The Blue Sweater

Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
by Jacqueline Novogratz

This book is, ultimately, about helping people to help themselves. The author started out as a Wall Street banker but soon left her job to follow her dream instead: travel the world and find ways to solve problems of poverty. Initially she worked with companies that provide microloans to the poor, consulting and helping them evaluate if their systems actually worked or not. She saw firsthand in many different areas (mainly India, Pakistan and parts of Africa) that traditional charity often does not provide a lasting solution. She wanted to put power in the hands of the people, to listen to their needs and give them what would be most beneficial in the long run. Her vision changed as her experiences grew, in the end she developed (if I understand the final chapters right) a new type of enterprise to help the poor which was based on capitalism but seems to make sense...

The message is strong, and the examples clear, so this book doesn't really deserve the rating I gave it except that: I had to make myself finish reading it. I got a lot more out of reading the anecdotal accounts of the author's personal experiences with impoverished people she aimed to serve and teach, than I did reading about her theories, her management strategies, her meetings with people and travels to and fro all over. The names start to blur. What stood out to me were stories like the one of the women's bakery in a slum, or how she worked to get malaria-preventing mosquito nets distributed to the poor, or of her visits to Rwanda shortly after the genocide to find people she had known and hear their stories. I really admire that she was honest in writing about her mistakes, in admitting that at first many local people resented her assignment, as an outsider, to help them run their fledgling enterprises. Some places she was never really accepted and did not return. Other places she made lasting friendships and revisited years later.

But honestly, a lot of the book was difficult for me to stay interested in. Probably someone going into the business of humanitarianism would find this a lot more engaging.

Rating: 2/5                262 pages, 2009

Aquarium Fish

Eyewitness Handbooks
by Dick Mills

The subtitle of this volume is: The visual guide to more than 500 marine and freshwater fish varieties. It has nice, glossy pages and shows a stunning variety of fish species, but I found it somewhat lacking. It's got the usual intro section, in this case with more about the biology of fish than aquarium setup and care, which was fine with me. The pages on fresh- and saltwater habitats was interesting (did you know that freshwater constitutes only 2 or 3 percent of water on the planet? and yet freshwater habitats are far more diverse than saltwater- which covers over seventy percent of Earth). The bulk of the book, of course, is profiles of individual fish species and varieties. Most of them freshwater, with a few uncommon fishes I've never seen before, and just sixty pages of marine species. The big disappointment was in the quality of the images. A lot of the fish shown look stressed with completely washed-out colors. If you want to identify fish solely by their fin shape, well okay but for me, I want to see their colors. The accompany text often said "males of this species in prime condition will show-" or "content individuals will be-" describing the colors and patterns I always think of for them. When you browse a book to enjoy the visual appeal of such a variety of aquatic life, there's something really amiss in not having them shown at their best. Also, the descriptions on individual temperament and care needs were very brief. I was appalled to read on the page about goldfish that "the maximum size a twin-tailed goldfish attains depends on the size of the tank in which it is kept." That's not entirely accurate. There are a few other tidbits of outdated info in here, but that was the worst. And this is rather petty- but my current favorite, the paradise fish, was mentioned in another description as a comparison, but never actually featured. It's a shame to leave out one of the oldest ornamental fish in the hobby.

Rating: 2/5            304 pages, 1993

Wild Animals in Captivity

an outline of the biology of zoological gardens
by H. Hediger
translated by G. Sircom

You might think by the image on this book cover, that it's about how animals suffer in captivity, but it's not. It's about the biological needs of wild animals, using facts about how they exist in nature to promote husbandry methods in zoos that are better for their welfare. Such as: making sure tree-dwelling animals feel high enough off the ground to be safe, herbivores have enough flight-distance from human observers, nocturnal creatures aren't in constant daylight, etc. Down to the smallest details like what type of flooring in a cage makes the animal comfortable, what type of feeding situation suits its social needs, how to train wildlife to accept the presence of humans (so they aren't constantly in a panic) and even basic training to make their handling easier. The particulars about keeping snakes, whether or not to trim birds' wings, arguments if certain animals need a lot of space to live comfortably- were quite interesting. The author points out that most animals in the wild are not so free to roam around as we might think- they are often constrained by the microclimate, dietary needs and the pressure of conspecific rivals holding them into a strict area. He emphasizes time and time again that animals' welfare is best met by avoiding anthropomorphizing them and looking at what animals actually need, not what humans would feel better about in a certain situation. It's a book far ahead of its time- I was stunned to find it was first translated from German to English in 1950! A lot of it is rather dry, technical reading but the reasoning so clear and the snippets of case studies offered as examples so illuminating, I persevered all the way through.

There are more reviews of this book on Goodreads.

Rating: 3/5              207 pages, 1950

Animals Make Us Human

Creating the Best Life for Animals
by Temple Grandin
with Catherine Johnson

Very interesting book about the welfare of animals, based on their core emotional needs. Temple Grandin is well-known for her design work, making livestock handling facilities easier for animals to navigate calmly. A lot of the recommendations in this book was stuff I'd heard before- about dogs being unhappy left home alone all day, or horses needing company in the field, and so on. What's different is the way Grandin interprets the animals' needs. Her take on it is that all animals share a core set of emotions- defined as play, 'seeking' (engaging in curiosity or pursuing a goal), fear, rage (usually beginning as frustration), and panic. These things can be pinpointed in regions of the brain, and she explains how most undesirable behavior stems from these emotions being activated or not.

First she talks about livestock animals that live in very confined conditions- cattle, pigs and chickens. She describes how each of the emotions are affected- for example pigs need opportunities to 'seek' (have straw to root around in) and chickens need to feel safe so they aren't constantly in fear- and tells specifically how she has seen these needs neglected or met in facilities she visits. She is open about her own research with pigs and how the results weren't at all what she expected, but taught her something. She tells how conditions in the industries have changed over the decades of her career- some things are worse, but surprisingly a lot of things have improved, especially since audits haven been instigated (with measurable steps).

The next section of the book is about domestic animals that live as pets- dogs and cats mainly- and whether or not they have a good quality of life living in people's homes. I was actually taken aback that her conclusion on dogs was they used to have better quality of life when they were commonly allowed to roam neighborhoods (which she recalls from her childhood). She points out that keeping dogs shut up alone in houses all day frustrates them and causes separation anxiety, and when they are out but always on a leash, fights between dogs are far more likely. Interestingly, she goes back and forth about whether or not dogs need to live in a pack hierarchy system like wolves- human owners making themselves the leader. She claims this idea of wolves living in strict hierarchy is wrong, that usually they live in families and your dog needs you to be a parent, not a pack leader, but dogs aren't really the same as wolves anyway. Also that wolves avoid fights because they have a repertoire of submissive behaviors to communicate to each other with, and dogs appear to have lost this via breeding- I had never heard this theory before but she explains how some researchers actually studied the number of submissive behaviors different breeds of dogs typically use, and some of them were appalling low in number, which led to more fights because they can't diffuse the tension properly.

