Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Other Wes Moore



"The chilling truth is that Wes's story could have been mine; the tragedy is that my story could have been his."
This oft repeated quote from The Other Wes Moore written by Wes Moore sums up the message of his book better than I can.
Since its publication I have read numerous articles about The Other Wes Moore, intrigued instantly about this book. Wes Moore, the author, is an accomplished athlete, a Rhodes scholar, a military officer. He grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, in a single parent family after his father's untimely death from a treatable illness. As a troubled youth, his mother's worry escalated to the point that she borrowed money and sent Wes to a prestigious school - away from the influences of their neighborhood. However, Wes found it impossible to fit in and caused trouble there, too. While some might think her next step to be extreme, Joy was so concerned about her son, she sent him away to military school. At first Wes resisted the people in this new environment, wanting nothing more than to return home, but after time passed, Wes was able to see the respect that the men there earned - not from fighting or physical intimidation, but from the way they carried themselves. He was impressed. Wes's mother's intervention probably saved his life.

Another young man by the name of Wes Moore was growing up in Baltimore at the same time as the author. The two didn't know each other, but lived oddly comparable lives. Wes was raised by a single mother and had very little contact with his father. He, too, began to cause his mother problems at a young age, and she, like Wes's mother tried to intervene. However, her intervention was not to send her son away to school (and that is not necessarily why Wes's life didn't turn out like the author's), and Wes continued to slip into criminal activities, often under the influence of his older stepbrother, Tony. Wes Moore finds himself in prison, serving a life sentence for the attempted murder of a young police officer who died while trying to stop a burglary, leaving behind his wife and five young children. Tony, Wes's brother was the trigger man in this murder.

In adulthood, author Moore becomes aware of Wes Moore and the fact that another young Baltimore man with the same name is wanted for a crime. Eventually, he decides to contact him and the two develop a friendship of sorts, composed of meetings in prison. While the two share a name and background, their paths diverge dramatically after childhood. What caused one man to turn to a life of crime? Why did one man choose to pursue education and a military career? Luck? Chance? Moore does not provide any answers, and there is no way anyone can decide why certain things happen in life. However, as Moore states in his book (and I have restated above):

"The chilling truth is that Wes's story could have been mine; the tragedy is that my story could have been his."
This book is hard to put down. While I knew from the outset that Moore would be arrested and in prison for life, it is still tragic to see his life unfold, knowing that he will make decision that will be disastrous to him later on. Author Moore is also very quick to share that the true victim in this book is not Wes Moore, but rather, Officer Prothero who was killed at the age of thirty five, leaving his children to grow up without a father. This book reads much like a story, but it provides a lot to think about as well, as we look at urban neighborhoods that are impoverished and lack male role models.

And finally, this book ends with a call to action by Tavis Smiley:
"Fundamentally, this story is about two boys, each of whom was going through his own personal journey and searching for help. One of them received it; the other didn't. And now the world stands witness to the results. Small interactions and effortless acts of kindness can mean the difference between failure and success, pain and pleasure- or becoming the people we loathe or love to become. We are more powerful than we realize, and I urge you to internalize the meaning of this remarkable story and unleash your own power."

To read the article in USA Today on May 6, 2010 about The Other Wes Moore, click here.










Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday



Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.



This week's pick:

Chosen by Chandra Hoffman
Due out: August 24, 2010


Product Description from Amazon:



Fox Street was a dead end. In Mo Wren's opinion, this was only one of many wonderful, distinguishing things about it.
Mo lives on Fox Street with her dad and little sister, the Wild Child. Their house is in the middle of the block—right where a heart would be, if the street were a person. Fox Street has everything: a piano player, a fix-it man, the city's best burrito makers, a woman who cuts Mo's hair just right, not to mention a certain boy who wants to teach her how to skateboard. There's even a mean, spooky old lady, if ringing doorbells and running away, or leaving dead mice in mailboxes, is your idea of fun. Summers are Mo's favorite time, because her best friend, Mercedes, comes to stay.
Most important, though, Fox Street is where all Mo's memories of her mother live. The idea of anything changing on Fox Street is unimaginable—until it isn't.
This is the story of one unforgettable summer—a summer of alarming letters, mysterious errands, and surprising revelations—and how a tuft of bright red fur gives Mo the courage she needs.
I love the cover on this one! This week it was hard to decide which book to pick....I have seen a lot of ads for new books for fall - YAY!!

Orange is the New Black


Piper Kerman's memoir Orange is the New Black caught my attention from page one. Kerman writes about her time in the women's prison in Danbury, CT, after pleading guilty to money laundering and drug trafficking charges. Kerman is in her twenties in 1994, looking for adventure. When her partner Nora brings Kerman in to her drug business, Kerman doesn't think twice about becoming involved. Nora seems to have plenty of money and travels to exotic locations.

Years later Kerman has moved on with her life. She and Nora are no longer together, and Kerman is happily dating Larry, the man she will eventually marry, when her past comes back to haunt her. Kerman decides to plead guilty to the charges against her, knowing that by doing so her sentence will not be as long as if she stood trial and was then found guilty.

A decade after her crime, Piper finally begins her stint in prison. Although out of place, she is able to forge some friendships, and find commonalities with the other women there. Kerman's account of prison life does not make it out to be the scary place we see depicted in movies. Many of the prison staff were kind to her, although she did experience a few who were rude and downright mean. And while Kerman does not dispute her guilt or her punishment, she does show in her writing the amazement at that the many women she came across in prison who are in the system for long spans of time for somewhat minor offenses. The cost of this to us as taxpayers is astronomical. Along with that, the types of jobs these women hold while in prison and the lack of any real guidance for them as they re-enter society seems to set them up to return to prison. Many of them have never earned money legally and don't even know how to go about it. Kerman's background is different from most of the women there. She is college educated, has a supportive family that visits often, and has a job lined up for her upon her release. I found Kerman's account of prison life fascinating, and enjoyed hearing about the many books she read and the miles she ran each day to pass time.

Kerman's memoir is absorbing. She is able to provide and insider's perspective on the women's prison system as well as an account of her own life and how the choices she made in her youth affected her years later.

Monday, June 28, 2010

The Great Death


John Smelcer's historical fiction middle grade novel was calling my name on one of my library visits. Set in Alaska, two sisters are orphaned when everyone in their village dies of an epidemic. Trying to make their way downstream toward civilization, the sisters encounter many challenges, all the while trying to remember that their survival depends on their ability to stay together.

This is an intriguing story and fans of books like Hatchet will enjoy the people vs. nature plotline. While I enjoyed this story, there were some things I would like to change/add:

I would have appreciated author's notes that included some information about the epidemic these people were confronted with, the time period it was set in, and the native Alaskans. Without any information I think middle grade readers may need some assistance to really understand this novel.

I also wish there were some form of follow-up to the sisters' story, or that the story continued on a bit longer so that readers know what happens when the sisters find a village of people.

Smelcer's tale is amazing, though, showing how strong the will to survive is, and reinforcing the necessity of continuing on despite the tragedies that may befall one in life. Seeing these girls bury their parents and leave the rest of their friends and family is an amazing tale of courage.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

This Means War


This season we are blessed with the publication of two tween books taking place during the early 1960s and the Cuban Missile Crisis. This Means War by Ellen Wittlinger captures what it was like to be eleven years old and worried that a nuclear war was about to take place. Juliet is growing up in the midwest, upset at just having lost her best friend, Lowell, to two "Air Force brats" that have moved in to the military base in their town. Now Lowell has two boys who he would rather hang out with than Juliet. Finally Juliet meets Patsy, whose father is a mechanic in the Air Force. The two of them seek out a way to show the boys that the girls are better than them. To do this, the boys and girls have a series of contests pitting the two groups against each other. While some of the contests are harmless, the final challenge ends up causing some real damage and endangering the lives of those involved.

