I'm not quite sure how I can call myself a lover of books, majored in English with a minor in Creative Writing, and never once did I come across author John Williams. In just a few sittings last week, Stoner by John Williams easily crept onto my list of favorites.

While a quiet and simple story covering the life of one man in Missouri, born at the end of the 19th century, William Stoner is a seemingly unremarkable teacher who leads an unremarkable life. Within his cocoon of literature and teaching is a man who feels he has let his parents down, suffers through a troubled marriage, wrestles a continued clash with a colleague, and conceding to a failed relationship with his daughter. With only two friends he can count within his life, William Stoner's story is divulged to the reader in quiet moments which reminded me of Anita Brookner's Hotel du Lac. 

I was so taken by the gentle story of William Stoner, who received an opportunity to begin studies at the local university in Missouri for agriculture, in order to help with his parents' farm. However, upon arrival at the university, staring at the gleaming lawns and stately buildings filled with so many chances of learning, along with a requirement to take a study of English, he very quickly falls in love with academic life and literature. He decides to redirect his life's course from his parents' expectations and chooses to instead study literature throughout his entire time at the university. It's a secret he maintains until his graduation in the most heartfelt and quietly tense scenes in a short conversation with his parents.

Stoner has such a mesmerizing flow that I felt a strong connection to his character, and worried with him on the small highs and deep lows of his life. Nothing quite amazing happens for Stoner, and while it was an easy and comfortable read, the story of William Stoner is filled with so many moments of sadness and choices made that resulted in unhappiness. It is a life filled with insignificant events to others, but extremely poignant for Stoner. It is heartfelt and quiet and hopeful and one of the best pieces of writing I've ever had the luxury of reading.

The legacy of this man becomes nothing, no remembrance. For all the students he taught and the struggles he experienced with another teacher at the university, with his wife, with his daughter, it was an astoundingly sad book, but also incredibly beautiful. It reminded me that even in anonymity and disregard, there is a world of endless possibility in even the tiniest of events in the seasons of a person's life. Each life is precious and individual and not to be taken for granted.

What a lovely book. I've ordered the author's three remaining novels.

It's been quite a while since I've devoured a book with such gusto, but in a slow and deliberate manner. I took my time reading The Ash Family, by Molly Dektar, and each section had me contemplating the actions and choices made by Berie, the main character. I was dumbfounded to realize that I wasn't shocked one bit with how simple it was for her to fall down the wrong hole in life. 

There are 1264 ratings on Goodreads as of this writing, but only a 3 and 1/2 star review and I was stunned by some thoughts because I think this story is that good. I don't often post reviews on this little corner of the blogosphere nowadays, but I had to for this one. Maybe it's the fall season when I read it and I was ready for a disturbing tale; maybe it was because I happened to be traveling through the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina at the exact time I was reading this book that helped me feel the atmosphere even more so, but I started reading this before my vacation and I live in Puerto Rico. While it might sound a bit corny, I was sitting in Puerto Rico with all of its heat and humidity and the sweat of everyday life, and I was seriously swept away into the cold of the Ash Family's world. I was so excited to join into reading reviews of this book and relishing on shared similar responses by other readers, but alas, I will resign myself to the realization that this will be a sleeper hit, that in a few more years we'll all be wishing we had read it sooner or with a different perspective.

The Ash Family is a quiet story about Berie, a nineteen-year-old who feels passionately about living, but not exactly certain how to fit herself into it all. She's out of step with others, not ever feeling a tie to her own mother or her boyfriend, Isaac. It's in Isaac that Berie may have learned some foundational element of defying authority, which interests her, but instead of fighting it from the outside, Isaac chooses to do so from the inside, by being part of that traditional and conventional life and that decision is significant for her, and it destroys her hero worship view of him. It disappoints her greatly, and you could question why she feels compelled to live her life through others and their choices, but it circles right back to how Berie wants to be led by someone else. She's afraid to make the big decisions, she's never genuinely felt at home in anything, and she's listlessly living that conventional life where her very next step after high school and a broken relationship is the traditional next jaunt of going to college. Instead, Berie skips the flight and takes a bus to anywhere and meets a random man named Bay, so different from anyone she's ever known. Somehow, Bay meets her initial needs of security, comfort and being led. She's perfect to bring home to the Ash family.

The explanation of her decision to stay either "three days or the rest of her life" magnifies the intensity of the stress Berie feels to belong to something. Anything. Even this quiet and bizarre group of people who live off the land, who feed their sheep, who slaughter the animals and grow their vegetables, who values each item so preciously that a member can be punished for the accidental break of a glass jar. It's all so different from the very different and privileged living Berie had before heading off to college. And then before she fully realizes it all, she's now actually in so deep to what isn't a family, but very much so is a cult.

No, there isn't strong and signifiant action and rolling moments to move you through each page; instead it is a story of how easy it is to feel a sense of connection to something, to want to belong with others, to someone and how simply it can just become that way. We can all make fun of teenagers nowadays not knowing how easy they have it, but this is exactly the reason why some can unknowingly fall into the "wrong crowd." But truly, you don't have to be young, old, or have a terrible life - you can quite easily be led astray by the simplest of methods that can take a long amount of time or a quick amount, depending on the victim - which is exactly what brainwashing is, and what Berie experiences.

It is frightening how simple one can be led astray and I will spoil one thing for you - there isn't a big moment that significantly clarifies the choice she makes to live differently - as it is with anyone. There isn't always a momentous identified event that helps to distinguish life before and life after anything; there isn't always a "something.". Life is a natural progression of day in and day out decisions, and then before you know it, you're comfortable. It's home. It's your life. It's the family. Which is actually a cult, but I, as the reader, didn't feel it at first, I didn't realize it was all a cult, I felt comfortable with how Berie becomes part of it. There are characters who move in and out and it's completely dreamlike and terribly sad to feel how deeply embedded into this lifestyle she is ultimately drowning in.

