Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Fiction Review: The Art of Hearing Heartbeats


My neighborhood book group met two weeks ago for a dinner out to celebrate our 150th book (I joined at book #70). We discussed The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker, an intricate love story spanning decades and set in Burma.

As the novel opens, an American woman named Julia is sitting in a small café in a rural mountain village in Burma. She has traveled all the way from New York City in search of her missing father. He disappeared several years earlier, leaving Julia, her brother, and their mother without a word of explanation. Police found he had purchased a plane ticket to Hong Kong and from there to Thailand, but his trail disappeared after that. When Julia finds a stack of old letters among his things addressed and never sent to someone named Mi Mi in Burma, she herself travels to the address on the letters in the remote town of Kalaw.

In that café, Julia is surprised when an old man named U Ba approaches her and knows who she is and all about her father. He even knows tiny details about her, including the name of her favorite story that her father used to tell her as a child. He says he can tell her about her father, but he must start at the beginning. She returns to the café the next day, and U Ba begins his story.

U Ba tells of a family that lived in the village long ago and had a son named Tin Win. An astrologer predicted that Tin Win’s life would be filled with sorrow, and, as part of a very superstitious culture, the couple believed him, especially Tin Win’s mother. Tin Win was educated at a monastery in town where a monk named U May took a special interest in him. Meanwhile, U Ba also tells the story of a young girl in the village named Mi Mi who was born with defective feet and could not walk.

Most of the novel consists of this old story about Tin Win and Mi Mi and how they each grew up, told to Julia by U Ba. There are occasional brief passages set in the present, as Julia finds her way around the village, gets to know U Ba better, and remembers her father and her childhood. Gradually, the past and the present come together, and both Julia and the reader figure out how the old story is linked to the present and to Julia’s father, though the final pieces of the puzzle are not revealed until the end.

This is an intriguing novel – part mystery, part family drama, part love story – that is set against the mountains of Burma. Historical details are included about the period of British colonialism when Tin Win and Mi Mi were children. There is a fairy-tale like quality to the story that U Ba tells and even hints of possible magic/supernatural forces. The prose is descriptive and lush, and I tagged many passages, especially where the monks were concerned, as there is a strong element of Buddhism to the story.

Despite all this, I didn’t love this novel. I liked it OK and had no problem finishing it, but I didn’t find it all that compelling. A couple of other members of my book group felt the same way, though we were in the minority. Most of our book group loved the book. I don’t know why it didn’t grab me in the same way, and since most people in our group thoroughly enjoyed it, I’ve tried to give a fair and balanced review here. I did tag many quotes to add to my Quote Journal, so it obviously appealed to me in some ways. If you like this kind of epic, exotic love story that connects past with present, you should give this unique novel a try.

326 pages, Other Press LLC (translated from German)

A Bookish Christmas 2016

As always, we had a bookish Christmas, with my husband, 22-year old son, and I all buying books for each other (our 18-year old son doesn't enjoy reading - not sure where he came from!).

Here's an overview of the books we gave each other this year:

For Me:
It was a very good Christmas for me - I got 3 books that I can't wait to read!


(not sure why the bottom of the books look straight and the top looks slanted in this photo - some kind of weird optical illusion!)
  • When She Woke by Hillary Jordan - I loved Mudbound
  • Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross - Been hearing great things about this one for years!
  • Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead - on almost every Top 10 of 2016 list
For My Husband:
My husband really hauled in the books this year, from both my son and I - these should keep him busy for a while!



So, that's:
  •  Run by Andrew Grant - a thriller
  • A Life Well Played by Arnold Palmer - a collection of essays by the golf great
  • Dust by Hugh Howey - #3 in the fabulous Wool series
  • Night School by Lee Child - the latest in my husband's favorite series
  • The Trespasser by Tana French - the latest by another favorite author that started with In the Woods
I definitely want to read Dust and The Trespasser when he's done with them! Those are the best kinds of gifts - the ones I get to enjoy, too!

Oh, and I also got my husband this one:


Yeah, the title makes you do a double-take! Rest assured - it is just a book with gorgeous photos of cabins in beautiful remote places. As my son said, "That's perfect for Dad!" He has been flipping through it and daydreaming of a little place in the woods.

For Our Son (22 years old):
Our son loves to read and loves epic fantasy series.

That's the next two books in a new favorite series (plus some Far Side fun):
  • The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan, books 2 & 3 in the epic Wheel of Time series
  • The Far Side Gallery 3 by Gary Larsen - a tradition to give him a cartoon book for Christmas, and he loves The Far Side (who doesn't?)
Did you get (or give) any new books for the holidays?

Enjoy the rest of the season, and have a Happy New Year!

Monday, December 26, 2016

It's Monday 12/26! What Are You Reading?

