All posts tagged: fiction

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak

Quick, Quirky, and Quiet

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As someone who didn’t watch “The Office” (I know, shame on me), I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, I just wanted it to be funny. And it was! I found myself chuckling out loud a couple of times, causing my husband to inquire about what I was reading (and then adding it to his own TBR pile). Full of humor and insight on the absurdity of life, these stories vary in length and subject. Most are relatively short, making this a super quick read that I was able to finish in under 24 hours. A couple of my favorite stories: when an elderly man makes it to heaven and can’t wait to reunite with his grandmother… and her reaction isn’t what he expects; when a Frosted Flakes-prize winner sets out to claim his winnings only to uncover a big secret; and a man who wears a red t-shirt every day in hopes of finding female companions. A collection of stories that find humor in both the ordinary and the extreme, they also quietly …

April Book

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Images ©Knopf Doubleday In the mood for a good laugh after last month’s read? Phew! Us too. So, in honor of April (the month of foolish pranks) we’re reading One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak; “the wonderfully cockeyed, consistently hilarious debut.” You probably recognize the name B.J. Novak. He’s a writer and actor widely known for his work on the acclaimed comedy series “The Office” as an actor, writer, and executive producer. Now, Novak is expanding his scope beyond the walls of Dunder Mifflin. In One More Thing he takes on a range of human experience in this quirky new story collection.   “Finding inspiration in questions from the nature of perfection to the icing on carrot cake, One More Thing has at its heart the most human of phenomena: love, fear, hope, ambition, and the inner stirring for the one elusive element just that might make a person complete.”   Published in 2014, Novak’s One More Thing joins a growing list of celebrated books published by comedic actors/writers (Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Tina Fey, etc.). Although unlike others who have written autobiographical …

Mending a Broken Heart

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This book broke my heart over and over again. My heart broke for Eleanor, for Park, for Eleanor and Park. I was completely shattered. I was preparing myself to be totally destroyed by the ending, and then… and then came the last line of the book and I was lifted. I know Rowell was purposely vague and I am sure there are those who did not read the ending as positively as I did. But I am the eternal optimist, I’m hopeful, and I’m always searching for happy endings. So I am choosing to believe that those three words on the postcard were “I love you,” because if they weren’t, I would just simply be crushed. I know other Bookly Clubbers disagree, but I adored this book. I felt so strongly for, related to, and identified with both Eleanor and Park on so many levels that I couldn’t help but love the story. I remember being a teenager, and even a young adult to a certain extent, and wondering how it was that so-and-so felt the way they did. I also remember, like Park, feeling simultaneously protective of …

All the Feels

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Confession: I read this book months ago. While details of the story might be fuzzy, how I felt about it isn’t. I devoured this book, so consumed by the relationship of Eleanor and Park that I stayed up into the wee hours, finishing it in a couple of days. I recommended it to anyone who hadn’t already been charmed by the quirky characters and the innocence of first love. This is why I love books; how it resonates – or doesn’t – with the reader varies from person to person. It’s dependent on their life experiences, who they are, what they believe, what makes them feel. For Katie C., this book didn’t resonate, a totally legitimate reaction. But for me, it took hold within the first few pages. I was what some might call a late bloomer. I didn’t have my first kiss until I was 16, my first boyfriend until 17. This kind of young love that bonded Eleanor and Park is something I’m unfamiliar with. And that might be the reason it fascinated …

Just not that into… this book

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This was the first Rainbow Rowell book I’ve read. But I’ve been hearing a lot about her recently. Similar to John Green, I feel like her books have found sudden popularity in the YA world. So with all the hype, especially surrounding Eleanor & Park, I was definitely excited to read this one. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of YA books. Well, let me explain. A book like this is not typically my first choice, but when I have read YA books I’ve really enjoyed them. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve read all the Hunger Games, Twilight and Divergent series, and loved each and every one of them. Anyway, I didn’t have SUPER high expectations for Eleanor & Park, but I did expect to enjoy it… unfortunately, I was wrong. Maybe it’s because I didn’t fall in love until I was in my 20’s, or maybe because I never had a high school relationship, or because by the time I was 18 I’d moved six times and never quite experienced a typical adolescence, but I couldn’t …