But this happens. This is how cults are born, how innocent communities go astray and become different because of who might be leading them; it's so easy for someone like that to charm a young person who is unsure or insecure about their life and lead them down a different path. Berie is like that. She's unsure and confused about where she belongs, but she is also a little bit confident about wanting to do something different and she wants to earn her spot with the family, with Bay, with the main leader, Dice. She wants to be part of something else with them, more of whatever "action" it is they work on without her inclusion.

So when she meets Bay at the bus station, a strong and big and engaging man who seems like someone she should go with, she just does. She has nowhere else to go. She becomes part of the Ash Family, led by Dice, who gives her the new name of Harmony, and gives her tasks that make her grow callouses on her hands and slowly becomes entrenched in all of her decisions that she simply can't be sure what to do next without his guidance. She always wonders when she'll be trusted enough to be part of the "action." She is always working for that hope and feeling for someone to believe in her, and ultimately it is clear that if she just believed in herself, none of this ever would have happened. It is a frightening example of how anyone can so easily be pulled into a world which cuts them off to everything and everyone they know.

People might shake their heads when they watch documentaries on cults and I don't understand that - I can watch a film on a cult and feel the same but deep down, I am puzzled on what the difference is between a cult and anything else we so gleefully follow. In Corporate America, we faithfully follow our boss and their decisions whether we agree with them or not, we all say the same "company line." Of course, we obviously should choose to not cross the line with anything illegal, but seriously. It's not that hard to imagine how someone gets caught up in the wrong decisions. This is a powerfully told story of insecurity and the blind willingness to belong to anything at all.

I loved this story. I will be giving this 5 stars on Goodreads.

Disclosure: I downloaded this book for free from my library's Libby app.

About the Author (from her website)

Molly Dektar is from North Carolina and lives in Brooklyn. She received her MFA from Brooklyn 

College, where she was awarded the Himan Brown Award and the Brooklyn College Scholarship for Fiction. She is a graduate of Harvard College and was the recipient of the Louis Begley Fiction Prize. The Ash Family is her first novel.

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Thank you to PR by the Book for sending me this advanced reader's copy of Keita Nagano's book tour for his novel, The Sea of Japan. (Fingers crossed this is the cover chosen for the final printed copy - it's gorgeous!)

Overview

After fleeing a disastrous teaching job (and a bad gambling habit) in Boston, Lindsey starts teaching English in Hime, a small fishing town in Japan. One morning, while trying to snap the perfect ocean sunrise photo for her mother, she slips off a rock at the edge of Toyama Bay, hits her head, and plunges into the sea—and in doing so, sets off an unexpected chain of events.

When Lindsey comes to in the hospital, she learns that she owes her life to a young man named Ichiro—a local fisherman who also happens to be the older brother of one of her students. She begins to spend time with her lifesaver, and in the ensuing months, she becomes increasingly enmeshed in her new life: when she is not busy teaching, she splits her time between an apprenticeship with the local master sushi chef and going out fishing with Ichiro. As she and Ichiro grow closer, however, she also learns that not all is well in Hime, and she is drawn into a war to stop the town next door from overfishing their shared bay. Soon, she, Ichiro, and her pastrami-obsessed best friend, Judy—the New Yorker, who talked Lindsey into coming to Japan in the first place—are spending all their free time working together to rescue the town. But when their efforts backfire, Hime gets closer to falling apart—putting Lindsey’s friends, her budding relationship with Ichiro, and her career in jeopardy. To save Hime, Lindsey realizes, she’ll have to become a true American fisherwoman and fight for her new home with everything she has.

The buzz is...

Love, survival, conflict…Lindsey runs wild in the Sea of Japan. When her loved ones are attacked, her American spirit stands tall. When her friends are in danger, her Japanese fans get united. The Hollywood-like climax where Lindsey competes in a fishing duel will leave you hanging on the edge of your seat.

—Tetsu Fujimura, Executive producer of Ghost in the Shell (Starring Scarlett Johansson)​

Keita Nagano has created a fascinating tale blending the best of two literary worlds, the American and the Japanese. It is a story of friendship, transformation, and journey for the meaning of life. What's really marvelous about this novel is the unique style with its apparent simplicity and deep meaning. A true Japanese delight.

—Elvira Baryakina, author of Russian Treasures series

Win or lose. Sports are loved by Americans because they're tough and challenging, just like this story. At the climax of the book, the readers are on Lindsey’s fishing competition boat with her, watching her struggle to save the people she loves and get justice for her adopted town. Imagine you are standing on the 10-meter high diving board. The tension is just that, on the beautiful Sea of Japan

—Thomas Gompf, 1964 Tokyo Olympic Medalist & Former President of the United States Aquatic Sports.

Disclosure: I received the book from PR by the Book, published by Spark Press.

About the Author

Keita Nagano is an award-winning Japanese author who has lived almost equally in Nevada and Tokyo—more than twenty years in each place—and reflects the difference of the two cultures in his novels. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Keio University in Japan, as well as an MBA in global business and Ph.D. in management from Walden University in Minnesota. The pursuit of the authentic American experience is his hobby: he has been to all fifty states, all thirty major league ballparks, and the top sixty big cities in America. He has published seventeen business nonfiction and eight fiction books in Japan. In 2013, he received a Nikkei (Japanese Wall Street Journal) Award for Contemporary Novel for his missing-child thriller, Kamikakushi. He is also an official weekly columnist for Forbes Japan. Nagano lives in Henderson, Nevada, with his wife and Welsh corgi, and their teenage daughter is currently studying in Tennessee.

