Looking Forward to Reading

Handmade Home ~ Amanda Blake Soule

Filled with thirty-three projects made by reusing and repurposing materials, all of the items here offer a practical use in the home. From picnic blankets made out of repurposed bed sheets to curtains made out of vintage handkerchiefs, these projects express the sense of making something new out of something old as a way to live a more financially pared-down and simple life; lessen our impact on the earth; connect to the past and preserve a more traditional way of life; and place value on the work of the hands. Also included are projects that children can help with, allowing them to make their own special contribution to the family home.

This one actually just came in for me. Of course this is just as aspirational as inspirational for me.

A Glass of Water ~ Jimmy Santiago Baca

Award-winning memoirist, poet, and activist, Jimmy Santiago Baca has established himself as an inspiring and important spokesperson for the Chicano experience, continually giving voice to the voiceless. His first novel, A Glass of Water is a gripping tale of family, loyalty, ambition, and revenge that takes us inside the tragedies unfurling along our country’s borders. Having made the nearly deadly journey across the border from Mexico, Casimiro and Nopal spend their days in the chili fields, building a life for their young sons. But when Nopal is brutally murdered, the boys are left to navigate this capricious new world without her. The elder son, Lorenzo, follows his father’s footsteps, devoting himself to the land, and falling in love with a strong-minded young woman who’s come to their migrant camp to study the lives of its workers. But Vito, hot-blooded and restless, breaks away to find fame as an itinerant boxer, gaining notoriety inside the ring and out. Eventually, the brothers’ journeys converge, bringing them face to face with a common enemy. A Glass of Water is a searing, heartfelt tribute to brotherhood, and an arresting portrait of the twisted paths people take to claim their piece of the American dream.

Really looking forward to this one. I remember when we saw him read his poem “El Gato” at the Dodge Poetry Festival. It was probably the only time that I’ve been at a poetry reading where the audience jumped up and cheered when the poet was finished reading. It was that good. I’m sure I had tears in my eyes.

Oh Brothers – Daughter of the Forest & The Evolution of Calpernia Tate

This is an odd pairing, it’s true, but both books are coming of age stories with strong female characters who are surrounded by lots of brothers. Plus look at the covers. Sorcha and Calpurnia are almost in the same pose.

Daughter of the Forest ~ Juliet Marillier

Sorcha is the last of seven children and the only daughter. Because her mother dies following Sorcha’s birth, she and her brothers are left to raise themselves.  Their father, Lord Colum of Sevenwaters is often away defending his realm from the Britons. Sorcha has a special bond with her brothers, particularly Finbar, with whom she can share thoughts. Finbar has his own sense of justice and when he rescues a spy from the torture of their father’s men, he calls on Sorcha, a noted healer, to help nurse him back to health and sanity. Simon is hidden by the local hermit, Father Brien. Sorcha makes steady progress earning  Simon’s trust and helping him heal. But before she can finish, she is called back to her Father’s house for his imminent marriage. Sorcha and her brothers distrust their future step-mother and rightly so. No sooner is she married to Lord Colum than she turns the brothers into swans. Sorcha barely escapes and begins her quest to save her them. She must weave six shirts out of starwort, a plant that cuts her fingers when she works with it, and she must not speak or tell her story to anyone.

First off I must say, that I love Juliet Marillier’s writing. I read Cybele’s Secret last year and it was wonderful, too. She has a gift for creating a world and weaving a story and her characters always stand out. Good or evil they are all strong. It seems that it might be hard to like six brothers even though they have been turned into swans, but somehow she manages it. I got lost in the mystical, shifting forest of Sevenwaters and I didn’t want to come out. Marillier really puts her characters through a lot and my heart broke several times. But, I still wanted more.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate ~Jacqueline Kelly

Okay, fast forward a few hundred years and shift continents to a very hot, summer in Texas at the end of the 19th century, replace the fantasy with science and we can start talking about Jacqueline Kelly’s delightful children’s book. Calpurnia Tate is the middle child of seven and the only girl. All of her brother’s are named after Texas heroes: Henry, Lamar, Sam Houston, Travis, Sul Ross and Jim Bowie. Calpurnia or Callie Vee, as she’s known, lives on a pecan plantation and prefers to spend her time alone floating in the river, until a scientific question forces her to seek out her elusive grandfather. Granddaddy spends his days in an outbuilding conducting scientific experiements and trying to turn the pecans into some kind of passable liquor. When Grandaddy finds out that Callie Vee has been unsuccessfully trying to get her hands on a copy of The Origin of Species, he brings her into his library and gives her his own copy. Callie Vee spends the rest of her summer tramping around the river collecting specimens and conducting experiments with Granddaddy. Until her mother decides that Callie Vee needs to improve her domestic arts.

