Author: gr4c5

I write. I read. I cook. I run. That's me, in a nutshell.

Men of Men

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Smith, Wilbur. Men of Men. New York: Doubleday & co., 1983.

Because Men of Men picks up where Flight of the Falcon left off we rejoin Zouga Ballantyne. Now he is ten years older and married to a society girl named Aletta. Despite many miscarriages she has given him two boys, Ralph and Jordan. Somehow Zouga has convinced his family to join him in Africa where he is still searching for riches, only this time instead of elephants and gold it is diamonds. His eldest son, Ralph, is exposed to gambling, violence and prostitution at sixteen, literally coming of age in the bush. It’s Ralph we continue to follow for the most of Men of Men although most characters from Flight return. Robyn, Mungo, Clinton and Charoot, to name a few. In reality, it is everyone’s greed we bear witness to. As with all of Smith’s other books, Men of Men is rich with African history and adventure as well as strong characters, only there are more of them to play with.

Typical quotes, “It was a beautiful stabbing, a glory which men would sing about” (p 291),

Reason read: Men of Men continues the series started with Flight of the Falcon in December. Read in honor of Rhodesia’s Shangani Day.

Author fact: Wilbur Smith’s middle name is Addison. What a cool name!

Book trivia: Wilbur uses the same picture for his photo on the dust jacket. Except this photo has been darkened a little so there is a strange shadow across half his face.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Zipping Through Zimbabwe/Roaming Rhodesia” (p 268).

Ocean of Words

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Jin, Ha. Ocean of Words. New York: Vintage International, 1996.

Ocean of Words is made up of twelve short stories, all centered around Chinese soldiers on the brink of war with Russia in the early 1970s. In every story there is a Chinese soldier wrestling with suspicion, loyalty, individualism and power. They all wave weaknesses or flaws that render them human above all else. Each character possesses a depth of personality that leaves the reader thinking about him long after the story has ended.  I particularly liked the title story in which the “ocean of words” is a dictionary indexed in Chinese, Latin and English.

In order, the short stories are:

  • “A Report”
  • “Too Late”
  • “Uncle Piao’s Birthday Dinners”
  • “Love in the Air”
  • “Dragon Head”
  • A Contract”
  • “Miss Jee”
  • “A Lecture”
  • “The Russian Prisoner”
  • The Fellow Townsmen”
  • “My Best Soldier”
  • “Ocean of Words”

My favorite quotes, “Once you’re conquered by foreigners, you’ve lost everything” (p 27), “History is a mess of chances and accidents” (p 77), and “Mind modeling is more important” (p 174).

My favorite stories: “A Contract” and “Ocean of Words.”

Reason read: Celebrating Ha Jin’s birth month.

Author fact: Ocean of Words is Ha Jin’s first fiction.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called, “China:the Middle Kingdom” (p 61).

Locked Rooms and Open Doors

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Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Locked Rooms and Open Doors: Diaries and Letters 1933 – 1935.New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974.

Reason read: While I didn’t read this word for word, I wanted to peruse it to “keep up” with Anne. This should have been the next book in the series, after Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead, but for some reason Pearl doesn’t list it. At this point in Lindbergh’s life (1933-1935) she and her husband Charles are recovering from the kidnapping and murder of their first born son, Charles, Jr. They have a second son, Jon, who is now a toddler. Their big expedition is by seaplane crossing the Atlantic and exploring such places as Greenland and Africa. They are gone for nearly six months, but when they return they are faced with more tragedy. Sister Elizabeth passes away from pneumonia complicated by a heart condition and the kidnapping trial forces the Lindberghs to relive every moment of the tragedy of losing their son. It is at the end of Locked Rooms and Open Doors that Charles and Anne, in an effort to escape the public eye, leave the United States for England, a move that will prove controversial and have grave consequences.

Book trivia: Locked Rooms and Open Doors is the third book in Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s series of diaries and letters.

Author fact: At this point in Anne’s life she has become navigator, copilot, photographer, and log keeper for her husband. Her confidence and courage allows her to describe these expeditions with more color and detail.

BookLust Twist: none. This one was left out for some reason.

Prepared for a Purpose

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Tuff, Antoinette. Prepared for a Purpose: the Inspiring True Story of How One Woman Saved an Atlanta School Under Siege. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2014.

