November Books ROCK

Behind the Beautiful Forever’s by Katherine Boo

Since 1991, 3,000 people have been squatting on a half-acre of land owned by the Sahar International Airport known as Annawadi. Most residents earn money through recycling bits and pieces of trash. We’re talking tiny kids working 10 hour days for pennies. This true story follows several residents and not all of them make it to the end of the book. Boo writes for the New Yorker and has a Pulitzer Prize – so the book is well written to say the least. ♥

Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach

Put a six-foot high school quarterback inside a mansion owned by a world famous rock star and his equally famous ballerina wife. Kill off the quarterback’s parents, add a few love affairs and what do you have? Hugely great read that’s what. ♥♥♥♥

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

This may be my favorite book from Erdrich! It's the story of Antone Bazil Coutts, aka Joe -- an Indian boy faced with making sense of a horrific situation and how he struggles to come to terms with how things really work on the res. After a little detective work he makes a stunning discovery that will force him to decide what is right and wrong regardless of whether it is written in the Handbook of Federal Indian Law. ♥♥♥♥

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Hazel and Gus have cancer. Should they fall in love even though they only have months to live? If you are 16 and never been kissed then hell yes you do. They make the short time they have together count and work out a few of the BIG Questions. Young adult book but I enjoyed it SO much! ♥♥♥♥

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

One of the New York Times Book Review's Top 10 Books of 2012, and in my opinion destined to become a classic. Besides incredible insight into war and the measure of friendship; this book also has my all-time favorite first line: "The war tried to kill us in the spring." Just read it. ♥♥♥

October. Fall into a good read.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a young free-spirited nun, leaves south Indian in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor, Thomas Stone, who she meets again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, she dies giving birth to twin boys: Shiva and Marion. Cutting for Stone is the story of their lives, their adoptive parent’s lives and comes full circle when; well…you’ll just have to read the book! ♥♥♥

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is a wall-flower but ends up leading a full and interesting life once he makes friends with seniors: Patrick and Samantha. Patrick is gay, and Sam is pretty, and as unlikely as it seems, they make a charming trio. Interestingly the novel is formatted as a series of letters to an unnamed "friend," from Charlie. Drugs, sex and other teenage heartbreak and runs the gauntlet of emotion.♥

The Blood letter’s Daughter by Linda Lafferty

In 1606, the emperor’s bastard son, Don Julius is banished to a remote corner of Bohemia, and comes under the care of a blood letter -- who tries to cure him of his madness. The blood letter’s daughter Marketa, assists in the procedures, and finds herself in a royal bind.♥♥

The Five Tibetans by Christopher S. Kilham

I actually purchased this book before Dr. Mehmet Oz featured Kilham on his show. The book explains how regular practice of these five postures relieves muscle tension and nervous stress, improves digestion, strengthens the cardiovascular system, tunes and energizes the chakras, and leads to deep relaxation and well-being.

Originating in the Himalayas, the five yogic exercises known as the Five Tibetans take only a few minutes a day, but don’t for one nano-second think they are easy.♥

The Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 40 Years

 by Yvon Chouinard & Vincent Stanley

We all know that Patagonia is one of, if not THE coolest company on the planet, and we get an insider look at it. Chouinard and Stanley also give new meaning to helping the environment. They have studied their current impact of manufacturing and commerce on the planet’s natural systems and human communities and have committed to reducing the harm they cause, improve the quality of their business, and provide the kind of meaningful work everyone seeks. This information is shared with big and small companies world-wide.♥♥

September Books

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn, where both become sweatshop workers. Kimberly gets to attend school during the day and excels. Incredible story and amazing insight into the hope that immigrants have, while struggling to fit in, learn a new language and deal with poverty and injustice. ♥♥♥

Gold by Chris Cleave

Zoe and Kate are world-class athletes who have been friends and rivals since their first day of cycle training. Fast forward 10 years and it’s London 2012, but there’s only one spot on the Olympic team. Much-much more than a story about racing. ♥♥♥

