the gold coast

After finishing Eggers’ terrible book, I picked up a book that I’ve actually read before, The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille. I read it back in high school but he has since written a sequel (The Gate House) that I intended to read upon rereading The Gold Coast (actually my whole reason for rereading The Gold Coast in the first place) but I’ve gotten distracted by other books.

The story centers on blueblood Wall Street lawyer, John Sutter, and his new neighbor and subsequent client, Mafia don, Frank Bellarosa. Bellarosa has been accused of murder and plots to have his socially connected neighbor represent him.

It’s the Mafia, what else is he going to do?

A few heads roll.

A couple of birdies sing.

A pair gets entangled.

The hardest thing about the book was remembering that it’s set in the ‘80s during the height of the crack down on the New York Mafia rings which is, of course, key to the course of the narrative.

It’s a page turner (for all 750+ pages even if I did read almost an entire book before I read the last 10 pages – don’t ask.  it has to do with 10 pages left + book weight + metro.) but I still haven’t figured out yet how exactly to write about books without giving away the plots.

book club – may (supposed to be anyway)

We never did end up meeting to discuss our latest book selection, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by David Eggers. All of the ladies were just too busy and I guess still are. Normally, I would wait until we met up to post a review but I think it’s been so long that we’ll probably just pick a new book.

David Eggers appears to be the brains behind an odd website called McSweeney’s and its associated publications. I’d heard of the site before through a Facebook friend but I have to admit that while some of it’s funny, I don’t get most of it.

And that same “I don’t get it” feeling applied consistently to his memoir.

Of course, there’s the fact that he was only 30 when he wrote his memoir which I find a little suspect and self-indulgent. But apparently this is the new thing for young up-and-coming authors. Is it that they don’t have anything else to write about except themselves?

But seriously, I didn’t get it.

In doing a little wiki-research, the bones of the story are, in fact, true but the way he tells the story, it’s hard to figure out what is supposed to have happened, who/what is real, and what in the blazes is going on. It was so convoluted and, at times, utterly ridiculous that I had to mentally drag myself to the end. I’m a dedicated book club reader so drag myself I did and I did not feel rewarded for my efforts.

It kind of reminded me of something Augusten Borroughs or David Sedaris would write. I don’t particularly care for either of them – for similar “I don’t get it” reasons. I really don’t like books that I don’t feel like I understand. It’s probably a personal problem.

Another part of the problem for me was that I felt that this was the 3^rd similar memoir type book that we’ve read since I joined the book club: You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs (review posted here) and Not Quite What I Was Planning edited by Larry Smith (review posted here). I’m a fiction girl for the most part so even though I enjoyed NQWIWP, 2 memoirs in as many years is probably enough for me much less 3 in six months.

Needless to say, I’m planning to have a few fictional suggestions in mind next time we meet up. If we meet up. Have we unintentionally killed the group?

american wife

Well, I finished American Wife a few weeks ago but I’ve been busy trying to blog about other things, cleaning for my parents’ visit, having to go to work (oh wait, that’s where I’m drafting this post…), and general life – errands, laundry, food, etc.

Curtis Sittenfield got the inspiration for the novel after writing an article about First Lady Laura Bush and commenting that it seemed like the First Lady’s life was like reading a novel. So a few years after writing the article, she decided that she should be the one to write that novel.

The story isn’t the life and times of Laura Bush but rather the fictional story of Alice Linden using major life points of LB to guide the narrative – life as a librarian, marrying a man with family money, husband’s purchase of a baseball team, life as First Lady to the Governor and then life as First Lady of the United States.

I rather enjoyed the book. I thought it was interesting that we don’t really think of the real lives that go on in the White House and the real backgrounds that happened before they got there. But even that’s not the point of the story – which is relationships. Relationships can be, and very often are, exactly the same as anyone else’s even though there might be more money, more notoriety, more power given to one couple over another.

