2011 book 304

John Green and David Levithan's Will Grayson, Will Grayson
So this is the story of two teenage boys, both named Will Grayson--one is an awkward guy who's all into Neutral Milk Hotel (hilarious) with a large and awesome gay best friend called Tiny; the other is a superannoying depressed guy who never uses capital letters (oh god, I'm too melancholy to hit the shift key)--and what happens when they have a chance encounter, and Tiny falls for the depressed and annoying Will Grayson. But actually this book is pretty good--I loved Tiny and the musical he's writing--with realistic and mostly-likable characters, and I admit to getting a bit teary at the end. A-.

2011 book 303

Carson Morton's Stealing Mona Lisa: A Mystery
So the title bills this as a mystery, and it appeared on more than one best-of-2011-mysteries list, but dude, this is NOT a mystery in any way. It starts in Paris in 1925, where a reporter is interviewing a guy on his deathbed who is narrating an increasingly ridiculous tale about his life as an art-related con man, leading up to how he and some confederates stole the Mona Lisa in 1911 (an actual thing that happened in history). But the narrative focus is sloppy--too much time is spent on the inner lives of other characters (especially a married woman who frequently thinks soppy things about the protagonist). And Picasso is brought into it in an entirely stupid way. And there are sitcom-level misunderstandings. And way too much melodrama. and NO MYSTERY WHATSOEVER. If you couldn't tell, this book pissed me off. I really don't get how it ended up on best of 2011 lists. And can someone explain what the mystery was supposed to be? F.

2011 book 302

Melina Marchetta's The Piper's Son
The sequel/companion to Saving Francesca picks up our gang five years later, but focuses more on one of the boys from the first book and his complicated, tragic family (and especially his aunt, who is really a wonderful character).  Seriously, no one writes like Marchetta.

2011 book 301

Melina Marchetta's Saving Francesca
Rereading Jellicoe Road made me want to reread more Marchetta, b/c dang her books are good. I love the characters and their friendships in this one (and its sequel, which I'm going to start right now).

2011 book 300

Lauren Groff's Arcadia
Groff's first novel, Monsters of Templeton, was one of my favorite books of 2008 (she also has a book of short stories), so I was eagerly awaiting her follow-up and very pleased to find it waiting for me when I came home from Thanksgiving travel. Arcadia details the life of Bit, the first child born in a crazy hippie commune in the late 60s, from his childhood to his middle age (in what seems to be the near future). Much of his life is shaped by the commune and its politics--and by its leader's troubled daughter. Groff does a good job of fleshing out Bit's story, and her language is lovely, though I will say I felt less connected to and/or interested in him than I did in the protagonist of Monsters. The descriptions of the community, though, are stellar, and I did like the last section of the book and found the ending fitting. It's a strong sophomore effort, and I very much look forward to reading whatever Groff writes next. A-/B+

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An ARC was provided by the publisher. The book comes out in March 2012.

2011 book 299

Melina Marchetta's Jellicoe Road
After reading a bunch of generally unsatisfying books in a row, I wanted to read something that I knew I'd love, which meant rereading this! Marchetta writes such beautiful, complicated, crazy, real characters. Her books are never predictable. Which is why I love them!

2011 book 298

Emily St. John Mandel's The Lola Quartet
Interesting and likable story about a reporter who discovers he may have a ten year old daughter--and it's also about the very big mess her mother, his high school girlfriend is in--because she stole over one hundred thousand dollars from a drug dealer and has been on the run ever since. But it's not a thriller--it's really more of a story about relationships, about how high school dreams can die, and about whether or not we can escape our pasts. And it's about swampy, muggy, crazy Florida (Mandel nails the atmosphere). B+.


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An e-galley was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in May 2012.

2011 book 297

Hannah Harrington's Saving June
After her older sister kills herself, a teenage girl decides to go on a road trip to California to scatter her ashes, accompanied by her own best friend and by a mysterious boy who mysteriously knew her sister. And pretty much from that description you can guess most things that will happen. Sigh. I just want to be surprised sometimes. Also, this weirdly read like it was written a few years ago (in terms of pop culture references), but it just came out. B.

2011 book 296

Kathy Mccullough's Don't Expect Magic
Cute but insubstantial book about a girl whose mom dies and she goes to live with her heretofore mostly absentee father, a famous motivational speaker (I feel like teens going to live with unknown fathers is a weird trope of YA lit that I've seen a lot lately). But her dad has a secret, and it's something that might make life a lot more complicated. This turned pretty predictable but the characters were likable. B/B+.

2011 book 295

Jenn McKinlay's Death by the Dozen
The third book in this series about a cupcake bakery owner who is forever finding herself involved with murders is pretty good, actually, if you can pretend the first two didn't exist and that this character has gotten entangled with her third murder in a year, b/c honestly, how often do bakers deal with dead bodies? And the body here doesn't turn up till almost a third of the way through, since McKinlay is busy building up the characters and plot--and honestly, the characters are way more interesting than the mystery (which is pretty easy to figure out). These books are the fluffiest of fluffy cozy mysteries, but damn if I'm not a sucker for cupcakes. B/B+.

2011 book 294

Moira Young's Blood Red Road
Pretty decent YA dystopia about a girl whose brother is kidnapped for heretofore unknown reasons and she vows to find him (with their little sister tagging along). But it's a dystopia, so things aren't that easy.  (Except that she keeps handily meeting people with helpful information.) Not a huge amount of world-building, but I think this is more about the character and her growth and her adventures, which are all well-done. I did like a lot of the sidekick characters that she collects--a fun motley assortment. And there was a romance, but it was pretty minimal in the grand scheme of things. B+.

