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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Twerp in Books

Jan 23, 2020

Original Review posted on <a title="Twerp by Mark Goldblatt" href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2013/05/arc-review-twerp-by-mark-goldblatt.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Original Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Owls

Note: Formatting is lost due to copy and paste

<i><b>Disclaimer:</b> I received an ARC copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley. My review is not influenced in any way.</i>

     In the 1960s of Queens, New York, 6th grader Julian Twerski takes an incident too far with his group of friends and gets suspended as a result. He's asked by his English teacher to write a journal about the incident just to get out of writing a report. Instead, he writes about other incidents because he isn't really ready to talk about the incident that gets him a suspension.

     Julian and his group of friends, Lonnie, Quentin, Sholomo, Eric and Howie, tend to get away with a lot of pranks after doing them. I love how Goldblatt writes Julian's life in a very realistic way that Twerp reminds me a lot of my 6th grade year in some way. It's pretty dramatic, with people holding grudges longer than necessary and when you look back, it somehow just reminds of some decisions where there was more than just one route... I feel pretty naive looking back now. If I could go back in time and rethink things through, there are just some things I probably wouldn't have done, even if I don't get in trouble for it.

     Twerp is basically about taking responsibility for your actions. When you mess up terribly, sometimes apologizing is the right thing to do to make up for your actions (and sometimes, even apologizing doesn't work).

     While I can't go back in time myself to rethink awkward/funny moments and situations, I'm really glad Julian finally realizes how far he took the incident and con fesses about what really happened instead of lying just to get out of it. I'm also really glad that he convinces his friends that what they did was wrong and they should, at the least, apologize about the incident. It's nice to know that after evaluating the situation and actions, it lifts a burden off someone's shoulders.

Kudos

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Twenty-One Truths About Love in Books

Mar 19, 2020

Dan Mayrock is an obsessive list maker who has quit his job as a teacher and opened a bookstore. But now he's in financial trouble and afraid to tell his wife, Jill. Jill was previously married and Dan feels he can never quite live up to Jill's late husband. And then, Jill gets pregnant. Now Dan feels even more pressure to be the best he can be for Jill.

The shtick of this book is that it's told entirely in list form. No dialogue, no narrative, nothing. Just lists. It did wear a little thin at times, but it was an interesting way to learn about someone's life. You learn about Dan's finances, feelings, and amazingly, a lot about his past.

For me, what really got me about this book is that I just couldn't warm to Dan. I think most people find this book heartwarming and cute, but I found him--and it--annoying and whiny. He doesn't want to tell his wife about his financial problems with the store, so he concocts some ridiculous scheme to "help" the family instead. It was just too much for me. Man up, tell your wife, and take responsibility for your actions. I didn't find it cute, and if I was his wife, I would have kicked him to the curb.

It's a shame, because a lot of the book was filled with really funny and spot-on observations about life. I especially loved Dan's ruminations on teaching and meetings. They were incredibly true to life. There are a lot of humorous and touching moments in this book, but I could never really push past the fact that he was a spineless liar.

"'Let's start off with an icebreaker' are words no human being has ever wanted to hear."

Overall, I enjoyed pieces of this book, but found myself skimming others. I liked the idea of it, but could never warm to Dan and since the whole book was his lists and life, it was hard to enjoy without liking him. I need a book from the POV of his older Bingo buddy, Bill. Now he was a cool dude.