Time To Plant

100-notable-books-of-2012

When I read this list of books, I feel an inadequacy, in that I have only two of these books, and only one, Bernice L. McFadden's have I read; so many writers, so many authors, and so many books, but so little time to read every one.  

The one book on this list I've read, Gathering of Waters, was so profoundly wonderful, it feels as though there is no need to read anyone else's work.  But, I know this isn't true, it just feels that way.  But, in the same breath, I follow only two handfuls of authors.

The other novel I have is Arcadia, by Lauren Groff.  This one is on my stack of books to be read.  She was a favorite of mine when I read and discussed her book, Monsters of Templeton, and at that time I felt the need to make her a set of ceramic bookends.  Book discussions, for me at least, can offer so much more to the text; the words come alive by people who have an opinion...by looking at every angle of thought.  I see these living words in visuals, as art forms.  

And then, of course, there are book discussions that leave me dead in the water, seeing nothing but book reports popping up as if it's a form of introspection.  These I leave to others to deal with, and move on.

At first I was going to say, "because of this problem...."  But, in actuality, I don't considered my thought processes a problem, just because I'm looking for something deeper and thought provoking; words need to provoke thinking capabilities, in my case.  But an author also has to give that opportunity to you as a reader.

There are times we might need that "fluff" in our lives, the lighter side to storytelling, I see that and understand this as well; and I let the silly side become my favorite word.  No critiquing this go-round.

Again, the "but" comes up, when you think about reading a list like this one given here.  Fluff never becomes 'notable', or 'list-able', it just stays fluff.  But, no matter, the criteria is to just enjoy.

A time for all seasons, this I know...as we contemplate our lists to plant the seed; a time to envision, as we sit down to read.

A Review - The Gargoyle - A novel by Andrew Davidson

“Andrew Davidson was born in Pinawa, Manitoba, and graduated in 1995 from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in English literature.  He has worked as a teacher in Japan, where he has lived on and off, and as a writer of English lessons for Japanese websites.  The Gargoyle, the product of seven years’ worth of research and composition, is his first book.  Davidson lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.”

www.thegargoyle.com. 

The Gargoyle takes off fast and furious; I was hooked from the first page.  I love how Andrew Davidson writes, a memoir in fiction.  It's almost poetic in its delivery, not the flowery kind, but the 'hit in the gut' kind.  It's taken me aback a few times, whoa Nellie!  But this character is speaking in his language of truths.  You can't shy away from that.

Those were the words I spoke to Debbie Haupt, the moderator of her General Fiction Board, on the Barnes & Noble Book Club Forum.  My first impressions, as I started to read this novel, The Gargoyle.

The following are the words of a friend who posted to me on my Face book page while we were talking about the use of certain offensive expletives concerning another novel---:  “ i found the use of words and language much more offensive in the poorly written 'Gargoyle' book - one man's meat is another man's poison...

I am now going to try to explain how I feel about this novel, The Gargoyle, not as a defense, but simply as a love for this book, and for this writer, Andrew Davidson.  

There are moments in our history no one can explain, except as Déjà vu; we simply feel those moments enter our being, mostly unannounced, shake our heads, and continue to move forward in time.  We all have a history, but some histories are more explainable than other’s.  That’s what I will try to get across to you while I write this book review, a hopefully believable history of these people, and how they related to me.

The main character in this novel, and I stress the word novel, because it is definitely a work of fiction, was a character of first person, living in today’s world, giving you a knockdown, blow-by-blow, of what his life was like before, during, and after his “accident”; a life as a burn victim of grotesque proportions – To be believed, or not.  The work that this author put into the creating of his novel is spellbinding, just as seen in his acknowledgements of resources.  And as I’m trying to write this review, I can’t put a name to this “main character”.  I didn't think anything of it, while reading the story.  It didn't seem important.  So, why now?  I can’t find his name anywhere in this fictional memoir!

