Something Blue

A successful woman purposely becomes pregnant to get a man to stay with her; he leaves and she looks for another way to fulfill her need for attention and affection.

The main character in this book, Darcy, seriously pissed me off for more than the first half of it.  Honestly, if I hadn't been sitting in an airport by myself with nothing to do for five hours I would have stopped reading it just because she was getting on my nerves.  Darcy is the most selfish character I have ever read, one of those you just was to slap and be like "think about someone else for one millasecond!! geez!!!".  Of course, I would have looked a little funny smacking my book and yelling at it in the middle of an airport, so I just kept reading.  I think it was worth it, the end was actually quite interesting, and Darcy is less annoying starting a little past halfway through.  

Recommended, but you have to have strong endurance to keep reading even when you hate the book or there is no point in trying in the first place. 

Lucky

Lucky is a non-fiction tale about Alice Sebold's personaly account of her college rape.  I actually loved this book.  I think I'm suddenly in a "non-fiction" mood and just like realistic accounts of absolutely everything (written in an acceptable and entertaining way, of course) but I still loved it.  I think I liked the tone in The Lovely Bones quite a bit better, but the realistic account makes up for it!

Recommended!  Especially to those about to go off to college, it helps you be aware of what and where you should and shoudn't be and what to look out for and how to handle things if something does happen.  Not a happy-go-lucky novel, but still worth the read!

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Laughed my ass off the entire time.  If you haven't read Hamlet, it won't really make much sense to you but you'll probably still laugh.  The story is in play style and written about two seriously minor characters in Hamlet-Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.  They are awesome characters with seemingly no sense what so ever, and often get themselves into predicaments.  

It's an easy read, no need to set aside more than two hours (at the very most).  It's a fun read, a good pick-me-up.  Read it with a friend, play their games afterwards, just stay away from the traveling players!!  There is also a movie (or two...or three) but I wouldn't recommend them, honestly.  They are very lax and aren't nearly as entertaining as reading it - or acting it out with a few friends.

The Year of Magical Thinking

This book was oddly enjoyable.  Loosely, it's about a woman who loses both her husband and her daughter in a four day span over Christmas and her process coming through it.  It is Joan Didion's actual life story, non-fiction is a better way to put that, so it has more stance with me as a quality book.  Everyone that I know who has read that book as well has no idea why I liked it...I suppose I don't either but I did.  It's slightly depressing (of course) but in a way insightful and deep.  I wish the reader got to know the husband and the daughter a little bit more before they are gone, it seems too brief to really care for their characters.  

I'd recommend it to anyone (especially people who may be going through something similar), but if you are looking for an uplifting, fun read this is not it.

The Power of Voice

            Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is definitely within my top ten books of all time.  This isn’t the first time I have read it, and it certainly wasn’t the first time I fell in love with it either.  Throughout the story the main character, Melinda, demonstrates a classic struggle that occurs within many victims of sexual abuse.  In the end, she overcomes it beautifully.

            When Melinda is raped at a party during the summer before her freshman year in high school, she calls the cops—who bust up the party—but doesn’t stick around to tell them, or anyone else, her story.  Afterwards, Melinda seems to completely shut down mentally and emotionally.  Many people in her new school know she was the one who called the cops and, all though they never bother to ask why she did it, they refuse to befriend her—even her middle school friends cut her off.  She becomes intently aware of everything around her, noticing every flaw (i.e. “Hairwoman,” 6).  At this point, I believe Melinda is mixed with a feeling of shame and of fear that if she tells someone, everyone will know.  Most times, when a victim of rape tells people she has been raped, it’s as if she walks around with a big stamp on her forehead that says “Raped!” on it in big red letters.  People who know tend to see these victims in a different light and treat them differently than they would have—even when all the victim really wants to do is move on.  And being as how so many people know she called the cops, the news of ‘why’ would spread very quickly among the students.

            I believe, these few factors in mind, that Melinda feels more safe keeping it to herself—that is, until she realizes that it is eating her alive.  Melinda finally gets up enough courage to tell her old best friends, Rachel, and things pretty much just escalade from there.  Soon everyone knows what happened that night; not in detail, but they know.  Melinda is able to begin moving on with her life now that she doesn’t have to bury this horrific secret deep inside anymore. 

            Throughout the duration of the novel, Melinda learns that ignoring the problem does not make it go away.  On the very last page, Melinda says, “IT happened.  There is no avoiding it, no forgetting.  No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding. ….And I’m going to let it kill me.  I can grow.”  It is better to confront your issues, no matter how horrid, and move on than it is to bottle it up inside and let it trap you forever.