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My heart. This book. Here's how my life intersects with this story: Years ago, when I book blogged regularly, I luckily received an uncorrected proof of Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings from Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group. I started reading it and fell immediately in love. It had the feel of Donna Tartt's A Secret History, which is one of my favorite stores.

The Interestings has a lull, a full story to be told of kids who meet at a summer camp in the '70s and then their naturally unfolded lives over a period of forty years, some in directions they hoped for and some resigned to what they never could  become. I stopped reading partway through, because of the detour in my own life with breast cancer, a double mastectomy, chemo, just when my son had turned seven-months-old. I was, well... distracted, of course. With that time now firmly in my rear view mirror (thank you, God), and because of our big move to Puerto Rico and packing up my studio office a few months ago, I came across this book and my bookmark still in place of where I left off. 

I read through this furiously and quickly and fell in love with the story all over again, and it was like I had never put it down. Read this, absorb it. Every page is magic.

Originally published on my Instagram.

About the Author (from her website)

Meg Wolitzer is the New York Times–bestselling author of The Interestings, The Uncoupling, Ten-Year Nap, The Position, The Wife, and Sleepwalking. She is also the author of the young adult novel Belzhar. Wolitzer lives in New York City.

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Many moons ago (er, last fall)... I signed up for the always fun annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril (RIP) Challenge. The selected book for the readalong was The Quick by Lauren Owen and since I typically am amazing at signing up for challenges, but horrible in completing them, I surprised myself when I started the book and then COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I did succeed in my usual pattern, however, by inadvertently forgetting to post a final review about it, so my apologies to the wonderful Estella Society. I will do much better this year! (I've gotten into a bad habit of not posting as frequently as I used to because of the events in this post; but Thank God, I am all good now.)

I chose to participate in this group read because of one important detail that was included in the intro. "For fans of The Historian and The Night Circus." Yep, I was in. Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian will always be one of my favorite books, and I've read it twice in the past ten years, even hosting a group readalong at On the Ledge Readalongs. The Historian was such a visual experience, incorporating overseas locations and unique meals with an unnamed narrator, that it launched my own interest in researching and posting pictures relevant to the pages our group read together. That was a ride of an adventure that I am always looking to replicate with another story.

Since it's been a few months since I read it, I'm opting to go with the below Goodreads synopsis so I don't miss out on anything, or give away too much.

London, 1892: James Norbury, a shy would-be poet newly down from Oxford, finds lodging with a charming young aristocrat. Through this new friendship, he is introduced to the drawing-rooms of high society, and finds love in an unexpected quarter. Then, suddenly, he vanishes without a trace. Unnerved, his sister, Charlotte, sets out from their crumbling country estate determined to find him. In the sinister, labyrinthine city that greets her, she uncovers a secret world at the margins populated by unforgettable characters: a female rope walker turned vigilante, a street urchin with a deadly secret, and the chilling “Doctor Knife.” But the answer to her brother’s disappearance ultimately lies within the doors of one of the country’s preeminent and mysterious institutions: The Aegolius Club, whose members include the most ambitious, and most dangerous, men in England.

While The Quick was much more action-packed than The Historian, the setting and the atmosphere, was equally intense, creating an eerie and contemplative feel that I so appreciate in Victorian/Gothic tales. I loved it. The characters and overall quest fit snugly into the category of Victorian horror and Owen's debut creatively demonstrates the challenge of combining present events with the epistolary genre of letters and diary entries into a distinctly peculiar and thoughtful story of unexpected love, loyalty, and of course, vampires. This was an absolutely fantastic story. The key to it are the characters, who fit a range of the unexpected and curiously hopeful, banded together for the ultimate goal. This is a wonderful story filled with secrets and turns, and one that is perfect for you to put on the list of creepy tales to keep close on cold winter nights. I'm eagerly awaiting the next work from Lauren Owen.

Just as a side note: The Quick was also ranked as one of the best books of the year by Slate.

Here's the original button that The Estella Society created. My apologies to them again that I didn't participate like I intended! But, I did read the book, loved it and will try much harder for the next RIP Challenge!

About the Author (from Goodreads)

Lauren Owen studied English Literature at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, before completing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where she received the 2009 Curtis Brown prize for the best fiction dissertation. The Quick is her first novel. She lives in Durham, England.

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"Because survival is insufficient."

So proclaims the tattoo on Kirsten Raymonde's arm, as she works with The Traveling Symphony, more than ten years after almost 99% of the world succumbed to a deady flu outbreak. Traveling with her fellow actors and musicians to ensure that the arts never die, Kirsten becomes one of the key figures to the description of life after.

Kirsten Raymonde once performed on stage with a famous actor from Hollywood, Arthur Leander, when she was a child. Her most vivid memory of life before is the night he died onstage of a massive heart attack. Jeevan, once a member of the paparazzi and now an EMT, rushes onstage to try to bring Arthur back to life, and Clark, an old friend of Arthur's, is the one who calls Miranda to tell her the news. Miranda, a high-powered executive in the shipping world and one of Arthur's ex-wives, is on the other side of the world, successful in both her career and in her ongoing hobby of drawing and writing her graphic novel Doctor Eleven, full of imagination and adventure in an otherworld known as the "Undersea." That very same night, a deadly flu outbreak quickly tore through civilization, frightening viewers watching the news and eventually killing nearly everyone on earth.Within a few weeks, the once beautiful life of civilization and law and order was over. 

Alternating between the years after devastation and the years before, Emily St. John Mandel's delicately detailed design of life is incredibly vivid. Focused on a few key characters, the descriptions of the flu, the desolation following it, and how survivors crafted solutions to maintain life is brilliant. And my favorite character, Miranda, and her ongoing project of Doctor Eleven, was fantastic. I am thrilled to hear that the author is working on bringing Doctor Eleven truly into the graphic novel arena. I'll certainly be first in line to check that out.

