Another excellent writer whose books I enjoy

A Long Petal of the Sea ~ by Isabel Allende, translated by Nick Caistor and Amanda Hopkinson, 2020, historical fiction, 336 pages

In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain.  When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border.  Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love.  In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.

Together with two thousand other refugees, Roser and Victor embark on the SS Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda, to Chile:  “the long petal of sea and wine and snow.”  As unlikely partners, the couple embraces exile as the rest of Europe erupts in world war.  Starting over on a new continent, they face trial after trial, but they will also find joy as they patiently await the day when they might go home.  Through it all, their hope of returning to Spain keeps them going.  Destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world, Roser and Victor will find that home might have been closer than they thought all along.

Week in Review

• On TWOsday, HERE, I learned about the second book in The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series.
• Jackie's Caturday post yesterday was an apology to me, HERE.

Hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

A very young survivor

Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz ~ by Michael Bornstein and Debbie Bornstein Holinstat, 2017, memoir, xviii + 348 pages

In 1945, in a now-famous piece of World War II archival footage, four-year-old Michael Bornstein was filmed by Soviet soldiers as he was being carried out of Auschwitz in his grandmother’s arms.  This is the unforgettable story of how a father’s courageous wit, a mother’s fierce love, and one perfectly timed illness saved his life, and how others in his family from Zarki, Poland, dodged death at the hands of the Nazis time and again with incredible deftness.

In case you were wondering, Michael Bornstein survived for seven months inside Auschwitz, where the average lifespan of a child was just two weeks.  Six years after his liberation, he immigrated to the United States.  He graduated from Fordham University, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, and worked in pharmaceutical research and development for more than forty years.  Now retired, he lives with his wife in New York City and speaks frequently to schools and other groups about his experiences in the Holocaust.

Working from his own recollections as well as extensive interviews with relatives and survivors who knew the family, Michael relates his story with the help of his daughter, Debbie Bornstein Holinstat.  Shocking, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting and inspirational, this narrative nonfiction offers an indelible depiction of what happened to one Polish village in the wake of the German invasion in 1939.

Note from Bonnie:  Even though this is written for ages 10-14, reviewers say this memoir should be read by everybody.  As I was re-shelving library books here at the Crown Center for Senior Living, I noticed this book and checked it out to read myself.

Stephen Hawking's ideas fascinate me

On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking's Final Theory ~ by Thomas Hertog, 2023, cosmology, xxiv + 313 pages

Perhaps the biggest question Stephen Hawking tried to answer in his extraordinary life was how the universe could have created condi-tions so perfectly hospitable to life.  In order to solve this mystery, Hawking studied the big bang origin of the universe, but his early work ran into a crisis when the math predicted many big bangs pro-ducing a multiverse — countless different universes, most of which would be far too bizarre to ​harbor life.

Holed up in the theoretical physics department at Cambridge, Stephen Hawking and his friend and collaborator Thomas Hertog worked on this problem for twenty years, developing a new theory of the cosmos that could account for the emergence of life.  Peering into the extreme quantum physics of cosmic holograms and ven-turing far back in time to our deepest roots, they were startled to find a deeper level of evolution in which the physical laws them-selves transform and simplify until particles, forces, and even time itself fades away.  This discovery led them to a revolutionary idea:  The laws of physics are not set in stone but are born and co-evolve as the universe they govern takes shape.  As Hawking’s final days drew near, the two collaborators published their theory, which proposed a radical new Darwinian perspective on the origins of our universe.

On the Origin of Time offers a striking new vision of the universe’s birth that will profoundly transform the way we think about our place in the order of the cosmos and may ultimately prove to be Hawking’s greatest legacy.

Week in Review

• On Monday, I mused about a book recommended by an old friend, HERE.
• My Thursday Thoughts, HERE, were about Isabel Allende's memoir.
• Friday's Book Beginning was from Book #18 in the Maisie Dobbs Series, HERE.
• Caturday's post was about curiosity, HERE.

Hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

Beginning ~ on November 28, 1905

Beginning

The Old North bell tolls the hour, and I realize that I'll be late.  I long to break into a sprint, my voluminous skirts lifted, my legs flying along the Princeton University pathways.  But just as I gather the heavy material, I hear Mama's voice:  Belle, be a lady at all times.  I sigh; a lady would never run.

The Personal Librarian ~ by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, 2021, biographical historical fiction (New Jersey), 341 pages

A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library.  Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs.  She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener.  She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality.  Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white —  her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to — for the protection of her family and her legacy — to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

Library Loot

Arrivals and Departures ~ by Amanda Eyre Ward, 2026, literary fiction, 288 pages

The Perkins family has problems.  They’re scattered across the globe.

• Lee, a glamorous reality-TV star, is struggling with her mental health in the spotlight.
• Reagan, her younger sister, has fallen for a romance scammer.
• Cord, their charming brother, is one drink away from losing it all.
• And their mother, Charlotte, still longs for the love she let slip away a decade ago, a lover who sailed off with her heart to a remote island in Greece.

When Reagan disappears, Lee flies first-class to Athens to save her family — again.  There, against the glittering Mediterranean and the shadow of the Acropolis, Lee contends with emotional nieces, relentless paparazzi, and her own fragile heart.  Lee is desperately searching — for her sister, and for the hope and joy she thought was gone forever.  Across continents and their crises, each member of the Perkins family must face the same question:  is it ever too late to choose love?  It’s the story of a family finding the courage to say the only words that can save us — I love you.

Week in Review

• On Monday, I wrote about two kinds of people, HERE.
• My subject on Wednesday was troublesome words, HERE.
• Friday's post, HERE, was about my new book about alien encounters.

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts Sunday Salon, a place for us to link up and share what we have been reading and doing during the week.

Two words for Wednesday = "fascist" and "antifa"

To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right ~ by Christopher Mathias, 2026, political thought, xix + 313 pages

One of my neighbors suggested I read this newly published book, which is called a "provocative investigation into the rise of white nationalist and neo-Nazi movements in the United States, centered on the anti-fascist groups working to expose and stop these hateful factions."

Demonized as “extremist” by conservatives and liberals alike, “antifa” became a bogeyman during Donald Trump’s first term.  But few Americans understood the dangerous work antifa was doing to disrupt and unmask a new generation of white supremacists or listened when antifa sounded the alarm about these white supremacists taking positions of power. Now this underground network of militant anti-fascists is determined to stop the rising tide of fascism in America.  No matter the cost.

This book follows different factions of antifascists as they work to unmask hateful extremists before they commit devastating acts of violence.  To Catch a Fascist paints a vivid picture of the stakes in this ongoing, often unseen war between opposite ends of the political spectrum, highlighting the scrappy resourcefulness and resilience of antifascist movements against their increasingly violent adversaries.  Using storytelling and eye-opening insight, this timely book reveals the human cost, moral dilemmas, and unwavering determination involved in fighting white supremacy.  To Catch a Fascist is both a call to action and a look at the powerful work being done to combat this threat to democracy.

Wednesday Words

• fascist = Fascism (FASH-iz-əm) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement that rose to prominence in early-20th-century Europe.  Fascism is characterized by support for a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.  Opposed to communism, democracy, liberalism, pluralism, and socialism, fascism is at the far-right of the traditional left–right spectrum.
• antifa = is short for antifascism, so it is the opposite of fascism.

Another book by an excellent writer

Daughters of the Sun and Moon ~ by Lisa See, 2026, literary fiction, 384 pages

This New York Times bestseller by Lisa See is the story of three Chinese women whose unexpected friendship helps them survive and, despite the odds, thrive, in the turmoil of post–Civil War Los Angeles.  In 1870, three Chinese women arrive in the small, dusty, and violent pueblo of Los Angeles.

