tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63916394971883984582024-03-21T04:30:23.468-05:00A Worn PathBlogging about books & reading, with other topics thrown in at whimJoannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.comBlogger437125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-67218583889967573512014-07-31T06:00:00.000-05:002014-08-01T20:00:47.541-05:00Book Review: The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My family and I spent a week at the beach in early June. While I was there, I couldn't have picked a better beach read! I first read Wendy Wax when the second book in this series was released. (<a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2012/06/book-review-ocean-beach-by-wendy-wax.html">Click here</a> for my review of Wax's <i>Ocean Beach, </i>which followed a trio of friends as they renovated a mansion in Miami.)<br />
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The series opened with <i>Ten Beach Road</i>, which began a friendship with a trio of women that has had a super-lasting power. In truth, Avery, Kyra, and Nicole have become more family than friends, dragging into their tightly-knit circle both Kyra's mother Maddie (and infant son Dustin) and Avery's mother Diedre. <i>Ocean Beach </i>followed, along with the holiday novella <i>Christmas at the Beach.</i><br />
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After being reluctantly dragged/ forced into a reality show featuring their renovations, the team meets up for a fourth time -- and a second season -- to film <i>Do Over.</i> Although many of their original issues have been resolved in one way or another, the ladies still have a lot of baggage. Baggage that they will now have to drag onto a remote private island in the Florida Keys.<br />
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The accommodations are a little less than stellar, despite the fact that the island belongs to a former rock star. In fact, William Hightower is less than accommodating -- rather, like the ladies, financial necessity has forced him into a business relationship with the network to film <i>Do Over.</i> That and a final stint in rehab, after which his son has laid down the law: do the show, or sell Mermaid Point.<br />
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Wax doesn't disappoint; <i>Mermaid Point</i> features the mother-daughter relationship issues included in previous books, primarily between recently-reunited Avery and Deidre. She also sprinkles in plenty of romance, both with established relationships and new duos. The setting couldn't be more perfect for a summer read, and Wax does an excellent job of describing life and the landscape on the Keys.<br />
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If there are a few overly-dramatic-feeling scenes, readers will forgive them easily. <i>The House on Mermaid Point</i> is exactly what it sells itself as -- the perfect soapy beach read. For readers of the series, as well as new readers, <i>Mermaid Point</i> should make its way into your beach bag and into your heart. I promise it will be filled with sand and sprinkled with sea (or pool) water, as every great summer read should be, because you'll find it unquestionably complements your sunbathing.<br />
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Find out more about Wendy Wax and the Ten Beach Road series at <a href="http://authorwendywax.com/">her website</a>.<br />
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This post is part of a July blog tour celebrating the release of <i>The House on Mermaid Point. </i>For more reviews, visit Penguin's blog tour page for the novel.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-2509117475755466612014-07-14T07:00:00.000-05:002014-07-14T07:00:04.684-05:00Book Review: Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Two years ago everyone was talking about <i><a href="http://www.mariasemple.com/whered-you-go-bernadette-the-book/">Where'd You Go Bernadette</a></i>. I put it on my to-read list and my Amazon wish list, and then I promptly forgot about it. That was a big mistake, but one with a redeeming quality -- it meant I got to enjoy it this summer.<br />
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Author <a href="http://www.mariasemple.com/about/">Maria Semple</a> began her writing career with a different sort of writing -- television screenwriting. She wrote for shows like <i>Beverly Hills, 90210</i>, <i>Mad About You</i>, and <i>Arrested Development</i>, among others, so it is no surprise I liked her writing style.<br />
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I listened to the audiobook version of <i><a href="http://www.mariasemple.com/whered-you-go-bernadette-the-book/">Where'd You Go Bernadette</a></i>, so I can't speak to how the layout of the novel works in print. Written in emails, reports, articles, and the like (even a report card), it would be easy for it to fall apart and become a loosely jumbled together mess lacking any cohesion. Instead, in Semple's hands, it flows seamlessly, relating the story of Bernadette Fox's disappearance and her daughter Bee's search for the truth.<br />
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Bee lives with her Bill Gates-like tech genius father Elgin Branch and her brilliant architect mother Bernadette Fox. The family has a 10,000 square foot house in Seattle. Her father makes huge money at Microsoft, Bee attends a private school, and -- at least on the surface -- all seems to be golden.<br />
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But the truth is a bit darker and less than golden. Elgin spends almost all of his time at work, the house is an old girls' school in a state of chronic disrepair, and Bernadette hasn't worked (or even frequently left the house) in years. Bee, a model student and extraordinarily likable girl, is the family's shining star; she lights up their world.<br />
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As she prepares to graduate from middle school, she cashes in on her parents' long-ago promise to give her anything she wants as a graduation present. Antarctica. Specifically, a cruise to Antarctica. Her parents acquiesce, although her mother secretly tries to find ways out of leaving the house and living in such close proximity to other people during their trip. One of her coping mechanisms is to farm out the responsibilities of planning the trip to a virtual assistant in Indian whom she hires over the internet.<br />
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As Elgin hires a new admin during a whirlwind project at work and Bernadette spins crazily out of control, only Bee remains oblivious to the disastrous path her family seems bound to spiral down. Things reach a boiling point when Elgin decides he must intervene and Bernadette disappears. 'Where <i>did</i> Bernadette go?' is the question that drives the novel, although Semple reveals so much more throughout the course of the book.<br />
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At once a piercing satire and a genuinely heart-warming tale, <i><a href="http://www.mariasemple.com/whered-you-go-bernadette-the-book/">Where'd You Go Bernadette</a></i> is a must-read. You will fall in love with all of the characters, then become dangerously annoyed with them, and ultimately love them once again.<br />
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Links with love for <i><a href="http://www.mariasemple.com/whered-you-go-bernadette-the-book/">Bernadette</a></i>:<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/books/whered-you-go-bernadette-a-maria-semple-novel.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">NY Times review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/08/14/157227450/screwball-satire-with-a-warm-heart-in-bernadette">NPR review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/07/go-bernadette-maria-semple-review">The Guardian review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://shelf-life.ew.com/2013/04/02/maria-semple-whered-you-go-bernadette-interview/">Entertainment Weekly review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/books/2018874463_br12bernadette.html">Seattle Times review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://books.usatoday.com/book/whered-you-go-bernadette-tells-a-quirky-tale-of-seattle-tech-culture/r825400">USA Today review</a></li>
</ul>
Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-91771625171481884952014-07-09T07:00:00.000-05:002014-07-09T07:00:04.703-05:00Book Review: Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Chernobyl. Three Mile Island. Fukushima. The mere mention of these disasters is enough to place a knot of dread in the stomach. In his new novel <i>Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, </i>author Chris Bohjalian examines a similar incident, albeit fictional. In his tale, a nuclear plant in Vermont suffers a meltdown, with disastrous consequences for those in the region.<br />
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Prior to reading the novel, I heard labels thrown around like "science fiction", "dystopian", and "apocalyptic". In fact, many people <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18666006-close-your-eyes-hold-hands">on Goodreads</a> categorize it as such. I was pleased to see little to no evidence that this book belongs in any of these categories. Although I suppose it could loosely be considered science fiction, in that it deals with the possible consequences of technology. However, according to ReadWriteThink.org, which I frequently use in teaching middle school ELA, science fiction<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"stories often tell about science and technology of the future. . . . [It] creates situations different from those of both the present day and the known past. Science fiction texts also include a human element, explaining what effect new discoveries, happenings and scientific developments will have on us in the future. Science fiction texts are often set in the future, in space, on a different world, or in a different universe or dimension." (<a href="http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson927/SciFiDefinition.pdf">source link</a>)</blockquote>
Bohjalian fictionalizes an occurrence -- a nuclear disaster -- that has happened before. Nuclear power plants currently exist, and have for many decades. It is not set in a futuristic time or place; in fact, Bohjalian's characters often reference recent news items such as 9/11 and the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting. The setting is present-day Vermont. Does it fit into the "speculative fiction" category? It could, although I am not convinced that anyone fully understands the definition of speculative fiction.<br />
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Labels aside, what makes the book special is the perspective from which Bohjalian chooses to write. Narrating this remarkable tale is Emily Shepard, homeless since the disaster, like many "walkers" as they are referred to -- people who were forced to simply walk away from their homes, their family, their lives. [One more aside regarding labels -- the term "walkers" seems to insinuate a sci-fi/ apocalyptic scenario. It is simply a term like "refugees", and I equated them with people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.] Emily has made her own way since then, although it has been a difficult path. She has been resourceful, building an igloo out of trash bags filled with frozen leaves for protection from the harsh winter climate. Emily's voice is the shining star of this narrative, at once worldly and naive, wise and young. Her story is one of both loss and survival.<br />
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Although the story itself is marvelous, Bohjalian's focus on Emily raises the novel to a higher level. Many tales have been told after disasters -- about Hurricane Katrina alone, dozens of books, both fiction and nonfiction have been written. The same is true for most any disaster, human-made or natural. But <i>Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands</i> tells more about the human condition than it tells about the disaster. I'm not sure any other author has taken this path.<br />
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You see, both of Emily's parents worked at the nuclear plant; her father was in charge the day of the meltdown. By giving Emily a voice, Bohjalian has flipped the switch on our usual disaster narrative, making sympathetic a character who many fictional characters in the novel blame. In reading this novel, I was forced to think about New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin's family, or Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco's family. Even (on an entirely different level, obviously) the 9/11 hijackers' families. In writing an entire novel from the point of view of a family member of someone vilified for their role in a disaster, Bohjalian reminds us of their humanness and forces us to examine our feelings.<br />
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While the novel is narrated by a teenager, the story itself is far from young adult. Although I'm sure some older teens would able to handle the material Bohjalian covers, themes of self-mutilation, prostitution, drug use, and homelessness place this novel firmly in the adult category.<br />
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Bonus for poetry lovers? Emily Shepard just so happens to be a lover of all things Emily Dickinson, so lines of poetry and references to Dickinson's life are sprinkled throughout the novel.<br />
