The Way of the Wise:Simple Truths for Living Well

 Shirley J.           Adult Non-Fiction      10 Principles to live your best life from the words of King Solomon

The Way of the Wise: Simple Truths for Living Well by Dr. Kevin Leman      160 pages

The world's wisest man, King Solomon, laid out a lot of information on how to live your best life and gave directions how to get there.   Dr. Kevin Leman lays out Solomon's way to a satisfying life, how to find your purpose, how to provide for your family, how to become that person you strive to become, how to get right with who you are and how to get to where you want to be.  The reader will find so much inspiration here and so many clearly explained principals on achieving your goals that you will wonder at how simple it is to achieve everything you want.   A short concise study that is much like a roadmap to where you spiritually want to be.  I recommend this book to middle schoolers on up.

Meet Cute Diary

 Shirley J.                 Young Adult Fiction                  Blogs, teen  transgender hook-ups

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee        416 pages

Noah Ramirez is a transgender teen who has the most sizzling blog all about his romantic meetings with guys too good to be true.   Wonderful, lavish romances - Noah gives so much advice on amour he has a huge following on his blog.  So many fans living their best life through Noah's romantic encounters.   Happy to know there are other people experiencing the same feelings they are and proving life can have happy outcomes.   Unfortunately, Noah's meet cutes aren't real, they are fantasies he is making up.   When he starts adding details that are a little too close to the truth and to home (talking about a guy he saw while out locally) and a troll starts calling Noah out calling him a fake Noah steps out to far with photos and elaborate details so much so that the local guy he is passing off as his latest boyfriend realizes it is him Noah is talking about.   The two have a meet up and surprises abound at where this story goes from there.   I recommend this one to highschoolers on up.   It is a be careful what you put in print tale.

Must Love Books

 Shirley J.             Adult Fiction                A young black woman's struggle to achieve status in the publishing world

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson     336 pages

This book goes through a black woman's career and the very real hurdles that are constantly thrown up in her path as she navigates trying to succeed in the publishing business.   She even at one time works for two different publishing after her primary job smacks her in the face with their latest b.s. they are cutting her salary.  It was already a struggle making her bills on the pittance they called a salary.  Not to mention her title was editorial assistant but her job entailed ordering lunches, picking up coffee, dealing with the bitchy clients the higher ups gave her to work with and cater to all their questions, demands and attitudes.  Her dream job seemed to be going up in smoke, scratch that she realized dream jobs do not exist they are just that dreams.  With salary cut, she couldn't afford her rent necessity being the mother of invention she starts moonlighting at a rival publisher.   And so what if she poaches some of her current publisher's clients, they shouldn't have cut her salary.   When a handsome best-selling author gets thrown into the mix and she and he hit it off and romance comes into the picture, her loyalties are tested.   Knowing him as she does, will she play him against the competing publishing houses?   It would make her look very good in the eyes of her supervisors and boost her career, but, on the other hand, she really does kind of love him.  Love or career?   Life is a bear.   I recommend this to teens on up - it is a good look at work and ethical dilemmas.    

Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More

 Shirley J.        Adult Non-Fiction  Management & Leadership               How to be your best in business       Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More by Morten T. Hansen    320 pages  

Mortenson and his team researched the answers of 5,000 people over nine years that led them to the seven principles of why some people just perform better in office situations and how they bring that about.  They developed seven principles that will lead to highly effective achievements on the job.   He also gives a nod to Stephen Covey and his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.   He talks about how to achieve that happy place of balance between being successful.   You can't stop learning, you can't stop reading combine your passion with purpose and learning.   Be selective in who you choose to work with.   Don't just accept who you are thrown in with.  Just like you pick your battles, pick your optimum work team.  Work to establish good work relationships with those who have a work ethic and vision as strong as yours and when you meet - go for the fight and unite approach.  Success does not equal working overtime and risking burnout.  Notice your colleagues that leave on time and do better than you do knocking yourself out and giving up the important things in life.  Don't believe the overachiever sterotype.   You can achieve the work-life balance.  Be selective.  Don't just prioritize carefully select what is worth your time, goals, ideas and collaborations.  DO LESS THEN OBSESS!  Choose your project the commit to producing high quality work on it.  Apply intense targeted effort.  Never stop learning.   Just because you love something doesn't mean you are good at it - YET.  You need value, satisfaction and well being.  Rethink your work to create the most value.  Regularly ask for feedback then fine tune what you do.  10,000 hours trying to learn something might not work for you.  Explore new ways of doing what you do even if it is the same thing everyday.  Keep improving your skills.  Are meetings really necessary?   Is it providing the highest value of everyone's time?  Think before organizing meetings.  People must feel allowed to speak their minds.   These are just some of the things you will learn from this book.   I recommend this to anyone interested in going into business, headed toward that first job, those burnout and those still working 60-90 hours a week and getting nowhere.  There is much knowledge and inspiration to be found here.  

