Horse by Geraldine Brooks

 I had read many reviews of the books of this author, but hadn't read any. When I read the cover notes of this one, in the one dollar shelf at the Santa Clara Library, I was intrigued. 

I'm so glad I took a chance on this one. It was SO GOOD and SO ENGAGING! I'm excited to read more from this author. She is an excellent writer and developer of interesting characters. She uses vocabulary that I need to look up. She obviously understands her subjects of race horses and art and anatomy. It is stunning the amount of research that must have gone into this story.

But beyond that, it's a very telling story of racism, both pre-Civil War and in our day. The parallels are thoughtfully and authentically brought out... The thinking and perspective of a young slave is illustrative of what must have been going on in many young slaves' minds. And the difficult racist issues that surface in the modern parts of the story are revealing and sensitively handled. So impressive! It mirrors much of my own limited understanding of today's issues regarding race. They are still thorny and we are still enslaved by our thinking and our prejudice. 

The story of Jarret and his love for his horse, Lexington, is compelling, too. The way they respond to each other is wonderful to behold. I know there is special connections between some horses and some people, and it was lovely to see how that devotion played out. I loved both Jarret and the horse so much that I would sometimes tense up when it looked like there was going to be danger for either one of them or both... I just didn't want anything bad to happen to either one! I mean really tense.

I also enjoyed the character of the artist who painted the portraits of Lexington, and how he moved in and out of the story. Actually, the way all of the characters and the paintings were interwoven in the story was beautifully and masterfully done. Just a treasure of a story!

The tragic ending of the art student in D.C. was jarring, but a painful reminder that racism is alive and still very sick in this country. There is an allusion to the current Trump administration and its tacit encouragement of racism that would anger any Trump supporter, but I felt it was RIGHT ON. 

I'm excited to read more from this author!

Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden

This was a fifty cent find at the Santa Clara Library. It's the story of two young women who move west to become school teachers in rural Colorado in 1916. It's fascinating, mainly because it's TRUE, and so many things about life then were so different! It was written by one of the teacher's granddaughters, and is infused with direct quotes from their letters home. 

The author did tons of additional research about the technologies of the period, and goes into great (and sometimes boring to me) detail describing it...the railroads, the mining, the towns. What was most interesting to me was the way the people lived. The teachers boarded with a family, shared a bed upstairs, and rode horses to school. They fought the cold, snow, and ice. They met the local people and became integral to the community. What they ate, how they danced and partied, were all very interesting and charming. They were indefatigable! Always cheery, despite the hardships.

I loved too, the descriptions of how they taught, how their classroom was set up, and what their students were like. I usually don't like nonfiction as much as fiction, but this was fascinating. I am somewhat fed up with made-up stories of famous people like Mrs. Lewis (C.S. Lewis' wife), Marjorie Post, etc., This author let her subjects speak for themselves. They are the real deal, and very admirable! 

I found it a little hard to keep track of who was who, but I decided to just let the story drift on and enjoyed what each person was doing. I also liked the many photographs that  helped bring the milieu to life...

It also made me very grateful for my comfy life. And maybe I would benefit from a little more hardship...

Worth the Wrestle by Sheri Dew

 I bought this classic for a dollar at the Santa Clara branch of the St. George Library. It is under a hundred pages, and I remember everyone raving about it when it came out. I hoped it would light me up.

There are very good parts. It's sound doctrine, of course. But...it did not light me up. Maybe because it's old? 2017 is a long time ago. The stories are good. The illustrations didn't have a lot of connection with the content which was a little odd. I found it very hard to finish and to stay focused. I'm just not in the mood for this type of preaching, I guess. 

And, maybe I just need to wrestle? Maybe the proof is in the pudding!

Bad Badger: A Love Story by Maryrose Wood - Audiobook on Libby - 2 hours, 42 minutes

 On their recent visit to St. George, John Stevenson told me about his favorite book. This one. In fact, he told me he had listened to it multiple times, he liked it so much. There is a sequel, too, which we found on Amazon, that he didn't know about. I ordered it for him, and I hope it got into his hands today.

This afternoon I finished listening to this sweet story. I never would have guessed that John would have liked it! There is some sophisticated vocabulary, despite it being recommended for 12-year olds. It has great messaging about fitting in and being polite and being prepared and figuring out where you belong. I'm delighted that he likes this story so much. It's so good, and very well-written. This narrator has an English accent, so it feels very charming and old-fashioned. 

The badger is also John's current favorite animal, probably because of this book. When we went to the wildlife museum, I offered to buy him a stuffed animal. He carefully looked and looked, but could not find a stuffed badger, so he settled for a soft raccoon instead. I think it's great that a 14-year old can still enjoy his stuffies!!!

