January Books

I’m off to a great start on my reading this year!  10 books in January! :-)  I think that’s probably a personal record!  1/10 of the way to 100 too!  I’m pretty sure I can’t keep up this pace, but I’m glad to have gotten so many under my belt in one month. 

My two favorites from the month are The Double Bind and Hey Ranger!

The links lead you to my reviews but from there you can see which challenges they apply to and get more info on the books at GoodReads. 

1. Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen - by Susan Gregg Gilmore
2. Angels – Marian Keyes
3. Leave the Grave Green – Deborah Crombie
4. The Double Bind – Chris Bohjalian
5. Last Chance Saloon – Marian Keyes
6. Blind Courage – Bill Irwin
7. Family Tree – Barbara Delinsky
8. The Tooth of Time – Sue Henry
9. Blessings – Anna Quindlen
10.  Hey Ranger!: True Tales of Humor & Misadventure from America’s National Parks – Jim Burnett

A Day in the Life

Hey Ranger: True Tales of Humor & Misadventure from America’s National Parks by Jim Burnett

I really enjoyed this book!  Over his career as a park ranger Jim Burnett has worked in many different parks, most that I have never visited, but the stories he told are universal and could really have happened anywhere!  His light sarcasm and PC way of telling many of the stories added to the humor for me!  I was laughing out loud in many places!

One thing he did was turn common words into acronyms – this got a little old at the end, but I’m pretty sure that the National Park Service, like many other government or military organizations, using acronyms for everything and I’m sure it gets old there too! My two favorites  were:

Assume: Actions Seldom Supported Under Meticulous Examination

Oops: Outcome Outside of Planned Scenario 

I certainly enjoyed this “A Day in the Life” of a park ranger, it’s a job that would certainly be interesting and fun, but it’s one that I think is best experienced from a comfy armchair! :-)   Can’t wait to read the 2nd installment: Hey Ranger 2

Blessings

Blessings by Anna Quindlen

I have no idea how this book came to reside on my TBR shelf.  The price tag sticker implies that I bought it at Sam’s or Costco so I’m guessing it was an impulse buy.  In any event it’s been hanging around for years and has survived several “adult book clean-outs” where I donated most of my already read adult books or books that had just been hanging around so long that I knew I’d never read them.  I have no idea what it was about it that made me keep it around, but I’m pretty glad I did.  It was an enjoyable, fast read. 

It starts off as the story of a baby born to a teenage couple.  They decide to drop the baby off at a large estate where they thought the baby would have a good life.  The book, however, is not really about the baby.  It’s about Lydia Blessings, the owner of the estate and her family secrets.  In many ways it reminded me of Family Tree in the fact that many deeply guarded secrets were discovered.   As in real life though those secrets didn’t seem as big of a deal once they were out. 

I really enjoyed this story, however the writing I wasn’t a big fan of.  Quindlen goes back and forth between the present and the past a lot and at times it was very confusing trying to figure out if the action was in the past or in the present and I found myself doing a lot of re-reading.   As much as the writing confused me, I wonder if she did it on purpose to show the confusion that existed in the characters brains – kind of like real life when your brain drifts from one topic to another. 

     

A Visit with Maxie and Stretch

The Tooth of Time – Sue Henry

This is another book that has been sitting on my TBR shelf for years.  I discovered Sue Henry when I was looking for fiction books about Alaska when I was going there, she has written a large number of Alaska mysteries.  This was before I discovered that I like mysteries so I steered away from them.  I found that one of the Sue Henry books, The Serpent’s Trail, had an RV on the cover so I decided I’d read  that one.   Turns out it was the 1st in a new series she was writing about Maxie McNabb, a 60-something single gal and her dog. Stretch the dachshund, both of whom spend months at time traveling in a 30-ft Winnebago.   This book is the 2nd in the series, I think there are 4 or 5 now. 

As much as I enjoyed another visit with Maxine and Stretch, I couldn’t really get into this book.  The mystery was lacking in punch and I felt like she spent a lot of time telling details that didn’t really matter to the story.   I thought the writing felt a little “clunky” – kind of reminded me of reading the early works of some of my favorite authors.  I found this to be odd since Sue Henry has written so many other mysteries.  

