Favorite Book Review: "The Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson

This story has one of the best beginnings of any book I've read.

Our narrator is drunk driving down a lonely,scenic California highway. He takes his hands off the wheel to take a swig out of the bottle of liquor he's holding between his legs. Suddenly he think that he sees hundreds of flaming arrows raining down from the sky. He jerks the wheel and his expensive car goes barreling down a ravine and catches fire. He wakes up in the hospital, his body covered in very serious burns. This is especially bad because our narrator is a porn star, and the bottle of liquor has accelerated the car fire around his..."primary money maker" shall we say...and it has been burned beyond recognition and use.

How is that for a great start for a book ?! A self destructive porn star with no willy.Classic.

He wakes up in the hospital in bad shape, and he quickly begins to plan his suicide. However he begins to get a visitor named Marianne Engel. She sits with him and tells him about her work as a sculptress and her life story. Our narrator is pretty sure she is certifiably insane because she tries to convince him that they were lovers...in medieval Germany. He doesn't believe her but he listens to her stories because all of his former friends have abandoned him and ran off with his money; and he has nothing better to do since he will be in the hospital for a long time. She tells him stories of convents, illuminated manuscripts, sadistic knights, building cathedrals, being on the run and about their own love story.

Their relationship grows and changes and the narrator slowly, slowly heals (and becomes addicted to morphine!)  but abandons his plan for suicide. He comes to live in her home with her and her doggie, Bougasta (which is a kind of dessert that his fur matches) and begins to piece together his broken spirit and life.

Food bougasta, not dog Bougasta.

The two timelines (Marianne's memories and the current timeline) are woven together throughout the novel so deftly that you wouldn't believe that this is Davidson's first (and so far only) book. I loved this book. I loved this book so much I forced my Mom and my one sister who reads to read it to so I'd have someone to gush about it with. I love that these people (not just our narrator) have had some terrible experiences which leave them a little broken and sad but that there is always hope. Always there is hope.
4.5 out of 5 stars for Mr Davidson and his broken but hopeful people!


(Picture from http://www.allcorfu.com/in-recipes-bougatsa.html in case you want the recipe!)

Favorite Book Review: "The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History" by Robert M Edsel

Out of all of the books that are written in the world, one of the most popular topics has to be World War II. Whether you're looking for biographies of famous generals, stories from just a particular country, exploits of one branch of the military,Nazi atrocities, Pacific POW camps, the amount of books and the details they go into are staggering. I have read several books on the topic. Though I have to be careful to space them out between other books or else my already vivid nightmares taken a very scary turn. There is only one book that I have found,so far, that has so wonderfully told a true (!) story about 2 topics that interest me so much: World War II and art.

I can not emphasize enough that "Monuments Men" is a true story. Keep that in mind while I weave the magical summary for you:

World War II is in it's last year ; death, destruction, bombs and terror are still spreading across Europe. A small group of men and women (only about 345) from around the world are recruited to the newly minted Monument,Fine Arts, and Archives division. The intimidating task given to these men and women is twofold: recover art that the Nazis have stolen (usually from museums or private collections) and try to prevent the destruction of cultural monuments (historical buildings, churches, etc). What makes this group of people even more impressive is that they were not soldiers. They were historians, museum curators, archivists, artists,sculptures and art restorers.They found themselves in an overwhelming position usually with little manpower or resources. They even faced ridicule from their own people at time (Why risk your life for a few smudges of paint or an old building? Especially if they were German, the people who are trying to kill you as you are trying to protect their cultural heritage.) They recovered huge caches of art: sometimes hidden away, sometimes proudly displayed in huge Nazi estates. Herman Goering, that fat bastard, was particularly proud of the art collection that he had looted and pillaged from across the continent. The book follows a small group of these men as they travel around the continent in a desperate bid to save it's heritage and cultural important places.

The MFAA were amazingly successful.However there are some monuments, artworks, and pieces of cultural history that have been lost, seemingly forever. The book details the frustrations and triumphs that the group experienced.

