December 2014 Reviews

What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman

This was an interesting book. The story goes back and forth between present day Isabelle, who is in foster care because her mother murdered her father when she was a child, and Clara, a woman put into a mental institution by her family when she fell in love with the "wrong" man. Isabelle's foster parents work for a museum and when they find suitcases from former mental patients at the Willard Hospital they start looking into some of their stories. They find Clara's trunk and after Isabelle reads her journal she realizes Clara was never crazy, just a woman who wanted to marry the man she loved not the man her parents arranged for her to marry. As Isabelle digs into Clara's story she begins to question why her own mother killed her father - she never read any of her mother's letters because she hated her for taking her father away and forcing her into foster care. As the two women's stories unfold, Isabelle realizes she has more in common with Clara and finds herself desperate to know what happened to her. 

The beginning of the book was REALLY slow and in hindsight I wonder if all of the bullying Isabelle experienced was really helpful to the story - it was a major focus and then just drops off the radar. As the stories went on you definitely wanted to know what happened to Clara and her story shows the plight of many men and women who lived and died in horrific mental institutions who were NOT mentally ill. Without giving anything away the ending was pretty far fetched - a lot of things came together a little too well and very unlikely to have actually happened. I did want to find out what happened and you do pull for Isabelle and Clara, but not the best book I ever read. Good, but not great.

The Dinner by Herman Koch (Books & Banter book club)

Paul Lohman, his wife Claire, his brother Serge and his wife Babette meet for dinner at an upscale Holland restaurant. Both couples have fifteen year old sons and they've met for dinner to discuss something that affects both boys. The whole book follows this one meal, but throughout each chapter Paul looks back on other events that have happened that shape his relationship with his brother and with his family. Up until the half way point you think Paul is the more "normal" sibling, but then the story swiftly takes a turn as Paul shows his real self through a few increasingly horrifying memories. By the end of the book you don't really know what to think of either Lohman family. This was selected by one of my book clubs and it should make for a really good and interesting discussion. It's very different but it reminded me of Defending Jacob in that at a certain point you really see that a character is a sociopath with no conscience or moral fiber at all. Somehow Herman Koch creates an entire family of sociopaths and the results are unbelievable.

King's Mountain by Sharyn McCrumb (Evening Edition book club)

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. After reading the inside cover of the book it seemed like there would be a lot of characters to keep up with and it just didn't sound great, but it was really good. Based on the real Revolutionary War battle of King's Mountain, McCrumb does a great job of setting the scene for the battle and what drew these "over mountain men" into the war. A Scottish born British Army Major, Patrick Ferguson, is trying to make a name for himself in the Revolutionary war. He basically threatens the "over mountain men" militias that if they don't come to the King's side he will come to the mountains and destroy them. This moves the militia leaders to band together and go after Ferguson before he comes after them. The main character is John Sevier and his character is very likable and he's an obvious leader who does a great job with his men. I really liked how the book was laid out and how there was a lot of background given, but it wasn't overwhelming. I didn't know about this battle and it's fascinating that this was the "turning point" for the Revolutionary War that helped turn the tide against the British. Overall, it was a really interesting book and I thought the characters were really well written. There was also a lot of great dialog. My only complaint was that there was also a few sections of chapters from the perspective of Virginia Sal, a washerwoman who helped Ferguson, and Virginia Paul, who seemed to have a long history with Ferguson, but that was never made clear. It's kind of implied that Virginia Paul is a ghost or something, but her whole part in the book did not make any sense and could have been left out. Virginia Sal's sections were helpful and gave a voice to what was probably a large percentage of the population who didn't care which side won - they were just trying to survive either way. Overall, a really solid, interesting book.

