Bookish [and not so bookish] thoughts

In an effort to wrap up 2018, today I spent a bit of time cleaning up my Goodreads list by adding tags I'd forgotten to add when I read the books and going back and adding a new tag, "reviewed" to all the books that I wrote reviews for sometime during the year. It took a little time since I had to cross check Goodreads with my blogpost list. Sometimes I don't title my reviews with the name of the book, so that meant I had to open up different reviews to search for titles. It wasn't a tedious process. In fact, I had fun rereading some of my posts.

Here is the shocking (to me anyway) thing I discovered: I wrote 90 reviews last year. 90. Whoa. If you had asked me how I did at reviewing books last year, I don't think I would have said I wrote that many reviews. Breaking the stats down---I read 150 books, 27 of them I didn't finish (Cybils books mostly). Since it is very unlikely I would not write a review for an unfinished book, I am going to back those out of my list. This leaves 123 books that were review-worthy. I reviewed 90 of them, leaving only 33 books I didn't review. That is 73% reviewed, to 27% not reviewed. Woot woot. I am even impressed myself.

I had set myself a reviewing plan for 2018 to take a little heat off the pressure the "need" to review all books. The plan was to write reviews for: a. ALL book club selections; b. any books I thought were potential Printz Award books (YA); and c. all YA/Junior nonfiction books. Other books could be reviewed but I didn't need to feel pressure if I decided to pass on them. Based on this plan I still have several reviews to write before I can close the door on 2018.

• Book Club selections:
• Before We Were Yours (for book club this month, but read in 2018)
• An American Marriage
• Educated
• Possible Printz Award books:
• Darius the Great is Not Okay
• The Astonishing Color of After
• JH/SH Nonfiction titles:
• Forget it, too many and most I didn't finish. I did review all but three of the finalists, though, so I might go back and attempt reviews on those three.
• Just because books:
• The Soul of America
• The Wisdom of Sundays

I know it isn't necessary but it helps me, so I am challenging myself to write these seven reviews by the end of the month and I'll keep track on a little counter. Today I start with The Soul of America since I've had the physical library book sitting here for weeks and I have to return it soon.

On non-bookish topics---

• We finally got our health insurance switched over but it involves lots of hassles. Ugh. The good thing though, once all the hassles are dealt with it will save a ton of money each month, especially on prescriptions. In the meantime I still don't have a flu shot and I need to get one!
• Bingley, our male puppy, has finally figured out how to lift his leg to pee, well, sort of. He still sprays his underside quite often which requires frequent little baths. I just got done bathing him so now I smell like pet shampoo.
• Don and I are stuck in the middle of four TV series: Poldark (PBS); Outlander (Starz); Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime); and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Hulu). It takes work just remembering how to find them.
• We've put away all of the indoor Christmas decorations from the main rooms, but the guest room is still a junk pile of decorations that need to be tucked away.  Out of sight, out of mind?

My goals for today:

• Shower...ha-ha, I shouldn't even have to mention it. Guess who isn't dressed yet?
• Drop by the library to pick up the books on hold
• Read 100 pages of Beartown. Without daily page goals, I'll never finish the book.
• Start review of The Soul of America
• Drop by the guest room and survey the scope of the task at putting away the last of the Christmas decorations, maybe even put a few things away.
• DOABLE!

TTT: Anticipated Releases in 2019

Top Ten Tuesday: Anticipated Book Releases in 2019

Note: I don't often pay attention to what is coming up because I have so many books on my TBR which are already published. But today I spent a little time looking ahead and here are some books I could be interested in reading in 2019.

1. Place of Gold: Coming of Age in South Africa by Trevor Noah. (Nonfiction, memoir): I will first need to read his first book, Born a Crime, but I've heard such good things about it I'm sure I'll like it. Expected publication date: August.

2. Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson (Poetic Memoir, YA): From the author of Speak, we'll learn about the author's own story of surviving a sexual assault. Publication date: March 12th.

3. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Science fiction): Squee! The sequel to the Handmaid's Tale. I will definitely read this one. Expected publication date: September 10th.

4. The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden (Fantasy): This is the last book in the Winternight Trilogy. I've read the first book, The Bear and the Nightingale, so I will first need to find and read the second book, The Girl in the Tower first. Publication date: tomorrow, January 8th. (Ha-ha. That cracks me up!)

