Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
Cooking show host Augusta Simpson is turning 50 (ugh!) and discovers that her network wants to team her up with a young new co-host. So, throw in a few other ingredients – aka hunky assistant – and while in pursuit of higher ratings and foodie delights, she finds more than she bargained for. This book is a definite warm fuzzy – so if you need one of those have at it.
Lincoln as I Knew Him by Harold Holzer
Lincoln was a terrible dresser, rarely combed his hair, constantly read out loud, told a raunchy story with the best (or worst) of them, and let his kids run amuck in the White House. Who knew?
Holzer (who just happens to be an authority on Lincoln) snooped through nineteenth-century letters, diary entries, books, and speeches written by people who were Lincoln’s contemporaries -- which offers a tad bit different version than those history books we read in school. I like this guy Lincoln and the fact he freed the slaves is totally icing on the cake. Besides I’m actually related to him. He may be honest Abe to you but he’s Uncle Abe to me.
Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts
What is it with Letts and Wal Mart? Perhaps she thought it was her lucky-charm-book -setting, since her bestseller Where the Heart Is had a big Wal Mart connection. Well, not so fast Billie – Made in the U.S.A. was a trite yawner for me. 15-year-old Lutie McFee and her 11-year-old brother, Fate, take off to find their long-gone Dad by stealing a car and hot footing it to Las Vegas. Of course they become targets for child predators and it looks like they just won’t catch a break. Of course those of you who read Letts knows that things will turn out pretty sweet (aka: unbelievable) in the end.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Dominican-American writer Junot Díaz has a way with words -- which kept me reading this wacky story about Oscar the 300-lb loser-geek brother of, you guessed it – a perfect sister. Oscar does eventually end up with a girl – but only long enough to know, truly know heartbreak and loneliness.
Winner of the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, for Fiction – so, besides my endorsement its got that going for it.
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
From Star Wars icon and marrying Paul Simon, to dousing herself in drugs to combat bi-polar disorder, Carrie Fisher has had a charmed and chaotic life. I mean really – were you a bestselling action figure at the age of nineteen?
Wishful Drinking is a memoir of her life as she remembers it – parts have obviously gotten a bit fuzzy, what with the electroshock therapy…
Fisher has a great sense of humor -- no doubt why she’s still alive. My favorite part is when she learns the father of her daughter forgot to tell her he was gay (!), and the time she woke up one morning to find a friend dead beside her in bed.
6.08.2009
5.09.2009
Books Read March 2009
Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicky Myron
This story is about the author as much as it is about Dewey, the beloved library cat of Spencer Iowa. And that’s not a bad thing. Vicky Myron grew up on a family farm in Iowa and after her divorce she worked as an assistant librarian at the Spencer library. A single mother, Vicky worked towards a master’s degree during weekends and nights. A few years later she was promoted to director of the library. Things were, well, boringly librarian-ish until one freezing January morning when Myron discovers a half-dead kitten in the book drop slot. Named Dewey Readmore Books, the kitten charms the community and becomes the world’s most famous cat to live in a library. Through his nineteen years of inspiration and antics, the reader grows to know and love him, as well as many of the colorful people of Spencer.
Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos
Hope Jones, the physician’s wife is literally swept up and disappears in the tornado of 1978. For her three young children, life becomes a storm without end. Years later, Larken, the eldest, is now an art history professor who overeats to fill the empty space; Gaelan, the son, is a weatherman who tries to predict the future; and the youngest, Bonnie, is a small-town entrepreneur who collects roadside treasures, er, junk that the tornado picked up and put down – in hopes of finding the one clue that will tell her what really happened to her Mother. Gathered together again after their father’s death, each is forced to revisit the tragedy that has defined their lives.
For an outlandish story line this book is firmly rooted in the real world and might I add -- believable. Great quirky story.
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
O.K. I’ll admit right now this is my first Sedaris book. Somehow I’ve missed the other five, but how can you take one look at this cover and not want to read it? As it turns out it’s a collection of frenetic essays inspired by his life – very funny and valiant. Finding the water shut off in his house in Normandy he uses the water in a flower vase to make coffee, and well, I won’t tell you more except that David Sedaris uses his life's most bizarre moments to thoroughly entertain and wisen us up. Brilliant, funny.
The Turtle Catcher by Nicole Helget
Helget tells the story of German immigrants who have landed in a rural Minnesota town in the days of World War I. Liesel, the only girl in the family of Richter boys, has a secret about her body that was protected until her mother dies. Her closest friend is Lester, the “slow” boy in the rough Sutter family, who spends his days trapping turtles in the lake. Ruh Roh…sounds like trouble to me. Needing to break away from her predictable and boring life, Liesel puts her friend in danger.
