I recently finished Gone Girl (just in time for Valentine’s Day!) and agree it was quite the read. Very gone girl indeed! Absorbing and twisted with well thought out yet surprising developments and excellently depicted characters – with a unique play it back journal entry style and point of view alternate takes.(Grammatically incorrect – thanks Amy). I especially enjoyed the pair of detectives -Boney and Gilpin, who may have been in over their heads with this one!
I was thinking about movies and couldn’t place a female lead until I listened again to the year’s best Podcast and heard a library colleague mentioning Reece Witherspoon. That would be a great fit (I think of her in Election). Some other movies that crossed my mind while reading this were: High Fidelity, American Beauty, Basic Instinct, Magic and, maybe most of all, The Game (w/ Michael Douglas). And maybe the play Deathtrap. I couldn’t help think of Nancy Grace circa the Scott Peterson case as well with the Ellen Abbott character. But with any great book it’s the nuances and thoughts of the characters you are privy to and the acute descriptions that make this one to read (before a movie based on it comes out).
The story opens in Carthage, Missouri where Amy and Nick Dunne, displaced (from NYC) and unemployed ex-writers have returned to reside in a McMansion near the Mississippi, enabling Nick to tend to his ailing parents and work at a bar he owns with his twin sister, Margo. From here, on their fifth wedding anniversary Amy disappears in an apparent abduction; possibly a set up…
But this book is so much more and truly is a masterpiece of psychological intrigue; with a marriage gone really wrong, a what is going on here?! and what may possibly develop next? plot that tumbles ever forward. It is hugely absorbing and the characters are very believable – from Nick’s sister Go and her stark directness to Amy’s annoyingly alike parents, Rand and Marybeth, both psychologists who have been living off the royalties of the Amazing Amy series, children’s books that may have run their course. Other characters have memorable bit roles while Amy herself gives new meaning to terms for a clever, manipulative spouse. Anniversary treasure hunts with disguised clues are just the tip of the iceberg here with the games she plays.
I haven’t heard anyone who has not been impressed by this book, which is unforgettable and merits its praise as one of the year’s best (and probably a rereading by me). This story is gripping and diabolically twisted with a sharp, modern edge (and really funny at times too). Maybe a disclaimer is in order: not for everyone – adult situations, sexual content and language and an addicting plot that will not let you down easy while confounding and surprising.
Lane Smith, fresh off of last year’s Caldecott Honor Award for Grandpa Green, delivers a sweet, quirky tale about Abe Lincoln’s ghost. When touring the White House, a young girl named Quincy discovers Honest Abe by the Gettysburg Address. After exchanging jokes, she takes him on her own tour to show him the nation’s progress since 1865. Smith uses a muted palette, but infuses the illustrations and text with a life of their own. Parents and adults will probably find more appeal in this book’s sentimentality, but 4-5 year olds will appreciate the silly jokes and relate to Quincy’s confidence and initiative.
I Have a Dream
by Martin Luther King, Jr. illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Kadir Nelson’s evocative and bold oil painting illustrations are paired with Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in this picture book resulting in a powerful dedication to Dr. King. Similar to Abe Lincoln’s Dream, I think that adults will be moved by this book more than children, but I think that is the point of both of these wonderful books. Young children, unlike adults, don’t need to be reminded that we are all equal. However, Dr. King’s words are powerfully lyrical and when paired with Nelson’s beautiful illustrations, children don’t have to understand there is a message and history behind the words to enjoy the experience of sharing this book together.
Z is for Moose
by Kelly Bingham illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
And now for something completely different…Z is for Moose is a current favorite in our household. I’m fairly certain my three-year-old finds this book hilarious because my husband and I really get into reading it aloud. This book begins as your basic alphabet book with Zebra directing the show “A is for Apple, B is for Ball…” unfortunately; his friend Moose is a bit overeager for his turn. When things don’t go his way, Moose does not take it well. Hilarity ensues. Young children will appreciate this as a read-aloud, but independent readers will enjoy “getting” the joke on their own.
Oh, No!
by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Candace Fleming’s bouncy text tells the tale of a series of jungle animals who get trapped in a hole, facing the fate of becoming a tiger’s dinner…. “Oh, No!” Illustrated by Eric Rohmann, using his characteristic relief-print style (which won him the Caldecott in 2003 for My Friend Rabbit) this book practically demands to be read aloud. And even the most rhythmically-challenged will find the cadence in the sing-songy repetition and onomatopoetic animal sounds. A satisfyingly witty end round off this great picture book and put it on my short list of favorites for the year.
Best Series I Finally Got To Finish: The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini (featuring Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance)
Yeah! I did it! I read all 2794 pages. And at least 1789 of them were really good. Woohoo!
Possibly the Worst Book I’ve Ever Read (Ever): One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell
This one was a tough category to pick the worst book because there were several to choose from (Looking at you J.K. Rowling). I just wanted to punch all these characters in the face. Ugh. Read it at your own risk – I’m warning you.