Anyway. The final part, about animals living in zoos, was even more intriguing. Grandin was asked by a number of zoos to help them manage their animals' welfare- either recommending how to make life better for the animals or helping them train animals to accept medical procedures. This last was the best reading in the book for me. Most prey species, the book states, are very easily startled into panic and flight- if they are suddenly frightened in an enclosed setting, they can literally kill themselves frantically trying to escape the situation. Training consisted of using clickers to anticipate a reward, and gradually habituating the animals to novel objects or situations, until they had skittish antelope and similar animals very calmly walking up to zoo vets to have blood drawn or be given a vaccination! It's thrilling to read about that kind of work making strides with animal welfare. She also discusses other types of animals in captivity- how much easier it is to keep a group of monkeys happy than say, an elephant which can't live in a large family (no space) and basically she is against keeping large predators in captivity, because they can never engage in the roaming and hunting behaviors that keep them mentally well-fit and content.

I have paraphrased a lot here. There is so much more detail and the very specific viewpoint Grandin has on animal emotions -how that affects their behavior, and how we need to understand it to improve their welfare in captive situations- was one I had never quite come across before. It made all of this an engaging read, especially beneficial to anyone interested in animals sciences I think.

I borrowed this book from the public library.

Rating: 4/5             342 pages, 2009

The Escape

Animorphs #15
by K.A. Applegate

This was a good one. True to pattern, it opens with humorous moments- the Animorphs are hanging out at the mall, and they morph parrots in order to discourage a restaurant from using caged birds to attract customers. They take the birds' places and spout insults and slurs about the establishment. I had forgotten about the Chee from a previous book, but here they show up again to inform the Animorphs that something suspicious is going on out in the ocean. The team morphs seagulls and dolphins to get there and check it out- after an awkward scene at a local marine park where Toby has to essentially dive-bomb a dolphin in order to 'acquire' its form- he's a hawk, so it looks like a wild bird is attacking a dolphin on display. When the team makes it out to the spot in the ocean, they find lots of hammerhead sharks acting oddly, with unnaturally coordinated behavior. Of course they morph hammerheads to blend in so they can sneak closer- a frightening experience (and a negative portrayal of sharks here, which draws on nearly every popular misconception about them!) In particular, Marco, the narrator of this book, is struggling to keep his composure and deal with the possibility of battling the enemy- which of course they do in the closing chapters- because they find out that Visser One is involved in this undersea operation, and Marco's own mother is the human controlled by this Yeerk Visser. Except most of his friends on the team don't know that. This story had a nice amount of character-building: we see how Marco and Jake support each other (Jake diffuses a tense moment Marco has with some bullies) and manage to enjoy moments of pure thrill, even in the middle of all this stress due to secret alien warfare. Also a lot is revealed about how much Marco himself suffers under the surface, even though he puts on a comic attitude to lighten the mood with his friends.

Rating: 3/5         176 pages, 1998

another long TBR

Strange Weather by Joe Hill- Shelf Love
Tin Man by Sarah Winman- Bookfoolery
Hey Kiddo by Jarrett Crosoczka- Bermudaonion's Weblog,
Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol - ditto
Every Falling Star by Sungju Lee- It's All About Books
No and Me by Delphine de Vigan- Indextrious Reader
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang- Last Book I Read
American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee- Ardent Reader
All Out edited Saundra Mitchell- Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Crosstalk by Connie Willis- Shelf Love
Our Native Bees by Paige Embry- Bookfoolery
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea- Indextrious Reader
Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan- Ardent Reader
The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall- Shelf Love
The Truth About Animals by Lucy Cooke- Last Book I Read
The Chaos of Now by Erin Jade Lang- Caroline Bookbinder
A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole- Bookfoolery
Version Control by Dexter Palmer- Shelf Love
Dragon Behind the Glass by Emily Voigt - Sophisticated Dorkiness
The Emissary by Yoko Tawada- Indextrious Reader
Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane- Shelf Love
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair- Reading the End
Natural Selection by Dan Pearson - The Captive Reader
Rhapsody in Green by Charlotte Mendelson - ditto
Odd Girl Out by Laura James- Sophisticated Dorkiness
Orchard House by Tara Austen Weaver - ditto
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata- Little Blog of Books, Indextrious Reader
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Bradley- Bookfoolery
Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer- Shelf Love
What the Dog Knows by Cat Warren- Curiosity Killed the Bookworm
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness - Ardent Reader
Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees by Sarah Wakefield- Bookfoolery
Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser - Sophisticated Dorkiness and Across the Page
Marilla by Sarah McCoy- Musings of a Bookish Kitty and Last Book I Read
Calvin by Martine Leavitt- Good Books and Good Wine
Educated by Tara Westover- C Bookbinder, S Dork, Ardent Reader, Shelf Love
Agorafabulous! by Sarah Benincasa- Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang- Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

Ice Master by James Houston
Green Thoughts by Eleanor Perenyi- Garden Rant
The Dead Lake by Hamid Ismailov- Ardent Reader
Bookworm by Lucy Mangan- Captive Reader
Norma by Scfi Oksanen- Shelf Love
Gardening on Main Street by Buckner Hollingsworth
Her Garden Was Her Delight by Buckner Hollingsworth
A Southern Garden by Elizabeth Lawrence
When Elephants Fly by Nancy Fisher- Bookfoolery
In Your Garden by Vita Sackville-West
In Your Garden Again by Vita Sackville-West
More for Your Garden by Vita Sackville-West
Even More for Your Garden by Vita Sackville-West
The Rector's Daughter by F.M. Mayor- Work in Progress
The Undesired by Kathleen Sully- Neglected Books Page
Confessions of an Igloo Dweller by James Houston
The Lambs by Carole George - Caroline Bookbinder
Slow Emergencies by Nancy Huston- Indextrious Reader
Over Forty in Broken Hill by Jack Hodgins
Enchanted Summer by Gabrielle Roy- Indextrious Reader
Garden in the Wind by Gabrielle Roy- Indextrious Reader
Dearest Prickles by Walter and Christi Poduschka
Phone Call with a Fish by Sylvia Vecchini - Rhapsody in Books
Here There and Everywhere the Story of a Sweeeet Lorikeet
The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind by David Guterson- Ardent Reader
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-Mi Hwang- Indextrious Reader
Passage through the Red Sea by Zofia Romanowicz - Neglected Books Page

