Novel: In The Company Of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith

In The Company

Of 

Cheerful Ladies

By

Alexander McCall Smith 

After listening to this book on audio,  I have to say that I will not be reading or listening to another of this series.  I am not a big mystery book fan plus I did not care for the narrator's voice,  but the book came off silly to me.  I don't have a good grasp of the Boatswain's culture but I hope the women there are not like in the book.  Perhaps since Alexander McCall Smith is a man he doesn't have a good grasp of a what is behind a woman's behavior.  If a person is a mystery lover and likes amusement in their mystery stories then maybe they will get a kick out of this series.  Sometimes different people enjoy different types of humor.  Being a person who dives into epic sized historical fiction novels The Number One Ladies Detective Agency series is not my cup of tea.  But do click on the author's name and book title above to follow the links to more information.  And enjoy the short video that follows of the series that HBO actually made off of these books.

Book For The Week 12/4/2013: The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

The Art Forger

by

B.A. Shapiro

This novel is being discussed at the December meeting this evening of the book discussion group at the Wilmington Ohio Public Library.  Although I completed the book I did not get moved  there in time to attend the meeting.  I hope they select a book for January so I can join in.  The Art Forger is  a mystery  and not my genre but it is more than a mystery book.  I learned a lot about art while reading the book and I also became interested in a person that is not alive during the novel but the book is very much about her.  Her name is Isabella Stewart Gardner and she is the person that collected art for and then later donated The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum collections and the building that house them.  While having the basis of historical fact of an art heist that took place at this museum in 1990  the majority of the novel is fiction.  It is the story of a young female artist named Claire who is trying to get established and has a history of being  involved with a man who damaged her career.  The book jumps between three different time periods and I found that a little hard to keep straight, especially in the beginning.  I would judge the first half of the book okay as it kept me interested enough to keep reading but once I was two thirds through the book it was really holding my attention.  I would recommend it as a decent enough read.  Please click on the title and the author's name above to follow the links to more information.  There are also three links throughout the text to additional background for the book.  And enjoy the video that follows.  

Book For The Week: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers

by

Alice Hoffman

The library reading group selection for the library in Wilmington, Ohio for November was The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman.   Even though I did not get moved in time to attend the meeting, I "read along" by listening to the novel on audio while driving these past few weeks.  Written about the same area of the world as The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, and also about women,  The Dovekeepers has some similarities but is written about a different time frame.   The Dovekeepers  is divided into four parts, each a narrative by a different woman.   It is a historical novel set in 70 - 73 CE (AD), in the Middle East and addresses the Jewish Culture and women who live with in it.  Most of the book takes place in a mountain top fortress called Massada and describes the role of the Romans in the common person's point of view.  I highly recommend this book.  Although difficult to get in to the plot for the first quarter by the second quarter one is getting pulled in and by the last fourth the book is difficult to leave alone till one finishes.  Please click on the author's name and book titles above to learn more and enjoy the two  videos that follow.  

Saturday Night At The Movies: Free Birds

My daughter, Nicole, and I took the grand kids,  Haily and Tyler, to see "Free Birds"  last pm at the local theater.  It is a cute movie with the best ending ever.  But did the pilgrims really have dynamite?

Book For The Week: Catherine The Great by Robert K. Massie

Catherine The Great

by

Robert K Massie

The month of November's choice for the library reading group I attend is Catherine The Great: Portrait Of A Woman  by Robert K Massie.   It was a challenge for me to read due both the length of the book and the Russian names throughout.  But I got through it and gleaned some understanding.  As a young girl Catherine's name was Sophia and when she was taken to Russia to marry the prince they renamed her Catherine.  She was only 14 and her marriage was not happy.  She spent a lot of years alone and read a lot of books.  Since her reign was in the latter 1700s a great deal of what she read and studied had to do with the enlightenment era which is something she had in common with the men who founded the US.  Unable to implement some of the principles she had read about she was horrified to learn what happened in France and changed her mind and felt she needed to keep a firm reign on the people.   Because her marriage was so unhappy both she and her husband maintained other relationships.  Later when she was a widow and a Empress she had a series of younger lovers through out her life.  Catherine II is known for the social reforms she began in education and health care in her country.  She is also famous for the art she brought to Russia.  One thing that she valued was humor.  I was impressed by her reading,  her cougar behavior,  and the importance she stressed in laughter.  This book is a very well written informative book.  Click on the links above on the title and author's name to learn more.  And enjoy the video that follows.  

Book Of The Week 11/05/13: Fall Of Giants by Ken Follett

Fall Of Giants 

by

Ken Follett

     World War I is not a subject I have had much exposure to prior to this novel.   I have read a fair amount about WWII but WWI is not a subject I remember much about in school or as subject matter for any other historical novel or biography I have read prior to this one.  And certainly the Russian Revolution was  presented in a rather slanted point of view during my education which was colored at the time by The Cold War.   In his novel,  Fall Of Giants,  Ken Follett does a wonderful job of showing all sides of the issues that were happening on the world scene in the early 20th Century.  His series,  The Century Trilogy,  which are three books spanning the 1900s,  are something I am looking forward to completing after enjoying this first book of the three.    The author takes five families from five different countries and five different socio-economic groups and follows them through the first 25 years or so of the 20th Century.  The Russian Revolution is presented from the point of view of not only Russian factory workers but also Russian Aristocrats,  Welsh Mine Workers and also English Nobility,  both German Intelligence and Upper Middle Class Americans.  WWI is also presented from these various points of view.  Many facts jumped out at me as I listened to the audio version of this book.   For example, I realized that a rather insignificant event snowballed into  WWI.  Perhaps not insignificant to those involved as there was a murder but the death of two people and the refusal of one country to apologize to another  did not justify a world war.  See HERE.   I had to think of one of the books I used to read my kids by Rosetta Stone called Because A Little Bug Went Kachoo.    The Fall Of Giants by Ken Follett is a book that I have talked to others about as I listened and a book that I would recommend to every one to read.    Click on the links above to learn more and enjoy the video that follows.

The Evolution Of How We Have Cared For Our Elderly Population In The US

It has now been many years ago that I began my first job working with the elderly and my perspective is some what unique in that my first job in a nursing home was with the same company that I work for now.  Although I did not spend my entire career working for the same corporation, nor did I work in long term care facilities exclusively through out my career,  and in fact spent ten  years working as a home maker and raising my children, I still have had a birds eye view of the progress we have made in how we care for our nursing home population.   During the 1990s when I worked as a nurse manager,  we always would joke that the nursing home industry was more heavily regulated than nuclear power.   Indeed,  even now as a floor nurse, when state or federal inspectors walk through the front doors I feel a bit of stress.   Nevertheless,  with my interest in history,  I have explored  the path we have followed to get to the place we are now, and understand why it is necessary to  have these inspections.   While there is still much progress to be made,  when I look at how far we have come, I take heart that we can continue to improve.   My work with the elderly began in what I have dubbed the Pre OBRA Era and  HERE is  a chart that outlines reforms from 1987 when the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act was passed to 2007 - its 20th anniversary.   An excellent extensive online book of the history of long term care can be found HERE    http://www.elderweb.com/book/history-long-term-care.   I have explored some of it's pages and photos and time lines and find it a fascinating resource.  And in closing I would like to share two videos with you from The Kaiser Foundation.  Please pay especially close attention to minutes 2:56-3:43 in the first video for truly, unless an elderly person has an advocate in a family member or a friend,  they do not have strong enough of a voice to fend for themselves in a free unregulated healthcare market place.  

Saturday Night At The Movies 10/19/2013: Trouble With The Curve

After admiring my gift of a dozen roses and having a wonderful dinner at PF Chang's, Bruce and I completed celebrating Sweetest Day by watching  a comedy romance.   This movie had plenty of baseball for him and was still enough of a chick flick for me to enjoy.  I am always surprised to see that Clint Eastwood can act after watching so many of his early films where he did not show his talent.   "Trouble With The Curve" is a movie that is just fun to watch.  We both really enjoyed the show.

Saturday Night At The Movies: "The Changeling"

This movie came out in 2008 and I had been meaning to watch it since then.  Saturday night Bruce and I did watch it and if you have not seen this movie I recommend it.  Please follow the links and watch the videos for more information.

To read about the movie go HERE.


To read about the true story behind the movie go HERE.

