This book slipped in. Sometimes that happens. I don't necessarily have to be in a bookstore where I fight the urge to actually buy a book. This time I made a quick stop at the free library at the clubhouse. It works on the take a book, leave a book premise. I found Short Girls in the drop off bin.
I've had the pleasure of traveling to Vietnam and I have some very good Vietnamese friends. I love their food, their culture, their stories. This book sounded interesting. I'm also bogged down in an epic novel of a Jewish family in Poland just prior to World War II so I figured Short Girls would give me some relief from that.
Van and Linny are sisters, children of Vietnam refugees. They were born in America, and only know of growing up as Americans in Michigan. The sisters are not close and brush it off as being very different from each other when in fact they are alike, making the same mistakes in life. They both fall for the same insensitive, arrogant kind of guy with predictable results.
The characters of Van and Linny are flat to say the least. Since the title is Short Girls, I thought that being short would be an integral part of their makeup. It wasn't. Not to say that the author didn't make references to it, it's just that I never really pictured either of them as painfully short. Not tall, just of ordinary height. There wasn't anything else about them that endeared me to them.
Excuse the pun but Short Girls came up short. I rate it a 2 and I'm taking it back to the clubhouse. I'll dig back into the other novel and resist the urge to pick up another free book while I'm there.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Blue Clay People by William Powers
I have no idea why I have this book. When I opened it up, I found a receipt from when I attended the Willamette Writer's Conference last year. I like to buy books of the speakers I hear but I don't remember Mr. Powers. I wonder what the thinking was by the bookstore manager why he brought this book along.
In any event, Blue Clay People is a really cool title. The cover is a wonderful photograph of smiling children frolicking in the ocean. My readers know by now that those two things are surefire hooks for me.
Blue Clay People is Powers' story of his time as a relief worker in Liberia. He struggles with the local dialect of English, the proper handshake, having servants in his home. Deep in his heart he wrestles with creating more dependency as he sets out to break the cycle of poverty.
This is a deeply moving account of life in Liberia where malaria, AIDS, deforestation, under the control of a money hungry dictator is considered the norm. Mr. Powers came to this country believing he could change all that. He didn't leave Liberia as the new land he dreamed it could be. But he left it better in small individual ways. I think he learned alot about himself along the way.
Blue Clay People isn't a particularly well written or well edited for that matter. As a writer that drove me nuts. Getting past that, Blue Clay People taught me that my existence is connected to a place on the other side of the world. Even small acts of compassion will make a difference in our world. I rate this book 3 out of 5, an average when I combine writing skill with a memorable story.
In any event, Blue Clay People is a really cool title. The cover is a wonderful photograph of smiling children frolicking in the ocean. My readers know by now that those two things are surefire hooks for me.
Blue Clay People is Powers' story of his time as a relief worker in Liberia. He struggles with the local dialect of English, the proper handshake, having servants in his home. Deep in his heart he wrestles with creating more dependency as he sets out to break the cycle of poverty.
This is a deeply moving account of life in Liberia where malaria, AIDS, deforestation, under the control of a money hungry dictator is considered the norm. Mr. Powers came to this country believing he could change all that. He didn't leave Liberia as the new land he dreamed it could be. But he left it better in small individual ways. I think he learned alot about himself along the way.
Blue Clay People isn't a particularly well written or well edited for that matter. As a writer that drove me nuts. Getting past that, Blue Clay People taught me that my existence is connected to a place on the other side of the world. Even small acts of compassion will make a difference in our world. I rate this book 3 out of 5, an average when I combine writing skill with a memorable story.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Wine and Baseball
It's Sunday morning. A time for lounging around reading the newspaper and sipping coffee while watching the morning news programs. I love Sunday mornings.
Richard, Ginger and I cuddled up on the loveseat in the den and turned on an HBO news show. The feature story was about Josh Hamilton, Texas Ranger, a baseball player. And a very good one. I am a Tampa Bay Rays fan and with today being the last day of the regular season, chances are my beloved Rays will face the Rangers in the playoffs.
The past few weeks have been really tough for me for some reason in the wine department. I have been craving a drink. It's not that anything earth shattering has been happening in my life, no stress, no disasters. The desire for just one glass of wine to relax has been overwhelming for me. I've resisted but it sure hasn't been easy.
