BOOK REVIEW: "Austenland"

Austenland
By Shannon Hale
Copyright 2007
Bloomsbury USA
Adult Fiction
3.5 Bookmarks

Okay, pretty much anyone who knows me knows that I love anything and everything Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice--one of my favorite books and movies. I remember dragging hubby and a male friend to go see "Sense and Sensibility", the movie, when it came out in theaters years ago--an event hubby STILL complains about to this day (it was payback for being dragged to go see "I Know What You Did Last Summer"--I hate scary movies, even if they're the fakey kind of scary).

So I find this book at the library about a woman who also loves anything and everything Jane Austen, and of course I can relate, so I check it out. The character in the book, Jane Hayes, has a secret obsession with Mr. Darcy (and I can totally understand why). She seems to compare all the men in her life with him. And it's ruining her dating world. No one can measure up to the steamy, sultry, tempestuous Mr. Darcy.

A distant relative discovers Jane's secret obsession and bequeaths a trip to "Austenland" to Jane in her will. Jane travels to England and to a world she has previously only known in books. Taking in the experience of living in this historical fiction world, Jane faces some interesting challenges, men who are acting the part of her regency dreamboat (or are they acting?), etiquette rules she has only read about, and love triangles like no other. In the process, Jane discovers a few things about herself.

I have often thought I was born in the wrong century, and this novel let's the reader play along with Jane Hayes and act out what it would be like to have been born into Jane Austen's world.
The author, Shannon Hale, creates a fun story that can be appreciated by any Jane Austen fan. The story was lighthearted, and maybe a little bit too predictable at the end, but it was still an enjoyable read!

BOOK REVIEW: "The Garden of Eden"

The Garden of Eden

By Ernest Hemingway

Copyright 1986

Scribner Publishing

Classic Literature

3 Bookmarks

Ernest Hemingway, author of the classics "A Moveable Feast," "The Old Man and the Sea", and "A Farewell to Arms," among others, penned a number of novels he never quite completed. After his death, some of these unfinished works were published by members of his family. And so we arrive at "The Garden of Eden".

Ahhhh...young love. David and Catherine are newlyweds, honeymooning at a beach resort while David works on a new novel that he's been writing. His last novel has received positive reviews and things are looking up for David on a professional level. On a personal level, the couple's days are filled with leisure and lovemaking. Life is good.

But one day, something changes. It starts as a small, erotic journey David is led on by Catherine. But it soon turns dark and sinister. Catherine becomes someone that David doesn't know. He accepts the change with hesitation, as what else is there to do? But then when the darkness spirals into something even more erotically dangerous, David finds himself unable to control the world around him, not even the novel that is finding it's way onto the pages of his notebook.

A good author is able to challenge the reader to open their minds and look at life through a different set of eyes. Hemingway succeeds, but at a price. Although the novel was never completed, the story does have an ending, just not one the reader might have hoped for. If you're looking for a book to give you warm, fuzzy feelings after reading it, this is not the book for you. But it does make you think.

BOOK REVIEW: "Dear John"

Dear John

By Nicholas Sparks

Copyright 2006

Warner Books

Adult Fiction

4 Bookmarks

I've read some good books lately and this is definitely one of them. By the author of "The Notebook", this is another tale of love and sadness that pulls you in and rips your heart out (I love a good book like that!)

In this story, John Tyree leaves home after high school, an angry teenager who doesn't understand his father, and really doesn't even understand himself. John joins the Army and comes home only rarely to visit. It is during one of these visits that John meets Savannah. She is everything that John is not. She is soft and gentle where he is rough and rugged. She is religious and committed where he is floundering. But somehow, they fall in love. Through short visits and long letters, their love grows.

But things happen, as they always do, to interrupt a good love story, and this one is no different. Will John and Savannah be able to overcome the odds and get over the obstacles that come their way? Will they be able to face the logistical challenges of their relationship? Is love strong enough? I'm not going to be a spoiler on this one....you'll have to read it for yourself to find out.

I always enjoy a good Sparks novel. They are easy, quick reads; but they are always stories you just don't want to put down. I recommend this one!

BOOK REVIEW: "Candles on Bay Street"

Candles on Bay Street
by K. C. McKinon
Copyright 1999
Doubleday Publishing
Adult Fiction
4 Bookmarks
(spoiler alert!)

Alright, so really, I generally don't like books that make me cry. Especially ones that make me cry because someone is affected by cancer. But this book is an exception (I realize I just gave a big part of the book away, but maybe you're like me and have been personally touched in an excruciating way by cancer and like to avoid the reminders).

