The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless

The story of Chris McCandless has struck a chord with many people since his body was found in the wilds of Alaska more than twenty years ago.  Jon Krakauer's iconic book "Into the Wild" was a favorite read of mine.  So, when I heard about this book written by his sister, Carine, I was anxious to read it.  

She says many times in the book that she is the only person who truly understood what motivated Chris's decision to leave all his belongings and his family and disappear into the wild Alaskan landscape.  This motivation was hinted at in Krakauer's book, but Carine goes into much detail when exposing the violent and abusive family history that precipitated his disappearance.

I don't know what I think about the whole experience now that I've read the book.  I'm glad she wrote the book and gave us more background on Chris and her family's struggles with dysfunction...but, in the end a very idealistic man's life was cut short in a very tragic and maybe ultimately preventable way...and that's just sad.

Cup of Blood by Jeri Westerson

I love the Crispin Guest series and have read every single one, so I was very much looking forward to this prequel.  Here we learn more about how Crispin first teams up with his sidekick Jack Tucker.  But first, a little background.

Billed as a medeival noir mystery series, her protagonist is a disgraced knight turned detective trying to make his way on the mean streets of fourteenth century London.   They call him the Tracker, because he finds things (or people), and he's pretty darn good at it too.

When a corpse turns up at his favorite tavern, Crispin begins an inquiry, but the dead man turns out to be a Knight Templar, an order thought to be extinct for 75 years, charged with protecting a certain religious relic which is now missing.  Before he can investigate, Crispin is abducted by shadowy men who are said to be minions of the French anti-pope.  Further complicating matters are two women: one from court with an enticing proposition, and another from Crispin's past, dredging up long-forgotten emotions he would rather have left behind.  And as if all that weren't enough, a cunning young cutpurse by the name of Jack Tucker has insinuated himself into Crispin's already difficult life.  The deeper Crispin probes into the murder, the more it looks like the handiwork of an old friend turned adversary.  With enemies from all sides, Crispin has his hands full in more than murder.

This is historical fiction at its best.    

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

Caitlin Doughty is a licensed mortician and the host and creator of the "Ask a Mortician" web series.  She founded the death acceptance collective The Order of the Good Death and cofounded Death Salon.  In this book, she argues that our fear of dying warps our culture and society and calls for better ways of dealing with death (and our dead).  She fills the book with fascinating anecdotes and puts her degree in medieval history to good use by relating to us the history of our customs concerning death in America and around the world.  She demystifies a subject that a lot of people try to avoid even thinking about much less dealing with, and her humor and humanity shine through it all.  A quite interesting read.

Jerry Lee Lewis: Hiw Own Story by Rick Bragg

 



Rick Bragg has been called the greatest southern storyteller of our time.  What better author could they have gotten to write the biography of a southerner some call the greatest rock and roller of all time.  This book is the Killer's life the way he lived it, framed by Bragg's wonderfully descriptive and richly atmospheric turn of phrase.  Bragg spent hours interviewing Jerry Lee in his bedroom, where he lay on his bed with "a loaded, long-barreled pistol behind a pillow, a small arsenal in a dresser drawer, and a compact black automatic on a bedside table." 

"He remembered it as it pleased him," Bragg writes at the start of the book.  "That doesn't mean he always remembered it the same way twice."  Music gave Jerry Lee a purpose, and at 79 Bragg's portrait of him will be the way he's remembered when he's gone.

 

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

As of this writing, Leaving Time is in the running for Best Fiction Book of the year at Goodreads, and rightly so.  An author for over two decades, her books about love, family, and relationships are consistent best sellers because they resonate with readers.

In this story of a teen searching for her missing mother, Picoult manages to combine elephants, a psychic, the spirit world, and grief and loss into a phenomenal emotional narrative.  As usual she introduces multiple characters and each chapter is written from differing viewpoints. 

