History in a can't-put-it-down story

17-year-old Lev and his friends are starving in the 1943 siege of Leningrad. When they see a dead paratrooper drop into their neighborhood, they run to see if there's anything good on his body that can help them to live -- but the police chase them. Lev is the only one caught, and he knows the punishment for looting is death. Lev is thrown into a cell with a deserter, Kolya. The two are brought before a lieutenant who offers them freedom in exchange for a dozen eggs needed to bake his daughter's wedding cake. They have six days to deliver the eggs, and in those days we follow them through danger, humor, and a growing friendship. As they tromped, always hungry, through frozen snow and ice, I found that I could not get warm -- even though I was in my comfortably heated house. I walked with them as they dodged cannibals, partisan revolutionaries, and the German army -- and then were captured and marched along with other prisoners through endless winter forests. Although I forgot the connection as I got caught up in the story, the Prologue (if we can believe it) explains that Lev is the author's grandfather, and this story tells his memories of his struggles to survive war on the Russian home front. That personal connection added poignancy to the story.

This is a quick read that I could not put down. 4 out of 4 stars!

Creepy Irish ghost story...

Three dead women are found by the postman in a house at the end of a lane, in a small town just outside Dublin. One woman died from having her head bashed in, presumably by the shovel found upstairs, next to the emaciated bodies of her two nieces who had been imprisoned, fed rat poison, and slowly starved to death. Shortly after the grisly discovery, Niall, an aspiring graphic artist who works at the post office, finds an unclaimed package in the dead letter bin, mailed by Fiona Walsh (one of the dead girls) to "anyone at all" in the post office. It turns out to be Fiona's diary, and once Niall opens the book and begins to read, he is dragged into a world of fairy tales and evil. Fiona and her sisters grew up in a town in West Cork, and Niall goes there to follow the story.

How much of the tale is fanciful or exaggerated? How much is just a romantic telling of something very real and horrible? Fiona and her sister are dead -- and so is their Aunt Moira. They all had been involved with a traveling storyteller named Jim. And it is Jim's story that forms the spellbinding tale which leads to the final chapter of doom.

Read this one with the lights turned down low -- to get into the mood of horror and things-that-go-bump-in-the-night. Or keep all the lights on to their full brightness so you won't get too freaked out. I give this book 3 1/2 stars for spinning such an intriguing yarn.

Beautiful but Haunting

Marilynne Robinson, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Gilead, started her published writing career with the short (in page length) novel Housekeeping, published in 1980. Her writing is gorgeous and rich - I wanted to slow down and treasure the phrases and descriptions. But this is a novel that is short on plot and which focuses on character development. The narrator is Ruthie, who was raised by a number of relatives. Her mother, Helen, dropped Ruthie and her younger sister Lucille off at their grandmother's house just before she drove her car off a cliff into a lake. After their grandmother died a few years later, some old maiden great-aunts came to watch over them, but they were set in their ways, easily worried, and didn't "take" to child- rearing so they were happy to go back home when their mother's long-wandering sister Sylvie showed up to take over. The novel is awash in watery imagery. (get the pun?) They live in Fingerbone, a town perched beside a bottomless lake, into which their grandfather's train dove off the tracks on the long bridge which spans the lake. That tragedy (and their mother's suicide in that same lake) colors all their lives. Sylvie's care of Ruthie and Lucille doesn't meet the standards or expectations of the town or the school, and eventually people stop by and observe the hoarded piles of newspapers and tin cans, the rat droppings, and other signs of Sylvie's lack of "housekeeping." We learn that Sylvie has a hard time being tethered to any house, and Ruthie is increasingly drawn to Sylvie's dreamlike wanderings. Lucille, on the other hand, craves a life of normalcy.

As a lover of language, I appreciated the writing. I can see how Robinson was awarded a contract to write a second novel. But this one was just too drawn out and sad for me to give it any more than 2 out of 4 stars.

Asian American Romeo and Juliet

I was initially enamored of this book because it provided a personal insight into the experience of Japanese Americans who were mistrusted to the point of incarceration during WWII. Several neighbors in the housing cooperative where I have lived for almost 30 years had moved to the Chicago area after leaving the "relocation camps" in which they were imprisoned in the 1940's, and having heard just brief references to their experiences over the years, I was very interested to hear more about what might have happened to them.

