Yeah, I’m late with this. The last few months have been challenging to say the least, but I’m back! Now it’s time to grace you with CrazyDogMama’s Book Reviews.
I read 9 books in the last three months of the year, and I’m happy with that given it was the holiday season. I did a lot of relaxing on the couch (mostly due to a neck injury), but the result was a wonderful escape into the world of reading. Just so you know, I like pretty much every genre, so my selections go all over the place depending on my mood.
If you want to see what I’m currently reading, be my buddy on Goodreads! My profile is here.
Book Review #1 – The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
Amazon excerpt:
At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read…
My darling Cecilia,
If you’re reading this, then I’ve died…Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not only the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. And then imagine that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive…
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. But that letter is about to change everything—and not just for her. There are other women who barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they, too, are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.
I was really excited to read this book, finally. I’d heard many good things about it, and the author. This is my first read by Liane Moriarty, so even though her books are hugely popular, I didn’t know much about her style going in, and had no idea if it would be my cup of tea or not. I have to say she is a gifted storyteller; plenty of character development and detail – but not too much. The plot moved along nicely and it kept me interested all the way through. I will point out that you don’t get to know exactly what the ‘secret’ is, until quite a ways in. The wife kept making justifications for not reading the letter (trying to be a good person), but me? I’d have torn through that motherfucker faster than you can say BOO! LOL! But I digress. I won’t reveal the ‘secret’, but it was, in fact, a pretty gnarly one. I was worried it was going to be something lame, but I definitely felt it delivered both to the darkness of the story, and the angst of the characters. The most surprising part was at the very end when the author did something I’ve never encountered before – kind of a glance at perception vs. reality with a glimpse into the past AND the future regarding all of the events/characters. It really tied everything up well and made me ponder life and how we might handle it differently if we were all privy to the ‘absolute truth’ of a situation – which we never truly are. Good stuff! I recommend!
Book Review #2 – Heather, The Totality by Matthew Weiner
Amazon excerpt:
The explosive debut novel – about family, power and privilege – from the creator of the award-winning Mad Men.Named a Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year
Mark and Karen Breakstone have constructed the idyllic life of wealth and status they always wanted, made complete by their beautiful and extraordinary daughter Heather. But they are still not quite at the top. When the new owners of the penthouse above them begin construction, an unstable stranger penetrates the security of their comfortable lives and threatens to destroy everything they’ve created.
I’m going to say this right out of the gate: I do NOT agree with ‘Best Book of the Year’. My assessment is that this is the WORST book of my reading year. I hated it. The writing was OK at best (a little choppy and fragmented), I didn’t care for a single character, and there was all this build-up for a major lack-luster ending that was both abrupt and unsatisfying. There are very few books that I criticize this harshly, but from the creator of ‘Mad Men’ I expected much, much more. It was already a short book, but it wasn’t short enough. Three days I will never get back. I read this about 3 months ago and honestly don’t remember much about it – it was that unremarkable.
Book Review #3 – Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore: A Novel by Matthew Sullivan
Amazon excerpt:
When a bookshop patron commits suicide, his favorite store clerk must unravel the puzzle he left behind in this “intriguingly dark, twisty” (Kirkus Reviews) debut novel from an award-winning short story writer.
Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, she keeps a meticulously crafted existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs—the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day marauding the store’s overwhelmed shelves.
But when Joey Molina, a young, beguiling BookFrog, kills himself in the bookstore’s upper room, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has been bequeathed his meager worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely, uncared for man. But when Lydia flips through his books she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia?
As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey’s suicide, she unearths a long buried memory from her own violent childhood. Details from that one bloody night begin to circle back. Her distant father returns to the fold, along with an obsessive local cop, and the Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia’s life long ago and, as she soon discovers, never completely left. “Both charming and challenging” (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review), Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is a “multi-generational tale of abandonment, desperation, and betrayal…inventive and intricately plotted” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
Now this book, I loved! I was perusing Barnes & Noble one day (one of my favorite pastimes) and knew I had to read this book as soon as I picked it up. It is a great story, told with the kind of details I can appreciate, and it slowly and purposefully reveals an intriguing mix of situations and complex characters. I laughed, I felt sad, and I was disturbed. Everything was tied up nicely at the end, and although it wasn’t all candy and roses (is that a phrase?) I felt a sense of closure for the characters, and myself. There is nothing worse than feeling like you were short-changed on explanations, or what happens next with no sequel. I wouldn’t say it made my all-time favorite top 10, but it was for sure a super fun read!
