Our book club recently read Wally Lamb's Wishin' and Hopin' which according to reviews I read, was quite a departure from other of his novels. Certainly at 465 pages it was much longer. The themes were more intense and the plot spanned a great deal more time in the life of the main character---ages 4 to mid-30's for Delores in this novel as opposed to a few months in the life of Felix in Wishin' and Hopin'. It seemed that Felix had a rather lovely family life contrasted to the unfortunate life of Delores. Both novels could be categorized "coming of age" but with the process for Delores being much more painful.
Delores suffers a trauma at age 13 that leaves her literally "coming undone". I found her reactions believable and though she could be quite harsh to those around her, literally taking out her anger on them and on herself, I found myself rooting for her to put herself back together! I thought it was interesting how whales kept figuring into this story; they seemed to symbolize more than one aspect of the plot.
Though it was not as much fun to read as Wishin and Hopin, I did find She's Come Undone to be a "page turner." I would rate it a 4 and will definitely read other novels by this author. I found both of these novels by Lamb to be nostalgia trips as they take place in the 50's to 70's mostly, with mentions of Woodstock, the first moon landing, Watergate, etc. Also both novels take their titles from popular songs of a similar span of time, in the case of this one "Undun" by The Guess Who, lyrics that could have been written by the fictional Delores herself, they describe her so well! The words go like this:
She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late
She's come undone
She found a mountain that was far too high
And when she found out she couldn't fly
It was too late
It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
She wanted truth
But all she got was lies
Came the time to realize
And it was too late
She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
Mama, it was too late
It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
Too many mountains, and not enough stairs to climb
Too many churches and not enough truth
Too many people and not enough eyes to see
Too many lives to lead and not enough time
She's Come Undone was Wally Lamb's first novel and was chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection in 1992. It was also a New York Times Bestseller. One intriguing review states: "As you read She's Come Undone your entire life will flash before your eyes...It's a little bit like strolling down memory lane with Dick Clark on one arm, Jean-Paul Sartre on the other. It's scary, but Lord, it's wonderful!" (Cathie Pelletier, author of A Marriage Made at Woodstock)
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
I have read and enjoyed many John Grisham novels and Skipping Christmas is certainly a departure from his usual legal thrillers.
At the beginning of the story the Kranks are seeing their daughter, Blair, off to Peru for a year. Almost immediately Luther Krank becomes convinced that it is senseless to spend extreme amounts of money and time to celebrate Christmas without Blair. He decides he and his wife will "skip" Christmas and take a Caribbean cruise instead. His wife, Nora, goes along with the plan a bit reluctantly. Suddenly when they should be packing for their cruise, a surprise phone call throws them into a panic!
I would recommend this novel to empty-nesters and especially to read at this holiday time of year. It is a short (only 177 pages), easy read but offers some food for thought: Do we ever get so frustrated that we would want to "skip Christmas"? I personally would never want to omit all that the holiday brings but I have to admit when I hear about cultures in which Christmas is celebrated only as a religious holiday, I am envious. I do often wish we did less decorating, shopping, and eating. Oh, to simplify the preparations and just focus on and enjoy the true reason for the season---the birth of Jesus Christ!
At the beginning of the story the Kranks are seeing their daughter, Blair, off to Peru for a year. Almost immediately Luther Krank becomes convinced that it is senseless to spend extreme amounts of money and time to celebrate Christmas without Blair. He decides he and his wife will "skip" Christmas and take a Caribbean cruise instead. His wife, Nora, goes along with the plan a bit reluctantly. Suddenly when they should be packing for their cruise, a surprise phone call throws them into a panic!
I would recommend this novel to empty-nesters and especially to read at this holiday time of year. It is a short (only 177 pages), easy read but offers some food for thought: Do we ever get so frustrated that we would want to "skip Christmas"? I personally would never want to omit all that the holiday brings but I have to admit when I hear about cultures in which Christmas is celebrated only as a religious holiday, I am envious. I do often wish we did less decorating, shopping, and eating. Oh, to simplify the preparations and just focus on and enjoy the true reason for the season---the birth of Jesus Christ!
