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karamaek's reviews
626 reviews
If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster
4.0
“If You Were Here” is the first novel written by Jen Lancaster after five absolutely hysterical memoirs. Jen has made it clear via her blog, Jennsylvania.com, her choice to write this as a novel was based on how boring her life has become now that she and her husband have become normal people. And the fact that she does not want to be sued by people she might write about.
This is the story of Mia and Mac. They are living in a rental house in the city. When they decide to purchase the house the landlady blocks all attempts. Thanks to a battle between Mac and the neighborhood gang members, Mia, Mac, the dogs, and all the cats decide to move to the suburbs. They set out to buy a house in Mia’s dream neighborhood. The novel follows them through the searching process until eventually they find a home to settle in. Mia, Mac, and the pets move into their new home and slowly realize they have purchased the money pit, their landlady is out for revenge, the neighbors are hell-bent on making their lives miserable, and Mia has a book to finish.
Being a huge Jen fan I was both looking forward to this novel and dreading it. What would it be about? Would it be nearly as funny? Why can’t she simply keep being a jerk for my entertainment? Kidding about that last part. Sort of.
Since I was not sure how I felt about the novel it took me a few months to finally pick it up. When I started reading it I felt like I was reading about Jen and Fletch again. For anyone who has read the memoirs, this novel honestly reads like she wrote a farfetched story about their home buying experience and then did a find/replace all command to replace Jen with Mia and Fletch with Mac. She even went so far as to rename her Pitbull Maisy, Daisy. This and the fact that Jen never gave character descriptions for any of her characters was very distracting for the first forth of the book.
In the first few chapters, Mia feels the need to explain that she is a nice person until she is pushed. This is different from the Jen we know from her memoirs. The pains at which Jen goes to convince the reader Mia is not Jen via this detail was annoying. A simple description of how Mia physically differs from Jen would have set the two of them apart and would have gone a long way to remind the fan reader this is not another memoir.
I am not certain when it happened but near the half way marker I noticed I really was enjoying the book. I don’t know that I was ever able to read “Mia” and not think “Jen” and I know I wasn’t able to read “Mac” and not think “Fletch” but the humor was able to get me through this book.
I did laugh out loud like I did with all of Jen’s other work.
I did find the situations Mai got herself into outrageous and that is very Jen.
Reflecting on this book as a fan of Jen’s, I give it 4 stars. I really liked it.
I can’t help but wonder what I would have thought if I didn’t know Jen’s work so well. Not having an image of any of the characters would probably drive me out of my mind.
I recommend this to all Jen Lancaster fans. If you don’t know Jen, I recommend you pick up Bitter is The New Black right away! You will not be disappointed.
This is the story of Mia and Mac. They are living in a rental house in the city. When they decide to purchase the house the landlady blocks all attempts. Thanks to a battle between Mac and the neighborhood gang members, Mia, Mac, the dogs, and all the cats decide to move to the suburbs. They set out to buy a house in Mia’s dream neighborhood. The novel follows them through the searching process until eventually they find a home to settle in. Mia, Mac, and the pets move into their new home and slowly realize they have purchased the money pit, their landlady is out for revenge, the neighbors are hell-bent on making their lives miserable, and Mia has a book to finish.
Being a huge Jen fan I was both looking forward to this novel and dreading it. What would it be about? Would it be nearly as funny? Why can’t she simply keep being a jerk for my entertainment? Kidding about that last part. Sort of.
Since I was not sure how I felt about the novel it took me a few months to finally pick it up. When I started reading it I felt like I was reading about Jen and Fletch again. For anyone who has read the memoirs, this novel honestly reads like she wrote a farfetched story about their home buying experience and then did a find/replace all command to replace Jen with Mia and Fletch with Mac. She even went so far as to rename her Pitbull Maisy, Daisy. This and the fact that Jen never gave character descriptions for any of her characters was very distracting for the first forth of the book.
In the first few chapters, Mia feels the need to explain that she is a nice person until she is pushed. This is different from the Jen we know from her memoirs. The pains at which Jen goes to convince the reader Mia is not Jen via this detail was annoying. A simple description of how Mia physically differs from Jen would have set the two of them apart and would have gone a long way to remind the fan reader this is not another memoir.
