by Julianna Deering
Hennepin County Library paperback 328 pages
genre: Christian historical mystery fiction
This was fun, but not terribly gripping. Drew Farthering is a dashing 1930s man of wealth who loves to read and solve mysteries. Two bodies are found at his family estate and the detective work begins. There's also a little romance with Madeline Parker.
We read this for book club and as usual - I enjoyed the discussion! My favorite thing was Jodi saying she could picture the book's events happening as though in an old black and white film from this era.
I actually found the solution of the mystery a bit confusing. I won't do a spoiler here, but the pieces came together at the end in a way that I don't think the author had dropped enough clues about.
Parts I marked:
page 118 - contemplating one's life in light of eternity / also, Madeline's peace and certain hope
page 176 - hypocrites in the church and where they need to be - "It's not the healthy people who need the hospital, you know."
page 292 - Drew saying "God, what does she want from me?" and then turning it into an actual prayer of seeking to God.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
The End Is Just the Beginning: How I Survived the Death of My Only Child
by Michela Duplechain
friend's copy paperback 111 pages
genre: memoir, Christian encouragement
I don't think the friend who wholeheartedly recommended this book has actually read it. Although it is definitely a faith-focused book filled with encouragement from Scripture, I didn't find it compelling. The spelling and grammar errors were very distracting; I'm not sure if anyone actually edited this before it went to press. The author's primary audience is women who have had a child die; her secondary audience is women suffering from domestic abuse. Neither of these "spoke" to me. As she relates her own experience, the storytelling is disjointed, vague, and confusing. Did her son's father actually parent with her? Or was he also an abuser like her second husband (who killed her son Anthony). There are so many unanswered questions (in my mind). It is a great testimony of her faith and what God did in her life. My favorite part was her grandma coming over to her house and banging on the door. I would rather read the Bible than the time I spent reading this book, though.
friend's copy paperback 111 pages
genre: memoir, Christian encouragement
I don't think the friend who wholeheartedly recommended this book has actually read it. Although it is definitely a faith-focused book filled with encouragement from Scripture, I didn't find it compelling. The spelling and grammar errors were very distracting; I'm not sure if anyone actually edited this before it went to press. The author's primary audience is women who have had a child die; her secondary audience is women suffering from domestic abuse. Neither of these "spoke" to me. As she relates her own experience, the storytelling is disjointed, vague, and confusing. Did her son's father actually parent with her? Or was he also an abuser like her second husband (who killed her son Anthony). There are so many unanswered questions (in my mind). It is a great testimony of her faith and what God did in her life. My favorite part was her grandma coming over to her house and banging on the door. I would rather read the Bible than the time I spent reading this book, though.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Thief of Time
by Terry Pratchett
PRMS paperback 357 pages
genre: fantasy
This Discworld novel has been sitting at my house for over two years. I had enough time on the flight home from New York to read almost the entire thing. There were parts of it that I found extremely clever and enjoyable. There were times I just thought it was silly and pointless. I think I would have loved this book as a teenager . . . in some ways, it made me think of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Lu-Tze is a sweeper. Jeremy a clockmaker. Lobsang a gifted foundling. Susan a teacher. The nature of time and humanity are questioned. Odd, but good. I'm not going to continue reading this series, but at least now I have a sense of what it's like.
PRMS paperback 357 pages
genre: fantasy
This Discworld novel has been sitting at my house for over two years. I had enough time on the flight home from New York to read almost the entire thing. There were parts of it that I found extremely clever and enjoyable. There were times I just thought it was silly and pointless. I think I would have loved this book as a teenager . . . in some ways, it made me think of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Lu-Tze is a sweeper. Jeremy a clockmaker. Lobsang a gifted foundling. Susan a teacher. The nature of time and humanity are questioned. Odd, but good. I'm not going to continue reading this series, but at least now I have a sense of what it's like.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
The Light Between Oceans
by M.L. Stedman
personal hardcover 343 pages
genre: historical fiction, relationships
Where to begin? This was beautiful and painful. Tom Sherbourne has fought in WWI and come back alive to Australia. He becomes the lighthouse keeper out at remote Janus, a small island off the southwest coast. He falls in love with and marries Isabel, who suffers with three miscarriages. Then a boat comes to Janus with a dead man and a live baby. Tom wants to dutifully report it, but Izzy begs him to wait a day. The man is already dead and the baby needs to be cared for. Once the deception has begun, it leads places neither of them anticipate.
