Author: Lynn Austin
Published: 2011
Genre: Christian Fiction
Rating: 4
Summary
Alice Grace Ripley lives in a dream world, her nose stuck in a book. But the happily-ever-after life she's planned on suddenly falls apart when her boyfriend, Gordon, breaks up with her, accusing her of living in a world of fiction instead of the real world. Then to top it off, Alice loses her beloved job at the library because of cutbacks due to the Great Depression.
Fleeing small-town gossip, Alice heads to the mountains of eastern Kentucky to deliver five boxes of donated books to a library in the tiny coal-mining village of Acorn. Dropped off by her relatives, Alice volunteers to stay for two weeks to help the librarian, Leslie McDougal.
But the librarian turns out to be far different than she anticipated--not to mention the four lady librarians who travel to the remote homes to deliver the much-desired books. When Alice is trapped in Acorn against her will, she soon finds that real-life adventure and mystery--and especially romance--are far better than her humble dreams could have imagined.
Review
A fun journey. Although the character development is predictable, some of the plot events are not. Recommended for anyone who loves books and reading.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men
Author: Leonard Sax
Published: 2007
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: 4
Summary
Something scary is happening to boys today. From kindergarten to college, they are less resilient and less ambitious than they were a mere twenty years ago. As for young men, it turns out the film Failure to Launch is not far from the truth. Fully one-third of men ages 22-34 are still living at home with their parents--about a 100 percent increase in the past twenty years. Boys nationwide are increasingly dropping out of school; fewer are going to college; and for the first time in American history, women are outnumbering men at undergraduate institutions three to two.
Parents, teachers, and mental health professionals are worried about boys. But until now, no one has come up with good reasons for their decline--and, more important, with workable solutions to reverse this troubling trend. Now, family physician and research psychologist Dr. Leonard Sax delves into the scientific literature and draws on his vast clinical experience to propose an entirely original view of why boys and young men are failing in school and at home. He argues that a combination of social, cultural, and biological factors is creating an environment that is literally toxic to boys, ranging from environmental estrogens to the over-prescription of ADHD drugs. And he presents practical solutions--from new ways of controlling boys’ use of video games to innovative (and workable) education reforms.
Review
A must-read for anyone raising boys in our society...or who knows any young man who falls into the category of "drifting." Well-written and easily understandable. I couldn't put it down.
My one complaint is with the "solutions." While Sax offers some good ideas of what to do to help younger boys and teenagers avoid falling into the "drifting" category, there was very little direction on what to do to help the 20-somethings who have already "drifted" find motivation and drive.
Published: 2007
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: 4
Summary
Something scary is happening to boys today. From kindergarten to college, they are less resilient and less ambitious than they were a mere twenty years ago. As for young men, it turns out the film Failure to Launch is not far from the truth. Fully one-third of men ages 22-34 are still living at home with their parents--about a 100 percent increase in the past twenty years. Boys nationwide are increasingly dropping out of school; fewer are going to college; and for the first time in American history, women are outnumbering men at undergraduate institutions three to two.
Parents, teachers, and mental health professionals are worried about boys. But until now, no one has come up with good reasons for their decline--and, more important, with workable solutions to reverse this troubling trend. Now, family physician and research psychologist Dr. Leonard Sax delves into the scientific literature and draws on his vast clinical experience to propose an entirely original view of why boys and young men are failing in school and at home. He argues that a combination of social, cultural, and biological factors is creating an environment that is literally toxic to boys, ranging from environmental estrogens to the over-prescription of ADHD drugs. And he presents practical solutions--from new ways of controlling boys’ use of video games to innovative (and workable) education reforms.
Review
A must-read for anyone raising boys in our society...or who knows any young man who falls into the category of "drifting." Well-written and easily understandable. I couldn't put it down.
