"The Tenth Island is what you carry inside you. It's what's left when everything else falls away. Those of us who live between worlds just know the Tenth Island better. No matter where I have lived---I have never left my island."
-Alberto to Diana, from the book
This book was free---an Amazon First Reads selection for my Kindle. I was intrigued that much of the story took place in the Azores, a port-of-call on our last cruise. Because of that and other factors, I really enjoyed the book. In fact, I gave it a 5 rating.
Author Diana Marcum, a Los Angeles Times journalist, follows up a Pulitzer Prize-winning story on Central California agriculture with a trip to the Azores. You may have guessed from the quote that her interest was piqued by the Azorean diaspora in California, many of whom owned or worked on farms and ranches and some of whom she had interviewed for her article. Diana had discovered so many Azorean immigrants in the United States that she called it the Tenth Island. She also learned that many of these folks returned to their native islands regularly.
My husband and I had visited Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel, one of 9 islands in the archipelago. (I actually had to look up the name of the island. The port had been named but I'm not sure the island ever was.) Although the author spent most of her time on Sao Jorge and Terceira, I could relate to some of her descriptions of the breathtaking scenery, including cliffs, volcanic peaks, beautiful waters and hydrangeas growing wild and profuse even along highways. I also learned a lot from the book about Azorean culture---foods, celebrations, language and a popular sport which sounded much like their version of "running with the bulls."
I really liked the author's style---so down-to-earth, witty and quite personal. I felt like she'd be someone I'd like to know. The format of the book---I would call it travel memoir--was similar to Eat, Pray, Love but the vibes were so different. While Elizabeth Gilbert came across as very self-absorbed, Diana Marcum showed humility and seemed genuinely interested in other people. More likeable, for sure. Marcum has a delightful sense of humor, as well. I found her "theories" quite clever, e.g. "The Paper Cut Theory" or the "Willy Wonka Candy Bar Theory."
Overall, a delightful read!
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Friday, December 21, 2018
True Places by Sonja Yoerg
"Sometimes it takes a stranger to show you what should be obvious, how far you've drifted from who you want to be, from what's right for you, your true place."
-Suzanne, from the novel
Suzanne Blakemore is conflicted about her identity and purpose in life. While driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway she spots a young girl, seemingly lost and weak from hunger and dehydration. Suzanne immediately feels drawn to the girl and eventually brings her into the Blakemore home. Husband Whit goes along but the two teenagers are not so welcoming, particularly 15-year-old Brynn.
The girl turns out to be a very under-developed 16-year-old named Iris who admits she is an orphan. She has lived all her life in a cabin in the woods with no modern conveniences so you can imagine she has some serious problems adjusting to the Blakemore's upper middle class world. And of course, the family home is thrown into some turmoil as Suzanne tries to "fix her" while Whit wants to search for any of her relatives.
Early on there is the mystery of "who is Ash?" a name mentioned frequently by Iris. This reader guessed it was her brother but had no idea why he did not appear. Also the reader is kept guessing as to the existence of Iris's father who she believes is dead.
I thought the book was well-written and the story was intriguing. True Places gets a rating of 4 from me.
-Suzanne, from the novel
Suzanne Blakemore is conflicted about her identity and purpose in life. While driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway she spots a young girl, seemingly lost and weak from hunger and dehydration. Suzanne immediately feels drawn to the girl and eventually brings her into the Blakemore home. Husband Whit goes along but the two teenagers are not so welcoming, particularly 15-year-old Brynn.
The girl turns out to be a very under-developed 16-year-old named Iris who admits she is an orphan. She has lived all her life in a cabin in the woods with no modern conveniences so you can imagine she has some serious problems adjusting to the Blakemore's upper middle class world. And of course, the family home is thrown into some turmoil as Suzanne tries to "fix her" while Whit wants to search for any of her relatives.
Early on there is the mystery of "who is Ash?" a name mentioned frequently by Iris. This reader guessed it was her brother but had no idea why he did not appear. Also the reader is kept guessing as to the existence of Iris's father who she believes is dead.
I thought the book was well-written and the story was intriguing. True Places gets a rating of 4 from me.
Friday, December 7, 2018
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
"If I could travel to my twenty-seventh year, my first teaching year, I'd take me out for a steak, a baked potato, a pint of stout. I'd give myself a good talking to. For Christ's sake, kid, straighten up. Throw back those miserable bony shoulders. Stop mumbling. Speak up. Stop putting yourself down. In that department the world will be happy to oblige. You're starting your teaching career, and it isn't an easy life. I know. I did it. You'd be better off as a cop. At least you'd have a gun or a stick to defend yourself. A teacher has nothing but his mouth. If you don't learn to love it, you'll wriggle in a corner of hell." -Frank McCourt, from the memoir
I fell in love with Frank McCourt's writing after I read Angela's Ashes a few months ago. I was lucky enough to listen to a good portion of it narrated by the author, his Irish brogue greatly enhancing the story of his youth in Limerick. It didn't take long for me to find his second memoir, 'Tis in which McCourt describes his return to the U.S. where he was born. I was delighted to find Teacher Man in both the audio and print versions. Though I enjoyed the first 2 books immensely, this one may be my favorite. Could it be because I taught school 37 years?
