The Rainmaker: John Grisham (Book set on a college or university campus)

I'm kind of stretching it a bit as really, only about the first 30 pages or so are on a college campus, but Rudy has the feel of a student throughout the whole book, so I figure it works fine.

I've come across a lot of Grisham in the past, but I've never actually finished a book of his before this one. I picked this book up somewhere and it's been sitting on my shelf for years, and I decided this was the week to read it. So I plowed my way through...

Part of my problem with Grisham is that he takes so long to get to the point. I get so bored in the beginning and sometimes I can keep going through, knowing that things will get interesting, but with Grisham I just never could get past the beginning. There's a lot of lawyer-talk which might be part of the reason it's slow, but as he writes courtroom thrillers, I can't complain about the lawyer-talk.

This book, specifically, is only thrilling when court is in session, and that takes up less than 50 pages of the book. I spent the rest of the book wondering when we would go back to the courtroom, thus making it a very long read. Grisham did an amazing job in the courtroom, so I can appreciate and understand why his courtroom thrillers are so widely acknowledged as being the best. He writes the scenes very well and keeps writers on their toes throughout the trial, and I was very captivated in those scenes.

He also writes characters very well. I feel about the main character exactly the way I think Grisham wants me to feel about him. He is very pathetic and sad in the beginning. He starts to mature and get his life together, which makes me root for him even harder: I want him to succeed. Somewhere along the way, however, he loses that appeal for me. He lets it go to his head and starts focusing so much on his success that everything else is nothing to him, and that's when I kind of start to hate him. Grisham did a great job leading me through that relationship with Rudy.

What really did not work for me in this book were the different subplots throughout the story, like Miss Birdie and Prince. Those held no meaning, and when they didn't impact the main plot at all, I was very disappointed and annoyed. I still don't understand why they were included. Miss Birdie gave Rudy a place to stay, but there were many different ways Rudy could have found a home without needing to introduce a whole new plot point and a whole new character that just fades away into the rest of the book, being overtaken by the main trial. Grisham could have saved a lot of time by just keeping her and the tale of Prince out of the book. They had no meaning, no appeal, and no point.

I had just convinced myself that I liked the book when I got to the ending. Then all bets were off and I put the finished book in the trash can. Seriously? How many ways can authors write a guy throwing away his life for a girl? It's just not a great story line, and I have no patience for it. Rudy just loves this girl so much, which is not justified to the readers (and I get it, love doesn't have to be justified, but at least try to make me believe it...), and he just takes off with her, because he messed up in a big way, and the trial he thought would give him all the success of the world, doesn't give him as much as he wanted. I was so annoyed when I read those last few pages.

I don't plan on returning to Grisham. Ever. He was slow to get in to, and just when things got interesting, they took a turn for the worst. No thank you.

The Graveyard Book: Neil Gaiman (A ghost story)

This was a fun, quick read. I enjoyed the uniqueness of the plot and the entertaining characters Gaiman "brings to life."

Part of what really kept me reading was that Gaiman holds off on revealing so many important details until the last chapter. I wasn't necessarily bored while reading, but this lack of information really helped propel me through the story. Then, when I got to the last chapter, I was rewarded with all the missing secrets and ended the book feeling fulfilled, to a certain extent.

The climax happens in the last few chapters, making the first 75% of the book build-up, but Gaiman does a very nice job making the build-up entertaining and fun to read. It could have been very dull, but Gaiman brings in unique characters and side-stories to keep the book moving along.

I can definitely see this as being a great book to read aloud to children, but I would personally hold off on doing that until middle school, as a lot of the themes and ideas of the book are dark and unsuitable for children of a younger age. However, I think this would be very fun to read with your junior high kids!

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet: Becky Chambers (A book set in space)

At first, I want to say that this wasn't at all what I expected, but then I have to go back and try to figure out what I did expect, and I guess it was what I expected: a long journey across space. 

I definitely did not enjoy reading this book. I tend to not like science-fiction at all, and this was no exception. My favorite thing about reading is being able to visualize the story and having a movie play along in my head as I read. With this book, it's just not possible. I understand the author not wanting to spend pages on just describing things; that would annoy me too. I just prefer reading about things that are, things that can be, and things that I understand. Countless alien species inter-living with humans, and Earth no longer existing is just too far out of my realm of understanding that I had no way to follow along with visuals. That makes a book very hard to get into, for me. I was very happy when I reached the ending. 

