Tag: Fiction

The Dollmaker

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Arnow, Harriette. The Dollmaker. New York: Avon, 1972.

Weighing in at 599 pages this book truly can be called a saga. It’s the story of Gertie Nevens, a simple country woman from Kentucky during World War II. After her husband moves to Detroit, Michigan to find work in the factories, Gertie follows with her five children. Life in the city is cold, dirty, and unkind. Gertie learns of prejudices against “hillbillies” and the importance of the word “adjust”. There is tragedy and triumph with human frailty constantly hanging in the balance. At times I couldn’t believe the hard times Gertie and her family faced. It almost seemed too much to bear. Gertie’s strongest moments are in the very beginning of the book when she has to save her baby from a life threatening illness. After moving from Kentucky it’s as if the city steals Gertie’s strength and spirit.

“…for after the bright whiteness of the hot little room, the cold rain and dark were like old friends” (p 38).
The government owed them at least one man who could fix anything and never got drunk” (p 108).
“‘Are you busy?…Yes and no…I’m in the worst kind of business – tryen to make up my mind'” (p 260).
“She stood, her mind, as always, stumbling around, picking up words, laying them down” (p 538).

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust and the chapter “Big Ten Country: The Literary Midwest” & the section ‘Michigan’ (p 26).

Funnies (with spoiler)

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funniesLennon, J. Robert. The Funnies. New York: Riverhead, 1999.

Tim Mix’s father wrote a comic strip based on his family. Growing up, this comic strip was a source of embarrassment to Tim. Yet, when his father passes away and Tim’s only inheritance is the very comic strip he hated, he decides to try his hand at taking over the strip. Tim is a sarcastic, barely ambitious man who is terrible at conversation, worse at relationships both personal and with his family. This is a formula that always works – the unlikable, unlikely hero goes through a metamorphosis and comes out a pretty decent guy. In the end he doesn’t succeed with the funnies, but he gets the girl.

“This time the pause was longer, a nice slack length of rose to hang the conversation with” (p 52).
“I pushed gently at the sore spot in me and it hurt enough for me to turn away as I talked” (p 132).”
“Susan offered me a bite of her corn dog. I refused, still queasy from the Centrifuge of Death, but didn’t tell her this, and I feared that this rebuff without explanation would give offense. Then I came to my senses and simply let it go. It was a wonderful feeling, like dropping off a box at the Goodwill” (p 155).
And my favorite quote, “I let happiness run its course through me, knowing that it wouldn’t last, but also knowing it would always be there somewhere waiting for me, if I made the effort to find it. This understanding seemed an almost criminally excessive piece of good fortune, but for the time being I accepted it without question” (p 274). For some reason this reminded me of me.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust twice. Once in the chapter called “Brothers and Sisters” (p 46), and “Families in Trouble” (p83).

Thousand Acres

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Smiley, Jane. A Thousand Acres. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1991.

I’ll admit it. It took me forever to even want to read this book even though it has been sitting on my book shelf for months, right within easy reach. I tried picking up Moo a few times and something made me keep putting it down. I have no clue why. I assumed A Thousand Acres would be the same difficult to pick up experience. I was wrong. Once I got into it, Thousand Acres was fascinating, troubling and oh so true to family life. I’ve never lived on a farm. I’ve never set foot in Iowa, but thanks to Smiley I knew exactly what both would be like.
One thing I didn’t understand, nor will I ever, is how a family can so completely and utterly fall apart. By the end of the book not one family is intact and it’s all because of a thousand acres.

“You shouldn’t think somethings changed just because you haven’t seen it in thirteen years” (p 11).
“It was exhausting just to hold ourselves at the table… You felt a palpable sense of relief when you gave up and let yourself fall away from the table and wound up in the kitchen getting something, or in the bathroom running the water and splashing it on your face” (p 101).

