Clara and Mr. Tiffany

I have always loved historical fiction, particularly those that focus on the role of women in history.  In Susan Vreeland's Clara and Mr. Tiffany, we are introduced to Clara Driscoll, artist, head of the women's department at Tiffany's art studios, and creator and designer of Tiffany's most famous lamps.  Vreeland came across an exhibit at the New York Historical Society entitled A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls and discovered a rich correspondence record from Clara Driscoll detailing her role in the history of the Tiffany Company. 

I think this quote from the back cover best sums up the book, "Clara and Mr. Tiffany is a noble and necessary book for us to read, lest we allow ourselves to be ignorant of the struggle, courage, and vision of women who have come before us.  Readers will never look at a Tiffany lamp or window the same way again."  - Sena Jeter Naslund

I saw a truly beautiful Tiffany window at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and would love to visit the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida, that houses the largest collection of Tiffany works. 

Books every child advocate should read

There are two books I believe should be required reading for anyone interested in serving as a child advocate or current CASA volunteers - One Small Boat by Kathy Harrison and Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter. 

Kathy Harrison and her husband served as foster parents for many years.  In her second book, One Small Boat, she tells the story of Daisy, one of their most challenging foster children who came to them in a voluntary placement.  The view of the lives of foster children along with the challenges faced by good foster parents makes this book worth reading.  This will be our summer book club selection for CASA book club. 

Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent most of her childhood in foster care, until she was adopted by CASA volunteer and author Gay Courter and her husband (Gay wrote another excellent book, I Speak for this Child about her experiences as a CASA).  Ashley's book, Three Little Words, describes her childhood experiences along with the ambivelience she felt about adoption (her three little words were, "I guess so," when asked by a judge if she wanted to be adopted).  The one person who made the biggest difference in Ashley's life was her CASA volunteer, who was with her for the duration of her case and helped find her an adoptive home with the Courters. 

Just finished my first "5" book of the year! Moon over Manifest

The latest Newbery Award winner, Moon Over Manifest, alternates between events in the town of Manifest, Kansas in 1918 and 1936.  The book begins with 12-year-old Abilene Tucker hopping off a train in Manifest, Kansas (modeled on Frontenac, Kansas in southeast Kansas) having been sent by her single father to live with a preacher her father had lived with as a child.  Abilene is on a mission to find out more about her father's childhood in Manifest and in the process, discovers the history of the town. 

The author, Clare Vanderpool, lives in Wichita and based the book on stories she heard from her grandparents.

Some of my favorite books are young adult literature, and some are former Newbery Award winners.  Here's a list of my favorite young adult books:
1) Harry Potter (of course, this series would be number one on my list of favorite books of any genre, too!)
2) The Hunger Games trilogy, but particularly the first book
3) The Chronicles of Narnia
4) Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle (author of A Wrinkle in Time)
5) Homecoming and Dicey's Song (Newbery Award winner in 1983) by Cynthia Voigt
6) Sarah, Plain and Tall (Newbery Award winner in 1986) by Patricia MacLachlan
7) The Westing Game (Newbery Award winner in 1979) by Ellen Raskin

Left Neglected

Author Lisa Genova holds a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard.  In her second book. she tells the story of Sarah, a Harvard Business School graduate with a thriving career and a neglected family.  On her way to work on a rainy day, she takes her attention away from the road to make a call on her cell phone, resulting in a tragic one-car crash and a traumatic brain injury.  Sarah wakes up eight days later in the hospital with Left Neglect, a neurological condition where the body does not recognize the existance of the left side of objects (or their own bodies).  Sarah must come to grips with her condition and her priorities in life. 

I had enjoyed Genova's first book, Still Alice, about a Harvard psychology professor who develops early onset Alzheimer's disease, so looked forward to reading her latest.  Left Neglected is the best book I've read in a while!



Time of My Life

I have been waiting to read this book for a long time - the hold list at the library was stagnant for more than six months as books were lost, rebound, and reordered.  I can't rememmber where I first read about this book - could have been the Bookpages magazine at the library, could have been recommended from another book I viewed on Amazon - but I remember being drawn to the title.  "I've had the time of my life, and I've never felt this way before..." drifted into my thoughts. 

