The Age of Will

Reviewer: Bardsandsages

I received a copy of this book as part of a book exchange program sponsored by the Poetry Superhighway. In college, I read poetry all the time, but as time passed I read other things (as time permitted). I just wanted to say thank you to Gerald for reminding me why I use to love poetry so much.

The poems have an earthy, yet cerebral tone that reminds me of the works of Wendell Berry. One of my personal favorites is the poem “About Goodness”, in which the author wonders about the meaning of good and evil. When speaking of the terrible wars of our time, he writes “a blur/of places where goodness must be held/in contempt for failing to show up”;. The words are stunning in their simplicity.

Another poem, both soothing and heart-rending in its elegance,”9/11 in a Jar.” In the poem the author recounts a jar of rubble given to him by a friend who had been at Ground Zero. What he find in the rubble while examining it is a grounding snapshot of the surreal nature of the event. The poem summons powerful emotions.

Even Whispers Can Be Heard is a beautiful collection of poems worthy of anyone’s bookshelf, and I am pleased to say that it is on mine.

Julie Powell felt she was in a rut. Turning thirty, dead end temp secretary job, crappy loft apartment and trouble with her husband. On a visit home, she finds her mothers copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and decides to cook every recipe in the book. In one year. And write about it online.

The book was not what I expected. I was expecting a book about the author’s love of cooking and her experiences and challenges cooking in a decades old style. But instead, the book doesn’t discuss the actual cooking much at all. Instead, the book is about the author, her friends and her emotional challenges.

The writing is good, the book is entertaining and engaging and the author’s friends add some interest. However, the book isn’t a ‘stand out’ in the genre. And the author doesn’t come off as likable. She doesn’t seem to like anybody or anything. Even taking into account the fact that the author is a 20 something living in New York, she still seems very hateful. And she clearly hates Republicans. She takes several opportunities to display her dislike and actually promotes violence towards them. She hates her job and the people she works for, but I guess it’s typical for a temp secretary to think she knows better how to run a government agency.

One odd thing about the book is the author’s husband, Eric. We learn about Julie’s friends, Isabelle, Gwen, her mother, her brother; but we don’t learn much about Eric. He’s in virtually every scene, yet he remains a mystery.

Overall, a cute and entertaining book but lacks substance and leaves the reader wanting more.

Reviewer: spratt

All Creatures Great and Small is a class written in 1972, but I just discovered it. It is now an all-time favorite.

The author is the main character. James Herriot (a pen name) evidently kept a journal through the years about his experiences as a country veterinary surgeon. Each chapter tells one of his experiences. They follow in chronological order, so it reads like the story of his first year in practice. It is at times hilarious and at times tense as he deals with difficult cases.

James Herriot had the good fortune to be hired as assistant to a vet in Darrowby in Yorkshire Dales. He fell in love with the highland countryside. We learn quite a bit about what a country vet deals with–the real danger in working with large farm animals, the weather, being on call 24-hours-a-day, etc. I was surprised at how much detailed information was given about the actual care of the animals. I was even more surprised that it was actually interesting.

I highly recommend this very entertaining book.

The two main characters, Jaycee and Bud, share similar emotional challenges, but were raised in very different environments. Both are extreme narcissists, egocentric, self-indulgent magpies with no likeable qualities. Both lost their mothers when they were very young, and both complain of fathers who do not love them.

Jaycee was born and raised in a small Alabama town. She grew up poor and quickly learned to fend for herself; her father was to busy with booze to take care of or even notice her.

Bud grew up in a very affluent environment in Florida. But Bud felt neglected; his brothers all took after their father, playing football, and running the family business. However, Bud was more interested in Baseball and college. These two unpleasant misfits meet in college and quickly realize they were made for each other. The story follows Jaycee and Bud as they make a life together and each learns to love and act selflessly.

The book is well written; however, there are several places (primarily at the beginning) where the author’s voice breaks into the narrative, to fill gaps. For example, in the first chapter, Jaycee’s character and brief history are delivered point by point in a couple of paragraphs. This reader would prefer to learn about the characters, from the characters, let the history unfold as needed.

Also, the book suffers from ‘bad blurbs’. When I first read the back cover, I was very turned off of the book; however, the story is edgy, fast-paced and colorful.

The ending is a bit of a let down, a little too fairly-tale perfect. The story overall has a hard-hitting edge and the smell of reality, but late in the story, Jaycee has several ‘near death experiences’ that push the story into the realm of fantasy. So if you are turned off by Christian mythos or spirituality then skip those parts, they don’t add to the story or characterizations anyway.

Overall, Different Roads is an entertaining book. I will recommend it and plan to look for more by Joyce Sterling Scarbrough.

Reviewer: linda

Caution: Puns Ahead!

That should be on the cover of this book–if you hate puns, you won’t find this book as amusing as I did. Because the bad guy calls himself the Gingerbread Man, one might think this was a light book. It certainly was a quick read, but the subject is disturbing, as the Gingerbread Man is a serial killer.

Like many mysteries, the suspense isn’t who the murderer is, but how he is caught. And, with a main character named Jack Daniels, you know this could become a very interesting series. I’m sold!

(Anonymous Submission to old ClubReading website)

Lindsay or Linbaba, as the Indian people named him, is a fugitive who escaped prison in Australia, where he served two years of his 19-year sentence of arms robberies, which he used to do to support his heroin addiction caused by loosing custody of his daughter in a failed marriage. After the escape, Linbaba lands in Bombay on a fake New Zealand passport. Upon landing, he meets Prabaker who plays the guide role and shows him even the most secretive parts of Bombay. In the same time Lindsay meets Karla, a beautiful Swiss-American who works at Leopold’s cafÈ the place where all the ex-pats hang out. Linbaba falls deeply in love with Karla and the love takes a complicated role in the plot.

