Review: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this one. I have been following Caitlin Doughty's 'Ask a Mortician' YouTube series for a few years now and always loved her 'death positivity' and the way she shared information and her thoughts on the death industry. Her book was terribly informative but also very humorous and real. She has such a passion for her profession and the people/bodies she takes care of it comes across throughout the entire book. Parts of the book were really gross, lots of details on embalming and cremation, but humorous anecdotes that reminds you even in the death industry you have to find things to laugh about. Caitlin is also the founder of 'The Order of the Good Death' a community of morticians, doctors, artists, and death positivity folks who want to help get away from the commercialization of the industry, as is said many times in the book and it's horrifying to me, but death is big business and big money. So the Order wants to make it more personalized and let the family be involved again, all things that do sound lovely.

I've pretty much wanted to be cremated since college when I took a 'Death and Dying' class but just because you're cremated doesn't mean there aren't pre-cremation services, viewings or rituals that could take place. So while I know this is probably a touchy subject to a lot of people and most people wouldn't want to read a book like this around the holidays, I really enjoyed it and don't get scared talking or thinking about it. If you've ever been interested or just have a morbid curiosity about cremation, mortuary scienty, or why a young woman from Hawaii would choose to go into the death business after getting a liberal arts degree then I'd say pick it up, you might like it.

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Review: Pretty Girls: A Novel

Pretty Girls: A Novel by Karin Slaughter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Suspenseful! I was so nervous after the first 100 pages. The rest of the book made me anxious! I was reading so fast I know I skipped over a lot of stuff. It's been a while since i was so anxious to read a book I probably skimmed over a lot of it. I read it all I did but I was reading so fast because I just had to know what happened. This was a great suspenseful mystery. Not all mysteries are suspenseful but this one was. As is well known on Goodreads I greatly dislike books that go back and forth between narrators in most cases it really pisses me off. In this case however it didn't. The story was told from the point of view of two sisters living the same time frame and interacting. It was also broken up with letters from their father. The narrators were not unreliable- thank god, I'm over that female trope- but they were very different. We didn't so much see inside their heads as much as we lived their dialogue. This was a book that the story took place in the dialogue instead of the behind the scenes things. I read fast between the dialogue- the spoken words were the important things. I do feel this book was a bit too long, there were lots of moments where things seemed to drag, I found myself screaming at the horribly stupid characters in my mind. OMG what is wrong with you, why are you doing this by yourself have someone help you! But it was still great and a good way to end my 40 books for the year. I checked this book out digitally from my library and love that. I've read a bunch of good library books this year. I'm not done reading but my challenge is over. I'm glad it ended with a good suspenseful novel like this.

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Review: Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is a reason I studied history in college. I just love a good story and history is filled with them! Scary stories, stories that tell us where we've been and where we could be again if we don't freakin' learn our lessons. This book was amazing. It was the story of one man's complete belief in his way and that his way was right. About another man who wanted to find out more, why, how. About stupid American politicians who didn't want to listen to foreigners because they were right...seriously listen to the people who have been there longer than you....uhg history! It's about learning to not dismiss amateurs cause sometimes they get things right. It's about trusting your gut, listening to your wife, getting away from the freakin' water- omg the water is coming towards you go the other way! It's about learning from your mistakes and trying to figure out what more could be done. It's just a really good book.

Now this is Erik Larson's first book of this kind- where he takes a subject researching all the moving pieces and puts together a story out of it- I believe and so it's not as detailed as some of his later works, but it's still so good! It was fascinating to hear how the weather bureau was founded, about the signal corps, how weather stations were originally set up and where. It was also cool to see how if things had happened just slightly different Galveston would have been "Houston"- if that was the case maybe I'd hate Houston a little less today... I just really enjoyed it. I don't know a lot of weather and meteorology and storms but now I have an interest.

Another thing this book gave me was a new irrational fear to add to my list! Drowning inside my own house! OMG how awful that must have been! Again hopefully I will never live by the sea but if I do if water is slowly coming up to my house over you know a 12 hour period...I would go in the direction AWAY from the water...that makes sense right? Loved this book. I recommend to anyone who list history, to any Texan, for anyone who hates Houston (or Galveston), for anyone who loves Houston (or Galveston) and for anyone who has ever lived by a body of water...yep.