When I mentioned, “It’s almost poetic in its delivery”, I should have said it wasn't “almost”, it was exactly that, poetic.  The rhythms of the words, the words themselves; the heart, the feelings that came through to this reader from writer of first person, rendered my heart in two pieces at best, then and now. Time traveled, you traveled, in and out of over seven hundred years of history!  These stories are amazing!  Can you believe that you, or anyone, could exist to tell that story, and then connect them all together by two people?  I suppose if you have enough faith in love, with a strong belief system in the Divine Spirit, anything is possible – well, at least in this story it is, and all bound by their truth by this author.  
It’s believable for me.  It was spellbinding; it was grotesque, but alive and compelling in a strange sort of way.  It was real.  Somewhere down the line, we are told we’re dealing with the life of an aberrant pornographer.  He admits this to us in no uncertain terms.  In other words, details follow....I believe him.  This made me pause.  I asked myself, “Do I really want to read further”?   I said, yes, I had to, to understand who this person was, or is, and what this has to do with his story as a whole.  

We look at what it’s like being a writer, a scribe, an artist, a devoted individual, or atheist;  then we are plunged into the lives of the scum of the earth.  All are graphically depicted in this story.  We deal with subjects that few writers touch upon, the hell someone experiences after being burned alive.  These feelings are real to us, we grow to understand this person, whether in the real world, or fiction, no matter what time in history you want to place them, it becomes real.  This is a human life, experiencing things no one should have to experience, and then live to tell about that life in their story.  This author tells this story to us as if we are sitting right next to him, the main character with no name; whether in his hospital bed, through his rehabilitation process, living in the outside world, talking to people, or just dealing with his disfigured life as a human being in a world who can’t see beyond their own reality.  This story makes you think twice.
As I mentioned, it’s written in memoir form, and real emotions come through this story to the readers.  The laughs that were interjected throughout made it real.  I laughed, even at the expense of this character, because that’s how he wanted us to feel him.  The aloneness of depression and what it does to you, how it makes you think, of course I felt that too, but above all we can’t forget the love that carried us through this, by these characters, even through their pain, was nothing less than miraculous.

I’ll never know how Andrew Davidson accomplished the writing of his story, but he gives us something, nothing short of Powerful and Beautiful.  I call this literary genius.  This story, for me at least, was a story to be held on to, tightly, to truly understand its full contents and impact.  I laughed, I cried, I felt all the emotions which coursed through these five hundred pages, taking place throughout eras that reflect upon present time.  We can’t be here, now, without a past to form us.

The character, Marianne Engel, was that creator, the secondary character (if that’s what you want to call her, but to me she was first and foremost in this story)....She gave us her stories, through language and sculptures, then chiseled a past for our unknown First Person, so he could live and exist for himself, today - As well as to live for us in this story in epic proportions.

My Tribute to Bill Moyers

During these last few months, while listening and reading everything I can on politics, I've come to a few conclusions.  Most people who vote party line, have it ingrained in their heads that today's parties are still the same, as in the days of yore.  The standards were set, and followed, agreed upon, year in and year out.  

So, what good does it do, now, to talk about change in one's party?  The only sameness, these days, is that it takes money to buy these parties out - But, as the prices go up, so does the amount of favors that are given in return.  

People, the lobbyist is now holding a bigger purse, accumulating party favors at bid price, and changing the way we live side by side, middle class workers versus big business - These are BIG Corporations, Enterprises that can't be touched, so it may seem.

There's a lot of shaking of heads among us, not knowing what can be done to counter this predicament, hence leaving an uneasy, useless feeling; and therefore nothing is done, and nothing changes - All questions are left unanswered.  All laws and bills are left in the hands of the highest bidder.  Let's not rock my boat, as it were.  “’They’” must know what they are doing, right?”  Let's not cause hard feelings between us. Let's leave well enough alone, it’s out of our hands....it’s that simple.  Talking about politics, with confirmed believers in their party, is like trying to rip a bandage off of a festering wound.  

