Passing for Human: A Graphic Memoir

Passing for Human: A Graphic Memoir by Liana Finck   240 pages

Funny and melancholy, this very personal story is an exploration of identity. Liana Finck goes searching for the thing she has lost: her shadow (or the "strangeness" that has defined her since birth).  Part of her has always made her feel apart from the rest of the world, and in this memoir, Finck explores her past, as well as her parents' past.  In her journey to find her true self, she discovers some truths about self-acceptance and what it is that makes her whole.

I had read a review of this book and had been curious, and I found this to be an interesting read. Finck's art is mostly pretty spare, but it's able to convey a lot of emotion in just a few well-placed lines. I found Finck's story to be compelling, and this was an interesting way to approach a memoir.

Joe Quinn's Poltergeist

Joe Quinn's Poltergeist by David Almond   80 pages

That Joe Quinn will tell anyone about the poltergeist in his house, but no one believes him. No one, except for Davie, who has felt the strange presence in the Quinns' house.  Random objects are flying through the air and maybe there's a ghost, too.

This is a dreamy, haunting story with art by Dave McKean, one of my favorite artists and a frequent collaborator with Neil Gaiman. McKean's mixed-media art can be dreamy and/or disturbing, so it's a perfect match for this story that focuses on God, and grief, and possible hauntings.  Told from the point of a view of a young person, it's difficult to know what is truth and what is observation mixed with misunderstanding.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: A Visual History

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: A Visual History by Melissa Wagner   336 pags

This is the kind of book that has loads of information, behind-the scenes interviews, and which brings back memories.  Delving into the history of the show, the book has interviews, photos and articles that talk about the huge impact that this show had on American culture, as well as ideas about childrearing.  There were things in this book that I had totally forgotten about, which made it a lot of fun.   This is a great companion book to the new-ish biographical film about Fred Rogers.

The Family Upstairs

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell   340 pages

When Libby Jones turns 25, she receives a letter that she has been waiting for her entire life: the letter that gives her the identity of her birth parents. And, as it turns out, she is also the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion in London. Everything in Libby's life is about to change . . . but she has no idea just what's around the corner.  Because 25 years ago, the police were called to this house with a report of a baby crying and when they went in, they discovered a baby --- and several dead adults.  Where were the four other children who lived in that house?

Now, everything (and everyone) seems to be coming together now that Libby has inherited the house. However, are the people who say they can help her really out to hurt her? And just what happened in that sinister house?

This tautly written psychological thriller keeps you on edge and guessing, with a cast of characters who have more than one layer to them. The story goes back and forth in different perspectives of characters, and also back in forth in time, which gives the story a layered effect, as well. And the effect of unwrapping a particularly nasty box of family secrets.  Interesting premise, and I liked it up to the end.

The Starless Sea

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern   498 pages

"Built from fables, myths, and fairy tales, Morgenstern's long-awaited second fantastical novel (following The Night Circus) delves into a vast subterranean library, the Harbor on the Starless Sea, a giant, maze-like, subterranean library where all languages are comprehensible to everyone, and time moves differently. Its wonders include moving statues, edible stories, and a sea made of honey. Narrative-obsessed grad student Zachary Rawlins happens upon an old, authorless collection in the campus library. Among the tales of an improbable land of books and their devotees is an anecdote from Zachary's own childhood, a time when he found a magical door but chose to walk away, disbelieving. Desperate to understand and longing for a second chance at adventure, Zachary investigates and finds a literary party thrown by a secret society. He goes through a painted door in Central Park and into the Harbor itself, now long past its heyday and mostly deserted. Aboveground, the secret society is trying to close as many doors as possible, hoping to keep the Starless Sea hidden. Aided by otherworldly Mirabel, whose motives and history are obscure, and alluring Dorian, a former society member who opposes the closing of the doors, Zachary works to understand how the Harbor fell into disrepair and what he can do to protect it. He also learns what it means to be not just a reader but a part of the story, and what happens after that story ends."  Summary from Publisher's Weekly because I absolutely could not figure out how to summarize this story in a way that made sense.

I have read and re-read The Night Circus several times, so I had looked forward to this book --- and absolutely was not disappointed.  For the first time in a long time, I wound up reading slowly, taking in bits of the story at a time, instead of whipping my way through the story. This could have been partly because I had a pretty awful cold for a week and was sleeping more than I was reading.  Beautifully written, this book reads like Morgenstern crafted it, instead of just writing it. Words are chosen with care to create beautiful, evocative descriptions and each chapter unfolds a little more of the story.  So, it's reading a beautifully written book about stories, which seems tailored for those readers who love fables, fairy tales, magical realism and magic.  This is a book I plan to buy so I can read it again and again.  

