Close Encounters of the Furred Kind by Tom Cox

Close Encounters of the Furred Kind is the most recent release by cat-loving writer Tom Cox. I started completely out of order by beginning with the most recent, but I doubt order matters.

In Close Encounters of the Furred Kind, Cox describes his experience moving house twice with four cats, first from his beloved Upside-Down House to a temporary rental and then farther afield to Devon (England). I purchased Close Encounters and another of Tom Cox's books after seeing an enthusiastic recommendation by someone on Twitter. I've followed @MYSADCAT (one of his cats' accounts) on Twitter for a while and have been considering the books for years, but it was that tweet that convinced me to buy the two. And, now I want them all.

Because I was unfamiliar with the four felines and the first third to half involved a lot of moving angst and a distressing time in an environment that suited neither cats nor human, the early part of the book didn't make me laugh out loud, although I did a lot of smiling. But, the second half of Close Encounters of the Furred Kind was doubly entertaining -- both because I was well-acquainted with the individual felines, by then, and because things began to improve. I particularly loved it when the author and his cats settled into their new home near Totnes, a place that not only had plenty of room for roaming and lots of interesting characters nearby, but which also came with an unexpectedly unferal feral cat named George.

George melted the author's heart (and this reader's). It's worth reading the book, if only to find out what becomes of George when he doesn't fit in with Cox's motley crew. But, I loved Close Encounters of the Furred Kind both because of the antics of the cats and the author's huge heart. Tom Cox really understands and adores cats, and he describes their adventures with affection, wit, and charm. This is what I tweeted after finishing the book:

Finished CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FURRED KIND by @cox_tom after an hour of disturbing the felines with my laughter, last night. #ThumbsUp

— Bookfoolery (@Bookfoolery) March 25, 2016

Highly recommended - I am besotted with the love for cats that shines through in Tom Cox's writing and he's also a very entertaining writer, in general. I should warn cat lovers that there is a cat death (although not one of the author's cats) and that the cats are indoor/outdoor, which naturally means they encounter occasional perils and bring home a large number of "gifts". My current two kitties are indoors-only because of our dearly departed Miss Spooky's many injuries and the fact that I was constantly talking the poor girl down out of trees.

Note: Close Encounters of the Furred Kind is about to be released in the U.S. I ordered my copy from Book Depository because it had not yet been released when I read that enthusiastic recommendation but you don't have a long wait if you're American (and, of course, if you're in a big hurry, you can always go with the Book Depository option).

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey

I'm not sure what Fiona thinks about the whole "stuff on cats" concept but she looked even more perplexed when I took the book away (maybe she missed the warmth?) than when I propped it against her.

Recent arrivals:

• The Summer of Me by Angela Benson - from William Morrow for review

Yep, just one book arrived, this week! Shocking.


Books finished since last Malarkey:

• Close Encounters of the Furred Kind by Tom Cox
• Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (actually read this in electronic form and decided I really like reading graphic novels that way)

Currently reading:

• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Father's Day by Simon Van Booy 

Enjoying both. I checked out Big Magic from the library mostly because I'm curious about it but feared it wouldn't be anything great. I'm finding it inspiring, though.

Last week's posts:

• Weird Book #3 for #Weirdathon - Pines by Blake Crouch (book review)
• The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal (book review)
• Fiona Friday - The cuddle bunnies are back! (terrible cat photo)

In other news:

The cats have been doing a lot of sweet Eskimo kissing and very little fighting - confirmation, I think, that we're back to normal, around here. We do have a couple of outdoor neighbor kitties who consider our yard part of their territory but Huzzybuns and I have made an extra effort to drive them away if we see them because we're pretty sure they were the source of the friction between the kitties.

I'm working on purging books and other stuff, at the moment. Might be time to reread the Marie Kondo book, although it's going well without. We shall see.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday - The cuddle bunnies are back!