Book Review #4 – The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
Amazon excerpt:
Many people dream of escaping modern life. Most will never act on it—but in 1986, twenty-year-old Christopher Knight did just that when he left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the woods. He would not have a conversation with another person for the next twenty-seven years.
Drawing on extensive interviews with Knight himself, journalist Michael Finkel shows how Knight lived in a tent in a secluded encampment, developing ingenious ways to store provisions and stave off frostbite during the winters. A former alarm technician, he stealthily broke into nearby cottages for food, books, and supplies, taking only what he needed but sowing unease in a community plagued by his mysterious burglaries. Since returning to the world, he has faced unique challenges—and compelled us to reexamine our assumptions about what makes a good life. By turns riveting and thought-provoking, The Stranger in the Woods gives us a deeply moving portrait of a man determined to live his own way.
They say ‘truth is stranger than fiction’, and in the case of this book, it truly is! If this were a fictional story, I would immediately state that it was unrealistic or just too far-fetched for me, but it REALLY HAPPENED! Go figure! Christopher Knight abruptly disappeared one day into the Maine wilderness and stayed there for 27 years (27!), having no real contact with another living soul the ENTIRE TIME. He had no extraordinary survival skills, so he had to steal food and relatively inexpensive items from local cabins periodically. He was finally caught all those years later, and the story is told from the perspective of a journalist (the author of the book) who interviewed the key players – Christopher himself, the cop who was obsessed with finding the ‘stranger in the woods’ (and ultimately arrested him), several cabin owners and other local persons. I really enjoyed this story because even though I am an introverted bookworm, it is extremely hard to understand a life that intentionally isolated. However, the way this story came into being made me feel very unsettled, and a little pissed off. It is my opinion that author and journalist Michael Finkel crossed a few too many boundaries and did not truly respect Christopher’s wishes to be left alone. I understand freedom in journalism, and the fascination with things we don’t understand, but in the sadness I felt for Christopher, it just didn’t seem right. If you decide to read this one, you’ll understand what I mean.
Book Review #5 – Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven
Amazon excerpt:
Since the 1970s, FantasticLand has been the theme park where “Fun is Guaranteed!” But when a hurricane ravages the Florida coast and isolates the park, the employees find it anything but fun. Five weeks later, the authorities who rescue the survivors encounter a scene of horror. Photos soon emerge online of heads on spikes outside of rides and viscera and human bones littering the gift shops, breaking records for hits, views, likes, clicks, and shares. How could a group of survivors, mostly teenagers, commit such terrible acts?
Presented as a fact-finding investigation and a series of first-person interviews, FantasticLand pieces together the grisly series of events. Park policy was that the mostly college-aged employees surrender their electronic devices to preserve the authenticity of the FantasticLand experience. Cut off from the world and left on their own, the teenagers soon form rival tribes who viciously compete for food, medicine, social dominance, and even human flesh. This new social network divides the ravaged dreamland into territories ruled by the Pirates, the ShopGirls, the Freaks, and the Mole People. If meticulously curated online personas can replace private identities, what takes over when those constructs are lost?
FantasticLand is a modern take on Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale that probes the consequences of a social civilization built online.
THIS.BOOK. It rocked my world! It is described as “Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale”, but I don’t know anything about Battle Royale, so my description is: “Lord of the Flies meets The Walking Dead without the zombies”. I absolutely ADORE everything about this book, and YES, it is the newest edition to my Top 10! I received it in one of my book subscription boxes (I had no idea it existed), and when I read the description I was intrigued enough to start reading it right away. I thought it might be a little unrealistic, but the way it is written, it’s totally plausible! I loved how the author uses a series of interviews to tell the story, and I was utterly captivated for 48 hours straight. It is gruesome, fast-paced and even humorous in some parts. Dale (my sweetie) kept telling me to space out my reading so it would last longer, but YEAH RIGHT. It is actually rare for me to NOT be able to put a book down (since I’m constantly reading), even some of my favorites, but not this one. I HAD to keep reading. Everyone in my life now knows about this book, how good it is, and that I would have totally been a ‘Shop Girl’ while secretly wishing I was a ‘Freak’. You’ll have to read it to find out why. 🙂 I believe this is Mike Bockoven’s first and only book, with his second one coming out soon. I will be getting it, regardless of what it is about.
