Not So Wordless Wednesday: Charleston #4

Last week I told you a little about Boone Hall Plantation, and I mentioned the slave quarters that have been preserved on property.  These cabins (nine in all) were built in 1790, and each contain a short movie and various artifacts depicting themes of the history of African Americans.  This site has been named one of the African American Historic Places in South Carolina.  The exhibit is amazing.  

Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein

Back at the beginning of summer, I was reading all kinds of crazy-good reviews about this book.  People were calling it twisty and heartbreaking and so, so amazing.  So I downloaded it on my Kindle and deemed it a "summer read".  Except I didn't get to it.  Which is so typically me.  But my Books, Babes and Bordeaux Book Club saved the day and picked it for the September read.

Synopsis:  It is England 1943...the heat of WWII...when Maddie and Queenie meet and instantly become best friends.  Both are strong, courageous souls...Maddie is a pilot who can fix anything from a motorbike to an airplane engine, and Queenie is a spy with great hair, manicured nails and a royal heritage.  Neither accept the idea of jobs being solely for men, and both have the tenacity and spunk of a platoon of men combined.  One night, when Maddie is flying Queenie to her next mission, the aircraft is hit and the plane goes down.  Queenie parachutes to safety, but is captured by the Gestapo and taken to the local HQ for interrogation and torture.

In order to extend her life, Queenie agrees to write an account of her background, and reveal codes and secrets only known to her.  She recounts the story of her friendship with Maddie, harrowing stories of danger, deception, and just how far two best friends will go for each other, interspersed with information about air fields and the latest technology.  She will trade anything for one more day, a warm sweater, and the chance not to be burned or have her fingernails ripped out.

But as we progress through the story, we learn how just smart these two girls really are, the stakes and intensity being raised every few pages, and begin to wonder if there is more to it all than a straightforward tale of survival.  

My thoughts:  I wouldn't come right out and say this was just like "Gone Girl" or "Fingersmith", where it is way too easy to spoil a plot by saying anything, but it is close.  I've given you just a tiny taste of what this book is all about, but there is so much more below the surface.  

I really struggled through the first half of the book.  It was interesting, I guess, but a bit slow and dense with facts about war things.  Plus it was confusing - I wasn't sure what was going on.  (I know more than a few of our book club members didn't even get past this point.)  But then the pace ramps up, Wein throws in a twist, cranks up the speed a little more, completely pulls the rug out from under you, and off you go.  Prepare to stay up past your bedtime at this point in order to finish.

I absolutely LOVED the two girls in the story.  They were completely opposite from each other in every way but their moxie.  These were butt-kickers, these girls.  They would not be denied their dream.  They were tough and fearless, but girlish when they let down their guard around each other.  I was utterly invested in them.

And what you have heard about this book?  Yes, there are twists, and it will make you want to re-read the thing.  But I honestly was waiting for something bigger and more mind-blowing than what it was.  Don't get me wrong, the ending was pretty amazing, but was a case of mismanaged expectations.  And when I read the last page, I was scared that I had missed something HUGE.  That I was too thick in the brain to grasp it all (it WAS late when I finished).  The plot is so squirrelly that I doubted myself.  So my best advice is...to read it, first of all, because it is good.  Be patient with the build-up.  Try to leave the expectations at the door.  And be prepared to read it again.  

4 out of 5 stars      

Sunday Salon: Go Back to the Mothership, Aliens

 I'll admit, I'm cheating a little here.  I'm not typing this on Sunday morning, I'm typing it at 9:00 on Saturday night.  I decided to try a little read-a-thoning this evening after a long day of kid activities, and I know there is no way I'll be up early enough to write anything civilized.  I needed a little reading break anyway.

This has been a busy week (Don't I sound like a broken record every Sunday??).  I had a child home sick for 3.5 days, and even though he is fairly self-sufficient, he still requires occasional watering and feeding.  I had some meetings at school.  My daughter had a Cross Country meet after school on Wednesday. Plus all that normal stuff (football practices, workouts, etc.).  Another CC meet on Saturday, another football game (last of the season, another shut out, and we are headed into playoffs as the #1 seed).  