I was so excited to see the kitties cuddling, this week, that I went rushing for the camera. I hope this heralds a complete return to normality between these two girls. It warms my heart to see them snuggling.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal

The tension has very quickly risen at this point on the earth's surface. The plant's leaves seem to tremble, the water in the glasses to ripple; the light in the room seems to grow suddenly brighter, making them blink, and the air to vibrate as if the motor of a centrifuge was slowly turning above their heads. Thomas is the only one to remain completely immobile, to show no emotion. Keeping his gaze steady on their pain-creased faces, ignoring the tremors of their jaws, the shaking of their shoulders, he goes on unflinchingly: The purpose of this interview is to discover and formulate the expression of the dead person's wishes [. . . ]

~from p. 101 of Advance Reader Copy (some changes may have been made to the final print version)

Early on a cold morning in France, three young surfers set out together in an aging van on a jaunt to the shore, dressing in warm gear and catching the waves until they're chilled and numb. Worn and satisfied, they pile back into the van and head home. But, tragedy strikes and one of the young men sustains unsurvivable injuries. When his family is informed, they must make the decision about what is to be done.

While physicians are mobilized in the hope that several transplants will take place and potential organ recipients are notified, the family of a vibrant young man whose life is being sustained only by machines must come to terms with their grief and make a decision in a limited amount of time. Machines can keep his heart pumping but only for a matter of hours, then it will begin to deteriorate and the hope of saving other lives will end.

The Heart by Maylis de Karangal is unexpectedly gripping. I was skeptical when I began reading, thinking it would probably end up being fairly dull, but within the first few pages I was hooked. Not only is the writing beautiful but it's also compelling enough that the pages practically flew, probably because the author did such an excellent job of portraying urgency. It quickly becomes apparent that the clock is ticking and everyone involved in the transplant process is eager for the donation process to be facilitated. It's only toward the end that you get to know the potential recipient of the young man's heart but in that brief space where her life is described, you're rooting for her, knowing that with so little time left, someone else's tragedy may be her last chance to live.

Translated from the French, I was surprised to find The Heart is not the first translation by Sam Taylor that I've read. In both cases, I found the writing was so smoothly handled that I would never have guessed the book was a translation, if not for the fact that it's mentioned on the cover and the book takes place in France. His bio says Taylor is also a published writer and that may make the difference. I've read a number of clunky, confusing translations, at least one so difficult to read that I abandoned it. Clearly, Taylor knows how to stay true to the story and the beauty of its original prose. I was impressed.

Highly recommended - Surprisingly taut, lyrical, engrossing reading. While heartbreaking because you must experience the grief the family is going through, the ending is uplifting and makes the journey worthwhile. I found it particularly interesting that the French system of organ donation requires a person who does not wish to donate to fill out a form refusing automatic donor status, although the surviving family members still may choose not to donate, the opposite to how it's done in the U.S., where you can have the donor option added to your driver's license but if you're not a donor your survivors can still choose to donate viable organs. Also of note is the fact that a French physician who declares someone dead cannot be involved in the surgical process.

Reading The Heart brought back a little of my own frustration with our inability to get my father's organs donated. When my father was declared brain dead, we asked if it would be possible to donate his organs and were told he was too old at 62. The idea of someone else being saved by your loss seems pretty powerful to me. But, it's clearly a very individual choice and I appreciated being walked through the opposite feelings.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Weird Book #3 for #Weirdathon - Pines by Blake Crouch

I have totally lucked out, this month, reading weird books without even trying. Pines by Blake Crouch is definitely weird . . . and also the first in a series (future weirdness alert). When Jenny reviewed Pines, my interest had already been piqued by previews of the television series Wayward Pines, which is based on the books. Husband thought it looked too creepy and refused to watch it (which meant I didn't get to watch it because we really can only have one TV going at a time, thanks to the acoustics in this house).

Pines is the story of a Secret Service agent named Ethan Burke who awakens in a pine forest near a river. When he comes to, he can only remember 6 things, not including his own name. He's badly injured and doesn't know what happened to him or how he ended up in a forest. Across a field is a small town surrounded by cliffs. He stumbles into town but he has no wallet, no ID, no cell phone, no money so he can't call home or phone his office, can't buy himself a meal or pay for a stay in a hotel, can't prove his identity. Although it's clear he needs to get medical help, he's surprisingly wary of going to the hospital. Things start to get really weird when he hears a cricket and finds that even the cricket is not what it seems.