The romance between Chinese American Henry and Keiko, the only other non-white student at their school, seems a means of mutual safety and support in the face of ridicule and bullying by their white classmates and the kids in their own neighborhoods who feel betrayed by Henry's and Keiko's abandonment to the "other side." Henry and Keiko are 12 when they get together, so there is a "Romeo and Juliet" suggestion to their growing relationship. Henry is further isolated by his father's avid Chinese nationalism. Henry is forbidden to speak Chinese in the home -- his father wants for Henry to be American -- and yet his father determinedly follows the war in China and hates Japan for its ongoing onslaughts against China. He would hate to know about Henry's feelings for Keiko.

The story is told in two time periods -- during Henry's childhood, and then 40 years later when the old Panama Hotel is purchased by a developer who wants to restore it to its original Japanese splendor. Henry sees a news report that mountains of abandoned goods have been discovered in the basement of the hotel, left behind when local Japanese-American residents were taken away to relocation camps. And he remembers Keiko. Henry's wife Ethel had died just 6 months before this. His son is a college student who thinks of Henry as old-fashioned, unromantic, and prejudiced.

I think that the book lost its punch and degraded into a Nicholas Sparks-like romance about halfway through. The historical stage has been set - we know what's happening with the war and with the major characters, and all that's left is for them to get back together. Or not, to the tune of moaning violins. So - although I liked the premise, the execution of this story was not strong. So - only 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Wanna Get Away?

You might think you want a change - even a drastic change - in your life, but after reading this book, you might be happy with the usual humdrum. The author, an Afghani married to an Indian woman and living in England, really misses the sun, remembers his childhood family vacations wandering in northwest Africa, and decides to capture that geography and less-hectic lifestyle for his own children. He buys a long-unoccupied palace in the middle of a shantytown in Casablanca and embarks upon the overwhelming task of renovating the palace. He inherits a group of employees and soon is forced to hire many more -- and let's just say that this man was not born to be a boss. He is soon pushed around by all the carpenters, tile-layers, "guardians," as well as the cook, the nanny, and his professional assistant, Kamal. This assistant somehow cuts through red tape, gets things done, and navigates Tahir through many back alley deals -- but he, too, exhibits his own Moroccan way of working -- he doesn't show up for days, and then appears seemingly out of nowhere with a long-missing but absolutely essential document or permit. Besides the employee problem, Tahir also faces the obstacle of superstition about evil spirits -- especially the evil Jinn (i.e. genie) which inhabits his palace. Tahir adjusts to the fact that the uneducated workers are obsessed by the need to placate the Jinns, but as he meets other people whom he respects, he discovers that this superstitious belief is universal throughout Morocco.

This book is a series of funny anecdotes interspersed with history, culture, geography, and travel. If you enjoy reading to spread your awareness and to travel to new places, you will love this book. I did -- and I've heard that his newer book, In Arabian Nights, is even better. I give this 4 out of 4 stars.

A Boy and his Dad at War

Liam has grown up with the critical voice of his dad always harping on his multiple failures, to the point that Liam knows what a screwup he is. He can't do anything right. He makes poor choices. He isn't smart, and his chances for future success at anything are pretty much nil. And the sad thing is, Liam absolutely believes this, and the first words out of his mouth whenever he interacts with his dad are an apology and a promise to try harder. Liam admires his dad, who is a CEO of an important company, a well-recognized success story. Who wouldn't admire such a man?



Liam has gone too far this time. Caught drunk and in the midst of having sex in his dad's office with a girl he doesn't even like, Liam is sent off to live "for a while" with his dad's brother -- whom he hasn't seen since he was about 7 years old. That was when "Aunt Pete" showed up in drag, dressed in a gorgeous red ball gown, at Liam's mother's retirement party (when she gave up her successful international modeling career). Liam's dad and his ultra-strict grandparents were horrified, threw Pete out, and haven't spoken to him nor seen him ever since. So as Liam starts a new life at a new school, he is hoping to do whatever it takes to get back home, which would mean earning his dad's respect. So instead of continuing as "Mr. Popularity," he figures, he should become the least popular kid at school. Focus on academics. Join an unpopular club. Avoid the "cool kids." And if he can only get Darleen, the dorky neighbor girl whom everybody has predicted will earn the label of "Class B*tch" in the yearbook, to like him, his dad will surely see how hard he's trying to be a serious student.

I loved the message of this book. Liam learns some important life lessons, and so do we. But I can honestly say I've never met such a one-dimensionally hateful father in any of the books I've read. Even though the author was trying to make a point, it's hard to believe that there were never any redeeming qualities or some reasons that he was as mean as he was. Otherwise, why would Liam's mother have stayed with him? That was never explored, and that gap was a flaw in the book.

