Graphic Novels? Yay or Nay?

 I have always been puzzled by graphic novels and because of that I  had been resistant to reading them.   However, the book market is exploding with them, and even literary experts waffle when asked to define them or comment on their vales and place on the reading continuum.  From what I see, they are stories told primarily in pictures.  They differ from comic books in that they tell longer and more complex stories, and cosmetically and structurally they are more book like.

Of course sub-genre exist, but I would need to consult with a 16 year old to talk me though all of that.  If you're on the fence about the value of graphics for tween and teen readers, maybe this will help.  First, look at them as playful reading.  The pictures draw readers in piquing interest from page to page. The fast paced stories hold attention rather than bogging "busy" readers down with paragraphs laden with description of creepy old houses or flower gardens.  Because of the emphasis on art over narrative, graphics help develop visualization skills, enhancing  reading experiences.

Look at graphics as a bridge to more literary pieces.  In fact. many classics have been redesigned as graphics, using original dialogue in addition to pictures.  We are a visual culture after all, so why not honor that as we introduce fine literature to our young readers.  

My preferred graphic genre is the hybrid, like the one pictured here.  These books contain longer narrative passages with pictures to amplify the action.  I finally gave into graphics a few years back when I received an advance copy of the Invention Of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik.  I flipped though it, decided it wasn't for me and passed it on to a customer.  He returned in about three hours and basically ordered me to read it.  His unbridled enthusiasm, coupled with his mandate moved me to read the book.  Turns out this book is an imaginative retelling of Oliver Twist with a few nods to Frankenstein.  Pages of narration would get the plot moving, and then suddenly, I would find four or five pages of pen and ink drawings.  I skipped past them, but in doing so, I lost the story.  I had to read the pictures in order to move to the next point in the story arc.  That wan't easy. The pictures told so many stories and included numerous tiny details needed in order to interpret the embedded symbols.  

Because of Hugo, graphic are no longer off the table for me.  The good ones - the skillfully developed ones - are like jigsaw puzzles.  Many people are turning to jigsaw puzzles during our Covid homing days.  How about reclaiming your coffee table and trying a graphic novel for a change of pace?

Thanks for stopping by.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay happy.

By the way, Mabel has her final exam at puppy class on Tuesday.  We will pull and all nighter on Monday; still, I am sure she will fail.  That's OK.  I'll keep her around anyway.

Big Secrets

The other day I started thinking - which is always trouble - about Facebook and how connected I have gotten to it during these long, long days.  I still have unhung costumes from three Heart-A-Ramas back, hundreds of CDs and DVDs that should be purged or organized, general cleaning.  Instead I have become a creeper, searching out peripheral people in my life, people I know are interesting, outrageous, and live every moment of their lives on Facebook.  I told myself I need to break free so I turned to a forgotten source of secrets to satisfy my need to know, William Poundtone's three book set, Big Secrets, Bigger Secrets, and Biggest Secrets.

Who knew there could be enough secrets to fill three books, but Pounstrone does a mighyt fine job.  Open the books randomly and discover...

• if there are really backward messages in rock music.  (he tested suspect albums with amazing results)
• what goes on at Freemason initiations...the whole story including speculation about the electric carpet
• lab results revealing KFC's secret ingredients
• if Walt  Disney's body was frozen and now lies in a secret cryonic vault beneath the Pirates of the Caribbean exhibit at Disneyland
• how did magician David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear in a live television broadcast

All that and more is packed into these books about things people have been trying to keep secret.  American institutions, public and private, love to keep secrets fro us - secret sauces, secret initiation rites, secret handshakes.  

All in good fun. That's what I thought at least, and perhaps much of his information was supposition and fabrication.  But then, years ago I had the opportunity to do a phone interview with magician Harry Blackstone Jr.  He was appearing at the Capitol Civic Center and the director asked me to write a publicity article for the event.  Blackstone and I had a great conversation.  His father was a noted magician as well and so going into the family business, so to speak, came naturally to him.  He educated me on the evolution of magic, and the various styles.  Toward the end of the conversation, I asked him about magicians' feeling about William Poundstone revealing how, in words and pictures,  many major illusions are constructed.  After his rant, I was pretty sure that Poundstone had indeed encroached on sensitive territory.

