Kirsty Manning's The Song of the Jade Lily is a fine note on which to end a year of pretty good reads. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to read "yet another World War II" book, but the fact that this book was set in Shanghai tipped the scale in this novel's favor. I've known about the Jews who were able to escape Europe by being granted sanctuary in Shanghai. (In fact, I know a gentleman who spent his childhood in Shanghai.) I wanted to see what I could learn from this novel.

Some of the politics about what went on in Shanghai before and during World War II were a bit confusing to me. I probably need to do a bit more research on this time and place. That didn't diminish my reading experience.

After tragedy strikes Romy Bernfeld's family, she and her parents feel lucky to be able to escape to Shanghai. They were lucky to have an Austrian benefactor and then someone else to help them in Shanghai. As such, the Bernfeld's initially live a rather charmed life in Shanghai while Romy's new friend, Nina, from the boat, is living the life of a refugee, in the Shanghai ghetto. Romy becomes friends with a Chinese family. They introduce her to ancient medicine and acupuncture. This family and her parents teach her about loyalty and doing what is right.

As is common with historical fiction novels, Romy's story in Shanghai alternates with her granddaughter's story. Alexandra is recovering from a broken heart, is questioning herself professionally, and is trying to figure out more about her mother's history. Alexandra leaves London to spend some time with her grandparents in Australia. She stays there a little longer after her grandfather dies, and while she's there, she questions some things in her grandparents relationship that she believes might have something to do with her mother's history. As luck would have it, Alexandra's next job assignment is in Shanghai. Not only can she start anew, she'll be able to dig a little deeper into her mother's past.

The Song of the Jade Lily is a story of survival, of friendship, of loyalty and of family. I learned more about what life might have been like for Jews in Shanghai before and during World War II. I was very surprised to learn how anti-immigrant Australia was at that same time. I would definitely recommend this book, but with a caveat. There were some issues with continuity throughout the novel that I sometimes found distracting.

Things You Save in a Fire

I'm not sure where I first read about Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center, but I must have requested it from the library, forgotten about it... and then it appeared last week. I rarely read chick lit, and decided that this would be an excellent book to read on an airplane trip.

The main character, Cassie Hanwell, is a high-achieving firefighter in Austin, Texas. She's not got the greatest relationship with her mother, who left Cassie and her dad when Cassie was 16. As coincidences happen, Cassie's mom asks Cassie to come help her "take care of things" at about the same time that Cassie lets loose on a councilman at an awards ceremony. Cassie needs to leave Austin... and her mom needs her.

She moves from progressive Austin to a small town in Massachusetts. The firehouse she joins is still in the dark ages. Old equipment and old mentalities. Much of the novel is about Cassie's efforts to improve her situation. She applies for grants to update the firehouse and she works hard at proving that a woman does belong in the firehouse.

Cassie starts to work at the firehouse on the same day as a rookie firefighter. Her new crew seems to lump Cassie, a highly accomplished firefighter, with the rookie. As a result, they spend a lot of time together.

There's much character development and positive growth across all the characters. And as far as chick lit books go, this one went a little deeper. This is a book that I would recommend.

Have You Seen Luis Velez?

In my opinion, Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay It Forward, really hit a home run with Have You Seen Luis Velez? It is a story about kindness and optimism and friendship in a less than ideal world. I think this might be my favorite book that I've read all year.

The main character of the story is Raymond, a 17-year old boy whose best and only friend moves away and he doesn't feel as though he fits in with his family. He encounters Millie, an elderly neighborhood, in the hallway one day. She was looking for her caregiver, Luis Velez. In the absence of Luis, Raymond picks up some of his caregiving duties. At the same time, he decides he's going to find out what happened to Luis. He realizes that this is a story that won't end well for Millie. Either Luis made a choice to no longer visit Millie or something terrible happened to him. But in either case, Raymond thinks it's important to know what happened to Luis, the young man that she had come to love.

The development of the friendship between Raymond and Millie would be heartwarming on its own. But in the process of searching for Luis, Raymond develops some other relationships and awakens in most of those he meets the desire to do something with their lives that will impact others. Raymond's relationship with his father improves. For the first time in his life, they really talk about things that matter. He works on the relationship with his mother, too.

This novel is so heartwarming and so inspiring. I highly recommend it.

The Giver of Stars

I started 2019 with a Jojo Moyes book, and I'm (nearly) finishing the year with another one. The Giver of Stars is an interesting mix of historical fiction and chick lit. It's a book about women's friendships. And then there's some romance, not my cup of tea, but the rest of the story made up for it. This is a book that I believe would appeal to a diverse group of readers.

In The Giver of Stars, English author, Jojo Moyes, weaves a tale around the WPA Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky, a actual initiative by Eleanor Roosevelt that had women on horseback delivering library books to underserved in the mountains in an attempt to get people reading. (Now I'm wondering if this is something was included in The Library Book that I finished as soon as I finished that book.) I loved reading about the development of this library.

Alice Van Cleve, newly arrived from England, unhappily newly wed, is one of the first to volunteer to be a librarian. She joins Margery, an independent tough talking woman with a reputation based on her father's reputation before her. Eventually there are 4 other librarians, each with an interesting backstory. One of the librarians, a black woman, had gotten her experience at the Louisville Colored Branch (library).

As in every other Moyes book that I've read, character development is excellent. We see most of the librarians change, grow, and develop as the story moves along. Moyes doesn't ignore the men in their lives. We get to see growth and development there, too.

This novel is very popular in one of the reading groups I participate in on Facebook. I'd highly recommend it... if you think you can put up with the romance aspects of the novel.

Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan

I don't even recall requesting Nine Folds Make A Paper Swan by Ruth Gilligan, but apparently I did. One day I got an email saying that it had been checked out of the library for me. I can only presume that I read about it in an email from the Jewish Book Council and put it on hold. I'm so glad I did. What an interesting book!

The novel is written in a somewhat unique, somewhat frustrating way. There are three seemingly disparate and disconnected stories being told. One is the story of Ruth, a Jewish Lithuanian immigrant who left with her family in the early 1900s for New York - but wound up Cork, Ireland instead. Then there's the story of Shem, a mute Jewish teenager who is keeping his mother's secret, which takes place in the late 1950s. And finally, there is the contemporary story of Irish Catholic Aisling who is contemplating taking a leap of faith for her Jewish boyfriend.

Initially, due to the way the stories unfold, it was confusing. Then I decided to just go with it, not torturing myself trying to figure out how the stories might eventually connect. For that, I was rewarded by a very interesting read. I knew virtually nothing about the struggles of the Jewish community in Ireland. In fact, I really never even considered that their might have been a Jewish community in Ireland. In addition, I picked up a little bit of Irish history to boot. And I was satisfied with the ending.

I'd highly recommend this book.

