The Future of Another Timeline

The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz   Due out September 2019 - I read a galley  350 pages

Timetravel + feminism + social justice = an unforgettable story.

In 1992, 17 year-old Beth is navigating life with a difficult father, as well as a friend who seems to be going down a dangerous path. Immersed in the punk scene, Beth gets involved in acts of escalating violence, especially when she and her friends realize other girls and women need protection from the harm that threatens them.

In 2022, Tess is determined to help her present by going back and rewriting the timeline. However, it's not as simple as changing one person or event, especially when it comes to the Comstockers, men determined to make sure women have no reproductive rights.  When Tess discovers a way to make an edit in the timeline that will make a huge difference, she encounters a group of dangerous timetravelers who are determined to stop her.

As Tess' time traveling intersects with Beth's timeline, we start to understand how the two women are linked and how their futures depend on each other. With the two perspectives of both characters, it isn't clear right away how they are connected but as the story progresses, things become much clearer. An additional bonus to this story (to me, at least) was the backdrop in Tess' story of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The historical details in that timeline and part of her story made the book even more interesting --- and I was already finding it to be a fascinating read.  Definitely a unique take on the time-travel story, and the inclusion in real-life women's issues made it thought-provoking, as well.  Great read!

Elephants on the Edge:What Animals Teach Us About Humanity

 Elephants on the Edge:What Animals Teach Us About Humanity  by G.A. Bradshaw                 Hardback Book:  352 pages                                      

This has been a very hard to read.    The sheer horror, mistreatment  and murder of elephants in the wild and in captivity has caused me to have to put the book down countless times just to get away from the awfulness of what man does to these poor creatures.     It is a well written book.   It is assuredly a well researched and documented book.   It is a great eye-opener to atrocities carried out against our fellow species, the elephant.    Through many examples it is shown and proven that these great creatures have a highly developed society within their own culture, they have strong moral principles among their own kind, and when living in the wild do not pose a threat to man - the scientific studies showing the relationships between humans and elephants ad put forth to the South African government are included but flagrant disregard for any creature unable to speak for themselves allows them no legal representation other than the too few animal rights groups willing to stand up in their defense.   But the greed and cruelty shown when we are given a closer look at what is really occurring is damning.   Culls are legalized murder of these at risk and endangered creatures.     Culls - the brutal rounding up of elephants to kill them in massacres that are the stuff of nightmares and of which is traumatizing any elephant that is lucky enough to escape the cull but who may go on to live in the shrinking wild - man is moving in and corporations are claiming the land so that like the Native Americans these noble beasts are being killed in the thousands and more each year so that governments and private enterprise can claim the land they lived on and use it for their own financial pursuits.   Its all about the money.    Animals have no rights.   Even the so-called institutions that claim to be doing the elephants a service by keeping them in Zoos, Circuses, etc. use such archaic medieval type tools to bend them to their will against the elephants own sense of self to do tricks to please crowds that are behaviors far against their normal behavior - it will make a compassionate person fall to their knees with tears in their eyes and regret in their hearts that mankind has sunk so low as to use such unconscionable tactics to bend a creature to one's will and break their spirit so completely that the poor animals exist in a limbo of pain, suffering and loss of their elephantness to be paraded for man's glory and belittling.    I shed a lot of tears reading these horrible accounts of what humans are getting away with doing even within the borders of our own country to captive elephants.   Even the reserves here in the United States who offer some comfort and some freedom for these majestic fellow creatures have a hard time reassurring these dear creatures that they are free of their captors and jailers at last.    Some of the elephants given the chance to live out the rest of their lives away from chains and being brutalized by maniac zookeepers/handlers/trainers who rip their flesh and do ungodly things with the legalized tools, clamps, and worse they are still legally allowed to use on the elephants, some of the creatures who have endured lives filled with nothing but brutality never come back from that.     Their spirits completely broken they are so traumatized they are like a military person coming back with PTDS from a war zone.     In the culls baby elephants see their entire families killed before their eyes and some never get over that terror at what they were forced to watch so that the babies can be captured and sold.    It is beyond reason the transgressions humans enact upon those they feel the need to dominate and how like the slaves of former times these unfortunates, too, are mistreated, misused and forced to do the bidding of those who have power over them.     Sometimes several 'keepers' will brutalize a female elephant so much that often they die from their inhumane torturers.   Nearly all captive elephants are females as they are smaller and more easily managed when dishing out punishment disguised as training.    Elephants are sentient beings, they perceive, reason, think and they suffer and cain feel pain yet they are treated with unbridled hatred by those who praise themselves for their compassion in "caring" for them.     Laws need to be changed to stop the brutality going on under the auspices of the world courts and with the blessing of zoological societies.   More people need to come forward on the behalf of these poor fellow creatures on this planet because to date regardless of the death and treatment they are forced to endure no one gets prosecuted for their intolerable treatment and living conditions.   They all hide behind terminology allowing them to use force and pain to regulate their behavior.    May God protect them - Man sure isn't.     Good book, harsh realities laid out so not for the squimish, but, everyone from children on up should be enlightened as to what is really going on behind all of those elephants balancing on top of balls.    The movie, "Dumbo," only touched the surface.    Learn and stop the wrongs people.     

 - Shirley J

A Good Neighborhood

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler   due out in February 2020 - I read a galley  279 pages

Over the course of one summer, two families' lives intersect with devastating results. Told through the viewpoints of several characters, this story explores class, race, and love in a powerful story that will have you turning the pages (and ignoring everything else around you).

Valerie is automatically suspicious of her new neighbors, people who bought an enormous house built on the remains of a teardown and at expense of the removal of many of the large, beautiful trees that their neighborhood is known for. However, her son Xavier, seems to think these new people are friendly enough. Xavier has a good head on his shoulders, and as a serious student with a full scholarship to college awaiting him in the Fall, he's not going to get into trouble. Julia, the new neighbor, thinks Valerie seems a little prickly, but nice enough. And her older daughter, Juniper, has started to make friends with Xavier, who seems like a good kid.  What could go wrong?  You know the answer: plenty.

What you might not expect is just how wrong things can go. At first, these two families seem fine, with their relationship going pretty well, despite their differences. However, as Xavier and Juniper start to spend more time together, cracks start to widen between the adults. When Valerie realizes her prized oak tree is dying, as a result of her neighbors' ruinous construction, she wants them to pay a price. What she doesn't realize is that this will start all of them down a path from which there is no return.

I know I'm making this story sound ominous, but reading this was like watching a car accident happen. You don't want to know, but you cannot tear your eyes away. You think it's going to be bad, and then something takes a turn and it goes so much more wrong that you thought it would. That was what this book was like. I found it difficult to put down and in fact read much of it in one sitting, letting out an occasional gasp when something was happening.  It's a very provocative story, with realistically written, memorable characters, and once I finished it, I had a hard time getting the story out of my mind.  Great book.

On the Clock: What Low-wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane

On the Clock: What Low-wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane by Emily Guendelsberger  352 pages

When Emily Guendelsberger lost her job at a local newspaper when it shuttered, she took a pre-Christmas job at an Amazon fulfillment center outside of Louisville, Kentucky. And thus begins her exploration of how working there, as well as subsequent jobs at a call center in North Carolina and a McDonald's in San Francisco, shows how many Americans are exposed to work conditions that put the emphasis on efficiency, at the expense of humanity.  For example, at the Amazon fulfillment center, the staff vending machines are stocked with painkillers (because you can't ever stop --- you're on the clock, even if your feet and back are killing you).  At the call center, she was trained to assist customers, but endured abuse from people screaming at her on the phone. At McDonald's, even though the pace was relentless, it wasn't quite as bad -- until customers started throwing food at her.

This is definitely an eye-opening and interesting book, especially when read in tandem with Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.  The fastest-growing segment of the American workforce is working jobs like the author took on, and I think it's important to understand what the real human cost is of the conveniences most of us have gotten used to.

Mrs. Everything

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner   480 pages

Jo and Bethie Kaufman are two sisters growing up in the 1950s, and are as different as chalk and cheese. Jo, the older sister, is a tomboy who doesn't want to wear skirts and be a ladylike little girl. Bethie, on the other hand, is a sweet and pretty little girl who likes her dresses and being her mother's perfect little girl.  However, as the two of them and their mother navigate through the years, things aren't so clear-cut for these sisters and their paths diverge only to come together years later.

This is a well-paced book with good character development and a consistent story. I found I was sitting and turning the pages, eager to see what was going to happen to the sisters. At times, their stories are pretty sad, and there's a lot of frustration with what happens to both of them. I felt that Weiner wrote them so realistically that I could imagine both of these girls (which also made them very sympathetic characters).  Good read, especially for a day spent inside reading when it's too hot to be outside.

The Nickel Boys

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead   214 pages

"As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone." Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides "physical, intellectual and moral training" so the delinquent boys in their charge can become "honorable and honest men.""

Of course, you can see where this is going: The Nickel Academy is not a good place. That's putting it mildly; in fact, it is a place of horror, fear, sadism and desperation.  Elwood isn't supposed to be there, but he keeps thinking that if he follows the rules, he'll be able to go home.  But of course, we, the readers, know that this isn't possible; once a black kid is in this place, he's only leaving to go into jail or a grave.

Told with the narration of Elwood, this story is based on the real story of a reform school in Florida (that yes, was as horrifying as you think it was, operating for more than 100 years).  You get some present-time storytelling, and then go back into the past.  Elwood is determined and to me, had a steady light inside himself that the Nickel Academy couldn't quite extinguish.  However, this is not an easy read and it's the kind of book where I found it a compelling read, but one where I sometimes needed to put the book down and read something else for a bit.  Definitely a very good, thought-provoking book.

