Whacked - Jules Asner

Title: Whacked
Author: Jules Asner
ISBN: 1602860173
Pages: 304
Release Date: June 3, 2008
Genre: Chick Lit
Rating 4 out of 5

From the dust jacket:

Dani Hale is obsessed with Hollywood murders, from Marilyn Monroe's suspicious death to the killings she writes about for the TV crime series Flesh and Bone. Smart, sexy, savvy, but not a little unsure of herself, Dani is determined to carve a place among the Los Angeles entertainment elite - becoming a creditcard-carrying member of the very world whose rituals and absurdities she loves to satirize.

Life promises to be perfect for Dani. She has an almost perfect boyfriend, Dave, a TV director who loves that Dani is "factory" - i.e., with no plastic surgery enhancements - and who always knows what's right for her career. At Flesh and Bone she has an almost ideal job that lets her indulge her macabre forensic passions - even if the star's Restylene addiction forces Dani to do last minute rewrites to delete her close-ups. She doesn't yet have the ideal figure, but a few more sessions at Barry's Boot Camp might fix that. And while that dream house in the Hollywood Hills eludes her, moving in seems just a matter of time - once Dave gets around to mentioning marriage.

But something isn't quite right with their relationship and Dani - a wily and inventive internet snoop - lears that Dave's real creative talents are (1) lying and (2) cheating on her. Soon she's plunged into the world of singledom, enduring a battalion of bad dates with men whose peccadillos would drive a lesser woman to kill. More sleuthing leads Dani to discover the truth behind Dave's liaisons - and the motives of the Other Woman who cased her all this misery. Ultimately, our heroine is driven to a dramatic choice that is as shocking as it is sensible in the girl-eat-girl world of Hollywood.

Jules Asner, the author of Whacked is THAT Jules Asner. You know, ex-model, TV personality, and wife of Stephen Soderbergh - when she's writing a book about Hollywood, you know she's usually discussing fact rather than fiction. However, I really liked this insider's look; instead of being about the glamourous life of an actress, it was about a TV writer. It still had its share of juicy Hollywood tidbits, but it also had its own style.

I have to say, this book was incredibly weird, but in a way that worked for me. However, judging by the Amazon.com reviews, it didn't work for everyone. This seems to be a "love it or hate it" type of book. Near the end of the book, I thought it had jumped the shark and was incredulous, but it somehow drew me back in to where I can definitely say I enjoyed the book. The writing style is very seductive and easy to slip into. It definitely draws you in from the first page of the book. While funny, it is a very dark comedy.

As for the main character, Dani. Well. She was obsessed with all things crime-related, to a disturbing degree, and that slowly began to show in her personality. I'm not talking about some sort of cute quirkiness. I think the title really sums it up: she was completely and totally whacked. She seemed to be a caricature of a person, rather than a real person. However, it seems to me, with how crazy the book is, that it was Asner's intention to make Dani this way. If you read the book feeling like Dani is some sort of satire on an obsessive woman, it is very enjoyable.

I honestly can't tell you why I enjoyed this book, but I can definitively say that I did. Sometimes, it's fun to read something weird and crazy just to push you out of your comfort zone. This book definitely did that, and though I had mixed feelings about it at the beginning, I'm glad I took a chance on it.

Good to a Fault - Marina Endicott

Title: Good to a Fault
Author: Marina Endicott
ISBN: 1551119293
Pages: 376
Release Date: September 10, 2008
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Review: Mini Book Expo for Bloggers
Publisher: Broadview Press
Rating: 3.5 out 0f 5

From the front flap:

Absorbed in her own failings, Clara Purdy crashes her life into a sharp left turn, taking the young family in the other car along with her. When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara against all habit and comfort moves the three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house.

We know what is good, but we don't do it. In Good to a Fault, Clara decides to give it a try, and then has to cope with the consequences: exhaustion, fury, hilarity, and unexpected love. But she must question her own motives. Is she acting out of true goodness, or out of guilt? Most shamefully, has she taken over simply because she wants the baby for her own?

What do we owe in this life, and what do we deserve? This compassionate, funny, and fiercely intelligent novel looks at life and death through grocery-store reading glasses: being good, being at fault, and finding some balance on the precipice.

