Iâm gonna live forever. . . dammit, jinxed it.
How to Act Like a Grown-Up
The title says it all: short chapters dealing with the behavior that should be exhibited in situations as diverse as stores, cell phones, driving, Facebook, interviews, sex, voting, watching movies. Not only are the chapters short, the entire book is too, with certain passages repeated in large print, so itâs over pretty quickly. And why is the accompanying graphic a womanâs shoe?
I have no complaints about the text or the ideas. This is a well-written and meaningful book for our times, though it is sad to realize how much it is needed. Yet itâs for that very same reason that I doubt it will do much good. The author writes, âItâs no insult to find out youâve been wrong. It stinks, but try to be happier that you learned the truth instead of bummed out that you were wrong.â This is the most important passage, because it personifies the hopelessly optimistic tone of this book. Everything is well said, and most people would benefit from reading it. . . but the problem is most people wonât read it because they donât think they need it, and those who do read it will never admit any of this applies to them. The entire time I was reading I felt like this was all great, but no one is going to follow this advice. And that made me sad. . .
3.5 pushed up to 4/5
Silence
Whereas a few years ago Sweden became a hub for mysteries translated to English, now itâs Germanyâs turn; this is the fifth or sixth Iâve read in the past year. The premise is simple: man finds photo, has daddy issues, piques a journalistâs curiosity. But of course things are never that simple, especially because thereâs another narrative going on, taking place during World War 2.
For a while the journalist is the protagonist, but when sheâs killed this turns from a history mystery to a murder mystery. The new lead is a small town cop derisively described as a âsmall-town sheriffâ who talks to cats. Oh boy. . .
This could have easily been two separate stories, but thankfully they tied together very well. The last twist did indeed surprise me; nothing told me it was coming. And the killing of the journalist turned out to be. . . probably not a spoiler, but why take the chance?
Altogether a well-written book; setting and plot in particular stand out. The one place that could have been improved was the dialogue in helping to set each character apart, especially in the historical storyline; thereâs a character guide in the beginning, but I was hoping not to have to refer to it as often as I did.
4/5
Sweet Girl
Admitting I read this rom-com is seriously gonna cut into my macho cred. . . oh, waitaminute, I donât have any! Never mind, as you were.
Like a confection, I enjoyed this book in two large bites. The best way to describe Max, the main character, is to say that if I had met her in real life I would have turned around and run away as fast as possible. And kept on running. Reading about her is much safer, though I still cringed a few times at how she lets her anger, ego, and stubbornness rule her decision-making, mostly to hide her insecurities and her past.
She starts off as a bartenderâwhen all the alcoholic description popped up I let out a little groanâbut conversely this made it easier to accept all the food stuffâno punâwhen she gets a job managing a famous pastry chefâs operation. Okay, Iâd probably try the pretzel and potato chip brownie, but thatâs it. Everyone has her jumping through hoops, but for once she wants something bad enough to keep her mouth shut and work to achieve it.
The other plot is the romance, with a guy whom she at first canât standâof course, wouldnât be a rom-com without that. Other than the reveal of who the âcompetitionâ was at the endâsaw it coming from the moment she arrivedâit was a fun ride, and I figure itâs extra good because I didnât care for all the food stuffâagain, sorryâyet still loved it. Iâm going to give Rachel Hollis a big compliment, or rather two, by comparing her to a couple of my favorite authors, Caprice Craneâthough not to her level of snarkâand Meg Benjamin.
5/5
Fifteen Minutes to Live
The title is misleading, but in a good way, writing-wise; in the reality of the story itâs just as sad.
If youâve seen the movie âMementoâ you know whatâs at play here; interestingly, this book came out before the movie, but Iâm not sure about story on which the movie was based. In this one itâs a woman whoâs suffering from the inability to make new memories, plus she canât remember anything after high school, which is why she runs off to the guy who was her boyfriend at the time.
There are several subplots that play into her illness, the most important one having to do with a predator teacher. There were parts that left me confused, as confused as the characters; most of it was okay, but it really left me gasping for comprehension at the end until it was explained, but my point is I shouldnât have needed the explanation. This drops the score from 4 to 3.
The characterization of her illness is well done, at least I would imagine it is without researching the subject. There were many disparate characters, most of which were well-written. And it was kinda fun for me to read a story that basically took place in my backyard, not just Southern California but the Pasadena/Glendale area.
Though I was annoyed to find this is actually from 1998; President Clinton and Daryl Strawberry are mentioned.
3/5
The Amazing Journey
Like a lot of kids, Austin goes on a long vacation before starting college; unlike them, he goes with his father. A trip through Hawaii, Korea, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, London, and Paris makes up this book.
As always, itâs the small touches that sell a travel memoir. I had a good laugh at the obsequiousness of the Chinese tour guide, and mentioning, âThis is Mr. Wong. He will be our driver. He is one of the very best.â Yeah, they do that a lot in China, and though I didnât enjoy my trips there, this was a great moment. Particularly liked his description of the base camp of Everest, seeing the giant mountain without its usual clouds; been there, both literally and physically. What made that section difficult to read was the knowledge that the poverty of the area just got worse, considering the giant earthquake last week.
Always reminded of the diversity of views when I found myself thinking the opposite to his remarks about London and Paris, especially about wandering in each city and its museums. It would have helped if someone told him there was a back door to the Louvre, but he found another way.
What was intriguing was his mention of a few incidents like his eye-stare with a Chinese soldier and his defense of a poor horse, which gave off more of a âlook at me, Iâm such a good person!â vibe. His son also exhibited a dangerous amount of ego in not telling about his illness, but I suppose in a way that simply makes them more human in the readerâs eyes.
4/5
;o)