Today my not so secret inner book nerd is rejoicing because it’s time for my and Steph’s monthly book chat!!!

I started off the month plowing through some books. I think I read 5 in 10 days or something ridiculous like that. Then I slowed down to a regular pace and read a more normal 1 book every 5 days or so.

What I read ran the gamut, too. It was insanely eclectic, even for me. But rather than me rambling on about how much I read, let’s recap the books instead:

The Journalist and The Murderer by Janet Malcolm. Recommended for those of us who are huge Serial fans, it explored the relationship between a journalist and his subject, using the example of subject who sued the journalist who wrote about him for libel or something like that. I don’t know because I hated the book and I didn’t finish it. I barely remember what I did read. I do remember despising the author of the book, and the tone she set, right off the bat and that probably swayed my ability to finish it. It makes me sad because, being a huge criminal justice nerd, I should love a book like this. But I really just wanted to throw it out a window.

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes. A sweet book about a classic movie, written by someone who is both proud and humbled to have been a part of it (and he conveys that perfectly in the book without seeming too arrogant. He totally could have crossed that line, too). I love this movie, and have loved this movie, for so long and getting the behind the scenes sneak peek made me love it even more. If you read it for nothing else, read it for the Andre the Giant stories, how Cary Elwes and Mandy Patankin learned to fence, and the sidebar additions from the rest of the cast.

The Adderall Diaries by Stephen Elliott. When I heard about this book, I knew it was right up my fucked up alley. Half memoir, half investigative (sort of) journalism about a murder, I was mesmerized more by the author’s horrible childhood and life in the S&M world than I was by the murder he investigated and reported. The author’s life intrigues me so much I will probably binge read more of his work, even if it’s not autobiographical. I just want to support his career.

Paper Towns by John Green. I read this book in maybe a day and a half, if that much. It was probably more like a few hours but the story stayed with me for days afterwards that it feels like it took longer. Since it’s John Green, you know it’s YA, and the story was similar to Looking for Alaska in that it was a teenage boy obsessed with a teenage girl who goes missing. Except that the ending of this book is haunting, the whole story makes you think, and leaves you both happy and sad. I hope the movie adaptation does it justice. If the adaptation for The Fault in Our Stars is any indication, it will.

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger. So this chick was 17 when the book was published. Which means she was even younger when she wrote it. Given that fact, the shallowness of the story, the mostly superficial characters, and a weird storyline about parental alcoholism that’s only somewhat relevant get a bit of slack. It’s a cute, easy YA read that, had I been in high school when I read it, I probably would have loved it. My adult self was not upset that she read it. However, my adult self is completely displeased with the movie trailers and how they seem to have completely butchered the story. This is why books to movie adaptions have a bad rep.

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs. Holy shit, you guys. What a book. If you take out the author injecting himself into part of the story (since he was Rob’s roommate at Yale), and maybe a little bit of the exploitative factor, it was a hell of a book. Jeff Hobbs is a fantastic writer, who was helped by the fact that Rob has a terrible, amazing, and, as the title suggests, tragic story. I don’t even know how to properly summarize the book. It should be it’s own post because I have so many thoughts on it. Even if you don’t like nonfiction, please read this one.

Beyond the Pale Motel by Francesca Lia Block. Another blogger mentioned this one in a Show Us Your Books linkup and I apologize to that person because I can’t remember who it was. And I also apologize because good grief, did I dislike this book. I hated every character, including and especially the main one, it was terribly written, and what made me really dislike it is that the story had so much potential and I felt like she rushed through parts of it just to get to the end which she clearly thought was the big payoff, considering she named the damn book after the ending (trust me, that gives away nothing). It was not a big payoff. It was just ridiculous.

I’m currently finishing Denis Leary’s Why We Suck, Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You, and I have All the Bright Places, You, Ugly Girls, Why We Broke Up, and The Economy of You on tap for next month. We’ll also see what else the library chooses to deliver.

