Tag: january

Greater Nowheres

gr4c5Leave a comment

Finkelstein, Dave and Jack London. Greater Nowheres: a Journey Through the Australian Bush.New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988.

The premise of Greater Nowheres is simple. Dave Finkelstein and Jack London are on the hunt for a mythical yet terrifying and elusive crocodile in the Australian bush. Despite their lackadaisical searching Finkelstein and London never really meet up with the famed creature (sorry to disappoint – Jack sees it but Dave doesn’t). Instead, Greater Nowheres becomes an eye opening account of a region in Western and Northern Australia few have traveled just for the fun of it. Finkelstein and London take turns writing chapters about their adventures and it is interesting to see their differing styles on the page (London is much more descriptive, in case you were wondering). One thing they both comment on is the inhospitable climate of the Australian Bush, a place where temperatures can soar and stay elevated (above 100 degrees) even at 10 o’clock at night. There are two seasons – the Wet and the Dry and both wreak havoc on travelers and residents alike. After awhile you sense a pattern, every place Jack and Dave visit is desolate but fiercely loved by the people who call it home.

As an aside, before I started reading Greater Nowheres I wondered if London’s drinking would play a part in the story. Neither Finkelstein or London shy away from mentioning London’s love of drink, even while in the arid deserts of the outback. Jack makes reference to his hangovers and the local pub being the only place he did his best verbal sparring.

Quotes that stuck with me, “Once again small athletes had come up short, but such narrow mindedness may soon be a prejudice of the past, at least in Australia, where the rapidly proliferating sport of dwarf-throwing is winning fans and enthusiastic devotees” (p 143), “To refer to Wyndham as a dead end is to make it sound a more appealing place than it actually is” (p 172), “We passed through a town called Kumarina without even realizing it” (p 192),

Reason read: Jack London’s birth month is in January.

Author facts: Finkelstein once was a Chinese interpreter and London once was an English professor.

Book trivia: there are no photographs to speak of in Greater Nowheres. Just illustrated maps.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Australia, the Land of Oz” (p 28).

Shot in the Heart

gr4c5Leave a comment

Gilmore, Mikal. Shot in the Heart. New York: Doubleday, 1994.

Mikal Gilmore has an incredible story to tell. But, here’s what I can’t wrap my brain around – the fact that his story is about his own brother. True, they didn’t know each other very well due to their age differences growing up and the fact that Gary was always either behind bars or on the run. Mikal had to rely on an older brother’s memories to fill in the gaps.
Everyone knows the story of Gary Gilmore, thanks to Norman Mailer’s biography The Executioner’s Song (and subsequent made for television movie of the same name). Everyone has heard of the controversy surrounding Gary Gilmore’s time on death row. What makes Mikal’s account so different is his family bond. This is his history as much as it is his brother’s. Gary was born Faye Robert Coffman and from the very start his life was surrounded by rage. Mikal wraps this story inside the history of the bloody beginnings of Mormon Utah. It’s as if the Gilmore family was destined to fail. Gary’s fame aside, Shot in the Heart is worth reading for Mikal’s story. As I mentioned before, it is as much Mikal’s history as it is Gary’s. Spoiler alert: don’t expect a happy ending. Mikal doesn’t really tie up his own tale in a neat bow. I found myself asking, what now? Where is Mikal now? More importantly, is he happy? Has he escaped the profound destruction and despair that tortured and ruined the rest of his entire family?

There were many different passages I would have liked to quote, but I limited it to just these:
He would not stop fighting the battle that he knew he could never win” (126), “It was a time when most Americans hadn’t yet armed themselves in fear of the world outside” (p 137), and “There are so many sounds that make so little sense in the silences of a deep night” (p 179). That last one is probably my favorite.

Reason read: Gary Gilmore was (finally) put to death in the month of January.

Author fact: Gilmore wrote for Rolling Stone magazine. He even wrote a piece reviewing The Executioner’s Song.

Book trivia: Unlike other biographies that clump photographs together Shot in the Heart includes a photograph at the beginning of each chapter. They are black and white and intensely sad.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Dewey Deconstructed: 300s” (p 67).

