The Winter Station

Title:  The Winter Station

Author:  Jody Shields

Publication Information:  Little, Brown and Company. 2018. 352 pages.

ISBN:  0316385344 / 978-0316385343

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "When Andreev said two bodies had been discovered outside the Kharbin train station, the Baron had an image of the dead men sprawled against snow, frozen in positions their bodies couldn't hold in life."

Favorite Quote:  "People can be reassured by a tone of voice. By a touch. A gesture. Even if the voice and gestures are false, the innocent person meets the liar halfway to complete the lie. It's a partnership."

The setting and the unusual-for-me theme are my reasons for reading this book. The setting is a Russian-ruled city of Kharbin, a major railway outpost in Northern China. The theme is an outbreak of the plague!

Researching the city, I learn that this story has an actual historical basis. The city of Harbin in the Heilongiang province was founded in the 1800s with the coming of the railways. It played a key role in the Russo-Japanese War in the early 1900s. Following the war, the city drew a diverse international population as a gateway into northeastern China. In 1910, the railway brought an outbreak of the pneumonic plague to the city. In a period of under a year, over 1,500 city residents - about five percent of the city population - died as a result. Ultimately, the plague claimed over 60,000 victims though Manchuria and Mongolia!

This story takes place in the fall of 1910 as the first victims are discovered. A lot of factors come into play as to what happens next. This region experiences bitterly cold winters; the cold and dark winter add an additional somber note to an already dark story. The city is depicted as a Russian-controlled, Chinese city. Cultural overlaps and differences add both additional complexities and conflicts as not everyone is respectful of the knowledge each culture has to lend to a solution. Different medical practises suggest different possibilities. Some are open to that; some are not. "We need all types of knowledge. Why not expand our circle of information?"

The history is fascinating. This book once again reaffirms the role historical fiction plays in introducing me to history I don't know. I find myself reading about the city and about the outbreak of the plague and about cultural interactions in the region. I end up spending more time with the history than the story itself.

The story as told in the book is less interesting - compelling in the intensity of the situation but less interesting to read. The narrator is the Baron, a Russian aristocrat and Medical Commissioner in the City. Through his eyes, the situation unfolds. Through his eyes, the reader also gets a glimpse of the culture and his respect for all the traditions he encounters. I love that respect.

That descriptive note though becomes the heart of the book. Nothing much happens in the plot itself. The book is slow-paced and sometimes seemingly repetitive. The plot essentially is the fear of contracting the plague and the desire to work to bring dignity to those who do suffer and to contain and stop the outbreak. This seems to repeat in a loop with different characters and in different social settings.

That is followed by what I feel is an abrupt and unexpected ending. I find myself turning the page to see if there is more, but there is not. The book has an ending, but no conclusion which leaves me unsatisfied as a reader. History tells us there was a conclusion; the book does not quite get there.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Shape of Bones

Title:  The Shape of Bones

Author:  Daniel Galera (author). Alison Entrekin (translator)

Publication Information:  Penguin Press. 2017. 240 pages.

ISBN:  1594205485 / 978-1594205484

Book Source:  I received this book through the Penguin First to Read program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "No terrain is impossible for the Urban Cyclist."

Favorite Quote:  "Little by little, through small actions of the sort, maybe it was possible to gradually become someone else, someone not as quiet, who was able to incorporate into the plot of his own life the exquisite violence of comics, the virility and magnetism of his favorite movie heroes, the rugged ease of the actions and words of someone ... who embodied like no one else some kind of obscure idea to which Hermano aspired."

The book description, if you notice, very carefully names no characters. That is both the foundation and the confusion of this story. The story is told in different time periods. The book begins on a young man in his childhood neighborhood. He is risk taker and a thrill seeker, navigating the world of "urban cycling" and his world of friends, bullies, girls, dares, and a childhood in the neighborhood streets of Port Alegre.

