Remnants Dream Storm by K.A. Applegate

   Dream Storm is the eleventh book in the Remnants series written by the author of Animorphs (which I find amusing, given my firm declaration earlier that I would not be subjecting myself to reading Animorphs). This is one of the books I pulled from the library's children section.
   Remnants takes place in the aftermath of the Earth's destruction by an asteroid, commonly called The Rock. Dream Storm follows a group of seven survivors who were apparently placed on a hibernation shuttle to escape the cataclysm. There are more survivors, but it seems they left them stranded on a now barren Earth.
   The book seems to fit 3rd/4th grade readers. They're not going to encounter amazing vocabulary or complex tale telling, but they'll get a serial adventure. It has a cliffhanger ending which probably works well to hook the kids. It also seems to have a good mix of good, bad and inbetween characters.

Favorite Quotes:

None found.

Overall Opinion:

If my kids ask, I'll tell them to give it a shot. I don't know if I'll go out of my way to recommend it though.

Rating:

Me: 2    Young Kids:  Probably higher on their scale

Great Gunfighters of the West by Carl W. Breihan

   What a fun book. It came with quite a few technical difficulties, but that didn't stop the book from telling its tale and telling it vividly. Great Gunfighters of the West profiles nine gunfighters, some of whom I knew of and most whom I didn't. If you walk away with nothing else, you will walk away with thankfulness that we live in a much more lawful America.
   Whew! I have seen my share of westerns and I still was struck by a certain titillating fear of living in the West during the 1800's to the turn of the century. I know the context of your own personal time defines your reaction to events, but still, I am thankful that this time is my time.
   I was struck by how many of these men were so bad and still sought after to be lawmen of the towns they lived in. (The author states that it was not uncommon to hire badmen to keep the others in line, which I suppose makes a certain kind of sense.) I also found it interesting to see how often they returned to the areas they were already in trouble in. That reminded me of the car chases that take place in the driver's neighborhoods. I always think that I would get out of Dodge (after reading about the actual Dodge City, I am surprised more people didn't) and wondered why the profiled gunmen didn't. I suppose, like our current hoodlums, there is something to be said for familiar places and faces.
   As to the technical difficulties. There was a consistent, though not completely unnerving, use of grammar errors. There was also an assumption of the readers familialarity of the profiled characters and their time, that left me a little confused. I think that this good book could have been at least a really good book if the author had taken the time to tease out some of the background that he alluded to in his profiles. Chapter 8 felt rushed, I think because there was either not enough to tell, the author felt more of an obligation to include him, or both.  The addition of a bibliography of his source materials would have been helpful as well.

Favorite Quotes:

"This was Wild Bill Longley. Cold-blooded, vicious, psychopathic. The only good thing that can be said of him is that he died young, and most of those who knew him thought that wasn't soon enough."

Written to a Texas newspaper before his (Bill Longley's) hanging: "And now, boys, remember the road Bill Longley had travelled, in disobeying his parents, and when you start to do wrong remember that a very small wrong always leads to still greater ones, and so on until finally, nothing will seem wrong to your if you follow the wrong road."

Bat Masterson on gunfighting: "The main thing is to shoot first and never miss."

"He (Ben Thompson) suffered from insomnia and liked to spend the night roving from one quarter of the town to another, usually shooting playfully at anything he saw."

Clay Allison: "Go heel yourself, varmint. I'm waitin'."

Overall Opinion:
At any rate, and my goggle-eyed reading aside, Breihan whet my appetite for a more in depth look at the subject. That's a good thing for an author to accomplish.

Rating:

7

Fifth Week Wrap

   It appears these past weeks, that reading has been slow. Another week has come and gone and taken with it only three completed books. So many things to do and keep me busy definitely make for less time time for leisurely pursuits. Ahhh, at least there is some time. :)
   April happenings included Spring Break, birthdays (that of yours truly and my grandmother, 90), rock climbing for my Second and Third, community cleanup with my Fourth and Fifth (which included the adrenaline inducing unexpected discovery of a snake by myself), my young one's first cheer exhibition, a much anticipated field trip to Calico, a baby shower and, of course, Easter and an upcoming 40th birthday and an incredibly precious vow renewal. April has been and will continue to be lovely.
   Reading has been grand. Fun and powerful. Entertaining and enlightening. I learned what draw poker's "Dead Man's Hand" is and can't wait to see it played and know why it's called by its name (read Great Gunfighters of the West  by Carl W. Breihan to find out for yourself). Though that might be a long wait as I'm not known to run in draw poker circles. ;)
   Alright, the Wrap is feeling slow; words are barely trickling to mind. I'm off The Wrap and on to write the sixth weeks first review.

