Hitmen, Flappers and the KKK?

I've been reading a ton. I promise. I just haven't been writing. So, once again, it's catchup time...

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

I was mad at Kinsella after reading Remember Me?, so it was with great trepidation that I gave her another try. I'm very glad I did. Twenties Girl is charming and thoughtful, nostalgic and hilarious. The bad British language is even toned down a bit.

Lara's having a rough life. Her boyfriend just dumped her, her new company is bottoms up before it begins, and now she's hearing voices. At her great aunt Sadie's funeral, Lara starts seeing a flapper. That no one else can see. And she's going on and on about a dragonfly necklace that must be found, or else... Before she knows it, Lara has stopped the funeral, lied to the police, and is on a mad-cap caper with the 1920's version of great aunt Sadie.

Highly entertaining chick-lit, that actually has a point this time... Twenties Girl is not to be missed.

Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson

Oh James. James, James, James. STOP CHURNING OUT JUNK! Clearly your little "co-writers" are just money making machines riding on the coattails of your name, producing rubbish to bring in more income (seriously, don't you make enough money?) while you are writing the more time consuming best sellers. Do this too many more times, James, and your name isn't going to mean that much any more.

What can I say about this book? Ok, we see that you and your little co-writer have read To Kill a Mockingbird and A Time to Kill. And your summarizing skills are fantabulous! Ok. I'm done now.


The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver

Heh heh heh. How I LOVED buying this book in the Salt Lake City terminal on my way home from Provo last week. Poor little Mormon cashier. She looked down at the title, looked up and my cherubic BYU sweatshirt wearing self and just didn't know what to think. "Well, that looks like an interesting read..." As she's unable to make eye contact. Score one for me!

Such a good book. Oh man. I wanted a page turner that would get me through my 10 hour trip back to Champaign. The ideal airport book is one that you get so engulfed in, the time just flies (!) by. I knew from past experience that Deaver would not disappoint.

Brynn McKenzie, police deputy, gets a phone call about a 911 hang up that needs checking out in her neck of the woods. She walks in on a double homicide, and figures out too late that the killers are still there. And now they are after her. She and another near victim flee in to the woods, and the chase is on. The action never lets up and surprises lurk behind every tree. Fabulous. My only criticism is that the end drags on a little too long- the book feels resolved long before the last page is turned. Oh, and I'm getting better at this whole who-dunnit thing... I found the hidden clues and solved the mystery about half way through the book. Not an easy task with a masterful story teller like Deaver. Hizzah!

Austenland by Shannon Hale

It is a well known fact on this blog, as well as among my more literate friends that I am not a Jane Austen fan. Through reading this book, I think I have figured out why. Indulge me a moment while I flash back to my sophomore year of college. I'm living in Heritage Halls at BYU with 5 other very different, very giggly girls. I'm the only one with a boyfriend, and resentment is thick in the air. One Friday night I walk into the apartment hand in hand with my current beau, when I am accosted from all sides with demands for a "girls night." Well- for the rest of my roommates, every night is girls night. This is clearly a ploy to get me to loose the boyfriend and hang with them. Um...

I'm informed that Hogi Yogi is on its way, and we will be wearing pajamas and laying on beds and watching Emma and Pride and Prejudice. Are you kidding me? I lasted an hour. Mr. Darcy is supposed to be handsome (I just thought he looked old) and dashing (stuffy?). My roommates are drooling, sighing, and glazing with twitterpated expressions. I'm looking longingly out the window, where I can see my boyfriend's light on in his room. Suddenly I just can't take it anymore. What was the point of a fictional Mr. Darcy when I had a real, live, and frankly better looking hunk of testosterone not 30 feet from my back door? I make a break. Literally jumping over pajama-ed coeds, I go running barefoot across the rainy moor of our back alley. He meets me half way, having heard the screams from the other girls and guessing that I had chosen him. Who needs Austen?

Franky, I associate Austen with pathetic girls longing for their handsome prince, and instead of doing something about finding him, they laze about daydreaming and garnering impossible levels of expectation. And married women who are still daydreaming about Darcy? Isn't that just sad?

I liked this book. I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did- but I think it's because Shannon Hale has come to the same conclusion. The cult Austen following is a little pathetic. It's a thinly veiled fantasy disguised as "literature" to make it more forgivable. And most of the girls that I encountered who went on and on about Austen, had never actually read any to begin with. Thanks BBC. Gag me with a spoon.