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Much has been written about the novel already, although it was just released yesterday. Here are some other thoughts from around the web:<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.chrisbohjalian.com/close-your-eyes-hold-hands">Book trailer, synopsis, and praise from Bohjalian's website</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/review-close-your-eyes-hold-hands-by-chris-bohjalian/2014/07/07/8cf13496-0044-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html">Washington Post review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=329514713&ft=1&f=">NPR review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.jennsbookshelves.com/2014/07/07/review-close-your-eyes-hold-hands-by-chris-bohjalian/">Jenn's Bookshelves review</a></li>
</ul>
Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-26761569160298711612014-07-08T13:56:00.000-05:002014-07-08T13:56:19.522-05:00#TeachersWrite - Week 1, Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I can't actually believe I'm doing this. My toddler makes almost everything difficult! (I say this with a smile -- she's still asleep. If she were awake, she would be hitting keys on my keyboard and causing an hour or so of my searching Google on the iPad to undo whatever she had just done.) Couple that with being a teacher & a stay-at-home mom over the summer break, and you probably "get" my life in a nutshell: busy. I'm plunging in with both feet, though. I woke up at 5am this morning, too excited about writing to go back to sleep! (And the toddler woke somewhere in the neighborhood of every hour last night. Speaking of, <a href="http://www.katemessner.com/teachers-write-7714-mini-lesson-monday-you-come-too/">our assignment for Monday, from Kate Messner's blog</a>:)<br />
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<b><u>First Draft:</u></b><br />
My daughter doesn't sleep. Okay, that's an exaggeration. Of course she <i>sleeps. </i>But unfortunately, like me, she doesn't sleep <i>well</i>. A friend gave me a copy of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/719836.Twelve_Hours_Sleep_by_Twelve_Weeks_Old" style="font-style: italic;">12 Hours' Sleep by 12 Weeks Old</a> before Ava was born. I remember thinking, 'I could probably do this.' I also read <i>Bringing Up Bebe </i>and <i>French Kids Eat Everything</i>. All full of great-sounding, absolutely useless (to me) advice. One day after we got back from a beach vacation this summer, I calculated that just over 5 hours of my day had been spent trying to get the baby to sleep. Roughly 2 hours for nap and 3 that night. 5 hours is about 1/3 of my waking hours. So you see why this is on my mind.<br />
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Some nights she drifts off without a peep. Other nights, we wrestle on my king-sized bed, sweaty and exhausted by the time she slumbers. Lately, naps have been hard, and so we've been walking -- her in our brown Ergo baby carrier, me with tennis shoes (or, sometimes, unprepared but determined, in flip-flops) and iPhone in hand. <br />
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Last night, I had an epiphany. Yes, it was dark outside, but it was warm. It's the middle of summer. After trying for 20 minutes or so, I asked her, "Do you want to go on a walk? Do you want to get in the carrier?" She, tired but unable to settle, nodded emphatically and said something close to "yes." (She isn't talking much, but that's a story for another day.) And so we walked. We walked outside beside and behind our house, cows just on the other side of the fence. We walked down the street in front of our house, a single street light to guide our way. We walked and walked and walked. Need I say that this was a flip-flop walk? But instead of being unpleasant, it was more than pleasant. It was nice. The stars twinkled in the sky, the half-moon shone. And (after one foiled attempt at returning inside), she drifted off to sleep. Maybe not peacefully, and perhaps a little sweaty, but finally. At last. Victory.<br />
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<b><u>Sensory List:</u></b><br />
<u>smell</u>:<br />
baby shampoo<br />
sweat<br />
cow manure<br />
cows<br />
honeysuckle<br />
firework smoke<br />
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<u>hear:</u><br />
cars passing<br />
fireworks exploding<br />
tree frogs<br />
cicadas<br />
hum of insects<br />
birds<br />
tree leaves rustling with wind<br />
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<u>see:</u><br />
stars in black sky<br />
half moon shining brightly<br />
cows blinking sleepily<br />
streetlights glowing<br />
darkened street<br />
dark house with windows glowing<br />
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<b><u>Second Draft:</u></b><br />
The half-moon shone brightly from the dead center of the sky, lighting our way as we walked. We walked outside beside and behind our house, cows just on the other side of the fence. The earthy smell of manure and animal followed us even as we walked beyond their pen. We walked down the street in front of our house, a single street light guiding us on our way back home. Further down the street, windows glowed from dark houses. We walked and walked and walked. Need I mention that this was one of those flip-flop walks, too hurried a walk to wait for the tying of tennis shoes? But instead of being unpleasant, it was more than pleasant. It was nice. The stars twinkled in the black July sky, honeysuckle perfumed the night air, and the orchestra of tree frogs and insects created a hum sweeter than any box fan ever sounded. And (after one too-hasty attempt at returning inside), she drifted off to sleep. Maybe not peacefully, and perhaps a little sweaty, but finally. At last.<br />
<br />Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-51042872321746419552014-07-07T06:05:00.000-05:002014-07-07T06:05:20.104-05:00Series Spotlight: Deborah Crombie's Duncan Kincaid/ Gemma James Series<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yYG2q7Et7hg/U7p8VxF5zfI/AAAAAAAAFjI/BbGwKdKn8kg/s1600/Deb+Crombie+beside+novel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yYG2q7Et7hg/U7p8VxF5zfI/AAAAAAAAFjI/BbGwKdKn8kg/s1600/Deb+Crombie+beside+novel.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Crombie on tour for her novel <br /><i>No Mark Upon Her</i>, appearing at the Velma Teague <br />Library, via <a href="http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/2012/02/day-in-life-of-librarian.html">Lesa's Book Critiques</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you've read this blog for a while or clicked around for a few minutes, it will come as no surprise to learn that I love <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/search/label/Mystery%20Books">mystery series</a>. Really, I love almost any kind of mystery, set almost anywhere -- hard-boiled female private detectives (think V.I. Warshawski or Kinsey Millhone), police procedurals (Harry Bosch), medical/ forensic titles (Kay Scarpetta, Tempe Brennan). I also love more literary mysteries, like Tana French's books or Sara J. Henry's novels. And then there are funny, semi-mysterious books like the Stephanie Plum series or the Sookie Stackhouse books. I know, I know -- you get it. I love them all.<br />
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Sometimes amidst all the mayhem, you hanker for something a little more... homey. Inviting. And therein lies the need for a good cozy mystery. Books that involve a mystery, perhaps even a murder, but that give you a warm, fuzzy feeling at the end of the day. Although I've enjoyed many cozy mystery series, Deborah Crombie's Kincaid/James series is one of the best. It has been my go-to series this summer, in between books that hit hard on the emotional scale. While the Kincaid/James books aren't entirely lacking in difficult moments, they always leave you with a feeling that the world isn't such a bad place after all.<br />
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First of all, the series is set in Great Britain. I don't know about you, but for me, that marks it up immediately. I love a good British mystery. Or a good British novel. Or movie. Or TV show. (<i>Downton Abbey?</i> Um, yes.) Crombie does an excellent job of describing the series's setting. Notting Hill, other familiar-to-most-readers neighborhoods, even a trip to Scotland every now and again.<br />
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The main characters are also exceptionally likable -- not that they have to be in every book you read, but I'd say in a good cozy mystery it might be a necessity. Duncan and Gemma are far from perfect, but as you read the series they really grow on you. They begin as colleagues in the Scotland Yard, Duncan a superintendent and Gemma, a sergeant. As their working lives collide, so do their personal lives. Crombie weaves the two characters' lives together, both their past and present, a little at a time as the series progresses. Trust me when I say things get complicated, both in good and bad ways.<br />
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The actual mysteries the duo solves are also great stories in and of themselves. The plot line usually involves someone from either Duncan or Gemma's past (i.e., an ex-wife, an old friend), simultaneously furthering both the main characters' arc and relating an excellent story. I began the series years ago, then abandoned it for a time, as readers do. This summer I simply chose a book I thought I hadn't read, and began again from there. So far I've read <i>And Justice There Is None </i>and <i>Now May You Weep, </i>books 8 and 9 in the series. I'm pleased that Crombie has written 14 books in the series, meaning I have more to enjoy!<br />
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For more information about Deborah Crombie, click over to <a href="http://www.deborahcrombie.com/">her website</a>.<br />
For a list of the Kincaid/James series books in order, click <a href="http://www.deborahcrombie.com/novels%20in%20order.pdf">here</a> (lacking the newest book, <i>No Mark Upon Her</i>).<br />
To read more about individual titles in the series, visit <a href="http://www.deborahcrombie.com/index.php/the-novels">Crombie's books page</a>.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-12228662047945761672014-01-25T16:42:00.002-06:002014-01-25T16:42:47.944-06:00Reading in the Classroom: Our Current Read-AloudsEven seventh- and eighth-graders like to be read aloud to. (Yes, I could have rewritten that sentence so that it didn't end in a preposition. But I didn't. I like to teach my students that writing isn't always about rules!)<br />
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I am currently reading aloud three different novels to my students, almost one for each class. I abandoned one (really, really good) book because my first period just wasn't that into it, so I'm reading the same book to both my first and fourth periods.<br />
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<a href="http://www.sheilaturnage.com/SheilaTurnage/3XLucky.html"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Three Times Lucky</i> by Sheila Turnage</a>: I already gushed about this book in my <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2014/01/best-books-read-in-2013.html">Best Books Read in 2013 post</a>, and I wasn't kidding around. It was one of my favorites last year. I love mysteries and also "feel-good" middle grades novels; this book happens to combine the best of both worlds. Mo LeBeau is a fantastic main character. Bonus: I get to read in several different southern drawls, as the setting is the Carolina coast. Also, it's both humorous and deals with serious topics. A bonus when you're reading to middle schoolers.<br />
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<a href="http://www.cynthialord.com/rules.html"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Rules</i> by Cynthia Lord</a>: Although this didn't make my "best of" list, it was probably an oversight. I really, really like this book. I'm not the only one -- it's won awards (as you can see on its cover). It also happens to be on the Beta Club Battle of the Books list, which many of my students need to read books from in order to attend this year's convention. Twelve-year-old Catherine wants to have plenty of friends, but helping care for her younger brother with autism takes a lot of time and patience, not to mention rules. My students identify with her family issues, even if they don't have a sibling with a disability. They also identify with her inner struggles.<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6327.The_Witches"><i style="font-weight: bold;">The Witches</i> by Roald Dahl</a>: You can rarely go wrong if you choose to read aloud a Roald Dahl book. This one is no exception to that rule. Although the other two books I'm reading might be "better" for middle grades (and they are definitely more updated), I think my second period is enjoying their read-aloud experience with this book more than my other classes. For one thing, I have to read in a Russian accent when I'm reading aloud the Grand High Witch's dialogue -- and she talks a lot! They've spent countless time wondering if I could be a witch and discussing the various ways to spot a witch. They're proving to me that a good book can be just that, no matter your age or how mature you <i>think</i> you are.<br />