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Review: This is the Story of a Happy Marriage

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was about to say this book only made me cry three times but then I read the last page. Goodness this woman is a wonderful writer- storyteller and has had a very interesting life. I've never read any of Ann Patchett's novels and this is a collection of Essays she's written over her time as a writer. They cover everything from school, friendships, marriage(s), nuns and dogs. This book has been on my to read list for two years and I'm glad I read it now instead of when I added it. I don't think I would have seen it the same way.

My favorite essays are "The Sacrament of Divorce", "The Right to Read", "Introduction to The Best American Short Stories of 2006", "The Bookstore Strikes Back", "This is the Story of a Happy Marriage" and "The Mercies". Honorable mention to all the ones about her dogs- omg the tears and the ones about her grandmother. There's a lot of good stuff in here.

Several of her essays address the readers specifically and I loved a quote where she said that once the book is in the readers hand the author should stay out of it cause the relationship is now between the book and the reader not the author and the reader. I agree! I've always felt bad for authors who get pestered about their characters after the book is finished, if they'd had more to say don't you think they would have written more? Tangent.

Anyways I liked this book a lot and would recommend it. I'm not sure if I'll read any of her novels, I'm such a fan of her essays now I want more of those- she talked about how her novels are all made up stuff and her essays were written because she was trying to make a living as a writer so I don't know...

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Review: Wind/Pinball: Two Novels

Wind/Pinball: Two Novels by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So basically Murakami has always been amazing. These were his first two books/novellas really and they were amazing. I loved it! It's like seeing him find his voice and style as a writer. This is the first time these we published in mass in English and I'm so happy to have been able to read them finally! There's also a super cool introduction where Murakami talks about how he initially wrote in Japanese but didn't like it so he then wrote it in English and translated it into Japanese! How cool is that! He said once he did that he liked his writing much more. He started writing after going to a baseball game and just had the thought that one day he'd be a famous writer, so he better start now. At the time he and his wife owned a jazz bar! He's just fascinating I need to read his memoir too, but I just loved these stories and love his writing.

All the usual Murakami themes and motifs are there- music, a story inside a story, women who are smarter than men, men who are absolutely useless and way too old to be going through identity crisis, cats, weird sex dreams, other literary references (quotes, retelling of other's stories, reading at all), minimalist stuff (apartments, design), trains, and food- eating always plays a role. It's just so fun to see these things told over and over again and it never seems repetitive or boring.

This books fits in the larger scheme of his Rat stories. A character without a name but Rat, who effects other's lives without really living his own, or by just being passive in his own. The first book he was just a side character and in the second I'm not even sure who he was. But that doesn't take away from anything.

If you've never read Murakami and are wanting to get into it I still highly suggest Norwegian Wood as your first, but these as a close second because if you don't like this you're probably not going to like where Murakami goes in his late works either. YAY!!!

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Review: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Most Murakami books I only want to read once, I'd read them again if I could read them for the first time again but I can't. I think this one I could read again. The coming of age story of a 36 year old man. Tsukuru is haunted by the abandonment of his best friends 16 years earlier, his entire adulthood was shaped by the fact that they left him without reason. It wasn't until a girlfriend told him he deserved to know why that he finally decided to get to the root of the problem. The first half of the book focuses on the time right after his friends left him in flash backs between high school, college and present. The second half is his journey to track down his old friends and ask them why. Through the asking of why he learns more about him self and the world than he had in the previous 16 years.

It was really good. It has all of Murakami's regular characters- music, whiskey, fixation on breasts, dreams, and trains. All of Murakmai's books feel very comfortable because you know all those things will be there. Another thing that's always there is the sad and kinda pathetic male character. A male character without any really outstanding characteristics. Plain, boring men. Men with jobs and good lives all around but nothing exceptional about them. Meeting them once you would't remember them- Tsukuru is no exception here. Why did his friends find him such good company? Why does his girlfriend like him so much? He leads such a boring life and has literally NO INTERESTS. Then there are the women in Murakami's stories that are always so damaged- there's always a woman with some sort of mental illness or a woman who has been damaged by men- always. In fact mental illness does seem to always be involved too- depression, suicide.