The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House

The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower Audio Book:   10hrs.  15 min      Paperback Book:  336 pages                       

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It gives such intimate details on the first families living there and also about what was happening within the walls of the White House during critical times in history.   From the  staffer who stayed up all night waiting for Jackie Kennedy to return to the White House from Dallas when he could have gone on home that night, but, wanted to be there fro Mrs. Kennedy.  Who ended up staying up basically 36 hrs. so he could attend Mrs. Kennedy in the event she needed anything in the night, then marched in the funeral procession along with Heads of State Charles deGaul of France and the ruler of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie down Pennsylvania Ave. to the capital building where the President's body was laid in state.    The staff who had to go from the Kennedy White House or Camelot as it was affectionately called to the Johnson White House which was all about Johnson running the show and screaming at staff who displeased him.   Nancy Reagan caused one staffer to quit when she constantly berated her in front of anyone maliciously and accused her at being the fault of something of the first lady's being lost, damaged, etc.  By the 3rd time this venomous tirade took place it was so intense that another staffer working two floors down heard it and came up and stood in the staffers' place telling her to go home and allowed the first lady to continue her tirade on him instead.   The staffer had enough and looked for employment elsewhere.  The staffer who Reagan asked to join him for a swim in the White House pool and the maid who accidentally walked in on Reagan sitting in the nude reading (it comes out in this book that Reagan liked being in the nude and felt he was showing the staff how comfortable he was with them around because it never stopped him from doing so.   The Clintons preferred their privacy to having staff around unless absolutely required while the Bush Familes both George and Barbara and G.W. Laura and the girls tended to talk to staff directly asking about their families and remembering names and ailments and inquiring about them throughout their time in the White House.  The Obamas often mentioned their staff looked like they could be part of their families and while the President was jovial and down-to-earth with staff,  the first lady blasted the Secret Service when 3 times within 3 months intruders made it into the White House evading the notice of the security detail until alarms were set off, someone was spied on an in-house camera or spotted in one case by an off-duty staffer on their way off the grounds after a shift change.   While many staffers were reluctant to speak about the first families to journalists especially those who were still working at the White House and those who had recently retired, others shared some positive stories about the human side of the Presidency and First Families and some friends and family members shared stories as did some staff who left the White House employment.   Super interesting book.   I highly recommend it to anyone interested in who the first families really are.    Really interesting stuff showing the true personalities the public doesn't often get to know.

- Shirley J

Intruder in the Dust

Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner         Audio Book:  8 hrs.  11mins         Paperback Book:  256 pages        

This was a well-written tale of a black man being subjected to Southern justice in a backwater town.   The black man is accussed of killing a white member of the most influential family in the county.     The evidence was circumstantial and the black man knowing he was being railroaded hires a (family-tied) lawyer.     Everyone in town including the lawyer assumes the man is guilty and the defendant does not spell out the facts he knows just tells the lawyer to check the bullet hole(s).    By this time the murdered man is already buried so there is a whole big hurrah getting to the details on this case which I will let the reader find out for themselves.   I will say this about the writer,  William Faulkner is a good writer who can describe a thing to a t so that there is no mistaking his intention, however, having said that, I have to also mention that Mr. Faulkner must be paid by the word because he will take 4 pages to say what he could have said in a paragraph.   I found it annoying having to wade through all the flowery prose and his going 40 miles around a topic just to come back to it and draw a simple conclusion.    This happens so many times throughout the story that I often forgot what his original point was by the time he concluded his philabustering.   But the story was a good one if you trim the fat of his oratories and get to the meat of his intended tale.    I liked the story itself but found his wool gathering to be way too much.   For that reason I hesitate to offer my recommendation for this book.    A good story that is WAAAY overtold.    I don't plan on reading any more of Mr. Faulkner's works any time soon as the frustration of his over wordy soliloquies are frustrating to the story he means to tell.

- Shirley J

The Girl Who reads on the Metro

The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury  208 pages

I consider myself well-read, but when the author started listing titles and books I’ve never heard of, I felt stupid. Maybe that set the tone for me for this book.

Juliette lives in Paris. She has an ordinary life and an ordinary job. On her commute to her ordinary job, she is always interested in the books her fellow commuters are reading. Desparate for a change, Juliette gets off the metro at a stop unfamiliar to her. As she wandes through this new area, she discovers a gate held open by a book.

Entranced, she venture through the gates and discovers a small but very crowded bookstore. This was creepy if y’all ask me. The store is run by a man named Soliman, who lives on the premises with his young daughter. Soliman was creepy. He never ventures out of his compound, yet he has a gaggle of passuers that seem to do his bidding. Their goal is to match a book with the right person.  I was never really sure how that worked. The general gist was that they should follow the person, get to know their habits, etc., so they could be matched with the perfect book.

 “The Girl Who Reads on the Metro” isn’t my cup of tea, and that is why it receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Zoey and Sassafras: Unicorns and Germs (Zoey and Sassafras Book #6)

Zoey and Sassafras: Unicorns and Germs (Zoey and Sassafras Book #6) by Asia Citro, Illustrations by Marion Lindsay  96 pages

In this episode, Zoey and her best friend, her cat, Sassafras, learn about bacteria. The story opens with Zoey and her mom making homemade yogurt. The look on Sassafras’s face when Zoey stirs some store-bought yogurt into some warm milk is s cute. She may like yogurt, but there’s no way that stuff is touching her tongue.

Suddenly, the science project they are working on is interrupted by an earthquake!  A big one! The shaking got worse before it eased. Then the magic doorbell rings. Mom stays behind to clean up the mess while Zoey and Sassafras run to the barn. As she opens the barn door, Zoey encounters a huge, rainbow hoof.  Her eyes travel up, up, up and up until she sees a rainbow mane and a shiny golden head, all attached to a ginormous horse.