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<br />Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-48880331647952769352014-01-08T14:10:00.000-06:002014-01-08T14:10:23.726-06:00Book Review: Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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January's SheReads Book Club choice is a novel with a fascinating premise: a woman is found standing knee-deep in the San Francisco Bay, with no memory of how she got there or why she arrived. In fact, Jennie Shortridge's <i>Love Water Memory</i> tells the story of Lucie Walker, who arrives at her watery destination with no memories at all; she doesn't know who she is, where she came from, or what her life was like.<br />
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After her picture is broadcast on the news, two people come forward: a man who says he is her fiance and an elderly aunt. After Lucie is released to her fiance's care, Shortridge relates the story of her quest to find both her memories and herself. Through Lucie, Shortridge poses questions for us all. Is who we are innate, or created? If you lost yourself, as Lucie did, would you still be you? Or another version of yourself?<br />
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<i>Love Water Memory </i>is a deeply charming book with characters who will fully win over your heart. My one complaint with the novel is that I would have (and wished to) read about twice the amount that Shortridge wrote. At 336 pages, it wasn't a thin novel. Yet I longed for more. I could easily have read 500 pages or more about Lucie and Grady. I wished fervently for a prequel, one in which we learned more about their lives before -- both separately, and then together. Although Shortridge expertly weaves the past into their present-day, I nevertheless wished for more.<br />
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Grady's family, full of half a dozen sisters and a father lost at sea, would be worthy of an entire novel themselves. Lucie's family and their story would fill the pages of a novel all on their own, as well. Although I seriously doubt Shortridge will return to their previous lives, perhaps she will make this new fan happy and write a sequel so that we find out more about Lucie and Grady's future.<br />
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<b>Related Links</b>:<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.jennieshortridge.com/love-water-memory.php">Jennie Shortridge's website</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.shereads.org/2014/01/january-book-club-selection-4/">SheReads Book Club page for the novel</a>, including reviews from SheReads Bloggers Network members</li>
<li><a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/Love-Water-Memory/Jennie-Shortridge/9781451684834">Simon & Schuster's publisher's page for the novel</a></li>
<li><a href="http://skrishnasbooks.com/2013/05/book-review-love-water-memory-jennie.html">S. Krishna's Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/books/2020663305_bookshortridgexml.html">Seattle Times review of the novel</a></li>
</ul>
Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-83306513946172653512014-01-01T00:17:00.002-06:002014-01-01T11:40:08.146-06:00Best Books Read in 2013Y'all, my reading this year fell a little short of my usual 100 or so titles. Okay, so it fell a lot short. I only read 39 books this year! (*I'd like to note that this number does not include children's books, which I have read a lot of. Repeatedly, many of them.) Apparently, having a baby can put a damper in your reading life. Well, having a baby, taking on a second job with your state education department, being a wife/ daughter/ sister/ sister-in-law, teaching middle school reading & language full-time... You get the idea.<br />
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Anyway, despite the numbers, I read a lot of good books this year. Much of this was a result of both reading for my middle school classroom and reading professional titles for school. The SheReads blogger network and book club also sent a large number of good reads my way. Divided into genre sections, here are my top reads for 2013.<br />
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<b>Middle Grades & Young Adult</b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.sheilaturnage.com/SheilaTurnage/3XLucky.html"><i>Three Times Lucky</i> by Sheila Turnage</a>:</b> Mo LeBeau is the orphaned 12-year-old narrator of this middle grades mystery novel. Turnage creates a realistic small-town setting for her larger-than-life, yet utterly believable characters. Join Mo as she and her friend Dale (yes, named for <i>that</i> Dale) work to solve a murder and also find Mo's Upstream Mother.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.lyndamullalyhunt.com/book_murphys.php"><i>One for the Murphys</i> by Lynda Mullaly Hunt</a>:</b> Foster child Carley is not happy about being placed with the Murphys. She wants one thing only -- to return to her mother's care. Or does she? As Carley remembers more about the night her mother ended up in a hospital room and she ended up in the foster care system, her strong feelings begin to change.<br />
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<b><a href="http://johngreenbooks.com/the-fault-in-our-stars/"><i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> by John Green</a>: </b>I still haven't read another Green novel, but I plan to soon. Made into a movie coming out in June 2014, you have plenty of time to catch up by reading this bestselling novel. Although many bestsellers are not actually excellent reads, this one is. Join Hazel and Augustus on their journey through both adolescence and cancer. Read my review <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2013/03/reading-in-classroom-fault-in-our-stars.html">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GLIsHA2A1sY/UsOnzivoKGI/AAAAAAAAFbI/bsJJV_V9g8o/s1600/Wonder+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GLIsHA2A1sY/UsOnzivoKGI/AAAAAAAAFbI/bsJJV_V9g8o/s200/Wonder+Cover.jpg" width="130" /></a><b><a href="http://rjpalacio.com/book.html"><i>Wonder</i> by R.J. Palacio</a>: </b>If you haven't heard of <i>Wonder</i>, you must. August Pullman is the hero we never knew we needed. Born with several birth defects that affect his looks enormously, August has been homeschooled for most of his life. When it's time for him to enter middle school, his parents decide it's also time for him to actually <i>go</i> to school. August does not initially agree, but eventually he does, with spectacular results.<br />
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<b>Adult Fiction</b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.joshilynjackson.com/jj/books/someone-elses-love-story/"><i>Someone Else's Love Story</i> by Joshilyn Jackson</a>: </b>Shandi and her three-year-old son Natty will steal your heart. Read my review <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2013/12/book-review-someone-elses-love-story-by.html">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jp_7mZTtSrI/UsOr4ZDBwvI/AAAAAAAAFbc/Z0A9SAcDcf8/s1600/This+Is+How+You+Lose+Her.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jp_7mZTtSrI/UsOr4ZDBwvI/AAAAAAAAFbc/Z0A9SAcDcf8/s200/This+Is+How+You+Lose+Her.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<b><a href="http://www.junotdiaz.com/books/this-is-how-you-lose-her/"><i>This Is How You Lose Her</i> by Junot Diaz</a>: </b>I can't explain how blown away I was by this novel. Although I had read here and there throughout the winter and spring, my reading life was revitalized when I read this tale about Yunior. I guess Diaz was old news by the time I read this, but his work revamped the way I thought about reading and made me dive back into books with a new vigor.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/Books/The+Ocean+at+the+End+of+the+Lane/"><i>The Ocean at the End of the Lane</i> by Neil Gaiman</a>: </b>This was the first work I'd read by Gaiman of any length (having read only a short story or two before this), and I was blown away. This novel was unlike anything else I'd read in a long while, and, like <i>This Is How You Lose Her</i>, Gaiman reminded me why I loved reading. His magical, nostalgic story took me into a entirely different universe, and that was exactly the point.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.susangregggilmore.com/#"><i>The Funeral Dress</i> by Susan Gregg Gilmore</a>: </b> Gilmore was an author I had read before and liked, but <i>The Funeral Dress</i> took her to a new level in my mind. The tale of Emmalee Bullard and her newborn daughter touched my heart in multiple ways. Read my review <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2013/10/book-review-funeral-dress-by-susan.html">here</a>.<br />
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<b>Professional Education Nonfiction</b><br />
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<b><a href="http://kellygallagher.org/"><i>Write Like This</i> by Kelly Gallagher</a>: </b>I've never read a better book about teaching writing. Period.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.writeguy.net/books-dvd/"><i>Mechanically Inclined </i>by Jeff Anderson</a>:</b> While Gallagher wrote the best book on teaching writing, Anderson is the best at the mechanics behind the writing. If you're tired of doing Daily Language Practice sentences and exercises out of the grammar book, read Anderson's book.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Mh4sugHCE/UsOyUF0My_I/AAAAAAAAFcQ/0r9FBg6BoJA/s1600/book+love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Mh4sugHCE/UsOyUF0My_I/AAAAAAAAFcQ/0r9FBg6BoJA/s200/book+love.jpg" width="159" /></a></div>
<b><a href="http://pennykittle.net/"><i>Book Love</i> by Penny Kittle</a>: </b>Gallagher and Anderson taught me about writing, but Kittle's book is all about book love. You will be renewed in your goal to lead every student towards a love of reading after reading what Kittle has to say.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-45328746220963432962013-12-04T14:46:00.000-06:002013-12-04T14:46:41.039-06:00Book Review: Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The moment a new novel releases from Joshilyn Jackson, you should be all over it. Many, many people have come to realize this, several books into Jackson's career. For one thing, Jackson's latest effort, <i>Someone Else's Love Story</i>, was named one of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=s9_dnav_bw_BoLit_b?_encoding=UTF8&node=4919323011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-4&pf_rd_r=10QD9374P33DPZX4NWEB&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1670710042&pf_rd_i=390919011">Amazon's Best Books of the Month for November 2013</a>. Among other honors, the book has also been named an <a href="http://www.bookweb.org/news/december-2013-indie-next-list-preview">early #1 Pick for Indiebound's Next List in December 2013</a>.<br />
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I mentioned Jackson and her newest heroine Shandi, mother to three-year-old Natty, in <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-prequel-short-story-book-review-my.html">my last post about Jackson's novella <i>My Own Miraculous</i></a>. (I also mentioned Jackson's previous novels and linked to my reviews of them, so <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-prequel-short-story-book-review-my.html">click on over</a> in a bit after you've read all about <i>SELS</i>.) <i>Someone Else's Love Story </i>falls directly into chronological order behind <i>My Own Miraculous</i>.<br />
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Once Shandi accepts that Natty is more than a tad bit special, her father and stepmother decide he should be in a fancy preschool that matches his high abilities. They offer use of a townhouse in Atlanta, closer to both Shandi's college classes and more education options for Natty.<br />
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On the way to Atlanta with best pal Walcott, Shandi is jolted out of her moving fog and lands directly in the pathway of a cupid's arrow:<br />
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<em style="background-color: white;">I fell in love with William Ashe at gunpoint, in a Circle K.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: white;">It was on a Friday afternoon at the tail end of a Georgia summer so ungodly hot the air felt like it had all been boiled red. We were both staring down the barrel of an ancient, creaky .32 that could kill us just as dead as a really nice gun could.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: white;">I thought then that I had landed in my own worst dream, not a love story… And yet, seventeen seconds later, before I so much as knew his name, I’d fallen dizzy-down in love with him.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: white;">I’ve never had an angel on my right shoulder; I was born with a pointy-tailed devil who crept back and forth across my neck to get his whispers into both my ears. I didn’t get a fairy godmother or even a discount talking cricket-bug to be my conscience. But someone should have told me. That afternoon in the Circle K, I deserved to know, right off, that I had landed bang in the middle of a love story. Especially since it wasn’t— it isn’t— it could never be, my own.</em></div>
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The story that follows is Jackson's best work to date. That's saying something given that <i>Backseat Saints</i> and <i>A Grownup Kind of Pretty</i> are among my favorite novels of all time. We follow Shandi and William through a tale both current and steeped in personal histories, his and hers. Jackson writes of their separate heartaches with aplomb and grace. Each character in the novel, as always, is wonderfully flawed yet immeasurably sympathetic. You will be rooting for Shandi, Walcott, and William -- and perhaps even an antagonist or two like William's long-time female friend who despises Shandi from the get-go.<br />
