Tag: books

books, humor, reading

My Christmas morning

k4books

Twas the morning of Christmas, and all through the house

Not at creature was stirring, I hope there’s no mouse

I woke with a start, I started to panic

Did I do this or that, or did I just jam it?

So I crept down the stairs, quite as can be

To do more puzzles, a quiz, but nothing before coffee

The puppy remains upstairs in her bed,

With visions of car keys dancing in my girl’s head

The boy is out cold, with a clicker in hand

As he tries to win best fortnighter in the land

We unplugged last night to play Monopoly

When hubby and I ended our spending spree

All is peaceful for now, with everyone out

So soon they will wake and begin to shout

Today is the day when nothing is open

You know that means they need something this moment

With a mug in one hand, and a wish in my heart

That I remembered my glasses so I could read the next part

So I move to the keyboard, enlarging the font,

Wondering what next they will want

I write down my saga, however so sad

That I cant read without glasses – and that makes me mad

I can’t go back up and wake up my hubby

Or the dog will start barking and then in a hurry

They all will be up, my peace will be gone

The chores will begin and I’ll be forlorn

For these hours I cherish – you’ll find me if you look

Curled up on the couch, reading a new favorite book.

Merry Holidays to all!

books, reading

Thankfulness, over San Luis Rey

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In the United States, this was a week to be Thankful.  With so much going on in the world today, it is good that we stop and look to see where we have come from.

This is the case when a Brother Juniper, a Franciscan monk, witnesses The Bridge of San Luis Rey collapse in 1714, killing 5 people but saving himself from crossing at that exact moment. Believing his escape was based upon Divine Intervention of God, Brother Juniper strives to capture the fullness of each person’s lives that were lost to prove that he was saved by God. In doing this, he examines the relationship and choices of these individuals, one at a time.  The first to be examined is Doña María, the Marquesa de Montemayor. An old woman, described as ugly, is estranged and distant from her daughter, Clara, in Spain. Letters were the only way these two women could communicate to each other, because of the distance in spirit and in proximity.  Doña Maria takes on a companion, Pepita, who is not happy with her new role. She writes to the Abbess, from the convent she was at when chosen as a companion, of how miserable she is. Dona Maria finds this, and realizes that Pepita is brave in a way she is not, and the letters to Clara become more polished, so much so that they are studied in schools centuries later.

Estaban and Manuel, twins at the same convent that Pepita was at, also had a close relationship with the Abbess. She helped raise them, teaching them to be scribes, which led Manuel to meet and fall in love with Camila Perichole. Manuel, however, is cut on his leg, and while Estaban is following directions to clean it hourly, the pain makes Manuel curse his brother. After he dies from the infection, when asked which he was, he answered Manuel. The guilt and loss make him do crazy things, such as trying to kill himself. While he was not successful, he was on his way to buy a present for the Abbess when the bridge collapsed.

Lastly, Uncle Pio and Jamie, the confidant and son respectively of Camila Perichole, come down from the place she has hidden herself away after being scared by smallpox. Uncle Pio had hoped to bring the boy back to the world and prepare him for a future away from his mother.

As Brother Juniper examines each, ultimately making a “scorecard” for the souls that were lost.  He comes to no conclusion, but faithfully put his account to paper. It is found to be heresy, and both the book and the Franciscan are burned.

After the funerals for those that had fallen, Camila Perichole seeks out the Abbess to see how she can live without Uncle Pio and Jamie. She becomes a helper for the Abbess as she begins to let go of her grand hopes for continuity. Clara also returns and works with the Abbess.  The novel ends with the Abbess’s observation: “There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”

So on this thanksgiving weekend, the only meaning that remains is Love.

books, reading

The true self in life and in books

k4books

I spent this last week traveling for work, and I have not been away from the family that long ever. Happily, I returned to a standing home, with three humans happy to see me, and one dog that couldn’t lick me enough. I didn’t even see the dirty dishes and laundry that was waiting for me…..all week.  It is nice to be loved.

When I travel for work, there is a great opportunity for me to get some good reading in with little interruption, especially on a plane or in the hotel at night. This trip, while a long one, did not provide me with as much reading time as I expected, but it did provide my colleagues with much merriment at my passion for books.

