Four more...

Educated by Tara Westover

This is Tara Westover's jaw-dropping memoir about growing up in a Mormon fundamentalist family in Idaho. Born to survivalist parents who believed all governments were hostile and intent on stealing their freedoms, Tara and her siblings were kept "safe" by keeping them out of school and away from hospitals. Education at home was hit and miss, sometimes ignored altogether, and injuries and illness were treated at home using only Mrs. Westover's herbal remedies. The Westover's parenting was haphazard at best, neglectful and abusive at it's worst. The awe-inspiring thing about this story is how Tara survived all that and managed to do enough on her own to get accepted to a college and eventually earn a PhD. There were times when I was so upset with her parents that I couldn't keep reading, when I had to put the book down to take a breath, but then I'd have to keep going because the story is so incredible. This one is a must read. 

Note: I've just learned that Tara's mother has written a book in response to this one called Educating, where she tells the story from her point of view. I probably won't read it; I have no sympathy for her or her husband after reading Tara's.   

Defending Jacob by William Landay

The story of a family whose lives take a sudden, terrifying turn for the worse when their teenaged son is accused of murder. Jacob's father, Andy, is a prosecuting lawyer who switches sides to lead his son's defense. I'm not a crime novel reader usually, but I thought I should try one on audio to see if I might like it that way, and it wasn't bad. It's a character driven story, as much about the effect of Jacob's trial on his family as about the trial itself, but still suspense builds and keeps you needing to know what happens next. With a surprising twist late in the book, and an ambiguous ending, it's everything regular crime/thriller readers could want. I thought it was a fairly good story; I just don't think it's my genre.

Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons

I was drawn to this one by the blurbs on the cover; "utterly charming", "pretty much flawless", "perfectly pitched" and "a fairy tale set in idyllic English countryside". It was a charming fairly tale set in Dorset, and I enjoyed it, but apparently less than those readers did. Jack and Sadie Rosenblum are immigrants who left Germany just before the second world war when things began looking grim for Jewish people. Jack's dream was to become the consummate Englishman, and he had a list of items to accomplish toward that end. One such item was membership in a golf club which he sadly came to realize would never happen simply because he was Jewish. Racism was alive and well in England as well as Germany, though it had a more polite face among the English. Undaunted, Jack decided he must build his own golf course, and have it ready in time for a tournament to celebrate the young Queen Elizabeth's approaching coronation. 

Then come the many mishaps and catastrophes that threaten to derail his dream. It is a fairy tale in many ways: every disaster is righted by some new slightly-less-than-realistic event, there are mystical elements to the story, and there are happy endings for all the good people and fitting ones for the bad.

I can see why other people loved it, but for me it just didn't come together. Too many times the protagonist was faced with an unsolvable problem, only to then easily solve it and move on to the next. And I got bored in the sections that focused on building the course. Maybe if I was a golf fan... 

It wasn't what I was hoping for, but I'm not sorry I read it. Jack and Sadie are interesting and in some ways even endearing, but it was a bit over the top for me.   

The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck

A small town in an unnamed country is invaded by an unnamed (but clearly recognizable) enemy, with the conquering party expecting submission and co-operation from the conquered. Boy will they will be disappointed. 

Written as propaganda in the early years of WWII, this short novel (a 2-3 hour read) explores how war affects both occupier and occupied, soldier and civilian. There were moments when I felt sympathy for both sides, but they were brief; subjugation destroys fellow-feeling quickly. Ultimately the book is a call to stand up and fight, doing whatever it takes to push through to the inevitable triumph of democracy. When the mayor is asked to tell his people not to fight, he answers "The people don't like to be conquered, sir, and so they will not be. Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars. You will find that it is so, sir."

The title, a quote from one of Shakespeare's plays, speaks to Steinbeck's belief that like the moon, freedom may be down, overcome, for a time, but it will always rise again. It can never be permanently defeated. 

I've learned since reading the book that Steinbeck intended it to be performed on stage, which would account for the characters feeling a bit flat and the dialogue a little over dramatic. But it makes a fine story and it's easy to overlook those things when you find great lines like these: "Dr. Winter was a man so simple that only a profound man would know him as profound." and "Joseph was elderly and lean and serious, and his life was so complicated that only a profound man would know him to be simple"

Propaganda it may be, but good propaganda, and a couple of hours rooting for freedom can only be time well spent.

Six more...

 I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

The story opens with Thomas Birdsey, a paranoid schizophrenic, sitting in a library cutting off his own arm. Then for nine hundred and some pages the story of his relationship with his twin brother, Dominick, and their desperately messed up family unfolds. It's misery upon misery, yet manages to lead to a satisfying conclusion. The story was good, I only wish it had been told in a hundred (or two) fewer pages.  

