Lexacat's List

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

It Looked Different On The Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy, by Laurie Notaro

Hilarious collection of essays, ranging from getting stuck while trying on a too small blouse in a boutique to a disastrous road trip with a 10 year old nephew. So funny.

From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant, by Alex Gilvarry

Very amusing story of a Philipino fashion designer who gets stuck in Guantanamo accused of being part of a terrorist ring.

The Fallback Plan, by Leigh Stein

Wildly depressing quarter-life crisis novel. Esther Kohler had a depressive breakdown during her last semester of college, and has since returned to live with her parents. She spends her days taking prescription pills and smoking pot with a pair of loser-type guys she's known all her life, and then takes a job as a nanny for a couple whose youngest daughter died of SIDS. Esther has an affair with the father, feels terrible for the mother, and at the end, has a bit of what seems to be a breakthrough, but the whole of it, despite being wonderfully written, was too glum for a bright yellow cover. Also, when writing about depressed women in their 20s named Esther, be careful- inviting comparisons with The Bell Jar is bold, but not wise.

Treasure Island!!!, by Sara Levine

Very funny, off-kilter book about a slacker in a quarter-life crisis who decides to try to find the meaning of life in Treasure Island- she tries to adopt it's "core values" of "boldness, resolution, independence and horn-blowing."
So random.
Made me want to read Treasure Island, actually.

Exposed, by Kimberly Marcus

Pretty blah YA novel in verse. Photographer Liz is distressed when her lifelong best friend accuses Liz's brother of raping her.
In verse.
Blah.

Extra Virginity : The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil , by Tom Mueller

Interesting but slightly overwrought nonfiction about the "sublime and scandalous world of olive oil." As much as I do enjoy microhistories, a major potential problem is always the possibility of the author losing sight of the big picture, not to make a joke, and Mueller here lost the forest for the olive.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Falling for Hamlet, by Michelle Ray

Great modern day YA adaptation of Hamlet- with a twist.
Set in contemporary Denmark, the goings on inside the palace and especially Prince Hamlet's tumultuous relationship with Ophelia are tabloid fodder, and their lives are papparazzi stalked and every move is known. Getrude and Claudius are just as evil as always, now with better technology to do harm with, and the story is very faithful to the original, except for the major (and fantastic) change- Ophelia lives.
So well done.

Spin, by Catherine McKenzie

When Kate has an interview for her dream job as a music writer, she knows she should have a good early night and be fresh and ready for her interview in the morning, but instead, she ends up getting horribly drunk- so drunk that not only is she late to her interview, but she gets sick during it.

She doesn't expect to hear from them again.

When she does, though, the magazing offers to send her to rehab- if she will use the time to spy on and report about troubled starlet Amber Shepperd at the expensive, exclusive facility.

This was so well done as Kate begins to realize she did have a problem, and as she opens up to herself and the other people at rehab, she and Amber become friends, and Kate has to question all the decisions she's made to get to this point.

Well written, funny in parts, and surprisingly and impressively thought-provoking, this is a great read.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class, by Owen Jones

Wonderful and thought provoking book. Jones writes with both passion and scholarly precision, and the book examines how it is possible that is it acceptable, and even encouraged, to treat working class people with such disdain that politicians openly call them a "feral underclass" and fancy London gyms teach Chav-beating classes. Thatcherite policies are discussed clearly, and their impacts on once proud communities are shown with compassion, as Jones takes to task the national trend to blame the poor for their poverty, and demean them.

The Rivals, by Daisy Whitney

Sequel to The Mockingbirds, last year's date rape blah blah blah. Set again at Themis Academy, Alex Patrick- DATE RAPE SURVIVOR - is now the head of the improbable Mockingbirds, the secret society that governs the school in the absence of any adult authority figures. This time, an escándalo de la droga threatens... something, I'm just not sure what though. ANYWAY, some of the students at this bizarre boarding school have become addicted to some kind of ADHD medication called Annies, and it makes them able to debate even better than before! and to dance! And Alex is asked to investigate the 'cheating ring' of drug using debaters. And when she gets her Julliard-hoping piano playing fingers broken by a bully, no one cares. (I didn't either).
I wanted to like Mockingbirds, but didn't. This I hoped would redeem Mockingbirds, but it only served to reinforce my original feeling that Daisy Whitney writes some of the worst and most pretentious YA around.

It's a Waverly Life, by Maria Murnane

UNBELIEVABLY bad. Blech. This was one of the worst patronizing condescening pieces of crap i have ever come across. this made me angry that it was published. plotless, soulless, absolutely pointless, pallid, putrid, and if it had a smell it would be cheap perfume. Waverly is an incredibly annoying writer of an advice column- you know what, just don't read it. Or do. I DON'T CARE. All I care about is that this piece of garbage ate like 2 hours of my life, and I WANT THEM BACK.

