book review: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

The Art of Racing in the Rain is the story of one family, as told through their dog.  I wonder if Garth Stein read Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones, which is a book also told by a dog.  In the Art of Racing in the Rain, the dog, Enzo, is first adopted by his owner, Denny.  Denny then meets and marries Eve and they have a daughter, Zoe.

The best part of the book is, of course, that it is told from Enzo’s perspective.  Enzo is a unique dog who believes in an Australian legend that says that dogs will become human in their next life.  Enzo would love to become human so that he could freely communicate with his family.  While his family is away during the day, he watches television shows and old car races.

He learned to love racing through his owner, Denny.  From Denny, Enzo learns tips about race car driving.  Many people can drive when the weather is nice, but rain makes the roads slicker, which makes driving more difficult.  Being able to handle your car in the rain well is a crucial trait for great race car drivers.

The metaphor, of course, ties into navigating through life.  When the roads are dry, it’s pretty easy because life is going your way and you’re just coasting along.  The true test is when the roads are slippery and you could spin out at any moment.  How do you handle yourself?  Enzo helps his family through their rainy driving with his patient, loyal love.

I don’t want to give too much more away, but I would definitely recommend the book … and it reminded me that I need to write up a review for Dogsbody, too.

book review: Poisonfeather by Matthew FitzSimmons

Poisonfeather is book 2 in the Gibson Vaughn series by Matthew FitzSimmons.  In other books like this (Jack Reacher books, Lucas Davenport books, etc.), you don’t have to read the other books in the series to understand what’s going on in this book.  While that is somewhat true of this book, there are so many allusions to what happened in Book 1 that it gets annoying if you haven’t read it.  Actually, most of the first chapters are about Gibson dealing with what happened in Book 1.  Since I hadn’t read Book 1, it was somewhat of a slow start, but once the story got going, the book was interesting.

Poisonfeather is about a billionaire investor who cheated many people and was sent to jail for 8 years.  Many people lost their life savings by investing with him.  Just before his release, he did an interview for a magazine in which he hinted that he had a lot of money stashed away somewhere.  This, of course, brought many people out of the woodwork who wanted to get a piece of the money.

Gibson gets drawn into the mess because he wants to repay a judge who lost everything by investing with the crook.  Gibson pairs up with an ex-con and a girl named Lea who is out for revenge.

I wish that the author had spent more time on the ending because it felt like there were a lot of loose plot strings.  Maybe it’s supposed to be a cliffhanger for book 3?  I hate waiting, which is why I avoid reading series books until the author has completed writing the series.

Look at the Patrick Rothfuss books.  I’ve been waiting for something like 3 years for Book 3 to come out!

I’ll have to go back to read Book 1 so that I know what happened with the former VP and his wife. If you like the Jack Reacher and the Lucas Davenport books, the Gibson Vaughn books are similar.

Side note: the author made a note that writing the second book was harder than the first book because there were so many expectations.  With the first book, there weren’t any deadlines, but with the second book, there were deadlines and more pressure.  This made me smile because there would be less pressure (from readers) if the author didn’t write cliffhanger endings.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

book review: All These Perfect Strangers by Aoife Clifford

I can’t believe it took me so long to read All These Perfect Strangers.  I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.  The book was full of twists and turns, and though I had some guesses about how it would turn out, I was surprised.

This suspense/crime fiction book is told in the first person narrative by girl named Penelope who is looking to escape her life in a small town by going to college.  Throughout the book, Pen is struggling to deal with a traumatic event involving the shooting of a police officer.  She starts keeping a diary at the request of her therapist.  Through this diary, the reader gets glimpses of what happened with the shooting in the small town as well as other bits of Pen’s life.

Some might find the book confusing because it jumps back and forth between Pen’s memories and what is happening to her presently at college.  As long as you remember that the diary entries are in the past, you’ll be fine.  I liked the transitions and I liked the way the story was told.

