Tara
When I am in a bookstore I have a tendency to just wander around until a book jumps out at me. On occasion, I will go to the bookstore with the intention of purchasing a specific book, but most of the time I just like to wander and see what jumps out at me.
That's how I came across the book Captive by Clara Rojas. I was wandering around the bookstore, drinking some wonderfully pomegranate flavored tea when I came across this memoir. I kind of run hot/cold on memoirs, finding some of them to be really quite wonderful and others to be really quite self-centered, but I grabbed this book from the shelf and looked at it. At the bottom of the front cover it says “2,147 Days of Terror in the Colombian Jungle”. Well, that made me flip the book to the back cover to read about this book, which I promptly added to my growing stack of books.
Captive is the story of Clara Rojas' kidnapping by the Colombian guerrilla army, FARC, and the years she spent held as their hostage. Rojas was kidnapped in 2002, along with her then friend Ingrid Betancourt, and was held until 2008, when a negotiation mediated by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba resulted in the release of Clara Rojas, Consuelo Gonzales and Rojas' young son, Emmanuel (whom she conceived and delivered in the jungle while held in captivity). This book was translated from Spanish to English by Adriana V. Lopez (I don't really know if that makes any kind of difference to a reader, it certainly doesn't make a difference to me, I love reading works by authors from all over the world and I am greatly appreciative of the fact that there are people out there who can translate their works for me to enjoy). Rojas lays out the details of her captivity with clarity and, in my opinion, honesty. She is very real about how she felt during those years as a hostage of the FARC and in many ways I think this made her perseverance more amazing to me.
The book begins with what she was doing the day before she was kidnapped and then moves forward to her life after release. Unlike some memoirs, where the author takes you on a daily or even weekly trip with them, Rojas tells her story according to the theme of the chapter. Each chapter is titled, things like “The Day Before the Kidnapping” or “Doubt and Anxiety” or “Pastimes”, and within that chapter the story followed the the idea presented in the title. I liked that presentation of her story, it presented her story on several layers and gave a good picture of what the hostages did at each camp they were held at.
After finishing this book on July 20, 2011, I felt a lot of things. I was glued to this story, Rojas' is a very strong woman, I think. I don't know if I'd be able to hold up as well if I were to be in that same situation. I guess you never know just how strong you are until. . . I don't know, I guess until that's all you have. Clara Rojas was strong on many levels while in captivity. I definitely believe her faith and belief in God helped see her through days that could have resulted in a weaker person taking their own life to end the pain. Hope, she had a lot of that. She hoped to one day see her mother and brother and the rest of her family. She hoped to one day be free and away from that hot jungle. I believe that faith and hope can get a person very far in this world, it's when you lose all hope and all faith, that you're soul dies. That's my own personal belief, and I think in some ways reading about Ms. Rojas' captivity, it made me look at my own beliefs in a way.
I believe she is strong, and as a strong woman she was able to survive her ordeal by remaining hopeful. There were definitely points where she fell into a depression, who wouldn't? In her case, I think those times of depression only resulted in strengthening her resolve to remain hopeful and believe that God was with her and would take care of her. That's some pretty strong belief right there. I admire that about her, actually. I admire that her faith figured so strongly for her during the 6 years she was held by the FARC. I honestly don't know if I would be able to find that strength in my own faith. My religious beliefs waiver on many occasions and at this point in time, I'm rebuilding my own beliefs and figuring out what where God is in my life and quite possibly where I am in His/Hers.
Clara Rojas' friendship with Ingrid Betancourt fell apart while they were captives, which is unfortunate, but maybe it was also for the best. I wonder if, in some ways, if this was a friendship that fits in the “reasons, seasons, lifetime” type of process. Possibly this was a friendship for a reason – Rojas was an attorney who worked on Betancourt's political campaign and they were both from the same party? Possibly this was a friendship for a season – political allies traveling together through FARC controlled territory to discuss party issues with allies in another Colombian city? I don't know, but I don't think this was a friendship that was meant to be a lifetime one. The way Clara describes the discussions she had with Ingrid leading up to the day they were kidnapped, it did not seem to me that these were two women who shared a sisterly type of love and friendship for one another. I could be wrong, of course. Although I think it is for the best that their friendship ended, I was saddened by the pain that Rojas felt as their friendship fell apart. It is always painful to lose a friend and I can sympathize with Rojas as she lost the only friend she had in the jungle. Overall, by the end of the ordeal, Clara shows herself to be the bigger person when it came to Ingrid.
I was curious about the fact that she gave birth to a son in the middle of the jungle and wondered for most of the book how it happened. Not so much how she got pregnant, I know all about the birds and the bees, but more wondering if there was going to be some kind of love story wrapped into this captivity story. I couldn't really imagine falling in love with someone in the middle of something so stressful as a hostage crisis, but stranger things have happened to people and since I'm not in her shoes, I can't really say I know anything about it anyway. The thing I have to say I respect and admire about this particular part of her story is that she chooses to keep it private. She does not, as she relates the story of her pregnancy and harrowing delivery, go into detail about how she came to be pregnant, she does not reveal the identity of the father, does not indicate if he was a guerrilla or a fellow hostage. What she does is say that she has decided to leave the details of her pregnancy for a time when her son, Emmanuel, approaches her and asks. I like that. It makes sense, because, honestly, it's none of my business how she came to be pregnant, what is my business is what is on the page and I respect that she is choosing not to tell me anything more. She manages to survive an unexpected pregnancy at the age of 39 in the middle of the Colombian jungle and delivers with little medical comfort – a male nurse, a female nurse and a group of guerrillas providing light and support. Here's the kicker – due to complications, her son is brought into this world in a hut by Cesarean section while she is heavily sedated, and a single 100 watt light bulb shining over them. I realize there are people out there who will say “women have been giving birth much longer than there's been doctors and modern medicine and hospitals” but really? No woman should have to be delivered by C-section by a nurse in the middle of a jungle while being held against her will, and yet that's what happened to Clara Rojas and it's pretty amazing that she and her son survived.