But Aunt Pete and his gay friends were well-drawn, without stereotypical limits, and Liam's changes, though extreme, were believable.
I give "King of the Screwups" 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Like "24" for teens

The Long Way Home, by Andrew Klavan. A Homelanders book.
A thrill a minute, this book reads like a pitch for an action movie. I can see it now -- all the narrow escapes, high speed chases, and the scene where our hero just HAS to go into that dangerous place to get the clue he needs to clear his name. It's all in here. If you like that type of movie, you'll enjoy this book about Charlie, who is on the run, trying to avoid both the police, who want him for murdering his best friend, and the Homelanders, a group of terrorists out to destroy America. They seem to think he was a member of their group who has betrayed them, and now they want him dead. But Charlie can't remember whether he was or wasn't. And he can't remember murdering his friend. In fact, the entire last year has been erased from his memory. To find out what really happened, he must return to his hometown, where he connects with some good friends who believe in him. Including Beth, whom he remembers liking a lot. But he can't remember that they had actually been an "item," which apparently they were. Before his life got so complicated. And dangerous.

One interesting element of this book was that the language was suspenseful but 'clean' -- and there were many references to the values that Charlie holds. He remembers many debates/discussions with his American History teacher, who seemed to constantly challenge Charlie's faith in God, his belief in his country, and his willingness to express his admiration of a good way to live. so, though I wouldn't call this overt Christian fiction, it doesn't try to hide positive values or role models from the reader.

This is the second in a series, which began with The Last Thing I Remember. The 3rd book, The Truth of the Matter, is due out this November.

I give it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Girl Gone Bad - - - ?

Devon is the perfect high school girl: straight A's, varsity and club soccer player with Olympic aspirations, more responsible even than her mother, a sought-after babysitter. But then she is arrested and charged with disposing of her newborn infant in a dumpster behind the apartment building where she lives. And she denies that she was even pregnant. During the following days in the juvenile detention center, as she meets with her attorney, a psychologist, and other adults sent to get to the bottom of the "incident," she flashes back to significant scenes in her life over the past few months. And to all the years with her mother, the flirty and flighty Jennifer, who'd had Devon when she was 16 and has spent most of the years since going from one man to another. Devon remembers when she was 5 and her mom left her alone for the weekend, because she "needed some time to herself" - (though she had really gone away with a man). Devon has lived her life according to some very strict rules, trying to be excellent and to be -- at any cost -- NOTHING like her mother.

I liked After for its look into the mind of a teen portrayed as a monster by the media, whom we see in all her complexities. I liked it for the sympathetic look at the many "types" of girls who are incarcerated, and at the people who choose to work with them. In some ways this book took on an almost nonfiction tone, though Devon's character and story were fictional. I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Another girl with a secret past

This book reminded me a lot of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, in that it involves a girl who starts the school year being ostrasized by everyone because of something that happened at the end of the previous year. Although a successful model and a good student, Annabelle has no friends -- although some of that isolation is self-imposed. In flashbacks we read about her life from about age 11 on, up to the pivotal event which changed everything. We see her through changes in best friends, and events in her family such as her mother's depression, her two older sisters' careers as models, and one sister's eating disorder. Annabelle does have one new friend -- another kid isolated by everyone else: Owen, an angry and sometimes violent kid who sits by himself at lunch. He DJ's a radio show on Sunday mornings at a local station, and introduces Annabelle to a wild variety of musical styles. And she is able to be honest with him about her opinions of his musical taste -- but not about anything else.

Kind of good, but nothing new or earth-shattering. I give it 2 out of 4 stars.

Can't Stop Readin' Those...

As addictive as Jay's potato chips, the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins has gripped RB's reading world. The 1st book in the series was selected as the Eng. 10 summer read, and several sophomore classes are embarked upon a research project based on the 2nd book, Catching Fire. The 3rd and final book in the series, Mockingjay, was just released a couple of weeks ago, and true fans have "flocked" to purchase or borrow it. I myself had to wait for my husband and daughter to finish our copy before getting my turn.

The tone of Mockingjay is different from the first two. While they were based on the to-the-death games imposed on the other 12 districts by the ruling "Capital," there was still an element of adventure and suspense. This third book gets right to the point and doesn't let the reader escape from the absolute control and unrelenting terrorism practiced by the Capital. Yes, people died in the other books, but we weren't slammed in the face with the brutality, torture, and genocide. Mockingjay makes it clear that Collins was writing about war, violence, and totalitarian governments. While The Hunger Games could have been compared to the TV show "Survivor," there is no chance that Mockingjay can be considered light-hearted fun. Still well-written and gripping, though. And the love triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta continues . . .

I give this one 3 1/2 stars out of 4.

