JoJo Moyes: The Last Letter from Your Lover (and the Last JoJo Moyes bookies I Read)

I have a rule when it comes to losing faith in authors: if the first book I read is decent and the second book is bad, everything rides on the third read. I'm sad to say that JoJo Moyes and I are (probably) through. The first book I read of hers, Me Before You, left me pleasantly surprised- it was sentimental without being cheesy, and the writing, while mediocre, wasn't horribly so. I thought the second book, The Girl You Left Behind, lacked depth and failed to really intrigue me. Therefore, according to my rule, everything was riding on The Last Letter from Your Lover. Unfortunately, it didn't reach my expectations- here's three reasons why:

Something Seems Familiar...

There's a formulaic aspect that really bothered me, reminiscent of The Girl You Left Behind. Basically, both novels start off with something in the past, and then finish up with a more recent investigation and connection. The last book was a painting, this one a letter. It just seems a little cheap.

Coincidence? I Think Not...

Without giving anything away, there are some things at the end that just match up way too perfectly for me. The reporter, Ellie, doesn't really have to do much investigating- the answers to her little puzzle are basically just dropped right in front of her. Granted, this isn't billed as a mystery, but it's still way too convenient for my liking. 

The Depth Issue... Again

Just like in the last novel, the characters in the present day narrative are lacking the depth that the characters in the past portion have. I was much more interested in the first halves of both books, feeling that, in this one especially, the dialogue and characters were just so forced in the present. 

Minor issues also include the cover, the title, and the cliched ending.

Disclaimer: Penguin provided this copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Caught! (Bookish and (not so Bookish) Thoughts)

This is in lieu of Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts this week, but you can still link up below to participate! 

So, my students found my blog. And I panicked. My husband said I was overreacting. In retrospect, I guess I was.

Why I thought I could fly under the radar for this long is beyond me- I guess I had good luck for awhile and I figured it would continue. Wishful thinking.

And then I started thinking about what I'd need to pull down before going live again. 

The pornographic pictures?

Oh wait, there aren't any.

The offensive comments about my students?

Oh wait, all I do is say how much I love them. 

The posts about my drug use?

Oh wait, I've never even smoked pot because I'm too scared (asthma, guys!).

The deep dark secrets about my past?

Oh wait, those are only on my anonymous blog (kidding). 

Yes, I drop the occasional eff-bomb. And I do make sexual innuendos. I've referenced the need for wine. But I'm thirty years old and I'm not suggesting minors partake in any of it. For the most part I write my posts with the knowledge that this could happen at any time. 

And it has.

So, my students read what I've written. What happens? Best case scenario- they find some great books and get excited about reading (it could happen!). Worst case- they start snap chatting screen shots of particularly corny or nerdy writing and laugh behind my back.

Hi kids. Welcome to my blog. The fact that you guys love me so much to watch my every move on the internet is flattering, really. And if you have any questions, comments or concerns, email me.

Six Degree of Seperation- The Bell Jar

[I'm probably late to the party, but this site is so fun]

I love the idea behind this meme and meant to participate last month but completely forgot- Annabel and Emma  are geniuses! The guidelines are posted at the bottom, but basically what you do is start off with their selection, this month The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and then take off from there (come on, guys, you know the drill- Kevin Bacon style!). Try it!

I'm going with short and sweet, but I'll try to best to justify my connections. 

The Bell Jar reminds me in some ways of The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, and not just because they're both books we've read at work. Literary authors writing from the teenage angst perspective, New York, mental instability... 

The Emperor's Children, by Claire Messud, which I actually did not care for when I read it a very long time ago. I do remember rolling my eyes at the group of spoiled rich kids with supposed problems, just like I occasionally had to do so at Holden.

The Interestings, by Meg Wolitzer, is also about a group of friends, who met at summer camp, all of which but one are very wealthy. They too have their issues, and it is also set, primarily, on the East Coast.

Summer Camps can be a lot like temporary little communes, much like the one in Arcadia by Lauren Groff. There a bunch of hippies learn that it's not always easy to live in peace and harmony. 

