An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon - A Rant...

Dear Diana -

I have been entranced by the saga of Claire and Jamie for almost 10 years now. I laughed when they got married, cried when they were separated, angry when they fought -- I have put a lot of my hard-won emotion into your creative thinking. I have read, re-read and re-re-read the first four books more times than most people change underwear. And all I can say upon finishing your latest is WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!? Did you get lazy? Did you get just a little too much money that trips to Figi cut into writing time? Did you decide to bring yet another 1000 page book into the series in which you will complete ALL of the freaking story lines that you left ridiculously hanging in this book?

Seriously, LEFT HANGING...not suspense "ooh, can't wait to read the next book and find out what happens" but more that you went to get some tea and FORGOT that Jim was stuck in a closet...that the Cameron guy had Bree at gunpoint...where the hell did Roger and William B EVEN END UP?? Jamie didn't react about Lord John and Claire...Willie didn't react about Ian and Rachel....Jamie didn't talk to Willie really at all! Did your hand start to hurt from writing about NOTHING for 90% of the book and then trying to stash 100 different things into the last 10%???

And then lets go into the whole new level of mysticism you decided to introduce. I was with you when standing stone transported people across centuries - that I get, its crazy but I get it. I was kind of there when Jamie as a ghost could see Claire. I felt your need to have Jamie able to see the children when they returned to the 21st century but Diana....you know what? That Jim and Mandy have some sort of ESP and can "see each other in red" and "feel each other" from far away....you. lost. me. I mean really? Did you not think you were selling the mystic side enough? Did the whole family have to be freaks? Maybe this is a form of cancer or mutation they developed from hurling themselves through time over and over again.

And here is another bone...Claire got through the stones just fine by falling the first few times. Later I got the introduction of gems as maybe a way to steer but then to make it a necessity... and discussing the possibility of fire or sacrifice? Could you not make up your mind? Did you forget things you had already written? Oh but I guess you did because you totally picked up a fight that Jenny and Claire had already resolved...THEY WEREN'T STILL FIGHTING! Claire KNEW why Jenny called Loaghaire to the house....Come on Diana, we all read the books fanatically...we catch these things.

Diana...I am disappointed but also at a disadvantage...because I know if you put out another 1000 pager with only 10% content, I'll still buy it and spend weeks reading it...because Jamie and Claire are my drug of choice. Damn you for your abusive of power.

Disgruntledly yours,

Tanya

Run by Ann Patchett

This book by the author of Bel Canto is about what makes a family and how it's not necessarily blood ties. Most of the book takes place in a very short time span and involves how an unusual family reacts to a crisis, how parents sometimes try to control their children's lives, etc. Very good character development and a very interesting story. It's not as lyrical as Bel Canto but still a very good read.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Indiana Jones-esque Robert Langdon is once again pulled out of his Harvard classrooms to solve another puzzle thriller, this one that centers around the Masonic origins of the United States. I liked this book for the same reasons I liked The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons - it is crazy interesting information and fascinating to know all the back stories to where many modern actions/words come from.

But maybe the third in line is a bit much for me, I felt like it was completely repetitive to his previous books. He once again is inadvertently called in to help solve this impossible that historians have debated for years and has the authorities chasing him while he is trying to find the answer (people KNOW him, why do they chase him??). In this one though, he kept pulling away and decrying the goal as a myth and no point to follow....very cynical of him I thought.

Rather than the in-depth analysis of art that the other two have, this one has a lot of science in it - that the book claims to be true (upon some research, there is a lot of research going on in the fields). It seemed completely bogus to me though and I'm still not entirely sure I see how it all fits in with the main plot. Basically, the main scientific study was of Noetics - which in my own layman's terms - is the power collective thinking can have on organisms....dubious I say.

I did like to hear about the Masonic activities of the founding fathers - Washington layed the cornerstone of the Capital Building in a Masonic ceremony, Jefferson took apart the King James Bible and reedited it together to find a hidden, deeper meaning! I've always heard that the founding fathers were fiercely religious so I was surprised that they would be involved in the Masons considering the negative connotation they have always had but this book makes the point that they were Masons and for the most part believed in a "higher being" but not necessarily the Christian God.

A recent article in the Baltimore Sun said that the Masons are hoping this book will revive interest in membership, apparently it has fallen off dramatically since the '60s.

The Last Lion: The Rise and Fall of Ted Kennedy

We always hear about the Kennedys - the glitz, the glam, the curse, the politics. This book, written by reporters/editors from The Boston Globe, was a very interesting look into the Kennedy world and I feel like they did a good job of giving a balanced portrayal.