These are rather old books, you might have to get them from one our fine area libraries.  Never fear, plenty of  secret revealing books appear each year.  Hmmmm...maybe more  next week.

Thanks for stopping by.
Stay safe. Stay healthy.  Laugh often.

The room mate...she knows her name and that's about it.  Mabel.

The Play of Words

Looks like people are taking this social distancing suggestion seriously, thank goodness.  From my front porch I see people walking alone, with a doggie, or in appropriately distanced groups.  Creative connections spill out of homes – people sharing music from backyard decks, curbside happy hours, and…here’s my favorite…a tiny northside alley neighborhood gathers each night at 8:00 to howl.  Primitive, perhaps, but the cacophony of pitches, styles and tempos make for a fun two minutes of alternative tunes.

If you’re more the shelter-in-place type, staying close to the TV and your stack of books, you still need to bust out and shake your world from time to time.  Mental gymnastics might be just right for you.

I have long been a fan of Richard Lederer,

 Linguistics Ph.D, and author of several erudite books on the history of the English language, along with playful volumes on the more curious side of words and how we use them. In The Play of Words, he gives us a plethora of word games to keep us unbored for the duration of our isolation.

The more daring among us will pick up a pencil or (horrors!) a pen, and write directly on the pages.  Lederer’s’ first order of business is the metaphor, direct comparisons aiding in concretizing abstract concepts.  The games get harder as you go. 

Try this medium hard one for example:

 Using following definitions, identify each common word or expression that contains the word heart:

1.  to take seriously

2.  please be merciful

3. beloved person

4. be reassured

5. to desire earnestly

6. to be frightened

7.  uninvolved emotionally

8.  discouraged

9. incomplete, as in an effort

10. substantial, as in a meal

 

There are twenty-five more, but you get the drift.  There are fifty games in all, each with a clear introduction giving context to the puzzles.  What?  You don’t have this book ready to grab off your shelf.  No problem.  Go to verbivore.com. 

There are twenty five more, but you get the drift.  What????? You all don't have a copy of this book ready for the grabbing off your bookshelf?  Never fear.  You can hop on to Lederer's website verbivore.com. Clicking on the “Language Links” tab will give you an endless supply of blogs, articles, quirky language facts, and games.  Give it a try. 

 Keep checking our Face Book page where I plan to post some word quizzles in the next weeks…offering a fabulous prize once I figure out how it’s all going to work.  Well look at that! I have just provided myself with a meaningful project for the next day? Week?  We’ll see.  

Stay well. Smile.  Sing. Dance. Or as Alan Ginsberg would suggest Howl.

Thanks for stopping by.

Leprechauns

Well, good morning everyone.  What a crazy world we have stepped into. You won’t find any philosophizing here, I’m sure you’re all trying to figure out the why’s and how of this temporary change in out lives.  On Tuesday, I stood with the crowd that said, “Oh, this will run it’s course quickly and be over soon. No need for panic.”  How that changed on Wednesday!  By Saturday I had worked myself into frenzy and started panic buying.  A quiet Sunday put things into perspective, but I was surprised when I went to the clinic for a blood test this morning  and was told they weren’t doing them right now.  Our new, Twilight Zone normal has begun.

I can’t imagine who will be reading this with so much crucial info to be following about the virus, but last week I promised you leprechauns and leprechauns you shall have. Despite the warnings against roaming, I am confident that these little guys will be out and about tonight, so set you leprechaun traps.

Most of our knowledge of Irish folklore comes from Douglas Hyde, collector of stories, protector of the Irish language, and avid jig dancer.  Lady Augusta Gregory shared his enthusiasm and broadened his research and influence. Thanks to them,  we have fine, comprehensive collections of Irish folklore.

