Raven Stole the Moon

I chose this book because I liked The Art of Racing in the Rain so much and wanted to see if the author could hit another home run with me.  I thought I was picking up a newer work but it turned out to be an older work republished.  Not that it matters. 

Mr. Stein wrote a compelling story of a marriage trying to survive the death of an only child.  The story begins two years after the boy's death.  The couple, Jenna and Robert, are having difficulties in their marriage, Jenna not able to get past her grief and Robert not able to acknowledge his.  In a moment of impulsive action, Jenna finds herself on her way to Alaska, to her grandmother's village near the resort where her son lost his life. 

Although the story at this point turns to the supernatural as ancient Indian beliefs manifest themselves in the village Jenna is in, I found the characters and their actions very believable.  The author admits to perhaps taking liberties with the Tinglit theology and legends, but I very much enjoyed their inclusion in the story. 

I have a bit of a hard time recommending this book because of the oddness of the Tinglit legends come to life. Even accepting the legends as real, there were aspects of it that I couldn't make sense of.  However, the relationships and the insights gained of them through the events of the story made it a worthwhile read. 

Four of five shots.

Me & Mr. Darcy

Me & Mr. Darcy
by Alexandra Potter

I have to start this review with a rather embarrassing confession:  I have never read Pride & Prejudice.

There.  I’ve said it.

I’ve seen it in several movie formats and loved it, but as to Jane Austen’s pen & paper story, I am still a Fitzwilliam Darcy virgin.  Scandalous!!

That being said, you may have some reservations about my stating that “Me & Mr. Darcy” is a modern day Pride & Prejudice story centered around or within the Pride and Prejudice story.   It definitely falls into the genre of Chic Lit and is a lot of fun to read, but I think I may have enjoyed it even more if I was one of the many many women who have read Jane’s pen & paper book and fallen hard for Mr. Darcy time & time again.  I have fallen for Darcy, but only once or twice and specifically in the body of Colin Firth.  Sigh.  *Hand waving coolness to face.*

The book starts with Emily finishing up a disastrous date from hell.  (I’ve had worse, myself, but this is about Emily, not me).   She declares she is done with dating and prefers to enclose herself in her job as a bookstore manager, my dream job, right?  Her employee and best friend will have none of that and insists she join her for a post Christmas trip to Mexico for singles.  To avoid going to Mexico, Emily books a Jane Austen tour in England for the same time period and begins her Mr. Darcy adventure. 

Like most Chic Lit, it’s pretty obvious from the git-go who the real love interest will be and the big mystery is how the story gets there.  In M&MD Emily meets the *real* (yet fictional) Mr. Darcy and falls heartily for him, all the while dismissing her *real* (flesh & blood) “Mr. Darcy.”  Ms. Potter writes a good story leading us to question whether Mr. Darcy is truly as wonderful as we’ve believed all these years and keeps us enchanted.  By the time the story comes to its ending I was left to wonder if Jane Austen’s England was truly enchanted & magical or if sleep deprivation was at work.  You think you might know the answer to that question and yet…  some questions cannot be explained away. 

Very fun book to read.  I give it four shots of five. 

The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain
by Garth Stein

Enzo is a dog. An old dog who knows his time has come. But he’s not afraid of the end, he is prepared for it. He wants his master to be unburdened by his existence. And he knows that he himself will be reincarnated as a human.  He learned it from a television documentary.

Before Enzo leaves this life he tells us the story of his life with his master, Denny, starting as the pup Denny selects from the litter. Enzo is a dog of the times, knowledgeable in many things as an ardent student of television.  But his love for race cars comes from Denny who aspires to be a great race driver and the rare occasion Enzo rides with him. But Enzo is an intent listener and knows all about the sport from Denny.

Their lives together include Denny’s marriage to Eve and the birth of their daughter, Zoë. Enzo’s relationship with Eve is a bit tentative but he takes his responsibility as protector of Zoë seriously. He is a very sophisticated dog and watches himself closely. 

A few years later tragedy comes into their lives when Eve is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Denny is devastated but allows Eve's parents to persuade him to let them to care for and nurse her in their home.  He even, albeit reluctantly, agrees to Zoë living with them too, to be close to her mother in her final days.  Then shockingly, Eve’s parents demand custody of Zoë upon Eve’s death. 

Although Enzo obviously can’t know all that is happening in the legal arena, he tells it to the best of his ability, including his own antics to try to sway the outcome.  Dirt and dirty tricks are indeed at play during the three years of the custody fight.  

