135 - Out Stealing Horses; Per Petterson

Winner of the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Out Stealing Horses is a magical novel that captivated me from the first few pages. It is one of those rare books that merits rereading. The story is set in Norway. It is the story of a 67 year old man named Trond Sander who, having suffered a terrible loss, retreats to an isolated forest cabin. The run down cabin needs lots of work and Trond is content to spend his time fixing it up. He has a few neighbors, his dog, and his Dickens novels. He is perfectly content with his life of routines spent in solitude. One night he encounters a close neighbor Lars, another loner, and he realizes that this man was a child he'd known during the last summer he spent with his own father at a similar cabin some 50 years earlier after the war. Old wounds are opened by this meeting.

The book alternates between the present, 1999 and then flashes back to the summer of 1948, when he was a teenager. It is a story of loss, betrayal. While I loved this book, there were some unanswered questions when I turned the final page. Despite this, I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates fine literature.

RATING - 5/5 - Completed - 9/6/08

134 - Half Assed: A Weight Loss Memoir; Jeanette Fulda

I found out about this memoir by accident, and decided to give it a try. It was a great memoir: a story about the real pain experienced by a morbidly obese person (360++ lbs ) before she began her weight loss journey and lost half her body weight. This book is not a story of her self loathing or self pity. It is a straight forward memoir where Jeanette shares her emotions, her successes and some failures along the way. This book is not an instruction manual as to how she lost the weight, but rather it's a very witty book about a mindset and the stick-to- it attitude required for success. Enjoyable.

RATING - 4/5 - COMPLETED - 9/5/08

133 - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; Shaffer and Barrows

At first glance I passed on reading this book until people began to rave about it. I think it was the title that made me think it might be silly; I'm glad I gave it a try. I loved the book but I do think it is the type of book that would not appeal to most men. I found this epistolary novel to be charming and sweet. It had me grabbing for the post it notes to jot down a passage or two along the way.

The novel unfolds in 1946 London. A writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next project after the war. Juliet lost her home and her possessions which included a cherished book collection. Out of the blue, she receives a letter from a resident of Guernsey, named Dawsey Adams. Dawsey tells her that he owns a book by Charles Lamb that once belonged to Juliet. Although she is intrigued by this, it is his comments about a roast pig bringing about the start of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society that makes her want to learn more. Juliet begins to correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their love of literature, and the impact the war has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, an unforgettable island, and what she finds changes her forever.

I was touched by the charming inhabitants of this unforgettable island who turned to literature in terrible times. Animal lovers beware there are a few references in the book which really upset me. Despite this, I am still happy that I read this book.

RATING - 4.5/5 - COMPLETED - 9/3/08

132 - Faces of Fear; John Saul

R.I.P. Challenge III

Alison's world changes when her mother marries plastic surgeon Conrad Dunn. She moves into a huge mansion in the Hollywood Hills, leaves her public school behind for a prestigious prep school, and makes new friends. Her new friends have all had cosmetic work done on them by Alison's stepfather and give her suggestions on what she should have done.

Although the thought of it creeps her out at first, she agrees to accept breast augmentation as a 16th birthday present. Soon after, Alison discovers a picture of her stepfather's first wife. To Alison's horror, she notices a resemblance between the image in the photo and the work her stepfather is doing on her. Though her mother refuses to acknowledge the strange similarity, Alison becomes increasingly frightened. Digging further into her stepfather's murky past, Alison uncovers dark secrets-and even darker motives-and realizes that her worst fears are fast becoming her reality. At the same time, murders are being committed around L.A. by the so-called Frankenstein Killer.

I actually gave up reading John Saul a few years back but decided to give him a try one more time. Although this was a quick read (not a lot of thought goes into reading Saul's novels), I was less than thrilled with this book. It was pretty boring and predictable.

RATING - 2.5/5 - Completed - 9//1/08

131 - The Garden of Last Days; Andre Dubus III

This review is based on the audio version that came from the library. Fortunately, I did not pay good money for this book which was a disappointment. I also admit to having skipped (2) of the 12 discs, but honestly, I don't feel like I missed a thing. The outcome was predictable. The book takes place in Florida just days before 9/11. In this book of 500++ pages, or in my case (12) discs of approximately 60 minutes each, we hear the most detailed accounts of very boring minutia. If that isn't bad enough, there were too many characters and points of view. We are introduced to April, a stripper (Stripper name Spring, but who cares) forced by circumstance to bring her 3-year-old daughter Franny to work one night. Little Franny is kidnapped from the back office of the strip club where she is was suppose to be watching Disney movies. Who took her? For suspects we have A.J., a drunk and disorderly patron, Lonnie, the bouncer, Jean, April's lonely widowed landlord, and Bassam, a strange Middle Eastern guy with loads of cash. Throughout the chapters there are flashbacks of Bassam, a terrorist, his family and background; Bassam is drawn to April...AKA...Spring. For me, once the Franny mystery is resolved, there was just no one to root for or care about.

RATING - 2/5 - Completed - 9/1/08