Here I go again reading a book about an airplane crash when flying. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is an amazing book about a 12 year old boy, Eddie who is the only survivor of an airplane crash. He is now the "Miracle Boy." The story is told in chapters alternating between the time during the flight and after the devastating crash. The characters are vivid and honest. The novel grapples with the heartbreak and healing and the human spirit. I highly recommend this incredible read. Favorite quote: The air between us is not empty space. From NPR review written by Helen McAlpin Dear Edward is in part a tale of survivor guilt, which is fueled by the weight of oppressive, often bizarre expectations on the miracle boy, especially from the families of victims who want him to fulfill their loved ones' dreams and plans. "Stop expecting me to have hidden powers, okay? I'm not a freaking wizard," he explodes at one point. It takes Edward years to learn to live with the aftershocks of the tragedy and absorb the liberating fact that, far from being chosen for a special purpose, his survival was just "dumb luck."
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Wow! Certainly an interesting stack of books. A quick review starting from top to bottom.
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman Catherine Steadman is a British actress and may be best known in the U.S. for her role in Downton Abbey. Something in the Water is a thriller from the first page with a woman digging a grave for her husband of one year and ends the first chapter with, "I'm not a bad person. Or maybe I am. Maybe you should decide?" Well, I am still undecided, she is definitely a woman with a mind of her own and made a lot of bad decisions. It's a fast-paced beach book. Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus Samuelsson with Veronica Chambers This book is for all you aspiring chefs and anyone who like to read about food. Most have heard of Marcus Samuelsson, he won Top Chef Masters and can be seen on the food networks. His story is about hard work, desire and dedication to being the best chef. He was born in Ethiopia, adopted by Swedish parents and moves to New York City to fulfill his destiny. I loved this book. The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel Jose Older The story is about Marisol, a young woman who vanished during the Cuban Revolution. She is a supernatural spirit who wants to remember her life story. She wants her story known to her family. Her spirit visits and inhabits her nephew Ramon, who is currently living in New Jersey.. She disrupts his dreams and pushes him to travel back to Cuban to discover her story. This novel was really interesting. It is told in English and Spanish. It took me some time to understand what was happening and that maybe spirits do come back to visit us humans. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell Old Florida is glorified in this novel. I was all in from the start of this book up to my knees in the alligator pit. Thirteen year old Ava is part of the Bigtree alligator-wrestling dynasty who own Swamplandia!, an alligator - wrestling theme park. The star of the show is Ava's mother who swims with the alligators. She dies of cancer and the family falls apart. Ava is determined to put things back together. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend. Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken Another quirky book, Bowlaway begins with a woman who seems to fall from the sky and lands in a cemetery with a small suitcase filled with bowling ball, a candlepin, and fifteen pounds of gold. Her goal is to open a candlepin bowling alley. Needless to say, the story's absurdities continue throughout the book. It is funny! A breath of fresh air. The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer A story about Vogue model, photographer Lee Miller and her relationship with artist Man Ray. We read this novel for March book club. Excellent book, I'd highly recommend. You can read more here. Hi Bookies,
Fellow bookie, Sue has put together a list of diversions while we Live in a Time of Coronavirus isolation. We often share books, but she thought we could also share our favorite NetFlix shows. Also, if you are reading something new that you love, please share at bextraordinaire@gmail.com . Stay safe. Netflix / Prime Strangers Better Call Saul Occupied Russian Doll Succession Fleabag Call the Midwife The Spy Bonfire of Destiny A Friend Series The 2 Popes Mad Men Jack Ryan Marvelous Mrs. Mavel Schitt's Creek Outlanders Books The Overstory- Richard Powers The House Girl - Tara Conklin Imperfect Union - Steve Inskeep Mr. Campion's Fox - Mike Ripley The Murmur of Bees - Sofia Segovia Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover and Me - Adrienne Brodeur Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer Carnegie's Maid - Marie Benedict Pachinko - Min Jin Lee Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield Shanghai has experienced incredible growth since the 1940s. Maitland has shared some interesting articles to give us some context on this amazing city.