Following one night when Lindsay is robbed of all his possessions, Prabaker brings him to the slums of Bombay where over twenty-five thousand people lived in extreme poverty. There, Linbaba becomes the ‘doctor’, taking care of people illnesses: rat bites, dysentery, anemia, etc. His unfortunate fate brings him within the walls of Arthur Road Prison, a hellish place where he experiences the worst prison conditions. He is released from prison and Lindsay gets involved with the Bombay mafia, Abdel Khader Khan, which later on brings him in Afghanistan to fight against the Russians.

Roberts wrote the book in prison, two of the copies were destroyed in 13 years and then he succeeded to write the last copy for publishing. The writing approach is far from flawless, but the book has a magnetic appeal and it is hard to put down; its plot whirls into complicated events which are linked and explained in the end. The characters have fascinating personalities and have strong connections in the series of events.

It’s interesting how the book reveals the underground scene of the 80s and how its ex-pats engaged in criminal activity to lead a high life in Bombay. Despite the criminal activity he gets dragged into, Lindsay comes out as a strong person with a great heart. His love for Karla grows stronger in time even if she cannot return the same feelings. He is a savior, a fighter and a survivor.

I strongly recommend this book as a work of action thriller, travel guide, love story and superb epic.

Review by Manuela “Neo-Hippy Books Review”

http://neo-hippy.blogspot.com/

Reviewer: spratt

Andrew Bjorklund and Ellie Wold have known they would wed since grade school. Two years before Ellie graduated, her family moved to a different community. Her father made the decision to further his furniture manufacturing business. It was only an hour away by train, but it may as well have been a thousand miles. Andrew and Ellie had to content themselves with staying in touch by letter. Finally, Ellie would graduate in May, and they planned to marry in June.

Andrew’s father asks them to wait for three or four months. He doesn’t have a reason other than he feels God is directing him to ask them to wait. Ellie is disappointed but has no real problem with it. She knows Andrew’s father is a wise man, and trusts his judgment. Andrew, though, is angry about it and doesn’t understand why Ellie is so willing to wait. He spends the summer being grumpy and angry about everything and with everyone.

Ellie moves back to her hometown to work for a friend in her general store during the summer. They do not see each other often because Andrew is working day and night with the farm and building their new house and barn.

We get the idea that Andrew and Ellie think they are the only ones to ever experience difficulties and conflicts. The author does an excellent job of weaving lessons learned into the conversation and private thoughts of the extended families–the parents and grandparents and older siblings. They do their best to guide the two young people–amazingly without pushing or lecturing. They have learned to trust God–and each other–and they realize the young people have to learn those lessons for themselves.

The story takes place in South Dakota at the turn of the century–1900. The author does a good job of showing what life was like there for the second generation Norwegian families.

The only negative is that I kept waiting for the plot of the story to be evident. About 10 pages from the end of the book I finally decided the author intended merely to open a window into the lives of two young people as they walk through the last few months before their wedding. I wish I had realized that sooner. I would have enjoyed the book more.

Bill and his wife are urbanites, or at least, suburbanites. They live in a small house in Yonkers, while Bill’s wife finishes medical school and residency. The author works with computers and admits he has no handyman skills, but he has learned some home fix-it skills out of necessity, fixing up their house, and making some improvements.

His wife will finish her residency soon, and they are looking to move. They both want to live somewhere more remote, they have two prerequisites: ‘a Main Street and a local newspaper.’ They eventually purchase the ‘Big Brown House’ in a small town. The house comes complete with unfinished floors, leaking roof, no kitchen and two rusting cars in the barn, and three acres of land. But, they both fall in love with it and decide to make it home. Soon Bill hears the call of fresh vegetables. Not ones to do anything small, they hire a designer to create their perfect kitchen garden.

The book is about Bill’s adventures in the garden, his battles with deer and a super-gopher, as well as pests, drought, grass and weeds. But this is much more then a gardening book, in fact, it is not a gardening book at all. The book shares Bill’s philosophies, his thoughts and desires, and where he believes he fits in the world. It is a funny and uplifting read.

Reviewer: linda

I have to admit, right at the beginning, that I love my slow cooker. In the winter, it is an odd week when at least one meal doesn’t come from it, and it’s often two meals. I hadn’t thought much about vegetarian recipes, but many of these look wonderful.

Not only are there main dishes, like Spicy Black Been Chili and Veggie Jambalaya, but there are appetizers, side dishes, and desserts. How about Cranberry-Walnut Stuffing or Layered Pesto Potatoes with Sun-Dried Tomatoes? Peach-Blueberry Tumble or Apples Stuffed with Cranberries and Almond Butter?

Many of the recipes call for tofu or other meat substitute. As a non-vegetarian, I’d likely add the real thing, but that’s the cook’s choice. I loved reading this book; it gave me ideas for my slow cooker I would have never thought of. But a warning, some of the recipes call for under 8 hours of cooking, which makes them impractical for a out of the house workday.

[][bookdetail]
Reviewer: linda
Do you buy your books on-line or strictly from independent booksellers? Shea obviously prefers the independent booksellers, as she has worked in one part-time for three years. This purports to be the story of her first year at the bookstore, but much of the book is taken up with Shea’s background as an author and a breast cancer survivor.
I had hoped for a bit more of the romance, mystery and drama in the subtitle than I found in the book. Nonetheless, this was a fun read, once I got past the background. More than anything else, it was a reference of books: books I’d never heard of, books I’d love to read, and even children’s books to be put on my list as possible gifts. I do enjoy books with these types of references, but I had hoped for something more from Shelf Life.
[bookdetail]: http://clubreadingbooks.com/bookdetail/1068/