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Year Everything Changed by Georgia Bockoven
I just finished The Year Everything Changed last night. It was one I wanted to finish but I won't say I loved it. I would rate it a 3.
The story involves 4 adult women who find out they have a father, Jessie, in common---yep, that makes them sisters! A couple of them have never known their father at all and the other two were abandonned by him. They are all clueless about their sisters until called together by their father's lawyer who informs them that he is dying. In light of the fact that Jessie was an absent father it was surprising to me that all four would even fly to Sacramento for this meeting. Curiosity won out, I suppose.
Each of the sisters---Elizabeth, Christina, Rachel and Ginger---are dealing with their own life struggles at the time of this divulgement. The events which cause them to change their attitudes and feelings toward their dead father and each other make for an interesting plot, and of course, are foreshadowed by the title. The technique used by the author to reveal Jessie to his daughters is quite clever, as well.
I probably identified most with Ginger, who was adopted, since my only daughter is adopted. I wondered how she would react to being introduced to biological siblings out of the blue. As I was growing up with 3 brothers, I always wanted a sister. What if you were wishing for a sister and suddenly found you had three! Well, I actually do have three now but they are my sisters-in-law!
One of the guys in our group would say The Year Everything Changed was "chick lit" and I'd have to agree. I definitely wouldn't recommend it to the men!
The story involves 4 adult women who find out they have a father, Jessie, in common---yep, that makes them sisters! A couple of them have never known their father at all and the other two were abandonned by him. They are all clueless about their sisters until called together by their father's lawyer who informs them that he is dying. In light of the fact that Jessie was an absent father it was surprising to me that all four would even fly to Sacramento for this meeting. Curiosity won out, I suppose.
Each of the sisters---Elizabeth, Christina, Rachel and Ginger---are dealing with their own life struggles at the time of this divulgement. The events which cause them to change their attitudes and feelings toward their dead father and each other make for an interesting plot, and of course, are foreshadowed by the title. The technique used by the author to reveal Jessie to his daughters is quite clever, as well.
I probably identified most with Ginger, who was adopted, since my only daughter is adopted. I wondered how she would react to being introduced to biological siblings out of the blue. As I was growing up with 3 brothers, I always wanted a sister. What if you were wishing for a sister and suddenly found you had three! Well, I actually do have three now but they are my sisters-in-law!
One of the guys in our group would say The Year Everything Changed was "chick lit" and I'd have to agree. I definitely wouldn't recommend it to the men!
Monday, December 3, 2012
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
A Long Walk to Water was a quick and easy read but it packed a wallop in terms of social value. It is a work of fiction but based on a powerful true story of one of the surviving "Lost Boys." Two main characters, two time periods but both stories taking place in Southern Sudan. Nya in 2008 is a young girl walking miles each day to the pond to get water for her family. In 1985 Salva is a young boy who must flee his homeland in the midst of violence, leaving his family behind. He ends up walking hundreds of miles, living off the land, enduring terrible conditions in refugee camps and finally and fortunately ending up in the United States as a young man.
This book was especially meaningful to me because our church in past years has helped to fund the digging of wells in Tete Province and Madagascar. It makes me very sad to know that so many people in Africa and other parts of the world do not have clean water to drink---something we Americans take totally for granted!
You may guess the ending of this novel but I won't tell you---only that it is quite satisfying.
This book was especially meaningful to me because our church in past years has helped to fund the digging of wells in Tete Province and Madagascar. It makes me very sad to know that so many people in Africa and other parts of the world do not have clean water to drink---something we Americans take totally for granted!
You may guess the ending of this novel but I won't tell you---only that it is quite satisfying.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb
I chose Wishin and Hopin' for our book club's November read partially because its subtitle is A Christmas Story and partially because it was available from the library as a Book Bundle (15 copies).
Our book club met to discuss the book at the end of November. One of our members who is quite the chef and caterer baked Christmas cookies and someone else brought Hawaiian Punch. We had a lively discussion, as we always do, even though I never found discussion questions online specific to the novel. We had to go with generic fiction questions. Much of the talk and laughter centered around our memories of the 1960's culture brought to mind by the story. The group gave Wishin' and Hopin' a rating of 3.3 with no votes of 5 or 1. We pretty much agreed it wasn't a great work of literature but it was an entertaining read!
