Negima Volumes 1-6

 Negima Volumes 1-6 by Ken Akamats, 1226 pages (6 books)


The Negima series follows the academic life of Negi, a young(10 year old) wizard who has one last task to complete before he becomes a master wizard. Oddly that task is being the English task to a middle school class consisting of 31 girls. While acting as a teacher, Negi also is searching for clues about what happened to his father.

Negima is classified as a harem, romantic comedy. In terms of content, or illustrations, it certainly qualifies as ecchi, and possibly even further along that spectrum. Like most manga rated ecchi or higher, I found that it wasted story line development to show more skin. I found this manga to be rather slow developing, but with enough action to still keep it interesting. I eventually gave up reading this series, as one by one, all of the girls Negi is supposed to be teaching, fall in love with him. After that it takes on a really creepy teacher-student vibe that is unsettling to say the least.

I cannot say that I would recommend Negima to anyone, but nor would I try to talk people out of reading it, it is just meh to me.

I See You

I See You by Clare Mackintosh    372 pages

"You do the same thing every day.

You know exactly where you're going.

You're not alone."

Zoe Walker can't believe she's seeing her photo in the classified section of a London newspaper, but she's determined to find out why it's there.  There's just a website, a grainy image and a phone number.  Her family and friends aren't convinced it's Zoe, but the next day, Zoe sees the ad with a different woman's photo  and a different woman the day after that.   So is this some kind of mistake? Or is someone keeping track of every move these women make?

This was an absolute page-turning, psychological thriller that kept me guessing and then threw me a curveball (and actually, a second curveball) right towards the end.  The author does a great job of building the characters and the story and showing how our two main characters, Zoe and a police inspector, intersect.  Zoe is a believable character and because she's one of the primary narrators of the story, you get the information at the same time she does, which means that when she's questioning things, you're right there with her. Sometimes, it's hard to tell if she's just being paranoid --- and this, for me, is great because it meant that I was totally invested in the story.  

For This We Left Egypt?

For This We Left Egypt?   A Passover Haggadah For Jews and Those Who Love Them by Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel and Adam Mansbach         Audio Book:  1 hour, 21 minutes   Hardback:  144 pgs

While the Haggadah is a holy rememberance of Passover night complete with a  ceremonial Seder (dinner) that includes many prayers, ritual handwashing and symbolic foods to commemorate God’s liberation of the Jewish people from Pharoah and their exodus from Egypt through his servants Moses and his brother Aaron,  when Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel and Adam Mansbach are sitting around the table a solemn ritual is anything but.    I laughed so much and bit my lip a time or two wondering if I should have  (Oy!  The guilt!) but this is such a hilarious book, I hope God is o.k. with it because these guys are a riot.    There ought to be a contest to win a Passover Seder with these guys.   It was like listening to a “roast” of the Seder ritual.   I learned so much about the symbolic foods served, the prayers said, the songs sung,  why there is much handwashing and 4 cups of wine.    The comedians noted that the wine makes all the foods served palatable.   These guys have so much fun and tell so many stories offering unique takes on the ceremony and bitter hebs, lamb shankbone etc. you will crack up laughing.   They aren’t just humorous they are primetime Comedy Central funny.    I enjoyed both the lessons learned about a cultural religious event I really didn’t know enough about as well as the riotous hilarity these guys introduce to the topic.   It was like sitting around the table with my brothers and family constantly cracking jokes or making humorous observations about something our elders hold to be solemn though you can tell there is a smile tugging at their lips even as they shush us.  LOVED IT!            

Murder in the Cathedral

Murder in the Cathedral by TS Eliot, 88 pages

Murder in the Cathedral is TS Eliot's dramatic retelling of the return of St Thomas Becket to Canterbury and his subsequent murder at the behest of King Henry II.  In examining its protagonist and his struggles with enemies both physical and spiritual, Eliot questions the relationship between Church and state, but also and more importantly, between God and man, for "the true martyr is he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, and who no longer desires anything for himself, not even the glory of being a martyr."

Murder in the Cathedral is perhaps the best example of a modern play in the classical style, which is to say a play which uses some of the elements and techniques of classical drama without attempting to be a classical drama.  This only heightens the effect when the knights break the fourth wall to appeal to, and implicate, the audience.  This is, in turn, no postmodern gimmick, but the consummation of the play as liturgical drama, existing in a no-time which is neither present nor past.

     We do not know very much of the future

     Except that from generation to generation

     The same things happen again and again.

Eliot powerfully makes the audience (or reader) and St Thomas into contemporaries - or reveals that we already were.  His struggles are our struggles, his temptations our temptations, and his fate our fate, even if we are sometimes lulled by superficialities and distracted by the illusion of the merely visible.

     You shall forget these things, toiling in the household,

     You shall remember them, droning by the fire,

     When age and forgetfulness sweeten memory

     Only like a dream that has often been told

     And often been changed in the telling.  They will seem unreal.

     Human kind cannot bear very much reality.

Beauty Sick

Beauty Sick: How the cultural obsession with appearance hurts girls and women by Renee Engeln,   PhD.   400 pages

"An award-winning Northwestern University psychology professor reveals how the cultural obsession with women's appearance is an epidemic that harms women's ability to get ahead and to live happy, meaningful lives, in this powerful, eye-opening work in the vein of Naomi Wolf, Peggy Orenstein, and Sheryl Sandberg."

In this book, the author explores how young women today face a huge set of contradictions when it comes to beauty. The media says things that make them angry, but they still consume these very outlets. Modern culture has an absurd beauty ideal, but women still feel pressured to emulate the same images.  Dr. Engeln has given a TEDx talk on what she terms "beauty sickness" has had more than 250,000 views and she reveals the shocking consequences of our society's obsession with girls' appearances on their emotional and physical health, their ambitions, their disruptions in cognitive processing, and more.  It's a sobering book, although Engeln provides inspiration and workable solutions to things that not only young women, but all women face.