And as I watch Bill Moyers' discussions each week, I see that there IS a little bit of hope that surfaces from them, not much, sometimes, but just enough.  No matter what, Bill always asks that same question, "What can be done - what can WE do, if anything, to change all this....."  I see him as a man of integrity, someone who always looks for hope for the future of our country, for the lives, us, who inhabit this complex world we live in;  always echoing his audiences unanswered question, 'what can we do to change?'  

I admire him for tackling subjects that I'd never think to approach.  I admire him for his gentle give and take, an approach that heals, and doesn't rip and tear those sore wounds; bringing restoration to a nation who wants to heal their wounds from within.

I encourage each and every one of you to listen to his program.  It's intelligent discussion at its best.  I never stop learning by listening.

http://billmoyers.com/

A letter from Bill Lathrop, President - UFCW Local 1167

VOTE NO ON PROP 32

Proposition 32, a measure on November's ballot, is the most anti-worker measure we've ever seen.  It threatens our jobs, wages, retirement, contracts and more.  In short, it silences union members while giving even more power to corporate special interests and CEO's to attack our rights.

Proposition 32 pretends it's about "stopping special interests" but that's a lie.  Its millionaire anti-union backers don't care about reform.  They don't care about our jobs.  They certainly don't care about us.  They care about their profits, and they'll do anything to get us out of the way.

Prop 32 was carefully written to weaken unions and silence workers.  While the anti-union millionaires backing it say it's balanced, it's actually full of special exemptions for all sorts of corporations, Wall Street firms, billionaire CEO's, big insurance companies and SuperPACs.  Not surprisingly, the very same corporate interests behind the measure all have their own exemptions in Prop 32.

Don't be fooled by their lies.  The fact is, the measure's backers intentionally designed it to confuse voters in order to cover up their real agenda - to silence our voice and eliminate our union's ability to fight for things like jobs, good wages, workplace safety and retirement security.

This measure is the first blow of a one-two punch.  If anti-union CEOs behind Prop 32 eliminate our voice, they'll waste no time cutting our jobs, wages and retirement to boost their own profits.  Prop 32 is bad for our families, communities and the state's middle class.  We must defeat this deceptive measure.

We urge you to vote NO on Prop 32 this November, and ask your friends, family and co-workers to do the same.

To learn more, visit www.CaliforniaLabor.org/NoOn32.  To volunteer, please contact Joe Duffle at (909) 877-5000.

In Solidarity,
Bill Lathrop, President
UFCW Local 1167

Stand Up and Be Counted

My political platform for today

What amazed me, I think the most, was what I'm hearing from  the people who stood up on stage, in front of this huge convention floor of people, and told their side of what and who Mitt Romney is, on a personal level. 

The companies that Mitt Romney invested in, were not people to him; people who worked hard all their lives to simply eek out a living, provide for their families - These companies represented a profit to Mr. Romney, and dissolving these companies, dissolved these people into the system of foreclosure, and the unemployed.  

----And it boggles my mind to think that there are so many uninformed, good people out there, who actually think Mitt Romney is what this country needs.

----And it boggles my mind to see just how much President Obama has accomplished in just four years in office.  Never before in history, has so much good been done. 

He fights for those who can't stand, the voices that are weak, and allows us to speak.  He hears our words.  He's a man of honor, and fights tooth and nail for the people of our country, so don't underestimate what more can be accomplished in the next four years.  

Don't take us back to a devastated economy, as we were four years ago, by voting for Mitt Romney.  

Do the right thing for you, for all of us, and re-elect President Obama.

A Review - The Light Between Oceans – by M. L. Stedman

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-light-between-oceans-ml-stedman/1107086384

I just finished reading this novel last night. M. L. Stedman has to be one of the most outstanding writers of this century! I've never been so captivated, by not just character and story, but the atmosphere surrounding this lighthouse.  It was inescapable; a living thing, breathing life into all that it touched.... This will be in my review of The Light Between Oceans....once I stop crying long enough to write it!

