Tuesday Nights in 1980
by Molly Prentiss
Spellbinding (12/30/2015)
Tuesday Nights in New York City in 1980 vividly delves into a lifestyle in a time and a place that most can only experience from reading. It is an exciting time in the lives of three main characters who have all come to New York to be a part of the art world.
Raul is the artist seeking fame and escaping Argentina; James is the critic advantageously suffering from synesthesia; and Lucy is seeking an artist and escaping Idaho. They manage to become embroiled in each others' lives.
Tuesdays are life-changing days throughout the book. The story begins at a New Year's Eve party on a Monday night, but the events of Tuesday, January 1, become pivotal in the novel. The life of an artist involves awaiting a chance for success; however, this is no formulaic plot; the events are surprising. The characters are changed and conflicted.
Circling the Sun: A Novel
by Paula McLain
A Favorite (5/10/2015)
Beryl Markham grew up in an Africa she loved. Having lived her life beyond the societal constraints of the late 19220' and the 1930's, she was a brave and independent woman who eventually flew solo across the Atlantic. Paula McClain brings Beryl Markham to life in Circling the Sun.
In the novel we get to hear the voice of Markham, meet her friends, understand the African-English society of the time, learn the difficulties of sustaining a living in Africa, and see the beauty of Africa. The author has written an exciting and almost poetic novel. Descriptions in Circling the Sun are not to be missed; they give the sense of place. It is a novel that is difficult to put down.
The Same Sky
by Amanda Eyre Ward
The Same Sky (11/8/2014)
The Same Sky has two voices experiencing two very different problems. . Both voices, Carla a young teen from Honduras, and Alice, a married woman in Texas, are portrayed in such detail that the reader emotionally connects with each one. The book reflects so much that is of our time that it is nearly a learning experience, but, on the other hand, it is written so the reader understands both of them, is sad for both, and wishes at the end to know what happens to both. This book is a very fast read for two reasons: one, it is so interesting; two, the writing and arrangement has such clarity.
All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr
A Surprise (6/1/2014)
I had not read anything by Anthony Doerr prior to this book. I simply picked it up because it looked interesting. I was very impressed. Almost every two pages switches from one main character, the blind French girl, to the other main character, Werner, the young German boy. The story does not run chronologically either. In the beginning it is 1944; later it is 1942 then back to 1944. This writer manages to make all of this work without ever leaving the reader confused.
The characters are so well developed the reader feels close to them and likes most of them. The book is poetic and yet realistic.
The blind girl's father may be carrying a fantastic diamond from the Paris Museum of Natural History. He and the girl escape to St. Malo, where the boy of 16 is sent as a soldier in the German army. St. Malo is the last bastion of the German defense, and they are under attack.
The boy manages to save the girl from a German searching for the diamond after the arrest of her uncle and father. The ending is not a romantic ending. It is realistic, complex, and most interesting reading.
Under the Wide and Starry Sky
by Nancy Horan
A Second Book Success (11/11/2013)
When as a reader you have enjoyed an author's first book, Loving Frank, it is so pleasing to find the author has written a second book as well-written and enjoyable as her first. Under the Wide and Starry Sky was a surprise, not because it was good, but because it was about Robert Louis Stevenson. I knew his books, but his life was a total surprise. So, first of all, thank you Nancy Horan for educating me. Secondly, both Fanny and Louis came to life as characters. I could feel her grief and guilt at the loss of her son; I could understand her willingness to give up so much to keep him alive and well. His needs were foremost for him and for her. He recognized her dislike of sea travel, but his health improved at sea and in Samoa where they finally stayed. He needed a place to write and solitude in which to write. He found it difficult to find these two together. The author used many quotations from journals and letters the two wrote since they were both prolific writers. RLS's interests were many and so were Fanny's. In Samoa both bordered on being obsessive; he, with politics; she, with creating a farm. It was an adventure. In it's own way, the story of the love and life of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson was as exciting as some of his novels.
