The Lineage of Tellus Book1: Memories & Murder by Lauren J. Hasbrouck (Read 4/5-4/21)

This was a book I received from LibraryThing.com’s Early Reviewers.  I guess I should have read the description better before I said I would read it, I read the part about the fantasy quest to avenge Ashei’s Mothers death.  I missed the disclaimer that this was a high fantasy series for fans of adventure, dry wit, and broad sexuality.

In fact the “broad sexuality” threw me for a loop at first, it was just so in my face.   That it really distracted me from the story line.  I mean I don’t mind reading about sex, and I made it through Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty Series, and this has nothing on that series, but because I missed the disclaimer I was a bit unprepared for it and like I said distracted trying to figure out what I had gotten myself into checking the box for this book.  After awhile all the gay jokes became offensive, just because there were SOOO many of them.  I think sex and sexuality can add a lot to a story, this book just wasn’t written well enough to do that, so instead the sex and sexuality was a boring and upset me because I really wanted to get to the heart of the storyline and I couldn’t get through the fluff.

Laying all of that aside, this book is obviously a first attempt at a novel.  There was too much background in the first few pages, I felt a bit hammered over the head.  And Lauren’s writing style is a bit difficult to read, it is very choppy.  The storyline seems like a great concept if Lauren’s writing skills didn’t distract form it so much.  I think she felt she needed to add to much to the story to fill it out, when she had a great underlying base that could have really flourished if she had just let it be a little less fluffed.

The characters are a bit stereotypical, the barmaid with the courage of a warrior, the harlot with a heart of gold, the effeminate elf, the strong man who’s downfall is love, the evil wizard….I’m sure you get the idea.  Tellus is a strange mix of modern and medieval landscape.  I like it, and I think it is a great background, I just wish the characters were as deep.   The entire book felt a bit teenage cliché to me.  Why in the world would the characters act the way they did, and yes I know the obvious reason is because they had to in order to move the story in the direction Lauren wanted it to go.  Why was Ashei so sure her mom was murdered and part of some big conspiracy?  I mean from what I could tell until she died, Ashei thought she was perfectly normal. 

Why do Tris and Anne agree to go on the “quest”?  How do they even know where to start looking and why to start looking there?  And Finn…why the heck would he ever say yes.  The entire first part of the book I was was asking myself these sorts of questions, because the actions just seemed so random.  I think part of the problem was that Lauren was so focused on setting up the sexual tension scenario’s that she forgot to actually write about the characters. 

This is the 1st in a series and by Chapter 6 I knew Finn was a dragon and the son of the evil wizard.  I also knew the whole book was going to ramble and be one pointless adventure after another that really didn’t help move the core storyline along.  They could have if only they had been written better.  I am sorry to say, but I have no desire at all to read anymore of this series, I usually don’t say that but this was just awful…the writing was crude and the sexuality became tedious and offense after a while.  I applaud Lauren for following her dreams, but I’m sorry that this book was not a dream come true for me.

The Wasteland (Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King (3/18-4/5)

Next up in the BOTM reading is The Wastelands.  This continues the story after Roland pulls Eddie and Susannah through the doors.   But now Roland is going mad because he save Jake.   I love that King didn't ignore the paradox Jake's death created.  That paradox is a main part of the story line not just for Roland, but for Jake too.  The drawing of the actual third is Jake, not jack…maybe that is why the names were so close. 

My Favorite character of the whole series is Oy. I couldn't wait for him to show up.  He is just so adorable and smart and funny, the most lovable character of the whole series in my mind.  I guess it helps that I am such a dog lover, but Billy Bumblers are better than dogs and I really want one.

Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale (Read 3/12-3/18)

I read this book because I was in between book club reads and I needed something quick to read.  This turned out to be just that.  I had seen the movie, so I knew the basic storyline.  I have to say the movie glamorized it much more than the book did.  It was a bit of a dry read, I mean the story itself was interesting Frank became a pilot because he saw one and wanted to be adored that way.  Everything fell into place for him to pull the scam because people were so trusting.  He would just walk in somewhere and get what he needed, that would never happen in today’s society.   The fact that he could pull off his impersonation for so long, is a sign of his intelligence, and his luck.  He did get caught eventually, but there were some tight spots before then he charmed his way out of.  When he was finally caught, I though France’s punishment seems too harsh for his crime; I mean he isn’t a murderer or a rapist.  They just about killed him for scamming some airlines.  Little bit of a let down at the end, I mean he just escaped in the US and the book ends.  Like a I said a quick read, but not a literary masterpiece.

The Drawing of Three (Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King (2/23-3/10)

BOTM voted to read the whole Dark Tower series, so I will be reading and reviewing the remaining 6 books in the series, and I may even try to fit in some side books.  I like the Dark Tower series, it is a fantastic mix of old west and fantasy that just gives me happy thoughts. 

The story of The Drawing of Three picks up with Roland on the beach we left him on at the end of the Gunslinger.  But there is a new danger, these crazy lobster monsters attack him wile passed out and he looses two of fingers and a toe.  for the rest of the series we will be constantly reminded that he has lost two fingers, but the toe is never mentioned again that I can recall.  I have always wondered what was the point of Roland loosing his fingers?  Did he need to be maimed to create a need to draw in other gunslingers? The shock of Roland loosing his fingers isn't the violence of losing his fingers, it was a that he lost such an essential part of who he is. I mean, who is Clint Eastwood or John Wayne without his guns? There was some debate in my book club about the simplicity of naming the monsters Lobtsrocities.  I like Lobstrocity, Roland isn't an imaginative character, so he wouldn't come up with anything that wasn't descriptive and based on what his realist mind sees.

After Roland is maimed he then wanders further down the beach and finds a door that says the “The Prisoner.”  Now if it was me and I found a random door on a beach, with no building or frame attached I’m not sure I would walk through it, but because he is Roland, and the fantastical seems to have no effect on him, he opens it and walks through.  Just like in the movie “Being John Malcovich” (which was made after this book was written) he is now in some other guy’s head.  Roland is a passenger in the head of Eddie Dean, a heroin addict about to be busted on a drug run.  So what does Roland do?  He magically takes the drugs back to the beach so Eddie doesn’t get busted, but that still doesn’t save Eddie’s ass from the Drug Dealer/Crime Lord he was running the drugs for.  In true Gunslinger fashion, this leads to a shoot out at the Drug Dealer/Crime Lord main base of operations, a night club called Tower.  Coincidence?  I think not.  I LOVE the image of Eddie fighting naked – all cracked out and crazy.   When all is said and done, and all the bad guys are dead, Roland takes Eddie back through his own head, i.e. door, to the beach and the door disappears.  I I like the Eddie, and I think Roland draws Eddie because even though he is from our world he is a gunslinger, that is after all why he was sent on the drug run, because even cracked out he still held it together. Roland can relate, and he even compared him to one of his old buddies.

Roland has gotten a really bad infection from loosing his fingers and toe, and Eddie, even cracked out had been smart enough to grab some antibiotics before going through the door.  So Eddie takes care of Roland and gets clean, and the ka-tet starts.   now I’m not saying Eddie, wanted to get clean, but all the heroin had been taken back before the big shoot out.  Just imagine a deathly ill gunslinger and heroin addict going through withdraws on beach, both probably hallucinating, have fevers and chills, raging at each other, doesn’t it sound like fun.  So Roland and Eddie both start to get better, not cured but better and the next door appears, titled “The Lady of Shadows.”  Eddie wants to go through and get a fix and Roland won’t let him.   Roland goes through the door, and again is in the mind of another person.  This time it is a black woman, shop lifting from Macy’s, her name is Odetta Holmes, but she also is Detta Walker.  O/Detta suffers from multiple personality disorder, and strangely enough Roland meets both women in the 5-10 minutes it takes him to haul her back through her door.  Which is timely because Eddie was just about to cut Roland’s throat. 