Ok, Nashville…let’s set our reading goals high for 2013. If you need recommendations to help get your numbers up that’s what the library’s here for.
Whew! We made it through another one: another year, another podcast, another apocalyptic cult. In celebration, we tell you about the things we are most looking forward to in 2013. The library will have them or already has things by their creators so you can pregame. First, some events we are looking forward to:
Why do I keep reading books by such a curmudgeonly author? (Here curmudgeonly means someone who thinks no one should read his books.) How come Lemony Snicket made himself the lead character in his new series? Why could I not put this book down? Who wouldn’t want to read it?
For those of you out there who loved A Series of Unfortunate Events, Snicket is back with a new children’s series called All the Wrong Questions. This is the first book in which we find Snicket setting off on a new quest that almost immediately seems more dangerous and daunting than one would initially expect.
Snicket still has the same witty writing style that has become his signature and he takes self-deprecation to a whole new level. Unfortunately, this book asks more questions than it answers…which may be the author’s completely brilliant (and evil) plan. I can’t wait to see what twists Snicket creates next. These books might be officially for kids, but any kid-at-heart will enjoy them.
Happy reading…
Amanda
PS If you only watched the movie of A Series of Unfortunate Events with Jim Carrey and were not satisfied, definitely give the books a try. They are SO much better.
Set in Victorian England, this fantasy novel by Newbery medalist Laura Amy Schlitz (Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a medieval village) is recommended for grades 4-8, but is definitely on the darker side. Thirteen year old Lizzie Rose and eleven-ish Parsefall are two orphans “adopted” by Grisini, a sinister master puppeteer. As in marionettes. A children’s book about an eeeeevil puppeteer?! Yes, please!
Grisini and the orphans perform at a young rich girl’s birthday party and when the girl, Clara, winds up missing the next day, the trio is suspected of being behind her disappearance. When Grisini also vanishes, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall are left to defend and fend for themselves; while also wishing to help find Clara. I thought the plot would be pretty straightforward, and in some respects it is. The orphans are plucky (of course) and good at heart. Grisini is evil to a Dickensian level and the rich girl who has everything is really quite lonely and sad. But then there is this whole other plot about a witch and her magic stone (which is actually a curse that is burning her alive.) Schlitz manages to merge the characters’ plots fairly seamlessly by telling the story from the alternating points of view of the witch and all three children.
I wasn’t prepared for this deftly written book’s rich bleakness. There were times that I didn’t want to get out of the car to stop listening to the audiobook (which is very well narrated) and times that I was almost uncomfortable in its gloominess. Schlitz does not shy away from the grittier details of Victorian London so oft forgotten in period pieces. She also draws unflinchingly evil characters and manages to create sympathy for them at times – a rather complex idea for a children’s fantasy book.
Of course, I had to read this book – it’s about an evil puppeteer. But I was surprised by how strong my reaction to it was. I highly recommend this book for less sensitive children. The issues of wickedness, punishment, neglect, abuse and especially death are not skirted around and if the reader is mature enough to handle those concepts, they will be rewarded with a thoughtful, rich, engrossing story.
It is difficult to find engaging contemporary fiction featuring modern characters that do not lean towards twee-dom. In Where’d you go, Bernadette, Maria Semple has crafted an epistolary work told in a crisp, contemporary manner.
Bernadette’s story is engaging and interesting without being coy or contrived. Plot twists are memorable, yet believable. Character outlines are recognizable but the author fills them in with quirks, personal failures and redemptions that are rich and ring true.
The story is set in Seattle, home of Microsoft which serves as a sort of mother church. The town is chocked full of Craftsman homes and on their porches Patagonia clad owners sip coffee. The owners either sport short grey hair or alternatively, long grey hair. Bernadette is weary with the monotony of the “gnats” that populate her daughter’s school pick-up lane. The “gnats” see Bernadette as anti-social, superior and too far removed to consider anything but a non-participatory parent.
What the “gnats” don’t know about Bernadette’s past explains in large part her weariness. Suffice it to say that Bernadette finds genius difficult to maintain over the years.
A perfect companion book is House by Diane Keaton. The author has gathered glossy visions of the best of modern architecture, crisp and contemporary.
“A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.” Frank Lloyd Wright
Be nice. Be on topic.
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Comments (2) 
Abe Lincoln’s Dream
I Have a Dream
Z is for Moose
Oh, No!
Possibly the Worst Book I’ve Ever Read (Ever): 
Amanda
Whew! We made it through another one: another year, another podcast, another apocalyptic cult. In celebration, we tell you about the things we are most looking forward to in 2013. The library will have them or already has things by their creators so you can pregame. First, some events we are looking forward to:
Splendors and Glooms
Where’d you go, Bernadette?
Themocracy