Leaving time is set partially at a New England elephant sanctuary and also in Africa where wild herds roam.  As the book opens, thirteen year old Jenna Metcalf is searching for her mother, Alice, an elephant researcher who disappeared 10 years earlier after a tragic accident at the sanctuary.  Her father has been in a psychiatric hospital since the incident.  Jenna reads journals her mother kept in the hopes of finding clues to her disappearance.  She enlists the help of Serenity Jones, a disgraced psychic, and Virgil Stanhope, a hard-drinking detective in her search.

The story is well told, funny, and the wonderful twist at the end is one I won't soon forget.  I also love elephants, which really added to my enjoyment of the book, and I'm so glad that Picoult will shine some much needed attention on the plight of elephants and raise awareness of the cognitive and emotional intelligence of these beautiful animals.   

Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good by Jan Karon

This is a continuation of Karon's much beloved Mitford series. You don't need to have read the series (though I highly recommend it) because the past history is neatly summarized. All the beloved characters return, and Karon's ability to shine a light on the struggles that creep into everyday lives is intact.

Father Tim and his wife, Cynthia, return home after a trip to Ireland. Father Tim has turned into a bit of a curmudgeon who hasn't completely accepted retirement. But soon, he finds himself enmeshed in large and small crises, and this is where Karon's writing really shines. Sadness, joy, hope, and love are part of everyone's life, and she has a lovely way of navigating these waters with her heartrending prose.  Liberally sprinkled with wonderful quotes and prayers.  These are just a couple that I noted:  "Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light." (Theodore Roethke) & "All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art." (J. L. Borges) 

This is a book not to miss.

The Poet of Tolstoy Park by Sonny Brewer

This older book is probably an overlooked treasure for many. Poetic and philosophic, it contains much wisdom in its perfectly drawn words, and the quiet power of its simple descriptions will resonate with you long after you have turned the last page.

It's based on the true story of a man, Henry Stuart, who's told he probably has less than a year to live  (because of non-contagious tuberculosis) and uproots himself and moves away from his two sons and best friend to Fairhope, Alabama. When he gets there, he sets about building a hut to live in. He wants to live and work alone, as he must ultimately die alone.

He actually winds up living inside this hut for another 18 years.  The author, Sonny Brewer, became enamored of this man's tale and lived in the hut while writing this book.  The hut was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. 

This is a book of ideas. Peaceful, smart, and wise.  I wrote down many quotes in my quote journal-- like this one:  "Thoreau said that to walk outside and gaze at the full moon is nothing," said Henry, "compared to walking along a path alight with the full moon's glow.  The one is a taste, the other a feast."  And here's another passage that I noted:  "Henry believed that people's minds speak with many voices, and among them are voices that cannot be trusted.  A wise man develops a steward who keeps mental order and bids some voices keep quiet."  Very thought provoking book.

Painted Horses by Malcolm Brooks

My favorite quote about this book is from Amy Bloom, who said "Painted Horses has the hard thrill of the West when it was still a new world, the tenderness of first love, and the pain of knowledge."  Set in the mid 1950s when America was flush with prosperity and saw an unbroken line of progress clear to the horizon, this debut novel makes that time and untamed landscape come alive. 

Catherine Lemay, a former pianist, goes to Montana in the 1950s as a young archaeologist to survey a valley for signs of native habitation before the area is flooded by a hydroelectric project.  Catherine fell in love with archaeology while digging at Roman sites in Britain as a student, but now in the ruggedly masculine West, she almost immediately butts heads with her assigned guide, Jack Allen.  She also falls under the spell of John H., an artist and lover of horses, who leads a nomadic life in the badlands.  Catherine's arduous search of the valley is contrasted for much of the novel with John H.'s harrowing life story.  The author demonstrates a fascinating knowledge of horses, archaeology, the new West, and women.

This is a western novel that has beautiful descriptions of the landscape and a wonderful grasp of how we are shaped by the places we inhabit.

Glenda's Picks for July 2014

Guardian of the Republic by Allen West

Allen West subtitle's this book, "an American Ronin's Journey to Faith, Family, and Freedom,"--and I certainly related to why he calls himself an American Ronin.  A Ronin was a samurai with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan.  A Samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege.   West lost his own earthly master (his father) early in his life.  His father instilled in him the uncompromising character and principles that made him what he is today...and just like the Ronin, who continues to carry his swords and practice the way of the warrior, West has vowed never to succumb in the service of those principles on behalf of this nation.  Herman West Senior told his son repeatedly, "Boy, don't ever see your color as a handicap, and never use it as a crutch."