Wittlinger has managed to develop a novel sharing what life in America looked like in the early 1960s. Juliet's family owns a small grocery store that is having trouble keeping up with the development of the supermarket. Families are building bomb shelters in anticipation of President Kennedy being unable to resolve Russia's aggression toward the United States on the island of Cuba. And Russia is also busily sending a man up in space.

I loved this slice of 1960s America that Wittlinger provides. This is a great historical fiction novel for tweens who are interested in this time period and the beginning of the Cold War.

The Heights


Peter Hedges' book The Heights is what I consider women's fiction (even though the author is a man....this is throwing me off a bit). Set in the affluent Brooklyn Heights of New York City, Kate and Tim Welch are married with two young boys, living in a tiny apartment. When Anna Brody, the super rich half of the new couple in The Heights arrives, things begin to change for Tim and Kate. For whatever reason, Anna decides to invite Tim and Kate into her world, making them the envy of many. While this is the main plot in The Heights, many subplots including Tim's dad's retirement from his high profile basketball coaching position, a student's crush on Tim/Mr. Welch, Kate's new role as a career woman while Tim stays home with the boys, and Kate's ex-boyfriend's appearance also round on this story.
While much of the book is narrated by Tim and Kate, there are chapters interspersed that are narrated by Mr Welch's crush, Bea, and Kate's ex-boyfriend. While I was expecting Kate or Tim to narrate the ending of what is clearly their story, Hedges had Bea write the ending. The last chapter is told in her words, explaining what she thinks happened. I am still thinking about this - how clever Bea's narration was, because this left some room for readers to imagine a bit of their own ending.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Heights and am happy to see that Hedges has written other books I can explore.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Read From Your Shelves Challenge Update

2010 is almost halfway through. Here's how my Read From Your Shelves Challenge is going:

TBR List 2010
Adult Titles:
1. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
2. Clara's War by Clara Kramer
3. While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty
4. After You by Julie Buxbaum
5. The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson
6. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
7. Shelf Discovery by Lizzie Skurnick
8. The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center
9. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
10. Mockingbird by Charles J. Shields
11. Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
12. Black and White by Dani Shapiro

Young Adult/Tween Titles:
1. Rumors by Anna Godbersen
2. Tell Me Who by Jessica Wollman
3. Dangerously Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
5. The Alchemyst by Nicholas Flamel
6. The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
7. Blue by Joyce Meyer Hostetter
8. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
9. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
10. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
11. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
12. Percy Jackson - The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I thought I would have a lot of extra reading time this summer, and while that may be the case, I also have a lot of books I have brought home from school (which I haven't touched) and huge library stacks! So, we shall see. Better get reading!

The Unlikely Disciple


I just finished The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose, and feel like I am probably the last book blogger to have read this book. In fact, even though I heard about this book when Barnes and Noble selected it as one of its Discover New Writers books, I postponed reading it until finally, after reading positive review after positive review, I decided I needed to read it for myself. After all, it is a memoir, and we all know how much I enjoy a good memoir.

To give a brief synopsis: Kevin Roose decides that he will spend a semester at Liberty University, the largest Christian fundamentalist college in the United States, founded by Jerry Falwell, the leader of the Moral Majority. Roose transfers from Brown University, Liberty's polar opposite, ready to note the vast differences in the students and lifestyles. Quickly Kevin realizes that while he may not have the same religious beliefs as his new friends, he genuinely likes the people at Liberty University. Yes, they are a conservative bunch, which Roose is not, but over the months he spends there, he is able to understand (even if he doesn't agree) with this new way of thinking. And, Roose gains a greater understanding of faith and the different religious beliefs and practices that he was unfamiliar with. Roose only intended on spending a semester at Liberty, and as his time there nears an end, two important things occur. First, Roose is able to interview Jerry Falwell, meeting the famed founder of Liberty. The second event, coming closely after Roose's interview with Falwell, is Jerry Falwell's death at the age of seventy three from a heart attack. This tragedy was a monumental event at Liberty that Kevin just happened to be present for.

Roose's writing is entertaining and interesting. He mentions early on that he worked as A.J. Jacobs' assistant (Jacobs penned the memoir The Year of Living Biblically along with two other memoirs), something I enjoyed knowing because it put things in perspective for me. Jacobs spent a year trying to live according to all Old Testament laws, writing a humorous memoir about this feat. The fact that Roose then found a way in which to write a memoir about a religious experience is not all that surprising.

My feelings about this book seem to mirror the other reviews I have read. First of all, I appreciated that Roose does not make fun of or demean the students at Liberty University and their beliefs. Despite the fact that Roose knew that his beliefs would not mesh with those of most Liberty students, he doesn't try to present his views as "right" and theirs as "wrong." Instead, I felt that Roose writes about his experience in an open-minded way, and genuinely realizes that people are complex- with more to them than the beliefs that caused them to choose an education at a fundamentalist college.

While I can understand why Roose didn't share his real reason for attending Liberty University with his peers, it does make it seem as though he was being somewhat deceptive. True, the knowledge of Roose's intent to write about them would have changed how people presented themselves, but I would have had a hard time with my own guilt about this if I had been Roose. And if I had been the subjects of this book, I may not have been as quick to forgive as Roose's Liberty friends.

All in all, this book was entertaining - at times I did wish it could have moved faster - and interesting. I have no doubt we will be seeing more of Roose's work in the future.
Check out these two reviews:

Friday, June 25, 2010

Ten Minutes From Home


Ten Minutes From Home by Beth Greenfield has been one of those memoirs I have not been able to put down, despite the fact that Greenfield's main focus is the loss of her brother and best friend to a drunk driver - an event that devastated her parents and changed their lives forever.

In 1982 Beth was just twelve and looking forward to junior high with her friend, Kristin. Spending summer days on the beach, shopping for "cool" clothes, and keeping up with the latest fads took up most of Beth's time. Kristin came along with Beth and her family to Beth's ballet dress rehearsal. Stopping on the way home to have icecream, everyone is happy, anticipating blissful summer days, when just ten minutes from home a drunk driver hits their station wagon. Beth is able to remember specific details about some aspects of the accident, while others are hazy. Her father is pinned beneath the steering wheel, gasping for breath. Her brother lies face down in the station wagon's back, and Beth's foot hurts, yet it is the blood covering her that garners attention from the people there assisting. Beth is able calmly explain that the blood is not hers, it is her best friend, Kristin's.

As anyone can imagine, the tragedy that happened to the Greenfields and also to Kristin's family was devastating. Beth tells the story from her perspective, how it felt for her to lose her best friend and brother. Because she was a child when this occurred, her feelings have changed over time. It is easy to understand how Beth became irritated with her mother, who struggled to move on and was often in tears. It is also easy to see how Beth was able to forget things for a while, and then quickly remember and mourn for all she had lost.

I found the beginning of this book to be especially well crafted. Greenfield begins by writing of her grandmother's death. An event, that while sad, was not unexpected, and was not the tragedy some losses are. She is able to communicate how this death compared and contrasted to her brother's death a few decades previously. At her grandmother's grave, Beth's parents remained calm, yet sad. Before leaving the cemetery the family stops at Beth's brother, Adam's grave. At this site, her parents fall to their knees, sobbing as if Adam's death had just taken place recently.

