Rapid Fire Book Reviews #5

These all ended up being nonfiction somehow. Not on purpose but I do like a good nonfiction!

Bringing Narnia Home: Lessons from the Other Side of the Wardrobe: Basically this book is life lessons and lessons through situations in the Chronicles of Narnia. It says at the beginning that it's important to have read all of the books. I've read them all, but for some of them it's been a long long time! Having said that, even if you don't remember/haven't read some of the other books (you know, like anything beyond LW&W) you will still get something out of this book. It even talks about why there's controversy with how the books are numbered which is something I'd always wondered about.

Adventures in Saying Yes: A Journey from Fear to Faith  Firstly, this book randomly showed up in my mail one day and I don't remember asking for it or receiving any emails about it. So if I promised someone at Bethany a full blown review for this and I failed to deliver I am truly sorry. But you get a mini one and hopefully that counts.This book is about a man and his family who are missionaries in Beirut in pre-9/11 times. I think there's a line between "I feel like God is calling me to do this, even if it's outside of my comfort zone" and doing things that are pretty dangerous and foolhardy. I feel like this man danced on that line a few times. But maybe you can really only tell where that line is when you're in that situation. At least he was honest about the times he failed spectacularly.

The Man Who Stalked Einstein: How Nazi Scientist Philip Lenard Changed the Course of History: So this book is about a scientist who makes it his life mission to slander and generally hate on Einstein. I assumed that this guy was just some ridiculous quack. He was a Nazi pretty much from the day it was founded. He didn't just hate Einstein for his "baseless" science, but also because he was a Jew (even though he wasn't practicing). I was like "Well he's a very open anti-Semite and he sounds pretty nuts so I'm sure he was a bad scientist too." Nope. He actually was one of the first people to figure out how to potentially make X-rays. Oh yes, and a Nobel prize winner. It's a lot of science (a lot a lot if you're a physics idiot like me). But if you have an interest in science and a real life man that sounds like an insane Bond villain, this is your book!

Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II: To be honest, I was going to make this an All Lady July book, but then I decided against it. A few too many characters for me to be able to keep straight and review succinctly. However, I'm glad I read it! The story of this little city that sprung up and employed all of those people on this top secret thing was very interesting. My Dad has asked me before if I've read it, and now I have! Planning cities is his deal, so maybe I can encourage him to read this one!

An All Lady July Call to Arms

(That title sounds a little ominous, I promise, no vigilante justice needed)

I know you're thinking, um Wesley, it's not even June, I know you're a Type A but isn't this really planning ahead ? It is thinking ahead, but I'm going to be out and about for a long time in June (hooray!) and summer gets so busy for everyone.

And I like to plan things stupidly in advance.



(this gif will be in heavy rotation)




In case you haven't heard, this is the blog's second All Lady July! All Lady July celebrates all things literary and ladies and I need your help! I've had a couple of you lovely people already say they want in, and I thank you! (I'll be emailing you swell humans later today). But there is room for more lady comrades!

Curious about what you could guest post about?

-Reviewing a book by your favorite lady author

- Are there any characteristics from your favorite female book characters that you wish you had? (Feisty like Anne of Green Gables? Archery expert like Katniss?)

-Are there any books that you feel like made you into the lady that you are? Or characters who influenced you and your life?

-Who encouraged you to read? Was it your mom, your grandma, a teacher, a librarian?

-If you could have dinner and drinks (because of course, drinks) with one or a few female authors who would they be?

-What book/s would you stick in the hand of every 13 year old girl? What book do you wish someone put in YOUR hand as a 13 year old girl?

These are only a few options! Let your imagination run wild!

Thank you so much for your support! Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Imagined Meals

I recently read a book called "Lunch with CS Lewis", and it made me think. What authors would I want to have lunch with? What would we eat? What kind of restaurant? What are we drinking? What would we talk about?

So here's a couple of my thoughts, I'd LOVE to hear yours in the comments. (They don't have to be living either, it's our fantasy and we do what we want to!)

Ray Bradbury and I would meet in some greasy spoon diner somewhere between my home and where he grew up in Illinois. It'd be fall, which is Bradbury season, for real. I'd eat a club sandwich with a mountain of french fries and he's eat grilled cheese and tomato soup. (He loved tomato soup, that's not just me making stuff up.) We'd talk about how sad we are that NASA isn't what it used to be. We'd talk about time travel. Did he think that we'd have figured that out by now? Is it maybe good that we haven't figured it out because humanity isn't exactly trustworthy? I'd tell him that I keep meaning to make dandelion wine with my home wine making kit. I'd thank him because his books changed me and my reading life for the better. Except now that I'm always on the lookout for suspicious lightning rod salesman and carousels that spin backwards.


