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#BestsellerCode100: A Reader’s Review of The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

01/10/2019 / / 0 Comments

Let’s look at our next novel from The Bestseller Code 100 list, The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, from a reader’s perspective.

For a summary of The Art of Fielding, please check out its introductory post.

This post contains spoilers.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach


(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Literary Fiction

The Art of Fielding is our second book in a row from the Literary Fiction genre, but it couldn’t be more different from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.   Whereas Extremely Loud felt disjointed, confused, even haphazard in its presentation, The Art of Fielding led me on a journey of human emotions almost seamlessly, flowing easily from one chapter to the next.  Instead of feeling as though I was being dragged through the author’s artistic journey without a road map, as was the case with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Art of Fielding led me slowly but surely along the intended path, picking up the author’s breadcrumbs (foreshadowing) and never panicking that I was lost or had missed some vital direction sign.  And on top of that, it was a very satisfying journey.

Henry’s Collapse

Henry’s sole reason for being is to be the best shortstop ever, just like his idol St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Aparicio Rodriquez, who wrote a treatise on playing shortstop, The Art of Fielding. Henry has read this book so many times, he knows it by heart and often refers to its nuggets of baseball (life) truisms.

 3.  There are three stages:  Thoughtless being.  Thought.  Return to thoughtless being.

33.  Do not confuse the first and third stages.  Thoughtless being is attained by everyone, the return to thoughtless being by a very few.

Unfortunately, after Henry throws an errant ball that injures his friend and roommate, Owen, he begins second guessing himself, double-clutching throws.  Each error brings on even more self-doubt, until it seems impossible to break the cycle.  Henry then falls into a downward spiral.  If he no longer can see himself as the best shortstop he can be, then what is he?  Who is he?  Henry = Shortstop = Henry  is no longer a valid equation and he has nothing to replace that identity.  Having seen this happen to loved ones in real life – the loss of a career leading to a loss of identity – I found his ensuing depression heartbreaking and believable.

Debut Novels

We’ve read a surprising number of debut novels in this reading challenge, which should be heartening to any wanna be author – you too can hit a home run with your first novel and reach beyond the outfield fence – in this case, the New York Times Bestseller List.  All it takes is a great set of characters, a mix of  human emotions (love, betrayal, fear of growing old), and a relatable setting, such as the backdrop of a college baseball diamond (or a race track {The Art of Racing} or a waterfront condo in Chicago {The Silent Wife} or a town like Mill River Vermont {The Mill River Recluse}).  Isn’t that encouraging?

What’s most encouraging to me as a reader is that I finally really enjoyed a Literary Fiction novel from this challenge.  I hope that, as we get closer and closer to the best books at the end of this list, that there will be more glittering diamonds like The Art of Fielding.

Have you read The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 50. The Martian by Andy Weir (2011) – Discussion begins January 14, 2019
Science Fiction

#BestsellerCode100: A Reader’s Review of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

01/02/2019 / / 0 Comments

Let’s look at Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer from a reader’s perspective.

For a summary of Extremely Loud, please check out its introductory post.

This post contains spoilers.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

In 2016 I heard a radio interview of Jonathan Safran Foer, who was promoting his newly released book, Here I Am. The interview was interesting enough that I added Here I Am to my “must read” list.  This past December I noticed the book on the “new releases” shelf at my local library, so I brought it home, only to discover that it was written by the same author as our next book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  How serendipitous, I thought.  Not wanting to confuse myself by reading two books by the same author at the same time, I set aside Here I Am to read later and began reading our book selection.

I really wanted to love this book.  I liked the main character, Oskar.  I enjoyed his story line, his search for his lost father in New York City, even though I didn’t find it very believable that Oskar’s mother would allow him to roam NYC on his own.  After all, he is only nine.  But, for the sake of the story, I was willing to suspend that disbelief and keep reading.  As Roberta revealed in her Writer’s Review, it turns out that Oskar’s mom does know what he is doing and has surreptitiously arranged it so that Oskar is safe the whole time.  Both Oskar and the reader have been played.

