BOOK REVIEW: "The Ultimate Gift"

The Ultimate Gift

By Jim Stovall

Copyright 1999

Executive Books

Adult Fiction

5 Bookmarks

This novella with a parable-like theme should definitely be on your Must Read list.  The Ultimate Gift starts out with attorney Theodore J. Hamilton reading the will of billionaire rancher, "Red" Stevens.  Each family member receives their inheritance in turn, until Hamilton reaches the youngest heir, Red's nephew, Jason Stevens.  Jason finds out he must earn his interitance through 12 months of assignments from his deceased uncle.

Jason makes the decision to play along to do what he needs to get his inheritance and is given his first assignment which is given to him in the form of a gift, the Gift of Work.  Jason spends that first month working as a ranch hand for an old friend of his Uncle Red.  Having thus far lived a life of complete luxury, he grudgingly carries out the job that is put in front of him. 

The second month, Jason is given the Gift of Money, where he learns that money is a tool and can be put to very good use.  As each month progresses and Jason collects the gifts that his Uncle Red has given him (the Gift of Friends, the Gift of Laughter and the Gift of a Day, to name a few), Jason starts to see the world through different eyes until he finally earns the Ultimate Gift, which is even more valuable than he could ever have imagined.   

This was a very quick read and really brought to light the things we should all look for in order to have a meaningful life.  I especially liked the chapter on the Gift of Dreams.  What an absolutely wonderful story!  It would be great for a book club or just a nice afternoon read.  Highly recommend.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Huckleberry Murders"

The Huckleberry Murders
By Patrick F. McManus
Copyright 2010
Simon & Schuster
Adult Fiction
4 Bookmarks

As you well know if you follow this blog at all, I am not a huge fan of mysteries, murders or anything involving too much death or intrique. However, I saw this little gem on the shelf in my library and was reminded of a time, many MANY years ago when I spent hours and hours poring over humorous essays in order to choose one to deliver at a state forensics competition (Humorous Speech was not my normal category, so it was a little daunting!)

Although I finally settled on "Getting Sex Out of Schools and Back in the Gutter Where it Belongs" by Erma Bombeck (mostly for the shock value), I do recall several McManus essays being good options.  Not only that, but my father makes THE BEST huckleberry pie ever made, so there was all sorts of nostalgia written on this book.  And it did not disappoint. 

The story revolves around playboy sheriff Bo Tully as he monitors the activities of his constituents in Blight County, Idaho.  Well, that is, when he's not trying to woo the ladies.  Sheriff Tully has a certain reputation around Blight County and doesn't do much to change his image.  When a Mrs. Poulson complains that her ex-husband is missing and that she thinks the tenant killed him, Tully gets to work.  Tully's mom tells him to talk to a psychic to find out where the body is, but Tully doesn't hold much stock in that.  Then Tully decides to take a break from his detectiving to go pick some huckleberries for his mom, where he makes a gruesome discovery of three bodies with bullets in the back of their heads.  And the mystery deepens. 

With funny little one-liners and prose worthy of any Sherlock Holmes tale, this one is a fun read.  The story is so silly that at times you will laugh out loud, but the next moment you just want to know who dunnit, which keeps you turning that page.  I enjoyed this one very much! 

(And don't mock me too much for admitting being a debate geek. It is a rare day when I lose an argument....just ask my husband.)

BOOK REVIEW: "Atlas Shrugged"

Atlas Shrugged

By Ayn Rand

Original copyright 1957 by Ayn Rand

Copyright renewed 1985 by Winick, Gitlin & Peikoff

Adult Fiction/Philosophy

4.5 Bookmarks

I first read this book about 15 years ago.  I remembered the profound affect it had on me then, but when word came out that it was being made into a movie I was surprised (and, frankly, a little unsure exactly how they would go about transforming such a complicated story into a movie).  I decided that I'd refresh my memory of the book before renting the movie to see whether or not the movie-makers tanked.

Of course, I had forgotten that the book contains 1100 extremely verbose pages.  Yes, 1100.  It took me nearly five weeks, but I finally finished it.  The book seemed even more profound the second time around.  I'm a little daunted by the task of summarizing such a long and complicated story, but I'll give it my best shot. 

