Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

2.5 stars

This book is a memoir of Piper Kerman.  I read this book for one of my book clubs and I was enjoying the book through about the sixth or seventh chapter.  There are eighteen chapters in all.  Piper’s story starts with her being a rebel as a college graduate trying to find her way without conforming to the “path most traveled”.  I’m unsure how many people go through this process, but I did.  I went to college right out of high school and felt “alone” and out of place somehow.  I struggled, while listening to Whitesnake’s “Here I go again”; yes, I graduated from high school in the 80s.  Piper took a path most do not.  She followed her girlfriend around the world and became involved in drug trafficking.  Remember when you parents told you that there are consequences for all of your actions?  Well, Piper found this to be true even if it was 10 years later that she had to pay for her part in the crimes she committed.

I enjoyed the first chapters and became less and less engaged as the book went on for several reasons.  First, Piper began to preach to me about everything that is wrong with our correctional facilities.  I’m a liberal conservative (I know it sounds like an oxymoron) and I do not agree with government programs, in general, and I do not agree that people in prison should receive more than law-abiding citizens do.  I do not think that prison is where people are sent to become better, but to be punished for something they have done.  It isn’t perfect, but I can’t think of anything that is.  Second, Piper seemed to move from a strong and opinionated person to a kind of mushy person.  Heck, on second thought, I guess most of us would become somewhat mushy spending a year in a prison.  She did appreciate her relationships more and realize that she wasn’t alone in the world.

The Spare Room by Helen Garner

3 stars

I’ve read a few books that give me the same sense of peacefulness and slow-paced life.  Another that comes to mind is Elinore Putruitt Stewart’s Letters of a Woman Homesteader”.  Though the topic is anything but happy this book is humorous.  Nicola and Helen are friends and Nicola comes to stay with Helen while pursuing alternative medication for stage 4 cancer.  The care that Helen takes to prepare Nicola’s room, the spare room, is touching.  I can picture the room as Helen Garner describes it.  I can smell the grass and rain come through the window in a breeze.  I love Helen Garner’s writing style.

Through the book I shifted my alliances.  I was with Nicola hoping that the alternative treatment for her cancer was a true solution and then I would be pessimistic and agreeing with Helen that the alternative medicine was a scam and senseless. 

Bessy, Helen’s granddaughter, lent some humor and lightness to the story.  I enjoyed the book, but because of the subject, I couldn’t read it again.

Cake Icing, Butt Budder and Tea Lids by Renee Andrews

5 stars

This book made me laugh.  Not just a chuckle, but deep, belly-grabbing laughs.  I smirked, rejoiced, hoped and said, “atta girl” throughout the book.  This is a book that you will love or hate.  If you are the type of person that believes in love at first sight (yes, I do), family that sticks together can accomplish almost anything, a child’s dreams and hopefulness and that love is worth everything then this book is for you. 

Deliliah, an acronym for Deidre Edna Lucinda Isabelle Laila Ann Hiram, and Edna are sisters and the book starts with Delilah having a baby named Jezebel.  It follows the life of Jezebel and is told from her perspective.  It is broken into the three section noted by the title, Cake Icing, which is a happy wonderful life beginning and childhood.  Butt Budder, I’m not giving that away.  You’ll have to read the book to find out about this section.  Finally, Tea Lids, which is all about a happy woman named Daisey that changes Jezebel’s perspective on life and influences the way she chooses to live.  Give it a read; I don’t think you will be sorry.

What Came After by Sam Winston

3 stars

The main character, Henry Weller, is a good guy.  He is a good husband and father; someone that one could look up to as a role model. As he maneuvers through the government-collapsed America, poisoned soil and corporate-run society the landscape of the story begins to scare you.  Maybe this is because I don’t read dystopian novels, but it scared me.  Chemicals poisoning our food so much it has to be sanitized after pulling it from the ground prior to eating it.  The Zone is where the lower-class lives and they eat what they can as they cannot afford to have their food sanitized.  Thus, there are many medical abnormalities found in The Zone.

Henry does a favor, fixing a rare Hummer vehicle, for a rich man.  In return, the rich man, Carmichael, takes a picture with Henry and his daughter, along with Carmichael’s son.  Carmichael writes that he “owes him one” on the picture.  This seemingly inconsequential act starts the story on its way.