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Joshilyn Jackson is at her finest in <i>Someone Else's Love Story. </i>It's a definite addition to your Christmas list for some lucky recipient.<br />
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<b>Related Links:</b><br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.joshilynjackson.com/jj/splash/">Joshilyn Jackson's website</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.joshilynjackson.com/ftk/">Joshilyn Jackson's blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.shereads.org/2013/11/november-book-club-selection-4/">SheReads November 2013 Book Club Pick Site</a> (with links to dozens of reviews by fabulous bloggers)</li>
</ul>
Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-17226160949973714852013-11-02T11:28:00.001-05:002013-11-02T11:28:18.364-05:00A (Prequel Short Story) Book Review: My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You guys. It's almost time. Joshilyn Jackson has a new book coming out, and I am stoked. Like, really, really stoked. I have read everything Jackson's ever published, plus her blog, plus anything else I can possibly get my hands on. She does southern. She does dark. She does funny. She does mysterious. She also does amazing things with her characters, making them fabulously flawed people who make enormous mistakes and terrible decisions, all mixed in with some perfect choices. Who love and hurt and lash out and comfort and so, so much more. Have I convinced you yet? That you need to read her new novel?<br />
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Let's forget about my opinion, because Jackson has given you the perfect opportunity to decide for yourself. Her new novel, <i>Someone Else's Love Story</i>, doesn't come out until November 19, but she's done something unprecedented. (Okay, maybe not unprecedented, but SHE'S never done it before. So unprecedented for her.) She's written a prequel. A little taste of the world she's created, and you get to visit before diving into the real thing later in the month.<br />
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<i>My Own Miraculous</i> introduces readers to Shandi Pierce, star of <i>Someone Else's Love Story</i>, and young mother to three-year-old Natty. It provides a short glimpse into Shandi and Natty's Georgia world in a mountain town outside of Atlanta. We also meet Mimmy, Shandi's mother, and Walcott, her long-time best friend. <i>My Own Miraculous</i>, while introducing Shandi's world for <i>Someone Else's Love Story</i>, also tells a story all its own. It begins with a punch and doesn't stop until the last page:<br />
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I was twenty-one years old when I became a mother, though if I wanted to get technical, Natty happened three years and nine months earlier, inventing himself secretly inside me in the summertime when I was seventeen. That was just biology. It didn't instantly remake me as a mother. . . . having him, even loving him so -- it didn't make me a mom. . . . In the mornings, I fed him while my own mom slid fried eggs and melon slices onto my plate, feeding me.</blockquote>
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I wasn't a mother; I was just a daughter with a son.</blockquote>
As Jackson relates the story of how Shandi grew from a "daughter with a son" into a full-fledged mother, she pulls readers hook, line, and sinker into her newly created fictional world. You will not be able to <i>not</i> read <i>Someone Else's Love Story</i> after finishing <i>My Own Miraculous</i>. Shandi and her life aside, you will most definitely need to read more about the exceptional (and exceptionally lovable) Natty.<br />
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<i>My Own Miraculous </i>is out now in e-book form for Kindle, Nook, KOBO, and iBook for only $1.99. You can also buy it in paperback or audio form.<br />
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Related links:<br />
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<ul>
<li>A Worn Path reviews of Jackson's novels <i><a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2010/06/backseat-saints-resurrects-gods-in.html">gods in Alabama</a>, <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2010/03/backseat-saints-shines-with-southern.html">Backseat Saints</a>, </i>and <i><a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2012/02/grown-up-kind-of-pretty-swoon-faint.html">A Grown-up Kind of Pretty</a></i></li>
<li>Joshilyn Jackson's <a href="http://www.joshilynjackson.com/jj/splash/">website</a></li>
<li>Jackson's blog <a href="http://www.joshilynjackson.com/ftk/">Faster Than Kudzu</a></li>
<li><i><a href="http://www.joshilynjackson.com/jj/books/someone-elses-love-story/">Someone Else's Love Story</a></i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.joshilynjackson.com/jj/books/my-own-miraculous/"><i>My Own Miraculous</i></a></li>
</ul>
Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-44715503664233377852013-10-21T07:00:00.000-05:002013-10-21T07:00:03.465-05:00Why I Didn't Finish The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes (Yet)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Let me preface this entire post by saying this: the first part of <i>The Girl You Left Behind</i> is phenomenal. I have fallen entirely into Moyes's war-torn setting, a tiny French town occupied by German soldiers. The characters fairly jump off the page: Sophie Lefevre, narrator and lead heroine, her sister Helene, the children, the other townspeople, Herr Kommandant and the German soldiers. Moyes writes beautifully, a master of the craft leading her readers bit by bit into her created world.<br />
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I cared far too deeply for the characters; I think that was the beginning of my being undone by this novel. I should probably also mention here that historical fiction, and in particular war-time novels, are by far my least favorite genre. I'll blame this on my mom: she could never enjoy a war novel or movie. Along with her fear of birds (although we've both come a long way on that one), she passed on to me a lack of ability to read or view fictional accounts of war. The list of things I've abandoned or avoided as a result are long:<br />
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<ul>
<li><i>Saving Private Ryan</i> (I walked out of the theater; I later refused to view it in junior year history in high school and took an alternate assignment.)</li>
<li><i>The Sandcastle Girls</i> by Christ Bohjalian (He is one of my favorite authors, and this was a wonderfully written book I couldn't continue reading because of the descriptions of the Armenian genocide -- and his newest book is set during World War II, so I most likely won't read it either, although I'm sure <i>The Light in the Ruins</i> is every bit as fantastic as his other work.)</li>
<li>Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear (I read several of the books in this series before I simply couldn't handle the period of time after WWI when the novels are set.)</li>
<li><i>The Yellow Birds</i> by Kevin Powers (Despite some of the most glowing reviews out there, I have not been able to force myself to pick up this award-winning book set during the war in Iraq).</li>
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The list could probably go on. But you get the idea. Wonderful, award-winning movies and books simply fall off my radar if war is part of the story.</div>
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When Moyes wrote characters I loved, and set her novel during a world war, bad things were bound to ensue for them, no? I knew this, yet I hoped against it. A third of the way into the novel, I had to stop reading. Although it was a fantastically-written book, it and I simply did not agree with one another. </div>
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My hope is that someday I can overcome this (somewhat crippling, when it comes to excellent fiction) aversion. Until then, I'll leave the reading of books like <i>The Girl You Left Behind</i> to others. For some glowing reviews from readers who finished Moyes's novel, please click below:</div>
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<ul>
<li><i><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/08/25/the-girl-you-left-behind-jojo-moyes-review/2682461/">USA Today</a></i></li>
<li><i><a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20723786,00.html">Entertainment Weekly</a></i></li>
<li><i><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/16/entertainment/la-ca-jc-jojo-moyes-20130818">LA Times</a></i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.shereads.org/2013/10/october-book-club-selection-3/">She Reads October Book Club Selection (with 30+ reviews by the She Reads Blogger Network)</a></li>
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And, the author's website:</div>
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<a href="http://jojomoyes.com/">JojoMoyes.com</a></div>
Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-18972908014359000742013-10-16T15:56:00.000-05:002013-10-16T15:56:27.961-05:00Book Review: The Funeral Dress by Susan Gregg Gilmore<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you've read my blog for a while or visited my "About" section, you know that southern literature has my heart. Although much of what I read lately is YA, education-related, mystery series books, or women's fiction for SheReads, southern lit is still near and dear to me. So I jumped at the chance to read Chattanooga author Susan Gregg Gilmore's latest novel <i>The Funeral Dress</i>.<br />
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This novel, y'all, is not for the faint of heart. If you can't stand a good, long cry, this isn't the book for you. I tweeted the other day that I had cried my way through the book, and I wasn't kidding. Once you get over the first little bit of hormone-adjustment that comes after having a baby (as I did just over a year ago), the baby's first year of life isn't exactly a time for tears. You simply don't have time for that. So I can't remember the last time I had a good cry -- until this book. It's characters turned me inside out. My baby girl just turned one, and something about this novel and that combination made my heart hurt. In a good way.<br />
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<i>The Funeral Dress </i>begins in 1970s Dunlap, Tennessee -- renamed Cullen, Tennessee, for Gilmore's literary purposes. Most of the work than can be found for women in this small valley town is at the Tennewa garment factory, and Emmalee Bullard gets hired on at the tender age of sixteen. She doesn't have any experience sewing, but the lady in the next seat over, Leona Lane, does. For whatever reason, this tough cookie takes Emmalee under her wing, showing her the ropes both at the machine and navigating the waters of Tennewa's complicated social scene.<br />
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For the first time in her life, Emmalee has a place that's solely hers. Not her mama's, long dead from an illness her father blames on Emmalee, or her father's, a mean drunk who acts as the king of their tiny, rundown shack. When Emmalee turns up pregnant with a baby of her own after a brief affair with a boy out of her league, she struggles to find a way out of Red Chert holler and away from her father's meanness. Leona offers her a way out, and Emmalee jumps at the chance to escape. However, life hasn't had a history of being easy on Emmalee, and it isn't about to start now.<br />
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When Emmalee's one chance out of her father's house and her only chance to give motherhood a real try disappears, she makes a decision that she isn't going to let fate decide what happens to her. Instead, she's going to stand up and make her own destiny.<br />
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Emmalee's story touched my heart in many ways -- as a new mother, I identified with her struggle to feed her baby, to heed the baby's cries, to reconcile the end of her previous independence. As the granddaughter of a garment factory worker, I considered my Granny Mullins's back-breaking work at a sewing machine. As a Tennessean living less than an hour from the story's setting, I understood the deep-rooted struggles of the townspeople living in an Appalachian wilderness. It touched me so much, that (in the midst of tears), I almost gave up. It was almost too true a fictional story for me to keep reading. But I did, and you should. The ending is worth all the crying.<br />
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Related Links:<br />
<a href="http://www.susangregggilmore.com/category/the-funeral-dress/">Susan Gregg Gilmore's website</a><br />
<a href="http://crownpublishing.com/feature/susan-gregg-gilmore-on-writing-the-funeral-dress/#.Ul71MMasim4">Crown Publishing's feature "Susan Gregg Gilmore on Writing <i>The Funeral Dress</i>"</a><br />
<a href="http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/susan-gregg-gilmores-third-novel-the-funeral-dress-imagines-the-struggles-of-a-young-tennessee-seamstress/Content?oid=3896284">Nashville Scene's book review "Susan Gregg Gilmore's thrid novel <i>The Funeral Dress</i> imagines the struggles of a young Tennessee seamstress: Making Ends Meet With Every Single Stitch"</a><br />
