Margaret, are you grieving Over Goldengrove unleaving? Leaves, like the things of man, you With your fresh thoughts care for, can you? Ah! as the heart grows older It will come to such sights colder By & by, nor spare a sigh Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie; And yet you will weep & know why. Now no matter, child, the [...]]]>
“to a young child”

Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By & by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep & know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow’s springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.

–Gerard Manley Hopkins

Grief is such an individual, totally consuming, and heart-wrenching experience — especially when the death is by a young person or is totally unexpected.  This book explores the grief process very well.  Margaret and Nico are teenage sisters.  While Nico generally seeks out her parent’s approval, Margaret is a little on the wild side.  However, that is not what gets her killed.  Margaret has a heart problem and ends up drowning in the lake near their home.

The story is told from Nico’s point of view, and about her struggle to get through each day, each month, each year.  She worries about her own health and about how her parents are coping with her sister’s death.  She’s concerned for her sister’s boyfriend and how he’s dealing with it.  She even endures those around her who try to make her into parts of Margaret instead of herself.

Finally, the story ends with an adult Nico writing about how she and her family have recovered from their grief over the years.  Although — as anyone knows who has been through it — you never really get over the death of someone close to you.

2008, 288 pp.

1997, 80 pp. Rating:

I only vaguely knew the story of Lizzie Borden, so this little graphic novel was really an engrossing look at this true crime.  Geary’s drawings are great, and he presents cases both for Lizzie Borden’s guilt and for her innocence.  The back of the book also has [...]]]> The Borden Tragedy
by Rick Geary

1997, 80 pp.
Rating:

I only vaguely knew the story of Lizzie Borden, so this little graphic novel was really an engrossing look at this true crime.  Geary’s drawings are great, and he presents cases both for Lizzie Borden’s guilt and for her innocence.  The back of the book also has reproductions of the actual newspaper clippings.  Fascinating story!

This book is part of the Treasury of Victorian Murder series that I will have to look into!

1990, 84 pp. Rating:

In this short memoir chronicling the author’s own bout with depression, Styron gives us a glimpse of the pain and madness of the disease.  Styron not only provides us with details of his own illness, but also expounds on the suicides and/or depression of other authors.  He also gives [...]]]> Darkness Visible
by William Styron

1990, 84 pp.
Rating:

In this short memoir chronicling the author’s own bout with depression, Styron gives us a glimpse of the pain and madness of the disease.  Styron not only provides us with details of his own illness, but also expounds on the suicides and/or depression of other authors.  He also gives guidelines and suggestions for action to those who have a loved one suffering with the disease.

Styron was the author of Sophie’s Choice and the Pulitzer Prize winning The Confessions of Nat Turner. He died in 2006 at the age of 81 from pneumonia.

Alice Winston lives on a horse ranch in the desert with her father and reclusive mother, while her older sister Nona has run off [...]]]> I knew I would probably enjoy The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle because it’s about a girl growing up in a small town in Colorado — this girl did the same.

Alice Winston lives on a horse ranch in the desert with her father and reclusive mother, while her older sister Nona has run off with a cowboy riding the rodeo circuit.  With her sister gone, Alice’s father struggles to make the ranch profitable by boarding the horses of the wealthier women in town.  It’s a lot of work for just the two of them, and somehow they make do for awhile.  But all of them miss Nona and can’t understand why she’d leave the family and the ranch.

Meanwhile, Alice is dealing with being accepted at school and recovering from the death of a classmate.  She experiences her first kiss and her first crush.  She tries to make sense of the adults around her.  I sympathized with Alice and winced at the all too familiar pains of growing up.  I rooted for things to go her way.  Sadly, however, life doesn’t always turn out the way we plan.  Sometimes we just have to accept the way things are.

The God of Animals was Aryn Kyle’s first book.

2008 Spur (Best Western Long Novel)
2007, 320 pp.

Lin Enger’s debut novel is a modern take on Hamlet, but with a few differences from the original. Even though I’m very familiar with the play, I found that Undiscovered Country surprisingly kept me in suspense throughout. There were just enough differences to keep [...]]]> The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn
No traveler returns,  – HAMLET

Lin Enger’s debut novel is a modern take on Hamlet, but with a few differences from the original. Even though I’m very familiar with the play, I found that Undiscovered Country surprisingly kept me in suspense throughout. There were just enough differences to keep me more than interested in the novel.

Set in wintry Minnesota, Jesse finds his father in the woods — dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.  While the local law enforcement thinks it’s a closed case, Jesse refuses to believe that his father committed suicide and sets out to prove it.  Of course there’s a suspicious uncle in the story as well as an ‘Ophelia’, but it doesn’t always follow the ’script,’ so there is that element of suspense to the tale.

