Lulu: My dalliance with Dallas

(As in author Sandra Dallas, and "dalliance" as in its first definition: a trifling away of time; dawdling....a trifling away of time is hilariously accurate, as I spent a good 4 hours reading her books today.)

Abby first recommended The Persian Pickle Club to me, and that was the first Sandra Dallas book I read. I loved it. Her books are always full of really great historical details (historical fiction? but with suspense and almost always a bit of a mystery), vivid characters, and at the heart, a great plot. There is always some unexpected twist! I usually consider myself a pretty good predictive reader, but every book of hers has surprised me in at least some small way.

So for this month, I have finally gotten to those other Dallas books I have been wanting to read! Abby recommended The Chili Queen (which I thoroughly enjoyed), and then I read Alice's Tulips and have started on The Diary of Mattie Spenser.

The Chili Queen involved [SPOILER ALERT...ish] some skilled con artists and some Wild West-type characters, and the rich background stories for each character could have spawned a few more novels.
Alice's Tulips made me cry and laugh--a lot of both. Alice's husband is a Union soldier in the Civil War, and during the two years that he is gone, Alice goes through some horrible things, and some less horrible things, but comes out of it with so much growth and refinement...I really loved the story.
The Diary of Mattie Spenser is about a girl who married a man she hardly knew (quite common then, really) and went out west to Colorado with him to start an entirely new life.
Tallgrass, which I plan to read after Mattie, is about the Japanese internment camps in the U.S. during WWII.
And lastly: Buster Midnight's Cafe is about a forties-era Hollywood star (her rise and fall, I guess).

I'm also reading Nightlight, a ridiculous and hilarious parody of Twilight. (Maddie sent it to me) I was laughing so hard it hurt and had tears (of laughter) running down my cheeks by page 5.

Raehink: Redwall

Lynness, I read three of the Redwall series (including that first one) with William several years ago. I thought they were delightful. Beccy's boys also enjoy them. But then I like animal stories. I loved Wind in the Willows, Watership Down, Rabbit Hill, Stuart Little, and of course, just about every Marguerite Henry horse book ever published! I like the Redwall books because the stories appealed to my adult tastes even though the main characters were animals. I hope you like them, but if not, there are plenty of other good books out there for you to find :)

I am working feverishly to finish up my Adult Lit class. It has taken far too long. I'm now reading a whole bunch of teen immigration experience novels. They are all good so far but are also running all together in my mind. I will be glad to get my paper written and move on to Statistics. Never thought I would say that!

It will be nice to read what I want for a change. We have started a book group in our Relief Society. It's still in its infancy and we are still working out the kinks as far as running it, but there seems to be a fair amount of excitement regarding it. I love being involved in the groups and am always amazed at what other people find to read that I have never heard of...

Happy reading!

Lynness: January Reading

Ok, I finished Freakonomics, got about halfway through Midnight's Children before I had to return it.  (I checked out about 5 books at once and read that one last.  Turns out I should've read it first b/c I couldn't renew it b/c someone else had a hold on it after me.  I have put it on hold again to finish it.)  I also read The Zookeepers Wife, about the Warsaw Zoo and its directors in German-occupied Poland.  It's interesting, but doesn't seem well organized.  Some of the sentences and paragraphs seem almost like they were pasted in the wrong place by accident.  I read some of Jorge Luis Borges' short stories (kind of trippy...) and the book I am reading for the actual assignment is Redwall.  My sister gave it to me a couple of years ago and I haven't read it yet.  So far I'm having trouble getting into it, but I am going to keep on until I'm a little further in, at least.  Has anyone tried that one?  I have to tell you, I have absolutely no patience for The Wind and the Willows.  Maybe it's the fact that this is all animals, too.

Raehink: January Reading

A most happy 2010 to each of you. The assignment for January is to find a book, any book, that you've been meaning to get to forever and just haven't yet. You know, the one on your shelf that just sits there waiting...waiting...waiting! Put it out of its misery by READING it.

