Turkey Day is almost upon us!

Happy November dear readers,

Hope you have enjoyed the autumn weather and are getting ready for winter.  I spent the day sorting and getting clothes out of storage.  A little late since we were in SC for two weeks and then AZ for a couple of weeks before that.  It certainly was brisk when we landed in New England late Wednesday night - 38 degrees and it just kept going down.

I had hope that those two trips would afford me lots of time to read lots of books but it seems that wasn't the case.  However I did download 5 and got through only one, The Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford.  Ford was also the author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  If I recall that book was the first I read on my tablet.  Ok, back to Willow Frost.

As a white woman you think that we have always had rights and the ability to thrive in the US but while reading this book it hit me smack in the face once again how those who came before us struggled with 'the way things were'.  Thinking of a Chinese woman who only had the rights of her father or husband is just so foreign to me but yet the story rings true.  In 1924-35 a woman who married a man who was a foreigner was 'no longer American'.  For those of you who know my mother's story of getting 'stuck in Greece', maybe this is why my grandmother could not bring her husband and children back into the US and they had to wait for my aunt to reach 12 to get her an American passport.  Then the family had to go through Ellis Island like they were new immigrants.

Ford has a great way of mixing the bitter and sweet, forgiveness and acceptance of reality, benevolence and honesty.  The main character in this book is a 12 year old boy and his maturity and ability to accept reality and the past is surprising however, orphans must always feel they can 'find a way' to family.

Both of the books by Jamie Ford are well worth reading.  They are inciteful and well intentioned as well as informative.  I cannot recommend them enough.

I also completed Kristin Hannah's Between Sisters.  As always I enjoy Hannah's books but I thought this one seemed a little out of date.  It was supposedly published in 2009 but it seemed to fit better  into 1975 - the days before cell  phones and more readily available communications.  It was an easy read and brought tears to my eyes in many spots.  It was sorrowful with redemption and lots of what Hannah is best at, forgiveness and love.  It is a quick read so dive in but it's not her best book.

So, there it is folks, another episode of what are you reading now!  Have a great Turkey day and Happy Reading!

Barbara

This is how it goes.....

 Hello readers,

This is how it goes for now.  I will write on this blog when and where I have time and desire to do so.  Having just finished reading two books I will let you know my impressions of them and .... we are off!

I just finished reading The Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff.  It is a true story of  an 11 year old panhandler and the woman he encounters on a NYC street.  This book was suggested by my lovely niece, Marla and I liked the book.  It fascinated me that she would so highly recommend this book having two children who are about the age of Maurice.  Had I read this book as a young mother I would never let my children out of my sight.  The stories that Maurice lived through were devastating to any human being.  (Have you read The Color of Water?  - it is a similar story of survival and rising above your circumstances).

I would highly recommend this book as well as highly recommend we all take steps to help someone who is in need.  Many people say charity begins at home but sometimes, just once in a while we can touch someone's life with a gentle act of kindness.

The other book completed recently was  And the Mountains Echoed by Hosseini ( the same author as The Kite Runner).    This was another interesting story about Afghanistan and the custom and culture of the country.  IMHO Kite Runner is his best book - hands down!  The Mountains Echoed had soooo many characters that got into so many situations that it was hard to follow the twists and turns of their lives and how it affected the story plot line.  I am glad I read it but wouldn't put it on the top of my reading list.

FYI - I am in Phoenix now and yesterday we visited the most fun museum.  The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM.ORG) is fun, fascinating and fabulous museum that we could have spent many hours in.  We loved it!  So... if you are ever in Phoenix, add that as a wonderful stop and place to see some spectacular instruments.

I have begun a new Kristen Hannah book and have received another hard copy book from my DDIL called A House in The Sky by Amanda Lindhout who was held captive in Somalia.  I look forward enjoying both of those books in the next week or so.

Signing out with lots of books still on my reading list,

Happy Reading!
Barbara

Still alive and well and enjoying the great summer

It has been a while since I have written so I want to catch up on some of the books I have been reading. 

