Book Notes

It seems I can't put two thoughts together to make a worthwhile post these days, but in an effort to at least try, I thought I would review the last few books I read.  It is a rather eclectic list.  A little non-fiction, and a little more fiction.  I don't keep a written list of the books I read anymore.  I stopped doing that when I started using Goodreads, which is a great thing, but I miss my book journal, and it seems if I don't record the book right away, it tends to slip my mind, even two days after I finish it, which happened to me with the last book I read, even though I really found it an engaging book.  Early onset Old-timers.  :)

So, starting with the most recent, here we go...

Letters in the Jade Dragon Box - Gale Sears
This book is based on the first native convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hong Kong.  That man is the Uncle in this book.  He becomes guardian to his young niece when her mom smuggles her out of China during the reign of Mao Tse-Tung.  When Wen-Shen is a teenager, they receive a box with an inlaid Jade Dragon on the lid.  It contains letters from her mom and paintings done by her grandfather, who is also the Uncle's brother.  The mom and Grandfather are trapped in China, subject to the cruelties and insane ideas of Mao.

As they read the letters, they learn of the atrocities their family members have endured.  Wen-shen learns about her father, who she has no idea about.  She figures out why she has the same recurring nightmare, she learns why her mom did what she did in letting Wen-Shen go.

I particularly enjoyed the author's notes at the end of each chapter that described terms in the chapter related to terms or instances that were from this time in Chinese history.  I knew a little about it, but learned more about what went on during Mao's reign of terror.  I actually know a woman who was sent to the country to work in the fields during this time.  She had no idea of the other awful things that happened, even though she lived through it!

(I had the same incredulous feeling reading this book that I did when I read The Help.  I can't believe those horrible things were happening during my lifetime!!  I know I'm no spring chick, but this is the stuff of tyrants, and crazy men like Hitler.  I guess no one in the United States really knew what was  happening over there at the time, which is a little unbelievable in our day of instant news and constant rehashing should that news be of the sensational sort.)

The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman
A fiction book set on an island about 100 miles from the Southwestern tip of Australia.  Although I thought it was set on an actual island called Janus Island, I was mistaken.
Tom and Izzy are a young married couple who live on the island where Tom is the keeper of the lighthouse.  They are happy together, despite the fact Izzy has lost several babies to miscarriage.  One day a boat washes up to shore with a dead man and a live baby.  Tom knows they should report it, but gives in to his grief-stricken wife who, of course, falls in love with the baby almost immediately.

Beyond that, I would be spoiling the plot with more information, so I will just tell you that it is a well-written, but heart-wrenching book!  I was listening to it on CD and one disc ended at a very dramatic point and I had to call a friend who I knew already read the book to make sure I wasn't going to be devestated if I kept going.  :)

I also enjoyed this book because it is set in the same part of the world that Ashley and Brandon so recently dwelt in!  The part of the world I did not get to.  :(

As You Wish - Cary Elwes
I was almost afraid to read this memoir of the making of "The Princess Bride", one of my all-time favorite movies.  I was afraid it would tell of tempramental actors, cranky directors, and all around a bad experience in filming the movie.

I'm happy to say, I couldn't have been more wrong!  It was a delightful journey of Prince Westley's (Cary Elwes) experience and the gratitude he feels for the movie that really gave him his big break.  Although it was a low-budget movie, with a poor lead-up to its premier (the advertising people had no idea what kind of movie to describe it as), it developed a cult following and is now well-beloved by many people.  We have been known to recite a line or two at the dinner table, and apparently, we aren't alone.  Many of the lines from the movie are popular and heavily quoted!

It was an easy read, but very satisfying!!

Death Comes to Pemberley - PD James
This was my first book to read for the book club I recently started attending!  (Yay, I'm in a book club again!)  It was another book I was a little wary of reading because I love Pride and Prejudice so much, I was afraid of what a spin off book might end up like.  I am still haunted by Scarlett, a sequel to Gone with the Wind which was not a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

As it is, I didn't LOVE it, but I also didn't HATE it.  I felt the author was true to Jane Austen's writing style, she stayed true to the characters, and it was an interesting twist to Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy's very regular life.

