So Many Books, So Little Time

I once had a sweatshirt with that printed on it. I belonged to a book club in Casper, WY and we all got the shirts together and tried to remember to wear them to our meetings. But, lately, I really feel that. Here are just a few of the books I have read over the last few months. Listed in order of my preference:

 

I am now almost caught up with Louise Penny's books about Chief Inspecter Gamache. I try to not read them too quickly or too many at a time because they are so well written. Anyone out there who is a mystery fan and who has not yet discovered these stories, you are in for a treat. The writing melts in your mouth and the underlying themes and ideas in the books are full of insight and small delights. One of my favorite images from these books are of Gamache, a man past his prime, remembering when he would walk with his daughter and recite poetry to her. If all children could have this patient, kind man as a role model, where would the world be now? Issues of alcoholism are explored in this book and as always, Penny approaches this controversial topic with love and care. Start at the beginning and devour these books!

 

Another mystery series, these are set in the 1920s and 1930s in the UK. Maisie Dobbs is a young woman who went to war and came back a changed woman. She is a private detective and a psychologist. In this and other ways, she reminds me a little of the Number One Ladies Detective Agency and Mma Romotswe. As Penny does, Winspear approaches issues as she tells a story of intrigue. She keeps her readers on their toes and gives only a little bit of Maisie's story in each book, keeping us coming back for more. This is only number three in a series that is now up to 10 books, so it will be a while before I can finish all the books.

 

I read The Audacity of Hope  early in Obama's presidency and I enjoyed it, but I have to say that this book touched me so much more! Obama is a good writer and this book is written with humility and with inspiration. So many of our young people do not know their heritage and Obama was lucky enough to try to find his. Although he did not get to know his father, he did get to find his African roots and explore his many connections with numerous siblings. His experience in Chicago as a community organizer is telling about what so many of our poorer families are facing today. What is the underlying problem? Is it systemic and caused by a lack of care throughout society, or is it familial and caused by a lack of cohesive family units? This book helped me to solidify my views of the problems caused by selfish public policies that are put in place to benefit the rich. Let me know your views. 

 

While this reminded me a little of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, especially in the number of twists and turns in the plot, is it this one, no! Is it this one, maybe! While I have not read any other Ellie Hatcher books, this one did interest me in the character and my draw me in to reading others in this series, but, as the heading says: so many books, too little time. I will need to put Burke on the list of those to come back to when I have more time.

And now for something completely different. I am not a huge fan of historical fiction, and the two main characters here are killers who kill for money and sometimes for pleasure. Yet, I did like this book both the way the story was told and the story itself. There was a certain amount of poetic justice doled out throughout the book, and the voice of the brother who was telling the story kept me interested and on my toes. If you like a different voice once in a while, or even all the time, give the sisters a try!

Six Biographies (almost)

Six Biographies: Guess How Many are of Women?

Only One, so that gets top billing!

Who says Women Can’t be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman The true and factual story of how Elizabeth Blackwell became a doctor in 1849, including her many rejections from medical school. While the words are a bit stuffy, the illustrations are eye-catching and help to tell the story in an engaging way. The endnotes add more information about Elizabeth and her life as a doctor. In addition to being a doctor, Elizabeth was a single adoptive mother to a young orphan girl. Groundbreaking woman in so many ways!
	Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives by Gene Barretta Thomas Edison was an extraordinary man and this brief glimpse of his life showcases his amazingness! While we do not learn much about Edison’s biographical information, we learn a great deal about his inventions. Each two page spread includes a Present Day (on the left) and Edison’s Lab (on the right), where the conveniences we take for granted today are traced back to one or more of Edison’s inventions. Very clever. The last two pages include brief tidbits about employees in the Edison labs as well as Thomas Trivia. My favorite: Edison nicknamed two of his children Dot and Dash.
If You Spent A Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond by Robert Burleigh, Paintings by Wendell Minor A great companion piece to D. B. Johnson’s books (Henry Climbs a Mountain, Henry Works, etc.) in which Thoreau is represented by a good natured bear. While this book is more realistic, it’s appeal is to slightly older readers who may be interested in Thoreau and his beliefs in the simple life. The endnotes tell more details about Thoreau. Taken together with Johnson’s works, these books give a thorough picture of Thoreau.