Jack loves it when Mama reads on the couch for 2 days. 🙂
Book Review #6 Board Resolution: A Knights of the Board Room Novella by Joey W. Hill
Amazon excerpt:
Savannah has been groomed since birth to take the reins of her father’s manufacturing empire. Her emotional armor is as tough as the steel used in her factories, and no man is allowed past it. Business partner Matt Kensington realizes that the key to entry is not to ask permission, but to command her submission. Calling on the unique sensual talents of his four-man management team, he engineers an aggressive takeover, determined to rescue the woman he’s always loved from the steel cage she’s manufactured around her heart.
Joey W. Hill is probably my favorite erotica novelist to date. Not only is she a phenomenal writer who knows how to perfectly blend BDSM with emotion, but her female lead characters are generally older, and not 20-something virgin idiots. I have to say that really appeals to me! I want to read something I can relate to on SOME level. I had never read any of the “Knights of the Boardroom” books, so I decided to remedy that, and did an impulse buy on Amazon. This is a short book (a novella), but the detail and character development is still there for the most part. Through most of the book I was enthralled, wondering what all the executives had planned for this hardcore business woman – and it delivered. My only complaint is that it got a little too lovey-dovey at the end; a wee bit overdone for my taste. While this isn’t my favorite Joey W. Hill book, I enjoyed it and consider it a thumbs up.
Book Review #7 – The Grip of It: A Novel by Jac Jemc
Amazon excerpt:
Jac Jemc’s The Grip of It is a chilling literary horror novel about a young couple haunted by their newly purchased home
Touring their prospective suburban home, Julie and James are stopped by a noise. Deep and vibrating, like throat singing. Ancient, husky, and rasping, but underwater. “That’s just the house settling,” the real estate agent assures them with a smile. He is wrong.
The move―prompted by James’s penchant for gambling and his general inability to keep his impulses in check―is quick and seamless; both Julie and James are happy to start afresh. But this house, which sits between a lake and a forest, has its own plans for the unsuspecting couple. As Julie and James try to establish a sense of normalcy, the home and its surrounding terrain become the locus of increasingly strange happenings. The framework― claustrophobic, riddled with hidden rooms within rooms―becomes unrecognizable, decaying before their eyes. Stains are animated on the wall―contracting, expanding―and map themselves onto Julie’s body in the form of painful, grisly bruises.
Like the house that torments the troubled married couple living within its walls, The Grip of It oozes with palpable terror and skin-prickling dread. Its architect, Jac Jemc, meticulously traces Julie and James’s unsettling journey through the depths of their new home as they fight to free themselves from its crushing grip.
This book is one of those ‘What the hell is going on?‘ kind of deals. Did I enjoy it? I think so, but it didn’t really answer any questions. And I had a lot of questions. Was the house haunted? Were the husband and wife mentally unstable? Why the drawings? Are there bodies? WTF with the kids in the trees? Yeah…it’s an interesting read for sure, and I do like books that leave the answers up to your imagination, but the author may have gone overboard on that. I needed a little something more. Maybe something more drastic or horrific at the end? I don’t know, but it left me feeling….empty. Wanting more. I would say the best thing about this experience for me was finding out that the author used Roger Ballen Photography as the inspiration for the ‘cave drawings’ in the book, and the cover art. (If you tilt the book just right, the light reveals these child-like sketches of screaming faces like described in the book – you can see a few if you look closely at the image of the book below, or on the spine of the book in the image above.) I looked at his gallery and found his work to be genius!
Book Review #8 – The Visitors by Catherine Burns
Amazon excerpt:
With the smart suspense of Emma Donoghue’s Room and the atmospheric claustrophobia of Grey Gardens, Catherine Burns’s debut novel explores the complex truths we are able to keep hidden from ourselves and the twisted realities that can lurk beneath even the most serene of surfaces.
Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother John in a crumbling mansion on the edge of a northern seaside resort. A timid spinster in her fifties who still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to live by John’s rules, even if it means turning a blind eye to the noises she hears coming from behind the cellar door…and turning a blind eye to the women’s laundry in the hamper that isn’t hers. For years, she’s buried the signs of John’s devastating secret into the deep recesses of her mind—until the day John is crippled by a heart attack, and Marion becomes the only one whose shoulders are fit to bear his secret. Forced to go down to the cellar and face what her brother has kept hidden, Marion discovers more about herself than she ever thought possible. As the truth is slowly unraveled, we finally begin to understand: maybe John isn’t the only one with a dark side…
This book was disturbing as hell. It does not leave you hanging at all – you get the Full Monty. The main character, Marion, is the narrator and my opinion of her kept changing throughout the story. Do I feel sorry for her? Do I want to slap her? Would I be her friend? I will tell you this – I knew exactly how to feel about her by the end of the book! Catherine Burns paints quite a picture of some odd siblings. I received this from a ‘mystery’ category, but I would definitely classify it more as horror. It is not action-packed, but the visuals and feelings the book inspires are downright upsetting. If you are looking for a book to make you feel uncomfortable – you’ve found it!
More Jack & me reading on the couch! I’m such an introverted bookworm these days…
Book Review #9 – Captive in the Dark by C.J. Roberts
Amazon excerpt:
Please heed all warnings. ****This is a series about captivity in a FICTIONAL and EROTICIZED setting. It contains very disturbing situations, dubious consent, strong language, and graphic violence.****
Caleb is a man with a singular interest in revenge. Kidnapped as a young boy and sold into slavery by a power-hungry mobster, he has thought of nothing but vengeance. For twelve years he has immersed himself in the world of pleasure slaves searching for the one man he holds ultimately responsible. Finally, the architect of his suffering has emerged with a new identity, but not a new nature. If Caleb is to get close enough to strike, he must become the very thing he abhors and kidnap a beautiful girl to train her to be all that he once was.
Eighteen-year-old Olivia Ruiz has just woken up in a strange place. Blindfolded and bound, there is only a calm male voice to welcome her. His name is Caleb, though he demands to be called Master. Olivia is young, beautiful, naïve and willful to a fault. She has a dark sensuality that cannot be hidden or denied, though she tries to accomplish both. Although she is frightened by the strong, sadistic, and arrogant man who holds her prisoner, what keeps Olivia awake in the dark is her unwelcome attraction to him.
If a book comes with a warning – I’M ALL OVER IT! I live for controversial, boundary-pushing and banned books! People were offended? GIMME! That being said, the reviews I read on this book before I purchased it were either 5 stars, or 1 star; which is typical for a ‘warning’ book. The bad reviews focused on the controversial nature of it, of course. Yes, this is about sex-trafficking. You know that going in. Why would you read something that offends you from it’s description, then write a bad review of it? That makes no sense to me, but whatever. I was more curious about the 5 star ratings. Is this the best book I’ve ever read? No, but I’m on the 5-star bandwagon. The writer is talented, and the story (I thought) was fascinating. Would it happen in real life? Highly doubtful, but the book did cover the horrors of sex-trafficking, the people involved in it, and also a little about Stockholm Syndrome. The two main characters (Caleb and Livvy) are not typical personas. Caleb has had a horrible life, and his seemingly ‘cold heart’ has a little warmth at it’s center begging to be set free, and Livvy is a troubled girl that reacts normally to her abduction at first, but then her issues bubble to the surface, and things…change. The two people go through a metamorphosis of sorts, and discover they have feelings they don’t quite understand about each other. I found it both upsetting and erotic at the same time. I think we all have a good side and a bad side, so to me, this was just a good story that happened in the middle of a horrible reality. A side note about me: I’m a huge advocate for ending sex trafficking and helping the victims of it. I’m a supporter of the Starfish Project, and several other charities that are involved with the rehabilitation and recovery of exploited women. This is NOT a subject I take lightly, or promote in any way. The author doesn’t either, and that’s why I was not offended. It does not glorify sex trafficking, or promote it – quite the opposite. If I were to say anything negative about this book, it would be that it ended on a cliffhanger! The tactic totally worked on me, though, I purchased the next book in the series immediately so I could find out what happened! You are going to have to wait until my next book review post, though! Hahaha! I am just covering reviews for the end of 2017 today, so stay tuned for the first quarter of 2018 very soon! I have many more book reviews to share with you.
Oh, hey! If you are interested in reading my other book reviews, go here!
I’m off to read! TTFN! – CrazyDogMama
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