Whew, just back from a whirlwind weekend road trip! We spent 15 hours in the car for a 24-hour visit to Rochester, NY, my hometown. Yeah, it was kind of crazy but well worth it to squeeze in some overdue family visits with my dad's wife (and her new house!) and a quick stop on our way out of town with my aunt & uncle and cousins.
So, back to reality now! Trying to catch up after a weekend offline. Looks like 162 new e-mails - not too bad. Not a lot of time for reading last week (I can't read in the car), but here's what we've been enjoying:
I finished Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, a novel I last read in 10th grade. I probably didn't have time for an extra book but wanted to squeeze in another quick classic this summer. I enjoyed it very much, including my notes all over the pages from high school!
Now, I am onto my third Big Book of the Summer, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, a novel I have been wanting to read ever since its release and that's been sitting on my bookcase since Christmas. It is so far just as strange as I'd heard but it's definitely getting interesting!
I've been listening to Dreamology by Lucy Keating, a teen/YA audio book that's been far more intriguing and engrossing than I expected. It explores the line between dreaming and reality when a teen girl starts at a new school and meets face-to-face with the boy she's been dreaming about for years. I am getting close to the end and enjoying it very much.
My husband, Ken, is reading Shift by Hugh Howey, book 2 in the Wool series. He and I both LOVED Wool
(review at the link), which several friends had said, "you must read!"
They were right! I gave Ken the second book for Father's Day, and I
can't wait to read it, too!
Jamie, 21, is re-reading Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings, book 1 in the Stormlight Archive so that he can next read book 2, Words of Radiance. The first one is 1200 pages long, and the second one is 1300 pages, so he is definitely in the Big Book Summer groove! But the poor boy picked up the wrong book by mistake when packing for the weekend so had to endure a 7-hour car ride without a book (he can and does read in the car!).
Craig, 18, has been reading his All-Freshman summer reading book, When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka. Ironically, he read this same book for his summer reading assignment when he was entering his freshman year of high school. He doesn't enjoy reading much but is so excited to start college that he doesn't seem to mind re-reading this one!
Just a few blog posts last week before we left for the weekend:
TV Tuesday: Feed the Beast, a new drama starring David Schwimmer about grief, the Mob, and opening a restaurant
Teen/YA Review: The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork, a powerful story of teen depression and suicide, with a focus on hope and healing
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.
We are in the last month of summer now, but there is still time to join theBig Book Summer Reading Challenge - five weeks of summer left! Just click the link to read the rules - super-easy for summer! You only
need to read one "big book" (400 pages or more) before September to participate. Join
the fun, choose your Big Book(s) & sign up today!
I loved the teen/YA novel Marcelo in the Real World, a story about a teen boy with autism, by
Francisco X. Stork, so when I heard he had a new novel out this year, I
snatched it up! I just finished listening to The Memory of Light on audio, and I was once again blown away by
the author’s ability to deal with serious real-world issues in an honest and
powerful way.
As the novel opens, fifteen-year old Vicky Cruz wakes up in
a hospital, after trying to commit suicide by swallowing a bunch of her
step-mother’s pills. She is only alive because her nanny, Juanita, found her
and called 911. Vicky loves Juanita with all her heart and is upset and ashamed
that she found her – that’s not what was supposed to happen. She was supposed
to be dead by now, swallowed up in a black silence. Vicky doesn’t even know how
to explain to Juanita why she did it because she doesn’t fully understand
herself, but she knows she will try again if she goes back home now.
So, although her father and step-mother want her to come home
immediately, Vicky opts to stay in the hospital for now. In the psychiatric
ward, she meets a small group of other teens also living there and undergoing
treatment. First, she meets Mona, her talkative and energetic roommate who also
tried to commit suicide and refers to the act breezily as, “doing the deed.”
E.M. is an angry boy with a violent past who doesn’t say much in group therapy
sessions. Gabriel seems like a kind and caring boy, with no hint as to why he
is in the ward. Dr. Desai, a petite woman in a sari, is helping all of the
teens with both individual counseling and group sessions.
Little by little, Vicky begins to open up and talk about her
feelings and the problems that led to her suicide attempt. She learns about
depression, something she didn’t even realize she had. At one point, Dr. Desai
gets permission – from both the hospital and their parents – for the four teens
to come out to her ranch for two weeks. It’s a beautiful place in the country
where she often brings damaged teens to heal. Although the ranch helps in many
ways, things fall apart at one point, and the teens are separated.
For Vicky, this means being sent home, even though she is scared
to face her “real” life without her support system and to return to the world
that led to her suicide attempt in the first place. She reluctantly returns
home and to school, trying to remember the things she learned from Dr. Desai
and the others. When a crisis hits one of her new friends, Vicky must decided
whether to obey her father or defy him and go help. Slowly, gradually, things
improve for Vicky, until she begins to feel like maybe she might be able to
manage this life and keep living.