This book was one of several I had picked as my 4th of July reading, and it did not disappoint.  West summarizes his view of our Republic quite nicely when he asks:

Do we want an opportunity society, or a dependency society?
Do we prioritize preeminence of the individual, or dominance of the state?
Will we choose individual exceptionalism, or collective relativism?
Do we value wealth creation and expansion, or wealth redistribution?
Will we bet on economic freedom, or economic enslavement?
Do we stand for principle, or for party?
Do we want policy, or politics?

And he upholds the three pillars of modern conservative thought:  (1) Effective and efficient conservative government.  (2) Peace through vigilance, resolve, and strength.  And (3) our traditional American values.  West isn't afraid to speak truth to power, and he shares the experiences that shaped him and the beliefs he would die to defend.

A passionately written and enjoyable read.

The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom is a bestselling author, screenwriter, playwright and nationally-syndicated columnist.  The author of five consecutive number one New York Times bestsellers, he has sold more than thirty-four million copies of his books in forty-two languages worldwide.  "Tuesdays with Morrie," which spent four years atop the New York Times list, is the bestselling memoir of all time.

You can't read the above paragraph and not have certain expectations about this book.  And I must say that Albom does not disappoint.  As one of the quotes from this book says, "There are two stories for every life; the one you live and the one others tell."

One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones start ringing.  The voices say they are calling from heaven.  Each call is greeted differently--some with love, some with religious zeal, some with fear.  The question of whether these calls are a miracle or a hoax drives Sully Harding, a grieving single father with an inquisitive and hopeful son, to uncover the truth.

One of my favorite parts of the book is how he integrated the true story of Alexander Graham Bell into the narrative--and in such a seamless way that really played to the strength of the story.  Albom has always been great at characterization and tucking little bits of life wisdom amongst his dialogue.  Whether or not you believe in loved ones being able to communicate with those who have passed on, this book will make you think and give you an appreciation for not only the miracle of the telephone, but the miracles that love can induce.  A very inspirational book beautifully rendered and full of hope.

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls is a writer and journalist.  She was born in Phoenix, Arizona.  She graduated with honors from Barnard College, the women's college affiliated with Columbia University.  She published a bestselling memoir, The Glass Castle, in 2005, which is being made into a film by Paramount.

She wrote this book because she wanted to talk about what happens with children when the parent abdicates responsibility.

It is a story of two girls, set in 1970 in a small town in California.  'Bean' Holladay is twelve, and her sister Liz is fifteen, when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself.  She leaves the girls enough money to last a month or two.  In her absence, they decide to take a bus to Virginia, where their uncle Tinsley lives in a rundown mansion that has been in Charlotte's family for generations.  Not wanting to be a burden on their uncle, and because money is tight, Bean and Liz start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, the foreman of the mill in town, a man who bullies everyone around him.  When something happens to Liz when she is in a car with Maddox, they find themselves in the midst of turmoil that they may not be able to survive.

This is a quite captivating read, with characters that just jump off the page and manage to grab your heart at the same time.  

Glenda's Picks - June 2014

The Reluctant Jesus by Duncan Whitehead

This is the second book I've read by this author (the first being his book The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club).  He has a nice easy writing style, full of humor, with characters finely drawn.  I especially liked this particular selection, because the book is laugh out loud funny in many places and shines a satiric spotlight on so many modern neuroses.  Apocalyptic novels are very popular right now, and most of them are pretty grim indeed.  If you are tired of this kind of read, try this one for a refreshing change of pace.  You'll be glad you did.  This is a very clever and satirical read by an author who knows how to entertain.