God Grew Tired of Us A Memoir by John Bul Dau

   What a beautiful story. John Bul Dau is a Lost Boy and begins his story from his village in Sudan until his present day life in America in 2007. He tells the story of his flight and refugee status in different camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. The grueling marches that span a country. Being shot at, beaten, crossing crocodile infested rivers, naked, starving, dying of thirst. And yet, through it all, his spirit, hope, faith, courage and strength shine through.
   God Grew Tired of Us testifies to the enduring legacy that marks a man who is raised with faith, family and character. Throughout the book, John Dau's simplicity and natural curiosity are evident. Having been born in a part of the world that knows little of the outside, modern world; everything is new to him, everything we take for granted as a given, he accepts with appreciation and thankfulness.
   I read A Long Way Gone  by Ishmael Beah, his story is remarkable and heartrending, but it did not move me in such a character shaping way. God Grew Tired of Us challenged me in a way that I believe I needed to be challenged. It made me examine myself and the way I look at my daily "trials".

Favorite Quotes:

"Sometimes all you can do is keep going, even in the face of great danger."

I am ashamed to say it, but in the time of our greatest crisis, most of the people of Duk Payuel turned away from their social traditions and focused on saving their own families."

"That was my first ride in a car or truck. For the first time, I moved faster than the thiang or the lion, and I glimpsed a vision of the modern world: fast, blurred, and chaotic."

"The desert achuil trees soaked up the moisture and started to sprout tiny green leaves. They spread their branches and touched the limbs of other trees, like boys holding hands."

"It was the sweetest thing when I felt the spirit of the Lord moving through me. It was like drinking cold water on a hot day."

"In America, students ask the teachers, "Will this be on the test?" and they try to find out what part of the textbook they don't have to read. Ha! What a piece of cake that is. That is not school. That is not the way to get anywhere in life."

On being asked if he had children or a wife, in that order: "Now why did he ask that? In the Dinka culture, if I had children then I had a wife, and if I had a wife then I had children. I did not know that the two did not necessarily go together in America. That idea still takes some getting used to."

"It violated the Dinka way of life to refuse education, even when more education lay on the horizon."

"We made up a song about a saying among my people, "A human being can never be eaten." The song means the test of a man lies in the good or bad things he does, not in his physical body. A man who brings help to his community proves his worth."

Overall Opinion:

I am glad, glad, glad I read this book!

Rating:

10 out of 10

Queen of Dragons by Shana Abe

   This is the third in Shana Abe's Drakon series (the first was Smoke Thief, reviewed earlier). It picks up nicely and reads well even without having read the second book. Queen of Dragons follows Kimber Langford, Darkfrith's sitting Alpha and first son of Rue and Christoff of book one, and Maricara, the princess from Carpathia, as they face the threat of the sanf inimicus, or drakon killers.
   As in the first book, there is a first person tale interspersed throughout the book that embellishes the story as it's told. I like the addition.

Favorite Quote:

Huh. Just realized I didn't find one.

Overall Opinion:

Shape shifting dragons, love scenes, mysterious disappearances; an easy read for the afternoon.

Rating:

Why not? Go ahead and give it a whirl.

John Adams by John Patrick Diggins

   Until I read John Adams I didn't know just how much I idealized the time of America's founding. I saw everyone on the same page, thinking along the same lines; ready to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. I knew there were differences, but I thought they existed more between the Tories and Whigs. I enjoyed this biography for the insight into the time and for opening my eyes to the realities that people are people; a perspective I usually am pretty good at keeping, but, for some reason, I neglected to a fault.
   I learned that I "personally" like John Adams more than Thomas Jefferson. John Adams was smart and insightful and, at times, puzzlingly shortsighted. He loved his wife. I learned that President Adams was a real person who would probably recoil from the celebrity with which he is currently held.
   John Patrick Diggins' book is a short 175 pages that most likely hit the main points and leaves the minutia for a longer treatise. Diggins still does a good job of painting a picture, though whether the picture is more of Thomas Jefferson or John Adams, I'm not quite sure.