At that point in the book, I had to go online and see if I could find a picture of her and her son. I was curious to see them. On the cover of the book, there is a small picture of her, but I wanted a better one. I actually wanted to see her smiling, I thought “I bet she has one of those smiles that feels like the warmth of the sun upon your skin”. I was right too. She does. There are several pictures of her alone as well as pictures of her with her son and her family (the family ones are from when she arrived in Venezuela after her release). She does have a warm smile. The birth of her son is a miracle really, given the little medical resources that were available. After his birth, she continues to push forward, wanting to live and survive for her son and her mother, because she knew one day she'd be with her mother again. Hope. Faith. Strength.
Unfortunately, young Emmanuel becomes ill and after attempting to deal with the parasitic infection he gets from a bug bite, he is taken away from Clara to be treated. He was only 8 months old when they took him away from her, and she wouldn't see him again until close to his 4th birthday. Now that's what I call heartbreaking, and she definitely was heartbroken but she still had that strength of spirit or strength of will, but she knew that she'd see him again. This is a woman that the word “pessimism” is not in the vocabulary for. Neither is “skepticism”. Through the efforts of President Hugo Chavez and Senator Piedad Cordoba, the hostages discovered that Clara and Consuelo would be released to the Red Cross International, as well as Emmanuel, and they would be sent to Venezuela to be reunited with their families. Her hope and faith and strength saw her through to the day she'd been praying for, but of course it was going to take awhile for her to actually taste sweet freedom, but not once did I get the impression that she didn't realize this either. She was practical and realistic, while remaining hopeful in the knowledge that she would soon be out of that jungle and safe with her family. How can someone not lose their mind at the thought of being free? I think I would have gone crazy in the days leading up to my freedom, especially since there was no specific date set. But, she remained calm outwardly (she does admit that she rejoiced inwardly, thanking God repeatedly), and she just made sure she was prepared because at any moment the Commandante could tell her she was leaving to go home. The days leading up to freedom coincided with the Christmas and New Year's holidays and each day, as people around the world were eagerly looking forward towards opening presents and welcoming in a new year with new possibilities, she was looking forward to a day when she would see her son and mother again, and be able to taste the sweetness of freedom.
I am an emotional person and, while I was able to maintain most of my calm while reading her story, I have to admit I fought back tears as she related what it was like seeing the Red Cross International helicopters and flying out of the jungle towards the Colombian/Venezuelan border, leaving the copters and getting on a plane to be reunited with her family, scanning the crowd to find her mother as the plane taxied to a stop. All of that just made my heart leap and tears came to my eyes. I think she probably downplayed just how wonderful she felt as she landed and was able to actually touch her mother and her nieces and brother and cousins. She was surrounded by media as she was reunited with her family, but it doesn't seem like they were suffocating. Maybe that's how she chose to report it, maybe they really weren't all that suffocating, I don't know. I mean, I've seen on the news how the media can rush at someone to get comments, but I've also seen how the media maintains a respectful distance in some situations, so maybe the media did it that way, remained at a respectful distance and just snapped pictures and waited patiently for her to give a press conference. I kind of think not though. Anyway, it was the way Clara was greeted by her family that tore at my heart. She said she saw her mother who was now using a walker (she hadn't been using one the last time Clara saw her, so I'm sure it was a shock) and her mother took her face in her hands and looked at her. Oh, tug at my heartstrings, why don't you? I will admit, tears fell when I read about being reunited with her son, who thankfully had been delivered into the hands of the Colombian child welfare services organization and had been treated for his infection and was well fed and healthy by the time she saw him. This is just happy ending all around, really.
Based on how Clara Rojas ends her book, where she talks about being able to forgive those who held her and her son captive, and being able to move forward with her life and returning to a normal life, I have to say she came out of this remarkably intact. Her soul was not destroyed and she has learned something that so many of us don't always truly learn – how to forgive those who have hurt us. It's not easy being able to forgive someone for a wrong they have done against us, and I would think that being held captive for 6 years and being separated from your own child for 4 years would qualify for an unforgivable act, yet she has forgiven her captors. She has dedicated her life to fighting for what she believes is right, working to release more hostages from the FARC, as well as working to improve child welfare and the environment. I admire her, on a lot of levels. If I could end up with a tenth of the strength this woman has, I'd consider myself pretty lucky. I am adding Ms. Rojas to my list of people I admire and who have had an impact on me. I don't think her story is one that I am going to forget, ever, but I think it will stick with me for quite some time. This is an example of strength of the human spirit, and I'm glad to have been able to learn about it.
To Ms. Clara Rojas, I am humbled by your story and wish to send my thoughts and prayers to you and your son, Emmanuel. I hope your continued efforts to release more hostages are so successful that one day you won't have to work so hard because there won't be any hostages! Bless you, Ms. Rojas! I hope one day, I may meet you and tell you in person just how remarkable I think you are.
