"A Different Kind of Same" by Kelley Clink

I received a copy of "A Different Kind of Same" by Kelley Clink, through the Goodreads First Reads program in exchange for a fair review.  

A memoir of this type is typically full of raw emotion and introspection, often creating a moving and powerful experience for the reader.  This book had more than its share of emotion, but never managed to make a relevant connection with me.  The otherwise excellent narrative tended to lose me when the author often paused to reflect.

I would make a number of other comments about this book, but after reading a draft review I realized that my other comments sounded insensitive considering the subject.  As such, I will just leave it by saying this wasn't for me.

"Come Tomorrow You'll Regret Today" by Patrick Trotti

I received a copy of "Come Tomorrow You'll Regret Today" by Patrick Trotti in exchange for a fair review.  I experienced some technical difficulties this week, including some self-inflicted, so this is the fourth and hopefully final time I attempt this.

Over the past year I developed a new love, really an obsession, with the short story form, and have been fortunate to receive several excellent collections through the Goodreads First Reads program.  This volume continues my run of good luck.

As with any collection of stories, the reader will prefer some to others, but there were far more hits than misses in this group.  I particularly love Trotti's writing style, in which his desire for economy demands that he will never use ten words when one would do.  I found this lack of verbosity refreshing and startling.

I'm glad I was in a happy place when I read these stories since most all his characters fall somewhere between disillusioned and despondent.  I feel a lot of Millennial angst emanating from every pore of this book, and I came away wanting more.

While this falls just short of recent efforts by Robin Black and Nickolas Butler, I do give it a strong recommendation and hope to read more from Trotti very soon.

"Within These Walls" by Ania Ahlborn

I received a copy of "Within These Walls" by Ania Ahlborn in exchange for a fair review.  As often happens when reviewing a book that I did not choose for myself, I had very conflicted feelings after reading this effort.  The book is well written with a tight story, intriguing characters, and often vivid imagery.  I could feel the angst, confusion, and fear in the characters as the story progressed.

So why the conflict?  Despite all the compliments above, and considering I can't find a single negative thing to say (rare for me), I just did not enjoy reading this book, had a hard time finishing it, and found myself struggling to write this review.  I always promise a fair review and have to offer my earlier praise, but something just didn't click for me on this one.  I know that sounds strange and I wish I could explain it better.  Has anyone else ever experienced this?

"Those Girls" by Chevy Stevens

I received a copy of "Those Girls" by Chevy Stevens through the Goodreads First Reads program.  This novel is written in two parts and my opinion of each differs greatly.  

The first section deals with the lives of three sisters from a terribly abusive home.  The abuse becomes critical one evening and leads to an event that sends their lives spinning out of control.  I could not stop reading through the first half of the book.  The terrifying narrative has no holes, is full of suspense, and has well developed, plausible characters.

The second half of the book was a struggle for me.  I strongly disagree with the author's decision to change the narrator to a completely new character, and was unable to overcome my dislike of the new point of view.  The characters that were so well developed in the early stages of the book suddenly lapsed into caricatures of their former selves.  The second half plot was serviceable, but nowhere near the gripping first half.  I rate this between a 3.5 and 4.0 on a five point scale.

"Summer Secrets" by Jane Green

"Summer Secrets" by Jane Green was the latest review book in my stack, although I cannot recall if it came directly through the publisher or through Goodreads.  In any case, this was a book I did not anticipate enjoying - the blurb on the back led me to believe I was about to sit down with a chick-lit, beach fluffy, finished in two hours type book.  Not the case.  While parts exist that I could have done without, this was mostly a nice surprise.  What makes this worth recommending is the main character's struggle with alcoholism.  Green does an especially insightful job illustrating the immediate and long-lasting damage done by alcoholics to themselves and to their families.  Several nice plot twists tie everything together until the end, which I found too sappy, predictable and unrealistic.  Overall, this one is worth the read.

“Beneath The Bonfire” by Nickolas Butler

“Beneath The Bonfire” by Nickolas Butler is the best collection of short stories I have read since Robin Black’s “If I Loved You I Would Tell You This.”  Every story has power and depth, well-developed characters that elicit strong emotions and descriptive settings that made me desperately homesick for my native Wisconsin.  Each story features characters struggling with some major issue, and I like that several don’t end well or have satisfying conclusions.  My favorite was “Sweet Light Crude” with “Train People Move Slow” a close second.  Oddly I found the title story by far the weakest in the collection, although still a good read.  The highest praise I can give any author is what I offer here – I want to read his first novel and I can’t wait to see what he gives us next! 

"A Curious Mind" by Brian Grazer

I received a copy of "A Curious Mind" by Brian Grazer, through the Goodreads First Reads program.  This was a three hour read but well worth the time.  Based on the premise that curiosity is both an undervalued trait and a key to his personal success, Grazer details his personal history of "curiosity conversations" with famous and/or important people and briefly explains lessons he learned from a select few of these folks.  Very well written, I assume mostly by co-author Charles Fishman, the book is essentially a collection of interesting stories mixed with Grazer's self-help advice.  I found the book light-hearted and fun, and certainly worth the time and effort.  Most importantly, Grazer makes me want to better exercise my curiosity by approaching and meeting new a different people.  In that sense the book is a complete success.  One personal footnote regarding his list of conversations at the end of the book - it contains few literary figures.  Plenty of magazine, newspaper and academic authors, but very light on the heavyweights of modern literature.