Eighty-five year old man learns to read!

Lessons in Literacy, WSFA-TV news

I found this very interesting, and encouraging! Fred Oliver is the oldest person learning to read with the Literacy Council of Central Alabama! He wants to write a book about his life, and I want to read it. :-)

Mr. Oliver's advice to older people who need help learning to read: "Get out from in front of the TV and come to school," he said, then continued with, "You missed out? So you missed out. You can't reach back and get what you lost, but you can better your life at any stage."

This is a cartoon I found on Facebook, where it was attributed to Crown Publishing Group. I apologize if it is not public domain. If you own it, let me know and I will take it down.

[SPOILER ALERT!!} Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee

Do not read this review if you don't want spoilers!!!

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I posted a "teaser" a few days ago, Redeemed My Voucher, so now that I've finished reading it, here goes!

This could have been titled, "Atticus' Feet of Clay". Like Jean Louise/Scout, many of us, most of us, regarded the Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird as a saint, a hero, an idol to look up to, a breath of fresh air in a stiflingly racist small town in the American South.

In Go Set a Watchman, he loses his virtue. The grown up Jean Louise witnesses him in the Maycomb County Courthouse, in the very room where he defended Tom Robinson so long ago, apparently complicit with the "Citizens Council" opposing the U. S. Supreme Court decision of 1954, the Brown vs the Board of Education decision that was decided in the early days of the Civil Rights Movement. At this meeting, racial epithets were thrown about. African Americans were reviled, reduced to children, reduced to animals, subhuman. Shameful, insupportable. Who was Atticus Finch that he could sit in that meeting and tolerate such as that?

Atticus was neither purely saintly nor purely evil.. Like all of us, he was a human, complete with fault and goodness, all mixed together. He was a good man, a fair man, but a man of his own time and place. That time was early to mid 20th century, and that place was Maycomb, Alabama, a small town in a rural county, many of whose citizens vividly remembered or knew relatives who remembered slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction.
Atticus did not like all the things that were said at that meeting, but he saw the Supreme Court decision much as he saw the Civil War, aggression of the North against the South, a violation of the Tenth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, the amendment guaranteeing States' Rights. Like many who considered themselves just and honorable people, he was for fair and equal treatment of all, but not in the same place, in the same schools, in the same restaurants, in the same seats on buses. He believed in the ideal "separate but equal", but we know that in reality "separate" was never "equal."

Jean Louise had a very heated and emotional confrontation with her old beau Henry, and another even more heated and emotional confrontation (on her part) with her father. I won't reveal the ending; I've "spoiled" you enough.

Now, my thoughts about the book itself. I thought it was very well written; in my opinion it lives up to the standards (if not the morals) of To Kill a Mockingbird. The characters are well drawn and the plot is interesting, with a great deal of conversation between individuals.

Comparing GSAW with TKAM: Jem has tragically passed away at a young age from a congenital heart disease. Dill is living in Europe, and Boo is no longer present. The old Finch home has been torn down and an ice cream shop is in its place. Atticus is now 72 years old and suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Calpurnia has retired and lives with her family; Aunt Alexandra has come to live and cook and keep house for her brother Atticus. Scout (Jean Louise) is living in New York City and comes home for annual visits.

There were some discrepancies from the plot of TKAM that I found unsettling, even jarring. Since To Kill a Mockingbird was published and widely read and filmed decades, half a century, before Go Set a Watchman was released, I am treating it as the authority, even though Go Set a Watchman was actually written earlier.
Atticus did see his children in the courtroom as they viewed the Robinson trial from the balcony.
Tom Robinson damaged his arm while working in a cotton gin, not a sawmill.
Mayella Ewell was nineteen years old, not fourteen, a significant difference.
Atticus Finch was appointed to try Tom Robinson by Judge Taylor, not persuaded by Calpurnia, his cook/housekeeper. He accepted as a matter of conscience.
Most important of all, Tom Robinson was convicted, not acquitted.

All in all, I enjoyed the book and am glad I read it, notwithstanding the fall from grace of Atticus Finch. I was born and reared in the South, in Alabama in fact. I grew up with people who thought and spoke as the "new" Atticus did, and even as Aunt Alexandra and as Mr. O'Hanlon did. I came to see the world differently, and in college I had "words" with my parents as Jean Louise did with her father, but I included this to say that Atticus is a believable southern man of the 1950s, more moderate in his thinking than most of his contemporaries were, but certainly not up to progressive standards of the 2010s.

