Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review: The Art of Fully Living

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The Art of Fully Living: 1 Man. 10 Years. 100 Life Goals Around the World is an amazing book about a man who did just what the book’s title implies. Author Tal Gur is a bucket list maker extraordinaire.

Gur, an Israeli, yearns to learn English and knows the best way to go about this goal is total immersion. He travels to Australia, learns the language and while there immerses himself in the culture, becoming totally involved with his surroundings. He goes on to complete an Ironman triathlon event in New Zealand. Gur pushes himself to achieve these successes—many times to the point of discomfort and exhaustion. He realizes his own strength and determination, and goes on to face his next life’s goal. He continues to travel the world and become involved in what each country offers. His journey isn’t without hardship and sometimes despair, but he learns to listen to his body and heart. He learns to view a negative situation from a positive angle, to reflect on what is important. Through flexibility and adaptability, he realizes that life is a balancing act.

Gur’s accomplishments through his world travels, his impressive achievements and the choices he made aren’t for everyone. But what is of value to everybody is learning how to achieve what is important to that individual. We each must have some type of goal in order to grow. Gur offers wisdom that applies to everyone:

– Stop accumulating “stuff.” The less stuff, the more freedom you have
– Declutter your life, curb excess buying
– Stay out of debt
– Embrace uncertainty. Let go of the need to control.
– Remember that the journey is more important than the destination

In this review I have attempted to cover the highlights, but in so doing realize there is so much more than reducing this book to these few points. I highly recommend The Art of Fully Living. It has something for everyone.

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Book Review: Walk the Promise Road

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I could feel the dust and grime of the trail when I read Anne Schroeder’s Walk the Promise Road: A Novel of the Oregon Trail.

When Mary Rodgers’mother, father and little brother die from an influenza epidemic, she’s not only heartbroken, she’s alone in the world. She does have her cousin Philip, but he’s soon to leave Illinois to join his fiancé in Oregon. Mary, not quite eighteen, is determined to have a life, not be married off to someone she doen’t even love. She convinces her cousin that she could join him, that they could travel as a married couple. After all, they have the same last name. There would be no way a wagon train would take a young woman without a husband–it would be unseemly, and could cause trouble among the single men. Philip, not much older than Mary, could not be considered a proper escort. Philip resists, but Mary convinces him that it would not only work, but that she would be an asset on the trip, a helpmate.

It’s April, 1848 when they meet their travel companions in Independence, Missouri. The wagonmaster and Lucas Sayer, his half-Indian trail scout, assemble the 117 people and their 61 wagons and set out for the 2,000-mile journey. Mary and Philip’s secret seems to work, and they are known as “the Rodgers” and assumed to be husband and wife.

When Lucas begins spending time at the Rogers’ fireside, Mary struggles to keep their secret. Lucas is the most desirable man she’s ever known, and it’s obvious that he feels the same about her. Other travelers notice and tongues begin to wag.

I particularly appreciated Anne Schroeder’s realistic description of the hard journey west. I’ve always loved stories about the Oregon Trail and this novel is exceptional in its authenticity. It’s amazing that the west was ever settled. Emigrants constantly struggled to move forward, bone-tired and thirsty. Wagons broke down, stock died from exhaustion, people died of disease or lack of desire to struggle on. There were always those who prepared, like Philip, and those who did not and ultimately had to depended on others. For women and many of the older children, the journey was made mostly on foot, doing everything they could to lighten the load for the mules, horses or oxen that pulled the heavy wagons. There was either not enough water, or too much water. Heartbroken women left their treasures along the trail in order to lighten the load so the beasts wouldn’t die in their traces. Travelers bickered, some went their own way, often with disastrous results. It was a long, grueling journey and the lucky ones arrived in Oregon six long months later.

Walk the Promise Road is a journey to remember.

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Book Review: Girl Warrior

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Carmen Peone’s novel Girl Warrior shows what determination and grit can do in the face of bullies and hard decisions.

Charnaye Toulou lives on the Colville Reservation in eastern Washington. She’s a high school senior now and has much to look forward to. Her family has had a hard time since her father was in a car accident which left him paraplegic. Charnaye’s mother, a teacher, is the only wage-earner in the family and they’ve had a hard time managing their ranch and household expenses.

Although Charnaye is a good student, her time at school is riddled with anxiety. Hagen, a bully, is relentless in his jibes about her dream of competing in the Omak Stampede’s Suicide Race. True, girls usually don’t participate in this rugged competition. The races, held over a four-day period, are tough on horses and riders, to say nothing of the grueling training required. Many of the participants, including Charnaye, are Natives and the race traditionally has been a male-only event, although there have been women competitors, including her grandmother.

Charnaye also competes in archery. If she wins the competition in that, she might earn enough money to help pay household and medical expenses. But if she could win the big event, the Suicide Race, she could earn a big cash prize.

Charnaye is nearly overwhelmed as tension builds with her school work, end-of-year senior activities, cruel bullying tactics, and her looming competitions. And to top it off, her dream of competing in the Suicide Race is dependent on somehow acquiring a horse that is up to the task. Her own horse, though reliable, is not sturdy enough to participate in that grueling race.

Girl Warrior is highly suspenseful and loaded with Native folklore and interesting facts about the Suicide Race. The novel aptly describes the angst many teens experience as they are about to enter the adult world.

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Book Review: Me Before You

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I loved Me Before You written by JoJo Moyes, an English journalist and romance novelist. I’m not usually a romance reader, yet I found Me Before You a fascinating love story, funny, surprising, sometimes tearful, and certainly thought provoking.

The story takes place in a small English village known for Stortford Castle, a well-known tourist attraction. Louisa Clark is, by most standards, eccentric. At 26, she has held the most menial jobs, the latest working in a café. But she loves serving customers. Her dress style is…flamboyant, not with any particular style. Let’s say she dresses with a style of her own. Although she comes from a loving, close-knit family, she is often the brunt of their jokes. Her younger sister has the “brains of the family” and is a university student. Her father’s employment situation is precarious and the family relies on Louise’s income.

Will Traynor comes from great wealth; in fact, his family owns Stortford Castle. He has much to show for his own achievements. Will loved life, had a successful business and was known for his dare-devil lifestyle. When, as a pedestrian, he is struck by a motorcycle, his injuries are severe and permanent. He is instantly a quadriplegic and must rely on others for his existence. His life is broken beyond repair and he is not compliant.

When the café where Louise works goes out of business, she is left without a job, a frightening possibility for her and her family. She goes to the employment office and interviews for a job caring for Will Traynor. Louisa and Will couldn’t have been more different. But as their lives intertwine, something unexpected happens.

When Louise learns that Will has shocking plans for his own life, she sets out to show him that life is worth living.

From Me Before You I learned a few things, too, about the world of a quadriplegic and all that it takes to sustain life. The novel is rich with English tradition and lifestyle, which I enjoy.

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Book Review: Unraveling Oliver

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A psychological suspense, Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent, is a well-crafted novel told from several narrative points of view.

The story begins in Oliver Ryan’s voice. It’s 2011 in Dublin, Ireland. Oliver is a successful writer of award-winning children’s fantasy; his wife Alice illustrates his enormously popular books. The novel opens with Oliver contemplating his unconscious wife.

Subsequent chapters include other voices, people who make up the fabric of Oliver’s life. His childhood was a horror of neglect, anguish and envy. As various people come into his life, Oliver’s quiet rage and hate grow, providing a unique look at how a person might become a psychopath. Oliver is never likeable—the reader is always aware of his self-serving attitude—yet people are drawn to him, especially when he turns on his charm.

This suspense novel is not a whodunnit, but rather a whydunnit. Unraveling Oliver is a highly suspenseful, intricately woven story of a man who apparently has everything; that is, until his shocking secrets are unveiled.

 

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Book Review: Before We Were Yours

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Lisa Wingate’s riveting novel, Before We Were Yours, is based on true facts but written from the viewpoint of fictitious characters.

In 1939, Rill Foss, age 12, lives what she believes an idyllic life aboard a shanty houseboat on the Mississippi River. They move as the seasons change. The family never has much money but they have love, adventure, and freedom. Rill’s father leaves her in charge of her four younger siblings while he takes her mother to the hospital to deliver twins. While he’s gone uniformed “officials” wrench the children from their home, ostensibly to see their parents.

The children’s lives become a series of terrifying incidents through the notorious Tennessee Children’s Home Society, a true entity, and under the direction of infamous Georgia Tann, director of the adoption agency.

Alternating chapters with Rill’s story, Avery Stafford, a present-day federal prosecutor born into wealth and privilege, has a chance encounter with an older woman. A bracelet and an old photograph compel Avery to investigate what turns out to be her family’s long-hidden history.

Before We Were Yours is compelling, though troubling. The vivid characters and settings are believable. Knowing that the corrupt Tennessee Children’s Home portion of the book is based on fact makes for a chilling read. I highly recommend this novel, but it is not for the faint of heart.

 

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Book Review: When I Found You

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I loved this novel. Catherine Ryan Hyde’s When I Found You touched my heart with the two main characters, Nathan McCann and Nathan (Nat) Bates. The two bear the same name for a reason.

While duck hunting, Nathan McCann’s dog sniffs out a newborn baby boy, covered with leaves and wearing only a tiny knit cap and wrapped in an adult sweater. Even though it’s a chilly October morning, the infant is still alive and Nathan rushes him to the hospital. A search finds the baby’s mother, but she dies in custody. Nathan, a married middle-aged accountant, would like to adopt the child, but the baby’s grandmother claims custody.

Fifteen years later, Nat, the boy, named after the man who found him, appears with his grandmother on Nathan’s doorstep. She can no longer handle the sullen teenager and turns him over to Nathan. By this time, the boy is almost unreachable and immediately gets into serious trouble. Nathan promises the boy he will always stand by him. Slowly, slowly they begin to bond, even when loyalty is seriously challenged.

