BOTTLE GROVE by Daniel Handler

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I had high hopes for this book because of the writing talents of Daniel Handler. However, I was disappointed, perhaps because the bar was set too high due to A Series of Unfortunate Events.

As I read, I found myself not caring about anyone or what would ultimately happen to them.  I kept reading, until the very last page, because I was hoping and expecting it might develop more — the story, the characters and/or the relationships. But it never did. I neither felt invested in the story nor did it matter to me what happened next or at the end. I didn’t feel like I got to know any of the characters well enough to care. They all seemed rather selfish, entitled and self-absorbed.

At times, I found myself re-reading paragraphs several times because I was confused. Nothing seemed to flow - the story, the characters or the relationships. The story-telling felt disjointed at times leading to more confusion. There were some great metaphors throughout the book but the writing was not up to par of what I expect from Daniel Handler.

Bottle Grove never lived up to expectations and while they may have been high, this book fell very far short. 

THE ROSIE RESULT by Graeme Simsion

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The third and final installment in the Don Tillman series is called The Rosie Result. Once again, Don Tillman is so much fun as a narrator b cause he is endearing and charming with his quirkiness due to Asperger’s. Early on in the story, Don, Rosie and their son Hudson move back to Australia from NYC. The story is centered around Don and Rosie dealing with their son’s issues while navigating their own lives and problems. The Rosie Result has a lot to say about the autism spectrum and does so in a reader-friendly way. Many will learn more about it and feel more empathy toward those who live on the spectrum.

Hudson is having difficulty adjusting to the move. Don changes careers in order to play a larger role in raising his son. Hudson, like his father, has meltdowns that cannot be controlled. In fact, there are quite a few similarities between Hudson and Don. The school, who believes Hudson is autistic, badgers Don and Rosie to have Hudson officially diagnosed but they refuse primarily because it won’t change anything plus it may have a negative effect on their son.

Don is determined to make a difference in Hudson’s life and assist him with overcoming his deficiencies. Don creates “The Hudson Project” much like he originally created “The Rosi Project.” He outlines the areas in his son’s life that need to be improved. Don wants to help him to have a successful like and sets out to teach him social skills, riding a bike, greeting people, team sports, dealing with anger/conflict, etc. Hudson is uncomfortable socially and only has one friend. The reader observes him slowly coming out of his shell and finding his own way in the world. It is a remarkable and very satisfying transformation that will leave you feeling happy and joyful. Don also continues to make progress on his own journey to fit in better in this strange world.  While he is still very rational and objective, his emotions are emerging as he continues to grow. 

I love this family and I am going to miss them a lot, especially Don. Through the course of the three books, we’ve come to know their friends very well as pretty much the same ones populate all three books.  This is a fun series that will have you laughing out loud and smiling a lot. All in all, an extremely satisfying and enjoyable conclusion to the previous two books. Do yourself a favor and first read The Rosie Project followed by The Rosie Effect before reading this one in order to achieve maximum enjoyment.

Thank you to Text Publishing Company and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review. 

THE ROSIE EFFECT by Graeme Simsion

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The Rosie Effect is the sequel to the highly popular The Rosie Project. This sequel was every bit as good as the first book with one exception — Rosie has a small role and she is not nearly as likable as she was in Book 1.  

A pregnant Rosie and her husband Don have moved from Australia to New York City. Don is learning about how to be a father and is determined to keep Rosie’s life stress-free for the baby’s benefit.  Both these factors lead to some unfortunate situations where Don has to keep things secret from Rosie, something he doesn’t like to do. One thing leads to another and the deception grows and it involves more people.  Adding to the drama is the constant threat of Don being exposed in a lie or worse from a legal perspective.

Rosie has doubts whether Don is fit to be a father due to his Asperger’s and lack of emotion and empathy. She doesn’t feel that Don is showing enough interest in the baby.  But the reader knows that Don is trying, in his own way, to be involved and become prepared to be a good dad. Will it be enough?

In this book as in the previous one, Don is an extremely likable character who continues to grow on you with all his quirks.  He stumbles through life, getting caught in all sorts of mishaps and misunderstandings.  He is an endearing character who you will root for and love. There is lots of smiles and humor sprinkled throughout the story as Don grows and makes new friends and learns about feelings. It is always a treat to see the world through Don’s logical and rational eyes/mind since it is so different from our own experiences. I highly recommend this book but do yourself a favor and read The Rosie Project first. There is going to be a third book that will finish the story called The Rosie Result.

THE WISDOM OF SALLY RED SHOES by Ruth Hogan

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The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes is a story of transformation as well as atonement.  Masha lost her young son 12 years ago and has never fully recovered. Grief has paralyzed her and she holds on to it as a way to assuage the guilt she feels for Gabriel losing his life. While Masha is alive and fully functional, she is merely going through the motions of living. She takes her dog Hazium for walks in the cemetery where she converses with the dead.  Masha aspires to be a cemetery guide and she makes up stories about the individuals buried there. There’s a trio of women she calls her “worry dolls” and she tells them all her troubles. In fact, throughout the story, Masha introduces us to individual characters she affectionately calls her “family on the other side.” 

If it isn’t clear yet, Masha is obsessed with death — she tries to feel what drowning is like when she goes swimming, she has a collection of books about death and dying, she contemplates sudden death, etc. Yet I did not find this book to be maudlin or morose and I attribute that to the writing skills of Ruth Hogan. Furthermore, I found Masha to be a likable character and the reader cannot help but feel sorry for her.  She knows she has to change but it isn’t until she meets Sally Red Shoes in the cemetery, who gives her valuable advice and dances with her, that she feels she can. Her new friend Kitty also plays a significant role in her transformation when she tells Masha about her own past tragedy and how she coped with it and successfully moved on with her life.