I actually loved the novel, a sort of fictionalized memoir of a 5th grade boy. When I taught 5th grade I encouraged my students to make text-to-self connections while reading. In other words to compare the experiences of their own lives to the characters, events, setting, etc., of the story. Though I am not Catholic and didn't attend parochial school, I could so identify with the setting, 1964, and the preteen humor, thanks to teaching 11-year-olds for 20+ years. The main character, Felix Funicello, was several years behind where I was in 1964 but I was flooded with memories of Annette Funicello, the Mickey Mouse Club, American Bandstand, the '64 presidential election, Dusty Springfield and other pop singers.
When we think back to our own school days, most of us can probably think of classmates who were "Rosalie" or "Lonny" or a favorite teacher who was "Madame." We elementary school teachers have a much larger pool of students to compare to the characters! I can't say I remember a "Zhenya" but she was such a colorful character, an amusing addition, and she served to remind us of the paranoia about communists back in the day.
This novel also seemed a timely choice since the story pretty much began in October and ended at Christmas time; we began reading near Halloween, were being bombarded with presidential campaign ads, would be discussing it just after Thanksgiving and anticipating Christmas. As a rule our book club doesn't meet in December so a Christmas story seemed an appropriate way to wind up our 2012 year.
I am often involved in drama and had recently learned about and even participated in "tableaux vivants." The Christmas production at the end reminded me so much of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, one of my favorite Christmas stories ever---very funny!
The fictional epilogue was an interesting addition and made me think of animated movie out-takes, contrived but often hilarious.
I thought Wishin' and Hopin' was a quick, easy read, both heartwarming and amusing! I gave it a 4, in case you're wondering.
Our book club met to discuss the book at the end of November. One of our members who is quite the chef and caterer baked Christmas cookies and someone else brought Hawaiian Punch. We had a lively discussion, as we always do, even though I never found discussion questions online specific to the novel. We had to go with generic fiction questions. Much of the talk and laughter centered around our memories of the 1960's culture brought to mind by the story. The group gave Wishin' and Hopin' a rating of 3.3 with no votes of 5 or 1. We pretty much agreed it wasn't a great work of literature but it was an entertaining read!
I actually loved the novel, a sort of fictionalized memoir of a 5th grade boy. When I taught 5th grade I encouraged my students to make text-to-self connections while reading. In other words to compare the experiences of their own lives to the characters, events, setting, etc., of the story. Though I am not Catholic and didn't attend parochial school, I could so identify with the setting, 1964, and the preteen humor, thanks to teaching 11-year-olds for 20+ years. The main character, Felix Funicello, was several years behind where I was in 1964 but I was flooded with memories of Annette Funicello, the Mickey Mouse Club, American Bandstand, the '64 presidential election, Dusty Springfield and other pop singers.
When we think back to our own school days, most of us can probably think of classmates who were "Rosalie" or "Lonny" or a favorite teacher who was "Madame." We elementary school teachers have a much larger pool of students to compare to the characters! I can't say I remember a "Zhenya" but she was such a colorful character, an amusing addition, and she served to remind us of the paranoia about communists back in the day.
This novel also seemed a timely choice since the story pretty much began in October and ended at Christmas time; we began reading near Halloween, were being bombarded with presidential campaign ads, would be discussing it just after Thanksgiving and anticipating Christmas. As a rule our book club doesn't meet in December so a Christmas story seemed an appropriate way to wind up our 2012 year.
I am often involved in drama and had recently learned about and even participated in "tableaux vivants." The Christmas production at the end reminded me so much of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, one of my favorite Christmas stories ever---very funny!
The fictional epilogue was an interesting addition and made me think of animated movie out-takes, contrived but often hilarious.
I thought Wishin' and Hopin' was a quick, easy read, both heartwarming and amusing! I gave it a 4, in case you're wondering.