The Unknown

Animorphs #14

by K.A. Applegate

The minute I started this one, I realized a big reason I liked the Chronicles book more, is because it didn't rehash the main premise all over the place. Sigh. I just - didn't enjoy this one much. Found myself skimming at the end, to be done with it quicker. It has a ridiculous premise- ridiculous even for Animorphs. Cassie's father goes to a place near a secret military base called Zone 91 (obvious reference to Area 51) to check on a sick horse. Turns out the horse is behaving very oddly and the Animorphs suspect it isn't a horse at all. They return later and find out the Yeerks have been taking over horses. This could have been really interesting, except it wasn't. The author made it appear that horses are fairly dumb, so that part of the story was boring. Except for where the kids all go to a racetrack to acquire horse morphs so they can blend in with the Yeerk-horses as spies- and Cassie ends up in a race. As a horse. Later they figure out what the Yeerks are actually doing on the base as horses- and it's really inane. Funny, but inane. The kids get caught by a military captain but escape as roaches. They crash an event at the Gardens (the amusement park half of it) where the enemy are attempting to infect more humans, and end up fighting Hork-Bajir warriors and Visser Three himself in the middle of a haunted house ride. Sorry, but those final chapters with the fight scenes just made me roll my eyes. The plot had several holes in it I couldn't ignore. Another part of the overall story is about crazy people who believe in alien abduction- and the Animorph kids think this is all fake- because they know the real aliens who have invaded. There could have been some real strong irony there, but again it fell flat for me. The dialog wasn't as amusing, and the introspective parts not nearly as thoughtful, as usual.

Well, at least I didn't waste shelf space on this one. It's on my e-reader. Moving on.

Rating: 2/5               166 pages, 1998

more opinions:
Arkham Reviews
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

The Hork-Bajir Chronicles

by K.A. Applegate

Although this one is a prequel to the main series, covering events that happened generations before the core Animorph characters, it's intended to be read in the middle of the series if you don't want to give yourself spoilers. I read it after number thirteen (some chronological lists recommend reading it after book twenty-two). I was actually putting it off for a while, doubtful I'd enjoy a story about other aliens on a far-away planet, not the familiar Animorph kids on Earth.

I could not have been more wrong. Like Enchantress from the Stars, this story tells of a clash between civilizations, and alternates between the viewpoints of each. The main characters are Aldrea- a female Andalite, daughter of the famous Seerow who unwittingly taught the evil Yeerks how to use technology; Dak-Hamee, a young Hork-Bajir of rare intelligence; and oooh, Esplin 9466- the Yeerk who would become Visser Three. It was actually really cool to read some chapters from the Yeerk's point of view, it makes you realize why they parasitize other species. It doesn't make them likeable, but a bit sympathetic. If you'd never had eyes to see the world with, you might do anything to gain a pair, too. So the story tells how the Yeerks were unleashed by the Andalites, how the peaceful Hork-Bajir planet was overwhelmed, how one small group of Andalites there struggled to hold them off until help arrived- too late. It's about a peaceful society attempting to learn the arts of warfare to save themselves- but is it worth the cost. It's about one friend taking advantage of another who doesn't know as much- until he learns what's really going on. It's about how brutal and senseless war is, does a personal sacrifice mean anything if they all die in the end. There's even an interspecies love story- told subtly, but it's there. And if you want some excitement, know that the story moves at a nice clip, with space battles near the end. I also enjoyed the environmental aspect, the description of nature on this alien planet and how delicate its balance was to keep certain species alive.

In spite of the very simple writing style, I was hooked on the story and very interested in all the complex developments that arose as each character became more aware of what was going on and more invested in the outcome, even when they saw the huge negatives along the way. Aldrea driven by her desire to be more than what's expected of a female Andalite- to become a warrior, and later on, to get revenge for the death of her family. (The Andalites can be rather arrogant, it turns out). Dak-Hamee driven by curiosity and hunger for knowledge- until he knew enough to be horrified, ashamed, and realize it was too late to turn back. Also inner perspective on the Yeerks- Esplin in particular driven by ambition, needing to set himself a higher rank and earn recognition from his peers- and he did it very cleverly, too. There's so much wrapped into this story, its sophistication belies the page length or age level, really.

Enjoyed this one on my e-reader.

Rating: 4/5               224 pages, 1999

more opinions:
Arkham Reviews
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

The Alien Animals

the Story of Imported Wildlife
by George Laycock

This older book is about animals that humans have deliberately moved to new areas of the globe- sometimes the species they wished to see established failed to survive long term, many more thrived- often with disastrous consequences, (which we didn't seem to be able to learn from). Although the book is cautionary about the merits of importing exotic wildlife into new areas, it didn't have a lot of proof why this was a bad idea, and more often than not lauded efforts (reporting governments spending thousands) to put wild animals in places they had not lived before.

Some of the myriad examples laid out in the book: Barbaray sheep, oryx and kudu (from Africa) in New Mexico, ring-necked pheasants from Asia brought to North America, brown trout from Chile introduced in New Zealand, North America and many other places, striped bass moved from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific (and even to inland bodies of water), wild boars from Russia introduced into the Great Smoky Mountains, various songbirds (most notably the house sparrow, the European starling and rock pigeons) scattered all over the place- just because people missed them when they moved to new countries, gray squirrels from America to England, the nutria (a large aquatic rodent) from South America to Louisiana, the mongoose from India to Jamaica (and many other places also). I grew up knowing that chukars (a partridge) live in eastern Washington state- but they're originally from Asia. The burros that roam arid regions of the southwest here were imported from Africa. And of course there's the famous example of European rabbits introduced to Australia.

A lot of these cases I had not heard of before, so I looked some of them up to see how well they had "taken" in the long run. Unfortunately, most of the animals are still where they were transported. A few fitted into their new ecosystems nicely, most shouldered out native species or ravaged the landscape. It's horrendous the amount of animals that were introduced to New Zealand and Hawaii, wiping out many native bird species. This book will sit on my shelf next to Where Do Camels Belong?- it's the same topic, just with a different viewpoint. When Laycock wrote this one, 'acclimitisation societies' were still in existence- their reason being just to bring exotic species into new locales! Usually because sportsmen wanted more animals around for hunting purposes.

Rating: 2/5             240 pages, 1966

My Backyard Jungle

by James Barilla

While I liked this book, it has a misleading title. I was expecting it to be something like Suburban Safari or Noah's Garden. It really is more about the author's travels to see how wildlife co-exists with people in other parts of the world, than it is about his own backyard. In the first chapter the author tells how he planned to make his yard a wildlife habitat, he wanted to get certified to stake a sign telling all his neighbors so. He also intended to plant a vegetable garden and grow fruit trees- but there's nothing about the garden except for breaking ground. The chapter about his trees is all about trying to thwart a squirrel that ruins every peach. There is also a section about how he deals with an opossum under the house that makes noise in the middle of the night.