Hope you are enjoying this holiday season with your family!  We had a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas Day here with our sons, my father-in-law, and my mother and her husband. But I am exhausted!! The holidays are tiring for everyone, of course, but my chronic illness adds extra challenges - I know I spent WAY too much time on my feet the past few days. Would love to chill out and do nothing this week, but we have our annual cookie/Grinch party tonight with our oldest friends and then we have to travel to my hometown - Rochester, NY - later this week to visit more family! All lots of fun, but I am already worn out. I think the 7-hour drive will actually be relaxing (for me, in the passenger seat)!

Anyway, none of us had much reading time last week - and very little blogging time - but we are all still enjoying the books we are currently reading. And we got some great books for Christmas - I hope to post about those tomorrow! Here's what we've been reading, when we have a quiet moment:
  • I am still reading To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, an acclaimed time travel novel published in the 90's. I LOVE time travel plots, so I am enjoying it - it's also got a good sense of humor, which I always like. I think I would describe it as farcical time travel (perhaps a new genre?) where things keep going wrong and the characters try to fix them and make everything worse. My husband gave me this novel for Christmas LAST year, so I have been trying to finish it so I can start on the new stack I got yesterday!
  • I am still listening to LaRose by Louise Erdrich. I've been wanting to read this novel and have never read anything by Erdrich (a National Book award winner) before. It is the story of a Native American community in North Dakota. A man kills his neighbor's 5-year old son by mistake while out hunting and revives an old tribal custom by giving the family his own 5-year old son. It is a compelling, original story with great emotional depth, looking at what is happening from many different characters' points of views. It's excellent so far. I am almost done but time alone with my iPod is scarce this week! Clearly, this will be my last audio book of 2016.
  • My husband, Ken, is hoping to finish up one of his 2016 reading goals before the end of the year - to read another classic. He is reading The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, a book he has been wanting to read for a while. I'd like to read it, too, because I grew up in New York state, learning about the tribes of the Iroquois nation. He described it as secrets and double-crosses in slow motion! ha ha I got him a few thrillers for Christmas, and he said he will need a nice fast-paced novel next.
  • Jamie, 22, is still re-reading book 2, Crown of Midnight from Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass series, which is a favorite of his. He's getting ready to read her latest book in the series.
  • He forgot his book at home last weekend, so he also started a new one on his Kindle, The Castrofax by Jenna Van Vleet, first book in The Father of the Fifth Age series. He says it is right up his alley - epic fantasy with a Medieval feel to it - so he is enjoying that, too. He is now on break for six weeks, so he'll be reading a LOT!
 Just one blog post last week...then things got too busy!
TV Tuesday: Conviction - legal/crime drama with a unique premise & excellent cast

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.


Our sons on Christmas morning

 

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

TV Tuesday: Conviction

My husband and I were a little late in discovering ABC's new show Conviction this season, but now we are hooked. This legal/crime show has a unique premise and brings together a wonderful cast for a suspenseful and always surprising show.

The premise of Conviction is that NY District Attorney Connor Wallace, played by Eddie Cahill of CSI:NY and Under the Dome fame, starts up a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) to re-investigate old cases to either re-affirm that the convictions were valid or overturn them if the defendant was found to be wrongly convicted. He appoints Hayes Morrison, played by Hayley Atwell, who played Peggy Carter in the Agent Carter TV show and a bunch of Avengers movies. Hayes is a former first-daughter, is in constant trouble, and was Wallace's former lover. She's also a top-notch lawyer, and he appoints her to this position as a favor to her mother, who is running for Congress, when Hayes is arrested for possession of cocaine. Her arrest is hushed up, and she goes from prison to the lovely glass-walled offices of the CIU.

Joining Hayes are a team with a wide range of backgrounds and skills. Sam, played by Shawn Ashmore, whom we loved in The Following, was a lead prosecuter with the city's gang unit - and was slated to head up the CIU until Hayes got into hot water and was rescued by Wallace. Maxine, played by Merrin Dungey, is a detective in the NYPD and a recovering prescription drug addict. Frankie, played by Manny Montana (who we are thrilled to see back on the small screen after Graceland got cancelled), is a forensics expert who is also an ex-con. Finally, Tess, played by Emily Kinney of Walking Dead fame, rounds out the team as a paralegal who used to work for the Innocence Project. As you can see, it is an excellent cast with a lot of familiar faces.

In each episode, the team tackles a different case - it might be someone convicted of a crime who has always proclaimed his innocence or a case where new evidence has come to light or one where the case always seemed less than water-tight. Each time, they have just five days to re-investigate the case - interviewing suspects and witnesses, combing through evidence and trying to figure out if the conviction was valid or not. At first, I thought it might be predictable, with someone being wrongly convicted and released from prison at the end of each episode, but they mix it up - you never know if the convicted person is really guilty or not. And, as in real life, justice is not always served, despite their best efforts.

We are loving this show so far. We were quickly engrossed in its plots and its characters' lives. Besides the cases in each episode, we see glimpses of each team member's backstory and personal lives, a little at a time. It's a legal drama and a crime show rolled into one, with an engaging cast.

