Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Before I Die, Jenny Downham, David Fickling Books 2007, 327 pgs.

My mom seems to think that I spend all my time reading, and none of it paying attention to my son. That's entirely not true. I however, can see how she would think that. Especially after she walks in the house this afternoon to catch me finishing up this book with tears glistening in my eyes, and my son running amok in the backyard. In my defense I spent the whole day with Ry and I was in the backyard with him physically. I guess she has all the luck to decide to come over right when I finally found the time and motivation to finish the last hundred or so pages of the book. 

Every review I had read before finally picking up this book led me to believe that it would be an emotionally taxing roller coaster. And I'll tell you now, I was right. I was excited when the UPS man brought this book yesterday. It's not very often that I make the decision to buy a book anymore. Budgeting is a terrible thing sometimes. Truthfully though, it was a little hard to get through the first 200 pages. The story is about Tessa, she is a 16 year old girl with terminal cancer. Where the story begins she has already fought against the cancer for 3 years and knows that the best thing she can do now is live as much life as she can. No one wants to die knowing they never lived. 

First things first she wants sex. It's not surprising that a 16 year old girl would want to experience all the things she has read about or watched on TV. Quickly she learns that real life isn't a fairy tale. Tessa is sometimes angry, sometimes sad, lonely, and sometimes she learns to take it as things are. As you follow her through the story you learn to cope with the things just the way she does. The sadness about missing things, the anger about knowing you won't get to do everything that you had hoped in life. I mentioned that the first 200 pages were slow, but the last 127 are painful, emotional and raw. I think the way it's laid out the story just brings you along and shows you to feel the way Tessa does. It's angry, rushed, sad, just like her life. And in the end it goes by so fast that you almost feel like it's not real. 

If books make you cry, you'll cry. I did, and I'm not afraid to admit it. It's a story that you know from the beginning isn't going to end like we all hope it will. There is no fooling yourself, and no sense of false security given. And yet you still get carried along and remain at odds with the cancer battle. I'm glad I read this book. The New York Times Book Review says "I don't care how old you are. This book will not leave you." And I think they are right. It really made me think about all those I've already lost to cancer in my life. None of them were children. I really cannot fathom. Read it. You won't regret it.

Mrs. Tuesday's Departure by Suzanne E. Anderson

Mrs. Tuesday's Departure, Suzanne E. Anderson, Henry and George Press 2012, 268 pages

I said to myself that I'd take a break from this book a day thing, but obviously that didn't work out. I started this book this morning and just kept reading through it. My Kindle Paperwhite told me it would only take me 2.5 hours to read it. I never really pay attention to how accurate that is since I start and stop reading several times while going through books. Maybe one of these days I'll actually time it to see how accurate it really is. 

Anyway, I always seem to start and end my reviews severely off topic. On to the book! I liked and disliked it. The story line was interesting but underdeveloped. What I really disliked was the writing style. Each "chapter" was anywhere from one paragraph up to a couple of pages. Which means that a book that is only 268 pages ended with 87 chapters. There was absolutely no reason to run the story like this, and it actually added to the horribly jumpy feel of the book. 

The book is set in Hungary at the end of World War II. Natalie is a widow left to care for her identical twin suffering from Alzheimer's and suddenly is also stuck with her niece after Mila's abandoment by her parents. What else could go wrong? Mila's stepfather is a Jew which by German laws also means that Mila is a Jew, which puts her and those protecting her in danger. Natalie is fiercely protective of her sister who loses more and more of herself everyday, and because of this bond Natalie herself is put in great danger. 

The book while not well written, still causes me to take a step back and to think about things. If that were my sister, would I be able to give all of myself to be with her? Even when I know there is nothing left of herself, would I still risk everything I know to save her? Or even just to be with her until the end? I think this book deserves three stars for it's overall ideas and concept and the writing would get about 1 from me. It feels like a YA novel even though I know it's not supposed to be. Suzanne E. Anderson is new to the writing game, and I expect that she's only going to get better. I'm looking forward to see what other things she comes out with. It's always nice to watch a writer find their own voice. 

An Introduction.

Hello readers or non-readers,

My name is Elizabeth and I have decided that I will take the time to read a book each week and post my feelings or reviews here. I'm not sure that what I'll have to say will be exciting or enlightening, but I hope that by doing this I can create a kind of online book club. Something where everyone decided to read the book along with me, and then have a discussion of sorts after the fact.

The overall plan of this endeavor is to begin a new book on Sunday of each week and then by the following Friday or Saturday have a completed review of this book up for viewing or commenting. I am hoping that you will take the time to make appropriate suggestions as to what I should read next, so that I will be able to expand my library and my reading experiences.

The first book that I am going to tackle will be The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. I'm choosing this book because it's one that I've already started this week. From what I understand it is currently being made into a film, due out sometime this year. Since I have already begun reading this book I should be able to get my post up by Friday so that I won't disappoint my readers or non-readers so quickly.

I do have to say that there is a possibility that the insanity of Black Friday at work may delay the review some. In any event I am very excited to finish reading this book soon. I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'll be blogging you soon.

E.