Jenifer gave this to me. I spilled coffee all over it. It dried, though it is brown and wrinkly. I cannot bear to get rid of it. It will live at the lake and be shared and re-read.
page 174 - After receiving a letter from his long-estranged father:
"It seemed a lifetime since Tom had spoken to this man. How it must have cost him, to write such a letter. That his father had made an attempt to contact him after their bitter separation was not just a surprise but a shock. Nothing seemed certain any more. Tom wondered whether his father's coldness protected a wound all along." The phrase "nothing seemed certain any more" really resonated for me. Those of us who make up our minds too quickly sometimes have to stop and consider possibilities we've not allowed into our minds.
page 225 - When Tom is put in prison:
"He cannot reconcile the grief he feels at what he has done and the profound relief that runs through him. Two opposing physical forces, they create an inexplicable reaction . . . " The mix of grief and relief seems so artistic yet very, very real. Beautiful.
page 253 - After Bluey visits Tom in the prison and he thinks about Isabel and Lucy:
"Then he remembered Ralph's words - 'no point in fighting your war over and over until you get it right.' Instead, he sought comfort in perspective: in his mind's eye, he mapped out on the ceiling the exact position the stars would be in that night, starting with Sirius, always the brightest . . . The precision of it, the quiet orderliness of the stars, gave him a sense of freedom. There was nothing he was going through that the stars had not seen before, somewhere, some time on this earth." I think this struck me because I find it so easy to get caught up in life's dramas, yet there really isn't anything new under the stars. For me as a Christian, trusting that God is in charge and I just need to have faith makes the cares of this world fade away.
page 323 - Hannah remembers a conversation with Frank:
"You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering all the bad things." What a great perspective!
personal hardcover 343 pages
genre: historical fiction, relationships
Where to begin? This was beautiful and painful. Tom Sherbourne has fought in WWI and come back alive to Australia. He becomes the lighthouse keeper out at remote Janus, a small island off the southwest coast. He falls in love with and marries Isabel, who suffers with three miscarriages. Then a boat comes to Janus with a dead man and a live baby. Tom wants to dutifully report it, but Izzy begs him to wait a day. The man is already dead and the baby needs to be cared for. Once the deception has begun, it leads places neither of them anticipate.
Jenifer gave this to me. I spilled coffee all over it. It dried, though it is brown and wrinkly. I cannot bear to get rid of it. It will live at the lake and be shared and re-read.
page 174 - After receiving a letter from his long-estranged father:
"It seemed a lifetime since Tom had spoken to this man. How it must have cost him, to write such a letter. That his father had made an attempt to contact him after their bitter separation was not just a surprise but a shock. Nothing seemed certain any more. Tom wondered whether his father's coldness protected a wound all along." The phrase "nothing seemed certain any more" really resonated for me. Those of us who make up our minds too quickly sometimes have to stop and consider possibilities we've not allowed into our minds.
page 225 - When Tom is put in prison:
"He cannot reconcile the grief he feels at what he has done and the profound relief that runs through him. Two opposing physical forces, they create an inexplicable reaction . . . " The mix of grief and relief seems so artistic yet very, very real. Beautiful.
page 253 - After Bluey visits Tom in the prison and he thinks about Isabel and Lucy:
"Then he remembered Ralph's words - 'no point in fighting your war over and over until you get it right.' Instead, he sought comfort in perspective: in his mind's eye, he mapped out on the ceiling the exact position the stars would be in that night, starting with Sirius, always the brightest . . . The precision of it, the quiet orderliness of the stars, gave him a sense of freedom. There was nothing he was going through that the stars had not seen before, somewhere, some time on this earth." I think this struck me because I find it so easy to get caught up in life's dramas, yet there really isn't anything new under the stars. For me as a Christian, trusting that God is in charge and I just need to have faith makes the cares of this world fade away.
page 323 - Hannah remembers a conversation with Frank:
"You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering all the bad things." What a great perspective!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Pop Princess
by Rachel Cohn
PRMS hardcover 311 pages
genre: YA romance, coming-of-age
I tried to get a middle schooler to read this and give me her opinion. She couldn't do more than a few chapters, deeming it "too girly." So I started it at lunch yesterday and finished it last night. Wonder Blake is 15 and working at Dairy Queen when her older sister's manager "discovers" her singing and dancing with a mop. Since Lucky was killed by a drunk driver two years earlier, the entire Blake family has been sleepwalking through life. Wonder's journey through life, including sudden pop princess stardom, is actually an interesting one. There are some romance readers who would definitely enjoy the relationships Wonder has in this book . . .