All 9 episodes of the first part of Conviction's first season are still available (until April) On Demand or on the ABC website (which also includes a handy guide to the characters). You can also purchase episodes for $1.99 (or $13.99 for the first season) on Amazon (see link below).

Have you watched Conviction yet? What new shows did you enjoy this fall?

(this is a good trailer but the very end of it includes a spoiler of the first episode...so stop it immediately after "Her redemption...is their salvation" at 2:37 min)



Monday, December 19, 2016

It's Monday 12/19! What Are You Reading?

Whew...the hectic holiday season continues. We spent the weekend with extended family - 12 of us in one house! It was great to see everyone and to all be together, but it was exhausting for me, too. Being with other people all day long really wipes me out because of my chronic illness. Still, it is worth the payback! Is it naptime yet?

So, with the big weekend Christmas celebration, I spent all last week getting ready for it - wrapping gifts, packing, and mostly, finishing the annual photo/video DVD that I give to family members. It was a very busy week, and this one probably will be, too! Our sons are home from college, and my husband is off from work for the rest of the year...so I am not get much time for blogging. But, we still found a little time to enjoy our books last week:
  • I finished The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philip Sendker for my neighborhood book group (it was our 150th book, so we celebrated with a nice dinner out!). It was OK, but I didn't love it. I didn't dislike it - it's the story of a NYC lawyer who disappears, and his grown daughter who tracks him to Burma, where he grew up, to try to find him and uncover his past. It was interesting, but I just didn't find it all that compelling. I was in the minority, though. A couple of others felt like I did, but many of our book group members really loved this love story.
  • Now, I am reading To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, an acclaimed time travel novel published in the 90's. I LOVE time travel plots, so I am enjoying it so far - it's also got a good sense of humor, which I always like. This is part of my annual pre-holiday push to finish all the books my husband gave me for Christmas LAST year, so I am ready for a new stack! ha ha Yes, I am always behind, and the TBR shelves just get fuller and fuller, but I keep trying to catch up.
  • On audio, I am listening to LaRose by Louise Erdrich. I've been wanting to read this novel and have never read anything by Erdrich (a National Book award winner) before. It is the story of a Native American community in North Dakota. A man kills his neighbor's 5-year old son by mistake while out hunting and revives an old tribal custom by giving the family his own 5-year old son. It is a compelling, original story with great emotional depth, looking at what is happening from many different character's points of views. It's excellent so far. I hope I get a little time to myself with my iPod this week to finish it!
  • My husband, Ken, is hoping to finish up one of his 2016 reading goals before the end of the year - to read another classic. He is reading The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, a book he has been wanting to read for a while. I'd like to read it, too, because I grew up in New York state, learning about the tribes of the Iroquois nation. He says it is very dense text - about one chapter a night is all he can handle! - but he is enjoying it so far.
  • Jamie, 22, is still re-reading book 2, Crown of Midnight from Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass series, which is a favorite of his. 
  • He forgot his book at home this weekend, so he also started a new one on his Kindle, The Castrofax by Jenna Van Vleet, first book in The Father of the Fifth Age series. He says it is right up his alley - epic fantasy with a Medieval feel to it - so he is enjoying it. He is now on break for six weeks, so he'll be reading a LOT!
And, you won't be surprised to hear that I gave a lot of books as gifts this weekend, to all the teens and kids in the family!

I squeezed in a few blog posts before we left on Friday:
Movie Monday: The Jungle Book - an excellent CGI/live-action remake of the epic adventure

TV Tuesday: This Is Us - A family drama that will make you laugh & cry.

Summary of Books Read in November - another good reading month for me!

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.



Last year's family gathering (no group shot from this year!)

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Books Read in November

I only read 5 books in November, but they were all very good!

  • The News At the End of the World by Emily Jeanne Miller (MA), fiction (read for review)
  • The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (France), adult fiction


Just five books read last month but a nice mix - mostly fiction with one nonfiction/memoir. I read one YA novel and listened to one audio book. I managed to fit in a classic and short stories (all in one!). And yes, I am aware that two of the books I read (I actually read/listened to them at the same time) both had "end of the world" in the title - kind of scary!

Progress on 2016 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! I read 2 more TBR books in November for my Read Your Own Damn Books Challenge - that's a total of 21 so far this year (and many more to go). For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, November was nonfiction month - and I read a memoir! That also counts for my 2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge which brings my nonfiction total for the year so far up to 10. I added 1 classic to the 2016 Classics Challenge  - still just 4 classics so far this year! For my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge, I added 2 books both set in France. I am also tracking the states my books are set in, even though there is no Where Are You Reading challenge this year, and I added California   last month.

Finally, I filled 15 spaces on my monthly Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not my best month but not bad (you can join the fun any month without officially joining a challenge). Here's my Bingo card for November:
 
My books filled these spaces:
November Bingo (excuse the poor photo!)
Tales of Mystery by Poe - shelf-love book, mystery, thriller/suspense
When Breath Becomes Air - Unique talent
Vivian Apple At the End of the World - teacher, alternate reality/time, travel, in a series
The News From the End of the World - grief/sadness, dreams/nightmares, free book
The Nightingale - military, set in the fall, historical
Free space

What was your favorite book read in November?