When My Baby Dreams, by Adele Enerson

Fantastic picture book! This is so cute, and totally inspiring. I am not sure if my baby loves it as much as I do, but it was so much fun to try to replicate one of the pictures from the book- if she ever falls asleep again, I might try some others!

Keep the Aspidistra Flying, by George Orwell

Wildly depressing but wonderfully written. Gordon Comstock is a failed poet, scraping by in a dingy bedsit, and although he claims to despice money, he is obsessed with it. He can't afford to take out his girlfriend, Rosemary, and they have one of the most depressing relationships I have ever read about. His wealthy friend Ravelston tries to do him favors, but Gordon seems determined to ruin himself. When Rosemary becomes pregnant, Gordon must return to work at an advertising agency, doing work he despises, and he throws away his unfinished manuscript for his magnum opus, London Pleasures. They get a small flat, and he buys an aspidistra. Freaking DEPRESSING.

Queen Lucia, by E. F. Benson

Very amusing but bitchy social satire. Lucia's vanities and pretenstions are skewed in this, but it had a really kind of deliciousness too it. Will look for more in the series, apparently there are a whole bunch.

A Charitable Body, by Robert Barnard

Not very good mystery, set in and about a grand country house now open to the public. Plot too strained and muddled to relate.

Death in High Heels, by Christianna Brand

Ok mystery set in a Bond Street dress shop. It was turned into a movie that I dont need to see.

Wolves in Chic Clothing, by Jill Kargman

Fun fluffy bitchy New York socialites Pygmalion thing. Julia Pearce is working in an exclusive jewelly shop, when she is noticed by the heiress for the company, Lell. Lell decides to make Julia the new It girl around town, but Julia's social successes cause trouble between them, especially when Lell's new husband gets into Julia. Bath book- I wouldn't recommend it, but it was a great bubble bath book.
Actually, I really think I've read something else by these two. Going to look that up now.

A Countess Below Stairs, by Eva Ibbotson

This was just wonderful. It has been SO LONG since I have just enjoyed a book this much- and it was such an unexpected treat. I usually don't read romance, and hardly ever read historical fiction, but this was just enchanting. Exiled Russian Countess Anna goes to work at an English country house, and to say much more would be plot spoiling, but I LOVED it, and want to read many more by Ibbotson. YA, but I think if she had spiced it up a bit, it would have been a HUGE adult read too. As is, it is just lovely.

150 Pounds, by Kate Rockland

This was a fun light read that was really enjoyable. Blog stars Alexis Allbright, of Skinny Girl fame, and Shoshanna Weiner, of Fat and Fabulous meet on Oprah, and face off about their opposing viewpoints on weight and health. After their appearance on tv, though, life changes lead to Alexis gaining weight and to Shoshanna losing weight, until they are both 150 pounds, and they meet again on Oprah. This was pretty predictable, but it was really nicely done for a genre I usually don't even pick up.

Breakdown, by Sara Paretsky

I don't know how I never read Sara Paretsky before, but this was surprisingly good, I though. A group of teens attempting to reenact a ritual from a popular YA vampire series in a cemetary late at night come across a murder, and private investigator V.I. Warshawski uncovers a series of links going back to WWII... Well written, well plotted, and engrossing. Not the usual bestseller contemporary crime fiction, at all- yes, Patterson, I mean you.

Level Up, by Gene Luen Yang

Excellent YA graphic novel. Dennis is an excellent gamer, but guilt over his dead father's ambitions for him make him force himself to deny videogames and to go to medical school to become a gastroenterologist- some magical realism in the form of angels from a greeting card added a surreal element, but this was a powerful and well drawn book.

Teenage Waistland, by Lynn Biederman and Lisa Pazer

Pretty bad YA about a group of teens who get lap band surgery in a clinical trial of using the weight loss technique on teens. The characters were well drawn, but too much trauma drama, and the great endings for everone felt very forced.

Lunatics, by Dave Barry

Freaking HILLARIOUS caper romp of a book- after a disagreement over a call on a girls soccer game, two men enter into a series of retaliations that escalates to truly ludicrous points, and they become international terrorists/freedom fighters, and accidentally heroes and canditates for President. This was so funny, I would love to read it again.

Police at the Funeral, by Margery Allingham

Classic golden age mystery, good plot, and interestingly, in this one Albert Campion didn't anny me as much as he usually does.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired " Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey", by Margaret Powell

Fascinating social history. This wonderful memoir was so well written, and gave an incredible look into what being a kitchenmaid and then a cook in grand houses in between-the-wars England was really like. The humiliations and depravations were many, but Powell's clear writing gives a bigger picture of what it was like to see the end of an era of upstairs/downstairs, and her unusual clarity of thought and original ideas made her as interesting as the greater picture she painted.

