book review: 'Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures'

Congratulations! We made it to Thursday! Trust me, there were several moments this week when I didn't think it was going to happen. (hashtag adulting, am I right?) But here we are, so close to the glorious weekend.

After much research and indecision, I finally bought and took this book with me to Florida for road trip and beach reading last week. I wanted something light and summer-y, and every time I thought of those two traits I kept coming back to the first book I read by Emma Straub, The Vacationers. I read it last summer and enjoyed it, for the story but mostly for Straub's writing.

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures had been on my list for a while, and it did not disappoint. The book was different than I expected — but in a good way. It follows Elsa Emerson, the youngest of three daughters whose parents run a theater company in small-town Wisconsin in the 1920s. Elsa loves living in her small town, but she gets married and leaves for California in search of a bigger stage when she's only 18. Once she gets there, her acting career doesn't happen quite like she had imagined, and a series of events — her "discovery" by a famous Hollywood producer that comes with a name change, her husband's drinking problem, and two unexpected children — each changes her life in different ways.

I loved this book for many reasons, one being its detail in the Golden Age of movies, which I've always found fascinating. It was such an interesting time period to read about, especially thinking of how different things are from today and with the fictional characters she created for it. The other reasons I enjoyed this are mainly tied to Emma Straub and her talent. She took a simple outline of a young woman reinventing herself and made it into a beautiful story of love, loss and choices. Laura Lamont reminds you how the people we are and the people we want to be can be so different.

Straub covered so many themes in this book — family, heartbreak, work/life balance, aging in the public eye — but it never felt overwhelming or like it was too much for one story. Everything flowed seamlessly, even the timeline, which jumped years ahead from chapter to chapter and spanned more than 50 years.

If you're looking for a great summer read, or even a light historical fiction, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures is the one. Honestly, it's the first book I've had a hard time putting down all year and it's only got me more excited to read her other books.

Have you read any of Emma Straub's books? What are your favorites? If you pick up this one, let me know what you think!

P.S. reviews of Saint Anything, Looking for Alaska and The Vacationers

book review: 'Looking for Alaska'

I purchased Looking for Alaska for two reasons: One, I loved The Fault in Our Stars and really enjoyed Paper Towns (both by John Green); and two, it was on sale.

Note to self: Never fall for the book on sale. The problem I had with this one is that I don't have anything good or bad to say about it. It was totally, wholeheartedly mediocre. It brought out no emotions in me whatsoever. (Unless you count the annoyance I felt at the need to finish one book before I start another one, because I really wanted to start a new one.)

Here's the thing. John Green is a talented writer — there's no denying that. He's got a great style and impressive abilities to tell a story and get inside the mind of adolescents. He really knows what it's like to live and breathe teenage hormones, and it impresses me how in-tune he is even as an adult. But Looking for Alaska landed somewhere on the same plane as Me, Earl and the Dying Girl, albeit with more interesting and relatable characters.

This one is about Miles (aka Pudge), a high school junior who leaves his school in Florida to attend boarding school in Alabama, looking for the "Great Perhaps" in life. Pudge has a penchant for learning famous people's last words (an interesting quirk that I actually did enjoy). Up until this point, Pudge has led a normal, unexciting life that he's ready to trade for something he hopes will be better. When he gets to the new school, he meets the Colonel (another nickname) and Alaska (a real name), both of whom introduce Pudge to some much-desired drama.

Alaska is the sort of enigmatic character Pudge has been seeking, someone who has really experienced life and doesn't care to play by the rules set by someone else. She's a mystery, and he inevitably falls for her. Of course, some mysteries can't be solved, but that doesn't stop Pudge and the Colonel when Alaska presents her final mystery.

It wasn't that I couldn't relate to the characters and what they were going through, because I have been in similar situations to what Green wrote about. I just thought it moved a little slowly, and some of the events didn't seem quite as big as they were meant to be. Final thoughts: Looking for Alaska is not a bad book. If you're looking for good writing and well thought-out characters, this one is for you. If you're looking for a more gripping story, try this one.

Have you read Looking for Alaska? What are your thoughts? Am I the only one who thought it was overwhelmingly average? I'd love to hear your opinions... 

P.S. reviews of Paper Towns and Me, Earl and the Dying Girl

book review: 'The Girl With No Past'

Happy Thursday, friends! Back with another book review over here, and (surprise, surprise) it's a psychological thriller. Remember when I wrote about my recent woes in finding another thriller as good as Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl? (Because obviously Gone Girl is the bar by which all other psychological thrillers are now measured.) Well, drum roll please....

This isn't it.

