my take: we had a lively and long discussion at book chicks … and enjoyed a particularly wonderful lemon cake. much of the discussion was on the subject of parental favorites. a current topic, as it was recently on the cover of Time, and something we could all relate to as children & parents.

with such a title, you can imagine some found the book particularly sad. i thought the narrator had a darkly humorous and slightly hopeful tone … but maybe i read that into it. to me, it has a tone similar to jeannette walls in the glass castle… a weird childhood told in an optimistic manner.

some at book chicks thought the author strayed too far from reality. i say, it’s fiction – we suspend beliefs when we open a book. but that makes for a read that isn’t necessarily “get lost into” fiction … we are aware that it’s not real when characters have special powers.

one aspect i particularly enjoyed was the commentary on modern food production … through the narrator’s taste buds the coldness of factory made food or the plight of fruit pickers is brought to the table.

my source: book chicks

my verdict: good read, great discussion. something out of the ordinary.