Sutton by J.R. Moehringer

Willie Sutton’s life is an incredible story told by master story-teller, J.R. Moehringer. Sutton is poor and also trapped in the times-- bank panics, depressions and soaring unemployment. Needing money and wanting to win the girl of his dreams he becomes one of America's most successful bank robbers. Three decades of crime and numerous prison stints, and fearless break-outs, earn him the title of the most dangerous man in New York. Supposedly he never fired a shot, and the public loved him.♥♥♥

Wallace by Jim Gorant

Gorant is the author of The Lost Dogs– one of my favorite dog books. He’s back with another heartwarming story – this time about an unwanted Pit-bull named Wallace. Andrew “Roo” Yori and his wife save Wallace in the nick of time, start training him to pull heavy loads and play competitive Frisbee -- which everyone thinks is a terrible idea. Wallace ends up being a star so the good guys have the last laugh, er, bark. 

Dog Days & Wolf Days of August

Seven Patients by Atul Kumar

This is one of my favorite books of the year, yet it seems to be unknown and under-appreciated. The writing is sharp, the characters alive, until, well they aren't....and the seven stories are tied together like a fine surgeon sutures a wound. Highly recommended. ♥♥♥♥

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Hig survived the flu that killed almost everyone on earth. Now he’s holed up with a crazy gun-toting vigilante. His only solace is flying a 1956 Cessna (his beloved dog as copilot) around what was once Colorado. ♥♥

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia after some less than ideal tours of duty, and becomes the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock. The job and island suit him well enough but that would make a boring story so he marries Isabel. Years later, after it’s obvious Isabel can’t have children; a mysterious boat washes up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. What to do, what to do…♥♥

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Fourteen-year-old June Elbus is devastated when her godfather/uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss dies of AIDS. Finn painted a canvas for June and her sister to remember him by, which is worth about a million bucks, but the girls take turns de-facing it. However, it’s the coded message Finn leaves that helps her understand the mysterious illness and her uncle’s very full life – oh, and the strange man who was at the funeral. ♥♥

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

Inspired by his grandparents, Bohjalian introduces us to "The Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About," aka the Armenian genocide of 1915-16. The 20 second over-view: Elizabeth accompanies her father on his philanthropic mission to Syria, where she befriends Armenian engineer Armen. They are separated and write many letters. Years later, grand-daughter Laura hears about a photograph of a woman rumored to be her Armenian grandmother, taken by some brave photographers trying to bring the genocide to the attention of the world. ♥♥♥

July produces some hot reads

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This was my book of choice as I lounged with Bobette in ZIH. I could not put it down – not to chat, not to walk on the beach, not to (heaven forbid) have a Mohito! What could she do but join me and get lost in the story as well? A great book about a marriage on the rocks that leads to murder. Or does it?? ♥♥♥

Let’s Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Lawson’s “mostly true memoir,” is hip, fun to read and full of her views on sex, drugs, and relationships. I came away from the experience realizing that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are usually the ones that define us. ♥♥♥

A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay

Antoine Rey and his sister Mélanie revisit the beach where they spent many happy childhood summers. But the trip only reminds them of the last island summer when their Mother died, and awakens some not so savory family secrets.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

Rachel is the only survivor of a family tragedy so she is forced to move in with her strict African American grandmother. A great book about social justice and being biracial.♥♥

February is for Book Lovers

A Child al Confino:
The True Story of a Jewish Boy and His Mother in Mussolini’s Italy by Eric Lamet
Eric Lamet was born in Vienna in 1930. The son of Polish Jews, he fled to Italy with his family after the Germans invaded Austria. In his book, we experience his terror and confusion as he is forced to leave Vienna and he and his mother move in and out of several towns in Italy. After World War II ended, Lamet settled in Naples, where he finished high school and attended the University of Naples. He now lives in the United States. ♥♥♥

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Henry Skrimshander is a high school baseball prodigy when he’s recruited by Mike Schwartz to play at Westish College. Henry's roommate turns out to be a pot-smoking, gay, African American Owen Dunne, who also joins the team. As Henry closes in on a school record, things start o fall apart for everyone including the College president Guert Affenlight and his long-lost daughter.
Extremely well written and soulful. ♥♥♥

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
Pak Jun Do, is the unluckiest person in the worst country in the world. His Mother is stolen away to Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. His father is the drunken warden of an orphanage that serves as a supply house for children to be used for hard labor and the Chinese army. When he grows up Jun Do is trained for missions in the tunnels that penetrate into South Korea and then recruited for kidnapping people to add to the governments collection of human trophies.