As the quote indicates, Frank McCourt began his teaching career at age 27 and for 30 years taught in several New York high schools. Even though I taught elementary school I could totally relate to many of his experiences. Some were laugh-out-loud funny like the sandwich-throwing incident. Many others were quite touching like Kevin's and Serena's stories.
I was impressed by McCourt's teaching strategies---unorthodox, very creative, motivating and relevant to his students' lives. The lesson in which he had students writing excuses for historical figures is a great example. He was the kind of teacher I aspired to be (and hopefully was, at least at times).
On a scale of 1-5, I want to give Teacher Man a 6! I don't often reread books but I can see myself picking any of McCourt's memoirs up again in the future. Since he began his writing career late in life, his body of work is limited. I read Angela and the Baby Jesus, a very short illustrated children's book about his mother as a child "rescuing" the baby Jesus figure from a church nativity. The only other McCourt books are co-written with his brother Malachy like A Couple of Blaguards. I'll find it soon!
Monday, November 26, 2018
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
"In the vast expanse of this unpredictable wilderness, you will either become your best self and flourish, or you will run away, screaming, from the dark and the cold and the hardship. There is no middle ground, no safe place; not here, in the Great Alone."
-Lenora Allbright Walker, from the novel
I loved The Nightingale by this author and it was a highly-rated selection for our Page Turners group. Since I had seen The Great Alone on the Bestseller list some time ago and knew it was set in Alaska, a favorite place to visit, I wanted to read it. When I spotted it on the New Fiction shelves at the library, it almost jumped into my hands.
Beginning in 1974 the story centers around the Allbright family---parents Ernt and Cora and daughter Leni, told in third person, but mostly from Leni's perspective, starting as a young teen. Leni's coming-of-age story is told in the midst of family dysfunction caused by Vietnam vet and former POW Ernt's apparent PTSD which was not very well recognized or treated in the '70s. Early in the novel Ernt inherits land in Alaska and decides to relocate the family to "live off the grid." Cora agrees, thinking her troubled husband will be happier there and for a while he is. The move turns out to be both blessing and curse.
I am always curious about the significance of book titles. I learned the term "Great Alone" came from "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" by Robert Service. (excerpt follows)
Were you ever out in the Great Alone, when the moon was awful clear,
And the icy mountains hemmed you in with a silence you most could hear;
With only the howl of a timber wolf, and you camped there in the cold,
A half-dead thing in a stark, dead world, clean mad for the muck called gold;
I was familiar with "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service but didn't realize he is known as the Bard of the Yukon.
Some of the setting seemed familiar to me. The first time I traveled to Alaska, a friend and I visited with some folks who had been pioneers in the '70s so much of this story rang true.
Among the themes of The Great Alone are domestic abuse, unconditional love and survival. I thought it was an excellent read---a page-turner---although much of the plot was not exactly enjoyable. I will rate the book a 4+. Not as good as The Nightingale. Just saying....
-Lenora Allbright Walker, from the novel
I loved The Nightingale by this author and it was a highly-rated selection for our Page Turners group. Since I had seen The Great Alone on the Bestseller list some time ago and knew it was set in Alaska, a favorite place to visit, I wanted to read it. When I spotted it on the New Fiction shelves at the library, it almost jumped into my hands.
Beginning in 1974 the story centers around the Allbright family---parents Ernt and Cora and daughter Leni, told in third person, but mostly from Leni's perspective, starting as a young teen. Leni's coming-of-age story is told in the midst of family dysfunction caused by Vietnam vet and former POW Ernt's apparent PTSD which was not very well recognized or treated in the '70s. Early in the novel Ernt inherits land in Alaska and decides to relocate the family to "live off the grid." Cora agrees, thinking her troubled husband will be happier there and for a while he is. The move turns out to be both blessing and curse.
I am always curious about the significance of book titles. I learned the term "Great Alone" came from "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" by Robert Service. (excerpt follows)
Some of the setting seemed familiar to me. The first time I traveled to Alaska, a friend and I visited with some folks who had been pioneers in the '70s so much of this story rang true.
Among the themes of The Great Alone are domestic abuse, unconditional love and survival. I thought it was an excellent read---a page-turner---although much of the plot was not exactly enjoyable. I will rate the book a 4+. Not as good as The Nightingale. Just saying....