Next we meet a man - a surgeon, a husband, a friend, and a father. He too is a risk taker and a thrill seeker. He is contemplating a mountain climbing expedition with his best friend; their proposed challenge is one of the least explored and most dangerous climbing destinations. He seems to have a lot going for him in life - family, friendship, and career. Yet, something is amiss, and he is constantly seeking.

The book moves back and forth between past and present at the beginning with no connection drawn between the two. The names, places, and relationships are confusing. It is also hard to determine which people and places to pay attention to because it's unclear who and what will come up again in a different time period later in the story. The focus in the reading becomes keeping the story straight.

Finally, I realize the connection without it being explained and then can focus on the crux of the story. Do we ever outgrow, escape, get over, move forward from the scars on our childhood? The answer, I hope, is yes. Those scars become a part of who we are, but hopefully, so do other things. This book is about a man who is defined by a childhood moment. Now, decades later, he may be a father himself, but that moment still holds him captive.

Understanding this connection helps connect some of the dots. The relationship between past and present becomes clear. The mountain climb becomes a metaphor for the recklessness of his youth and  his constant struggle to overcome his past. To some extent, though, this connection comes a little late. Once I understand, I almost want to start the book over with this new knowledge. I don't because in the focus to figure out the connections, I am not invested enough in the characters to begin again.

After that point, though, the book settles into the story. The present becomes more prominent, and the past becomes the key to unlocking this man's present day decisions.  The secret of the past reminds me of the story of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. That book, however, had an intensity and emotion that does not quite come through in this book.

The power of this book is in the last few chapters where this intensity and emotion does start to build, and where the secret moment of the past is finally revealed. Will the book end with hopelessness or with hope of finally moving forward? Will the man find absolution in his visit to the past? Read and and find out.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Devil in a Blue Dress

Title:  Devil in a Blue Dress

Author:  Walter Mosley

Publication Information:  WW Norton. 1990. 224 pages.

ISBN:  0393028542 / 978-0393028546

Book Source:  I read this book for a book discussion at my local library.

Opening Sentence:  "I was surprised to see a white man walk into Joppy's bar."

Favorite Quote:  "I never minded that those white boys hated me, but if they didn't respect me I was ready to fight."

Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is down on his luck and at risk for losing his house. He has been laid off and needs money to make his mortgage payment.  In 1940s Los Angeles, jobs and opportunities for a middle-aged black man are hard to come by. A friend, Joppy, recommends him for a job to a rich customer with some questionable businesses, but the money is ready and available. So, Easy signs on.

The job sounds simple enough - find a young woman for a man and don't ask too many questions. Of course, a beautiful girl with a shadowed past is at the heart of the mystery, and, of course, things are never that simple. Thefts, affairs, deceptions, double crosses, and murders abound as Easy winds his way through this mystery and through all the characters who are involved. Each turn of the page reveals a new twist or connection.

I find the story itself difficult to follow and remain engaged in, partially because of the number of characters and partially because of the lack of any likable characters. Easy Rawlins is not a particularly likable protagonist. He is surrounded by some unsavory characters - a whole lot of them. The characters and relationships intertwine and overlap. At times, I find myself a little lost as to who's who and what the character's role in the book in.

The physical descriptions, whether of violence or human relationships, are not for me either. The descriptions do create a dark, gritty atmosphere for the novel, but that is about all. This may be typical of the hard-boiled noir crime story, but it is not for me.

As much as the book is a mystery, it is also a social commentary on race relations, prejudices, and bigotry in 1940s Los Angeles. Interestingly, the prejudices work in both directions - white vs. black and black vs. white. For me, this could have been by far the most intriguing aspect of the book. Unfortunately, the language of the book really gets in my way. Because of the frequent use of "white boy..." and "n_______," I end up focused on the language not the ideas being expressed. I am, however, left with the realization that, in this regard, the book is current and relevant even today. The language may have changed, but the underlying prejudices sadly remain.

In addition, I find the writing of the book rather difficult to read. Much of the story is told through dialogue, and the dialogue represents the vernacular of the time, the place, and the lifestyle of the characters. The contractions, the dropped letters, and the grammar all go along with the environment the book establishes. I just find it difficult to navigate an entire book of such written dialogue; perhaps, that very aspect may prove wonderful as a audiobook.

