One Lit Chick

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich and I run hot and cold. Having never met me, she doesn’t realize this. But it’s true.

My first experience with her was with my book club (The Book Babes) in 2007 when we read The Master Butchers Singing Club. It was stunning. It was full of nuggets, rich and hearty, that when consumed warmed your belly. Really.

“Our songs travel the earth. We sing to one another. Not a single note is ever lost and no song is original. They all come from the same place and go back to a time when only the stones howled.”

Lovely, right?

In subsequent years we read The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse and Love Medicine and some of the luster had worn off. All of her stuff is pretty highly acclaimed, but these didn’t have the same impact. I didn’t think they were as good and the Book Babes agreed. Well, except for two of them; there are always dissenters. And despite this, Erdrich’s The Round House popped up again for possible book club selection (and with very mixed emotions from the Babes).

There was a potential saving grace. The Round House actually won the National Book Award (NBA) for Fiction in 2012.

Snap 2013-09-05 at 21.30.02

I love NBA winners (and most finalists, Little No Horse, withstanding). The NBAs are like the fun, tipsy, true-color Golden Globes compared to the stuffy and uptight Academy Awards, or Pulitzers. So my hesitation turned to interest, and my interest turned to complete book club advocation when I realized I had mistakenly purchased The Round House while on my last outing to my favorite indie bookseller. Hmmm. Premonition? Or poor book grabbing habits while wandering the aisles? Regardless, I rallied and campaigned hard. I secured enough votes for it and it wasn’t even my month to host.

Are you riveted yet?

Are you on the edge of your seat dying to know what I thought?

Or are you annoyed and just wanting me to get on with it?

Fine.

I loved it! I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s deserving of the highest praise, even in a year that had Junot Diaz, Dave Eggers, Ben Fountain, and Kevin Powers. The Round House rocked the house and Louise and I are back on.

So, where to begin? How about with this:

“Small trees had attacked my parents’ house at the foundation. They were just seedlings with one or two healthy leaves. Nevertheless, the stalky shoots had managed to squeeze through knife cracks in the decorative brown shingles covering the cement blocks.That had grown into the unseen wall and it was difficult to pry them loose.”

The opening of Erdich’s thirteenth novel is foreboding, hinting of things to come. It’s 1988 on the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota where 13-year old Joe Coutts loses his innocence and his mother. Tribal enrollment specialist Geraldine Coutts leaves the house abruptly one Sunday afternoon to get a file from her office. After a disconcerting amount of time has passed, Joe’s father, tribal judge Bazil Coutts, asks Joe where she is. Unable to answer, they both become worried.

“Even if she’d gone to her sister Clemence’s house to visit afterward, Mom would have returned by now to start dinner. We both knew that. Women don’t realize how much store men set on the regularity of their habits. We absorb their comings and goings into our bodies, their rhythms into our bones. Our pulse is set to theirs, and as always on a weekend afternoon, we were waiting for my mother to start ticking away on the evening.

And so, you see, her absence stopped time.”

Joe and his father crack the ice of frozen time and go out to find Geraldine. The good news is that they find her, driving back to their home on from the main road. The bad news is that when they return to the house, they learn she has been brutally attacked and assaulted. And at that moment, as Bazil helps her out of the car, Geraldine collapses; falling swiftly into an impenetrable depression. Unable to share any information about the attack, Joe and his father are rendered helpless.

But not for long.

Joe’s sole mission becomes to solve this horrible crime against his mother. Seeking support from his three best friends, he makes his way to The Round House, a holy place on the reservation that he believes may be the scene of the crime. He searches for clues, uncovers evidence and presses his father for details as Geraldine is forced to open up. Complications arise. Jurisdiction and criminal oversight become muddied and Joe becomes more focused on understanding how this could happen and who could have done this horrible act.

Joe visits the community’s clergy, Father Travis for guidance.

“The only answer to this, and it isn’t an entire answer, said Father Travis, is that God made human beings free agents. We are able to choose good over evil, but the opposite too. And in order to protect our human freedom, God doesn’t often, very often at least, intervene. God can’t do that without taking away our moral freedom. Do you see?

No. But yeah.

The only thing that God can do, and does all of the time, is to draw good from any evil situation.”

