The Post-Birthday World

Summary/Review by Kristen

If anything is certain in this world besides death and taxes, it’s the fact that nobody is perfect. It’s an impossible concept. Even those with the most adamant desires cannot achieve a status of unadulterated perfection. But it’s also our abortive attempts at absolute perfection that can make us perfect in other ways, perfect to other people. It’s a cruel and abstruse abstract. And in our journey for this unviable state, we all make mistakes. We encounter pivotal moments in life when we must decide between comfort and the unknown. It’s often in those moments we change our lives for better or worse, and once we’ve made that decision, even if it’s for the best, the ever lingering question “what if?” tends to present itself. In The Post-Birthday World, Lionel Shriver gives readers the rare opportunity, to discover both outcomes of a life altering decision. It’s this plot that both highlights the realistic positives and negatives of both outcomes, and offers the inquisition that maybe we shouldn’t fear change but rather embrace life and the opportunities presented to us.

Shriver introduces readers to the main character, Irina McGovern. She’s an attractive middle-aged, talented illustrator, who carries her own self-confidence issues due to growing up with a perfect, overbearing mother. More notably, she’s been in the same relationship for ten years, but her boyfriend, Lawrence, is averse to the institution of marriage. So they live a content, comfortable life with each other. While in the earlier years there was passion and mystery, after a decade it seems they fell into the habit of routine and lackluster that many people experience. But this simple, predictable life seems to suit them.

Things change when Irina meets Ramsey Acton, a famous Snooker player in the United Kingdom, of whom Lawrence happens to be a tremendous fan. There’s an instant connection with Ramsey although she doesn’t recognize or accept this at first. He happens to be married to Jude, the author of a book with whom Irina is working.

Not so tragically, Ramsey and Jude divorce, and Irina finds herself being the only one available for his annual birthday gathering. After a night of good conversation, drinks, and even pot, Irina realizes how attracted she is to Ramsey. Every part of her wants to kiss him, and she finds herself at a crossroad. Ramsey being a gentleman, would never advance upon her, and she would have to choose what life she wanted to live. As he shows her how to play Snooker in his basement, she turns to wish him a happy birthday, and the reader is left to wonder if she takes the passionate plunge into the unknown, or stays loyal to her comfortable life with Lawrence.

One of the most interesting things about The Post-Birthday World is how Shriver creates two worlds for every chapter. The first revealing Irina’s life if she kissed Ramsey, and the second if she stayed loyal to Lawrence. In the first reality, we learn that Irina’s love for Ramsey is passionate and the two, although with little affinity, fit together perfectly. Irina is a well-educated woman, while Ramsey dropped out of school to play Snooker. And one of the vital things we learn is Ramsey, although a stand up gentlemen, has his own insecurities. But these insecurities end up damaging the relationship. He tends to get upset over small matters and then proceeds to fight with Irina for hours in a way that makes her always give into him until they make up and reunite their passion for each other through sex.

Despite Ramsey’s sensitivity and need to have his own way, he brings out a side of Irina to which she’s not accustomed. She learns to enjoy life and care less about pleasing others as opposed to pleasing herself. She leaves Lawrence and marries Ramsey within a year of being together. And while at first she falls behind in her work, she ends up writing her own children’s book and winning a coveted accolade as well.

Even more importantly, Ramsey makes her feel beautiful. He explicitly tells her how gorgeous she is, and reassures his love by putting his arms around her and keeping her close. With different interests and hobbies the couple was closer than most. Shriver demonstrates how sometimes, the most passionate love comes from one similar interest – the undying interest in each other.

In the second half of each chapter, Lionel Shriver introduces his audience to a major theme of the nineties decade. The concept of staying. In this version, Irina remains loyal to Lawrence and we’re introduced to the events that unravel due to her decision. Their relationship is merely comfortable, and while Lawrence appears to be a good, loyal man he becomes more distant as time passes. In this version, Irina’s life is planned, proper, and well-rehearsed. There are no surprises, she completes her illustrations on time, and writes a children’s book for which she doesn’t win an award. She also doesn’t have the satisfaction or chivalry of Lawrence standing up to her mother and defending her, but rather Lawrence obsequiously interacting with her kin.

As the book progresses, The Post-Birthday World exposes the counterpart of an unfaithful relationship. It’s a refreshing concept to be able to experience both viewpoints, and as always, being cheated on proves the most abhorrent situations. Lawrence ends up having an affair with a co-worker and leaves Irina. She’s left with her work, and a flat to remind her of her previously normal life. Her only hope is Ramsey, but as she learns, he’s fighting cancer and they are unable to reclaim that connection they had throughout the years. It’s embedded into the audience that perfection is once again unattainable, and while we may have favorable circumstances to achieve the most perfect life for ourselves; we often get in our own way by waiting too long.

