The Animators - Review

The Animators    🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
by Kayla Rae Whitaker
Published  January  31 2017 by Random House

Finished 2/16/17

Like oil and water, Mel and Sharon would appear on the outside to be the types that don't  blend together.  But the more we get to know  these friends, they seem like an old married couple in just how balanced  their relationship is and how suited to each other they are. 

Quirky Mel:  Raised in Florida by a prostituting mother who died in prison.  Mel and Sharon have made a very successful animated film of Mel's crazy life, resulting in a grant to do another.

Sensible Sharon:   Grew up in a dysfunctional family in Kentucky, feeling a disconnect with them all, having only one best friend in the neighbor boy who probably influenced her life the most, for good or bad.  Now it's  Sharon turn to have her life flashed up on the big screen, but she has her reservations about the aftermath.  Just as she kept Mel sane through her story, now it's  Mel keeping things copacetic even through some very bad times.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  You can see the Titanic off in the distance about to smash into that iceberg and set the plot spinning off in unimaginable ways.    That is not a bad thing.  It is very, very good.  Wrought with emotions, fantastic dialog, and deep subplots mixed  with sharp humor, wisdom, and originality.  I couldn't  put it down.   

Thanks to NetGalley  and the publisher.

The Patriots - Review

The Patriots  🌟🌟🌟
by Sana Krasikov
Published January 24 2017 by Siegel & Grau

Finished 2/7/17

The Patriots is a beautifully inspired epic of Florence Fein from Brooklyn, a career girl of Russian Jewish descent.  Her job takes her to Cleveland to assist with a business  deal between her American employer and a Russian company.  Smitten with one of the Russians, she eventually trails him to the homeland.  This begins her long story recounting the years 1932-1934 and up in Russia, turbulent  years to put it mildly.  She and her Jewish husband come through WWII virtually unscathed, safer there from persecution than perhaps  anywhere  else.  But they are in Russia  and so it does not remain   safe for long.  They are soon arrested for espionage and their little  boy placed in an orphanage.  

I much enjoyed Florence's  story, alternated with a narration from her son Julian, who became an American.  There was a third story of Julian's  son Lenny,  who resides in Moscow, and a visit from Julian, which I felt added very little to the story  and almost, in fact, ruined it all for me.  The book is over 500 pages and jumps  around a great deal between countries and between timelines.  This is a lethal combination for me and I felt like giving up on it many times.  I'm glad to have finished  though because it turned out to be a lesson in loyalties,  faith,  forgiveness, perseverance, promises kept, and much more.  

Following Atticus - Review

Following Atticus  🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

by Tom Ryan

Published September 20 2011 by William Morrow

Finished 2.6.2017

How can one help but love this 20 pound fur baby?  This powerhouse  known as Atticus M. Finch (love that), Little Buddha, or Little Giant in and around his home town of Newburyport, MA, led his best friend Tom Ryan hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire, making history one winter summiting over 48 peaks in honor of a friend who had died of cancer.  As  Atticus  and Tom reached each peak, they would pause at the summit and bond while gazing out at the beauty of the landscape.  They grew famous and beloved through news of their treks, by the amazement at a small dog's ability to accomplish such feats and overcome adversities.  Through the power of their friendship, light prevailed over darkness when tragedy struck.  

I first learned of this dynamic duo watching an Animal Planet special several years back.  Then I read a heartbreaking  review of the book  following Atticus' passing last year. The audio book is narrated by Tom Ryan--New England accent and all.   (Who knew that Newburyport was pronounced New Breport?)  Atticus M. Finch changed Tom Ryan's life and that of all who knew him and who continue to learn of him.   I loved how Tom trained him from a pup not with punishments or rewards, but with the respect deserving a Please and Thank you for each favor granted.  Atticus taught Tom how to love and how to live, about kindness, and how to dream.  Tom gave Atti selfless adoration and a good life mingled with nature.

I checked out Tom's blog and learned that he is still writing (great news!) and has a new companion, Samwise, with whom he already hikes as he did with Atticus.  Last month atop a summit they watched Mars, the moon, and Venus align and Tom wrote:

"As Emerson would say in his Transcendental way..., Samwise and I were with our peers out in that snowy field, with stars so brilliant, so bewildering, and  humbling, I couldn't help but feel I was part of all we saw.  And that little line that divides man and beast vanished and what we shared was the sacrament of communion.

Nature has a way of bringing us home..."

Two more books are forthcoming!

