What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Good Reads Synopsis:
Who is the real McLean?

Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out.

My thoughts:
I read a lot of negative reviews on this book before reading it. I have to say I don't agree with any of them. I liked this book. I have said it before, but I just dig the way that Sarah Dessen tells a story. I love that she brings in characters from other books.
I liked the character of McLean. She is smart and adapts to her surroundings quickly. I like she changed not just her style every where she went but her name as well. I think most people have wanted to try on a different name and personality. I think to varying degrees we all try on different personalities at some point. I have always been fascinated with people who can so quickly adapt. In some ways McLean reminded me of my friend My friend like McLean can seamlessly put herself in any situation and excel.

I would recommend this to Pink Book readers or anyone who digs a good writer.

While writing this review I was listening to Emmapuppy grumble and moan about not being at the dog park.

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Goodreads Synopsis:
Some bonds can never be broken...
Addie Downs and Valerie Adler will be best friends forever. That's what Addie believes after Valerie moves across the street when they're both nine years old. But in the wake of betrayal during their teenage years, Val is swept into the popular crowd, while mousy, sullen Addie becomes her school's scapegoat.

Flash-forward fifteen years. Valerie Adler has found a measure of fame and fortune working as the weathergirl at the local TV station. Addie Downs lives alone in her parents' house in their small hometown of Pleasant Ridge, Illinois, caring for a troubled brother and trying to meet Prince Charming on the Internet. She's just returned from Bad Date #6 when she opens her door to find her long-gone best friend standing there, a terrified look on her face and blood on the sleeve of her coat. "Something horrible has happened," Val tells Addie, "and you're the only one who can help."

My thoughts:
Why does Jennifer Weiner always have an over weight character who gets skinny in order to love themselves? That would be my only complaint in this book is that Addie can't love herself until she drops weight. I am so tired of women having to drop weight before they can feel love from themselves or others. I am a heavier girl and I have love for myself and others.
That being said I liked the rest of this book. I liked the clash of personalities between Addie and Val. Addie is cautious and careful about her life. Val runs a bit wild in comparison. During various stages of my life I have been both overly cautious and wild. It was nice to read both perspectives of this life long friendship.

While writing this review I was listening to Extreme - More Than Words. Yep.

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Synopsis via Amazon.com:
Sometimes all you can do is fly away home . . .

When Sylvie Serfer met Richard Woodruff in law school, she had wild curls, wide hips, and lots of opinions. Decades later, Sylvie has remade herself as the ideal politician’s wife—her hair dyed and straightened, her hippie-chick wardrobe replaced by tailored knit suits. At fifty-seven, she ruefully acknowledges that her job is staying twenty pounds thinner than she was in her twenties and tending to her husband, the senator.

Lizzie, the Woodruffs’ younger daughter, is at twenty-four a recovering addict, whose mantra HALT (Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired?) helps her keep her life under control. Still, trouble always seems to find her. Her older sister, Diana, an emergency room physician, has everything Lizzie failed to achieve—a husband, a young son, the perfect home—and yet she’s trapped in a loveless marriage. With temptation waiting in one of the ER’s exam rooms, she finds herself craving more.

After Richard’s extramarital affair makes headlines, the three women are drawn into the painful glare of the national spotlight. Once the press conference is over, each is forced to reconsider her life, who she is and who she is meant to be.

Written with an irresistible blend of heartbreak and hilarity, Fly Away Home is an unforgettable story of a mother and two daughters who after a lifetime of distance finally learn to find refuge in one another.


My thoughts:
I liked this book. I have been hit or miss with Jennifer Weiner's books. This one I am on the side of really liking. I dug the three female voices and seeing their respective views on the world and a shared heart ache. I did have hesitations with the main voice Sylvie as I have never been the type of person to give up everything for the person I am with. Sylvie lost herself in her husband and his life. I was glad that she finally found herself again in the end but she was the hardest voice for me to relate to.

I recommend this book to those who dig the pink books (chick lit).

While writing this review I was listening to Anderson Cooper 360

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Synopsis:
Just before her nineth birthday Rose discovers something off about herself as she is biting into a homemade lemon cake. She can taste the emotions of her Mother in every bite. She can taste the thoughts and feelings of those who prepare her food. From the sadness of her Mother to the rush of a restaurant cook. Rose has an older brother who she looks up to but his behavior is distant and then just bizarre as the story progresses.

