Tell me your story - Biographies on Audiobook

I've been listening to a lot of books. Right now I'm in the middle of Grant. This book, written by Ron Chernow, the author of Alexander Hamilton, is an in-depth look at the man, the soldier, and the president.  I'm only about eight hours into this 48 hour behemoth of an audiobook but I'm finding time to do things so I can listen.

It is fascinating.

After I finish the book I'll do an in-depth review of it. However I was musing about how some of the audiobooks I have liked the best have been biographies. I've listened to four biographies that I had not read previously and sometimes it is like listening to someone wise tell me about how someone I looked up to (Steve Jobs) might have been a bit of an asshole. Sometimes it is showing me history (Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin) and teaching me that the founding fathers weren't gods. They were just as human as you or I.

The art of listening to biographies is different than listening to fiction. One, you listen and think, oh, this famous and accomplished person did thus and so, and I do thus and so. My best example of this was when I listened to the book of John Adams and I heard how he would pack books first before any trip and often kept a book in his pocket--just in case. I do that as well and miss the abundance of mass market books that I often kept in my purse.

Sometimes I hear parts of a person's life thinking "I don't know how they're going to get out of this one!" This was prevalent when I listened to the Steve Jobs biography. I knew he became successful, but it was the how of the journey that took me by surprise.

But most important about listening to these biographies is the sense that I'm not alone. It is a voice, quite literally, reaching out from my computer or smartphone telling me that even though I am struggling through difficult times, I'm not alone. These people struggled too. They survived. They thrived, and it gives me the strength to go on.

The Pages

Since the beginning of September, something has been happening.

It's happened before, since my mom passed, but then it stops. I'm hoping this time that it will keep happening.

I'm reading again. I mean reading again. I mean since September began I have read 5 new books and listened to a new on on audio. The really amazing thing I have to say about these books is that two of them are what I call five-star (Thanks goodreads) books. Two. When I have gone almost two years without any book that was that superlative.

And all of them, even the four and one three star books have been good books. Books that played in my head when I had to put them down. So without further ado... here are the books and small reviews.


Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins

I read one book by Beverly Jenkins before, and it was good but not great. Forbidden was amazing. Forbidden was so amazing I went to Barnes and Noble and bought two more of her books and put others on reserve in the library.

Forbidden is a historical novel set in the old west. The hero and heroine are people of color. Well the heroine is. And the hero is, but he is passing. There is so much I enjoy about this book it is difficult to know where to start. Scorching chemistry- Check. Characters I care about- check. A historical setting so real that I look at an electric light and I hardly know what to do with it. What I loved especially is that the heroine is courted by two men (one being the hero) but the other one was lovely and kind.

If you like historical romance novels and you think that there isn't anything really creative out there, pick up this book and find your cynical little heart growing three sizes.


Ready Player One by Earnest Cline

This has been on my bookshelf for about two years. I have been told by so many people who I trust that I should read this book. I started it and put it down. It wasn't the right time. Then I picked it up and had a hard time putting it down. I jumped into the reality and loved it. To all my friend who told me I would love it were right right right.

I can't talk too much about it without giving it away. Just saying that if you like Eighties cinema. If you like video games. If you like a fantastic adventure read this amazing book.


Come Home by Lisa Scottoline

I was privileged enough to attend Writers Digest Conference 2017 where  Lisa Scottoline's magnificent key note speech inspired me to pick up one of her books. I hadn't done so in a while. I won't wait so long to read another one.

Come Home showcases love. Love that doesn't adhere to definitive roles. The main character's stepdaughter comes to her and tells her that her ex-husband is dead. Moreover she believes that her ex-husband has been murdered. When is it okay to mourn someone who hurt you? When a second marriage breaks up, what about the kids for whom you were their step mother?  Love doesn't fall into neat little categories and neither does my emotions for this book. This is an excellent read.


Hold Me by Courtney Milan

If you like romance, get this book. If you like New Adult fiction, get this book. If you like characters that you can empathize with, love, and want to swat, get this book. The last time I had such a reading frenzy, I read Trade Me by Courtney Milan, the first in the series. Now Hold Me does what I didn't think it could do--I liked it better.

Hold Me is Shop Around The Corner updated to the geeky halls of university, texting, and blogging. The characters are amazing. The dialogue makes me laugh, and the sex scenes are so wonderful they require the AC on full blast. Now I've got to read her historical romances.


I also read another book but as I am only reviewing the ones that I think others should read now--I'll come back to that another time. It engaged me enough to finish it but I didn't like it enough to recommend.

So, to sum up.

Five star books

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Hold Me by Courtney Milan.

The others are four stars and highly recommended.

Microblog Monday - And You

And You*

When I get angry at Lotus, 

or she's done something she knows 

she's not supposed to,

she will cry. 

