Danny the Champion of the World

by Roald Dahl

Libby audiobook 4 hours

Read by: Peter Serafinowicz

Published: 1975 (This version 2013)

Genre: YA fiction

 

What I liked about this story was the love that Danny and his father have for one another. It was often sweet and delightful, especially his dad teaching him to fix cars. 

 

The narrator did a great job.

 

I had never read this book before and I didn't like it very well. My primary dislike wasn't just the focus on poaching; it was an obsessive idolization of poaching. His dad (and some of the other characters) almost seemed like drug addicts in their fixation on poaching. I understand the "little guy" perspective toward the rich, selfish landowner . . . and I even agree with people hunting for food to stave off starvation . . . but Danny himself observed that they weren't starving. It was basically theft. 

 

When his dad comes up with a scheme that involves ruining the hunt for the horrible Mr. Victor Hazell, I assume he wants to simply relocate the pheasants. No. He fully intends on keeping or giving to friends over 100 birds. I actively disliked the story at points, but Danny was a sweet kid.

Fighting Words

by Kimberly Baker Bradley

Scott County Library paperback 259 plus Author's Note, discussion questions, and acknowledgements

Published: 2020

Genre: YA realistic fiction

Wow. I already knew that I really like this author. This book didn't grab me immediately, but it drew me in more and more. Protagonist Della is ten years old and has a very saucy vocabulary. Her older sister Suki has been her closest friend and protector. Right away, Della warns us that the "bad stuff" is coming in her story as she explains about how they got to Francine's foster home. 

The "bad stuff" is bad indeed, but the unfolding of the story is so incredibly powerful. I was even intensely moved by the author's note and acknowledgements. This book is phenomenal!

Page 144: '"Not really,' I said. 'I just wondered what, you know, normal families ate.' Nevaeh's mom laughed. 'Oh, honey. There's no such thing as a normal family.'"

I love that line! What is normal, anyhow? I completely understood Della's curiosity and perspective. At ten, she knows that what her childhood has included is NOT normal to most people.

Page 175: "I told you, nobody goes into foster care for good reasons. Foster care might be better than anything you've ever had in your life so far, and it will still never be as good as what you should have had. If the family you were born into was what it should have been."

Francine is an amazing foster mom! Tough, yes, but real. And steady. And concerned about the girls. After this, when Della says what happened was her fault, Francine tries to convince her that it was NOT! It makes me sad when kids take responsibility for the horrible things that adults do.

Page 201: "The good news is, people can and do heal. They can and do get better."

We didn't see a lot of Dr. Fremont, the psychologist working with Della, but she is a gem. Her encouragement and patience helped Della to work through her fears and guilt.

Page 209: "'Not your sister,' Maybelline said. 'I hope she's well, but I'm asking about you.'"

I loved Maybelline (the lady at the grocery store deli counter)! She treated Della with respect and love!

Page 209: "'It'll probably make you glow in the dark! Nothing that color is meant to go inside your mouth.'"

I agree with Teena - Mountain Dew is not for human consumption!

Page 213: "I'd been thinking about it. Brains were shut up inside the hard bone-box that was your skull. If someone or something banged you upside the head, stands to reason your brain could be hurt. But just someone scaring you? Touching you where they shouldn't?"

'It's complicated,' Dr. Fremont said, 'but it's true.'

She said that when bad things happened to people, it could make their brains change for the worse. 'Especially if the bad things happen when you're young,' she said."

So much about how trauma affects children makes me deeply, incredibly sad. I don't understand how people can let their addictions or selfish desires harm little kids.

Page 227: "Francine said, 'I wished someone had helped me when I was Suki's age. Or yours.' She blew out a cloud of cigarette smoke. 'Wish I'd had someone on my side.'"

Francine may not be an ideal person to raise children, but her heart is most definitely in the right place. She is providing care and stability for Della and Suki . . . like she wished she'd had when she was young. This book is so full of pain and sorrow, but it's not a downer!

Page 230: "'Well, sure,' Maybelline said. 'That's why I never got one. I changed my mind more often that some people changed their underwear.'"

They're talking about tattoos and this line made me laugh! Maybelline was such a delight.

Page 245: "I said, 'Even Ms. Davonte couldn't ignore all of us.' We'd worked as a pack, all us girls. A wolf pack."