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

TV Tuesday: This Is Us

I posted this to my Facebook wall today for my family and friends:
"That damn show! Watched the mid-season finale (when did that become a thing??) of This Is Us with my lunch today. Cried like a baby, not once but twice! And laughed some in between. If you've been looking for a replacement for Parenthood, this is a good one!"
I thought that would make a good intro to my review today. I've been watching NBC's This Is Us, a new family drama, all season, and I absolutely love this show that often makes me laugh and cry in the same episode (much like Parenthood used to!).

There are a lot of potential spoilers here, so I will just try to tiptoe around the plot and set-up and only tell you the basics. In the first episode, we peek in on the lives of several different people who are all turning 36 on the same day. There's Jack, whose wife, Rebecca, is pregnant with triplets. She goes into labor on his 36th birthday, and they rush to the hospital. We meet Kate, a woman who is struggling with her weight, to the point that she has to put Post-Its on her 36th birthday cake to remind herself not to eat it before the party. Kate goes to a weight loss meeting and meets Toby, a friendly and funny guy. Meanwhile, Kevin is also turning 36 today. He's an actor on a very successful TV show called The Manny, and is celebrating his birthday with not one but two beautiful women...but he is clearly unhappy. We also meet Randall, a black man working in a sleek office, dressed nicely, and clearly successful, as his office staff brings him a birthday cake. Randall has tracked down his birth father, who left him at a fire station as a newborn, and goes to his home to confront him.

All of that happens in the beginning of the first episode. They are each interesting characters on their own, but the magic happens as you find out how their lives are interconnected at the end of that first episode (I admit, I was a little slow and didn't completely "get it"until the middle of the second episode!). Throughout this first season, we see Kate, Kevin, and Randall both as children growing up and in their current adult lives, as each of them struggles with his or her own issues. We also follow Rebecca and Jack.

I used the word "magic," and I think that is apt because there's a special kind of alchemy here that pulls you deep into these people's lives, brings them alive on the screen, and makes you care about them and what happens to them. It's one of those rare shows that reminds that everyone is connected. The comparison to Parenthood is also appropriate because it is a family drama, and it pulls at your heartstrings in every single episode, but not in a saccharin or maudlin way. These two shows are the only ones I can think of where almost every episode makes me both laugh and cry! I've heard people who were determined not to like the show nevertheless get pulled in and moved by it. It's really something special.

The acting is excellent across the board, and it truly is an ensemble cast, with no one person more important than the others. I didn't mention the actor's names because most of them were unfamiliar to me. Mandy Moore plays Rebecca (which I didn't realize until it was pointed out to me). Jack is played by Milo Ventimiglia, who was unfamiliar to me as he appears in the show, with a mustache, but who I now recognize from other TV shows like Heroes and Gilmore Girls. Many of the other actors are less familiar but are all really great on this show, especially Sterling K. Brown as Randall. Both Mandy Moore and Chrissy Metz as Kate snagged Golden Globe nominations this week for Best Supporting Actress, and the show itself was nominated for Best TV Drama.

This is Us airs on NBS on Tuesdays. It just finished up for the holidays but will return with new episodes on January 10. In the meantime, you can catch up on all of the first 10 episodes On Demand (all episodes are available & should remain that way for a good while) or on the NBC website (all 10 episodes are up and free). On Amazon, the first episode is free and the other 9 are $1.99 (or the full first season for $9.99).

Have you seen this unique show yet? What TV shows can make you cry?



Monday, December 12, 2016

Movie Monday: The Jungle Book

Continuing our run of movies based on classic novels & jungle adventures (last week I reviewed The Legend of Tarzan), my husband and I recently watched the newest live-action version of The Jungle Book. Well, it is sort of live action - the main character is a live actor and the rest of the movie is all CGI. It's technically pretty amazing and also an entertaining new version of an old favorite.

Unlike The Legend of Tarzan, this is not a new take on the old story but more a new way of telling the classic story by Rudyard Kipling. You know how this one goes: a baby boy is found abandoned in the jungle & is raised by the animals. In Tarzan, it was apes; in The Jungle Book, it is a pack of wolves (why there are wolves & bears in the jungle is something I've never understood, but, hey, go with the flow). Shere-Khan, the tiger, has a vendetta against the boy, Mowgli, so his wolf family decides that he (and they) will be safer if they return him to the "man village." Mowgli's longtime friend (and the one who found him originally), Bagheera, the black panther, accompanies him on the journey back. Along the way, Mowgli meets Baloo the bear, a happy-go-lucky guy who convinces him to stay and live the easy life, and King Louie, a giant orangutan, who wants Mowgli to teach him about fire.