If I had known that cancer would be a part of this book, I probably wouldn't have read it, which would have truly been a shame. "Candles on Bay Street" is set in small-town Fort Kent, Maine, where veterinarian Sam Thibodeau is faced with some very tough choices when his childhood friend and lifelong crush, Dee Dee Michaud, returns to town after a very long absence. Both of their lives have changed dramatically (he is married, and she has a child), but the friendship is still there. Soon after Dee Dee starts up a candle-making business and begins to create a community for herself, Sam starts to notice something is wrong. Dee Dee is sick and getting sicker.

The story progresses from there and you will have to read the book to find out how it ends, but I do want to share my commentary on the way this book is written. The author pulled me in to Fort Kent and made me feel it was my own small town growing up. The people were so real. The incidents that were occuring in their daily lives were real. The writing was real and McKinnon's words conveyed the beauty of the setting with ease.

I felt each characters' joy and pain at various different points in the book. At several points in the book, I did weep like a baby. In part, because it brought up so many memories of my mother's own battle with cancer that she lost in 1995. But also, in part because I truly felt the character's emotions as written by the author.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially for someone who likes a good tear-jerker.

COMMENTARY: "Away So Long....."

No, I did not fall off the face of the earth. No, I did not contract some terminal disease and die. No, I did not "quit" my blog. But I did start school. College, to be more precise. So here I am, working, going to school, being a mom, being a wife, running a household.....no wonder I haven't had any time to post anything! I have been reading (when I can) and have read some good books. I'll get the reviews on here as soon as I can, but I just wanted to take a moment to.....what....vent, maybe?

I knew it was going to be tough going back to school after nearly 15 years. I knew it was going to be taxing on my personal life, a challenge as relates to my work life, and generally-speaking, I did know things were going to be different. But I just didn't realize how much it was going to take out of me. I'm not 18 anymore (duh!) and these long hours are tough! I'm finally finding ways to manage my time more efficiently, but there are certain things that are definitely not getting as much attention as they used to (housework being number one on that list *sigh*).

I love school, though. I love that I'm back in school. It feels so good to be learning again. My number one goal in life was always to graduate from college. It may not seem like a big deal, especially now that I'm pretty well established in a career and probably won't be changing that, but it is a big deal. Neither of my parents, nor any of my siblings, graduated from college (most didn't even attend any college). My sister, Emily, however, has been a huge inspiration for me on this whole back-to-school thing. She is in nursing school (and working and being a mom herself) and she is doing awesome! She will be graduating long before I will and I'm so proud of her. But when she started, I kind of started looking at my own life and said, "if she can do it, so can I." And so here I am, starting back in college and doing what I always promised myself I would do.

My first two classes are Intermediate Algebra (a class I have already taken and HATE that I have to be taking again....*sigh*) and Geography, which is, in actuality, not really a geography class so much as a liberal geo-political commentary on the world. I chuckle and shake my head in this class on a frequent basis. But the thing that makes me chuckle the most at school are the "kids" I'm in class with. Especially the "guy" who comes to class in bare feet (because he "doesn't like shoes") and the kid who listens to his ipod so loudly during class that I can hear all the lyrics two rows away (seriously, when did that become acceptable in the classroom?) So I have fun with the people-watching as much as anything else.

It's good to be learning, though. It's good to be exercising those brain-muscles that have been atrophying for so long. It's good to be doing this thing!

BOOK REVIEW: "Caspian Rain"

Caspian Rain
By Gina B. Nahai
Copyright 2007
Macadam Cage Publisher
Adult Fiction
5 Bookmarks
Exceptional!

Let me just start out by saying this is the best book I have read so far this year. Caspian Rain begins by painting a picture of a young schoolgirl walking along the streets “in a city with blue mountains”, dreaming of better luck and a better life, “once upon a time in a land of miracles”.

In reality, the girl is an Iranian Jew, trapped in a land of class warfare, in a world where she exists at the bottom of the totem pole. But when her “miracle” appears and offers to pull her up out of the ghettos of her childhood, she thinks her luck has finally come. To the contrary, though, this turn of events ends up turning her world upside-down.

Caspian Rain is narrated by Yaas, the daughter of this unfortunate schoolgirl. Yaas takes us through the ups and downs of being a Jew in a land where Islam rules, a world where parents can prevent the divorce of their adult children, where extra-marital affairs are accepted and almost expected, where women have no rights, no rule, and no life of their own.

