Book Three: The Almost Moon

I finished up my third book of the year last night. It was "The Almost Moon" by Alice Sebold. I had read her first book, "The Lovely Bones," a few summers ago and loved it. I had high hopes for this book, and it only mostly lived up to them. Actually, it really didn't. I hated the first hundred pages, but after that, the book found it's rhythm and got a lot better. It is told from the perspective of the main character, Helen Knightly. In the first page, she reveals that she kills her mother. The book follows the events leading up to her killing her mother and the following twenty-four hours. Throughout the course of the two days, we also see a lot of reflections on her life--growing up with a mother with mental illness, her relationship with her father and his suicide, her relationship with her mother, her failed marriage, and her relationship with her children. There's also some really explicit content, which would make me hesitate to recommend it to everyone. It's an interesting study of this woman's life and deep pyschological issues. It's somewhat entertaining, and just as disturbing as you might imagine a book about a woman killing her mother might be. The writing style is lovely, the language is beautiful. I wouldn't expect any less from Alice Sebold. So...all in all, I'd say this was only okay.

I started a fourth, but we'll see how far I get right now. I think I'm experiencing Stomach Flu: Part Deux...so I'm mostly laying on the sofa watching the Jon and Kate Plus Eight marathon on our fancy new television in my newly rearranged (and simplified...hooray for throwing things away!) living room.