At age 28, Hadley Richardson is not likely to get married. But she travels to Chicago and meets 21 year-old Ernest Hemingway. A courtship begins via l...moreAt age 28, Hadley Richardson is not likely to get married. But she travels to Chicago and meets 21 year-old Ernest Hemingway. A courtship begins via letter, they eventually marry and then move to Paris so that Ernest can pursue focus on his writing.
This story is told from the point-of-view of Hadley, Hemingway’s first wife, and what their life in Paris during the 1920s was like. While in Paris, they meet and befriend Gertrude Stein and her lover, Alice Toklas, Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, among others.
Hemingway is fairly controlling but Hadley grew up with a controlling mother and had been living with her sister, who was like her mother and very controlling with her husband. Neither had happy marriages and Hadley did not want her marriage to be like either of theirs.
Hadley is supportive of Hemingway throughout the marriage and their life is Paris is not easy. They don’t have a lot of money and Hemingway often has trouble writing. Then, Hadley becomes pregnant while they were on vacation and she had forgotten her birth control.
It would appear they will get through these struggles until Hadley befriends Pauline, a friend of one of Hadley’s childhood friends who is in Paris. Pauline is the first of Hadley’s friends that Ernest can tolerate and she starts to join the Hemingways at their home and on vacations. Until Hadley cannot handle the arrangement and demands a divorce.
I enjoyed this book. The writing is beautiful and the story is well-told.(less)
The first book in Hallaway’s new Vampire Princess series introduces us to Anastasija Parker, a somewhat geeky high school student with a penchant for...moreThe first book in Hallaway’s new Vampire Princess series introduces us to Anastasija Parker, a somewhat geeky high school student with a penchant for the drama club, who at her 16th birthday will find that her absentee dad isn’t the deadbeat her mother told her he was. She also finds out that she’s not a “true” witch like her mother and is quite possibly, more like her father – a vampire king.
Now her mother and father are fighting over what her destiny will be and she’s got two boys with crushes on her – one a witch and one a vampire. And then there’s the strange behavior she’s starting to exhibit at school.
How will she choose?
Once again, I really enjoyed this book by Hallaway. Her characters are quirky, fun and struggle with the answers. It didn’t hurt that the story is set at a fictional high school in St Paul that closely resembles Central High School and the setting is in the St Paul area and since that’s where I live, it was fun to imagine this all happening around my neighborhood.(less)
When Johnny Merrimon was thirteen, his twin sister, Alyssa, was kidnapped. It’s now a year later and his life has changed completely. Everyone presume...moreWhen Johnny Merrimon was thirteen, his twin sister, Alyssa, was kidnapped. It’s now a year later and his life has changed completely. Everyone presumes his sister is dead, his father has left the family, his mother is addicted to pills and seeing an abusive man, Ken Holloway, (who is also one of the richest and most influential men in the county) and they’ve lost their home.
But Johnny won’t give up hope and prays for three things: find his sister, his father’s return and that someone kills Ken Holloway. Johnny has a map of the town and uses it to track who he has questioned about his sister’s disappearance. He constantly skips school to bike around town to find out what really happened to his sister.
At the same time police detective, Clyde Hunter, is still trying to solve the disappearance of Alyssa Merrimon. He also knows that Johnny is trying to do an investigation of his own and that it’s dangerous for Johnny to do this. He’s given Johnny and his mother his card with his number many times so they can call him. But they don’t.
Then, another girl goes missing. And, a man tumbles over a bridge where Johnny is and tells him that he found her. Johnny is sure the “her” is Alyssa, but the detectives think he might mean the girl that went missing.
I really enjoyed this book. The story takes multiple twists and turns. How all the pieces fall together is shocking. The good guys aren’t always good and those who are thought to be bad aren’t always bad.
And, to a degree, Johnny does get his three wishes.(less)
This is the third book in the Garnet Lacey series and Garnet's life is moving into the fast lane -- she's negotiating to buy the occult bookstore that...moreThis is the third book in the Garnet Lacey series and Garnet's life is moving into the fast lane -- she's negotiating to buy the occult bookstore that she's been managing and her she is officially engaged to Sebastian. But now he is missing.
