House Rules by Jodi Picoult

When your son can't look you in the eye...does that mean he's guilty?
Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject - forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he's always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he's usually right.
But when Jacob's small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob's behaviors are hallmark Asperger's, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacob's mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob.
And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

(from goodreads.com)

I rate this book 2 out of 5 stars

Two weeks ago I would have told you that there was no way in hell I'd ever rate a Jodi Picoult book less than 4 stars...then I read House Rules.  It's not only that I'm disappointed; I feel betrayed.  The reason is this:  I bought this book wanting to read something that will broaden my perspective and twist my heart until it hurts, which is something that Jodi Picoult has always done in her stories.  I expected to laugh and cry and want to share this book with all of my friends.  What I got, instead, was something that seemed like Jodi Picoult wrote half of then handed to a fanfic writer with zero publishing experience to finish up for her.  It felt sloppy and after the first several chapters it was predictable. 

Personally, I don't know anyone who has been clinically diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (AS). I bought this book because I was interested in the storyline and I wanted to learn more about AS.  Although I have no direct experience with AS, I feel as though Jodi Picoult did a good job introducing it to the readers.  For majority of the book I felt sympathy for Jacob and his family as they struggled with his predicament.  However, there's a point in the book where you realize that there are no hidden layers to the story and what you see is what you get (so to speak).  They repeat the same phrases over and over, pretending that it's sufficient evidence to send Jacob to prison for murder, when it's painfully obvious to the reader that Jacob's communication problems are causing this predicament and his family (who supposedly has had to deal with this for decades) just doesn't know how to ask him the right questions to get the truth.  This is one of the things I found hard to stomach:  if his mother and brother have had to translate Jacob's nonsensical verbage to the world for his entire life then why didn't they realize that he was trying to say something other than what they were interpreting?  It was obvious to the reader that he had something to say and Jodi Picoult's usual method of delivering storyline twists was sadly watered down and fell very flat when Jacob's truth did finally come out.

Jodi Picoult's way of capturing an audience's attention is, thankfully, still amazing.  Even though I grumbled and griped underneath my breath, I still genuinely wanted to keep reading.  The way she creates sympathetic characters with very human traits and down-right likeable-ness is one of the things I love about her.  Unfortunately, in this book, that's about all I loved.  I must say one last thing about the ending....it sucked.  All that build up and then it just ends.  No real resolution, no telling what happens next, if they all live happily ever after or if they all die in a tsunami.  It just ends. 

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Six years after the phenomenal success of The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger has returned with a spectacularly compelling and haunting second novel set in and around Highgate Cemetery in London.

When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt, only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister. Julia and Valentina are semi-normal American teenagers--with seemingly little interest in college, finding jobs, or anything outside their cozy home in the suburbs of Chicago, and with an abnormally intense attachment to one another.

The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders Highgate Cemetery in London. They come to know the building's other residents. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword puzzle setter suffering from crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Marjike, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including--perhaps--their aunt, who can't seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.

(from goodreads.com)

I rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars

I have neither read nor seen the Time Traveler's Wife and my opinion on that storyline has nothing to do with why I chose to read this book. 

This book was a little slow in the beginning.  It took me a few days to get through the first few chapters, which I admit is mostly due to lack of sleep, but once I got past those first fifty pages or so, it was smooth sailing.  It has everything that I enjoy in a story:  suspense, drama, human emotions, some strange details that are so unrealistic they become believable in a fictional world, and a good, old fashioned ghost.  I love the way the author weaves shiny strings of hope into the dismal lives of her characters so that by the end of the book you don't know who you're rooting for anymore.

The twins are a fantastic example of spoiled, sheltered girls.  They begin the story as typical American post-teenagers who are pathetically dependant on each other and their parents.  They have no concept of the future and have made no plans for themselves beyond breakfast and a morning television show.  They are the same in appearance yet different in demeanor and personality and as the story unfolds, it is easy to find oneself charmed by both girls. 

A maternal aunt bequeaths her fortune to the girls with the condition that they live in her apartment for a year before they sell it (if they choose to sell it) so off they go to London to experience new adventures in Highgate Cemetary.  The people they meet are unusual, to say the least.  They develop relationships and each girl begins to mature in her own way.  The author cleverly displays different types of intimate relationships and it is easy to find yourself drawing comparisons between lovers, siblings, parents, and friends.  I also enjoyed the way the author used humor to lighten the mood before adding a sinister note that makes you feel uneasy without being able to pinpoint why. 

Overall, I thought it was very well written and I was happily drawn in by the characters and storyline.  The only negative comments I have are that the beginning was a bit slow and the ending was a tad bit disappointing, but those things barely account for much when you consider the thorough enjoyment I derived from this fictional world of fantastical people.

Hello and Welcome!

Hello!  Welcome to my new blog!  Thanks for stopping by and reading some of my ramblings.  I hope you enjoy my musings and that you find out about books that you might want to read for yourselves.  As all grand ideas start, I've got a ton of things that I want to do with this blog and I just hope that my schedule and reliance on my techie-brother will be sufficient for me to bring some of these ideas into fruition.  Mainly, I want to do book reviews.  I will read whatever catches my eye in a book store, library, or thrift store then I'll come online and blog about it for you (and also for me since I've gotten so lax about reading that I find I'm re-buying and reading the same books because I simply forget about them after the first go-around).  Anywhoo, I've got an awesome friend who is also an avid reader and I'd like for her to chime in her opinion whenever she can.  Somewhere way down the line, I'd like to add a sort of book club kind of thing where I pose questions to go along with certain chapters of books and some of you can comment with your own opinions so that we can read together!  I'd also like to do book giveaways and some other fun stuff but that, too, remains to be seen!  SO that's my plan in a nutshell.  I hope you check back soon to see what's going on in the Buk Cafe