This was a powerful story, based in part on the author’s own
experiences with depression as a teen and young adult. A young person in my own
life – someone that I care for very much – has been dealing with suicidal
thoughts, so this novel was especially resonant for me. Based on those
experiences, I think that Vicky’s hospital stay was somewhat idealized – I wish
that psychiatric wards all worked like this one did and that all doctors in
charge of them were like Dr. Desai. However, the author may have done that on
purpose to show troubled teens how support like this can help. In the epilogue,
he explains that he was helped by a hospital stay while in college himself. I
thought it was very realistic, though, that Vicky seemed to have a wonderful
life from the outside, so no one knew how much she was suffering inside. It was
an excellent, clear depiction of depression.
While this kind of positive hospital experience – and field
trip to a beautiful ranch – may not be the standard of care today (though its
should be), I think it’s important to the story, to show the path to recovery
and healing for Vicky and others like her. In fact, despite its somber subject
matter, this is not a dark book. Its honest and eye-opening look at depression
and suicide provides insight for those of us with loved ones suffering and hope
that things might be get better for those young readers with feelings similar
to Vicky’s. It is a moving, candid story about a subject that is not talked
about enough, with a focus on hope and healing. This novel should be required
reading for all teens and anyone who cares about them.
In July, I listened to the teen/YA audiobook The Secret Language of Sisters by
Luanne Rice. This was the first book I have read by Rice, and I enjoyed the
moving story of the bond (and challenges) between two sisters when disaster
strikes.
Fourteen-year old Tilly is impatiently waiting for her
sixteen-year old sister, Roo (short for Ruth Ann), to pick her up at the
library. She wants to be in time to stop by the cemetery where their father is
buried on the way home, to see the owls fly out for the night, so she keeps
texting her sister irritably. Roo’s last text was “Be there in 5 min,” but it’s
been over an hour since then. Finally, Roo’s boyfriend, Newton, drives up to
the library to pick her up, and Tilly finds out that Roo has been in a car
accident and is in the hospital. Life for the two sisters has forever changed.
Although Roo seems OK initially, she has a seizure and ends
up in a coma-like state. Doctors think she is completely non-responsive, but
Roo can hear and understand what is going on around her. She can’t move or
talk, though, so everyone just assumes she is in a coma and might have suffered
brain damage. Frustrated, Roo doesn’t know how to let her family, friends, and
doctors know that she is in there. Her only hope is that Tilly – her sister and
best friend – can figure it out.
Tilly, for her part, is understandably upset over what has
happened to her sister. To make matters worse, it gradually becomes clear that
the accident occurred while Tilly was texting Roo, so she feels horribly guilty
and at fault. All of these difficult feelings come on top of some typical
sibling rivalry stuff: Tilly sees Roo as perfect – a straight-A student who is
headed to Yale and is beautiful and in love with her boyfriend. Roo is also a
talented photographer. Tilly sees herself as completely lacking – the ugly
duckling sister who struggles with school and has no special talents. Her
feelings of guilt over the accident bring all these inadequacies to the
surface. Additional guilt comes as she and Newton become close, bonding over
their shared experience of caring about Roo.
This is an intense and emotional story about the
relationship between two sisters and how a disaster affects a family, but I was
also fascinated by the details of Roo’s medical condition – called locked-in syndrome
– and the new technologies available that might possibly help Roo (which also
adds an air of hope to what could otherwise be a depressing story). A few years
ago, I read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby (highly recommended – review at
the link), a real-life story of a man with locked-in syndrome, so that added a
sense of reality to this fictional story for me.
Chapters alternate between Roo and Tilly, so the reader
hears the perspectives of both sisters. This is especially helpful in making
Roo into a full character, instead of just a body in a bed, but it also serves
to provide a different view of Tilly, who sees herself as a mess but is beloved
by Roo. There is a lot going on in this book – grief, family drama, friendship,
love – but the emphasis is on healing and recovery, not only for Roo but for
Tilly, too. It’s a compelling and powerful story that kept me listening raptly.
Scholastic Audio
P.S. My 18-year old cousin also read this novel this summer and loved it, too! She and I both said we will never text and drive after reading this!
You can listen to an audio sample at the Amazon link below:
I recently finished watching season 3 of The Fosters(one of my faves) and season 2 of The Mysteries of Laura,
so I was at loose ends for a show to watch on my own, on the rare
occasions I am alone! I ran through my list of shows to try
(ever-growing) and remembered Feed the Beast, starring David Schwimmer, which started in June. I've watched four episodes now and am enjoying it.