All sorts of bizarre things happen in Pines, leading Burke to the conclusion that Wayward Pines is no ordinary town. But, what on earth is going on and why can't he get answers from anyone?

You don't actually find out what's up till the end but it's loads of fun, surprising and super weird. I love it that Pines just happened to be such a bizarre story. I was expecting it to be creepy (and it is) but not quite so twisted. The only problem I had with the book is that the answers to why the town is so strange doesn't entirely explain why the people are so violent when someone doesn't fit in. At least, I didn't get it.

Recommended with a violence warning - Poor Ethan gets beat all to hell repeatedly and toward the end it becomes particularly horrifying just before he figures out what Wayward Pines is all about. I loved the fast pace, the creepiness, the strange atmosphere, and the fact that the answer to what was going on was even weirder than I imagined. Pines would definitely make a great RIP challenge book, in addition to being a terrific choice for #Weirdathon.

Side note: Pines was my very first Inter-Library Loan, ever! Wahoo for Inter-Library Loans! I should have tried this years ago.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey

I received an interesting variety of books, this week.

Recent arrivals (top to bottom):

• One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson and
• Under the Paw by Tom Cox - both purchased
• Raising Ryland by Hillary Whittington - from William Morrow for review
• The Betsy-Tacy Treasury by Maud Hart Lovelace - swap book
• Daily Life in the United States: 1920-1940 by David E. Kyvig and 
• Memory Wall by Anthony Doerr - both purchased
• Teeny Tiny Toady by Esbaum and Yamaguchi - from Sterling Children's Books for review

I'm going to have to find a shelf to keep all my Depression-era purchases separated from other books. I've gradually built up a pretty decent pile. Betsy-Tacy was a surprise. I'm still technically a member of Paperback Swap but have no points left and I thought not paying the annual fee would mean I could no longer swap, but I still had 10 free swaps remaining so I just had to purchase a credit and pay a 50-cent additional fee, which turned out to be much cheaper than purchasing the book used. Paying for the credit means it's really a purchase rather than a swap, but there's always a cost so . . . whatever works.


Books finished since last malarkey:

• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• Teeny Tiny Toady by Esbaum and Yamaguchi
• Pines by Blake Crouch

Currently reading:

• Close Encounters of the Furred Kind by Tom Cox (plus a library book that's overdue, so I won't mention it unless I'm able to recheck; and I'll add a novel to the mix, tonight)

Last week's posts:

• Iris Grace by Arabella Carter-Johnson (book review)
• Books 1 and 2 for #Weirdathon: Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (mini reviews)
• Fiona Friday - Checking it out (cat photo)

In other news:

Huzzybuns discovered some unpacked boxes in the garage (including boxes of books, which fortunately were not damaged by our high humidity or he would have been in Big Trouble). One of the boxes contained a very exciting find: my copy of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I've been looking for my copy of The Bell Jar for months. No wonder I couldn't find it! It will be either my April or May classic choice. I've owned my copy of The Bell Jar for a long time but have never read it.

And in other other news, I can't believe we're still finding things to unpack, 3 1/2 years after moving.


©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday - Checking it out

Thanks to a broken microwave, we've had kitties hanging out in the microwave slot for a couple weeks. Every nook and cranny must be explored.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Books 1 and 2 for #Weirdathon - Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Blogger and my ISP are both behaving fitfully, this morning, so I'm going to try to keep this short for sanity's sake.

I'm calling Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote my first read for #Weirdathon, even though it originally hit my stacks because it was my book group's March selection and I had no idea (because I've only read Capote's sweet Christmas story) just how wacky a Capote book could be. The group's selection was just lucky timing.

Joel has been living in New Orleans with an aunt, following the death of his mother. When his father's second wife writes a letter saying they'll be happy to take him in, Joel is sent to a decaying and isolated mansion. Before he even arrives, Joel is disappointed to find that nobody has been dispatched to meet him, although he was told he would be met near the town where his father lives, so he has to figure out how to get to the house on his own. And, when he makes it to the house, he's confused. Where is his father? Why won't anyone answer any of his questions? Was that a ghost he saw in the window?

