Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

This was the second book I read by this author. This was actually her first published book, but I read it after I read "Dark Places." I think "Dark Places" was a better book, but I did enjoy this story. Like "Dark Places" this is a pretty dark book with many characters that are pretty dysfunctional. This story is about a woman who is a reporter. She is sent to her hometown to investigate the murders of two young girls. When she arrives home her past and her present collide and she isn't sure if she can handle it. She had a pretty rough past in this town and not such a great relationship with her mother. Her sister died at a young age and now her mother has another daughter who is also having a rough time. The woman begins to look into the murders and she would never believe where that journey takes her. This is a pretty short book and reads quite quickly. I think you will enjoy it, but as I stated I thought her second book was better. Just remember if you read either book, both are definitely on the dark side!

The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone

This is 544 pages of great story telling. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It took me longer to finish that I wanted it to, but I snuck a couple of "kid books" in while I read this. This book has it all. It has a great and interesting story line, great and interesting characters, and great and interesting twists and turns. The story begins with Jack who drops his seven year old daughter off at his family home and takes off. Annie is raised by Jack's sister Sam and her best friend Clark. Annie sees her dad twice over the next 20 years or so. Then one day she receives news that her dad is dying and needs her help to finish up his last con. He is the ultimate con man. This takes Annie on an adventure from North Carolina to St. Louis to Miami to Cuba and finally back home to North Carolina. It is a fun read and just an old fashion good story. There are times when I thought it went a bit far and was a bit unrealistic, but it didn't take away from the story itself. I think the many characters in this book were what I enjoyed most! This was a great way to start my June and I hope you enjoy it also.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

I ended the 2009 school year and kicked off summer with a great read. Her first book is called "Sharp Objects" which I haven't' read, but plan to this summer. This was a great read. It is a bit dark at times as far as theme goes, but I just remind myself that it is fiction. It is the story of Libby who is an adult dealing with a family tragedy the occurred when she was seven years old. Her older brother Ben is in prison for this tragedy, but Libby isn't so sure that he is responsible. She begins a quest to find out what truly happened that night in her family's home. The story takes her to many dark places, but she needs to go to these places in order to get to the bottom of what happened. The book alternates chapters between Libby as a grown woman and her family members on the days surrounding the tragedy. This type of format really worked well for this book. I don't think any reader will be disappointed in this story. Again, it is a little on the dark side with dysfunctional characters, but what good fiction book doesn't have that?

Push by Sapphire

I saw that this book "Push" was going to be a movie coming out in the fall of 2009. The movie version is called "Precious". The movie looked interesting so I decided to go and buy the book and see what it was about. I read the book during one Saturday afternoon. It is only about 139 pages. It is the story of Precious who is an overweight black girl that has everything against her. It was a tough read at times, but I did enjoy the story because it shows how one person can rise above hardships and be better for it in the end. Precious had one teacher in her life that believed in her and that is all she needed to pull herself out of a very bad situation, move forward, and make a better life for herself. This book is very real, very raw, and full of disturbing images. It is well written and I know everyone will be on Precious' side for her to dream bigger and be more than the people around her are treating her. It might be because I'm a teacher, but it was a motivating story despite all of the dysfunction and horrible things in her life. I look forward to the movie this fall.