Appearances can be deceiving

Yet ANOTHER book using the currently-popular writing style of two stories told concurrently in alternating chapters, which eventually merge as the author slowly reveals the common elements. And though I found myself initially irritated by the style, the story grabbed me, and I found myself staying up late and trying to find stray moments to pick up this book to continue reading.

Each of the two stories is about a mother immersed in the early months of parenthood. Lexie Sinclair (aka Alexandra) is tempestuous, fiercely independent, and bright. At 18, she left Devon for postwar London and was soon deeply involved in the art scene - living in Soho, writing as a critic for a magazine, and deeply in love. Fifty years later Elina is an Finnish artist who just had a baby with her boyfriend Ted. She almost died during delivery, and can't remember anything about her life before the baby. Ted is having his own memory issues -- he is starting to remember disturbing new things about his early childhood.

I love the "period piece" descriptions of 1950's London, the dreamy writing style, and generally the language of the book. The characters came alive, and the story was gripping.

4 out of 4 stars

A new year for sharing about books

Stop by the RB Library to pick up a book for those odd moments when you have a free moment. Or for a weekend's relaxation. Or for an SSR requirement assigned by a teacher. The librarians would be happy to help you choose a book you would enjoy.

Did you read any good books this past summer? I did. (though I also had a great time camping, biking, and spending some quality time with my kids - one got married, two moved to Chicago, one has a beautiful son that I spend time with whenever I get a chance) But I escaped into some great books, too. See my summaries below. (and share YOUR favorites in a reply comment!)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the third book in the series about the mysterious Lisbeth Salander, multiply-tattooed computer hacker who was featured in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Faithful Place is the third book by Irish author Tana French, who previously gained worldwide fame with her thrilling mysteries In the Woods and The Likeness. This one is her best so far. It tells the story of Frank, who has for years distanced himself from his "crazy" family - only to be pulled back into their midst when the body of his old girlfriend is discovered in an abandoned house on his childhood street, called Faithful Place. He had always believed that the girlfriend had dumped him and run off to England alone. As an experienced detective, he is prepared to run an investigation - but is he prepared for all the drama and trauma his family brings to the situation?

Jerk, California is one of the Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award nominees for 2011. What I liked about this one is that I felt like I gained some understanding of Tourette's Syndrome beyond the stereotypes. Sam experiences uncontrollable twitches, which sometimes build up to seizures. His stepfather is ashamed of his condition, and continually

berates him and tells him that his father was a deadbeat deserter. But then Sam meets George, who knew his father, and he begins to learn the truth about his past - including the fact that his real name is Jack. And he is launched on a cross-country journey of discovery.

There are many more summer books to write about - stay tuned for regular updates!

A Girl With Serious Problems

This book was OK. Not wonderful. Not terrible. Somewhat mysterious -- where did she go? Why? Is she dead or alive? Quentin ("Q") has grown up next-door to Margo Roth Spiegelman (always referred to by full name), and when they were nine, they found a dead man under the tree at the park. Q's parents are therapists, and they "talked him through his feelings" - but Margo's parents are painted as less-involved, less-tolerant, and less-loving. So what happened when they were just about to graduate from high school might have been caused by that early trauma.

Q has loved Margo from afar since their worlds spun apart years ago -- hers into popularity, and his into nerd-dom. One night about a month before their graduation she appears at his bedroom window and lures him out to a night of pranks, adventure, and revenge. And then she disappears, leaving clues that seem meant just for Q to follow.

As I said, the mystery is somewhat interesting. But the characters and descriptions are over-the-top, beyond believable, and overly dramatic. That really lost me after a while. I just kept reading to see what would happen, but this is not on my top-ten.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

Look out - Here comes Frankie!

Did you ever feel like people don't really listen when you talk? don't understand the real you? don't appreciate your talents or recognize what you can do? If you've ever felt slighted, or slotted into a category of "type of person" that no longer fits, you will definitely recognize the character of Frankie Landau-Banks. Her family calls her "Bunny Rabbit," which sounds cute and powerless, right? Well, Frankie no longer wants to be seen as powerless. She wants people to recognize her intelligence and creativity -- and she wants to be a full player in whatever activities she finds interesting. She has no interest in dabbling in things that boys don't bother doing, such as field hockey or decorating the gym for the dance. In short, she is this generation's embodiment of women's lib!

After a summer in which her body suddenly develops, she returns for her sophomore year at Alabaster, an exclusive and challenging private boarding school. She catches the attention of one of the most popular senior boys, Matthew, and she's happy because she's had her eye on HIM for a year. After they start to date, she discovers that he leads a secret life as a leader of a secret male society to which she had heard her dad and his business associates, also alumni of Alabaster, allude during a summer dinnertime restaurant meal. She tries to get Matthew to tell her more about this society - but he acts like he doesn't know what she's talking about, and tries to change the subject to inconsequential topics, or tries to distract her by making out.

