Books 10 - 13: The Girl on the Train, Dad Is Fat and more...

I've been reading a lot...but the blogging thing has taken a hiatus.  Here are books 10 - 13.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
I am an impulse buyer, so when this book kept getting rave reviews, I grabbed it with my Amazon One-Click and dug in.  That one-click thing is a killer, right?  The book was good and depressing.  It centers around Rachel who takes the same train every day on her journey to nowhere.  She's an alcoholic who's lost her marriage, job and friendships.  Her train ride happens to take her by her former residence where her husband and his new wife and child are still living.  She focuses her voyeuristic attentions on a set of neighbors for whom she gives fictitious names and backstories.  Problem is, she thinks she sees something tawdry one day and when the Mrs. comes up missing, Rachel decides it is her responsibility to put herself in the middle of the investigation.   As you can imagine, the police are less than thrilled with a drunk who claims to know something but can't say how she knows it.  This book made me anxious.  I swear.  Nobody will listen to this lady.  She can't make a good decision if her life depends on it (and sometimes it does).  I just wanted to smack somebody...everybody...as I read it.  That said, it kept my attention for sure.  I saw the ending coming but recommend this book for those of you who like a good mystery.


NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson
Patterson writes easy, quick, entertaining stories.  This is the third in his NYPD series.  It's a tad predictable,  but that's ok.  The characters are believable and the storyline is good.  I am a sucker for Patterson.  While he's to the literary world what Nickelback is to the music industry, I don't care.  I always find him enjoyable.  This was no exception.

Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan
From Dad Is Fat “I used to have a lot of faith in humanity before the advent of the website "comment" section.” Jim Gaffigan is one of those guys that makes me laugh out loud.  I love him.  His book is hysterical. His goofy, often spot on look at life draws me in and always leaves me wanting more.  The only negative I have about the book is that I couldn't HEAR him read it.  Part of the Gaffigan funny is watching him and hearing his inflection and tone.  If you haven't experienced him, it's high time you did.  “Bedtime makes you realize how completely incapable you are of being in charge of another human being. My children act like they’ve never been to sleep before. “Bed? What’s that? No, I’m not doing that.” They never want to go to bed. This is another thing that I will never have in common with my children. Every morning when I wake up, my first thought is, “When can I come back here?” It’s the carrot that keeps me motivated. Sometimes going to bed feels like the highlight of my day. Ironically, to my children, bedtime is a punishment that violates their basic rights as human beings. Once the lights are out, you can expect at least an hour of inmates clanging their tin cups on the cell bars.”

Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green
This was my first experience with Jane Green.  I grabbed a couple of her books at a used sale and I'm glad I did.  She writes in a way that I immediately connected with the characters, even though I wanted to slap one of them repeatedly. ..ok, two of them.   The book is about a blended family where the dad, Ethan (slappie number 1), and his daughter Emily (slappie number two) are in conflict with new wife Andi.  Emily is a typical teen, but not one that I ever experienced in my house.  (Praise.  Be.  To.  God.)  She is selfish, rude, a liar, does drugs, tries to turn Andi and Ethan against each other, and eventually ends up pregnant.  To make matters worse, Andi can't get pregnant.  The tension that Green created in this book was palpable.  Add to that the fact that I wanted to throat punch Emily, even at the end of the book.  She was truly one of the most detestable characters I've seen in a long time.  The book was good.  It brought up a lot of interesting things to think about and Green did a great job of showing all sides of the conflict.

