Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. I read this aloud to Olin and Anders, my grandsons. The original story is really pretty funny, a series of escapades by a very naughty little puppet. He makes terrible choices and lands in an awful mess over and over, and then, always in the next chapter, he gets out of the mess, and maybe learns a little something. We especially enjoyed the fun interactive illustrations, including a jointed, movable puppet and a full puppet stage, in this Harper Collins edition.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. A prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy, this novel provides the origin story for the villain President Snow. In the book we meet Snow as a teen, about to graduate from school and eager to succeed in life. An impoverished orphan of a once powerful family, Snow’s greatest desire is to reinstate his family’s fortune and power. Snow loves his grandmother and his cousin, with whom he lives, and we are sympathetic at first to his quest to “make good.” He becomes a mentor to a tribute to the Hunger Games and falls in love. As readers we hope he will begin to make better choices, but sadly, no. By the end of the story, Snow is becoming the character we hate in Hunger Games. An interesting study of how a person can rationalize very bad choices, gradually losing any sense of moral compass.
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner. A group of very different people, ranging from a farm worker to a movie star, is united by their passion for Jane Austen novels. Set just after WWII in the tiny British village of Chawton, the group works to found a museum in Austen’s former home. Along the way, romances blossom in ways the Austen would certainly approve.
The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien. This summer I am listening to the complete audio books of the Lord of the Rings. In July I finished the second one, in which the original Fellowship is divided. Frodo and Sam head for the evil land of Mordor in an effort to destroy the Ring of Power. Pippin and Merry are abducted by Orcs and end up in the land of the Ents, the ancient Tree Herds who are actually almost my favorite characters in the books. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli fight the great battle at Helm’s Deep. I love these books for their poetic language and for the characters who are completely committed to defending goodness against all odds.
LANI PACKARD
I read "The Secret Garden" with my girls and we all loved it. It was particular fun for the kids to try and guess who the crying child could be and they liked hearing about both Mary and Colin's growth as people, from being selfish and sour to caring and kind. Four stars.
My second book was "The Always War" by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It starts with a fifteen year old girl, Tessa, attending a ceremony for her life long neighbor, Gideon, who is being awarded for valor and victory in war, but he rejects the award because he feels like he's only a killer, not a hero. After a few days, Gideon flies into enemy territory with the intent to surrender and make amends for his wrongs (with Tessa unknowingly stowed on board) only to find there is nobody to surrender to. In fact the war has been over for seventy five years, but no one knows and it's up to Tessa and Gideon to tell the world. Four stars.
MARLENE MATHESON
3 stars - Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield - A fantasy/mystery novel, which is filled with folklore. It was sometimes hard for me to keep up with all of the facets of the story.
4 1/2 stars - Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose - 1942 - Follows the lives and experiences of several individuals which makes it more interesting than just giving facts about the WWII events. It gave me a lot more respect for the veterans of our nation's wars.
4 1/2 stars - The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander - Eye-opening! We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it. This book has be influential in giving new emphasis to criminal justice reform.
GERI CHRISTENSEN
To Die But Once BY Jacqueline Winsspear. At the beginning of World War II,Maisie Dobbs is called on to investigate the unexplained death of a young 17 year old boy who had been hired by a shady painting company to paint large airplane hangars and military buildings with a toxic emulsion which made him very sick. The book also talks a lot about the evacuation of British soldiers from Dunkirk, many of whom lost their lives during that tragic time. The book is based on Ms. Winspear's first-hand knowledge gained from her father who also was given the job of painting these buildings during the war and who also suffered from the toxic fumes and later on died from complications resulting from this exposure. 4 Stars
Mrs. Polifax and the China Station by Dorothy Gilman. Another great adventure of the adventurous and courageous Emily Polifax as she is given the assignment to help bring a Chinese national out of mainland China to Hong Kong where he can no longer be persecuted by his beliefs in democracy. In the book she actually kills a man with her swift and deadly karate chop and is finally set free by the police after a long and drawn out interrogation. Very entertaining and typical of all the other Mrs. Polifax books. 3 stars.
All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot. One of the most delightful of all four books in the All Creatures Great and Small series by the same author. It is such fun to read and even more fun to listen to it as an audio book to get all the different Yorkshire accents. This is a true account of a young Veterinarian just starting out in the 1940's, 50's and 60's and is one of the funniest and most enjoyable books ever written (in my humble opinion). 5 Stars.
Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody. The harrowing and heart-wrenching true story of a young American woman married to an Iranian national who is also a doctor. He convinces her against her better judgment to make supposedly 2 week trip to Iran to visit his family but once they get there he refuses to return to America. She can leave if she divorces him but if she does, she will have to leave her daughter behind in Iran as by their law she belongs to him. This she refuses to do but miraculously she manages to escape with the help of sympathetic strangers but only after suffering terribly from her abusive husband. 4 stars.
MARYANN STEVENS
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 4⭐️ 1940 France falls to the Nazis. 10 Million people leave Paris & the surrounding area. Though a privileged few will board trains most will begin their begin their journey south or west in private vehicles, on bicycles, pulling carts, wagons, prams. Most will end up walking in huge throngs, depleting the countryside of fuel & food, tromping the field flat as they go. 18 year old Isabella Rosignoll wants to stay in Paris & fight but her father sends her to the countryside to stay with her sister Viane. Nazis soon overtake the village & a long hungry, fearful occupation follows. Isabella joins the French resistance & fulfills her desire to fight. Love, loss, betrayal, are all a part of the sisters lives as they live through the war via different paths.
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult 3 ⭐️. Not as tight as the last Picoult I read. So many characters & so many flashbacks got a bit confusing. The only abortion clinic in all of Mississippi is stormed by an overwrought father of a 17-year old who used their services. Carnage ensued. The authors note read by Picoult is where I stand. In the US, Abortion is a last resort sought by mostly very poor women. The best way to reduce the number of abortions is not by passing laws that make abortion difficult to obtain, but to freely provide the other social services that would make abortion unnecessary. Contraception, prenatal care, General health care, child care, nutrition, counseling, adoption, & raise the minimum wage so people can afford to raise families. The ‘rights’ of the unborn should not exceed the rights of the living - the expectant mother, the other siblings, consider the needs & circumstances of entire family. I am not pro-abortion. I am pro-life, pro-family, pro-social services that support woman and men in avoiding such a heart-rending dilemma.
The Reckoning by John Grisham 1 ⭐️down from 4 ⭐️because of the last 18 minutes of a 17.5 hour audiobook. The ending was completely out of the blue & very unsatisfactory. Tale of a southern farming family 1926-1950s. Pete, serves in WWII in the Philippines, first person view of Death March of Batam, POW camp, escape to guerrilla fighter. Very engaging. Upon his return to home & family he trashes his family’s future.
Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance 4 ⭐️ non-fiction. The author, a young lawyer from a poor & deeply dysfunctional Appalachian family writes his memoir. I thought I should read about American white poverty & despair since I’d recently read of Native Americans & Blacks. Well written first-person account.
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, a black attorney non-fiction. 3.5 ⭐️ - down from 4 because it went on too long & got repetitive but really worth reading. The Drug War with its harsh mandatory sentences put even first time offenders in second class citizen status: perpetually-meaning Forever barred from voting, good employment, public housing, food stamps & other government benefits. There is no repentance no mercy. The drug war laws circumvent everyone’s 4th Amendment Rights against unreasonable search & seizure and have armed local police forces with military equipment-aircraft, helicopters, tanks, body armor, machine guns. Repeated studies have proven that Police forces concentrate their efforts in largely poor neighborhoods of color but multiple Supreme Court rulngs have denied the right to sue based on unequal treatment because the laws themselves are allegedly “colorblind/applying to all” though enforcement is decidedly unequal. Jim Crow laws by statute discriminated by race but the drug war gets away with worse discrimination and has created a legal caste system in America. This book was first written ten years ago but is so relevant to today’s race wars. It made me feel so ashamed of my privilege & compliance with racism.
JO ANN ABEGGLEN:
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. Great little story. 4 stars.
Charter Schools and their Enemies by Thomas Sowell. Sowell pulls together all the research done on side-by-side comparisons of regular elementary schools. Interesting read. 3 stars.
Light Changes Everything by Nancy E. Turner. The first book in the series of These Is My Words. This is the story of Sarah's niece who goes to art school and leaves her betrothed behind. Life gets very interesting including kidnapping and murder. 4 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please share any comments you might have that the group would enjoy reading.