I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure

 I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure Edited by SMITH Magazine     192 pages

This book is a revelation.   How would you sum up your life in just six words?    Based on the premise that someone challenged Ernest Hemingway to write a book in just 6 words.   Hemingway is said to have met the challenge with:  "Baby shoes.   For sale.  Never worn."   Grabs your heart doesn't it?   It did mine.    It says so much an entire book if you will all communicated in those 6 words.  WOW!  Extraordinary.    It is the same in this book.   Each entry by a different teenage writer is so deep, so telling, so full of emotion and a big story told simply.   Amazing.   This is one of the most moving, phenomenal books I have ever read.   Some entries immediately bring tears to your eyes they are so heartfelt and immense, so touching so all encompassing everything that makes up that person yet said in so few words.   Everyone should read this book it will give you new vision into every person you meet.    There is so much that lies behind the eyes of everyone, so many stories that could be told.   The infinite universe that is one person told in the most meaningful of ways with all the fluff and flack cut away to the bare bones the core of another human being.   I loved this book.   Read it and the feelings and the magnitude of all that fills the life of each and every person around us will be almost tangible with very few words spoken.   It is a marvel and I cannot recommend it highly enough.  A jewel with so many facets and yet all in one tiny mass.   Magnificent.  Light as a spirit heavy with meaning.  How to show the world your heart, your soul, your reality..

The Person Who Changed My Life: Prominent People Recall Their Mentors

The Person Who Changed My Life:  Prominent People Recall Their Mentors by Matilda Cuomo and Hilary Rodham Clinton       240 pages

A very good read.   People who have distinguished themselves in life among a myriad of fields and careers share the story of who inspired them along the way to achieve the goals they have.    Like a life coach spurring you on these inspirational stories will make you look at your own life and think back who taught you to do what you love?   Who encouraged you to go for your dreams regardless what hurdles you might have to leap?   Who gave you that hand up or emotional pat on the back just when you need it that led you to believe you could do whatever you set your mind to?   This book is full of the famous people we see in the news, celebrity magazines and on t.v. and movies, in the fields of science, etc.   So very many people plucked from the random amount of people world wide to share the stories and people in their lives who pushed them to take the plunge and fly.   Great book.  It should be on every teacher's must read book for their students.   This book helps one believe in their own worthiness.   It shows how others in similar and maybe even more dire situations overcame their adversities and are now known for their accomplishments.   GREAT BOOK.  I highly recommend it to everyone.  Young people will see what can be achieved if they try, adults will see what can happen if they don't give up on themselves or think that good things or their dreams cannot be achieved this book proves they can.   Kudos to the authors for bringing this book of life achievements to light.

Revenge Wears Prada the Devil Returns

Revenge Wears Prada The Devil Returns by Lauren Weisberger   416 pages

Miranda is back!   It is nearly 10 years later, Andie has the dream life - a loving, faithful, rich husband, a successful blog that blossomed into a wedding magazine,  her former nemesis has turned into her brutally honest best friend she loves dearly and who loves her back just as dearly if not in a huggy demonstrative way, life has given her the champagne dreams and caviar wishes Robin Leach once extolled for the masses of wonders few would ever experience but here is Andy at the pinnacle of all she could ever want until wham the bane of her existence whom she still suffers anxiety attacks and nightmares over - MIRANDA PRIESTLY is back smack in the center of everything she loves and just as loathsome as ever.   This is such a good read.   I had no idea there were actually 5 books in this series so I am on to find the next one this is such a great story and so many exciting things happen with a huge surprise entrance by a long last character.   Omgosh this one is great!   I highly recommend this one especially for anyone who has been wronged, fought back from the edge survived only to be face to face with your biggest fear AGAIN!   Excellent story.  Do give it a read,  it is a treat.

The Whisper Network

The Whisper Network: A Novel by Chandler Baker     368 pages

There is the underlying sense of some illusive piece of the puzzle missing.    Something that is not quite right but what?   You know there is more to the story and try as you might to read between the lines you will wonder all the way through what everyone's motive is and who is lying and why and who might just be telling the truth.    Great suspense novel - you know something isn't right but are things as they seem or does someone have a vendetta?   Well told.   An excellent who done it and will you be surprised!  I highly recommend this one to all fans of suspense and mystery.

