Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

No doubt the Russian bots over in Europe are well-versed in my constantly-touted Top Five Fave List, because it is so coveted and all, and due to my tremendous pull in the literary world. 🙄 But I have decided to permanently name it the Phenomenal Phive, and it exists only in my mind. Rather than being an ever-rotating tabulation, I envision my list like slots waiting to be filled. And although I read, on average, 30 books a year, and I award a lot of five stars on Goodreads for the simple fact that I am able to appreciate most everything I read, only a handful of books have ever really given me all the feels; and that is what makes a phenomenal book. Ghosted by Rosie Walsh is, in a word, phenomenal. Fortunately, I have a lot of other words to use to describe this incredible, beautifully-crafted story with multi-layered, heart-breakingly complicated characters. Where Heart's Invisible Furies fell flat in the drama of missed opportunities; and reminiscent of what made The Woman in the Window utterly heartbreaking, Ghosted absolutely shines and takes its rightful place among phenomenal books.

Sarah Mackey is a trans-Atlantic mover-and-shaker who has convinced herself that she is happy. A chance meeting on a particularly challenging day and suddenly Sarah is certain her happiness lies in Eddie David, a large, handsome, charming man tending to a stray sheep. After a whirlwind week together, they part ways and he says he'll call. Only he doesn't. And seems to disappear altogether. But Sarah is convinced it is more than just a simple change of mind. What follows is a heart-twisting tale packed with romance, mystery, drama, heartbreak, love, loyalty, desire, and betrayal set against a backdrop of beautifully-engineered imagery. The writing is exquisite, packed with such standard, though powerful, details that give the book wings, and sparkle, and flavor, and to read it is to feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest. Ghosted made my heart race, made me yearn for the unanswered questions, made me laugh out loud, and moved me to tears. This is an extraordinary book that is - according to the Goodreads reviews - not given its proper due, which is truly unfortunate. The basic premise - the infamous guy who never calls - is so much deeper and more poignant that what the book jacket suggests, which is perhaps why this book does not meet certain readers' expectations. But, wow. Just, wow. This book is absolutely stunning and is one of those I wish I could give a million stars to.

But with every book I find absolutely phenomenal, there are reviews of it that I absolutely do not understand. Case in point, the reviews of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things truly make me angry. Some reviewers thought Ghosted to be, "blah," but this book is a wonderful example of the importance of reading every single word; the "Eddie" section alone is pure romantic torture. I hope people read this book and see the life in it; see the joy and sorrow that is burdened on every person who walks this earth, and how some feel that their mere existence is a cause for pain. And I hope people read this book and see the power, and love, and new life that can suddenly be sprung on us at any moment. This is definitely a book that could be read in a weekend and you might need a handkerchief come the final chapter. But, wow, is it a tremendous book and I happily award it a slot on the Phenomenal Phive.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad is an interesting novel to critique. On the one hand, it's a maudlin, bleak, tragedy, peppered with moments of hope, but ultimately bringing into question the nature of humanity, and a pessimistic semblance of meaning as to why we subject each other to such pain and ambivalence. But on the other hand, those grains of hope and perseverance are what propels the story forward, and that which places Cora on a pedestal next to Hermione Granger-Weasley (I figure she'd be progressive like that).

Banking on expecting the unexpected, Whitehead weaves a startling tale of slavery in America, leaving the reader never knowing if what follows is extreme pain or intense salvation, which is, at it's root, the dormant-come-active volcano of the suppressed. Though in a halting yet poetic prose, Whitehead re-creates a vivid world that can at once, by the educated mind, find parallels to the Native American's plight with the Colonists, to Nazi Occupation, and even so far as the social injustices we experience and witness in present day, rendering this novel a truly timeless tome.

Though widely praised - I first heard about it during the patented-15-second segment on the Today Show - I can understand why some would find this novel depressing and dull, and otherwise confusedly written. Being the first of Whitehead's for me to read, I just assumed this his style, thus reading his words with a slow fluidity. The downside of this, however, was that I couldn't blaze through it like a page-turner, but found myself setting it down every few pages in order to digest the enormity of what I had just read. Even with his vague imagery and lack of direct character interactions, the impact of his story was not lost on me, which - I'm assuming - is the point.

