The Lost Continent

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson              Audio Book:  2 hours, 20 minutes     Hardback:  314 Pages              

Bill Bryson is a gifted author.    I like his writing a lot, however, having said that, I also have to say, the man gets pretty catty in this one.    He is as cynical about America and extremely haughty about his belief that the English culture is so much better and so much smarter as was Charles Dickens on his tour of America in 1842.     Bryon grew up in Des Moines, Iowa,  and while there are funny moments in this story of his road trip through (mostly) rural America, he spits venom with such complete disdain, I can’t imagine why he hasn’t left America for good and cut all ties.   Hmmm, must be the money he makes as a writer, here, huh?     I guess, his attitude is he thinks he is being comical and sometimes he is, but, most times he is just mean spirited and saying cruel things about everywhere and everyone American.  He doesn’t seem to think anyone is a brilliant as he is and his writings wreak of a narcissistic disorder in that he comes across self-absorbed, overly self-important doesn’t really seem to have any empathy for others and he seems to feel that his opinions are the only ones that are worthy – uh, Mr. Bryson, perhaps you missed that adage about, “Opinions being like sphincters (I cleaned that up) – everyone has one.”     He does value his English wife which is good, one should love their spouse and hold them dear, but, he always emphasizes she is English.    He has since moved to England and has dual citizenship, I cannot imagine openly  belittling one’s own country and culture so badly and praising another culture and country so much that they would have anything at all to do with the former.   He seems to use Americans and America for fodder for his often harsh remarks, especially in this book.    So, while funny at times, he is a bit abrasive in this book.    He does tend to hold that attitude in the previous book I read by him, too.   Poor lad, he should have come up in Oxford.  J

The Disenchantments

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour, 308 pages

I'm not sure I should be allowed read books like this. For the first 1/3 or so, it has this all-too-familiar feeling, where main character Colby is in a fight with a friend - someone that he cares about too much to leave or do anything against - and thus is left with only one option: batten down the hatches and pout. It may sound like I'm making fun of him, but I'm actually so familiar with the tactic (and the book is written well enough) that it basically transferred that mood, that feeling, to me. I was reading the book, pouting on Colby's behalf, as though I were the one in an argument with no leverage. That's a strong statement, when a book makes you empathize that way.

The characters all start as disheartening band-on-a-roadtrip stereotypes, but break out of them pretty quickly, and all but shatter those stereotypes by the end. There are a few too many instances of "sage characters with a lesson to impart," and the last chapter or so feels like it can't decide if it's gotten its message across, so it keeps throwing out "profound statements" hoping one sticks. But everything in the B section of this A-B-A journey is intelligent and emotionally resonant, and most of the As aren't bad either.

The characters are great (one of the side characters in particular is great enough I wish I could discuss them here), and their motivations and reactions are believable. In the end, this is the kind of book that makes you believe in the goodness of people, without coming across as sappy or patronizing. A wonderful read with a few small hiccups.

The Pull of the Moon

The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg  193 pages

Elizabeth Berg has written a total of 24 books. The Pull of the Moon was her fourth. With a couple of nonfiction titles here and there, she mostly writes contemporary fiction for women.

Nan and her husband, Martin, are well-off, some would say rich, and their daughter has gone off to college. But as Nan turns 50-years old, something is missing. It’s more than that her periods have stopped. She feels as if life as passed her by.

Leaving a note off Martin, she takes off on a road trip. Following wherever the road takes her, she drifts along, trying to sort out what she truly feels. Every day, as promised, she send a letter to Martin to let him know that she is safe.

I like the way this book is written. It opens with her first letter to Martin, then is followed by her diary entries (it’s not stream of consciousness). The reader never hears from Martin. This is only Nan’s story.

Personally I thought the plot was a silly. There’s not much of a story arc and, for me, no reason, to turn the page. Yet I read every one of them, hoping to some real insight. Nan might have fit the stereotypical 1950s woman, but in 2014, it misses the mark.

I give The Pull of the Moon 3 out of 5 stars.

One Plus One

One Plus One by JoJo Moyes
368 Pages


Let me begin with a confession... I like chick lit.  I don't know if we are still calling it that but I liked the Bridget Jones and Sex In the City books as well as movies like Pretty Woman.  While critics say it is about covers with shoes, I think it is more about women, and sometimes men, coming to a realization or growth that leaves their lives better.  In short, books with happy endings.

One plus One falls squarely in this description.  A single mom, 2 kids, a farting dog and a stranger all come together for a road trip that leaves all their lives changed.  The characters are engaging and the story fun to read.  Literature? No, but all books don't have to be literature, some just have to entertain.

Tantric Coconuts

Tantric Coconuts by Greg Kincaid     70 of 304 pages       

I’ve enjoyed Greg Kincaid’s previous three novels (A Dog Named Christmas, Christmas with Tucker, and A Christmas Home) so I was excited to see that he had a new book coming out.

In rural Kansas, Ted Day is a divorced, workaholic lawyer. One of his grandfather’s last wishes was that he take a vacation. One of the things that Grandpa left him was an old silver and black Winnebago 32RQ Chieftain. After Grandpa’s funeral, he packs with the RV and his dog, Argo, and sets out.

At the same time on the Lakota Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, free spirit Angel Two Sparrow is trying to figure out what to do next. She wants to become a Native-American Spiritual Consultant. Exactly how she’s going to do this is shady, but she has a business plan.  Her aunt Lilly gave her Bertha the Bookmobile, equally as decrepit as Ted’s Winnebago that she had converted into her home. Now that Aunt Lilly was in Pierre at the South Dakota Women’s Prison and no longer needs Bertha, Angel decides that she will go in search of clients for her new business. She paints her business card on one side and on the other side, her logo.  She loads up with supplies and Aunt Lilly’s half-wolf/half-dog, No Barks, and sets out.

Somewhere in New Mexico in front of the Perfect Prairie RV Park, the two vehicles collide. Literally.

Cute, huh?  The back cover copy promises a “quirky spiritual journey.” I like spiritual journeys; I was thinking Joan Brady’s God on a Harley and its sequel Joyride. But that’s as far as it goes.

By the time I got to page 70, where I gave up, the Ted and Angel were caricatures of a thousand characters before them. I felt like I was being preached at after Ted decided he want to give Angel’s way a try, and I was bored. To me there was no reason to turn the page; no compelling plot line, no wondering what’s going to happen next. PLUS what really closed the book for me was the footnotes.

Sorry, Greg, you missed the boat on this one. I give this book one out of five stars.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.