Illness and Insomnia = Racking Up the Page Counts

It's the 20th week of the year and I already have 50 of my 52 in 52 logged for the year. Illness and Insomnia seem to equal racking up the page counts. I don't recommend this method but if I'm going to be stuck in bed might as well make the most of it.

May the 4th Be With You + Free Comic Book Day

It will be argued by some that Comic Books are not literature...and this is possibly technically accurate but many of the books I list and review here don't fall into the category of great literature. Sometimes its just about the joy of reading. The first Saturday in May is Free Comic Book Day - so head out to your local comic shop and join the fun...and May the Fourth be with you!

World Book Night 2013

So, months and months and months ago I signed up to be a World Book Night giver...I had a great plan, I'd have my giveaway at Caritas Village in Binghampton. I didn't plan on returning to the theater for the first time in over 2 decades or for World Book Night falling just 48 hours after that show closed while I was still in the post production exhaustion. So I had to make a backup plan.

The purpose of World Book Night is to put books into the hands of non-readers or light readers and I happen to have a friend who is in leadership in the Achievement School District (a slightly Orwellian named program where a number of failing schools have been taken over in hopes of turning them into successful schools). So, a series of facebook messages and one box delivery later 20 kids in these failing schools now have in their hands their very own copy of Rick Riordon's "The Lightning Thief". Mission Accomplished.

The Lightning Thief to me is a particularly appropriate title to put in the hands of reluctant readers. A modern retelling of the classic Hero's Quests of Greek Mythology it stars a dyslexic misfit named Percy Jackson who has been kicked out of a string of schools and who struggles academically in every way. Being a demigod suddenly turns his "disabilities" into advantages, his ADD providing him advantages in battle and the root of his dyslexia being that his brain was programmed to read, not English, but rather Latin. When my dyslexic daughter discovered Percy Jackson there was an instant identification and boost to her own self image. I love the idea of these books going into the hands of kids that may not see themselves as successful and presenting them with a different frame through which to view their challenges.

As usual I'm insanely behind on reviews. I updated the 2013 52-in-52 list just before coming here to post this and at week 18 of 2013 there are already 41 books on the list. By the time it auto publishes on 1/1/14 there is no telling what the count will be. I will never catch up so I suppose I will consider this review #1 and make an effort to do better going forward. Happy Reading!

Drinking with Dead Women Writers

Drinking with Dead Women Writers by Elaine Ambrose
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The title itself was intriguing enough but the first paragraphs of the introduction set the tone and sealed the deal.

"Blame it on the Cabernet. We met to share libations and laughter, but in less than an hour had outlined a book. We'd capitalize on our proven talents for drinking and our evolving talents for writing, while incorporating a literary flair by including 16 famous female authors. Game on.

We agreed to write and exchange chapters for eight weeks and publish the book within four months. Such goals are easy to set after swilling a few bottles of wine."

So with that introduction we sit down with various spirits and such famous women authors as Willa Cather, the Bronte Sisters, Louisa May Alcott and Ayn Rand. The chapters are fun, humorous, irreverent and best of all informative. I had never read Cather, or Rand, or Plath and this book piqued my interest and provided a convenient bibliography in the final chapter to inform future book choices.

I LOVED "Drinking With Dead Women Writers" and I'm looking forward to when the sequel "Drinking with Dead Drunks" becomes available on the kindle.

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Maxwell's Closet

Maxwell's Closet by Steven Belskie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maxwell's Closet is a well written fantasy novel about young Maxwell, described as "a remarkably ordinary child, whose classmates regarded him as rather dull" and his amazing adventure one incredible night when the door to his closet was thrown open from within and he was taken away into another world, one of orcs, knights, wizards, battles, loss and victory. Whether the world he encountered was a dream or an alternate reality, Max woke changed. Maxwell's closet is a quick read at only 150 pages and a wonderful adventure for the young (or young at heart) fan of fantasy. I look forward to more from Steven Belskie.


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My Problem Is I Read Too Fast and Review Too Slow

I'm going to go ahead and post my list of recently completed reads here so I can HOPEFULLY remember to go back and review them:

1. Lines of Blue and Gray 
2. Old Before My Time 
3. Claus 
4. Christmas Campfire Companion 
5. Six Guns and Slay Bells 
6. Loving God when you Don't Love the Church 
7. Pups in Tea Cups 
8. Holy Habits 
9. A Year of Biblical Womanhood - Rachel Held Evans 
10. Becoming a Vegetarian Against Your Will - Tiffany Dow
11. Unladylike - Pam Hogewekk 
12. The Art of Neighboring 
13. Kingdom Journeys 
14. Halloween - Silver Ravenwolf 
15. The Last Temptation of Clarence Odbody 
16. The Hour that Matters Most - Les and Leslie Parrot 
17. Halloween is For Lovers 
18. Broken Shell Island - Dalya Moon 
19. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch 
20. Midnight Paths - Joe Hart 
21. The Time Hunters and the Box of Eternity
22. The Great Emergence - Phyllis Tickle
23. When I Invented the World - Stanley M. Herman 
24. Craft Business Heros
25. Time Shock
26. Emergence Christianity - Phyllis Tickle 
27. The Church Creative - John O'Keefe
28. BoneYARD - John O'Keefe
29. Misfits: Who Are You Including - John O'Keefe 
30. Insight: Reflections on the Gifts of Being an Introvert
31. Bless Back - Julie Saffrin
32. Life-Altering Experiences: How a Single Question Tapped into the Soul of MetaFilter
33. Stomp Boogie: A Roy Carpenter Mystery - Troy D. Smith
34. Here's to Not Catching Our Hair On Fire: An absent minded tale of life with Giftedness and ADHD
35. Clockwork Blue
36. Red Heart - Jackie Gambler
37. How to Read Literature Like a Professor
38. Our Worst Homeschool Mistakes
39. Ishues
40. All That We See or Seem - Troy D. Smith and David Allen
41. The Thirteenth Gift
42. You Lost Me
43. Blacklisted from the PTA
44. Gnome on the Range
45. The Rich Mama Plan: How to Master Your Family's Spending
46. The Much Ado About Fairy
47. Smart Women Know When to Say No - Dr. Kevin Leman
48. When a Mother Follows Christ - Katie Hoffman
49. A Titanic Affair - Amanda Grange
50. Dalek I Loved You a memoir by Rick Griffiths
51. Reinventing Rachel - Alison Strobel
52. Idylls In Darkness - Troy D. Smith
53. Black Like Me - John Howard Griffin
54. Extraordinary Lessons From An Ordinary Life
55. Maxwell's Closet
56. The Eighties - A Bitchin Time to be a Teenager! - Tom Harvey
57. Composting: Inside and Out
58. Holy Terror: Lies the Christian Right Tells Us to Deny Gay Equality - Mel White
59. Drinking with Dead Women Writers -  

Confessions of A Rebel Debutant

I picked this up on a weekend trip when I was looking for a little light reading. Anna Fields, who writes for "As The World Turns" has turned out a soap opera of a memoir. Being a southern woman but of a social strata well below that of the world of the Debutant set I was hoping for more of a glimpse into that culture and perhaps some reflection on what drives the "Deb" world. I really didn't get that. What I did get was a reminder that women are some of the most horrid creatures in the world when they are together in large same gender groups.

From the catty "mean girls" of her all girls "finishing school" to the crazy celebs and society women she profiles it seemed that Anna had only one true friend, Alma, and in the vein of all great southern tragi-comedies...she ends up dead.

It was an interesting read. Not at all what I expected but still worth a look.

Remembering Titanic - "Trapped on the Titanic"

Trapped On The Titanic by Tammy Knox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tammy Knox's YA Novel "Trapped on the Titanic" was a wonderfully fun read. Part ghost story, part mystery, part historical fiction this will appeal to a broad audience. 8th Grader Callie Elizabeth is surprised to see a photograph in the Titanic exhibit of a little girl who looks just like her. She is even more surprised when the girl in the photo begins to cry and she hears a voice begging her to help. The mystery unfolds as Callie learns that she had an ancestor who perished on the Titanic...the very same little girl in the picture...who continues to appear and lead Callie to clues about her family history and the truth about what happened to the young girl and her father who were trapped on the Titanic.

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Remembering Titanic - "The Girl Who Came Home"

The Girl Who Came Home - A Titanic Novel by Hazel Gaynor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Today is the 100th anniversary of the day that the Titanic set sail. Earlier this week I began reading Hazel Gaynor's wonderful book "The Girl Who Came Home", one of three Titanic related novels I have stored on my Kindle to be enjoyed this week. The other two will be hard pressed to surpass this one.

The Girl Who Came Home is written from the perspective of Maggie Murphy who we meet as a 17 year old on the morning of April 10, 1912 in the fictional town of Ballysheen preparing to embark on her journey to America on the great ship Titanic. The story is told as a series of vignettes from the perspectives of herself, "Lucky" Harry the ship's 3rd class steward, and others who were aboard. It is intertwined with the story of her great-grandaughter, Grace, who she confides in for the first time in 70 years that she was aboard the Titanic and that she survived one of the greatest maritime disasters in history before or since.

