STACKED

books

Sh*t My Dad Says, by Justin Halpern

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I’ve been in the mood for a funny book lately, something that won’t make me feel the need to set the book aside to take a breather and tell myself “It’s just a story, it’s not real, things aren’t really that terrible.” (See my Monsters of Men review, which I’ll post a little closer to the publication date, and you’ll know what I mean.) Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern fit the bill perfectly.

Many of you may already be familiar with Halpern’s Twitter feed, (twitter.com/shitmydadsays) where he began chronicling the rude, bizarre, and hilarious things his father said. After a mention by Rob Corddry, his Twitter feed saw a meteoric rise in popularity (as of this week, he has over 1.6 million followers). A book deal wasn’t far away, and neither was a tv show, which stars William Shatner as the profane father. (I have a whole other set of opinions about the television show, but I’m reserving judgment until I see it.)

The audience for Shit My Dad Says can really be summed up with one question: Do you like bathroom humor? If your answer is yes (mine is), this book will likely leave you in stitches.

Here’s an example of the elder Halpern’s wit: “Son, you’re complaining to the wrong man. I can shit anywhere, anytime. It’s one of my finer qualities. Some might say my finest.”

And then there’s the sterling dating advice: “That woman was sexy…Out of your league? Son. Let women figure out why they won’t screw you, don’t do it for them.”

As you can see, it’s also for those of us who like a healthy dose of profanity with our humor (the two selections above are a couple of the tamer ones), so be warned. (Can you see why I’m wary about a television show?)

Shit My Dad Says is a short little book made up of brief vignettes featuring Halpern’s interactions with his father, from childhood through adulthood. Each vignette is preceded by a smattering of (usually) 140 characters or fewer witticisms from his dad, most of them centering around defecation and tough love (and often both at once). I’d hazard a guess that most of these one-liners are merely repeats of the Twitter feed, but there are a few new ones thrown in, and the old ones are so funny they’re worth reading again.

While humor is definitely the book’s main aim, Halpern also aims for sentimental and touching, and he mostly succeeds. His writing makes it clear that the two men love each other, and this is spelled out in the last chapter, a pretty affecting few pages where Halpern’s dad tells his son what he hopes we readers take away from the book.

Some of the vignettes are forgettable (I’m having trouble remembering details of more than a few), but on the whole, Shit My Dad Says succeeds in its purpose: to make us laugh and to remind us that a parent’s love can be shown in some unconventional ways, but it’s love nonetheless. This last point is something many people can relate to.

Double Take, Farm Style

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Who doesn’t love a lazy day in the hay?

Scot Gardner’s Australian Bookmark Days just screams of summer, doesn’t it? This one appears to be just an Australian release.

Michelle Hout’s sweet Beef Princess of Practical County brings us the same photo cropped differently and with the blue sky behind it. I liked this book — it’s a good one for your middle and early high school girls who like a clean story about family and farm life.

I like both covers for different reasons. I like both the close in and the panned out shots here, since they work for each book.

Do you think one does it better?

Field Notes: Kiss It by Erin Downing

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The setting is small-town Milton, Minnesota, and our main chracter Chastity (call her Chaz) wants nothing more than to have sex. She’s not shy about it, and she won’t back down from the goal. Unfortunately, it’s a small town, so the pickings are slim when it comes to guys. What’s a girl to do?

Lucky for her, while working her shift at Matt’s, the local bar and grill, she meets the mysterious Sebastian – a newcomer to Milton. Guess what Chaz’s goal is now?

Kiss It is a fast-paced romance and total brain candy. It’s not a deep book, though there is a great personal realization for Chaz at the end of the book, and Chaz is a fully fleshed character that will keep readers engaged and laughing. Sure, she’s got a one-track mind, but she really reminds me of a girl in a small town just jonesing to get out. She’s a good student and has a lot going for her, but she’s also confused about her future. Should she go to college at the University of Minnesota? Keep working at Matt’s? Join Americorps?

Downing’s book will appeal to older teen readers — I emphasize older, as there are steamy scenes and strong language. Chaz reminded me immediately of Cecily from Claire Zulkey’s An Off Year and I think it would appeal to that readership. Your female readers who find Sarah Dessen “too light” will appreciate Chaz’s sassy attitude and the real issues she faces within what is otherwise a cute romance story. No need to take this one too seriously, but Downing will surprise you with a nice ending and some twists that weren’t obvious to the reader.

The Twin’s Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

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As readers already know, one of my favorite styles of writing is the gothic novel. On my recent trip to Las Vegas, I packed myself with The Twin’s Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted. I knew it was a mystery of sorts, but I knew little beyond that. When I cracked it open and dove into a nearly 400 page gothic novel, though, I couldn’t have been more excited.

A knock on the door of Lucy Sexton’s door will change her life forever when the long lost twin of her mother, Helen, appears. Lucy didn’t know her mom had a sister, let alone a twin. Although Helen offers to leave, Lucy’s mother and father insist on keeping her at their large home and taking care of her. But when Lucy’s mother insists on getting her sister a new wardrobe, etiquette classes, and hiding her from society, Lucy knows something deeper is going on. Why can’t Helen go for a walk in the park? Why can’t she marry any of the suitors who are coming to the door for her?

The Twin’s Daughter begins slowly, as we delve into the back story of who Lucy is, as well as who her mother and Helen are. We learn that Helen and mom were not the children of the man and woman that Lucy knew as grandparents, but were instead raised by them after a birth that shouldn’t have happened — and in that birth, one child needed to be sacrificed to an orphanage of sorts. Although it sounds complicated, it makes sense to both the reader and to Lucy. What doesn’t make sense, though, is why Lucy’s mother and father insist on keeping Helen cloistered. As she makes progress in her education, it seems strange that Helen cannot go outside or cannot meet the men who want to woo her.

