Circling the Sun

     Circling the Sun is a masterpiece of story-telling. It is the story of Beryl Markham and her life in 1920's British East Africa. Ms Markham is best known for her record breaking aviator flight from east to west across the Atlantic. But this story focuses on the elements of her life that led to such a courageous (fool-hardy) feat.
Born to a British colonial, abandonned by her mother at an early age, raised in Kenya more as a native than a Britain, Beryl became the first woman horse trainer in Africa, taking many horses to the winner's circle. She also became a land owner when very few women owned their own land.
This book explores the triumph and pain Beryl endured in her quest to be her own person, not owned or controlled by others. She also struggled to be in a balanced marriage. The failure of these relationships led her into various relationships; the most nortorious was with Denys Finch Hatten (played by Robert Redford in the movie Out of Africa).
This is a great story and told well by Paula McLain (also author of best selling novel The Parid Wife). If you enjoy historical novels, you will love this one. I give it 5 stars!

The Same Sky by Amanda Eyre Ward

 This novel weaves the story of Carla, an 11 year old girl in Honduras, with Alice, a 40 something woman in Houston, Tx. Carla works collecting recyclables in the dump upon which she lives with her grandmother and younger brother. Their mother fled to Texas years ago, promising to save money and send for them. While she occasionally sends money to help out, the promised trip to Texas never arrives. When Carla's grandmother dies and Carla realizes that her 6 year old brother is huffing chemicals, she decides they need to take their chances on running to America.
At the same time we are learning that Alice and her husband have had to return a child they were in the process of adopting. She is heart-broken. You realize that these two lives are moving toward an intersection, and you cheer Carla to be able to keep going in her arduous journey along the illegal route to the USA.
After last summer's overwhelming in-flux of children pouring across the southern border, this is a timely, harrowing story. This is an important novel for it's social commentary, and it is an exciting read. I give it 4 stars. I am not a big fan of jumping back and forth between characters in telling a story.

Saving Paradise

     I recieved this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for a review of the book. This review is completely my own opinion.
     Pono Hawkins, an Afghan vet-turned-surfer, literally bumps into the dead body of a beautiful journalist, Sylvia Gordon, and, he becomes obsessed with finding out why she died and who killed her. He searches Hawaii for her friends and finds out what story she was working on. His quest drags him into the underbelly of paradise. Bond writes a scathing story of government and company corruption and a total cover-up of the journalist's murder.
     Sylvia has been following the trail of corruption from the Governor's Office to Hawaii's Electric Utility to Hong Kong businessmen who want to build casinos and subdivisions to land companies that control large parts of Hawaii. A company called Wind Power wants to build huge wind farms on Molokai and lay underground cables through coral reefs and habitats of endangered species. All of it will destroy much of Hawaii's paradise, but the powers that be want the money more. Pono won't give up and keeps digging, to the point where the police have to admit that Sylvia was murdered. But then the tables are turned on Pono and he has to go on the run when the police accuse him of the murder. Except for his best friend, Mitchell, he never knows who he can trust, and each interaction is laced with the possibility of being turned over to the police.
     This story has more twists and turns, false starts and red herrings than a corn maze. The depth of corruption portrayed is disturbing, both in it's success and in it's propensity to ring true. I found my paranoia level triggered to a record high. If you want to be scared and to think over what happens behind the scenes, this book is for you. Pono is someone to whom I might not be able to relate, but I cheer him on in his stubborn determination to uncover the truth and expose the corruption. Four Stars for a good thrill ride.

Fives and Twenty-Fives

I received a review copy of this book through NetGalley in return for writing a review. This is my true and personal opinion.




This book will be published on Aug 26, and, with the current events in Iraq, could not have come at a more opportune time. The author, Michael Pitre, served two combat tours in Iraq, and while the story is not autobiographical, it has been enriched by his first hand experience.

This is the story of a Marine platoon assigned to fill potholes, usually created by IEDs that have exploded. But before they can begin their road work, they must first make sure there are no additional bombs in the area or in the hole. Everyday brings tension, and gut-ripping fear. Each person in the unit handles the pressure in their own way.

Told in flashbacks intermingled with current problems adjusting to being back in the States, this gripping story kept me on the edge of my seat for 4 days as I read. I cannot imagine the psychological, physical and spiritual toll this kind of terror must wreck on the soldiers who are in country for 12-18 months at a time. Watching friends explode in front of you, or be shot by snipers as you work to make the road safe for future transit. The mundane silliness of friends when you return home, who have no idea what you have seen and experienced while you were gone. 

There is also a gut-wrenching story of the unit's interpreter, Dodge. What happened to his family when Iraq was invaded by the US, how he survived and eventually came to be an interpreter, and what transpired when the unit returned to the states.

If you want to better understand what has happened in Iraq, this is a must read. Well told with terrorizing action, poignant moments of humanity, and gallows humor, Fives and Twenty-Fives is a record of a war no one wanted, and even fewer understand.