Killer Keepsakes, by Jane K. Cleland

Cover image courtesy of LibraryThing

A delightfully well-written cozy mystery featuring the owner of a quaint New Hampshire antique shop and auction house. Her small group of employees are like family, so it is especially upsetting when her friend and assistant has not returned from work after her Hawaiian vacation. Even more distressing is the sight of a dead man on the missing woman's living room sofa! The plot twists and turns, with mysterious callers and secret identities before the answers are finally revealed.
(This book is fourth in a series, but stands alone very well. I have not read the others, and had no problem following this.)

American Meteor, by Norman Lock

"American Meteor" could describe the protagonist of this novel, Stephen Moran, or the railroads that spanned the continent, or the US's declared "Manifest Destiny", or even Walt Whitman (quoted in the frontispiece "What am I myself but one of your meteors?"

Fast moving as a meteor, this brief novel (201 pages) encompasses the career of one man, and takes us from his childhood gathering oysters near Brooklyn, NY, to the American Civil War and an army hospital where he met Walt Whitman, to Abraham Lincoln's funeral train. He stayed with the train after the Union Pacific RR bought it, and having become enamored of the pioneer craft of photography, worked for U. P.'s Dr. Thomas Durant documenting the progress of the railroad's westward expansion. From there, it was a short step to becoming Gen. Custer's personal photographer, and meeting Crazy Horse..

The author takes a few liberties with actual historical events, as he freely admits in "Acknowledgements".

The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan

The book is divided into four sections. Four Chinese mothers; four American-born daughters; two stories for each woman. The first tells a story from each mother's childhood, and the second section tells an episode from the relationship between each mother and her daughter. The next two sections reveal a bit more of the mothers' pasts and of the mother-daughter relationships. It is a very interesting concept and method of story-telling. I find myself frequently flipping back and forth, to review what I had read before of each mother and daughter. We get a very poignant glimpse into the Chinese psyche, not that there's just one for all!

Under a Blackberry Moon: A Novel, by Serena B. Miller

From my church's library. Read and reviewed for LibraryThing in September, 2014

A Christian romance with excitement and danger. A young starving Chippewa widow with a baby seeks refuge in a lumber camp where she becomes an assistant to the cook and a friend of the owner and his wife. When danger of another kind threatens in town, she and her baby take off to reunite with her people, accompanied by Skypilot, an itinerant preacher. Their steamship explodes while navigating Lake Superior; the Indian Moon Song and her baby, Skypilot, and the young wife of an Army commander are the only survivors. Moon Song's native skills keep them alive; she can forage for food, devise shelter, swim, and find safe refuge. Knowing from past experience that white men are unreliable, she leaves Skypilot as she nears her village. Meanwhile, the young wife, Isabella, goes into a severe depression over the loss of her husband and baby in the shipwreck, and experiences a psychotic episode when she temporaily mistakes Moon Song's child for her own. There are other adventures before she reaches her homeland, and Skypilot has some decisions to make, as well. Then there is the attempt of the American government to take the native children far away from home to an "Indian school."

This was a surprisingly good book. I will look for more by this author.

The Handwriting On The Wall: Secrets From The Prophecies Of Daniel by Dr. David Jeremiah, C. C. Carlson (Contributor)

An explanation of the prophecies of the Book of Daniel, with references to the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Revelation. Dr. Jeremiah takes us through the story of Daniel (the lion's den, the fiery furnace), then carefully explains the prophetic visions in everyday language.

Sweet Thursday, by John Steinbeck

A public library book read and reviewed for LibraryThing in April, 2014

A sequel to Cannery Row. This one is more plot-driven and not so much a series of vignettes, as Cannery Row was, even though it is its sequel and carries on the stories of nearly the same characters and the same setting. This picks up after the interruption of World War II, after Doc returns from the battlefield. He has changed inwardly, lacking the satisfaction with his life that he enjoyed before. His friends at the Palace Flophouse and the Bear Flag attempt with humorous and poignant results to come to his rescue.

Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck

A public library book read and reviewed for LibraryThing in April, 2014

A revealing and intimate look at individuals often overlooked by "dressed for success" nine-to-five suburbanites. Everyone has his own way of looking at life, his own hopes and dreams, regrets and failures. This was very well written, as one would expect from Steinbeck. However, I became irritated at Mack's frequent, almost constant use of "I and the boys". If I were Doc, I'd find it hard to resist correcting him, but Doc knew it would be useless.