Well, even though she likes to make out with him, she is hurt and angry that he doesn't think she's "worthy" of knowing about his stupid club -- so she creates an anonymous email account pretending to be Matthew's co-leader (aka Alpha Dog) and orchestrates a series of outlandish pranks and public protests for the club to carry out. And thus begins her "disreputable history."

Many young adult books try to describe their main characters in ways that make them familiar. A trend lately has been to use slangy language, and to describe the traumas and the social life (i.e. parties, dating, emotional and physical challenges, etc.) of the girls, especially. One reason I loved this book was that it recognizes the depth and diversity of teens -- not EVERYone spends all their time figuring out their love life, or dealing with family issues such as alcoholism or eating disorders. Most kids have geometry tests, play Monopoly, have friends who like things other than just sports and popularity (some play chess, or are in the band, or set up AV equipment at school). They all might be trying to figure out who they are, what they want to be, and what matters to them. But just as Frankie objected to being slotted as a "type," many young adult novels also slot all teenagers as a "type."

Another fun aspect of this book was how Frankie played with language. She made up words based on the extension of the rule of non-positives. If INflexible means "not flexible," and DISjointed means "not jointed," then what do you do with words like Disgruntled? Is "gruntled" a word? (not gruntled) Frankie thinks it should be, and she soon starts to pepper her conversations with these words, which catches the reader's attention and reminds us of her new game.

For the rich character development, the suspenseful story line (will she get caught and revealed as the mastermind (or should it be "mistress-mind?) of the pranks), and for the intelligent vocabulary, I give this book 4 out of 4 stars.

Road trip to self-discovery

Just before graduating from high school, Sam runs into beautiful Naomi -- almost literally, as they are both jogging through the woods at the time. Sam's home life is terrible, as his stepfather, Old Bill, continually abusing him, both verbally and physically. And his mother doesn't stick up for him. Part of the reason Old Bill picks on Sam is the Tourette's - a disease which causes his muscles to continually contract, jerk, and twitch. Then Sam meets "Old Coot" (his village nickname), or George (his real name), a gardener who knew Sam's real dad. But he won't call Sam by his name -- he keeps calling him Jack, saying that's his REAL name. And the things he's saying about his dad are very different from the stories Old Bill has been feeding him for over 16 years: that his dad was no good, a drunk, that when he crashed his car into a telephone poll a strange woman was in his car. That he was dumb, couldn't hold a job -- and that Sam is very lucky that Old Bill took him in and has spent money all these years to feed and house him, even though (as Old Bill repeatedly tells him), he's as worthless as his old man. George paints a very different picture, and even offers Sam/Jack a job as an assistant gardener. One day they plant flowers at a beautiful house - in which the beautiful Naomi lives.

And then George dies, leaving Sam/Jack his business, house, and entire estate - including an assignment to follow a map and drive out west, stopping at designated locations all the way to California, where his grandmother whom he's never met lives. Through a coincidental run-in, Naomi ends up going along for the ride. Each stop along the way introduces more and more people who knew his dad, and gradually he comes to know the real James Keegan -- and gets to know the real Jack Keegan, too. Naomi has her own issues and challenges, and she and Jack help each other out on their respective quests.

The author interview at the end was instructive - it turns out that he also has Tourette's, and so much of this book is autobiographical. In addition to being a good character-centered story with believable conflicts, this novel many discussable topics. It was a page-turner which held my attention throughout.
I give it 3 out of 4 stars. This is another of the 2011 Abraham Lincoln H.S. Book Award nominees.

She kicks *#%*!

Katsa is the king's enforcer, due to her "Grace," (i.e. talent or gift), which is an unusual ability to fight. He sends her off to "convince" his subjects to pay their taxes, or to punish them if they don't give him what he wants. You may get the picture that this king is not such a nice guy. But he is Katsa's uncle, and has raised her. Her uncle, King Randa of the Middluns, is no worse than many of the kings of the surrounding countries - they all vie for power. Now 18, Katsa has started an underground movement called The Council which tries to counteract some of the abuses of the kings.

On one mission for the Council, Katsa and some friends are rescuing a kidnapped old man, the father of the King of Lienid, kept captive in the dungeons of the king of Sunder. And that's where Katsa meets Po, a mysterious fighter who also has two differently-colored eyes, just like her -- which means that he also is Graced. But what is his grace? And how will their futures overlap? As Katsa tries to evade the power of her uncle king, she becomes wrapped up in the intrigue between neighboring countries. And she discovers that Po could be a friend - or maybe something more.