Visual Cleverness

Roberta also mentioned the “clever” ways that Foer plays with the text and design throughout the book.  Oskar’s sections have their own idiosyncrasies, but the chapters that tell the stories of his grandmother and grandfather really go over the top, to the point where I found them almost unintelligible.  I’m sure the author had some lofty goals, some way these visual cues would lead us to a deeper understanding of the story, but they were completely lost on me.  I came away with only a vague understanding of his grandparent’s and their relationship, and mostly felt frustrated and cheated.

As an example, here’s a section from one of Oskar’s grandfather’s chapters (Why I’m Not Where You Are 5/21/63):

Jonathan-Safran-Foer

The entire chapter runs on this way, with no paragraph breaks and very few periods to mark the end of sentences.  I cringed every time I had to read the grandfather sections.

When I first finished reading Extremely Loud last week, I came away with a feeling of actually liking the book.  I felt it was the first Literary Fiction novel we’ve read in this challenge where I liked the story line, liked the characters, liked the outcome.  Now, a week later, I realize that that was all an illusion.  The story quickly faded in my mind and left me with more questions than answers.

I have not seen the movie that was made from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I have to wonder how the producers and screenwriters handled all these text and design “innovations” on the big screen.  Would I perhaps understand the story better by seeing the movie?

The Importance of Genre

Unfortunately, now I likely will not read Here I Am.  If Extremely Loud is indicative of this author’s writing style, I don’t need to waste more of my precious reading time.  And once again, I’m reminded of the importance of genre.  A bestseller list encompasses so many genres that one individual is never going to like every book on that list, no matter how popular it was to other readers.  Hopefully somewhere in this Reading Challenge I’ll find a Literary Fiction novel that I really and truly enjoy.

Have you read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 51. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (2011) – Discussion begins December 31, 2018
Literary Fiction

#BestsellerCode100: Reader’s Review of Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

12/13/2018 / / 1 Comment

As we pick back up our Bestsellers List reading challenge, Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire is the first book to review.  For a summary of Beautiful Disaster, please check out its introductory post.

This post might contain spoilers.

Beautiful Disaster* by Jamie McGuire

It’s All In The Title

“Beautiful Disaster” is the perfect title for this Bad-Boy romance.  It is obvious that Abby & Travis have an immediate connection the very first time they meet.  Whether they can overcome their pasts and find their happily-ever-after future is what compels the reader to keep reading to the end of the book.

As Roberta mentioned in her Writer’s Review, within the first few pages it felt like I was back reading Fifty Shades of Grey, only with better language and a slightly more believable situation.  I say “slightly” because there were many aspects of this story I didn’t buy into – Abby and Travis remaining celibate while sleeping in the same bed for a month and Travis not getting hauled off to jail the second or third (or fourth) time he punched some random guy in the face are two prime examples. Of the two, Beautiful Disaster was better written, but both novels moved along quickly with the same roller coaster plot line dynamic.

Publishing Similarities

It’s interesting to note that both Beautiful Disaster and Fifty Shades of Grey were originally self-published in 2011, both were acquired by established publishing firms in 2012, and both became bestsellers.  Beautiful Disaster didn’t have quite the massive success that Fifty Shades of Grey experienced, but I’d say a book that has been translated into over fifty languages worldwide didn’t do too badly.

Beautiful Disaster is told from Abby’s point of view, while the second book in the series, Walking Disaster, is the same story told from Travis’ point of view.  I’ve noticed that this is a common way for self-published authors to sell more ebooks.  McGuire concluded the series with a novella about Travis & Abby’s wedding, titled – are you ready? – “A Beautiful Wedding.

A Compulsive Read?