Favorite Quotes:

"Ben Franklin described Adams as "always an honest Man, often a Wise One, but sometimes and in somethings, absolutely out of his Senses."

"His father...wanted his son to study Latin...When he protested that he hated the subject, his father replied: 'Well, John, if Latin-grammar does not suit you, you may try ditching, perhaps that will...' Young John looked forward to the "delightful change," only to discover after a day and a half of hard, backbreaking work that he preferred Latin to labor. Finally at nightfall 'toil conquered pride, and I told my father, one of the severest trials of my life, that, if he chose, I would go back to Latin-grammar. He was glad of it; and if I have since gained any distinction, it has been owing to the two days' labor in that abominable ditch.'"

"The great sin, announced Adams the Puritan, is passivity and complacency. "Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.'"

"Years earlier they (Adams and Benjamin Franklin) slept in the same room, and when Adams closed the windows tight before turning in, he would awake shivering to find that Franklin had opened them wide and, instead of allowing Adams to get back to sleep, Franklin would give him a lecture on the virtues of fresh air."

"Party politics in America begins in bravado and ends in bathos, an electoral campaign that promises a climactic resolution and succumbs to the ordinary trivia of everyday politics."

"'Why, he (Adams) asked, 'are the personal accomplishments of  beauty, elegance, and grace, held in such esteem by mankind? Is it merely from the pleasure which is received from the sight of these attributes? By no means. The taste for such delicacies is not universal; in those who feel the most lively sense of them, it is but a slight sensation, and of the shortest continuance; but those attractions command the notice and attention of the public; they draw the eyes of the spectators.'"

Overall Opinion:

A good introduction to John Adams; leaves me definitely wanting to learn more.

Rating:

7


Links to: Dearest Friend A Life of Abigail Adams by Lynne Withey

Fourth Week Wrap

   One month in and I'm feeling fine. I'm also feeling a mite dumbed down. It has struck me, whilst reading from the 920-21's series, that I have too long gorged on dessert and neglected meals. It has been disconcerting to see how long it is taking me to read something that is not fiction. Methinks I must devote more time to exercising my brain.
   That said, I have several books that, I hope, are more meat than fluff. We shall see. I think I will start a poetry and classics reading children with the kids, lest they too suffer the syndrome of dumb down their mother finds herself in. Mayhap, the use of classical language in the Wrap will permit me to pull up my ego by its bootstraps for the moment as well.
  
   Had to make tracks for a moment and what do you know? My Number Four showed me his book and just told me that he can understand it, but it's taking him a while. And do you know why? His library book is written more classically than current books usually are. Well, if that doesn't answer that, then I don't know what does? I believe I will begin the poetry and classics reading series after all.
   This moment opened with personal observation and ended with conviction for balanced change. Fancy that; I'm introspective!  ;)

Favorite quote of the day: "Yeah, cause I've been reading Goosebumps like a sucker!" -My Number Four

The Smoke Thief by Shana Abe

   Succintly put, I liked the book. The Smoke Thief is fantasy fiction that tells the story of a tribe of drakon living in England in the 1700's. It is a romantic novel that has a predictable ending, but has enough backstory to be enjoyable. This is the first Abe book I've read and was good enough to keep me from not feeling dread at having two more of her books to read.
   Huh...I'm not sure what else to say. I think succintly put, was sufficiently put. Oh, one last thing. Abe does a great job of writing a love scene.  ;)

Favorite Quote:

"Society must be far, far more beef-witted than I even thought."

Overall Opinion:

In case you missed it; I liked the book.

Rating:

Good Beach Read

Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott

   Teen fiction selection that wasted no time lollygagging and got right down to brass tacks. In a fantasy world of humans, dwarves, centaurs, etc. etc., Abisina is born an outcast in her village. As are all born possessing any of the wrong characteristics, to wit, not blond haired and blue eyed. Abisina must leave Vranille for Watersmeet, to find the father she just learned of. She encounters the "demons": dwarves, centaurs and others; in doing so she learns that all is not what she has learned growing up in prejudice.
   Is it just me or did this review seem terse and unremarkable?
  