Ramsey suffers the same unfortunate fate in both realities, and Shriver imparts the vital concept that timing is everything. When she stays with Ramsey, even at the end, she never regrets her decision due to their love for one another. With Lawrence, there’s no closure that she made the right choice. She ends with, “I think so” when questioned about her decision. These two worlds show how we not only choose our destiny, but rather how we must take advantage of opportunities as they come. Irina could have a more passionate life with Ramsey, while more frivolous, she would have been happier, but she had to kiss him when the opportunity first presented itself. Not wanting to spoil the ending, The Post-Birthday World perfectly captures the themes of an era and successfully demonstrates how every situation has downfalls. And maybe more importantly, that leaving your comfort zone will often lead to the most extraordinary life. 

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Profiler (Fang Mu, Eastern Crimes Book 1) Book Review

Profiler (Fang Mu, Eastern Crimes Book 1) by Lei Mi

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Blurb:

Three young women are found dead one after another in Jiangbin City, each horribly murdered and disemboweled in her home. Police investigations reveal that the killer is a monster who likes to mix milk together with human blood - and then drink it. Is he some kind of immortal vampire, straight out of legend? A series of four rape and murder cases surface in Changhong City. All of the victims are white-collar workers between the ages of twenty-five and thirty. A graduate student at the top of his class suddenly goes mad and begins attacking his friends and fellow classmates. After a succession of seemingly unrelated homicides occurring not far from the city, the police are still completely at a loss. A television viewer called Fang Mu sends in a letter with a sketch of what he claims is the murderer's face.

The sand is slipping down the hourglass. Any doubt just how personal the case has become is erased when Fang Mu manages to piece together a message left at the crime scene by the killer. A message addressed directly to him, "You will be my last victim."

Review by Brittany:

I downloaded this book when it was on a free promotion because it was compared to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I loved.

The first thing to note about this book is that it is gruesome. From the very first few pages, there are graphic images described that were enough to make me wrinkle my nose in disgust. It got a little hairy, even from the beginning.

Another thing to note is that this is a translation, so some of the phrasing is a bit weird. There are times when words aren't quite right and some of the punctuation is a bit off. This doesn't detract from the story too much, but it is something to be aware of if this kind of thing bothers you.

The timeline in this book is a bit ambiguous, and it often left me feeling a bit confused on what had happened when. This does take away from the reading experience some because I felt like I couldn't quite keep up with what was happening all the time. There are also times when Fang Mu is dreaming or having near hallucinations while awake, and some of those are also difficult to keep up with. By the end of the book, the timeline was much more clear, as were the divisions between reality and imagination.

There were moments in the book where the author incorporated some personality and character development, which was interesting but often felt out of place. The rest of the book was so clinical and to the point that these scenes were out of character for the author and didn't fit with the rest of the book very much. By the end of the book, the parts that were more personal and that developed characters felt more seamless.

All of that being said, this book was really intriguing. Fang Mu works with the police to help profile serial killers, and of course he gets it right every time. His skill set is impressive and when he explains how he came up with each part of the profile, I nod my head along with him because of how logical it is.

I don't think this book is quite on par with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but it was worth reading. If you are interested in crime books, you should consider picking this one up.

Notable quotes:

Actually, life really is full of happiness - it's just that I never felt myself worthy of enjoying it.

With some things, make one mistake and you can never take it back.

It was good breeding not to knock over one's tableware at dinner. But when someone else knocked over their tableware, it was even better breeding to pretend not to see.

The Love of Her Life Book Review

The Love of Her Life by Harriet Evans

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Blurb:

In London, Kate Miller had an enviable life: an exciting job at a fashion magazine, an engagement and a wedding to plan. Then it all fell apart - spectacularly, painfully, and forever. That was three years ago...and she fled to New York City to live with her mother and stepfather.

Now Kate is a true New Yorker, in love with the pace and rhythm of Manhattan. But deep down, she knows her life is in a holding pattern, that there is something - someone - more to love. But when her father becomes ill, Kate realizes it's time to return and face the friends and the memories she left behind. What really happened before Kate left London? Can she pick up the pieces and allow herself to love life again?

Review by Brittany:

I love this book.

The book started a bit slow, with Kate making the transition to going back to London. This part of the book was a bit weird because it's before all of the truth comes out, so the reader is only getting bits and pieces and no real information about why Kate left London in the first place.