Happy reading in a brand new year!

Lynness: Nov/Dec read(s)

Well, I did read about the Tuskegee Airmen, as planned: I read a book called Black and White Airmen: Their True History.  The book is an older juvenile read- maybe 8th grade or so, which was fine for me- I didn't want too much in-depth tactical stuff or analysis, just the story.  It told of two men (the coauthors, who are now best friends and go around speaking to groups about their experiences) who met as retirees and discovered a parallel history- they were both pilots in WWII, both had grown up in the same city...come to find out, they had been in the same 3rd grade class!! But, one was black, the other white.  Neither remembered the other at all, and their experiences in WWII were widely different.  Through their narratives, one gets a glimpse of what it was like to be a pilot in WWII in Europe.  I'll clarify what I said about the Tuskegee Airmen in my last post: evidently it was widely circulated that not a single one of the bombers that the Tuskegee Airmen escorted were lost, but others say about 25 bombers were lost.  BUT, they were formidable and very successful because they stuck with their bombers.  Unlike many of the white pilots with similar jobs, they did not abandon their bombers to go chasing after Germans, trying to be the hero of the day.  Most of the time, that's exactly what the Germans were trying to do- lead them on a wild goose chase to leave the bombers unprotected.  The Germans soon learned that the red-tailed planes wouldn't be deterred and, on at least one mission, evidently engaged the escorts as the primary target.

And then came December 7.  I realized it was Pearl Harbor Day and decided to look into a book on that.  I found an older (1957) book entitled Day of Infamy.  It was like 9/11- everyone in this generation remembers where they were and what they were doing when the towers were hit.  For everyone in that generation, it was Pearl Harbor.  The book is a very fast-paced, all over the place kind of book.  It was like slow motion- a couple hundred pages or so to cover a few fateful hours.  There were hundreds of names, but you don't have to remember 95% them to follow the story- it was vignettes, clips, of hundreds of experiences all at the same time.  Most from the American side, some from the Japanese.  You know what's coming and where it came from, but you learn how it all plays out kind of like the men did: bit by bit, something you heard, something you saw.  There are comical moments, deadly ones, confusion, etc... you see some men absolutely incapacitated by fear, some emboldened to heroic feats by patriotism and adrenalin, and everyone swept along by the mass confusion and then the call to duty and then the aftermath.  I highly recommend the book to anyone, especially those wanting to get a look at how we were caught off guard, how we reacted, etc..

Some other books I've read recently: The Wednesday Letters, and Tangerine, and I've started Midnight's Children and Freakonomics.  What an eclectic mix!

Lynness- Military reading

Well, I've finally decided what to read about. I have been trying to
figure out all month what to read, but hadn't come across anything that
piqued my interest or that I thought I would enjoy. I wanted something
fast-paced and not too bogged down in dates and tactics, which is the
sort of thing my dad- a huge WWII buff- would have suggested. I decided
to google "veterans day reading list" and see what I came up with. I
found a children's reading list and one suggested read was a book about
the Tuskegee Airmen. BINGO! We had a playgroup a few months ago where
one of the moms had lined up a tour of the county airport (no commercial
flights, but they have police and EMS helicopters and private and
charter planes and flying lessons). The guide talked a little bit about
the Tuskegee Airmen b/c there was a mural in the main building of one by
his plane- turns out he is a local resident. My dad told me a little
more- about how, since they were black, they were not considered as
capable as white airmen. They were also considered more 'expendable'
and were put at the front of convoys (reminds me of Uriah), but not a
single one was lost (reminds me of Helaman's 2000 stripling warriors).
Anyway, I've reserved a book and we'll see how it goes! I'm excited!

Raehink: FYI December Read

We will continue with the November reading into December. I have a book in mind and haven't been able to get to it due to matrimonial festivities here in Utah. So, continue on in the military mode. Enjoy your respective Turkey Days. And, as always,

Happy reading!