What struck me the most while reading this book was how shockingly familiar it all was, leaving me to really contemplate the illusion of the world we live in, which is why I am of the former opinion, that The Underground Railroad is on par with such classics as To Kill A Mockingbird, Black Like Me (though I didn't enjoy that nearly as much), and Invisible Man. Cora, though unexpectedly, is a real, true hero; a woman of gumption, courage, and though it tries to be beaten from her, a strong sense of self-worth. I applaud and appreciate Whitehead for creating such a character - and female at that - of whom I would be proud to know.

Doctor Sleep

Everything of pop culture that I enjoy has inevitably come directly from from pop-culture and Stephen King's The Shining was no different. I started watching Melrose Place on DVD in my mid-twenties after the iconic Seinfeld episode, and I decided to read The Shining after it was the only book Friends' Joey Tribiani would actually read (I tried to read Little Women too, but that didn't work out so well).

Almost ten years later and thoughts of The Shining still give me the creeps. I can't remember anything other than the general plot-line, and the movie forever tarnished the book for me as a "good one," but I still think it is a must-read. I didn't know King was releasing a sequel until about a week before, and while I've never been excited about a book release (Harry Potter doesn't count, of course), the news of this made me excited in the way you are to go on roller coasters. I didn't remember most of The Shining and that was written over 30 years ago; only God and Mr. King knew what could possibly be in...Doctor Sleep.

Danny, being too smart and too experienced for his young age with a mother who was too naive and too inexperienced for her age, didn't have the best childhood. His horrific history in Colorado combined with a family history of alcoholism didn't line him up for the best of opportunities, either. Running from town-to-town, bottle-to-bottle, the now-middle-aged Dan searches for a place he can call home. Far-removed from the horrors of Colorado, in a small, Norman-Rockwell, New-England town, Dan begins to make a life for himself that just happens to include being able to do the same....uh....tricks he was able to do when he was younger. Only now he's not alone.

A young girl with talents similar to Danny is wanted by sub-human, literal soul-suckers (there are a lot of those in Colorado) and the only person who can really help her is Dan. This, of course, means facing evils he's spent his entire life running from and drowning in liquor. But the question isn't if he'll save her but how.

Given that King isn't the first author on my reading list, his books are always a bit of a surprise. I don't remember what I was expecting from The Shining, but there are parts of it that I still don't understand. Ten years and a lot of read-books later and what I expected from Doctor Sleep was not to understand everything. Probably the biggest thing I don't understand with authors like King, Martin, and Tolkien is the extent of their imagination and the expert way they are able to weave together stories to make one fantastic tapestry of story-telling. So many times I had to put Doctor Sleep down so my heart could quit racing and let my brain digest everything. Reading like part diary, part novel, part AA pamphlet, King's latest scare-fest is something you can't put down and could conceivably finish in a weekend if you're ambitious.

I'm not a fan of being scared. I've hated Halloween most of my life, and horror movies have grown largely distasteful after they turned into the exploitation of the worst of the human race instead of creating monsters that could never actually exist. King expertly delivers both. Doctor Sleep creates the monsters from under your bed but has them prey on the fears and evils of the human condition. And I'm not sure about King's other books, but in this read, one bad-ass literary hero emerges and that is always a bonus.

Abra Stone is the only other person in the world who knows what it's like to be Daniel Torrance. Plagued by the same...shining...we go along for the ride as she is born, lives, "meets" Dan, and battles to keep her life from ending before hitting her teens. And all the while I'm reading her journey, my friend's question of If You Could Be Any Female Character from a Book, Who Would You Be? kept running through my mind. While I don't think I'd change my answer from Hermione to Abra, I think they are one in the same: problem-solvers, smart, brave, kind, true, and strong. But of course Hermione still wins because she ends up married to Ron Weasely in the end.

Other Doctor Sleep reviews prohibit reading The Shining first, obviously mistaking it for the Robert Langdon trilogy of Dan Brown, a case in which I adamantly suggest reading The DaVinci Code before Angels and Demons as the latter will literally give you nightmares. But I think reading The Shining first is imperative to really understanding Dan, how Abra and him are so inexplicably linked, how they're able to fight the ultimate fight, and in being able to comprehend the importance of certain characters who only make small appearances but huge impacts to the story.

Doctor Sleep truly is a remarkable story and King is nothing short of a miraculous storyteller. Weaving factual information with personal experience and the ultimate imagination results in a book you sort of float through; you're not consciously aware of picking up the book and reading but all of a sudden you're on page 400. If there is one thing that plagues me, it is that there is one main question left, if not unanswered, largely assumed. Given it took 30 years for the sequel, I highly doubt a third book to accompany The Shining, so that can't be the reason, in which case I will assume what I can only assume the author wanted me to assume.

