2019 - Third Quarterly Review

To assist my blog readers, I've decided to summarize my reading four times a year, providing a brief description, the page count, and a grading scale (5 thumbs up - Highly Recommend, 4 thumbs up - Enjoyed, 3 thumbs up - Good, but not as satisfying as I'd hoped, 2 thumbs up - Meh, and 1 thumb down - Regret, wishing I could get back the time invested). I might also document the mention of agents in the acknowledgement section - this is primarily for my own purposes, since it benefits a writer to know what agents represented similar works.

I read the following books during the third quarter of 2019 (for my full review, click on title):


How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew - Well-written memoir about the deaths of Mulgrew's father to cancer and mother to Alzheimer's. - 334 pages, 👍👍👍

The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting by Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer - A 5:2 plan (5 days normal eating, 2 days restricted calorie eating) that seems reasonably easy to follow, but probably not the best book available on intermittent fasting. - 250 pages, 👍👍

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts - The story of Maud Gage Baum, wife of the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and her intersection with the actress Judy Garland as she played the role of Dorothy in the movie version of Baum's book. - 340 pages, 👍👍👍-1/2

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda - Told in reverse chronological order, this unique thriller lays groundwork for two missing girls, a decade apart, and slowly reveals the solution to the mystery. - 368 pages, 👍👍👍

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris - Lale Sokolov endures the terrors of the Nazi concentration camp because of his budding love for Gita.  More historical romance than historical expose. - 288 pages (I listened on audio, 6 CDs, 7.5 hours), 👍👍👍-1/2

Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane - Forty-year-old May Attaway lives with her father and her cat and works in the university gardens. A sudden allotment of time off prompts her to visit four old friends from her past. What follows is deep reflection on friendship in this modern age. With each visit she tends the garden of her soul. - 289, 👍👍👍👍-1/2

Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford - Ernest, a twelve-year-old Asian boy, is raffled off at the 1909 Seattle World's Fair and won by a madam in a brothel. Weaving back and forth between two Seattle fairs, Ernest's life is full of conflict and intrigue. - 320 pages (I listened on audio, 9 CDs, 11-1/2 hours), 👍👍👍👍-1/2

Once More We Saw Stars by Jayson Greene - Memoir of Greene's grief journey after losing his toddler daughter, Greta, in a freak accident. - 256 pages, 👍👍👍

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse - Newbery-winning book about a teen living during the Depression in the Dust Bowl. - 227 pages (I listened on audio, 2 CDs, 2-1/4 hours), 👍👍👍-1/2

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk - Award-winning historical fiction about a young abandoned baby raised by strangers on the Elizabeth Islands, near a leper colony on Penikese Island. - 283 pages, 👍👍👍-1/2

Emily's Fortune by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - Orphaned and on the run, Emily Wiggins makes her way by stagecoach to her new home with her aunt Hilda. - 160 pages (I listened on audio, 2 CDs, 2-1/2 hours), 👍👍👍-1/2

On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck - Davy Bowman navigates the tricky waters of the World War II homefront. - 160 pages (I listened on audio, 3 CDs, 3-1/4 hours), 👍👍👍

How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper - Andrew works as a public servant seeking clues of kin for those who die alone, but his life is built upon the lie that he goes home to a loving family. When he begins to take an interest in his co-worker, Peggy, he must find a way to come clean without losing everything. - 321 pages, 👍👍👍👍

A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer - Danny Cartwright is framed for the murder of his best friend but by a quirk of fate he is able to seek rectification and revenge. An intricate, twisty cat-and-mouse game! - (Found this confusing: Amazon lists the hardback as 512 pages and the audio as 16-1/2 hours, yet my library audio version was only 5 CDs, 6 hours??? doesn't say abridged), 👍👍👍👍-1/2

The Outcasts of Time by Ian Mortimer - In 1348, brothers John and William are given a rare choice to either spend their final six days of life with their family (possibly passing along the plague) or cross time to spend the days with one day in ninety-nine year increments until their final day in 1942. As they travel across time, they encounter the many changes and attempt to do good or earn salvation. - 383 pages, 👍👍

When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd - Insight into spiritual times of waiting and seeking God's direction for life. - 205 pages, 👍👍👍

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley - How did a severed finger turn up in Flavia's sister Ophelia's wedding cake? Could someone truly believe the finger holds the power to impart the musical prowess of the dead? If so, I could do with a drink from the dust of Dickens, ha! - 352 pages, (I listened on audio, 7 CD's, 9 hours), 👍👍👍-1/2

