Eh...

Twelve

For a long time, I kept coming across this novel by Nick McDonell in bookstores. It got to the point where eventually I just decided to read it, because I kept picking it up and I figured if it was so prominent it must be decent. There are several characters in the book, and we get just a glimpse into the lives of each of them, most of them rich high school kids. The character that's focused on the most is White Mike, a prep school kid turned drug dealer. The title "Twelve" comes from a drug of the same name that one girl gets addicted to. There could be other references to the number in the book (maybe the number of key characters?) but I haven't thought through it carefully enough to say for sure.

Overall, I was disappointed. Maybe it's just because the narration has an observer-type feel, but I didn't feel especially attached to any of the characters (although I can't help but notice that "The Great Gatsby" had an observer type thing going on and I still really liked that). I just... didn't understand the point of the book, I guess. Especially the ending. Obviously since it's selling so well, there are people that are getting something out of it, but I just wasn't one of them. I give it 6 pretzel bites.

KAY

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

I just finished reading this book by Amy Bender which I borrowed from my step-mom. It's about a girl named Rose who can taste what people are feeling by eating food that they've made. It seems magical but actually hinders her quite a bit. However, even though this is the selling point plot aspect, I found that for a lot of it, that part sort of took a backseat, and instead the book concentrated more on Rose's family dynamic: Rose, her genius but extremely introverted brother, her enthusiastic but lonely mother, and her friendly but somewhat awkward father.

The first half of the book (the parts taking place when Rose is nine and twelve) I absolutely loved. The imagery was clear, the prose was lovely, the characters were complex, and the story was interesting. However, sadly, the second half I did not enjoy as much. It got into this weirdness with her brother, and I guess the characters started to feel farther away to me. There were still some really nice sections, but I just didn't enjoy it as much. I wish it had lived up to the fantasticness of the first half. Overall, I give this book 7.5 pretzel bites.

KAY

Classic reading, part two

Sense and Sensibility

I decided to read this book because I'd never read anything by Jane Austen and I really wanted to! This is a classic about two very different sisters, Elinor (the reasonable one) and Marianne (the passionate one), who fall in love and have problems arise. In the beginning, I had to concentrate really hard to figure out what was going on just because of the way that it's written, but once I got past all the exposition, it got easier. Plus, the language is just so wonderful (for example, "'We may treat it as a joke,' said he, at last, recovering from the affected laugh which had considerably lengthened out the genuine gaiety of the moment"). I thought it was witty and interesting and quite enjoyable. I know some people don't like Jane Austen because they say her endings are too happy, but sometimes it's nice to read books with happy endings, don't you think? 8.5 pretzel bites!

KAY