The Wish Book Christmas: a novella

by Lynn Austin

Carver County Library hardcover 273 pages

Published: 2021

Genre: Christian fiction

 

We're discussing this in book club tonight. It was pleasant, but not very impactful (to me). I was on page 29 before I remembered that it's a kind of sequel to Austin's book If I Were You, which we read last year.  Oh yes! Eve was the servant girl who impersonated Audrey, the rich girl, when WWII ended. 

Page 45 - "I'm afraid my words are coming out all wrong, and I'm giving the impression that I'm judging the Barretts and condemning the way they live. If so, please forgive me. That's not at all what I intended. It's just that I want to make my own choices, and this is what I've chosen to do."

Audrey shouldn't have to justify why she wants a loan to go back to school. And sometimes wealth can just make people live so differently than regular people who don't have the proverbial silver spoon. The fact that she's experienced a change in circumstances and is trying to do what she believes is right - go Audrey!

Page 55 - "If only Eve could fully forgive herself and forget ohw she had hurt the people who meant the most to her."

Sometimes forgiving ourselves is the absolute hardest thing to do . . . that said, this theme got old fast. She was so busy punishing herself that she didn't seem to consider the collateral damage she was doing to Tom, Harry, etc.

Page 101 - (Audrey) "When I lost Robert, I wanted to die. I don't ever want to feel that much pain again." (Eve): "Then you'll have to stop living, because life is going to bring pain. It's a certainty."

Seriously, human relationships provide plenty of joy, but pain is part of life, too.

Page 151 - This whole conversation between Audrey and Tom. Duh. Eve loves him but refuses to accept his love . . . gag. (Yet she's trying to set up Audrey with the Harrison guy.)

Page 229 - Okay, I got a little teary by the end. When the two women went to the store and bought the airplanes and all the Scriptural lessons were learned, my hard heart softened.

"It would have brought him joy. Audreys' father had just shown his love for her by giving her an extravagant gift. And it reminded Audrey that her heavenly Father had shown His extravagant love by giving Jesus to the world at Christmas."

I liked the neighbor lady with the dog, the kids getting to practice being "smart kings," and the goodness of Tom and his parents.

The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus, bk 5)

by Rick Riordan

Libby audiobook 14 hours

read by Nick Chamian

Published: 2014

Genre: YA fantasy

A continuation of the story. Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Frank, and Hazel are in Athens. Nico travels with Reyna to return the Athena Parthenos to Camp Halfblood before the Romans and Greeks get into war (and before Gaea arises). I forgot where Jason and Piper were . . . it was good, but I was often mentally focused on other things as the story unwound.

I'm not sure I even have a favorite part, though Nico deciding to stay at Camp Half Blood at the end was nice.

Inkling

by Kenneth Oppel

Scott County library paperback 256 pages

published: 2018

genre: YA fantasy

Oppel always surprises me as an author . . . in good ways. What started out as a middle school book about an inkspot coming to life turned into a very beautiful book about grief, family, and love. For young readers, the mystery / adventure and splashy illustration style will probably be the big draw. 

 

Ethan's dad is an artist with a creative block. Ethan is working on a graphic novel group project at school and wants his dad's help. Sarah, Ethan's little sister is a sweet special needs child. When Inkling (the ink blot) comes to "life," things get really interesting.

Page 105 - "Mom would never have forgotten the cake. Ethan was startled by how much he missed her all of a sudden. She'd always run the parties. ... Without Mom, the house still felt emptier, every room of it. Some mornings when Ethan woke up, he had that same terrible feeling he's had right after she died. It made him want to curl himself up into a ball. Like if he made himself small enough, it wouldn't hurt so much."

Page 139-140 - "It was such a relief for Ethan to finally tell his father. A secret was a heavy thing to carry around for so long, and day by day it only got heavier. He realized that this was the most he and his dad had talked about anything in a long time."

Page 202 - "Watching from his jar, Inkling didn't like what he saw. This creature couldn't have been more different from him. Sure, Inkling liked superhero comics and the occasional explosion, but this was too much. And he felt angry - not at the splotch, but at Vika and Mr. Worthington. They should be feeding this new creature all sorts of things, beautiful books and magnificent artwork. It should have a healthy, mixed diet, like the one Inkling was lucky enough to get from Ethan."

I loved this notion of "feeding" the ink blot with good literature. Throughout the book, Ethan notices that Inkling's communication reflects what he's been "feeding" upon - The Old Man and the Sea, The BFG, etc. 

Reading this reminds me of how surprised I was when I read Silverwing. How could I care so much about bats?!

Olive, Mabel, & Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs

 by Andrew Cotter

Hennepin County Library hardcover 205 pages (with photos)

Published: 2020

Genre: non-fiction, dogs

This was so good! Besides reading it right after Blum's very sad dog book, Cotter is a talented writer. I loved this book! (Enough to consider buying copies to give as gifts to other dog lovers.) 

Page 5 - "Dogs, by contrast, offer constant and easy love. You don't have to work too hard to get their unfettered adoration and no stroking, tickling, or patting will go unappreciated."

