Best Books Read in 2008

I started thinking about the books I’ve read over the past year and realized this is a pretty tough decision. For non-fiction books Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Renin was certainly the most inspiring. I laughed the most reading the short stories by Ryan Boudinot collected in The Littlest Hitler. Of course, I may be biased as he writes about my hometown and a summer job I once had. My latest favorite mystery author is Ian Rankin, although Kate Atkinson comes in a close second.

I did not read a book this year that would knock anything off my top ten favorite fiction books. The book that came the closest was The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon. Any suggestions for good fiction books out there that I missed?

Bat 6 by Virginia Euwer Wolff

The Deschutes County Public Library is doing something a little different for this year’s A Novel Idea. For the past five years one book has been selected with the idea being that the entire county will read it, and the book will hopefully generate community discussion and interest. For past choices, see this blog post about last year’s choice, The World to Come. However, this year three books, a memoir, a young adult book, and a children’s book, were chosen.

I started with the young adult novel, Bat 6, simply because it was readily available. This book initially did not sound that interesting to me as the story revolves around a sixth grade girls’ softball game. It is told in turn by both members of rival teams as they gear up for their annual game. This game is unique as it has been played since 1899 and this year, 1949, is the 50th anniversary of that first game. However, with a Japanese-American girl home from the internment camps on one team and a girl whose father was killed during the Pearl Harbor bombings on the other, the game does not go as anticipated.

I found it an interesting book, and, of course, it reminded me of one of my favorite books, Snow Falling on Cedars. I would be curious to know how well this plays to the intended audience. Will sixth graders appreciate the book? The consequences of a simple softball game are pretty serious and extend beyond the team players to the people in the towns involved. A quote from the author on the back page of the book: “Our daily news is filled with children doing horrifying thing, and I’m fascinated by the question: What is it we notice about these kids but decide not to acknowledge?”

Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith

In general, I am not a fan of poems. I don’t usually get them, they’re often difficult to read, and can be too short to get into or long and rambling. However, I’d seen multiple good recommendations for Patricia Smith’s poems. She was also at The Nature of Words last month. I wish now that I would have gone to see her reading.

The poems in Blood Dazzler are set in New Orleans as Katrina approaches and devastates the city. The poems are in chronological order often with a report from the National Hurricane Center about the status of the storm or other factual information. For me this really helped to tie the poems together. The images of the storm coming are intense. From “She Sees What It Sees”:

And the levees crackled,
And baptism rushed through the ward,
Blasting the boasts from storefronts,
Sweeping away the rooted, the untethered,
Bending doors, withering the strength of stoops.

I began to wonder about Patricia Smith. Was she in New Orleans during Katrina? Her book jacket says she lives in New York. How could someone who wasn’t there capture these images? Her website didn’t really enlighten me: http://wordwoman.ws/index.html. Regardless, these are amazing poems in the way they convey the rage, terror, and helplessness surely experienced during Katrina.

From a poem titled “34”, referring to the nursing home where 34 bodies were found:

They left us. Me. Him. Our crinkled hands.
They left our hard histories, our gone children and storytells.
They left the porch creaking.
They left us to our God,
But our God was mesmerized elsewhere,
Watching His rain.

I started reading these poems the same day our newspaper had an article titled “Long after Katrina, Children Still Suffer” by Shaila Dewan. A telling sentence: “After more than three years of nomadic uncertainty, many of the children of Hurricane Katrina are behind in school, acting out and suffering from extraordinarily high rates of illness and mental health problems.” It is hard to believe that kids have lost years of schooling because of Katrina. What is going in the state or federal government that has allowed this to happen?

if they are roses by Linda Falcone

Linda Falcone writes a column for The Florentine, an English language newspaper in Florence, and this book is a compilation of her columns. It took me a little while to get into it as each column is only 2-4 pages long. I generally prefer novels to short stories and these columns are ultra-short snapshots of life. if they are roses is subtitled the italian way with words, and Falcone uses an Italian phrase in each column to illustrate a cultural trait or difference. The topics of her columns range from cooking pasta to American movies, money, fashion, food, and soccer along with others.

Here she addresses money: “It could just be me, but I’m convinced you can tell a lot about a culture by the way it talks about money. After all, money may not make the world go round, but it certainly coaxes people to turn corners quickly. Find out how a country talks about cash and you will discover its system of values.”

And here is an example of a commonly used phrase that a non-native speaker may have a hard time deciphering.
“Magari is versatile to the point of being reversible, and it can cover the entire spectrum of future possibility. For highly probable scenarios like ‘Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?’, magari is ‘Yes, I’d love to.’ For daring propositions that have ‘impossible’ written on them in red, magari means ‘nice idea-but no way.’
If you plan on living in Italy long, you’d best get used to this ambiguity. The Italian language often leaves room for interpretation, and words sway with the mood as if conversation were a sudden summer breeze.”

This book would be an excellent gift if you know a non-native heading to Italy for an extended time period, or for anyone dreaming of doing that.

Mother on Fire by Sandra Tsing Loh

Have you spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about where your child will go to kindergarten? Sandra Tsing Loh dedicates a year of her life to working out that problem. Reading this book will make you grateful for the choices you have and that you don’t live in LA. Or, at least that is how I felt.

The author’s tumultuous year includes being fired from NPR for saying an obscenity on air as well as trying to get her daughter into various schools. She almost gets her daughter into a private, religious school, but then the school decides her daughter should do another year of preschool. She lucks into a very exclusive school that costs more than $20,000 a year and deals with that stress of deciding whether to do that. And, of course, there is a confusing lottery system to get into magnet schools as well as the public school possibility located three blocks from their house.

This memoir is funny, mainly because the author lets you in her head. Loh’s husband is delegated to be in charge of finding a kindergarten. However, when she finds a preschool flier sitting in the van for an informational meeting that night she springs into action. The informational meeting, pre-registration required, is directly after the Spring Fund-Raising Committee meeting, both of which the same person happens to be directing. Here’s how Loh finagles her way into the meeting:

" 'Hey Joan! I’m just leaving twenty dollars for our two Spring Fund-Raising Jamboree tickets and—Hey is there still room to volunteer on the committee? The fund-raising committee! Love to be on that!'
'YOU want to be on the committee?' Joan’s glazed look turns into one of incredulity.
Feeling a little stung to be found out, here I actually attempt to rewrite—or at least re-interpret—my conspicuously non-committee-volunteering-mother history, all in one mangled run-on sentence. I fabricate something about a big writing deadline I have had, for several years, which all at once I am abruptly clear of, and so of course now will return to my original plan of TOTAL CO-OP PRESCHOOL INVOLVEMENT."

So, Loh, after all the extra volunteering efforts, ends up at the meeting where frantic parents discuss all the drawbacks of the LA public schools. This does not help her peace of mind.

Besides the kindergarten issues, the author has a meltdown while giving what is supposed to be an inspiring talk to Marymount College students. She is the college writer in residence, but the students are surprised to hear that she is not the huge success they imagine.

“ 'Each of the books I’ve published were at some point deemed a failure by some twenty-two-year-old publicist in New York named Jennifer. They were all named Jennifer. All my Jennifers —they’re a bit like my discarded wives. My Jennifers were all graduates of Brown, they deserved so much better than me as an author, they had such beautiful hair, beautiful educations… They’d been groomed to have much bigger successes. But I and my incorrigably midlist work destroyed them.
Somewhere, in some hip bar in Manhattan, are my Jennifers, about thirty-three now, still cutting great figures in the dark, but with hard lines around their mouths. It is my career that put them there.' "

You can imagine how her somewhat bitter comments go over with enthusiastic twenty-year-olds.

Loh has a somewhat manic style with lots of exclamation points and words in all caps. She is not shy about her takes on her friends, her Chinese father, and her husband among others. She adds in crazy hand drawn graphs and timelines. Mother on Fire is subtitled A True Motherf%#$@ Story About Parenting. It is a good, quick read and, since I can’t imagine any search for kindergarten being more dramatic, will make you feel more relaxed about any upcoming school decisions you may have.

Mystery Author Ian Rankin

The latest, and said to be last book, in the Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin is Exit Music. Rankin’s books generally feature a determined detective (Rebus), are fast-paced, and the mysteries convoluted enough to keep me guessing. In Exit Music Rebus has only days to retirement and ends up embroiled in a case involving a dead Russian poet. The implication is that any other retiring police officer would let this slide and leave it to his partner to solve, but Rebus is different. He has spent his entire life and most of his waking hours dedicated to his job, or at least drinking enough so that he can’t think about his job, and this last case is no different.

By my count there are about 19 books featuring John Rebus. I happened upon this series late, but have read four or so of the most recent books. It seems readily easy to jump into the series anywhere. I did read one of the first books in the series, Hide and Seek, and found that Rebus has always had trouble with women, alcohol, and authority. So far, my favorite book in the series is The Falls, which involves a case where tiny dolls in coffins are left at crime scenes. It is also the only book that I’ve read so far in which Rebus has a moderately successful romance.

Check out Ian Rankin’s website for a list of all the Inspector Rebus novels. I hope that Ian Rankin will continue this series set in Edinburgh, possibly with a focus on Rebus’s equally interesting partner, Siobhan Clarke.