Surprise! Surprise!

 

Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky

This book was full of surprises, the 1st being that Lizzie Clarke was born with brown skin and African-American features, yet both her parents were Caucasian.  I found the rest of the story, and how it came to be that Lizzie was born African-American very unbelievable.  

The other surprise was that I liked this book!  My mom gave it to me a few years back and it had been sitting on my “TBR” shelf and I didn’t think I wanted to read it – it looked like a romance-Lifetime Movie-Type book and I was surprised that it really wasn’t.  Don’t get me wrong, it could definitely be a Lifetime Movie, it just wasn’t as bad as I expected.

                   

Blind Stupidity

 

Blind Courage by Bill Irwin

A better title for this book would be Blind Stupidity.  This is the story of Bill Irwin, the 1st (and possibly only) blind man to ever hike the Appalachian Trail.   In the process he made some very stupid choices and endangered many people.  He went out unprepared in every sense and I’m actually surprised he lived to tell about it. 

It wasn’t even his blindness that caused the biggest problem.  In fact, I think a blind man could potentially hike the AT and be safe about it, but a significant amount of planning would be required.  As with any disability or medical condition, it should not dominate your life, but you do have to make allowances and plan ahead. 

Bill had no idea what he was getting himself into.  none.  none at all.  He was shocked by the first 7 miles and how rugged it was.  He was not a hiker, he didn’t even like hiking.  He brought a dog with him, granted it was a seeing-eye dog, but still the dog was forced into the walk and it didn’t get a choice.   By the end of the book, he was hiking in winter and fording creeks, slogging through snow and dragging other people, including the Head Ranger at Baxter State Park, with him.  There were many clues that he should have stopped, but he didn’t. 

The book was more about Bill’s struggle with addiction and his faith – he was a born-again Christian and strongly believed that the Lord had called him to hike the hike and that’s why he was able to finish, apparently the Lord made him strong and gave him the trail angels that helped him.   The book was very preachy and that is likely what turned me off to it.  I wanted to read a story about a hiker doing what he loved despite challenges, but what I got was an evangelizing praise and worship song. 

If the book hadn’t had a background of hiking the AT I never would have finished it. 

Another Marian Keyes

Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes

This was not one of my favorite Marian Keyes books.  It was lacking in many areas including the humor, British voice, and life of the happily single woman.  

It was definitely a more serious book, with the main idea being there might not be a tomorrow so life your life now, which I could appreciate,  but it seemed that the way to happiness for 2 of the main characters that happiness revolved around having a boyfriend.

It was a good read, about three main characters – Tara, the one who always felt that she had to have a boyfriend – somewhat came around to the idea that she didn’t need a man to complete her life by the end of the book – Katherine – the single by choice gal, although it turned out she really wasn’t single by choice entirely and then there was Fintan, the gay man who was in  a strong committed relationship.   I could definitely relate to these characters – as they reflected many people in my own life.  

Best Book I’ve Read All Year!

The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

Wrote about how I discovered Chris Bohjalian and the day I met him here – so check that out to read about why I was reading this book! 

This was far and away the best book I have read this year!  It was one of those can’t-put-it-down-stay-up-past-your-bedtime-to-finish-it type books!  It’s been awhile since I have had one like that!

This was the last of the already been published Chris Bohjalian books and I think I saved the best for last!  I’m not sure it was my favorite of his books, but I think it’s definitely his best book.

The story follows a 30-something social worker, Laurel, as she attempts to unravel the mystery of Bobbie Crocker, a homeless man who showed up at the shelter she worked in.  Apparently Bobbie was a photographer and upon his death it was discovered that he had in his possession many exceptional photographs and Laurel begins an investigation of how those photos came to be in Bobbie’s possession.  

The one part of the story that I didn’t like very much at first was that there were several very prominent references to The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, a book that I had not read.  It was almost as if, parts of the story were off limits to me since I was unfamiliar with the story.  It was ironic, because several parts of the story about an exclusive neighborhood on Long Island, and I was being excluded.   This book and the role The Great Gatsby had in the sort had come up the night I met Chris Bohjalian, and he specifically said that you didn’t need to have read The Great Gatsby to understand The Double Bind, so I forged ahead, despite not understanding all of it.   In the end though, it truly didn’t matter, in fact I think the story had a bigger impact on me because I hadn’t read The Great Gatsby. 