The novel spans several years as young Nat works toward his dream of becoming a professional boxer. When he suffers a trauma that changes their lives forever, both learn the strength and depth of their bond.

I loved the contrast between mild mannered, proper Nathan and Nat, a rebellious teen. I found the characters and the situations realistic in this poignant story of love, pain and trust.

 

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Book Review: The Elephant Whisperer

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The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild, a memoir written by Lawrence Anthony with Graham Spence, left me spellbound. I have always loved elephants. I lived in Africa for two years when my husband Bruce and I served with the Peace Corps in The Gambia, but there were no elephants in that region. In fact, where this book takes place in Zululand, South Africa, the people there had not seen elephants for more than 100 years.

In order to save a rogue herd of seven elephants, Lawrence Anthony agreed to take them in on Thula Thula, his 5,000 acre game reserve in Zululand. He was the herd’s last chance of survival: otherwise, they would be killed. Anthony had devoted his life to animal conservation, protecting the world’s endangered species. Adopting this herd of three adult females, three youngsters (one male, 2 females) and an adolescent bull, was a challenge that changed his life.

Taking in this herd required heavy-duty shoring up of the reserve boundaries. Elephants can do a lot of damage and the authorities, to say nothing of the village people, had no patience for rogue elephants, the world’s largest land animal, and the damage they can wreak.

Anthony and his French wife, Françoise, devoted their lives to the reserve. The bond they formed worked both ways: the elephants learned they could trust Anthony, and he learned about life, loyalty, and the meaning of freedom from them. But it wasn’t without struggle, not only with the elephants, but with the village people, and the constant worry of poachers.

This memoir is rich in Africa’s wildness and its culture. Anthony also earned trust and loyalty among his staff. They eventually built a lodge where guests could view the wildlife as they rode through the reserve in Land Rovers. There were moments, however, where the guests got more excitement than they bargained for. To have a successful wild game reserve also required cooperation from local authorities and Anthony’s many encounters with tribal chiefs showed their reverence and respect toward him. At times the reserve’s existence was held in the balance of centuries-old tribal wars and boundary disputes.

The Elephant Whisperer has its funny moments and its sad, wrenching moments, but most of all it is a heartwarming story of an unrelenting effort to protect our world’s wildlife. I highly recommend this memoir.

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Book Review: And This Is How I Lived

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Carolyn Wing Greenlee has compiled an intriguing collection of stories in And This Is How I Lived: Stories from overlanders, immigrants, settlers, and pioneers who made new lives in difficult places.

Among the stories runs a thread of what it took to make America great. Although injustices abounded, especially among hard-working Chinese, their dedication shone through. I especially loved the stories about the author’s family and her Chinese heritage.

Many of these previously printed stories are precious glimpses of history, particularly of early California. I loved Greenlee’s quote: “What seems insignificant today becomes treasured memories later.” The author has captured the spirit of dedication to family and what it means to be a part of a shared humanity.

One of the lessons I came away with in reading this collection is how tasks at the time may seem minor, but upon reflection we realize the difference we have made in a productive future.

And This Is How I Lived is a treasure to be remembered.

 

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Book Review: The Final Frontiersman

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When Heimo Korth set out from Wisconsin to Alaska in 1974, he knew life in the Arctic would be hard, but he was tough. In his twenties, he loved the wilderness and didn’t mind being alone.

James Campbell captures the heart and soul of Alaska’s twentieth century mountainmen in The Final Frontiersman. Spending his early years alone, Heimo Korth carves out a life as a trapper, hunter and fisherman, sometimes barely eking out a living. As the seasons change, Heimo moves from one hard-scrabble place to another, building a rough cabin for mere survival, then adapting to his surroundings in whatever way the land allows. Vast distances are hard to imagine, but there are years when Heimo’s nearest neighbor is 100 miles downriver with no road between them.

The Final Frontiersman begins with the author’s visit with Heimo Korth’s family–his wife, Edna, an Alaska native, and their two daughters, Rhonda, fifteen, and Krin, twelve. The book goes back in time occasionally to capture Heimo’s early years in the Arctic, but steadily traverses the nearly three decades of the family’s existence in this harsh wilderness. Over the years, the author visits the family from time to time, blending in with the Korth’s activities. Heimo is a good story teller and his stories are substantiated by others: natives, wilderness men like him, or even government men who have known him.

I was taken by the graphic details of mere survival in Alaska’s harsh wilderness. The toughness and survival skills of these people are impressive—whether it be sledding at 44 degrees below zero, navigating breaking ice, or constantly being on the lookout for grizzlies. Not only did Heimo manage traplines, his fifteen year-old daughter worked her own traplines! Even children carry knives and matches when they travel, and in one scene, Heimo’s youngest child saves his life by her ability to start a fire in the wilderness to warm her father after their canoe overturns and he’s rescued its contents.

This book is a classic story of survival and human endurance in a vanishing way of life. It redefines the idea of wilderness itself. I highly recommend The Final Frontiersman.

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