From this initial chapter, Greenfield then takes readers back to her childhood, sharing anecdotes about Adam and Kristin and her relationship with them. Greenfield and her family are truly the family next door - what happened to them could happen to any of us. I appreciated Greenfield's writing about this life changing event, something that was probably cathartic and therapeutic, yet also an extremely emotional undertaking for her and her family.

While Greenfield's book does not have the happy ending we would like, something that is not possible, it does show Beth and her family decades later, having forged ahead in life - sometimes slowly, sometimes painfully, yet still together.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Importance of Wings


I love tween novels that allow me to relive my 80s childhood. Friedman's book The Importance of Wings is set in the 1980s, as Roxanne and Gayle are growing up, trying to fit in and be "American." Roxanne and her family left Israel when she was just five, and she feels like her family is out of step with things, often appearing different than her peers. Roxanne has even made her name more American, instead of the Israeli Ravit. Roxanne and her sister spend a lot of time watching television, entertained by Wonderwoman, as their father works long hours as a taxi driver, and their mother spends time in Tel Aviv caring for her sick sister.

When Liat, another Israeli girl, moves in next door, Roxanne and Gayle have lots to think about. Liat lives with her father- her mother died when she was just four. Instantly the girls have the lack of a mother figure in common, yet Roxanne and Gayle are reminded that their mother will return, while Liat's is gone forever. While Roxanne tries so hard to fit in and worries so much about embarassing herself and being picked on, Liat seems to ignore slights from others and embraces her Israeli name and the ways she is different. Roxanne is able to think about things from a new perspective, learning a great deal from Liat.

There's a lot more to this book than its length would have you think. This novel is a great springboard for a discussion on differences, bullying, even Israeli/US relations and their change over time. Friedman wisely set this book in the 1980s, a time period she reflects as one that was simpler when talking about the US' relationship with Israel. And, by setting her book in the 1980s Gayle and Roxanne's absent mother is truly absent. Today's world with the existence of cell phones, texting, and email would have added a different dimension to the way the story unfolded as the girls missed their mom.

I will be looking for more of Friedman's work; this was a very enjoyable novel.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Hoarding- Weekly Geeks

Weekly Geeks this week is focusing on hoarding. Check out other responses.

So this week, I am curious about those gigantic TBR piles which readers tend to accumulate. Please share with us your habits, tendencies or obsessions when it comes to hoarding behavior.
Post a photo (or two or three) of your books to-be-read
Share your buying or book accumulating habits - how bad of a problem do YOU have?!?!?
Do you keep all the books you've read, or do you give them away or sell them?
Can you walk past a bookstore and not go in? If you go in, do you impulsively purchase?


I will admit, I am a hoarder. I have books stacked under my bed, on shelves, next to shelves, double stacked on shelves, in Rubbermaid tubs, and pretty much anywhere else I can find to put them. My excuse is always that I am worried that I will run out of something to read. However, a few years ago my sister put this in perspective for me. She estimated that in a very good year, I might read as many as 250 books. At that point, I had over 1,000 books in my TBR stack. So, without even checking anything out from the library, I would be able to read new books for at least four years. I am sure she did this to prove to me that I really am not going to run out of things to read, and perhaps discourage me from buying more books, but I can't really say her calculations have changed my behavior much.

I have tried to be a little more aware of how much money I am spending on books, and have also been trying to use the library instead of purchasing things to own. Yet, I do a good job of not purchasing for a while, and then fall back into the same behavior as before.

I love to have my own library, and giving away books is very hard for me. I am also trying to be realistic - I do not want my house to look cluttered at every turn. So, unless I really plan on re-reading something, I have started the process of giving some books away after I finish them. This is also making me think a bit more about purchasing books - do I really want to spend $16-$20 on a book, only to give it away? Right now I have three daughters who I hope will want to read a lot of the childrens and YA books I own, so those are definitely harder for me to get rid of because someone may actually want to read them again in a few years.

I don't have a lot of bookstores around me that I get to browse in all that often. My biggest temptation is Amazon. One click shopping is so easy and painless because I can't even see the money leave my hands.

Reading a few other posts about hoarding makes me at least not feel quite as alone in my book hoarding. And, this is not a problem only for book purchases, but is also a problem at the library since I want (and deserve!) each and every new book that is in. I have a very hard time leaving a library without checking something out.

Come Sunday


Come Sunday by Isla Morley is set in the beautiful Hawaiian islands, where Morley herself has lived for a while, and in South Africa, where she grew up. I was instantly intrigued by these beautiful, lush locales, especially since Morley had experienced these settings herself.

Abbe, the mother in this story, has many things she is trying to deal with. Her marriage to Greg, a pastor, is in need of some work. So, too, is Abbe's past. Her own mother had an affair, something Abbe is able to excuse because of her father's mean treatment of his family. Abbe's father dies suddenly just hours after Abbe leaves South Africa for college, and her mother dies just a few months later. While she still is close with her brother Rhiann, the two live far apart, and don't see each other often. Just about the only thing Abbe doesn't seem conflicted about is her role as Cleo's mother. Her beautiful young daughter has brought Abbe happiness and joy, and when she is killed accidentally- struck by a car as she darts onto the road while pursuing a runaway kite- Abbe's entire life is forever changed.

There are many books written about the loss of a child, often trying to find a way to effectively and realistically share what such a loss looks and feels like. I appreciated Morley's writing - the way she was able to share Abbe's feelings without making them too hard to read about. Yet at the same time Morley didn't sugarcoat Abbe's experience, either. Abbe didn't return to the way she had been prior to Cleo's death. She experienced anger, rage really, at the man who was driving the car that hit her daughter. She was angry with her friend who was babysitting Cleo when the accident occurred, feeling almost as though the death of her friend's husband was punishment for Cleo's death. Her marriage was not able to survive the loss of Cleo, as she and Greg grew further apart. Time continues to move on, something Abbe talks about frequently as she watches each minute away from her daughter pass by on the small digital clock she keeps, taking it with her on a trip to South Africa to sell her parents' farm. When the clock is stolen it is more than Abbe can bear - the clock that had been the keeper of every minute since Cleo's death.

Morley has created a complex story, much like real life. This is a book that I was able to put down while reading, sometimes wondering how much I was really enjoying it. And yet, this is also a book that once I have finished it, I am thinking a lot about. Abbe does find a way to go on, and life continues to move forward as we know it must. There are several people in Abbe's life who have given her wisdom to deal with the loss she has endured, and I appreciated the various people and backgrounds created by Morley that impart this wisdom.

Come Sunday is a solid women's fiction book, full of things to discuss and enjoy. I will be thinking about Abbe and Cleo for quite a while.