  

   

Lute

 Shirley J.                                  Adult Fiction                          Pagan Ways vs. Modern Day

Lute by Jennifer Thorne         288 pages

This story very much reminds me of, "The Wicker Man," with its pagan past and customs still acknowledged by the folks in the modern day.  It takes place on the island of Lute where Lord Treadwell brings his wife, Nina to enjoy their life together but when Nina arrives she is introduced to a long celebrated pagan custom carried down through the centuries - every seven years, seven people die in order for the surving celebrants to continue enjoying prosperity.  Whaaaaaaaaat?   Reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's, "The Lottery," the sacrificial atonees may not have liked their role, but, when it is your turn....Excuse me?    O.K., they live well, they don't have any enemies though everyone seems to be fighting each other around them.   Life is pretty much utopia so the tithe must be paid to continue having such a wonderful life.   Nina thinks, "Seriously?"  She is in denial thinking it is just an old legend to keep the tourists at bay.  Or is it?    Interesting book that plays with lots of themes from previous works.  Well done in its own right.   I recommend this one to adults on up it might be too slow for teens.

Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth

Shirley J.                       Adult Biography                                  The life of Pamela Sue Anderson

Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth by Pamela Anderson          256 pages      

An in depth look at the life of Pamela Sue Anderson from her childhood growing up on Vancouver Island, Canada to her superstardom as Model, Baywatch Babe, Playboy Centerfold, wife to Rockstars Tommy Lee and later Kid Rock and star on Broadway, this book is an open and honest sharing of her life in Pamela's own words.    From her brutal loss of virginity at 12 years old to the broken relationships she continues to endure looking for that illusive love that is written about so seldom found.    A strong resilient woman who stands up for what she believes in and who has never been given the respect as the knowledgeable and worldly wise person she shares in the pages she  has written here.   A loving, devoted mother she is so much more than the celebrity personna the media portrays her as.    A very good book from a much maligned warrior.    I recommend this book to teenagers on up.  She shares many things here that teens go through and she tells what can happen when you are too trusting.                                             

 

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

 Shirley J.  Adult Historical Murder Mystery     Oil on Osage land, Osage deaths, FBI created to investigate mysterious circumstances, joint effort by FBI and Texas Rangers

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann    416 pages

The one lucky break the Osage got in life was when oil was found on the lands the white politicians had relegated them to.  Osage were rich, driving expensive cars, building mansions having massive amounts of cash and the white politicians and citizens in the area determined they were going to take it.  Suddenly the now rich Osage were being murdered, always mysteriously, poisoned, shot, etc.  and the whites were able to rush in and take over the murdered Osage's assets.    As Native American voices rose an investigation was finally launched and so began the office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the auspices of J. Edgar Hoover in partnership with the Texas Rangers who set up an undercover investigation team and turned up the facts and details of one of the most horrible events in recent American history.   Native Americans, history buffs, conspiracy theorists and all who read this book will find this tragedy to be a horrible reminder of man's unconscionable cruelty and greed driven prejudice to his fellow man.   These acts are beyond words to describe.   Mature teens on up will understand the level of hatred man can lower himself to.

A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans (Book 1 of 3: A Dragon's Guide)

 Shirley J.                 

A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans (Book 1 of 3: A Dragon's Guide) by Laurence Yep and Joanne Ryder    192 pages

A beautiful story.  I was so pleased with this book, it conjured up childhood memories of the stories and fairytales of old even though the story is set in modern day San Francisco.   Filled with the star - Miss Drake a tiara wearing dragon who after an adjustment period takes on the human girl Winnie to raise.  It is just a delightful story that young and old will love.   I look forward to continuing the story in book 2.   The book is filled with magical creatures, those that are visible and some posing in human form and those only visible to other magical beings.   So fun!    From listeners to senior citizens I think all will enjoy.

Like a Love Story

 

Shirley J.                  YA Fiction          Teenagers/Friends finding out who they are and who they love

Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian    432 pages                        

Being a teenager, being an Iranian teenager in the United States trying to assemble to life in a new country, a new culture and language and in a big city, New York,  while adjusting to a new stepfather and stepbrother was a lot.   Not to mention trying to reason how his feelings did not run to the American girl, Judy, who had taken him under her wing at the new school and who had begun giving off girlfriend vibes.  Reza was fond of Judy and appreciated her attention and friendship guiding him through this maze of newness he was dealing with, however, her best friend and the schools first openly gay teen, Art, was fascinating.  The complications of love and realizing who he truly wanted to be with puts Reza in a complicated love triangle, he is fond of Judy and doesn't want to break her heart but, he is captivated with Art and can't wait to kiss him and make his dreams come true.   The story deals with family relationships, Gay activisim, blended families, friendship and more.   A well told tale by Abdi Nazemian.   I recommend this to mature highschoolers on up.