<a href="http://www.shereads.org/2013/09/tell-me-something-true-a-visit-with-susan-greg-gilmore/comment-page-1/">SheReads's feature "Tell Me Something True: A Visit with Susan Gregg Gilmore"</a>Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-9497301624866153012013-09-22T14:21:00.000-05:002013-09-22T14:21:02.692-05:00Book Review: The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Confession time, y'all: for all the books I've read in my lifetime, I don't think I'd ever read one set in Australia. In fact, the only thing I can think of when relating fiction to Australia is the terribly scary 2005 horror movie set there -- <i>Wolf Creek</i>. Since that wasn't exactly a glowing account of the country (according to Wikip<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">edia, "t<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">he story revolves around three backpackers who find themselves held captive by a serial killer in the Australian outback"), I was delighted to find <i>The Husband's Secret</i> a marked change from that description of the country. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">Liane Moriarty's Australia is largely Catholic, and her focus is on the cities of Sydney and Melbourne. The novel follows the lives of three women: Cecilia, Tess, and Rachel. Cecilia finds a letter from her husband, marked "only to be opened in the event of my death," disrupting their perfectly organized life. Tess hears a confession from her husband's lips, then moves her son miles away to live with her mother. Rachel misses her dead husband each day, but not more than she misses her daughter. The intersection of the three women's lives is tied to the secrets each witnesses and holds. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">Moriarty's novel could probably be titled simply <i>Secrets</i>, rather than <i>The Husband's Secret,</i> for it seems everyone has something to hide. Cecilia keeps her husband's secret with devastating results. Tess has her own secrets after moving back into her mother's house, ones that could affect her marriage more than her husband's confession. And Rachel has held a secret close to her heart for many years, a secret that could lead to her daughter's murderer being brought to justice.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">Any description of <i>The Husband's Secret</i> sounds highly confusing and complicated. All those secrets, right? Who can keep up? However, it was a most entertaining novel, and not confusing at all to read. In fact, it was quite engrossing -- a page-turner within a piece of chick lit. I hesitate to tell you more about the plot, because I don't want to give anything away. Part of what made it so enjoyable to read was the way the events unfolded and the manner in which each piece of the story came to light. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">All those secrets can feel a bit overly dramatic, but each could happen (and has happened) to people in real life. It is a work of fiction, after all, and much can be forgiven if it provides entertainment. <i>The Husband's Secret</i> definitely does not disappoint in that realm.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"><b>Related links:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"><a href="http://lianemoriarty.com.au/HusbandsSecret.html">Liane Moriarty's website</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Husbands-Secret-ebook/dp/B00D7Z4GQY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid="><i>The Husband's Secret</i> on Amazon</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.shereads.org/2013/09/september-book-club-selection-3/">SheReads September Book Club Selection</a></span>Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-30261456955935834472013-09-13T11:05:00.001-05:002013-09-13T11:05:33.062-05:00Book Review: Killer Ambition (Rachel Knight #3) by Marcia Clark<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Although I logically know that authors can create main characters who are nothing like themselves (<a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2013/03/reading-in-classroom-fault-in-our-stars.html">John Green</a> and <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2011/11/night-season-continues-archie-sheridan.html">Chelsea Cain</a> come to mind), when I'm in the middle of reading a book, I automatically liken the character I learn about on the page to the writer. For instance, Patricia Cornwell <i style="font-weight: bold;">is</i> Kay Scarpetta in my mind, Sara Paretsky is V.I. Warshawski, and Janet Evanovich is Stephanie Plum. I know they <i style="font-weight: bold;">aren't</i> actually the same person (and may have little in common with their on-page counterparts), but in my reading mind, they are.<br />
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Therefore, as I was reading <i>Killer Ambition</i>, I continuously paired author Marcia Clark and main character Rachel Knight together in my mind. I mean, let's look at the facts: both live/lived in California, both are/were Los Angeles County prosecutors, both are female. And after <i>Killer Ambition,</i> the third novel in the Rachel Knight series, both have prosecuted high-profile cases. Clark, of course, famously prosecuted O.J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife.<br />
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In the previous two novels, Clark introduced Rachel Knight and her comrades, all working for justice and the greater good in Los Angeles, California. Her pal Bailey works as a police detective and friend Toni also works in the D.A.'s office. Those first two books revealed some background on Rachel, which is continued in this latest novel. Her sister Romy went missing during their childhood, prompting Rachel to enter her current career. The case has never been solved, but in each of the novels thus far, Clark has touched briefly on this aspect of Rachel's life. A cliffhanger of sorts at the end of <i>Killer Ambition</i> leads readers to believe (hope) that perhaps more will be revealed in the fourth novel.<br />
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The majority of <i>Killer Ambition</i>, however, is dedicated to Rachel and Bailey's current case: a missing teen, the daughter of a famous Hollywood director. At first the victim of an apparent kidnapping, she is soon found murdered. And that is when the real fireworks begin. When the investigating team begins looking into major Hollywood players as perpetrators, the industry launches its own campaign against Rachel and her investigation. Similar, I suppose, to the pressure Clark and her team felt when prosecuting a beloved NFL star.<br />
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Clark has once again penned a great procedural novel starring Rachel Knight. This novel reads a bit more true-to-life than the other novels in the series, perhaps simply because more of it takes place in the courtroom and Clark's experience in that arena is well-known. Clark introduces two new characters who round out the novel nicely: a Russian computer hacker with a criminal past and young D.A. Declan, assigned as Rachel's second-in-command. Both add their own special charms to the novel, and Clark sets up the storyline for future novels as though they will both return.<br />
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<b>Related Links:</b><br />
<a href="http://marciaclarkbooks.com/">Marcia Clark's website</a><br />
<a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2011/04/oj-simpson-prosecutor-marcia-clark-wins.html">Review of <i>Guilt by Association</i> (Rachel Knight #1)</a><br />
<a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2011/04/oj-simpson-prosecutor-marcia-clark-wins.html">Review of <i>Guilt by Degrees</i> (Rachel Knight #2)</a><br />
<br />Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-91129798217173100922013-09-06T06:00:00.000-05:002013-09-06T06:00:07.956-05:00Book Review: And Then I Found You by Patti Callahan Henry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I read <a href="http://patticallahanhenry.com/content/author.asp">Patti Callahan Henry</a>'s last novel a couple of years ago, and <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2011/08/coming-up-for-air-joins-ranks-with.html">raved about it</a> here on the blog. I simply loved it. I was thrilled when the SheReads Book Club announced in the spring that Henry's newest novel would be their April 2013 pick. I read the novel then (devoured it, much as I had the previous book of hers), but never got around to writing a post. Life got in the way, but that doesn't mean I can't still tell you about it!<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.patticallahanhenry.com/books/and_then_i_found_you.asp">And Then I Found You</a></i> tells the story of Kate Vaughan, a 30-something woman who in many ways has it all together -- a supportive boyfriend, a successful clothing boutique, family and friends surrounding her. However, Kate has a few secrets in her closet, as most of us do. When she finds a ring at Rowan's house, her past comes crashing back around her. She can't commit to him until she's resolved some unfinished business.<br />
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She travels down south and down memory lane, all in one fell swoop. The choices she must make are forced when circumstances and fate take some decisions out of her hands. The result is life-altering for Kate.<br />
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I know you're thinking that plot summary tells you a big bunch of nothing -- and you're right! I purposely left out even things the Amazon or author's website summaries would tell you. I am usually of the mindset that I want to know just enough about a book, but never too much. My husband can attest to the fact that I get very angry when plots of any kind (television show, movie, or book) are spoiled. In this case, less is more. All you need to know is that Kate has secrets, those secrets (as most secrets do) have a way of coming to light, and the result is terrifying yet exhilarating all at the same time.<br />
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Henry felt compelled to write this book after her sister experienced a real-life version of the tale. Again, I won't give away any more details, but suffice it to say you will enjoy knowing that background information at the close of the novel. Henry writes characters that could be someone you know; they are that familiar. In this case, the character of Kate feels thoroughly genuine, which might just be because her story is (in some ways) Henry's sister's story. Henry wrote a short e-book version of the real story, called <i><a href="http://www.patticallahanhenry.com/books/friend_request.asp">Friend Request</a></i>, which is available from Amazon and other e-book retailers. (I haven't read it yet, but I think I may have to now that I am mentioning it to you!)<br />
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Henry is a southern author through and through; <i><a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2011/08/coming-up-for-air-joins-ranks-with.html">Coming Up for Air</a></i> was set in Atlanta and on the Alabama Gulf coast. <i><a href="http://www.patticallahanhenry.com/books/and_then_i_found_you.asp">And Then I Found You</a></i> is also firmly grounded in the south. Kate lives in South Carolina, and visits Birmingham. Although brief parts of the novel are set in the the Southwest and Northeast, the South is the true setting. Most of the novels I love the most have "the South" as a character -- that is, not a literal one but a metaphorical one, in which the setting is so rich that it becomes as important as any character is. Henry does that well in her novels, and <i><a href="http://www.patticallahanhenry.com/books/and_then_i_found_you.asp">And Then I Found You</a></i> is no exception.<br />
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For more information about <a href="http://patticallahanhenry.com/content/author.asp">Patti Callahan Henry</a> and her novels, visit <a href="http://patticallahanhenry.com/content/index.asp">her website</a>. In addition to <i><a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2011/08/coming-up-for-air-joins-ranks-with.html">Coming Up for Air</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.patticallahanhenry.com/books/and_then_i_found_you.asp">And Then I Found You</a></i>, Henry has written <a href="http://patticallahanhenry.com/content/books.asp">eight other books</a>. If you'd like to read more reviews of <i>And Then I Found You,</i> visit <a href="http://www.shereads.org/2013/04/april-book-club-selection-4/">the SheReads Book Club April selection page</a>, where you will find thoughtful discussions of this title.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-82985810843117316482013-08-30T15:09:00.000-05:002013-08-30T15:09:12.189-05:00Book Review: The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've heard it said that every story is a mystery. Although <a href="http://www.kathleentessaro.com/index.html">Kathleen Tessaro</a>'s new novel <i><a href="http://www.kathleentessaro.com/the-perfume-collector.html">The Perfume Collector</a></i> is far from your typical mystery novel, it is as mysterious as stories get. There are no investigators bumbling around, no murdered corpses laying about, but nonetheless it held my attention every bit as those edge-of-your-seat thrillers.<br />
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When Grace Munroe receives a letter at her home in England in 1955 telling her of an inheritance in France, she is perplexed. She has never been to Paris, knows no one there. As she suffers marital issues and personal discord, however, she makes a decision to travel there by airplane and solve the riddle herself. She meets immediately with Edouard Tissot, the attractive, attentive French lawyer in charge of settling her benefactor's estate.<br />