Waiting on Wednesday




Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This weeks' pick:

The Stuff That Never Happened by Maddie Dawson
Due out August 3, 2010
What if you were married to a wonderful husband for twenty-eight years but in love with another man? What if you were in love with them both? Annabelle McKay knows she shouldn’t have any complaints. She’s been in a stable marriage that’s lasted almost three decades and has provided her with two wonderful children, thousands of family dinners around a sturdy oak table, and a husband so devoted that he schedules lovemaking into his calendar every Wednesday morning. Other wives envy the fact that Grant is not the type of man who would ever cheat on her or leave her for a younger woman. The trouble is Annabelle isn’t sure she wants to be married to Grant anymore. The trouble is she’s still in love with someone else. In the early tumultuous years of her marriage, Annabelle carried on a clandestine affair with the one person whose betrayal would hurt her husband the most. When it ended, she and Grant found their way back together and made a pact that they would never speak of that time again. But now years later, with her children grown and gone, and an ominous distance opening between them, she can’t help but remember those glorious, passionate days and wonder if she chose the right man. Then, when called to New York City to help care for her pregnant daughter, Annabelle bumps into her old lover. Offered a second chance at an unforgettable love, she must decide between the man who possesses her heart and the husband who has stood squarely by her side. A journey into the what-ifs that haunt us all, The Stuff That Never Happened is an intricate, heartfelt examination of modern marriage that brims with truths about the nature of romantic love.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"Cleo never knew winter, and it was difficult explaining it to her when we read her Christmas books. To Cleo, cold was swimming in the ocean at Waikiki Beach in January or the chill you get from eating shave ice too quickly (155)."


Come Sunday by Isla Morley


Monday, June 21, 2010

Kaleidoscope Eyes


Kaleidoscope Eyes by Jen Bryant is the second novel in verse I've read in the past week. I was trying to explain to my daughter, who was quite interested in the layout as she was paging through it, how very interesting these books are. While it may seem easier to compose a story with so few words, my thoughts after reading Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards just a few days ago and Kaleidoscope Eyes by Jen Bryant today, is that writing a story with so few words may actually be more difficult. Each phrase conveys so much. Writing up a short summary of these books has left me feeling as though I cannot clearly communicate the many facets of either story adequately.
Kaleidoscope Eyes is set during the Vietnam War.
The cast of characters includes:
Lyza, who is a teenager coping with her mother's absence, trying to grow up. Her grandfather passes away, leaving an envelope only for her. The information in the envelope leads her and her friends on the hunt for a buried treasure that Captain Kidd, a pirate, buried near her New Jersey town.
Denise - Lyza's sister, is busy dating Hairy Harry, a long-haired war protester, and listening to Janice Joplin. The sisters are often at odds, and Denise is truly a vision of sixties pop culture.
Their father is a professor at a local college, working long hours to repay the debts their mother accumulated before deserting her family. While he is against the war, he is quiet about his feelings in order to keep his job.
Malcolm, Lyza's good friend, is an African American male, whose brother, Dexter, gets drafted to go to war. Both acknowledge that his race may put him where the worst fighting is taking place. The issue of race are evident when Malcolm cannot find a job because he is black and he has never been seated at the restaurant where Denise works.
Carolann, Lyza's best girlfriend is instrumental to the location of Captain Kidd's treasure as is Malcolm.
Bryant does an amazing job of weaving in the feelings present in the sixties - the fear and anger about Vietnam, the sadness of those who fought in Vietnam and returned changed forever, the way in which music and entertainers influenced the teens of this decade. Even Bryant's title, Kaleidoscope Eyes, originates from the Beatles song, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
This book was fabulous and I will highly recommend this for teen readers.
Kaleidoscope Eyes was read for the War Through the Generations Challenge

The Shadow of Your Smile


Several (or many) years ago I really, really enjoyed reading books by Danielle Steele, Mary Higgins Clark and Nicholas Sparks. Some of you are probably groaning that I actually wasted my time reading this type of book, while others won't understand why I no longer find these books very interesting any longer. Basically, these books are the type that seem to have a very formulaic plot and after reading one or two of them, they are a bit repetitive.

Yet, even though these aren't my favorites any longer, I still pick them up from time to time - much like revisiting an old friend. Mary Higgins Clark's latest book The Shadow of Your Smile was a quick read, written in what by now is a very familiar formula in the authors' work.

*Chapters are short

*Each chapter is written in a different view point

*Chapters end with a bit of suspense

*There is a bit of romance

*A murder occurs

*Characters are not well developed

*Everything is neatly and happily tied up by book's end

The outline of this story centers around pediatrician Monica Farrell who is actually the unknowing heir to the Gannon family fortune. Olivia Morrow is an elderly woman in failing health who knows that a deceased nun gave birth to Monica's father, then gave him up for adoption. Now this nun is being considered for beatification, and Olivia is trying to decide if she should tell Monica about her biological family's history. Someone is also trying to end Monica's life. Renee Carter, who is trying to extort money from Peter Gannon, the father of her child is found dead, and Peter is arrested for the murder. He and his brother Greg are both involved in illegal activities and are near bankruptcy. The plot keeps moving quickly and Clark has several different story lines being developed at one time.

For fans of Mary Higgins Clark, this newest installment will keep them happy for a little while. As usual, there are aspects of this type of writing I enjoy, but it is easy to see that the type of leisure reading Clark provides is vastly different from the books that stay with readers long after the last page is finished.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Star in the Forest


I teach in a very diverse school, full of a range of ethnicities. I absolutely love the way these students are able to look at each other and notice more similarities among them than differences, but finding books that represent the different groups can sometimes be challenging. I always feel like we are in need of some books featuring Latino characters and have to look hard to find some books written at the elementary level for my students.

Laura Resau has written some YA novels that I have enjoyed, but I had not read anything written for elementary students until today when I enjoyed Star in the Forest. This book is not very long, preventing students from becoming overwhelmed by it. Zitlally is an immigrant child, sharing the story of her father's deportation to Mexico. She and Crystal, her neighbor, start a friendship and find a dog, Star, in a "forest" of rusty and old cars that they need to take care of. Crystal creates outlandish stories about her own father that Zitlally is able to recognize for the tales they are, as Crystal yearns for her father to get out of prison. Zitlally's own father is trying to come back to America and her mother is working many jobs in an attempt to earn money for his return. When he is kidnapped by the coyotes her mother hires to get him across the border Zitlally and her family must come up with even more money to ensure her father's safety.

I have already ordered this one for my school library, knowing that many of my students may have their own experiences about immigrating to the United States. Resau includes information at the novel's end about the process of immigration and asks for readers to engage on an online discussion about a way for the current practices to be changed. This is definitely a thought provoking book, appealing to many readers in my school.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning


Nancy Pickard's debut novel The Scent of Rain and Lightning was a pleasurable, suspenseful read. Alternating between 1986 and the present, Jody Linder tries to determine what happened the fateful day that her father was killed and her mother went missing. Only three years old when she lost both parents, Jody only knows what her family has told her about the events that led to the loss of both parents: that Billy Crosby, an angry young ranch hand who her grandparents went out of their way to help, killed her father and was responsible for her mother's disappearance and probable death. Now Billy's sentence is being commuted and his son Collin, who grew up in his father's shadow is responsible for it. Jody's family still believes that Billy is guilty, but now that Billy is being released, Jody's eyes are being opened to some different opinions among the citizens of Rose, KS. Many believe Billy was a terribly angry man, but most are somewhat uncertain of his guilt in Hugh Jay's murder.

Without spoiling the suspense of this fast and intriguing read, there are many points Pickard brings up within this book about the events that occurred in 1986. Halfway through reading I was certain I had this one all figured out, only to be surprised at the book's end. Pickard's writing is easy to read and grabbed me right away. However, there were several times in this novel that I felt Pickard's dialogue was a bit stilted and forced. Overall, this was a great debut novel, and I don't want to nit-pick what most will find very entertaining reading. I will be looking forward to more work by Pickard and thoroughly enjoyed The Scent of Rain and Lightning.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Three Rivers Rising


Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Jamestown Flood by Jame Richards is exactly the type of book I love: young adult historical fiction with an interesting storyline and characters about some event that I had little prior knowledge of.