Surrounded by eccentric characters and bored out of his mind, Joel seeks friendship while trying to figure out what on earth has happened to his father.

A couple of our group members brought some helpful information to share. Other Voices, Other Rooms can be a little surreal, at times, and it has more of a snapshot feel than the sense of a well-defined plot, but there were some very strong themes. The book is partly about Capote's own loneliness and longing for a father, but there are several other themes that were not quite as obvious to me. I mostly got the sense of longing for love out of it.

Bizarre characters and beautiful language were the two aspects of this book that made me love it. I often felt like I didn't understand what was happening during a scene but then understood it as it was ending. A lot of what I didn't grasp was nicely explained by people in my group so the discussion was excellent. It's a book worth talking about and I loved its oddities.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel is a book that seemingly everyone has read but me. I already owned a copy, purchased in a library sale years ago, so I was happy when not one but several people suggested Like Water for Chocolate when I asked for weird book suggestions.

Tita is in love with Pedro and expecting him to ask for her hand in marriage when her mother informs her that she is never to marry. Instead, Tita will be forced to follow tradition, caring for her mother for the rest of her life. Seeking to be near his beloved, Pedro marries her sister, Rosaura. Tita has learned how to cook from the elderly Nacha, and will eventually take over the cooking duties. But, when Tita's tears over her lost love are mixed into the batter of Rosaura and Pedro's wedding cake, the start of their marriage is ruined. Will Tita and Pedro ever be able to marry or are they doomed to love each other from a distance?

Holy Toledo, there is some serious weirdness going on in Like Water for Chocolate. No wonder so many people recommended it! There's strange magic in Tita's cooking and sexual energy that vibrates between Pedro and Tita, inflaming or repelling those around them via the food. Each chapter begins with a recipe and one of the quirks of this book is the way the author will interrupt her own story with a continuation of the recipe. The storyline bounces around a little, sometimes stepping backward in time so that a deceased character is suddenly alive. I found myself jolted by the changes in time but loved the uniqueness of this strange love story and its crazy ending.

Both highly recommended - I really enjoyed the eccentricities of the characters and the storytelling in both Other Voices, Other Rooms and Like Water for Chocolate. If you're filing away ideas for future #Weirdathon events and you haven't read these titles, definitely add them to your list. They are completely nuts.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Iris Grace by Arabella Carter-Johnson

I've followed Iris Grace Painting on Facebook since a friend posted a video of this talented little girl painting. Iris lives in England and is on the severe end of the autism spectrum. During her first years, she had difficulty interacting at all and she was behind her peers in several skills. Frustrated with her inability to function in a preschool environment her mother, the author, decided to work on teaching Iris at home and gradually exposing her to social activities. But, it was painting that offered the first breakthrough. Iris had a natural talent and painting made her happy. Gradually, she began to open up.

The second breakthrough came when the family adopted Thula, a Maine Coon kitten. Thula is an adventurous kitty who goes on bike and boat rides, climbs into the tub with Iris, helps Iris sleep by napping with her and curling up with her at night, and even goes swimming with her. Thula has helped calm Iris when she needed to be soothed and provided a friendly presence.

The book Iris Grace tells her story, beginning with her parents' first meeting and proceeding to the present. Carter-Johnson is a professional wedding photographer and the book is absolutely beautiful, packed with gorgeous photos, paintings by Iris, and pencil illustrations at the opening of each chapter. Even the end papers are charming. While I do think the book suffered a bit from at least one first-time author flaw (the overuse of the word "so"), that single flaw and a couple of minor editing errors were the only problems I found with the book and I gave it 5 stars. I enjoyed learning a bit about how a child with severe autism reacts physically. I knew some of the behaviors but not all and I found Carter-Johnson's teaching methods fascinating (but expensive -- sounded like she spent an awful lot of money on props for learning experiences).