Life Itself

Life Itself: A Memoir by Roger Ebert 448 pages


 I loved this book.   I had to make myself put it down to sleep.    I even checked out the video which is also quite good, but, the book has so much more in it.   What a colorful and fun life Roger Ebert led.  The public knew him as a film critic extraordinaire but he was ever so much more.   From his days growing up in small town America to his uproarious college years where he was quite the ladies man to his hard drinking days as a news journalist turned film critic journalist to his internationally famous love affair with film that has won him fame and notoriety world-wide and where he could be found on many a panel speaking at Cannes and other festivals, etc. around the world.   I have always found Roger Ebert one of those people who you feel an immediate kinship with and think he would make a jolly friend if only you knew him.   I highly recommend this book, he tells the good, the not so good and his downfalls and recoveries all the way to the operations that took not only bits of his face and body away but also his ability to speak.   God love him he didn't let it depress him nor break his stride, he continued to communicate ala his writing and the occasional dalliance into the computer voice world of Stephen Hawking.   An unbelievable strong, gifted and happy spirit all the way to the grave.   An amazing man who led an amazing life.   Worth anyone's time who love biographies, film and of course, Roger Ebert himself.   Great book.

Child's Play: A Novel

Child's Play:  A Novel by Daniel Steele   336 pages

A fun read.   Kate Morgan feels she has raised her children well they are grown and all successes in their own right.   O.K. her youngest daughter is suddenly going through this snippy phase where she treats her mother like a slug, but, surely she will grow out of it - she is in her 20s and just grappling with life and acting out and taking it out on her Mom.   Everybody blames the Mom for their woes, right?  Kate shrugs it off even though her feelings are hurt at times.  Surely, it will pass she thinks.   Then there is her oldest daughter - darn!  She is so great if only she could find someone to love who is just as great as she is.  Kate hates to think of her daughter burying her nose in her work to the point of missing out on the joys in life.  Or is she?   The things that can get past a parent...Then there is her son, betrothed to the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in the U.S.  Kate is so proud of that union.  WOW!   Who would have thought her computer geek son who designs games for a living and does really well at it mind you would have snagged the attention of the most famous socialite daughter and was now well on their way to the altar.  The invitations have been sent, the venue booked, flowers, food, cake all paid for and the dress...oh, the dress is magnificent.    And they are so happy.   Again,  the things that can get past a parent...Good story, great characters, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I recommend it to all for a fun holiday read or read for the new year.

For Everyone

For Everyone by Jason Reynolds   112 pages

I really liked this piece.   It is poetry.   It is rap.   It is a love letter to every single person on the planet.   It is encouraging.   It is uplifting.  It is found.   It is creative and artistic.    It is a loving hug from Jason Reynolds.   I highly recommend this one.   Everyone who reads this piece will feel better.  It is comfort found on the written page.   Bravo and thank you, Jason Reynolds.

Dirty Daddy

Dirty Daddy by Bob Saget    272 pages

Bob Saget is a funny guy and it turns out he learned his craft from some of the funniest comics in the business.     As a young boy he researched and found out where Larry Fine of the Three Stooges lived in the old actors' home and went to visit him.   Before Larry died, Bob spent a lot of time with him talking and taking Larry copies of Three Stooges shorts which Larry hadn't seen in several years.   Larry told him about the Stooges careers but he also often cried his heart out over the rip-offs the stooges endured losing royalties and untold amounts of money to their managers who bilked them out of untold amounts of money taking their cut off the top while the stooges had to split whatever pittance was left.    He met Don Rickles, and Rodney Dangerfield and became so close to them he was like family in each performers home and each took him under their wing and taught him the ropes of being a stand-up comedian.   He gives some very intimate portraits of these guys and their lives on stage, off stage and what their family life was like which Bob was lucky enough to be included in.  Lovely stories the reader will thoroughly enjoy.    Bob never strays from saying off the wall remarks almost as if he is trying to show his Dad image is only for t.v. his humor is not light and can get a little intense at times other times so boyish and childish it will make you shake your head.   An enjoyable read and I do highly recommend it.   Adult humor geared to the open minded and tolerant. 

