It's a big one!

Book reviews have been scarce--I know. Please stop yelling at me. I have not had a lot of time for reading while adjusting to going back to work. I promise to get into a groove soon!

The Star (4 out of 5 stars)
Simon & Schuster/ by Peter Biskind

 I’ve been trying to branch out in my reading and get away from the constant deluge of fiction that sits on my bedside table. I thought this biography of Warren Beatty might be just the thing to get my mind off work, home and stress. And it definitely was.

I learned so much from this book that I never knew before. Is it all worthwhile information? Absolutely not. I’m not sure I needed to know who gave the best blowjob in Hollywood. But it was really entertaining to find out. The biography is a lot cruder than I expected but that’s because Beatty was a lot sluttier than I knew. All I knew was that he dated Madonna and has been married to Annette Bening for quite some time. In respect to their marriage, the biography doesn’t really delve into their life together which I admire.

The story starts in the 60s and goes from there getting smuttier and smuttier. Sure, it’s old smut but you’ll recognize the names. You get a fascinating look inside Hollywood and the way movies work. At times, Beatty looks like a total narcissistic ass, but I think that’s really to be expected. After all—he’s an actor. I found this book fascinating and I felt a little dirty after reading it. Which to me is a sign of a highly recommended read.

Brava Valentine (2 out of 5 stars)
Harper/ by Adriana Trigiani

Hmm. I find myself in a bit of a pickle in reviewing this book. I started off loving it. The entire first 50 pages are solid. And then it all starts to unravel and become a bit of an obnoxious snooze-fest. I have to say, I am not a romance fan. So perhaps that’s my problem here. My callous and cynical self rolled her eyes through the entire last two-thirds of the book and ended it it with a bad sugary-sweet taste in my mouth.

Now, there will be those of you that love it. If you’re into romance and crap like that, this may be the perfect book for you. You may find Valentine Roncalli a sympathetic character and get wrapped up in her romance. I found her supremely boring. If you’re Italian, you might love the descriptions of your country and then relate to the relationship the large family has. That was the part I enjoyed the most.

Trigiani has a talent for writing and her depiction of the Roncalli family is delicious, as is all the information about shoe-making. But Val’s best friend turns into a gay stereotype, as does her romance interest—the handsome older dashing Italian Gianluca. Come. On.

I found the book to ultimately not follow through. It was very boring at times and I felt it really pandered to the romance-seeking, Harlequin-buying single women desperately hoping for their own Gianluca to come whisk them away to Italy. Had Trigiani continued with a focus on the family’s comic adventures and not tried to shove the romance down my throat I would have really enjoyed this one as the characterization of the family is wonderful. But I end with just a Meh.

Living Oprah (3 out of 5 stars)
Center Street/ By Robyn Okrant

I’m a little torn as to how to review this book. On the one hand, it did keep me reading and I stayed entertained to a degree. On the other, there were many times when I was bored or rolled my eyes at the lame-o writing.

I think what kept me reading was the topic. I think it’s fascinating that this woman tried to follow Oprah’s advice to the tee for a year. I was interested in what she’d have to do next. But overall, I was disappointed. I had a hard time relating to Robyn Okrant. She calls herself a “schlumpadinka” which in itself I roll my eyes at. She’s a yoga teacher, but seemed super high-strung. I guess I was just expecting the book to have more for me. I really learned nothing. I was hoping for some revelations or some laugh-out-loud moments or SOMETHING. In the end, Okrant spent a lot of money ( and she did things on the cheap) and in the end just says she learned to turn off her tv. Really? Wow…

I also don’t think she’s a writer. Clichés knocked me over the head in each chapter and (not to sound like a douche-hag) the writing was bland. So while I thought the idea was interesting, ultimately I think Okrant failed in its execution. I just don’t think she was the right person to do it. I would have like to see someone a little more interesting to attempt this task and write about it. I really hate to give books bad review as I know how extremely difficult it is to write one. So let’s be clear—this isn’t a bad book—it’s just not as good as I thought and hoped it would be.

Open (5 out of 5 stars)
Random House/ by Andre Agassi and J.R. Moehringer

 

I’m not a huge tennis fan but my parents are so I grew up with it always on in our house. I wasn’t expecting much from Open, since a lot of sports celebs write these stupid autobiographies when they retire that tell us nothing new and are so obviously written by someone else just to kiss their asses. But Open is a different kind of beast. It’s raw and honest and very very surprising (to me at least who knew nada about Agassi’s life before this).

Did you know Agassi hated tennis? Who knew? He talks about his rivals, the ones who were boring, the ones who kept it all together and the big kahunas: Pete Sampras (who is cheap, hah), Boris Becker and Jimmy Connors. He writes about his marriage to Brooke Shields-- he never really wanted to be married, just like he never really liked to play tennis. His crystal meth years (seriously!), the spiel he gave the Tennis Association when he tested positive for drugs. He finally met and married Steffi Graf and found the happiness he’d been searching for.

 

I could not put this puppy down. It was with me through the holidays and was the perfect relaxation book. At times super-sad, at times very funny, this is one I whole-heartedly recommend.

The Bishop’s Man (4 out of 5 stars)
Random House Canada/ by Linden MacIntyre

So do I bow down to Giller greatness and gush all over this novel? That’s the instinct since you don’t want to say you didn’t really enjoy a book that all these smarty-pants Canadian judges loved for fear you look like an ignorant putz.

Thankfully, I don’t have to say I didn’t like it because I did. But I didn’t love it. Here is why—the subject matter. The whole idea of priests and little boys gives me the heebie-jeebies and being Catholic (and teaching in a Catholic school, no less) I want to bury my head in the sand and pretend all is rainbows and unicorns. But its not. So the story of this priest, Father Duncan MacAskill, who works as a clean-up man and disciplines wayward priests and then quiets the victims as well, made me shudder.

Sure it’s all well-written and MacIntyre is a great storyteller. Sure, the depictions of the east are lovely. But to be frank, it’s not the type of story I want to be thinking about before bed. Which I supposed is partly the point and one of the main themes is that priests are human and even Father Duncan has some skeletons in his closet. So I can recommend it but with the warning that it’s not the easiest read in town.

The Guinea Pig Diaries (4 out of 5 stars)
Simon & Schuster/ by A.J. Jacobs

I have a thing for the type of journalism where the writer throws themselves into the story by trying new things and then writing about what it’s like. It can be as serious as going undercover in a gang, or just fascinating as being a stripper for a day (although I’ve yet to read this one—any takers?) or the silliness of A.J. Jacobs who spends his days doing experiments like these. His last book was The Year of Living Biblically where he spent an entire year living by all the rules of the bible (and there are plenty of those). His new book is a collection of essays on various experiments her had done. Some (essays and experiments) are more successful than others…

I think my favourite is the first, where he decides to outsource his entire life to India. He ends up with essentially two personal assistants who do everything from research, to sending flowers and apologies to his wife and reading his son a bedtime story. Other challenges he attempts include: going to the Academy Awards disguised as a movie star(which doesn’t end up as interesting as you might think), being only rational for all decisions, following George Washington’s rules of life, and being completely honest with everyone. The other essay I really enjoyed was the one where he becomes as beautiful young woman on a dating site. It really revealed what some men on those sites are like and what they’re looking for.

Overall, it’s a fun and easy read, especially if you’re into this type of thing. I saw recently that there is a book where a woman followed all of Oprah’s advice for a year. That looks just like my cup of tea. Look for it soon!