Favorite Quotes:

Didn't come across anything that struck me.

Overall Opinion:

 Fine for any age. The story is a predictable good vs. evil, overcoming fear, prejudice, etc., etc. tale, but would most likely engage a young reader, particularly girls.

Rating:

Why not read? There are better books, but this one is not a complete waste of a couple of hours.

The Last Hero A Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant

 Well, I'm a day late, but I finished the last book of my first checkout. Yay!! Whew!!! The Last Hero A Life of Henry Aaron was my first book from the 921 section of the Victorville City Library. It took the longest time to read (4 days, I read Plum Lucky in the middle of it), due mostly to the technical and unfamiliar material I was trying to absorb.
   To the book...
   The first thing I was struck by was that as unfamiliar as I am with baseball statistics, its technical aspects and just baseball in general, there was a lot that was familiar and bell ringing to me; it was a reminder of how certain events, people and places permeate our national conscience and culture. I do not follow baseball, or any sport for that matter, and yet names beyond Aaron, Ruth, Mays, DiMaggio and Robinson were bell ringers. Names like Selig, Mantilla, Spahn, which I know are famous to those in the baseball know, but to me were just names I knew but couldn't put an immediate finger on why I knew them. Pafko (I learned his name first from watching Cop Out, very funny movie by the way) made me feel like an insider since I already knew a fact about him (again, from the paranthesis above).
   The second thing that struck me was how exciting Mr. Bryant made baseball. I admit that there were times I got  a little lost in the play by plays, not knowing baseball was something of a hamper when I was trying to place who was on which team, but there was always a tidy finisher that let know how it ended. His enthusiasm for the sport was infectious and would catch anyone, maybe especially a fan. It seemed that a baseball person would be even more caught up; either reliving the play they watched or seeing it for the first time because it wasn't on TV for a younger generation to catch on the classic channel.
   The Last Hero captured several things. It captured baseball, the challenges posed by segregation and integration and Henry Aaron. This biography took a close look at America not just in the time of Henry Aaron, but also of his grandfather and father. It allowed you to understand why he behaved as he did, even if you didn't agree with it. Mr. Aaron came through as a whole person; you were able to see him as others, both friends and outsiders, saw him as well as how he saw himself in an open and clear way.

Favorite Quotes:

"He especially softened for the impatient, uncomprehending children born three decades after he'd swung his last bat, all of them unsure why their wistful and dutiful fathers were pushing them in front of this grayed, unfamiliar man, and even more bewildered why they spoke with reverence in their creaking voices instead of displaying unbending fatherly authority."

"The boys from Whistler would ride their bikes (the ones who had bikes) over to Toulminville for weekend epics that would last on the Carver Park dirt for hours and in memory forever."

" 'See, that's what you needed to survive. You needed the good ones, the ones who understood you were a person just like them. They had to go along with it all, because that's the way things were, but they didn't put their knee in your back, either.' "

"Above the fold, adjacent to the photograph of Henry, was a news story, dateline Little Rock, Arkansas, detailing a white mob beating several black students attempting to enter Central High School."

"Two on, nobody out, and the tying run at the plate, and Fred Haney about as motionless as a cigar store Indian."

"As you entered the Braves clubhouse, an oversized refrigerator loomed to the right, a frosty glass door revealing shelves of Fanta grape and orange soda distributed by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Next to the fridge sat the cigarette machine and a tub filled with ice and Piels beer. A side table housed assorted sundries-sunflower seeds, tobacco, bubble gum-and a jar, about ten inches high, brimming with amphetamines."

Overall Opinion:

I can't say that I think I'll become an ardent baseball fan now, but I did walk away with an urge to watch some of the moments I read about. And, perhaps, to eat a box of Crackerjacks (which I don't actually like, and were not mentioned in the book) and a hot dog during the seven inning stretch.