Zero to Sixty

Zero to Sixty by Bob Saget   120 pages

Known for his work on tv's "America's Funniest Videos" and "Full House"  and "Fuller House"  Bob Saget is also well known for his stand-up comedy which is certainly a shade bluer than his family guy tv image.    Sort of his Jekyll and Hyde personna.    Bob talks about what a fast trip his life has been getting from babyhood to 60 years old.   He waxes philosophical and shares many of his experiences throughout his life not hiding the hurtful not the horrible.   Not apologizing just relating,  He has experienced some hard knocks in life and how he keeps on going regardless.   He talks about his coming of age, his marriage, his kids and how the best exes make great friends.    A funny and bittersweet tale of the life of a regular guy who's greatest happiness is when he is making other people laugh.    Be ready for some surprising comments from the guy you can't not think of as Dad to the Olsen Twins and Cameron Buhe.   Good book.   I recommend it to adults but only for those who don't mind base humor, fart jokes, penile illiterations and locker room humor.   For those who know what 'The Aristocrats," joke is - yeah, he tells that one, too.

The Nickel Boys

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, 352 pages

A gripping story of the inhumanity suffered by black children in a reform school in Mississippi.  The tale is well told by a great story teller but the atrocities dealt out to these poor kids are inhumane.   The story itself is fiction based on fact.   The stories are truisms that took place elsewhere in the South but you will never forget them and the unfortunates who endured this hell on earth until it often overcame them.   Many unmarked graves with bones rising showing manifestations of unspeakable brutality.    The horrors of thinking of 5 and 6 year old children placed there when no one is around to care for them or other total innocents being subjected to this horror show of rape.   It is almost too hard to read and think about and yet even living in this cesspool there were glimmers of hope.   A book you won't soon forget about children enduring the legal system during the pre-Civil Rights days in the old south.    So well written it could be a classic, so shocking you won't be able to forget it.  I recommend this book, it is a teaching tool,  it is an enlightening tool,  it offers examples on how NOT to treat your fellow man.    

Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe by Walter Scott, 464 pages

Wilfred of Ivanhoe returns from the Crusades to an uncertain future and an unsettled England.  His proud Saxon father has disinherited him for following the lion-hearted Norman king.  His castle is occupied by a Templar who, by all rights, should be fighting in the Holy Land.  His beloved is betrothed to another.  Prince John plots to usurp the throne of his absent brother, Richard.  The forest is teeming with outlaws.  Corruption pervades both Church and State.  Yet there are heroes as well, men and women prepared to risk everything in defence of virtue.  It is time for Ivanhoe to take his place beside them.

Ivanhoe, first published anonymously in 1819, was a massive commercial success, and even more influential as a cultural phenomenon.  Although certainly a part of wider trends emerging out of Romanticism, Scott's novel was at the center of the English love affair with the Middle Ages which lasted throughout the 19th century, influencing the Gothic revival as well as the Pre-Raphaelite, Arts and Crafts, and Tractarian movements.  It is not difficult to understand why - Scott spins a tale of larger-than-life characters engaging in bold feats of adventure against a colorful backdrop, the kind of yarn that pleases audiences in any era and one which suggests the existence, somewhere or somewhen, of a higher and more noble world.  As a cultural artifact, however, it is interesting how critical Scott is of the Middle Ages, which he imagines as characterized chiefly by superstition and prejudice, and the extent to which he recasts the relations between Normans and Saxons to parallel those between Englishmen and Scots.

Grace Will Lead Us Home

Grace Will Lead Us Home: the Charleston church massacre and the hard, inspiring journey to forgiveness by Jennifer Berry Hawes,  311 pages

This is a reporter's extended and behind-the-scenes account of the terrorist attack that killed nine black congregants in their church on June 17, 2015. Dylann Roof posted pictures of himself with a confederate flag and other white nationalist symbols, told a friend of his intent to murder black church people, posted a white nationalist manifesto, drove to the church, joined and was welcomed by the pastor and members of a bible study held at Mother Emmanuel AME Church, and then, late in the meeting, brandished his gun and killed Myra Thompson who was in the process of ordination and was leading the study for the first time, Pastor & State Senator Clementa Pinckney and seven others.

Most of the above is common knowledge along with the public confrontation and courtroom forgiveness initiated by Nadine Collier, daughter of Ethel Lance, who Dylann Roof had murdered and President Obama's eulogy for Senator/Pastor Pinckney, where he broke forth into "Amazing Grace." What is less know are the stories of Steve Hurd and others who could not forgive, the survivor's struggles to forgive members of their own family, the questions about subsequent church leadership, concerns about Emmanuel leadership's handing of financial donations, the personal and institutional difficulties of the church and its members in moving forward, the history of generations of the church members and leaders -- which included co-founder by Denmark Vesey who planned a massacre to throw off the yoke of slavery but was hung himself in July of 1822 along with 35 others. Such real life stories fill out the headlines and the transitory news and help us to have some understanding of the deep pain, struggles and history of the June 2015 massacre in Charleston.