Make Space for Happiness: How to Stop Attracting Clutter and Start Magnetizing the Life You Want

 Shirley J.                     Adult Non-Fiction         Finding the reason why we clutter our lives with "stuff"    

Make Space for Happiness: How to Stop Attracting Clutter and Start Magnetizing the Life You Want by Tracy McCubbin    224 pages

This book explores the reasons why some of us tend to cling to an overabundance of "stuff" in our lives when living with far less in our living spaces would make us so much happier.   It is a seven step program that gets at the root reasons we cling to "stuff," long after its raison d'etre/purpose has ceased to be meaningful to us, why do we continue to hang on to stuff like it is our child?   This book begins with the why we have it then explores many ways to say goodbye and mean it.   We often form relationships with our things for sentimental reasons, it was your mother's or a favorite Aunt passed it down, someone you long ago cared for gave it to you, you inherited it and it would feel disrespectful to get rid of it or I paid good money for this I am not going to toss it!  While all these reasons are valid they are also holding the reader in bondage!  Break free of allowing your stuff to hold you down and hold you back from the life you want instead of living piled up in the one you have created for yourself and yes, own it you did it to yourself reader now take Tracy McCubbin's verbal hand and allow her to help you climb out of that rubble stack and further your wonderful treasures on their journey to other loving places where they will be appreciated and treated like the true marvels they are instead of collecting dust in all the unloved places you have relegated them to because you are too overwhelmed to truly love them yourself anymore.   A good book by a good author.  I recommend this book to my fellow clutter bugs who form emotional attachments to our things to the point we need a little push from Tracy McCubbin to let go and live our best lives clutter-free!   

Fresh Air with Terry Gross: Just For Laughs

 Shirley J.          Adult Non-Fiction                    Interviews with 18 comedians on NPR's Fresh Air show

Fresh Air with Terry Gross: Just For Laughs by Terry Gross  145 pages

The wonderful interviewer, Terry Gross whose program, "Fresh Air," on NPR interviews 18 comedians asking all the right questions in her probing yet disarming way.   You can't not like Terry Gross she is the James Lipton of Public Radio.   I enjoy her program so much and catch it every time I can.   This collection of her interviews with 18 different comedians is delightful.   Steve Martin, Don Rickles, Joan Rivers, Mort Sahl, Tracy Morgan, Aziz Ansari, Woody Allen, Sarah Silverman, Sacha Cohen, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, George Carlin, Mike Judge, Billy West and more, a cavalcade of comedy getting to who these folks are, how they got to this point in their careers, including snippets of some of their routines.   I enjoyed this so much.   I recommend this to all fans of stand-up comedy and of Terry Gross, herself.  

The Answer Is...:Reflections on My Life

 Shirley J.      Adult Non-Fiction  Memoir            The life and times of famed game show host Alex Trebek

The Answer Is...:Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek      304 pages

Being a fan of the game show, "Jeopardy," (is there anyone who isn't?) I am also a fan of Alex Trebek who did a phenomenal job as host.    He is so iconic in fact he even did a cameo on the t.v. show, "Orange Is the New Black," which I loved and learned then Alex actually cusses!  Omgosh, he is human!  ; D   Alex shares in his book the story of growing up in Canada and how his amazing voice landed him several acting gigs throughout his career.   He talks about his family then and now, his marriages and all the good and bad he has endured over the years culminating in his being diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer which he shared with his many fans on the show.   When he saw the overwhelming response from fans who sent cards, letters and prayers, sharing how much a part of their families he was over the 30+ years of Jeopardy alone, he decided to put his gratitude and love for his admirers into book form to share more of his life and struggle with people who cared so much about him.   The book is a love letter to his fans and a formidable memory of a fine entertainer all the way to the end.   I recommend this book to adults especially to Alex Trebek and Jeopardy fans, you will not be disappointed.

  

Seeking Refuge

 

Shirley J.       Graphic Juvenile Novel        Child Refuges from Nazi Occupied Austria during WWII            Seeking Refuge by Irene N. Watts (Author) and Kathryn E. Shoemaker (Illustrator)    128 pages                  

Based on actual historical events of Jewish parents sending their children to other willing countries where their children could find safety and shelter from the occupying Nazi forces during World War II through the Kindertransport Program, this graphic novel tells the story of eleven year old, Marianne, whose parents send her from their home in Austria to safety with a willing foster family in England just prior to the beginning of the war.    Marianne arrives in December, 1938.   She is separated from her only friend from the train and is the last to be placed to a wealthy couple not especially pleased with the child they got.   Marianne is so lonely.   Her Dad escaped and is in hiding though he does manage to get the odd postcard to her to let her know he loves her and is thinking about her.   Her mother is trying very hard to get out of Austria and get a job with a family in England so that she can come and rescue her beloved daughter it is just that circumstances alter the timing of their reunion.    Marianne is treated harshly by the sponsor couple, more like a servant than a valued guest in their home.  The man never looks her in the eye and if he deems to address her at all it is usually from behind his newspaper or over her head and not at all in any respectful acknowledging way.   Then, too, there is the speech barrier.  Marianne's English is minimal and translation is hard to understand the varying meanings.  Confusion, hurt and sorrow are her companions with tears each night when she longs for her parents to save her.  An emotional book that will touch the reader's heart for the sad fate of the children though there is light at the end of the tunnel thank goodness!    A dark story for children but a real one.  I recommend it to elementary schoolers on up.   A sad story but a good one that teaches compassion for others.              