52 in 52 Book 9: "Almost Dead" by TR Ragan

       So I just finished Almost Dead,  Book 5 in the Lizzy Gardner Series.  I happened upon this series via Book Bub and have loved it so far.  I got a free e-edition of the first in the series, a fave for sure, and have anxiously anticipated each novel since then.
       Lizzy Gardner is a woman who was abducted and held captive by a psychopath, called Spiderman,  when she was a teenager. (Yes, SPIDERMAN...just go with it...and leave the lights on when you read it.)   She'd just returned home from a romantic date with her boyfriend and was snatched from the street.  She ultimately escapes, but so does Spiderman.  Flash forward fourteen years - Lizzy is a private investigator who spend her free time teaching young women self-defense.  The problems start when Spiderman comes back into her life wanting revenge.  
       Lizzy's story continues to unfold in subsequent novels, always keeping me entertained, on the edge of my seat, and wanting more.   Ragan's writing is, at times, so descriptive that it totally creeped me out.  I got to know the characters well, and was pulling for them, even Hayley.  (Read them, you'll understand.)
       Almost Dead took a turn I was not expecting.  While the plot was good, it felt like Ragan was rushing the resolution at times.  In addition, the ending of this book takes the series in a completely different direction and quite honestly I am disappointed.  While I will give book six a chance, I am pretty skeptical at this point.
       That said, the first five are great.  They are also bargain priced, all being under $5.  They are quick reads that will keep you turning pages and interested in the twists and turns of the plot.  Read them in order for the best experience!

52 in 52: Book 3 - Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl.  It grabbed my attention and kept me on the edge of my seat.  I loved it.  Although I haven't seen the movie yet, I am excited that it was released on DVD last week and plan to grab a bottle of wine, a bowl of popcorn and revel in watching the words that Gillian Flynn wrote come to life on screen.

I must say that I read Gone Girl a long time ago, so it's a bit of a head-scratcher as to why I didn't try other Flynn novels sooner.  I mean, she was  a fellow inhabitant of the flyover states, growing up in Kansas City.  She attended Kansas University (as a KSU Wildcat fan that's the only strike against her) and sets her novels in midwest towns.   She's relevant, interesting and her female character development is nothing short of brilliant.  Take this quote from Sharp Objects:

“Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom. I have known so many sick women all my life. Women with chronic pain, with ever-gestating diseases. Women with conditions. Men, sure, they have bone snaps, they have backaches, they have a surgery or two, yank out a tonsil, insert a shiny plastic hip. Women get consumed.” 


Wow, right?  If you want to know more about her, here's a video from CBS Sunday Morning.

Now for Sharp Objects...honestly it had quite a bit to live up to, but after the first few pages I realized that would not be an issue.  The novel find Camille Preaker reluctantly heading back to her hometown to cover the grisly murders of two young girls.  While that is enough to make your average crime reporter cringe, add to that the fact that Camille was just released from a stint in a psychiatric hospital.  Her addiction?   Cutting.  This was a bit shocking to me because not only does she cut, but she carves words into her skin when she can't handle what's happening in her life, largely due to her upbringing.  From Sharp Objects:
          
“I am a cutter, you see. Also a snipper, a slicer, a carver, a jabber. I am a very special case. I  have a purpose. My skin, you see, screams. It's covered with words - cook, cupcake, kitty, curls- as if a knife-wielding first-grader learned to write on my flesh. I sometimes, but only sometimes, laugh. Getting out of the bath and seeing, out of the corner of my eye, down the side of a leg: babydoll. Pull on a sweater and, in a flash of my wrist: harmful. Why these words? Thousands of hours of therapy have yielded a few ideas from the good doctors. They are often  feminine, in a Dick and Jane, pink vs. puppy dog tails sort of way. Or they're flat-out negative.  Number of synonyms for anxious carved in my skin: eleven. The one thing I know for sure is that at the time, it was crucial to see these letters on me, and not just see them, but feel them.

Sharp Objects is a tale of  how twisted the human psyche can be and takes the reader on a journey as Camille relives her childhood and reconnects with those who helped make her what she is.  Her discoveries regarding her personal demons as well as the murders made me want to avoid reading what was coming next but unable to stop myself.  To say it's creepy is an understatement.  The twists and turns in this novel that are both compelling and mind-boggling.  Give it a read; it's worth your time!