Most of the book is about his travels. He visits Diana Beach, Florida where descendants of escaped green monkeys live in the wild (I had no idea!) He goes to India to see the monkeys living in cities- I swear that part takes up a third of the book. It was pretty interesting- but overwhelming with reminders of the presence of trash. He goes to Massachusetts to see bears that den under porches- this part reminded me a lot of True Grizz. He goes to Brooklyn to visit beekeepers. He goes to Brazil and sees how two species of tamarin might intersect with dire consequences. Back at home he goes on the rounds with an animal exterminator- learning what it takes for squirrels, rats, bats, and opossums to be excluded from attics and crawl spaces. And then finally deals with the critter under his own house.

Side note: I was a bit baffled at the use of references in this book. It seemed overdone. Example: a simple sentence They're easy to anthropomorphize (about squirrels) has a reference number. (I know this refers to that one short sentence, because the sentence before it has a number, too.) Out of curiosity I looked it up- it pointed to nine pages in another book I happen to have on my shelf. Which describe (in a much more charming style) the antics of young squirrels in this other author's backyard. I can understand backing yourself up with references when quoting, for example, the number of macaques that populate Delhi. But so many times in this book I'd be reading a paragraph where the author seems to just be describing his thoughts on a matter, or his own yard maintenance, and suddenly there's a reference number. It's as if he didn't trust his own opinions.

There's a great review of this book on Goodreads, by the way. Complete with added pictures.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5             363 pages, 2013

Girl, Interrupted

by Susanna Kaysen

Please be aware of spoilers below.

I first read this story about mental health a long time ago. Prompted to revisit it because honestly, I saw a copy in my teen's stack from the library and I wondered what she would find there. I couldn't recall the book clearly myself. Poking around online didn't help- the only detailed info I could locate pointed out things about the film, not the book- which apparently added more shock value to the story. I haven't seen the movie. But from several online reviews, seems like it has quite a bit of sex and scenes of death- from suicide. I can tell you, having just finished the book- there is no actual sex in it. The characters talk about it: one time they have a discussion about blow jobs (the taste) and another time speculate if they had a boyfriend visiting, could they manage to "do it" between nurse checks (fifteen or ten-minute increments). Kaysen herself mentions that she went out with a teacher one time, and he kissed her- but in a therapy session she lets the doctor believe they slept together, and apparently the film carried that idea further. As for the suicide- well, it is discussed a lot in the story- the author constantly thought about it, and one time they hear that a former patient committed suicide after going home. That's it. In case you want to know!

What is it mostly about? How the author found herself in a mental hospital as a teen, after what seemed to her a very brief interview with a psychiatrist. She was moody, she practiced self-harm, her perception of time had serious lapses, she struggled with uncontrollable thoughts that looped and spiraled downwards- but really, she wondered what she was doing there. She tells about the other young women on the ward with her- most of them seem to have more serious issues than herself, until the day she starts to wonder- frantically- if she has substance, if there are bones beneath her own skin- and injures herself in a quest to find out. I think that was the most disturbing thing to read about. On the whole, I found it to be bluntly honest, frankly questioning, a bit snarky at times. The writing is also very lyrical and refreshing at times, and once again I really enjoyed her voice.

I was surprised how much of this reminded me of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. Not the symptoms, but the atmosphere. Kaysen's memoir is placed during the late sixties- cold packs, electric shock and isolation were still common treatments. The feel of the ward is so similar- sitting in the hall outside the nurse station, waiting to make it back outside- or not. On a side note, she managed years later, to get hold of the records from the hospital, and reprinted some of the pages in the book- showing what the nurses and doctors had written about her, what their actual diagnosis was. Comparing that to the inner thoughts she shares about her time spent there, is interesting and puts some perspective on things. Kaysen is discharged after two years, able to hold a job and maintain a relationship, but still often questioning herself- wondering am I sane? are you?

Rating: 4/5             169 pages, 1993

How to Live with a Calculating Cat

by Eric Gurney

Looking for something to use my excess of points on a book-swapping site, I picked this one at whim. It's a cute, funny book about how difficult cats can be to live with. It has a very brief history of the domestic cat, pointing out how they were worshiped in ancient Egypt and then persecuted in the Middle Ages. The rest is tidbits about how frustrating cats can be: having litters nonstop (this was the sixties) after lots of backyard caterwauling, ruining your furniture (selectively), demanding fine food, sleeping in odd places, getting stuck up trees, despising dogs, gravitating to visitors who hate cats, etc. Rather stereotypical and all to be expected, if you've ever had a cat in the house. Really, the charm of this book for me was in the illustrations- I recognized the style but it took me a while to realize where I'd seen it before. It's the same artist who made the children's books The Digging-est Dog and The King, the Mice and the Cheese, which I remember very well from my childhood. This was a fun read (but not a keeper).

Rating: 2/5             141 pages, 1962

Folks, This Ain't Normal

by Joel Salatin

Joel Salatin runs an organic farm in Shenandoah Valley that amazes me- the systems he has worked out to cycle all the nutrients, to have the animals and crops support each other. I've wanted to read one of his books since I saw him speak in part of a film.

This book is all about what's wrong with our current food system. He discusses so much: how people ought to live closer to the land, be in connection with the food they eat, store up for winter, etc. How kids need to be involved in household chores. How ruinous packaging is to the environment. That pasture-feed beef is actually better for the environment that turning to a completely vegetarian diet (I hadn't heard this before). Raising cattle for food isn't good or bad, depends on how it's managed. Questioning how healthy soy products are (really?). The glories of compost. The preciousness of water. The horrors of GMO's. The immense difficulties small farms face in getting their products to consumers- regulations and rules tying their hands every step of the way, it sounds like. I didn't know that chickens are omnivores- in warm months of course they eat insects, in the winter it used to be common for farm boys to kill rats, squirrels, etc. to feed the chickens protein once a week. I'm sad to read about older farmers desperate to find a young person who will take their land and continue to farm on it- because often their kids don't want to. I learned why Virginia has famous ham- the climate is perfect for butchering hogs. If food is too preserved to start rotting when left out on your kitchen counter, Salatin thinks you shouldn't be eating it! He details a lot of reasons why chemical fertilizers became common usage, that I had not considered before. He says that properly grazed fields build soil faster and sequester carbon better than forests- using his own land as an example. And that's just a little sample of the subjects covered in here. I'm not sure if I agree with all his statements or ideas, and a lot of it sparks further reading. I'm definitely interested in a few of his other titles now: Everything I Want to Do is Illegal and The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Famer.

The only thing I didn't like about the book is it feels like it was drawn from TED talks he gave. He stuffs it with a ton of information- a lot of it quite brief, but really gets your mind racing with questions. Not a lot of detailed sources or data to back it all up- and he gets pretty worked up about certain subjects. Railing on big businesses and government decisions, often interjecting side remarks and comments like "let's get real, folks" and "come on, now!" I would have appreciated more in-depth examinations of the subject matter.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5            361 pages, 2011

more opinions:
Book Nook Club
anyone else?