• Dove, the bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar, is entrancing and innocent. These characteristics should bring her great rewards, beginning with her arranged marriage to a much older merchant.
• Petal, the big-footed daughter of peasants, has grown up hungry and with dirt between her toes. In a moment of desperation, Petal’s father sells her to buy money for rice seed, and she is loaded onto a ship to the Gold Mountain — America — where she is once again sold.
• Moon is married to a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. She is educated, speaks fluent English, and has been endowed with a face of great beauty, yet her failed footbinding as a child has left her with a limp that lessens her value in the eyes of many.

Each woman has her own desires.  Dove wants to love and be loved, Petal desires freedom, and Moon seeks justice.  Together they face a larger society that wishes them not one ounce of good will.  Anti-Chinese sentiment is strong in Los Angeles, and this eventually leads to the Night of Horrors during which all three women are challenged in ways they could not have imagined.  Brought together by hardship and heartbreak, they must use their bravery, endurance, and ability to “eat bitterness” to discover their voices, find freedom, and connect through solace and friendship.  Together they are daughters of the sun and moon.

Hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz,

we bloggers gather at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.

Musing about a library book

Illuminated Prayers ~ by Marianne Williamson, illustrated by Claudia Karabaic Sargent, 1997, spirituality, 103 pages, 10/10

"I think of prayer as a spiritual lifeline back to where I most want to be," Marianne Williamson writes in this book of universal prayers.  Prayer is a powerful force that can lift spirits, guide journeys, and heal the heart.  Illunimanted Prayers is a small volume of spiritual wisdom to bring the power of prayer into our daily lives.

Illustrated in the manner of an illuminated manuscript, Illuminated Prayers offers a treasured keepsake of the power and enduring relevance of Williamson's message:  Prayer illuminates our souls, and with prayer we can change the world.

A really old book for today's post

Arrival and Departure ~ by Arthur Koestler, 1943, literary fiction, 192 pages, DNF

This was the third novel of Arthur Koestler's trilogy on ends and means and the first he wrote in English.  The central theme is the conflict between morality and expediency, and in this novel Koestler worked it out in terms of individual psychology.  Peter Slavek starts out as a brave young revolutionary, but suffers a breakdown.  On the analyst's couch he is made to discover, in Koestler's own words, "that his crusading zeal was derived from unconscious guilt."

Week in Review

• On Wednesday, I posted "THE END" for this blog, but I've changed my mind because I miss doing it too much.  I removed that "ending" and am posting again.  Should I call this my "new beginning"?  Nah.

Hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz,

we bloggers gather at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.

Beginning ~ in 1962

Beginning

Dear Mrs. Fortier, I hope this letter finds you well.  For that matter, I hope it finds you, since I am sending it to Northwest Home & Life magazine, where I so enjoyed your recent tale about digging for clams.

Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love (Book 1 of 2 in the Love & Saffron Series) ~ by Kim Fay, 2022, epistolary fiction (California and Washington States), 240 pages

Creamy risotto alla Milanese.  Mussels in a hot, buttery broth.  Chicken spiced with cinnamon and cloves.  Joan Bergstrom and Imogen Fortier understand the key to a savored life — delicious food.  Young Joan is just discovering herself as a foodwriter in bustling Los Angeles, while experienced columnist Imogen is settled in her decades-long marriage on Camano Island outside Seattle.  When Joan sends a fan letter to Imogen with an enclosed packet of saffron and a recipe, their journey of culinary exploration and soul-deep friendship begins.  A long-lost flavor surfaces buried memories, and a quest to make carne asada opens the doors of a sheltered life.  Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of their friendship, and of their belief that food and love can sustain us during our darkest hours.

Note:  I've already read Book 2 and gave it a 10/10.  That's why I put this first book in the series on reserve at my library.  See what I wrote about Book 2 by clicking HERE.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

Eleanor, Quiet No More: The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt (Book 4 of 12) ~ by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Gary Kelley, 2009, children's biography, 48 pages, 9/10

Eleanor Roosevelt was raised in a privileged but stern Victorian household, with an affectionate but mostly absent father and a critical mother who made fun of her daughter's looks.  Alone and lonely for much of her childhood, Eleanor found solace in books and in the life of her lively and independent mind.  Her intellectual gifts and compassionate heart won her the admiration of many friends — and the love of her future husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

While other young women of her class were spending time at dances and parties, Eleanor devoted her energies to teaching children in New York City's poorest neighborhoods.  Later, she became the most socially and politically active — and controversial — First Lady America had ever seen.  Ambassador, activist, and champion of civil rights, Eleanor Roosevelt changed the soul of America forever.

