Spring Break reads!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Let me preface this review with the following:  I hate video games, I did not allow them in my home when raising children, and I see them as a destroyer of human interaction.  With that said, you might wonder why I would ever read this book?  I questioned that myself, as this entire book is about an interactive simulated video-game world.  However, it's just a really, really good story.  Our hero, Wade Watts, or Parsival, his game avatar, is not what you might call the most 'heroic' character ever.  He's an overweight, teenage boy who lives solely in the Oasis, a simulated world created by a now-dead computer genius.  Said genius left an 'egg' in the Oasis and started a world-wide hunt, with the winner of the 'egg' inheriting his multi-billion dollar estate.  In other words, game on!  The year is 2046, our world is devoid of all things good thanks to the absence of fossil fuel and water, and Wade  prefers the simulated school and world to his dingy trailer park home in the Stacks - who wouldn't?  As the story progresses, we meet Wade's on-line buddies, H and Artemis, and we watch them battle the 'Sixers' (a computer company that will own the world if they find the egg first).  I know - the whole thing just sounds like a bad video game, but Ernest Cline is a masterful story teller.  He creates great suspense, is detailed in his description and creativity of this imaginary world, and has a perfect voice for his teenage hero - many laugh-out-loud moments come along as you listen (as I did), or read this book.  I would highly recommend it for any young adult who loves their video games, as well as parents/adults who wonder what our youth see in that pastime.

Sandrine's Case by Thomas H. Cook
If you liked Gone Girl, you will be intrigued by this book as well.  While I have not read any other books by Cook, I am determined to add him to my 'must-read' authors.  Cook creates an intriguing family in this story, with Sam, the mid-western boy who became a college professor, his wife Sandrine, an aristocratic gifted intellectual, and their daughter, Alexandria, a young woman still searching for who she wants to be.  The book begins with Sam sitting in a courtroom, awaiting the verdict in his own murder trial - did he kill his wife?  The book then flashes back to a variety of time periods, not in chronological order, that replays Sam and Sandrine's life together - student days, young marriage, concerns of tenure, health, friendships - and we, the readers, have to try and piece together the tale of his guilt or innocence, the same as the jury.  Cook has some intriguing twists and turns and has created complex characters whom you both love and hate.  This was a quick read, as I was driven to find the truth.  Could be an intriguing book club option, as some of the 'choices' these two people make are questionable and provoking.

The Police by Jo Nesbo
If you are a mystery fan, loved the Girl series by Stieg Larrson, and you STILL have not discovered Jo Nesbo, you really need to get on board.  Don't be intimidated by the number of his Harry Hole detective books (I haven't read them all - you can easily start anywhere).  Nesbo is the  master of creating sympathetic, tortured, complex characters - and yes, sometimes you invest in them and then they die - but that's what happens in Oslo.  His latest book is probably my favorite.  The mystery surrounds murders of policemen at the scene of an unsolved mystery, that they investigated - nice twist.  We have all of our old favorite characters back, so it feels like old-home week.  Harry Hole never fails to disappoint; he is still the wily detective, who struggles with his drinking and his relationships.  While it does help to read the previous book, it's not completely necessary in order to enjoy this one.  Gruesome murders, complicated story, intriguing characters - another winner by Nesbo.


Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
This was one of the most controversial, talked-about books of 2013, and since I love rebels, I thought it would be intriguing to see what all the fuss was about - glad I did.  Aslan is a historian and theologian, with a PhD who just happens to be Muslim, thus the controversy. (Do watch the interview with Aslan on Fox News - it's painful and humorous, all at the same time, to see the way he corrects the anchor who had obviously not even read his book).  However, beyond the media frenzy, this is just a very well-written, well-researched look at one of the most influential people in history.  Aslan writes as a historian so don't expect a suspenseful, prettily-written story.  Occasionally dry and always backed up by historical fact, he tells the story of a young rebel and places Jesus in the context of a area that was seething with sedition, treason, and unwanted rulers.  Using biblical references and  historical notes from both Jews and Romans, Aslan paints an intriguing picture.  He debunks legends that will offend some Christians, such as the nativity story, but he does so in a factual manner, and has copious notes that prove his theories.  I found Aslan to be respectful of both the historical Jesus and the theological Jesus. I completely understand that some people will not read this book because it does not adhere to what they believe about the Bible; however, I am of the opinion that the more knowledge we can gather and the questions we ask ourselves of our faith, strengthens and does not weaken it.  It is definitely good  'food for thought,' but does require an open, questioning, scholarly-seeking mind.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
My oh my, this book is stupendous, fantastic, amazing, awesome, lovely, disturbing, emotional,  - and every other superlative.  If you loved Geek Love or The Night Circus, then you will recognize Professor Sardie's collection of 'oddities.'  If you enjoy historical fiction, especially about turn-of-the-century New York City and Coney Island, this book is for you.  Last, if you put Hoffman's last book, The Dovekeepers, in your top list of 2012, this author has repeated her ability to write with beauty and style.  While it begins before 1911, with some background on the intriguing cast of characters (Ezekial (aka Eddie), Sardie himself, and Coralie, the mermaid girl), much of the story revolves around 1911 New York City.  Coney Island (unknown to me, not actually an island!) is a place of magic, intrigue, enslavement, and danger, and the garment district is rife with unionization efforts, cultural divides, and class issues.  Hoffman shows us the first-person narrative from both Coralie and Eddie; as we see into their thoughts, they give us a glimpse of their past, as well as their tortured souls.  The peripheral characters of the creepy professor, Maureen the housekeeper, and Mr. Morris, the brilliant 'Wolf-Man' are beautifully developed.  As Coralie delves deeper into her own history, we begin to see the story unfold, until the conflagration in the end envelopes both the characters and the reader.  This was a delectable story, that both disturbs and intrigues - it would be an amazing book club choice, vacation read, or rainy-day immersion into an extraordinary time.

