The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks

This is a children's/young adult fantasy novel. An interesting premise: a young boy is given a plastic Indian (native American) figure, the kind of toy that comes in a package of many. There are many kinds of these sets: cowboys and Indians, soldiers, farm animals. Not very grateful for the toy, he stashes it away in a "cupboard" (medicine cabinet to Americans; Ms. Banks is a British author) and locks it with a very unusual old-fashioned key that his mother's grandmother had given to her long ago. Next morning, he awakens, hearing mysterious noises in the cupboard which he is keeping on his nightstand.

The Indian, though still very tiny, is alive! Alive, and not at all happy to be snatched from his Iroquois people of 1700s North America. Gradually, the boy, Omri, and the Indian, Little Bear, begin to understand and respect one another. As one might imagine, it is of utmost importance to keep Little Bear a secret from Omri's parents and brothers and his best friend Patrick, who gave him the plastic Indian. As Little Bear understandably becomes more and more insistent on having his needs met, Omri feels a deepening sense of responsibility that begins to weigh on him heavily. As he thinks of the future, he realizes that decisions must be made, and soon.

This book was made into a movie, and several sequels were written.

The Road, Cormac McCarthy

Dystopic literature has not usually been my genre of choice, but I find myself reading a handful of those books recently: Cloud Atlas, The Handmaid's Tale, The Road, and I'm currently reading 1984 on my phone's Kindle app.

After a long hiatus (over a year!), I finally picked up The Road again and resumed reading it. It is a disturbing, depressing, yet mostly gentle account of a post-apocalyptic world where every living thing - plants, animals - has perished, except for a small number of humans who are left scrabbling for existence, some attacking others, some helping others, and many just trying to avoid others. The plot centers on a man and his young son, called "Papa" and "the boy." We find them traveling a deserted road. The world is bleak and dark, overshadowed by clouds of ash that block the sun. The nights are dark and cold, and often rainy. Winter is approaching, so the pair are traveling south, where they hope it will be warmer. They find just enough canned food in abandoned houses and underground bunkers to keep themselves alive. We are not told what happened to destroy the world, but there is evidence of massive fires, rumblings of earthquakes, and the possibility of volcanic eruptions. The relationship between the father and son is the most hopeful part of this sad, melancholy tale; it is one of genuine love, caring, and trust. As I read, I hoped that there would be a good outcome for them, but feared that there wouldn't be. 

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, by Jennifer Ryan

An excellently written novel of women in a war-torn English village bravely carrying on, uniting as part of the Home Front. The plot was driven by a series of journals and letters, as the main characters each wrote of her own personal challenges, triumphs, and setbacks, and gave her own unique perspective on the events they all experienced. The Ladies' Choir was begun as a response to the absence of most of the men of the village, due to World War II. They did surprisingly well - even surprising themselves when they won a regional contest. Other complications to the plot included two infants born on the same day; one to the schoolteacher whose husband was in the military, and the other to the wealthy family whose only son had recently been shot down and killed in battle. It was very necessary that they have a son to carry on the family name and fortune. A newcomer to town raised suspicions. An artist, he had no visible means of supporting himself, and engaged in some very dubious dealings with shady characters. Two young girls, sisters, come of age in these perilous times, and learn about love and loss. A middle-aged widow, whose only son has just gone off to war, agrees to host one of the Senior Staff of the nearby War Center. A Jewish child refugee is housed with the Winthrops.

This is one of my favorite books, and I plan to keep it awhile and reread it. I highly recommend it, and I will look for more books by this author. This book was sent to me as part of the Early Reviewers program on LibraryThing. I was asked to provide an honest review in exchange.

As Good As Gone, by Larry Watson

(my photo)

This is an Early Reviewers book, which I received from Algonquin Books, asking nothing but an honest review.

I enjoyed the storyline and the characters, got really involved in it, and kept reading to see what would happen. I did not much care for the strong language and sexuality, but the language was in keeping with the nature of the characters.

A tough, rangy old cowboy, now living almost as a hermit, is asked by his son to come stay with his grandchildren, who are strangers to him, for a few days while the son takes his wife to another city for surgery. The town, which as a former real estate agent, he helped build has also become strange to him, but the widow next door remembers him well.
His son and daughter-in-law have left some situations unresolved, and as attention is needed to sort them out, "Grandpa" delves in with knife and pistol and fists and tries to settle them the old-fashioned cowboy way.

And After Many Days, by Jowhor Ile

This book was sent to me as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. In return, I was asked to write an honest review of my own opinion of the book.

This was a very absorbing book, a slow, descriptive narrative in parts, but at the same time, a thrilling plot that kept me reading, anxious to learn what happened to the 17 year old brother, the good-humored, peace-keeping elder brother who suddenly disappeared one summer afternoon.
The author, a native of Nigeria, took us back to the early childhood of the three children of the Utu family, familiarizing us with the thriving city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria's capital city, as well as the family's ancestral village of Ogibah.

"One rarely finds ‘page-turner’ and ‘poetry’ in the same sentence, but And After Many Days is a rarity indeed…An achingly tender portrait of family life, a brilliantly executed whodunnit, a searing critique of Nigerian politics, a meditation on love. The Utu family will stay with me always."
—Taiye Selasi, author of Ghana Must Go

Night Ride Home, by Vicki Covington

I have mixed emotions about this book. It was fairly interesting to read, but none of the characters really "grabbed" me. What I liked best about it, I think, is that it was set near Birmingham, Alabama, where I lived for 34 years. I recognized many of the places, and the one trip into the city was particularly interesting for that reason.

Set in a coal mining community in Jefferson County, Alabama west of Birmingham, this is a story of the events before and during a mining disaster.

Keller is about to marry Laura, the daughter of the owners of a service station and general store, against her father's wishes. Her mother manages the store, and her father works occasionally at the nearby steel mill, but mostly just hangs around the store drinking, shooting clay pigeons, "skeets," and getting drunker and angrier by the hour. He threatens his future son-in-law with a shotgun, so they secretly delay the wedding by a day. As it turns out, the new wedding date is December 7, 1941. However, the Pearl Harbor attack and World War II are only mentioned in passing. The young man, Keller, is afraid he will have to go to war.

On Christmas Eve that year, a wall falls at the No. 3 mine, trapping Keller's father and his crew. Men work around the clock, trying to dig them out. Meanwhile, Keller's mother fulfills a singing engagement at the Catholic Church in Birmingham, and the pregnant camp prostitute goes into labor. (The identity of the baby's father is the topic of much gossip and speculation in the community.)

Vicki Covington and her husband Dennis Covington live and work in Birmingham, Alabama. Both are authors and have been newspaper columnists.

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!

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.

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.

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?

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.