Hot Lights, Cold Steel by D. P. Lyle

"Hot lights and cold steel. Surgery. The hot overhead lights and the cold steel scalpel. Got to find humor where you can."
                              -Dr. Liz Mackey, from the novel

There's a story behind the choice of this novel. After I joined the Facebook group of my high school class, I learned that one of my classmates was published author D. P. Lyle. Since I plan to go to the 50th class reunion next year, I decided I should definitely find one of his books. It's somewhat surprising I had not happened upon his writing before since I have read many mysteries by Patterson, Hoag, Clark and others. I enjoyed this one, as well, and will probably look for another.

When I began the book, I admit I thought it might be meant for a male audience---a bit coarse for me. It didn't take long for me to be sucked into the plot. I did wonder why the pages looked as if they have been splashed with dirty water. Never did figure that out. I am rating it a 3.5; it was definitely a page turner!

The novel features Dub Walker, a criminal and forensic expert and writer. He sets out to find the missing daughter of a friend and walks into the midst of some very strange serial killings. In the description of author D.P. Lyle, one can see much of main character, Dub Walker. Lyle is apparently a cardiologist, well-known forensic expert and a fairly prolific writer. He also grew up in Huntsville, Alabama which is the setting of the story. In fact, one of the things I liked the most was frequent mention of places so familiar to me from having lived in Huntsville, Rocket City, during much of my teens.

Maya's Notebook by Isabel Allende

"As my Popo used to say, life is a tapestry we weave day by day with threads of different colors, some heavy and dark, others thin and bright, all the threads having their uses. The stupid things I did are already in the tapestry, indelible, but I'm not going to be weighed down by them till I die. What's done is done; I have to look ahead."
                                 -from the novel

I read Island Beneath the Sea by this author quite some time ago. I don't remember it well but I recalled that I liked it so this one jumped off the library shelf into my hand. I enjoyed Maya's Notebook and will rate it a solid 4.

The setting of the story jumps around a bit from Berkeley, California, to Las Vegas to a remote island of Chile, where the main character, Maya, attempts to restart her life, after having been thrown into chaos by the death of her beloved Popo. Most of the novel involves about a year in Maya's life which she narrates. One of the aspects that made the novel a page-turner for me was the mystery of why Maya had been sent from California to this remote location to hide out. What had she done? The reader does not find out for some time.

The author does an amazing job of fleshing out characters. Two of my favorites are Manuel who is providing a home to Maya as a favor to her grandmother who raised her, and Olympia Pettiford who plays a much smaller but crucial role in the story. Other characters are easy to hate---like Brandon Leeman and Roy Fedgewick, or quite loveable like Blanca and Freddy, along with the two I mentioned. Nini, the grandmother, is painted as something of a control freak, illustrated by this passage: "My Nini....assured me....the next swine who dared to insult me was going to have to deal with the Chilean mafia. This mafia was composed of her alone, but Mike O'Kelly and I were so afraid of her that we called my Nini Don Corleone." So, yes, there's some humor in the book also.

I learned a good bit about the culture of the island of Chiloe. Apparently there was sexism, widespread use of natural remedies, hospitality and the "law of reciprocity," in which one good turn deserves another. Allende should really know these things since she was raised in Chile.

Maya's Notebook is very well-written and I will definitely read another by this author.

Reading List 2013

This year we have read 9 books. Here are the titles and their ratings, in order from high to low, from the Park Lake Page Turners. There are separate blog posts for each of these.

4.9   A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith  

4.2   My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

4.0   Death, Dickinson and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez

3.9   Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper

3.8   The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

3.8   Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

3.6   Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy

3.4   Children and Fire by Ursula Hegi

3.0   The House I Loved by Tatiana De Rosnay

2.9   The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo                           

The Butler, A Witness to History by Wil Haygood

"What struck me most about this story is the perspective it comes from, which in this case is the butler---a man who was a fly on the wall for decades in the world's most powerful home."
                      -producer Harvey Weinstein, speaking of Eugene Allen

Earlier this year I saw the movie called "The Butler" with a group of friends. We all enjoyed it very much and felt as if we had traveled back in time. The movie was a fictionalized account of the story of Eugene Allen, a butler at the White House through 34 years and 8 presidential administrations.

In this book Wil Haygood, first relates the biography of this amazing man, enhanced by the addition of many actual photographs. Haygood, also a writer for the Washington Post,was the first to share the story of Eugene Allen in 2008, just prior to the election of Barack Obama, America's first African-American president. His goal was to show changes in race relations through the eyes of someone who experienced them in a very unique way. I found Allen's life truly inspiring.

The latter part of the book deals with African-Americans, as portrayed through history in the film industry, leading into the making of the film, "The Butler." In the movie, Eugene Allen and his wife, Helene, are played beautifully by Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. In this portion of the book, there are color photographs from the movie.

A few years ago our local history museum had a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian called The Working White House." Eugene Allen was featured, of course, and so was JFK's tie which was given to Allen by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

The Butler is a short and easy read with fascinating pictures. Very worthwhile, I say. My rating is 4.

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

"I don't know what this person did to you, and I am not sure I want to. But forgiving isn't something you do for someone else. It's something you do for yourself. It's saying, You're not important enough to have a stranglehold on me. It's saying, You don't get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future."
                                -Mary's advice to Sage, from the novel

This was an amazing novel, one of the author's best, in my opinion. I rate it a 5; I could hardly put it down!

The multi-layered plot was fascinating to me as the main character Sage Singer, dealing with her own grief and moral dilemma, finally hears her grandmother Minka's story of survival of the Holocaust. It becomes apparent that the excerpts of Ania's story interspersed throughout the novel are excerpts of Minka's writing, begun in her youth and continued through most of her ordeal in Nazi camps. So there is a story within a story within a story.

Many of my readers probably know historical fiction is my favorite genre. I have read other Holocaust stories that have lingered in my mind and heart. Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, Number the Stars by Lois Lenski, and, of course, The Diary of Anne Frank, to name some favorites. (Most of those are young adult fiction but powerful stories, nonetheless.)

While my husband and I were in Washington, D.C. in May, 2013, we visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and were profoundly moved by it. Semidarkness, exposed pipes in the ceiling, bars, and many photographs cast a somber mood to the point that even teenagers in school groups were quiet. The distinct path from 4th floor down to 3rd down to 2nd, made one think of being herded as the Jews and other victims had been. A quote near the end of the tour said, "Remember what you saw today." I don't know how you could forget, especially the shoe exhibit! (If you have been there, you know what I am talking about!) The reading of the novel was almost like revisiting the memorial.

Author and Holocaust survivor, Elie Weisel, has said, "For the dead and the living we must bear witness." Books like
The Storyteller surely bear witness in a powerful way!