I took a sip of coffee and settled in to hear about Josh. He's a troubled soul with a devastating addiction to drugs and alcohol. It sidelined his marriage and his career. Even after he found AA it was a long, long road back to the ball field. He said something in the interview that stuck with me. 'One drink leads to twenty'.
That's the power of the addiction. Like a Lay's potato chip, you can't eat just one. Those were exactly the words I needed to hear.
That's also the power of God. I pray every day for His guidance. He will always guide us to the right place when we need it the most. There is no bottle of wine chilling in my refrigerator because I've always known that one would lead to twenty. I just needed to be reminded. When my Tampa Bay Rays beat the pants off Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers I'll celebrate by eating a lime popsicle. And I'll say a little prayer for Josh.
Richard, Ginger and I cuddled up on the loveseat in the den and turned on an HBO news show. The feature story was about Josh Hamilton, Texas Ranger, a baseball player. And a very good one. I am a Tampa Bay Rays fan and with today being the last day of the regular season, chances are my beloved Rays will face the Rangers in the playoffs.
The past few weeks have been really tough for me for some reason in the wine department. I have been craving a drink. It's not that anything earth shattering has been happening in my life, no stress, no disasters. The desire for just one glass of wine to relax has been overwhelming for me. I've resisted but it sure hasn't been easy.
I took a sip of coffee and settled in to hear about Josh. He's a troubled soul with a devastating addiction to drugs and alcohol. It sidelined his marriage and his career. Even after he found AA it was a long, long road back to the ball field. He said something in the interview that stuck with me. 'One drink leads to twenty'.
That's the power of the addiction. Like a Lay's potato chip, you can't eat just one. Those were exactly the words I needed to hear.
That's also the power of God. I pray every day for His guidance. He will always guide us to the right place when we need it the most. There is no bottle of wine chilling in my refrigerator because I've always known that one would lead to twenty. I just needed to be reminded. When my Tampa Bay Rays beat the pants off Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers I'll celebrate by eating a lime popsicle. And I'll say a little prayer for Josh.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Hitching Rides With Buddha by Will Ferguson
Hitching Rides With Buddha is a delightful travelogue through Japan. While living and working in Japan, the author decided to hitchhike from one end of the country to the other following the cherry blossoms as he traveled. He made a solemn pledge to only hitchhike except of course, when he needed to take the ferry from one island to the next. Every now and then however, two gorgeous Japanese girls in short, tight leather skirts driving a red corvette would stop to pick him up when rides were slim.
This book is a hilarious ride across Japan. It is also wonderful insight into its people and culture. I love all things Asian which is surely why I was drawn to this title originally. I have no real recollection of when I came to own this title only that it must have been years ago when I was still freely spending my money on books I would never read. Tucked inside I found a handout from a class on meditation that I took at least 5 years ago. Several Buddhist mantras were written on it so obviously I put the list in what I thought was a safe and very appropriate place. Getting back to yoga and meditation has been on my mind lately.
Anyway Mr. Ferguson was more into drinking good Japanese beer and vodka than yoga, but he did spend time in the many temples, communing with the sea and taking in the beauty of the cherry blossoms. And he had a helluva lot of fun along the way.
Hitching Rides With Buddha is laugh out loud funny, fresh and culturally enlightening. I give it a 4 out of 5. If you have interests in Japan or traveling in general, give this one a try.
This book is a hilarious ride across Japan. It is also wonderful insight into its people and culture. I love all things Asian which is surely why I was drawn to this title originally. I have no real recollection of when I came to own this title only that it must have been years ago when I was still freely spending my money on books I would never read. Tucked inside I found a handout from a class on meditation that I took at least 5 years ago. Several Buddhist mantras were written on it so obviously I put the list in what I thought was a safe and very appropriate place. Getting back to yoga and meditation has been on my mind lately.
Anyway Mr. Ferguson was more into drinking good Japanese beer and vodka than yoga, but he did spend time in the many temples, communing with the sea and taking in the beauty of the cherry blossoms. And he had a helluva lot of fun along the way.