It didn't take me very long to read this book, I think probably 2 or 3 days. I need to digest it before I even begin to attempt to write a review. First thoughts – great YA/teen book! In many ways, I wish this book had been around when I was teen. I will write a review in the coming days, I feel like there are some parts I need to reread before I sit down and write about this book. I loved it though, I can definitely say that and the subject matter isn't exactly one that leaves you with a “warm and fuzzy” feeling. Stay tuned...
I really enjoyed this book, although its subject matter sent a lot of uncomfortable chills down my spine. In The Devil's Closet, Detective CeeCee Gallagher is involved in the search for a kidnapper and murderer. The victims are young girls between the ages of 6 and 8, and none of them are found alive. CeeCee finds herself butting heads with the FBI, dealing with marital problems and up against a ticking clock.
I have always been bothered by the violence adults inflict upon children, especially when it comes to sexual violence. This is a novel about sexual violence against children in it, and if you are the type of person who turns green at thought of it, you might not want to read this book. There is no graphic violence, it is all hinted at in discussions between the characters, but the reader knows what is happening to the victims without needing to actually be given a blow by blow report. CeeCee Gallagher is police officer and mother of two young daughters, and her anger towards the murderer I felt was very justified. In my job, working for the legal system, I hear a lot of things I wish I didn't and I am always outraged when I hear about a sex crime committed on a child, so I appreciated CeeCee's anger.
This book is the first in the CeeCee Gallagher series and I am looking forward to reading more of them. There is a lot of tension in this book and CeeCee has to deal with an overloaded plate of issues, but her main focus is always on the case and finding each missing girl. There are times when her bullheadedness results in a later realization that she misjudged something or someone and she does admit when she was wrong.
I always enjoy reading the Author's Note at the end of books, as it leaves me with a bit of insight into what drove the author to write a particular story. Stacy Dittrich includes an Author's Note at the end of this book, explaining that this story was inspired by a criminal investigation she was involved in, about a child rapist/murderer who she nicknamed The Doll Man. Reading her “note” made me a little more uncomfortable with the story, but it also made me appreciate this novel all that much more. I know there are men (and women) out there like The Doll Man, they walk among us and the majority of us have no idea, but I still find it upsetting and disturbing that there are people out there who wish to do harm to young children.
This book was offered as a free e-book from Barnes & Noble and that's how I received it. I have since added the CeeCee Gallagher series to my “wishlist” as I do want to continue to read about the adventures of CeeCee. Stacy Dittrich has a new fan. I'd recommend this book to fans of Tess Gerritsen and Patricia Cornwell.
This book was a free e-book on the B&N website and the summary intrigued me. I read this book in about 3 days, mainly while commuting back and forth to work and really enjoyed it. This is the story of Edith, a lively and adventurous 22 year old, preparing for her sister, Delaney's wedding. She decides to head to the hotel where the wedding will take place a week before everyone else, so she can have some time to relax, as her sister is a bit of a nightmare (Delaney gives a whole new meaning to the term Bridezilla). While at the hotel, Edith runs into a good friend Mac, who is there for a conference and meets his co-worker, Jake, who is overwhelmed by Edith's beauty and strength. Through the scheming of Edith's mother, Elaine, and Mac (and Mac's mother) Edith ends up taking Jake as her date to her sister's wedding. Things heat up between Edith and Jake, resulting an ending that made me smile and do a little cheer.
This is a very short e-book and moves along quickly. It takes place over a short period of time, the week leading upto Delaney's wedding. Edith's family, mainly her sister and mother, are overwhelming in many ways, especially Delaney. I have seen some episodes of the TLC show, Bridezillas, and even many of those women at their worse werent' as bad as Delaney, and the main thing that makes Delaney so horrible is the way she treats Edith. She is degrading, insulting and belittling to her younger sister, which made my heart break for Edith. At one point, Jake has to step in to protect Edith from Delaney as she verbally destroys her younger sister. Delaney is an extremely ungrateful character.
Jake and Edith have a relationship that develops very quickly, but it doesn't seem forced or unrealistic. The phrase “when you know, you know” rolled through my head as things played out between Jake and Edith. Jake is sincere, sensitive and completely inlove with Edith, which was remarkable. If there are men like Jake out there, I'd certainly like to know where they are hiding.
Being that this was a quick read, I felt the ending was very good. It didn't seem forced or hurried to me, but it did seem inevitable. I thought “well, of course that's how it ends, duh”, so it wasn't any kind of big surprise at all (but it did make me smile). Edith was a likeable character and it was very easy for me to relate to her. Elaine, Edith's mother, seemed to me to be the stereotypical mother of the bride, in that she wants everything to go well for her daughter on her big day, but I also thought Elaine was a bit spineless when it came to Delaney's actions and treatment of Edith. Delaney – well, there's nothing good to say about this character. Mac was very funny and a good friend to both Jake and Edith. As I said above, if there are men out there like Jake, I'd love to meet them. He was almost too good to be true, but I do have friends who would say Jake is very much like their own significant others.
I'd recommend this book if you want something quick, girly and has a happy ending.