The book follows Ted's whole life - from the heavy expectations his parents put on him as the youngest child of nine, to Chappaquiddick, to all the legislation he engineered in the Senate. I've heard many times of how forceful Joe Kennedy Sr was on his boys to go into politics but I had never heard how similarly tenacious Rose Kennedy was for her children to forward their philanthropic lives. The kids were always expected to come to the table having read the newspapers and to "have something to contribute" to the conversation - a far cry from most kids now playing PSPs while their parents play on their blackberries at dinner.

I don't think I've ever seen Ted Kennedy speak so I had virtually no perception of him going into this book other than my dad always saying he never wanted Hilary Clinton to be President because "it would be worse than even the Kennedys." When reading the book, I began to realize what dad was talking about. Ted pushed for a lot of very liberal legislation - WIC, immigration reform, healthcare reform, voting rights, rights for women and minorities, etc. On a lot of his legislation I agree with dad - I'm not a huge fan of all his policies but I respect his vision and the general thought of making the world a better place. I think many of my liberal tendencies went away when I graduated from college unfortunately...that bleeding heart has bled out I think.

Having no preconception about Kennedy I was still surprised to read that he was quite the jokester - apparently he had to be as the youngest of nine - and the lengths he went to to make everyone feel good. After 9/11 he called each individual person in Massachusetts who had been directly affected by the tragedy to offer his condolences and his assistance on anything they needed. He remained in contact with these people up until he died and actually followed up on his offer for help. He put together a seminar with about 10 different reps from different agencies to help give the widows and families information on how to fill out the specific paperwork, what questions to ask, etc.

This was a great book and I definitely recommend this book to anyone who has a negative impression on Kennedy and for anyone who knows virtually nothing about him.

Stealing Athena: A Novel by Karen Essex

Lisa recommended this book and I REALLY loved it! It told the story of two women - Aspacia who lived in ancient Greece (when the Parthenon was built) and Mary Elgin who was the wife of the Constantinople ambassador in 1799 - 1803. The two stories were each woven around the creation of the great marble works as a tribute to the Greek Gods and then the eventual removal of them by the British Empire for "safe keeping."

I didn't realize that the book was a true story - apparently Lord Elgin was an ambassador who took his young wife to Constantinople with him as he attempted to sway the Turks against Napoleon. While cozying up with the Turks, Lord Elgin was also concentrating on removing the Greek antiques from Athens for "their own preservation" and for the cultural betterment of the British Empire. Despite his good intentions for the British Empire, they refused to assist financially in this excavation so the efforts to remove, transport and display these huge marble pieces nearly bankrupted Elgin (or rather his wife, if the book was accurate).

It is a worthwhile discussion on whether or not the works should ever have been removed. It was noted that they were in disrepair and the Turks were carelessly destroying them and they were suffering from the constant warfare; however, now that all is well, it does beg the question of why they haven't been returned to their original location. I also read an account that some of the pieces were actually destroyed in the removal process so that has been a source of controversy as well.

I liked the book itself for more than the historical intrigue but also because of the women portrayed. Both were smart, sassy women who were unwilling to conform to social conventions if it meant their own unhappiness. I was glad that though they both had the same inner-steel and resolve that the book didn't paint them as mirrors of each other - that they were both allowed their own unique views and values.

An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

Certainly the most original title and book I've read in a long time! The main character, Sam, accidentally burned down Emily Dickinson's home and killed two people. Ten years later he is released from prison and someone starts setting fire to other writers' homes. The story behind the story is about how people lie to each other and themselves. Alternates between quirky fun and human pathos.

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

Very similar to her other books - good character development, lots of research about hot topics...this one is about a child who is born with "brittle bone disease." Picoult asks the tough question about whether or not parents would choose to abort a child if they knew it would be disabled. Also the impact of a child with disabilities on the rest of the family. Even though the story was somewhat predictable (since I've read all or most of her other books), I still enjoyed this one.

South of Broad by Pat Conroy - CONT.

I just finished South of Broad and as with all Pat Conroy books, I can't decide whether to laugh, cry or wax poetically about life.

If even possible, I think my imagination has managed to grow since I was a child and I can vividly picture each gruesome image and event that is portrayed, in rich detail, in the book so that was a major difficulty in reading it. It makes it a)hard for me to put down until there is a "happy" place to stop and b)make me physically ill to think about dead bodies, men wracked with HIV/AIDS, incest, etc.