The reluctant Jesus of the novel's title is a man by the name of Seth Miller.  He is content with his life in a Greenwich Village apartment miles away from an overbearing and protective mother, until the day his mother informs him quite seriously that he is actually God's youngest son, the second coming of Christ.  Initially, he thinks his parents are crazy, but a telephone call from God brings him around, telling him he has to fight in the Final Conflict between good and evil.  He is initially reluctant to assume his role as the new Messiah, but with his best friend as his disciple he embarks on a sequence of events that lead to some hilarious outcomes.  Maggie De Lynne arrives on the scene as Seth's second disciple (and love interest) and Seth's predicaments just compound themselves.  Add to this already hilarious mix an anti-Christ with IBS (who loves to engage in Cosplay), a gangsta rapping guardian angel, and Walter the cat (who God uses to talk through) and you'll see why this book is a sharp witted and imaginative romp. 

 

I kept thinking as I read this that it could be turned into an excellent film...along the lines of Bruce Almighty with a Jim Carrey type comedian playing the lead.  Let's hope that Hollywood is paying attention.  In the meantime, I can't wait to see what's next from the pen of the talented Duncan Whitehead. 

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

This historical tale is set in the 1940s, with an alternating viewpoint jumping ahead to the 1950s.  The Rosatis are an Italian family of noble lineage who believe that they are safe behind the walls of their ancient villa as war rages across Europe.  The youngest daughter, Christina, spends her days swimming in the pool, playing with her young niece and nephew, and wandering aimlessly amid the estate's gardens and olive groves.  But when a German and Italian soldier arrive at the villa asking to see an ancient Etruscan burial site, the Rosatis' tranquility is shattered.  Christina is courted by a young German lieutenant, Nazis descend upon the estate, and what was once their sanctuary becomes their prison.  In 1955, Serafina Bettini is an investigator with the Florence Police Department who is battling her own demons.  A beautiful woman who carefully hides her scars and buries her haunting memories of the war, she is assigned a new case about a serial killer who is targeting the Rosatis and murdering remnants of the family one by one.  When she starts digging into this, she finds that her own tragic history is interwoven.  Bohjalian does a good job jumping back and forth in time, and the character development and history of the time period are well crafted.  It is a story of human frailty when confronted by moral paradox told well and set amongst the exquisitely rendered Italian countryside.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

This is the story of an electric and impassioned love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the 20th century. 

Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses.  An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father's "museum," alongside performers like the wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a 100 year old turtle.  One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.  The photographer, Eddie Cohen, is a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father's Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor's apprentice.  When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman's disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie.  

New York itself becomes a character in this magic, romantic, and masterful tale well told by Hoffman.  The descriptions of New York City around 1911 are superb. And the two historical events that the fiction is based between (The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the Dreamland Amusement Park Fire) were horrific happenings.  She also has a further reading list in the back of the book that gives you excellent supplementary information about Coney Island, the Lower East Side and Triangle Fire, and even further Photography references.  I know this book is going to resonate with me for a long time.

I also enjoyed her earlier book "The Dovekeepers," which was a tour de force of research and imagination concerning Masada, the ancient fortress on top of a rock plateau on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea.

Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman

 

Teddi Overman found a broken down chair on the side of the road in rural Kentucky, lugged it home, reconditioned it, and sold it for way more than she expected—and in the process found her life’s work.  She took other people’s castoffs and turned them into beautifully restored antiques and even managed to open her own shop in Charleston.  But Teddi has a big hole in that perfect life, due to the mysterious disappearance of her brother Josh and the shattered family relationships that disappearance left behind.  

There are so many different elements to this story.  It's a story about following your dreams, disappointing a parent, and severing ties to your childhood home.  There are little bits of wisdom woven through the story that are indeed quite charming.  "Never tie your happiness to the tail of someone else's kite."  "Maybe that's what love does--smooths the hard edges of life, giving us a gentle place to land when we fall and lessening our bruises when we do."  Or, "Sometimes it's not what we hold on to that shapes our lives--it's what we're willing to let go of."  This southern novel will appeal to nature lovers and romantics with its evocative use of descriptive language and its engaging and powerful story.  There is great authenticity in her descriptions of rural Kentucky and her understanding of family relationships is wonderfully displayed in her dialogue.  A very enjoyable read.  

