Mmk, so this is how it's all going down. Every week or two, I'm going to put up a review of one of the books I have either recently read, or read in the past. Just as a warning, some of the books won't be totally child friendly, although I'll warn you about it somewhere in the review, so you're not totally shocked or anything when/if you read it. >< As I go along I plan to put links at the bottom of the page in case you want to look at something you might've missed in the past, but I'm not totally sure when that'll be up.
So, since there are about a billion books out there, it's going to be totally impossible for me to read them all. I seem to have a varied choice of reading, but to make all of this even more exciting, I'm going to include all of you to help me write them, if you like. You didn't think I'd exclude you all from the fun, do you ?
If you love to read, which I'm sure you all do, and if you like to write, just type up a nice little review of the book of your choice. If at all possible, make sure that the book you're choosing isn't already on the list, since I would prefer to have a variety instead of ten people writing about the same novel. Make sure to include a good summary without revealing everything, obviously, and give your opinion about what you thought at the end. It doesn't matter if you liked it or not, feel free to be truthful, and convincing, just not something like "IT SUCKED, DON'T READ IT." If you want to do that, tell us all on the boards or something. ;] Make the review as detailed as possible, but don't strain yourself or anything. Just make sure it's at least a paragraph long.
Send your reviews to me, rachael! <3
I'll probably choose one of yours one week along with mine, or yours by itself, depending on my situation. Send in as many as you like, just spell check it and such. Also, if you have any suggestions of books that you'd like me to read and review, that would be more than amazing, & I'd be happy to do it. <3
As a pre-review warning, this book probably isn't exactly suitable for anyone who would get offended easily; due to sexual references, language, and a few other adult-related topics, it's definitely a rated R book. It was made into a motion picture in 2006, and was a number one seller for the New York Times.
Probably just as funny and humorous as it is painful and disturbing to read, Running With Scissors is a moving memoir of a young boy going through the struggles most children face while progressing into adulthood, except he has the misfortune of living with a psychotic mother and an alcoholic father. Although not many people would be able to say that they can truthfully relate to Augusten Burroughs' situation, his strange experiences make a person laugh out loud along with cringe with disgust at the same time. While using humor as a type of buffer between his distressing teen years, Running With Scissors is the story of Augusten leaving his mother's home to live at his mother's arguably even more psychotic shrink, Dr. Finch. If it wasn't for the various jokes and prods that made the book funny, it probably wouldn't have been as worthwhile to read. Some of it was difficult to get down, for example, the relationship between fourteen year old Augusten and one of Dr. Finch's so-called adoptive sons, who happened to be almost three times older.
The beginning of the book starts off slowly, as Augusten happily describes his earlier thoughts and memories as his mother's brain begins to deteriorate into oblivion. As Augusten puts it, "My mother began to go crazy. Not crazy in a let's paint the kitchen bright red! sort of way. But crazy in a gas oven, toothpaste sandwich, I am God sort of way." Months went by as Augusten accompanied his mother to her psychiatrist's office, and starts to get more interesting when he makes a visit to Dr. Finch's roach invested house. Hope, Finch's secretary and 27-year old daughter that still lives at home, is one of Augusten's first Finch friends, one of many he gets after spending so much time at the house, due to his mother's orders.
Not soon after his mother starts to spiral into complete insanity, Augusten moves into the Finch residence for good, and starts to change his original appearance and attitude to fit his new surroundings. After becoming comfortable with the family, almost becoming one of them himself, he finally admits to his homosexuality, which he knew about all along, but only just worked up the courage to own up to. Eventually, getting into a relationship with one of Dr. Finch's former patients and adopted sons, the extremely descriptive meetings between the two were a little on the agonizing side to read, but with his humor on the side, made it just bearable.
Running With Scissors was a decent book, and although it was slightly shocking during certain paragraphs, it was definitely interesting. It made the point that maybe your life isn't as "screwed up" as Augusten's, and being able to laugh about a difficult situation can make it a little easier to deal with in the end.
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