Reading List 2012
Park Lake Page Turners has now completed their 5th year together. From the looks of our ratings, this was not our best year. The funny thing is we always enjoy our discussions whether we loved the book or not! And several of us have admitted that we sometimes like the book more after we hear others' opinions and interpretations.
Well, here are our titles, authors and ratings for 2012:
Away by Amy Bloom 2.6
Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore 2.7
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi 2.7
Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb 3.3
The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich 3.4
The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark 3.7
Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland 3.7
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 3.7
Room by Emma Donaghue 3.9
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard 4.2
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs 4.5
If I had rated these myself, it would be nearly the same but my personal ratings would have been higher on most. Probably I enjoyed The Painted Drum more than others because I delved into some background I found online. I really enjoyed Wishin' and Hopin' since the narrator is a fifth grade boy (I taught 5th grade for years) and it took me on a nostalgia trip to the 60's. My least favorites would be the same, though I must say I learned a lot about the art world of 19th century Paris from Sacre Bleu. Clara and Mr. Tiffany was another novel involving the art world and became even more meaningful after several of our group visited the Morse Museum in Winter Park, FL, which has an outstanding Tiffany exhibit. We even found Clara's name on a few pieces!
I thoroughly enjoyed Destiny of the Republic although it was a nonfiction piece which is not my favorite genre. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is in the medical field OR happens to be a history buff like me. Another nonfiction I enjoyed was Unbroken, a truly inspiring story of a WWII POW.
I really liked The Book of Unholy Mischief, perhaps more so because I listened to the audio version, which came alive with Italian dialect.
The Year of Living Biblically might not have made #1 on my personal list but it was SO very funny---entertainment value very high!
If you have read any of these I would enjoy reading your comments!
Well, here are our titles, authors and ratings for 2012:
Away by Amy Bloom 2.6
Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore 2.7
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi 2.7
Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb 3.3
The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich 3.4
The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark 3.7
Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland 3.7
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 3.7
Room by Emma Donaghue 3.9
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard 4.2
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs 4.5
If I had rated these myself, it would be nearly the same but my personal ratings would have been higher on most. Probably I enjoyed The Painted Drum more than others because I delved into some background I found online. I really enjoyed Wishin' and Hopin' since the narrator is a fifth grade boy (I taught 5th grade for years) and it took me on a nostalgia trip to the 60's. My least favorites would be the same, though I must say I learned a lot about the art world of 19th century Paris from Sacre Bleu. Clara and Mr. Tiffany was another novel involving the art world and became even more meaningful after several of our group visited the Morse Museum in Winter Park, FL, which has an outstanding Tiffany exhibit. We even found Clara's name on a few pieces!
I thoroughly enjoyed Destiny of the Republic although it was a nonfiction piece which is not my favorite genre. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is in the medical field OR happens to be a history buff like me. Another nonfiction I enjoyed was Unbroken, a truly inspiring story of a WWII POW.
I really liked The Book of Unholy Mischief, perhaps more so because I listened to the audio version, which came alive with Italian dialect.
The Year of Living Biblically might not have made #1 on my personal list but it was SO very funny---entertainment value very high!
If you have read any of these I would enjoy reading your comments!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
"It's weird, isn't it?...That you can have this whole entire life, with all your opinions, your loves, your fears. Eventually those parts of you disappear. And then the people who could remember those parts of you disappear, and before long all that's left is your name in some ledger. This Marcy person---she had a favorite food. She had friends and people she disliked. We don't even know how she died. I guess that's why I like preservation better than history. In preservation I feel like I can keep some of it from slipping away."
from The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, page 76
This story centers around Connie, a young doctoral student, whose eccentric mother, Grace, asks her to take on the preparation of her late grandmother's long-abandonned house for sale. In Connie's first exploration of the dusty, moldy house she finds, in an ancient Bible, a key and a note with the name Deliverance Dane. This discovery not only gives her the impetus for her dissertation but also sends her on the path to some amazing revelations about her own family and even some romance along the way.