Schwimmer, of Friends
Fame, plays Tommy Moran, father of an adorable 10-year old boy named
T.J. Tommy's wife and T.J.'s mother died recently in a car crash, and
both father and son are suffering. Tommy is clearly depressed and
drinking too much, and T.J. hasn't spoken since his mother's death.
Meanwhile, Tommy's old friend, Dion (played by Jim Sturgess), gets let
out of prison early. Before he's even released (while changing his
clothes), Dion has already done coke and had sex with his lawyer, so you
know this guy is bad news.
Tommy, his wife, Rie, and
Dion had planned to open their own restaurant in the Bronx. Dion is an
excellent chef who cooked for the guards in prison (they hated to see
him leave), and Tommy is world-class sommelier (wine expert). Rie had
drawn up designs for their restaurant, but with her death, Tommy gave up
on his dream. He and T.J. are living in the old warehouse they had
planned to restore for the restaurant. Dion finds Tommy when he gets out
of prison and immediately begins to convince him to resurrect their
dreams.
What Tommy doesn't know is that Dion owes a
mobster $600,000 and is being threatened to pay or else. The mobster,
Patrick Wolchek (played by Michael Gladis, a familiar face from Mad Men), also threatens to hurt Tommy and T.J. if Dion doesn't pay up. So, although Dion does
want to bring their dreams to life and open his own restaurant, he
doesn't tell Tommy that the need to earn a lot of money quickly is
life-threateningly urgent. Desperate for start-up capital, Dion
convinces Tommy to ask his estranged father, played by John Doman from The Wire,
to invest in their restaurant. That raises a whole new set pf problems,
since Tommy's father is a horrible bigot, and T.J. is multi-racial.
So,
you can see, right from the first episodes, that there is a lot going
on in the show. There is also grief counseling for Tommy, a possible
future romantic interest, bullying at school for T.J., and Dion's drug
problem. It's a complex, intricate web of challenges and secrets. I had
never seen David Schwimmer do anything but comedy before, but this is a
serious drama, tackling issues of death, being a single parent, starting
a new business, family....and yeah, and the Mob.
I'm
enjoying the show so far and am interested to see where it goes. The
main characters are in peril right from episode 1 (whether they all know
it or not), so there is some suspense in addition to drama. You know
that Dion's lies and secrets will eventually get the main characters in
serious trouble, but you are still rooting for things to work out,
especially where Tommy and T.J. are concerned. I also love delicious
food and cooking, so I'm finding that aspect interesting as well, as
they plan their restaurant.
Feed the Beast is an
AMC show still currently airing its first season - tonight is the
season finale. All episodes are available On Demand (until 10/1/2016)
and free on the AMC website. It is also available on Amazon Prime for $1.99 an episode or $17.99 for the season (link below).
Yikes, noon already! And August! I've spent the morning trying to figure out my sons' tuition payments, financial aid, 529 accounts, and student loans (my head is spinning) and writing a review that is due today. Also, the TV is on because my college son is back home for a few weeks and is home sick today (TV on means writing is impossible!). So, that's why my post is late.
It was a crazy busy week - shopping for my younger son's dorm room and helping our older son move out of his apartment - but we always find a little time for reading! Here's what we are reading:
I finished a review book for Publishers Weekly, Isra Isle
by Nava Semel. It's (in part) an alternate history, based on a
historical fact. In 1825, a Jewish man named Mordecai Noah bought Grand
Island, NY (a bit of land just south of Niagara Falls) from the Native
Americans. He wanted to start a Jewish state...but no one came. This novel imagines what would have happened if it had
worked, and Jews had had a safe haven way back then. I grew up in Rochester, NY, and
often visited Grand Island - its real-life history includes an
amusement park called Fantasy Island! - so it was especially intriguing to
me. All in all, it was a very interesting and thought-provoking novel, though the author uses a free-form narrative style without quotation marks and a lot of symbolism, so it was a bit confusing at times. Worth reading, though.
Now, I'm trying to squeeze in a classic before moving onto my next Big Book, so I started Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, a novel I last read in 10th grade. I probably didn't have time for this extra book, but I am enjoying it!
I just finished listening to The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork, a
teen/YA novel about a serious topic. It's about a teen girl who tries to
commit suicide and her slow, difficult journey of healing and recovery. It was moving and powerful, all the more so for me
because a young person close to me has been suicidal. Highly recommended.
My husband, Ken, is reading Shift by Hugh Howey, book 2 in the Wool series. He and I both LOVED Wool
(review at the link), which several friends had said, "you must read it!"
They were right! I gave Ken the second book for Father's Day, and I
can't wait to read it, too!