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She refuses to acquiesce to the initial demands from the law firm to wrap up the business of her inheritance quickly, choosing instead to do some digging into the life of the person who left her such an unexpected legacy. Through flashbacks to 1920s New York City and Europe through the decades that follow, Tessaro recounts to readers the fascinating tale of Eva d'Orsey's life.<br />
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You know a book is an excellent read when you spend much of your time marking lines that grab you. I did this in the beginning, but about halfway in I didn't pause for such literary nonesense; at that point, I was devouring the book as fast as I could read to find out what happened and how it unfolded. <br />
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A couple of the lines from early on:<br />
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"There was something naive, sweetly arrogant about the doctor's assumption that everyone wanted to live forever."<br />
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"Grace didn't like to admit to sleeping during the day; it felt like the thin edge of the wedge."<br />
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The mystery in the book kept me reading, but there was so much more to enjoy and dissect. I found myself drawn to Tessaro's richly drawn characters, even as they made decisions I couldn't wholeheartedly agree with.<br />
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My college women's studies courses in feminism came rushing back as I contemplated the fine line between women's choice and men's force. Various types of feminism, for example, view prostitution differently. Some feminists view prostitution as a form of violence against women, while others view it as a woman's right to freely use her body how she chooses.<br />
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I struggled with similar feelings about some of both Grace Munroe and Eva d'Orsey's actions in the novel, and I think an examination of their characters through various lenses would yield interesting results. Are they strong, independent women, or a victims of circumstance? Whatever your final take on each of their characters, <i><a href="http://www.kathleentessaro.com/the-perfume-collector.html">The Perfume Collector</a></i> will force readers to think about the double-sided nature of humanity: both the good and the ugly.<br />
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Another fascinating aspect of the novel is the topic referenced in the title: the idea of scent and its multi-faceted layers of meaning. Knowing nothing about the making of perfume before reading this book, I found the passages detailing the pressing of flowers, wool, and even hair to distill their scent fascinating. Although this is not a novel explicitly about the history of perfume making, Tessaro nonetheless weaves a knowledge of perfuming into the pages of the book in a way that brings a richness and depth to the story.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kathleentessaro.com/index.html">Kathleen Tessaro</a> is the author of <a href="http://www.kathleentessaro.com/books.html">four previous novels</a>. Although American born, Tessaro spent more than two decades living in London, and her first-hand experience in Europe lends an authentic flavor to her writing set on the continent.<br />
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<i>The Perfume Collector</i> is the August selection of the <a href="http://www.shereads.org/">SheReads Book Club</a>. For more thoughts on this title, you can <a href="http://www.shereads.org/2013/08/august-book-club-selection-3/">visit their August Book Club page</a> and see what others had to say!Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-54371515188490214202013-08-29T21:31:00.000-05:002013-08-29T21:31:44.854-05:00A Pact (With You & Myself): Once a Week Postings. A Little Bit of Everything (Personal, Professional, Mommy)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a while. In the five months since my last post (!), I've been busy living life, as we all sometimes do. Somehow, although I've maintained an online presence on some social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, <i>Pinterest</i>, thanks for taking up all of my time!), I've neglected the blog entirely.<br />
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Books have been read, a baby has been fed/changed/bathed/snuggled, work has been accomplished (and lots of it). We even managed a couple of <b>short </b>trips (at 10 months old, Ava HATES her car seat, so there is an emphasis on <i>short</i>).<br />
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And did I mention work? I applied for an additional position (yes, on top of my child's first year of life and a full-time job teaching middle school, I thought I needed MORE work) with the Tennessee State Department of Education, and was hired. Last spring and this summer, I worked my tail off alongside some outstanding teachers from across the state to learn more about the Common Core State Standards so that I could become a Core Coach. Then, in July, I shared my new-found knowledge with other 6-8 ELA teachers in multiple 3-day trainings. Then school started the first week of August with professional development, etc. So, yeah, it's been busy. Like most of your lives have been, too.<br />
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I've made a pact with myself, though. At least once a week, a post on the blog. For one thing, I have not kept up with my own personal reading during the last year. I have no idea how many books I've read or exactly what I've read. Not on Goodreads, not on my book list on the blog... Not even on a reading goals sheet like I have my students keep up with and fill out. I'm determined to do better in the next year, though. I really like looking back at what I thought about what I've read. I like lists. I like talking books and reading about books and being part of a larger book-loving community.<br />
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I have stayed on as a part of the <a href="http://www.shereads.org/">SheReads</a> book bloggers community, although I'm probably barely hanging on by a thread. (Seriously, I'm not sure why I wasn't deleted after not posting in several months. But THANK YOU for keeping me!) I really, really love what they do and being a part of something so awesome. So, in part, that has spurred me on. I want to be a part of that kind of female, book-loving group. Therefore, my pact to post at least once a week is a promise I'm making to myself. I'm sure I've lost old readers (that darn <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattlynley/google-reader-died-because-no-one-would-run-it">Google Reader fiasco</a> probably hurt, for one thing), but hopefully new book lovers will find me.<br />
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I'm excited about sharing some of my personal reading life, some of my professional and classroom reading life as an educator, and some of my parental reading life, sharing a love of books with my daughter. As you can see in the photo at the top of this post, she's just as into books as I am.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-56927907915767671202013-03-31T15:54:00.000-05:002013-03-31T15:54:27.473-05:00She Reads Book Club Book Review: The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow by Rita Leganski <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The March pick for the <a href="http://www.shereads.org/">She Reads</a> Book Club is a southern tale steeped in a mixture of voodoo magic, Catholicism, and full-flavored roux. Wonderful and strange, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RitaLeganskiAuthor">Rita Leganski</a>'s debut novel <em><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/author/authorExtra.aspx?isbn13=9780062113764&displayType=readingGuide">The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow</a></em> is sure to delight, sadden, and touch the soul every reader.<br />
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Set in the mid-twentieth century in a fictional town in Lousiana, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RitaLeganskiAuthor'">Leganski</a>'s novel tells the story of Bonaventure Arrow. An exceptional young man with an auditory gift, Bonaventure is born into a world of sorrow. When tragedy strikes his family weeks before his birth, Bonaventure takes on the weight of the mourning, guilt, and longing his family members feel. Bonaventure is different from other children; he cannot speak, but he hears the sounds that come from blades of grass, rocks, and bird feathers.<br />
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To say too much more about the plot would ruin the book. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RitaLeganskiAuthor">Leganski</a> breaks all kinds of "rules" for writing fiction, but prevails nonetheless. <i><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/author/authorExtra.aspx?isbn13=9780062113764&displayType=readingGuide">The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow</a></i> was a novel I wanted to devour in one sitting, yet spread out over several days so that it would last. From her chapter titles to her writing style, Leganski wrote a novel that is perfect in every way.<br />
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Breaking the "show, don't tell" rule was a leap of faith, but one that paid off in the end. While much of the novel is "told" to the reader rather than "shown" in descriptive writing, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RitaLeganskiAuthor">Leganski</a> creates the perfect voice for this brave novel -- a third-person narrator that the reader depends upon. Through this objective, omniscient eye, the characters come to life in all their wonderfully-flawed glory. Some remain lovable still, and some the object of further scorn, but this daring narrative distance allows their true colors to shine.<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/author/authorExtra.aspx?isbn13=9780062113764&displayType=readingGuide">The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow</a></i> broke my heart into a million pieces more than once, yet it also somehow filled my soul with hope in the end. Bonaventure's innocence and the goodness that shines through him will cause in readers a renewed sense of faith in humankind. The novel is about many things, but at its core it is the story of one brave young man and the people who love him.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/RitaLeganskiAuthor">Leganski</a> has written a novel that is far from anything else -- it is a magical tale that begs to be told. For more thoughts on this beautiful book, visit the <a href="http://www.shereads.org/2013/03/march-book-club-selection-3/">She Reads Book Club March Selection page</a>, where bloggers from all over the web have linked their reviews. To join in the book club discussion, <a href="http://www.shereads.org/forum/featured-book-club/the-silence-of-bonaventure-arrow-discussion/">click here</a>. If you'd like to read the first chapter, HarperCollins has a preview of the book <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780062113764">here</a>.<br />
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The <a href="https://twitter.com/ErikaRobuck/status/317372175550148608">She Reads pick for April</a> is Patti Callahan Henry's new novel <i><a href="http://www.patticallahanhenry.com/books/and_then_i_found_you.asp">And Then I Found You</a></i>. I am super-excited about this one, as I LOVED Henry's last novel <i><a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2011/08/coming-up-for-air-joins-ranks-with.html">Coming Up For Air</a></i>. Look for my thoughts on the new book in the next few weeks!Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-78699387641728649262013-03-24T08:24:00.001-05:002013-03-31T15:55:08.014-05:00Reading in the Classroom: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I told myself at the beginning of this year that I would be reading more of my middle school students' books: young adult, graphic novels, middle grades novels. My post-baby reading habits have slowed to almost-nil, save the reading I do on my iPhone via the Kindle app. Ebooks are my primary form of reading material for the moment, reading that is snuck in during midnight feedings and naps. However, I have recently been utilizing some previously unused reading time: the five or ten minutes each class period when my students are reading their independent books. For a few minutes after I take attendance and check in with my students about their reading, I have been stealing some time for myself.<br />
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My thought process is two-fold. A) I am modeling silent, sustained reading for them. B) I make sure that the books I am reading in front of them are books that they would be interested in reading, ones that I might recommend to them during our weekly book commercials. I recently read <i><a href="http://johngreenbooks.com/the-fault-in-our-stars/">The Fault in Our Stars</a></i> entirely at school during snatched minutes here and there. I think it's excellent for my students to see me engrossed in a book and to hear me say, "Five more minutes! I have to finish this chapter!"<br />