Shanghai: The Rise of the Global City Shanghai then and now: Changes through the Lens 26 years of growth: Then and Now Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is based on the true story of the abuses that occurred at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society during the leadership of Georgia Tann from 1922-1950 in Memphis, Tennessee. The orphanage came to the attention of The Child Welfare League of America because of the destruction of birth records and illegal adoptions. They removed their endorsement and the Tennessee Children’s Society lost it license. It continued to operate without a license until it was shut down permanently for selling babies on the black market after a State Investigation was opened in 1950. Tann was accused of kidnapping children from desperate and poor families then selling them to the Hollywood elite for high adoption fees which she pocketed most of the money to support her extravagant lifestyle.. Even worse, some described her as a serial killer because of the number of children that died under her supervision. Her high standing and connections in Memphis society protected her from suspicion. In the end, no one was held accountable and Tann died of cancer in 1955 shortly after the investigation into her wrongdoings were underway. The novel is centered around a happy family of five children, Rill, Camellia, Lark, Fern, and Gabion living with their parents, Briny and Queenie on a boat name Arcadia. Their mother, Queenie is in labor with twins on the boat when the midwife is unable to handle the delivery and Queenie is rushed to the hospital. She and her husband are told the babies died in childbirth.. While the parents are at the hospital, their children are kidnapped and taken to the Tennessee Children's Society.. Here is an appalling conversation between Miss Tann and one of her employees, Mrs. Murphy from the book overheard by the oldest child, Rill. "Oh yes, the advertisements have already run in all the papers!" Miss Tann is saying. ' I've had such a brilliant vision, I must admit. Fair-haired cherubs for a fair summer season. Yours for the asking! Perfect, isn't it? All the little blonds.' 'Like a gathering of wood nymphs. And little elves and fairies,' Mrs. Murphy agrees. 'It is almost as compelling as the Christmas Baby Program. Customers have been calling already. Once they see the children, they'll be vying against one another." Read an article from the Los Angeles Times about a family reunited. Together Again : After 44 Tortured Years, a Mother Finds Her Stolen Child Via ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ By BEVERLY BEYETTE AUG. 20, 1990 12 AM TIMES STAFF WRITER The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell focuses on the devastating effects on a family living with a hoarder. Lorelai, the mother of 4 children, is a hoarder and she cannot help herself. She describes herself as a sixty-five-year-old woman who lives in the pretty village of Cotswolds in a “big, crazy old house full of what I call TREASURES and what my children call CRAP.” The novel centers around Lorelai who gives her perspective through email correspondences with someone she has met online. These emails provide insight and details to what she thinks and feels. The story also, alternates chapters by the present and the past. This makes it a little choppy and confusing especially in the early part of the book. Once I settled in and found the rhythm, I was hooked. I enjoyed Jewell’s descriptions of the beautiful idyllic countryside and of the dark and sad side of hoarding. I didn’t love the book, but I enjoyed it and found it interesting. I have a new understanding of how collecting and sadness when combined can spiral out of control. Here is a snippet from when Lorelai’s oldest daughter Megan confronts her mother to understand why she is living in an uninhabitable house filled floor to ceiling with stuff and barely enough space for one person to move from room to the next. When Megan sees cases of infant milk stacked in the hallway that expired 3 years ago and asks “why”. “Because buying it brought me pleasure. Because I stood in a shop and saw it and thought of my babies and your babies and your visits and imagined myself with a little Stan, or a little Alf on my lap, drinking the milk that I bought them, and I imagined you smiling and saying. ‘Thank you, Mummy, what a brilliant idea.’ And all the things I thought when I looked at the milk and bought the milk were good things. And if I throw the milk away then I’m throwing away all those good things I thought and felt when I bought it.” Megan sighed. Her mother’s view of the world was an impenetrable wall. “Empty food packaging?” “Ah, yes” – her mother smiled mischievously –” there you have a point, darling. I really do need to get on top of that…” Read more from this review by Kirkus. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris.The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is based on Lale Ludwig Eisenberg’s life story after being transported to Auschwitz on April 13, 1942. Auschwitz, the largest death camp operated by the Nazis during World War II. Over 1 million innocent men, women and children were put to death. This powerful book was written by Heather Morris of New Zealand after meeting with Lale Sokolov, while she worked in a public hospital in Melbourne. Lale was finally ready to tell his story before he died and reunited with this beloved Gita who died three years before. People sent to Auschwitz were first divided into two groups: the people in the first group were deemed to weak, too young (most children), or too sick to work. They were immediately sent to the showers, which were actually gas chambers made to look like shower rooms. The second group were made up of those deemed strong enough to work. Those were the prisoners who got numbers tattooed on their arms. The numbers were meant to dehumanize the prisoners- they would no longer be known by their names, simply their numbers. If you were in this group, you had some chance of survival. A number didn't mean you would survive, but you might. Numbers were given to only one group of prisoners- those who were deemed healthy and strong enough to work. Lale, as many Jews and people brought to concentration camps were put to work. He was assigned to work as the tattooist. His job was to permanently tattooed the identification numbers on the newly arrived prisoners deemed able to work to Auschwitz and Birkenau. He meets Gita when he must re-tattoo her arm. He falls in love with her and vows they will survive and one day walk out of here and marry. This book is an important reminder for the world to remember those who were murdered, tortured and dehumanized and bore witness to the atrocities of the Holocaust and the strength of love and the power of resilience to overcome and survive. January 27, 2020 marks the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz/Birkenau. In the words of a survivor: "It is important for everyone to remember what happened at Auschwitz-Birkenau because the number of survivors who can give their testimonies is dwindling, and such evil must never happen again," he added. Mike Bornstein from Żarki was deported to Auschwitz in July 1944. He was in the camp until the day of liberation on January 27, 1945. "I spent most of my life trying to forget Auschwitz and all the reasons I have a tattoo on my arm. I like to focus on happier things -- I am blessed with a wonderful life now. But I was one of the youngest survivors, and that makes me one of the last survivors here now. I feel an obligation to be at the 75th anniversary, to stand up and say, 'I was there. I survived. We can't forget what happened at Auschwitz.' I also want to send a message. I think it's important to show the strength of the Jewish people and the power of optimism. I'll be standing in Auschwitz with one of my twelve grandkids. My life is good," he said. The Innocents by Michael CrummeyMichael Crummey is an award-winning poet and writer from St. John’s Newfoundland. His novel, The innocents was inspired by ancient mariners, shipwrecks and the rugged coast of Newfoundland. In his research, he came across a 18th century traveling clergyman who discovered a brother and his pregnant 15-year-old sister living alone in an isolated location in Newfoundland. The children’s parents had died leaving them to survive on their own. This book is deep, dark. and gritty. I immersed myself in this harrowing tale of Ada and Evered struggle to survive after the death of their parents. "Their father died in his bed before the new year. Without speaking of it they acted as if he was only asleep and they left him lying there for the better part of a week. Hoping he might wake up coughing in the middle of the night, complaining about the cold or asking after a drink of water. During the day they dawdled about in the store and spent as much time outside as they could stand, cleaving and stacking wood or hauling buckets of water from the brook, picking along the landwash for gull feathers and mussel shells and wish rocks to add to Ada's collection. Inside they tended the fireplace and drank their bare-legged tea and spoke in whispers so as not to disturb the man. On the fifth night of the vigil Ada woke from a dream of her parents. They were standing back on, holding hands and looking at her over their shoulders. Her mother was naked and soaking wet, her hair streaming water. "What is it you're bawling over, Sister?" Evered asked. "He can't stay," she whispered." Read more about the book in an interview with Michael Crummey and the Global and Mail. Michael Crummey returns with The Innocents exploring complex physical elements of adolescence JESSICA LEEDER PUBLISHED AUGUST 30, 2019 |
Kathy Corey
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