Booking It With Sandra

Spring Harvest by Rektok Ross, A Book Review

2024-05-01T20:49:00.003-06:00

Spring Harvest

Rektok Ross

Ic13 Books

328 pages

Publisher's Intro

"Beautiful, confident, and freshly single Alix Summerlin and her friends are ready for the ultimate party weekend at the Garlic Groove Music Festival in remote little farm town Allium Valley. Her biggest worries are what designer outfits to wear each night and managing the post-breakup tension with her sweet-but-brooding ex, Logan. But when festival-goers start vanishing, and Kade—a mysterious, handsome stranger—warns Alix to flee town, she begins to suspect something sinister is at work..."

My Review

If you love a good vampire story that is slightly bloody, and fear-inducing read this book it's definitely for you! It's the perfect quick and light spring/summer read. You might want to hold off on attending any music festivals for a while though.

A romantic attraction, a quirky cast of characters, a character who you just can't help but dislike, and a location that brings horror into your veins that you’ve always viewed as slightly idyllic.

Might sound like Twilight, right? Nope, it's nothing like it. Spring Harvest gives you what Twilight didn't—Real fear.

This might seem like a YA book, however, I consider it more NA than YA. I appreciate the fact that the author has some themes throughout the book that I can support: Animal cruelty, death, loss, and loyalty.

I'm just warning you now. I gagged while reading through a few pages. I don't think I will be visiting farms or music festivals for a while after reading Spring Harvest.

I loved this book!

Spring Harvest is the third book in Rektok Ross' “Seasons” series.

Check out her other thrillers- Ski Weekend, based in Lake Tahoe, and Summer Harvest based in the Florida Keys, too.

Public Opinion by William Lippmann

2024-04-13T21:06:00.008-06:00

Some pink, a little red, and a lot of Public Opinion.

"The book "Public Opinion" is a critical assessment of functional democratic government, especially of the irrational and often self-serving social perceptions that influence individual behavior and prevent optimal societal cohesion. The detailed descriptions of the cognitive limitations people face in comprehending their socio-political and cultural environments leading them to apply an evolving catalogue of general stereotypes to a complex reality, rendered Public Opinion a seminal text in the fields of media studies, political science, and social psychology."

William Lippmann had me agreeing with him on his views in this book until he said, “I argue that representative government, either in what is ordinarily called politics or in industry, cannot be worked successfully, no matter what the basis of election, unless there is an independent, expert organization for making the unseen facts intelligible to those who have to make the decisions.”
Who chooses these experts? Who?

Mr. Wilder and Me: A Review

2024-04-08T21:14:00.001-06:00

The Clackity

2024-03-08T21:17:00.001-07:00

I wish that as a child there had been a book like this. This book was definitely up my loving the supernatural type of stories. Lora Senf can write like the best of them! This book is up there with The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I recommend reading this with your child or recommending it to the purchasing librarian at your local Library, I know I will! I've got a few kids who wander the stacks looking for books like The Clackity.

The City of The Living by Nicola Lagioia

2024-02-08T19:21:00.001-07:00

This closely based “true story of one of the most shocking crimes in recent Italian history, The City Of The Living is a spellbinding, intoxicating journey into the darkest corners of Contemporary Rome.”

Written in an easy, conversational way. It's hard to put down and filled with thrills and chills.

Loose in the Bright Fantastic by E.B. Moore

2024-01-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

"Gray-haired Maggie flees the hospital wearing her late husband’s ill-fitting wingtips and an ancient mink over her hospital johnny. She escapes into the familiar comfort of the Boston Public Garden and, as dusk settles, her past and present meld together. She eludes the police and family for days, while revisiting old haunts, from tea at the Ritz to shopping at Goodwill. In Boston’s South End, a homeless man shelters her in his squat, while she searches for her lawyer’s office somewhere overlooking the park."

Have you read this book? It sounds interesting and also insightful on dealing with Dementia

Let me know in the comments what you thought about Loose in the Bright Fantastic.

One Hundred Saturdays by Michael Frank

2023-10-10T15:30:00.001-06:00

A year ago I read One Hundred Saturdays by Michael Frank, based on his interactions with Stella Levi a 92-year-old Jewish woman who survived her horror in Auschwitz-Birkenau after her community in Rhodes, Greece was sent to the Camps.

This book affected me deeply, & more poignant was visiting Rhodes 2 days after the initial attack on Israel. I felt such deep sadness as I walked through the Juderia.

This is a book to put on your list.

2023-07-31T14:41:00.000-06:00

TITAN OF THE SENATE

Titan of the Senate by William Doyle is a biography about the late Republican Senator, Orrin Hatch, and the goal he had of protecting and keeping children healthy, supporting AIDS patients, making sure that people of the United States are covered by Prescription medicine, and keeping those meds at a low-cost level.

I need to caveat this review though as Senator Hatch was a Senator from my own state of Utah, so I knew a lot more about the Senator than what is discussed in this book…

The biggest takeaway from this book would be how Senator Hatch was able to reach across the aisle and work with some of the most powerful Democrats, especially Ted Kennedy. Senator Hatch was considered the Titan of the Senate and Senator Kennedy was the Lion of the Senate. Together they protected the marginalized people of our country whether LGBTQ+ patients who were infected with HIV which turned into tragic and horrific AIDS and at the same showing compassion and empathy to those infected by learning about the disease and the transmission of the disease so that they could teach others that HIV patients were not going to infect you just by being around you or hugging you.
At the time of the AIDS scare people who were infected were treated as subhuman and sometimes even worse. This honestly was worse than what we saw through the COVID pandemic. As a daughter of an AIDS victim, via a blood transfusion, I watched in horror time and time again how people who claimed to be Christian followers, or protectors of marginalized communities even, treated people infected with HIV.
I saw firsthand as I walked into a clergy’s office the clergyman spraying the seat with bleach after a member of his own congregation walked out of the office, us passing each other going in and out, and how the poor man witnessed this sanitization as he walked out with tears in his eyes and a slump in his posture because he was so embarrassed at the reaction of our leader and the sadness of his situation which he could not control and knew more than likely would lead to his untimely death soon. I reached out, patted his shoulder, and then hugged this man because it broke my heart the audacity of the leader to not even wait until the man had walked out of his office if he felt he needed to clean, and the ignorance of not understand that this man could not pass his disease on to me or anyone else just by sitting in a chair. This was only a minor reaction to what I witnessed, however, it was happening even after it was proven that you could not get HIV through the average contact with an infected person. Senators Hatch and Kennedy’s bill wasn’t passed in time for my mother to take advantage of the life-saving protocols that the Ryan White Care Act would have provided her. I am so grateful it happened in time for that one man in my church who continued to live and contribute significantly to other people’s welfare by helping others with HIV learn to protect themselves via smart practices and taking the appropriate tests to protect others.

Senators Hatch and Kennedy continued working together to protect Children through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) so that not a single child went without healthcare and they worked together to form cohesive relationships with other Senators and House members to pass other bills that were just as life-changing as the SCHIP or the Ryan White Care Act.

My General Thoughts on Titan of the Senate’s Format

This book is well researched and well written, however, I would have loved the author to not repeat the achievements of Senator Hatch and possibly laid out the topics a little more clearly so these achievements could be understood deeper. I would also have liked the author to give us a little more of Senator Hatch’s personality and deeper into his Senate role outside of the biggest achievements with Senator Kennedy and a few others, which you can see he achieved in the timeline of his time in the Senate in the back of the book.

Both Senator Hatch and Senator Kennedy worked together and achieved success via how many bills there were able to pass (791 for Hatch and Kennedy was a close second to that before his death,) through their service to the American people) by working in a bipartisan manner. After the death of Senator Kennedy, Senator Hatch continued to reach across the aisle to achieve great things for our country, however after his retirement, this bipartisanship has stalled to a level of chaos and dysfunctional relationships between each major party and each Legislative branch. I truly believe that this book and its history should be read, researched more, and inspire our politicians to go back to the golden age of bipartisanship and start working together, quit the divisiveness, and start finding common ground and socializing with each other again to make our government work for the people, not the people waiting for the government to do something for us. WE THE PEOPLE is what this whole republic is supposed to be about.

If you like to read books about Political figures; If you want to have an inkling of what Politics were like before the last three Presidents then this book is for you.

2023-05-16T19:11:00.001-06:00

The Postcard
Anne Berest
Europa Editions
May 16, 2023

"One morning they found the tide had gone out very far, so far that the ocean was no longer in view. They had never seen anything like it in their lives, and for a moment they didn't speak. 'It's like the sea is afraid, too,' Noémie said at last."

I started reading The Postcard by Anne Berest on 4/18/2023 the day of Yom Hashoa, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Book Summary:

A Postcard shows up one day at the home of Anne's mother Léila's home 61 years after the people on the list:

Ephraïm‎

Emma

Noémie

Jacques

died at Auschwitz. This mysterious postcard leaves the family wondering who sent it, why they sent it, and what exactly the postcard means. This starts Anne and her mother, Lélia seeking the sender of the postcard.

Lélia's mother, Anne's grandmother, Myriam, was the sole survivor of her family, The Rabinovitches. She married Vicente Picabia because he was French and a Gentile she was for a time able to hide that she was Jewish. He and his family were part of the Resistance. Myriam hardly talked to her children about her childhood family and their religion. She didn't talk about her first husband, Vincente, and his family either.
I mean honestly, how would you feel if you were the only one left knowing what happened to your family? The Postcard made me wonder how I would cope with the emotional turmoil and what I would do with those emotions if I was Myriam. After reading this book, I see the world differently.

Lélia over the years researches and tries to piece together her mother's history, to help her understand what her mother went through right before Myriam became a mother. The postcard is just another missing, unanswered piece of that puzzle.

Myriam's family lived fully what little of their lives they had, and yet her little sister, Noémie, and brother, Jacques deserved to be able to live their full life, one where whatever they had dreamed could be achieved. This book moves from the past—the beginning of Ephraïm and Emma's marriage in Moscow, Russia to moving when his father, Nachman tells them they must leave to protect themselves from the October Revolution, to their life with their three children in Paris and Les Forges, then through Occupation, the Internment and Concentration Camps, Resistance,, then to the present day of Anne, her Mother Lélia, Anne's daughter, Clara, and the postcard mystery.

"Grandma, are you Jewish?
Yes, I'm Jewish.
And Grandpa too?
No, he isn't Jewish.
Oh, Is Maman Jewish?
Yes.
So I am, too?
Yes, you are, too.
Okay, that is what I thought.
Why are you making that face, sweetheart?
I really don't like what you just said.
But why?
They don't like Jews very much at school."
~ Clara, 2019

My thoughts

When do we stop hating people for their differences? When do we accept our diversity and celebrate other's traditions and cultures?

The Germans took first the strong fit "foreign Jewish" men to "go work" in Germany and then moved on to the healthy young Jewish people next, this included Noémie and Jacques. Can you imagine the terror their parents felt knowing their 16-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter were arrested only because they were Jewish? 4 days later and after three different prison transfers they were sent to an Internment Camp in Loiret. I can't fathom what more Ephraïm and Emma could do besides keep asking the Mayor where their children were. Lélia's later historical puzzle pieces flesh out what happens next for the children and then their parents.

The Postcard, like my own family history, is poignant, deep, and needs to be told over and over again. My paternal grandmother died thinking that her brother died at Auschwitz-Birkenau after he was taken as a resistor of the Nazis Party trying to help those who needed to be hidden. Two of my uncles and aunts went to the camp and were able to sweet talk their way into the records vault where their kind docent let them look at the register and they found out that my granduncle had not died at the camp but was liberated. The tragic thing about this is no one knew and no one saw him again. The Postcard talks about those kinds of tragedies too.

'"Have they let all the inmates out of the asylum?"
"No, It's just some old men coming back from Germany."
But they aren't old. Most of them are between the ages of sixteen and thirty.
"Is it only men they're bringing back?"
There are women on the bus, too. But their ravaged bodies and bald heads make it impossible to recognize them as such. Some of them will never again be able to bear children.'
~ pedestrians on the streets outside the Hotel Lutetia

I honestly don't think I've had a deep and body-wracking breakdown after reading a book before, where I couldn't compose myself for hours. The only emotion I could gather was a deep sadness for these poor souls who actually made it through repatriation and then couldn't go longer than that. Their poor bodies, their poor broken hearts. I recommend a box of tissues while reading this book. It starts out like the people in this story, complacent and naive, and moves on to the horrors that are unfathomable to even think about.

Naivety is a theme near the middle of The Postcard. Ephraïm applies for French citizenship. All Jewish People are asked to register with the local prefecture so Ephraïm, Emma, and Jacques register first and are assigned numbers 1, 2, and 3. Ephraim has no clue he is easing into the ruin of his family's lives. He feels if he does what is required he will finally be given French citizenship. This going in blindly is naive.

Leonore Sprie Field
My Grandmother

My grandmother had me read Mein Kampf when I was 12 years old to understand what kind of a man could convince thousands of others to kill over 6 million people including part of our own family and others like the Rabinovitches, and I pray we don't repeat history. Yet so much of the rising of the Nazis party is being seen today and this book portrays those steps vividly. I feel more people need to understand the slippery slope that comes when you go along with the crowd and don't think for yourself and stand up to any kind of racism.

It saddens me we can’t have the conversation that needs to be had without being flattened down and shut out. Shutting down conversations is what leads to not seeing anyone that doesn’t agree with you; who is different than you or doesn't believe the same way you do, religion or otherwise. We need to have those conversations and I feel that The Postcard is a great conduit to those types of conversations.

The message of The Postcard radiates the pure goodness coming from those who try to help the Picabias and those like them, whether it is feeding them, hiding them, or leading them to safety in another country via car, or underground to the other side of a border crossing. However, It also shows the horrific attitudes of those who thought that the Jewish People deserved the treatment they got because they were thought of as uppity, monopolizing certain jobs, cultures, etc... these are lessons to be learned, absorbed, and made sure we don't continue today and into the future.

The courage and strength it took to even exist for the Jewish People, the resistors, and those others who were seen as different and sent to the camps are something to be in awe of and exemplified when it comes to us using our courage to stand up for what we believe is wrong when we see other people being ridiculed, bullied or beaten. We can not be complacent, we can not keep letting the anti-semitism continue even as this story talks about during even Anne's life and a few decades later into her daughter's life. We can never forget what happened or we shall repeat the past.

Ms. Berest literally took my breath away on pages 188,189,193 &199 of The Postcard which are the most sobering pages I have ever read in my 53 years of life. I’ve read so many books on the Holocaust, and the treatment of the Jewish People in Concentration Camps, however, The Postcard is the most comprehensive story of a race's eradication in modern times. This book should be read by EVERYONE.

I am grateful to Tina Kover for translating The Postcard into English so I could read it. It would've been terrible if I hadn't. I am also grateful to Europa Editions for the opportunity to read this book before it was released.

You can buy this book here on Bookshop, or at your local independent bookstore. Seriously, don't buy it at a big box chain or Amazon. Help keep those Mom and Pop shops open.

HourGlass by Keiran Goddard

2023-04-06T14:35:00.005-06:00

Hourglass by Keiran Goddard

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Hourglass by Keiran Goddard is a jumbled mind strewn out on the page trying to get over the loss of two loves- one of a girlfriend and one of a mother.

Even a few weeks after finishing reading the book I’m not sure how I feel about it. I'm torn between feeling sadness for the male protagonist of the story over the heart-wrenching profoundness of his losses, and yet, also feeling like so much of his problem is of his own making by being so desperate for love itself as so many people are when they are extremely lonely.

This is my first Keiran Goddard novel and I appreciate the humor that he puts in to decrease the ever-burdening sadness of the protagonist.

There are a few of the writings of the protagonist that are talked about that would be amazing to read with its ever-burgeoning word usage- like, "What Does Remembering Mean in a World That Never Forgets (87 words)" or, "Habit is the Ballast that Chains the Dog to Its Vomit: Why Not Every Hobby Has to Become a Side Hustle! (862 words)" I can't even fathom where the latter one even goes with the jumble of the protagonist's mind. I'd really have loved to have read that one especially.

GREENLIGHTS BY MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: OR YOU CAN’T ALWAYS LOVE SOMEONE ELSE’S HISTORY.

2023-04-06T14:32:00.002-06:00

All the wisdom of the world with that same laidback way of putting people at ease comes flying out of GreenLights by Matthew McConaughey.

