The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick was an interesting, well-paced read. I listened to the audiobook while travelling and found the storyline to be engaging and intriguing.

The Silver Linings Playbook is written from the perspective of a mentally ill man named Pat Peoples. Pat is released from an institution and is living with his parents as long as he doesn't cause trouble. Unwilling to accept that he and his wife have been separated for several years, he holds onto the hope they'll reunite in the future - not even hope, though. He knows they'll reunite.

Author, Matthew Quick

In the meantime, he has some close calls with losing his temper. He sees a therapist who he bonds with over the love of Eagles football. He meets a strange girl, Tiffany, also scarred by loss and Pat struggles with his feelings toward her. Over time, she'll join him for runs, teach him to dance and become the closest person to him - or perhaps the most dangerous. Being unstable herself, will she set Pat off and be the cause of a return to a facility?

Tiffany was a fascinating character and I admired her intentions. When we first meet her, I was less than impressed and wished nothing more than to see her walk off stage right and fall down the steps. But I warmed up quickly to her dark yet charming character. And Pat, dangerously fragile, is also loving and adorable. His perception of the world around him and his eternal thoughtfulness kept me laughing, learning and thinking alongside him.

If there's one thing Quick knows how to do, it's create dynamic characters. By the end of the novel I felt like I had made new friends. I enjoyed them thoroughly and will carry them with me as a song in my heart.

I encourage you to check for The Silver Linings Playbook at your local library or purchase it from Amazon. You can also watch the film based on the novel on Netflix starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence or purchase it as well from Amazon. I have yet to see the film, but I've heard only positive reviews from those around me.

Wind/Pinball by Haruki Murakami

The debut short novels--nearly thirty years out of print-- by the internationally acclaimed writer, newly retranslated and in one English-language volume for the first time, with a new introduction by the author. 

These first major works of fiction by Haruki Murakami center on two young men--an unnamed narrator and his friend and former roommate, the Rat. Powerful, at times surreal, stories of loneliness, obsession, and eroticism, these novellas bear all the hallmarks of Murakami's later books, giving us a fascinating insight into a great writer's beginnings, and are remarkable works of fiction in their own right. Here too is an exclusive essay by Murakami in which he explores and explains his decision to become a writer. Prequels to the much-beloved classics A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance, these early works are essential reading for Murakami completists and contemporary fiction lovers alike. 

Goodreads.com description

Wind/Pinball is made up of the first two short novels Japanese author, Haruki Murakami wrote: Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973. No more than 125 pages each, both novels serve as a quick peek into the developmental stages of Murakami’s style. I’ve been a fan of Haruki Murakami ever since picking up the first novel I read by him, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and I appreciated reading some of his earlier work.

In Hear the Wind Sing, an unnamed narrator is home from college on summer break. He spends a lot of his time at a local pub called J’s Bar, listening to music and drinking – sometimes to the verge of alcohol poisoning – with his wealthy friend, “The Rat.” The narrator also tells about the women he’s been with, including a woman with only nine fingers.

Pinball, 1973 switches between the unnamed narrator, now out of college and working as a translator, and The Rat. The narrator lives with a pair of twin girls who are indistinguishable outside of the sweaters they wear (one has 208 printed on it, the other 209). He becomes obsessed with tracking down a spaceship pinball machine he used to play in college. The Rat is depressed and on the verge of leaving town. He struggles to break the news to his only acquaintance, the bartender at J’s.

Both novels - or novellas - are less plot and more character and journey driven. They may have limited appeal to anyone unfamiliar with Murakami’s work, but I’d still recommend Wind/Pinball for a good quick read.

Tin Man by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau

Tin Man is a quick read (one sitting) by authors Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau. It focuses on the stories of Ace, a petty thief, and Soren, a member of the Anti-Terrorist-Unit or ATU. When Soren chases down Ace for not providing proof of employment or residence, things get heated in more ways than one.

I found that throughout the book, the word fuck was used so often it distracted from the story and really made the characters seem ignorant as if they couldn't express wonder, excitement, disappointment, stress or fear in any other way. At one point the line was, and I quote, "Fuck, fuck, fuck." I don't have any problem with profanity, especially when it reveals more about a character. But every character in this novel was fond of it and it really hindered their development.

I also felt that the writing didn't match the pace of the story. Multiple pages would become victim to expressing every thought, even if redundant, about whatever was occurring. I'd be so far along in some character's processing of a scene that I'd have to turn back to see what event had occurred to ignite this trail of thought. So rather than feel the drama of a quick pace, I felt the agony of dry dialogue and internal processes stretched to their limit.

That being said, I feel Henry and Belleau could nurture a great skill of creating a sexy scene if they could just cut back on over-analyzing every move, every moment. But sexy scenes don't reach their full potential if we can't really understand the characters and see the intended chemistry. And if you're not into near-stranger sex with a dominating, degrading top who calls the surprisingly submissive bottom a whore, then you probably shouldn't start this book.

Tin Man seemed to be 70% sex and tension (and unrealistic at that), 20% plot (an uncomplicated three-step concept) and 10% character development (which is generous). Through reading the entire work, I didn't run across a single profound character, complex situation or memorable setting. It was the story of two static characters who had potential but instead were pre-programmed on a safe track to a happy ending.

If you would like to give Tin Man a chance through your own perspective, you can purchase it from Amazon. To the right appreciative audience, I'm sure it would be a worthwhile and entertaining endeavor.