It’s always interesting to read the reviews that readers leave on Amazon and Goodreads.  Those readers who were able to overcome the co-dependency and borderline abusive / stalker aspects of Travis and Abby’s relationship stated that  Beautiful Disaster was a “page turner,” a “fun story,” and “a powerful love story.”  Unfortunately for me, I found it was none of these.  I couldn’t overcome my dislike of the negative aspects of their relationship.  And then, on page 355, there was one more downward spiral, one more massive misunderstanding between Abby and Travis, and that was the last straw for me.  From then on, I skimmed pages in an effort to finish the book.  I ceased caring if they ever worked things out and made it to their happily-ever-after future.

We’ve read some romances in this challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst was so good that I immediately read the other two books in that series.  Needless to say, I won’t be looking for rest of this “Disaster” series.

You can also join us on social media:

Have you written about Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire? Feel free to add a link to your review in the comments.
__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 52. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (2005) – Discussion begins December 17, 2018
Literary Fiction

#BestsellerCode100: A Reader’s Review of Testimony by Anita Shreve

08/15/2018 / / 0 Comments

Testimony by Anita Shreve is next up on our Bestsellers List reading challenge.  For a summary of Testimony, please check out its introductory post.

This post does not contain spoilers.

 

Testimony* by Anita Shreve

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

General Thoughts

I had high hopes for Testimony. Its genre – mystery/suspense – is one that I usually enjoy reading. But there was very little of either mystery or suspense in this novel. The biggest question was what ultimately happened to Silas, because it was obvious that he was the most vulnerable character in this story. But by the time the big reveal came along, I had really ceased to care. The story dragged on too long and centered too much on the headmaster’s affair and not enough on the students caught on the pivotal sex tape.

Misleading Title

The title, Testimony, led me to believe there would be a legal trial, but instead the word referred to recollections of the events given to an outside interviewer by each of the characters. We never meet this outside interviewer; we only hear vague references to the initial letter this person sent to each character.

The headmaster’s chapters were the longest, with the most details, and yet his story was not told to the interviewer, but instead told as he wrote his own “memoir.” None of this worked from me – it felt too much like a writing device rather than the way a real story would flow.

Female Provocateur

As a female author, I expected Shreve to develop multi-dimensional female characters, but the few females in this book were hardly that. I was especially disappointed in Shreve’s development of Sienna, the 14-year-old female student involved in the sex tape. She gave us just enough “testimony” to dislike the girl and feel sympathy for the male students who were obviously ensnared, but no insight into the reasons behind the girl’s actions, family life, or childhood.

As an introduction to Anita Shreve, Testimony left me with no desire to read any of her other novels. I can only assume it made the New York Times Bestseller list based upon Shreve’s loyal readers and the popularity of previous novels.

If you have an Anita Shreve novel that you can recommend, please let me know.  Surely as a bestselling author, she has written better novels than Testimony.

 

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 53. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (2011) – Discussion begins August 20, 2018
Romance

#BestsellerCode100: A Reader’s Review of A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

08/05/2018 / / 0 Comments

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan is next up on our Bestsellers List reading challenge.  This novel is a collection of loosely-connected short stories and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011.  Roberta wrote an excellent Writer’s Review, so if you haven’t already, please check it out.

This post does not contain spoilers.

 

A Visit from the Goon Squad* by Jennifer Egan

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Difficult Read

 I found A Visit from the Goon Squad to be a difficult read for a couple of reasons.  First was just timing – our six-year-old granddaughter spent a few fun but time-consuming days with us, which included two overnight treks to Arkansas on each end of her visit.  Needless to say, I had zero time to do any reading those eight days.  I had started Goon Squad the week before, but found it slow going and only got through the first 2 chapters before that 8 day interlude.

Picking it back up after our granddaughter’s visit, I still found it slow going along with being really confused about the change of characters in each new chapter/short story.  Which is the second reason I found it difficult to read – I just didn’t care for the format. Several times I almost gave up on it, but I continued slogging through and finished it Friday.

