Heather reviews Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

Book/Author: Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman
Publisher/Year: Harper Perennial/ August 2011
Where I got this book: received as e-book on NetGalley
Why I read this book: It sounded funny and interesting.
My rating: 3.5 stars

Summary (from Goodreads): Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day.
The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious archnemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety.
Tom’s life is crushing his soul, but he’s decided to do something about it. (Really.) Domestic Violets is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness—even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way.

My thoughts: Domestic Violets surprised me in a very good way. It reminded me of a few different books and movies all mashed into one. There was a nice balance of humor and seriousness between the protagonist's work life and home life that made for an interesting story. For the most part I really liked Tom Violet, except when he was flirting with Katie, his fellow copywriter at work. I know without that aspect we wouldn't have the conflict but I really wanted him to get it together with his relationship with his wife. Tom became a hero when he finally stood up for himself at work and made a fool of his boss and company. He did what anyone who has ever worked in a monotonous office job has only dreamed of, and in that moment he became a bit of a local celebrity.

Tom has always struggled to be different from his Pulitzer Prize winning father, famous author Curtis Violet, so when he writes his first novel in the same style as his father, it leads to realizations about himself and his relationship with his dad. I think one of the things I liked so much about Domestic Violets was that despite all of the things going wrong in Tom's life, he finds a way to pick up all of the broken pieces of his life and reassemble them into something better. He had a failing relationship with his wife, an unbearable crush on a coworker and he's still able to muster the courage to quit his day job to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. He fixes the relationships with the people who are most important to him and realizes what he needs to make him happy. I'm not sure it's all believable but it was nice to get that happy ending for a guy who went through a lot of crap throughout the rest of the novel.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Norman's writing is humorous and poignant and he has the rare ability to write a likable character who is also flawed in so many ways. Tom has a lot of baggage and he screws up A LOT but I was cheering him on throughout the novel. I think I also may have developed a slight crush on his character. I'd recommend this book for fans of Joshua Ferris, Jonathan Ames or anyone who enjoys routing for the underdog.

Top Ten Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.


There are just some books that leave you with such deep, intense feeling when you finish it for the first time. We've all experienced this at one time or another. The bad thing is, there's really no way we can go back and experience that feeling again, even with multiple rereadings. We already know what happens, if there are plot twists, a surprise ending, who the main characters ends up with , who dies, etc. Here are some books that leave me (Kelly) with these feelings of longing.

Top Ten Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time

1.  Harry Potter: okay, this one is obvious. I adore rereading this series (I do it once a year), but I will never experience that amazing feeling of reading about Harry for the first time.
2. Shiver
3. Sloppy Firsts: If you've read this series, you know exactly what I'm talking about. End of story.
4. Innocent Traitor: This is an amazing historical fiction book that will leave you absolutely haunted when you finish it initially. Rereading it when you know what happens at the end just isn't the same.
5. Falling Angels: almost an exact ditto to number four ^
6. Outlander
7. The Birth of Venus: I loved this book the first time around; I literally gushed about it everywhere I could. I picked it up recently and it was just...okay. I wish I could feel as passionately about it as I did the first time.
8. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: This is my number one favorite book of all time. There's nothing like reading a book for the first time that becomes your favorite immediately. 
9. The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings: A similar feeling to Harry Potter, though not as intense. Brilliant.
10. The Hunger Games: So I may be cheating slightly on this one, since I just finished it, um...yesterday. I can't stop thinking about it and want to go back to the beginning.

So this TTT managed to sound much more depressing than I'd ever intended. :) Anyways, be sure to link up below and share your top ten picks!

Check out future Top Ten Tuesday Topics!

Jessi Reviews "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Title/Author: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson 
Publisher/Year: Broadway, 1999
How I Got This: I picked up a copy of this from one of my library's used book sales 
Why I Read It: I've always wanted to hike part of the Appalachian Trail and this book came highly recommended to me from one of my college classmates 
Rating: 4 Stars 

Synopsis (from Goodreads): God only knows what possessed Bill Bryson, a reluctant adventurer if ever there was one, to undertake a gruelling hike along the world's longest continuous footpath—The Appalachian Trail.

The 2,000-plus-mile trail winds through 14 states, stretching along the east coast of the United States, from Georgia to Maine. It snakes through some of the wildest and most spectacular landscapes in North America, as well as through some of its most poverty-stricken and primitive backwoods areas.

