Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York

Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York by Roz Chast    169 pages

"A native Brooklynite-turned-suburban commuter deemed the quintessential New Yorker, Roz Chast has always been intensely alive to the glorious spectacle that is Manhattan--the daily clash of sidewalk racers and dawdlers; the fascinating range of dress codes; and the priceless, nutty outbursts of souls from all walks of life."

When Roz Chast and her husband moved their family to outside of New York City, there were a lot of adjustments. When they did go in to the city, they would marvel at all kinds of things, including how to navigate the streets.  This book was created by Chast as a kind of guide for her daughter, but it's definitely a love letter to New York, and especially Manhattan.  I love Chast's style of cartooning and how expressive her characters can be. I laughed out loud a few times when I was reading, but I also was learning a lot at the same time. I love how Chast points out how much she loves the city and how many things there are to do and see. She lists a bunch of museums, but then adds in all kinds of other things you can do.  For example, she cites how walking down a street you've never been in can result in all kinds of discoveries. Even the standpipes become interesting when Chast shows them off (and this section is particularly funny).   I enjoyed this book and even if I don't go to New York City again ever (the last time was a long time ago), I plan on re-reading this book.

Modern Romance

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari      Audio Book:6 hours   Hardback Book: 288 pages   

An insightful and often hilarious take on modern romance.   He cites examples from the past - when folks tended to court and marry whoever was close by ie. on the next farm, in town etc.   Not a lot of action required just the desire to be married and whoever looks study enough to survive the winter and work the land wins.   He goes through dating and romance through the 40s, hot dang!  Back from the war, wow!  Women smoke cigarettes in public now?  Oh well, we've both got nicotine on our breath and yellowing finger tips let's get hitched.   Through the 50s-60s only bad girls put out - good girls go home bad girls go everywhere - you're kind of cute - o.k. let's get married.  Through the free-love late 60s-70s-let's live together - we're cool to the 80s - it's all about me and my big hair - if you can support the lifestyle I want to live buy the ring and I will be there.   Then the 90s hmmm what is this internet stuff?  I'm too cerebral for marriage lets just do whoever we want and come together as our schedules allow to the 2000s millenials - Social media booty calls - suddenly I have 3,000 I seldom see but text constantly I can pick and choose my relationships and have many simultaneously if I decide to.   Why be exclusive when the world is literally at our fingertips and so is porn - we don't even have to go out of our rooms sex is on the computer screen.  To current day - not a lot of romance these days - everyone is constantly communicating but relationships are more written about via text and cell phone hookups Aziz feels people have lost the deeper exploration of each other that used to go on in gettng to know someone now a potential companion is gained or lost simply by googling them and seeing what is said in cyberspace about this person and with all the ways one can gain access to public records that person you just hooked up with at the gym or Starbucks seems to have a number of arrests for driving under the influence resulting in road rage and assault charges - PASS.   While he sees the benefits of today's cyber dating/investigating  he also thinks we lose something infinitely better in spending quality time with others to slowly get to build relationships and trust then fallling in love because we have invested emotional time with this other person - now, you can basically check out even hone in via satelitte on a person's home, find out their income,  see their financial profile check their background, work history even credit history, schooling, interests and never leave the computer device of choice we happen to be using.   information is a boon and a detrimental device all at the same time.   What if something gets posted that is incorrect but it sounds really bad.   What if there are extinuating circumstances that aren't necessarily explained - just cold facts posted and the person being researched is actually a victime of unresolved identity theft and the perpetrator is reeking havoc all over town in the would be partner's name which they would explain to you if you didn't unfriend them and stop communicating with them.   He relates all this in comedic ways citing one example of a gal who fell head over heels for a guy only to google him and find out he and his mother were arrested for both beating up an elderly lady in their neighborhood who was feeding stray cats.   (I would have been really peeved to say the least over that one.)    A fun read and it will make you stop and think that yeah the more we have access to the higher the walls and the farther the space comes between us.    Well done, Aziz.

The Whydah

The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked & Found by Martin W. Sandler, 170 pages

“The exciting true story of the captaincy, wreck, and discovery of the Whydah -- the only pirate ship ever found -- and the incredible mysteries it revealed. The 1650s to the 1730s marked the golden age of piracy, when fearsome pirates like Blackbeard ruled the waves, seeking not only treasure but also large and fast ships to carry it. The Whydah was just such a ship, built to ply the Triangular Trade route, which it did until one of the greediest pirates of all, Black Sam Bellamy, commandeered it. Filling the ship to capacity with treasure, Bellamy hoped to retire with his bounty -- but in 1717 the ship sank in a storm off Cape Cod. For more than two hundred years, the wreck of the Whydah (and the riches that went down with it) eluded treasure seekers, until the ship was finally found in 1984 by marine archaeologists. The artifacts brought up from the ocean floor are priceless, both in value and in the picture they reveal of life in that much-mythologized era, changing much of what we know about pirates.” This would be a great read for any kids who were interested in real pirates.  I found the information fascinating, and pirates are not my first choice for non-fiction reads.

The Other Boleyn Girl

The OtherBoleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory, 664 pages

“When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of the handsome and charming Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane, and soon she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. With her own destiny suddenly unknown, Mary realizes that she must defy her family and take fate into her own hands.” Even though I knew the inevitable outcome of the book, I really wanted it to be different for Mary’s sake.  This was a wonderful fictional account of what Mary might have been feeling and thinking during her own time with the king, as well as her sister’s rise and fall.  People who like historical fiction will love this book.