Book Of The Week 9-30-2013: The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

The Kitchen House

by

Kathleen Grissom

While at my blood pressure check up at my GP last month I was reading  my Kindle and the nurse asked me what I was reading.  As we talked about books we liked she said "Best book I have read this year is The Kitchen House."  So I jotted it down and later went online looking for it.   And while I am not sure I will place it as number one  for 2013,  I am pretty sure it will end up some place in the top three of my top ten list when I post it at the end of the year.   I really enjoyed this book!  The novel takes place late 1700s, early 1800s,  in Virginia.  This is a time frame and location that I am very fond of reading about.   A child who loses her parents aboard ship during their immigration  trip from Ireland to America is kept by the Captain of the ship as an indentured servant to pay for the family's passage.  He brings her to his tobacco plantation in Virginia and tells the cook he has obtained some help for her.  Lavinia is only seven years old when she arrives at Tall Oaks.  She is frightened and has forgotten how to talk.  The cook and other slaves of the tobacco farm embrace her as part of their family and she grows into an attractive young woman who eventually marries into the family of "the big house".    This is the story of Lavinia's divided loyalties between the people she has grown up with and  loved as family and her in laws which are her family as an adult.  It is a story of disillusionment and disappointment that matures into compromise and new life.  Click on the title and author's name above to learn more.  And enjoy the author's video that follows.

Book For The Week 9/28/13: The Story Of The Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon

The Story Of The Beautiful Girl

by

Rachel Simon

A New York Times Bestseller two weeks after it's release and one of Oprah's top ten titles to pick up in June 2011,  The Story Of The Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon is my library book group's selection for October.    It is a fiction story about a young mentally challenged woman who is raped by her care giver in a state institution in Pennsylvania in 1968.  She becomes pregnant and just before her child is born a deaf and mute man, who she has befriended and is also a resident at the institution, helps her to escape.  They run and while they are away the baby is born.  Through a chain of events they are able to secure the baby safely with an older, childless,widow before young woman is re-taken by authorities and the man runs away with out her.  The story then follows the three story lines of these individuals.    In the epilogue the author states that part of the book was inspired by Geraldo Rivera's documentary on a state institution for the mentally challenged.  Here is the trailer for that 1968 documentary:




I found this book very difficult to read.  While it is a love story with a happy ending there is just so much pain between the pages to endure with the characters.   Never the less,  it should be required reading for all.  As a society we need to know where we were not so long ago with our treatment of our mentally disabled.  I can remember, as a teen,  the push to mainstream the handicapped into our school systems and what opposition there was to it.  I have known people who have worked in the system we have now and talk of the way things are still not right for our mentally challenged population.   It is a good thing to see where the journey came from not so long ago and to know that  while we still have progress to make, we have come a long way.  I hope the resources grow to  ensure that all our citizens are functioning at their full potential.  Please click on the title and the author's name above to follow links to more information.  And watch the video below in which the author introduces her novel.

Sunday Night At The Movies: The Break Up

Sunday night after dinner Bruce and I watched a movie called  The Break Up.  It is supposed to be a romantic comedy.  I really didn't care for it.  It was about a couple who lived together and they got in a big fight over  issues like the dishes.  Then rather than having a cool off period and  revisiting the issues later they both demonstrated very immature behavior.  In the end they broke up even though they neither one wanted to.  It was one misunderstanding after another.  Their lives together ruined and their home disassembled the main message of the movie at the end seemed to be that life goes on.  After it was over Bruce and I played a very neck and neck game of scrabble.  Even though I ended up losing I liked the game better than the movie.  See the trailer that follows.

Saturday Night At The Movies: Super 8

After dinner out on Saturday night,  Bruce and I rented a movie that my younger sister, Carol, recommended called Super 8.  It is a movie from 2011 about a group of Junior High age kids in a small town outside of Dayton Ohio.  It takes place in 1979.  The kids are making a zombie monster movie with their Super 8 camera when they inadvertently film a government secret in the back ground with their camera.  As a giant insect from outer space terrorizes their town and the Air Force and the local police department struggle to get the situation under control,  the young friends save the day.  It is one of those movies that, although it will never be considered high quality or an Oscar winner,  is great fun to watch.  We especially enjoyed the music of the late 70s that was throughout the film.  Enjoy the trailer below and make this your Halloween Movie to watch for this fall.

Book Of The Week 9/17/13: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games

