Loose Threads

by Helen Kelley
my copy, hardcover, signed by author, 223 pages

Kelley is a die-hard quilter and funny newsletter article writer. Her columns were bound and published in this book which I bought at the quilt show in June. Reading these makes me want to get to work on some quilts!

A Company of Swans

by Eva Ibbotson
audiobook on 9 CDs
Carver County library

This took me forever to get into, but I enjoyed it once I was drawn into Harriet's and Rom's stories. An historical romance, this one traveled from Cambridge to the Amazon. Sweet, interesting, fun. I might look for more of her stories.

Harriet is being raised by her father, a boring and pompous lecturer/professor, and his sister Louisa, who is a prickly, miserly woman. Harriet is unusually lively and insightful, but her natural enthusiasms have been stifled by these two ever since her mother died. When she meets young Henry Brandon at Stavely, she develops the courage to run away.

The thing I didn't like were the three huge misunderstandings that developed between Harriet and Rom. They were glaring plot devices to set up conflict, but worked out fine in the end.

Charlie Bone

by Jenny Nimmo

Midnight for Charlie Bone
Charlie Bone and the Time Twister
Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy
Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors
Charlie Bone and the Hidden King

I re-read these titles sometime in the past week just for some light summer reading. In some ways, I think I enjoyed them more this time around. Now I'm ready to go on to Charlie Bone and the Beast, which has been out for a while. Book seven will be out in late September (C.B. and the Shadow).

Charlie Bone is a nice boy whose father has been missing since he was two. Left destitute, Charlie's mom Amy and grandma Maisie move in with his father's mother Grizelda. Many people compare this series to Harry Potter, but I think it has a different flavor to it. I love that the "endowed" children have different gifts. Charlie is able to communicate with people in paintings and photographs. I don't like how quickly the author moves from each story's climax to the ending. Hello, denouement, anyone? Still, they make for fun & light reading.

 

<Above posted 7.25.08. Below added 8.6.23.>

 

I've gotten the audiobooks via Libby so I can listen as I work at my summer job. So far, I've listened to the first two. I'm not sure I'll continue on . . . 

 

Narrator: Simon Russell Beale - he does a fantastic job, giving Manfred Bloor a sinister voice, Lysander a deep calm voice, etc.  

General observations:

• Some of the adults are so incredibly nasty that it reminds me of Roald Dahl and many of his horrible adult characters (Matilda's parents, James' peachy aunts, . . . )
• I love Mr. Onimous and the cats! 
• Poor Benjamin! His parents aren't even home on his 10th birthday and don't have a plan in place to make it special for him.
  
• Henry traveling through ninety years of time and meeting his great-nephew Charlie is pretty cool.
• I remember how much I dislike the sorcerer Skarpo . . .
  

Gulliver's Travels

by Jonathan Swift
audiobook on CD, Carver County, 11 hours
read by David Case

I was caught by the introduction - Swift would be amazed that this story is considered a "children's book." Though I'm familiar with Swift's satire, my exposure to Gulliver's Travels has mostly been through children's book versions or videos. I was curious to have the full story as Swift wrote it.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I didn't understand some of the political pokes he was making. I don't know much about politics in Europe in the early 1700s, and could tell that he was critiquing (as always) the injustices that he saw around him.

For the most part, I enjoyed this story. It was an interesting mix of satire, adventure, and observation. When he described the Houyhnhnms (horse people), they sound so ideal. But by the end, when he despises Yahoos (humans) and shuns his own wife, I didn't enjoy it so much.

Just went to wikipedia and read about GT. I understand a bit better now. One thing that really struck me while I was listening to the story was the third voyage to Laputa. As Swift bandied about the ideas of Aristotle, Robespierre, etc. I realized that most intelligent people of his day would have known those great thinkers' ideas. I've heard of them and studied them a little bit twenty years ago, but am basically pretty ignorant about their ideas. Interesting to think about. Am I getting less intellectual as I get older? Just more pragmatic? Too darn busy? I can't picture picking up Aristotle right now . . .