See, my work team is located around the globe, and we were mostly together this week in Toronto (thank you to those that held down the fort on the home front). As we gathered in the office, we were able to chat casually about different things more easily than on the technology we have. A few of us somehow got on the topic of getting kids started right. I related my story of how we made our kids read 100 books to earn a WII, and the conversation kept going from there. At some point, I even shared a view of the excel workbook I maintain to track my reading. We laughed and went back to our work.

That evening, we were all out at a team dinner, and sitting at a long table. The people at my end of the table included some executives that oversee the global team, new employees and internal partners. We were a diverse group. Somehow we started talking about books – I did not start this  – as my colleagues begin to tease me. Over the next hour or so they are informed that I created a dashboard of my reading history (only back to 2011) like I do for work, explain how I choose the books, where I get them, and what format I prefer and more. Aside from feeling like the largest geek there (and I will fondly state that this was not an easy title because the whole team gave me a run for my money), we had an amazing time together. The best part was getting more recommendations for expanding my reading.

With suggestions for mysteries (thank you Fifi), fantasy (thank you Allison), logic (thank you Karl) and more, my TBR list continues to expand. I am so thankful for the support of my colleagues and friends in sharing this journey with me. There are so many new things to read that I know I will never run out of suggestions, so keep them coming!

On the flight home I was able to finish the book I started on my flight there. When you were older by Catherine Ryan Hyde’s story of a man that missed being in his office at the World Trade Center on Sept 11 because he got a call that his mother died. Great book for the plane, right? The story begins in the days after, working its way back to that phone call, and then back to the aftermath. Russell’s older brother Ben needed to be looked after, as he was not able to do so himself. As the story unfolds, we are introduced to the post-traumatic stress of seeing your office collapse, watching someone jump from the towers, and knowing that only you and one other from your entire office are still alive.  Russell meets and falls in love with an Egyptian baker in his small mid-western town, and the cultures clash, while emotions run high for all. The Arabic bashing that occurs due to fear, as well as facing the reality of being responsible for his brother, brings back all kinds of stress for Russell. Ultimately, this is a story of how to come to terms with the reality of what you have gone through, and being true to yourself and your humanity. Well done, not overly morbid, but too swift and nicely packaged an ending for my taste.

Off to update my dashboard, and add to my TBR list!

dashboard

book-review, Indigenous American, literature, reading

Stormy weather, here and in books

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It was during this dark week that I finished the book Solar Storm by Linda Hogan. I have needed some time and space to process the horrifying and scary things that have occurred in the last week, as well as to process the complex story that Ms Hogan presents. As in life, this fiction has the roots of the hurt come from centuries of hate, mistrust and misunderstanding. As in fiction, hopefully life will follow; understanding, acceptance and change come next.

This is a multifaceted tale, focusing on generations of family and conflict, centered on the fictitious tribe, now known as The Fat Eaters, but truly known as The Beautiful People.  The tale begins as Angela Jensen, a 17 year old child in the foster care system, returns to stay with relatives she just discovered searching her social services file. It is here she comes to find herself, answers to the questions around the scars that mark her face, and to learn more of whom she comes from. While there she comes to know her family, her history, her gifts, and her strengths. She comes to accept herself, and her ability to adapt to the world that has changed around her, while remaining true to herself.

This book takes time to read and time to process. As the world changes slowly, the tale unfolds, one step backwards in time, then one forward. Just as the river runs on its own pace, so does the story. Similar in voice and pacing to Louise Erdrich, this seems to be a pace that is native to these tribes. Nothing is told outright, all is hinted at. You learn by listening with your heart, and seeing with new eyes.  And when the earth is to be harmed by the building of a dam, change was forced upon them. Outside intervention changes the course of the water, and impacts plants, animals and people in ways never expected.

The dam, while a fictional tale (as noted in the preface from the author) is a story that is based in truth.  In the early 1970s the Hydro-Quebec began development of a dam at James Bay on Cree and Inuit lands without permission. The hunting and fishing grounds that these tribes relied on were flooded, which resulted in mercury poisoning, entering the food chain and directly impacted these tribes.  The forced modernization that was described in the book also happened at this time. This arrogance of the company, and it’s devastating and irreversible impact on the ecosystems and the people who live on it, is shocking in its breadth and destructive power.

As the tribes band together to demand to be heard, we all need to listen. If we would only listen to the water and the earth, maybe we could all find similarities in what we learn instead of differences.  And maybe we can learn to live together in the harmony of the earth and water.