Jamie, 21, is re-reading Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings, book 1 in the Stormlight Archive so that he can next read book 2, Words of Radiance. The first one is 1200 pages long, and the second one is 1300 pages, so he is definitely in the Big Book Summer groove!
Last week's blog posts:
TV Tuesday: Aquarius, a creepy 60's detective show about Charles Manson starring David Duchnovy
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.
There is still plenty of time to join theBig Book Summer Reading Challenge - six weeks of summer left! Just click the link to read the rules - super-easy for summer! You only
need to read one "big book" (400 pages or more) before September to participate. Join
the fun, choose your Big Book(s) & sign up today!
It's been unbearably hot and humid here, so I haven't been spending much time outside. One morning, about two weeks ago, I thought I'd get out nice & early to take a walk around my neighborhood before it got too hot...too late! At 10 am, it was already into the 90's. I did, however, manage a short walk and took a few photos of the blue sky and colorful summer blooms along the way:
Green leaves and blue sky
I love my neighbor's wildflower bed.
Shades of pink side by side
Brilliant yellows
A blue sky day
Don't know what these little blue flowers are but I want some!
My cousin recently chose Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson for our online family book
group. Although this best-selling book published a decade ago was very popular
and won a couple of awards, I had never read it (though I did see the movie
adaptation years ago). This descriptive, immersive courtroom drama set on a
small island north of Puget Sound in the 1950’s has elements of suspense,
family drama, and historical fiction.
As the novel opens in 1954, a Japanese-American man named
Kabuo Miyamoto is on trial on the small island of San Piedro off the coast of
Washington. Kabuo is accused of murdering another local man, Carl Heine, who,
like Kabuo, made his living as a fisherman. In that first chapter, the courtroom
scene is described in detail, introducing some of the people in the town, as
well as the island itself. Throughout the novel, courtroom scenes in 1954 are
interspersed with flashbacks to fill in the backgrounds and histories of the
characters.
Kabuo grew up on the island, working side by side with the
rest of his family in the strawberry fields. His father’s dream was to purchase
a small plot of land for his own strawberry farm. Kabuo’s wife, Hatsue, is
sitting near him in the courtroom and also grew up in a family of strawberry
farmers with four sisters. Also in the courtroom is Ishmael Chambers, the
island’s reporter, editor, and publisher of its small newspaper, taking notes
on the proceedings. Ishmael lost an arm in the war. Right from those opening
scenes, it is clear that Ishmael is upset by what is happening and there is
more going on than meets the eye.
From there, the novel follows the court case closely, with
dialogue from each witness, so that the reader learns of the details of the
case right along with the jurors. Along the way, the author delves more deeply
into each character: Art Moran, the sheriff; Lew Fielding, the judge; both the
prosecuting and defense attorneys, Carl Heine and his family; and more.
Ishmael, Kabuo, and Hatsue – who all went to school together on the island –
get the most attention, going back to their childhoods, their parents, and
their experiences during the war.
I won’t say much more about the plot because the novel very
slowly reveals its secrets as the court case unfolds and feeling that gentle
suspense build is one of its charms. This is much more than a murder mystery,
though. Given the timing of the story and the Japanese-Americans at its heart,
history is also a very important component. We see how Kabuo’s and Hatsue’s
families (and all the rest of the Japanese-Americans on the island) were a part
of the community and then abruptly ripped away to be sent to internment camps
on the mainland. We hear the details of Ishmael’s, Kabuo’s, and Carl’s war
experiences and witness how those experiences affected and changed each of
them.
The historical details are an integral part of the story, forming
significant parts of each character’s backstory. The effects of war are
powerful and tragic, though different for each character that experienced it.
Most of all, though, the internment itself and its effects on all the citizens
of San Piedro – both white and those of Japanese ancestry – are chilling. The
panic and suspicion that quickly spreads after Pearl Harbor and the deep,
lingering biases and resentments that are still there almost 10 years later
feel frighteningly similar to some of what we are seeing today in our own
world.
Finally, the setting adds another dimension to this unique
story. The island and its inhabitants are described in great detail so that the
island itself comes to life, almost like another character in the book. Weather
is a significant part of that setting, as well, given the island’s location and
size. The huge snowstorm that starts on the first day of the trial adds drama
to the proceedings, while weather also plays a significant role in the farming
and fishing industries on the island and the everyday lives of the islanders.
Snow Falling on
Cedars is a long book and a densely written one, filled with descriptions
of the island and its people that bring this world to life on the pages. It is
beautifully written in a way that makes you care about the characters as if
they were real people. The suspense builds slowly, with the exact explanation
of what happened the night of Carl’s death held back until the very end. This
is a haunting story that I suspect will stay with me for a long time. Although
it was first published in 1995, it feels vividly real – and frighteningly
relevant – today.