Enger’s descriptions of the starkly cold winters in Minnesota really add to the atmosphere of the book, and his writing of the characters, though familiar,  seem very real.  We feel Jesse’s angst, just as we did Hamlet’s.  We want justice, just as we do in Shakespeare’s play.  I would love to read and compare this book to The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and The Dead Father’s Club, both also modern retellings of the famous play.

Lin Enger is the brother of Leif Enger, who wrote Peace Like a River, which I loved, and also So Brave, Young, and Handsome, which I hope to read sometime this year.  I’ll definitely keep an eye out for Lin Enger’s next novel as well.

2008, 304 pp.

2006, 240 pp.

Rating:

Hurray for Dewey’s graphic novel challenge as I probably never would have read this book or Maus without it.  Maus has been my best read all year, and this one was very good as well.

Told in three separate stories that come together nicely in the end, Yang [...]]]> American Born Chinese
by Gene Luen Yang

2006, 240 pp.

Rating:

Hurray for Dewey’s graphic novel challenge as I probably never would have read this book or Maus without it.  Maus has been my best read all year, and this one was very good as well.

Told in three separate stories that come together nicely in the end, Yang takes us through the challenges of growing up with a Chinese heritage.  This book won the Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, and it was very well deserved.  I’d love to have my sons read it, and I would definitely read another one by Yang.

I really liked this one, especially Dobby. He’s such a great character — it’s a shame he had to be left out [...]]]> Which cover do you prefer? I strongly prefer the UK version (the one on the left) as the US version doesn’t seem to fit the outcome of the story now, does it?

I really liked this one, especially Dobby. He’s such a great character — it’s a shame he had to be left out of the movie. I loved those parts!

Snuffles?

Next up is Order of the Phoenix. That one was my favorite movie, so I’m really looking forward to finding out all the details in the book.

Hugo Award, 2001
2000, 734 pp.
Rating:

As I’ve read/listened to all the Harry Potters so far, [...]]]> Another Harry Potter crossed off the list! I enjoyed this on CD as I took a couple of trips last week. I had already listened to about 1/3 of it earlier in the year, but the trip was a perfect time to complete it.

As I’ve read/listened to all the Harry Potters so far, I’m really struck by J.K. Rowling’s naming ability. Quality Quidditch Supplies. The Marauder’s Map. The Shrieking Shack. Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall. I love the names she gives things and people. I was really interested in the detail not in the movie about the Marauder’s Map and the Shrieking Shack. Of course, they can’t include everything, so it’s great to know the background of these aspects of the story.

I really love Jim Dale’s narration in the CD’s, but if I have one criticism, it’s this: He makes Hermione way too whiny. I don’t like how he portrays her at all. “Harreeeeeeeeeeeee” Ugh. Otherwise, he’s perfect.

I’m looking forward to the other books.

1999, 435 pp.
Rating: 4/5

In the [...]]]> The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway is a moving story based on fact. It chronicles the few days in Sarajevo during 1992 when the real “Cellist of Sarajevo,” Vedran Smailovic, played his cello for 22 days in the exact spot where 22 people had been killed while waiting in line for bread.

In the novel, a counter-sniper, Arrow, is assigned to keep the cellist from getting shot and killed. Arrow is the best at what she does but still wrestles with the moral dilemma of having to take another’s life. She wonders if she is any better than the men in the hills trying to destroy her city.

We also meet Kenan, a man on his way to fetch water for his family, and we follow his life-threatening journey as well as his thoughts, fears, and hopes for the future. Another character, Dragan, misses his family, whom he helped to get out of the country. All of them are waiting. Waiting for help that never comes.

Told in a simple but unforgettable style, Galloway captures this unfortunate moment in history in a way that will break your heart for all victims of war.

This book will be released on May 15 from Riverhead Books.

2008, 231 pp.
Rating:

Okonkwo commands respect from his community, his three wives, and his children through both hard work and intimidation. He rises to prominence despite and perhaps due to his father’s laziness in [...]]]> “Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”

Okonkwo commands respect from his community, his three wives, and his children through both hard work and intimidation. He rises to prominence despite and perhaps due to his father’s laziness in community and family matters. He stands firm to his culture and traditions. So he is outraged when some of his people start converting to Christianity. A power struggle ensues and ‘things fall apart.’

I’m intrigued by Achebe’s history and background.  I’d like to read the sequel to this book, No Longer at Ease, at some point.

1959, 209 pp
Rating: 4/5