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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The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book revisits the sinking of the Titanic by telling the other side of the Titanic tragedy: the aftermath of what happened to the survivors. They had to endure the U.S. Senate hearings – from which the painful fact emerged that only one lifeboat went back to pick up additional survivors. Many of them were probably haunted by unanswerable questions: had they done the right thing in those last frightful moments? Who was brave, who was cowardly? Where ultimately, did the blame for such a disaster lie? Kate Alcott is the pen name for Patricia O'Brien and the Dressmaker tells the story of Tess Collins, a maid who aspires to be a dressmaker and Lady Lucile Duff Gordon, a renowned dress designer of the era. Tess meets Lady Gordon on the pier of the Titanic and begs to come along. On the ship Tess meets two very different love interests and she and Lady Duff Gordon manage to survive the sinking--but there is some question about what happened in Lady Duff Gordon's lifeboat. The author seems to navigate the waters of trust, loyalty, and ambition quite well and was an enjoyable historical fiction read.


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The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fred Rogers appeared before audiences of millions of young children and their parents over a 40 year period. Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, at the height of its appeal, was watched by nearly 10 percent of American households. His work shaped not only television, but the technology that drives it. Most importantly, he recognized the critical importance of learning during the earliest years of a child's life. No one better understood how essential it is for proper social, emotional, cognitive, and language development to take place in the first few years of life. And no one did more to convince a mass audience of the value of early education. He also provided exemplary moral leadership. He had a strong belief in Christianity, but his spirituality was eclectic; he found merit in all faiths and philosophies. His signature value was truly human kindness. He lived it, and he preached it, to both children and their parents, to teachers, to all who would take the time to listen. He weighed 143 lbs his entire adult life and interestingly the 1-4-3 represented I Love You (I=1, Love=4, You=3). If you grew up watching Mr. Rogers, you will want to read this book. You will also want to visit www.fredrogers.org and www.fredrogerscenter.org and explore both sites freely.


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Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer by Barbara Ehrenreich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really loved the subtitle of this book. That, and the fact that I liked her other book "Nickel and Dimed," was what made me want to read it. I found it intriguing that she talks about the fundamental unreliability of our bodies, looks into the cellular basis of aging, and shows us how little control we actually have over it. She believes that preventive screenings, healthy eating, or throwing ourselves into meditation and spirituality offer only the illusion of control. I found myself agreeing with a lot of what she said and even when I wasn't sure I agreed, it made for some thought provoking reading. Living well and joyously while accepting our mortality is definitely the great challenge of her book. I found her funny and caustic, but again...very interesting. With Chapter titles like "The Madness of Mindfulness," "Death in Social Context," "The Invention of the Self," and "Killing the Self, Rejoicing in a Living World," how could you resist?


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Natchez Burning by Greg Iles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At 791 pages, this is a big book--and as it unfolds it tells a gritty story of lies and deceit, treachery and bravery, all with a vibrant backdrop of history. It has scope and passion and the writing is good. The themes of race, violence, anger, amidst the Deep South has whispers of Faulkner and Wolfe. It is the first of a trilogy that is fast becoming a classic. It is the first I've read of Iles, but I will undoubtedly continue this fascinating journey. Some people have said it is a bit repetitive, but the writing is of such a caliber that I didn't think so. If someone tells the story well, I'm right along for the ride no matter how many pages it takes. It is truly an amazing piece of popular fiction.


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The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work by Kathleen Norris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Kathleen Norris and find her writing beautiful, thought provoking, and transformative. Two of her earlier books, "Dakota: A Spiritual Geography" and "The Cloister Walk" are a couple of my all time favorite reading experiences. She excels at focusing attention and bringing joy to your spiritual journey and zeroing in on the meaning of love, faith, and grace. She reminds us that the little tasks are meant to ground us in the world, not grind us down. This is an insightful and deeply personal work that discusses the mysterious way that daily tasks can open us to the transforming presence of God.


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The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a thought provoking book. Being someone who loves solitude and being alone, but at the same time enjoys people as well, I wanted to try to understand a little better why someone so young (age 20) just walks away from life, disappears into the woods, and doesn't talk to another person for almost 3 decades. Not sure I understand it any better even now that I've finished the book. But what a fascinating read it is. What is the role of solitude, the value of suffering, the diversity of human needs? What is the balance between social obligation and the need to retreat? This quote by the author really made me think about sociability and its place in our lives-- "Modern life seems set up so that we can avoid loneliness at all costs, but maybe it's worthwhile to face it occasionally. The further we push aloneness away, the less are we able to cope with it, and the more terrifying it gets. Some philosophers believe that loneliness is the only true feeling there is. We live orphaned on a tiny rock in the immense vastness of space, with no hint of even the simplest form of life anywhere around us for billions upon billions of miles, alone beyond all imagining. We live locked in our own heads and can never entirely know the experience of another person. Even if we're surrounded by family and friends, we journey into death completely alone."


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The Bone Tree by Greg Iles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can only repeat here what Stephen King has aleady said...this is an amazing work of popular fiction.


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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such an interesting read--and one that I really enjoyed overall, despite a 'what's up with that?' ending. Those 80s pop culture references were a blast, and I managed to catch most of them well enough. I am not a gamer either, so the fact that I still got a lot out of this despite that fact is a testament to the way it was written I think. Cline has said that his primary occupation has always been geeking out, so if you are a member of that club you will probably like the book. The movie will be released in March, directed by Steven Spielberg. If it is as visually striking as Ghost in a Shell was and the storyline demands, it will be a popular one. In the meantime, read the book. It's 2044 and most of humanity escapes an ugly world by escaping into a hyper-realistic 3D videogame paradise called OASIS. Somewhere within that networked playground the creator has hidden an Easter Egg--the ultimate lottery ticket. Wade Watts is on a mission to find it. With the help of his best friend Aech, Art3mis (a famous egg hunter and blogger), and Japanese gamers Daito and Shoto, he goes up against a wicked international corporation (IOI) in a story that is one part techno-thriller and one part nostalgia trip. But be prepared for that ending!


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One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Written as a series of journals recording the fictitious adventures of May Dodd, as part of an imaginary "Brides for Indians" program, this book won the 1999 Fiction of the Year Award from the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association. It's French translation was on the French bestseller list for 57 weeks and it has garnered an appreciative audience since then. The premise of the "Brides for Indians" program is that the northern Cheyenne Indians are shrinking in numbers and need a way to assimilate into white society. If they marry white women and have half blood children, the two cultures would blend naturally. The proposal is made to trade 1,000 white women for 1,000 horses. Women who are physically healthy and of child bearing age can volunteer. May Dodd, born into a wealthy family but ensconced in an asylum for promiscuity thinks the program is an excellent way to escape her captivity. The descriptions of the countryside are lovely and the journals read like they could indeed be real. If you know anything about the Indian Wars you will have an inkling how this all ends, but an enjoyable historical novel nonetheless.


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