                                                               

                                            

Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years

Shirley J.       Adult Non-Fiction   Memoir    A continuance of the telling of Julia Andrew's life beginning with her years spent in Hollywood                                                                                                                

Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews     352 pages                                       

In her previous Memoir, "Home," Julie Andrews talked about her childhood, her singing and her stage career.   In Home Work she picks up the story with her arrival in Hollywood and her earliest films particularly, "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music."   She shares much insight into what it was like working with Dick Van Dyke and Christopher Plummer, Angela Cartwright, and the rest of the cast and crew on each movie set and what was going on in her life outside the film sets.   She shares the good times as well as the challenging ones.   She discusses growing older and the fun she has had in the making of the Eloise films playing Nanny where her beautiful voice was not featured as her character Nanny had a scratchy raspy voice.   She talks about working with Robert Preston in "Victor/Victoria" meeting, falling in love with and her marriage to Blake Edwards and their life together blending their family and working together with other celebrities throughout their till death did them part marriage.    She talks about her friendship with Carol Burnett and others in Hollywood, her comedy/variety show, her time on the stage and so many more adventures in her wonderful life.   She shares her life with such a charm that it is a captivating story.     I recommend this book to adults because I think adults will enjoy it more than children.                                                                                                                        

 

Voodoo River

 Shirley J.         Adult Fiction Mystery           Private Eye, Celebrity seeking to find identities of her biological parents

Voodoo River Book 5 of 19 in the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series by Robert Crais     323 pages

Excellent story of L.A. private eye, Elvis Cole who is hired by celebrity t.v. star, Jody Taylor, who was put up for adoption at birth and who wants to find out the identities of her biological parents.   Elvis Cole's search takes him to the bayou of Louisiana.   While some facts turn up pretty easy, Elvis is good at his job afterall, some things lead to others and there turns up to be a dark history with family secrets, murder and a lot of mayhem going on with several folks stirring the pot to find out the same info Elvis is looking for.   Seems there is more going on to this story than Elvis was lead to believe and no one is exactly who they seem to be nor are they above board nor sharing all they know.   I really enjoyed the many characters brought in, the story line is a very good one and I think anyone would enjoy this gem, though maybe I would recommend adults as it might be more enjoyable to the older crowd.  I want to know more about Elvis and his side kick Joe Pike.   I think I will go back and start with book one on these guys journey.     

UR

 Shirley J.             Adult Fiction Suspense                  Big promos for Amazon & Kindles, multi-universes and long dead authors continuing to write in those multi-universes.

UR by Stephen King 90 pages

Another fun look through the eyes of Stephen King, ie. what is he seeing now?  In which he comes up with a novella about a college instructor who teaches English and in that inimitable way King layers the character with attributes his readers can relate to, the guy has just gone through an emotional break-up, he is getting caught up in technology to distract himself, gets talked into ordering a kindle from amazon because his crazy ex-girlfriends hassles him with a biting remark about why he can't be like the rest of the world and read off a computer rather that actual tangible books?  It sticks.  He tries it.  The outcome of this dip into the new AI world for him is when accessing an app called UR he comes across the usual suspects in the literary world, Hemingway, Twain, Fitzgerald and thousands more, but, he also turns up obscure titles under each of the literary greats that he has never heard of before not only that, they prove to have been written long after the greats deaths.   He finds a whole new universe of accessible titles that he cannot fathom.   He brings in a close colleague and a trusted student to find out if he is missing something or being duped or has he somehow logged into a new dimension of unmitigated bibliophilia nirvana?    A fun ride as only Stephen King can bring twisting the multi-dimensional with reality then back again to the far side.   I recommend this one to young adults on up, I think younger audiences would not find it as interesting as older folks dipping into a tool they aren't quite as savvy at as the younger set.

Hello, Molly!: A Memoir

Shirley J.     Adult Non-Fiction  Memoir        The sky rocket ride of Molly Shannon's life  & career

Hello, Molly!: A Memoir by Molly Shannon   352 pages    

Such a fun read.   Molly Shannon has gone through some tough times in her life, her mother, aunt and baby sister were killed in a car wreck (Molly was also in the car) when Molly was 3 years old.   Her father was the alcoholic son of an alcoholic.  But given that horrific start, Molly grew up finding most things in life interesting even the time she got mugged during her first trip to New York after her audition for Saturday Night Live with Loren Michaels.    She has a unique view of life and the circumstances it brings.   An admitted shop lifter during her teen years, she shares the good, the bad, the unexpected and the hilarious about her life and career.   She held a few waitressing and bakery clerk jobs and met a number of one day big celebrities while serving them coffee,  Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell among them before she had the chance to actually work with them on Saturday Night Live.   She tells the background of how her famous "characters" developed, especially beloved, Mary Katherine Gallagher and how MKG became her alter ego and no matter what Molly said, MKG was a force of nature to be dealt with completely separate.   She had an onstage angel who would check the props, walls, etc. in the scenes where MKG would be appearing so that Molly never got hurt severely during any launches onto folding chairs, etc. during MKG scenes.   A delightful, sweet insider's view into the life a great comedienne.   I recommend this book to middle schoolers on up, especially to Molly and/or SNL or MKG fans.     It is a book full of smiles just like the person that is Molly Shannon.                     