He took the unease all the way to the end too, there was almost no respite. In the book - there were moments where the characters either discussed a happy memory or were happy, but as the reader I kept waiting for the ax to fall...and it feel close to where I expected it to sadly enough.

As I mentioned in my previous post, there are many common themes/archetypes, etc that Conroy recycles through his other books. One is his love/hate relationship with the Catholic Church. Both Jack (Beach Music) and Leo (South of Broad) appreciate the beauty and sanctity of the church that was a staple in their early lives but both grow to distrust it and even seem to hate it as they grow older but still are unable to escape their early devotion to it. I've read several interviews with Conroy and found a quote that I think he sums it up well with:

"PC – I’m a bad Catholic. Being a Catholic is unwashable, there’s nothing you can do about it, it’s like being Jewish, its like being Black, its like being Korean, you can’t do anything but swing with it. I was utterly taken by that church and shaken around and they will not let you go. It’s one of those things I have gotten used to it — I’m going to be a Catholic the rest of my life, and I can yell about it, I can scream about it, I can not go to church, whatever I do."

Another thing I have found odd about his books is that they all focus on a 20 year time spread - from the '60s-'80s - not sure why he focuses so much on those years unless he considers them his most formidable and once again, pulling from his own life stories and experiences. Although, in an interview I just found he says "Its autobiographical elements are "more hidden," he says. "The relatives have less to worry and complain about."

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Was there ever a more troubled soul than Pat Conroy? I have no idea how much of what he writes is autobiographical but judging by the frequency of pain, heartbreak and despair - all stemming from his life in the south - I can only think that this man can only survive by telling his stories to the masses.

All that said, I absolutely love Pat Conroy - his clever wit, the level of environmental description, his innate romanticism - all are found throughout his books and really suck a reader in until you actually feel the sweet smell of jasmine around you and the overwhelming expectations that a whole society can put on a set of small shoulders.

I've only just started South of Broad I just can't put it down! Part One centers around Leo King, a troubled teen who had his world rocked at the age of 9 when he found his older brother in the bathtub with his wrists cut. From then on, Leo had a downward spiral and the book starts only as he is starting to feel he can wrap up the last 9 years of pain and frustrations. Part One mainly acts as a platform to give Leo's background (with several clever points that I'm sure are being left as cliffhangers) and assemble the cast of characters that will mold the rest of the book.

As I've been reading, I was frustrated at first because so many of the characters are replicas of those from other Conroy books - Leo is Jack McCall to a flying T (Beach Music). At first I though ole Pat had gotten lazy but then as I continued reading, I was mystified because I felt that rather than a recycling of characters, it was a new look at them. It was taking this archetype and putting him/her in new situations to see what happens - once I had that thought, I loved the book all the more. I suppose pampered, aristocratic southern girls will always be just that but how interesting to see if they will break out of their molds depending on what is thrown at them - love it.

Pharoh, Kleopatra Volume II by Karen Essex

I liked this book but not sure that I loved it as much as the first one. The book picked up in Kleopatra's third year of ruling and jumped back and forth between each year and the 20th year of her reign in which she is watching her kingdom unravel as a result of Roman aggression.

What I really liked about the book is the explanation and logic behind Kleopatra's reputation as the "Roman whore." History has always painted her a the seductress and downfall of Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony without even discussing her motives other than just jumping into powerful men's bed. I really liked that she fully understood that the way to keep Egypt powerful wasn't to fight the Roman power but to manipulate it to become an ally - in any way she could. The book points out that the negative press about her began with Octavian (J.C.'s successor) and just spiraled downhill from there because the winner writes history after all.

In the book she is always saying "In matters of state, let your blood run cold" (which was how she justified many of her harsh decision, including starting her relationship with J.C.) but the author painted such vivid passion she had for both of these men that you would never guess they were also politically beneficial. I really liked that a definite difference was put between her relationship with J.C and M.A. - I was afraid they would just be replicas of each other but though the author painted these two generals very similarly, their relationships with Kleopatra and their own base personalities had enough individuality that it made it very interesting to continue to discover more about these men.

All the reviews of the book discuss its historical accuracy and the minute details she includes that really fill the book...I was curious when reading it how much could possibly be factual and how much was just created but it is interesting to think about the level of detail that is known about her life (the fact that they have CONCRETE dates) is just amazing to me.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This was another book that after I finished the sample, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to continue with. I went ahead and kept reading (mostly because it drives me nuts to stop in the middle of a book) and ended up really loving this book.