I loved the book, it was not a feel good book. It wasn't a horribly depressing book either. Also spoiler alert- the ending is very unsatisfying but I don't think there was another way out that would have left me satisfied. Another book that just makes me want to read more. I found this one light enough to where I don't feel like I need 6 months off Murakami like I did with 1Q84 and Wind Up Bird...those took a toll on my mind...

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Mid Year Book Report 2015

I would say my reading dramatically increased the year I got my Nook and Joined Goodreads.

Guess what year I'm talking about...in 2008 I actually ready 15 books but that was also the year I started grad school.  So at the end of 2009 I bought my first of many nooks and joined Goodreads in the Summer of 2010.

But this isn't about my Goodreads love affair which I'm sure I've talked about before...but my book reading this year a little past the half way point. And I will kinda compare it to previous years...

So every year I set a reading challenge. For a few years it was 50+ and I hit it but these last two years I've brought it down a little. Last year just to 30 (which was a very surprising sprint for me at the end I didn't think I'd make it) and this year back up a little to 40.  As you can see I'm behind. Why am I so behind? It's driving me nuts! But I'm in a book rut. I can't find things I want to read. I can't find as many book that I can just read in 2-3 days because they're than enrapturing.  I remember in 2012 and 2013 I would just put books away! I could devour two books a weekend and I just found so much I really wanted to read.  This year that just has not been the case.  I'll start a book get about 50-75 pages into it and just give up, can't finish it, it refuses to hold my attention.  I feel like the few books I have read have taken me very little time because they were fast paced and fairly easy.  So lets break down what I've read so far.

Out of 13 books only two 5 Star books.  BOTH non-fiction. And one I didn't even read I listened to the audio book of. It was an amazing audio book, but an audio book non the less.  Next we have a good number of 4 Star books. We have a leadership book, 4 alien/dystopian/other worldy books, a crime fiction book and then a general fiction.  None of these books were 5 star material but they all were good and I enjoyed them for what they were. Oooh one of those kinda alien books in that group is totally a short story that doesn't belong here but is here because I finished it...ooops. If I hit my goal I'll figure out a way to remove it later. 3 Star books are just average to me, I didn't hate them and I don't regret reading them but they're just like eh they're there.  I have a Liane Moriarty fun not-yo-mama's chick lit style book and then a YouTube personalities book...both were delightful and I think of them both fondly but just 3 stars.  The the last book is a 2 star. I hated this book. I'm upset I wasted a week reading it. Everyone else in the world loves this book but I did not. A Girl on a Train...uhhg.

Three out of these 13 are audio books and that's okay. I like audio books when I drive back and forth to San Antonio and I have done that A LOT this year. I'm surprised there isn't another one in there... oh there is 4 audio books- good job. So that helps, I'll probably knock out another 2-3 books via audio book before the year is through.

Looking at the books like this none of them seem to go together, I don't have a cohesive theme or trend. I don't every year but some years I do- some years I read a lot of Mysteries or a lot of Sci-Fi and some years it's just all over the place. I think if I had one theme that I just was really enjoying at the moment I could read book after book like that but I'm not.  There has actually only been one book that I just had to get back to and needed to know the ending of and I was pretty bummed when it was over.  But I usually look forward to reading and starting new books and this year I'm just blah. I choose to vedge and watch TV or YouTube instead of reading...hopefully it's just a half year funk...and I'll snap out of it soon.

PS Something I'll probably write about a little more at the end of the year is how I remember books a few months after reading them.  I've been looking back on how I rated books last year or the year before and wonder why I gave it such a lot rating when I remember it so fondly and recommend it to everyone! I think sometimes when I review a book immediately after I finish it I'm more critical vs if I let it sit a while and then think back on how the book made me feel.  Anyways more to come on that.