Post-apocalyptic fiction for die-hard fans can be very specific, and for me, Station Eleven was divinely sad, thoughtful, and has easily secured its place on my own personal "Best Books Read in 2015."

Kirsten Potter, the narrator, fit perfectly. Her voice smoothly fit into each of the characters well and I enjoyed listening to her tell me the story. I don't believe I've listened to her before. That can always be a little scary, trusting a voice you've never listened to before tell you a story, but Potter was exceptional. I'll look for more from her again.

We are all connected, whether by a tiny thread or stronger, but somehow, the link is undeniable. And in Station Eleven, the characters are tied together so delicately that it is incredible how Emily St. John Mandel has delightfully woven them through into an incredible adventure of lives lived after everything we've ever always trusted and believed would never change has now broken down.

FTC Disclosure: I downloaded this audiobook through my membership from Audible.com

About the Author (from her website)

Emily St. John Mandel is the author of four novels, most recently Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and won the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award. A previous novel, The Singer's Gun, was the 2014 winner of the Prix Mystere de la Critique in France. Her short fiction and essays have been anthologized in numerous collections, including Best American Mystery Stories 2013. She is a staff writer for The Millions. She lives in New York City with her husband. 

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About the Narrator

Kirsten Potter rocked this audio. Here is a complete list of everything on Audible.com that she has performed. I'm sure that you won't be disappointed. Click here to listen to a sample from Audible.com

If you want a secret kept safe, Muriel is the one to tell it to. In her entire life, the only connection she had with her beautiful and worshipped mother, Lidia, and equally mesmerizing sister, Pia, are the things she's seen or gone through with them, or because of them. Never once, though, has Muriel broken her promises and told a soul. With her father emotionally absent and bonded to his only son, Logan, and Lidia and Pia always excluding others, Muriel continues to be the outcast in a family of four who accidentally had a fifth.

Now an adult at twenty-three and living in New York with an entry level job, Muriel still keeps her promises, but limits her time with family. She prefers Sundays securely snug in the comfort and safety of her tiny fourth-floor walk-up apartment, eating popcorn while on the bed and reading the Times. Planning the day starts off like any other, but when her perfect sister Pia, now living in Connecticut with the perfect husband, house, and daughter, unexpectedly calls to spend Sunday with her, little does she know her entire life will change. What Muriel once thought about her family turns upside-down and sideways as relationships are scrutinized, past events are inspected again, all because of one more secret Pia has to share.

No matter how odd it may sound that I loved a story so sad and heartbreaking, Two Sisters resulted in just that. Beautifully written, Muriel's sad story is oftentimes difficult to read, frustration seeping in for the reader as Lidia and Pia dig at Muriel, cruelly teasing Muriel's hair, shape, and more. With reminders that being the odd man out in any situation can feel horrible, within a family, it can be damaging.

I couldn't put down Two Sisters and ended up flying through it in a day. It was an excellent change of pace from my current reading preferences, and I enjoyed every page. With truly nasty, unlikable characters throughout, Muriel's the ultimate underdog, and I cheered her on. While things tied up a little too neatly for my preferences, I loved Muriel's story, her quiet attempts to bond with her sister and mother tugging at my heartstrings.

Mary Hogan has a gift when writing the voice of the tortured soul excluded from others, and I'm eager to read more from her. I've heard that this is her first foray into adult fiction, with seven previously published books in the YA genre, so I'm excited to dive more into her work when her next adult novels come out.

Book club readers will definitely feel inclined to share their own personal family stories after reading Two Sisters. There is much to think about and mull over with others, and the simultaneously sweet and harsh message that sometimes you have to look at who you are, instead of always thinking everyone else is the problem, might hit home for many. The words lift from the page, pulling you into Muriel's world and I happily went into it, no matter how sad it sometimes could be.

FTC Disclosure: I accepted this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: 3/4/2014
Pages: 384

About the Author
Mary Hogan is the award-winning author of seven Young Adult novels, and is also a writer for several national magazines, including her most recent article featured in Woman's Day about her mother, sister, and herself. (I'm going to have to read that one now, too!)  She lives in New York City with her husband and her dog Lucy. Two Sisters is her first mainstream adult fiction book. And it is good.

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Don't ever say a book doesn't sound like it's right for you.

I'm going to put it all out there and tell you that this is one of the most poignant, moving, heart-wrenching and beautiful stories I've read in a long time. A very long time.

Taylor's mother left her at a 7-11 when she was eleven and Hannah came to pick her up. Now seventeen, Taylor attends the school on Jellicoe Road and every year the Cadets come to town, causing a battle of territories between the students, the Cadets, and the Townies. Hushed agreements, secret meetings, invasions over boundary lines and battles over rules first established twenty years ago by a group of five kids are a daily event. With an unexplained phone call pulling Hannah out of Taylor's life, it's up to Taylor to find her own strength with new friends and in finding out exactly who she is and where she comes from.

Taylor isn't the most likable person to others yet she's been designated the leader of their group over the battle for territory. It's an unwanted position and while Taylor regrets it, she moves forward to lead her group even though she regularly pushes away any closeness with friends, the students in her own house, and more, but there is an understanding something more is hidden behind this jaded facade. Her friendships with the others in the competing territories are compelling, pushing through her barriers and developing the solid foundation of true and meaningful trust, something she had been lacking in others when her mother dumped her at a convenience store, never to be seen again.

There are two overlapping stories happening and it can get confusing, but ease up on your expectations of what "structure" should be like in this coming-of-age tale. It's momentous and crucial and makes complete sense to the point that when you finally get it, you almost want to read it again as soon as you are done so you can experience an entirely different level of this story.