When I first heard about Good to a Fault, it appealed to me because I enjoy books that provoke thought and raise questions. I wanted to know, what were Clary's motives? Why did she invite an entire family to live with her, when she had no real obligation to them? Was it some sort of charity, perhaps inspired by her religion?

After having read the book, it is clear that there is no real answer to these questions. Clary does something enormously generous, inviting three children and an elderly woman to live with her when she has no obligation towards the family. She did run into their car, which they were living in at the time, so there was some measure of guilt in Clary's mind. Also, there was a little bit of selfishness thrown in; as the book unfolds, it is clear that Clary wants a family. But what else is there? It is an interesting question, especially when you look at it from the other mother's perspective. Specifically, what does Lorraine owe? Clary is spending her life savings looking after Lorraine's kids; though Clary does not expect to be repaid, how does Lorraine accept this charity? Is the family merely using Clary, without considering how much she is giving them?

The characters in Good to a Fault are also extremely well-written. I imagine it is difficult to write a character like Clary and make it believable that she would make this offer to a stranger's family. But as I was reading the book, I found it completely within Clary's character to do so. It just seemed natural at the time, though I kept reminding myself, "Wait. She doesn't owe them anything."

However, the problem with the book was that it. is. slow. Though it may be a literary device to give the reader a chance to ponder the questions posed in the book, it makes the book a bit unwieldy and much too long. At almost 400 pages, I feel as though it could have been condensed a bit and delivered the same effect to the reader. There is just not enough going on in the novel to keep the reader hooked for the amount of time it takes to finish the book.

Despite the pace of Good to a Fault, I would still recommend it to anyone interested in the questions posed by the novel. I found that an effective way to read and enjoy it is to read it alongside other books. The chapters are short, so there is always a convenient stopping point. When it gets too be too slow, simply put it down and start another novel!

**A note about the main character's name: In the book, sometimes she is referred to as Clara, other times as Clary. I'm not sure whether this was an editing mistake or if it was deliberate and I somehow missed the explanation. I just wanted to put that out there in case people thought I read the entire book and couldn't get the main character's name correct!

7 Random Bookish Things

Stephanie over at Stephanie's Confessions of a Bookaholic tagged me for the 7 Random Bookish Things meme!

The rules are:
Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share seven random and/or weird book facts about yourself.
Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Ok, so seven random bookish thing about me:

1. If I'm interested in reading a book that is part of a series, and I haven't read the series, I have to read all the previous books before reading the one book I am interested in. I just hate missing out on character development and such!
2. I try to reread The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper once a year, as I have since I was a kid.
3. Not really about me...but my husband has a one-day floor policy with bookmarks. If a bookmark has been lying on the floor for more than a day, he throws it away! (sob, sob)
4. If a movie is coming out that is based on a book, I almost always have to read the book before I watch the movie.
5. I have a Sony Reader and love it for traveling, though I won't use it when I am at home because I like the feel of real books.
6. I used to never read more than one book at a time, though I have recently relaxed that policy.
7. I'm a big fan of the library, though I don't use it for non-fiction or long books because they take me awhile to read!

Whew, that was harder than I thought it would be! I'm actually going to open this one up instead of tagging specific people. If you're interested, feel free to do it, and link to your post in the comments so I can see what you said about yourself!

Booking Through Thursday

Suggested by JM:

I receive a lot of review books, but I have never once told lies about the book just because I got a free copy of it. However, some authors seem to feel that if they send you a copy of their book for free, you should give it a positive review.

Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?

I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT think that reviewers are obligated to deliver a positive review just because they receive a free book. I think that undermines the whole point of book reviewing. Plus, as a book reviewer, I think the whole idea is a bit insulting. I spend just as much time reading and reviewing a book as a person who do it for the New York Times Book Review. Just because much fewer people read my blog does not mean expectations should be any different. Authors can't honestly say they expect newspapers and magazines to review their works positively because they got a free copy. I think the same goes for book bloggers - the professionals get compensated for their time with payment other than free books. We don't!

That being said, I do try to review positively, whether I get a free book out of it or not. That doesn't mean I inflate my reviews, but I do try to find something positive in everything I read. If I didn't like it, I will be honest and I am not afraid to criticize a book. Sometimes I am even critical of books I like; if I think characters are flat or the writing isn't smooth, I will say so. But I try to offset that with things I did like about the book. That's why I use a rating system - I feel like it's a pretty good indication of how much I enjoyed the book. (Of course, I say this about finding the positive, and today is the day I happen to post my first solidly negative review.)

