Candy Girl by Diablo Cody

Book Summary(via Goodreads):


Decreed by David Letterman (tongue in cheek) on CBS TV’s The Late Show to be the pick of “Dave’s Book Club 2006,” Candy Girl is the story of a young writer who dared to bare it all as a stripper. At the age of twenty-four, Diablo Cody decided there had to be more to life than typing copy at an ad agency. She soon managed to find inspiration from a most unlikely source— amateur night at the seedy Skyway Lounge. While she doesn’t take home the prize that night, Diablo discovers to her surprise the act of stripping is an absolute thrill. This is Diablo’s captivating fish-out-of-water story of her yearlong walk on the wild side, from quiet gentlemen’s clubs to multilevel sex palaces and glassed-in peep shows. In witty prose she gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at this industry through a writer’s keen eye, chronicling her descent into the skin trade and the effect it had on her self-image and her relationship with her now husband.


This insomniac's review:

I could do a 2 word review for this book.(language warning)

HOLY FUCK!

Buuuuuuut......you probably want more.

I am a nurse and mother of three, bookish buddies. So I am really, really hard to gross out.

I was trucking through this book thinking to myself that it wasnt' quite as racy as the critics have said(remember that I am hard to shock, folks). Then I got to the scene in Sex World that describes a certain male client. If you've read it- you know who I'm talking about. At this point my brain shut down. Really. All I could think was clean thoughts so that I didn't vomit. Ugh.

But, truly- it made me thankful for my quasi boring life that is sans body fluid loving people(that I know of). It was very honest and entertaining.

Just try not to vomit. Mmmmkay?


Worth staying up all night to read?

If your bed partner doesn't mind an occasional gag as you read.

Rating:

3 stars. Fascinating, gregarious romp through the underworld.

Paint it Black by Janet Fitch

 

Book Summary(via Goodreads):

 

Paint it Black" captures that throbbing ache that is being a young girl faced with a great tragedy...made worse by the fact that the tragedy is a Prince Charming-ish first love. Josie, the art model main character, longs, pines, grieves with keen intensity. Her process of mourning is set against a vibrant back drop of 80s punk/alt Los Angeles. Plenty emo. Though the backdrop is vibrant and exciting, the reader can't help but feel the emptiness of this scene when reminded of the heroine's loss. When you don't have that special person to keep sharing life with, is anything worthwhile? Fitch also crosses into territory that is much in need of exploration in terms of class. This book delineates class differences in America in a very real way...no one talks about this enough. We blindly pretend it doesn't matter. Josie finds out in subtle ways how it does and when it doesn't.

 

This insomniac's review:

 

Oh, Janet Fitch.

 

How you make me go all Fan girl after reading your gritty, dirty amazing writing.

 

Sigh.

 

Gritty, dark and starkly beautiful in that unique way that only this author has. 

 

 Janet Fitch writes with such a unique style and uses words in such a grippingly bleak way that I find myself rolling the phrases over my tongue again and again, enamored her writing. It takes me far longer to read the novel than I should but I cannot help compulsively re-reading the most stunning sentences.

 

Gah. So good in such a bad way.

 

 

Worth staying up all night to read?

 

YES! Be sure that you are okay with very gritty, real dark fiction, though. It is not for everyone.

 

Rating:

 

4 1/2 dark, glittery stars.

 

 

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

Book Synopsis(via Goodreads):

West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister, Fawn. Alice has always nsisted that they live off the grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace. Searching for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the mystery of Sara's fate, she discovers that she's not the only person who's desperately looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.

This insomniac's opinion:

If you like suspenseful, creepy fiction- this ones for you, bibliophile buddies

Deliciously, compulsively readable and creepy in the most wonderful and intelligently thought out way! I devoured this novel the way a starving person devours a plate of food in front of her for the first time in days.

So. Freaking. Good.

Worth staying up all night to read?

Yes! Word of advice though- don't do it when your partner/roommate/spouse is out of town like I did. I was hearing bumps in the night for sure!

Rating:

4 shivering, goose bumped stars.

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh

 Book Synopsis(via Goodreads):

The Dane family's roots tangle deep in the Ozark Mountain town of Henbane, but that doesn't keep sixteen-year-old Lucy Dane from being treated like an outsider. Folks still whisper about her mother, a bewitching young stranger who inspired local myths when she vanished years ago. When one of Lucy's few friends, slow-minded Cheri, is found murdered, Lucy feels haunted by the two lost girls-the mother she never knew and the friend she couldn't protect. Everything changes when Lucy stumbles across Cheri's necklace in an abandoned trailer and finds herself drawn into a search for answers. What Lucy discovers makes it impossible to ignore the suspicion cast on her own kin. More alarming, she suspects Cheri's death could be linked to her mother's disappearance, and the connection between the two puts Lucy at risk of losing everything. In a place where the bonds of blood weigh heavy, Lucy must decide where her allegiances lie.


**Many thanks to Net Galley and Random House publishing for this advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.**

This insomniac's opnion:

Thrillers aren't always me thing. I have to be in the right frame of mind and mood when reading them, and that doesn't seem to be often. However, this novel peaked my interest when I read it's blurb on Net Galley and saw some of the early book buzz. I am so very glad that I took the chance on this novel!

This novel has a very dark tone a la Gillian Flynn, so if that is not the type of novel for you, you may want to pass on this one. The bleakness of the tone lends so much to this story of deception and intrigue that I cannot see how it could have been done any other way. Laura McHugh paints such a vivid picture of life in the Ozarks, I felt as though I was there living amongst the poverty stricken country folk. The characters were distinctly written and the twists in the plot were satisfying and believable.

