Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy by E.L. James

So, after a year of hearing about these books, I decided I had to know what everyone was talking about. I read all three books this summer, and well....

I am going to get straight to the point. I don't really get what the big deal is. I am not entirely sure why these books have topped so many others in sales (including my beloved Harry Potter series which makes me want to buy mass copies just to set the world straight again). The plot was predictable, especially if you knew that it was a fanfic of Twilight, since it was essentially the same plot. Truth be told, I didn't hate it, but I found it to be far from the literary genius I was told it was.

Meet Ana Steele. Quite, shy, naturally beautiful girl book nerd. She gets roped into helping her best friend out with a favor when she is sick. She goes to interview Mr. Christian Grey for the university's student newspaper. Turns out he is hot, really hot. She is infatuated by/with him from the start, but clearly believes he is out of her league.

Meet Christian Grey. Ridiculously successful CEO, who upon meeting her, is instantly obsessed with Ana. He is your classic "beat the expected odds" adopted child. His birth mother was crack whore and he was rescued by a doctor after they found him locked in the apartment with her dead body when he was four. So, that is kind of a spoiler, but not really. It becomes very obvious he is messed up psychologically when you find out about his red room of pain.... (Note, before anyone who is into S&M gets all soap-boxy on me, I am not saying that lifestyle choice means you are psychologically messed up. Christian admits to it, and in fact, that is the reason for the title of the book.)

Okay, also not a spoiler since every person who picks up these books is, at least at this point in their publication, well aware that there is some interesting sex going on in this book. Actually, I am not sure that interesting is the proper adjective here. Perhaps it is because I have been desensitized by the television, pay cable, and the Internet, but the sex in this book, while far beyond my personal comfort level, wasn't all that bizarre to me. The contract, yeah, that was weird. I also think that since I knew there was kinkiness in the book before I read it, I found it less shocking. In fact, I picked up the book expecting much stranger things, the way people were talking about it. Is it weird sex? Yeah. It is a power struggle dynamic in strange relationship thing I don't really get? Yeah. But in all honesty, it could have been much worse. I think stranger things happen in college than in this book, but what do I know...I went to a state school.

So, while I didn't hate it, I definitely had some major issues with it. Like the frequency of sex. Now, it is my personal belief that unless you are a porn star acting in a underdeveloped plot, relationship issues cannot simply be sexed away. While a good tumble in the sheets may make you forget why you are mad at someone temporarily, the issue still arises. Well, Christian Grey needs to fix all problems by screwing Ana's brains out (or whipping them, flogging them, corking them in?). So, all these women who are like "I wish I had a relationship like them....I wish my significant other loved me like Christian loves Ana....", if this is your true desire, simply remove your backbone and be willing to cave into his every carnal desire. I mean, you don't really need one in a relationship like that anyway. You're on your back most of the time and when you are not, he can prop you up with the chains and handcuffs.

It is my belief that the reasons these books have reached the popularity level they have are as follows:

1. People were told not to read them because they were immoral.
2. Christian Grey is rich, handsome, and is willing to change EVERYTHING about himself to make Ana happy. I am pretty sure that is what every woman wants.
3. There are many unhappily married women out there.

So, all in all, like I said, I didn't hate them. I actually found the email exchanges between the characters really cute and witty at times. Those, actually, seemed like the most realistic aspects of the relationship to me. But, I have once again learned my lesson. If there are screaming fan girls telling me how good a book is based solely on the lead male character, I should beware. Damn you Twilight fans, you got me again!

As for the covers, they are kind of neat. Simplistic, highlighting the event that is most focused on in that particular book; and by event, I clearly mean sexual encounter. Are these books worth a read? Hard to say. I personally would buy Harry Potter and read it all over again. After all this time? Always.

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

So, for the first time in months I was able to sit and read a book in one day. It was the perfect way to spend this rainy Sunday, and I must say, this book was a good choice. It was dark and glum, just as the day was.

I originally had set my radar on this book after finishing its prequel, Wicked Lovely, a year ago. I had tried to inter-library loan it, but something happened and it never arrived. With all the craziness that is my life, I forgot about it. Then, one of my students that I talk about books with regularly was reading it and I once again put it on my list.

This book is part of a companion series by Melissa Marr, and though I loved her first book immensely, and I love her writing style, I did not LOVE this book. I liked it, but it lacked something for me....