I found this to be an interesting read, and remembered a paper that I had written for a college linguistics class about the language of advertising aimed at women.  I find that I still notice a lot in advertising and the media, although I find that it doesn't affect me the same way that it might have when I was younger. However, like many women, I admit that I have sometimes fallen into the trap of contradictions about appearance and beauty and self-worth.  Reading this book brings up things I haven't thought about in a long time, and it's a frustrating read because I find that in 2017, there are still so many contradictions and an obsession in society about appearance (and I was hoping that somehow, society would have moved beyond some of these things).   Definitely an interesting read, and I think it would be a good book for parents to read and maybe talk about with their daughters. 

The Guest Room

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian.  Audiobook 10 hours, 10 minutes; 336 pages

Richard Chapman expected that his brother's bachelor party would have a certain about of debauchery.  Sending his wife and faughter daughter off to his mother-in-law's for the weekend, he opens his home to his brother's friends and the hired entertainment. However, what happens is nothing like anyone expected: overboard drinking, a dangerously intimate moment between Richard and a young woman in his guest bedroom, and then two naked women killing their Russian bodyguards before running from the house.  Now, Richard's life is a nightmare, as his work puts him on extended leave, his house is a crime scene, and he's not sure if his wife will ever forgive him. However, he's not the only one caught in a nightmare. One of the young women at the party is facing her own nightmares as she is running to escape the police who will arrest her and the gangsters who will kill her.

I had read this book and enjoyed it, and so I took a chance that the audiobook would be just as good.  The story alternates viewpoints, so you get Richard's point of view, along with his wife's and also the viewpoint from the young woman who is at the center of the story. Read by two different actors, the audiobook really lets you become immersed in the story and feel connected to the different characters. The actor reading the part of Alexandra, the young girl who is leading a life as a sex slave to Russian gangsters, was especially good and it's easy to imagine this girl and get completely wrapped up in her story.   I like that the storyline explores not only the illegal sex trade, and how young girls can get caught in it, but also how just one evening can completely change lives.

Into the Water

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins.  386 pages.

"A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.

Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother's sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she'd never return."

I had read some reviews of this book, but I wanted to read it for myself.  And, I agree with some of the reviews: this book is a mess.

Like a lot of readers, I really enjoyed The Girl on the Train, and so I had looked forward to Paula Hawkins' new book, anticipating that it would be just as good.  However, there are so many people to keep track of, and so many storylines, and some back-and-forth in time happening here that I found it difficult to remember who was who, and to keep track of the story.  Additionally, I didn't find some of the characters compelling, which meant that I wasn't always eager to turn the pages.  Sure, I was curious to find out just what the heck happened, but I wasn't so intrigued that I was putting off housework to read this book.  For me, leaving everything and just reading, indulgently, for an hour or two means I've got a really good book in hand.   Hawkins throws in some twists and some red herrings, but by the end of the story, it's still not completely clear about what has happened to some of the people (and honestly, it's not clear as to why the reader should really care).    As Kirkus Reviews put it, "Let's call it sophomore slump and hope for better things."    This isn't an awful book; it's just not the book that I think a lot of us were hoping for.

Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations

Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations by Dan Ariely          Audio Book: 2 hours, 30 minutes     Hardback Book:  128 pages            

I think anyone reading this book will get a kick out of learning that what we often think of as motivations are not necessarily so.     He has done a life’s worth of work on the subject of what actually motivates people to do things.    What motivates one to work harder?    To do more?    How can we motivate our kids to do better or to behave better?    In business, how can we motivate the vast number of potential clients to go our way?    Life is a series of motivational acts that we don’t even realize at the time.    And how we are manipulated to do another’s will or bend another person to our way of thinking is often ingenious in its simplicity and our lack of recognition to just what is going on though we benefit from it or help benefit others.    This book could be a Motivational psychology class 101.    Its amusing and will make you nod and say, “Yeah, now I get it.”    It will give the reader a new perspective on how people schooled in working motivational mojo can turn a person or a crowd their way like they were plying playdough.    Motivation is based not always on the benefit someone thinks they might receive be it monetary or status oriented.   Motivation is based on trust.    If the motivator can convince his subject that he truly has their best interest at heart, that he truly values them as a person or values their opinion as a person who is both grounded and intelligent (whether their esteem lets them feel so or not) then the motivator has his audience in the palm of his hand.    We all need that safety net of security.    We all need to believe we will not fall that the one motivating us is solid enough to believe in.     Once you can convey that to your subject be it a client, a student, a child, your spouse, a stranger, someone of a completely different mind set can be molded to the motivator’s position if you are willing to find common ground and learn the key to what is at that person’s heart and deliver sincerely an idea that may be new or different, you can bring people around to your way, but, the key is finding what their motivator is.    Many, many studies are cited here with sometimes surprising results, sometimes not so surprising, but, this book will make you see things in a deeper way not just the superficial blow it off kind of perception.    Things are not always cut and dried nor as direct as would appear on the surface.    There are lots of things that come into play:   feeling appreciated can be more of a motivator with some people than being financially compensated.   Feeling what you do matters means more than acquired stuff.     Making a difference in the world beats creature comforts of a life where more is received without ever giving back or working for what you have making the things you reap more dear as opposed to someone else just handing over what you want.     The psyche is such an intrinsically fascinating thing to study.    If you like psychology you will like this book.     Not everything is how it appears and no two people will see the same thing in the same way.     Everyone assigns value in their own way.

Get out of that pit

Get Out of That Pit: Straight Talk about God’s Deliverance by Beth Moore              Audio Book: 4hours and 40 minutes    Hardback Book:  249 pages         

 

Beth Moore packs a whallop in her delivery.    Not only is she an interesting author, she adds so much wit and humor among all she says that often you get hit with laughter when you are expecting her words to be serious as the topic she is broaching.    She could do stand-up, seriously.    She is funny and bright and likeable.    You want to hear what she is saying because she talks in a no-nonsense affirming, motivational way, but, she understands that life is not to be so serious that we don’t find the compassion and humor in the circumstance.     She appreciates the struggles we all have and offers a lot of sound reasoning, counselling and biblical teaching.    She, too, has had her share of troubles and misery having been secually abused by a friend of the family when she was a child but undergoing such a horrific thing she has not allowed the bad that has happened to her to make her feel like a victim.    She has risen above her adversity in life and come out a survivor but more than that through her belief in God she has not only gotten through it but has risen above it.    Her calling is to help others in whatever struggle in life they are going through, be it in their marriage, their finances,  addiction in its many forms,  ailing/aging family members,  whatever life throws at us, she has such a way of seeing through the pain, the sorrow, humiliation etc. to the gist of the thing then finding a way through it.    She is like a cheer leader with a beacon shinging on the path.    She is a fun writer and I believe any one reading her book would benefit from her insight.    She is a wife, a mother and a woman of God who has found her calling in life to minister to women.    She is encouraging and strengthening.     Certainly a boost for women or anyone really, reading what she has to say.    A good read.