Don’t know if any of you subscribe to Bookbub via Ipad but I get notices that some wonderful reading is available at very reasonable prices – sometimes it is free!  Most recently I finished reading Blood Orchids  (The Lei Crime Series   by Toby Neal.  It is a suspense thriller set on the Big Island of Hawaii and it had me spellbound from the first and then just when I though the book was over it went on and on and still held me on the edge of the bed – I did stay up reading until after 1 AM on just two nights finishing this book.  Characters were well defined and carefully created.  The main character, Lei, has a wonderful watchdog that is a Rottweiler and those of you who know me will know I love Rottie’s.    Toby Neal has many books and they will be on my ‘to read’ list when I am looking for a great beach, summer, airplane, just need to lose myself in a book – book! 

Then I also read The Ice Man by Philip Carlo.  This is a terrifying book because it is a true story of a mafia hit man who has admitted to killing hundreds if not thousands of people over his lifetime.  When finally caught he lived out his life in the Trenton State prison – just miles from our home in PA.  Philip Carlo also wrote Night Stalker so you can get the drift of the explicit descriptions in the book.  The main character killed people for a living and his family ‘didn’t know’ and didn’t care as long as he didn’t go off on them.  I felt the book was so graphic that it desensitized the violence and reality of the frequent murders or assassinations. 

Here are two links if you want to become familiar with the book before you might pick it up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iceman_(film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kuklinski

I am going to post this now and will be back sometime soon to tell you what else I am reading.  Enjoy the summer skies!

Happy Reading,

Barbara

Their Eyes Were Watching God Part 2

Hello dear Readers,

As promised this is the follow-up to part 1.  These are some of the passages I marked and enjoyed while reading the book.  Hope you liked them also.

This is the beginning paragraph and what can give you a better view of life than this?

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.  For some they come in with the tide.  For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.  That is the life of men.

This paragraph in Zora’s infinite wisdom tells us we really have no control over the things that are not ours to control like the sun, moon, stars, and weather.  Yet, we as men want to believe we can be the sun-maker or weather maker. 

Folkses, de sun is goin’down.  De Sun-maker brings it up in de mornin’ and de Sun-maker sends it tuh bed at night.  Us poor weak humans can’t do nothin’ tuh hurry it up nor to slow it doen.  All we can do, if we want any light after de settin or befo’ de risin, is tuh make some light ourselves. 

Zora’s ability to paint pictures of the people’s lives is amazing and so poetic. I want this porch!  This from the first paragraph in Chapter 6:

When the people sat around on the porch and pssed around the pictures of their thoughts for the others to look at and see, it was nice.  The fact that the thought picures were always crayon enlargement of life made it even nicer to listen to. 

Chapter 16 discusses the fact that black people admire or want to be lighter skinned or ‘high yellow’ or something they are not and that somehow would change who they are or their opportunities.  I am always fascinated by this discussion since most of us would love to have something we don’t and isn’t it all about envy – not necessarily opportunity?  However, most black people don’t seem to assess it this way. 

 Now we come to the end of the book and I think there are two great philosophies shared on the last pages.  Love, life and living, what more can we ask for?

Love is lak de sea.  It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore. 

Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves.  They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin fuh theyselves.

Happy Reading ya’ll,

Barbara

PS:  What are you reading now?

Their Eyes Were Watching God #1

 

Their Eyes Were Watching God

By: Zora Neale Hurston

From Wikipedia:

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel and the best known work by African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston. The novel narrates main character Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vibrant, but voiceless, teenage girl into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny" (So to speak!) Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel was initially poorly received for its rejection of racial uplift literary prescriptions. Today, it has come to be regarded as a seminal work in both African-American literature and women's literature. Time included the novel in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923

More on WIKIPEDIA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Their_Eyes_Were_Watching_God#Politics

Hello Readers.

Hope you are all well and know that I didn’t fall off the face of the earth.  It’s been hard to focus myself on writing when spring has sprung and the weather turns me to the golf course.  This year I have begun ‘walking’ and let me tell you – its exercise!  Exhaustion follows me each day I walk and it makes my scores go up and up! 

Here is the new addition to our family.  Grandsons are so precious and wonderful.  Alexander and I had almost twelve days to play together before Silas decided to come into this world 31 hours before my trip back east.  Luckily he and his parents came home from the hospital so I could spend hours cuddling this loved bundle.

Well, I know ya'll didn’t turn in to hear me bragging about my grandkids so off we go to the book!

I enjoyed reading this book mostly because it gave me a different perspective about the settlement of central and southern Florida (where I have lived).  Many of the places mentioned in the book have become developments and suburbs filled with houses, cars, stores, and the like.  Trying to imagine it as a untamed place is interesting for me however many of the children I taught had no knowledge of anywhere but where they were as well as very little language skills. 