This was a free e-book at BN.com so I figured “what the hay, I'll check it out”. It's a self-published work by this author. Although the topic was interesting (being able to repeat one particular day in your life in the hopes of correcting it), I found the story itself pretty depressing. It seemed that the chapters jumped around a lot, and there were several times where I wasn't quite sure how the story got from one place to another. I rarely make comments about grammar and punctuation, but the lack of proofreading and editing did interfere in a smooth reading experience. There were several places where sentences did not make sense and I had to mentally add a word (or two) to make it sound right in my head.
I do think this author should continue her writing. According to the “about the author” info at the end of the story, she's currently in college. This story has a lot of promise and would greatly benefit from proofreading and editing. Since she's at college, I'm sure there's an English professor or two who might be willing to assist with the editing process.
I saw the Cohen Brothers' version of this book, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Hailee Steinfeld when it was in theaters and was very curious about how closely it may or may not have followed the book. I have to say they followed Portis's book very closely. Now onto my review of the book.
Mattie Ross is a 14 year old girl from Arkansas who seeks the assistance of Rueben “Rooster” Cogburn, a federal marshall with true grit, to help her find the coward Tom Chaney, who shot and killed her unarmed father. Mattie is the eldest child, and upon retrieving her father's body to send home for burial, she decides that the man who killed her father must stand trial for his actions in Arkansas, which leads to her seeking out a man with true grit, who can find Tom Chaney. When she hires Rooster Cogburn, her adventure begins.
I found Mattie to be a very honest narrator. I don't think it ever occurs to her that she should lie to anyone she meets. She always has an honest, straight forward answer, which at times come across as a bit self-righteous or snotty. I don't think Mattie is “snotty” per se, but she truly believes in right and wrong and that there is no “gray area”. Things are either right or they are wrong, and that's how she lives her own life, which is what leads her to hiring Rooster to help her find Tom Chaney.
Rooster is a hard, rough man. He has seen war, having fought for the Conferederates in the Civil War, and he has killed men (both in war and as a marshall). He is also a drunk. I can't say that his drinking necessarily made him a worse lawman in my opinion. I think Rooster uses alcohol to ease the pain of his past, it soothes his anger. As hard as he is, I also think he did develop a kind of respect and fatherly protection towards Mattie. She is, afterall, a child riding through Choctaw Nation to bring the coward Tom Chaney to justice for what he did.
Then, there's the Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf (pronounced LaBeef), who meets Mattie while she is staying in a boarding house, waiting for Rooster Cogburn to determine if he will let her hire him. His efforts to keep her from riding along in the hunt for Tom Chaney are squandered. I am sure LaBoeuf is not used to girls who are so strong-willed, sharp-tongued and stubborn as Mattie Ross.
Again, I loved this book. It's a fast read and Mattie's narration is strong. I liked Mattie. For all the preaching she did and the right v. wrong speeches she gave, she was a very strong girl focused on getting what she wanted – justice. I wish I had read this book before I saw True Grit though, but I have to say I'm not disappointed in the film version now that I have read the book. I am curious about how closely the original starring John Wayne follows the book but I don't think I'll be disappointed either. Very rarely have I come across a movie adapted from a book that I enjoyed, True Grit is one of these rare book to films categories. I think this is a book that I will read more than once during my life, and I'm looking forward to reliving Mattie's chase through Choctaw Nation with Rooster Cogburn and LaBoeuf.
I found this book very fascinating. For some reason, I have never read J.M. Barrie's original Peter Pan. I've seen movie adaptations of the book, but never actually sat down to read it. This book is a very dark Peter Pan, deadlier and definitely more adult. I am not usually a squeamish person when I read graphic scenes, but there were a few times when my skin crawled (there is one scene where the head Reverend explains how he will go about exorcising the demons he believes lives in Peter and his Devils aka Lost Boys). Brom mixes other legends into this story, which created an interesting history for the characters. I've always been fascinated with faeries, witches, pixies, trolls and elves and you'll find them in this story. This Peter is both playful and mischevious, as well as has a very dark side that reveals a murderous appetite. That was different. This is definitely not Disney's Peter Pan nor is it anywhere close to the playful stage versions I've seen. This is not a bedtime story type of book either, this book deserves a mature audience. I think if you're familiar with the basic story of Peter Pan (the boy who never grew up) and have a tiny idea of what Avalon is, you'd probably find this book interesting and possibly enjoyable.
I loved this book! I don't have very many teen heroes/heroines, but I do read a lot of YA/teen novels. I'm a big Harry Potter fan and have always been fond of Hermione Granger and finally I have been introduced to Katniss Everdeen! If only Katniss had been around when I was a teen (1990-1994) but I'm glad she's around now. Now...time for Catching Fire!
This will be a short review as I am still processing this book. I enjoyed the overall story but was not expecting the way the narrator told it. It is written as one long letter to Osama Bin Laden after a massive suicide bombing at a football match in London. The narrator is a wife and mother, but we are never told her name. She doesn't use basic grammar and punctuation during the majority of her writing, and yet the story flows. She writes this letter as a way to tell Osama just how much he has changed her life and all of the various things she does in the days and months after the bombined. She is a wreck. She is lost. Ultimately, I think her grief is so overwhelming and consumes her so thoroughly that she almost commits her own act of violence. I have to say, the way the story is written/told, I almost put the book down after about 30 pages and walked away. I couldn't quite grasp the narrator's voice, but as I made my way through it, I finally “heard” her telling this story. I don't know if I would really recommend this book to others though, I think the way it's written could be a turnoff for many readers. I am currently reading Little Bee, by this same author, and that is what led to me reading this book. In the end, I am glad I read it, the emotion was very raw and real in my opinion.