PRMS hardcover 311 pages
genre: YA romance, coming-of-age
I tried to get a middle schooler to read this and give me her opinion. She couldn't do more than a few chapters, deeming it "too girly." So I started it at lunch yesterday and finished it last night. Wonder Blake is 15 and working at Dairy Queen when her older sister's manager "discovers" her singing and dancing with a mop. Since Lucky was killed by a drunk driver two years earlier, the entire Blake family has been sleepwalking through life. Wonder's journey through life, including sudden pop princess stardom, is actually an interesting one. There are some romance readers who would definitely enjoy the relationships Wonder has in this book . . .
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Love, Stargirl
by Jerry Spinelli
Hennepin County Library audioCDs, 6:20
read by Mandy Siegfried
This book bugged me . . . and I'm not sure why. Dootsie was a little brat, Stargirl was irritating, Perry was such a delinquent (though we finally find out what's up with him toward the end of the book). Spinelli definitely creates memorable characters, though. I found myself wanting to meet Arnold, Betty Lou, Alvina, and Charlie. The storyline of Stargirl writing a book-long letter to Leo back in Arizona just didn't work for me, though. I am not sure what kind of reader would most enjoy this book . . . and I kind of want to re-read Stargirl. I loved that book! Siegfried's voice work was nice, so I'm really not sure why this story bugged me so much.
Sigh. No idea when I wrote this . . . I probably read it at LEAST three years ago. I'm not very good at keeping track of things. That was the purpose of this blog. To keep track of the books I'm reading. That's why I don't want to use GoodReads. I want everything in one place so I can find it!
Hennepin County Library audioCDs, 6:20
read by Mandy Siegfried
This book bugged me . . . and I'm not sure why. Dootsie was a little brat, Stargirl was irritating, Perry was such a delinquent (though we finally find out what's up with him toward the end of the book). Spinelli definitely creates memorable characters, though. I found myself wanting to meet Arnold, Betty Lou, Alvina, and Charlie. The storyline of Stargirl writing a book-long letter to Leo back in Arizona just didn't work for me, though. I am not sure what kind of reader would most enjoy this book . . . and I kind of want to re-read Stargirl. I loved that book! Siegfried's voice work was nice, so I'm really not sure why this story bugged me so much.
Sigh. No idea when I wrote this . . . I probably read it at LEAST three years ago. I'm not very good at keeping track of things. That was the purpose of this blog. To keep track of the books I'm reading. That's why I don't want to use GoodReads. I want everything in one place so I can find it!
Banned Books Week
I read about this on: http://melissasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2008/09/banned-books-week-meme.html and thought I'd try it.
Look through this list of most banned books. If you have read the whole book, bold it. If you have read part of the book, italicize it. If you own it but haven't gotten around to reading it yet, *** it.
-->The fact that some of those books were banned surprises me - others, not so much :)
Jeanne's note: Here's another blog entry that I started a long, long, long time ago, but didn't publish. Not sure when/why I thought I would make note of it.
1. The Bible
2. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
3. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
4. The Koran
5. Arabian Nights
6. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
7. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
8. Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
9. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
10. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
11. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
12. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe ***
13. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
14. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert ***
15. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
16. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
17. Dracula by Bram Stoker ***
18. Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
19. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
20. Essays by Michel de Montaigne
21. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
22. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
23. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
24. Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
25. Ulysses by James Joyce
26. Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
27. Animal Farm by George Orwell
28. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
29. Candide by Voltaire
30. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
31. Analects by Confucius
32. Dubliners by James Joyce
33. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
34. Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
35. Red and the Black by Stendhal
36. Das Capital by Karl Marx
37. Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
38. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
39. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
40. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
41. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
42. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
43. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair ***
44. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque ***
45. Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
46. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
47. Diary by Samuel Pepys
48. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway ***
49. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
50. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
51. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak ***
52. Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
53. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
54. Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
55. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller ***
56. Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
57. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
58. Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
59. Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
60. Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
61. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
62. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
63. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
64. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison ***
65. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
66. Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
67. Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais
68. Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
69. The Talmud
70. Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
71. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
72. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
73. American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
74. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
75. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
76. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
77. Red Pony by John Steinbeck
78. Popol Vuh
79. Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
80. Satyricon by Petronius
81. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
82. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
83. Black Boy by Richard Wright
84. Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
85. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
86. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
87. Metaphysics by Aristotle
88. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
89. Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
90. Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
91. Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
92. Sanctuary by William Faulkner
93. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
94. Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
95. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
96. Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
97. General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
98. Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
99. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown ***
100. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
101. Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
102. Émile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
103. Nana by Émile Zola
104. Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
105. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
106. Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
107. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
108. Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
109. Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
110. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
111. Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
112. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
113. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
114. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
115. The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Keatly Snyder
Look through this list of most banned books. If you have read the whole book, bold it. If you have read part of the book, italicize it. If you own it but haven't gotten around to reading it yet, *** it.