The Inner Life of Cats

The Inner Life of Cats: The Science and Secrets of Our Mysterious Feline Companions by Thomas McNamee    Audio Book: 8 hours, 25 minutes     Hardback Book: 288 pages        

 

I had a love/hate relationship with the author while reading this book.    The book itself is good, some of the author’s opinions were a little abrasive to me.    He loved his cat to the point of mourning her when she passed away and yet, he could never be sure that cats were capable of feeling emotions like love.    Dude, of course they do!   Have you never had a cat nuzzle you or want to play or adore you so much there is no happier place for them than to be in their human’s arms?    Cats don’t bond with everyone (although I might have a case for that with one of mine.   She loves everybody, but, then she also loves to be loved so maybe that is the payoff – attention).     The author examines catdom from their prehistoric beginnings through the Egyptian deifying of domestic cats in the goddess, Bastet.    He also tells how Muhammad loved his favorite cat Muezza so much that once when the call to prayer came Muhammad saw that Muezza was asleep on the sleeve of his prayer robe.   Muhammad gently cut the sleeve off so as not to disturb Muezza and went to pray.   When he returned from the Mosque,  Muezza bowed to him and in love he petted Muezza stroking the cat 3 times then He granted Muezza and all cats from that time on 7 lives out of his sheer love for his precious cat.    The author cites many psychological and scientific studies about cat behavior and how a cat behavioralist friend of his teaches cats tricks that she says anyone can learn and any cat can do.   He talks about his life in Montana when he first met Augusta, the kitten who came to be their family cat.   Someone had dropped the kitten off on the road and she managed to make her way in the tire ruts up to where the author, Tom McNamee and his wife found her barely alive and nearly frozen and nursed her back to life.   While he mentioned a few times throughout the book she was probably part of a litter of kittens someone left on the road he never mentions ever having checked to see if there might have been others freezing to death out in the sub-zero weather.    He assumed it was so and says a few times he was certain there were more that died in the cold – but – thinking that – why didn’t he at least look to see if there might be more out there?   I get it the weather was horrendously cold, but, just a quick check or drive down the path slowly in case you might just see them?   He tends to side with the clinical sterile cats are animals view and he and his wife called Augusta dummy and stupie and other names when the cat didn’t perform as they wanted.   Cats aren’t stupid nor dumb.   Cats just tend to not necessarily want to do what we humans may want them to do.   Cats have enough savoir fare to behave as they believe in a situation what is right for them at the time and likely wonder what is wrong with us to expect anything different from them.     He and his wife did get a step stool for Augusta when she got so old she wasn’t getting around all that well so that she could climb up on the bed when she got too old to jump but my beef is – you see she is in pain and having a hard time walking up the stairs to the bedroom, why wouldn’t you pick her up and carry her?   So many little things like that peppered throughout the book makes me not like the storyteller at times, though, I did like the book and learned many things along the way.   For those wanting to learn the body language of cats he gives a great explanation that will give much insight into cat behavior.   He also tells about the Gittana “Cat Ladies” of Italy who have taken care of the feral cat colonies there for decades, so much so, that there are now laws in place protecting the lives of cats that unless a feral cat is sick  or injured to the point they cannot be saved, it is illegal to put them to death.    There are actually cat colony tours of 14 of the feral cat colonies and many, many volunteers brining them food, providing health care for them and spaying and neutering.    He discusses TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) programs in length throughout many parts of the world and how Italy champions stray felines and while TNR is promoted and done extensively, there is still some growth in a few of the feral colonies when someone drops off an unneutered feline at one of the sites.    This is a very good book and I enjoyed it, even if I did find the author’s viewpoints going against the grain now and then.    I applaud the good he does, the care and yes love he gave and received and how he experienced such a loss when Augusta passed away that shows he did care for her a lot .   Just wake up and realize yes, our pets love us back they are not little furry automatons they care, too, otherwise why would they be so thrilled to see us when we come through the door every day?  O.K. not every cat is over zealous but you can bet it’s not just not having apposable thumbs to open the cans of cat food or bags of kibble that keep them snuggling in our laps.    Love the story, love the author in many ways, agree to disagree with some of his lack of action/understanding in a couple of things.   Both opposable thumbs up for this book.

Bells in Winter

Bells in Winter by Czeslaw Milosz, translated by the author and Lillian Vallee, 71 pages

In this collection of poems Milosz demonstrates a considerable ambivalence when it comes to words, an awareness that they can be made to conceal as well as reveal.

     Hieroglyphs for the eye and ear, amorous rings.

     A sound reverberated inward, sculpturing our time,

     The flicker, flutter, twitter of our language.

The poet constantly returns to nature, both human and inhuman, observing how things change and fade and pass away

     not out of sorrow, but in wonder.

Beneath the poems is the recognition that by the time an experience can be put into words it has already passed, coupled with the conviction that through words an experience can live again.

     For me, therefore, everything has a double existence.

     Both in time and when time shall be no more.

Nickerbacher

 Nickerbacher by Terry John Barto     60 pages

I’ve ready many adaptions of Barto’s Nickerbacher. (BTW, I do not know him, he has reached out to me as a reviewer.) However, this version as an early chapter book is the best.

Nickerbacker is a dragon who doesn’t want breath fire, guard princesses or fight princes He wants to be a comedian. And there are upcoming auditions for The Late Knight in La La Land. Nickerbcker wants to go, and with Princess Gwendolyn’s encouragement, he agrees to talk to hi father one more time.