Mostly, I loved that I was surprised by how the book turned out.  I really appreciated how the book was told in the first person because Pen’s confusion and interpretation of events was evident.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

book review: The Promise Kitchen by Peggy Lampman

The Promise Kitchen is a tale of two Southern women, who through random chance (one is born into a wealthy family and one is poor), lead extremely different lives.  Their lives happen to intersect through food.  One is a food writer (Mallory) and the other is an aspiring chef (Shelby).

The author shows how, with or without money, everyone has problems.  Mallory is well-off financially but has to deal with a boyfriend who recently deserted her and a possible alcohol/drug addiction.  Shelby struggles to make a better life for herself and her daughter, Miss Ann.  Every time she seems to be getting ahead, something happens and she seems to be stuck in a rut.

I enjoyed the story, but I thought the ending was a bit rushed.  It felt a little like the fairy godmother descended and waived a magic wand.  I would have preferred to see Shelby survive on her own, given how hard she worked, but then maybe that’s part of the author’s message – we can’t do it all on our own.  Everyone needs someone, no matter what is in your bank account.

I especially enjoyed reading the pieces written about various Southern recipes by both Mallory and Shelby.  The end of the book contains actual recipes.  I haven’t tried any of them because most of them require quite a bit of time for preparation, but they sound good.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

book review: The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction

The View from the Cheap Seats is a collection of speeches, book introductions, etc., by Neil Gaiman.  As you may already know, I have pretty much read everything I can get my hands on by Neil Gaiman, even some of his Sandman graphic novels and children’s books, all of which I have yet to review (Odd and the Frost Giants was a good one, but I wasn’t too thrilled with Fortunately the Milk).

I have a confession to make.  I usually skip the introductions to books – mostly because they’re boring, but also because I would like to form my own opinions and ideas about a book before reading what others have to say about it.  If I really enjoyed the book, sometimes I go back to read the introduction, but most of the time, I never read them.  I wasn’t expecting to like this book when I found out that it included many book introductions, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Neil Gaiman has some pretty interesting things to say about books, reading, authors, music, people, and life in general.  The parts that I found most interesting were his views on reading (he believes there is no such thing as a “good” type of book to read – a good book is pretty much any book that you enjoy or get something out of) and his personal stories of his interactions with different authors.  He’s had quite a life.  His narratives are well written, but they have a casual style to them as well.  You can imagine having a cup of coffee or tea with him and chatting about the things he’s written about.  You can see the bits of sarcasm, some outright fantastic tales, and his passion for storytelling come out in his works of nonfiction.  It’s a personal style of writing that I find appealing.

Be warned that if you read this book, you’re going to end up having a list of probably 30+ books that you will want to read.  He talks about books that have influenced his writing (he is a voracious reader) and is so sincere in his praise that it is hard not to be caught up in his enthusiasm.  There are some that many readers will have heard such as books by Stephen King and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, but there were many I had never heard of.  (FYI, I bought Votan and Other Novels and am reading it now.)

If you ever need a book recommendation, this is the book to consult.

book review: Nothing Short of Dying by Erik Storey

Nothing Short of Dying is part of a series about a character named Clyde Barr.  I finished this book a long time ago, but had to wait a while to review it because the publisher requested that reviews not be posted until within 2 weeks before the release date.  I hadn’t read any Clyde Barr books before this, but I think I will.

This book is similar to the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child or the Lucas Davenport books by Jon Sanford.  I couldn’t help but like Clyde.  Clyde had a troubled childhood, but he doesn’t let that be an excuse.  In fact, he doesn’t really like excuses.  Clyde keeps his promises and is willing to do pretty much whatever it takes to come through for the people he cares about.

In this book, he receives a call from his sister asking for help and he later learns that his sister has been involved with some drug dealers.  Outnumbered and with low chances of survival, Clyde has to use his wit and make the best of his resources to save his sister.

I guess I favor books where the underdog who is trying to do the right thing wins in the end … sort of.  I liked reading about the predicaments he found himself in and how he overcame them.  I loved the survival in the wilderness bits.