As the author fills in the gaps and the history of all of these people is revealed, it's just sad. There is so much misery, so much heartbreak, and so many secrets that it's sad to think that this whole group of people were friends.

One character that I was surprised to like was Francesca. In the beginning, she seemed a bit rough around the edges, like she was a bit of a troublemaker and I wasn't sure if I liked her much. By the end of the book, I realized that Francesca just has her own way of going about things, but that she actually has a pretty big heart. Charly was a character who rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning. When she and Kate first meet, she is catty, a gossip, and she gets around. She's a bit of a bad influence on Kate, but they still become best friends.

This book explored how tragedy and secrets can affect the relationship between girlfriends, and I really enjoyed reading about these relationships change. There were moments in the book where I laughed out loud because of the banter that the author included between the female characters.

Overall, the book is fairly predictable. The reader can easily tell what's going to happen, if not exactly how it will get there. I don't mind reading books that are predictable overall if I can get a little bit of a surprise, and this book fulfilled that. It was lovely read, sometimes frustrating and sometimes sad, but always keeping me turning pages.

Notable quotes:

It's strange, the things that are stored in your brain but that you haven't thought about for years. 

Once again, she wasn't sure what to do, how to behave.

It had been one of those event evenings that mark the beginning of a new time in one's life and thus the end of another, she realized now. 

Now that she was, she supposed, a grown-up, Kate had never really thought about what she wanted, in reality, from her life.

She was used to everything being easy for other people; going to parties, chatting to people, kissing boys, falling in love. Kate had never found it easy. 

She saw him every day, spent every night with him, he was her world, totally, and panic suddenly gripped her as she thought about making her way in the world without him. 

She just hadn't realized how easy it would be to walk away from it. To be forgotten, melt into the background.

"We're all the same, you know, it's just different versions of being the same."

Because being Charly was a great thing, of course it was, it had to be, but sometimes it must be pretty damn miserable.

Every girl spends her whole life wondering what her proposal will be like and when it comes...it doesn't feel like a proposal, like the most amazing moment of your life. It just feels like...well, two people having a bit of a casual chat.

She spent all day working on the illusion that women could have it all, when the reality was much more complicated.

As if the house of cards she - and Sean, and all her friends around her - had erected was just that: card, flimsy, impermanent.

She felt as if she were becoming invisible, as if parts of her life were becoming invisible.

The idea that people went to work, that she had her office and a desk and a view over the river, that she had a job that she went to, a life before all of this? It was mad, unbelievable, like everything else.

"All I'm saying is, you don't hate someone that much without still feeling something for them."

It hurts to love people because you expose yourself to them, and they can hurt you, so much. 

Carrie Book Review

Carrie by Stephen King

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Blurb:

Carrie White may have been unfashionable and unpopular, but she had a gift. Carrie could make things move by concentrating on them. A candle would fall. A door would lock. This was her power and her sin. Then, an act of kindness, as spontaneous as the vicious taunts of her classmates, offered Carrie a chance to be normal and go to her senior prom. But another act - of ferocious cruelty - turned her gift into a weapon of horror and destruction that her classmates would never forget.

Review by Brittany:

Because this book has been made into a film at least three times that I'm aware of, I was already familiar with the story before picking up the book. I can honestly say that the film adaptations I have seen have followed the story amazingly well.

A good move that King made when writing this book was including excerpts from the newspaper, professional journals, and biographies that were published regarding Prom Night. This added another layer to the novel by giving different characters an opportunity to share their experiences, but the formatting was interesting and didn't leave me feeling like I was drudging through exposition.

King's development of his characters was extremely well done, most notably for me in Carrie's mother. There are few scenes in the book that are described from her point of view, but each scene that she is in is powerful anyway. He made her into a scary character, but in a subtle way.

One character that I am still unsure about is Tommy. I still cannot decide if he had good intentions or not when it came to Carrie. King referred to moments when Tommy would take her hand or smile at her or tell her she was pretty, and his level of genuineness is still a gray area for me. I want to believe it, but I just don't know. I think his ambiguity is another example of why this books is such a classic.

Of course I enjoyed this book. It is a classic for a reason. I do think that it was written a bit choppier than King's more current works, but that doesn't take away from the excellence of the story. If you haven't read this one, you definitely should!

Notable quotes:

Somehow it had all led to this, even the early part, and when it was done the glue that had held them together would be thin and might dissolve, leaving them to wonder how it could have been in the first place.