I did enjoy some of the characters-it was a fun and spontaneous group, so their stories and growth together was enjoyable, but it was still hard to understand when the aliens were so far from understanding. Even with the basic backstory and description, I had a very difficult time reading them as other than human, so each time they did something "alien," I was thrown off and taken out of the story. 

I understand that sex sells, but I didn't enjoy that being a sub-plot. With Rosemary and Sissex, it just felt so forced, as if Chambers only included it because she knew that would win over many people. It did not win me. I'm very grateful that there was nothing explicit, however. I just think the story was working fine without it, and because it added nothing of value to the story, it would have been better to leave it out completely.

Perhaps because this is the first in the series, there really is no plot. The whole story feels like description and character/world building, which is fine for a beginning, but I've heard the the next books aren't about the same characters, so I don't understand why there couldn't have been more of a plot. This felt more like a few exciting events mixed in with world-building, which again, made it very difficult for me to enjoy. 

I read this to fulfill my "book that takes place in space" requirement on this challenge, and I suppose it is good to step out of my "comfort" reading zone every-once-in-a-while, but this book was no fun, and I will not be returning to it. 

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared: Jonas Jonasson (A book by an author whose first and last name start with the same letter)

This was a delightful read. I can't remember the last time I read a book that was so light and fun, but also extremely captivating and enjoyable. I could put this book down if I needed to, but I definitely didn't want to.

Allan is such a fantastic character, and he really shows readers how to live life to the fullest. He's so angry about still being around at 100, then to have to go to a birthday party for himself makes matters worse, so he just climbs out his window. Why not? He says early on in the book "When life has gone into overtime it's easy to take liberties," and that struck me. It makes sense, right? When you get older, it's easier to bend the rules a little bit. I watch my wonderful grandmother live this out. She says whatever she wants, does whatever she wants, everybody else be darned. One of the perks of growing old is having less people to answer to, I guess.

But as I read the book and learned of Allan's early life, I realized that for him, it was always easy to take liberties. He never answered to anyone but himself. He never did anything he didn't want to do, and he never let anyone tell him what to do. Even when he was arrested and sent to a labor camp with a thirty year sentence, he spent five years there, working hard and enjoying the free room and food before he got tired of not having anything to drink, and so he left. 

I appreciated the wide array of characters that Jonasson brought to the table. From Stalin to Sonya the elephant, each character added humor and fun to the story.

There were a lot of political sections that I skimmed through because I don't get or care for those, but it's easier to skim through those sections when the main character also has no tolerance for political conversation, which is funny considering how much of his life was dealing with politics. As the narrator says, "politics was not what interested Allan most in the world," so he just doesn't put up with it, and he even goes so far as to change sides midway through a war, and of course, that works out perfectly for him. The politics help show that Allan really is just a spontaneous, easy-going guy who isn't afraid to take liberties, have no plans, and go with the flow. 

I think the thesis of this book is when Allan says this: "You'll see that things will turn out like they do, because that is what usually happens-almost always, in fact." And things just do, from page one to page 384.

This is definitely a book everyone should read, if only for a few laughs and a fun ride through a simple man's life. I quite enjoyed it. 

Crazy Rich Asians: Kevin Kwan (A book that includes a wedding)

Kwan sure knows how to make his readers hate his characters. He does a great job making it obvious which characters are lovable and which ones are detestable from the very first chapters. It's sometimes hard to read books with such horrid characters, but Kwan makes his horrid character fun to read about anyway. 

This was a very lighthearted fun book that was quick and easy to read. The writing is easy to understand and follow, and I appreciated his use of footnotes throughout the book; it helped me more fully understand the culture he was presenting. 

The culture is one which I struggled to visualize, especially when it came to the wedding. The whole wedding celebration was just so far beyond anything I've ever known that to follow the schedule and the descriptions was challenging, but I think I just need to watch the movie to help with that. I am actually very intrigued to see how they make this into a movie. I'm sure the sets are outrageous and beautiful. 

I was also a little bit confused by the multitude of stories that Kwan told in this book. The main story is clearly Rachel and Nick, but then you have the story of Eddie and his dysfunctional family, that never really has a resolution, you have Alistair and Kitty's story that is fully resolved, and you have Astrid and Michael's story which isn't completely resolved. Then at the very end, Kwan also throws in some plot twists for Francesca and her family. Rachel and Nick could use a bit more resolution, but from the way Kwan ended it, they seemed pretty settled. Because of these multiple stories, I'm very intrigued to see what the next books are about; there are a lot of different paths that need ending. 

Overall, I really enjoyed Kwan's writing style and the way he brought this fun story to life. He did a fantastic job with the characters and creating plot using those characters. I do think I have to finish the series because I had fun with this book, and I'd like to see what he does in the next books!

Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen (A reread of a favorite book)

Pride & Prejudice is the answer I give anytime anyone asks me what my favorite book is. It's one of those "never-gets-old" books for me. I've read it more times than I can count, and I never let a year go by without reading it. This is the second time I've read through it this year.

Mom gave me this book to read when I was in middle school. My guess would be sixth grade, but I just can't remember for certain. I'm pretty sure she gave it to me around the time she grounded me from reading Harry Potter for a month and wanted to show me that there are other good books in the world.

The first time I read it, I remember being so confused and overwhelmed by the language, the long, complicated sentences, the weird names, the unusual setting and time period, and so on. I didn't really grasp the story. Mom rented the 5+ movie with Colin Firth for us to watch, and that helped me figure out a little bit better what was going on, but after watching the movie, I had to read the book again. On that second read through, I was a goner.

I don't know what girl would not fall for Mr. Darcy. I can't imagine the type of person who would say, "You know, he's just not for me." Mr. Darcy is for everyone... seriously.

Elizabeth is an easy to relate to character, who's very down to earth even amidst an entire family with their heads in the clouds, How she could have come from such a family never fails to baffle me. She's clever, witty, and fun, and she's not afraid to acknowledge her faults, which is enviable. She is quick to admit her failures or wrong-doings, and she's quick to forgive the wrong-doings of others. She lets criticisms of her go above her head and isn't shaken by the judgments of others. She's happy to be who she is and let others fight to be the best. I think that's pretty cool.

The world of Pride & Prejudice appeals to me on many levels as well. This time, the late 1700s and early 1800s, is such an interesting period. The way society worked, the way men courted ladies, the way families lived, the way neighbors visited, the lavish parties that were held, it's all fascinating and sounds like fun. I want to live in that world.

Specifically Pemberley. I want to live in Pemberley. That's my life goal. Unfortunately, I think I have to settle for continually reading about it in Pride & Prejudice...

Do Penguins Have Knees: David Feldman (A book with a question in the title)

Okay, this was a fun little read! It's just a book full of "imponderables" or questions that many of us have probably thought about but never been able to solve, like "how and why did 7UP get its name?". It's written in plain, easy-to-understand English so that the common man can understand and have his imponderables answered. 

I'll admit that there were some questions I skimmed through as I didn't particularly care for such as "Why do the back wheels of bicycles click when you are coasting or back pedaling" and "Why Was April 15 chosen as the due date for taxes?"

Some questions I thought were pretty obvious like "Why are baseball dugouts built so that they are half below ground?" I always just assumed this was so that the dugouts didn't block the prime behind the dugout seating. Turns out, I was right. And I don't even care about or know about baseball!

This was published in 1991, so some of the questions were outdated, so I skimmed: "Why must we push bothe the 'record' and 'play' switches to record on an audio tape recorder, and only the 'record' on the VCR?"

I was surprised by the amount of questions relating to the postal service, stamps, envelopes, and mailing. Apparently these are subjects people ponder a lot to no avail. Although I've never asked myself what the USPS does with mail it can't deliver or return because of a lack of return addresses, I was interested to read the answer to that question. 

At the end of the list of imponderables, Feldman lists the top 10 "frustables," questions that he and his team haven't been able to answer, like "why do doctors have bad penmanship?". His hope is that readers will see those and use their knowledge to submit the answer for the next Imponderables Book. 

Like I said, this was a fun little read. It was quick, easy, and I could put it down and come back to it at any time. I can't say that I'll visit his other books, but if one comes across my lap, I might flip it open! And in case you were wondering and don't mind the spoiler, yes. Penguins do have knees.