Mixed Feelings

I did like the book better towards the end, especially the last two chapters / short stories, but I certainly didn’t love it like Roberta did.  At the end, I had many more questions than answers, and still wasn’t sure how all the characters were interconnected, nor could I even remember all the characters.  It’s one of those books that leaves you feeling that you need to turn right around and read it again.

Time Is a Goon

The Bestseller Code showed us that the title of a novel is often an important component of predicting a bestseller.  A Visit from the Goon Squad moves backwards and forwards across a 40-year time span, which I found added to the confusing nature of the writing format.  It takes a while to catch the references to time being a goon, and much of the focus of Egan’s novel centers upon how the characters cope with the changes that the passage of time brings to themselves and their world.

The very last chapter takes place in a futuristic, post-war-on-terror New York City in 2020, and even though we are almost to that date now, it’s a scary thought that we are on the path to becoming the digital world Egan writes about.

Usually when I’m done reviewing a book for our reading challenge, I delete the book from my Kindle.  I’m not going to do that with A Visit from the Goon Squad.  Instead, I’ll be saving it to read again, carefully choosing a time when I have a clear schedule.  Roberta’s idea of a flow chart for the characters is genius and one I plan to implement. I expect then that I will more fully appreciate Egan’s unconventional writing style and format.

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 54. Testimony by Anita Shreve (2008) – Discussion begins August 6, 2018
Mystery/suspense

#BestsellerCode100: A Reader’s Review of American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

07/19/2018 / / 0 Comments

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld is next up on our Bestsellers List reading challenge.  I first read American Wife in 2012 and enjoyed the book then, so I was curious to discover if I still liked it.  I’m delighted to report that it was just as a good a read the second time through.  Sittenfeld has a real knack for writing dialogue and I was soon transported away to the world of Alice Blackwell.

This post does not contain spoilers.

 

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Roberta’s Writer’s Review pretty much sums up my take on American Wife, so I thought instead I’d briefly outline Curtis Sittenfeld’s novels, which I have added to my reading list.

Female Protagonists

 All of Sittenfeld’s novels and collections of short stories have female protagonists.  She writes from experience (in the case of Prep) and also seems to enjoy fictionalizing and/or updating famous women or books (American Wife, Eligible).

  • Prep, (2005) – a coming of age story centered around a girl from the midwest, Lee Flora, who attends a preppy boarding school on the East Coast.
  • The Man of My Dreams, (2006) – follows Hannah from 8th grade thru her college years at Tufts and into her late twenties.
  • American Wife, (2008) – Alice Blackwell’s life from childhood in a small, Midwestern town, to her years in the White House as President Charlie Blackwell’s wife. Loosely inspired by the life of First Lady Laura Bush.
  • Sisterland, (2013) – the story of Kate, an identical twin, who has psychic powers.
  • Eligible, (2016) – the modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • You Think It, I’ll Say It, (2018) – a collection of short stories, including “The Nominee,” about Hillary Clinton as she is just about to accept the Democratic Presidential nomination.

Sittenfeld is currently working on her next novel, one inspired by her short story, “The Nominee.”  Sittenfeld described it in an interview with The Guardian:

I’m actually writing a novel now about Hillary Clinton, which I think I was partly influenced to do by writing “The Nominee.” The premise is: what if Hillary had met Bill at Yale Law School in the early 70s – which she did – they had fallen in love, become a couple but then she made the decision not to marry him. Yeah… what if?

Yeah, what if?  I’ll be watching for that book to come out! 

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 55. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010) – Discussion begins July 23, 2018
Won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011

#BestsellerCode100: A Reader’s Review of Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James

07/05/2018 / / 0 Comments

Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James is next up on our Bestsellers List reading challenge.  Considering that our last novel was categorized as Christian/Domestic Fiction and this one is Erotic Romance, we’re obviously covering a wide variety of genres with this reading challenge.

If you haven’t read Roberta’s Writer’s Review yet, please do.  It seems that we are yet again in agreement about this novel, but I will try to come up with something “novel” to say.

This post does not contain spoilers.