I did feel like the end was a bit too trite and I would've liked a bit more resolution for Lucy, but overall a wonderful, twisty story of intrigue! Highly recommended!

Worth staying up all night to read?

Heck yeah!

Rating: 4 stars

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford

Book summary(via Goodreads):

Twelve-year-old William Eng, a Chinese-American boy, has lived at Seattle’s Sacred Heart Orphanage ever since his mother’s listless body was carried away from their small apartment five years ago. On his birthday—or rather, the day the nuns designate as his birthday—William and the other orphans are taken to the historical Moore Theatre, where William glimpses an actress on the silver screen who goes by the name of Willow Frost. Struck by her features, William is convinced that the movie star is his mother, Liu Song.

Determined to find Willow, and prove his mother is still alive, William escapes from Sacred Heart with his friend Charlotte. The pair navigates the streets of Seattle, where they must not only survive, but confront the mysteries of William’s past and his connection to the exotic film star. The story of Willow Frost, however, is far more complicated than the Hollywood fantasy William sees onscreen.

Shifting between the Great Depression and the 1920s, Songs of Willow Frost takes readers on an emotional journey of discovery. Jamie Ford’s sweeping book will resonate with anyone who has ever longed for the comforts of family and a place to call home.

This insomniac's opionion:

I'm having a love affair.

 SHHHH!Don't tell my husband!

My love affair is with *swoon* the work of Jamie Ford.

I rather adored Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. But, this novel. This novel- oh my goodness. It's a masterpiece, bookish buddies!

This is one of those novels which is full(oh so full) of heartbreak. And, yet it is written in such a romantic and endearing way that your soul rises up to meet the pages and you are forever changed. Read it, friends. And, don't forget the Kleenex.

I do think it is worth saying that this novel is not going to be for everyone, and I foresee some truly disliking this novel.

Worth staying up all night to read?

Oh my goodness, yes!

Rating:

5 stars

Bloodroot by Amy Greene

Synopsis(via Goodreads):

The novel is told in a kaleidoscope of seamlessly woven voices and centers around an incendiary romance that consumes everyone in its path: Myra Lamb, a wild young girl with mysterious, haint blue eyes who grows up on remote Bloodroot Mountain; her grandmother Byrdie Lamb, who protects Myra fiercely and passes down “the touch” that bewitches people and animals alike; the neighbor boy who longs for Myra yet is destined never to have her; the twin children Myra is forced to abandon but who never forget their mother’s deep love; and John Odom, the man who tries to tame Myra and meets with shocking, violent disaster. Against the backdrop of a beautiful but often unforgiving country, these lives come together—only to be torn apart—as a dark, riveting mystery unfolds.

This insomniac's opinion:

Holy buckets, this was a depressing novel. But, also extraordinarily written. I felt as though I was truly in the novel, living in desperate poverty and facing a daily struggle. It was humbling. I was so immersed in the book at times, that it was almost a culture shock to raise my eyes up to my own middle-class suburban home. I felt so grateful for my cozy home and my pantry full of food.

The hardest thing about reading this novel was that every time a character starts to feel hopeful, another awful event happens and they are wrenched back into terrible conditions. I had to take a few breathers when reading so that I could catch my breath and continue.

In closing, this novel is not for everyone. However, it is wonderfully written and is well worth the read.

Worth staying up all night to read?

Yes! Bonus: You'll feel super grateful for all that you have after reading this novel.

Rating: 

5 stars

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

(Book Summary via Goodreads):

A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what’s been missing in her life, and when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

This insomniac's opinion: 

This novel was recommended to me by a book club friend. I am so very glad that she mentioned it to me.

Even though much of this novel deals with the often rough life of a foster child, it is eloquently written and the story unfolds beautifully. The author manages to write even the roughest of characters in such an endearing light that it is impossible not to love them. Victoria, the main character in this novel, will surely live in my heart forever.

Worth staying up all night to read?

Yes! I think this novel is a must-read!

Rating:

 5 stars

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

It is probably best if I preface this review with a warning. In fact, quite a few warnings. But, first and foremost- IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE WORD "VAGINA" DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. And, it might be best not to read the rest of this review. Because you simply cannot review this book without saying the word vagina. See how may times I've already said it? To give you some perspective on how often Jenny Lawson uses the word in her book- I was an OB nurse for three years, and in those three years I am pretty sure that I did not hear the word vagina as often as she uses it in this book. Before reading this book it is best to also make sure that you are comfortable reading about all kinds of socially inappropriate humor, taxidermy, artificial cow insemination, the f-word(and every other swear word known to man),drug use,...ah, heck let's just say if you are easily or moderately offended, this may not be the book for you.

However, if you are still interested in reading this book and love a good laugh- you are in for a treat! Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson(also known as The Bloggess) is a hilarious, laugh-out loud journey through the author's crazy life. Even though she is often telling socially inappropriate and just plain crazy stories, throughout the entire book I was thinking to myself how fantastic it would be to be friends with her. Life could never be boring with Jenny Lawson around. Sadly, I am not actually friends with the author. It's a good thing that reading this book is the next best thing.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Not because it is Steinbeck quality literature, but because it made me laugh: uproariously, stomach-grabbing, hope-my-bladder-isn't-full laughter. And that is worth a heck of a lot,my friends!