And you know, even early on, that good does come of this. Joe is a grown man telling this story. He’s married and a practicing lawyer. Getting from that horrible day to the present had to mean good was drawn out of evil.

As with her other stories, Erdrich tackles issues faced in Native American communities, and doesn’t shy away from the topics of good, evil, spirituality, and morality. Her narrative construction with Joe as an adult reflecting on this life-altering summer worked. She captured the male voice and perspective of a boy who loves his mother and a man reflecting back on a horrific time. Filling out the story, Erdich has created a cast of characters that extend beyond the Coutts family, and run the gamut of being endearing, appalling, hilarious and frustrating, with the suspect hiding out on the fringes of it all. It’s at times nerve-wracking and in the end wholly satisfying. While the attack on Geraldine was brutal and shocking, the conclusion will take you by surprise as well. But as I closed the book and allowed the story to settle, I found it wrapped up in what might be the only way the Coutts family could move forward, patching up the cracks in the cement foundation of their home and their family.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Pages: 336
Genre: Fiction

By One Lit Chick|September 5th, 2013|2013, 4.5 stars, Fiction, National Book Award Winner|1 Comment

How to Host a Reading Marathon and Come Out Winning

Have you ever considered a reading marathon? I hadn’t until I heard about a project on twitter called 24 in 48, where across a 48-hour period, you read for 24 hours.

Crazy right?

That’s just why I did it! And I enlisted the partnership and support of an equally crazy book-loving friend and we wrote about the experience. Not a review, per se, but hopefully fun reading for book-minded people.

Check it out and let me know in the comments if you have ever done anything like this or would consider doing it?

How to Read for 24 hours (and live to tell about it)

By One Lit Chick|September 2nd, 2013|2013, Challenge|0 Comments

Fight Club: The One-Two-Punch Book and Movie Review

Before we get started, I have a few rules about reviewing Fight Club.

1st Rule: I will talk about Fight Club.

2nd Rule: Not only will I talk about Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, I will spill and spoil and tell all the secrets because they have both been out for well over a decade so I am surely the last person on earth to consume these morsels of pop culture. If by the slim chance you haven’t read or seen it and you think you will, then you do not want to read any more. Trust me. The twist is a great one and I would never forgive myself if you weren’t properly warned and forewarned. Well, I would, I mean it’s just a bookmoviething.

Okay, so quick book synopsis:

The book is narrated by an unnamed male in his late twenties who is suffering from insomnia. Working for “the man” he’s meandering through his life on autopilot with no purpose except to spend the money he’s earned, acquiring a wealth of things but nothing meaningful. And he’s literally exhausted. To combat this, he sees a shrink who refuses to medicate him; rather, the doc recommends that he attend some support groups to see true suffering. Dropping in on a testicular cancer group, our protagonist lets his guard down, breaks down and breaks the cycle of his sleepless nights. Attending support groups multiple nights per week becomes his Ambien.

Enter Tyler Durden, our narrator’s new BFF. Durden is anti-establishment and questions our guy’s meaningless life:

Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history. No purpose or place. We have no Great War, No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars, but we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.

Tyler is brash, bold and seductive in his quest to challenge our narrator:

Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don’t you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can’t think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you’re supposed to read? Do you think every thing you’re supposed to think? Buy what you’re told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you’re alive. If you don’t claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned.

And he’s successful. If not a bit enigmatic. And our guy is baited–hook, line, sinker:

I love everything about Tyler Durden, his courage and his smarts. His nerve. Tyler is funny and charming and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect him to change their world. Tyler is capable and free, and I am not.

A friendship sparks and the two form a profitable union–making luxury soap and bankrolling underground Fight Clubs. You know, what anyone would needing a change of pace would do… set up places where you can go after work, forget who you are, and just beat the shit out of someone. The next day, your life is normal. As normal as a life heading into the boss’ office with a bruised eye, broken lip and cracked rib can be. But for these men, it becomes their anthem, their purpose… to break out of the demands of society and have no expectations placed upon them.

We want you, not your money.
As long as you’re at fight club, you’re not how much money you’ve got in the bank. You’re not your job. You’re not your family, and you’re not who you tell yourself.
You’re not your name.
You’re not your problems.
You’re not your age.
You are not your hopes.
You will not be saved.
We are all going to die, someday.