The author introduces us to such diverse characters as Chamedooni, a snake-oil salesman with a proclivity for cutting the hair off of girls in the morgue; the “ghost brother”, who rides his bike silently on the streets, ever searching for his path to heaven; and Niyaz, the high-class harlot who threatens them all. All these characters step in and out of the lives of Yaas and her parents as they struggle to accept their lot in life, and fight to create an illusion of being better than what they were born to be. The tragedy is that, in the end, no one can fool the world enough that it will ignore your fate.

I felt such a sense of sorrow for the characters in this tale; being so helpless to create a better world for themselves, and yet always always holding out hope that things will get better. The world we see in Caspian Rain is painful; a simple and beautifully tragic story to give us all a reason to appreciate what we have been given in our own lives. Exceptional!

BOOK REVIEW: "the watermark"

The Watermark
By Travis Thrasher
Copyright 2001
Tyndale House Publishers, inc.
Adult Fiction
2 Bookmarks

I finished reading The Watermark over a week ago, but I have been torn about how to write this review. There is a part of me that liked the book. It had a certain sense of “can’t-put-it-down”ness. The characters were interestingly drawn. And the feeling of not being entirely sure what was going on kept me on the edge of my seat for a time.

But once I figured out what the real story was, it sort of felt….well, wrong.

Sheridan Blake (cool character name, by the way) is 28 and returning to college. For several pages of the book, you don’t know why he was absent so long. But the reader eventually learns that Sheridan has done something bad. Very bad. And not only that, but he got away with it.

Sheridan is torn up from his guilt and remorse, or at least he is supposed to be. In reality, it seems he is just trying to forget his past and ignore its importance in his life. Fairly early on in the book (and periodically throughout the remainder), the author points the story in the “if only he could look to god for forgiveness” direction. It seemed to me that these gratuitous pleas for Sheridan’s soul were thrown quite haphazardly into the book. They almost seemed like a weird sidenote.

Toward the end of the book, the plot started to become quite predictable and cliché, which was disappointing. Some of the choices the characters made seemed very out of character. And I really wasn’t sorry when the book ended. And that’s all I have to say about that.

BOOK REVIEW: "Train Man"

Train Man
By Hitori Nakano
Copyright 2004
Del Rey Books
Adult Fiction
3 Bookmarks

Before there was Facebook, there were chat rooms. Before chat rooms, there were bulletin boards. And in “Train Man”, by Hitori Nakano, a love story unfolds before the reader's eyes on the pages of an innocent bulletin board “thread”.

Tren, a self-professed computer geek, has found himself in a quandary. Riding on the train to work one day, he witnesses a group of women being accosted by a drunken geezer. Tren does something completely out of character for himself; he comes to the rescue and saves the women from what he presumes is an assault waiting to happen. But when one of the women (a young, attractive one at that), sends a thank you gift to Tren, he hardly knows how to react. So he turns to his virtual “friends” on the bulletin board and asks for their help.

This entire book is written as a routine bulletin board “thread”; each post dated and timed from each individual user. Tren takes the advice of the other computer geeks on the thread and calls the girl to thank her for the thank you gift. The relationship progresses from there with the computer geeks giving Tren (a very inexperienced young geek) advice at every turn. What unfolds is a beautiful love story filled with sophistication from the young woman, and innocence and geeky-ness (two of my favorite male qualities! ;-) from the young man.

The writing style of the bulletin board was very clever, I thought. The book was originally written in Japanese and translated into English two years later. A fun book and a quick read.

COMMENTARY: Here Comes The Rain Again...

We are a little spoiled in Colorado Springs with our average of 300 days of sunshine per year. This year has been tough on us with day after day of clouds and rain. Our lawns our happy, and so are our water bills, but are we?

If I go too long without the sun, I start to feel groggy and depressed. The sun is a lifeline to…well…life, if you will. The bright sunshine in the morning helps us wake up. The warmth of the sun gives us comfort and a sense of fullness. The constant motion of the sun in the sky helps us track our progress for the day. The shadows tell us it’s time to hurry up because the end of the day is drawing near.

But when the clouds roll in and just stay and stay and stay, everything feels a little…off. It’s more difficult to get out of bed in the morning. It’s impossible to know what time it is without referring to some kind of electronic device. There’s no sense of movement or warmth.

How do the people of Seattle survive with their average 43 days of sunshine per year? I don’t know. Really. I don’t have a clue. I went to Seattle once. I was there for five days; no sunshine at all for five days. I was unbelievably ready to leave by the end of those very long five days (let me make myself clear….I was actually ready to leave BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY at that point).

There is a mood disorder called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), related to the changing of seasons. People who have been diagnosed with this disorder become depressed most commonly during the winter (in fact, many people know the disorder by the name “winter blues”) and occasionally during other seasons of the year. Believe me, I can relate! There is something to be said for the healing power of the sun.