Sorry, had to ;) Okay, enough with the (super hilarious) jokes. The Girl With No Past is written by Kathryn Croft, who's a good writer. I won't say great because I didn't feel it was anything special or noteworthy as far as the actual writing goes, but it definitely wasn't bad either. The story revolves around Leah Mills, a 30-something woman who lives a very solitary life. She lives alone, and the only places she goes is to the library where she works quietly every day, and to visit her mother (when she's guilted into it). The premise is that Leah has a huge secret from her past that she's been hiding from for years, for fear of what will happen if it ever gets out.

The description on Amazon says Leah lives the life of a fugitive, but that isn't true, as she's never been "on the run" and she's not actually wanted for a crime. She left her hometown and doesn't really talk to anyone, and that's about it. The majority of the first part of the book is Leah telling this side of her story, and it mostly comes off as her begging for pity without telling us why she deserves it. That part was annoying to me — however, it did leave me wondering what she could have possibly done that was so bad it forced a self-imposed shunning. With this book at least, I did feel that there was a good deal of suspense. Early on, Leah meets a man named Julian on a dating site who seems interested in her.

Naturally, she can't understand why in the world a man would like her, but the thought of "a normal life" is so appealing to her that she decides to break from her normal routine and start chatting with him. From there, Leah's quiet life is interrupted by a mysterious stalker, who sends her cryptic messages about The Event and does things to let her know that s/he is watching — all the time. The messages continue, and new characters pop up in her life that immediately struck me as suspicious, but not so much with Leah. The story flows seamlessly back and forth between the present and the months leading up to The Event, which gives us insight into Leah's personality from her teenage years. She's always been insecure and probably too trusting, and even what happened to her doesn't change that.

My problem with this novel was, again, the actual event. While it was a shock when we finally found out what happened to her at the end — and honestly disturbing enough that I still sometimes think back to it weeks later — I didn't think it warranted her solitude, or what follows with her stalker. The story did get my heart pumping, but I thought it fizzled out quickly and lost its momentum at the end. I would rate this one at 3.5 stars: much better than The Fever but nowhere near Gone Girl.

Have you read Girl With No Past? What did you think? I'd love to know your opinions!

P.S. reviews of Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive

Book Review: 'The Fever'

When I was a kid I used to love reading mysteries, anything from Nancy Drew to the Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley (my personal fave ;) to the Boxcar Children. I always love the suspense and trying to figure out what's going to happen before it happens. Even though I've been loving non-fiction and memoirs lately, I've getting back into the mystery genre with psychological thrillers.

My latest pick was The Fever by Megan Abbott, which earned high praise from Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn. I figured it would be a good read, and I really did enjoy the writing in this book. Megan Abbott has clearly spent a lot of time perfecting her craft, and it shows in her clean use of detail and storytelling. Aside from that, I felt the psychological aspect of the book was completely lacking. There wasn't much suspense throughout the story, and I didn't feel that the sickness spreading around the school was a solid enough plot to hold the book together.

The first girl contracts the mystery illness in the first few chapters, and from there a string of girls in the school come down with similar symptoms. A few possible causes for the "disease" are thrown around by other students and parents, like the contaminated lake the small town is known for. Maybe it was just that I couldn't get behind the idea of a mysterious illness that's only contracted by teenage girls, but I just didn't follow this story with any interest at all. I didn't find Deenie, the main character, very fun to follow, though I will give Abbott credit for knowing how to dive into the minds of teenagers and all the drama that inevitably follows them.

All in all, I'd probably give this book 2.5-3 stars. It wasn't as compelling as other thrillers I've read, but the writing and character development was well done. If you're looking for something to shock you and get your heart rate up, this isn't it.

Have you read The Fever? What did you think? I'd love to know...

P.S. Better thrillers: The Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive

book review: 'The Millionaire Fastlane'

The past few months have been a time of transition and reflection in my life, especially in the career department. I don't want to go into detail on that quite yet (I promise I will in the future), but it did lead me to buy this book by MJ DeMarco for my first read of 2016. I read Millionaire Fastlane with the expectation that it would give me a lot of insider tips on starting a business and firsthand stories from a successful entrepreneur. To some extent, it did succeed in those aspects. But overall, I probably would not recommend this book.

Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of great points in this book, and it really did make me think. There was at least one section that I had to share with Adam, and we had a really insightful conversation about the author's points. DeMarco shares his wisdom and talks in detail about how he became a millionaire and retired to live the life he wants long before reaching age 50.