Dagny Taggart is the brains behind Taggart Transcontinental, one of the nation's most important railroads.  Her brother Jim, who is the actual president of the company, mostly spends his time being buddies with the guys in Washington.  Hank Reardon is another industrialist who has discovered a new way to make a stronger, better metal than steel.  Both Dagny and Hank work hard to be successful and productive members of society, but their paths are blocked at every turn by those in Washington, including Dagny's brother. 

As the government piles on loads of rules and regulations for all industries, including railroads and metal, in order to make things "fair" for everyone, the economy in the country begins to turn sour.  Taggart Transcontinental is forced to limit their amount of traffic (in order to make it fair to the smaller railroads), Rearden Metal is forced to limit their output (to make it fair to the smaller steel companies), and other industries are clamped down by the government, all in the name of making things fair.  But these new regulations have unintended consequences.  Slowing down the metal output means that not everyone who needs metal will get it.  Which means the railroad won't get the metal to repair their damaged tracks. Which means some of their lines will be shut down. Which means parts of the country will not be able to have food delivered to them.  Etc., etc.

Dagny and Hank continue to fight against the obstacles, but soon other industrialists begin to give up and disappear.  As the industrialists (the "do-ers" of society) disappear, the economy grows worse and worse and the state of the country grows darker and darker.  Dagny can't find any competent people to work for her, and neither can Hank. 

The people who are left in the doomed land don't ever seem to question why the economy keeps getting worse.  Instead, they ask a meaningless question, "Who is John Galt?", as if simply shrugging their shoulders and accepting their fate.  The real question they should be asking is "Who will save us?" 

Atlas Shrugged is part mystery, part philosophy.  It is an adventure, but it also makes you really look at the government and the role it plays in the economy.  Even though the main theme of the novel is philosophical, it really is an enjoyable read and is hard to put down once you've started.  The story itself is mostly fast-paced, although a few monologues run into several pages and become tedious.  I really enjoyed the story of the main characters and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the industrialists.  The book was very easy to relate to because so many of the characters are like people I have known over the course of my life and many of the concerns of the main characters are concerns I have known. 

My one complaint about the book (other than the long monologues) is that the philosophical black and white of the story was very blunt....there really isn't a single main character who is on the fence about the issues.  I'm not sure how easy it is to apply the philosophy in real life when the two factions were at such extreme opposite ends of the spectrum (so unlike the real world where, I believe, people are mostly somewhere in that gray area in the middle). 

All in all, though, I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who is a reader.  If you're not much of a reader, this one could be a long haul to get through, though.  Maybe you should rent the movie...I'll let you know if it's any good. 

COMMENTARY: Delays, delays, delays......

I know you haven't heard from me in awhile.  No, I didn't drop off the planet.  I don't even have the excuse that life is busier than usual.  The reality is that I am reading a SUPER LONG book (1108 pages, to be exact).  I am hoping to finish the book next week (review will be forthcoming, of course).  I may have been referred to as a "bookworm" a time or two in my life but this is ridiculous! 

In the meantime, and in the interest of absolutely shameless self-promotion, if you need something to keep your reading mind busy and want to take a peak into my "other" life, check out my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BookOfHouses.

And I PROMISE!  I will be back here before you know it with a review worth waiting for.

COMMENTARY: "Uncertainty"

Uncertainty. A word those of us in the real estate industry are beginning to know well.

Now heading into our sixth year of market depreciation, we do know some things are certain. It is certain that sellers will be unhappy about how much their home is worth today. It is certain that buyers will try to squeeze blood from a stone by continuing to write low-ball offers on homes that are already scraping the bottom on value. And it is certain that the economists will continue to prognosticate a market recovery…. or another market downturn… or a continuation of the status quo…. How’s that for certainty?
  

But here’s another thing that’s certain. People need a place to live. And the fact is, due to the lowest interest rates in decades and housing prices comparable to those in 1971, the cheapest way to live today is to own your own house.

With some buyers able to qualify for loans below the 4% mark, mortgage money is as close to free as it’s ever going to be. Add to that the sharp increase in rental prices (due to such high demand in the rental market) and you can be just about sure it is less expensive to own than to rent.