And then you know what happens?

FINAL SPOILER ALERT!

It comes out of nowhere, like some guy’s left hook into your gut (don’t I sound like fighter, here? Consider it my official “research”).

We learn that the narrator is Tyler Durden.

Wait! What?

You double back. Start to lose your balance and you stand up and say out loud to no one, “What the fuck does this mean?”

Well, if you’re me that’s what you did.

And then you read to the end. Your head is swirling. Palahniuk has written a darkly bizarre, yet highly readable novel. You don’t know what to think of this wild and graphic story that was perversely, surprisingly good.

And then if you are me, you rented the movie in search of some additional clarity.

Enter Fight Club, the Movie

Okay, if there’s something I love almost as much as books, it’s movies. So it’s kind of crazy I hadn’t seen Fight Club. But it’s true; I didn’t think I couldn’t handle it. I don’t do violence really well. But I remember seeing the trailer and being torn. REALLY. TORN. You see, I love short-haired A River Runs Through It, Ocean’s 11, Se7en and Meet Joe Black (yes, even horrible MJB) Brad Pitt, not long-haired Legends of the Fall Brad Pitt. And here he was being all short-haired Brad. I know, I know. I am in the minority here on which Brad is hotter and I am okay with that. Add to the fact that I ADORE Edward Norton and will see him in anything and I was torn to pieces. I knew I couldn’t handle it. Good friends saw it and said, “Yeah, you can’t handle it.” So I didn’t see it.

But now I had the book under my belt and did okay. So I rented the movie from Netflix and it arrived the next day. It sat on my counter for a week. When I went to play the disc, it was totally cracked. A giant slice down one side. Super dramatical. Super ridiculous. Super over-anticipation. I got a replacement and you know what? I totally handled it. The movie, directed by the amazing David Fincher (Se7en, The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), followed the book very closely and actually made the whole narrator/Tyler Durden mystery a little more clear to me.

Oh yes, Tyler and the narrator are still the same person. Total hallucination. Tyler Durden is a sociopath or schizophrenic or whatever the correct medical diagnonsis. And in the magic of movie making he’s able to exterminate his bad self, saving his good self and the girl in the process. Oh, yes, there’s a girl; I told you I would spill everything. The movie is really good and not nearly as violent as I thought it would be—I actually found the book more violent. I expected throbbing injuries, amped up sound as teeth and bones cracked and an unrecognizable leading cast, but that was not the case. It was classic Fincher, dark shots, cool spotlights, unique opening sequences and closing credits and just visually interesting. Fights, yes. Violence, yes. I won’t sugar coat it—it’s tough stuff. I guess I am just a bit tougher.

In the end, Fight Club in both of its forms has become a classic. It put Palahniuk on the map, if not initially. Fincher’s film version didn’t initially wow. But both iterations have found massive followings in their DVD and paperback forms and even on facebook, a medium not yet here when Fight Club hit the pavement. Palahniuk’s book encouraged men to read—I know! Men! Younger Men! Reading! This is a good thing. The book and film have amassed a massive cult-like following of Tyler Durden and his in-your-face philosophies, and may even cause you to stop and think about the race you are running, and if you are the rat following the masses or charting your own course. Or maybe that’s just too much critical thinking.

I think If I am wrong about the whole Tyler diagnosis, I am not sure I want to know.

Wait. Yes I do.

Of course I do.

I want you to tell me what you thought if you saw it or read it.

Tell me in the comments below.

Fight Club the book: 4 Stars

Fight Club the movie: 4 stars

By One Lit Chick|July 22nd, 2013|2013, 4, Fiction, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Snotty Literati on Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder

Earlier this year, my literary cohort (and published author) Jennifer Spiegel and I embarked on a new journey reading books and talking about our thoughts. A verbal, written book review, if you will. Each month I look forward to our books and our talks and realized that these, indeed, are book reviews and should be share with you, my loyal readership. So, over the course of the next few weeks, I will share our reviews with you here! You can also take a gander at them through the Snotty Literati tab on the website, but this delivers it right to your inbox. And there’s nothing I like better than easy peasy. Scratch that. I like books better, for sure. But easy peasy comes in at a close second.