The problem with this book — and DeMarco fully admits this several times — is that he is not a writer. And it's clear. Millionaire Fastlane is 336 pages, but it should really be about 200 if you cut out all the material that DeMarco repeats. He takes a smart message and pounds it into your head two, three sometimes five times until you just get tired of reading the same rewritten sentence. It took me more than a month to read this book for that very reason. I hate repetition, and this book is full of it.

That being said, DeMarco is (obviously) a smart guy. He started his own website and company, going from a 26-year-old living on his mom's couch and bouncing from part-time job to part-time job to creating the leading website in his industry (limos) and selling it for A LOT of money. And that's just his first endeavor. His story is an interesting one, and he clearly knows his stuff about both money and business. But I think there are probably dozens of other books with the same messages that can get the point across faster and more effectively. I'd suggest you look for one of those instead.

P.S. My reviews of Luckiest Girl Alive, Leave Your Mark and Saint Anything

book review: 'Leave Your Mark'

I’ve been really inspired by real-life success stories of women in different industries lately (which you can read more about here), and that is exactly the reason I ordered this book by PR maven Aliza Licht. I don’t remember where I first heard about it, but I do remember immediately thinking I had to have it.

My only regret is not picking up Leave Your Mark sooner. Aliza tells the whole story of her career, from the days she studied to be a plastic surgeon to her time organizing the shoe closet at a fashion magazine and how she ended up being a pioneer of social media in the fashion industry. Aliza’s story is truly inspiring, because she earned a well-known and very respected name in fashion PR all by working her way up the chain — no fashion/public relations/marketing degree necessary. She decided what she really wanted out of life and made it happen.

I loved this book for several reasons, the first being that it felt like I was having a coffee date and soaking up all this wisdom from a personal mentor. It’s a book of advice, but it’s written in a casual tone that makes it feel like it was personalized to me. Every time I had a question about something, it seemed Aliza answered it in the next chapter. She gave real insight into a somewhat mysterious industry and shared personal experiences that seemed both recognizable and unbelievable. On top of that, the woman is a great writer.

Leave Your Mark is a book for every person looking to move forward in their career but not completely sure how to do it. Her words made me think long and hard about my job, where I want to be in a year and how I can find my own success. Leave Your Mark is full of wisdom that you can’t get in college courses, and it’s something I would recommend to every single student or aspiring employee. No matter how great your education is, Aliza’s book is filled with advice you can’t learn from a regular old textbook, and it should be required reading for anyone looking for a new job.

Seriously, I can’t praise this book enough. It was everything I needed to hear right now and more. It’s going to maintain a permanent spot near my desk so I can always have a guide to look back to when I need it. If you haven’t read it yet, GO BUY IT. And follow Aliza on Twitter, because she really is awesome.

Have you read Leave Your Mark yet? What did you think of it? I'd love to hear!

P.S. My reviews of Luckiest Girl Alive, The Astronaut Wives Club and Yes Please 

Book Review: ‘Luckiest Girl Alive’

Luckiest Girl Alive is another book that I put on my reading list immediately — both for the stellar reviews it was getting and because Reese Witherspoon decided to produce the movie version right after it came out, which had to mean it was really good. Once I started reading it, I had a hard time getting into the story, though. The main character was pretty hard to like at first, but as the story went on I gained a serious respect for Jessica Knoll and how she created a character with such depth.

One complaint I often have about characters in books is that they are too one-dimensional. Too many authors think it’s enough to give a character a favorite TV show and a weird quirk and call it a day. The best stories are ones that bring their characters to life and make the reader forget they’re reading fiction. That’s what happened for me while I was reading Luckiest Girl Alive. There were several moments where I thought I was reading a memoir instead of a fiction book. The writing, plot and characters were that good.

The story revolves around Ani, a woman in her late 20s who’s engaged to her "dream" man and works as a writer at one of the top women’s magazines in New York. The first two-thirds of the book is very mysterious: We know that Ani has a dark secret from her past, that she has agreed to be featured in a documentary about it and that she will do just about anything to appear totally changed and successful for the taping. Beyond that, we have really no idea what happened, other than that it was the changing point in her life.

The book goes back and forth between present-day Ani and her teenage days at a popular prep school, when she was known as TifAni FaNelli. We find out TifAni has been kicked out of her Catholic school for smoking weed, and her parents have sent her to a prep school less for punishment and more for social status, which is obviously very important both to Ani and her mom, even though they both have different opinions as to what that means. We learn of the horrors TifAni faced as a teenager trying to push her way into the popular crowd — many of which seem like they could have been her life-changing secret, but they’re only leading up to it.