 

Parachute Kids

Shirley J.                     Juvenile Graphic Novel            inspired by the author's parachute experience

Parachute Kids: A Graphic Novel by Betty C. Tang   288 pages                                                             

This story is based on the author's own experiences as a parachute child and teen.   It is an excellent story with lots of heartbreaking and genuinely scary moments that the 3 siblings are forced to undergo in trying to stay under the government's radar as they are undocumented aliens living in the U.S. (alone) in a home their parents bought for them to live in and attending school while their parents have to leave the country and go back to China until they can get new Visas approved and can come back to the U.S. to be with their children.   As the story starts there are friends living across the street that look after the kids, but, things dissolve rapidly when the father of that family is transferred to a different city through his job, the kids are left on their own in a country they are still not able to understand nor speak the language well, a dishonest group runs a scam on them bilking the oldest sister out of most all of the money their parents left for them to live on, the son gets in with a group of thugs, it is both heart wrenching following these kids along their journey with no adult guidance in a foreign land but there are sweet and funny times they share, too.  It definetly gives the reader a heart for the struggle these kids have to go through.   I recommend this book to middle-schoolers on up.        

 

Parachutes

 Shirley J.                YA Fiction                    The practice of wealthy Chinese parents "dropping' their children off in America with relatives, friends or families willing to take them in for money to get an education in the United States.

Parachutes by Kelly Yang    496 pages

When I read this book, this was the first time I had heard of this practice.  Since reading it I have learned that this is a pretty common practice and while it is not condoned by the U. S. Government, it still happens.   In this story, a rich Chinese woman feigning a B&B vacation with her daughter "drops" her daughter off with the struggling single mom and her over-achiever academic daughter who seem to be running the B&B but need the money and agree to take Claire under their wing.   Claire is distraught at the prospect of leaving her priviliged life to have to attend highschool in America, have to learn the language and have to live in adequate but meager conditions compared to home.  Claire finds there is actually a small group of other "parachutes" at the highschool and in the community she is now living in.  Dani De La Cruz, the daughter of the woman who took Claire in, is not amused with Claire's constant complaining and talk of all she had at home.   Dani is all about studying and trying to better the lives of her mother and herself through gaining a good education.   So much happens, and it is really a good story introducing the uninformed to a whole secret side of life going on that few are aware of.   I recommend this book to middle schoolers on up.

The Library Book

The Library Book by Susan Orlean 336 pages

 

I have loved libraries since I was a toddler, thanks to my mom.  Anything and everything you want to know can be found there, and it is staffed with helpful people who can help you find whatever you need.

 

I wasn’t sure what I was getting to when I picked up this book. I’m not sure what you’d call it other than nonfiction. Maybe investigative?  True Crime? A memoir? Or a really, really long essay? However, I was intrigued by the impetus behind the book: The 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library’s central branch, the largest library fire in American history. That fire destroyed or damaged more than one million books. It appeared to be arson, but in the days before security cameras, no one was ever convicted of setting the fire that almost burnt it to the ground.

 

In fact this is a book about the, still, need for libraries in our communities and how important they are as collectors of data. It’s also a history of the Los Angeles Public Library, its central branch and its seventy-three branches. This history is interrupted periodically by the fire, the focus centered on one individual who may have committed it and the public’s fascination, and eventual. boredom with the whole thing. There are many anecdotes about the various City Librarians through the years and what they brough to the system.

 

The fire aspects of the book, naturally, were the most interesting, especially given that there was one prime suspect, but whom could never be convicted.

 

Half the book was boring, and the other half was riveting.  Regardless, I’m glad I read this book and feel an even closer bond with my library because of it. Therefore, The Library Book receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Circus of Wonders

 Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal 368 pages

 

When Jasper Jupiter (not his real last name), was a child, he dreamed of someday being an important person that others admired. One of his favorite dreams was owning a circus. Toby, his younger, slower brother, shared his dream. It was what kept them sane during their stint in the Crimea War (1853-1856).

 

After their service, each man was haunted by what they had seen and done. They were especially disturbed by the accidental death of Jasper’s best friend. The brothers began to form their circus, travelling the United Kingdom in search of, what Jasper believed would set their show apart—human oddities. Victorian England was fascinated by the bearded lady, the trapeze artists, the lions, and other wild animals.

 

As they rambled along, they set their circus up in small towns, making a decent living. One evening, they discovered a young girl, Nell, swimming in the ocean. A shy youngster, Nell’s body was splotched with brown birthmarks. Jasper wants her for his show! He purchases Nell from her father for twenty pounds.

 

Jasper re-creates Nell as Nellie, Queen of the Sun and Moon. Thanks to Toby’s engineering skills, he creates a harness that allows Nellie to soar above the crowds. The crowds cheer and applaud, and Nellie Moon becomes the toast of London, even enticing Queen Victoria to attend the show. This was quite the feat as the Queen had not attended a public event since the death of Prince Albert in 1961.

 

But nothing lasts forever, and eventually Nellie Moon is no longer a star. As Jasper continues to look for new acts, disaster awaits.

