Short & Sweet: The Hating Game (Adult)

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne 

Utterly captivating and addictive, with a wonderful blend of humour, warmth, and unresolved sexual tension. I basically couldn't put it down. Really enjoyed the main character and her quirky, rather neurotic take on life. My one reservation is that sometimes the love interest gets overly jealous/possessive/moody and raised a couple red flags for me.

Would recommend this for fans of Meg Cabot's and Sophie Kinsella's chick-lit books, and I'll definitely be on the look-out for what Sally Thorne comes up with next. 

 

Short & Sweet: The Silver Linings Playbook, The Undomestic Goddess, and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Adult)

These are just my Goodreads reactions, since I don't know if/when I will actually get around to writing an actual review of them. But you get a general idea of what I thought of them :)

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Probably 2~2.5 stars. This book was approximately 80% football (watching live, watching on TV, talking about...) and 20% actually interesting stuff. Definitely a case of 'the movie was better', at least for me.

Below is literally every Goodreads status update I posted while reading this book. As you can see, there was a pattern:

I don't think anything more needs to be said.

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

A light, enjoyable read that gave me a few chuckles. Samantha's exploits in the kitchen (and other housekeeper domains) are highly entertaining, as is watching while she tries to bluff her way through things. Plus, I totally related to her ineptitude at all things domestic! This book kind of reminded me of a cross between the 1980s movies Maid to Order and Baby Boom :)

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Probably around 3.5 stars. I quite enjoyed the first half of it, but found the second half dragged somewhat and wasn't keeping my interest as well. I did really like Clay's voice, and there were some very funny lines in here too.

What Alice Forgot: A Close-Up Review (Adult)

"Remember the woman you used to be ...

Alice is twenty-nine. She is whimsical, optimistic and adores sleep, chocolate, her ramshackle new house and her wonderful husband Nick. What's more, she's looking forward to the birth of the 'Sultana' - her first baby.

But now Alice has slipped and hit her head in her step-aerobics class and everyone's telling her she's misplaced the last ten years of her life.

In fact, it would seem that Alice is actually thirty-nine and now she loves schedules, expensive lingerie, caffeine and manicures. She has three children and the honeymoon is well and truly over for her and Nick. In fact, he looks at her like she's his worst enemy. What's more, her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to her either. And who is this 'Gina' everyone is so carefully trying not to mention?

Alice isn't sure that she likes life ten years on. Every photo is another memory she doesn't have and nothing makes sense. Just how much can happen in a decade? Has she really lost her lovely husband forever?" (from Goodreads)

 
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Characters:

Alice: In a way, there are sort of three different Alices in this story. There's the Alice who's just hit her head and lost 10 years of memories, and is seeing the world through the eyes of her 29-year-old self. There's glimpses of the 39-year-old Alice that she's become in those 10 years. And then there's the "new" Alice we see at the end of the story.

I loved the 29-year-old version of Alice. She was such a fantastic character, with a wry sense of humour that, frankly, was uncannily similar to mine at times. This made for quite a funny first third of the book or so, as she reacts to all of this "new" information she's learning that she doesn't remember. And this younger version of Alice is introverted, so we had that in common as well. Even the slightly snarky, internal running commentary of her thoughts as she observes people throughout the day felt familiar — so yeah, I definitely connected with her.

In stark contrast, I strongly disliked the glimpses we're shown of the 39-year-old that Alice was before the accident. She's a sanctimonious, bitter, jaded, snooty, type-A sort of personality. To put it bluntly: she's just plain mean. I was really worried at one point that the book was going to end with Alice transformed once more into this horrible person, and I was going, "if that happens, I am going to hate the ending." I was feeling really sad and missing the younger, slightly clueless but innocent, sweet, and well-meaning 29-year-old Alice. Thankfully, though, Liane Moriarty came through for me and I actually liked how it ended. I do wish we'd been shown more of Alice becoming this final, third version of herself. Major spoilers, highlight to read: I had a little bit of difficulty seeing the two Alices merge to become one, so to speak. The Alice at the very end isn't the same as the younger Alice — she's more serious and doesn't seem to have the same sense of humor, which is a shame — but she obviously loves her kids and Nick very much. I was relieved that she and Nick end up together; their marriage is a constant work in progress but they didn't give up on each other. And it sounds like she's started to patch things up with her sister as well.