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust and the chapter called “Big Ten Country: The Literary Midwest (Iowa)” (p 27) and Book Lust in the chapter “Growing Writers” (p 107). Personally, I think Pearl also could have put this in her “Families in Trouble” chapter. Not to give anything away but…who tries to poison her own sister? Who does that?

Beyond the Black Stump

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Shute, Nevil. Beyond the Black Stump. New York: William Morrow, 1956.

Nancy Pearl likes Nevil Shute. There is a whole chapter on him in More Book Lust. This being my first “Shute book” I was enchanted. Beyond the Black Stump is about an American geologist, Stanton Laird, who is assigned to dig for oil in Australia. Stanton is a stand-up guy with a secret in his past, but when he meets and falls in love with Mollie Regan in the Australian outback, he realizes can’t compete with her past. This is the story of two people too different to make it work. It goes beyond race or religion. Prejudices and historical resentments run deep for both families. Despite the plot being predictable I enjoyed getting to the conclusion no matter how obvious it would be.

“It’s the greed for the gold, the curse of the modern age. Avarice kills more men than any physical disease, I am afraid. These men will not make old bones” (p 136).

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust and the chapter “Nevil Shute: Too Good To Miss” (p 199).

Always Outnumbered

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Mosley, Walter. Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998.

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned is like looking at snapshots of one man’s existence. Each chapter is a different time in Socrates Fortlow’s life, a different picture. His past, his friends, and his skewed sense of morality are the common threads in each scene. Socrates is a man, free after 28 years in prison, trying to make his way in Los Angeles, California. The violent streak that landed him in the penitentiary is still prominent in his personality. He is an angel and a devil all in one. A saint with a dark side. A demon with a halo. My favorite example of this split personality is when a friend’s wife comes looking for her husband at Socrates’s door. While telling Corrine she should leave her no-good husband (and be with Socrates) that same no-good husband is hiding out in Socrates’s back room.

Some of my favorite quotes describing Socrates:
“Back then he enjoyed the company of fear” (p 19).
“He wasn’t a thief. Or, if he was, the only thing he ever took was life” (p 64).

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust and the chapter “Walter Mosley: Too Good To miss” (p 169). Happy Birthday Mr. Mosley!

The Book Lover’s Cookbook

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Wenger, Shaundra Kennedy and Janet Kay Jensen. The Book Lover’s Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Celebrated Works of Literature, and the Passages That Feature Them. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003.

I grazed on this book a while ago. The hardcover (borrowed) version sat on my desk for a few days and every so often I would pick it up, skim the pages, eye the recipes, until it was time to send it back. I couldn’t get into it because I was truly afraid I would mark up a book that wasn’t mine. I have that habit with cookbooks – writing in them. So, I sent it back, barely digested.
Fast forward to last year. Book Lover’s Cookbook was on The List. I was thinking I could call it accomplished until I remembered how I didn’t devour it.
Skip to this Christmas. My sister and brother-in-law gave me the softcover version and suddenly, I’m not only devouring the book I’m dedicated to cooking every recipe, reading every book mentioned. This version is mine, mine, mine and I can write in it all I want.

What is so special about this book is that it includes a variety of books and are not all standard Oprah favorites. There are classics, stories for children, chick lit, murder mysteries, nonfiction, and even poetry. Same goes for the dishes – they aren’t all typical recipes. There is something for everyone.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter “Dewey Deconstructed” (in the 600s, p72).

Fer-De-Lance

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Stout, Rex. Fer-De-Lance. Pennsylvania: Franklin Library, 1934.When I saw this book arrive in the library van box for me I got very excited about the cover alone. It’s beautiful! I didn’t even know it was my requested book, just that it had a gorgeous cover. How’s that for judging a book by its cover? I have heard so much about Rex Stout and his Nero Wolfe mysteries but had never read one before now. I have to admit, I didn’t really care for the character of Mr. Wolfe. He seems to spend a lot of time bossing other people around while being very, very particular about his own activities. The story is actually told from the point of view of his assistant, Archie Goodwin, who seems to do all the legwork work solving mysteries since Wolfe never leaves home.