Fortunately, I have stopped crying, but it was not easy reading these last few pages.  When I showered this morning, I am sure a pound of salt washed down the drain.  The salt air, my skin absorbed from these eloquent lines of Stedman, and the tears I shed for every one of these characters.  No, not just ONE character, but ALL of them.  I even shed tears for the Lighthouse, and the island it was on, if you can believe that!

The one word that jumps out at me from this reading is the word LOVE. 

This author didn’t miss a beat in showing us all sides and ramifications of that word.  She gave it to us in actions, deeds, requests, withdrawals; matters of the heart, the mind, the soul;  matters of the individuals, of the families, as adults, as children - nothing was missed in the telling of this story, even the love given to this Lighthouse was shown in glistening clarity.

Solitary confinement lurked around in this story – The distance one takes to protect oneself.... We dove into this solitary ocean like swimmers diving for treasures....we found love was being held captive by shy yet turbulent creatures. 

The message was deep, so very deep Stedman made us dive, and it hurt at times just trying to find that love, but when you did the brilliance shown like this solitary candle light from this Lighthouse.  Even though this Lighthouse never had a speaking part, it had a voice that spoke out like the light it gave...crystal clear, through storms, through calm, through uncharted territory, it spoke to the reader, as it spoke to the sea.

I love stories where there is no accounting for characters.  Predictable or unpredictable, that is the question we all have while reading.  I never knew until the end page what I was to be expected from this writer.  The only thing I did know throughout this story was, it holds something so personal that only the individual reader can interpret for themselves. 

We all make a life in this world and it’s up to us as individuals to interpret our own circumstances; making choices the best we know how, but not always knowing the outcome until it happens. The choices are ours, the responsibility is ours.  These characters had many choices in their lives, they may not have been the ones you would have made, or maybe they would. I can’t answer for you.  I only know I was torn in so many directions while reading these circumstances that these character’s faced, I didn’t know which line of thought my own mind wanted to follow.  It was real, as real and true as life itself.

I recommend reading this book if you take life seriously.    I recommend reading this book if you find your own choices too hard to make....after reading this book you will think twice, taking a double take on your own life.  I recommend reading this book....

A Review - Dakota Blues- A Novel by Lynne M. Spreen

Dakota Blues. I want to say this title over and over again.  I want to think about what this book means to me, and remember this title.  As I look at this picture on the face of the book, with the big bold title, I wonder what it meant to this author, Lynne Morgan Spreen, to write words that encompass a lifetime for a character, by the name of Karen Grace.  I want to ask, who lives in this lonely looking house, sitting on the prairie of North Dakota?  In just a few short weeks, Karen Grace’s life is turned upside down and inside out....but through her strength, this character survives to greet the sunrise of her future.  

Questions about the “Blues”:   Do I feel blue, and saddened by this word?  Will I feel sad when I read this story? The word, “Blues”, reminds me of jazz sequences – simple and melodically following through metaphor - a riff of Karen Grace’s life, and then morphs her stagnant existence into a living and breathing whole presence on the page.  Lessons complete with a story to hold onto.

We can dance to and fro, swing back and forth, as we listen to the lessons; and then Lynne Spreen makes us stand still in the middle of the dance floor, to look at our selves staring back; The mirror, that partner we carry around with us, leading us through life, for which we rarely do stand still for, and to silently listen and learn from these life experiences.

Like always, as you can tell, I won’t give you the story, you have to read it for yourself - but what I can do is quote the first paragraph, in Chapter Two.  I love metaphor, and Lynne Spreen not only gives it to me, but shows it in this life of Karen Grace.  I recommend this book, for the young, and for the old – and all the in-betweens.

