Haystacks

New blog!

I've fired up a book blog over on planet Wordpress. Right now I'm recycling the summer reviews from below, but soon - very soon- we will have some new content. Come on over to TALKING TREES!

A fall review

of  my summer reading adventures:

You can check out the complete list on the sidebar. Sadly, I didn't write a review of each book. (I had the best intentions. Really, I did.)  I made a point of choosing various titles and genres. I was looking for the old school summer reading list thrills.

Listed below are the reviews I posted throught out the summer.

Sailing Between the Stars by Steven James

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Four Souls by Louise Erdridge

The Pawn by Steven James

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters

Thanks again to Mark for leading our reading circle. It was fun. :)

Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters

If I told you this was a collection of free form poetry, you might stop reading immediately. So I won’t; it is so much more intricate than that. Masters introduces us to 244 inhabitants of Spoon River. Each person gets the opportunity to tell their story; the preacher, the widow, the deacon, the shopkeeper, the school teacher, the harlot, the wronged lover. These stories span the spectrum of the human experience. Each character speaks with great candor. And why not? They’re dead. The stories are told through a series of epitaphs.

Masters does not romanticize the lives of Spoon River’s citizens. There are hard accusations, challenges, startling confessions, scandals are exposed and dark humor abounds.   The lives of the characters are woven together in a way familiar to novel readers. After only a few pages the reader will start to draw family and relationship connections. The reader meets a character, then several pages later perhaps, meets the spouse, child, victim or lover of the previous character, giving a new perspective. Each monologue gives a depth to the collective story of Spoon River.

Some of my favorites are Margaret Fuller Slack, Lucinda Matlock, Fiddler Jones, Franklin Jones, Barney Hainsfeather.

(Proud SRC participant)

A rare gift

I finished THE ALCHEMIST yesterday. (Review here.) One of the story's many locales is the pyramids of Egypt. Today I received this in the mail. When I saw it, my mind immediately went to the book I had just finished. As I said in my review the book is filled with moral themes and life lessons. Now, when I look at this painting I will be reminded. The two are now tied together in my mind. Both, amazing works of creativity and beauty.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho's novel The Alchemist is many things. It is a fairy tale, an adventure story, a spiritual prose.

Santiago is a shepherd who sets out to follow a dream. Literally. He follows the advice of a gypsy who interprets a reoccurring dream about treasure at the pyramids of Egypt. He leaves the lush fields of Spain to cross the dessert. Along the way he meets spiritual guides, falls in love, learns to listen to his heart.

 "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."

This tale is filled with beautiful spiritual truths, themes we teach our children and strive to live every day. Woven in a tapestry of adventure, we find dedication to a commitment, diverse cultures, a healthy respect for nature and the universal language.

(Proud SRC participant)

Ristening to the rescue!

I've had a hectic couple of weeks and I was not thrilled that I had fallen behind in my Summer Reading Club duties and would have to sit this week out. I only have 2 days to read a novel and write up a review. I'm an avid reader, but not a fast one. No chance. But wait! What if I don't read? What if I risten, instead? This month iTunes is offering a free download of Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist.This book has been on my list for a couple of years, but I had never obtained a copy. Thank you iTunes for the lovely gift. My review will be ready by Friday. :)

The Pawn by Steven James

Storyteller Steven James weaves a twisting and turning tale of murder and political intrigue.  FBI Agent Patrick Bowers is called in on the case of a serial killer abducting and and murdering women in the Asheville, NC area.  The killer is playing a deadly game of chess. He taunts the investigation team by making contact with future victims and leaving clues at crime scenes. (In chess, if you touch the opponents piece you must then take that piece in your next move.) He is always one step ahead.

To complicate matters, Patrick is trying to come to terms with the death of his wife. He struggles in the role of single parent to his teenage stepdaughter.

The setting of this story was of particular interest to me. The characters fly in and out of my local airport. The monuments and location markers referenced in the story are familiar to me. Because I could picture so many of the scenes, I felt even more involved in James' narrative.

The Pawn is a fast paced, intense thriller. You'll be turning pages trying to keep up with Patrick or maybe, if you're really sharp, get one step ahead of our killer.

(Proud SRC participant)

What book changed your life?

Books are not just companions to pass the time. They contain life altering philosophies. They serve as a mirror and cause us to evaluate our motives. How many readers became lawyers because Atticus Finch inspired them? How many took to the road on a trip to end all road trips after reading Kerouac?

•  I'll first state the obvious, the Bible. I believe the Bible is the word of the living God. It is the text of my faith.

•  Max Lucado's Traveling Light changed my perspective on my faith. I finished that book with a new  appreciation of what it meant to be a child of God.

•  Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller broadened my horizons. I saw other people differently after reading his journey to faith.

• Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak taught me to daydream.

• The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams uses humor and political satire to put things in the universe in perspective.

• I fell in love with words as I read Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

What book changed your life?

Four Souls by Louise Erdridge

Fleur Pillager sets out to avenge the theft of her land. She takes her mother’s name, Four Souls. She becomes the laundress in the family home of the land baron who robbed her family. She cures the ailing mogul, because she wants him healthy and strong minded when she kills him. In her close contact with Mauer, she seduces and is seduced by him.

The most fascinating aspect of this narrative is the fact that Four Souls does not tell her own story. Nanapush, an elder tribesman and Polly, the genteel sister-in-law of the land baron narrate Four Souls’ turn from assassin to lady of the house. Readers are kept at a safe distance by seeing the story unfold through another character’s eyes, yet we know the very depths of Four Souls’ heart. It is as if we cannot come any closer, first person, without being scarred as Four Souls’ is.

This story is a raw representation of one of the greatest misdeeds done to Native Americans. In forcing Indians to defend their land, white men taught the natives to see the land as a possession to be bought and sold.

(Proud SRC participant)

 

 

Where The Wild Things Are

 

and he sailed off through night and day

and in and out of weeks

and almost over a year

to where the wild things are

~Maurice Sendak

 

In only 338 words Sendak takes on a journey from our hero's room across the ocean to the Island of the Wild Things and back home again.

Max makes mischief.  He says to his mother, "I'll eat you up!" She sends him to his room without supper. And Max's (and our) adventure begins. Max's room becomes a forest. The walls disappear and his bed becomes a boat. He sails to The Island of The Wild Things, where he tames the beasts by looking into their yellow eyes without blinking once and becomes their king. Max leads them in their wild rumpus, then sends them to bed without their supper.

Max becomes lonely and wants to be where someone loves him best of all. He sails off through night and day and in out of weeks and alomost over a year back home, where he finds his supper waiting for him. And it was still hot.

Max taught a generation of kids how to deal with the conflict and rage. The Wild Things really are the anxiety and pleasure and immense problems of being a small child. The Wild Things grow larger and larger as the story progresses, but Max learns how to be open about his anger and find a resolution.

These are lessons we could all learn, at any age.

(A proud SRC participant)