Little Wolves

Book 5 of my 2015 Reading Challenge

read from Jan. 19 - Jan. 20

Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman

Summary (via the book jacket)

Set on the Minnesota prairie in the late 1980s during a drought season that's pushing family farms to the brink, Little Wolves features the intertwining stories of a father searching for answers after his son commits a heinous murder, and a pastor's wife (and washed-out scholar of early Anglo-Saxon literature) who has returned to the town for mysterious reasons of her own. A penetrating look at small-town American from the award-winning author of The Night Birds, Little Wolves weaves together elements of folklore and Norse mythology while being driven by a powerful murder mystery.

My Opinion

Our book club read this because it was an All Iowa Reads selection. 

Just as you can really like a person but not love everything that they say, I really liked this book even though I didn't love every paragraph. 

On the plus side, it was intense and difficult to put down at times. The writing was so vivid I would look up and be surprised that I'm not sitting in a barn on a rainy night with the characters right in front of me. I nodded with familiarity at the descriptions of small town life such as "Know the price of beans or the weather forecast, and you might find your way into a conversation" and "people lived in this town for twenty-five years and were still counted as strangers".

On the minus side, it is difficult to recommend because there are many elements to it - religious but also a hint of supernatural - that keep it from falling into a simple "you like a particular genre (religion, mystery, supernatural, etc.)? try this book" category. Also, after toeing the line for most of the book, the ending was a letdown because it went too far into the spiritual side for my liking.  I'm sure there are things that I missed (extra meaning in the chapter titles or significance in the multiple injuries that led to bleeding palms) because I tend not to focus on religious aspects or lessons. 

I was not surprised to see in the author's note that he woke up one morning hearing a father's voice and needing to follow it led to the book because Grizz was the most vivid character to me.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"Clara Warren's hand shook as she marked the words on the page because she knew she was trapped inside one of her father's stories, and the only way out was to write it down. She wrote as if her life depended on it, and maybe it did."

"Few people know you as well as those who hate you."

"Sometimes Seth smiled his small secret smile because there was music inside him when he was alone in his thoughts. And Grizz had to turn away, the familiar expression reminding him too sharply of the boy's mother. Seth's hand for drawing, his fancy-flighting, his desperate capacity to love the wrong things: all this he inherited from her."

" "Rilke says that we live out our lives in the horizontal." He drew his hand slowly along the surface of the table, "but every now and then, even in an ordinary life, we touch the vertical." "

The Astronaut Wives Club

Book 4 of my 2015 Reading Challenge

read from Jan. 12 - Jan. 19

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel

Summary (via Goodreads)

As America's Mercury Seven astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, television cameras focused on the brave smiles of their young wives. Overnight, these women were transformed from military spouses into American royalty. They had tea with Jackie Kennedy, appeared on the cover of Life magazine, and quickly grew into fashion icons.
Annie Glenn, with her picture-perfect marriage, was the envy of the other wives; platinum-blonde Rene Carpenter was proclaimed JFK's favorite; and licensed pilot Trudy Cooper arrived on base with a secret. Together with the other wives they formed the Astronaut Wives Club, meeting regularly to provide support and friendship. Many became next-door neighbors and helped to raise each other's children by day, while going to glam parties at night as the country raced to land a man on the Moon.
As their celebrity rose-and as divorce and tragic death began to touch their lives-they continued to rally together, and the wives have now been friends for more than fifty years. THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB tells the real story of the women who stood beside some of the biggest heroes in American history.

My Opinion

The book starts off with an explanation of how The Astronaut Wives Club came to be.  The pressure wasn't just on the men who were among the first to go into space but also on their wives to be presentable/articulate for reporters, to have orderly lives/homes/children so their husbands would be able to focus on their jobs, and to basically have their world turned upside down with sudden publicity and scrutiny.  The wives learned very quickly that nobody would be able to understand this better than the other wives so they formed a club; besides meeting regularly they also supported and helped each other. 