 

Fifty Shades of Grey* by E. L. James

 


(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Warning:  This is an Erotic Romance, for mature audiences only.

Mass Appeal

 I remember feeling quite skeptical of the hoopla around Fifty Shades of Grey when it was first released.  It seemed like everyone was reading it, which to me was as good a reason as any NOT to read it.  If anything, this reading challenge has reinforced my belief that being on a bestseller list doesn’t necessarily mean a book is worth my time to read, and Fifty Shades of Grey is the perfect example of just such a book.  So why did it become a bestseller?

The authors of The Bestseller Code spend the major portion of Chapter 3 examining Fifty Shades of Grey to decipher exactly why it was a bestseller.  And even more than that, to understand why their computer algorithm placed it so high on its 100 Bestseller book list when so many other books in the erotica romance genre did not make the list.  As Roberta stated in her review:

When they examined the novel in more depth in Chapter 3, Jodie Archer and Matthew L. Jockers discovered that this novel is more about relationships than purely about sex.

I’m pretty sure I would have enjoyed this novel more if James had downplayed the sex scenes a bit – I found myself skimming through them to get to the meat of the relationship stories. But then Christian wouldn’t have had quite the “bad boy” attraction and Ana wouldn’t have had all those conflicting emotions about Christian, so perhaps they really are an integral part of the novel.

Emotional Experience

The authors of The Bestseller Code also discovered that reader reviews left on the Goodreads website showed a definite trend of referencing the body.  They (the reader reviews) mentioned “shedding tears and overheating,” feeling “the bodily sensations of anticipation and nervousness,” and “ignoring the call to eat and sleep.”  The appeal of Fifty Shades of Grey was physical and emotional stimulation, rather than mental stimulation. This wasn’t a novel to dissect and analyze from a lofty, literary vantage point. This was a “let’s sneak a chocolate bar” guilty pleasure book!

A quote in Chapter 3 by Janice Radway, an American literary and cultural studies scholar, relates the emotional experience she occasionally has when reading:

There are moments for me now when books become something other than mere objects, when they transport me elsewhere, to a trancelike state I find difficult to describe.  On these occasions reading … manages to override my rational, trained approach to books as crafted objects.  When this occurs, the book, the text, and even my reading self dissolve in a peculiar act of transubstantiation whereby “I” become something other than what I have been and inhabit thoughts other than those I have been able to conceive before.  This tactile, sensuous, profoundly emotional experience of being captured by a book is what those reading memories summoned for me – and experience that for all its ethereality clearly is extraordinarily physical as well.

This must be what occurred with all those enthusiastic readers of Fifty Shades of Grey who so eagerly devoured this novel and the other two books in the Fifty Shades trilogy. It didn’t happen for me – maybe I didn’t feel the need to “inhabit thoughts other than those I have been able to conceive before” in quite the way Christian’s BSDM desires inhabited Ana’s thoughts.

I’d be curious to see the age demographics of the enthusiastic readers compared to those who disliked the novel. I would likely have been a more eager reader of Fifty Shades of Grey in my younger years, say my twenties to forties; a time when reading romance novels and daydreaming of some rich handsome irresistible man swooping down and “rescuing” me from my mundane life was appealing.  Fortunately, those days are long gone, which means I won’t be picking up the remainder of the Fifty Shades trilogy to read any time soon.

 

Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related posts:

  1. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  2. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective
  3. (We aren’t doing a book beginning this time)

You can also join us on social media:

__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 56. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (2008) – Discussion begins July 9, 2018
Bildungsroman

#BestsellerCode100: A Reader’s Review of Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good

06/13/2018 / / 0 Comments

Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good by Jan Karon is next up on our 100 Bestsellers List reading challenge.  Categorized as Christian/Domestic Fiction, Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good returns to Karon’s fictional town of Mitford, NC (think Mayberry), to continue the story of Father Timothy Kavanagh’s ordinary life in an ordinary town.  It’s a peaceful town, a storybook small town where people are kind and life is sweet.  The Mitford series has been extremely popular, with many of the later books landing on the New York Times Bestseller List, some even debuting at #1.  Karon appears to have a loyal fan base!

