March: in like a lion, out like a lamb.  BAAAAAAAAAAA.

Nothing like a little sheep humor to start your morning.

You probably remember that I had a rather terrible February.  So March didn't start on the highest of notes.  But I am happy to say, it did improve.  Even though we battled some colds in our house, the illness seems to be mostly gone (knock on wood), the snow is melting, the birds are chirping...SWEET JESUS, it's springtime!  FINALLY!

Not to mention that Small Fry was rather adorable this weekend, hunting for Easter eggs with us outside:

Overall, I am just feeling VERY excited for the warm weather to roll in, which of course means more time to read OUTSIDE, in the sun.  Woot!

The March 2013 Fave/Least Fave honors were hard to choose this month (especially for Favorite)...I read a lot of good books!  The honors go to:

March 2013 Favorite:  The Storyteller  by Jodi Picoult
March 2013 Least Favorite:  The Four Ms. Bradwells  by Meg Waite Clayton

In total, I read/reviewed 7 books:
Be Happy Without Being Perfect by Dr. Alice Domar
The Four Ms. Bradwells by Meg Waite Clayton
The Trajectory of Dreams by Nicole Wolverton
I'll Take What She Has by Samantha Wilde
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
Evil Water by Inger Wolf

Plus one review of a past read:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I also posted one new Small Fry Saturday Review of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault.

In other book talk, I recapped my epic meeting with Jodi Picoult, I told you why modern women's fiction is my jam, we talked about my beef with Hollywood, this place got a facelift, we Bloggiesta'd, I introduced you to Alexis, and I got drugged by a librarian.  Busy freakin' month.

Here's to springtime!  Hope you all have a fabulous April.

Title:  The Trajectory of Dreams
Author: Nicole Wolverton
Publisher: Bitingduck Press
Publication Date: March 1, 2013
Source: review copy received from the author for an honest review

Plot Summary from Goodreads:

For Lela White, a Houston sleep lab technician, sleep doesn’t come easy—there’s a price to be paid for a poor night’s sleep, and she’s the judge, jury, and executioner.

Everyone around Lela considers her a private woman with a passion for her lab work. But nighttime reveals her for what she is: a woman on a critical secret mission. Lela lives in the grip of a mental disorder that compels her to break into astronauts’ homes to ensure they can sleep well and believes that by doing so, she keeps the revitalized U.S. space program safe from fatal accidents. What began at the age of ten when her mother confessed to blowing up the space shuttle has evolved into Lela’s life’s work. She dreads the day when an astronaut doesn’t pass her testing, but she’s prepared to kill for the greater good. 

When Zory Korchagin, a Russian cosmonaut on loan to the U.S. shuttle program, finds himself drawn to Lela, he puts her carefully-constructed world at risk of an explosion as surely as he does his own upcoming launch. As Lela’s universe unravels, no one is safe.

My Review:

A few months ago, Nicole Wolverton emailed me to ask if I'd like to read and review her recent release, The Trajectory of Dreams.  She lured me in by saying it had a "dark, twisty feel" similar to that of Gone Girl .  Immediately, my book Spidey-sense was up.  I definitely couldn't resist that kind of description!

In short, this book delivered on my expectations.  It's sinister and disturbing--not in the manner of a horror novel, but as a psychological thriller that blurs the lines between reality and insanity.  The protagonist, Lela, is ten pounds of crazy in a five pound bag.  I can't even begin to come up with a psychiatric diagnosis for her.  And next to the term "unreliable narrator" in the dictionary is a picture of Lela White.  At the beginning of the novel, you know she's a little off, but as the novel progresses, you watch helplessly as she gets sucked into the vortex of her own demented thoughts.  I guarantee that the last 50-60 pages will require you to read all in one sitting--the plot starts to snowball so quickly, you will ignore all others around you until you see what comes up next.

The interesting thing about Lela's character (other than being five cans short of a six pack) is that you actually can't help but feel a little sad for her...despite all of the havoc she wreaks on those around her.  Pieces of her past are slowly revealed throughout the book, things that Lela herself clearly hasn't come to terms with yet.  When you take these background details along with her current motives and actions, it's hard to decide if Lela is a woman to be feared, abhorred, or pitied.

The one thing I sometimes had a tough time with throughout the book was the side characters.  I say "sometimes" because, since Lela was the only narrator, I don't know if my problems with the characters are because of how they truly are meant to be, or because Lela did a poor job of describing them (rightly so).  For example, Trina (Lela's coworker/roommate): I found her to be overly nosy, jumping into Lela's business (like moving into her house?) in a way that I didn't find believable at all.  But was she REALLY that nosy, or did Lela portray her as such because she THOUGHT Trina was nosy?  And Max (Lela's coworker): is he outrageously ogre-ugly or does she just illustrate him that way?  I'd be interested to hear what other readers think about this!  In general, I do wish these secondary characters could have been fleshed out a bit more, but I see the challenge in doing that with Lela as the narrator.

Overall, this is a spectacular read.  You can compare it, atmospherically, to Gone Girl, but this is absolutely a psychological thriller all its own.  You won't ever look at the quiet girl in the next cubicle again without wondering if she watches you as you sleep...

Check out other reviews of The Trajectory of Dreams:
A Bookworm Belle
Radish Reviews
Too Fond
A Book And A Review

...The Trajectory of Dreams by Nicole Wolverton!

I don't normally do release date promos.  HOWEVER, a ways back, I agreed to review Ms. Wolverton's book, which sounds pretty twisted and awesome:

The novel exposes the chaotic inner life of Lela White, a Houston, Texas sleep lab technician and mentally-disordered insomniac, believes she has been tasked with protecting the safety of the revitalized U.S. space shuttle program. She breaks into the homes of astronauts to watch them sleep, and she is prepared to kill to keep those with sleep problems from the shuttle launch. Her delicate grasp on reality becomes more tenuous when annoying co-worker Trina Shook insists on moving into her house and visiting Russian cosmonaut Zory Korchagin inserts himself into Lela's life. Korchagin's increasing interest puts her carefully-constructed world at risk of an explosion as surely as he does his own upcoming launch. Lela's tragic childhood unfolds throughout the novel, revealing the beginnings of her illness and long-buried secrets, and as Lela’s universe unravels, no one is safe.

Unfortunately, my month of February has been rather tumultuous, and as a result, I am behind on reviews.  So, I will have a review of The Trajectory of Dreams comin' atcha SOON!  But in the meantime, help celebrate release day and check it out HERE!