This book launched an entire series of Easy Rawlins mysteries. It won awards upon publication and, in 1995, led to a movie adaptation. In other words, the book and the series has its following. As such, this book is a prime example why I love being involved in book groups. I don't think I would have read this book except for this discussion group. Even though this is not really the book for me (or rather I am not the reader for this book), I enjoyed the opportunity to read something so completely different than what I normally read.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

A Walk in the Woods

Title:  A Walk in the Woods

Author:  Bill Bryson

Publication Information:  Seal Books. 1998 (original). 2015 (movie tie-in edition). 416 pages.

ISBN:  1400026717 / 978-1400026715

Book Source:  I received this book through a publisher's giveaway free of cost in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Blogging for Books.

Opening Sentence:  "Not long after I moved with my family to a small town in New Hampshire I happened upon a path that vanished into a wood on the edge of town."

Favorite Quote:  "In America, alas, beauty has become something you drive to, and nature an either/or proposition - either you ruthlessly subjugate it ... or you deify it, treat it as something holy and remote, a thing apart ... Seldom would it occur to anyone on either side that people and nature could coexist to their mutual benefit..."

Two older curmudgeonly men, who have not seen each other in years, decide to go for a walk. Not just any walk, but a trek to hike the Appalachian Trail. Why? Because they can. Bill Bryson is the instigator. In moving to New Hampshire, his interest is piqued in the proximity of the Appalachian Trail. He decides to hike it. It'll be something to do. It'll get him moving and active again. Ultimately why ... because, well, why not?

He now needs a partner. He tries amongst his friends and family, and gets no interest or inclination except for one person. The only person interested is Stephen Katz. Katz and Bryson grew up together and were even traveling companions on a European adventure. However, at this point, they have seen each other a handful of times in the twenty five years that have come before. "We had remained friends in a kind of theoretical sense."

So, now, you have a man who has never attempted such a trek setting out to hike the Appalachian Trail. You have him deciding to go on this adventure with a man he has barely seen in years, a man who may or may not be in any physical condition to undertake this quest. You have, of course, the many wonders and dangers of the almost 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail. You have the people (dare I say characters?) they meet along the way. This becomes the setup for this book of comedic adventure and history.

A large part of this book is a history and naturalist lesson into the Appalachian Trail. This aspect ranges in scale from the grand beauty of the trail to descriptions of the smallest of creatures like the salamander and the fresh-water mussels. The facts are interesting although the tone at times is a little didactic. The descriptions are just that; they don't necessarily inspire a feeling of witnessing these things on the trail alongside these men. Alongside the descriptions is a clear condemnation of things that may be slowly destroying this natural habitat and its inhabitants. "The National Park Service actually has something of a tradition of making things extinct." Statements such as these clearly express the author's opinions and focus on a need for change.

The other part of this book is the interaction between the two men, the people the meet, and a running commentary on anything and everything. From this perspective, the tone of the book is at times funny and at times a little-self serving and unkind. Poking fun at oneself can be funny for we all see a lit bit of ourselves in that humor. We can relate, and it is healthy to be able to laugh at yourself. I find poking fun at others - especially one person at a time - less funny and, often times, not funny at all. It depends on the context and the perceived tone. For this book, this does not work for me.

This book is part travelogue, part comedy, and part monologue. It is at times informative, at times unkind, and at times funny. It is a personal journey, a social commentary, and a call to action. Overall, my reaction is as diverse as the book itself. Parts I could skip over and parts I really enjoyed.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Rituals of Dinner

Title:  The Rituals of Dinner

Author:  Margaret Visser

Publication Information:  Open Road Integrated Media (reprint). 1991 (original). 432 pages.

ISBN:  0802111165 / 978-1504011693

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Table manners are as old as human society itself, the reason being that no human society can exist without them."

