Book Review: "Belong to Me"

This book is the sequel to "Love Walked In," which my book club read a couple of months ago. I got this one at the library, but I have a feeling I'll end up buying it, especially since Marisa de los Santos is writing a third in the series as we speak.

I love Cornelia Brown Sandoval. I wish she was real so she could be my friend. Because no matter what's going on in the lives of the people around her -- death, adultery, unrequited love, stalking, a child that the father didn't know he had fathered -- she can somehow make it better.

(This is, of course, crap. There is no way any of these things could be resolved so neatly in real life. But that's why this book is in the fiction section.)

A quick summary: Cornelia and Teo got married and moved from NYC to the suburbs of Philly after Cornelia suffered a miscarriage and 9/11 happened the next day. The neighborhood they move into is swarming with mean housewives and miserable husbands, led by the Queen of Mean, Piper. (Yeah. I know. I guess she needed a ridiculous name, though.) Just when Cornelia thinks she's not going to have any kind of friend in this new life, she meets Lake (I know) at the grocery store. They are like kindred spirits, but neither of them is completely honest with the other. Lake's son Dev falls for Cornelia's sort-of-stepdaughter Claire (from the previous book) and the two of them plus Dev's friend Aidan go on a hunt to find Dev's birth father.

Piper's best friend Elizabeth dies from cancer, and then Piper's husband Kyle leaves her, and even though it takes them a long time to get there, Cornelia helps Piper through it. Just by being Cornelia.

Cornelia helps Lake with Dev, plus tries to be a good friend when Lake falls for her next door neighbor.

Oh, and Cornelia's brother surprises everyone by showing up with a pregnant girlfriend. And since Cornelia is Cornelia, she stands firm by her brother until he realizes that he is meant to be a father.

And then, just when things seem to be working out smoothly for Cornelia (who by this time is pregnant to term with hers and Teo's baby) ... the bomb is dropped: Dev figures out that Teo is in fact his birth father, Lake confirms it (she had Teo didn't meet face-to-face until this confrontation, FYI), Teo is gobsmacked and Cornelia freaks the hell out. As a person would.

That was the hardest part of the book to read. Harder than Elizabeth dying of cancer, even. Because my heart just broke for Cornelia. All she wants and has tried to do for these two books is make sure everyone around her is ok. Even when she doesn't like them very much... she wants them to be ok. And she does whatever she can to help it happen. And not to say that this Dev bombshell is hers alone to bear... but, damn. Poor Cornelia.

(Also... I had a feeling something was going to throw us for a loop. Cover art can make for a good clue. Why are there four pairs of boots? Teo, Cornelia, the baby. 1, 2, 3. The fourth belonged to someone...).

In the end, things seem to strike a balance so that everyone is ok. Which makes Cornelia feel ok, which is supposed to make the reader feel ok. But I did not. I wanted all the other characters in this book to physically get down on their knees and kiss the ground Cornelia walks on. (They love her, of course... but I want to see her loved like nobody has ever been loved before. She deserves it.)

I really liked this book, and more than 50% of why is because of Marisa de los Santos. The woman is a linguistic artist. Her writing is so melodic, her turns of phrase are so well crafted. She is inspiring. She loves to write, and it radiates in every paragraph. I love when writers play with words. I picture her smiling when she thinks up some catchy bit of alliteration or a funny description (my favorite in this book: "a wildly fruitless squat thrust") and that makes me happy. I can't wait to read the next one.

Movie review: "Letters to Juliet"

I am turning into such a girl.

Normally when I see chic flicks, it's because my girlier friends are pouting and begging me to go. And I usually end up wanting to gouge my eyes out with my Twizzlers and cursing that Kate Hudson was ever born.

For the past several weeks, though, my estrogen levels have been at an all time high or something. I was the one who invited my friends to come with me to see this movie.

I defend this with these reasons:

1. The movie takes place in Italy. Who doesn't want to spend 2 hours looking at Italian scenery?

2. The male love interest has an accent. I loooooooooooove guys with accents.

3. Amanda Seyfried is a cool lady. Check out some of her interviews on YouTube to confirm.

4. Vanessa Redgrave is amazing. Period.

So I went into the theater, armed with Twizzlers, fully expecting to be annoyed just like I am every other time I see a movie that has Taylor Swift on the soundtrack. But guess what?

I freakin' loved this movie.

Amanda Seyfried plays Sophie, a wannabe writer who goes to Verona with her chef fiance Victor, who is too preoccupied with his own agenda to pay any attention to her. One of the many times she's left to her own devices, she comes across a group of women who serve as "Juliet's secretaries," meaning they answer the letters that people leave for Juliet on the wall of her house. Sophie finds one from 1957, replies to it, and is surprised a few days later with the arrival of the woman who wrote it, Claire, and her grandson Charlie (accent).

Charlie is a total ass, but because he has abandonment issues and fears for his grandmother's feelings. Claire, however, is determined to find Lorenzo, the long-lost love she wrote the letter about all those years ago. Sophie tags along and documents everything for a story she's planning to write and hopes it's what will finally get her published.

