Me Before You

"I just...want to be a man who has been to a concert with a girl in a red dress.  Just for a few minutes more." - Will

BooK EndS Rating
4 1/2 out of 5 Bookmarks

We met, we laughed, we sighed heavily with great veneration for the wonderful prose of Ms. JoJo Moyes.  No tears, though we could have easily shed them.  This book was AWESOME!  Overall, everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Very simple read, but with complicated characters and a complex story.  Thought provoking and revealing in the dynamic of 'handicapped' relationships of all types.  Great read.

Jenny's Night Circus

The mysteriously magical theme of the Book Ends latest pick carried on as we discussed "THE NIGHT CIRCUS" by Erin Morganstern.  The evening started with enchanting smells from the Henson house wafting through the air.  Much like Chandresh's midnight parties, the presentation of the meal was a wonderment.  New and exciting flavors at every turn.  Cocktails, chocolate mice, decadent apples and more!  Without fail, our hostess raises the bar.

Discussion about the actual book paled in comparison to the atmosphere, but all agreed that  Morganstern's prose created a mysterious world of magic and love that drew the reader in and carried them away.

Book Ends Rating

4 1/2 out of 5 Bookmarks

It's Not Every Day You Get to Be Someone Else...

Book Ends Rating:  2 1/2 out of 5 Bookmarks

Brief Synopsis:

"A" switches bodies.  Every day.  One day he ends up in the body of a boy who takes his girlfriend for granted and A falls in love her.  But he can't stay.  He must wake up every day in the body of someone else.  How will he convince his true love of this phenomenon without her running for the nearest exit...?  How could it ever work?  Is A willing to steal someone's life in order to live his own?

Welcome back, friends!!!  Can you believe we are embarking on our 4th year of Book Ends?!?!  We are still having a wonderful time discussing great books and interesting characters.  

We kicked this year off with Daisy's selection, Every Day, by David Levithan.  This is categorized as a young adult novel, which the group usually enjoys, but this time...

Overall, the book got mixed reviews from the "lovelies".  Some said it was just too far fetched. Others said that they enjoyed the appeal of being someone else for a day, but once you put that into practice, you could see why it would not be all that fun.

The character of A was faced with different challenges each day based on the body he woke up in.  From obesity to drug abuse to thoughts of suicide, the author touches on the private lives of the modern teen and the struggles that they go through.  A must navigate limited access to the body's memories in order to function in their life and not alert anyone to what is happening.  Through A's journey of lives, he has developed a desire to leave each life slightly better than he found it, until he meets Rhiannon.  Then all bets are off and he will do what it takes to be with her, even if it means ruining someone else.  The club is under the impression that this book will be continued in a sequel.  While I don't think many in the club care what happens to A, I will most definitely find out.

My take-away from this book is that it reiterates the rule that you don't truly know anyone. As adults, we may believe that we can categorize today's youth, but they are an ever-changing, evolving ball of emotions, desires and confusion trying to navigate through this life with some sense of purpose and belonging.

VERONICA ROTH ROCKS!!!!

Well, we started the year off with a bang.  Thank you to Jenny for introducing us to the Veronica Roth "Divergent" series.  Excellent choice.  And thank you to Daisy for continuing the theme for February by choosing "Insurgent".

Book one was great.  Very exciting and thought provoking.  When I was 16, my biggest decision was what I was wearing to school tomorrow...and I didn't take that very seriously.  But in the world created by Veronica Roth, a 16 year old girl must make a choice that will change the rest of her life.  She has five options.  Each of them promising and loathsome in their own ways, but if she chooses differently from the rest of her family, she may never see them again...

Outstanding.  I loved it.  When a meeting of the minds came together (Book Ends), it received the equivalent of 6 out of 7 stars.  That last star is hard to get!!  LOL  The keeper of it is VERY particular.  Nonetheless, overall this was a great book and I can't wait to discuss the 2nd book!!

Well, after much deliberation, hesitation, frustration, and aggravation...Adrien has decided that we will be reading "The Graduate" for our November book club meeting.  If you have seen the movie years ago, try the book to refresh yourself. 

Precious and Fragile Things

Well, Gilly survived and Todd is dead...

I think that's about it. 

Just kidding.  There was the incest and the weird 'Hobbit-like' children's names. 

So, we met in May to discuss the first publication from Megan Hart that was not rated NC-17.  This was my selection and I think it was a good one for discussion.  But that's just me.  Really.  I think I was one of the few that actually said they "liked" it.  Overall, the book itself got a 3 out of 5 from the club, but more for the scenario than the story.

I chose this book because I could relate to the character of Gilly and the fact that when carjacked while driving her children, she made a shocking decision.  After rescuing her children from her would-be captor, she chose to stay with him when given the opportunity to run.  ??????  Who does that?  No one.  That's why it made for a good book.  Who has entertained the thought of some outside force removing you from your daily existence against your will and getting a break from the monotony?  Almost every woman alive, though some would never admit it.  We read enough romance and see enough movies involving heroines that the prospect of an adventure is appealing.  So, the fact that I got to go on this adventure with a woman named Gilly who chose to live in the moment instead of calculating the pros and cons of the effect her decisions would have on everyone else, was exciting. 

I'll admit that if this is a book and we are going to go so far as to run away with the captor...let's run away with the captor!  I found myself anticipating a romance from the get go and knowing full well that by the end of this book I would feel guilty for wanting this family ripped apart by a selfish, crazy impulsive decision made by a worn down mother of two.  But it didn't stop me from hoping. 

However, as I got further into the book and realized the emotional scars that the character of Todd was dealing with, I decided that it would never work for them and that he didn't need a romance as much as he needed to be loved.  So, in the end, I think that Gilly got what she needed, a break from her life.  Todd got a break from life, too, a long one.  Eternal.  But I'm not sure that's what he actually needed. 

For her first attempt at something other than seemingly soft-core porn, which is an assumption based purely on the provocative image that grace her mass of books, I think Megan Hart did a decent job.  The character development and the complexities of their lives was disturbing to say the least, but it felt pretty true to what real life can be.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Confusing

We met on an April night. It was one hundred dollars. Apparently, I have a terrible mother who lets me wander the streets of New York City upchapparoned.  My grandmother gives me explicit recollections of her sexual encounters with my grandfather aka the renter even though I am only 12, I think.  I have a terrible secret that causes me to abuse myself and I like to find creative ways to curse.  I experienced something unimaginable on 9/11 and I needed to find a way to hang on to my father's memory in order to cope.  I am bent, but not broken.  "I'm ok."  The discussion gave me heavy boots.

So, we actually did meet on an April evening to discuss this book.  I think overall we each pulled something different from the chaos of the story.  The story wasn't terrible and in some ways even enlightening, but the story was written in such a fashion that it was hard to get through, making it less than enjoyable.  Flashbacks and journal entries mixed with the monologue of a child that suffers from what my limited knowledge would lead me to categorize as  high functioning autism or Asberger's syndrome, which I no doubt misspelled, made a recipe for confusion. 

I was drawn to Oscar's perspective of the world and the way he dealt with it, but I was put out with the mental aerobics it required to seperate the here and now from the then and where.  As a group I believe we agreed that the book earned a 3 out of 5 star rating solely for the subject matter and the depth of the characters.  Having said that though, I wouldn't recommend it.  Just rent the movie.  It is easier to follow and takes much less commitment.