Also living together in an unsettling situation are those in the novel Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez, about a closed in city of people who are not suffering from a population-threatening pandemic. 

This of course naturally ties to The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The end of the world is so depressing (just like The Bell Jar- full circle! Boom!). 

 

April Reviews

Last month was totally split- two books for work, two for pleasure. Two I enjoyed, two not so much. Can't win 'em all, I suppose. Let's see how many I get through this month [a winky smiley face would be inserted here if I believed in using emoticons on my blog].

Diary of a Bad Year by JM Coetzee

240 pages

This novel is about a man, Senor C, who is commissioned to write a series of free-choice essays and ends up hiring a young, attractive young woman, Anya, that lives in his building to help transcribe his tapes. He ends up falling for her (but not in a romantic sort of way... the dynamics are odd), while her boyfriend is scheming to steal his fortune so that it's not donated to charity when he dies. The book is split horizontally down each page, the top halves being the essays he's writing on anything from birds to Australian politics to philosophy. The bottom halves are the narratives, split between both Senor C and Anya.

Verdict: Everything I just said about this book sounds great- something different with the design, a combo of nonfiction/fiction, dysfunctional relationships... But, honestly, it just wasn't for me. I really struggled to get through some of the essays (maybe because some of it is Australian politics) and the interactions between Senor C and Anya were a tad boring. It's not a bad book, it just wasn't a good fit.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

322 pages

This was a definite reread for me, and I'm assuming most people are familiar with this classic, so I'll spare you the synopsis.

Verdict: I'm definitely a Twain fan, and this is a great book to teach. I taught it in terms of humor and satire to my AP lang sophomore students and then they will be looking at it from a more literary perspective after the test.

The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

192 pages

Same as above, another classic we're all familiar with.

Verdict: I'm so not a fan. I do love the movie Easy A, though, for what it's worth. My husband and I have decided to model our parenting techniques after Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson's characters.

[now let's all get that "Pocket Full of Sunshine" song stuck in our heads]

The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Harnagarne

304 pages

I really enjoyed this memoir about Harnagarne's struggle with Tourette's, his Mormon faith, and life working in a library. Harnagarne's is charismatic, seemingly honest, funny, and never does he demand your sympathy. And, honestly, from the way he presents himself and his struggles, you don't necessary feel you want to give him any. He coped, and he did it well. The book follows him from childhood to the recent present, flipping back and forth between his experiences as a librarian.

Verdict: As I just say, I really enjoyed this book. It read more like a novel and I could absolutely identify with many elements, including the absolute love of reading, struggle with faith (not Mormonism, though), and the need to use exercise to calm inner struggles.

Total:  1,058 pages

Where the Wild Things Are Nursery (Finished!)

Sawyer's room has really been quite the process and is probably the most complete room in the house. There was a lot of discussion as to what the theme would be- we didn't want something too babyish or something too mature. I'm not sure when he'll outgrow this, but I think we have awhile! Anyway, we both love the book, and the movie, so this is where we landed. 

My husband can be credited with the bulk of the mural- he did the drawing (most freehand) and much of the black outlining. After I proved myself I was allowed to help with the color painting and did some additional outlining as well. He also did the silhouette canvases on the side wall. The only thing I can completely really take credit for are the decoupaged letters! To this day I'm still impressed with his talent and willingness to put in a "don't think about the total" amount of hours into it. The entire thing was definitely a labor of love (and taking on something that ended up being a longer process than we thought). 

A quick overview of the process (excuse the lighting and iPhone photography):

[From start to finish]

Some of the details:

All the furniture is pretty much from IKEA, except after hours and hours of searching for a crib I found this one bundled with a mattress for a really reasonable price from Wal-Mart, so I decided to jump off the Target bandwagon and order it there. Eventually we'll get a rug and hang some of his baby pictures on the fourth wall that's not shown up there. 

It's not perfect, but I really have to admit that I love the finished product!