Yet another book that I read because I loved the cover. This was a charming story. It is wonderful to watch the world unfold through Callie Vee’s eyes. She is equally smart and naive and this combination is often quite humorous.  Even though she is reading and learning about things that are probably a little advanced for age, she still has a little bit of the child left in her, which is quite endearing. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Callie Vee is talking to her friend about getting married. When she tells her friend that she’ll have to kiss her husband, the friend is completely shocked as if the thought had never even occured to her. Yet again, it is possible to enjoy six secondary characters. The brother’s are always causing some ruckus, yet they each have their unique personalities. And, Granddaddy is a wonderful mentor for Callie Vee. Kelly does a great job of capturing the time period. It is so much fun to watch the introduction of new technologies such as a “wind machine,” telephone and automobile. The tone of the book takes on a more serious note toward the end as she comes up against the limitations of being a young woman of her time, but the ending is sweet and magical.

Main Street

It’s true that I do a lot of my shopping online these days, but I still prefer to buy things from local stores. Not the mall mind, I can hardly breathe when I get in one and I feel like I’ve walked through the Sahara Desert when I get home. I love to shop at my local bookstores even though they have major faults. One is cramped and towering with books. It is impossible to find anything, so I usually save that one for special orders or specific books because they have an amazing discount. The other is a nice-looking shop, but customer service is somewhat lacking and isn’t that the point of a small shop? I pre-ordered a book from them and it didn’t come until a week and half after the book came out. I gave up and bought it at Target before they called me. Last weekend we went to Maine. Whenever we’re in the area, I love to stop at the Maine Coast Book Shop & Cafe. They seem to have everything just right.I want to buy books there just because I love there shop. No discount, no problem. It’s worth it.

This is not book related, but on the same street, there is a truly lovely jewely store called Stars. I never noticed it before,  but I brought my watch in to be sized. The owner was wonderful and was very interested in my watch because it’s solar. (Me too, that’s why I bought it.) Wonderfully helpful the best kind of customer service. If I lived there, I would probably be buying more jewelry than I would normally. The store itself is gorgeous. It’s one of those places where you walk in and feel like you are surrounded by beauty. If you’re ever in the area, do stop by. My local jeweler is okay, but I never get the same feeling when I walk into that shop.

Serendipity ~ Milton, Dante & Oscar Wilde

Last week at work, I was filling some of our displays at the library and as usual I got a little sidetracked looking at the books. You’d think I’d be jaded by now, but no. I can’t remember what book I was looking at, but I remembered that Meljean Brook wrote the first in her Guardian series, while taking a graduate class in Milton. I had been thinking that I needed to read it, because I haven’t and this time last year, I was reading Moby Dick so why am I being such a slouch?  I wondered off in the direction of Milton, to see if we had decent copy of Paradise Lost. I should have known that we did, because I ordered it. Ooops. It is a really nice copy with an introduction by Phillip Pullman. His Dark Materials comes from somewhere in Milton and I loved those books, so reason #2 to read it. Reason #3 – I heard an interesting piece by the author of Beowulf on the Beach and he was singing the praises of Paradise Lost even though he thought Milton was not really a nice person. The only problem was that I passed the copies of Dante’s Inferno on the way to Milton and somehow thought I couldn’t possibly read Paradise Lost without reading Dante, too. Well, um, it made sense at the time.