The writing is intense, lush, bountiful in its imagery of Australia, the school, and the friendships and past secrets. It is a beauty indescribable within these pages and I admit I cried, perhaps even hyperventilated through several scenes in this story. Absolutely brilliant, easy to read within one sitting or in a couple of days, but deeply profound and unshakable with its premise. It's a story I'll be thinking about for quite some time and will easily make my own personal list of the Best Books I've Read in 2013.

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Release Date: 3/9/2010
Pages: 419

About the Author
Melina Marchetta is an Australian author who has been published in over eighteen countries. Her books Looking For Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, On the Jellicoe Road (which won the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, recognizing that year's best book for young adults), Finnikin of the Rock, The Piper's Son, The Gorgon in the Gully, Froi of the Exiles.
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The Casual Vacancy is very much for an adults-only crowd, and is quite a departure from everything else Rowling has written. While the pages are peppered with drug use, strong sexual scenes, bullying, and so much more, it is surprisingly honest int its approach to reveal the ridiculous expectations of social norms and hypocrisy. At its core is a novel with a biting cut into contradictions at all levels, and while it may be lewd in some sections, it is exact in its perspective of how people really can be. Although there are an overwhelming number of characters to the point of initial confusion, each serve their purpose to tell the story, and the story is a daggone good one to read.

A few things to note (my own disclaimer):

• Did I read this because I like the "other" books? Yes. I wanted to see how the first novel for adults would be like.
• Am I an avid JK Rowling fan? Not really. I mean, I love the Harry Potter world, and have one book in the series on my shelf, but I never camped out to get the next installment of Harry Potter. I don't think I've visited Pottermore online, unfortunately, and I even lived two hours away from the Harry Potter theme park in Florida and, while I always wanted to go, I never did in the two years I lived there before we moved back to Virginia Beach. I was sad when the last book and movie in the series was released, however. It's an incredible achievement and part of pop culture, whether or not you like the writing.
• Give Rowling a chance. She's created an incredible world before and assuming that The Casual Vacancy won't be any good just because you feel Harry Potter is theonlycharacterthatmatters is like relegating child actors with the same punishment simply because we can't see them as capable of anything else.
• Get through the first fifty to sixty pages. There are A LOT of characters and initially, it's hard to keep track of everyone. However, if you can get through that first section, it will not be tough to remember who is who as they are all memorable (and nasty). Then, you can settle down and enjoy the story. ( I would recommend that when the paperback is released, the publisher may want to add a "cast of characters" page as a reference.
• Yes, the synopsis sounds boring. I totally agree. It never grabbed my interest and maybe that's why it wasn't written under a pseudonym? Writing it under Rowling's name would guarantee purchases, whereas I don't think that writing it under a pen name would have made anyone care about the book, just based on the synopsis alone.
• So, forget about the synopsis.
• And, forget about the "other" books.

My Synopsis

Barry Fairbrother is the quintessential good guy. Although raised in the "Fields," the spot of town where the "riff-raff" live, he's been able to grow into more than his birthplace ever would suggest him to become and now lives in Pagford. With a wife and children, his place in the community as a family man who gives back is further extended with his seat on the Pagford Parish Council. His presence raises the hackles of others on the council, simply because Fairbrother, as his name would suggest, prefers to deal with the "Fields" and the town of Yarvil, fairly. Decades before, the boundary lines between Yarvil and Pagford overlapped by an accidental sale of property, and consequently, certain areas remain in Yarvil but are the financial responsibility of Pagford, namely the Bellchapel Clinic, which doles out needed methadone to recovering addicts in the immediate area. When the lease on the clinic comes up, a battle begins to take shape between Pagford and Yarvil, opening up the decades-old wound and no one is exempt from the fray. When Barry dies unexpectedly, his seat on the town council becomes a crucial spot that could swing the final decision of Yarvil and Pagford lines, and for Bellchapel staying open. It's now come to the final showdown, and with battles between parents and children, neighbors, friends, and spouses, everyone is fair game to suffer gossip and rumor.

I tried to fluff up the synopsis a bit more to be somewhat more engaging and I'm not sure I did it any justice. I assure you that while no matter how challenging it may be to come up with a satisfying and intriguing overview of the book, it's really not possible. It just sounds so boring. But, my friends, I can also assure that this book ultimately is anything but boring. Just get through those first fifty or so pages!

My Thoughts

I read quickly and did not want to put it down. It's the sort of book to read while on a rainy day, and the weather complied the entire weekend in Virginia Beach so it fit perfectly for my mood. While the characters in the book are not the sort you'd ever want as your friend, social standards and hypocrisy are cut open and each protagonist is simultaneously a hideous antagonist. It is a reminder to turn the mirror on yourself initially before passing judgement on others and each character in this story is a contradiction through and through. 

With insincere people mangling the system we are expected to place faith in, Rowling's book comes out at a timely enough moment in American politics with the election right around the corner in November. The public battle the two towns wage is remarkably genuine to what you might expect to hear, both on a local and national scale, and I was truly transfixed. And although there were several well-intentioned characters (Kay, the social worker who cares about Krystal; Andrew, a young teenager who makes ill choices but ultimately wants to be better; Parminder, a doctor who cares about the Fields; her daughter, Sukhvinder who struggles with her own sad demons), each make their own ugly choices at some point that contribute to a breakdown in their families or either town, ultimately causing more havoc. Their thoughts about themselves and others can sometimes be horrifyingly unjust, yet how they carry themselves can seem quite the opposite.

