Books I'm Carrying Around: The Sleepwalkers Guide to Dancing

The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I've had this book on my shelf for a year. And I bought a second copy!  Anyway.... I should've read it sooner.  This is another book that I picked up because of the title, though I'm still figuring out it's meaning.

This long tale of a family and all it's secrets, a thirty-something still trying to find her way and figure out who she is, in relation to her parents and her own self, is a great story. Jacob does a great job in weaving in the family culture as part of the story and illustrating who they are. (In so many "diverse" books, the culture becomes the central character, rather than the background.)

Amina deals with not only the loss of her brother and impending loss of her father, but also all of the "rules" and customs that make it not acceptable to talk about it all. Her and her mother have that kind of strained, not close relationship, built on duty rather than any commonality, other than being family.  The family shares unconditional love, although no one will say the words.  But when it comes to all the important things and needful times, they come together to support each other.

I read the first half of the book in a rare day that I found some quiet hours, then was wrestling to find the time to finish the rest over the next week or so.  In my writing group, we've been talking about the proper length for a debut novel. This comes in at 498 pages - way above any recommended length.  Which proves that you can break the rules when you make it worth it.


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A Book I'm Carrying Around: You Should Have Known

You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Should've known what?"

I was waiting in the library check-out line, when I saw this book sitting on the shelf and immediately, the obvious question came to mind.

Ah-ha. Rich parents and a snooty private school. Someone ends up dead.  A spouse had planned to come to the big shindig on that same evening, but then had to work late. Yeah, she should've known.  But, wait, what would've been a motive? Nah, maybe she shouldn't have known.

There is some intrigue - more so because WE can figure out what Grace should've known, why didn't she? How many times have you looked at a friend, sister, colleague's situation and shook your head and thought, "hmm.. yeah, I could've told you he was no good." But we totally miss the mess in our own lives.  That's precisely, ironically, the topic of her psych self-help book for women who don't recognize all the signs when they first start dating that guy, then marry him.

You can figure out the "who" once you get into the story, but the "why" is a little more elusive.  And the "what comes next" was, for me, not enough.  [I've made a few more comments below regarding the ending, which may be a SPOILER for some, so watch for the warning]

If you're married or plan to be, like, Gone Girl - I think this will make you review some of the instances in your relationship and think, "hmmm..... should I have known?"  I was definitely looking at my husband kinda side-eyed whenever he had to work late or missed his flight.


{POTENTIAL SPOILER}
I wanted the "who" to be punished more than he was. It seemed like he skipped away and got off too easy.  And she was no way as near mad as hell as I would've been with my life turned upside down. Then it all wrapped up too tidy with a kinda almost happy ending.  That, I did not expect at all.


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The Book I'm Carrying Around: Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ever thought of killing someone?  Think you could get away with it?  Probably not, because you probably aren't patient enough and you would let your emotions get involved.  Either you'd move impulsively because they made you mad or you would change your mind because you realized you loved the person afterall.  To really get away with it, you have to have a plan, be patient, and ignore all your emotions.  Otherwise, like most criminals, you'll mess it up and get caught.

I don't read suspense thrillers/crime dramas too often - and I don't know why because I am such a "CSI" addict.  I didn't know what this was about or what to expect, other than that some girl was missing, which I figured out from the title, but once I got to about page 2, I was hooked.

* No spoilers here; in fact, I could tell you exactly what happened and you would still need to read the book to believe me that that's what happened.  But I won't, so continue.... *

We open on Nick and Amy's fifth wedding anniversary (with the traditional gift of "wood") and quickly realize that their marriage, like most marriages, is a mix of love, sacrifice, and compromise.  Unlike (or like?) most marriages, there's also a bit of bitterness and betrayal.  When Nick is called home from his bar, which he co-owns with his twin sister, Margo, and has been financed by his wife, he finds his cat wandering outside his open front door and his wife gone.  The police come, the in-laws are called in, he confides in his sister, all kinds of folks from both Nick and Amy's past are visited.  And of course, I am, as always, as everyone is, sure that the husband did it - its just a question of "how" and "why"?

And its the "how" and "why" that kept this book constantly in my hands - at the pool, waiting for the kids, laying out on the hammock, late at night.  And wondering, if I could ever pull off such a feat.  (Not that I would, but when you watch a crime show, don't you wonder whether you could get away with it?)

There are so many plot twists and revelations, that I constantly was turning back to previous pages to see if I had read a detail correctly the first time or exclaiming "ohhhh, that's what he/she meant" or "oh, sugar! how'd he/she do that?!"  It got to the point, I didn't even know whose side I was on in this marriage debacle.  By the time I figured out what was going on, the story took off in another direction and took me with it.

Great story, great characters.  I'm off to find one of Gillian Flynn's previous books, I feel like I've been left out of a great secret.


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