I received this pre-release book free through the Goodreads First Reads Program (www.goodreads.com) on December 2, 2010 and immediately proceeded to the first page.
The plot of this book interested me when I read about it on the Goodreads First Reads page, so I was looking forward to hearing how a fellow thirty-something's life had been changed by the books of feminism.
In her thirties, Stephanie Staal decides to return to her college alma mater, Barnard College, after experiencing what I would call a moment of lost identity. This self-proclaimed feminist, who wanted to be a career woman suddenly found herself as a wife and mother working as a freelance writer on occasion. Staal suddenly felt like a traitor to the feminist movement she had studied and read about as an undergraduate, asking the question that thousands of women ask everyday – “What the hell is happening to me?”
So, in an attempt to figure out what happened to her own feminist ideals, she audits the year long Feminist Texts course at Barnard College, reading 42 books/texts and 20 selected essays, by numerous writers including Ida B. Wells, Elaine Pagels, Mary Wollstonecraft, Virginia Woolf, Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir and others.
Rereading these texts gives her the opportunity to examine, and re-examine, how her own reaction to the works has changed since she was an undergraduate as well as remark on an obvious generation gap between her thirty-something self and the 18-22 year old women in the class.
While I found the writing very open, honest and personal, I found the story somewhat bland. Staal has an identity crisis because she feels as if she hasn't stuck to the feminist ideals she was raised with and adopted in her college years. She finds herself, at 30, a wife and mother. She changed aspects of her career (from full-time journalist to freelance writer/journalist) to be able to stay home with her daughter. She has also adopted a more domestic lifestyle, taking care of the house on a full-time basis. These changes lead her to wonder if she has stopped being a feminist and if she has stopped upholding the ideals she once had.
I did feel sympathetic towards Staal as she began to struggle with changes in her life brought on by turning 30, getting married and having a baby. Staal says “The age of thirty, as nineteenth century French novelist Honore de Balzac once noted, is one of the most dangerous periods for a woman, and indeed, it was at this particular juncture in my own life, the turning from one decade to the next, that I – somewhat predictably, somewhat ashamedly – started to unravel.” (Page 5)
As a thirty-something myself, I have felt that sense of “now what?” as I transitioned from one decade to another. There is something that happens when a person turns 30 and, in my case, I will say Staal was not alone in that sense of lack of accomplishment. That is also where our similarities end.
I myself am not a wife nor am I mother. I have not had to make the decision of many working women who become mothers – do I stay home or do I go back to work? One day, I will face that question and will have to decide if I can afford to stay home or if I will have to return to the workforce after becoming a mother. I know that is a difficult decision thousands of women make everyday, but does it say something about what kind of feminists they are? At this time in my life, I guess I am upholding the ideals of the feminist movement – I'm an educated, independent career woman. Does that make me a better feminist than Staal, than other women who choose to stay home with their children? I don't think so, but maybe she would disagree with me.
I admit that I am unfamiliar with about 90% of the feminist texts Staal read, both in the Feminist Texts course she took, as well as the 25 additional books she read at home, so this book was a bit of an introduction for me to feminist literature. My basic understanding of feminism comes from what little I learned in my history classes in junior and senior high school. I knew about the Suffragettes and their fight for the right to vote. I also know that ever since women were given the right to vote, there has been an ongoing fight for equality in all areas of the workforce and respect in all aspects of life.
I know that women have been fighting to be able to work and be mothers without suffering backlash or consequences, and I also know that the corporate world still hasn't quite adjusted itself so that women don't have to choose between being a working mom or a stay at home mom. I hope that one day, a woman will be able to work from both home and office and not have her career negatively impacted because she is a mother and that the same woman will be able to be home as much and as often as she wants with her children without having to step off of the corporate ladder. I hope one day, the demands of the working mom can reconcile with the demands of the stay at home mom, and they both will feel like they are living up to, and fulfilling, the ideals of the feminists who came before them.
I get the impression that Staal feels inadequate on many levels. She isn't like the other neighborhood mommies, who discuss their babies' nursery themes and carry designer diaper bags. She isn't that “perfect” mother who can get her daughter's breakfast made to her liking, dressed in a “pretty outfit”, and out to school on time and happy. The thing is, she's not alone. There are a lot of mothers who want to be that “perfect” mom like June Cleaver or Mrs. Brady was, but find that they aren't quite on the same level as those perfect TV moms. Even while working as a freelance journalist, she feels like she's somehow not being a good mom or a good feminist.
As her studies progress in the Feminist Texts course, she explains what each text is about and how the class reacts to the message of each. Based on her explanation of each text, I do not think these texts changed Staal's life. I do think they gave her the ability to create and develop her own feminism. I do not think Staal is turning her back on the feminist ideals she was raised with, she isn't a traitor. I do think that being able to take this course as a thirty-something, working-stay-at-home-mom (she is a freelance journalist which seems to be a fitting example of working-stay-at-home-mom) gave her some insight into who she was, who she is, and who she will become as a woman, a wife and a mother. She also got to find out what a younger generation thought of feminism and the feminist movement, which was mainly a feeling of disinterest and lack of enthusiasm.
