Tag: book-reviews

book-review, books, reading

New place for books, new format

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As I have started the quest to increase my reading, it has been heartening to see there are so many ways in which I can access books. My first instincts are old fashion – the good old corner bookstore and the public library. Nothing in this world is better that these. The smell, the possibility, the comfort that can be found there. Local is best, as the personality of the area comes through. As our world has become more digital, however, the opportunities to access books has been altered. Even from the public libraries, I am downloading ebooks and digital audiobooks for free. I borrow spoken CDs, playaways, and I use Hoopladigital. Then I discovered that the mother of all companies had opportunities for me to borrow books too. As an Amazon Prime member, I have begun to make this feature one more of my methods of access to books.

As I scanned my way through what was available, I found a short story by Alice Hoffman. This was the first of an “Amazon collection” called Inheritance. Made up of five books by five authors, the collection explores different ways in which family history is hidden from others, but the consequences are never what is expected. Each story explores different times and relationships, laying bear feelings you never expect, regardless of your own experience.

Alice Hoffman’s Everything My Mother Taught Me tells the story of an unfaithful wife whose daughter stops speaking when her father dies; Julie Orringer’s Can Your Feel This? tells the fear of childbirth; Anthony Marra’s The Lion’s Den tells of a son’s realization of why it is important to share your beliefs with those you love while you can; Jennifer Haigh’s The Zenith Man tells of a man’s devotion and loyalty; and Alexander Chee’s The Weddings tells of what it means to make a family for yourself by being true to yourself.

Each of these capsules struck me differently, with the strongest being Julie Orringer’s. With each description of fear, pre-mature birth, terror of not knowing what to do with a new born and the of what you are now responsible for my own experiences were brought back to me vividly. To know that I am not alone in experiencing these fears, even 17 years after going through them, gives me comfort.

Within this and the other stories, even if you do not have a direct link to the world that is created, these stories are written to provide you with a new way to look at the way your family, both by birth and by choice, impact the person you are and how you react. I recommend these short stories unreservedly.

Each of these are noted as part of the collection, but is also part of a standalone story. In order to experience the total, you need to download all five.  In a unique way to structure the access to short story collections, this provides you, the reader with the suggested structure (each book is numbered in the series), but you can download for yourself discreetly.  In traditional books like this, the stories are collected and delivered together. To me, this makes the reading experience more a deliberate choice to experience the collection, an interesting way to change not only the delivery of the books but the structure too.

book-review, Family Drama, read around the world, romance

Lucinda Riley’s The Sun Sister

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Some times life can overwhelm you, and you just want to escape. That is the best time to pick up a good book and dive on in. Last week I took the opportunity to do that with the sixth book in Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series, The Sun Sister.

As a reminder, this series is centered around a family of adopted daughters – six in total, that are named for the Seven Sisters constellation. Each is brought to their adoptive father’s home in Geneva but none ask for information on where they have come from. After Pa mysteriously dies and the body is whisked away, there remains some questions about what has happened. Coordinates are left for where they were born, as well as a quote to start them on their quest. The sister’s stories are all explored in each book. In this book, Electra is the focus. The sixth sister, she is a famous model, who is drowning herself in vodka and sleeping pills. After a breakup with Mitch, a rock star that she thought was “the one,” Electra has been using alcohol and pills to face each day, quieting the voices in her head. She had run away from her boarding schools, and was expelled from others. She had moved to Paris at 16 and was discovered at the café she was working as a waitress at. From that time, she had been on the road constantly. One evening Mitch told her she he was going to announce his engagement to another woman, and all Electra’s belongings that had been at his house were returned via moving van. It is in these boxes that the final letter from Pa and the coordinates are found. Electra finds out she has a grandmother. Electra downed at least one bottle of vodka and an unknown number of sleeping pills, and her assistant found her and helps her survive what could have been a fatal mistake. After this, Electra agrees to enter a rehab center recommended by her sister.