Platonic Tradition

The Platonic Tradition by Peter Kreeft, 134 pages

The Platonic tradition, Peter Kreeft argues, is the mainstream of Western thought, which springs from Plato's central insights - that there exist transcendent truths, that these are accessible to human reason, and that this knowledge is communicable.  Subsequent thinkers from Aristotle to Aquinas, he contends, added to these claims without denying them.  He then briefly retells the story of philosophy since Ockham as the progressive narrowing of thought from nominalism to deconstructionism, ending with the suggestion that personalism may mark the beginnings of a new turn away from nihilism.

This short book is itself derived from a series of audio lectures, and it is more of a transcript than an adaptation - anyone familiar with Kreeft's voice will hear his distinctive cadence in these pages.  This is, of course, very fitting for a work inspired by Plato.  Unfortunately, it is also riddled with surface errors another round of proofreading might have caught.

Inheritance

 

 Inheritance  by Evelyn Toynton   272 pages

"Inheritance" in this novel is not what readers may assume it is; there’r nothing to do with physical assets.

When Annie Devereaux’s husband suddenly dies she then has the opportunity to follow her wildest dreams.  She leaves New York and moves to London with no plan but to live like the Brits do.

Shortly after her arrival, she meets Julian and moves in with him. As their relationship drags on, he becomes more and more abusive.

Then the narrative shifts. Annie has made friends with Julian’s sister, Isabel. While this section is mostly about Isabel, reads get to learn more about what makes Julian Julian.

The narrative shifts again, but I didn’t get it.  I’m not sure where the author was going, or even what she was talking about. Section Three did not tie into Sections One and Two, leaving me lost and dazed. Therefore, “Inheritance” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Meet Me in Monaco

Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb   384 pages

Get ready to be swept away!

It’s May 1955. International beauty and movie star Grace Kelly is attending the 8^th Annual Cannes Film Festival.  The paparazzi are out in full force, trying to snap “the” picture.  Grace is stalked by a London photographer, James Henderson, who must get that picture, whatever it is, in order to keep his job.

To avoid Henderson, Grace ducks into a small boutique, Duvall’s perfumes. The owner, Sophie, recognizes the darling of the silver screen, and hides her in her office. But sparks ignite when Sophie and James meet. Although Sophie is already in a relationship, she is drawn to James.

With the perfurmery in financial difficulties, Sophie is facing some tough decisions. Should she close the boutique in Cannes and return to her labatory? Can she continue to make perfumes with the natural fragrances of the flowers that grow on the land that surrounds the lab?

James is single, but the love of his life, his small daughter, lives in London. He hates to be away from her, but he must make a living. He leaves the perfumery with one of Sophie’s sweet-smelling business cards.

James is selected to photograph Grace Kelly’s first meeting with Prince Rainier of Monaco. James accidentally gets to meet Grace, who catches a whiff Sophie’s business card that James has in his pocket. Could this chance be the catalyst that changes their lives?

The story is told in three alternating voices: Sophie’s, James’s  and news articles writte by Angeline West, a fashion editor. Readers get to intimately know Sophie and James, learning what makes them tick and watching them grow as individuals. Grace is always in the story, but is more of a secondary character to Sophie and James.

Authors Gaynor and Webb do an excellent job in re-creating the beauty of Cannes, Monacco and the French Riveria.  I felt as if I had been there.  I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and had difficutly in putting it down. Therefore, “Meet Me in Monaco” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Ghosts of Gold Mountain

Ghosts of Gold Mountain: the epic story of the Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad   by Gordon H. Chang,  312 pages

This is indeed an epic story of the Chinese who were primarily responsible for building the western and most challenging section of the U.S. transcontinental railroad which was completed about 150 years ago. Gordon Chang's story begins by describing the politics and life of the Guangdong province in southern China from which most of the railroad workers, young and male, were recruited and it ends with a description of Chinese women working in San Francisco brothels and Chinese people being driven from the western cities that they populated. Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR), financed by an act of congress, initially did not want to hire Chinese laborers but other workers deserted and the Chinese proved their skills, work ethic and willingness so they became the primary builders of the challenging western section of the railroad. 

The planned route required traversing steeper grades and than any other railroad previously built; it would involve more dynamite to blast tunnels through parts of the mountain, and great human risk to builders who packed and lit explosives and hammered chisels to cut beds into its cliffs. CPRR did not even keep a record of the names of its Chinese workers nor did they ever publicly acknowledge the death of a single railroad worker. But by drawing on reports of Chinese benevolent associations, newspapers, historical associations, reports of freight cars carrying remains from mass accidents, Chang fills in some silence from the railroad records and estimates that 1,200 of them died in the project. The railroad Chinese worked harder and faster than other crews but were paid less so, without a union, they organized a strike which approached parity in  wages along with recognition and  time to celebrate Chinese holidays. 