I recommend this book to anyone who has ever loved a dog.  Enzo is charming and truly delightful. His telling of the story made me both laugh and cry. If perhaps you are not a dog fan (gasp!), the story of Denny, Eve and Zoë is by itself worth reading despite the narrative being that of a dog.

I give this book five shots of five!

Thunderstruck

Thunderstruck
By Erik Larson

I have looked at books by Erik Larson before, the covers always intrigue me.  I finally decided it was time to give one a go.  I chose Thunderstruck, which intertwines the history of wireless telegraphy with a story of murder.  It all sounded very interesting and, in fact, was.  But drawn out and boring and little connects the two stories until the very end. 

Indeed.  Through much of the book, jumping between stories, they are not even in the same year.

The history of wireless communication is told in regard to the inventor, Marconi.  Although he didn't discover or invent all the technology involved, he was instrumental in refining the technology and pushing the limits of how far wireless communications could be sent or received.  Although interesting, the story mired down in the the details of his protagonists, his travels abroad and back for experiments, and his single minded obsession with secrecy.  Far too much detail and too little meat. 

The tale of Doctor Crippen's murder of his wife was also slow but more entertaining in its telling than the telegraphy account.  Toward the end of the book when the British detectives begin to realize that Dr. Crippen really was capable of killing his wife and discover the evidence they need to prove it, may have been the most interesting section of the book.  Although morbid, I found it a fascinating contradiction to the man described up to that point. 

Where the history of telegraphy and Dr. Crippen's crime intersect is during Dr. Crippen's attempted escape at sea.  Prior to the wireless, discovery of a fugitive at sea could not have been relayed to shore, and no authorities dispatched to take the fugitive into custody upon arriving in port.  The wireless became largely responsible for Dr. Crippen's capture. 

I was not thrilled with this book.  I give it 2 of 5 shots.  However, I am not dissuaded from giving another Erik Larson book a try. 

The 19th Wife

The 19th Wife
by David Ebershoff

This work of historical fiction had my attention from the very start. The author cleverly wrote two books in one, telling the story of Brigham Young's 19th wife, Ann Eliza and relating a current day polygamist tale of murder in Southern Utah. Switching effortlessly between stories Ebershoff held my attention in both the past and present day stories.

I applaud the research done by Ebershoff in preparation of writing this book. Indeed, I was surprised to learn that he resides in New York and not in Utah among the people and landscape of which he writes.

Having lived in Utah for three years and longing to move back there, I was personally entertained by the details which corresponded to my life in Utah. Young Ann Eliza's mother lived in Cottonwood. I so clearly remember looking at an incredible home in Cottonwood while house hunting. It was an average neighborhood and even an average house, but the owner was a concrete contractor and had one amazing things inside the house with concrete. Six years later I still recall that house with a bit of awe.

Mention of the local papers in Brigham Young's day referred to the Tribune and the Deseret. I made the assumption that the reference was historical fact which took me by surprise as those two newspapers exist still today. They are delivered in different colored plastic sleeves. You can tell walking through your neighborhood which homes subscribe to the Trib and which to the Deseret, which of course is the "Mormon" paper, just by the color of the wrapper. Such little, seemingly insignificant details such as these, which reminded me of my time lived in Utah, brought me such delight!

David Ebershoff weaves the story of polygamy and the Mormon faith through the eyes of Ann Eliza, 19th wife of Brigham Young, starting with Ann Eliza's parents prior to the Mormon move to Utah. Historically based, the story is a fascinating look at the trials and tribulations of the Mormons under the leadership of their Prophet, Joseph Smith, until his death and then Brigham Young. The story tells of the dangers the Mormons faced because of their faith, their seclusion from the Gentile world, and the decree by Joseph Smith that God's command was to practice polygamy to be assured a place in heaven. Although Ann Eliza grew up in the faith, her awareness of her parents' relationship and the effect polygamy had on it troubled her. She did not view the taking of multiple wives a practice that pleased God, but rather a religious endorsement of adultery. Indeed, the way the story is told, it's difficult to see it as anything other than "legalized" adultery. After her separation and eventual divorce from Brigham Young, Ann Eliza went on lecture tours and wrote her own book, The 19th Wife, in opposition to the practice of polygamy. This is historical fact.

At the same time we are learning of the early Mormon life another story unfolds through the eyes and voice of Jordan Scott, a young man who has been thrown out of a present day polygamist colony. Ebershoff calls these people First Latter Day Saints as they believe they carry on the true beliefs of the Latter Day Saints and were opposed to the church's denouncement of polygamy in 1890. They do exist today and call themselves Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and continue to practice polygamy.