So, the plot to Fer-De-Lance is this: a man is found murdered. Clues in his room lead to the death of someone else. Ultimately, it’s the solving of the second death that leads to the truth of the first death. It’s a fun story. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
“I made some sort of conversation so O’Grady’s ears wouldn’t be disappointed” (p 39).
“Maybe your salary is the only rope that holds Saturday and Sunday together for you” (p 48).
“It is always wiser, where there is a choice, to trust inertia. It is the greatest force in the world” (p 190).
“A genius may discover the hidden secrets and display them, only a god could create new ones” (p 246).

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust and the chapter “Rex Stout: Too Good To Miss”

24 hours

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Iles, Greg. 24 Hours. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000.

A kidnapping mystery set in Mississippi…sort of an odd read for the holiday season, but December is the month Mississippi became a state.
Here’s the storyline: Basically, this guy, Joe, has set up the perfect kidnapping scheme. He targets a doctor who has a spouse and child, learns all he can about the doctor’s family and then while the doc is at an annual convention he kidnaps his/her child. His cousin (a hulking man with the IQ of a chipmunk) holds the child in a remote location while his “wife” entertains the male parent and Joe entertains the female parent for 24 hours. They call each other every 30 minutes and if a call is missed Cousin Chipmunk kills the kid. In the AM one parent wires the ransom to the other parent so the kidnapper doesn’t have any connection to the withdrawal. The money is always an amount the doctor can afford and the kidnapping always works because the child is worth more than getting the money back or calling the police. The detail that makes the whole thing work are the every 30 minutes phone calls. Everything hinges on those calls and the convention – because the convention is the guarantee the doctor will be separated from the rest of the family for at least 24 hours.
Despite the brilliant plot I have two problems with detail. In the beginning both parents are told their family has been scrutinized and studied in great detail. The kidnappers claim to know everything about the family. If that is true then why did they not know their latest kidnapping victim was diabetic? If they knew everything how did they miss such a large piece of a child’s life? The second problem with detail is on page 164 – one of the kidnappers says “You have to chill, Will!” and is delighted by the rhyme of the doctor’s name, yet two pages later Iles writes, “Why don’t you at least face the truth about something, Will.” It was the first time she [the kidnapper] had used his Christian name” (p 166). No, actually it wasn’t. She told Will to chill two pages earlier. Ugh.
All in all, this moved fast and was a constant page turner. Every time I had to put it down I was at “the good part” and hated to stop reading. The end is a little over-the-top dramatic and there are loose ends, but well worth the read.

BookLust Twist: In More Book Lust in the “Southern Fried Fiction (Mississippi)” chapter (p 208).

Age of Grief

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Smiley, Jane. The Age of Grief. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1987.

A collection of short stories. Instead of summarizing them I have decided to quote my favorite lines instead because there was one from every story.

  • Pleasure of her company~ “I felt like your child or your sister or something”    (p 25).
  • Lily~ “Love was like an activity, you had to put in the hours” (p 33).
  • Jeffrey, Believe Me~ “Who can tell the lifelong effect of a cacophonous conception” (p 60), and “you would indeed be spending the night but in a near coma” (p 64).
  • Long Distance~ “Can a melancholy sound have a quality of desperation?” (p 71)
  • Dynamite~ “When they would ask me, I was fine, too, but I had the excuse of making bombs, something, I told myself, they didn’t want to know (p 96).
  • And finally, the novella, The Age of Grief~ I couldn’t find one or two quotesI liked best -too many to mention so I won’t mention at all; and I can’t tell you what I think of this final story. A dentist and his wife (also a dentist) go through the ups and downs of marriage & parenting. It’s haunting because I can’t imagine this kind of grief.

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

The Body is Water

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Schumacher, Julie. The Body is Water. New York: SoHo, 1995.

