Book Review: Bird in a Box

Once again, I was enticed by this audio tween selection, Bird in a Box, because it promised an expanded afterward by the author. I love to hear the author's personal take on what inspired them to write the novel, what details are based on fact, and what challenges they faced in the writing process. I was not disappointed. The story was engaging and the author information provided a great writing perspective.

Here's the blurb from the back cover:

"In a small upstate New York town during the Great Depression, three children - Hibernia, Willie, and Otis - are about to meet. Hibernia dreams of becoming a famous singer and performing at Harlem's swanky Savoy Ballroom. Willie is recovering from a tragedy that prevents him from becoming a junior boxing champ. Otis spends every night glued to the radio, listening to the voices that remind him of Daddy and Ma.

"Each of them is looking for hope, and they all find it in the thrilling boxing matches of young Joe Louis. They know Joe has a good chance of becoming the country's next heavyweight champion. What they don't know is that during this unforgettable year, the three of them will become friends."

Author Andrea David Pinkney did an outstanding job of capturing the voice of each child. I loved Hibernia's sass. I felt sorry for Otis's loss. Plus I raged at Willie's treatment at the hands of his own father. I was slightly annoyed by Willie's tendency to repeat the guttural "Uh-huh," but I understand the author was attempting to capture a flavor of character and it probably wouldn't have bothered me on the printed page because I could skim over it quickly. All in all, she captured a period of history and highlighted a special aspect with great skill.

I loved listening to the author's comments about her process and goals. I was impressed with her desire to get inside the heads of her characters by actually training for boxing matches herself. The research comes through solidly and fleshes out the characters, the time, and the place.

I had to transcribe this paragraph from the final comments because it inspired me to press on with my own writing goals. She observes:

"They say that writing is part inspiration, part perspiration. After my work on Bird in a Box, I've come to believe that if I want to inspire people with my writing, I have to do more than sweat. I have to train, reach, fight my resistance, and keep going for it no matter how sore I get, because like 'Mighty Joe Louis' and the kids in Bird in a Box, I learned that victory only comes after hard work."

Book Review: DIY MFA

I've never really considered going back to school to earn a Masters of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. The time. The expense. The distance. It all conspires against me. Yet, I truly do desire to learn more about the craft of writing and wish to improve whatever skills I have to this point. Thankfully, there are always books available to condense a subject down to manageable parts. Think of this book, DIY MFA, as the equivalent to a MFA for Dummies. Gabriela Pereira boils the craft and the accompanying counterparts down to a science.

She divides the book into three categories of activity necessary to become proficient at writing to the level of a Masters degree student. First, she teaches you to write with focus. I felt a bit distressed reading this section, because once again I wondered whether I should put more effort into planning and plotting. I'd say that's just not my style, but that feels like a cop-out. I certainly could make note cards planning each scene of my novel. I could draw up an outline. But, I will admit, I tend to work better when I simply begin with an idea, a character, a title, and just jump in with both feet to begin writing. Still, the writing lessons in this book are quite helpful. They focus on all the standard writing subjects: characters, plot, point-of-view, setting, and dialogue.

In the second section, Pereira urges writers to "read with purpose." I'm quite sure I already take this approach. I believe firmly that if you wish to write, you should immerse yourself in good reading. Yet, the level Pereira takes this to goes well beyond my habit of reading with a dissecting eye. She encourages writers to take on particular topics, genres, and authors for deeper study and to write up the results of what you learn. While my blog book reviews often highlight skills I admire in other writers, I haven't been driven to take apart passages and finely dissect them to discover how the author achieved success. This is something I should do more of, I'm sure.

The final section focuses on building community. I know that I would benefit from taking much of the lessons in this section to heart. I need to work harder at building community, identifying and finding readers, and creating a platform or a brand for my writing. I found lots of helpful advice in this section.

All in all, I benefited from this writing text. Although it cannot come close to the full experience of pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts at a school, the book does cover the basics you might find in a creative writing degree. It was easy to digest and full of inspiring information. I will be interested to see how this text compares to The Portable MFA in Creative Writing (the other MFA text I placed on my goal list in a previous post). Alas, reading is the easy part. The real challenge comes in putting the lessons to work and actually putting the pen to paper.