I had a phenomenal 9-mile run on Saturday morning.  I have been experimenting with the routine, and I may have found something that works for these longer runs.  Pasta and no alcohol the night before, an early night to bed, lots of water before bed and the next morning, getting up early enough for real food (steel cut oatmeal, half a banana), and some cooler weather.  I've also been using these energy gels at the one-hour mark, and also hiding water in somebody's bushes at the one-hour mark (the kids think this is just bizarre but is totally necessary).  I don't know, maybe the moons were just aligned, but I felt great.  We will continue to run 9 for the month of October, then tackle mile 10 in November.  You guys probably don't care too much about this, but I'm learning a lot about the training process and I'm feeling chatty about it.  May do a post on it at some point, because I have some great books on the subject.

I've also had some distraction and stress this week from teenager-dom.  Lots of drama and angst and rage and emotion all came pounding down this week at the same time and I'm really pretty tired from it.  So when do the aliens leave their bodies, give me my children back and return to the mothership?  Holy moly people.  I'm like a wet, sad, discarded dishrag.

So my reading is limping along.  I finished "Shine Shine Shine" on audio.  I'm still processing that one.  I loved Joshilyn Jackson as the narrator, but still shaking my head over the story, and not sure I totally get it.  I'm now about halfway through the amazing Amanda Kyle Williams' second installment in her murder mystery series called "The Stranger in the Room".  I'm totally digging her style.  

In print, I wrapped up "The Unfinished Life of Elizabeth D." by Nichole Bernier, and am currently working my way through the delightfully creepy "The House Next Door" by Anne Rivers Siddons.  I think I was convinced to scare the crap out of myself and read this by the effervescent Raych.  No one can do a sales job like her.  And what a book, but I'm not so sure I should be sitting at my parents' house, in the quiet and dark, reading about a house that kills.  But maybe I'm just being a weenie.

Plans for tomorrow?  Church, to exorcise all the evil brought upon me by this book.  Driving my daughter to the animal shelter (because my presence is no longer desired).  A little run maybe.  And some sleeping.  

And now back to malevolent televisions and dead puppies.

    

Unlikely Friendships - Jennifer S. Holland

I've seen reviews of this book everywhere, I've seen the book in bookstores, and every time I have to stop and allow myself a moment to feel all mushy and happy.  There is no need to analyze anything in this book, second-guess plots or pick apart characterization.  This book was put on this earth to raise spirits.  Period.

I was more than thrilled to be offered this book at SIBA by Workman Publishing.  It literally MADE MY DAY.  I carried the book around in my arms for a better part of the afternoon, touching it and opening it to random pages.  Instant stress relief.

In this book that is therapy applied to the page, there are 47 stories of unique pairings of animals.  They are friends, these little guys.  The hunters and the hunted snuggle together in the wild, like a leopard and a cow in India.  Or a snake and a hamster in Japan!  Can you imagine?  Others are just...bizarre, like an iguana and a cat, or a dog and a koi fish.  What on earth could a dog and a fish have in common, I have no idea, but they like to hang out apparently.      

Some come together temporarily for comfort and warmth, when they are rescued from a forest fire, or when a baby is separated from or abandoned by it's mother.  Like the Bobcat kitten and the fawn, or the mothering mutt and the red panda cubs.  Other friendships extend over years and years, for no real reason except for companionship.  Like the Asiatic black bear and the black cat, or the nearsighted deer and the poodle.  Honestly, I almost can't stand it, it is so flipping sweet.     

The book is something you can read casually, whenever you need a bright spark in your day.  Or you can consume it in a few hours like I did, and drive your family crazy by screaming "...and look at this one!  Awww, and this one!  Oh, and this one!".  It is a book you will keep out on your coffee table, ready and waiting to be picked up and loved by your friends and family.  I can give you my personal guarantee that there isn't a human on this earth that has half a heart that could resist this book.  Promise.