Railroad Chinese were not only killed by the engineering feat for which they worked, they were also killed by "the great purge" to rid the country of them: In October of 1871 a mob of 500 attacked the Chinese quarter in Los Angeles, burned buildings and lynched 18 Chinese in the streets: the largest lynching in American history. Twenty five people were indicted for murder but none were convicted. Five years later, the white citizens of Truckee, a town made possible by the railroad, formed a Caucasian League, burned the cabins of Chinese woodcutters and then shot them as they fled. Truckee citizens used violence, arson and intimidation to drive other Chinese citizens out until the town's 1900 census indicates that there were only two Chinese people left in town. Such were the bitter ironies of the Chinese workers who built the transcontinental railroad. Their men were recruited to build the wealth of those who planned it and then their women were enslaved to satisfy the lusts of men.

Auden and Christianity

Auden and Christianity by Arthur Kirsch, 179 pages

In Auden and Christianity Arthur Kirsch explores the impact of the faith of WH Auden primarily through an analysis of For the Time Being and the "Horae Canonicae".  In the process Kirsch reveals the extent to which Christianity served as a unifying principle in Auden's life and work, bringing together matter and spirit, the present and the past, the individual and society.

This is the kind of literary criticism that is expansive rather than reductive, illuminating one facet of an author's work without denying the existence or value of others.  Although Kirsch's remarkable combination of sensitivity and candor is unlikely to inspire readers to a greater love of God, it is very likely to lead to a greater love of Auden.

A Craftsman's Legacy

A Craftsman's Legacy by Eric Gorges, 245 pages

In much of the developed world where work centers around computer screens, this is a refreshing examination of artisans who use their hands to make things. The book's chapters are theme-titled but several of them focus on a particular artisan and their craft: a potter, furniture maker, stone carver, glassblower, calligrapher, etc. The author's own biography is creatively interwoven throughout: he worked in the tech industry, developed mental health issues which were relieved as he became a motorcycle maker. Having experienced skilled mechanics and carpenters myself I've often thought that it takes as much smarts to be a good artisan as academic, business leader or politician and this book fed that conviction. I highly recommend it if you need a break, like I did, from disembodied concepts, ideas and screens. It is likely to increase your appreciation for artisans and to inspire you to rub your hands before heading toward a work of your own.

Present Concerns

Present Concerns by C. S. Lewis                    Hardcover: 108 pgs.

This book is a collection of Lewis's essays, almost all written for newspaper and magazine publication.  The author writes about current events of 60-80 years ago, so it would seem they could hardly be called "present concerns."  But in another sense, as editor Walter Hooper explains in his introduction, the subject matter Lewis wrote about is indeed "present" with us today, for in discussing then-current news, he gives timeless wisdom, as true today as it was in World War II or the Cold War, when Lewis wrote about it.

In applying this wisdom to his own time, Lewis is very philosophical (as in all his non-fiction).  Obviously, this kind of writing isn't for everyone--for many, it can be sleep-inducing!  But this book gives the reader small doses of Lewis's philosophizing.  Instead of a whole tome on one subject, in this book, the author leaps from subject to subject, treating each topic in no more than a few pages.  As a result, this anthology may be a good introduction to Lewis for those who have never read his non-fiction.

Unlike his other works, these writings aren't mainly concerned with theology and literature (though these subjects are often touched on).  One theme in several of the essays is equality and democracy.  Befitting his identity as a citizen of England (and that country's constitutional monarchy), he believed things that we Americans (who live in a republic) may disagree with.  Here are some interesting quotes that may be controversial on this side of the Atlantic:

• "Democracy demands that little men should not take big ones too seriously; it dies when it is full of little men who think they are big men."
• "Equality (outside mathematics) is a purely social conception.  It applies to man as a political and economical animal.  It has no place in the world of the mind."
• "Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars: even famous prostitutes or gangsters.  For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison."

I found this book hard to understand in some places.  Even though Lewis wrote about timeless truths in talking about current issues, it was still hard to understand some of what he talks about without knowing more about the then-current events.  The editor shed some light on some of these events, but not enough, in my estimation.