"I want my mommy!" She'll say. 

She will say this clutching to me.

Her face

buried into my very ample stomach

and breasts. 

"I want Mommy." She cries. 

"I'm right here." I say, holding her close.

"I'm here, baby."

"I'm not leaving."

What she means sometimes is

she wants mommy, 

the one who isn't mad at her,

and is fun.

And I generally get this through my brain,

and I rock her,

and she stops crying,

and she says sorry,

and we're okay. 

Sometimes she cries for mommy

as I am holding her

and I realize there's another woman she's crying for.

a woman who she lived with for five days.

A woman whose heartbeat she heard,

while she was getting ready to be born.

A woman who chose to give birth to her, 

and then made the 

heart-wrenching

unimaginable 

decision 

to leave her to be found 

and cuddled 

and loved 

by strangers. 

Lotus cries for that mommy. 

She misses her.

That woman who looks at the world 

from eyes that are like her own.

That woman who,

I imagine,

Aches for my crying little girl

in ways I cannot imagine.

And I don't want to . 

When Lotus does this

We hug each other very hard

and send our love out

and hope China Mommy

can feel it

can understand 

this is the best I can do 

to pay the enormous debt that I owe 

this woman with 

my daughter's face. 

And one time

After being scolded

Lotus said she wanted mommy.

I realized and asked.

"China Mommy?"

She nodded.

Then

tearfully

She raised her head 

tears soaking  er face

tears soaking my breast

to look me in the eye. 

"I want China Mommy." she said 

lifting her hand to my chin

"And You."

Her head returned

just above my heart

as more tears fell. 

I held her,

and rocked her, 

and internally praised her intelligence. 

Because my four-and-a-half-year-old daughter

summed up adoption angst

in two words. 

* The style of this post is a tribute to the book Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. I am in the middle of this amazing book told in verse so I tried to do a blog post in verse.  Was I successful?  Let me know. 

 

Trade Me by Courtney Milan

This book.

This book.

It blew me away.

I don't like the New Adult romance genre spawned by the 50 Shades trilogy as a general rule.  However when a story comes along like this I owe it to myself and romance fans to talk about it.

First, look at that beautiful non-white woman on the cover. I am so tired of the lack of diversity in romance that this was reason enough to buy this book.

Second, I would like to discuss a problem I have with most New Adult romance books.  Most books in the genre have a protagonist--or two--in college.  My issue has always been how come these college-educated people are doing such stupid things! The main characters in Trade Me talk about the decision making processes--such as they are.

Third, chemistry. Oh the chemistry between these two fully realized characters is so hot that if you put a container of ice-cream over the book it would melt!

Fourth, the organic use of characters. Tina--our heroine--has a roommate who used to be a man. Blake--our hero--is mourning the loss of his father's partner.  Any one of these characters and plot twists could, in the hands of a lesser author, be sensationalized. Here it is just a simple turn.

I think that's what I like most about this book--stunning simplicity. When done right simplicity makes for a wonderful romance.

Read this book and enjoy!

Microblog Mondays - Between the World and Me

I am caucasian--or as my daughter says "peach".
I have privilege, and I am very much aware of it.

I did not rage like people with black skin at the death of Treyvon Martin, but I did indeed rage.
I did not weep the way my friends with black skin wept at the deaths of Eric Garner and people too numerous to name, but I did indeed rage.

So when a friend suggested I read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, I bought it on Audible and waited.

Today I listened to it.

It blew my mind.

I felt so very many emotions.

Shame.
Discomfort.
Awe-struck.

This is a brilliant piece of work. It won numerous awards last year and deserved every one of them. It is not an easy read. It is not comfortable. But it is important.

I highly recommend it.

Now I ask--what books have you read that made you uncomfortable? Do you recommend them or not?

The 5 Books That Go With Me When I Run

It goes without saying--or at least I should think so--that if my house caught fire that I would grab my husband and daughter and get the hell out of it.

But if I had time... if it was an evacuation where I would bring other things I would most certainly bring books. Which books?

Well there is the question. I'm limiting myself to the books that are hard to get now--or at least difficult to get in the format that I love. I'm limiting myself to one book per author--and OH that one isn't easy. I'm limiting myself. However, if if push came to shove, and in no particular order.

1) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I've already discussed this book pretty much at length.  It is one of my favorites.  Why wouldn't I just get a new one? Well this is, I believe, a first edition with faces on the cover. It is bent in all my favorite places and this is the actual book that was pressed into my hand by a stranger.  It comes with me.

2) Magic's Price by Mercedes Lackey

At some point I will make a list of books to read after you've finished Game of Thrones.  That being said I would recommend this book be read before you start Game of Thrones. In fact--if you haven't read this series--and you like fantasy--you should drop everything and get this book now.  Actually not this book--as it is the third in a trilogy, but the first one--Magic's Pawn.

What if you knew that the people in charge of your government were good--beyond any shadow of a doubt? You knew this because the head of the government is Chosen by a big white horse called a Companion (capitalization intended as per the book). If you are Chosen by a Companion, you are now a Herald or perhaps a Herald Mage.  Magic exists in this world, and the Heralds are the chief users--except for the people who aren't Chosen.

Into this is a beautiful young man, Vanyel, who discovered that he was gay and in love with a Chosen trainee. On a horrific night, his beloved commits suicide and Vanyel himself is Chosen. This trilogy is the story of Vanyel and his world.  This book is the third of the trilogy and my favorite.

Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino

Chick with a harp.
That's how the book begins. How you are introduced to Christa, a centuries old woman in the body of a 25 year old in the late 1980's. She and her lover were imprisoned by the Fae. Christa is a bard and was able to escape the Fae's world 200 years prior--but had to leave her lover behind. Now she thinks that she can get her back--using the rock and roll of the 1980's as a weapon.

This book is out of print--and doesn't seem to be available on Kindle.  One of the reasons that it will come with me as I run is that I don't know how I would get it again.  The other one, the main one, is that I, as a child of the '80s, adore the idea of someone using that music to save lives.

Legacy by Susan Kay

Do you like The Tudors? The Other Boleyn Girl? Wolf Hall?
Do books about the Tudor era make money fly out of your wallet?

If these are true and you haven't read Legacy--you're missing out. It is the story of Queen Elizabeth the First.  Beginning shortly before her birth and ending with her death. These historical characters leap off the page and into your brain. The setting is so clear that when you close the book you think you should be blowing out a candle instead of shutting off electricity.

Really this is a toss-up. If I titled this "Six (or Even Ten) Books That I Take With Me When I Run," I would add Susan Kay's Phantom to the list as well. That being said, Legacy is an amazing, amazing book and I highly recommend it.

A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton

I have a lot to say about Laurell K. Hamilton's books but I will save that for a separate post. I should note that for a while she was my favorite author. I broke my "don't ever buy a hardcover book" rule for her more times than I can count.

However this book is in paperback. I had to be cajoled into reading it as it was the start of a new series. And I love it.

It is about Merry Gentry--a real Fairy Princess, but this is not the world of Tinkerbell. This is scary ass stuff of all the kinds of creatures you were terrified were hiding under your bed.  I love this series and the early work of this author.  Why this book you ask?

Simple. It's autographed.

There it is; my top five.

You might wonder why not Nora Roberts. Simple, really, I can fairly easily replenish my collection of her books, while most of these I can't.

What books would you grab if you had to make the choice?

An open letter to Nora Roberts

Dear Ms. Roberts,

This thank-you letter is a year overdue. It's been a rough year, but I thought better late than never.

I'm sure you get thanked for your writing often. I want to add my voice to the chorus. Your stories take us away from the scary and lousy stuff going on in our own lives.  It feels so comforting to go into the lives of the characters you have created when my life is a little too real.

This was never more true than last year.

Last year my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 uterine cancer. She immediately started a course of radiation and chemotherapy. The radiation and chemo left my vibrant mountain-goat of a mother barely able to lift her head.

But she could lift her hands.  And she could lift a mass-market paperback book. The books she lifted were yours.

Mom and I always loved your books. From Honest Illusions, the very first one we read, to The Witness, the very last one she read and we shared.  We would sit and talk about the decisions the characters made. We would say what we thought would happen next. I remember Mom crowing when Chesapeake Blue came out because some of her predictions were right. My mother put my very first books in my hands. When we got to an age where we read the same things, some of our warmest times together were when we were discussing books.

Towards the end of chemo,  Mom's thin frame dropped weight rapidly. She felt so bad. She wanted to build memories with my newly adopted daughter, but it took all her strength to just sit up in bed. I sat next to her and we discussed The Witness. What she thought was going to happen, what she thought about the characters. After she finished it, we talked about what kind of life the characters would have after the end. Then we revisited some of her favorite books--most of them written by you. We talked about how many kids the sisters of Montana Sky had by now. We wondered if Nathaniel Nouvelle Callahan wound up becoming a cop, or a magician, or perhaps both.

Talking about the characters you created helped my mom forget how much pain she was in. Revisiting your stories helped keep her mind keen, even as mom's body betrayed her.

Mom lost her battle to cancer last April. In the months that followed her death, I couldn't read. I couldn't focus on the words on the paper.  When I finally could read, I found myself rereading all your books and then, finally, starting your new books.  You have helped me get through the hardest year of my life with the people and worlds you have created.

I wish I could say it better--but all I can say is, Thank You.

Booking and Cooking

Booking

So this week I read two books. One was interesting, one was great.

I'm going to talk about the great one.

Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Rating: 4 Stars

Will I reread? Probably not

I've been a fan of Susan Elizabeth Phillips (also known as SEP) for a long time.  Not from the first book, I actually didn't care for the first book I read of hers. Yet I was intrigued enough to try her again and I was glad I did. Some of her books I reread over and over, some I don't, but that doesn't mean I didn't like them, I just can't imagine rereading them.

That is the case with Heroes.  This is more gothic. It was obvious that this was her writerly tribute to Jane Eyre but with her own cutesy touches. The main character is a ventriloquist and her characters talk to her. The hero is someone who had a past with the heroine and may or may not have killed his sister. The setting is almost another character unto itself--an Island off the coast of Maine which is totally buried in snow. Mix these ingredients together and you have a wonderful book that will make you want to be buried under blankets while reading it.

Cooking

This Sunday was my Super Bowl Experiment Day.  I experiment on different kinds of apps and finger foods.  One was good, one wasn't.

The good:

These French Onion Soup Wonton Bites.

Oh Dear Lord.

These were amazing.  I saved three to freeze but even if they don't freeze well, I know caramelized onions freeze well so I will give it a shot.  These came out AMAZING.

The bad:

This Beer Cheese Dip.

A Caveat here. I don't like beer.  (Rhyme not intended.)
Why then did I make this? Because I often love Beer-cheddar things. Beer Cheddar soup, beer cheddar fondue etc, I am THERE.  This one though--no, it wasn't to my taste.

The Keeper:
Martha Stewart's Black Beans and Sausage

While I didn't make this for Super Bowl Sunday, I made this last nigh. And a few weeks ago. And a few weeks ago. It is one of our go-to recipes.  It takes about 40 minutes and it isn't a big to do--never mind the fact that Martha Stewart's name is on it.
I HIGHLY Recommend this one for a quick dinner.

Microblog Monday (Even though it is Tuesday) Books?

One of the side effects of my grief was that I was unable to read.

I had already lost my job in publishing, but if I hadn't I don't know if I would have managed to keep it through my reading dry spell.

To explain--I am a voracious reader. My house has thousands of books--not hundred--thousands. I have, several years running, read over 144 books in a year. So when I say that following my mother's death, I was unable to find the concentration to lose myself in a book; I want you to understand what I mean. When I did get through a book again, it was a reread. For a time, I could only reread books. I could only reread books by one author--but I'll go into that on a later post.

But now, I can read. I've read four new books since January 1. I would like recommendations. I have been gravitating towards the frothy, but I could do with a meaty book. Just no children in terrible danger...I can't do that.

What do you recommend?

Outlander

Nothing, and I mean nothing, filled my gut with so much bile and trepidation as hearing that Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon, was coming to Starz as a series. This book is in a special niche in my collection.

You see, I have over a thousand books--easily--in my house. They fill every spare inch of the house and overflow. A friend once suggested that I get rid of the books--or really trim down the collection to maybe two bookcases. After I stopped laughing I explained to him how that wasn't possible. The books are my refuge, my friends and my art.

Getting back to Outlander. Of the myriad of books I have read and will read--this book stands apart. It's in the pile of "If my house catches fire--these come with me when I run."

Is it that good? Yes. The characters, the situations, the romance. James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Frasier is one of the best romantic heroes written. The writing is such that even when I am rereading it I am so caught up in the moment that I will forget the craziness of the 21st century. I have  literally jumped out of my chair when the phone rang because I was so stunned that there was a phone!

It's about a nurse from World War II going back in time to Scotland before the Battle of Culloden (1745). She meets, marries, and falls in love with Jamie Frasier--pretty much in that order. Howver she has her husband, Frank Randall who is a direct descendant from Black Jack Randall--the villain of the piece. More than that you need to read it for yourself.

I remember vividly how it was recommended to me. I was shopping in B. Dalton bookstore. I was in the romance section and a person I had never seen before handed me this book. It was a gold cover with a broken clock on it. The woman said that she had never done this before--but I had to read this book. She said that I would like it so much I too would be handing it to strangers to read. She was right. I loved it.

I was stunned then to find myself loving the series. The casting has been exquisite. Catriona Balfe and Sam Heughan have amazing chemistry as Claire and Jamie Frasier. Tobias Menzies should be clearing his mantle for an Emmy as the villain Black Jack Randall--as well as Claire's 20th Century Husband. I look forward, as this blog progresses, to discussing the weekly episodes.

As for now, if you haven't read Outlander yet, do so. Imagine yourself in the stacks of a bookstore--or library. A heavyset woman with a kind face comes over and presses a book in your hand. That's me. I am telling you that this is a book like no other--and you should read it.

Also, congratulations to the cast and crew of Outlander for winning the People's Choice award for favorite cable sci-fi/fantasy show. It was exceedingly well deserved.