Rating:

Baseball Fan or Not, Read the Book


Links to: Hard Call Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them by John McCain with Mark Salter

New Library Books & Third Week Wrap

   I'm a day early to return my books and I haven't finished Howard Bryant's The Last Hero A Life of Henry Aaron (good so far), but today is my birthday, the kids are in school and I feel like a treat. So I am off to get more books! Yay!! So excited!!!
   Will update the list after I return...

   Back from the break. I walked to the fiction section, with not a little trepidation mixed with excitement. Trepidation regarding the possibility of another Jeff Abbott book (sorry Mr. Abbott), excitement about what would be waiting. This time I stuck to books that were next up on the shelves rather than adding free picks, but I picked three fiction and two from the 920's as well as two from the 921's. I also added books from the children's section.
   That being said, I am reserving the right to pick and choose in that section. I do not see the Animorphs series in my future. I already have another romance (ugh) book in my bag and a second book that I am not looking for to either (I am judging by both the book and cover; it's more well rounded judgement that way).

On to the Wrap. The first checkout was a success! I had so much fun reading my library books; more than I expected even knowing how much I enjoyed reading. I read books that I might never have picked up had I not started this venture.
   I have one book left of my original checkout, which I should finish tomorrow or the next day; I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope. If I finish it tomorrow I will have finished my checkout on time (crossing my fingers). At any rate, I am excited and ready to call this venture a GREAT IDEA!!

Fiction

- The Smoke Thief by Shana Abe   check
- Queen of Dragons  "    "      "        check
- Intimate Enemies   "     "     "         check

Nonfiction

   920's
- Great Gunfighters of the West by Carl W. Breihan    check
- God Grew Tired of Us A Memoir by John Bul Dau     check

   921's
- John Adams by John Patrick Diggins    check
- A Useful Woman The Early Life of Jane Addams by Gioia Diliberto    check

Teen Fiction

- Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott   check
- The Perfect Boy by Hailey Abbott     check

Youth Fiction

- My Land Sings Stories from the Rio Grande by Rudolpho Anaya
- Remnants by K.A. Applegate    check


Oh, note to self: Flip flops in the library are obnoxiously loud, and make you incredibly self conscious.

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

   Okay, I love the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Plum Lucky is one of her Between the Numbers novels. It is the first Between book that I've read. I'm not sure how much I liked it. I felt the same way about the Sookie Stackhouse short story collection A Touch of Dead; I really like the characters and the stories, but there just wasn't enough in the book. 
   Plum Lucky felt too abbreviated. The whole time I was reading I was waiting for the story to happen. I think, had this been my first introduction to Stephanie Plum, the story might have whet my appetite to get to know her better. We'll see. There are other Between the Numbers novels that I have yet to read. When I get to the "E" section in the library, we'll find out if they have them.

Favorite Quotes:

"It's usually when I'm in the shower that I think of things spiritual and mystical and wonder about the unknown. Like is there life after death? And just what, exactly, is collagen? And suppose Wonder Woman actually exists. If she was discreet, you might not know, right?"

"Fortunately, since I was born and raised in Trenton, I'm good at selecting bimbo clothes."

"For the second time, people scurried for the money like roaches on pie."

Overall Opinion:

I really like Stephanie Plum, and because of that, I'm holding my nose at what was missing here.

Rating:

Bit Disappointing for This Established Stephanie Plum Fan/Nice Introduction for New Fans

"D" is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton

   *Alphabet Series - See "B" is for Burglar earlier in the blog for a complete review of my thoughts on this series.*

   Kinsey Millhone is at it again. In Deadbeat, Kinsey is looking for the client who stiffed her with a $400 check for services. The book picks up a thread that is left at the end of "C" is for Corpse.

Favorite Quotes:

"At intervals, I try to behave like a person with class, which is to say I drink wine from a bottle instead of a cardboard box."

"Altogether, I came perilously close to boring myself insensible with my own mental processes..."

"The air smelled of chocolate and made me wish I had a mother."

"Eugene, in a dark suit, steered her by the elbow, working her arm as if it were the rudder on a ship."

"I tend to place kids in a class with dogs, preferring the quiet, the smart, and the well trained."

Overall Opinion:

I liked it.