Kitchens of the Great Midwest - Review

Kitchens of the Great Midwest    🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

by J. Ryan Stradal

Published July 28 2015 by Pamela Dorman Books/Viking

Finished  1/21/17

Just as your first steaming cup of coffee of the morning, sweet butter melting on freshly baked bread, a brilliant red heirloom tomato,  a slice of carrot cake, and wine, great wine, are meant to be savored, so are these stories of Eva Thorvald.  Born to a woman who chose a sommelier  over her and a man who cherished her more than life itself, she grew up in our great Midwest learning about fresh food and family through osmosis.  The descriptions made me hungry for farm stand produce and Peanut Butter Bars from the Lutheran church's  bake sale.  I'm  craving bi-color corn and a huge juicy vine-ripened tomato picked fresh this morning, still warm from the bright sunshine so missing from this January day here near Chicago.  Food truly is a language  we can all speak, even when there are no words for what's  in our hearts.

 

It's a one of a kind 5🌟 story and a debut to boot.  You did an excellent job, J. Ryan Stradal.  Your mother taught you well.  Thanks for the memories.  This was a great experience I  won't  soon forget.

End of Watch - Review

End of Watch    🌟🌟🌟
by  Stephen  King
Published June 7 2016 by Scribner

Finished 1.10.17

I  was a little taken aback  at the ending of book #2 in this series because  I was afraid it meant that book  #3 would be something like Carrie meets Doctor Sleep.  That just wouldn't  do  even with Stephen King's name on the cover.  And while it wasn't  quite like that, it was a bit over the top.  But, dang if King doesn't pull it off.  Still, it's my least fav of the series.

Mr. Mercedes ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Finders Keepers ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm so glad to have listened to it.  Will Patton, narrator extraordinaire,  is the man.

My Losing Season: A Memoir - Review

My Losing Season   🌟🌟🌟🌟

by Pat Conroy  

Published January 1 2002 by Doubleday

Finished 1.9.17

When Pat Conroy made his escape from an abusive ass of a father  to play the game he loved, basketball, at The Citadel, he had no idea the abuse  would continue in the form of (a.) his fellow classmates during Hell Night and then his entire plebe year, and (b.) his coach, who thrived on shaming his players in one way or another until they either collapsed in on their emotions or put on an "I'll  show him" performance when next out on the court.   Torn between his two loves, for the game and for developing himself as a writer, Conroy recalls his sad childhood and his time spent on the bball  court up  to  his senior "losing season."  His aim was to see if more is gained from losing than from winning.  For us readers, I'm  so glad that the turning of a phrase finally beat out the spinning of the basketball as his ultimate destination.

Even so, the prologue reveals that the writing and rehashing of his past was not so easy on him either:

"I have a history of cracking up at least once during the writing of each of my last five books. It has not provided the greatest incentive to head for the writing table each morning, but it's the reality I live with."

What a shame.  Kind of makes you wonder what drove him to continue on doing something that might break him.  It seems that writing about all of the near breakdowns during his formative  years, which should have been cathartic, instead caused a gloom to spread over him.  His own words, according  to Wikipedia.org:

"Conroy lived in Beaufort with wife Cassandra until his death. In 2007, he commented that she was a much happier writer than he was: 'I'll hear her cackle with laughter at some funny line she's written. I've never cackled with laughter at a single line I've ever written. None of it has given me pleasure. She writes with pleasure and joy, and I sit there in gloom and darkness.'"

Wonderful writing with deep introspection and raw honesty.  Be warned, though, there is a lot of bball playing (the stories are wonderful, funny, sad and some long-winded) and a cast of characters to rival a phone book.  Interspersed is self-doubt at every turn, a man so humble he felt any awards or accolades he won were undeserved, and not a dishonest bone in his body.  A true Southern gentleman.  

RIP Pat Conroy.

The Winter in Anna - Review

The Winter in Anna
by Reed Karaim
Published January 17 2017 by W. W. Norton & Co.

Finished 1/5/2017

Two young adults Eric and Anna meet while working together at a small town newspaper, become fast friends, and maybe never before have two people known so much yet so little about each other.  Eric didn't stay long but spent his life thinking about the meaning of Anna,  the "winter in Anna" where she finds snowstorms  unbearable (one of her many mysteries), and the meaning of their relationship; the reasons for the different things Anna did and how to explain her to those still puzzled after her tragic death.

This is a quiet, contemplative story.  It is difficult to find words equal to its beauty.  If you want adventure and thrills, do not tread here amidst these tales of sadness and Badlands.  If you want a meaningful, impactful read, proceed slowly and prepare for a real treat.  You might not be able to put it down.  

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.