Operation Christmas Child by Franklin Graham

I'm a big fan of Samaritan's Purse and the great relief work they do around the world. I've been participating in the Operation Christmas Child shoebox collection since 1997 or 98 and it's become one of my favorite holiday traditions. I look for things for our shoeboxes throughout the year so that I can get some really nice things to pack. This book walks through the history of OCC and how it continues to grow and change lives around the world. There are some real tear-jerker stories in here about the countless children who's lives have been touched by a simple shoebox of gifts. I was amazed at how many churches were started because of families and communities inspired to change their lives because of the OCC shoeboxes. There are also some really cool miraculous events that show just how much God's hand is on this organization and on these shoeboxes. One of my favorite stories from the book was at one shoebox distribution event they realized there were more kids than shoeboxes and they turned up 14 shoeboxes short. Then one of the distributors went back and was looking in the container and found an overlooked box with exactly 14 shoeboxes that were for the gender and age range of the kids who were waiting. If you're a fan of Samaritan's Purse and OCC then it's definitely worth reading this book. My only complaint was that I felt like the writing was a little choppy - the chapters are very short usually only a page or two. It was hard to get a feel for the overall history when it was written more like a collection of short clips of stories. There were lots of great and miraculous stories, but I didn't think it was written very well. I would still recommend it though.



All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris where he works for the Museum of Natural History. When she is six she loses her sight and her father helps her learn her way around by building a scale model of their neighborhood. When the Nazis invade France they must flee to the countryside with a valuable artifact from the museum. They end up at her great-uncle's house where he's been a recluse since he fought in WWI. On the other side of the war Werner and his sister grow up in a German orphanage. Werner is brilliant with electronics and radios and quickly gains the attention of the academy for Hitler Youth. Werner quickly realizes that the academy is training the young Hitler Youth to be brutal, heartless killers and wants no part of it, but he knows once you're in there is no way out. Werner and Marie-Laure's stories come together in the small, walled seaside town of Saint-Malo. While their lives only briefly intersect the impact they have on each other is astounding and long-lasting. This is an incredibly beautiful book. The main character's stories are so compelling and you just can't put this book down because you can't wait to find out what happens to everyone. This novel shows the devastating affects of war, but also how beauty can still be found even in the midst of horror and devastation.



Keep Your Friends Close by Paula Daly

This was a pretty crazy book. When Natty Wainwright's younger daughter requires surgery while away on a school trip, she is relieved to know that it coincided with her friend Eve's visit from the US. Natty is glad that Eve is there to help her husband Sean and their older daughter Alice. She is only gone for 10 days, but when she gets back home her entire life is turned upside down. Eve has seduced Sean and he asks Natty for a divorce. She is devastated, but tries to keep it together for her daughters. Then she gets a note that says Eve has done this before - with dire results. Natty starts looking into her friend's history and is surprised to find that everything Eve told her was a lie. What she discovers is disturbing and Natty has to figure out how to outsmart Eve and get her family back. This is a fast-paced thriller that keeps you reading to find out what happens next. I liked that the story seemed realistic and everything didn't get neatly wrapped up at the end. Not quite as well written and disturbing as Gone Girl, but in the same vein. Definitely worth reading.



The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless

I really liked Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer which tells the story of Chris McCandless. So, I was really excited to read this book by his sister Carine. In The Wild Truth Carine recounts her childhood with Chris in their incredibly abusive home. Her father kept two families for awhile and even tried to get both families to live together! Chris and Carine were born while their father was still married to his first wife. They had an unbelievably dysfunctional childhood and after reading this there should be no surprise why Chris chose to get as far away from his parents as possible. Carine had a pretty tumultuous young adulthood because she left her parents home the minute she turned 18. She had 3 failed marriages and made lots of mistakes. But, in this book she owns all her mistakes and fully understands that her family caused dysfunction in her life too. I think it's great and amazing that she has such a close relationship with her other siblings from her father's first wife. Those kids could have hated her and Chris, but they saw that they were all in the same boat. Her siblings are what helped Carine get through her hardest times - just like Chris did when they were growing up. You can feel her love for him through the pages of this book. Once she realized that trying to protect her family by minimizing the abuse and the real reasons why Chris left was actually hurting Chris's memory, she decided to write this book to clear things up. It makes you wonder what Chris would have been like if he had made it out of Alaska, of course if he had we would never know since his death is what led to these books. This is really a beautiful tribute to the love between siblings.