The Change

Animorphs #13
by K.A. Applegate

I find I like these books when: new animal experiences are interesting, and the author throws something totally unexpected in. The Change is from Toby's point of view- he has adapted well to living as a hawk, but sometimes still really misses being human. Starts to experience some strange moments of being in one place, then suddenly another, or having visions. A lot like the confusions Jake and Rachel went through last two reads. Turns out one of the omniscient Ellimist is messing with Toby. I had forgotten about those godlike beings, and I find them rather annoying- how conveniently they can alter the storyline. I guess that's the point. Toby finds the involvement extremely annoying, too- until a hint of a promise is dangled in front of him- that he might be able to regain his human form. So he takes the Ellimist's offer. Oh, and during all this inner turmoil, the kids are racing around the forest trying desperately to avoid the enemy- who have deployed all their forces to tracking down two escaped aliens- called Hork-Bajirs, who look vicious and deadly but in reality were a peaceful species until the Yeerks overtook them. So the kids learn quite a bit about the Hork-Bajir- including that they're not so smart- and you think they're all going to die at enemy hands but they pull an escape off last-minute- very cleverly this time, I thought. Their plan actually worked. And they are using their morphing skills more ingeniously, as well. Mostly they draw on their already-existing arsenal of animal forms, but Tobias re-acquires the ability to morph, and he turns himself into a raccoon in order to avoid being eaten by that same raccoon. And Rachel voluntarily morphs an alien in order to throw off the enemy. That was interesting. Of course, quite maddeningly but I am sure great for future plotlines, the promise Toby thought he'd gotten from the Ellimist isn't exactly what he thought it was. . .  and yet that final scene, the last sentence of the book, is very moving. While I usually wish for more detail, sometimes the understatement is great in these books.

Enjoyed this one on my e-reader.

Rating: 3/5           162 pages, 1997

more opinions: Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

The Reaction

Animorphs #12
by K.A. Applegate

This one was better! (I'm starting to wonder if the Animorph books that don't interest me as much are written mostly by one of the author team, and the ones I like, written by the other, hm.) Sorry for spoilers below, I can't help it with these books.

So, Rachel morphs a crocodile in order to rescue a kid who falls into the croc enclosure at a zoo- a reckless move she barely pulls off without being discovered. Later she finds herself suddenly out of control- her body morphs animals randomly, and she can't stop it. Her elephant morph destroys part of her house, luckily avoiding harming some of the family members who are home. It's something different to see Rachel feeling vulnerable, and talking about what it's like to live in constant fear, but not letting it take over your life. She hides her alarming problem from her friends for a while. Then the team discovers that the enemy have a new plan to convince a TV star who has a huge teen fan base to accept a Yeerk- so he can then bring in masses of young people to their side via the Sharing (most idiotic name ever for a youth group, ha). The kids are desperate to put a stop to this- the boys don't really get it until they see how Rachel and Cassie fall all over themselves in their eagerness to get close to the guy as part of the mission. Rachel uses the internet (first time I notice it mentioned in the series) to find out where he's going to be- coincidentally there's filming taking place near their town- and the team converge on a private yacht in the form of seagulls. Rachel's morphing goes out of control again, attracting the attention of the enemy leader, and they narrowly escape. Their next plan is to meet the star on a talk show- because Rachel got on the local news for "falling into" the crocodile pit- though what they actually intended to do is unclear. I don't think they knew themselves. Rachel fibbed to her teammates that her problem with morphing was over- but it wasn't, and they find themselves frantically trying to control a wild crocodile on live TV while Rachel is morphed as a bear, Marco as a llama and Cassie as a squirrel. It was pretty darn funny. Of course they just manage to get out of the situation without blowing their cover again.

I can see what made this book a good one for me. It had plenty of amusing moments and witty remarks by the kids. The descriptions of Rachel facing fear, feeling uneasy and baffled at her morphing condition, was pretty acute. Also how she momentarily lost her sense of human self while being a seagull. Marco as a llama really made me chuckle. (And I don't think I laughed once in the prior book). The concept of what caused Rachel's problem was pretty unique- again something I didn't see coming in the storyline which made me sit up and take interest. I also like how ridiculously infatuated the girls were with this teen idol, until they heard him talking on the back of the yacht and realized he really had an unpleasant personality. They ditched their admiration in an instant, but still wanted to save him from the fate of being enslaved by the Yeerks, just because it would endanger so many other people. Good, fun read.

Rating: 3/5             176 pages, 1997

The Forgotten

Animorphs #11
by K.A. Applegate

Back to the Animorphs. I breezed through this one in just two sittings. The story moves at a very fast pace- I guess that makes it exciting for kids (the intended audience). I do wish for more details, but am still able to enjoy it. In this one, the Animorphs discover the enemy has a Bug Fighter in a burnt-out wrecked grocery store. They sneak in as flies (disgusted by the form but thrilled at its powers of flight) and steal the spacecraft. Zoom up out of the atmosphere- their Andalite friend Ax can drive it (seemed implausible, but whatever) and are intercepted by an enemy ship- when they fire on each other the beams cross causing a crash and a time-warp. The kids suddenly find themselves in the rain forest, while the enemy are also crashed nearby and searching for them. They morph into a tiger and bear to fight the enemy, but also acquire two new ones- monkey and jaguar. The monkey is easy (being so close to humans) and fun, but their un-monkeylike actions in a crisis attract the enemy's attention (who then start killing all the monkeys in sight). Also, they encounter some tribal natives, who see them morphing out of monkey form and assume them to be some kind of forest spirits. The rough conversation they had with the natives was awkwardly easy because one of the kids spoke some Spanish, and the native language was close to Portuguese- but wouldn't Ax have been able to understand it anyway? Oh well. They morph into jaguars- which is also familiar, at least to Jake, because he's been a tiger before. At first, being human, they found the rain forest oppressively hot and humid, crawling with frightful insects, dangerous snakes, and difficult to move through. As jaguars though, they saw its beauty and wild diversity- able to see in the dark, noticing more individual life forms than they'd ever seen. There's a terribly one-sided battle with the Visser when they get back to the crashed ship, but everything resolves suddenly- death is the passage back to their proper time- and it turns out only Jake can remember what happened (due to things I won't explain, not wanting to spoil all of the story). A bit disappointingly, it's one of those storylines where you get all invested in the drama, only to have the character wake up at the end, realizing it was all just a dream. Kind of.

Read this one on my kindle.