The badger in this story, Septimus, is the 7th in his family, and will probably be reunited with his siblings in the next book. I like how the author uses the latin numbers multiple times, so kids will remember at least one through nine after reading this book. So many good lessons too, like: if you don't have a backbone, you have to make it up with ferocity! I liked that and thought of Trump! There were many good lessons along the way, as well as actual, factual information about seagulls, badgers and seashells. No wonder John enjoyed it!

An American Beauty by Shane Abé

 This is the October selection for the Monterey book group, and it's very similar to some of the other fluff we've read lately, although slightly more interesting and slightly better written. We have a struggling family in the south, the mother encourages her beautiful daughter to work in a gambling (and later we learn house of prostitution), meets a wealthy railroad scion, becomes his mistress, and ultimately lives a life of captivity and frustration. A very sad story, really, but interesting to me to read about the wealthy in this post-Civil War time period.

The back cover advertises that Belle (the mistress) lives life on her own terms, but really, she does not. And she gives up her son for five years only because her man's wife demands it? Really odd and hard to believe... And this story is about the Huntington family, and the author claims to have reliable historical sources for much of the story. True or not, it does illustrate the pitfalls of seeking wealth and security through immoral deeds... It was hard to tell where the author stands on some of the thorny issues...Belle ultimately finds "true love" and marries again, but we wonder about that, too. They don't really know each other but feel this electric connection every time they meet? Hmmmm.

The stepdaughter and son turn out to be interesting characters, but we don't learn a lot about them. I felt sorry for Clara, who was obviously sucked in to what would surely be an unhappy marriage. And the unlikely meetings of Belle and "the wife" and all the secrecy surrounding their son...all of it dishonest and weird, really. Yet, it was an interesting story that was mildly entertaining and good fodder for my "read to sleep" habit. I'm definitely ready for something better. Something uplifting, something where the women make better choices!

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

 I almost quit this book just a few pages in...and then a couple of times after that. This author reminds me of Kristen Hannah; people rave about them, yet their writing and their plots are just mundane. Not anything uplifting or striving for good. Just mostly fluff. And always about wronged women... Am I in too many book clubs? Or the wrong ones? This is for the Monterey club, my neighbor Sandy's group. Their taste is not impressive!

One reason I almost quit is the rather rough and frequent sexual episodes. And the uneven and yet somehow predictable development of the characters. The two main characters are relatives, women, generations apart, yet their lives parallel each other in interesting ways. Emilia needs an outlet for her writing, but can't publish them as a woman; Melina seems to have the same problem in modern day.

Both struggle for their work to be accepted; both have men in their lives through whom they publish. And I can understand that I may not understand the worlds of either woman, both make such terrible decisions that it's hard to want to read about them. 

One aspect of the story that seems worth reading about and seems to be well-documented, is the research on whether or not Shakespeare wrote virtually ANY of the plays and poetry attributed to him. Picoult makes a good case, well-documented with sources, of the speculation that Shakespeare was really just an actor, and that there were most likely multiple authors of his canon. And this Emilia Bassano seems a likely candidate for many of them, considering her education and background, neither of which did Shakespeare have!

The author also frequently quotes Shakespeare and intersperses these quotes throughout the book and the dialogue. However, the dialogue between the characters of the time speak mostly just like us. It's hard to take such a disparity seriously!

The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz

 This is an incredible book that I almost didn't read! I could barely face another prison book, or another World War 2 book, or another book focused on starvation and cruelty. However, I gave it a go, because I wanted to be able to talk about it at our Stonebridge Ward book club meeting in September. It was available in the library, so I checked it out.

This author is Polish and is story is amazing! It was told to another person, who wrote it down. The author's sincerity and integrity comes through very strongly. He is wrongly accused of being a spy, is sent to Siberia for 25 years, and most of the story is his journey with some of his fellow-prisoners after they escape. Their brotherhood and their ingenuity in facing all the obstacles is incredible. It also showed what one is willing to do when they have nothing to lose!

My favorite part of the story is when their group makes it to the safety of Mongolia and enjoy the hospitality of the incredible people there. They live simply and share all that they have! It was fascinating to me, too, to learn about how much recovery time they needed in the hospital after they had traveled for the year. They found a man living in a cave with his dog and sheep. They saw creatures that sound like the abominable snowman! They ate snakes in the Gobi Desert to survive. They made moccasins about of sheep's hide. They starved and they thirsted for days at a time. They found a young woman and she joined their little band so bravely and fought the obstacles as long as she could. The slow death of Kristina and the other one, as their legs swelled and they stumbled in the desert was heart-breaking. So many memorable moments in this book. 

As I lay in my air-conditioned comfort, fully fed and wanting nothing, it makes me wonder how long I would have been able to survive this incredible challenge. I kept referring to the map in the beginning of the book to see the geography and miles they covered. I'm not familiar with that part of the world, but it all sounded incredible, in its own way. I came away grateful for my comforts and inspired by the human spirit of survival and love of freedom. Just an incredible story!