The book switches around three women's perspectives in Jackson, MI in the 1960s and ostensibly tells the story of black maids working in white homes during this time period.

One of the women is Abileene who in her mid-late 50's has raised 17 white children and had her only natural son die when his white boss wouldn't take him to the hospital after an accident at work. Abileene was the perfect mother figure: caring and wise, smart and loving but she always felt she had to keep her emotions out of her job or it would just be too much. She says after her son dies though, that wall just drops and the anger that she has to keep hidden starts to make her care more than she ever has before.

The second woman is Mimmy - a smart-mouthed maid with five children and an abusive, alcoholic husband. Mimmy is constantly being fired for talking a back and through the "Terrible. Awful." she managed to make an enemy out of the town white she-satan (Hilly). Mimmy is the relief character because she manages to say just what the reader wants to yell and its nice to know that her type exist because she is such an agent of change.

The third is a white woman, Skeeter (real name Eugenia). Skeeter was BFFs with Hilly and Abileene's boss, Elizabeth, growing up but at a time when racial tensions are coming to a head - she begins to see the unequal world around her and really see her friends for who they are.

I liked this book because it was the three women coming to together to tell the stories of these maids and including the good and the bad of all the relationships - they didn't harp on the evils or make it sappy and all alright.

A quote the author (and I) really liked was "Wasn't that the point of the book? For women to realize, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought."

The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

A friend at work recommended this book to me. It's the first installment of a three-part series from a best-selling author who was only published posthumously.

The book is a little more mystery than I have been into lately and I wasn't sure how into it I was in the first few chapters but it did quickly grip me and there were a few parts that I had to stay up reading until 2AM because for the life of me, I COULD NOT put it down.

The book is set in Sweden and apparently the Swedish name for the book actually translates into "Men who Hate Women" (though seemingly off, the two titles both work for the book).

The book starts out following financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist who was found guilty of libeling a very crooked business man. Out of the ashes of this court case, Mikael gets a strange request from an old patriarch who is head of a twisted family and a huge, but failing, business empire - Henrik Vanger. Vanger wants Mikael to use his journalist skills to secretly find out who killed his beloved niece 30 odd years ago, under the cover of writing Vanger's autobiography. It's only secret because Vanger suspects a large majority of his family of being the culprit.

The girl with a dragon tattoo is a separate story line for a long time in the book. Lisbeth Salander, though in her mid-20s, is a ward of the state and considered mental. Despite this (and because of it) she is an amazing researcher and was actually the one to do the background work on Mikael when Vanger wanted to hire him.

Lisbeth was a very interesting character - both cagey and crazy all wrapped up into a fascinating package. I feel that the majority of the books I read, I read from a fully sane person's point of view and though I think a lot of Lisbeth's "insanity" is a result of her history and circumstances - how she looks at the world and adapts to it, seems insane to me but made me actually she her logical side--it was a really cool effect.

The book is the first in a three part series so I expected for of a dangle at the end but the case itself got wrapped up, the only dangle was the personal relationship between Mikeal and Lisbeth. I really liked the book but I'm curious if the next three books will just be the same type of mystery story around their frustrating story line (a la Angles and Demons and The Da Vinci Code).

Kleopatra by Karen Essex

This book is fascinating. It covers Kleopatra's early life from age 3 to her early 20's. She was very intelligent with a gift for language and politics. As turbulent as today's political scene is, it cannot begin to compare to the time in which she lived. Not only was it common practice for brother and sister to marry, there was considerable infighting among siblings. You could trust no one! The family trees are incredibly confusing.

The book ends shortly before Kleopatra meets Julius Caesar as she is battling her younger (half)-brother for control of the throne. I'm looking forward to reading Kleopatra II which covers the second half of her life.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

I really enjoyed this book - I thought the overall story-telling concept was really very interesting and engaging. It's told from two primary points of view - a modern day American woman living in Paris and a little girl living in Paris during WWII.

The two stories center on the July 16, 1942 roundup of Parisian Jews by the French police for their eventual transport to Auschwitz - this round up was called the Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv (the name of an indoor sports arena where they were kept in awful conditions for several days).

The modern story comments that most in Paris were not aware of the round up in their history and when confronted with it, were reluctant to discuss it or accept it. Maybe just because I love history so much I found that entire concept insane and I'm not sure if its a common one that most people would share or if the author was focusing on Parisian's in particular.

I found the last one-third of the book kind of exasperating though - it moves from the two different perspectives to just the modern woman's (to keep suspense for the little girl's eventual fate). I felt like this part dragged on a little too long and some of the new character's she introduced were really weird. I thought the very end was predictable but it did round out the story well.

All in all, I'd recommend the book for a good weekend read!

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

I read this book this weekend and COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! (Seriously, was camping and ignored Jeremy the majority of the time!) Absolutely fascinating book about Ann Eliza Webb Young - one of the wives of Brigham Young, Prophet and Leader of the Mormon Church during the mid 1800s.

The book is so interesting because its not just a biography of her life, it is spun in so many directions with different story lines. The whole time I was reading the book, I was thinking it was all factual - there are newspaper interviews, Wikipedia entries, letters of acceptance/denial to review LDS archives, letters from descendants, etc -- I knew obviously the modern day story was fictional but was convinced the rest was specifically lifted from the pages of the past. Turns out...gullible was removed from the dictionary and slapped on my forehead....but honestly, I think it made the book better for me.

The book goes back and forth in time between Ann Eliza's memoirs ( a real book she did release after her apostate (new word!) from the Mormon church and Brigham's control) and a modern day story around a polygamist women accused of killing her husband.

From the book, I'm curious to read Ann Eliza's real memoirs just to see how differently she is depicted in this book. Though raised Mormon (briefly) I know next to nothing about the church's past or the history if its leaders - Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. I couldn't believe the audacity of these men to say it was divined from God that they should take on "plural wives" to populate the world with Mormons to save everyone's soul....Seriously guys, SERIOUSLY? And people went for it! But as the book points out however, if this is all you know and this is put to you as a deal breaker to getting into heaven, they you do what the man in charge says but still...oy vey.

Ann Eliza's memoirs deal specifically with how plural marriage effects the women and compares it to a state of bondage - not unlike slavery (the Civil War was fought during this time so it was a perfect argument). The book does deal directly with how sister-wives related to each other and deal with a new addition to their families. Being a devotee to the HBO show "Big Love," I found this insight particularly interesting.

She also notes that what adults do is all well in fine - if adults want to marry 100 spouses and they are all happy about it, then whatever - but she specifies that it only matters once children come into play and what it will do to them and affect them for the rest of their lives. This was one aspect of the book that I thought the author was going a weird direction. The main character of the modern day story is gay and he makes a comparison at one point that being gay and being polygamist were both choices adults make and are fine until children come into play. The book never outright says it but I really felt there was a negative association made that I was disappointed in.

Despite what might be my oversensitivity to the last subject, I would highly recommend this book to everyone - its an eye opener to the history of a religion and a whole movement that apparently is still pertinent to our current time.

Stealing Athena Part II

I just finished Stealing Athena. I highly recommend it. It's a fascinating story, actually two stories. If I was Mary Elgin, I would have let her husband rot in prison in France! He was imprisoned (twice by Napoleon) primarily because Napoleon wanted all the Greek sculptures he'd stolen. Mary's husband was a spendthrift which wouldn't have been so bad if it was his money he was spending. Most of it was Mary's. She was an amazing woman. - Lisa (PS - Lisa is too - Tanya)

Stealing Athena by Karen Essex

I found this book at the library by chance. It's another historical novel loosely based on fact. The "modern-day" part takes place between 1799 and 1816 and is written from the perspective of Mary Nisbet, the wife of the Earl of Elgin, who was sent to Constantinople (now Istanbul) as an ambassador for Great Britain. The amazing thing is she was 21 when they arrived. Mary's husband has a passion for Greek architecture and art. In addition to his role as ambassador, his personal goal is to copy and/or appropriate as many Greek ruins as possible to take back to Great Britain to preserve them, glorify the Empire (because only the British can truly protect and appreciate these amazing artifacts!) and his own home.

The "historical" part is the story of Aspasia (again a real person), the concubine of the Perikles, the most powerful man in Athens during the Golden Age. Mary does a lot of reading to educate herself about her husband's passion. One of the books she reads is about Aspasia who was very intelligent and well educated.

Being a historical novel, the role of women in both time periods comes into play and (as Tanya has already noted) can be quite annoying, but was true to life.

So far I'm finding the book fairly well written and interesting. Karen Essex has written several other historical novels that look interesting: Kleopatra, Pharaoh, and Leonardo's Swans.

After Etan: The Missing Child Case that Held America Captive by Lisa R. Cohen

I just finished this true story on the disappearance of 6 year old Etan Patz in 1979. Etan walked to the bus stop for the first time alone and disappeared somewhere within an 8 minute range of time. The family still lives in their SoHo apartment and has the same phone number with the idea that maybe he could one day come home or call. Although he was pronounced officially deceased in 2001, I can certainly understand hope holding them out.

Aside from how gripping a story it is - never fully solved, continuous updates every few years, the beautiful little boy - this book was really amazing. The author is a media producer who had followed the story over the course of her career and made it less about how traumatizing of an event this is but more about the people and relationships that it affected. We all know about Adam Walsh from the work his father has done but it actually was Etan's mother, Julie, who really started to galvanize the missing children's movement - having schools let parents know when their children don't come in, making it a federal crime, etc.

I think the most traumatic part of this book/story was the idea that there has never been a body or a concrete end to the search. Investigators certainly feel they have the correct man and were able to put him away until 2014 for an unrelated crime but I feel for the parents and can't imagine the anguish of never just KNOWING of always asking "what if?" its terrifying.

Certainly as a child/teenager/young adult I chafed under my parents restrictions - thinking they were being too clingy or cautious or overbearing. But reading this book and how often they say "Everything changed after Etan" I can kind of see where it came from (it might also be the adult perspective coming out). Its easy to say "let them grow and make their own way" but jeez, when an 8 minute period can wreck havoc on your entire life and sanity - is it worth it?? Julie (the mom) apparently coped well after a time and was able to raise her other 2 children without the smothering I would have expected but the book set me on edge and made me rethink the limits I had as a kid and realize that no precaution is too much when your child's life is at stake. Ugh, does this mean I have to say my parents were right?

This isn't a book I would typically read, terrible things happening to children completely unravel me but as I mentioned above, though there are some very hard parts to it, I feel overall its a book of the good that can come out of the awful from sheer will, luck, blood, sweat and tears.

I don't think the Patz family will ever know true peace but hopefully they can take some comfort in the millions of other child lives they have saved over the past 30 years.

The Widow of the South

This book by Robert Hicks was on the bestseller list several years ago but I'm just getting around to reading it as part of my genealogy research about an ancestor who died during the Civil War. The Widow of the South is based on a true story of a woman who buried nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers in her backyard and tended their graves for the rest of her life. Hicks has woven an unusual love story between this woman and one of the soldiers into the larger story about the Battle of Franklin (Tennessee) and its impact on the people in that area.

The book is well-written and paints a grim picture of the Civil War for both soliders and civilians.

Books by Leif Enger

I absolutely loved Enger's first book, Peace Like a River, and have recommended it to many people. If you haven't read it yet, you should because it has great characters, a wonderful story line and incredible prose. Peace Like a River is narrated by Reuben "Rube" Land, an asthmatic 11-year-old boy, living in small-town Minnesota circa 1962. When Rube's older brother, Davy, kills a schoolyard bully, the whole family, including his sister "Swede" and their father, embark on an epic adventure across country.

Enger's second book, So Brave and Handsome, is narrated by Monte Becket, a former postman who wrote a bestselling novel but who now suffers from writer's block. Monte is happily married and has a young son but can't decide if he has another book in him or if he made a mistake quitting his job with the post office. He meets Glendon Hale, a self-confessed rascal seeking redemption, and follows him across country while being pursued by Charles Siringo, a real-life bounty hunter who infiltrated the Butch Cassidy gang while working for the Pinkerton detective agency.

Both books use the imagery of the old west as background for the main storyline. Enger has a way with words that will make it difficult for you to put either book down once you start reading.

The Stories Art Inspires

Recently I've read several books that are fictional accounts around the creation of famous works of art. I absolutely love this concept of taking one single image and painting lives and stories around what could have been. From some basic research it appears that the Tracy Chevalier books were mostly works of fiction - due to the lack of facts around the paintings themselves but the Renoir book had an insane amount of research behind it and I guess because of the late 19th century time period - had more accessible information.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
I thought this book was just okay - pretty predictable and I found the main character slightly annoying. She definitely had backbone and sense of self but other than this quivering to be an artist, she had no passion or appreciation for what was around her.

I understand historically her reluctance to be the master painter's model but I felt like in the book it built up to it too long and she just seemed whiny and wishy-washy.

I've never seen the movie but can totally see both Scarlett Johansen and Colin Firth in the two main roles.

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
I had never heard of this piece of work until Carrie and Elizabeth told me about it from their France trip. They were actually able to go and see the real tapestries. I downloaded a few to see them but the resolution is off and they are hard to actually see well - though the descriptions from the book are so vivid, that I painted a fairly good mental image.

