Karen’s Blog

Almost Home
A Story based on the life of The Mayflower’s Mary Chilton
by Wendy Lawton

Not every book I read is a thick tome. I get children’s books as well, and this was one of them. It’s for older kids, as it isn’t a picture book, but is a simple read. It is part of a “Daughters of Faith Series,” though I haven’t seen any of the rest of the series.

It is a nice little story based, as the subtitle indicates, on the life of one of the actual children on the Mayflower. It does a nice job of telling about the circumstances the family went through, both in their native England and then in Holland, being the ones taunted and threatened because of their faith.

It’s nice to have a “back story,” for children to read, as in school the whole “why they came to America” seems to be about two sentances long, and rushed over to talk about their landing in the New World and the events that followed. This is a serious, but not boring (like a history textbook) or frightening story, and was a quick read. And as someone who had relatives on the Mayflower and The Rose, it was pretty interesting on a personal level.

PopCo by Scarlett Thomas

This is a really fun book, if a bit unsubtle in its final messages. I have a feeling that each person who reads this book will come away with a different favorite part - whether the anti-corporate behemoth message, the “good people are vegetarians,” the cryptanalysis (as opposed to cryptology), the mathematical puzzles, the bits of history throughout, the loving references to Rescue Remedies, the romance, the cake recipe at the back or one of the two different “endings.”

The main character, Alice, had quite an unorthodox childhood, which we relive in bits and pieces throughout the 500+ pages. An intelligent person, she is raised by her mathmatician grandparents which in no small part affects her as an adult. What other child has the busywork task of solving prime numbers, writing puzzles and crosswords for the paper under her grandfather’s name, and ends up graduating as an English major but working at a toy company? The other characters are interesting as well, and there’s even a romantic interest involved.

All in all, it is a fascinating book, and one I am giving to my mathematically-minded, puzzle-loving sister for her enjoyment. I suppose it counts as Science Fiction, but it’s more math than science. In one of those oddities of books I get from the BEA, the cover was completely a different image, so don’t let that eerie doll put you off a good story, okay?

Released October 2005 by Harcourt Inc, HarcourtBooks.com

Faking It by Jennifer Crusie

This is a fun little book, full of very interesting, pretty well fleshed-out characters. The main character’s family are art forgers for multiple generations, and movie and theatre buffs and performers, though she, “Tilda” - short for Matilda, is making a living doing murals of famous works of art for peoples’ homes, and trying to go legit.

The main male character is also someone not quite normal, a con man trying to get his money back from a former girlfriend - your typical evil blonde. Their paths cross, and recross, and it is a fun romp through a colorful scene. No one is quite what he or she seems at first, and it’s interesting how things play out. The ending is a bit confusing - I had to re-read it to be sure I understood, as a lot happens very quickly at the end. It was more substantial than many Chick-lit books, though the requisite romance is included, and all in all it’s a quick, satisfying read!

One Bullet Away The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathanial Fick

Interesting nonfiction story of a Marine officer, Nathanial Fick, from his decision to enlist, through the opening of the current Iraq war, and on. The title comes from the phrase they hear in training - “What’s the difference between the officer in charge and the second-in-command?” “One bullet.”

Marine Fick comes across as intelligent and thoughtful, as well as patriotic, belying the stereotype of Marines is gung-ho grunts. He stays away from national politics that surround the war except for the effect they have on him and his men. You get a lot of inside detail on the different types of people in the Marine Corps, as well as getting to know individuals in his squad very well. He shares his experiences - and frustrations - with the military command structure, dealing with officers of widely varying levels of competence being in charge of he and his squad.

The book takes us with Officer Fick an his squad over to Iraq, and just as important, deals with the aftermath of their experience as well. This is no “Mission Accomplised - book ends” - he intelligently deals with his men as human beings, and talks about what we rarely hear - how one adjusts when coming back to “normal life” after being in a war.

Island of Saints by Andy Andrews

I picked this book up, not knowing whether it was fiction or nonfiction, and just started reading. A wonderful story, either way, it begins with a discovery on an island off the Alabama coast. Digging in his garden, the author finds mysterious relics, which after some Internet research, he discovers are Nazi memorabilia, and a photo of a young family from that era.

