Review 84: Silent Spring

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There has been so much already said about this classic book. Just happy I finally made the time to read it. I've had it lying around for many, many years. It took an audiobook for me to actually read it.

Although the book is decades old, creeping close to sixty years since publication, it is still relevant today. I know changes were made after the publication, but are we back into the same boat, just with other chemicals and pesticides? I'm not sure. More reading to be done!

Thanks Rachel Carson for changing the world!

Review 83: Life Undercover

Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA by Amaryllis Fox
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was amazing, or I should say Amaryllis Fox's life was amazing! (at least the first part.) After reading the book I know she will go on and do more great things for the world.

The book was very readable, and felt like a thriller at times. And with thrillers, there is a lack of character development as it slows down the story. Here I wanted it to slow down and provide us more. I wanted more of her personal relationships, particularly with the husbands, and why with the second one they chose to have a child when their lives are in constant danger. I wanted to know more about her relationship with her mother, as Fox kept coming back to words her mother said or wrote to her, and how that shaped Fox's life. This book was too short. I don't say that often, but this book did need to have more.

Despite the places that needed more, I was blown away by this book. It opens your eyes to the work that is being done to make everyone safer in the world, not just American's but every human being.



Thanks to Knopf Publishers for an advance review copy of this book.

Review 82: Your House Will Pay

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book revisits one of the sparks that ignited the L.A. riots in 1992, a shooting of a black teenager (Latasha Harlins) in the back of the head by a Korean liquor store owner (Soon Ja Du). The shooter doesn’t serve jail time, claiming self defense. This race conflict between these two groups intensified during the riots. This is history. The book takes this history and brings us to today, with fictional characters, as Eva Matthews being the dead teen and Yvonne Park as the shooter.

The book takes place mostly in today, 2019, where Yvonne Park is now the victim. The novel is told in alternating points of view by the family members that were witnesses to the shootings, Shawn, the 1992 brother of Eva, and Grace Park the youngest daughter of Yvonne.

The book explores race relations, but more specifically the devastation of a shooting, in this case two shootings, and what it does to both families, both long term and immediately. There’s a lot packed into this book and the author did a good job in the form and writing. Perhaps there were a couple missteps, but they can be forgiven for the overall messiness of this subject. There are no easy answers, yet I feel there is some hope given here, in the end. And yes throughout as well, with Shawn Matthews wanting a simple life, with a regular job and family close to him. Something we can all identify and agree with, to get beyond the anger and have peace.


Thanks to Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 81: The Things We Do to Make It Home

The Things We Do to Make It Home: A Novel by Beverly Gologorsky
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had a hard time at first differentiating the characters, took too long. The book feels too split apart by too many people, there's not really a story here, no plot. As the last few pages approached the book felt like it finally started to so somewhere, but it just ended. The end. I was interested in the family aftermath with Vietnam Vets, and there is some of that here, but not in a good form.

Review 80: The Flicker Men

The Flicker Men by Ted Kosmatka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a somewhat decent science novel that became a thriller. At that point it also became a little odd, introducing characters that weren't of this "world." Some parts I had really suspend the believably factor. (Categorizing for my gr shelves me has been difficult.)

There were parts that become predictable to all thriller type, running away from the bad guys who seem to be from a shadow organization with all of the abilities, money, etc at their disposal. No way that our main character could fight against them, there is nowhere to hide, and yet...

Well, anyway, I enjoyed the story and the physics and intrigue. The first part of the book is the better written part. And I was disappointed by the ending, yet the book was better than many. I would look for another book by the author, especially if it has a science "problem" at it's core.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration.

Review 79: Wild Game

Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a well written memoir. What attracted me to the the title was the relationship between mother and daughter, not being ideal. Wow, Adrienne Brodeur's mother did not know boundaries with her child. We learn that this poor relationship between mother and daughter did not start there, but was in a line of matriarchs. Brodeur captures the intensity and passion of her mother and their secrets. As she grows older and attempts to create her own self-identity, her mother balks. The pain is palpable.

I don't want to give anything away, as this is a powerful read. I applaud Brodeur for being self-aware and immensely strong to dive deep into family relationships and write this book. I can only imagine how difficult that task when there may be people who want to hide the stark truths.

A film version is already in development, and it's no surprise. Read this book before, it will be worth the time.


Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 78: A Season on the Wind

A Season on the Wind: Inside the World of Spring Migration by Kenn Kaufman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Perhaps it’s best to start out by saying I’m not a birder, nor have any intention of becoming one. I like the idea of knowing more about birds, and of the migration. This book helps to satisfy some of that desire, but not fully. What Kenn Kaufman writes in this book is about spring migration in one area, northwestern Ohio, and particularly in the Magee Marsh region.

There is specific information, such as how Kaufman and other birders track migration using weather and radar, which was interesting and perhaps I’ll never look at weather radar the same during times of migration. Although where I live there likely isn’t enough birds to show up strongly on the Nexrad radar. I enjoyed the discussion about flyways, having never heard the term before despite the popularity, then understanding that it is a false concept anyway. Birds fly wherever they can and do, they don’t have highway type systems such as we have for our cars or ships.

Birds are at the center of this book, and so is Kaufman. He tries at times to remove himself from the story and other times inserts himself. This going back and forth was slightly uncomfortable for reading, but understandable, saying we and us when it clearly isn’t himself solely doing certain work. The same for the activism side of fighting against a huge wind-turbine project that was planned at the Camp Perry Military Reservation, which is only around 10 miles away, as the crows fly. Unfortunately huge wind turbines are very deadly for birds.