The action moves back and forth between Connie in 1991 and the family of the mysterious Deliverance Dane in the 1690's. The author calls these trips back in time Interludes and I found this technique to be very effective. I loved how each Interlude shed more light on Connie's research in the "future."
I found myself thinking back to the trip my husband and I took to Boston in 2009. I had wanted to visit Salem but unfortunately we didn't have time to get there. What excellent background that would have been!
When I first picked up ...Deliverance Dane I was intrigued by the premise. Historical fiction is my favorite genre and I must admit being curious about the Salem witch trials. When I taught fifth grade I enjoyed reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare and Blackwater Swamp by Bill Wallace.
Ms. Howe, like her main character Connie, was a doctoral student in American and New England Studies at the time she wrote this novel so her research for the book must have done double duty. It was interesting to learn some theories about the origin of the witch frenzy of this period. A paragraph on page 341 is very enlightening where Connie is thinking about the nature of the word bewitchment and reflects on how the meaning has changed over time. I was struck by the statement that 17th century folk were "operating without sophisticated understanding of the difference between correlation and causation." In other words coincidences might easily have been seen as cause and effect. In addition the author seems to take the premise that the witchcraft of the past was not necessarily mutually exclusive of religious faith. That was very surprising to me.
Katherine Howe's debut novel is a fascinating mixture of history and suspense with a touch of magic. I found it to be a "page turner" but from the looks of reviews I've read, people either loved or hated it. Some said it was too predictable. Perhaps they read the book jacket; I did and there were hints about the plot. Predictability was not a problem for me. In fact the beginning of the novel captured me and toward the end I did not want to put it down. The only weakness to me was the slow-down of the action toward the middle. The dialect was a little challenging but I rather enjoyed it; that added to the realism for me.
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane reminded me of The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark and People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. All are historical with each involving the journey and/or contents of a mysterious book. I enjoyed them all!
from The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, page 76
This story centers around Connie, a young doctoral student, whose eccentric mother, Grace, asks her to take on the preparation of her late grandmother's long-abandonned house for sale. In Connie's first exploration of the dusty, moldy house she finds, in an ancient Bible, a key and a note with the name Deliverance Dane. This discovery not only gives her the impetus for her dissertation but also sends her on the path to some amazing revelations about her own family and even some romance along the way.
The action moves back and forth between Connie in 1991 and the family of the mysterious Deliverance Dane in the 1690's. The author calls these trips back in time Interludes and I found this technique to be very effective. I loved how each Interlude shed more light on Connie's research in the "future."
I found myself thinking back to the trip my husband and I took to Boston in 2009. I had wanted to visit Salem but unfortunately we didn't have time to get there. What excellent background that would have been!
When I first picked up ...Deliverance Dane I was intrigued by the premise. Historical fiction is my favorite genre and I must admit being curious about the Salem witch trials. When I taught fifth grade I enjoyed reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare and Blackwater Swamp by Bill Wallace.
Ms. Howe, like her main character Connie, was a doctoral student in American and New England Studies at the time she wrote this novel so her research for the book must have done double duty. It was interesting to learn some theories about the origin of the witch frenzy of this period. A paragraph on page 341 is very enlightening where Connie is thinking about the nature of the word bewitchment and reflects on how the meaning has changed over time. I was struck by the statement that 17th century folk were "operating without sophisticated understanding of the difference between correlation and causation." In other words coincidences might easily have been seen as cause and effect. In addition the author seems to take the premise that the witchcraft of the past was not necessarily mutually exclusive of religious faith. That was very surprising to me.
Katherine Howe's debut novel is a fascinating mixture of history and suspense with a touch of magic. I found it to be a "page turner" but from the looks of reviews I've read, people either loved or hated it. Some said it was too predictable. Perhaps they read the book jacket; I did and there were hints about the plot. Predictability was not a problem for me. In fact the beginning of the novel captured me and toward the end I did not want to put it down. The only weakness to me was the slow-down of the action toward the middle. The dialect was a little challenging but I rather enjoyed it; that added to the realism for me.
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane reminded me of The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark and People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. All are historical with each involving the journey and/or contents of a mysterious book. I enjoyed them all!
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