Second Look Books and MORE

 I am contemplating utilizing this blog as a way of listing/reviewing books that I've previously read, but in addition to that:  Books I am just now getting around to reading.  New reads for me!

Will I find out that I've read about it a while back and just forgot!???

Well, here is my first of the new year book coming up:  The Baker Affair, A Novel, written by Lou Barber.  I realize that to make this my goal, I will have to turn the television off!  The image below indicates books for children.  Which doesn't mean I can't review them.  However, I will choose my reads according to availability and since I read for pleasure, I may not always choose the classics.

Hillerman's Skeleton Man

At one level, Tony Hillerman is a storyteller.  That is the primary draw for me.  That is the driving factor that brings me to his books, again and again.  

Books are like friends; it takes time to get to know how deeply they enrich our lives.  So what do I get out of Tony's books that make them worth reading twice?  

OR, why I liked Skeleton Man:

• I am a lover of words (vocabulary).
• I like someone who can paint a picture with words.  That means that I can get a sense of what the Southwest looks like without actually going there.
• I like books that appeal to others; that way I can discuss the book with friends and ready online commentaries.  This book was a New York Times Bestseller.

Skeleton Man Revisited

• Character # 1:  Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is now retired. Though retired, he is still accustomed to having coffee with his former cohorts on occasion.  In this instance, he is explaining his traditional Navajo approach to life and to investigation.  
• His companions are not impressed, but as dedicated readers, we must absorb the information and see if his character truly plays out his own beliefs.
• An attempt to understand these little educational asides will enhance your enjoyment of the story and bring you to an enlightened state that is critical to understanding the environment and challenges of the Navajo community and especially this "good guy" who is dedicated to the cause of justice.  What motivations guide him and/or drive him in his life.
• Although Joe's companions, his old cronies, are not impressed, we will take Joe at his word, at least initially, that "the cause leads to the inevitable effect".  An example  comes to mind:  someone throwing a rock in a lake--the ripple effect.  Is this Navajo belief as simple as that?  Read on and make your own judgment.
• What is the "Salt Woman Shrine" mentioned in the first paragraph of the story?   What "complicated happening" took place (and when)?  Which novel of Hillerman's can give us insight?  In real life, we all evolve and grow; is this "turning point" in Lt. Leaphorn's  ethical evoution similar to something that we've experienced?  What shrines might be central to our beliefs?  (See also at Google Books, Cultural Encounters in the New World); read also the comments at this link about the complicated happening: https://www.librarything.com/work/62341
• "In 1956 there was a collision of commercial airplanes over the Grand Canyon. All died and the canyon was littered with parts of the planes, bodies, suitcases, and other debris. Using that information, Tony Hillerman created a mystery regarding one of the passengers who was carrying $1 million in diamonds strapped to his wrist."
• I watch a lot of detective/cop movies and there is great emphasis in preserving the chain of evidence.  Does Leaphorn follow the chain of evidence and if so, how does he "notate" that?  
•  Is Hillerman's inclusion of traditional Navajo beliefs in his stories an essential ingredient to understanding Lt. Joe Leaphorn and other characters?

So, would I say that Joe is a social person?  Would you say that (if you've read the book)? 

Since I read the book once before, what did I get out of it, this time? To be continued in my next blog post!

Four Year Absence

I thought that my world fell apart in November of 2007; I must have had some challenges in 2006, also, since I haven't posted in this blog for such a long time. 

I just completed Alexander McCall Smith's Volume 1 The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency ; this is my second time reading it, (at least)!  I've also become involved in the Catherine Coulter Series.  I read a Dean Koontz book recently about heart trouble (doublle entendre intended).

I wish that I could find a list of books and just check off the ones I've read and liked; I am too overwhelmed at the moment to do much more than that.

My love of books received its beginning when I saw my mother reading and my dad telling us kids stories.

Abebooks.com Buys Social Networking Site LibraryThing.com

Abebooks.com Buys Social Networking Site LibraryThing.com

Now You Know

What have I read?
These are the 25 most popular overall books at What Should I Read Next?

I liked it!

I didn't like it!

I want to read it!

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

1984 - George Orwell

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling

The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell

The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien

Angels and Demons - Dan Brown

Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

Take the 'What have I read?' test now!
Eight different categories to try!
Buy your books at Amazon US or Amazon UK

Coben, Again

The New York Daily News, on Coben's No Second Chance: "The author doesn't build suspense. HE OPENS FIRE."

For some reason, I wasn't as enthralled by this novel as I was by the first Harlan Coben novel I read (see previous post). Oh, I could hardly put it down, (meaning it's a good read), but the twists and turns became so plentiful and torturous that I could barely keep track (meaning I couldn't detect what was really going on). Who was the kidnapper? Who was the murderer? Who was the hero? This is both the charm and the irritant of the Harlan Coben style. Frustration v. Resolution?

This book is about parenthood and friendship. And, I guess it is also about romantic love v. married love. It's about telling the truth and living with the existence of deceptions perpetrated by those we love and are involved in.

