The Book Bit: December 2017 Ed.

I am SO glad the holidays are over; anybody else?  Watching my kids open presents is all well and good, but the stress of the season really got to me this year; and the cabin fever absolutely has my eldest child under its spell.  We've all been driving each other nuts for days!  Reading is always a good solution to stress, right?  I was so excited about this months books because I decided to only choose books that have film adaptions.  Trust me when I say it was extremely difficult to choose which ones to read, because obviously I want to read all of them.  It took me almost two weeks to decide on the lineup; to make it easier I decided to categorize my selections.  I chose an older book, a newer book and a book whose film adaptation I had not seen.  Here's what I came up with for this month's books.







"Terms of Endearment" by Larry McMurtry

  I absolutely love this film.  It was a staple in my house growing up; I swear we watched it at least two to three times a month.  I mean, Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson; what's not to love?  To say that I was excited about this book is an understatement and to say that I was disappointed is also an understatement.  I knew when it took McMurtry two pages to tell me how Aurora Greenway likes her car parked three feet from the curb, this was going to be a long read.  It took me ages to finish this book, but I did!  Aurora Greenway is the most self centered woman you will ever meet, so self centered in fact that she's not even excited at the prospect of being a grandmother.  And, no, it's not only because she detests her daughter's husband, but because if she becomes a grandmother she is now old and cannot compete with the many widows out there looking for a second suitor in life.  Emma Greenway is the most apologetic person around and handles her mother's outbursts and attitude with a grace all her own.  She seems to be the only person who fully accepts Aurora for exactly who she is.  Emma is my all time favorite character in this book and in the film; though the characters don't really resemble each other that much.  There was a lot I enjoyed about the film and only a few pieces of the book that I enjoyed.  How they managed to get such a great film out of this book, I'll never know, but they did.  The one thing I really disliked about the book is how Aurora-centered it was; but then Aurora is extremely self-centered.  She would have absolutely loved this book!  We spend the first 350 pages on one year of Aurora's life and the last fifty pages covering four years of Emma's.  I would have preferred more of Emma's story to Aurora's, but I am merely a reader and not the author.


"The Descendants" by Kaui Hart Hemmings

  I remember watching this film when it first came out and thinking "Well, that was fairly good."  I felt the same way about this book.  I enjoyed the characters, I felt like I was actually in Hawaii and I connected with our character, Mathew King, which I thought would be hard, but Hemmings made it easy.  Mathew King is a descendant of Hawaiian royalty, though by looking at him you would never think he was a local.  Holding the most shares of the land rights in Hawaii he is faced with a big decision, but it's pushed aside when his wife is involved in a high speed boating accident.  Mathew has never been the primary parent; he's never brushed his daughter's hair or packed lunches.  He doesn't know about texting or cyber bullying and he doesn't know why his eldest daughter has refused to speak to her mother the past few months.  All of this changes when Joanie falls into a coma and he is pushed head first into being the parent that needs to know everything.  My heart bled for Matt throughout this entire book as he struggled to step up and be the parent that his two daughter's needed, but also handle all of the difficulty of seeing your spouse in the hospital and dealing with the hard truths of life.  Follow Matt on his journey through this hard time with his ten-year-old daughter, Scottie, and seventeen-year-old Alex.  Matt has to learn quickly how to handle his children and find out that maybe his wife didn't deserve the pedestal he placed her on.  Or maybe she did.


"It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini

  So, I went in knowing absolutely nothing about this book except that it has been made into a film.  Reading a book when you already know the major plot twists and endings seriously puts a damper on things.  It was nice not to have any expectations and still have a book blow you away.  This book was terrific and I definitely want to watch the movie now that I've read it.  This books talk about one of the things that we care to sweep under the rug way too often; suicide.  Specifically teen suicide.  We follow Craig as he slowly sinks into a deep depression stemming from his acceptance into one of the best high schools in the city.  He gets caught up making the Grades, so he can get into the best College, so he can get the Job, and buy the House and have a Family and make enough Money to be happy and not have to worry about things.  Craig spirals out of control so quickly that he doesn't even realize what's happened until he finds himself on the phone with Suicide Prevention, where a nice woman convinces him to check himself into the emergency room to get help.  Craig is sure he has everything under control and that he doesn't need to be admitted to the psychiatric wing of the hospital, but he soon finds out that it's OK to be a little overwhelmed by life; even at his young age.  We meet a variety of wonderful and useful characters on Craig's journey to discharge including a young love interest (it's a young adult book, they're full of hormones, of course there is a love interest!).  We so easily dismiss depression and choose not to talk about suicide, but it's a lot like cancer.  It can be treated (not cured) and it is not selective.  Anyone can get clinically depressed and it's not your fault that you have depression, but you don't have to give up the fight.  This book was an eye opener and made me realize that I need to always keep an open dialogue with my kids as they age about their feelings and if they need help not to hesitate to get it; even if it's not from me.  This book did not disappoint and I look forward to seeing the film in the near future.


  In other news!  My sister and I have finally decided to start up a book club together ( I don't know why it's taken so long for us to finally do it), but starting this coming month one of my books will be a book club selection.  It actually takes a little load off of me; I have such hard time choosing books some months, simply because it's hard to be selective!  Have something you think I would like?  Let me know; I love suggestions.  A genre you prefer me to read?  I read a wide variety, but sometimes I get a little stuck, so I would love to hear if you guys want changes.  Looking forward to next month's books!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and early Happy New Year!