"There's loads more to talk about. We've only just gotten started."

Hey Megan,


   So initially, I looked at the book and thought, "Meh, it's tiny with big print, that should only take me, what, a day?" and proceeded to shamelessly procrastinate on reading it. And boy, am I glad we set our deadline for a week after you finished The Fourth Hand, rather than a few days later. Because otherwise, I would have been IN TROUBLE.  

An excellent quote from the book, taken from here.

   For some reason, I just had a lot of trouble getting into the book. To be honest, it's probably because I, like you, am more inclined to think of the IMPROBABILITY of love at first sight. And I will readily admit that my attitude is certainly, in part, a result of still-too-recent heartbreak. On the wrong side of a three-year relationship, I scoff at the idea that two strangers can meet and instantly (or almost-instantly, as is the case here) fall in love. 


   But, like you said in your post, and I must , upon reaching the conclusion of the novel, admit, the chemistry between the two is very real.  I especially liked the part about the animated duck movie, because I am most definitely that 21-year-old girl who still rushes to the theaters to see the latest Disney release (I saw Tangled twice in theaters. Twice!), and I'd like to think there's a guy out there who may not understand it, but finds it endearing. Or, better yet, shares that love. But I digress. Basically, yes, they're disgustingly cute and perfect for each other. Kind of like the couple that emerges in 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson (do you remember her from the Festival of Books? She was the awesome, quirky author on the panel with Maggie Stiefvater who talked about life at Catholic school). And, once again, I find myself wishing life were like a book, where the boys may not be perfect, but they sure are perfect for you. And you find them, like, right away (oh Nawat, you will always be my favorite crow <3).


   Now, ignoring the fact that they're young and disgustingly cute in love, yadda yadda, I, too, loved reading the progression of her relationship with her father. Now, I'm not from a separated household. In fact, my family dynamic is closer Oliver's, minus the infidelity. What I loved, however, and what I think is striking no matter what your personal life may be, is that Hadley was able to reconcile with her father. And I think that's rare. I feel like society encourages people to run from their problems, rather than face issues and work to make things better. Family is no longer something you fight to keep.  If something's broke, people don't try to fix it.  They move onto the next best thing.  So it was very refreshing to find a book where the opposite happens, where a family fought (though Hadley did so reluctantly) for love.


   Thanks for recommending this one! After some reluctance, I was pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed a book I would not have, at this point, picked up for myself.


Keep Calm and Read On,
Becca


PS~Hadley, incidentally, is the name of Sookie's cousin. :)

"When you're dead, you're dead," Mrs. Clausen had said.

Dear Becca,

This was hands down my least favorite of the books we’ve read so far. (Get it – hands down?) Despite the fact that I did not enjoy this particular novel, I can tell that Irving is a talented writer so don’t worry, I won’t judge based on this one read.

 (Hebrew Cover)

It wasn’t so much that the story is bad – it’s just that I didn’t like it.  I expected the book to center more around the concept of the hand transplant. (Before this book, I didn’t even know that such a thing was possible! I had to doublecheck to make sure Irving wasn’t just making it up.) I can’t even imagine having someone else’s hand (or any body part for that matter). I understand Patrick’s embarrassment about only having one hand and struggling to wear a prosthetic, but I didn’t feel like he wanted a new hand badly enough to merit the transplant. I didn’t feel like his heart was in it. Actually, I rarely felt like Patrick’s heart was in anything.

One of the biggest problems for me was that I didn’t like any of the characters in this book. The only character I was ever close to liking was Dr. Zajac’s housekeep when she decided to lose weight and change her life – and actually did it! But even she turned out to be a little too quirky for my liking. If I’m being honest, my favorite character would probably be Otto but he is so mistreated (in my opinion) that liking him only makes the story worse.

Yes, the more I think about it, I realize that my real problem with this book is the fact that I feel like Mrs. Clausen is so traitorous to her husband. Otto is haunted by the idea of his wife having a relationship with Wallingford while he is still alive. It’s horrible the way she pressures him to sign the agreement to donate his hand if something were to happen. And then something does happen and he dies and what does she do RIGHT after he dies? Has sex with Wallingford! Who does that? Poor Otto must be rolling in his grave!  Mrs. Clausen says it herself: “When you’re dead, you’re dead.” There is something so deeply wrong with her logic…She holds onto Otto’s hand even though she acknowledges that when you’re dead, you’re dead.  A part of me thinks that she is actually obsessed with Wallingford, not the memory of her dead husband, and just uses the hand as a means of developing that relationship.