Song of the Spirits: In the Land of the Long White Cloud saga
by Sarah Lark
The Saga of Kura and Elaine (8/16/2013)
The size of the book was daunting at first until I began to read. Even if I had wanted to stop reading I could not. These two young women managed to live absolutely exciting lives and bring the reader along with them into two very different situations. The book, which takes place in New Zealand, introduced me to different times, peoples, and life styles. One of the most interesting parts concerns the place of coal mining in New Zealand and the unwillingness of some mine owners to improve working conditions. New Zealand in the back country where these two young women both seek to hide is very much like the Old West mining towns. Both coal minors and gold minors are found there. It would be a very long selection for a book club, but a most worthwhile selection for the individual reader.
The Jericho Deception
by Jeffrey Small
Dangerous Project (3/11/2013)
"The Jericho Project" by Jeffrey Small is an interesting read. It is both a thriller and a detailed search to create the Logos, a machine that produces a religious experience bordering on meeting with God. The book also involves a conspiracy to misuse this machine to transform Islamic fundamentalists into avid Christians.
Logos was being developed on the campus of Yale University primarily by two faculty members. Funding is nearing the end when suddenly new funding appears. This somewhat mysterious new funding marks the beginning of intrigue, murder, and conspiracy in the novel.
In the beginning the book has several chapters through which the reader meets a group of seemingly unrelated characters in a variety of locales. All of these come together in the story, which becomes extremely exciting in the second half. The main characters in the story in the beginning are very benign, but the characters involved in the conspiracy are malevolent, and pitted against the protagonist., require action and ingenuity on his part.
The Jericho Project is very detailed, thought-provoking, and also very exciting.
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World
by Matthew Goodman
Eighty Exceptional Days (12/30/2012)
Wow, did I enjoy this book. The author's research is thorough and his bibliography is lengthy and the information is delightful. The reader not only learns about Nellie Bly and her attempt to exceed the travel time of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg in Around the World in Eighty Days, but also has the pleasure of visiting the world of the 1890's, meeting Joseph Pulitzer, understanding the plight of Chinese workers in America, traveling in luxury trains and boats, seeing beautiful places before industrial pollution took place, and so much more.
Nellie Bly initiated the idea of traveling around the world in less time than 80 days to give women journalists a boost away from the traditional social columns they wrote. She had to convince the editor of The World a NY newspaper to allow her to embark on such a trip alone, a definite step away from social convention. The editor of the Cosmopolitan heard what the newspaper was doing, so to boost readership he sent Elizabeth Bisland, a free lance writer for the magazine, to challenge Bly's attempt, but traveling the opposite direction. The two women and their outlook on the trips are very different and both have many adventures, but the reader gets to experience both.
Learning in a most readable narrative covering so much space is a pleasure. The book is full of surprises for the modern reader as it covers both custom, details of history, description of places and events of the 1880's. The journeys of both women are exciting. One highlight is that Nellie Bly gets to meet Jules Verne and his wife, but that is only one adventure of many during the historic race. Phileas Fogg was fictional and his adventures were fun, but Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland live in a real world the reader has the pleasure of visiting.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed
A Shared Journey (9/25/2012)
I sent Wild to a friend who has done the Pacific Crest Trail. Wanting to know what the trip must have been like for her, I had to read it myself. I would say it is one of the most engaging books I have read this year.
Cheryl Strayed was wild and went to the wilds to straighten out her life. The trip was arduous; sometimes even dangerous. She met other hikers along the way, immediately forming bonds with them. Other hikers and outsiders proved to be helpful to this hiking neophyte. She had to overcome lost boots, poorly fitting boots, lack of money and experience, and often lack of the necessary equipment. The reader takes every descriptive step with her, never forgetting the beauty she is surrounded by. When she stopped in Oregon and the book ended, I was both happy for her and sad for myself--the trip had ended.
The Art Forger
by B. A. Shapiro
The Art Forger (9/14/2012)
The Art Forger was a learning experience for this reader. The passion of the artist, the difficulty of attaining success, and the manipulation of the market are all here. Also demonstrated are the steps to authenticating a famous work. However, the learning had the added suspense of the reason for the forgery--is it right to do something wrong to achieve a right? Each step in the creation of the forgery is suspenseful--will the method work? Then, of course, the suspense of success for the artist, the relationship with the gallery owner, the result of the forgery--so many things to engage any reader. The book is an entire package.