My thoughts:SPOILER ALERT
Well shit. I wanted to like this book. I really tried liking this book, for 3/4 of this book I was on the firm side of like-age. Then Rose's brother Joseph turned into a chair. Yep, a folding chair to be exact. The whole first half of the book we learn about Rose and her awesome ability/ curse to taste the emotions of whomever is preparing the food or harvested the food she is eating. I liked Rose. I hated the Joseph character and what was done to him.

I don't recommend this book to anyone. It made me too mad.

While writing this review I am listening to Anderson Cooper 360

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

They call it Amor Deliria Nervosa and you will be infected without the cure. It kills you when you have it and it kills you even if you don't have it. The cure is the only way you can be happy. Everyone when they turn 18 receives the cure. You can tell the cured from the uncured by a three pronged scar on the neck from a needle which immobilizes you during the procedure. It isn't safe for the uncured to be alone with other uncured of the opposite sex, to prevent infection of course. The disease is sitting like a ticking time bomb in all of us, waiting to spread. You will be safe from infection if you follow the rules. Curfew at 9pm for the uncured. Do well on your school board exams. Do well in your evaluations. You will be rewarded with a mate who is best suited for you. You will be happy once you have been cured.

Lena has been counting the days until her own cure since her Mother died of the disease. Lena is terrified of being infected. Lena's worst fear comes true when she meets Alex. She is infected with Love. There are the sympathizers and resistors of course, as there are with every insane government movement. There are even the invalids, those who have lived outside of the grid. Alex was born in The Wilds, the area outside of city limits. He is an invalid, uncured, infected, diseased. Lena discovers all the lies about the disease, her Mother, and herself through learning to love Alex.

This book gave me goosebumps several times. Not because, we as a society, are expecting people to line up for lobotomies but because we probably aren't far off. This book is what happens when you drink too much of the cool aid someone else is feeding you. There is the ever present totalitarian government, acting for the safety of its people. Lies and fear are always effective in brainwashing people into thinking they need something fixed, cured, or changed which wasn't broken.( See cable news organizations)

I liked this book. I even liked that the ending isn't picture perfect. Most, if not all, endings aren't what we want them to be in reality. It is easy to want those pretty moments in books, but it is refreshing to have a book end on both a happy and depressing note. It makes the book feel more real. This book leaves several things unanswered. I have heard there will be a sequel coming out sometime next spring.

I recommend this book to those who like awesome writing, dig apocalyptic stories, and or political stories.

While writing this review I was listening to Poe - Terrible Thought off of Haunted.

Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen

Auden just graduated high school and has a summer to kill before heading to college. She has been so wrapped up with pleasing her parents and getting excellent grades she has forgotten to do basic things, like have fun. So she is off to Colby, for a summer at the beach.

I liked this book the most of all the Sarah Dessen books I have read thus far. I am sure I have said that before but this one was more developed and I didn't feel a lacking of understanding for any of the characters, even the side characters were whole.

I love that Sarah Dessen mentions other characters from her other books. Just slight mentions that if you aren't familiar with her writing wouldn't mean anything. It is like a secret between you and the writer that you know about these other people that are only passing through a paragraph. In a lot of ways it makes her writing better, it isn't that she is creating a world per se it is that she is pointing out how small our world really is. Every one has a story, you just may not have read it yet.

In this story Auden develops the child in her. This is something I can relate with. I often let fear hold me back from behaving like a kid sometimes. I was so uptight, and still am in a lot of ways. I could relate to being uptight and also letting go of a lot of it while still maintaining who you are. This book made me want to go bowling in the middle of the night while drinking excessive amounts of coffee.

I recommend this book to my friend Miss A. I also recommend this book to anyone who likes Sarah Dessen or a good read that doesn't take a year to get through.

While writing this review I was listening to Emma play with her bone by throwing it around the room and pouncing on it.

Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

Kate Cline is the main character of this book. She discovers a neighbor stabbed to death in their kitchen. Kate finds herself engrossed in figuring out who killed her neighbor. The murder mystery makes Kate remember who she was before she was a married house wife with three kids. Kate is dissatisfied with her life. She isn't happy just being a housewife and mommy.

This book reminded me how much I am sure that becoming a Mother might not be the best idea for everyone. I think that all too often women get wrapped up in the idea of being a Mother and don't take time to consider what it really means. While I don't have children I wouldn't jump into it without realizing that I would be giving up so much of what my life is. Oddly, this murder mystery novel got me thinking about it.