The Road Taken, by Rona Jaffe

A public library book read and reviewed on LibraryThing in March, 2014

A quick paced family saga, focusing on the life events of the family of Rose Smith Carson, born on January 1, 1900, and still living in 1999. Most of the major events of the 20th century affected some member or members of her family: World War I, the influenza epidemic, World War II, beatniks, polio, the women's movement, gay pride, the sexual revolution, the Pill, advances in medicine, and many more. I found it interesting; I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next, but I wished many parts of it had been more fully developed.

The Gentleman from Indianapolis: A Treasury of Booth Tarkington by John (editor) Beecroft, Booth Tarkington (Author), John Alan Maxwell (Illustrator)

An old book of my mother's, an anthology of short stories and novels by Booth Tarkington. I never have finished reading all the stories, but I read and reviewed one for LibraryThing in February, 2014.


I found this volume in my mother's home after her death and decided to keep it. It's in fairly good condition with the exception of the dust jacket, which I threw away keeping the end notes (blurbs).

Alice Adams (complete novel)
Reading from a 21st century perspective, I found the 1920s characters of Alice Adams and her mother very annoying and harmful to their family. The mother was constantly nagging her husband to better himself by leaving his secure if lowly position in a company to start a new business. Alice was a very cheerful person who seemed to get along happily with everyone, but she pretended to be of a social class higher than she was. She had been popular in high school, and thought that popularity alone could get her through adulthood. I found it strange that a 22 year old woman whose family's finances were almost stretched to the limit (partly because of hers and her mother's demands) would not be earning her own way.

I finally got through the novel, just to see how it would turn out, but it has put me off wanting to read the others in this volume: The Magnificent Ambersons and Penrod. I will give them a try though.

Summer on Blossom Street (Blossom Street Books (Audio), by Debbie Macomber

An audio book from the public library. Listened to and reviewed on LibraryThing in February, 2014



A light-hearted piece about individuals and families in a Seattle, Washington neighborhood with a smorgasbord of family relationships and romance. It was read by the radio star, Delilah. I like to listen to Delilah on the radio occasionally, but didn't care for her reading. She put too much emotion, and sometimes inappropriate emotion for the context, in my opinion. I found that distracting. I did like it because it was "family-friendly" and "prim granny" friendly. ;-)

Minding Frankie, by Maeve Binchy

A public library book read and reviewed on LibraryThing in January, 2014

Family, friends and neighbors come together to help a single father make a home for his newborn daughter, who makes a sudden appearance in his life. The "evil fairy" in this almost magical tale is the overly suspicious social worker, always on the lookout for a breakdown in the system. An uplifting, happily-ever-after story, the kind of book I'm looking for now as I recover from knee surgery.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

A public library book, read and reviewed on LibraryThing in January, 2014

Even though it was a book well written with good character development, I did not enjoy reading it. Not my cup of tea. A dark, depressing, sad book of family dysfunction and urban loneliness. A group of misfits center around a quiet, mysterious deaf-mute. Everyone invests him with the answers and qualities that they are most in need of, but no one realizes his needs and problems, his desperate loneliness and inability to communicate.

Mrs. Miniver, by Jan Struther

A book from the public library, read and reviewed on LibraryThing in January, 2014

Mrs. Miniver is an imaginative and thoughtful woman, a loving wife and mother. This is a gentle and easy reading book with little plot. Each chapter is a different episode of Mrs. Miniver's life, with her thoughts and observations.

Mrs. Miniver was strong in time of war and preparation for war (WW II). She tried to keep things as normal as possible for her children, preparing them without alarming them. She volunteered with First Aid and took in seven refugee children to her country house in Kent. Written with sympathy and humor, and plenty of human interest.

Redeemed my voucher yesterday!

My photo on Flickr

Yesterday I went to Books-a-Million to redeem my voucher for Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee's just published, old manuscript. No lines, no waiting. The bookstore was busy, but I walked right up to the salesperson at the counter, received my book, and left. We walked across the parking lot to Panera Bread to have lunch. I was going to read while eating, but gave up that idea, as I was afraid I would drip some of my broccoli-cheese soup on the pages. I read it after I ate, with my second cup of coffee (Panera had a lunch rush of carry-out orders, but there were several empty tables.)

Husband and I shared shared a "Choose Any Two" meal; he got 1/2 an Italian combo sandwich.

The story begins with a train trip from New York to Maycomb, Alabama (Monroeville). After a brief stop in Atlanta, she crossed the Chattahoochee River into Alabama. Trains from Atlanta to Montgomery would pass the front of my grandparent's house, in a little community just west of the Chattahoochee! I could imagine her trip, being very familiar with the area!