Challenges it fits:

It’s a mystery to me!

Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie

A few years ago I would have told you that I didn’t read mysteries.  I didn’t like mysteries and I would never have chosen to read them. 

Then my friend Diane loaned me Blood Lure by Nevada Barr, it was set in Glacier National Park and starred Anna Pigeon, Barr’s ranger extraordinaire. I was not too excited about it being a mystery, since I didn’t like mysteries, but the fact that it was set in a National Park and the main character was a ranger appealed to me and I read it.  In just a few chapters I was hooked, I totally enjoyed Blood Lure and was excited to read the other books Barr had written!  They didn’t feel like mysteries, as the plot lines were varied – most were not simple “whodunit” type and they were very exciting – Anna facing near death in almost every book! 

I also got into the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich – they are classified as mysteries, but I don’t think they really are – they are more silliness! :-)  Stephanie is a Bounty Hunter so there’s definitely a lot crime and several people always get killed, but they also are not the traditional “whodunit” either. 

Then the first day of school this year my friend Diane again came to me with a book – A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie.  She said the whole series was really good and she thought I’d like them.  The main characters of this book, and the whole series, are Duncan Kincaid  - a Scotland Yard Superintendent and Gemma James – his sergeant.   These novels were in fact traditional “whodunits” – and I wasn’t too sure about them. 

But, I decided to give it a try and see what a thought, like Mickey and Life Cereal - “I Liked it!” :-)  Which surprised me! 

I was thinking back to why I didn’t like mysteries.  I think it was an Agatha Christie novel that I’d attempted to read in either middle school or high school – I’d quickly lost track of the plot and all the details of the characters and clues and such and it was too much work.   I’m now wondering if maybe I wasn’t ready to read her yet – if I didn't have the maturity or the reading skills yet.

When I returned A Share in Death to Diane she told me that she had the whole series that she was willing to pass along to me – so now I have all of them – there are 12 I think - and will work my way through them. 

This one that I just read is the 3rd in the series and it featured the untimely death of prominent opera conductors son-in-law and Kincaid and James are called in to investigate and figure out how he died.  The plot was interesting and kept moving, it kept me guessing until the very end.  Although I was very excited when I figured it out just paragraphs before Kincaid himself figured it out!  It came on like a light bulb to both of us!

A good quick read, making it perfect for my goal of getting as many books read in January as I can!  Unfortunately, it only fulfills requirements for 1 Reading Challenge:

And for my 2nd book…. (SPOILER ALERT)

Angels, by Marian Keyes. 
A few years back I was in a book club and someone picked Marian Keyes’ Anybody Out There as their pick for “authors that you trust”.  I’d never heard of her, but after reading Anybody Out There, I was sold!
Marian Keyes is Irish and most of her writing is filled with funny Irish sayings and wit, several times while reading other books I have laughed out loud!  The other thing I really liked about Marian Keyes is that her books seem to focus on single-30-something women!   Both Anybody Out There and Angels feature the Walsh family – 5 sisters and their parents – Keyes has written several books about the family, each telling the story of a different sister.   She has also written a bunch of stand alone books. 
Angels was a quick easy read and it was entertaining but I’m glad it wasn’t the first Marian Keyes book I’d picked up.  It was very similar to the 3 other books I’d read by her and it was lacking in the humor of the other three.  The book tells the story or Margret, Maggie, age 33 who’s marriage had fallen apart.  She flees to Los Angeles where she has a good friend and lives the live of a movie star for a month before realizing where she is supposed to be.  
SPOILER ALERT:
Most of Marian Keyes books end with the main character deciding that they like being single, that was not the case with this book and I was disappointed when the book ended with Maggie getting back together with her husband. 
Happily this books fits into 2 challenges:
      

1 Down, 99 To Go!

 

I finished my first book of 2010 this afternoon: Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen, by Susan Gregg Gilmore. It was a good quick read, perfect to get started with this year – and I can count it toward 3 challenges! :-)

         

The book started out very “preachy” and I thought it was going to be hard to get through, but the main character seemed to be  as put off by the “preachyness” as I was, so it was good! 