Benjamin Franklin

gr4c5Leave a comment

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

gr4c5Leave a comment

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

gr4c5Leave a comment

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

gr4c5Leave a comment

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

gr4c5Leave a comment

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

gr4c5Leave a comment

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).

City of Thieves

gr4c5Leave a comment

Benioff, David. City of Thieves. Read by Ron Perlman. New York: Penguin Audio, 2009

Leningrad, 1942. Lev Beniof is arrested for being out after curfew and caught in the act of robbing the dead body of a German paratrooper. The penalty for such crimes is death. Awaiting his fate Lev meets fellow prisoner and alleged Red Army deserter, Kolya Vlasov. Lev and Kolya couldn’t be more mismatched. Lev is a quiet and unassuming insomniac Russian Jew, only 17 and still an insecure, awkward virgin. Kolya a 20 year old smooth (never shuts up) talker, exceedingly well read and charming. Instead of being executed as expected together they are tasked with finding a dozen eggs for Colonel Grechko’s daughter’s wedding cake. Finding these eggs in starved Leningrad is absurd but it is also a matter of life and death.
The horrors or war and the harsh realities of deprivation are an interesting juxtaposition against the sometimes comical relationship of Lev and Kolya. Their growing friendship reminds me of Gene and Phineas from John Knowles’s A Separate Peace. While the two endure the bitter cold, starvation and the threat of the German enemy their journey is tempered with Kolya’s humorous blatherings about jokes, literature and sex. The ending is predictable but stays with you long after you close the book.

Reason read: January was Russia’s coldest month on record. Read in honor of that.

Author fact: According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia Benioff took his mother’s maiden name but was born Friedman.

Book trivia: There is a rumor floating around that this will be made into a movie.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Saint Petersburg/Leningrad/Saint Petersburg” (p 195). Interestingly enough, plays up the “historical fiction” hype. In the first chapter of City of Thieves Benioff insinuates the story is about his grandfather and that when his grandfather refused to be specific about some details he was told to “make it up.” None of that is true. It just makes for a more interesting story to think that it *could* have happened that way.

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

gr4c5Leave a comment

Smith, Alexander McCall. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Narrated by Lisette Lecat. New York: Recorded Books, 1998.

As soon as you meet Mma Precious Ramotswe you realize she is a force to be reckoned with. As Botswana’s first female detective she spends most of her time solving mysteries by using her intuition and her ability to read people. She is a good judge of character so while she isn’t always solving major crimes like murders, she is making individual lives better. Take the very first case for example, “The Daddy.” A man claiming to be a woman’s long lost father moves into her house and starts to take advantage of her generosity. The woman has reason to believe the man is an imposter and goes to Precious for help. Precious tells the man his “daughter” has been in a terrible accident and needs a blood transfusion. Only he can supply the blood needed…and that the procedure is highly dangerous so there is a good chance he will not survive. BUT, he will save his daughter! Precious knows a true father will lay down his own life for his only daughter while a perfect stranger will not. Sure enough, the imposter admits he is a fraud and is run out of town. The list of “mysteries” solved grows longer and as a result so does Mma Ramotswe’s reputation. She becomes the number one detective agency for Botswana. The types of mysteries Mma Ramotswe solves range from deadly serious (the disappearance of a young boy) to the downright silly (a father doesn’t want his young daughter seeing boys). Probably my favorite cases are the latter because the daughter pulls a fast one on both her father and Mma Ramotswe but I also liked the time when Mma Ramotswe has to steal back a stolen Mercedes Benz and return it to its rightful owner without anyone knowing how it all happened.

Reason read: January celebrates the female heroine of mysteries. This is the first book in a very long series. I will be reading five more.  I can’t wait to read some of the others.

Author fact: Alexander McCall Smith looks a little like John Cleese to me. I have no idea why.

Book trivia:  Interesting fact – I heard that HBO made a series out of the books. That’s cool. Now I wish I subscribed to HBO!

BookLust Twist: Nancy Pearl must love this book. It is mention in all three “Lust” books: Book Lust (in the huge chapter called “I Love a Mystery” (p 123)), More Book Lust (in the chapter called “Ms Mystery” (p 170)),and Book Lust To Go (in the chapter called simply “Botswana” (p 70)). I have to admit I agree. This was a great book!

Of Human Bondage

gr4c5Leave a comment

Maugham, William Somerset. Mr Maugham Himself: Of Human Bondage. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1954.

I have to give fair warning – this story is incredibly sad and slow. It is the story of club-footed orphan Philip Carey (whom you won’t like very much) from the time of his birth until he becomes a married man.  All of his life he he has been hindered by his deformity and maybe this is what makes him so nasty. You pity him at first and as a result probably one of the saddest scenes in the entire book is before Philip turns sour, when he is just a teenager. Philip is praying to God for a normal foot. He wants to run and play like all the other boys in preparatory school. He just wants to be normal. At school he had read passage in the Bible that led him to believe that if he just prayed long enough and honestly believed in God’s work he would be healed of his deformity. Of course that doesn’t come to fruition and he is bitterly devastated. Things turn from bad to worse when a so-called friend seeks the company of other boys. Philip’s plight (like the plot) plods along painfully. Philip eventually leaves school to live in Germany for a time. He then goes to Paris to study art. By this time we are used to his callous ways. I personally started to tire of his selfishness and indifference to the people around him. I ended up not caring what happened to him. This is where my reading ended. How sad is that?

Reason read: Honoring the fact Maugham was born in the month of January. Enough said.

Author fact: Maugham was supposed to be a doctor. Turns out he was a better writer.

Book trivia: Of Human Bondage was made into a movie starring Bette Davis (in 1934). Of course it was.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “100 Good Reads, Decade By Decade: 1910s” (p 176).

Tatiana

gr4c5Leave a comment

Jones, Dorothy. Tatiana. Fairbanks: Vanessapress, 2001.

Tatiana is an Aleut woman clinging to her ancestral truths in spite the while man’s emergence and the prevalence of modern medicine, technology and unfamiliar customs. This is first apparent when her husband needs surgery after a burst appendix. She is grateful for modern healthcare saving his life but is somewhat disappointed when the old remedies of her culture couldn’t do the same. This sociological shift is even more evident in the upbringing of her children. Her daughter’s mouth is washed out with soap for not speaking English in class; her son, home from a higher education school in Oregon, is bored with the tiny town life that used to thrill him. The divide even affects Tatiana personally when her aacha (friend with whom she has a special bond) Katya is baptized by the missionaries, marries a white man and is ruined by him. It is this relationship that is interlaced throughout Tatiana’s present day life. It is one of Tatiana’s deepest sorrows. But, nothing drives home the differences between Tatiana’s old way of life and the modern more than World War II. Evacuated to a southern Alaskan village Tatiana’s entire way of life is disrupted and turned upside down.

This was chock full of lines that I connected with immediately.  I can’t quote them all but here are a few: “His hands talk more than his mouth” (p 5), and “Some will stronger than mine soaked my soul in that fear” (p 7). Here is another, “Fear made me mean” (p 80). Does anyone else think of Yoda reading that?

There was only one moment in the book that disappointed me. On page 239, the day before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Tatiana says of her son’s soldier friend Lawrence, “I never did see Lawrence…again” and yet four months later, “Lawrence, Paulie’s soldier friend, rushed into the house. Must have been that other soldier friend named Lawrence.

Reason read: Alaska formally became a state in the month of January.

Author fact: Tatiana is Dorothy Jones’s first book.

Book trivia: Not many libraries have this book. In fact, no library in my immediate area of even my whole state had it. My copy was borrowed from Colorado. Thanks, ‘Rado! However, I have to add this small disappointment – my interlibrary loan came with lots of paperwork taped to the front with the strict words, “Do not remove.” I am dying to see the art work for the cover (by Sara Tabbert). I took a peek at Sara’s website and now I’m even more disappointed I can’t see the cover art. Maybe if I tear a little corner….

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Alaska” (p 17). There’s a no brainer!

Idle Days in Patagonia

gr4c5Leave a comment

Hudson, W. H. Idle Days in Patagonia. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. 1954.