While I always advise caution when it comes to spending any large sum of cash, I am confident owning a home is still the right thing today. Here are some great reasons to own a home:

1. Save on taxes. Deductions for mortgage interest, property taxes and some closing costs on a new loan.

2. Pride of Ownership. There’s just something to be said for having this great place that is truly YOURS.

3. Freedom. What landlord is going to let you paint the bedroom Lilac Purple when your daughter just HAS to have that color? Being able to put your style and personality into a home is half the fun!

4. You’ll Live in a Better Place. In most communities, rental properties that are in tip-top condition are hard to come by and they come at a steep price. Buying a house and fixing it up to perfection guarantees you’ll always live in the castle you dreamed of.

5. Forced Savings. Instead of throwing away $2000/month on rent, you can count on some of that mortgage payment actually paying down what you owe. In 30 “short” years, if you don’t refinance, your home will be “free and clear”. Oh how I am looking forward to that day!

6. Stability. Living in one home, in one neighborhood, for a long period of time allows you to meet your neighbors, get to know the neighborhood haunts, and truly find comfort in your surroundings. Switching apartments every 12 months just isn’t all that appealing.

7. Sooner or Later This Mess Will End. And when it does, when the real estate machine starts appreciating again, those who bought during this slippery time at (what we hope is) the bottom will be so glad that they did. Of that, I am certain.

SONG OF THE DAY: "Somebody That I Used to Know"

"Somebody That I Used to Know"
Walk Off The Earth
(Gotye cover)
5 Bookmarks

I saw this video for the first time several weeks ago and it stuck with me.  Every few days I'll find the catchy little tune stuck in my head.  And I still think it is beyond cool to watch these five people playing one guitar.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Grief of Others"

The Grief of Others
By Leah Hager Cohen
Copyright 2011
Riverhead Books
Adult Fiction
5 Bookmarks

Yes! Finally a book I can wholeheartedly recommend! Love it when that happens.

It’s actually a little strange that I liked this book so much. The story is about the Ryrie family that has just suffered the loss of a baby a mere 57 hours after his birth. I usually shy away from any stories dealing with dead babies, mostly because they remind me of my own grief at losing a baby mid-pregnancy many years ago. But it was actually a little cathartic reading this book, which details the way that each member of the Ryrie family deals with the loss in their own, individual way.

The father, John, and the mother, Ricky, have their own issues as a couple that they were avoiding even prior to the pregnancy. The death of the baby brings those issues to the forefront as they try to make sense of their individual places within the relationship. John, who has been somewhat emasculated by the fact that Ricky is the main breadwinner of the family, delves deeper into his work as a set director at a local college in seeking to move past his familial struggles. Ricky holds on to deep-seeded guilt in relation to the baby’s death and reacts in an extremely understandable way to the loss.

The oldest child, Paul, flounders through his day-to-day existence and never quite seems to fit in anywhere at home or at school. The daughter, nicknamed “Biscuit”, sees herself in a much more profound role. She secretly researches death ceremonies of other civilizations as she struggles to make sense of their family’s loss.

And so, as this family drifts further and further apart, will they somehow be able to put their world back together again?

I was truly impressed with the writing style of the author. She had the amazing ability of describing emotional events with enough detachment as to make the reader feel they were outside looking in to a very private experience; like a fly on the wall. The story flowed effortlessly between each character and what was happening for them at that particular moment; what they were thinking, feeling, and acting upon.

Even though the subject matter was obviously sad, the story itself was not. I would recommend this book, even to those who normally don’t like the sad ones. This would be especially great as a book club book. Absolutely beautifully written.

BOOK REVIEW: "Someday This Will Be Funny"

Someday This Will Be Funny
By Lynne Tillman
Copyright 2011
Red Lemonade Publishing
Short Story Collection
1 Bookmark

Normally, I really enjoy short story collections. Especially ones that have a central theme running through them. I had high hopes for this one. It started out with a little vignette called “That’s How Wrong My Love Is” about a woman and her fetish for feeding the mourning doves. Shortly into the story, the reader realizes that the narrator of the story is a little more than fixated by these doves, and by the end of the story we see that that is the reason why she doesn’t have anything else of importance in her life.

