Love Wins by Rob Bell

I could easily write a "review" of this one, but I'd just be one of the literal millions who have thrown their opinions into the ring. Read the book. Discuss it. Open up with people you trust. Or people you don't. This is a book that begs to be dialogued through (as I did with JRe)....I'd love to hammer things out with you. I took well over 8 pages of notes, and I'll post a few quotes that moved me here.

"Love demands freedom. We are free to resist, reject, and rebel against God's ways for us. We can have all the hell we want."

"There are questions, or more accurately, there are tensions we are free to leave fully intact. We don't need to resolve them or answer them, because we can't, and so we simply respect them, creating space for the freedom that love requires."

"Grace and generosity aren't fair. That's their very essence."

"We do ourselves great harm when we confuse the very essence of God, which is love, with the very real consequences of rejecting and resisting that love, which creates what we call hell."

My paraphrase of what Bell offers is this: You have to come to terms with your own story. Regardless of how you were shaped, but realizing that your individual experience is significant.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

My neighbor overheard me saying that I hadn't been able to "get into" any books lately. He then suggested that I read Philip K. Dick, fully knowing that I don't do sci-fi. A few days later he gave me two books. With the preface that The Man in the High Castle loosely revolved around the I Ching, I chose this.

I easily swallowed this, as it's alternate history. The story is set in various former American cities, against a 70s backdrop wherein the Axis Powers (of Italy, Japan, and Nazi Germany) were victorious after World War II. The characters run the gamut- from a Japanese tradesman, a female American judo instructor, her estranged (and Jewish) ex-husband, to a Swedish industrialist who is actually a Reich counterintelligence representative. Lines cross, and a plethora of themes and political realities are explored.

Dick fleshes out theories and influences by employing two major works: the aforementioned I Ching, and a fictional book entitled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. Folks from every culture turn to the I Ching for guidance, while Grasshopper is banned by the now ruling German and Japanese. Excerpts from the book are included in the story, and the characters debate the ideologies it presents.

While I won't be turning to a major science fiction fan, I enjoyed this book. The following are quotes that made me think...even if only insofar as to doubt how much I've considered my own political leanings lately. (Don't get me started on our need for an external frame of reference or how our natures are bent by our nurture...)


"It's idealism that makes him that bitter. Asking too much out of life."

"We cannot enter the monstrous schizophrenic morass of Nazi internecine intrigue; our minds cannot adapt."

"...the Doctrine of Original Sin. ...We are all doomed to commit acts of cruelty or violence or evil; that is our destiny, due to ancient factors."

"To save one life, Mr. Tagomi had to take two. The logical, balanced mind cannot make sense of that. A kindly man could be driven insane by the implications of such reality."

Going Away Shoes by Jill McCorkle

Confession: I basically bought this book for two super lame reasons. The cover is orange and there's a quote on the back from Jayne Anne Phillips. It should be mentioned that I've never actually read Phillips, but know of her for her reputation among other writers that I admire (notably that David Foster Wallace mentioned his jealously of her success as a writer and as an instructor).

Touted as a collection of stories of women and the complications of love, I was full of doubt and hope. Phillips writes, "...laugh-out-loud funny, full of sharp, incisive humor that explains us to ourselves." Explain me to myself? Sure thing.

Ultimately, I found these stories to be surface level pap on the lines of Jane Green or Sophie Kinsella...minus the humor. That'll teach me to think that I can read like a girl.

Timbuktu by Paul Auster

"For the loneliness you foster/ I suggest Paul Auster/ A book called Timbuktu."

That's a lyric from the song "Put a Penny in the Slot" by Fionn Regan. Ever since I heard it, years ago, I've looked for this book. Today I found it at Capitol Hill Books and promptly bought it.

Mr. Bones is the narrator of this book. Mr. Bones is a dog whose owner, Willy G. Christmas, is dying. The two have been together for the past seven years, the most recent four spent on the road-vagabond style- searching for Willy's high school teacher. Willy is looking to bequeath his life's work to someone responsible, so that his legacy will carry on. Simultaneously, he has been giving Mr. Bones lessons in life: where to go once he is without a human, and where his human will go once he passes on-a place Willy calls Timbuktu.

