Books: Recent Reads

"Belong to Me"

by Marisa de los Santos

 Copyright 2008

I loved this book!   My Mom loaned it me.  It is meaty regarding feelings and motives. I am still thinking about the people who are in it, and am wondering how they are all doing.  To me, that is a good sign that the characters are well defined and that the author did a great job in making me care about them.

In essence, the story is about a small group of people who congregate and migrate into the same bedroom community.  They learn to care about each other as they grow through life issues such as cancer, miscarriage, deceit and having babies out of wedlock.

One thing about this book that I really appreciate is how de los Santos gets inside the head of people of all ages, including the teenagers.  There were some twists that I didn't see coming and it was fun to be surprised.  If you get a chance, I think you will enjoy reading this book.  I will look for her first novel, "Love Walked In".

"Miami Psychic:

Confessions of a Confidante"

by Regina Millborne and Yvonne Carey

Copyright 2006

I don't know.  I paid $1.99 in the markdown basket at the grocery store, and it was a very quick read.  They did their best.

This "tell all" book is based on the true story of a Gypsy woman in Miami who became a psychic when she was 12 and used her gift to make tons of money.  Apparently Gina decided to have this book written about her life at the end of her career, though she must have stopped practicing before the age of 30.

I learned stuff that I would never have known about otherwise about the Gypsy culture, the state of  the city of Miami in the 90's, Voodoo, spells, visions, stalkers, drug smuggling, police corruption, and more.  It was an entertaining story, but sorry, I do not think that it is very well written.  There are too many inconsistencies and the dialogue is sometimes pretty sappy. 

P.S. - Okay, I just began to research this book. and there are abundant links saying that the whole thing was a sham and untrue.  Here is one of those links, if you want to check out that side of things:  Maimi Psychic Book is a Sham.   Here is another link about this book and Gina Marie Marks: Pure Fraud.

On, September 1, 2010, Regina Wellborne aka:  Gina Marie Marks is finally going to jail.  Psychic Will Be Seeing Bars   Now that I know about this book being  full of lies, unless you are really curious, I recommend that you don't even waste your time or money on this book.  I feel duped that I thought it was a true story, though not very well written.  

"The Department of Lost and Found"

by Allison Winn Scotch

Copyright 2007

I am almost done with this book, and am really enjoying it.  I got it for $1.99 at the grocery store too, and it is definitely worth more money that that.  The story is about a young woman who gets breast cancer and how she deals with her chemo treatment and with her relationships.  This book is well researched, funny in spite of the subject matter, and keeps me engaged.  I recommend it, and will look for other titles by Allison Winn Scotch.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
 

Books: Recent Reads

Leaving Home

A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories

by 

Garrison Keillor

Copyright 1987

This was so fun to read.  It is an oldie but goodie, a compilation of Mr. Keillor's monologues that he told on his Prairie Home Companion radio show, about the folks living in Lake Wobegon.

Thirty-six stand alone short stories that sometimes intertwine and overlap just because they have to do with people living in the same town.   The town of Lake Wobegon.

It is an older book, but I found two copies at St. Vincent de Paul, so keep your eyes open for it because it is wonderful.  I am sure that you can still check this book out at the library.  

Reading this book gave me a great idea.  I can tell short stories about people living in a made up town.  I know that I can do that!   Not as well as Garrison Keillor, but we all need to begin somewhere, now, don't we?  The main point is to just begin.  Since reading this book, I have decided to start writing short stories that will not go on my blog, but that are too good to be forever lost in this Grandma's memory bank.

Drowning Ruth

 by 

Christina Schwarz

Copyright 2000

This is an Oprah's Book Club choice from a decade ago.  Does she still have a book club?  I think she does, because the Secret Life of Bees was one of her choices, and it is not that old.  I'll choose a book if it has that logo on it; but I choose many books that do not.

When I first started reading this book, I put it down for about a month.  I thought, oh no, is this about some psycho lady killing a little girl?  I didn't want to deal with that at the time.  Then, last week, I picked it up again, and it really is an interesting and intricate story with many twists and turns.  An amazing first novel, in my opinion.

It is about a woman, Amanda, and how her choices effect her family members and others in their small lakeside community in Wisconsin.  It really is a good book.  Maybe you can still find it in the library?  I got this one at St. Vinnie's too.

Recent Reads:

I have been reading lots and lots lately.  That is not unusual.  But now I am reading with a different view on books.  I am observing the writing, when I can remember to...if I don't get too caught up in the story.  I am trying to figure out how the authors do what they do.  Some books rely on conversation to tell the story, others use heavy description to set the scene.  Some are told by the star of the show, others focus on what one person is doing and thinking at a time.  It is very interesting to use novels as textbooks!

Long Lost 

by Harlan Coben, 2009

This book is easy to read.  It goes fast, because you wonder what in the heck is going on now, while it is laying there on the coffee table. There is lots of action ... kidnappings, murder, terrorists, stem cell research, frozen embryonic embryos, work relationships, love relationships, bullies, plus several narratives on how to fight.  

Coben tells you what people look like, but he mainly uses the characters conversation to tell the story.  It is written in the first person, from Myron's point of view.  Sometimes the dialogue is so informal that the first word of each sentence is left off, and I had to keep going back and figuring out who said what.  

This book does make you wonder about what is really going on in America with terrorist sleeper cells and CIA interrogations.

Pigs in Heaven

by Barbara Kingsolver, 1993

This book is the sequel to The Bean Trees.  Turtle is a few years older now, and everybody is happily living in Arizona.  Taylor and Turtle go on vacation and end up landing on national news.  The news broadcast catches the eye of a sharp young Cherokee Nation lawyer who spots that Taylor is white and Turtle is Cherokee.  White people cannot adopt Native American children.  So Taylor flees with Turtle, and Alice, Taylor's mother, goes to the rescue.

I love reading Barbara Kingsolver books.  She squeezes more meaning into one sentence than anybody else, and it is always crystal clear in what she is saying.  I appreciate that very much, as a reader.  Barbara focuses on one person at a time in her story, though she not exclude everybody else either.  She will start the chapter with Taylor and then go though what Taylor is thinking and feeling.  Conversation is used throughout, but it is not exclusively relied upon.  Barbara uses a lot of humor in telling her story, and explains the complexities of relationships, being ethical and moral, and a tad bit of law is thrown in for good measure.  

I always learn a lot about something when I read her books.  You might want to read The Bean Trees before you read this one, for two reasons.  The Bean Trees will give you the background, and when it ends you will still want to be with Taylor, Turtle and Jax.

The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray

by Chris Wooding, 2001

This book is about scary things and bad people who abuse their power, but it is not really very scary or gory.  It is an interesting book that I found at a book sale a couple of months ago. 

The story is set in England, back when they still used horse carriages but also had telephones.  I couldn't pinpoint the exact year.  It focuses on this young man named Thaniel who is wych-hunter, along with his partner Cathaline.  Thaniel finds this girl with amnesia, Alaizabel Cray, and they try to help her.  By helping her, they save the whole entire world. 

It is well done, with a lot of action that keeps you reading.  I liked it. It brought up new topics and ideas that I had never heard of before.  Chris Wooding gives detailed descriptions of buildings and homes, which I always enjoy.  The conversations he presents are great too.  I will be on the lookout for more books by this author.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.