The Fourth Bear

The Fourth Bear is the second book in Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime series. In a nutshell, Fforde's books are random. They make me laugh out loud and marvel over his creativity. This particular book includes a serial-killing Gingerbreadman, Goldilocks and the three bears, and of course, the ominous fourth bear.

Fforde includes so many twists and turns in his mysteries that it's hard to keep them all straight sometimes, but they are entertaining all the way. Not being a fan of fantasy, it surprises me that I like Fforde's books so much--but then, I'm not sure I'd classify them as fantasy, exactly. Just put them in the 'random' category.

I think that having the background of reading Fforde's Thursday Next series is a plus for reading The Fourth Bear, as there are lots of details that you might miss without the backstory. Mom, I think I saw you had this checked out from the library in December, did you ever read it? What did you think?

The Help

I'm almost finished listening to The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Definitely well worth reading, and even more worth listening to.

The Help is set in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. The book is narrated by two black maids and a young, white writer. Part of what makes it a great book to listen to is each narrator is read by a different person.

Stockett does a great job of building the characters, and I love her descriptions. The only reason I would recommend reading instead of listening would be so you could enjoy the descriptions at a more leisurely pace.

Skeeter, the white narrator, is fresh out of college and realizing that the way the black maids get treated doesn't sit well with her. She goes against her family and friends to secretly begin interviewing black maids in order to write a book. There is a lot of racial tension, but also wonderful insight into relationships.

Lurlene McDaniel

I read a lot of young adult books since they tend to be clean and are shorter, and lots of them are really well written. When I was a pre-teen/teen, I loved Lurlene McDaniel books. In the last couple of years I have found a few of them on bookshelves where I'm staying, so have re-read a few.

They aren't really worth it.

If you want an over-dramatic, quick story about a teen who is either A: dying, B: has a family member who is dying, or C: has a terrible disease, these would be good books to read. Especially if you want some teen romance thrown in there.

But they don't have much to recommend them beyond being touching stories--they aren't particularly well written, and what bothers me most is that from my limited experience of hospitals and the medical field, they aren't very accurate.

Still, I remember loving them as a teen, so if you fall into that category, you would probably enjoy them.

Library Audio Books

For anyone who hasn't heard about this or figured it out, many libraries now have an online catalogue where you can download audio books for free. Go to your library's website and look for a link for audio books. It is a great source.

I don't have a lot of time for actually reading books, but with walking and other projects that I can do while listening to books, I have 'read' many, many books by listening to them.

A Schoolteacher in Old Alaska: The Story of Hannah Breece

I just finished this book, edited by Jane Jacobs. Hannah Breece taught in remote villages in the early 1900s in Alaska (okay, all of AK was remote then, and most of it still is now). She compiled her memoir from letters she wrote, so she left out a lot of details that would have been fascinating in a book but would have worried her family and friends at the time.



As a memoir, it's not very well put together, lacking a strong narrative flow, but the tidbits of information she shares are really interesting. She is quite determined to civilize the natives and keep alcohol out of Alaska, and some of her 'proper' ideas on things make for amusing reading when considered 100 years after the fact.



It's a good read with an enlightening look at early Alaska, and Breece's editor, her great-niece, did a great job of filling in as many blanks as she could.

Slow Death by Rubber Duck, by Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie

I'm also reading "Slow Death by Rubber Duck", co-authored by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie. It's about how the toxic chemistry of everyday life affects our health and how the living of daily life creates a toxic soup inside each of us!
If you are concerned about the level of toxins in your body and want to understand the hidden threats already in your home, this book is a good read. You'll never look at a rubber duck in the same way again!!

Lost in the Sand, by Shanna Ahmad

Right now I'm reading "Lost In The Sand" by Shanna Ahmad. The story is 90% fact but written in novel form. It's about a Kurdish woman's survival in the land of chemical experiments and genocide in the deserts of Iraq. The story is written about Najat and what was happening to the Kurdish people during the Sadam rule. I'm only part way through the book, but it's the kind of book you really don't want to put down.
Najat's village was bombed with chemicals when she was a young girl and everyone in the village died except she and a young boy. They had been up in the valley tending the boy's sheep. She was taken in by a family in another town who raised her and she attended university in Bagdad. While there she was noticed by Sa'adoun Alwan who was a high up memeber of the Ba'ath Party and he decided he wanted to marry her so he pretty much forced her family to agree to the marriage...the alternative most likey being death for the whole family! During her time in University, she was smuggling information out of Bagdad to her home in Sarkan which was passed on to someone who was trying to get information out to the West. Her purpose was to still try and help in any way she could even in her forced marriage. I'll know the rest of the story soon!
I was buying another book in Wall Mart the other day and I mentioned "Lost in the Sand" and the girl at the checkout got all excited about the book and told me the author, Shanna Ahmad actually lives in Penticton and works at a Shopper's Drugs. She said Shanna has been to their high school and told them about the book. This was confirmed by the man who owns "The Dusty Cover" book store in Osoyoos as well. So, maybe some day I'll get to meet this lady and get my book autographed. The book sells for about $40 but it has a copyright of 2007, so I'm sure one could order it from a library.