Then, I was feeling bad for this book called Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde. I thought this book sounded fascinating, but it had been sitting on my display for weeks, so I took it home. I don’t know that much about Wilde, so maybe this is common knowledge, but while Wilde was in prison, the entire contents of his home were sold at auction. It was heartbreaking to read the introduction to the book especially the sale of his library which was quite extensive. Here’s part of the description of the sale:

Extremely personal items were auctioned off, such as first editions of Wilde’s works that he had inscribed to his wife and two sons. Wilde especially lamented the loss of his sumptuous editions de luxe, and the ‘collection of presentation volumes’ he had received from ‘almost every poet of my time’. He also deeply regretted the dispersal of the ‘beautifully bound editions of’ his father’s and mother’s works’, and the ‘wonderful array’ of ‘book prizes’ that had been awarded to him as a student.

They even sold his manuscripts. It all seems like a booklovers worst nightmare.

The Art of Racing in the Rain ~ Garth Stein

I have to admit that I was avoiding this book. I saw it coming across the desk at the library with some frequency, but you know, it’s a dog book. They always get me. As a rule, I don’t cry when I read books. Movies, TV shows, commericials, yes. But not books. First book that made me cry – Where the Red Fern Grows. Marley and Me had me full on sobbing. You get the picture. If someone hadn’t actually sent this book to me, I would have kindly ignored it. I’m so glad I didn’t. I just loved Enzo. I love the name Enzo. I love how it reminds me of the character in the movie The Big Blue. I love the battle in his head between being a dog and wanting to be a human. I love his philosophy about pretty much everything, but especially about how dogs are smarter than monkeys.Here’s his:

“Case-in-Point #2: The Werewolf”

The full moon rises. The fog clings to the lowest branches of the spruce trees. The man steps out of the darkest corner of the forest and finds himself transformed into…

A monkey?

I think not.

That was page 20 and that pretty much clinched it for me. I was sticking with Enzo from there on out.

Here’s a review of the book that I did for work:

Try to imagine what it would be like if you were surrounded by people you loved, but were unable to speak to them. Imagine you could help them if only you had thumbs or could tell them what you know. Welcome to Enzo’s world. Enzo is a dog who wants desperately  to be a man. He has seen a documentary on TV about how dogs in Mongolia come back as humans after they die, if they are ready.  Enzo is ready. But first he needs to tell the story of his owner, Denny Swift, a talented race-car driver who never seems to get a break. Just as his career is beginning to take off, Denny suffers a great loss that is only the beginning of his troubles. Denny sacrifices his career and puts all of his energy and resources into keeping his family together. Enzo watches Denny with all the steadfastness of a good dog. He knows not to underestimate Denny’s strength and will. Enzo never gives up on Denny. Enzo is a philosopher. He applies Denny’s zen-like rules of car-racing to life and in moments of sheer desperation does whatever it takes to help Denny without words or thumbs.

There is definitely a risk in writing a book through a dogs point of view, but Garth Stein pulls it off without a hitch. He has a wonderful sense of the emotions and behaviors of both dogs and people.  Enzo is a character that grabs you from the get-go. His desire, loyalty and quirky sense of humor are infectious. Denny’s ordeal is gut-wrenching but his redemption is bittersweet and well worth the wait. Stein has a gift for writing. I have never been interested in car-racing and I was afraid that would be a distraction for me, but the philosophy and almost poetic descriptions of car-racing actually drew me into the story. There were moments when I would just stop and let it all sink in. In case you were wondering, this is a dog book after all, I did cry (and I never cry when reading books) but it was a good cry.  Go Enzo!

I was really taken aback by the race-car philosopy. I want to pull out some of the phrases and just post them at my desk as little mantras. I’m still working on the one that goes, “The car goes where the eyes go.” This was a revelation for me. When I was a kid, I was terrible at riding my bike. Why. Because whenever a car would drive by me, I’d look at it and even though I wanted to keep going straight, I felt compelled to swerve into the car. Now I know why.

Great characters, great story, great writing. I’m so glad I read this book. (Thanks Sean!)

