This Star Won't Go Out

This Star Won't Go Out is the life and words of Esther Grace Earl. The best summary of this nonfiction book is from its first lines. It is a collection of letters, journal entries, sketches, photographs and essays that tell the story of Esther Grace Earl, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 16 from complications due to thyroid cancer. The Introduction is by John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, who dedicated his bestseller to Esther.

Memoirs like this are always hard to review. It is an emotional read. How do you recommend a book that is going to make readers sad, yell "Fuck cancer!" or remind them of sick relatives/friends? Le sigh. So instead I will focus on the positiveness of this memoir. Throughout all of her sickness, Esther remained positive. Sure, she had angry painful days. But for the most part, she was happy and brought joy to many. She appreciated life and the moments she graced the world with her presence. This book really is a beautiful collection that displays her life and words.

 

To Esther Grace Earl: High five, girl! You did it! You are a published author.

Title: This Star Won't Go Out
Author: Esther Earl with parents Lori and Wayne Earl
Published: January 2014
Pages: 431
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

Gray Mountain

The year is 2008. Oh, what a struggling year that was for working and retiring Americans. John Grisham's new hero, Samantha Kofer, was no exception. She is suddenly furloughed by the world's largest law firm. She is offered an unpaid internship at a legal aid clinic. She may, or may not, get her old job back after one year.

In a matter of days, Samantha goes from earning $180,000/year in base salary on Wall Street to working for $0.00 in Brady, Virginia helping "real people with real problems."

John Grisham's novels always bring out the murky side of litigation. We all know laws are broken, regulations are ignored, innocent people are blamed and grand juries decline to return an indictment. But Grisham's novels go beyond a regular mystery. In Gray Mountain, the dangerous world of coal mining is explored and Samantha prepares the first lawsuit of her career.

Grisham's legal thrillers are hit or miss for me. Most are classics, some are adapted to really good movies and others are meh. Gray Mountain was a hit. I was engrossed in the book and didn't want it to end. I also learned a lot about the coal mining industry. I hope to read another mystery featuring Samantha Kofer again soon.

Watch the book trailer below of Gray Mountain by the "master of the legal thriller." Then add this book to your shelves to read soon.

Title: Gray Mountain
Author: John Grisham
Published: October 2014
Pages: 368
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♡

 

Series Sunday: Burn

(Detective Michael Bennett #7)

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Read an installment of a series.
• Share your review/recommendation below.
• Include the title, author and series name.

My Series Sunday pick is Burn, the seventh book in the Detective Michael Bennett series by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. The detective and his family are finally coming home to New York City after being forced into Witness Protection. Instead of being rewarded for bringing down a crime lord, he is demoted to a mayoral pet project in Harlem whose mission is to help the city's most vulnerable victims. Political bullshit basically.

Meanwhile on the home front, the moment I've been dreading since book one of the series finally happens. A biological parent of one of Bennett's ten adopted children shows on the doorstep threatening to take custody. EEK! As if working NYPD isn't enough stress.

"That you were always just one knock on the door from being taken away." ~ pg. 317

The last couple books of the Detective Michael Bennett series had me literally hanging on every word, tipping my chair over in suspense. But Burn was not thrilling. Sure it had its uh-oh moments but nothing of the same danger level. The commercial for Burn is way misleading. It is NOT the hottest book. It seems books five and six were the peak of the series and it is going downhill. Please prove me wrong, Patterson and Ledwidge. Please.

Title: Burn
Authors: James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
Published: September 2014
Pages: 401
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥♥

First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Grab your current read(s).
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author.

"This is a story about a girl that went through a life changing experience known as Thyroid Cancer. It's not one of those dramatic 'based on a true story' cancer things, especially since Thyroid Cancer is not as bad as cancer. It's a story about me, Esther Earl, having a sickness that's pretty scary."

~ This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl with Lori and Wayne Earl

 

Fangirl

Reading the Simon Snow series, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, hanging out in discussion forums and dressing up like the characters is what got Cath and Wren through their mother leaving in their childhood. But when it is time to begin college, Wren flips the script. She doesn't want to be roommates and isn't interested in anything Simon Snow. Now Cath is left outside of her comfort zone with a surly roommate whose constantly smiling boyfriend is always hanging in their dorm room. It is time for Cath to be independent and live her own story.

I've gotten used to Rainbow Rowell's incomplete endings so I started reading Fangirl with the expectation that it would end on any note, damn near mid-conversation. With this in mind, I tried not to get too attached to the main characters. Welp, so much for that idea.

I immediately hearted Cath. She had similarities to me and brought back memories of my own freshman year of college: adjusting, developing new friendships and growing distant from long-term relationships. I knew Cath would be one of my fave fiction characters when she was faced with dealing with her father in a manic episode. The sensitive subject of mental illness was well written without overshadowing the main plot.

I notice small things like character names. Their parents weren't expecting twins so planned to name their baby girl Catherine. Their mother chose Cather and Wren as names for the twins. Brilliant choice on a whim!

Sharing a name and being identical is where the twins' similarities end. Cath is shy; Wren is outgoing. Cath is a homebody; Wren parties hard. Cath is a writer; Wren is a boy-chaser. The friends they choose to associate with in college run in different crowds. The way they handle college is quite different and very interesting to read. Fangirl is the perfect blend of first love in a coming-of-age story.

I'm just going to say it: Fangirl is better than Eleanor & Park. I didn't think that was possible. This novel is definitely one of the best books I've read this year. Rainbow Rowell, you have officially earned a spot in my top authors—incomplete endings and all. <3

Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: September 2013
Pages: 433
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

 

The Vacationers

"The Posts were masters of self-delusion, all of them." ~ pg. 71

A two-week trip to Mallorca Island is a celebration for the Post family. Franny and Jim are observing their 35th wedding anniversary and daughter Sylvia's high school graduation. Also invited to the island vacation is son Bobby and his older girlfriend, Franny's best friend, Charles, and his (yes, his) husband.

The Post family is in the midst of change and secrets spill out all over the island. True selves are revealed during the trip.

The Vacationers has been on every recommended list in magazines that I subscribe to. My library copy was finally available so I dived in immediately only to keep asking in my best Whodini voice "When we gonna get to the good part?" It never came. The story fell flat. Pure disappointment. Uber overhyped.

Title: The Vacationers
Author: Emma Straub
Published: May 2014
Pages: 292
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥

 

Big Little Lies

Entertainment Weekly calls Big Little Lies "a surefire hit." It is a New York Times bestseller. It was recommended in a few magazines. So I was happy to vote for it as a Chick Lit Book Club selection. A couple group members read it before me and there were mixed reviews. But of course, I had to read it for myself.

A murder. Arguing moms. Bully kids. School scandal.

Big Little Lies was a big waste of time. The nearly 500-page novel was like a literary form of Desperate Housewives meets 90210. It was a drag to read and I fought the urge to skip to the end. Bookhearts know I love a good mystery but it is best when unpredictable clues are revealed at a steady pace. I like mysteries that keep me frantically turning the pages, on the edge of my reading chair. Big Little Lies barely engaged me. This is the second book I read by author Liane Moriarty; I've come to the conclusion that her writing just isn't for me.

Title: Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
Published: July 2014
Pages: 460
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