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<i><a href="http://johngreenbooks.com/the-fault-in-our-stars/">The Fault in Our Stars</a></i> was a phenomenal book, which is something you can read <a href="http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2013/02/the-fault-in-our-stars-by-john-green.html">almost anywhere on the internet</a>. I'm not going to make this a lengthy review because, again, that's something you can read <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/01/17/145343351/the-fault-in-our-stars-love-in-a-time-of-cancer">many</a>, <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/john-green-the-fault-in-our-stars,69030/">many</a> <a href="http://www.bookingmama.net/2013/01/review-fault-in-our-stars.html">places</a> on the world wide web. Instead, I'm going to discuss why it was important for me to read this book in my classroom.<br />
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John Green tells the story of Hazel Lancaster, a teenager with a complete understanding of the life cycle. You see, she has an incurable cancer. A pharmaceutical trial turned out really well for her; she happened upon a drug which does exactly what she needs it to do -- prolong her life. Thus, her incurable cancer has been transformed from an imminent-death disease to a probably-death-at-some-point-in-the-future-but-not-now disease. Despite this life-lengthening miracle, Hazel still has plenty on her plate. She must cart around an oxygen tank, for starters. And from time to time she lands herself in ICU, anyway.<br />
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Because of her illness, Hazel completed high school rather early and now attends some classes at the local community college. All of this spells disaster for her social life. Her old friends have continued living high school drama, and college students are largely uninterested in this sixteen-year-old in their midst. Her parents, doting and devoted, push her to attend a cancer kids support group, which Hazel grudgingly does. One night her world shifts from terribly boring to infinitely interesting when gorgeous former basketball star Augustus Waters walks into the group's feelings-sharing circle in a church basement.<br />
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<i><a href="http://johngreenbooks.com/the-fault-in-our-stars/">The Fault in Our Stars</a></i> was beautifully written and one of the most engaging novels I can remember reading. My students delighted in watching me read it, as I laughed out loud, shared lines and paragraphs with them, and postponed finishing it until I was in private because I knew there would be no way for me to extricate myself from the novel without tears. My students could hardly wait for me to finish so they could fight over who would check it out next from our school library.<br />
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I finally felt, with my reading of <i><a href="http://johngreenbooks.com/the-fault-in-our-stars/">The Fault in Our Stars</a></i>, that I could at last show my students what it means to fall head over heels in love with a book -- with the characters, with their predicaments, with the plot ups and downs. They heard it in my discussions with them, but more importantly they saw it on my face and in my body language as I read. No, not read -- pored over the pages, experienced emotions with the characters, traveled to Denmark with them. Visited Anne Frank's house and read her words in the space she inhabited during her hiding (yes, there is more to the book than a kids cancer group).<br />
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John Green's <i><a href="http://johngreenbooks.com/the-fault-in-our-stars/">The Fault in Our Stars</a></i> is exactly the kind of novel I want to share with my classes: at once interesting, smart, funny, and sad. I recommend it for fairly mature students in upper middle school and above, although given my feelings about it, I believe adults can enjoy it every bit as much as younger readers. Green has written <a href="http://johngreenbooks.com/">several other novels</a> that I will be reading soon, and my fingers are crossed as I look for my next book and hope it is every bit as good a title to share with my emerging readers.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-16382623029154982322013-02-26T13:50:00.000-06:002013-02-26T20:48:13.257-06:00SHE READS BOOK CLUB Book Review: Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was honored to become part of the <a href="http://www.shereads.org/she-reads-blog-network/">She Reads Blog Network</a> last fall, and this is the title chosen for their February <a href="http://www.shereads.org/forum/">Book Club</a>. Most bloggers link up towards the beginning of the month; I'm just a little bit late this month, as I'm just now getting back into the swing of blogging about anything at all! You can read more reviews of <i><a href="http://juliekibler.com/home">Calling Me Home</a></i> by clicking <b><a href="http://www.shereads.org/2013/02/february-book-club-selection-2/">here</a></b>. You can join the <a href="http://www.shereads.org/forum/featured-book-club/calling-me-home-feb-she-reads-book-club-pick/">book club discussion</a> over at <a href="http://www.shereads.org/forum/featured-book-club/calling-me-home-feb-she-reads-book-club-pick/">She Reads</a> after you've read the book yourself!<br />
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<b>A bit about the book (<a href="http://juliekibler.com/calling_me_home">from the author's website</a>):</b> <i>Sixteen-year-old Isabelle McAllister longs to escape the confines of her northern Kentucky hometown, but after her family's housekeeper's son rescues her from a Newport drunk, the boundaries seem smaller than ever.</i><br />
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<i>Falling for a black boy in late 1930s Kentucky isn't just illegal, it's dangerous. Signs at the city limits warn Negroes, “Don’t let the sun set on you here.” Despite repeated warnings, Isabelle and Robert disregard the racial divide, starting a chain of events that threatens jobs, lives, and generations to come.</i><br />
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<i>Decades later, black hairstylist Dorrie Curtis agrees to drive her elderly white client cross-country to a funeral. Over the years, Miss Isabelle has become more than just a customer, but the timing </i><i>couldn't be worse. First, Dorrie's seeing a man she's afraid she could fall for, but one thing is more obvious than ever: Trust is not her strong suit. Second, she knows her teenager's in big trouble; he just hasn’t told her yet.</i><br />
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<i>When a phone call from home confirms Dorrie's fears, Miss Isabelle's tale of forbidden love illuminates Dorrie’s dilemma, merging the past and present in a journey with unexpected detours and a bittersweet destination.</i><br />
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<b>How I felt about the book (and why you should read it):</b> Julie Kibler's <i><a href="http://juliekibler.com/home">Calling Me Home</a></i> could have been just another tale of race relations in the south. I am going to fully admit that when I read the description, I thought, 'Great. <i>Driving Miss Daisy,</i> <i>The Help,</i> and <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>, all rolled up into one and redone for the upteenth time.' I couldn't have been more wrong.<br />
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First of all, the two main characters grab you and don't let go. Dorrie and Isabelle are two of the most engaging characters I've been introduced to in a long time. They aren't perfect, but neither are people in real life. Although we know Miss Isabelle during two different periods in her life (young adulthood and as an elderly woman), and Dorrie only as an adult, Dorrie is every bit as dynamic in only the present day.<br />
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Another aspect of <i><a href="http://juliekibler.com/home">Calling Me Home</a></i> that I enjoyed was the way Kibler told her story. Varying between present day and flashbacks, we are introduced both to Dorrie and Miss Isabelle as they take a road trip north and to Isabelle as a young woman in the 1930s. Ostensibly a story Isabelle tells Dorrie as they drive, the 1930s story line becomes every bit as important -- perhaps more so -- as the present day plot. Kibler strikes the perfect balance between the two stories, building suspense by switching time periods, on more than one occasion. The technique certainly worked on me, as I raced to finish the book and find out how both stories concluded.<br />
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While this isn't necessarily a tale of happily-ever-after, it mirrors real life and will nevertheless leave readers satisfied in the end. <i><a href="http://juliekibler.com/home">Calling Me Home</a></i> is a book I would recommend to anyone seeking a good story, those who like stories about race relations in our country, and those interested in relationships. Because at its heart, the novel is just that -- a story about human relationships in all the various forms they take: mother-child, friendship, romantic love, and even the sometimes instantly-deep relationship strangers form when they meet during happenstance and show kindness to one another.<br />
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<b>About the author: </b><i><a href="http://juliekibler.com/home">Calling Me Home</a> </i>is <a href="http://juliekibler.com/about_julie">Julie Kibler</a>'s debut novel. She grew up in Kentucky (among other places) and moved to Texas to attend college. I always think novels ring more true when the author writes what he or she knows. Case in point, this novel and its setting. The inspiration for the story came from Kibler's own family. She learned that her grandmother experienced a similar situation to the one Isabelle faces, and that inspired her to create a fictional version. She is currently at work on her next novel. You can learn more on <a href="http://juliekibler.com/home">her website</a>, where you will find <a href="http://juliekibler.com/about_julie">links to connect with Kibler on your favorite social media site</a>.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-66002579240409950772013-02-25T14:42:00.001-06:002013-02-25T14:42:59.082-06:00A Return to Blogging: Life, Babies, & the She Reads Book Club<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Casual iPhone shot of Ava, 4 months</td></tr>
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It's been almost five months since my last post, and boy has life been busy! I birthed a baby, cared for her for more than four months (so far), celebrated major holidays, spent time with my family who was visiting from Africa, returned to work, interviewed for and accepted a position with Tennessee's Department of Education (in addition to my regular teaching job), and so much more.<br />
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The most important of the above list of life accomplishments and moments is, of course, the birth of my daughter. Ava Lauren is a whopping almost-16 pounds and more than 26 inches at four and a half months old. She eats well, to put it mildly. She is a joy and a night-disturbance; even in those half-awake, bleary-eyed moments in the middle of the night, she is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Her little hands touching my face, as she has begun doing in the last week or so, is quite simply the sweetest gesture that exists.<br />
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What I have <i>not</i> been doing very much of is reading or watching television/ movies. When you're a first-time mommy, all those things you've indulged in for so long fall to the wayside. My ten-minute shower each morning feels like a day at the spa. I had <i>heard</i> of those movies that won Oscars last night, but I hadn't seen so much as a trailer for any of them!<br />
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I have, however, managed to finish a handful of books in the last few months, and I am excited about sharing them with you. The books I've read for the <a href="http://www.shereads.org/">She Reads Book Club</a> will be up first, followed by some child rearing/parenting-related titles, as well as some classroom books. I may not be reviewing books every single day, but I'm excited to get back into the fray on some level, discussing books and sharing what I've been reading.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-49977376224297231722012-10-24T13:08:00.000-05:002012-10-24T13:08:00.573-05:00Two weeks ago...<div style="text-align: center;">
We met our tiny, beautiful bundle of joy. </div>
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Posts may come again at some point in the future, but for now I am enjoying every single moment with our little one (even the sleep deprived ones)!</div>
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Ava Lauren Carden was born on October 10, 2012, at 3:27pm. She weighed 7lbs 8 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.</div>
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We are in love!</div>
Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-32656745733091693522012-10-02T07:00:00.000-05:002012-10-02T07:00:10.797-05:00Book Review: The Cutting Season by Attica Locke<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Two years ago, I called <a href="http://www.atticalocke.com/about/">Attica Locke</a>'s debut novel <a href="http://awornpath.blogspot.com/2010/09/black-water-rising-just-might-be-best.html">one of the best novels I'd read in 2010</a>. <i>Black Water Rising</i> was a phenomenal freshman effort. I don't re-read books, but I may have to revisit it, especially after reading Locke's second book this fall.<br />