This was a fun adventure/action story.  I would recommend it to Jack Reacher and Lucas Davenport fans.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary preview e-copy of this book from the publisher for review from NetGalley.

book review: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Outliers: The Story of Success is, just as the title says, a nonfiction book about success.  More specifically, it’s about how success happens.  The author’s main points are: (1) talent and/or intelligence only matter up to a certain point; (2) if you have the minimal amount of talent/intelligence needed, practicing for at least 10,000 hours will lead to mastery; (3) many of the success stories we hear about (Bill Gates was one example he brought up) are not due to the individual’s talent or intelligence but due to lucky circumstances that the individual took advantage of.

In the Bill Gates example, the author talked about how Bill was living in a well-to-do suburb when he was growing up and this suburb happened to have a PTO that made a computer and network connection available.  Bill was able to take advantage of this when most schools didn’t even have computers.  When he went to college, while other students were limited to a certain number of hours being online, he happened to meet someone who helped him get around the time limit.  Thus, he could spend as much time on the computer as he wanted while other students didn’t have the same advantage to hone their programming skills.  Yes, he was interested in and was good at computers, but he also happened to have a number of advantages that others didn’t.  If Bill Gates had been born in the 1970s, for example, he probably wouldn’t have had the success that he did because the computer revolution would have been over by the time he was old enough to learn programming.  Bill Gates was just one example.  The author provided many other examples of “successful” people who were lucky to be born at the right time, into the right family, in the right place.

The author discussed intelligence and talent and how it plays into success, too.  On one hand, a certain amount of intelligence and talent is necessary.  Bill Gates almost certainly wouldn’t have obtained his success level if his IQ had been 70.  Having said that, the author talked about a study that was done addressing intelligence.  A researcher (I can’t remember the name now) decided to hand pick children who had very high IQs and follow them to see how their careers would turn out.  The researcher expected that there would be more Nobel laureates and more generally successful people in this group than in the general population.  Surprisingly, the group of children with high IQs had the same success rates as the general population.

There was one example specifically discussed of someone whose IQ was so high that his scores aren’t even accurate because he got so many answers correct.  This person, however, was not successful in the traditional sense.  He makes a modest income and is married, but hasn’t won any awards and certainly isn’t well-off financially.  A closer look at this person’s life revealed that he had a troubled upbringing.  His parents were poor and not very educated.  This person was accepted to college on a scholarship, but lost the scholarship because he was late with something (sorry, I can’t remember if he didn’t respond to the scholarship in time or if he was late to class numerous times due to car troubles).  He asked the Dean to allow him to keep the scholarship, but was refused.  The author pointed out that this person’s birth circumstances gave him a disadvantage compared to some born into educated, middle- to upper-class families because those in middle- to upper-class families are often encouraged to challenge authority or to question adults.  Those in poorer families tend to see authority figures as figures not to be questioned.  They don’t learn how to talk to these figures, and aren’t able to justify their circumstances properly.  Had this person explained his extenuating circumstances to the Dean, he probably would have been able to keep the scholarship and finish college.  As it turned out, he dropped out of college and never did get a degree.

I liked reading the case studies in this book.  In the United States, we would like to think that, with hard work, you can do anything.  This, of course, isn’t true.  It was interesting to learn about the research behind the arguments.  I checked out some of the references in the book to learn more about some of the studies.

book review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder is a re-telling of Cinderella, but in this version, Cinderella is a cyborg mechanic in a dystopian futuristic society.  Earthlings are dying of a plague called letumosis, for which there is no cure or vaccine.  In addition to thousands dying from letumosis, Earth is in a precarious truce with its neighbors on the moon, the Lunars.  Upon hearing that the Emperor of Earth contracted letumosis, the Lunar queen contacts the young prince, eager to get him to agree to her terms for a peace treaty.  Lunars are reported to have unusual abilities to manipulate or control others’ perceptions and thoughts so Earthlings are suspicious and afraid of Lunars.

Cinder suffered from a car accident in which her parents were killed when she was young.  This explains her cyborg leg and other parts.  She goes to live with a guardian who contracts letumosis shortly afterwards.  Her guardian is taken into isolation so she is left with his wife as her new guardian.  This new guardian plays the role of the wicked stepmother, not wanting Cinder around and treating her as a freak for having cyborg parts.  Cyborgs, in general, are treated as second class citizens in this society so Cinder has a double whammy, being both an orphan and a cyborg.

