Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

I went into Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire knowing only that it came highly recommended by someone I follow on social media. And I knew it was short. The last couple of years, I haven't been reading as much as I used to and sometimes a girl just needs to mark a few off the list to get going again. This book is 169 pages and took no time at all to read. Listed as YA Fiction and nominated for Best Fantasy in 2016, I was flipping those pages.

Nancy has been sent away to a boarding school for children who have experienced an unusual circumstance: they all went missing for a time and returned telling outlandish stories or refusing to say where they had been and what had happened to them at all. Nancy's parents hope that she will get the help she needs and go back to the daughter they remember, one who wore colorful clothes and who didn't freeze in place for no discernable reason. Where does Nancy say she was? Well, in the Underworld, of course. At this new school, she meets other children that the world doesn't understand and finds a broad cast of characters who believe her.

I really enjoyed this book. I didn't realize it was YA before I picked it up, and I haven't read as much YA lately, but I really liked it. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective, this is the first in a series that currently has eight installments. I don't usually like to get caught up in a lengthy series, but for this one, I'll at least give it a few more and see how it goes from there. I've already picked up the next one from the library! 

 

When Elephants Fly by Nancy Richardson Fischer

When Elephants Fly by Nancy Richardson Fischer is an enchanting novel about eighteen-year-old Lily who has spent the last eleven years coming to terms with the abuse she suffered at the hand of her  schizophrenic mother. Lily knows she is at high risk for succumbing to schizophrenia herself, but she has a very strict twelve-year plan to avoid all possible triggers. That plan is put in danger when she, as an intern reporting for the local newspaper, witnesses an elephant at the zoo reject her own newborn calf, Swift Jones. The article she writes about the event leads to the possibility that the zoo will lose Swifty to a circus on the other side of the country. Determined to continue her job without upsetting her twelve-year plan, Lily tries to remain neutral and unbiased, but can anyone really do that around a sweet baby elephant?

Fischer writes carefully, but clearly, about schizophrenia, both as experienced by Lily's mother Violet and of the possible mental illness pursuing Lily herself. 

Crazy is genetic....I've officially entered the danger zone, ages eighteen to thirty, when females with my genetic history are most likely to manifest symptoms of schizophrenia.

Because she knows it could be coming for her, Lily has sworn off drugs, alcohol, boyfriends, stress, and even caffeine in hopes that if she can just make it to thirty she will be safe. She also describes several distressing moments in her early childhood when her mother's illness took hold of her, causing Violet to hurt her daughter.

There is some very awkward writing about the alternating attraction and revulsion she feels toward a young man she meets at the circus and there is some brief sexual content, but otherwise I felt this story was engaging and very well written. It doesn't treat mental illness as an "interesting plot device" or as a toy for the reader's entertainment. Instead it is presented with accurate statistics and with both hope and honest reality. As she says:

The only promise with schizophrenia is that there's both hope and despair...But there are all different kinds of happily-ever-after.

I really enjoyed this book and I think it would make a wonderful topic for discussion, for adults or for older teens. I will leave you with the last bit of the Author's Note:

 My wish for every single one of you: live in the moment when you can. Find something or someone to love. Fight for what's important. Change the world one elephant calf at a time.

I second that.

My Name is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd

Heather Lloyd's My Name is Venus Black follows the titular character Venus through a most difficult and traumatic experience. Accused of a cold-blooded crime at the extraordinarily tender age of thirteen, Venus is separated from her autistic younger brother Leo and sent to a juvenile detention center far away. When Leo goes missing a few days later, Venus is frantic to get out and look for him. Abandoned by her mother who has put all the blame for everything on her daughter's shoulders, Venus has to put her head down and serve her time. When she is finally released, all she can think of doing is starting over with a new name to escape the media attention, and searching for Leo.

This book deals with some heavy topics, but it a very gentle way. The crime is described only enough to make the point, the circumstances leading up to the crime are also awful, but handled in such a way as to communicate the fact without dwelling on it. Even Leo's "mental disability" (this book is set in the early 1980s before common use of the term autism) is observed with love and understanding, even when the characters don't fully understand. I'm not sure I would give this book to a very young teen, but an older one should have no problem with the topics. The characters are wonderfully written and those who are meant to be likable are very likable. I found myself invested in them. Venus is strong and stubborn and a little hardened from her life, but we also see her soften when the time is right.

I really liked this book and I think you will, too.