And yeah, I am grateful we are not in a drought and I am grateful my garden is getting lots of water; but really, can’t the sun just come out and play for awhile?

BOOK REVIEW: "The Pastures of Heaven"

The Pastures of Heaven
John Steinbeck
Copyright 1932
Robert O. Ballou, Inc.
Classic Literature
4 Bookmarks

Take a voyeuristic look at Las Pasturas del Cielo, The Pastures of Heaven, with author John Steinbeck and you will be welcomed into a world of fate, longing, disappointment, and resignation. This collection of interconnected short stories tells of the lives of the inhabitants of a secluded valley near Salinas, California. Each tale draws the reader closer and closer in to the core meaning of the name of this enchanted place.

This lonely collection of farmhouses and cabins is a final resting place for the hopes and dreams of three generations. From the single farmer who finds an abandoned baby on the side of the road, to the new school teacher fresh from the city, each character is portrayed in stunning detail. Their ambitions are all different, but the end result of each story ties them all together.

One of my favorite stories in the book revolves around the Whiteside family. A man who has decided to create a legacy, purchases land and builds an estate. He envisions the home being filled with children and imagines the home passing from generation to generation so that he can live on forever. This man and his wife, unfortunately, are able to have only one child. While this saddens them greatly, they direct their son, when he becomes an adult, to carry on their wishes. The son is very much like his parents, and he too wants to continue on this legacy. That son, however, is also only able to have one child, and when that child decides he doesn’t want to stay in the valley, the only reasonable conclusion to the story results.

There is such variety and eccentricity in the characters of this masterpiece; from the prostitutes who ask forgiveness each day from their statue of the Virgin Mary, to the chicken farmer who thinks nothing of visiting his friend (the warden of the prison) and witnessing executions, to the man named “Shark” who leads everyone to believe he is the possessor of great wealth, when in reality, he is as poor and destitute as his neighbors.

I truly enjoyed this book. It is one of the better “classics” that I’ve read and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to expand their literary horizons.

BOOK REVIEW: "On Chesil Beach"

On Chesil Beach
By Ian McEwan
Copyright 2007
Doubleday
Adult Fiction
2.5 Bookmarks

Imagine, if you will, a man and a woman on their wedding night. Now, although it may be hard to imagine for those of you out there who aren’t Mormon, try to imagine what it would be like if that wedding night were your FIRST night together. And so begins the story of Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan.

It is 1962. Florence and Edward are in love and this is their wedding day. McEwan guides the reader through the emotions of each of the characters in turn. Edward, who has waited for this moment since the first day he laid eyes on beautiful Florence. In fact, it is for this moment that he has waited his whole life. And then there is Florence. Florence, who is filled with fear and dread and disgust. Florence who acknowledges her obligation and tries as hard as she might to swallow the bile that seems to creep up her throat whenever she even thinks about what is to occur after the wedding ceremony.

The happy couple sit in their honeymoon suite at a hotel on Chesil Beach and slowly pretend to eat their wedding dinner. Small talk is the order of the day. Edward contemplating how he might begin the…ahem….proceedings. Florence contemplating how she might avoid them.

The author flashes back through the couple’s courtship; from the moment they first meet, through every moment that Edward attempts a physical advance toward Florence, through every moment that Florence grants Edward a token reward for his efforts. By the time their wedding day has arrived, they really are nowhere near the level of intimacy one would normally assume in this situation. It is a recipe for disaster.

The characters of this book were quite intoxicating. Each manages to be narcissistic and eager-to-please at turn. The alternating selflessness and selfishness of each of them clearly demonstrate that neither character really knows who they are. If this book weren’t so well-written, I would tell you to avoid it merely to avoid the horribly sad and depressing ending. But McEwan’s storytelling ability is quite thought-out and it is, generally speaking, worth the read just for the quality of that.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Good Life"

The Good Life
By Erin McGraw
Copyright 2004
Houghton Mifflin Co
Short Story Collection
2 Bookmarks

Hmmm…I’m really not even sure what to say about this book. Normally, I really like short stories. They are usually detailed, and yet pithy, and then have a dramatic surprise at the end. This collection of short stories fell short of my expectations by quite a bit.

As the title of the book indicates, these stories are about “life”. However, I really felt like instead of the “good” life, the stories were more about people who are trapped in a life they don’t really want.

I think that my favorite was a story called “A Whole New Man”, about a man named Frederick who is somehow talked into going on a makeover show with his wife. The author describes Frederick’s lack of opinion on the issue in such an amusing way. And then when Frederick actually gets his makeover and he must deal with the feelings he experiences as a result, I did feel quite a bit of empathy for him (me who HATES to get my hair cut and feels a sense of loss for days and days whenever I can no longer avoid it).