Favorite Quote:  "Table manners are social agreements; they are devised precisely because violence could so easily erupt at dinner. Eating is aggressive by nature, and the implements required for it could quickly become weapons; table manners are, most basically, a system of taboos designed to ensure that violence remains out of the question."

Margaret Visser begins this book with cannibalism and ends with a discussion of rudeness. In between, she packs in volumes of information on "the origins, evolution, eccentricities, and meaning of table manners." The book is an anthropological study of how we eat.

The introduction does a great job of introducing the structure of the book:

• Basic principles of eating that seem to exist the world over
• How children are taught to eat
• Process through a dinner party from invitation through execution
• Process of eating itself including aspects such as hygiene, tableware, and service
• Etiquette and definition of rudeness during dinner

Interestingly, the one thing about dinner this book does not address is what we eat. This book is all about the how. Also, interestingly, the one thing about eating together this book does not address is the emotional implications. This book remains focused on the how; for example, it address how a child may learn to eat a food but not how as an adult, the food may conjure up vivid childhood memories.

This book is strictly fact driven with each section including example after example from both modern and ancient civilizations of the rituals, customs, and traditions of how we eat. For example, why did cannibalism exist and why is now a rarity? How does what we learn as children about "appropriate" behavior often carry throughout our lives? Did you know that the world invite perhaps originates in two Sanskrit words meaning "towards pleasant" or perhaps originates from the Latin word meaning "unwilling"? (For some dinner parties, both may apply, right?) Did you know that anthropologists have identified 132 main ways of sitting? Did you know that forks became prevalent first in Italy and Spain? Did you know that almost every country in Europe has its own way of placing silverware on a plate to indicate that the diner has finished eating?

The book is quite an extensive compilation. The lengthy references and bibliography at the end point to the depth of research conducted to compile this book. The best and the worst aspect of the book is that it is full of trivia - a lot of trivia. From culture to culture. From tradition to tradition. The individual items about why we behave in a certain manner and why certain rituals exist are fascinating, but put together, it makes for slow reading.

Perhaps, reading the book end to end is the not correct approach. I need time to absorb the information as it is read in small bits. Reading the book in bits also allows better understanding of the themes being developed rather than focusing on example after example and perhaps "missing the forest for the trees."

The breadth and depth of information covered also indicates that this is not the book for a reader with a casual interest in the topic. The author pulls elements from anthropology, history, sociology, and psychology to draw comparisons and conclusions. This academic approach has led to the book being used in college curricula.

Table manner and rituals are a language that convey our culture and our upbringing. This book is a great reference source for anyone looking to study the topic. If you have a general interest in the topic, you may find yourself skimming the book or looking for a different one. Should you choose to read it, you will never sit down to dinner quite the same way again.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service

Title:  Raving Fans:  A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service

Author:  Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles

Publication Information:  William Morrow. 1993. 137 pages.

ISBN:  0688123163 / 978-0688123161

Book Source:  I read this book based on a recommendation and because I enjoy Mr. Blanchard's work.

Opening Sentence:  "Panic."

Favorite Quote:  "What we have are systems. Not rules. Rules create robots. Not systems. Systems are predetermined ways to achieve a result. The emphasis has to be on achieving the result, not the system for the system's sake ... The purpose of systems is to create consistency, not create robots ... Systems give you a floor, not a ceiling."

How do you develop loyal customers and how do you turn them into "raving fans"? That is the question addressed by this little book. Like many of Ken Blanchard's books, this book uses a parable to simplify and present a logical business approach.

The book tackles one business issue - that of customer service and customer reviews. The case study in the book is an area manager whose job depends on turning around his area's customer satisfaction. Diverse examples are used to illustrate the different parts of the process:

• Harley's department store
• Sally's market (a grocery store)
• Bill's manufacturing plant
• Andrew's station (a gas and service station)

The ideas of the book present a clear set of questions a business must address to create a customer service plan:

• Who do you want your customers to be? Decide what you want.
• What is your vision of perfect service for your customers?
• Who is your actual customer - the direct person you deal with or someone down the line?
• What do your customers actually want?
• Have you asked them?
• Have you heard both what they say and what they don't say?
• Do you deliver what your customers want plus a bit more?
• Internally, are your rewards and promotions tied to this paradigm of service?