As far as disclaimers? I can understand why reviewers would choose to do that at this point. I haven't yet, but I have become incredibly picky about the books I will accept to review. I may come up with some sort of disclaimer, but for now, I'm going to leave things as is.

The Washingtonienne - Jessica Cutler

Title: The Washingtonienne
Author: Jessica Cutler
ISBN: 1401308473
Pages: 304
Release Date: June 1, 2005
Genre: Chick Lit
Rating: 1 out of 5

From the back cover:

When Jacqueline Turner’s fiancé gives her two days to move out of his apartment, Jacqueline has no choice but to leave New York and crash with her best friend in Washington, D.C. She needs an exciting new life -- not to mention real employment.

Alas, D.C. turns out to be a lot more buttoned-up and toned down than she’d hoped. Jacqueline has to make her own fun, including a married presidential appointee who hands over cash after each tryst and a lascivious Georgetown lawyer. Soon enough, her private romps in the nation’s capital take a very public turn when she starts her own blog.

Deliciously gossipy and impossible to put down, The Washingtonienne is every bit as outrageously scandalous as the real-life exploits that inspired it.

When I heard that Sarah Jessica Parker was turning the novel The Washingtonienne into a TV series, I decided I definitely wanted to read it. It didn't know much about the scandal involving Jessica Cutler and the Washingtonienne blog; all I did know was that The Washingtonienne was semi-autobiographical and based on Cutler's real life.

Now that I have read it, I can definitely say that it is a light read. But the question really is, is it enjoyable? The short answer is no. On one hand, The Washingtonienne easy to read, and it definitely has its humorous moments. On the other hand, the scandals are absolutely disgusting and the main character is pretty repulsive. While I was reading it, I likened it to a train wreck; it gives you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, but you can't look away.

I think my main issue with the book was the main character and her lack of any sense of decorum. She has the ability to rationalize anything, and she spends pretty much the entire book drunk and high. The fact that she was basically functioning as a prostitute didn't seem to faze her in the least. The worst part was that Jackie seemed to delight in her exploits. She seemed almost proud of them.

I got the sense that The Washingtonienne was written in order to partly shock, and partly make the reader feel like Jackie was "cool," living on a different plane than most of us do. I'm not sure why I got this sense, but the main character's superior tone probably had something to do with it. I can say for certain that the book is shocking, but Jackie is so despicable that any redeeming qualities in the book are completely lost. I hope that the main character of the book was embellished, and is not too close to the author.

I really can't recommend this book to anyone unless (1) you are interested in the Washingtonienne scandal [Wikipedia entry][Blog archives] or (2) you want to read the book, despite this review, before the show comes out. All I can say about the show is that I really hope it is much better than the book, especially considering the other characters were pretty much as unlikeable as Jackie. [According to the Wikipedia entry about the show, the writers are taking the character of Jackie in a different direction from the book. Whew.]

(And as a disclaimer, I live in Washington, D.C. Please don't judge us by this book. I can say from experience that we are not like this.)

100+ Reading Challenge

That's right, I'm joining yet another challenge! This one is the 100+ Reading Challenge! I'll actually be keeping track of this one on the page where I keep track of all my reading: for 2008, it's here. I've created the page for 2009, but obviously it's empty. I'm setting my goal at 250 books!

The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters - Lorraine Lopez

Title: The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters
Author: Lorraine Lopez
ISBN: 0446699217
Pages: 336
Release Date: October 1, 2008
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3 out of 5

From the back cover:

Having lost their mother in early childhood, the Gabaldón sisters consider Fermina, their elderly Pueblo housekeeper, their surrogate Grandmother. The mysterious Fermina love the girls as if they are her own, and promises to endow each with a "special gift" to be received upon her death.

Mindful of the old woman's mystical ways, the sisters believe Fermina's gifts, bestowed based on their natural talents, magically enhance their lives. The oldest sister, Bette Davis Gabaldón, always teased for telling tales, believes her gift is the power to persuade anyone, no matter how outlandish her story. Loretta Young, who often prefers pets to people, assumes her gift is the ability to heal animals. Tough-talking tomboy, Rita Hayworth believes her gift is the ability to curse her enemies. And finally, Sophia Loren, the baby of the family, is sure her ability to make people laugh is her legacy.