My one complaint is with the "solutions." While Sax offers some good ideas of what to do to help younger boys and teenagers avoid falling into the "drifting" category, there was very little direction on what to do to help the 20-somethings who have already "drifted" find motivation and drive.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Let's Roll!: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage
Author: Lisa Beamer, Ken Abraham
Published: 2002
Genre: Narrative nonfiction
Rating: 2.5
Summary
A moving, behind-the-scenes story of United Flight 93 hero Todd Beamer as told by his wife Lisa. A message of character, courage, and undeniable faith in the face of horrifying tragedy. This work encourages anyone who reads it to live "real" life "right now" . . . and to have confidence and hope for the future.
Reivew
This really is about ordinary people, which sometimes didn't make for compelling reading. But their devotion and religious foundation was inspiring. And the actions of ordinary people in an extremely extraordinary situation were an amazing reminder of what a difference just a few people can make.
Notes
I completed reading this on 9/11--which was a good way to personally reflect on the experiences of 11 years ago.
Published: 2002
Genre: Narrative nonfiction
Rating: 2.5
Summary
A moving, behind-the-scenes story of United Flight 93 hero Todd Beamer as told by his wife Lisa. A message of character, courage, and undeniable faith in the face of horrifying tragedy. This work encourages anyone who reads it to live "real" life "right now" . . . and to have confidence and hope for the future.
Reivew
This really is about ordinary people, which sometimes didn't make for compelling reading. But their devotion and religious foundation was inspiring. And the actions of ordinary people in an extremely extraordinary situation were an amazing reminder of what a difference just a few people can make.
Notes
I completed reading this on 9/11--which was a good way to personally reflect on the experiences of 11 years ago.
A Hundred Flowers
Author: Gail Tsukiyama
Published: 2012
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4
Summary
China, 1957. Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society: “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.” Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying’s husband, Sheng, a teacher, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. But one July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as Sheng is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for “reeducation.”
A year later, still missing his father desperately, Tao climbs to the top of the hundred-year-old kapok tree in front of their home, wanting to see the mountain peaks in the distance. But Tao slips and tumbles thirty feet to the courtyard below, badly breaking his leg.
As Kai Ying struggles to hold her small family together in the face of this shattering reminder of her husband’s absence, other members of the household must face their own guilty secrets and strive to find peace in a world where the old sense of order is falling.
Review
A well-crafted, story about struggles during the Cultural Revolution. The characters are flawed but empathetic, and the plot is unique.
Published: 2012
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4
Summary
China, 1957. Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society: “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.” Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying’s husband, Sheng, a teacher, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. But one July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as Sheng is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for “reeducation.”
A year later, still missing his father desperately, Tao climbs to the top of the hundred-year-old kapok tree in front of their home, wanting to see the mountain peaks in the distance. But Tao slips and tumbles thirty feet to the courtyard below, badly breaking his leg.
As Kai Ying struggles to hold her small family together in the face of this shattering reminder of her husband’s absence, other members of the household must face their own guilty secrets and strive to find peace in a world where the old sense of order is falling.
Review
A well-crafted, story about struggles during the Cultural Revolution. The characters are flawed but empathetic, and the plot is unique.
The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations
Author: Zhu Xiao-Mei (Ellen Hinsey, Translator)
Published: 2012
Genre: Autobiography
Rating: 4
Summary
Zhu Xiao-Mei was three years old when she saw her first piano, a cherished instrument introduced into her family's Beijing home by her mother. Soon after, she began to play, developing quickly into a prodigy who immersed herself in the work of such classical masters as Bach and Brahms. Her astonishing proficiency earned her a spot at the Beijing Conservatory at the tender age of eleven, where she began laying the foundation for a promising career as a concert pianist.
But in 1966, with the onset of the Cultural Revolution, life as she knew it ended abruptly. The Communist Party's campaign against culture forced the closure of art schools and resulted in the deportation of countless Chinese, including Xiao-Mei and her entire family. She spent five years in a work camp in Inner Mongolia, suffering under abysmal living conditions and a brutal brainwashing campaign. Yet through it all, Xiao-Mei kept her dream alive, drawing on the power of music to sustain her courage.
Review
An amazing journey of clinging to and eventually developing a musical gift despite unbelievably challenging circumstances. A fascinating, educational, inspiring, and exceptionally well-translated read.