The Screwtape Lettters

November's genre in Books & Beer Club is inspirational. The group selected The Screwtape Letters, the classic masterpiece of C.S. Lewis. It's a satirical look at religion and the afterlife. I didn't appreciate the humor and I didn't find this book at all inspirational!

I started reading the book and it just slogged on and on. Then I decided to listen to it, thinking it would be easier to get through it. It was easier as I didn't have to pay close attention. I heard the main ideas and let the rest of the words just roll over me. I know the idea of the book, I know how it ends, and I'm prepared to discuss. I really am curious to find out if the others found the book inspirational. How? And why? I don't think a book club meeting will change my opinion of this book, but I want to understand why others seem to view it so favorably.

My husband, the non-reader, listened to the last hour or two of the novel in a long car ride. He seemed more engaged than I was. And he asked when the book was written (1942) since so much of it seemed current to him. I guess questions of religion's intersection with government existed forever and will continue to exist as long as both governments and religions exist.

I'm not a fan of this book. I gave it two stars on goodreads where it has a 4.22 overall raiting.

On Division

After I read about On Division, Goldie Goodbloom's novel about a 57-year old woman in the Chasidic community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I suggested it to my synagogue book club as a title for our next meeting. The response from the group was mixed, but once one woman purchased the book while we were still discussing it, we decided that we might as well go with this one for our January discussion.

We typically try to select books that would be of broad interest to Jews and non-Jews. While this book fits the bill, some of the language and customs might only be recognizable to someone familiar on any level with Chasidic Judaism. However, the big ideas of the novel were a late-in-life pregnancy, dealing with the loss of a child, and aging in general. We're hoping to grow our book club. I'm not sure if this was the title to help us achieve this, but I'm quite anxious to talk about this with the group.

Surie, at 57, is getting ready to enjoy a more quiet life after her husband, Yidel, retires at 62. They've raised 10 children, have multiple grandchildren and are expecting their first great grandchild. A late-in-life pregnancy wasn't in the plan. And how did this miraculous pregnancy even take place (besides the obvious)? Surie needs to come to terms with her condition before she shares the news with others in her family.

Besides her children and grandchildren, Surie has loving in-laws who live in the same apartment building. One of her daughters lives in the building with her family as well. The lives of those in the building are very closely interconnected. Will she be able to keep her secret until she is ready to share with the others?

If you enjoy reading "Jewish" fiction, I would definitely recommend this one!

The Japanese Lover

I'm not sure if I really enjoyed Isabel Allende's The Japanese Lover more than I might have because it's the first audio book I've listened to in years. In my previous life, I spent lots of hours in the car alone and I always had an audio book going. Usually the audio books I listened to were lighter than the books I was reading in print. But sometimes I'd listen to a book club book or a book I needed to read for my work as a fifth grade teacher.

The Japanese Lover is a BIG book. Not in terms of length, but it terms of all the themes covered in the book. Included in this novel is a story about Poland during World War II, a refuge child sent to California. A little girl growing up with her extended family. A young woman running away from her old life. Japanese internment. Sex slaves. Child pornography. Recreating life after a life altering injury. Taking on a new identity to run from an ugly past. Falling in love. Art. Gardening. AIDS. And aging. I don't think I've forgotten anything. If I have, apologies.

Alma is a young child when she leaves her parents and Poland to go live with her mother's sister and her family in San Francisco. She is in her 70s when she moves to Lark House, a home with stepped up care from independent living to assisted living to end-of-life care. Living in a community where there are mostly older adults, that was something I could relate to. She hires Irina, a careworker in the home, to be her personal assistant. Each woman has secrets, but as they grow closer, their secrets come out. This is in part due to Alma's grandson, Seth, who is writing a family history, digging into Alma's past.

The characters are well developed and each of the subplots feels complete. I never felt as though the author was rushing through one story to get to another. I'd highly recommend this one, and will probably suggest it to my book club as a possible title for discussion.

I was reminded by how much I enjoy listening to audio books. I need to find one that my husband and I can enjoy together. Or I need to find more alone time in the car!

Annie's Life in Lists

It's been far too long since I read a middle grade chapter book! I must have requested this novel, Annie's Life in Lists by Kristin Mahoney, from the library after reading a recommendation, a review or something about it somewhere. One day, I got an email from the library saying it was checked out. I read it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The plot of Annie's Life in Lists is really similar to the plot of a middle grade chapter book that I wrote... but then never did anything with. Annie's family moves from Brooklyn, NY to upstate New York after her father gets a new job. In my draft, my main character - whose name I can't even remember - moves from suburban New Jersey to rural central Florida. Both stories are about adjusting to new lives, leaving friends behind, making new friends.

What makes Kristin Mahoney's novel unique is that it's totally written in lists. Annie is incredibly observant and has an amazing memory, but she keeps her life in order by writing lists.

This is certainly a book that any middle grade reader will enjoy.

The German Girl

There's lots to like about Amrando Lucas Correa's debut novel, The German Girl. It's the story of the Rosen family and their exile in Cuba.

The Rosenthals were a wealthy, influential family in pre-WWII Berlin. They are persecuted by the ogres. After laws making them non-persons in Germany, they are given the opportunity to escape Berlin on the luxury liner, The St. Louis. Alma, Max and their daughter, Hannah, make their plans. They'll go to Cuba temporarily until they are able to get into New York City. They've transferred large amounts of money to a trust in Canada that they plan to live off of. They have an apartment ready for them in NYC. Alma and Hannah get their papers to go right away. Eventually, Alma is able to purchase "Benitez papers" for Max. Accompanying them on the trip are Hannah's best friend, Leo, and his father.

Hannah and Leo enjoy their crossing. The cruise ship is their world and they are free to explore as they wish. Their relationship grows even stronger. They make promises to each other.

When the ship makes it to Havana, most of the 937 passengers on board have had their papers invalidated. Including Max, Leo, and his dad. Hannah and pregnant Alma are two of the very few who are able to disembark. We eventually do learn about what happened to Max and Leo and his dad, but the bulk of the story is about Hannah and Alma's time in Havana.

Fast forward to 2014. In New York City, 12 year old Anna Rosen is struggling to take care of herself and her mother after her father was killed on September 11th. They receive a package full of photos from Anna's great aunt, Hannah, living in Cuba. This prompts Anna to ask if she and her mom can go to Havana to meet Hannah and to learn more about her father.

I'd heard about the St. Louis before. I knew that it was turned away from the USA with many refugees on board. But I didn't realize that the ship was bound for Cuba and that the folks on board had papers that they believed would let them into Cuba. I also didn't realize that this was a luxury liner and that the passengers enjoyed more or less a cruise experience during the crossing. I learned quite a bit about that.

The book left me with many questions, though. I had specific questions about Alma and Hannah's life in Havana as well as life for the Jews in Havana. That might be something I need to research.

I'd recommend this book.