Papa believes his son is being grossly negligent, dragons were not made to be funny, but Nickerbacher has a dream. The next day Prince Happenstance, on behalf of the Princes Guild arrives to save Princess Gwendolyn. Since she doesn’t need saving, the prince agrees to chase them should they leave the Kingdome. The trio locks up the tower, and they take off on their grand adventure. As they learn about chasing dream, they also learn about each other.

The picture book, Nickerbacher the Funniest Dragon, was well done. However, as an early chapter book, it delves more deeply into the story.

An excellent read for children ages four to eight.

Nickerbacker receives 5 stars out of 5 in Julie’s world.

The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson

The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson by Nancy Peacock     336 pages

This wonderful novel opens on April 1, 1875, in Drunken Bride, Texas. Persimmon Wilson is awaiting a hanging. Given the fact that Persy is black and the main means of execution was hanging back in that time period, he’s no stranger to these events. Fortunately for him, he’s never been the guest of honor. He writes this for Chloe, the only woman he ever loved. “I write this that she may be known for who she was, and not for who you think she was."

In November 1860, Percy was put on the auction block. There he saw Chloe for the first time and if one believed in love at first sight, Percy and Chloe were struck by Cupid’s arrow. Author Peacock does an excellent, cringe-worthy job of illustrating the degradation the men, women, and children who were slaves had to endure. Fortunately, the master of Louisiana’s Sweetmore Plantation bought both Chloe and Persy.

Life on the sugarcane plantation is brutal. Chloe is designated as a maid to the mistress while Persy is sent to the fields. Peacock did her research and describes their life in all its horrors. I admire her use of the language of the time. It lends authenticity, and before I knew it, I felt like I was living alongside Percy. In this overly political world we live in, it’s nice to see an author be true to the historical time period.

When the Civil War broke out, Sweetmore wasn’t immediately affected, but soon the Yankees came a callin’. Wilson fled to Texas, taking his slaves with him. As the steamer pulls out into the river, Persy and Chloe are separated.  Persy spends five years searching for Chloe. During that time, Persy is captured by the Comanches and becomes a member of their tribe.

Percy and Chloe's love story is one for the ages.

This half of the novel doesn’t feel quite as realistic as did the first half. Still, the research felt genuine and provided Persy with an amazingly interesting life. He learns the language and their ways. He becomes a Comanche and gains a reputation throughout Texas.

I wanted so badly to give The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson 6 out of 5 stars, but the slightly-less-then-true feel of the second half force me to give Nancy Peacock’s novel 5 stars out of 5 in Julie’s world.

Borromini and the Roman Oratory

Borromini and the Roman Oratory: Style and Society by Joseph Connors, 112 pages

The construction of a new complex to house the followers of St Philip Neri began even before the saint's death in 1595, but the main work did not take place until some four decades later.  At that time, the Oratorians hired a then-unknown young architect, Francesco Borromini, to complete the design.  Borromini not only faced the difficulties of integrating his own ideas into the previous plans and the work that had already been completed, but also a struggle between the Oratorians' desire for modesty and his own stylistic exuberance, the latter only heightened by his youthful desire to distinguish himself.  Distinguish himself he did, and the Oratory, particularly its famous facade, is still admired as a masterpiece of Baroque architecture.

Connors documents the development of the Oratory project through a detailed exploration of the available sources.  In his telling, the development of the Oratory is revealed, not as a static act of creation on an inert object, but as a dialogue between the buildings and the people who lived, worked, and prayed within them, shaping and being shaped by one another, and between the complex and the city surrounding it, and, ultimately, between matter and spirit.

Life of Jesus

Life of Jesus by Francois Mauriac, 257 pages

This is Mauriac's treatment of what he describes as "the only subject that really matters, and also the only one of which it is impossible to treat successfully."  Despite his hedging, his Life of Jesus is a vivid portrait of the God-man, a portrayal that balances the man who is God and the God who became man.  Although the text itself is superficially objective, this masks the deeply personal nature of Mauriac's use of his renowned psychological imagination to discover the Beloved - "Here is the Man who is (and this is sure) the One I love the most in this world - and who for this reason is the One I have most betrayed."

Thoroughly compelling, oftentimes surprising, and resolutely orthodox, Mauriac's Life of Jesus deserves to be recognized as the modern classic it is, worthy of a place beside Guardini's The Lord.  Such profound works of the mind and heart may go out of fashion but can never become obsolete, for, as Mauriac himself observes, "Everything changes, except the need of the man without God for God, of the Christian who has forgotten Christ for Christ."

Summer Sisters

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume.  416 pages

In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard's world was changed forever when Caitlin Somers chose her as a friend. Welcoming her into the heart of her family, Caitlin introduces Vix to a world of privilege and vacations on Martha's Vineyard, a place where the two become "summer sisters," and where Vix has some unforgettable experiences.

Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City and is still friends with Caitlin, although not as close as she used to be. When Caitlin calls and tells Vix that she's getting married on the Vineyard, begging her to be her maid of honor, Vix knows she will go, even though this is the friend whose casual betrayals never lost their edge over the years.

When I need to reset my brain from reading, I pick up this book. Even though I've read it many times, I still enjoy revisiting the book and the characters, and I like how Blume gives a number of perspectives to tell the story. We get most of our narration from Vix, but Blume adds in narrative from other characters, so you understand how the different people relate to each other and create the storyline.  Judy Blume's storytelling, which most of us know from books we read growing up, is just as engaging when it's a story for adults. I find she has a way of creating characters that I can instantly visualize and empathize with (even though she sometimes barely describes what they look like).  I wouldn't ever say that this is a deep read, but that's why I like it: it's fast and it just tells a story that I like and don't have to think too much about (which definitely is appreciated sometimes).