The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes is a touching story that will break your heart and then heal it. I had trouble getting into it and becoming engaged with the story but patience paid off and I am glad I stuck with it. 

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

THE ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Simsion

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The Rosie Project is a delightful and amusing story about Don Tillman, who is living on the edge of the autism spectrum and likely has Asperger’s. His world is full of schedules and routines that keep him functioning well in a world he doesn’t find all that comfortable. One of his trademarks is being very unconventional and as such, he is trying to find a wife by using a questionnaire that is so extensive, it’s akin to searching for a needle in the proverbial haystack. Don is very rigid in his thinking and has always had trouble fitting it, which leads to some funny moments that are often unintentional. But Don is a very likable protagonist that you cannot help but root for and hope that he succeeds. But when he meets Rosie,  everything changes in his very regimented world and Don Tillman will be forever changed.

The Rosie Project is a quick read that is so much fun, you won’t be able to put it down. I highly recommend it and can’t wait to read the sequel!

DAISY JONES AND THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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I really enjoyed reading Daisy Jones and the Six. I loved that it was told from all the character’s POVs gleaned from interviews conducted over the course of eight years. The author also read emails, transcripts and lyrics (included in the back of the book - how cool is that!). It was fascinating to read the different perceptions of the same event as well as the varying recollections. For example, two of the band members made a bet and one remembered winning $50 while the other recalled winning $200. I wonder who really won and how much the bet was for.

This story of a rock band’s rise and fall felt very authentic — I could almost hear the music. It definitely felt like the ‘70s with sex, drugs and rock n’ roll plus words such as “dig it” and “far out.” Reid does an extraordinary job with the structure of the story and the documentary technique.  The characters are very well developed as are the complicated relationships. The story flowed beautifully and I became invested in the outcome. We knew the band broke up but I still found myself hoping it wasn’t true. 

This is the first book I’ve read by Taylor Jenkins Reid and I’ve already placed a hold on another one of her books at my library. I cannot wait to read more from this very talented writer.

THE BOOK OF DREAMS by Nina George

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OMG! I absolutely LOVED this book! The Book of Dreams is a story to be savored and for me, to read again and again. It is charming, endearing, fascinating, thought-provoking, and ingenious. I felt a range of emotions while reading this book including happy, hopeful, surprised and sad. The Book of Dreams is a compelling story that I could not put down.  An added bonus for me is that the writing is beautiful the imagery is divine. George is a master at the effective use of metaphors and similes.

One of the book’s basic premises is that there are different levels of consciousness between life and death. Nurse Marion describes her comatose patients as “Wanderers” and says they live “on the bottom rung of heaven.” I think the primary reason that I found Book of Dreams so compelling was because of all the questions it raises about consciousness, life and death and “living in a coma.” I found it fascinating to ponder all the different theories and ideas that George presents in this book.

“Dr. Saul nods. ‘Yes, Sam. But he is alive, only differently. Do you understand that? In a coma you’re still alive. You’re merely in a particular state. It’s a borderline condition—a crisis, of course, but that doesn’t make that life any less important than the one you or I or Mrs. Tomlin leads. That’s why here we say that someone is living in a coma rather than lying in a coma.’”

“There are a variety of forms of life on the margins of death…”

The book’s sections alternate among three different narrators - Henri (a man who saved a young girl from drowning only to be almost fatally hit by a car), Sam (Henri’s 13 year old estranged son who is a synesthete) and Eddie (Henri’s ex-girlfriend who he designated in his living will). Henri is in a coma, visited everyday by Sam and Eddie who refuse to give up hope.  They learn about the different states of consciousness that Henri may be passing through though they cannot know for certain which place he is in at any given moment.

“If waking and sleeping and coma aren’t states but places, then my father is currently on a journey between those places. Or worlds. Or zones that get darker and darker, the closer they are to death.”

“Hoping that just once he will approach the waking zone, through all the different levels and zones and degrees of darkness, via the staircases and corridors that appear abruptly through the fog of medication and dreams, allowing him for a few short moments to navigate a path through all the intermediate zones between waking and death, and surface.”

“My father was somewhere beyond dreams.”

We are privy to Henri’s inner world — his recollections, thoughts, feelings, and what he is currently experiencing/hearing. We learn about the different paths his life could have taken and their respective outcomes. Is Henri traveling through his memories? Is he lost without a way to return to consciousness? 

“‘Henri! It’s not so easy to get back. You’ll get lost in the middle. In the middle of everything, do you understand?’”

“‘Oh, Henri. You’re still caught in between everything, between different times and different paths.’”

Eddie and Sam wonder if there is a way they can help to bring Henri back?  They are desperate and willing to try anything.

“I learn to call Henri by his name, repeatedly, because a person’s name is the ‘longest fishing line,’ as Nurse Marion puts it, to reel them back from whichever depths they’re swimming in.”

“An aroma is the most effective voice in the wilderness of wandering souls. Fragrances can apparently reach the level where the comatose reside.”

Does Henri want to come back? Is he aware of where he is and what is happening to hijm?

“Being in a coma is like being buried alive, and nobody knows that I’m here. Here! What happens if they never hear me? If they think I’ve died? If they bury me alive? I can’t go on, I don’t want to go on.”

The Book of Dreams raises all sorts of intriguing questions, such as do comatose people perceive everything around them? Do they struggle to “stay afloat”? Can they communicate through Dreams? Can they communicate with other comatose people? Can there be multiple realities at the same moment? Are there parallel universes?

 “There is a tear in reality. Through the tear I spot women and men in blue smocks, bending over me, and beyond them I see a boy staring at me. I had it before. I had it but it was too big for me to cling on to. The ‘in-between’ zone.”

 “This world is dying. I’m falling into the silence beyond the void. I’m falling and . . .”

Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.