Despite being mistreated by the “friends” she’s trying so hard to please, every hit against her only makes TifAni try harder to get into the group. The story is told in her point of view, so we get to see every twisted thought and reaction she has to each event, all of them adding up to make her the calculating adult she is today. That’s what makes Ani’s character so interesting: She can manipulate any situation to get exactly what she wants from it. She can read people and use it to her advantage, even using a coffee date with potential interns at her magazine as a test for whether they should be hired or not.

Ani’s character is extremely smart and perceptive — she’s not one to be tricked, and she refuses to let anyone else but her be in control of a situation. For her, success is all about the outward appearance of her life: her job at a highly recognizable magazine, her engagement to the old money (and therefore the best money) Luke Harrison, her thin figure and designer clothes. Everything she does has a reason behind it, and her motivation to join the classy ranks of her fiancé’s circle goes way back to her freshman year of high school.

Luckiest Girl Alive is a complex character study with so much drama that you won’t want to put it down. I loved getting to see Ani’s imperfections from her point of view and getting to see every scheming, messed up thought she had. The mysterious event from her past didn’t turn out as much of a shock to me, but that didn’t hurt its impact on the book. It was still an incredible story with so many intricate details weaved throughout. It’s no Gone Girl, which is what people have compared it to, but it’s definitely a must-read.

Have you read Luckiest Girl Alive? What did you think? Did you love the character development as much as I did? I’d love to hear…

P.S. Astronaut Wives Club, Me, Earl and the Dying Girl and Saint Anything 

Book review: ‘The Astronaut Wives Club’

I heard about TheAstronaut Wives Club in a magazine shortly after it came out last year, so I was excited to read it when I finally bought it this summer. I’ve never really known much about the first astronauts, and the true story of their wives seemed like it would be really interesting.

First, I want to say that that part held true throughout the majority of the book. The Mercury Seven astronauts were the first group of men to be chosen to go to space, and it was a very big deal in an era when the U.S. was competing with the rest of the world to make advancements in space. The idea that these men were pioneering such a new and scary endeavor is fascinating. The part that many people won’t think about in relation to that is the story of their wives. It was the 1960s, and a time when women were expected to play the ultra-supportive, perfect wife role. This book shows how the wives were instructed that it was their “patriotic duty” to keep their husbands happy.

The stories were mostly interesting and insightful, showing how instantaneously they went from normal families to celebrities on the cover of Time magazine. It showed the stress of having the press peeking through their windows at all hours, the stress of not knowing if their husbands were coming home, the stress of knowing their husbands were being unfaithful while they still had to play the role of supportive wife. It was amazing to learn about how all these women pulled together and pushed away as they learned to cope with being astronaut wives.

However, I only gave Astronaut Wives Club three stars on Amazon because I hated (yes, truly hated) the author’s writing style. I’ve never read anything by Lily Koppel before, and I don’t think I ever will again, because I think she ruined what should have been an amazing, riveting story. Their were dozens of people to keep track of in this book. The original seven astronauts, plus their wives, then the new astronauts and their wives, and even more… So there were a bunch of names and stories going throughout the book. That’s confusing enough, but Koppel’s story moves from one person to another without any sort of flow or connection. It’s more of a general listing of facts than a novel, and I found it really distracting from the events of the story.

Overall, I would highly recommend reading about his subject, the astronauts and their wives — maybe even watch the TV show? I haven’t seen it, but it looks fun. This is definitely an interesting story, especially since it’s true and such a large part of American history. But I can’t recommend this particular book. It felt like something I had to get through more than a story I wanted to consume.

P.S. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Saint Anything and Paper Towns

Book review: 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'

This review is a strange one for me to write because one of my friends recommended this book to me, plus it's so popular that it has been made into a movie that critics and audiences both loved. But I did not like it at all. I don't think I hated it, but my feelings are close to that. (Warning: a few spoilers ahead)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl seemed like an interesting concept. I first learned about it with the movie previews, so I had a little bit different expectations than what I would have if I had I just picked up the book on its own. But on the other side of that, I didn't see a lot of previews for Me and Earl, so I didn't have a lot of expectations at all. I just knew that it was about a guy who's mom made him hang out with a girl in his class who was recently diagnosed with cancer. And that it wasn't a sappy teenage love story. Because he explicitly states that. So that's what I knew about this book.

I was open-minded going into it, but Me and Earl just wasn't my type of book. There was no point where I actually wanted to keep reading. The only reason I did was because I hate the feeling of not finishing a book. Let's start with the technical parts: The writing was good. Jesse Andrews is a screenwriter-turned-author, and this is his debut novel. You've got to give the guy major props for landing a movie deal with his first book, am I right? So the writing was good for the most part, but I didn't like how he often broke into screenwriting form. I understand that he's playing up to his strengths, and that it makes sense for the story because Greg (the "Me" in the title) is a filmmaker, but it felt awkward and broke up the flow of the book.