Actor Matthew McConaughey has always played roles that beat to a different drum. Greenlights shows that this is not just an act but who he really is. He is wise, he is wild and he is wickedly full of a sense of humor. I loved that this book was set up like an artistically made Smash Journal mixed with reflection and stream-of-consciousness writing and some creative writing. His recollections of his relationships with his father and brothers will keep you in stitches and at the same time teach you a few things.

" we need to put ourselves in places of decreased sensory input so that we can hear the background signals of our psychological processes"
Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey

In a world full of noise and distractions via our smartphones, television, computers, and especially social media this is wise advice from a man who most might see as all over the place sporadic.

Mattew writes about lessons he learned as a child, as a single man, and then goes into some perspective of his life meeting his wife, Camila Alves, and having his children. This is not an autobiography as he writes at the beginning of the book.

I read a lot of reviews where they were disgusted by the way McConaughey thinks and what he does and the things he grew up being taught :

"McConaughey also paints a very negative picture of his bizarre parents. He talks positively about them but then gives stories of how mean, rude, violent, immoral, and insulting they were. How he is having his mother live with him now is hard to believe--she comes across as a crazed liar who couldn't be trusted, slamming him even more as he became famous. Which brings us to the biggest problem in the book--the author's belief that lying is totally acceptable, as is stealing, backing out of commitments, and using others for personal gain. His parents taught him all that. He calls it "outlaw" rules, where the only right and wrong involves getting caught. So he brags about doing many bad things, and only regrets the few times he is caught. This immoral justification of lying and cheating coming from a guy who claims to be living an honest life. He is delusional but appears to have convinced many others who admire his charming ways of getting what he wants."
Greenlights reviewer

and yet, who is to judge from a present sense of "morality and virtue" versus the place, time, and upraising Matthew had?
Life wasn't so "woke" or as I call it "crystal clear" back in the 60s and 70s, Our parents did their best at the time that they were raising us, if you lived on the East Coast or any other direction, your sense of place or upbringing might be different than that of someone else you might encounter over the course of your life as is the case still today. Moral outrage is subjective if you didn't live when someone else was a kid. You don't understand what was going on in the area someone grew up.

Some people are born into privilege with a silver spoon in their mouth, some in the everyday suburbia of whitebread America, some into a place full of diversity; deep swamps, some into a more cowboy "outlaw" type of lifestyle, and some in the inner slums of New York. It doesn't make your upbringing better or worse than anyone else's, it was what it was, but according to the reviewers sometimes the era makes your life the worst. Common sense tells us that your life of privilege might have included crappy parents and so your views might even be the same as the one born into the slums. However, the slum child might have had amazing parents and not even known that their life was underprivileged. I don't even understand how one's upbringing makes you a narcissist or corrupt or anything else just because it was different than the person judging you.
Another reviewer asked:

"Yet I wondered if he was aware of how abusive his parents seemed as he told his crazy stories and declared how much love was in their household."
Greenlights reviewer

For example, Johnny Depp, and let's be honest, Amber Heard too explained in their testimonies during their defamation trial, you can still feel love for members of your family even if they are abusive because come on, they are the ones you love and they are family. McConaughey admits in Greenlights he had a lot of anger towards his mother for quite a while and still loves her even if he lived in a warped "crazy" family as the reader sees it.

At one point in a review discussion, someone called McConaughey a narcissist... and yet, they were reading what they called his memoir! Isn't that the whole point that it is about HIM? He even says in the book it is not an autobiography, but things he has learned in his life sprinkled with a memoir that might help someone else. I especially loved a comment that another reviewer made about his supposed narcissism:

"Narcissist is the new 'racist'...just throw out the ad hominem to kill any chance of dialogue or critical thinking. What makes this man a narcissist exactly? That he isn't self-loathing? That he credits his own efforts and positive mindset for his success? I saw many examples of self-deprecation and humility in this text to dismiss any notion of classical narcissism."
Greenlights discussion

The commentator who was calling McConaughey a narcissist was trying to shut down any conversation about the book because in their opinion the book was awful. It is true, there are many personal stories and you can take them as you may, however, they are his to do with it, after all, it is his life and it happened to him.

Greenlights was a much-needed read for me. So many great tidbits of inspiration and a whole lot of hilarious stories that I didn’t feel were awful. The interviews he does for this book through the press, book sites, and podcasts are also enlightening. If you need more YouTube your way to his interviews. I especially liked the one with Jordan B. Peterson.

Essay Style Book Reviews vs Book Commentaries--- What is your preference?

2022-07-31T12:46:00.007-06:00

Do you re-read your old blog posts? I do sometimes. I am not loving my review process lately. It feels too cursory.

So, I have a question for you: do you enjoy reviews that are essay style, more than say, commentaries of books? What is your favorite way of writing or reading a book review? Are you more of a cursory book review reader, or do you prefer the type of review that is similar to a New York Times Book Review?

I have done a lot of commentary reviews lately. I think that the reviews aren't as freeing to my thought process and I feel they need to be done for all the free Advanced Readers Copies I receive so that I can help an author/publisher who was kind enough to let me read their not-yet-released books. However, why is it not okay to take a review and twist it into a book essay? Wouldn't that help other readers that might find the same interest in a genre of book that might stem from a theme of said book, or might intrigue someone to read the book, even more, knowing that it creates a deeper dive into the meaning of the book?

I read a book, The Missing Word by Concita De Gregorio just last week that stoked so many painful and fond memories that I had a hard time writing a review. I really would like to write a memoir essay on that book, however, is that too self-serving vs, helping the book's author? Would it help others see a side that might trigger them and this would give the warning to read it with a healthy emotional cautiousness? Is that too much of a personal POV for another reader to be given in a review? Can you do both, a commentary with the publisher's summary AND an essay on a theme
or personal views of the book?

What do you think oh kind readers of my little blog?

In The Margins: On The Pleasure of Reading and Writing

2022-07-29T14:15:00.000-06:00

In The Margins

Elena Ferrante
Europa Editions
March 15, 2022

Author, Elena Ferrante was invited to a public three-part lecture series at the University of Bologna in 2020, since the Covid-19 Pandemic curtailed those lectures, Ms. Ferrante wrote this little book filled with so many wonderful nuggets of her early experiences of reading and writing and the inspiration that touched her from other authors changing how she writes.

As a child, we are told to stay within the red/blue margins on the pages. Ferrante watched little Cecilia write her name on a piece of paper crossing over lines both horizontal and parallel, she started thinking about the education we receive to stay in those lines so that we have neat, tight writing easier to read. It made me curious— is that for the student or really for the teacher, so she could grade the paper? Conformity to me is never a good thing, but a squelcher of our own self.

Because of that rigidity, writing In The Margins made Ferrante wonder,

I believe that the sense I have of writing—and all the struggles It involves—has to do with the satisfaction of staying beautifully within the margins and, at the same time, with the impression of loss, of waste, because of that sucess.

Ferrante uses so many wonderful international authors to piece her writing style, her growth as a writer, and the fact that writers become better if they are also good readers. Like Stephen King's book On Writing, this In The Margins is a great start to how your voice needs to reverberate in your writing, how taking risks emotionally can bring you deeper to being your own writer instead of just following some imaginary format that we believe we need to write such as Shakesphere, Hemmingway, all the male greats as there weren't enough female greats to emulate when she was an adolescent.

According to Ferrante, there are two kinds of writing that she knows of... it is compliant and impetuous. Like staying in the margins, she started out as compliant. As she became a more seasoned writer, she decided to take risks, she wrote with her own voice. Telling us that like the author, Italo Svevo says, "everything begins with Pencil and Paper..."

"...the I of the writer seperates from its own thought and, in the seperation, sees that thought. It's not a fixed, well-defined image. The thought-vision appears as something in motion—it rises and falls—and its task is to make itself evident before disappearing. "

This idea makes me think that there is an Eternal Eye, and then there is the Seeing "I". The Eternal Eye is that deeper writing, the writer forgets that they are writing, and someone else is speaking internally, whereas the Seeing "I" is visual, that is only typing words on a piece of paper, describing things without the reader needing to read between the lines, the seeing "I" is when you stay within the margins. The Eternal Eye is the one that crosses the lines into something not read before, which connects deeper with the reader.

Ferrante finishes her first chapter (first lecture) by saying,

"Beautiful writing becomes beautiful when it loses its harmony and has the desperate power of the ugly."