I loved this book, and hope that it will be the start of a great new series. The characters evolve, the mysteries are captivating, and the problems are real in spite of the obvious fantasy-world setting. This is one of the Abraham Lincoln Award nominees for 2011.

3 out of 4 stars.

Futility of Africans' Plight

The Faculty Book Club chose this book for our April book, so I took it with me to Mexico over Spring Break. What a downer! Apparently Oprah and Anderson Cooper had raved about this book and how it would open one's eyes to the reality of what so many people in Africa are dealing with. The books has won multiple awards. So I went in expecting to be enlightened and inspired. Instead, I found it unrelentingly depressing. There are three short stories and two longer novellas - each one centering on a child living in a different country. The first one deals with an impoverished street family. The oldest, a 12-year-old-girl, is supporting the family through prostitution. She's giving the secrets of the trade to her 10-year-old sister to get her ready. The narrator brother is destined to go off to school - he is their future and their hope. But he can't stand the guilt - so runs away. HOPELESS. Then there is the story about an uncle who "saves" his niece and nephew from their parents who are dying of AIDS -- only to sell them into slavery. HOPELESS. Follow that story up with the one about a young man running away from marauding revolutionaries in the Islamic north to the Christian area in the south (his mother was Islamic; his father was Christian). He is on a bus -- and the very long story deals with the people on the bus talking about the politics, religion, and other philosophies -- and his fear that he'll be discovered and killed. Which is what happens at the end. HOPELESS. Or how about the one where a Rwandan family is destroyed when the father is forced by tribal revolutionaries to murder his wife -- and the reader knows that his children are also facing imminent death. HOPELESS. Why am I telling you the end of these stories? To save you from the depression that enveloped me after trudging through this collection. The thing is, you come out of this book without any idea of what will ever solve the problems all those people are facing. The conflicts based on colonially-imposed borders and the inequality (politically and economically) between factions is not going away. The disease, poverty, and overall lack of hope for a decent future seem unrelenting. I was not enriched by reading this book. Nor was I disturbed in a good way -- one that might have encouraged me to take action to improve the situations. The stories were poisons that infected me - and I just needed a good Disney movie or two to clear them out.

1 out of 4 stars.

Another Holden Caulfield?

Though he wants to be known as Huge, the narrator in this novel, Eugene, is called Genie by everybody who knows him. And he is NOT huge - he's a small 12-year-old boy going-into-6th-grade who has been hired by his senile grandmother to investigate the vandalism of the sign at the nursing home where she lives. Huge has anger issues, which led to a long-term suspension from school last year. He carries around a stuffed frog (known as Thrasher) that he got from his counselor. He rides a bike (the Cruiser) that he built out of spare parts. While on suspension, he had read the entire collection of Raymond Chandler and Phillip Marlowe detective books, and has taken on the hard-boiled detective persona of those books. He "sees" problems all around, and "collects evidence" -- but are things really as he sees them?

His dad had abandoned him, his older sister, and his mom a few years ago. Now his mom works two jobs, and he sees his sister as a sleep-around loser. The language in this book is vulgar, which was somewhat shocking. It has the tone of an old-fashioned detective novel - all simple, short, choppy sentences. In some ways Huge seems old for his age -- but there IS that stuffed frog...

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Catcher in the Rye, since Huge is a similar type of character, and he tends to do outlandish things. It's also a good choice for lovers of detective stories. But if swear words upset you, don't try this book. I would rate this one 2 out of 4 stars.

Bon appetit!

Recently highlighted in the movie Julie and Julia, with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, Julia Child's star has risen again. A cultural icon in the 60's and 70's because of her PBS cooking show, she was the precursor for the many cooking shows now filling the Food Network. She was the first to encourage American cooks to aspire to gourmet-level meal creation. Coming to popular success in the years immediately following the creation of processed food (Campbell's soup, Kraft Mac and Cheese, Chef Boy R Dee pizza in a box, etc.), Julia issued a challenge to those who valued food for the soul -- food to savor -- not just food as fuel.

This book, written in collaboration with a great-nephew at the very end of her life (c. 2005), tells of the years in the 1950's when she and her fairly-new husband Paul lived in France. He worked for the U.S. State Department and was in charge of setting up exhibits to raise public opinion about the United States in France. Julia became interested in cooking after her "soul and spirit were opened up" by some wonderful meals. She took some classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, learned from private chefs, and eventually opened her own cooking school with two other women. These three women then set out to write a cookbook for Americans to introduce them to French cooking -- and that was the beginning of everything.