With his offbeat sensibility, his eye for the absurd, and his laugh-out-loud sense of humour, Bryson recounts his confrontations with nature at its most uncompromising over his five-month journey.

An instant classic, riotously funny, A Walk in the Woods will add a whole new audience to the legions of Bill Bryson fans.

Review: This is a book that has been recommended to me time and again, and I finally got around to reading it.

And I loved it!

I went into this book, having heard it was supposed to be funny, but I still had this preconceived notion that it would be some sort of dry history of the Appalachian Trail and the various locations along the way. I couldn't have been more wrong. Bryson ambles between a bit of history and tales about the people he met and the adventures he got into along the way, without being one bit boring. He grabbed my attention for the duration of the book, and I had a hard time putting this one down. While this is non-fiction, it's more like narrative non-fiction. Bryson writes with an effortless, conversational tone that makes for easy reading. I could have read this book easily in a day or two, had it not been for school and pesky homework getting in my way. Even then, half the time, my mind was with Bryson in the woods.

I was surprised, too, to find that the bits of history that he included were very interesting. For example, at one point, he talks about Pennsylvania's history with coal. As a native of PA, I know all about the impact of coal on the state, but I was still fascinated to read about Centralia, which I had never heard of before. A town sitting on top of a burning coal mine that has the potential to burn for thousands of years? Awesome! I love that kind of trivia--and Bryson included a wonderfully interesting amount of it throughout his tale.

I also particularly loved just reading about the adventures he and Katz, his hiking companion, got into along the way. They were such a good pair, and while reading, I had these visions of how the two of them would make a perfect duo on a tv show, like Tim and Al from "Home Improvement." The two of them certainly met some interesting people along the way, like Chicken Joe and Mary Ellen who just cracked me up.

And that brings me to the humor. Bill Bryson is my hero. He is hi-freaking-larious! When I'm at school, I typically do a lot of my reading at night before I head to bed. There were definitely nights were it took all that I had not to burst out laughing for the sake of my sleeping roommates. Basically, trying to read this book without laughing is a feat in itself. Bryson has this excellent sense of humor--a kind of off-handed wittiness. I love it. If I could take this guy out for a coffee, I would so do it, just to get a chance to see what makes him tick. I love that he tells this tale like an ordinary Joe. He doesn't get on a high horse like an environmental elitist about hiking on the AT. He misses hamburgers and soft beds while he's hiking. He doesn't try to make it out to be a philosophically transcendent experience. That's not to say that he didn't enjoy his hike--you can tell when you're reading this book that while some parts of the trail flat-out suck, it's still something that he is happy to have done.

Overall, this was just an excellent book. It has me itching for summer and a chance to be out in the woods. I recommend this to those who enjoy being outdoors or for those looking for a hilarious read.

Natanya Reviews A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

Title/Author: A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Publisher/Date: HarperCollins, 2006
Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: A friend of mine recommended it to me a couple years ago, and I’ve been meaning to read it since then

From Amazon (slightly modified):
For beta male Charlie Asher, proprietor of a shop in San Francisco, life and death meet in a maternity ward recovery room where his wife, Rachel, dies shortly after giving birth. Though security cameras catch nothing, Charlie swears he saw an impossibly tall black man in a mint green suit standing beside Rachel as she died. When objects in his store begin glowing, strangers drop dead before him and man-sized ravens start attacking him, Charlie figures something's up. Along comes Minty Fresh—the man in green—to enlighten him: turns out Charlie and Minty are Death Merchants, whose job (outlined in the Great Big Book of Death) is to gather up souls before the Forces of Darkness get to them. While Charlie's employees, Lily the Goth girl and Ray the ex-cop, mind the shop, and two enormous hellhounds babysit, Charlie attends to his dangerous soul-collecting duties, building toward a showdown with the underworld…

I read half of A Dirty Job while sitting outside a Starbucks, and after a while people started staring at me, likely because I was laughing my ass off. I haven’t laughed this hard while reading a book since…ever. While I wouldn’t say the entire book is hysterical—some of the jokes seem a little too forced, stupid, or offensive to be funny—the funniest parts are so funny that they make up for it. Really. Read the chapter where Charlie tries to get rid of the hellhounds and tell me you kept a straight face. (You won’t.) Even the chapter titles are funny: “Darkness Gets Uppity,” “Cry Havoc, and Let Slip the Gogs of War!” et cetera.