The next chapter —Aquamarine, covers Ferrante's evolving Impetuous writing (second lecture), and the last chapter—Dante's Rib (the third lecture) covers how Dante's poems gave the best description of how to write, and this gave Ferrante through her love of reading, a desire to write as he did—obsessively, literally, and figuratively.

I am not going to cover the last two chapters as I truly believe that the magic comes from reading for yourself. That ability to glean from someone's writing when reading it for the first time makes things a little poignant to that deep soul internalization we writers, and readers get from great writing.

In The Margins is definitely a must-read for those who need the inspiration to take their writing to a higher plain.

"Not Dante. He—perhaps more than any other great writer, past or future—knew and feared and fought the inadequacy of writing, in fact considered it part of the limited and transient nature of the human."

Where the Crawdad Sings by Delia Owens

2022-06-28T17:41:00.000-06:00

Publisher's Summary:

"For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life—until the unthinkable happens.

Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps."

My Review:

What a beautifully written, tragic, yet strength-filled novel "Where The Crawdads Sing" is. I am going to encourage all my readers and friends to read this book.

Kya is smart, extremely so, she is naturally strong for a girl who was abandoned at such a young age. I fell in love with her from Delia Owens' first introduction of Kya. This novel brings so many emotions to the reader: anger at the adults in Kya's life; laughter when she starts experiencing her first kiss. Joy when she decides to stand up for herself and not hide anymore and terror at her unthinkable situation which she is thrust into which then causes a feeling of admiration when you realize her situation does not hold her back.

Delia Owens' characters are rich in detail even down to the minute background characters. Her world is filled with vivid, breathing life that unless you have lived in a marsh or deep into nature as Kya does, you would never know existed. This is a book I will re-read again just to find out if there is anything else I can glean from Kya and her outlook on life.

Thank you Penguin Books for the chance to read this beautiful novel in exchange for my honest opinion. I have enjoyed every second of it.

Where The Crawdads Sing, the movie, is out now!

Lacuna by Fiona Snykers

2022-06-28T11:57:00.005-06:00

Lacuna
Fiona Snyckers
Europa Editions
January 11, 2022
256 pgs

There have been a gazillion reviews on Coetzee's Man Book Prize awarded book, Disgrace, (academic and otherwise), and the meanings of what Lucy Lurie's rape means. I am not going to get into rehashing or putting my own take on Mr. Coetzee's book, as I see this book, Lacuna (the gap in Lucy's reactions, her emotions — the things Mr. Coetzee didn't add) as the answer to all things that were again — missing in his book. I am glad Ms. Snycker wrote this fictional response to a book so lacking emotion. Emotions are messy in the face of happiness, sadness, and trauma. What happens to emotions when you've been raped and then a book makes that rape world-famous though only part of the story is honest and true to what happened to you?

This is what Lacuna is all about. Lucy Lurie was raped at her father's farmhouse and author John Coetzee put her story (or the crux of her story) into his award-winning book, Disgrace. Lucy was already traumatized by 6 black men, did she really need another man to traumatize her more and then get a huge payoff from her trauma? In Lacuna, Lucy is a mess, I mean, when you think a person has hit rock bottom, Lucy has plunged to the depths of that canyon full of rocks, or so she thought she had fallen as far as she could. No one could imagine she could fall even further beneath the rocks until it happens.

Lucy's friend Moira tries to help Lucy to move forward, it's been two years since her rape. Two years since Coetzee released that darn book of his, shouldn't she be able to reconcile her life against the fictional telling of a woman who became the symbol of getting rid of apartheid through the putting of a White woman in her place by her Black neighbor? Lucy doesn't think so. She compares her victimhood to other rape survivors, not calling it survivorship as the masses want her to. She doesn't feel as if she is surviving.

Throughout the book, Ms. Snykers has Lucy going to a therapist and imagining things the therapist says to her. Things that help Lucy feel validated by her victimhood. This happens a lot throughout the book, scenes that a writer would place in her own book, scenes of success, rising above the victim mentality, becoming empowered by her strength, and coming face to face with author John Coetzee and having him apologize to her. We all daydream about different scenarios, don't we?

As someone who has never been raped, I am not sure that the "success" imaginings and then the inaction of Lucy's real life would help or hamper a rape victim if they read this book. I can only imagine that this is how a victim would really feel, but is it? I am curious to know... I don't want to assume anything when it comes to that kind of trauma.

There is a time in the story where Lucy contemplates, as a writer herself, whether a writer has the right to use reality in their fiction, she comes to the realization that without having the ability to use reality a writer would never be able to write any stories.

"It is part of the social contract that everything is fair game when it comes to fiction. If real life wheren't allowed to be the inspiration for fiction, we wouldn't have the works of Shakespeare, Austen, Adichie, Naipaul, or Didion. It is not just important for authors to be able to write without fear or favour: it is vital."

Then Lucy realizes that she has been so upset over the "Coetzee Overnight Success Story" that she has given her whole life over the last two years to this man and his fictional character. She has allowed him to be there for too long. She needed to take back her life, not let him have his story override what should be hers to mold into what she wants to become. This to me is when Lucy actually starts writing her success even in the midst of all her mess, that is until a bigger mess comes along and changes the whole narrative that Lucy believes is her life after the rape.

I don't find much fault with the feminist answering to a famous novel written in the 70s especially when the author, John Coetzee gives no rational voice to the victim as he did his fictional Lucy. I know it is a metaphor for the future of South Africa, the babe that is the product of a violent fate that Blacks have lived only to have Whites find out how violent Black's lives really have been through Lucy's rape. However, the one thing I can't get around in this book is the need to point a finger at the familial and turn another man into yet again the twist of trauma in Lucy's life. Hasn't she been through enough? Do we really need to go from being raped by 6 men, to another man traumatizing Lucy through his novel to the most important man in her life becoming the most traumatizing person overall? I just don't get the twist at the end of the book. It seems just another feminist move to blame all men for everything during a time when there were enough men already to hold accountable. Metaphor or not, it didn't need to be.
If, and this is a big IF it is to address Mr. Coetzee's narrative of poor young Melanie being abused by Lucy's father, David Lurie while as a professor, then fine, however, this is never even addressed in Lacuna and so, I feel it shouldn't even be anywhere in Lucy's story.

The fluctuation between imagery during Lucy's story and reality can sometimes be hard to handle. I would be reading along and then all of a sudden thinking, "there you go Lucy grab your life back" then wham — oh, sorry, that was just Lucy's musings again,
and back to the mess we go.

Vegan Eugene. I would really love to hear some opinions on him from others. What do you think??? Do you love him, hate him, or wish he had never entered the story? Let me know in the comments.

This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

2022-06-26T20:17:00.008-06:00

This Vicious Grace

Emily Thiede
St. martin’s Press/Wednesday Books
June 28, 2022

Partial Publisher’s book Summary:

“…Now, with only weeks left until a hungry swarm of demons devours everything on her island home, Alessa is running out of time to find a partner and stop the invasion. When a powerful priest convinces the faithful that killing Alessa is the island’s only hope, her own soldiers try to assassinate her.

Desperate to survive, Alessa hires Dante, a cynical outcast marked as a killer, to become her personal bodyguard. But as rebellion explodes outside the gates, Dante’s dark secrets may be the biggest betrayal. He holds the key to her survival and her heart, but is he the one person who can help her master her gift or destroy her once and for all?”

My review:
This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede is one of those fantasy stories you try to put down but can’t.
Alessa Paladino is Finestra, the next female to save her country at least that is what she keeps being told, however, there is one problem-to save her country, she needs a Fonte- a person with special powers that she can pull from into her own body.

   "On One Side of the aisle, the twelve members of the Consiglio watched her with inscrutable eyes. 
                     
Always watching. Always waiting. First for her to be old enough to choose a partner. And then for her to choose another. And another after that. Soon they'd summon her next victim. 
                                                                               Partner. Her next Partner."

Doesn’t sound so hard when you’re chosen by Dea, right? Wrong… Alessa is made different than each one of her ancestral Finestras, her power kills people with a touch. She doesn’t know who to trust, people are losing their faith in her. Along comes one who she sees as strong and can protect her—Dante.