I am sad to say that before I read Three Rivers Rising I didn't know anything at all about the Jamestown Flood. In fact, the map inside of the book helped immensely in providing a little perspective. For those of you that are like me and need some background information, the Jamestown Flood occurred in Pennsylvania in the late 1800s.

Richards book is written in verse, and moves quickly. (I am always surprised by how much I enjoy novels written this way, considering how little I seek out this type of book). This writing style works perfectly to tell this story, alternating between characters narrating their own perspective of the events that took place.

Celestia is a young lady born in wealth with a family that vacations at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club of Pennsylvania's Lake Conemaugh. Her businessman father and society mother are concerned and conscious of their social standing, always needing to keep up appearances. Much of the story centers around Celestia and her feelings for Peter, the son of a miner who is not of her social station. Celestia's parents try to thwart this young love but various events create opportunities for the two to carry on their relationship. Other narrators include Kate, a young nurse, who is still grieving the drowning death of a boyfriend, and Maura, the wife of a train engineer who is the mother to four young children.

Throughout this entire novel there are references made to the strength of the dam that is located above the small, poor towns below it, and the hope that the dam will continue to hold. This suspense that Richards creates makes this book a page turner as well as a romance. I rooted for Peter and Celestia hoping that eventually Celestia's parents could look beyond their social class and society's expectations so that young love would triumph. I also hoped and prayed that Kate, Maura, Peter and Celestia would manage to survive the tragedy of the Jamestown Flood that would inevitably occur.

Richards has done a great deal of research to be able to produce a novel that is so well crafted and interesting. Historical fiction is not always an easy sell to tween and teen readers, but this book should have a great deal of appeal because of the love story and suspense involved, while still providing an education on the Jamestown Flood. Teachers could also use this book as an example of differences in the classes in society and how expectations and lifestyles were impacted by class.

The only flaw I can find with this book is the cover. I first heard of this book via a review on a book blog and was very interested, but was instantly unimpressed with the cover. Maybe others don't mind the cover, and while we are all told never to judge a book by its cover, this is one title I wouldn't pick up just by looking at the cover, either. There might be a wider readership if the cover were more appealing.

This is one I definitely recommend to historical fiction lovers, those who enjoy romance, suspense, and everyone else who just likes a good book.

Friday's Book Blogger Hop


It's time for another Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jen at
Here are a few of the blogs I have added to my blog roll over the past week:
I'll be hopping around later, looking for more great book blogs to add to my growing list!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Trilogy of Books

Prairie Winter by Bonnie Geisert is the third in a trilogy of books about Rachel and the rest of her family based largely on Geisert's own childhood in the 1950s. I absolutely enjoyed reading this book, finding many parallels between Geisert's upbringing and my mother's. Rachel, as her character is named, lives in the midwest on a farm and experiences many traditional tales of woe of farm children: living away from friends, not having a phone, and having to help with the chores. During the winter of 1955-56 the weather is particulary bad, necessitating Rachel and her two older sisters, Kim and Carol, to move to a hotel in town for several weeks in the winter so they can continue to attend school.
Lessons, the second in the series was my next read as I followed the story of Rachel and her family. This middle book took on a serious note as Rachel's father worked through depression after the birth of a boy, Matthew. Rachel learns that prior to her oldest sister being born her parents also had a son who died in infancy. Their Lutheran pastor at the time told her father that this son had not gone to heaven because he had not been baptized. Years later this continues to weigh on her father as does the guilt he feels because they were not able to get him to the doctor in time to save him.


Last night I read Prairie Summer, Geisert's first book. This book focuses a great deal on the various farm chores that the family all helped in performing in order to keep their farm operating. Rachel's mother is pregnant with Matthew and Rachel often feels as though her father doesn't like or approve of her. She is just enough younger than her sisters for her "help" to not always be helpful and her father expects a great deal from his children.
All of these books were interesting and entertaining and I could relate to much of what Geisert wrote about, including the religious aspects. And each of these books are short and would make good read alouds to help children explore how things worked in past times. The strong work ethic and respect for parents are present throughout each installment. Geisert's fictionalized account of her own childhood gave me opportunity to reflect on and imagine my mother and her sibling's similar farm experiences as they grew up in the same envirionment. As I finished this series last night, I began thinking what adult book would be the equivalent to this series. Mildred Armstrong Kalish's book Little Heathens (a popular selection around my area) came to mind. While the time period is slightly different, anyone looking for a book recounting farm life in the midwest will enjoy either of these authors.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Three Wishes


Three Wishes: A True Story of Good Friends, Crushing Heartbreak, and Astonishing Luck on Our Way to Love and Motherhood by Carey Goldberg, Beth Jones, and Pamela Ferdinand is a recounting of three women's quest to have children later in life. While I knew that was the basic premise of the book, I don't think I had a much better understanding than that. I fully expected this to be a memoir of three couples going through fertility treatments. While I was totally off base regarding this book, I still enjoyed Three Wishes.

Three Wishes is narrated by three friends: Carey, Beth and Pam, all successful professionals who have been independent until their late thirties when they begin trying to find a way to have a child on their own.

Carey begins the procedure by buying vials of sperm from Donor 8282. The vials seem to have a form of luck attached to them because as soon as they are in Carey's possession she meets Sprax, someone she begins a relationship and eventually starts a family with.

Beth had been married for several years, only to return from a trip to find her husband asking for a divorce. She receives an enormous (at least by my standards) settlement, giving her some freedom to pursue her interest in rock climbing and different travel opportunities. When Carey becomes pregnant she gifts her donor sperm to Beth. And Beth, much like Carey, eventually becomes pregnant without the use of Donor 8282.

Pam, the third friend is also interested in becoming a mother but can feel the clock ticking signaling the end of her opportunity to have a child. When she meets Mark, someone she is attracted to, she is hopeful that this her chance at having a family. However, Mark is already married and the two must make some big decisions before starting a family together. Donor 8282 is gifted to her from Beth, and once again it's mere presence seems to bode well for Beth and her ability to have a baby of her own.

None of the friends end up using the donor sperm and all were able to have healthy children of their own. However, if ever there was a book written to encourage women to have children before they were leaving their thirties, this is it. Some people probably would feel Three Wishes is a hopeful story about mothering later in life, yet the emotional roller coaster these women were put on and the many disappointments they experienced also show how trying to have a baby does not always produce happy results. The fact that these women had plenty of money to follow their dream of motherhood is also something that not everyone has at their disposal.

Three Wishes is well written and interesting, but certainly was not what I was expecting (due to my own lack of research about this book). While I didn't necessarily agree with some of the choices Carey, Beth and Pam made, their account of the quest to become mothers provides an interesting perspective to "older" moms.

Waiting on Wednesday



Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick is Outside of the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller due out July 27, 2010.



Product Description from Amazon:

Sylvia Sandon is at a crossroads in her life. A wife and mother of two daughters, she and her city-planner husband grapple with the escalating renovation of their antique farmhouse--a situation that mirrors the disarray in Sylvia's life. Facing a failing marriage and a famished career as an art teacher, Sylvia finds herself suddenly powerless to the allure of Tai Rosen, the father of her most difficult art student. As their passion ignites, Sylvia is forced to examine her past, and the seeds of betrayal that were sown decades earlier by her mother's secret life. Eloquently written and deeply thought-provoking, Ostermiller's OUTSIDE THE ORDINARY WORLD crosses many years and miles--from the California brushfires in the 1970s to New England during the first half of this decade. Raised Seventh Day Adventist, Sylvia must reconcile the conflicting values exhibited by her parents--a mother involved in an extramarital affair and a father who was emotionally distant and abusive--while coming to terms with her own disturbing role in her family's dissolution and father's tragic death. While infidelity is a subject often explored in fiction, Ostermiller shines a razor-sharp lens on the gray areas surrounding betrayal, the complex interplay of religion, and the powerful legacy passed down from one generation to the next. At the same time, she reveals the redemptive power of the human spirit to love, transform, and forgive despite family history.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Something Like Fate


Susane Colasanti's latest book Something Like Fate is another solid YA novel by an author I am coming to enjoy more and more. I have only read one other Colasanti book, When It Happens, that I thoroughly enjoyed, and have been looking forward to this one's release.