At the same time, there are many great truths that can be gleaned from the parts that are understandable, which still includes most of the book.  For example, in the first essay, "The Necessity of Chivalry," Lewis defines in a different and more relevant way than I have heard before what chivalry is and shows why it is so necessary to civilization.  The best essay may be "On Living in an Atomic Age".  Lewis wrote it during the Cold War, when fears of nuclear war were at their zenith.  Using reason, the author makes his readers see that the specter of nuclear war only reminds us of the necessity of the spiritual world (including God) and the bankruptcy of naturalism.  For these and other examples of Lewis's sanity and amazing insight, Present Concerns earns 3 out of 5 stars in my book (⭐⭐⭐).

Unscripted

 

Unscripted  by Davis Bunn   317 pages

I had never heard of Daivs Bunn before I started reading his latest novel, “Unscripted,” but I’ve since learned he is a prolific writer, with more than twenty novels to his credit.

Danny Byrd has a reputation in Hollywood for being a guy who is tru to his word. He produces films on time and on budger. But Danny has landed in jail thanks to his best friend (former best friend now) who has stolen all the money he has in the world. And Danny is the one who winds up in jail.

It was not clear to me how, but Danny is released, and given a majority share in an abandoned hotel in the middle of nowhere. The opportunity to redeem himself comes in a quick deal…Not sure exactly how that came to be either…if only he can make a movie on a tight, tight deadline and for an exceedingly low budget. Unfortuately there is no script, so they’ll have to wing it.

During the transfer of the hotel to Danny, he encounters lawyer Megan Pierce. Megan is tired of the long hours and cutthroat ethics of her law firm. I was never really clear on how Megan came to represent Danny.

As Danny tours the abandoned hotel, he comes across the caretaker’s daughter, Emma, who has the voice of an angel.  That gives Danny the inspiration for the film he needs to make. He calls LA and brings in his crew: two writers and a cameraman. The writers write the script the evening before it is to be shot….or as the cameras are rolling.

Emma is the star. With her gorgeous voice and natural talent, she give suca studied performance that it is hard to believe that she has had no training.

 “Unscripted” receives  3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka's Journey

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Sex Matters

Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense by Mona Charen, 238 pages

Over the course of the last fifty years, all of the leading indicators show that American women have become more unhappy, both absolutely and relative to men.  According to nationally syndicated columnist and bestselling author Mona Charen, it is no accident that this coincides with the cultural triumph of a feminist movement that values empowerment over love even as the sexual revolution brought into being a new order founded upon lies, resulting in a pornography-soaked hookup culture which leaves unsatisfied the deepest desires of both men and women.  In Charen's analysis, the antihumanism of the sexual revolution is the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of sex as something self-referential rather than intrinsically other-directed.

Charen is a political pundit, not a philosopher, and while this book barely mentions Republicans or Democrats it is suffused by the techniques of the social sciences as the method by which political legitimacy is asserted in the modern world.  As always in such cases, the response of readers to the book is likely to be a combination of their prejudice for or against the central thesis and their evaluation of how accurately such an approach models reality.

Freak Babylon: An Illustrated History of Teratology and Freakshows by Jack Hunter

Freak Babylon: An Illustrated History of Teratology and Freakshows by Jack Hunter   152 pages

An indepth history of humans born with limbs and other body manifestations that are unusual, often medical phenomenons such as John Merrick, theatrically known as "The Elephant Man", Tom Thumb famous for his diminutive stature and his work with P.T. Barnum and the Barnum and Bailey Circus, humans who have excess facial hair growing to unusual lengths creating the Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy character, the stories behind each of these individuals and many more besides.   It is a fascinating look at the people behind the hype of the Circus sideshows baiting the public with wonders they have never seen before nor since.   Todd Browning's fascination with amputees and all people who's anatomies make them different is discussed and how long it took Todd Browning to bring his obsession to the big screen as the film, "Freaks," which took him over 10 years to do and after flying high for bringing Bela Lugosi to movie houses as Count Dracula, Todd Browning's career was essentially over after the debacle caused by his next film, "Freaks" that critics found so disturbing that it was banned many places.    The photos are often shocking but the stories behind each are so compelling this is a hard book to put down.   Gripping in its appeal, the reader will want to look away but something in the psyche wants to see it and understand it, too.   A very good book showing that regardless of how we look we are all people with the same needs, wants and desires and right to respect and if not cordial treatment at least respectful.   Bravo!   In an age of extreme bullying this book is right on time.   I highly recommend this book it is an eye-opening shocker that you won't soon forget.   Definetly for the non-squeamish adults out there.

