April showered me with 12 books. (Yeah I know terrible pun.) One of the books was an audio book and another was one I had been reading for a while but finished in April. So in one way - 9 books again. I read a mix of genres. I do like variety but definitely have my favorite genres. This month I ended up with 3 non-fiction and 3 historical fiction. One book, "Sing, Unburied, Sing" was a real stretch for my literal mind. And 2 books were re-reads.
My favorite of the month by far was "Harry's Trees". I liked almost everything about this book. The bad guys seemed a little over the top, but the story was such a well written, moral story that I can overlook that. If you read this book, I'd love to hear your views of it.
Happy reading to you all!
This book is historical fiction based on the life of Lee Miller. Lee Miller was a Vogue model who turned into a photographer. She moves to Paris, where she meets Man Ray, a famous photographer and artist, whom she convinces to hire her as his assistant so she can learn from him. Both people have issues they are dealing with, Miller with some deep emotional issues and Ray being an egotist. The book tells an interesting story.
A lovely story about loss, grief, guilt and restoration. Harry works for the U S Forest Service as an analyst. He did not sign up for a desk job, but that is where he finds himself. His wife dies suddenly and Harry is not able to deal with the loss. Amanda lives in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains and is dealing with the sudden death of her husband. Through some interesting circumstances they are brought into each other’s lives by Amanda’s daughter, Oriana. Oriana is a free spirit 9 year old. She loves books and the magic they can bring – especially the fairy tale magic ones. Magic is what helps Oriana deal with her father’s death and through nature she is convinced that he is still around as a protector.
The story has its villains and good guys and is a wonderful magic tale in its own as Harry, Amanda and Oriana all work through their grief in their own way but with each other’s support. It is well written and will leave you feeling hopeful about the world. My favorite of the month!
I read this book based on a post from Mike Rowe on Facebook. Clint Hill served as a Secret Service Agent starting with Eisenhower and retiring during the Ford administration. (Mr. Hill is the agent who climbed on Kennedy’s car when Jacqueline was climbing on the trunk.) His assignments were connected to the White House, mother-in-laws of presidents, First Ladies, Presidents, Vice-Presidents and administrative. It is an interesting view of history from the presidential branch perspective. I know that Mr. Hill is limited in what he can tell as far as the measures taken to protect these people. Due to that, after a while the book seemed to be repeating itself, just with a different person and a little different political climate. I would have liked to know a little more about how his job affected his personal life. He hints at it, but there is not a lot of personal reflection in the book outside of his job.
It is interesting to get a glimpse into the lives of those in power and the personalities. Mr. Hill definitely had his favorites, that can’t be help as certain personalities endear themselves to certain people. Through it all though, he exercised his duties in a professional way and truly cared about protecting those he was assigned to protect.
This book is a little different take from most World War II books. This is the story of Else Sontag – a 14 year old American citizen with legal U S Resident parents from Germany. Her parents never took the steps to become citizens but had lived in America for almost 20 years. Her father is suspected of espionage, though never proven, and the family finds themselves in an internment camp in Texas. There Else becomes friends with a Japanese American girl. They are there together for close to a year when the Sontag family is sent back to Germany in exchange for American prisoners. The war is nearing it’s end, but it is not over, so Else, who had not that long ago had not felt any of the burdens of war, kept finding herself deeper into it.
This book drew me in. Being in an internment camp is nowhere near the horrors of the concentration camps, but it is being in prison because of your race. This story shows how different people handle difficult situations in life and painted a good picture of what life was like and the challenges that innocent people had to face during this period of time, and how it affected their entire life. This is a well written book and I recommend it.
A short book telling the story of love and injustice. Tish is a 19 year old in love with Fonny. The story opens with Fonny in prison – we don’t know why but know that it was a set up. We learn Tish and Fonny’s story as seen through her eyes – how they met, fell in love, what happened to land him in prison and how hard it is to try to prove him innocent.
This book is an older one, published in 1974 and is considered by many to be James Baldwins best work. I personally thought it was an average read, perhaps because this topic has been covered in so many ways since 1974. I’m sure at the time it was a ground breaker and an eye opener for many. As I said, it’s a short book and it is worth the read, but it is not on the top of my list.
Prison, death, ghosts, racism, drug use, poverty are all covered in this book. This is not my usual genre and while it wasn’t one that went on the “Did Not Finish” list, it was not one that I enjoyed that much. The story revolves around a family in Mississippi. JoJo, a 13 year old boy, his little sister, Kayla, his mom, Leonie, dad Michael and his grandparents – Pop and Mam. Michael is at Parchman prison, a place that Pop spent some time in his younger days, and the rest of his family lives together. Needless to say, they all face challenges. JoJo, my favorite, is such a lovable, kind boy that deserves better parents. Thankfully he has Pop and Mam, who has cancer and slowly fading away, and his sister to show him some of the love he deserves. Leonie and Michael are people that I feel somewhat sympathetic towards, but also the kind of people you want to shake some sense into. In all the family mix, there is also “the power” that enables them to see things in other realms.