October's genre is Horror/Thriller

I was late to the Ray Bradbury game. After reading enjoying Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles in the past few years, I was happy when Books and Beer Club selected Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes for our October horror/thriller selection. I'm not a fan of horror or thrillers, but this one sounded interesting... and I liked the author.

Something Wicked is about a creepy carnival that comes to town in October. The centerpiece of the carnival is a carousel. When it goes forward, the rider ages rapidly. When the carousel goes backwards, the rider gets younger. Rapidly. For me, this novel was tedious, and the language which was very poetic and created wonderful images really did slow me down.

I'll keep this short. Horror and thrillers aren't my genres and as such, I didn't really enjoy reading this book. I did find one of the father's observations on aging interesting. And I liked the way the relationship between one of the boys and his father developed over the novel.

I'm glad I stuck with it. I'm looking forward to dressing up as The Illustrated Man for our costumed book club meeting this Wednesday evening. But as for a review or a recommendation, I'm not going to bore you.

A break in my reading slump

I'm not sure if I'm in a reading slump because I just can't seem to get into Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes (which I'm reading for Books and Beer Club) or if I just haven't felt like reading. But the longer I went without making a dent in any book, the more anxious I began to feel. So I picked up The Red Address Book which I'd read about in a "reading lovers" Facebook group I'd joined. Everyone in the group loved it. It sounded like it could be a quick, easy read.

It was quick. I finished it in a single day. It was relatively easy. And it was just okay. What really made it relatable, though, was the day before, while visiting an elderly cousin, she spent time thumbing through her address book, reminiciscing about the people listed in the pages. That had brought back memories of my dad and I going through his contacts on his smart phone, "updating" the contacts. While we updated, we talked about nearly every person he had listed. I learned more about his life and relationships in addition to learning who was still alive and who was dead.

In an attempt to tell her great niece, Jenny, about her life, 96-year old Doris thumbs through the old address book her father had given her when she was just a girl. As each entry died, she marked them dead. This novel focuses on just a few of the entries. I think I wish there had been some other people she told stories about, even if they weren't so central to her story. We learn about the impact each individual had on Doris' life. And she had quite a life!

I did love how relatable and authentic Jenny was portrayed. Her interactions with her great aunt were spot on!

Would I recommend it? If you're in the mood for a book about a full life and what it's like to reach the end of it, you might enjoy this.

I reread a book for the third time last month

Mark Haddon's the curious incident of the dog in the night-time was one of the first novels I read after finishing my graduate degree in 2003. It's written from the perspective of one we assume to be on the autism spectrum (which may or may not be the case) and was fascinating to me as a newly minted highly qualified teacher.

Shortly after graduation, I joined my first book club. The club was  sponsored by our local educational foundation and was open to anyone employed in our school district. It took them a year or so to select the curious incident... for the book club to read and discuss. It was a perfect fit for the group. I wanted to get the most out of the discussion so I reread the book.

September is "Banned Books Month." Every year, Books and Beer Club selects a banned book to read in September. We came up with a long list of titles this year, but this was the one selected. You might be wondering why it was banned. I know that I was. It was banned for language, which I didn't notice so it couldn't have been terrible. But it was also banned because the main character, Christopher, is an atheist. None of the members of my book club where the least offended by this.

Third time around, the book felt too short. Maybe because I knew what was coming. I wanted to dig deeper into the characters of Christopher and his parents. That made it a quick read, though, so I was easily able to finish this book with lots going on in my life.

One of the book club members invited the woman who started and runs our local autism support group. What a resource that must be for parents and caregivers. She even brought along her son who is on the spectrum. He spoke to us first, then she spoke to us. We talked about what might or might not have been inaccuracies in the book and what totally rang true. Afterwards we had our usual interesting discussion. Most of us gave the book a thumbs up.

We talked about going to see the traveling production of the play which was an adaptation of the book, but the only date that many us were free was the weekend we were waiting to see if Hurricane Dorian was coming to town. I think others did eventually see the play, but I did not.

I definitely recommend this book if you haven't already read it.

Best Sedaris yet!

My entire "immediate' family gathered together - on vacation - in North Carolina right after Labor Day this year. We hadn't been all together for anything but sad and tragic events in over 9 years. It was great.

We were all posting photos on Facebook - of the scenery and of each other. One of my brother's friends recommended Calypso by David Sedaris in response to one of my brother's posts. This latest Sedaris collection of essays is about his North Carolina beach house - and his family. See the connection? We weren't at the beach, but we were in North Carolina - and we were with family.

As soon as I read this guy's comment, I looked up the book, added it to my TBR list... and ended up starting it a few days later. I think this is my favorite of all the Sedaris books I've read.

As much as this book is about family vacations in North Carolina, it's more about aging within the context of being part of a family. It's about loss. It's about watching parents age. I connected with this book on so many levels.

It started with this: ...thinking all the while about my ever-shrinking family. A person expects his parents to die. But a sibling? I felt I'd lost the identity I'd enjoyed since 1968, when my brother was born.

I caught my older daughter getting weepy several times on our North Carolina vacation. She was missing the four members of our family who were no longer with us. Within the past few years, we've lost my parents, my aunt, and a cousin who was more like a sister. My cousin helped me get through the first three losses, and my identity was so tied to hers. I was the little cousin and she was my idol. How many times after my cousin died did I say the exact words that Sedaris used, changing the word sibling to cousin? I expected to grow old with my darling cousin. Now, years later, I miss my parents, but they lived a good life. I expected to live to old age with my cousin. When her life ended, our life together was cut short.

He wrote this about diaries: "After I die, and you read something bad about yourself in my diary, do yourself a favor and keep reading," I often say to Hugh. "I promise that on the next page you'll find something flattering. Or maybe the page after that."

Just the day before, I'd had a discussion about just this with fellow bullet journalers. The question came up about whether or not to keep your bullet journal after you complete a notebook. My thought was, of course keep it! I treasured little things that I found from my parents after they died. I like to think that my kids or grandkids will find my bullet journals a treasure. One of the journalers in my group writes something at the front of each of her journals similar to what David spoke to Hugh. Perhaps I should do the same.

There were some political bits in the book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Then again, we think along the same lines. Enough said. Sad to think that our society is so politically divided right now that some people might not be able to make it through this entire book without throwing it against the wall in disgust. But based on that, I can not recommend this book unconditionally even though I gave it five stars on goodreads.

Books for Living

Books for Living by Will Schwalbe is what I opted to read when I was "between books," whatever that means! I suppose that if I'm not reading a book club book that I'm between books.

I'd read Schwalbe's book, The End of Your Life Book Club, with my book club in New Jersey. I loved the thought that Schwalbe and his mother were able to find something to talk about, besides her illness, when she was at the end of her life.

I always find it interesting to understand better how other avid readers like myself connect with what they are reading. Books for Living did just that. Schwalbe selects books that he felt gave him true life lessons and in some cases, he connects them to personal memories that provided the lesson. In other cases, the books provided the lesson.

