I've always been a fan of the Young Adult genre but that stems mostly from being born in the late 70's and growing up with Sweet Valley Twins, Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine. With that being said, kids now-a-days have Twilight, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. Now you know why I'm still reading Young Adult books...
When Borders was still open, their Young Adult section was by far one of the largest in the big chain bookstores. Everything about their product placement was visually appealing which is one of the main reasons I loved to shop there. Bonus points to them for making the Young Adult section blend in with the rest of the store so I didn't have to hide my face to not feel like a old creepy person. Nothing says "Creeper" than a 30 something girl wandering around a bunch of teenagers.
Well, on one of my many thousands of trips through Borders I stumbled upon this book. Being the judge of books based upon their covers, this one caught my eye. So I bought it...and proceeded to read it in one sitting.
The story is about a young girl, Liz, who dies and experiences the afterlife which isn't quite Heaven but is Elsewhere. I don't want to explain anymore because the author does such a great job laying it all out for you in the course of the story. To go into any more detail would steal that experience away from you.
There are two types of books that I read. The ones where at the end I think, "I could have written that wayyyyyy better" and the ones where I think, "Where in the hell did they come up with such an amazing plot?" This was the latter. This is my go to "happy" book when I've just wasted any amount of time reading some crappy book that makes me wonder why I continue to read books. I've bought so many copies of this book because I keep loaning them to people to share the experience with them...needless to say, I've never gotten one copy back.
Reading this book reminds me of a line in a movie, Garden State. When Sam first meets Large she's listening to a CD and says, "You gotta hear this one song. It'll change your life, I swear."
Read this book. It'll change your life. I swear...and please feel free to leave comments. I'd really love to hear someone else's thoughts on this book!
I stumbled upon this book at a random walk through of Barnes & Noble. Okay, I have to admit something that I've never admitted to anyone before...
I completely judge books by their covers.
Yeah, yeah, I said it. Now judge me...
Anyway, the material that the cover is made out of is some fancy paper that makes you want to keep touching it. I'm such a sucker for any type of expensive paper upgrade. Although I love reading books on my eReader, the sensory pleasures of touching and smelling paper is the main reason why I have only 100 eBooks and about 500 real ones...I digress...
So I saw this at B&N and picked it up because it looked a little spooky. Also the author looks just like my doctor which I thought was funny because every time I go to the doctor I think of this book. My mind is very random about what it links together. Seriously though, look at them. TWINS!
Chris Bohjalian, Author
Dr. Not Chris Bohjalian
Twins.
Anyway, back to my thoughts on the book (which also featured twins...weird). The plot was a mixture of a bunch of random bits of other stories crafted with a buch of original stuff. While this type of borrowing would usually bother me, the author wove such a beautiful quilt out of the scrappings of other books, movies and current events. The story line was kind of a Stepford Wives meets The Amityville Horror meets The Sixth Sense meets Practical Magic meets Rosemary's Baby meets The Shining. He takes the interesting bits from all of these creepy, dark imaginary places and BAM! throws it all together to make it something that you can totally imagine happening next door.
I liked this book. I really, really liked this book. I liked it enough to recommend it to someone else and even more so to lend it to someone. Lending out books to me is similar to loaning someone money. Only do it if you have the expectation of never seeing it again. Happily enough the lender returned the book but with no comment on the story...
So I'm curious if anyone out there has read it and wants to share their thoughts on it. If you haven't read it yet, go out and buy it if only for the feel of the cover alone...
I picked this book up at Target mainly because a: it was a 'Club Pick' and b: it was a limited signededition. Being the book nerd I am, having a signed edition is such a cool addition to my ever growing (outgrowing) collection.
The book is about choices and although you may find yourself picking a side before reading the book by the end you'll be able to appreciate that both sides have solid points.
Essentially the book is about Elle, a woman and scientist, who is left brain dead after a tragic accident. Her husband, Matt, is left as her health care proxy and will follow through with her wishes not to remain on life support if in a vegetative state. Right before they end life support, he finds out she is pregnant. The choice to end her life means ending the life of his unborn child. While he feels that Elle would have wanted to do whatever she could to save the baby, other's in the family feel that no matter what, she would never want to be kept alive by artificial means. It's a very Terri Schiavo-esq type of situation regarding the fight between the people she loved to prove who thought they knew her wishes most.
The story is told through the voice of Elle's husband as well as through Elle's voice in the many journals she kept throughout her life. You come to know Elle through her own words, her own tragedies that made her feel so strongly about the right to die. By the end of the book you're wanting to get your lawyer on the phone to have your Living Will drawn up.
It's one of the books that really makes you think, which is one of the main reasons I love reading books so much. Books like this make you stop and put yourself in the place of the characters in the story playing "What if" and "What Would You Do"?
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On another note, kudos to Target for picking up some of the slack where Borders Books & Music left off. I always enjoyed shopping at Borders because of the many ways they featured interesting new authors and books. Target's 'Club Picks' have introduced me to many new soft covers that I might have missed at other mass booksellers who predominately feature the new hardcovers from big name authors. Bonus points for the fact that many of Target's selections are 20% off and that they're introducing more and more Limited Signed Editions.
Seriously consider checking out your local Target and their book sections...it's nothing to sneeze at. :)