Although it talks about space and NASA the main focus is the women.  It was an interesting look back at a different time.  Some of the criteria NASA used to determine which applicants to choose was the stability of their family (one woman stayed married to her husband because she knew how important this was to him and he wouldn't have been chosen if they had divorced) and how many times per week their wife cooked a meal at home; it seems silly now but it was very serious then.  The book ended with the stat that after all the pressure, only 7 of the 30 couples mentioned in the book stayed together and the Astronaut Wives Club has been renamed the Original Wives Club.

Although it sounded incredibly stressful and I wouldn't want to be scrutinized that closely (or have to deal with my husband having groupies, ha!) there were perks as well and they seemed to become accustomed to them pretty quickly. I found the story of how they all wore pink lipstick for their group cover photo of Life and were surprised to see it was changed to red lipstick when the issue printed (the magazine felt bright red was "more patriotic" than pink) funny and strange.  I also felt bad for the wife that stuttered and how much she practiced so it wouldn't be noticeable during her obligatory press statements. 

I wonder if it's a coincidence that most of the scandal/dirt was about Alan and Louise Shepard and they're both deceased.  I don't think the stories are untrue necessarily but I think some things are easier to say when you know they won't be reading it.

Overall I found it to be a bit uneven.  When she focused on the Mercury 7 wives it was a 5 star read for me.  As she moved beyond them I didn't enjoy it as much because it felt like she kept introducing people without spending much time on them so I didn't know them and had trouble keeping them straight (even the description of the book only mentioned the original 7).  I would've either stopped and made the book solely about the Mercury 7 or expanded and given more space to later wives/missions (Apollo 13 is a pretty famous mission and there wasn't much about what their wives were feeling at all, surprising based on the focus given to earlier missions).

A Few Quotes from the Book

"Joan was heartbroken. She swore she'd never have another monkey." ~ I think this is funny to quote without giving any context whatsoever.

"The monthly coffees and teas of the Astronaut Wives Club served the same purpose [Marge] did: 'If you need us, come'."

"Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. As you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth. For one priceless moment, in the whole history of man, all the people on Earth are truly one." ~ President Nixon to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during his phone call from the White House to the moon

I Am Malala

Book 3 of my 2015 Reading Challenge

read from Jan. 4 - Jan. 12

I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World

by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick

**Note: I read the Young Readers Edition and don't know if/how it differs from her original memoir.

Summary (via the book jacket)

Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region. They said music was a crime. They said women weren't allowed to go to the market. They said girls couldn't go to school.

Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on October 9, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause. She was shot point-blank while riding the bus on her way home from school.

No one expected her to survive.

Now she is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee. In this Young Readers Edition of her bestselling memoir, which includes exclusive photos and material, we hear firsthand the remarkable story of a girl who knew from a young age that she wanted to change the world - and did.

Malala's powerful story will open your eyes to another world and will make you believe in hope, truth, miracles, and the possibility that one person - one young person - can inspire change in her community and beyond.

My Opinion

What an inspiration. Named for the Pashtun heroine Malalai, who inspired her countrymen with her courage, Malala absolutely lives up to her name.

I was completely ignorant of how much Malala had done prior to being shot. While Malala showed extreme courage and conviction, this book helped me realize the impact on her entire family. It began with her dad ignoring customs about how girls were treated from the moment she was born and raising her to be confident and value education. It continued with support from her mom.  The discrepancy between her dad running a school and her mom being illiterate was a good illustration of the culture, and I was happy to read Malala inspired her mom to learn to read. Her entire family, including her brothers, had to adjust to life in England (where they've lived since the shooting). 

I bought this as a present for my daughter and look forward to the conversations we will have after she reads it.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"The Taliban shot me to try to silence me. Instead, the whole world was listening to my message now."

"But my father told me not to worry [about the Taliban]. 'I will protect your freedom, Malala,' he said. 'Carry on with your dreams'."