The thirty-seater bucked and lurched toward Teddy Roosevelt Regional, but Karen continued to study her computer screen, assessing the pluses and minuses of Wes’ latest cost-cutting scheme.  Only once did she pause, grasping the laptop to keep it from sailing to the floor, but she never stopped, even when the attendant warned the passengers to return to their seats and buckle up.  Like most CEO’s, Wes had been using the Great Recession as his excuse to slash staff to the bone, thereby showing positive growth on the company’s balance sheets.  Anybody who managed to creep up the salary ladder was fair game.  Age was a target, too.  The older employees were tossed onto the ice floes and shoved off into the dark waters of the frigid economy.

At fifty years old and the top of the pay scale, Karen would not let that happen to her.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!

This message was passed on to me by someone who wants to change/fix the laws as much as I do.  Please read and take action if you want change!

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!

Look what he has accomplished in his life and what he is about to gift this world with.

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure. Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2012

 No Tenure / No Pension.  A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

2.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.  

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4.  Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5.  Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6.  Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7.  All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.

Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Don't you think it's time?

I want my children and grandchildren to live in a better world.  
Pass this on to your congress person.

A Review – Boundaries, a novel by Elizabeth Nunez

This is a new novel, and a new author for me.  http://aalbc.com/authors/elizabet.htm

Elizabeth Nunez was recommended by Bernice L. McFadden, a favorite author of mine.  

I wanted to say something right away, about this book, and then finish my comments after I read it to the end.  I stayed up all night, last night, reading, and finished the last two pages this morning.

First comments: (This was twelve pages into the book.)  

I just started reading this novel, and I can say I like it.....it's wonderful to know this publisher, Kashic Books, puts out quality Literary Fiction. 

It's fascinating to me, how writers write.  What I mean is, I enjoy seeing how prose is written in such a way as to literally make you feel.  I don't mean the words, themselves, but the WAY in which those words are placed on the pages.  You get an incredible sense of the writer. You feel their pulse, their heartbeat.  At least I can, anyway.  
Elizabeth Nunez is an award winning writer.  She allows her words to flow with ease, an ease that feels like you are in her boat, floating on a vast ocean when it's calm.  You can observe the undercurrents all around, but you find calmness within this turmoil. 

Last comments:  I didn’t think it would be so difficult to address this story, but I found it wasn’t an easy read, contrary to what I first thought.  Never judge a book until you find its conclusions.

The calmness stayed, more or less, even through a boundless energy was put into this storyline.  I couldn’t feel the energy, though, I only knew it was there because the writer told me it was. With the topics of the subjects scattered wide on every page, I fell out of Elizabeth’s boat, and into a sea of churning subject matter.  I don’t like this feeling of being bombarded with characters' internal struggles, and not feel a thing.  I felt as though I was hit over the head with her oar, but felt nothing for these characters.

I wanted to know if this author was fighting for some kind of rights to live in the US.  Was that her soap box of the day? I was given a story line that dipped and swayed, until I became sick of the redundant references to conflicts of cultures, religious faiths; of black verses white, of black verses black; of tolerance verses intolerance;  the skin color references were endless....the old bitterness that causes havoc in our protagonist, Anna, and the people around her, endlessly spins in your head. 
    
     I crawled back into Elizabeth’s boat, even though it was an uphill fight just to keep my hand from closing this book forever.  It was crowded in that boat, and I wanted to know why these subjects were being introduced at odd moments, given as examples from these characters, and interrupting the flow of story. It was as if the author got tired of keeping you in the moment, by hearkening you back to let you know she knows her history books, whether from first hand experience, or from reading...from whence it all came, I didn't know.

The flat line syntax is unnerving.  Omnipotent stretches into utterly boring dialogue.  Descriptions, references, stories, memories, memoir,  and the history of publishing and editing of books was thrown into the mix as well....all wrapping this novel into a bundle of halting lectures by these characters and this author.  I don’t like to be given history in lecture form in a novel.  I kept saying, stop the redundant telling, you said it once, and once is enough; now get to the damn characters and their POV; get into the moment, and on with the story!