Confident Parents Remarkable Kids by Bonnie Harris

Bonnie Harris, author of When Your Kids Push Your Buttons and What You Can Do About It, had a new book come out in September. Confident Parents Remarkable Kids is subtitled 8 Principles for Raising Kids You’ll Love to Live With. Having read both of her books, I feel a major benefit when reading a Bonnie Harris book is the encouragement to stop and assess some of your parenting actions: Are you parenting the way that you want or in the moment at a point of frustration?

Confident Parents Remarkable Kids is laid out with each of the first eight chapters focused on one of the eight principles. The first principle, for example, is My Child Wants to Be Successful. Real life examples from Harris’s classes are included in each chapter along with detailed explanations of the particular principle. Each chapter has a summary of the main ideas and some practice exercises. In the second part of the book she applies the principles to daily life and touches on common issues that parents have with their children such as the morning rush, sibling rivalry, or bedtime. I appreciated some of very specific examples, including an example of how to deal with e-mail bullying.

Bonnie Harris graciously agreed to answer a few questions over e-mail and her answers give insight into her new book, her passion for working with parents, and her thoughtfulness.

What are the important differences between your new book and When Your Kids Push Your Buttons?
Bonnie Harris: Buttons raises the awareness of the assumptions we make when our children behave in ways we don't like. Those assumptions often spin out of control and lead us to react in ineffective or damaging ways. Buttons presents ways to look at those assumptions and reframe them to ones that present a different and much more helpful perspective. The eight principles in Confident Parents, Remarkable Kids are those new assumptions or perceptions. Each of the principles offers a view of our children that leads us to compassion, encouragement, appropriate expectations, clarity of limits, responsibility, and good boundaries.

What kind of parent do you hope will pick up your book?
BH: I want parents who are frustrated with the old ways and don't want to bring their children up that way, who get frustrated and feel guilty about the reactions they find themselves in, who feel they have tried everything and nothing works, who are open to change because the old just hasn't worked, who are not afraid to swim against the tide, who are doing fine but just want to know all there is about the most important job there is. Mainly any parent who is looking and searching for better ways. Although the stories in the new book are of children toddler to twelve, the principles hold true for any aged child.

Why or how did you start writing these parenting books?
BH: I had been teaching parent education for a number of years. My classes, which I still teach with many of the same techniques found in the new book, brought out some problems in parenting that posed an interesting question to me. Why weren't many parents able to put these methods into practice? It finally dawned on me that they were getting their buttons pushed and in that space couldn't respond positively. I began teaching a class called Defusing Your Buttons to get to the bottom of what goes on with parents when that happens and how to help them. Through many classes and learning from many parents, I developed the buttons approach and the book just had to be written. I had no idea at that time that it would get published. After that book, I wanted very much to get all the principles down so that the combination of the two books (no specific order - depends on the parent) could answer most parenting dilemmas. It is my mission to help parents see that by rejecting the old reward and punishment system and taking on a real relationship with their children, treating them with the respect they want themselves, and parenting who each child is rather than who they want them to be, we can raise stronger human beings who will help heal the planet. To me, parenting is at the core of all non-biological issues of dysfunction in our society.

Is there a story/example in the book that you can particularly recommend for someone skeptical about using logic rather than punishment?
BH: The first story in the book about Kathleen and Jared is one of my favorites. Jared was really dragging his mother down - a very lovely, caring, soft-spoken mother who I just loved working with. Jared is one of those boys that frustrates so many high functioning parents like Kathleen. When a child like Jared pushes a parent to her max over and over, it wears one down and there is little reserve left to be at all effective. When Kathleen got the logic behind what we were working on, she was both willing and able to give it a try. It's very frustrating when parents listen and learn new approaches, but either don't put them into practice or try one or two things which fail and then give it all up. It takes perseverance because we have to be consistent until our children trust us. Often it takes a lot of trial and error. But the logic really paid off here for Jared. He responds so well when his parents see him in that different light - seeing that he is not being a problem, but that he is having a problem. As soon as that compassion enters the picture, relaxation can set in. Jared is still a highly frustrating child, but since his parents have been dealing with him from this new perspective, he is far more manageable and they have many more enjoyable times with him. Those moments build up and he ends up with a much more positive view of himself.

To learn more about Bonnie Harris, her books, or to subscribe to her free newsletter visit www.connectiveparenting.com.

The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea

Luis Alberto Urrea is another writer coming to Bend for The Nature of Words. His book, The Devil’s Highway, was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. It is the true story of a failed attempt by 26 men, referred to as the Wellton 26 in media coverage, to cross from Mexico into the United States in May 2001.

It is a story of the people who try to cross and those who try to stop them. The Border Patrol agents spend their days and nights looking for signs of crossing. “And the dark image of the evil Border Patrol agent dogs every signcutter who goes into the desert in his truck. It’s the tawdry legacy of the human hunt–ill will on all sides. Paranoia. Dread. Loathing. Mexican-American Border Patrol agents are feared even more by the illegals than the gringos, for the Mexicans can only ascribe to them a kind of rabid self-hatred. Still, when the walkers are dying, they pray to be found by the Boys in Green.”

I found this book tough to read. I guess I prefer my hardship tales to be fiction. Urrea includes a rather detailed description of the seven stages of dying of hyperthermia, or what is commonly known as heat stroke. This one short sentence really caught my attention: “In the desert, we are all illegal aliens.” The confusing jurisdiction over this desert area with Border Patrol, Customs, DEA, BLM, and INS as well as military and tribal lands thrown in, was overwhelming. In the end an amazingly poorly organized and badly led attempt to cross into the US ended in tragedy for many families. The author does a remarkable job at getting across the hopes of the men on this journey, and the descriptions of how they were found are distressing.

In this book Urrea mentions two other authors who are also going to be at The Nature of Words. From The Devil’s Highway:
“One writer who has focused on this desert, Craig Childs, tells of a pair of old bullet casings found out there. They were jammed together, and when pried apart, an aged curl of paper fell out. On the paper, someone had written, ‘Was it worth it?’”
“Fifteen hundred walkers a day depart from under the Sasabe sign. The writer Charles Bowden, on a visit to Sasabe in 2003, counted five thousand walkers in one afternoon.”

I would prefer to read more about the high desert near Bend, rather than this brutal desert with all its complications in Arizona.

The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng

The Gift of Rain is set in Malaysia with most of the events taking place before and during World War II. Phillip Hutton is the youngest of four children in a wealthy British family living on the island of Penang. He feels somewhat estranged from his family as the only child born of his father’s second wife, who was Chinese. His father and the three oldest children head to England for their every fifth year trip while Phillip stays in Malaysia. It is during this time in 1939 that he meets Hayato Endo, a Japanese man who is renting a small island from the Hutton family.

Phillip’s friendship with Endo-san sets in motion a number of events that impact his family, Penang, and, according to this story, the Japanese occupation of Malaysia. The author does a remarkable job at getting across the complexity of Phillip’s being an heir to a British company, his connections to the Chinese community through his mother’s family, and his friendship with a man whose country is attacking his. Here Phillip begins to think about how Endo-san has impacted his life on the morning after Japanese troops land on Malaysian soil: “He had linked me to the war, to Japan’s ambitions, and this realization weighed me down as though I had been burdened with another identity, taken deep down to the floor of the ocean.”

The story does have a mystical part to it. Phillip shows Endo-san around Penang and they interact with a fortune-teller who tells them, “‘You and your friend have a past together, in a different time. And you have a greater journey to make. After this life.’” This and some other scenes add a somewhat surreal element at times, but also make some of both Phillip’s and Endo-san’s actions more believable. And, I wonder if it works better with a reader that believes in past lives.

The book reminded me of A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute, primarily as that was set partially in Malaysia and involved a death march under the Japanese army across the country. I’d like to read more stories set in Malaysia at this time (or any other), but told from a Malaysia person’s point-of-view. The Gift of Rain gets across the Chinese and British views of the Japanese occupation, but not the Malaysian. However, it is a remarkable book that examines complex interactions during a difficult time.

Cowboys are My Weakness by Pam Houston

Pam Houston is one of the authors invited to this year’s The Nature of Words. She writes fiction, although on her website she is quoted as saying that 82% of what she writes is true. That means that her stories are somewhat, but not quite, autobiographical. Cowboys are My Weakness, published in 1992, is filled with stories of tough women in relationships where communication just doesn’t quite happen.

Her stories are mostly set in the west, in places like Montana or Utah. My favorite story in this collection is called “Selway”. The narrator of the story and Jack, her boyfriend, set off to raft a river that is impossibly high with treacherous rapids. Houston does a remarkable job of portraying both the adventure junkie and the girl who won’t back down. “Jack was untamable, but he had some sense and a lot of respect for the river. He relied on me to speak with the voice of reason, to be life-protecting because I’m a woman and that’s how he thinks women are, but I’ve never been protective enough of anything, least of all myself.” This story reminds me of the adrenaline rush of rafting and leaves me wondering why, once I left college, I never went again.