The Wit and Wisdom of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes - A compilation of favorite lines from the popular PBS show about the upstairs and downstairs life in an Edwardian English estate. - 128 pages, 👍👍👍👍

The Cross Gardener by Jason F. Wright - John Bevan is having difficulty managing his grief until he strikes up a friendship with a heaven-sent individual who calls himself "the cross gardener," and comforts with the proclamation that "no one dies alone." - 304 pages, 👍👍-1/2

A Risk Worth Taking by Robin Pilcher - Dan Porter's world is falling apart after the loss of his job. Can a trip to Scotland save him? - 304 pages (I listened on audio, 3 CD's, 3-1/2 hours), 👍👍👍

Book Review: A Risk Worth Taking

Back when my mother was a reader, she loved Rosamunde Pilcher's books. I attempted a short story collection, Flowers in the Rain & Other Stories, but struggled with endless distractions from my boys. I still plan to try September. When I recognized the Pilcher name, this time her son Robin, I gave this audio book a chance. I think the storytelling was good, the characters genuine, and the pacing sound.

In A Risk Worth Taking, Dan Porter is seeking direction in life after losing his job. His marriage is suffering and his teenaged children are distant. Then he reads an article about a clothing company in Scotland planning to sell. Although he is too late to buy the company, the owner's husband offers him a temporary job. Joined by his son, Dan forges a new path and takes a risk to redefine his existence.

It was easy to become engrossed in the tale. My only complaint is that it seemed to wink at infidelity. But, it held my attention and presented believable characters and dilemmas. I would venture forth with another book by this author. I shall have to see if my library has any more audio books by Robin Pilcher.

Book Review: The Cross Gardener

After listening to Lincoln Hoppe narrate a recent middle grade read, I sought another audio book from his narration. When I noticed this title, The Cross Gardener, I recognized an author I've attempted and moderately appreciated before, Jason F. Wright (author of The Wednesday Letters and The Seventeen-Second Miracle). Given his other titles, I knew to expect an inspirational read. However, I found this one somewhat hokey and often irritating.

John Bevan lives a life of almost constant loss (one individual hammered by so much tragedy felt like a stretch). The tale opens with the story of his birth, on the side of the road, to an unwed mother who dies in an accident. Despite the good fortune of adoption, his life continues to spiral in grief when his teen brother drowns, his grandfather dies, and his adoptive father dies of lung cancer. After marrying his childhood sweetheart, he welcomes a daughter, Lulu. But, tragedy assaults again.

Reeling from grief, he meets a young man on the side of the road where yet another auto accident has torn his life apart. This messenger calls himself "the cross gardener," and feels a singular mission to teach John Bevan the foremost lesson that "no one dies alone." I'm sure readers struggling with grief will find these words comforting, but so much of the explanation veered away from my own personal beliefs.

The presented ideas conflict with a Christian perspective and offer a fluffy feel-good mentality of dead individuals returning to help the living cross over into eternity. Moreover, several of the author's concepts disturb me, especially the dead garnering eternal life for the lost (despite their lifelong rejection of God). According to the Bible, we each will stand before the judgment seat to receive what is due us for the things done while in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10). I cannot reject God, yet gain heaven by someone else's petition on my behalf. Salvation is a free gift, by grace through faith in the atoning work of Christ's death on the cross, not something earned through the efforts of others.

Even the emphasis on the crosses erected at grave-sites in this story perplexes me. Why would someone who does not believe in the validity of Christ's act on the cross, memorialize the dead with a cross? I Corinthians 1:18 says the preaching of the cross is foolishness to many people. This author seems to imply that we can gain salvation/eternal life through the activities and efforts/prayers of others. As a Christian, I believe that eternal life is a free gift through belief, by grace, not works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Not only does the story require a herculean suspension of disbelief, it presents heretical thought in a pretty consolatory package meant to comfort the grieving. I agree our pain has purpose. I agree God holds a higher perspective over it all (like Wright's hot-air balloon example). Yet, I disagree with so many of the foundational arguments in this book that I cannot recommend it, even to comfort a grieving friend.

My Commendations and Criticisms of Downton Abbey

Photo by Greg Willson on Unsplash

The Downton Abbey movie officially opens in U.S. theaters today. For years, the buzz pushed me away. I knew it was an addictive Masterpiece Theater series. Several friends raved about it on Facebook. Many aspects should have enticed me: it was a lengthy British, historical drama - just my thing.