Jeanne's note: Here's another blog entry that I started a long, long, long time ago, but didn't publish. Not sure when/why I thought I would make note of it.
1. The Bible
2. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
3. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
4. The Koran
5. Arabian Nights
6. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
7. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
8. Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
9. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
10. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
11. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
12. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe ***
13. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
14. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert ***
15. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
16. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
17. Dracula by Bram Stoker ***
18. Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
19. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
20. Essays by Michel de Montaigne
21. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
22. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
23. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
24. Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
25. Ulysses by James Joyce
26. Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
27. Animal Farm by George Orwell
28. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
29. Candide by Voltaire
30. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
31. Analects by Confucius
32. Dubliners by James Joyce
33. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
34. Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
35. Red and the Black by Stendhal
36. Das Capital by Karl Marx
37. Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
38. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
39. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
40. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
41. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
42. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
43. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair ***
44. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque ***
45. Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
46. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
47. Diary by Samuel Pepys
48. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway ***
49. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
50. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
51. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak ***
52. Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
53. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
54. Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
55. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller ***
56. Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
57. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
58. Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
59. Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
60. Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
61. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
62. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
63. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
64. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison ***
65. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
66. Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
67. Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais
68. Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
69. The Talmud
70. Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
71. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
72. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
73. American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
74. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
75. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
76. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
77. Red Pony by John Steinbeck
78. Popol Vuh
79. Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
80. Satyricon by Petronius
81. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
82. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
83. Black Boy by Richard Wright
84. Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
85. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
86. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
87. Metaphysics by Aristotle
88. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
89. Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
90. Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
91. Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
92. Sanctuary by William Faulkner
93. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
94. Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
95. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
96. Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
97. General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
98. Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
99. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown ***
100. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
101. Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
102. Émile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
103. Nana by Émile Zola
104. Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
105. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
106. Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
107. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
108. Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
109. Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
110. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
111. Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
112. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
113. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
114. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
115. The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Keatly Snyder
The Pact
by Walter J. Roers
PRMS paperback 180 pages
genre: realistic historical fiction
I can't believe it took me so long to read this book! Erica uses it with our 8th grade LAX kids. It reads like a memoir - detailed, painfully real, relationships and events recounted so powerfully. I was sobbing by the end, even though I knew from reading students' assignments what happened. Michael is an average Minnesota kid growing up in the 1940s. His older brother Ron is always coming up with schemes for them to try. His baby sister Katy often needs comforting or watching. The new kid, Ricky, soon becomes his best friend. But his dad's drinking and rage dominates their lives even more than their mother's love. Powerful book! The power and pain of secrets runs strong in this first novel.
Here's another "draft" that I started many months ago . . . and I'm not sure why I didn't publish it. We had Roers come to visit last spring. Erica Penn's students had read The Pact. It was very interesting to visit with him and hear about his experiences growing up and how they shaped this book.
PRMS paperback 180 pages
genre: realistic historical fiction
I can't believe it took me so long to read this book! Erica uses it with our 8th grade LAX kids. It reads like a memoir - detailed, painfully real, relationships and events recounted so powerfully. I was sobbing by the end, even though I knew from reading students' assignments what happened. Michael is an average Minnesota kid growing up in the 1940s. His older brother Ron is always coming up with schemes for them to try. His baby sister Katy often needs comforting or watching. The new kid, Ricky, soon becomes his best friend. But his dad's drinking and rage dominates their lives even more than their mother's love. Powerful book! The power and pain of secrets runs strong in this first novel.
