The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

ISBN:   9780385512107
Grade:   A+
Recommended for:  Anyone and everyone, even non-readers.

After being disappointed with too many books from last year, and thus the absence of posting, I have decided that 2012 will be a year of only good books.  Not to mention the fact that I have boxes of books that I've purchased over the years and still have not read.  Fair warning for those who have not read this book, if you're even slightly OCD this book will give you a complex, albeit temporary, and make you feel like you could be autistic.  In no way am I making light of autism or Asperger's, so put away your pitchforks and torches.  What I am saying is that once you read Christopher's do and don't list, you will likely be saying "oh my god I do that too".      

Shame on me for taking this long to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time!  This was absolutely fantastic and one that I could not put down.  It is a story about Christopher Boone, an autistic teenager who has trouble reading people's emotions.  Late one night he discovers his neighbor's dog Wellington dead after being stabbed with a garden fork.  Christopher sets out to determine who killed Wellington and write a mystery book about the investigation.  Christopher knows each prime number up through nearly 8000, cannot have his food touching other food on his plate and despises the color yellow, knows all the capitals of the world, and relates well with animals.  He also hates being touched and is a huge Sherlock Holmes fan.

This book could have easily been terrible had anyone else written it.  Mark Haddon writes perfectly from the point of view of an autisic teen.  Nothing in the story felt unbelievable.  Other authors night have come across as having pulled out every stereotype that ever existed for autism.  It can be a struggle at times to find books that appeal to me and Mr. Shelley (don't tell him that I just called him that).  Mr. Shelley still has yet to read this, as he's too engrossed with his Mad magazines and Astronomy magazines.  This is one of those rare books that I just want to shove into the hands of everyone I talk to.  Highly recommended!   

The Winters In Bloom by Lisa Tucker

ISBN:  9781416575405

Grade:   F

Technically this book was started in November, but it has taken this long to finish.  The grade speaks for itself.  This is hands down the worst book I have read since the abominations known as My Sister's Keeper, The Time Traveler's Wife, and The Weird Sisters.  The book felt like a lot of tell and no show.  Don't tell me this and that happened and then this happened.  Show me what happens instead.  You know the concept that every English teacher from the junior high level and up preaches.  The writing also felt really disjointed almost like each chapter was an afterthought.  

The book's premise sounded fantastic.  Overprotective parent Kyra and David Winter have a young son who disappears from their backyard one afternoon.  Each parent has someone they suspect of taking their son, and each has some serious skeletons in the closet.  What I expected was a gripping page turner about family secrets.  What I got was chapter after chapter of random characters with no continuity from the previous chapter's character or timeline.  This happened, that happened, this happened again, and finally this girl (me) got bored and no longer cared what happened to the little boy.  My interest faded after 50 pages and there was nothing in the remaining pages that made me glad I finished the rest.  

If anyone else has read this and liked it, please tell me what I'm missing.  There was so much hype about this book that I just cannot understand.  This could have been a decent book in the hands of a different writer or at the very least a different editor.  Definitely not recommended.