November 2014 Reviews

In the Name of God by Cameron Stauth

In the Name of God is an epic book that describes a series of landmark legal cases that changed the way faith-healing churches operated. Faith-healing churches believe that God is the ultimate healer and therefore if they have enough faith they will never be sick. They won't go to doctors or take their children to doctors even if they're dying. Christian Scientists are the most commonly known faith-healing church, but there are many offshoots. In 1977 a woman named Rita Swan lost her son to bacterial meningitis because she and her husband were members of a faith-healing church. It devastated them both and that tragedy turned them away from faith-healing. But it also inspired Rita to fight religious shield laws that allowed churches to get away with what she considered child abuse and murder by allowing their children to suffer and die from common ailments that could be easily treated with medical care.

This book gives a brief history and overview of the Christian Science faith and how it's transformed over the years. The majority of the book focuses on The Followers, an off-shoot of the Christian Science Church, based in Oregon City, Oregon. After far too many children are dying needlessly every year in the Followers church, an insider named Patrick calls the police. He becomes a crucial informant to the police who rarely find someone willing to do what Patrick does by continuing to live in the close-knit Followers community, but working as a double-agent informing the police of sick and dying children. Because of Rita Swan's relentless work to change religion shield laws, the authorities in Oregon City are able to arrest the parents of 4 children who either died or were disabled because of their parent's lack of medical care. These cases shook up the Followers church enough to finally enact some long-overdue theological changes.

While this book is pretty long at 450 pages and the subject matter is not exactly happy, but it is so fascinating and horrific that you just can't put it down. It's truly amazing what people will do in the name of God, but even more amazing is when just one person stands up what can result from that act of courage. A fascinating book about when religion goes wrong and how a few people fighting for what's right changed history and saved countless lives.

A quote I really liked:

"The Followers were pleasant people, Lewman thought, but most of them seemed to be brainwashed. They'd forgotten one fundamental fact: Freedom of religion must include freedom within a religion - freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and the freedom to follow your conscience - or it's not a religion at all." (p. 48)

The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan (Books & Banter book club)

I was really looking forward to reading this one, but it was disappointing. The actual story is really interesting and unique, but the way the book is structured makes for frustrating reading (for me anyway). Each chapter has about a page or so from different women who lived and worked at Oak Ridge and following each chapter was a few pages about the history of splitting atoms and understanding atomic energy. The pages about atomic energy could be hard to follow and were very technical. I enjoyed the women's stories, but because you got so little from each woman in each chapter it was hard to remember who was who and keep their stories straight. 

The two biggest things I got from this book was how incredibly secretive this whole operation was and how that could almost never happen today. And how many of the women agreed to jobs where they didn't know where it was, what they were doing, who they were working for, etc. and yet they signed up in droves! And it never occurred to many of them to ever question anything - not how most women are today for sure. Overall, the story was interesting and I did like aspects of the book, but thought the book was overly detailed and it could be hard to keep each woman's story straight. 

A few quotes I liked:

"The Project liked high school girls, especially those from rural backgrounds. Recruiters sought them out relentlessly, feeling young women were easy to instruct. They did what they were told. They weren't overly curious. If you tell a young woman of 18 from a small-town background to do something, she'll do it, no questions asked. Educated women and men, people who had gone to college and learned just enough to think that they might 'know' something, gave you problems. The Project scoured the countryside of Tennessee and beyond looking for recent graduates." (p. 69)

"There had been plans for an entire Negro Village, one that would have resembled the main Townsite with construction like the white homes, separate but essentially equal. But as housing became limited throughout CEW in 1943, it was decided that the Negro Village would become East Village - for whites. Lieutenant Colonel Crenshaw, who was in charge of the program, explained why. Negroes didn't want nice houses, he wrote. His office had received virtually no applications for the village. The negroes felt more comfortable in the huts, that was what was familiar to them - or so went Crenshaw's rationale...The hutments remained, no matter one's marital status, earnings, or seniority, the only housing for black workers." (p. 91)

"The Project probably never saw this coming. The government wasn't interested in social experiments, didn't give a second thought to the cultural-anthropological ramifications of the world they had set in motion. The Project had put all the pieces in place: single young men and women from all over the country. Wives. Mothers...A bond formed among them. For those who chose to stay, there was going to be a community and family,planned or otherwise, like it or not. The military may have been in charge, but the irrepressible life force that is woman - that was well beyond their control. The only thing that would be temporary was the war." (p. 98)