What I loved about this book was the joy with which she described EVERYTHING -- the sights, sounds, tastes, people, weather -- even the inconveniences of having no hot water, living in a freezing apartment, and having no gas for their stove were all welcomed as a grand adventure. Julia and Paul entertained frequently, and they went out and about to take advantage of their time abroad. They went to restaurants and clubs, toured the countryside, explored the markets, immersed themselves in everything France had to offer -- and she describes it all so convincingly in this book that one almost can't help but book a flight immediately!

4 out of 4 stars

Back in time -- to look forward?

I have always loved the short stories of Ray Bradbury. From Something Wicked This Way Comes to Martian Chronicles, his stories combine vivid descriptions of life-as-we-know-it with realistic portrayals of space exploration. And beneath those "flights of fancy" is a shared conviction between Bradbury and his readers that no matter where humans go or to what extent we advance our technologies, we will carry with us our human failings and faults. Which will bring about our downfall.

By telling the stories of individual characters, he communicates his opinions about issues of the day, such as racism and civil rights, technology, class systems, the importance of creativity and freedom, and the importance of the arts. In many of his stories, it is evident that he believes that science, big government, and "progress" are trying to quell creativity, fantasy, and fun.

But I like his books mostly because he doesn't make any grand pronouncements. His themes don't blast the reader too strongly. Instead, we get drawn into the lives of his characters. Like the astronauts flying through space in "Kaleidoscope" -- without the benefit of a rocket, after theirs has blown up and thrown them out into space. They are flying in different directions at hundreds of miles per hour - some destined to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in a trail of fire -- others to collide with meteors or to continue moving toward other planets. Their communications technology allows them to continue to talk to each other as they fly along, and in a few short sentences we have a clearly-painted image of their personalities and what they've gone through to get to this point. And what a title -- doesn't the word Kaleidoscope immediately conjure up an image of little dits and dots twirling against a background? To think of those random images in a black sea of space as being humans creates a quirky (humorous and yet horrific) mental image.

Another story, "Zero Hour," raises memories of the long days of childhood summers spent outside playing with friends. And the mother inside doing her chores or attending to the kids when they run in and out looking for something, getting a drink, or telling her about their games. They are playing 'invasion," which sounds very creative and imaginary -- but we soon come to realize that the kids are more in touch with reality than the adults. Martians really ARE planning to invade -- tonight. The kids are prepared to help them take over the Earth -- and that is unbelievable, horrible, and yet fits into every kid's childhood fantasy.

If you haven't yet tried out a Bradbury, stop by the library and check one out. We have 5 of his books.
I'm rating Illustrated Man 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

A Modern Ghost Story

Audrey Niffenegger rose to fame with her story of The Time Traveler's Wife - which I loved because it took place in and around Chicago, and it was fun to recognize music venues, museums, etc. (heck, the main character WORKED at the Newberry Library!) And it was just quirky enough to keep me intrigued -- "What? He travels through time? Does he have any control over where he shows up, or when?" Well, this adventurous and risk-taking author has reached even further into her bag of tricks to come up with Her Fearful Symmetry.
Plot summary: Two 20-year-old twin girls, Julia and Valentina, living with their parents in north suburban Chicago, inherit a London apartment from their mother Emily's twin Elspeth, from whom she has been estranged -- for about 20 years. Hmmm. What's the deal? The catch to the inheritance is that in order to truly win the apartment, they will need to live in it for a year -- and their parents are forbidden to visit. Well, the girls are at loose ends anyway - they've dropped out of at least two universities and are just hanging out at home doing not-much. So off they go, to their grand adventure in London. They meet the other inhabitants of the apartment building. There is Martin, the upstairs neighbor, who suffers from debilitating OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and whose wife has recently left him as a result. And downstairs is Roger, their Aunt Elspeth's younger lover, who is ostensibly working on a doctoral thesis about the cemetery next-door -- though he seems to be stuck, and instead of writing spends his days giving tours of the historic cemetery and his nights sitting out among the graves. Very soon we find out that Elspeth has NOT left, but her ghost remains. She is frustrated by her in-between state and wants to still feel, touch, and interact with those around her. So she practices her powers until she is able to move objects, turn lights on and off, and communicate with the twins, using an Ouija board. Valentina, the more frail of the twins, is more in-tune with Elspeth -- she can even see her faint image. And Roger comes to love Valentina -- or is it just her connection to Elspeth that he loves?
The novel really gets into both generations of sibling rivalry, love stories, and the existence (or not) of ghosts all around us.