I loved that Della resisted the urge to deck Trevor and used words! (And not swear words this time.) It would be fun to discuss this book and the meaning of the title. What a fantastic part of the story! I know some girls who could learn a lot from Della's "wolf pack" analogy.

Page 259: "Standing just inside the fourth-grade classroom, I look up at Ms. Davonte. I smile. I say, 'This is to remind me of the best day of my life.'

She looks down at me. For a wonder, she smiles back. 'When was that?' she asks.

'Tomorrow,' I say.

And that right there, that's the very best part of this story."

Yes! I love the hope enmeshed in that answer. I love that Della and Suki are looking toward the future and things they would like to do. This story is beautifully and powerfully written. I may buy a copy to keep and share.

The Invisible Man

by H.G. Wells

Libby audiobook 6:15 hours

Read by: Scott Brick

Published: 1897 (this version 2006)

Genre: Science Fiction

 

This book is one that I had "known" only by reference to it and through reading a Great Illustrated Classics version. I'm not even sure if I've ever watched a movie version . . . and Louie tells me that listening to the audiobook doesn't "count" as reading it. Whatever. Brick did a fantastic job with the reading. Wells is a genius but this is dark!

 

Griffin is an unlikable character. The first half of the book is full of mystery and hints, but the Invisible Man is a complete jerk and treats people like garbage. The second half of the book is him telling his story to Dr. Kemp. And then we learn that he's even worse than we thought!

 

It fascinates me to think of Wells coming up with this story in the late 1800s. His imagination at what science might develop is so amazing! Griffin starts out in medical school and then switches to physics. The "explanation" of how invisibility would work is nonsense, of course, but it is still fascinating. What is interesting is how his focus and selfishness devolves into completely maniacal tyranny.

 

Kemp refers to his behaviors as "brutal self-seeking." Even when he describes being at his dad's funeral, his lack of compassion or concern for other humans is startling. He has an incredibly bad attitude and is not a sympathetic character at all! 

 

I'm glad I "read" it . . . it's another of those books that is part of our culture and has some interesting things to say about humanity. Toward the end, though, I wondered why people didn't just have flour or ashes to throw at the Invisible Man so that they could capture him more easily.

 

And the tramp becoming an innkeeper . . . the ending left many possibilities open! Wells was a genius, but he certainly saw the potential for the worst in humanity!

The Last Thing He Told Me

by Laura Dave

Libby eBook approx 500 pages

Published: 2021

Genre: suspense, realistic fiction

I had never heard of this author before, but the story sounded interesting. 

 

"Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared."

It took me a bit to get into it. I didn't like that the teenage Bailey was such a pill (as teenage girls can be, even without losing their birth mom at a young age.) But once I got into it, it was hard to put down. I wasn't sure how it would end . . . and it's frustrating that there are at least THIRTY pages of extra stuff at the end of the book. I was expecting more from the story, but it ends a bit abruptly (because I was anticipating more to the story). The extra stuff is good - book club discussion questions, acknowledgements, author interview, etc. But I just wasn't ready for the story to end where it did.

I may look for more books by this author. I tagged one section. "This is the thing about good and evil. They aren't so far apart - and they often start from the same valiant place of wanting something to be different." I don't agree with that line, but it made me think of politics and how often people on the extreme ends of the spectrum want to "improve" things, but have very different ideas about what that is and how to get there.

Once Upon a Wardrobe

by Patti Callahan

Hennepin County Library hardcover 271 pages

Published: 2021

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction 

Based on C.S. Lewis and his Narnia books, this story focuses on Megs Devonshire and her little brother George. Megs is a math and physics student at Oxford. Her little brother has a sickness that will likely end his life early. A fan of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he asks his big sister to find out where Narnia "came from" as author Lewis is a professor at Oxford. Only Megs' love for her brother brings her to seek out the famous man. Only his way of answering questions is through telling stories about his life. Megs wants certainty. 

I enjoyed this book very much, but it was not a page-turner for me. I really enjoyed the sister and brother dynamic (even more than Megs' evolution as a character and a thinker). 

Page 99: "I watch him. The thing is, I want a miracle for George. I want something or someone like Aslan to prowl through the door and save us, save us from the sorrow and the pain and the absolute loneliness of it all." 

Part of the reason I didn't connect as much with Megs is because I am NOT a logic-focused person. I love stories and imagination. When she read to George or told him stories, I connected best with that relational aspect of her character. Wanting an Aslan, a saviour, resonates for me!