*This Advanced Reader Copy was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for and honest review.*

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett reveals the secret of the year all young women must experience when they turn sixteen. No one who hasn't yet experienced their Grace Year knows what it holds. No one who returns ever speaks of it again. The only thing anyone knows is that it is the only way for young women to diffuse the magic inside them and be "pure". Once they return, if they return, they are married off to the men who have chosen them. If they aren't chosen, they are sent to the work houses, or worse, to the outskirts to try to survive on their own. Tierney is determined she will make it back, though she prefers an assignment to the fields rather than marriage. There are plenty of obstacles to that desire, but the biggest is the year standing before her. She will have to find a way to sustain herself on the island to which she and the other girls are banished. If she can avoid the poachers, men who hope to capture and dismember the girls, and keep warm and fed she might have a chance. It is only once they begin their journey that she realizes that it will be the other girls who may be her biggest hurdle.

A little too much like a female version of The Lord of the Flies, this book means to be a feminist dystopian novel, but it just didn't seem to shake out that way. Hoping to examine the way women and girls play into the misogyny of men who take their power, it looks too much like Mean Girls on steroids (and maybe a little acid). The pacing is also very odd. It moves slowly, slowly and then suddenly it slaps the reader with a huge scene with tons of information as if the author knew where she wanted to go, but not always how to get there.

I will say that by the time I was about two-thirds of the way through the book I was enjoying it more, but it wasn't my favorite. It was dark in ways I didn't enjoy and without enough light to redeem it. The ending was abrupt without being satisfying. There is a little hope, but it is too far down the road to be comforting. 

*This Advanced Reader Copy was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for and honest review.*

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Even if you don't realize it, you've probably read something by Shirley Jackson. The Lottery is one of those short stories many of us read in high school or college that left an indelible print on our psyche. "Winning the lottery is a good thing! Ooooh…... wait!!"

If you remember that, you won't be surprised by all the raving reviews of Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. It is called a masterpiece, creepy, haunting, and it goes on and on. This story begins with Mary Katherine Blackwood walking through her town, doing the shopping, and wanting to be back at home as quickly as possible. The people of the town hate her and her family and we slowly find out why. We meet Mary Katherine's sister Constance, her cat Jonas, and her Uncle Julian. They all live in a big house outside of town where something sinister happened one evening six years earlier.

I had such hopes for this book and by looking at the reviews you would think it would be amazing. Perhaps my expectations were raised too much. Maybe I missed something important. It could be this just isn't my genre, but whatever the cause I just really didn't like this book. It took me days to get into it- every time I picked it up I would start to get sleepy. Then once I forced myself through the first half, the second went much quicker, mostly because I was determined to get to the part everyone said was so amazing. I kept expecting a massive twist, a huge reveal that would shake me to my core. Sadly, it never came. I got to the last page and was very disappointed. It was okay; it just didn't deliver on the promised excitement.

Impostors by Scott Westerfeld

I have enjoyed Scott Westerfeld's books since I first read Uglies about eight years ago. I love the imagination behind a world that might exist after we have made a mess of this one- Rusties, Specials, Extras. And what happens after that world? Surly it continues to evolve, which leads us to Impostors. This book takes place about fifteen years after the end of the Uglies series and centers on two sisters, Rafi and Frey who are twins. Rafi is the heir to her ruthless father's throne. Frey's existence has been kept a secret from her birth, raised for the sole purpose of being Rafi's body double. Any public outing or possible dangerous situation, Frey pretends to be Rafi. When an important alliance must be made and Frey is sent to stand in for Rafi as a hostage. It is then that Frey questions her ability to pull off posing as her sister long term and when the negotiations break down, it is Frey who is in danger.

This book was cute, it kept my attention, and it moved quickly. It is the first in a new series, the second installment of which will be released this month. I have my name on the waiting list and I have hopes it will be good. This book felt like it could have been a stand-alone novel, but then the ending left room for more. It was good, but I can't say I loved it. Westerfeld has a good track record so I will keep reading. Even if it isn't great, it's always good and always worth my time.

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Finally, I was able to finish The Lunar Chronicles with Winter by Marissa Meyer and it was wonderful! Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and the rest of the crew have made their way to Luna and they have more plans than they can count. Winter must be rescued, Levana must be dethroned, and a wedding must be stopped. This book is full of twists, turns, and excitement, captures and rescues, defeats and victories.