I grew up on Disney's animated version of The Jungle Book, as did our sons; it's an old favorite at our house. So, I was skeptical of a new version when the old one seems perfect to me. The latest take on the classic, though, surprised me in a lot of ways. First, technically, it is incredible. The entire movie was filmed against a green screen with child actor Neel Sethi acting all by himself as Mowgli, interacting with the jungle and his animal friends. You have to see it to believe it. You spend the first few minutes staring at the details of the environment and the animals, as Mowgli runs, jumps, and crawls through the jungle, but then you just accept it all as "real" and forget it is all CGI (go on, watch the trailer below and see for yourself). It's quite a feat, and Sethi is excellent in his first starring role.

The next surprise was the perfect slate of top-shelf actors playing our favorite Jungle Book characters: Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson as the python Kaa, Christopher Walken as King Louie, and - best of all - Bill Murray as Baloo the bear. When we first heard Murray's familiar voice from Baloo, we whooped in delight. Can you think of any better actor to play the lazy, wise-cracking, fun-loving bear? Soon after that, I was just saying to my husband, "It's very good so far, but I do miss the songs," when Murray as Baloo started humming the familiar melody of The Bare Necessities. Another cheer from our family room! Not all of the songs from the animated movie are included here, but certainly the two best were included - Bare Necessities (sung by Baloo and Mowgli) and I Wanna Be Like You (sung by King Louie), plus Trust Me (sung by Kaa/Scarlett Johansson). That's how I knew this new version was also a Disney production. We were quite happy about that and sang the songs for the next 24 hours around the house (and now they are back in my head again, typing this!).

So, overall, we very much enjoyed this new version of an old family favorite. They've kept the best of the old animated movie and made the most of this new technology and the voice-acting for a fun and very entertaining experience. My husband and I watched it on our own, but this is a great film for the entire family to watch together, rated PG (my son and his girlfriend saw it in the theater when it came out & recommended it to us). Now we want to read the original book!

The Jungle Book is currently out on DVD, available through Redbox, streaming through Netflix and for $2.99 on Amazon (link below).




It's Monday 12/12! What Are You Reading?

Whew, another busy holiday week! 'Tis the season, right? My focus last week was on working on my annual family DVD - all the photos (plus some video clips) I took during the year, organized into slideshows with music, with copies made for all of our extended family. We are having our holiday celebration with one branch of the family this coming weekend, so my deadline for finishing the DVD is quickly approaching!

I also finished my gift shopping (mostly online but a bit in person), contacted another part of the family to organize a gathering when we visit after Christmas, updated my address list for holiday cards, had everyone home to decorate the tree, and spent a few hours sorting out and paying a huge stack of medical bills. This is final exam week for my sons in college, and then they are on break for six weeks!

Of course, we all found time to enjoy our books last week, too:
  • I finished Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman this week. My husband and I are HUGE fans of the TV show (my review at the link). This is the real-life memoir that the Netflix show is based on, and it is every bit as good! Piper brings that same mix of heartfelt emotion, humor, and social commentary to the book that you see on TV (though without the graphic sex scenes!). It was one of those books that I never wanted to end - I read every last word, including acknowledgements, references, author's note, etc.
  • Now I am reading The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philip Sendker for my neighborhood book group this week (this is our 150th book, so we are celebrating with a nice dinner out!). It's been OK so far, but I'm not loving it. I wonder if it's because I just finished an amazing book that bowled me over or if perhaps the translation is a bit flat. I don't dislike it - it's the story of a NYC lawyer who disappears, and his grown daughter who tracks him to Burma, where he grew up, to try to find him and uncover his past. It's interesting, and I want to finish it, so we'll see how I feel when I'm done.
  • I finished listening to The Outliers by Kimberly McCeight, a teen/YA thriller. An agoraphobic teen girl named Wylie who recently lost her mother overcomes her anxieties and leaves the house when she gets a text that her best friend, Cassie, is in trouble and needs her help. Wylie and Cassie's boyfriend, Jasper, take off on a crazy road trip in search of Cassie, without knowing exactly what they are getting into. Lots of suspense and unexpected twists here. I had no idea where the plot was going until the very end. It's the first in a series.
  • I just spent a few minutes choosing my next audiobook - and probably my last one of 2016. I decided on LaRose by Louise Erdrich. I've been wanting to read this novel, have never read anything by Erdrich (a National Book award winner) before, and this was a 2016 release, and I rarely get to new releases in the year they came out. So, we have a winner! I am downloading it now, and will start it this morning.
  • My husband, Ken, finished Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, a book I gave him for his birthday this fall. It's about the aftermath of a small plane crash with only two survivors: an adult man and a small child. He enjoyed it and says I need to hurry up and read it, too, so he can talk to me about the ending!
  • Now, Ken is hoping to finish up one of his 2016 reading goals before the end of the year - to read another classic. He started The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, a book he has been wanting to read for a while. I'd like to read it, too, because I grew up in New York state, learning about the tribes of the Iroquois nation. I recited the tribes from west to east for him last night :)
  • Jamie, 22, finished re-reading Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas in preparation to read a new book in the series - he does that a lot! Now, he is re-reading book 2, Crown of Midnight. He has two finals this week, and then he is off for winter break and can read nonstop again!
Not a lot of blogging time last week (and even less this week!), but I managed to get a few posts up:
Movie Monday: The Legend of Tarzan - an action-packed adventure

Teen/YA Review: Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle - an apocalyptic road trip

New Travel Article: Exploring Cajun Country - my latest travel article - about Louisiana

Fiction Review: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - a different persspective on WWII and women's roles in the war

Saturday Snapshot: Florida Keys - a few last photos from our vacation - take me back to the islands!