I wrote about this book years ago, HERE, and got it from the library to read again.  Click the yellow link for a story that you may like.  Be sure to read the comments, too.

Go ahead and borrow that book

The Surrogate Mother ~ by Freida McFadden, 2025, literary fiction, 320 pages

She was promised a miracle.  She got more than she bargained for.  Abby wants a baby more than anything.  But after years of failed infertility treatments and adoptions that have fallen through, it seems like motherhood is not in her future.  That is, until her personal assistant Monica makes a generous offer to serve as a surrogate.  It's an offer that will make all of Abby's dreams come true.  But soon, strange things start happening, and it turns out Monica isn't who she says she is.  The woman now carrying Abby's child has an unspeakable secret.  And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

My note:  Seeing this in the library, I had to have it, even though I have not yet finished the book I'm reading.  I went ahead and got it.  (Amazon calls this literary fiction, suspense thriller, and psychological thriller.  So which is it?)

Book lovers at the grand opening of the renovated Crown Center library

Today I'm musing about the Grand Reopening of our

Crown Center library, after it was renovated.

I wore my sweatshirt that says "I can't.  I'm booked."

They gave out bookmarks which say:

Book  Lover,  n.

A    person   known    for

traveling     to      distant

worlds  without  leaving

their seat, forming deep

emotional   bonds   with

fictional characters, and

saying   "just   one   more

chapter"    until     3 a.m.

Often    spotted   with    a

book  in  hand,  a  cup  of

coffee   nearby,   and   an 

ever-growing  to-be-read

pile they swear they'll get

to  someday. For  a  book

lover,    bookmarks    are

essential,    spoilers    are

crimes,  and  the  phrase

"t o o    m a n y    b o o k s"

simply      doesn't     exist.

At the end of the celebration, we all had refreshments.

Some of us sat around and talked for another hour or so.

A library book I just checked out

About Alice ~ by Calvin Trillin, 2006, memoir, 78 pages

In Calvin Trillin’s antic tales of family life, she was portrayed as the wife who had “a weird predilection for limiting our family to three meals a day” and the mother who thought that you had to go to your child’s school play, or “the county would come and take the child.”

Five years after her death, her husband offered this loving portrait of Alice Trillin off the page, an educator who was equally at home teaching at a university or a drug treatment center, a gifted writer, a beautiful and thoroughly engaged woman who, in the words of a friend, "managed to navigate the tricky waters between living a life you could be proud of and still delighting in the many things there are to take pleasure in."

It deals with devastating loss, but About Alice is also a love story that chronicls a romance that began at a Manhattan party when Calvin Trillin desperately tried to impress a young woman who "seemed to glow."

"You have never again been as funny as you were that night," Alice would say, twenty or thirty years later.

"You mean I peaked in December of 1963?"

"I’m afraid so."

But he never quit trying to impress her.  In his writing, she was sometimes his subject and always his muse.  The dedication of the first book he published after her death read, "I wrote this for Alice.  Actually, I wrote everything for Alice."

Today's book is about birds ~ and a cat

The Cat Who Sang for the Birds (Book 20 of 29) ~ by Lilian Jackson Braun, 1998, cozy mystery, pages

This book features journalist Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, as they investigate a series of suspicious events in their small town of Pickax, including vandalism, a suspicious fire, and a missing artist.  The plot involves a local scandal, an anti-computer uprising, and a murder, with Koko's unique "birdcalling" hinting at clues.