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books, reading

Finding Oneself in Paris

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eiffel tower during daytime
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When I am between books, typically as I wait for my next title to arrive at my library for me to read, I search the stacks for authors that are familiar to me.  That is how I stumbled upon The Little French Bistro by Nina George. Ms. George had captivated me in The Little Paris Bookshop, with the book seller matching books to help people solve life’s questions.  The Bistro, as the Bookshop, is full of older characters, wise in many ways, but foolish in others.  Marianne, a sixty year old German woman, tries to kill herself when on vacation with her husband of 41 years by jumping into the Seine after she wandered away from a tour with no one noticing. She is saved by street people and taken to a hospital. Here she sees a painting of the coast of Brittany and is compelled to go there. She begins her journey with nothing but what she had upon leaving the hospital. Along the way she is both helped by, and helps, nuns, chefs, fishermen, artists and more. As these people are drawn to her open and caring being, she is being introduced to herself in the same way.

She starts the journey with a wish for death, her life is dragging her so low. She has given up music, driving, work and more, one thing at a time, as she makes her way through her 41 years of marriage. She allows her world to be narrowed and defined by a husband that is absent in emotional and physical ways. She wishes she had children, but does not seem to have an explanation for not, other than saying her husband was unfaithful and didn’t give her pleasure.

As each day in Brittany begins, Marianne takes a walk to the water at the End of the World, what Brittany is known. It is from there that she finds pathways to new friends, like Pascal, where she is able to use her knowledge of having volunteered with seniors before.  As she meets each new person, and savors each new experience, she opens herself up to a bit more of who she wants to be. At her wedding, her father saw that the groom never asked her to dance, and asked if she was happy. This lost opportunity to express her desires and needs passed, and continued to pass, until she learned to start again in Brittany.

A lesson in knowing you have a responsibility to speak up for what you want, it also acknowledges how things can go wrong when you think you know the answers. As long as you are open with yourself, and those around you, happiness will be there for you.

books, reading

The Great American Read

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PBS has been sponsoring “the great American read” for months now. The fact that they are supporting reading in this manner is amazing. The number of celebrities that have joined this giant Public Service Announcement that reading is good makes me smile. Does RIF still exist? Reading IS fundamental!!!  And so, in the great American tradition, I had to see how I did against the list of books they determined as “Great.”

By the numbers:

First cut, I was proud to see I had read over 50% of them already – 53 to be exact.

From the total “I have not read yet” list, I have acknowledged to myself I will NEVER read 14 of them. Just because they are great does not mean I need to read them.  I have done my duty in school to reading those books that you “should” and I don’t need to do that anymore.  That leaves me with a total of 33 titles that I should consider adding on the “To Be Read” list (already at 104 titles before this exercise).

By the titles:

As I examine the list of books, I see many titles that I have loved, some I have hated, and some that make me shake my head. Starting with the last category – Fifty Shades of Grey?  A sub-genre of erotica, in the few passages I read, I found this to be poorly written, poorly edited, and not Great at all. If this is the bar to beat, then I don’t understand where people are. Just because it sold so many copies doesn’t mean it is a great read.  Flowers in the Attic, while completely captivating and enjoyable, wasn’t my idea of Great, also.  To place Pillars of the Earth in the same category of greatness with The Notebook seems incongruous to me.  While Nicholas Spark touched our souls with the gentle tale of love, the Follett book riveted me with the sheer scope and detail of not only the people, but also the architecture.  How many books have a sequel that took over ten years and created such excitement when it finally hit the shelves?

Then there are the books that I was told would be GREAT, but I didn’t agree. A Confederacy of Dunces I found incredibly annoying, and I truly didn’t care what happened to Oscar Wao in his brief life, wondrous or not.  I guess each person has their own taste.

What to vote for:

As I review the list of books left that I have read, I am torn.  How do I choose a favorite? These titles all touched me, helping me to become the person I am today.  So, in alphabetical order, so as not to influence your views on the titles, here are some of my impressions on the books I believe should get votes for the best book in America:

  • 1984 by George Orwell: the original dystopian novel for me.
  • A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving: knowing who you are and accepting your role in the world
  • Anne of Green Gables by L.M.Montgomery: Anne with an E still makes me want to go to Prince Edward Island to find my bosom friend
  • Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: A masterpiece of sarcasm and absurdity
  • Dune by Frank Herbert: My first science fiction EVER. The mark was set very high
  • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: Still remember the feeling of dust in my mouth as I read this. Ending haunts me still.
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: the struggle of them and us continues today
  • The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy: Spy novel extraordinaire.
  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan: Language transports you to China to live what moms do for their children and what the lessons they try to impart on their children are
  • The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: the middle ages came to life before my eyes
  • The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway: my introduction to the Code – be true to yourself always. And while he is known as a chauvinist, Lady Brett was the first heroine I remember that lived this code openly too.