Going back to my problem with Patrick not feeling invested in the hand transplant… it struck me as very strange that he had no reaction to losing Otto’s hand. Wouldn’t that be really disappointing? Here you’ve had a hand for a year and then you lose that one, too. But he’s so obsessed with Mrs. Clausen that he doesn’t seem to care about losing the hand; it’s losing her that he’s worried about. I suppose this should be romantic in theory, but I didn’t find it to be so.

I found this book to be haunting in that it really made me wonder about people. I’m going to draw another Audrey Niffeneger comparison here. It reminds me of her book, HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY, in which the characters are equally mind boggling to me.

Okay, that’s the most ranting I’ve done in a post so far!

Until we read again,

Megan

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Dear Becca,

Since our last YA selection was a little light on the romance, I have chosen the most romantic YA book I could get my hands on: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. Get ready for some serious gushing because I can’t remember the last time I loved a YA romance this much. This book was a very quick read. It took me roughly three days to complete so I’m expecting you to finish it in one sitting!

To begin with, I love how this entire book covers only one day in Hadley’s life. Have you noticed that the use of time seems to be a recurring theme in my selections? It’s not on purpose, I swear! The fact that everything happens within one day helps to keep the book moving and is, I’m sure, largely why it is such a fast read. There are, however, a number of flashbacks which is the only way that you could get enough of the history between Hadley and her father to put the current day into perspective. Smith includes a fairly good balance between present day and flashbacks, but I have to admit that I was way more interested in what was going on between she and Oliver on that plane than I was about anything else.

Oliver and Hadley are perfect characters – so cute without being too over the top. Well, there is one moment where Oliver steals a couple bottles of whiskey from the beverage cart that felt a little forced or awkward. The dialogue is realistic and young and I definitely believed the chemistry between them.

Although I chose this book because of the romance, it also explores Hadley’s relationship with her father. She’s on the plane headed to his second wedding and nervous about seeing him for the first time in over a year. Having experienced something similar, I found Hadley’s thoughts to be very realistic and I appreciate the fact that this novel explores a deeper theme.  While Hadley is much older than I was when my dad remarried, the feelings she has are universal for children all over the world trying to deal with divorce and the start of a new family.

The beginning of a relationship is so exciting and I love the fact that this book only covers the beginning, when everything is so new and your heart is all a flutter whenever he looks at you. I just eat that stuff right up. I’m curious to see whether the film rights will be bought – doesn’t look they’ve been snatched up yet.  I can either see this book being adapted into either a really artsy indie movie or one of those cheesy Disney TV – movie.

I can’t wait to hear what you think of the book. I have to say, I’m a little bit disappointed to go back to reading adult fiction!

Til we read again,

Megan

PS – For some reason when I was writing this post I kept calling the book The Improbability of Love at First Sight. Hmm…wonder what that says about me?

The Fourth Hand

Hi Megan,


   So as I'm sure I've mentioned before, one of the few adult fiction writers I truly love to read is John Irving. Mostly, it's because he's absolutely hilarious. A Prayer for Owen Meany had me struggling to contain my laughter during IB/AP testing in high school. But then there's also his whole thing with sexual outsiders (for instance, in The Hotel New Hampshire, the narrator spends his life repressing his feelings of love and sexual attraction for his sister). And considering I wrote my senior thesis on sexuality in vampire fiction, it shouldn't be surprising that I find his discussion of these topics interesting. 


   Anyways, last Tuesday Irving released his thirteenth novel, In One Person, whose bisexual narrator navigates through life as a "sexual suspect," and touches on the 1980's AIDS crisis. In honor of this release, I thought to read one of his earlier novels.  At first, I was going to read Until I Find You, since it appears to have similar themes, but since that novel is around 800 pages with fine print, I opted for the shorter (but less fitting) The Fourth Hand instead. 

Image taken from here

   The Fourth Hand is about a reporter, Patrick Wallingford, whose hand gets eaten by a lion while filming a story, and how his loss of a hand (or two) contributes to his growth from a Barney Stinson-esque playboy into a man.  In losing his hand, Patrick gains maturity and purpose; in losing his hand, he finds love and a family.