Over all I dug this book. I wouldn't say that it was an all time favorite or anything but it was a decent night time read. I found the interactions between the "Mommy's" in this story to be interesting. Women compete with each other way too much. Who has the best hair, who is the best Mom, who landed the best husband. All of these things come up in the book. I have never been one of those girls who competes in such things. I will say that I do have a competitive streak, I always want to have the highest grade in any class I take. I don't know what is wrong with me!

While writing this review I was watching Ugly Betty. I love Amanda!

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Remy is a lot like the other characters we have seen from Sarah Dessen. I am still not sure how she keeps writing the same basic book over and over again but I genuinely like each one. Remy has Daddy issues as well as Mommy issues. Of course there is a dude, but he doesn't really come to the rescue. We often see the male love interest in Sarah Dessen's books come to the rescue of the female lead.

Nothing overly remarkable stood out about this book. I liked the dynamic between Remy and her friends. I would have liked a little bit more with the group as a whole. They have an interesting exchange every time there are together and I think it was a missed opportunity to not have more with the group of friends.

I would recommend this book to Dessen fans. I would also recommend this as a light summer read for anyone who likes a light but good writer.

While writing this blog I am listening to the Rachel Maddow Show.

Wither By Lauren DeStefano

Wither: The Chemical Garden Trilogy
This book is post apocalyptic America. Basically the fit has hit the shan in more ways than one. Most of the countries we know and love have literally been blasted off the face of the planet. And America is sadly what is left. Don’t get me wrong, I dig America or what have you but I am kind of tired of all of the stories that have every other place in the world destroyed. Let’s be honest here folks, Americans fuck shit up way more than other places; our homeland is included in that. To think that America will outlast or out live other places in the world is just unlikely. Plus we are all heathenistic, at least that is what the churchy folk tell me.
So geneticists have been tweaking the human code to rid the species from illness. Cancer and terminal diseases are erased but along with these things the science folks have deleted our longevity. They aren’t sure why but girls kick the bucket at 20 and men kick it at 25. Our story in Wither is about Rhine, yes like the river. She is 16 and snatched away from her life in industrial poor New York and taken to riches in Florida to be wed. Rhine is half of a set of twins. Her brother Rowan is left behind with no idea where his sister has been taken or if she is even still alive. Poor girls are snatched off the street and sold as wives to rich young men. They then are forced to make babies. All the while everyone is killing over at really young ages.
I dug this book. My friend suggested this book to me a few months back when she read it. You can read her review here . I like the main character; while she is strong she is also human. She struggles with Stockholm syndrome and remembering where she comes from. She learns to really care about other people around her. I found the concept of sister wives in this book to be interesting. It made me wonder if the author has had experience with polygamists. It wasn’t a negative portrayal of sister wives which is so common when talking about polygamists. There is not a religious angle to this book at all, but being from Utah you learn the term sister wives pretty early on.
I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed The Hunger Games. I would suggest this book to those who dig YA lit. I liked the writing style of this author. I read her bio and she seems like a nerd, which of course I can relate to.

While writing this blog I am listening to Norah Jones.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Samantha Kingston is exactly like a lot of the mean girls I went to school with. Samantha's friend Lyndsay is a lot like I was in high school. The leader of the mean team. I think in a lot of ways this books feels like it was written by Tina Fey during her mean girls phase had she been obsessively watching Groundhog Day. I know that this comparison to this book has been made multiple times but it is the best way to some up this book. Sam lives the same day over and over seven times.

Sam is faced with her own harsh reality and the harsh reality of those around her. She is also made acutely aware of consequences for actions big and small. The writing style of Lauren Oliver took a little getting used to for me. I blame this on my recent re-reads of Harry Potter, it can be a mind fuck to go from dramatic wizards to dramatic popular girls. Once I adjusted I found the way the characters interacted to be authentic, meaning, that while these girls are mean girls they are also incredibly loyal to one another. They may be bitches, even to each other, but they each have redeeming qualities if you take the time to look for them.

Kent is the love interest in this book. I like that he is kind of over the top with his checkered shoes and bowler hats. I used to spend a lot of time with guys like Kent in high school. It made me miss all those guys for a little bit.

Over all I dig this book. I plan on picking up Lauren Oliver's second book after I finish all the other books I have started right now. I would recommend this book to formally overly bitchy girls such as myself, and or, currently bitchy girls. I liked the message this books sends. I will say though if you have recently dealt with suicide or bullying this book might not be the best thing for you to read.