What was most interesting was the idea that the First Lady might love her husband so much as to ignore his politics. To be in complete disagreement but never say anything to anyone purely out of love for her man. And this point was made again when, shortly after finishing the book, I read that Laura Bush had published her memoir (Spoken from the Heart) and, in the blurb I saw, seems to have admitted that she didn’t always support her husband’s views and decisions. Now I kind of want to read that too.

Curtis Sittenfield also wrote Prep: A Novel about a middle class girl from Indiana who wins a scholarship to an East Coast boarding school which I read several years ago and rather enjoyed.

posting

It's a slow day (I should probably be doing some work but it was a long weekend and I'm tired with a distinct lack of focus) and sometimes I like to read over my blog entries when I get bored.

Sometimes I find mistakes. Sometimes I correct them; sometimes I don't (that usually depends on what I want to change and how our network is acting that day).

Sometimes I add tags to posts.

Sometimes I think about posts that I want to write.

Well, in my perusing today I realized that I'm behind in posting and things are either going to stay behind or are going to get out of chronological order. And I can't decide which is going to annoy me more.

So here are some things that I am planning to post about in the near future:

~ the art installations at Coachella. There is some video editing involved in this so there is a time commitment that needs to be made. I'm not too upset about this getting out of "order" because I've told most of our Coachella story already.

~ new bands that we are thoroughly enjoying post-Coachella (ones that we saw and ones that we didn’t). Again not a big deal to be "out of order" but it’s something I’ve been dreaming up.

~ the rest of our trip to CA - San Francisco (and Pixar) and Sacramento (and sign). I feel like this one is already lost in the chronology because I've already posted about preparations for my parents' visit for my graduation. This annoys me.

~ which brings us to, my graduation weekend: Friday's School of Business celebration, Saturday's visit to Georgetown's Tudor Place, and Sunday's Commencement (you know I will do each as a separate post).

~ American Wife, a book that I finished at least 2 weeks ago.

That's 8 posts right there without anything else happening or popping up in my head (like a thanks to Susan, happy memorial day).

Oh man, I have my work cut out for me and a busy week ahead with softball, PT, and book club (that’ll be another book post if I finish it).

Whew.

double bind

I picked this one up cheap at a Half Price Books in TX because I rather enjoyed Chris Bohjalian’s Midwives way back when I read it.

I feel like I can’t say hardly anything about The Double Bind without giving too much of the story away.  So I won’t really. 

I didn’t quite connect with this novel really.  I was curious throughout to find out what the main character, Laurel, would find out but I just didn’t really feel like I cared about her.  I suppose I should have expected the ending but really I didn’t see it coming.  In the end, I was just kind of eh about it. 

Word of warning: while the descriptions of Laurel’s attack aren’t graphic, they ended up lingering in my head.

sick puppy

Carl Hiassen’s Sick Puppy… well, I’m not exactly sure what to say about it which is why I finished it over a week ago and am just now getting to this.  I almost want to call it a farce about eco-terrorism and politics for lack of anything better. 

There is a dog, a lobbyist’s dog to be precise, but he’s not sick.  I think the title is more along the lines of “man, he’s one sick puppy” for someone who is really out there and into some weird stuff.  Because there’s a lot of characters, major and minor, who are into some really weird stuff in this story.

The main thrust of the story is Twilly Spree, a developer’s son with anger issues and plenty of money and free time, and his overwhelming need to teach Florida lobbyist, Palmer Stoat, a lesson about littering.  Of course, the littering becomes a small thing after he discovers Stoat’s involvement in the development of a small island.

There’s a lot of back and forth with the lobbyist, the governor, the developer, and various other in sundry unsavory characters.  A few people die -  some needlessly and a few rather appropriately.  And a lot of crazy things happen along the way.

It’d be a good summer read by some water.  I only got it for $2 (in hardback) so it was worth the money.

book club - March/April

Susan was in charge of book club for this month and picked a good one! Not Quite What I Was Planning edited by Larry Smith

The subtitle to this book explains a lot: 6 Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. And that's literally what it is - 200+ pages of 6 words from various authors.