Over the course of the search for Lorenzo, Sophie realized what love really is and that she and Victor do not have it. And, of course, she and Charlie fall for each other. Alas, she goes back to New York and he to London. She gets published, breaks up with Victor and goes back to Italy for Lorenzo and Claire's wedding. She sees Charlie there, confesses her love, he confesses his, big dramatic kiss scene, that's a wrap, cut and print.

Like all chic flicks, this is predictable. Of course Charlie and Sophie would find their way back to each other. Of course it would be at the very last second when the audience is supposed to think it's never going to happen. Of course Taylor Swift is singing over the scene.

But for some reason, this time it was ok with me. Maybe because the movie poked fun at itself and the cheesiness of romantic comedies in general. Charlie's snark served well there. Maybe because of the four reasons I mentioned above. But mostly... mostly it's because I've been super girlie these days and seeing love on a screen makes me ache for love in real life. In Italy. With a guy who has an accent.

Book Review: "The Host"

This month's book club selection was Stephenie Meyer's "The Host." She also wrote the "Twilight" saga, so let's just get that out there and out of the way right off the bat... because this book is nothing like that series.

Well, except for some things.

But first, the things that are different. This book is about a post-apocalyptic Earth where human bodies have been taken over by alien "souls." They've invaded the planet because when they first came to check it out, they saw that we'd made a real mess of things. So now, all these human hosts get to live in an idyllic society where everything is free, there is no crime and nobody stirs the pot. The trade? The humans themselves don't get to appreciate this new world because their minds are taken over by the souls. At least, that's what's supposed to happen.

This story is told from a soul's point of view. Wanderer is placed inside Melanie's body. The problem? Melanie didn't actually go away like she should have. She's still in her own head, there with Wanderer (who they annoyingly call Wanda for short).

Over some time, Wanda absorbs Melanie's memories and feelings and sets out to find the secret hideout of unpossessed humans where Melanie's boyfriend and little brother are supposed to be. She finds them. They see that she's got Melanie's body, but she's clearly a soul. (Their eyes are reflective, that's how you can tell.) So they hate her. And keep her prisoner. And beat the crap out of her on multiple occasions.

Then, finally, they begin to trust her. And then they believe her when she says Melanie is still in there. And after like 300 more pages of this, Wanda decides Melanie deserves to have her life and body and boyfriend and brother back, so she gives away the aliens' most guarded secret -- the way to detach themselves from their host without killing either being.

Of course Jared, Mel's boyfriend, is all for this plan. Ian, however, has fallen in love with Wanda. That gets sticky, but they resolve it by removing Wanda from Mel's body and putting her in someone else's. And they all lived happily ever after. (No. They did not. Stephenie Meyer left it open for a sequel by having the humans come across another group of free humans, who tell them they know of even more free humans! Will they rise up and take their planet back?? If the author gets to writing, they just might).

I liked this book. It's better than "Twilight" in that it touches on actual social issues rather than just ridiculous teenage supernatural love. And while it bored me after a while, I can appreciate Stephenie's creativity in inventing the alien culture and history for this book. It's obvious that much more thought went into it than into the vampire culture she invented for "Twilight."

I did not like this book for the same reasons I do not like "Twilight." The heroine (I mean Wanda, not Melanie) is pathetic. Stephenie Meyer's anti-feminist bullshit really pisses me off. Yeah, I know, she's a Mormon. But guess what? If it was the end of the world, and you and your boyfriend thought you were the only two humans left on the planet (which they did at the time of this point I'm about to make) you would not stop yourselves from having sex because you had not yet turned 18. Are you joking? And speaking of no sex, I'm really pissed that Stephenie didn't give us even a smidge of some good stuff after Melanie was herself again. Because the first thing you'd do is say hello to everyone, give your family a hug and kiss and then lock yourself in your room with your boyfriend for, like, days. COME ON! I'm not saying I needed graphic details, but having one little sentence merely alluding to Melanie and Jared's reunion was just a damn tease.

If Stephenie does write more in this series, I hope she gives us the story from both Wanda's and Melanie's points of view. We saw this world through the both of them for a very long time. I would feel cheated if I didn't get to continue that.

And hey, how about a little sex, too? I mean... aren't Mormons the ones who have 13 million kids each? Come on, Steph. I know you've got it in you. (Um... no pun intended.) ;)

This is better

Remember when I wrote that blog post a couple of months ago about being on the cusp of 30 years old and what that meant to me? Well, this person wrote about the aging/accomplishment/happiness thing in a way that's much better than my rambling. Have a read. It's called "Screw Happiness." (Movie title, anybody?)

Not a review of "Iron Man 2"

It was going to be, but really, what's the point? It's a fun, funny, action-packed sequel to a fun, funny, action-packed original. If you liked the first, you'll like the second. Robert Downey Jr. is awesome. The end.

Today I'm going to talk about something much more urgent.

Vampires.

What is the deal with vampires? Why are we (yes, me included) currently so obsessed? I am such a 12-year-old fangirl when it comes to the "Twilight" series. (Wait. Let me be clear. I do not own any merch other than the books and movies. I do not check fan sites on a daily basis. I am not part of any group that has a name with the prefix Twi-. But I am a fan.) I also watch "The Vampire Diaries" on Thursday nights, which, frankly, is much much better than the "Twilight" series.