 

I really enjoyed the novel. I have only begun to scratch the surface of this richly layered novel. It is an intricate tale of exploitation, human dignity and the right to self-determination. My issue with the novel is that when flashbacks to the Crimea war occurred, they were jarring and left me slightly confused for a few minutes. Therefore, Circus of Wonders receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

City of Bath

The City of Bath by Barry Cunliffe, 175 pages

Not to be confused with the seat of Steuben County, the city of Bath in Somerset has been occupied since the Romans built a public bath and temple over the hot springs in the first century AD.  Through the following millennia its fortunes rose and fell, becoming in turns home to a magnificent abbey, a site of royal coronations, a sleepy backwater, a fashionable (and later unfashionable) resort, a headquarters for the Royal Navy, and a tourist town.  It is its Georgian phase, as its 18th century magnificence turned increasingly shabby in the 19th, that it is best remembered today, largely through the novels of Jane Austen.

Barry Cunliffe surveys the material history of the city throughout its lifetime, charting the changing buildings and streets.  Those hoping for a history of the people are likely to be disappointed, for Cunliffe doesn't even waste much time with anecdotes about major figures.  Those who prefer unadorned facts, on the other hand, are likely to be pleased, although perhaps even they would appreciate a master map somewhere among the many fine illustrations.

The New New Rules: A Funny Look At How Everybody But Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass

 

Shirley J.                 Adult Non-Fiction                                                         Witty, Humorous Satire

The New New Rules: A Funny Look At How Everybody But Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass by Bill Maher     368 pages                                                                                                                                        

Hilarious!    Bill Maher lets everybody, every political party, many taboos and pretty much anything that comes to mind have it.   No one and nothing is spared.   Bill Maher gives his uncensored best, pulls no punches whatsoever and I laughed out loud so much at his insights into so many topics.   It is refreshing to get hit in the face with some real truths said in such direct laser like ways that will make you howl with laughter.   I did.     If political satire offends you, do not pick this book up.    If social commentary offends you don't pick this book up.    But if you like your humor to come fast and hard and appreciate the comedy of someone who calls it as he sees it you will love this book.   So funny.

                                                                                                                                                      

One Buck At A Time

 

Shirley J.   Adult Non-Fiction Biography      How Dollar Tree came to be a multi-billion dollar business

One Buck At A Time: An Insider's Account of How Dollar Tree Remade American Retail by Macon Brock      216 pages

I really enjoyed this book.   Macon Brock tells the story of his life, several long term employees and company heads, and relatives in relation to the history of how Dollar Tree came to be, how it became such a phenomenal success, the entire process of making the business a reality, the buying trips to find quality goods to be able to make a profit and still sell everything for only a dollar.  Of course, this book ends the story in 2015 and as those of us who love "The Dollar Store," know, they now offer a wider selection of varied priced items from $1.25 to $3.00 to $5.00, but, even so, it is still such a bargain!  It was a surprise when prices went from $1.00 to $1.25 but after all the years they had been in business and with the nightmare getting their merchandise in after Covid slowed the world market down and made many items scarce, $1.25 wasn't such a bad things.   Naturally $1.00 was wonderful, but, $1.25 isn't so much more.   It is still worth it.   I do have to go in knowing some things cost more, but, they are generally marked so you know either on the package or on the door of the frozen or refrigerated foods, etc.    It was such an enjoyable read learning Macon Brock's story and how he and his wife met and married, she being the daughter of the owner of several businesses, much real estate and a very successful toy empire K & K toys.  (Not KB Toys - they were competitors.)   K & K toys is where Macon began working for his father-in-law and with his brothers-in-law and things just took off from there, with him eventually becoming CEO over what is today known as Dollar Tree.  Macon stepped over not down from being CEO to give the reins to a man he brought in and taught the Dollar Tree way.  That man increased sales and stores and efficiency and technology and to this day, the business just keeps growing.  Macon at the end of the book is in the Chairman of the Board position so he still keeps a hand in the business while letting new blood run the operation.   Such a good read.  I highly recommend it to anyone interested in business, in entrepreneurship, in doing a paper on a successful business, it's practices and how to do things right.   Well done, Macon Brock.   I hope your successor fills us in from 2015 to now.

The Magic of Found Objects

 

Shirley J.         Adult Fiction              Woodstock,  Settling, New Age Logic

The Magic of Found Objects: A Novel by Maddie Dawson    365 pages      

Phronsie Linnelle was born out of a found temporary relationship formed at Woodstock.   Her mother a blithe hippie spirit and her father on his last hoorah before marrying his hometown sweetheart.   That didn't happen, at least not then.   After Woodstock and her Mom getting pregnant there, Phronsie's father married her mother, bringing her to his home town to his parent' house to try and make a go of it.  Slap in the face to his hometown sweetheart and no way for Phronsie's mom to make friends in town, whose inhabitants saw her as a harlot who sirened Phronsie's Dad away from their local girl.   After a couple of years of dealing with being ostracized and finding out that her husband was a born to the sod farmer with major anger issues and no sense of fun nor obviously any interest in being much of a lover. Like the wind her mother decided it was time to blow in a new direction.   She left taking Phronsie and her brother with her and makes a new life for all of them, however, Papa Bear with the bad temper is not going to stand for that.   His overbearing personality, his threats and anger eventually causes Phronsie's mom to break and she lets him take the kids, who naturally feel abandoned.   Over the years they come to hate their mom for bailing on them.   She never visits.   She broke her promise to come get them.   She doesn't even call.    Every birthday and Christmas goes by without a word.   Of course later they find out their Dad destroyed her letters and gifts.   Wouldn't let her visit nor talk to the kids.  She being a hippie type didn't have the funds to legally fight him for custody.    Of course the kids don't know any of this.   They grow up and Phronsie particularly has a hard time with relationships.   So much so that she and her best male friend come to an agreement that since neither of them can find a decent romantic relationship they will just marry each other and instead of love they will have friendship and do better than their friends whose "love" relationships are mostly ending in divorce.  But is that really going to work?    In theory, yeah, but Phronsie feels like there should be more, shouldn't there?   They make great friends, but, there is no spark between them.    Seems like something major is missing here.   And now that they are engaged they don't even seem like they are friends like they used to be.        I recommend this to young adults.    A cautionary tale that friends don't always make the best bed fellows.                                                                                                                                                  

