Book Review - Jennifer Close's The Smart One

Jennifer Close's novel, The Smart One is a story of shifting family dynamics and growing-up. The Smart One follows the Coffey family, as three of the adult children have left and returned to the nest.

Claire moves back home after her fiancé leaves her and she is drowning in a pile of credit card debt. Max has just graduated from college and his girlfriend is pregnant, creating a situation where his parent's basement has been converted into a mini-apartment for the new arrival. Martha has mental issues that prompted her to quit her nursing job and have kept her stuck in retail employment, not earning enough to live on her own. The Coffey family struggles to redefine their family dynamic and boundaries with their new circumstances.

Close's subject is sure to hit home with many adults finding themselves having to move back home with their parents due to the tough economy. The situations presented in this story and the way that the characters react, feel very real and very relevant. The story reads as a slice-of-life, without any earth shattering plot twists or a dramatic story arc. Close writes a story that is very much character driven.

I most related to Claire, who finds herself in a desperate situation after making a decent stab at independent living in New York City. Claire has a good job, a nice apartment and is months away from getting married, when her fiancé dumps her. She cannot afford to live on her own and just curls up in a ball and relies on credit cards to get her through, until the debt piles up and everything has spiraled out of control. She lets her depression control the situation. When she moves back home, she gets a basic job to pay off the debt, but starts seeing a guy from her high school that is in a similar situation himself. They fall into a quasi-relationship that basically doesn't extend beyond the boundaries of his parent's basement. I wanted to ring Claire's neck and get her out of her funk, but at the same time, I could totally relate. The circumstances have been different, but I've acted out in similar ways to Claire. It was frustrating to read.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I thought that Close is a solid writer and keen observer of human behavior. There was one thing that really bothered me. Normally, I don't give a lot of thought to the title of the book, but with this story, I couldn't let it go. I couldn't quite figure out what or who the title referenced. I think that it may have been intentionally vague, like it sort of fits all of the characters and is a statement on the fact that everyone's contribution to a family dynamic is unique. There is no such thing as "The Smart" kid. However, the vagueness of the title just drove me a bit batty. I felt like it made me lose my focus towards the story or that I spent an unnecessary amount of time thinking about it, more than the author would have intended.

Finally, as Thanksgiving is tomorrow, this book was a timely read. Family dynamics can be bumpy and the story was a good reminder to remember that just because you're blood, doesn't mean that you are necessarily are similar. Sometimes time apart makes it easier to spend time together and to appreciate the differences. The Smart One is a great book to read if you are having trouble connecting with your own family. The fictional Coffey family gave me a sense of ease and perspective.

Book Review- Min Jin Lee's Free Food for Millionaires

Several years ago, I found Min Jin Lee's novel, Free Food for Millionaires on the bargain table at Barnes and Noble. At just under five dollars for a autographed hardback copy, it was a steal. I bought it, added it to my to-be-read pile and promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward to last week. Our new bookcases from Crate and Barrel have arrived and finally, my piles of books are neatly organized. For the first time in years, I have a clear idea of my TBR pile. I needed a new book, so I plucked Lee's novel off of my shelf.

Why didn't I read this sooner???

Free Food for Millionaires had me hooked from the first chapter. It's mostly a heavy family drama, but it also occasionally slides into the realm of guilty pleasure reading. There are some steamy love scenes!

The story follows the lives of several Korean characters of different generations living in New York City. Generation Gaps, in particular with regard to the younger generation that has been raised in America and wants to live a life that goes against their parent's expectations, is a huge theme. Several of the characters learn that even if they want to meet their parent's expectations, sometimes life has a different plan for them. Between embracing their new country and trying to hold on to old traditions, all of the characters, no matter their age, struggle with identity.

An added factor is religion, as many of the characters in the novel are devout Christians who find themselves in compromising situations.

I felt a strong connection to Casey Han, who is in her mid-twenties and completely unsure of every aspect of her life. She is capable of nearly anything, but her lack of focus leads her to flounder. She has trouble figuring out what she is meant to do or what career would make her happy. This inability leads her to make a series of bad choices and leaves her trapped in dead-end situations. She's imperfect and screws up, but you can't help but root for her.

Lee does a great job at bridging cultural gaps. I'm not Korean, but even with the cultural differences, I could see many commonalities with the relationships and expectations between parents and their adult children. It's not that the culture of the characters was insignificant, more that the commonalities rose above the differences.

I really found myself caught up in the story and it was difficult to put the book down. I kept stealing away time to finish it! Lee has created multi-faceted and deep characters that kept me vested in the story. I look forward to reading more of Lee's stories.

Book Review- James L. Swanson's Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

I normally enjoy non-fiction History books, especially those based on American History that expand my knowledge base of a subject. My interest in Lincoln peaked when about seven years ago, I took a trip to Washington, D.C. and visited both Ford's Theatre and the Petersen Boarding House, where Lincoln died. It was touring these landmarks and seeing artifacts from the assasination that made me want to learn more than what I was taught in school.

James L. Swanson's book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer is very detailed and well researched. Swanson clearly explains Booth's motives and accompliaces, while building a time-line of the events. Swanson seems to have left no detail unexplored.

I feel like I gained a comprehensive understanding of the events in a way that would have taken an entire college semester to explore. These classes are a rare-find, so supplementary reading, like Manhunt, are required for those interested.

On the flip side, Swanson's book was nearly unbearably dry. I read it over the course of several months and it even accompanied me on two separate trips to Europe. It just didn't grip me, which is a huge failing for a story filled with so much intrigued and action. This failing falls to the way that Swanson presented the material, not the material itself. Booth and his cohorts are an electic bunch of characters and the actual History of the events is facinating.

Swanson's presentation fluctuated between hard facts and trying to presume the emotions that the Historical figures were feeling. In many parts the pressumption of emotions was melodramatic and silly. I felt like on a scholarly level, Swanson really knows his stuff and on a fundamental level, there was nothing wrong with his writing. However, I felt disconnected to his style and this made the book very difficult to finish.

You should definitely take the time to learn about the Booth manhunt, as it is a facinating part of American History. However, I cannot recommomend Swanson's book, as the most entertaining way to go about it. It's comprehensive, but painfully dull.