While I was waiting for this book, I checked out the author's previous book, The One That I Want, last year.  It was one of the lowest rated books on my list.  I'm obviously not taking very good notes on my book list, because I can't remember why I didn't like it! 

However, this week my hold finally came due and I read Time of My Life over the past two days.  The book starts with Jillian having given up her job in advertising to move to the suburbs of NYC and be a full-time mom to her infant daughter.  Her marriage has become a shell, with her husband traveling and working late hours for work, and Jillian finds her life as a stay-at-home mom not as fulfilling as she had hoped.  She wonders what her life would have been like if she had not left her previous long-term boyfriend seven years prior.  When she wakes up in her life seven years ago, she has the chance to answer those questions. 

I think we all have "what ifs" in our lives.  My biggest ones - what if I had been braver and had looked at colleges outside of Kansas?  what I had been braver and had taken the job I was offered with Teach for America?  I've learned some from these decisions, because when I was braver when I changed careers, when I ran for City Commisison, and particularly when I made the terrifying decision three years ago to have a baby!  All of these paid off (and in the case of Lily, paid off big time!).  What are your "what ifs?"

What I've Been Reading

Just finished a good book today - Who Loves You Best by Tess Stimson.  It's a Target Book Club pick, and since it wasn't available at the library, my parents gave it to me for my birthday. 

Told from multiple points of view, this is the story of a working mother with twins who feels as though she must do everything perfectly or fail.  When she decides she needs help (in the form of a nanny because he husband is totally unwilling to help with the kids!), things get more complicated. 

In an interview with the author, she named Anita Shreve as one of her favorite authors.  Great segue into the next book I read recently and enjoyed, Rescue by Anita Shreve.

Anita Shreve has always been one of my favorite authors.  Like Pat Conroy, she has beautiful prose and I love to immerse myself in her language.   Rescue is the story of a seventeen-year-old girl and her single father.  Much of the story is told in flashback - how her parents met, why her mother left, her father's dreams that are put aside to raise his daughter. 

Favorite Anita Shreve books -
Fortune's Rocks - set at the turn of the last century, this is the story of a 15-year-old girl who falls in love with a writer three times her age. 

Resistance - set in Belgium during World War II, the protagonist is a resistance fighter who provides refuge for a British pilot who crashed behind enemy lines.

The Pilot's Wife - an Oprah book club book that I actually enjoyed!  When her husband, a pilot, dies in a plane crash, the protagonist attempts to clear her husband's name and discovers that she knows little about his life.

"Chick Lit"

Sometimes, I just want to read for fun!  I just finished reading The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal last night.  I chose it from the library because her current book, How to Bake a Perfect Life, is the Target Book Club pick this month, and generally I enjoy the Target suggestions. 

Elena has worked her way up from humble beginnings in New Mexico to become the Executive Chef of her own restaurant, The Orange Bear, in Aspen.  This book is worth reading just for the descriptions of Elena's food!  I couldn't wait to go back to Santa Fe and eat. 

Some other "chick lit" books I've enjoyed in the last year:

I can't read Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic books without laughing out loud (and I really can't listen to the audio books without howling with laughter - I'm sure I make quite the sight while driving and laughing hysterically!).  The latest installment of Becky Bloomwood Brandon's life was simply fun!

Last summer, I was browsing the library, looking for paperbacks to pack on our trip to Colorado, and I stumbled across this book - Madam Mirabou's School of Love by Barbara Samuel.  I've since read a couple more of her books (Lady Luck's Map of Vegas and The Goddess of Kitchen Avenue) and found them all enjoyable.

Carolyn Parkhurst is best known for The Dogs of Babel, but I first discovered her with another Target Club Pick - Lost and Found, which tells the story of a mother-daughter team dealing with their own relationship issues while appearing on an Amazing Race-like reality show.  I can't recommend this one highly enough!