The Best and Worst of 2012

GOODBYE 2012, HELLO 2013

It's that time of year. I have to wrap up the good and the bad of 2012. I finished my first semester of graduate school. It was tough, but worth it. I truly believe 2013 will be a better year for me. I'm still unemployed, but grad school has given me a leg up on my career pursuits.

Now, how did I do with my reading goals. I set a reading goal of 70 books. According to Goodreads, I passed my goal by reading 76 books. It should really be 74, because two of those books I just could not finish. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson and Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth just weren't for me. Those two actually make it on my list for the worst books of 2012. I hate to say I don't like something, but have to be honest. So without further adieu, here is my list for the best books of 2012!!!

(Note not every book on this list was released in 2012, but I just happened to read them in 2012)

Top 12 books of 2012

1. I Couldn't Love You More by Jillian Medoff  -- Great family drama. A woman is forced to make a desperate choice. Which child will she save, and what are the consequences.

2. Home Front by Kristin Hannah -- Another family drama. Noticing a pattern here? I didn't like True Colors by Kristin Hannah, but was willing to give Home Front a try. I wasn't disappointed. Home Front is the tale of a female soldier, with a family, who goes off to war in Iraq. She does not return as the same person, physically or emotionally.

3. Fracture by Megan Miranda -- A young girl will never be the same after surviving a near-death experience. Awesome YA book. It has a nice mix of contemporary and paranormal elements.

4. Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman by Patricia Bosworth -- I learned way too much about Jane Fonda's sex life. But this a very well-researched and comprehensive biography.

5. Defending Jacob by William Landay -- Another family drama. A young boy is accused of murder and his prosecutor father tries to prove his innocence. The ending was a complete shocker!

6. Outside the Lines by Amy Hatvany -- A young woman is still searching for her long-lost father. When they find each other, will it be everything she hoped for?

7. An Unquechable Thirst by Mary Johnson -- Do you know everything at 17? Are you ready to go out into the world and support yourself? Of course not. But at 17 Mary Johnson made the choice to become a nun.

8. The Siren by Tiffany Reisz -- I refuse to read Fifty Shades of Grey, but I'm not opposed to reading erotica. This was a great book. It wasn't all about the sex, the characters were well-fleshed out.

9. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga -- The title is very suggestive isn't it? A teenage boy is in fact hunting killers. A killer who is obsessed with the young boy's father, who also happens to be a serial killer.

10. Queer Greer by A.J. Walkley -- A teenage girl is discovering her sexuality.

11. Unbroken by Jamie Lisa Forbes -- Life on the family farm isn't for everyone. A marriage is in trouble just as a single mother comes rolling into town.

12. One Good Deed by Erin McHugh -- One Good Deed a day? It was certainly possible for Erin McHugh, and she became a better person for it.

Honorable mention: Heft by Liz Moore, The Underside of Joy by Seré Prince Halverson, Bloodman by Robert Pobi, Pure by Julianna Baggott, One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf, and The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

The not-so good books of 2012

1. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson -- I let glowing newspaper reviews cloud my judgment. I didn't even make it to Part II of the book. I had to quit. It was boring, and I just couldn't see where this book was going.
2. Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth --  Another book I couldn't finish. It was hard to follow. I felt like I was forcing myself to finish, and when that happens it's time to stop reading the book.
3. Being Lara by Lola Jaye -- The storyline was good, but I just didn't like the way it was told. A young child from Nigeria is adopted and raised by a white British couple. I thought this would be a book about Lara discovering or questioning her identity. It's more about her adoptive mother and her birth mother. It just wasn't for me.
4. With my Body by Nikki Gemmell -- Before reading The Siren by Tiffany Reisz, I decided to give this one a try. It didn't seem like an erotic book, I found it to be borderline chick-lit.

Outside the world of books in 2012 

 

It just didn't feel right to ignore all of the tragic loss of life in 2012, especially the children of the Sandy Hook shooting. It's heartbreaking to know that 20 children will never get the chance to grow up and become doctors, lawyers, writers, or teachers. Their potential was limitless. Don't forget to cherish those who you love the most.

My take on: The Art Forger

I know absolutely nothing about art. I've been to plenty of museums in my lifetime, including the Louvre. I've seen the Mona Lisa up close, and I honestly don't get the hype. But after reading The Art Forger by  B.A. Shapiro, I have a greater appreciation for the amount of work that goes into creating a painting......