The World As We Know It by Joseph Monninger
Ed and Allard grow up sharing their "dream map,” of exploration and crafting a beautiful future. On one such exploration they find Sarah, stuck in the river ice. The three become true friends and eventually skilled wild-life filmmakers. And then the world as they know it crumbles.

Queen of America by Luis Alberto Urrea
After the bloody Tomochic rebellion, Teresita Urrea, beloved healer and "Saint of Cabora," flees with her father to Arizona. Sounds great, but I just simply could not get in to it, so let me know how it ended...

January: Russia in Boise

It seems fitting while Boise was receiving its allotment of snow for the entire winter that I would be reading books about Russia. For example: Catherine the Great, Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie mentions a plethora of historical figures including the Austrian Frederick the Great, who was flushed out more completely in The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal. Nicholas and Alexandra, the Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty also by Massie, gets us in touch with our inner Rasputin – the ultimate weird Russian.

My favorite book this month, and quite possibly the year is...

The Hare With Amber Eyes, written by world famous potter Edmund de Waal. When de Waal inherited a collection of 264 netsuke (tiny Japanese wood and ivory carvings) he wanted to know how the collection had managed to survive over five generations. He spent two years researching his family history that crisscrossed Russia, Austria and Germany. His ancestors, the Ephrussis were as rich and respected as the Rothchilds, but by the end of the World War II, when the netsuke were hidden from the Nazis in Vienna, this collection was all that remained of their vast empire. Stunningly written.

Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch
You’ve got to love a maritime psychodrama set in 19th-century London. Jaffy Brown's a street urchin who gains fame by taming a tiger and ends up working for Charles Jamrach, a purveyor of exotic animals. Soon Jaffy is sent on a long journey to the South Pacific, in search of a dragon.

Oogy the Dog Only a Family Could Love by Larry Levin
Who can resist a true dog story? In 2002, when the Levin’s take their terminally ill cat to be put to sleep, they meet the ugliest dog they had ever seen. Missing an ear and half his face -- due to being used as a bait puppy for fighting dogs -- Oogy charms the Levin’s and the rest is history. Or a book deal. The story is incredible but the writing drags when Levin goes on and on about the family. You know what they say – nobody wants to hear about your kids…

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Nearly 2,000 years ago, nine hundred Jews held out for months and months against armies of Romans – all the while living in a small town perched on the side of a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. This is a well researched historical fiction account of that story. Beautiful.

The Orchard by Teresa Weir
A city girl gets a chance at a new life on an apple farm after she falls in love with Adrian, the beloved son of a prominent family. Adrian try’s to save the proverbial farm even though the orchards seem to be cursed.

The Woman Who Heard Color by Kelly Jones
First of all this book was written by Boise resident Kelly Jones who is one heck of a writer. Her Seventh Unicorn is one of my all-time favorite books. So, ‘Kindle’ this book -- The Woman Who Heard Color is a great read!! New York City, art detective Lauren O'Farrell is on the track of some very valuable stolen artwork. She shows up at Isabella Fletcher’s apartment to talk about her mother’s involvement in Nazis Austria. She was thought to have worked closely with the Nazis during World War II as they systematically looted valuable artwork from the Jewish community. Even though the cover looks like some trashy romance book, don’t let that fool you –this is a great book.

November is Chilly -- Read a Good Book!

Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Sixteen-year-old Margo Crane fancies herself a modern day Annie Oakley who can shoot her own food and take care of herself. Pretty smart except she regularly has sex with the wrong kind of men. After the violent death of her father, she takes to…drum roll….The River, in search of her long-lost mother. Yawner. Even the sex is a yawner.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
15-year-old Esch struggles with trying to snag a man who only wants her for sex. Her brother Skeetah struggles with saving his beloved pit bull, China. Meanwhile Hurricane Katrina is moving in. I didn’t like the book. I couldn’t put it down but I didn’t like it. Which brings to mind some kind of food addict who knows the Ding Dongs aren’t healthy but they can’t stop shoving them in their mouth.

The Litigators by John Grisham
Finley & Figg is a dumpy law office strategically located on a busy street corner with lots of accidents. Perfect for ambulance chasers. The two partners, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg are like an old married couple whose future looks pretty boring. That is until Harvard-educated, up-town lawyer David Zinc, stumbles drunk as a skunk into their office. Grisham like the old days – darn good book. ♥♥

The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
Natalia’s life is woven from the thread of her Grandfathers tale about the Tiger’s Wife. And her life is also unraveling as she follows in her Grandfathers footsteps to become a doctor. Anyway, between her current project of inoculating orphans against disease and trying to find her dead Grandfathers belongings, the true “Tale” reveals itself. ♥♥♥

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Victoria Jones has one good memory – the knowledge she gathered while at her last foster home. When she ages out of the foster program, she becomes homeless but manages to maintain a small flower garden. Somehow (it is fiction after-all) she lands a job selling flowers, where she meets her match in the secret language of flowers – a guy named Grant. Sometimes sappy but all-in-all great book. ♥♥♥♥

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Where just yesterday was a simple farmer’s field -- now stands a wonderful black and white circus that mysteriously appeared during the night. The Le Cirque des Rêves is so entertaining, the food so indescribable that a flock of people follow it – think rock band groupies. But within the circus wall there is much more going on than animal acts and yummy circus food. The circus is a stage for a competition between two young magicians, Celia and Marco. I had visions of this being the best book of the year, until half-way through when the thought vanished like Celia’s Dad. Not number one or even a close second -- but worth reading. ♥♥

October: Scary Good Books

Don’t Let’s Go To the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
Alexandra actually lives how we all dream of as children – little or no parental supervision in a wild country filled with animals and open spaces to explore. If even half of it is true she’s lucky to have lived through it. ♥

Faith by Jennifer Haigh
No matter what I write it doesn’t do justice to the story. So, the basics -- Art is a popular pastor and finds himself in the middle of some unsavory accusations. Faith is a sharply-written book about family and how far loyalty goes. ♥

The Abbey by Chris Culver
Ash Rashid is almost ready to retire, when his niece is killed and he’s forced to look at a case that doesn’t stack up.

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
Every once in a while there comes along a book written in a way that is so fresh and new that describing it will not only NOT do it justice, but sound so different and weird as to actually drive potential readers away. So…know this is a wonderful book with the force of poetry and a story that is steeped in culture, sadness, lightness, and hope. ♥♥♥

The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmm
Full disclosure: I read that this was a soon-to-be-released motion picture with George Clooney so I simply had to read it. Set in Hawaii, the King family, descendants of Hawaiian royalty are deciding to sell a huge chunk of the islands. Unfortunately Matthew King’s wife Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident. ♥♥♥

Unsaid by Neil Abramson
During Helena’s career as a vet, she had escorted thousands of animals to the other side. But newly dead, she’s not doing so well and is basically haunting her husband. She not only leaves him a houseful of animals, but a not-so-loving mysterious life as an animal researcher. Enter Cindy-- a ‘signing’ chimpanzee who is scheduled for a research experiment that will undoubtedly kill her. Quite possibly the best book of the year. ♥♥♥♥

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Julie Otsuka’s debut novel (2003) is about the Japanese internment camps. See full glowing review about her style above. ♥♥♥

White Heat by M.J. McGrath
Set in the Arctic, White Heat is the story of half Inuit and half outsider, Edie Kiglatuk – who makes her living as a guide. When a man is shot and killed on one of her "authentic" adventures she is suspicious of the events and tries to discover what actually happened. ♥