Charlie Asher is the most boring but most entertaining character ever. His reactions to his new “job” are priceless, and Moore’s narration of and commentary on Charlie’s thoughts and actions make them even better. This narrative commentary—in which Moore repeatedly explains why each of Charlie’s actions relate to his status as a “beta male”—is a great element of this novel, with these constant categorizations making Charlie seem even more pitiful, with his actions following the mold set out for him (but of course, they make him even funnier). Unfortunately, they do get a bit repetitive by later in the novel (yes, I know he’s a beta male, give me something new already!), but that didn’t do any serious damage to my opinion of the novel.

As for the plot, it’s bizarre, to say the least (and I’m pretty used to bizarre, thanks to Haruki Murakami). It’s kind of a mystery, where you spend a good chunk of the novel trying to figure out how different aspects of the plot are connected because so many random things are going on. But despite the randomness, I loved every new development. The role of Charlie’s daughter, Sophie, is fantastic. I love how she becomes such a crucial part of the story, but how laid back she is about all of the weird things that happen to her and Charlie—like when the hellhounds show up when she’s a baby, she calls them her “goggies” (doggies) and sits there whacking them on the heads with her toys. She’s a pretty minor character overall, but a great character.

One of the things that annoyed me was that time moves really quickly, and there aren’t any real indications of the passage of time until a while after it’s occurred, when Moore will mention Sophie’s age or what Lily’s up to. It’s just kind of awkward how much it jumps ahead, and I could have used a little more detail of what happened during the gaps.

But overall, A Dirty Job was a very fun, quick read. It can be pretty crude at times (and be prepared for an occasionally excessive amount of swearing), some things are over the top, and it certainly isn’t the deepest novel, but it’s just so damn funny and so riveting that I don’t really care. I can’t wait to read more of Moore’s novels (uh, no pun intended).

4.5 stars of awesomeness and humor

Top Ten Book Endings That Left Me With My Mouth Hanging Open

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday. Today's topic....

Top Ten Book Endings That Left Me With My Mouth Hanging Open
(because of the cliffhanger or because it the ending was MINDBLOWING, etc. Be careful with spoilers on this one! :P)  Click For FUTURE TOPICS

We at the Broke and the Bookish collaborated to give you a taste of our "WHAT?! I was not expecting that" endings. Here they are.

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Both that and catching fire really. They tested the strength of my patience. That cliff hanger was just... URGH! Horrid - Julia

2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver: I cannot stop thinking about this ending and I read it 6 months ago! This ending left me staring at the book (or actually my e-reader) going: WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! I seriously needed hugs after and couldn't sleep. If you read it, you know what I mean! I'm so not patiently awaiting the sequel... - Daisy

3. Wither by Lauren DeStefano - This book left me DYING for Fever. And having just read Fever this month has made my mouth WIDE open. I NEED TO KNOW! -- Jamie

4. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman - I remember reading this in high school and being all like "Oh yeah blah blah I thought that would happen yeah yeah WHAAAAAA?" and then the book ended. I remember putting the book down... and just blinking. - Julia

5. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin -- I WTFed a lot at the end. That's all. -- Jamie

6.My Name is Memory by Anne Brashares - I remember being surprised by this ending.. but not really in a good way. It was a cliffhanger, but I didn't really want it to be. A good book, but one that I didn't know was a sequel. This reminds me, I should go out and look to see if/when that is out... - Julia

7. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult - The ending is traumatizing/shocking enough, but turn to the last page and I guarantee you you will be blown our of your socks. I vividly remember sitting dumbfounded with my mouth open staring at the book for at least five minutes. - Kelly

8. Firelight by Sophie Jordan had me flipping out when it ended. I thought for sure I had a faulty copy, and that I was missing a few more pages. Several important characters are in total limbo at the end, and readers are left with no clue as to what's going to happen next. I wanted to throw the book across the room when I realized I had to wait almost a year to find out what happened. I remember warning readers of this in my own review of Firelight, posted in March of this year. As I write this, the sequel is sitting next to me waiting to be read, so... Bye!! - Jana

9. A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka - The ending of this book came out of nowhere. I was happily reading along and then BAM heartbreak. Although it was sad it definitely stayed with me for a long time. Grab a box of tissues before you get to the end of this book! - Paula

10.Changeless by Gail Carriger - I was super surprised by the cliffhanger after this second book in the parasol protectorate. It left me running to the bookstore to get the next book! Luckily it was in stores! - Julia


So those are our top 10... what are yours?