I have to say right off the bat that I could not put this book down. Once I started, I stayed glued to it for the entire day and read it cover to cover in one sitting. Antoinette Tuff’s story, even before the events of August 20, 2013, is gripping. Thanks to her faith in God and the Bible she has always had an abundance of gumption and spunk. No matter what hardship was throw in her way (and there were a lot of them), she handled every single one the best way she knew how – through prayer and strength. The fact that Ms. Tuff is a now motivational speaker is an example of a divine calling.
Just a note about how the book was written. I enjoyed the back and forth between “present” day (August 20, 2013) and Tuff’s past. I like the cliff hangers. For example, right before Tuff covered the receptionist’s lunch on that fateful day she got a devastating phone call. The reader doesn’t know what the phone call was about until much later in the story.

Reason read: As part of the Early Review program for LibraryThing I was chosen to review this book (February 2014).

Author fact: Antoinette Yuff was honored at the CNN All-Star Tribute. When she walked on stage, I didn’t recognize her. She looked amazing.

Book trivia: My early review copy came complete with color photographs. How cool is that?

Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead

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Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead: Diaries and Letters 1929 – 1932.New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973.

If, in the letters and journals of Bring Me a Unicorn Anne Morrow Lindbergh was a fresh-faced college girl, she is now a daring pilot and adventurer in Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead. The year 1929 begins with Anne and Charles’ engagement. At this stage in her life she is quickly learning about the down side of being a celebrity (thanks to Charles and his airplane adventures). The couple can’t go anywhere without a throng of reporters following their every move. Anne has to be careful of what she writes to friends and family for fear of it getting out to the press and misconstrued. Charles and Anne even wear disguises to the opera. But, Anne still carries her enthusiasm with her. She continues to miss her siblings and mother madly (she never addresses her letters to her father) while she travels about the world. All this enthusiasm comes crashing to the ground at the end of 1931 when she loses her father and then again, in early 1932, when her son, Charles Jr., is kidnapped and found months later murdered. It is heartbreaking the way she refers to her son as, “the stolen child” as if she cannot bear to call him by name or even claim to be his mother. Throughout the rest of the book, Anne’s grief is heartbreaking. She tried to end on a happy note with the birth of her second son, Jon and the wedding of her sister, Elisabeth.

Quotes to take away: “I leaned on another’s strength until I discovered my own” (p 2). Speaking of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, “It took me by the teeth and shook me as a dog a rabbit, and I could not get over it” (p 56).  A line I can relate to, “I am wild, wild, wild to get home” (p 100). A line I cannot relate to, “After ten weeks of negotiation and contact with the kidnapper and the handing over of the demanded ransom, the dead body of the child was found in the woods a few miles from our home” (p 209).

Reason read: I read Bring Me A Unicorn in honor of January being Journal month. Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead continues the series.

Author fact: There is one degree of separation between Anne Morrow Lindbergh and myself! I had a small thrill on my second day of reading Hour of Gold when surprise, surprise! Anne mentions Monhegan Island! She is recounting all of the stops on her honeymoon with Charles and says, “Monhegan Island in here somewhere” (p 45). Judging by the dates of letters, she was there sometime between June 1 and June 7th, 1929.

Book trivia: Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead picks up where Bring Me a Unicorn left off. The next book in the sequence is Locked Rooms and Open Doors which I will not be reading. This period, from 1933 – 1935 will be skipped. Sad.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Journals and Letters: We Are All Voyeurs At Heart” (p 131).

PS ~ Even though Locked Rooms and Open Doors is not on my list I have decided to borrow it, just so I can look at the pictures and feel “caught up” for when I read Flower and the Nettle.

My Father’s Moon

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Jolley, Elizabeth. My Father’s Moon. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1989.

Veronica Wright (Vera) is trying to find her way. As a mother to young Helena. As a daughter to an overbearing mother. As a nurse in war-torn England. As an unpopular student at a stuffy boarding school. She find solace in the little things, like the promise of a moon she and her father can both see, no matter how far apart they may be. We start at the end, when Vera is a single mother, but then weave our way back through Vera’s beginnings. At times, the story is disjointed and meandering; I think of it as chronologically schizophrenic. I didn’t care for all the jumping around. And. I didn’t care for Vera and her miserable personality. There. I said it. There is something so hopeless and lost about Vera’s spirit.  She isn’t in touch with her feelings, doesn’t know when to laugh, is awkward around her peers, has been told she has no sex appeal, is ignored in most situations…Her relationships with fellow students, nurses and family are suspicious. Jolley drops hints about the true nature of them, but nothing is clear.