I love it when reading fits the day. I don’t know how to describe it other than the perfect marriage between a book and time. It was snowing, sleeting, windy and freezing cold. Every so often a gust of wind would send pellets of freezing rain drumming against the windows, yet the Christmas tree glowed softly, the cat purred at my feet, a balsam candle burned bright, a fleece blanket was thrown over my lap, a cup of tea at my elbow and I was content. If I could ignore the wind, all was quiet, all was still; the perfect time to lose myself in The Body is Water.
I’m still reading December picks and The Body is Water celebrates the month New Jersey became a state, oddly enough. It’s also the story of single and pregnant Jane, and her return to her New Jersey shore childhood home. In one sitting I read 184 of the 262 pages.

“All my life I’ve never been certain of where I should be” (p 20).
“In a crisis, other families probably rush to hold the ailing person’s hand; our family rushes to the general vicinity of the crisis and putters around, hoping the patient will spontaneously recover on her own” (p 61).
“No matter where I lived, I never knew my way around; there was no ocean, no rushing noise of a heartbeat from the east” (p 230).
“I start to cry, remembering the days before my mother died, before Bee slept in another room. That was when we loved each other best and didn’t know it” (p 262).

I ended this book sobbing. I connected with Jane even though she was the younger sister (Bee was four years older); even though Jane lost a mother and I lost a father; even though she became a mother and I remain sans motherhood. I connected through the simple loss of a parent, the soothing sound of the ocean, and the complex closeness of sisters.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lustin the chapter called “Jersey Guys and Gals” (p 129). This also could have been mentioned in chapter called “Maiden Voyages” (p 158) because this was Schmacher’s first novel.

Little Porcupine’s Christmas

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Slate, Joseph. Little Porcupine’s Christmas. New York: Harper, 1982.

Cute. Cute. Cute! Felicia Bond illustrates this story and, for those of you who don’t know, Felicia Bond is the illustrator for another favorite of mine, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. This isn’t about a mouse. This time it’s a porcupine who can’t be in the school play because of his sharp and pointy quills. It’s a typical story about how cruel “kids” can be towards an outsider, But, but, but, in the end Little Pocupine prevails and proves his worth. The adult in me hates stories like this because the other animals are never corrected when they say “you’re too — to participate. You don’t belong,” all because he is different. I worry (too much) that kids reading the story will learn that it’s okay to push someone outside the popular circle because that someone is different. I’ve been there and it isn’t fun. But, that’s the stoic, always serious adult talking. Take the book at face value and it’s a cute story about someone who is unique finding his niche and belonging after all.
Note: This story is also called How Little Porcupine Played Christmas.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter “Christmas Books for the Whole Family to Read” (p 56). Pearl calls Little Porcupine “heartwarming.”

Miracle

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Willis, Connie. Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. New York: Bantam, 2000.

A collection of short stories centered around Christmas.
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  • Miracle ~ Lauren reminds me of me. She’s well-meaning yet corner cutting when it comes to Christmas. Her cards go out on time and she buys gifts for everyone in the office yet something is missing. Enter Spirit of Christmas Present, a environmentally exuberant specter sent to show Lauren the real meaning of Christmas.
  • Inn ~This is an odd little story about a woman who, while in choir practice for her church pageant, discovers a homeless couple who turn out to be Joseph and Mary. That Joseph and Mary, lost on their way to Bethlehem.
  • In Coppelius’s Toyshop ~ This is one of my favorites. It’s so reminiscent of Will from About a Boy lost in a crazy, confusing, chaotic toystore. Throughout the whole thing I could imagine rows and rows and floors and floors of toys, games, puzzles, colors, lights, noises, and the sounds of children everywhere.
  • Pony~ Moral of the story: it is never too late to get the ultimate present of your dreams…even if you no longer want it.
  • Adaptation ~ An interesting twist on A Christmas Carol. A divorced father wants nothing more than to give his daughter the ultimate Christmas but work and his exwife have other plans.
  • Cat’s Paw ~ A famous detective has been sent to solve a mystery on Christmas Eve. A weird tale involving monkeys and murder. “We are all capable of murder. It’s in our genes” (p 208).
  • Newsletter ~ Has the world been taking over by a parasite that causes goodness and peace of earth? How can we take humanity that’s just a little more…well…human? Turns out, we can’t.
  • Epiphany ~ Another twist on a classic tale. Mel is convinced he has had an epiphany about the Second Coming. He gets a friend and a stranger involved in his travels and suddenly they are the three wise “men.” It’s funny.
  • A Final Word~

    • BookLust Twist: From Book Lust  in the chapter “Connie Willis: Too Good To Miss” (p 248).

