This month's book group selection -

When the book group chose this last November - we are "dark" in December - I was sure it would be some fluffy romance that I would have to wade through.

I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. It's a pretty well-wrought mystery tale with historical overtones. I thought I had it "figured out" several times - and was off a bit each time. It's nice to be "off the mark" now and then so that you want to keep reading.

The story is really 3 stories going one in a parallel fashion - 1909-1913, 1975, and 2005. I wonder how the author keeps track of all those details??

Latest read

My book group selected this for November - I had not even heard of it.

It is historical fiction based on some facts uncovered by the author. She has researched some of the events portrayed too. It deals with slavery in the 1700's - and an Irish girl who joins them as an indentured servant.

The quality of the book is uneven, but the story is compelling. My biggest complaint was that there were some obvious threads that were introduced - and then just left hanging!!

Maybe we are just supposed to make up an ending for ourselves!!

But it's a pretty good read.

Latest Grisham Read

I really have no patience I guess!! I was in the market, and the newest Grisham was there for my reading pleasure. So I bought it - figured it would be good for the plane ride to D.C. this month.

Trouble is, I went ahead and started - and finished it!! Not the best - but not the worst either. It was entertaining and diverting - just what I needed!!

A good read

In the midst of all that has been going on, I did have a good book I was engrossed in. I usually fell asleep when I finally found a moment to read however!! Finally finished it.

It's about one of the first Native Americans to matriculate at Harvard. It's fiction, but based on a lot of historical fact. I like the way the author used archaic dialogue to add to the authenticity.

Give it a look see and let me know what you think.

My book group is reading The Kitchen House by Katherine Grissom for next month. Anybody read it??

Finished it -

While I was at Eliza's, I ran out of things to read. I found this on her shelf and started reading it. I asked her about it - and she told me that I had given it to her one year for Christmas!! I need to start writing down the gifts I give people - because I truly had no memory of the event or the title!

It's an odd kind of book - some very quirky characters, lots of agricultural references that have no familiar ring to them - but the story line emerges. You feel an affinity for the characters - and I wished I could know more about them.

Maybe she writes about them in her other stuff.

In the Garden of Beasts

The time is 1933. The place is Berlin, Germany. The new government in power is being crafted by Adolf Hitler.

Into this setting, Franklin D. Roosevelt sends William Dodd, a University of Chicago history professor who loves spending time on his farm in Round Hill, Virginia. According to the author, Ambassador Dodd "proved to be exactly what Roosevelt had wanted, a lone beacon of American freedom and hope in a land of gathering darkness."

The story of his first year there - he ended up being there for 4 1/2 years - is the basis for this work of non-fiction by the author of Devil in the White City. Harry heard an interview with the author on NPR and thought I'd like it, so he ordered it for me.

It's a good read - and quite compelling. I recall asking my mother once how Hitler managed to come to power so easily and for so long. She told me that no one could quite believe that what they were hearing was true. So they chose not to believe it. This book probes some of the attitudes and individuals that allowed these ideas to flourish long enough for Hitler to gain absolute power.

Erik Larson is a good story teller. His works are non-fiction, but they read like a novel. I have read lots of books about World War II and the Holocaust, and it is certainly enlightening to read about the conditions and events that preceded those horrific times in history.

(The title of the book refers to the term they used to refer to the zoo there in Berlin - and maybe all zoos - my German is non-existent. The irony is apparent - the zoo near the Ambassador's home is full of beasts - as is the government Mr. Dodd is there to deal with.)

Third time's a charm!

Just finished this series. There are some "holes" and some hasty transitions that don't work entirely, but overall it was a satisfying end to the series.

I hope my students will respond to them when I introduce it next school year. It is thoughtful fiction - and fairly well-written. Really makes you think about a lot of things, like being prepared for what life throws at you and the importance of human relationships.

My book group is reading the series for their summer read and we will discuss it in September.

Want to join us??

2 down, one to go!

Just finished the 2nd book in the trilogy that started with Life As We Knew It.

Sometimes sequels and trilogies are not as good when you get to the second and third books, but this one delivers. Now I'm anxious to get to Number 3!

This is a story about the same moon event from the first book - only it's about what happens in New York. It's "doomsday" for sure, but since it's a young adult novel, it's not graphically horrific.

A good, quick read - put it on your list for summer!

I need to stop reading and start getting things done!!

I bought this in the bookstore at the airport because I was afraid I'd finish the book I brought with me - and I did finish it, so I was glad to have a book on hand.

I tend to like Chinese-themed novels - and this was no exception. However, the quality of the writing was uneven. The story is quite compelling, but as often happens in many novels I read, it seemed like the author went along telling a good story - and then felt the need to hurry up and finish it - and got a little sloppy.