At 824 pages, this book is full. I have read complaints that it was too long and needed better editing, but I don't agree. The pace was always just right, not rushed and it never dragged. The only concern I had was that I wanted to read faster to find out what would happen. I was quite surprised about how much I really liked this series. It was a wonderful new take on fairy tales that we all know so well without sticking too closely to the stories and being predictable. There was a little romance, but not too much that I will feel awkward sharing it with my eleven-year-old daughter. And the "princes" in the tales were saved by the "princesses" at least as often as the other way around. I don't read much YA these days because I just haven't found any that could hold my interest, but this series was wonderful. I hope you'll read it.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Before the finale of The Lunar Chronicles could be released, author Marissa Meyer had to string us along a bit with a diversion into a significant character's back story. Fairest is our peek into what makes the Evil Queen so evil. Levana may rule Luna now, but it took a lot of effort on her part to gain that position and unfortunately for those who stood in her way, there isn't much she won't do to get what she wants.

The key to a fully developed villain is a powerful motivating reason for said villainy and this short book allows the reader to peel back Levana's layers.

You will not come to love Levana or even to feel sympathy for her (well, maybe a little), but you will come to understand her.

Cress by Marissa Meyer

The third installment in The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer is Cress which folds into the series the story of Rapunzel. Held captive in a satellite orbiting Earth, Cress is forced to work for the evil queen and is isolated from anyone else in the galaxy. She is secretly protecting Cinder and Scarlet, but as that becomes more difficult, Cress appeals for a rescue- the quintessential damsel in distress.

I'm not sure how it is possible, but this series has only gotten better with every book. The characters are well-developed and substantial, never giving in to expected, trivial weakness. These books are fun to read and difficult to put down.

I'd love to write more, but I just have to keep reading!

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

The second book in The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer is Scarlet. I was a little worried about how this series would go since I liked, but didn't love, the first book. In many book series, the sophomore offering falls short and leaves its readers disappointed, but in this case I was very pleasantly surprised to find that was not an issue. Scarlet is even better than Cinder!

In this second installment, we follow Cinder as she attempts to escape prison and certain death, but we also meet Scarlet, Meyer's version of Little Red Riding Hood. Scarlet is searching for her missing grandmother and the authorities refuse to believe there is anything amiss. Scarlet's desperation leads her to a strange traveling companion and perhaps into the clutches of the big, bad wolf.

The alternating storylines added quite a lot of interest and excitement to this book and I liked it much more. Now I'm actually looking forward to reading the remainder of the series! If you weren't sure you wanted to continue after the first book, give the second a try and see if you still feel the same way.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I know that I'm not the only reader out there with a TBR stack nearly as tall as I am (or maybe even taller). Really, are you even a book lover if you don't have dozens of books on standby just waiting to be read? Last year, I received The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer in a book gift exchange (my favorite kind!) and I am finally getting started with them. I don't read a lot of YA anymore, but I thought it would be a nice, easy read during such a busy time of year.

Beginning with Cinder, I jumped into this futuristic, fantastical reimagining of classic fairytales. Cinder, a talented machinic, is a cyborg and cyborgs are treated with utter contempt from all the "real" humans in society, from the other vendors in the market to her adoptive "family". She has no memory of her life before it was saved through the surgery that turned her into a cyborg, but since then she has lived with a horrible step-mother and two step-sisters, one awful and one very sweet and kind. When Cinder is called upon to repair the Prince's android, her life takes a very unexpected turn. She finds herself in the middle of an intergalactic conflict and fighting a deadly plague all at the same time.

This book was fun and quick to read. I found myself trying to guess who each character was meant to represent from the original story, but it wasn't always obvious- much to the credit of Meyer. The storyline is unexpected enough to keep it interesting. I was especially pleased to learn that the series covers several fairytales and the storyline continues throughout the series rather than wrapping up each tale neatly at the end of its book. I've been in a bit of a book funk lately and this light, fun series may be just the thing to end the year and begin a new one. 

Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates

I can't remember where I first heard about Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates, but I'm sure it was on a list of "top books you have to read this year" or some such article. The premise caught my attention right away: a dystopian time travel book set in an obsessively controlled near future.

Adriane Strohl is a high school senior living in a time when thinking for oneself is not a reputation anyone would have wished to have; when Skin Tone is ranked from ST1 to ST10 and used as classification for a person's level of social and intellectual class; when boy students are always smarter than girl students. This is a time when the reckoning of time itself has been reset, starting with the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, and when Homeland Security now rules the day and all "rights" are subject to reconsideration in light of Patriot Act-esque regulations. This is an extremely "democratic" society where everyone has a "vote", but those quotation marks are no mistake. Anyone who votes contrary to the wishes of the government is marked as Subversive and suffers the most terrible punishments. Even the president, chosen by the Patriot Party not by individuals, enjoys a 95%- 99% approval rating. All information is controlled by the government and all communication is monitored. Education has become 80% standardized testing and all formerly public lands and National Parks are now privately owned- trespassing upon which is punishable by death.

