Into the B section!

I love this book We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg. I wasn't really sure of it at first because of the subject matter but I was enthralled eventually and absolutely captivated by the time I was finished. It's a story of a woman who contracts polio while pregnant but doesn't know until she is rushed to the hospital in distress. She gives birth while in an iron lung which would under normal circumstances spell death for the baby. She decided to raise the child and did so while in a wheel chair and on a respirator. She had help from Social Services but not much so she had to fudge a bit on her income. Nevertheless she manages to raise the child with help. The story is told through the eyes of the child. Loved the story.  

The B Section!!!!

Finally got to the Bs, yeh!!! I started with Honore de Balzac's Cousin Bette. Couldn't finish it because I couldn't stand the thought of referring to a woman as a spinster. She was a supposedly homely woman with attitude, but the reference to her as a spinster or someone to be pitied was too much. So the next book is by a British author using his pseudonym Benjamin Black. His real name is John Banville and he writes mysteries under that name. This book Christine Falls is set in Dublin. It involves a pathologist who does love his drink and who discovers his brother-in-law is involved in something not quite right. His brother-in-law is a beloved doctor who delivers babies. And this is part of the problem that brings the pathologist to realize he can't give up trying to find out what happened in his lab. Good story & unusual. Lots of soap opera, but intirguing to read.

Short stories can be fun to read!

Twelve Red Herrings by Jeffrey Archer is a book of 12 short mysteries that I enjoyed very much. I've read several books by this author as I found out and two of them were collections of short stories. This book engages the reader to identify the red herring in each story of mysteries. And the last story has a twist in which one can choose amongst the three endings offered. Having a good collection of short stories is especially good at night when you want a good read but don't want to spend the whole night doing so. Short stories are good for that bedtime read.

Can't get out of the As!!!!

The latest book The Last Troubadour Song of Montsigur by Derek Armstrong is based on the Inquisition and how it affected the people during that time. Ramon is a troubadour who comes to the city of Carcassonne to rescue the Jewel from the Inquisitors. (Just realized this is the third book that deals with religion and the Inquisition is the probably the best example of religion gone bad.) Anyway Ramon & his little band get into the city to rescue the Jewel (a revered woman who is being accused of heresy.) It's a rivetting story and the narration includes some rather graphic scenes of torture and burning at the stake. Lots of action and conflict. The book is the first of a trilogy. Must find the other ones. The author includes photos he took of the city as it is today so that lends the story some authenticity. I'm including a blurb from the cover jacket:

"Based on true history of the Inquisition & the legend of the Tarot. The Last Troubadour assembles a magnificent cast right out of the Tarot Deck: the Fool, the Magician, the Emperoro, the Pope, Death & even the Devil. Don't miss this tale of knightly valor, Tarot symbolism, tragic history & exciting quests."

This is a book that needs to be made into a movie! Definitely. It has all the necessary excitement and weird stuff that would make it great for all the special effects that are used today.  

Further down the A aisle...

Vinegar Hill is another book by A. Manette Ansay. This is the second book I've read lately in which religion plays a big part. This time it's German Catholics in the midwest during the 70s. Women were told to grin and bear it if their husbands mistreated them and look at their own behavior as the possible reason for the mistreatment. This story centers around a young couple who go back to Wisconsin to live with the husband's parents after he lost his job. It's a real horror story of all the abuse Ellen (the young wife) endures at the hands of her husband's parents. The elder father's cruelty toward her husband and the children is beyond horrifying and almost brings Ellen to a breakdown. Vinegar Hill was one of Oprah's Book Club picks and the first novel that brought Ansay some attention as a writer. Her central themes of the two books I've read are unusual and can be depressing, but she manages to find some clear sky to make everything okay. 

It's time to get out of the A section!!!!!!

Latest book of interest is The Wind in the Wheat by Reed Arvin. This book is not one I would have bought in a bookstore because I probably wouldn't have found it there. This was one I would have found in the Parable our own Christian bookstore here in town. Never go there. But I have to say the book besides its religious content was actually a good story. Reed Arvin is a player in the Nashville music industry, particularly the Christian music industry. He can write a good story. The religious part was overshadowed by what one has to endure to make it in Nashville. Arvin obviously has a lot of insight and knows the industry inside and out. He presents it in the book as an absolute to anyone who wants to make it there. You have to succumb to the pressures of all the people who think they are going to gain from your talent. You become a puppet in their hands if you have a lot of talent. Forget who you are and become what they think will sell. That's the story of the young man with talent who travels to Nashville only to find out that his original premise is trashed to be replaced by the vision of those who are guiding him.  

Am I still in the Library A section?

Holy Cow! Do all the writers have last names beginning with A? I feel like I'm in a bad dream where the letter A is never ending. the latest books are Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey Archer and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Jeffrey Archer's book was really a look at what happens when twins are separated at birth but manage to lead a similar life and later come to compete with each other in a political sense without knowing their connection. The twins were separated at birth but neither of the parents knew the truth. Their lives went along parallel lines except one was raised in a wealthy family and the other a middle-class working family. Their lives crossed numerous times with a mutual adversary although they did not know this. Eventually they both ran for governor of their state, but the end only reveals who won if you are paying attention. Interesting book, but sort of frustrating for its soap opera content. 


And then there is Northanger Abbey! It took me awhile to get started on this one. It's hard to get used to the cadence and structure of Austen's sentences and conversation. But if one waits long enough one will find the story and what is happening to the characters. I wasn't too happy with the ending though. It seemed to be as if Jane Austen got bored with her characters and the story and just let it end. Several of the story lines didn't end with any satisfaction, but I still would pick up a Jane Austen novel anytime and re-read it again and again.