Leprechauns are classified as solitary fairies, meaning they live alone.  They look like little old men.  They dress in green and often wear leather aprons since they make tiny shoes for more social fairies.  They are tricky little fellows.  If you catch one, he will promise you money if you let him go.  Good luck with that.  The can be dishonest, and fast.

Clurichauns (color-ih-konz) are lazy relatives of leprechauns.  They love to dress up fancy, mostly in red, and enjoy a good glass of wine.  In fact, they often take up residence in rich folks’ wine cellars, or to live comfortably –and drunkenly-  in wine makers’ barrels.

Downright mean, The Fear Deargs (fare-jerrig) kidnap and lock people in dark rooms.  Luckily, they hate loud noise and release their victims when the screaming become overpowering.

Those of you not in school or home from work could take a few minutes to check out some Irish fairy tales on the many fine sites on the web.

Here at LaDeDa, we’re following suggested guidelines; we’ll will be here in case of a book emergency.  Business will surely be slow.  Mot people I know are being smart and safe.  If we are too slow, I may sneak out an hour or so early.  If you plan to stop by after 4:30, give us a call first to see if we’re here. 682.7040.

Thanks for stopping by.  

Little Fires Everywhere

At first I hesitated commenting about this book considering I am less than half way through.  However, the slow burn of the opening chapters has ignited into quite an inferno and I fear posting spoilers if I wait until I am finished.  Early on, a character is both "perturbed and perplexed" by a photograph hanging in a galley.  I would use both of those words, and add "curious and compelled" to the way I feel about Ng's work thus far.

The residents of Shaker Heights, a manufactured community not unlike Stepford, live cushy, albeit repressed lives.  Kids come home from school, sink into an overstuffed davenport, watch TV shows about how the rest of the world lives, while a housekeeper prepares their meals and tidies up around them.

The Richardsons' world, stands festooned with everything a household needs to be seen as proper. Those trappings of wealth and propriety quiver, shake, and become nervously unsettled when a single mother artist (egads) moves into the community.  Life heats up when the Richardson children become captivated with artist Mia's daughter, Pearl- each in a different way and with a different passion.  Quickly life changes.

There's an adoption sub-plot beginning - should the fancy-white-American-unable to have children- couple be allowed to keep the Chinese child abandoned by the mother who now wants her back?  Don't know where that is going but I have my suspicions.  And that is the flaw I have found so far.  

The author provides us with an omniscient narrator who  intrusively tells us which characters to root for, and what outcomes to hope for. I guess I can go along with that since I have already bonded with one or two characters and am anxious to see how their stories unfold.  I am hoping the best for Izzy even though right from the get-go we figure that she has set fire to the family mansion.  I hope that's a wrong assumption.  Of course, the underdog characters are most interesting, but Ng makes strong cases for the good intentions of many of the Shaker Heights residents.  

So far, I am enjoying this book more than Ng's  first book, Everything I Never Told You.  Both books place teenagers central to the plot. The previous book had not a single adult with working brain cells.  The adults of Shaker Heights are products (or victims) of their heritage and make life choices accordingly.  

That's all I have for you today.  I don't think I'll return to this book next week because, as I said, I don't want to spoil it.  So far, thumbs up to this one.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tangerine...post reprint

Tangerine is the book my discussion group is talking about on Friday, so I decided to re-post.  I found the second reading even more fascinating and peculiar. I have pages of questions, speculations and theories.  I even contacted the author with one burning question.  I hope she responds. The last character that challenged me as much as Alice and Lucy was Sarah Woodruff in The French Lieutenant's Woman. She is haunting, mysterious, and lovely all at the same time.

This was my book choice.   My choices are generally met with some polite resistance and so I tried to make a last minute switch.  The books had already been ordered, so I am hoping for a spirited discussion on Friday. We're having guests who have been to Morocco so that might help.

