Finally a book worth sharing!

I haven't written in some time.  Despite reading numerous books this summer, I haven't had many that have stood out.  Jeffrey Archer is one of my favorite storytellers, and I was excited to find he had a (relatively!) new book on the discount rack at Barnes and Noble.

Paths of Glory is a fictional account of the life of Englishman George Mallory and asks the question, what if Sir Edmund Hillary wasn't the first person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest in 1953.  What if Geroge Mallory, who was last seen 600 feet from the summit in 1924, was actually the first? 

Archer's Kane and Abel, which I first read in high school, still ranks as my single favorite book with his As the Crow Flies in my top 10.  Archer's historical fiction is thrilling, the characters are fascinating.  While searching today, I saw he has a new book coming out in August - I can hardly wait!

Reading on my recent trip to Washington, DC

What does it mean to be a mother?  Is it nature or nurture?  Shilpi Somaya Gowda attempts to answer this question in her Target Club Pick book, Secret Daughter.  Asha is adopted from an orphanage in India by two American doctors, Somer and Krishnan (who was born and raised in India).  Asha's mother (Kavita) risked her own life to bring Asha to the orphanage after her husband killed their first-born daughter, as daughters are seen as a financial drain.  The book's narration alternates between Somer, Kavita, and Asha. 

I read this while on a flight to Washington, DC for a conference and truly enjoyed it.  Highly recommended!

Another book I read on my trip was Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.  A recent edition of the K-Stater magazine featured an article about K-State reads, a new program for incoming freshmen.  Every incoming student was given The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins during orientation with the thought that all freshmen would come to college with a shared experience and discussing the book would be an icebreaker.  The book for 2011-12 freshmen is Zeitoun.  Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a successful Syrian-born painting contractor, decides to stay in New Orleans and protect his property while his family flees Hurricane Katrina. After the levees break, he uses a small canoe to rescue people, before being arrested by an armed squad and swept powerlessly into a vortex of bureaucratic brutality. When a guard accuses him of being a member of Al Qaeda, he sees that race and culture may explain his predicament.  A fascinating look at New Orleans during and immediately following Hurricane Katrina as well as it's impact on one family.

The second best book I've read this year! - The Secret Gift by Ted Gup



The Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness - And A Trove Of Letters - Reveal the Hidden History of the Great Depression by Ted Gup

Gup, an investigative reporter, received a suitcase full of family items upon his maternal grandmother's death.  The suitcase contained items like his grandmother's baby album, wedding pictures, and letters.  In the top of the suitcase, he found an envelope containing a notice from the Canton, Ohio newspaper dated December 1933 seeking those in need during the height of the Great Depression to write of their troubles, on the condition of anonymity, to B. Virdot, who would like to give $10 to 75 families in need.  In addition, there were letters from 150 individual seeking assistance and a bank book detailing gifts of $5 (the equivalent of $100 today) to each of these 150 individuals.  B. Virdot was Gup's maternal grandfather, Sam Stone.

Gup undertook the task of tracking down descendants of the recipients of B. Virdot's gift and conducted over 500 interviews.  The book includes the text of many of the letters, along with stories of the families his grandfather's gift touched.  But it is also the story of his grandfather's life and his grandparents' marriage.  In learning about the families helped by his grandfather, Gup also uncovers many secrets about his grandfather's life. 

The parallels between the families in need during the depression and our current economic climate are timely.  The family stories are fascinating.  And the difference between those in need in 1933 who would never seek charity and those in generational poverty today who depend on the government for their support is striking. 

Gup has a web site with photos, additional letters, and more information at http://www.secretgiftbook.com/ - it's worth checking out along with this book!

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!