OMG Will I ever get out of the As?

Latest book Winterton Blue by Trezza Azzopardi has an interesting premise: Dysfunctional families that never quite seem to get anywhere. Well, do they ever? I don't think there is a family in the world that isn't dysfunctional in some way or other. Has anybody ever come across a perfect family where everyone is just doing fine? Impossible. Anyway, the main characters come together & fall in love, separate & you'd think the woman would just go on, but no such luck. Well, I'm not going to tell what really happened, just that the ending was far from satisfying. And the woman was interminably stupid. but you want to know what I actually enjoyed the story!!! Maybe it's because I came from a dysfunctional family and understood. 

Still in the A section

The Country Cousin by Louis Auchincloss is the latest book from the library. I'd heard of him, but hadn't a clue what kind of writer he was. Turns out it was a good story and I would probably read more of his books. It is set in the mid-thirties and could have been any of those old movies with any of those players in the 30's movies. I especially liked the idea of Bette Davis or Maureen o'Sullivan playing Amy the main character. Couldn't figure out the gentlemen, but maybe Dick Powell, Leslie Howard & Franchot Tone as the main men. Joan Crawford would have to be in there too as the alter-ego to Amy.


Now how to cast the movie with current actresses! What a problem... could they even make it like a 30s movie? It was so typical of all those high society movies with all the great clothes and living areas. And the snobbishness and pettiness of some individuals. Set in New York where Amy is given a hand up by her older cousin who makes her a paid companion. The rest of the family looks down on her, but Amy escapes into her romantic fantasies of finding a true love, the consequences of which lead her into much subterfusion and uncertainty.    

Further on the Library "A" aisle

Latest book was Mary Kay Andrews" Summer Rental. This book screams CHICK-LIT!!! Doesn't matter cuz I liked it anyway. Three women friends in their 30s vacation in a run-down cottage on the shores of North Carolina. The landlord lives over the garage. He is a hunk, of course. He doesn't reveal his true relationship to the cottage until one of the women gets involved with him. And then it's by accident. Perfect summer reading.

Ever onward Library A to Z

The two latest books are A Twist in the Tale by Jeffrey Archer and In a Pickle by Jerry Apps. The Jeffrey Archer book is a bunch of short stories each of which has an unexpected ending, a twist in the tale. Fun to read although I'm not apt to read a book of short stories, but Jeffrey Archer is a highly respected mystery writer so I thought I'd give it a go. Not disappointed. Jerry Apps' book, In a Pickle, is entertaining and is rather unusual in it's use of cucumber farming as it's main theme. It's set in the year 1955 in a small Wisconsin farming town that is highly dependent on its pickle crops. This was the end of the era of small family farms that were passed down from generation to generation, where towns were identified by the small one room schoolhouses the children went to, and families could depend on their livelihood to support them. The story is simply told by Mr. Apps that includes a lot of information about what one could expect to find on a farm and in a small town at this time. I enjoyed the book and found out things I was not aware of that happened back in that era.   

Oh, the Library!

Just finished reading The Extra Man by Jonathan Ames. The story was one I wasn't expecting from the title. The main character Louis Ives is conflicted about his sexuality except for the fact that he loves to dress up in women's clothes. The first chapter gives the book an hilarious beginning and from there one wants to learn more. It goes through all his conflicts including his moving from New Jersey to an apartment in New York City with an older man. The man becomes his mentor and is rather eccentric. Louis above all wants to be thought of as a gentleman and strives mightily to do so and hopes his roommate will help him. It's a fun, sad and unusual book.

Ah the As still...

Latest book is BLUE WATER by A. Manette Ansay. She wrote Vinegar Hill which was an Oprah Winfrey choice to read. Blue Water is a story of redemption. A couple decide to live on a sail boat and travel around the world after losing their only child to a drunk driver. They are conflicted because the drunk driver was an acquaintance. They decide to sail to get away from it all. Their experiences while sailing down the east coast to the Caribbean bring them awareness of themselves and what to do about the rest of their lives. Excellent story, recommended reading...!!!!

Further along the As in the library...

Does one ever get out of the library? I'm still in the first aisle in the As, but I'm traveling to the Bs. The Bs are getting closer. The last book I read was THE HEADMASTER RITUAL by Taylor Antrim. Pleasant surprise. It's a story with two parallel lines about the headmaster's son and the new teacher. They are both stories of coming of age with all the usual angst that goes along with it. Had some fun with the reading and some unusual surprise near the end. Go read it!!

Hey, I'm still in the As at the library!

I've skipped over a couple of books I didn't think were worth my time or anybody's to write about. And it seems that it's been a couple of months since I came to my blog. I finished reading several books not from the library and could address them later. The latest book I read from the library was Coyote Cowgirl by Kim Antieau. It's an unusual and rather fantastic story about a young woman who is given charge of a "ruby-studded" scepter and crystal skull that are used in a ceremony twice a year. Of course the first ceremony was during the Day of the Dead. These two pieces figure in the story line and the young woman's destiny. It's a fun book to read, but not extremely well-written, which bothered me at times. I mean she talks to the skull and he gives her cooking lessons, which make her a hit at an isolated restaurant in the Southwest. How the principles move between Mexico and Arizona so easily is also a wonder. It's  fun and not very heavy reading, but certainly worth one's time.