Book Review: I, Coriander

Several things attracted me to this audio selection, I Coriander, by Sally Gardner. First off, the cover art is gorgeous. Second, it promises an interview with the author at the end (I'm always a sucker for such things because I love to hear more about the process of writing from authors). As a tween read, I was certain it would be a clean read. Finally, I saw that it is read by Juliet Stevenson (you might know her from a few of her films Truly, Madly, Deeply, Bend It Like Beckham, or Mona Lisa Smile). Her narration is delightful.

Coriander Hobie sets out to tell her tale by the light of seven candles. Each candle's length provides a portion of her story. She tells of life with her mother and father, silver shoes that seemed to be made just for her, a stuffed alligator kept in her father's study, and a strange, enticing land full of magic and fairies. The fairy tale she shares is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats waiting to know what comes next.

The novel is set in London during the 17th century in a period of political unrest, but it bridges a gap between the real world and a more magical world of fairies. Although, I'm not generally drawn to fairy tales, this one was well-done. I loved the main character, Coriander. She has pluck and spunk and deals with the many unpleasantries that come her way.

I should note, however, that Christian parents might wish to listen to this tale alongside their offspring and use it as a discussion tool. The author paints religious people in a very bad light. The Puritan step-mother and her minister friend are quite despicable and evil, all while touting that they are serving God. While I don't dispute that Puritans often were legalistic and fanatical, a child listening to the story might get the impression that belief in God is obviously a bad thing and will lead to the abusive behaviors the Puritan characters demonstrate. I did enjoy the story and believe it is worth exploring, with some caution.

Book Review: Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone

When I think of infertility, I tend to think of the women who experience that trial. I don't often put myself in the shoes of a man who desperately wants to have a family including children. This book helped to remedy that as I came to greatly care for the main character and to feel his painful longing.

Benedict Stone's wife has left him. It seems all he can talk about anymore is his desire to fill their happy home with the pitter patter of little feet and the joyful squeals of small children. Sadly, it isn't the first time Benedict's been left behind. His parents left him behind to care for his younger brother when they died in a tsunami. His brother left him behind when he moved away to the United States and made it clear that he wanted no further communication between the two.

Then one day, his sixteen-year-old niece Gemma shows up on his doorstep begging for a place to stay for a while. Gemma brings her own baggage and tales of a mother who left her. Yet, she also brings the opportunity for second chances. She is determined to help Benedict mend the rifts in his life and regain his relationships with his wife and his brother.

Phaedra Patrick impressed me with her debut novel, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, back in 2016. In that novel, the reader follows the main character on a quest to unravel his deceased wife's previous life by following a trail of several charms on a discovered bracelet. Each charm holds special meaning and unlocks a part of the story. In a similar way, as Benedict Stone unearths the legends behind gemstones, a variety of smaller stories, intersecting individuals, and life lessons unfold.

It was a sweet and tender read. I liked the image of the gemstones in the family tree. I loved the vulnerability of the main characters. The only thing I would change would be the character names, which seemed a bit much. Gemma Stone - really? Thankfully, it was a very engrossing read and kept me occupied during the endless waiting game associated with my husband's hernia surgery. I even found myself sharing tidbits of the story with him. I'll look forward to more from this author.

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The book I checked out from the library had a different cover from the one above, but I like this cover better than the library's one (an image of a man sitting in a weeping willow tree). Plus, this cover is vaguely reminiscent of another book I attempted recently, The Story of Arthur Truluv. Despite that story's great start (an older widow who encounters a teen girl in a graveyard and strikes up a friendship), I decided to abort the read due to content that made me uncomfortable.

Book Review: Tell Tale

I've long admired Jeffrey Archer's ability to craft a well-written short story (for novels, I've only read his Clifton Chronicles series, but highly recommend that series, as well). He is most skilled at creating surprise endings (thus the title of his 1988 short story collection, A Twist in the Tale). In this new collection of short stories (his seventh set to date, published in October of 2017), two of the fourteen stories are written with precisely 100 words. This, again, proves he is a master at the craft. As Booklist proclaims, "All of the stories spotlight the author's gifts for creating fully fleshed characters and absorbing plots in lean, efficient prose. All are written with Archer's keen eye for time and place, and his keen ear for dialogue." Although I listened to this collection in audio form, I would love to check out the book so I could study the execution of his stories in more detail.

The stories, drawn from real-life encounters along with imagination, are sure to delight anyone interested in a quick, engrossing read. I did see the ending coming in "Who Killed the Mayor?" But several of the others took me by surprise ("A Road to Damascus" - about a schoolboy encountering fall-out from the Holocaust, and "A Wasted Hour" - about a young woman who thumbs a memorable ride, available for free on Kindle here). Archer's style and skill shine through and I will continue to look to him for guidance in the art of storytelling.

Book Review: Old Friend from Far Away

Natalie Goldberg is one of the greats for providing writing inspiration. This particular book, Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir, will benefit writers who are interested in working on a memoir and writers who simply wish for more ideas. I selected it because of my recent attempt at travel memoir. I don't believe it will help me in my revision process, but it provided so many prompts that I would actually consider purchasing this one for myself.

I'll share here a dozen of my favorite prompts (she provides several paragraphs of explanation, then the prompt, then the words "Go. Ten minutes."):

• "Go for the jugular, for what makes you nervous... Make a list of all the things you should not write about... What you fear, if you turn toward it, will give your writing teeth."
• "Tell me about how a relationship ended."
• "Write a full ten minutes about one time you didn't fit in."
• "What tortures you and awakens you at night?"
• "Tell me in ten minutes why nothing worked, why you felt stuck where you were."
• "Tell me what your biggest mistake has been."
• "Tell me what stifles you."
• "Begin a ten-minute writing with No Thank You."
• "What have you waited a long time for?"
• "What have you held onto too long?"
• "Write a last letter to someone."
• "What did you know that you didn't want to know."

She provides several hundred similar thought-provoking topics to explore. Indeed, you could take one prompt a day and not run out for a year. One of my goals for 2018 is to do two pages of free-association writing every morning. Goldberg's prompts will certainly help if I ever run out of ideas to cover.

I also appreciated the section at the end of the book titled "Guidelines and Suggestions for Writing Memoir." This list summarizes some of the key points made throughout the book (even providing page references so the reader can go back to review a principle). The book is simply a Pandora's box full of ideas and prompts. Once you tackle one, it will be down on the page and you will not be able to stuff it back inside again - certainly a grand goal for any writer.

Book Review: Little House in the Big Woods

After reading a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder recently, I decided to revisit the Little House on the Prairie books. My library has the set in audio form. What better way to pass the time while walking on my treadmill? Although, I think I do miss reading the books in book form because I remember the beautiful illustrations. This was easily remedied. I headed downstairs (for some reason I do not keep them with the other children's books on my bookshelves upstairs - do I doubt my boys would be interested in the story of a girl on the prairie?) and pulled out the first volume, Little House in the Big Woods. The familiar illustrations by Garth Williams brought a smile to my face. I also was tickled by the inscription on the inside cover in my own childish hand declaring "Wendy Gorton finished this book on November 23rd, 1972." I was seven. The book shows how dearly loved it was - the back cover was torn and mended twice. Oh, how I wish I had brought these books out when my younger boys were six and eight. That would have been the perfect time, I think.

The narrator also made me grin as I recognized the voice from the audio version of Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie (I well remember listening with Bryce to that tender tale on our drive to camp one summer). Cherry Jones does an excellent job of voicing the child-like wonder of Laura as she experiences life in the big woods with winter, snow, Christmas, bears, spring, summer, and harvest. Children will listen attentively to these simple tales of how straw hats were made, meat was preserved, and dangers were averted. I had forgotten the little story about Laura's cousin "crying wolf" and then seriously attempting to call his and Laura's Pa when he stepped on a yellow jacket nest. Although I have a few other audio books in the line-up (especially excited to find the most recent set of Jeffrey Archer short stories on the recent acquisitions shelf at my library), I will probably continue listening to this series this year.

(For a sample of the audio version with the voice of Cherry Jones, follow the book link above and click on the audible sample button. She is an excellent Recorded Books narrator.)