This post does not contain spoilers.

Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good by Jan Karon (2014)

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

What’s Wrong?

 As Roberta mentioned in her #BookBeginnings post, reading a book that is placed in the middle of a well-established series isn’t always the easiest.  Often you really need the backstory of all the characters to be able to follow the current story, and I found that to be the case with Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good.  There are so many characters to get to know in the town of Mitford and I didn’t feel that Karon did a very good job of providing us enough backstory for each, which meant it was extremely easy to confuse who was who and why they were saying this or that.

I also disliked Karon’s writing style.  It felt choppy and disjointed.  I often couldn’t follow who was saying what in long sections of dialogue.  And there were many times that it seemed Karon was writing for a movie instead of a book and expecting her actors to show what she meant, rather than actually writing what she meant to show.  Here’s an example:

While shaving, he had an impulse toward the ridiculous. He scarcely ever did anything ridiculous.

Puny’s ten-month-old twin boys were in the kitchen in their bouncing chairs, each with a pacifier. He was not a fan of the pacifier but it would be politically incorrect to express that opinion in his own household.

‘Tommy,’ he said, standing near the door while Puny swept the side porch. ‘What do you think?’

Tommy burst into tears, the pacifier fell to the floor; Violet pounced and skittered it to the corner of the room.

Puny opened the door a crack. ‘What’s goin’ on in there?’

‘I asked Tommy a question and he started crying. Sorry.’

‘Could you please pick ’im up? I got to get these steps cleaned off, you wouldn’ believe th’ raccoon poop out here.’ She closed the door.

He picked up Tommy, all eighteen pounds, jiggled him as he had jiggled Puny’s first set of twins, Sissy and Sassy. Jiggling was good—Tommy stopped crying.

Puny opened the door again. ‘What did you ask ’im?’

‘Oh, nothing much. He’s fine now.’

She closed the door; he put Tommy in the chair, went after the pacifier, washed it under the hot water tap, and stuck it back where it belonged.

Timmy, his very own namesake, looked up at him with Carolina-blue eyes.

‘What do you think, Timmy?’

Timmy took the pacifier from his mouth, laughed, and handed it over.

‘Thanks for sharing,’ he said. ‘Maybe later.’

Out of the mouths of babes, so to speak. He kissed both boys on the tops of their heads.

So, what exactly did Father Timothy do while shaving that was “ridiculous?”  Did he shave only one side?  Did he make a weird face with the shaving cream to scare the babies?  Who knows?  I kept reading, watching for reactions from others in the subsequent scenes that would indicate if he’d done some weird shaving of his head or something, but no comments were made, so I finally surmised he must have done something with the shaving cream itself.

Unfinished

I tried, I truly tried, but I couldn’t finish this book.  This is the very first one on our challenge that I’ve not been able to finish.  I made it 45% of the way through and my patience wore out.  Too many scenes like the one highlighted above just wore me down.  Not knowing the backstory of all the characters led me to not care about their current stories.  Perhaps it would have been different if I started with the very first book.

I know small town people and events can be interesting – I used to live in a small town.  In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s why Somewhere Safe With Someone Good was a bestseller.  One of the topics that The Bestseller Code’s algorithm found to be most useful in identifying best-selling novels was the topic of human interactions and relationships, human closeness and connections.  Karon’s novel is all about human connections and relationships. In the end, though, that wasn’t enough for me.  Her writing style that left me cold and confused and I decided there are simply too many good books out there to waste another moment reading one that I disliked so.