Your specific action plan depends on the answers to these questions. The most interesting aspect of this philosophy is that actual customer service is only one of the final steps in the process. The bulk of the process is an internal process - starting with your own goals. A business must define itself first before it can define who its customers are. Another other key aspect often forgotten is that it is important to listen to what customers say and don't say.  A lack of customer response does not imply that all is well; it may in fact imply the opposite. It may indicate customer apathy or such a level of customer disappointment that they have no interest in providing input.

Even though the ideas are cohesive and valuable, this book has less of an impact than some of Ken Blanchard's other books for a few reasons:

• The area manager's mentor in this book is a golf-loving fairy godmother. Yes, a fairy godmother. The cutesy approach becomes a big part of what is a very short book and sometimes gets in the way of the message of the book.
• The businesses used to illustrate the process are diverse but stylized. Perhaps, that is a carryover effect of the "fairy godmother" approach, but the examples do not provide enough details to ground them in reality.
• The book also does not provide a tie in to profitability or cost - a key aspect of any for-profit or non-profit organization. The underlying assumption, of course, is that having customers who are raving fans should lead to a successful thriving business but the connection is missing. Is stellar customer services without associated profitability a goal in and of itself? How does an organization balance the goal of exceptional customer service against the associated cost even when profit may not be a motivator?

Overall, I am a fan of Ken Blanchard's work, but not a raving fan of this book.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Giver Quartet (The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, Son)

Title:  The Giver Quartet (The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, Son)

Author:  Lois Lowry

Publication Information:  HMH Books for Young Readers. 1993 (original publication of The Giver). 2014 (this edition). 784 pages.

ISBN:  0544340973 / 978-0544340978

Book Source:  The Giver was the selection for our book club this month. I read the entire quartet because I was so intrigued by the story.

Favorite Quote:  "If everything’s the same, then there aren’t any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!"

The Giver Quartet, as the title suggests, is a compilation of four books written by Lois Lowry from 2003 through 2012:

• The Giver (1993) is the story of a supposedly utopian society which prizes sameness and eliminates pain and suffering for most people. However, in doing so, it also eliminates joy and exacts a high cost for preserving uniformity. The price of sameness is kept safely hidden away from the masses. What happens when one person breaks out of the sameness mold and dreams of a world that can be different? 
• Gathering Blue (2000) has a set of characters is completely distinct from those in The Giver. It is the story of a society in which the central issue is one of maintaining control and creating a future as envisioned by a few. What happens when some think to take the future in their own hands and create something different?
• Messenger (2004) bring the characters from the first two books together. The stories start to overlap. This book is set in a society initially formed on the basis of acceptance, inclusion and caring for one's community as for oneself. Personal desires, however, take over and lead towards a closed society and selfishness. Can selflessness be found again?
• Son (2012) brings the story full circle, tying together all the different elements and making a statement about what the future holds (no spoilers here). 

Although these are four distinct books written over almost a decade, I read them as one continuous story and, as such, am choosing to review them together.

Recently in a book store, I saw a advertising note for this book that reads "from utopia to dystopia". According to the dictionary, utopia is an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. The word was first used in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More. Dystopia is the opposite - an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one. What is fascinating in The Giver Quartet is the dark and dystopian truths that underlie seemingly utopian worlds. The Giver was not the first book to describe a dystopian society, but these books do it beautifully, capturing the menacing reality that underlies a seeming peaceful surface. Not everything is as it seems. The question is who has the courage to reach into that dystopia and envision a new reality? And how? And at what cost? 

Lois Lowry won the Newberry Award in 2004 for The Giver. Awarded by the American Library Association, the Newberry Awards honors "the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." Interestingly, the book also makes the ALA's lists of "Best Book for Young Adults", "ALA Notable Children's Book", and "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000." The current book description on many bookseller websites calls the book "one of the most influential novels of our time."