By the end of the book, I felt like I had been given a very quick and interesting introduction to feminist literature and feminist authors but I did not see any type of significant change in Staal based on the ideals presented in the texts. At the end of the book, it was unclear to me how these books actually changed her life. I do think the books showed her how feminism has developed, changed and grown over the century, and how it continues to change with each new generation of women. I think these texts also showed her how to change and grow as a woman.
On a 5 star rating scale, I give this book 3 stars. This book will be available in bookstores, from Public Affairs Publishing, on February 22, 2011.
Kate Chenery Tweedy is a member of my church and I met her back in April 2009. It wasn't until March/April 2010 that I discovered her mother was the owner of the famed horse, Secretariat. Kate gave a wonderful speech and photo presentation to a large audience at the Bemis Public Library in Littleton, Colorado several months ago as a preview to the release of this book. At that presentation, many of us were amazed at the strength and conviction the Penny Chenery had when it came to saving her family's home, The Meadow, as well as her father's numerous horses (which included Something Royal, the mother of Secretariat).
Secretariat is a name that I have heard all of my life, my grandfather and mother both were fans of the horse and both watched him win the Triple Crown. When Barbaro raced the Kentucky Derby, my mother referenced Secretariat as she spoke about Barbaro's beauty, strength and speed. I have always been a fan of Secretariat without truly knowing what it was about him that drew me to him. I was very excited when Kate informed us that she had written a book about her family and what led to her mother becoming the owner/breeder of Secretariat.
I read this book in one day. Kate, I think, did a very thorough job of researching her family history back to her great-grandfather (and beyond in some chapters) and how her grandfather, Christopher Chenery, came to be the proud ownder of The Meadow and several well-bred horses. This book focuses more on the Chenery family more than on Secretariat, but I do feel a lot of justice was done in regards to Penny Chenery and how she came to be the one to take over the Meadow and race Secretariat. Kate and Leeann tell a very clear story about the history of The Meadow, and how it survived (and thrived) through both good times and bad. The book is filled with pictures of her ancestors as well as the staff who worked with Secretariat in 1970-73. I recently told Kate how much I enjoyed reading her book and learning so much about her own history. She said it was an insightful journey for her and she really enjoyed being able to tell the story of the people and the land that bred this amazing Triple Crown winner, Secretariat.
This book touched me very deeply and I was overwhelmed by how open Jessica Queller was with her very personal experience. I'm still kind of reeling from it.
Jessica Queller was a 35 year old writer for the hit TV show Gilmore Girls when she was struck a mighty blow – she tested positive for the BRCA-1 gene mutation, which meant she had an 87% chance of getting breast cancer and a 44% chance of getting ovarian cancer by age 50. She faced the very personal decision – prevent the cancer by having a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy and oompherectomy or undergo aggressive surveillance for cancer every 6 months for the rest of her life.
Jessica and her sister Danielle, along with their father Fred, helped their mother fight breast cancer and then helplessly watched as their mother Stephanie, died from ovarian cancer. Jessica was prompted by a doctor cousin to go ahead and get tested for the gene mutation that would indicate the possibility of breast cancer. When she tested positive for BRCA-1 she was overwhelmed. Jessica began a lengthy research adventure to learn her options as well as gain strength from friends and family as she determined what to do with this new information.
At the time Jessica found out she was positive, she was single and had no children. The idea of removing her breasts and ovaries was very concerning for her – what man would want a woman who had no breasts and no ovaries? Jessica began meeting other women who had either tested positive or were in the middle of fighting their own breast cancer. She made her decision, have the prophylactic bilateral mastectomy and eventually have the oompherectomy (but first have a child or 2 – even on her own – before removing the ovaries). Jessica then wrote an Op-Ed piece that appeared in the New York Times about her mother's battles with cancer as well as her own pre-vivor battle and all the information she was able to find. She was met with an overwhelming response from women who wished her luck and felt great sympathy for her but were also amazed by the decision she had made. The decision to have the mastectomy turns out to be a good one when the doctor tells her she did have pre-cancer cells in her breast tissues. At the time she wrote the book (2008), she was still single at age 37 but was looking forward to having a child before removing the ovaries.
Jessica's courage flows throughout the book. Her fears over a future without breasts and ovaries are very honest and upfront. She does not take on the issue of cancer and surgery lightly and she did a lot of research on her own as well as had many discussions with a lot of doctors before she made her decision. She also found a lot of support from her friends and family, as well as strangers she met over the course of her journey. To me, she is courageous and brave. I don't know if I would have the strength or the courage to forge that road. She found strength on the website FORCE and she grew into a whole new person. As a single woman, I sympathized with her dating dramas and her fears of what a man would think of her post-surgery; cancer has deeply affected my own family. I found myself crying throughout most of this book, some of those tears were out of sadness (the scene where Jessica and Danielle find out their mother has died was heartbreaking) and some tears of joy (the birth of Jessica's nephew).
This is a book I would recommend to anyone, it doesn't matter if your life has been touched by cancer or not, read this book. She is fresh and upfront and honest and I found that to be so wonderful. I rarely read memoirs, but this is one that I think I could read repeatedly and learn something new from it every time.
Marked is the first book in the House of Night series, written by mother/daughter team P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. I picked up this series after it was recommended to me by Amazon.com, because I ordered the entire Twilight Saga series. I wanted to let a little bit of time (a couple months) pass after completing the last book in the Twilight Saga before starting to read this series, so I would have a fresh mind. I have to say that I really enjoyed this first book in the series. I'm very excited to read the rest of the series.
