The Masterpiece

by Francine Rivers
Dakota County Library audiobook 13 CDs
read by Susan Bennett
genre: Christian realistic fiction, relationships

Oh my! I had this title on hold in numerous library systems - print, large print, audio . . . and finally got it from Dakota County. I almost wish I'd gone ahead and bought it off Amazon! I didn't finish it before we had our book club discussion (and warned everyone that I'd leave if they needed to talk about the ending). It was so good!

Roman Velasco is an artist with a deep back story. Grace Moore is his new assistant with a back story of her own. Right from the get-go, readers know the two will end up together. But it's how they get there that makes this a gripping story! Rivers uses flashbacks effectively, taking us into the main characters' childhoods, teen years, and young adulthood to help move the story forward.

I don't want to include any spoilers here. It's just such a good book!

Francine Rivers interviewed a graffiti artist who became a Christian. Cool stuff! (And the source of her cover image: http://www.camer1.com/)

And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

a novella
by Fredrick Backman
Scott County Library audiobook 1 CD
read by David Morse

For some reason, this little work was less accessible for me than the other Backman titles I've read recently. Morse's vocal work was good. The story was touching - I cried. Here's the blurb from the back cover:

"Grandpa and Noah are sitting on a bench in a square that keeps getting smaller every day. The square is strange but also familiar, full of teh sweet scent of the hyacinths that Grandma loved to grow in her garden. As they wait together, they tell jokes and discuss their shared love of mathematics."

There is a lot happening in this very short work. The relationship between the elderly man and his grandson is just the start. There area also the man and his son as a boy, his son as an adult, and the man and his wife when they were young. Memories, experiences, and aging . . . learning to say goodbye.

I should just bite the bullet and buy all of Backman's books. They're that amazing.

Crooked House

by Agatha Christie
Scott County Library audiobook 5 CDs
read by Hugh Fraser
genre: detective murder mystery fiction

I haven't read an Agatha Christie book in a while and I enjoyed this one. I won't give any spoilers, but I love the way the author makes it possible for *any* of the characters to be the murderer while also making it seem that each one would not have done so. There were lots of clues along with red herrings. Delightful! I was not surprised at the ending, but I enjoyed the circuitous route of getting there.

Charles Hayward - our hero
his dad - a commissioner at Scotland Yard
Sophia Leonides - Charles' fiancee'
Aristide Leonides - Sophia's grandfather and the charismatic patriarch of the clan, newly murdered
Brenda Leonides - Aristide's much younger wife
Roger Leonides - Aristide's nervous son who isn't very good at business
Clemency - Roger's austere wife who wants to get him away from the family
Philip - Aristide's other son - an intellectual, a bit of a recluse
Magda - Philip's wife, actress, dramatic
Eustace - Philip and Magda's son (Sophia is oldest), teenage, sullen
Josephine - Philip and Magda's youngest daughter - 12 years old, snoops, bratty
Edith de Havilland - Aristide's sister-in-law from his first marriage; came to help care for the children
Nanny - hired help? an actual grandma? elderly lady who cooks and looks after the kids
Inspector - I forgot his name
Lawrence Brown - the tutor engaged for Eustace and Josephine, a conscientious objector during WWII, nervous, in love with Brenda (and she with him)

The Crooked House - the house is itself a character of sorts. It sets the scene and adds to the intrigue.

Falling into Place: A Memoir of Overcoming

by Hattie Kauffman
my copy, paperback 236 pages
genre: Christian memoir

I didn't have access to post-it notes as I read this (or was simply too lazy to go get them) . . . but I own it and can re-read it to make note of the things that really impacted me. I met Ms. Kauffman at the Scotts' church a few years ago. She was so interesting to listen to and I purchased her book, which she signed for me.

Much of the book is about the breakup of her second marriage, interspersed with stories of her childhood. One thing that really struck me was the impact her aunt Teddy had on her - teaching her Scripture, bringing her to church, etc. Teddy could not have known how sowing seeds into Hattie's life would bear fruit so many years later.