I’ll Be Damned

I’ll Be Damned by Eric Braeden       Audio Book:  7 hours     Hardback book:  288 pages          

Wow!  That is as apt a word as one can use to describe what you will learn here of the life lived by the actor, Eric Braeden born Hans-Jorg Gudegast.   Born during the Hitler regime in 1941, Hans was just a toddler when World War II came to an end.     He had no understanding of who Hitler was nor of what was happening.   His home life growing up in the town of Bredenbek, Germany was pleasant during his childhood.   The family had maids and a cook to help keep the house running smoothly, his father was mayor of the town and had a driver.   His mother often entertained guests at 4:00p.m. with cakes and tea served.  His father died when Hans was 12 years old which threw the household into a downward spiral and which to this day is a heartbreak he has never recovered from.   Without his father’s income the servants were let go and the family was forced to move to the lower quarters of what had been their home.   His mother continued her practice of serving tea and cakes at 4:00p.m. now and then but she had to take a job in a factory to support the family (all sons).   The boys went to work for local farmers bringing home food from the fields they were able to scrounge.   Christmas meant each boy received a new pair of shoes that had to last them till the next Christmas.   Never was mention of Hitler brought up in his classes at school.   German history was taught but the generation after the Hitler regime was not privy to the atrocities that transpired during the 17 years Hitler had been in power.    Hans had a good life, fell in love with a well-to-do young lady but at 17 when the opportunity arose that an American cousin living in Texas offered to sponsor him to come to America he jumped at it.   Having seen western films from the U.S. his dream was to move to America and become a cowboy.    His first job in America was working in a lab cutting the knee joints out of cadavers – read the book for the whole scoop there – yikes!   How messed up is that?   He continued his education enrolling in college and taking courses as his time and money allowed.   A college professor asked him in class one day, how a country that was the birthplace of Beethoven, Goethe, Albert Schweitzer, Sigmund Freud etc. could allow Hitler to commit the crimes he did?    Embarrassed, Hans had no answer.   He did not know what the professor was talking about.   After that he began to read everything he could get his hands on to find out what happened during WWII, who Hitler was and what he had done.   Upon learning of the death camps and the cruelty of the psychotic fuhrer, Hans felt deep and utter shame for what he termed throughout his life the sins of the father.   He wrote stern letters to his mother demanding to know if she and his father had participated in the Nazi regime?   To which his mother answered they would talk about it when he came back home.  She had a neighbor explain that while his father was a member of the Nazi party it was only because Germany was suffering at the time and when Hitler delivered bread to the hungry and restored jobs and gave validity to the mark everyone’s life improved.   They did not see what all was going on in the camps.   They didn’t know.    They thought all was well and saw Hitler as a strong leader who restored the country.   Not everyone participated or even knew what was happening elsewhere although they learned later.  Hans bears guilt to this day for what he feels his country did.    Around this time another relative living in Montana offered him a place to live and had a neighbor who needed help on his ranch.   Hans went for it – he could realize his dream of becoming a cowboy – which he did!   He returned to taking classes at the University of Montana, joined the track team and the local soccer club going on to champion status.   Due to his athletic prowess on campus he was sought out by a documentary film director/writer/actor to help him make a film called, “The River of No Return,” in which they were filmed shooting rapids and surviving a trip on treacherous water.   This led to his interest in pursuing an acting career so he rode a grey hound bus to Los Angeles to see if he could make it in Hollywood.    He lucked into several roles as German soldiers and many roles as Nazi officers under his given name.    He was told if he really wanted to do well in Hollywood he was going to have to change his name, it was too German.   Hans feeling was when will people get over that 17 years of Hitler’s regime and start treating the German people with respect for all the good that has come out of Germany?   To this day he strives to do away with prejudice in all of its forms and has dedicated his life to humanitarian work.    After hearing at a party that he needed to change his name and then getting an agent who told him the same thing that if he wanted to do more than play Nazi roles the rest of his life he really needed to change his name, He finally did though under extreme duress.    He took the name Eric which was popular in Germany and he took a version of his hometown as his surname adding an a and shortening it to Braedon.   The roles began to pour in.   He guest starred on all the top t.v. shows even landing a year’s contract on “The Rat Patrol.”   When the “suits” wanted him to portray his character with a limp and wear an eye-patch he refused to do so saying that stereotype of German soldiers had been perpetuated for too long.   A German officer was a well-trained soldier who acted with honor serving his country as any soldier does, and he would not play the part any other way.    The “suits” allowed him to do it his way and the character was a many faceted person rather than a ridiculous cartoon.   Fans of the show liked the character so what started out as a 3 episode deal lasted a year.   His then agent told him to only accept film roles but he told his agent he wanted to know of every offer that came in and he would decide for himself what he wanted to audition for.   When the offer came in for a soap opera role his agent was against it, but intrigued by this new genre he hadn’t tried, yet, Eric Braeden decided to go for it.   And to go with a new agent.   Turns out the fans responded to his performance on the show.   They liked this tough rich guy on the show, Victor Newman.   At first the character was one dimensional, always evil.   Eric was tired of playing a jerk.    He asked the writer to flesh out Newman’s character get to the meat of his background and why he was so evil.   Give him a personality.   And that is how Victor Newman told the world on a Christmas episode of The Young and the Restless that his father was an alcoholic that left his mother and she being unable to support him left him at an orphanage.  The audience fell in love with Victor Newman.    He wasn’t evil!   He was a poor mistreated child in the body of a man crying out against the indignities and injustices he had suffered that is why he acted like he did.   BINGO!   The audience embraced Victor and his character has been a major player on the show for 37 years and counting!   To which Eric Braeden says, “I’ll Be Damned.”   There is so much more to learn about Hans-Jorg Gudegast a.k.a. Eric Braeden.    This is a terrific book that offers up an unashamed honest look at what lies beneath the character we know and love and sometimes love to hate – Victor Newman.   Eric Braeden has a star on the Walk of Famie in Hollywood.   The reader will learn the mayor of L.A. actually declared it Victor Newman Day on the show’s anniversary of its 1,000 episode.    Eric has fans throughout the world and is always amazed when he goes different places even different countries and hears “Victor!”   To which he again says, “I’ll be damned.”   It’s always a surprise and a good feeling to be appreciated and he is always gracious to his fans because he knows he wouldn’t be where he is if not for them.   He has had the distinguished honor to meet many world leaders and chat with them even calling many of them friends over the years and strives to use every opportunity to reach out and make the world a better place.   Very well written.   A wonderful introduction to a man who is passionate about life.  