 

Ice Dogs by Terry Lynn Johnson

This Junior Library Guild selection written by a woman who is a musher herself has a visually striking cover and a story that matches it.  Terry Lynn Johnson writes outdoor adventures for young adults and works as a Conservation Officer near Whitefish Falls, Ontario.  You can find out more about Terry Lynn Johnson by visiting her website where she has information about her books and articles as well as photos and links and a nice blog too.

Fourteen year old Victoria Secord (an Alaskan dogsled racer) is on a routine outing with her dogs when she comes across an injured "city boy" and gets lost in a freak snowstorm.  As the temperature drops and her meager food supply runs out, she realizes it is up to her to find a way to save them all.  Victoria is an independent and self-reliant young lady, and thanks to the excellent training she received from her father is fairly well equipped to survive in the Alaskan bush.  But she is carrying some extra emotional baggage of her own during this struggle because she still hasn't come to terms with her father's tragic death in that same unforgiving wilderness. 

The author does an excellent job of  weaving together a tale of wilderness survival, dog team lore, and a coming of age story of a girl with heart and backbone who by the end of the story has come to terms with the loss of her beloved father and finds within herself the strength and fortitude to not only survive, but thrive.  This has been called the female version of Hatchet, and her writing has been compared to Gary Paulsen, Farley Mowat, and Jean Craighead George; noteworthy praise indeed.

I highly recommend this suspenseful tale that is an intense page turner and makes you feel like you are mushing along with Victoria, Bean, Drift, and the others as they try to fight their way to safety through the Alaskan wilderness.

Telling the Bees by Peggy Hesketh

 

Octogenarian Albert Honig's most constant companions have been bees.  Deeply acquainted with the workings of his hives, Albert is less versed in the ways of people, especially his friend Claire, whose presence and absence in his life have never been reconciled.  When Claire is killed during a burglary gone wrong, Albert is haunted by the loss and by the secrets that hovered between them for so long.  Piecing together their shared history, Albert will come to learn both painful truths and the redemptive power of laying the past to rest.

 

The thing I liked best about this book was all the information on bees, beekeeping, and bee lore.  We keep bees, so I already knew a fair amount about them, but it was lovely the way the author could weave all this detail amongst an old fashioned murder mystery.  It is literary fiction with a beautiful narrative, so it is something you need to read slowly so that you might savor all the metaphors.  It is a meditative novel about the intricacies of the human condition that shows us that even the quietest of lives can still hold a full measure of drama and passion.    

 

 

 



The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

Time magazine has said that Patrick Ness is an insanely beautiful writer.  I would have to agree with that. When I read his book "A Monster Calls," I found it to be a profoundly moving and expertly crafted tale, the beauty of which resonated with me long after I turned the last page.  So, I was really looking forward to reading this book, and it did not disappoint.

It is a realistic story with some magical elements.  As Patrick tells us in the Notes & Acknowledgments at the end of the book, the original story of the crane wife is a Japanese folk tale.  It is an inspiring story, one that The Decemberists use on an album also called The Crane Wife.  The epigraph from this novel is taken from the song.

So here's the basic story:  One night, George Duncan--decent man, a good man--is woken by a noise in his garden.  Impossibly, a great white crane has tumbled to earth, shot through its wing by an arrow. Unexpectedly moved, George helps the bird, and from the moment he watches it fly off, his life is transformed.

The next day, a kind but enigmatic woman walks into George's shop.  Suddenly a new world opens up for George, and one night she starts to tell him the most extraordinary story.

This book is all about love--how it can torment us and tear us apart, but also how it can redeem us.  If you believe in magic in whatever form and shape it can assume, this book will appeal to you.  If you love storytelling with beautiful language a bonus, this book will appeal to you.

And if you love cut paper sculptures like those that George does in the book, you really need to check out the work of an extraordinary artist, Su Blackwell (www.sublackwell.co.uk).  One of her works is shown below:

The Raven by Su Blackwell

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

 

"What are you reading?" is the question Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.  Mary Anne has been diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal.  This is the story of a son and his mother, who start a "book club" that brings them together as her life comes to a close.  Over the next two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by an eclectic array of books and a shared passion for reading.  Together they find that reading isn't the opposite of doing; it's the opposite of dying.

