The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking book. Set in Berlin in 1941, it is a time that could be called humanity's darkest hour. Evil is found at every turn and yet even in the midst of it we also see that love is never ending. Hoffman takes us on an astonishing journey of loss and resistance within both the fantastical and the mortal. Pay special attention to the further reading list in the back of the book. She has some excellent recommendations. It was also good to find out about the organization Facing History and Ourselves, which is dedicated to the education and remembrance of the Holocaust and all genocides with the hope of confronting hate in the future. If you go to Alice Hoffman.com there is a Message to my Readers concerning this book. Read it. Read the book. And then tell others to do so.


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The Atlas of Happiness: The Global Secrets of How to Be Happy by Helen Russell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed this book so very much. It was an interesting look into the concept of happiness around the globe. After explaining each country's special concept of happiness (Ireland/Craic, Greece/Meraki, India/Jugaad) etc., she then gives you a few tips on how you can incorporate that concept into your own life. As she states, optimism isn't frivolous it is necessary and nowhere is perfect...every country has faults. But simple ideas can have a huge impact sometimes and this was a funny and thoughtful read.



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The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ehrlich is a poet who has discovered the therapeutic value of the west. She reminates on life on Wyoming's high plains with a sensitivity and affection that is in a league wth Annie Dillard or even Thoreau. It is a travelogue/meditation that is luminous, humorous, and eye opening. A lovely read.


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Weedeater: An Illustrated Novel by Robert Gipe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I did not read Gipe's first book, Trampoline, so this was my first experience with Canard County and its unforgettable characters in a place broken by addiction and the coal industry, but also a place of beauty and kindness and resistance. The dialogue was hilarious, even among all the dissolution and pain and dysfunction. The story was/is heartbreaking, of course. As Glenn Taylor says, this book sings the truth of a place where everything bends. Not your typical read...but worth the effort.


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Varina by Charles Frazier

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is not a book for lovers of plot, but those who love Faulkner like sentences, which are Frazier's specialty, will be held in thrall. Its detailed observations of one woman's tragic life are expansive in scope and its examination of the Civil War and its aftermath made me interested enough to do a lot of supplementary reading along the way. It certainly took me on a thoughtful journey with its beautiful writing.



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Recursion by Blake Crouch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed it. I love his writing, and I always find his books interesting and thought provoking. What he does here is a fascinating puzzle with memory and reality that just keeps you engaged and turning the pages.



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Celine by Peter Heller

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love Peter Heller's writing. The first book I read of his was The Dog Stars, which as Gillian Flynn says was a postapocalyptic love letter to things of beauty, big and small. This book did not disappoint either. His gorgeous evocation of nature is his hallmark and he manages to tell an engrossing story with great plotting about privilege and childhood loss.



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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I have a great interest in Native American culture, so I read a lot of books that delve into any aspect of that--be it from a historical viewpoint or fictional standpoint. Our treatment of Native Americans though can be a tough pill to swallow emotionally, and I find that I sometimes just have to lay the material down for awhile and then go back to it at a later date. Emotionally it is just very overwhelming. What happened to the Osage people here is astounding and just another black mark on a very long and extensive record of mistreatment. The author's journalistic background is put to good use in his documentation of the whole affair, and he certainly did his research. This is not a pleasant read, but an important one. It is bad enough that they were stripped of their land, forced onto a parcel that was thought worthless, and then when oil was found under the rocky soil exploited by guardian overseers, then murdered for pure greed. The tragedy would be that this book was never written, as a record of such misdeeds.



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Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country by Pam Houston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I absolutely adored this book. It makes me want to pick up and read all her other books, as well. Her love of the earth and its animals as well as the ranch she is blessed to call home shines through in every sentence. "If you can't fall in love with the San Juan Mountains during the third week of September, you can't fall in love. The mountainsides are covered with the world's largest aspen forests, and they are changing in vast undulating swathes: yellow, golden, orange, vermillion. The sky is a headstrong break-your-heart blue, the air is so clear you can see a hundred miles on a straight horizon, and the river is cold and crisp and possibly even clearer than the air. The coyotes sing, all night sometimes, and the elk bugle in the misty dawn along the river." The writing wrings my heart: "...Fenton the canine loved and was loved all his life, and there is no condition in all our living and dying that could be more satisfying. If we could only embrace death as another aspect of life--if we would let the animals teach us how to live and how to die--we might treat each other and our animals better than we do." Love, love, love this book.



