Cartwheel

Cartwheel
by Jennifer duBois

Genre:  Fiction Pages:  384 Published:  9/24/13 by Random House Format:  ARC
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars 







I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Cartwheel by Jennifer Dubois is loosely based on the real life account of Amanda Knox, who was accused of murdering her roommate in Italy in 2007. (I knew very little about Amanda Knox and her trial, so the fact that this book was inspired by that story held no meaning to me).

Cartwheel is set in Buenos Aires, where foreign exchange student Lily Hayes is accused of murdering her fellow American roommate Katy Kellers. The novel shifts through the perspectives of multiple people involved in this case: Lily, Lily's family, Lily's boyfriend and the prosecuting attorney. Through it all, the question circulates: did Lily do it?

Even though the question of "Did Lily do it?" is central throughout the book, I don't think the fact of whether she did it or not was the main purpose of this novel. The novel is about the perceptions people have, and how each perspective is skewed by personal biases, the media and other influences. I was especially struck by how many people were set in their beliefs about Lily based on only minimal and incomplete information. And how they refused to change those beliefs even when new information was presented to them. And by how true that is in real life as well!

I really enjoyed the character of Sebastian LeCompte (that name!), Lily's boyfriend. His dialogue was just great. I actually found him to be obnoxious and unlikeable most of the time. But he was still fun to read about! I especially enjoyed the scene where Eduardo, the prosecutor, questions him. Every time Eduardo asked a question, I was on the edge of my seat eager to see how Sebastian would respond.

I wanted to give this book 5 stars, because I really enjoyed it a lot. I thought it was smart, well written, and thought provoking. I liked DuBois' writing style for the most part, but at the same time I felt it was just unnecessarily wordy at times. Like maybe DuBois was just trying a little too hard to make this an intelligent book. I've seen several reviewers comment about an overuse of the thesaurus, and I did feel that it was over descriptive at times while reading. I'm hoping that this is because I was reading an early copy of the book, and that more editing might possibly be done before its official release? I think with just a little editing in spots, this could be an excellent five star read!

The Good Father

The Good Father
by Diane Chamberlain

Genre:  Fiction
Pages:  400
Published:  4/24/12 by MIRA
Format:  ebook

My rating:
4 out of 5 stars







The Good Father is about a man named Travis, who become a father as a 19 year old and has spent four years doing his best to care for his daughter Bella.  But he falls on some hard times and is forced to make a bad choice to get money to care for his little girl.  Travis' story alternates with the perspectives of Robin, Bella's mother who was sick and forced to give away her baby girl, and Erin, a grieving mother who befriends Travis and Bella at a coffee shop.

This is my first book by Diane Chamberlain, and her writing reminds me of Jodi Picoult and Kristen Hannah.  And like many books by those authors, this book was not a literary masterpiece.  The story was contrived and a bit far fetched; the characters were fairly stereotypical.  But also like those authors, Chamberlain created a great story that is highly readable and enjoyable.   I devoured this book,  reading almost the entire book in one sitting!

Perhaps one reason I connected so much with this book is that the story centers on a four year old little girl.  I have a four year old daughter, and I couldn't help but put my daughter in the shoes of this little girl and imagine what she would do in similar situations.  I thought this book brought to light some interesting questions about parenting:  about the choices we make as parents and the lengths to which we will go to protect and care for our children.

The Last Letter from Your Lover

The Last Letter from Your Lover

by Jojo Moyes

Genre:  Fiction/Romance

Pages:  416

Published:  6/26/12 by Penguin Group

Format:  book

My rating:

4 out of 5 stars







I read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes earlier this year, and I thought it was a great book.  I was excited to pick up another book by Moyes at the library, and I was not disappointed.  This was an enjoyable read.

The Last Letter from Your Lover is told from two perspectives.  It begins with the story of Jennifer in the 1960s, who is in a car accident and loses her memory.  As she begins to recover, she finds letters from a secret lover whom she still can't remember.  Midway through the book, the story jumps ahead forty years to 2003, where a journalist named Ellie discovers those secret love letters and begins a quest to discover the original source.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like the jump to 2003 in the middle of the book.  I really enjoyed Jennifer's story, and I wasn't ready for that story to end and brand new characters to begin.  It was jolting for the first chapter or so, but then I began to enjoy reading about Ellie and her perspective.  And eventually the two stories collide, bringing us back to Jennifer's story and the letters.

Towards the end, there is a plot twist/surprise that I didn't find to be all that surprising.  I'm not sure if that was supposed to be a jaw-dropping moment or not, but I did see it coming pretty early on.  Still, I kept turning pages eager to see how everything played out in the end.

There was a feeling of old-fashioned romance in this novel.  Maybe it was because the story was about real, handwritten love letters, a dying art in this technological age.   I found it to be refreshing.  This is definitely a romance novel, and sometimes romance novels are a little too cheesy or explicit for my taste. But I found this novel to be neither cheesy nor explicit.  Instead it was well-written and classy and sweet.