She was glad they had decided to leave her alone, because she was still uncomfortable about her own motives and to examine them too deeply, lest she discover a jewel of selfishness glowing and winking at her from the black velvet of her subconscious.

I Heart Hollywood Book Review

I Heart Hollywood by Lindsey Kelk

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Blurb:

Celebs, sunshine and beautiful boys...enough to lead a girl astray?

Angela Clark can't believe her luck. She's an English girl living in New York with a dream job at a hip magazine, The Look, and a sexy boyfriend. Her latest assignment takes her to Hollywood to interview hot actor and fellow Brit James Jacobs. Thrown in at the deep end, she heads west with best friend Jenny, dreaming of Rodeo Drive and Malibu beach. Soon Angela discovers that celebrity life in Hollywood is not all glamour, gloss and sunshine. Despite his lady-killer reputation, the only person who seems genuine is James. Then a paparazzi snaps them in an uncompromising position and suddenly Angela is thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Can she convince all those close to her - especially her boss and her boyfriend - not to believe everything they read? And will Hollywood ever win Angela's heart?

Review by Brittany:

This is the second in the "I Heart" series by this author. This book is a UK import as she is published in the UK and not in the US.

Even though this is a second installment, it is not necessary for the first to be read before this one is. It may enhance the reading experience, but the author does enough of a recap in this second book to cover all necessary bases.

My largest disappointment with this book was actually the character of Jenny Lopez, which is surprising because she seems to be a fan favorite and was a great character in the first novel. She is Angela's best friend, but I thought she was the worst character in the book. She was extremely temperamental with everyone, especially Angela, and she came across as being quite selfish. Angela and Jenny have many confrontations throughout the book, and each time I found myself getting more and more frustrated with Jenny. I also can't understand why Angela puts up with Jenny. I found the entire friendship frustrating and I don't understand why they are friends.

That being said, the other characters in the book are great. Angela is a bit of an airhead and makes some bad choices, but she is lovable anyway. She is funny and humble and endearing, despite the fact that there were many times when I just wanted to shake her. Her boyfriend, Alex, is less developed in this novel, which is one reason why reading the first would enhance this one. I could see why she cares for him, but I don't think his charm came through as well in this one. The Hollywood star of the novel, James Jacobs, spends most of the book seeming just that little bit too good to be true. In the end, he is shown to be human like the rest of us, which I really appreciated.

I enjoyed reading about the different hot spots in LA and the experiences Angela had. There was a bit too much partying and drinking for my taste, but that's only a personal preference. Overall I thought the book was pretty cute. I just hope that, throughout the series, Jenny's character will get some redeeming qualities.

The Time of My Life Book Review

The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern

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Blurb:

Lucy Silchester keeps receiving this strange appointment card and sweeping its gold embossed envelope under the rug. Literally. She busies herself with a job she doesn't like, helping out friends, fixing her car, feeding her cat, and devoting her time to her family's dramas. But Lucy is about to find out that this is one appointment she can't miss, when Life shows up at her door, in the form of a sloppy but determined man.

Life follows her everywhere - from the office, to the bar, and to her bedroom - and Lucy learns that some of the choices she has made and the stories she has told aren't what they seem. Now her half-truths are about to be revealed, unless Lucy tells the truth about what really matters to her.

Review by Brittany:

This author is one who always writes stories that have a little element of magic to them. This book has Life, a person who solely exists to document your life and can help you out if you let your life get out of control. I love the idea of this person who you can talk things through with to help you figure yourself out.

My favorite thing about this book is the characterization. Lucy, the main character, feels like a person. She tells white lies that lead her to tell more white lies, until no one knows how she is really feeling or what is really going on in her life. She got her job under slightly false pretenses, and her whole life is a bit of a sham. But she also banters with a new friend, develops a relationship with Life, and forms a rocky sort of relationship with her neighbor. She is very much like a real person, and I love that.

Life was an interesting character because he is a person, but his whole life revolves around Lucy's life. It's a strange concept. His appearance at the beginning of the book is a bit bedraggled, as is Lucy's life, but as the story progresses and Lucy's life improves, so does the appearance of Life. This is a neat little detail that adds some characterization to Life.

I thought this book was definitely worth reading. The slightly magical elements to it add something fresh, but the basis of the story is about changing your life for the better, something I think we can all relate to. Ahern makes her characters believable and relatable, while also telling a good story. Even if you don't pick up this book, she's an author worth reading.

Notable quotes:

You never forget about things you've done that you know you shouldn't have done.

I wanted to just stop for a while. I wanted to stop doing things and stop moving. I just wanted to be on my own.