Do you find it difficult to read a book where the language is in dialect or uses lots of slang?  In Shakespeare he uses so many colloquialisms that many times it is difficult for me to understand and I found the same with this book so it took me quite a while to read.

The next blog post will contain some of my favorite passages from the book and my thoughts on them. 

Happy reading,

Barbara

PS:  I have decided not to name a book of the month, at least for the summer.  I will continue to tell you what I am reading and what I think of it.  Also I will list suggestions received from fellow readers and their reading lists. 

PPS:  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is what I am reading now. It is futuristic science fiction. 

The Corrections is over!

I am back again readers with the last installment of The Corrections. I am glad it’s done and hope you have found some redemption from reading and thinking about this book.  As I think back there is so much in the book that many if ….nah, I really didn’t like the book but maybe the characters do appear in real life all around me and I am like Enid, I ignore them!

11. Why does it take so long for the Lamberts to acknowledge the seriousness of Alfred's illness?  Because unless we are hypochondriacs, we all ignore those little things that are keeping us back from good health. Is Alfred's deteriorating mental health solely a result of Parkinson's disease? Yes, we are all experts on PD! 

This entire line of questions is so offensive to me in regards to PD.  Since my own father suffered greatly from this and my mother supported and cared for him so valiantly, I cannot entertain this line of questions.  No one knows until they walk in the shoes.

17. Why is Denise drawn to both Robin and Brian? How attractive are they as characters? How does Denise's attraction to Robin initially manifest itself? Why is she unable to make a life with Robin?  Because she is a selfish bitch! Mostly she can only be happy if she is controlling the people around her and their activities.  She manipulates both Robin and Brian to their own personal failures.  So passive-aggressive and distructive.

20. Why does Denise tell Chip not to pay back the money she has lent him? What does the use of the word "forgive" suggest in Denise's plea to her brother? Like I said, selfish bitch and therefore she will still have something to hold over him in the future.

22. Is Alfred's death the key to Enid's happiness? How does the quality of her life change once Al is hospitalized? What reaction do his children have to his death? Are we meant to believe that their father's death is the catalyst for their "corrections"? For how much of the unhappiness in the Lambert household was Al responsible?

I can’t even begin to understand this question – do you?

Summer will be upon us shortly so we will have to have some light and fluffy beach reading very soon! 

Happy Reading Everyone!

Barbara

PS:  Maybe these Oprah questions would have been more palatable if I was drinking a good bottle of wine - the whole bottle!

Correct me if I am wrong!

Hello Readers,

This begins the first of two groups of questions on The Corrections.  These have been written well beforehand while I am on a visit to Colorado.  I hope you enjoy my responses to these Oprah questions.  I have left them  numbered  so you can relate them to the original listing if you care to. 

Discussion Questions:

4. Why does Denise choose to lose her virginity to Don Armour? Which qualities of her co-worker simultaneously attract and repel her? Why does Al sacrifice his job for Denise's privacy?

What a wacky woman this Denise is and yet sometimes during the book she seems the most sane.  Why she decided to have sex with Armour is beyond me and yet she seemed to think it would get her something.  Why her father decided to sacrifice for her is balanced by the fact that he could have turned the tables on Armour for harassment.  Again, this is a weird fact exposed in the book that had all the world of consequences in its secrecy.

6. How does the issue of class play out during the course of the novel? In what different ways does class drive Enid's behavior on the cruise and propel Denise's decision to sleep with Don Armour? How does concern over class status affect Gary and Caroline or Brian and Robin?

They had none but wanted it and the more they chased it the more they lost.

  

8. Discuss the different moral codes members of the Lambert family adhere to. Consider Enid's fear of her children's "immorality," Gary's obsession with Caroline's dishonesty, Alfred's refusal to engage in insider trading, Denise's rage at Gary for having betrayed the sibling code of honor and Chip's animus against the W_ _ Corporation and big business in general. Which of these judgments seem most valid? Does the book favor one moral view over another? 

This entire family was chasing their entire lives – except maybe Alfred who refused to play the game.  Maybe that is why I found the book so frantic.  Run, run, run to catch what?  I don’t think the book actually favored any moral code – the redemption of Chip at the end isn’t necessarily long lasting when you have seen his character throughout the book.  Alfred is dead and Enid gets to continue chasing something more that she feels she should be entitled to.   

