Book Review -- The Luck of the Buttons



 The Luck of the Buttons by Anne Ylvisaker


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book source:  Public library

Genre:  Juvenile Fiction


Summary:

In Iowa circa 1929, spunky twelve-year-old Tugs vows to turn her family’s luck around, with the help of a Brownie camera and a small-town mystery. Tugs Esther Button was born to a luckless family. Buttons don’t presume to be singers or dancers. They aren’t athletes or artists, good listeners, or model citizens. The one time a Button ever made the late Goodhue Gazette - before Harvey Moore came along with his talk of launching a new paper - was when Great Grandaddy Ike accidentally set Town Hall ablaze. Tomboy Tugs looks at her hapless family and sees her own reflection looking back until she befriends popular Aggie Millhouse, wins a new camera in the Independence Day raffle, and stumbles into a mystery only she can solve. Suddenly this is a summer of change - and by its end, being a Button may just turn out to be what one clumsy, funny, spirited, and very observant young heroine decides to make of it.

A cute book – not overly thought provoking for an adult, but perfect for the intended audience of an early reader. Tugs is spunky and determined to make friends with the popular girl, Aggie. A very similar plot as Kit Kittredge. An easy read that could be finished in an afternoon.

View all my reviews

Book Review -- The Invisible Wall

The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers
by Harry Bernstein

My enjoyment rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book source:  Personal copy

You are never too old to tell your story.

And at the age of 96, Harry Bernstein did just that.

Growing up in Manchester, England on the eve of World War I, Harry details in stunning prose the “invisible wall” that divides his neighborhood – that of Christians on one side and Jews on the other. His father a drunk, and his mother providing for 5 children (eventually 6), Harry’s childhood was filled with poverty, depravity, and neglect, but also a genuine amount of love.

More often than not, neither side of the street would have anything to do with one another. On the occasion of the Jewish Sabbath, a “goy” (or Christian neighbor) would cross the street to perform the necessary duties (light a fire, put a pot on to boil), in order for the Jews to keep strict Sabbath day observance. But that was the extent, for the most part, of their interactions.

The seriousness of this divide was made evident when a Jewish neighbor, Sarah, fell in love with a Christian, Freddy. When the romance was discovered, “shivah,” or mourning of the dead, was performed by Sarah’s family, and she was exiled to Australia.

It is miraculous that Mr. Bernstein can recall in such vivid detail the scenes from his early childhood. He is exact when remembering his home, his mother, the dialogue between his mother and siblings, the beatings he took from the bullies on the street. His portrait of his father is menacing…and we learn that after his mother died, Harry never saw him again.

Ultimately, this was the story of Harry’s sister Lily, and her own romance with Arthur (a Christian), that grabs hold of your heart and won’t let you go. Determined to break with religion, tradition, and risk all that they have, including their lives, for love, Arthur and Lily forge their own way in this very structured society. Harry’s portrayal of how their love bridges the divide is truly magnificent.

Sadly, Mr. Bernstein died two weeks ago at the age of 101.

He published two other works, The Dream, which chronicles his life once he emigrated to America, and The Golden Willow, about his life with his wife of 67 years, Ruby.

I was touched by this story.

But even more so by Mr. Bernstein, that even at the age of 96, you can still grab hold of your dreams.

View all my reviews

June Book Club and Book Review -- Hold Tight

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

My enjoyment rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book Source:  Public library 

Parenting is the most difficult when trying to support your teenage son after the suicide death of his best friend. But when the son’s behavior starts to mirror that of the deceased friend, panic sets in and parents will do all most anything to keep their son alive – including spying.

Mike and Tia Baye have “doctored” their son Adam’s gadgets – cell phone, computer, -- with spyware and tracking systems, all in an effort to learn where he is going and what he is doing in the aftermath of best friend, Spencer’s, suicide. What they don’t realize is their “protection” will start a domino effect of potentially fatal situations that none of them would have predicted. At the same time, a serial killer has taken the lives of two seemingly, unsuspecting women – are the Baye’s problems and these gruesome deaths related? In a sequence of twist and turns and dark alley altercations, the reader will soon find out the truth.

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben was our book club selection for June. A murder mystery with modern day implications of teenage suicide and prescription drug abuse, Mr. Coben has written a fairly formulaic “whodunit” with the angst of parenting in the 21st century.

This is not a book I would have chosen on my own – and I’m not sure I would read any of this again.

Using multiple story lines in alternating chapters, Mr. Coben weaves the fear of the Baye’s against the back drop of a series of unexplained murders. Although I was kept guessing as to how these converging story lines would finally resolve themselves, it was an unsatisfying conclusion: Crazy brother in law turned serial killer; bar bouncer and little sister to the rescue; police chief getting married – it was all very odd in various places.

I can see why Mr. Coben is very popular – he keeps you guessing until the end – but it wasn’t particularly satisfying for me.

Our July book club choice is:

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Summary:

In her charming debut novel, Simonson tells the tale of Maj. Ernest Pettigrew, an honor-bound Englishman and widower, and the very embodiment of duty and pride. As the novel opens, the major is mourning the loss of his younger brother, Bertie, and attempting to get his hands on Bertie's antique Churchill shotgun—part of a set that the boys' father split between them, but which Bertie's widow doesn't want to hand over. While the major is eager to reunite the pair for tradition's sake, his son, Roger, has plans to sell the heirloom set to a collector for a tidy sum. As he frets over the guns, the major's friendship with Jasmina Ali—the Pakistani widow of the local food shop owner—takes a turn unexpected by the major (but not by readers). The author's dense, descriptive prose wraps around the reader like a comforting cloak, eventually taking on true page-turner urgency as Simonson nudges the major and Jasmina further along and dangles possibilities about the fate of the major's beloved firearms. This is a vastly enjoyable traipse through the English countryside and the long-held traditions of the British aristocracy.

View all my reviews

Book Review -- Penny Candy

Penny Candy by Jean Kerr

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book source:  Public library

My final Jean Kerr book from the trifecta offered by the library was equally entertaining.

Penny Candy follows the same formula as her previous anthologies – essays on motherhood, marriage, fashion, décor and exercise (or lack thereof) – told from a vintage 1950s point of view.

I liked this the least of the three that I read, but one of her final chapters, “Culture Night” was fabulous! Of her six children, the older four were nearing, what we would refer to as their “tween” years. She decided that they needed to start memorizing poetry – so each week she would assign them age appropriate poems that they were to memorize for the following Sunday, at which point, they were required to recite them in front of the family. Needless to say, this new family activity was met with much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, but she persevered, and soon the children were reciting, Donne, Yeats, Shelley and Housman (just to name a few). Not only was it funny to read, but inspiring ( I think I might try this!) to think that this activity had a prolonged affect on her children, that they were often heard reciting poetry – gasp! – voluntarily!

Jean Kerr was a joy to discover – I only wish she were still living so she could write about 21st century family life!

View all my reviews

Book Review -- I Capture the Castle

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

My enjoyment rating:  3 out of 5 stars

Book Source:  Personal copy

Summary: I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has "captured the castle"--and the heart of the reader--in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments.

This has been on my TBR list for MONTHS! I finally picked it up around the time of the Royal Wedding (castles, English countryside, romance – seemed appropriate, right?), thinking I would be swept away in adolescent love – but I wasn’t.

It took me a MONTH to read this – an eternity in literary years. I may have gotten sidetracked on a few occasions when we were without power in May, and I had to read by candlelight, but this was not a book that kept my interest, and one I had to force to read and finish.

Things I liked/loved: Cassandra, the teenage narrator. I completely agree with the blurb that she was “enchanting” – she was lovely to read and embrace. However, the story that was woven around her just didn’t make magic for me: a pair of American brothers (who happen to be Cassandra’s family’s landlords) an eccentric father, a kooky step mother, an older, yet, immature sister, a family “servant” who is trying to woo Cassandra by becoming an actor – none of it worked and it was all very odd.

This came HIGHLY recommended, so I’m disappointed I didn’t like it more.

Maybe a result of wrong time, wrong mood, and no light.

 

View all my reviews

Book Review -- Bossypants



Bossypants by Tina Fey

My enjoyment rating: 3 of 5 stars (possibly 2.5 stars)

Book Source:  Personal copy (Mother's Day gift to be specific!)

Sensitive reader:  Language, including the F bomb.

Tina Fey – master of Sarah Palin impersonations and creator of quirky Liz Lemon and 30 Rock - -has ventured into literary memoirs with her book, Bossypants.

I was expecting fall on the floor, choking on spit, side cramp funny – and it never materialized. For me anyway.

There are chapters on her childhood, her parents (her dad, Don, seems like one you’d want to meet!), summer jobs, her years as an improv actor with Second City, and her more recent work with Saturday Night Live, Sarah Palin and 30 Rock. Oh, and motherhood.

None of them were particularly memorable, or attention-grabbing. The highlight of the book was the latter chapters on creating the memorable scenes for SNL of Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton with Amy Poehler in 2008. They rehearsed a total of TWICE before going live with that 5 minute scene! I was amazed!  And her Mother's Prayer, which has made its rounds on Facebook, is worth reading too.

Bossypants read as if she were talking to herself in the bathroom. With no one around to listen. Or any intended audience. Like one big rambling session. With a few cuss words thrown in for emphasis.

I think this would have been a GREAT audio book – listening to the author recite her experiences, impressions, and antics first hand – and possibly a Sarah Palin accent thrown in for good measure.

I still love Tina Fey. And I still love 30 Rock. Just didn’t love her book.

View all my reviews

May Mother Daughter Book Club -- The Birthday Ball



 The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry
My Enjoyment Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

Daisy Daughter rating:  B+

Group rating:  B+

Book Source:  Public library

Princess Patricia Priscilla is bored with her pampered life, so she switches places with her housemaid, Tess. After swapping her finery for a drab brown dress and kicking off her shoes, “Pat” embarks on a day as a village school girl. “Pat” also is avoiding her dreaded “Birthday Ball” where she must choose a suitor between three ghastly prospects. Luckily, this fairy tale doesn’t turn out in the predictable manner, thanks to an orphan, a handsome school master, and a plucky princess.

This was our final Mother/Daughter book club selection for the school year. Even though we only had 3 pairs of mothers/daughters (I think everyone is in “summer” mode already) – it was one of our better discussions. The girls shrieked over the descriptions of the nasty intendeds – an ogre who had never seen his face in a mirror, a gigolo with a bad case of dandruff, and a pair of potty-talking conjoined twins. We had an interesting discussion about what is “beautiful” and appearances can be deceptive. We also compared this book to The Willougbys – the other Lois Lowry book we read this year and loved. The girls could definitely see the similarities with the other book, but liked The Willougbys better. As a mom, I LOVED Ms. Lowry’s use of vocabulary – she is brilliant in weaving words like haberdashery, adroitly, galoomph -- into her narrative and making them seem accessible to an emerging reader. Her use of satire and humor is also particularly appealing to both adult and tween, alike.

Last year we TRIED to meet over the summer months, and everyone’s schedules were so hectic, it never happened. So we all agreed that we would take a hiatus over the summer.

But I am proud to say…that we have completed our second full year as a mother/daughter book club!

5th grade – here we come!

View all my reviews

Seeing Double

Surely, they could have found another stock photo?


Long Drive Home by Will Allison



Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine (also, National Book Award Winner...is Drive Home trying to ride their coat-tails of literary success?).

Ready, set, go!

In fewer than three weeks I will be leaving my post as PTA president of my children's elementary school.

It's been an amazing year -- but I couldn't have done it without my amazing executive board members.

So -- I'm now in a quandary about what kind of thank you "gift" I should get them for their service to me and our school...I need your suggestions!  Any ideas or thoughts??

Where is my mojo?

After tornadoes, power outages, downed trees in my yard, and flooding, Mother Nature's wrath really zapped my reading mojo.  It's taken me weeks to get back to normal, and the "importance" of blogging and reading just seems so, well, trivial.   I've been nursing I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith since before the Royal Wedding (castles, the English countryside, romance -- seemed like a good literary choice for all the pageantry across the pond), but reading by candlelight is a VERY difficult endeavor!  And I just can't seem to make head way.  It came so HIGHLY recommended and one I should have LOVED from the beginning.  I will finish it...it's just a matter of when.

So, if you find my mojo, would you please float it back in my direction, it's probably stuck between Little Rock and Memphis on the flooded portions of I-40.