And older people are like babies; something about their demeanor makes you love them despite their ignorant selfish personalities.

I knew something monumental was happening. I was doing something that needed to be done and I felt the burden of it every step of the way.

Our lives all crash and collide and you think there's no reason or rhyme to it?

There is an outcome, repercussions and occurrences to everybody you meet and everything you say.

...that's what people do, they're mostly polite, even when they're feeling rude inside.

...life has a way of getting what it wants when it really knows what it wants.

I thought about it some more, thought about my dreams, my wishes, my ambitions, where I wanted to be that would make me feel better than being here. I couldn't come up with anything.

But then I'd changed and the things he'd loved about me were gone and then so was his love.

Juliet, Naked Book Review

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

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Blurb:

In a dreary seaside town in England, Annie loves Duncan - or thinks she does, because she always has. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn't anymore. So Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life.

She sparks an e-mail correspondence with Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanesque singer-songwriter who stopped making music twenty-two years ago, and who is also Duncan's greatest obsession. A surprising connection is forged between two lonely people who are looking for more out of what they've got. Tucker's been languishing (and he's unnervingly aware of it), living in rural Pennsylvania with what he sees as his one hope for redemption amid a life of emotional, familial, and artistic ruin - his young son, Jackson. But then there's also the material he's about to release to the world, an acoustic, stripped-down version of his greatest album, Juliet, titled Juliet, Naked. And he's just been summoned across the Atlantic with Jackson to face his multitude of ex-wives and children (both just discovered and formerly neglected), in the same country where his intriguing new Internet friend resides.

What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one's promise.

Review by Brittany:

This is a book about music. Except really it isn't. It's more about the musician and the ways in which life doesn't go the way you expect, even if you're semi-famous. And it's also about not being a musician and how life doesn't go the way you expect it to.

One skill of Hornby's is his ability to show the dreariest sides of relationships. He did this in High Fidelity and he does this again in this novel. Annie and Duncan have been floating along, staying together more out of convenience than for any other reason. Duncan jumps at the first opportunity to stray, and Annie realizes that maybe Duncan isn't worth keeping around, no matter how much he apologizes.

The relationship between Tucker and Annie is fragile at best, and the development of it is interesting. They mostly use email as a way to correspond and start developing something, no matter how impractical the relationship is. When he travels to England from the US, he meets with her in person. They are able to communicate in the same fashion as they did during email, building some type of relationship. The whole thing is impractical, however, because Tucker is married, lives in another country, and has a son with his wife.

Tucker is also a character with few redeeming qualities. He disappeared from the music scene, leaving more and more abandoned children and hurt ex-wives behind him. He has no money, no inspiration to write music or to sing again, and no desire to really be back on the music scene. He is just existing. His one real redeeming quality is his love for his youngest son Jackson, the one child he interacts with and has truly attempted to raise.

So if the characters aren't redeemable and the relationships are doomed, why is this a good book? Because Hornby writes it the best. He makes these characters lovable - or relatable or believable, at the very least - and gives the relationships bursts of promise, even if the majority of it is not promising at all.

The end of the book did leave me feeling a bit incomplete. I feel like there were loose ends that I would like to have tied up, but in leaving those ends loose, I think Hornby has actually told me everything I need to know.

This book isn't a happy book, but it's also not a depressing book. It just is. And this book does what it does in the best possible way. I would definitely recommend it.

Notable quotes:

But she could see now that a lot of resentment had been locked into her somewhere, and it was busy, restless stuff, roaming around looking for the tiniest open window.

Not being married to him was becoming every bit as irritating as she imagined marriage to him might be.

We get together with people because they're the same or because they're different, and in the end we split with them for exactly the same reasons.

There was an awful lot to be said for familiarity, if you thought about it. It was an extremely underrated virtue, ignorable until the very moment that you were in danger of losing whatever or whoever it was that was familiar - a house, a view, a partner.

It was hopeless, life, really. It was set up all wrong.

She had to defend him in order to defend herself. That was why people were so prickly about their partners, even their ex-partners.

It was an illness, loneliness - it made you weak, gullible, feeble-minded.

The trouble was, she couldn't help but be boring and bland and sensible and good.

But then, that was the trouble with relationships generally. They had their own temperature, and there was no thermostat.

Tucker accepted completely that women were the fairer and wiser sex, but they were also irredeemably vicious when the occasion demanded.

She was trying to say something else; she was trying to say that the inability to articulate what one feels in any satisfactory way is one of our enduring tragedies.

The truth about life was that nothing ever ended until you died, and even then you just left a whole bunch of unresolved narratives behind you.