But it is a strange murder that rocks the world of Lucy and her family and it pushes the novel forward, as we are left wondering whether it is Lucy’s mother or Helen who was the victim of the horrendous crime.

The Twin’s Daughter, despite some of the flaws I found in pacing and in plot inconsistencies, rocks for its narrator: Lucy is a fantastic narrator, as we are left wondering whether or not she is reliable. In the first third of the book, Lucy gains the trust of the reader. We believe her observations that she has of her mother and father (and she tells us over and over they are great parents, leaving us to believe her) and of Helen. But when the murder happens, everything is called into question. Lucy becomes unhinged in her search for the truth and drags the readers along for the ride. She falls in love shortly after and marries, and while we believe her in those factual moments, we cannot believe some of the connections she makes between Helen and her mother.

As a reader, I was left confused at the end of the lengthy novel, and I was utterly satisfied in this. I reread the last couple of chapters multiple times and continued feeling disoriented. But once I stepped back and realized my confusion came from being too invested in Lucy’s perspective, I realized that maybe I’d been tricked. But the trick here isn’t a plot device. Instead, it was the hallmark of a strong gothic novel: as readers, we must step back and question everything. This is a novel that begs for a reread with this perspective; it is a lengthy character study with a strong plot in the background, rather than a strong background with a character to move through it.

As mentioned briefly before, there are some issues with this novel. First, the pacing is not as strong as it could be. It seems as though the first 2/3 of the novel has a young Lucy, but within just a couple of chapters, she will become engaged, married, and unravel the life-long secrets of her family (maybe, that is). Likewise, there were definite plot holes and moments of confusion for the reader, perhaps brought on because of the pacing. Readers, though, will likely forgive these issues for the greater story and mystery at hand.

The Twin’s Daughter will appeal to fans of historical novels, novels set in Victorian London, and gothic novels. Hand this one to a fan of Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters, as there is a romance that arises between Lucy and a neighbor boy that would fit into the love stories of those classic writers. This is a book that will make readers think and question, as well as pull them through intricate twists and turns. Although it is lengthy, it moves quickly as readers attempt to solve the mystery. It left me eager to dig into more of Baratz-Logsted’s novels.

Film v. Book: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

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At BEA, Kim and I managed to score copies of the first volume of Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Lies from one of the graphic novel vendors. They were giving them away as part of the promotions for the upcoming film. In my effort to keep atop of pop culture, I read the book…then the second and third…and needed to see the film, despite my adamant no-Michael-Cera-films stance.

I’m glad I did!

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was more hilarious than the book let on, and in our group of four attendees, everyone got a number of hearty laughs out of this one, even though only half of us knew the story.

Scott Pilgrim is an unemployed, 23-year-old living with his gay roommate (and sharing his bed, his couch, his food, etc). He’s also dating a high schooler he met on the bus, Knives. Oh, and he’s in a band, The Sex Bob-ombs. He takes a lot of crap from his friends, naturally, but when he begins dreaming of a cute girl with wild colored hair, things are going to change.

Ramona Flowers skates into his life, quite literally: she’s just left New York for Toronto and is working as an Amazon.ca local delivery girl. Scott? He’s smitten. But everyone warns him not to get involved….he has a girlfriend, and she’s been known to be, well, weird. He ignores their advice to find out that in order to get with Ramona, he will need to battle her seven exes. It will be epic.

Scott Pilgrim on film differs quite a bit from the books, although the central storyline is similar. Having only read the first three books, I can’t speak too much, but some of the battle scenes are different, as are the encounters among characters (I had been looking so forward to the battle between Knives and Ramona in the downtown Toronto Public Library, but it didn’t happen there). Scott’s roommate differs a lot from what I thought he was, but perhaps it was good — he didn’t succumb in the film to the typical gay-guy-in-a-film stereotypes.

One thing to keep in mind, if you’re going to read the book or see the film, is that there is a lot of video gaming woven into the story line — so much so, that it would not be a stretch to consider the entirety of the book or the film as one giant video game. Scott needs to defeat evil to win the girl of his dreams, but the human element comes in quite strongly when he and Ramona realize what jerks they’ve been to other people in the quest of achieving their own goals. Even the most casual gamers will get a kick out of this aspect.

Although the movie had side splitting humorous moments (and I quite literally got a good laugh every couple of minutes), there was a lack of character development for most of the characters. And it was tough to believe that Scott never knew he had super powers, but this is something that I’ve been told is fleshed out a bit better later on in the comic series. But given the humorous situations, this is also easy to overlook.

My favorite part of the movie, though, was how well it incorporated a realistic setting with computer graphics and incorporation of the actual comic itself. A number of “flashback” or explanation scenes brought the comic onto screen and animated it slightly — the movie felt authentically comic. It is what you would expect of a loser kung fu ninja movie.

This is one worth checking out, whether you are familiar with the story or not. You will get the threads and a number of good laughs. Although there is a lot of violence (Scott DOES have to defeat 7 evil exes), there is no blood or gore. This is comic violence, reminiscent of your Saturday morning cartoon violence. It’s actually kind of refreshing. The movie will appeal to older teens through adults. And of course, it will spur readers into the comic book. I know I plan on finishing out the series to get even further into the story and to see what other differences existed in the transition from comic to big screen.