Years ago, I gave it a shot and only completed the first episode before setting the Season One DVD rental aside. This time around, I determined to push through my hesitations and, by episode three, the characters hooked me with the masses. Yet, I'm torn in my assessment. While I love the show and admit my addiction (I watched all six seasons twice to prepare for the movie), in other ways, I find it ridiculous - a high-heeled soap opera.

Commendations:

1) As noted in my earlier book review, I LOVE the dialogue and witty banter between characters, first and foremost. I cannot get enough of the caustic exchanges between the Dowager Countess and Mrs. Crawley. I love Mrs. Patmore's retorts. Mary's acerbic tongue spears her sister and others with direct blows. So many times, various characters come back with responses I might only dream up after much cogitation and indignation-fueled fury (like O'Brien's quick response to Anna's derisive tone, "Get back in the knife box, Mrs. Sharp!").

2) My favorite beloved characters. Who wouldn't fall for Matthew Crawley? Handsome, humble, honorable. I'd have taken him in a minute-flat - middle-class or not. Or could anyone not root for Lady Sybil? She is free from societal restraints and sees to the genuine heart of things. She lives and loves outside the box. What a blow her childbirth episode delivered! The show paints the chauffeur, Tom Branson, in such generous colors. Even when tasked with swimming upstream, he keeps viewers on his side. I almost gave up on him when he succumbed to the crafty exploits of Edna, but that smile wooed me back as soon as he realized the error of his ways. His was a hard walk, and he managed it with grace. I also loved the two primary masters of the downstairs staff - Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes. They both exhibited compassion balanced with grit. I enjoyed loving the lovely and despising the despicable. But, even I cried when a broken Thomas softened and a prickly Mrs. O'Brien regretted the action she couldn't erase.

3) The history, setting and dress. What fun to immerse myself in the post-Edwardian aristocracy's world. From the inciting incident of the Titanic's sinking, the series offers a faithful portrayal of many historical details: the suffrage movement, war-time with grand homes morphing into hospitals, post-war losses from the Spanish Flu, politics in England and abroad, the narrowing chasm between the landed elite and their domestic staff, and the threat of death taxes. Even though my personal love is for Victorian England, the grandness of Downton Abbey and the elaborate costumes of the family swept me away. I imagined what it would be like to live on that glorious estate, to have such a library (swoon), and to dress in spectacular outfits and finery. Would I even endure the corset if it meant I'd stun like Lady Mary, Lady Sybil, or Lady Rose?

4) The music. My heart swelled with the hammered notes of the introductory theme song. I loved how, at the end of certain sadder episodes, the theme muted or switched to more subdued tones. In scenes of romance, particular strains repeated. It was evocative and rich and enhanced the feelings of the moment. Kudos to Scottish composer John Lunn!

5) Increasing conflict is essential to a story! Every episode seemed to offer a new avenue of distress or wrinkle in the tale. I'm sure much of the addictive tendency goes back to the excellent plot pacing. Each character presented problems anew and the dynamics between individuals created enough friction to carry the story.

But some positives flip to negatives.

Criticisms:

1) The plotting waxed absurd. It was as if the author drew up a comprehensive list of scandals and included each one. The characters experience an array of appalling offenses. Downton Abbey is the hotbed of sin and sordidness. Lives are fraught with sexual promiscuity, infidelity, prostitution, blackmail, rape, murder, gambling, divorce, death in childbirth, class violations, and racial tensions. Jilting at the altar? Check. Upstairs individuals cavorting with downstairs individuals. Check. Illegitimate offspring? Check. Child ripped from her adoptive home? Check.

2) Many aspects were unbelievable. Would the decent, upright Matthew Crawley feel attracted to the calculating, cold Lady Mary? How could Mary pursue someone whose career involved the very thing that killed her first husband? After turning down Matthew because he might not be rich, why would she later settle on Henry who ends up as a car salesman? I saw no impetus for that relationship at all and detected only the blandest level of love between them. Threat to expose Mary's indiscretions occurs not once, but twice. Lady Edith, billed as the homeliest and least appealing daughter, enjoys countless relationships (the married farmer; the amnesiac, intended heir; the milk-toast, jilting Lord; the marriage-bound editor; ...) and secures the marriage with the highest ranking. I'm surprised Mary didn't swoop in to steal that prize (after all, she needs to secure Downton's future). Lord Grantham's dalliance with Jane was unbelievable. What caused that attraction? Every time you turn around you meet a new relationship and an impending wedding (be it upstairs or downstairs). Apart from Daisy, it seems there's someone for everyone.