Elisabeth: Alice's sister's story is really sad because of her depressing situation of repeatedly miscarrying and not being able to carry a baby to term. It didn't make me cry or anything, but I understood how it could have contributed to a strain between the sisters; Alice has three beautiful kids and Elisabeth just wants one child, and she's despairing and beginning to lose hope. The little excerpts we're given of Elisabeth's perspective help to flesh out her nuanced thoughts and feelings on this please-let-me-have-a-baby situation, which has pretty much taken over her life.

Premise:

The premise is fantastic as a way to showcase how people and their lives can change in ways they wouldn't have expected when they were younger. In Alice's case, nothing that she thought her life would be like is actually how it is ten years down the road. This is demonstrated by placing these two different versions of Alice (the 29-again Alice and the 39-year-old Alice that she discovers she's become) in stark contrast. It's a simple and yet effective way of showing that your life can turn out to be something you didn't expect, and also that you can change in ways you thought you might never change. Alice herself is quite shocked at what her life's become, now that she's looking at it through new eyes.

Stories that play with memory can either be done really well or really poorly, so I was pleased to see that What Alice Forgot falls into the first category. Moriarty seems to have a pretty strong grasp of how memory works and she uses it to great effect here. Of course, the retrograde amnesia Alice experiences is quite sweeping and severe (she can't remember anything from the past 10 years), and I'm not sure how realistic a consequence that is for the nature of Alice's injury, but that's something the reader will have to accept in order to go along with the general premise. The idea of odors evoking memories is strongly based in research and certainly rings true for me. So does the fact that Alice's body remembers to do some things that she can't retrieve from her explicit memory. 

The way Alice gets her memories back at first just in bits and pieces is also very believable. Everyone expects her to get her memory back instantaneously, but anyone who's studied some psychology will know that memory is a complex, messy matter. People seem to keep blaming her because she can't remember stuff, and think that if they just talk about it a little longer she'll remember. (Nope.) I'm a little dubious about the resolution of this storyline (spoiler: many of Alice's memories flood back with a particular trigger) but I suppose it's possible — memory can't be pinned down easily and varies a lot between individuals.

Plot:

I preferred the first third to the latter 2/3rds for the simple fact that I found it more humorous. As Alice starts to figure out that her life is pretty crappy — a terrible relationship with her estranged husband Nick, a strained relationship with her sister, difficulties with her daughter Madison, and friendships that have fallen apart — things got really depressing and the humor died down. Add to that the storyline involving Elisabeth, and the whole thing was feeling bleak for a while there. Thankfully, Alice manages to repair her relationships to some extent, and the mood does pick up towards the end (although the earlier humor of just-been-hit-on-the-head-Alice never resurfaces, sadly).

I would have liked a deeper examination of the sister relationship, as we don't get much discussion between them about why they drifted apart. I wish we'd seen more of them reconnecting, and not just because of how the sub-plot involving Elisabeth is resolved (spoiler: the miracle baby — which I thought was a little too HEA, but I was still glad for Elisabeth and I liked that she ended up adopting as well), but because it was an important step in their relationship. I also didn't really care much about the storyline involving Frannie. Generally, though, I really enjoyed the family dynamics and psychology that What Alice Forgot delves into.

Writing style:

I don't have anything specific to say about the writing style — just that through both humorous sections and depressing ones, the quality of writing is consistently excellent.

Final verdict: 4.5 shooting stars. It's unusual for me to connect with a book about a 39-year-old, but in the case of What Alice Forgot, I could! I didn't have too much trouble even in the latter stages where she takes on the more mature role of actually being a 39-year-old. I feel like the author really understands human nature and how relationships can deteriorate. In short, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It reminded me of the TV shows Samantha Who? and, in a more abstract, conceptual way, Being Erica (most of my readers probably won't be familiar with that one, but it was an awesome Canadian TV series!)

This book counts toward my goal for the TBR Pile reading challenge.

Forget-Me-Nots: Anything by Paula Danziger

 

Forget-Me-Nots is a feature on my blog for highlighting books I enjoyed in childhood and the teenage years that I don't see getting much attention nowadays.

I read a lot of Paula Danziger's books when I was younger: There's a Bat in Bunk Five, This Place Has No Atmosphere, Earth to Matthew...they're pretty much all awesome. Paula Danziger writes with wonderful humor and lively dialogue, capturing the ups and downs of adolescence perfectly.

She's also written some books for younger readers, like her Amber Brown series. I know I had a copy of You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown when I was a kid, and quite enjoyed it :D Just the title is fantastic!