I thought this book was much more interesting than Chevalier's book above. Each chapter had a different character perspective and there were several different story lines to follow, though all interconnected through one slightly sleazy artist. Like most books on the period, it had strong commentary about the antiquated place of women within society. I get why its important to discuss but at the same time, it sometimes can become like a broken record - maybe I should just take a break from period books...


Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland
I absolutely LOVED this book! It was told mostly from Auguste Renoir's perspective, but had a few insights from other characters, and told the story Renoir's "moment in time" painting that combines several artistic techniques. According to the book he was warring with his Impressionist leanings and critiques from social commentators on how to incorporate more life into his art.

The whole time he was painting, I fell in love with the characters - who were all his actual friends- they were celebrating "la vie moderne" and celebrating life and love as actively as humans can. Just looking at the painting I was jealous, I want to be at that party! I want to sit out on a balcony after some amazing food and wine, relaxing and chatting with my friends! Maybe that is the success of the painting - the overwhelming desire to be apart of it.

It's fun to blow up the picture to be huge and really look at it closely - the level of detail was amazing and just trying to imagine coordinating 12 people for sittings is insane.

According to Wikipedia - the people in the painting are:

• The seamstress Aline Charigot, holding a dog, sits near the bottom left of the composition. Renoir would later marry her.

• Charles Ephrussi—wealthy amateur art historian, collector, and editor of the Gazette des Beaux-Arts—appears wearing a top hat in the background. The younger man to whom Ephrussi appears to be speaking, more casually attired in a brown coat and cap, may be Jules Laforgue, his personal secretary and also a poet and critic.

• Actress Ellen Andrée drinks from a glass in the center of the composition. Seated across from her is Baron Raoul Barbier.

• Placed within but peripheral to the party are the proprietor's daughter Louise-Alphonsine Fournaise and her brother, Alphonse Fournaise, Jr., both sporting traditional straw boaters and appearing to the left side of the image. Alphonsine is the smiling woman leaning on the railing; Alphonse, who was responsible for the boat rental, is the leftmost figure.

• Also wearing boaters are figures appearing to be Renoir's close friends Eugène Pierre Lestringez and Paul Lhote, himself an artist. Renoir depicts them flirting with the actress Jeanne Samary in the upper righthand corner of the painting.

• In the right foreground, Gustave Caillebotte wears a white boater's shirt and flat-topped straw boater's hat as he sits backwards in his chair next to actress Angèle Legault and journalist Adrien Maggiolo. An art patron, painter, and important figure in the impressionist circle, Caillebotte was also an avid boatman and drew on that subject for several works.

Shanghai Girls, A Novel by Lisa See

I read this book this weekend during my two 4 hour long plane rides - pretty quick read but in my opinion, not that interesting.

I kept waiting for SOMETHING big to happen, but it was just following the girls' lives from China to the US during the '30s. I guess just because of the nature of the content, I just kept thinking of the "Joy Luck Club" - sad story that jerks at the heart but pretty predictable throughout.

Aside from the obvious Chinese story line, it reminded me of JLC because of the relationships between the parents who immigrated and their children they forced to become as American as possible. The parents want their children to have every opportunity so they push them into fully embracing this new culture but then a division occurs when their American children can't, or won't, relate to them anymore. I know on some level, its the same way for all parents but I can certainly see the wide divide that a culture clash within a family would bring.

The one part that I did really enjoy was towards the end (I don't really think this is a spoiler) when the two sisters who have spent 40+ years together get into a fight and rehash all the grudges and injustices they have felt for each other over the years. In the course of this fight, they begin to discuss the completely different way that they each have percieved different events over the course their lives. The reader is just from the older sister's perspective so it was really interesting to hear how the little sister had seen all the events - gave a very unique perspective to everything you had just read.

Chinese zodiac signs are a very big part of this book - the main character Pearl tries to be "modern" and dismiss her mother's superstitions but in the end she finds herself embracing them and she thinks they dictate the events in her life. I personally don't believe in any astrology but thought it could be fun to find out what I am in Chinese. I've always thought I was a rat but according to http://www.chinesezodiac.com/index.php I am a pig -- oink oink.

What is everyone else?

"Loving Frank" - Wrap Up

** SPOILER ALERT ON "LOVING FRANK" **

So I finished "Loving Frank" and needless to say, I was completely SHOCKED at the end! Everyone referred to Mamah as a tragic figure so I guessed something bad had to happen to her but to be killed in such a gruesome way and with her kids was just beyond anything I could have ever guessed!