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

 
Our sons and the finished tree! (just needs tinsel)

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Saturday Snapshot: The Florida Keys


Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

This week - as it is truly getting COLD here in Delaware - I'm featuring a few more photos from our wonderful vacation in the Florida Keys Thanksgiving week. You can also check out last week's post, with photos of gorgeous Keys' sunsets. Ahhh....wish we were still there, enjoying sunshine and 70's!

The backyard of our rental house, on the water, with 2 readers!

View from our snorkeling boat that went to Looie Key, a marine sanctuary

Kayaking through the mangroves at Curry Hammock State Park

The beach at Curry Hammock State Park

Our sons & a girlfriend on Key West at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park

The bay side of Bahia Honda State Park

Driving on 7-Mile Bridge

Sunshine & palm trees!

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and keeping warm!

Friday, December 09, 2016

Fiction Review: The Nightingale


Years ago, I read Kristin Hannah’s novel Firefly Lane. I loved it and cried three different times while reading it (that’s a good thing)! Ever since then, I’ve been eager to read another of her novels, so I was excited when my cousin chose The Nightingale for our online family book group. I was a bit disappointed when I realized it was set during WWII, just because I’ve read so many novels set during the war, but was pleasantly surprised to find that this novel is a different perspective on WWII than I’ve read before – centering on the occupation of France and the role of women in both winning the war and in saving people.  As with other Hannah novels, it was intricate and full of emotional depth.

The novel is a bit slow to start, setting up the main characters, but quickly picks up its pace. It opens in Oregon in 1995, with an unnamed elderly woman who is packing up her belongings to move to a retirement community. She opens up an old trunk and finds an identity card from the war for Juliette Gervaise. Her adult son sees it and asks who that was, but it is clear that the woman has secrets she’s never told her son – and she’s still not quite ready to tell him.

The action then shifts to 1939 in France, with chapters alternating between Vianne, a young mother living in a small, rural town in the Loire Valley with her husband and daughter, and Isabelle, her nineteen-year old sister. Isabelle is being thrown out of yet another boarding school as the novel opens and sent home to her father in Paris, who hasn’t even tried to take care of his daughters since their mother died about fifteen years ago.

He dropped them both off with a woman who would board them in the town where Vianne still lives. Vianne thinks she got off easy because she met her husband at age fourteen, shortly after being dumped by her father, and escaped into love and then marriage. Isabelle, who was ten years younger, was left behind, first with the uncaring woman and later in a series of boarding schools that either kicked her out or she ran away from. Though Vianne knows she was too young to take responsibility for her little sister, she still feels guilty, and Isabelle is still resentful. Both sisters were marred by their abandonment.

As the story progresses, the war abruptly enters both women’s lives. Vianne’s husband, Antoine, is conscripted into the armed services (along with most of the men in France) and must leave their idyllic country home and his adored family, leaving Vianne alone with their daughter. Having watched her father come back from WWI a changed man, Vianne fears not only for Antoine’s physical safety but for his mental health as well.

In Paris, the war intrudes even more suddenly and starkly into Isabelle’s life. Contrary to what anyone thought possible, the Nazis move into the city and quickly take over. Isabelle is swept up in the mass exodus of people out of Paris, walking for days, carrying her possessions with her, in a stunningly punishing march, as she tries to get to Vianne’s home, where her father thinks she will be safe.

But, of course, the Nazis soon occupy that little country town, too. German soldiers billet in homes all over town, including Vianne’s. Overnight, their quiet life is turned upside down, as food becomes scarce, Nazis come into their homes to take whatever furnishings and valuables they want, and long days are spent standing in line for meager rations that barely keep them from starving. Before long, just when they think things can’t get any worse, their Jewish neighbors begin disappearing. Eventually, Isabelle secretly begins working for the resistance, and Vianne finds her own role in the war.

Two aspects of this novel really captured my attention and fascinated me: the details of what daily life was like – both in small towns and in Paris – during the Nazi occupation of France and the roles that woman played in winning the war and saving their fellow citizens. I hadn’t read much on either topic before, despite the many novels I have read set during WWII. We generally think of men off fighting the Nazis and women at home taking care of their families, but this novel takes a much deeper look at women’s roles during the war, and it’s captivating.