First of all, before the book is even opened, Something Like Fate has a thought provoking cover. I can't recall any other YA romance that has a boy and two girls on the cover, showing the love triangle that has occurred.

Lani and Erin are best friends, linked by a car accident they were in many years ago. Erin begins to date Jason, and Lani gets to know this boy that has been around her entire life, yet is someone she doesn't really know. As she discovers more about Jason, she begins to feel that the two are fated to be together. There are so many things that the two have in common. Erin trusts her best friend and boyfriend, not suspecting they are beginning to have feelings for each other. When Erin leaves for the summer to work as a camp counselor, the two reveal their feelings, but aren't sure how to proceed since Lani still wants to be friends with Erin, and feels guilt over causing her friend sadness.

There are a lot of interesting issues and ideas in this book. It is easy to see how Lani and Jason are attracted to each other, and I was pleasantly surprised by the adult way they discussed their feelings much of the time. Erin's reaction to finding out about Lani and Jason is probably typical, but when she forwards an email and a website poking fun/bullying Lani is the result, I felt like there could have been more development. Since we have seen things about cyberbullying in the news and this is such an important issue, the quick resolution offered without consequences to those who were the offenders doesn't really seem adequate.
The setting of New Jersey seems to be a bit different than New Jersey is often presented. The community Lani lives in is small and she and her family are a part of environmental groups and take pleasure in gardening and plants.

Colasanti's plot was very believable, and I continue to enjoy her writing style. She seems to offer a fresh, yet realistic viewpoint in YA literature. And while I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other one I have read by her, her fans will find this an enjoyable read.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


"Later that night I went downstairs. Phil was sitting at the kitchen table. The only light was coming through the frosted window. "This is going to be awful," I said. "Really, really awful."
"I know." He didn't look at me. His face was shadowy in the dark and he shook his head. He looked down. He shook his head again. "No," he was emphatic. "It doesn't get worse than that (160)."

Three Wishes: A True Story of Good Friends, Crushing Heartbreak, and Astonishing Luck on Our Way to Love and Motherhood by Carey Goldberg, Beth Jones, and Pamela Ferdinand
My teaser is a little longer than two sentences...oops! This way readers will get a better idea what the book is about. Love the cover!

Monday, June 14, 2010

After You


Julie Buxbaum's sophomore novel After You proved to be another enjoyable read for me. This is a title I purchased as soon as it came out last year, and am just now reading for the Read From Your Shelves Challenge, at the same time it is coming out in paperback.

Ellie and Lucy are best friends who grew up together. While they live far apart- Ellie in the US and Lucy in London, the two remain as close as sisters, and Ellie is a godmother to Sophie, Lucy's eight year old daughter. However, Lucy's storybook life (beautiful daughter, million dollar home, handsome husband) comes to an abrupt end when she is killed while walking her daughter to school. Ellie leaves her life behind (easier than dealing with the marital problems she and Philip have been having after losing their stillborn son Oliver) and camps out in London, helping Sophie through the aftermath of her mother's death. What Ellie didn't count on is the fact that there are certain things about Lucy she never knew and that even her best friend had a few secrets.
This book was such a fast read, instantly grabbing me from the beginning. Ellie is a likeable character, showing her human side with her inability to cope with losses in her own life and relate to her husband, who is also grieving Oliver's death. I also enjoyed how Buxbaum used the children's book The Secret Garden as a read aloud for Sophie and Ellie as they started to cope with the loss of Lucy. (I am guilty of never having read the book myself, but have now added it to my summer reading list). This is another one that I have waited way too long to enjoy, but am glad I made the time for. Another entertaining women's fiction title.

Season of Second Chances


I seem to be making a habit of cramming the reading of an entire book into just one day. Yesterday afternoon it wasn't until three pm that I noticed that The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier was due on Monday at the library. I had tried to renew it earlier in the week, and again yesterday, but someone had put a hold on it. Once again, any sane person would have just returned it and tried to check it out again later, but not me. I quickly started reading. After all, the book is only 285 pages. Since I was the one who suggested it be purchased (after reading several blogs that had reviewed it), this is a title I really had been looking forward to. Luckily I am a fast reader, so I knew it was possible for me to get the entire book read, yet I didn't want my husband, who was busy cleaning our garage and cleaning up the mess of a tree that had fallen over in our woods, to think that all I was doing was reading. Somehow, between little bursts of cleaning and reading, I was entirely done by 11 PM.

I am so glad I read The Season of Second Chances. This is a book that will stick with me a for a while. Joy Harkness is a professor in New York City who has decided that at almost fifty she will start over, taking a job in Amherst, Massachusetts and buying a house. What she finds in Amherst is a group of people that she can call friends- something missing from her life until this point. Joy has never formed relationships with people, simply relying on herself and being satisfied with her solitude. Joy doesn't set out to make friends in Amherst, yet that is what happens, as a teaching colleague takes her under her wing. Joy's handyman, Teddy, slowly becomes a friend as well, as he fixes her run-down home, spending most of his time working on it. And when her relationship with Teddy becomes romantic, I so rooted for Joy to find happiness.

Joy learns a lot about living after she arrives in Amherst, and watching her transformation is uplifiting. Of course, I wished for a fairtale ending, yet the ending Meier creates is thought provoking and true to real life. If you're looking for a great women's fiction read, The Season of Second Chances is a good pick; book clubs could also find much to discuss in this one.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

The Daughters


Today was the day for me to dig out some YA fluff - another book that is due all too soon at the library. Joanna Philbin, daughter of talk show host Regis Philbin, is the author of The Daughters, a YA tale of three girls growing up in their parents' shadows (have you heard the advice "write what you know?"). While Philbin may be recalling her own adolescence as the daughter of a famous personality, this book is a fun look at life in New York City with a few affluent young ladies. Lizzie is the daughter of a gorgeous model. Unlike her beautiful mother, Lizzie has somes serious flaws with her appearance and often compares herself to her stunning mother. Lizzie is the narrator of this story - the quest for her to accept her appearance (which isn't that hard after she gets "found" by a local talent scout looking for natural beauty), and her relationship with her former neighbor Todd who moves back after spending a few years in London. She is flanked by her friends Hudson (with a name like I Hudson I continually thought this character was a boy!), who is destined to be a big music sensation, and Carina the daughter of a billionaire who is climbing the corporate ladder.

I liked this fun book a lot. There's a little suspense as Lizzie embarks on her own modeling career and initially falters in the decisions she makes. And, the attraction that she and Todd feel for each other also adds some suspense and romance. Because Lizzie isn't perfect she is a likeable character. I especially enjoyed how Philbin gave Lizzie a little depth by showing her passion for reading (as a librarian that's hard not to like!) and the classics and her skill as a writer.

Lucky for me this is only Philbin's first book in what is now to be a series. The next book in The Daughters series will be out in November 2010.