The premise of this book centers around Leslie. Leslie's life has recently sunken to all new lows. Her mom up and abandoned her family, her dad has become a drunk, and her brother is into hardcore drugs. Her brother is into hardcore drugs so deeply that he is willing to do unspeakable things to settle his debt with his dealers, including selling his sister's body.

So, with all this awfulness in her life, Leslie is looking for an escape, and outlet to focus her fear and sadness. She decides to get a tattoo. Unfortunately for her, her tattoo artist is a halfbreed faery of the Dark Court. The tattoo she chooses isn't ordinary tribal art, it is part of an ink exchange spell. It binds her with the king of the Dark Court. He uses this connection with her to feed the faeries of his court who get their nourishment off the negative emotions (fear, rage, jealous, pain) of others, humans and faeries alike. She basically turns in to a conduit, absorbing all the emotions around her and funneling to him, who in turns absorbs them and then distributes them among his followers. With her being damaged as she has been, it only adds to the intoxicating effects, literally taking weeks from her. She exists in a doped like stupor, essentially becoming an addict just like her family members.

What I liked about this book it the interesting aspect of the inclusion of several different types of faery lore into one. The author takes years of lore and all aspects, the good and bad, and creates this world where they coexist through the novels. Her descriptions of the different types of fey are unique and vivid. I also appreciate the time she took into researching tattoos. The details included added to the realism of the reasoning, method, and escape Leslie sought through this means.

What I didn't like is that I felt the climax was lame. She chooses to fight, but not in the strong female protagonist way the author had portrayed Leslie's counterpart in her first novel. It seemed as though Leslie's decision to overcome was more of a whim than a struggle.

I also felt there was a lack of resolution. The ending, including the epilogue, left too many unanswered questions about the background of some of the other characters that were introduced. Perhaps I will be enlightened by the next book in the set, but I can say I am not nearly as anxious to read that one.

I must say, though, I found the cover to be intriguing. The tattoo the author had designed for this novel is also a fantastic piece of artwork, really representing the character in which is linked. Overall this book wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as I thought the premise could be....

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

I know it has been a while since I posted, and though I have read nine or ten books between this and the last post, I had to write about this book immediately.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Ellen Hopkins' works, they are all fabulous. She writes in poetic form, using multiple formations and perspectives. All her works are edgy, gritty, and blunt. Her first book, Crank, was written about her daughter's dive into meth and the consequences it had on her and her family. The majority of her books are YA, but she has recently delved into adult fiction as well.

The purpose behind this little biography is to support this statement: Once again, Hopkins has taken a hard hitting teenage (and adult, really) problem (striving to be perfect) and developed it into such an intertwining story that it makes you look at things from a whole new perspective.


This book is told from the perspective of four different teens whose lives are all intertwined. (For those of you who may be afraid of getting lost with four narrators, you won't. Hopkins develops each character's voice so indepthly that the switch between personalities is seamless and easy to follow). The one thing connecting all of them is the pressure to fit into other people's idea of what perfection is. As each of them struggles with trying to be who they are meant to be while meeting the expectations that others place on them, we get a shocking view of the kind of pressure put on people by outside influences and how deeply these influences can root themselves into our subconscious and motivate our day to day interactions.

First, you have Cara. Cara, on the outside, is your poster child of success. She gets great grades, accepted to Stanford, athletic and comes from an influential family. But, underneath all that pressure to be perfect, she is dealing with her brother's attempted suicide (that she is forbidden by her mother to mention) and her concept of what love is. She faces the rebuke of the world when her facade come crashing down via cyberbulling and mass texting. Through this she is forced to confront other people's notions of what she should be and what will actually make her happy.

Then, you have Sean. Sean is your high school athlete A-lister. He is the best of the best and works hard to be there. What he can't earn with workouts and a strict diet, he supplements with a cycle of steroids. But, despite the physical benefit of the cycle (bulking up), he now has to deal with all those nasty side effects. Top that with losing the girl he planned his whole life around (Cara) and we see what a monster the pressure to be the best can produce.

Kendra is striving to be a model. She's pretty, popular, just smart enough to get by, and determined. The only thing holding her back from being on the runway? The "bump" in her nose and those few extra pounds. She can easily fix those things with a rich step dad willing to pay for surgery and a prescription from her agent to help her forget about how hungry she really is. The questions for her becomes what parts, physical and emotional, of herself is she willing to give up to achieve her goal? And, when she reaches perfection, will someone finally love her?