I think just about everyone knows the Cinderella story, but the story is predictable beyond that, too.  Even though the “cliffhanger” ending didn’t reveal any surprises, it was still a fun read because readers can’t help but to root for the skillful and mistreated mechanic.

This book is geared towards teens and is part of a 5-book series called the Lunar Chronicles.  The other books in the series are: Scarlet, Cress, Fairest, and Winter.

book review: Maggie Dove by Susan Breen

I keep hoping that I’ll get a good mystery book to read as part of the Monthly Mystery package through Chatterbox.  So far, I got one that was okay because the author imitated Stephanie Plum.

This is yet another mystery through Chatterbox that I can’t bring myself to recommend to anyone.  The plot itself was okay, but it wasn’t enough to save this book.  A 60-something-year-old woman has a disagreement with her neighbor about her oak tree and the neighbor ends up dead.  Then, one of her closest friends also ends up dead and the autopsy reports show that both of them died of the same cause.

The biggest problem I had with this book is that the main character, Maggie Dove, was judgmental, hypocritical, and just all around annoying.  She was a Sunday school teacher and tried to convince herself that she was a good person, but she didn’t seem to get along with anyone, even the people to whom she was supposedly closest.  For example, she constantly argued with one of her closest friends, Winifred.  The way the arguments unfolded in the book revealed how Maggie was both prissy and judgmental.  She claimed to love “Peter” but basically described him as a troublemaker. She was constantly above everyone else.  She describes another “friend,” Agnes, whom she was cruel to when she was younger.  When another character compared her to Agnes, she became offended and the reader was subjected to a paragraph about how she was so much better looking than Agnes. The author made was very clear that Maggie was part of the popular crowd when she was younger and she is much more beautiful than her friends.  Of course, she’s rich, too. This is the character that has it all – looks, money, “friends,” – she’s better than all of us!  Quite frankly, the more I read, the less I liked Maggie, not because of the author’s generous endowments, but because of the little that she did with those endowments and her petty mindedness, which the reader was subjected to for over 200 pages .  Agnes and Winifred seemed like much more interesting (and likeable) characters.

There were a few interesting characters in this book so it wasn’t a total loss.  It’s just too bad that the focus was on the annoying one rather than the interesting ones.

book review: Little Girl Gone by Gerry Schmitt

I’ve been reading really horrible mysteries.  Why would I read horrible mysteries?  I promised to review them so I’m trudging my way through.  I feel a little bad giving bad reviews, but the characters are so unbelievable and the plots are just awful.  I’ve finished 2 of them, but I’ve been procrastinating about the reviews because I honestly can’t believe these books were published.

My introduction leads me to a little caveat about my review for this book.  I liked this book, and I don’t think it’s because of the string of horrible writing that I’ve witnessed recently, but there’s a small part of me that wonders.  I felt so relieved when I started to read it and found myself enjoying it and liking the characters.

Little Girl Gone is about a police liaison officer named Afton Tangler who helps in the investigation of the abduction of an infant from a wealthy family.  Afton is discontented with her current role and aspires to be a detective rather than social worker.  She is a likable character who is clever, easy to relate to, and believable.  The author did a great job of character development by allowing the character’s actions to speak for their personalities.  The characters’ reactions to situations were spot on for their personalities.

This book reminded me a lot of John Sandford’s Prey series, not only because they are both based in Minnesota, but the main characters investigate crimes.  Both main characters aren’t perfect and have a little bit of an attitude towards authority, but that’s part of what makes them likable.

While the plot doesn’t offer any surprises, I found myself not caring about that because I was enjoying the well written story.  It seems that Afton Tangler is the main character in a series of books.  I haven’t read any of them before reading this book and found that it didn’t make a difference.  I look forward to reading more books with Afton Tangler as the main character.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentar e-copy of this book from First to Read.