The Leavers by Lisa Ko - on Libby Audio - 15 hours

 I would never have read this book or stayed with it if it weren't for the new Monterey book group that I recently joined. It's not one I would have chosen, and after the first few depressing chapters I was ready to give it up, but I stuck with it because I like this group of women and wanted to be a contributor to our discussion. I'm glad I did, even though most of it was hard to live through.

This young Chinese boy is given up by his mother TWICE, and the resulting mental trauma is carefully chronicled through his years of searching for her, finding her, and eventually finding his own way. It's a torturous journey, however, helped along by well-intentioned adoptive family members. The story alternates through the viewpoints of Deming, the boy, and his mother. It's enlightening to ready about how easily people miss cues and interpret silence as neglect. It was also instructive to read about how tightly one clings to one's natural, known culture, despite its hardships and deprivations. 

I have long been aware of this culture deprivation through my experiences with Native cultures in South Dakota. How important it is to preserve language and family ties and traditions cannot be over stated, and it was beautifully illustrated in this book. I felt like the author had lived through these experiences herself and thus could describe them so accurately and heart-rendingly--if that's a word!

I listened to this book on my July road trip to Sacramento with Henry (when we weren't talking and he was on his games) and then on my way home alone, through Yosemite, and after I left Ann, on my way home to St. George. It made the long driving times very enjoyable and quick, despite the hard content!

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll

 I have been reading a lot of Jane Austen knock-offs as well as history, and this one was mentioned several times by different authors. It's an incredible undertaking with fantastic imagination and vocabulary. The sexy parts are not especially graphic and are almost comical in their ardor. I think this aspect of the story is most trumpeted and the least well-done. However the story line and the characters and the language are pretty good! I was impressed by the commitment it would take to fashion such a long and complicated and well-written work. I think the author was mostly true to the characters as well, though I didn't like thinking that Bingley was a philanderer... And I didn't end up admiring Darcy or Elizabeth as much as I do when I read Austen herself. Yet this novel was a fun romp...and it was satisfying to see Lydia and Wickham get their due...

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson on Libby, read by Moira Kelly, 3 hours

This Newbery book was a great young adult story that I really enjoyed.  Sara Louise is the unhappy twin to gifted and loved Caroline. She spends her youth resenting her and it's painful to hear about, and very relatable as she tries to understand her feelings. The captain becomes a great friend but then provides Caroline with a lifeline that sends poor Louise into even more resentment. It was interesting to read about her isolated island life, demented grandmother, and sympathetic parents. Talk about a victim mentality! 

I was thinking it would be interesting to get Henry's take on this story and this character when we're on our road trip in a couple of weeks. I don't know if it would appeal to him or not... 

I remember those surprising feelings and how they would come upon me without warning. I remember thinking I was crazy and that I could live out my life in a certain way, just as Louise was thinking. This author really understands the 13-15 year old mindset! It was good food for thought as I walked in St. George's summer heat!

Among the Janeites by Deborah Yaffe

 This was an interesting take on all of the fandom surrounding Jane Austen. It was listed as a source for one of the recent Jane Austen-inspired books I read, and it sounded intriguing. There are very committed people spending a lot of their lives studying, re-enacting, and writing in the Jane Austen vein.

The people stories were interesting as well as the description of the conclaves that are held both here in the US and in England. But I got a little bogged down about half-way through...it didn't hold my itnerest and there were too many people to keep track of... I'm going to take it to my next Ridgeview book club meeting to see if anyone wants it. It's time to clear out some of the books I've accumulated this spring!

Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

 I went in search of this book when I saw it was on the list for this month's Stonebridge neighbors book club. I've been invited multiple times but haven't made it yet, but will this time. I was able to check this book out of the Santa Clara library, and I read it in just a few days. It was a good read, not especially well-written, but it's a compelling story, based on a real person.

Pino Lella is the main character, and my favorite part of the book was near the beginning when he lived in a boys' school, high up in the Alps, near the Swiss border. He was sent there from his family in Milan for safety as the Nazi's were rampant in Italy. His faith and strength under difficult circumstances leading Jews over icy mountains was inspiring to me! I loved that part, and Pino was at his most faithful and blessed.