Page 120: "It took months, but Jack saved up his money, and Warnie, out of love, chipped in. Jack bought the book for fifteen schillings."

I love the brother relationship between Clive Staples / C.S. / "Jack" and his brother Warner. I love that he wanted to own a book so much that it became his focus. (This book was Twilight of the Gods). 

Another book that was raved about was Phantastes by George McDonald. This came up as SUCH a big deal, that I added a post-it note about reading it myself. I have soooo many books on my shelf already, but I'm curious. I may have to request it from the library just to appease my curiosity.

Page 154: "Warnie walks ahead as if he has somewhere to be, while Jack continues chatting. 'Every life should be guided and enriched by one book or another, don't you agree? Certainly, every formative moment in my life has been enriched or informed by a book. You must be very careful about what you choose to read - unless you want to stay stuck in your opinions and hard-boiled thoughts, you must be very careful.' "

I love the idea of going for a walk and talking and listening and thinking about meaning. 

Page 204: ". . . Jack had known that his intellect stood over his imagination, that the two hemispheres, as it were, of his mind were in sharp contrast. He realized that all he'd loved, he believed to be imaginary, and all he'd believed was real, he thought grim and meaningless.

Near dawn, Jack went home, and morning rose over the Kilns to see him a different man.

Something within him had shifted.

'Even if Christianity isn't my favorite myth,' he told Warnie,' it's the only one that is true.'"

I love when atheists come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! I love how the thinking and talking of the Inklings made such a difference for Lewis and others. 

Page 205: "He wants to know if it's true that there's something more when this something ends. Not whether there is a doorway in the back of his wardrobe; he know that is just a way to tell a story about something more. But maybe in the back of his life there is a place he will go, a place they will all go."

George, as young as he is, knows that his life will not be long. He wants the answer to that big question: what happens when I die? His hunger for more of Mr. Lewis' stories is deeper than mere curiosity about Narnia.

Page 218: "'Megs, every human interaction is eternally important.' He smiles, and I swear those eyes that usually twinkle are swimming with tears."

That phrase struck me - every human interaction is eternally important. I want my interactions with people to point them to Jesus. I want to glorify God each and every day, through my thoughts, words, and actions.

Page 233: ". . . I think of George in front of the fireplace asking for only this for Christmas. I think of next Christmas when George likely won't be here, and me wishing I'd taken the chance, broken through the stone wall of logic and fear."

I was so worried that Megs would not take advantage of Padraig's offer to drive her and George to see Dunluce Castle in Ireland. What a bold adventure! I loved Padraig as a character! What a delight. And I'm so glad she overcame her fears. (And I had to look up info about the castle online . . . tourist visit someday?)

Page 259: "I think the lion follows all of us around. We just have to look for him."

George has wisdom beyond his years. I love that he drew Aslan into the different scenes he drew of the stories of Jack Lewis' life.

Page 266: "I'd believed - fool that I was - that because I knew this end was coming, I was prepared, that I would not grieve as I had. As if one can pre-grieve and get it out of the way. It's not true. Grief is the price I paid for loving fiercely, and that was okay, because there was no other choice but to love fiercely and fully."

Yes. Grief is the payment for loving deeply and losing someone.

I look forward to our book club discussion in three and a half weeks!

The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People

by John Ortberg 

my personal copy, paperback, 222 plus extra material

Published: 1997

Genre: Christian Living

I was looking through my bookshelf for books to donate to Recovery Church in St. Paul. This caught my eye. Part of me wants to keep it to re-read it . . . but I have SO many books and time is limited. I probably read this twenty years ago. I marked up lots of pages. In the flyleaf, I noted the spiritual disciplines: joy! (celebration), slowing, prayer, servanthood, confession, and listening. (Do you see why I'm tempted to re-read it?!)

Page 45: "Spiritual disciplines are to life what calisthenics are to a game." This quote is in the section with the heading, "Spiritual disciplines are NOT a barometer of spirituality." (Emphasis mine.)

My hope is that this book will be an incredible blessing to someone who needs the encouragement in living a life for God. I've put this title in my Amazon cart so I can think about it / pray about it / consider doing it as a group study at my church. How ironic!

Oh! I also had a piece of paper in it that had the word "chiaroscuro" and its Merriam-Webster definition. "Kee-ar-uh-scur-oh" Chiaro (clear, light) + (o)scuro (obscure, dark). The quality of being veiled or partly in shadow, a pictorial representation in terms of light and shade.