In the title story the protagonist wants to find a cowboy of her own and ends up on a ranch in Montana. I thought the following was pretty interesting to think about: “The west isn’t a place that gives itself up easily. Newcomers have to sink into it slowly, to descend through its layers, and I’m still descending. Like most easterners, I started out in the transitional zones, the big cities and the ski towns that outsiders have set up for their own comfort, the places so often referred to as ‘the best of both worlds.’” Bend, the town Houston is coming to for the The Nature of Words, is a ski town, but has really only been transforming itself into a resort town for outsiders for the last 10 years. Or, at least that is my impression. I wonder where it falls on the scale of being western. It seems the west as an idea doesn’t really encompass the coastal areas where I grew up, but more the big sky open areas from the Cascades to slightly east of the Rockies.

Many of the stories in this collection have dogs or horses in them and her debut novel, and most recent work, is called Sighthound. I am interested to read her next set of short stories called Waltzing the Cat to find out if her heroines have learned how to communicate.

The Nature of Words

The Nature of Words is a literary event taking place in Bend, OR in early November. It brings a number of writers to Bend to discuss their books and offer workshops. It also gets the local papers writing more about books. Each year I try to read a few of the authors coming to town. Last year I enjoyed books by Craig Johnson and Debra Magpie Earling. The previous year I was able to attend a workshop by Alexandra Fuller, author of the memoir Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood, among other books. I was impressed with her dedication as she spoke of getting up at an insane hour to write before going to her job as a waitress. Her tale of growing up in Africa during a civil war is quite compelling as well as disturbing.

This year the event has author Ursula Le Guin taking part. I highly recommend her Earthsea Trilogy starting with A Wizard of Earthsea. A Wizard of Earthsea was written in 1968, and is the story of a young man becoming a wizard. It has a wizard going to school long before the Harry Potter series. Le Guin’s ability to bring a completely new world into being is remarkable. This series is one I would like to have on my shelf for my kids as they get older, and I should have included it here.

Celebrate Green! by Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson

I recently had the chance to talk with the authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations & Traditions for the Whole Family. Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson, a mother-daughter team, are the co-authors of the book. I focused on asking about green giving and have tried to accurately portray their enthusiasm and expertise.

How do you define green giving succinctly?
Lynn Colwell: The most important aspect is to emphasize the meaning behind the gift, think consciously about the reason for giving it, and the impact on the recipient.
Corey Colwell-Lipson: It is important to consider the impact on people who grew, made or manufactured the gift and on the environment.

You have a lot of suggestions in your book. What would be one good first step towards green giving?
LC: We want people to start small with something doable. For example, you can give an experience. A gift doesn’t need to be wrapped. When you are giving of yourself, the memory will last longer than any gift will. An overnight camping trip with a child is a great gift for a grandparent to give. Look at what people enjoy doing and create a special memorable event.
CCL: Give gifts of yourself. This might be something like making an organic local meal, setting up composting or a garden, or cleaning out your dad’s gutter.
LC: I collect seeds and package them in recycled paper envelopes to give as gifts. It costs almost nothing, and is something I enjoy giving.

Can you explain a little bit about the 3Gs and how they apply to green giving? The 3Gs are that the gift is good for the person, good for the community, and good for the environment.
CCL: The 3Gs are suggestions and we encourage you to consider them in making your holiday and special occasion choices. It is unlikely you can do all three; we call that the green gold ideal. Starting with one G is good.
LC: Having a gift be good for people starts with the people who make it and ends with the consumer.
CCL: So it’s important that workers are treated fairly and not exposed to dangerous chemicals. There is often an opportunity to buy Fair Trade products. A certified Fair Trade item has gone through a process to become certified. However, not all items can be certified. Some that can be are coffee, tea, flowers and wine. For a complete list go to transfairusa.org. Products made by a co-op that states they use fair trade practices are usually a good choice as well. In our book we list many of these places.
LC: These items are appearing more and more in every place imaginable. In a gift shop why not ask, “Have you thought about carrying fair trade items?”
CCL: I like holiday fairs where you can support local artisans. I also enjoy Etsy.com, a site where people sell handmade crafts. If a product says artisan made, it is unlikely it was made in slave labor like conditions. You can always call a company and let them know you like a particular product but are uncomfortable about buying it if you suspect it may have been made by someone who was not making a living wage or was otherwise treated unfairly.
LC: It is amazing how many items are out there in every category that are made in a more people and/or earth-friendly way than even a year ago.

Can you give an example of a gift you’re planning to give this holiday season?
LC: I make as many of my gifts as possible. I like to make useful gifts like books and journals. If I purchase toys, I prefer gifts from Magic Cabin or A Toy Garden online as they have wonderful wooden toys and instruments.
CCL: I like to give etsy gifts made of recycled materials to adults and teens. For kids Dana makes cute toy bugs at dreamalittle7.com.

How do you get people to give you green gifts?
LC: I would never tell someone to give me a green gift; it can be a turnoff and shuts down the conversation. Instead, have a discussion about gifts in general, not couching it in terms of eco-friendly, but these are things I’d love to receive. You can give them a copy of our book, however, it depends on the person. You need to meet people where they are. You don’t want to get in an argument around this subject. I had an interesting incident one time. I made a donation in his name, to an organization that a relative supported and he got really mad at me. He wanted something that I had picked out. It was a complete shock to me.
CCL: Sometimes people will ask you what you would like. Be honest and tell them, “I’m trying to go green and I really love the store Gaiam. Or, I love Save Your World. For every product purchased, they lease one acre of rainforest so that it will remain standing.” Give a direct and enthusiastic response. Share your enthusiasm with family and co-workers throughout the year. When you are giving green gifts, the hope is that they will enjoy them and know that this is something you cherish. One thing we’ve done with our daughters is to put on invitations that “the gift is your presence.” The meaning of a birthday party is to be together and create good memories.

Do you think green ideas are easier to implement or more accepted because you are in the Seattle area?
CCL: Certain pockets of the country are more receptive. I organize Green Halloween around the country. Communities in Los Angeles and San Francisco have been very receptive. Our representative in Daytona, Florida has had more difficulty. There is a feeling that it going to cost more money or it is going to be more difficult to do things in a green way, but it really can be very simple, inexpensive and very rewarding.
LC: We want to awaken people to the alternatives. Oftentimes, major online stores (and some brick and mortar ones as well), give back a percentage of a purchase to a charity. The gift itself is not particularly eco-friendly, but at least you are giving back in some way.

How can interested people purchase a copy of your book?
LC: The best place is from our website: http://www.celebrategreen.net/. Coming up we’ll have some opportunities to get a something free when you purchase the book. Celebrate Green! is also available through Amazon and other online shops. If anyone is interested in using the book for a fundraiser, we have a program set up so that the organization can purchase the book at 40% off and resell it for the cover price. Contact us through our website.
CCL: There is also an option to plant a tree for $1 to offset the impact of making the book, which by the way, is printed on 100% recycled FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper.

I enjoyed talking with Corey and Lynn and their enthusiasm is very catching. I have only had time to read the section of Celebrate Green! associated with giving green gifts, but I found a lot of neat ideas that I plan to implement in my holiday giving this year.

Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris

Finding Nouf is set in Saudi Arabia, which adds a different dimension to the traditional murder mystery. It would seem impossible to investigate a crime if you cannot talk to half the population. This is the situation that Nayir ash-Sharqi finds himself in when he is asked by a friend, Othman Shrawi, to investigate the death of Othman’s sister, Nouf.

Nayir is caught in a difficult spot. He is a very observant Muslim and cannot be seen in the company of an unmarried woman. He is even uncomfortable looking at women. His first meeting with Katya Hijazi is surprising to him. “There would of course be female examiners to handle the female corpses, but seeing one in the flesh was a shock. She wore a white lab coat and a hijab, a black scarf, on her hair. Because her face was exposed, he averted his gaze, blushing as he did so.” However, Nayir finds that he really needs Katya’s help to investigate Nouf’s death and has to figure out a way to work with her.

The story goes back and forth illustrating Nayir’s discomfort with Katya and Katya’s unhappiness at some of the traditions in her country. Here she finds it unpleasant to sit with her dad on their front step: “The day crowds were gone, the souk vendors’ carts were folded away, and now the local residents wandered by, some of them waving of calling greetings to Abu, others avoiding him for fear of seeing Katya’s unveiled face. She counted them as they passed – the men who wouldn’t say hello to a friend because she was there, because looking at her would have been as dangerous as staring at the sun – and she got to four before she went inside.”

The mystery itself is interesting and worth reading. There are unexpected revelations as the life of a wealthy, but unhappy, 16 year old is investigated. I found myself pretty interested in the descriptions of the way of life. Zoë Ferraris is an American who spent time living in Saudi Arabia with her former husband and has significant insight into that life. The plight of Nayir as an orphan from Palestine living in Saudi Arabia is also intriguing. He really wants to be married, but he cannot meet women on his own and does not have the necessary relatives that can make introductions.

Bendites will appreciate a scene involving Nayir and roundabouts. I am looking forward to more from this author.

Indignation by Phillip Roth

If you have never read Phillip Roth, his new book, Indignation, is a good place to start. It is relatively short, but long enough to give you an idea of his style. Indignation is the story of Marcus Messner, a young man growing up with the threat of the Korean War hanging over him. Marcus is the son of a New Jersey kosher butcher and his wife who also works in the butcher shop. Marcus’s father grows very paranoid and becomes difficult to live with causing Marcus to transfer to a small college in Ohio. The story focuses on Marcus trying to adapt to this very different environment.