Wild Bird

Wild Bird by Wendelin Van Draanen, 311 pages

“3:47 a.m. That's when they come for Wren Clemmens. She's hustled out of her house and into a waiting car, then a plane, and then taken on a forced march into the desert. This is what happens to kids who've gone so far off the rails, their parents don't know what to do with them anymore. This is wilderness therapy camp. Eight weeks of survivalist camping in the desert. Eight weeks to turn your life around. Yeah, right. The Wren who arrives in the Utah desert is angry and bitter, and blaming everyone but herself. But angry can't put up a tent. And bitter won't start a fire. Wren's going to have to admit she needs help if she's going to survive.” I don’t know how realistic this book is but it was fantastic.  I think this could give struggling teens hope.

The Substitute

The Substitute by Nicole Lundrigan        399 pages

Warren Botts, PhD, is taking a break from his lab to teach middle-school science. Quiet and lonely, he innocently befriends Amanda, one of his students. However, one morning, Amanda is found dead in his backyard and upon discovering her, Warren flees the scene. As the police start to develop their theory of Warren as a person of interest in the murder, Warren becomes more and more introverted. 

At the same time as all of this is going on, there is a second storyline from an anonymous narrator, a person who seems very intelligent, but who has the markings of a psychopath (or a sociopath. Either way, there's something wrong with this person).  This person's narrative offers insight into events of the past and present, building tension in the story  -- and also making you wonder if this storyline and the storyline of Amanda's murder and Warren's situation, are going to intersect.

I didn't like this book. I kept reading because I was curious, although I skimmed sections. Our anonymous psychopathic/sociopathic narrator is unpleasant and there were instances of animal cruelty, which I do not like to read about. I also didn't like the character of Warren, so I basically kept reading because I was wondering how these two storylines were going to intersect.  I should have just closed the book partway through and gone on to my next book (which turned out to be much better).

You Can Run

You Can Run by Steve Mosby        327 pages

When a car crashes into a garage in a perfectly ordinary neighborhood, the police who arrive at the scene discover something horrifying: there is a woman imprisoned there. As the house is searched and the remains of several other victims are found, police believe they have finally identified the Red River Killer, a person who has been abducting women for almost twenty years. However, their main suspect, John Blythe, is on the run. As the police's hunt for Blythe ramps up, Detective Inspector Will Turner finds himself involved. The problem is, these killing hold a special significance for Will and he feels he has to be the one to find the Red River Killer, at any cost.

I really enjoyed this story, as the pace started quickly and never let up. You get several viewpoints, which keeps things interesting and also keeps you a bit off-kilter. You know who Will Turner is, and you get some perspective from John Blythe, but there other characters involved and it's not clear at first what part they play in the story. As you get further into the book, things start to come together, but nothing's cleared up until the end (which I really like in a suspense story). 

Mother Was a Lovely Beast:

Mother Was a Lovely Beast:  A Feral Man Anthology: Fiction and Fact About Humans Raised by Animals Edited by Philip Jose Farmer          Hardback Book:  246 pages          Genre: Adult Facts & Fiction Feral Humans,  Edgar Rice Burroughs and other authors cited along with editor’s notes and facts given with detailed explanations and historical proof.


EXCELLENT BOOK.   Who knew there was truth to the Tarzan story?   Facts are given by the editor with links to actual locations, ships, progeny, peerage, etc.    Apparently Edgar Rice Burroughs embellished some stories he had heard from a sea captain about an Ape Man.     The Editor researched the tale and found there were elements of truth there.    He travelled to the locations mentioned in the  documents, journals, diaries and Burke’s Peerage that he came across and found the actual locations of the events were near locations mentioned in the fictionalized version that   Burroughs described in his writings.  The actual Englishman who spent 15 or more years among the bonobo after the deaths of his parents (who had actually been shipwrecked in the Belgian Congo) was actually raised by a bonobo female.    Fascinating stories here  including the other true tale of the French boy who was raised by wolves.    I don’t want to give too much away, but, it is utterly amazing to read about, even to consider a human raised in the wild as a feral creature then having to acclimate himself to human life when discovered.   The editor was even able to meet one of the true Tarzan’s offspring or at least one of the many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are still to this day said to be descendants of the Ape Man.    The real Tarzan had 6 African wives after all and he said he had children with 5 of them.   The cad left his African families when he left the jungle however and never communicated with any of his offspring once he left and hooked up with an American gal and married her after their having lived together for a time.   There are also many stories the editor liked that were fiction about feral encounters of humans and beasts that he includes in the book and these stories are really enjoyable, too.    I am so glad I read this book, I particularly liked how the editor gave his take on his research at the end and gave the reader clear directions on where to connect the dots and find out the real low down on animals adopting humans.     Both amusing and amazing.    Tarzan didn’t just seem real he was based on fact.    Kudos to Philip Jose’ Farmer for bringing this knowledge and all the great stories to light.    Many stories included here from other countries making the cases for feral adoptees.    Standing ovation for this one.

The Last Castle

The Last Castle: the Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home by Denise Kiernan                Audio Book:  10 hours, 18 mins      Paperback Book:  416 pages


Really well researched book on the history of the Vanderbilt family and all their clique in the gilded ages’ “400 Club.”    The good life of millionaires back in the gay 90s (late 1800s) through today.    A look behind the façade to see the real struggles and tragedies that even rich people have to endure.   Money really can’t buy everything (health, love, happiness, endless wealth, etc.), but it can buy a lot of property and the largest home ever built in the United States, the Biltmore Estate or Castle as it was known.    It really does look a lot like a Castle with a lot of French architectural accoutrements.    Really enjoyable history of the “Castle,” and life among the American upper crust at the turn of the century in their heydays before the stock market crash then everyone’s changed life after 1929.    The Great Gatsby life so ostentatious!  A good look at the people behind the names and the love that went into the creating of Biltmore, the rise of the town of Asheville’s esteem with the influx of all the illustrious vistors, guests, tourists and the media hype of a hollywood legend.    A glimpse at the kindness behind the glamour of the Vanderbilt women who were great benefactors of the local poor and not just by donating money but by getting to know the people, visiting, having them over and sharing their prosperity with those less fortunate.    And I leaned that George Vanderbilt was way ahead of his time in preserving the reforestation of trees and botanicals.   A good look into the personalities we often hear about but never really get to know much about.     Very good read especially for those who enjoy reading about celebrities, love reading about history because there is a lot of historical information along with the genealogical.   Good read.

You Can’t Spell America Without ME

You Can’t Spell America Without ME: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President by Alec Baldwin, Kurt Andersen and Oliver Wyman   

  Audio Book:  5 hours, 57 mins,   Paperback: 384 pages                     
Very funny! This book is like watching Alec Baldwin performing as Donald Trump.    It is so well written regardless which side of the political partyline you favor, this is a fun read.   The tongue in cheek Trumpisms you will find here are golden.     Many of the thoughts expressed via tweets and delivered in person can be found here and expounded upon.     In his no holds barred style this satire is a delightful look into the presidency of the fearless unfiltered verbage of the leader of the free world.    Told as though it is his memoir or at the very least a proud report on his first year in office it is a hysterical look at the man, the myth, the legend – hey – the man pulled off the election – that is Donald J. Trump.     It is funny, and so politically incorrect but then that can be said of the man himself at times (Tweet, Tweet, Tweet!)    I highly recommend this one.    There is so much material here you will enjoy it.

Les Fleurs du Mal

Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire, translated by Richard Howard, 176 pages

     Here with grisly appetite

     I grill and devour my heart.

In these six collections (with some additional poems appended), Baudelaire indulges in the ultimate descent into romantic degradation, treasuring each horror.

     the final bag of coins in a gambler's fist;

     the cavernous kisses you get from Adeline;

     the maddening tune that will not let you go,

     as if it echoed faintly all of human pain...

Turning the moral universe upside down, the poet composes hymns to Satan and hurls curses against God, while those made in His image and likeness are considered simultaneously pitiable and disgusting.

     Woman a slave and yet vainglorious,

     stupid and unashamed in her self-love;

     Man a greedy tyrant, slave of his slaves,

     swelling the sewer to a stinking flood...

Baudelaire casts his celebration of corruption as a bold adventure, the ultimate existential revolt.

     Pour us your poison, let us be comforted!

     Once we have burned our brains out, we can plunge

     to Hell or Heaven - any abyss will do -

     deep in the Unknown to find the new!

He manages to create beauty out of his longing for Beauty, for escape from this world and its oppressive boredom and disgust.

     Who cares if you come from paradise or hell,

     appalling Beauty, artless and monstrous scourge,

     if only your eyes, your smile or your foot reveal

     the Infinite I love and have never known?

The greatest work of the greatest of the Decadents, The Flowers of Evil is the field of an almost invisible struggle to find coherence in the "heap of broken images" where

     Satan Trismegistus subtly rocks

     our ravished spirits on his wicked bed

     until the precious metal of our will

     is leached out by this cunning alchemist:

     the Devil's hand directs our every move -

     the things we loathed become the things we love;

     day by day we drop through stinking shades

     quite undeterred on our descent to Hell.

Wishful Drinking

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher     163 pages

Carrie Fisher tells the true and intoxicating story of her life with inimitable wit. Born to celebrity parents, she was picked to play a princess in a little movie called Star Wars when only 19 years old. "But it isn't all sweetness and light sabres." Alas, aside from a demanding career and her role as a single mother (not to mention the hyperspace hairdo), Carrie also spends her free time battling addiction, weathering the wild ride of manic depression and lounging around various mental institutions. It's an incredible tale - from having Elizabeth Taylor as a stepmother, to marrying (and divorcing) Paul Simon, from having the father of her daughter leave her for a man, to ultimately waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed. 

Hilarious and fascinating. I absolutely love Carrie Fisher's writing and this book was a page turner. She's so clever, funny, and insightful. The majority of this book is her poking fun at herself and her life. I love, though, that she is able to do this and is able to say, "Hey, I know I've had a good life, so my 'Poor old me' isn't something I should dwell on" but at the same time be able to say, "Hey, I have problems and I'm learning how to deal with them and it's not something I shouldn't talk about." I very much enjoyed reading how she sees herself and how this is helpful for her to gain control of her own crazy. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who want's a good laugh, anyone who also struggles with mental illness and wants to hear from someone who's been there, done that, and lived to talk about it. It's a very moving book, peppered with good-natured self-mockery. I loved it.

Heresy of Formlessness

The Heresy of Formlessness: The Roman Liturgy and Its Enemy by Martin Mosebach, translated by Graham Harrison, 209 pages

Martin Mosebach freely confesses that progress has passed him by.  He has not learned that words are meaningless, that truth is nothing but a bigoted opinion, or that beauty is entirely in the eye of the beholder.  He still clings to antiquated prejudices - that religion ought to connect man to a higher reality, that the best of what has been thought and done in past ages can never be irrelevant, that no one can consume trash and expect to remain healthy.  Most indicative of his backwardness is his belief that human beings are both soul and body, and that therefore what we believe and what we do are interconnected.

In the wake of the Second Vatican Council, a new wave of iconoclasm swept through the Catholic Church.  Great artworks which had stood the test of time were replaced with up-to-date substitutes which were obsolete the day after they appeared.  Even kitschy works that, though undeniably second rate, were popular with the average Catholic were replaced, when they were replaced at all, with pieces that allegedly spoke to modern sensibilities, but which pleased few beyond the artists who were paid to produce them and their clerical patrons who paid dearly for the pleasure of believing they were with-it.  Simultaneously, an elaborate language of ritual and gesture which had developed over the course of millennia was simply abandoned.  The iconoclasts claimed that all of this was distracting and unnecessary, modern man having outgrown the need for symbols, beauty, and supernatural hope.

In The Heresy of Formlessness Mosebach makes the case that the iconoclasts were wrong.  The nature of man, he contends, has not changed since the Stone Age.  We still live and die by symbols, still crave beauty, are still bound together - to the extent we are bound together at all - by rituals both civic and religious.  As a novelist by trade, his arguments are affective rather than logical, his investigations personal rather than philosophical or theological.  Ironically, this makes his book somewhat formless - the final essay, tacked on in the third edition, while cromulent in itself, greatly diminishes the power of the conclusion by its placement.

The Ninth Hour

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott       256 pages

This book opens on a winter afternoon in a small tenement apartment. A young Irish immigrant sends his wife on an errand and then, closing the gaps in windows and doors, opens the gas taps. In the aftermath of the resulting fire, Sister St. Saviour, a nun, appears to direct the way forward for his young widow and unborn child.  This thread of the nun, the young widow, and the child, is followed through the story, over years, and weaves it way into the lives of other characters.

This story, set in the early part of the twentieth century, spans decades, although the story is never belabored or boring (at least, I didn't think so because I settled in with this book and just kept turning the pages).  I enjoyed how the author wove the stories of the characters together, and the characters, themselves, were so clearly outlined that they were easy to imagine.

Admittedly, this book was on my TBR list, although I didn't anticipate I'd get to it anytime soon. However, my husband gave me the book on Christmas Eve and I wound up settling in and really getting into the story. I deliberately read slowly (or at least tried to) and by the end, even though it was a good ending, I was disappointed that I had reached the last page. If I had known the book would be this good, I would have grabbed it as quickly as I could have and not put it off to read in the next few months.   

Married to the Game

Married to the Game by Chunichi                      Audio Book:  5 hours, 3 mins.     Mass Market Paperback:  304 pages           

A good story about friendship, betrayal, rekindling friendship, connivers, playas, folks who live fast and rough.    The story revolves around a group of friends and lovers and the trials and tribulations they go through trying to get by in life.    Realistic in so many ways.    I really liked the stories and you get caught up in the drama of all the folks’ lives so much so when something bad happens to one of the characters you feel real sorrow for them.     A gripping story that will keep you interested from beginning to end.     I can’t say too much without giving a lot of the story away, but, trust that if you like urban fiction you will definitely like the tales of young ladies falling for thugs, strippers who know how to play both sides against the middle and people just trying to catch their dreams and a little love along the way to make life right in the hard streets.   Good book.    Language and explicit descriptions might be off-putting to some.

The Last Ballad

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash                 Audio Book:  14 hours, 6 minutes      Paperback Book:  592 pages                 

I could hear the tunes of Woody Guthrie in my mind while listening to this audio book.    The story is all about poor people working in Mills in the 1920s, pulling 12 hour and longer shifts 6 days a week and clearing $9.00 to pay their rent and feed their families on.      The times were rough and so were the Mill owners.     In this story the American Communist Party sends representatives down to get the workers to organize and join together to form unions to force the Mill owners to pay better wages and better hours.    One of the workers Ella May, is contacted and is convinced the union is the right way to go.    The setting of the story is Bessemer City, North Carolina and the bosses pretty much own the town and between their fraternization with the local constables and the backing of the Klan they keep people knuckled under in fear and accepting their lot as just the way it is and ain’t no changing it.    One of the gals from the Communist Party befriends Ella May while continuing to chat her up to get her to help get the word out about unionizing to all the local workers.    Since Ella May is so poor and has her own hard luck story of how life and work are in this Applachian-like setting is so filled with tragedy and hardship the Unionists ask her to speak at the rally they hold just outside of town.   She is a down to earth soul and hasn’t a clue what to say but agrees to do so.   When Ella May gets up to speak everyone falls silent as she tells of trying to live and feed her 5 children and how they have to eat biscuits and grease and stretch it to last as long as they can and how her last baby died because she wasn’t able to adequately support the family while recovering from childbirth.   Everyone can relate because almost every family has lost a child or more trying to get by on the low wages and high prices at the company store.    Ella May told stories to her children at night and sang them songs.    She wrote a song to sing at the rally about being a mother with starving children crying for food and not being able to afford any.   Not a dry eye in the house and many people signed up for the union everywhere the unionists took her to speak, always asking for her to sing “The Mother’s Ballad,” as they came to call it.   The story is filled with violence as you can imagine   but the story is a good one, kind of like Norma Rae but more in her grandmother’s life time.    A good story if a sad one.   

When Did You See Her Last?

When Did You See Her Last? By Lemony Snicket     277 pages


In the fading town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea, young apprentice Lemony Snicket has a new case to solve when he and his chaperone are hired to find a missing girl. Is the girl a runaway? Or was she kidnapped? Was she seen last at the grocery store? Or could she have stopped at the diner? Is it really any of your business? These are All The Wrong Questions.

This is the second book in the "All the Wrong Questions" series by Lemony Snicket. It's a parody of the noir genre and it's chock full of humor, strange people/places/things, and a mystery. I liked this book as much as the first. I'd read it before, but I haven't read the last two books in the series, so I'm looking forward to how this story unfolds to its completion.

American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West

American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee     320 pages

Before men ruled the earth, there were wolves. Once abundant in North America, these majestic creatures were hunted to near extinction in the lower 48 states by the 1920s. But in recent decades, conservationists have brought wolves back to the Rockies, igniting a battle over the very soul of the West.

With novelistic detail, Nate Blakeslee tells the gripping story of one of these wolves, O-Six, a charismatic alpha female named for the year of her birth. Uncommonly powerful, with gray fur and faint black ovals around each eye, O-Six is a kind and merciful leader, a fiercely intelligent fighter, and a doting mother. She is beloved by wolf watchers, particularly renowned naturalist Rick McIntyre, and becomes something of a social media star, with followers around the world.

But as she raises her pups and protects her pack, O-Six is challenged on all fronts: by hunters, who compete with wolves for the elk they both prize; by cattle ranchers who are losing livestock and have the ear of politicians; and by other Yellowstone wolves who are vying for control of the park's stunningly beautiful Lamar Valley.

An exceptional read. I was fascinated by the story that's been unfolding for most of my life without knowing that it's happening. The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone was such a necessary step, and yet the fight to protect these same wolves should they leave the park's boundaries is a seemingly never-ending battle. There are those who wish to protect their livestock, there are those who simply hate wolves, and there are those who like to trophy hunt - and this mixture of types led to a politicizing of a seemingly non-complicated decision to allow an animal to return to the lands it was driven from by humans (through poisoning, over killing, etc.). It just goes to show that where man has taken hold of the wilderness, nature has to fight to prove it's worth to be there - and only through the fight that other humans provide. Where would the wolves of Yellowstone be without the voices of those wolf-watchers, biologists, and environmentalists?

It was hard reading this book because there were so many instances of death - many at the hands of humans. But nature is brutal and sometimes cruel and wolves are no exception. Yet Blakeslee manages to capture their lovable side, their playfulness, and their majesty. It seems impossible to me that humans can look at these magnificent creatures and see only a brutish animal that needs to be killed. I dislike, very much, big game hunting, especially when there is so much to prove that it is bad for the environment, bad for the ecosystem of these national parks and beyond. I loved how in-depth this book went to show how these wolves contributed to a regrowth of balance in the environment of Yellowstone, and many times in unsuspected ways.

I wish there was an insert with images of these wolves. I would have loved to look at them as I read about them, but Blakeslee, with the help of notes from the many wolf-watchers who contributed their information to this book, does an excellent job of describing the wolves, their different natures, their lives. It was such a great read. I honestly would recommend this to anyone. It's worth seeing a slice of life outside of urban settings, especially in a place that is almost exactly the same as it's been since before people began populating North America. 

To Look on Christ

To Look on Christ: Exercises in Faith, Hope, and Love by Joseph Ratzinger, 111 pages

This is a written adaptation of a retreat preached by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1986.  Although inspired to some extent by the work of Josef Pieper, these talks are not primarily philosophical or theological investigations, but are rather intended to be practical advice for a life truly lived, that is, a life of virtue.  Accordingly, although the text is full of Ratzinger's customary erudition, it is his incisiveness that is more powerfully on display here.

As in so much of his work, Ratzinger's reflections begin with his diagnosis of materialistic man as fundamentally superficial and closed in on himself.  Humility is necessary for openness, and fortitude to seek a truth that lies beyond (and behind) appearances.  Faith is necessary, not only for communion with God, but for community with our neighbors as well, indeed the two are interdependent, since a proper understanding of God develops out of trust in those who have experienced His action in their lives.  Ratzinger distinguishes the theological virtue of hope from the optimism of ideologues who trust in the supposedly irresistible progress of history, which he contends conceals a deeper, itching despair, not because that trust is absurd, but because the longed-for utopia, even if attainable, would not satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.  For finally, everything has its proper end in the ultimate Love - faith is faith in that Love, hope is hope for that Love - the Love that is Life and the Light of the World.

Our Kind of Cruelty

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall  273 pages  read a galley - due out May, 2018

Take the day off work. Or reserve your entire Saturday.  Because once you settle in with this book, you'll likely want to keep reading straight through until you finish.

This is a love story. Or is it? It's more a story of obsession and of a breakup so devastating that if you try to piece together the story, you get a jagged, not-quite-right picture.

Mike and Verity love each other so much that nothing will tear them apart. However, one stumble from Mike and Verity finds love in the arms of another man. But is it really love? The game that Mike and Verity have played over the years, "the crave," may not have stopped even though Verity is marrying her new man. Mike's sure that Verity is giving him signals, pushing him to bring the two of them together again . . . even if it means someone has to die.

I was seriously cranky the day that I had to go to work and leave this book waiting for me until I came home. I would have been more than happy to settle into my chair with my blanket and just read straight through until I finished, without interruption. This is the kind of story that makes you unsure if it's an unreliable narrator, or if you're reading more into things than are there, or if you're just completely off track. Each time you think Mike's reading non-existent signals from Verity, there's a hint or glimpse of something that makes you think, well, maybe not.  This is a fast-paced, addictive read.

