Waiting To Be Heard by Amanda Knox

I'm a sucker for a good true-crime anything. I'm the weirdo that would usually rather watch a bloody gory crime show than a comedy. So finally getting to hear Amanda Knox tell her side of the story was something I couldn't wait for.

Like most of America, I was enamored by the Amanda Knox trial in Italy. But unfortunately for us here in the United States, everything was in Italian...and any trial footage they did show no one could understand. It made it very hard to form my own opinion about the case without the "help" of the media and press. I will say though, that I never thought Amanda killed Meredith Kercher - never. Her innocence in that was something I never doubted. What I wasn't convinced of though was if she knew about it ahead of time, or if she was there the night it happened. I also had no clue who Amanda Knox was. The media portrayed her as this rebellious sex-crazed party girl who just couldn't control herself. From day one I never got that feeling about her, but I also know how good some people are at putting up a front.

All that to say that I went into this book with a very open mind. You have to. If you've already got these preconceived notions about her then this will be a waste of your time because they won't change just because some pages were written well. This was a very intriguing read, and different from most. I knew exactly how this story ended but I still found myself riveted to every page. If there is one thing I did learn it's just how much influence the media has over the way we perceive certain situations, people, places, and things. The media over in Italy pegged Amanda as guilty before she was even named a person of interest, let alone a suspect. By the time she was actually taken to trial everyone had already made up their mind. The legal system in Italy is very different from ours here. Jurors weren't sequestered and had access to as much television, radio, and Internet as they wanted throughout the course of the trial. The way the cops collected evidence was so incredibly flawed that it wouldn't have even been admissible over here, yet was the nail in the coffin against her over there (at one point they took pictures of a piece of evidence and then put it back on the floor and left it there for three days before they actually collected it!). Seriously. The legal aficionado in me about had an aneurysm. The guy tapped to prosecute her was so shady that he was actually arrested not long after her conviction was overturned for his own issues involving a type of obstruction of justice.

Am I now convinced that she is completely and 100% innocent? No. There are still a few things that don't quite add up. But what I do know is that she didn't kill her roommate, and that the way she was portrayed by the Italian (and often times American) media was completely defamatory. I really recommend this book but like I said, approach it with an open mind.

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Before I start this review, let me start by saying that I saw the movie before I read the book. I know I know, a major taboo in the literary world. I had honestly never heard of the book, but the movie starred none other than my soon-to-be husband, Bradley Cooper (he just doesn't know it yet). I had a vague understanding of the premise, but went into the film with very little expectations. Never in a million years did I expect to be so affected by a film. I immediately went out and purchased the book afterward.

For those who are unaware of the story, Pat is a man who found his wife cheating on him one day and made serious work of the man she was cheating with. In a plea deal with the court, Pat agrees to spend time in a mental institution to avoid jail time. While there, he is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and learns that this is something he has be unknowingly struggling with his entire life. After four years, he is released into the care of his parents and moves back in with them until he is able to gain his footing in the world. He is determined to be a better man for the wife that cheated on him. Along his journey toward self-realization, he meets Tiffany who is an equally unstable mind. Their friendship throughout is one of acceptance and hope. I've never seen the issue of mental illness portrayed so accurately. One of the best films I've ever seen.

Like the film, the book excellently portrays the issue of mental illness - in all forms - but moreover does it convey the thought process of someone suffering from such illness. To those who may not truly understand bipolar disorder or it's characteristics, this book will both feel and sound childish. Thought processes and sentences are often incomplete or off topic. At times the reader may feel a sense of disconnect toward the character of Pat who, at 30-something years old, often changes moods as quickly as a child. This is exactly what bipolar disorder is and even without the film this book conveys its struggles effortlessly. The film is one of the best adaptations I've seen of a novel so if you enjoyed the film it then you will definitely the book. Bradley Cooper unfortunately, only comes with the film version.

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

Book 13. The final book in the Sookie Stackhouse series - the series that inspired the TV show "True Blood." I didn't start reading the series until last Summer when I became hooked on True Blood. And I quickly became just as hooked on this series. I'm pretty sure I went through the first 12 books in two weeks...I just couldn't put them down. So when I found out that I was going to have to wait almost an entire year for the next one, I was distraught. When I found out that book 13 was going to be the final book, I developed extremely high expectations for how the author would end this series. I have to say, I was a little disappointed.

I don't know if Charlaine Harris originally intended "Dead Ever After" to be the final book in the Sookie Stackhouse series or not, but the whole thing felt a bit rushed. The big tease was that we were finally going to find out who Sookie would end up with. There were so many possibilities but in the end, the decision seemed to come out of nowhere and with very little justification. There were several story lines that were left open at the end of book 12 - enough that you would need more than one book to wrap everything up. But one book was all they got and it definitely wasn't the exit that many fans had hoped for.

I will say though, that the series as a whole is excellent. If you are a fan of True Blood I highly recommend them. The original intention was for the show to closely follow the story lines in each book. That lasted until this last season (season 5) when True Blood went completely off book (see what I did there?) and ventured into unknown territory. As a fan of both, it made the books that much more exciting to me. Because you essentially get the same characters but two completely different stories. If you are interested in the Sookie Stackhouse Series here are all 13 books, in order:

Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead As a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone
Dead in the Family
Dead Reckoning
Deadlocked
Dead Ever After