I never was into vamps before. I have never read a word of Ann Rice. (Is it Anne with an "e?" I don't even know.) I saw parts of "Interview With a Vampire" and "Queen of the Damned." Nothing memorable for me. Ok, I admit, I enjoyed The Count when I watched "Sesame Street," but I think that's about as far as it went for me.

I have tried again and again to figure this out. I am at a loss. Anybody out there have any ideas?

The point of me bringing this up is clearly people are into this stuff. There are like a billion and half vampire book series out now, and they are being... heh... devoured! Same goes for other supernatural things: wizards, witches, werewolves, etc. And now there's a sub-supernatural group writing hero stories based on Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology.

It's all fantasy, all the time.

And I get it; it's fun. And it's clever. I mean, this stuff has been written about for centuries so doing it now is pretty easy. The foundation has been laid.

I want to be a writer. I want to have an original idea and unique characters and a compelling story for them. But it's so HARD! Every time I think I have something, I work on it for a while, decide it sucks and then stop. I know my ideas are good, I'm just having a hard time executing them. (Maybe I need a writing partner?)

I'm not trying to say I'm too good to write about fantasy stuff. If I could think of something that nobody has done yet, I'm all over it. Young Adult, too. That genre is so mislabeled it's not even funny. Grannies are reading YA stuff at the bus stop. It would be fun to write in both of those genres.

The moral of this post is this: Writing is hard. Being original is hard. And vampires are a fun distraction.

P.S. - This is Stefan and Damon Salvatore, the vamp brothers in "The Vampire Diaries." Like I said: A fun distraction. ;)

25 more things

This list will make 75 total things. I'll stop at 100. Maybe.

1. I never had bad skin as a teenager, but now that I'm grown my skin is like, "Hey. Got something for ya."
2. I should really be in bed right now.
3. My jaw pops when I yawn. It's gross.
4. My apartment currently looks like I was robbed during a tornado.
5. I always resist going to the gym, but I'm always happy when I've gone.
6. My dad gave me $25 the other day, for no reason at all.
7. I really want a day off.
8. I hate when people blow me off.
9. Firemen are hot.
10. Baseball players are also hot.
11. In related news, dipping is not hot.
12. Going to the store when hungry is dangerous. Today I bought strawberry ice cream. :(
13. I really want the complete series of "Dawson's Creek" on DVD. Ridiculous, I know.
14. I currently own the complete series of "Friends" and am up-to-date on seasons of "The Office."
15. I will be adding "Glee" and "The Vampire Diaries" to my collection, once those complete seasons start coming out on DVD. Because I'm still a teen girl inside, that's why.
16. "Iron Man 2" was so much fun. (Review to come).
17. "Daria" is a kick-ass show.
18. I have to check 100 times that my keys are in my purse before I leave work and get on the bus.
19. I can't read while in a moving vehicle. Unless I want to puke.
20. My parents are starting to act old.
21. I want to have a vegetable garden in my backyard one day.
22. I also want to be fancy enough to know and care about different kinds of cheese.
23. I wonder how many people would actually buy my book, if it was ever published?
24. I'm thinking not many.
25. Going to bed now.

Sorry, again, if there are any repeats.

Book Review: "Pictures at an Exhibition"

Max's father is a big time art gallery owner in Paris in the late 1930s. He rubs elbows with Picasso, for heaven's sake! But he is not interested in Max taking over the gallery, although he fully expects his son to know every painting in and out, back and forth, up and down. Max knows their values. He knows how to study a painting to determine its worth. He's good.

But Max's parents want him to be a doctor, so they force him to go to medical school and hire Rose to work at the gallery instead.

Max falls for Rose. Rose does not fall for Max. Then a bunch of Germans plow through the country and Max's family, who are Jewish, go into hiding and lose everything.

Max and his dad come back to Paris years later and confirm that everything is gone. Max's dad doesn't seem interested in finding his lost paintings. Max, on the other hand, is determined to get them back. And if not all of them, one: Almonds.

This novel is the first by Sara Houghteling, and I'm impressed by her research of works of art. She does a good job of combining fact and fiction. In "The Rape of Europa," I read about the plight of art during WWII, and some specific moments -- like the moving of "The Winged Victory" down a staircase in the Louvre -- appear in this book as well.

Rose Clement, in this novel, is based on Rose Valland, a French woman who worked as an art historian before and during German occupation and kept meticulous records of the art that passed through the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris. Valland is considered a national hero in France and was awarded several decorations for her work.

In those moments, when I recognized truth in the story, I loved the book. I was also engaged when Max began his quest for his father's art, and my heart stopped with his every time he recognized a piece that belonged to him.

I was not quite as interested in Max's existential crisis along the way, even though I understand it. And the big reveal, which explains why his parents didn't want him to work in the gallery and follow in his father's footsteps, was weak to me. But the ending, set 25 years after the war with Max bidding on a painting in an auction and eventually losing his prize to a handicapped woman wearing the Legion d'honneur medal... that was cool.