The rest of the book is filled with pain and violence, and the other main character is the German general that Pino is the driver for. He has lots of conflicting feelings about General Leyers and it's hard to watch the continuing atrocities unfold. I didn't know about all of the horrors happening in Italy, so it was new to me. I liked the Milanese family characters that surround Pino, and Father Re, the priest in the Alps whom he respects so much.

I found the ending and afterword very interesting as the author explains the unfolding of how he researched the story after meeting Pino in his later years. General Leyers was a real person also, as were most of the others. I liked learning about all of this, and particularly learning about Mussolini and his death.  Pino's love interest was well described, as when he found it hard to concentrate on his orders when he was day dreaming about her. He must have had a great memory for details or else the author made up a lot of details that helped me understand the milieu and gave me a real desire to visit Italy. 

Overall an interesting read, but not one I would want to read again. Too violent...and dark, despite Pino's and his family's goodness. It will be interesting to hear what these new book club ladies will hve to say...

Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom

 Is three book clubs too many??? This is the book for one that I haven't yet attended, but I plan to in the future. My new next-door neighbor, Sandy Peterson, lent me this book when I expressed an interest in it, even though they had already held their discussion of it. I hope it will be the basis of a good discussion between the two of us in the future. I really like her so far, and hope we can become friends. 

At first I wasn't impressed by this book, because it felt like a classic disingenuous retelling of the superior Native culture, full of stereotypes. And there was the potential of a lot of violence and struggle, and I wasn't in the mood to be brought down. Yet, I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did. There was more to the story than the stereotypes and there was a lot of Native culture explained that was admirable. What was most interesting to me was the way the author was able to contrast the two world views: Crow vs. Whites.

One interesting departure from the norm was that the white person in this story became a victim of his alcoholism, and not the Indians. Yes, there was drinking by Natives and whites, but the drinking of Farwell had a dire impact on his family. I admired the character of Crow Mary, and wonder how much of this historical person's story is accurate. Surely she was a brave woman to even just travel and marry a trader, let alone rescue some of her people. 

Because of my experiences with Lakota culture I feel somewhat more informed and sensitive about the ways Native culture and people are portrayed. This book didn't add much to my knowledge, but some. It was interesting to note the differences between the Crow and the "Sioux" that the author illuminated, and since her sources were all Crow, it's not surprising that other tribes were looked down on. But that's natural...and I can take that in stride. And it was good summer evening reading...not an author I will pursue again...but not a total loss, either. 

The Kiss of a Stranger by Sarah M. Eden 8.5 hours on Libby

 Well, I always wondered about Covenant Communications and their "proper romances," and now I know! Thanks to our Ridgeview Ward book club, and Karen Lossee, we are reading this one and another one for our group. And since I enjoy these women so much, I'm carrying on. And I especially enjoy Karen and her thoughts and comments on what we've read. So, I was kind of surprised at the inanity of this book! She warned us it was a lightweight, and she was correct. I do have to say, though, that I enjoyed it sometimes. Lightweight can be fun, but this was too much, too silly, and too long. The plot was absolutely absurd and the premise was nuts, and yet, I could have lived with that except the prolonged misunderstanding between the two potential lovers went on and on and on. I thought at one point, this would be a good novella. Or even a short story. But over 8 hours of this absurdity? But that's on me... When I went to the library to look for the second one she recommended, I saw a whole shelf full by this author! Not the Persphone one that we will be reading, however. It's okay, I don't think I need to waste any more time on this genre. 

The handsome Lord Cavratt kisses the beautiful Catherine in a garden to blunt the advances of another suitor. Catherine's uncle insists he marry her, and so he does, and the rest of the story is absurd legal machinations that would never happen in a million years. But still... The absolute reliance on the opinion of others and the polite society was reminiscent of Jane Austen's work, I wonder if that's what the author was going for? What society thinks and the gossips, etc., got very tiresome to hear about. Okay, enough ranting. I will try to be kind when we meet to discuss this book. The good news is, it kept me amused sometimes on long hot summer walks!