And........

What goes into forging or "copying" a great work of art.

In The Art Forger, 20+ years have passed since the notorious theft of Edgar Degas' painting After the Bath. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum has never been the same since the theft. But museum officials and the FBI have never stopped looking for the painting and the other works of art stolen in the heist. After the Bath is beloved by art students and historians around the world. Artist Claire Roth has always admired Degas. But unlike Degas, Claire is still trying to make her mark on the art world.

Claire is a pariah in the art community after accusing her former mentor and lover of passing her work off as his own. Only it wasn't an accusation, it was the truth. But who would believe Claire? Without any proof, Claire's word isn't good enough. Claire does her best to make others believe her, but the most influential people in the art world only see what they want to see. It's easier to believe in the established artist than a no-name like Claire. In the three years since, Claire is barely getting by. She's still trying to get the word out about her original works of art, but has to make a living "reproducing" paintings for an online retailer. A bit of irony huh? Claire is making a living copying the works of others after accusing someone of doing the same to her. She's become an expert at her new career. This expertise ultimately leads Claire down a dangerous path.

The handsome Aiden Markel, a powerful art gallery owner, offers Claire the deal of a lifetime. Produce a copy of After The Bath and Claire can have her own show in his gallery. Is there something wrong with that? Yes!! Aiden appears to be in possession of the stolen painting and wants Claire to produce a copy that could fool a potential buyer. How does he come into possession of the painting? I wasn't totally clear on that one, but I was certain nothing good could come from this. The real painting will go back to the museum, and everyone, including Claire, will benefit. It sounds too good to be true. Despite her new career, Claire still has a sense of integrity. What kind of person does it make her if she goes through with this? What if the authorities find out? What's Aiden's agenda? Why come to Claire? But, there is a lot of good that could come out of this deal. A one-woman show will finally give Claire the validation she's been looking for internally and professionally.

As an added bonus, Claire and Aiden become more than just business partners. There are two ways to look at that one. Claire has a small circle of friends, but her life was lacking an intimate connection. When she's around Aiden, Claire seems more happy. She's starting to believe there is a future for her and Aiden. On the other hand, her love or infatuation for Aiden clouds Claire's judgment. When the deal goes bad, Claire does everything she can to save Aiden. Would she be working so hard if they weren't romantically involved? Would she care so much?

I was immediately pulled into the story. It's clear a lot of research went into this book. I was fascinated by the art forger process. This book could give a lot of forgers ideas. Claire seemed more like a surgeon than an artist. I say that because Claire worked on the After the Bath copy with extreme precision, just like a surgeon would when operating on a patient. Each layer of paint and each brushstroke has to be perfect. As I was reading the book, I was hoping she would get it right. I didn't want Claire to get caught. She needed something to finally go right for her. Even when the authorities close in on Claire and Aiden, I was still hoping for the happy ending. Morally what they were doing was wrong, but I wasn't so sure it was illegal. Right up until the end, you will be asking yourself that question. This was definitely a page-turner for me. Whether you're into the artworld or not, this book is definitely worth reading. It has a little bit of everything, romance, mystery, and suspense.

Rating: O.M.G. !!

Note: I received a copy of the book from the publisher (Algonquin) in exchange for an honest review.

The Harriet Klausner: Is she a fraud?

It was only a few days ago that I learned of the "legend" of Harriet Klausner. A New York Times article about Amazon book reviews introduced me to this woman. That's her in the picture above. She's surrounded by the hundreds of books she allegedly reads and reviews on multiple retail sites. I say "allegedly" because I have a hard time believing ANYONE can read at the pace she does.

For the past 10+ years, Ms. Klausner, who is a 60-year-old retired librarian, has posted an average of seven book reviews per day to multiple online retail sites. According to the The Harriet Klausner Appreciation Society, a website dedicated to investigating her fraudulent behavior, Ms. Klausner has reviewed 28,256 books in that timespan.

28,256 books? Digest that for a moment.....

28,256 books!! Sure it sounds good that someone is so dedicated to reading, but is she doing it honestly? And, is it even physically possible? As much as I hate math, let's do a little math. She's been "reviewing" books for the past 10-11 years. Let's say 11 years.