Alessa and Dante for the majority of this book are what keep you turning pages. I found their relationship adorable, tragic, frustrating and most of all worth the read. I have to be honest, for a while I wasn’t sure if I would keep reading This Vicious Grace it felt too familiar to me from another book that was released this year— however, Alessa tugged a thread in my head and kept me slightly interested, that is until she convinced Dante to be her bodyguard. This is where author, Emily Thiede’s magic starts happening. Dante is the glue to all the rest of the characters, not because he is the chiseled epitome of a God, no, but because he is full of faults, and also so much learned wisdom. Alessa needed that wisdom and permission to be herself and break a few rules. After all, She Is the Savior of her Country, or so her trainers keep reminding her.

The Fontes (those who hold the power, Finestra needs) are quirky, annoying, unique, and lovestruck. They are so different that at first, I found them bland, then, like I said before, Dante… These characters start shining, they start changing, and they start working as a team. They, and only they, can help Alessa defend Sinestra.

With every Fantasy story there needs to be a villain, right? Well, how about a whole town full of villains? Are they really out to get Alessa, or save her? Do they become complacent or do they rally to her defense? That is a good question… You must read this book to find out.

This Vicious Grace the first book in The Last Finestra series is a dark and twisty thriller with a little yummy romance sprinkled in. Emily Thiede’s Italian-inspired debut won’t let you down.

A warning, this book will end and set you up for the next in the series a lot quicker than you’d like, I hope it’s not too long of a wait

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

2022-03-14T13:54:00.000-06:00

The Last House on the Street is a tale of mystery, a tale of racial tension in the deep south, and a tale that isn't about to let you down when it comes to standing up for what is right. Told in present and past. Ellie and Kayla must endure the after-effects of tragedy and terror.

It's the 1960s, Ellie Hockley signs up for the Northern group SCOPE. A program made up entirely of northern university students sent out into the south to help Blacks sign up for voting in anticipation of President Lindon B Johnson's Voting Rights Act. Against the wishes of her parents, Ellie is the only student to come from a local area of North Carolina into the program. There she meets Winston Madison, Win to his friends, which she is hoping to become. There are rules in SCOPE. Ellie places herself in danger, not only because she is a southerner but because she is a blonde-haired, pretty local white woman. People don't look kindly to intermingling of the locals when it comes to race and this will affect Ellie and anyone she interacts with during her time in SCOPE.

It's 2010, Kayla Miller has just lost her husband, Jackson to a freak accident involving the building of their new house at the end of old Hockley Street now known as Shadow Ridge Estates. The Hockley's old house sits at the top of the street where Kayla's new home is the last house on the street down in the middle of a ton of trees. What Ellie finds out and Kayla is beginning to find out is that there is a ton of history that happened on that street. What the two women have in common is a tale of hatred, conflicting feelings, and confusion. They will have to deal with time, place, and race together if they are to ever be able to move on into the future and forget the tragedies of the past. Things start happening around Kayla's house. The clock is ticking with a bomb about to explode if history doesn't sort itself out.

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this novel. I wasn't sure how the 1960s and the 2010 era could ever intermingle. I was pleasantly surprised and utterly devasted to find out the link to both eras.

The Last House on the Street is poignant in that it gives a detailed telling of the tensions of the 60s in the deep south between Black and White. The evil of the Ku Klux Klan and the narrow-mindedness of superiority towards the Blacks in the outskirts of the town of Round Hill's citizens. Is it even possible that only one person in Round Hill could see Blacks as equal? I know I am looking at this from a current-day perspective, but still, I just don't understand that there weren't more people who felt as Ellie did.

It also amazes me that those same people didn't change their view as they grew older and came to understand the backwardness to their perspectives on the view of Race from their childhood. Can people really change? Can people really become better at dealing with the history of past experiences, or do they stay jaded and narrow in their views from generation, to generation? This seems to be a bit of what The Last House on the Street touches upon.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found Ellie and Win to be relatable. Reed, Ellie's boyfriend and his friend Garner and her best friend, Brenda showed me that there truly is bigotry and hatred in the world even today and I needed to be reminded of this so that we as readers can change our views. Without looking at the past, we can not change for the better in the future. This story kept me at the edge of my seat and up late into the night.

Author, Diane Chamberlain knows how to turn a story from beginning to end so that you don't get a dull moment in between.

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, or as I would like to call it,—How Not to Lose It When Your Treasured Man-Made Extremity Disappears Into The Ethers.

2022-03-06T19:00:00.002-07:00

The Violin Conspiracy

Author: Brendan Slocumb
Publish Date: February 1, 2022
Publisher: Anchor Books
Page Count 352
Mystery, Coming of Age, African America

"Music is for everyone. It's not—or at least shouldn't be—an elitist, aristocratic club that you need a membership card to appreciate it's a language, it's a means of connecting us that is beyond color, beyond race, beyond the shape of your face or the size of your stock portfolio."

"Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. If he’s lucky, he’ll get a job at the hospital cafeteria. If he’s extra lucky, he’ll earn more than minimum wage..." Anchor Books partial Synapsis

However, Ray had a gift, it started when he was in high school, it didn't stand out like the other kids in his orchestra class, it was hidden, it was looked down upon by his family, however, Ray wasn't a quitter. His gift was played on a school rental, it was overlooked because of the color of his skin. Kids in the orchestra were cruel, as kids can be to anyone, especially to someone who doesn't fit the mold of what someone is supposed to look like to love and excel at classical music. Ray's gift created a dream in him. One his mother especially belittled. Luckily, Ray had someone who loved him, supported him, and saw the specialness of not only Ray's gift, but also of Ray as a whole — his grandma, Nora. She was one in a million! She was his cheerleader, his inspiration, and his positive role model. His grandma had a gift too, which she gave to Ray one Christmas covered with "Good Luck Dust". The Violin Conspiracy is Ray's story, his progression, his trials, the bigoted-ness of other musicians, patrons, store owners, and yes, even police officers which in Ray's world is nothing new, and yet, never gets easier to handle or understand. As grandma Nora advises, "Work twice as hard as everyone else, stand tall and treat others with respect, and stay the same 'sweet Ray' that she loved so much."

As a daughter of a Violinist, and a dabbler in classical piano myself, I can not even fathom how my father would've handled being without his violin if it was stolen. I imagine he would've been devastated. His music would've been lacking some semblance of his soul. He might have even stopped playing all together without that other extremity connected to his left arm, hand, and chin. His violin is unique, however, it's definitely not the jewel that was hidden under a ton of Rosin like Ray's violin.

The Violin Conspiracy was filled with so much racial profiling by those who knew, met or even glanced in Ray's direction. I found it disgusting and tragic. This is not about the author's writings, this was a humanity disgust. A struggle inside my own soul to understand how anyone could feel this way towards another human being. Ray's struggles, and successes were frustratingly beautiful as he tried to find a path to his one dream — to be a professional violinist.

"...Ray will have to piece together the clues to recover his treasured Strad . . . before it's too late. With the descendants of the man who once enslaved Ray's great-great-grandfather asserting that the instrument is rightfully theirs, and with his family staking their own claim, Ray doesn't know who he can trust--or whether he will ever see his beloved violin again." Anchor Books Partial Synapsis

I was so inspired by Ray's performances in my mind that I had to search out and listened to every Classical, and Jazz song that was mentioned in the book. I thank, Author Brendan Slocum for adding so much beautiful, emotional listening to my week. I think my co-workers were sick and tired of my playlist even though they learned a lot about culture. Some who had never listened to classical music had to admit it was "moving" and "soothing" and a lot more "enjoyable" than they ever thought it could be. I smiled and said, "You're Welcome".

The writing, as expected is lyrical, moving, and brings in so much bass (low notes) and treble (high notes) you feel as if you are in the midst of a composer, composing a musical masterpiece. Which is exactly what Mr. Slocumb does. Some of the experiences Ray experiences are what Mr. Slocum himself went through. It definitely is timely and spurs such great discussions for a book club to pick up and read.

When talking to a Black friend of mine, I asked him if he had read the book, he hadn't, and I asked him if he would. I knew he his own rude experiences in life and when it came to trying to excel at his own musical journey. He read The Violin Conspiracy, then we had another discussion about race and living in the 21st Century. He explained to me that so much of his journey echoed that of Ray's when it came to the condescending comments, looks, experiences, and expectations of what he would play at his own performances at cafes and pubs, however being in Utah it was done in a less obvious way. It broke my heart and yet, didn't surprise me at all. How have we not moved past seeing someone for their character instead of skin color in the year 2022?

