Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Title: Perks of Being a Wallflower

Author: Stephen Chbosky

Release Date: February 1, 1999

Pages: 213

Source: Kindle

My friend Kirby has been telling me about this book for years. Though it's a young adult novel, she said adults enjoy it too and that it is really funny. I've tried to check it out from the library several times and it's always on a wait list...that means it must be good. So I finally caved and bought it on my Kindle.

You meet the main character, Charlie, a high school freshman, through the letters he writes to an undisclosed "friend." Each letter chronicles his life and his feelings about growing up.

I got sucked into the story right away because in the first letter, Charlie talks about his best friend who recently committed suicide and how he doesn't understand. From there the letters continue to touch on the struggles many teens face including depression, how to make friends, experimenting with drugs, relationships and deciding what to do after high school.

"So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons," Charlie writes in a letter. "And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them."

Charlie's story gets interesting when he makes friends with two outgoing seniors who take this wallflower off the wall to experience things he's only observed- love, music and the power of friendship. Along the way Charlie discovers more about himself then he ever did when he was just observing.

What I liked about the book was the honesty of Charlie's thoughts as he observes the world around him, tries to fit issues and people into black and white molds, only to find there's varying shades of grey in between.

"So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be," he writes.

His honest, almost ironic, tone is both endearing and funny in parts, making you very invested in Charlie's character by the end of the book. The only down side is the book is so introspective and moody, sometimes you just need to take a break from all the thinking and feeling.

Overall, I enjoyed the read, but it's not one I would read over and over again. Sometimes it was just too grim for me. However, Charlie is a character I will never forget.

Book Rating: 4 out of 5: I recommend it!

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Title: Best Friends Forever

Author: Jennifer Weiner

Release Date: July 14, 2009

Pages: 368

Source: Kindle

This book is one that had been on my back burner for a while because I simply love Jennifer Weiner. "In Her Shoes" and "Good in Bed" are two of my favorites. I knew there would come a time when I'd want/need a light, hilarious, uplifting story about girl friends, and that is exactly when I busted this book out on my Kindle.

As for the mood of the book (light, fluffy, funny), this book is exactly what I thought it would be. I fell in love with the two main characters right away, girlhood friends Adie and Valerie, and the way Weiner described their relationship with all the nuances and intricacies of a real childhood friendship — good, bad and blissful ignorance of youth.

The story starts when Valerie, the tad-bit stereotypical popular, blonde, outgoing, self-centered friend, shows up on Adie's doorstep asking for help after a decade of not seeing of speaking to each other. The friendship ended on bad terms when the girls were in high school and the story reunites the two in adulthood to lead them on an adventure of running from the police while making good on high school revenges. A cute police chief enters the story to become a main character by the end of the book.

While most of the book follows the slightly ridiculous story of the two girls and their comical run from the law — it also touches on some fairly serious themes including eating disorders, body image, mental illness and two fairly messed up love lives.

If you've read some of Weiner's books before, you won't be surprised by the supposed-to-be big surprise in the fourth quarter of the book. I won't give it away, I'll just say- fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I totally saw it coming this time.

Overall, the book kept me entertained, distracted and laughing out loud on some points — exactly what I wanted out of this book. It's not a book you'll dream about or miss much once it's over, but it will make you smile for the moment.

Book Rating: 4 out of 5: I recommend it!

The holdup

I interrupt your regular book blog programming...okay maybe not so regular...to give you this list of excuses why I haven't posted in forever. I precit this list by promising I will do better. In both reading and posting. Less work, more reading. :)

Excuses:

1. Thanksgiving, sister visits, Christmas, trips to Oklahoma, promotion at work, a lot more work, then a lot, a lot more work, dancing at my new d

ance fitness class instead of reading (not a bad thing!), etc. = I got busy.

2. I got lazy.

3. For some reason, while wondering around a used bookstore in downtown Birmingham, I found a copy of, and thought it would be a good idea to read, an old copy of "Gone With the Wind."

This is one of my all time favorite movies! I thought now that I'm a Southerner and I all, I really should read the book. The only problem is the book moves as slow as molasses. That with the fact I already know what's going to happen (besides the fact that Scarlet now has a baby with Charles - that was definitely not in the movie)... this book has turned into a sort of reading road block. I can't get through it and I can't move past it because then I feel bad about not finishing it before moving on. But that ends today. I will move past "Gone With The Wind" because frankly, I need a new and exciting book.

So there you have it...why I haven't been posting. Somewhere between these excuses I have managed to read a few books though. Stay tuned for a few new reviews including several books I forgot about the moment I finished them and one book that truly was very good.