This book is an intersection of essays and a memoir. It wasn't great writing. The books he discussed weren't necessary books that anyone else might consider great writing. But I was able to make so many connections. Starting with the introduction where he talks about a dream he has from time to time.

I'm in a busy airport, and they've announced my flight. There is an epic walk to the gate, and I know I have only a few minutes before they will close the door to the jetway and my plane will leave without me. Suddenly, I realize that I don't have a book to read on the flight. Not one single book. I spin around, my eyes searching frantically for a book store. I see none. ... I can't find a single book anywhere in the airport. I start to scream.
Then I wake up.

Schwalbe calls this the Reader's Nightmare. In the days before e-books, that was my nightmare. I can't imagine showing up at the airport without several books in my carry-on bag, but would I have enough reading material to last the flight? The trip? I was once stuck at O'Hare Airport for nearly 17 hours. I ran out of reading material early on. I really can't remember if I bought another book or not. I'm the type that used to bring 10 books for a week-long trip to the Caribbean. I remember the first time I traveled with my current husband. He couldn't believe how many books I was carrying with me. He said he hoped I'd be having too good a time to need to read all those books.

Schwalbe wraps this up by adding:

I don't have this dream about food or television or movies or music. My unconscious is largely untroubled by the idea of spending hours in a metal tub hurtling through the sky without something to eat or a program to watch or tunes in my ears. It's the thought of being bookless for hours that jolts me awake in a cold sweat.

Here's another paragrah that really pulled at me. I'm sure you'll understand why.

We all ask each other a lot of questions: "Where did you go for vacation?" "How did you sleep?" Or my favorite, as I eye the last bites of chocolate cake on a friend's dessert plate, "Are you going to finish that?" (A question memorably featured in the 1982 movie Diner.) But there's one question I think we should ask of one another a lot more often, and that's "What are you reading?" It's a simple question but a powerful one, and it can change lives, creating a shared universe for people who are otherwise separated by culture and age and by time and space.

There's a reason why I named my blog Whatcha reading now. I've made so many connections with so many people that on paper I have nothing in common with because like me, they love to read. They're always reading something. Maybe we've read the same thing and can share that experience. Maybe they'll just throw out a few titles my way that I might want to consider. But it's a pretty deep connection. If you're a reader, you'll know what I mean.

A lesson that the author learned from reading What's Wrong with the World by G.K. Chesterton was this:

 "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." Sure, it may be worth more done well, but if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing no matter how well or badly you do it. It's just plain worth doing. ... It would be great to be a great painter, but it's also great just to paint.

I loved the way Schwalbe described his love for reading cookbooks.I used to love collecting cookbooks, but at this point, if I really need a recipe, I'd rather look for it on the internet.

I walked away with three books I have added to my TBR list. (That's a To Be Read list for those of you who are unfamiliar with the acronym.) They are:

• Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
• The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang
• A Tale for the Time Being  by Ruth Ozeki

Schwalbe learned lessons from these books and I think that I could do the same.

What to read next?

For years, every time I read a heavy book, I'd need to read something light and fluffy to counterbalance. For the past nine years, as I've been attempting to keep up with book club reads (many months, I've been trying to read with three book clubs), I haven't had the luxury of time to follow that pattern.

After finishing Waking Lions this morning, I realized that I most definitely need a light read now. Yet when I started browsing what's available from the library, most of the light books feel just too light. I took out Lonely Planet's book on Canada since I'm traveling there next month. But that's not a book to sit down and read, cover to cover, especially since I'm only going as far as the suburbs of Toronto. I'm so torn.

I'm too old for most chick lit. Fantasies and mysteries are not my genres. Romance hasn't been my thing since I graduated from college. Stay tuned to see what I select next.

Waking Lions

Often, after finishing a book, I need to take a moment... or a few hours... or even a few days to think about what I've read and to process it. I suppose the same is for Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen. Except for the fact that as I was finishing the book, my head was exploding. What a story!

Waking Lions was suggested for our Jewish book club because it is set in Israel, (originally written in Hebrew), and because the story is so current and universal.

Dr. Eitan Green takes a detour on his way home from a shift at the hospital. He needs to burn off some steam. When he's finally ready to go home, he hits an African migrant in the road with his Suv. He  believes the man is beyond salvation and continues on his way home. He wonders how he, who has spent his adult life saving lives, is able to just drive away. The next day, the wife of the dead man who witnessed the accident (because it was an accident) shows up at Eitan's house and as if the accident hadn't changed the course of his life already, her showing up and making demands of him brings him into a world that he never could have imagined. Ever.

Titan's wife, Liat, is a detective. She is tasked with finding the killer of the African migrant, not knowing that she is sleeping with him on the nights that he comes home to sleep.

The book is about the "immigration crisis" in Israel but could easily take place almost anywhere else in the industrialized world right now.  It could easily be a story taking place in today's United States. The book is about race relations and the invisibility of the underclass. The book is about moral decision making and choices. It's about introspection. It's about knowing another person. The book is about testing the true character of individuals.

Gunnar-Goshen knows how to create a compelling storyline, full of twists and turns. Just when you as the reader think you understand a character and his or her motivations, some new information is revealed that makes you question what you know. Towards the end of the book, you are compelled forward to complete the book, wanting the know how the author will bring this to conclusion.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending of the book. I won't go as far as saying that it was a surprise ending, but it was not an ending I would have predicted. Now, I can't imagine it ending any other way.

I really look forward to discussing this book with my Jewish book club or with anyone who wants to discuss it. There is so much to talk about.

As an aside, when I looked for an e-book in one of my libraries, I saw that they also had the original Hebrew language version. I took that one out, too. My Hebrew was never great, but I was surprised at how many of the words I did understand. Of course, the words didn't combine into sentences that made sense. I do wonder, though, how true the translation is. I think that translator tried to mimic the author's lyrical language. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes I think that it did not. I still have the Hebrew novel on my iPad and might look at it again to see if it makes anymore sense now.

There There

Tommy Orange's words are poetic and full of emotion. In snippets, I loved his writing. But as the whole, I was troubled by it.

There There is a dark novel about the urban Native American experience. It might be particular to Oakland, California - where it takes place - but I don't think so. It's about individuals with disabilities, physical ailments, addictions, lack of connections. It's about people who are tethered to their past and to those who are completely untethered. The plot is raw.

At the beginning of this debut novel, it seems as though it's simply a collection of short stories. It took awhile for the stories to intersect, to move the plot towards something happening.

As a result of Orange's writing style and the construction of the novel, I had a hard time keeping track of all the different characters in the book. Maybe had I taken notes, I would have been able to keep them straight. By having them just be a (literal) mess of mostly young men, I found the ending of the novel very confusing. The ending was intended to be unsettling, and it was.

In the interview with the author at the end of the book, he talks about how he ultimately decided to write a sequel. I wonder if that will clarify things.

