Lottery by Patricia Wood November 19, 2007

“I am Perry Crandall and I am not retarded.”

 ”Perry Crandall has an IQ of 76, but is not retarded, as he’ll have you know: his IQ would need to be less than 75 for that, and he knows the difference even if others may not. Perry, the 32-year-old narrator of Wood’s warm-fuzzy debut, has worked at the same marine supply store for half his life and lives with his wisecracking grandmother Gram, whose gems of folk wisdom help him along.  But when Gram dies, Perry’s selfish, money-grubbing family members swoop in and swindle him out of the proceeds from the sale of her house—and then come a-knocking again when Perry wins $12 million in the Washington State Lottery.  Suddenly everyone is paying attention to Perry, but who can he trust? Even his friends from the marine supply store behave differently, and on top of everything else, Perry finds himself falling for convenience store clerk Cherry, who has problems of her own. Despite his family’s shenanigans and sinister maneuverings, Perry holds his own and discovers abilities he didn’t know he had. ” – from Publisher’s Weekly

I’m sorry to have just the quick blurb, but it’s Thanksgiving week and I wanted to get this up before I forgot!  I’m thankful for this book – it made me laugh from the belly, feel for those who are treated unkindly, and think about what it truly means to be both lucky & fortunate.

Read this book!!  Happy Reading – and Happy Thanksgiving!

The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross November 19, 2007

While reading The Other Mother, I felt like an outsider peering in to the frontlines in the battle of THE MOMMY WARS.   The players: Eight months pregnant Amanda, a successful children’s book editor and dedicated New Yorker who picks up and moves to suburban New Jersey with her lawyer husband;  her new neighbor, Thea Caldwell, a full-time mother of three who still lives in her childhood home and who welcomes Amanda with brownies.  When the newcomers take extended shelter in the Caldwells’ basement following a damaging storm and, later, when Amanda hires Thea as nanny to her newborn, resentment, bitterness, and misunderstandings follwo.  The plot devise of these women’s feud is less compelling than their own inner demons, revealed through alternating narration.

In the end, though this book came highly recommended and is received strong reviews, I would not recommend it to many – I believe it was because I simply did not enjoy any of the characters.  It was not that I couldn’t relate to them (I can’t relate to Michelangelo, but I still enjoyed his story), I just did care for them.

So…. pick a different book up and happy reading!

The Sleeping Beauty Proposal by Sarah Strohmeyer November 13, 2007

When I was young, I read voraciously.  I read everything I could get my hands on… as long as it was an easy read, a great story, by a modern-day author, and something my Mom or Aunt Sue would label “Trash.”  (Yes, with a capital “T.”)

 My older self reddens as I admit that I was a romance-novel addict.  They were fun, quick, and easy to lose myself in their fantasty worlds of bodice-ripping rowdiness.

After reading a few “heavier” books, I’m still drawn to these chick lit books – not just romances, but mysteries.  I’m a love-to-dog-him reader of James Patterson, a huge Mary Higgins Clark fan, and noncommittal-but-always-willing-to-try anyone else with an intriguing dust jacket.

And yet, all too often these days I’m left disappointed with choices from this past favored genre.  The latest?  “The Sleeping Beauty Proposal” by Sarah Strohmeyer.  In this cute book, an admissions counselor watches her beau of four years giving an interview on TV and then proposing to the love of his life – imagine her surprise when she learns he didn’t mean her.  Our heroine of the hour decides to keep her mouth shut and enjoys being “engaged” while ex-boyfriend spends the summer and abroad.  Oh the hilarity that follows!

The plot had no holes and Ms. Strohmeyer’s heroine was comical and sweet – I don’t actually have anything bad to say about this novel.  It’s just that for me, I’m left feeling a little frustrated at myself that I wasted a few precious hours reading this instead of choosing to pick up “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” “Ireland,” or “Gone With the Wind” – all current choices on my “MUST READ” list.

It’s interesting how tastes change over time…  Happy reading!

The Agony & The Ecstasy by Irving Stone November 4, 2007

The Agony and the Ecstacy is the “biographical novel” of Michelangelo, but in addition, it is a beautiful story of the Italian Renaissance. Through Michelangelo’s eyes, the reader comes to know the Florence and Rome of his time. 

I have not previously read many biographical novels, but I imagine this must be one of the best.  Stone does a tremendous job of capturing the life of Michelangelo. Born into a family of stature that has seen better times, Michelangelo is eager to pursue a living as a sculptor. However, any work, no matter how creative or artistic, is seen as labor and of a lower class.  Michelangelo defies his father and at age 13 becomes an apprentice to a fresco painter.  His strength of character is shown through his determination to overcome the obstacles set by his family to achieve his dreams.  Michelangelo’s obsession with his work and a total lack of material wants also single him out, particularly in comparison with his peers (such as Leonardo da Vinci.)

The novel moves quickly through the events in his long life: from his work as a young teenager for Lorenzo de Medici (“Il Magnifico), to his first sculptures, to the creation of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Cathedral.  Michelangelo’s work on the Pieta and David while still a man in his early twenties is astonishing.  It is pointed out several times in the book that sculpture such as Michelangelo created had not been attempted since the times of the ancient Greeks.  He was trained as a painter,  but Michelangelo’s true love was marble.

After the creation of the Sistine Chapel masterpiece, Michelangelo’s life becomes mired in political conflict, which causes his art to suffer. While still creating masterpieces, such as the tomb for Pope Julius II and his other fresco masterpiece, The Last Judgement, the remainder of his years are spent on fruitless tasks, such as developing ways to quarry marble, etc.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the arts.  Michelangelo’s private and artistic life are both fully explored and leave the reader with a greater understanding of the time period.

I also would recommend this book to anyone traveling to Italy.  Ryan & I just returned from a vacation through there; we stayed in Michelangelo’s home city of Florence and would have been content to never leave.  The streets and piazzas where Michelangelo and his peers walked were captured by Stone in true detail.  San Marco and Santa Maria Novella are extactly as Stone describes.   Seeing the statue of David and Michelangelo’s other works were all the more poignant for understanding the story behind them.

This is truly one of the best books I have ever read.  Go pick up a copy and happy reading!