Remotely clever read, that one. But the collection didn’t really improve beyond it. Little flirtations between people living a façade, little relationships that ended for no reason at all, little moments that in and of themselves were really not anything to write home about. A few bits and pieces about “the famous” (or “infamous”). Some crazy people thrown in here and there. And really just no rhyme or reason to any of it.

For a book with such a clever title, I certainly found nothing funny in it, nor anything I could imagine would be funny “someday”. Definitely don’t recommend this one.

BOOK REVIEW: "A Hive for the Honeybee"

A Hive for the Honeybee
By Soinbhe Lally
Copyright 1996
Scholastic Press
Adult Fiction
2 Bookmarks

Hummmm.......The hum of a hive of bees was easy to imagine while reading this short novel by Sionbhe Lally.  I was originally not planning to read this book.  I picked it from a 9th Grade reading list for my daughter, but some of the verbiage on the cover led me to think maybe I should read it first.  I'm thinking that was a good idea.

In A Hive for the Honeybee, we meet a couple of newly-born worker bees, Belle and Thora.  The two workers become friends, but their personalities are strongly contrasted.  Belle is a worker and can't imagine anything else other than gathering pollen and honey, and taking care of the drone bees.  Thora dreams of something outside of the hive, although she really has no comprehension of what that something might be.  At the same time, two drone bees named Alfred and Mo, struggle with their own unique roles within the turmoil in the hive after their Queen takes off to form a new hive.  When a new Queen is born, the drones go crazy with desire (stereotypical male behavior).  Many die when mating with the Queen. The remaining drones seem to take it in stride, all except Alfred and Mo who seem to have some sense of what is to come.

The new Queen decides to change things up and lays only worker bee eggs (female) and no drone bee eggs (male).  The Queen and the other worker bees are, apparently, tired of taking care of the drone bees (can you blame them?)  I won't tell you what the end result of that is. Instead, I'll go straight to my opinion:

Although there was some interesting imagery and beautiful language throughout the book, it was really quite dark and fatalistic.  Probably wouldn't recommend it to a 9th grader, and definitely won't be letting my 10-year-old read it.  On the plus side, it was super short and I was able to read the entire thing in just a couple hours.  A low "OK" read.

BOOK REVIEW: "How to Win Friends and Influence People"

How to Win Friends and Influence People
By Dale Carnegie
Copyright 1936
Simon & Schuster
Non-Fiction
5 Bookmarks

I read this classic "how to be a better person" book once when I was in high school.  Somehow it just didn't have the same effect on me back then that it does today.  I could think of a dozen different ways I could use the ideas and suggestions in the book and apply them in my own life. 

As I was reading along, I couldn't believe how many of the bits of advice in this book still apply over 75 years after it was written.  The book is divided into four, easy to understand sections. 

Section One deals with "Fundamental Techniques in Handling People, and imparts advice to avoid criticizing other people, appreciate them, and arouse in them "an eager want."  There are a lot of great anecdotes throughout the book, but I appreciated them in this section because it was just getting started.  My favorite was the one about the mom would couldn't get her college student sons to respond to her letters, so the uncle wrote a letter to the boys and added a postscript that he was enclosing $5.  Only he didn't really enclose the $5.  I'm sure you can imagine what happened next.  Good chuckle. 

Section Two deals with "Six Ways to Make People Like You".  Some of the advice in this section was so simple, and yet I know I have not always followed this guidance.  Be interested, smile, remember names, listen, talk about other people's interests and help the other person feel important.  As I was reading this section I thought of numerous instances where I neglected to remember a name, or wanted to talk about something I was doing instead of listening.  Definitely some things we could all be doing better in here!

Section Three focuses on how to "Win People to Your Way of Thinking".  This section lists numerous suggestions, such as don't argue, show respect and admit when you are wrong, with some great ideas on how to avoid confrontation but still share your point of view.  This was my favorite section.  Here's a great quote: "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."  A huge part of this section is spent on explaining how to get someone to see your side of things even if they don't want to, which is absolutely something I'd like to know a little more about!

The last section shares some proven guidance for "Being a Great Leader".  Begin with praise, ask questions, use encouragement, etc.  There were a lot of areas in this section of the book that I felt I could really apply to my relationship with my daughter.  Positive reinforcement being a much better tool than yelling and nagging, apparently. 