I hope, more than anything, I've learned enough from Iris Grace to know how to react if I'm ever in public when an autistic child has a meltdown and/or to be more understanding in a public venue. I found it particularly interesting learning about how Iris Grace reacts to music. Carter-Johnson has mentioned frustration with people who are not shy about saying their experience has been ruined by young Iris's movement and vocalization during concerts. While I can understand how they might feel and would never criticize parents in public (I had high-energy children and was occasionally criticized by strangers, myself; I keep my mouth shut), it's helpful to be educated about that kind of behavior and why, when they take her out in public, they're actually being good parents, carefully exposing their child to challenging situations. It's far too easy to judge.

Highly recommended - Iris Grace is one of the most beautiful books I've seen. Gorgeous photos, paintings, and pencil sketches make it a pleasure to page through. The memoir portion is quite well-written, with only minor first-time author flaws and is quite compelling. I enjoyed the learning experience and admire the author's efforts to help her daughter open up socially and learn to cope with the situations that overwhelm her senses. Cat lovers will also enjoy reading about Thula's part in helping Iris.

Note: Iris Grace has not yet been published in the United States. I pre-ordered a copy from Book Depository when the author talked about it on Facebook.


©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey

Well, this was an exciting arrival week!

Recent arrivals (top to bottom):

• Close Encounters of the Furred Kind by Tom Cox - Purchased
• Father's Day by Simon Van Booy - from HarperCollins for review
• Modern Girls by Jennifer S. Brown - from NAL for review
• The Last Goodnight by Howard Blum - from HarperCollins for review
• Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grisson - from Simon & Schuster for review

Of course, you know the arrival of this one involved cheering and bouncing:

It's always a great day when a new Simon Van Booy book arrives!


Books finished since last malarkey:

• Iris Grace by Arabella Carter-Johnson
• The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal

Currently reading:

• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel - My first #Weirdathon book! And, yessiree Bob, she's a weird one. 

Last week's posts:

• #Weirdathon stack and some recommendations - (Photos of weird books, chosen to read and curated by yours truly)
• Fiona Friday - The countertop is my throne (cat photo)

In other news:

So far, I have not convinced myself to return to the Kate Hudson book I started a few weeks ago, partly because I was finding it too general and partly because it requires work. I hate books that involve effort - you know, evaluating your habits and taking notes. Blah. But, I intend to return to it because I don't feel like I got far enough in to give it a fair shake. Maybe this will be the week. Guess we'll find out.


©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday - This countertop is my throne

I guess. If she says so.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

#Weirdathon stack and some recommendations

It took me a few days to get to the high shelf and I only found one Margaret Atwood book when I did (possibly because the other one I'm looking for isn't in the same category -- the large sci-fi books are waaaay up high) but I've finally gotten my #Weirdathon stack gathered. Here 'tis:

Top to bottom:

• Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
• The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe
• Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch

And, while I was gathering books, I figured I might as well gather a few I've found a little weird (or that others might find odd):

Top to bottom:

• Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote - Just finished this, a few days ago. I mentioned the fact that someone in my F2F group called it "weird" so it might qualify. Boy, was she right. If only for the characterization, Other Voices, Other Rooms falls into the weird category.
• The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami - Most of the books I've read by Murakami have been either his short story collections or nonfiction, so I haven't fallen down the rabbit hole with him very often. But, The Strange Library is so mindbending I didn't know quite what to make of it and asked for help figuring out what on earth it was about. 
• Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi - It's been a while since I read Agent to the Stars but I recall an alien who had a body made of something akin to orange jell-o. Yeah, it's weird. Good weird, though. It's one of my favorite Scalzi books and surprisingly meaningful.
• Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders by Julianna Baggott - I read somewhere that this one's gone through a name change for the paperback release -- now just "The Seventh Book of Wonders", I think. The history upon which it's based is fascinating but . . . yeah . . . it's a weird one.

I liked all four of my weird suggestions, in case you were wondering.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey

I think I'm going to have to stop commenting on whether I'm having a good year or bad year. As soon as I say things are going well, it seems like either my reading skids to a halt or I get bogged down in a book I'm not sure I should finish. This week, I stopped reading one book and I'm loving what I started but finishing things? Not happening much.