3) They hammered some plot-lines to death. The whole Bates saga went on forever. Will they or won't they convict him, hang him, or absolve him? Plus, what a conflicted character! He had to be tough enough for the viewer to believe him capable of the accused atrocities and yet tender enough to woo the gentle Anna. He was violent enough to seek revenge, to twist his wife's arm and call her a foul name, yet honorable enough to go to prison for her crime and to stay silent when Lord Grantham considers his behavior dishonorable. In prison he attacks his roommate, yet later uses his forgery skills to secure funding for the proud Mr. Moseley and, later still, to save the day retrieving the purloined letter. Quite a mixed bag. Then, as if Bates hasn't suffered enough, the legal trial of his wife hounds him further, prompting him to once again take the fall. At least Mrs. Bates catches a break when permitted to give birth in the fine furnishings of Lady Mary's room.

4) They dropped other story elements quickly. Beloved characters died before viewers took a breath. I'm not sure I understood the point of including Lady Grantham's American brother and his flirtations with the young girl (apart from emphasizing the ever-present scramble to align with the wealthy) or the plot line of Rose's stolen letter (loyalty to the monarchy). Two servants seek to elevate their station yet two ignore marriage proposals that would pull them out of their servant subsistence. Mr. Carson's ex-stage partner enters and exits his life in sputters, along with news of his earlier love interest.

5) I know I'm squeamish, but I struggled with several scenes: the operation to extract fluid from around the heart; Lady Grantham's bout with Spanish flu; Livinia's death; Lady Sybil's childbirth and post-childbirth scenes; the rape scene; Lord Grantham's graphic response to illness; and Matthew's demise on the wings of such elation. Granted, life is full of ups and downs, easy days and difficult, but some harder scenes were shattering.

Overall, I'm still a Downton Abbey fan. I have high hopes for the movie. The grandeur will increase because they are hosting the King and Queen. I cannot wait to see the costuming. I hope the witty banter persists. It is thrilling to know Dame Maggie Smith is returning for the movie, despite her protestations that her character would be ancient by then. Bring on more daggers from the Dowager Countess. What scandal remains to explore? I'd love to see Lady Mary and Lady Edith call a truce and rely on, instead of repel, each other. Is that even possible? Although I criticized the overabundance of romantic relationships, I still desire love for Tom Branson. May he find a satisfactory place and a suitable partner.

At some point, I wish to walk the grounds of Highclere Castle. While I doubt I'll win the Viking River Cruises sweepstakes (a cruise with a day-trip to the film location of Downton Abbey), perhaps I will one day find my way back to Britain. The characters became such a part of my daily life while binge-watching these past months. Approaching the location will equal walking into a moment of history or re-opening a favored book.

Are you a Downton Abbey fan? What are your likes and dislikes about the show? What are your hopes for the movie and the future? Should they offer even more Downton by pursuing a second movie? I doubt the Dowager would return, and that might be like french fries without salt.

Book Review: The Wit and Wisdom of Downton Abbey

What an excellent gift book for fans of Downton Abbey! Compiled by the scriptwriter's niece, Jessica Fellowes, The Wit and Wisdom of Downton Abbey provides many smiles of remembrance. Who can forget some of the zingers lobbed by the fiesty Dowager Countess? The deft dialogue between her and Isobel? Or the peppery retorts of Mrs. Patmore?

Here are my top ten favorite Downton Abbey lines from this compilation:

Robert: "We all have chapters we would rather keep unpublished."

Violet: "I haven't been into the kitchens here for at least, oh, twenty years at least."
Isobel: "Have you brought your passport?"

Violet: "I'm a woman, Mary. I can be as contrary as I choose."

Carlisle: "I'm leaving in the morning, Lady Grantham. I doubt we'll meet again."
Violet: "Do you promise?"

Mrs. Patmore: "Daisy? What's happened? I said you could go for a drink of water, not a trip up the Nile."

Daisy: "I was only trying to help."
Mrs. Patmore: "Oh, like Judas was only 'trying to help' I s'pose, when he brought the Roman soldiers to the gardens!"

Daisy: "I think I've let misself down."
Mrs. Patmore: "It can't be a new sensation."

Mrs. Patmore: "You couldn't be harder on those potatoes if you wanted them to confess to spying."

Isobel: "How you hate to be wrong!"
Violet: "I wouldn't know. I'm not familiar with the sensation."

Edith: "You think yourself so superior, don't you?"
Mary: "Why not? I am."