That point aside, Doctor Sleep is definitely worth a haul in your tote and highly recommended. Score another one for pop culture!

 

(The creepy starts about page 4 but the cover gets things going well enough.)

Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay was one of the first books I read this year, and I think I waited so long to review it because I have absolutely no idea where to begin.

To say this series blew me a way is an understatement. And don't even get me started on how it's classified as a YOUNG ADULT series. I mean, seriously?!

I'm ashamed to admit that I actually forgot I hadn't finished the Hunger Games series until something unmemorable triggered my mom-brain memory (as in, I have none), and Mer gasped and said, "You still haven't read that?! I'm bringing my book over right now so you can finish it. The third is absolutely my favorite." And she wasn't wrong; in my book of books, the final installment of the Hunger Games was absolutely the best, most worth the effort, and second easiest to plow through behind the first. Finally, everything I had hoped for in the first and expected in the second, was finally happening in the third.

Completely unaware of the goings-on behind the scenes, Katniss miraculously escapes her second Hunger Games on the side of the "good guys." Or did she...? Peeta has been captured by the Capitol to be used as a pawn in these larger-than-the-Hunger-Games games, and Gale is weird and distant, a far cry from the one person she could count on and trust. Expecting and motivated to hit the front lines of the now-emerged civil war, Katniss' role in the unrest is largely trophy-ish, a symbol used by the rebels to remember what they're fighting for. As the reader, I had hoped for more scenes from the fighting but that doesn't mean everything Katniss was up to wasn't heart-palpitating and breath-taking and, well, game-changing.

Reading this reminded me a lot of what Mer said about Game of Thrones; the good guys are the bad guys, the bad guys are the good guys, and you never know which is which, even as the story nears a dramatic and horrifying end. If nothing else, this story shines a bright light on the inter workings of war, the evil that is at the heart, and the coming together of people who believe they deserve better for themselves. And, if nothing else, provides a clear warning message for our future.

In general, stories of the post-apocalyptic nature provide us with a waning self-assurance of, that will never happen to us/our country/our world. But I firmly believe the Hunger Games provides more of a foreshadowing then we care to admit, taking into account the large consumption of reality TV we can't steer clear of, and the large degree of human suffering we find it easy to turn our heads away from. The way our current media sensationalizes every gruesome crime is the major foundation to our own Hunger Games, I just hope we never start to fear our power-hungry government more than we hate them.

Game of Thrones

*mouth hangs agape* I'll begin by saying that I have no idea where to begin.

As I've mentioned before, I'm late to the party in terms of pop culture phenomenon, so, naturally, I've only vaguely heard of some show called Game of Thrones on HBO, a channel I'm not even close to getting. At least when I was a kid, it sort of, fuzzily came through on one of the triple digit channels. I was also vaguely aware that the show had originated from a book, as most good movies and television shows do, this one by George R.R. Martin, specifically.

Earlier this year, my friend began posting on her Facebook how amazing the books were and how closely they followed them in creating the TV show. As she is a virtual Drink Wine and Gossip book club member, my interest was instantly piqued. The only difference was that she had seen the show and I had not, so I was going in completely unawares.

Like I said, I don't even know where to begin. I couldn't begin to tell you character or city names, or story lines that I enjoyed, that repulsed me - ok, Dany eating the stallions heart is up there - that stuck with me, or even how I really felt about it all. That's the thing with Game of Thrones; it's as if the book must be felt as opposed to read and processed. And I'll be honest - I'm totally addicted.

For one, the chapters aren't numbered, but rather labeled with a different character name, thus either consciously or subconsciously causing the reader to become fully absorbed rather than keep count. Which - let's be honest - is a feat in and of itself. Reading this book feels second to reading the Bible, which I only got to the apple part. There again, the feeling is the most important part.

Second, since each chapter is labeled with a different character's name, we're transported to a different world and unfolding drama, with different players, different follies, but all immensely interesting and fascinated. To say that Martin is the true epitome of fantasy is a great understatement. I often find myself marveling at the sheer level of his imagination. And my friend guessed he must have maps hung up everywhere in order to keep track of where everyone lives, comes, goes, was born, dies, rules, makes offspring, etc.

The gore is not of personal taste but I'm able to compartmentalize it that it goes with the times, and that it doesn't actual exist in the first place, as there really aren't wild wood people who hunt mortals and turn them mad. Ok, maybe in the South.

All I can say is that there are many fantastically good reasons why this book - and the others in the series that follow it - are on NPR's must-read list, as well as a few others, I'm sure. It, did, after all give me Book Hand (hand-cramp from holding books). I can't explain it. You just have to pick it up and figure it out for yourself.

Catching Fire

Like the proverbial train-wreck, Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy is one in which I cannot look away. I'm not a big fan of series-books in general and I've never liked to read one after the other; but wait too long and I've forgotten the characters and plot. So a few books after completing The Hunger Games, I found I just couldn't take it any longer, I had to know what happened after Katniss and Peeta kicked ass in the Games.

I'm not sure what I had expected, and I should have seen it coming, but the deeper I get into the story, the more appalling I find it. And it's for young adult which, for me, meant The Baby-Sitter's Club. However, I am managing to find solace in the fact that if this were for mature audience the violence and gore would be off the charts. *sigh*

Although the Tributes are mere pawns for the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta took things into their own hands and decided between them who would be the victor of the Hunger Games - both or neither. The Capitol chose to look foolish with two victors rather than look even more foolish no victors to then parade on the Victory Tour.

As if the Games weren't horrible enough, as the victors, Katniss and Peeta must now visit each District on a Victory Tour, a sort of sick parade of pseudo-gloating as to why their children are no longer alive. And as they make their way from District to District it becomes startlingly obvious people are most displeased, but not because of Katniss and Peeta.

The token of luck given to her before entering the arena has now become like the bat signal, the picture in which you know who you are speaking with can be trusted. Rumblings of a revolution are spreading like a smoldering fire and the Capitol blames Katniss. Now it is her duty to prove her final act in the arena was done out of head-over-heels, desperate-for-each-other love, and not as means to spark an over-throw of the government. Her family threatened, she is once again sent into the arena, proof she has been unsuccessful in her endeavor.

With one goal in mine, she quickly learns her opponents have a different agenda altogether. Like the first, I was hopeful everyone would drop into the arena and unanimously decide to not participate. But then I realized since the Capitol has been known to wipe out contestants in the blink of an eye out of sheer boredom, violent deaths were going to happen any way you sliced it.

Locked inside the arena, Katniss is unaware of the events unfolding in the "real world," as are we, until Katniss makes a split-second decision that changes everything.

Katniss is back, better than ever, and more precariously walking the line between not becoming the Capitol's pawn and keeping her family safe. But now things have spiraled out of control so our once keep-to-herself character must now look her enemies in the eye.

The shining spot to this trilogy being classified as Young Adult is that it undermines previous heroines who were thrust upon us simply because the story was good (I'm looking at you, Twilight). Katniss teaches even the most mature reader to always be kind to others, and that taking care of our loved ones far surpasses anything else.

And, for me, it's about damn time the Capitol recognize.

Fifty Shades of Grey (and pink, and red, and maroon...)

Unless you live under the rock I do, Fifty Shades of Grey is only something you sort-of remember your coworker talking about. My friend, Mer, had found a write-up about it somewhere online and jokingly suggested it be our next book-club book. So it was suggested, so it shall be done, as she more seriously suggested it after our wine-fueled conversation inevitably turned to butt-sex.

For dinosaurs like myself, we had to wait until the beginning of April for the release, but those with e-readers could download it early. By the time I received my copy (the afternoon of its release), one book-clubber was already into the second book of the trilogy. Yes, that's correct, this appropriately-dubbed "mommy porn" (although anyone would appreciate it) is three-books long, and they're of pretty hefty size; long enough for the really weird stuff to come out.

Unlike everything else I've read about Fifty Shades of Grey, this won't include spoilers of the second and third books. Simple reason for that: I haven't read them. This also won't include a fawning over of Christian Grey. I get it, but that's not what floats my boat at the moment.

See, Christian Grey is an extremely successful, young, and even more beautiful entrepreneur. As the reader, I wasn't too sure exactly what his job was, then again that's why they award special business degrees, and not to me. But his work seems to take a back seat as he becomes more infatuated and obsessed with Anastasia Steele, recent English literature grad. But he does it in such a charismatic, charming, knock-your-socks-off romantic way that you can't but help but want to bend over so he can shove a cane up your ass.