"Over in the hospital, care had taken a disturbing turn for the automobile-crash patient HP-12, formerly known as Ebb Cade. He had been set on a new course of treatment not related to his immediate injuries: The injections had begun April 10, 1945. The first dose that was administered to HP-12 was 4.7 micrograms of 49: plutonium. Years later, a Dr. Howland would state that he had initially objected to the instructions he'd received to inject HP-12 with plutonium. There was no consent given from the patient to proceed with the injections. But he stated he performed them in any case, because he said he was given a direct order from his supervisor, Dr. Friedell. This was an order that Dr. Friedell, for his part, later claimed never to have given. Indeed, Dr. Friedell said HP-12's injections were administered by a Dr. Dwight Clark. This has never been resolved. The doctors made plans to collect biological samples - tissues, urine, feces - all of which would be tested for the presence of plutonium, to see how it would travel, how much of it would remain in the body, and what effect it might have on HP-12...As for HP-12's broken bones, they were not set until April 15, 20 days after the crash. The doctors felt it would be easier that way, considering the tests that needed to be done...The doctors had previously noted tooth decay and inflammation of the gums in the patient. So the doctor - Clark or Howland, depending on who later was relating the story - decided that in addition to the bone samples, they would remove 15 of HP-12's teeth." (p. 221-2)

"Early reports that the atomic bomb could keep killing long after its blast had subsided were dismissed by the US military as propaganda. The Allied occupation of Japan, from the end of the war through April 1952, made it easier to censor news reports. For this reason, both the Japanese and American public were slow to learn of the longer-lasting consequences of this new weapon." (p. 291)

"Ebb Cade was not the only test subject. It turned out that between 1945 and 1947, 18 people were injected with plutonium, specifically: 11 at Rochester, New York, 3 at the University of Chicago, 3 at UC San Francisco, and 1, Ebb Cade, at Oak Ridge. Several thousand human radiation experiments were conducted between 1944 and 1974. In 1994, President Clinton appointed the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE) to investigate these and other experiments funded by the United States government. Their final report was published in 1996." (p. 293)

"Once her kids were a bit older, Dot took a job at the museum [of Atomic Energy in Oak Ridge] as a docent. She had enjoyed it at first, being able to share the work she had done as a cubical operator. Veterans and civilians alike were proud of their contributions to World War II. Why shouldn't she be?...But one woman in particular strode up to Dot, glaring, and asked, 'Aren't you ashamed you helped build a bomb that killed all those people?' The truth was, Dot did have conflicting feelings. There was sadness at the loss of life, yes, but that wasn't the only thing she felt. They had all been so happy, so thrilled, when the war ended. Didn't any of these people remember that? And yes, Oak Ridgers felt horrible when they saw the pictures of the aftermath in Japan. Relief. Fear. Joy. Sadness. Decades later, how could she explain this to someone who hadn't lived through that war, let alone in Oak Ridge? Dot knew the woman wanted a simple answer, so she gave her one. 'Well,' she said, 'they killed my brother.'" (p. 304-5)

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

Allison Weiss has a perfect looking life - she loves her husband, they have a huge beautiful home outside Philadelphia, she has a smart and beautiful 5-year-old daughter, and her "on the side" blog has become incredibly successful. So why does she feel like she's drowning? When Allison hurts her back at the gym her doctor prescribes Vicodin she describes it "like that scene in The Wizard of Oz where everything goes from black-and-white to color." And from that moment on she begins to rely more and more on the pills to get her through the day. Soon she is quickly going through a 30 day supply in half that time, then a week, then a few days. Allison thinks no one notices anything different about her, but her friends and family see her change. When she has an incident at her daughter's school, her husband steps in and demands she go to rehab. But, someone like Allison doesn't need rehab - she's not using illegal drugs and isn't prostituting herself to pay for a fix. She decides to "fake it" to get through rehab so she can get back to her life. But, will she be able to "fake it" or will she really turn her life around?

Jennifer Weiner does an excellent job portraying a "normal" woman's slip into prescription pill addiction. This is another fantastic book by one of my favorite authors.