365 x 11= 4,015
28,256/4,015= 7.037

Ok, so she would have to be reading an average of 7 books per day. That is INSANE and highly UNBELIEVABLE. I can totally believe a person can read 1-2 books per day but not 7. At that pace a person would have to have NO SOCIAL LIFE whatsoever. I know some of those Harlequin books are rather short, but I just can't believe a person can read that fast. Is she even absorbing enough of the material to form an opinion? From what I read about her Ms. Klausner has a husband and a son. It's possible she has more children, but I don't know. When does she eat? Who does the cooking? Does her husband do all the cleaning and laundry? When does she drink? When does she go to the bathroom? Reading at that pace doesn't appear to allow for bathroom breaks. When does she pay her bills? Does she have friends? Watch TV? Because of all of those questions, I have serious doubts about Ms. Klausner's credibility.

I had to look at her Amazon reviews for myself. She posted 10 on Christmas day. Most of the reviews I saw were rehashes of the flap copy or summaries on the back of the books. Only one or two sentences in those reviews contain her actual thoughts. Even worse her "reviews" lean heavily towards plagiarism. She tweaks a few lines of the flap copy and passes it off as her own. If she were making it clear the words aren't her own, more people would be on her side. And........her opinions don't run very deep. I flipped through 20 pages of her reviews, and didn't come across one bad review. Every single one was a four- or five-star review. It's really nice to believe you'll like everything. But it just isn't possible. It's not reality. Her lack of negative or indifferent reviews is what makes me doubt Ms. Klausner. A lot of people, myself included, look to Amazon for book reviews (I also go on Goodreads and Google for reviews). Consumers want to know if a book is good or bad. I personally look at the negative reviews first. I trust those more than the five-star reviews. The negative reviews actually discuss the pacing of the plot, grammar, spelling, believability, and so much more. Is Ms. Klausner really reading these books? Or is she reading just enough to make the publishers happy?

Which brings me to another gripe I have with Madame Klausner.

28,256 books?!?!? Where do all those books go? Unless she lives in a giant mansion, how does she find the space for all of those books? I own several hundred books and I hardly have room for those. According to The Harriet Klausner Appreciation Society and various blogs Ms. Klausner receives A LOT of ARCs (advanced review copy) from publishers. She also sells these ARCs online under her son's name. Ok, fellow bloggers we all know that is a BIG NO-NO!! Donating the books to your library or a charity is perfectly acceptable. Giving them to a friend or family member is perfectly acceptable. If she is selling the books and donating the money to charity, I wouldn't have a problem with that. But I have a strong feeling that money is making its way into her wallet. If she was doing something charitable or honorable with the money, there would be no need to sell the books under her son's name. Publishers have to be aware of the questions regarding her credibility, but she continues to receive ARCs. Does she have that much power and influence on online retail sites, like Amazon, that they choose to ignore the facts? Is she that valuable as a marketing tool? The answer is clearly yes. She has value as a "reviewer," and she will continue to receive ARCs.

Overall, Ms. Klausner is doing a great disservice to consumers and readers by not reviewing books with honesty and integrity. What does everyone else think?

A Day at Random House and ... a book haul !!

A little over a week ago, I had the pleasure of spending the day at Random House. It was a day for people who love to read and talk about books. It's between chef Marcus Samuelsson and Anna Quindlen talking to her editor Kate Medina for the best panel. I missed getting Marcus Samuelsson's book Yes Chef, but it's definitely on my list now. I only knew him as the judge on Chopped, but he is so much more. He sounds like a historian or a philosopher when he talks about food and it's role in our culture. As a chef he's also a storyteller, and it's important that come through in his cooking. I was amazed to learn that Kate Medina is the only editor Anna Quindlen has had in her nearly 25 years at Random House. As she put it Kate Medina speaks fluent Quindlen. They seem like such good friends.

The video above pretty much sums up the day.  I feel famous because one of my many Tweets that day made it into the video (takes so little to make me happy)!!!

Here is a picture of the books I picked up at Random House:

Bought:
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (not a Random House title but it was recommended during the lunchtime panel)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Twelve by Justin Cronin (I own The Passage but I haven't read it yet!)
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Gift bag:
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
True Believers by Kurt Andersen

My take on: Shunning Sarah

I must confess, I let Shunning Sarah by Julie Kramer fall by the wayside. I started it in August and didn't finish it until December. It was not a bad book at all, it was actually pretty good. But because I read so many books at once, I often give some priority over others. Anyway, better late than never!!

