And while he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his year yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.
Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can’t stay on the sidelines forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.
Fair warning: this review contains lots of curses.
- Overall
-
I know it’s not really fair to compare a book to its film adaptation, so I’ll try not to do that. But I should probably state for the record that I liked The Perks of Being a Wallflower
movie, despite Chbosky’s weird use of smash cuts, awkward non-sequiters, and shenanigan-worthy lines like, “I wish I’d studied more during freshman year.” I snorted at that last one. The way I remember it, ninth grade was basically state-run babysitting.
But the movie made me feel good. It was uplifting and well cast. I kind of expected that the book would give me the same sense of enjoyment, or move me on the same level. I was greatly disappointed.
- Writing
-
I found The Perks of Being a Wallflower
I was also beyond annoyed at Chbosky’s use of quotation marks around nouns. Take this example:
Patrick kept making jokes that I would get an “erection.”
Erection is not slang, a colloquialism, or a euphemism. It’s the actual word to describe a man’s state of arousal. So why the fuck is it in quotation marks? There are dozens of instances of this, and only a handful can be justified as slang/euphemisms/rare words.
- Charlie
-
Normally I would call this tab “characterization,” but since the entire story is framed through Charlie’s impressions and opinions, I don’t think that’s the best word for it. Charlie is the epistolary narrator, and everyone else in this story is only what he sees or reports.
Charlie and I didn’t get along. Normally I sympathize with the socially awkward, but Charlie was just so lame. And his tear ducts might as well be watering cans. This kid cries on practically every page. Part of that is because he’s prone to panic attacks, which is a mental health issue so I won’t pick on it, but the other half of the time he’s weeping because he’s just so damn sensitive about everything. I kept waiting for the part where he gets his first period.
- Final Thoughts
-
This might be the only instance, ever, where I recommend the movie
but not the book on which it was based. I think the story just works better as a movie than it does as a series of letters.
I’ve decided to start a new feature on Read. Write. Discuss. I recently went out of my way to acquire a hardcover first edition of a book that I haven’t even finished reading yet because I knew it was something I would want to hold on to and eventually pass down to my children and grandchildren. It was a beautiful book, with a gorgeous cover and ink-edged pages. The text was beautifully typeset, and the book had a good weight in my hands.
by Markus Zusak from the library. I’d seen a glowing review on Goodreads, and since I was in a slump of crummy books, I thought I’d give it a try.
Every afternoon Sean Benning picks up his son, Toby, on the marble steps that lead into the prestigious Bradley School. Everything at Bradley is accelerated, 3rd graders read at the 6th grade level, they have labs and facilities to rival most universities, and the chess champions are the bullies.
is a very timely book. ADD and ADHD diagnoses are higher than ever, the average American child’s education is a crap shoot, and there seems to be a pill for everything. 
It’s been a while since I joined in the Feature & Follow Fridays, but I’m trying to get back into it. I’ve discovered some great blogs this way in the past, and hope to find more this summer. Never mind that it’s barely summer here in Canada — now is a good time to start.
by Marion Zimmer-Bradley — I read this one at my grandparents’ cottage, and my Nan wondered why I wasn’t bouncing off the walls like her other grandkids. Uh, because I was absorbed in an awesome book…
by Delilah S. Dawson, 
by Kate Worsley (tour date: June 18th).
Some of you might have seen a funny looking email in your inbox this morning. That’s because I’ve switched up my review format, and Jetpack doesn’t enable shortcodes. In light of this, I’ve switched the Read. Write. Discuss. mailing list over to MailChimp. Their RSS-driven campaign tools will ensure that posts are actually readable by email for those of you who subscribe.
Eighteen-year-old Simon Peters wants to stand up for the truth about who he is. His love for Stephen is unwavering, but does he have the courage to defend it when his entire church community, including his eldest brother has ostracized him? Trapped in a cashier’s job he hates, struggling to maintain peace with his brothers after their parents have died, and determined to look after his mute brother, Simon puts everyone else’s needs before his own. It takes a courageous act of self-sacrifice on Jude’s part to change both of their lives forever. Jude, who knew that when the fig tree in their yard began to bloom, it was his time to finally be heard and to set Simon free.
by Lindsay Moynihan to be a touching read about a troubled family in small-town Louisiana. The protagonist and narrator, Simon, is facing the fallout of being forced out of the closet, and at the same time his entire family is recovering from tragedy. The four brothers must figure out how to pick up the pieces after their parents’ sudden demise, and 
is on sale for 99¢ for the month of May, across all platforms. In the past promos like these have been limited to 
by Delilah S. Dawson, sequel to the carnie-punk 
. I greatly enjoyed Dawson’s first book, and can’t wait to read Casper’s story.
When Blud princess Ahnastasia wakes up, drained and starving in a suitcase, she’s not sure which calls to her more: the sound of music or the scent of blood. The source of both sensations is a handsome and mysterious man named Casper Sterling. Once the most celebrated musician in London, Sangland, he’s fallen on hard times. Now, much to Ahna’s frustration, the debauched and reckless human is her only ticket back home to the snow-rimmed and magical land of Freesia.
Astrid Jones desperately wants to confide in someone, but her mother’s pushiness and her father’s lack of interest tell her they’re the last people she can trust. Instead, Astrid spends hours lying on the backyard picnic table watching airplanes fly overhead. She doesn’t know the passengers inside, but they’re the only people who won’t judge her when she asks them her most personal questions . . . like what it means that she’s falling in love with a girl.
Bracingly candid, sweetly indignant, and writing with an unchecked sense of entitlement, the Internet’s wildly popular Honest Toddler delivers a guide to the parenting techniques he deems acceptable (keep the cake coming and the apple juice undiluted).
by Bunmi Laditan from NetGalley because I’m a fan of The Honest Toddler blog and Twitter feed. I thought THT was an apt form of social comedy, and was looking forward to the book.
Connect: