Thursday, April 17, 2014

Bio - Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman

Interesting non-fictional account of the life of the richest women in the world no one has ever heard of.   This is the story of Huguette Clark and her self-made father, how he amassed his fortune, and how it passed through his descendants eventually to her.  It was the Golden Age of mansions on 5th Avenue - the Vanderbilts, Carnegies - and W.A. Clark had the grandest home of all.  

Huguette, the only surviving child from a second marriage, grew up with wealth, privilege, and tragedy. Sometimes withdrawn, sometimes generous, with unoccupied fully-staffed mansions on both coasts and an eccentric habit of doll-collecting, Huguette ended up managing her fortune a la Howard Hughes - from a hospital bed. Good story for a book club discussion.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

YA - Something Real by Heather Demetrios

 
  Something Real is a look at what it must be like to grow up on a reality television show.  Bonnie Baker and her 11 siblings had such a life on Baker's Dozen, until her father got caught cheating on national television and Bonnie tried to kill herself.  Year's later, the Baker's have moved to a new town and Bonnie has adopted a new name - Chloe. 
  Chloe finally has real friends, a normal social life, and a love interest, but all of this is thrown into chaos when she and her brother Benton come home from school one day to a lawn filled with production equipment.  Chloe finds out that Baker's Dozen is back - as Baker's Dozen: Fresh Batch.
  As Chloe struggles, her mother and the show's producer put tremendous pressure on her to fall in line with the rest of the family.  In one particularly shocking scene, the producer, Chuck is threatening her.
  All I could think about when reading this book is Jon & Kate Plus 8.  Is this the reality of reality t.v.?  Every mistake you've ever made readily available to a national audience.  Parents so obsessed with fame and money that the child's welfare isn't even a consideration.
  The book itself is outstanding.  The characters are well fleshed out and relatable.  Bonnie and her brother, Benton, have a relationship that I envy.  The book touches on infidelity, divorce, suicide, sexual preference, friendship and so many other topics, but it never feels forced.  A great book for anyone looking for a good read.

YA - Amity by Micol Ostow

  Maybe I'm a big baby....or Amity is the scariest book that I've read, like EVER.  Amity is perfect for teens who love anything horror.  Me on the other hand, I had to get a "buffer" book just to be able to fall asleep.  It freaked me out so bad that I kept talking about it at work, just to purge myself of fear.
  Amity is a spin on the classic Amityville horror house stories.  In Ostow's version, we have two alternating viewpoints, two different families, separated in time by 10 years.  In the first family we hear from Connor, who is unnaturally attached to his twin sister Jules.  Connor has a history of odd behavior.  He loves Amity.  He embraces her message.  He acts as her tool.
  With the second family we hear our story from Gwen.  Gwen has recently suffered a mental "breakdown", so her parents purchased Amity (because they got a good deal) to get her away from it all.  Gwen knows that Amity is evil, she's having visions, but because of her recent issues no one will listen to her.  Her brother, however, begins to be seduced by Amity.
  Bottom Line: The ending will leave you speechless and the way there will leave you with a serious case of the willies.
**An early release version of this book was provided by Netgalley and the publisher.  Amity will be released on 8/26/14.