I feel like Neil Gaiman and I would go for a walk in the woods together. We'd have mugs of tea, but I wouldn't drink from mine much because I'm not coordinated enough to drink and walk at the same time.Both of us would have slightly out of control hair. I'd ask him how he felt about becoming a dad again. We'd talk about old folktales and legends and how he's used those for fodder in my favorite books.I'd thank him for writing books that chilled me and freaked me out, but never kept me up at night. I'd ask way too many questions about American Gods. I'd tell him that I was a little confused by Sandman but that I assumed I'm just not smart enough for it. I'd ask him about the pressure he feels, I mean, the internet is full of people who almost worship him. I'd thank him for his very public support of libraries. I feel like this would be a conversation with a lot of flighty looking hand gestures.

CS Lewis and I would meet in a pub somewhere. I feel like he have a pint of bitters and I'd have a cider. I'd drink it too quick because I'd be nervous so that means I'd be laughing my just a little too loud laugh and feel all warm inside. There would definitely be a dog running around.I'd tell him that I think he is the best demon namer ever, I can't even pick a favorite from Screwtape Letters. I'd ask him to tell me all about meeting Joy, and if he would do anything differently.I'd ask him to tell me about his time in England during WWII, was it as scary as I imagine it was? I'd beg him to tell me that, despite what I'd read, he and Tolkien stayed close friends for always. Then I'd probably get a little weepy (from accidental cider chugging and genuine love) and tell him that his books make me feel less alone in my struggles with being a Christian some time. I'd tell him that so many times he'd put to paper what I had felt in my heart. I'd thank him for making me closer to God. There would probably be a little blubbering. I'd hold the pub puppy and feel better.

"The Railway Man" : the Book and the Movie

Awhile back, I was at the movies with my husband. I am one of those weird people who likes the previews (though sometimes I wish there were about ten less and that they would just START THE MOVIE ALREADY!) A preview that I saw and was very excited by was for a movie called The Railway Man. I ended up  netflixing it (that's a verb) and more recently I read the book on which the movie was based. There are some liberties that the movie takes, not surprisingly, but the big difference is that the movie shows one very small portion of a much longer event. So we're going to talk about the book and the movie and what makes them both worthwhile.

So Eric Lomax was kind of an introverted only child growing up pretty lonely in Great Britain One thing that gave him a ridiculous amount of joy was trains. Everything about them. Train stations, different types of trains on and on (there's a lot of train details in the book). All of his free time was spent in and around trains or at the Chapel. This part was a little confusing to me, but Eric kind of fell into this culty/weird religious group that really scared his family. I was never quite clear on what they taught but it seemed like they were pretty shifty. But he met a nice girl there so at least it gave him some happiness outside of trains for once (?)

As it did for so many, WWII put all of Eric's plans on hold. He joined the signal corps and got engaged to the nice girl he was dating from the cult. (That's a fun sentence.) He bounces around before he ends up in "Malay", though it is not long until the Japanese come and Eric and several others are captured.

You know "Bridge over the River Kwai"? (starts whistling). Many of the men that were captured with Eric were forced to clear a route for a railroad that would have eventually gone over that bridge. So, in a fit of cruel irony Eric was forced to labor in the service of a railroad. Eric didn't actually have to physically dig the ditches and things that others did. He was responsible for upkeep of vehicles and other mechanical and engineering things, due to his skill.

Things are miserable and horrifying but Eric makes his way the best they can. But then a radio that he and his mates made is found by their captors and things get more awful.

What follows is literally years of imprisonment, torture, starvation and terror.

When Eric survives, which is does, he stumbles back into civilian life. His love of trains is still there but he's a changed person. They didn't have a name for it then, but now we know it's PTSD. His marriage suffers, and his 2 little girls don't understand why their father acts the way he does.

After a divorce, Eric meets a lovely lady on a train and she changes his life. He finally begins to deal with what has happened to him. They put the pieces together as to the one person that really haunts Eric's dreams, the english translator who was present at his torture sessions.

And that's as far as I'm going to take that summary because the end is pretty darn compelling.

So what I've recounted for you is basically the book. It's not a big book either to have all of that information. Eric's writing is very simple and direct, to the point of being a little brusque.

So naturally the movie isn't like the book in some ways.

The movie:
-is told in flashbacks from when he meets Patti on the train starting at a little before he is captured
- doesn't mention his first wife or kids
-Eric has more of a murderous intention in the movie than in the book
-relationships with other soldiers aren't mentioned as much
-the book ends with him still being captive at the same place where he was taken originally, where in the reality he was moved around a lot. There was more misery beyond the time where the movie stops.