Last year, I was blown away by Gordon Kormon’s middle-grade
novel Masterminds. I just listened to
the audiobook of the sequel, Masterminds:
Criminal Destiny, and it is just as good as the first book, with a unique
sci fi plot and nonstop action and adventure.
The trick will be to describe it without any spoilers! (don’t
worry - I will) First, if you haven’t yet read Masterminds, go back and read my review of that first novel in the
series. There is a big plot twist in the first book, so I will avoid giving
that away. First a little background on the series.
Eli and his friends are thirteen years old and live in a
very unique place. Serenity, New Mexico, is a town of only 185 residents and is
80 miles from the nearest town. Most amazing, Serenity has no crime, no
violence, no unemployment, and no poverty. It is the perfect town, and the kids
have been told their whole lives how fortunate they are to live there. The
thirty kids in Serenity have grown up together and all know each other well.
Eli goes to school with Amber and Tori who are best friends.
Amber is a classic over-achiever, with to-do lists that detail every single
day. Tori likes art and is quite talented. Malik also goes to school with them.
He’s a bit of a renegade, a rule-breaker, which is highly unusual in Serenity
and highly discouraged. Malik often hangs out with Hector, a smallish, nice guy
in their class. Eli’s best friend is Randy, a fun guy who often encourages Eli
to push against their limits, like figuring out how to unlock hidden features
with weapons and car crashes in their very tame, non-violent video games.
The kids’ idyllic life begins to come apart, though, when
Randy is sent away abruptly to live with grandparents no one knew he had.
Around the same time, Amber finds a USA
Today newspaper left by some workers from outside the town and reads about
things like murder that she has never even heard of before. Little by little,
the group of kids begins to suspect that something is not right with Serenity.
In the first book, they figure out what is going on behind the scenes of this
perfect-seeming community and manage to escape from town, no small feat.
In the second book, the kids are on their own, out in the
real world for the first time in their lives. They know the secret of who they
are and why they are special, but they want to know more. Scary security people
from Serenity are after them, as well as their parents, but the kids are
determined to find some answers. They quickly discover that life in the real
world is full of dangers they never knew existed, and they race across Colorado
and Wyoming as fugitives.
Even more so than the first book, the sequel is filled with
nail-biting suspense and nonstop action, in addition to the mysteries of
Serenity and the “special” kids. This story is a thrilling rollercoaster ride,
based on a unique premise, filled with unexpected twists and turns. Both girls
and boys will enjoy following the adventures of this group of kids and
discovering their secrets alongside them. I was riveted by the first book on
audio and devoured book two in record time as well! Like the first book, this
one was narrated by all of the kids, in alternating chapters, with different
voice actors for each kid on the audio. I can’t wait to see what Kormon has in
store for these kids in the next installment!
HarperChildren’s Audio
NOTE: There are samples of the audiobooks at the Amazon links below. If you have not yet read book 1, then DON'T listen to the sample audio for book 2, Masterminds: Criminal Destiny! The very first line is a huge spoiler for book 1. If you are new to the series, check out the audio sample for book 1, Masterminds (the first link) instead.
My husband and I started watching NBC's show Aquarius last year when it first came out and were hooked. This summer, we have been enjoying season 2, as well. Aquarius is set in 1960's L.A. during the time when Charles Manson was becoming popular and growing his following.
David Duchovny (of X-Files and Californication fame) stars as Detective Sam Hodiak, an L.A. homicide detective who is old-school and plays loose with the rules. One of his co-workers is Brian Shafe, played by Grey Damon, a long-haired cop of the younger generation who is working undercover on a drug case. Claire Holt plays Charmaine Tully, the first female police officer in the precinct, a pretty, young, blonde woman whom no one takes seriously. Hodiak, despite his gruff exterior, sees the potential in both of the young officers, though.
Meanwhile, a 16-year old girl named Emma, played by Emma Dumont, runs away from home and from her parents' constant fighting. She meets a group of other girls her age who bring her to their home. It's basically a hippie commune overseen by a charismatic guy named Charlie Manson. Charlie takes an instant liking to Emma and nicknames her Cherry, and she joins their happy family.
Emma's mother is an old friend (and former girlfriend) of Sam Hodiak's, so she goes to Sam for help in finding their daughter. Her husband has political aspirations, so she wants to keep things out of the news but hopes that Sam will agree to look for their daughter. And that's how Hodiak and Manson first cross paths. Soon Shafe - and later, Charmaine - are going undercover with Manson's group, and trying to find out exactly what is going on at his house. Of course, no one knows at this point just how dangerous Charlie will turn out to be, but they are looking into the drugs and all the runaways he attracts.
