such a pretty girl by Laura Wiess

I read this book in about 3 hours. It's a small book and the story takes place over about 4 days, so it makes sense that I could get through it quickly.

There are some books that I read that I don't feel strongly about-one way or the other. Such a pretty girl by Laura Wiess was one of those books. It's not a bad book. It's well written. The story is compelling. Unfortunately, for Wiess, the characters on SVU are more developed and sympathetic. Well, it's not that Meredith isn't sympathetic. You would have to be dead to not feel bad for her. But her character is not developed enough for me to be really drawn in. I didn't shed a tear. And, that may not be the point of the book. However, when I watch SVU, I usually cry. Just because it reminds you of how horrible the world is.

Again, I am not saying it was a bad book. I probably couldn't have written better. I am surprised, though, at all the praise written by fellow authors. Maybe I should be. Most of it is filled with buzz words. I get the feeling the felt the same as I did when reading it, they just had to say something nice.

Take it or leave it.

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Wow. This book is wow. I would go so far to say that We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is one of the best books I have ever read.

But, before I go any further, I would like to warn any person reading this review that there will be spoilers-lots of them. So don't read any further if you would like to enjoy the book without knowing the ending.

That being said, I kind of guessed the ending, but was foiled when I couldn't find it spelled out on the last few pages. I went all over the internet to see if I was right, but I could only glean from other reviews that perhaps I was. In any case-I was right.

I am not sure where to begin with this review. I find it especially poignant that, while I was in the midst of reading this book, the horrifying event of Virginia Tech unfolded. I think it may or may not have colored my thoughts.

Now, unlike most books, you pretty much know the end first. Eva is writing letters to her (presumably) estranged husband Franklin. She is reliving and trying to understand their son Kevin. Kevin, as we soon know, killed 9 people in a high school "shooting". I quote shooting because Kevin didn't use a gun. He used arrows. And the majority of his victims did not die from the arrow-they died slowly from the blood loss. It is one step beyond the horror of the "typical" school shooting.

So, Eva is writing to Franklin. Discussing their decision to have Kevin, how she felt when he was born and all the things that led up to his massacre. I read that Shriver said that most people read two different books: The book that shows Eva as a cold and unloving mother who, through her actions and "un-love" raised this horrible child. The other book (so to speak) is the story of a woman who tried to be a good mother, despite this horrible monster of a child. Perhaps she saw this horrendous event coming, but was powerless to stop it.

I read both of these books. I saw both sides. I never strongly sided with one or the other. On the one hand, this is Eva's perspective-her "hindsight is 20-20" perspective. On the other, at the time she is writing these letters, she has nothing to lose-so why would she be lying?

I, for one, was most horrified by her husband. Again, I realize this is Eva's view, but either way you cut it-whether her side is completely accurate or not-he still did something to make her feel the way she felt. Even if what he did was exaggerated, she didn't experience anything less than what she describes. The man is just so blind. So desperate to choose his son over his wife. And why? I can't answer that, but every time he did this in the book, I cringed. Perhaps he is just as responsible for pushing a wedge between Eva and Kevin. I mean, how would any wife feel? You have a child with a man you love and this man adores the child and slowly and steadily begins to hate you-no mater what sacrifice you make. No matter how hard you try.

There are two surprises at the end. Each of these were suspected, but they way they played out was more than I could have imagined.

The first is the obvious-Franklin is not "estranged". He is dead. Kevin killed him, along with his younger sister, Celia, the morning he went to kill his classmates.

The second is less obvious, but I could still see it-Kevin loves his mother. He does. There are hints of this throughout the book. But to see the way he reacts towards the end, it's so sad.

I could go on and on, but I could never do this book justice. Please read it. Unless you are thinking about having children. I wouldn't want to change your mind.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

This book got many rave reviews when it came out. However, not one of these reviews struck me in a "I gotta read that" way. My friend Kristy picked it up in an airport-and not to say she wasn't interested, but I mean, it can be slim pickings out there.

Kristy lent it to me a month or more ago and although I have been slowly, but surely reading a few pages at a time, I haven't really picked up any momentum. Then, Michael and I went to Barnes and Noble the other night and you know what he told me?!?! "You can't buy any more books until you read the ten 'new' ones lying around the house". Now, the fact that I still bought 5, secretly, is neither here nor there. All I know is I finished this book this afternoon.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards is the story about a choice that changes the lives of at least 7 people in unimaginable ways. It very much made me think of the Butterfly Effect-the thought that every little action we take, every decision, effects every other person in the world. The idea is astounding.

However, the book doesn't have to go as far as the world to show you the effects such decisions can cause. In a moment, David Henry made a choice about his newborn daughter.

I am not going to go too much into the plot here. Most people probably know what this book is about. It's not that it isn't a good book. It's not that it isn't an interesting story. I just felt it was painfully slow. The story didn't move me. I wasn't sure I cared how it all turned out.

I'll admit-I certainly cried a few tears in the end. Strangely, at least to most people, it was tears for David Henry. If there is to be a "bad guy" in this book, it's him. He lied. He made the decision. He changed the lives. Everyone else got caught up in the aftermath. But in the end, I found him to be the most sympathetic character. The one I related to the most. Although, I am not sure what parts of him I related too. Maybe it's just he is human-painfully human. He never, ever meant to do the harm he did. But after that moment, nothing he ever would have done could fix it. Even if the very next day, if he told his wife he lied and that their daughter had lived-she would have never been able to love him again, knowing what his original intent had been.

In the end, he spent his whole life with a horrible secret. The rest of them-his children, his wife, they all got a chance to move on.

It's a good book. Just expect it to be slow. Actually, it is a great airplane book. You'll be forced to read it and one sitting and it will go down much better.