5. 1919 by Eve Ewing (Poetry): I just read a nonfiction book about the Chicago Race Riots of 1919. So now I am curious to learn more. Why not do it through poetry? Publication date: June 14th.

6. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (Young Adult) by the author of The Hate U Give. Feb 5th publication date.

7. The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See (Historical Fiction): I always enjoy Lisa See's novels and learn something at the same time. This one is about the Free-diving women of the the Korean island of Jeju. Publication date: March 5th.

8. The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life's Destination and Purpose by Oprah Winfrey (Nonfiction): I need this book. Publication date: March 26th.

9.  We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia (YA Fantasy): I really know next to nothing about this book except it has already earned four starred reviews and it is compared to books by Anna-Marie McLemore, which I love. Publication date: Feb. 26th.

10. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (Fiction): I am only aware of this book and the author because I saw this book on all the lists I looked at. Worth a peek! Publication date: June 4th.

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION – FROM THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN TO...

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION...THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN

Six Degrees of Separation. 

We begin with

↓

The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles

I read it a long time ago but I seem to recall that the story has two endings, one happy, one not so happy.

↓

Atonement by Ian McEwan 

This book also has two endings one is more imaginary or wishful, the other is the upsetting truth. After finishing the book, I desperately wanted to talk to someone who had also read the book.

↓

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

This was another book I really wanted to discuss with others when I was finished reading it. I never did find that person. Sigh. But I have come to understand that it is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear.

↓

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

This book is another modern retelling of a Shakespeare play: Hamlet. So, of course, there is an awful step-parent as one of the characters. We read this book in one of my book clubs.

↓

The Leavers by Lisa Ko

Another book club selection that involves step or adoptive parents. It also involves undocumented immigrants to the USA.

↓

Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle

The juxtaposition between undocumented immigrants and the Americans they work for is very stark in this book. With the immigrants being treated unfairly and unkindly by their employers.

↓

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Includes a portion where the young rescued girl, Turtle, is adopted by a woman with the help of some "illegal aliens." These people help Turtle and her new mom even though they are reviled by others in the community.

↓

The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles

Which brings us back to the beginning. One of the main characters of the story, Sarah Woodruff, is reviled by her community for being abandoned by the French Lieutenant and being a single woman is a world dominated by men and their rules.

I had no idea when I started this list that I would end here. Interestingly, with the exception of The Leavers, I read all the books on the list over ten years ago, though I did reread The French Lieutenant's Woman recently.
Join in the fun. Make your own Six Degrees of Separation list.

Hosted by Books Are My Favourite and Best

Cybils Nonfiction Reviews: Apollo 8 and The Grand Escape

The Cybils short lists are posted and my work is done for the year, almost. I still have a few books to write reviews for. Three of the fourteen books we sent on to the Round 2 judges I wasn't able to complete due to time constraints or, in one case, because I didn't have access to the book so had to judge it on the short preview provided by Amazon.com. So I don't feel qualified to write reviews for those books. But today I am completing my work by reviewing two fabulous books Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything by Martin Sandler and The Grand Escape: The Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century by Neal Bascomb.

The authors of the books I am reviewing today are both excellent and prolific nonfiction writers for  junior/young adult readers. Martin Sandler, author of Apollo 8, has published over 60 books on a variety of topics, many that I had in my high school library. Last year his book, The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found was the Cybils winner for JH Nonfiction. He has won five Emmy Awards for his writing for television and two of his books were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Neal Bascomb, author of The Grand Escape, has published eight books, all narrative nonfiction, and three of them are for young adults. All of his inspiring stories are focused on adventure or achievements of individuals.

During the height of WWI, Allied POWs wage their own little war with the enemy by planning and executing the escape from the notorious German Holzminden prison. It is a remarkable tale about a band of pilots and officers who plan an ingenious escape by tunneling  their way clear of the prison compound. Eventually 29 officers escaped. Nineteen were caught and returned to prison but ten men made their way to safety in Holland by foot. Their escape inspired their countrymen during the dark days of war and infuriated their enemy. The book is stuffed full of over 100 photographs to make the incredible story really come to life for readers of today.

When I started reading The Grand Escape: The Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century I was a little confused. I kept picturing in my mind the POW prison break of WWII, made famous in a movie starring Steve McQueen, called The Great Escape. But that actual escape was made possible because of the knowledge learned by the earlier escape made by countrymen during WWI. Several of the officers who escaped Holzminden went to work informing their countrymen in techniques for escape and how, even if the attempt isn't successful, escapes take enemy manpower away from the front line which helps the war effort.