Chiang Kai-Shek

Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost by Jonathon Fenby, 505 pages

Chiang Kai-Shek rose from humble beginnings to rule over the most populous nation in the world.  In his time he fought Chinese warlords, Communists, and the army of Imperial Japan.  He was a general who throughout his career lost more battles than he won, but only in his war with Mao Tse-Tung was he irrevocably defeated.  For the remainder of his life he plotted his return, and even in death his body remains unburied, awaiting a final rest in a restored Kuomintang China.

In his biography, Jonathan Fenby has attempted to tell the story of Chiang's rise and fall, ending with the retreat to Taiwan.  He does so passably, providing a broad, readable biography without much depth or special insight.  The real matter is implied in the second half of the subtitle.  In Fenby's estimation, it was Chiang Kai-Shek who lost China, and no one else, certainly not the American and British allies who demanded Chiang support their goals and worldview.  How he could have saved it is another matter, and here Fenby only offers some weak gestures in the direction of a Western-style liberalism that he acknowledges would have likely accelerated the disintegration of the Kuomintang government.  For some readers, the dogmatic insistence that China had to Westernize, with the only choice being between liberal "reforms" and Marxist revolution, will only sharpen the poignancy of the tale.

May Totals

 In May, four people read 27 books with a total of 7,249 pages.  Shirley was the winner with 21 books and 4,786 pages.

Good Fortune

 

Good Fortune by C. K. Chau

416 pp

Elizabeth Chen and her sisters Jane, Lydia, Mary, and Kitty live in New York City's Chinatown.  Their mother is a real estate agent and their father runs a restaurant.  Elizabeth's mother sells their beloved community center to a company who plans to change a lot about it.  The two investors are Brendan Lee (the equivalent of Mr. Bingley) and Darcy Wong (the Darcy character).  What ensues is very similar to the novel "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen but with modern twists.  Jane falls in love with Brendan Lee.  His sister and Darcy Wong try to keep him away from her.  Elizabeth and Darcy have sparks, but Darcy's prejudice and Elizabeth's pride get in the way.  In the background is the fear that the buyers will change the community center so much it will no longer work for the people in the neighborhood.  Mr. Collins is part of the book and is not someone there to inherit their father's wealth, but instead works for Catherine  de Bourgh and offers Elizabeth (who is unemployed) a job.  She does not want to take it, but her friend Charlotte does.  Eventually, Elizabeth goes to visit Charlotte.  There she meets Catherine De Bourgh, her daughter, Darcy's sister, etc.  The pride and prejudice eventually get overthrown and Elizabeth and Darcy fall in love.  There are several modernizations, but the basic story line is still there and sometimes gets in the way.

I love Jane Austen, but didn't feel like this kept the spirit while becoming something new.  As a former English major, I may be too picky.  I give the book 3 of 5 stars,

Storm of Steel

Storm of Steel: from the Diary of a German Storm-troop Officer on the Western Front by Ernst Junger, translated by Basil Creighton, 284 pages

Ernst Junger served in the German army, first as an enlisted man and later as an officer, throughout the First World War.  After the war, he published his diaries in book form, although he would revise the collection many times over the course of the following decades.  This is the first English translation, published in the fateful year of 1929.  Remarkably literary for a diary - even allowing for editing and revision by both author and translator - it is an open window to the legendary horrors - and lesser known heroics - of the Western Front.

The inevitable comparison is to All Quiet on the Western Front, but while that more famous work is a novel based on experience, this is an immediate, literal account.  Unlike Remarque, Junger does not end in despair but moves through it, or, as he says of one veteran early on, "One could see that the man had been through horror to the limit of despair and there had learned to despise it."  Like Remarque (and Henry Adams), Junger is brought face to face with the indifferent power of the inanimate world, but he casts the confrontation as a call to heroism, "It is in such moments that the human spirit triumphs over the mightiest demonstrations of material force."  The war leads him, not to nihilism, but to a renewed sense of collective purpose, "We stand in the memory of the dead who are holy to us, and we believe ourselves intrusted with the true and spiritual welfare of our people." 

Girl In Ice

 

Girl In Ice by Erica Ferencik 320 pages

 

As the heat turns up in St. Louis, I always try to find a book that is set somewhere cold. Well, you can’t get much colder than the research facility, Tarrarmiut Artic Science Station, off the coast of Greenland. The temperature and wind chill are so cold, they don’t register on thermometers. There are five other people living and working there, well at least until five months ago.