Quotes I liked, “That day she asked me what time it was, saying that she must hurry and get her wrists slashed before Frederick comes back from his holiday” (p 9), “There is something hopeless in being hopeful that one person can actually match and replace another” (p 53), “there are times when an unutterable loneliness is the only company in the cold morning” (p 69), and, last one, “The feeling I have of being able to reach out to take the sky in both hands is one of the most restful things I have ever known” (p 108).

Reason read: Jolley died in the month of February (2007). Read to honor her passing.

Author fact: Even though this was in the Australian section of Book Lust To Go, Jolley isn’t Australian. She was born in England and moved to Australia.

Book trivia: This is the first book in the Vera Wright Trilogy.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Australia, the Land of Oz (fiction)” (p 30). I’m not sure why My Father’s Moon is in this chapter.  Technically, Jolley wasn’t Australian and the book doesn’t take place in Australia. Yes, she lived in Australia, began her writing career in Australia and made herself a name as a writer there…

Palladian Days

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Gable, Sally and Carl I. Gable. Palladian Days: Finding a New Life in a Venetian Country House. Read by Kathe Mazur. Westminster, MD: Books On Tape, 2005.

How does a person thinking about buying a vacation home in New Hampshire wind up intent on home ownership in Italy? Better yet, how does a Hot-lanta couple decide they need to live in a 16th century villa in the Vento region? We’re talking about a house built in 1552! Sally and Carl Gable’s story of buying Villa Cornaro is fascinating and, by the way Sally tells it, very funny. Palladian Days is a great combination of historical facts about the region, the architect, the owners of the house as well as modern day Italian ways. Everything from fixing the villa to opening it for tours, recitals and concerts is covered. Gable includes Italian recipes, hilarious stories of the many, many visitors, the 15 minutes of fame when Villa Cornaro was featured on a Bob Vila show.
As an aside, I borrowed both the audio version and the print version. I recommend doing both because you will miss out on something if you do only one. Kathe Mazur’s reading of Palladian Days is brilliant. I loved her accent. But, the book version includes great photographs that really bring the entire villa into perspective (it really is massive!). And don’t forget about those recipes!

Reason read: So. There is this food fight festival called the Battle of Oranges that takes place in Italy every February. Something I would love to see one of these days.

Author fact: Both Sally and her husband, Carl, have musical backgrounds.

Book trivia: Even though this was delightful as an audio book, it is better read in print. Gable includes a bunch of recipes in the appendix that are not to be missed!

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the odd chapter called “So We/I Bought (Or Built) a House In…” (p 211).

February Love List

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Love is in the air. Technically, this February I celebrate my fifteenth Valentine’s Day with Kisa. (15 being in the pre-wife role and I believe, even pre-girlfriend role.) He won’t agree. He thinks we were dating by this time but I call it the anniversary of MY acceptance. I truly gave in to the idea of a decent guy being in my life. For real. February also marks the anniversary of me, myself & moi being on this planet for forty some odd years. But, enough of all that. Here’s the list for month three of a different anniversary, one with a lot of books. New this time around is the addition of the month in which each book should be read:

  1. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin* (April)
  2. Andorra by Peter Cameron (November)
  3. Any Four Women Can Rob the Bank of Italy by Ann Cornelisen (November)
  4. Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler (July)
  5. Art Student’s War by Brad Leithauser (May)
  6. Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman (September)
  7. Beaufort by Ron Leshem* (November)
  8. Beirut Blues by Hanan al-Shaykh (August)
  9. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks* (June)
  10. Black Lamb and Gray Falcon by Rebecca West (July)
  11. Bluebird Canyon by Dan McCall (September)
  12. Cabin Fever by Elizabeth Jolley (March)
  13. Call It Sleep by Henry Roth (May)
  14. Captain Sir Richard Burton by Edward Rice (October)
  15. Caroline’s Daughters by Alice Adams (August)
  16. Cradle of Gold by Christopher Heaney (November)
  17. Culture of Disbelief by Stephen Carter (October)
  18. Dancer with Bruised Knees by Lynne McFall (June)
  19. Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes (July)
  20. Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan* (March)
  21. Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler (June)
  22. Eye of the World by Robert Jordan* (October)
  23. Faith Fox by Jane Gardam* (July)
  24. First Man by Albert Camus (June)
  25. Fordlandia by Greg Gandin (August)
  26. Georges’ Wife by Elizabeth Jolley (April)
  27. Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee (August)
  28. Grass Dancer by Susan Power (November)
  29. Hall of a Thousand Columns by Tim Mackintosh-Smith (July)
  30. History Man by Malcolm Bradbury (September)
  31. House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (April)
  32. Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman (March)
  33. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman (October)
  34. Inside Passage by Michael Modselewski (June)
  35. Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg by H.R.F. Keating (May)
  36. Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott* (May)
  37. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges (August)
  38. Long Way From Home by Frederick Busch (August)
  39. Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan (May)
  40. Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy (March)
  41. Raw Silk by Janet Burroway (September)
  42. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro* (August)
  43. Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell (April)
  44. Rose of Martinique by Andrea Stuart (June)
  45. Thousand Ways to Please a Husband by Weaver/LeCron (September)
  46. Winners and Losers by Martin Quigley (April)
  47. You Get What You Pay For by Larry Beinhart (November)

*Planned as audio books

Here are the six books that are on the list for this February:

  1. ADDED: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow*
  2. Careless Love by Peter Gurlink
  3. Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  4. Men of Men by Wilbur Smith
  5. Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
  6. Palladian Days by Sally Gable*

FINISHED:

  1. After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat
  2. ADDED: Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
  3. Benjamin Franklin: an American Life by Walter Isaacson
  4. Bring Me a Unicorn by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  5. Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
  6. Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder
  7. Falcon Flies by Wilbur Smith*
  8. Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
  9. It Looked Like Forever by Mark Harris
  10. Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralink
  11. Now Read This II by Nancy Pearl
  12. Professor and the Housekeeper by Yoko Ogawa
  13. Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff

Benjamin Franklin

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Isaacson, Walter. Benjamin Franklin: an American Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.

“Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winked at us” (p 2). What a great way to start a biography about a man whose life is such common knowledge you don’t feel like you could read yet another one and get anything new out of it. It is Isaacson’s writing style that sets him apart from all the other biographies. From the very beginning, Isaacson draws you into Franklin’s world with such ease and humor. His style of writing is charming and winsome in a myriad of ways, but I liked that he used such words as “sassy” and “spunky” to describe people. A lot of Isaacson’s information is drawn from Franklin’s own words, either from his autobiography (even correcting Mr. Franklin from time to time) or from Franklin’s personal letters. I particularly enjoyed Franklin’s tongue in cheek research about the smell of farts correlating to the type of food one eats. But, Isaacson’s playful account doesn’t mean he refrains from personal critical opinion about our founding father’s actions, especially concerning Franklin’s treatment of his immediate family. He defends Franklin as much as he can concerning the relationships Franklin has with women other than his wife, claiming they were mostly nonsexual. However, Isaacson has sympathy for Franklin’s family who spend nearly two decades without him. In addition to Franklin’s personal life, Isaacson also is extremely thorough in detailing Franklin’s civic contributions, political dealings and public life.

As an aside, Benjamin Franklin has always been one of my favorite historical figures. Why? Because in his early years he was a vegetarian in order to save money for books. Sounds like something I would do. He was also thought to be an insomniac.

Reason read: Benjamin Franklin was born in the month of January. Plain and simple.

Book trivia: Benjamin Franklin: an American Life includes a smattering of illustrations, including an unfinished painting by Benjamin West.

Author fact: Isaacson is also the co-author of The Wise Men. Another book on my list I can’t wait to read.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Founding Fathers” (p 91). Duh.

Artist of the Floating World

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Ishiguro, Kazuo. An Artist of the Floating World. New York: Vintage International, 1986.