According to the editors of the book, who are also the editors of an online magazine SMITH Magazine, legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a story in just 6 words and penned: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn." This legend was the inspiration behind the book for which they solicited 6 word memoirs from well-known writers and celebrities as well as from their readers.

At no more than 30 words to a page (or no more than 45 if you include the writer of each entry), I was able to read the entire book in about 2 hours - not that it needs reading straight through. Actually, it's perfect for the "pick a random page, read a few entries, and move on" method of reading.

The entries range from silly to sweet to sad to pointed. Many leave you wondering about people's lives. There were quite a few that I identified with - "Overjoyed I'm not like my sister" (p. 117) or "Can't read all the time. Bummer" (p. 140) or "Must remember: people, gadgets. That order" (p. 195). Or ones that would work for people I know - "Four children in four decades; whew!" for Mom (p. 53) and "Girls aren't 6'; I am 5'12"" for my sister (p. 148).

One thing you can't do is read this without starting to pen your own 6-word memoir. Here's the few that I came up with:

• Too tall. Can't hardly touch toes.
• Friends. Roommates. Dating. Married. What next?
• Born "old." Rebelled some. Old again.
• Uncertainty is maddening. Need decisions soon.
• Youngest wants kids before parents go.
• NJ. TX. OH. MD. VA. CO?
• Three degrees equals well-paid, boring job.
• Love Winter. Need Spring, Summer, Fall.
• Too many countries, not enough time.

1000 suns

I just finished Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns and since I was reading it at my desk (it's a slow Friday afternoon ever since my meeting for next week got moved to the following week), I have a headache from trying not to cry. Crying at your desk is usually frowned upon even if the chances that anyone is going to find you are slim.

Telling the tale of 2 women growing up in beleaguered Afghanistan, the book is poignantly moving rather than the shocking brutality of Khaled's first novel, The Kite Runner. I'm not saying that his depiction of the seemingly never-ending rounds of war aren't shocking and disturbing; there just isn't that one slap you across the face scene that made Kite Runner so difficult. The courage of these 2 women is astonishing, amazing, and heart-rending. They show the bravery that comes with being a mother - something that women everywhere hope that they have but don't have to test.

It's easy to see how with each new regime there would be hope; only have hope dashed as each one was as bad as the last. It's hard to imagine anyone living through those conditions for so long and still managing to be hopeful in the end. Because in the end, the story really is one of hope. Hope that things will be better. Hope that all the sorrow won't be for nothing. Hope for recovery, love, laughter and regrowth.

the new dan brown

I consider Dan Brown's books to be interesting brain candy - interesting mostly due to historical facts and clue solving and brain candy because, come on, his stories are a bit ridiculous. I'm still unsure as to why The Da Vinci Code got the most praise because I really thought that its predecessor, Angels and Demons, was much better. I've read Deception Point as well but I hardly remember what it was about so, clearly, it didn't make much of an impression.

I recently finished his newest book, The Lost Symbol. I wasn't about to spend any money on it but my cousin bought it so I borrowed it after my dad got through with it (it's making the rounds through the family).

The book really held my interest even if it annoyed me at certain specific points. Robert Langdon is again the main character as is his knack for solving cryptic puzzles. These are the parts that I found most interesting. I found it helpful to be in front of a computer while reading so that I could pull up images of the iconic paintings, statues and buildings that he is "deciphering." Because this one is set in Washington, DC, the icons tended to be things that I've seen before or even see on a daily basis which made it all the more interesting.

Of course, living in DC has its drawbacks when reading this book too. His most glaring and easily verifiable mistake was putting King Street Metro Station and its neighboring Amtrak station underground. Really? They're both aboveground (and separated by railroad tracks) and that's something that you can see on Google maps. It makes me wonder if he actually visited the George Washington Masonic Memorial at all when researching the book - all he had to do was look down the hill.