As with Firefly Lane, I also enjoyed the complex, realistic characters that people this novel, flaws and all. Hannah is adept at capturing real-life emotions in her characters and stories – and in wringing those emotions out of her readers. Yes, I cried while reading this novel, too, though at a moment that surprised me. The elderly woman in modern times comes back into the story once in a while, though her identity is unknown until the end of the book.

Besides its intriguing history and interesting characters, this novel also has a wonderfully twisty plot that will keep you guessing at every turn. The things that happen are often horrible and had me yelling at the book, “No!” but this is, after all, a book about WWII. There are also plenty of heartwarming moments that remind you of the power of compassion and the strength of humanity. This novel, with its unique and eye-opening perspective on a well-worn topic kept me riveted until the very end. The characters felt like old friends, and I was glad to have taken this journey with them.

440 pages, St. Martin’s Press

Thursday, December 08, 2016

New Travel Article: Exploring Cajun Country

Down on the bayou in Cajun Country

A local resident
My latest travel article, Exploring Cajun Country, has been published on My Itchy Travel Feet, a fun travel website that calls itself The Baby Boomer's Guide to Travel.

This time, I take readers to southern Louisiana, known affectionately as Cajun Country. This region features flora & fauna, food, music, and culture that are all wonderfully unique. It's like traveling to another country without leaving the U.S.!

Crawfish - yum!
My husband and I used to live in New Orleans, so Louisiana holds a special place in our hearts. We have taken our sons back to NOLA several times, but this visit to Cajun Country was especially memorable. My article includes details on swamp tours and other local entertainment, enjoying the unique outdoors, great food, and wonderful music.

Check it out at the link.

Have you ever been to Louisiana? What did you enjoy there? I'm ready for another visit!

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Teen/YA Review: Vivian Apple at the End of the World


Every summer, I sign up for SYNC, which offers two free audiobooks each week of the summer, usually a mix of contemporary teen/YA novels, nonfiction (often in a similar theme to their fiction pick), and some classics, too. One of my downloads from SYNC this summer was Vivian Apple At the End of the World by Katie Coyle, and I finally found time to listen to it last month. I enjoyed this intriguing and unique post-apocalyptic take on religious extremism.

Seventeen year-old Vivian lives in a world like ours, except that one religious zealot has successfully taken over a good-sized portion of the U.S. population.  Beaton Frick started the Church of America after supposedly being spoken to by God and writing the Book of Frick. As a self-styled prophet who believes America is God’s favored land, he gains many thousands of followers. Frick predicts that there will be a Rapture on a certain March day, followed by an Armageddon six months later. Followers, including Vivian’s parents, faithfully prepare, while non-believers ignore the dire predictions. Vivian and her best friend, Harp, attend a Rapture’s Eve party the night before the predicted event. Everyone has a good laugh at midnight.

However, when Vivian returns home from Harp’s the next morning, her parents are gone, and there are two burned-out people-sized holes in their bedroom ceiling. All over the country, the same thing is happening, with people discovering loved ones are missing. Thousands are gone…but not even close to all of the believers. Many take the missing people as proof that Frick is right and begin to prepare for the predicted end of the world. Others – believers left behind and quick converts – hopefully prepare for a second Rapture event that is rumored to be coming. Vivian and Harp (whose parents are also gone) don’t know quite what to do, but within days, the outside world starts to become a frightening, foreign place.

Eventually, Vivian and Harp set out on a cross-country road trip, based on some slim hypotheses that California might be the center of what’s going on, with some stops planned along the way to see distant family. Joining them is a boy their age named Peter, whom Vivian met at the Rapture’s Eve party. As the three of them travel across the U.S., from Pittsburgh to California, they see some very scary things. Religious extremism – and with it extreme intolerance – takes over, now that there is some “proof” behind it. They encounter lots of other people: some who help them, some who want to harm them, and others like themselves just trying to stay safe. As they travel, the predicted date of Armageddon draws closer.

I really enjoyed this unique book that combines a post-apocalyptic feeling (even though the apocalypse hasn’t quite happened yet) with a classic road trip, while delving into issues of friendship, family, extremism, and intolerance. As with the best dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction, it is frightening because you can see elements of our own society in this made-up world and imagine that this just might really happen with the right set of conditions. Along the way, there are lots of plot twists and surprises to keep things moving and interesting. I enjoyed listening to this original story on audio and, though the story wraps up in some ways, I am eager to read the sequel!

288 pages, HMH Books for Young Readers
Audio book from Dreamscape Media

(click on the Amazon link below, then on the Audible version, for an audio sample)

          

Monday, December 05, 2016

Movie Monday: The Legend of Tarzan

My husband and I have been watching some adventure epics lately, starting with The Legend of Tarzan a couple of weeks ago. Our son and his girlfriend came in the family room in the middle of the movie, sat and watched some of it with us, and then went back to her house to watch it themselves on a streaming service! So, yes, we all enjoyed it. It's an entertaining, action-packed adventure movie.