As early spring comes to Moose County, Jim Qwilleran is looking forward to the peaceful beauty of nature’s rebirth.  What he gets instead is a chorus of noisy birds that constantly wakes him from a sound sleep — especially when Koko insists on joining in with his own feline version of birdcalling.  But soon Qwill is wondering whether Koko is trying to say more than just "tweet tweet," because a series of strange events — starting with an act of vandalism and culminating in a mysterious chain of death and disappearance — has Pickax in a similar uproar.  It seems that this spring, a cat’s fancy may turn to crime solving

Beginning ~ with a mountain lion (what???)

Beginning

"6 ways to tell if your cat thinks it's a mountain lion"

How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You ~ by Matthew Inman, 2012, humor, 136 pages, 6/10

The Oatmeal's most popular cat jokes, including “How to Pet a Kitty” and “The Bobcats,” plus 15 new and cat-themed comics, are presented in this collection from Matthew Inman, creator of the popular website The Oatmeal.  If your cat is kneading you, that's not a sign of affection.  Your cat is actually checking your internal organs for weakness.  If your cat brings you a dead animal, it isn't a gift.  It's a warning. 

This book is full of comics, facts, and instructional guides about crazy cat behaviors.  It presents fan favorites, such as "Cat vs. Internet," "How to Pet a Kitty," "The Bobcats," plus 17 more cat-themed comic strips.  Cat lovers will enjoy it, though I was confused when some drawings seemed to have two or more of the same cat at different points in a trajactory.  That's part of the reason I rated it 6 of 10.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

My latest library loot ~ have you read this book?

The Bridge of San Luis Rey ~ by Thornton Wilder, 1927, historical fiction (Peru), 133 pages

In eighteenth-century Peru, the collapse of a fabled bridge sets in motion a profound exploration of fate, love, and the interconnectedness of human lives.  The story centers around Brother Juniper, a devout Franciscan monk who witnesses the accident and becomes obsessed with understanding the workings of divine providence.  Motivated by his belief that the bridge's collapse was not a random event, he embarks on a quest to investigate the lives of the five victims who perished in the tragedy.  Through meticulous research and interviews, Brother Juniper uncovers the fascinating and often intertwined backstories of the victims:  

1. the Marquesa de Montemayor;
2. her companion Pepita, a young orphan;
3. Esteban, a scribe involved in a complicated love story;
4. Uncle Pio, the devoted valet of actress Camila Perichole;
5. and Jaime, her son.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey was Thornton Wilder's second novel, published when he was just thirty, and it won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1928.  He poses profound questions about the nature of existence, the role of chance, and whether an elusive hand of destiny shapes our lives.

Wilder sets the action in Lima, Peru, in 1714, where a Franciscan monk witnesses the collapse of a bridge that has stood for over a century, killing the five people on it.  The priest becomes determined to develop a scientific method for calculating what personality characteristics the five might have shared that would make God ready to call them to him.  In the novel, Brother Juniper spends years compiling data about each victim in order to draw his conclusions.

Almost since its first publication, The Bridge of San Luis Rey has been recognized as a literary masterpiece.  Its unique mixture of the spiritual with the humane has given readers throughout the decades a point of reference when considering the apparent horrors that can occur in a world that is explained increasingly through cold scientific eyes.  In his memorial tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, British prime minister Tony Blair quoted from the book, and since then it has become even more popular, as the world has struggled to reconcile faith with catastrophe.

Feminist revolution

The Book Club for Troublesome Women ~ by Marie Bostwick, 2025, historical fiction, 384 pages

Margaret Ryan never really meant to start a book club or a feminist revolution in her buttoned-up suburb.  By 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan is living the American woman's dream.  She has a husband, three children, a station wagon, and a home in Concordia — one of Northern Virginia's most exclusive and picturesque suburbs.  She has a standing invitation to the neighborhood coffee klatch, and now, thanks to her husband, a new subscription to A Woman's Place — a magazine that tells housewives like Margaret exactly who to be and what to buy.  On paper, she has it all.  So why doesn't that feel like enough?