Since I've started another book, a cozy murder mystery, I haven't gotten any further, and I really, really don't want spoilers. I am not reading any articles, blog posts, forum posts, Facebook posts, etc., print or online, about the book until I have finished it!

Savannah or A Gift For Mr Lincoln, by John Jakes

Read and reviewed in December, 2013, released via Bookcrossing later

The trials and tribulations of the citizens in and near Savannah, Georgia during General Sherman's infamous American Civil War march through Georgia. This is a work of historical fiction dealing with one family and their friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and a surprising outcome, told from the viewpoint of a young girl on the threshold of womanhood.

Above All Things, by Tanis Rideout

A book from the public library, read and reviewed July-August, 2013

A fictional account of a group's effort to scale Mt. Everest. Focuses on two climbers, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, and on George and his wife Ruth.

The cover art is captivating and provocative. It seems to represent the mountain as a woman, almost like a siren calling men to danger, to risk their lives in their quest to answer her call.

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Now that I've finished the book, I've learned that it is a work of fiction based on the actual events of real people. George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine did attempt to climb Mt. Everest in 1924. George's beloved wife Ruth was left at home to be single parent to her three children, Clare, Berry, and John. She was a deep, introspective woman (according to the novel). I found two quotes particularly poignant: "When I was small I imagined love as something safe, something without sharp edges, only the sweeping, enveloping curves of romance and happiness. But it isn't. Not now, anyway. There are edges and they cut." (p. 191) and "Duty is something men step inside and fasten around them, like uniforms. For women, duty is a cloak draped over us, that weighs us down." (p. 262)

Although I have no interest in climbing mountains, or even hiking, I was drawn into this book. In the middle of an Alabama hot, sticky summer, I was cold reading about their experiences in high altitude. And, I kept wanting to shout at them, "Use your oxygen! Use your d*** oxygen!" (And I'm not a cursing woman.)

Sadly, George and Sandy disappeared very near the summit of Mt. Everest. It is not known if they ever reached the peak.

Just My Type: A Book About Fonts, by Simon Garfield

A book from the public library, read and reviewed in July, 2013

Just as it says, a book about fonts, causing me to look more carefully at the letters of the words I'm reading. I wish the information were more chronologically presented, and that more examples of the different fonts were given. It is fascinating to read about the men and women who created the letters that we take for granted when reading.

Burning Bright, by Tracy Chevalier

A book from the public library, read and reviewed in July, 2013

I've read two of Tracy Chevalier's books (Girl with a Pearl Earring and Lady and the Unicorn) and enjoyed them, so was looking forward to this one. It did not disappoint! Fascinating story weaving William Blake, the poet and printer with Astley's Circus of late 18th century London, along with fears concerning possible repercussions of the French Revolution in England. All brilliantly told from the viewpoint of a young boy who has just moved to London with his family from a country village.

Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova

A book from the public library, read and reviewed in July, 2013

A fascinating fictional account of a woman who suffered from a very real but largely unknown medical condition, Left Neglect. A fast-lane, type A mother of three in a high-powered corporate position is suddenly rendered helpless following an auto accident. The book follows her therapy, her adjustments to her condition, her attempts to resume her former life, interpersonal relationships with her husband, children, and mother, and how she decides to live the rest of her life. I have read Still Alice by this author, and found it fascinating as well. I enjoy well written novels that deal with real issues in a convincing manner. I hope to find more of Lisa Genova's books.

I Still Dream About You: A Novel, by Fannie Flagg

This book was a gift from a friend, and given to my daughter-in-law after I read it. I reviewed it in May, 2006.

A fun read with lots of Birmingham, Alabama references that made it even more interesting to me, as it was my home for 34 years..

Home and Away, by Joanne Meschery

I reviewed this book on LibraryThing in May, 2013, but I failed to post my review on Bookcrossing. (I corrected that omission just now.) It has been released.

This is the story of two players on a high school girls' basketball team, their team and their coach, told through the eyes of one girl's mother. The mother is a very introspective person, and everything she sees, encounters, experiences, and hears reminds her of something else, which she has to carry through in her mind. The associations are not always clear, but even when they are, it makes for a tedious effort to plod through the storyline. It took me a long time to read this book (almost a week), only partly because my husband and I are going through a move.