Rating:

Lazy Day/Beach Read

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

   I started this book yesterday at about 12:30 in the afternoon, and minus a few hours for things to do, I finished it at 11:30 that night. I could not stop reading it. Still Alice impacted me in a way that a book has not in a very long time. When I finished the book I felt, not numb, but very still. It was like I had to let it just sit for a bit before I could move on or I would lose something important.
   Alice is a 50 year old Harvard cognitive psychology professor who discovers that she has early onset Alzheimer's. She is brilliant, loves language and its aquisition, has three grown children and is married to John, a biology professor. Alice and John have slowly drifted closer to their career passions; something Alice notices, but is unable to turn around for them.
   Her struggle to retain herself as she loses the ability to, her frustration, fear, anger; her love, are all wonderfully captured. Alice's family's struggles are painted just as vividly. Still Alice is written in a balanced blending of the first and third person that illustrates the progression of her dementia in way that is both heartbreaking and beautiful. Alice and her family are real, and you want to reach out to her without pity and with friendship to make up for the fear and embarrassment that she is met with.
   Lisa Genova wove a rich fabric in Still Alice that I think all readers should wear on their bookshelves. Her story was just a chance book that I chose at the library, yes, I judged it by its cover. I am glad I did. Writing this review brings back its haunting, sad and beautiful story as though I was in the midst of the tale myself.

Favorite Quotes:

"The clocks in their home rarely knew the real time of day. Alice had been duped too often in the past by their seemingly honest faces..."

"A zealous crowd surrounded and circled a buffet table, aggressively diving in for food like seagulls at a city beach."

"Anna was his older sister. She'd taught him how to snap and blow gum bubbles, and she always gave him her Halloween candy."

"There it was, her Alzheimer's, stripped and naked under the fluorescent lighting, on display for Sarah Something to scrutinize and judge."

"She couldn't wait to smell her delicious grandchildren."

"The tiny, sleeping baby breathed tiny, shallow breaths through tiny, round nostrils."

Overall Opinion:

I know I said this blog was not about self discovery, but I would be a human null if I didn't admit that Still Alice woke something in me.

Rating:

Must Recommend for Reading

Death of the Party by Carolyn Hart

   Mysteries! I love mysteries!! Carolyn Hart was a discovery I made at the library over a year ago; I purely judged that book by its cover when I was choosing. (Alack, overdue fines and a lost book kept me away. Something I'll be avoiding if I am to continue my venture in future.) I picked up Death of the Party for fun. It was.
   Her characters are mystery bookstore owner Annie and her husband Max Darling, a professional mystery solver. They are a completely in love and adorable. In Death, the Darlings agree to assist Britt Barlow. Britt has hidden a murder for a year; at first to avoid unpleasantness for her ill sister, and later because what are you going to do? it's been a year.
   Carolyn Hart keeps the ball rolling, spices her writing with references to other mystery writers, some familiar to me, some not. I enjoy the other references. They intrigue me when I don't know them and allow me to feel insufferably smug when I do.
   It appears, from the two books that I have read, that there is a continuity in her stories and major and minor characters from the tourist town the Darling's live in. I always appreciate that as it makes me feel more connected to the characters. It's an easy way to find yourself invested in their outcome.

Favorite Quotes:

"She strolled away from Britt, arrogant as a peacock, but she forgot it's men as has the fancy feathers."

"Their brightness was cheerless as splotches of makeup on the cheeks of an old woman."

Overall Opinion:

I liked it.

Rating:

Beach Read

Grimpow The Invisible Road by Rafael Abalos

   First things first. Grimpow The Invisible Road by Rafael Abalos follows Grimpow, (that sounded a little obvious after I typed it, but I don't write the stories, I just review them) a 14th century boy who happens across a dead body. Grimpow, (Grim po' ? Grim pow' ?), like other poor boys of his time, is illiterate, but dreams of one day being a knight's squire. After telling his friend Durlib, a thief/swindler and his father figure, about his discovery, they return to the body and discover more mysteries.
   Thus, Grimpow begins a journey that includes the philosopher's stone, the secret of the wise and, of course, the Knights Templar. The story is well told, avoids most dawdling, and has likeable characters. Abalos' book stresses wisdom and knowledge over religion, but as some of the characters that are responsible for guiding Grimpow are good monks, I felt that his conflict centered more around the greed of the powerful and imposition of willful ignorance than God per se.
   I have no qualms about any of my children reading Grimpow, though it seems to be more a boys book than a crossover tale. Plus, I don't know if my boys would get into the story. While it was written well enough and I was interested in seeing the end, it just didn't grab me, and 482 pages are a lot of pages to get through when you lack a hook. The book is translated from its original Spanish, I don't think that had anything to do with it, but without reading it in the original Espanol, who can tell?

