The Perks of Being a Wallflower (by Stephen Chbosky)

A Christmas gift that I read over the course of an evening, which I always find somehow satisfying.

I definitely understand some of the complaints that I read about this book--that the character of Charlie is too naive, that his friendship with Patrick and Sam is unrealistic, that he's quite popular for someone supposedly unpopular, that his life touches on basically every ABC afterschool special adolescent trauma imaginable. But I really didn't think about any of that as I was reading it.

Instead, I connected Charlie to Sam Weir in Freaks and Geeks, a character that really was naive, rather than the typical uber-sophisticated adolescent. I really enjoyed the character's voice and was invested in his journey and the rest of the novel's characters. And I enjoyed that some of the themes and ideas are sophisticated enough to discuss in an adult book group (I know of one that's discussing it next week).

I don't really have anything profound to add beyond the fact that I liked it and am in a way still digesting it.