   That being said, this is not my favorite work by Irving. In part, it just wasn't laugh-out-loud funny. And it's not because it's centered around tragedy. Irving can make anything funny, in my opinion.  He just chose not to, and the novel suffers for it. Granted, I don't often read books because I seek to be entertained in that manner. Most authors could get by never making me crack a smile. John Irving, however, is an author I've continued reading precisely because of his ability to make me laugh uproariously. And I did not do that once in my journey with The Fourth Hand.

   However, it's not all bad.  There is a definite journey in this book, and Patrick's status as an "other" of society is explored to a certain extent.  Had it not been for his life changing accident, Patrick would have never met the woman who gave him a child and a purpose.  He is only able to grow as a person because he has been forced out of the frame of "normal" into the titular status as "the lion guy"--a celebrity freak.  And prior to the life-altering moment, Patrick is a sort of "sexual suspect," since he's notorious for sleeping with any and every woman he encounters--he is by no means a good Christian monogamist (fair warning: lots of sex scenes, the quantity of which was also unexpected).  However, his journey is about abandoning this status and conforming to conventional sexual norms.  This is very different from Irving's usual M.O.  Those outsiders grow and become larger than life when they embrace the fact that they are not "normal."  Having Patrick Wallingford become a "better person" because he conforms is, consequently, out of character and a bit disappointing.

   Now, don't get me wrong, I by no mean support such womanizing behavior. I like committed Patrick much better than playboy Patrick.  But it must be said that Irving went out of character for this novel, and it's impact on my experience is negative. Maybe he was experiencing a mid-life crisis? Because this certainly reads like a man whose reached that point where he looks back on half his life and wonders, "What was I thinking? Where am I going?" Perhaps that's why I didn't appreciate it as much--I am not a man, and I am decades away from that mid-life moment. 

  I really hope I haven't scared you off the book! It really is a good book...but that's all it is. It's not phenomenal or ground-breaking like his other works. So don't judge the author by this book! Go grab The Hotel New Hampshire or, better yet, In One Person (reviews sound excellent for that one), and reserve your judgement until then. 

  I can't wait to get your YA choice! Speaking of which, I better start scouting out my YA book... :)

Keep Calm and Read On,

Becca

"Being a half-blood is dangerous."

Dear Becca,

 

I would like to think that I would have read this book even if you hadn’t selected it for our book swap, but I’m honestly not sure whether I would have. One of my co-workers also recommended it to me but it’s just not the type of YA that I’m generally drawn to. It’s extremely well written and I love the incorporation of Greek mythology – yet, I’m not going to lie, it didn’t leave me eager to read the next in the series. I truly believe that this is just because I’m so much older than the target audience and also much more reliant on a romantic subplot – which, as you mentioned before, is lacking from this book. All in all, it was an entertaining and fast read, but not high on my list of favorites.

Going back to romantic subplots, I feel like there’s a hinting that Percy’s friendship with Annabelle could develop into something more romantic as he gets older. Did you get that sense at all? Maybe I’m reading too much into things! In general, I found Annabelle an incredibly hard character to like. She had such mixed feelings toward Percy and while it’s not unbelievable that she could go from resenting/disliking Percy to genuinely caring about him, the trouble was that I didn’t truly believe that she ever disliked him or had these conflicting emotions. I’m glad that this isn’t an English assignment because I didn’t pull quotes that support my opinion. However, the more I think about Annabelle, the more I realize that it wasn’t just her character I had this problem with…I feel like all of the secondary characters were a little under-developed. There are still four more books in the series, though, and I’m sure that all of the characters will grow during the course of those books.

Also on the topic of characters, I was extremely disappointed in the storyline about Percy’s mother. I had a “you’re kidding, right?” moment when it was revealed that his mother married Smelly Gabe in order to hide Percy’s half-blood scent. Seriously?! Couldn’t she have done something other than marry an abusive man who treats both herself and her child so poorly? My idea would have been to make her a florist – have their whole house smell like flowers instead of garbage. His mother came across as very passive in the first book and not a particularly good role model. I would definitely be curious to see what happens to her character in the rest of the books.