As the four girls grow into women they discover that Fermina's gifts come with complicated strings, and what once seemed simple can confuse over time. Together they learn the truth about their mysterious caretaker, her legacy, and the family secret that was nearly lost forever in the New Mexican desert.

When I first heard about The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters, I thought it would be similar to Sarah Addison Allen's novel Garden Spells (which I loved). The ides of magic in every day life is a wonderful thought, and I was eager to see it employed in Lopez' book.

However, the story of The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters is very different than what I expected. Instead of a coherent story, the reader is given glimpses into the lives of the four sisters. We visit them at different ages and different times, merely getting a feeling for them, rather than intimately getting to know them. The result of this technique is mixed. On one hand, it gives the reader an overall, broad picture, making the book seem about the family of sisters rather than about them as individuals. On the other hand, the reader doesn't have the chance to establish a relationship and come to care about these characters. Overall, though, I would say it is effective in getting across the message of family and sisters that Lopez seems to focus on.

Lopez' writing is also very graceful. She does an excellent job of making each character distinct. They each have their own unique voice and, though the reader doesn't spend enough time with them to really make them come alive, each of their stories evokes emotion and sympathy.

However, my problem with The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters was that I just couldn't get into it. I usually enjoy books about sisters, but in this case, I didn't feel like they really had a strong bond until the end of the book. It seemed to me like it was just family obligation for the most part. Also, I didn't really see the point of the novel. I understand that the search for the truth about Fermina is supposed to tie the novel together; however, that topic is only visited at the beginning and the end of the novel. The interspersed reports do fill in the gaps in her history, but those reports have no relation to the sisters. It just didn't seem to make the book a coherent whole (as I am assuming it was supposed to do), and in the end, when the girls found out the truth, I can't say it really moved me.

I know that others have enjoyed this book much more than I have, and in the end, it is a good, well-written book. It just didn't seem to speak to me!

Read Your Own Books Challenge

So I've taken the plunge and have decided to join another challenge for 2009! This one is all about reading the books you own. Since I actually own over half of the books I read, I'm twisting it a little - I'm going to pick 10 books that have been waiting patiently on my shelf for months, if not years and commit to reading them in 2009.

1. The Buenos Aires Broken Hearts Club - Jessica Morrison
2. The Post-Birthday World - Lionel Shriver
3. Frenemies - Megan Crane
4. The Fiction Class - Susan Breen
5. Katherine - Anya Seton
6. Abraham - Bruce Feiler
7. Complications - Atul Gawande
8. Fury - Salman Rushdie
9. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
10 Mary, Queen of France - Jean Plaidy

I'll be keeping track of this challenge in my sidebar. If you would like to participate as well, here is more information.

Bookworm Award Meme

Both Sheri at Bookopolis and Ramya at Ramya's Bookshelf have tagged me for the Bookworm Award! Thanks so much guys!

Here are the rules:

Open the closest book to you—not your favourite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment—to page 56.

Write out the fifth sentence as well as the next two to five sentences.

Pass this on to five blogging friends.

Well, the book closest to me happens to be The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.

The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to yell "fire" in a crowded theater; your right to practice your religion does not encompass human sacrifice. Likewise, we all agree that there must be limits to the state's power to control our behavior, even if it is for our own good. Not many Americans would feel comfortable with the government monitoring what we eat, no matter how many deaths and how much of our medical spending may be due to rising rates of obesity. More often, though, finding the right balance between our competing values is difficult.

So there you have it! Thanks again guys!

For this, I'm tagging:

Veens

Bermudaonion

Ladytink_534

Alea

Literary Feline

And if you have already done it, don't worry about doing it again!

Tuesday Thingers

Popular this month on LT: Do you look at this list? Do you get ideas on what to read from it?

Have you read any of the books on the list right now? Feel free to link to any reviews you've done as well.

Here is the list:

1.The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2.Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

3.Nation by Terry Pratchett

4.Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

5.Anathem by Neal Stephenson

6.American Wife: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld

7.The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

8.The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski

9.Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland

10.Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3) by Stephenie Meyer

Unfortunately, I've only read one of these books - Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer! American Wife, Guernsey, and Dewey are all patiently waiting on my shelves, and I definitely want to read Brisingr and The Graveyard book at some point.