Daisy's Review of The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

Title/Author: The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima
Publisher/Date published: Disney Book Group, October 6th 2009
How I got this book: own it

Goodreads summary: "Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for himself, his mother, and his sister Mari. Ironically, the only thing of value he has is something he can't sell. For as long as Han can remember, he's worn thick silver cuffs engraved with runes. They're clearly magicked - as he grows, they grow, and he's never been able to get them off. While out hunting one day, Han and his Clan friend, Dancer catch three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. After a confrontation, Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to ensure the boy won't use it against them. Han soon learns that the amulet has an evil history - it once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece that powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.
Meanwhile, Raisa ana'Helena, Princess Heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She's just returned to court after three years of relative freedom with her father's family at Demonai camp - riding, hunting, and working the famous Clan markets. Although Raisa will become eligible for marriage after her sixteenth name-day, she isn't looking forward to trading in her common sense and new skills for etiquette tutors and stuffy parties. Raisa wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea - the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But it seems like her mother has other plans for her - plans that include a suitor who goes against everything the Queendom stands for."

Recently I have been loving all the YA books I read and this is another one belonging to that category! I’ve been remembering why I love fantasy so much and it’s wonderful :)

The POV switches between Raisa and Han, our two main characters. And they are both wonderful! I LOVED how Raisa is not a spoiled little princess, but maybe slightly naïve about everything going on outside the palace. But you would be too if the only time you’d been in the city was when there was a parade in your honor! I loved that she’s intelligent and really wants to make a difference. She does have the whole superficial crush thing down, but well, she’s only 15 and she doesn’t think insta-soulmate, so I was good with this.
Han is a little on the dangerous side. And mysterious! He has had cuffs on his wrists ever since he was a baby and they grow along with him (MAGIC CUFFS). He doesn’t know why and up until the very end of this first book in the series, we don’t either. I LOVED it!

I LOVED the world building and all the different characters! And I loved to hate the ‘bad guys’ which is also nice :). Oh, and I was secretly gleeful when their evil plans failed! *enter evil laugh of my own*

And you know what’s one of the best parts? There are TWO more books in this series that are already out (at least one more yet unpublished)! YAY! I'll be reading them ASAP.

My rating: 5 stars

Paula fawns over "How to Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe"

How to Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
Published: 2010 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
How I got it: On my nook
Rating: 4 Stars

From the moment I saw this book I knew I wanted to read it. I never actually read the synopsis, I just loved the title and hoped that whatever it offered would be wonderful. I expected a fun science fiction adventure novel that would be an easy read, what I got was a super meta-fiction mindwarp but it was awesome. It took effort to read, but it was still a very fun read.

The protagonist of the story is Charles Yu (note: also the author) who lives in his time machine (which is approximately the size of a phone booth, and unlike Doctor Who’s TARDIS, it is not bigger than it looks). He is in love with the computer in his ship and his boss is a computer program who doesn’t realize he’s not actually alive. His job is to go fix other time machines, which people have bought and broke in their attempt to change their past, which he states over and over is impossible to do. He has been in his time machine for years, but he is only gone for a day every time he goes to the station. So he has had an apartment for a week total - and the landlord thinks he's just rapidly aging.

The first half of the story consists of Charles’ stories and thoughts. He shares stories about his father, who was the inventor of the time machine. Thoughts about things like “The Girl He Will Not Marry”, who is also the Girl He Has Never Met. He tells how he and the girl he never met would never have a wonderful life together. He muses on how when he brushes his teeth, his reflection looks disappointed in himself. He also shares stories of the people he retrieves from the past. In fact, his entire job exists to save people from themselves. And yet, he doesn't do a very good job of making sure his own life is in order. The first half of the books is full of amusing “such is life” kind of thoughts and is quite enjoyable. But it’s the second half of the story that really gets meta and mind boggling (but no less enjoyable). I wont tell you how, but Charles ends up getting himself stuck in a time loop. He is given the book “How to Live Safely In a Science Fiction Universe” by Charles Yu – but the problem is, he hasn’t written it yet. So he ends up reading it before he’s written it. Ugh just typing this is making my brain go “Huh?” Eventually the story gets resolved (or as resolved as a time-loop can be). It's brilliant, beautiful and funny.

I wont give too much more away. But I highly suggest you go read this book before you get stuck in a time loop.