I have to admit that The Violin Conspiracy is my favorite book read in the last six months. I recommend it to whoever will listen to me talk about its storyline without ruining the story itself. Because of that I know there are a lot of readers out there that will read this book that might not have without that recommendation as it's not some RomCom. If you love a good mystery, a good realistic story, and a story that will uplift you, bring some beauty and emotion to your life The Violin Conspiracy is what you should be reading next.

"You're Welcome."

Mystery, Classical Music, Imagery and Emotional elements

No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib

2022-01-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

No Land To Light On
Yara Zgheib
Atria Books
January 4, 2022
Fiction

Summary by Publisher:

Hadi and Sama are a young Syrian couple flying high on a whirlwind love, dreaming up a life in the country that brought them together. She had come to Boston years before chasing dreams of a bigger life; he’d landed there as a sponsored refugee from a bloody civil war. Now, they are giddily awaiting the birth of their son, a boy whose native language would be freedom and belonging.

When Sama is five months pregnant, Hadi’s father dies suddenly in Jordan, the night before his visa appointment at the embassy. Hadi flies back for the funeral, promising his wife that he’ll only be gone for a few days. On the day his flight is due to arrive in Boston, Sama is waiting for him at the airport, eager to bring him back home. But as the minutes and then hours pass, she continues to wait, unaware that Hadi has been stopped at the border and detained for questioning, trapped in a timeless, nightmarish limbo.

My Review:

No Land To Light On is tragic. I wholly wish that the author would write another book about Hadi and Sama just so that I can find validation on the fact that Sama and Hadi reconnect either in the States or in Paris as the ending implies might happen, although that is just selfish thinking since the story doesn't really need any more added to it as it is poignant just the way it is written.

Hadi and Sama, and little Naseem belong together, they belong creating a family that was already filled with so much love and respect. This book heartbreakingly persuades one to open their hearts and thought-process so that true understanding, true empathy, and deep analysis of how our laws are carried out and what more could be done to be more compassionate even when the laws really need to be enforced all the while possibly doing so with heart, not just hatred or fear, or "it's my job".

For readers who have never been affected by homelessness, being an immigrant, refugee, or banned from traveling somewhere other than their own town, this book opens one's eyes and creates a bridge for one's thoughts to mull over to gain empathy and perhaps a plan on how to help when you do hear about refugees coming to your state or town. Freedom isn't free if you are always afraid of when the bottom will drop out like it did for Hadi.

No Land To Light On is pure heart-touching lyrical writing filled with wisdom, compassion, and grace even during the worst of times. It will stay with me for months.

Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie

2021-09-13T14:23:00.003-06:00

Songs in Ursa Major
Emma Brodie
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
June 22, 2021

Publishers Summary:

“The year is 1969, and the Bayleen Island Folk Fest is abuzz with one name: Jesse Reid. Tall and soft-spoken, with eyes blue as stone-washed denim, Jesse Reid’s intricate guitar riffs and supple baritone are poised to tip from fame to legend with this one headlining performance. That is, until his motorcycle crashes on the way to the show…

…Jesse stays on the island to recover from his near-fatal accident and he strikes up a friendship with Jane, coaching her through the production of her first record. As Jane contends with the music industry’s sexism, Jesse becomes her advocate, and what starts as a shared calling soon becomes a passionate love affair. On tour with Jesse, Jane is so captivated by the giant stadiums, the late nights, the wild parties, and the media attention, that she is blind-sided when she stumbles on the dark secret beneath Jesse’s music. With nowhere to turn, Jane must reckon with the shadows of her own past; what follows is the birth of one of most iconic albums of all time…”

My quirky review that I hope Emma Brodie reads:

Reading, in the dark with the crickets chirping, the moon blinking, and Ursa Major shining off into the distance. Songs in Ursa Major reads like a Rolling Stone Article featuring the band The Breakers, and musician Jesse Reid.

It’s the Summer of ’69 — Jane Quinn lives on Bayleen Island where she and her band The Breakers make it past obscurity when they play at the Bayleen Island Folk Fest. If it wasn’t for beloved folk musician Jesse Reid who doesn’t show up for the festival The Breakers wouldn’t have stepped on the stage in his place. Jane with her blonde hair and bare feet catches the eye of Rolling Stones reporter, Curtis Wilkes. Willy Lambert P&R man for Pegasus Records and manager for Jesse Reid seeks Jane out while she is working at her part-time job bartending at the local bar, The Carousel. Jane can’t believe he wants her to be a solo artist for Pegasus Records! However, her band The Breakers are her best friends, bandmates since Jr. High and she just can’t leave them, nor does she want to go solo, too many obstacles to hurdle mentally with that kind of move.

Throughout the book, you read the lyrics of the music that Jane and fellow bandmate Rich write. The Lyrics are so good that I started searching for Janie and The Breakers music 🎼 Online and suddenly remembered it was a fictional band. Touché Emma Brodie you got me and I bet a lot of other readers too! I seriously would love to hear Janie’s, and Jesse Reid’s music! Do you have a song list you were listening to while writing? I’m dying to know.

In the middle of this whole saga of Jane and The Breakers evolving into a hot ticket to nothing once again, there is the backstory of Jane’s mother Charlotte, herself a songbird of a singer that disappears when Jane is small. The mystery of Charlotte’s disappearance is quite the story on its own and the damage that her disappearance it causes to Janie’s psyche helps you understand the lyrics to most of Janie’s music.

The “Mighty Quinn(s)” Family is filled with strong, independent women from Janie’s grandmother to her cousin, Maggie — these women step out of their comfort zone, do everything they need to to provide for each other monetarily and mentally, and sometimes shatter when no one is looking except for the reader.

Emma Brodie writes a compelling, true-as-life music fictional biography that will fill you with the desire to go out to your own festival and gaze at the stage wondering what each performer’s story is and loving the music every second of your attendance.

Thank you, NetGalley, Edelweiss+, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, and Emma Brodie for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

2021-08-16T14:30:00.004-06:00

Three Martin Afternoons at the Ritz
Gail Crowther
June 2, 2021
Gallery Books

Three Martini Afternoons at the Ritz is like being a fly on the wall, or sitting at a table nearby eavesdropping to two women chatting each week over Martinis about their lives, their feelings, and the absolute dread they had of their competition of doing the same thing for a living because these two women were Ann Sexton and Sylvia Plath confessional poetesses.

I enjoyed Three- Martin Afternoons at the Ritz, I'm not sure that's the right word, because there was a lot of sadness in this book, Gail Crowther's novel about Plath and Sexton. I learned a lot. I gained an understanding and empathy for what they both went through, how just like any other friendship they had highs and lows, love and hate.

The writing was companionable, confiding-chatter, and classic storytelling at its best.

My first experience, like many other readers, with Sylvia Plath would be her only book, some would say, biography The Bell Jar. It actually propelled me to read The Barbizon by Paulina Bren, the real setting for Plath's hotel Amazon. Her husband Ted Hughes was also a favorite poet of mine.

I only read one poem by Anne Sexton, "Her Kind" so Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz was eye-opening to me of her life and her works.

It was fascinating that both Plath and Sexton died of Carbon Dioxide. It's similar to me like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams dying on the same day within hours of each other.

Mental Health is tragic, this book shows that, however, it also shows how flawed diagnoses were back in their lifetimes and the extent that the illnesses were treated. Terror is what I felt reading about each woman's treatment.

The intense parallel mental illness where they were both hospitalized, the poetry, and the support they gave each other makes this book a much-read novel.

2021-07-28T14:38:00.001-06:00

The Barbizon
Paulina Bren
March 2, 2021
Simon and Schuster

Publisher's intro:

"WELCOME TO NEW YORK’S LEGENDARY HOTEL FOR WOMEN

Liberated from home and hearth by World War I, politically enfranchised and ready to work, women arrived to take their place in the dazzling new skyscrapers of Manhattan. But they did not want to stay in uncomfortable boarding houses. They wanted what men already had—exclusive residential hotels with daily maid service, cultural programs, workout rooms, and private dining.

Built in 1927 at the height of the Roaring Twenties, the Barbizon Hotel was intended as a safe haven for the “Modern Woman” seeking a career in the arts. It became the place to stay for any ambitious young woman hoping for fame and fortune."

My Review
Growing up in New York I had heard of the Barbizon. Having read Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, I knew that The Amazon was in honor of The Barbizon. So, you can imagine my excitement when I was approved for this book!

Honestly, I had no idea how many famous people had resided at the all-women's hotel, or how long the hotel had been around.. I had always thought it stopped being an all-women's hotel in the '40s. So, I was pleasantly surprised by how long the hotel had resided in New York and the history it contained.

Paulina Bren's research, her entertaining writing kept me interested in learning about the people of The Barbizon and the history of the early 1920s New York until the '80s. I've read some historical writings where it the books were so mundane with the "who's who" of a place that you just stop reading, but The Barbizon was not that book and I am thrilled it wasn't. I wanted to learn more about its fascinating history.

It's the Roaring '20s. The years of freedom for women! The idea of an all-women's hotel at the time of the first wave of female independence seems to me to be a little ironic, only because women weren't trusted to use their own common sense when it came to parents letting their daughters leave the nest and go out into the world to work. These parents thinking their daughters would fall prey to conniving men seems to be a lack of education from them to their daughters. Although The Barbizon gave these girls/women a place to go and live in New York with the "babysitting" of a house-mom and I am grateful for that, I wonder how much more independent and successful these ladies would've been had they had to learn from the experience of being out on their own completely, vs, being guarded as they were by hotel rules?

The greatest thing about The Barbizon is the idea that for the first time, the women had what the men had, a place to stay that was all their own, freer than say a boarding house stay. They learned to budget their money for food, rent, and miscellaneous items that were needed to live on their own. The friendships they made while staying at The Barbizon let them know they weren't alone in their drive for being more than what society wanted them to be. We all need friends like that.

I appreciate the women who did go out on their own, show the world that it was okay to be single and not have to rush to marriage, and I am sure it was frustrating for those same women to notice that as the years went on women continued to be hampered by being pushed to get married, to give up their work, go back to the kitchens of the '50s. The Barbizon made me realize how strong you had to be to push back and continue to be out on your own when the world told you that your place belonged with someone else and not your own individuality.

Paulina Bren kept me wanting to learn more, to find out who these women that stayed at The Barbizon, worked at Ford's Modeling, went to work for the summer at Mademoiselle magazine, and learned to be a secretary at Katherine Gibb's secretarial school. I was fascinated by "The Women" those who stayed longer into their maturity or went to The Barbizon as an older woman, like Molly Brown. I am sure it kept the older women more youthful to be around the young ladies who were sent to New York to learn a trade, to refine themselves, and to become the person they were meant to be before getting married and running a household, or finally find the answer to their dream of becoming an artist, a musician, an actress, a writer, a famous model, or even the dream of just living life to your fullest on your own terms!

They couldn't all be Grace Kelly become a famous actress and then a princess, but they could be the person they dream to be and The Barbizon helped them do that!

Thank you, NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, and Paulina Bren for the opportunity to learn about this magnificent hotel and the history surrounding it so I can share it with my readers, and followers in exchange for an honest review.

** I'm curious to find out why Ms. Bren decided to tell the story of The Barbizon, after all, it has been decades and no one had up until now.
I am so glad she did!

For well researched, information and yet, entertaining novel

Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story of Their Intimate Relationship

2021-07-16T14:27:00.002-06:00

Elizabeth and Monty
Charles Casillo
Kensington Books
May 25, 2021

Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift were two sensational deep dimensional actors! This book by Charles Casillo is about not only about their acting careers together and separate, but also the foibles and trauma of having substance abuse illnesses. Elizabeth and Monty is filled with many stories of their love affair which Elizabeth wished would happen, unfortunately, Monty as much as he loved Elizabeth and found her his equal and sexy, he was attracted to men, even though he could never come out in the world of Hollywood during his career. If he had, there would be no career, even though it was not a secret, they pretended he wasn't attracted to men and would patch him to his women friends.

Elizabeth and Monty is written like Hedda Hopper's gossip column. I love Montgomery Clift, I haven't watched all his movies, but as a child, I fell in love with him and Elizabeth's movie -- Raintree County. I know it isn't their best movie but as a kid, I was just fascinated by this aloof teacher and his desperate and haunted wife, Susanna. It was good to learn the background of each person's life while filming Raintree County. Such sad stuff.

My only complaint about this book is that I feel that the gossip of Monty's same-sex attraction was repeated ad nauseam, not that I have a problem with him being gay, it just felt like Monty was marginalized down to a gay man with a drinking problem as if that was all that he was. He was a gay man, yes, and he had qualities that truly made him , he was brilliant, soft-hearted, a lover of people, and a teacher to those who were just starting out in Hollywood. I would have loved to have that celebrated more even with the heartache and struggles that he lived through until his dying day.

Elizabeth struggled with acceptance, love, and needed to have someone constantly around her, Monty was her person, the one that she could talk to, the one she wanted the most in her life, and he was there for her, until the day he died, even when they were across the nation from each other. Elizabeth and Monty did a good job of telling Elizabeth's story, her relationship with her mother, her relationship with her 7 husbands (some of which were remarriages), and her relationship with the love of her life -- Monty.

I give this book 3.5 stars as I don't think I would read it again.

The Girls From The Beach

2021-07-13T10:27:00.004-06:00

The Girls From The Beach

Andie Newton

Aria and Aries Books

July 8, 2021

Kit, Red, Roxy, and Gail are nurses from different lived experiences stationed in France during WWII in the 45th Field Hospital. There are risks to being a nurse in war time, more risk than in peace time, and for these ladies those risks might be even more dangerous than most nurses faced. What happens when you are given a direct order by your Commanding Officer to follow an unknown soldier and no questions are allowed?! The Girls From The Beach is that vehicle to tell the nurses story.

There are few stories in the world that haven’t been told. The Girls From the Beach is one of those stories that I’ve never read before and they need to be told more often. We read about nurses, we read about WWII, and we read about the heroic actions of the soldiers, which is fantastic, but we never read of nurses who not only did their job in the field, but also risked the highest dangers behind enemy lines and are as heroic as the soldiers. I was pleased to find a place for those women to be celebrated here in Andie Newton’s The Girls From The Beach. This book would make an excellent television mini series or movie!

Kit, (Evelyn, as we find out her name in future pages,) is the type of woman who gets into trouble a lot because of her gumption and creative ways of looking at keeping life a little interesting while dealing with the sadness and stress of working on soldiers who have lost limbs, hope and more times than she wants to count — life. Red is the strong one, the instant best friend of Kit, she, in a lot of ways is the mother of the group. She is kind, caring and unselfish. Roxy, the tough one, the darling of the soldiers, the ones that can lift their spirits and help them leave the world feeling as if they are the most cared for person in the world. Gail, is the new nurse, freshly arrived from General in her starched Whites looking like a beauty queen. These are the women of The Girls From The Beach. Andie Newton’s woman are brave, strong, quirky, and one of them has a secret that she doesn’t want the others to find out. Could this secret cause more danger, is she the danger herself, or will the secret help during the war? A deeply emotional story ensues even in the early pages of her new novel. I suggest you keep the tissues close by. I know I did.

The supporting cast of characters are richly woven into the story adding to the drama, the realities that the nurses experience, and the darkness that they encounter are ones that I’ve always wanted to know how was dealt with during war times. I can’t go any further without spoiling the plot, so I won’t. I just know that if you love Historical Fiction, if you want to read a story not told of the women in war times and want a feeling of inspiration, introspection, and a little intense connection between people told through an intricately intriguing story telling, this is your book.

The Girls From The Beach is a deeply researched story one that you can tell the author poured her soul into and in-between the lines is empathy for the roller coaster emotions that war can leave behind when its all over and life gets intertwined into those haunting experiences.

Order this book from your local independent book store, or borrow it from your local library. I tell you, you won’t want to miss meeting these women!

4.5 Stars
for a unique angle to a story and the ability to reach into a readers soul and pull out every emotion imaginable!

I reached out to Andie Newton to get little more personal about The Girls From The Beach and was thrilled to be able to to ask six questions some of which are fun, interesting, personal tidbits about the author, herself. I hope you enjoy our little interaction. Read on….

1: What character did you feel closest to in The Girls on the Beach?

That is tough question. I feel I’m close to all of them, especially since each woman has their own story and hurdles to overcome. I’d say Kit, if I had to choose. I really love Evelyn, the main character in the later years.

2: What drives you so that you can continue writing when you are at a stall?

After I complete a book, I’m pretty much exhausted. I usually take a break, a week or two before I start with the edits. But while writing the book… well, that is always an emotional journey for me that includes days where I can’t write at all. That is my sign to step away and get a clear head. I run trail a lot. That helps.