Recent Arrivals:

• The Wholesome Cook by Martyna Angell is not technically mine; it's a book my husband brought home from his most recent business trip. But, I only had one arrival, this week, and The Wholesome Cook is so pretty that I asked if I could add his purchase to my photo. Because it's Australian, the measurements have to be adapted but Huzzybuns has already cooked some lemony chicken and a cashew-kale pesto that was great on crackers.
• Iris Grace by Arabella Carter-Johnson is a book I pre-ordered from Book Depository and I started reading it the evening it arrived. I've been following Iris Grace's adventures on Facebook since a friend posted a video about her paintings. Iris Grace is on the severe end of the autism spectrum and the book is the story of how art (and probably her cat, Thula, but Thula has not yet arrived by the point I've reached) opened up her world. So far, I'm loving this book. There's a little bit of "first-time author" awkwardness but it's negligible and I'm finding her story captivating.

Books finished since last Malarkey:

• In This Proud Land: America 1935-1943 As Seen in the FSA Photographs by Roy Emerson Stryker and Nancy Wood - Mostly photographs but the introductory material to this book was much more interesting and revealing than anticipated.
• Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote - My F2F group's March selection and a book that definitely works for #Weirdathon. There's some major weirdness in that sucker.

Currently reading:

• Iris Grace by Arabella Carter-Johnson
• Lone Star by Paullina Simons - but this one may end up a DNF. Lone Star is 622 pages long and fairly word-dense but it reads a bit like a YA and I was expecting something . . . I don't know, with more of a literary feel? I stopped at p. 252 because the reading was going very slowly and I read In This Proud Land, that night. The next day, I didn't feel like picking Lone Star back up. And, the next day, and the next. It might be time to let this one go. 
• The Heart by Maylis De Kerangal - I've only read about a dozen pages so I don't know if this one's going to click, yet, but I do like the writing style and it's a translation (something I've been intending to read more) so we'll see how that goes. 
• Magazines - bunches of them. I subscribed to several magazines with unused airline points and they've been piling up like crazy so I'm trying to knock the stacks down and get some of those into the recycling. Husband also brought home some magazines from his trip and it's always fun to read articles from other countries so I read a bit of one, this weekend (a very interesting interview with Bindi Irwin). 

Last week's posts:

• A Walk in the Sun by Harry Brown (review)
• Normal Norman by Tara Lazar and S. Britt (review)
• Getting Weird: Signed up for #Weirdathon (post about reading challenge)
• Fiona Friday: Twofers (cat photos)
• February Reads in Review, 2016 (brief descriptions of everything I read in February)

In other news:

I still haven't gotten around to pulling down the Margaret Atwood books (which require, believe it or not, either a tall ladder or a small scaffold to reach -- we do have one) so I'll just take a picture of the #Weirdathon books I already have in hand, tomorrow, if I haven't managed to get husband's help reaching the Atwoods. I have plenty of weird books within reach.

What's up in your world? Read anything marvelous?

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

February Reads in Review, 2016

February of 2016 was an unusual month for me in two ways. First, it was another unusually low-count month. I credit that partly to the fact that I made the mistake of continuing to read two books that weren't grabbing me, although I have to keep reiterating the fact that I think they both involved some solid storytelling; it was my mood that was off. The second way February was unusual? I reviewed everything I read in a timely manner. That doesn't happen often! Links to the full reviews are provided below.

February

9. What Remains of Me by Alison Gaylin - A convicted murderer visits her father-in-law and returns home drenched in blood. Did she kill him or just happen to show up at the wrong time? An unreliable narrator who keeps certain facts locked away in mental drawers and a twisty plot kept me guessing all the way to the end.

10. Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham - My classic read for February tells the story of an author's colorful first wife, a story the narrator reveals when he is asked to share what he knows about the late author's life. Originally entitled "Skeletons in the Closet" for good reason, it's about secrets that are not revealed and why a biography isn't necessarily as accurate as one might expect. Loved it.