In the very beginning Idle Days in Patagonia holds your attention. Hudson first grabs you with his narrow escape from drowning when the boat he was a passenger on went aground. Then after a trek through the dunes without food or water he arrives at an Englishman’s camp where he proceeds to shoot himself in the knee with a revolver. Then, if that wasn’t enough, while his companion goes to seek help he inadvertently cuddles up with a poisonous snake that has found its way into his sleeping bag. What’s even more astounding is that he is glad the Englishman isn’t there because he would have killed the “poor” creature! Because Hudson is an ornithologist he tends to go on and on about birds. Great if you are into that sort or thing. Not so much if you aren’t. Towards the end of Idle Days in Patagonia Hudson belabors certain subjects (I found his chapter on eyes to be rather dull) to the point of reader disinterest. All in all Idle Days in Patagonia was like a giant freight train that started off with a great deal of energy, but once the fuel source was depleted, rolled to a slow and painful stop.

Favorite passages, “To my mind there is nothing in life so delightful as that feeling of relief, of escape, and absolute freedom which one experiences in a vast solitude, where man has perhaps never been, and has, at any rate, left no trace of his existence” (p 7).

Reason read: December – January is the best time to visit Patagonia (I guess).

Author fact: If you have ever read The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway you know Hudson was mentioned.

BookLust twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called simply “Patagonia” (p 173).

Final Solution

gr4c5Leave a comment

Chabon, Michael. The Final Solution:a Story of Detection. Read by Michael York. New York: Harper Audio, 2004.

In a nutshell: a mute boy of nine or ten years old is discovered walking with a large gray parrot through the English countryside. When it is discovered the parrot speaks German (reciting poetry and rattling off strange numbers) it is determined the boy is Jewish and has escaped Nazi Germany. He is taken in by a vicar and his family and all seems well until another boarder in the vicar’s home is brutally murdered. Is there a connection between the newly arrived boy with the literate parrot and the untimely death of a fellow boarder? A once famous but now virtually unknown and very elderly detective is pulled out of retirement to find out.
While Final Solution is one of the shorter “detective” stories I have read thus far I enjoyed the character development immensely. The very first character you meet is the thinly veiled Sherlock Holmes. Chabon doesn’t come right out and say this is the illustrious character of Conan Doyle, but savvy readers can recognize Holmes in the details. What is surprising is how decrepit Chabon makes the retired detective out to be. True, our mysterious sleuth is 89 years old and more interested in bee keeping (even though he doesn’t like honey), but from description alone I expected him to fall to pieces any second. He really is a walking bag of bones!

Reason read: I read somewhere that January is Adopt a Rescued Bird month. Ironically, the bird in Final Solution does need rescuing at some point!

Author fact: I did some poking around and discovered that while Chabon is really good looking he scoffs at anybody or anything that would recognize him for that since it is not something he earned.

Book trivia: There is a section of Final Solution that takes an odd turn. The story is told from the point of view of the parrot. His musings about chicken are funny.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called “Parrots” (p 183). Simple enough.

Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

gr4c5Leave a comment

Cameron, Eleanor. The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1954.

It all starts with a green ad in the newspaper, “Wanted: A small spaceship about eight feet long, built by a boy, or by two boys between the ages if eight and eleven…” (p 4). David Topman is just that boy. After reading the advertisement he sets out to build a spaceship with his friend, Chuck Masterson. He and Chuck are about to set off on a wild adventure, one that takes them (and a chicken named Mrs. Pennyfeather) to outer space and the satellite called Basidium-X (the x is for the unknown).
This is a great story that entwines science with fantasy and wild imagination. I am particularly partial to why Mrs. Pennyfeather needed to come along as a mascot although I feel bad for her husband, Rooster John and their family…

Reason read: First month, first chapter. Simple as that. Plus, I needed a kids-eye break from the heavy nonfiction I have been reading.

Author fact: Cameron spent some time as a research librarian. Rock on.

Book trivia: This is actually part of a series. Sadly, I won’t be reading any others. They look like fun.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the introduction (p x) but not listed in the index. Technically, according to my own rules I didn’t have to read this one. Eleanor Cameron isn’t listed in the index either.