best books

Back to Work

August 18, 2014 by admin

It’s hard to believe that nine months have passed since my last blog post. I intended to take a short break, and it grew. I have kept in touch with some of you in the meantime on Facebook and blogs, but every now and then the still, small voice inside says, “When do we get to blog again?”

This morning, I knew: today is the day. I knew it as soon as I closed the last page of The Family: Three Journeys into the Heart of the Twentieth Century by David Laskin.

Laskin’s book came to me as part of a series of curious events, which I’ll write more about in a separate post. Let’s just say that adventure is afoot, and life has led me yet again down an extraordinary path. But today, I want to tell you about Laskin’s book, because it is incredible, and I want to sing its praises wherever I can.

Like me, Laskin’s quest to learn his family history started with bits and pieces of information that grew into a larger story. He knew, for example, that his great-aunt, Ida Rosenthal, founded the Maidenform Bra Company, an incredible achievement for an immigrant woman. As he went deeper, however, he learned of three separate family stories: the American immigrants, early Jewish settlers in pre-Israel Palestine, and, sadly, those relatives who stayed in Europe and endured Nazi atrocities.

Having seen the breathtaking beauty of Rosh Ha Nikra, where his relatives first entered Israel, I could almost picture their journey, though I could not imagine their hardships. Through Laskin’s book, I also gained greater understanding of the lives of Polish Jewry at the time my husband’s grandmother left for America…and a more personal sense of the Holocaust.

Prior to reading The Family, I had been reading a novel that just didn’t work for me, to the extent that I didn’t finish it. As a writer who wants to respect other writers, I usually muscle through and hope things will get better, but I finally had to give up. A few paragraphs into The Family, though, and my faith was restored. It is as exquisite, exciting, and gut-wrenching as any novel I have read, and I invite you to add it to your stack.

If anyone is still out there after my long absence, I would love to hear what you’re reading! As for me, I’ll try to not stay away so long.

Good Books Tuesday: The Language of Trees

July 10, 2012 by admin

THIS JUST IN: The Foreign Language of Friends has won a gold medal in the eLit Book Awards “Women’s Issues” category. I came home from my volunteer shift at the arts center to find a nice certificate waiting for me. Very cool! I did my happy dance, and then I made dinner. There’s an irony in that, eh?

Anyway, on to this week’s book recommendation:

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Some books entertain, some inform, some move us. Good books, though, really good books, do some of all three, and then they astonish. They remind us of why we read, and we fall in love all over again with the act of reading. Ilie Ruby’s The Language of Trees fits in to this final category.

Set in upstate New York, The Language of Trees blends Seneca folklore, a family torn apart by tragedy, and the regrets of lost love in a healthy brew of magical realism. The end result, poignant and uplifting, heartbreaking and hopeful, left me breathless and satisfied to my core. It’s the difference between eating a fine, nourishing meal vs. junk food. The calories are the same, but in the end we feel more alive and whole.

The story begins with a horrific accident on Canandaigua Lake during a sudden, intense storm that wounds an already troubled family to the core. Twelve years later, oldest sister Melanie, who has struggled with addiction since the incident, disappears. Most people assume she has abandoned her new life and young son for drugs. At about the same time, Grant Shongo has returned to Canandaigua and his roots to nurse a broken heart after the end of his marriage. Grant, of Seneca heritage, has the curious ability to heal wounds. As he connects with his roots and his destiny, his story intersects with Melanie’s in unexpected ways.

Along the way, the spirits are restless, with mysterious footprints, dimes, and paper airplanes reminding the living of the untold stories of the dead. With raw intensity, Ruby draws disparate characters together seamlessly, revealing both their greatness and their failings. Though magic threads its way throughout the story, it never cheats it or dilutes the power of the story.

It’s been hard to pick up a book after this one. I just want to savor it longer and let it settle in to my spirit. The one I’ve picked up after, though not a bad book, pales in comparison. If you love reading, read The Language of Trees. If you love writing, read it and learn.

Book Recommendation: Eden’s Garden by Juliet Greenwood

June 19, 2012 by admin

Before I go into this week’s book recommendation, I just have to brag a little. I mean, I recommended Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail several weeks ago, well before Oprah picked it up for her book club! So you heard it here first, folks. I’m just sayin’.

Now, to this week’s recommendation:

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From a recent “Secret Garden” tour. The Latin inscription above the archway translates to “Break on through to the other side.” (Remember The Doors?)

