Book Review: "Lucky Man: A Memoir"

It's no secret to anyone who knows me personally that lately, I've been on a huge Michael J. Fox kick. (No, really; I barreled through the entire series of Family Ties in the span of one month. I've been attempting to watch anything he's ever been in.) I more recently found out that he's also an author who's written three books. This is the first of those three.

Lucky Man: A Memoir is not exactly an autobiography, although it does have a lot of the makings of one. How it varies, however, is that it focuses primarily on Michael's journey with Parkinson's disease: how it started, how it progressed, how it affected his life, the extents he'd go to to try and mask his symptoms so nobody would know about it for years, and how he eventually became somewhat of an ambassador for the disease, although hesitant to become its poster child. At the same time, however, it does include a lot of details involving his personal life that don't necessarily have anything to do with the disease either; returning the humanity to Michael that the label of victim almost immediately stripped from him as soon as he went public about his diagnosis.

The book bounces back and forth a lot between earlier days and more modern times; in a way, he's writing two separate timelines in tandem. Although that may sound weird or confusing, it actually works. What makes it work even moreso is that Michael is one of few celebrities who've written a memoir that's written in the same exact style he speaks in. (Davy Jones is one other such example whom I've personally read an autobiography of that encapsulated that quality.) You enter the book almost feeling as though you know him because of this quality.

I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed every last bit of this book and took my time savoring its every last word. I highly recommend it to just about anybody, and I rate it a 5 out of 5 stars!

Book Review: "Posh and Prejudice (Diary of a Chav #2)"

The second installment of the Diary of a Chav series, Posh and Prejudice, had a tall order to live up to for being able to even hold a candle to the original...and it delivers. It's consistently funny, deals with realistic problem, and - unlike many of its rivals on the teen book market - has a far more realistic outcome than most. Not to mention, I've grown quite attached to miss Shiraz quite quickly. It's not every day that the main character in a teen novel is quite so vibrant and naturally lovable. Big bonus points for this, and for keeping it consistent from the first book to the next.

The storyline deals with themes such as the difficulties of secondary school, failed relationships, discrimination against the working classes, feeling trapped and wanting a way out of what everyone else around you just blindly accepts as their destiny, etc. The ending of the book totally sidelined me; I did NOT see that coming. But it leaves the door wide open for interesting things to happen in the next book. :)

Unfortunately for me, it'll probably be quite a while before I get a chance to read the rest of the books in this series, as not only does my local library not carry them, but NONE of the libraries in the county have any of the others. :-\ So unless someone can hook me up with the others, I have no idea how long it'll take...which really bums me out, because I've been enjoying these more than just about any other books I've read this whole year. Oh well, what can you do, right? Anyhow, I give this book another huge 5 star rating. :)

Book Review: "The Karma Club"

Just about everybody has at least some grasp on the concept of how karma works: that whatever you do and put out into the universe, good or bad, will come back on you tenfold. Thus is the basis of The Karma Club by Jessica Brody. After a group of three friends have all been scorned by their significant others, they form a club in which to exact revenge on the perpetrators, all in the name of karma. The idea is that they're helping to lighten karma's load by speeding up the karmic process a little and exacting punishments themselves. What they fail to recognize is that for the negative energies they put into the revenge tactics, they're only bringing bad karma unto themselves.

This book is loaded with typical high school drama, but there's enough humor in it to make up for that fact and then some. (Their revenge tactics are pretty damn creative...) I found it quite enjoyable, and rate it a full 5 out of 5 stars. :)

Book Review: "Almost Famous (Talent #2)"

This second installment of Zoey Dean's Talent series is thankfully a huge step up from its predecessor. Whereas the first book in the series was bland and boring, this one is filled with juicy drama all the way through, and really fleshes out what each character is all about. It's all in the tone of middle school drama gone VERY awry, and eventual revenge. However, morality is to be upheld, and the underlying message is that revenge doesn't pay, no matter how badly you've been burned. (It would've been too predictable if everything had ended up working out according to plan with the revenge plots.) I think there's a lot of themes throughout this book though that most people can relate to on some level, as most people have been harassed in school at some point in their lives; maybe not to the degree these girls are, but it still gets its point across. Regardless, I'm voting this one a big 5 stars :)