Letter from Home

by Carolyn Hart
Carver County Library, hardcover, 262 pages

This is our CMSW summer read. Since I'll be discussing it more than two months from now, but don't want to give away any key plot points, . . . this will be a circumspect blog entry. I liked this story. A lot. It took 'til the very ending to find out the truth, and it wasn't what I expected.

I loved the character of Gretchen! There was such a good mix of innocence and maturity. I adored her grandmother, and especially liked how she modeled and lived her faith in God. It was so painful when Gretchen's friends started rejecting her, but it was believable.

Each chapter started with a portion of the letter (written in the modern time period), which I understood came from Barb. Then Gretchen's old-lady / modern thoughts as she is in the cemetery of her home town. The rest of each chapter told the story of the events of Summer 1944. I love this author's writing style! The sights, sounds, heat, etc. all came alive as I read - especially Gretchen's terror as she goes to the cabin in the woods alone. Very cool book!

I didn't like the resolution, though I was glad to find out the truth of Faye's murder. It reminded me of Lovely Bones, where resolution comes so much longer after the crime has been committed. This will be fun to discuss! (If I remember enough.)

Gretchen (G.G.) Gilman - 13 year old newspaper reporter for the Gazette
Chief Fraser - police chief at odds with the sheriff and county attorney, believes Clyde is innocent
Clyde Tatum - soldier home on leave, believed to have murdered his wife Faye
Faye Tatum - artist, mother, lover of life, unconventional woman
Cousin Hilda - comes to help run the restaurant, drill sergeant-type
Sergeant Petty - female police officer (because most men are away in the war)
Ralph Cooley - sleazy alcoholic reporter who used to write for the INS
Sheriff Moore - in tight with Durwood, wants to capture Clyde
Reverend Byars - nasty, mean-spirited pastor
Archer Street - where Gretchen lives with her Grandma / also the Tatums' street
Jim Dan Pulliam - teenager who was encouraged in his art by Faye
Sergeant Holliman - police officer who gets hurt during the breakin at the Tatums
Mayor Burkett - typical glory-hog politician
Donny Durwood - county attorney who aspires to high political office, married to one of elite society
Barb Tatum - daughter of murdered Faye Tatum, tragic figure
Lou Hopper - woman who runs the Blue Light
Mrs. Crane - Tatums' next door neighbor, who knew some secrets . . .

I hope I can remember well enough to discuss. Good book!

The Curse of the Campfire Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

by David Lubar
CMSW, hard cover, 203 pages

Although I didn't enjoy this collection of short stories quite as much as Lawn Weenies and Road Weenies, Lubar's style is still a fun mix of quirky humor and horror with a message. There weren't any that really jumped out at me, but I enjoyed the twists in "Predator," about online behavior. This is a fun read, but many of my students don't read short story collections (probably because they don't fulfill any LA reading requirements . . . ). Onward and upward!

She Always Wore Red

by Angela Hunt
paperback, about 300 pages
I borrowed Lois' copy

I read this the day of book club! (Actually, I finished as book club discussion was starting.) Another good story by Angela Hunt. Jen is trying to raise her two boys, go to school for mortuary science, and stay on top of Fairlawn, the business she inherited. When she goes to her friend's book club, one of Lydia's guests has a special reason for wanting to meet her. McLane is actually Jen's younger half-sister, fathered by her philandering father 24 years earlier.

Gerald was my favorite character; I would have loved to know more about his story. Someone at book club mentioned that they liked the multi-faceted aspect of the story. I agree! It didn't come across as an anti-abortion story. There were layers and complexities to each person's perspectives. Some of the racism-themed layers were very, very well-written. I also loved Clay's story. What a true-to-life 13 y.o.

This is actually book two of a trilogy. I'm very curious now to go back and read the first one. I bet it'll answer a lot of my questions.