And if all of this doesn't catch you, how about this blurb: ‘Simply one of the most disturbing thrillers I’ve read in years. In short I loved it, right down to the utterly chilling final line.’ GILLIAN FLYNN

The Only Girl in the World:

The Only Girl in the World: A Memoir by Maude Julien   288 pages

From birth, Maude Julien's life was defined by the iron grip of her father, who was convinced that she was destined for great deeds. Of course, he alone would determine this and how she would be "trained" for this life and as a result, put her through an arduous (and I'd say pretty hellish) life to raise her as a "super human" being. Isolating Maude and her mother in a mansion in northern France, her father made her undergo endless tests, each more awful than the next.

I had seen a review of this book that compared to "The Glass Castle," and I admit, I was intrigued. I don't know if I want to ever read this book again, and I don't know if I'd suggest it to anyone else. I feel like it's an important memoir but I found a lot of it pretty horrific and sometimes, quite difficult to read. Maude does show that it's possible to overcome severe trauma and she shows that her passion for literature and  music, and her love of nature, gave her the ability to survive and thrive. However, I don't enjoy reading about cruelty to animals or children, and admittedly felt like I wasn't quite prepared for this book. It was at times fascinating, but in the way that a particularly psychological horror movie is fascinating: you don't want to look, but you do anyway.  The book is extraordinary, to be sure.

The Hearts We Sold

The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones.  I got through 229 pages (of 381)  

In Dee Moreno's world (which is more or less just like our own), people can make deals with demons. All it takes is a body part and you can get something you want in exchange. When Dee, in desperation, makes a deal with a demon, she gives her heart. Of course, she then finds out that the trade may have been more than she bargained for. She joins a group of other deal-making teens who are working for the same demon, trying to keep the world in balance.  This group includes "the charming but secretive James Lancer. And as something grows between them amid an otherworldy ordeal, Dee begins to wonder: Can she give someone her heart when it’s no longer hers to give?"

That last bit, in quotes, is from the Goodreads summary.  I'm including it because it's partly why I didn't finish this book. I was intrigued by the premise of the story, which is why I put the book on hold and was eager to read it. However, it quickly became clear to me that I'm not the intended audience for this book. Which is not a problem  --- but as an adult, the book is not aimed at me. 

Maybe I watch too much Supernatural, but anyone who contemplates making a deal with a demon should know that it never ends well for anyone by the demon. And I could have completely done without the "who is that fascinating boy" part of the story.  I found it distracting and after a while, gave up on the book. This isn't a bad book; it's just not the book for me.

Fat Girl Walking

Fat Girl Walking: Sex, Food, Love, and Being Comfortable in Your Skin...Every Inch of It
by Brittany Gibbons    240 pages

"First of all, thanks for picking up this copy of my first book. I hope you buy it—and not just because each purchase gets me one step closer to buying the leather pants of my dreams.

I hope you buy Fat Girl Walking because I want to start a conversation. Or continue a conversation, one I inadvertently started a while ago when I took my clothes off on a stage in front of 700 people. A lot of people thought I was awesome for doing that. A lot of others thought a size 18 woman had absolutely no business showing off her body. Unfortunately for them, I've made it my personal mission on my blog, in social media, on television, and now in this amazing book you're holding, to destroy the ridiculous myth that every woman who is overweight hates her body and herself. I, Brittany Gibbons, and the Curvy Girls I speak to every day on the internet, beg to differ. We love our bodies. We love fashion. We are in loving relationships, having lots of sex. We aren't just a fetish, we're normal women. Sure, sometimes we doubt ourselves, we're not robots, but not anymore than EVERY OTHER WOMAN ON THE PLANET. See, Fat Girls aren't freaks of nature. We're just like you. Maybe we are you."

That's part of the summary from the publisher/Goodreads.  In this series of essays, Brittany Gibbons writes about her life, from childhood to the present. Honestly, I don't remember why I placed a hold on this book.  While I found parts of it interesting (and some of it funny but cringeworthy), I mostly came away feeling like I wanted to like it more than I did.  Gibbons' title mentions feeling comfortable in your skin, but she clearly isn't most of the time.  I kept reading out of curiosity, but not because I was really loving the book.  

The Flight Attendant

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian    368 pages

When you're a serial binge drinker, no stranger to blackouts, you know you'll sometimes do things you regret. Cassandra Bowen is one of these people, her job with the airline making it easy to meet new people and have adventures. However, when she awakes one morning in a Dubai hotel room, she's not sure what happened the night before. She remembers a handsome man and drinking with him --- and is that him, in the bed, dead?  Yes, it is.  Afraid to call the police, Cassandra flees the hotel and starts to lie to her fellow flight attendants, to the FBI agents in New York, and even to her attorney. Soon, it's too late to come clean about what she thinks happened; could she have really killed this man? And if not, who did?

Typical of this author, the story has a good hook to it, drawing you in right from the first pages. Cassandra is an unreliable narrator, to be sure, and since you experience most of the story from her perspective, you're just as unsure as she is. However, there's a twist: there's a woman who came to the hotel room in Dubai, someone that Cassandra is sure knows the truth. As it turns out, this mystery woman does definitely know the truth . . . and she's been tasked with eliminating Cassandra to keep it hidden.

I have enjoyed other books by this author, and I also liked this one. It had a good pace and I liked that the main character was so imperfect and also that the storyline kept me guessing. I did feel like things got a bit convoluted towards the end of the book, but that only made me turn the pages more quickly.