It has none of the controversial somewhat anti-Catholic flavor that The Da Vinci Code had even if it is somewhat anti-organized religion at points. It definitely has some interesting ideas about God and/or a Higher Power. His discussions on noetics (apparently a tiny burgeoning new science field) and the effects that thoughts can have on the physical world were kind of intriguing. The idea that thoughts have weight and can be trained and focused toward a specific goal (healing, moving objects, what have you) would be quite fascinating if it could be proven.

The book does, however, have Mr. Brown's usual plot ridiculousness. This one made a bit worse by the fact that the entire book spans about 12 hours in real time. I'm not so great at "reading for comprehension" (sometimes I just flat out read too fast) so there were definitely some "twists" that I should have seen coming that were a bit groan-worthy.

All in all a decent read. Worth the time. Not worth buying - especially in hardback.

new book club

Will and I had been part of a book club that began in our apartment complex back in the day - before we were even together. But then Will picked a book that "killed" the group or so he says (it was weird but I liked it. of course, I was also the only one to read it; Will included), people moved away (including us) and I started school and there just wasn't time for that sort of thing.

Well, now that I'm done with school, I've been fortunate to able to join a new book club with a few UD friends and some other fantastic ladies. There are about 9 of us - 4 from VA, 1 from MD and the rest in DC. All sorts of backgrounds, single, dating, married and even one little reader. It's been great to get into the group and they've all been very welcoming even though I've only been participating for about 3 months and they've been reading together for going on 2 years!

I thought that I might write about our book each month here. We'll see if I keep it up. If I get really inspired, I might even throw in some thoughts on other things I read (I'm a bit of a voracious reader so one a month doesn't do me).

But first I want to catch up and talk briefly about the 3 books we've read since I joined the group.

Complications: a Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande

The book is organized as a series of topics with one main case study example. I'm not usually a fan of non-fiction but I really enjoyed this one. One of the things I really liked about it is that it gave me a lot of insight into the world that my good friend, Callie, and my SIL, Kate, live in - particularly Kate because she's training to be a surgeon. It really puts a human face on the practice of medicine and it is indeed, practice. I highly recommend this one.

You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs

This book is a series of Christmas-themed short stories by the author of Running with Scissors which I had also read. If you know anything about Augusten Burroughs, you can expect weird and strange. Odd was more like it. Augusten grows up as the stories progress and it's a little dark at times for a Christmas book. Those of us who had read his other books (Running with Scissors and Dry: A Memoir) had a hard time fitting some of the stories around the events of his life that we were familiar with. All in all, it would be more enjoyable if you already like Burroughs and it's not quite what I look for in a Christmas story.

Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams

This was the story of a young boy growing up on the farm in Georgia in the post-Great Depression 30s and 40s. Porter is the only son in a truly Southern family and all that that implies and expects of him. Father is a drunk, Mother rules the roost while letting Father believe that he does, the sharecroppers are his friends and Porter's a precocious one. It was a really interesting insight into post-Great Depression life in the South which is not a common period to read about - at least for me. It may not have been the most immaculately written book (it kind of took a bit to figure out the flow of things while reading) but it held my interest. I would have liked to hear more about what happened to Porter later in life after the story was finished.

Well, hopefully I'll have better insights for future books.

Lately...

Lately I have been...

... writing papers and taking tests but that will end VERY soon!

... dreaming of all the things I will get to do in September and beyond.

... lying awake at night mentally packing... for tubing/camping, for Europe...

... feeling like I'm taking advantage of my wonderful husband as he does way more than his share of regular life.

... braindead and irritable.

... rediscovering the library even if so far it's just through cheesy YA books that I can read in 6 hours (Uglies triology [with 4 books, go figure] by Scott Westerfield - highly recommend them).

... ignoring just about all housework (see above).

... eating like crap and only vaguely worrying about the fact that I haven't worked out in months.

... doing hardly any work that they actually pay me for - wait, that's all the time.

... procrastinating - wait, that's all the time too.

... finally feeling the weight of grad school lifting off my shoulders :-)

thanks to Amy Jo for the inspiration (and further procrastination) for the post!