The horse, a magic horse don’t forget, says to Zoey, “HELLO. I HAVE OW. GIRL HELP? The unicorn, whose name is Tiny because it’s a baby unicorn, is hurt. To help him, Zoey and her mom must figure which bacteria is causing the infection on Tiny’s leg. They conduct experiments in to determine what the best course of action should be.

Unfortunately, it seems to take forever for the bacteria to grow, leaving poor Tiny in pain.  That’s the part I didn’t like and why  why “Zoey and Sassafras: Unicorns and Germs” receivs 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Discovery of Spain

The Discovery of Spain: British Artists and Collectors: Goya to Picasso, edited by David Howarth, 146 pages

Although throughout the 18th century British art tourists streamed through France and Italy, Spain remained largely unknown.  This changed in the nineteenth century, due both to the Peninsular War, which found the UK and the Spanish people fighting together against Napoleon, and the rise of Romanticism, which found in Spain an exotic, picturesque land on the doorstep of Europe.  The growing interest in Spain inevitably led aesthetes to the works of contemporary Spanish artists and the painters of Spain's Golden Age.  This dual influence of Spanish art and Spain itself on 19th and early 20th century British taste was the subject of a 2009 exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland, of which this is the catalogue.  Unfortunately, while much of the art is stunning, most of the obligatory essays are indifferent.

Tuck Everlasting

Tuck Everlasting  by Natalie Babbitt          Audio Book:  3hrs. 31 mins     Hardback Book:  208 pages                

I liked this book.    The story was a good one and the characters told it very well.   Young Winnie Foster, a ten year old who isn't sure about life just yet, but decides she might just run away gains more of an adventure than she was anticipating.     On her journey away from home she runs into first the sons then the parents of a family named Tuck.    They seem odd, eccentric and a bit off the social norm, but, Winnie likes that about them.   When she attempts to get a drink from a ground water source she is first distracted by the older boy then told not to drink from that particular water source.at

 all.   She sees it as a do as I say not as I do moment because she clearly saw the boy drinking the water yet, he doesn't want her to.   The reason is explained and she learns more and more about the Tuck family finding that the truth is stranger than fiction. A mysterious brightly dressed stalker begins nosing around.   Winnie's parents are beside themselves with grief and worry at her departure when the strange brightly dressed man tells 

them he was witness to her kidnapping by a family who stole her and took her away with them in a wagon.  A good story that I do not want to spoil for anyone.    It is a short, good, read and I think children on up through adults will all enjoy the story.    This is one of those books to treat yourself with.   Very enjoyable,   I highly recommend it.

- Shirley J

Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Life

Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Life by Jillian Michaels               Audio Book: 7 hrs. 49 min     Hardback Book:  272 pages                            

Jillian Michaels in her softer side is shown here.    She is still tough and takes no prisoners but goes after anyone who says they CAN’T do something – of course you can she counters, but, less in your face, and truly offering her thoughts and empathy for those who struggle but try.          She covers mindset, finding one’s higher power, the strength of positive affirmations and how believing you will receive what you want in your life so you aren’t blocking any good coming your way with self-doubt.    She talks about getting every aspect of your life in order from clearing your clutter, cleaning your kitchen, personal hygiene, exercise to clear the excess pounds you carry around with you which is slow suicide.    She talks about her own therapy sessions and how she highly recommends it for everyone to clear the ghosts of your past away – ie.  she hates her father, she has trouble not being an irate shrew in relationships when she feels she is being taken for granted.   She gets very real and very honest.   She cusses like a sailor to make her points but she does it in a funny way.   You still get the point that she lost a lot weight herself – which she also discusses – and so she is taking no b.s. from anyone saying they can’t lose weight because she has been there and did what it took to the point she became a gym junkie.    Amusing, entertaining and insightful.    She talks about how her low b.s. tolerance level causes her to get in people’s faces to the point she intimidates them into losing weight ( ie. she scares the crap out of them) but she tells it with the intention that she is doing it for their own good.   She speaks her mind very clearly always and while she tones her persona down she admits to being a tyrant when she needs to and does not apologize to anyone for anything she feels is required to get the job done.   A more personal look into Jillian Michaels the person and a lot of good transition material discussed from going from flab - body-wise/work-wise/home-wise to fab in all aspects of your life.    Lots of tough love here.    Yes, I would recommend this book.   She expects everyone to be on her page but, maybe, her page carries a lot of merit.    I liked this book – she can be brutal and harsh at times but she is also very thorough and genuine to her own personhood and beliefs.   A good read regardless of age.  