When Eddie and Roland discuss the O/Detta situation, Roland immediately understands the diagnosis, and by instinct knows the treatment is for O/Detta to be joined.  Of course Eddie had to fall for Odetta, before her Detta personality came out.  Seems a little cliché to me, but I know it is important to the storyline, not telling how though at this point.  Although, I personally think it would have been worse if it had been Odetta and Roland, because I know King always has a couple.

Did anybody else catch that Eddie mentions The Shining movie? This book was published in 1987 and The Shining movie came out in 1980, so there was only 7 years between the movie and the publishing, when King wrote this did he know his move would become a cultural icon, or did he just add the little blurb to pat himself on the back?

After a while of dealing with crazy Detta, which does seem to take forever!  The third door appears, title “The Pusher.”  Roland once again goes through alone, not because he feels he needs to hold Eddie back from a fix, but someone has to guard his body for Detta, or she is going to kill them both.  Roland’s infection has come back and maybe that is why I always feel the pusher chapter is rushed compared to the rest of the book. Maybe because Roland is sick and rushing the storyline, but still it is really a quick read to me.  When Roland goes through the door this time, he is in a sick man’s mind, and I don’t mean sick like as in ill, I mean sick as in likes hurting people.  While in there Roland saves Jake from being pushed, and then once he has his antibiotics he throws the pusher in front of a train.  Thereby forever saving Jake.  But now there is a paradox....Jake wasn't pushed in front of the car and sent to Roland's world...what does that do to the timeline...who did Roland let fall? Will Roland forget Jake? Is that the man in black's plan? Does Jake still die just some other way? 

When Roland comes back through, there is a brief fight with Detta, and Roland forcers her to face Odetta, and they join to become a whole new woman, Susannah Dean.  Now Roland has two new gun fighting companions, and they set off in search of the dark tower, and leave the beach behind.

This is an easy read, everything moves along at a nice pace, except the end of course, it seems to move to fast.  It stays pretty true to King’s writing style and we can see influences form other books.  I really enjoyed this book, it’s not my favorite in the series, but it is a good one.

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai (Read 3/3/14 to 3/8/14)

This is a story about a girl born in Pakistan who stood up for women’s rights against the Taliban.  On October 9, 2012 her courage became around the world because she was shot while riding the school bus home.  Against all odds she survived a head shot and the world prayed and held its breath, and now we hear her story in her own words.

Malala comes from a non-traditional family, first of all her parents marriage is a love match, not an arraigned marriage.  Secondly, her mother had strong women as her role models, and although they never stepped out of their traditional role as women, she still had her opinions.  Mala’s father again bucked tradition by not only talking to but listening to Malala’s Mother’s advice.  Finally, and I think most importantly her father father loves/proud of daughter instead of ashamed that she wasn’t a son.  Malal’s father felt that education was just as imprortant for girls as for boys and he encouraged it in his own school.  Although he was a Muslim,Malala’s father did not prescribe the the stereotypical woman oppressing Muslim male image.  He believed in woman’s rights and would often say “Malala is free as a bird.”   Malala’s father was proud of her public speeches advocating for women’s education and condemning the oppression of the Taliban.  He never thought that Malala would be a target, their mistake was in thinking the Taliban would view him as the threat.  When Malala would discuss the potential danger her education and public speeches posed he would say to Malala “I will protect your freedom, Malala. Carry on with your dreams.”   I think he really did think she was safe, and that if anyone would be shot it would be him.

What I really liked about this book was that it provided a history of the Swat Valley of Pakistan and surrounding regions.  This explains how the Taliban took over and emphasis how lack of education, especially in women, contributed to the take over.  Malala lovers her her country and despite the terror and suffering she suffered in it, she still wants to return and make it a better place.  She has a love and a drive to make it someplace safer, someplace better.  Her dream is to become a politician and make actual changes and improvements for her people.  I hope that Malala does become a politician and betters the lives of her people.   This book made me want to support her dreams, and follow her story.  I’m hoping that years from now I will be reading about the differences she has made, and I hope she goes down as another Nelson Mandela type for the Pakistani people.

The Death Penalty in the United States: A Complete Guide to Federal and State Laws, Second Edition by Louis J. Palmer Jr.