by

Suzanne Collins

This months selection for my library reading group is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.   I have to admit that when The Hunger Games was first released and then the movie came out and was such a hit I felt it sounded so graphically violent that I did not want anything to do with it.  Then  a little over a year ago I visited my son in Denver and his room mate wanted to watch the movie so I joined in and was very impressed.  I enjoyed the movie very much and felt it was very well done.  So when the book was selected for September by my library reading group I was glad to get a chance to read it.  Then when it came right down to reading it I hesitated to pick it up and kind of drug my feet.  I had the notion that quite likely I would have trouble putting it down and end up losing out on some sleep.   But in fact for two thirds of the book a chapter or two a night was fine.  Then the last hundred  pages or more I had to keep reading.  I think I finished the book at five am yesterday morning.   It is a book that the author wrote to teach young adults about war.  It is about a futurist society where the haves make the have nots sacrifice a male and a female child or teen from twelve different districts to fight to the death each year.  The games are similar to our various reality TV series'  today in that they were filmed for all to watch.   I think what I like best about the book is that to me the message in the end is about non conformity and beating the system.   I liked the book very much and I am sure I will get around to reading the rest of the trilogy.   It fact it will probably make my top ten list of books I have read in  2013. Click on the title and author's name above to follow links to more information and enjoy the video below.   I highly recommend that every one read this book if for  no other reason than to know what the young adults today are reading.  Due to high popularity this series is a part of our culture now.

Book Of The Week 9/13/2013: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl

by

Gillian Flynn

I will never look at the colleague who recommended that I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn in quite the same way.  She insisted that it was one of the best books she read last year but it is one of the most twisted things I have ever experienced.  The fact that it spent eight weeks on the New York Times bestseller list is a chilling statement of the condition of our society.  I listened to this book on audio and I not only  found it very depressing but it made me want to grab my children away from all possible relationships and run from relationships myself.  If a person liked the movie Fatal Attraction back in 1987 then perhaps they will like Gone Girl.    More information can be obtained from clicking on the title and author's name above and from listening to the video below.  Or experience the book yourself - at your own risk.  

Saturday Night At The Movies: Robin Hood

There is nothing like a fairy tale movie for an evening at home watching the Dexter DVR.   This is an enjoyable movie.

Book For The Week 9/8/2013: The Treason of Mary Louvestre by My Haley

The Treason of Mary Louvestre

by

My Haley

When I first heard about The Treason of Mary Louvestre by My Haley I was very much looking forward to reading it.  I remember enjoying the Roots TV mini series as a young person and admiring Alex Haley as an author.  The idea of reading something by his widow who worked with him on his work was very appealing.  Since the historical novel is my favorite genre, the prospect of reading a historical novel based in the time frame of the Civil War was also very appealing.   And finally,  the topic of a strong woman who against great odds accomplished an important task was indeed very appealing.  This book had all the ingredients of a novel I would enjoy very much.  After reading the book I can offer to it friends as an okay read.  It was entertaining.  But it will not be near the top of my list of ten favorite books I read this year if it even makes the list at all.  My Haley is honest in the introduction that the book is fiction.  The person of Mary Louvestre did exist and she did get the information about the CSS Virginia to the Union Navy. Please see HERE.  (Page 264 of Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia)   But nothing is known about her so therefore the story that My Haley writes is fiction based on what she believes could have been.  I did not find it believable conjecture.  Perhaps I do not know enough about the time frame to buy into it.  I had never heard of homosexuality being an issue among slaves although after thinking about it I would suppose it was present just as it is present now in some social groups.   I did like the last third of the book best.  It held my interest more than the first two thirds, although I did not find the outdoors man skills of survival that Mary Louvestre demonstrated in keeping with the seamstress character that had been developed up to the point where she ran off and headed for Washington DC.  Mary is a slave who was able to obtain the plans of the CSS Virginia which revealed the ship's weak spot for the Union to hit and therefore prevent the South from breaking the North's blockade.   If you click on the title and the author's name above you will follow the links to more information.  Also enjoy the video below about the ships and the battle that determined the blockade remain in place.  I would recommend this book based solely on the fact that there is not enough information and literature available about the contributions of women and blacks in the Civil War.

Book Of The Week 8/17/13: The White Princess by Philippa Gregory

The White Princess

by

Philippa Gregory

On my way home from Wilmington I finished listening to the last book in Philippa Gregory's series called "The Cousins War".  The title of the novel is The White Princess  and is about Henry VII's wife and Edward IV's daughter who was one and the same - Elizabeth.  And of course that also made her Henry VIII's mother.   This novel moves on from the same time frame that the first five books of the series cover to new events.   The back ground on Elizabeth's mother was covered in the novel called The White Queen and the back ground on Elizabeth's mother in law was covered in the novel The Red Queen.  The novel The Lady of the Rivers was about her maternal grandmother.   The Women Of The Cousins War was a non fiction book that tries to sort out the known facts from Philippa Gregory's historical fiction novels and The Kingmaker's Daughter covers history just prior to where The White Princess begins.   While The White Princess was not my favorite novel of the series I will read or listen to more of Philippa Gregory's novels.   King Henry VII was a real Debbie Downer as was his mother the Lady Margaret.  And they were prime examples of how people have historically used their belief systems to justify bad behavior.   Most of the book was King Henry VII struggling to maintain his throne from uprisings and describing his failures as a leader and Elizabeth's struggle to remain loyal to him when he was such an ass.   It makes clear how little choice and how little power women had in that time frame.  I am sure that this series will make my top ten list for 2013 but this novel is not my favorite of the series.   I am glad I listened to it though and while I intend to tear myself away from Philippa Gregory's works for a bit I will return to another of her series in the near future.  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow the links to learn more and enjoy the video that follows.