Here's another "draft" that I started many months ago . . . and I'm not sure why I didn't publish it. We had Roers come to visit last spring. Erica Penn's students had read The Pact. It was very interesting to visit with him and hear about his experiences growing up and how they shaped this book.
Pearl Buck in China
by Hilary Spurling
Hennepin County Library audioCds 9 discs
read by the author
genre: biography
Fascinating and enlightening. I have not read The Good Earth, but definitely want to now. I am amazed at how prolific Buck was as an author! Her personal story is interesting and sad to me. The author did a wonderful job of crafting a biography that is neither fawning nor overly critical. Her voice was odd, but it fit the story of Pearl Buck's life. I am interested in reading the stories she wrote about her parents - The Exile and ??? I don't remember. she had such an unusual childhood growing up in China and having a missionary father who seemed to care very little for his own family. Her divorce and marriage to her editor in the 1930s must have been very sensational indeed.
I started writing this many months ago and didn't realize I hadn't published it . . . on 10/13/13, I mostly remember this being very interesting while also quite sad. She was a very interesting person whose books had a huge impact on her audiences. I believe she truly loved China and wanted others to know what it was really like.
Hennepin County Library audioCds 9 discs
read by the author
genre: biography
Fascinating and enlightening. I have not read The Good Earth, but definitely want to now. I am amazed at how prolific Buck was as an author! Her personal story is interesting and sad to me. The author did a wonderful job of crafting a biography that is neither fawning nor overly critical. Her voice was odd, but it fit the story of Pearl Buck's life. I am interested in reading the stories she wrote about her parents - The Exile and ??? I don't remember. she had such an unusual childhood growing up in China and having a missionary father who seemed to care very little for his own family. Her divorce and marriage to her editor in the 1930s must have been very sensational indeed.
I started writing this many months ago and didn't realize I hadn't published it . . . on 10/13/13, I mostly remember this being very interesting while also quite sad. She was a very interesting person whose books had a huge impact on her audiences. I believe she truly loved China and wanted others to know what it was really like.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
by Laura Hillenbrand
PRMS hardcover 406 pages plus notes
genre: biography
I have heard people rave about this book, but wasn't sure I'd really enjoy it that much. I did. I started listening to it as an audiobook, but had to return that to the public library. I checked out the print copy from my collection, but wasn't going to put it on the top of my reading pile. But I wanted to maintain the thread of the story I had been listening to, so I started reading a little bit before bed. Within a few days, I had finished the entire book. Amazing.
At the outset, I thought Louie Zamperini was a horrible miscreant. He was so naughty with stealing things, mouthing off, etc. Then as a runner, he had such incredible success! From his natural talent to his brother Pete's "training" him to push himself, what a great story. It's hard to think of what he could have become (as an athlete) if the war hadn't happened . . . but then, so many lives (millions of them!) were dramatically changed because of WWII. His experiences early in the war bugged me too - the cavalier way the men had toward safety boggles my mind. (Their behavior would NOT go over well in today's military, I think.)
His experiences as a Prisoner of War in Japan . . . sobering. I've never really known what that was like for our servicemen. It gives me a very different understanding of the Pacific Theatre and what our military was facing. It still doesn't make the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki "okay" in my mind, but I better understand the reasons.
Zamperini's personal story goes even beyond the incredible experiences through the end of the war. I am so glad that his wife convinced him to go! Praise God for getting his attention! What a cool and amazing book!
PRMS hardcover 406 pages plus notes
genre: biography
I have heard people rave about this book, but wasn't sure I'd really enjoy it that much. I did. I started listening to it as an audiobook, but had to return that to the public library. I checked out the print copy from my collection, but wasn't going to put it on the top of my reading pile. But I wanted to maintain the thread of the story I had been listening to, so I started reading a little bit before bed. Within a few days, I had finished the entire book. Amazing.
At the outset, I thought Louie Zamperini was a horrible miscreant. He was so naughty with stealing things, mouthing off, etc. Then as a runner, he had such incredible success! From his natural talent to his brother Pete's "training" him to push himself, what a great story. It's hard to think of what he could have become (as an athlete) if the war hadn't happened . . . but then, so many lives (millions of them!) were dramatically changed because of WWII. His experiences early in the war bugged me too - the cavalier way the men had toward safety boggles my mind. (Their behavior would NOT go over well in today's military, I think.)