This was a book I received as an Early Reviewer on LibraryThing.  I did not remember checking the box to say say I would read it, yet there it was in my mailbox.  I’m not going to lie, it is a very dry book, I am 99% sure it is aimed at being a text book.  I am not a legalese and if I hadn’t received this book the way I had I would not have read it.  It was very dry and hard for me to get through, and sadly I didn’t I made it to chapter 8 and just gave up.  I started just reading, but that didn’t work, I got lost and sadly had to start the book a second time.  On the second read I took detailed notes and underlined like a mad woman,  and it still didn’t work, although I did retain the information that I was reading.  Although I could not read this book as a lunch read or during other times that I didn’t have a chunk of time to devote to it.  There was just too much potential for loss of information if I didn’t read a whole chapter at a time.

In the intro, the author states that this book “aims to provide an objective review of how capital punishment works in the United States.”  He further states that “the primary focus of the book is upon issues that are resolved after a defendant has been convicted of a capital crime.”  Being the general populace I feel that he achieved his goal.  Again, not saying I would recommend this book to my book club, but it was an informative read.   The book is split into 6 parts. 

Part I lays out important foundation information. (5 chapters)  lots of law and history,  I made it through though.  Some of it was good, some of it was bad.  Some of the history was interesting, I think that is the only reason I kept reading.  It was just sooo dry and text bookish.

Part II examines specific issues involving the governmental office responsible for enforcing death penalty statutes – the office of the prosecutor. (5 chapters)  This is the section that lost me, it was all law and nothing of interest for me, and as much as I hate to say it, I just gave up.  My reading time is too precious to continue with something I am having this much trouble getting through.

Part III is an examination of substantive issues involving primarily the sentencing phase of death penalty prosecutions. (6 chapters)

Part IV is concerned with post-conviction remedies that a capital felon will try to obtain after being convicted. (4 chapters)

Part V outlines the laws involving execution of the death penalty. (4 chapters)

Part VI provides some discussion of diverse death penalty issues. (5 chapters)

White Oleander by Janet Fitch (2/15-2/22)

This was a bit of a busy month for me, so I thought I would try to listen to the book on tape, and I watched the movie.  Not good, I got to my book club and they were talking about sections I had no recollection of at all.  I guess I really do need to read it to absorb it, not just listen.  So as a result, I picked up the book and read it.

This is the story of Astrid, a young girl who grows into a woman while in foster care.  When Astrid is 12, her mother Ingrid poisons her boyfriend and is sent to prison.  The book follows Astrid through various foster home as she grows, both physically and emotionally.  Ultimately, this is a story of a girl growing into a young woman and finding herself, while leaving the shadow’s of her Mother’s personality behind.

The imagery in this book is amazing, I get lost in Fitch’s descriptions of things, beautiful poetry that I could stay lost in for hours.  Everything is so organic, there are flowers and plants everywhere.   In the beginning everything is beautiful and mysterious “the blue of the evening , turn velvet, indigo lingering like an unspoken hope.” Astrid is 12 and on the verge of puberty.  She is still an innocent girl who worships her mother, she hasn’t yet discovered that her mother is imperfect and human.  Ingrid is Astrid’s goddess and she worships her wholeheartedly, and Ingrid likes it that way.  “She thought because I was her daughter that I belonged to her, that she could do anything she wanted with me.”  The world is about Ingrid, who is a selfish and manipulative woman that uses her “art” as a reason to not be held to societies same rules of conduct.  If Ingrid hadn’t been sent to prison, there still would have been conflict because Astrid was growing up and on path to becoming her own person, which her mother never would have understood.  “I felt on the edge of something, a mystery that surrounded me like gauze, something I was beginning to unwind.”

Finch describes every home that Astrid is sent to, and it foreshadows the events that will happen there.  The first foster home that Astrid is sent to is with Starr, and ex stripper, alcoholic, and born again Christian.   “A plastic garden pinwheel stood motionless in a patch of geraniums.  Spider plants hung from pots on the wide trailer porch.”  “there were no fringy jacarandas here, only oleanders and palms, pear cactus and a big weeping pepper.”  Astrid is still naïve, and she still sees the beauty that is possible, but there is a sadness to the place, a loss of childhood and innocence that will happen when Astrid and Ray’s relationship develops and drives Starr to shoot Astrid and loose all that she has worked for.