Passing by Samaria, by Sharon Ewell Foster

A public library book read in May, 2013

A novel with African American and Christian themes. A young woman in rural Mississippi in the year 1919 is forced to leave her family and community. She goes to stay with an aunt who runs a Christian mission in Chicago. Her faith has been tested and almost unraveled due to actions of racial bigotry and hate. Her life is turned around in Chicago.

The Jane Austen Book Club, by Karen Joy Fowler

A public library book read in June, 2013

A very interesting book about the personal relationships and inner lives of a group of five women and one man who met monthly to discuss the novels of Jane Austen. Intricately woven, with layers upon layers, each chapter revealing more of the characters' individual stories.

Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger

A public library book read in July, 2013

A most interesting book! A familiar story: a fugitive from justice relentlessly pursued by a single-minded lawman is helped by friends and family along the way. This one is told from the viewpoint of two children, the outlaw's asthmatic young brother and his precociously talented little sister, a remarkable poet of eight years old. Their father is a deeply spiritual man who believes in and experiences miracles. Davy is a teenager who values action. When he shot and killed two bullies, town ruffians who entered their home with intent to harm the family, was it defense of home and family or premeditated murder?

I have caught up, with books reviewed on Bookcrossing.com

Now all I have left to do is copy and paste the reviews from LibraryThing of books checked out of libraries or borrowed from friends. Books not registered on Bookcrossing. That will have to wait for another day. Good night, all!

What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty

(Mine was not an audio book; it was a paperback, but looks like this.)

An amazing book dealing with a familiar subject, amnesia, in a new way. Alice was exercising at the gym and fell, hitting her head on the hard tile floor. When she woke, ten years of her life had been erased from her memory. The ten years during which her three children were born and her marriage fell apart. How does she begin to deal with a new life that she does not even recognize? A fascinating story, kept me interested and eager to see what happens.

I thought this might be a sequel (although written by another author) of Still Alice, by Lisa Genova. Strange that it's another woman named Alice, in a different country, of a different age, with amnesia instead of dementia - but an Alice with a memory deficiency.

Her Father's House, by Belva Plain

Read, reviewed, and released in April, 2015

Interesting reading, an exciting tale about love gone wrong. An aspiring lawyer meets an attractive young woman, falls in love, and they marry. Then they learn that they are not suited for one another; she likes the fast life whereas he longs for a quieter, more conventional way of living. At her suggestion, they divorce, but not before she learns that she is pregnant.

The rest of the book tells of his decision to kidnap his daughter after a near disaster, and of his efforts to hide away in the country under an assumed name, with a new identity and a new life. However, he is eventually discovered, as we knew he must be.
I found it ironic that the things he most despised in his former wife, her lies and deception, became the way he lived for many years, hiding in the country.

I had some problems with this book. What did she see in him, why did she pursue him? Why was she so eager to marry him? His philosophy of life was no secret to her. Also, it seems to me that he could have proven that the child was endangered, having been taken to an adult party with excessive drinking and drug use, and put into a car with a drunken, speeding driver. Oh, well, it did make for an exciting tale.

The Kitchen God's Wife, by Amy Tan

Read and reviewed in May, 2015

A very powerful book, and distrubing. It begins very simply and seemingly ordinary, with a family reunion and wedding. However, as the mother reveals more and more of her past to her daughter, it became very hard to read, especially about Weili's first marriage, the abuse and the heartaches she endured. The story line begins in California, and takes us back to war-torn China, facing first the Japanese and then the Communists. War and politics are only a background for Weili's troubles, though.

The Cider House Rules, by John Irving

Read, reviewed, and released in April, 2015

A very powerful and dark drama of an orphanage, its founder/director, and a boy who grew to manhood there. Dr. Wilbur Larch was a young medical intern who did not believe in abortion. In the 1920s, when this novel begins, most of the country did not either. A series of events (one in particular) changed his opinion. The plight of many unwanted and ill-cared-for children led him to found an orphanage in an abandoned logging town. He soon combined obstetric, abortion,and orphanage services into one entity, St. Cloud's Orphanage and Hospital. Desperate women found their way to St. Cloud's to deliver their babies that they would leave at the orphanage, or to have abortions. The boy was Homer Wells. He had been placed in four different adoptive homes at different times in his life, but non of them worked out. He always returned to St. Cloud's. Finally Dr. Larch accepted the inevitable and agreed that Homer could stay as long as he was "of use." As he grew, his responsibilities grew, from errand boy and message taker to Dr. Larch's assistant in the operating room.

