Quite a variety

Yes, I have another backlog of books to blog about.  I swear my life seems to get busier and busier.  I am reading more and more, which is a plus.  I finally broke down and joined the electronic book world with the purchase of a Kindle.  I have been quite quiet about it...there seems to have been some shame involved on my part, but I have to admit, I really do like it.  I am not convinced that it will ever take the place of holding a good book in my hand, but for traveling (of which I do quite a bit even if it is weekends visiting my kids) it is wonderful!  And it is very easy to use and easy to read with, so I am pleased with it.  I am reading a book on it right now and am leaving on a trip to Cancun in a couple of weeks, so I will load a couple of books on it for that trip!

The two books that I have read for my book groups are Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald, and Mudbound by Hillary Jordan.  I had just read Mudbound last summer, but read it again for my book group.  Again, a great book!  (my review of it was in my blog on 14 July 2011)  The book group really liked it and we had wonderful discussion...I highly recommend it!

I had read Fall On Your Knees about 13-14 years ago, and remembered that I had really liked it, so I was pleased that it was chosen for our book group.  It's a long book (508 pages) and very dark and disturbing with themes of secrets, incest, rape, abuse, etc.  However, Ms. MacDonald's writing is beautiful and I found quite easy to read, although the book has to be read fairly slowly in order to catch all that is happening in the story.

It is a story about the Piper family who live on Cape Breton Island (which is off of Nova Scotia).  There are four girls in the family, each with their own darkness chasing after them.  To say that the parents were dysfunctional is meaningless, because their characters went so far beyond just dysfunction.  The father of the family, James Piper, seems to be the catalyst for all that happens in the book.  Needless to say, he is not a likable character.  However, each of the girls are quite interesting, each in their own way.  They each found their individual ways of survival and some of the book is quite funny.

This book group did not like the book.  They found it disturbing and difficult to read.  Several did not finish it.  I don't know what this says about my taste in books, but I really liked it!  I like books that have lots of character development and this one does!

Next I read The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley.  I had never read any of his work, but I will be reading more of it...I loved this book!

Ptolemy is a 91 year old man, suffering from dementia and loneliness.  He lives in a small apartment by himself and has a nephew who comes by to look in on him and help him out with errands. When Reggie suddenly doesn't come by anymore, a friend of Reggie's family, 17 year old Robyn, begins helping out with Ptolemy, cleaning his (incredibly) filthy apartment, grocery shopping, etc. Ptolemy volunteers for an experimental medical program that will shorten his life, but will bring back his sharp mind for the time that he does have left to live. He investigates the mystery of his nephew's death and decides to take justice into his own hands, feeling that it is up to him to take care of the family he has left.  Through-out the book, Ptolemy remembers wisdom spoken to him by his childhood mentor Coydog McCann, who was murdered.

It is a fascinating, and moving book.  The difficulties and struggles of aging are very touchingly narrated and Ptolemy is a very likable character.  Great book!

Lastly, I finished The Gift of Peace by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin.  Cardinal Bernardin wrote this book during the last two months of his life, telling the story of the last three years of his life, including the false accusation of sexual misconduct and his diagnosis of cancer.  It is a very simple and moving book; I did not find it sad at all, but very uplifting.  Cardinal Bernardin's faith is inspirational and the work that he did for others is even more inspirational. This is not really a book about dying.  It is more about living.  His sharing about his difficulty with prayer at times is so easy for others to relate to. He was a great man and through this little book, he will continue to touch others for many, many years. (Joseph Cardinal Bernardin died in 1996)

More Great Summer Reading

I have really been enjoying my reading lately.  I highly recommend both of these books being reviewed in this blog!

The Devil's Dream by Lee Smith is right up there among her best.  I have always liked books by Ms. Lee, and this one was not a disappointment!

Around 1833, Moses Bailey, son of a preacher, brought his wife, Laura, up to a lonely cabin in the hills.  Moses wanted to find the voice of God for himself. Laura came from a musical family and she loved playing the fiddle.  Moses forbade music, especially the fiddle, because he believed it to be the music of the devil. Moses would take off for long periods of time, searching for God, and leaving Laura and the children to fend for themselves.  Eventually, Laura took up her fiddling whenever Moses was gone and soon her children began enjoying the music also.

So began the family legacy of country music.  The book takes the reader through generations of the Bailey family and their music as they begin performing publicly through-out the years.  It is the story of several generations covering 150 years.  I do have to admit that several times I became confused on what characters were who.  Fortunately, Ms. Lee provided a family tree at the beginning of the book, and I often had to refer to it.  Each chapter is told by a different member of the family as the years progress.  Despite that confusion, I really enjoyed the book.  The author, as always, does an excellent job developing the characters.

Next I read Mudbound by Hillary Jordan.  I had read about this book earlier and had put it on my TBR list.  Luckily for me, I found it at the used book store!  And I was glad that I had written it down earlier as a book I wanted to read.  Again, a really good book.  And even better, it was Ms. Jordan's debut novel!  And the novel won the Bellwether Prize for Fiction.  It deserved the honor!

In 1946, Henry McAllen moves his wife and children from the city living in Memphis to a run-down farm in the Mississippi Delta.  Henry had failed to mention to Laura that being a farmer was his life-long dream and when he went down to Mississippi to help out his sister for a couple of weeks, he returned to Memphis and told Laura that he had bought a farm and that they were moving there in a couple of weeks....to a farm that had no running water or electricity, and had been abandoned for a long time.  And on top of all that, Henry's racist, nasty father, Pappy, was going to be living with them.

After they arrive at the farm, they convince the local midwife, who is the wife of Hap one of Henry's tenant farmers, to work for them as a housekeeper.  Florence is a strong-willed black woman who becomes Laura's salvation. Soon, men return from the war, and among them are Florence's son, Ronsel, and Henry's brother, Jamie.  Jamie and Ronsel become friends, and begin to be seen around town together, which in 1946 Mississippi is a dangerous thing and both are warned to stop seeing each other before something bad happens.  Jamie is a charming, good-looking man, haunted by what he saw in combat.  Ronsel comes home as a decorated hero, which means pretty much nothing in the Mississippi Delta since he is a black man.  Jamie and Ronsel's friendship ends up creating great sorrow in the story.

Each chapter of this book is told by one of the main characters, Laura, Florence, Henry, Jamie, Ronsel, and Hap.  It is interesting that Pappy does not narrate any chapters, since his presence is so prominent in the story.  Yet, I am glad that he was not a narrator because he was so unlikable.

This is a very interesting book.  There is a great deal of tragedy in the story, yet it is very full of different ways love prevails and is experienced. And in the end, I felt great hope for the characters.  Very good book!!!