Here's the original post from 3.4.1

Alice Shipley lies.  Lucy Mason lies.  John, Alice's husband lies.  That's what we know right from the get go of this fast moving novel that would surely have piqued Alfred Hitchcock's interest.  In short order, we know that Lucy is the antagonist; unlike Gone Girl, which Tangerine has been compared to, we don't have to muddle over who did it, who's doing it, or who will do something dastardly next.  What we need to know is why John married the mousy (but rich) Alice and, in short order, insisted they move to Morocco.  We need to know why Lucy, Alice's dangerously obsessive college roommate, shows up in Morocco uninvited and unannounced. And then there's Youssef, a native Tangerine, known for making a fine living duping and blackmailing unsuspecting tourists and expats.  The quartet orchestrates a plot filled with subtle movements leading to...well, read the book and you decide what's real and what's not.

Set against the sweltering Moroccan sun, the characters sizzle and and the plot burns.  This is a moody novel.  Christine Mangan not only showed me Tangier, she took me there, to the markets, to the cafes and to the dirty bars and opium dens.  Some readers might find her exquisite prose mismatched for the evil doings that take place in this exotic and mysterious setting.  However, when the plot reaches its boiling point, the style changes becoming faster, pulsating and twisting.  The inconsistency bothered me at first, but it served to quickly unravel the darkness that had been long hidden, as well as preparing us for the complex contorting yet to come. The final chapters revert back to the pensive style with which the book opened.

You may feel echoes of Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) in the plot, but this book is far more sophisticated - more grown up.  Read it in the winter and let the Tangerine sun warm you.  Read it in the summer on your deck, and let the heat carry you to Tangier.  Just read it.  If nothing else, it will make you grateful for the folks you surround yourself with, and if you think your life is a little too boring, you might decide that quiet is a good thing.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Butter Battle Book

Dr. Seuss encourages us to take care of the trees in The Lorax.  He shows us the fallacy of arbitrary judgment in The Sneetches,  and of course, he warns us about letting strange cats into our homes.  All told with silly, made up words, gentle humor, and some nice tongue in cheek commentary built in to entertain parents as they read and re-read these favorite stories to their kiddies.  

But, The Butter Battle Book is different. From the opening stanzas we feel a sense that something troubling is afoot.  There's a wall.  Two boastful leaders meet there, exchanging threats over trivial matters. There is danger and mutually assured destruction. There is fear.

That is the essence of Dr. Seuss' allegory about the arms race and the cold war.  Although it bears the Seuss stamp of rhythmical storytelling, whimsical illustrations, and fanciful characters the provocative story both enlightens and frightens.  The Zooks and the Yooks battle about the proper side on which to butter bread. Across the wall the generals face off in a battle of who has the most powerful Triple-Sling-Jigger or other whatnot guaranteed to drop the opposing community to its knees.  Trouble is, neither side knows knows exactly what they are playing with, nor do they understand the potential destruction - yet the escalation continues. Both sides are poised to drop the bomb when the book ends and.....well, here's a link to a TV special video of the book.  Dr. Seuss, producer. 

https://www.schooltube.com/media/Dr.+SeussA+The+Butter+Battle+Book/1_f68yygdp

The Butter Battle Book did not land well.  In fact, it had been censored by many schools and, for a time, had been withdrawn from numerous library shelves.  Perhaps you will find parallels to today?

 This is just one atypical offering by the kid friendly poet. Check out The Seven Lady Godivas.  You

will be amused.  Oh, here's a bit of trivia.  His pen name, in honor of a German relative, is actually pronounced to rhyme with "voice" but he gave up correcting and eventually accepted the pronunciation we use today.  Still, over and over again, people ask me where the Dr. Zeus books are.

Thanks for stopping by.  (Blogger is playing tricks today, so the format might be a little wonky. sorry.)

The Day the World Came to Town

Fewer memories remain more vivid for me than those of September 11, 2001.  I was still teaching at the time; our principal came on the PA with these words  - "America is under attack." Unclear of what he meant, I turned on the TV to watch what, to this day, seems unreal, impossible.  Students sat silently, trying to figure out what we seeing.  Where was this?  What, exactly, is going on? What does this mean to us who just had our reading of  Macbeth interrupted?  Together we listened as shocked TV anchors, in the thick of NYC, gave us whatever minute by minute they could with failed attempts at unemotional deliveries.