The State of Affairs

The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel     Audio Book:  12 hours  Hardback Book:  336 pages

An enlightening look at the psychological faces of affairs from just about every side imaginable.   The author connects on very deep emotional levels with all of the people the reader is introduced to in this book.   She learns what each person has endured in the life to make them the person they are at the time she is counselling or interviewing them.   She explores what makes a person tick as much as she explores the many causes leading to people who are involved in romantic liaisons already to seek outside "strange."   Sometimes it is about the motivation that comes from simply being appreciated or the flattering way another person finds them attractive or the appreciation another shows for the struggle the person is going through or appreciates the person for who they are at that moment without any expectation for them to change or be other in any way.   Sometimes it is based on lust - this person is hot looking or acting, they seem sexually open to advances or are the giver of the advances knowing the other person is married or in a committed relationship but still offering coitus with no strings or expectations for more.   Sometimes a person's significant other has become unresponsive or is not interested in exploring fantasies or trying anything new and the same old way just isn't working anymore.   Reasons can be emotional, psychological or raw sexual connections, they can be short lived or long term.   There can be no emotion at all or there can be real love relations that develop.    The reasons are as numerous as the scenarios.  Basically any one given the right set of circumstances might be tempted to step out on their partner, some more than others.    The definition of "stepping out" or the more severe "cheating" can be defined in many terms as well.  Many people do not feel watching and interacting with porn or online chats, or online sexual encounters really count as the other person is "not actually there' and the encounter is all in the initiators mind.    However the partner walking in and observing this act going on generally feels differently about that.   If a relationship is open but one person seeks other partners more often than the other which can lead to jealous or hurt feelings on the less active partner - where do you draw the line?   Do you agree to wait until both have someone else so it stays even?    Partners who have been loving and supportive believing their arrangement to be monogomous only to be told one day the other partner found someone else and wants out can devastate the unwitting other half.   The author explores all relationships friends, lovers, friends with benefits, marriage, gay, lesbian, bi-sexual,  straight, transgender, swingers, mongomous, polyogomous you name it.   Reasons are explored as to why it happens, how it happens, how to rekindle love that got lost along the way, how to get a relationship back on track and how to let go when it is time.   She talks about many of the cases she has studied and worked with in her career and the counselling sessions and feedback she has received from all parties involved those in the relationship and those affected by the relationship (children, family members/in-laws, friend of the couple who now have to choose who to stay friends with or how to work out an amiable relationship with both the couple and their new additions, etc.).   She also explores how sometimes an affair brings an added joie de vivre to a less than exciting relationship.   One couple renewed their excitement for each other because what their relationship lacked the wife was able to find with other lovers then return to her husband recharged and happy making their relationship better.   It is all in how the couple or unit is able to cope or not in how forgiveness can be found and amiable relations can be restored or at least amicable separations can be achieved - best case or counselling can be sought by those left in the lurch searching for reasons they are left behind and the love of their life chose another while they struggle with building their life as a single person.   The promise of forever or till death do you part is not always easy to keep especially if one person feels they are carrying the relationship or living without love from the other person in the relationship.   Disrespect, lack of love, incompatibility, free-spirits and conservatives, over active libidos teamed with underactive libidos so many reasons can lead to infidelity and the author deals with each of them in such knowledgeable ways.    This is a very interesting read and I recommend it as a well rounded look at the many facets of relationships and the ways relationships can change and outcomes can be positive or negative depending on what all parties are willing to give up, give in or compromise on to make them work or to get on with life and not let one bad relationship regardless of what has been put in to it keep anyone from moving forward.   Very well done.  No shaming, no blaming just a no nonsense look at the reality of life and love and sometimes loss of love.   Well done.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion, 238 pages

Slouching Towards Bethlehem collects a series of Joan Didion's short essays from the 1960s, covering subjects from Alcatraz to Howard Hughes to the CPUSA, but mostly herself and triple-faced California - LA, San Francisco, and Sacramento.

The title essay relates the author's experiences exploring Haight-Ashbury during the Summer of Love, which exemplifies her overarching (but not overpowering) theme of the emptiness at the heart of '60s America, an emptiness so profound that even those who feel it - like those San Francisco hippies - lack the words to describe it or the means to escape it.  Yet the most remarkable piece may be "On Morality", in which she diagnoses American post-War social fragmentation, not as the result of a lack of morality, but the surfeit of it - innumerable competing individual moralities each demanding validation.

Textrovert

Textrovert by Lindsey Summers, 234 pages

“It's bad enough when high-school senior Keeley grabs the wrong phone while leaving her small town's end-of-summer fair. It's even worse when she discovers that the phone she now has belongs to the obnoxious, self-centered Talon and that he's just left for football camp ... with her phone. Reluctantly, the two agree to forward messages for a week. And as Keeley gets to know Talon, she starts to like him. Keeley learns there's more to Talon than the egocentric jock most people see. There's more to Keeley, too. Texting Talon, she can step out of the shadow of her popular twin brother. Texting Talon, she can be the person she's always wanted to be. Sparks fly when the two finally meet to exchange their phones. But while Keeley has been playing a part online, Talon has been keeping a secret. He has a different connection to Keeley --- one that has nothing to do with phones, and one that will make their new relationship all but impossible. Knowing what she now knows, can Keeley trust him? And can love in the present erase mistakes of the past?” This was a fairly light romance.  I liked it, but I wouldn’t look for other books by the author based on this one.  I think that teen girls would probably like it, especially since it’s not long and might make a fun beach read.  Some of the subject matter gets pretty real, which keeps it from being complete fluff.  Overall, it’s not bad, but not a first pick either.