Lastly we have Andre. Andre grew up privileged, and has every opportunity he needs to be successful. The only thing is, he doesn't know what he wants to do. When you come from a family that worked hard to overcome racial stereotypes and be successful, wanting to follow your heart and dreams doesn't exactly sync up to their expectations.

These four teens battle who they want to be with who every expects them to be in story that lines all the stories up to make you realize the world is really not as big as we would think it is, and that everyone has something going on it their lives.


*Special note - This book is a companion to her previous work Impulse. In that work you meet Cara's brother and realize what a toll his parents' expectations took on him...

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I recently read this book for the book club I am in at work. While at first I found it a little hard to get into, I ended up loving this book and the overall message it contained.

This entire book is written in letters back and forth. This is what made it a little hard to get into, because it is not just between two people, it is between one person, Juliet, and several others. But, once you get into the book it becomes quite easy to distinguish who is writing because you get to know their personalities, especially Juliet's quirky personality (loved it!).

The book begins explaining how Juliet had become a famous author in England/Europe because a book she had written composed of the columns she had written under a pen name during the second World War. This is done to give a foundation for her personality. Then, she receives a letter from a man from Guernsey. He writes to her to ask her about books because he had acquired a book she had previously owned, and he loved it, found her address in it and was writing to get further suggestions for reading. He tells her about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Naturally, with such an interesting name, Juliet asks how such a society had come to form. It turns out that during the second World War the channel islands were occupied by German soldiers, and this occupation was hard on the residents of Guernsey. One night, some of them had met in secret to enjoy a hidden meal (the Nazi's had rationed all their food, so they had to hide the pig they roasted). While caught up in the festivities and having a full belly, they missed curfew. As some of them were walking home, the Nazis stopped them. To get out of trouble, they claimed they were at a book club, reading a German novel. The soldiers believed them, but then they had to actually form the club since the commandant said his soldiers would be stopping by to expand their minds. And, since all good book clubs have good snacks, Potato Peel Pie was made, a substitute for delicacies due to the rationing.

Eventually, Juliet begins to correspond with the different people of this group because she is interested in writing a story on the German Occupation of the channel island. So, through these letters we hear of the past, the occupation, and how the people of this club came together. It touches Juliet so much, she ends up moving there, sacrificing a promising life in London to have a peaceful life on the island.

What I absolutely love about this book is the expression of personalities through letters and interpretations of the literature they read. I love listening to people talk about books, and I love when someone talks to me about something I have also read, especially when they have a completely different view of the book than I do. The people not only tell us how they like the literature, but you see how reading books really brought these people together. It is something they did together, and shared, in one of the hardest times in all of history. Through this rough time they lost many people they loved, but found strength through being there for each other. Awesomely powerful message, if you ask me.

I loved the sprinkling of history through the book, too. I learned about the occupation in England, something I knew very little about. It gave a view of new things, and a perspective to show you how they affected certain people. Another major plus of this book is the love story. There is one, but it does not consume the entire novel. It is cute, dignified, and drama free.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. But, I warn, at first it is a little hard to get into. But, once I got to know the characters, it as quite enjoyable.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

So, I was sitting in a waiting room and got bored so I took out my iPod and checked out the new list of books on my Kindle App from my friend Fran. I stumbled upon this and stopped because I though the cover was amazing. They title was catchy and I vaguely remembered hearing about it before, so I started reading. I finished it in one day, it was that captivating. I loved this book and am unreasonably excited to find out that it is actually a series.

Aislinn is the main character and she is phenomenal. Right from the start you learn that there is something special about her. She can see faeries, and I'm not talking about Tinkerbell. She sees them everywhere, hears every word they speak, and has to pretend like she cannot. She lives by three simple rules: 3. Do not stare at invisible faeries; 2. Do not speak to invisible faeries; 1. Do not attract their attention. She sticks to these rules as her life lines, but suddenly that changes. Suddenly, one takes on a glamor and approaches her. Only, he does not know she can see him regardless, and she does not know that her destiny is far greater and more intertwined with the faery world than she ever could have imagined.

Keenan is the faerie that approaches her, and he approaches her because he is hoping she will be his Summer Queen to rid him and the faery world of the curse placed on them. But Aislinn has no interest in him, not the way he needs her to have. Now she has to figure out how to keep her sanity, save the world, and protect the ones she loves while staying alive and human. But there is far more going on than meets the eye, even with Aislinn's visions.