Take a woman from present time with the typical dilemma of modern-day womanhood — balancing career and love. Combine her story with that of a mysterious woman from days gone by who carries a dark secret. Throw in that genetic “something” that draws us back to our roots and deepest desires with a bit of Welsh magic, and you end up with the Bronte-esque Eden’s Garden by Juliet Greenwood.

Let me say first that I don’t use the Bronte name lightly. I first read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte in the fourth grade and periodically pull it down from the shelf even today. I dragged hubby to the last incarnation of the movie version, which he loved, and I extracted a promise from him that we will visit Bronte country in England. While I didn’t enjoy sister Emily’s Wuthering Heights nearly as well, it also influenced my early reading life. It took me a long time to become willing to leave 19th century literature because of these wonderful writers. So when I say something is Bronte-esque, that translates to “major cool” in my brain.

In Eden’s Garden, Carys is the modern-day heroine, who returns to the town of her childhood to help her mother through hip-replacement surgery and recovery. She left as a young woman, jilting her childhood sweetheart to pursue her career dreams. At the time of her return, she is moving toward a career change, returning to her love of gardens, something she learned from her grandfather. The gardens of Plas Eden, a place where history and sad memories collide, draw her back. While her own life plans begin to unravel, she is drawn into an untold story of love and pain from ghosts of the past.

As a lover of gardens myself, I find that working in the garden connects me to my ancestors, and the same is true for Carys. The unique statues and mystery of the gardens at Plas Eden, a property struggling with disrepair and economic woes, add a further element of mysticism to these generational connections.

The other woman from the past? We don’t know for a long time, but as her story unfolds, it intertwines with Carys’ narrative, and we discover her, bit by bit. As she is revealed, Carys makes her own discoveries about life, love, and what really matters.

As rich and varied as the garden of Plas Eden itself, this story covers multiple generations of a woman’s struggle and heartache with a deft touch. Sensual and romantic, the story swept me away with its strong female characters. We are reminded how much better we women have it these days — and yet, even now, we must often make difficult choices. How do we manage both work and love in our modern, driven society?

One warning: once I got about halfway through, I could NOT put this book down. It is filled with Welsh charm and romance, and delights with a sweet, lovingly tended story that leaves the reader deeply satisfied, much as we would by strolling through a magnificent garden. Of course, now I have to get to Wales to explore some more on my own!

Book Review: Oxygen by Carol Cassella

May 1, 2012 by admin

As we continue to settle in up here in Washington State, I’m getting exposed to a whole new-to-me group of writers. Sure, I knew about Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, but the Seattle area abounds with innovative, creative individuals. In fact, she and several other area writers have formed an organization, The Seattle 7 Writers (which includes ten writers, but who’s quibbling?). This fine organization provides a number of services designed to encourage reading, including creating pocket libraries and other projects to increase literacy in schools.

One of the Seattle 7 is Carol Cassella, who somehow juggles writing, two sets of twins, and, oh yeah, her job as an anesthesiologist. How does she do that? I’m having trouble keeping up with the writing duties. But I digress.

Oxygen is Cassella’s first book, which I liked so much that I bought her second, Healer. Keep watch, it may show up here one day in another review! While reading it, I discovered that Cassella grew up in Texas, so we have that whole Kevin-Bacon-Six-Degrees-of-Separation thing going on.

Dr. Marie Heaton is a respected anesthesiologist who comes face to face with catastrophe: the death of a child on the operating table. As lawyers swarm about like sharks smelling blood, she must also confront a troubled relationship with her aging father, whose eyesight is deteriorating. The lawsuit drags out and escalates to a breathtaking degree while she struggles to understand what happened that horrible day in the OR.

Reading Oxygen, I found myself on unexpected, familiar ground. She led me through my hometown Houston streets, and Dr. Heaton’s experience with her father bore eerie parallels to the decline of my late father-in-law. Also, my own father suffers from macular degeneration, so I know what it feels like to watch a parent going blind.

When a novel leads a reader to an unexpected place, a twist that feels natural and logical, that causes the reader to ask, “Why did I not see that coming?”, it’s a gem in my book. Oxygen does that and more.

Finally, Oxygen is a touching homage to the doctors who genuinely care about their patients. If I were going under the knife, I would be happy to have Dr. Heaton as my anesthesiologist…or better yet, Carol Cassella, since she’s a real person! 🙂