This was a book for community book club. Unfortunately, it's another book club meeting that I won't be able to attend. I think this is the type of book that I'd like a little bit better after speaking to others about it.

Postscript: Maybe I'm glad I missed this book club meeting. I've heard from several people about how the meeting fell apart when the ugliness of racism reared its head. I thought there was so much to discuss here... about the book. I'm so sad to hear that a small minority wouldn't let go of their disparaging of "those people." I'm both shocked and sad... and a little bit angry.

Fantasy is not my genre

It seems as though the members of Books and Beer Club are of two different minds. There are several that love both fantasy and fiction. Not only do they get outraged (well, not really outraged, but you'll see where I'm going with this) when we talk about substituting something else, but they get offended that some, not including me, can't differentiate between science fiction and fantasy. There are those of us, including me, who would be fine skipping both genres. 

July is science fiction month, but we read 1984 back in March when showed up on a "best fantasy for a book club" list. 1984 is considered to be science fiction by purists. Those in the "we love fantasy and science fiction" suggested we read fantasy for July. After much discussion, On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony was selected. Piers Anthony happens to be a local author and there was some talk about asking him to attend our July meeting. I kind of hope he doesn't show up.

I'll remind you once again that I typically don't like fantasy much. I really didn't like this one. The premise is clever. A guy, Zane, seriously contemplating suicide ends up shooting and killing "Death" instead of himself. As such, he becomes the new "Death," the figure responsible for plucking the souls from those who are a balance between good and evil. Whose final destination, Heaven or Hell, is not clearly indicated. Zane is a compassionate death. I wish the message being presented was more clearcut.

The details of the story is where it totally lost me. Zane's "life after life" is manipulated by a magician and by other the other "Incarnations" (War, Fate, Time and Nature). It's how he was selected to be the new "Death." It's how he meets Luna who becomes the love of his life. It's how he ends up in a conflict with Satan. I didn't care about any of this. I didn't like how most of the female characters were objectified. I plodded thru the novel and was thrilled when I got to the end. It just isn't my kind of novel.

I then proceeded to read the Author's Note. I thought it would provide some insight into Anthony's thought process. It served to make me like Piers Anthony, the person, less than I already did after suffering through this novel.

Reviewers on goodreads.com either love the book or hate the book. It's got a 4+ star rating so more love it than hate it. I'm not sure who the target audience is. I'm curious to see what others in the book club think. My guess is that the fantasy lovers will have loved it while everyone else might share something close to my views.

Update: I was in the minority at the book club of those who didn't like the book. The other two people who didn't like the book didn't like the way God and religion was portrayed. The novel included flying carpets and teleportation and a horse that could transform into a limousine and into a flying machine. God and religion was just as fantastical to me as anything else. And that was okay.

Some felt Anthony was trying to set forth a message. Others thought it was meant to be pure fun. Fun? Hmmm.

What I found most interesting was the response of women who have careers in hospice. The way they connected with Death and his manner of treating "his clients" compassionately really resonates with me. It didn't make me like the novel any better. But it does give me a better appreciation about what other readers can take away from reading the book.

Hum If You Don't Know the Words - Take Two

Here's just a quick update to my post about Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Biance Marais that I read prepublication in June 2017.

I finally got to discuss this book with my community book club. If you've been following me, you know that I don't like to reread. Anything. I will admit to having a hard time getting into Hum If You Don't Know the Words this second time around. I was afraid that I might not be able to finish it in time to lead the book club discussion yesterday. But once I got into it, like the first time, I couldn't put it down. I loved it as much the second time as I did the first.

I was really happy that most of the women at the book club meeting liked it as much as I did. Only one person was a little on the fence about it because she found that so many of the characters were cliches. I think when you're trying to make statements about society, cliches might be the way to go.

One of our members heard a rumor that Marais plans to write a sequel at some point. For now, I look forward to reading her next novel, If You Want to Make God Laugh, which has a publication date of next week.

Failing to plan is like planning to fail

I'm now about two months further along in my experience keeping a bullet journal. And I finally got a hold of the bible of bullet journals, written by the guy termed the phrase and has promoted the idea.

In my Facebook group for bullet journalers, those who have questions about the method are frequently referred back to The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll. Ryder Carroll's approach is back to basics, considered by many to be the minimalist approach, requiring only a notebook and a pen.

Four months into keeping a bullet journal, having gotten all my information from blogs, my Facebook group and Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide by Rachel Wilkerson Miller, I was ready to check out the real deal. I will admit that my expectations were high. I mean... Ryder Carroll is "the guy." Who would know more? Who could guide me better?

Ryder Carroll's book was way more self-help-y than a how to guide to keeping a bullet journal. That's where it really fell short for me. I felt that his book was geared to those juggling busy work schedules with parenting and planning vacations (being a little sarcastic here) but I did not feel like he was speaking to me. I never felt that the book included practical applications of how to fully utilize what he was explaining. Perhaps more "show not tell" was in order? I read the e-book version so the graphics were cumbersome and made no sense. Perhaps those might have been better in the print version of the book.

I felt that Dot Journaling affirmed that what I was doing made sense. I feel the same now that I've finally finished The Bullet Journal Method.

I think I'd prefer the film version

The last book that Books and Beer Club read was The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy by Judith L. Pearson. I'm writing this several days after I finished the book (which is what I often do), but I'm also writing after the book club meeting, something I tend to not do. A book club meeting can change my initial impressions about a book and I like my reviews to reflect how I feel at the time I finished the book.

Each book club meeting starts with us giving the book a thumbs up, thumbs down or sideways. We had 20 people at this week's meeting. A large majority (nearly everyone) gave it a thumb's up. I was one of the few sideways thumbs. Virginia Hall's story, being an American female spy in World War II France was incredible. But Judith Pearson's writing was at times very dry. I did need refreshers about some what was going on in France before and during WWII. But many of those sections read like a text book. Some of the narrative about other spies that Virginia interacted with read like a phone book. As a result, it took me three weeks to plod through this book.

Not only wasn't I swayed by other book club members' more positive reviews, many of them did comment that the writing style was a bit dry. So I wasn't the only one who had very mixed feelings about The Wolves at the Door.

More highly recommended to us at the meeting was A Woman of No Importance, written by Sonia Purnell, published this year. While looking up that book, I read this:

So why haven't more people heard about Hall? A quote from Hall on the agency display offers an explanation: "Many of my friends were killed for talking too much."
But now — more than 70 years after her wartime exploits in France, and almost 40 years after her death — Virginia Hall is having a moment. Three books have just come out. Two movies are in the works.

 I am still considering picking up Purnell's book. But then again, I might just wait for the movie.

Where the Crawdads Sing

I was so disappointed when I realized that I'd still be out of town when my community book club discussed Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I started reading when I thought I might be back home. This is a book with so much to discuss.