So enjoy our first discussion… a controversial oneat that on Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder.

By One Lit Chick|June 12th, 2013|2013, Snotty Literati|2 Comments

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I just did crack.

And by “did” I mean “read”.

And by “crack” I mean “The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins”.

I’ve actually never done crack (or any drugs) and I am not just saying that because my parents subscribe to this blog. But reading this book sure felt like what I would imagine a crack hit to feel like. Do they even call it a hit? I really don’t know.

So, even though I am probably one of the last people to read The Hunger Games, I promise to not to spoil anything about the story that took the world by storm, resulted in a movie that appears to be as loved as the book and is now a multi-million dollar franchise deal for Collins. That lucky duck. But I am going to tell you that I really enjoyed this book. Even when I was so anti-Hunger Games, to the point I was proud I had not read it.

Well, I am here to let you in on something: being wrong really smarts.

But you know that, so let’s not dwell on that shall we? Let’s talk about why this book works!

A Kick-ass Female Lead. There’s lots of girl power in this dystopian YA thriller. Katniss Everdeen is the young, powerful, stubborn, expert hunter at the heart of The Hunger Games who volunteers to take her younger sister’s place as a tribute in the Capitol city’s annual Hunger Games. The games, which pit a boy and girl from each of the Capitol’s 12 districts, is a death match designed to yield only one victor and offer a reminder that the citizens of the Capitol are not in charge of their lives. Nice, huh?
Strong Sexual Tension. Upon taking her sister’s place as the District 12 female tribute, Katniss then learns that her male counterpart will be Peeta Mellark, a boy she hardly knows. After sizing him up, Katniss remembers that Peeta once saved her starving family with the simple act of giving her a loaf of bread. That memory must be erased as they are now bitter enemies. Despite this, Peeta is stealing glances and making passes at Katniss. Are his feelings true or just part of his strategy for the games? Regardless, I had a thing for loverboy and found Peeta to be quite a sweeta(heart), liar or not.
Cracker Jackers. So there are these murderous wasps in part of the story… and I LOVE that they are called cracker jackers! I think it must have to do with the fact that I am actually allergic to wasp (and bee) stings and these cracker jackers, which cause intense swelling and pus to accumulate (and death!), reminded me of my own run-ins with these flying terrors. You can be assured “cracker jacker” will now be my term of choice for the little bastards.
Creative-as-all-get-out Story. The story is crazy. And y’all should know by my reading choices that l don’t like to suspend my disbelief too far. Yes, I know, It’s hard to stomach a futuristic world where children must engage in combat style warfare, but once you put that aside it was the right mix of wild and interesting that it kept me turning the pages and devouring this book in about 8 hours. It’s addictive reading.

Now it doesn’t matter that I was on a deadline to get this book knocked out asap for the upcoming May Snotty Literati column and it doesn’t matter that I am on vacation this week. The Hunger Games was a delightful break from the heavier stuff I am reading (yes, heavier than kids killing each other) and I ate it up, all hungry like the wolf… yes I did.

Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 384
Genre: Young Adult

By One Lit Chick|April 16th, 2013|2013, 4 stars, Young Adult|2 Comments

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

13 Reasons I actually picked up Thirteen Reasons Why after downloading the much talked about Tragedy Papers by Elizabeth Laban. In fact, the book’s description said, “… perfect for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why and Looking for Alaska”. And since I didn’t have either of those books, you can imagine what I did.

I am going to keep this fairly easy and give you just seven reasons to check out Thirteen Reasons Why:

It’s timely. There’s a horrifying trend these days with children getting bullied and made left to feel undervalued, unimportant and unnecessary. Hannah Baker has just recently taken her own life for these same reasons. In Thirteen Reasons Why, we hear her side of the story over the course of seven cassette tapes she recorded before her death and mailed out Clay Jensen, one of the “reasons”.
It’s bold. Asher doesn’t minimize Hannah’s experiences. Her perceptions and recollections are raw and realistic and written in the voice of a teenage girl who’s hurting.
It’s creatively told. Clay doesn’t understand what role Hannah thinks he played in her death and he balances a voyeuristic desire of listening to each tape with the fear that he could actually somehow be responsible. The double narrative makes this story work.
It’s heartbreaking. From the beginning you know that Hannah is dead and that she attributes her suicide to the cruel and unfair treatment she received from others. Treatment that has resulted in a widespread, but not entirely true reputation of Hannah. Despite this, Hannah understands how some of her choices facilitate her unsavory rep and at other times she seems completely unaware that what she is doing will further this bad perception of her.
It’s frustrating. Just as teenagers can be, Hannah’s victim role is frustrating. You want to say, “Snap out of it!” “Quit perpetuating things!” “You can create a different outcome!” But she’s 16 and hurting and shortsighted. So realistically and painfully shortsighted.
It’s hopeful. Not everyone in Thirteen Reasons Why is a terrible person. There are moments of kindness and even grace. Clay grows through the experience of hearing Hannah’s story, as devastating as it is to hear.
It’s important. I think teenagers should read this. And parents. And educators. It’s not the definitive story on bullying or suicide but it certainly sheds light. It’s also a bit dramatic at times, but I think high school is more dramatic today than when I was there. In truth, it’s hard to read. It’s depressing. It’s uncomfortable. But, readers will recognize the characters in the book as people from their own adolescence. And everyone can benefit from the reminder of how important how we treat each other is … that kindness must trump everything else. Always.

Rating: 3 stars
Pages: 336
Genre: Young Adult

By One Lit Chick|February 19th, 2013|2013, 3 stars, Young Adult|2 Comments

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I can’t stop hearing about Gone Girl. It’s everywhere. Every best book list for last year. Every bookstore has tables and tables of it. Every airport has it. Everywhere! People are telling me I HAVE TO READ IT. I mean, I see or hear about it as much as I hear that Call Me Maybe song.

Confession time: Hey, I just met you and this is crazy… but I love that Call Me Maybe song. Seriously… way too much. It’s on my iPod. I listen to it every time I workout. I listen to it when I don’t work out. It’s a total guilty pleasure just the way good pop songs are supposed to be. Despite all this, I am kinda convinced all the air time, over-exposure and gazillion parody videos that came from Call Me Maybe will probably resign Carly Rae Jepsen to one-hit wonder status, because how can she ever do anything bigger than that? It might be impossible. And if you are wondering what on earth this has to do with Gone Girl, I am getting there.

I first read Gillian Flynn when the Book Babes selected Sharp Objects for book club a few years back. We all read it, were super creeped out and loved it. Ms. Flynn was already starting to get quite a following with this book and her next one Dark Objects. But not a Carly Rae Jepsen-level following. You want to be good but not YouTube crazy parody good, which I am not quite sure how you even do with a book… but I think you catch my drift.

Fast-forward several years and everyone has read this Gone Girl book and is stark-crazy raving about it and Gillian Flynn is the new “Mistress of Mystery”. (I am making up that moniker, but someone has probably penned that nickname and if not, okay, I’ll take credit for it). And thank goodness this is her third book so she really can be the Mistress of Mystery and not the “Carly Rae Jepsen of Mystery”. Now if that Jepsen girl has another bona-fide hit, my iPod and I will be thrilled, but my analogy here will be screwed. And what’s that analogy again? Be popular, but not Carly Rae popular.

So, back in December, one of the Book Babes selected Gone Girl for our February read and we were all pretty excited. Here’s the non-spoiler overview:

Nick and Amy Dunn have been married for five years when the recession forces them out of their cushy writing jobs in Manhattan and back to Nick’s Missouri river hometown to care for his declining mother. Amy misses the life left behind—one of privilege and minor celebrity status as the namesake of her parent’s wildly successful children’s book series—Amazing Amy! Life in Missouri is hard hit by the recession, houses in the Dunn’s neighborhood are foreclosing and Amy is declining. Nick is trying to make the move back home work. Going in on a bar with his twin sister Margo, he’s the only one with a job. Long hours take time from the marriage. They take away the spark as well. The day of their five-year anniversary, Nick gets a call he never expected. Racing home, he finds an open front door, a ransacked living room, lots of blood and no Amy.

Enter the police. Nick can’t stop lying to them, which doesn’t help matters. His disposable cell phone keeps ringing at the most inopportune times and he quickly finds himself in the role of leading suspect.

