Drawing in the Dust

I enjoyed Zoe Klein's novel "Drawing in the Dust." I actually stayed up most of the night reading it. After finishing it, however, I feel as if there are many flaws in the story and I don't think it merits comparison to the much better written, and totally different novel, "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant.

The novel is about an American archeologist living in Isreal for over a decade who goes to excavate underneath an Arab couple's home, based on rumors that there are ghosts there. Her colleagues think she is crazy, until she uncovers the tomb of the prophet Jeremiah and an unknown woman buried with him.  I loved delving into the scroll of Jeremiah and the imaginary scroll of Anatiya, his lover. It is history imagined from a woman's perspective. A woman in love with a prophet who is in love with God.

Klein had written the entire scroll of Anatiya earlier, which led her to write this novel. There is much fiction woven in with history and religion here, and many situations that seem highly improbable. However, it is still a fascinating book, written by a female Rabbi, with a story that grabbed me and kept my full attention until the end.

Not a brilliant novel, but a good read.

A Christmas Blizzard

I am a big fan of Garrison Keillor's "A Praire Home Companion", so when I see his Lake Wobegon novels, I will sometimes pick one up to read. The latest book I read by Garrison Keillor is called "A Christmas Blizzard." I thought it would be fun to read at this time of year.

The book is part "A Christmas Carol," and part "It's a Wonderful Life." A rich, cynical man who hates Christmas and doesn't seem to appreciate anything he has, is given 24 hours to rethink his life, while stuck in a Blizzard in his hometown in North Dakota.

It is an amusing, easy read. I like Garrison Keillor, so I enjoyed it.

But if you're looking for a really good book, by a very cynical man who doesn't like the holidays, try "Holidays on Ice" by Davis Sedaris. It is hilarious. 

Personally, I have come to love the holidays, so I need to find something a little less cynical to read next...........

Petals from the Sky

I have just finished reading 'Petals from the Sky' by Mingmei Yip.  This is an author I have never heard of, so I was so pleased to discover such a lovely book.

This is about a Chinese woman who has struggled her whole life trying to decide whether to live in the human world of "Ten Thousand Miles of Red Dust" or to go into the monestary and become a Buddhist nun. It is a lovely, lovely book. Full of Chinese art, Buddhist philosophy and very human struggles and desires. Kuan Yin is the Bohdisattva that guides our protaganist throughout her journey of self discovery. I was reading this book in a room full of Kaun Yins and felt truly at peace to be surrounded by so much beauty.

I loved this book and didn't want it to end. I will look for her first novel Peach Blossom Pavilion.

The Ice Queen

The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman is another book about lightening strike survivors.  Alice Hoffman is a brilliant writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This is a modern day fairy tale. The protaganist cannot see the color red after being struck by lightening. This is only one of the effects. She lives in a cold, white and gray, lonely world, until she meets Lazarus Jones, risen from the dead after his lightening strike. He is on fire, burning up and electric, the exact opposite of our Ice Queen. In this fable, she must make a heroine's journey to hell and back to find herself. There is even a fire-breathing dragon.

I thought this book was brilliant, a true joy.  The writing was magnificent.  I loved it. Highly recommended.

The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors

I seem to have read many books lately about lightning stike survivors. The latest being Michele Young-Stone's The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors. The interesting thing about this novel is that it is written by an actual lightning strike survivor.

The story is about Becca and Buckley, two completely different characters in different times and places, whose stories are woven back and forth throughout the novel. Sometimes this worked and sometimes it didn't. I often felt lost and confused about the time jumps, and the many different characters, and was sometimes having a hard time following along-maybe because some characters were more compelling to me than others. I was waiting forever for their two paths to cross, and they finally did, but for me it was an unsatisfying ending. There are a lot of damaged characters here who mostly find some resolution by the end, but somehow it didn't exactly work for me.

This is a good debut novel by an interesting author, but I always felt aware that I was reading a first novel.  I did learn a lot about lightning.