	Henry and the Cannons: An Extraordinary True Story of the American Revolution by Don Brown Henry Knox, the First Secretary of War, traveled from Boston to Fort Ticonderoga, New York, to pick up several cannons and bring them back to Boston. Of course it was winter and they had to travel through snow, icy, sleet and mud to haul, pull, carry and otherwise transport the cannons to Boston. When they returned, they were able to scare the Redcoats out of town. Hooray for Henry and the men who helped him. This story is well-told and an interesting piece of history. While told in picture book form, it would still be appropriate for those fourth through sixth graders who might be studying the Revolutionary War.
	Monsieur Marceau by Leda Schubert, illustrations by Gerard DuBois A brief biography of Marceau, moving quickly through his childhood and his time as a resistance fighter during WWII, into his great career as a mime. While the pictures are lovely and the tales of his work onstage are great, the story leaves out too much. Why did he change his name to avoid having people know he was Jewish? What did it mean that his father died in a concentration camp? Who was Charlie Chaplin? Told in bits and pieces, there is too much left out, too much background knowledge that a child would need to understand the important bits. Older readers may enjoy the story, but the language is too simple for middle schoolers and above.
Abe Lincoln’s Dream by Lane Smith While not technically a biography, this tells the story of one of Lincoln’s last dreams; Smith uses a small girl’s trip through the White House as a vehicle to show Lincoln that what he hoped to accomplish has come to pass, or as Quincy says: “We’re working on that.” A beautifully illustrated story with some historical significance, this would add dimension to any child who is fascinated with the presidents; and who isn’t?

Any readers have a desire to be children’s book authors? We need someone (or several someones) to step up and start writing more biographies about women. While most of these books were good and worth reading and sharing, the fact that only one in six features a woman is pathetic!

Two Losers and Two Winners

Young adult books hot off the presses: 

The two books that I did not read, but started to read are Boy Minus Girl  by Richard Uhlig and Handbook for Hot Witches by Dame Darcy.

 

BoyMinus Girl had a striking voice, plenty of sarcasm and might even be a good read, but there were too many references to what teenage boys want to do to teenage girls and I just couldn’t keep going. Having said that, it might be the book that would keep a teenaged boy reading.

 

Handbook for Hot Witches gives the definition of what a hot witch is (probably not what you are thinking from the title) and then gives tips and pointers on how to be the best kind of hot witch in your category. Again, this did not interest me, but I can think of others who might delight in this book.

 

The first winner: Melody Burning by Whitley Strieber. Strieber is a writer for adults and promoter of the supernatural. This is his first attempt at writing for young adults and he does an excellent job! Melody is a young soon-to-be superstar whose mother dominates her life and career. Beresford is a young man who grew up in the bowels of a fancy high rise apartment building in Los Angeles. You will find mystery, romance and family struggles to keep you interested. While some of the plot lines are a little hard to believe, there are strong emotions to keep you interested. 

Emily’s Dress by Kathryn Burak is a dark tale of high school angst about suicide and murder, but ultimately about true love and how to overcome. Claire is trying to finish her final year of high school while reconciling her feelings about her mother’s suicide and her best friend’s sudden disappearance a year before. A loving father and new friends help her to see the good within herself and together they solve the mystery of her former friend’s disappearance. In spite of the dark topics, this is definitely worth reading.

More Picture Books

Sweet Baby Feet by Margaret O’Hair, illustrated by Tracy Dockray

A quick rhyming story about those chubby, cuddly, bouncy baby feet. If you have a toddler in the house, this is a must read. Can’t wait to try it with Wes.