 

Have you read Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

 

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 57.  Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James (2011) – Discussion begins June 25, 2018

#BestsellerCode100: A Reader’s Review of The Next Always by Nora Roberts

06/01/2018 / / 0 Comments

The Next Always by Nora Roberts is next up on our 100 Bestsellers List reading challenge.  Nora Roberts is an extremely successful and prolific writer.  She has written over 200 novels, many of them bestsellers, and there are over 500 million copies of her books in print.  With that many novels written, I was surprised to realize that I have never read any of her works.  This reading challenge is definitely introducing me to new authors!

This post does contain spoilers.

 

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

The Inn

As Roberta stated in her #BookBeginnings post, the Inn Boonsboro that is so lovingly restored in this novel is a real bricks and mortar bed & breakfast in Boonsboro, Maryland, that Nora Roberts and her husband restored and currently operate.  If you love watching renovation shows on cable television, you’ll delight in following the progress of the inn restoration throughout this book.  If you are not as interested, then this book will be a fast read as you skim through all the details of tile and wood and brick.  I’m squarely in that latter camp, but still, I would love to go to Maryland and see the actual Inn.  It sounds quite luxuriant and memorable.

After reading The Next Always, I was curious what other readers and professionals had to say about this book – was it a good indication of the caliber of Nora Roberts’ novels?  I found very mixed reviews, but many of the professional reviewers felt that this novel was one long infomercial for Roberts’ and her husband Bruce Wilder’s businesses in Boonsboro (they also own the real Turn The Page Bookstore & Café and the Gifts Inn Boonsboro gift shop).  I see their point, and it would be a valid one if the story itself didn’t work, but I felt that the story did work and that the Inn was a good setting.  Honestly, after writing 200 books, who can blame Ms. Roberts for diversifying a bit and cashing in on her writing fame?  And after writing 200 books, I’m sure she has a large faithful fandom that would love nothing more than to come stay at her Inn, walk the streets of the town where she’s placed one of her series, and even possibly have the chance to see the novelist in person.

It’s The Dialogue

One of the things I liked most about The Next Always was the dialogue.  The dialogue revealed strong love and respect between the three brothers (Beckett, Owen, and Ryder), between the three friends (Clare, Hope, and Avery), and even between Beckett and Clare’s 3 young sons without the author having to tell us about it.  There was very little to none agonizing head talk and angst for the reader to slog through as we’ve had in some recent romance novels.  The dialogue provided the action and the smooth flow of the story.

The family units were strong in The Next Always.  The relationships both within the two families (the Montgomery’s and Clare & her sons) and between the friends are what most readers wish they had in their own lives.  If there is such a thing as a cozy romance, The Next Always is definitely such.  Even the Inn’s ghost was a helpful, friendly ghost.  The side plot of Clare’s stalker played up the strength of the family and friendship bonds to the max, while providing the catalyst for the love declarations at the end between Clare and Beckett.

Three Brothers, Three Loves?

Nora Roberts knows how to write interesting characters.  Some of the romance novels we have read concentrated on the two main love characters to the detriment of the rest of the supporting cast.  In The Next Always, Roberts gives us three strong male characters in the Montgomery brothers. And it isn’t just coincidence that there are three female best friends.  Can you say trilogy here?  One can easily see early on the seeds being laid for two more romance novels to come. And you know what?  I loved it!  I want more and have already reserved the next book in this Inn Boonsboro trilogy, The Last Boyfriend, from my public library.  I do so want Owen and Avery to find true love.

 

Do you have a favorite Nora Roberts novel to recommend? I need more books to add to my “to read” list!

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 58.  Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good (2014) by Jan Karon  – Discussion begins June 11, 2018

#BestsellerCode100: Reader’s Review of In the Woods by Tana French

05/25/2018 / / 1 Comment

In The Woods by Tana French is next up on our 100 Bestsellers List reading challenge.  In The Woods is also the forty-first book we’ve read, which means we are 2/5 of the way through the list.  Can you believe we’ve read 41 books?  That also means that, between the two of us, Roberta and I have written 82 book reviews for this challenge alone, which is no small accomplishment.  We should throw ourselves a virtual celebratory party!

This post does not contain spoilers.