Mr. Bones has visions that come to him in the form of dreams. These dreams have always come to pass in reality, culminating in Willy's death. On the lam, attempting to escape all policemen or anyone similar (surely sealing a fate leading to a dogcatcher!), our dog friend eventually finds a family. Completely suburban and nuclear, this family is at once completely foreign (they name him Sparky!) and comforting (they bathe him!) to Mr. Bones.

I knew at page 4 when Bones refers to "ontological terror" that this would be a book I could get behind. While the ending was a bit tragic, I didn't find myself feeling any more or less lonely (the expectation set by Fionn Regan years back). As an aside, upon finishing this book, I met a random guy who has three unfinished novels. When asked his favorite modern writers, he answered with Paul Auster, and told me that there is another title that will "make me want to slit my wrists." As this is my fourth Auster book to date, I can't wait to see what the next one does to me.

"But God paid no attention to him or else could not find him."

"It was the first time he had understood that memory was a real place that one could visit; and that to spend a few moments among the dead was not necessarily bad for you, that it could in fact be a source of great comfort and happiness."

A Multitude of Sins by Richard Ford

At the Barnes in Chicago, I worked with a guy named Jose. He used to sing random Paul McCartney/Wings songs to me, which led to him calling me "Jet" all the time. He was an English writing major at Brown (now a successful writer by profession) and was snottier than me. Richard Ford was his favorite contemporary author. I picked up (Pulitzer/PEN/Faulkner winner) Independence Day by his recommendation. Didn't love it, but liked Ford's writing enough to also pick up this book of short stories.

Whenever I can't "get into" a novel, I go back to short stories. This one is dog-eared to no end and has a random Post-It note in the front cover that reads "next Thursday night baseball game with Mark & Al" and includes two phone numbers with 303 area codes, which means I first read this after living in Colorado.

Random backstories to say that I am intrigued by Ford's characters and the way they unfold. He uses words like "fugue" to explain their emotional outpourings. This collection explores the larger theme of intimacy. This week I've been reading them while listening to The National and Tom Waits, which leads to a beautiful melancholy. Whether the relationships are breaking or rebuilding, it's just right.

Slam by Nick Hornby

I love Nick Hornby. This book is technically classified as young adult fiction, but it deals with some heavier subject matter. Sam is a 16-year-old skateboarder who adores Tony Hawk. He has a Tony Hawk poster that he talks to, and inserts Tony's end of the conversations with lines from Hawk's autobiography.

Sam's mother was a teenage mom, and can think of nothing worse than her son realizing a similar fate. Guess what? Sam's girlfriend Alicia gets pregnant. Eventually Tony Hawk (presumably) causes Sam to travel forward in time to glimpse his future as a father.

Throughout the book, Sam handles his situation in typical fashion-including running away and eventually committing to raising his child. Sam navigates his unconventional relationship with his mother (and somewhat distant father), as well as Alicia and her elitist parents while they all figure out how to move forward.

While this isn't my favorite Hornby book, it was a quick read with engaging characters.

The Poet by Michael Connelly

It should go without saying that I'm a bit of a snob. My friend Adam and I have a long standing joke that ends with, "Of course you don't," in regards to my taste. Fairly elitist when it comes to all things artsy, but books especially. However, when I fly on airplanes, I read trashy magazines. When I ride on trains I read newspapers. When I go home for a week to watch my grandmother die and attend her funeral, I tend to not have the attention span or mental capacity to concentrate or think much. So...Adam had literally just recommended that if I were to ever lower myself to read a Michael Connelly book, it should be the Poet. To use one of his euphemisms, the universe farted the right way and I ended up reading this. Quite quickly...and enjoying myself, to boot.

(Random snotty asides: The introduction is written by Stephen King... "Of course it is." Also, one night when I was reading this, my roommate Lindsay walked by the door and stopped to ask, "Are you really reading a Michael Connelly book?")

Jack McEvoy is a crime reporter for the Rocky Mountain News (go Denver!) who gets personally involved with his work when his twin brother, a Denver Police Officer, apparently commits suicide. Jack takes his bereavement leave as a sort of investigation period, and turns up a list of cops who've apparently killed themselves, linked directly to cases where the cop was working a case involving a child. In addition, the cops all leave notes consisting of only one line...all quoting Edgar Allan Poe.

