The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This book is the making of a Hallmark movie, yet I didn’t find it cheesy. Unrealistic at times? Yes. But what’s the point of writing fiction if you can’t get liberal with it.

The story sped by like the racecar-driving protagonist, Dennis Swift. This book had the perfect recipe to pull me in: a devoted husband to his wife & father to his daughter, a tragic love affair, good underdog vs. the evil upper hand, and a dog named Enzo. Man, I wish my dog could be as well-behaved.

Anyway, the heart of the story is in the narrator, the family dog, Enzo. Enzo is not just a dog but a being that can understand us humans even though he only has his tail & gestures with which to respond. This twist pushes this story past the cheesiness it could have easily become. Through Enzo’s eyes, we see the world as an emotionally-interested outsider. We rejoice with every triumph; we wait in trepidation at setbacks; and we revel in the revenge that only a dog can level.

It allows all of us dog owners to live through that particular fantasy where our dogs really do understand us. That is sometimes why I stare in my dog’s eyes to seek the answer to that question, “Can you understand me?” We all have our stories to support the realism of this fantasy. Every time I’ve cried, my dog Roxie raises in alarm. Every time I’ve been scared, she sounds her protection. But then there are the many times when she doesn’t even respond to her name… go figure. Does she understand me? Who knows? But in The Art of Racing in the Rain, I get to pretend that she & Enzo do.

Great, light read. Gets a little too mushy at a pivotal closing scene and everything seems to wrap up just a little bit too nice and neat. It made me wonder if this book was written with the intent of becoming a movie. There was also some dabbling in spirituality but it left no deep impression.


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3.5 stars
“Borrow from a friend/library or Buy on sale”

Mega Review

Started: May 22, 2010

I must confess that I have read 5 novels and have reviewed none. I’ve been drowning myself lately in the lives of others to distract myself from the mini-quakes that were shattering my own. Shattering may be a strong word but for a while that is how it felt. And my drug of choice thankfully is reading. It’s always been my solace and I hope it will always be. Through prayer & reading & trying new things, I’m getting out of this funk. No, I will not properly review all 5 books because some of them were so light that their memories have already drifted away. I will do my best to capture the best & worst of each one briefly. (Note: I actually only reviewed 3.1 of the books here, more to come later or not.)

Almost Single by Advaita Kala

I always like to pick up books in foreign countries to get a flavor of what their literature is like. This is one I picked up in India. It is a chick-lit type read about the new phenomenon of young women past the age of mid-20s still being (ohmigoodness!) unmarried and  working!!! None of the particulars of this book were shocking if you read it as a Westerner. But, if you put it in the context of a very traditional patriarch society (which is India), then the fact that she exists and still holds her head up high is shocking and admirable. I don’t know how the Western ideals of dating & matrimony will indwell itself in the Eastern ideals & traditions in India. My gut tells me it may not be as liberating as the book portends. But, it was a light read so let them have their cake and eat it too.

PS: For some reason, this book uses the word “avatar” all the freaking time! It irritated me because it seemed shameless in its attempt to be cool by implicitly referencing the movie of the same name. I don’t know, maybe it was a coincidence because the novel was written in 2007. Was Avatar even done in 2007?

above average by Amitabha Bagchi

I felt bad about picking up this book because I couldn’t even remember how it ended. But, turns out I didn’t finish it…barely even 30 pages in so this review comes later or not at all.

Up to No Good by Carl Weber

Part soft-porn, part Jerry-Springer. This is the first time I have read a book and learned N-O-T-H-I-N-G. No new words, no new lessons, no interesting perspectives on life. Just a whole lot of “what-the-hell” moments.

I hesitated to buy this book, I almost abandoned the idea altogether. I naturally shy away from the Urban lit section of the bookstore because it so does not represent me and it so represents so many Black stereotypes. The worst part is that these are Black authors perpetuating these stereotypes in these books. Crabs in a literary basket.

Why did I buy this book? You see, I recently joined a Black woman’s book club to try and start meeting people and make some friends since I’ve lived in this city for nearly 4 years now and I still don’t have someone I can just call up and hang out with on the weekends. This was the book chosen for the next meeting. As I was reading about dicks slamming into writhing women, gold-diggers scheming to turn all her tricks to get what she wants from her sugar daddy, and desperate woman after desperate woman trying to screw her way into a man’s heart; I was sitting there wondering what type of women was I going to be meeting in this book club. There was nothing good about this book, I mean it is absolute garbage and the only reason I kept it was to finish this review and then it is off to Goodwill. There was not ONE healthy relationship between man & woman, father & son, father & daughter, mother & daughter, mothers & father, even the friendships were toxic. The writing was elementary but, given the intended audience, expected.

Although I would never ever, ever ever, ever ever, ever ever ever ever ever recommend this book to ANYONE, one good thing came out of it. The book club was fly! (Yes, I’m a 90’s child and I still love that word!) The women, thank God, were total opposites of the book. We all hated it but it brought up so many stories and we shared so much in just our first meeting that it was worth the frustration of reading the book. I will be going to the next one.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

“This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.”