This book was hard to read at times (her husband wanting a divorce and her struggle with her blossoming faith / in a news anchor career that generally eschews Christianity . . . ) but her writing style is very inviting. She did a great job of making connections between what she is going through as an adult and what she experienced as a child. One of seven children of an American Indian woman and a white man (both parents were alcoholics), Hattie knew poverty, hunger, and insecurity. Yet her story of overcoming is just that.

 

<I wrote the above on 3.17.2018. Below on 1.4.2023.>

I've decided to donate this book to the Recovery Church as well. Again, I have so many books and want to decrease my possessions this year. I hope someone who needs to read her story picks this up.

A Man Called Ove

by Henrik Backman
Scott County Library audiobook 8 CDs
read by George Newbern
genre: realistic fiction

Oh. My. Word.
Backman is amazing! I had heard of this book when it became popular a few years ago, but only got this audiobook after reading his title My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry (also amazing!).

As I started listening to it, I thought "what a jerk!" I had to stop the CD a bunch of times because I am a very character-driven reader and I did *not* like the character of Ove. (It's pronounced "Ooh-vah," not "Ove" like "stove" . . . ) The back of the case says, "He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him 'the bitter neighbor from hell.'"

Here are some of my first quick jottings:
- people like Ove really exist . . . pointless! Fussy.
- How do you want to spend your life?
- Oo-vah
- Backing with a trailer - ugh! I can't back up with a trailer. That doesn't make me an idiot! (My note actually says "Backing w/a trailer" . . . I try to focus on driving when I'm driving!)
- 1/4 ton guy . . . "testing bacon for a living" . . . both funny AND mean

Then as I listened more and stopped the CD less, I made note of Parvana - "the pregnant one" and Patrick - "the lanky one."

I loved getting to know Ove and Sonja. I started to worry that the book would ultimately be too dark and depressing and sad . . . but there were so many places where I laughed out loud! As I got to "know" and appreciate this cranky old man and his story, I grew to really care about him.

"The blond weed" and her dog Prince . . . and Ove's idea for revenge on the dog's attack on the cat . . . I was loving this story.

Ove is only 59?!?!? I thought he was much older! (I had quickly guessed about Sonja before it was revealed in the story.)

The author's use of repetition is brilliant.

So funny!

I don't think this is a spoiler, but my last note (which connects to the opening scene in the book) is "I'm relieved that Jimmy is at the Apple store with Ove and Ove is buying an iPad for his 7-year-old neighbor girl."

I was in tears by the end, but they were good. I would (and probably will) buy my own copy of this book!

The reader's vocal work was spot-on.

Ashes

by Ilsa J. Bick
Scott County Library paperback 465 pages
book one of the Ashes trilogy
genre: YA dystopian fiction

Ugh! I started reading this while subbing. It looked somewhat interesting and the kids had silent reading time (ten minutes for each of four sections of language arts), so I got to page 100 and was hooked. Two weeks later, I grabbed it for silent reading in a sixth grade classroom. Again, multiple sections later, I was on page 160. I decided to just get it from the county library and finish it. And now that I have . . . I will get book two, because the story has NOT resolved.

Alex (a girl) has lost both her parents and is struggling with a brain tumor that is killing her. Deciding to forego further treatment, she heads out on a camping trip intending to kill herself. Instead, she meets up with a grandpa and his sullen young granddaughter, Ellie. A cataclysmic event ***SPOILER ALERT***
instantly kills grandpa (and most other humans between young adults and mature adults). Of the  young people left alive, some change . . . into cannibals. Like zombies, but they haven't died yet. The elderly have also survived, but survival is getting harder. Alex and Ellie have many encounters with danger and near-death. Tom is a super important character . . .

I was disappointed with the author's choice to have Rule be such a cult-like place and to introduce a love-triangle dilemma for Alex, but hey! I need to read book two to see where it goes.

The Wake of the Lorelei Lee

by L.A. Meyer
Scott County Library hardcover 554 pages
genre: YA historical adventure fiction

I'm developing a love/hate relationship with these books.

Love:
strong female protagonist who is resourceful, clever, kind, and basically "good"
fun adventures
a mix of humor and seriousness in with the rollicking adventures
typically doesn't take itself too seriously

Hate:
disdain of Christianity, except where convenient to honor someone's death (if they're valued in life)
the stories are starting to feel a bit repetitive and predictable, while the lengths of the books are getting longer
I'm hooked and will continue to spend time reading these . . .

