New Moon

I decided I had had enough waiting and went and bought this book at Wal-mart. Is it only in hardcover? Well, I'm hooked up now because along with the hardcover price, I also now have my very own tattoos of Bella's name, Jacob's name and Edward's name, not to mention a tattoo of the book cover art. Totally stoked about that (just trying to sound like the young adult the author geared these stories towards).

I am glad I bought it. It was the kind of book I couldn't put down. I started it in the morning and finished it in the evening. Obviously, it deserves kudos for being hard to put down. It's great. But, at the same time, it's not GREAT, but I think that's because it's young adult fiction so it still isn't something that I can totally admit to loving without any reservations.

New Moon is the sequel to Twilight and apparently the middle of Meyer's Edward/Bella trilogy. Her last book, Eclipse, is due out next month. The book starts with Bella turning 18, a birthday she despises because she is now a year older than eternally 17 Edward. She is not excited, at all, about any celebration of her big day and grudgingly goes to a birthday party thrown by Edward's sister, Alice at their big vampire mansion in the woods. She gets a paper cut opening one of her gifts and one of Edward's brothers (they aren't actually related but have all lived together for years and years under the leadership of Carlisle and Esme - their parents - who have created this non-human blood diet which makes them more humane) attacks her on whiffing her highly desirable, fragrant blood.

This freaks Edward out, again, that she is constantly in danger around him and he lies and tells her that he doesn't want to be together anymore. Bella is devastated.

The rest of the book deals with her devastation. I suppose it's possible for young people to experience that kind of all-consuming love. I know teenagers themselves, think they are constantly experiencing it, but it's the 30ish me that realizes in hindsight that that consuming feeling, that intense desire, isn't necessarily that eternal, end-all, be-all love. There's my skepticism. BUT...now there is romance unfulfilled and lots of tension as Bella tries to move on, develops a strong friendship with Jacob (who has a surprise of his own) and cope with her great loss.

Not enough Edward in this book, in my opinion, but it was a great set-up for this last book where it will be decided if Bella herself will become a vampire (her greatest desire) and what will happen when Edward and Jacob finally have to duel. I admit to being totally and completely hooked.

New England White

If you love smart mysteries, you need to check out Stephen L. Carter. He is a brilliant writer and I always feel a little bit more in the know when I am done with his books. I've only read two now, and I think the other one was his debut - The Emperor of Ocean Park. This novel, New England White, takes two minor characters from Emperor's and creates an entire new, scandalous, earth-shattering mystery. It's about money, and race, and politics and secrets....highly enjoyable.

Julia and LeMaster Carlyle are weathly upper class members of the darker nation(Carter's description. I am a member of the paler nation) living among the New England White. LeMaster is the current president of a prestigious university and Julia, his wife, is the dean of its divinity school. One winter evening, they drive off an icy road and happen upon a body. It's someone they know. It's Julia's former lover who also happens to be a member of the darker nation. After this discover, she begins to find all sorts of coded clues he left for her if he happened to be killed. It might involve her husband and his former roommates in college - one who happens to be the President of the United States and one, a senator running for the presidency. It all seems to have something to do with a 17 year old girl who was murdered thirty years ago by a young black man. The young black man was shot and killed by police but what if he didn't do it? Julia and LeMaster's young daughter seems obsessed and troubled by this old story and once Julia decides to follow the clues left for her, so did her former lover.

It's complicated and scary and troubling and very good. Both of his novels are hefty with lots of details but I doubt you'd be sorry if you decide to take them on.

The Next Big Thing

Jennifer Weiner promised on the cover that if you like reality T.V. and stories about weight issues, this book wouldn’t disappoint. Liar!

Kat, an overweight, friendly girl is involved in an online romance with Nick, a guy in England who is totally involved in the fashion world and models. She’s convinced it’s love but has never been honest with him about her size. In fact, when he asked, she said she was like a size four, which he said he approved of. Anything above a size eight was too fat for him! Clearly, they have a great, mature relationship that the reader is totally invested in and rooting for.

Kat finds about a new reality T.V. show called Fat 2 Fabulous (think biggest loser) and gets accepted as a contestant. Now she can lose all her weight, meet Nick and live happily ever after. This is when the story turns really sour as the dialogue between contestants is cheesy and the clichés pop up everywhere. Nick surprises her on the show and turns into a man she never knew (shocker) and when it’s all over, the host of the show (I kept imagining Phil from the Amazing Race although he was only in his twenties so….) calls her up and is totally interested in her. I’m all for rooting for the big girl, but. . . let’s keep it real, ladies.

The Namesake

I read this several years ago but when my sister, Emily, brought it to my attention again and told me they had made a movie I decided to re-read it. The Author, Jhumpa Lahiri, won the Pulitzer Prize for her debut novel, Interpreter of Maladies, which I have not read. But she is clearly a talented author and writes a well-told story.

The story follows a young Indian couple, together through an arranged marriage, settling and starting a family in Boston. They name their firstborn, a son, Gogol, after a Russian author who had great meaning to Gogol's father, Ashoke. When Gogol's character is old enough to have meaningful experience, the author tells the story of the awkwardness and adjustment first generation immigrant families have in the community and within their own family through him. I felt Lahiri's skills were best shown off during these earlier years when the conflict between parents and children was the greatest due to their immediate proximity to each other.

Later on, when both Gogol and his sister, Sonia, were adults, I was a little less sympathetic to each embarrassment, each cultural difference. I felt by that time, Gogol should have been a little more comfortable in his own skin but he never was. As much as this annoyed me, it is probably more realistic than writing him as a perfectly adjusted American who enjoyed, without guilt, all of the sacrifices his parents had made for him.

The one fault I have with Lahiri is her choice of devoting the narrator to Moushumi towards the end of the book for two chapters. I'm sure the author identified with her, and wanted to explain her character, but I thought it betrayed Gogol by letting the reader understand more about her than Gogol did. And her details didn't give us any more insight into Gogol.

I'm looking forward to watching the movie. Since we don't go to theaters, I'm sure I'll be renting it and it'll be awhile before I see it but for those of you who won't read the book, know it comes from a great book.

Here's the trailer

Never Let Me Go

This book is really best read without any prior knowledge about it. I picked it for this month's book group and we had a pretty good discussion about it. Andrea said it best when she said that while reading the first page, she thought the word "carer" was a misprint and that they meant "career". My favorite thing about this book is the writing. Not the choice of words but the view of the world the writing gives the reader of this story. It is so unfamiliar, so foreign that it takes awhile to figure out what is going on. But the author is in no rush to placate the curious or the impatient (are you a patient reader, Kristen?). He takes his time getting the reader accustomed to this strange girl, Kathy H. and her strange world.

Once I figured out what was going on and started to digest it, ethical questions, moral dilemmas, and the irresistible urge to compare it to real life debates floated around in my thoughts for a good week. I knew this would be a book I wanted to discuss with others and the book group didn't disappoint.