Rating: 2/5            176 pages, 1977

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A Tiger for Malgudi

by R.K. Narayan

I am not sure what to make of this book. Spoilers below, I relate in brief beginning to end so you may know my irritation. Ostensibly, this is a tale about a tiger's life, from his viewpoint. The tiger grows up in the jungle, testing his strength, delighting in his power and scorning other creatures- until man kills his mate and cubs. The tiger strikes out in revenge at villages, killing livestock. He is captured by poachers and sold to a circus owner. Here the story starts to get a little disjointed. The tiger describes his circus experience- starved into submission, bewildered by the actions of men trying to force him to do tricks, somehow comforted by the companionship of the other animals in cages around him. The animals communicate with each other silently, the tiger can relate to the reader what humans said even though he doesn't understand their speech. There are entire chapters about the circus owner's work in managing his affairs and handling his employees, things a tiger would have no knowledge of! It was hard to shrug that off. Bounces around between omniscient viewpoint and tiger being the first-person narrator. Reminiscent in a way of Memoirs of a Polar Bear.

Well, one day the tiger catches the eye of a filmmaker, who wants to feature him in a battle against a strong man he discovered performing in a village market. The part about the filming attempts and how they tried to make it look like the tiger and strong man were fighting- without them actually coming into contact with each other- because this huge muscular fellow was actually terrified of the tiger- that was fairly amusing. Tiger gets even more frustrated at attempts to teach him new tricks for the filming- the circus owner refuses to allow the filmmaker to pull out his claws or teeth or sew his mouth shut to make it safe. Instead they use an electric prod. Tiger goes crazy and finally attacks the circus man, startled to discover how weak man actually is- this person who had exerted control over him for so many years.

The tiger escapes and wanders a nearby village where he enters a schoolhouse to cool off on the stone floor, and takes a nap. He gets locked in, and then the villagers argue among themselves for pages and pages what to do. Who will shoot the tiger? Do they have permission to do so? is the rifle licensed? and on and on. (The style of this book, especially when the people talk in circles or have to deal with bureaucracy, reminded me of Joyce Cary's Mister Johnson). Meanwhile there is a hermit or holy man standing on the sidelines, offering advice, constantly rebuffed and scorned by the villagers. He is called Master by the tiger- and when they finally let him into the schoolhouse- because the man who was supposed to shoot the tiger drank too much to calm his nerves and fell down- the Master exerts such a mental influence on the tiger that it does whatever he says, follows him calmly out of the village and into the forest where they live peacefully in a cave having discussions about spirituality. Because really the tiger is just like a person inside, having only a different outer form. And when the tiger becomes old and weak, the Master gives him to a zoo so he can live out his days in peace, being admired by children! I found that upsetting. Of all the other ridiculous things I ignored to enjoy some other parts of this story- including times when the tiger's behavior was not feline at all- why couldn't the tiger die in peace in the jungle? Argh.

Rating: 2/5               176 pages, 1982

Pattern of the Tiger

by Stanwell Fletcher

I was curious to read this book because I enjoyed Driftwood Valley, which I believe was by this author's wife. (However if so, he must have remarried because in Pattern of the Tiger, his wife's name is Peggy not Theodora). I hoped this one had a lot about the wildlife of India, but I was disappointed in that regard. The author's original intention was to re-visit India and see how much it had changed since his childhood there, and to make a rough survey of its wildlife in order to recommend future expeditions to collect mammal specimens for American museums. Fletcher arrived in India not long after the British government had withdrawn its sovereign rule, and he found it in turmoil. There was a lot of political unrest and in many places he felt uneasy staying for long. He travelled through many different regions, especially following suggestions by locals as to where he could view wildlife, stopped in many small isolated villages, visited some areas of neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan, went through Delhi, Kashmir, etc. and ended up in Calcutta. By far he enjoyed his time in the remote areas more than the crowded cities, and I think his wife (who joined him at the end of the trip) agreed. He quickly found that it was difficult to locate any wildlife- and the few glimpses did not produce any satisfactory descriptive writing. It's obvious he became far more interested in the situation of the people, and he relates many stories and legends told to him, describing local customs, modes of dress, new foods, interesting individuals he met, travel mishaps and the like for all the areas he went through. He especially compared the culture of Hindus and Muslims- which I learned quite a bit from, even though it isn't what I intended to read the book for! I admit when the chapters veered into politics I tended to loose interest and start scanning pages. I was surprised to read about a small area comprising the valleys of Birir, Bhumberat and Rumber, where the Kalosh people lived- Fletcher said they had absolutely no religion or belief system, yet were the happiest (in spite of being very poor) and friendliest people he met on his journeys.

Well, there were a few parts about animals, I will share a few tidbits. He noticed immediately the large numbers of monkeys that swarmed the cities, and learned that they devastated crops on a regular basis, because the Hindus would not kill the monkeys. Amusingly, when a misunderstanding led officials to believe that Fletcher's purpose in India was to skin and study mice, people started bringing him cages full of mice they had trapped in their homes. They would not kill the mice themselves (often trapped and relocated them, to no avail) but were happy to hand them over to Fletcher for disposal.

One time sitting outside a house, he saw two yellow-throated martens watching him. He quickly tried to grab his camera, but of course the martens disappeared. Incidentally, the book is graced by many careful illustrations the author made of various people in traditional clothing. I wish he had included more drawings, or some of many photographs he mentions in the text.

I was pleased when I found he wished to meet Jim Corbett, but the famous tiger hunter was absent. Noted that another man who accompanied Fletcher and tried to show him tigers from a jeep, completely scorned the method of tying out a goat as bait to bring a tiger near, which was often Corbett's method.

It was rather funny -and probably frustrating- how many times people misunderstood his intentions at being in India, and assumed he was someone important, just because he was a foreigner. He was once cross-examined by a group of tribesman under suspicion of being a spy. On another occasion a general insisted he give an impromptu lecture to his men- something not at all on Fletcher's itinerary! but he had to comply. On yet another occasion he was intensely questioned on international politics by the leaders of a community who wanted to know why foreign aid went to India and not Pakistan, and in a final instance he was requested to advise a small town how to rid themselves of rats- which were eating the roots of young trees and crops, destroying them.

I've said a lot here for a book it turns out I didn't really care for, overall. It's certainly dense with information and interesting descriptions, just not the kind of read that usually holds my interest. It's full of recent (to the time) history, politics and local customs. I'm sure a very worthwhile read, to someone else!

Rating: 2/5                 296 pages, 1954

Thursday's Child

by Victoria Poole

What a great story. It's about a seventeen-year-old athlete from a large New England family who suddenly became gravely ill. For a long time his family thought he just had nasty colds that kept recurring, but it turned out he had heart disease- a childhood illness had damage his heart muscle and it became enlarged. His stricken parents kept the news of Sam's illness to themselves for a while, then broke it to the family: without a new heart, Sam was going to die. The parents took him to California where heart transplants were being done as experimental surgery (at the time, only 310 had been performed in the entire world). There followed a barrage of tests- was Sam sick enough to warrant receiving a heart? was he strong enough- mentally and physically- to face the risks? Through it all he kept a remarkably upbeat attitude. The family rallied around him to help, but it was still an ordeal- parents taking turns travelling to and fro California and New England for the duration of his treatment and recovery. Frightening times when his body began to reject the new heart, then recovered for a while. Very long time in intensive care. Joy at being in the outside world again, experiencing life- differently- but life he was extremely glad for. So many details are probably different nowadays about what heart transplant patients go through, but this is one inspiring read (and fairly well-written too).