Our local library has the books listed in the catalog under both the children's fiction and the young adult/teen fiction. Local schools have incorporated it into the curriculum anywhere from third grade to eighth grade. The book has also been banned by different schools and organizations. A wide range of placements, accolades, and criticisms confirm the depth of questions and discussion raised by these books.

One question often under discussion is what is the appropriate age for the content of the books? As an adult, I love the books. I love the ethical and philosophical questions they raise - the price of sameness, the dark underpinnings of a supposed utopia, the culling of society to protect its uniformity, the attitude towards anyone or anything different, changes that occur over time that take a society far from its original goal, and many more. These books leave me with a lot to think about.

I love the open endings, leaving a reader to decide which way the society goes. Warranted, reading all four together brings the closure as the differing elements of the story come together. The ending of The Giver is definitely not definitive and leaves the next step open to interpretations. That is one reason I read the rest of the quartet. I had my thoughts on what happens next, but I wanted to know where the story really went. Had I stopped at the first book, I would have long wondered about the ending.

The books do have some very disturbing images (read about "release!") that I would not see appropriate for an elementary school age audience. Middle school and high school, yes. Elementary school, no.

In her acceptance speech for the Newberry, Lois Lowry said, “The man that I named the Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing. It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. Those are magnificent, wonderfully unsafe things."

I am so glad that, as an adult, I opened these books and stepped into this "magnificently, wonderfully unsafe world."

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Outlander

Title:  Outlander

Author:  Diana Gabaldon

Publication Information:  Dell, Random House Publishing Group, Random House Inc. 1991. 850 pages.

ISBN:  0440212561 / 978-0440212560

Book Source:  I received this book through a publisher's giveaway free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quote:  "It's as though everyone has a small place inside themselves, maybe, a private bit that they keep themselves. It's like a little fortress, where the most private part of you lives - maybe it's your soul, maybe just that bit that makes you yourself and not anyone else ... you don't show that bit of yourself to anyone, usually, unless sometimes to someone ye love greatly."

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series began with this book almost 25 years ago. Currently, the main series consists of seven novels, with the eighth one due out this summer. The series also includes a descriptive companion book and a graphic novel. It has given rise to the Lord John Grey series. These feature a main character from the Outlander series and currently include nine novels and novellas. Finally, this summer, STARZ will begin a TV series based on the Outlander books.

Outlander is a difficult book to categorize. It is historical fiction with its setting of 18th century Scotland. It includes an element of fantasy and science fiction because its basis lies in time travel. It features action and adventure as the Scottish clans fight amongst themselves and against the British. It centers on the romance between Claire, a 20h century nurse, and Jamie Fraser, an eighteenth century Scotsman.

Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall, aka Claire, is in Scotland on a second honeymoon to reconnect with her husband Frank. They have been separated due to World War II with Claire serving as a nurse and Frank serving as an officer. They choose Frank for their holiday so Frank can continue his research on his family tree.

During a walk alone to collect medicinal plants, Claire faints upon hearing noise from a set of stones. She wakes up to find herself in the middle of a battle. It is not a re-enactment or a movie as she initially thinks. Rather, she has come through a time portal to the past. She has a rather unpleasant encounter with a man who greatly resembles her husband and who she thinks may be his ancestor.

James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, aka Jamie, rescues her. So begins their relationship. As she is alone in an unknown situation, Claire joins Jamie's community with the goal of finding her way back home to the 20th century. She also gets caught up in the Scottish - British fighting, with each side believing her to be a spy for the other.

Claire attempts to prove herself by her work as a nurse at the castle and by her knowledge without revealing that she is indeed from the future. Through numerous adventures, her relationship with Jamie flourishes. They develop a deep bond, a love. It calls into question Claire's desire to return home to the 20th century; it may be that the relationships of the 18th century make it more of a home.

Given that this is the book is the first in a long series, the book itself has no resolution or "ending" but rather a stopping point to be picked up in the next book.

The one aspect of the book that I really do not enjoy is the graphic descriptions - of intimacy, of attacks, of battles, and even of torture. I do not find them necessary to the story, and overall, that type of description is just something I do not enjoy. Without those descriptions, my rating of the book would be considerably higher, and I would be much more likely to read the entire series.

Other than that, I did enjoy parts of this book for many reasons. The historical aspect appeals to me. The action and adventures make this a fast-paced and easy to read book even for its length. Most importantly, I appreciate Claire as a strong female character. She is strong in her opinions, able to stand up for herself, and able to stand up and defend others. She does not wait to be rescued; she does the rescuing too. 

I do not know if I will read the rest of the books. I just don't know if I can continue on with the physical nature of the book. However, I want to know the story; I want to know what happens. 

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Breath, Eyes, Memory

Title:  Breath, Eyes, Memory

Author:  Edwidge Danticat

Publication Information:  Vintage Books, Random House Inc. 1994. 234 pages.

Book Source:  I read this book as this month's selection for my local book club.

Favorite Quote:  "Ou libere? Are you free, my daughter?"

Breath, Eyes, Memory is a book written in discrete sections. In the first section, we meet Sophie Caco, who is born and raised in Haiti. She has lived with her Aunt Atie since she was a baby when her mother left Haiti and went to New York. Sophie loves her aunt like a mother; yet, Aunt Atie is always careful to remind her of her "true" mother. One day, when Sophie is twelve, her mother summons her to New York. This section of the book ends as Sophie adjusts to her life with her mother and learns the devastating secret of her birth.

The second section begins when Sophie is eighteen - a six year gap. We learn of Sophie finding love and of a traumatizing cultural tradition of testing girls for their "purity". The section ends with Sophie's extreme decision and and action to escape.

The third section picks up a year or two later as Sophie returns to Haiti with her own infant daughter. Four generations of women - Sophie, her daughter, her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother - come together in anger, in love, in reconciliation, and in understanding.

The fourth and final section is upon the return of Sophie, her mother, and her daughter to the United States.

The book has the potential to be a very powerful story. The organization into discrete sections that skip time periods prevents its from completely achieving that potential. The movement from section to section pulls the reader away from the emotion, particularly as the first two sections end on such emotional points - the story of Sophie's birth and her actions to escape her past and tradition.

At those points, as a reader, I am not ready to move on. I want to know more and want the emotions and relationships to be further developed. It feels like the book drops a bombshell and then shows the impact only after passage of time. The immediate impact is left unexplored. A sad set of events. Compelling characters. But a story that stops short of being completely engrossing.

A Child Out of Alcatraz

Title:  A Child Out of Alcatraz

Author:  Tara Ison

Publication Information:  Foreverland Press. 1997. 132 pages.

Book Source:  I received this book through the LibraryThing Member Giveaway program free of cost in exchange for an honest review. The book arrived as an pdf attachment to an email.

Favorite Quote:  "So if I don't feed her, she doesn't eat; if I don't change her, she gets a rash - why do you act like these things are unimportant, then tell me motherhood is the most important job in the world?"

A Child Out of Alcatraz is the story of Olivia and her family and a story of Alcatraz, the place and the prison. Olivia's father is a prison guard at Alcatraz. Her mother Vivien seems to be caught in a life that she feels captive in. Through flashbacks, we learn that she idealistically stepped into a marriage that did not lead to a life she envisioned. The promises and dreams differ greatly from the reality. The reality becomes a demanding husband, children, and an isolated life on Alcatraz. Told through Olivia's eyes, the story is one of Vivien's descent further and further into the despair of her life and the effects it has on Olivia.

This book tells two stories - one the fictional account of Olivia and one the true history of Alcatraz. The author provide many accounts of historical events seamlessly incorporating the characters through the story. It almost gives the book the tone and voice of a memoir.

Olivia's story is a heart wrenching one. A young child is forced to grow up too fast both because of where she lives and because her mother cannot "mother" her. My heart reaches out to her, wanting to protect and shelter her from the reality of her life. The character of Vivien is at times a sympathetic one because of the situation she finds herself in. However, because of some of her choices particularly towards her children, the sympathy wears thin after a while.

Overall, a beautiful debut novel which makes you care about the characters and what happens to them. I look forward to reading more from Tara Ison.

House of Sand and Fog

Title:  House of Sand and Fog

Author:  Andre Dubus III

Publication Information:  W. W. Norton and Company, Inc. 1999. 365 pages.

Book Source:  I read this book as this month's selection for my local book club.

Favorite Quote:  "Maybe I didn't deserve the deputy's judgement of me for things I never did, but now I felt even more that I didn't deserve the warmth the nurse showed me, holding my hand like I was a victim in all this. Because I knew that wasn't true. Neither picture of me was true."

House of Sand and Fog is indeed the story of a house and the two sets of people who both feel that it is rightfully theirs. The Behranis are a family displaced from their homeland of Iran due to revolution. To them, this house is a last chance to restore some dignity to their lives. Kathy Lazaro is a recovering alcoholic and addict. To her, this house is her last refuge. The house is confiscated from Kathy Lazaro for tax purposes. The Behranis purchase it at auction. The rest of the book is the story of struggle between the two, leading to a dramatic and sad conclusion.

House of Sand and Fog is one of the most depressing books I have read in a long time. All 365 pages of it. There is the longing of the Behrani family for a life long gone and a homeland no longer open to them. It is their struggle to understand a new place and to create a new life for themselves. It is their sad attempt to maintain appearances of their past successes and position in life.

Then, there is Kathy Lazaro. She struggles with her recovery from alcoholism and addiction. She has left her home and family to build a new life with her husband in California. Her husband deserts her. So, she too struggles with finding a new place and creating a new life. She too attempts to maintain the appearances of her happy, married life to her family back home.

Thrown into this mix is Lester Burton. He is a police officer who gets involved with Kathy Lazaro. He proceeds down a path that leads them all to a catastrophic result.

The characters in this book are realistic. The emotions they feel and the situations they find themselves in also ring true. Unfortunately, the overwhelming sadness of this book makes it very difficult to read. In addition, the writing style is one based on long paragraphs and long descriptions. That too makes the book difficult to read. I found myself reading steadily for a while, then skimming through a portion of the book, and then reading the ending. Even so, I was left with an overwhelming depressing feeling and a need to step away from the story.

A Place of My Own

Title:  A Place of My Own - The Education of an Amateur Builder

Author:  Michael Pollan

Publication Information:  Random House Inc. 1997. 320 pages.

Book Source:  I read this book based on how much I enjoyed some of the author's other works.

Favorite Quote:  "Daydreaming is where we go to cultivate the self, or, more likely, selves out of the view and earshot of other people. Without its daydreams, the self is apt to shrink down to the size and shape of the estimation of others."

A Place of My Own is a book by Michael Pollan that came before he took on the food industry in The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. A Place of My Own deals with a completely different topic - the transformation of Mr. Pollan's daydream into reality. It tells of Mr. Pollan's two-and-a-half year journey to create what could simply be called a home office but is more appropriately called a "shelter for daydreams" and "a place of my own."

The project began with the idea of creating on a his property a stand-alone structure that would serve for as a place to work. It went further as the idea blossomed that he not only wanted the structure, but also wanted to build it himself. It ventures forth into the arena of building design, construction, and all the trials and tribulations that process entails. As such, the book is well researched and presents facts, connections, and information as all of Mr. Pollan's books do.

In addition, this book is a journey of self-discovery. He takes us along with him on his daydream and its manifestation in this physical building. Because this is his project, this book has a much more personal tone than his other books. It envelops the reader in the story while continually providing the information. I was left at the end wanting to see the place and feel the reward and satisfaction he got from its creation.

I recently watched Food Inc. which includes a lot of commentary by Michael Pollan. I wonder if that commentary was filmed in his "writing house". I wanted to look around the place and out the window to see if the reality lived up to the expectations.