Anyone else have fond memories of Paula Danziger's books? Which were your favourites?

Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters: A Close-Up Review

"Kelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled – by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change. Enlisting the help of her three best friends — sweet and quiet Em, theatrical Cass, and wild JoJo — Kelsey gets ready to rebrand herself and make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny.

Things start out great - her arch-nemesis has moved across the country, giving Kelsey the perfect opportunity to stand out on the soccer team and finally catch the eye of her long-time crush. But soon enough, an evil junior’s thirst for revenge, a mysterious photographer, and a series of other catastrophes make it clear that just because KELSEY has a plan for greatness… it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is in on it.

Kelsey’s hilarious commentary throughout her disastrous freshman year will have you laughing out loud—while being thankful that you’re not in her shoes, of course…" (from Goodreads)

Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin

Characters:

Kelsey was a very enjoyable narrator. At first I was a bit worried she was going to be too perky and optimistic for my taste, but once she started landing in some less-than-enviable situations, her self-deprecating sense of humour rose to the occasion. She's kind of sarcastic, but not bitter, and her voice comes across as quite relatable. Kelsey's written to be an easy protagonist for the reader to sympathize with — you have to feel for her! I really admired the way she was able to let things roll off her shoulders without dwelling on them. While I wouldn't say there's a ton of character development happening, she is somewhat self-absorbed at the beginning of the book, and that improves. She's also annoyingly obsessed with crushing on this one guy. I dislike the hopelessly-infatuated-crush trope, by and large, but thankfully that dies partway through.

We don't get to know the other characters as well as we do Kelsey; in particular, I would have liked to have seen more depth to Cassidy and Em. And although Kelsey's mom feels quite present as a character — oh, the pain of being a teenager and getting embarrassed by your mother — we don't really get to find out what her dad's like at all. I love what we see of Ben, though! He's adorable, and the tension and banter between him and Kelsey was very cute. 

I also appreciated the author combating a couple of stereotypes. It seems like all too often in YA books the protagonist befriends the bully and then they bond. Yeah, it doesn't always happen like that in real life. Some "mean girls" never change, even if you are nice to them, as Kelsey finds out. Second, Lexi manages to be a beautiful, popular girl who is also genuinely nice. You don't see too many of those! Usually they are walking around, ruling the halls as the snotty Queen Bee cheerleader-types.


Plot/pacing:  

There isn't really one overarching storyline driving the book from beginning to end. Rather, it's more like a collage of all the events that happen to Kelsey in freshman year. It's episodic more than anything else, which means that some parts feel kind of separate and disjointed from other storylines. That said, the humorous plot of Kelsey's repeated photos in the school newspaper does thread throughout the novel, and in fact is responsible for sparking the romance. I found this storyline, full of seeming coincidences, to be quite amusing (although I wanted to actually see a bit more of the teasing Kelsey claims she endures about the photos...we're told this more than we're really shown it).

There's nothing startlingly new about the plot; Kelsey faces some pretty typical challenges that other teens face. There's the girl who has it in for her from day one, the friend who kind-of-backstabs her, the other friend she thinks might be lesbian, and all the guys who walk in and out of Kelsey's life. Not to mention playing on the soccer team and acting in the school musical, of course.

Speaking of which: really, you should read this book for the hilarity of the calamitous "Fiddler on the Roof" musical scene alone. I was positively chortling with laughter as I read that part! If you enjoy slapstick humour, you'll love it. (I have a few different brands of humour, and I admit that slapstick is one of them. Don't judge.) I wish there had been more uproariously funny scenes like this one! I think her being a hapless goalie on the soccer team could have been played up more and resulted in similar hilarity.

So, yeah, it's quite predictable, but that doesn't really matter so much. The embarrassing situations Kelsey finds herself in are enjoyable in an oh-so-glad-that's-not-me kind of way, and her attitude makes it easy to read about her experiences, because she's not overly whiny. 

I did feel like the book ended kind of abruptly — I wanted more pages at the end! Perhaps an epilogue would have helped give us a sense of what all the characters would be doing in the near future. Plus, I wanted a little bit more from the romance at the end. (Spoiler, highlight to read: she kisses Keith and Sam, but we don't see a kiss with Ben? What's up with that? I totally wanted a romantic declaration, and then a kiss to seal the deal!). I'm not sure if there's a sequel planned, although I think there could be since Kelsey still has room to grow and mature. 