9. Consider the atmosphere of suburban St. Jude (named for the patron saint of hopeless causes) in comparison to the more sophisticated surroundings of Philadelphia and New York. Why has the Lamberts' neighborhood evolved into a gerontocratic refuge? "What Gary hated most about the Midwest was how unpampered and unprivileged he felt in it" [p. 178]. What negative and positive qualities are attributed to the Midwest? How are the characters shaped by the cities or towns they live in?

Honestly, aren’t people just people no matter where they live and what ‘surroundings’ they live in?  These Oprah questions seem to me to constantly direct you to dislike someone else who has something different that you do.  Hat the corporation, hate the Midwest, hate the city, hate that restaurant, hate, hate, hate, --- it gets really disheartening!

  

10. What is the significance of "one last Christmas?" Is Enid's obsession with the holidays predictable for a mother of her generation or is it, as Gary fears, "a symptom of a larger malaise" [p. 148]?

Don’t we all desire to have family close to us for the sake of our spouse?  Enid knew that Alfred was failing, this would be the last gathering of his offspring – all together.  Why wouldn’t a wife want to give him a memory to hold onto?

  

I hope you all are enjoying Their Eyes Were Watching God, the Book of the Month for May.

Happy Reading,

Barbara

The Corrections by Franzen

Hello Dear Readers,

I will be (or am) in Colorado from April 27-May 11 so I am writing this review/questions a few weeks early and they will post via scheduling on the blog. 

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen…. What did you think?  This is the first book I have read by Franzen and although I enjoyed the book I am not sure if I’ll read another.  The Corrections was full of the typical situations that keep a reader reading.  Love, hate, anxiety, drama, mental and physical illness, separation, intrigue, assumptions, passive aggressive behavior and dominance were all present in this book along with every other psychiatric condition you could name. All of them were in my opinion, extreme.   T he pace of the book was frantic.  It was filled with chaos.  Of course all of this is my opinion.  

I don’t know if I have ever read a book where the pace of the words just pulled you along at a reading pace so quickly.  The characters were bounced around from the present to the past to a different character rapidly.  I almost gave up halfway through the book and know that if it wasn’t for our readers out there I wouldn’t have completed this book.  I am glad I did finish because the end was worth completing. 

In September 2001 this book was an Oprah Book Club Book.  The following are a sampling of questions that were presented from that discussion.  I am not going to complete them all but have selected a few that will appear over the next weeks.  Please enjoy the entirety at your leisure:

http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/The-Corrections-by-Jonathan-Franzen/3

Happy Reading,

Barbara

May Flowers, May Book, New Grandchild!

Hello dear readers,

As most of you know we are expecting our second grandchild at the beginning of May and I am in Colorado as the Grammy for Alexander while his mom is in the hospital.

I have selected another older book for this month:
There Eyes Were Watching God by Zaora Neale Hurston
According to Amazon:  One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Out of print for almost thirty years—due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist—Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature.

This book was suggested by my sister-in-law so I am hoping she'll be re-reading along and give her comments.  

Enjoy dear readers,
Barbara

Bastard Out of Carolina - the Afterword

Dear Readers,

Let me start off by saying I really enjoyed this book.  It is enlightening and useful to me to read about family life in different parts of the globe as well in the next town.  Things often don't seem so big a deal if kept in perspective.  When I am complaining or something doesn't go right my youngest son says: 'Wow Mom, that's a first world problem!'  Kind of puts reality into perspective.  I think that is why its good to read books about other ways of life, cultures, and situations that are foreign to me.  I am not a history buff, in fact that was one course I had to repeat in college however reading novels about historical time fascinate me.  

