Reading in the Garden

Outside Civilization Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  After graduating from college, Chris McCandless, a smart, affable, determined free spirit took to the road.  Leaving his Atlanta college town he traveled to explore the western United States and Mexico. Before he left he gave his savings away to charity, and along the way he abandoned his car, burned the remainder of his meager cash, and reinvented himself as Alex Supertramp.  Alex kept a written and photographic journal of his adventures which eventually led his to his ultimate challenge: Alaska.  There he went out to “live alone with no signs of civilization”—and he never returned. His body was found by some hunters four months after starting the “Great Alaskan Odyssey.” Tragic, heart-rending, unforgettable.  A sad, true story. A short book with a hefty lasting impression.  This book met a couple of my 2015 Book Challenges: Read a book set in an “A” state (Alaska); and read a book that ha...

Isabel Allende Strikes Again Zorro is Isabel Allende’s version of how a great hero came to be.  It’s about two boys growing up in California in the 1800s, and their adventures which later take them to Spain, where Diego de la Vega, aka Zorro, and is “brother” Bernardo hone their swashbuckling sword fighting skills.  This is also where Zorro falls in love and where he duels an evil adversary. This action-packed story is filled with dangers of bears, gypsies, and pirates, of honor, virtue, and love.  It kept me eagerly turning page after page as the young Diego is forged into a blade of justice, defender of the poor, weak, and suppressed. Isabel Allende is one of my mom’s favorite authors (right along Sidney Sheldon), and I totally understand why.  Allende keeps you interested—itching to continue.  I thought the same thing about Daughter of Fortune , another Isabel Allende book I read years ago.  My mother read it too, but she didn’t stop there...

Olive with a Hint of Lemon Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout is a Pulitzer-winning novel about a stern, intimidating schoolteacher and interconnecting stories of the townspeople whose lives intersect with hers.  Each of the thirteen chapters in this book meanders through the personal struggles and secrets lives of various people in a small Maine town. Although this was not a cheery book, I enjoyed it and found the narration fresh and intriguing. It was like listening to a friend gossip about neighbors. Strout’s skillful storytelling made it easy to get lost in the tales of the townspeople. She had my full attention. Among others, we get to know the piano player in a local bar, a mother of three who loses her husband, and a woman struggling with anorexia. Each story brings some type of tragedy or turmoil to light. The book is like a somber quilt with Olive as the thread that holds it all together.  Olive, herself, is not a bright and happy p...

The Charmed Life of an Explosives Expert The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson is a farcical tale of a centenarian who escapes an old folk’s home on his hundredth birthday and finds himself in an escapade that leads from one crazy situation to the next.  Allan Karlsson is no stranger to a wild and unusual lifestyle. He’s an explosives expert who, through his career, has met many historical figures along the way. He’s dined with leaders such as Stalin, Harry S. Truman, Charles de Gaulle and many more. The book alternates between his latest adventure and the outrageously far-fetched and funny background of his ten-decade romp through history. The book, first published in Sweden, has become an international bestselling sensation, much like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but on the complete opposite side of the serious scale.  The 100-Year-Old Man was skillfully written with a hand that had a direct connection to the funny bon...

The Art of a Con Stealing Mona Lisa by Carson Morton is a novel about a con artist who orchestrates one of the greatest art heists in the world, the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. While the bones of the story are built on facts, the meat is fleshed out with pure entertainment.  Fact: The Mona Lisa   painting was boldly stolen from the Louvre art museum in 1911. Fact: It was a former worker at the Louvre, an Italian named Vincenzo Peruggia, who accomplished the deed.  Fact:  Eduardo de Valfierno claimed to be the mastermind of the theft.  Fact: There really was a devastating flood in Paris (though not exactly the same year as the book) . Fact: I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I think it’s one of those kinds of novels I would like to see on the big screen. I imagine that the settings in Buenos Aires then Paris in the early 1900s, the Mona Lisa and art museums, the dramatic action towards the end, and the lighthearted, upbeat pace of t...

The Chicken-Driven Life Still Life with Chickens by Catherine Goldhammer is a memoir about a woman who divorces and must sell her home in an upscale neighborhood.  She buys a smaller home (which probably still cost twice as much my home) on a six-mile peninsula on the Massachusetts coast where she begins a new life with her daughter, massive renovations, and chickens. Like the title suggests, chickens play a major role in this book: the care, the coop, the eggs, the money, the time commitment, as well as the responsibilities that come with ownership. And while, in general, I have no great interest in chickens, nor do I have a desire to bring any home (except the roasted kind), I did find interest in these chickens and Catherine’s story about starting over. I liked her energy, enthusiasm, and “go-get-em” attitude.  I enjoyed this brief memoir about hope and determination…..and chickens. Update: My sister read it too, and really liked it! This book met two...

Strength of Sisters The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls.   Two sisters, 15- and 12-year-olds, decide to leave their California home after their mother, an unstable aspiring singer, abandons them to “make some time and space” for herself, so she can find “the magic” again.  The two girls head out to Byler, Virginia, the town they were born in—the town their mother never wanted to return to.  There they find their Uncle Tinsley, a recluse who lost his wife six years ago.  Bean, the narrator, is the younger of the girls.  She’s a spunky, self-assured girl who takes matters into her own hands.  Her sister, Liz, is a gentler spirit who loves nothing more than to keep her nose in a book.  Together they start to forge a new life in the small town; there’s just one big snag. And this new problem turns things upside down for them. I really liked this book.  Bean was such a bold, outspoken, forthright girl; it’s hard not to like her.  She ...