BOOK REVIEW: "Jimmy"

Jimmy

By Robert Whitlow

Copyright 2005

Westbow Press

Adult Fiction

3.5 Bookmarks

I was all set to give this one four bookmarks....right up until page 371. Then it rapidly dropped down to 3.5 due to an unpleasant ending. I hate it when that happens, especially when I really did like the book!

Jimmy is a novel about a 14-year-old boy in a small town in Georgia with lower mental capacities than other children. The book documents his struggles and triumphs in a world that seems to swallow him up.

Jimmy views life around him with an innocence that goes beyond naivete. His world is black and white and those who surround him with love make sure that whatever he needs to understand is explained to him in the simplest terms possible.

But when Jimmy accidentally finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, things that are beyond his understanding become his downfall.

This was a very well-written book. The story of love between Jimmy and his step-mother, and between Jimmy and his grandfather, was incredibly heartwarming to read. The author spent a great deal of time developing Jimmy's character and, although it was simple, his soul truly shone through in the writing.

A great book.......until the last few pages.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Valley of Horses"

The Valley of Horses
By Jean M. Auel
Copyright 1982
Crown Publishers
Adult Fiction
5 Bookmarks
Exceptional!

And this is Book 2 of the Earth's Children series by Jean Auel. I previously reviewed Book 1, Clan of the Cave Bear. This is the continuation of Ayla's journey.

As The Valley of Horses begins, Ayla is traveling alone to find people like herself, The Others. She travels far and for many days but doesn't find anyone. Instead, she finds herself in a beautiful valley where resides a herd of horses. Ayla finds a perfect cave and decides to stay for a few days, which turns into a few more, then eventually into an entire summer. As she plans for her winter stores, she faces the reality that she is still alone.

Auel, again, does a great job of explaining the intricacies of pre-historic chores like fire-starting, leather-scraping, and flint-knapping. Ayla is eventually joined in her cave by a baby horse and a baby lion. Auel creates a strong sense of family amongst the three cave dwellers.

Interspersed between the events occuring in Ayla's existence, Auel begins to tell a tale of two young men on a journey of their own. As they travel to new and exciting territories, Jondolar, and his brother Thonolan, experience adventure, love and hardship. As the days pass, they draw nearer and nearer to the valley of horses.

And, as I'm sure you can guess, Ayla finally has her first opportunity to meet someone of The Others: people like her.

This is my favorite book in the entire series. There is not a dull moment in this book as Auel does an incredible job of keeping the reader interested and anticipating what's going to happen next. I am always sorry when I get to the end of this one.

Again, this book has adult content and is not for young readers (there's a particularly "interesting" scene that starts on about page 470......*ahem*), so keep out of reach of children please!

BOOK REVIEW: "A Monk Jumped Over a Wall"

A Monk Jumped Over a Wall

By Jay Nussbaum

Copyright 2007

The Toby Press, LLC

Adult Fiction

4 Bookmarks

Funny title caught my attention browsing at the library. Picture of a guy in karate pose standing on a scale of justice helped me drop it into my bookbag.

I don't usually get into lawyer-themed books (or police-themed or CSI-type or pretty much anything with too much suspense--my heart can't take it!) So when I first started reading and discovered this was going to be "lawyery", I groaned.....and kept reading (like I usually do). But this time, I was pleasantly surprised. By the end of Chapter 4, the main character, J.J. Spencer, is in a street brawl with a bike messenger and things start to get really interesting.

The main gist of the story is that J.J. was sort of forced by circumstance into law school and he doesn't really know if that's what he wants to be when he grows up. As a matter of fact, he knows it. His hero is a cop who used to help his family when he was a kid, and really, he just wants to help people too. So when an opportunity comes at his law firm to hold a hand out to someone who really needs his help, he does it. Only he doesn't really think about the consequences first and ends up starting a whole chain of events in motion that he is unable to stop.

In the process of all this, the main character has some flashback moments of law school and some of the people he has known. The title of the book comes from a lunch he has with a law professor where the professor is eating soup called A Monk Jumped Over a Wall where he explains the story of how the soup got it's name. Apparently there was once a monk who sat in the monastery day after day doing whatever it is that monks do. But then one day, someone made this soup just outside the monastery, and the aroma wafted over the wall. The monk was so intoxicated by the smell that he jumped over the wall to get the soup, and never returned to the monastery.

All of us have a life path we have chosen. And sometimes something comes along that pulls us off that path and veers us in a direction we never could have expected (for good or bad). I sort of took that as the "theme" of the book.

Just the right balance of good story-telling, emotion and suspense. I'd recommend this one all around and think it's appealing to men and women alike.

BOOK REVIEW: "Breathing Lessons"

Breathing Lessons

By Anne Tyler

Copyright 1988

ATM, Inc., Publisher

Adult Fiction

1 Bookmark

I really hate it when I'm only a few chapters into a book and I'm already starting to feel like I really, really don't want to finish. Unfortunately, this was one of those books. Even more unfortunate, I am the type of person who usually finishes the book anyway. I continually tell myself, "this has to get better....this really has to get better". (Thus, the explanation for why I sat through the three miserable hours that was The English Patient.)

I also am continually telling myself, "There has to be some point to this," or "I can't believe I have to know how this ends." Torturous. Simply torturous.

But finally, I did finish the book. And it was soooooooooo not worth it.

Breathing Lessons is basically a commentary on a miserable married woman and the miserable relationship she has with her husband and the miserable relationship she has with just about every other person in her life. There are some moments where I'm pretty sure the author is trying to paint a "realistic picture of how women feel," but honestly, any woman who feels the way this woman is portrayed is probably on about six different kinds of anti-depressants and probably eats six chocolate bars every day just to make herself feel better. Okay, so maybe there are a lot of people like that out in the real world. But frankly, it was just depressing and miserable to read about.

The way the title character attempted to control and manipulate everyone around her was truly appalling. I know many of us (me sooo included here) have moments where we've butted into other people's lives (maybe some of which we regret), but the fact that this woman thinks she can control the outcome of everyone else's life is just......wrong.

Not a pleasant book to read. Not one bit.