In this story, Jacky is convicted of her crimes (based on the lies of Bliffel and Flashby) and sent to the Hulks (I was so excited at this part on page 82! Just like the opening scene of Dickens' Great Expectations!) and then on to Australia with other women who've been convicted of crimes ranging from theft to prostitution. Jaimy has also been arrested and is being sent to Australia, but on a different ship. Oh, and Jacky is taken by Chinese pirates and becomes the female lead pirate's "pet." This was the part of the book that just got to be a bit much for me. Also, this one ends as a bit of a cliff-hanger. Grrr.

It's Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too): A Memoir

by Nora McInerny Purmort
Hennepin County Library hardcover 274 pages
genre: memoir, loss

This will be a quick entry. Purmort is a very talented writer who has dealt with a lot of loss in her young life. Although I enjoyed some of her cleverness, humor, and insights, I didn't enjoy this book. One passage particularly illustrates this to me:

"I will sometimes hate-read blogs written by people I despise, just to make my blood boil. You probably don't hate-read anything because you have a sparkling mind that has not been pecked to death by the incessant information assault that is the Internet." (page 7)

I love her use of language - "the incessant information assault that is the Internet" - but I cannot see her attitude of reading something to make her more angry than she already is. Philosophically, I am so different from her.

Yet I tagged page 14 because it made me laugh out loud when she described the hospital and its amenities . . . She is very clever! And I tagged page 21 because of her sadness at wanting to preserve everything about her husband before he dies . . . "like I want to just stick a little USB drive into his arm and download everything about him. I want every memory, every feeling, every thought from baby Aaron and child Aaron and punky teenage Aaron, who pierced his ears multiple times. Grown-up Aaron hugs me close to his skinny chest until the fire alarm lets us know we've burned our dinner to the pan."

Page 47 - She talks about trying to meditate by using an app - "It's worth it, though, to have a little bit of time dedicated to quieting the dozen or so monkeys in my brain, wearing their fezzes and vests, clanging away with tiny cymbals." Sometimes one's own thoughts can be so distracting!

Page 52 - "His happiness was innate, but mine is not. Mine is a choice that I make, a garden that I tend to every single day." I think it's interesting to observe that some people seem naturally joyful and positive and others of us have to make a conscious choice to work at it. I struggle with her profanity and anger, but recognize parts of me in some of her attitudes.

Page 52 - "shout out to Google for giving me a PhD in Everything" another thing that made me smile. She has a way with words!

Page 149 - I don't know what struck me more here - the fact that she didn't feel as though they could call any of their friends because of the depth of their pain or simple compassion for all that she was dealing with . . . "I'm filled with secret sorrows. Across the city, my father is dying in the intensive care unit of another hospital." Her husband is dying from cancer. She has just miscarried another baby. I cannot even fathom how the convergence of all these major life events. Whether I like or agree with her tone and attitude, I can recognize her strength in getting through this time in her life.

Page 161-163 - Oh my! All the well-meaning advice (often conflicting) that people give about parenting! What a rush to read this and remember how it felt to be on the receiving end of it. (Though I think this part might qualify as funny and sad simultaneously!)

Page 208 - I don't want to dwell on this, but how can she recognize the futility of trying to get people (including internet trolls) to like you . . . while also being concerned about people liking her? She is still growing up. I hope she figures herself out. It makes me sad that she grew up in Catholic church and school, but has no personal faith in God. Getting through her life's traumas and raising her son on her own strength . . . I'd rather lean on Jesus.

(Added almost two days later:)
I didn't mean that to sound trite. I was going to write a quick entry so I could return the book to the library and ended up going on and on. It made me sad to have this funny, talented writer who endured such pain and sorrow . . . have no connection to faithfulness in God. How do people deal with the big life and death issues without confidence in God's love and provision for eternity? Her cavalier attitude toward morals, parenting, etc. (and gratuitous swearing) were off-putting. There were many, many positive aspects to this book, but I was glad to finish it and was left feeling sad for her.