Sadly, I learned from reading a few reviews online that Sam lived only five more years after his heart transplant- but lived them to the fullest. I believe he died from complications of his medications.

Found at a library sale.

Rating: 3/5         370 pages, 1980

I Am Nujood

Age 10 and Divorced
by Nujood Ali
with Delphine Minoui

This is a sad and courageous story of a girl from Yemen whose father married her off to a thirty-year-old man. Her village small and isolated, Nujood had left school at an early age, could barely write and didn't even know her own age for certain- she was at best guess nine or ten years old when the events in the book happened. She was shocked when one day her father announced that he had married her off- without her consent needless to say- and she was unceremoniously packed into a stranger's car to move into her new household. Her new husband had promised to avoid intimacy with her at least until she had gone through puberty, but he didn't. When she tried to resist him, she was beaten. When she screamed for help, the other women of the household did nothing. She was no longer allowed to go to school, or play outside, but must work in the kitchen. She was miserable, abused and afraid.

This went on for weeks. And then one day she decided -having been obedient all her life to the men in the family- to say NO. She ran away, found the courthouse, located a judge, and plainly stated that she wanted a divorce. It wasn't easy. The judge was in disbelief at first. The proceedings took months. Her own family was angered- said her actions brought shame on them. It was hard to read the reasons her father gave for marrying her away in the first place, and very distressing to learn that her older sisters had also gone through rough times at the hands of men. Nujood stuck up for herself, and eventually moved back to live with her parents, and was able to return to school again. Difficult to imagine what she went through. She was the first child bride to successfully get a divorce in Yemen, and other young girls who had been married against their will, were later able to follow her example. She was swamped with media attention after the court date, but managed to find some normalcy again, to return to her childhood. Very sobering to read from her account, the other ways that women around her suffered silently. I admire such a brave young girl.

Rating: 3/5                   188 pages, 2009

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Seraphina

by Rachel Hartman

Ahh, I really wanted to like this one. I am not quite sure why it didn't hold my interest. It's got a unique premise- a world where dragons and human exist in an uneasy truce- and one young woman is hiding a dangerous secret: she is half-dragon. The dragons can take human form (although their very alien attitude usually makes them easy to discern) and in this manner Seraphina's father married a dragon- without knowing it. Seraphina works at the palace as an assistant to the music instructor- music is her reason for being. But she becomes involved in court intrigue, which makes it harder and harder to keep her secret. And she suffers from debilitating headaches and strange visions- honestly, this aspect of the story- her "garden of the mind"- made me think so much of the two books I read recently about teens with schizophrenia! It was interesting when I finally figured out who the various people are she sees in her dream garden- curious to see where this thread would lead- but unfortunately I found the reading a slog. Something about the style, or the characterization, or the world-building just fell flat for me. Darn. Moving on.

Abandoned                 512 pages, 2012

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anyone else? I know a lot of you out there have loved it!

The Mare

by Mary Gaitskill

This powerfully understated story tells of an inner-city girl who goes to spend a few weeks with a couple in upstate New York for the summer, as part of a Fresh Air Fund program. The couple is childless and want to see what it's like to have a kid around the house, before they consider adoption to grow their family. They have issues- the husband's attention is divided, the wife is a recovering alcoholic- and their perspective is almost as interesting as Velvet's. She's the girl from a rough neighborhood in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Her mother- from the Dominican Repulic, working a crap job and struggling to make ends meet, doesn't speak English so all communication between her and the host family is through a translator, or her children. This neatly sets the stage for a large number of misunderstandings....

Velvet at first is cool and stand-offish when she arrives in the country but she is soon fascinated with the horses at the stable next door. She's allowed to take riding lessons and is drawn to a troublesome mare in the barn, one considered dangerous, with a history of abuse. Velvet finds a connection with the horse and quickly picks up skills under the eye of a trainer in the barn- it turns out she has a natural ability at riding- the way this is written was so vivid and visceral. How she feels when she's on a horse, how she makes it understand her wishes, how it moves and responds- I can't explain it well, but I was glued to every page. There is such a vast difference between the life Velvet leads in the countryside and her existence back home in the city- where her mother curses and beats her, where boys sneer on the streets, all kinds of bad things happen. Ginger becomes emotionally invested in the girl, tries to help her with homework, invites her back again and again- outside of the boundaries set by the initial program. Velvet has a painfully large need for affection and love- I think it's why she bonds so well with the horse- then back at home acts out, seeks the attention of boys, etc. Bigger things happen, Ginger gets waaay too involved in Velvet's life, the mother becomes enraged- I can't say more. You must read it!

Funny, I suspected at first I might not like this book- it jumps back and forth between POV nearly every other page- most 'chapters' are half a page, one or two at most. I thought I would find that style jarring, or disjointed but it wasn't so. The words are strong, so much is revealed on every page, insights into what each character is feeling or why they did something. I'm not sure if all the extra voices were needed- Velvet and Ginger's alone would have told most of the story- but Ginger's husband is in there too, and Velvet's mother has a voice every now and then. It all adds depth. The story has a lot of rough spots- by which I mean, scenes that are very hard to read- but somehow I just could not put it down. It's certainly unlike any other horse book I've read yet.

Rating: 4/5          441 pages, 2015

A Dog Called Kitty

by Bill Wallace

Story about a farm boy who overcomes his fear of dogs. He's terrified of them from having been attacked by one when he was little. That dog had rabies, so he had to receive a series of very painful shots in his stomach and was traumatized by the whole experience. Now a dog easily runs him off when he's facing a bully in the schoolyard and his dad jibes him for being continually afraid. Then a stray puppy shows up at his back door, trying to get their barn cats' food. The cats run the puppy off and it's going to starve when the boy decides to save it. He intends to just feed it until it is strong enough to get chased off and find a new home, but gradually he looses his fear of the dog and learns to care for it. The dog becomes his companion and playmate. He has to figure out how to keep it from eating poisoned meat left out, when neighbors bait for coyotes (and all their attempts to pen the dog or tie it up fail). He gets frustrated when his dog won't help round up the family cows but is frightened instead. And then he really has to face his own terrors when he and the dog confront a pack of feral dogs that attacks the cattle. For a book aimed at younger readers, it has a lot of distressing scenes- the dog fight gets bloody, and earlier in the book there are plenty of instances where people throw rocks at dogs, or kick them- even the main character. There's bullying and adults acting mean as well. Also the parents in the story just laugh when the dog gets bigger and literally throws the cats around. That kinda bothered me. The ending was sad- how many pet stories end up with the dog dying- and this one in such a senseless accident- but then it turned awful corny on the final pages. I think I actually rolled my eyes. Oh well, it's a kid's book. I might like another one the author wrote about this same boy and his horse, if I come across it by chance (this one was a library sale find).