The Book of Life

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness              Audio Book: 23 hours, 52 minutes       Paperback:  576 pages               

Excellent book.   I didn’t realize it was part of a series, but, trust me, it stands alone as a great story.   Powerful (Spell) Weaver Witch, Diana Bishop and Vampire Matthew Clairmont fall in love and marry against the wishes of the Council of Witches, Daemons and Vampires, and honestly against the recommendation of their families and friends.   It seems in magical society it has been thought down through time that each species, witch, daemon, vampire must keep their blood lines pure and marry only others like themselves.    But as Blaise Pascal said, “La coeur a ses raison que la raisnon nes connait pas.”  (The heart has reasons that reason doesn’t understand.)   A perfect match these two each loves the other completely.    After getting around all the nay sayers, turns out not only do they make a lovely married couple, they also make a couple of lovely babies – twins!   This is unheard of!  How can two different species/creatures procreate?   None of the magical set can figure that one out but apparently mother nature has reasons that reason doesn’t understand or can’t calculate the DNA on.   The mystery of how this becomes possible is revealed in the book as are many other mysteries.   There are very graphically brutal scenes described during battles and kidnappings so be warned.     There are monsters in this realm that are of the raging serial killer variety causing an intense climax.    The story will keep you guessing as to who the informant might be.   So many possibilities.      Really good reading here for vampire, witch, demon fans and gothic novel fans.   I would love to see this book made into a film or a t.v. series.   Enjoy, I did.

Way to Happiness

Way to Happiness by Fulton J Sheen, 192 pages

In 59 short essays - none more than a few pages long - Fulton Sheen lays out the Way to Happiness with his customary wit and erudition.  In the simplest terms, his "way" - which is, of course, not really his - is to have less but to be more, to know the difference between the highest things and the lowest and to act accordingly.

A man of remarkable intelligence and education, Sheen believed, in classic American fashion now sadly out of fashion, in the ability of the average man or woman to grasp, and grapple with, the insights of the great thinkers of the past.  As such, his book is studded with references and allusions to figures from Plato to Freud, all presented and integrated in his usual accessible style.  In the same tradition, he is uncompromising in his insistence that, to find happiness, "we must go out beyond the limits of this shadowed world - to a Truth not mingled with its shadow, error - to a Life not mingled with its shadow, death - to a Love not mingled with its shadow, hate."

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.  336 pages

Eleanor Oliphant is unusual compared to most people. She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. She has an unusual appearance and a tendency to live life completely practically, letting her set a carefully planned timetable life of avoiding social interactions and weekends filled with frozen pizza, vodka and lots of sleep.

However, all that changes when she meets Raymond, the somewhat bumbling new IT guy at her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become friends. Although Eleanor is ill-at-ease initially, Raymond's persistence and big heart eventually help Eleanor find the way to repair her own damaged life.

Eleanor is a quirky heroine. At first, she's a bit difficult to understand, although I appreciated her straightforward way of looking at things and could appreciate some of her direct approach to everyday life. However, it's apparent that she is lonely, and because you get her perspective throughout the entire book, you are experiencing things as she does, widening your perspectives as she does. It's a great way to tell a story and really make her a sympathetic and fascinating character. The way that the layers of her life become peeled back so slowly really make this a compelling read. She has a lot of secrets and ways that she has developed over the years to cope with those secrets, loss and hurts that she has experienced, and as those carefully constructed layers start to come apart, she's so vulnerable that it made me want to reach out (through?) and give her a hug. Reading this story is like watching some kind of unusual flower grow, bud and unfold and it's an extremely rewarding read. I also feel this is a great book to pair with Eggshells by Catriona Lally.

This Is What a Librarian Looks Like

This Is What a Librarian Looks Like: A Celebration of Libraries, Communities, and Access to Information by Kyle Cassidy, Ronald Rice (Editor), Richard Russo (Goodreads Author) (Foreword), Emily St. John Mandel (Goodreads Author) (Afterword)     240 pages.

Of course I picked up this book! Partly because I knew it was being published and partly because I remember what a few people told me when I started library school: "But you don't look like a librarian!"  Since then, I've picked up some pencil skirts and cardigans so I'm sure I fit their stock image a little better now.

This book stems from a photo essay published on Slate.com by author and photographer Kyle Cassidy in 2014. It was a montage of portraits and a general tribute to librarians. Since then, he has made it his mission to remind people how essential libraries and librarians are to our communities. This book has all kinds of people in it, women and men of all ages, background and personal style. Each person share their personal thoughts on what it means to be a librarian, and there are also original essays by Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow, Nancy Pearl and others.  I found it to be an interesting read, and it was nice to see so many different kinds of people represented in this book (as well as a range of different types of libraries).  While this book is great for librarians to see, I feel like it would be a great book to get in the hands of a lot of people, especially those who proclaim that libraries are redundant, since we have the Internet.  It's a fun read, but also thought-provoking.

Final Girls

Final Girls by Riley Sager.  352 pages

Ten years ago, Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the sole survivor of a horrific attack. In an instant, she became a member of a club that no one wants to belong to: The Final Girls. Other members of the group include Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a killer and Sam, who went up against the Sack Man. All three of them are putting their nightmares behind them, never meeting each other. Quincy, herself, is doing well, thanks to her baking blog (and her Xanax prescription) and Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Things are almost great, in fact . . . until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub and Sam, the second Final Girl, appears on Quincy's doorstep. Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, making her wonder just why Sam has showed up. When details about Lisa's death come to light, Quincy realizes she is in a race against time to unravel Sam's truth from her lies, evade the media and most crucially, remember what really happened to her ten years ago.

This is a great thriller, where the pace and the pressure build slowly until it becomes a relentless speed, making you turn the pages faster and faster. The author does a nice job of building this pressure and creating characters that are interesting and sympathetic, with just enough mystery to them that you're kept off balance. It's an intense story, and it's difficult to know if Quincy is a reliable narrator or not because she doesn't have a full memory of what happened to her. As Sam keeps picking at her, and challenging her to engage in dangerous situations, you get the feeling like Quincy, herself, is about to come apart at the seams. I thought I knew what was going to happen and was blindsided (which was great). If you enjoy thrillers, especially ones where you're not sure if you can trust the narrative, this is your book. And a suggestion: clear some time because once you start this one, it's hard to put down.