Page 17 - ". . . just make use of the parks or settle for walks down the pavement. It's a poor substitute for beaches or fields or mountains, but dogs don't think about what they might be missing or worry about what they don't have. They simply enjoy what's on offer . . . "

Page 23 - He makes me laugh throughout this book! He has a noble-sounding quote theoretically from 1782 followed by "(On the Origins of Dogs by Andrew Cotter - don't look, I think it's out of print.)" He's got a delightful sense of humor.

Page 31 - "We had also been reliably informed that dogs - or certainly Labradors - are desperate to please their owners, and that this can be used very effectively in training. But with my experience of Labs now, I believe there is a more obvious hierarchy in their heads of what is most important: 

1. Food

2. Food

3. Food

4. Also food

5. Human approval"

 

Page 43 - Writing about trying to get Olive to wear expensive dog boots for a winter mountain climb:

Before my own investigations, I had even bought boots for Olive - proper outdoor boots, meant for dogs working on ice - that cost more than most human shoes. There were just a couple of problems with this, the first major stumbling block being that dogs don't like wearing boots.

I had obtained a set from a good-quality dog outdoor-wear supplier, and they did fit her paws well. But the process of getting them on took approximately seventeen hours. During this time she stared at me with eyes that contained an impressive mixture of sadness for her own situation and contempt for me. Then, when cajoled to move, she did so with the utmost reluctance, stepping gingerly about before beginning a quite complex dressage routine with a high-stepping gait, as if trying to shake them off. Eventually, she decided that the best thing to do would be to settle down and chew them into submission.

 

Page 77 -  "This ancestry is clearly why Olive and Mabel will rarely pass anything bigger than a puddle without wishing to dive in." 

Made me think of Keiko wanting to jump in the pond! And Titus' love of "splash."

Page 122 - "Still, some people do not like dogs and I completely understand that - it certainly doesn't make them bad people. If you want a nice relaxing drink and then a yapping or perhaps slightly grubby creature appears beside you, it can sully the experience. I feel this way about many children."

Page 193 - He includes an excerpt from Rudyard Kipling's "The Power of the Dog" and I made note of it to read in full. (Read here.)

Woodrow on the Bench

by Jenna Blum

Libby eBook

Published: 2021

Genre: non-fiction, dog

Wow. She's a good writer. I was sobbing in the car as I read it. I told Louie, "it's about an old dog and the owner doesn't want to have to put him down because he still likes walks and treats." He said, "Just like Pepper." Blum is a really talented writer. I've already checked out another book of hers.

This! I hadn't heard of this before: www.journeyspet.com Quality of Life Scale Calculator! Jumping or mobility, ouch or  pain, uncertainty and understanding, respiration or breathing, neatness or hygiene, eating and drinking, you, social ability . . . there's a scoring system. A higher score is better ("80 is a happy, healthy pet!") "A score of 8 is a pet that is suffering. A low score on any of the measures may be a reason to consider euthanasia." I definitely think it's helpful to have a scale.

Page 51 - "Much of August passed this way: Woodrow napped in the water like a hippo, I worked with my feet on his back. Sometimes I set my iPad down and watched Woodrow sleep and thought about those swims when he was younger, how he'd leaped for hours from a rocky cliff into a Minnesota quarry or picked up the lawn sprinkler and chased Jim and me around the yard with it. I thought about my mom's life, too, or rather the end of it, how she went from shopping excursions to sitting in the parking lot at the beach because she was too weak to get out of the car, from sunning on her front walkway with her coffee and the Palm Beach Post to watching TV in the bedroom to finally just her bed. Her existence had dwindled like that small white square on old TVs, shrinking until it winked out altogether. Woodrow might wallow, but he would never swim again."

 

Her grief and sadness over losing her mom (I think) made her more determined not to say goodbye to her dog. That aging, slowing down, diminishing world . . . is very sobering. I want my life to matter. I want to live big while I can. I miss my mom.

Page 116 - "I sighed inwardly. Privately, I found the concept of self-care - like the advice to 'Live your best life!' - somewhat tyrannical. A nice concept, but often difficult to execute. What was wrong with living one's most mediocre life and being content with it?"

This made me laugh! "Living one's most mediocre life" is an encouraging concept when you feel low energy.

The Old Fox Deceiv'd

 By Martha Grimes

"A Richard Jury Mystery"

Libby audiobook

Read by Steve West

Published: 2013

Genre: murder mystery

 

This was good, but also one I'd rather have had in print! There were a lot of characters and clues. I liked Inspector Jury, but disliked Harkins(?). I had to go back and re-listen to the opening scene . . . which person was killed? So many interesting details! The artist, the barkeep, Bertie, . . . of course, Julian seemed the most likely killer so it couldn't possibly be him. But who? I loved how the story unraveled, slowly and with increasing tension. A second murder . . . on the moor. Great British story! I'll read more of hers, but will get them in print form! (The reader was excellent, but there were simply too many characters and details to wrap my brain around.)