The discussion of wind power and impending projects was important and necessary to include, yet the placement didn’t work well for me. Maybe for birders the flow of the book will work better. I was trying to get situated and understand things, then this part was thrown in, and back to birds, it made for more difficulty for myself getting into the book.



Previously read Bird books:

Read back to back -

• Going Wild: Adventures with Birds in the Suburban Wilderness
• by Robert Winkler 
• 4 stars
• Read: Aug.18-24, 2016

• The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature 
• by Jonathan Rosen
• 5 stars
• Red: Aug.25-Sept.06, 2016

Review 77: The Lightest Object in the Universe

The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a great story, good writing. It's about after the world collapses, what do you do next? How do you rebuild? And how do you reconnect to your loved ones when there aren't planes anymore? Who takes control?

This books gives some great answers to those questions. It's not a new story, first thought that comes to mind is The Postman, but there are others. For that reason it's not a five star, just not unique enough. But it's definitely worth your time to read, that is if you like a little disaster in your fiction.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Gabra Zackman. She did a fantastic job. Although the point-of-view switches characters often, the narrator handled it well without confusing the listener. For myself this was the way to read the book.

Book rating: 4.5 stars

Review 76: Snowflake, AZ

Snowflake, AZ by Marcus Sedgwick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is hard to rate. There is such oddness in the book, and it isn't the main topic of the type of illness either, it's the way the book is written.

First of all the narrator, Ash, calls him/her self a kid. (It is never firmly stated if Ash is a boy or girl, I'm going with girl for pronouns sake.) Early on Ash says she is 18, but the way Ash thinks is more like aged 12. It's way off, the age and the writing level and the extreme immaturity. So I found myself continually asking, how old is Ash?

Another weird thing was the relationship with the step-brother. I get the closeness, but there's a point where it seems like it's going beyond that, maybe. It's just odd. Or written different than intended.

And there's this repetition, particularly in the beginning, of certain phrasing gets old very quick. But I understand this is a young adult book and maybe it plays better there, for the younger side of YA. There are other little things as well, in the writing style, it just didn't work for me.

Not to persuade that the book is all awful, because it isn't. For instance the main topic of the book is something that is not talked about, or very little, about these illnesses that affect people and doctor's don't know much about them. I'm certain there is truth in the book about the various illness and things that affect the people making them sick or not, such as products that exude toxins. It's not that new either (and below). People have different sensitivities. I have some sensitivities for some smells, mostly with laundry such as soaps, dryer sheets and fabric softeners. Also "air freshener" sprays. UGH! Anyway, people can get illness that are hard for doctors to determine what is going on. Just think about all the chemical spills into the water supply that takes a while to be discovered, (like Flint, MI) and what that might be doing people's health.

In any case, the main issue addressed in the book is a good one. The delivery, the writing style, it was more difficult. The main protagonist, Ash, is written in an odd way. Maybe younger people will connect more with the book than I did. I also have to say that I absolutely hated the ending.

Book rating: 2.5 stars, rounded up.

Also, for anyone who many be interested in another fictional take on the environmental illness side there was a movie called Safe that came out in 1995. It's a bit odd too, but in a completely different way.


Thanks to W.W. Norton/Norton Young Readers and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 75: Les Misérables

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a book!

So much as been written about this book it's difficult to add anything new, except my own personal reading experience.

I chose to read this book via an app on my phone called Serial Reader. The app takes books out of copyright and splits them into small daily reading that takes around 10-15 minutes a day. For this long book it was split into 233 daily issues. That's roughly 8 months with this book being over 1,400 pages!

There were many days where I didn't read this book, and many days where I read several issues. A few times I got way behind, around 30 days. In late June I took a trip across the country and managed a lot of reading, perhaps reading as many as 30 issues, and still didn't quite catch up. The closer I got to the end of the daily issues being released the more I read and was able to be completely caught up for the final week.

In the book, as it must be known, there are some areas where digressions went on and on, and it seemed like a complete stop to the story. This book contains a lot of history of France. If someone knew more about French history than myself, perhaps would be easier reading during those parts. When a new character was introduced we often got very specific and detailed background information and often their parents as well. For myself, when the story connected characters, which was unknown ahead of time that was going to happen, it was very satisfying, an a-ha! moment.

While some parts tend to slow down the story, overall I found the book exciting. Yes, it is overwritten, way too many descriptors that go on and on and on and on. It is easily seen why this book is often abridged and cut down, taken to the basic aspect of the story. Yet when one reads a highly edited book you lose the overall structure and story, you lose much to where you really haven't read the book. This book is a commitment that's for sure, but when I finished I understood why there are so many movie and TV versions of the story, and why this classic will continue to live on.


Book read: Jan.30-Sept.19 2019

Review 74: Tar Baby

Tar Baby by Toni Morrison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While Morrison's writing is powerful, I find I just don't like magical realism. This book has less of that than other books of her's I've read, but the older I get the more distaste I have for it. I know it's me!

There were strong issues addressed in this book, but in the end there lacked resolution for any of the characters. And some of these issues seem nearly impossible to solve. I suppose that was the point, but it's hard on the reader. I mean, the title sort of nods to the whole thing. (OED: "a difficult problem which is only aggravated by attempts to solve it.") Morrison did accomplish what was set out for the book. Likely I should rate the book higher, I get that, so perhaps the rating reflects more on me as a reader.