Thursday Night Was A Movie Night: Argo

Whether it was the costuming,  the events portrayed or the music played,  this movie threw me back to 1980 in a heart beat.  If you have not seen this film yet you need to.  Learn more about the movie and the current events of 1979/1980 described in it HERE and HERE and enjoy the trailer below.   This is a must see movie!

Book Of The Week: 8/11/2013 - The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

The Postmistress

by 

Sarah Blake

The August selection for my library reading group is The Postmistress by Sarah Blake.   I finished reading it last night and it is a book that asks lots of questions.  Such as: Is life a mere series of random events that we have no control over?  Do we have a significant responsibility to make a difference to others and participate and steer events?  Sarah Blake offers no answers to the questions that she raises within the context of her story. We will not run out of topics during reading group on this one. The time frame of the novel is WWII.  There is a cast of characters with various outlooks and life experiences.     This was a story that it took me awhile to get into.  The book is very well written but it is written in a tone that did not click with me. Perhaps it was just my lack of focus but I had trouble keeping the various characters straight.  In addition the settings jumped around a lot and I felt I never really arrived at any of the locations.   Please click on the title and author's name above and enjoy the video below.   While this book will probably not make my top ten titles for 2013,  I am glad I read it and it was an enjoyable read.

Book Of The Week 7/26/13: The Women Of The Cousins War

The Women of The Cousins War

The Duchess

The Queen

and the 

Kings Mother

by

  Phillipa Gregory

David Baldwin 

Michael Jones

This non-fiction book is a companion book the series The Cousins War.   It clears up which parts of Phillipa Gregory's novels The While Queen,  The Red Queen and The Lady of the Rivers are parts that are fact and which parts are conjecture.  Reading the non fiction accounts of these women also helped make some connections between family lines that I had missed when reading the novel because the medieval royal and aristocratic families are very intertwined.  I will admit that I had trouble staying focused on the non-fiction approach and enjoyed the novels much more.  Never the less this book was a good fill in and clarifying tool to use while I waited the couple weeks I had to wait for the fourth book in the series to be released.  The White Princess was released yesterday and I started listing it to it last pm.   Please follow the links in the titles and author's names to learn more and enjoy watching the videos that follow.

Movie Night

I was about an hour late in getting away from Wilmington Ohio Sunday evening because Bruce and I decided to watch a movie.  I had read the book Eat, Pray, Love a few years ago but never had watched the movie.  I enjoyed it and I think he did too.  In this case I think the movie is better than the book.  I do disagree though that a year was long enough for her to be single.  In my opinion, she needed a decade.

Book Of The Week 7/15/13: True Detective, Nathan Heller by Max Allan Collins

True Detective:

Nathan Heller

by

Max Allan Collins

This book was recommended to me by my brother and while I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the Chicago neighborhoods in the mid 1930's overall I would pigeon hole this book as a guy book.   I do read mysteries from time to time but they are not my favorite genre because I usually know half way through the book how it will end.  In this story that is not the case.  It had a good strong ending that totally caught me off guard.  The novel is about the gangster era in Chicago around the time of the worlds fair and a private detective who is hired to keep the mayor of Chicago from being assassinated.   He not only fails in this but the assassination is concealed as an attempt to assassinate FDR instead of the mayor of Chicago.  Heller also has a second case of trying to find a missing person.  Most of the book I was confused as to why these two separate cases were in one novel until I got to the shocker ending.   If you are a fan of Dick Tracey type books then I recommend this book to you.  I may read more of this series myself because I want to read the one about the Lindberg kidnapping.  Please click on the title and the author's name above to follow the links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.