Sisters of Shiloh, by Kathy Hepinstall, Becky Hepinstall Hilliker

Read and released April-May, 2015

Received from LIbraryThing's Early Reviewers program, I started reading it right away. A fascinating plot, two sisters have joined the Confederate Army, disguised as men. Libby/Thomas is seeking revenge for her slain husband, and Josephine/Joseph came with her to try to protect her (from herself?). Quite graphic depictions of the horrors of war, not easy reading in that respect.

The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family, and Ducks Built a Dynasty, by Willie Robertson, Korie Robertson

Read, reviewed, and released in March-April, 2015

I found this entertaining reading, as I am a fan of Duck Dynasty. This gives some behind-the-scenes background information about the family, particularly Willie and Korie, but includes Willie's parents Phil and Miss Kay, and Korie's parents, John and Chrys Howard. Each chapter begins with a verse of Scripture that illustrates this particular area of their lives, is named for a food dish that symbolizes different life stages for them, and ends with a recipe. The writing style is casual and confidential. I can almost hear Willie's voice as he sounds on the show.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Read and reviewed in February, 2015, keeping for my personal collection

I rarely buy a new book, but I bought this one at Books-a-Million yesterday, Monday Feb. 16. I also pre-ordered Go Set a Watchman, the recently discovered manuscript by the same author, Harper Lee.
I thought I had read it years ago, but I didn't remember anything as I read it this time. I have seen the movie, so I recognized the characters and some of the plot from that. I don't know how I missed reading it, but apparently I did. So, I am all the more grateful that I decided to buy this one now.
A wonderful book of childhood in small town 1930s America.
Brother and sister Jem and Scout Finch live what seems an idyllic life with their widowed attorney father and their maid/housekeeper/surrogate mother until the summer that their father takes on a very controversial trial, defending an innocent African American man against all odds.
Other characters featured in this story are the children's friend Dill who comes every summer to visit his aunt, the Finches next door neighbor, and Boo Radley,
their reclusive, possibly mentally challenged neighbor down the block.
This is a classic in American literature, required reading for most high schools and many lower grades as well. (I graduated not many years after it was first published, so it hadn't yet made the required reading list in my time.) Its reputation is well deserved; it is wonderfully written, and the characters are drawn with precision. A delightful book, it kept me interested from beginning to end. I am looking forward to Go Set a Watchman, which is to feature Scout as a young woman.

Spring Moon, by Bette Bao Lord

Read, reviewed, and given to a friend in June, 2015

I didn't want this book to end!
Spring Moon is a family saga, continuing through several generations, through many wars and revolutions. China has had a very turbulent history, and this is reflected in the fictional families of Chang and Woo. We follow the young girl, Spring Moon (born in 1877) into adolescence and womanhood, marriage, motherhood, heartbreak and tragedy. Her mother-in-law, on her deathbed, predicts that Spring Moon will live to see five generations.
Mrs. Lord is an excellent writer, conveying the history of China through the eyes of one woman and her family. At the same time we are brought into the sequestered world of 19th century privileged women, confined and bound by tradition, but still feeling hope, love, and despair behind closed doors. Each chapter begins with ancient tale, legend, or note of history, which adds understanding. Also, there is a timeline of the events of Chinese history from the ancient legendary era to 1981, the date of the book's publication.

The Paris Architect: A Novel, by Charles Belfoure

Read and reviewed in January, 2015

I don't remember where I got this book, or when. It is a new trade paperback, marked down to $9.64 from $14.99. It's possible that it was part of a 3 for $10 deal at the grocery store.

It is a fictional account of the German Occupation of Paris during World War II. I can't say I enjoyed it, but I'm glad I read it. A very thrilling and exciting story, as well as very disturbing. I had to put it down several times, as it was so intense.
Lucien Bernard, the Parisian architect, accepts an unusual commission from a wealthy industrialist. Design hiding places for Jews so clever that the Nazis will never find them, and in exchange, be rewarded with important commissions to build bigger and more efficient factories for German weapons. As the story develops, Lucien grows in character and compassion.

(start 23)

Scarlet Feather, by Maeve Binchy

Read and reviewed in November, 2014. Released later

A good book, about families, extended families, careers, and ambitions. A young woman and business partner open a catering business, facing and overcoming many challenges and disasters. A pair of neglected children, borhter and sister, enter the picture. I enjoy Maeve Binchy's writing.