The show alternates back and forth between the police officers' work and personal life and what is happening at the Manson house. It's a slow boil. Hodiak is assigned all sorts of cases to work, while he's keeping an eye on Charlie on the side. Manson's followers are growing in number. All of this is set against a perfect 1960's backdrop of fashions, hairstyles, cars, and the civic unrest building in the community over the Vietnam War and race issues.
We have really been enjoying this show, now in the middle of its second season. It's a police drama, in part, but based on a well-known, mystical historical figure at its center. It pulls much of its material from actual history, with the rise of the Blank Panthers, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, the growing threat of race riots, and of course, Manson's slow but steady growth and descent into madness. In addition, the main characters' personal lives come into the story, as well. It's an engrossing, fascinating story with excellent writing and acting. Duchovny is especially good in the lead role, as is Gethin Anthony as the scarily charismatic but crazy Manson.
The show is currently in the middle of its second season. Both seasons are available on Amazon Prime for $1.99 an episode or $21.99 a season. The first season is available on Netflix for subscribers. Cable On Demand and the NBC website currently have episodes 4 through 7 of the second season (on ours, episode 4 will be coming off on 7/28). It looks like the second half of season 2 will be starting up on July 28.
Whew - super hot, busy week! Working hard to help my youngest son get ready for college - we started dorm shopping last week. It's great to see him so excited! Oldest son came home from college and was sick all weekend - yet another bout of bronchitis thanks to his immune disorder. And Saturday was my 51st birthday! We went out to dinner Friday night with all of us, plus my father-in-law and then enjoyed a fun, lazy day at home Saturday (my son and his girlfriend made crepes for breakfast!), piles of lovely and creative gifts, and a graduation party for good friends Saturday night. It was a very good birthday weekend for me, and I loved having all of us together (a rarity these day) but was sorry it was due to my oldest being so sick. He just left for class and his apartment. Hopefully, the antibiotics are doing their thing, and he will feel better soon.
So, yes, a very busy but fun week! And, of course, we enjoyed our books, too:
I finished reading Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson for my online family book group. I
had never read this award-winning novel before, though I saw the movie
adaptation years ago.
It's a very descriptive novel about a Japanese-American man accused of
murder in the years after the Japanese Internment and the events leading
up to that time. It takes place on an island off the coast of
Washington, and the setting is vividly described, almost like another
character in the story. I enjoyed it, but it is a dense book that took longer to finish than I expected. The prejudices against the Japanese-Americans in the 40's and 50's felt eerily parallel to what we see happening with Muslim-Americans today - blaming an entire class of people for the crimes of a few. Scary.
I am now reading a review book for Publishers Weekly, Isra Isle by Nava Semel. It's (in part) an alternative history, based on a historical fact. In 1825, a Jewish man named Mordecai Noah bought Grand Island, NY (a bit of land just south of Niagara Falls) from the Native Americans. He wanted to start a Jewish state...but no one came, and his plan fizzled out. This novel imagines what would have happened if it had worked, and Jews had had a safe haven way back then. It's interesting so far, though a bit confusing at times. I grew up in Rochester, NY, and often visited Grand Island - its real-life history includes an amusement park called Fantasy Island! - so it's especially intriguing to me.
I finished listening to The Secret Language of Sisters by Luanne Rice, a
teen/YA novel about one of two sisters who is paralyzed in a car crash
and has locked-in syndrome. It was very good and engrossing. My 18-year old cousin enjoyed it, too, and we are both determined never to
text and drive or text someone else who is driving!
I am now listening to The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork, another teen/YA novel about a serious topic. It's about a teen girl who tries to commit suicide and her slow, difficult journey of healing and recovery. I've just started it, but it is already especially poignant to me because a young person close to me has been suicidal.
My husband, Ken, finished The Boys in the Boatby Daniel James Brown, a book I enjoyed for book group last year (my review at the link) and heard the author speak for
our library's All-County Reads program this spring. He enjoyed it - it was one of his goals this year to read it.
I think Ken just started Shift by Hugh Howey, book 2 in the Wool series. He and I both LOVED Wool (review at the link), which several friends had said, "you must read!" They were right! I gave Ken the second book for Father's Day, and I can't wait to read it, too!
Jamie, 21, read Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima, book 1 in the Shattered Realms series. He loved Chima's Seven Realms series, and this one is set in the same world.
Now, he is re-reading Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings, book 1 in the Stormlight Archive so that he can next read book 2, Words of Radiance. The first one is 1200 pages long, and the second one is 1300 pages, so he is definitely in the Big Book Summer groove!
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.