In reading other stories, I think I just totally missed the point. I would get to the end of a story (which usually wasn’t an “end” at all), and wonder exactly why the author had written it in the first place. Some of the characters were oddly….well, odd. Like the woman who falls in love with her priest. Or the young girl who is sent to live with a woman her mother admires but whom she’s never met. Or the recovering addict who finds peace from her mother by attending early morning mass. Some of the concepts to the stories were interesting, but they really fizzled in the end.

There were a few good moments in the book, but not enough to justify the time I spent reading it.

REAL ESTATE: New Carbon Monoxide Detector Law

Starting on July 1st, 2009, real estate law in Colorado is changing. The new law taking effect requires all Home Sellers and Landlords to have Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detectors installed within 15 feet of any bedroom or sleeping area if the home has a gas-fired heating source, appliance, fireplace or an attached garage. There is a link to the actual State House Bill 1091 below. The alarms are available for purchase at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, etc., and can cost anywhere from$15 to $50. The goal, obviously, is to keep the population of Colorado safer by ensuring that (eventually) all homes will have CO detectors installed.

The law comes a little too late for one local family. In December 2008, the Murphy family, who had recently moved into a rental home in Manitou Springs, became ill with what they thought was the flu. They stayed home and rested, but when Joel Murphy awoke one morning to discover he couldn't walk, he called 911. He saved his own life and the life of his 2-year-old son, but tragically, Joel's wife Kelly was already dead.

Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headaches, dizziness and nausea. The gas is produced by fuel that is incompletely burned, from fireplaces, furnaces, or even barbecue grills. This new law will help prevent senseless tragedies like the tragedy suffered by the Murphy family in Manitou Springs.

You can read the law and some general information below:

Carbon Monoxide Bill Signed into Law: Colorado's Governor Bill Ritter signed HB 1091 into law recently. The new law will cover all new residential construction and existing single-family and multi-family housing units offered for sale, transfer or rent. Beginning July 1, 2009, a seller or landlord of residential real property containing a fuel-fired heater or appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage will be responsible for assuring that a carbon monoxide alarm is properly installed within 15 feet of the entrance to each room lawfully used for sleeping prior to the sale or lease of the property. No person shall have a claim for relief against a property owner or their authorized agent if a carbon monoxide alarm is installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s published instructions.

POEM: "Us" by Andrea Rowley

US

I saw it in your eyes
The day we met
I knew you knew
For I knew, too

Perhaps it was your smile
Or the way you held my glance
Or maybe it was nothing
But a comfortable realization

So natural
So synchronized
Each day is a year
Each moment, an eternity

Nothing breaking
Ever together
Hand in hand
Walking towards forever

By Andrea Rowley, for my dear husband Justin.

14 years ago today we met,
and each day we get to begin

the rest of our lives together. With love...

(print by Alfred Gockel, one of my favorite artists....)

BOOK REVIEW: "How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life"

How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life
By Mameve Medwed
Copyright 2006
HarperCollins Publishing
Adult Fiction
4 Bookmarks

Okay, so I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for a good chamber pot story. How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life is a well-written novel about Abby Randolph, a “professional” antiques dealer, who doesn’t always seem so professional. Especially when she stumbles upon a chamber pot with some unique features. She doesn’t think much of it herself, but when a colleague urges her to take it on Antiques Roadshow, she is surprised to learn of the pot’s origins.

Wait a minute. Let me back up. Really, this isn’t a story about a chamber pot at all. Really it’s about how sometimes life IS a chamber pot that we may find ourselves wallowing in. And somehow, we have to find a way to crawl out of it. This book is about the main character doing just that.

Abby has just broken up with her boyfriend Clyde, a man she somehow always knew wasn’t really her soulmate, even though he seemed to fit into her life okay. She is pining away, but not really for him; more for the idea of togetherness. A part of Abby is also pining away for Ned, her childhood crush, and someone more suited to meet the needs of her soul. Unfortunately, Ned has done something totally idiotic that Abby simply cannot forgive.

So through these relationship ups and down, through her visits to flea markets and tag sales, through her antique discoveries, through a lawsuit mired in bitter selfishness, Abby Randolph slowly but surely climbs her way out of that chamber pot. It is a fun journey.

Definitely more geared for the female crowd, but I would recommend this book if you’d like a lighthearted read, if you are an amateur antiquarian, or if the Cambridge area is of interest to you. Lots of historical and geographic references, not to mention a fun title, and just plain readable!