People of the Book (61/81)

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Category: Recommended Reads

When the Sarajevo Haggadah is discovered, saved in a bank vault by the museum curator, Hanna Heath has the opportunity of a lifetime to conserve this beautiful book. The haggadah has survived against the odds, and Hanna's research gives her tantalizing glimpses of where the book has been while readers learn even more about the book's true history and the "people of the book" who impacted (and were impacted by) the amazing artifact.

This well-crafted story is the imagined history of a true artifact, a Jewish haggadah from medieval times with lovely illuminations. In an afterward, Brooks quickly writes about what is and isn't known about its history, and it's a fascinating exploration of what might have been. I love that the book itself is essentially a character and the details about conservation work. 4.5 stars.

Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld (42/81)

The Midnighters of Bixby, Oklahoma, know that their town is full of secrets - especially since they keep the biggest secret of all: knowledge of the secret hour, the mysterious time at midnight when the world freezes, except for them and the creatures that inhabit the darkness. What they don't know is why earlier generations of Midnighters all disappeared, or why they are now the only Midnighters in town. As they learn more about the secret hour's twists and turns, they uncover terrifying mysteries woven into the very fabric of Bixby's history, and a conspiracy that touches both the midnight hour and the world of daylight. At the same time, the Midnighters' own secrets start to emerge, including some that were never meant to come to light, changing the fragile dynamics among the five. This time Jessica Day is not the only Midnighter in mortal danger. If the group can't find a way to overcome their differences, they could lose one of their own - forever.

Well the second installment of the Midnighters Series and this one is just as good as the first one only better :) .........

Jessica as discovered that she has a powerful gift that the Darklings do not like but she has found she can handle herself in the Blue Hour just fine ........ But now they have discovered that it is not just the Secret Hour that they need to be on their toes but also the other 24 hours as well .... Which is not good because your powers don't work in daylight hours :( .......

In this book you find out what happened to the other Midnighters and how come there is only the 5 of them left ........ Are they the only ones left after all ??????

This is a great wee series for Teens and I have to say although not a teen myself I am enjoying it ....... And I am anxious now what will happen in the last book ..........

I rate this book 4 ****

Long Day's Journey Into Night, 49/81, 2nd Round

Long Day's Journey Into Night, by Eugene O'Neill, play category

The Tyrones - mother, father, and two sons - spend a day more or less together in the country. Within the course of that day, we see all sorts of nasty little secrets that were only suggested in the first act.

This is the first O'Neill play I have read, and I have to say that I found it excellent. Not much fun, but really well done. The theme, to me, was that of excuses, excuses. The entire family has someone - someone else, that is - to blame for being the way they are. Mary blames her husband, her dead son, Edmund, life in general, not having her own house, her circumstances. Tyrone senior blames his difficult childhood, his lost chances. Both sons blame their parents. But in the end, every character admits the truth of why they are the way they are.

Every character except Mary. Despite many chances to admit the truth - she is a drug addict - she denies to the very end. And it is the difference between the men in the play, with their ultimate honesty, and Mary's self-deception that makes me angry with her and feel empathy for the others.

There is a chance, a small one, but still a chance, that Edmund will get well, that Tyrone will stop drinking, that Jamie will branch out on his own. But Mary is stuck where she is, dreaming and lying through her life.

Like I said, this wasn't exactly a fun play, but it was extremely realistic. Very well done and highly recommended.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjama's by John Doyle (41/81)

The cautionary tale is about two boys, one the son of a commandant in Hitler’s army and the other a Jew, who come face-to-face at a barbed wire fence that separates, and eventually intertwines their lives.

Set during the Holocaust, Bruno is only nine-years-old when his father, a commandant in Hitler’s army, is transferred from Berlin to Auschwitz. The house at “Out-With,” as Bruno calls it, is small, dark, and strange. He spends long days gazing out the window of his new bedroom, where he notices people dressed in striped pajamas and rows of barracks surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Bored and lonely, and not really understanding the circumstance of his new existence, Bruno sets out to explore the area and discovers Shmuel, a very thin Jewish boy who lives on the other side of the fence. An unlikely friendship develops between the two boys, but when Bruno learns that his mother plans to take her children back to Berlin, he makes a last effort to explore the forbidden territory where the boy in the striped pajamas lives.

This is as a book club that we all decided to read ...... And I thought it was a good read ... It is definitely a Young Adult book as it is told from a nine years old perspective ....

It is a very easy read ....... And you could easily finish it in one sitting as it is also large print .... I loved the concept of the story being told from a child's view .... Very clever ... The way that he calls the place "Out-With" and also the name he calls the leader "Fury".

It did me reflect on how Innocent Bruno is ......... And how much responsible that we have as parents to teach our children correct principles because what we say and teach them is how they view the world ......

There is just enough of sadness in the book to reflect the awful circumstances that surround the two boys ....... My only complaint with the book is that if the reader doesn't have a knowledge of what happened in these camps you cannot really grasp what is occurring in the story .... I think this may be one of the rare occasions that a visual movie would capture the story better ...... And probably in my case cry the whole way through the movie ........