2011 book 293

Esther Freud's Lucky Break
Before you ask, yes, Freud is the descendent of that other Freud. Anyway, this novel involves a trio of British drama students and their travails in drama school and afterward. I do wish Freud had delved into their inner lives a bit more; I didn't feel like I knew them well or knew what they wanted really (the male character was especially lacking). It felt like it would be a satisfying movie, but there was no depth here. I mean, it's interesting enough, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure what the point of it was. B.

2011 book 292

Jay Asher and Carolyn Macker's The Future of Us
I was excited about this book for a couple of reasons--Asher is the author of the EXCELLENT Thirteen Reasons Why, and this has a great premise (it's about a couple of teenagers in the 90s who find their future Facebook pages and start trying to alter their futures. I love this concept and of course it made me wonder--what would teenage you think of your current social media presence?). But it turned out to be even awesomer (for me) than I'd hoped--besides the premise and the very likable characters, it totally resonated with me b/c the girl character is just my age, and it's set in a small town near Pittsburgh. Plus the 90s-era references to Oasis and Dave Matthews (though actually, I don't remember Dave Matthews really getting huge till my freshman year of college, and this takes place two years earlier) and Discmen (is that the plural of Discman?) were pretty funny. The end is pretty obvious, but I really liked the future-changing shenanigans, and like I said, very appealing characters. Completely absorbing and entertaining, if a little silly. A.

2011 book 291

Vicky Alvear Shecter's Cleopatra's Moon
Very well-done novel about Cleopatra's daughter and her exile in Rome--there aren't a lot of historical facts about Cleopatra Selene, so Schecter has the space to create a winning character and a whole world around her (plus, there are no intrigues like Roman intrigues in terms of sheer entertainment value). Schecter also does a really good job dealing with Egyptian religion (not surprisingly, I especially liked a scene where Cleopatra Selene has a philosophical debate with a rabbi). Even the requisite YA love triangle is interesting due to various political situations (though perhaps some of the romance was a bit farfetched). A/A-.

2011 book 290

Gregory Maguire's Wicked
I hadn't read this since college and was in the mood for a more grown-up fairy tale story. I remembered liking this a lot, but actually it's surprisingly boring at times (lots of long speeches about made-up politics and religions). I had planned on reading the sequels after this, but I don't really want to now. Have any of you read them? Are they worth checking out?

2011 book 289

Delia Sherman's The Freedom Maze
It's the summer of 1960, and young Sophie is sent to live with her (casually racist) grandmother and aunt in Louisiana after her parents divorce. But when she encounters a mysterious creature in a hedge maze, she gets whisked back to 1860 (just like her favorite book by one of my favorite authors, Edward Eager's The Time Garden), where she's mistaken for a light-skinned slave and sent to work in the Big House on the plantation. Sherman makes Sophie's experiences feel real without being heavy-handed--I think it would be really easy to cross that line, but she toes it gracefully.  Clearly a lot of research went into this, and it's especially satisfying to read it as a book and history nerd. I love books where contemporary characters go back in time and learn valuable historical lessons. A.

2011 book 288

Y.S. Lee's The Agency: The Traitor and the Tunnel
I can't figure out why the Agency series isn't more popular--or am I the only person who likes books about an agency of girl detectives in Victorian-era England featuring a protagonist with a mysterious past? And speaking of Victorian England, the third book in the series finds Mary working undercover as a maid in Queen Victoria's palace (Victoria is one of my favorite historical royals and she is pretty awesome here, I have to say) to uncover a thief. But of course things are never that easy, and soon Mary finds herself involved in a murder case that hits close to home. Lee brings a light touch, humor, and romance to a story that could easily be over-the-top, and while things may resolve a bit too easily, I was pleased with the resolution nonetheless (and anyway, this is a YA book, things are allowed to wrap up neatly). A/A-.

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An e-galley was provided by the publisher.

2011 book 287

Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
My sister and I decided to both read this and have our own little book club meeting over Thanksgiving, and I'm glad we did; it's a book I've been meaning to read for a long time (but you all know I avoid non-fiction as much as possible) and there's a reason it was on so many best-of lists last year. Skloot does a really good job of weaving together the story of Henrietta and her family--and the story of her cells and the scientists who made them a crazy force in scientific research. And it's all very readable--normally non-fiction takes me a lot longer to read than a novel would, but I plowed through this with no trouble at all (at least until the afterword, which delves into Important Ethical Issues and loses the train of the story somewhat). Plus there are several points where Pittsburgh plays a part! I look forward to talking about it while in that awesome city. :) A.

2011 book 286

Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle
After reading a string of disappointing books--and starting another that didn't seem promising--I decided it was time to reread one of my favorites as a palate cleanser. The Kindle edition of this is one of those ones full of weird typos, but that doesn't stop the story from being great. I still wish the Miyazaki movie had hewed closer to the book.

2011 book 285

Ha Jin's Nanjing Requiem
After reading a bunch of light--and not very good--books in a row, I wanted something meatier and more satisfying, and the story of an American woman running a college/refugee camp in China in the late 1930s (after Japan has invaded) seemed to fit the bill. Only it's based on a true story and reads like a recitation of facts--you never get to know the characters, even the narrator. And horrifying things happen, but it's told so dryly that I hardly even felt it. I can't figure out why Jin would structure his narrative this way (if it was even deliberate). Most boring book about war crimes ever. B-.