3: What would you chose if you could pick the theme song for The Girls from the Beach???

There always seems to be a song I listen to the most while writing. With The Girls from the Beach, it was Time from the Inception soundtrack. When I listen to it now, while writing my current novel, I quickly change it because all I can think about are the girls from The Girls from the Beach.

4: Who or what inspires you?

So many things. Movies mostly when it comes to different scenes (the car ride from hell in the 80’s flick The Sure Thing inspired Adele and Marguerite’s car ride in The Girl from Vichy). But also articles I stumble upon. In regards to The Girls from the Beach, I read a lot of articles and diaries from the nurses who served, so that offered up a lot of inspiration.

5: Which Fictional Character would you like to meet in person?

I love 80’s/90’s comedies. So, Charley’s mother from So, I Married and Axe Murderer.

6. Do you have a bestie that inspired you to write Red’s personality?

All my friends, past and current have inspired the characters in The Girls from the Beach. With Red, I thought of my childhood friend Michelle. I’ve known her for over 30 years and she has Red’s strength. She’s also a caretaker, much like Red watches over the girls and takes care of them, worries about them. In many ways me and Michelle were Kit and Red to some degree when we were younger. I was always coming up with some adventure or scheme and she was always there taking the hit when my ideas blew up in our faces.

Dear Reader I have two Q’s for you too: Are you planning on reading The Girls From The Beach? And for fun: What fictional character would you like to meet in person? Leave a response if you’d like in the comments. I would really love to know who you would pick.

Me, I would love to meet Sooky St. James from Gilmore Girls, or bookish character: Huck Finn, from Tom Sawyer. I find I would love to have his adventures more than Tom’s because Huck doesn’t manipulate people to do what he doesn’t want to do himself. Huck is quirky, fun loving and innocent in that trouble maker sort of way. I find him endearing. I would really love to know if he would be that way off the page. I guess it’s safe to say, I love quirkiness.

The Heartbeat of Iran Real Voices of a Country and Its People by Tara Kangarlou

2021-06-01T16:42:00.003-06:00

The Heartbeat of Iran

Real Voices of a Country and Its People

Author Tara Kangarlou

IG Publishing

June 1, 2021

What Do you know about Iran?
I’m ashamed to say that the first time I ever heard of Iran was through a famous California song’s popular tune’s word change during the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979 when I was ten years old, then through the first Persian Gulf War and a few years later during the Iran Contra Affair beginning in 1985 when I was a sophomore in high school, because of this news focused experiences my view of Iranians was a reaction of fear, not of similarity through humanity.

However, during the summer of ’86 before my Junior year of high school, I started wondering about the poor people of Iran (and to be honest the rest of the Middle East), who were enduring so much war and terror in their country. There was no way that all of them could be war mongering demons like the news made them out to be. They had to be LIKE ALL NATIONS: some horrible, horrible people and the rest kind, loving, and just trying to make an existence out of what is handed them by their laws, religions, and leaders. I mean, in a country where so much had happened to them there had to be people who were trying to make the country the best they could so that they could live in it and someday be a place that their children could raise their children in peace and through the prosperity of culture which enriches their lives. In other words Humanity at its best.

The Heartbeat of Iran is proof of what I knew in my heart was true—the beauty of humanity in Iran: the truths the people encounter, the gorgeous weaving of words to tell stories of their lives so that others can better understand what their country is; how it has made them who they are and what Iran is becoming through perseverance and hope.

Funny thing. I am one of those types of readers, and reviewers, that doesn’t read the introduction from an author until after I’ve read the book or collection of stories as is this book. I want to gather my own thoughts through the experiences with the writing and get from it what I can to help me, first of all, be entertained, but most of all to understand the characters, the setting, and the message of the book. I guess I haven’t dropped my inquisitive, critiquing ways that my English Professor liked to comment on so much (not always a good thing she said…)

Like all the other readings in my life, I didn’t read author Tara Kagarlou’s intro of The Heartbeat of Iran until right before I started writing this review.

I’m glad I waited. I am excited to say that what Ms. Kangarlou wanted the most from the reader is exactly what I received from this book! To that I say, thank you Ms. Kangarlou for gathering stories that would fulfill your hopes. I definitely grew more empathy through the lyrical stories in your collection. Kangarlou bluntly, and rightly, states in her introduction what I had questioned in my mind and the misconception I’ve written about presented to me as a child and teen of her homeland. I honestly wish I could just paste her whole intro this review and call it perfect, however, that would do more injustice by taking away her livelihood from this book's earnings by giving it to you free so, I’ll just pull out a truthfully blunt quote: “it’s utterly frustrating to see how often Iranians are portrayed through the caricatures of what the west thinks of them and allows them to be. The harrowing tales of the hostage crisis, the imprisonment of journalists and Bahais, the crackdown on political activists as well as a host of mainstream movies made about Iran like 300, Argo, and of course Not Without My Daughter, are often the only stories about the country that most westerners are familiar with. As important as these issues and films are, they don’t complete the narrative, and certainly don’t come close to capturing the whole truth. Like many other isolated and heavily marginalized nations, the real Iran remains a mystery to much of the international community.”

Many of the collected stories by the author, Tara Kangarlou are stories about women. It is joyful to me that even with what I construe (and hopefully its a misconception on this westerner’s understanding) to be a lack of women rights in Iran that these stories are free to be expressed and told without the subjects themselves being in danger of breaking any laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These women have told their fascination stories like race car driver Laleh Seddigh. To read the unfathomable story about 93-year-old Hooriyeh Zeinsli who slowly over time lost so many freedoms in 1936 at the age of ten it was not being able to go to school if she wore the Hijab which was not only her religion but her culture, then after 1979 and the Iranian Revolution lost the freedoms she held so dearly disappear is even more poignant to me. I can’t imagine knowing what freedom is then losing it without any choices. I feel for her and the world changes she has seen in her 93 years of living.

Besides the Iranian women, there are stories from other marginalized Iranian’s stories and I considered it a blessing that I was able to read these stories before the compilation was released. This book brought sadness and at the same time awe, happiness, and pride that humans are able to pull themselves out of trying, harsh environments and continue to fight on to better other’s lives that might not be able to do the same for themselves.

I’ve made it my goal throughout my life to read other country’s authors, other culture’s religious writings, and non-familiar lifestyles near, and especially far from where I live. This book and others like it published by IG Publishing (and another publishing house I read books from often- Restless Books) are companies that gather authors that help make the world smaller by showing each reader that all of humanity has the same goals of love, compassion, and aspirations of peace and hope even if we are different in dress, religions (or not), politics, and divided by waters and/or physical boundaries that separate us from each other. We all live on this great big revolving, colorful ball called Earth and we should get to know each other better even if we never meet each other face to face. Our souls are universal even if we are not globally one.

Humanity at its realist.

Author's compilation well written.

Didn't feel like a Documentary. This is about the people in your neighborhood.

Thank you IG Publishing, and Tara Kangarlou for the opportunity to read this book in lieu of my honest review.

Booking It With Sandra

Spring Harvest by Rektok Ross, A Book Review

Public Opinion by William Lippmann

Mr. Wilder and Me: A Review

The Clackity

The City of The Living by Nicola Lagioia

Loose in the Bright Fantastic by E.B. Moore

One Hundred Saturdays by Michael Frank

"One morning they found the tide had gone out very far, so far that the ocean was no longer in view. They had never seen anything like it in their lives, and for a moment they didn't speak. 'It's like the sea is afraid, too,' Noémie said at last."

HourGlass by Keiran Goddard

GREENLIGHTS BY MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: OR YOU CAN’T ALWAYS LOVE SOMEONE ELSE’S HISTORY.

Essay Style Book Reviews vs Book Commentaries--- What is your preference?

In The Margins: On The Pleasure of Reading and Writing

Where the Crawdad Sings by Delia Owens

Lacuna by Fiona Snykers

This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, or as I would like to call it,—How Not to Lose It When Your Treasured Man-Made Extremity Disappears Into The Ethers.

"Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. If he’s lucky, he’ll get a job at the hospital cafeteria. If he’s extra lucky, he’ll earn more than minimum wage..." Anchor Books partial Synapsis

No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib

Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie

Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story of Their Intimate Relationship

The Girls From The Beach

The Heartbeat of Iran Real Voices of a Country and Its People by Tara Kangarlou