I was in a constant state of expectation but the big pay-off never came. In the world of novels Helget is a tyros, so perhaps her next attempt will be more fulfilling.
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
A fourteen year old girl in 17th-century Persia believes she will be married within the year. But then her father dies, and alone and penniless Mother and daughter are forced to sell the beautiful rug she had woven for her dowry. With the dowry money they travel to Isfahan to work as servants for her uncle Gostaham, who happens to be a rich rug designer in the court of the Shah. She becomes a brilliant weaver of carpets, but even so, is forced into a secret marriage as a lowly second wife. Ugh. The quandary -- risk everything to be a rug weaver in a world dominated by men, or live a lie? The novel is infused with the sights and sounds of 17th-century Isfahan, it’s historical fiction, and a darn good read.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys 1660-1669 an Abridgment Edited by Isabel Ely Lord
This is so cool! Samuel Pepys, a tailor's son who climbed up the ladder of the royal bureaucracy, wrote a shorthand account of his often scandalous experiences in London between 1660 and 1669. First deciphered in 1825, it has subsequently become one of the main sources for the social life of the Restoration and the years encompassing some of the most dramatic events of London’s history. Pepys witnessed the London Fire, the Great Plague, the Restoration of Charles II, and the Dutch Wars. He was a patron of the arts, especially fond of the theater, loved good clothes, music and food almost as much as his dalliance with women. What a lovable cad!
Dear reader…don’t make the mistake I made by reading an early version. I was on the brink of pulling my hair out trying to understand old English. Little did I know that in 1970 Robert Latham and William Matthews went back to the 300-year-old original manuscript and deciphered each passage and phrase and came away with a reliable, full text, with commentary and notation. Read. That. One.
This story is about the author as much as it is about Dewey, the beloved library cat of Spencer Iowa. And that’s not a bad thing. Vicky Myron grew up on a family farm in Iowa and after her divorce she worked as an assistant librarian at the Spencer library. A single mother, Vicky worked towards a master’s degree during weekends and nights. A few years later she was promoted to director of the library. Things were, well, boringly librarian-ish until one freezing January morning when Myron discovers a half-dead kitten in the book drop slot. Named Dewey Readmore Books, the kitten charms the community and becomes the world’s most famous cat to live in a library. Through his nineteen years of inspiration and antics, the reader grows to know and love him, as well as many of the colorful people of Spencer.
Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos
Hope Jones, the physician’s wife is literally swept up and disappears in the tornado of 1978. For her three young children, life becomes a storm without end. Years later, Larken, the eldest, is now an art history professor who overeats to fill the empty space; Gaelan, the son, is a weatherman who tries to predict the future; and the youngest, Bonnie, is a small-town entrepreneur who collects roadside treasures, er, junk that the tornado picked up and put down – in hopes of finding the one clue that will tell her what really happened to her Mother. Gathered together again after their father’s death, each is forced to revisit the tragedy that has defined their lives.
For an outlandish story line this book is firmly rooted in the real world and might I add -- believable. Great quirky story.
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
O.K. I’ll admit right now this is my first Sedaris book. Somehow I’ve missed the other five, but how can you take one look at this cover and not want to read it? As it turns out it’s a collection of frenetic essays inspired by his life – very funny and valiant. Finding the water shut off in his house in Normandy he uses the water in a flower vase to make coffee, and well, I won’t tell you more except that David Sedaris uses his life's most bizarre moments to thoroughly entertain and wisen us up. Brilliant, funny.
The Turtle Catcher by Nicole Helget
Helget tells the story of German immigrants who have landed in a rural Minnesota town in the days of World War I. Liesel, the only girl in the family of Richter boys, has a secret about her body that was protected until her mother dies. Her closest friend is Lester, the “slow” boy in the rough Sutter family, who spends his days trapping turtles in the lake. Ruh Roh…sounds like trouble to me. Needing to break away from her predictable and boring life, Liesel puts her friend in danger.
I was in a constant state of expectation but the big pay-off never came. In the world of novels Helget is a tyros, so perhaps her next attempt will be more fulfilling.