Bunny by Mona Awad

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Bunny by Mona Awad   272 pages

A story that will keep you off balance all the way to the end.   Is it real?  Is it drug induced?  If it is really happening omgosh!    You will feel like Alice in Wonderland throughout the story which is a good one and keeps you coming back for more but the sheer psychedelic acid trip quality will leave you feeling like you are living in a Peter Max poster.   Its good, its bad, its dream like, it is nightmarish.   You will never look at poor little bunny rabbits the same way again nor at elitist rich girls in college writing classes the same way again.    There is something of a Donnie Darko comparison here.   Yes, I recommend reading it to adults college age on up the conversations this book will spark would make for a wonderful book club selection.   Insanity meets acceptable and shakes hands.   Read it to believe it.

Coming Clean: A Memoir by Kimberly Rae Miller

Coming Clean: A Memoir by Kimberly Rae Miller 272 pages

The true story of Kimberly Rae Miller's life growing up with a hoarder for a father and a compulsive shopper for a mother in a household so full of papers of all kinds (her father) and bags and boxes of new things never opened, never used, never worn, just stacking up bought online from catalogs, t.v. shopping networks, infomercials, etc.   The house was never cleaned until Kimberly grew up and began realizing other people didn't live like this and she started taking the initiative to counteract her parents and be pro-active in getting rid of the mounds of trash piling up fighting the bugs and vermin and trying to find normalcy in a chaotic environment.    All through her youth she never had people over because she didn't want them to know how dirty she lived.   Things changed the day her mother ended up in the hospital and Kimberly couldn't think of her going home to such an unclean, dangerously cluttered home.   Kimberly had had enough and made her stand for the time it lasted.   In order to get away from all the trash and piles her parents would move to a new place and leave everything behind and start completely new till they piled that house up, too.  It is a vision of what life is for children and young adults growing up under such circumstances and the thinking process that goes with such a lifestyle.    Excellent book.   Many books talk about the mental state of hoarders but this view was of those in the family who have the conditions forced upon them whether they want to deal with it or not.   I would recommend this book to anyone from middle-school on up who may be dealing with such circumstances in their own lives and dug in hoarders who may get an inside view of what they are going through, and also to anyone who finds the subject of hoarding fascinating and loves to watch the t.v. shows that show the reasons people become hoarders and how the mind of hoarders work noted as geniuses because they can come up with multiple purposes and uses for things that the mainstream populace doesn't see, the folks in the middle of all the piles just accumulate, collect and purvey much more than they realize until it takes over their space and their lives.   So interesting.

Sex Changes

Sex Changes: A Memoir of Marriage, Gender, and Moving On by Christine Benvenuto, 294 pages

One night, shortly after making love, Christine Benvenuto's husband of over twenty years, the father of her three children, confessed to her that he wasn't the man she thought he was.  In fact, he wasn't a man at all.  He was, and always had been, a woman trapped in a man's body, and he was done pretending.  Over the course of the next few years, she watched helplessly as he sacrificed his relationships with her and their children on the altar of a jealous god called Who I Really Am.

Sex Changes is, above all, an opportunity for Benvenuto to tell her side of the story, what her husband's choices cost her and their children, a side of the story which it is not socially acceptable to tell - or, for that matter, to hear.

October 2019 totals

This month:

6 bloggers

Read 59 books

For a total of 19,805 books!

This month, our SUPER Reader was Krista R., who logged an incredible 22 books and 7904 pages!! Shirley J. was next up, logging 5496 pages.  And this month, interestingly, three of us logged 7 books.

Onwards to November!!

Three Purgatory Poems

Three Purgatory Poems: The Gast of Gy, Sir Owain, The Vision of Tundale, edited by Edward E Foster, 254 pages

This book collects three fourteenth century poems involving Purgatory and the bonds of love which connect the living and the dead.  In "The Gast of Gy" the titular gast (ghost) haunts his wife until she seeks help from the local Dominicans, who interrogate the spirit about his place in the afterlife and provide him with their prayers of assistance.  "Sir Owain" is a romance about a 12th century English knight who travels through a mystical Irish cave to Purgatory.  "The Vision of Tundale" tells the story of a crooked merchant who has what moderns would call a near-death experience in which his guardian angel gives him a tour of the afterlife, a tale the Latin original of which may have helped inspire Dante.

The texts are presented in Middle English (although some are themselves translations of older poems), with marginal notes when the language is sufficiently different from Modern English that such help is likely to be necessary and longer notes at the end of each work to more fully explain difficult passages.  The result is a text which maximizes both readability and clarity, making the original works accessible without burying them in commentary or rewriting them entirely.