And if you'd like a full immersion, watch this Slate video of the best burns from the Dowager Countess:

Book Review: The Golden Tresses of the Dead

I love Allan Bradley's allusive titles for his Flavia DeLuce detective series. Moreover, nothing can beat listening to a Flavia story narrated with a British accent. What a fun audio experience! In this tenth installment, The Golden Tresses of the Dead, twelve-year-old super-sleuth Flavia investigates the appearance of a severed finger in her sister Ophelia's wedding cake. Together with her partner, Dogger, Flavia cracks her first detective case in an official capacity. They are hired by a Mrs. Prill to uncover the whereabouts of some missing letters. Sadly, Mrs. Prill turns up dead, and the plot thickens. Although it was a rather roundabout journey to connect the letters and the digit, I enjoyed the tale. I might even suggest the series to my own twelve-year-old (who aspires to become a chemical engineer like his older brother), now that he must read 5 books for every nine-week term of middle school. He's not doing too badly (read four of the Percy Jackson books before the end of August).

Book Review: When the Heart Waits

My blogging/book club friend, Catherine, recommended this book by the outstanding author, Sue Monk Kidd (author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair). When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions is a great book to read if you are in any kind of figurative waiting room. I feel like I'm in a waiting room, wondering what I should do about my futile writing efforts. Attempting to distance myself from it, I even applied for a part-time instructional aide position, but received no call for an interview (probably my twelve years out of the workforce goes against me). I am waiting to figure out what I'm supposed to do with my life and who I'm supposed to be.

Here are a few nuggets I gleaned from this book:

"Lots of times we need questions more than answers. Questions such as these: Is there more to me than the roles I live out? Can I open up to my identity apart from them, to the knowledge that I'm more than the personas I create?"

The author credits Martin Marty with the metaphor of the "white-out," and she writes: "There are white-outs in waiting as well, times when, for whatever reason, hope vanishes and we're disoriented, unable to discern the shapes of God on the horizon, unable to trust that there's anything beyond our pain."

She writes of the mutual questions shared with her mentor, Beatrice: "What is this life of ours all about? Why are we here? What kind of being are we? ... What would it mean for us to really love? How am I experiencing God at this moment in my life? What darkness in me needs to be confronted and transformed? A fellow questioner helps us learn to live our questions instead of suppressing them."

I could stand more patience in sitting with my questions. In fact, I need more patience all around. Patience with my children, my husband, my life, and my lack of direction. I want to wait well. Perhaps this book has given me some ammunition for approaching that desire.

Book Review: The Outcasts of Time

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. After sticking with it when it was waxing tedious and dull, I didn't even end up making the book club discussion because of a high school parent meeting. I wonder if anyone else in the group enjoyed it more.

The premise is intriguing: two men, fighting the plague, receive a supernatural choice to spend their last six days on earth at home with their family or to spend their final six days crossing time (one day followed by a day ninety-nine years hence, then another ninety-nine years again, etc.). They shield their family from the plague and seek salvation doing good in 1447, 1546, 1645, 1744, 1843, and 1942.

Sadly, The Outcasts of Time was boring. It took 60-some pages before introducing the option and the first two days of time travel took about a hundred pages each. I kept wishing the book would jump to more recent history (although none of the time fit any history I've seen). The reader encounters much moralizing on man's inhumanity to man and the destructive possibilities in even the best advancements. Perhaps someone with a hankering to explore British history would enjoy this book. Still, my master's degree focus was on the history of Victorian Britain and the limited pages treating that time were no more compelling to me. Not my favorite book club read.

Book Review: A Prisoner of Birth

I love it when audio books conclude with a brief interview with the author. Jeffrey Archer is such a stellar author that I welcome any comments he has to make about the writing process. He revealed, at the end of A Prisoner of Birth, that this was the seventeenth draft of the book. Moreover, he outlined his writing schedule (two intense months a year of 3 or 4 two-hour stints of writing per day). It is clear: great writing is hard work. It demands effort, even for a master.

Archer has done it again! He has crafted an intricate maze of conflict and resolution. This book was like a game of cat and mouse. At first, I had a hard time following where the story was leading, but by the midway point it was clear. I've never read The Count of Monte Cristo, but in the interview Archer explained his desire to recast the story in a modern light. What a successful venture!

Danny Cartwright is on the top of the world. His girlfriend has just become his fiance. They are celebrating the grand achievement at a pub with her brother, Danny's best friend. But before the night is over, the brother is dead and Danny is charged with his murder. The four responsible men think they can rest easy after Danny's twenty-two-year sentence. They do not expect the intensity of Danny's desire for rectification and revenge.

If you are looking for a riveting read, you cannot miss with a Jeffrey Archer novel. I'm grateful for all his hard work. He presents the reader with masterful storytelling and complex plotting. Many accolades for Archer again.