In The Woods* by Tana French


(*Amazon Affiliate link)

For a summary of In The Woods, read Roberta’s Writer’s Review and her excellent description of the eight key components of a plot.

Debut Novels

Eight of the books we’ve read so far in this challenge were debut novels:  The Mill River Recluse, The Weird Sisters, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, The Silent Wife, The White Tiger, The Weight of Silence, The Marriage Bargain, and now In The Woods.  So 1/5 of the books read so far were debut novels.  I find that fact interesting – it means that 1/5 of the authors figured out early on or intuitively already knew what makes a great novel.

For this Bestseller Code Challenge we are reading through the list of books in The Bestseller Code, Anatomy of The Blockbuster Novel by Jodie Archer & Matthew L. Jockers for several reasons, one of which is to see how our tastes in books compares with the computer model.  In The Bestseller Code, the authors discuss a writer’s style and how that factors into making a bestselling book.

 

In short, style is important: it is the mechanism through which plot, theme, and character get delivered.  Style is at once mechanical and organic; it springs from a combination of nature and nurture; from innate ability and practiced craft.  And nowhere is the importance of style seen more vividly than in the work of those authors who are hitting the NYT list for the first time.  Saying it is difficult to make it straight onto the NYT list with a first novel is a great understatement.

First Lines, or #BookBeginnings

One of the elements of novelistic style the authors of The Bestseller Code discuss in great detail is the first line of a novel:

We believe that the first line of a novel can tell you a lot about the writer’s command of style.

They give three examples of famous first lines and then explain:

One thing that is immediately clear about all three of these classic writers is that their first sentences create voice.  Someone is talking to us, and that someone sounds authentic, in command of some sort of authority.  There is no wavering, or cautiousness, or lack of surety.  All novelists have the challenge of creating some sort of selfhood, and readers might note that they tend to keep reading when that selfhood, attractive or not, at least knows itself and leads its reader.  The best writers – or those that will achieve the most readers – are able to establish this kind of presence from the opening sentence with tiny and seemingly effortless modulations in style.

This is one reason why Roberta begins the discussion of each of our challenge novels with a BookBeginnings post.  The first line is an important style feature and bestselling authors know how to craft a first line that will hook their readers.  For a debut novelist, this ability is even more important – they cannot rely upon their faithful following of readers to buy their books because they don’t have a faithful following yet!

Here’s the first line from Chapter 1 of In The Woods:

What I warn you to remember is that I am a detective.

We don’t yet know if our narrator is male or female, but we do know that we’re being cautioned about him/her being a detective.  Why would he/she warn us about this fact?

This is the stuff a good stylist needs to recognize: that the first sentence is the hook and the hook is a mixture of voice and conflict achieved through the mechanics of diction and syntax. – The Bestseller Code

Are you hooked already?  I was.

Page Turner

From the very first sentence, In The Woods was a page turner.  I enjoyed the interplay of the two main detectives, Rob (“I am a detective”) and Cassie.  I was intrigued by the inner conflict of Rob as he tried to solve one murder that took place in the same location where, twenty years before, his two best friends disappeared and he was left with no memory of what happened to them.

In The Woods is not just a mystery, it is a psychological mystery, and a very good one at that.  I loved the little seeds and distractions that French left for the reader to pick up – I kept wondering who the psychopath was that Cassie warned the reader about and if maybe it was Rob, our detective narrator.

While the ending of the novel wasn’t all I wanted, I can see why French didn’t resolve the twenty year old case.  Rob does his best throughout the book to avoid memories, to avoid dealing with his past in any way, and that spills over into every aspect of his life, so it would have been terribly out of character for him to remember what happened to him and his friends all those years ago.  Knowing French has turned this Dublin Murder Squad division of the Irish police into a series, I hope she eventually resolves that old case, but I guess I’ll have to read the series to find out!

 

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 59.  The Next Always by Nora Roberts (2011) – Discussion begins May 28, 2018
Romance

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