Protect and Defend

On the subject of legal books, I finished Richard North Patterson's Protect and Defend, and recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the politics and court decisions regarding late term abortion. I knew very little on this subject, and felt the book did a fair job of showing all sides, even if the author was quite obviously slanted in the pro-choice/liberal/democrat camp.

The basic premise is a 15 yeard old daughter of pro-life activist who found out at 20 weeks her baby had a 99% chance of not having a brain, and birthing him would require a risky classic c-section that would possibly leave her infertile. Her parents refused to sign abortion permission, so she took them to court, and this all coincided with a new supreme court judge . . . interesting and worthwhile to read.

The Broker

I just finished listening to John Grisham's The Broker. I generally try to listen to shorter books because I'm only listening to them in short blurbs while I'm walking, so it's hard to keep interested in really long ones. However, I find his books such easy listening and so intriguing that they keep my attention.

The Broker, like most of Grisham's other books, left my mind spinning with all the possibilities that could happen in the world today in a realm that I have very little knowledge of: the court system and lawyers and espionage.

Moose, a memoir of fat camp

Stephanie Klein writes a gut-wrentching book about growing up the fat girl. She's only in her early 30's, and it's awfully apparent that she still is fighting the demons of being the fat girl, of viewing food as an enemy/consoler although she's she's thin now. As she grew up approximately the same time frame as I did, it makes me realize how completely warped most people, even specialist, in our society are about teaching children about weight, body image, food, and the pleasure of food.

One interesting part of this book is it is written just as if she were talking. In one paragraph she can go from the present tense of being a 13 year old at fat camp to being the 30-something year old writer telling you about how she felt before or after that experience, or how she has come to view it now. I generally find that disruptive, but found it flowed quite well for this book.

Klein's descriptions of people, experiences, and feelings are creative and realistic. It's easy to identify with the "fat girl" and to identify people we all know in the characters in her book. Definitely worth reading and thinking about. Tawn

Ready for a fast ride through NYC?

Burning City by Ariel and Joaquin Dorfman kept me up last night to finish it, and when I read the last page I wanted to go back to some of my creative writing classes with Chilson (you'll know what I mean, Chelsea) and write an analysis of the style, technique and metaphor used throughout the book. It's an unusual feeling to finish a book and want to write a paper about it, but that's how I felt, as well as wanting to start at the beginning and re-read it and catch what I'd missed and try to catch my breath while doing so.

I feel a little unsteady writing a solid review about Burning City (a YA book) because it's such a quick read that I never caught up with myself to know what all was going on--but that's the point of the novel. You'll ride breathlessly along with Heller bicycling helter-skelter through NYC, causing people to dive away and cars to slam on their brakes, as he races from one job to another, a messenger that delivers news in person--and Heller is always the bearer of bad news. In the course of the week after his 16th birthday, Heller is forced to slow down and take notice of a few things in the city--but the authers, a father and son team, never give the reader a chance to slow down.

Burning City moved me both to laughter and tears, and I'm thinking about picking the book up and starting all over again--after all, it didn't take long to read--or at least it didn't feel like it.

--Amy

A must read: The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts

The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck is a definite must-read. It's a quick read, aimed towards YA fiction, and laugh out loud funny. I'd compare it to Patrick McManus type humor. It would be great to read-out-loud in a long car ride or read while trying to keep yourself from getting mad while stuck in an airport. A good read if you've just had a bad week or stressful day.

A Oprah Book to avoid unless bored

Cane River by Lalita Tademy started out promising with an intriquing story line of following generations of slave women from slavery to freedom from Civil War era, based on the author's family history. As I started it I didn't find the writing spectacular, but it was decent. So I hoped this book's plot would be good enough to make up for lack of fabulous writing. (After all, an Oprah book, right?)

The pace started out well with interesting but shallow characters. The dialoque was stilted, but as a historical type book, I could forgive that. The first two generations of stories kept me reading, as I think it was a good depiction of the changes the Civil War freeing the African-American people would bring to woman in general these women in specific.

But after the first two generations the story started losing my interest. I was downright bored by the time I got halfway through the "Emily" portion, and quit reading through the last part. It's almost as if the author just wanted the story to be done, but had to include all these historical facts she dug up about her family.

Upshot: this book was selected as an Oprah book because it was about black history, not because of great writing. I'm glad I read the first part of it, but not sad I got bored and missed out on the ending.

Nicholas Spark: True Believer and Dear John

Spark's plots are definitely on the romantic, diabetes inducing sweet side of life. (Which is comforting if you are looking for a book that will deliver just that.) I just read True Believer and recently listened to Dear John. I find Spark to be a solid writer, although his work is definitely at a lower reading level/skill than I generally enjoy.

What I do like about his stories are the characters. The people he puts in his stories I believe in, can understand why they act how they act, and, as another plus, are generally good people trying to make good decisions without being the saints of some of the Christian genre books. (This is especially true with Dear John. And to listen to, the narrator is wonderful.)

Overall, I recommend reading these when you want something enjoyable, uplifting, and not too challenging to read/listen to.