His experiences as a Prisoner of War in Japan . . . sobering. I've never really known what that was like for our servicemen. It gives me a very different understanding of the Pacific Theatre and what our military was facing. It still doesn't make the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki "okay" in my mind, but I better understand the reasons.
Zamperini's personal story goes even beyond the incredible experiences through the end of the war. I am so glad that his wife convinced him to go! Praise God for getting his attention! What a cool and amazing book!
Friday, October 11, 2013
An Abundance of Katherines
by John Green
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Jeff Woodman
genre: YA realistic fiction, coming-of-age
This was not what I expected, but Green has again crafted a memorable story. Colin Singleton, child prodigy, has just been dumped by K-19 (the 19th girl named Katherine that he has dated) and he is pondering whether or not he matters. He and best friend (only friend, actually) Hassan Harbish convince their parents to let them take a road trip to help Colin through his anguish. They end up in Gutshot, Tennessee and get to know Lindsey Lee Wells. Colin's quirkiness (anagramming names and words on the fly) and Hassan's determination to be lazy make for an interesting friendship as Colin tries to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability. This probably won't appeal to my most ardent Green fans . . . but it's good for those bright kids who like something different.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Jeff Woodman
genre: YA realistic fiction, coming-of-age
This was not what I expected, but Green has again crafted a memorable story. Colin Singleton, child prodigy, has just been dumped by K-19 (the 19th girl named Katherine that he has dated) and he is pondering whether or not he matters. He and best friend (only friend, actually) Hassan Harbish convince their parents to let them take a road trip to help Colin through his anguish. They end up in Gutshot, Tennessee and get to know Lindsey Lee Wells. Colin's quirkiness (anagramming names and words on the fly) and Hassan's determination to be lazy make for an interesting friendship as Colin tries to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability. This probably won't appeal to my most ardent Green fans . . . but it's good for those bright kids who like something different.
Sunday, October 06, 2013
Dinner with the Smileys: One Military Family, One Year of Heroes, and Lessons for a Lifetime
by Sarah Smiley
Hennepin County Library hardcover 359 pages
genre: Non-fiction memoir
What an amazing book! I had to mop up my tears more than once and the author was merely sharing honestly. It was not maudlin at all. She just shared her story of her husband being deployed for 13 months while she tried to maintain some normalcy for their three sons. The idea of inviting someone over for dinner each week to "sit in Dad's chair" while he was away started as almost a joke. But when it really came to fruition, it helped the family to mark the time with more focus on the here and now. The photos add so much to the story; it is only at the end of the book that we learn that her friend came to most of the dinners and took pictures. This is a wonderful read. I especially appreciate it as someone who doesn't have anyone near and dear to me in the military. What a difficult life! Her husband sounds like an amazing guy, and Sarah Smiley did an amazing job with her boys in his absence.
Hennepin County Library hardcover 359 pages
genre: Non-fiction memoir
What an amazing book! I had to mop up my tears more than once and the author was merely sharing honestly. It was not maudlin at all. She just shared her story of her husband being deployed for 13 months while she tried to maintain some normalcy for their three sons. The idea of inviting someone over for dinner each week to "sit in Dad's chair" while he was away started as almost a joke. But when it really came to fruition, it helped the family to mark the time with more focus on the here and now. The photos add so much to the story; it is only at the end of the book that we learn that her friend came to most of the dinners and took pictures. This is a wonderful read. I especially appreciate it as someone who doesn't have anyone near and dear to me in the military. What a difficult life! Her husband sounds like an amazing guy, and Sarah Smiley did an amazing job with her boys in his absence.
Thursday, October 03, 2013
Racing the Past
by Sis Deans
PRMS hardcover 151 pages
genre: realistic fiction
Ricky Gordon is a wonderful character with strengths and struggles. His father died when he drove off a road while drunk, and most people (including Ricky) think it's the best thing he ever did for his family. Trying to recover from the abusive alcoholic's treatment of his family, Ricky tries to look out for his brother and baby sister.
I really like this book. There is a lot going on for Ricky and his family as well as within his community. His walking to and from school (to stay away from a bully and fights) turns into running. Running opens doors for him and his future. This will be a great one for me to booktalk to "edgy" sixth grade boys . . . it has some swearing and somewhat intense content, but is relatively positive and easy to read.