Unlikely Heroes by Jennifer Holland

This is another great collaboration of animal stories. Instead of animal friendships like the previous books, this one is a collection of stories about animals that acted in heroic ways. The book is divided into 3 sections - Superheroes, Everyday Heroes, Big-Picture Heroes. There are some really great stories and if you're an animal lover you will love this book! Each story is only a few pages and includes lots of pictures, so it's a really quick read. Another great collection from Jennifer Holland!

Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them by Isaac Fitzgerald

I was disappointed with this book. I love tattoos and hearing the stories behind them, so I thought this would be a really interesting book. One of the authors explains the artwork in the book as "A tattoo, whether an ornate full back piece or a scratcher job done in somebody's living room, is art. A photograph of a tattoo never quite captures it; here, art represents art, art representing stories, stories representing life." (p. x) So each story is a drawing of a person and their tattoo(s). Some of the stories are for older, first tattoos, so a photograph might not do it justice, but that's what I would have rather seen. Some of the stories were interesting, but some were just a line or two without much of a story. Overall, it was disappointing and I wouldn't recommend it.

Swimming in the Moon by Pamela Schoenewaldt

This was a unique book that captured a definitive time in America's history. In 1905 Lucia is living in Italy with her mother, Teresa, as servants in the villa of a Count. Teresa can be "difficult" and "moody" so from a young age Lucia learns how to help calm her mother down. But, one day Teresa goes too far and attacks the Count, a fellow servant helps them escape to America. In America Teresa and Lucia find a life of factory drudgery awaits them, until Teresa's voice is discovered by a vaudeville producer. Soon she is travelling all over the US as a vaudeville act while Lucia stays in Cleveland to finish high school. But, all too soon Teresa's demons catch up with her and she has a nervous breakdown. Lucia must give up her dream of college to care for her mentally ill mother. Will Lucia ever break the cycle of poverty and live the American Dream?

My only complaint about the book was that the first half was pretty slow and while a LOT happens in the second half everything wraps up a little too neatly for Lucia. I do think the overall picture of immigrant life in America seemed pretty accurate and Lucia's struggles seem realistic too. The author also does a good job of incorporating labor issues and reform pretty seamlessly into the storyline. Overall, a good but not great book.

October 2014 Cookbooks

Brown Sugar Kitchen by Tanya Holland

Brown Sugar Kitchen is a collection of recipes from a restaurant of the same name in Oakland, CA. The author and chef owner of the restaurant was inspired by her Southern grandmother's cooking, but also her culinary training in Paris, France. Her food is a reinvention of Southern classic dishes. There were quite a few recipes I'd like to try and I'd love to be able to check out the restaurant one day. I love any cookbook with Southern or Southern inspired dishes and this one fits the bill.

Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen by Dana Cowin

I thought this would be a really interesting and helpful cookbook, but I was disappointed. The author works for Food & Wine magazine and was always embarrassed that her home cooking wasn't better since she had such good resources through her job. In the cookbook she works with various chefs to learn how to correct her kitchen mistakes. There were a few good tips (let baking ingredients come to room temp, read a recipe all the way through before you start, etc.), but overall it was disappointing. There weren't any recipes I wanted to try either. Overall, it did have some good tips, but not a great cookbook.

My Prairie Cookbook by Melissa Gilbert

This is part cookbook and part photo book/memoir about Melissa Gilbert's time playing Laura Ingalls on the TV show Little House on the Prairie. Throughout the books are tons of photographs and memories of Gilbert's time on the TV show. Some of the recipes are ones inspired by the show and others are just some of Gilbert's personal favorites. Overall, it was an interesting book particularly if you were a fan of the Little House on the Prairie TV show. There are a few recipes I'd like to try, but nothing ground-breaking or super creative in my opinion - good, but not great.

My Perfect Pantry by Geoffrey Zakarian

I love watching Geoffrey Zakarian as a judge on Chopped and on Iron Chef, so I was excited to check out this cookbook. The basic premise is that by stocking your pantry with good staples it makes cooking good meals regularly easier. Zakarian goes over the pantry staples he would recommend and gives a few recipes for each staple. There are definitely a few recipes I'd like to try from this one. Overall, not a new cookbook premise, but worth checking out.