The Drowned Cities, by Paolo Bacigalupi

Wildly creative if depressing followup to Bacigalupi's Prinz-winning knockout Ship Breaker. This isn't a sequel- could totallly stand on its own- the only link between the books is the ravaged future America and the half-man called Tool. In this one, clearly set in and near a ruined Washington DC, war refugees Mahlia and Mouse are separated when he is kidnapped to become part of a troop of child soldiers, and Mahlia must choose whether to try to run or to try to save him. Brutal and very very dark, this was a haunting and brilliant book based on current events (child soldiers in Africa) that was drawn so clearly it seems inevitable.

The List of Adrian Messenger, by Phillip MacDonald

Fantastic classic English mystery, 1959, inheritance plot but very clever set up.

The Baker Street Letters, by Michael Robertson

Very clever and charming book! When lawyers and brothers Reggie and Nigel take over the lease to use a business space at 221B Baker Street, they unknowingly sign an agreement to handle mail that arrives for Sherlock Holmes. Nigel begins to get concerened about some letters, and the mystery leads them to Los Angeles to uncover a Chinatown kind of crime. Fun and really original and damned well done.

Murder Never Forgets, by Diana O'Hehir

Pretty awful mystery- an Egyptologist with Alzheimer's and his marginally employed daughter solve a series of murders at his retirement home - ???? Yeah.

The Rasp, by Phillip MacDonald

Very good Anthony Gethryn country house murder mystery.

An English Murder, by Cyril Hare

Pretty classic and well done English country house murder- champagne and snow and an inheritance plot. Me likey.

Holidays in Heck, by P.J. O'Rourke

Unpleasant book by the increasingly unlikeable P.J. O'Rourke. Holidays in Hell was a hell of a funny book, Holidays in Heck, he comes across and the right-wing asshat that he is. Oh well.

Past Perfect, by Leila Sales

Really fun YA with an unfathomably unrelated and awful cover. The book was pretty good actually, Chelsea is spending another summer working at a Colonial history re-enactment village, like Williamsburg, and the teen employees there are at war with the Civil War re-enactors across the street. Chelsea is torn between team loyalty, and her new feelings for Dan, one of the enemy.

Murder at the Villa Byzantine, by R.T. Raichev

Another well plotted classic style Country House mystery by the charming Bulgarian Raichev. I think his fantasy world is much like mine. Have a bit of an odd writer crush on him.

Queen of Heartrs, by Martha Brooks

Well crafted but very slow historical fiction set in a tuberculosis sanitorium in WWII Manitoba, Canada. When 15 year old Marie-Claire and her siblings become ill, she has no idea that she will spend the next 2 years of her life fighting for her life. This was good, but I don't think it has real teen appeal, and was pretty slow.

Green for Danger, by Christianna Brand

FANTASTIC medical mystery set in a WWII hospital. Brand is an author I found in that Country House mystery anthology, and I am so glad. This was also apparently adapted into a successful movie, and I want to see that now. Will be looking for more books by her!

Wild Abandon, by Joe Dunthorne

Well, I read this because of great reviews about it, but it didn't really work for me. A failed commune in Wales, troubled families, a child waiting for the end of the world, rampant drug use and paranoia sounds like my kind of book, but just wasn't.

All About Roasting: A New Approach to a Classic Art, by Molly Stevens

A detailed but rather disappointing cookbook. Not enough pictures. I need pictures in a cookbook.

The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Pretty terrible YA. Set in 1996, the book is based on the ludicrous premise that annoying character Emma's new computer can access Facebook 15 years in the future. Not liking what she sees for herself and her best friend Josh, she blithy proceeds to screw with the future in a way that Doc Brown would seriously disapprove of. This is because she is a selfish and thoughtless bitch. Josh is kind of dumb. The book was bad.

This is how Doc Brown would look at these chuckleheads.

Fairieality, by the House of Elward

Pretty but silly coffee-table book about fairy couture. I had hoped it would be much more like Fairy Houses Everywhere, which was beautiful and whimsical and inspiring, but this was just beautiful and whimsical. However, as Meatloaf will always remind us, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

The Burglar in the Closet, by Lawrence Block

Ok Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery. Not nearly as enjoyable as The Burglar in the Rye, with it's charming nod to Salinger's privacy, but still a fun read.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Burglar in the Rye, by Lawrence Block

Wildly charming mystery. It is hard to make a criminal a sympathetic protagonist, but Bernie is just so funny, and I LOVED the whole tribute to Salinger thing and the smacks at Joyce Carol Oates. Great fun read.

Monday, January 2, 2012

English Country House Murders, edited by Thomas Godfrey

This was a fantastic collection of short stories spanning the decades of the great English Country House Mystery genre, with contributions from just about all of the greats. So well edited, the choices from the obvious authors were unusual ones, and real treats, but for me ther great finds were the authors I was unfamiliar with. Country House Mysteries are one of my greatest escapist treats, so this whole book was for me like having a wonderful box of chocolates.

My favorite stories are starred below.