Hey Nostradamus!

By: Douglas Coupland

Where do I start?

Interesting novel.

I've read some of Douglas Coupland before, and I could never really get into it. To be honest, what really attracted me to this novel was the title. The book turned out to be a good one, although it has one of those endings where you kind of scratch your head and ask, "So what now?"

The book could technically be about a lot of things--religion, family, love, crime--but mostly it's about a guy named Jason and how the events of his life unfold after a school shooting during his high school years. The story is told through the eyes of four different people: Jason himself; Cheryl, his "secret" wife who is killed in the school shooting; Heather, the woman dating Jason when he disappears some time in his 30s; and Reg, Jason's uber-religious father who realizes too late how much he loves his son.

The thing that really made this novel likable is that each section, or chapter rather, has its own climax. There are so many twists and unexpected events throughout the whole novel that the story itself didn't really have one climactic moment...you're pretty much glued to the book the whole way through.

I just wish the ending would have been a little more--what's the word I'm looking for here?--resolved. As I said earlier, all I could do after reading the last sentence was wonder what in the world was supposed to happen next. But, I guess everyone has to judge for themselves.

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud

By: Ben Sherwood

My first impression of this book was that it was...well, weird.

It took me about 50 pages to even understand where it was going. But once I passed that little hump, I decided it was a pretty decent story. And by the end, I decided it was actually a great story.

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud is, in a nutshell, about a guy who can see spirits while they are "in between," or between the stages of dying and moving on to the next level, because of a promise he made to his brother Sam before he died in a car wreck. He works in the cemetery in which Sam is buried and visits his brother's spirit every night at sundown. While working one day he meets a woman named Tess, who agrees to go on a date with him. They begin what seems to be a perfect relationship, when Charlie hears that Tess has been lost in a potential sailing disaster that happened days before Charlie had even ever met her. With the realization that he might be falling in love with a spirit living in the "in between," Charlie must try to find Tess at sea before her spirit moves on to the next level.

This book will make you smile, cry, laugh, cry, tense up, and cry again. In that order.

This is the first book I've read by Ben Sherwood...it was actually the first time I'd ever seen his name. I was a little disappointed to find out that he's only written one other novel. His writing is beautiful, yet simple, and he knows how to work your emotions so well that you actually feel drained (in a good way) by the time you put the book down.

So, I guess I'll grab that one other novel he wrote at some point, since I liked this one so well. It's definitely one I'd recommend.

There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell

By: Laurie Notaro

I think I have a love-hate relationship with this book.

It's hilarious. I laughed all the way through. Laurie Notaro is clever, witty, and great with metaphors. Her writing style is definitely unique, and I will absolutely read more of her books.

But at the same time, I feel like the last 100 pages were very rushed, like she wasn't sure where she was going with the story. It was as if she got stuck and couldn't find her way out. I was confused by the end, where she leaves a remaining mystery that never even comes close to being solved.

The story revolves around Maye, who moves with her husband Charlie to a fictional town in Washington comprised of uber-liberal, socially picky vegetarian hippies who are pretty much impossible to befriend. As Maye continually fails to make a decent friend who can compare with the ones she had in her home in Phoenix, she decides to enter the Sewer Pipe Queen Pageant, a quirky "beauty pageant" type event open to contestants of all ages and genders. Along the way she starts learning about mysterious events of the town's past and puts some puzzle pieces together about all of it that no one else has ever noticed before.

The novel has a good balance of funny moments, intense moments, and sad moments (although for the most part I just giggled the whole time). Laurie Notaro also does an outstanding job with her characterization...this is the first novel I've read in a long time where the characters really came to life and all appeared to be truly unique within the whole story. I was amazed by how wonderfully she accomplished this.

Again, I was personally a little disappointed with the ending--it just doesn't feel 100% complete--but it isn't something so horrible I couldn't read the book again and enjoy it. Overall, I think it's a novel worthy of reading.