January Summary

Wow, what a month of reading! I absolutely loved this month's selections!

January's list of books included:

American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell (review)
Stealing Buddha's Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen (review)
Her Rodeo Cowboy by Debra Clopton (review)
The 8th Confession by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (review)
The Best Of Me by Nicholas Sparks (review)
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen (review)

I recently started reading a book about a mentally challenged young man who wins the lottery, and this morning I began listening to an audio book about an older gentleman who lost everything and now finds himself working at Starbucks.

Water For Elephants

The idea for this book came unexpectedly: In early 2003 I was gearing up to write an entirely different book when the Chicago Tribune ran an article on Edward J Kelty, a photographer who followed traveling circuses around America in the 1920s and '30s. The photograph that accompanied the article so fascinated me... .

I spent the next four and a half months acquiring the knowledge necessary to do justice to this subject, ... .

The history of the American circus is so rich that I plucked many of this story's most outrageous details from fact or anecdote (in circus history, the line between the two is famously blurred). ...

And finally, I'd like to draw attention to two old-time circus elephants, not just because they inspired major plot points, but also because these old girls deserve to be remembered. (from: Author's Note, pp. 333-334)

Seldom have I read a book where I absolutely loved the ending and found it a great way to conclude a good story. This is exactly how I felt about Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. I was drawn into the story immediately, kept total interest throughout my reading, and was very pleased with the final ending. I found the history of the circus fascinating and I very much enjoyed the stories of Jacob Jankowski as both a young man and an old man. Although the abuse scenes were a bit unsettling, they were necessary and not overly explicit.

I highly recommend the book Water For Elephants to my fellow readers. And no, I have not seen the movie yet but plan to in the near future.

The Best Of Me

... Amanda and Dawson are summoned back to Oriental for the funeral of Tuck Hostetler, the mentor who once gave shelter to their high school romance. Neither has lived the life they imagined...and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever changed their lives. As Amanda and Dawson carry out the instructions Tuck left behind for them, they realize that everything they thought they knew --- about Tuck, about themselves, and about the dreams they held dear --- was not as it seemed. Forced to confront painful memories, the two former lovers will discover undeniable truths about the choices they have made. And in the course of a single, searing weekend, they will ask of the living, and the dead: Can love truly rewrite the past? (back cover)

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks. True to Sparks' usual style of fiction, the story included intense love, lost love, continuing love, and difficult life-changing decisions made by the main characters and their loved ones. Unlike his books that I've read in the past, this one included a few new twists that gave, for me, a very satisfying ending. I highly recommend The Best of Me.

The 8th Confession

It was almost midnight when Pet Girl got out of the cab and walked four blocks under the stars, the warm, moist air blowing off the ocean as she approached the run-down apartments at the farthest end of the Presidio.

She opened her front door, hung her backpack on a peg in the hallway, and went to the kitchen. There, she used a key to unlock the small pocket door, sliding it into its slot in the wall. Then she entered the long, narrow room that had once been a pantry and was now her private world. (p.278)

The Women's Murder Club tracks a killer with a taste for the super rich. Their feisty reporter won't let the murder of a homeless man be forgotten, or uninvestigated. Two club members find new romance. And one still struggles with the decision of whether or not to wear the engagement ring given by her lover and best friend. The 8th Confession by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro continues the club series with as much suspense and action as the previous books. I am thoroughly enjoying this series and will continue reading it until I reach the end.

Her Rodeo Cowboy

Everything accountant Montana Brown thought she knew about love and marriage goes topsy-turvy when her parents split up. Shaken, she heads to Mule Hollow, Texas, to stay with family and take a chance on an old dream: being a cowgirl. With all her might, she tries to resist the charms of a too-handsome cowboy. Luke Holdon is going after his own dream of expanding his ranch. A wife isn't on his wish list. But the Mule Hollow matchmakers are fixin' to lasso Luke and Montana together --- with a little faith and love. (back cover)

I'm sorry... then again, no I'm not. I can't resist a good Love Inspired book from Harlequin. Throw in some nice scenery, a rodeo, and a handsome cowboy, well, I'm hooked. This is very true of Debra Clopton's Her Rodeo Cowboy. With a generous mix of escaping bad circumstances, matchmaking, falling in love, and making dreams come true, Her Rodeo Cowboy is a fun read that won't disappoint the reader. In fact, this reader is now planning to read the Mule Hollow series from which this book's characters originated.

Stealing Buddha's Dinner

When I think of Grand Rapids I think of how much time I spent trying to make real the dream of the blond-haired girl with a Betty Crocker mother and a kitchen to match. Cocooned in my own silence, I dreamed of the day when I would be a grown-up at last. Then, I thought, I could eat whipped cream and SpaghettiOs every day and say whatever I wanted. Spurning my own reflection for what it could never give me, I thought I could make myself over from the inside out.

In truth, everything that was real lay right in front of me: oranges after dinner; pomegranates in winter; mangoes cubed off their skin. ... (p.247)

Stealing Buddha's Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen was the reading I chose to update my diversity training at work. The reading brought an awareness to me about some of the feelings and struggles that an immigrant has in adapting to a new culture. The memoir describes the struggles that Bich endured in finding her identity amidst cultural, social and family issues. She relates to food and uses this medium to complete each chapter by telling a memory, relating that memory to a food and an adjustment during her childhood, and then relating both to a topic of cultural diversity or personal identity. It is a personal story of Bich's childhood as an immigrant and her choice of blending in or standing apart. Although I felt the author whined throughout much of the book about her circumstances, always wanting something else, I had a better appreciation for her accounts after reading the final chapter in which she summed up her feelings and what she had learned in living a blended life. I recommend this memoir to others.

American Salvage

American Salvage is rich with local color and peopled with rural characters who love and hate extravagantly. They know how to fix cars and washing machines, how to shoot and clean game, and how to cook up methamphetamine, but they have not figured out how to prosper in the twenty-first century. Through the complex inner lives of working-class characters, Bonnie Jo Campbell illustrates the desperation of post-industrial America, where wildlife, jobs, and whole ways of life go extinct and the people have no choice but to live off what is left behind. (from: back cover of book)

I very much enjoyed this collection of short stories written by Bonnie Jo Campbell. After reading the first selection I was afraid that I would find the stories depressing; however, I soon found myself immersed in the complicated yet simple lives of the colorful characters and became less judgmental. My favorite selections were "The Yard Man", "Family Reunion", and "Storm Warning".

I specifically chose to read this book because it was written by a local author. I would recommend American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell to others who enjoy reading short stories.

December Reading

I spent my month reading holiday related books and enjoyed this adventure very much. Although most of the books could be classified as "chick lit" I did try a few that were not. Some personal observations about my holiday reading can be found in an earlier post.

As for the December titles, they included the following:

Christmas in Cedar Cove
Debbie Macomber

The Christmas Wedding
James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

The Perfect Christmas
Debbie Macomber
(audio book)

The Christmas Visitor
Anne Perry

The Christmas Note
Donna VanLiere

Shepherds Abiding
(including Esther's Gift and The Mitford Snowmen)
Jan Karon
(audio book)
(DNF - lack of interest)

The Christmas Train
David Baldacci

The Christmas Scrapbook
Philip Gulley
(a Christmas in Harmony novella)

Call Me Mrs. Miracle
Debbie Macomber

The Christmas Cookie Club
Ann Pearlman

I am starting my new year off with a collection of short stories written by a local author: American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell.