Love May Fail

Unlike a lot of  other reviewers of this book, I've never read The Silver Linings Playbook. I've seen the movie and thought it was ok (I do maintain that Jennifer Lawrence, who I adore, really won her Oscar not for her performance in this movie, but for her role in Winter's Bone - she was totally robbed that year), but still haven't gotten around to reading the book.

Maybe that's why I liked this book so much. Most other reviews I've read of it can't seem to help themselves from comparing it (mostly unfavorably) to The Silver Linings Playbook. I can see some of the issues others have pointed out - it's overly sentimental at times. The character of Portia Kane is a little annoying in a predictable Jersey-trash kind of way. And a few of the situations/occurrences had me rolling my eyes a little.

Still. This was a charming book. Once one suspends ones disbelief in all of the all-too-perfect random coincidences bringing people together and just decides to enjoy the ride, it turns out to be a very good book. And now that I have finally read for myself what kind of work Matthew Quick produces, I'm very ready to read more.

To summarize the book, so that this isn't a total waste of space review - Portia Kane has just caught her sleazy pornographer husband cheating on her. Instead of shooting him (her first impulse), she instead jumps on a plane and heads home to Jersey and her not-quite-all-there, hoarder mother. After meeting a wise old nun on the plane who wishes her luck with a quest she didn't know she was embarking on, she decides she needs to save her tragically depressed high school English teacher, Mr. Vernon.

The story is told from four different viewpoints - Portia, Mr. Vernon, Sister Maeve and Chuck Bass.

***Let me pause here for a moment and give my biggest criticism of this book. Seriously? A character named Chuck Bass? Ok, I get that this is literary fiction and that Q probably is above pop culture, guilty pleasure trash like Gossip Girl, but come. on. You can't name a character Chuck Bass anymore without it casting a massive shadow over the whole story. Chuck Bass is not a recovering heroin addict in the suburbs of New Jersey. He's Chuck Motherfucking Bass. A spoiled rotten New York hotelier's son with questionable morals and a deep love for Blair Waldorf. Everytime Chuck's whole name is mentioned in this book, it took me right out of the story. Anyway, back to the review...***

Q does a good job creating a distinct voice for each character - particularly for Sister Maeve and for Mr. Vernon.

As each character interacts and the web that binds them all is revealed, the story shows its big heart. I feel like if I say more, I'll reveal too much, so I will leave it at this - Love May Fail is a worthwhile read.

Stillhouse Lake

I didn't originally intend to give Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine a standalone review. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the book all along, I just wasn't blown away. And then I got to the final third of the book and what had been an enjoyable thriller turned into a fast-paced, can't-put-it-down pile of awesome.

Rachel Caine has a great series on her hands here, if she can sustain the pace. I'm not sure how I haven't heard of her before; it appears she's written a number of books, mostly series, so that bodes well for this one.

Gina Royal thought she had the perfect life. A fulfilled stay-at-home mom to 2 young children, she had no idea that her loving husband Mel was secretly a serial killer using the converted family garage to play out his grotesque fantasies. And that's where the story starts.

After Mel Royal's trial and incarceration Gina is trying to put the pieces back together living under an an assumed name with her children, constantly on the run from those who want to see her pay for ever having been foolish enough to be married to evil. She settles down as Gwen Proctor in a small community by Stillhouse Lake and slowly starts to trust those around her again. And then all hell breaks loose.

I can't wait for the next book in this series! Anyone who loves a good thriller will like this one a lot.

July TBR

Posting this a teensy bit late. I'd blame my newborn, but seeing as she's 6 months old and therefore no longer a newborn... I don't think that excuse flies anymore.

My goal this month is to finish up Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine. I don't know if I'll be posting a standalone review of this book. It's good, but in that generic thriller kind of way, you know? I am a little over halfway through with it though, so I could change my mind. I will say that it's a solid read. Excellent for summer afternoons by the pool, even if it is a little intense.

I'd also like to finish up Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner. I'm not in love with this one yet, but I'm also not very far into it yet.

I've got a couple of ARCs on my TBR list that I can't talk about yet that I will also be attempting to get to this month.

Now that summer is fully upon us and my oldest is begging to go to the pool just about every day, I expect I will be getting more and more reading time. Sadly I will also probably have less and less writing time, so look for updates to continue to be sporadic until I get this whole stay-at-home-mom-with-a-side-business-and-a-blog-that-needs-to-be-updated-thing-down.