The writing is what kept me engaged but also at times what made me not like this book as much. While it was so descriptive and painted a picture in some scenes, there were others where I had a hard time keeping up with the dialogue. It was confusing to me in certain sections who was saying what or what it meant. I really wanted to like this book and give it a higher rating, but at the end of the day, with the problems in the writing and it being just too depressing, I couldn’t.
Mr. Bauer went undercover in the Winn Correctional Center in Winnsboro, Louisiana in order to write an article for “Mother Jones” magazine. Winn Correctional Center (WCC) is a private prison that enters into a lease with the state to house prisoners. Mr. Bauer’s job as a Correctional Officer, allowed him to record what was happening on the inside with the prisoners, officers and the corporation.
While the book is interesting, I expected more. (I think maybe I should find his “Mother Jones” article to fill in the blanks.) The book also gives a history of the private prison system. This was the more interesting part to me, however the way it was presented was not the best way in my opinion. Every other chapter was the history, with his modern day experience being the other chapters. It was a little broken up to me and at times hard to shift between the two. If I had known at the beginning what to expect, I probably would have read all the history chapters together and then the WCC chapters. None the less, an interesting read.
I have now read this book 3 times with several years in between each read – in High School, sometime around my 40’s and current (early 60’s) and have loved it each time. This was my book club read for the month and I’m glad it was the choice. The story is about the Nolan family, a family one generation removed from immigration, and their struggles to make it in the early 1900’s. There is struggle, success, addiction, crime, hard work, politics….life. Through it all there is love.
Ms Smith has a wonderful way of developing characters. I always feel like I know the Nolan family after reading this book – Francie, Kate, Johnny, Neeley, the three sisters….all of them. It is a true classic and even though it is set in the early 1900’s, it is just a true, honest family story written in a simple, yet beautiful way. A true classic that if you haven’t read, you should and if you have read it, but it’s been a while, re-read.
I was drawn to read this book to learn more about Cuba and while that is part of the story, it is also a romance story. It is told through flashbacks to the 1950’s and in 2017, when relations between the US and Cuba were opening up a little. The stories told parallel each other, both the politically and romantically. The backdrop to both years is the political scene in Cuba. While that was interesting, I would have liked more depth and detail. The main story was about romance during the political unrest. I found both romantic interests to be a little cliché – forbidden love at first sight. Not my favorite read, but it has gotten many good reviews.
This was my 3rd non-fiction read of the month and one that I have mixed feelings about. I wanted a book that helped me understand the mind of an alcoholic and give me some insight into what helps in recovery. I got that as far as it pertains to Ms Jamison, but felt like I had to wade through a lot to get there. Ms Jamison is a writer and a student of literature. So much of this book is quoting or referring to other books and famous people who have struggled with addiction, with a little of her story mixed in. It seemed a little academic (not sure that’s the right word), too much of a “look at how intelligent I am” vibe. But then it was also raw and very real at other times. I think there are probably better books out there on this subject.
This is a book that I read with a friend and discussed weekly, or there about. We are both at that age where we are questioning what our life should be about and how do we reflect God to others in the best way. Every week we seemed to come away wondering what the exact answer to that is. I think we wanted a list of do this and it will be great. That’s not what we got, but we did come away with the reminder that our life needs to be centered around God and knowing Him, being truly thankful for the sacrifice of Christ, knowing the love of God and daily desiring to make that known (not just showing love, but making it known why) to others. Yep – I’m still working on that.
I actually didn’t read this but listened to an audio book. It was the choice for a library book club that I thought I might attend but didn’t. Since I had read the book in 2014, I thought it would be a good one to just listen to. I don’t usually listen to books and it definitely gives it a different feel.
This is told from a dog’s viewpoint – so the “fly on the wall” approach. The observations begin when Enzo is adopted by Denny, an aspiring race car driver. It follows Denny falling in love with Eve, marrying her, their baby Zoe being born, Eve’s illness and the resultant custody battle. Enzo is there watching and listening to the humans, taking it in, and at times being frustrated that he can’t express himself.
The story is interesting as are the people. While I take sides throughout the story as far as what should happen, it is written in a way that I can understand all the characters. That is not always easy to do as it is easier to clearly paint a hero and a villain. Worth the read, and glad I gave it a listen.
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