Margaret is thrown for a loop when she first meets Charlotte Gustafson, Concordia's newest and most intriguing resident.  As an excuse to be in the mysterious Charlotte's orbit, Margaret concocts a book club get-together and invites two other neighborhood women — Bitsy and Viv — to the inaugural meeting.  As the women share secrets, cocktails, and their honest reactions to the controversial bestseller The Feminine Mystique, they begin to discover that the American dream they'd been sold isn't all roses and sunshine — and that their secret longing for more is something they share.  Nicknaming themselves the Bettys, after Betty Friedan, these four friends have no idea their impromptu club and the books they read together will become the glue that helps them hold fast through tears, triumphs, angst, and arguments — and what will prove to be the most consequential and freeing year of their lives.

This is a humorous, thought provoking, and nostalgic romp through one pivotal and tumultuous American year — and also an ode to self-discovery, persistence, and the power of sisterhood.

Now I think I should probably re-read . . .

The Feminine Mystique ~ by Betty Friedan, 1963, women's studies, 239 pages

This book, published in 1963, was widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States.  Friedan used the book to challenge the widely shared belief that being fulfilled as a woman meant becoming a housewife and mother.

Friedan conduct a survey of her former Smith College classmates in 1957 and found that many of them were unhappy with their lives as housewives.  That prompted her to begin research by conducting interviews with other suburban housewives, as well as researching psychology, media, and advertising.

She coined the phrase "feminine mystique" to describe the assumptions that women would be fulfilled from their housework, marriage, sexual lives, and children.  The prevailing belief was that women who were truly feminine should not want to work, get an education, or have political opinions.  (I can confirm this.  I got married in 1959, and my husband pointed his finger at me and said, "You're my wife now, and women don't need higher education.")

Anyway, Betty Friedan wanted to prove that women were NOT satisfied and yet were not able to voice their feelings.  Yes, I think I will put this book on reserve at my library right now.

1.  On TWOsday, I wrote about two books by Rosemary Sutcliff, HERE.
2. My Thursday Thoughts were about being surprised that the "bug man" came to spray my apartment one day, HERE.
3. When I got up on Friday, I discovered it was International Cat Day, HERE.
4. My Book Beginnings on Friday, HERE, was from Anna Montague's 2024 book entitled How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund?
5. Saturday I posted I love books, HERE, for National Book Lovers Day.

Sunday Salon is hosted

by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Beginning ~ with an earthquake

Beginning

The year I lost my wife and son, my son performed nine separate tests of my character.  One night during Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, the sofa tipped beneath us, and this is how it began.

"Whoa," he said.

His palms were flat on the sofa cushions.  Liz was sitting cross-legged on the floor, and before I could think to stand, she had taken him by the wrist and led him to the shelter of the door frame. 

The Testing of Luther Albright ~ by MacKenzie Bezos, 2005, fiction (California), 256 pages

Luther Albright is a builder of dams, a man whose greatest pride (besides his family) is running his hands over the true planes of the house he built himself and knowing that he’s constructed something that will shield and shelter them from harm.

A relatively minor incident — an earthquake that shakes his Sacramento home — reveals fault lines and cracks in the facade of his family.  His teenage son’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre and threatening, his wife becomes more distant.  Then a dam of Luther’s design comes under investigation for structural flaws exposed by the tremors.  In the midst of his heartbreaking family dissolution, Luther must battle against the need to withhold his emotions and push his family even farther away.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

A book about words in my library loot

The Boy Who Loved Words ~ by Roni Schotter, illustrated by Giselle Potter, 2006, children's picture book, 40 pages

Some people collect shells or stones; young Selig collects words. Whenever he hears a new one he likes, he jots it down on a slip of paper and stuffs it into a convenient pocket, a sock, a sleeve, or a hat. The words he collects are ones that stir his heart and ones that make him giggle.  What should he do with so many words?  After helping a poet find perfect words for his poem (lozenge, lemon, licorice), he decides that his purpose is to spread the word to others.  And so he begins to sprinkle, disburse, and broadcast them to people in need.  This book won the Parents' Choice Gold Award.