- Shirley J

Above the Line: My Wild Oats Adventure

Above the Line: My Wild Oats Adventure by Shirley MacLaine         Audio Book: 5 hrs. 39 min    Hardback Book:  224 pages                  

What a fun book.    Actress Shirley MacLaine gives the inside info on the actors, crew, Director, financiers, hangers on, and more on the independent film she did titled, “Wild Oats.”    An ongoing project for 5 years or so, the film finally got enough financial  backing to get done and onto DVD.    I was lucky enough to have picked the film up prior to the book because I had seen the trailer and requested it.   Then I saw the title by Shirley MacLaine and though I hadn’t read any of her books so I picked it up independently of the film and was delighted to find the two offset each other and I was lucky enough to have both at hand.   I first listened to the audio book and got the skinny on what was happening behind the scenes before I watched the film itself to see what she was talking about and it made me enjoy the film all the more for knowing.    While friendly the actors spent some evenings together over dinner but as a rule everyone went their own ways.   In the film the actresses are so on top of their game viewers believe the stars have been friends all their lives they play off of each other perfectly.    Billy Connolly played a little aloof but then his character seemed to be in the beginnings of Alzheimers so it wasn’t unenjoyable.   He can be very funny, very odd or very serious and in this role he was oddly serious which made for a whole new Billy Connolly experience still good.    All the hassles and set-backs Shirley MacLaine describes were not observable – the film is flawless.    I remember everyone, except the financial backer, talking about it,  when a certain Latina got 18 pages of dialogue added to her part increasing her screen time, because she was the mistress of the married financial backer.    When I saw her in the film, every time I heard her name I thought of the name the folks on set jokingly referred to her by that Shirley MacLaine hilariously mentions from time to time.     The filmmakers talked Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange into signing on to attract financial backers, then they were asked to defer their pay until all the backing was in.   Shirley found out the Director and most all of the crew were paying for the stars hotels, meals, airplane tickets and costumes out of their own pockets and were doing their best to stretch their money as much as possible.     Shirley brought every wig she had ever worn since the 1960s in case anyone needed to use them, and many of the clothes were the actors’ own clothes or they bought the costumes from the set to allow for more money to be used to shoot more footage.   A fun retelling of a very unique experience in the Canary Islands and later the state of Louisiana.    There is also a lot of talk of chakras, and how the location of Atlantis is believed to be where they were shooting and how Shirley MacLaine experienced past life regressions during her meditations while there.   Much, much more.   I do highly recommend this book for a really amusing quick read or listen, then watch the film, you will get the extra flavor from both as if you experienced it all from a butterfly on the wall’s perspective.      Good book.

- Shirley J

The Vanishing American Adult

The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis-and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance by Ben Sasse      Audio Book 11 hrs.,  9 mins       Hardback Book:  320 pages    

Interesting perspective and insight on how the current generation seems to be growing up to be adult children having been overprotected by well-meaning parents coddled growing up insulated in many cases from real life lessons – dealing with losing, challenged to excel, admonished for lack of input while allowing technology to become their babysitters making a nation of introverts who do not communicate verbally but bare their souls electronically for all the world to see via the internet.    Sasse in both his roles as Senator and College President sees a generation coming up who need to step up to leadership roles, but, who are so unprepared for such a role, he shudders to think how ill-equipped Generation Z is to actually sustain themselves, much less the world in the coming years.   He sees an idle non-committal generation of young people lacking the skill set necessary to take charge and run things well.    The upcoming Gen Z- ers are not independent but VERY depend on parents – 1 in 3 of the 18-34 year olds lives at home with their parents, only 4 in 10 college students will actually hang in there long enough to graduate – he surmises this could be because they are on sensory overload having cellphones and other technology permanently attached to their person so they can constantly know what  is going on with every friend, family member, celebrity  and in the world in general while losing the ability to carry on face-to-face conversations,   deliver presentations  and take on leadership responsibilities.   Sasse worries since children and young adults are not being taught how to think for themselves, accept defeat, accept challenges always seeking to Google their way out of everything, what at one time seemed brilliance at technological skills is manifesting as weakness in being able to take on roles in adulthood in corporate venues, political venues and the fields of education and higher learning.   It is becoming a get-over society and Sasse worries if it keeps going in the direction it currently is he fears for the democracy.    He cites examples, statistics and events from his own experience which make him fear for where the country is headed.  It is not only a warning call it is a plea for the country to turn around the education system and for families to instill strength in today’s youth.     A good book that will stimulate the reader to take an active role in aiding the youth of today to become strong leaders tomorrow.   I would recommend this book to anyone considering becoming a mentor especially to see the dire necessity there is to change the way this generation is being raised and turn it around to teach them to be contributing adults to keep democracy functioning properly lest America falls under the influence of a lackadaisical leadership with no clear goals nor responsible returns on the investment put into them.   He fears we are headed to becoming a nation of lemmings when we must retain the status of eagles.   Numbing the mind and senses makes a nation weak and feeding one’s mind a constant bombardment of tweets, fake news,  fake reality is causing us to lose the ability to think for ourselves.  Only fortitude, diligence and perseverance can keep the nation great.    Lots of food for thought here.   I would recommend this book as a wake-up call to all those interested in where our nation is at and where it is headed if the path we are on isn’t changed.   Good book.

- Shirley J

A Book Forged in Hell

A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age by Steven Nadler, 279 pages


Summary courtesy of Goodreads: "When it appeared in 1670, Baruch Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise was denounced as the most dangerous book ever published--"godless," "full of abominations," "a book forged in hell . . . by the devil himself." Religious and secular authorities saw it as a threat to faith, social and political harmony, and everyday morality, and its author was almost universally regarded as a religious subversive and political radical who sought to spread atheism throughout Europe. Yet Spinoza's book has contributed as much as the Declaration of Independence or Thomas Paine's Common Sense to modern liberal, secular, and democratic thinking. In A Book Forged in Hell, Steven Nadler tells the fascinating story of this extraordinary book: its radical claims and their background in the philosophical, religious, and political tensions of the Dutch Golden Age, as well as the vitriolic reaction these ideas inspired.

