Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Book Review: Ugly To Start With by John Michael Cummings

Currently Reading



Author: John Michael Cummings
My Rating: 4 cups
Source: copy provided by the author
Blurb (from Goodreads):



Jason Stevens is growing up in picturesque, historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in the 1970s. Back when the roads are smaller, the cars slower, the people more colorful, and Washington, D.C. is way across the mountains—a winding sixty-five miles away.

Jason dreams of going to art school in the city, but he must first survive his teenage years. He witnesses a street artist from Italy charm his mother from the backseat of the family car. He stands up to an abusive husband—and then feels sorry for the jerk. He puts up with his father’s hard-skulled backwoods ways, his grandfather’s showy younger wife, and the fist-throwing schoolmates and eccentric mountain characters that make up Harpers Ferry—all topped off by a basement art project with a girl from the poor side of town.

Ugly to Start With punctuates the exuberant highs, bewildering midpoints, and painful lows of growing up, and affirms that adolescent dreams and desires are often fulfilled in surprising ways.


This was a very interesting book. Set in the 70s, the story shows you different chapters from Jason's life, a teenager living in Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

The stories are all strong and some are sad and filled with so much irony it was a little painful. Jason is living in a small town, where everyone knows everyone and where you're judged by the size of your house or the street you live in or some other simple things, like is you nod or wave to your neighbors every day.

The book touches a lot of difficult, touchy subjects, like racism, homosexuality, cancer, alcoholism, poverty, physical abuse, but Cummings manages to combine these subjects so well and even though you might cringe at some point, you're still intrigued and you still turn the page, wanting to know more.

There were moments in the book where I couldn't relate to Jason at all, like in Ugly to Start With, when he rejects a cat because she was ugly, the same cat that had stayed by his bed when he was sick. I couldn't empathize with him, but I somehow understood his reasons for rejecting her. Then there where the moments where I completely understood him, like in We Never Liked Them Anyway, where he tries to lash out at the boy who's been bullying him for a very long time and Jason does that when the boy was hurt.

I loved the open ending. It kind of gave me a sense that Jason has the ball now, he can make the big decision of whether or not he should leave Harpers Ferry and become an artist or stay in his hometown and see his dreams ruined. Though part of me wanted a firm ending, the certainty that Jason will in fact leave his hometown and continue his education, I can see how that ending is an interesting subject to talk about and debate.

All in all, the books was a good read. If you're not bothered by the occasional cursing, then you should read it.



My Rating
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Monday, February 27, 2012

Cover Love (7)


Rabid Reads - Cover Love


This feature is hosted by Carmel @ Rabid Reads. The rules are very simple. Choose a cover (or two, or three), preferably new-ish, and share what you like about it. Grab the graphic or don't just so long as you link back.


My pick this week:


Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1)




I love her dress. That is the first reason the cover caught my eye. Second, the contrast between her elegant dress and the crossbow is amazing. I will be reading this book, as I am really curious now.












What cover caught your attention this week?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Day 19 – Favorite book turned into a movie

Pride and Prejudice. And especially the TV show (1995) with Colin Firth. Let's face it, besides his sexy accent, he's a VERY good actor. And I liked him as Mr. Darcy. That and it was a BBC production. When do those guys ever make a bad movie?

  


Hmm...I might watch the movie again. What's your choice for this topic?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Teaser Tuesday (17)




Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week is from Ugly To Start With by John Michael Cummings:


Currently Reading




Just like that, Marty was inside our house. He was probably the only man in town who could kick my father’s ass






What's your teaser this week?

Day 18 – A book that disappointed you

I was prepared to say there wasn't a book that disappointed me, but then I remembered that's not completely true. Before I go on telling you about a book that disappointed me, let me tell you what it takes for a book to let me down.

I'm not a strict reader, I don't care if the book isn't what I expect it to be. So if I'm hoping for a book to be funny and it's actually tragic, I don't mind, as long as it makes sense. It takes a lot for me to be disappointed by a book, but the chances increase when that book is part of a long series. Series that I actually love, mind you! 

What really disappoints me is when a character acts in a manner that is so different than anything he/she ever did in the series/book. So if  a strong, manly, smart guy acts like a complete wimp all of the sudden, that might make me lose my focus. It's not about doing the logical thing. Even if I want to roll my eyes when a character does something that to me seems stupid, I realize that it makes perfect sense for said character. And to be honest, I'm not one to judge, I do stupid things all the time, like all people do. So it's ok for a character to make a mistake. But have a complete transformation and become someone else? That's something I don't understand. 

A book also lets me down when the focus changes too much. If the real main characters of the book aren't the same as the one's the blurb said they would be, that is so disappointing for me. It pisses me off when I'm supposed to be reading the story of a certain character, but instead the subplots take charge one too many times, making the main character actually become second character in his own story. 

There aren't a lot of things that can let me down, but when that happens, I get sort of pulled out of the story and I feel like I'm looking at the words, instead of "seeing" them come to life. Sounds weird, but it is what I feel.

Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, #10)Anyway, a book that has disappointed me was Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris. The reason is that for some reason, in this installment of the series, Eric is a shadow of himself. He's not the sexy, dangerous, powerful, strong, sarcastic, fun, entertaining, manly vampire we've known for 9 novels. I don't remember anything happening that could make him change that way. It's actually the only reason I didn't finish the book the first time I tried reading it and I'm really wary of trying to read it again. I liked the old Eric, with or without his memory. But the Eric we have in DITF isn't the one I like.




What book disappointed you?



Monday, February 20, 2012

Cover Love (6)


Rabid Reads - Cover Love


This feature is hosted by Carmel @ Rabid Reads. The rules are very simple. Choose a cover (or two, or three), preferably new-ish, and share what you like about it. Grab the graphic or don't just so long as you link back.


My pick this week:


I've Got Your Number

I know I mentioned a lot of times that I really, really love chick lit covers, because usually they are cartoon-like and so so cool. Also, I realized this type of cover really captures the essence of the book and (a huge bonus in my head) there is little chance of being disappointed by the cover model. I really hate it when the cover model is nothing like the main character in the book. But I'm rambling *sheepish*


I love all of Sophie Kinsella's covers, so it's really no surprise I like this one too. I love the fact that you can't see the girl's face. And that bird sitting on the "O" is amazing! I really can't wait to get my hands on this book.

What's your pick for this week?
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