The main characters goal in life is to get out of the small town in Georgia where she grew up and when she finally does a series of unexpected plot twists lead her to believe where she really belongs. 

This was a very real book with main characters who were easy to relate to! A great quick read! :-)

2009: A Year in Books

My reading goal this year was simple, read more than I did in 2008.  In 2008 I read 74 books.  I did not meet this goal as I only read 68 books in 2009.  I’m not disappointed though – 68 is a respectable number of books! :-)

I did finish off a few authors I’d been working through, discovered a few new series and new authors, as well as read new books from old favorite authors.  I didn’t have as much grad school reading because I completed my last class in Feb 2009! :-) 

Also in Spring of 2009 I acquired the Kindle App on my iPhone – which will never replace reading paper books, but enables me to read while stuck in traffic and always have a book handy!

Here’s the complete list of what I read in 2009, in no real order:

Fiction

Carl Hiaasen: Strip Tease, Skin Tight, Double Whammy – none were as good as some of the 1st novels I read by him.  I think I have 2 or 3 more novels of his to read, I’ll finish them off in 2009.

Nevada Barr: A Superior Death, Deep South, Track of the Cat,  Ill Wind, Borderline, – This wraps up the Anna Pigeon series of mysteries set in National Parks.  Lucky for me Nevada is still writing these!

Bittersweet – this is Nevada’s 1st novel written 10 years before the Anna Pigeon novels – I thought it was fabulous, although some of the writing was rather “clunky”

13 1/2 – Nevada Barr’s latest – a stand alone mystery/thriller.  It was very good – kept me guessing until the last page, even though I had figured it out!

Chris Bohjalian: The Trans-Sister Radio, Before You Know Kindness, Skeletons at the Feast, The Buffalo Soldier, The Law of Similars, Water Witches

Charlene Ann Baumbich: Dearest Dorothy Series: Are We There Yet?, Slow Down You’re Wearing Us Out, If Not Now, When?, Merry Everything!, Who Would Have Ever Thought?, Help! I’ve Lost Myself

Marian Keyes: Watermelon, The Other Side of the Story: A Novel

Janet Evanovich: Plum Spooky, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen

Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Paints the Town, Miss Julia Delivers the Goods 

Deborah Crombie: A Share in Death, All Shall be Well

Alice Hoffman: The Story Sisters, Horsefly

A Gracious Plenty – Sheri Reynolds

The Amateur Marriage – Anne Tyler

Made in the U.S.A – Billie Letts

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Anne Shaffer

The Boleyn Inheritance – Philippa Gregory

The Stepmother – Carrie Adams

The Leisure Seeker: A Novel – Michael Zadoorian

Very Valentine – Adriana Trigiani

The Lost Symbol – Dan Brown

That Camden Summer – LaVyrle Spencer

The Inn at Lake Devine – Elinor Lipman

Gods in Alabama – Joshilyn Jackson

The Help – Kathryn Stockett

Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 – Christopher Moore

Non-Fiction/Memoir

Laurie Notaro: We thought You Would Be Prettier,  The Idiot Girls Action-Adventure Club, The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death, I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies)

John McDonald: Down the Road a Piece: A Storyteller’s Guide to Maine, A Moose and a Lobster Walk into a Bar

Paula Denton: Learning Through Academic Choice, The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language that Helps Children Learn

Fat Girl: A True Story – Judith Moore

Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp – Stephanie Klein

Under the Duvet: Shoes, Reviews, Having the Blues, Builders, Babies, Families and Other Calamities – Marian Keyes

Idyll Banter: Weekly Excursions to a Very Small Town – Chris Bohjalian

The Maine Woods – Henry David Thoreau

Narrow Dog to Indian River – Terry Darlington

Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work – Richard DuFour

I Love You, Miss Huddleston: And Other Inappropriate Longings of My Indiana Childhood – Phillip Gulley

The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades – Gail Boushey

Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband and a Bus with a Will of it’s Own – Doreen Orion

A Friend Like Henry – Nuala Gardner

Prairie Tale: A Memoir – Melissa Gilbert