I absolutely loved this book. I ate it up in one day. My affinity for fantasy aside, this was an extremely well written book. It is enticing and interesting and keeps you wanting to know more. Another perfect thing about this book? A female protagonist that kicks ass. She is strong, confident and gets things done. I hate whiny female protagonists (aka Bella Swan).
If you like realistic fantasy *oxymoron anyone?*, meaning it isn't so far fetched that it couldn't happen, then I recommend this book. Also, it is a quick and captivating read if you need something on a rainy day.

Check out the awesome trailer the author made:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I have been recommended this book by several people for the past couple of years. I had been putting off due to the now ridiculous list of things I would like to read until it was physically given to me this summer. I decided, hey, it's in my hands, let's give it a shot. Overall, I didn't hate this book, but I do not think it was as good as I was told it was.

This story revolves around Jacob Jankowski, a ivy league trained veterinarian who meets up with a circus after running away from his parents' death. It starts out as him as an old man and alternates between his present life in a nursing home and his past life in the circus. This is one of the biggest pluses to me in the book, but that is only due to my affinity for multiple perspectives in a novel.

I found it very difficult to want to finish this book. In fact, it took me months, plural. This is highly unusual. I was not driven to find out what happened or to create an emotional bond with any character (Well, I kind of liked the dog, Queenie). Why? I don't know. Maybe I am too close to my Gramma and do not like the thought her being miserable in the nursing home as Jake was, or maybe it was because I couldn't feel the bond he was feeling between Marlena and himself, or maybe because I worked at a circus and a fair (true story) and this seems completely normal to me, I don't know. Don't get me wrong, it was not an awful book, I was just never anxious to continue reading it.

Overall, not a bad choice. It has a decent plot, but there is no depth to it that I could get into. It is all surface value to me. We never get to delve into the affects of his parents dying while he was young, or how the vast change in life style affected his overall life, or pretty much anything that has to do with why he is the way he is or was. The most we get is that keeping a secret, a vastly obvious and reasonably unimportant secret, has been REALLY hard for him. It was kind of like listening to someone's vacation story. Interesting, some cool things happen, but you don't walk away feeling like you have been given a new perspective on things or learned new information about something that you can ponder over. It just kind of was. If Seinfeld were to write about a circus, I imagine it would resemble this book.

And, having worked with an elephant in real life via the circus at Enchanted Forest with an awesome guy named Circus Josh (in my phone anyway), I can attest that no human being can carry enough water for an elephant.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

So, I have been wanting to read this book for a while, but it took my friend Fran insisting to get me to do it. I am so glad because I loved every bit of it.

Skeeter just graduated from Ole Miss and returns to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. Though she had grown up there, she doesn't really seem to fit in. Unlike most girls her age in 1962, her goal in life is not to find a husband and settle down. She wants to write something, something deep and meaningful, not just the League's newsletter. This begins to cause a rift between her and her childhood friends, Hilly and Elizabeth that only worsens as Skeeter finally finds something she is passionate to write about: black maids and how they are treated in the South.

Skeeter is inspired to do this by two people, Elaine Stein and Constantine. Elaine Stein is an editor at Harper and Row, where Skeeter had applied for a job. She is shocked at the audacity of Skeeter applying for a job fresh from college when at least five years is required. But, she takes note of this ambition and pushes Skeeter to write about something that no one talks about. Constantine was Skeeters housemaid/nanny while growing up and they had grown very close through Skeeter's life. Then, all of a sudden, when Skeeter returns home Constantine is gone and no one will tell her a straight story of what happened. This two events, along with her friend Hilly's blatant disregard for common decency toward the maids, incite Skeeter to want to interview the maids of Jackson to find out what it is like working for the white women. This task will not be easy, especially in 1962 in the South. There are consequences for everyone involved, black and white.

What I loved about this book is the multiple perspectives that it is told in. It is told through the eyes of Aibileen, a black maid in Elizabeth's house; Skeeter, and Minny, another black maid with attitude. The multiple perspectives give real incite into the different attitudes of the time period as well as with the events of the novel. You get to see the good and bad sides of all the situations involved, and it really helps develop an emotional attachment to the entire story. All these characters are strong in their own way. The transitions between narrators is distinct, and you are never left wondering who's voice you are reading.

Between the different relationships formed, the funny quirky events, the tie in of actual historical events and the reality of what happened at that time, this novel is truly well written and entertaining. It is a book that has a solid content without being too heavy. I highly recommend it for a lazy weekend or perhaps a long travel. I enjoyed the author's writing style and look forward to reading some more her works.