 

That is when Andy Chesterfield walked outside in the middle of the night in nothing but his boxers and froze to death. How could that have happened? His twin sister, linguist professor Val, is skeptical,

 

Val, an expert in dead Nordic languages, receives an email from the lead scientist, Wyatt, to the research station asking her to come and help him identify the unknown language a girl found frozen beneath the frozen landscape speaks. Unfortunately, Val (as had Andy) suffers from crippling anxiety that prevents her from hopping on the next plane bound for Greenland. It takes her ninety-nine-year-old father and a large dose of her anxiety pills to convince her to help Wyatt and search for indications that Andy did not kill himself.

 

Wyatt, Andy and the two other scientists believe the girl they found and slowly, slowly, slowly thawing out is about seven hundred years old. How she got there and how she is as much a mystery as her guttural speech.

 

When the girl thaws out, she is alive. Scared and confused, the young girl lashes out at anyone who comes near her. After the thaw, Wyatt insists that Val be the only one to have contact with her. The two develop a bond, and Val learns that her name is Sigrid. But that is the only word Val can understand. Sigrid speaks in a language Val has never heard.

 

Val does get Sigrid to draw pictures, but she draws the same scene over and over. No one can figure out what they mean. But Val is about to find out. When Sigrid gets sick, no one at the facility knows what is wrong? Could it be the food they eat? Could she be dying?

 

Ferencik draws beautiful pictures of the landscape, so cold and so beautiful I needed a sweater in the 90+ degree weather. The tension throughout the story runs high and low. Girl In Ice receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Night Travelers

The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa 368 pages

 

This is the story of four generations of women that spans from 1931 and 2015. It covers the majority of the major world events yet stays focused on these four women.

 

First is Ally, a published poet with a bright future, in 1931 Berlin. White Ally is dating /living with the Marcus, a Black musician. The novel opens on the night their daughter, Lilith, is born into a world demanding racial purity. Marcus is long-gone, fleeing from Hitler’s madness. In order to hide Lilith, Ally only takes her out at night, when there are fewer people out to discover Lilith’s heritage. Ally continues to write and composes a poem just for her daughter.

 

As Lilith reaches school age, Ally understands she must send her away. She obtains false papers and sends the girl to Havana with an older Jewish couple who are also fleeing Germany. Ally tucks the poem into her travel bag. Lilith becomes their adopted daughter.

 

Lilith, now an adult, has few memories of her mother. The poem, “The Night Travelers,” is her most prized possession. Her husband, Martin, is a close associate to the Batista Government. To them is born a daughter. As the Cuban Revolution begins to take shape, The family is in constant danger. Martin refuses to leave the country, and Lilith vows to stay by his side. While they are willing to face the consequences, they will not put their newborn daughter, Nadine, in any more danger. Lilith arranges for her daughter to be sent to America and raised there. Natalie sends her treasured poem with her daughter out of fear of what could happen to her and Martin.

 

Nadine is raised by a Catholic couple with the belief that her parents are dead. Life seems simple and easy going for Nadine. She meets wonderful boy, they fall in love, marry, and have a daughter they name Luna. When Nadine’s mother-in-law is accused of Nazi war crimes and is returned to Berlin.

 

Nadine becomes a well-respected scientist in Germany. But as Luna grows, she develops a fervent desire to writer, much like her great-grandmother Ally. Luna also wants to know more about her family’s past. Researching her family’s history doesn’t come without consequences. She learns things that she cannot unlearn.

Excellent writing makes The Night Travelers a book to be read slowly and enjoyed. However, given what is happening in the world around them, readers won’t be able to put down their story. It did drag in a few places, but once author Correa got back on track, the tension increased. The Night Travelers receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century

Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century by Peter Graham, 325 pages

On a sunny winter day in 1954, Honorah Rieper went for a walk in a park in her hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, with her teenage daughter, Pauline, and her daughter's close friend, Juliet Hulme.  A short distance down the path, the two girls began taking turns bludgeoning the older woman with a brick wrapped in a stocking.  When the stocking broke, they used the bare brick to finish her off.  They then ran up the path and sought help, claiming Honorah had fallen and struck her head on a stone.  Even the first person to reach the body knew this was a lie, but the truth took longer to ascertain, and may never be fully known.  What could possibly have motivated two girls, particularly intelligent girls of seemingly good families and decent upbringing, to have committed such a bloody and unnatural crime?

The question remains open to this day.  The simple answer is that Juliet was being sent by her family to South Africa, and the Hulmes had allowed the girls to believe that the only obstacle to Pauline joining her was her mother's permission, which she refused to give (as the Hulmes knew she would).  The girls therefore decided to remove this obstacle to their happiness.  How the girls were able to coldly plot matricide, and why they believed that they would get away with it, is the complicated part, involving matters of sin and madness.  Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century is Peter Graham's attempt to unravel some of the threads of the case, following its consequences even fifty years later, including the Peter Jackson film Heavenly Creatures and the career of Juliet Hulme as a world famous mystery novelist.  Graham does a remarkably solid job, drawing upon a wide array of sources while generally refraining from unwarranted speculation and avoiding sympathizing too much with his subjects.