Book Review

Alright... time for a book review. Steve and I have gotten hooked on the library lately and are quite pumped about it. I've got 2 books finished ready to review, and one in process. Here goes!

First up is "Who By Fire" by Diana Spechler. I hadn't heard anything about this book when I picked it up. I wanted something to read, it was on the "New Non-Fiction" Shelf, and the cover intrigued me. Not to mention the book had rave reviews on the front and back. So I gave it a try. Here's the description on the back...

"Bits and Ash Kellerman’s family unraveled when their younger sister, Alena, was kidnapped and never found. Their father took off with a younger woman, and their mother has never recovered from the trauma. Bits, a teacher, loses herself in promiscuous sex. Ash, who blames himself for the kidnapping, runs off to Israel and joins an Orthodox yeshiva. This pushes their mother over the edge, and she insists that Bits go to Israel to convince Ash to come home. Bits refuses, but when Alena’s remains are recovered, her mother is insistent that the family be together for the funeral. Bits’ adventures as she attempts to bring her brother home and deal with the ensuing family crisis provide this above-average debut novel with plenty of dramatic tension. Add this one to recommended lists of dysfunctional families in fiction. --Barbara Bibel"

So I read it, and as I went along I noticed it was hard to put down, but not necessarily for the reason you would think. It was hard to put down because I kept waiting for something to happen. I kept reading each small chapter expecting something to happen on the next page. Did something happen finally? Yes, but it wasn't until the last 40 pages!! This book was SO frustrating, I felt like I ended up wasting time on it. Would I suggest it? Not necessarily... 

As for a grade? I'll give it a C. It had its good parts, but it had a balance of boring.

Book #2: "You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny" by Suzanne Hansen. This book I had heard about through a friend in ArtEd. She mentioned it in passing, and because I had really enjoyed Nanny Diaries I thought I'd end up enjoying it. Here's the book jacket summary...

"Misadventures in nannyhood" is how Hansen, an Oregon teen who'd trained at the Northwest Nannies Institute, characterizes her amusing account of several years as live-in drudge to the stars. Readers of James B. Stewart's DisneyWar are already acquainted with her first employer, Michael Ovitz, then still the superagent commander of the CAA talent agency, and parent, with his wife, of three children. Hansen isn't a flippant writer; she doesn't try to score easy shots; and she cites her own inexperience and shyness, but it becomes increasingly clear through her account (backed up by the diary she kept) that the portraits drawn by other writers—of a cold, shrewd, controlling man—are accurate. Still, there was glamour, which at first made up for the grueling 24/7 workload and a curious chintziness. However, Hansen lasted just over six months. She later found work with the charming Debra Winger and left only because it became clear that the doting Winger didn't really need a full-time nanny. Her next and last nanny job was with the wonderful and thoughtful Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito and their three kids. Hardly backstabbing, this entertaining book possesses a sincerity other nannying tomes lack. 
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved"

As it turned out, I ZOOMED through this book. I could not put it down, I couldn't get enough, and I loved every minute of it. Hansen does such a great job of detailing her famous employers and their kids that it felt like a friend was telling me about her job. And its fun to see inside the lives of three different famous families from the nanny's perspective. Being someone who has babysat most of my life I sympathize and empathize with Hansen and her escapades in nannydom. Overall, I would suggest this as a breezy beach/pool/summer read for any girl/woman who has babysat a day in their life. Even if you haven't, read it! And a grade... is it a surprise at all I'm giving it an A+, loved it!!!

Up next? "Look Me in the Eye: My Life With Asperger's" by John Elder Robison, brother of novelist Augusten Burroughs who wrote "Running with Scissors."