This is not the Tarzan you might remember from older movies, TV shows, or the original book. It's Tarzan with a twist, the story of what happens to Tarzan years after the original story took place. As the movie opens, Tarzan, now known by his original name of John Clayton (and played by Alexander Skarsgård), is happily living in London with his wife - you guessed it - Jane, played by Margot Robbie. He has acclimated to city life and doesn't intend to return to the jungle. King Leopold of Belgium has other plans, though. He thinks that a visit to the Belgian colonies in the Congo by John would be the perfect PR move, to show everyone how much he has accomplished in "civilizing" the Congo. At first, John says no, but an American named George Washington Williams, played by Samuel L. Jackson, approaches him. George says that he is fairly certain that King Leopold is committing human rights atrocities, including enslaving the natives, and he wants to go to the Congo to find proof.

With George's extra push, John agrees to make the trip, and Jane insists on coming along to visit her childhood home. They set off for the Congo and are both filled with joy to visit Jane's old home and the native friends they left behind. Soon, though, a bad guy named Rom, played by Christophe Waltz, attacks the village where they are staying and abducts both John and Jane. John escapes and sets off across the jungle to find Jane. George insists on coming along, though John doubts that he'll be able to keep up. Cue the jungle scenes, with plenty of swinging on vines (and of course, Tarzan quickly loses the shirt).

From there, the story is a fast-paced and suspenseful adventure through the jungles and rivers of the Congo. Just in case anyone doesn't know the original Tarzan story, there are also plenty of flashbacks to Tarzan's adoption by the apes after he was orphaned and his childhood growing up in the jungle. Samuel L. Jackson even adds some humor, with his usual wise-cracking one-liners. It's not a great movie, but it is an entertaining one, an action-packed adventure with plenty of cool CGI effects and plenty of heart, too. Not to mention Tarzan's abs - wow. It's a fun ride.

The Legend of Tarzan is recently out on DVD (we rented it from Redbox and it is also available on DVD from Netflix). You can also rent the movie (streaming) for $3.99 on Amazon (link below).




It's Monday 12/5! What Are You Reading?

Whew, we are definitely in the midst of the holiday season now! It was a rude awakening to go from relaxed vacation mode - "living the island life" - to the hectic-ness of the holidays last week! I was kept very busy with Cyber Monday, more online shopping, Giving Tuesday, and what I termed Photo Wednesday (and Thursday and Friday and...). I spent a lot of time with my photos from 2016, making calendars and gifts on Snapfish (a holiday tradition), and getting everything organized for my annual DVD of family photos - that's this week's job! I give the calendars & DVDs to extended family members as gifts every year. We also went to get our tree this weekend, another family tradition that we all enjoy. Finding time in the midst of school, work, and finals when both boys can come back home to decorate the tree has been a challenge, but I think we've settled on Tuesday. So, another busy week of holiday preparations is ahead! I'm glad I planned ahead and finished all of my December writing assignments before vacation.

As always, we make sure we have downtime for reading. Here's what we've all been reading this past week:
  • I have been reading (and loving!) Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman this week. My husband and I are HUGE fans of the TV show (my review at the link). This is the real-life memoir that the Netflix show is based on, and it is every bit as good! Piper brings that same mix of heartfelt emotion, comedy, and social commentary to the book that you see on TV (though without the graphic sex scenes!). I am really, really enjoying it - one of the books where I look forward all day to bedtime so I can read more.
  • On audio, I have been listening (in between podcast binging) to The Outliers by Kimberly McCeight, a teen/YA thriller. An agoraphobic teen girl named Wylie who recently lost her mother overcomes her anxieties and leaves the house when she gets a text that her best friend, Cassie, is in trouble and needs her help. Wylie and Cassie's boyfriend, Jasper, take off on a crazy road trip in search of Cassie, without knowing exactly what they are getting into. Lots of suspense and unexpected twists here - I'm enjoying it so far.
  • My husband, Ken, is reading Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, a book I gave him for his birthday this fall. It's about the aftermath of a small plane crash with only two survivors: an adult man and a small child. He's enjoying it so far.
  • Jamie, 22, Jamie finished reading Frostborn: The Gray Knight by Jonathan Moeller and enjoyed it. 
  • Now, Jamie is re-reading Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, Book 1 in The Broken Empire series, in preparation to read a new book in the series - he does that a lot! His reading will have to slow down for a while - 1 more week of classes with a bunch of group projects due, a week of finals, and then he is off for the winter break and can read nonstop again!
A very slow blogging week - too much holiday stuff going on! I hope to get back to my book reviews this week. Here's what I posted last week:
 TV Tuesday: Timeless - a fast-paced, suspenseful time travel series all about history

Saturday Snapshot: Sunsets in the Florida Keys

Weekend Cooking: 3 Great Restaurants in the Florida Keys
You can see my mind is still in the Keys!

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.


Our annual trip to the tree farm (see the 2 reindeer in the background?)