5 out of 5 stars    

The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey (Audio)

In the four years I've been blogging, I've never waited this long to review a book.  It has been a good six weeks since I finished this audio and for some reason I keep delaying the process of recording my thoughts.  I didn't originally seek out this book - it just happened to be on the little iPod loaned to me by Heather (for the purposes of listening to "A Discovery of Witches") and I impulsively figured why not?  I'd heard a few reviews that were positive.

But every time I go to sit down and summarize how I FEEL about the listening experience, I'm conflicted.  I should keep track of every time this kind of thing happens.  I bet there is a reason I haven't quite figured out.  But time is ticking, my list of books to review gets longer, and I'm going to forge ahead.  Perhaps if I just start writing, the emotions will sort themselves out.

Synopsis:  It is Alaska in the 1920's.  The territory is largely undeveloped and barren, but there are opportunities for ownership for anyone robust enough to accept the challenge.  Or in the case of Jack and Mabel, lonely and desperate enough.  They are aging and have accepted the fate of being childless, and are growing apart by degrees. He is killing himself trying to work the ground and eke out a living, and Mabel is alone and depressed.  But one evening during the first snow of the season, they make a snowman, dressing it in a hat and scarf.  The next morning the snowman is destroyed, the hat and scarf gone, but they glimpse a little girl running through the trees.  

The girl, named Faina, seems to be almost feral, surviving on her own in the wild, but Jack and Mabel welcome her in their home as their adopted daughter.  Each year she appears at first snow fall, and leaves with the approaching of spring.  Is she real, or just a figment of a fairy tale?  None of the other neighbors have ever seen her.  But the child's presence brings about a transformation between the couple, reigniting the love that originally brought them together and strengthening the partnership that must be there in order for them to survive.

My thoughts:  This is a book that would be classified as "gentle".  Not all gentle books work for me, so I was initially a little skeptical.  Turns out, there was quite a bit about this story that I enjoyed.  

It is a nice departure to read a story that revolves around characters that are middle-aged.  Granted, their lives were pretty bleak when we first meet them, but they go through a heartening transformation because of the little girl, their relationship blossoming and maturing and strengthening when, with any other story, everything would be going to a very dysfunctional hell.  (Seriously, I think 85% of books build their plots on dysfunction and misery.)  

I also got the hugest kick out of Jack and Mabel's neighbors, and ultimately their best friends, George and Ester...a farm family with three strapping, loud boys.  They are the neighbors that everyone would want...pitching in when times get tough, not taking "no" for an answer, selflessly giving of themselves.  My heart lightened whenever they entered the picture, and felt it made a good book greater with their presence.

But what confused me was this feeling that the story was a fairy tale.  Or was it?  I don't mind fairy tales, but with this story you are never quite sure exactly what you have.  It left me unsettled and uneasy.  I was never on solid ground.  Things felt bizarre, magical and unreal one minute, grounded and raw the next.  The tone and direction of the plot takes a definitive turn about halfway through the book, and it felt jarring and confused me further.  Thus my hesitance in writing down my thoughts.

Ivey's writing is absolutely gorgeous, I will say that.  She is an author with a tremendous amount of promise.

A few words about the audio production:  Our narrator for this book was Debra Monk.  She was a new voice for me, and while she did a fine job in this production, I was left with a neutral impression.  Her voice had some harsh, sharp edges, which may have been suited for a story of homesteading in Alaska, but isn't always pleasing to the ear.

Audiobook length:  10 hours and 51 minutes (400 pages)

4 out of 5 stars   

         

Not So Wordless Wednesday: Charleston #3

One of our little side trips from Charleston was to Boone Hall Plantation.  It is one of America's oldest working plantations, and has continuously been growing crops here for 320 years...cotton and pecans back in the day, and currently strawberries, tomatoes and pumpkins.

The earliest known reference to this site is 1681, but the original home was constructed here in 1790.  The house that stands now was built in the mid-1930's.  There are original slave quarters still standing, with an excellent educational tour of them.  