Does it make the movie bad? No the movie is really good. Having read Eric's words now, I think it totally makes sense the way that Colin Firth played him. Really reserved and introverted and scared. I mean, Colin Firth is grand, it's just a fact.

Here's my advice. Start with the movie. If you are intrigued, I certainly reccomend the book. You learn so much more about life in camp, along with other things that happened in that part of the world during the war, like the shocking massacre of Australian nurses on Bangka Island.

I know that I often overlook the Pacific theater when doing WWII readings, and this book helped remind me that those stories are as equally compelling and need to be heard as well.

Tourist in Your Own City - Milwaukee

It's about summer vacation time for many, and I bet  people have thoughts cast toward far flung, warm places. All of this makes me think about what my own fair city has to offer to visitors. Though Milwaukee is neither far flung or warm (by most people's standards.)

So, if you're in the market for a fun, midwestern destination for your travel experiences here are some things that are great about Milwaukee.

The Brewers/Miller Park

The Brewers are not always good (sigh), but Miller Park is pretty sweet. There's a retractable roof so games don't ever get rained (or snowed!) out. The food options range from the usual stadium food (pretzels, hot dogs, margaritas, popcorn),  to amazing local barbecue (Smoke Shack!) and donuts (Holey Moley!)! I joke that I want to get a group together to do a food tour of Miller Park. We buy the cheapest tickets, and then just wander the stadium and try all of the great sounding food options. If the Brewers keep up this record that's going to be all that's worth going to the stadium for....and Hank and the Running Sausages of course! #dontwhackourweiner

Via Wikipedia

Ethnic Festivals

Are you Irish? German? Greek? Polish? Italian? Mexican? Native American? There's a festival for that. Milwaukee is a city of many nations and that is shown in our festival season. If you want authentic Irish dancing, Polish pierogies, or the rockingest German polka band this side of Aachen; Milwaukee can provide that. Irish Fest is a personal favorite, because I can find good Irish books at a book booth and pet the huge Irish wolfhounds at the Celtic Canines section. If you want to save money some money for whiskey and tamales check the promotions schedule. Lots of times you can get in for free or heavily discounted!

The Third Ward

Looking for a walkable place full of places to wine and dine and shop? The Third Ward is my favorite destination for those activities. Head to Cafe Benelux for pomme frites and peruse an impressive beer list from your table on the rooftop patio. Pop over to Bangles and Bags  for jewelry and accessories all organized by color in the store! They always have cute stuff for really reasonable prices, I wish they were around when I was going to prom. Need fresh flowers, delicious smelling bread, seafood that's still wiggling or want to get in on a great cooking class? Thank goodness for the Milwaukee Public Market that has all of that and more!

Milwaukee Art Museum

I love art, and I feel fortunate that such a beautiful and well stocked art museum is so close to me! Part of the museum was designed by internationally renowned architect Santiago Calatrava. I heard (though now I can't find my source, so I could be wrong) that it was the first Calatrava in the United States. Though he has since designed a lot of the structures at the new World Trade Center site. The "wings" even open and close accompanied by music! There's Georgia O' Keefes, a huge picture of a happy dog, a favorite George Eames, and the standard "weird" modern art that I don't always understand. There's always interesting exhibits too, right now it's all fashion that's been featured in Ebony magazine over the years!


There's also brewery tours (if you do 3 in one day, you've completed the trifecta. It's not generally a good idea), distillery tour (want absinthe?), opera, ballet, ice skating where Olympians train, kayak on the river, boat cruises around the harbor, food tours, the pedal tavern, Summerfest, the State Fair, gallery night and about a billion other things. When the winter sucks your soul and social life away we go hard in summer :)

Book Review: "A Letter to My Mom" Created by Lisa Erspamer

It was not by accident that this book about moms is up on the blog a few days before Mother's Day. (It's the 10th. Just in case you'd forgot. Or were confused because stores started advertising for it in early April and it through your sense of time off.)

This isn't going to be a super positive way to start out a book review but whatever I'm going to do it anyway. Sot his book is apart of a kind of series ("A Letter to My..."). This is the third book in the series. Anyone want to guess what the first two are? Maybe "A Letter to My Spouse?", "A Letter to My Children?" Those would be good guesses. But no, the first two are "A Letter to My Dog" and "A Letter to My Cat".

When I read that my response was "Um...what? Are we ranking cats and dogs above parents? Were the publishing companies more eager to publish letters written to cats and dogs than someone's Mom? Does that order seem weird to anyone else?" So I thought that was strange. I don't know if anyone else would care.