    Boy’s Life

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    McCammon, Robert. Boy’s Life. New York: Pocket Star, 1991.

    I would almost venture to say there is almost too much adventure in this book. More stuff happens to CoreyMackenson in his life, in his boyhood life, than I can begin to explain. There is magic and imagination on nearly every page. Corey is an all-around good kid but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his share of trouble at school, confrontations with bullies and disagreements with his parents. All normal stuff until you add the mystery of a dead man, the mob, a dog that won’t die, a eye-blinking bike, a run-in with Nazis, kidnapping, a prostitute, the klu klux klan, several monsters and more mayhem. 

    I love a book that has almost every page flagged for a good line; a line I wish I had written, or one that made me think. Here are a few of my favorite lines from early in Boy’s Life:
    “You realize that every person in the world is a compromise of nature” (p 9).
    “Maybe crazy is what they call anyone who’s got magic inside them after they’re no longer a child” (p 10).
    “Oh, I knew what the word meant and all, but its casual use from a pretty mouth shocked the fool out of me” (p 20).
    “There are horrors that burst the bounds of screen and page, and come home all twisted up and grinning behind the face of somebody you love” (p 50).
    “I had never seen a black Jesus before, and this sight both knocked me for a loop and opened up a space in my mind that I’d never known needed light” (p 120).

    BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust and the section on Alabama in “Southern Fried Fiction” (p 207).

    Polar Express

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    polar expressVan Allsburg, Chris. The Polar Express. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985.

    Is it any wonder that The Polar Express won a Caldecott award? Is it any wonder that Hollywood made a movie out of it? This is a gorgeous book for adults as well as children. It’s fantastic to read aloud to a child because not only is are the pictures spectacular, but the storyline is wonderful, too. See, I can’t say enough nice things about this book!
    It’s simply the story of a boy who takes a trip by train to visit Santa at the North Pole. He is given a special gift that proves his belief in all things Christmas – the elves, the gifts, the reindeer, the North Pole, and of course, Santa Claus himself. This book was such a treat that I now want to go see the movie!

    “We climbed mountains so high it seemed as if we would scrape the moon” (p 9) and “Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe” (p 29) are my favorite lines.

    BookLust Twist: From Book Lust  and the chapter on “Christmas Books for the Whole Family to Read” (p 55).

    Appointment in Samarra

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    appointment in samarraO’Hara John. Appointment in Samarra. New York: Vintage, 2003.

    In honor of Pennsylvania becoming a state in the month of December Appointment in Samarra was my first novel pick. I was excited to see the introduction was written by John Updike. He is another author I have enjoyed over the years. Set in the 1930’s with a keen eye on society, O’Hara tells the story of Caroline & Julian English and their how their elite status is washed away with alcohol and attitude. In an instance the English couple go from being the toast of the town to the talk of trash.

    “I love you more than a tongue can tell” (p 63).
    “…their position in Gibbsville was just that certain and insecure…” (p 83).
    “…she was too conscious of looking like the wrath of God to enjoy any of it” (p 121).
    “The worst of that drive was that the sun glare on the snow made you smile before you were ready” (p 200).

    As an aside: I don’t remember where I was when I learned that the Lenape Indians believed the turtle was the center of the universe. To this day, it remains the only thing I know about this particular tribe. It was interesting to see O’Hara mention the tribe in his historical ancestry of the English family.

    BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter “Big Ten Country: The Literary Midwest (Pennsylvania)” (p 30).