All in all, though it was intriguing, the characters were NOT sympathetic - they were majorly flawed in so many ways that I did not root for them or hope for their wishes to come true. It was a very dark book -- in London it was always rainy and gloomy, Martin had his windows covered with paper to keep out the germs and other "bad stuff," the characters were often depressed or unambitious, and the ending did not redeem anything or anyone.

So, though this is my first time to do so, I can only give this book 2 out of 4 stars.

Camelot's little brother

When one thinks of the Kennedy's, how many of us think of Teddy? Well, maybe I'm thinking of people in MY generation as opposed to those of you currently in high school. Us old folks tend to think of JFK and Bobby -- but how much of our remembrances are centered around their assassinations rather than their leadership or their impact on legislation? In actuality, Teddy, as a longtime leader in the Senate (the longest-serving in American history) until his death this past August, had perhaps the most enduring impact on social and political policies of all the Kennedy's. Throughout his early life he had his brothers' popularity to live up to (and sometimes to overcome).

I haven't read many biographies lately -- and only picked this one up because my two Book Clubs are doing it. But I am very much enjoying it! A co-writer is not mentioned (though my skeptical self wonders about a possible staff of ghost writers), and I was impressed at the writing style - how the chapters are organized and titled, and the way he told the stories of his childhood, education, and policial life - and how he told of coming into his own. He admitted using lots of notes, letters, and other sources to remind himself of dates, speeches, and so on, and those details added a lot to the writing -- but the strength of the book comes from his personal voice, which is self-deprecating and honest. His references to his parents are unfailingly loving and admiring -- the same with his references to other family members. He gives perspectives on his colleagues which provide a behind-the-scenes look at the daily life of a legislator. I found that enlightening, and gave me an admiration for the work that they do. He readily admits without excuses some of his escapades, which led to my trust when he insisted that some things of which he has been accused (Chappaquiddick) did not happen the way the media portrayed them. (for example, he was kicked out of Harvard for a year when he allowed a friend to take his Spanish final, an impulsive mistake that he confesses and regrets.)

He knows that his family has a lot of money, and we readers can easily see how that money provides some great opportunities, as in travel and education, as well as the THINGS - homes, boats, and so on. He probably takes those things for granted to some extent, but he also clearly outlines the high standards and expectations to which he and his siblings are held. "Of those who have plenty, much is expected." While growing up, they were expected to be well-prepared for dinnertime conversations on a variety of topics (announced daily via a notecard on the hallway bulletin board) from the situation in Uganda to possible solutions to the hunger crisis. Over the years this very public family suffered tragedy again and again - of the 9 children, Joe, Jack, Bobby, Kathleen all died early; Rosemary's mental problems were increased as a result of a faulty surgery; and Teddy's oldest son had a childhood cancer which resulted in amputation of a leg. Throughout it all, Kennedy maintained his positive attitude of hope, belief in the basic goodness of people, and the conviction that if we all work hard enough for justice, society as a whole will benefit. The many photographs scattered throughout the book help to remind we readers that these larger-than-life people were real. The names we know from history were down to earth family people facing many of the same issues as the rest of us, enjoying holidays and special events with their family, laughing together -- just like us. It's easy to forget, in the stories and the pictures, just how different their situation has been. What a fun close-up of the lives of the Rich and the Famous.
Because I learned so much and enjoyed the writing style, I give this book 3 1/2 stars out of 4

Gothic Romance and Suspense - with a twist

Kate Morton is an Australian author who has erupted onto the world scene with these wonderful stories of 20th century characters involved in mysteries involving both World Wars, secrets, social position, relationships, and the usual assortment of screwed-up family dynamics.

The Forgotten Garden opens with a little girl being found alone on a dock in Brisbane, Australia in 1907. The dockmaster takes her home until he can find out where she belongs - and he and his wife end up raising her. He finally tells her when she's was 21 that she had been adopted, and years later, after she died, her granddaughter travels to England to try to find out where the grandmother had come from. All she has to go on is a white suitcase with a book of illustrated fairy tales inside, which the little girl was carrying when she was found. There is romance, intrigue, and Dickensian settings.

The House at Riverton tells the story of a former maid in one of the fine country mansions owned and occupied by a family of "landed gentry" in Yorkshire, England. The story is told in flashback as the former maid, now in her 90's, remembers her life for a movie director making a film about the rich family, which was made famous when a prominent poet killed himself at one of their parties -- amid suggestions of a love affair with one daughter, an engagement to another . . . What this old woman remembers about what REALLY happened makes the story, but of course the truth is not revealed until the very end.

Both of these are good books to grab when you're ready to curl up under a blanket, sipping a cup of hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire. Dive in!

Both books earn 3.5 stars out of 4