The images that have remained all these years are the images given to me that day and the following day via television - 24 hour coverage - all networks - all working to provide facts, fill in the blanks, and make sense. I believe this wasn't about ratings, but about something stronger - the recognition that we, the world's super power, were now like other countries, looking over our shoulders, holding our breath,and asking how much fear was enough.

I had not heard of Gander, Newfoundland until the musical Come From Away hit Broadway, making me wonder how palatable a musical about this disaster could ever survive.  But, just like our country survived, this little musical survived, thrived and continues to muscle its way through a story both tragic and heroic. When U.S. airspace was closed, diverting flights in a chaotic ballet of wings and wishes, 6000 passengers found themselves stranded in Gander, a tiny town of 10,000 people.  What happened to them during their six day stay speaks of community, humanity, and miracles.  

In the Day the World Came to Town, journalist Jim Defede highlights a handful of stories from those days, exploding this incident from a TV event to micro history bits I had not before considered.  Imagine a pilot receiving the news of the attacks and being told to change course.  Imagine him or her looking over at the co-pilot and realizing he knows nothing about who the person next to him might be.  And what of the passengers?  Was there danger there?  Those fears flooded the first moments. But what happened in Gander softened some of that.

Gander opened its arms,  public spaces, and homes to the "come from aways" and made it possible for them to feel a little safer as they waited for the unknown to subside. The locals offered shelter, provisions, and emotional support and even entertainment. Amid it all, friendships evolved.  Even the animals on board, including several Bonobo monkeys, were cared for like family.  

Some people might find this book episodic and jumpy.  For me, the style reflected what must have been days filled with guessing, trying, untrying, and trying again until the guests were at least marginally settled.  I think that most of us would agree that we are not living our most comfortable lives right now.  This book shows that hope is possible in times of turmoil, and reminds us of the goodness that exists in the world.  For that reason alone, you might want to pick it up.  It will let you breathe easier and make you smile.

Sometimes being altruistic feels good.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oh...I'm close to discontinuing my attempt to "read" books on CD.  Not working for me.  I'm tearing my time between listening to one book while reading another, breaking one of my reading rules - only one book at a time.  And, as much as I enjoy catching the nuances that accompany the spoken word, it just takes too darn long to listen to a book.  I guess I'm too restless for it right now. 

Little Faith Part 1

This book will take me two, maybe three weeks to chatter about...skipping next week, most likely...

For starters, Nick Butler is my big book crush. I spent an afternoon with him a while back, and although I remember most of that day. I doubt that he would say the same. That's OK.

Nick was scheduled to speak at the library (we were vending books for him) and he planned to make the round trip to and from North Western Wisconsin in one day.  When he got up in the morning and found there was no electricity in his location, he headed out earlier than planned. He had nothing to do once he got to Manitowoc.  He dropped in to meeme, and ended up staying until it was time to go to the library.  

He wore holey jeans and - I think - a battered Packer sweatshirt, but he brought "proper" clothes to change into before his presentation.  When he went to his car to get his good duds, he realized that in his haste to leave, he had forgotten his dress shoes and socks, and decided to stay just as he was.  No one seemed to notice.

Little Faith is the first book in my new listening project, and so far I'm enjoying it.  I think I could read the book faster, though.  In my opinion, a better reader could not have been found.  A bit of gravel in his voice pairs nicely with the rural setting and laid back cast.  I can't comment too much on the plot at this point, except to say that it has promise.  Because I'm listening rather than reading, I cannot rush past anything and  I am allowed to experience the full lushness of Butler's words.  The guy can write.  And he understands, appreciates and honors the spirit of small town America.  This book is about belief, community, and friendship.  So simple.  So right.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Santa Bruce

Socially conscious Bruce shops locally (yeah!) buys organic, and enjoys a long winter hibernation like all bears. He dislikes nearly everything else. One day, Bruce's goose eggs, purchased from a nearby farm, begin to hatch while in a warm water bath on Bruce's stove. The goslings imprint on Bruce, and just like that, he becomes a mother.  That's the premise of the first book in this series, Mother Bruce.   Bruce does not enjoy motherhood and does everything possible to send the little ones on their way.  But they love him; they want to stay and that love-not love relationship leads to chaos, hilarity, and much anxiety for our bear.

