Just read the greatest short story by Jennifer Weiner. Maureen has recently been widowed and finds a present in the attic from her late husband - an off brand GPS to help Maureen find her way now that she’s alone the world. As she’s driving to see her sister one day, the calm female voice stops telling her which way to turn. Instead, a man tells her to turn around - a man that sounds too much like her dead husband and Maureen realizes this is not the kind gift she thought it was. This story was so good that I read it in less than 1 hour, but beware next time you plug in your GPS. It may not have your best intentions at heart. First things first, I will admit that this is the first book I have ever read on my iPod. OK, so it’s a short story, but it’s a start, right?Am I ready for my e-reader yet? We’ll see.Anyway, I am a huge Jennifer Weiner fan. I know it doesn’t look it since I haven’t reviewed any of her works on my blog, but I plan to reread a bunch of it soon and hope to review it then.As with any of my favourite authors, I’m always on the move to acquire any and all of their works I can get my hands on. When I saw that Jennifer Weiner had a couple short stories available on iTunes, I snatched them up — despite the fact that I had never read anything on my iPod before, the screen being too small and me not seeing the appeal of reading a book on a computer.Of course, being a story by Jennifer Weiner, I was immediately drawn into it within the first few pages and felt empathy for the main character, Maureen, who was in an abusive relationship with her husband, Tommy. The story begins with her taking down the Halloween decorations and finding a wrapped gift for her from her husband. He had already passed and she wondered how long it had been sitting there for. When she opens it up, it’s a GPS and, from there, things start to get weird.I though the characters were very well drawn out for a short story — the reader feels sympathy towards Maureen (and maybe a bit of anger for her not improving her situation while she had the chance), and definite hatred towards Tommy. We learn just a bit about Maureen’s sister, Lauren, and a few other secondary characters as the story goes on.Because it’s a short story, there’s not a lot of room for lots of descriptions or flowing layers of dialogue. With a short story, we want the story to get to the point and move fast. Weiner does just this, sucking in the reader from the first page, bringing in aspects of the mystery as the story goes on. This isn’t a typical Weiner work: what I’m most used to is more chick-lit types of stories, with a little romance here and there. That isn’t what I got with this one. Instead, it was a little bit mystery, a little bit horror — a perfect read for Halloween.Sometimes I felt that the story jumped around just a bit too much and I wasn’t sure if I was reading something that happened in the past or in the present, but eventually found out. There were also parts that seemed just a little hokey and not liable to happen, but hey — it’s a story, right? We’re not looking for real events, we’re looking to be scared and drawn in by something that isn’t our every day minutiae.All in all, it’s not the best work Weiner has done, but it’s still a nice little read. If you’re looking for something quick and just a little spooky, give Recalculating a try.
What do You think about Recalculating (2011)?
This was not what I expected- but it kept my attention!!! Jennifer Weiner is my fave!!
—joanneanne
Jennifer Weiner does creepy! I was not expecting that. A good new experience for me.
—gromble
Really enjoy most of her books but didn't care for this one at all
—Leighamariee
I found this disturbing, I liked the story up until the end.
—vesna