The novel will appeal to those who enjoy memoir (it is written somewhat in that style though fictional), historical fiction and historical romance. It is a beautifully written, respectful telling of the story of Titanic from a personal perspective. It honors the memory of a group from County Mayo, Ireland known as the "Addergoole Fourteen" whose true story inspired this telling. Irish freelance journalist and blogger Hazel Gaynor has set herself a high standard in this her first novel and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

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Timecachers

Timecachers [Kindle Edition] by Glenn R. Petrucci
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was really excited about Timecachers being into both alternate history and geocaching and the book certainly didn't disappoint. I was surprised by the setting of the story's alternate history being the days before the beginning of the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from Georgia...known as the trail of tears. I was captured by the story and didn't want to put my kindle down until I found out what happened. I look forward to more books along this line from this author as the book would be an obvious choice for the beginning of a series.

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Stories for Demented Children

A Collection of Stories for Demented Children by John H. Carroll
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed the "Stories for Demented Children" series. They were original and humorous and I believe that our black bunny, "Magic", is probably secretly an emo bunny. I can't wait to share these with my 14 year old daughter.

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The Dirt - Lori Culwell

The Dirt by Lori Culwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed Lori Cullwell's "The Dirt"...the four sisters were well written and believable, especially Lucy whose voice we hear the story through. Every girl who has survived high school has known a Megan, a Lucy, a Sloan and will surely recognize someone in "The Dirt"...perhaps even themselves.

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Refugee: Bio of a Space Tyrant Volume 1

Refugee by Piers Anthony
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had the complete Bio of a Space Tyrant series as a college student and I was thrilled to discover that they were available on Kindle. As a young college student I didn't pick up on the political subtext to the story...the parallel to the plight of the "boat people" under the policies of Reagan...I was just caught up in the tragic adventure of young Hope Hubris and his family. While the Space Tyrant series is quite dark, especially compared to Piers Anthony's other series, it remains a great read. I am getting a good deal more out of it in my 40's than I did in my 20's and I look forward to continuing to read the series.

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Allan Gilbreath: A Short Story Collection by Allan Gilbreath
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a thoroughly enjoyable collection of short stories. If your interests are Sci-Fi, Steampunk, Dark Fantasy or even Crime/Mystery there is something here for you. Allan is a wonderful and creative writer and I highly recommend his short story collection either in paperback or for your kindle. I liked it so much I have it in both versions.

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The Adventures of a Love Investigator

The Adventures of a Love Investigator: 527 Naken Men and One Woman by Barbara Silkstone
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I expected this to be a light read, wow was I surprised. Barbara Silkstone's interviews of over 500 men revealed both a desire for intimacy and a complete inability to figure out how to acheive it. The burden Barbara picked up and carried for these men made for interesting reading but I don't envy her the experience of bearing it.

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Bound for the Promise-Land

Bound for the Promise-Land by Troy D. Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have had the pleasure of calling Troy D. Smith a friend since we were in middle school and I owned Bound for the Promise-Land in paperback when it first came out. I hadn't re-read it in years but when it came out for kindle it was one of my first purchases. Troy has a true gift for historical fiction...his characters, whether fictional or factual, are believable and fully "human" in the best sense of the word. Alfred Mann is one of my favorite characters. His evolution throughout the book is compelling. His search for his own humanity, for what it means to be "a man", for where God is in all he has endured, for what it means to be truly free is something anyone who has experienced love and loss, hurt and injustice can identify with. I highly recommend this book.

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I Want it Now! A Memoir of Life on the Set of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Julie Dawn Cole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adore the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory so when the opportunity to grab it for my kindle came along I jumped on it. I am so glad I did. Julie Dawn Cole, the original Veruca Salt, has written a wonderful memoir that takes the reader behind the scenes and makes one feel as if they are one of the "Wonka Kids" themselves. The photos alone are a delicious treat for any fan of the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse into the real person behind the nasty Veruca.

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The Secret Holocaust Diaries

The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister by Nonna Bannister
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I grabbed this book off the recommendation from PixelofInk I didn't expect to find a hometown connection and a story of the Holocaust from a perspective I had never before encountered but that was just what I found and what kept me engaged throughout the book. I had a fascination with WWII in high school and I read many survivors accounts from the German perspective and the Jewish perspective over the years. I had never before encountered one from the Russian perspective. This is an important piece of history and I hope that the free kindle edition's availablity will give it a broad readership. These first person accounts become ever more important as the last of the survivors of the Holocaust and of the war itself are aging and dying. I wish I could have given it more than four stars. I think the parenthetical information inserted within the text to explain certain word choices or historical context interrupted the flow and would have been better if provided as end notes or in the case of this kindle format even as clickable links. Other than that I found this a very good read and an important piece of history.

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Cybill Disobedience by Cybill Shepherd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Memphis and Cybill Shepherd are forever tied together. This was an interesting read because of the hometown connections.

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First book of 2012

My Emily by Matt Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The tender story of the brief life of Emily Patterson written by her father Matt. Emily was born with Down's Syndrome and then stricken with ALL. Despite the shortness of her life, the legacy she left behind is beautifully memoralized in her father's book.

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