Again, I’m glad this isn’t an English assignment because my post is exceeding its word limit…But I want to add one last thing about the movie adaptation of the book. Given the work that we did on our theses, I think it’s safe to say that we both have a strong interest in this issue. One of the first things I noticed about this book was the fact that it was published by Disney Hyperion. I immediately wondered about the book deal and whether Rick Riordan had perhaps approached Disney with the idea for the book before it was even written, using the fact that it could be another great young adult series of movies to sell the book. This is, I admit, extremely cynical of me and it turns out Rick Riordan was already a well-established author before writing this series and (I believe) had already completed The Lightning Thief when he sold the movie rights. But interestingly enough, he DID sell the movie rights before the book was published. Riordan explains: “I made the decision to sell the rights so early because it brought lots of public attention to the books and helped the series catch on.” Very understandable from a marketing standpoint. Riordan didn’t turn out to be too vested in the movie version and admits that he never even watched the movie himself. 

Okay, well, I’ve far exceeded our suggested word count and now that I’ve reached the end, I’m feeling rather badly about my review. Please do not mistake me – it’s a brilliant book. If I have a son (or daughter) some day, I would definitely buy him (or her) this series.

I’m looking forward to your next choice!

Megan

"Gates Open at Nightfall and Close at Dawn: Trespassers Will Be Exsanguinated"

Hi Megan,


The Night Circus was, in a word, stunning. It is not often that you come across such vivid prose, and I quickly found myself lost in this mystical world.  Truthfully, Erin Morgenstern's prose is so beautiful, I find the prospect of writing a response to such work intimidating, as anything I write could hardly do justice to her masterpiece. But first, to the plot.

This is the illustration found on the UK cover. I must admit, I prefer it to the USA  cover. 

The content of the book was everything I could hope for in a novel.  I love a good romance, and I love a a world where what would be considered "supernatural" or "magic" on our plane of existence is part of everyday life. Granted, the circus is able to succeed as an elaborate illusion precisely because the laypeople who wander through it's gates are ignorant of such forces, but for those characters around whom the story revolves, manipulating magic is as natural to them as breathing.  And if these two elements where not enough, there is an underlying pursuit of knowledge and love of books that drives many of our main characters.  Since this is something I relate too, it's just one more thing Morgenstern has given me to love about this book. Consequently, my favorite chapter was "Stories," where the grey man has those beautiful monologue on the history of stories, how they've changed over the years, and why we still need them. If the quotes weren't so long, or if I could find an image of them, I'd include them here, it's that beautiful.


That being said, I agree that the romance seemed to blossom too late in the novel. I certainly saw it coming, and the constant interruptions to that plot line often left me angry.  While I could appreciate the story of Bailey and the twins, more often than not I wanted to skip ahead until I was able to read more about Celia and Marco's developing passion. Perhaps, should I re-read this novel in the future, I'll attempt to read each individual storyline in a more linear fashion, skipping ahead and reading a single character's story straight through. It would certainly provide a different perspective.


It's interesting that the timing of the novel proved to be such an issue for you. I, like you, consider myself to be a lazy reader, but that being said I had no problem orienting myself in the different time frames. Perhaps it is because I am lazy and don't pay enough attention to the time period that it didn't cause me any problems (and when I did try, I simply forgot when the last chapter was, and where that lay in comparison to when I was then). Maybe one day we should revisit this novel, and you can read it chronologically while I follow specific narratives, and then compare notes once again!


Alas, I'm almost out of space! So I'll be quick.  Like I said in my opening, I fell in love with Morgenstern's writing.  For some authors, the challenge of describing such a unique and interesting world would be too much.  Yet Morgenstern, like Marco, is able to create a flawless illusion, and I instantly felt like I belonged in that world of awe and wonder.  Truthfully, though the movie rights for her book have already been sold, what I'd like best is to see this reproduced as a graphic novel.  Her universe is that of an artist, and I feel it could only be done justice on a two dimensional plane, where a collaboration of artists could bring life to her surreal world (just as the collaboration of Marco and Celia brought life to her circus!).


Now, I shall close with a few parting links to some fan sites. Enjoy the pictures! I certainly did :)

From the blog, "A Touch of Crimson"

A fansite with links to a Pintrest board dedicated to the book. 

I can't wait until our next letter!


Keep Calm and Read On,
Becca




PS~ I am not a big Dickens fan, neither have I read Water for Elephants, hence my lack of response on those two subjects!

A Brief Reunion

Then, after months of separation, our two bloggers were reunited for one brief weekend.

It was a glorious time of country music, scorching sun, and mountains of books.

However, since the bookworms were busy spending their days together out of doors hunting down their favorite authors, they regretfully neglected their reading.

Consequently, new posts will not be up until the end of the weekend. 

We apologize with this grainy bar photo.

Cheers!

B&M