Now I'm excited to read Jojo Moyes next book, The Girl You Left Behind, which is coming out next week!

Sparkly Green Earrings

Sparkly Green Earrings

by Melanie Shankle

Genre:  Memoir

Pages:  240

Published:  2/8/13 by Tyndale House

Format:  ebook

My rating:

3.5 out of 5 stars







I enjoyed this little book. I liked reading Melanie Shankle's thoughts about motherhood and life. She made me laugh. She made me nod my head in agreement and say, "That's exactly how I feel!" Her honesty and humor were fun to read.

So why only 3.5 stars? I don't know. Something just didn't work for me in this book. I can see how her blog (which I have never read, but am planning to start reading) would be enjoyable to read. The short, somewhat random chapters told in stream of consciousness form would work great as blog posts. But I think her style of writing is better fit for a blog and not a book. The book just didn't flow for me, and it was hard to tell what her purpose/point in writing the book was. Sometimes it read like a memoir of her first years of motherhood. Other times it seemed to be trying to teach something or make a point. But the flow between real life stories and devotional points just didn't quite work for me.

So while I enjoyed the book, I think I would have just enjoyed reading her blog more.

The Husband's Secret

The Husband's Secret

by Liane Moriarty

Genre:  Fiction/Chick Lit

Pages:  416

Published:  7/30/13 by Penguin Group

Format:  book (Advanced Reader's Copy)

My rating:

3.5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy of this book for review through Library Thing.

The Husband's Secret tells the story of three women, whose seemingly independent lives become intertwined as the story unfolds. Tess is back at home living with her mother, after she discovers that her husband is having an affair. Rachel is an elderly woman who has spent years grieving over the death of her murdered daughter. Cecilia is a busy mom who appears to have it "all together" but everything changes when she discovers a secret letter written by her husband.

I enjoyed reading Moriarty's previous book, What Alice Forgot, so I was excited to get the chance to read her latest book. I did enjoy this story as well. I think the plot and characters were interesting, and the moral dilemma that it poses was intriguing. It's hard to imagine what I would do if I found myself in the shoes of the characters in this story.

It was a little hard to get started reading this book, as each chapter switches to a different woman's story. I read it in short spurts at first, and I kept forgetting who was who.

At times, I felt like this book would have worked as a soap opera or a Lifetime movie, as it is a bit dramatic and contrived. But it was never too over the top cheesy or emotional. That is one thing that I like about Moriarty's writing. She writes chick lit, and her stories are light and not too deep. But they also don't feel dumbed down. There is still a realness about her writing that keeps me from rolling my eyes while reading (as can be the case with other books in the chick lit genre).

This was a good summer read, and I would definitely be willing to continue reading whatever other books Liane Moriarty writes in the future.

I'm back!

Dear Too Fond of Books blog,

I am so sorry for abandoning you the past six weeks.  We moved to a new house and spent three weeks homeless and traveling.  In the midst of all that craziness, I haven't been writing reviews or blogging much.

But I have still been reading books!!  I'm planning to catch up with my reviews and get back to regular posts here.

To anyone who might still be reading this little blog, I'm back!!

Emily

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Genre:  Classic
Pages:  165
Published:  5/27/03 by Simon and Schuster
Format:  ebook

My rating:
4 out of 5 stars







This was my first time to read The Great Gatsby.  I managed to escape my school years without it being assigned reading.  Now that I've read it, I'm having a difficult time writing my review. What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said? I'm going to skip the usual summary of the plot and just jump straight to my thoughts on this American classic.

I really did like this book. It was interesting and easy to read and enjoyable. But at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder: what is the big deal about this book? It's a short little novel, and just as I was really getting into it, it was over. How has it managed to stand the test of time and remain so well loved?

To answer my own question, this story of a wealthy many trying to find true happiness and love does have a timeless quality to it. Though set in the 1920s, it seems that it could also be written about people today. Especially in America, where living the "American dream" continues to be an ideal for so many. This story demonstrates the downfalls of living a life focused on wealth, material possessions, and social status.

I knew when I started reading that there were some shallow characters in this story. But wow, they were really shallow! At one point, Gatsby is giving a tour of his house, and he begins to pull all of his shirts out of his wardrobe to show off to his guests. Daisy, seeing his shirts, begins to cry and says something like, "I just can't help crying. Those shirts are just so beautiful!" Seriously...who would do that??? Moments like those made it hard for me to take some of the characters seriously. People that shallow surely do not exist in real life, do they?

My final stance on The Great Gatsby: It's a good book that teaches a good lesson on how money and fame cannot buy happiness. Probably not going to go on my list of all time favorite books, but I did enjoy it.