In the subsequent installments, Bruce finds himself running a hotel when the goslings invite their woodland friends to share the joy of living with their lovable, grumpy mother.  Book three, Bruce's Big Move - well I'm sure you can guess how Bruce attempts to get away from everyone this time.

Winter rolls around in this newest book, and it is clear that Bruce's latest plan to seek freedom has again been foiled.  And again, he becomes the victim of mistaken identity. While shoveling, bundled in a red hat and sweater - instead of sleeping through the cold months in his red long johns- a raccoon with a nose for news spots Bruce and spreads the word that Santa is living in the nearby woods.  

This book pops with a colorful story and expressive illustrations.  Higgins offers plenty of chuckles for adults as well.  The little bunny family has a grown-up bunny who still lives with his parents.  While discussing holiday plans, a mouse in residence declares "Actually, bears don't hibernate. they spend the winter in a state of lethargy".  His pun-ish friend replies, "I thought we were spending winter in the state of Maine"... and on it goes. Fun, giggles and lots of opportunities for parent-child chatter starters.

Thanks to all you grumpy bears for stopping by.

Check in at the Pine Away.

If Katarina Bivald's name hadn't been on the cover of this book, I would have 100% identified her as the author after reading the first chapter....not because she resculpts the same old plot changing characters and settings like many writers...but because of the many characteristics I enjoyed so much in her first book The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend.  The novel is set in a charming little town, brimming with heart and populated with quirky characters worthy of out loud laughter.  Amid those snort inducing episodes, however, are  poignant moments. Grab some tissue.

Henny loves everything about her life - her friends, her boyfriend, and her job.  In fact, Henny is so happy that she doesn't notice that she is dead - killed in a head on car accident.  In time, when day to day life as usual fails her, and she sees people grieving and preparing for her funeral, she accepts, but she does not disappear.  Instead, she flows through the lives of her friends, for the first time seeing behind the pretty facades they have been presenting.  Henny commits herself to remaining earthly until she can help them rediscover the joy they had once had.

This is not a ghost story.  Rather it is story of spirit and good will.  The story being told through the voice of deceased Henny troubled me, but not enough for me to abandon these folks I would enjoy having coffee with. In some respects, the essence of Bilvad's book took me back to the final scene in Thornton Wilder's Our Town.   Young Emily stands on the edge of the cemetery, watching her funeral.  In a joyful but tear-jerking monologue, she bids farewell to the small things in life that she overlooked; now, in death, she has the clarity to see - hair ribbons, clocks ticking, warm wind.

Like Emily, Henny cautions us to be mindful.

Next week?  I'm stuck between choosing either Where the Crawdads Sing and Ronan Farrow's book about the Harvey Weinstein/Matt Lauer situations, and the birth of the Me Too movement, Catch and Kill. Such a dilemma.   Which would you pick?

 Thanks for stopping by.

Before We Were Yours

From the mid 19th century through the 1940's, Georgia Tann operated a malicious business called The Tennessee Children's Home Society Orphanage.  Tann stole babies from indigent mothers, tricked illiterate parents into signing rights to adopt papers, and in some cases, enticed children from their front porches or from playgrounds.

Before We Were Yours tells side by side stories - one contemporary, the other a memory. The women in question couldn't be more different, yet they are united by something that becomes the thread crafting this compelling story.

