Book Review: The Newman Resident

I don't normally put book reviews on my blog.  Not sure why...  It would be easy to transfer them from Goodreads, I suppose, but I wanted to do one of this book because 1) the author is my neighbor 2) I want to help him promote the book because I think it's awesome that he wrote and published a novel on the side, just to fulfill a dream, and not because he thinks he'll make any money off it and 3) he's giving it away for free as an ebook on Amazon this week only, from Tuesday, April 1st - Thursday April 3rd.  What do you have to lose?

The Newman Resident, by Charles Swift, is a really quick read, and a thriller.  I don't normally read thrillers, but I couldn't put it down!  (I guess that's the point :D)  I liked how short the chapters were- it made it feel like you were making lots of progress quickly, and it's especially great for a mom with kids at home who are constantly interrupted... it only took a minute or so to get to the end of the chapter if I needed to stop reading when one of my kids needed something.  (I hate stopping in the middle of a chapter.  It's dumb, I know...)

Here's an excerpt from the summary on amazon, to give you a feel for what kind of book it is:

It’s the near future and education has become big business. Dr. Newman is at the leading edge of creating the perfect educational environment for children, and all he requires is a hefty tuition—and your child at the age of six months.

Christopher Carson is one of the “Newman Residents” who live at the Newman Home year-round. His parents, Richard and Carol, both Manhattan attorneys, may disagree about the specifics, but each wants what’s best for their son. For Richard, this means bringing Christopher, now six years old, home for one last summer vacation before the visits become brief and infrequent.

What follows in The Newman Resident is a whirlwind battle between a devoted father and an education system more terrifyingly powerful than he ever could have imagined. It’s a battle that forces him to confront how some will cross any line in order to create the “perfect” child.

I liked that there was no date, but that it clearly felt like the near future - most of the technology was the same, but there were a few slight advances that seemed really realistic.  It made you feel like this kind of world is where we could be heading, and within my lifetime.

It made me stop and think about education quite a bit, though I'm not sure if that was his intention.

As I said before, I couldn't put it down, and read it all in one day.  The next day, I found myself thinking about it all day long.

I thought the characters felt very real, and I liked getting glimpses of the relationship development between the protagonist and his wife.

My book club read this book a couple of months ago, and since we know the author, we invited him along to ask him questions about it.  It was fun to hear how he put himself and others he knew in little bits and pieces throughout the book (for example, he went to Columbia Law, like Richard and Carol, so all the places he talks about in Manhattan are places he used to frequent.) and to hear about how the novel developed.  He said his original manuscript was much, much longer, and he cut out quite a bit to keep it moving and engaging.  It really worked!

I don't want to give any spoilers, so hurry and get the ebook while it's free!  (even if you don't get there in time, it's only $3.99 regularly...)  Be sure to leave a comment on Amazon to help his book get out there!  It only takes a minute!

I think it's so awesome when people have dreams and make them happen :)


PS if you have an account on Goodreads, why don't you "friend me" (or whatever they call it over there...) so I can see what you're reading?  I'm always looking for another book recommendation...

PSS this is not an April Fools' Day post!  I feel really bad for the one I put up last year, because months later, people posted things like, "this is awesome! I can't wait to try it!" and I felt very guilty...  I forgot that what goes on the internet, stays on the internet, and people could find it when it's not April Fools' and take it seriously! I must admit, I briefly considered doing a post about "homemade Doritos" using food storage powdered cheese this year :D

Last Week

It's been so nice not having a million things on my plate!  I've had so much fun just playing and reading stories with my children!  

The Frog has been wearing underpants all week long, which I'm really, really excited about.  Turns out, when you put underpants on little sister (just to try) all of a sudden it looks like a good idea to big brother...  

He's also discovered the "funny face"-

 Little Peach amazes me with her vocabulary increase, and will often try to repeat the last thing anybody said, just to see if she can say it.  She loves to pick out books and then come sit on my lap to read them (usually with her feet stuck between my legs). This is  picture of her pushing her "bankie" in the stroller- a favorite activity of hers. She is very particular that the blanket can't have any edges poking out beyond the seat of the stroller, it's so funny.