Hitching Rides With Buddha is laugh out loud funny, fresh and culturally enlightening. I give it a 4 out of 5. If you have interests in Japan or traveling in general, give this one a try.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Classic versus Modern
I get many comments about how I come up with my ratings. It's not really very scientific and as I've said before I wobble between my reader's mind and my writer's mind when I try to determine what the rating should be for a particular title.
I was posed a question after I posted my review of Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad. If I was reading Shakespeare would I feel comfortable giving him a rating of less than five? The answer is, 'of course'. I don't read Shakespeare because I find it slow and uninteresting. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean Shakespeare wasn't brilliant in his own right. I'm learning not to spend my time reading what I don't enjoy. There are too many choices and not enough time to read everything.
In the 19th century while Mark Twain was writing, there was no television or radio or big box bookstores with tens of thousands of titles to choose from. A book entertained, passing the time between dinner and bed. Each word savored by the reader, shared with the rest of the family by being read aloud, and read over and over until the pages were worn. Mark Twain used lengthy descriptions to describe people and places unknown allowing readers to transport themselves to a faraway land. Today we call that watching television.
John Steinbeck is another one of my favorites. He wrote in the mid-twentieth century in a world with radio but not television. Steinbeck tells poignant tales of the life during the depression, again in a time when books were cherished. His style is long and lingering but has a faster pace in step with our evolving and more complicated lives.
Today we have become used a life of instant gratification. Books are everywhere. If we don't feel like lugging around 500 pages, we can simply download it and read it on the computer. Huge bookstore chains along with Amazon indulge our each and every whim. We read a story and then discard it before moving on the the next latest and greatest new idea. Our society doesn't linger over anything anymore.
Shakespeare, Twain, Steinbeck are all wonderful storytellers and in the end are all writing about the human condition. We want to discover ourselves in a book, what makes us tick, why we do the things we do. Modern writers are all out to write the story that discovers who we are in a modern society just as the classic writers wrote about life that was relevant to their time. Can we learn from these classic authors? Absolutely. I learned plenty as both a reader and a writer. Are they worth investing my time in? Absolutely! Do I feel guilty I didn't rate them all as a five? No. My goal is to give my own readers a fair and balanced picture of what they are investing time and energy in. Sometimes my personal bias creeps in. I'm only human.
If we take the time to look at life as a learning experience, then the books we choose will enrich our lives and entice our palates. Will we read some dogs along the way? Yes. But we will have been made a more interesting human being because of it. And we just might unlock the secret to our own lives.
I was posed a question after I posted my review of Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad. If I was reading Shakespeare would I feel comfortable giving him a rating of less than five? The answer is, 'of course'. I don't read Shakespeare because I find it slow and uninteresting. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean Shakespeare wasn't brilliant in his own right. I'm learning not to spend my time reading what I don't enjoy. There are too many choices and not enough time to read everything.
In the 19th century while Mark Twain was writing, there was no television or radio or big box bookstores with tens of thousands of titles to choose from. A book entertained, passing the time between dinner and bed. Each word savored by the reader, shared with the rest of the family by being read aloud, and read over and over until the pages were worn. Mark Twain used lengthy descriptions to describe people and places unknown allowing readers to transport themselves to a faraway land. Today we call that watching television.
John Steinbeck is another one of my favorites. He wrote in the mid-twentieth century in a world with radio but not television. Steinbeck tells poignant tales of the life during the depression, again in a time when books were cherished. His style is long and lingering but has a faster pace in step with our evolving and more complicated lives.
Today we have become used a life of instant gratification. Books are everywhere. If we don't feel like lugging around 500 pages, we can simply download it and read it on the computer. Huge bookstore chains along with Amazon indulge our each and every whim. We read a story and then discard it before moving on the the next latest and greatest new idea. Our society doesn't linger over anything anymore.
Shakespeare, Twain, Steinbeck are all wonderful storytellers and in the end are all writing about the human condition. We want to discover ourselves in a book, what makes us tick, why we do the things we do. Modern writers are all out to write the story that discovers who we are in a modern society just as the classic writers wrote about life that was relevant to their time. Can we learn from these classic authors? Absolutely. I learned plenty as both a reader and a writer. Are they worth investing my time in? Absolutely! Do I feel guilty I didn't rate them all as a five? No. My goal is to give my own readers a fair and balanced picture of what they are investing time and energy in. Sometimes my personal bias creeps in. I'm only human.