The Sellout

The Sellout by Paul Beatty.  289 pages

"Born in the "agrarian ghetto" of Dickens—on the southern outskirts of Los Angeles—the narrator of The Sellout resigns himself to the fate of lower-middle-class Californians: "I'd die in the same bedroom I'd grown up in, looking up at the cracks in the stucco ceiling that've been there since '68 quake." Raised by a single father, a controversial sociologist, he spent his childhood as the subject in racially charged psychological studies. He is led to believe that his father's pioneering work will result in a memoir that will solve his family's financial woes, but when his father is killed in a police shoot-out, he realizes there never was a memoir. All that's left is the bill for a drive-thru funeral.

Fueled by this deceit and the general disrepair of his hometown, the narrator sets out to right another wrong: Dickens has literally been removed from the map to save California from further embarrassment. Enlisting the help of the town's most famous resident—the last surviving Little Rascal, Hominy Jenkins—he initiates the most outrageous action conceivable: reinstating slavery and segregating the local high school, which lands him in the Supreme Court."

I don't think I could write a summary of this book if I tried, which is why I copied what's here from Goodreads.  The book is a slow starter and I admit that for a while, I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep reading because I didn't feel like I was getting what the author was writing about (and generally feeling a bit out of my element).  The book does pull together about halfway through, and once I had finished, I went back to the beginning and it all made more sense and came together.   The sense of being out of my element never changed, but I felt like reading this story made me think, which is always a good thing. The author definitely puts a lot of elements in this book that make for good discussion, and while I don't think this is a book that everyone will love, it definitely makes for an interesting read (if you can get past the slow start).  

A Gift From Bob

A Gift From Bob by James Bowen                 Hardback Book: 172 pages             

 

My favorite dynamic duo, Bob the Street Cat and his human friend, James.    In this book,  James Bowen shares a lot of stories about Christmases he and Bob have spent together since 2007 when they became flatmates.    Some happy memories, some sad, some kind of harrowing with near misses and escapes from dark characters and a time or two some pretty rough circumstances with guardian angel interventions or surely divine intervention from a higher power, James claims to be a Buddhist, afterall, so perhaps it is the Nirvana of the enlightened path.    The hard times and the dire times have led to much enlightenment in James’ life and that is where Bob comes in.   A teacher, a friend,  a mysterious visitor who drops in unannounced and stays to bring joy and comfort even strength and love to a young down on his luck “busker”/recovering addict, named James.   This furry friend helped James turn his life around.   Looking after Bob helped James to focus on caring for someone else besides himself.   Bob helped James to become a responsible adult instead of the heroin addicted burnout he had been previously.  As the saying goes, “When the student is ready a teacher will be sent,” and James’ time had come.  Divine intervention sent Bob the StreetCat to help James with a paw up to get back on his feet, to stand clean and proud and rightly so after all James had been through in his life.    We all need someone in our corner that we can count on, that someone for James is Bob.   I am a fan of these two and I loved hearing some of their Christmas stories from their 10 years and counting together.      Bravo!    Well done, James and Bob!  J

Road to Wellville

The Road to Wellville by T Coraghessan Boyle, 476 pages

In the first decade of the twentieth century , the capital of healthy living was Battle Creek, Michigan, and the center of Battle Creek was the Sanitarium made famous by Dr Harvey Kellogg.  Dr Kellogg, in turn, is one of the main characters of T Coraghessan Boyle's tragicomic novel of those seeking health and those seeking wealth in Battle Creek.  He is joined by the Lightbodies, Will and Eleanor, she devoted mind and body to the Doctor's gospel of healthy living, he somewhat more reluctant and skeptical; Charlie Ossining, a would-be cereal entrepeneur who increasingly comes to suspect that his partner, Bender, is conning him as well as their investors; and Dr Kellogg's Luciferian adopted son, George.  Individually and collectively, they must struggle to stay fit in a treacherous world of obsession, greed, lust, and daily enemas.

Boyle is undoubtedly a skilled writer, and there are definite moments where The Road to Wellville shines.  More frequently, however, there is a certain atmosphere of artificiality - the characters are not quite realistic enough to be entirely believable, not quite caricatured enough to be absurd.  The novel seems to promise a colorful cast of characters, from the quacks at the Sanitarium to the hustlers in the town, but remains stubbornly focused on the main characters, of whom only Kellogg is particularly interesting.  Combine this with the indulgent length of the novel, and many readers are likely to find reading about Dr Kellogg's Sanitarium as interminable as Will Lightbody found his stay.

The Fifth Petal

The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry      488 pages

Salem, Massachusetts, police chief John Rafferty has his hands full as bestselling author Brunonia Barry’s novel opens. It’s Halloween in the town known for its witch trials back in the late 1680s. Lot of weird things, and people, are out and about, but the evening is going rather smoothly. It was fun to read about how the town went all out to bring tourists into the town.

Then the night does a complete one-eighty. A teenage boy is found dead at witches’ hanging site. A mentally unstable Rose Whelan, is the prime suspect. 

Rose, once a noted Salem witch-trial historian and scholar, has a history with the town, the witches, and murder. Twenty-five years ago, she was involved with what became known as “The Goddess Murders,” all descendants of some of those accused where three young women were viciously murdered and thrown into a mass grave on another Halloween. The only survivors were Rose and one of the young women’s’ daughter, five-year-old Callie.

Callie did not come out of the event unscathed. Hiding in the bushes where Rose pushed her, Callie clung to a rose rosary, one that Rose shoved into her hands, so hard that the imprint of the rose burned itself into her little palm. Twenty-five years later that scar and still there and sometimes hurts.

After the murders, Callie was told that Rose was also dead and she was sent to a convent. Upon learning that Rose is indeed alive, Callie returns to Salem.