Book Of The Week 7/10/13: The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory

The Kingmaker's Daughter

by

Philippa Gregory

This novel is the fourth in the series that Philippa Gregory calls The Cousin's War Series  and it is the fourth one that I have read.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this series.  The stories are all centered around The War Of the Roses in the late 1400's and takes place in  England.  Each story is told from a different woman's point of view but covers most of the same events.   In this manner one gets a sense of all sides of the story in this time when two families were trying to obtain or hold the throne and willing to go to any extreme to do so.   The women are pitted against each other and do not like each other so that the heroine in one book is the hated one in another.  Anne Neville is the heroine in The Kingmaker's Daughter.   She is the wife of King Richard III.   Philippa Gregory paints Anne as a very admirable person in this novel.   Anne's father is Richard Neville who places King Edward IV on the throne by teaching him many things and helping him win the battles that over throws King Henry VI.   Richard Neville has only two daughter's and therefore does not have a son of his own to put on the throne.  His goal is to have his daughter marry a  king and in this manner make his future grandson a king.  Only King Edward IV marries who he pleases and messes up Richard Neville's plans.  As the complicated relationships play out through out the novel,  Richard Neville's two daughters end up each one married to one of King Edward IV's brothers and Anne's husband ends up king after the death of Kind Edward IV.   Both Anne and King Richard III are painted in this novel as people who hold themselves to high standards of honor.  Never the less a good amount of head lopping off and poisoning goes on in the book.  There is a lot of treachery with people having ambitious goals and not so many scruples about how to achieve them.  It occurs to me that part of the reason for insanity in the royal lines back then might be more than cousins marrying too closely related people.  It may well be that the sociological environment did not foster good mental health.  To be as isolated as they were emotionally within a court where every one acted like friends on the surface but tried to destroy each other in reality had to be difficult.  One never knew if any one was a true friend or not.  And no one ever knew who the real father was of anyone so they would just have parliament declare an heir to the throne invalid because they decided to call the Queen  unfaithful and then place themselves as next in line to the throne.   There was also the accusation made more than once that one couple or another didn't complete marriages quite legally so their offspring didn't count either.  Amidst this plotting the theme of how women were used back then to obtain alliances and secure agreements is made clear along with the fact that women had no choice in the matter.  They were required to obey their father and then later obey the husband that her father decided was best for the father for her to marry.   Anne and King Richard III ran off and eloped when they were hardly more than children so their marriage was a love story.  The novel also contains some rather graphic descriptions of child birth along with other word pictures that describe the daily life of gentry in the late 15th century.   Click on the links on the title, author's name and in the first line of the text above and watch the video below for more information. 

Dinner And A Movie Last Weekend

Last weekend Bruce and I went out to dinner at Triangle Park and after some shopping at Target, Sams and Lowes came back to the condo and watched a comedy romance called Hope Springs.  I always think Meryl Streep does a great job in any movie I have seen her in.  The movie is about a couple who have been married a long time and want to add some spice back into their marriage.  Enjoy the video below of the official movie trailer to Hope Springs.  Also click on the gray texts above to follow the links for more information.

Cloud Atlas: The Movie

Cloud Atlas

The Movie 

This past April I  posted a blog about the novel Cloud Atlas which can be found HERE.    In the blog I mention that I wanted to watch the movie to see if it made the story lines any clearer.  A few weeks ago Bruce and I watched it.  I really liked the movie although Bruce said he was glad he didn't pay to see it at the theater.  It is a very complicated movie as the links you will follow to if you click on the titles above indicate.  It may be helpful to see who is who in the various time frames the movie encompasses.  A chart can be found HERE with that information.    The various levels of meaning are clearer since I have seen the movie although I would not have wanted to try and follow it without having read the book first.  In fact,  reading the book and watching the movie several times might be helpful to grasp it all.  I still didn't absorb all that is there.  Enjoy the trailer that follows.  I recommend the movie.  I liked it and and it is a book and movie that will stay with me for years to come.

Book For The Week 6/30/2013: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible

by

Barbara Kingsolver

My nomination for my library book group's selection for 2013 was selected for the month of July.  I had chosen the title that I had listed as number two for my top ten books out of all the books that I had read in 2012.  You can read my last years review of this book HERE.   This past week,  I finished listening to The Poisonwood Bible on audio for the second time.  Much more of the detail was clear to me and this is a book I highly recommend reading more than once.  So much information is contained with in the story and there are layers of meaning to glean from the novel.  I hesitated to nominate it for reading group because of the area of the country I live in.    It is a very controversial book and I am sure that some members of the local library book group will not like it.  But most of the members are a pretty open to thinking things through and while they might not agree with some of the concepts I trust they will read and digest the book.  It promises to be a lively discussion at the July meeting due to the content of this book.   One question I asked them to be ready to answer is "Who is your favorite character in the novel?".   I adored Adah.  She was the sister in the missionary family who was a twin and had suffered brain damage at birth but was very smart in spite of her physical handicaps.  In the end she came back to America and became a research doctor who studied disease causing micro-organisms of the Congo.  One of the reasons this book is such a favorite of mine is that it clarifies things that were happening in the news when I was a teen and only listening with one ear.  The novels covers the historical time of 1950 to the mid 1990s.   Do follow the links above to learn more and listen to the videos below for back ground history of the area.