The abuse in this book is horrific.  It can compare to Angela's Ashes, Little Bee, Henrietta Lacks or many others we have read.  Think about the keeping of the child in The Light Between the Oceans and how horrible losing your child would be only to find out she wasn't dead but 'adopted' by someone else.  While my heart wrenches at abuse I can only be disheartened at the mother's ignorance of it and how she allowed it to go on.  As a momma bear I cannot imagine letting someone beat me child.  Do you think that is a maturity issue?  Anney was too young to have developed a mother's instinct? I am getting on a soapbox for a bit here.  Take the case of 12 year old Brooke Bennet (Braintree, VT) who was sexually abused and murdered by her convicted of sexual child abuse uncle.  Brook's mother allowed her to go with the uncle.  What?  How can this be?  He murdered Brooke in 2008 and has yet to stand trial.  What?  How can this be?  Why isn't the mother out there fighting for justice for her daughter?  How can this be? The mother was charged with nothing!  How can this be? (http://www.wcax.com/Global/category.asp?C=142153      I hate that this happens in books and in real life

Step down from soapbox! ;)

Here is my big irritation of this book:  According to Wikipedia, 

An afterword is a literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of literature. ^[1] It generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or of how the idea for the book was developed.

Alternatively, it may be written by someone other than the author of the book to provide enriching comment, such as discussing the work's historical or cultural context (especially if the work is being reissued many years after its original publication).

Most of Allison's afterword is a description of her life in relation to the book.  I can understand that.  As the author you want people to understand your perspective a bit of the history that brought you there.  Great, that suffices that the author has first hand experience on the books events from her personal life.  But then she gets preachy and tells us how to think about the book and events about society.  'I want the society in which I live to be clear about the reality of our families; to know all the ways in which we avoid the issues of violence, abuse, and societal contempt; and to see survivors as more than victims   If we know more about what it means to survive abuse, we will be better able to help those still caught in the whole shameful secret world of physical and sexual violence'. Well, if you didn't say it in the book (which I think she did very well) why do you have to say it afterward?  Dorothy, we heard you in the book!  I would hazard a guess that if 'society' tried to do something about the abuse suffered by Bone, she and her mother would have denied all and continued in their desperate situation. my cheers go out to the uncles who gave Daddy Glen only half of what he deserved.  

Ouch - harsh!

Happy Reading Ya'll,

Barbara

Anger was like a steady drip of poison ....

Hello again dear Readers,

Back to our discussion of Bastard out of Carolina.

'Anger was like a steady drip of poison .... into my soul teaching me to hate.'  This comes from Chapter 18 when Bone was glaring at the neighbors - it really didn't matter what color they were, it was someone new to be angry at and to hate.  Aunt Raylene seemed to be a Godsend to Bone to help her keep perspective and guide her into a direction of positivity.  Walk a mile in their shoes before you are glaring at people is what she seemed to say.

In the last chapter the wish of every human:  'We had all wanted the simplest thing, to love and be loved and be safe together'.  Then  the desertion.  Who could possibly live a normal life after experiencing this desertion.  Why do we read books like this?  Is it to make us feel more 'normal'?  Is it to make us feel accepting of our own shortcomings?

I have one additional comment about this book but it will wait until next week.

If you would like to read more about the author you can check out this article on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Allison

Happy Reading,
Barbara

Sticks and Stones will break my bones ......

Hello Everyone,

During the beginning of this book my mind kept swaying to the childhood rhyme.  According to Wikipedia:

"Sticks and Stones" is an English language children's rhyme. It persuades the child victim of name-calling to ignore the taunt, to refrain from physical retaliation, and to remain calm and good-natured. It is reported^[1] to have appeared in The Christian Recorder of March 1862, a publication of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, where it is presented as an "old adage" in this form:

Sticks and stones will break my bones
But words will never harm me.

The phrase also appeared in 1872, where it is presented as advice in Tappy's Chicks: and Other Links Between Nature and Human Nature, by Mrs. George Cupples.^[2] The version used in that work runs:

Sticks and stones may break my bones
But names will never hurt me.

This sentiment is reflected in/reflects the common law of civil assault, which holds that mere name-calling does not give rise to a cause of action, while putting someone in fear of physical violence does.

Now we can all relate to the news today with people calling each other names and carrying on in public like our mother's would say: like a bunch of hoodlums.  However Anney just couldn't get over the designation for her daughter as 'bastard' and strove to clear it off her birth certificate.  Do you have any designations that 'bother' you?  I was always put off by the term 'housewife'.  It bothered me.  I guess there are worse things to be called but even up to today our tax return has the designation 'Family Manager' instead. Somehow words can be harmful to our sense of worth if you let them.  