Feel free to share your Great American Title here – if it made the list of 100 or not.

books, reading

End of Summer/Starting Anew

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The days of summer are coming to an end. I live in a town that does not start school until after Labor Day, unlike so many other towns around us. That does mean we go later in June, and I am truly ok with this. Some traditions seem good to me, like only wear white anytime between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That one just seems practical – reflect the sun, less sloppy weather to get on the clothes, etc….

But I digress.  As the summer comes to an end, a new school year is upon us. New Year ideas and plans are fresh on my mind. My plans for this school year are all about setting up the study spaces differently, planning lunches ahead of time, updating the calendar of family activities in the hallway, and monitor screen time more aggressively.  No, I will not keep track of my success criteria on these.

As I reflect back on this year, I see my son growing taller than me (not necessarily a HUGE feat, but a milestone in itself). I see my daughter looking ahead, starting to plan for her own future, including driving lessons. I see my old friends continuing down the path of life, and know they were the right choice because after all these years, when we are together it is as if nothing has changed. And I see my dad, struggling with his physical decline, always with a smile and his motto – “I am doing the best I can with the tools I have left.” I see all this wonderful growth and community, and I want to keep going. That is a reason I started this journey with you.

And to continue this journey, I have decided to track the places I read. I set my aim to read from over 100 different cultures, with no timeline, at the outset. I searched the web for “around the world books”, and found a few interesting sites (taleaway and bookriot among them). I mapped my titles to countries and counted. From the list of 100 countries, I have read from 50 of them.  Shocking! Was this a goal I had without knowing it?

So what about the good old US of A? Have I read enough of my own country? Back to the web to collect information on the states I have read.  I have read books that are set in 37 of the 50 states and DC.  Amazement!!

These are all the more striking, since I have travelled physically to 9 countries and 26 states.  Thank goodness for books taking me travelling!

And so begins my “At Home Travel Log” to fill in the blanks for my New Year.  I will be doing this within my regular reading, so it will not be my only focus for book selection. I am stating this for no other reason than my TBR list is already in excess of 100 titles, and I continue my attempt to borrow most books I read from the public libraries.  Take a look at the lists, and let me know if you have any suggestions for the places I need to travel.

book-review, books, Family Drama, literature, reading

Eleanor Oliphant has been here

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A typical crisis for me is there are too many book to choose from. After picking book group titles last week, I had to read another title I proposed that others had already read.  Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman, was a joy.

At times reminiscent of The Rosie Project or A Man Called Ove, this fish out of water story had a bit of a dark twist.  While stumbling into real life, Eleanor is forced to face her past instead of drowning it in vodka. She begins to plan for a life with a man she has never met. As she executes this plan, she begins “self improvement” with a new haircut, new clothes, and new makeup. Outside of this plan, however, are interactions with people in ways she is unfamiliar with. Raymond, the tech support at her office, and Sammy, the person they helped when in distress on the street, provide her with more support than she knew she needed.

In fact, when she first met Raymond he found a virus on her computer and was able to clean it so it would be more effective. Same could be said of how he helped Eleanor. There were people to help around her always, she just needed to have some programs tweaked to have her work effectively with them. Another metaphor in the story is how she sets to cleaning her apartment. It transforms from a sad, uncared for space into a bright space looking for interesting things to add to the walls. She was a sad, uncared for person (she thought), but when she cared enough to buy herself things more than “useful” she is no longer just her scars, but a beautiful woman.

And while the dark part of the story was not hard to guess at due to the clues, the fact that she had so successfully fallen through the cracks of the system that was to help her was a sad comment on those the legal system that is meant to protect children.

books, reading

eReader or Books – what to pack for vacation

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The beautiful thing about an eReader is you can take a large number of books with you, but not have the extra weight.  They do not, however, feel the same.  While I prefer to read them myself, I have been using my library’s audiobooks to help me through my commutes daily (17 miles should really not take an hour or more, but sadly it does). That being said, when you are packing up for a week at the beach, and you are only one of 4 in the car, you don’t want to bring too many books.  So I downloaded my Goodreads Decathalon book on my phone, popped my library book and my kindle in my bag, and we were off to the races.  Since I am unable to ride the bike or kayak due to my knee, I was set for poolside.