This is story about a change in cultural attitudes. After World War II many things are different for artist Masuji Ono. At the very simplest, his grandson idolizes the Lone Ranger and Godzilla instead of ancient emperors. At the most complicated, Masuji’s art is not received as it once was. His war efforts are not as admirable and are now making it difficult for his youngest daughter, nearly a spinster at twenty-six, to get married. Ono does what he can to eliminate “bad interviews” when the detectives investigate the family. But, as one former acquaintance remarks, “I realize there are not those who would condemn the likes of you and me for the very things we were once proud to have achieved” (p 94). Ono’s past is a heavy threat to the happiness of his daughter’s future. Throughout the story there is the theme of bondage. The conversations are retrained. The delicate relationships are bound by decorum.

As an aside: is it customary in the Japanese culture for people to repeat themselves so often? Complete sentences are uttered time and time again.

Reason read: On the second Monday in January there is a Japanese holiday to honor the tradition of coming of age. Since An Artist of the Floating World takes place in Japan….

Author fact: Ishiguro is better known for his book Remains of the Day which is also on my list to read.

Book trivia: An Artist of the Floating World won the Whitbread book of the Year Award in 1986.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Japanese Journeys” (p 116). Simple enough.

Last Train to Memphis

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Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis: the Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.

When Guralnick calls Elvis a “myth” is he referring to the unfolding of events that created rock and roll, or is he implying Elvis had an unverifiable existence? Was Elvis a false notion? I’m not really sure. What I am sure about is Guralnick’s ability to tease apart the smaller pieces of Elvis Aron Presley’s early life; the moments that led up to his stardom. There is certainly enough emphasis on Elvis’s shy and polite and humble beginnings as a sheltered country & western wannabe who couldn’t play the guitar worth beans. There is also emphasis on the key people surrounding Elvis during his rise to fame. It is obvious as Elvis’ stardom rose, the less he was able to discern who was trustworthy. He needed an entourage and he struggled with identity, but a growing confidence led him to expect adoration and special treatment, especially when it came to cars and women. I appreciated the historical context of the songs Elvis made famous, especially since someone else wrote them and almost always sang them first. Everyone knows Elvis made ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ famous, but few recognize the true origins of the song. I also appreciated the emphasis placed on Elvis’ connection to family. Elvis may have had a taste of reality when he had to enter the military, but he had to swallow it whole when his mother died. The event changed his life. This is where Last Train to Memphis ends. The sequel, Careless Love picks up the biography.
Last Train to Memphis includes photographs (as it should), but that’s not the cool part. The cool part is that the photos are not clumped together in the middle of the book like most biographies, but rather they begin each chapter like a little surprise.

As an aside, I found it interesting that in the author’s note, Guralnick mentions more than once that he felt he needed to “rescue” Elvis.

Reason read: Elvis was born in January. Need I say more?

Author fact: This is silly. I have been misspelling Peter’s last name for the longest time. I have been leaving out the N. It’s GuralNick.

Book trivia: Last Train to Memphis covers the years of 1935 – 1958. Careless Love continues where Last Train leaves off.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Elvis On My Mind” (p 76).

Bring Me a Unicorn

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Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Bring Me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922 – 1928. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972.

Bring Me a Unicorn is the first in a series of autobiographies by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. It covers her life from 1922 to 1928. I have to say Anne’s writing is delightful. I admire how brutally honest she is with herself. Her letters home are typical of any college kid, “sorry this is so rushed…I have been frightfully busy!” She is also typical in her growing interest in Colonel Lindbergh. She feels she is not in his league but mentions him more and more in her diary entries. You could see her attraction grow until she finally admits that she loves him. The photographs are great. They represent (visually) what was happening in Anne’s world at that present time.

Quotes from Anne I liked (letters): “You’re popular, clever, pretty, attractive, capable, and will be a big bug!” (p 5) Sent to her sister. I have no idea what “big bug” means. Here’s one from her diary: “A heavenly day: no deck tennis, no unnecessary people, no bores” (p 31).
The quote I could relate to the most: “Why is it that you can sometimes feel the reality of people more keenly through a letter than face to face?” Exactly. I feel that way, too.

Reason read: January is Journal month. Maybe it’s the New Year’s Resolution thing, but people start more journals in January than any other month.

Author fact: Anne was fearless. Although it wasn’t very ladylike she had an interest in aviation even before marrying Lindbergh.

Book trivia: Bring Me a Unicorn is the first part of Lindbergh’s autobiography. Hour of Gold, hour of Lead is the second.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Journals and Letters: We Are All Voyeurs At Heart” (p 131).

