Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
I was recently given an entire sack of Jodi Picoult books to read. I think I've gone through 4 or 5 of them so far, the most recent being Vanishing Acts.
After reading several Picoult novels, I've discovered that her novels follow a formula. Most of them are written where the different chapters are the different characters telling their stories as they go. There are positives and negatives to this style of writing. A positive being that it allows you to see things through all of the main characters' eyes and get multiple viewpoints on the situations happening in the story. However, a big negative for me in reading several books written in this style is that it tends to get old book after book after book.
That being said, I did enjoy Vanishing Acts moreso than some of the others I've read (i.e. Change of Heart and Picture Perfect), It's essentially the story of Delia Hopkins, a 32 year old woman who finds out that she was kidnapped by her father at the age of 4 and moved from Arizona to New Hampshire in order to escape her alcoholic mother and various other bad influences in her life. She hires her fiance, who is conveniently and coincidentally also an alcoholic and a lawyer, to represent her father in his trial and she struggles with her anger toward her father for letting her believe her mother has been dead for 28 years, and her anger toward her mother for being an alcoholic and forcing her father's hand.
The book was entertaining, but not amazing. I tend to judge books based on how I feel when I finish. With Vanishing Acts i felt no sense of grief...no sadness knowing the book was over, which lets me know this one wasn't at the top of my best read list. It was a fairly predictable outcome and, like most other Picoult novels, had a big twist at the end that was supposed to be shocking but in the end didn't really come as much of a surprise.
And a note to the men out there: Jodi Picoult's novels are most definitely "chick books," aka the equivalent of a "chick flick." Therefore, you have been warned.
Book Rating: C+/B-
When You Are Engulfed In Flames
When You Are Engulfed in Flames is the fourth book I've read by David Sedaris, and although I'm in the minority of most reviewers, this book is arguably one of, if not my favorite. Sedaris is an author of memoirs; stories about his life that are "mostly" true. Each chapter is a different story...a different moment in his life put to paper in a comedic fashion.
Flames tends to be devoted more to his adult life than his previous novels. There are more stories about his relationship with his longtime partner, Hugh and their life in France than in any of his previous books, while his other books focused more on his dysfunctional childhood family life. While I enjoy those stories, I also enjoy the stories of David as an adult dealing with day to day relationship issues with his boyfriend...or the story about fighting a war with the evil birds who attack his apartment every day at the same time...or the story about moving to Japan to quit smoking and miserably failing Japanese language classes.
While I don't think David Sedaris is my favorite memoirist (if that's even a word), I always find his books entertaining and humorous. Even if the stories aren't 100% true, (and come on...who COULD remember every event in that great detail?) his books always keep me coming back for more.
Book Rating: B