The Chandeliers by Vincent X. Kirsch

The Chandeliers are a family of performing giraffes and until the night of the multiple disasters, Rufus just sits on the sidelines and watches. But, on this, his night of nights, he helps his granny with her costume and his uncle with his lines, he rescues his great-granddaddy and covers for the lighting tech. He does it all, and he gets to take a bow at the end. Hooray for Rufus and all the youngest family members who wait in the sidelines to have their turn in the family spotlight.

The Forgiveness Garden by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Christy Hale

Dr. Suess told similar stories in the Sneeches and the Butter Battle Book, but it is a story worth telling and one that  unfortunately still needs to be heard. The Vayams and the Gamtes are fighting and a young  Vayam woman is wounded. When her people capture the Gamte who threw the stone at her head, it is her place to throw the first stone at him. But, she refuses. She encourages her people to work with the Gamte people to make a forgiveness garden. The endnotes describe a forgiveness garden in Beirut, Lebanon. My favorite line in the book is at the end when the injured girl and her attacker sit in the garden for the first time, “What do you think they said?” Use this to start the discussion.

Suryia Swims by Bhagavan Antle and Thea Feldman, photographs by Barry Bland. 

Suryia is an orangutan and orangutans do not swim; but Suryia learns to swim with her best friend, Roscoe, the dog. Told in short, simple sentences, the reader follows Suryia in her progression from bathing, to dunking her head in the pool, to frolicking and playing with elephants, tigers and an otter. The photographs make this book with several great underwater shots! (True story)

Rhyming picture books

I have received a number of picture books that rhyme, lately. I usually love the rhythm of the rhyme and recognize how the use of rhymes with early readers increases comprehension as well as attention to language. But, for some of these, it is a stretch. Here they are in the order in which I enjoyed them. The great thing about reading is that some of my bottom picks may be at the top of your list. Enjoy!

Working Mummies by Joan Horton, pictures by Drazen Kozjan

Working Mummies starts and ends with plays on words and works these puns into almost every page. The mummy doctor “doses them with coffin syrup.” And one of my favorites: “This mummy’s a librarian./She has a great selection/ of rare and wiggly book worms/in her specimen collection.” While told in a light hearted way, it sends the message that mummies can do anything, be a manicurist, a dentist or a manufacturer, but no matter what they do, they will come home to “hug their boys and ghouls.” 

Miss Lina’s Ballerinas and the Wicked Wish by Grace Maccarone, pictures by Christine Davenier

Another in the series of dancing ballerinas in Miss LIna’s school. When auditioning for parts in the city ballet, all the little girls get to dance the waltz, except Regina, who is cast to be a dancing rat along with Tony. Regina is so upset that she wishes on of her friends will get sick so she can dance the waltz. As her friends succumb to various illnesses, Regina realizes that she doesn’t want them to be sick, and she would rather dance as a rat. As usual, all’s well that ends well and all dancers perform to their highest abilities.

The Monster Who Lost his Mean by Tiffany Strelitz Haber, pictures by Kirstie Edmunds

Monster loses his M to become a monster who is no longer mean. He is drubbed out of the Monster Forest and bullied by his friends, but finds that being Not Mean is just so much for fun than being Mean. He thinks up mean things to do, but without his M, he just can’t follow through. In the end, his new “people-friends” throw him a party to celebrate his new “Onster” state.  The rhymes work and the cartoon pictures are appealing to all.

 

Frankenstein, a Monstrous Parody by Ludworst Bemonster

Staunch children’s book readers will recognize the parody that begins with, “In a creepy old castle/all covered with spines,/ lived twelve ugly monsters in two crooked lines.” Rick Walton and Nathan Hale have teamed up to write this monstrous take on Bemelmans’ popular Madeline series books. Fun for the older crowd.

Kate and Nate are Running Late by Kate Egan, pictures by Dan Yaccarino

Mother, Kate, and son Nate are running late and the morning is a disaster. Between sleeping past the alarm and falling in a puddle, and not being able to find homework, or shoes or socks, it seems that everything is keeping them to getting to work and school on time. Simple rhymes and a simple story line, but it may appeal more to the moms than to the kids. 