Garnet isn't quite sure what has happened to him. Was he done in by his son -- who ratted him and Garnet out to the Vatican witch hunters in exchange for a Jag? Had he run off with someone else? Or, had something horrible happened to him?
And, there's this werewolf following Garnet around.
In this story, Garnet has to trust he future stepson, Mátyás, to help her find Sebastian and battle with someone who is trying to steal Lilith, the goddess that lives in Garnet's body, from her.
Just who can she trust and how will she protect herself from those who want to harm her?
Once again, another enjoyable story about Garnet. Hallaway has a writing style that keeps you interested and a great sense of humor in all her stories.(less)
Another book read for a book club. Definitely a classic and one that I wouldn’t have probably chose to read of my own accord. Definitely a book worth...moreAnother book read for a book club. Definitely a classic and one that I wouldn’t have probably chose to read of my own accord. Definitely a book worth reading.
The story follows Esther Greenwood – a brilliant, talented and beautiful college student in the early 1950s. The story opens in June 1953, the month the Rosebergs were electrocuted for treason, with Esther at an exclusive month-long internship working at a New York magazine. She is given her own room at a New York hotel – as are all the other girls – and she works as an editor’s assistant at a New York magazine part of the day and is taken to plays, fashion shows, shopping trips, etc. the rest of the time.
As the month of her internship draws to a close, Esther will have to go back home and begin her life again as a scholarship-based college student. We see her begin to behave strangely but we also know her thoughts and her behavior just seems to be that of a young woman who knows she has a lot of talent and is facing the pressure to succeed.
As the story progresses, her behavior definitely becomes that of someone who is experiencing an extreme mental breakdown in a time where mental illness is shunned and the treatments are none or barbaric.
The story is beautifully written and is a semi-autobiographical account of the author’s life as a young woman. As I read it, I was heartbroken with how little was known about mental illness and how horribly the people who suffered from mental diseases were treated by the people they knew and often by the people in medicine.
Her life under the bell jar and eventual, if temporary, escape from the bell jar is riveting.(less)
I read this book for one of my book clubs. I was actually looking forward to reading this book as I thought it would be very interesting to learn abou...moreI read this book for one of my book clubs. I was actually looking forward to reading this book as I thought it would be very interesting to learn about three women pioneers in the music industry: Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. But I often found myself struggling to get through it many times. The author is challenged with tracking friends of the three women whose name change throughout the story as they marry and divorce – which could cause some confusion. But there were only two or three women that I recall that being the case and none of them had the same first name.
The bigger challenge, for me, was the focus the author put on all the people around them – especially focusing on who worked with them in the studio. To someone who is an insider in the music industry or who has a strong historical background in the 60s and 70s music production those details are probably very impressive. To me, the average schmoe, it looked like an attempt to drop names – but I’m not all that impressed because I don’t know who these people are.
The three women’s stories are very interesting and it’s very interesting how much their lives intertwined with each other.
Carole King was born to a middle-class working family and grew up in a family that strongly encouraged her musical talents. She married and had children while she was young. She didn’t start out as a singer and had no desire to sing. She was a song writer foremost in her mind when she got her first break in the industry. She wrote many hits for early R&B artists while living in New York by the time she was 21. Eventually she divorced her husband and moved to California where she continued writing and eventually started her own singing career. She did some work with James Taylor.
Joni Mitchell was born in Saskatchewan Canada to a middle class family. She grew up in a family where the women focused on raising their families. As a teen-ager, she was considered a very talented artist and poet and did work as a model. At college, she studied art and writing and performed music to share her poetry and make some money. In her early 20s, she became pregnant and eventually gave her daughter up for adoption. This was a big secret that she carried with her until it was made public by a British tabloid. As to how this was a big secret is hard to understand, since every man she dated after that was told about the daughter given up for adoption. I felt Joni took the most control of her career – writing and producing most of her albums. At one point, she was dating James Taylor. At least until he met Carly Simon.