Jeaniene Frost ~ Halfway to the Grave

This post is long overdue, as I read this book at the end of spring. I figured now was as good a time as any to review it, because Destined for an Early Grave comes out next week. I recently pre-ordered  it at my local bookstore and I’m starting to feel a little giddy. Halfway to the Grave was my first urban fantasy/paranormal romance. I read it (and the rest of the books in the series) as part of the Once Upon A Time Challenge and also in preparation for a fantasy genre study that we are doing at work. The genre study is part of a grant that I’m working on. While a co-worker and I were going over a list of potential benchmarks, for Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance, she said she might cry if people read Halfway to the Grave and hated it and that she liked it so much that the front cover of her copy was falling off . I thought that’s a ringing endorsement if there ever was one. I’d never read any urban fantasy or paranormal romance, but I was intrigued. To me the Jeaniene Frost books had been the ones with the pretty woman on the cover always wearing spiky heels. True I am a former book snob, and I did try to sneak Halfway to the Grave off the shelf without anyone seeing. I didn’t tell my co-worker that I was reading it because I was afraid that I wouldn’t like it. No worries there. I loved it. And, it was pretty much the straw that broke my book snob camel’s back. I blushingly confessed to my co-worker that I read and loved the book. It was quite fun to see her shock when I told her. I have to say, that reading has all of a sudden become more fun. But wasn’t there supposed to be a review in here somewhere?

Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father—the one responsible for ruining her mother’s life. Then she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.

In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She’s amazed she doesn’t end up as his dinner—are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn’t have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.

Jeaniene Frost has created two fantastic characters in Cat and Bones. Cat is wonderful, because she’s very strong and passionate. You could almost say that her one big fault is that she is so dead-set on what is right and wrong that she can’t see any shades of gray. Yet Bones, who is physically much stronger and powerful than Cat, is the one who tempers her big emotions. After I finished this book, I realized that probably for the first time I can remember, I had a total book-crush.  Bones does several things that I would never stand for coming from a human, but some how he pulls it off. For example, I hate it when men call women kitten. But when Bones chooses that as a nickname for Cat, it is both funny and endearing. It may have started out as an insult, but it becomes something special between the two of them. No one else in their right mind would dare call Cat that. Frost’s secondary characters are equally quirky and likable. Combine that with a storyline that is fast-paced and action-packed. I couldn’t put this book down. As with any good series, you’ll want to have the second book, One Foot in the Grave, handy when you finish the first. I assure you, you will need to read it as soon as your done.

Oh and you might want to check out the booktrailer for Destined at Jeaniene’s site:

http://www.jeanienefrost.com/

This one is pretty good until the fight scene. For some reason, that’s not how I pictured vampires fighting. I don’t like how they portrayed Cat, I think that the woman on the covers of the books is a much better fit, both in looks and dress. Still it is fun to watch. Can’t wait until Tuesday!

A Look Inside ~ Two Graphic Novels

I’m beginning to think that my favorite graphic novel is always the one I’ve just finished. Stitches by David Small and The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert and Didier Lefevre are two exceptional examples of the graphic novel memoir. They are both very different but the graphics in each really highlight the extreme events in each story.

Award winning children’s book illustrator, David Small, tells the story of his gut-wrenchingly difficult childhood. With few words, much of the story is told  through his artwork.  Small’s father was a radiologist who works many hours at the hospital while his mother is often cold and angry. A friend of the family finds a lump on young David’s throat. He is scheduled to have surgery for a benign cyst. After a second operation, he wakes up barely able to speak because the surgeons had removed one of his vocal chords. His parent’s never told him it was cancer. It turns out the Small’s didn’t expect David to make it, but when he pulls through life continues on as if nothing happened. This book was incredibly sad, but I felt I could take heart in the fact that Mr. Small has become such a success. That in itself is very life affirming. I just have to say that the end of the book sent chills up my spine both good and bad. I’m hoping for a second installment.

The Photographer is the story of Didier Lefevre’s 1986 journey with Doctors Without Borders in war-torn Afghanistan. The story is told by Emmanuel Guibert, with drawings by Frederic Lamercier. It is a fascinating story. You really get a feel for what an MSF mission entails. The preparation, the traveling are as much a part of the story as the mission itself. What makes this a standout graphic novel, is the incorporation of Lefevre’s photographs within the story. It is wonderful to see the drawings and then all of a sudden a photo of the same person or event. Other times there will be several photos of the same image so you get to see Lefevre’s process. The photos are powerful whether they are of landscapes, ordinary Afghans or step by step shots of surgery. It took me a long time to read this book, because I kept stopping to take a closer look. I would love to see more of Lefevre’s photographs and I’m sad that he passed away at such a young age.