There is still plenty of time to join theBig Book Summer Reading Challenge - seven weeks of summer left! Just click the link to read the rules - super-easy for summer! You only
need to read one "big book" (400 pages or more) before September to participate. Join
the fun, choose your Big Book(s) & sign up today!
Two weeks ago, my husband and I enjoyed a short getaway to Shenandoah National Park, one of our favorite places. Last week, I posted some photos of camping and the Stony Man Trail. Here is Part 2, with photos of Bearfence Mountain Trail (one of our faves!) and amazing views:
Ferns along the trail
The trail climbs up, up, up right from the start!
Blue blazes lead you UP the rocks!
We love the rocky trail
My husband - you can make it!
Selfie up on top!
Amazing blue sky views of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Fluffy clouds over the mountains
We are missing that cool mountain air! Hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend and staying cool (supposed to be close to 100 today and tomorrow here).
Back in 2012, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Katherine Boo
published her first book, a nonfiction book called Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai
Undercity, and it won the National Book Award. That same year, my son and
his friends started college, and their new school, the University of Delaware,
selected Boo’s award-winning book as its All-Freshmen-Reads book. With all of
that – plus a lot more accolades and publicity – I wanted to read Boo’s book
for myself, but it’s taken me four years to finally get to it. I suggested it
for one of my book groups, and we discussed it last night. I don’t know why it
took me so long to get to this compelling, fascinating, powerful story of life
in an Indian slum.
Although it is entirely nonfiction, Boo has written her book
like a novel, introducing “characters” (who are real people) and following
their lives through some incredible events that rocked their community. That
community is Annawadi, a ramshackle shantytown with a sewage lake, built by
squatters within sight of Mumbai’s big international airport. This real-life
Mumbai slum houses 3,000 men, women, and children in 335 tiny, hand-built huts,
people living from hand to mouth, literally, trying each day to earn enough
money to feed their families.
As the book opens, Abdul, a sixteen-year old boy who earns
his living – and supports his 11-person family – by collecting trash and
sorting it for recycling, is hiding in the small shed where he runs his trash
business. The police are coming for his father and will be looking for him,
too, for a crime that neither of them committed. His mother, Zehrunisa, has
urged him to hide, while his father, sick with TB, gives himself up to the
police. This strategy will allow the family’s main income-earner to remain free
for a little while longer. Abdul’s next-younger brother, Mirchi, has bigger
dreams than sorting garbage. He still goes to school (their father recently
told Abdul, “you didn’t have the mind for school anyway”) and hopes to get a
job with a uniform in one of the luxury hotels near Annawadi.
There are many other young people living in close proximity
in Annawadi’s huts. There is 15-year old Meena, who dreams of freedom; she’s
been promised in an arranged marriage she doesn’t want. Little Sunil, just
twelve years old, yearns for a “career” like Abdul’s – he wants to earn enough
money so that he can finally stop being hungry all the time and start growing.
Manju, a young woman, is an unusual citizen of the slum. She is attending
college, with aspirations to be the very first female college graduate from
Annawadi. When she isn’t studying herself, she leads a rudimentary school in
her family’s hut, teaching eager young children – often teaching them the same
things she herself is studying.
Manju’s mother, Asha, has her own aspirations, to both
support her intelligent daughter and to boost their family’s income and
position. Asha is interested in politics. Currently, she works unofficially for
the Corporator, the elected official whose precinct includes Annawadi. She acts
as his go-between on the ground, listening to the complaints of residents and
trying to resolve them. She hopes to one day be the unofficial slumlord of
Annawadi, and from there, move ahead in politics, thus moving her family into
the middle-class on the backs of her neighbors.
The One-Leg is another resident of the slum, who rents a
tiny room from Abdul’s family with her husband and two small children. Born
disabled, her given name is Sita, but no one calls her that. They all call her
the One-Leg, and she tries to prove she is worthy and attractive by making
herself up and picking up men while she limps around on her crutches. There are
no secrets in this community, with tiny huts crammed together, and thin walls
between families (the lucky ones have walls; some separate their living spaces
with sheets).
Boo introduces the reader to each of these people – and more
– while also telling their stories: where they came from, their families, how
they scrape by and try to support themselves. Meanwhile, the book starts with
Abdul’s father’s arrest and then traces that event back to its origins and
follows it through to what happens to each of the people involved. This
nonfiction book reads so much like a gripping novel that I had to keep
reminding myself while reading that these were real stories and real
people. The author is completely absent from the book; it’s not about her
experiences in Annawadi but about the residents there.
