Dad is Fat

I like Jim Gaffigan. He's pretty funny. Although sometimes I sense that he tries too hard. Anyway, overall he's a funny guy. I didn't know that he had several books already out, so this is the first (and probably not the last) book of his that I've read.

This has mixed reviews. Honestly, this is my first comedy book, so I'm not sure what I should expect. It's a funny book, some of the time. It's old some of the time. He uses some similar jokes throughout that get a little old.

It's not one of those books that you want to read cover to cover without putting down. It's a great book to read just before bed though since the chapters are super short and not related to each other. It would be a great book to read when you're reading other books as well. I have lots of friends who can read multiple books at the same time. I am not one of those people. I read one book at a time. In fact, once I tried that reading style and picked up 3 different books to read at the same time. They are all still unread and I've read countless books between then and now. Just not those 3.

Back to this book. I'd probably give it a 4 out of 5. But only if you have kids. If not, don't even bother reading it because it wouldn't be funny. Just scary.

Bottom line, I'd recommend this book if you need a break from heavy reads. Or if you just like to laugh.

The Chaperone

This is my first official book on CD. I don't have much opportunity to have someone read my books to me. I have little people around me. All. The. Time. My books aren't all that appropriate for little ears to hear. So sadly, no read-a-louds for me. However, I recently took a longish car trip sans kids and I opted for a book instead of music. Good call. I'm convinced that while The Chaperone is a great book, it's even better being read to me.

The Chaperone is a very well written and engaging novel. The characters are not only endearing, but lovely. Honest. And thought provoking.

The main character is Cora. Moriarty wrote her life pretty much from start to finish and I love that. While there are many books out there that do that, this one is unique in some way. You see her growth and morph in a fascinating way. The people that she comes in contact with change her. Or rather, I should say that she allows them to change her. The complex relationships in the novel are during morally shifting times. The main time periods are the roaring 20s and WW2. Cora's moral compasses shift as she interacts with people different from herself. And while I am weary of shifting moral compasses, Cora's was so interesting because she let her society define morality. Which is so so dangerous. There should be something or someone bigger than us and when/where we live to define morality. Not only does Relativism not jive well with me, it's just not logical. I digress.

The Chaperone is a story about compassion. And while I don't agree with some of the very subtle agenda of the book, I do agree with compassion. Love. Mercy. So when read within the context of the time period and how issues of homosexuality, birth control, and modesty were viewed, it's easy to see no moral agenda. However, if you read it at face value and get wrapped up in the characters without taking the historical timeline in view, you will see a political and moral agenda.

Overall, I highly recommend reading this book. Or better yet...having it read to you.

Unsouled

The Unwind and Unwholly series are great books. Unsouled is the third one. Reader beware: there are four in the series, not the typical trilogy. And while a critique may be that Unsouled seems drawn out, I reserve judgment until the last book is out. It's not quite fair to judge it yet bases only on that. Hopefully what seems stretched out and added just to make the book longer and turn it into a fourth book is just setting up the last book.

I did feel like the characters got old toward the end of the book. I was just a bit tired of the story, setting, and characters. In contrast, I never tired or got bored of the Divergent characters.

I like the questions created and discussed in this book. Shusterman brought in more philosophical arguments and reasoning in this books than in the others.

While I wouldn't say it's bad, I might call it forgettable. I do feel like Shusterman was trying so hard for character development and reconnection with the characters that all the scenes in the book are a little too long. It feels like he added every thing he could. And much of it doesn't seem to further the plot. But I could be wrong. I think with the movie rights already sold that he's starting to write for a movie and not just the book. Which makes the characters seem less authentic.

The book has a lot of Snarky leading the stork army. A lot of Lev and Connor on a reservation. Really a lot of hiding from the authorities. More background and interaction with the people who invented the technology to unwind which is probably the most interesting thing in there.

Overall, it was a quick read. While reading it, I loved it. Afterwards, it was just okay. But still worth the read and hopefully the last book will pull it all together.

Allegiant - Big Spoiler!

There are lots of opinions out there about this book, the final in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Some people don't like it. Some people love it. Some think there is too much character development and not enough government conspiracy details and others agree with them, but liked that.

Here's my take on the book. My first critique is that the duel voices telling the story (Tris and Four...because I just can't bring myself to call him Tobias) aren't distinct. They both sound so similar that I had to look back to remember who was narrating. I recall this as a problem with the previous books as well, so I wasn't that put out by it and even kind of expected it. So it didn't bother me.

My second critique is that although I absolutely loved the book, I was disappointed in the lack of details regarding the government role in the whole Chicago experiment. Was David a rouge government agent? Or was the US government in control of him? I think that Allegiant is more about human nature than conspiracy, which was disappointing. While I loved all the human nature and character development, I wished there were more about the government.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the end. Oh. My. I got so involved with the characters of this trilogy that when Tris died, I was shocked. I wept. I went back and forth from hating Roth for her ending to loving her. It's really the first of the genre to kill off the main character. I love it. I hate it. The message that is told about true sacrifice is beautiful. Caleb wanted to sacrifice his life out of guilt and Tris knew better. Sacrifice should be done out of love. With a pure motivation. So while I wept at Tris' death, I also wept at the love and forgiveness her death portrayed. And I also love the redemption of Four and his mom. The overarching themes of forgiveness and sacrifice are amazing in this book.

Overall, great series. I highly recommend it. And while a little disappointed with the dystopian aspect at the end, I think overall it's the best trilogy in the genre.

Gossamer

I've already sung praises for Lois Lowry. And here I go again. Gossamer is an interesting little book. It's a juvenile fiction book that is great for middle-upper elementary school age kids (and apparently adults as well).  It is well written for what it is and highly creative.

The main players are dream givers. A young one is being trained in the art of giving dreams to humans. It has some heavy details of a fathers' abuse in it, so beware. If you let your 8-9 year old read it, they need to know themselves well, have a strong sense of justice, and not be persuaded by other ideas.