Feast of Love

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Baxter, Charles. Feast of Love. New York: Vintage Books, 2000.

This is a really clever story. Charlie Baxter (the character…or the author?) wakes from a bad dream and, like any real insomniac, chooses to walk it off. His 1am stroll leads him to a bench where he finds his neighbor, also wide awake. The two start a conversation about relationships and Charlie’s neighbor urges him to write about “real” people in “real” relationships, starting with his own twice-divorced life. From there, we are introduced to a myriad of characters. The theme throughout is love, love, love. Love of all shapes, sizes, complexities, and intricacies are on display. It is though a curtain has been drawn back and we are allowed to view the more intimate ups and downs of a relationship, for better or for worse.
As an aside, I was talking to a friend about this book and he didn’t like it because he felt the details of the relationships were too personal to be put on display like that. In some respect I agree with him. But, I think we were both drawn into the mystery of exactly who was telling the story, because I think that makes a difference. If it purely fiction it is not too personal, but. But! But, something changes when it is someone telling their story outright.

Lines I liked: “The moon, it seems, is not singing at all” (p 5), “Every relationship has at least one really good day” (p 17), “I kept reaching for his heart and finding nothing there to hold on to” (p 31),

Reason read: Michigan became a state in January and Feast of Love takes place in Michigan.

Author fact: Charles Baxter has his own website here. The schedule for readings hasn’t been updated since 2012 and I was tempted to ask why on the Q & A page…but I didn’t.

Book trivia: Feast of Love was a National Book Award Finalist. It was also a New York Times Notable Book.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Big Ten Country: The Literary Midwest (Michigan)” (p 26).

After the Dance

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Danticat, Edwidge. After the Dance: a Walk Through Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti. New York: Crown Publishers, 2002.

The premise for After the Dance is really quite simple. Danticat, despite growing up in Haiti, has never been to Carnival. Being one of the largest cultural events that defines the island, this seems impossible to imagine. But, the explanation is just as simple. While growing up, Danticat’s uncle convinced her Satan was at work during Carnival. To avoid the voodoo and zombies every year this uncle made his family leave town for the week to work on a relative’s farm. As an obvious result Danitcat grew up afraid of Carnival. After the Dance is her response to that fear, faced head on. She researches the symbolism and history behind it, but curiously enough, she doesn’t describe the actual event until the last 20 or so pages of the book. It isn’t until the very end (page 147) that she gives in to the emotion and describes what she feels. I have to admit, the result is anticlimactic. She eventually loses herself in the joy of Carnival but that joy is understated like a passing flicker of interest.

Quotes I liked, “There is a saying here: houses don’t have owners, only cemeteries do” (p 27).

Reasons I like Edwidge Danticat: “I have always enjoyed cemeteries” (p 25).

Reason read: January is Journal Month. It is also the anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010. It is also when Carnival traditionally takes place (the first Sunday in January).

Author fact: Danticat moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was twelve but never forgot her roots.

Book trivia:  This is a short read – only 158 pages. It would have been great to have photographs to supplement the text.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Cavorting Through the Caribbean: Haiti” (p 55).

Advanced Tattoo Art

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Mitchel, Doug. Advanced (Revised) Tattoo Art: How-to Secrets from the Masters. Stillwater, MN: Wolfgang Publications, 2013.

Originally published in 2006 to mediocre reviews on Amazon, this is Mitchel’s “take two” on Advanced Tattoo Art. I’m not sure this one is much better. The front covers boasts secrets such as how to find and size the art, proper skin prep, use of a stencil, blending colors, and more. However, the “manual” isn’t indexed so if you are interested in learning about only one of these techniques, it would be a scavenger hunt to find it. Take “proper skin prep” for example. I *think* I found the secret to proper skin prep on page 155 where the skin is wiped down with an unnamed sanitizing solution and shaved. No big secret there since every tattoo artist should sanitize the area and shave it clean. Since I am not a tattoo artist, I don’t know how informative this “how-to” really is. The photography is okay and the art displayed is alright. Nothing jumps out as being particularly fantastic or eye-catching. The best feature of the book is each bio on the artist. Giving them a piece of the spotlight was really clever. It gave them an opportunity to share their secret, why they got into tattooing in the first place.

Reason read: chosen as an early review book for librarything….