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
A fourteen year old girl in 17th-century Persia believes she will be married within the year. But then her father dies, and alone and penniless Mother and daughter are forced to sell the beautiful rug she had woven for her dowry. With the dowry money they travel to Isfahan to work as servants for her uncle Gostaham, who happens to be a rich rug designer in the court of the Shah. She becomes a brilliant weaver of carpets, but even so, is forced into a secret marriage as a lowly second wife. Ugh. The quandary -- risk everything to be a rug weaver in a world dominated by men, or live a lie? The novel is infused with the sights and sounds of 17th-century Isfahan, it’s historical fiction, and a darn good read.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys 1660-1669 an Abridgment Edited by Isabel Ely Lord
This is so cool! Samuel Pepys, a tailor's son who climbed up the ladder of the royal bureaucracy, wrote a shorthand account of his often scandalous experiences in London between 1660 and 1669. First deciphered in 1825, it has subsequently become one of the main sources for the social life of the Restoration and the years encompassing some of the most dramatic events of London’s history. Pepys witnessed the London Fire, the Great Plague, the Restoration of Charles II, and the Dutch Wars. He was a patron of the arts, especially fond of the theater, loved good clothes, music and food almost as much as his dalliance with women. What a lovable cad!
Dear reader…don’t make the mistake I made by reading an early version. I was on the brink of pulling my hair out trying to understand old English. Little did I know that in 1970 Robert Latham and William Matthews went back to the 300-year-old original manuscript and deciphered each passage and phrase and came away with a reliable, full text, with commentary and notation. Read. That. One.
3.30.2009
Books Read February
Green Chic – Saving the Earth in Style by Christina Matheson
Christie Matheson wants you to think that being chic and environmentally responsible isn’t mutually exclusive. I want to you think about this – just because someone is a writer doesn’t mean they’re an expert. Matheson writes for Glamour, Shape, coauthored The Confetti Cakes Cookbook, and Tea Party – and is now trying to persuade me to save the earth with her cupcake and chamomile credentials. It’s difficult to take her advice seriously – I mean this is a woman who casually dismisses “saving the earth” to suit her sense of fashion or life-style. The acid test? She simply cannot live without her environmentally unfriendly deodorant. Give me a break.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Published in 1940, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is the story of John Singer, a deaf-mute in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. When his companion of 10 years goes insane, Singer is left alone. He rents a room with the Kelly family, where he is visited by a parade of the town's misfits, who gibber away, and praise his ability to understand them. Of course he has NO idea what they are talking about most of the time. All these individuals are considered outcasts --because of race, politics, or disability – which may have made it a cutting edge work of fiction in the 40’s but just doesn’t bring it today.
Carson McCullers is called a major literary talent and she’s a best selling author – even being hailed as one of the great writers of the American South. Oprah agrees. I don’t.
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Reade is not just another predictable Postwar Germany story. 15-year-old Michael Berg is helped through an embarrassing situation by Hanna, a woman twice his age. Later he seeks her out to thank her for the kindness and the two become lovers. As the romance winds down, Hanna disappears without a word and Michael continues his life. Many years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, he recognizes Hanna as one of the women on trial and ends up in prison. Their relationship grows again –this time a friendship of sorts, and Michael learns her secret.
Are you ready for a great book? Well, here ‘tiz.
The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti by Annie Vanderbilt
Lily Crisp has the ideal life – a cozy farm in Idaho, a loving husband, two wonderful children, and a vacation house on the coast of France. Gee, can life get much better? Maybe, but not until tragedy strikes. Lily is forced to ponder her future by taking the time to relive her past – and what better refuge than the house in France called La Pierre Rouge? Enter Yves, local hunk and handyman, who fixes the tiles on the roof, and, um other stuff too. When she’s alone Lily pounds the keys of Madame Olivetti, her old fashioned manual typewriter in hopes of making sense of her life. She manages to make all the loose ends come together and what results is a nice, ambling story about the strange turns our life takes on the road to find love and happiness.
The Shack by William Paul Young
Missy is abducted during a family vacation, and evidence is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness that indicates she may have been murdered by a serial killer. Four years later and still in deep grief, Missy’s father Mack receives a suspicious note inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. He goes. As it turns out, the note was written by God, so Mack spends a few days with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Hmmm.
Young was born to Canadian missionaries who were assigned to a cannibalistic New Guinea tribe - so he’s got some spiritual savvy. He also stated in an interview that he began to be sexually abused by the men of the tribe at age 4. I guess this book is part of the on-going healing, but I just couldn’t get into it. Although The Shack was written for his family and a few close friends, Young eventually self-published a few hundred copies. Now it’s a New York Times Best Seller. To me, that is the best part of the book. I love a great rags-to-riches story.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Edgar Sawtelle was born mute and speaks only in sign language. He lives on a farm in northern Wisconsin where the Sawtelle family has raised and trained an extraordinary breed of dog for three generations. After an unfortunate series of events, Edgar is forced to leave -- accompanied by three yearling pups. What could have been a riveting family saga falls short. Wroblewski yammers on in places of little concern, and for those of us who valiantly read the entire book, he fails to tie up the loose ends. Is he thinking sequel?