No Going Back by Jonathan Langford

“See, I believe all that stuff about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, about God speaking to people and my church being led by a prophet. Because of that, there’s a lot of other stuff I just can’t accept, like it being okay to be gay and how you have to accept that part of yourself. I don’t accept it. I know that’s the way I am, and I know it’s probably not going to change in this life. But I don’t believe it’s who I really am. Being gay—being attracted to other guys—yeah, that’s part of who I am now. But being Mormon, that’s who I am forever.” -Paul, No Going Back by Jonathan Langford

I knew when I was approached by the author about reviewing this book that it was going to be like walking across a landmine barefoot. And yet... I seem to thrive on controversy. Lucky me.

So, here's where I say if you are going to be offended that I read a book about a gay Mormon, or even that such a book exists in the first place, please stop reading now. And please, PLEASE don't sound off about it on my blog. I just really don't want to hear it. Oh, and I probably won't publish the comment so don't bother.

Ok, that being said...

The book is about a teenage Mormon boy who decides he is gay, and the repercussions that he has to face when he is accidentally outed at his high school and in his ward. He makes the decision early on that he will not act on his feelings, and will continue to be a chaste member of the church. This is a hard decision- he has no one that really understands, and finds himself stuck between two worlds and terrified of the potential of being alone for the duration of his life. The country is up in arms with the gay marriage amendments popping up everywhere, and fear breeds hatred.

I was proud of this little book. It fights an uphill battle. It's courageous and honest and probes the darker side of Mormonism with a very fair and realistic, yet respectful point of view. Yes, there are gay members of the church. No, we do not treat them very well. Yes, there are families that suffer because church callings are too demanding. Yes, there is a reason why bishops' children tend to be the worst behaved. No, there is no such thing as a perfect Mormon housewife. Yes, we as members of the church are often our own worst enemies. Yes, people fall away every day because we are too quick to judge and not quick enough to sympathize.

This is not a book that in any way condones same-sex attraction. It is merely a conversation about the different crosses that we all must bear, and how we choose to bear them. It is a continuation of a conversation that I have frequently with Matt- about judging and casting stones and coldness among the LDS community. It exists. We aren't perfect. And we would be a lot better off admitting that and helping one another instead of hiding behind our perfect facades.

My complaints about the book are 3 fold (as all good complaints tend to be). First- if you are going to write a book that is already so blatantly controversial, leave the unnecessary bad language and crudeness out. I understand that Langford was trying to go for adolescent boy accuracy, but I think it was taken a bit too far with some of the dialogue. I'm hard to offend- and I was a bit offended. Not by the frank conversations about struggles being gay, but by the every day banter of teenage boys. It was just distracting and makes the book one that I would not let my own teenage son read, for unexpected reasons.

Second- the writing style is a bit juvenile for a book that as far as I can tell is not being marketed as a young adult book.

Third- the storyline wanders. A lot. There are secondary characters that suddenly become protagonists, protagonists that suddenly become secondary. Another distraction. I am all for character development, but in this case it slowed the pace of the book and removed immediacy. I get that Langford was trying to portray accurate LDS family dynamic, but the logic in the storyline was lost.

All in all, it was an important read. I've always understood the concept of hating the sin but loving the person- and I wish that the topics dealt with in this book were discussed a little more openly. It is, after all, important to remember that "Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness. . . . I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me . . .." I definitely don't want to be counted with the mourning fools in the last days because I questioned or mocked another's weakness whilst ignoring my own.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

"We are creators, and yet we naively play the role of 'the created.' We see ourselves as helpless sheep buffeted around by the God who made us. We kneel like frightened children, begging for help, for forgiveness, for good luck. But once we realize that we are truly created in the Creator's image, we will start to understand that we, too, must be Creators. When we understand this fact, the doors will burst wide open for human potential." -Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

I absolutely understand why it took Dan Brown 6 years to write this book. After all, he pretty much had to do the equivalent research for about 4 dissertations in order to have the background material necessary to write a book of this magnitude and insanely ambitious scope. The depth of thought, the quest for knowledge, his philosophical need for human vicissitude is just astounding.