Book of the week 6/13/13: 30 Pieces of Sliver

30 Pieces Of Silver

by

Carolyn McCray

Every month or so I go to the free list at Amazon for kindle and pick a few books to add to my kindle.  Then when I don't want to spend money on a book I select from one of the free ones I have stored.  Last summer 30 Pieces Of Sliver was on the free list and I selected it to read a week or two ago and finished it up last night.   It is an action adventure story with a historical and religious emphasis.  One of the main characters is a female archaeologist who,  along with her previous college professor and four special op agents are doing research and finding the bones of the disciples.   To name a few of the discoveries they find John the Baptist underneath the Eiffel Tower,  Jesus' brother James in Hungary.-, and  Mary Magdalene's bones are found in Turkey.     So the story line takes the reader to many locations.  Hot on their heels is a violent cult group by the name of The Knot.   The Knot's mission is to keep the research team from finding Jesus Christ's bones.  The research team wants to find his bones to prove the existence of a historical Jesus and to disprove the resurrection.  In addition they want to collect DNA from Jesus' bones to look for the God Gene.   Each of the skeletons they find has a piece of silver money with it.  The novel switches back and forth between the present day story line outlined above and a biblical story line that tells the story of the crucifixion from Judas' point of view.  Things get steamy between the female doctor archaeologist and the commander of the special op group toward the end.   It ends with a real shocker but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might want to read it.   I enjoyed the book.  It was exciting and had a lot of action and I am open to various ideas.  I would caution people who take conservative view points seriously as they might be offended by the book.   Although it is a work of fiction it does deal with some controversial ideas.    Please click on the author's name and title of the novel to follow links to more information.  And enjoy the video below.

Book Of The Week 6-5-2013: The Lady of The Rivers by Philippa Gregory

The Lady Of The Rivers

by

Philippa Gregory

This is the third book in Philippa Gregory's series The Cousins War which is about the War of The Roses in 15th Century England.  But actually if one was to read the books in chronological order  The Lady of the Rivers would need to be read before the first two in the series because it is about the life of The White Queen's mother.  The Lady of the Rivers  is another really good novel.  I especially found the way Philippa Gregory presents Kind Henry VI as a catatonic schizophrenic to the reader very well done.   And I enjoyed the parts of the book that explained about herbal use in that particular historical context.  I highly recommend this series to people who enjoy historical novels.  Please click on the title and the authors name above to learn more and enjoy the following videos of the author describing this book.  

Book Of The Week: Follow The River by James Alexander Thom

Follow The River

by

James Alexander Thom

By far the best book I have read this year Follow The River by James Alexander Thom will certainly make my top ten list for 2013.  It is the true story of Mary Draper Ingles who was captured during an Indian raid in the mid 1700s and escaped to walk hundreds of miles of wilderness in order to get home. Starting this book on Sunday I expected to be reading it for several weeks but instead finished in early Friday morning.  I could not put it down.  The story captured my full attention from the first page to the very last.   The legend of Mary Draper Ingles can be found in detail all over the net.  Below is a map of the route she walked home.

She escaped in the fall and the weather became colder and colder as she traveled.  She had no way to hunt live game or fish.  At one point she even ate earth worms.  The woman she escaped with and was traveling with got so hungry she even tried to kill Mary for food.  By the time she arrived at her destination there was snow on the ground and she had no shoes.  In fact she no longer had clothes or even a blanket.  Today the descendants of Mary Draper Ingles have rebuilt the cabin that the family lived in after she got home.  The original one that was raided was burnt and was located at what is  now Virginia Tech.  The rebuilt home was twenty miles away from the original one.   Please click on the title, the author's name above, and the other two links in the body of this blog to learn more.  And enjoy the following video that features a descendant of this remarkable woman.