This is about a young woman and her mother who come to New York from Hong Kong - seems like the 70's or 80's - and they live under terrible conditions and work in a sweat shop. The daughter decides that getting a good education is the only way out - so she excels academically. But there's a sad love story there too - with a kind of O'Henry twist at the end.

I think I need to stop starting books and get through the end of the school year before I start up again!!

Another good read - with more to come!

Marcie suggested this to me - a student in one of her classes was reading it and recommended it, so she gave it a look see - and liked what she saw. It is young adult science fiction, and it has won some prizes. It was a good read - there were some weak spots in the plot, but by and large, you were drawn into the story - it was tough to put down.

The basic premise is that the moon has been hit by a large asteroid that bumps it slightly off its axis - and so the gravitational pull is all out of whack - tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes - and young Miranda and her broken family need to figure out how to survive in a world gone crazy.

And there are 2 sequels - apparently it was written as a trilogy.

I think a nice trilogy is just right - not too many, like a series that goes bad after the 3rd or 4th book. But just enough to keep you going for awhile.

It worked for me!!

Louder Than Words

I bought this book a couple of years ago at the book fair. I had no idea that the author was a former Playboy centerfold!! I had no idea who she was at all in fact!

I also had no idea that the book itself was something of a rant against vaccinations and other suspected agents!

But her style is loose and easy to read. Sometimes it's funny - if you can believe that.

And after she finally got the therapies and programs she wanted for her son - she was incredibly diligent in applying them at home too - which is a lesson all parents could benefit from.

The diets, and rants are less absorbing.

I thought it would help me understand some of the students I have with autism. I suspect it could help me understand their parents though!

And she contacted the LDS Church - and had two elders come and give her son a blessing. And they taught her once too and she took a Book of Mormon. They came often to her house - that part was funny to read - she kept telling them it wasn't a good time to teach her - finally she said yes and took a lesson.

Only one lesson though!

Like I said, it was a different book.

She dedicates the book to lots of doctors, teachers, therapists "and the Mormons!"

An odd sort of story . . .

I go to Curves about 4 times a week. They have shelves for your bags and purses. And many people put magazines and books on these shelves for others to borrow and then return. I can never pass a pile of books without going through them, and I came across The Accidental Tourist in late January. I enjoyed reading it - when I returned it, I was hoping there would be something that might catch my eye.

Alas, there was nothing but pulp fiction, tawdry romance, lackluster mystery novels, and some questionable aging best sellers of no particular note!!

Until the other day when I saw this one - and the book jacket said it had started out as a short story in the New Yorker. The New Yorker does indeed have some good fiction - sometimes. Mostly it's odd or strange. Sometimes it's right "on the money" though. I don't recall reading this one, but the book itself, though odd and strange, had some redeeming qualities.

I had never heard of it before - and the author's sister is Aimee Bender - the reviews mentioned that fact as if it was a fact of some note - and I'd never heard of either Karen or Aimee Bender!! So maybe you've all heard of it/her/them and I'm just a "day late and a dollar short" once more.

I would not go out and buy it - but I would check it out at the library. It's about a woman with a mentally retarded daughter - growing up in the early 50's in LA - the families are Jewish. In the course of one actual day, the stories of three generations are told. It was pretty insightful in its portrayal of mental handicaps and how society used to deal with them. And it is also an insightful portrayal of love and family dynamics.

You could put it on your list - but maybe not at the top!

Don't "neglect" this one!

After reading and enjoying Still Alice, I was anxious to read her next book. (There was a teaser chapter at the end of Alice.)

This was a compelling read. Well-written, and very informative about a neurological condition with which I was not familiar. But the story that was the framework was what made the book worth reading - the question of how much sacrifice is too much sacrifice for a life-style that may not really be desirable.

The story gives new meaning to the phrase, "stop and smell the roses."

This needs to be on your "must read" list!!

Latest good reads

With our internet down, and Harry not home for most of the weekend, I did lots of reading!! And it was lots of fun - ate popcorn too!!

I'd had this on my shelf for over a year - it was a good, fast, compelling read. I like the Shannon Hale books - they sell well, so there must be an audience out there. This one had a "vampire" touch that I'm sure made it especially popular. It's a nice twist on an old fairy tale.

This is very funny!! Definitely chic-lit, but pretty well written. Maybe you have to be from the San Gabriel Valley to appreciate it - but I wish I'd had this on the plane when we were going through turbulence - it would have distracted me for sure!!