It is not hard to see why Spinoza's Treatise was so important or so controversial, or why the uproar it caused is one of the most significant events in European intellectual history. In the book, Spinoza became the first to argue that the Bible is not literally the word of God but rather a work of human literature; that true religion has nothing to do with theology, liturgical ceremonies, or sectarian dogma; and that religious authorities should have no role in governing a modern state. He also denied the reality of miracles and divine providence, reinterpreted the nature of prophecy, and made an eloquent plea for toleration and democracy.

A vivid story of incendiary ideas and vicious backlash, A Book Forged in Hell will interest anyone who is curious about the origin of some of our most cherished modern beliefs."

Nadler sheds light on Spinoza. He isn't a philosopher that is discussed a lot by philosophers and his ideas aren't well known. He also touches on Spinoza's ethics. Spinoza was Jewish but gave up Judaism. Despite what some believe he didn't become atheist or convert to Christianity. He had a different conception of God and religion. I appreciated the context that Nadler provided for Spinoza's book and philosophy. I would recommend this book to people that like reading history, religion or philosophy.

As I Walked Out One Evening

As I Walked Out One Evening: Songs, Ballads, Lullabies, Limericks, and Other Light Verse by WH Auden, 204 pages

     I want a form that's large enough to swim in,

          And talk on any subject that I choose,

     From natural scenery to men and women,

          Myself, the arts, the European news:

          And since she's on a holiday, my Muse

     Is out to please, find everything delightful

     And only now and then be mildly spiteful.

As I Walked Out One Evening collects material from moments in Auden's colorful career when he indulged his playful side - something he did frequently.  Not that playfulness excludes profundity.

     The glacier knocks in the cupboard,

          The desert sighs in the bed,

     And the crack in the tea-cup opens

          A lane to the land of the dead.

Or coldly cynical observations.

     When statesmen gravely say - "We must be realistic -"

     The chances are they're weak and therefore pacifistic:

     But when they speak of principles - look out - perhaps

     Their generals are already poring over maps.

Or reflections on the tragedy of life and love.

     The nightingales are sobbing in

          The orchards of our mothers,

     And hearts that we broke long ago

          Have long been breaking others.

Yet it is all delightful, perhaps especially when spiteful.

     Be subtle, various, ornamental, clever,

     And do not listen to those critics ever

     Whose crude provincial gullets crave in books

     Plain cooking made still plainer by plain cooks,

     As though the Muse preferred her half-wit sons;

     Good poets have a weakness for bad puns.

Silvie's Life

Silvie’s Life by Dr. Marianne Rogoff        140 pages

 Grab a box of tissues if you plan on reading this book, and clean your calendar ahead of time because you wont’ be able to put it down.  Otr at least I couldn’t.

I read this short book when it came out in 1994, I forget which. It touched me then and the story of Silvie’s life has stayed with me. When I ran across a copy at me mom’s, I decided to read it again, and it is still as powerful today.

This is a true story, the story of a normal pregnancy and a normal birth. Well, Marianne had her baby at home, with a midwife instead of in a hospital. Still, everything when as expected. Until the midwife couldn’t get the baby to breath. A doctor came; 9-1-1 was called; she was rushed to a hospital, then a bigger hospital. Then came the news: the baby had severe brain damage. She couldn’t cry, swallow, breathe on her own, move her body and the doctors told her parents she wouldn’t grow.  The suggested they take her home to die.

Silvie’s parents were fighters. They endured sliding a tube down Silvis’s little throat to feed her. They cuddled with her; treated her like she was normal. They debated the ethics of just letting her lie in her crib and slowly starve today. But they loved their little girl and would do whatever they had to to make her comfortable in the time that she had. It was heartbreaking to watch. 

I go into more detail, as readers can guess the end without having me say another word. But the one thing that “Silvie’s Life” does, is to get readers thinking about end-of-life issues, narrative medicine and palliative care. What would you do if this had happened to your child?  And what does her parents do when they unexpectedly find themselves pregnant again. A powerful story that won’t leave readers hearts for a long time, if ever.  That’s why “Silvie’s Life” receivs 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Left Fur Dead

 

Left Fur Dead (Book 1 in the Jules & Bun Series) by J. M. Griffin 368 pages

When a librarian friend emailed me the covr of this book, there was no way tha I could pass it up. If the bunny was gray, it would look a lot my sweet rabbit, Gracie.

Juliette Barnes and operates Fur Bridge Farm where she cares for rescued rabbits. I’m sorry to say that there are two major errors in the story’s beginning that made me cringr. First, rabbits don’t get yearly shots. They do need to go to the vet twice a year though. Second, rabbits should never be given a drip bottle for their water. They can’t enough at one time, which can lead to frustration/aggression and dehydration, which if gets too severe can lead to death.