They embark on a heavily emotional and physical relationship that ends up testing both Christina and Ana's "hard and soft" limits. Listening to the author, E.L. James, speak on the creation of her bestseller, I realized I read too much into the story. Then again, I saw so much of me and relationships I've been in throughout the book that it was difficult not the take the story as a giant metaphor for what people have been doing for centuries: being masochistic. Who hasn't been with someone we knew in our heart was going to hurt us but didn't care because the in-the-moments were amazing?

When you read it - because you do have to read it; I'm even shipping it to a friend of mine - I think it will be easy to draw parallels to your own, what you thought, was a mundane life. Besides the sex scenes - which romance novels a la Fabio cannot even compare - most everything in the story is relateable in some way, which is why I think it is so popular. The sex is just the icing on the cake, but extra special because it teaches women that exploring their sexuality and what makes them feel good is perfectly ok, should be expected, and can be a turn-on in and of itself. But my absolute favorite part about the book is the discussions it has spawned; you've made an instant BFF if the stranger next to you on the bus has read it also.

I absolutely cannot wait for book club this month! :-)

The Girl Who Played with Fire

If you're anything like me, you needed to be forced into reading the book following The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I told a friend of mine how that book put me on antidepressants, but she was adamant that I at least read what happens next to our near friend, Lisbeth Salander. In exchange, she read Marley and Me, a book that could have very well put her on antidepressants. As you would imagine, we both loved our respective reads, but for very different reasons (one of them being that her story stared a cute, lovable, cuddly pooch).

When I finished the introductory book, I mistakenly read the book-number-two special insert located in the back, the 2-3 pages that is supposed to entice you to buy the next book, then ultimately contribute to the franchise with books, movies, posters, CD's, clothing, etc. But, for me, reading about Lisbeth being strapped to her bed while a creepy doctor enters her padded cell and talks to her like their situations should be reversed had the complete opposite effect on me. So I stocked up on pills, made a deal with my friend, and off I went.

I came to find out that particular scene took place when she was 12-13 years old, which only makes it that much more uncomfortable and sleazy. This was just after "All the Evil" that we learned about in the first book but would now come to know, despite every effort. Surprisingly, however, it is Lisbeth that is the one interested in revealing the truth.

Once again, we join up with out friend, Mikael Blomkvist, resident hero of a self-described non-influential monthly financial magazine, who has become somewhat of a celebrity in the publishing and financial world, ultimately taking down the man who had him convicted of libel. Now, he is presented with a story exposing the world of sex trafficking that is lead by some of Sweden's most influential politicians, lawyers, policemen, and various other would-be stand-up citizens. But just as the story is about to g viral, the author and his partner are murdered, and it's none other than our heroin, Lisbeth, that is the prime suspect. While only us readers know what her motive would have been, her fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, which was also used to murder her guardian on the same night.

As you read, it becomes more and more difficult to believe Salandar isn't guilty, but you're at least empathetic and simply want to learn why she did it; she doesn't usually take a shit without having a really good reason, and donning her Irene Nesner wig. Although Blomkvist heads up the morality police, he stands by Salandar and is convinced of her innocence, launching his own private investigation in to what happened and, more importantly, why. Since he has more insider information than the police, he's able to privately interact with fugitive Salandar, and learn that the police are hindering the very investigation they head, and that the story delves much deeper than the imminent exposure of the sex trade. In fact, it started just before Salandar turned 13 years old.

We know Salandar didn't have the greatest of childhoods, floating from foster family to foster family, in and out of psych wards, abused, neglected, passed around, then spit out by the justice system. As Blomkvist uncovers secret after secret, he plunges deeper into Salandar's life than he had intended, learning the very mobster they're looking for is someone very close to Lisbeth. And, finally, he delivers to us "All the Evil."

I made a deal with myself not to read this book as it approached bed time, but then I found I couldn't put it down. I even admitted to my friend that I really found it interesting (she, in turn, admitted she did love Marley and Me even though she was in hysterics by the end) and that I wouldn't need to be literary blackmailed into reading the third installment. Coincidentally, she said it was her favorite and is interested to know my thoughts.

Although we know Lisbeth Salandar did not murder her guardian or the journalists, she is now subjected to revealing her role in the triple murders, which will ultimately tell her story from the beginning, and wrap up the three-book series quite nicely. The Girl Who Played with Fire left us desperately wanting more, Salandar barely clinging on to life.....