Can you tell that I'm impressed? Pretty much I'm making Matt drop everything to read these 509 pages this weekend so that I have someone to discuss it with. I keep almost spilling the beans... in fact this review is painful to write because I just can't say everything that I want to. Let's see if I can handle a spoiler-free synopsis...

Robert Langdon thinks that he's coming to Washington DC to give a lecture on symbology to some VIPs at the Capitol building. Little does he know that he is going to end up on a race against time to save himself, his best friend, and the nation from imminent disaster. The challenge he faces is so perilous, the villain so formidable that he has to question and reexamine everything that he thinks he knows as scientific fact in order to find the answers needed. The great academic symbologist is stumped- and it can't come at a worse time.

Examining in respectful depth Masonic rites and ceremonies, the beliefs of most world religions, and basic scientific principles that until now have been taken for granted, Dan Brown has managed to write a book so thoughtful, so spiritual, so full of knowledge that I have been left astounded and breathless, and with more clarity than I think I have ever experienced from a novel. But this is definitely more than just a novel. Is it going to offend some people? Most likely. Does it contain unpleasant things? Most definitely. Is it my pick for must read of the year? You'd better believe it.

The Doomsday Key by James Rollins

If you like Indiana Jones or National Treasure, than why are you wasting time reading this review? Just read these books already! This 5th installment of the Sigma series is the most exciting one to date. I was terrified, excited, and absolutely addicted until the very last page. When it was over, I wanted to start reading it all over again.

Killer polar bears, fiery peat bogs, ancient legends, spidery catecombs. A race through the Coliseum, across stormy seas and icy wasteland. This series is so exciting, so fast paced, so just gosh darn entertaining. Resplendent with scientific breakthroughs and high tech thrills. Start with the first book in the series, and get ready to be enthralled.

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

I had such high expectations. After all, The Actor and the Housewife was one of my favorite books of the year. Maybe if I had gone into this with no expectations, I would have been a lot happier.

Miri lives in a far off mountain village where her family has been working in the quarries for generations. It's a simple life, one that she desperately wants to be a part of. But she is different. Smaller than many of the other girls, she is forced to stay home and forbidden to enter the quarry. One day a messenger comes to the village and announces that the Prince will be choosing one of the village girls to be his bride. Before this can happen, the girls must all attend the Princess Academy- to soften up and learn some manners. Bitter competition among the girls ensues- some excel at the new proper life, and others struggle. Miri is conflicted. It would be good for her family if she won the hand of the prince, but is it what she really wants? Is it her destiny?

Written with lyrical and majestic prose, the Princess Academy is a quaint, albeit oft times slow paced story of hidden dreams and vast disappointments. I thought it could have been a lot better had the story just moved a little faster and had a little more depth. A good read for a young adult female though, covering many life lessons in a non-preachy relate-able teenaged point of view.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I had been ignoring the buzz about this book for months when I finally (out of resignation more than anything else) decided to pick it up. I thought it was going to be some chintzy, nauseatingly feel-good book. Nope. Wrong again. And when, honestly, and I going to learn the whole judging-a-book-by-its-cover lesson once and for all?

At first I was a bit thrown off and confused, and almost stopped reading a couple of times because generally I hate books written in letter format. I have finally found an example of how it should be done. Admittedly the format was confusing at first- I had a hard time keeping track of who was writing to whom. Once I got the characters straight in my mind, however- the plot started to unravel, the characters threatened to jump off of the pages and follow me home- and just like that I was hooked. And not just hooked. I was smitten, affected, and all together drawn into this magical experience. That's right. It's not a book. It's an experience.

Juliet is a writer trying to figure out what her next book should be when she receives a mysterious letter from a man on the island of Guernsey. Before she knows it, they are corresponding, and she gets completely enfolded in the story and characters of Guernsey and the tale of their survival during the German occupation of their island during WWII. Soon half the island is writing letters to her- all with different accounts of the war- some hilarious, some harrowing. She can't help but be drawn in, and inevitably she finds herself on a ferry crossing the English Channel to experience Guernsey for herself.

If ever there was a flawless example of finding joy through adversity, it is this story. The islanders, all with different histories and different lives, are brought together through their common love of great literature. They manage to find beauty in their war torn world, and it saves them.

Gah. Goosebumps. Probably the best written, most perfectly executed book I have read all year. An immediate addition to my "literacy list." Read it. You really don't want to miss out on this one.