Those two points weren’t enough to deter me from what ends up being a delightful read. Bun is a black-and-white rabbit, and if he’s the one on the cover, he’s of the Duthc breed. Of all the bunnie in Jules’s care, Bun is the only one who lives indoors. He has a special talent that makes their bond even more special. Bun can communicate, telepathically, with Jules. And he is quite the opinionated little dude.

Life is going just fine until one afternoon, while on their walk, Bun and Jules find a dead body. They are shocked to learn that they know the man; someone Jules works with on occasion. While that doesn’t scare them too bad, it’s not until Jules is attacked in the barn one night by a unknown person who’s features she can distinguish, that the plot heats up. The attacks continue, although Jules is never badly hurt, and the rabbits are never harmed (whew!), the intruder is bent on freeing the bunnies.

Who, and more important, why would someone want to hurt Jules. Could it be the high school kids who work for her sometimes. Or the young girl she has just hired to run  Fur Bridge’s gift shop. Or maybe it could be that homeless man who is living in the woods and seems to be keeping an eye on the place.

Except for those two errors I mentioned earlier, this cozy was a fun read. That’s why “Left Fur Dead” receivs 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. Regardless, I can’t wait for Book 2.

Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World

Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World by Jack Andraka              Audio Book:  4hrs, 23 mins       Hardback Book:  256 pages                    

The true story of Jack Andraka’s life as a 15 year old math whiz, science whiz and bullied gay student.     When a dear friend of the family passed away from pancreatic cancer that had not been detected until it had spread to other parts of the body and was inoperable, Jack came up with the idea of creating a means of early detection for pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer.   He applied to various medical research labs asking to be able to run his experiments in their facilities.   He backed up his request with 35 pages of research, etc. to prove he was on the level.   He was rejected over and over but the 200^th request he sent to a doctor from Johns Hopkins University came back with an offer to come and be interviewed by a panel of specialists in the field.    After careful and grueling hours and days of going over what he had in mind and how he came to the conclusions he did, it was finally approved for him to work out of their lab.    Not only did he complete his experiments, he actually came up with a means of testing the blood on a sheet of paper for a process that would cost no more than 3 cents that actually detects pancreatic, lung and ovarian cancers early so treatments can be effective in eradicating them.    While not on the market just yet, it soon will be and he has won several prestigious awards for his work and continues to astound with his understanding of the topic and process.   He confers with medical staff in the field of cancer research world-wide and is considered an expert by his peers in the field of medicine and medical research.   He continues to prove his prowess at anything he turns his mind to and is changing the world as we speak.     Good book.   I highly recommend this book to anyone as it shows what believing in one’s self no matter what your age or circumstances (putting up with haters)  having the integrity to pursue your beliefs no matter how many times others refuse to hear you can accomplish in the world.   Believe, believe, believe!   Make it happen.   Good job, Jack Andraka.

 - Shirley J

Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life

Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin           Audio Book:  19 hrs, 25 mins,   Hardback Book:  624 pages                  

Excellent book on the many faceted author, daughter, wife, mother, speaker, teacher, rumored witch, friend, animal lover, baker, lover of big older houses, tarot reader, lover of food - hater of diets, observer of life and amazing story teller.     Shirley Jackson wrote from her own experiences to set the stories then allowed her creativity to flow embellishing details here and there to bring tales to life that seem so true, they must be fact based - her literature often created big stirs in the communities she lived in at the time because the descriptions of locations and people hit way close to home.   Shirley and her husband and children were always seen as eccentric, odd or unusual by their neighbors and there was never a whole lot of visiting between them.   Neighbors always considered Shirley and her family, "Outsiders."    It became food for thought and delicious stories as Shirley exorcised the demons through her literary works.   She often dealt with painful experiences from different periods in her life by allowing her characters and plot lines to deal justice for her.   So inspiring.    Ruth Franklin's book tells many behind the scenes details of Shirley Jackson's life, fleshing out the author in such a 4-dimensional way the reader is both drawn in and shownby bringing the participants outside the pages and into the room with the reader so much so they are fairly tangible.   A great telling of a great lady.   I would highly recommend this book to anyone from Middle-school up to infinity.   Many will be inspired by Ms. Jackson's style and insights into the craft of writing and how to tranform gathered information into Gothic classics.  A wonderful telling of a wonderful writer's life and how even bad times can be purged through a roiling of the gut onto the page.   Truly excellent.

A Desirable Residence

A Desirable Residence by Madeleine WIckham     Mass Market Paperback:  352 pages        

I did not like this book.   I love Sophie Kinsella's books, but, if I had read this book by her (using her real name) first, I doubt I would ever have read any of her later works and would have missed out on some very good writing.    Now, in all fairness, by the time I reached page 300 things did get a little better, but, then it ended rather abruptly so all in all I found it one of the most dissatisfying books I have ever forced myself to read.    I can't tell you how many times I put this book down and thought it was so dull and boring I would not finish it, but, I made myself keep on, hoping to find some better part to it that might make it worthy.     It wasn't.   DULL,  BORING, are the two words that jump immediately to my mind in regard to this book.    I would not recommend this book to anyone.