11. Weirdo Simpatico by Katy Bourne - A slim book of flash fiction brilliantly written, wacky, and entertaining. As I type, there is a giveaway for this book in process at Goodreads. You should definitely sign up.

12. Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian - When his grandfather dies and leaves the family estate to an elderly woman in America, Orhan travels to visit her, hoping to get her to return the property to the family but instead finding out the truth about his family's past and the old woman's experience as a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. Liked but didn't love this but it was probably just bad timing on my part.

13. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - The story of the author's childhood in Ohio, South Carolina, and New York City, her struggles with reading, and her determination to become a writer. A lovely, inspiring, beautifully-written memoir and one of my favorites of the month.

14. What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan - A year has passed since a little boy went missing when his mother let him run ahead of her in the woods. She recounts the story of his disappearance and how people came to believe her guilty of murder after a botched television plea while the parallel story of one of the policemen leading the investigation is told through his conversations with a psychiatrist. I particularly liked the way the author showed how people are judged via social media through the story of the fictional mother.

15. Normal Norman by Tara Lazar and S. Britt - Norman, a purple orangutan, has been chosen by the scientist narrator to display the concept of normality. But, it turns out there's nothing normal about Norman because there is no such thing as normal. A book that encourages youngsters to embrace uniqueness. Loved it.

16. A Walk in the Sun by Harry Brown - My absolute favorite read of the month, a WWII novel about  a platoon of American soldiers taking a 6-mile hike from the beach to a farmhouse in Italy. There's an immediacy and truth to this story that makes it one of the best WWII novels I've ever read.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday - Twofers

I've already posted this photo to Facebook so I'm going to share two photos, today, for those who've already seen this gem: the look Isabel gave me when I asked her to stop attacking the clean laundry (by far my favorite photo of the week).

My second favorite is a pic of the cats hanging out on the guest bed. They weren't exactly cuddling but it was nice to walk into the room and see that they were peacefully coexisting.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Getting Weird - Signed up for #Weirdathon

I happened to see a Twitter conversation about this month's #Weirdathon, yesterday, and immediately signed up because I am nothing if not weird and therefore I'm a fan of weirdness and weird events.

The sign-up goes on through Saturday and you can read the entire thread about #Weirdathon, here. I can't get to some of the books on my long list, at the moment, but I'll post a picture when I've at least got most of what I'm considering. In the meantime, the books on my mental planning list:

• Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
• The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe
• Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

It's the Margaret Atwood titles that I can't get to: Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace. And, because I'm weird, all titles are subject to being thrown back on the shelf and changed for others, at any time. I can definitely get into a weird event, especially if it also involves #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks.

Addendum: I've started reading Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote and one of my F2F group's members has already declared that it's weird. So, maybe that counts. Maybe not. I'm finding it typically Southern and loving the language.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Normal Norman by Tara Lazar and S. Britt

Normal Norman by Tara Lazar
Illustrations by S. Britt
Copyright 2016
Sterling Children's Books - Ages 4 and up
40 pp.

What exactly is the meaning of the word "normal"? Is there any such thing as normal when it comes to creatures? That's what Normal Norman is all about.

The narrator of Normal Norman, a young female scientist, introduces herself and seeks to explain the meaning of "normal" by pointing out a very normal, average animal: Norman the orangutan. But, Norman immediately begins to prove that there is no such thing as normal when the narrator peels a banana and Norman thinks she's torturing fruit. He begs her to stop. An orangutan who doesn't eat bananas and talks? That doesn't sound normal, does it? The scientist tries to show Norman's normal home, a jungle. But, Norman turns away and climbs into a bunk bed and says he can't sleep without his stuffed anteater, Mr. Scruffles.

Norman's best friend is a python. Norman likes to drive dune buggies and fly with a jet pack. There is nothing normal about Norman because, as this nutty orangutan shows, there is no such thing as normal.

After a slighly awkward beginning in which the narrator introduces herself (I could visualize myself having to explain what a narrator is, when reading to a child -- not a bad thing, actually), Normal Norman quickly becomes a very funny book.