It's not uncommon for young men to be excommunicated from an FLDS community on relatively slight "wrong doings." The reason for this is to ensure there are plenty of wives for the older men of the community. Jordan's leader/prophet banished him from their community and his mother simply drove him out of the community and left him on the side of the road in the desert. Eventually his father is murdered and she is accused of the crime. He returns to Utah from California to see his mother and becomes involved in the solving of his father's murder. Through this fictional story which is told through the book along with Ann Eliza's story, the reader learns some of the truth of polygamy in today's world.

And like any good novel, the end of the story is a bit of a surprise, or at least was for me. I'll not give it away.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but would caution the reader that it is historical fiction. Mr. Ebershoff shares his resources in the end of the book and I was delighted to find them. One book, Under the Banner of Heaven, is one that I have longed to read and is on his list. Initially, I thought I'd read it next, but have started another book instead. I most likely will look into some of the other books his research came from.

This book receives five of five shots from me.

Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR's Polio Haven

Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR's Polio Haven
by Susan Richards Shreve

Somewhat disappointed by this memoir. The author writes of her experience at FDR's Polio facility at the age of 11 through 13. It was interesting enough to learn about the facility and the disease and the types of surgeries and such, but the story itself was rather flat and disjointed.

Near the beginning of the book Shreve tells her story of racing wheelchairs down a hill with a close friend from the facility. Before finishing the story she goes back and starts at the "beginning." Of course this is a common way to tell a story but I felt Shreve did so very poorly.

Telling her anecdotes and of the child she was and strove to be, was a journey of disjointed and often confusing paths. Often a story would stray a bit off the path apparently to interject some small, insignificant information that seemed to have nothing to do with anything, other than Shreve's desire to share it. Too often I found myself wondering why am I reading this when I thought I was reading about that? And often confused at to the time line since Shreve didn't make the reference.

I give the book 3 of 5 shots, but only because the subject was of interest to me even though poorly presented.

90 Minutes in Heaven

90 Minutes in Heaven
by Don Piper with Cecil Murphy

I thought I'd follow up "Heaven is for Real" with this book, sort of as a compare and contrast project for myself. However, this book gave me a bit of a different focus than I was expecting. If I could re-title this book, I'd call it "90 Minutes in Heaven and 2 Years in Hell."

Don Piper is a pastor in a Baptist church and after an out of town conference he is involved in a fatal accident. Pronounced dead at the scene by several people he returns to life 90 minutes later after an on scene prayer vigil by another pastor.

Mr. Piper's description of visiting heaven for those 90 minutes is pretty flat and one dimensional. He spends a few pages telling of his experience but I found it less revealing than other experiences I have read about. The remainder of the book details his excruciating pain and road to recovery. He questions God over and over why he had to return to earth and gives us a lot of insight into the terrible condition he was in, how no one expected him to live or recover, and what a hellish patient he was for the months and months of his recovery. The final portion of the book deals with how God has used him and his experience to witness to others.

I had no problem getting through the book, it was an interesting read, but really not what I was expecting. And now I will tell you right up front that I am going to be petty with this review.

One thing that particularly sticks out for me is Mr. Piper's whining about how he let his twin sons down, how he wasn't there for them to take them camping or fishing or to teach them team sports. He never recovered full use of his body and many activities became impossible for him. I grew weary of these laments for several reasons. One is that many young boys never have those experiences with their fathers. Was he really lamenting about his sons or himself? He was a pastor, and as such, I think he could have called on many fathers in the congregation to step up for him and offer those experiences to his sons. Who wouldn't happily taken them camping or fishing? He could have never recovered from the accident and not been there for them at all, in any form. What he was able to give his sons was a loving father who was there to cheer them on through all their activities whether he was able to participate or not. This whining was really annoying to me. Especially since one of his stories in the book was about a man blinded in an accident who was encouraged to focus on what he could still do, and not what he had lost.

Many near death experiences I have read about recently leave the survivor with extreme peace and calm. I realize that Mr. Piper had incredible pain to endure and lives in constant pain to this day and that could be a factor, but I didn't get his sense of peace and calm from knowing heaven.

As with "Heaven is for Real" I don't doubt any of his story and I do feel that Mr. Piper has been fulfilling his mission on earth through his experience and witnessing. Unfortunately, I am just not as impressed with his book as I thought I would be.

I give it three shots of four.