But how to describe this richly layered novel? It's a coming of age story. It's a novel about life - and nature - in the marshes of North Carolina. It's a murder mystery.

I'm not a mystery lover but that aspect of the story did not detract from my enjoyment of the novel. Even if I strongly suspected "who done it" long before it was disclosed. My heart broke for Kya, as a small child and then as a young woman.

Owens reinforces that prejudice is not just based on race. And that as many awful, terrible people there are in this world, there are also a few really good ones. She also reminds us that being educated isn't just about going to school. It's about being open to learning in whatever manner you are able.

I'd highly recommend this book. I've been told that the book club discussion was great. Sorry I missed it!

The Orphan's Tale

I can't recall where I first heard about The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff. But it immediately made me think about Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants. The only similarities between the books are the settings, the circus, and the time period. I think. Both stories took place in the past. There the similarities end. What I liked best about Water for Elephants was that it was different. The same holds true for The Orphan's Tale.

The Orphan's Tale is the story of two strong women who are forced to work together in a traveling circus during World War II. There is no love lost between the two of them at the start. But over time, they become the family that each one of them has lost. It is based on a real circumstance. That of traveling circuses hiring Jews as circus performers as a way to protect them.

This is a book that I would definitely recommend to anyone who feels like can handle one more book about the Holocaust.

Meet Me at the Museum

I picked up Anne Youngson's Meet Me at the Museum as I was waiting for several books to  come in from the library. I enjoyed it much more than I expected.

When Tina was a child, a famous researcher dedicates a book to Tina and her classmates. Now an older adult, Tina writes a letter to the author, assuming he's no longer alive and not really expecting a response. Anders, the current curator of the exhibit Tina writes about, responds to her letter. And that's how a friendship begins.

I'm pretty sure by now you know that I really enjoy epistolary novels. This one was much more wonderful than many others I've read of late. Anne Youngson's style reminded me of the lovely feeling of meeting a new friend through letter writing, the process of transforming a pen pal into a close and trusted friend. It definitely helped that both Tina and Anders are about my age. Both Tina and Anders are at the point in life where they want to figure out what their lives are all about. I can relate to that, too.

The book was so engaging that I waited until after I was finished with it to research the Tollund Man, something I'd never even heard of before.

This was a wonderful book for me. I heartily recommend this to anyone who loves novels that are based on a letter writing relationship. If reading letters isn't your thing, this book might not be for you.

Educated

I was really pleased when Tara Westover's Educated was selected by my community book club as one of our non-fiction books to read. I'd placed it on my "to be read" list months ago. When Oprah's interview of Westover was going to be on TV, a member of the book club alerted me. I watched the interview even though I hadn't yet read the book. I found the interview thought provoking and I liked the way Westover talked about her experiences growing up as part of a family of survivalists. She was younger than I expected her to be. But that's neither here nor there. The book was ready for pick-up from the library a few days later.

This is probably going to sound ridiculous but what I didn't enjoy about the memoir is the lyrical nature that Westover uses to tell her story. When she was speaking with Oprah, her language was both accessible and engaging. I was put off by the language used in the book and felt that I would have enjoyed it more had she written the way she speaks. I wish I could more clearly articulate where I'm coming from here, but if you read the book, I think you might understand. Don't get me wrong. The language was beautiful. But it slowed down my reading and at times distracted me from the almost unbelievable tale that Westover shares.

As mentioned, Tara is one of seven children raised by parents who are survivalists. New Years Eve Y2K was their "World Series" and when January 1, 2000 was an ordinary day like the day before, it's like they lost the game. Tara's father ran a junkyard and had some small construction business. Tara's mother was the family healer, became a midwife, continued to heal. Maybe because of the family's propensity to get injured in serious ways, Tara's mother gets into essential oils. And when the father, after being burnt alive in a fire, can no longer work, he joins Tara's mother in that business. It sounds like they created a financially successful business after many years of barely scrapping by.

Tara and her siblings weren't homeschooled. Their education was the school of life. Most of the children didn't have birth certificates and had never stepped foot in a classroom. The family eschewed traditional medication. The father, especially, had a huge distrust of the government. They belonged to the Mormon church which does inform the story in many ways.

One of Tara's older brothers goes to school, takes the ACT and goes to college. He encourages Tara to do the same. She's completely self-taught, needed to take the ACT two times to get a high enough score to be accepted into Brigham Young University. She struggles financially to complete her degree but meets professors and a pastor who help her along the way. I found Tara's experiences in being exposed to the larger world, to everyday living and to history she never learned about, the most interesting part of the memoir.

The memoir is grizzly. It's not an autobiography. It's Tara's memories of growing up. And they are rough to read. Lots of reviewers have found the stories unbelievable. Whatever the truth is, I am sure these are Tara's memories, and isn't that what the memoir genre is all about? She's got a terribly abusive brother. My heart ached for Tara's mother's parents who seemed appalled by the choices their daughter had made and the way she was raising her children.

Even though the book was laborious to me, the primary message is a good one. It highlights the importance of education - untraditional or traditional. I'm just curious what the rest of Tara's life will be like. She was only 30 at the time she finished writing, she hadn't been out of school that long. What is in her future? I would totally recommend this book to a book club. It screams out to be discussed. I'm really looking forward to my book club discussing it in September.

Tell Me How This Ends Well

The Jewish book club I'm trying to get rolling remains really small. At last month's meeting, there were only 3 of us - and a guest. (Thanks, Martha!) When it came time to pick a book for our next meeting in July, I was told by the other two members, who had already read David Samuel Levinson's Tell Me How This Ends Well, that we didn't have to read this book but that it had a really crazy ending. "Let's find another book to read." I hadn't read it yet.

An important premise of the novel is that Israel has been annihilated by three Arab neighbors and there is an influx of Israeli refugees living in the United States and in Europe. Antisemitism was on the rise. That's important, but that's not what the story was about.

The story revolves around the Jacobson family. The Jacobson mom has been given a poor health diagnosis. The three adult children decide that they should spend their mom's final Passover together at the home of the older brother in California. Jacob travels from German, Edith travels from Atlanta, and the parents travel from Texas. They kids plan to celebrate Passover with a family seder - which is part of a reality TV show - and then kill their abusive dad. Yes, you read that right! Kill their abusive dad.

(As an aside, the seder was on a Saturday night, the Saturday after Good Friday. I wonder why the author chose to have what seemed to be the first seder on a Saturday night. The way the Jewish calendar works, first seders never fall on Saturday nights.)

This book, in parts, is comical. The story is told from the perspective of all the children and then from the mom's perspective. In some parts it's dark humor. In other parts, it's laugh out loud funny.  It also gives us a dark vision of what might be in the future of American Jews. That part is frightening. It's hard to really categorize this novel - religious commentary, dysfunctional family, crime drama, and I wonder if that was the author's intention.