The Oblate's Confession, by William Peak

Read and reviewed in November, 2014. Released later

I found this a very interesting although slow moving narrative. I am learning about the Roman Catholic Church in medieval times, as I am looking up words and concepts unfamiliar to me. Winwaed was given by his father to the monastery at Redestone as a young child, as a fulfillment of a pledge, a vow made to God. He grows up in the silent monastery, learning the ways of the monks, and is befriended by a hermit who lives nearby and who teaches him about spirituality, praying, and living in the woods.

A beautifully written, descriptive book. I felt like I was there, in the monastery, climbing the mountain, and in the woods with Winwaed and Father Gwynnedd. Written from the perspective of an older man recalling his early years, the narrative seemed to skip the parts that led up to the need for his confession at a later time. He had already confessed to Father Gwynnedd, although Gwynnedd's advanced age and senility prevented him from fully participating in the hearing of it and the absolution of it. The reader is left wondering how the monastery had changed after the second plague and what Winwaed's life was like in his adult years.
*****
I received this Advanced Reader's copy from the publisher as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers, in exchange for an honest review.

No.1 Ladies Detective Agency Omnibus Edition: No.1 Ladies Detective Agency; Tears of the Giraffe; Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith

Read and reviewed in October, 2014, released later

A trilogy of books about the delightful and intriguing Number One lady detective of Botswana, Precious Ramotswe, and her friends and associates, her clients, and the cases she and her able assistant so cleverly and thoughtfully solve. I had already read the first one in the series, but gladly read it again, as well as the others. I really enjoy the Precious Ramotswe books, and hope to find more of them.

Dark Mirror: The Medieval Origins of Anti-Jewish Iconography. by Sara Lipton

Reviewed in September, 2014

Received from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program (LTER)

I was excited to receive this book in the mail yesterday! I want to express appreciation now to Henry Holt and Company for sending it to me as part of the LT Early Reviewers program. I am looking forward to reading it, as I am reading Jews, God and History by Max I. Dimont and the National Geographic's booklet, Inside the Medieval World. Medieval history is a subject I have known little or nothing of, and have been curious about it. Also, as a conservative Christian, I have a deep respect for the Jewish people as God's Chosen People, forever.
I will be undergoing knee replacement surgery and physical therapy/rehabilitation next week and for the next few weeks, and don't know if I will feel like reading such deep subject matter. I hope the Early Reviewers program will not penalize me if I don't follow up with a "real" review for awhile.

Confession: This is still on my nightstand, unfinished. I want to read it; I want to learn about the history of the beginnings of anti-Semitism. This is a very deep and studious work, and there are too many fiction novels tempting me.

A Sudden Change of Heart, by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Read in September, 2014, reviewed and released later

I read this while I was at a rehab facility following knee surgery, a couple of months ago. I wasn't able to write a review at the time, and I have forgotten most of it by now, but I did enjoy it. It concerned family relationships, marriage, lifelong friendship, and also the theft of art by the Nazis during World War II.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel, by Rebecca Wells

Read and reviewed in November, 2014. Released later

Wow, what a wild ride! A mother's life, especially her adolesence, as seen through the eyes of her eldest daughter, Siddalee, with frequent flashbacks as remembered by the mother, Vivi. Herself the daughter of an alcoholic, abusive father and an overly pious, strictly religious mother, Vivi was the ringleader of a group of four girls who remained best friends from childhood to late middle age. They had some wild escapades in their youth, including a skinny-dipping party in the town's water tower! Vivi was beaten by her father, chastised by her mother, and sent to a strict Catholic girls' boarding school. No wonder that she became an alcoholic, and that her own four young children were overwhelming for her. The surprising thing is that her daughter Sidda turned out to be as normal as she was.

The Emerald Storm (An Ethan Gage Adventure), by William Dietrich

Reviewed and released in September, 2014

A historical drama set in the early 17th century. A swash-buckling hero is on a quest to rescue his wife and secure the lost treasure of Montezuma while evading the British and the French, who have their own agendas.

I couldn't get interested in it. I felt no sympathy for the main character, and hadn't met any others. I hope someone else enjoys it.

Radigan, by Louis L'Amour

Read and reviewed in November, 2014

This is not my usual genre, but I enjoyed it very much! I will look for other books by Louis L'Amour.
A fast-paced Western mystery/romance. A lone rancher finds trouble when a mysterious lady with 3000 head of cattle and 30 men comes to take his land.
A psychological thriller disguised as a Western romance. Radigan must out-think, out-track, and out-wit his opponents if he hopes to keep his ranch and even his life. I was kept reading on the edge of my seat! The ending wasn't wrapped up neatly, leaving much to the reader to surmise. I would have liked a wedding!