This was my first introduction to Julie Kramer's books and the character Riley Spartz. Riley is both funny and intelligent in her adventures as an investigative TV reporter. She's always searching for the next big story. She loves hunting down clues and getting to the heart of the matter. Those skills will come in handy in her next assignment. What starts out as a seemingly small story, turns into a large-scale murder investigation.

When a young boy named Josh Kueppers falls into a sinkhole, Riley immediately smells a larger story. Of course she is right, otherwise there would be no point to the book. Josh spent the night cold and scared, but he wasn't alone. Doesn't that sound creepy? In the first few chapters, I was scared for Josh. The eyes of a dead naked woman were staring up at him. He's constantly wondering if he will ever get out and see his parents again. Who is this woman? How did she get there? Does someone out there care about her?

All of the chapters are fairly short, and when I was actively reading the book I was constantly turning the pages to find out what happened. When Riley gets the full scope of the story, she is desperate to get to the bottom of things. Discovering the truth could be the turning point in her professional career and in her personal life. The TV station is still reeling from a mass shooting. I have a feeling some of those details are covered in previous books in the series, but I did get the gist of it. Riley's mentor was murdered in the shooting, and now she has a new boss, Bryce Griffin, who is a total jerk. Ratings and advertisers mean more to him than running an interesting, investigative, and honest news story. Discovering this woman's killer is very low on his list of priorities. Bryce isn't Riley's only stumbling block in this investigation.

The murder victim turns out to be Sarah Yoder, a young Amish woman who was being shunned by her community and her family. Why was she shunned? Did she leave the community on her own or was she forced out? Trying to get answers out of the Amish community proves difficult. They see the "English" and everything they stand for as the enemy. The Amish are not part of modern society. They are closed off in their own world. Finding out who killed Sarah isn't a priority. You can tell some members of the family did care about Sarah, but they're afraid to show it. I just don't understand that. I don't know enough about the Amish to truly understand the principles that they live by. But Riley is determined to understand, despite the danger it puts her in.

I wish we had be given suspects a little earlier in the book. The first real suspect given comes pretty late in the story. I knew right away that the suspect we're given couldn't have done it. There were too many pages left for the book to end on that note. There had to be more to it. When the murderer was revealed, it felt a little rushed. I would have liked to hear more from this character. More about this character's pysche. Reading the book, you learn a lot about Riley. Everything else is more of a backdrop. This seemed like it was more about Riley's efforts to overcome an evil boss and rise up the corporate ladder. The murder was just the next obstacle for her to overcome. Overall, I liked the book, and I would definitely read another book by Julie Kramer again.

Rating: Give it a try

Note: I received a copy of the book from the publisher (Emily Bestler Books/Atria) in exchange for an honest review.

My take on: The Exceptions

I loved David Cristofano's first book The Girl She Used to Be, so I was eager to read his next book The Exceptions. Both books require some stretch of the imagination, but both are very engaging and entertaining. You can read The Exceptions without having read the first book, but I don't recommended you do that. You have a deeper understanding of the characters and their personalities if you've read the first book.

The facts are still the same. Melody Grace McCartney is still running from her past. One day, a six-year-old Melody and her parents left their New Jersey home for a day out in Manhattan. While on that journey, they have the misfortune of witnessing a murder at the hands of mafia boss Tony Bovaro. From that day on the lives of the McCartney family are forever changed. They are forced into the Witness Protection Program. As a teenager, the Bovaro family catches up with Melody’s parents and kills them. Orphaned Melody is now without her anchors – her parents.

Jonathan Bovaro wants to be Melody's anchor. He wasn't much older than Melody at the time of the murder. While the adults in his family saw Melody and her family as threats, Jonathan saw her as a beautiful girl. She was innocent. Her life was worth saving. She deserved a chance to grow up. Jonathan never understood why his family couldn't see Melody the way he did.

The Girl She Used to Be to be is told entirely from Melody's perspective. This is where The Exceptions differs from the first book, it's narrated entirely by Jonathan. You get more insight into his personality. Despite being the son of a mafia boss, Jonathan grew up with a sense of family, except their Sunday dinners were celebrating the elimination of a traitor instead of good grades on a report card. Nothing is normal is about the Bovaro clan.