While the religious commentary was downright scary and the crime drama was where a good part of the humor came into play, what intrigued me was why the mom, Roz, stayed with the dad, Julian, for all those years if he was so abusive. First thought was that perhaps "in those days" it was difficult for a woman to consider getting a divorce. Then I realized that Roz was only 8 years older than I was, that she contemplated getting a divorced in 1996 - which is exactly when I was in the middle of getting a divorce! Would my family life have fallen apart the way the Jacobsons did had I stayed married? That gave me a lot to think about!

I read this novel while I was on vacation. I guess because it was lighter than what I normally read it might be considered a beach read! I decided that this book is chockablock full of things to discuss. I think it will make the perfect book for a Jewish book club, even though I don't think you have to be Jewish to enjoy it. Now to convince enough other people that this is a worthwhile read so that we can have a larger attendance at our next book club meeting.

I will never get the time back I spent reading this one

I love middle grade fiction, but Tony Abbott's autobiographical historical fiction, Lunch-Box Dream, was truly awful.

The blurb made it seem like it was about visiting Civil War battlefields during the days of Jim Crow in the south. I suppose that's partially true.

The language of the book was horrible. The main characters were racist and showed no personal growth at all. And the story of the black family was so sparse to the point that it made no sense.

The main character, Bobby, isn't a nice kid. He knows he's not a nice kid. His brother had health issues. His grandmother had escaped Europe (but timing-wise could not have been a Holocaust survivor). His parents always fought. Did we need all these subplots that never got developed?

I'm not sure where I read about this and why I requested it. But my advice... don't bother with this one.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

I loved A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and really expected to love My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. I just liked it.

Elsa is 7 years old and she's different. Very different. Her grandmother is truly different. And she's Elsa's best and only friend. Elsa's grandmother is her safe haven. She's created that safe haven through fairy tales set in the Land of Almost Awake that she tells Elsa late at night. That she tells Elsa in a secret language.

Elsa's parents are divorced and Elsa experiences much that children from "broken homes" experience. Her father is remarried to a woman with children of her own. And while Elsa's mother doesn't appear to be remarried, she's living with a man and they are expecting a new baby. Without Elsa's grandmother around, Elsa struggles to figure out where she should fit in to her new families.

Right before Elsa's grandmother dies, she asks Elsa if she's willing to do a scavenger hunt. Elsa agrees. This leads Elsa on adventure after adventure with the people who live in her apartment building. She learns all about her grandmother and about her neighbors. And she learns the basis of the fairy tales.

I wouldn't recommend it, but I also wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it either.

I loved Elsa. And while I didn't love her grandmother, I admired her a lot. She was a woman of strength and character even if she was a pretty rotten mother to Elsa's mother. I loved Elsa's descriptions of her parents, her parents' partners and her neighbors. Elsa was mature beyond her years but in a way that I could accept.

What I didn't love about this novel was the fantastical nature of the fairy tales. While this novel was realistic fiction at its finest, I'm not a fan of fantasy. And much of the writing really reminded me of a fantasy novel.

Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi's historical fiction novel, Homegoing, takes an interesting approach to the history of slavery. Gyasi follows two half-sisters who are only remotely aware of each other and their descendants over 8 generations. One sister marries an Englishman who is an officer in the slave trade living a life of luxury in "The Castle." The other sister is imprisoned in the lower level of "The Castle," eventually sold into slavery in America.

In Africa, we learn more about the Asante and Fante nations fighiting under British colonization about the eventual independence of Ghana. In the United States, we learn about the journey from the plantation to the days of the Civil War, to the early days of freedom in the coal mines. The great migration takes place and now the descendants are in Harlem. Eventually the story moves to the present day.

The history was horrific, the story was interesting, but the novel was more like a collecction of short stories rather than a family saga. There was very little connection from one generation to the next other than a casual mention of recent ancestry. I think the novel would have gotten way too long and way too involved had it been more of a saga, but I think it would have been a more satisfying read.

This is a book that will be discussed in October in my community book club. The individual characters are unmemorable so I hope I can recall enough about the novel to be able to meaningfully discuss it at that time.

Would I recommend? Yes. I would.

Self-help? Who? Me?

For years, I'd been hearing about bullet journals. I loved crossing things off on to do lists, I loved the idea of journaling. I love notebooks, papers, pens, etc. But I didn't fully understand the concept nor did I have the time to try to get it figured out. But apparently I put this book, Dot Juurnaling, A Practical Guide, on my list of books to be read sometime in 2017, when it was first published.

Fast forward to this past February. I was feeling overwhelmed. I had to-do lists strewn around the house, I was always scrambling to figure out what I was supposed to be doing when. I decided to revisit keeping a bullet journal.

I looked to take the bullet journal bible, The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll out of the library. I was surprised that of the libraries I have access to, only one of them has the book, and the wait list is months long.

I looked for other library books. I found Miller's book on two library websites, got myself on the waitlist. Wow, seems lots of people are trying to get control of their lives. It was time for Plan B. I poured over the internet looking for explanations on how to get started with a bullet journal. I joined a Facebook group of supposed "beginners." Then I plunged right in. Sort of.

I went WalMart, checked out supplies. Couldn't find what I thought I needed. Did I really have any idea of what I needed? (NO!) Ordered from Amazon and two days later, with my supplies in place, in the middle of the month, in the middle of the week, I started my bullet journal.

I really had no idea when I started what I was getting into. But things are looking bright. I think I've found what I needed all along.

Is my life now together? Probably not. But I no longer lose sleep trying to keep multiple to do lists organized in my head. And while I used to love crossing things off on my to do lists, I now really, really love filling in the bullets that are written beside my to do list items. This way I can look back and see what I've actually gotten done. My next area of focus should probably be in better prioritizing things. But I am sleeping better and I do feel more organized. And it hasn't even been two months!

Since I'd already been keeping a bullet journal for 5 weeks when I got this book from the library, it was really just a confirmation that I'm on the right track. Some things I do the same as Miller. In other areas I've already developed my own style. I enjoyed seeing her sample journal entries. I can easily pour over shared entries on Pinterest for hours. Some are so artistic. Some are so minimal. Some of in between. I would have been disappointed if I'd spent the money (that I can use to buy more bullet journal supplies - did I tell you I'm an office supplies junkie?) purchasing this book. But it was a quick, light read and valuable at that.

What I really enjoyed reading in this book were little snippets about diaries and journals in history and all the quotes related to such that Miller threw in.

I'm still a newbie at keeping a bullet journal, but if you have any questions about what's involved, how to get started, etc., I'd be happy to give you my version of an answer.

I'm able to combine my new love of creating art
with keeping my bullet journal.

My favorite "practical" spread so far -
keeping track of our energy from the sun

Unsheltered

Barbara Kingsolver's latest, Unsheltered, is enormously popular. In other words, it was impossible to get from the library. Thankfully I have a kind neighbor and she loaned me her Kindle with the e-book on it.