Rating: 3/5              137 pages, 1980

Dark Horse

by Jean Slaughter Doty

Nice horse story. Especially because it did something unexpected. It's about a middle-school girl who works at a horse stable in order to get riding lessons. Eventually she becomes good enough to be asked to ride some of the horses for exercise, and she goes along to shows to help the younger riders. There's a plain brown horse at the stable who came in looking underfed and ordinary. They feed him up and hope to sell him off soon. He starts jumping fences- nothing holds him in anywhere, which exasperates the staff until they just start ignoring him- letting him roam at will around the property. He has an odd, uncomfortable stride, so nobody really wants to ride him. One day the main character is asked to ride him, accompanying another kid on a fox hunt- this boy got injured and can't play soccer anymore, his mother is desperate to get him interested in something else and puts him on a horse to go along with a newly-reinstalled hunt in the area. Stuff happens, the two kids get separated from the rest of the hunt, end up following just the huntmaster over rough terrain and frightening jumps- and everyone finds out what a spectacular jumper the brown horse is. I was happily surprised to find myself reading a foxhunting episode in the middle of a story about horse shows, and wondered if the horse would now follow hounds. But his talent being discovered, the stable owners decided to enter him in jumping competitions- with our main girl riding him. He starts to get attention and accolades, and she fears he will soon be sold. Until things take a turn for the worst at the biggest competition she's ever been in. I like stories that surprise me, even though this one is simply told and there isn't a lot of character development. It was a fine read.

Rating: 3/5                158 pages, 1983

I Capture the Castle

by Dodie Smith

Note: there are spoilers in this post.

This book was a slight disappointment to me. I'd heard so much about it, but it wasn't quite what I expected. For one thing, the main character is older than I had thought, but sounds (and is treated by others) as if she's younger. It's about a poor family that lives in a rundown castle (with a house partly built inside its courtyard) in the English countryside. It's so dilapidated they live in it rent-free (kind of by accident, but then the lenient terms are extended). The narrator is teenage Cassandra, who aims to practice her writing skills by "capturing" the people and surroundings in her journal. This may sound strange, but her voice reminded me of Anne Frank. I did like how she frequently re-imagined scenes or tried to picture future encounters with people- so true to life.

Her father was once a famed author, but has suffered from writer's block for over a decade and appears to do nothing. The rest of the family feels they have no skills to earn a living- they are practically supported by charitably distant neighbors and their orphaned serving boy who does all he can for them with little regard or reward. They're wondering where their next crust of bread will come from when two wealthy American brothers inherit the estate next door (their opinion of Americans, based solely on knowing these two men, was amusing). Older sister immediately sets her sights on one of them, determined to marry and get them out of poverty. Cassandra herself has feelings for the same man, but squelches them in light of helping her sister. I did like her descriptions, and events take quite a few interesting turns- especially concerning the servant boy, Stephen- but I didn't anticipate that this whole story would be about relationships, nor the nasty turn some of the characters would take in order to get their own way. I found the character of the step-mother interesting- although supportive of the father to a fault, she was an intriguing free-spirited woman, posed for artists to earn some money, usually had something interesting to say- but there wasn't quite enough of her in the story. And I liked Stephen, but felt bad how poorly the family treated him.

I was baffled by the father. I didn't understand his behavior, and started to think- as the family does- that he suffered from mental illness. The idea that he was a genius and must be coddled and excused in spite of his erratic and sometimes violent actions started to wear on me. By far one of the most interesting parts of the novel is near the end, when Cassandra and her brother try to force him to write by locking him up in an old tower on the hill. I was confused at the outcome, and the sparse descriptions of his prior book and supposed plans for the new one, don't help any. (His parenting abilities made me think of The Glass Castle, ha). After that the story quickly fell flat- I didn't really like the ending. I suppose it was rather realistic, but the sudden turn some characters took- who they had a fancy for- not who you thought all the time you were reading- really annoyed me.

I'm glad I finally read this book but I don't think I'll keep it. However, it's a favorite with a lot of other readers (see below)!

Rating: 3/5         343 pages, 1948

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The Garden of the Gods

by Gerald Durrell

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous two books in the Corfu Trilogy, and unlike most readers I am more interested in the descriptions of Durrell's activities collecting animals rather than the doings of people, so. It's another collection of stories from the time his family lived on a small Greek island, when he was between the ages of eight and ten, I think. Most of the time he spends wandering the island, wading the lagoon and lake, searching for insects, reptiles, birds and the like to observe their habits and if he can, catch them to take home for his growing collection. In particular he has a pet owl and acquires several new, voraciously hungry owlets, has a variety of snakes, frogs and toads and one wonderful hoopoe- a bird he rescued from a hunter. The incident with the buried puppies was familiar to me, I think because I saw it represented in the film beforehand. Being a fishkeeper myself, I really liked reading about when he caught several brightly-colored gobies during the mating season, installed them in his aquarium, and watched them lay and hatch eggs. There's also a lively battle between a mantis stalking a moth, who is in turn stalked by a fat gecko, when a centipede also goes after the moth- and they are all at the last moment accosted by a hungry toad- to Gerry's indignant consternation (even though the toad itself is one of his pets).

But to me it seemed like the incidents involving people populated this book more than in others. His family is interesting and their endless rotation of visitors equally so. A lot of the characters are very unique and colorful, let's say- and the family's reaction to them is too. They argue a lot- in very amusing conversations- I can't help but wonder now how much of that is accurate, and how much a bit embellished. And while it might seem that the characterizations are a bit flat- mother is always in the kitchen or planning new, lavish meals, his sister is exasperated over boys or involved in sewing, decorating and making sarcastic remarks, his older brothers immersed in their individual interests- firearms and literary pursuits- I remind myself that it's also depicted through the eyes of a child. Of course a ten-year-old who spends they day tramping the island through hot fields and olive groves, coming home hungry, might well think his mother's chief importance in life is to provide great food! Many of the jokes and comments (by visitors and family alike) are a bit scandalous or definitely sexist in nature- especially when it comes from Captain Creech- you think young Gerry doesn't comprehend it all, but he thinks it mighty funny regardless.

Note: the cover image I chose here is from the audiobook version. I read a paperbound copy, but I just liked this cover better than the one in hand.

Rating: 3/5            pages,