Salvage the Bones: A Novel
by Jesmyn Ward
Unpleasant Novel (5/22/2012)
The book is written by a Stanford graduate whose narrator is a 14-year old black girl from a poverty stricken background. Though the character uses poor grammar upon occasion her vocabulary is that of a Stanford graduate. Her comparison to Medea is pretentious and does nothing to alleviate the general unpleasantness of the novel, which is never alleviated by humor or lightness of any kind. The descriptions are well done and unlikely from our protagonist. It is supposedly about surviving Katrina which has very little effect on the family. They suddenly manage to get to an unaffected neighborhood with people who will care for them, and Esch is even told by Big Henry that he will take care of her. It is almost fairy tale like ending to a dreadful story. There is no pleasure in reading this book.
Beneath the Shadows
by Sara Foster
Shadows on the Moor (5/5/2012)
I read far too late three evenings in a row. The book is fascinating. It promises supernatural happenings, familial misbehavior, and murder. The setting itself, the North Yorkshire Moors, is compelling. After all, I know the mysterious moors well from Wuthering Heights. I know they are stark and strangely beautiful, and strange things happen on them. So I am truly fascinated. Plus Rebecca seems to be the book that puts our heroine to sleep each night, suggesting a relationship between Beneath the Shadows and Rebecca. Sure enough there is. An imperious lady of the manor becomes a friend of the heroine Grace. The lady has four daughters and an estranged son, who also proves to be more than a friend to Grace. This is a fun and intriguing read that concludes all at once, and its resolution bring out all sorts of family secrets.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
by Katherine Boo
Behind the Beautiful Forever (1/5/2012)
Behind the Beautiful Forever is a factual narrative of some families and individuals living in Anniwadi, a slum in the Indian city of Mumbai. The names of the characters, the events are all actual, which is rather unusual in accounts of how people live.
It is a story aided by events that provide a dramatic plot that is resolved in the end. At the same time it is a picture of life eked through the resourcefulness of individuals in a dismal location.
Katherine Bo is a reporter; therefore the work is detailed, and she is wise in her choice of detail. As a writer she tells a story that is not created. Saying that it is a pleasant read is difficult because existence in Annawadi is not easy. However, the book is not simply a litany of poverty. The people are real and hopeful and resourceful.
I felt that some of the Q and A section should be used to create a prologue to prepare the reader more positively prior to reading. If the reader understands her point of view, the characters can be better appreciated. The book is one I am very glad I had the opportunity to read.
Across Many Mountains: A Tibetan Family's Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom
by Yangzom Brauen
Across Many Mountains (8/7/2011)
Across Many Mountains is both a memoir and an introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, culture, and Chinese occupation. It tells the captivating story of a family escaping Tibet in fear of approaching Chinese soldiers.
It is truly a learning experience of the lifestyles of Tibetans prior to Chinese occupation. Also, the occupation, which we seldom hear or read about, is an important part of the book's content.
In the straightforward telling the author very capably intertwines Tibet that was and the family's personal story. It is exciting, informative, and a very compelling read.
Walking to Gatlinburg: A Novel
by Howard Frank Mosher
Puzzling (4/9/2011)
I found Walking to Gatlinburg both puzzling and exciting. I did not know whether to go back and read Pilgrim's Progress, which I still may do, or to consider the book's soul of darkness in the light of Heart of Darkness. I decided the subject best lent itself to the darkness of the war, cruelty, revenge, feuding, etc. Although Morgan is searching for Pilgrim his brother, the true pilgrimage is made by Morgan, who manages to do what must be done, something which Pilgrim could not do because of his Quaker beliefs. He leaves all the characters in the proper or wished for place.
I liked it because it is certainly unlike anything I have read in some time. It has many unreal incidents and characters. It travels from east to south through many dangerous areas and situations. Morgan comes through mostly unscathed and ends well in an epilogue. He is a wonderful character.
 (1).gif)
