Beautiful Boy by David Sheff was as amazing as the reviews promised it would be. I'm not a big fan of reviews in general, movies books restaurants whatever. As much as I struggle with being indecisive I'd like to formulate my own opinions instead of reading about what someone else thinks. This book however has gotten rave reviews since it came out awhile ago and it has been on my list for so long. For whatever reason it kept getting pushed down to be read later and I'm glad I finally took the opportunity to listen to/read it. The father's love is so overwhelming in the writing that you spend the whole book routing for a happy ending so as not to cause him further pain. As someone who works in the mental health/addiction field I just found this book to be unlike anything else out there. Lots of books are written from an addicts or a child's perspective of a parent, it's harder to find things from a parents perspective. Mr Sheff is clearly devoted to his son and the rest of his family but they certainly go through some of lives toughest downs. I won't give away anything else cause this book is wonderful, especially if you love an addict and have had to deal with what the effects of that are for you.
There are so many young girl coming of age stories out there it's hard to believe I found one as unique as The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty. This story follows a young girl growing up in middle of nowhere Kansas during Ronald Reagan's presidency and bomb scares. Evelyn, the main character, points out that the United States is at the middle of the world and Kansas is in the middle of that. She concludes this means she and her family are at the center of everything then, hence the title. I can't say I loved the ending and there were several parts that didn't seem as possible as others, but then again I didn't live through those times so I could be off on that. In any case it was a heartwarming story and again you spend the book rooting for Evelyn who has gotten dealt a not so great hand in life.
A few months ago a friend recommended A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron as a book I might like. I didn't like it... I loved it! What an innovative way to write. The book is told from a dog's perspective and yet still has substance beyond "food food food" (which is in there too). In the first chapter the puppy is killed and comes back and can't understand why he has been reincarnated. He sets out then to find his purpose thinking if he does this he will stop coming back. There were some parts that were a little too vividly dog descriptions but for the most part just a wonderful story. Also it was interesting because the dog (whose name changed each new life) told everything from his perspective so sometimes you had to guess along with him as he described what was happening before you could figure out what exactly was going on.
For various personal reasons, March is my least favorite month of the year. That being said the one good thing that I look forward to every March is a new Jodi Picoult book. Picoult is one of my all time favorite authors. This March's novel Sing You Home was wonderful. Usually Picoult's novels have some sort of family trauma that ends in a court room and there is a legal battle going on for decision making. This story was a little less about the court room stuff and more about the family dynamics and though I usually like the legal stuff a lot, it worked for the story line. A 30 something woman with fertility problems divorces her husband after they decide they are on different pages with the baby game after several miscarriages and devastating pregnancies. Ex husband becomes a born again Christian to battle his alcoholism and to make sense of where he is at in his life. Wife turns out to be a lesbian and begins relationship with lesbian lover. Lesbian lover can carry children and wife decides she wants to use ex husband and her embryos with her new lover. Interesting and timely work. Loved the ending too.
