New Prayers

I've been reading New Prayers by Michel Quoist since the beginning of this year.  I just never really got into it, which was sad.  Years ago I had read Prayers by the same author and loved it.  I wasn't able to find a copy of it, so I ordered this one. The prayers are mostly quite long, sometimes several pages long, which I didn't like.  The content was good, just too much of it! I did persevere and finally finished it. Do I recommend it? Not really.  I would like to be able to re-read Prayers and see if it is as good as I remembered it to be!

I've Been Thinking...

I heard Maria Shriver on the Today Show talking about her new book, I've
Been Thinking, earlier this year and when I had finished my last book on spirituality, I decided to get this book to read.  I'm so glad that I did.  I have really taken my time with this book, reading only one chapter at a time.  Ms. Shriver's words have touched me each day. It is a book of "Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life".



There were only a very few chapters that were not full of highlighting as I read them.  One of my very favorite lines was the following:

"Have faith that your best days are ahead of you, that your next frontier will be the most fulfilling time of your life, and that you deserve to be seen as good enough just the way you are-including by yourself."

Great book!

Promise Me, Dad

Joe Biden, former Vice President, wrote Promise Me, Dad about the year leading up to his son Beau's death.  I was expecting more about the actual family's dealing with all that was involved with Beau, but the book was, as advertised, about the last year before Beau died.  So I felt like most of the book was about Joe Biden's travels, meetings, etc. related to his work. I wanted it to be a book about the family, and that was, of course, included, but I just wasn't interested in all of the other stuff.



The parts about the family dealing with Beau were heart-breaking and, if possible, made me love Joe Biden even more. 

Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng was chosen by one of my book groups to read for our September gathering.  It was a book that I have toyed with picking up and reading, so I was pleased to have it chosen.  The story didn't disappoint.  It was easy to read, but was chock-full of family dynamics.  It was a great choice for book group discussion.



The story is primarily of two very different families, whose lives seemingly collide at the end of the book.  The book opens with the Richardson family watching their home burn to the ground, assuming that the missing daughter had set fire to the home.  The home was in Shaker Heights, an upper-scale community where the Richardson family, consisting of the parents and their four children, lived.  One summer, an artist and free-spirit Mia and her fifteen year old daughter Pearl, came to town and rented the Richardson's rental home.  As time progressed, Mia and Pearl became intimately involved with the Richardson family.

The story touches upon adoption, secrets, loss and most especially, motherhood.  It's a good story and I recommend it for any book group!

American Pastoral

One of my book groups chose American Pastoral by Philip Roth for our August discussion.  I don't have a lot to say about this book.  We all agreed that the 423 pages could have been 200.  My goodness, what a wordy man Philip Roth was. And the point of the book?  Everyone is searching and striving for a good, meaningful life. Okay, having said this, the reviews for the book are praising it to the heavens.


It is the story of Swede, an all American boy, and how his life went from being a star athlete, admired by all, to being the owner of a glove manufacturing plant, to being the husband of Miss New Jersey of 1949, to one day having his whole life turned upside down when, in 1968, his sixteen year old fanatical daughter's act changed everyone's life forever.

I really enjoyed the core story in the book, but the pages and pages describing one thing killed my enthusiasm.  We deducted that because he was Philip Roth, no editors would confront his writing!

The German Girl

I borrowed The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa from one of my daughters.  I had some interest in it whenever I saw it at the bookstore, so was pleasantly surprised to be able to borrow it! Until I finished reading it, I did not realize that the novel was based on a true story.  I always find that very interesting.


The book takes place in two different times with two different characters.  Twelve year old Hannah Rosenthal's story began in 1939.  The story of Hannah's grand-niece, Anna, also twelve years old, began in 2014.  The novel began in Berlin in 1939, when Hannah's parents, who were German and Jewish were realizing that they needed to leave Germany.  After much tribulation, they finally found passage on the German ship St. Louis which was going to Havana, Cuba.  Their plan was to be in Havana for a short period of time, then go on to New York to settle. Hannah's family was wealthy, could afford the better accommodations on the ship, and the purchase of an apartment in New York.  Hannah's best friend, Leo, and his father also were traveling on the ship.

When the St. Louis arrived in Havana, they were turned away.  Havana decided not to take the 900 people on board.  Finally a very few were allowed entry, including Hannah and her mother.  The ship went to both America and Canada, but neither country would allow the passengers to enter the countries. So all of the passengers left on the ship were to be returned to Europe. Hannah and her mother found a place to live and began to make a life there, hoping that Hannah's father would be able to eventually join them.  Hannah's mother was pregnant when they arrived in Havana, and was determined that she would have her baby in New York so the baby would be an American citizen, so she was allowed to go there for a short time, have the baby, then had to return to Havana with the baby, a son.

Forward seventy years to twelve year old Anna Rosen.  Her father had disappeared when her mother was three months pregnant with her, so she and her mother lived in their apartment in New York.  Her mother would talk to her often about her father, saying that he would be back.  Anna knew that her father had been raised by his aunt in Cuba, and that his parents had been killed in a plane accident, but that was about as much as either she or her mother knew. Then one day a large envelope was delivered addressed to Anna's mother.  It came from Canada. In the envelope was a smaller envelope addressed to "Anna from Hannah".

And so the story goes.  From there old family secrets are learned, and family is reunited.

I would have liked to have read more about the history of the St. Louis and the struggle for the refugees on board.  The book was a good story with some interesting twists to it. It would make a good book for a book group to discuss.

Yes We (Still) Can

I'm a big fan of the podcast Pod Save America and my favorite co-host on the pod is Dan Pfeiffer.  When I heard that he had a new book out (his first, I believe), I rushed out to get it.  The book did not disappoint me.



Early on Dan began working on the Obama campaign, and then went on the serve in the Obama White House for six years.  He was the White House Communications Director, then became a senior advisor to the President.

Yes We (Still) Can is Dan's story of his career path, working in the White House for President Obama, and the horror of Trump.  He also discusses the campaign of Hillary Clinton, and lessons that need to be studied for the Democratic 2020 campaign.  The book contains a lot of Dan's dry and funny humor. But the lessons need to be seriously studied over the next couple of years.  He has a lot of political wisdom.

The last chapter of the book is called Thanks, Obama (Seriously).  I found it funny, but very poignant.   Yes, Dan, we are missing him terribly.