Undermajordomo Minor: a Novel / Patrick deWitt 317 pp.

Lucien Minor leaves his sad home in the town of Bury to serve as Undermajordomo to the Majordomo of the Castle von Aux, far away in the eastern mountains. The work is easy but the atmosphere leaves something to be desired. Ominous figures performing disgusting deeds appear in the night. Things improve for Lucy when he meets Klara, but rumors of his predecessor's disappearance into the Very Large Hole and threats from Klara's other suitor, the soldier Adolphus, keep the proceedings interesting.

This is a strange but lovely fairy tale, told in rhythmic, almost musical language. The best part was the way it sneaked up on me, morphing from a quirky little story into something moving and sweet.

We live in water

We live in water / Jess Walter 177 pgs.

A fabulous collection of short stories, mostly set in Walter's hometown Spokane, WA.  It is difficult to pick a favorite but Don't Eat Cat is certainly up there.  Life is different now that a large population has been infected with hypo-endocrinal-thyro-encephalitis, a disease that leaves you with translucent skin, rotting teeth, skim-milk eyes - aka: Full zombie.  The line "But hiring zombies for food service?  I just think that's wrong." gives you a taste of the awesomeness of this story.  The narrator is just trying to get a coffee and the "infected" barista is unable to make that happen.  Turns out, those who are infected really want to eat cats and have to be re-trained frequently to keep them from doing so.

But this is just one of the many gems in this book.  I listened to the audio and it was wonderful.

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Sick in the head

Sick in the head: conversations about life and comedy / Judd Apatow 497 pgs.

Judd Apatow parlayed his high school radio show into opportunities to talk to big time comedians.  He was a total comedy nerd and worked his way to comedy master.  These interviews, some of which date back to the early 80's, reveal a LOT about Apatow and much about the subjects too.  There are really a lot of great interviews here if you are a person who cares at all about comedy.

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As If!

As If! The Oral History of Clueless by Jen Chaney, 322 pages

Twenty years ago, the director of Fast Times at Ridgemont High made a movie about a spoiled rich girl in Beverly Hills as she attempts to navigate high school. That movie was Clueless, which became a cultural touchstone for the 1990s, inspiring fashion (despite being satirized heavily in the movie) and slang terms, as well as launching the careers of Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, and Donald Faison. As If! is a collection of interviews from the cast and crew of the movie, reflecting on the making of Clueless and the impact it had on their lives.

Full disclosure: I LOVE this movie. Although I was never a girlie-girl like Cher and Dionne (I would have NO IDEA what to do with a closet like Cher's... probably fill it with overalls and Chuck Taylors), I was obsessed with this movie when it came out. I can't even count the number of times I watched it as a teenager, and even now, I'd watch it in a heartbeat if it was suggested. (Heck, I may have to watch it again tonight.) With that in mind, I very much enjoyed reading this oral history, even though there were no giant bombshell revelations; on the contrary, the filming went smoothly and under budget, and all the young actors got along swimmingly.

If you loved the movie like I did, by all means, read this book. If you never got the appeal, whatever. I'm Audi.

Althea and Oliver by Cristina Moracho 364 pages 9780670785391

I was not sure that I was up for another "dying teenager" book...but that is not what this book is about. Yes, Oliver has a rare illness, "Kleine-Levin Syndrome". He falls asleep for long periods of time (several weeks) and when he wakes up he has no memory of the lapsed time. This illness occurs primarily to young adolescent males.  His best friend, Althea finds it difficult to wait out these spells. Both of them come from fragmented homes. His father died while he was very young and her mother abandoned Althea with her husband.Oliver's mom insists that Oliver take part in a clinical study with the hope that he can find answers about his medical problem. He is upset about the study, how his illness will affect his senior year (and future) and also a recent discovery of a change in his relationship with Althea. He heads off to New York leaving Althea totally in the dark. Lots of angst and no pat solutions. Meaty book by a first time author.

Secondhand Souls

Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore  335 pp.

This is the sequel to A Dirty Job where Charlie Asher becomes a Death Merchant who collects the soul vessels of the dead and is the father of Sophie who is the Illuminatus/Death embodied. Charlie is trapped in the body of a "meat puppet", a squirrel like creature who is holding his soul until Charlie's girlfriend, and former Buddhist nun, Audrey finds a suitable human body for him. Sophie's protectors, two enormous dogs known as the Hellhounds, have disappeared. The Emperor of San Francisco calls together the few remaining Death Merchants to discuss the problem of souls not being collected. Then a painter on the Golden Gate Bridge discovers souls living there. Add in a taser wielding Banshee, a flock(?) of other meat puppets, and Death Merchant Minty Fresh's cousin, Lemon Fresh, who is trying capture the souls for nefarious reasons and you have classic Moore craziness. And there is a bonus appearance by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. (They really exist and I know some of those guys.) This one could be read as a stand alone but it's best that you read A Dirty Job first.

Two Across

Two Across by Jeff Bartsch, 293 pages

At the age of 15, Vera and Stanley became rare co-champions of the National Spelling Bee, essentially packaging them together in the public eye for the rest of their lives. Three years after their win, Stanley, in a desperate attempt to avoid further academia (which had previously been foisted upon him by his hermit mother), suggests a scam wedding to Vera, so that he can pursue his true passion: building crossword puzzles. Vera agrees to the fraud, with more than a little hope that Stanley will reciprocate the crush she has on him. Instead, they're stuck together and constantly on the run (often Vera running from Stanley) as the con gets trickier and trickier to maintain.

I loved the premise for this book, Bartsch's first. It's maddening how Vera and Stanley dance around each others' feelings, but that's OK, it's how this book is meant to be. I also loved their shared nerdiness about spelling, crosswords, trivia, and math, which permeates almost all elements of their story. If the book has any fault, it's in the ending, which seems a bit abrupt. However, the story's still a wonderful one and fans of wordplay (or Wordplay, the documentary about crosswords) will love it.

When to Rob a Bank . . . And 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-Intended Rants

When to Rob a Bank . . . And 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-Intended Rants by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, 387 pages.


A book composed of selections from the last several years of posts on the Freakonomics blog  There are short chapters on everything from libraries, about which they are wrong, (Look, I've offered as much data on this topic as they did), to gas prices, to prostitution (a Freakonomics staple). I listened to this on audio so I could not view any data that may have been given and, so, it often seemed that either they were not really making their case on a particular topic, or that the readers (Levitt, Dubner, and guests), weren't pointing out what data was presented in the print version. Mostly fun. If you haven't been reading the blog and enjoyed the other Freakonomics titles, then this is the book for you.

Pretty Is: a Novel / Maggie Mitchell 306 pp.

This received a strong review in the NYT.  I wouldn't say it didn't deserve it, only that I was less impacted than the reviewer.  At age 12, Lois and Carly May are kidnapped and driven across country by a stranger who keeps them in a cabin in the woods for months.  They are reunited as adult women when a film is made about their story.  An unusual plot keeps the reader guessing, or at least head-scratching, throughout.  Mitchell has given a lot of thought to female sexual power and she makes sharp observations about beauty and attraction.  Very smart, even if it occasionally misses the mark in terms of suspense and plotting.

The Things We Cherished / Pam Jenoff 288 pp.

A decent if forgettable World War II-era romance and legal thriller.  Charlotte Gold is a Philadelphia attorney persuaded to assist in the defense of an aged man on trial at the Hague for war crimes. The period drama is well-imagined but the contemporary romance, in which Charlotte falls for the brother of her old fiance, is a bit contrived.  (He likes you, you like him, you're not getting any younger, go to bed already...)