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<b>A bit about the book: </b><a href="http://www.atticalocke.com/about/">Attica Locke</a>'s <i><a href="http://www.atticalocke.com/the-cutting-season/">The Cutting Season</a> </i>takes on a wholly different set of issues and topics than <i>Black Water Rising</i> did two years ago. While Locke's first novel took readers to Houston in the early 1980s, <i>The Cutting Season</i> focuses on both the present day and the Civil War era in Louisiana.<br />
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Caren Gray is the manager and curator at Louisiana plantation Bella Vie, where daily pre-Civil War reenactments and tours are available. The mansion is also leased out for parties, weddings, and the like, all of which Caren presides over. She and her nine-year-old daughter Morgan live on the premises, much to the chagrin of Morgan's father Eric. An employee of Obama's White House, Eric would prefer that both Caren and Morgan leave the south behind and move to Washington, D.C.<br />
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Louisiana, however, is one place Caren can't bring herself to leave. Raised on Bella Vie, where her mother was the cook for decades, it is the one place Caren feels at home -- and the last place she saw her mother before her death. The Clancy family, her mother's former employers, still own the plantation, although Caren now works for one of the sons.<br />
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While Caren's background provides plenty of fodder for plot development, Locke throws a wrench into the storyline from the beginning, when the body of a young field worker is found on the grounds of Bella Vie. The murder mystery becomes intertwined with Caren's life at the plantation, bringing up another murder that was never fully investigated more than 100 years ago -- of a freed slave who just so happens to be one of Caren's ancestors.<br />
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<b>Why you want to read it: </b>One of Locke's talents is creating characters with whom her readers will empathize. She also does an excellent job of giving those characters both good and bad characteristics, so that it is virtually impossible to categorize them as all good or all bad. Caren Gray is a remarkable main character, teeming with life and dynamic in every way. Readers will both feel for her and, at other times, not understand her actions at all -- much as we do with living, breathing people.<br />
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Although Houston in 1981 was a feat all its own, Locke does another phenomenal job setting the scene for this novel. The plantation fairly breathes with a life of its own, as does Louisiana. Locke nails the scenes set in New Orleans, as well as the small town where Bella Vie exists. The reader is transported to a time and place, both in the present day scenes and in the references to the Civil War era.<br />
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<b>The bottom line: </b>With these two novels, there is no doubt that Locke is making a name for herself in the literary world. She came out of the gate running with <i>Black Water Rising</i>, and she has written another compelling novel with <i><a href="http://www.atticalocke.com/the-cutting-season/">The Cutting Season</a>.</i> While I would choose <i>Black Water Rising</i> as the stronger of the two novels, <i><a href="http://www.atticalocke.com/the-cutting-season/">The Cutting Season</a></i> was a delight to read, and only makes me wish for more from Attica Locke's talented pen.<br />
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<b>About the author: </b><a href="http://www.atticalocke.com/about/">Attica Locke</a> is from Houston, Texas, but now resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter. Much of her career has been spent as a screenwriter for major Hollywood film companies. Her first novel <i>Black Water Rising</i> was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and was nominated for an Edgar award, among other accolades. According to <a href="https://twitter.com/atticalocke/status/250405347750187009">her reply to one of my comments about <i>The Cutting Season</i> on Twitter</a>, she is hard at work on her next novel. For more information about Locke and her books, visit <a href="http://www.atticalocke.com/">her website</a>.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-1836037936837720192012-09-24T07:00:00.000-05:002012-09-24T07:00:09.954-05:00Book Review: The Harbormaster's Daughter by Heidi Jon Schmidt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>A bit about the book: </b>Set in present day New England, <a href="http://www.heidijonschmidt.com/bio.html">Heidi Jon Schmidt</a>'s <i><a href="http://www.heidijonschmidt.com/books.html">The Harbormaster's Daughter</a></i> nevertheless invokes an old world feel. Despite the fact that they are living in the twenty-first century, the characters who populate the novel maintain a certain nostalgia for life as it used to be in their little seaside town. Oyster Creek was once a town of fishermen, driven by an industry now mostly abandoned. As new folks move in, taken by the town's charm, the families who've been there for generations struggle to adapt.<br />
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Schmidt has written what is mostly literary fiction, but with a bit of mystery thrown in, as well. It is the story of Vita Gray and her early childhood tragedy. Her mother Sabine moved to Oyster Creek more than a decade ago, one of the outsiders taken in by its old world charms. She was a free spirit, unconstrained by the usual norms of society. As a result, she first got Vita; the second thing it got her was murdered.<br />
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Sabine's friend LaRee has raised Vita ever since that fateful night. Vita has had only minimal interactions with her father Franco, a long-time Oyster Creek resident whose wife Danielle seems saintly after his indiscretion rocked their world in more ways than one. Vita, now a teenager, is struggling through these difficult years. She lives partially as an insider in Oyster Creek - her father's daughter - and partially as an outsider, ever living in the shadow of her mother's shocking murder. When she finds out some truths about her mother's death, Vita's world is rocked even further.<br />
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<b>Why you want to read it: </b>Although there is a murder within the pages of this novel, Schmidt has not written a thriller. The truths Vita learns are already outlined for the reader beforehand. Instead, <a href="http://www.heidijonschmidt.com/books.html"><i>The Harbormaster's</i> <i>Daughter</i></a> is a slower-moving story that focuses on human interactions and growth. Vita is, of course, as the heart of the novel. However, Schmidt has also thrown in several characters readers will love, as well. LaRee will make her way into your thoughts, as will Vita's father Franco. Although he is oftentimes a bumbling idiot when it comes to female feelings, deep down he is a man with good intentions.<br />
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Another plus for the novel is Schmidt's integration of Shakespeare into the book. Vita's one love is being a part of an outdoor drama group who produces a Shakepeare play each summer. <i>The Tempest</i> is the chosen play for this year, and Vita is fully involved in its production. Although she doesn't get the part she hopes for, any little part she plays is important to Vita. I enjoy links to other pieces of literature within novels, and Schmidt does this very well in <i><a href="http://www.heidijonschmidt.com/books.html">The Harbormaster's Daughter</a></i>.<br />
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<b>The bottom line: </b>Schmidt focuses on the things that make us all human in <i><a href="http://www.heidijonschmidt.com/books.html">The Harbormaster's Daughter</a>.</i> Although it didn't turn out to be the literary mystery I thought I was going to read, the novel was winning in other ways. The characters, setting, and inclusion of Shakespeare make the novel something special. I did feel as though the action moved rather slowly in the middle; because the reader knows everything there is to know about the murder early on in the novel, the plot is not driven by an overreaching conflict. Instead, it's a slower novel that focuses on people rather than action.<br />
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<b>About the author: </b>Heidi Jon Schmidt is the author of four previous novels, one of which was also set in Oyster Creek. It is titled <i>The House on Oyster Creek. </i>Schmidt lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and has been writing for several decades. Her early short fiction has been published in <i>The Atlantic</i> and other literary magazines.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6391639497188398458.post-6180346432691642732012-09-19T20:40:00.000-05:002012-09-19T20:40:44.733-05:00Book Review: The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Readers dive into books for many different reasons. Some pick up books to learn information; others choose books that allow them to enrich their literary knowledge; still others seek books that allow them to escape. Avid readers probably do all of these, and many more, in their search for good reading material.<br />
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<b>A bit about the book: </b><a href="http://www.miamarch.com/node/1">Mia March</a>'s novel <i><a href="http://www.miamarch.com/content/novel-love-family-and-movie-night">The Meryl Street Movie Club</a></i> is the perfect novel to read for escape. Its strong female characters and engaging plot sucked me into its own private book world for several days this month. Although technically it could be called (the often dreaded term) "chick lit," I found that it fit that genre in the best sense possible.<br />
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Sisters Isabel and June are summoned to their family's Maine bed and breakfast by their aunt Lolly. She and their cousin Kat welcomed the girls into their home when an unspeakable accident claimed the lives of the sisters' parents and Kat's father many years ago. During that difficult time (which took place during all three girls' teenage years), the trio grew further apart rather than closer together. None of them has been particularly close in the years since. Instead, they've all gone on to lead very different lives.<br />
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Isabel settled into an upper middle class existence with her husband; June raised her son as a single parent; and Kat remained at the bed and breakfast, helping her mother. Each of them is surprised by Lolly's request. Lolly has never been much on family gatherings, other than at major holidays. However, once at the inn, they are rocked by a revelation none of them expected -- and a request none of them can ignore.<br />
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<b>Why you want to read it: </b>Simply put, Mia March writes fascinating, realistic characters you will come to love. Each woman has her own issues, and time spent together at the bed and breakfast is exactly what they never knew they desperately needed. Rather than providing a break from their everyday lives, the time they spend at the inn together in the next days days and weeks actually moves each of their lives forward in a profound way.<br />
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Intertwined with the novels chapters, told from the women's various points of view, are "movie nights" at the inn, primarily with films starring Lolly's favorite actress Meryl Streep. The women (and bed and breakfast guests who join them from time to time) discuss themes in movies as varied as <i>Out of Africa</i> and <i>The Bridges of Madison County</i>.<br />
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<b>The bottom line</b>: March takes what could become a trite, tired storyline and pumps new life into it. Although other "women's club" books have been done (i.e. <i>The Friday Night Knitting Club</i>, or the <i>Jane Austen Book Club</i>), none is so satisfying a read as this one. Isabel, June, Kat, and Lolly became important to me as a reader, their lives entertaining rather than tiring. I cared about each of them, individually and as a whole family. <i><a href="http://www.miamarch.com/content/novel-love-family-and-movie-night">The Meryl Streep Movie Club</a></i> was a delightful read.<br />
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<b>About the author:</b> This is <a href="http://www.miamarch.com/node/1">Mia March</a>'s first novel. Her second novel, <i>Finding Colin Firth</i>, will release next summer and features the characters from <i>The Meryl Streep Movie Club</i>. She is a single mother living in Maine with her elementary-school-age child, and (proof that we may well be long-lost soul sisters) cites <i>Anne of Green Gables</i> as one of her favorite childhood books. You can connect with March on <a href="http://www.miamarch.com/">her website</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/march_mia">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MiaMarch.author">Facebook</a>, or <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4788088.Mia_March">Goodreads</a>.<br />
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<b>SheReads.org: </b>I was fortunate enough to read this book as part of the September Book Club Selection for the <a href="http://www.shereads.org/she-reads-blog-network/">She Reads Blog Network</a>. To read other bloggers' thoughts on the novel, click over to the <a href="http://www.shereads.org/2012/09/september-book-club-selection-2/">September Book Club Selection page</a>.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486454111763825134noreply@blogger.com0