I am not certain when it happened but near the half way marker I noticed I really was enjoying the book. I don’t know that I was ever able to read “Mia” and not think “Jen” and I know I wasn’t able to read “Mac” and not think “Fletch” but the humor was able to get me through this book.
I did laugh out loud like I did with all of Jen’s other work.
I did find the situations Mai got herself into outrageous and that is very Jen.
Reflecting on this book as a fan of Jen’s, I give it 4 stars. I really liked it.
I can’t help but wonder what I would have thought if I didn’t know Jen’s work so well. Not having an image of any of the characters would probably drive me out of my mind.
I recommend this to all Jen Lancaster fans. If you don’t know Jen, I recommend you pick up Bitter is The New Black right away! You will not be disappointed.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
4.0
I have walked past displays of The Time Traveler’s Wife, hardly giving it a second though for a few years until one day I found it on the sale rack at the discount book store. I didn’t buy it but I felt compelled to read it so I borrowed a copy from a friend and set in to read a book everyone else has already read.
Within the first six pages I was smitten by the love story tangled in a bit of Sci-Fi. Niffenegger has a way making something that is so completely impossible seem like something that could be happening right now without our knowing. She explains away the time traveling as something similar to epilepsy, a chromosomal disorder that has yet to be discovered.
The story is not given to the reader in a chorological order because that is not how Henry lives his life. This gave me a feel for how Henry must have felt his entire live. Waiting for his future to unfold like a mystery, reliving painful events over and over again, knowing the future but not being able to divulge it to the people closest to him.
Niffenegger foreshadows discreetly and obviously at the same time. At times I was very confused about how something happened only to realize a few chapters later we had not been told how it happened yet. All open loops are eventually closed but the excitement of the book is waiting for something to unravel in an often out of order sequence only to be tied in a bow before the end of the novel.
The way she moves from Henry’s voice to Clare’s voice and back to Henry is a beautiful dance. Giving each their own spotlight and allow the reader to see not only the Time Traveler’s Wife’s story but also the Time Traveler himself.
I have heard criticism regarding the length at which Niffenegger will describe a scene such as a game of pool or the art of paper making. I do not agree with this criticism. I felt the book often read like a dance, the detail added to that movement which added to my enjoyment of this novel.
I was moved by this unconventional love story and refreshed to read something original. I give this book 4 stars.
Within the first six pages I was smitten by the love story tangled in a bit of Sci-Fi. Niffenegger has a way making something that is so completely impossible seem like something that could be happening right now without our knowing. She explains away the time traveling as something similar to epilepsy, a chromosomal disorder that has yet to be discovered.
The story is not given to the reader in a chorological order because that is not how Henry lives his life. This gave me a feel for how Henry must have felt his entire live. Waiting for his future to unfold like a mystery, reliving painful events over and over again, knowing the future but not being able to divulge it to the people closest to him.
Niffenegger foreshadows discreetly and obviously at the same time. At times I was very confused about how something happened only to realize a few chapters later we had not been told how it happened yet. All open loops are eventually closed but the excitement of the book is waiting for something to unravel in an often out of order sequence only to be tied in a bow before the end of the novel.
The way she moves from Henry’s voice to Clare’s voice and back to Henry is a beautiful dance. Giving each their own spotlight and allow the reader to see not only the Time Traveler’s Wife’s story but also the Time Traveler himself.
I have heard criticism regarding the length at which Niffenegger will describe a scene such as a game of pool or the art of paper making. I do not agree with this criticism. I felt the book often read like a dance, the detail added to that movement which added to my enjoyment of this novel.
I was moved by this unconventional love story and refreshed to read something original. I give this book 4 stars.
Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn
4.0
This was my first Vince Flynn book and as I understand it I am behind the times since he has been writing for a long time now. I picked the book up on a recommendation of my now defunct book club. I wasn’t sure if it was something I would be able to really get into but since my dad already had it on his shelf I was game.
Boy was I in for a surprise. I now understand why people really like Flynn. The story starts right away with action to bring you right in. There is good character development but it is woven into the story line so nicely that you get to know the people without having to read a chapter on their history.