 The Frog loves to pretend he's a dog, and Peach loves to copy her brother, so I often get little barking children at my feet, who try to get my attention by scratching my legs.  This particular day, The Frog found a pacifier and decided he was a baby dog.  Peach found a bottle nipple and decided the same.

 My neighbor had an idea for an awesome book that they really created to market toward taiwanese school children who are learning English, but he gave one to us and my kids LOVE it.  It's an ABC book and you're supposed to glue in pictures of your own kids with the alphabet item mentioned.  Brilliant!  What kid doesn't LOVE looking at pictures of themselves!

It is THE Most requested book in my house- and I haven't even glued the pictures in yet...  I keep meaning to print out pictures to put in- most of them I will use ones we already have.  For example, A is for Apple- we have an apple tree, so plenty of kid-with-apple pics to choose from.  B is for Book- I might even use this picture for that one!  H is for "Happy Birthday"- who doesn't have at least ONE birthday shot of their children...  There are a couple pages where I might just put in my own picture- like I have a cute one of The Frog eating ice cream that I'm going to use for I.  If anyone wants to buy a copy, I think they're $12, and I can figure out how to get one to you.  The pictures are adorable and each page has a few things drawn that also starts with that letter of the alphabet.

Joy Reading

I've FINALLY made some time for a bit of joy reading this last couple of weeks, and it's been great! We're talking not for school, not for pregnancy, not for gardening, not for informational purposes what-so-ever! It's been a long time for me...

The first one was John Steinbeck's Cannery Row. I was interested in this because 1) I remembered enjoying The Grapes of Wrath, despite its daunting thickness and being a class requirement- both of which are usually major turn-offs for me, and 2) because it's about the Monterrey Bay area, which is just south of my previous abode and a place I did get to visit before leaving. I really had no idea what it was going to be about, and even still, I'm not quite sure if the book had a "point" per say... (this is one of my major literary flaws- always searching for some kind of point) but I loved it! I laughed out loud on several occasions, and wish I had the same way with words as he, so I could fully express my amazement at his creativity and quip. And let's not forget that the mere 181 pages is also a plus- it leaves you willing to read more, instead of dreading the last n pages like my next read.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I've been meaning to read this for quite some time- ever since my AP European history class when we had to chose 2 books from a list to write a book report on. This was in my top 3, but I ended up ruling it out because it was the longest of the three. (You are beginning to see the depth of importance this shallow criteria holds for me.) A very depressing read, yet well-done. I really felt for the characters and felt despair right along with them. However, I was amazed and annoyed by the socialist propaganda in the last third of the book. It's funny that with all the blurbs and mentions of the book I've come across thus far, I never suspected this unwanted surprise. If you ever decide to take on this morose story, feel free to stop reading once the protagonist sits in on his first socialist meeting. The rest of the book just redundantly lectures about how great socialism is without ever explaining how it would bring about this allegedly resultant utopia.

The third book was The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I thought it was a nice feel-good, easy read, but not much more than that. I read this for my Relief Society book group, which made me think about The Alchemist from a more religious perspective. It's funny how easy it is to turn things into metaphors for your own agenda, when clearly Coelho had no intention of writing for a particularly LDS audience... but there almost is a parallel between the Alchemist and God, from an LDS perspective. Anyway, I think I may be interested in some of Coelho's other writings when I run out of things to read, even though I'm still not clear as to why The Alchemist was an international best-seller.

My current read is called The Wednesday Wars by Gary D Schmidt- another book group read. It's very light-hearted and an easy-read and I'm enjoying it quite a lot so far. The main character is very believable and I feel like I can relate to how he thinks a lot. Maybe that's not such a good thing- seeing as how he's in 7th grade. Perhaps I'll come back and review it more thoroughly, since I'm still only 50 pages in.

Anyway, I'm trying to compile a list of books for me to read- especially since several people have mentioned to me that nursing a new-born takes a lot of time the first few months, and the only thing you can really do simultaneously is read. My list currently contains some of those classics that everyone is usually forced to read in high school that I never did (To Kill A Mockingbird), and ones that I would like to re-read that I think I may be able to appreciate better now (A Tale of Two Cities). I'd really like suggestions from anyone that has any. I'm really up for any genre at this point- trying to keep an open mind. And yes, even if it's a long one, as long as you promise that it's really good, I'm willing to give it a shot.

Anyone?