Here Marcus is trying to pysch himself up after an unfortunate meeting with the dean: “Chapel is a discipline, I informed my eyes—eyes that, to my astonishment, looked unbelievably fearful. Treat their chapel as part of the job that you have to do to get through this place as valedictorian—treat it the way you treat eviscerating the chickens.”

A fact about Marcus is revealed fairly early in the novel that caught me by surprise, if you have read other reviews you will know what this is, but I am not going to mention it here. It does alter your reading of this coming of age while adjusting to college novel. Roth does a good job of illustrating what it would be like as a young man to go to college knowing that if you drop out or have to leave for any reason you will be going to war. Here the students at the school are scolded by the president of the college: “Four thousand young men like yourselves, dead, maimed, and wounded; between the time we beat Bowling Green and the time we upset UWV. Do you have any idea how fortunate, how privileged, and how lucky you are to be here watching football games on Saturdays and not there being shot at on Saturdays; and on Mondays, Tuesday, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays as well?”

This book certainly puts a spin on problems college students have these days – at least no one is facing the draft if they fail. My favorite Phillip Roth book and one of my favorite books of all time is The Human Stain, which is also set at a college, but focuses on the problems of an older professor.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

This novel by Zadie Smith tackles many different issues. The Belsey family is at the center of the novel. Howard, the dad, was born and raised in England and is now a professor at a liberal arts college near Boston. Smith gets the college atmosphere just right. An example is this excerpt where Howard is starting off the beginning of the year: “ ‘Any questions?’ asked Howard. The answer to this never changed. Silence. But it was an interesting breed of silence particular to upscale liberal arts colleges. It was not silent because nobody had anything to say – quite the opposite. You could feel it, Howard could feel it, millions of things to say brewing in this room, so strong sometimes that they seemed to shoot from the students telepathically and bounce off the furniture.”

Howard’s wife, Kiki, is black and they live in a house near Boston that her grandmother inherited. They have three children, two of whom are in college and one is in high school. Their lives become entangled with the Kipps family. The Kipps’ family lives in England and Howard and the father, Monty, have an ongoing academic feud. Smith accurately portrays the anguish and importance attached to a few words in a paper: “ Three months on they clanged, they stung, and sometimes they even seemed to have an actual weight- the thought of them made Howard’s shoulders roll forward and down as if someone had snuck up behind and laden him with a backpack filled with stones.” The Belsey’s oldest son, Jerome, becomes briefly entangled with Victoria Kipps while in London, and then everyone’s life becomes even more complicated when Monty Kipps is invited to be a visiting lecturer at the same small college as Howard.

Smith’s descriptions of place throughout the book are very expressive. Here she describes the weather in England: “ It is drizzly, and the wind will blow; hail happens, and there is a breed of Tuesday in January in which time creeps and no light comes and the air is full of water and nobody really loves anybody, but still a decent jumper and a waxen jacket lined with wool is sufficient for every weather England’s got to give.”

There is a lot more to the book than I can go into here, but the diversity of the characters and, for example, how the Belseys deal with their mixed marriage and its troubles or how their youngest son, Levi, is trying to find his way as a relatively privileged young black man are all treated in detail. The daughters in the story, Zora Belsey and Victoria Kipps, are intriguing, but not particularly likable and it is somewhat hard to empathize with them. They both end up in Howard’s class to complicate matters. The wives, Kiki Belsey and Carlene Kipps, have an surprising relationship, especially considering the differing sides their husbands take in most matters politically and on campus.

The most interesting parts of the book for me are the academic descriptions of life at a small college. In some ways this novel reminds me of Straight Man by Richard Russo, which is one of my favorite books. Both books are set at small colleges, are pretty humorous at times, and well worth reading.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

Snow Falling on Cedars is one of my all-time favorite books. This book has everything: a great setting, a mystery, romance, a clash of cultures, and resentment stemming from treatment during WWII.

The book primarily takes place on a fictional island in the San Juan Islands. I grew up near there so it brings back memories of my trips to the islands, but it also has the slightly different and exotic culture of living on an island. It is a mystery and an intriguing one: How did a local fisherman drown? That brings in the fishing culture. “Thus on San Piedro the silent-toiling, autonomous gillnetter became the collective image of the good man. He who was too gregarious, who spoke too much and too ardently desired the company of other, their conversation and their laughter, did not have what life required. Only insofar as he struggled with the sea could a man lay claim to his place in things.” (pg 39)

And, it is set right after WWII. The main suspect in the murder is a Japanese-American man who was sent to a camp and lost his strawberry farm during the war. When I first read this book I had no idea that had happened in the Pacific NW. The book starts in the courtroom with the trial of Kabuo Miyamoto and flashes back to other time periods and is told from various third person points-of-view.

A reporter, Ishmael Chambers, recalls his teenage love for Hatsue, who is now Kabuo’s wife. Guterson does a good job of capturing this first love amid the rainy island beauty. “Ishmael lay down with his hands propping up his chin and looked out at the rain. The inside of the tree felt private. He felt they would never be discovered here. The walls surrounding them were glossy and golden. It was surprising how much green-tinted light entered from the cedar forest. The rain echoed in the canopy of leaves above and beat against the sword ferns, which twitched under each drop. The rain afforded an even greater privacy; no one in the world would come this way to find them inside this tree.” (pg 111) Then Hatsue is sent away to a camp and Ishmael is drafted into the war.

In the present time they are all back on the island and the man Kabuo is accused of killing has taken over what was to be the family’s strawberry farm. It is an interesting look into the time after the war and how people may have reacted when those interred came back home. If you didn’t read this book when it came out, make sure to pick it up now. I am looking forward to reading his most recent book, The Other.

End-of-the-Summer Book Blahs

Usually I read two or three books and then stumble across one that I am interested enough in to write more about. That has not happened lately. I was in the midst of a promising one, Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner, when it hit a wrong turn for me. I can recommend some of her other books as light, fun fare set in Philadelphia. Little Earthquakes is about four new moms bonding, probably falling in that maligned chick lit category.


I also recently read The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black. The protagonist, pathologist Garret Quirke, seems an interesting character in his dealings with family and friends, but the murder mystery part was only so-so. The book spent a lot of time hinting at the previous book, Christine Falls, and events that took place therein. I wish I would have read that book first and maybe that would have helped me place all the characters in context, instead of spending my time wondering what had happened.


I keep a list of all the books I plan to read. It is occasionally months before I get to some of them. I had Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch under novels. I was quite surprised to pick up the very hefty book subtitled America in the King Years 1954-63. I am not going to be able to finish it before I have to return it to the library. I do highly recommend the chapter entitled “The Montgomery Bus Boycott”, especially if, like me, your American history education is spotty. I had no idea that the bus boycott lasted more than a year after the arrest of Rosa Parks. It was really by the efforts of every black person in Montgomery to carpool or walk that the boycott worked. I can’t imagine what that must have been like. It was also during this time that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested for the first time (for going 30 in a 25 mph zone), his house was bombed, and he really came into prominence as a leader in the civil rights movement. I have gotten bogged down later in the book among the descriptions of presidential politics and King’s financial issues with Alabama.


If your summer reading is going well, let us know what gems you have found.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

I am a bit fuzzy on war dates. The last American history classes I took were in high school. They were somewhat unorthodox in that we read packets at our own pace and then took one-on-one oral tests before moving on to the next packet. You could end up way ahead depending on your motivation and then begin on the next class. I seem to remember doing 3 classes over 2 semesters or something like that. The other interesting part of these classes is that we would study all the causes leading up to a war and then skip the war. That was fine with me. I did not really want to read about war and it eliminated all that memorizing of what happened when and remembering crucial battles or turning points. We would start the history lesson up again after the war was over. This is a long way of explaining why when I began reading The Yiddish Policemen’s Union I would periodically have to stop and think to myself whether a particular event really happened.

This novel is set in Alaska. It is mostly set in a portion of Alaska called the Federal District of Sitka where displaced Jewish people are living. On the surface this book seems to be a detective murder mystery. Meyer Landsman is an alcoholic, divorced homicide detective living in a seedy hotel who becomes obsessed with finding out who killed a heroin addict that also lived in the hotel. He is doing this against the backdrop of the area reverting back to Alaska in a matter of weeks and it is unclear where the millions of settlers there since 1948 will go. Here’s an example of history bending that even I caught: “Observant Jews around the world have not abandoned their hope to dwell one day in the land of Zion. But Jews have been tossed out of the joint three times now – in 586 BCE, in 70 CE and with savage finality in 1948.” (pg 17)

There are a number of interesting characters in the book. Landsdown’s cousin, Berko, who is half-Jewish and half-Tlingit, came to live with Landsdown’s family when his mother was killed in the Synagogue Riots. He is now also a policeman and Landsdown’s partner. They run into Zimbalist, the boundary maven. He works on getting around the Sabbath ban by using enough strings and poles to cover the whole district. There’s Heskel Shpilman, the rebbe of the district and the father of the dead heroin addict, Mendel Shpilman. About Mendel there are many stories of his chess abilities, healing blessings, and his possibly being the Tzaddik Ha-Dor. Landsdown broaches this idea to Mendel’s father: “If the conditions were right, if the Jews of this generation were worthy, then he might reveal himself as, uh, as Messiah.” (pg 141) This is convoluted, worthy read. There’s a mystery, a possible messiah, politics, a surreal setting, an infinite number of bad guys, and even romance of a fashion when Landsdown’s ex-wife becomes his new boss.