The story was packed full of action and never stopped. Even though the storyline is taking place in about 12 years ago I found I had to remind myself that this was a different world. This was pre-9/11, and not only were personal cell phones a relatively new thing but the internet was a different beast. Flynn writes about the daily news cycle which is such a foreign concept with the advent of the 24-hour news cycle that has been the norm for the last ten years.
The American mindset is also very different. Being a pre-9/11 book dealing with terrorists, the general public had a sense of security that this would never be able to happen on our soil. I think that is different now. At least it is for me and I found myself reminding myself of the year in which this story was taking place.
Overall, I enjoyed Transfer of Power. I look forward to reading more about Mitch Rapp in the near future. I give this book four stars.
Boy was I in for a surprise. I now understand why people really like Flynn. The story starts right away with action to bring you right in. There is good character development but it is woven into the story line so nicely that you get to know the people without having to read a chapter on their history.
The story was packed full of action and never stopped. Even though the storyline is taking place in about 12 years ago I found I had to remind myself that this was a different world. This was pre-9/11, and not only were personal cell phones a relatively new thing but the internet was a different beast. Flynn writes about the daily news cycle which is such a foreign concept with the advent of the 24-hour news cycle that has been the norm for the last ten years.
The American mindset is also very different. Being a pre-9/11 book dealing with terrorists, the general public had a sense of security that this would never be able to happen on our soil. I think that is different now. At least it is for me and I found myself reminding myself of the year in which this story was taking place.
Overall, I enjoyed Transfer of Power. I look forward to reading more about Mitch Rapp in the near future. I give this book four stars.
Lies I Told My Children by Karen McQuestion
4.0
On Monday I was starting to feel the pressure of the Goodreads.com book goal I set myself. I had to finish the book I was reading and read two more to meet my goal and more importantly get my little profile badge.
On my quest to find my second to last book of the year, I dug into my extensive to read list and found a compilation of essays by an author I had read three times over the summer. It was short, looked funny, promised to be a quick read, and I already knew I liked Karen McQuestion.
Was I wasn't expecting was how quickly this book read. While I didn't have a ton of time to read, I still finished it in 3 days.
McQuestion's essays were both funny and easy to relate to. Either they fit me or one of my girlfriends. I really enjoyed this little book!
On my quest to find my second to last book of the year, I dug into my extensive to read list and found a compilation of essays by an author I had read three times over the summer. It was short, looked funny, promised to be a quick read, and I already knew I liked Karen McQuestion.
Was I wasn't expecting was how quickly this book read. While I didn't have a ton of time to read, I still finished it in 3 days.
McQuestion's essays were both funny and easy to relate to. Either they fit me or one of my girlfriends. I really enjoyed this little book!
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
5.0
Mindy Kaling is as funny as I hoped she would be. In this memoir about Mindy's childhood, her struggles to find fame, and her eventual break with The Office, Mindy never takes herself to seriously and keeps the reader laughing along the way.
Being a memoir written by a humorist I was expecting her to talk down to me as if I am not smart enough to read big words. Mindy is an Ivy League graduate and she did a great job honoring that in her writing which kept me engaged an not feeling like she was being condescending or had me questioning her education from Dartmouth.
I was also very revealed to learn Mindy is nothing like her character Kelly on The Office. Kelly is as much the Andi-Mindy I always suspected her to be.
This is a fun read that I will be filing in my "Good Read, Read Again" category. I recommend this to anyone who familiar with Mindy's work.
Being a memoir written by a humorist I was expecting her to talk down to me as if I am not smart enough to read big words. Mindy is an Ivy League graduate and she did a great job honoring that in her writing which kept me engaged an not feeling like she was being condescending or had me questioning her education from Dartmouth.
I was also very revealed to learn Mindy is nothing like her character Kelly on The Office. Kelly is as much the Andi-Mindy I always suspected her to be.
This is a fun read that I will be filing in my "Good Read, Read Again" category. I recommend this to anyone who familiar with Mindy's work.
Judy Moody Gets Famous! by Megan McDonald
4.0
I love to read Judy Moody with my 6 year old daughter. This book, the third in the series, did not disappoint.