Book For The Week 5/118/13: Maloka'i by Alan Brennert

Moloka'i

by 

Alan Brennert

The selection for my library reading group for June is Moloka'i by Alan Brennert.   I started reading it a couple of weeks ago because I thought it might take me awhile to get through it.  It is not extremely long but it did not appear to be  a quick read type book.   Surprisingly I read it more quickly than I thought I would.  It is an historical novel which is always my favorite genre.  The story is about a youngster who is found to have leprosy in the later 19th century.  She lives in Hawaii and is taken from her family and placed on a leper island.  This book can be enjoyed from the historical perspective but it also can be enjoyed from the sociological perspective because of the detail it describes of the interaction  of the people of the island along with the social structures that emerge.   In addition the psychological perspective is an interesting one because of the way that the people on the island deal with their limitations.  I have never been to Hawaii and was unaware of this history.  After doing some research I was also surprised to learn that this was one of two leper colonies that used to be in the United States, the other one being in Louisiana.  The main character in this novel is used as a medium to express what many went through.  It is a book that sounds like it would be depressing but while I did get teary eyed a few times it is a story that also resonates with joy.   People go there and live and love and grow and get married just like anywhere.  There they are more aware of their impending death than some of us but it seems to make them enjoy the present all the more.  Please feel free to click on the author's name and book title above to follow the links to more information.  Also enjoy the video that follows:

Book Of The Week 5/18/13: Death By A Honeybee by Abigail Keam

Death By A Honeybee

by

Abigail Keam

This little quick read from the free list of Amazon's kindle was great fun.  The main character is a middle aged woman who lives in the Lexington Kentucky area and is struggling to get on with her life after being left and then widowed.  She is a beekeeper who sells her honey at the local farmers market and a competitor in the honey business is found dead on her property after which she becomes the prime suspect.  During the story she works to clear herself.   Her best friend is a gay man and the situations she finds herself in are amusing.   As with most mysteries I had figured out "who done it" fairly early in the book but after the crime is solved this book is only half way through and the remainder of the book is delightful.  It does end in a cliff hanger with a teaser chapter of the next book in the series.   Do click on the title and the author's name above to learn more.  Every once in awhile a book reminds me of a song and this one did.  Please enjoy the video below as the Dixie Chicks say goodbye to  Earl once more.

Book For The Week 5/7/13: The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

The Red Queen

by

Philippa Gregory

The second book in Philippa Gregory's series "The Cousins War"  is titled The Red Queen and is about the mother of Henry Tudor aka King Henry VII.   To compare  it with the first in the series, The White Queen, does a disservice to both books.  The White Queen has more emphasis on a love story  while The Red Queen is much less romantic.    Margaret Beaufort (Henry the VII's mother) is part of the House of Lancaster which has the Red Rose as their emblem.   The House of Lancaster had insanity in it as King Henry VI has periods where he is catatonic and his cousin Margaret  is delusional and hallucinates. She is very religious and thinks her ambitions are the will of God.  She is so sure of this she is willing to lie, cheat and kill to obtain the throne for her son.   Two historical themes that the book bring into focus are the lack of choices women had in the 15th century and the role of superstitions in historical events.    Part of the time frame that these first two books of the series cover are  overlapped which gives the chance for the reader to experience both the perspective of the House of York and the House of Lancaster.    In addition to experiencing the events from both perspectives covering some events a second time helps to clear up exactly what happened as since there is so much treachery and betrayal it gets confusing.  Also there are many Elizabeths,  Margarets,  Edwards and Henrys to keep straight.   I am enjoying this series very much and recommend it to other historical novel buffs.  Be sure and click on the author's name and book title above to follow the links to learn more.  And enjoy the following videos of the author discussing this book.

 

Book Of The Week 5/4/2013: Open And Shut by David Rosenfelt

Open And Shut

by

David Rosenfelt

   If ever I am in need of a easy read whodunit book I will reach again for something by David Rosenfelt.   I started the May selection for my library book group early since last month's selection was so long and I wanted to be sure to get through May's.  But I found Open And Shut to be a very quick read.   It is about a Public Defender who goes way out of his way for his clients and who also has a golden retriever.  Since one of my grand dogs is a golden I found added charm having the dog in the book.  The main character in the book is Andy Carpenter who is defending a man who is on death row whose case comes up to be re-tried on a technicality.  The only criticism I have of the book is the same one I have nine out of ten times when I read a mystery which is I know about half way through the book how it is going to end.  But never the less this is an enjoyable book and for the mystery lovers out there David Rosenfelt is an author to add to your wish list.  Please click on the title and the author's name above to learn more and enjoy the following video.