February Book

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Image © Haiku Deck We’ve come full circle! This is our last book of 2015/2016 before we start anew in March. If you’ve been with us since the beginning you’ll recall that we first launched Bookly in March 2015 with Still Alice as part of our Screenplay theme in honor of Hollywood’s awards season. For February, the month of Valentine’s Day, we’ll be reading a love story… … Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. Although many are now familiar with Rowell’s name, and her books (Fangirl, Attachments and Landline), this was her first young adult novel. Published in 2013, Eleanor & Park follows these two protagonists from Omaha, Nebraska as they fall in love in the late 1980’s. At the young, innocent age of sixteen Eleanor and Park build a connection over mix tapes and comic books, and find themselves in the dramatic world of young love. And since this book has such a strong emphasis on music we’ve brought back our Bookly playlist this month. So during your reading sessions, take a listen to the Bookly {February} “mix tape” on Spotify: …

Underwhelmed

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When I read Katie C.’s review last week, I immediately texted the other Bookly Clubbers and said “uh oh, my review is going to look a lot like yours!” I started Tell the Wolves I’m Home on November 10. I didn’t finish until yesterday, which for me is a very long read. Usually, I pick up a book and in a few sittings over the course of 3-4 days, I’m done. I just couldn’t get into this one. Don’t get me wrong, Brunt’s style is enjoyable, the characters were well-developed, and the idea of the book, the story, was touching and I should have love it. However, I didn’t. I wanted to be on June’s side, but I couldn’t relate to her – even when I put myself back in my 14-year-old shoes, I didn’t feel a connection to her. Her relationship with Greta was fascinating, but Greta herself made me so angry. I think if I had understood Greta’s point of view better, if she had narrated for a bit or we got to “read her …

November Book

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Image © Our City Lights And so the holiday season officially begins (or at least for those of you who don’t count Halloween)! This month the family events begin starting with the loud, turkey-roasting, over-served event that is Thanksgiving dinner. Along with this deliciously gluttonous meal comes a fair amount of family dramatics (good, bad and ugly alike). So it only seemed fair that our theme for November should be {Family Feud}. A great story about a lovable (or not) dysfunctional family. And so, we’ve selected Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt; “a tender story of love lost and found, an unforgettable portrait of the way compassion can make us whole again.” This debut novel was published in 2012 to rave reviews and quickly became a New York Times Bestseller. Set in 1987, the story follows the life of 14-year-old June Elbus. She lives in Westchester and struggles with feelings for her gay uncle who is dying of AIDS. Brunt says the inspiration for this novel came from the idea of an uncle painting a portrait of …

What You Say Can Never Be Exact

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I am right on board with Katherine C. – I think this is one of my, possibly my absolute, favorite of the books we’ve read so far. I think my favorite part of the book was the way the narrative unfolded. It was like reading the way we actually think – the story opening up a little at a time, swaying from past to present to fact to feeling. Once I read the Historical Notes, I understood the perspective of the story more clearly, and I thought back to something I read earlier in the book. It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too many parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances; too many gestures, which could mean this or that, too many shapes which can never be fully described, too many flavors, in the air or on the tongue, half-colors, too many. It’s interesting to then think back on the story and think of all the …

A Peaceful End

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Of all the books we’ve read so far, I think this one is by far my favorite. I loved the premiss, the storyline, the writing style, and the ending. I’d never read anything by Margaret Atwood before, but The Handmaid’s Tale definitely makes me want to pick up a few more of her books. One thing I love is Atwood’s insistence that the story is not science fiction. Yes, it’s fiction, but she says everything that happens in her novels is possible and/or may even have already happened. This perspective really added to the experience of this story. As I was reading, every time I would think how crazy the lives were that these characters were leading, I’d think back to real-world scenarios where mass-brainwashing has caused similar or more significant atrocities (the holocaust, public stoning of women, child labor, etc). It makes the themes and events in Offred’s story that much more powerful and relevant. It read to me like a lot more than just a women’s story. “Maybe none of this is about control. Maybe it isn’t really …