And although some want to help, the story thoughtfully trudges through the harsh reality that sometimes, a local system of government, social work, medical care, and more, can accidentally do more harm than good as well-intentioned people are held hostage by excessive rules. In the end, when it most matters to get involved in one of the most heartbreaking moments, it's tough to find anyone to step in. Instead, all who could have helped expected "someone else" to get involved, and that can be the most horrendous danger of all. Apathy may not be a crime, but disregard in the most obvious moment when it really matters, can be terrifying.

I wish the illustration of the town on the back was used for the cover

My Final Takeaway
Will you love this? Will you even like this? I can tell you that I did and quite a bit. I will advise you that preconceived ideas should completely be thrown out the window. JK Rowling has delved into the darker parts of humanity and she's done it extremely well, crafting a story with substance and surprise, one that kept me thinking even after I read the final heart-wrenching scenes. While there are a lot of characters, she ties it all up nicely with each characters' story concluding without confusion. I was surprised, comforted, shocked and ultimately content with The Casual Vacancy and I urge you all to give this book a chance. Forget the "other" books, forget the other big newspaper book reviews that were not glowing, and instead recognize that she, as an artist, surely can create more than one universe for us to enjoy. With that knowledge, I comfortably await her next book; it's certain to be another novel firmly entrenching us in another world of her creation yet again.

Check back next week to read my thoughts which will include a few chatty spoilers!

Passage of Note:

It was curious how often everything was back to front, the inverse of what they told you; Fats was starting to think that if you flipped every bit of received wisdom on its head you would have the truth. He wanted to journey through dark labyrinths and wrestle with the strangeness that lurked within; he wanted to crack open piety and expose hypocrisy; he wanted to break taboos and squeeze wisdom from their bloody hearts; he wanted to achieve a state of amoral grace, and be baptized backwards into ignorance and simplicity. (p.76)

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: 9/27/12
Pages: 503

FTC Disclosure: I purchased the first edition hardcover on release day. It will stay on my shelves, thankyouverymuch.

About the Author

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What can be written that you don't already know? Rowling is the creator and author of the Harry Potter empire, resulting in publications of the series in 73 languages and 450 million copies sold. The Casual Vacancy is her first novel for adults.

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I am participating in The Casual Vacancy readalong, hosted by Literary Musings and Bookworm Meets Bookworm. I'm ecstatic that they created this since it jumpstarted me to read the book before the hype really got rolling! Thank you to you both!

Called the "Watergate of the high school level" by the National Council of Teachers of English in 1975 when The Chocolate War was first published, it's amazing to see how thirty-seven years has not changed much when it comes to the banning of books. It is startling at times when you consider how books are a target, and that seemingly thoughtful individuals can be pulled into the fray of banding together to support censorship. Surprising and disconcerting, to say the least, but I like to use the word frightening.

About twenty years ago, browsing the library in a small town in Maryland, I came across The Chocolate War. Intrigued, I checked it out and read it in one night, paging as fast as I could to find out what was to happen in this bully-filled boys' school in Massachusetts. It kept me up half the night, reading in my room by the hallway light. I was struck by this seemingly simple story of a school tasked to sell thousands of boxes of chocolates in order to satisfy the administrators, but I soon realized it was much more. Diving into issues that are still relevant today such as bullying and peer pressure, The Chocolate War is a reminder that not wanting to get involved can sometimes be much much worse.

I read this for Banned Book Week, hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, and I'm so glad I did. This is the 30th anniversary of Celebrating the Freedom to Read, and if you'd like to get a little more information from the American Library Association, click here or here. Reading The Chocolate War gave me a chance to walk down my bookish memory lane and to celebrate creativity, the honesty that writing can bring to the forefront things no one wants to talk about. The Chocolate War is a brilliant and insightful cut into high school life and it is timeless.

Jerry Renault is a freshman in high school, trying to secure a spot on the football team. After moving into an apartment with his father following his mother's painful battle against cancer, Jerry's sad memories are put to the side in order to concentrate on school. When the Vigils, a group of boys notorious for their "assignments" to students that result in outrageous pranks, assigns Jerry the task to not sell chocolates, Jerry takes it further by going longer than assigned, ultimately defying both the school's corruption and the Vigils. It is a story that reminds one to, no matter how difficult, not always follow peer pressure and to remember that one individual can, in fact, really change things. It may be dangerous, as in Jerry's case, but it may be the right thing to do.

And speaking of the right thing to do, let's talk about corruption. It surprises me that this book would ever be banned because Jerry's silent defiance against the corrupt school administrator, Brother Leon and Andrew of the Vigils, might be an uplifting story teenagers should read. It's an opportunity to stretch their minds, to really think about what is right and wrong, to openly discuss how people can be led astray so easily because "everyone else" feels a certain way. It might be tough to go against the grain, and sometimes it might be tough to even shift your thinking from what everyone else thinks you should be doing, to what you know to be right. The level of control exerted by varying age groups in this book is astounding, but it is not far at all from reality. To ban a book like this, or any book that makes one think, is book-blasphemous. Is there language in the book? Yes. Are there sexual images portrayed? Yep. Do teenagers talk and do the things that are in this book? Sure do. But do we really want to hide our heads in the sand and think that the book is the sole reason that puts ideas into kids' heads? Come on now. The Chocolate War is a gritty expose of high school corruption, of bullying,  ego, control, our primitive lust for barbaric events, and what happens when people abuse authority.

For those out there who are considering removing a book, please think hard. Re-examine what makes your opinion the right one over someone else's. What authority might you have to determine society's moral compass?