After Astrid is shot she is sent to live with Marvel and Ed, a bigot who only sees Astrid as a hired maid, that she doesn’t have to pay.  “It was the color of a tropical lagoon on a postcard thirty years out of date, a Gauguin syphilitic nightmare. It was the gap in the chain of deciduous trees that cradled every other house on the block, defiantly ugly in its nakedness.”  Marvel is cheerful on the outside, but inside she is full of hate, for her neighbors, for Astrid, and possibly even herself.  Here Astrid meets Olivia, a whore, and learns that as a woman, she can have some control of her life, if she just takes it.  But one Marvel finds out about Astrid and Olivia’s friendship, she sends Astrid away.

Astrid arrives at her 3rd home, “A big wooden craftsman with a deep eaved porch, too nice for foster care.  Inside it was dark, the windows covered with heavy curtains.  The woodwork gleamed halfway up the walls, smelling of lemon oil.”  Amelia, looks picture perfect on the outside, nice house, nice person, but she isn’t she is cruel and vicious, taking the girls money from the foster system and remolding her house, all the while starving the girls.  Astrid learns here, that as cruel as it may seem, sometimes you have to look out for yourself and no-one else.

The home that Astrid finally found the love she had been looking for was with Claire.  “An old neighborhood of stucco bungalows and full-growth sycamores with chalky white trunks and leaves like hands.”  Claire was sick, and mentally unstable and Ingrid jealous of Clair and Astrid’s relationship manipulated her into committing suicide.  Astrid blames herself and feels that anything she gets after Clair is deserved.

When Clair dies, Astrid is sent to McLaren Children’s Center “Block walls, linoleum floors, the shadows of pines against the outside lights, and the sleeping shapes of my roommates under their thin thermal blankets.”  This is her own version of prison, where she must serve her time for allowing Clair to be touched and ruined by Ingrid.  Astrid has stopped worshipping her mother and has broken the connections as best she can.  But because of Clair’s death she doesn’t feel she deserves redemption or a good life and that is why she passes on a good family and instead chooses to go with Rena when she leaves the center.

Rena is a Russian immigrant who has a very selfish view of the world.  “A glum cocoa-brown Spanish bungalow with heavy plasterwork, dark windows and a patchy lawn surrounded by a chain-link fence.”  Rena is constantly asking “What is in it for me?”  She teaches Astrid to stand up for herself, and that she can demand things.  Astrid finally builds some defenses, not only against the world, but also against her mother.

In the final chapter, Astrid is living in Berlin with her boyfriend Paul , “It was crumbling and coal heated, but we could afford it most of the time.”  “I liked Berlin. The city and I understood each other.  I liked that they had left the bombed out hulk of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church as a monument to loss.  Nobody had forgotten anything here.  In Berlin, you had to wrestle with the past, you had to build on the ruins, inside them.  It wasn’t like America, where we scraped the earth clean, thinking we could start again every time.  We hadn’t learned yet, that there was no such thing as an empty canvas.”   I could see the wrap up for Astrid, free of her mother, still drawn to her, but not giving into the temptation.  I was however very confused about her and Paul’s relationship.  There was no real build up to it, yeah they met at McLaren’s and connected but then nothing until she is living with him in Berlin.  It didn’t fit with Astrid’s character.  The whole book was about her growing and becoming her own person, a woman strong enough to defy her mother, then boom she is a girlfriend trying to promote her boyfriends dreams and not pursuing her own.  How did that happen?  What was the point of the book if she just becomes another woman behind the man?  Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it wasn’t the way the character was going.  It’s like at the end, Finch said oops nope that isn’t what I meant to write lets do a complete 360.  I loved the book, the rawness, the beauty in the writing.  But I think if I ever re-read it, I will stop at chapter 31.