All in all, I'm really glad I read this book again and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is looking to improve their relationships with family members, co-workers or clients.  So many great suggestions!

COMMENTARY: Angst and Poetry

I have a fascination with a certain emotion I have often referred to as “angst”. I realize I am not quite using the term correctly, as angst is technically defined as “a feeling of dread, anxiety or anguish”. What I mean when I say angst is more accurately described as some sense of emotional anguish related to darkness, sadness and loves lost or love unreturned.

So now that you know what I mean when I say angst, here are my two cents.

I love reading an entirely angst-ridden story with lots of anguished, unrequited love and painful near-misses, losses and sadness. Nicholas Sparks is the king of this genre of fiction. You’ve seen The Notebook, right? Some of his other notable selections include Message in a Bottle, The Wedding, and Dear John (reviewed here).

When I was a teenager, I was the queen of angst-ridden poetry. I wrote such titles as “The Crier”, “The Pain of Love” and “The Empty Kiss”. I look back on those now and just chuckle. How naïve we are as we walk through those puppy-love years and think every little loss is the end of the world. Some kids aren’t so lucky and do have to deal with real gut-wrenching losses during those formative years (I know this from watching my younger siblings grow up without our mother). But I was lucky and the worst thing that happened to me during those angsty, pre-teen and teen years was having a few boys who didn’t like me nearly so much as I liked them. It was easy for me to feel like that was the end of the world, of course.

My grandfather had instilled a love of poetry in me when I was young. He gave me an old copy of “101 Famous Poems” (copyright 1929) that had been given to him second-hand in 1946. Both the inscription from “Mr. & Mrs. Gustuvke” from 1946 and the inscription from my grandfather in 1985 are still quite visible inside the front cover. This book is one of my most treasured possessions. It contains such greats as “Trees” by Sergeant Joyce Kilmer (“I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as a tree”), “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley (“Out of the night that covers me/Black as the Pit from pole to pole/I thank whatever gods may be/For my unconquerable soul”), and “In Flanders Fields” by Lieut.-Col. John McCrae (“In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row”). Some of my favorites.

Having the poetic guidance of that book led me to write many an angst-ridden poem, which was a great outlet during my hormone-laden teen years.

Here’s a little sample:

I wept for you,
And at some distant point
I know why

But for now
The sobs are enough

And the tears fall
And the memories fade
And the pain is strong

But at some distant point
There is sunshine

Hmm……something about reading through those old poems makes me feel a little nostalgic. Perhaps the reason I like books of angst-ridden, unrequited love now is because it reminds me of those times when I was actively stimulating my creative mind on a regular basis by writing. I haven’t written poetry in many, many years. Instead, I’m sure I will continue to fill that little spot in my soul by reading those novels about heart-rending, unrequited love and anguish. Or maybe one of these days I’ll dust off my writing pen and see what I can come up with.

(Painting is a portion of The Scream by Edvard Munch, one of my all-time favorite paintings, for obvious reasons.)

BOOK REVIEW: "Pink Slip"

Pink Slip

By Rita Ciresi

Copyright 1999

Delacorte Press

Adult Fiction

2.5 Bookmarks

I swear this book felt like it was written in the 1980s.  I just looked up the copyright and couldn't believe it's only 13 years old!  The style of the book seemed really old-fashioned.  And it didn't help that some of the mentions in the book (World Trade Center Towers, certain medicines, etc.) seemed so out of touch with today. 

The story begins with Lisa Diodetto deciding she needs a fresh start.  She's tired of her mother trying to marry her off to every eligible bachelor around, and she is very unhappy with her editing job and postage stamp-sized apartment in the city.  So she moves to a smaller town and gets a new job at a pharmaceutical company. 

Lisa doesn't intend to, but ends up in love with her boss (Yes, you are correct.  Uh Oh).  While Lisa is dealing with the secrecy involved in her relationship, she gets some very bad news from her cousin which threatens to end her relationship with the bossman.  Drama ensues. 

Other than the aforementioned oddities related to being able to accurately picture the timeframe of the story, it was a somewhat decent read.  Sort of entertaining, although there wasn't much left up to the imagination.  And, frankly, it just never seemed to really get going for me. 