Passages of Note:

"Simple, Carter, simple." Archie reveled in the moment, basking in Carter's admiration, Carter who had humiliated him at The Vigils meeting. Someday he'd get even with Carter but at the moment it was satisfying enough to have Carter regarding him with awe and envy. "You see, Carter, people are two things: greedy and cruel. So we have a perfect set-up here. The greed part - a kid pays a buck for a chance to win a hundred. Plus fifty boxes of chocolates. The cruel part - watching two guys hitting each other, maybe hurting each other, while they're safe in the bleachers. That's why it works, Carter, because we're all bastards." (p.231)

Carter disguised his disgust. Archie repelled him in many ways but most of all by the way he made everybody feel dirty, contaminated, polluted. As if there was no goodness at all in the world. And yet Carter had to admit that he was looking forward to the fight, that he himself had bought not one but two tickets. Did that make him like everybody else - greedy and cruel, as Archie said? The question surprised him. Hell, he'd always thought of himself as one of the good guys. He often used his position as president of The Vigils to keep control of Archie, to prevent him from going overboard on assignments. But did that make him one of the good guys? The question bothered Carter. That's what he hated about Archie. He made you feel guilty all the time. Christ, the world couldn't be as bad as Archie said it was. But hearing the shouts of the kids in the bleachers, impatient for the fight to get underway, Carter wondered. (p.232)

FTC Disclosure: I checked this book out from my local Virginia Beach library.

Giveaway (ending October 7th) - One copy of Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War.
(For US residents only due to shipping costs.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New York in 1845 was a powder-keg of unrest. With an influx of Irish immigrants escaping the tragic Great Potato Famine into an already packed city, the New York summer of 1845 was filled with riots, religious unrest, murder, and the eventual birth of the New York Police Department, known by New Yorkers as a "standing army." Timothy Wilde, once a bartender with an unfulfilled love for a charitable woman named Mercy Underhill, has accepted a position as a policeman after a horrible fire leaves him with no bar to tend and his face disfigured. Amidst racism, brothels, drugs and murder, Timothy learns there is much more darkness in the city than he ever imagined. When a young girl, Bird, runs into him one night during his rounds, her nightdress covered in blood, with unbelievable stories of a murdered child, his new career becomes even darker.

A strong dislike for his older and more politically-minded brother, Val, Timothy's got an ethical side that can't be undone. Even with Bird, he doesn't have the heart to deliver her to the House of Refuge for orphaned children and instead takes her back to his apartment building where the female proprietor cares for her. As he takes the case to uncover the child murders, which seem to point heavily to a blatant hatred for Irish Catholicism, Timothy's unsure of who to rely on. His brother is of questionable character and the locals don't take any issue with brothels, even if children are an option. It's a gritty underworld that he didn't expect to be immersed in.

The Gods of Gotham is superb with early 1800s elements of New York life and American history, from the combination of race and religious unrest to the Irish "assimilation" into New York and even to the seedy brothels. While Mercy Underhill maintains her own sense of willful independence that at times was shocking, she provides the clear contrast to the city's evil with her ministering of care to the orphans and uncared for children, all the while dreaming of her one-day voyage across the Atlantic to England to escape New York. Each piece of the story was brilliant.

However, I did take issue with the audiobook so let me first encourage you to visit the Audible.com reviews site because I definitely do not represent the majority of the listeners. While I loved the story, I struggled with the audio considerably. In 1845 New York, I anticipated a little more accented English and instead felt the narrator's voice was flat and non-regional, and a good portion of the audio was monotonous, even to the point that there wasn't any variation between the male voices. There was also a distinct lack of emotion for several of Timothy's truly painful moments and with such a vivid story, it's unfair to the characters to be so colorlessly represented. Usually, a narrator keeps a bad story going, but in this case, The Gods of Gotham was thankfully a captivating tale which was the sole reason I was motivated to continue. I do want to mention that there was one bright spot that I loved in audio, which occurred between the newsboys and Timothy when they spoke "flash," a slang dialect of the lower classes in New York. It was extremely unique and interestingly enough, "flash" is also the foundation of several slang words we use today. Other reviews point out that these conversations were a difficult part when reading in print, however I can say the audiobook makes it much, much easier to understand and visualize and I do feel the narrator did a good job here. (For a really cool interview with the author discussing "flash," click here.)

The story and historical elements are fascinating and while it was a bit wordy at the start of the book, it evened out and became an engaging tale which makes me now eagerly await the sequel. At that time, though, I will be reading the printed version versus listening to the audio.

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Audio Time: 12 hours, 9 minutes

Release Date: 3/5/12

Narrator: Steven Boyer

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FTC Disclaimer: I purchased this audio book at Audible.com

About the Author (from her website)

Lyndsay Faye is the author of Dust and Shadows: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson and the most recent bestseller The Gods of Gotham. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she has adopted New York City as her second home, where she resides with her husband and too many cats and is at work on her next novel, a sequel to The Gods of Gotham.

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Audio Notes: Steven Boyer is an established narrator and has an extensive portfolio available on Audible.com. For a sample of his work on The Gods of Gotham, click here.

This is my first selection for Carl's RIP VII event at Stainless Steel Droppings. Participants' reviews can be found here.

Milo Weaver is a "Tourist" for the "Company," an undercover agent for the CIA. And he's a good one. Known as the legendary Charles Alexander, Milo's time in service has exhausted him and suicide is contemplated daily. After an especially tough case in Venice that leaves him shot, Milo decides to say good-bye to his old world and take a desk in New York to start a new life with his new wife, Tina, and their daughter, Stephanie. When an old friend is labeled as a treasonous double agent, Milo has no choice but to clear his friend's name and his own by going back to the undercover life he left six years ago.

I was  looking for a good spy novel that would take me to the many corners of the world and simultaneously keep me on the edge of my seat. The Tourist certainly did that and more and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It's been a little while since I felt like reading a spy novel (you may recall, I was disappointed with Dr. No by Ian Fleming a few months back), so when I picked this one up at the library the other day, I held my breath. I needn't have worried. While I don't think it's a spy novel breaking new ground, it certainly is extremely effective in sweeping the reader up into exotic locales like Venice, France, and Switzerland and there is just the right amount of heart-pumping scenes where you wonder if people are who they really say they are.