Writing style:

There were a few errors (formatting, punctuation, etc.) sprinkled throughout, but nothing to detract from the reading experience. Kelsey's voice felt really spot-on for her age, as did the maturity level in terms of content and language. There's a bit of swearing, but not a lot, and some sexual references, but nothing explicit. In essence, it manages to stay away from gratuitous "gritty" content without resulting in a dumbed-down or sanitized feel.

Final verdict: 4 shooting stars. This one was a pleasant surprise for me! Well-written, funny in parts, true to life, and surprisingly readable. It probably won't stick with you for very long, but you'll enjoy reading it in the moment. (Plus, it contains the grossest kissing scene I've read in quite a while.)
 

Note: there is a bit of mature content, language, and references in this book. It might not be suitable for some of the youngest YA readers, but I think it's a good fit for junior high-level.

Disclaimer: I received an e-book for review from the author's PR (not sure if it was an ARC or a finished copy).

This book counts towards my goals for the Just Contemporary reading challenge and the Debut Author reading challenge.

Forget-Me-Nots: Of Two Minds

 

Forget-Me-Nots is a feature on my blog for highlighting books I enjoyed in childhood and the teenage years that I don't see getting much attention nowadays.

Of Two Minds by Carol Matas & Perry Nodelman

Goodreads' description:

"The complex plot follows the adventures of Lenora, a headstrong princess with the power to make anything she imagines real, and Coren, the shy prince chosen by her parents to be her husband. Trapped in a strange land and stripped of their powers (Coren had been able to read the thoughts not only of humans, but also of animals and objects), the two must work together to overthrow the tyrannical Hevak, restore harmony to the country, and return home safely."

This is the first in a series that has to be one of the wackiest, most out-there fantasy series I've ever read. The events can be super complicated at times (especially in the later books), but if you don't try too hard to rationally follow everything that's going on, and just allow yourself to go with the flow, you'll likely end up rooting for the main characters Lenora and Coren, and enjoying the outlandish escapades. (Although, just a warning that the books just get weirder and weirder as the series progresses.)

Has anyone else read this book (or the sequels)? What did you make of it?

The Lighter Side of Psych: Bluffing It

Ever wanted to act like you're a real psychologist, even if you have absolutely no training? Then you might like to take a look at The Bluffer's Guide to Psychology by Warren Mansell!

Here are some tips they give:

• Develop an air.

"Psychologists manage to foster an unnerving air of aloofness, self-sacrifice and absent-mindedness which, in combination, will thoroughly perplex their opposition. Their general attitude is of the kind: 'I forgot your birthday because I have been very busy thinking of clever ways of how I might advance science and/or help people.'

The budding psychologist needs a semblance of social skills, but will focus them solely on turning the topic of conversation round to his own limited area of expertise. When he has his victim in sight, he launches his secret weapon — the rambling explanation. For instance, "Your cat sounds very intelligent. Tell me, how does Tiddles respond to moving objects in his peripheral vision? You don't know? Well let me explain with a little example..."

•  Acquire impressive curios.

"Many a psychologist's office will contain the ubiquitous Phrenology Head — a mock ivory model of a bald sexless human from the neck up, with personality traits mapped on different areas of the skull. It was most likely bought in a peak of excitement by the psychologist's mother as a graduation present. Of course, any self-respecting psychologist realises that this model provides no genuine information and is absolutely useless. But the fact that it demonstrates the thrill of discovery of the Victorian era gives it a certain charm...The icing on the cake is a well-placed cartoon that gently ridicules psychology. It helps to give visitors the impressiong that the psychologists do not take their work too seriously (which of course they do)."

A cartoon like this, perhaps.

Or this.

• Fend off tricky questions.

 "In any ordinary social event, the average psychologist will encounter many apparently intelligent people who seem to lose all command of logic when faced with a psychologist, and endow this individual with what can only be described as special powers.

'So, can you tell what I'm thinking?' is the most common response. You can answer in two ways, essentially "No" or "Yes". "No" is the truth, not only because mind-reading is impossible, but because most psychologists are below average at reading social signals. Why else would they have to study theories of human behaviour when to other people it comes naturally? "Yes" is an outright lie, but leads to a far more interesting conversation."

I can vouch for the third tip, certainly: you will have to know how to respond to all kinds of questions even if you've just got a Bachelor's in Psychology. And yes, "So you can read my mind?" is indeed one of the most common, along with, in my experience, "So are you analyzing me right now? You are, aren't you?!" I have a T-shirt from my university psychology department that reads on the back, "I am analyzing you and quite frankly, I am disturbed."

