Pretty Awesome, I Must Say!

Oh, Marty.  I had no idea.  I have always LOVED Martin Short and reading his memoir I MUST SAY: MY LIFE AS HUMBLE COMEDY LEGEND only made that love deeper.  He has never had the fame or recognition like Robin Williams or some of the other comedy greats, but he's always been right there in the group, a part of the action--just quiet, but still very much a part.  I have seen most of his movies and many of his comedy sketches.  My favorite movies are INNERSPACE and the FATHER OF THE BRIDE movies where he plays Franck.  He is just so FUNNY.  I've always said that I love the life stories of others.  I am a huge fan of the memoir--which I guess is why I'm attempting to write one of my own--and I am very happy that Martin Short willingly shared his story.  I am especially glad that I made the time to read it.  He is a kindred spirit; I just KNOW that he and I would hit it off wonderfully if we were ever to meet.

Thanks for the laughs, Marty.  Just, Thanks.

I guess I'm not a Paper Girl

I can honestly say that it was difficult to put down John Green's PAPER TOWNS.  Yes, it is a very good book and well worth reading.  John Green truly has a gift for story-telling and I, for one, am very glad that he is sharing that gift with the world.  With that being said, though, all I could think about throughout the whole of the story was LOOKING FOR ALASKA.  While there are some obvious differences between the two stories--which I won't name just in case you haven't read one or the other or both, the two are still essentially the same story.  It's almost as if Green asked himself what would LOOKING FOR ALASKA be if THIS hadn't happened--if it had gone THIS way instead of the way it did?  (Or vice versa.  I haven't looked to see which book was written first.)  That's not a problem.  It's actually quite genius because I was wondering the same thing.  If you know anything about John Green's previous books, I feel the need to remind you, then know going into PAPER TOWNS that he stays mostly faithful to his MO.  

One final thought:  I'm sick of labels such "Young Adult" literature for stories like PAPER TOWNS just because the main characters are teenagers.  I am in my mid-forties and I have enjoyed every so-called "young adult" novel I've read--especially those of John Green, Gayle Forman, and the best of them all, Stephen Chobsky's THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER.  Yes, the main characters in their stories are teenagers, but not only do I remember what it was like being a teenager, but I can also relate to the extreme emotions of the teens within these stories.  

Teenagers are NOT the only age group to FEEL with every fiber of their being, you know!

Where it all begins....

Robyn Schneider's THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING really hits close to home.  Ezra begins his story by saying that he believes everyone has or will have his/her own tragedy in his/her life--and then proceeds to tell/share his own personal tragedy.  His story, of course, interacts with others so it is not exclusive just to Ezra's own personal tragedy.  This book is powerful, yet achingly sweet and in some ways, quite smarmy simply because of the sappy "Romeo and Juliet" tragic love story.  It is one of those books where the beginning tells you everything you need to know, so if you think you're going to have a "happily ever after," you didn't read read carefully enough.

I like the book, but at the same time, I thought that some of the elements Robyn Schneider includes in the story are forced in order to get the end result she desires.  That doesn't take away from the enjoyment of reading the book; it's simply that you KNOW that something important is going to happen as a direct result of the coyotes.  I didn't expect to happen what actually happens, but it was not a surprise that something tragic happens when a coyote shows up in the yard at the end of the story.

I do highly recommend Schneider's novel.  Just know going into it that it's a tragedy, not a sweet, romantic love story that ends with "happily ever after."

I will pay more careful attention the next time I'm on a train!

I don't know which is more exhilarating for me....to guess the "who done it" before the ending of a book or NOT to guess correctly!!!!  I thought I had it right.  I really and truly thought I knew SHE "did it," but wonderfully, surprisingly, I was VERY wrong!!!  Ahaha!!!  Way to go, Paula Hawkins!  Over the past several months, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN has continually shown up in my Nook "to read" folder and in my Amazon Kindle "to read" folder as well.  It seemed that I just could not ignore or get away from this book.  Curiosity won.  And I'm glad it did.  This is a wonderful book about first impressions as well as about LIFE and how quickly life can--and quite often does--get out of control for ANYONE and EVERYONE.  I see as I look at websites for TRAIN that GONE GIRL is quite often compared to it.  I get that.  If you have read GONE GIRL, I can assure you that THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins is even more worth reading.  I love the twists and turns and reveals that happen slowly, subtlety, and always at just the right moment to keep me reading and wanting to know more about each of the various characters in the story.  This amazing story that Paula Hawkins has written takes a hard, very honest look at the difficulty each of us faces on a day-to-day basis and how we cope with those difficulties--with fore-thought and without.

I can't say enough good things about THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins.  I certainly will be looking into other books by her!!!  It is an adult novel, though, so just keep that in mind, parents, if your teens are reading it.  I would be sure to read it with them or at least stay connected with them as they read it....I'm just sayin'.

Modern Fairy Tale

CINDER by Marissa Meyer is the first in a series of 4 books (I think that's right).  I was intrigued to

read it based on the review of a friend of mine.  Sadly, I do not find that I agree with her glowing review.  I liked the story okay, but not enough to encourage others to read the book and read it NOW.  If you like fairy tales and enjoy modern variations of classic fairy tales, you will probably like CINDER.  It's not bad.  I certainly don't hate the book.  I just don't LOVE it, either.  I can honestly say that it is GOOD.  But I trudged through it.  I went days not reading and then when I did have time to read, I kept looking for something else to read instead.  Of course I kept going back to CINDER not just because I like to finish books that I start, but also because it is interesting enough that I wanted to finish reading it--eventually.  I wish I could say that it's amazing and that I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.  I really do.  It certainly is a great idea that Marissa had with traditional fairy tales.  I don't want Marissa to be offended by what I have to say about her book, but I'm afraid that I just can't say that it's WONDERFUL.....Sorry!