  Two hundred and fifty-six pages of a small size book about immigration and differences that make the world go 'round; and around, and around, and around.  

A Review - Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe

I just did the math, and it was one hundred and sixty-one years ago that this book was written.   My question is, to my self and to those who have read this book, do you think it stood the test of time?  There is more to this book than just a storyline of a man’s life, a man by the name of Uncle Tom.  

There are many characters to see, all from their own point of view.  The Narrator will take you to different parts of the southern and northern states, and into Canada; she will show you how life was then.  This story is all based on hard, cold, facts.

The writing is exemplary.  How magnificently Stowe takes you through this story with force, with gentleness, with sympathy, with religious fervor, all emanating from a full heart.  I cried while reading this story.  And if you are open to all of this, you’ll find something that demands to dwell within your own heart. 

The United States was founded upon the Christian’s moral belief system, and to fully understand what that meant then, and what it means today, and how it was a major subject of influence pertaining to slavery, this is a book that should be read by everyone today.

What I consider complex lines of sentences and dialogue were written in a period of time that none of us witnessed; unrest for all people of the United States.  But, even in today’s age, we can still see the results of this unrest.

Slavery wasn’t a popular subject to talk about, let alone write about, but Stowe’s ability to write this story in detail, I consider more than brave. [From the Introduction]........“Her ear for dialect and her eye for detail, her masterful handling of suspense and pathos, and her sympathetic embrace of all the nations’ regions.”, this all stood out to me as I read every word.   

Stowe doesn’t cut anyone slack as she writes her truths.  In this, she gives us a story that has endured, and continues to endure, with each character crying out to stand alone in our souls.  

Uncle Tom's Cabin

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/uncle-toms-cabin-harriet-beecher-stowe/1100025188?ean=9781593081218

One thing I've started to do is attempt to read classic books I've never read before.  I'm finding my visual vocabulary and speech needs some work, and shifting my reading syntax gears, majorly, is in order to fully comprehend this particular work.

 

I grew up in a movie theater, as my father was a manager for several years, and watching black and white films, and black and white TV, from the 40’s and 50’s, was just what it was, black and white...where the South was depicted in black and white...giving the same speech patterns and actions of people that Stowe uses in her writing of this book.  The one thing I can do is visualize, easily, these sets of actions and emotions she places on her pages.

 

There is an introduction and notes by Amanda Claybaugh, and a chronological listing of world events during the time of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s life, which gives insight to the writing of this book.  This book is over four hundred pages, and I’m barely into forty of them, so I have a ways to go.  But, already, I get what this writer is trying to convey to her readers.  It’s powerful in its concept.  I see, now, why the dividing line existed(s) between people and states, because of this story.

I’ve watched a few programs presented by a PBS station on the history of blacks and whites in the public eye...tracing their history back as far as they can go.  These people are amazed at their heritage, their linage, and how slavery brought them to present day.  I find it all not just fascinating, but historically revealing, telling us more than just an order of birth, but showing bloodlines that cross all boundaries.

I hope to continue to write a fuller review of this story, once I finish reading...and digesting it all.

A Review - The Shoemaker's Wife, a novel by Adriana Trigiani

I rarely write a review right after I've read the book, but in this case I really need to.

I've read Trigiani's novels, Brava Valentine, and Very Valentine, and loved them for several reasons.  The tale, of course, but the humor, and the serious introspection that accompanied them. Those two books told a story that was easy to digest, in contrast to this last novel, The Shoemaker's Wife.

I'm not saying that this wasn't a wonderful story, in-and-of-itself, but after traversing through 470 pages of maudlin reminiscing, characters' dying scenes, one after another; characters dredging back memories to the point of, "Just get me to the next paragraph without another memory throwing me into melancholy, please!"   

