Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

 "It seems to me that when you look back at a life, yours or another's, what you see is a path that weaves into and out of deep shadow. So much is lost. What we use to construct the past is what has remained in the open, a hodgepodge of fleeting glimpses.... So what I recall of that last summer in New Bremen is a construct both of what stands in the light and what I imagine in the dark where I cannot see."

                     -Frank Drum, from the novel

I have forgotten who recommended this book for Page Turners but what an amazing novel! It had me mesmerized; I did not want to put it down! 

Forty years later, Frank Drum, narrates the story of the summer of 1961 in the small town of New Bremen, Minnesota, when he was 13 years old and saw way too much death. It is very much Frank's story of a confusing and tragic time in his young life, along with his younger brother Jake. It seemed so real, so detailed and so emotional, it could have been a memoir. 

This novel is a page-turner from the get-go. The prologue begins "All the dying that summer began with the death of a child..." and then we learn there are several other deaths to follow. Foreshadowing is used to great advantage. It turns out the child mentioned first was killed by a train. Strangely, I had a classmate in third grade who was killed in a train accident.

The time period intrigued me with mentions of newly-elected President Kennedy, TV shows I remembered seeing like "Have Gun, Will Travel," and other cultural happenings. As a former teacher of pre-teens, I found the boys believable and simpatico. By turns the novel was humorous, poignant, and even profound. I give it a 5 rating and highly recommend it! I look forward to seeing what our Page Turners think when we meet to discuss it. More after that.....

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The group met today to discuss Ordinary Grace. The average rating was 4.4 and, to be honest, I was a little disappointed. But that does tie with American Dirt for our highest-rated book of the year so far. One class member, the one who suggested the book, reread it and said she liked it even better the second time. We discussed some of the red herrings surrounding the central mystery; many of us were misled by them but one person said she figured it out early-on. We felt the author purposely left some mysteries unresolved to be realistic---that's just the way life is.

When a question was posed about the title, we thought about the occasion of Jake's saying grace before a family meal. The narrator, Frank, tells us it was an ordinary grace but so special he still remembers it after 40 years. We felt it was actually extraordinary because it caused some miraculous changes for the family.

Several of us appreciated Krueger's power of description, his use of figurative language often very poetic. A few of us plan to read more by this author. This was no ordinary novel!

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand

"You're my sunshine and my light, my treasure, my prize; you're the fire in my eyes...my golden girl, my girl so bold, your path I'll clear, your heart I'll hold."

                -lyrics to song "Golden Girl" by Brett Caspian, from the novel

A friend recommended this book and I enjoyed it. I am not sure I have read others by Hilderbrand but apparently she is known as the "queen of beach reads." This one would surely be a great beach read but with a unique twist. 

Vivian Howe, prolific author of novels set in Nantucket, is killed by a hit-and-run driver while out for a jog. She goes to heaven, the "Beyond," and meets her angel, "Person," named Martha. At first Vivi, as she is called, isn't accepting that she will not see her 3 grown children again or find out if her current novel, Golden Girl, will make it to #1 on the Bestseller list. Martha cannot, or will not, answer all her questions but she does allow her 75 VW and a 3 N provision. Say, what? That is, 75 days of a viewing window to watch what is happening below and 3 nudges, in other words, 3 chances to change what is about to happen on earth.

There is a good bit of suspense to make the novel a page-turner: Who hit Vivi? and What on earth is the mysterious photo texted to a group of folks? The reader must guess for quite a while before the truth is known. In the mean time, Vivi needs to find a way to keep a secret from her past from coming to light (having to do with a high school boyfriend and the song title mentioned with the quote.) Also, she is so tempted to use her nudges to help her kids who all have their own secrets and/or demons.

I kind of hated that one of the least likeable characters was a Southern girl and an Auburn grad. (I attended A.U. for two years when I lived in Alabama.) Also, I have been to Cape Cod but was wishing I had been to Nantucket. 