The thing that I disliked most about the novel was probably one of the things that I thought the author did best. She nailed the voice of the historical period even though that's what made the book so tedious. It felt like work to read the historical parts and the language was difficult to get through and almost too scientific most of the time.

I was made curious enough about the history of Vineland, NJ, but not curious to break from my reading to actually do any research. I have since done a quick google search and apparently most of what was written in the book about Vineland was historically accurate. It appears that Vineland is a suburb of Philadelphia, although created to be its own very distinct utopia. Normally, I feel a connection to books that are set in locations that I feel connected to. I lived in New Jersey for almost 30 years, and I lived in Philadelphia for 4, but I didn't feel like I was reading about anywhere that felt like "home," except perhaps when Willa took Nick to the doctor and they were in some university parking lot in Philadelphia.

What's the book about? It's about two different families living in the same falling apart house in Vineland, New Jersey over a hundred years apart. Their stories are told in alternating chapters. The main characters in each of the families likens their lives to the condition of the house. Falling apart. Neither family can afford to do the required repairs to the house. Outside the families, their communities are falling apart.

The book is extremely political and it's quite clear that Kingsolver is trying to get her message across. This is an issue-filled novel. Consumerism, capitalism, generational differences, gender differences, defining utopia. It's a commentary about our judicial system, our healthcare system. It covers Darwinism vs Creationism. If I sat here long enough, I could probably come up with a few more issues that Kingsolver throws into the mix.

I would personally not recommend this book to someone reading a the book independently. But I would definitely recommend the book as a potential book club read. I believe these pages give so much to talk about and I'm really looking forward to discuss this with my community book club later this afternoon.

P.S. Lots of members of my book club felt as I felt. Interesting parallel storylines but quite tedious to read. Lots of great things to talk about.

1984

When 1984 arrived and I realized I'd never read George Orwell's  1984, I purchased a copy and read it on a European vacation. I don't remember being terribly disturbed by the book then. Yes, it was a downer. Looking back, it didn't seem like the book had come true.

Now, 35 years later, I wonder. Seems like so much of Orwell's words were prophetic. Which makes the idea behind this novel particularly disturbing. There's talk of "fake news." Orwell describes "two minutes of hate." I can go on and on. But I choose not to.

Perhaps this book should be re-read as a cautionary tale? But will people get it? I'm not so sure.

Books and Beer Club read this as our science fiction pick for 2019. A good part of our discussion centered on whether or not we considered this science fiction. Most of us did not.

Should you read this novel published in 1949? Probably. Will you enjoy it? Probably not.

The Collector's Apprentice

I'm not going to be discussing The Collector's Apprentice with my community book club for another few months. Over time, will I think about this book more favorably? Will discussing the book give it a more positive place in my mind?

You might have gathered by now that I didn't love B.A. Shapiro's historical art thriller (is that even a genre), The Collector's Apprentice. It was okay. I enjoyed learning about the artists, even if the discussions of the art movements didn't make perfect sense to me. I read this book in paper-and-ink format. As I was reading, I'd pull up whatever work of art was being discussed. Interesting that many were housed at The Barnes Foundation Collection. In the acknowledgements, where Shapiro details what parts of the book were historical and what parts were total fiction, she shared that her story is loosely based on The Barnes Foundation, Albert Barnes, and Violette de Mazia. There's so much that isn't based on historical fact. I think I'd be bothered if I was a descendant of Albert Barnes.

(I've passed by The Barnes Foundation Collection several times in the past few years. My older daughter has tried to explain the concept of The Barnes (versus the Philadelphia Museum of Art, let's say) and I never quite understood. Now I do.)

I suppose if you enjoy romance novels, you might enjoy this novel more than I did. It's not over-the-top mushy, romantic. It's not a bodice-ripper. While Paulien Mertens was easily duped by a charming man, Vivienne Gregsby was a strong, intelligent woman, not easily fooled. I found Paulien-who-becomes-Vivienne a sympathetic and admirable character until about two-thirds of the way thru the novel at which point she made a few decisions that made me completely reverse my ideas about the strength of her as a person. That was the point that I just wanted to make it through the end of the book to see how things wrapped up. I gave this one 3-stars on Goodreads.

For the Love of Libraries

I started reading The Library Book by Sudan Orlean as an e-book. I was juggling books, needed to finish reading something for a book club, put it to the side... and it expired off my iPad. And then I picked it up as a physical paper-and-ink book. If ever there was a book to read while holding it in my hand, turning the pages, breathing in the scent of the book, really feeling the book, this was this book.

The Library Book is two things. It's a love affair with libraries - and books. It's also a chronicle of the great library fire at the Los Angeles' Central Library. I really enjoyed the book because it evoked memories of times spent at the library. First at my first library, the Brooklyn Public Library, the library of my childhood, and later at other libraries where I've happened to live. I'm just not sure that the story of the unsolved mystery of the Central Library fire meshed well with that love story. It did, however, serve as a backdrop to Orlean's exploration of the Los Angeles Public Library system. So perhaps it did make sense to pair the two.

I'll be discussing this book with my community book club later in the year. I hope I can remember all I'd like to share with my fellow readers at that time.

Orleans has great memories of going to the library as a young girl with her mother. (Her mother passed away shortly before the publication of this book.) She moves to Los Angeles as a young mother and knows with certainty that she is going to share the library with her small son. Her love of the library - and of books - is so clear.

I loved the library as a young girl. As an older teen, I was reading mostly mass market paperbacks which I could easily afford on my babysitter's budget. I continued buying my books from bookstores until my tastes turned more to recent bestsellers. Although I could still afford them, I was more mature and somewhat wiser and realized that the cost per minute of enjoyment just wasn't there for most books. I became more selective in what I purchased from bookstores. Orlean must have gone through something similar.

I couldn’t walk into a bookstore without leaving with something, or several somethings. I loved the fresh alkaline tang of new ink and paper, a smell that never emanated from a broken-in library book.

The story of why Harry Peak was the prime suspect in the library fire and why he was never convicted dragged on somewhat for me. I'm not really a "true crime" kind of reader. I didn't really care about the details of his poor, sorry life. Hearing what the library fire meant to others was very powerful. Plus this was interspersed with tales of the history of public libraries in America, about how and why people became librarians and about the love of so many for libraries, their books, and what they stand for.

Orlean clearly states her purpose at the conclusion of the book.

I looked around the room at the few people scattered here and there. Some were leaning into books, and a few were just resting, having a private moment in a public place, and I felt buoyed by being here. This is why I wanted to write this book, to tell about a place I love that doesn't belong to me but feels like it is mine, and how that feels marvelous and exceptional. All the things that are wrong in the world seem conquered by a library's simple unspoken promise: Here I am, please tell me your story; here is my story, please listen.

If her purpose resonates with you, this is probably a book you should explore. And I'd encourage you to visit your local public library, browse a little book, and then borrow this gem.

How cool is this book?