As a sidenote Chabon is married to Ayelet Waldman, who is author of The Big Nap among other mommy-track mysteries. Her books are decidedly lighter fare, but pretty entertaining.

Owl Island by Randy Sue Coburn

Owl Island is a novel set on a made-up island in the San Juan Islands. If you have ever been to these islands, northwest of Seattle, you know how beautiful they are. A ferry ride during the summer to any of the islands might result in views of bald eagles, seals, or maybe even orcas, and on a clear day you will definitely see snow-capped mountains in the distance. Owl Island captures the island lifestyle with the small towns where everyone knows your business and the idea that being on an island intrudes into every aspect of your life.

I enjoyed reading this novel simply for the setting, but the story was also intriguing. Phoebe Allen makes a living making and fixing fishing nets on Owl Island. The author makes what must be tedious work sound fascinating: “But there was a lot about her work that couldn’t be duplicated. Crews counted on the strength of her knots, the precision of her measurements. When a trawl net came back to her torn, she would ponder the damage like a puzzle until she figured out how to make an improvement along with the repair.” (pg 56) The story focuses on Phoebe’s life now and her past life. Phoebe’s mother, Pearl, died when she was relatively young and Phoebe has had a hard time with some of the secrets Pearl kept until the very end of her life. It was around the time that Pearl died that Phoebe became involved with a radio DJ, Whitney Traynor. It is Whit’s move to Owl Island that triggers a number of events in the present.

Phoebe also has a twenty-year-old daughter, Laurienne, who works in high tech in Seattle and only occasionally visits. It is an interesting juxtaposition of the island life and high tech life. Laurienne and Phoebe’s relationship, Phoebe’s relationships with her parents, and their relationships with current lovers are all in the mix. A great summer read especially if you are planning a trip to the San Juans!

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith

Isabel Dalhousie is the editor of a journal called the Review of Applied Ethics. Her training as a philosopher allows her to ponder professional issues as well as everyday dilemmas. For example, she discusses a paper she has received with her housekeeper: “ ‘I believe he’s serious,’ she said, passing the letter to Grace. ‘An offer of a paper on the ethics of the buffet bar.’” (pg 203) This leads to an interesting discussion about whether it is alright to raid your hotel breakfast bar for later on.

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate is billed as a mystery, but most of the action takes place in Isabel’s head. That’s okay. It is an interesting mystery and a calm, relaxing read. Isabel is quite ethical and spends a lot of time debating what will be her next step. Here she is trying to decide whether to be involved in a rather strange instance. “ ‘But you may recall that I said something about obligation earlier on. One of the consequences of being a philosopher is that you get involved. You ask yourself whether you need to do something and so often the answer comes up yes, you do.’ ” (pg 153) She is speaking to a man who has had a heart transplant and believes he is seeing something that the former owner of the heart saw.

This series is set in Scotland and the city of Edinburgh plays a significant role. Alexander McCall Smith is also the author of the very popular series beginning with the book The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. I recommend Friends, Lovers, Chocolate if you are looking for an interesting, thoughtful read with just a hint of a mystery.

The Sisters Mortland by Sally Beauman

This novel is set in England in the late 1960’s and early 90’s. It is primarily a tale of three sisters, their companions, and a tragedy that occurs in the summer of 1967. From three points-of-view the story is told over three different time periods. Maisie, the youngest sister at thirteen in 1967, introduces us to the complex household in an old convent. Maisie’s life revolves around her sisters, her mom, her grandfather, Dan – a local boy with gypsy blood, Nick – the doctor’s son, and Lucas – a painter living on the grounds.

The second part of the story is told from Dan’s point-of-view. It is the early 90’s and the painting Lucas made of the three sisters has become quite well-known. Dan has always been in love with Finn, the middle sister, and wonders how they ever grew apart. I found the story told from his perspective the most interesting part of the book. An example of the author’s writing from Dan’s perspective when he goes to the gallery to see the famous picture: “Slowly, reluctantly, I raise my eyes to the portrait. I know it so well, yet every time I look at it, it morphs. It will not remain stable; it retains a nasty capacity to alarm, puzzle, perturb, delight, arouse, blind, and illuminate.”

Dan also records the story of that summer allowing the narrative to continue from Julia, the oldest sister. At the end of the book I still had some questions, especially about the younger two sisters, that were left unanswered. Possibly that is meant to be like real life, where you can never really know all you want about a person. This is a hefty book, and a good one to take on a trip. I read a lot of it on the train back to Oregon from the Bay Area.

fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski

This novel is set mainly in Thailand. A young freelance writer is living there with his girlfriend and hears a small part of a story about a woman, Martiya van der Leun, from the United States who is in a Thai jail for murder. He is involved in her life in a relatively insignificant way and then becomes obsessed with finding out how she got there.

The story explores Martiya’s life from her birth to a Dutch father and a Malaysian mother through her death. Her father is a renowned linguist and ends up at Berkeley where Martiya later studies anthropology. Thus, the title of the novel as Martiya goes to Thailand as part of her degree to study the Dyalo of northern Thailand, a seemingly random choice suggested by her advisor. Here is where Martiya is at after living in a Dyalo village for five months: “Martiya arrived in Dan Loi believing that because of her childhood in a Pipikoro village, because she had been a curious and excited traveler, and because of her sensitivities to indigenous people as a student, she would find anthropological fieldwork easy; or if not easy, than compellingly interesting. She was wrong. It was not easy and only intermittently interesting. This discovery was a crushing blow to her ego: her father had warned her in his mild way before leaving that she might not find fieldwork wholly to her liking.”

In order to understand how Martiya goes from fieldwork to jail for murder, the freelance journalist investigates the story of her victim as well. David Walker is also considered a foreigner in Thailand, although he lived there for all but five years of his life. The sojourn of his family from his grandparents as missionaries in China to his days converting Dyalo to Christianity is a significant and interesting part of the novel. And, no less interesting is David Walker’s brief rebellion as a young man and return to the United States where he follows the Grateful Dead for a few years.

The story of the Dyalo is told from outside points-of-view, like in the letters from Martiya to her friend or the stories of David’s parents. Martiya ends up violating a Dyalo tradition having to do with rice planting and is faced with isolation in her village. She turns to her translator from years ago for help, Khun Vinai. Vinai tells her, “I will not live with Rice. Do not bring the anger of Rice into the hut of our children. For I fear Rice, as I fear Lightning, and I fear Death.” I wish there had been more of the story told from the Dyalo point-of-view.

I enjoyed the book and was caught up in the characters’ lives. If I had known it was a story involving missionaries, I might not have read it. I have a hard time with the concept that people living without knowledge of Christianity are fine, but once they are told about it and do not convert are then condemned. This book gave me a slightly different view into the lives of missionaries as well as anthropologists.

What is the What by Dave Eggers

Sometimes I read a book where from the very first page I feel lucky. What is the What is that book to an extreme. Reading this story of one of the Lost Boys from Sudan makes me realize that any concerns or problems I might have are pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things.

This is the story of Valentino Achak Deng as told to Dave Eggers. It is a book of fiction as opposed to a memoir since Achak was only around 6 when he began his march from Sudan to Ethiopia. Eggers used the first person narrative to relay Achak’s voice, but obviously had to make up some dialogue from that time. However, as they make clear on material available at http://www.valentinoachakdeng.org/, all the really bad, incredulous seeming stuff did actually happen to Achak.

This book is an epic. It is the story of a boy trying to survive. Soldiers, wild animals, disease, starvation, and exhaustion are all threats to Achak. And, it doesn’t end with him arriving in the United States. The book begins in flashbacks as Achak is robbed, tied up, and gagged in his apartment in Atlanta. After this experience he calls a friend who says to him, “I am, she says, like the boy who cries wolf, except that each time I cry wolf there is actually a wolf.” (pg 231)

It is an amazing and powerful story and gives much insight into living in a refugee camp; Achak lived in camps for eleven years. In the first camp in Ethiopia Achak describes new arrivals, “The people came without end, and each time they crossed the river, we knew it meant that the food we had would need to be further divided. I came to resent the sight of my own people, to loathe how many of them there were, how needful, gangrenous, bug-eye, and wailing.” (pg 235) He talks about how people think of refugee camps as temporary last ditch measures for desperate people, which they are, and he lived in them for more than a decade.

What is the What is truly a remarkable story. It bothers me that the United States or some organization did not better equip these Lost Boys once they were resettled in the United States. If they were over the age of 18, they were on their own working low-wage jobs and trying to go to school at night. The really lucky ones were younger and able to attend high school first. More information on the main character and on Sudan and the current conflict in Darfur can be found at http://www.valentinoachakdeng.org/.

Springtime on Mars by Susan Woodring

Springtime on Mars is a collection of stories that has nothing to do with science fiction, despite the title. The stories are grounded in the reality of the minute details of everyday life. It almost seems like the most intriguing stories in this collection are toward the end of the book. I am not sure if that is true or if it is just that Woodring’s writing began to resonate more with me at that point.