Anyway, now that I've ragged on what I'm sure are perfectly lovely books, let's get to the book at hand.

There isn't much explaining to be done: the whole book is made up of letters from children to their moms. A few sons but mostly daughters. Some people are famous (Suze Orman, Kristin Chenworth, Josh Groban) but others are just everyday people. Everyone wants to say thank you. But for a lot of different reasons. The author's letter talks about how her mom woke her up every morning "with a silly song and a spray bottle of water". And all I could think about how irritated I was when my mom would flip my light on in the morning to wake me up when I was in grade school. If she came in bearing a spray bottle we would have brawled :)

I'm not going to rate this book because that seems weird ("I don't know if I was convinced just how much this person loved their mom..."). But I will say if you're looking for a sweet short book to gift to a mom (or mom figure) this would be a pretty safe bet.

Want to win this book? Pop over here  to enter a giveaway!

I received this book in exchange for a fair review from Blogging for Books

Book Review: "The Inheritance" by Marianne Perry (HFVBT)

To begin with today, I'm going to give you the book's summary and then I'll talk about why I think it's interesting....

Summary:

The Inheritance tells the story of a family disintegrating from conflicting loyalties in Calabria, southern Italy. Set during the period 1897 to 1913, the region was subject to earthquakes and tsunamis; the land was harsh and poverty the norm. Superstition clashed with religion and a class system ruled the people. Calabria is the perfect backdrop for the tragedy that unfolds in The Inheritance.

Caterina is an atypical woman, and The Inheritance chronicles her life from birth to young womanhood. Born with an inheritance of loss into a society that has predetermined what she can and cannot do, she vows to live a life of her choosing. Caterina refuses to allow the limits of her gender, the constraints of her class and the demands imposed by those in power to stand in her way. Caterina remains steadfast in her commitment to become the woman she imagines. Her decisions ignite conflicts and fuel a chain of events that result in dire consequences for all whose path she crosses.

So, from that summary doesn't it sound like this woman named Caterina will be the main character of this book? I don't really think that she is. Is she super important in this book and is she one of the main characters? Yes. Do I think I would write the whole summary around her part of the book? Not really. Anna, the mom, or Lorenzo a son, really seem to be the more main characters to me. But anyway...

The book is about a well to do family in southern Italy in the early 1900s. (I had to remind myself of the year, because sometimes it seemed a little bit like the middle ages with trains. There was a whole kind of feudal system, Medici thing going on. Considering the first World War is knocking on the door at the end of the story). The father Santo is devoted to his sons (especially the 2 oldest Caesar and Benito) and is a ruthless business man who has worked his way up from the bottom to considerable wealth. The mother is Anna, who is loving and doting on the estates servants and on her youngest son Lorenzo. Lorenzo and Anna are especially close to a servant girl, a little younger than Lorenzo, who lost her mother at birth. There is also a food loving cook (like there's any other kind) named Bruno and a conflicted priest named Padre Valentine. (I thought his name was a pretty strong "wink wink nudge nudge" considering his role in the story).

When Lorenzo and Caterina are about 12 there is a huge disaster and he is swept away from the estate and they are separated for about 5 years. When they are reunited many many things have changed around them (almost all for the worse I'd say) but will their feelings for each other still be there? (dum dum duuuuuuuuum)

There's a couple of different side stories that go on within the main narrative; but what I think this book real strength is in the different relationships. Anna has a relationship with almost everyone in this book (though the least of one with some of her own family members). I give it a 3 out of 5 stars, and it really made me want bruschetta, so be prepared when you're reading!

About the Author

Family dynamics, genealogical research to solve ancestral mysteries and international travel are Marianne Perry’s priorities. A second-generation Canadian-Italian, she is the author of The Inheritance, a historical fiction/romance set in Calabria, southern Italy from 1897 to 1913 that was inspired by her grandmother’s early life. With a thirty-year career in education and communications, Marianne holds a Master of Education Degree from The University of Western Ontario (Canada). A past member of the Board of Trustees, the Canadian National Arts Centre Corporation, she has also published non-fiction genealogical articles throughout North America. As a girl, Marianne fell in love with The National Geographic Magazine and dreamt of exploring the world. With her January 2014 visit to Antarctica, she achieved her goal of stepping foot on every continent. The mother of two grown children, Marianne and her husband live on the shores of the St. Mary’s River, which drains Lake Superior on the outskirts of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. She continues to research her family’s history and write non-fiction genealogical articles. In addition, she is working on her second novel and planning further adventures.

Marianne blogs about genealogy, travel, family and writing on her website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Goodreads.