So, tell me, what did you read? Link up below. Nonbloggers, let me know in the comments.

 

 

 

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It’s my favorite day of the month because it’s the day we all talk about books! Yay for books!

Let’s get right to it.

For this month’s review, I’ve got 6 books for you. I’m in the middle of both As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of the Princess Bride and The Journalist and the Murderer but I didn’t finish either of them in time for today’s post (because naps and football and weekend laziness and I watched Apocalypse Now on Saturday so there went my whole life because holy fuck is that a long movie) so we’ll talk about them next month.

Here’s what we’ll be reviewing today

 

Yes Please by Amy Poehler. Jana Says: Like basically everyone everywhere, I love Amy Poehler. She’s pretty much the best. Same with her book. It was filled with all kinds of personal stories and sound advice and it’s broken it up into sections that sort of made sense together and famous people names but what I loved most about the book was a) she refused to bad mouth her ex-husband and b) the love and passion she clearly has for her family, friends, and career. She comes across just as you’d think she would–confident and humble and hilarious. It’s a great read with one huge downfall. The book weighs about 2390478 pounds. It’s printed on photo paper and it’s freaking heavy. Be careful when picking up this book.

QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life by John G. Miller. Jana says: I read this at the recommendation of my friend Nick who I respect a lot. However. I did not enjoy this book at all. I mean, it’s well written and ridiculously short and has so much potential but rather than full of practical advice, I found it filled with short anecdotes, motivational quotes, and platitudes. Kind of like what you would get at a one day seminar your day job sends you to. There was no depth to the book, even in the chapters that seemed the most promising. I’m upset because the author seems like a genuinely nice guy who wants to help people but for me, the book fell completely flat.

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Jana says: I finished this book in a day. Correction. A few hours. I love the premise behind the book–a married couple fall out of love with each other and seek to figure out their marriage not by divorce or by affair but by separating and cutting off communication with each other entirely. Or do they? Marriage is freaking hard work and I enjoyed how the book tackled that head on. It’s not always popular to dispel the fantasy of fairy tale marriages or ones that end in disaster and while the ending wasn’t my favorite, the rest of the story made up for it.

Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson. Jana says: I don’t even know how to review this book. If we’re friends on Goodreads, you’ll notice I gave it no stars. That’s not because I hated the book. Not since The Story of Edgar Sawtelle have I both loved and hated a book so much at the same time. I mean, it is an incredibly detailed, intricate, interesting story of a social worker in 1980s Wyoming who is simultaneously trying to find his runaway daughter, deal with a mess of teenage client, and save a survivalist and his son. Completely engrossing. But sometimes, it got to be too heavy, too tedious, too long winded to read. And honestly, I don’t get the 1980s setting. It could have easily taken place in any decade. And as a former social worker type, I truly don’t understand how Pete wasn’t fired for some of the shit he did.

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult. Jana says: Oh, Jodi Picoult, how I want to quit you. And I almost did a few books ago. But then you churned out The Storyteller and now you gave me Leaving Time and I can’t let you go. What a great story you wove with this one. The ending was the first time one of your books actually caught me by surprise with your formulaic and expected twist and using a teenager, a real, complex teenager, as the narrator means that the next book you write will be on my to-read list. The only part of this book that got a bit tedious for me was the almost preachy tone about the elephants. I get raising awareness but it was too much at times.

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes. Jana says: I had high, high hopes for this book after reading Me Before You a few months ago, which was probably unfair to the book and the author. And I did enjoy the first part of the book with Sophie and the painting and France and World War I (as a reader, I liked that she chose to set the beginning of the book during WWI. WWII is getting to be an overused setting and it’s almost too easy) and Liv’s sadness and loneliness in the present day are heartbreaking. The back and forth between present and past made for engaging reading but like After I Do, the ending was too easy, simple, and clean. I would have preferred a messier ending to a story like this.

Now it’s your turn. What did you read this month? Link up below or, if you’re not a blogger, tell me in the comments:

 

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