Rill, the river urchin and her siblings fight the daily battles of life in the orphanage while Avery, the advantaged, young lawyer struggles to learn truths about her family's past.  Of course, the stories intertwine, and early on the direction of the plot reveals itself. There are no twists and turns here, just a gradual unraveling of an upsetting, unbelievable representation of an ugly piece of American social and economic history.  If Radium Girls and Killers of the Flower Moon provoked you, you might like this book.  Not as well written - some quirky phrasing, along with alternating storyline chapters.  If you read it, I am sure you'll find yourself searching the Internet on Georgia Tann,  Believe me, there is plenty of information to be found.

LaDeDa chatter....

• Our book discussion group had a great visit with Bob Fey whose story of walking the Wisconsin Ice Age Trail is featured in Chapter 11 of  TheThousand Miler.   He's preparing a presentation for the Two Rivers Public Library.  Watch for it.
• Halloween books are in. Lots of good, spooky stuff.  More new books and games coming. We'll share info about that soon.
• Next up.. a couple play scripts for a small project I've been thinking about.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thousand-Miler

This book made my feet hurt.  Well, not at first anyway.  I jot a few quick notes as I read books for our discussion group, and looking back, I find "boring" seven times in seven different fonts.  Then something changed.  I questioned why I liked Walden so very much but was having a tough time with a similar, back to nature story.

Melanie Radzicki McManus challenged herself to through-walk the Ice Ice Trail which covers approximately  1100 miles of Wisconsin trails. A through-walker travels the trail in a single walk, rather than breaking it up over a number of years. She managed to do it in record time - 1100+ miles in thirty-six days. Cellulitis took her down for a day or two, and to be honest, I could have lived without her description of what oozed from her sores.  She lost toenails.  She got lost and dehydrated.

By thirty pages in, I was with her. I convinced myself that in order to muscle through, I needed to go on the journey with her, sore feet and all.  This wasn't Walden.  She wasn't sitting near on pond, fishing and growing veggies, and contemplating the universe. She walked and jogged through Wisconsin's prairies, swamps, woods, and farmlands.  Along the way she met others with similar goals, most a bit eccentric, and those chapters were some of my favorites.  Her book showed me parts of Wisconsin I will never see - small towns, deep and dangerous wooded areas, and quiet hillsides.  She showed them all too me, along with providing extensive, and fascinating information on our state's geological history.

Nothing surprised me more than Chapter  11 which was all about Bob Fay, former director of our local Historical Society.  I have known the Fay family for a long time.  His wife, Georgia, was the bookstore manager at UW-Manitowoc, and his daughter, Megan, was one of my students at the campus years ago. Bob spent seven years seven years hiking sections the trail, and with Georgia's help, kept copious notes.  He is currently putting together a presentation for the Two Rivers Library and has kindly agreed to visit with our discussion group next week.

In the end, yes, I liked this book.  Some maps and pictures would have been helpful, but a little inter web digging filled that gap.  Without getting too zen on you all, I will say that McManus's experience made me think about quite, and I have since begun to surround myself with more of it.  Reading on the deck these final days of summer with nothing but sounds the birds, squirrels, and the wind offer has provided a surprising tempo change for me.  My mind has stopped racing.  I have been focused. Sort of slothlike!  No more music or TV in the background when I read indoors.  Doing this allows me get lost in what I'm reading and time passes slowly and with a new value.  I wonder if cleaning in silence would have a similar effect?

Do you know there are monasteries in Wisconsin where you can go and hang out in silence for however long you want or need?  Just a thought.  For now, I'm happy with my spot in the window, sun at my back, and silence in the air and in my mind.

Thanks for stopping by.,

The Captive by Victoria Holt

My year of retro reading has taken me back to my high school days. Carrying around a copy of The Legend of the the Seventh Virgin  - "virgin" being the operative words here - got teen girls lots of attention.

Eleanor Hibbard used a number of pseudonyms, the most noted being Jean Plaidy for her historical novels, Philippa Carr for family sagas. Victoria Holt for Gothic romances. She has written over 200 books, 

Holt's romances function as a gateway to more aggressive bodice ripper novels. Some of my friends moved on to those, while others eventually closed the cover on Holt and her peers. My home bookshelves show that I was quite devoted to her, and so I thought it might be fun to see how her work holds up for me after many, many years.