Random Saturday


Today may be the day of many posts. I have two more books I should finish off this afternoon, while quickly starting another tonight. As usual, my reading has not helped the cleanliness of my house.

Example #1: My youngest daughter started gymnastics yesterday. However, the leotard we bought her months ago in anticipation of this big event went missing when we really needed it. I have searched stacks of clothing, but alas, my poor child was forced to wear her ultra-cute sparkly heart swimming suit to gymnastics. Luckily at the age of three doing this is still cool and not something to be embarrassed about.

Boys and Girls Like You and Me: Stories by Aryn Kyle


Anyone who has been reading my blog has probably realized that I don't really read story collections. I'm not sure why, but the few times I have tried them I quickly quit reading. Mostly I like reading a full length book, something where characters and plots are developed over many pages. Yet, a few years ago I had a good experience with Jhumpa Lahiri's story collection, Unaccustomed Earth. I loved these stories. In fact, I loved them enough that I even listed Lahiri's book as one of my top ten reads of the year. Now, I haven't rushed out to read any story collections since then, but I don't necessarily avoid them, either. And when Aryn Kyle's story collection Boys and Girls Like You and Me came out I was instantly intrigued. Kyle's debut novel The God of Animals was a book that made my top ten list the year it came out, and I absolutely loved her writing. I checked out her story collection from the library but wasn't prompted to read it until I realized it is due back by Monday. And once I started Boys and Girls I realized how much I really enjoyed these stories and Kyles' writing. There are eleven stories in this collection chronicling the universal feelings of loneliness, desire, and relationships experienced by girls. One story narrated by a boy, "Captains' Club," allows us to see the loneliness also experienced by young males when Teddy is sent on a cruise with a friend and ends up spending his vacation with his friend's stepmother.

While I didn't have one favorite story, I enjoyed them all. Kyle's story collection was every bit as good as The God of Animals, giving me another opportunity to enjoy her fine writing.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs


I have happy memories of reading Heather Lende's memoir If You Lived Here I'd Know Your Name that was published in 2005. Lende lets us see what life in small town Alaska is like- something that sounds much like life in my small rural farming community, yet decidedly more exciting at the same time. After reading this book I could imagine myself living in Haines, Alaska, writing for the local paper and raising my family all amid the beauty of the Alaskan outdoors. What I didn't realize was that while I was busy reading Lende's book, she was busy recovering from a terrible accident. While biking in April of 2005 Lende fell off her bike and was then run over by a truck. The result of this accident was a broken pelvis, and Lende was lucky to be alive, enduring months of hospitalization and rehabilitation in Seattle. (A downside to living in a remote Alaskan town is lack of medical care for extreme illness or injury). Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs picks up right where Lende's first book ends. We are treated to more anecdotes of the residents that Lende knows personally. And Lende is able to share her feelings on faith as she is confronted with the personal challenge of recovering from her accident and grieving the death of her own mother. Once again I am able to feel as though I know the people of Haines, Alaska, and Lende and her family. And as I ponder from time to time the type of writing that I would like to do, Lende's memoir sticks firmly in my mind as an example of how one writer can make ordinary life interesting and entertaining.

My husband also read If You Lived Here I'd Know Your Name shortly after I did, also dreaming of an idyllic life in remote Alaska (apparently skipping the part about not having television reception). Seeing my copy of Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs resting on our coffee table, he instantly recognized Lende's name, and inquired about how far along I was in it. Lende's writing appeals to a wide audience - men and women, old and young. I am hopeful that she will continue to share more about her life in Alaska in the future.

Book Blogger Hop


I love these Friday Book Blogger Hops! Each week I find several new blogs to add to my growing list. And this week since I am done with school, I can hop around all day instead of waiting for the evening.

Visit Jen at Crazy for Books to join in on the fun.
Here are a few of last week's finds:

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Mockingbird


My summer break is just forty-eight hours old and I can't claim any great reading frenzy. I have been busy with my girls - shopping a bit yesterday and today, stopping by the library and sleeping in (shhh don't tell! I am usually such an early riser.).

I did enjoy Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine, a middle grade novel narrated by Caitlin, a fifth grade girl with Asperger's, a form of autsim. Caitlin sees things in black and white, not having an easy time of understanding feelings and emotions. When her brother Devon is killed in a school shooting, the one person who understood her the best is no longer there for her. Caitlin and her father must find a way to communicate with each other and find closure so they can go on with their lives.

There are lots of things I liked about this book. Hearing things from Caitlin's perspective is so interesting and allows for so much discussion for readers. This book would be a wonderful read aloud for students to develop some awareness of students with differences and an appreciation for them and a different way of seeing things.

Erskine shows Caitlins' thoughts in italics which I enjoyed as a reader, but which might at first be confusing to students looking for and needing the more traditional quotation marks.

Erskine presented Caitlin's peers in a believable way - not really accepting her or understanding the way Caitlin thought. The girls simply weren't nice to her, which is unfortunately a pretty accurate picture of fifth grade girls.

Erskine is writing about this after experiencing a school shooting that took place in her "own backyard" at the Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, on April 16, 2007. While this story is entirely fiction, it is obvious that many, many people are affected by school shootings (which is how Devon died). In addition to the victims and their families, Erskine also created Josh, Caitlin's peer, whose cousin was the shooter. He is suffering as well, having the unfortunate distinction of being related to someone who inflicted so much damage on these people and the community.

I really enjoyed Mockingbird (the title has a connection to To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee), and will highly recommend it to tween readers and to teachers looking for a great, thought provoking read aloud.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday




Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.



This week's pick is A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay to be released on September 14, 2010.

Product Description from Amazon:
This stunning new novel from Tatiana de Rosnay, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Sarah’s Key, plumbs the depths of complex family relationships and the power of a past secret to change everything in the present.
It all began with a simple seaside vacation, a brother and sister recapturing their childhood. Antoine Rey thought he had the perfect surprise for his sister Mélanie’s birthday: a weekend by the sea at Noirmoutier Island, where the pair spent many happy childhood summers playing on the beach. It had been too long, Antoine thought, since they’d returned to the island—over thirty years, since their mother died and the family holidays ceased. But the island’s haunting beauty triggers more than happy memories; it reminds Mélanie of something unexpected and deeply disturbing about their last island summer. When, on the drive home to Paris, she finally summons the courage to reveal what she knows to Antoine, her emotions overcome her and she loses control of the car.
Recovering from the accident in a nearby hospital, Mélanie tries to recall what caused her to crash. Antoine encounters an unexpected ally: sexy, streetwise Angèle, a mortician who will teach him new meanings for the words life, love and death. Suddenly, however, the past comes swinging back at both siblings, burdened with a dark truth about their mother, Clarisse.
Trapped in the wake of a shocking family secret shrouded by taboo, Antoine must confront his past and also his troubled relationships with his own children. How well does he really know his mother, his children, even himself? Suddenly fragile on all fronts as a son, a husband, a brother and a father, Antoine Rey will learn the truth about his family and himself the hard way. By turns thrilling, seductive and destructive, with a lingering effect that is bittersweet and redeeming, A Secret Kept is the story of a modern family, the invisible ties that hold it together, and the impact it has throughout life.
Still no cover image available that I could find, but I loved Sarah's Key and am looking forward to another book by de Rosnay.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


"One day she would lie beneath such a cross, either here or in Boston, and it gladdened her that in death her dates would be no less complete than those of her sisters. For Kate Malloy knew neither the day nor the month of her birth (177)."