It made it all the worse because it's real. Its so easy to read a novel like that and dismiss the tragedy as fiction but its a whole new level when you think about the fact that it was a real life that was ended and on the cusp of really discovering herself and her own talents.

Living with Frank had to be a trial (especcially that whole not paying this bills thing) but I guess we all know that you take the good with the bad when you are in a relationship like that and for what its worth, I'm glad that they ended on a good note with each other.

Discussion Question:
One of Ellen Key’s beliefs was that motherhood should be recompensed by the state. Do you think an idea like this could ever catch on in America? Why or why not?

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

Several of us have read this one. It's about the Chicago World's Fair which had far-reaching impact on many levels, including many things we take for granted today. It's also about a mass murderer who was in Chicago at the time. That part is chilling.

The book is incredibly well researched. I can't image how long it took Larson to research and synthesize it into the book (which is quite long).

Quote Controversy - Should Love be Taken for Granted?

When Edwin and Mamah are married he says to her "Take my love for granted and I shall do the same for you."

I can't decide what I think about this idea of fully taking for granted that you are loved, especially by a significant other. I think I've always thought that it is dangerous to take love for granted, it seems a) arrogant to assume that no matter what you do this one other person will always love you and b) ungrateful to brazenly expect that person to give you that level of unquestioned security. Things you take for granted are easily forgotten about and that sounds like a terrible marriage/relationship. Who would want to be with someone who took no notice of the ways your love for them is expressed - breakfast in bed, listening to problems, a random hug?

On the other hand (being recently married and still quite giddy), I can see the comfort in knowing there is someone who will always love and support you no matter what you do. I suppose in this line of thought, it is the foundation for everything else you do - I think rather than ignoring it, it is nurtured by both people as a security net for expanding wings with your partner's support.

I suppose it also is the model for a mutually unselfish relationship -- both partners unquestioningly relying on the other, knowing that their complete acceptance of their partner will be met with the reciprocal response. But said in that sense it sounds very naive because people are selfish, no matter how much we may not want to be and I would think we all hold back a little, just in case the other person starts going crazy...(or sleeping with a famous, but broke, architect in your drawing room).

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

I'm currently in the middle of "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan, another enthralling recommendation by Mom3. The book is a fictionalized account of the affair architect Frank Lloyd Wright had with Mamah Borthwick Cheney in the early 1900's. So far I love the way Horan describes FLW's views on architecture - the "prairie" house and how nature can be interwoven into a home - rather than having to distinguish between the two. I love to be outdoors so the houses being described - right off cliffs in Italy, rooms with trees growing through the middle of them - all sound like heaven and take me far from the concrete jungle I currently live in.

Mamah (pronounced MAY-muh) is an interesting character to follow. Because this is a work of fiction, I'm uncertain how many liberties Horan has taken Mamah's opinions and social work. I don't want to research that right now though because I'm afraid of a spoiler... If this is the real Mamah however, she is absolutely fascinating and a woman well ahead of her time. It's so frustrating to read about the social constraints of the day and think about how people (women in particular) were expected to ignore their shot at happiness if it wasn't in the original cards they were dealt.

The book discusses at depth that parents must be happy before they can make a happy home for their children and I tend to agree with that sentiment. This whole "staying together for the children" thing seems depressing and something for martyrs, not those who want to take life by the horns and use the only one they have. As a divorced kid, I can say that the kids will forgive and forget in due time and may even sympathize once they are adults. I can't wait to see if Mamah's kids published any reactions to these events once they were grown.

My only hope for the end of this book is that its not another "Awakening" and Mamah doesn't kill herself as the only way out of her bad situation..

Has anyone else read this book? Any thoughts to share?

An Introduction to The Card Catalogue

Hello Bookworms,

Right now this blog is a place for me to discuss my thoughts on the books I read. I like a lot of different types of books - biographies, historical fiction, adventure, classics, Oprah recommends, beach reads, Harry Potter and everything in between. The hubby bought me a fun new Kindle so I've been going through books like wildfire lately so hopefully I can put up posts pretty regularly.

Disclaimer: Don't expect the posts to be works of art, or maybe not even terribly insightful, but just my train of thought as I make my way through the books that come my way.

If you'd like to join the Card Catalogue Book Club please feel free to send me your own ruminations /thoughts /opinions on any books you are reading and I will be happy to post them alongside mine! New book suggestions are always welcome and hopefully we can all expand our reading repertoire.

Happy Reading!
CurlyGirl