"I had grown up hearing the word terrorism, but I never really understood what it meant. Until now. Terrorism is different from war - where soldiers face one another in battle. Terrorism is fear all around you. It is going to sleep at night and not knowing what horrors the next day will bring. It is huddling with your family in the center-most room in your house because you've all decided it's the safest place to be. It is walking down your own street and not knowing whom you could trust. Terrorism is the fear that when your father walks out the door in the morning, he won't come back at night."

"This was my calling. Some powerful force had come to dwell inside me, something bigger and stronger than me, and it had made me fearless. Now it was up to me to give my father a dose of the courage he had always given me."

The Vacationers

Book 2 of my 2015 Reading Challenge

read from Jan. 1 - Jan. 5

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

Summary (via Goodreads)

For the Posts, a two-week trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and their daughter, Sylvia, has graduated from high school. The sunlit island, its mountains and beaches, its tapas and tennis courts, also promise an escape from the tensions simmering at home in Manhattan. But all does not go according to plan: over the course of the vacation, secrets come to light, old and new humiliations are experienced, childhood rivalries resurface, and ancient wounds are exacerbated.
This is a story of the sides of ourselves that we choose to show and those we try to conceal, of the ways we tear each other down and build each other up again, and the bonds that ultimately hold us together. With wry humor and tremendous heart, Emma Straub delivers a richly satisfying story of a family in the midst of a maelstrom of change, emerging irrevocably altered yet whole.

My Opinion

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one.  It drew me in but it made me uncomfortable because I had that feeling that bad things were going to happen.  I was interested but didn't want to become invested because it was so negative and none of the characters were particularly likable.  There were a lot of issues going on; is that what family life is really like?

There were some interesting descriptions, such as saying a crowd "made Sylvia fold in half like a toy with dead batteries".  And I definitely related to the moment when Franny unexpectedly found herself laughing with Jim and then stopped herself because she needed to hold on to her anger and wasn't ready to do that with him yet.

I rated it in the middle because I was interested but also unsettled as I read.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"Like most things, sex got better with age until one hit a certain plateau, and then it was like breakfast, unlikely to change unless one ran out of milk and was forced to improvise."

"There was nothing in life harder or more important than agreeing every morning to stay the course, to go back to your forgotten self of so many years ago, and to make the same decision. Marriage, like ships, need steering, and steady hands at the wheel."

I Like You Just the Way I Am

Book 1 of my 2015 Reading Challenge

read from Jan. 1 - Jan. 4

I Like You Just the Way I Am by Jenny Mollen

Summary (via Goodreads)

Jenny Mollen is an actress and writer living in Los Angeles. She is also a wife, married to a famous guy (which is annoying only because he gets free shit and she doesn't). She doesn’t want much from life. Just to be loved—by everybody: her parents, her dogs, her ex-boyfriends, her ex-boyfriends’ dogs, her husband, her husband’s ex-girlfriends, her husband's ex-girlfriend's new boyfriends, etc. Some people might call that impulse crazy, but isn’t "crazy" really just a word boring people use to describe fun people? (And Jenny is really, really fun, you guys!)
In these pages, you’ll find stories of Jenny at her most genuine, whether it’s stalking her therapist (because he knows everything about her so shouldn’t she get to know everything about him?); throwing a bachelorette party so bad that one of the guests is suspected dead; or answering the eternal question, Would your best friend blow your husband on a car ride to dinner if she didn't know you were hiding in the backseat?
I Like You Just the Way I Am is about not doing the right thing—about indulging your inner crazy-person. It is Jenny when she’s not trying to impress anyone or come across as a responsible, level-headed member of society. With any luck it will make you better acquainted with who you really are and what you really want. Which, let’s be honest, is most likely someone else’s email password.

My Opinion

Wow, Jenny definitely puts it all out there!  Although I found some of what she said less 'haha funny' and more 'look how shocking I am', it was very readable.  She makes horrible situations (like with her mom) sound breezy and turned a tough childhood into anecdotes.  