The stories that really struck me were the ones where a life changing event occurred. In “The Neighbors” two couples experience significant events on the same day. One husband is hit by lightning. Woodring deftly describes how he can’t recognize his wife. “Mainly, he wondered who was this woman who leaned over him holding a plastic cup of water to his lips. She smelled like a coin, warm and moist in the palm of his hand, but he couldn’t trust his senses since the water tasted like copper.” (pg 158) I could almost taste that coppery tang while reading those lines.

Woodring also places the stories in context around historical happenings. In the story entitled “Radio Vision” JFK has been shot. A few days later a woman is electrocuted in her basement. It is interesting to think that even while our nation was in mourning for the president, accidents and tragedies that did not make the headlines must have had huge impacts on individual families or communities and were sort of under the shadow of the larger national event. I did wish that this story continued and dealt more with the aftermath of this woman’s death on her nine-year-old twins.

The title story in this collection is definitely worth reading. It is available on the author’s website. Woodring’s strengths include that she can write from the point-of-view of an elderly man or a young girl and make you believe it, and I think she has a very subtle yet illuminating way of capturing a tragedy on paper.

For more information on the author and to see what other reviewers had to say check out Blog Stop Book Tours.

Apologies Forthcoming by Xujun Eberlein

I was in a lab in graduate school that had graduate students and post-docs from all over the world. While I was there we had people from China, Germany, Canada, Japan, Holland, Taiwan, Italy, Korea, and the US, and possibly a few other places. After reading Apologies Forthcoming by Xujun Eberlein, I wish I had taken the time to find out more of their background stories and how each person ended up there in that particular lab.

This collection of short stories by Eberlein focuses on China during and after the Cultural Revolution. They are powerful stories. Stories that leave you wondering how a country could put itself back together. It is a very timely release right before the Beijing Olympics when the attention on China is going to be intense. Can you imagine a ten-year period where all the colleges and most high schools in a country were shut down? Educated people were sent to the countryside to be re-educated. Teenagers were separated from their families and sent into the Red Guard or off to the countryside as well.

In a story entitled, “The Randomness of Love”, a seventeen-year-old girl explains why she is in the countryside. “ 'All other countries in the world have population flowing from the countryside to the cities: only China is practicing the opposite. Our population flows from the cities to the countryside. This is a creative revolutionary movement, and its historical significance can never be overestimated.' ” Fast-forward ten years later and this disillusioned woman is having trouble adjusting to her boring job and begins an affair with a married man. And, it seems to me that she is one of the lucky ones, surviving her insertion into the countryside near the end of the Cultural Revolution and making it to college.

Other stories are full of despair. The author draws on some of her own experiences during the Cultural Revolution, including the death of her older sister as a Red Guard. In “Feathers” a ten-year-old girl must pretend that her sister is still alive. She enlists the help of those who live around her so that her grandmother will not know. It seems a horrendous burden on a ten-year-old, yet amongst everything else that is happening you can almost see how a mother would allow it. Almost. The stories are dark, yet they are not without hope and they are definitely worth reading. Eberlein portrays not only the victims, but also those who served in the Red Guard or told on their neighbors. No one can escape being one or the other, or oftentimes both in these kinds of circumstances.

The Cultural Revolution, or rather, what is now known as Ten Disastrous Years, ended in 1976. That means the post-doc and graduate students from China in my lab must have lived through a portion of it. Maybe they lucked out and caught the tail end where they still managed to get a high school education and the tests to get into college were being restarted. Definitely their parents lived through this time. It is interesting to me now that we never discussed this and that to all intents and purposes we adapted to working in the same lab in the US despite our vastly different experiences. Is that the true power of education?

Check out Blog Stop Book Tours for more information on the author and to see what other reviewers have to say about Apologies Forthcoming.

Brodie Farrell Mysteries by Jo Bannister

I love finding a new, new to me that is, mystery series. Especially one that has a number of books in the series already published. It means you don't have to wait a year or two for the author to write the next one.

I have recently been reading Jo Bannister's mysteries featuring Brodie Farrell. I started with the most recent one, Flawed, and then went back and started at the beginning with Echoes of Lies. There are seven mysteries in all so far.

Brodie Farrell is a divorced, single mother living in England. To support herself and her daughter she starts up a business called Looking for Something? So, that is what she does. Some days she may be searching antique shops for a particular vase to match one a client has at home or she may be looking for a person. It is through this business that she meets Daniel Hood, a mathematics teacher. Daniel is stubborn and always insists on telling the truth; this may seem like a plus, but it tends to get him into difficult situations. Brodie also meets and develops a relationship with Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon, who seems physically and emotionally to be the opposite of Hood.

The interactions between these three people are well-developed, realistic, and intriguing. Other characters that enter the different books are also interesting, including Deacon's assistant and the various villians that come and go. Now I'm waiting for book #8 to come out.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

I love fiction. I always have a fiction book that I am reading and one in the wings and a few on hold at the library. I might be addicted to fiction. However, if there was one book that I could recommend and encourage everyone to read, it would be Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time. It is the most inspiring book I have read in many years and it is non-fiction.

Three Cups of Tea is the amazing story of Greg Mortenson. He is a climbing fiend. I live in the Pacific Northwest; I’ve met a few of those. He attempts to climb K2 in memory of his sister, Christa, and does not make it. It is what happens after that failed journey that really shows his true heart and character. He mistakenly ends up in the village of Korphe, a small town not on his map of Pakistan. It is here, where he is nursed back to health, that he makes a life-altering decision.
“Standing next to Haji Ali, on the ledge overlooking the valley, with such a crystalline view of the mountains he’d come halfway around the world to measure himself against, climbing K2 to place a necklace on its summit suddenly felt beside the point. There was a much more meaningful gesture he could make in honor of his sister’s memory. He put his hands on Haji Ali’s shoulders, as the old man had done to him dozens of times since they’d shared their first cup of tea. ‘I’m going to build you a school,’ he said, not yet realizing that with those words, the path of his life had just detoured down another trail, a route far more serpentine and arduous than the wrong turns he’d taken since retreating from K2.” (pg 33)

And, then, Greg returns to the US. This, really, is where the story starts. He has no money. He is living in his car in the flatlands of Berkeley. He has no connections. And, yet, within 10 years he builds fifty-five schools in Pakistan. It is really an incredible story and a testament to the effect that one dedicated individual can have on hundreds.

If you are interested in learning more or helping out, the Central Asia Institute that Greg founded is continuing this work.

the girl who stopped swimming by Joshilyn Jackson

This is the first book I have read by Joshilyn Jackson. Her novels are set in the south and this one revolves around family. The Hawthorne family may seem normal from the outside: They live in a suburban housing development, the dad, David, works as a computer programmer, the mom, Laurel, makes quilts, and they have young teenage daughter named Shelby. When a tragedy occurs at their house, the past, Laurel’s, her sister’s, and her mother’s, becomes important.

The book made me think about some interesting questions having to do with families. Are there situations or families where a sibling knows you better than your husband? If you have a good relationship with a family member because of something they did in the past, what happens when you find out that isn’t true? If your daughter is in trouble, do you confront her and question her or let her go? Laurel faces all these issues as they try to find out what happened to the girl who stopped swimming in their very own backyard.

The book is a fast, enthralling read, and a great book to take on vacation with you. I think I will have to go back and read her previous book gods in Alabama.

better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande

I, personally, have had a few issues with those in the medical profession. For example, about 6 years ago I asked my pediatrician if the vaccines she had contained Thimerosal, a preservative that used to be commonly added to vaccines. This was exactly what the CDC suggested I ask. She said they did not, but began lecturing me; stridently insisting that if I was concerned with mercury I should be more concerned about the fish I ate. She also told me that Thimerosal did not contain mercury. At that point, my husband and I – both of us Ph. D. chemists – looked at each other, made a few under-the-breath comments, and walking out of her office decided to never see her again. Thimerosal contains mercury; her comment was like insisting that chocolate chip cookies contain no chocolate. Why would a doctor make up something like that? If she doesn’t know any chemistry, why pretend she does? I don’t expect doctors to know everything, but I do expect them to be honest about what they don’t know.

That was only my most egregious incident. I have had other minor incidents with doctors that just simply did not feel right. This may be why I appreciate the writings of Atul Gawande so much. He does not sugarcoat what goes on in medicine. He also obviously cares for his patients and cares about the state of medicine as a whole. He gives an insider view into why certain decision or practices are so prevalent. For example, in better he spends a chapter looking at the increase in cesarean section rates in this country. I was surprised to learn that a forceps delivery, in the hands of an experienced doctor at a large hospital, actually has “fabulous results”. However, it turns out that it is much easier to teach someone how to do a c-section and that is why it has become the standard of care in difficult deliveries. Gawande expresses his concerns eloquently, “Some hospitals across the country are doing Cesarean sections in more than half of child deliveries. It is not merely nostalgic to find this disturbing. We are losing our connection to yet another natural process of life. And we are seeing the waning of the art of childbirth, too. The skill to bring a child in trouble safely through a vaginal delivery, however inconsistent and unevenly distributed, has been nurtured over the centuries. In the obstetrical mainstream, it won’t be long before it is lost.” (pg 198)

Gawande also examines the care of children and adults with cystic fibrosis. The data collected on the treatment of children with cystic fibrosis has been compiled by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and for many years they reported back to the responding hospitals on how well they were doing in comparison with other hospitals. A hospital, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, wanted to do better. They asked to know what the top hospitals were so they could learn from them. The Foundation did not want to give this data out because then hospitals may be less likely to report their data, if they knew it was not going to be anonymous. It is a fascinating look into the system. The data was finally released and it is now available online. Now, when will this ever happen for other specialties?