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Page Turners' Favorites 2018
Page Turners’ Favorites
for 2018, our 10th Year
NR A Promised Life,
Elizabeth Paige Maxwell McRight November
4.1 The Horse
Dancer, JoJo Moyes April
4.0 Glory Over
Everything, Kathleen Grissom February
3.7 A House
Without Windows, Nadia Hashimi September
3.4 Hidden
Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly January
3.4 Little
Women, Louisa May Alcott June
3.4 Redemption
Road, John Hart July
3.3 The
Japanese Lover, Isabel Allende May
3.1 Founding
Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, Cokie Roberts March
3.0 My
Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Fredrik Backman August
3.0 The
Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead October
A Promised Life by Elizabeth Paige Maxwell McRight
"I know that I speak for the Board when I express deep appreciation of your contribution to the life of the Mission and the Church in India. Many of the tasks that you have carried out have been of the type which are arduous without giving much evidence of reward. Nevertheless, you have performed them willing and well. It is our prayer that God may continue to bless you, enriching your last months of service in India and giving you more years of usefulness to the Church both in India and in America subsequent to your retirement."
-Dr. Reed of the Foreign Mission Office, to Robert Maxwell upon announcement of his retirement, 1941
The Page Turners selected this book for November because it was written by one of our members, a special friend, and was newly released. The book is essentially the biography of "Robert Maxwell: Missionary to the Punjab 1900-1942" (a subtitle), who was the author's grandfather. Paige has said that she intended the book to be not just a family memoir but a history of the period from the Civil War through WWII as experienced by one family, a family very much involved in God's work.
Robert Maxwell's story begins before he was born when his father, a Union prisoner in a Confederate camp, promised God if he made it out alive he would educate a son for the ministry. So Chapter 1 is "George Small Maxwell's Vow"and the final Chapter 11 is "A Promise Kept." Everything in between describes events that happened in the process of the promise keeping---and you can probably imagine it was not all a bed of roses!
Author, Paige McRight, is a retired Presbyterian minister, the daughter AND granddaughter of ministers. The apple did not fall far from the tree! When a sizable collection of Maxwell's letters were found by Paige's cousin, the question arose: What should we do with them? This book was the answer and what an amazing undertaking it was, taking 7 years to complete! I am quite sure Robert Maxwell and Paige's father, Pollock, are both smiling down on her accomplishment.
Through the reading of the book I thought often of the missionaries our church has supported with prayers and monetary support and love. Thankfully those were available to Robert and his wife, Maud, in their mission work, as well. The obstacles they faced were different than today's, yet even now there are many difficulties to overcome in the mission field. I think only very strong, faithful, dedicated people can succeed.
--------------------
When Page Turners met to discuss A Promised Life, the author, of course, was in attendance! Our policy is not to rate a book when the author is present. Normally for our discussions we use questions found online from the publisher and this book is too new for that so each attendee was asked to bring a question or two. This made for a very interesting discussion that enhanced our understanding of the book. Folks wanted to know if any family of her generation became ministers other than herself and when she knew she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father and grandfather. We learned that Paige's grandfather died 3 days after she was born and grandmother Maud lived 10 years after that. Apparently Maud was a strong, assertive woman and Paige admits she was referred to as Little Maud by her family, at times. We were awed that Robert's father promised him to the ministry and he never seemed to question the path laid out for him or to waver in his resolve. We couldn't help but wonder how likely (or unlikely) such a thing would be today.
I thought a map might have helped me since I did not know the area of India/Pakistan so well and someone else thought a family tree would have been an excellent addition to the book. I wondered about the exclusion of captions with photographs but had failed to notice the subjects of the photos are listed at the end of the book on page 145. Several of us thought the inclusion of historical events gave us better perspective of the times and enhanced the story. I think we all agreed that Paige had taken on a HUGE project and done an outstanding job!
-Dr. Reed of the Foreign Mission Office, to Robert Maxwell upon announcement of his retirement, 1941
The Page Turners selected this book for November because it was written by one of our members, a special friend, and was newly released. The book is essentially the biography of "Robert Maxwell: Missionary to the Punjab 1900-1942" (a subtitle), who was the author's grandfather. Paige has said that she intended the book to be not just a family memoir but a history of the period from the Civil War through WWII as experienced by one family, a family very much involved in God's work.
Robert Maxwell's story begins before he was born when his father, a Union prisoner in a Confederate camp, promised God if he made it out alive he would educate a son for the ministry. So Chapter 1 is "George Small Maxwell's Vow"and the final Chapter 11 is "A Promise Kept." Everything in between describes events that happened in the process of the promise keeping---and you can probably imagine it was not all a bed of roses!