My only gripe is (and I'm certain this will sound insensitive, so my apologies in advance) that I was less interested in Milo's family than I probably should have been and was much more content when the pages would move back to the edge-of-your-seats spy scenes. Don't get me wrong, Milo's family provided that needed contrast between the life Milo loves, with the one he is forced to move back into, in order to protect his name and his family, but his wife and daughter just weren't interesting enough for me to be swept away in their stories. I'm hoping that the later novels in the trilogy offer even more depth for them because they both were equally tough characters, and Stephanie was quite the funny, sarcastic child. Milo himself was a thoroughly unique character, and you can't not love a spy who has a slight obsession with French singers from the 1960s.

All in all, The Tourist is a satisfying and intelligent spy-thriller that won't disappoint as the whirlwind travel around the world brings you ultimately back to the United States where Milo must trust the very people that he never thought he would need to in order to clear his name. With family secrets and old Cold War events blending with the new threats of today, Olen Steinhauer's The Tourist is an excellent first in a series that will whet your appetite to get the second installment immediately.

The trilogy in order:

• The Tourist (2009)
• The Nearest Exit (2010)
• The American Spy (2012)

FTC Disclosure: I checked this book out from my local Virginia Beach Public Library.

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Release Date: 2009

Pages: 408

About the Author (from his website)

Olen Steinhauer grew up in Virginia and has lived throughout the US and Europe. He is the author of The Bridge of Sighs, which began a five-book sequence chronicling Cold War Eastern Europe. The Tourist is book one in a trilogy. Steinhauer lives in Hungary with his wife and daughter.

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Oh, my gawd, Gillian Flynn can WRITE. I am not kidding. When Sharp Objects came out, I read it in a day on a business trip and was freaked out. How can a person write about the dark side of people so realistically and not be sitting in a mental institution? (I mean that in a very complimentary way, of course.)

This was undeniably one of the best books I've read in a while, and I usually get nervous to pronounce this, but not this time. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is, without question, going to end up on my "Best Books Read in 2012" list.

Amy and Nick are the quintessential perfect couple, and while they've had their ups and downs, they're now at their five-year anniversary and it's time to celebrate. Every year, Amy creates a treasure hunt for Nick to track down each gift, and pick up another clue to the next stop, and this year will be like every other. What Nick doesn't realize is that before the day is over, his wife will disappear. Before a few days go by, he becomes the best suspect that the cops in his small town in Missouri can find for Amy's disappearance. The national news picks it up and Nick is vilified, tried and found guilty in the court of public opinion within a couple of weeks.

In a shocking and chilling tale of the insane way our society jumps on cases of pretty women gone missing, Gillian Flynn delivers the personal tale of Nick and Amy, the love they found with each other when they first met in New York and the decline of their relationship as they move back to Nick's home town to take care of his ailing parents, each chapter switching from Nick's current reflections to Amy's diary. But as with any Flynn novel, there are so many more layers to the story than what I just described above. This is an incredible story and I could NOT put this down. I dare you to try to read it and not get so swept up in the personalities for both Nick and Amy, Nick's twin sister Margo (known as 'Go'), Amy's back story of being the inspiration for her parents' successful children's book series called Amazing Amy. It will be a marathon attempt to determine which character you feel the most comfortable with, but at the same time try to swallow that not every person is innocent and instead accept that all are potentially very, very corrupted. You'll take a break from reading the book and realize that an entire evening has passed by.

Sharp Objects powerfully delivered Gillian Flynn's talent so shockingly, even Stephen King was wowed. While Stephen King might be best known for horror (in my recent studies, however, I've come to the realization that he is SO much more than that), it's important to be aware that he is instead more recognizable as a magnificent storyteller. So for King to laud Flynn might initially identify her as a horror writer, let me be clear: Gillian Flynn writes about the dark side of people, the sick and twisted sociopathic ways people control others. It is gritty and uncomfortable, but I think truthful and honest are much more accurate descriptions of how she brings her characters to life. She can tap into the miserable side of human beings, and in a really unnerving way, as a reader, you devour the story and enjoy every single page.

Gillian Flynn can build tension and clearly describe a scene so believably and effectively that you are left reeling; you can smell the stale smoke in a bar, you can taste each scene as though you are living it at that exact moment in time and Gone Girl is just another example of this brilliance in writing. It is every bit as absorbing and compelling, reminding the reader that there are some messed up people in the world. This is a knock out novel of the underside of human nature. The scary thing is that you're going to enjoy it. You want to read more about each of these characters and their tangled, desperate (or perhaps brilliant?) choices they make.

I LOVED this book. LOVED it. You should read it. Ooh, and if this was a book club pick? I would so want to be a fly on the wall for those discussions.

For those attending BEA, Gillian Flynn is scheduled to be there, so make sure you stop by to meet her.

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Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Release Date: 6/5/2012 (available for pre-order now)
Pages: 432

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley.

About the Author

Gillian Flynn started out as a Human Resources writer for a trade magazine, and then moved on to Entertainment Weekly in New York City for ten years, writing about movies and visiting film sets internationally, including New Zealand for The Lord of the Rings, and to Prague for The Brothers Grimm. Her 2006 debut novel Sharp Objects was an Edgar Awards finalist, and the winner of two of Britain's Dagger awards, the first book ever to win multiple Daggers in one year. It has been published in more than 20 countries. She is currently writing the screenplay adaptation. Her second novel is Dark Places, and her third novel, Gone Girl, will be released in June 2012.

Flynn lives in Chicago with her husband and a giant black cat named Roy.

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