I found the other chapters in better interesting as well, but the afterword where Gawande gives suggestions for becoming a positive deviant is worthwhile reading for anyone in any profession. A positive deviant is someone who gets much better results than anyone else. For example, in 1964 the average age of death for someone with CF was twenty-one years at the best center, which was seven times the age of patients at other centers. A patient could live 7× longer if they happened to be at that one center and it was mainly due to the efforts of one doctor. Gawande suggestions for being the positive deviant, with my quick summations, are as follows:
1. Ask an unscripted question – find out something new about a patient or colleague.
2. Don’t complain – it’s just discouraging.
3. Count something – you may find out something new.
4. Write something – you may find out something new or just feel better.
5. Change – don’t get stuck doing the same thing if it is not working.
I think his main point is to be mindful and pay attention. “Regardless of what one ultimately does in medicine—or outside medicine, for that matter—one should be a scientist in the world.” (pg 254)

Books Set in the Science World

There was an interesting article on the Scientific American website entitled, “We Need More Novels about Real Scientists”. I have long thought this as well. One of the books mentioned in the article, Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis, is often cited by scientists now nearing their retirement age as a motivating influence in their life. I did not find it that interesting. However, Search by C. P. Snow, which was written about the same time, is an engrossing read; maybe because it focuses on the ambition of a young scientist and the decisions he has to make that dramatically impact his and other’s careers.

A recent novel that has received much acclamation and is also mentioned in this article is Intuition by Allegra Goodman. This novel follows the story of an academic research group. The details that the author adds shows that she has spent some time talking with people who actually work in a lab. The novel revolves around some research that appears to show one thing, but, in fact, may simply be sloppy note-keeping. It throws this group into turmoil and Goodman does a good job of showing the different points-of-view from the group leaders to the graduate students. A book that is not mentioned is Cantor’s Dilemma by Carl Djerassi. Djerassi is a very well-known scientist; he is a retired professor from Stanford who first synthesized the steroid oral contraceptive. In Cantor’s Dilemma he writes about trust and ambition in a science setting, or what he calls science-in-fiction. This is one of those books I would like to re-read, but I have unfortunately forgotten who I lent it to a few years ago.

Since few of these novels with scientists as lead characters, and not villains, exist, biographies or memoirs can fill the gap. My graduate school advisor, himself a Nobel prize-winner, mentioned Marie Curie by Eve Curie, her daughter, as a book that inspired him. I also found the story of Rosalind Franklin & DNA by Anne Sayre an enlightening read, especially when compared to the story told by her Nobel prize-winning colleague, James Watson. Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande is an insightful look into what it means to be a practicing doctor these days. I am looking forward to reading his next book, Better.

Know of any other good books out there with realistic pictures of scientists?

The Fiction Class by Susan Breen

This is a novel where the main character, Arabella Hicks, teaches a fiction writing class to adults. She has been doing this for a number of years while she is also trying to finish her own novel. It is evident at the beginning of the book that she is a rather burnt-out and slightly bitter instructor without a lot of empathy for her students. Her worries are more about herself. After a student asks a question she has the following response: "She has the discouraging feeling that this woman is going to be getting her into trouble for the next ten weeks. She can almost picture the evaluation forms that the students will fill out at the end of the semester. Was the instructor receptive to new ideas?" (pgs 11-12) This does indicate the author’s familiarity with teaching and the idea that anything you say in class may come back at you on a student evaluation. Arabella’s feelings toward her students change dramatically over the course of the book and there is even a romantic entanglement.

The main reason that this becomes such a unique class for Arabella is that at the same time she is teaching she is also dealing with her ailing mother. Her mother is in a nursing home and Arabella feels tremendous guilt over that. She visits her every week right after her class. Her relationship with her mother includes equal amounts frustration and love. Initially, they spend a lot of time arguing. It seems that they have such a history that even a small, seemingly innocuous comment can cause a lot of hurt. Some of the history that they are dealing with includes the aftermath of Arabella’s deceased father’s long-term illness. They begin to argue less and talk more when Arabella starts discussing the class she is teaching.

The book is set up in a unique way. There are chapters about Arabella’s life interspersed with chapters about the class she is teaching. In the chapters about the class you learn right along with the students. For example, the first class is about getting started and at the end of the chapter there is writing prompt to make a list of your obsessions. I thought this was a really neat writing prompt and so true that if you write about something you really know and have a passion for that will show. Arabella explains it this way, “Write about the thing that sets up a commotion in your mind, and you will find that words come flowing.” (pg 9) The writing prompts throughout the book are equally good. Also, included are chapters from a story that Arabella’s mother begins to write.

I enjoyed the book. Arabella’s teaching and her relations with her students deepened as she brought more of herself and her life into the class. I looked forward to each new class topic and the insight that the author gave. Arabella’s example of omniscient point-of-view in class four is very good. I found it harder to relate to Arabella and her interactions with her sick and elderly mother, but maybe that is because it is not a place I have been. This book does give some insight into dealing with nursing homes, guilt, and resolving issues with your mother. I think this book will appeal to anyone who likes to think about writing and the craft of writing, and people who are interested in end-of-life issues.

The Fiction Class by Susan Breen is currently on a blog book tour. Go to Blog Stop Book Tours to learn more about the author and what other bloggers have to say about The Fiction Class. This is the author’s debut novel and I hope to see more from her soon.

The Language of Elk by Benjamin Percy

Benjamin Percy is another author that was invited to Bend for The Nature of Words last fall. I intended to read something by him then, but the library did not have his two collections of short stories at the time. They do now and The Language of Elk is well worth reading.

I think what Benjamin Percy does that is unique in his writing is to take a piece of Central Oregon that seems normal to people who live here and then add a twist. In the short story entitled, “The Iron Moth” Big Boy describes his hometown of Cairo, Oregon where he was a high school football star.
“Now rather than earning your tan, moving irrigation pipe and bucking hay bales into a pickup bed all afternoon, you get inside some capsule that glows like a bug-zapper and has about the same effect in frying you to a crisp. Now, every time I turn around there’s a new microbrewery or sushi joint or European car dealership, all of them springing up overnight like mushrooms.
Now, most everybody who lives here is from someplace else.”
Big Boy kills time with a friend by shooting anvils off the cinder cone in the center of town. Obviously, he is referring to Pilot Butte in Bend and it is quite a picture to imagine that going on in the center of town. The obvious discomfort and trouble for Big Boy to fit into his changing hometown are issues many people must deal with daily. I rarely meet anyone who identifies themself as a Bend native in my everyday life. I guess considering there were only 10,000 people here a decade ago and there are more than 75,000 now that is not too surprising.

Many of Percy’s stories bring up aspects of the local area that you might not think about or be exposed to if you just go about your daily life. There is the father and son in “Unearthed” who spend their time, after the death of the wife/mother, digging up Indian artifacts in the deserts of Eastern Oregon. That story takes a rather uncomfortable turn. The title story is set on a farm where hunters pay a fee to come in and shoot farmed elk. I recently read about a local ranch that does that. The characters that Percy draws are somehow sympathetic even while doing some unusual things.

I read the best story by Percy yet in the Fall 2007 issue of GlimmerTrain. I picked the journal up just to see what was in it and reading this short story reminded me of The Language of Elk that I had yet to read. The local paper here does a story about every other year on a family who has a house over a lava tube. It is always interesting to read and the family talks about using the natural cooling of the cave and having slumber parties in it. Percy takes this rather odd situation and turns it into a dramatic short story of a couple living over a lava tube in “The Caves in Oregon”. I also find it interesting that often the people in his short stories are professors at the local college, the woman in this story is a geology professor, or somehow connected.

I hope Percy puts his talents to use in writing a novel soon. I’m sure it would be entertaining and slightly edgy.

Billy Straight by Jonathan Kellerman

Billy Straight is a young kid on the run. He heads for Los Angeles and while living on the streets witnesses a murder. What is interesting about this book is the insight that Kellerman, a former child psychologist, brings to Billy. The choices that Billy makes, like to leave his family or to live on his own rather than with other runaways, seem believable. Billy runs into people who want to help him as well as those who want to take advantage of him and it becomes easier to understand why he just wants to be left alone.

The police trying to solve the murder eventually come to realize they are hunting for a 12-year-old as their witness. Petra Conner, a young LAPD detective, is a well-developed character and I wish she appeared in more of Kellerman’s novels. The frustration of trying to solve this high profile case, which involves an actor and the crazy bureaucracy of the LAPD, are highlighted here. Petra can see that some bad decisions are being made in the handling of the case, but can’t do much to stop them.

Here’s Billy at the beach once he knows the police are looking for him, and that possibly the killer could be too: “It’s stupid to even be thinking of a plan. I have no future. Even if I survive for a few months a year, two years, so what? I’d still be a kid, no schooling, no money, no control over anything.” Billy’s despair and desires clearly come through. I think this is one of Kellerman’s best books as he really delves into the characters’ psyches.