- Shirley J

California Girls

California Girls by Susan Mallery            Audio Book :  10 hours, 27 minutes    Paperback book: 464 pages       

What an uplifting book.    THis is the story of 3 sisters living in California and the romantic breakups each goes through.      The story is well told and all of the sisters are likeable and you cheer for each of them all the way through.   Their mother on the other hand is a total jerk and had I been her daughter and she had talked to me like she did to them, I am afraid I would have had to tell her about herself starting with a big C word, and I don't mean cute.    I am so glad these women were all portrayed as strong and not a one of the sisters gave in nor did they give up.   They did not beg their counter-parts to come back or stay. YAY!!!!   Good!!!  Finally women in a novel who aren't afraid to call a guy a dick when he deserves it.   And there are many dick things that happen in this story.   I truly liked all of the sisters.   Finola, who is forced to the wall to bear her greatest tragedy in front of the world,  Zennie, who stands her ground - she doesn't do makeup - so what?   She doesn't find sex all that arousing - o.k. - maybe she just hadn't gotten with the right person on that because talent will out but I digress - and Ali who's fiancee went all Jonas brother and wouldn't break up with her in person and was going to just be a dick and leave her at the altar but whose brother stepped up and manned up giving Ali a heads up and delivered the news that his brother was breaking up with her and there would be no wedding - even though, the last of the invitations had gone out, some gifts had already started arriving, deposits had been put on the flowers, the cake, the venue, the caterer, the photographer,and her dress had been paid for and all was in readiness for the event to take place in two weeks.   Their mother, while critical of all of them, and who had not been a saint herself is always hassling the girls throughout the book though they each give her respect and try to curry her favor though that is useless.   So many things happen in this story that are really uplifting and while beat down show that GIRL POWER is alive and well and living inside each of these feminine superheroes, who may not always feel strong but do strong things.    I really liked this book and would highly recommend it to anyone young or old who thinks they might like to read it.   It is a wonderful sgtory full of so many ups and downs that are often just how life comes at you as though you were the pins in the bowling alley of life.   These gals are resilient and offer fine examples of how to make lemonade out of times in life that are full of lemons.   Loved it.    A couple of Woo Hoos for the sheer joy of womanhood here.

 - Shirley J

The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel

 

The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel by Jeanne Mackin     352 pages

This fascinating, detailed historical novel details one of most intense rivalries in the world of haute coutour. Most people today still recognize the name Coco Chanel, thanks to her perfume and purses that are still highly sought after and every expensive. Every woman who has a little black dress in her closest has Coco to thank.

But the world has largely forgotten Elsa Schiaparelli.  Know has Schiap, her designs were outrageous. Sporting vivd colors and geometric patterns, to me, the surreal and experimental clothing sounded extremely uncomfortable. Imagine wearing a har shaped like a shoe?

In 1938-39, the two women were fighting for dominance in the fashion world. Paris was getting ready for a war that would surely come. And although the book is based on the two real-life women, it is narrated by a completely fictional character: Lily Sutter.

Lily is a young American widow, still traumatized by the sudden death of her husband two years earlier. She receives a telegram from her brother, Charlie, who is living in Paris, urging her to come. After a bit of consideration, she packs her bags and grabs the nearest steamer. He is dismayed by her wardrobe and offers to buy her a dress, inparticulary a Chanel design. However, Lily prefers Schiaparelli. When Charlie must divert his girlfriend/model who is joining them from Coco’s house to Schiap’s house, Lilly ges drawn into the raging battle.

Lilly actually becomes friends with both women. Lilly has a flair all her own. She goes undercover at the Chanel house for Schiap.A secret-shopper type of spy. Then over at Coco’s, Lilly begins to believe that Coco’s politics and loyalties might not lie with the French. Or do they?

One of the most shocking events of the novel is when Schiap, Coco and Lilly are at the same gala and Coco pushes her rival too close to the candle flame which sets her costume on fire.

I really like the use of lots of color in the descriptions throughout the novel. The book is divided into three parts: Blue, Red and Yellow. The color descriptions left the imagery dancing in my mind.

As much as I loved this book, it had a slow, slow start. I was about 100 pages in before it really grabbed my by the throat and wouldn’t let go. And that’s why “The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel” receivs 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

My Father Left Me Ireland

My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son's Search for Home by Michael Brendan Dougherty, 217 pages

It's a cliche - the American travelling to Ireland to visit a "homeland" his family left generations ago.  For Michael Brendan Dougherty, however, Ireland is closer than that, for not only was his mother of Irish descent, his father was from Dublin, and after siring his son he returned and started a permanent family there.  Back in America, Dougherty's mother nurtured her son with Irish culture, even taking the trouble to learn Gaelic.  It's another cliche - the outsider who had to fight for his inheritance and therefore values it more highly than those who received it as an undoubted birthright.  Yet Dougherty's story of coming to terms with his father's absence - and even more important, his invisible presence - is so compellingly personal that cynicism surrenders.  

My Father Left Me Ireland takes the form of a series of open letters from Dougherty to his father, centering both on their personal history and on the history of the Easter Rising.  Through this lens, the author explores what he characterizes as "an age of disinheritance", revealing the illusions of those "realists" who imagine fatherhood to be a biological accident and nationhood a geographical accident.  What is really Real, he discovers, is built on and through sacrifice.