With memoirs like this I always wonder about the family members/friends mentioned.  Jenny's obviously very open but if others aren't it could lead to some awkward holidays.  I'm thinking specifically of how she badmouths her mother-in-law and of the very detailed chapter about getting her husband a hooker for his birthday.  Not that that's something a person needs to worry about - why write a memoir if you're going to censor yourself? - but I'm always curious about reactions and interactions. 

Her descriptions were very vivid. That's great when engaging a reader but there's a flip side too.  I'm writing this review super late (I KNOW) using notes I took at the time but I don't need notes to remember how she described removing an ingrown hair...for some reason that stuck with me and probably will for some time.  

Even though a lot of this book made me cringe, I liked her writing style enough to peek at her social media posts and would probably read another one of her books.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"The stories you're about to read are basically true. Though I tried to do my best in depicting the events as I remembered them, there are exaggerations, some characters are composites, and some time periods are condensed. The only thing I'm sure of with complete certainty is that I was really thin and cute the whole time I was writing this."

"I took a minute to sum up the situation: I was currently locked in the bathroom, hiding from my therapist, pretending to be marrying a gay ex-con, and getting dropped by my mid-level talent agency. All at the same time."

"When self-obsessed people breed, they make empty people like me who spend the rest of their time on earth trying to gain the love and approval they didn't get as children. This doesn't excuse my behavior. It's just to say, if my parents had actually noticed me, I probably wouldn't care so much about whether everyone else on the planet adored me. Unfortunately, I'm a bottomless pit of need, and here are several people who have suffered because of it..."

Sixth Grave on the Edge

Book 91 of my 2014 Reading Challenge

Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones

Book 6 of the Charley Davidson series

Summary (via Goodreads)

Few things in life can come between a grim reaper and her coffee, but the sexy, sultry son of Satan is one of them. Now that Reyes Farrow has asked for her hand, Charley Davidson feels it's time to learn more about his past, but Reyes is reluctant to open up. When the official FBI file of his childhood abduction lands in her lap, Charley decides to go behind her mysterious beau’s back and conduct her own investigation. Because what could go wrong?
Unfortunately, another case has fallen into her lap—one with dangerous implications. Some very insistent men want Charley to hunt down a witness who is scheduled to testify against their boss, a major player in the local crime syndicate. If Charley doesn't come up with an address in 48 hours, the people closest to her will start to disappear. 
Add to that a desperate man in search of the soul he lost in a card game, a dogged mother determined to find the ghost of her son, and a beautiful, young Deaf boy haunted by his new ability to see the departed as clearly as he sees the living, and Charley has her hands full. The fact that Reyes has caught on to her latest venture only adds fuel to the inferno that he is. Good thing for Charley she's used to multi-tasking and always up for a challenge…especially when that challenge comes in the form of Reyes Farrow.

My Opinion

I'm still enjoying this series. Great dialogue and good amounts of humor (I especially like the little funnies from bumper stickers, t-shirt sayings, or status updates that start each chapter). I also love the little snippets of people's lives Charley gets as they cross through her - it's amazing how a life can be condensed to just a few sentences and still be so touching.

There was more sex than I remembered in previous books. It didn't bother me but will probably affect who I recommend the series to in the future.

The things relative to the series and not a particular book, like the prophecies and The Twelve and who needs to die, are going a little over my head at the moment but I'm still enjoying the ride and am sure it will all become clearer as the events unfold. The good thing about being clueless is I can't predict what will happen!

A Few Quotes from the Book

"I watched Captain Eckert in my rearview for a while. And as entertaining as that was, I needed to go see a good guy about a bad guy and figure out why Sleazy Car Guy thought I could help him find his ex, the woman who allegedly saw him commit murder. Sucked when that happened. Lunch would have to wait."

"I could only hope the ransackers got syphilis. I wondered if there was a hashtag for that."