Uncle Earl was a savior to Bone in my estimation.  He was a philosopher who supported his family but couldn't get his own life together.  Here is a quote: It's the way of things. one day you're all family together, fighting and hugging from one moment to the next and then it's all gone.  You're off making your own family, scared of what's coming next and Lord, things have a way of running faster and faster all the time.

I loved it when Bone got 'religion'!  She wanted to sing like Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, etc.  'More than anything in the world I decided I wanted to be one of the little girls in white fringed vests with silver and gold embroidered crosses -  the ones who sang on the revival circuit.  .......There had to be a way to stretch my voice, to sing the way I dreamed I could."  That girl was 'Making a joyful Noise!'  That is so me and I'll be so many of you!  Deep in our hearts we are the best singers in the world but... alas, we are usually off key and couldn't really sing for our suppers.

Here's one more societal question for you:  When Bone decided to 'take the hook and chain to bed, etc.' I was a little confused but then I thought about all those young people today who wear chains and chain accessories and wonder if it is for emotional safety and control when they don't feel like they have any?  Personally I would find it difficult to sleep with metal like that.

How did you like this book?  I'll be back in a week or so with some additional comments.

Happy Reading,

Barbara

April Showers bring May Flowers!

Hello and Happy April Fool's Day Readers!

Of course when I post this I have no idea when it actually gets posted so it may be a day or two late but so far, April Fool's Day is going fine for me.

The new Book of the Month will be:
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.  I saw this book on Debbie's book shelf and had been wanting to read it.  I will tell you that the first 100 pages are all over the board and very descriptive.  I am reading in 'hard copy' so I must read fast to give dear husband a chance to read it before I leave for Colorado at the end of the month.

Be back soon with some discussion on Bastard!

Happy Reading,
Barbara

I see the Light

Hello Readers.

The Light Between the Oceans  by M.L. Stedman

From Wikipedia:

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.

Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, safe entries to harbors, and can also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and replacement by modern electronic navigational systems.

Aiding Navigation:  Isabel gave Tom something solid to hold on to after his experience in the war.  She helped him navigate the world as it was after the horrors he lived through.  Tom gave Isabel a future to get away from a town without young men to court her.  

Dangerous Coastlines:  As in every relationship there are dangers, hills and valleys, Isabel and Tom certainly had obstacles to overcome just living in solitary.  Many times I think that living a hermit life would be wonderful and then I know I would greatly miss the companionship of others.  Can you relate to the desperation of wanting a child so much that in the same situation you would 'adopt' Lucy-Grace?  

Ending Quotes:

'He's lived the life he's lived.  He's loved the woman he's loved.  No one ever has or ever will travel quite the same path on this earth and that's all right by him'

'He knows that the man who makes the journey has been shaped by every day and every person along the way.  Scars are just another kind of memory.' 

Happy Reading,

Barbara

Hello Readers,

Before I go on to discuss The Light Between the Oceans I just have a few more comments about Gone Girl.  

I loved the book!  It had me on the edge the entire time I was reading it and I immediately felt compassion for the characters who I grew to hate.  Funny thing about  good character development - I fall  in love or hate very quickly with characters in books.  For example years ago I read House of Sea and Fog and immediately hated every character in that book but still couldn't abandon it,  I still remember the characters even though I hated the book - but much of it was about understanding the culture of a Iranian living in America.  The Reliable Wife was also one of those book where the characters were so strong and unforgettable but not lovable. It was so difficult to relate to the desperation of the characters living in that time in American history and culture.

Gillian Flynn has an incredibly complex writing style that intrigues me and I look forward to reading other of her books, Sharp Objects    and    Dark Places.

FYI:  When preparing to write on this blog I have a tendency to remember more about the books than I usually do.  Here is the question of the day:  Do you think the old boyfriend had it planned all along that he would capture Amy and keep her prisoner?  I do!  Here is a news article about a killer from Alaska who came to Vermont just to kill.           http://www.wcax.com/story/20314819/alaska-serial-killer-researched-mass-murderers
Psychopathology is just that - uncontrollable anti social behaviors that make the rest of society cringe.  It is interesting to read books like that occasionally but I can't make a steady diet of it.

My friend Debbie thought the book ended too quickly.  I don't know how much longer I could have held my breath to see what was going to happen.  It would be a great movie but then again, Hollywood would probably butcher my visions of the scenes.  

Back to the FYI for a second - why don't you try and write a few sentences about each BOM and then post it on the blog.  I promise, you will remember more about the books we read and you will be able to recommend them to other readers.

