Quarterly Box- Spring 2017

I decided to try something new: I made a video unboxing of my Spring 2017 Quarterly Literary Box. 

If you're not familiar with "Quarterly," it's a subscription box service with a variety of themes, such as crafting, cooking, and books. They have a theme for everyone. I subscribe to the adult lit box, which is curated by a different author each season. The spring 2017 box was curated by Jeff Vandermeer. The curating author includes an annotated copy of their latest book, 2-3 books by other authors that they recommend, and a few non-book extras. I'm not familiar with Vandermeer or any of the other authors that he included, but the discovery is what I love best about Quarterly. It's a fun concept.

In case you didn't catch everything in the video, here is a list of what was included in my box.

1. Borne by Jeff Vandermeer (annotated copy)

2. The Blue Fox by Sjon

3. Gutshot by Amelia Gray

4. Metal Water Bottle 

5. Quill Pen ( which I've been using a lot!)

6. Borne Bookmark

I can't wait to see what comes in my summer box. Books by snail-mail is the best type of surprise!

Book Review- Janelle Brown's Watch Me Disappear

Thank You to Spiegel & Grau for proving me with an advance copy of Janelle Brown's novel, Watch Me Disappear, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Jonathan's wife, Billie, disappeared on a hiking trip nearly a year ago. Her body was never recovered and he is now going through courts to have her death certificate issued, so that he can file an insurance claim. He's running through his savings and falling behind in bills; money is an enormous stress. He'd love to drowned his troubles in alcohol, but he must pull it together for Olive, his teenage daughter. Olive's grief has started manifesting itself in visions, where she believes that she's not only seeing her mother, but that her mother is still alive and needing her help. Jonathan discovers information about Billie's past that leads him to believe that she might not be the person that he thought he had married, and that perhaps, she really is still alive.

LIKE- I'm a fan of Janelle Brown's writing and I was happy to be approved for her latest novel. I admire Brown's ability to write emotionally rich scenarios and compelling characters. Watch Me Disappear has quite a few plot twists and reads like a mystery, but at its core, it's character driven. 

I felt most connected to Jonathan, who has the weight of the world on his shoulders and is really struggling to keep his life together. He's not a perfect parent (who is?), but he sincerely tries to make Olive's life better and the two have a beautiful connection. Watch Me Disappear is told primarily in close third-person that alternatively focuses on Jonathan, Billie, and Olive. However, there is a story device in which Jonathan and Billie's relationship is remembered in first person, through a memoir that Jonathan is writing. I'm not sure that the memoir entries added much to the story. I felt that they slowed the pace. However, they also drew me closer to Jonathan, as I was able to hear his direct voice. I was more interested in Jonathan and Olive's reaction to their predicament, than I was about the character of Billie. 

DISLIKE- There was a confusing element early in the story when I thought that Watch Me Disappear might turn into a fantasy novel. It was the combination of Billie giving Olive books about telepathic kids and then having Olive experience her visions. I spent the first half of the novel expecting it to go an entirely different direction. 

I really disliked the character of Harmony. Harmony is a long-time friend of Billie. She has the hots for Jonathan and now that her friend is dead, she is making her move on him. The scenario of a woman coming on to a grieving widow is bad enough, but the storyline with Harmony with regard to Billie's mysterious past, becomes a muddled mess at the end of the story. I didn't so much dislike the ending, but it was a onslaught of information and characters creating an overly complicated explanation.

RECOMMEND- Maybe. I didn't absolutely love Watch Me Disappear, but I enjoyed it. It's a fast read with unexpected twists; a solid blend of mystery and family drama. I like Brown's writing and I'd recommend her other novels. 

Book Review- Carolyn Murnick's The Hot One: A Memoir of Friendship, Sex, and Murder

Thank You to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance copy of Carolyn Murnick's book, The Hot One: A Memoir of Friendship, Sex, and Murder, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Carolyn Murnick and Ashley Ellerin were childhood best friends growing up in New Jersey during the 1980's. They were inseparable as children, but when they became adults, their lives went drastically different directions. Murnick moved to New York City and lived in a tiny railroad apartment, while starting a career in journalism. Ellerin moved to Los Angeles and lived in a Hollywood Hills home with the money she earned as a stripper. She went to wild parties and dated celebrity Ashton Kutcher. 

The last time Murnick saw her friend, they struggled to regain their connection. They were still friends, but had clearly drifted apart. A year later, Ellerin would be murdered, stabbed forty-seven times in her Hollywood home. 

The Hot One: A Memoir of Friendship, Sex, and Murder, is Murnick's examination of her friendship with Ellerin and her coming to terms with never quite knowing what happened to her best friend. Murnick attends the trial of Michael Gargiulo, the accused murderer, and becomes obsessed with finding out not only why Ellerin was murdered, but who Ellerin had become prior to her death. 

LIKE - The Hot One is a compelling blend of memoir and true crime. With so much information readily available on the internet, Murnick falls down a rabbit hole when trying to figure out what happened to Ellerin. I found this quest to be highly relatable. I've had my own unsolved life mysteries (none anywhere near as dramatic as a murder!), but issues that no amount of research can resolve, yet ones that are impossible to let go. I felt connected to Murnick's obsession and with the hold it had on her. 

Even though I lived about fifteen minutes from the murder scene, I don't remember hearing about this case in the news. It's gruesome and horrific. Murnick does not spare details. I think the most chilling part is when Murnick decides to visit the crime scene and she stands across the street from Ellerin's house, in a dog park. Gargiulo had a pitbull that he would take to the dog park and from the dog park, there was the perfect vantage point to spy on Ellerin. Murnick mentions that Gargiulo would have been able to see right into her bathroom. He stalked and hunted her. Other creepy patterns from Garguilo, based on all of his victims, is he liked to pose them and he committed the murders when he had a high chance of being caught, for the thrill. One woman managed to fend him off as he was stabbing her and lived, although she couldn't positively identify him. Garguilo isn't a random attacker either, he was Ellerin's handyman and beyond working at her house, he managed to get himself invited over for social events. Murnick really sets the stage by explaining how she imagined Garguilo hunting Ellerin, waiting for the right moment to strike. It gave me the chills.

DISLIKE- Only that the point in which the memoir ends, does not give us resolution with regard to Gargiulo's trial. I suppose this mirrors Murnick's inability to have her own questions answered, but it also makes me wonder if she should have waited to tell this story. It was disappointing to not have this resolution. 

RECOMMEND- Yes. If you like true crime and memoir, The Hot One is a compelling read.