As for the story, the synopsis I gave at the beginning really does sum up the book. There's not much more than that except for Greg's awkward social encounters with just about everyone, the history of his filmmaking and not-quite-friendship with Earl, and how he tries to make a film for Rachel (the Dying Girl) and fails miserably. I couldn't stand Greg because he made EVERYTHING so awkward. I mean, I get that he's a hormonal teenage boy, but can he really not have a normal 2-minute conversation with a pretty girl? Apparently not.

The part I really hated was how little emotion he had. Even after all the time spent with Rachel and watching her go through chemo, Greg still wasn't all that much troubled by her death. You know how we always complain about the stereotypical happy endings when everything is wrapped up all nice with a bow at the end of a movie or book? I'm the same way — why can't we have realistic movies, the endings aren't always happy, blah blah blah. Well, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl doesn't have a happy ending. It has a (probably) realistic ending. And to me, it kind of sucked. So, maybe I do want the stereotypical happy endings only?

I still want to see the movie version, because I think I'll actually like it better than the book, but I can't recommend a book I didn't like. So if you liked Me and Earl, I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you didn't like it, I'd love to share opinions. And if you haven't read it, I'd recommend you pick up Saint Anything instead.

Have you read Me and Earl and the Dying Girl? Share your thoughts below...I'd love to hear what all of you really thought of it!

P.S. Reviews of Saint Anything, Paper Towns and The Girl on the Train

Book Review: 'Saint Anything'

Sarah Dessen has been one of my favorite authors since my sister first gave me a copy of Keeping the Moon when I was a young teen. For that reason, every time she publishes a new book I read it with excitement and high expectations. And, overall, I really haven’t been disappointed. (This Lullaby and Dreamland wouldn’t go on my favorites list, but they still have their merits.) So when I heard about Saint Anything, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

Book review: 'Paper Towns'

Happy Tuesday! Sorry I've been a little MIA this weekend. I intended to take Friday off for the Fourth, but the weekend was so packed I kind of forgot to prepare a post for yesterday and, honestly, it's just nice to take an extra day off sometimes.

OK. Let me preface this review by saying I did NOT choose to read Paper Towns because it was written by John Green. Of course, I did read TheFault in Our Stars before that movie came out and loved it (both the book and the movie), but it didn’t give me some intense desire to read all of Green’s novels. I actually wanted to read this one only after seeing previews for the movie (and because I have a mini girl crush on Cara Delevingne, but I digress).

Book review: 'The Vacationers'

When it comes to summer reading, beachy books tend to be among my favorites. I don’t know if it’s being in tune with the season or just a wanderlust sort of thing since I live in the Midwest, but I love reading about beach getaways. Which is precisely the reason I chose to add The Vacationers to my summer reading list, and probably why I zipped through it so quickly. I read it after The Girl on the Train and it was the perfect juxtaposition of the dark mystery novel.

The Vacationers is about a not-so-close family that takes a vacation to Mallorca, Spain, to spend a week together in a friend’s home. You know from that much that there’s bound to be drama. The story is told from third person and alternately focuses on each family member throughout. Franny and Jim are supposed to be celebrating 35 years of marriage, but it’s seems there’s not much to be celebrated by the time the plane leaves. Sylvia has just graduated from high school and is looking to check a few things off her bucket list before she goes to college in the fall, which includes doing more than studying with her Spanish tutor, Joan. Her older brother Bobby brings his long-time girlfriend Carmen, much to his family’s disappointment. And Franny’s best friend Charles brings his partner Lawrence, who spends most of the vacation working and thinking about the baby they’re trying to adopt and whether Charles really wants it.

Many plots are happening at once, but thanks to Emma Straub’s ability to write with clarity and continuity, it never gets confusing. She covers serious topics that many families face and takes a deep look into the reality of relationships, all without losing her sense of humor. There are a few awkward scenes and dialogue, but overall it’s a compassionate picture of the hardships that can tear families apart, but ultimately bring them closer.

The Vacationers isn’t the best summer book I’ve read, but it is a really good one and I’ve already recommended it to several people. It’s an easy read without losing its substance, which not all authors can do. If you’re looking for your next book to read by the pool, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed this one.   

Have you read anything good lately? What are your go-to summer books? 

P.S. 7 books to read this summer, The Girl on the Train and Crazy Rich Asians