Happy Reading!
Barbara

Hello Dear Readers,
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison is the Book of the Month for March 2013

I hope we all enjoy it and have some interesting things to say about this book around April 1.

Happy Reading!

Barbara

Marriage can be a real killer!

Marriage can be a real killer! 

That was the heading in the Amazon book review section.  I agree.  What did you think of Gone Girl?  Personally I couldn't put it down and my dear husband read it in three days.  I think Flynn did a great job of pulling you into the characters and their predicaments. 

Amy:  the perfect (sic) child, teen, young adult, wife --- thank God she wasn’t a mother!  Definitely a character best played by Sharon Stone or Renee Russo. 

Nick:  I picture a baseball player type – maybe like Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams or Bull Durham

Go – Margo the twin sister.  Do any of you watch Dexter on Showtime?  I couldn’t get the character who plays Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) out of my mind for Go.  She would be the best character actress for this role. 

So the big question for this week is  - who would you want to see playing the top three characters in the Gone Girl Movie – if there was one? 

Happy reading,

Barbara

PS - be back soon with some additional discussion of this addictive book.

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY +2

As my dear departed father-in-law would say, I am up to my ass in alligators!  Been really busy but I am going to briefly announce the February book and be on my way to pick up Alexander on the slopes!

This book was suggested most recently by Maria.  It sounds great so everyone enjoy, get reading and don't forget about Gone Girl, we'll discuss it soon!

Happy Reading,
Barbara

Send me easy suggestions

Hello dear readers,

January is way past half over and I hope you are enjoying Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I am looking for an ‘easy’ read for February.  Here is my reason:  Back in December I entered to win 12 Fat Quarters through a Quilts of Valor Blog and guess what – I won!  But that meant I needed to commit to working on a specific mystery quilt for Quilts of Valor and that is taking up lots of my time.  Also at the end of the month we are heading to Utah then CO to ski – so you see, time is constrained and I need suggestions for a quick and easy book to read.  Post your response here of email me!! 

Thank you and happy reading,

Barbara

Recap of December 2012 BOM

Hey Readers,

Some of you read the Christmas books and others were too busy in December driving to Colorado!  I will just give you my blathering on the books.

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Believe it or not, this is the first time I read or have seen the movie.  I love the theme about the bells and have always enjoyed It’s a Wonderful Life (the movie with Jimmy Stewart) for that same reason.  Ringing of bells is very important to the Christmas Spirit.  The illustrations in the book seem very gloomy to me.  Chris Van Allsburg is an American author and illustrator of children's books. He won the Caldecott Medal, for Jumanji and The Polar Express.  I never read Jumanji but I enjoyed the movie with Robin Williams.  It didn’t seem as gloomy to me.  What do you think?

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson 

I thought this book was a hoot.  I could just imagine the church where we were long time member and the people being up in arms about the pageant going awry.  The Herdman children really livened up the show and helped the meaning of the story hit home.  Of course I am remembering one adorable little child getting hot up there on the stage and proceeding to take off his costume then his shirt, then…. Well, just use your imagination on that one!

I hope you are enjoying Gone Girl and I look forward to hearing from all of you when the month is over.  Debbie, I know, has already read it and gave me her hard copy so she is a step ahead of us. 

Happy Reading,

Barbara

January 2013 BOM

HAPPY 2013 DEAR  READERS,

I hope this finds you all happy and healthy and recovered from the holiday season.  It was a fun time for us, especially when we returned to Stowe for our 18 inch snowstorm on Wednesday into Thursday.  Since then it has been a daily view of living inside a snow globe.  Unfortunately the temperatures turned extremely cold last Thursday (-19) but we enjoy the weather all the same. 

January will bring us a Book of the Month that so many people have recommended to me.   Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn will be the selection.

In the meantime, I will tell you I am reading The Passage by Justin Cronin and I can hardly put it down.  Now, I have already told Maria that she wouldn’t like this book because it is apocalyptic and full of violence and other creatures.  It is reminiscent of Steven King’s The Stand except the cataclysm was man made. 

All through December, along with the BOM’s, I struggled to read In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen.   I am not proud that I only made it halfway through the book and decided that I would leave it alone for a while.  It will remain on my nightstand for the time being. 

Happy Reading,

Barbara