If you are a keen observer (or spend time on the internet) this story might already sound familiar to you. It's because it's going to be a movie. Some small, little known indie actors will be some of the stars: George Clooney,Matt Damon, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin (good looking Frenchmen). The release date is right before Christmas, December 18th. Which means you have a little more than a month to get thee to a library or bookstore so you can get this one read BEFORE you see the movie. (Or after, but the important thing is that you read it.) Also, I need a date to see this with me when it comes out because the husband is not interested...

When I think about all of the wars and battles that have been fought in Europe I'm amazed at the beautiful structures that still remain. I mean, Notre Dame has seen a lot of action. Likewise St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, St Basil's in Moscow and so many other historical buildings.

REAL WORLD APPLICATION! In a case of fortuitous timing check out the news story that broke this morning about 1,500 looted pieces that were found in a mansion in Munich.

Favorites Book Review : "Serena" by Ron Rash

A few years ago I started a book club called "Get Drunk and Read". (We were a pull no punches kind of book club). The book club didn't last for very long, but I think this book is our legacy.When we read this book it was universally loved. 

George Pemberton is a lumber baron in the making. The forests of North Carolina are falling beneath his companies saws and George enjoys his privileges as boss man and fathered an illegitimate child. However, he goes up to Boston and meets a woman named Serena who he wifes after a pretty short time. Serena is ambitious,smart, efficient and beautiful. She's everything that George needs in a business and life partner.

(because hooray for deforesting efficiently?)

However, Serena is also a bit unhinged. But we will get to that in a minute.

Things are going just as planned for the couple, until tragedy strikes and they realize they will always be childless. This has a profound psychological effect on Serena (we are building this empire and we won't have a son to give it to and carry on the family name!?) and this where the unhinging begins. This tragedy softens George's feelings towards his only living child but it makes Serena hard and calculating.Mysterious things start happening around camp and people start dying in mysterious accidents and things get very much out of hand.

It concludes with a huge, shocking twist and an amazing epilogue. I can't even emphasis how much you should NOT skip the epilogue.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.The characters (all of them, not just George and Serena) are interesting and deep.The descriptions of the countryside and the logging camps are detailed and vivid. (Ron Rash lives in North Carolina, this is his backyard,he knows what's up.) Towards the end of the book my heart was in my throat the whole time, very high tension!


Another reason you should read this book, and maybe the most important of all, is that this is being made into a movie that starts filming next year. Starring.....wait for it....Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.
So now you can be the person who knows how awesome this movie will be before it even HAPPENS.

God help them if they mess up that movie. The members of "Get Drunk and Read" will find them.

Is this really a children's book? Because I'm a little scared.

Fall is here. I have very mixed feelings about fall. I love fall because of: wearing cute scarves without sweating,apple cider, camping trips where there aren't tornadoes and the color changes. I hate fall because it means that winter is next and I get sick of winter after about 2 weeks.

A sure harbinger of fall for me is re-reading Ray Bradbury's "The Halloween Tree". 

The book follows a group of young boys in a small Midwestern town on Halloween night. It's time for trick or treating but one of their motley crew is sick and then goes missing. The mysterious Mr Moundshroud, who lives in the creepiest house ever says he can help the boys find their missing friend.This takes them across time and space and all around the world witnessing the beginnings of what we know as Halloween.They start seeing a funeral  in ancient Egypt in a mysterious pyramid. They travel to wild, pre-Roman Ireland to see Druids, they spend time in Notre Dame in France (my favorite scene) and off to Mexico to see the Day of the Dead.There's a very poignant moment at the end that makes you think about how to best live our short lives here on earth and what sacrifices we are willing to make for friends.

Having said all of this, it's not for all kids. There's a lot of talk of death and spooky creatures. I get tingles in my spine when he describes the children's visit to Ireland and to Notre Dame.(Did you ever wonder how the gargoyles get up on those ledges? You find out.It's awesome).So maybe it's just for brave kids and wussy adults?

This book is great for (at least) 3 reasons:

1. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud is the best name for a Halloween character ever.
2.The descriptions of the autumnal nights are so spot on.You can practically see the dead leaves tumbling down empty small town streets.
3.The kids are detailed and deep characters. They aren't flat and uninteresting.

"Suddenly the day was gone, night came out from underneath each tree and spread..." (Bwahahahaha)