 



This book is about so much more than just a list of books that the two of them shared during the time prior to his mother's passing (though there is a list in the back of the book, in case some of their comments inspire you to seek them out).  It is a journey where two people explore the power of books and reading while coming to terms with one of life's most emotional passages--the transition from life to death.  How do we let go? How can we? And yet, we must.

Book Club will be discussing this at our January meeting, and I've made lots of notes about particular passages that held emotional resonance for me.  But because I try to keep things short here, let me list just one of them to give you an idea of the many beautiful passages in this book:

"One of the many things I love about bound books is their sheer physicality.  Electronic books live out of sight and out of mind.  But printed books have body, presence.  Sure, sometimes they'll elude you by hiding in improbable places...But at other times they'll confront you, and you'll literally stumble over some tomes you hadn't thought about in weeks or years.  I often seek electronic books, but they never come after me.  They may make me feel, but I can't feel them.  They are all soul with no flesh, no texture, and no weight.  They can get in your head but can't whack you upside it."

A beautiful book about the relationship between a mother and her son and their bonding over books.  As the book says, “We're all in the end-of-your-life book-club, whether we acknowledge it or not; each book we read may well be the last, each conversation the final one.”          

Mary Oliver is an American poet who has won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.  She is the author of many famous poems, including The Journey, Wild Geese, The Summer Day, and When Death Comes.  Nature suffuses and sustains her work.  Her latest book is a New York Times bestselling collection of new and favorite poems, celebrating the dogs that have enriched her world.  Since I am a great lover of all things canine, and a big fan of Mary's poetry, this book was a no-brainer for me to pick up.

These poems illustrate the wholehearted devotion of dogs, who love us unconditionally, and in the process teach us to love.  Of course the best way to recommend this book is to let you see one of the poems:

LITTLE DOG’S RHAPSODY IN THE NIGHT
He puts his cheek against mine
and makes small, expressive sounds.
And when I’m awake, or awake enough
he turns upside down, his four paws
  in the air
and his eyes dark and fervent.
“Tell me you love me,” he says.
“Tell me again.”
Could there be a sweeter arrangement? Over and over
he gets to ask.
I get to tell.

This is a book for all of those who have canine companions, because as we all know, they are a kind of poetry themselves.

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

 



Award-winning novelist Louise Erdrich grew up in North Dakota, the oldest of seven children born to a Chippewa mother and a father of German-American descent.  She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and this story was inspired when she and her mother, Rita Gourneau Erdrich, were researching their own family history. 

One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe.  And thus, the story begins.

In this book, Erdrich explores issues of family, personal identity, and cultural survival.  There are references to Native American history, law, and folklore and she weaves in notions of crime, justice, and revenge.   A powerful coming of age story that probes moral and legal ramifications of a terrible act of violence.

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

Now that the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holiday is behind us, I have some catching up to do on postings of books I've finished.  The first one is from one of my perennially favorite authors, Fannie Flagg.  As with all of Fannie's books, I found myself laughing out loud throughout while immersing myself in the heartwarming and hilarious southern world she creates populated by her finely drawn hysterical characters.

Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, has just married off the last of her daughters and is looking forward to relaxing and perhaps traveling with her husband, Earle. The only thing left to contend with is her mother, the formidable Lenore Simmons Krackenberry. Lenore may be a lot of fun for other people, but is, for the most part, an overbearing presence for her daughter. Then one day, quite by accident, Sookie discovers a secret about her mother’s past that knocks her for a loop and suddenly calls into question everything she ever thought she knew about herself, her family, and her future.

Thus begins the search for answers, leading her to California, the Midwest, and even back in time to the 1940s.  The scope of the story spans decades and also generations.  The thing that makes all of Fannie's books such a joy is her unwavering belief in people, despite their weaknesses or eccentricities.  If you are looking for a book to lift your spirits and make you smile, this is the one.