In the course of getting to know these individuals and following
their lives, Boo naturally introduces (through the stories, not through any
explanations of her own) issues of economics, politics, criminal justice (or
lack thereof), and corruption. Oh, the corruption! It is absolutely unthinkable
how corrupt systems are in India (and especially for these people with little
money) – bribes are needed to get adequate medical attention, to get decent
treatment from the police (I can’t say “fair treatment” because it’s all about
who bribes more), and to participate in the justice system, such as it is. For
those fed up with American or European politics who think all politicians are
corrupt, wait till you hear what’s going on in India!
You may be thinking that this all sounds rather
depressing…and certainly, it can be depressing to read about such extreme
poverty. But this book isn’t about economics or politics; it’s about people.
Boo lets us into the intimate details of these people’s lives, and we get to
know them, as we would the characters in a great novel. The people living in
Annawadi are not hopeless; in fact, they all have hopes, dreams, and
aspirations. The children laugh, play, and joke just as children do all over
the world. She shows us that poverty is not just a concept and that each of
these people is an individual with their own story. In fact, the author said inan interview that she wants the reader to see hope on every page. Here she
explains her goal in writing the book:
“Sunil and Sonu have tough, tough lives
but if a reader comes away from this book thinking of them only as pathetic
socioeconomic specimens I’ll have failed as a writer. They’re cool, interesting
kids, and I want the reader to sense that, too. Because we can talk all we want
about how corruption or indifference robs people of opportunity–of the promise
our societies squander–but if we don’t really grasp the intelligences of those
who are being denied, we’re not going to grasp the potential that’s being
lost.”
And that is what is at the heart of
this book – Boo puts real people, real faces, real hopes and dreams onto the
sometimes abstract concept of poverty. With Annawadi, in particular, the reader
clearly sees the absurd juxtaposition of the 5-star hotels and international
airport right up against this world of raw sewage, little clean water, and
scarce food. She takes the reader deep inside someplace that most of us have
never been.
My book group had some great in-depth
discussions last night about Behind the
Beautiful Forevers. There is so much to talk about here, and the stories in
the book provide insights into many different aspects of poverty and today’s
world. We discussed that the lessons learned from this book are just as
applicable here in the U.S. as they are in Mumbai. Everyone agreed the book had
been interesting and engaging (ratings ranged from 6 to 10). As a bonus, one of
our group is a woman who grew up in India and has actually been to Annawadi, so
her observations and insights added more to our discussion.
This book is a perfect example of
narrative nonfiction at its absolute best. As someone who reads about 90%
fiction, I was completely riveted by this book and its stories. In fact, when
rating books in my book groups, I rarely give anything a “10,” but that’s what
I rated this one. To me, it was like the best of fiction and nonfiction
combined: engrossing stories about interesting people, set against a
fascinating backdrop that I knew little about. I learned a lot and loved
reading this book – I wish that more nonfiction was written this well and this
engagingly, and I can’t wait to see what Boo does next.
244 pages, Random House
I'm not usually a fan of book trailers, but this one is 100% actual video taken in Annawadi as Katherine Boo spent time there, and the photos & video of this vastly different world are fascinating. See Katherine Boo's website for more photos.
So, six books total in June, all fiction, and almost all of them were YA and middle-grade, which is unusual for me (I normally read a mix). I read my first Big Book of the summer and my first classic of the year (finally!) - see details below. My favorite? Ooh...that's a tough one. These were all good. I think I liked Pax the best - it was a really powerful, unique story about hope, love, and war.
Progress on 2016 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading
Challenges! I (finally) read 2 more TBR books in June for my Read Your Own Damn Books Challenge - that's a total of 8 so far this year, which is not very good! For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, June was A Book Recommended by Girlxoxo
month - um, yeah. Since I didn't look at the monthly topic until just now, that's not so good...BUT she did recommend The Raven Boys, book 1 in the series I finished last month, so that counts, right? No nonfiction last month for my 2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge, but (drumroll) I finally read a classic for the 2016 Classics Challenge! Woohoo! For my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge,
I read books set in Hungary and UK (Wales). I am also tracking the states my books are set in, even though
there is no Where Are You Reading challenge this year - I added 3 new
states this month!
Finally, I did my best ever on the monthly Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break (you can join the fun any month without officially joining a challenge). Here's my Bingo card for June - I filled a record 20 spaces!
Books Read & Bingo Spaces:
The Raven King: murder, witch, in a series, grad, waiter/waitress, more than 400 pages Magnificent Mya Tibbs: accent, empowered female The Metamorphosis: shelf-love book, father, foreign setting Bera the One-Headed Troll: garden Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: debut author/novel, super special powers, travel in book, library book, teacher, flowers Pax: one word title Free Space!
Believe it or not, this is one of THREE book bingo games I am playing this summer - it's getting confusing!
