The Raw Shark Texts part 1

I apologize for the boring post title. I'm also not sure if I'm supposed to be posting yet...dates got a little mixed up. Anyhow, Wow! I don't really know what else to say. This book definitely grabbed me from the beginning...the mystery and intrigue sucked me in as did the bizarre premise of the book and the possible psychological angle. (I'm a psych major remember.) To be honest I'm not really sure what I think yet. I think there are three possibilities...1) This book will be brilliant and I'll love it, 2) The book will be too philosophical and I'll be just plain lost, 3) It will be one of those stories like Monty Python and the Holy Grail where I love it until the end and then I hate it. I suppose number 4 would be any combination of any of thee above.

Very bizarre, the idea of words, ideas, communications being a living stream. I don't think I completely agree with this, but I do find it intriguing. It feels weird having the old and new characters of Eric. They are supposed to be the same person and yet they feel like they are two different characters. I guess that's the point. Finally, the first Eric's attempt to get Clio back...his search that led him to Dr. Fidorous, it's the search for eternal life, the attempt to hold back death, that search that is a theme from the beginning of time until now. I'm very curious to see where this all goes.

Raw Shark Texts

Okay, here is our new schedule for the book.

Part I can be posted on Friday, January 30th.

Part II can be posted on Friday, February 6th.

Part III can be posted on Friday, February 13th.

Part IV can be posted on Friday, February 20th.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Claus

I really ended up liking the last of the Mrs. Claus' story. Meredith was around our age, and though I am no orphan-heiress, I really kind of identified with some things about her. I understood how she felt kind of unsure about her relationships with men and feeling the need to prove herself as capable. I was a little unsure of Nick at first because of the grey hair, but ended up liking him. Although, I felt like it was a bit of a cop-out with his big secret being he was working on a research project. I kept expecting something bigger.

Definitely one of my favorite things about this book has been the strong female relationships. They spent as much time developing the female friendships as they did the romantic friendships. In all, a fun, enjoyable book.

And to give you all the heads up since I get to pick the next book, it will be The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall.

Here's the tentative schedule, pending approval:

Part 1: January 23
Part 2: January 30
Part 3: February 6
Part 4: February 13

Does this sound reasonable to everyone?

Meredith...and the end

Here I was thinking I'd found a nice little story with some fun characters and comedic scenes and story number three stars a young woman who's lost both her parents in a tragedy. I nearly threw the book across the room...but then I went ahead and read it. After all, it was my book and it was supposed to have a happy ending. While I think this may have been my second favorite of the stories, I also found it to be the least plausible. A few of the plot details seemed a bit far fetched, such as the sleigh in downtown Chicago and the miraculous finding of Meredith's mom's glass ornaments. These details were lovely little miracles, but hardly believable. Still, I am glad that things turned out well for Meredith and I enjoyed the guessing game about just where her man had gone and who he was.

The epilogue was cute. I love how the three Mrs. Clauses ended up at the same place at the same time and that they all made a connection in some way. I also enjoyed hearing a little of what had happened to each woman one, two or three years after her story. I thought it was a fun and clever way to end the story. Over all I found this an enjoyable read and was glad for a little "fluff" after the seriousness of the last book as well as my own life. I hope everyone else enjoyed it as well.

Meredith (and the epilogue)

This one was nice. I think I liked it better than Cassie's, but I'm not sure if better than Olivia's. Ms. Alexander has a thing for good girlfriends (Gia in this one) and I like that. Nick was great. The whole thing had a very 'Miracle of 34th Street' feel about it. And I totally felt Meredith's frustration about her job.

The epilogue felt really cheesy to me. Too perfect and wrapping it all up. I mean, it's a nice touch, but it turned me off. I like that Cassie's mom, Agate was Mrs. Claus, but that they were all there the next year...yeah, it just didn't seem possible.

And I totally spotted at error on pg. 340 (listing of Meredith's cities that she was in charge of. Baltimore is there twice). Just thought I'd share.

Till next time.

Cassie (i like your cassie better, faubles)

Loved loved loved Tyler. He was great. I really don't know if I buy him as a five year old boy, but i'm not good with ages and development, so whatever.

Yeah, the relationship between her and Buchman. It was okay. It just seemed really shallow. I liked him, but i just didn't think i was prepared for the relationship. I write short stories and I think I could have made the connection work better.

Cassie annoyed me that she was soooo stubborn about TJ. He was awful. I mean, why did it take her so long to figure that out? I wanted to slap her. In a nice friendly way.

Once again, liked the main character's friends. They seem to be the solid (more) ones.

one more!!

Olivia (should we come up with better titles? :))

Okay, I admit it took me awhile to get into this story. I'm not sure why i was resisting, but there you go.

I really liked it. I liked how she changed and how she liked being with the kids. I loved her friends and how different they all were. And I agree that Woody wasn't really necessary, but he was nice and sweet. The stuff with the show was hilarious.

I definitely had warm feelings when it ended. Made me want to more to Baltimore. Especially when they referenced Hairspray in the beginning.

On to the next one!!

Olivia

I really liked Olivia's character and her development, probably as Em notes, we get the most character in this story. I liked how the story was about her changing and how that came as a result of more than just (or at all really) a relationship with a guy. I barely felt like we learned much about Woody, in fact the story would have worked just as well without him other than the fact that it wouldn't fit the genre as well. I felt like I knew Olivia's friends better than any of the guys (other than maybe Hank).

Another good thing about this story was all the side characters; I could tell that there were big back stories that existed, but weren't necessarily shared, for her friends, her mom, etc. Did we ever hear what started her mom's anxiety? Jonah was the third husband? Why is Turtle looking for a new city? ZZ was a therapist? (Okay that last one was potentially more handy than indicative of more story, but still...) Feeling like the other characters had lives beyond just being supporting cast to Olivia made the story much richer and more believable.

Cassie

Loved her name of course, but wasn't sure about all the hot and heavy physical stuff going on between her and Buchman. I can identify with her in many ways...being a mom, wanting the best for her son, enjoying decorating and yet I can't agree with all of her decisions. I feel like a woman with a young son should be way more responsible than sleeping around, but again, my morals are a lot different than most these days. I was glad that she made up with her mom, especially in lieu of my own personal experiences lately. I think her job must be way cool and really fun, both the creating window displays and the Mrs. Claus part. I did enjoy the story for what it was, a short, fun Christmas story. I also appreciated the emphasis put on the importance of family. I realize that family can be a mix of blood relations and close friends and I think this little tale did a good job of showing that.