Book Review -- Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight





Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

My enjoyment rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book source:  Personal copy

Genre:  Memoir

Objectionable material:  Language

Living with obstacles worthy of the Old Testament – drought, frogs that escape through the plumbing, snakes that inhabit the kitchen, more vermin than one can count, insects the size of small rodents, filth, and illness, – Alexandra Fuller and her family don’t necessarily make an Exodus through the Red Sea, but they do transverse three African countries as her father works as an African ranch manager.

In Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra (Bobo to her family) recounts her nontraditional childhood spent in civil war ravaged Zimbabwe (as well as Malawi and Zambia) – from helping her mother herd wild cattle, to protecting the family home from rebels and terrorists, to nearly dying from contaminated water – it’s remarkable that she and her sister (Vanessa) survived to tell the tale. In fact, life was so dangerous 4 of her siblings (3 referred to by name, one just by birth date), do not survive – all so tragic that with each death, her mother is nearly physically and mentally destroyed.

In comparison to a similar survival story, Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle, what made Alexandra’s story more engaging, was that Alexandra’s parents weren’t intentionally trying to harm her – or living an illegal life – they just happened to choose a very difficult career in a very dangerous, remote area.

This was an astounding and well written story – I was amazed at her endurance and grit.

Ms. Fuller has written a sequel, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, which tells in more detail her parents' story and her mother's mental breakdown.  I am eager to continue the Fuller's story.

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April Book Group & Book Review -- Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind



Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross
My enjoyment rating: 3 of 5 stars
Book source: Library copy
Genre: Fiction -- Southern
Objectionable material: None
April Book Club choice

Julia Springer’s life has been turned upside down – she’s a recent widow who has been left a sizeable estate, thanks to the financial planning by her late husband. However, when a young boy is dropped off on her doorstep and she is told, “This here is Wesley Lloyd Jr…I got to leave him with you,” by one Hazel Marie Puckett, the boy’s mother, Miss Julia has no idea how topsy turvy it will all end up.

Miss Julia was a delightful, whimsical novel, full of over the top characters and plot lines: newly discovered mistress, crazy televangelist, selfish pastor, loyal maid, and a misplaced little boy. Who all end up in Miss Julia’s living room, much like a Mel Brooks movie.

This was our book club selection for April. The group, overall, thought it was a hilarious book. However, it lacked significantly on discussion merit – to the point that I questioned why our local library has this designated as one of their “book club kits.” Our only real discussion centered on questions like, “what did you think was the funniest antic?” Luckily, there was a lot of good food to enjoy.

This was a nice change of pace…but I doubt I will continue on with the series (and there are A LOT of them!)

Our May selection:

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield (AR author, and recent attendee at the Arkansas Literary Festival)

Summary:  Every first Sunday in June, members of the Moses clan gather for an annual reunion at a sprawling hundred-acre farm in Arkansas. And every year, Samuel Lake, a vibrant and committed young preacher, brings his beloved wife, Willadee Moses, and their three children back for the festivities. In the midst of it all, Samuel and Willadee’s outspoken eleven-year-old daughter, Swan, is a bright light. Her high spirits and fearlessness have alternately seduced and bedeviled three generations of the family. But just as the reunion is getting under way, tragedy strikes, jolting the family to their core and setting the stage for a summer of crisis and profound change. 

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April Mother Daughter Book Group -- Mackenzie Blue Friends Forever?

Friends Forever? by Tina Wells
Mother/Daughter book club enjoyment rating: 4 of 5 stars
(I did not finish this book)
Book source:  Public library
Genre:  Juvenile fiction


Summary:
Mackenzie Blue is hitting the trails
It's time for Brookdale Academy's camping field trip, but Zee has much more to deal with than a lesson about nature. . . .
Pros:
1. My BFF, Ally, is visiting all the way from Paris Ooh la la
2. My friends and I are so going to win the environmental scavenger hunt
Cons:
1. We have to stay in teeny-tiny log cabins. How will we all fit?
2. The legendary (and terrifying) Mountain Man . . .

This was a delightful choice for our April mother daughter book club. The girls really enjoyed discussing the relationships between all the friends – and especially – the existence of the mythical Mountain Man! They all had various plots/ploys for how they would retaliate against the boys – they are a clever bunch!

I did not finish this book due to time.  Based on the first 95 pages that I finished, it was fairly formulaic for a ‘tween read:  Angst over girlfriends and boyfriends, and gasp – starting your period!  And it bugged me that her nickname was "Zee" -- even though the last three letters of her name are spelled "zie."  Just a personal quirk.  But, I can’t give it a fair review due to it being incomplete.

But based on the girls reaction – it was a high 4 stars!

May book choice (and last choice of the year!):

The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine




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Book Review -- The Flight of Gemma Hardy

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

My enjoyment rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Book source:  Public library

Genre:  Literary fiction
Objectionable material: none

Jane Eyre – poor orphaned girl, living with uncaring relatives, shipped off to a miserable boarding school, her best friend dies, eventually finds a position as a governess, meets Mr. Rochester, leaves Mr. Rochester, finds Mr. Rochester again.

In The Flight of Gemma Hardy, Margot Livesey’s re-telling of Jane Eyre, Gemma travels much the same road – however one paved with asphalt: – poor orphaned girl from Iceland, living with uncaring relatives in Scotland, shipped off to a miserable boarding school, her best friend dies, eventually finds a position as a teacher at Blackbird Hall, meets Mr. Sinclair, leaves Mr. Sinclair, wanders Scotland, finds her remaining family in Iceland, meets Mr. Sinclair again.

I loved Jane Eyre – and I loved Gemma Hardy: her story is as tragic and bleak and moody as the original. It is epic as Gemma traverses what seems the whole of Scotland, finding those who abandon her as well has save her. Ms. Livesey’s descriptions are vivid and stark, and although I’ve never stepped foot in Scotland or Iceland, I felt like I’d crossed through every town and village with Gemma.

I loved Jane Eyre until the very last page. I loved Gemma Hardy until – the end crashed and burned. The reunion one would expect, considering how closely Ms. Livesey’s follows the Jane Eyre formula, was shortened to 2 pages and ended on an airplane. I felt robbed! Cheated! It was such a great story that I could have read for another 40-50 pages!

So disappointed.

Book Review -- The House at Tyneford

The House at Tyneford: A Novel by Natasha Solomons

My enjoyment rating: 2.75 of 5 stars

Book source:  Personal copy

Genre:  Historical fiction

Recommended for:  Downton Abbey fans

Elise Landau is not accustomed to taking care of herself, let alone an entire estate. But on the eve of WWII, she has been sent by her family to England to work as domestic servant, in an attempt to secure her safety against the advancing German army into her homeland of Austria.

Natasha Solomons has written the “perfect” novel for Downton Abbey enthusiasts. She so completely captures the life of a servant in a manor house, you expect Mr. Carson to be ironing the paper or Mrs. Patmore to be barking orders in the kitchen.

Her descriptions of the estate, gardens, farm, and coast could be scripted directly from a Home & Garden magazine – they were luscious and vivid – I expected to walk out my front door into an English fishing village.

However, that seems to be all that is perfect about this novel. She spends so much time trying to capture the “feel” of country living, the rest of the story is all but forgotten. I was expecting a very multi-layered storyline (much like The Forgotten Garden) but all I got was a very nice, predictable, linear love story, with a beautiful backdrop.

There are so many gems waiting to be explored – a novel hidden in a viola, a sister overseas, parents missing in the midst of war – all of them mostly ignored until the final pages. And although the ending was satisfying, by then…I didn’t really care anymore.

Ultimately, it was a beautifully written book, but a one-deminsional story.

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March Mother Daughter Book Club -- All the Lovely Bad Ones

All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn

My enjoyment rating: 3 of 5 stars

Daisy Daughter rating:  4 of 5 stars

Book source:  Public library

Genre:  Juvenile fiction

Corey and her brother, Travis, are spending the summer at their Grandmother’s Inn in Vermont. With a history of ghost sightings, Corey and Travis are determined to do their part in adding to the Inn’s spooky reputation by staging their own ghostly apparitions. What they don’t realize is their antics will awaken a vast community of dormant spirits and unleash the very evil, Miss Ada.

All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn, was our Mother/Daughter book club selection for March.

This was surprisingly eerie! I started it one night, after the kids were in bed, and my husband out of town, only to realize, that I was a bit uncomfortable reading about a haunted Inn. I was even more surprised that my daughter FINISHED it and liked it, in spite of its supernatural setting.

The tale of the Inn being a former “work farm” for orphans, operated by two ruthless caretakers, was clever and authentic. And that the orphans died at the hands of their tormentors was equally sad.

Then ending was quite chilling as well.

For a juvenile work of fiction – it gave me the shivers!

All the girls loved it. It was a great discussion about ghosts, whether they’d ever seen one, whether they believed in them or not, would they stay in a haunted house or not – all very interesting questions and answers.

Next book selection:

April: Mackenzie Blue: Friends Forever? by Tina Wells

May: Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine (I read this a month ago and LOVED it!)

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Book Review -- Flunking Sainthood



Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor by Jana Riess

My enjoyment rating: 4 of 5 stars

Source:  Nook

Genre:  Non-fiction; Self-help

If you had a plan to increase your spirituality over the course of a year what would you do?

Jana Riess, in her book Flunking Sainthood, decides to seek out reading ancient texts and embracing religious traditions – everything from a month of fasting to strict Sabbath day observance to rigorous daily prayer – a journey she expected to succeed at on a monthly basis.

What she realizes is that each of her endeavors are much more difficult – and need a LOT more time – to accomplish and master. At the end of her year, she feels like she has “flunked.” After the death of her father, she recognizes that even though she didn’t meet the expectation she set out for herself – she had indeed increased her spiritual strength and because of her year long journey, was able to put into practice many of the tenants she had learned, to cope with his death.

I loved this book – it was witty, honest, revelatory, and full of failure. And considering I fail on an all too regular basis – it was refreshing.

The most significant point the author makes is: to be a better Christian (or any other religious belief for that matter) takes PRACTICE. If you want to be generous – you need to practice generosity, if you want to forgive – you need to be more forgiving, if you want to be more prayerful in your everyday life – you need to pray! Duh?!   And some of these goals take months, if not a lifetime, to achieve.

One particular personal reaction I had to this book was found in her chapter on Fasting. For months now I've been struggling with my personal self worth -- without being able to pinpoint why. When I came across the following: "I'm craving community almost as much as food..." I thought I’d been sent a personal revelation. Nearly a year ago, I had a profound shift in my community, and have been in mourning ever since. In the mean time, I've been trying to fill that "craving" with food -- which has left me even more empty and community-less. I’m thankful to Ms. Riess for showing me (even though I know it wasn’t her intention!) that I can create a community without using food as a crutch – and over the next year – that is my goal.

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March Book Group -- Half Broke Horses

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Source:  Personal copy

March Book Group Choice

Genre:  "Real life" fiction

When you seek shelter in a tree with your siblings because of a flash flood, and subsequently spend the night there too – you know your life is destined to be an adventure.

Lily Casey Smith did it all – rode on a horse across the state of Arizona at the age of 15, broke horses, taught school, lived in Chicago, worked a ranch, played poker, boot-legged moonshine – oh, and married and had 2 kids. One of them being Rose Mary Smith Walls – the eccentric mother of Jeannette Walls of The Glass Castle. Half Broke Horses is Jeannette’s second book and homage to her fiercely independent and unique grandmother.

This was our book club selection for March and we all loved it. Not as much as The Glass Castle – but that book was such a dysfunctional masterpiece that it would be hard to measure up.

Lily was an amazing woman – especially at a time in our history when independence, free thought, and escapades were not valued traits in women. Lily made it seem “normal” to hold a pistol to the head of a disagreeable elder, or transport your kids to each school where you teach, or beat most men in a game of poker. Maybe not the perfect mother…but she did what she thought was best. We need more women in the world like Lily Casey Smith.

This is the perfect companion to The Glass Castle…but I need to re-read it again to put all the puzzle pieces together.

Highly recommended for book clubs/groups.

Listen to the author talk more about her grandmother here:

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Book Review -- Immortal Bird





Immortal Bird: A Family Memoir by Doron Weber

My enjoyment rating: (Mr. Weber's story 1 star; Damon's story 5 stars) = 3 of 5 stars

Book Source:  Library copy

Genre:  Memoir

Is it even possible to be critical about a book that details the death of one’s son without sounding callous? I’m going to try…

Damon Weber was born with a congenital heart defect – the number one leading birth defect in all children – a single ventricle that required two surgeries immediately after his birth. For the next 13 years, Damon and his family lived a fairly normal life, free of heart complications. But that would soon change when Damon develops a rare, life threatening disease directly related to his initial heart repair. After years of treatments, medications, and failed procedures, Damon and his family are faced with the only option left – a heart transplant. What transpires after his transplant is truly tragic and a parent’s worst nightmare.

Doron Weber has written an angry, caustic, and powerful account of the life and death of his son, Damon.

Although Mr. Weber’s takes us on an amazing, but painful journey through the final years of Damon’s life and treats us to a Damon who is talented, witty, brilliant, and tireless, I’m not sure if this was Damon’s memoir or Mr. Weber’s?

It is loaded with references to Mr. Weber’s education, experience, connections, colleagues – and an arrogance that is nearly suffocating. While an advocate for his very ill son, Mr. Weber believes his own intellect and knowledge and his access to the elite echelon of achievers in each sector of society will best the doctors who are treating his son. In reality, Mr. Weber was trying to use his contacts to play God.

But in the final pages, even with Mr. Weber’s haughty attitude, it’s ultimately a father’s (and mother’s) love that permeates the story about Damon and his fight to survive and his tragic death.

As a side note: My connection to this book is personal – my youngest son was also born with a congenital heart defect – and although his issues are different than Damon’s, the anguish I felt at the end of this book rocked my soul.

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Book Review -- The Lions of Little Rock



 The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine

My enjoyment rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book source:  Library copy

Genre:  Juvenile fiction (recommended for 10 and older)

Every once in awhile you read a book that hits too close to home. Or in my case, it is home.

In 1958, Gov. Faubus and the Little Rock school district closed all 4 high schools instead of following a court order to integrate, thus propelling the fight over desegregation into what was called The Lost Year.

In her book, The Lions of Little Rock, Kristin Levine tells a poignant story set in The Lost Year and of a little girl desperate for a friend, a community at war, and the fight to allow ALL children the right to an education.

Twelve year old Marlee, struggles to communicate. What she lacks in verbal skills she makes up in spectacular math ability. But what Marlee really wants is a friend. When Liz arrives at the lunch table and asks if she may eat with Marlee, it is a dream come true. What neither of them realizes is their friendship will put at risk their families, their friends, and their own lives.

It is hard for me to be objective with this book – my children go to the same schools as these characters, we are members of the same Zoo, they will graduate from Central High, we drive past the memorial honoring the Little Rock Nine on a daily basis. But with that objectivity (or lack thereof) noted: I thought this was a marvelous novel. The single most important thing to Marlee and Liz was their friendship. They did not care about the color of their skin or about court orders. All they wanted to do was play at the Zoo and do mathematical magic squares.

For parents wanting to discuss the events of 1957 (and 1958) and a broader discussion of integration and civil rights, this is the perfect book to read with your child(ren).

I will be suggesting this for our Mother/Daughter book club.

This novel will linger with me for a long time.

Highly recommended.

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