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson

Dowdy Miss Pettigrew, unemployed governess, has lived a life of order and solitude but all that is about to change. Looking for work, she knocks on the wrong door only to find herself invited into a world more vibrant and lively than she has ever considered possible. In a twenty-four hour period she will be dazzled by glittering surroundings and fascinating people, and shocked at their disregard for generally accepted manners and morals. 

It was light-hearted and fun to read, but a couple of racist remarks in what was otherwise entertaining dialogue took the shine off it. I understand such remarks would have been accepted in 1938 when the book was written, and we can't change the past, but there's no getting around the fact that they are racist and reflect attitudes that were as wrong then as they are now.  

The One-In-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood

A thoughtful, well-written story about a now deceased 11 year old, referred to only as "the boy", and Ona, a 104 year old woman with a crusty shell. The two became friends when he started doing her yard work to earn a boy scout badge, and then recording an interview he did with her for a school project. When he couldn't complete his Saturday morning work commitment to Ona, his father took over and through conversation with the woman came to know and understand his son as he never had before. The boy was sweet, quirky, often misunderstood and sometimes bullied; the father regretful that he'd been mostly absent from his son's life; and Ona grumpy but determined to fulfill her dream of making it into the Guinness Book of World Records. At 104, time was running out. Their stories are beautifully revealed in alternating chapters that are sad, funny, and ultimately hopeful. A great read.

Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther

This is an easy read, perfect for your escapism needs. Structured as a series of vignettes from the Minivers' family life, it is beautifully written with keen perception and quotes you'll want to take with you. You may have seen the movie that portrayed it as a war story, but the book is set in the time just before WWII which lends a different kind of poignancy to the story. Mrs. Miniver gives us a housewife's view of life, not a typical housewife given that she is blessed with a cook, a maid, and a nurse to help with the children, but a housewife nevertheless and one with quite a number of good observations to share. Her appreciation for life's little things is profound and contagious, bringing depth to a comfort read that would be worth your time anyway simply for it's wonderful writing. 

Christmas at High Rising by Angela Thirkell

I was a bit disappointed as I was wanting a book of Christmas stories and was led by the title to believe that's what this was. Alas, there was only one, though the rest of the stories were entertaining enough. Apparently many of the characters are taken from Ms. Thirkell's series of books set in the fictional English village of High Rising, but as I hadn't read any of those I didn't have the fun of finding already beloved characters in new settings. There is one essay about dinner parties in Shakespeare that's entertaining, but not enough to make me keep the book. It's going in the donation pile.

Rogue Wave by Boyd Morrison

I listened to the audio version so I can't technically call it a page-turner, but if I'd read a hard copy that's exactly what I'd say. A tsunami scientist desperately tries to warn the people of Hawaii that a massive wave is approaching their shores, but of course no one is listening. It's a disaster story so everything that could go wrong does, with tension building as the time notation at each chapter heading ticks down toward impact. It's suspenseful and a little bit cheesy, and in many ways similar to all the other disaster stories out there, but I've always loved a good (fictional) disaster and this is a big one. Definitely worth reading if you share my slightly grim tastes.

I think I've seen every disaster movie ever made, but I've never read a book of that genre. I'm still not sure I would want to actually read one, but I did like this audio version. Before Rogue Wave I had only listened to books of a more quiet, thoughtful nature and I found they couldn't hold my attention - disappointing since those are the books I usually like best. But this one showed me I can enjoy audio books if there's action and suspense involved, and since I wasn't reading that genre at all I now have a gazillion more options for my already out-of-control tbr list. So, thanks Rogue Wave, I think. 

More Catching Up...

Unsheltered
Disappointing. Parallel stories, set in the same house 150 years apart, illustrate (sermonize) that the things we depend upon as being givens in this life are not reliable at all. In both eras the house is falling apart, the character's careers and personal lives are teetering on their foundations, and the world is undergoing seismic shifts in thinking. The book suggests that it is when your basic beliefs about life are shaken, when you realize that hard work doesn't always lead to success, people don't always fulfill their potential, and you can't count on fairness or even reason to prevail, that you begin to understand a hard reality: the universe does not have your back. You are not special, as your parents and teachers trained you to believe, but like everyone else you are unsheltered, unprotected against the vagaries of life. A grim outlook, but a more realistic one than that being sold by many modern novels, the ones that tell us if we just work hard and think positive, the universe will see to it that we get what we want. 