Our heroine's parents immersed themselves in archeology and Egyptology, leaving their daughter, Rosetta (yes, she was named after a rock) to be raised by the colorful downstairs staff of maids, cooks and butlers. They know all the juicy London tittle-tattle and become instrumental in helping Rosetta solve a local murder mystery.

This is one of Holt's last novels, and it seems my Victoria lost her way.  There are shipwrecks, pirates, kidnapping, slave trading, a harem, and of course, a murder.  Those ingredients in and of themselves have tons of potential, but none of those many plot lines develop into anything significant.  Of course, a love triangle ties the elements together in a loose way and although I finished the book just last week, I can't remember which man the stony Rosetta ends up with.  Was it the deck swabbing accused murderer, or was it the handsome guy with the limp who was days away from becoming a eunuch?

In the end, I'd say it was OK.  Our favorite writers must feel some sense of obligation to those of us who wait and wait for the newest offering to pop.  Sometimes they disappoint us, and we kindly give them another chance.  That's a good thing.  We all need to escape once in a while, and if that need takes us to a Turkish harem so be it.  Hopefully, teenage girls still stumble across Victor Holt's early works and carry them around proudly - no masking tape over eyebrow raising title words.  

It's raining today.  The fair is over.  Teachers have begun in-service.  Change is in the air.  

Thanks for stopping by. 

11.22.62 Part II

Well...849 pages later, I'm still processing, evaluating and deciding....what will I say when our book group meets next Tuesday to discuss this book? Clearly, we all like to go beyond the "I liked/disliked it" level, but where to start and where to focus continue to challenge me.  Let me predict what everyone's opening comments will be (no names!)...

 Member 1: Hated it

Member 2: Really, you guys didn't like it?

Member 3: Enjoyed the historical parts but skipped a lot of the rest

Member 4: May not have read it

Member 5: I won't say I didn't like it but...

Member 6: Hated the ending...he could have written this story in half the pages

Member 7: That's me....there's stuff to discuss here...

Let's get to it.  I find it ironic that I don't want to talk too much about the ending of book about a situation we all know the ending to already.  (Sort of like the Bible - the hero dies in the end. Is that comment sacrilegious?). Take your pick, the end is A. predictable, B. heartbreaking, C.underwhelming, D. logical, or E. all wrong.  You can make a case for all of these reactions.

If you're still reading, let me give you a bit of advice...take time to understand the thematic threads - most importantly history is obdurate.  I had to look up the meaning. Dancing and harmonics also help hold this plot together.  For me, the book was filled with too many twists and turns leaving me wanting to debark the Tilt-A-Whirl before the ride ended.  But I pushed on, shaking my head on most every page, not at what the characters were doing but rather wondering what I would do if pushed to make the kind of decisions Jake had to make.  From that perspective alone, I guess the book was a success.  It got me beyond the page and into a place where I forced myself to take a hard look at what I stand for and how much I could give, take, and perhaps destroy to up hold what I believe in.  

11.22.63 falls apart in two ways, two really significant ways. There are apparent gaps in the development of the protagonist.  I liked him from the start - just an average guy, teaching English, living with a few complications like most of us.  There was nothing in his character that indicated to me he could even consider murder, let alone act on those thoughts.  Plot fail number two - love is blind, in this case, I might be more inclined to say love is stupid.  That's my only comment on that since it is rather deep in the book and you might not be at that point yet.  

My Facebook teaser got several comments from people who "loved" the book.  I'm not sure I'd go there.  I will say that if you are intrigued, go for it.  Muscle through.  You will not be disappointed.  If you are struggling, and wavering in your interest, stop.  There are too many fine pieces that fit who you are and where you are at this  moment in time to finish a book you are not warming up to.  

That is another discussion, isn't it?  Are you brave enough to stop reading a book you don't like, or is there something in you compelling  you to read from cover to cover, no mater what?  Hmmmmm.

Thanks for stopping by,