This novel had a fascinating concept but the execution was absolutely atrocious. The writing was terrible, which I found shocking since Oates is such an accomplished writer. I have never read anything else she has written, but her reputation is stellar. I kept hoping I would adjust to the voice she attempted for the main character, but it was exceptionally irritating. The random use of unnecessary parenthetical sentence structure was disruptive to the flow rather than enhancing of the statement. The book flap also includes the phrase "exquisitely wrought love story" and I couldn't disagree more. The "romance" couldn't have been less romantic.

Set in a time and place when ultra-conservative ideals have run rampant, this imagining of what the future could hold should have been compelling. Instead it was a wasted opportunity. I kept waiting to get to the point in this story that I was enjoying it, but it never came. It makes me sad to review a book so harshly, but I feel responsible to you, SmartGirls, to be completely honest. 

Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner

A few years ago our family "cut the cord". We had been paying way too much for satellite television and we wanted to make a change so we decided to go with Netflix and Amazon. We have been so happy with our decision, but the only two things I miss are football and the news. I tried to watch a variety of local and cable news shows and one of my favorites was Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. When I came across Adrienne Kisner's novel Dear Rachel Maddow, I was quite intrigued. A young woman named Brynn is a junior in high school struggling with a learning disability, the death of her older brother, and a difficult family life. When she writes an email to her favorite cable news host, Rachel Maddow, for a class assignment she discovers an excellent outlet for all she is feeling but can't say out loud. Of course, she doesn't actually send all these emails- that would be crazy. She writes them and then just leaves them in her drafts folder. Brynn tells Rachel all about her awful breakup with her first girlfriend, the terrible way her mother and step-father treat her expecting that she will follow the same fatal path her older brother took, and about Adam, the most obnoxious, evil boy at school who is determined to make Brynn's life as horrible as possible.

Brynn really does have it tough. It broke my heart to read the way her mother and step-father treated her, especially considering the recent death of her brother. How a mother can choose someone, anyone, over her own child is so far beyond my imagination. There are redeeming adults in Brynn's life- two of her brother's old friends, her teacher, her principal- that make it better, but I couldn't help but think there must have been more they could have done to help her.

Touching and emotional, this book was well-written and compelling. Lines like this one were so satisfying to read:

September 26 always sneaks up on me and jumps me in the bathroom.

Warning for those who don't enjoy reading foul language: this book has lots of it. She is an extremely frustrated teenage girl so it is fitting, but it is also abundant. And sometimes it totally works:

I'm going to grab agency by the nads and use that motherf---er to try to enact change.

I really liked this book, but I also wanted more. I feel like it ended to quickly and before the story was fully resolved. We can't know everything, but I wish I had known more. What else do I wish I knew? How did the real Rachel Maddow react to this book? I've looked for the answer to that question, but I can't find it anywhere. I hope she's read it and likes it, too.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

When someone first mentioned Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, my first thought was, "That sounds interesting, but I don't know if I'll ever take the time to read it." I don't even remember requesting it from the library, but when it showed up on my reserve list, I brought it home anyway. I had seen that a few other friends had marked it as read on Goodreads and that they'd liked it, so I gave it a shot. The premise certainly sounded interesting: A meteor has hit the moon and shifted it closer to the earth causing catastrophic changes to the tides and resulting in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Miranda is a sixteen-year-old girl living in Pennsylvania and it is through her diary that we read about all that has happened.

When I started reading, I almost stopped right away because it is the diary of a sixteen-year-old girl and frankly, it reads just like one. Kudos to Pfeffer for getting the tone right, but I didn't know if I could avoid feeling irritated by it. I pressed on, figuring I would give it just a bit and I'm glad I did. It doesn't take very long to fall into the rhythm of her speech patterns. I did find the plot interesting and I'm always fascinated by survival stories. I can't help but wonder if I would make it. Would I be clever enough to do what would help my family outlast the crisis?

This book was a fun, quick read. I'm not sure I'll read the rest of the series, but I would like to know what happens next. Have you read this series? Did you enjoy it? Would you be able to survive?

Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

The first thing I read by Marieke Nijkamp was This Is Where It Ends and I literally could not stop reading it. I started it one weekend morning and finished it that afternoon. It was unbelievably compelling. When I saw that her newest book, Before I Let Go, was available I snatched it up as quickly as I could. Corey is a high school student who has recently had to leave the home where she grew up in a remote part of Alaska. She misses her life there and especially her best friend Kyra. Having been away six months, Corey is looking forward to a long-planned visit back when she receives the devastating news that Kyra is dead. How could this have happened? Kyra struggled with bipolar disorder and was often seen as an "outsider" in an extremely tight-knit community, but she knew Corey was coming in just a few days. They had plans.

Was her death really as simple as Corey has been told? How and why has the town changed so much in just a few months? And why is Corey now being treated as the "outsider"?

I was so excited for this book and I had such high hopes. It did keep my attention and it was very surprising in parts, but it just didn't go where I thought it was going to go, where I thought it could have gone. I kept waiting for twists and turns that never materialized. Of course it isn't the fault of the author that I came in and continued reading with my own load of expectations. It isn't her job to tell the story I think she is going to tell, but when I got to the last page I couldn't help but feel that it wasn't what I wanted it to be. I am sure that there are other people who will love this book and not share my anticlimax, but I was a little disappointed.

I do still highly recommend This Is Where It Ends, especially in light of current events. 

The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

I was thrilled when I heard that Philip Pullman was writing another set of books to join the His Dark Materials world. A prequel to The Golden Compass, Volume One in The Book of Dust is La Belle Sauvage. In this book, Lyra is a newborn baby and has been put into the care of an order of nuns. Malcom is the young boy who lives in the village near the convent and often helps the nuns with anything they need. He has developed a strong affection especially for the very old nun who runs the kitchen, visiting her often and helping with the food preparation. When this tiny baby comes to the nuns, Malcom is fascinated with her and after spending only a few minutes with her determines:

...he would never have dreamed, after those few minutes, of doing anything to upset that little child.

He was her servant for life.

When Malcom also accidentally finds his way in to a network of spies, he learns of Lyra's importance and of the people who want to do her harm. He will do anything to protect her and soon finds himself doing just that. When an unimaginable flood of extraordinary proportions takes over the entire country, Malcom finds himself in the position of rescuing and defending Lyra's safety. Accompanying him on this unintended adventure is Alice, the girl who works in his mother's kitchen. The two children have never gotten along, but they both want to protect the baby and they work well together.

There were many questions left unanswered in this book, but in the best way. There were parts of the world we saw that Malcom and Alice have no way of understanding and so the reader has to just float along in wonder with them. I really cannot wait to read more of this series, but it looks as though I will have to be patient. Book Two has no official release date, though Pullman has said it is finished and will hopefully be released one year after Book One. It is so hard to be patient! If you haven't read The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, or The Amber Spyglass, I recommend reading those first and then coming back to La Belle Sauvage. And I do recommend reading them. These books are wonderfully imaginative.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling

I love the Harry Potter books. I love the Harry Potter audiobooks. I really like the Harry Potter movies (although how anyone who hasn't read the books can have any idea what is going on- they leave out so much information!- is beyond me). When Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released, I was really excited to reenter the world of Harry Potter. Then I heard from fellow Potterheads that it wasn't very good and my disappointment allowed it to fall far lower on my TBR list. Last week, while wandering through the library, I saw it sitting on a shelf just waiting to be read and I thought it was time I gave it a chance.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child picks up right where we left off at the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It is nineteen years since the Battle of Hogwarts and Harry's second son Albus is going off to Hogwarts for the first time. When the Cursed Child picks up the story, we race through Albus' first few difficult years at school and see how his relationship with his father has deteriorated as he has grown into a teenager. Soon a dark cloud begins to swirl around him and he is pulled into a Harry Potter-esque adventure of his own.

Firstly, I did not care for the format of this book. It is the script of a play and so the reading is quite different from Rowling's other books. With this new format, the reader loses so much of what made the Harry Potter series so wonderful- the descriptions, the narrative, the atmosphere. Secondly, I simply could not stop the feeling that I was reading fan fiction. This didn't sound like Rowling's writing at all and the storyline was just not up to her standards. Her name is on the cover, but I wonder how much of it she wrote and how much was written by the playwrights also credited: John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. What we wanted was more Harry Potter. What we got was, well, not. The Harry Potter series is the one set of books I wish I could read again for the first time, enjoying the wonder of the world Rowling created. This book did not satisfy that craving. I suppose I will just have to reread (or relisten) to them again and hope to recall those early days.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

I have been reading about Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira on book blogs and on Goodreads for a while. I've been waiting patiently on the library reserve list for the past few months to have my chance to read this highly acclaimed book. And, well... I didn't love it as much as I had thought I would based on the reviews I'd read.