Sonoma Rose, (Elm Creek Quilts Novels (Dutton Hardcover)) by Jennifer Chiaverini

Read, reviewed, and released in September, 2014

I thought this would be a light "chick lit" romance, but it was deeper, encompassing many difficult themes: domestic violence, adultery, chronic illness, ethnic/cultural clashes. Rosa is forced to leave her abusive husband, and her rescuer is a former lover and father of two of her children. She regrets her former lapses and has vowed to remain true to her morals and the teaching of the church, but they still have feelings for each other. How will this be resolved, and what will her husband do if he finds them?

It is part of the author's "Elm Creek Quilts" series, but stands alone very well (I haven't read any of the others).

The Carousel, by Belva Plain

Read and reviewed in May, 2014. Released later

I always enjoy Belva Plain's books! This one deals with a hard topic, sexual abuse of children. It kept me enthralled to the end!

An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green

Read and reviewed in May, 2014. Released later

I enjoyed the book, it was fast moving and interesting, but the main character, writing in the first person, seemed a little self-centered. It was a book about teens, and probably more aimed at the teen market.

Other reviews can be found here.

The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd

Read, reviewed, and released April-May, 2014

A story of a motherless girl mistreated by her father. Her odyssey with her "nanny" reminded me a little of Huckleberry Finn and Jim. With her only clue a picture on a honey jar label, Lily and Rosaleen manage to find a safe refuge among a family of three African American sisters who keep bees and make honey. There is much interesting information about bees, bee-keeping, and honey. Surprisingly, Lily also finds answers to the mysteries surrounding her own family.

Splintered Bones, by Carolyn Haines

Read, reviewed, and released April-May, 2014

A humorous murder mystery. Who killed Lee's husband, a no-good jerk nobody liked? Was it Lee, who has confessed, or her daughter, a 14 year old wild child? Or was it the cowboy horse trainer, or one of his many lady friends? The suspense builds as more and more characters are introduced, some friends and some fiends.

Save Me, by Lisa Scottoline

Read, reviewed, and released in May, 2014

It could have been a good book if Ms. Scottoline had stuck to one or two themes, but there was too much going on. It was all over the place: family relationships, school bullying, political corruption, high-risk crime-fighting. Given Rose's reticent, anxious personality, it seems unlikely that she would have boldly gone into an unfamiliar factory looking for clues to the explosion and fire at her daughter's school. The bits about her mother's alcoholism and her own slight over-indulgence of wine one evening seemed to be thrown in for no good reason. I will not be looking for any more books by this author.

Nanny McPhee Returns, by Emma Thompson

A welcome change of pace from deep heavy themes and thrilling intrigues and conspiracies, this is a story of family and children and also a narrative of movie making.I thoroughly enjoyed this light-hearted family friendly tale! A mysterious nanny with magical powers appears just when the Green family needs her most. Father has gone off to war (World War II), the rich, bratty cousins have come to escape the bombing in London, and Mrs. Green will lose the farm if she can't get the barley harvest in. Her job at a general store is in chaos due to the elderly and confused owner who puts everything in the wrong places and there is also chaos at home, as her children and their cousins simply cannot get along. Here comes Nanny McPhee to the rescue, a fatter and uglier version of Mary Poppins, but no less effective in getting unruly children to actually want to behave themselves! Amid many mishaps, including an unscrupulous uncle and a septet of unusually talented baby piglets, order is finally restored and everyone is happy again.In amongst the "chapters" of the storyline are interspersed entries of Emma Thompson's diary of the filming of the movie. I found this somewhat distracting, and would rather have read the diary separately from the story. It was entertaining in itself, though.

I am keeping this book to read to my grandchildren.

The William Monk Mysteries: The First Three Novels, by Anne Perry

Read, reviewed, and given away in January, 2015

I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy of the first three William Monk mysteries by Anne Perry. Each of the three actually was two mysteries:The whodunnit in each case and also the developing revelations of William Monk"s identity and background following an accident in which he sustained a head injury and subsequent amnesia.

Mr. Monk is a police detective in 1850s London. Ms. Perry describes the Dickensian scenes very well, and the reader is drawn into the scenes: the busy street life, the pubs, the overwhelming and frightening ghettos, as well as the luxuries of the upper classes. The endings were completely surprising, uncomfortably so.
I will look for more William Monk mysteries by Anne Perry.