Winter Reading!

Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. Tyson
In 1970, I was seven years old and the biggest fear in my life was being sent to bed early for not eating my vegetables and missing out on the kick-the-can game outside.  I knew nothing of racial tension, forced bussing, or quite frankly, the civil rights movement.  I lived in Seattle, where the so-called 'minorities' were Asians, and since my best friend was Rodney Yen, who lived a few doors down, it just really didn't matter to me.  This was not the life of Timothy Tyson, the author of this book and an eleven year old in 1970.  As he played outside one day with the other boys, a friend of his ran by screaming "My daddy done shot him a nigger!"  As the book progresses, we see Oxford, Mississippi devolve into a conflagration of racial violence, with tobacco barns burning, marches on the state capital, and bricks through windows.  Tyson, now a professor of African-American studies at the University of Wisconsin (ironic, considering he is white), was more than an observer that summer.  His father was the main pastor at the Methodist church in Oxford, and a leader in the community.  Pastor Tyson was ahead of his time, when he asked a black minister to speak in his church, yet behind what we would now consider necessary, as he slunk out of the funeral march of the murder victim.  Tyson develops this story into more than just a tale of a small southern town;  he creates a complex world where right and wrong are not so easily recognized, and when it is, the people we think would stand up for right, sometimes just take a seat.  The friend that told me of this book said that it should be required reading for all high schoolers, and adults, and I must agree.  It is a powerful story, well-written, and well-researched, that may just change your perspective on race in this country.

Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan

After a few months of 'clunkers' in our book club, we decided to go with a tried-and-true author.  Nancy Horan's first book, Loving Frank, had been a huge best-seller and a shockingly suspenseful story of Frank Lloyd Wright and his scandalous love affair.  Years after reading that book, I still find myself intrigued by Wright's architecture as well as his life story.  I was hopeful that Horan's latest book about Robert Louis Stevenson would be a similar page-turner, and I was not disappointed.  Interestingly enough, for the huge reader I was as a child, I never read Stevenson's famous childhood novels, Kidnapped and Treasure Island.  Of course, Walt Disney on Sunday nights made it so I didn't have to either:)  As an English teacher, I knew R.L. Stevenson was one of the 'biggies' but I really wasn't sure why; luckily, this book explains quite a bit.  Told as a fictional story, with the voices of Louis and Fanny, his American-born wife, we follow their lives from the penniless days of anonymity, through Louis' struggles with tuberculosis and Fanny's mental issues, as well as the trauma of marriage, death, divorce, and poverty.  Horan does a masterful job of showing us the complexity of these two people, as well as the peripheral friends who influence them.  Quite often, Louis and Fanny are unlikeable, sympathetic, courageous, annoying, exasperating, and lovable - all at the same time.  I look forward to the book club discussion as there is quite a bit of 'meat' on this bone/book to chew over!  Next up for book club... Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde by...R.L. Stevenson.

After Her by Joyce Maynard
Another one of my audible.com listens, I was obsessed with this book, turning it on whenever I had the chance (the dog got exponentially more walks during these two weeks).  Classified as a mystery in GoodReads, I'm not sure I agree with that genre label; it reads more like a memoir, wrapped up in a murder mystery.  Based on the real-life tale of the trail-side killer in Marin County back in the 1980's, Maynard's story is told through the eyes of Rachel, a typical 13-year-old girl who is shy and awkward, lacking in friends, still waiting for her period, and is broken inside by her parent's failed marriage.  As the homicide detective in Marin County, her good-looking Italian father gets pulled into the limelight of the media, as young women keep turning up dead in the mountainous countryside.  Rachel appears to have a strange connection with the killer, and her younger sister Patty is pulled into the mystery as well.  I have to admit - much of this story hit far too close to him for me.  For anyone who grew up in Seattle in the 1970's, creepy stories of "Ted" abounded, as young women were kidnapped from public places, dead bodies turning up in the Snoqualmie forests.  Eventually, Ted Bundy was caught, but not before he ruined the innocence of the Pacific Northwest; I was never again allowed to walk down to the neighborhood ice cream store or go to Lake Sammammish for a swim date with friends.  This book can be a bit predictable in the end, but the story it paints of an innocent childhood summer lost to violence, and the havoc it wreaks on the lives afterward of those involved, was quite engrossing.

War Brides by Helen Bryan
If you're a historical-fiction junkie like me, you will love this book.  I had seen it around for awhile, but then discovered I could check it out for free on my kindle - 'free' is a good deal, and it did not disappoint.  The story covers the lives of five women - the stereotypical good girl (or in British terms - a 'brick'), the aristocratic wild child, the southern belle,  the Jewish refugee, and the Cockney girl from the East End of London - all during the London blitz and the war years of 1939-1945.  Quite frankly, I figured I knew most of the history already, but I knew more of the war, not of the lives of the people left behind in the countryside as well as the city.  I was in awe of the sacrifices and courage of these people, and engrossed in the lives of these four characters.  Bryan does an admirable job of creating interesting characters and intriguing story lines.  This would be a fabulous book to give a mother or grandmother who lived during these times; I think they would relate to it quite a bit, and be vindicated in their belief that yes, they truly are the 'greatest generation.'