I'm in the middle of Left Neglected - same author as Still Alice. So far it's a good read - well-constructed too.

A day late and a dollar short -

Funny story: I bought this book two or three years ago. Never read it. Tossed it when I did a book purge a year ago - not really a toss, gave them to the library.

Then coming home from Boston, I needed a book to read - we had delays, etc. and I had run out of reading material - and this was the only thing in the airport bookstore that wasn't trashy or a romance. So I bought it again.

It was a good read - got "dark" at times and was substantially "gritty" but it did have a good plot line. I liked the way they had a story frame with the present day. Apparently that's not as major in the movie as it was in the book. One friend thought the movie was better.

I know everyone else has already read it and is talking about the movie.

I need to get more circumspect about buying/tossing books!

Still Alice

We were in Boston, and I had completed the book I had brought - it had become pretty compelling, so I was unable to leave it for the flight home!! We were downtown at the Expo, which is connected to the Prudential Center, which is connected to the mall. And there was not a children's play place - except in Barnes and Noble - so we headed over there.

Well, being stuck in a book store is not such a bad thing. I browsed the stacks of "new fiction," "new paperbacks," "staff recommendations" but couldn't anything that struck my fancy.

I saw this title. Eliza said a friend of hers had read it and thought it good. I read the back cover and it sounded like something I would like to read. It's a story about a brilliant Harvard professor who comes to discover that she has early-onset Alzheimer's.

It was a very compelling read. (I use that word a lot - but I can't find another word that describes a book you just keep reading - instead of doing other things you ought to be doing!!) I am impressed at the number of authors in the various fields of science and medicine who come up with interesting plot lines and take the time to write books. This author is a neuro-scientist, so the book really rings true.

But it's also a very human story, and it is well-written. The pacing is effective - you find yourself getting sadder and sadder as the story progresses. I will not spoil it with the plot development, but the author has very effectively drawn the reader into the lives of Alice and her family.

Give it a read - and let me know what you think!! (The reviews I read online were basically in agreement with me - so they must be right!!)

The latest Maisie Dobbs

I was looking for something to read in Barnes and Noble while Harry was at the Expo on Saturday. Eliza informed me that there was a new Maisie Dobbs book - and so I got it.

Just finished it. It was vintage Maisie Dobbs - a few surprises though!!

Give it a read!!

Latest read

We are here in Boston - and I'm using Harry's computer - which I don't use extremely well - I don't do well with laptops - I need a mouse and a regular keyboard. So no illustration this time.

But I just finished The Postmistress by Sarah Blake. I chose it rather randomly - it was on the shelves at the recent bookfair at Clifton - they always have a shelf of books for parents to buy - and I knew I needed a book for the upcoming plane rides I was scheduled for.

But random works - this time anyway. It started slowly, and I was a trifle confused at first. But once the story took off, it was pretty compelling.

There are problems with the story line, but the writing is excellent. There is an underlying theme about the power of words, which is the theme that spoke most clearly to me.

The time frame is the very beginning of World War II. The author has made some changes to dates and actual events to fit her story line. But it all works.

A good airplane book - even a good read at home book. If you've read it, let me know what you think.

A great read

The title for this book comes from the Hippocratic oath which admonishes the physician against "cutting for stone," and refers to the practice of cutting out bladder stones. Apparently these developed from the drinking water. They were fairly easy to remove also. However, the surgeons, who were often just barbers, were not hygienic in the practice. Many died the next day from severe infection. Hence the oath warned against a medical practice that was unsafe, and possibly unnecessary.

One of the reviewers I read explained the significance of the title, and then criticized the author for not fully developing the idea of unnecessary surgery. Although the story is not about unnecessary surgery, it is about unnecessary loss - that ultimately appears to be redeeming.

It's also a fascinating geo-political history treatise that alone would make for compelling reading. The story of conjoined twin boys born to a nun and a surgeon - you're thinking it's something you want to read aren't you??

The author is a physician - and a fine writer also. I have noticed that frequently doctors who become writers seem to do well with the skill of writing. Perhaps the attention to detail that is the hallmark of good medicine spills over onto the pages of the story.

Let me know what you think.

Sargent's Daughters by Erica Hirschler

My book group chose this book - called the "biography of a painting" by many reviewers and critics. It's a "true" story - one with many details missing. Sometimes all the "artistic" details become tedious - unless you are an art scholar - but mostly they are interesting.

And the story of the lives of the young girls in the painting, their parents, John Sargent, Henry James and others whetted my appetite for more - so now I'm reading a biography of Edith Wharton!!

It has long resided in the Museum of Art in Boston - drat, we are not going this year - but it's on my list for 2011!