Unfinished Desires by Gail Godwin
I've been working on this book for a while and am enjoying it - maybe now that school is over today I can find time to read it all!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Love In Midair



Love in Midair by Kim Wright is a women's fiction novel rather unlike others I have read. It isn't often I read a novel where the woman is the person in the marriage carrying on an affair. I'm not sure why that is, because I know both men and women can be guilty of infidelity, but somehow the books I choose seem to feature the male as the cheating spouse.


Elyse and Phil have been married for a decade and have one daughter, Tory. From the beginning of the novel it is well known that Elyse is unhappy. When she meets a stranger, Gerry, on a flight the two embark on a secret affair, meeting up each month in a different city. There were a lot of interesting and thought provoking things in this novel for me:


Elyse and her husband are religious, even going to their pastor for marriage counseling. While I am not crazy enough to think that being religious means you won't cheat on your spouse, I didn't ever see their belief system factor in to any of the decisions they made. Why bother being people who attend church, are active members, and yet make decisions that don't appear to have any forethought about what they believe or value?

From the first page it is evident that Elyse is unhappy. However, I often felt like I could see her husband's viewpoint a bit more easily. Why was she unhappy? I am not arguing that is how she felt; it just seemed like such a cop-out to blame her unhappiness on her husband. Elyse didn't appear to try very hard at fixing her unhappiness, just instantly believing that by leaving her husband and not trying to work through their problems that she would be happier.

Elyse's friendships are another aspect of Love in Midair that I continue to think about. Wright has created a believable group of women who are friends mostly because they live in the same neighborhood and have children in school, go to the same church, belong to the same groups. This is the way I have often seen my own life working out - some of my friends are not people I have a lot in common with, but we are in the same place with many common threads and therefore develop a friendship.

And, maybe women and men really do hook up in airports, but the fact that they continue this relationship without being caught, visiting each other monthly in different cities is incredible to me.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes. I did list the above thoughts as topics for discussion, but that itself doesn't mean I didn't like it. It just means the author created a story that is worthy of discussion - much like real life, nothing is black or white entirely. I enjoyed Wright's writing, and really felt that even though I didn't like Elyse much for a great portion of the novel she was an intriguing character.

What do others think about this book? I would love to get some feedback from others who have read Love in Midair.

Joining the 21st Century - Finally!


Two years ago my sister purchased a new computer for herself since she was starting graduate school. Along with her new computer came an iPod. She generously bestowed on me her old iPod which she thought I would be able to use and enjoy. I told her thanks, sure that yes, someday I would use this lovely thing. However, we had dial up internet. And my husband, who received an iPod shuffle from his parents for Christmas hadn't broken his gift out of the box yet. Time passed quickly. Every once in a while I would glance at the iPod sitting on the top of my dresser gathering dust. I think my sister inquired about it a time or two. If she was irritated by how little I gushed about it and the fact that I hadn't even turned it on, she didn't express it to me.

Well, last week it dawned on me that I have two tech-savvy high schoolers working for me in the library. Before they leave me for the summer I want them to show me how to download songs and audio books. I have started running outside again, too, and even though I can do some daydreaming while running, I would also enjoy listening to something from time to time. These past few days I have been getting a few lessons in all things iPod related. I am also becoming more aware of how generous my sister was by giving this to me. Little did I know she has almost 3,000 songs on it already, just waiting for me. And that I am able to download movies and podcasts and tv shows. Wow! I will have a lot of fun playing with this all summer if I can wrestle it away from my children who are already arguing over who gets to use it.

So, two years later, I am really thankful for my sister's gift to me. I hope she hasn't given up on me entirely appreciating it...it has taken me a while to join the 21st century!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Library Loot


For a while (well, it felt like a while - it was probably more like a week), I had been refusing to let myself check out new books unless of course I had already reserved it at the library and it came in. Then today I went to one of the four libraries I use and managed to lose all form of self control and check out a stack of new books to read. The good news is that at least checking out a lot of books is free. The bad news is that my stacks of library books are huge and not really getting any smaller.

Here's what new loot I'm adding to my old:

Adult:
Under This Unbroken Sky by Shani Mitchell
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

Young Adult
Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt
Puppet by Eva Wiseman
America in the 1970s by Marlee Richards

Childrens and Middle Grade
Lines that Wiggle by Candace Whitman (picture book)
Matisse on the Loose by Georgia Bragg (chapter book)
Tango:The Tale of an Island Dog by Eileen Beha (chapter book)
Gracias Thanks by Pat Mora (picture book)
Just Like a Baby by Juanita Havill (picture book)
I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother by Selina Alko (picture book)
The Twelve Days of Springtime by Deborah Lee Rose (picture book)
Pip in the Grand Hotel by Johannes Hucke (picture book)

Thank goodness school is done this week which I am hoping provides a little more time for me to read. I will need all of June and July just to get through what I have sitting here at this rate!

Friday, June 4, 2010

The Heart of the Matter


I have been a fan of Emily Giffin's work since her first book Something Borrowed came out a few years ago. This is one author whose work I read sooner rather than later - her books not lingering on my TBR pile. Part of it is the cover appeal. All of Giffin's books are pretty to look at, and while I could say I never judge a book by its cover, that would be a lie.

Giffin's first book presented a plotline that wasn't so unusual, but with its own twist, providing a unique story about a couple soon to marry. Dexter and his fiancee Darcy are approaching their wedding day when he and Darcy's best friend have an affair. While most readers would find Rachel, the best friend, unlikeable, Giffin is able to create a very likeable other woman and it is hard to find fault with her, even though she is having a relationship with her best friends' fiancee.

Giffin is once again exploring a common story, yet throwing in her own twist. In Heart of the Matter Nick and Tessa are happily married. Nick is a skilled surgeon and Tessa has recently quit her job to stay at home with their two young children. When Nick meets a young patient's mother, Valerie, the two form a near-instant connection. Their relationship develops into something more than friendship and suddenly a couple's perfect marriage doesn't look so perfect anymore. Giffin alternates chapters using Tessa and Valerie as narrators. However, when Tessa narrates her chapters are written in the first person. When Valerie narrates her chapters are written in the third person. I'm only guessing what Giffin had in mind by doing this, but as a reader, it was easier to identify with Tessa because she is the one telling the story. Valerie, as the other woman would generally be less liked, yet her status as a singe mother who is lonely did endear her to me.

While I enjoyed this book and read it quickly, I will warn any future reader that Giffin's work is chick lit. Yes, I enjoy them. Yes, I will read future books. But is this a great work of fiction? No. These are fun, easy reads. From time to time I get a little irritated with the perfect lives her characters lead. They aren't quite as picture perfect or repetitive as Danielle Steele's books, but there was just a moment while I was reading that I had this total deja vu moment of reading something so very similar as Heart of the Matter - the same feeling I get when I am reading a Danielle Steele book. While I have given up on Steele's work, I am still enjoying Giffin's. Somehow she has managed to understand the problems and concerns that people in their thirties are facing in today's world. She is able to truly hit the nail on the head in each of her books and has a true talent for creating likeable characters despite their flaws.

One last interesting touch in Heart of the Matter was the reappearance of Dexter and Rachel, the couple from her first book. Dexter is Tessa's brother and he and his wife and their children show up periodically in this book, while Tessa wonders at how their relationship began and whether Dexter called off his wedding to Darcy before or after he and Rachel began their relationship.

I'm not sure what Giffin's next book will focus on, but chances are I will happily set aside some time to read another of her novels and be pleased with her ability to entertain me.