Violence and intimidation are the norm for the Bovaros, and Jonathan learned from the best. But he wants to be more than a product of his upbringing. He wants a normal life. He has to have something for himself, something that is separate from the Bovaro clan. He turns his passion for cooking into a successful career as a restaurant owner, but the sins of his family will always haunt him. Whenever he's pushed to the limit, Jonathan reverts to what he knows. Like his family, money, violence, and intimidation are his best weapons. But when it comes to Melody, Jonathan feels nothing but compassion and love. Over the years, Jonathan has watched her from afar, slowly falling in love with her. He can see a lot of her in himself. Melody desperately wants her life back. She could have been something before the Bovaros entered her life. If Jonathan can break away from the family, then he can truly become the person he was meant to be.

Every year Melody continues to live, Jonathan reassures his family that he will get it done. Although deep down he has no intention of harming Melody. He wants to free her from the eternal misery of the Witness Protection Program. After two books, I still believe his plan to free her was naive. In the eyes of his family, Melody is a threat and that won't change until her death. Sometimes it felt like Jonathan was obsessing over Melody too much. In his mind, he is the only one who can save her. Only he has her best interests at heart, not the feds. He loves her so much it hurts to be away from her. His passion for Melody was a little too sappy for my taste. He obsesses over kissing her and touching her. Pages and pages are devoted to his obsessive thoughts over Melody. At 465 pages, The Exceptions was a little long for my taste. The first book was so effective in getting to the point quickly. But for readers who loved The Girl She Used to Be, The Exceptions is worth reading.

Rating: Give it a try

Note: I received a copy of the book from the publisher (Grand Central Publishing) in exchange for an honest review.

My take on: The Theory of Everything

"Talk to us enough to think you're okay, but don't say what you really think. It makes us uncomfortable. And God forbid we should be uncomfortable." -- Pg. 57

In The Theory of Everything by J.J. Johnson, fifteen-year-old Sarah Jones is not ok. But she doesn't want her family or boyfriend to know that. Sarah is still reeling from the death of her best friend Jamie. Before Jamie died (BJD) everything was great. Sarah was outgoing and social. In the months since Jamie died (SJD) everything has changed. Sarah is no longer the person she used to be. The other half of her is gone, and she doesn't know how to move on.

How do you go on after losing someone close to you? Jamie died in a tragic accident. It just doesn't seem fair to Sarah that she is alive and Jamie is dead. She blames herself for not doing more to save Jamie. At just 15, Sarah doesn't have all the answers. But you wouldn't know it by the words that come out of her mouth. She is not only snarky to her brother, Jeremy, and her boyfriend Stenn, but Sarah isn't afraid to go toe-to-toe with her parents. She curses and gets into screaming matches with her parents. She cuts classes. She sneaks out at night. She questions their authority at every turn. Like all teenagers, she knows what's best not her parents. It all sounds like typical teenage angst, but Sarah is grieving. How much rope do they give her? A lot in my opinion. Grieving or not, I don't think I would be alive if I ever spoke to my family they way Sarah does. What's Sarah's punishment for skipping classes? Oh she's grounded for the weekend!!

Towards the middle of the book, Sarah's constant sarcasm was getting on my nerves. Not everything is a joke. Sarah's attitude is alienating her from her boyfriend and family. People don't know what they can or can't say to her and it's all because she won't talk about her true feelings. It takes a perfect stranger to break Sarah out of her shell. To repay a debt, the creepy possum dude (read the book to know what I'm talking about) a.k.a Roy forces Sarah to work on his Christmas tree farm. Initially the work is hard, but Sarah comes to see another side of Roy. Sarah comes to realize he isn't a creepy dude, but someone who is struggling with his emotions. A tragic event changed Roy's life, but he channeled his own grief into helping other. You never know what a person is struggling with until you get to know them. If it's ok for Roy to move on, then maybe it's ok for Sarah, too.

I liked Sarah's relationship with Roy the most. To start, Sarah felt slightly intimidated by Roy. There was no point in being snarky with him. Even though they met under unusual circumstances (seriously read the book to know what I'm talking about), Roy helped save Sarah from herself. By the end, of course Sarah doesn't have all the answers because she's a teenager. But you have hope for her future, and that she is finally starting to grow up. 

Rating: Superb

Note: I received a copy of the book from the publisher (Peachtree Publishers ) in exchange for an honest review.