me. It was difficult to get through and hard to get involved in the story, which is no fun, especially when I'm playing a part in how the story goes.

It's written in third-person which helps add to the CYOA aspect, and I think I decided that I like that point of view. It is a challenge, though, when the "you" of the book is just a terrible and poorly written character. That takes away from the reading quite a bit. None of the characters are developed at all, but again, I suppose that has something to do with making this book a CYOA.

I definitely would not recommend this book, and I definitely will not read it again.