I enjoyed the book and like I said before it would be good for a young reader .... But you would have to have a good discussion about the book and the context to make sure that they understood what was happening ... But felt that The Book Thief was more sensitive to the victims of the Holocaust and War times ...... As it gives a more graphic and realistic description of what actually happens at war times ....

I rate this book 4****

Tide, Feather, Snow by Miranda Weiss, 15/81

In the late 1990s Miranda Weiss moved from the continental US to Homer, Alaska. This memoir chronicles Weiss's first two years in Alaska, her relationship to the land, her boyfriend, and the difficult decision of whether to stay in Alaska. Weiss had always been fascinated with Alaska, and she had worked in the wilderness before, in remote areas of national parks. But none of this prepared her for the realities of Alaska. In this memoir Weiss weaves together discussion of the natural wonders and dangers of Alaska along with her own experiences of her new life. The dramatic tides, salmon migrations, and persistent dark of winter all make for more interesting writing than one might expect of a memoir that is heavily focused on climate and weather conditions. For those of us in the lower forty-eight, some of the conditions in Alaska are likely shocking. Weiss knew more than a few people who lived without running water and indoor toilets by choice. Weiss had to ski a half-mile to and from her car in the dead of winter, donning a headlamp. Most of us can't imagine this sort of life- I surely could not. Weiss also discusses the attitudes and assumptions of Alaskans- putting high premiums on time resided in the state. Alaska has always had a reputation as the last frontier, and Weiss's memoir proves that it is just as susceptible to the sort of mythology that has characterized other American frontiers. Perhaps significant is the myth of self-sufficiency. Weiss notes that a desire for simpler lives and self-sufficiency has drawn many to Alaska, but Alaska also has more federal government involvement than just about any other state, likewise, the resettlement of Americans from other states in Alaska means that record amounts of supplies have to be flown in to the state. The contradictions are interesting, and Weiss is clearly attuned to them. It took me a few chapters to get into this book, but it ultimately drew me in. I knew very little of Alaska and I found Weiss's descriptions engaging. She does an excellent job of conveying the extremes and dangers that shape everyday life in Alaska.

Miranda Weiss, Tide, Feather, Snow: A Life in Alaska (Harper, 2009) ISBN: 0061710253

Category: Memoirs 1/9, 15/81

Prague in Black and Gold: Scenes From the Life of a European City by Peter Demetz

4/81

Category: Around the World 

Very informative book. I like how the author divided and explained these "scenes" from the long life of a city. Some of my favorite bits dealt with the origin myth and how it has effected Prague by starting out with a ruling class of women, or gynocracy with the three daughters of Krok. The three sisters were very impressive with their gifts and the youngest, Libussa, with her way of dealing out justice with compassion rather than an iron will, even if one dissatisfied man decided to shout "long hair short minds" throughout the hills. The maidens war was another example of the earlier gender conflicts that showed women as fierce and wanting respect. 
The latter chapters dealing with important emperors, noblemen, artists, and intellectuals is filled with research and clearly written by a man who as his heart and soul tied into his hometown.Prague has proven time and again throughout history to be ever-changing in it's tolerance and forever being strongly influenced many religions including Catholicism, Judaism, Protestantism, and Moor traditions, let alone ethnic and political influences. It is no doubt a town of magic and strength. Some of my favorite chapters were "Mozart in Prague" and "Prague in the Carolinium Era" My excitement to visit this city has only grown through reading this book. I also appreciate the author's helpful hints for pronouncing the complicated Czech language even though I am still at a loss for pronouncing many of the person and place names.

One more favorite tidbit: I learned the origin of the Czech tongue twister that contains no vowels.... 
the line translates as "stick your finger through your throat" written in Czech as "Strc prst skrz krk." As explained in the book this twister comes from a novel entitled "The Witch of Prague" and was actually used by a woman flirting and showing of her bewitching language skills to a foreigner who indeed becomes enamored with her.

The Tree of Man, 47/81, 2nd Round.

The Tree of Man by Patrick White, global reading category

Wow, what a chunk of a book! 499 pages. And I don't know why that feels so big, as I have read some for the challenge that were even bigger, but it just felt like a really big book.

The book is all about an Australian couple, Stan and Amy Parker. It is sort of an epic, a great Australian novel, as it were. They build a home, work on their farm, raise cows, have a couple of kids, survive a flood and a fire, meet the neighbors. Stan goes off to war. Their son turns out to be a weak criminal type; their daughter a social climber. They both get old. Stan dies.

And believe it or not, that is really the whole book. Why did it take 499 pages? I'm not entirely sure. It's certainly not because of the dialogue. Both Stan and Amy are taciturn by nature.

Perhaps this is White's way of portraying the basic honest type of person who is always at the heart of a thriving nation. The Parkers are not every anyone special. But their lives are still important.

I didn't really love this book, but I did enjoy the style. I'm not sure if it's the writer or because he was Australian, but there are just small differences in the way the story is told. I had to read it a little more carefully, because he says so much without saying it straight out. So much of the story is implied in just a few words, which means the reader has to extrapolate and decipher the littlest clue.

I don't know if I will read more by this author or not, but this was certainly a change from what I normally read.