The book reads like the best adventure novel I've ever read. I highly recommend it for high school and adult readers.

Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything recounts the NASA mission that changed things for the USA space program. America was desperate to beat Russia to the moon and the country was experiencing one of the most turbulent years of its history. A boost to the morale of its people and a change the focus to something good was desperately needed. So on December 21, 1968 the first manned spaceflight to leave low Earth orbit, Apollo 8, was launched. Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders were the astronauts on board the flight that took them to the moon where they orbited ten times before returning to earth as heroes.

Willaim (Bill) Anders snapped the shot of the most iconic photo ever taken. It is of Earth as seen from the moon and is called Earthrise. The photo has “became a symbol of the Earth’s fragility, a reminder of just how small and insignificant the Earth’s place in the universe truly is.” The success of the Apollo 8 mission catapulted America's space program into high gear leading to the lunar landing of Apollo 11 just seven months later on July 20, 1969.

Earthrise, taken by Bill Anders from Apollo 8, Dec 24, 1968.

Students in both junior and senior high will enjoy this book which is full of beautiful, archival photos taken during the flight. Its publication is timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8, a lesser known but very important spaceflight.

Friday Quotes: Beartown

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from the book.
The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56.

This is the book I'm reading right now---

Title: Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Book Beginnings:

"Late one evening, toward the end of March, a teenager picked up a double-barreled shotgun, walked into the forest, put the gun to someone else's forehead, and pulled the trigger. This is the story of how we got there."

Friday 56:

"You can't look a gravestone in the eye and ask for forgiveness."

Comments: I just started the book yesterday so I haven't even gotten to page 56 yet. I think the first line is very compelling. It and the book blurb, "Under a heavy burden, the semifinal match becomes a catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil", have prepared me for a heavy reading assignment. When I selected it, I expected something more like A Man Called Ove., which seems like much lighter fare.

In my winter garden with grief

Pussy Willows promise of spring to come.

Today marks the one month anniversary of my father's death. Some days I feel simply bowled over with the pain of loss, other days I seem completely fine. Or, and this seems the most likely, all the sudden I feel ambushed by grief. My husband patiently reminds me this is the way of grief. One has to be patient and gentle with oneself while learning to navigate in a new world, one without the lost parent.

Yet each day seems to unfold as any other day with the demands and joys of every day life. Amid this life I am frequently beckoned to the backyard, if for no other reason than I have a dog. Some days, like today, I have to escort Bingley to the grass because he doesn't like to go out in the rain either. Other days I wander around my yard, my winter garden, with a shovel in hand collecting his waste. Today my shoes slipped in the mud as I traversed the soggy yard. As I righted myself, the thought occurred to me that the winter garden could be a metaphor for my grief.

Anyone who has a garden knows that sometimes things are lovely and other times not so lovely in the yard. Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 reminds us that this is all part of God's plan:

"There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven: 

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot, 

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance..."

My yard is pretty bleak right now. All the trees are without their leaves. Moss is growing everywhere it can find to take root. No flowers are blooming. Yet in the garden the potential for spring exists. We know in a few months the whole earth will be bursting with life. In his poem, "Gone from My Sight, poet Bishop Brent reminds me about perspective comparing death to a sailing ship.

"And just at the moment when someone at my side says,

'(S)He is gone',

There are others who are watching (her)his coming, and other voices take up the glad shout:

'There (s)he comes'

---and that is dying. An horizon and just the limit of our sight.

Lift us up, Oh Lord, that we may see further."

My father was a man of faith and for that reason I am assured that he indeed was greeted warmly on the other side. St. Francis of Assisi said it best, "It is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

During the memorial service last week, I and my siblings all got up to speak. We divided up what we would say so as to not repeat ourselves. Out of our mouths came many examples of Dad's exemplary life and funny growing up stories to prove he was also very human. Sharing those stories helps keep Dad alive in our minds and our hearts. We are forever connected to him, as are our children and grandchildren. We are charged to carry Dad's memories with us along with our own, as Galway Kinnell reminds me in the poem "Promissory Note." But some of these memories threaten to swamp my little boat and I feel overwhelmed by the displays of grief from my siblings and mother and the looks of concern on the faces on friends.