Jamie Ford

Everytime I visit Jamie Ford’s blog I find myself laughing. Here is part of a post about how a research library wants him to donate his notes and early drafts to their archives:

The only problem is that my handwriting is so poor it looks like I did my note taking in the dark in a zero-G environment with my left hand while on speed. I’ve been told that someone would transcribe them. God bless ‘em.

He also has an interesting post about David Carradine.

Fire ~ Kristin Cashore

East of the seven kingdoms, The Dells are inhabited by monsters that resemble common animals except they are extraordinarily colored and beautiful. They also control human minds. It is this ability that causes most people to fear Fire, the last human monster living in the Dells.

And that is all I’m going to say plot-wise, because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. My poor co-worker had most of the plot described to her at a workshop (shudder) and I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who likes to have the complete experience.

I re-read Graceling before starting Fire, because I  have a bad memory when it comes to details. I loved it even more the second time and I was feeling a little bit grumpy about Fire being a prequel. I wanted more Katsa and Po. But once I started reading, I forgot to be upset. Kristin Cashore sure can tell a great story. As with Graceling, the characters are wonderful and even more developed.  The bad characters were bad to the core and one of them just gave me the chills. He is on my top ten list of evil characters. (Hmm who are the others?) Fire is a deliciously complex character. People expect her to be bad, but she is actually a very compassionate monster prone to fits of daring that make her best friend Archer a tad bit overprotective. And then there’s Prince Brigan. Sigh. He’s the kind of character you fall for right away, but he just keeps getting better. It’s the little things that he does that make him so endearing.

Honestly, I had some preconceived notions about the book. I thought the monsters were going to be silly. I couldn’t stop thinking about the guy in one of my graduate seminar’s who was going to write a paper about monstahs! But, Cashore  turned the idea of monsters upside down and they fit into her world seamlessly. Fire was one of those books that I wanted to devour and savour at the same time. Darn the powers that make that not possible. At one point, I just stopped reading, smiled and shrugged my shoulders because I was so happy to be reading something that good. I felt like the book was written just for me. Ok, me and a whole lot of other people. I hope you’re one, too.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane ~ Katherine Howe

There has been a lot of prepub buzz about this book. First of all, it has a beautiful cover and that gets me every time. Second, it’s about the Salem Witch Trials, a topic that has been ingrained into my brain as probably one of the first history topics I ever learned about, but this wasn’t the same old thing. She really took the book in a direction I didn’t expect. Of course, I wish there was a little more of the steeplejack. That was probably one of the best introductions of a character into a story. It was like the opposite of a deus ex machina. Did I really say that? Anyway, here’s a review that I did for work:

Harvard PhD student, Connie Goodwin, plans to spend her summer researching her doctoral thesis, but when a telephone call from her free-spirited mother sends her to Marblehead, MA to get her grandmother’s house ready to sell, her plans get a little side-tracked. Not only is the project more time consuming than she thought, Connie also finds herself caught up in a historical mystery. While she is cleaning the house, a key falls out of a family bible. Inserted in the key is a slip of paper bearing the name Deliverance Dane.  Dating the paper to the 17th century, Connie begins to research the life of this unknown woman. Her discoveries push Connie outside her orderly way of thinking and combined with an eery change in her Harvard advisor they make her summer plans more eventful than she had planned.

Katherine Howe is a descendant of two women who were accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials and her book provides a refreshing look at that time period.  I enjoyed how the chapters alternated between the present day and the 17th century.  Connie was a genuinely likable character even though I did want to jostle her a few times when she didn’t get things that seemed obvious to the reader – she is from Harvard after all. Her cynicism regarding the modern day witches in Salem resonated with me and at the same time it made her eventual transformation more compelling. A certain steeplejack was a great foil for her seriousness.

Reading about local haunts is always fun and I think Howe does a good job of capturing Salem and Marblehead. The history of the Salem Witch Trials is so much a part of our surrounding landscape that I often forget the details. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane makes me want to refresh my memory.