Kingsolver always tells a good, insightful story, but it would have been more palatable had it been more subtle. I felt preached to, and I get more than enough of that already in newspapers, movies, and on tv news (?) shows when they report a story while at the same time telling me what to think about it. This book takes a stab at just about every political issue out there: the economy, health care, climate change, student loans, capitalism, even Trump's presidency, though his name is never used. It could have been an interesting story; it felt more like a lecture.

The Murder at the Vicarage

I loved it. I'm hooked on Miss Marple after only one book. I avoided Agatha Christie till I was...let's say, well along in years...because for some inexplicable reason I had written her books off as silly. The only excuse I can possibly offer for such arrogance is seeing a Hercule Poirot movie decades ago in which he came off as a slightly preposterous bore. It didn't occur to me that the movie maker might be at fault and not the author. Last year I watched The Orient Express, and fell in love with the savvy, charming Poirot. Now Miss Marple has caught my attention and she's given me a whole new series of comfort reads to look forward to. Murder at the Vicarage was a very good start. 

Does The Noise in My Head Bother You? by Stephen Tyler

It's as outrageous and open and direct as he is. More open and direct than you want at times, but it's Stephen Tyler...it's expected. The later chapters got a little too raunchy for me so I quit, but I liked what I did read. He's such an interesting person, and likable; I'm sure I would like him if we ever met. I, on the other hand, would bore his socks off, but he seems like a guy who might find something to talk about even with we who are dull by comparison. He comes across as authentic, not something you find often in biographies of the rich and famous. His willingness to talk about both his strengths and his flaws impressed me. His stint as a judge on American Idol made me a fan, but my sister had been an admirer for a long time. I gave her the book for Christmas a few years ago and inherited it back when she passed away recently, so I decided to read it in her honour. If you're a fan, you'll want to read this.   

Who are you Calvin Bledsoe? by Brock Clarke

I can only remember that Calvin Bledsoe sold pellet stoves for a living, and that he met his aunt, without any prior knowledge of her existence, at his mother's funeral. And that he's middle-aged. They go traveling together and he gets into weird situations. The fact that I remember nothing about those situations tells me the book had little impact on me. If I like a book, it usually stays with me.

 

Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist

Zoe and Martin (one widowed, one divorced, and both in their fifties) meet in France just before they set out, separately, to walk the Camino Santiago. It's the story of their developing relationship, the people they meet, the physical challenges of walking the Camino, and the personal growth each experiences along the way. The authors based the novel on their own pilgrimages and so were able to keep the experience realistic. What I didn't find very realistic were the main characters. Zoe was supposedly grieving the very recent loss of her husband, but I couldn't see it in her words or actions. Martin was distant and stayed that way. At the end of the book they still felt stiff and unrelatable, not characters you get attached to. I've read reviews that complained about the Camino getting too much attention and the characters not enough, but I feel just the opposite. It probably depends on what you bring to and want from the book, I wanted the journey, but what I got was a love story set against the backdrop of the trail, and the love story wasn't believable. 

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

This one wasn't on my radar at all as I'd seen the movie and thought it was ok, but nothing special. I didn't know there was a book till I ran into it on several 'must read' and even 'greatest of' lists, which made me think there had to be more to it than what I got from the movie. So I bit the bullet.....and was blown away. The way the author uses the timeline to reveal the story is nothing short of genius. Just keeping track of the characters ages, and matching them to dates and events was more than I could get my head around. Every time I stopped to figure it out, I got stuck, and finally decided to forget the how of it all and just enjoy the story. And I did enjoy - no, love - the story. It's funny, sad, profound, exasperating, beautiful, and full of life. It's also sexually explicit and has some colourful language, but I didn't find that off-putting in this novel. The sex is mostly an expression of love between husband and wife, though there were a couple of scenes that left me scratching my head and asking ...um...why? I listened to the audio version, which probably made the raw elements seem a little more blatant, but I recommend it anyway. It was flat out amazing.  

 

Outline by Rachael Cusk

I know it didn't appeal to me, but I don't remember why.

How Blue Was My Valley by Jean Gill

A story about relocating from Wales to France, buying a house and trying to fit in with the locals. I love the genre but this was not one of my favourites.

To Leave A Memory by Pat Dunlap Evans

I'm drawing a complete blank on this one.

Another View by Rosamunde Pilcher

One of her lesser novels. It doesn't measure up to Winter Solstice, September, or the Shell Seekers.

The Gardener of Baghdad by Ahmed Ardalan

It had potential, but the characters felt flat and I lost interest in the story.