I like the way that the author hooks you from the first sentence, "When the first bullet hit my chest, I thought of my daughter." Then, like so many of my second guessing thoughts, the protagonist opines, "At least, that is what I want to believe". This makes the good doctor (a "plastic" surgeon) so down to earth, so likable, so human. I like that about Coben; his characters are so like real people. Real people in unthinkable circumstances, but real, nevertheless.

Another thing I like about Coben is his descriptive passages. In describing a police detective who had come into his hospital room to interview him, he writes:

"His head was too big for his shoulders so that you feared his neck would collapse from the weight of it. His hair was crew cut all around, except in the front, where it hung down in a Caesar line above his eyes. A soul patch, an ugly smear of growth, sat on his chin like a burrowing insect. All in all, he looked like a member of a boy band gone to serious seed."

I will take a rest from the action packed thriller genre for a while, but when I am back in the mood for an exciting, unpredictable, page-turning read, I will pick up one of Harlan Corben's previous two books, Gone for Good and Tell No One, and perhaps a highlighter for marking passages too good to go unremembered.

"The modern master of the hook-and-twist."

Or so said Dan Brown, author of the widely read novel, The Da Vinci Code, about Harlan Coben's Just One Look.

Suggestions for enjoying this sometimes macabre book:

• Read the preface to the first chapter carefully, thoughtfully. Make notes.
• Underline the first paragraph in chapter one. It is the scariest part of the book.
• Shift gears, step into the story, combine the impressions you've gathered so far with the veneer of normalcy surrounding the protagonist, Grace.
• Prepare to confront the unraveling of secrets and questions and mysteries as you try to get a handle on what's going on. All of this in the setting of a reality which requires the changing of diapers, getting the kids to school, buying groceries, etc.
• As usual, in "this kind of book", the "hook-and-twist" type, try to figure out who the good guy is, who the bad guy is, and what awful revelations are about to be unearthed.
• Are there any real villains or heroes anymore? Is there evil and good, black and white, or does gray fit in there somewhere? Look for unlikely villains, but in this story, look, also for unlikely heroes. What is good that can be picked out of the ashes of disappointment?
  

I haven't really told much of the plot, here, but if you have the stomach for murder and mayhem, or even if you don't, you might just want to read this book in the safety of your own home, cuddled up beside a snoozing loved one, or in the bright sunshine of the beach in the summer. Or with highlighter in hand, for the juicy tidbits of truth and relavency you might encounter. I would read Coben again.

And isn't it a sign of the times that all these authors have a website. A sign of the economic and digital age we live in!

An Elm Creek Quilts Novel

The Master Quilter by Jennifer Chiaverini, seems at first like the kind of book you want to read on a wintry afternoon. But, there it was, featured in a Mother's Day Display at BAM. What could I possibly be thinking of? I am a fifty-something woman who would rather do anything than start another crafty project which would end up in a pile, unfinished, along with other impulsive forays into womanhood and homemaking. Nevertheless, I purchased the book and took it home, out of some sentimental feeling and step back in time to my younger, more productive days--back then, when I did make bread and vacuum and cross-stitch, etc.

Reading, I found myself absorbed by the odd assortment of the group who belonged to the Elm Creek Quilter's club. Anyone who thinks quilters are all older women, might remember that some "hobbies"/passions go beyond age issues and other issues in garnering a faithful following. And what challenges would stalk such a group? Again, I could identify with several of the characters and the lives that they lead. Thus, though at times, the repetition or review of events from the point of view of each of the quilters, did become a little boring for me and I skipped more than one paragraph, over all I found that I was drawn into the story and into the environment of the story. There's something to be said for homemaking, home crafting, and even housework: these seemingly mundane activities can bring great comfort, and even great creative juices into play. Quilting allows women to form friendships, express personality in beautiful ways that nurture individualism. Obviously, it is a venture that can become as therapeutic as genealogy in piecing together the puzzles of our lives and try to make some sense out of them.

South Carolina

At the present time, I am somewhat involved in looking at South Carolina history, what with the genealogy connection I have through my dad's Hill line. I am also trying to help a lady from Charleston find her roots. So, in a recent trip to BAM (Books-A-Million), I spotted Shem Creek, A Lowcountry Tale, by Dorothea Benton Frank. I enjoyed reading this slightly irreverant (there is some cussing) story about the protagonist, Linda, who has gotten in one of those deep ruts in life and decides to quit talking about it and do something about it.

The cussing is a part of the culture of New Jersey where Linda hails from and an attitude of almost unconscious disrespect/doubt/disappointment has trickled its way down to her daughters, Lindsey and Gracie, who have largely fended for themselves on a day to day basis, for far too long. Single moms, after all, do have to make a living. Being a natural born mother, Linda yearns for a life where she can be involved more in her daughter's lives. "Natural-born" translates as love and commitment to and for her children.

There are other common themes in this book that will attract the female heart: romance, friendship, the trials and tribulations of divorce, self-reliance, etc. Even if you haven't been one of "those women" you probably have a close friend who has struggled and hopefully, triumphed. My sentence is badly phrased, but you get the idea. Besides, there are plenty of other women characters from whom to draw comparisons and relavencies. This book is just too full of themes for me to discuss it intelligently in this short space and time I've alloted myself. Maybe I should read it again, more carefully, more analytically before I attempt a "real" review.