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Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Heppermann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A very slender and subversive book of fairy tale poetry--poetry that links fair tales with modern teenage girls. Powerful, edgy, funny, and at the same time quite serious.



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The Library Book by Susan Orlean

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I found this a very interesting read. A mix of history, biography and the type of journalism that immerses itself in a situation and the people involved. It is also a love letter to libraries, a place where I spend my working days and where my own passion lies. It is ostensibly about a fire that occurred on the morning of April 29, 1986 at the LA Public Library--but it is about so much more. The fire itself was disastrous: it burned for more than seven hours, consumed four hundred thousand books, and damaged seven hundred thousand more. The descriptions of the fire and its aftermath are fascinating, but what I really loved about this book was how the author weaved her lifelong love of books and reading into the narrative and all the background information about library personnel over the years. She highlights the crucial role that libraries play in our lives, and delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world with wit, insight, and compassion. Bottom line is that we need libraries now more than ever.



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Unthinkable: What the World's Most Extraordinary Brains Can Teach Us About Our Own by Helen  Thomson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Fascinating read about unlocking the mysteries of the human brain.



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Victor LaValle's Destroyer by Victor LaValle

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Reading this, for me, was a part of the rich supplementary material that has appeared concerning the 200th Anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The more I learn about Mary Shelley, the more fascinated I become. LaValle even has a note at the end of the book where he mentions the fact that Percy drowned off the coast of Italy in 1822. His body was cremated, but his heart wouldn't burn. Mary not only kept it, but is said to have carried it everywhere. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein only wanted his creator to love him and to find companionship. In 2017 under LaValle's pen he has rejected all of that and become the Destroyer trying to eliminate the scourge of humanity from the planet. Brutal and subversive...this is an atmospheric and topical read.



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Smart Ass: How a Donkey Challenged Me to Accept His True Nature & Rediscover My Own by Margaret Winslow

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a fast read and enjoyable. The author is a field geologist and Caleb was, as his sale ad said, "a large white saddle donkey." The book lets us get to know each of them as they square off through training and gradually come to an understanding of each other. Donkeys are amazing creatures, and like all animals, can teach us a lot--if we just listen.



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Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero by Michael Hingson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I thought this book would be mostly about Hingson's 9/11 experience, but it incorporated a lot of information about his life prior to and after this tragic event. It gives you a lot of insight into what it is like to be blind in a high-tech visually oriented world. It also includes lots of supplementary resources and information for the visually impaired, as well as suggestions for further reading. What he and Roselle went through that day was amazing.



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Date & Time by Phil Kaye

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Raised in a California beach town by a Japanese mother and Jewish-American father, the author first fell in love with spoken word poetry at age 17. He has performed in hundreds of venues in fifteen countries. In 2015, Phil was invited to perform alongside His Holiness The Dalai Lama for the celebration of his 80th birthday. His work has been viewed online over 10 million times and featured in media outlets ranging from NPR to Al Jazeera America to Upworthy.com. I have been a big fan of his spoken word poetry for some time, so was excited to read this first collection...and I wasn't disappointed. Funny, sad, emotional. Very enjoyable.



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Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A sweet love story that reminded me a lot of "A Gentleman in Moscow," by Amor Towles because it is so courtly written. Major Pettigrew, a reclusive widower, is the resident of a small coastal village steeped in tradition and far from the progressive nature of London. After losing his only sibling, he finds himself in an unexpected relationship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from
the village. It is full of lovely quotes like this one--“The world is full of small ignorances. We must all do our best to ignore them and thereby keep them small, don't you think?" Funny and perceptive, the author takes her time telling us his story and it is a quite satisfying read.



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How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A very beautiful book that is a must read for any animal lover. Sy Montgomery is a naturalist and author of more than 20 books. The Boston Globe once described her as "part Indiana Jones and part Emily Dickinson" in recognition of her adventurous spirit and passionate voice as a writer. She brings that voice to bear on behalf of many of the animals she has known and loved over the years. A delightful and empathic read.



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