First day, I finished the Thirty Nine Steps, and was a bit disappointed – I was hoping for more excitement and chases, but I forgot when it was written – but it was a pleasant read.   Next day, I read my library book.  And then to my horror – we maxed out the devices allowed for free.  I didn’t have enough books downloaded on the kindle yet!!!!  I read Life after Coffee, a book I was cautious about, not being able to be picky as it was the only book downloaded I had not read yet.  The book was actually perfect for me!  While it is about coffee, the main character is a woman that is the bean buyer for a small boutique coffee venture, it is more about the need to have balance in life.  Amy is the breadwinner of her family, with her husband staying home with her two kids.  As the story begins, you see them struggling to accept that she needs to go away again for weeks.  When she is abruptly out of a job, she begins the struggle of becoming a stay at home mom, all the animosity that comes from mom’s that judge her for needing to work away from the house, and her own guilt on not being a good parent.  All moms – those that are working full time at home, full time at an office, or part time at each, have struggled with the guilt and anger of being judged.  Coming to terms with this, and all the choices that she has made to get her to this place, leads her to make decisions that I didn’t see coming, but was very glad it happened.  Instead of the pat hallmark movie ending, this one had a twist that didn’t allow for the woman to give everything up to get what she wanted.

And then I went for coffee.  Starbuck’s wifi helped me out.  I downloaded everything I could from my amazon account, and set to make the decision about what to read next.  In order to not get into a bind, I figured that I should read a book that is known to be longer, so I didn’t end up chewing through everything too fast so I would have nothing else to read.  Thus, I downloaded The Name Of the Rose and Nobel House.  I had started reading the first one, but didn’t get past 6 % when I realized, I just didn’t care.  It was the second time I had tried it, but I was not going to torture myself if it wasn’t catching me.  On to Nobel House.  This book, first published in 1981, is a tome on Business and Hong Kong history.  Well written, I don’t know if it was because I was reading this non-stop as my only distraction, but I found I was getting bored with the huge number of details provided about the people, their ancestors, the political history, and the relationships.  There were a few key players, Ian, Gront, Line, Casey, Brian and Armstrong, but after I skipped about half 3 days in, I don’t feel I missed anything in the story.  It was a good diversion, but I feel like I was ready to move on to a new book after that last day.  And so I did.

Today, I started The Muralist.  Looks interesting – learning about the art world of WPA, like in Mary Coin, and a mystery on how the aunt disappears.  I will let you know what I learn.  Unfortunately, my reading time will be less next week.  My boss is expecting me back at work.  I really will need a lot of coffee to get there!

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book-review, books, literature, mystery, reading

What a Klutz!!

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This has been a week unlike any other. Let’s just say when you are in the ER thinking you broke your knee and get a call that your father is in the hospital with a broken knee, things seem a bit weird in the world.

I am comforted to know that my life is not stranger than fiction. Especially since I fell soon after I finished a dark and disturbing book, Behind Closed Doors. I don’t even have it a fraction of what Grace has going in this book. While not necessarily to best writing ever, it keeps coming back to me at different times as I sort through the emotions it evokes. In the same vein as Gone Girl and Girl on a Train, the story examines the evil that exists in world, just behind the curtains. If I say anymore, I am afraid I will give the whole thing away.

As a counterpoint to this, being the person who has spent way too much time in ERs waiting for xrays, I took a book with me. First one I grabbed, thank goodness, was a light read that I was able to put down and pick up often without getting too lost. The Forever Summer fit that bill perfectly. While slightly far flung, this is a Hallmark movie waiting to be made. And sometimes, you just need that.

I followed this up with The Most Beautiful Book in the World: Eight Novellas. Each story is beautifully written, and points to the most beautiful thing in the world – love in all its various forms. The best way to enjoy this is to read each story on its own, and savouir the emotions it invokes before moving to the next.

And now I feel restored in mind, if not body. While my knee is no longer the size of a watermelon, it is the color of eggplant. As I work through this, I will keep reminding myself of the lessons in the last 2 books I mentioned – there is good when you look for it.