As the story progresses, we learn a story from her Grandmother, Stella. Cecily, a woman in 1930s New York society, is abandoned by her fiancé, and suffers the humiliation of being overlooked as the former future husband introduces a new woman as his new fiancé weeks after the breakup. In order to remove herself from the snubs that were happening daily, she chooses to travel to Kenya with her godmother, Kiki. Upon the insistence of her mother, Cecily goes via England, to stay with her mother’s best friend. While there she is romanced by the heir to the earldom, who disappears before she leaves. When Cecily and Kiki finally arrive in Kenya, Cecily is overwhelmed by how beautiful the country is. As she meets people and makes friends, and ends up marrying Bill. As their story progresses, you see glimpses of “Out of Africa” on the love and beauty of Kenya, misunderstanding and forgiveness.

As both stories are unravelled, the stark reality of race relations is examined. It is revealed that Electra is black, and that has kept her felling different and outside always. These themes were more serious than the other sister’s, so I was much more wrapped up in the story here, both for Cecily and for Electra.

I started the series last year, not realizing that I was going to catch up and overtake the author in the books being finished. This one was published in October – and now I probably have to wait two years to finish this series. It will be hard but I have no choice.

books, read around the world, reading

Year End Review

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As this year draws to an end, I reflect back on what I have read and what I have experienced. This year was a difficult one in terms of meeting my goals. With the significant shift in the workload at the office, I spent much more time listening to books in the car as my commute doubled. My once happily reading slant to old fashion books was, for the first time ever, over 60% listened to! This, in light of the fact I have only been listening to books for about three years, I was blown away.

Over this year, I have been working on my at home travel log, as well as the Goodread’s Horizons, where a different part of the world was chosen for each month. As I previously reported, I have now completed my tour of the United States, and I am over half my way through the 100 countries I have identified. As I was stretching myself geographically, I also expanded my reading horizons to include more memoirs (11), and essays (5). My two favorite memoirs this year included An Odyssey: a father and son by Daniel Mendelson and We should all be feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. These were thought provoking and brought me to action, even if in different ways.

As I mentioned earlier, this year has been a difficult one. I selected some titles that I would not usually in order to expand my horizons. The President’s Garden by Muhsin Al-Ramli, Chronicle of a last summer: a novel of Egypt by Yasmine El Rashidi, and In the time of butterflies by Julia Alvarez were all fiction based upon the realities of political horrors in Iraq, Egypt and the Dominican Republic. Each show the consequences of being honest in a society that is not open. Powerful in their own ways, each are a testament to those that survived the brutality and confusion.

Other authors take the horrors and stand them on their head. Examples of these include A woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua, Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago, and Death is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa. In each, death is what starts everything. As assumptions on what should be and who should care, the absurdities of a corpse being arresting in Syria, or detained in Russia, can not be minimized. But when it is Death sending engraved letters that she is coming soon, that takes a whole new level. These were even more poignant to me as I face aging parents, and friends who are experiencing deaths that are way too early to have to face.

I have learned about the history of Mormons, the tranquility of Hawaii’s royal family, the breadth and depth of the Ojibwe, the brains of Hedy Lamar and the lengths men go to deny beautiful women, and that a fictional rock band can feel all too real. In the end, I feel that I have learned much more about people of my world, and hope that I can extend empathy towards others. I fear there is too little of this currently. I hope to bring more tolerance to others through what I have learned from these books.

Happy reading in 2020.

books, read around the world, reading

At Home Travel Log of US Update

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As the year draws to a close, I have focused these last few months to completing my 50 states of reading. With New Mexico and Hawaii bring up the rear, I should be able to finish the last state by year end. Going through the list, now, I am amazed at the breadth of what is available for reading just here in my own country.

From pure fiction in Alaska (Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union) to fiction based on political beliefs (The Cider House Rules by John Irving) in 1950’s Maine, I have traversed the settings of the country. Interestingly, the memoirs and non-fiction I have read (a total of 10), these are mostly focused from the West Coast to the Mid-west of the country. The time frame of the books covers the late 1800s (Hawai’i, Wyoming, and Texas) through times of trouble (Cold Mountain, East of Eden, Snow Falling on Cedars, To Kill a Mockingbird) and faced the changing reality of our world (The Help, Eleanor & Park).

