Saturday Snapshot [4]: In and Around the Cabin

I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking...

To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Linky that can be found on Alyce's At Home with Books blog. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Morsels [12]: My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger & Nothing But Blue

Heart-warming characters and an unconventional story telling left this reader smiling from beginning to end. 
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My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

Dial | Hardcover, 403 pages

Published in 2008, My Most Excellent Year sat on my shelves unread for the last two years. I won this book when I first started blogging (Mel's Just One Opinion) and I haven't been able to pick it up until recently. I was in need of a light read that could help me bounce back from the heaviness of Forbidden and The Fault in Our Stars. Boy, did I get more than what I've bargained for!

Told in a series of emails, alternating point of views (via journal entries), and letters, My Most Excellent Year is a story of a boy who believed in dreams and helped others to make theirs a reality. This book is full of happy; I smiled so much, I'd developed a cramp in my cheeks. The author's knowledge in all things Red Sox and musicals, combined with feel good stories are sure to melt the hearts of even the most discerning realist readers. It has a trail blazing, trend setting boy who adopted a gay Chinese boy for a brother; a gay Chinese boy who adopted a lonely boy who'd lost his mother; the cutest orphan next to Annie, a daughter of a former Mexican diplomat who only wanted to sing and dance, Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, and romances that's sure to put a goofy smile on your face. There was no drama, no clique mentality of any kind and no teenage angst. It was innocent and somewhat snarky; quirky and just...a book that you will hug when you're done. If the books you have in your pile is not working out so good for you then I suggest you read this. It's not a laugh-out-loud funny book but it's funny enough to glue a smile on your face from page one to the last.

My rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

You won't find the lost girl in this plot. 
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Nothing But Blue by Lisa Jahn-Clough

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | ARC paperback, 213 pages

Blue woke up without a single memory of how she got there. No name, no identity. Little burst of vague memories fades in and out of her mind but the one constant reminder was the chant that was going on her head: 

All dead. 

No one survived. 

All dead. 

The story begins as she travelled toward somewhere but she didn't know where until that certain need to get to the ocean. In her journey, she finds a dog who seem to be more sentient than any other. The reader will be duped to believing that there's something fantastical about the plot. But there isn't. The dog was just more attuned to her for inexplicable reasons. I found no sense of direction where the story was going. It was just about a girl who couldn't remember who she was. The incident that brought on her amnesia wasn't really explained well. And without giving too much away, it certainly made me believe that Blue has something to do with the accident. She was guilt-ridden, but her only sin was that she wasn't in the house when it happened. She meets this vagabond, nomad, hippie group of people whom she saved from rail bulls. I really didn't find any of the other characters in this book to have any bearing to Blue's story. It was pretty pointless. Even the quasi-romance-friendship with Snake was tepid. It ended before it began. I would wish that the book was longer but why prolong the agony?

Less than compelling read with a plot that really had no direction to speak of. 

My rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Love redefined in a demanding novel about the hopelessness of falling in love with the wrong person. 
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Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Simon Pulse | Hardcover, 454 pages

I, Joy of Joyousreads, have finally slayed the dragon. Hiked up my skirts and timidly dipped my foot in the murky and cold body of water that was Forbidden. It took a couple of years; a couple of years of reading countless spoilers in the hopes that I could psych myself up. But let me tell you: nothing, nothing could ever prepare anyone for Forbidden. It asks too much from people. It begs us to understand and accept a relationship that was unfathomable. A reader would struggle (as I have) to forgive a romance that goes against everything that we've known of love and relationships. I intended to read this book from cover to cover but I struggled to do so. I just couldn't get past it. I can't bring myself to jump over the hurdle that no matter how precious and sincere their love was, at the end of the day, it was still an unaccepted reality that only a few could stomach. I couldn't. I guess I'm just a follower and believer of the conventions of love.

The genesis of their relationship began as co-parents to their three younger siblings. Because other than helping out financially, their mother was pretty much useless as a parent. They were more often left on their own. The older siblings had to take responsibility for the care and feeding of the younger ones. And while I could see why Maya and Lochan would naturally turn to each other for support, I had a hard time trying to reconcile how they go from loving each other as blood relatives to loving each other like lovers. The icky factor stayed with me throughout the novel. Trust me when I say that Ms. Suzuma certainly made a case for it. And I tried, really I did.  I just couldn't.

The epicentre of angst that I feared was the end. Lochan was a bundle of anxious nerves as it was. He worried himself to death. And you will have no recourse but to worry with him - feel for him throughout the novel. The uncertain future, the possibilities of jail time and losing his siblings to the Child Protection Agency resided in his mind constantly. He's also painfully, heartbreakingly shy. He's a straight A student who wilted under the spotlight of other people's attention. The only people he was comfortable with were his siblings. Which was another justifiable reason why he could only turn to his sister for companionship but again, I couldn't accept it.

Forbidden demands a lot from its readers. Understanding, sympathy, and an open-mind. While I had given it my utmost understanding and whole-hearted empathy, I just couldn't digest the type of romance it'd served. But I remain in awe of Ms. Suzuma's writing and her ballsy attempt to introduce the kind of love that though, unacceptable and criminal, it could happen given the right environment. Sometimes, we don't choose the people we love. Love chooses us. This tragic story is unforgettable. It's a book that will be burned into the retina of my mind's eye for a long time. For those who remain fearful of this book, I think you should read it anyway. Consider it a fodder for the other angst-heavy books you might read in the future.

My rating: 4 out of 5 Stars