It's Better Than "Not Bad"

I'm not sure how I feel about the book I just finished. In the first portion, I liked it a lot. I didn't like the middle, and almost quit reading, but enjoyed the last segment where it all got tied together. The book is In The Fall, by Jeffrey Lent (2000).
It tells the stories of three generations of one family, starting near the end of the Civil War. There is a blending of races in the story with much of the conflict of those earlier times. The young author seems to have a lot of knowledge and a unique writing style.
I wish I could recommend it more enthusiastically. Give it a try. You might love it.

A Different World

Have any of you read J. Maarten Troost's Lost on Planet China? This new book (2008) has a subtitle of "Or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid".
This is one adventurous guy! His previous books are entitled "The Sex Lives of Cannibals" and "Getting Stoned with Savages", so you can see he really gets around.
His books are not travel books, but a recounting of the things that befell him while he lived in different cultures.
He had a receptive attitude to all things Chinese (well, mostly) and managed to do well while getting around this enormous country, despite not speaking the language (s).
It's a good fun book, and I'll be looking for more of his writing.
And yes, he really did eat not one, but several.

Not the Least Bit Gruesome ( to me)

I just finished a book that I really enjoyed. The cover has a picture of the soles of a person's feet ----- with a toe-tag attached. The name of the book is simply Stiff , subtitled The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. It was written by Mary Roach, and published in 2003.
The author is able to tell you everything you always wanted to know ( or at least, have wondered ) about what happens to human bodies after death. She did not rely on information from others, but instead, attended an embalming, a cremation, an autopsy, and visited a field where bodies were put out to decompose under varying conditions. You name it, she attended it.
The amazing part is that while she is factual, and always, always respectful of the dead, she is also just so doggone funny. I laughed aloud many times.
I had read a little previously about what happens to bodies after burial, but didn't know for sure what was going on with the remains of people that I have loved. Well, now I know, and while it isn't pretty, it is somehow comforting to know what has happened to them. Mary Roach has done us all a service in sharing this information.

Perfect Companions

Lots of us read more than one book at a time, and usually, they have nothing in common. The two I recently finished are exceptions. They fit together perfectly.
The first one to mention is Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth (2005)
This book has received a lot of publicity, as it was selected to be part of Oprah's Book Club. A good friend thought it so worthwhile that she bought several copies and distributed them among friends and family.
While I loved the first chapter, I kind of lost interest after that, and only read about half a chapter at a time.
Then the other book arrived.
This is The Mystery of 2012 (2007) and is a compilation of "predictions, prophecies and possibilities" by various authors.
The end of the Mayan calendar has long been of interest to me, and I wanted to know more about the current thinking on the subject.
It was fascinating. You get a bit of astronomy, astrology, mathematics, new age stuff, religion and even chaos theory.
My very favorite chapter was entitled The Alchemy of Time by Jay Weidner. Wonderful!
So since the majority of persons writing about 2012 are convinced there will be an expanded consciousness, it tied in perfectly with Tolle's book.
I read some of one, then some of the other, and now I'll go back and read them both again.

Warm and Tender

The older I become, the more I truly love my fellow human beings. Women, however, have a special place because we're the ones who can talk to each other.
The book I've just finished is a great example of that.
It is The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (2007)
The main character, Georgia, is an almost middle age woman who owns a small yarn shop. Her primary focus is her twelve-year old daughter, whom she is raising alone. Sometimes women who are learning to knit hang around her shop in the late afternoons so that if they run into a problem with what they're knitting, Georgia can help them out.
This evolves into a regular meeting place which Georgia feels she has to tolerate because the women are, after all, her customers. She ends up loving the group.
There are several women's stories wound through this book, and while the book has sorrow, it is offset by the love it contains.
That's love, not mush.

THIS ONE'S POLITICAL

I'll readily admit to being a George Stephanopoulos fan. I try to never miss his Sunday TV program. I don't always like his guests, but I always enjoy him
All of the above is probably why his book in our local library caught my eye. The cover not only has his name in big, bold print, but it also has his picture. Not only is he Greek (which is a big thing with me); he's also good looking.
The book was printed in 1999, but I had never heard of it.
The name of the book is All Too Human, and it tells of George's involvement in the first Clinton Presidential campaign, and the experiences of working in the white house.
Like many of us who care deeply about politics, Stephanopoulos was quite idealistic, and the book details his growing disenchantment with political life.
I loved every word in it, even the sad ending.

This Time, it's About Iran

I just finished a really good book, loaned by another friend. She had brought the book by my house at a time when I had almost an embarrasement of paperbacks I hadn't read which my husband had collected when he was away for a month. My friend's book was put at the bottom of a big stack. I finally finished with all the courtroom dramas and mysteries, so I could unenthusiastically start on my friend's book.
I loved it! The book is The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer (2007). This is a first novel by a writer that I hope we hear a lot more from.
In it, she tells the story of an Iranian Jewish family as the country is taken over by the religious fanatics after the Shah was deposed. The family had become quite wealthy, which was a cause for envy and resentment, and the father was wrongly accused of spying, and thrown into prison where his captors tried to torture him into making a false confession. The book tells the story of the larger family, both the aging parents, and the wife and children, who were not even told that the man had been arrested.
It all sounds rather grim, but though the story is, the book isn't. It's just damn good.