The Truro Bear and Other Adventures by Mary Oliver
Oh great – a book recommended by my Mother – and to top it off it’s a book of poems! My doubt was ephemeral. Oliver makes animals and insects appear magical by taking the time to pay attention to their world. In this book she “made friends with the creatures nearby…” which included a few lonely spiders, some wild grasshoppers, and the bear that haunts the Truo woods. Small and common become large and important when you read Mary Oliver.
Christie Matheson wants you to think that being chic and environmentally responsible isn’t mutually exclusive. I want to you think about this – just because someone is a writer doesn’t mean they’re an expert. Matheson writes for Glamour, Shape, coauthored The Confetti Cakes Cookbook, and Tea Party – and is now trying to persuade me to save the earth with her cupcake and chamomile credentials. It’s difficult to take her advice seriously – I mean this is a woman who casually dismisses “saving the earth” to suit her sense of fashion or life-style. The acid test? She simply cannot live without her environmentally unfriendly deodorant. Give me a break.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Published in 1940, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is the story of John Singer, a deaf-mute in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. When his companion of 10 years goes insane, Singer is left alone. He rents a room with the Kelly family, where he is visited by a parade of the town's misfits, who gibber away, and praise his ability to understand them. Of course he has NO idea what they are talking about most of the time. All these individuals are considered outcasts --because of race, politics, or disability – which may have made it a cutting edge work of fiction in the 40’s but just doesn’t bring it today.
Carson McCullers is called a major literary talent and she’s a best selling author – even being hailed as one of the great writers of the American South. Oprah agrees. I don’t.
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Reade is not just another predictable Postwar Germany story. 15-year-old Michael Berg is helped through an embarrassing situation by Hanna, a woman twice his age. Later he seeks her out to thank her for the kindness and the two become lovers. As the romance winds down, Hanna disappears without a word and Michael continues his life. Many years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, he recognizes Hanna as one of the women on trial and ends up in prison. Their relationship grows again –this time a friendship of sorts, and Michael learns her secret.
Are you ready for a great book? Well, here ‘tiz.
The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti by Annie Vanderbilt
Lily Crisp has the ideal life – a cozy farm in Idaho, a loving husband, two wonderful children, and a vacation house on the coast of France. Gee, can life get much better? Maybe, but not until tragedy strikes. Lily is forced to ponder her future by taking the time to relive her past – and what better refuge than the house in France called La Pierre Rouge? Enter Yves, local hunk and handyman, who fixes the tiles on the roof, and, um other stuff too. When she’s alone Lily pounds the keys of Madame Olivetti, her old fashioned manual typewriter in hopes of making sense of her life. She manages to make all the loose ends come together and what results is a nice, ambling story about the strange turns our life takes on the road to find love and happiness.
The Shack by William Paul Young
Missy is abducted during a family vacation, and evidence is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness that indicates she may have been murdered by a serial killer. Four years later and still in deep grief, Missy’s father Mack receives a suspicious note inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. He goes. As it turns out, the note was written by God, so Mack spends a few days with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Hmmm.
Young was born to Canadian missionaries who were assigned to a cannibalistic New Guinea tribe - so he’s got some spiritual savvy. He also stated in an interview that he began to be sexually abused by the men of the tribe at age 4. I guess this book is part of the on-going healing, but I just couldn’t get into it. Although The Shack was written for his family and a few close friends, Young eventually self-published a few hundred copies. Now it’s a New York Times Best Seller. To me, that is the best part of the book. I love a great rags-to-riches story.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Edgar Sawtelle was born mute and speaks only in sign language. He lives on a farm in northern Wisconsin where the Sawtelle family has raised and trained an extraordinary breed of dog for three generations. After an unfortunate series of events, Edgar is forced to leave -- accompanied by three yearling pups. What could have been a riveting family saga falls short. Wroblewski yammers on in places of little concern, and for those of us who valiantly read the entire book, he fails to tie up the loose ends. Is he thinking sequel?
The Truro Bear and Other Adventures by Mary Oliver
Oh great – a book recommended by my Mother – and to top it off it’s a book of poems! My doubt was ephemeral. Oliver makes animals and insects appear magical by taking the time to pay attention to their world. In this book she “made friends with the creatures nearby…” which included a few lonely spiders, some wild grasshoppers, and the bear that haunts the Truo woods. Small and common become large and important when you read Mary Oliver.
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