Kellerman is well-known for his lengthy mystery series with psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD detective Milo Sturgis. The mix of police action and psychological speculation generally make for a good read. If you want to see what I think of his most recent book in this series, Compulsion, check out my review at Curled up with a Good Book.

Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens

I picked this book up last fall and read the first few chapters. It is a novel set in Ireland in 1846 during a potato famine. It is also about 400 pages and at the time I decided I would have to come back to it. I am glad I did. It is an engrossing read. It is tragic, as you might expect, but beautifully written.

The story follows the main character, Fergus, as he sets off on his own after horrifically losing his family. Here is a sample of Behren’s writing as he describes Fergus’s thoughts when he leaves a newly made friend to die and hitches a ride out of town. “You had to stay alive; every instinct told you. Stay in your life as long as you can. If only to see what would happen. Every breath told you to keep breathing.” (pg 64)

Fergus lives in a workhouse and also with children and a deserter hiding on a bog, he travels to Liverpool, works excavating rock, and eventually makes his way to Canada. Each move is precipitated by tragedy. You can’t help but imagine what it must have been like to have been born in Ireland in those days.

The book is such that you can open to almost any page and find an intriguing piece of writing. Here, on the crossing to Canada, a trader tries to tell Fergus about life, “Life comes running at you, trailing gaudy streamers, and you can’t make them out until it’s too close – are those ribbons, or is that blood?” (pg 303)

The World to Come by Dara Horn

The World to Come has been chosen by the Deschutes County Public Library for its 2008 program, A Novel Idea. There are a number of events planned in conjunction with encouraging the entire county to read this book, including author readings. In the past the library has picked books related to activities in our area such as The River Why by James Duncan and Bowerman and the Men of Oregon by Kenny Moore. Other choices such as The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Gonzalez & Daughter Trucking Co. by Maria Amparo Escandon have taken most of us out of our geographical and cultural comfort zone and The World to Come seems to fit more into this later category.

I found this book to be very dense, with some wonderfully descriptive language and vivid images. The story starts with Benjamin Ziskind, a former child prodigy and current quiz show question writer. It goes back in time to when his Jewish ancestors were being persecuted in Russia and a famous artist, Chagall, gave his grandfather a painting. This painting surfaces in a museum near Benjamin’s house and he steals it. This story is often billed as a mystery, but it is really not, unless the mystery is how the painting ended up in the museum.

There are many layers to this story. There is much discussion of death and the world to come. This book has elements of historical fiction in the two artists portrayed, Chagall and Der Nister, are actual people. Chagall, a painter, makes it out of Russia and becomes very successful. Der Nister, a writer, dies in a gulag. Horn fictionalizes his life and a story he has allegedly written survives hidden in paintings. The words of Der Nister’s mentor seem prophetic and harsh. “Your purpose as a writer is to achieve one task, and one task only: to build a paper bridge to the world to come.”

I found it a challenging book. As I mentioned before about The Savage Garden I do not really like historical fiction with real people. However, that is a relatively small portion of the novel and the truly fictional characters are all remarkably well-developed. Benjamin’s twin sister plays an integral role and the stories of their parents, now dead, are very intriguing. The book also ends on a somewhat ambiguous note. It did not seem ambiguous to me, but when our book group discussed it not everyone agreed on what happened at the end. I also found some of the writing very beautiful. It is a worthwhile read and I am looking forward to the library’s events.

The Savage Garden by Mark Mills

This is a story published in 2007, but set mostly in Italy in 1958. I started thinking – does that make it historical fiction? I tend to shy away from historical fiction. It seems messy. If a real-life person is written about in a fiction book, how do you know what is true and what is not? To be historical fiction does a book have to include historical events and people or simply be set in the past? Vision: A Resource for Writers has this definition: “…a literary work or category whose content is produced by the imagination and based on or concerned with events in history.” I think, according to that definition, The Savage Garden is historical fiction since it is crucial to the story that it is set in an area that was occupied by Germany during WWII. And, it is important that the story takes place when those events are still well-remembered by the community.

I picked it up because I heard from somewhere that it was a good mystery. I guess that makes it a historical mystery. There are actually two mysteries. Adam Strickland, a young English graduate student, goes to San Casciano in Tuscany to visit and research a garden at the urging of his professor. The garden was built in 1577 by Frederico Docci in memory of his wife. The garden has some unusual characteristics and Adam decides it will be a good topic for his dissertation. Uncovering the significance of the design and various artifacts in the garden is one mystery. It involves understanding many characters in the Greek myths and Italian literature. This book may be especially interesting to someone who has read or studied these ideas and texts. That is not me, but the information added rather than detracted from the story.

The second mystery has to do with the current branch of the Docci family living in the villa at the garden. Signora Docci lost a son during the war and her husband died soon after. It becomes clear that the circumstances under which her son died are somewhat mysterious. Was he really killed by Germans evacuating as the Allied troops approached? Adam becomes interested in figuring out what really happened that night. Mendelian genetics, fascists and communists, bullet trajectories, and rumors of the time all play a role in Adam’s edging closer to the truth. Complicating matters, Adam becomes involved with Signora Docci’s granddaughter, Antonella.

This is mostly an intellectual mystery. There is very little action or threats to the protagonist. The author does a good job of reminding us how young Adam is with his worries about his visiting brother or his parents back home. It is interesting to contemplate if there are 400-year old mysteries such as this garden still around waiting to be solved. That must be what drives archeologists and art historians. I definitely plan to read more by this author as it was an entertaining read and I learned something.

Is There a Preschooler in Your Life?

If you have ever read that same story that you hated, over and over again to your preschooler, here are a few suggestions that our family found fun for everyone to read. Also, good ideas for aunts, uncles and grandparents so the family you give them to won't regret it later. Check out my review of Three Great Books for Preschoolers at True North Parenting.

Comments on Tom Robbins and Still Life with Woodpecker

I was talking with a friend recently about some short stories by an author who grew up in our hometown: see my post The Littlest Hitler by Ryan Boudinot. She asked if I liked Tom Robbins, who lives and writes near that same hometown. Of course, Tom Robbins is one of my favorite authors of all times. I loved reading Still Life with Woodpecker, Another Roadside Attraction, and Skinny Legs and All. I had all these books including Even Cowgirls get the Blues and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. Where are they now? I know I periodically purge my books at the urging of those I live with, but I definitely would not have gotten rid of those first three. It took a bit of thinking, but I realized I liked those books so much I had wanted to share them. I lent them out. And they never came back! I was especially dismayed when I remembered I had lent Still Life with Woodpecker to a person who then did a family member wrong. I know I will never see that book again.

Luckily, I found someone on paperbackswap.com who wanted to give away Still Life with Woodpecker and Another Roadside Attraction, so I can start building up my Tom Robbins collection again. And, I see he has another book out that I have yet to read called Villa Incognito.

So, what is so distinctive about Tom Robbins? Why was I so enthralled when I read Still Life with Woodpecker more than 20 years ago? Is it still timely? This particular book is an irreverent mix of sex, religion, travails about living in the Pacific Northwest, true love, the environment, and the power of pyramids. Princess Leigh-Cheri, daughter of a deposed king, grows up in rainy Seattle and meets Bernard Wrangle, an outlaw, at the Geo-Therapy Care Fest in Hawaii. Both have red hair. Bernard hides his hair color to keep from being arrested for his part in a previous bombing. He has spent many years in hiding after he injured a graduate student working on a male oral contraceptive. He has also tried to find other remedies after ending that work.

Bernard returns with Leigh-Cheri to Seattle, but his courtship of her does not go well. An example of this that has stuck with me for years, is this suggestion to King Max, Leigh-Cheri’s father:
“To the King, during tea, Bernard had advocated the planting of blackberries on every building top in Seattle. They would require no care, aside from encouraging them, arborlike, to crisscross the streets, roof to roof; to arch, forming canopies, natural arcades as it were. In no time at all, people could walk through the city in the downpouringest of winter and feel not a splat.”(pg 129)

With the planting of the blackberries, a new art form would be founded, with paintings done in pre- and post-blackberry light. A new food culture around blackberries would be instigated and it would no longer be possible to go hungry in Seattle. It is ideas like this that really drew me to Tom Robbins’ work; imagine an eco-friendly way to live in Seattle with no rain. Of course, King Max has spent his life in fear that he will be the first monarch to be assassinated by blackberries so that idea does not go down too well in the story.

The novel is set in the last quarter of the twentieth century and that idea comes up again and again. Here Leigh-Cheri summarizes her thoughts about being a princess.

“…and although in the last quarter of the twentieth century the very idea of royalty may seem artificial, archaic and somewhat decadent, I insist on my princess-hood because without it I’m just another physically attractive woman with that I-went-to-college-but-it-didn’t-do-me-any-good look and nothing much to offer anyone.” (pg 43)

The major question of the book is whether Leigh-Cheri and Bernard can make true love stay. The idea of a red-headed race from another planet, the coincidence of pyramids on the dollar bill and a Camel cigarette pack, the overthrow of the right-wing government in King Max’s homeland, a new fiancé, and a change of scenery to the desert are all secondary to this pivotal question. If you grew up in the 80’s without reading Tom Robbins or if you want to see what 1980’s concerns about the environment and even terrorism looked like, this book is for you, packaged in an bizarre tale of love.