So back to the garden I go. As I step outside, I hear the insistent call of our resident humming bird. He chatters away happily, though the skies are threatening to rain. The dog charges off after some imaginary friend or foe, running frantically to and fro. A frog sounds off with a deep croak. I am rooted in place by the joy of it all. How can this be? I come to the garden to mourn and instead find  joy and life. Maya Angelou's beautiful poem, "When Great Trees Fall", reverberates around in my head reminding me that Dad lived and lives on.

"And when great souls die,

after a period peace blooms,

slowly and always

irregularly. Spaces fill

with a kind of

soothing electric vibration.

Our senses, restored, never

to be the same, whisper to us.

They existed. They existed.

We can be. Be and be

better. For they existed." 

He existed.

He existed.

I can be.

Be and be better.

For he existed.

Cybils finalists announced

Cybils Finalists were announced on January 1st. Check out their web page for the all the finalists in all the categories. The Junior High/Senior High Nonfiction Categories that I helped judge are listed below. We had some excellent selections this year.

Junior High Nonfiction:

Senior High Nonfiction:

Read my reviews by clicking the hyperlinks:
JH: Disappearing Spoon; Apollo 8; Chasing King's Killer; Boots on the Ground; Spooked; Capsized; Facing Frederick.
SH: The Faithful Spy, The Grand Escape; Votes for Women; We Say #NeverAgain; Bonnie and Clyde; We Are Not Equal Yet; Just Mercy.
As you see, I still am a few reviews behind but will update this page as I get the last of the reviews written.

My 2019 bookish resolutions

Really instead of "resolutions" I should use the word "list". Here is my list of a few bookish things I want to do in 2019.

1. Finish these books which I started in 2018 and didn't manage to finish before the year's end:

• Becoming by Michelle Obama---I got tickets to see her in person on Feb. 8th. Goal: finish before that date! Currently 50% done.
• I Have a Right To: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope by Chessy Prout---I started it as a Cybils nominated book and didn't have time to finish it. 25% done.
• She Walks in Beauty: A Woman's Journey Through Poems edited by Caroline Kennedy---I always have a poetry book open somewhere in the house. I'm nearly done with this one, at 80%.
• An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green---I actually haven't read any of this book yet but I purchased the audiobook months ago and still haven't listened to it. 

2. I resolve to write one book review a week in 2019. Last year I tried to start the year off writing reviews for every book I read. I figure, with this resolution, I'll only need to write reviews for about one third of the books I read. Phew. That takes some pressure off me, though it is probably more in line with how many I ended up writing last year.

3. Sort through my books that are piling up around the house and make a donation to the library. Books I received as a Cybils judge cannot be sold, so I have already mentioned to my librarian friend to expect me with a pile of them in tow.

4. Attend at least two or three bookish events this year. I already have tickets to attend the Michelle Obama event over her book, Becoming. I just found out today about a book event with author Kristin Hannah. I hope to attend the Search for Meaning event at Seattle University again. There's three. Maybe I could even make it four.

5. Read a lot...hopefully at least 100 books.

Doable!

Best Book Club Selections of 2018

2018 Book Club favorites. I am in two book clubs. For this reason sometimes books will end up on my end-of-the-year list more than once. This year I didn't ask the gals in my clubs, SOTH and RHS, for feedback, therefore this list is all mine. Keep in mind I select my favorites based not only on how much I liked the book but also on how well the book generated a discussion. I also factor in an educational aspect. Did I learn something new by reading the book?  If so, bonus points.

1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (2017, Viking Press)--- I had to miss the book club where this book was discussed but I put it in the #1 slot because I loved it so much. At first I thought this was going to be an unfunny version of the Rosie Project. I was wrong. Eleanor Oliphant has lots of problems but she also has a friend who helps her to find her way and to grow to love and accept herself.

2. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (2017, Doubleday)--- What is the saying? Truth is stranger than fiction. That is for sure. David Grann tells us the story of the murders that happen on the Osage Reservations over a series of years in the 1920s and 30s, and how the case is finally broken open by the fledgling FBI. Everything about this story was fascinating and maddening at the same time. There was a lot to discuss.

3. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017, Random House Audio)--- Notice that I am recommending you consume this book in the audio version, as I did. The audiobook, which won the 2018 Audie Award for best audiobook of the year, used an unheard of 166 unique narrators. The listening experience was fantastic. Aside from that, the book gives the reader a lot to think about: life-after-life, the Civil War and slavery, life and customs during the mid-1800s, grief, and contrasting reports of eye-witnesses.

4. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (2017, Grand Central Publishing)---at 489 pages, this book is probably a bit long for most book clubs, but if you have a bunch of strong readers, consider it. It is a sweeping saga that explores faith, family, and identity. Set in both Korea and Japan.

5. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (2007, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)--- this book provided our best discussion of the year, hands down. The uncommon reader is the Queen and, oh boy, did we have fun with this one.

6. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014, Scribner)--- I debated whether to put this one on the list again this year since it seems that everyone has read it. I decided to include it because it is such a wonderfully written book. If you are in the small percentage of people who have not read it, make reading it one of your goals for 2019. You won't be sorry.

7. The Leavers by Lisa Ko (2017, Algonquin Books)--- Current issues related to immigration, abandonment, and identity can all be grappled with after reading this book.

8. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (2017, Penguin Press)---Theme: Mothering in all its forms. This book improved for me as we discussed it. I love it when that happens.

9. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2014, Knopf)--- We read this book three years ago in my RHS book club and I wasn't so sure I liked it. But since that reading I've thought of this book practically every day in some context or another. When my SOTH club picked it up, I decided to re-read it and I'm glad I did. There is so much to talk about with this one: pandemics, what makes societies and communities, the importance of the arts, and so much more.

10. Educated: a memoir by Tara Westover (2018, Random House)----This book is only at the bottom of my list because I forgot that we read it for book club and had to add it in at the last minute. Westover was raised by survivalist, Mormon parents who didn't believe in using doctors or even in going to school. This is a book about her growing up experiences which include serious physical abuse at the hand of her older brother, helping nurse another brother and father as they recovered from serious burns, getting into college after never having gone to school at all. It is written in a very fresh style. It is shocking and enlightening. Lots to discuss and debate. 

Honorable Mention:
a. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann (2009, Doubleday)---Nonfiction works so well in our SOTH book club because it gives us something real to chew on and digest. This book, a re-read for me, is simply fascinating. Our books club discussion, hosted by Jane who is a retired teacher, was so fun. She even brought props and made all her food to "match" the setting of the book.

b. March I, II, III by John Lewis (2013, 2015, 2016, Top Shelf Productions)---Graphic novels are not popular among the ladies of my book clubs, so these three award winning autobiographies of John Lewis, the famous Civil Rights leader and current politician, went over like a lead balloon. We selected them because they were the All Pierce Reads books of the year. The books themselves are so good and not to be missed.

c. Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (2011, Viking Press)---Books by Geraline Brooks have proven to be excellent book club choices because she does a lot of research so her settings and her characters seem real. This book, set in Colonial times on an island off of Massachusetts, was no exception. We did have an excellent discussion, even if the book itself wasn't a favorite.

d. Less by Andrew Sean Greer (2017, Hachette Audio)---Another book I will recommend in audio format. Why? Because I was the only one in book club who liked (loved) this book and I was also the only one who listened to it instead of reading the print version. That is why it is below the line rather than with my top ten. It is super funny, but also very poignant. If I were guiding a book discussion on this one I'd start with, "How is the title of the book appropriate?" and "Can someone really run away from their problems." This book won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 2018, but don't be afraid of it.

Looking for more suggestions?  Click the links to check out my past lists:

2017 best book club selections

2016 favorite book club selections.

2015 favorite book club choices.

My favorite 2014 Book Club Favorites..
My 2013 Book Club Favorites are here. 
My 2012 Book Club favorites are here. 
My 2011 Book Club Favorites are here. 
My 2010 Book Club favorites are here, 

TTT: Favorite Books of 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books Read in 2018, by category:

Favorite young adult fiction (non-graphic): Picture Us In the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Favorite adult fiction: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Favorite graphic memoir: Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka

Favorite memoir: Educated by Tara Westover

Favorite graphic novel: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Favorite book read for Cybils judging (JH/SH Nonfiction category): Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge

Favorite audiobook: Wisdom of Sundays: Life-Changing Insights from Super Soul Conversations with Oprah Winfrey

Favorite re-read: (tie)

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Favorite poetry: Devotions: Selected Poems of Mary Oliver

Favorite political: The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham (audiobook)

Favorite book club selection: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (audiobook)

Favorite Classic: True Grit by Charles Portis

Honorable Mention Nonfiction:

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

Dreaming the Beatles by Rob Sheffield

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

What was your favorite book read in 2018?