An Old Favorite

The book I just finished, COME AGAIN NO MORE by Jack Todd (2010) was so enjoyable. One of his previous books, Sun Going Down, was critiqued on the back cover and compared quite favorably to Lonesome Dove, which is an all-time favorite of mine. That, in itself, is a funny thing as I don't like any of the other McMurtry books. I started reading Mr. Todd's book with no expectation of it being anything like Lonesome Dove. But it is! Hooray, Hooray! Now I've got to find Sun Going Down. If you like Lonesome Dove, or if you like McMurtry's books, you'll like this one.

Yeah for you, ladies

What a tremendous task our next writer set out for herself! She wrote a book about a female writer and the characters who line up outside her door every night, waiting for their turn to be written about. One man is so eager to have his story told that he jumps the line and gets into her house to plead with her about telling his story now. That's all fine, except that there is no story to be told until she writes it. The chapters go back and forth between him coming to her house and discussing upcoming possibilities, and the other chapters where he lives out what she has written. All this is told so smoothly that it's almost believable. The name of the book is BROKEN, written in Norwegian by Karin Fossum, translated by Charlotte Barslund (2006, 2008).
This is a very impressive piece of story-telling. We should all do so well.

Biochemist and Doctor???

Here's another one that is somewhat unusual, and also well- written. This one is HEALER by Carol Cassela (2010). It's the story of a small family with problems. The father is a biochemist who developed a new blood test for ovarian cancer, and its wide acceptance made the family rich. The mother is an almost-medical-doctor, who suspended the last tiny bit of her residency to take care of her premature baby, and never went back. The baby is now a healthy fourteen-year-old with more the the usual amount of disdain for her mom. In his enthusiasm for a new drug he has developed, the dad has mortgaged most of the family's possessions to get the money necessary for start-up expenses. Oh, oh.
They've lost their home and have had to move into a run-down house in the country that they had bought as a vacation home and intended to fix up. That's enough to tell you. It's a good book, and if you try it, you'll probably like it.

An Opportunity to Learn

Way back in the Dark Ages when I first wrote on this blog, the first one I tried to bring to your attention was Barbara Kingsolver's Animal.Vegetable,Miracle. In it, she told a fascinating story, but the book was essentially about food.
The one I just finished was about food also, but told in a completely different way. This was The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (2006). What a writer this guy is! This book tells you about growing corn, feed-lots and cattle, growing grasses, and hunting wild pigs and mushrooms, but it does it in such a way that you're glued to every word. Even if the idea doesn't interest you, if you'll take a look at the book, it will probably captivate you -- just as it did me.

A Cut Above

Once in a while, you read a book that even though it's set in the past, is perfectly in tune with present-day happenings. That was the case with one I just finished. The title of this down-to-earth, no-nonsense bit of realism is The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss (2007). I had the opportunity to read this while I was spending two weeks at my daughter's home in Northern New Mexico. My daughter has a contract with the Forest Service to gentle the mustangs that they capture on public lands. Her entire approach to these wild beauties is with positive reinforcement, and sometimes in as little as two or three weeks, the horses she works with are ready to be adopted into a new home and receive further training. This gentle and loving attitude is almost the same as the attitude displayed by the main character in Ms. Gloss's book. The period of time was in the early 1800's, and horse training at that time was more "breaking" than "gentling". The book is very well-written, and is not one of those that romanticize the animals or the people. Give it a try -- It's excellent!

Change of Pace

I've just finished a good book that was full of fun. It is THE UNDOMESTIC GODDESS by Sophie Kinsella (2005). In this book, an overworked, stressed young woman who is an attorney working for a top-notch firm, makes an error which costs someone a great deal of money and costs the young woman her job. When she realizes what has happened, she runs from the office building, hops on a train, and rides until she arrives at a small town, but along the way has several alcoholic beverages to try and calm herself. Aside from being slightly inebriated, she has developed a headache, so she knocks at the door of a lovely home to see if they would give her an aspirin and some water. The lady of the house thinks her caller has been sent by an agency to apply for a job as a domestic housekeeper and cook. Through a series of circumstances our girl gets the job. Egad! This kid can't even boil water! The book is loads of fun and I recommend it to anyone who would enjoy a good laugh.

Another Winner

At last, one that inspires me to sing its praises. The book is THE NOTEBOOK OF LOST THINGS by Megan Staffel (1999). The title got my attention, but I had no idea what the book might be about. It is about the memories of a brave woman who lost everything except her child in the bombing of Dresden during World War II. She found that in writing short descriptions of the way things used to be, she could release those memories and no longer have to hold them inside herself. Her story is told in flashbacks and by being remembered by persons who loved her, as she is no longer alive when the story takes place. She raised a magnificent daughter and loved a man who felt unworthy of being loved by anyone. It's a beautifully written book, with the story told in a simple and direct manner. It's well worth looking for.

Did you miss me?

Since my last posting I've read a lot of good books, but only today am I impressed enough to write about not just one, but two books that I'd like to recommend. Oddly enough, they're both about boys.
The first one is classified as for "young adults" which I'm decidedly not, but it doesn't say that older persons can't read and enjoy it too. The name of the book is Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Saenz (2009). The story is about a high school student who is really messed up emotionally, and because of his heavy drinking is sent to a rehab place to dry out and hopefully gain some insight into his own actions. The "monster" referred to in the title is the fear that lives within this young man and serves to isolate him from those who would care about him. I want you to find out about this story on your own, so I'm telling you very little, except that there are many characters that you come to care about, and though there are tears awaiting you at the end of the book, they're tears of joy. And the author's picture at the back of the book shows him with a smile so captivating that you simply have to smile back.
The other book is What I Was by Meg Rosoff (2007). When I finished it, I said aloud to myself "What a magnificent book!". This, too, is about a fairly young boy, but it's set in England. There's not much "English" about it other than boarding school. This boy is a bit of a misfit and is happier alone than with his peers. He comes across another boy away from the school and this boy seems to represent all that our main character wants to be. The book is so well written and enjoyable throughout. You'll never suspect what's awaiting you near the end, so read it and find out.