Writing Radar

WritingRadar by Jack Gantos, 203 pages

"Bursting with practical tips and tricks, such as creating actual story-finding maps of your neighborhood, this book will help you build confidence and establish good writing habits as you learn to use a journal to snoop out plots full of action and emotion about yourself, your family, your friends, your neighbors, and your pets. As Jack shows you hot to shape your rough ideas, organize plots, and polish drafts to shiny perfection, he also shares his own missteps - and ultimate success - as a would-be writer in middle school." If I was going to try writing I would want this book for inspiration.  It has a lot of really useful information but Gantos also makes the reader feel as though they are capable of writing.  I would highly recommend to this to any kid interested in writing.

A Tyranny Of Petticoats

A Tyranny Of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood, 354 pages

“Crisscross America -- on dogsleds and ships, stagecoaches and trains -- from pirate ships off the coast of the Carolinas to the peace, love, and protests of 1960s Chicago. Join fifteen of today's most talented writers of young adult literature on a thrill ride through history with American girls charting their own course. They are monsters and mediums, bodyguards and barkeeps, screenwriters and schoolteachers, heiresses and hobos. They're making their own way in often-hostile lands, using every weapon in their arsenals, facing down murderers and marriage proposals. And they all have a story to tell.” I liked every single story in this book, although I definitely had a couple of favorites.  I love historical fiction and the stories in this collection were pretty impressive.  My favorite was probably High Stakes, which combined some fantasy with the history, and The Legendary Garrett Girls.  Both stories had a sense of the antagonist getting what they deserved in the end, which I love.  Teens who like historical fiction would enjoy this collection.

The Doorman’s Repose

TheDoorman’s Repose by Chris Raschka, 169 pages

"Some of us look up at those craggy, mysterious apartment buildings found in the posher parts of New York City and wonder what goes on inside. The Doorman's Repose collects ten stories of the doings of 777 Garden Avenue, one of the craggiest." This is an odd little collection of stories but I liked them.  I probably would only give this to kids who enjoyed reading, and probably to kids who enjoyed old fashioned or eclectic types of stories.

Two Truths And A Lie: It’s Alive

Two Truths And A Lie: It’s Alive by Ammi-Joan Paquette & Laurie Ann Thompson, 166 pages

“Did you know that there is a fungus that can control the mind of an ant and make it do its bidding? Would you believe there is such a thing as a corpse flower -- a ten-foot-tall plant with a blossom that smells like a zombie? How about a species of octopus that doesn't live in water but rather lurks in trees in the Pacific Northwest? Every story in this book is strange and astounding. But not all of them are real. Just like the old game in this book's title, two out of every three stories are completely true and one is an outright lie. Can you guess which? It's not going to be easy. Some false stories are based on truth, and some of the true stories are just plain unbelievable. And they're all accompanied by dozens of photos, maps, and illustrations. Amaze yourself and trick your friends as you sort out the fakes from the facts!” This a fun book.  I could use it in classroom visits easily by picking one chapter and reading the three stories and letting the kids guess which story wasn’t true.  It would make a great book talk and kids really like this type of nonfiction.  This is a great book for elementary age kids.

Eugenia Lincoln And The Unexpected Package

Eugenia Lincoln And The Unexpected Package by Kate DiCamillo, 88 pages

“When an unexpected package containing an accordion arrives, Eugenia Lincoln tries to get rid of the instrument by selling it, destroying it, and giving it away, but nothing works.” Eugenia would hate that people think this, but she is hilarious! Her outlook on life causes her to say things that made me laugh out loud several times. Even though she herself is not very happy very often, she, and this book, are capable of inspiring joy in others. This is a great choice for beginning chapter book readers.

Pottymouth And Stoopid

Pottymouth And Stoopid by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein, 305 pages

Kids have been calling David and Michael Stoopid and Pottymouth since they were little.  They were just two nicknames that stuck.  David and Michael hate their nicknames and hate that kids make fun of them but there’s nothing they can do about it.  Until something crazy happens and then they may have a chance to lose those nicknames for good!  This was a super funny book for elementary age kids.  I would definitely give it to reluctant readers, especially boys.

The Forgetting Spell

The Forgetting Spell by Lauren Myracle, 344 pages

“The Forgetting Spell is beloved and bestselling author Lauren Myracle's second book in the unforgettable Wishing Day series, perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo and Ingrid Law. Most people in Willow Hill think Darya is the prickliest of the Blok sisters. What they don't realize is that on the inside, Darya is soft and gooey from feeling everything, all the time. When Darya turns thirteen, the goo gets stickier--and as Darya's Wishing Day approaches, all she wants is to forget the silly tradition ever existed.” I keep choosing books to read, not realizing that they are the second book in a series.  However, that really didn’t matter with this book at all.  I’m planning to go back and read the first book because this was so good, but I didn’t need to read it to follow this story at all.  I would definitely give it to grade school kids who like stories about magic and fantasy.

Spill Zone

Spill Zone by Scott Westerfeld, 212 pages

Addison needs to support her sister so, even though it’s not allowed, she sneaks into the spill zone frequently to take photos, which she is able to sell to various collectors.  No one is quite sure what caused the spill zone, but Addison’s parents died in it and her sister, Lexa, barely made it out.  Addison gets the chance to make a great deal of money by running an errand in the spill zone.  Unfortunately, the errand requires her to break several of her rules, so she may not survive to collect.  This is typical Westerfeld, and it may be even better in graphic format than some of his other, non-graphic, books.  I would give this to a multitude of teens, even those who don’t usually like graphic novels, if they like supernatural adventure type stories.