Skimming, off and on, and especially at the end, drove me through the heart wrenching past, was unavoidable.  I hate having to skim!  But do I need to hear the same story repeated, again?

Adriana Trigiani can tell a compelling story, in detail after detail, but I ran out of patience with detail, and Kleenex, by the time I reached the end.  In my emotional state, I was ready to sail the book to the far corners of Italy.."Go home!", I yelled...wherever the hell home is.

I know there is more to say about this book, but at the moment I'm dog tired.  After spending a lifetime with these characters who yearned for what could never be - wanting the future, no, wanting the past; wanting that job, wanting that person in their life.......no, we have to live in the present, no it's time to go home....What country?  What town?  What city?

Now, I'm going to bed.

A Review - The Warmest December, a novel by Bernice L McFadden

Read an excerpt, Chapter 1, here:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warmest-december-bernice-l-mcfadden/1101064287?ean=9781617750359

WOW is an understatement!

POWERFUL!  GRIPPING! Entering your heart without hesitation, Bernice L. McFadden takes you through a daughter’s alcoholic family life, from present to past, to present, finding a forgiveness that tears at your skin, demanding to be there, owning its residency.  A must read for anyone who takes real literature seriously.

         McFadden’s exemplary writing and compelling story will hold onto you until you turn the last page - I felt every last word, from beginning to end.

Laughter of The Wind

mocking

taunting

come here

go there

listen to the wind

the voice laughs in my face

full blown strength gutting my image

stripping, smearing me the length of the field

no flowers, just spikes sticking out of the ground

you wait for me to appear

you whisper to me sweetly

you soak me up like a sponge

I’m lost to your voice completely

brace yourself, the wind tells me

as I careen around the edges of my fate

laugh, wind, go ahead and laugh!

your thorny nettles settle deep within my skin

quietly I wait

for a tender sound

you pick me up

to throw me down

Reading and Writing

I find I don't read like most everyone else. That can sometimes be a plus, or sometimes a minus. I plod along at the pace that the writing sets for me.  I read with a tempo that comes from the words and punctuation on the page.  And maybe it's my age, or maybe experience, or maybe it’s just the place I find myself in at this moment in my life.

After being on the Barnes & Noble book discussion boards for over a decade, I find I’ve grown extremely analytical, and sensitive to finding out just why I do (or don't) like either an author's writing, or a story.  This can proceed into the extreme.        

I’m finding I no longer can sort through (delicately pick and choose) my words on a book discussion, I go directly to the point, and it may mean tearing a throat out in the process.  It’s not personal, just a clinical dissection, which can harm a discussion as I cut to the chase.  I feel I can no longer participate on these discussions.  But, it's for a number of reasons, not just this one.  

A novel should be about life, at least in my estimation.  A novel should be about the truths of that life of those characters.  A novel should take you along a journey of self discovery....for better, or for worse, those characters should make a real impression on you.

And now, being part of a critique writers group, I’ve been given even more reasons to delve into what words should, or should not do for a reader - Finding out what a writer wants to accomplish in their writing, that's important to me - And through this process it helps me to learn more about myself as a person, not just as a writer.  Analysis doesn’t stop with just the words on a page, for me it goes deeper.  My own writing reveals who and what I am, a soul I can no longer hold onto.

Destiny - My Thoughts on Haruki Murakami

At this moment, I’m reading my sixth novel by Haruki Murakami, Dance, Dance, Dance, and loving it, just as I’ve loved all of his novels.  He puts everything anyone could want into his stories, and more.  I can’t stress, “And more” enough.

We all dream, that’s a given, but how many of us make it a conscious effort to remember?  I honestly think Murakami does!  Every story he writes comes through with both profound thought, and lyrical verse. 