But let me tell you a little secret. Everything I told you is laid out for you in the first 30 pages. Flynn is known for writing super topsy-turvy, twisty-turny thrillers and Gone Girl taps out at 419 pages. So guess what? All is not as it seems.

Told in alternating chapters with Nick narrating his story in the present day and Amy’s story from a few years back, the reader is sent down a pretty twisted (read: crazy) rabbit hole to figure out who killed Amazing Amy.

I really can’t tell you anymore, except to read it. Gone Girl is a trip. A road trip into creepy crazy town. Flynn sets the stage well, keeping you guessing as you drive the car slowly up the hill and just as you make it over the top, the car starts careening out of control and you realize there aren’t any brakes. It’s a totally wild ride that ends in utter shock. Some of the Book Babes didn’t buy the ending. Some of us felt it couldn’t have ended any other way. Not one of us could stop turning the pages.

Rating: 3 stars
Pages: 319
Genre: Mystery

By One Lit Chick|February 11th, 2013|2013, 3 stars, Book Club, Mystery|6 Comments

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

State of Wonder I think by now everyone knows how much I adore Ann Patchett. Every book of hers that I read, I thoroughly enjoy. Plus, she’s so dang smart, and literary, and she opened her own bookstore, Parnassus Books in Memphis and was one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People last year. I mean, what CAN’T this woman do?

Well, she couldn’t write a book that all the Book Babes agreed on—gasp! I know. Really. Shocking. Stuff. Here’s how it went down:

January’s host mandated State of Wonder for our book club read. All of us were thrilled, knowing how much we loved Truth and Beauty and The Magician’s Assistant. It was clear we all were eager to start. Personally, I was even more excited to read it knowing that my mother, stepmother and good friend Deirdre—all solid readers whose book opinions I trust pretty much without reservation—loved it.

I pulled out my signed copy that I picked up last May and dove right in. From page one I was immersed in the story of Dr. Marina Singh, a pharmacy researcher under the employ of Minnesota drug manufacturer Vogel, who is sent deep into the Amazon to check up on a colleague. Dr. Annick Swenson, an OBGYN researching the possibility of the next miracle in fertility medicine, has been away from the lab for years. She has been completely out of touch with Vogel, working on her own timetable with no respect for shareholder goals and the company’s schedule.

There’s a significant problem with Marina’s trip. The previous Vogel employee, a trusted colleague of Marina’s that was also sent to find Dr. Swenson, is now missing. The other issue? Dr. Swenson is Marina’s former boss (former because of a horrific accident that Marina never wants to relive). It is with this fear, uncertainty and insecurity that Marina takes what turns into a life-changing, life-saving journey.

Sounds interesting, right?

Actually, it was pretty interesting and three of the other Book Babes agreed with me. We each gave the book an A, citing the beautiful writing, strong character development and the complicated, yet engaging plot. Two were in somewhat close agreement with us and decided a B was fitting. Two were lukewarm, citing frustration with some of the characters and directions the story took and one questioned whether she read the same book we all did after firmly announcing her grade of an F. Her rationale was that she didn’t connect or have interest in any of the characters. Not a one. Wow. Really?

I told her that she was entitled to her opinion, even though it was wrong.

And then we laughed, thank goodness, because we are that kind of group.

State of Wonder is by far, after almost 10 years of reading, dining and dishing, the most controversially discussed book by our group. I wouldn’t have expected it in a million years. And even though our impressions were all over the board, I have to say it was one of the best discussions we have ever had. Patchett creates an Amazon environment full of challenges, intrigue and drama. There are no easy answers for the characters, and it’s very interesting to see the choices they make and the consequences they experience.

It’s because of this discordance in our views on State of Wonder that I want even more people to read it. I found the subject matter so interesting that I would love other opinions on it. You don’t have to spend a lot of money; patronize your local library. I can’t promise you will enjoy it. However, I can promise it’s an astutely written story like nothing you have read before.

If you do check it out, check in here and let me know your thoughts.

Rating: 4 stars

Pages: 386

Genre: Fiction

By One Lit Chick|January 22nd, 2013|2013, 4 stars, Fiction, Lit Crush|10 Comments

2013