Many believe that Rose is guilt of the teenage boy’s death, and of “The Goddess Murders.” But proving it is another story. Chief Rafferty reopens the cold case and tries to solve those murders and well as the current one.

I won’t lie, The Fifth Petal is a slow read. The story is filled with the history of the Salem Witch Trials. It’s fascinating, but not all of it is relative to the story. In the end, I’m not sure that the teenage boy’s murder was ever solved.  For these reasons, The Fifth Petal receives 4 stars out of 5 in Julie’s world.

God's Architect

God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain by Rosemary Hill, 498 pages

Augustus Pugin died in 1852 at the age of forty.  His brief career as an architect, which did not begin in earnest until the publication of his manifesto Contrasts in 1836, defined British architecture - and much else besides - in the Victorian era.  Indeed, as Rosemary Hill documents in her exhaustive - but at times exhilarating - biography, a direct line line runs from Pugin through Ruskin and the Rossettis to Morris and beyond.  In his quest to recreate the Gothic, Pugin founded workshops to meet the demand for fabric, woodwork, tile, and stained glass.  In her telling, Pugin was not merely an antiquarian or even an influential ecclesiastical architect, but a daring theorist with definite ideas of how the modern city could be tamed and made more humane.

God's Architect manages to interweave the public and private lives of Pugin, covering his professional projects - most famously his work on the Houses of Parliament, including the clock tower popularly (but erroneously) called "Big Ben" - and his often tragic personal life, complicated by his own uncompromising nature.  Hill compellingly follows the often troubled relationships between Pugin and his circle of "Romantic Catholics" with the Tractarians on the one hand and ultramontane Catholics on the other.  These connections are often neglected in histories of the Oxford Movement and its personalities, and while her account, viewed as it is through the prism of Pugin's career, is not entirely fair to some of the other individuals involved, it does make God's Architect a critical addition to our understanding of nineteenth century art and religion.

Every Heart a Doorway

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire.   173 pages

As we all know, children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through a wardrobe into a magical land or tumbling down a rabbit hole. However, what happens when those lands discard those children back into the real world?

When Nancy arrives at the Home, she feels that she's among people who might understand her. She went through a Door once and now she's back, completely changed and completely at odds with the world around her. Under Miss West's care, Nancy and the other children can seek a way back to their fantasy worlds. However, after Nancy arrives, it soon becomes clear that there is danger around every corner and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her new friends to get to the heart of the matter. No matter the cost.

I have enjoyed other books by this author and have always found her to be a creative storyteller. I was completely enchanted by this story and enjoyed it enough to add it the list of books for my personal collection. McGuire doesn't shy away from making this a dark story, even though the main character is a young person. If you enjoyed the Miss Peregrine books, you might like this, even though it has a darker edge to it.

My Boyfriend Barfed in my Handbag

My Boyfriend Barfed in my Handbag…and Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha by Jolie Kerr         Paperback:  238 pages                

Any book that comes with comedienne Amy Sedaris’ seal of approval works for me but then Jolie Kerr had me at the title prior to the Sedaris homage.    What a great book!   I have now learned new ways on how to clean with white vinegar, ammonia, vodka, oxy clean, bleach, baking soda (not all together by the way)  and many new uses for toothbrushes and laundry sheets.    I have learned ways to rid the smell of cigarette smoke from everything from walls to car seats (spray vodka and water).    I have learned how to rid the boy smell (socks, feet, sweat, beer, stale smell with a little dust thrown in) from a room (vinegar and water – equal parts).    I have learned how to get the vomit smell out of an expensive leather purse (sudsy bubbles, saddle soap and that can of stuff used to get stink out of tennis shoes).   For the more adventurous there are cleaning solutions for your harness (I don’t judge) and other like toys (this is a family blog folks) both adult and younger.     There are instructions for getting the confetti cannon bits up without leaving one bit of confetti behind, there are instructions on how to get those nagging (bodily) protein stains out of just about everything (we’re talking from drool on your pillowcase to skid marks off your sheets to well, you know…off of pretty much everything you can think of).    We’re talking inside and outside the house here from kitchen to garage to car from recliner to every appliance and gizmo you can come up with and if it isn’t here you can always go online to Jolie Kerr’s column, “Ask a Clean Person,” which happens to be the title of another of her books.    This book makes the whole process of cleaning seem like the most pleasing adventure you have ever been on.   What a motivational speaker she is.   The Queen of Clean – sorry Martha, but, there are just some things we can’t ask you about.    Thank you Jolie Kerr – what a great book.    I am so inspired to go attack that odd stain my cats left for me now.     You have inspired me not to run from the gross stuff anymore but to attack full on while it is still fresh and simpler to get up.    A copy of this book should be in every household.   I loved it and you will laugh out loud and won’t be able to put it down.    GREAT BOOK!   A favorite and one I will refer back to often.    

The Bane Chronicles

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare,  Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson              Audio Book: 13 Hours, 8 minutes     Hardback Book:   507 pages         

I read once that reincarnation could explain why people are attracted to whom they are, why people sometimes feel trapped in the body they are because they feel the call of a different person inside them.     Magnus Bane has lived for centuries and had various lovers over the course of his life both male and female.    Immortals tend to have that ethereal quality to their personalities they are not limited by mere mortal constraints as to who they bestow their love upon.  Immortality seems to loosen the inhibitions.    Magnus Bane, a warlock is also a fixer.    Magnus can magically alleviate problems, be they historical and epic (think French Revolution) or more mundane (think black outs, bar fights).    He is a true connoisseur  of the good things in life and how to truly give pleasure and love another person.     Magnus is witty and funny sometimes you will laugh out loud while enjoying his tales and believe me in his long life there are many stories and views of historical events that the author will take you right there to the moment where you will feel you are an actual observer and at times almost a voyeur!  J    A fun read and a brilliant introduction to a many faceted character.    After sharing his experiences during Prohibition you will want a Mimosa to toast him with or at the very least a nice fizzy phosphate.    Great character development of all the folks you will meet in this story, lovely history lessons giving you a peek at what it must have been like to be there.    Good stories, great fun and hilarious dialogue whenever Magnus is involved.