Book Review, Book Review, Book Review

I am catching up on 3 books I have read in the last 6 weeks, for which I have not yet written reviews. Hold on to your seat-belt. These are all review copies from NetGalley. I have received no payment beyond the free book.

Number One: The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind. by Michio Kaku, a physicist who is interested in the mind, and a knack for describing complex concepts in simple, basic terms. I give this a 4 star rating. I refrain from a 5 star because it is simply so beyond my ability to fully evaluate that I really can't tell if it deserves 5 stars.
     I have a very minimal science background, so I struggled at times to wrap my mind around Kaku's explanations of how the brain, machines and/or manipulations of the brain happen/work. I felt I was reading a critique of SciFi concepts of the past that have now come true, and, SciFi concepts of the present that are beginning to come true.     I am a counselor by training and experience, so I am very interested in how the mind works. Kaku's explorations into the functioning of a brain with schizophrenia,  how memories can be erased, healed or implanted, and ways in which the MRI has so vastly expanded how we understand the brain caused my mind to swirl with SF concepts from the past, now coming true.
     I found the concepts to be very dense: I had to read slowly to grasp the concept being presented, but I felt it was well worth the effort. I will probably never fully understand what Kaku shared, but I am abuzz with the hope and possibilities of what we can understand, repair and enhance in the realm of brain functioning.
     I appreciated the fact that Dr. Kaku addressed some of the ethically questions being raised now and will be raised in the future. I kept thinking that "if the bad guys get ahold of this stuff we will be doomed". I had flashes of James Bond movies flashing through my mind.
     If you are interested in the functioning of the brain, research in how to enhance our brain function, and theories about what causes certain problems with the brain, this book is for you. It is written in plain English and technical concepts are explained very well. And discussions on what it all means for the future of human kind is very thought-provoking.

Number Two: The Here and Now by Anne Brashares. This is a SciFi story, a romantic story, a mystery and a lesson in ecological disaster. Prenna and her mother belong to a strict community of immigrants where the rules are stringent and harshly enforced. 
     When Prenna first arrived, a young boy, Ethan, sees her, disoriented and confused. Several years later they are in high school together, but she has no memory of having met him. He does remember, and he becomes interested in finding out more about her. He tries to befriend her, and Prenna is torn. She wants to get to know people in her community and she is very drawn to Ethan, but The Rules strictly forbid it.
    Saying more would spoil it for those who read it, but it is an excellent story, creatively composed, interesting characters, with unexpected twists and turns. It is also a treatise on the consequences of not caring for our planet. I highly recommend this book.

Number Three: Far Gone by Laura Griffin 
     This story is a fast-paced race against time. Detective Andrea Fitch is determined to find out what her brother has gotten himself involved in, and FBI Agent Jon North is determined to find out her brother's contribution to a terrorist ring. As many romance stories go, Andrea and Jon fight and blunder until the sexual tension drives them into bed, against their better judgement. 
    The plot is timely, believable and intriguing, but Detective Fitch drove me crazy with one impulsive, self-destructive move after another. Ms Griffin was a bit too repetitive for my taste, making the same point several times to make sure the reader "got it". I am used to mysteries and suspense, and Ms Griffin is known for romance novels, so that may account to the stylistic dislike on my part. I prefer more egalitarian relationships than the head-strong impulsive woman being saved by the handsome FBI agent.

Well, here are some ideas for summer reading. 

Wives of the Bomb

I received a review copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for publishing a review. I have no connection to the publisher or the author. This is my true perspective.

The Wives of Los Alamos: A Novel by TaraShea Nesbit

This is not so much a novel as it is a catalogue about the experiences and feelings and perspectives of the wives of the scientists that lived in secret isolation while they built the atomic bomb. I have a small personal interest since the pastor of my church in the early 70's was a graduate student who worked on this project. His PhD thesis was so highly classified that his review committee was not permitted to read it, and therefore, he never received his PhD.
The information is interesting, enlightening, and part of our national story that needs to be preserved. This book was not my cup of tea because it wasn't a narrative. It told a story in what felt like a fairly impersonal, at times choppy, manner. I would have preferred a more traditional novel. I am interested in character development more than a list of facts and feelings. Some are calling this book ground-breaking, and the use of the "collective we" perspective innovating. So I want to emphasize that my disappointment is not echoed by all previewers.
I kept thinking about how I would have felt if I had been in the wives' shoes. I love the southwest, but I have visited for 20 years before buying our retirement home in AZ. If I were in my mid-20's, with small children, and no friends or family near me, I would have found that very painful. Add the secrecy and the deprivation living conditions, I am sure I would have struggled to remain loyal to the project or my husband. No matter what your perspective on the creation of the atomic bomb, the sacrifices made by the scientists and families was strenuous and deserves attention.