Book Club Catch Up!

Amazingly, I've managed to keep up on all of our book club books!  I haven't managed to post my thoughts on them.

November: Girl Gone by Gillian Flynn

This book was super creepy!  Overall, I really enjoyed the book.  I don't know if it was because I was incredibly pregnant and very tired, but I approached this book like I approach most TV shows.  I didn't try to figure it out (much), I just floated down the story as the author led me.  I was surprised that some of the aspects that really surprised the other girls in my book club (notably the ending) didn't surprise me, but I expect that is largely a result of my recent life experience.  I won't ruin the book, I think this would be a great read for a vacation.  Easy to read and fun, even if quite dark.

December: The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriart

Maybe it's because I read this on the heels of the previous month's book, but I expected it to be creepier.  It started off that direction, crazy ex-girlfriend stalker who is one of the Hypnotist's patients in order to spy on her.  But it wrapped up way too neat and tidy.  I suspect that is one of the elements that separates what many of the book club girls call "Chick-lit" from typical fictional novels.  While the genre will never be my favorite, I can see why people enjoy it.  I read the book in one day, curled up on the cuddle sofa with Colin taking frequent breaks to nurse and nap.  Even if I'd hated the book (which in honesty, I didn't), I would have loved the experience of reading it!

January: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

I'm not sure what I thought of this book.  I think what made me a little crazy about it is that it focused on too many characters which made me feel like the author had more than one story he wanted to tell, but only had the time and energy for one book.  Then, in order to tie them all together, he just added a chapter about "All the ruined lives" and titled the book after that 'theme.'  It made me think back to my brief stint as an author because this is something I struggled with as well.  I had too many different perspectives I wanted to write from.  I lack the skill and strong storyine to successfully tie them all together into a cohesive and compelling story.  Walter did a much better job than I was headed towards, but I still think the book would have benefited from one less 'main' character, (May I strongly suggest the assistant??) and one less story line (her love story with her crappy boyfriend/the writer??).  I missed the meeting on this book, so I'm not sure how others felt about it, although I'd be curious to hear.

Our next book club book will be The Buddha In the Attic by Julie Otsuka.