Highly recommended - Great story, terrific theme, brilliantly colored illustrations that show movement and expression. The only things I disliked about Normal Norman were a couple pages that are slightly awkward for read-aloud and a different quality of paper than I'm accustomed to from Sterling Children's Books, neither of which are worth focusing on. The theme and humor make Normal Norman a book worth owning and definitely a great title to read to a class of young students who need to start learning early that there is no normal and it's okay to be yourself.

Note: After posting my review, the author tweeted to me to let me know that the matte paper in Normal Norman (different from the glossy I'm accustomed to) was a higher quality matte finish chosen for a vintage feel. And, here I had myself convinced it was the opposite. As I said, I don't think it was a negative at all. It was just different and surprised me. I think all Sterling Books are excellent quality. Thanks to Tara Lazar for clarifying!


©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

A Walk in the Sun by Harry Brown

To a man marching in the sun time becomes as static as the shimmering horizon. It surrounds him and presses on his shoulders. He moves, but time stops. Seconds swell to giant size and minutes are immensities. The body conditions the mind's knowledge of time--it flies in pleasure, it crawls in pain. And on no one does its weight fall more heavily than on the soldier. Yet as the platoon wound carefully along the dusty road time warred with itself. It crawled when the men thought of their march, it ran insanely when they thought of their objective. Over them hung the fear and the threat that something was going to happen, that Something was going to happen. They did not feel that they could move fast enough to beat time to the punch. In a normal route march a man can let his faculties go dull, he can become numb. He can slog on, unaware of his surroundings, unaware of anything save the back of the man who slogs in front of him. But under fire, during a landing, during an advance, he must keep continuously on the alert. He must seek out rocks and trees and attempt to see through them. He must recognize that there is an enemy very near at hand and that even the landscape can rise up and kill him.

~p. 68

"Hey Cousins," he said. "What comes after Tibet?"
"What comes where after Tibet, for God's sake?"
"In the war. Where are we going to fight the war after Tibet?"
"How the hell do I know? In bed."
"There's a country. I can't think of its name."
"There's a million countries I can't think of their names."
"All right, I just asked. Forget it."
But Cousins had suddenly lost interest in Archimbeau. Over on the left, about five hundred yards away, he saw two figures coming toward them.
"Arch," he said softly. "Look."
Archimbeau looked. And as he saw the figures Cousins turned and went running back to Sergeant Porter. He crouched a little as he ran.

~pp. 86-87


A Walk in the Sun by Harry Brown is a WWII novel that was published in 1944. It tells the story of a platoon of American soldiers sent on a mission to capture a farmhouse in Italy. Before they land on the beach, their commanding lieutenant becomes the victim of a freak accident. When the second in charge goes to find someone to seek permission to take over the platoon and doesn't return, the platoon begins the 6-mile hike inland. And, then the third in line for command simply falls apart, victim to the fatigue and mental stress of a year of fighting.

The title is perfect. The platoon is literally taking a walk in the hot Italian sun. But, since it's wartime, it's no normal walk. They must deal with the many hazards around them -- mud, heat, hunger, fear, Germans in the air and on the road -- in addition to constantly changing leadership, injuries and loss. Throughout their march, the soldiers joke with each other and give each other a hard time. They worry aloud and make plans for the future. When friends are killed, they choke back the emotion and just keep going.

Highly recommended - Absolutely riveting. At only 187 pages, A Walk in the Sun is a compact, powerful piece of writing, one of the most gripping, realistic war books I think I've ever read. David Abrams, author of the novel Fobbit, book blogger at The Quivering Pen, and a former military man, read A Walk in the Sun just a week before I did and we were both equally stunned that it isn't more widely known and talked about. I'll link to his review when he posts.

I ordered my copy (which looks almost pristine, apart from a scrunched spot on the cover, even though it's a first edition) after seeing a comment about it on a WWII history page. What a lucky catch that was. If you're a WWII fan, I recommend you rush right out to locate a copy. Secondhand copies are available at a reasonable price online.


©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.