Carly Simon is the daughter of publisher giant Richard Simon of Simon and Schuster. She grew up in wealth and privilege and in her sisters’ shadows. She wasn’t the one that anyone thought would become famous. She worked as a secretary and other clerical type jobs and did some writing. She wrote a successful commercial jingle and eventually got into writing and recording her own music. She spent a great deal of her life seeking psychological help for her feelings of abandonment as a child (her parent’s marriage was not a hpappy one and had affairs) and she had to overcome extreme stage fright. Eventually she met James Taylor – he was still dating Joni Mitchell when the two of them started a relationship. After a while, they married and had two children. Throughout their marriage, James was addicted to heroine and it was a strong factor in the break-up of their marriage.
Overall, it’s not a bad book, but I think it could have left out about 1/3 of the information and still told the story effectively.(less)
The third and final book in the All the King's Men trilogy. This is the book that my book club is reading and what lead me to read the first two. My r...moreThe third and final book in the All the King's Men trilogy. This is the book that my book club is reading and what lead me to read the first two. My read the books in order rule has not disappointed me.
King Henry has died young and left a young widow, Queen Katherine, and the toddler king. There are two factions, the Gloucesters and Winchesters, fighting to "guide" the young king, who has been taken from the foreign queen (Queen Katherine is French.) Lady Linnet, our heroine, is one of the queen's advisors, but her most urgent desire is to seek revenge for Grandfather against the men who cheated him and left her and her twin brother, Francois, to starve upon his death. She is intent so intent on revenge that she will sacrifice everything, including love, to achieve her goal.
Our story opens in France with Lady Linnet in bed with her childhood sweetheart, Sir Jamie Rayburn, the step-son of Lord William FitzAlan. Linnet is supposed to be engaged to another man when they are caught together in bed. But not by accident, for Linnet has no desire to marry the man her father has chosen for her, Guy Pomeroy. Jamie is unaware of Linnet's plot until they are discovered together and he leaves for England, heartsick at the cruelty of Linnet's refusal of his proposal.
Five years later in London, Jamie rescues Linnet from a near riot in the streets of London and learns that she is an advisor to the queen while he is an advisor to the Bishop of Winchester. Their romance is eventually reignited and eventually Linnet agrees to an engagement to Jamie with the promise to stop her quest for vengeance.
But one night, Linnet sees an opportunity to obtain her last revenge and she ignores her promise to Jamie, certain that he will never learn of her transgression. Linnet is wrong and Jamie learns of her betrayal and calls off the engagement.
Linnet stills wants Jamie, but Jamie is determined to find a wife he can trust and soon his family has arranged for him to marry a woman whose only desire is to enter a convent -- but her family has land, something that Jamie as the step-son of Lord FitzAlan does not have.
God's beard, when will our misguided lovers learn that they belong together? For sooth, certainly Jamie knows that Linnet needs him -- especially since her quest for vengeance is taking her into danger. (I just love the quaint little phrases used during the 15th century.)
Yes, another great story. I anxiously await more from this author.(less)
In 1891, five-year-old Rachel Kalama is a young and carefree girl living in Hawaii. She spends her days playing with her siblings and friends and look...moreIn 1891, five-year-old Rachel Kalama is a young and carefree girl living in Hawaii. She spends her days playing with her siblings and friends and looks forward to steamer day – when her father comes home from his work on a steamer boat.
But life will not remain idyllic for Rachel. Soon her favorite Uncle, Pono, is sent away to Moloka’i because he has contracted leprosy and the only way that was known to prevent the spread of the disease was to quarantine the people. It also created an intense stigma for the family of the victim. Rachel does not understand why her uncle is gone and misses him immensely.
Inspectors come into her school on a regular basis looking for children who have developed leprosy to send away. One day, when she is seven, Rachel notices she has a sore that won’t heal. She does her best to hide it, but it is eventually found and she is sent to Moloka’i.
This causes much sorrow and chaos in her life and family. Rachel is initially allowed live with her uncle (who has been divorced by his wife) and the woman he lives with. The nuns who run the home for the girls under 16 are not happy about this and soon order Pono to allow Rachel to live with the other girls to protect her from the immorality outside the home.
Rachel is initially not happy about this. But she soon befriends the other girls and, most especially, one of the nuns who becomes integral in helping Rachel live through the happy and sad times that are to come.
This is a very moving and endearing story. While a massive change like this might seem like the end of life for most, it’s a beginning and an opening to a whole new world for Rachel.(less)
Mark Doty is a professor and has published books of poetry and non-fiction prose. This is a memoir of his life with Beau, a golden retriever he adopte...moreMark Doty is a professor and has published books of poetry and non-fiction prose. This is a memoir of his life with Beau, a golden retriever he adopted from an animal shelter to be a companion for his dying partner, Wally. The two already owned another dog, Arden.
He writes about how the dogs helped him through his darkest days after the death of Wally and as he moved on to a new relationship with Paul, as well as the lessons he learned from them.
This was a book for my book club, so it's definitely something I wouldn't have chosen to read on my own. I enjoyed parts of the book but I felt like he kind of bounced around in time. He would be talking about what was happening at that point and bring up something that would happen in the future. For me, that made parts of the story rather jerky.
He also incorporated a lot of Emily Dickinson's poetry. I'm not a poetry fan and have very little knowledge of the genre. Maybe I would have enjoyed these segments more if I was more familiar with Dickson and other poets or just enjoyed poetry more.
There were a couple points in the story where I just found the author to be annoying. One was when he, Paul, their two cats and the two dogs move to live in Iowa City while he works for a semester (or two) at the University of Iowa. The University helps him to find temporary housing and in doing so, tells him he needs to lie to the person he will be renting the home from and say he has a small dog. He's not comfortable with this, but the person at the University assures him this is the only way she will be able to secure him housing that will allow all the pets.
The owner is living someone else during this time, so they are moving into a furnished home and the owner has some fairly explicit directions about how she would like things maintained so the animal doesn't (or should we say "animals don't") damage anything. The author belittles the owners desire to maintain and care for her furnishings because they aren't all that valuable and says they are lower quality than Ikea. As if only high-end and expensive furnishings should be maintained. At this point, he's already written about how he's felt suicidal at times and wants the reader to feel some empathy for him, but he can't come up with empathy for someone who may have purchased the best furnishings for their home that they can and understand why they would want to return home to find these items still in good condition.
The other incident that sticks out takes place in New York. Another dog is waiting outside a store for its owner and comes up to Beau and the two are doing the doggy get-to-know-you routine when the female owner comes out and, in a tone that the author interprets, as snippy, orders her dog to come along. He attributes this to the woman thinking that he (a gay man) is looking to hit on her or that she doesn't want her dog to socialize. It never crosses his mind that the women knows he's gay so doesn't see this as him hitting on her and that she's just in a hurry to get home. Maybe she has a deathly ill parent at home or a sick child. Perhaps she was just diagnosed with a terminal illness. Maybe she's just having a bad day and wants to get home and take a bath. But those options aren't presented -- it's purely about the person not wanting to be around him or his dog.
It's not a bad book. Perhaps a dog owner would like it better.(less)
In 1993, after a failed attempt to climb K2, Greg Mortenson's life is saved by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village.
To thank the people for...moreIn 1993, after a failed attempt to climb K2, Greg Mortenson's life is saved by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village.
To thank the people for their aid, Mr Mortenson vows to return to the village and build a school for the village.
He returns the US and begins his efforts to raise the money needed to build the school. It's not easy and he often despairs that he will not be able to keep his promise to the people, but eventually he raises the money and goes back to Pakistan to build the school.
Upon his arrival, he faces another obstacle -- he has the supplies, but no way to get them to the village because the existing bridge from the nearest town can't handle the materials.
Now he has to raise the funds to build the bridge.
Mr Mortenson does not let this stop him.
From this one school, Mr Mortenson has gone on to build many more schools and has devoted his life to fighting terrorism through education, specifically the education of girls. (A mission that he was in the process of developing on 9/11/2001.)
I read this book several years ago for a Diversity Book Club at work.(less)
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