Marked is about teen Zoey Redbird who receives the mark of the vampyre while at school. Vampyres (this is the spelling the authors use) are fairly common in society in this story and most humans have managed to live side by side with them, admiring and fearing them at the same time. When Zoey receives the crescent moon mark, she must leave her home and move to the vampyre school, The House of Night. As a fledgling vampyre, she is introduced to a whole new way of living: attending school from 8pm to 4am, participating in the nightly ritual calling for the favor of the Vampyre Goddess Nyx and surviving the typical teenage drama (boys, bullies, popularity, and just trying to “fit in”).
I thought the teenage “voice” of the characters was extremely authentic. Both of the authors are very familiar with the teen “voice”: P.C. is a high school teacher and Kristin is currently in college. I was able to relate to Zoey's experiences as the new student as well. I was always a new student growing up, moving around every 3 years, but there always seemed to be a group of kids at each of my new schools, who opened their circle to me and accepted me. Like me, Zoey is also welcomed by a small group of friends and thus finds a bit of relief in the drama-filled world of high school (even if it is a vampyre high school).
I just started the second book in the series and I'm very excited to read more of Zoey's adventures.
There is something so blasphemous about this book and yet I just laughed from page 1 to the end!
I was raised in a Christian household and knew the story of Jesus forwards and backwards. Or at least I thought I did. Now, I try not to take myself to seriously and I try to maintain a certain amount of humor about my faith and religion as a whole. This book made me bust a gut and there were several times when just a little of “pee” came out, that's how hard I was laughing.
I happened upon this book at a “going out of business sale” at my favorite Colorado Springs indy bookstore: The Chinook. After reading the back cover and learning that this is the story of Jesus as told by his best friend from childhood, Bif, I decided to buy and see what happens. From my knowledge of the Bible, I know that there is a gap in ages for Jesus – we see him as a child and then we see him as a man of about age 30. “Lamb” fills in the gap by providing the reader with the adventures of Jesus and his best friend Bif, leading up to his the day he meets his 12 disciples and is crucified. The reader is introduced to a young Mary Magdalene, who is sweet and beautiful and very much the fantasy of young Bif. As Jesus and Bif journey through childhood and puberty, on their way to Jesus' destiny, they travel the world and meet various people.
This is a fun imagining of the years of Jesus' life that are not mentioned in the Bible. The author has managed to maintain the divinity of Jesus but has also made him a not so typical human being with a divine future at hand. Bif is downright hilarious (and lewd and crude and way too horny) and makes a good foil to the goodness of young Jesus. It's good for a laugh!
Loved, loved, loved this book! I just don't even know if there is anything else I can say about it other than I LOVED IT!
The difficulties that Greg Mortenson had to go through to get schools built in remoter areas of Pakistan were so fascinating and yet so heartbreaking. Greg is definitely a man with a heart too big for his body, too big for the planet.
Three Cups of Tea covers the 10 years that Greg Mortenson worked to raise money to build schools in areas near K2. The story follows his work in Pakistan as well as in Montana, as he sought out donors for financing and eventually ended up creating the Central Asia Institute, dedicated to building schools for the children of Pakistan, and later Afghanistan.
This is an engaging story and very heartwarming. Ultimately, the message is that children everywhere deserve to be educated, and education is the best weapon against ignorance, prejudice and intolerance.
I decided to read this book after one of the men in my book club told me about it. I thought the plot was extremely fascinating so I figured it was worth a read. I wasn't disappointed.
Blindess is about the sudden white-blindness a city descends into and the madness and inhumanity that follows. Only one person out of the hundreds can see, the wife of a doctor. The doctor is also one of the victims of the sudeen white blindness. It's a white blindness because the victims see nothing but white light when they go blind (as opposed to sudden blackness or darkness). There is no explanation for the sudden onset of this blindness and there appears to be no cure. One minute, you can see and the next, you can't.
The story focuses on the wife who can see, the doctor, another husband/wife couple, a young woman who wears dark glasses, an old man with an eye patch, a little boy and a dog who befriends the “seeing” wife. In the early days of the blindness, the government locks away all of the victims, hoping that the “epidemic” can be contained. Blind victims are sent to the empty mental hospital and kept there with little food, water and clean bedding. The Government has placed soldiers, with orders to kill, around the perimeter of the hospital, and those soldiers follow orders closely.
As the hospital fills with the blind, a society of terror and torture develops, when a handful of blind internees decides to horde the meager food rations and make the other blind internees pay for small portions. First the payments are made with valuables the internees brought with them, then, the payments are made with the women. The small group of men demand that the women serve as payment for the meager food supplies. The doctor's wife, devises a plan to stop the atrocities the other women in the building suffer at the hands of these men (monsters more like) and sneaks in with a group of women from another ward. She quickly kills the leader and fighting ensues, with several more men dying while the women escape the brutality of rape and humiliation. Then, the fighting goes outside, where all is still. The Government has finally fallen to the same fate as its citizens, it has gone blind.
The doctor's wife leads the group out of the hospital and manages to get them safely to the home her and her husband shared before being sent to the hospital for quarantine. She figures out ways to feed the blind group with her, all while crying into the matted fur of the dog, who met up with them as they walked the streets. Then, one day, things begin to change. Slowly, people begin to regain their sight. The sight comes on as unexpectedly as the blindness and the whole time, the doctor's wife has been the only person to witness the descent and subsequent ascent of humanity.
This book is written without names and without quotation marks. That was one thing that irritated me. I had a time figuring out who was talking as there were no quotations to show that a person was talking and when numerous characters talked, their speeches ran together and it was easy to get lost in who was talking. Other than that minor grammatical nuisance, I found this story very enjoyable and chilling. It was an excellent “what if” type of story, examining what people would become if they lost “way” and by losing the way, were given the freedom to do whatever they wanted. It showed how illness and the unexplained, can lead to fear, loathing and rash judgments by those in power. It also showed how truly powerful love is and possibly, that through blindness can we truly see who our allies and enemies are. There is a sequel to this book and I'm looking forward to reading it. It is called “Seeing” and picks up 4 years after society has regained its eyesight. This is not the kind of book that should be read quickly, but rather slowly so it can truly be absorbed. It is a good book and I really enjoyed it.
It took me a total of 3 days to read this book and I am sad it's over. I absolutely loved it!
The Art of Racing in the Rain is about the relationship between the narrator, a mixed breed dog named Enzo, and his family: Denny, Eve and Zoe. At the beginning of the book, Enzo informs the reader that he is nearing the end of his life and he begins the tale of his life with Denny and the addition of Eve (the wife) and Zoe (the daughter).
Enzo watches as Denny falls in love with and builds a future with Eve, developing a strong friendship with Eve and protector for Zoe. Enzo also is a fan of race car driving, as Denny himself is an amateur racer. Denny and Enzo's life is ripped apart when Eve dies and a battle ensues over the custody of Zoe, a battle between Denny and his in-laws. Denny also faces other legal battles thanks to an overly ambitious 15 year old cousin who attempts, and fails, at initiating sex with Denny. Enzo witnesses all of this and tells the story from his silent perspective.
Enzo is not a “normal” narrator, as he is a dog but he has such an amazing understanding of what his owner and family are going through, as well as the various injustices Denny must face in order to prove that his daughter belongs with him and that he did nothing to the 15 year old cousin. I also learned a lot about racing in this book, as Enzo using racing to parallel the life he plays witness to.
This is a fast read and the characters are very likeable. As a dog fan, I especially loved that it was a dog who told the story. This has become one of my favorite books.
Jodi Picoult touched on a lot of different themes in this book: religion, capital punishment, organ donation. the death penalty is something that polarizes people, as well as religion. Jodi handled these issues with sensitivity and respect.
I won't say that she changed my mind/opinions about capital punishment, organ donation or religion, but I will say that I encountered characters who all went through crises of their own: crisis of faith, crisis of the law. Also, none of the characters are perfect, they all have their strengths and weaknesses, which made them very appealing.
Does a man convicted of double murders have the right to choose how he wants to be executed? Does that same man have the right to request that one of his organs be given to the surviving sister of one of his victims? Is one religion better than another or do all religions have 1 thing in common that makes them equal? This book has all of these questions and works to answer them.
I haven't liked all of Jodi Picoult's books, but this one has become one of my favorites. I really appreciated the way she addressed some of the toughest issues out there. It is obvious that she did a lot of research with religious leaders, medical staff, lawyers, jail/DOC staff and inmates based on all of the information she has in this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who can keep an open mind and is willing to listen to opposing opinions. I don't think is a book for someone who cannot look beyond his/her own personal beliefs; it's good to have beliefs but I think it is also good to be open to learning about another person's beliefs and how those beliefs have made that person into who he/she is. Our beliefs and opinions are what make each of us who we are and I can say that this book definitely made me think about what I believe and where I stand on controversial “hot button” issues and made me thing about why I feel or believe the way I do.
I came across this book while wandering around a local Borders store. I like to check out the books on the table displays and usually at least 1 or 2 books jump up at me and beg me to give them a good home. This was one of those books.
I didn't realize when I picked it up that it is considered Young Adult literature, and it's been quite awhile since I've read anything in that category. I was drawn to this book because of the cover design on the front and back.
“Cathy's Book” is about teen who is on a mission to find out information about her ex-boyfriend and the work he does. The story takes place in San Francisco. She enlists the help of her friend Emma, who reluctantly helps her analyze the information she finds. Cathy engages in all kinds of activity to get information on Victor, including breaking into his home, following him into China Town, and breaking into his lab at the company he works at.
I really liked the character Cathy, and thought she was well developed. There was a level of teen angst to her but it wasn't overdone and it wasn't annoying. I thought she was incredibly inventive in the ways in which she went about obtaining information about Victor and I thought the book was amusing. I'm actually looking forward to reading the sequel, Cathy's Key. Each page of the book has drawings and doodles, which were really nice to look at and it was fun following Cathy as she gathered her information. I would recommend this book to anyone who was just looking for a little escape and little laugh.
My bookclub picked this book for our April meeting. I never read The Great Gatsby in high school, so I was looking forward to reading a book that is considered a classic. I didn't really know what Gatsby was about, but I did know that it had been made into a movie with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. I didn't really know what the movie was about either, having never seen it.
I think this is a book that I just didn't “get”. I really feel I need to read it again as I have no idea how Gatsby ended up dead. I didn't skip any sentences or pages, and I read every word on each page, but I definitely know I missed when and how Gatsby ended up dead.
I didn't like any of the characters, including the narrator. I think I do need to reread this book before writing anymore of a review. I will say I liked that it was a short book.