I really enjoyed one of the author's other books (Remind Me Again Why I Married You, reviewed HERE, which involves the same characters a few years down the road), so it was a bit disappointing that this one seemed so blah.  If you want to meet the characters from the beginning, this is the one to read.  But I do really think this author gets better with age.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Leap"

The Leap: How 3 Simple Changes Can Propel Your Career from Good to Great
By Rick Smith
Copyright 2009
Penguin Group Publishing
Non-Fiction
3 Bookmarks

So I thought I might start the year by trying to give my career a little kick in the pants.  As you know, I work in real estate (shout out to ERA Shields Real Estate, woohoo!) and as I'm sure you also know, real estate has been mired in bad publicity and a bad economy for the past five years.  I wanted to try to get a better handle on sharing the positive side of real estate.  So I looked around for a few good books to help me do that.  The title of this one seemed promising so I picked it up.

I wasn't very far along into the book before I realized that this was just not quite what I was looking for.

The Leap is really more a collection of anecdotes about people who spend a lot of time doing what they HAVE TO do, and then magically find their passion and get to do what they WANT to do for the rest of their lives. 

The "3 Simple Changes" mentioned in the subtitle basically involve finding your passion, finding a big idea to promote your passion, and then executing the big idea.  Sounds simple enough, but the examples listed are so huge, it's overwhelming!  I didn't want a total change to my career, I just wanted to get better at what I'm already doing! 

So the positive things about the book: some of the stories are inspiring.  My favorite was about the gal that cut the feet off her pantyhose and invented Spanx (mostly because Spanx are easily one of the best inventions of the past 100 years--who knew a girl could look like that in a form-fitting dress after giving birth!)  Also, the shrimp fisherman who became the head of a research foundation after his son was diagnosed with a genetic illness.  That was pretty awesome. 

The Leap actually is a pretty good read, but was just a little too grand in scale for what I was really looking for.  Unfortunately, it just didn't seem all that practical, even though the author does try to really press the issue that these people didn't make these changes overnight.  For all of them, it was a process. 

So, this is a recommend if you're looking for some big changes in your life and want some inspiration to get there.  But not so much if you're more the baby-steps kind of person.

SONG OF THE DAY: "New York"

"New York" live on David Letterman, 1/9/2012
by Snow Patrol
Fallen Empires 2012



Because sometimes someone else can say it better than I can.

BOOK REVIEW: "Wolves at the Door"

Wolves at the Door

By Thomas A. Chown

Copyright 2007

Pipers Willow, Inc.

Adult Fiction

1 Bookmark

Man, am I getting tired of these low scoring reviews.  I'm ready to read a five again, I tell ya. 

Shockingly, I have (once again) started a book that I DID NOT FINISH.  I simply couldn't. 

This book was supposed to be a historical novel about a family who settles in Kansas and Colorado during the 1800s. 

The book starts out with Henry Devon fighting in a battle of the Civil War.  It cuts to snippets of his life with his family who came out west to take advantage of Uncle Sam's kind offer of free land in Kansas, but the author spent plenty of time recounting numerous gruesome things that, I'm sure, actually occurred (although it really is my preference NOT to read about them).  After those first gory pages, I wasn't sure I wanted to keep reading, but of course I did. 

So the story progresses with Henry and his family doing what they need to survive there in the wilderness of Kansas.  When the author then moved on to Henry and his wife recalling the death of their first child, I got a little knot in my stomach.  I don't do well with dead kids.  Just one of those things.  And again, I wasn't sure I wanted to keep reading, but of course I did.

So there I am then, on page 40 (yes, a mere 40 pages into this disasterous book), when the family ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and their youngest son has his spinal cord severed.  Really?  I don't do well with dead kids and I don't do well with gonna-be-dead-soon kids.  I closed the book and didn't open it again.

Really, that wasn't the only reason I put down the book.  I had a serious problem with the headers in the book.  The publisher actually used the same font (and text size) for the headers as they did for the body of the book (why would somebody do that?)  A little OCD maybe?  Yes.  But every time I turned the page, I read "Bleeding Kansas" at the top of the page before my eyes would go back down to the text where they belonged and finish the sentence I had been reading.  I found it highly, highly annoying. 

So yeah.  Unless you like the roughest side of the Old West, and dead kids, don't read this one.