Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

Tucker Crowe is the ying to my yang, umm, not. Remember when you used say things like “not”? Well, I guess that depends on how old you are. But, I kind of do.  Nice tangent, but anyways, my image of Tucker Crowe, who is one of two/three main characters in this story, is probably more like that incredibly obnoxious, ridiculously untalented (although Tucker’s character may have a little) brit, Russell Brand. Hopefully that paints some sort of picture. But I somehow doubt that is how Nick Hornby wants you to see one of his characters

You may choose to never read my blog again after reading this and if that’s the case so be it (I feel like I’ve been saying that too often recently). I have not read any of Hornby’s other books although I think I should have read High Fidelity, Slam and About a Boy before reading this so that I would have a better understanding of Mr. Hornby’s style.

I could be wrong but it certainly seems as though I would classify this book and many of his others as “Lady Books.” Why? Well, it seems as though his books seem to revolve around music, romance and relationships. I may not have read his other books but I have seen some of the movies which validates my thinking. And this book is certainly all about those three things. And any book, in my eyes, that has a heavy dose of romance and relationships gets put in that genre.

Oh, it doesn’t end there…

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

For some reason, which I haven’t quite figured out yet, my mother wanted me to read this book. When my mom recommends a book to me I usually skip all pretenses and read it, besides the rest of my family, who knows me best? I think her exact sentence was “I want to know what you think?” Well mom, here is what I think.

First off, I’ve categorized this as a “lady book” because the story centers around two women who are struggling to get passed the past and live life now. I don’t know if I would or could call them strong women but they are both righteous in their own ways. The men in this story, minus “batman,” are not so righteous and provide the reader with an overpowering sense of weakness of character in each of them, which does of course empower the women all the more.

This is actually a very difficult book to review in that I don’t want to give anything away and by saying to much there will be nothing for you, yourself, to discover or learn when you pick it up. I will say this, it was an enjoyable read and without having any idea as to what will happen or being able to foresee what is going to happen the reader is pretty much engaged from the beginning.

If the little train could do it, so can you, keep reading…

Waiting… that’s exactly what I was doing, waiting for the damn book to end!

Waiting by Ha Jin

I’ve never had much trouble with love stories, so long as they offer me something new. Granted I rarely choose to read one, although from time to time it’s acceptable for a man of my nature (you know, dashing, refined, intelligent and pompous). If it’ll make a lady happy I will gladly sit through a romantic movie; however, I don’t think I can say the same about reading a book about a love, lost or found. I can say with certainty that if I read another book as bland and lovey dovey as this one I may choose to cut out one of my eyes (that way I can wear an eye patch and still be pretty cool).

Can’t “Wait” to keep reading huh?