Always, Ian

Book 90 of my 2014 Reading Challenge

I received this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway and would like to thank the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it. 

Always, Ian: The Discovered Journey of Ian Morrison Smith in WWII 

by Pat Smith Hopper

Summary (via Goodreads)

Pat Smith Hopper tells her father's story through his letters home. They are a gift to the family he treasured and the men and women with the character to fight for liberty. Letters home were signed - Always, Ian.
"Not a man cheered. But we were all joyous." From a fragment of a letter home, these few words described the feelings of a U.S. soldier at the breakout of the Allies into the last great Po Valley campaign of WWII in Italy. Ian Morrison Smith's letters home told little of the battles. They reflect the heart, loneliness and character of one soldier during this epic war of freedom. Ian's journey starts in Australia to upstate New York. He tells of his time in Italy and the Po River Valley Campaign, being stationed finally in desolated Hiroshima after the bomb.
Mrs. Hopper weaves the historical facts into her father's story, bringing them to life for the reader. Maps, timelines, photos, clippings from the time and narrative all combine to produce a unique telling of the story of World War II.

My Opinion

Wow, this book has been a part of my life for 3 months and it feels strange to be done with it. It's not a "devour in one sitting" book by any means; it's very thorough and I would happily read 3-5 letters each night before bed.

What a treasure for Ian's family to have this much history. He had a way with words and was a very good storyteller. He did a great job of distracting and staying upbeat, which the prologue said was intentional. He talked about the war and the difficulties but always in a way that made it seem like he wasn't in any danger when I'm sure that wasn't the case. He's also funny. While most letters were to his wife, the letters to his daughter Patty were very sweet. 

His curiosity (observes it's springtime but he sees no birds and mentions going to the library at his next opportunity to find out the reason) and observations made this different than any war journal I've read before. He includes lots of details on "non-war" things such as descriptions of the places he went and the food he ate. The amount of pictures he took, which I was thrilled to see included in the book, really added to the stories as well. He also reviews the movies he sees and books he reads. His list of the 3 cartoonists he expected to have a post-war career (Dave Breger, George Baker, and Bill Mauldin) was accurate but he didn't fare so well on the actresses. He thought Lauren Bacall "shot her complete repertoire in her first movie" and would end up as a character actress only, ha!

His references to the cigarette rations the military provided (14 packs every 2 weeks) and using cigarettes as currency (Italian children selling bags of peanuts for 5 cents or 3 cigarettes) was a reminder of how much times have changed.  

A Few Quotes from the Book

"I have been writing these letters after lunch each day in order to make the mails through the censor. If my pen doesn't make it my mind carries the thoughts to you. I have that snug warm assured feeling that we are both thinking of each other all the time and that our love binds us so close together though the distance may separate us. We've had so many coincidences in regards to mental telepathy that I know and feel at times your thoughts and strength."

"[Homeless orphans] is the price of war and one of the strongest reasons why the Peace to come shall enforce that this thing shall not happen again and that the perpetrators of this crime upon humanity shall indeed come to justice. No one can look at a child - no matter of what nationality - and see hunger and bewilderment and terror in its eyes without having his heart turn over."

"Sweetheart - I write of sights and sounds and you write of home. Our combination of trading experiences I know keeps us both intensely interested."

"We have seen so much of the weaknesses of a democracy; but now we see its strength. A country is far bigger than its leader. It and its people march on...Perhaps, Roosevelt's passing will fire all statesmen and military leaders to rise above petty considerations and redouble their efforts to attain the goals their ex-leader strove for. That is what we humble GI's desire and what we're fighting for." ~ reaction to President Roosevelt's death

"I'm very tired tonight and want to turn in but I cannot feel satisfied that my day is complete unless I take off 20 mins to have our nightly chat."

"Despite the inconveniences we undergo while in uniform there is so much we can enjoy and look upon reflectively...I want to come home to you enriched yet sobered by what I've seen and done and ready to live out our lives together to the full."