PRMS hardcover 151 pages
genre: realistic fiction
Ricky Gordon is a wonderful character with strengths and struggles. His father died when he drove off a road while drunk, and most people (including Ricky) think it's the best thing he ever did for his family. Trying to recover from the abusive alcoholic's treatment of his family, Ricky tries to look out for his brother and baby sister.
I really like this book. There is a lot going on for Ricky and his family as well as within his community. His walking to and from school (to stay away from a bully and fights) turns into running. Running opens doors for him and his future. This will be a great one for me to booktalk to "edgy" sixth grade boys . . . it has some swearing and somewhat intense content, but is relatively positive and easy to read.
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
The Juvie Three
by Gordon Korman
Carver County Library audiobook 5 discs
read by Christopher Evan Welch
genre: YA realistic fiction
Gecko, RJ, and Terrence went to prison for different reasons, but Douglas Healy saw something in each of them worth redeeming. He fought for a special halfway house to help them get out of juvenile detention (and in RJ's case, adult prison). What happens to the "boys" when they are with Healy would give away the story. Suffice it to say, I really dislike Terrence and his propensity for selfish choices. Gecko was my favorite and I loved RJ! This was a thoroughly enjoyable story without being too goody-goody (yet doesn't have a lot of the ugliness that so many edgy YA books have). Delightful! Welch did excellent vocal work on this!
Carver County Library audiobook 5 discs
read by Christopher Evan Welch
genre: YA realistic fiction
Gecko, RJ, and Terrence went to prison for different reasons, but Douglas Healy saw something in each of them worth redeeming. He fought for a special halfway house to help them get out of juvenile detention (and in RJ's case, adult prison). What happens to the "boys" when they are with Healy would give away the story. Suffice it to say, I really dislike Terrence and his propensity for selfish choices. Gecko was my favorite and I loved RJ! This was a thoroughly enjoyable story without being too goody-goody (yet doesn't have a lot of the ugliness that so many edgy YA books have). Delightful! Welch did excellent vocal work on this!
Skullcrack
by Ben Bo
PRMS hardcover 159 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction w/supernatural elements
A parent called last year to complain about her son reading this book. I talked to the student and found a different book for him to read. So now I have FINALLY read this, and I'm not sure what she was objecting to . . . did she think it was about drugs?
Jonah loves to surf. It's how he escapes his problems, and especially his alcoholic father. He has some weird visions and kids at school think he's crazy (like his dad). Megan tries to befriend him while her brother Billy taunts. His dad takes the money Jonah has earned working for Fergus on his boat and spends it all on alcohol. Worse, he tears up the only photo of his mother that Jonah had.
Sally
twins
The Bone Man
prophesying
Gaelic words, expressions
hurricane Edwin in Florida
Interesting book. Not especially well-written, but not horrible.
PRMS hardcover 159 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction w/supernatural elements
A parent called last year to complain about her son reading this book. I talked to the student and found a different book for him to read. So now I have FINALLY read this, and I'm not sure what she was objecting to . . . did she think it was about drugs?
Jonah loves to surf. It's how he escapes his problems, and especially his alcoholic father. He has some weird visions and kids at school think he's crazy (like his dad). Megan tries to befriend him while her brother Billy taunts. His dad takes the money Jonah has earned working for Fergus on his boat and spends it all on alcohol. Worse, he tears up the only photo of his mother that Jonah had.
Sally
twins
The Bone Man
prophesying
Gaelic words, expressions
hurricane Edwin in Florida
Interesting book. Not especially well-written, but not horrible.
Sweet Mercy
by Ann Tatlock
Carver County Library paperback 311 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction
Set during the Great Depression, this is a story of a teenager who strives to be the "good girl" she thinks her parents want. Her older sister Cassandra was a wild child, drinking, partying, and hanging out with the boys.
Ugh. Can't write a synopsis. Loved the book! Tatlock is a wonderful writer. Even seemed almost too innocent and pure, but it was realistic for the era . . . and in response to trying to be unlike an older sibling who went astray. Eve's black and white view of everything was part of what made the lesson of mercy come home in this book.
Link, Marcus, Jones, Annie and Moses, bootlegging, bands, raids . . . It was very fun to go see The Belmont Hotel show right after reading this.
Added 4 Dec 2013:
I had made some notes on a card after our book club discussion. Not much came of it . . .
- Al Capone - end of life conversion to Christianity? I didn't find anything that indicated he had repented and turned to Jesus before he died. I am not willing to invest a lot of time and energy looking, but I spent some time searching online and didn't come up with anything. There was an interesting story about what happened with his body and publicity hounds, though.
- Five and Twenty Law? Doesn't seem as though this was a real phenomenon. In the book, it sounded completely legit, but I can't find evidence of a law like this anywhere. Again, I didn't search exhaustively, but it certainly doesn't show up in the many keyword searches I tried.
- MN History Center? They have a new exhibit on Prohibition and I really want to go! I wonder if I should try to get Louie to go with me, or get the book club ladies to go.
- Killer who repented to Chuck Colson? Again, couldn't find it. In his many years of prison ministry, he probably heard lots of criminals repent and turn their lives over to Jesus. But in my looking online, I couldn't find a story that stood out. I think someone at book club had mentioned this.
Carver County Library paperback 311 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction
Set during the Great Depression, this is a story of a teenager who strives to be the "good girl" she thinks her parents want. Her older sister Cassandra was a wild child, drinking, partying, and hanging out with the boys.
Ugh. Can't write a synopsis. Loved the book! Tatlock is a wonderful writer. Even seemed almost too innocent and pure, but it was realistic for the era . . . and in response to trying to be unlike an older sibling who went astray. Eve's black and white view of everything was part of what made the lesson of mercy come home in this book.
Link, Marcus, Jones, Annie and Moses, bootlegging, bands, raids . . . It was very fun to go see The Belmont Hotel show right after reading this.
Added 4 Dec 2013:
I had made some notes on a card after our book club discussion. Not much came of it . . .
- Al Capone - end of life conversion to Christianity? I didn't find anything that indicated he had repented and turned to Jesus before he died. I am not willing to invest a lot of time and energy looking, but I spent some time searching online and didn't come up with anything. There was an interesting story about what happened with his body and publicity hounds, though.
- Five and Twenty Law? Doesn't seem as though this was a real phenomenon. In the book, it sounded completely legit, but I can't find evidence of a law like this anywhere. Again, I didn't search exhaustively, but it certainly doesn't show up in the many keyword searches I tried.
- MN History Center? They have a new exhibit on Prohibition and I really want to go! I wonder if I should try to get Louie to go with me, or get the book club ladies to go.
- Killer who repented to Chuck Colson? Again, couldn't find it. In his many years of prison ministry, he probably heard lots of criminals repent and turn their lives over to Jesus. But in my looking online, I couldn't find a story that stood out. I think someone at book club had mentioned this.
Lockdown (Escape from Furnace #1)
by Alexander Gordon Smith
PRMS paperback 290 pages
genre: YA horror
Alex Sawyer - thief, bully . . . NOT a killer, tried & convicted for the murder of his best friend Toby
Donovan - his cell mate, been in Furnace five years (for killing abusive father figure to prevent his mother's death)
Zee - went in with Alex, helped him once, planning with him to escape
Montgomery - went in with Alex and Zee, picked on by the Skulls
Gary - new "fish" - cruel, takes over the Skulls
After the horrible "Summer of Slaughter" when so many teenagers ran rampant and killed innocent people for no apparent reason, Furnace was built deep underground. "An underground hellhole. A place of pure evil with walls soaked in blood." The horrors of Furnace are part the reality of a really horrible prison and part the imagined horrors of supernatural creation. This book is intense (and part of me wants to keep reading the series . . . ). My favorite parts were when the guys talked about the importance of having hope. And the author interview at the end. What a fun individual!
PRMS paperback 290 pages
genre: YA horror
Alex Sawyer - thief, bully . . . NOT a killer, tried & convicted for the murder of his best friend Toby
Donovan - his cell mate, been in Furnace five years (for killing abusive father figure to prevent his mother's death)
Zee - went in with Alex, helped him once, planning with him to escape
Montgomery - went in with Alex and Zee, picked on by the Skulls
Gary - new "fish" - cruel, takes over the Skulls
After the horrible "Summer of Slaughter" when so many teenagers ran rampant and killed innocent people for no apparent reason, Furnace was built deep underground. "An underground hellhole. A place of pure evil with walls soaked in blood." The horrors of Furnace are part the reality of a really horrible prison and part the imagined horrors of supernatural creation. This book is intense (and part of me wants to keep reading the series . . . ). My favorite parts were when the guys talked about the importance of having hope. And the author interview at the end. What a fun individual!
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