If we take the time to look at life as a learning experience, then the books we choose will enrich our lives and entice our palates. Will we read some dogs along the way? Yes. But we will have been made a more interesting human being because of it. And we just might unlock the secret to our own lives.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
Several years ago my family took a summer vacation to Bermuda. During a day of sightseeing we ended up at the Maritime museum. On display was, as I recall it, a fairly sizable display of the Quaker City and Mark Twain's visit to the pink sand beaches of Bermuda. I rushed home and got myself my very own copy of the book, The Innocents Abroad or, the New Pilgrims' Progress.
This book is a hoot! The tale that is woven of Americans traveling in foreign countries in the mid-1800's is hysterical. Every tour guide is called Ferguson since the foreign names are too difficult for them to pronounce. The men are convinced that they will have the most marvelous shave of their lives while in Paris. They are sadly disappointed when their faces are butchered. In Athens they sneak ashore in the dead of night for a look at the Parthenon. I laughed out loud at each new adventure.
I loved The Innocents Abroad especially since I have a few unbelievable travel stories of my own. But this was written by Mark Twain almost 150 years ago in a different style than the modern reader might find appealing. It's very long and I found myself skipping over some parts where I felt he was running on. I really wanted to get to the stop in Bermuda only to find it was only a few paragraphs.
I rate The innocents Abroad as a 4 out of 5 and I plan to keep it on the shelf. It's a classic that's always good for a laugh.
This book is a hoot! The tale that is woven of Americans traveling in foreign countries in the mid-1800's is hysterical. Every tour guide is called Ferguson since the foreign names are too difficult for them to pronounce. The men are convinced that they will have the most marvelous shave of their lives while in Paris. They are sadly disappointed when their faces are butchered. In Athens they sneak ashore in the dead of night for a look at the Parthenon. I laughed out loud at each new adventure.
I loved The Innocents Abroad especially since I have a few unbelievable travel stories of my own. But this was written by Mark Twain almost 150 years ago in a different style than the modern reader might find appealing. It's very long and I found myself skipping over some parts where I felt he was running on. I really wanted to get to the stop in Bermuda only to find it was only a few paragraphs.
I rate The innocents Abroad as a 4 out of 5 and I plan to keep it on the shelf. It's a classic that's always good for a laugh.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer
I came by The Zero Game several years ago at a writing conference I attended in Ft. Lauderdale. Brad Meltzer spoke. He was quite the funny and entertaining speaker as I recall. I took that as a good sign and a good excuse to buy an autographed copy of his book. Well, I'm learning.
The Zero Game is fair in my mind. It's full of mystery and intrigue set in Washington, DC amid the political world. Harris and Viv are very complex yet likeable characters. Yet I constantly found myself rereading in order to follow what was happening. It's full of action and I had trouble keeping track of who threw the punches and where they landed. Maybe that's just me wanting a story that was more subdued. The tension stayed at a fever pitch through the entire 400 plus pages. Stories with that much pressure wear me out. I try not to let my own personal preferences skew my reviews but it's not always possible. Brad Meltzer is a highly successful author, but his writing just doesn't appeal to me.
So even though this is an autographed copy, I'm going to pass it along. I rate it a 2 out of 5 so there's no reason for me not to find it another good home.
The Zero Game is fair in my mind. It's full of mystery and intrigue set in Washington, DC amid the political world. Harris and Viv are very complex yet likeable characters. Yet I constantly found myself rereading in order to follow what was happening. It's full of action and I had trouble keeping track of who threw the punches and where they landed. Maybe that's just me wanting a story that was more subdued. The tension stayed at a fever pitch through the entire 400 plus pages. Stories with that much pressure wear me out. I try not to let my own personal preferences skew my reviews but it's not always possible. Brad Meltzer is a highly successful author, but his writing just doesn't appeal to me.
So even though this is an autographed copy, I'm going to pass it along. I rate it a 2 out of 5 so there's no reason for me not to find it another good home.
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