Category: 2 1/2 Stars or Less

The Greatest Miracle In The World, by Og Mandino

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Cover ImageFinished 4-3-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction, pub. 1983

This was my first and most probably my last Og Mandino book.  It was sweet, preachy, and a little dated.  I think the sentiment was good and did enjoy Chapter 9, The God Memorandum.  The problem was the eight chapters leading up to it were not my cup of tea.  The story was that Og met God in the flesh and God gave him a memo to print for the world.

The four laws of happiness and success according to God?  1. Count your blessings.  2. Proclaim your rarity.  3. Go another mile.  4. Use wisely your power of choice.  These are rules to live by, but it was one chapter.  The only thing that kept me reading to Chapter 9?  The book is only 98 pages.

I finished this on our layover at JFK on the way to Italy.  I left it on a chair, so I have passed on the God Memorandum to someone bored at the airport and now to you.

Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad

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Cover ImageFinished 3-12-08, rating 2/5, fiction, pub. 1902

Joseph Conrad was born in the Ukraine in 1857 and lost his parents at a young age.  He went on to serve as a French seaman and later became a captain in the British Merchant Navy.  The most fascinating fact of his life is that he learned English at 21!  And this acclaimed novelist did not begin his writing career until he was 37 (there is hope for me yet). 

This is the story of Marlow, a seaman sent to rescue a boat deep in the Congo.  He was working for an ivory company and they also want Marlowe to bring back Mr. Kurtz, one of the company’s best representatives.  Marlow journeys to the heart of the Congo and slowly loses his mind along with everyone else he meets along the way.  By the completion of his journey he discovers the enigmatic Mr. Kurtz, who has become a savage.

My husband and I read this book aloud to each other over the span of a few weeks.  The beautiful language and words, while wonderful on paper, were a challenge to read aloud.  We both loved the writing, but were a bit disinterested in the story.  It was an interesting look at human nature, but not one I really enjoyed.

Steve recommended Joseph Conrad and I thank him 🙂  I will give Conrad another shot because his writing is challenging and wonderful.  Next time I’ll read it myself and see if that makes a difference.

Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn

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Cover ImageFinished on  audio 2-20-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction, pub. 2006

This is a mystery wrapped in a disturbing family drama.  Camille must go back to her small hometown, Wind Gap, to cover a series of child murders for her Chicago newspaper.  There she is forced to confront her own troubled childhood and try to deal with her mother and half-sister.  Further complicating matters is that Camille is only six months out of rehab for cutting herself. 

Camille was a cutter from 13 until she was 30.  She carved so many words into her skin that she has to wear pants and long sleeves to cover them all.  Visions of Camille’s naked body with words cut into her flesh by her own hand is difficult to stomach.  It is through her relationship with her mother that you come to understand the psyche behind her obsession.

This was a haunting book.  Camille is difficult to relate to not only because of her cutting, but also because at every turn she was doing such stupid things.  This got great reviews, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it.  I think it might be a perfect fit for a book group because of the multitude of issues that are dealt with in this debut novel by Gillian Flynn.

Hey, Good Looking, by Fern Michaels

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Cover ImageFinshed 1-24-08, rating 2.5/5, romance, pub. 2006

Darby had a best friend, Russell, who we met in the first chapter and was dead by chapter two.  Darby grieves and with the help of her aunts and Russell’s brother, Ben, she copes.  The villainous stepmom, Bella, provides much needed tension and there is a weird storyline involving organ donation.  Michaels made it a plotline, but never really delved into it with any real depth.  There is a conclusion of the plot near the end of the book, but it didn’t make much sense to me. 

I read this because my Mom gave it to me and I wanted something light and fun.  It was light, but too light for my tastes and Michaels tells too much instead of letting me use my own imagination.  And poor Ben had a bad habit of “puffing his chest out” whenever Darby gave him a compliment.  For some reason by the third time this happened I really wanted to just stop reading, but for all my complaints once I reached the halfway point I was interested in the story, if not the writing.  There is an interesting cast of characters and it is a fun read, but not a memorable one.

Plum Lucky, by Janet Evanovich

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Cover ImageFinished 1-19-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction, pub. 2008

I’m not sure why I continue to read the Stephanie Plum novels, especially these missives she calls “Between-the Numbers.”  This one is a mere 166 pages.  I fell in love with bounty hunter Stephanie in her first novel, One For the Money, and followed her through many zany adventures.  Somewhere around the sixth book the novels became a cartoon of their earlier versions.

Okay, Plum Lucky.  Stephanie receives a visit from her Between-the Novels pal, Diesel, and her Grandmother finds over a million dollars that she claims as her own.  There is also a leprechaun, a horse, ex-hooker Lula, and a shootout with a rocket launcher.  This book is almost all dialogue and very little little heart. 

So, why did I bother if I am no longer enjoying the Plum novels?  Because yesterday when I stopped by the library they gave it to me.  And I read it because it was too short not to.

Mad River Road, by Joy Fielding

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Cover ImageFinished audio 1-17-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction. pub. 2006

“Brad” was released from prison on a technicality and wasted no time in planning revenge against those who wronged him.  His first step was finding a woman with a car to warm his bed.  Enter Jamie, who had just found out her boyfriend was married, and you have a scary combination of recklessness and danger.  They begin their trek from Florida to Ohio to find his ex-wife and his son. 

The book had potential, but never really pulled me in.  There was only one sympathetic character of the bunch.  And I kept waiting for something to happen, but had to wait until the last part of the book.

A good reader can make a good book better or a bad one worse.  The reader used different voices for the many characters, but a few of the characters sounded so silly.  So, I’ll allow for the possibility that it may have been better if I’d read it, but I still wouldn’t recommend this book.