I can't say I loved it or hated it. I would be interested to read more from Young-Stone in the future. I have a feeling she will grow into quite and interesting author.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Sarah Addison Allen's books are filled with magic realism, and her latest, The Girl Who Chased the Moon is no different. This is what I love about them actually. I have yet to read her first novel, The Sugar Queen, but I will. I was enchanted with her next novel, Garden Spells, and I loved The Girl Who Chased the Moon and I didn't want it to end.

It is full of quirky characters and small town charm. Throw in a bit of magic and you have a wonderful story unfolding that carries you away with it. It is light, easy reading that makes you long for sweet cakes, and moonlight walks with a loved one.

I thouroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone who would like to just escape into a good story and feel good for a while.

12x12 A One-Room Cabin off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream

I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Willam Powers at a reading he did at our local independent bookstore. He was very excited to be touring and sharing his new book "12x12 A One-Room Cabin off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream" with small groups all across the country. I am glad I met him before reading the book. I know he is not a gloomy cynic as I could imagine him at times while reading the book. The book points to a new way of life, a simpler, slower, even happier existence, while at the same time showing us in terrible detail the situation we find ourselves in at the present time due to our consumer-addicted culture.

This is a book I would recommend for everyone. He writes of time spent living in a 12x12 off the grid cabin surrounded by acres of nature, gardens, a creek and only his bicycle to get around on. It is his Walden pond. After years of working overseas in many Latin American and African countries trying to save the remaining rainforests, along with other conservation and development initiatives, he is used to always Doing something. His time in the 12x12 is difficult at first-difficult to just slow down and Be for a change. When he finally surrenders to this at times throughout the book, his most amazing realizations and inspirations come. He finally comes through the anger and frustration to other side, into a truly peaceful warrior presence that he writes about. However, I also know that being human, this is an ongoing struggle, and he is very honest about this.

For a while, the book was depressing me. Understanding how truly bad the situation we've created on the planet has become can be heartwrenching. ( Even those of us who know, live to a large degree in denial.) Somehow though, Powers always pulls us through. Because he is such an honest and talented writer, the book worked, and I felt inspired rather than depressed after reading it. I believe this is what he meant to achieve.

Whether these are issues that you are already familiar with, or these are totally new ideas to you, this book is definately worth checking out and sharing with friends.

Dancing with Butterflies

It's not often I find books written by Mexican women, so it was a rare treat to read Reyna Grande's Dancing with Butterflies. It is about 4 women involved with a Mexican Ballet Folklorico group based in LA. Some are illegal immigrants, others born in the US, some dancers, one director, one costume maker, all struggling with their own issues. The plight of Mexican women and the beauty of Mexican Art-especially Folklorico are subjects close to my heart and are beautifully portrayed here. Sometimes you can almost hear the music while you're reading.

However, much of the book made me sad. All the alcholism and abuse, poverty, stuggle for jobs and identity that the Mexican community faces were shown here in very real honesty. I was greatful to Reyna Grande for leaving us with some hope at least by the end.

What Grande writes about comes directly from her own experiences. She is an author to watch, and I will be looking for her first novel, Across a Hundred Mountains.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

Historical fiction by and about women is my favorite genre, so I was looking forward to reading The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Conner McNees.  I enjoyed this book. The author did a lot of research about Louisa May Alcott's life and sets the story during a summer she spent with her family in New Hampshire after being forced to leave Boston due to lack of funds. It imagines a love affair Louisa may have had during that summer. I loved being swept away by this story. There was nothing too challenging or intense in the story or the writing, and sometimes that is just fine. It should please fans of Little Women, and it makes me want to re-read that book as well.

One of the most fascinating parts of the story for me is Louisa's connection through her father to Emerson, and Thoreau, as well as Walt Whitman whose Leaves of Grass was published in 1855 when this novel is set. It definately makes me want to re-read Whitman's Leaves of Grass as it was so groundbreaking and controversial at the time.

 I would recommend this book to friends.