Laurel is just beginning high school and, as we know from nearly every other YA book out there, this is a difficult time. This transition is made even more formidable in the wake of Laurel's older sister's death. Not wanting to answer questions about the tragic events from that night, Laurel has transferred to a new school where she knows no one and no one knows her or, more importantly, her sister. Laurel and May were extremely close, but after their parents' divorce May changed and Laurel tried everything she could to hold on to her. Laurel's first English assignment of the school year is to write a letter to a dead person. The teacher implied that each student should write to a former president or other historical figure, but Laurel chooses instead to write to Kurt Cobain. She writes about her new school and what has taken her there. She writes about her sister and she writes about how lonely and heartbroken she is. She does not turn in the assignment, but keeps it for herself. The rest of the book continues in a series of letters to other dead people: Judy Garland, Elizabeth Bishop, Amelia Earhart, River Phoenix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Heath Ledger, Allan Lane, E.E. Cummings, and Jim Morrison. We do eventually learn the details of May's death and we come to see how awful the past two years have been for Laurel.

Presented as a series of letters, this book reminded me a lot of Stephen Chobsky's the perks of being a wallflower, and just like that book, I was irritated by the writing style. I understand we are reading the letters of a fourteen-year-old girl and the writing should match that, but I still found it difficult to read. As the story progressed, the resemblance to Chobsky's book became even more evident almost to the point that I felt it was nearly plagiarism. I was quite surprised when I got to the acknowledgements at the end of the book to read that Ava Dellaira thanked Stephen Chobsky as a "dear friend and mentor". I guess if he doesn't have a problem with it, I shouldn't either, but the similarities were much too frequent for me.

There were lines that were almost like poetry, along with actual excerpts of poetry. Here, Laurel is writing to Judy Garland:

You used your voice like glue to keep your family together. And then to keep yourself from coming undone.

About Amelia Earhart, she says:

They sent out search parties, and we've been searching ever since. It's a testament to how much we loved you that we are still looking seventy-five years after your death.

Laurel provides a lot of background information about each of the people to whom she writes. I learned things I never knew about each of these real people who somehow became characters in Laurel's life. Early in my reading, I did feel like I didn't really want to continue reading, but I did, mostly so I could find out what happened. I didn't love it and my continued reading didn't make me love it more. It was okay. I'm not sure what other readers found so groundbreaking, but I was disappointed. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you'll get more from it than I did. If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What I've Heard- The Golden Compass

Five years ago, I read The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and I was fascinated with the fantastically imaginative story. I just recently finished listening to the audio version for the second time and it is just fabulous. Performed by a full cast, each character in this large ensemble has a very distinct voice. This is the first audiobook I've heard that employs a full cast as opposed to a single or double narrator and I really liked it. This is a wonderful book and the audiobook is outstanding. Don't pass this up.

Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick

In Matthew Quick's Every Exquisite Thing, we meet Nanette, a junior in high school who has just been introduced by her favorite teacher to a life-changing book. This book is out of print, and has been almost since it was first published decades earlier. Nanette is eventually able to meet the author of this book, a man with the unlikely name of Booker, and become friends with him. When she presses him for more details about the book, answers to questions about the ending (who among us hasn't wanted to do the same?), he explains that he simply can't tell her.

"We can't know for sure."

"Why?"

"The story ends."

"But you could write more."

"No, I can't. There's no more to write."

"Why?"

"Just the way it is. The story ends where it ends."

I think we can all understand Nanette's frustration.

Besides obscure poets and her own independence, Booker also introduces Nanette to Alex, a boy angry at the bullies of the world and determined to defeat them. Nanette struggles to know what she should do with her life as high school graduation approaches. Should she be and do what she likes or what makes everyone around her comfortable and happy? And what exactly is it that she likes?

This book is full of teenage angst about how we become whom we are meant to be. It was a really good book, but I can't precisely say that I liked it, but I think maybe I did. This is exactly the kind of book that I can see developing a following. High school students will love it, especially if they aren't overly concerned with being like everyone else. This book was sad and thought-provoking and I think the dramatic teenaged me would really have found a lot of meaning in it. I think I would have read it multiple times and I think it might have prompted me to question what I wanted in life and the direction I wanted it to take. I think that would have been a good thing.