McEvoy eventually goes to the FBI, and is granted special access to cover the story after cooperating with their ongoing investigation. While the entirety of the book is not predictable, there were a few things that I dreaded would happen that eventually did. As a whole, I enjoyed this book and Connelly's style...and will soon be reading The Narrows, a follow-up to this book.

IV (A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas) by Chuck Klosterman

I recently engaged in an online debate concerning the writings of Nick Hornby, Rob Sheffield and Chuck Klostermann. This led me to again pick up and reread IV. And, as before, I loved every minute. Klostermann has written for Esquire, Rolling Stone, The Believer and The New York Times Magazine. This is a collection of his writings from all of the above, dating back to the mid-90s.

Here he covers everything: Ratt, Johnny Carson, bowling, Radiohead and pants. His interview with Jeff Tweedy is one of the best I've read. I love that he spans from Morrissey to My Bloody Valentine, but also shamelessly profiles U2 and Britney Spears just as effortlessly. He contemplates monogamy and the afterlife, then addresses Barry Bonds and the Olympics.

He acknowledges his own writing with humility, saying "(there) are the two primary criticisms of my writing: that it's not especially funny, and that it's not particularly insightful." Though I disagree. Take for, instance, his questioning of the "alternative" music scene: "It remains unclear what this movement was the 'alternative' to...I suppose going to the mall, although I recall seeing a lot of these same rock kids at JCPenney."

And then there is his take on Ton Loc. "The last verse of 'Bust a Move' states, 'Your best friend Harry/ Has a brother Larry/ In five days from now he's gonna marry/ He's hopin' you can make it there if you can/ Cuz in the ceremony you'll be the best man.' Now, why would anybody possibly be the best man in a wedding where the groom is your best friend's brother? Why isn't your best friend the best man in this ceremony? And who asks someone to be their best man a scant five days before they get married?" Important questions. Answered with genius.

Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice by Janet Malcolm

What Malcolm has given us is equal parts history of Stein and Toklas' relationship and an astute criticism of Stein's work. How two Jewish lesbians survived living in Europe during the 30s and 40s is one the larger question posed. Essentially, they moved to the French countryside and rarely spoke of their religious heritage. Evaded the issue, even.

I've long been enchanted with Stein, her brother Leo and their unique brand of living at 27 Rue de Fleurus. The company they kept during the 20s is a veritable who's who, but Malcolm wholly ignores this, aside from a brief mention of Hemingway. The focus is truly on the escape from Nazi terror and the process by which Stein wrote.

Malcolm is seemingly not a huge fan of Gertrude, but she thoroughly investigates her library and fairly sheds light on one of my favorite writers. If you've read my review of the play Gertrude Stein, then you are aware of my adoration of stream-of-consciousness and her heavy repetition of words. I'll spare you a litany of quotes, but share some of how Malcolm classifies the writing.

"This is truly a new way of writing a novel, a novel where the author withholds the characters from the reader. ...The characters resemble shades."

"When she uses a new word it is like the entrance of a new character."

"She refuses to see things clearly that can only be seen darkly."

"Although it is possible to finish, it is impossible to sum up."

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Oh, Jodi. Here you are again. Although read over the course of 24-hours, this one seemed even more familiar than her more recent novels. There were also one too many unnecessary perspectives included (for only a few chapters, at that). Picoult has done courtroom battles before....and, correct me if I'm wrong, always involving kids. Wah wah.

Short version: Emma Hunt is an overbearing mother (oh, wait! we've seen this lady before) to Theo and Jacob. Jacob has Asperger's Syndrome, and is obsessed with forensics, including watching and documenting shows and then recreating crime scenes for his family to figure out. The Hunt household is governed by a short list of "House Rules", as Jacob needs the structure and something to constantly reference in order to function in society. (I'm very tempted to give you two of the rules, but would give away the big mystery....suffice it to say, using Jacob's notation system...SOLVED: ME! 75 pages.) There is a murder. Everyone knows a little piece of the puzzle, and no one is telling what they know. Courtroom scenes ensue.

The two things that stick with me from this book: Emma is a reworked version of every other mother character Picoult has written (with no outstanding traits of her own) and Jacob constantly reminded me of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory (even though it has been said that his character doesn't have any form of autism. I couldn't help it).