I rate Golden Girl a 4. It might have been a 5 except it didn't compare favorably to Ordinary Grace, the last novel I read which has higher literary value, in my opinion. I found it annoying that Hilderbrand uses parentheses so frequently. 

 

There's a Hole in My Bucket: A Journey of Two Brothers by Royd Tolkien

"It's in moments like this, moments of clarity, that I remember why I'm doing what I'm doing. Mike's bucket list. Because every so often it brings me back closer to him, and closer to some vague, almost attainable sense of peace."

                -Royd Tolkien, from the memoir

I selected this book from Amazon Prime First Reads and I am very glad I did. I will rate it a 4 and perhaps the reasons will be clear as I continue. 

The Welsh Tolkien brothers, Royd and Mike, great-grandsons of J.R.R. Tolkien, were about as close as any brothers can be. Both enjoy the outdoors and high adventure activities. (Some I would call high-risk!) Although he is 5 years younger than Royd, Mike competes with his older brother, even tries to best him in everything---and often succeeds. This competitive part of their relationship reminded me of what my husband has said about his 4-years-younger brother, who often excelled beyond his older brother's achievements.

In his memoir, Royd describes the bond with his brother and how it is tested by Mike's diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease (called ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease in the U.S.) Royd takes on a large part of Mike's care as the disease progresses rapidly. When Mike passes away he has left behind a "bucket list" of 50 tasks for Royd to perform. Some are silly and embarrassing but others are downright frightening. 

Royd describes these challenges so well----at times suspenseful, nerve-wracking and quite often, humorous. Many passages are poignant as he relates what the particular bucket list item meant to his brother and to himself. 

I would recommend this book, especially to male readers and those who have a working knowledge of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was not familiar with the works of Tolkien and I believe I would have enjoyed it even more if I had been. I have never been to New Zealand either, and much of the action takes place there. I'd love to see that place but would definitely not aspire to the activities Royd undertook!

There's a Hole in My Bucket was both entertaining and touching. The love between these brother was almost palpable.

Sooley by John Grisham

 "Well, if I had not chosen the kid back in April, he would have been at home with his family when their village was raided. Knowing him the way we do, he would have tried to save everyone. He'd probably be dead now."                                                        -Coach Ecko Lam, from the novel

I have read numerous novels by John Grisham and can't remember disliking a one. Sooley is a basketball story, one of Grisham's departures from his usual legal thrillers. Of the sports stories, I've read Bleachers, featuring football and maybe Playing for Pizza, another about football, so long ago I don't remember for sure. The other is a baseball saga, Calico Joe, and not being much of a baseball fan, I never picked it up.

I enjoy football more than basketball, and to be sure, there is a lot of basketball in this novel, but I did find Sooley a pretty captivating story. Samuel Sooleymon, later nicknamed Sooley, is a South Sudanese 17-year-old chosen for an Under 18 basketball tournament in the U.S., a chance to showcase his raw talent and considerable physical attributes. Interestingly the tournament begins in Orlando where the team from Africa practices and plays in places familiar to this Central Floridian reader---CFE Arena on the campus of the University of Central Florida (my alma mater) and the Alfond Sports Center at Rollins College. They were awed by getting to play at the Amway Center, home of the Orlando Magic. They were treated to Disney World visits and pictured in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

Not long into the tournament, Samuel receives word that his family has been victims of a violent civil war. His father is killed, his sister missing and mother and 2 younger brothers are forced to flee. Samuel wants to return home to find them but that is not possible.

Samuel is given an athletic scholarship at North Carolina Central although his abilities have not proven exceptional. With a quickly maturing body and outstanding work ethic, that will soon change dramatically. I'll not spoil the suspense!

I am rating Sooley a 4. It was an interesting read but I will say I was ambivalent about the ending. It was especially interesting to read in the Author's Note that Grisham played multiple sports in his youth but realized his athletic abilities would not carry him to a professional level. He obviously exercised his brain power instead and earned a law degree. That background supplied all he needed to become arguably the most popular writer of legal thrillers. He says he still loves sports and satisfies his passion by writing about them from time to time.