Thinking in a dream vacuum isn’t so unusual, especially when you’re writing poetry, it’s snippets of time presented in a verse, but, when I read Murakami's words, I wonder if those dreams of mine could flow as easily as his, in the way he places them so delicately within reality.  I can't. 

I truly believe he’s a genius, when it comes to making sentences dance.  I can feel his beat, I can follow his steps, and holding onto each of his words is like falling in love.  Give Haruki Murakami a try, he’s an amazing story teller.

Destiny 

I was falling free, floating in and out of a dream, when I heard knocking at my door

My mind was drawing circles in space

trying to capture

your face

soon to touch

my core

I held the door open, you fell into me

into love

profound destiny

A Review – Gathering of Waters, A Novel by Bernice L. McFadden

 

        I begin by saying, this writer, Bernice L. McFadden, was new to me, and Gathering of Waters was my first experience reading her work.

I am blown away by her prose!  I am blown away by this story!  Her words simply blew me into a world of beauty, heartbreak, hate, but most of all love.

From the first page, I was hooked, and the cliché is always, “I couldn’t put the book down”.  Well, I couldn’t!

We talk about words, and how they are just black letters on white pages, but while reading this writer, McFadden, she does something extraordinary with those letters....they are feathers and clouds strung together with magical string, one following the other, and softly flow around you and caress you, until you feel part of these people, and the town of Money, Mississippi.

Money narrates this story, yes, the town itself tells of the people who come and go, which live and die, and survive.   I laughed at times; I cried at times, I was haunted and humbled by these people who told me their stories. Gathering of Waters is poignant; it comes alive by this author’s hand, and should (I hope) live in the hearts of all America.

A Review - Pure - A Novel by Julianna Baggott

 

I'm usually not a post-Apocalypse fan, but I did read Justin Cronin's tome and liked it very much...so if he says this is a good read, and Lisa Tucker says she loved it - well, okay, I'm sold.  But I need to make up my own mind, just as any reader must.

While in the midst of reading this book, I had to say:  I have read some unusual stories in my day, but this has to be the weirdest one yet! This author, Julianna Baggott, goes hog wild with her imagination, and as I tend to critique books as I read along, some of this story just can not be conceivable.

So, I read on:  I'm such a visual realist; I found it difficult to visualize this apocalyptic landscape, let alone wrap my head around these futuristic concepts and people who live in this wasteland.  It is not possible; again I say this to myself.  But, there is a But, because in some part of me, in some peculiar way, this writer hooked me into this strange story.  A degree of good writing brings intrigue, and lots of thought provoking scenarios, in a mixed metaphor kind of oxymoron way:  Fascinatingly sweet and sour – Poignantly beautiful and ugly – Drops you into memories of past and present – Psychologically, and a huge amount of physical polar opposites of every ‘real’ known thing, living and or dead.  Now that I’ve totally confused you, there is more.

I stayed up until two a.m. reading to the end.  There are some stories that are compelling in their own heart break, their own sorrows, which all does happen to emit from these characters, enough to keep you reading.  These characters hold you to them, taking you into that next breath, but the problem for me was, I struggled to find my own breath as they found theirs.  And as I read to the end, I had hopes of finding a small amount of relief.   I didn’t.  I must say, this story has all the light and dark edges of wanting more, but the unfortunate thing is, I don’t.

In a nutshell, I found it mind exhausting, trying to keep up with this action filled, implausible story, putting my senses in turmoil and wanting relief in logic that this story couldn’t offer.  I admit it did have its touching moments, but it felt forced in a land mine or visual horrors.  This is only the first in a sequel, and I’m sure things will all work out in the end, whatever those loose ends may be, but I’m just not up to it.   

Maybe this story needs a young audience, or maybe less violence, or gross exaggerations.  But how much horror and violence do we need in this day and age?  I don’t have the answers, but if strange post-apocalyptic melodramatic characterization is what you are looking for in teenagers in the next life, you have definitely found it in Julianna Baggott’s, Pure.