This intrigues him enough so that he begins a quest to find out about these people, and the history of the place he now lives. Nazis in Alabama? That was certainly not in any history curriculum in his school.

The journey he takes unfolds back in the 1940s and jumps forward to today, but does so pretty smoothly. The main character of the “back story” is a very angry young woman, a stranger in this small-town Alabama world. And in the process of the story, and the valuable lesson it teaches, I am told (and checked the back cover to verfiy) that it is a ’self-help” book. I don’t normally read that genre recreationally, but this one was different. The narrative flows right along, the “lesson” comes pretty subtly, and all in all it is a delightful little book. In fact it is such a lovely little book that I am sending a copy to a very angry young woman I know today, in hopes that she’ll not only enjoy the story, but maybe find a better way to deal with her own anger. Regardless, the book also teaches a bit of history that is not in textbooks, and that paints a picture not in black and white, but in the many shades of gray that exist in the time of war. Interesting and apropos of today’s world for many …

Killigrew and the North-West Passage by Jonathan Lunn

One can tell from the three-masted ship listing on pack-ice on the cover that this book is set away back in time - specifically in 1852, back before GPS, Photos of the earth from space and other modern marvels we take for granted - like knowing the shapes of the continents, for one thing.

Still, it’s a good book, with well-fleshed-out characters, not all of them stereotypical. The one female character is not a delicate, fainting type, the Inuit who signs on for the quest is neither savage nor saintly, and the sailors, even the minor players, feel genuine both in their diverse backgrounds and peculiar superstitions. And the polar bears that plague the party are not portrayed as cute and cuddly, nor given human-like personalities, which was refreshing.

In that era, sailors were still hoping to find the fabled “North-West passage” that would let them sail from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans without having to sail all the way down to the bottom of South America, and treacherous Cape Horn. Any schoolchild now could look at map of the world and tell you that it’s not possible, but back then, we didn’t know.

This novel is excellent, gripping, and gives you a real flavor for both the time period and the struggles explorers went through. I couldn’t put it down, and was quite pleased that, after the novel itself ended, there was a several-page “Afterward,” telling “The Truth about Polar Bears and Other Matters.” I recommend this to anyone who likes “exploration” or “historical” fiction. It feels absolutely real.

It was one of the cold, bright New England days today, so I figured this was a good book to review today. After reading, I gave it to my brother, who lives in a “snow belt” section of upstate NY!

Killigrew and the North-West Passage at Amazon

Uncle Mac was my Dad’s uncle, my Grandma’s brother. He was a “late Valentine” and never had any kids of his own, so Dad spent time at Mac’s farm in the summer, and Uncle Mac was beloved by we four kids. If you have any bananas lying around - four to be exact, you can make Uncle Mac’s banana bread recipe … I posted it on Pet Talk and I know it has been made by people in Germany and England as well as all over the US as a result. I’m allergic to bananas now, but you can enjoy! Recipe here.

I read all sorts of books - since I get to go to The BEA*, I pick up just about anything. And while I don’t specifically seek out good love stories, when I stumble across one and it is well-written, I do enjoy it!

Beginner’s Greek: A Novel by James Collins was one of those. It was just released last month - January ‘08 - in the real world. It is a lovely story about two impossibly good and nice people, who meet on a plane, fall in love, and then lose touch immediately afte - r for long enough for both to regretfully move on, marry others, and have lives. How they reconnect and what happens makes then seem much more real, and the ending is actually satifsying, which is a surprise. In between are many interwoven threads and characters, and even the “villians” aren’t entirely unlikable - it’s just a good, sweet story. Almost but not quite a fairytale for grown-ups. Why not quite? No fairy godmothers or socery involved, just people.

I recommend it - it will leave you smiling.

*Book Expo America

And so it begins …

For a long time now, I have been meaning to start a blog. I am an avid reader of almost anything, and so will be reviewing books I have read. Stay tuned for more …