Henry starts to walk with his daughter to New York to get Carmichael to have Penny, Henry’s daughter, sight fixed by doctors the rich are privy to.  The journey, turmoil and desperation that Henry goes through to ensure his daughter’s sight is restored.  The book revolves around Henry’s love for his daughter.  What is stronger than that?  Nothing, as Henry shows through the disastrous environment in which this story takes place.

I took a horror pictures class from the 1940s to the 1970s when I was at college.  Yes, it was an elective class, but I did learn something I hadn’t thought about prior to this class.  Horror pictures are based on society’s fears.  Such a simple idea; what else could make a great horror flick?  Well, with the documentaries I’ve watched, blogs I’ve read, news etc about chemicals, organic versus non-organic, cattle feeding I can see why this would be a scary or dystopian novel.  I recommend it.

Grave Situation by Alex MacLean

4 stars

Allan Stanton is an emotionally distressed Lieutenant in Canada.  He is sitting on a case going cold and feeling badly and responsible for not being able to bring the guilty one to justice.  Then more murders begin to occur.  Mr. MacLean takes you through the characters background, emotions and reasoning.  This insight gave me the ability to empathize with each of the characters and their situation whether their situation was of their own doing or not.

The murder mystery is intelligent and gruesome.  I found that the religious beliefs of the characters was somewhat surprising, but I found this to be a reminder that people that believe in God and organized religion can do very bad things.  Something I’ve always known but am always surprised by.  Now, don't think that statement makes me a "holier than thou" person.  I just find it very surprising that people who believe in God and go to church are able to lack humanity.  Enough said.  I'll probably bring this up again.

I have started to read quotes in books at the end of the book to see how it applies to the story.  Chapter 1 starts with, “The only way to escape the abyss is to look at it, gauge it, sound it out and descend into it” by Cesare Pavese (an Italian novelist and poet I looked up on Google).  This quote applies to the book and life itself, of course!  It applies to fear!  Well, in my life it applies to fear.  Go for your dreams!  Make yourself happy!  Stop doing the status quo!  Same advise as from Nigel Marsh's "Fat, Forty and Fired."  Hmmm...a theme?

Yes, anther first novel.  I haven’t read a well-known author for sometime now and I haven’t found a reason to yet.  I have found so many first novels that are extremely good and free.  I will follow Mr. MacLean’s writing career with his next novel, “One Kill Away” and on.

The Mind Thieves by Lori Brighton

2.5 stars

Well, hmm what to say about the second book in The Mind Readers series.  No, it was not as good as the first.  Why?  Well, my theory is that we already know the characters and the premise of the story so the surprises aren’t as frequent.  There are still a few surprises in this book.  Cameron, like any teenager I’ve ever met, won’t listen and seems to think she is smarter than her elders.  Others have reviewed that Cameron’s reactions are dramatic.  I think anyone with a teenage daughter will attest that frustration and drama goes with the territory.

There is more to the book than Cameron’s ability to read minds.  It has the changing familial relationship difficulties.  Teenagers growing up without mothers and fathers.  The tension between parents that are unmarried along with step-siblings.  The predicament of the children having to take sides at times and feeling disloyal.

I still liked the book and will read the third book when it is released.  I have to find out what happens.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

3 stars

I love reading author’s first books.  I find that they are new and exciting.  I read this for one of my book clubs and I was delighted with the story.  The story was mysterious and made me want to read more.  I was intrigued and found that I could not stop reading.  

I did find that the characters, though mysterious and interesting, were not characters that I cared all that much about.  The exception was Bailey introduced as a small boy driven by child-like enthusiasm and ability to believe in the unfathomable.  He was enduring and made me remember a child’s hopes and dreams.

I haven’t read a book that made me feel oddly mystical with a sense that magic was real and normal. This book was well written and induces a feeling of optimism.  Part 1 ends with a quote from Oscar Wilde, “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” This quote describes the essence of this story.

This of course brought out thoughts of my world and perhaps magical happenings in my life.  Ideas, thoughts, strategies; they all come to me when I least expect them.  They come to me when I’m relaxed, in a dream, while I’m reading or watching the grass being watered.  Books always influence how I see the world and give me different ideas as to what perhaps can change.  Inspiration, at its best.