So, what do you think? Is this really how psychologists act? How easily could someone convince you they were an actual psychologist? :P

And for those of you curious about what the quote in the last "Lighter Side of Psych" post was referring to, the answer is....


TOOTHBRUSHES! :)

The Lighter Side of Psych: What's Your Quirk?

A lot of the Psychtember posts so far have dealt with quite serious issues, so I wanted to add some lightness to try to balance that out!



This post is all about the quirks and idiosyncracies that everyone has. Let's face it, while the majority of people don't qualify as clinically neurotic, we all have those little things we like to do a particular way. I have a copy of Judy Reiser's Admit It, You're Crazy!, which is filled with anecdotes from many different people on their quirks in various aspects of life. Here are a few:

              In The Bathroom:

 "I will not sing in the shower before I eat breakfast because if you sing before breakfast, you cry before dinner. To get around this dilemma, sometimes before I go into the shower, I'll go in the kitchen and eat a couple crackers or a piece of fruit and then I can sing to my heart's content before I wash myself." – Relationship Manager, Advertising Software, Male, 41

"I have noticed that this behavior is common among men: When using the stall (not the urinal) in a public men's room, upon hearing someone else enter the room, most men let out an audible cough or some other noise. (I prefer to blow my nose.) I call it the Territorial Toilet Cough.

I asked my wife if women do the same thing. Her reply was to look at me like I was crazy (which I'll assume is a no).

I'm not a psychologist, but I think the reasoning behind it is that men prefer to do their bathroom thing as far away from other men as possible (e.g., the unwritten rule of never using a urinal next to one that is occupied unless it is the only one available). Making someone aware of your presence will ensure that they will use the appropriate (farthest) stall." – Director of Information Systems, Male, 33 (His wife: homemaker, 34)

In The Kitchen:

"When I eat my cereal in the morning, I have to eat it in such a way that I have equal amounts of milk and cereal on every spoonful and when I finish the last spoonful, there's no extra milk or flakes left in the bowl. I finish them simultaneously." – Artist, Female, 31

"If I dip my Oreos into milk, once the Oreos are gone I can't drink the milk with the floaties in it no matter how much milk is left." – Radio Host, Male, age unknown  

        At Night:

"When I go to bed, I don't take my watch off until I'm actually under the sheets. That is when I feel that time will stop and that is my relaxation period. Otherwise time is always going." – National Sales Manager, Newspaper Publisher, Male, 26

"Before I go to sleep I listen to the radio, but I can't turn it off in the middle of a song. I have to wait until it ends. If I'm a little slow and another song begins, I have to finish listening to that one." – Student, Female, 13

"If I'm reading a scary book before I go to bed, I have to move the book out of my bedroom into another room in the house before I can go to sleep. I'm afraid that the characters will come out and attack me in the middle of the night." – College student, Female, 21

In Fashion:

"My socks have to be smiling when I put them in the drawer. When you roll up socks and flip one opening over the other, the little shape that's formed at the end of the ball looks like a smile. It's cheerful to open my drawer and see all the socks smiling! I also arrange my socks from lightest on the left to darkest on the right." – Vice President, Institutional Textile Sales, Male, 43

"My fiance dates and numbers his pants. For example, he will write, "'05, pants #3," on the label inside the pants. When I first started seeing him, I thought that was so strange." – Radio Caller, Female, profession and age unknown

I must admit I have a few quirks like these. For instance, I don't mind eating cereal with milk, but once I'm done the cereal I hate drinking the leftover milk. (It doesn't taste like regular milk anymore, because it has this weird cereal flavour to it afterwards!)

And when I was really little, I hated it when there were any specks of lint or anything floating around in my bath water. I'd get my mom to remove them! Now I take showers, which handily takes care of that issue :D

So...what quirks do YOU have? Share them in the comments!

I leave you with a guessing game. This is part of another quote, but I've left out a couple of sentences referring to the subject matter. What do you think the speaker's discussing? Guess away! :D

"I choose one each night depending on my mood. I have the soft; the hard; the small; the big; the foreign ones; the domestic ones; different-colored ones, and I rotate among them. I use some frequently — two or three times a week — and others are used infrequently, every month or so. The soft ones are my favorite. The color doesn't matter as much; it's just for aesthetics."