It might be of interest to some of you that scenes from various movies have been shot at this location, including "North and South" and "The Notebook".  

More pictures of this place to come...    

Broken Harbor - Tana French (Audio)

Are you bracing yourself for some obnoxious gushing?  I know you are, because you all know how I love this woman.  Oh, how I do love her.  I've considered planning a vacation to Ireland, just to follow her tour stops.  Sort of like people did with the Grateful Dead.  I could make jewelry and bookmarks and things, and sell them.  It was a thought anyway.

I recently read the most incredible review of this book by Jennifer (Literate Housewife).  I'd like to think, like Jennifer, that I could see a random sample of French's writing and identify it, like I could with Joshilyn Jackson and Stephen King.  Her writing is just that distinctive.

Can I sit here and promise EVERYONE they would love her like I do?  I'm not sure.  Her stories aren't necessarily neatly tied up at the end.  She takes literary risks that I greatly admire.  Her mysteries are as much about the relationships, the childhood baggage, the chemistry, the sense of place, as it is about the crime itself.  Her novels are complex and layered and dense.  I could get gloriously lost in them.  

I also love how she takes a vague, sometimes unlikable character from one of her books in the Dublin Murder Squad series and makes them a star in the next book.  I spend more time than I should analyzing who I think will be the next protagonist.  We get into the mind of this person we don't know nor like much, and get a whole new perspective.  Brilliant is what that is.   (Are you over me yet?).  Let me tell you about the book.

Synopsis:  A young family who seems to have had it all...beautiful house in an ocean-side community once known as Broken Harbor, handsome successful father with his pretty high school sweetheart and two children...are found murdered, with only one of the four clinging to life.  Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy is assigned to the high-profile case along with his rookie partner Richie.  Kennedy has had an impeccable solve rate, with the exception of the last couple of years, and is confident that he will nail this one, fix his reputation, and teach Richie the ropes.

Except nothing quite goes as planned.  Something very strange was going on in that house in Broken Harbor, and there are secrets surrounding the young family that go back to their youth.  Kennedy is also struggling with flashbacks of tragic events that happened to him in this small town when he was a teenager, and must also manage his mentally disturbed younger sister, as well as office politics that are always waiting at the sidelines to derail his career.

My thoughts:  I think I will stop there.  As with any Tana French novel, there is so much going on here than a straightforward murder.  Childhood traumas that come back to haunt, mental illness, and the failure of the economy and the housing market that has destroyed the European markets as well as our own.  Surreal (and almost supernatural) spookiness!  And the complicated relationships!  They are always present, as real and tangible in French's books as they are in our own lives.  The building of trust, the heartbreak, the betrayals here that left me in pieces.  There were moments when my stomach hurt.  

Most of the loose ends were tied up at the end of this book, but I was still left with enough questions that I had to seek opinions from my blogging friends.  I would have expected nothing less from French than to leave enough crumbs in my brain to keep me thinking about them for weeks.

Was it my favorite book that French has written?  No, but to say that sounds bad.  I loved this book.  And like a drug-addled addict, I'm already craving my next fix.  Tana please write faster.

A few words about the audio production:  I did read "In the Woods" in print, but I experienced the rest of French's books on audio.  If any of you are audio fans, I must IMPLORE YOU TO WAIT FOR THESE AUDIOS.  It is worth it.  They have all been impeccable in every possible way.  In this case, we were entertained by Stephen Hogan.  I had initial sadness because Tim Gerard Reynolds (Faithful Place) wasn't at the helm (audio crush) but I understood why.  Reynolds was the voice of Frank Mackey.  This was Scorcher Kennedy.  There was no need for regret though, my friends.  Stephen Hogan was truly amazing.  I don't know, I guess he has done some narrating but nothing mainstream that I can tell.  Like Reynolds, he exuded frustration and fear and devastation, ramping up when things got tense to the point where I had to just sit and put my head in my hands.  This is what audio narration is all about people.  I don't know what more I can say.

Audiobook length:  19 hours and 59 minutes (464 pages)

5 out of 5 stars