Moby Dick: Chasing the Great White Whale by Eric A. Kimmel, pictures by Andrew Glass

Great pictures and I would say that this certainly moves faster and is told in way fewer words than the original, but am not sure this is a story I would ever read to a child. Interesting concept.

Deborah Copaken Kogan

Between Here and April: "Deborah Kogan's fearless novel interrogates one of society's last great taboos--maternal love gone wrong...Reading this book, I felt like I was being told a dangerous secret." Heidi Julavits, from the back of the book.

This is the second novel by Kogan that I have read in the last month or so. Can't remember where I heard about her, but have enjoyed both books. The characters are real and their lives are not perfect, but as a reader, I find myself identifying with these younger women in all the messiness of their lives. In Between Hear and April, Elizabeth is trying to balance her work life with the needs of her two young daughters. Her husband is described as a great dad when he is around. The problem is, he's never around. She begins to have flashes of memory of April, a best friend in first grade who suddenly disappeared. It turns out April and her sister Lily died along with their mother when she committed suicide. The more Elizabeth explores the mystery of her young friend's death, the more she realizes that her life is eerily parallel to Adele's, April's mother. As Elizabeth begins to understand her own needs, she feels she has a glimpse into the heart and mind of Adele. There are many other layers in this novel and it was both an easy and a difficult read.
By the way, Elizabeth also cheats on her husband, but in this case, the author made me understand her at such a deep level, it felt like a natural outgrowth of her problems with her husband. One thing I do like about Kogan's novels is that she wraps it up neatly at the end. I know real life is a lot more messy, but I still like a tidy ending.
Other books read:
A Darkness More than Night by Michael Connelly (book seven in the Harry Bosch series)

“Lauren Fox writes with verve and a keen understanding of human relationships. She also happens to be riotously funny. Friends Like Us is at once a hilarious page-turner and a wise meditation on friendship, marriage, and the ways in which our parents’ mistakes so often shape our lives.” - J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Maine and Commencement 

Given this endorsement, I thought I would love this book, and the author. I was so sure, I checked this book out along with her first book, Still Life with Husband, at the same time. And I was almost right. The writing is clear, precise and has little tidbits of real life that other authors tend to leave out, especially those funny rifs between friends when the littlest thing can make you laugh and only you and your friend think it is funny. While I didn't LOVE Friends, I did like it enough to read Still Life and now as I finish the last 50 pages of Still Life, I keeping asking myself, why? Why am I reading this, why did she write this?
Both books have a pivotal event that is creepy.  Won't give away what happens in Friends, but in Still Life, the main character, Emily, cheats on her husband. This in itself is not the creepy part. The creepy part is that Fox still tries to make Emily a sympathetic character that the reader will relate to and appreciate. And maybe if I were 40 years younger, I might, but probably not.
The other thing about Fox as a writer is that she essentially has one character. Emily is almost the same character as Willa and physically they resemble pictures of Fox. Personally, I think she is carrying write what you know a little too far. Let me know some authors where you find this same phenomenon.  Some people have laid this at the feet of Jane Austen, but I would have to disagree there.
Also reading lately: (Rating based on five star being great and 1 star don't bother!)
Ruby red by Kerstin Gier *** (young adult, beginning of a series, probably won't read the others, complicated plot and didn't hold my interest enough to want to pay more attention)
A Christmas garland by Anne Perry ****
Deadly Valentine by Carolyn Hart **** (love Carolyn Hart)
Deception by Jonathan Kellerman ****
The last coyote by Michael Connelly ****
Trunk music by Michael Connelly ****
Angels flight by Michael Connelly ****
See a pattern here, just started the next MC book A Darkness More Than Night. Have not yet gotten bored with Harry Bosch and his unending temper!
Best news: all these books except Ruby Red  are available through my library on the kindle, so I could take them with me on my trip to Mexico.