Author, Paige McRight, is a retired Presbyterian minister, the daughter AND granddaughter of ministers. The apple did not fall far from the tree! When a sizable collection of Maxwell's letters were found by Paige's cousin, the question arose: What should we do with them? This book was the answer and what an amazing undertaking it was, taking 7 years to complete! I am quite sure Robert Maxwell and Paige's father, Pollock, are both smiling down on her accomplishment.
Through the reading of the book I thought often of the missionaries our church has supported with prayers and monetary support and love. Thankfully those were available to Robert and his wife, Maud, in their mission work, as well. The obstacles they faced were different than today's, yet even now there are many difficulties to overcome in the mission field. I think only very strong, faithful, dedicated people can succeed.
--------------------
When Page Turners met to discuss A Promised Life, the author, of course, was in attendance! Our policy is not to rate a book when the author is present. Normally for our discussions we use questions found online from the publisher and this book is too new for that so each attendee was asked to bring a question or two. This made for a very interesting discussion that enhanced our understanding of the book. Folks wanted to know if any family of her generation became ministers other than herself and when she knew she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father and grandfather. We learned that Paige's grandfather died 3 days after she was born and grandmother Maud lived 10 years after that. Apparently Maud was a strong, assertive woman and Paige admits she was referred to as Little Maud by her family, at times. We were awed that Robert's father promised him to the ministry and he never seemed to question the path laid out for him or to waver in his resolve. We couldn't help but wonder how likely (or unlikely) such a thing would be today.
I thought a map might have helped me since I did not know the area of India/Pakistan so well and someone else thought a family tree would have been an excellent addition to the book. I wondered about the exclusion of captions with photographs but had failed to notice the subjects of the photos are listed at the end of the book on page 145. Several of us thought the inclusion of historical events gave us better perspective of the times and enhanced the story. I think we all agreed that Paige had taken on a HUGE project and done an outstanding job!
Monday, November 12, 2018
'Tis by Frank McCourt
"When I look at the framed book jackets on the wall at the Lion's Head Bar I suffer with envy. Will I ever be up there? The writers travel the land, signing books, appearing on television talk shows. There are parties and women and romance everywhere. People listen. No one listens to teachers. They are pitied for their sad salaries."
-Frank McCourt, from the memoir 'Tis
The reading of this book was pure joy for me! I enjoyed it almost as much as Angela's Ashes so my rating is 5. Frank McCourt is suddenly one of my favorite authors.
When I mentioned to the Page Turners how much I had loved Angela's Ashes, someone asked if I had read 'Tis, a continuation of McCourt's life story in which he becomes a teacher. Since I am a retired teacher, I immediately put it on my "Must Read" list!
As a young man, Frank McCourt returns to New York, the place of his birth, from Ireland where he has spent his formative years. He had long dreamed of his return but finds it is not quite the promised land he had envisioned. Though he yearns for an education, he works many blue collar jobs and joins the army for a time, where he learns some useful skills. He is finally admitted to NYU even without a high school diploma. When he is able to acquire a teaching job, he finds himself questioning his choice of profession as well as his ability. In college he has shown a flair for writing and the dream of becoming an author grows more intense, as reflected in the quote above.
McCourt has certainly led a very interesting life, with a mixture of family loyalty and dysfunction, humor and sadness, so he has many stories to relate. Some tugging on the heart strings and other tickling the funny bone with his Irish humor. I love his practical and unpretentious prose; he doesn't even use quotation marks in his dialogue.
I will certainly read all of McCourt's work eventually but I am sad to find out he died in 2009. He left a fine legacy!
-Frank McCourt, from the memoir 'Tis
The reading of this book was pure joy for me! I enjoyed it almost as much as Angela's Ashes so my rating is 5. Frank McCourt is suddenly one of my favorite authors.
When I mentioned to the Page Turners how much I had loved Angela's Ashes, someone asked if I had read 'Tis, a continuation of McCourt's life story in which he becomes a teacher. Since I am a retired teacher, I immediately put it on my "Must Read" list!
As a young man, Frank McCourt returns to New York, the place of his birth, from Ireland where he has spent his formative years. He had long dreamed of his return but finds it is not quite the promised land he had envisioned. Though he yearns for an education, he works many blue collar jobs and joins the army for a time, where he learns some useful skills. He is finally admitted to NYU even without a high school diploma. When he is able to acquire a teaching job, he finds himself questioning his choice of profession as well as his ability. In college he has shown a flair for writing and the dream of becoming an author grows more intense, as reflected in the quote above.
McCourt has certainly led a very interesting life, with a mixture of family loyalty and dysfunction, humor and sadness, so he has many stories to relate. Some tugging on the heart strings and other tickling the funny bone with his Irish humor. I love his practical and unpretentious prose; he doesn't even use quotation marks in his dialogue.
I will certainly read all of McCourt's work eventually but I am sad to find out he died in 2009. He left a fine legacy!
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