While the era, settings and circumstances were location specific, each of these stories, both fiction and non-fiction, had a similar thread. Each brought us closer to understanding the humanity that we have. These books open our eyes to ourselves, and to others. The Bell Jar shows the need to care for your mental welAs the year draws to a close, I have focused these last few months to completing my 50 states of reading. With New Mexico and Hawaii bring up the rear, I should be able to finish the last state by year end. Going through the list, now, I am amazed at the breadth of what is available for reading just here in my own country.

From pure fiction in Alaska (Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union) to fiction based on political beliefs (The Cider House Rules by John Irving) in 1950’s Maine, I have traversed the settings of the country. Interestingly, the memoirs and non-fiction I have read (a total of 10), these are mostly focused from the West Coast to the Mid-west of the country. The time frame of the books covers the late 1800s (Hawai’i, Wyoming, and Texas) through times of trouble (Cold Mountain, East of Eden, Snow Falling on Cedars, To Kill a Mockingbird) and faced the changing reality of our world (The Help, Eleanor & Park).

While the era, settings and circumstances were location specific, each of these stories, both fiction and non-fiction, had a similar thread. Each brought us closer to understanding the humanity that we have. These books open our eyes to ourselves, and to others. The Bell Jar shows the need to care for your mental well being, as does The Virgin Suicides. The Lovely Bones shows how to watch out for yourself, as does The Color Purple. Throughout all, it is our job to take the lessons from each book, learn from it and extract wisdom to help us be better people. These books are a part of the author’s humanity, and we need to be open to having it touch ours. Thus the reason I love to experience different worlds, cultures and times through books.

book-review, Family Drama, Indigenous American, literature

There, There a story of a place that doesn’t exist anymore

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Years ago I had been a participant in a program on diversity. During this program we were asked to create a spectrum of I am no sure what. I do, however remember that the facilitator stated that the Natives and the Jews should be together since we were both parts of tribes. At the time, I remember it was intriguing, but I didn’t explore it much.

As I listen to There There I am struck by the sad similarities and differences between our tribes. The book is made up of twelve separate stories that are tangentially collected. Early on we meet Jackie Red Feather and her sister Opal Victoria Viola Bear Shield. Their mother, recently battered by one of the girl’s father’s, takes the girls to join other Natives taking over Alcatraz. This reminds me of the Jews that fled Jerusalem after the first and second temples were destroyed. They fled to a fortress also to keep their way of life alive. Ultimately both fail to gain their demands, but they came together to build a community, which at the core of each is the most important part.

Other stories are added, where Natives are spoken down to, not heard, not given opportunities. They are herded together, but they don’t believe it can be that bad, people are not that evil. Both the Jews and the Natives were wrong in that belief, as they both face massacres in scale and scope that truly underline how evil exists in the world.

One character, Dene, earns a grant to capture the stories of Natives – who they are, what it means to be Native, and how they came to be there. This is also something that the Jews have done since the end of World War 2, bearing witness and sharing.

One way that is not similar is the susceptibility of Natives to addiction. Tobacco, alcohol, and drugs are devastating to these people. The number of children born addicted is disproportionately high versus the US population. One section shares the speech of a suicide prevention specialist that was especially compelling. It is that just telling them to stop doing it does not address the real problem. That was hopelessness. If there was hope, there would not be as many choosing to check out.

All roads lead to the Big Pow Wow in Oakland. This is a trial for the Indian Center – if it goes well, they will do more. Its an opportunity to dance, to learn from the big drums, to be with your people, and to try for big prize money. It is also where the White parts of the Natives, illustrated by the White 3d printed guns, does random destruction and irreparable damage to those in attendance.

As all tragedies do, it tears some apart, while bringing others together. Either way, none are the same. They are all just trying to survive and honor who they are and where they came from.