If you are wondering about reading this book, you should at least give it a try.  You might like it.

Schulz and Peanuts - David Michaelis
I am still not sure if I'm glad I read this book.  I pretty much grew up on the Peanuts comic strip, during the height of its popularity. So I was curious about the author of the strip.

He is not painted in a very good light throughout most of this book.  He's portayed as rather a loner, almost afraid to travel, and an unfaithful husband.  He seemed to have a hard time being happy, despite the success of his comic strip, and he appears to have been a pretty distant father.  His relationship with his parents is a bit confusing, and I actually felt sorry for him as a child.  It is a long book and truly toward the middle to end, I felt like I was slogging through, but had to finish.

After I was finished, I went on-line and tried to find out a little more about his children.  One of them is actually a convert to the Church, and in an interview after the book came out, expressed her and some of her siblings' disappointment in the final product.  That makes me wonder what the author did with the information that was freely shared with him.  All in all, it left me with a rather dubious taste in my mouth.

And finally, I listened to 2 Flavia DeLuce books (author Alan Bradley).  If you have ever read a book in this series, you will know what I mean when I say they are engaging and delightful.  Flavia is the perfect protagonist and although I am usually quite opposed to dead bodies, I can't seem to be turned away, even as she finds yet another corpse in the small village where she and her family, a widower dad and 2 intolerant sisters, live in her deceased mother's mansion.

I read the first several books in this series, then one day picked up the next book on CD and I will never go back.  One of these books is the perfect companion as I run around town during the day.

Whew!  That was a long post.  I think I better break up the list next time.  To leave on a high note though, I'm pretty sure I touched on every book I have read this year!  I'm happy with the length of the list so far!!

Over Half-way Through

Truly, I can't believe I am typing this, but Sister Rietz is over 1/2-way finished with her mission!  Wow!  That time has FLOWN by!!  She loves it, she is growing, she is maturing, it has been a great experience for her.  She has only been in two areas, and has fallen in love with both of them.  She has been involved in several baptisms, and has taught a lot of people, done a lot of service, and made life-long friends with her companions.  

I am a rookie missionary mom* and didn't know I was "supposed" to send her a 1/2-way package.  I only know this because I ran into another missionary mom and after I told her how long Amber has been out, she asked me if I sent the above mentioned package.  Well, of course I didn't!  She gave Pinterest all the credit for the box she sent her son - 1/2 a package of cookies, etc.  I'm just feeling a little bad that I missed the boat on that one!  I'll have to make it up to her in May with a 1-year package.  Luckily, Amber hasn't mentioned anything in her emails, so hopefully she doesn't feel too slighted, and will continue on working hard and loving missionary life. 

Rookie mom or not, I am still her mom, and can honestly say I wouldn't want her to be anywhere else.  She is so happy, and although she is learning that life can be hard, and that things don't always go the way you expect, she is also learning that the Lord listens to her prayers, and that the Holy Ghost will be with her if she is worthy, and will help her say the things her investigator needs to hear.  A small accident left her with stitches in her lower leg, and eventually a big scar, but that hasn't deterred her and in her own little humorous way said it was just a matter of time before she had to use the mission insurance!  (I second that.  It was an inevitable thing.)  She has a strong testimony of the Priesthood as she has had to exercise her faith in it through several bouts of illness.  And she knows the importance of OWE - Obedience with Exactness, something her dad reminds her of each week - and the blessings that can come from obedience.

So here's to the next nine months.  November will be here before we know it, but for now I am so happy to be a missionary mom and support my favorite missionary!  Keep up the good work, Sister Rietz!!

Proof that she is no sissy!  A souvenier from a district soccer game.

With Gideon-Moroni, her trusty bike.  She loves it, and wants to ship it home at the end of her mission.  

Showing a little attitude with Sister T.  (Both of them are from Idaho!)

Amber just got to speak at the baptism of these cute girls.  They are from her first area, but they wanted her to speak, so she got to go back.

*and just to cement my "Missionary Mom of the Year" award, it has really been over a week since her 1/2 point.  I am just getting around to getting this post written.  Sigh.  (I may just be hopeless at this.)