Weekly Reads: Every Exquisite Thing

Every time Matthew Quick comes out with a new book, I have to read it. They're always a little dark, and Every Exquisite Thing is no exception. I wouldn't be able to give this bok to just any teen in my library, but that's not a bad thing. This book made me uncomfortable like only Andrew Smith's YA books usually can.

My rating: 4 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Nanette O'Hare is an unassuming teen who has played the role of dutiful daughter, hardworking student, and star athlete for as long as she can remember. But when a beloved teacher gives her his worn copy of The Bugglegum Reaper--a mysterious, out-of-print cult classic--the rebel within Nanette awakens.

As she befriends the reclusive author, falls in love with a young troubled poet, and attempts to insert her true self into the world with wild abandon, Nanette learns the hard way that rebellion sometimes comes at a high price.

Weekly Reads: Love May Fail

Love May Fail is the newest book by The Silver Lining Playbook author, Matthew Quick. I am fairly obsessed with his books, so I was thrilled to get an e-arc of his newest book to promote to library customers. I waited until the last minute to read this book before my copy expired, and I was not in the mood for a "Matthew Quick" intense dark read. Soooooo that threw me for a bit of a loop. But the story itself was so great, despite its intensity, and I would highly recommend it to everyone, but just make sure you're not sitting down looking for a nice light summer read, because this ain't it, yo.

The story was told from four different perspectives, which I usually hate, but the stories were so intrinsically weaved together that I loved it. Definitely worth a read.

My rating: 4 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

An aspiring feminist and underappreciated housewife embarks on an odyssey to find human decency and goodness—and her high school English teacher—in New York Times bestselling author Matthew Quick’s offbeat masterpiece, a quirky ode to love, fate, and hair metal 

Portia Kane is having a meltdown. After escaping her ritzy Florida life and her cheating pornographer husband, she finds herself back in South Jersey, a place that remains largely unchanged from the years of her unhappy youth. Lost and alone, looking to find the goodness in the world she believes still exists, Portia sets off to save herself by saving someone else—a beloved high school English teacher who has retired after a traumatic incident. 

Will a sassy nun, an ex-heroin addict, a metal-head little boy, and her hoarder mother help or hurt her chances on this madcap quest to restore a good man’s reputation and find renewed hope in the human race? Love May Fail is a story of the great highs and lows of existence: the heartache and daring choices it takes to become the person you know (deep down) you are meant to be.

Weekly Reads: Good Luck of Right Now

The Good Luck of Right Now is the second book I've read by Matthew Quick, (Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock was the first, my review here). The Silver Lining Playbook's author went back to an adult book with his latest release. The story is told in letters from our main character, Bartholomew to actor Richard Gere, and I'm quite the sucker for unique perspectives (I really enjoyed Where'd You Go, Bernadette for this same reason). I wasn't as immediately sucked in to this book as I was Forgive Me, LP, and I wasn't as emotionally drained after finishing it either, which is a good thing. I'm currently trying to take a break from soul crushing, spirit draining reads that make me want to save everyone from everything. That gets exhausting.

Definitely a worthwhile read, but if you're only going to read one thing by Quick, I would still recommend Forgive Me Leonard Peacock as the one to read.

My rating: 3.5 stars.


Summary from goodreads:

Call it fate. Call it synchronicity. Call it an act of God. Call it . . . The Good Luck of Right Now. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook comes an entertaining and inspiring tale that will leave you pondering the rhythms of the universe and marveling at the power of kindness and love.

For thirty-eight years, Bartholomew Neil has lived with his mother. When she gets sick and dies, he has no idea how to be on his own. His redheaded grief counselor, Wendy, says he needs to find his flock and leave the nest. But how does a man whose whole life has been grounded in his mom, Saturday mass, and the library learn how to fly?

Bartholomew thinks he’s found a clue when he discovers a “Free Tibet” letter from Richard Gere hidden in his mother’s underwear drawer. In her final days, mom called him Richard—there must be a cosmic connection. Believing that the actor is meant to help him, Bartholomew awkwardly starts his new life, writing Richard Gere a series of highly intimate letters. Jung and the Dalai Lama, philosophy and faith, alien abduction and cat telepathy, the Catholic Church and the mystery of women are all explored in his soul-baring epistles. But mostly the letters reveal one man’s heartbreakingly earnest attempt to assemble a family of his own.

A struggling priest, a “Girlbrarian,” her feline-loving, foul-mouthed brother, and the spirit of Richard Gere join the quest to help Bartholomew. In a rented Ford Focus, they travel to Canada to see the cat Parliament and find his biological father . . . and discover so much more.