Published: 2012
Genre: Autobiography
Rating: 4
Summary
Zhu Xiao-Mei was three years old when she saw her first piano, a cherished instrument introduced into her family's Beijing home by her mother. Soon after, she began to play, developing quickly into a prodigy who immersed herself in the work of such classical masters as Bach and Brahms. Her astonishing proficiency earned her a spot at the Beijing Conservatory at the tender age of eleven, where she began laying the foundation for a promising career as a concert pianist.
But in 1966, with the onset of the Cultural Revolution, life as she knew it ended abruptly. The Communist Party's campaign against culture forced the closure of art schools and resulted in the deportation of countless Chinese, including Xiao-Mei and her entire family. She spent five years in a work camp in Inner Mongolia, suffering under abysmal living conditions and a brutal brainwashing campaign. Yet through it all, Xiao-Mei kept her dream alive, drawing on the power of music to sustain her courage.
Review
An amazing journey of clinging to and eventually developing a musical gift despite unbelievably challenging circumstances. A fascinating, educational, inspiring, and exceptionally well-translated read.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Brave New World
Author: Aldous Huxley
Published: 1932
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4
Summary
Far in the future, the World Controllers have finally created the ideal society. In laboratories worldwide, genetic science has brought the human race to perfection. From the Alpha-Plus mandarin class to the Epsilon-Minus Semi-Morons, designed to perform menial tasks, man is bred and educated to be blissfully content with his pre-destined role.
But, in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, Bernard Marx is unhappy. Harbouring an unnatural desire for solitude, feeling only distaste for the endless pleasures of compulsory promiscuity, Bernard has an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress….
Review
A fascinating look at "the future" from 1932. Great social commentary on individualism, freedom, perfectionism, drug abuse, and many other social ills. The ending was abrupt but predictable.
Published: 1932
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4
Summary
Far in the future, the World Controllers have finally created the ideal society. In laboratories worldwide, genetic science has brought the human race to perfection. From the Alpha-Plus mandarin class to the Epsilon-Minus Semi-Morons, designed to perform menial tasks, man is bred and educated to be blissfully content with his pre-destined role.
But, in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, Bernard Marx is unhappy. Harbouring an unnatural desire for solitude, feeling only distaste for the endless pleasures of compulsory promiscuity, Bernard has an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress….
Review
A fascinating look at "the future" from 1932. Great social commentary on individualism, freedom, perfectionism, drug abuse, and many other social ills. The ending was abrupt but predictable.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
The Whistling Season
Author: Ivan Doig
Published: 2006
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.5
Summary
Can't cook but doesn't bite." So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the hungry attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909. And so begins the unforgettable season that deposits the noncooking, nonbiting, ever-whistling Rose Llewellyn and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris Morgan, in Marias Coulee. When the schoolmarm runs off with an itinerant preacher, Morris is pressed into service, setting the stage for the "several kinds of education"--none of them of the textbook variety--Morris and Rose will bring to Oliver, his three sons, and the rambunctious students in the region's one-room schoolhouse.
Review
Told through the eye of the exceptionally intelligent oldest son of a Montana dry farmer. The action--while not fast-paced--is well-crafted and appropriately reflects the pace of life at the time. The unique setting is engaging; the characters well-developed and interesting. Nice prose. A great read.
Published: 2006
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.5
Summary
Can't cook but doesn't bite." So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the hungry attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909. And so begins the unforgettable season that deposits the noncooking, nonbiting, ever-whistling Rose Llewellyn and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris Morgan, in Marias Coulee. When the schoolmarm runs off with an itinerant preacher, Morris is pressed into service, setting the stage for the "several kinds of education"--none of them of the textbook variety--Morris and Rose will bring to Oliver, his three sons, and the rambunctious students in the region's one-room schoolhouse.
Review
Told through the eye of the exceptionally intelligent oldest son of a Montana dry farmer. The action--while not fast-paced--is well-crafted and appropriately reflects the pace of life at the time. The unique setting is engaging; the characters well-developed and interesting. Nice prose. A great read.
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