Favorite Quotes:

"Nausea quickly ran up Grimpow's throat and stirred the stew that sat so sweetly in his stomach."

"The young lady noticed the boy who stood staring at her, and smiled, sending Grimpow's thoughts scattering like a flock of birds taken by surprise, and turning his cheeks red."

Overall Opinion:

I started on the fence and am swiftly falling to the opinion that says this book was not for me. It seemed to have all the right elements, but was still missing something, umm, how do you say, umm (snapping my fingers), a je ne sais quois? By the end of the book I was flipping through the pages and just scanning to see what happened.

Rating:

1 Time Read (but with the caveat, "You might like it, it just didn't quite do it for me.")

Second Week Wrap

   Celebrated a cousin's wedding, first time in Laughlin, discovered that I love me some penny machines. Lucky Lemurs rock!! Wished a beloved grandmother a very happy 90th birthday this week, and not a frail, can't get around 90, but an active, still out and about, 90th birthday. My Granny is grantastic!!! Gossiped and joked with cousins, spent time being strong armed into sewing a glider cushion cover (115 pound pregnant women are no joke, let me tell you), watched my children play and get sweaty with cousins, once and twice removed.
   It was a really good week... Wait, wait, I think I can do better than that. Last week was wonderful, filled with a living mosaic of faces, food, snapshots of love and peals of laughter. Okay, enough of the smarm and onto the books!
   Five more library books down; two were meals, two were dessert and one was that stuff you eat when you're not sure you're even hungry and it isn't really what you want, but you can't find anything better. I'm halfway through my first library check out. Should be done this week, since we're still on Spring Break (yay!), most of them are fluff I picked out for fun, and I am planning to do as little as possible before we return to school.
   The book snob in me is a little embarrassed about the amount of junk on my list. I think I'm going to assuage the feeling by peppering the Wrap with a judicious use of my big girl vocabulary and vivid word pictures. Judging by my last sentence, I'll be resorting to incredibly long, though nicely phrased, sentences. (That was an unbiased opinion of my sentence structure and form, by the by.)
   Reading has been more and more enjoyable. While books have been lifelong friends and reading a major pasttime spender for as long as I can remember, it has been feeling new these past two weeks. Beginning a new book, wondering how it will be reviewed, which quotes will be chosen as favorites; it is all great fun!
   Getting a little tired of all the "I" usage in the Wrap. Thinking of either omitting them or switching to writing in the third person. Will see next week.

Favorite quote of the week, "Do you know how to spike hair? Because all my spikes go in a specific location." -My fourth, 8 years old, prior to my gelling his hair.

Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott

   Bury Me Deep was fantastic! Written with breathless, run-on sentences and wonderful fragments, Megan Abbott draws you in and keeps you reading until the book is done. The story is based on a true one that took place in 1931.
   The tale stars Marion, a sheltered young wife, left alone in a strange city while her husband works in Mexico. In smaller billing are Lousie and Ginny, two good-time girls with well earned, questionable reputations and no qualms about earning a living and "Gent" Joe Lanigan, the obligatory man's man who runs the town behind and in front of the scenes. A pivotal cameo is put in by Dr. Seeley, Marion's husband.
   Marion, at first naively drawn into the circle, later purposely shuts her eyes so that she can stay in it. There is no good ending for any of the characters. There are no good characters, though some of them have redeeming traits that keep you from despising them.
   Ms. Abbott's writes the way people think; a healthy contempt for the proper use of commas, semicolons and periods, not to mention a callous disregard for complete sentences. Her style makes Marion come off the pages in a way that allows you to feel her awe, uneasiness, doubt and grasping. All of the characters snap with realism and never fall flat.
   If you're wondering what the story is actually about, well, c'mon, I told you there was a lonely married woman befriended by girls determined to thumb their noses at all things polite, who also know someone named Gent Joe. What you think is going to happen will, what you think couldn't happen don't be too sure of.

Favorite Quotes:

"Ride a while and smile the while, dontcha know."

"The music hammered at her and the floors felt sodden with champagne and maybe it wasn't so different from Louise and Ginny's and yet it was. It was. It was because that was their party and this was not. This was not. It was something else and it felt a little bit like these girls had, stiff-faced and cold-eyed, punched a clock."

"The feckless words whistling in her ear, and before she could think, her arm lifted again and she pointed this time at him, trying to rise, shirtfront showgirl-spangled."

Overall Opinion:

Did I say it was fantastic?! Ms. Abbott also offers the additional gift of a synopsis of the true story her book is based on. Yay.

Rating:

Recommended Reading

"C" is for Corpse by Sue Grafton

   The third book in Sue Grafton's alphabet series. I am thinking that, unless something radically changes in one of the books, will not be reviewed for each reading beyond the first one. I can think of a few other book series that will fall into the category of fun reading, same story.
  
For an introduction of Kinsey Millhone, P.I., see my "B" is for Burglar review.

Favorite Quotes:

"He was already slathering Miracle Whip on that brand of soft white bread that can double as a foam sponge. I kept my eyes discreetly averted as if he were engaged in pornographic practices."

"There was so much lyrical music playing overhead, I felt like the heroine in a romantic comedy."

"This was his version of small talk, I assumed. I sat down and let him ramble briefly. He seemed anxious and I couldn't imagine what had brought him in. We made mouth noises at each other, demonstrating goodwill."

"People always love it when you say their dogs are nice. Just shows you how of touch they are."

"I'm not that fast at subtraction so it's probably fortunate that I don't lie about how old I am."

"'Besides, "stupid" is after the fact. I always feel smart when I think things up.'"

Overall Opinion:

The Kinsy Millhone series; always a fun, quick read.

Rating:

Definitely needs one.

A Real Boy A True Story of Autism Early Intervention, and Recovery by Christina Adams

   I have to admit that I was incredibly hesitant to read this book. You know the "must see" movie that everyone is talking about, the one you kind of want to see, but you're not sure if you can handle the heavy theme. That's what I was feeling about A Real Boy. I was wrong.
   The theme is tough. Mrs. Adams and her husband ask themselves and each other unanswerable questions about what caused this to happen. Mr. Adams blames his wife for her use of pitocin during labor, knowing it is unreasonable. Mrs. Adams blames herself, while thinking she would never accuse her husband if the shoe were on the other foot while remembering days that she blamed her husband for things that happened to Jonah, knowing that her blame was equally unreasonable. Their days seem exhausting, draining and confusing. And yet, the story that is woven transcends all of that. Over the cacophony of hurt, anger, confusion, fear, you hear the siren song of their love, determination and hope overwhelm the noise.
   A Real Boy tells the story of the Adam's family discovery that their almost three year old son Jonah is autistic and what they do to help him recover. Jonah's story is beautifully, though a little confusingly told. It is filled with milestones and seemingly blinding quick accomplishments, followed by flashes of setbacks and periods of difficult days that feel more like afterthought inserts. It is sometimes difficult to grasp because you hear good things, good things, good things and then, out of the blue, it has been a bad week all along for Jonah, and by extension his family.
   The overall story is a snapshot of a family smacked between the eyes and hanging on, by hook or by crook, to their love for each other and their son; determined to make the best possible future they can. Yes, the theme is heavy, but A Real Boy is, in the end, a love story.

Favorite Quotes:

"...I kept the milk-based formula and added cheese and ice cream to his diet, in love with watching him eat foods that would strengthen his bones and fill his mouth with pleasure."

"From the kitchen, I can hear Ross's low voice and Jack's softer one as Ross tries to explain Jane's techniques. I've read some autism therapy books, and I am prepared, even hopeful, for a fight, since they say recovered kids often fight in the beginning. So I stay in the kitchen and make row after row of cookies, grim and hopeful, as the cries come from the living room."

Overall Opinion:

I am glad I read this book. Had I not decided to read through the library I most likely would never have picked it up; it would have been my loss.

Rating:

A Good Read