BOOK REVIEW:  The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Little Prince, a classic and helps me to fulfill my goal of reading a classic a month for this year.  

I have a very sweet memory of a piece of needlework that my mom gifted me many years ago. The most remembered quote in the book: 

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” 

This is a fantastical fable differentiating children and adults.  Adults lose their childlike wonderings, questions and ramblings which tends to make them uninteresting and boring.  I believe that I could read this little book and peel a layer each time revealing something that resonates each time.  Being my first time to read this… I remember the discussion between an adult and The Little Prince.  The Prince related the questions we might ask a child about a friend would be “What color is your friend’s hair?” and “What kind of work does your friend’s dad do?”  Not the interesting type of questions, “What does your friend’s voice sound like?” or “Does he collect butterflies?”  I love this!  When I carry my granddaughter to and from school, friends is a topic of conversation.  Next time, instead of my usual boring questions, I think I will ask, “What games does he/she like best?” 

This is a sweet little read, with lots of room for rich discussion.  I will reread it… maybe soon!  This would also be a great little book for seminaring (similar to a book discussion but stays on track, no wondering/wandering/dreaming… hmmm… the act of seminar might go against the grain…  this the theme of this book), a teaching strategy that is utilized with great works.  

3.5/5

 BOOK REVIEW: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

 The Perks of Being a Wallflower filled my goal of a banned book every month for 2024.  Triggers: sexual content, drugs, alcohol, suicide

My childhood must have been very sheltered.  I think it was due to mainly my families economic standing.  My mother did not drive, so I spent a lot of time at home during my school years.  I say this to explain my lack of connection with this story’s characters.  

I did relate to Charlie’s inner-voice that at times overwhelmed his conscience.  In adolescence we all have weird thoughts and ideas and tons of questions.  These thoughts need to be shared with a trusted caring adult who will listen.  Charlie was exposed to so much: death, suicide, homosexuality, sex, which created an “seen can’t unsee” mental picture along with alcohol and drugs. This exposure formed in his mind as “norms”.  This is what I have heard of  as “growing up” too fast.  Charlie is a gifted kid, facing the conflicts of his life unprepared because of his immaturity adds to his struggles. . He befriends older high schoolers who introduce him to a much more mature way of experiencing life aka having fun.  He was receiving counseling, but for naught.  He was quite possibly unsure of exactly what to share.  His home life was by no means perfect, but he loved his parents, older brother and sister, and they loved him, even though their arguments were numerous, which is normal.  Charlie loved his friends, whom he considered to be his true friends.  This is evident when he gave them very gifts that were very individualized and personal.  

The book’s format was clever.  Charlie’s inner most thoughts and questions about his life were posed in a letter with the greeting, “Dear friend,” who is the reader.  My heart went out to Charlie.  As a retired teacher, I feel I knew several “Charlie’s” over my teaching career.  A teacher’s impact can make a huge difference in a child’s life.  I am thankful for the teacher who recognized Charlie and “saw” him for who he was, a confused, bright child, who was trying to fit in and belong.  This one teacher was his English teacher who offered him book after book to read, understanding Charlie’s level of understanding and possibly helping him make sense of life as he knew it.  I LOVED this!  One of the last books Charlie’s teacher gave to him was The Fountainhead… along with this advice, “Be skeptical about this one.  It’s a great book. But try to be a filter, not a sponge.”  Advice that Charlie quotes a couple of times as he deals with his life.

Charlie is the “Wallflower”, observing and registering life around him.  A synonym of “Perks” is benefits.  Were there “Perks” from being a “Wallflower”?  Read this book and derive your own answer. 

3.5/5

 BOOK REVIEW: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich is known for her Pulitizer Prize winning book The Night Watchman, based on the life of her grandfather.  Avid followers of her work know about her stories of Native Americans in the mid-northern US.  My author-reader connection was sealed by my reading of The Sentence.  I am a fan of Erdrich and adore two of the characters in this haunting mystery, Tookie & Pollux.  Any book about a bookstore and its impact on a community in times of trial is a jewel!  Intrigued?  Read on…

The Sentence opens with Tookie, the main character, body-snatching for love.  Tookie lived with her love and the body was her lover’s ex-lover.  Little did Tookie know, two women conspired and filled a few cavities of this dead body with drugs to be taken by Tookie across state line, a federal crime.  What was she thinking… she wasn’t! Tookie ended up serving seven years of sixty year sentence.  While Tookie was serving this sentence a former teacher sent her a dictionary to dig through… this opened the door to reading, everything and anything she could get her hands on while incarcerated. 

When she was released from jail, she landed a job as a bookseller in a bookshop in Minneapolis.  From this point, the plot takes off: Tookie marries Pollux, the police officer who originally arrested her in her crime mentioned above;  a “favorite” patron dies; this patron’s ghost haunts the store, especially Tookie; COVID pandemic strikes; George Floyd loses his life at the knee of a police officer; Tookie and Pollux become “grandparents” to their niece’s baby.  Relationships are created, tested, and strengthened through stresses of life during this anxiety-ridden time.  The humor was the seasoning for Tookie’s life, especially with Pollux.  Pollux’s integral role in this book is not to be overlooked.  His character was steady, loving, loyal to his Native American culture and to Tookie; his love language is cooking. 

This book has been called a love letter to book nerds.  There are “tons” of books spoken of throughout the story… but also know, you don’t have to keep a running list!  There are lists in the back of the book!  

 The relationships of love and found family weave through this story.  It is evident that Louise Erdrich is a product of a loving family, which is a strong theme in this beautifully written work.

 BOOK REVIEW: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead… gripping, heart-wrenching, tragic, compelling, tossed with bits of humor, because otherwise, it would have not been as heartbreaking.  Demon born into poverty: horrific conditions, father dead, addicted mom… talk about ACEs,  Adverse Childhood Events!  This kid has everything going against him!  Add to these circumstances, lived with neighbors, eventually placed in foster care (with some who only took kids in for the money and/or to make the kids work for their farm or whatever), in a couple of foster homes Demon was treated worse than an unwanted wandering animal waiting for PAWS to come by and pick him up, tormented in school by the classmates, foraging through trash to get food for sustenance.  How in the world would Demon make it out of the poverty and tragedy that he was born in through no fault of his own!  There are enough interesting characters who come and go, some who stay, some who are there for the long haul.  Humor is present at just the perfect time.  I guess if there was no humor, I am not sure these characters could have made it through their circumstances.  Demon Copperhead is not an easy kid to forget.  He will live in my heart for a long while.

What I am most sickened about in this Pulitzer Prize winning book, is the Opiod epidemic that appears to have been planned all along for this area of the country, Appalachia.  I am scratching my head over this.  I believe the big pharma companies have paid some restitution.  But throwing money in any amount will never be enough for the lives taken and ruined from these amazing folks who live in this most beautiful and for me, sacred, part of these United States. 

 BOOK REVIEW:  Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Happiness Falls is a mystery (missing person) and family drama.  The missing person is Adam, the dad of Mia, John (20 year old twins) and Eugene (14 years old) who is diagnosed with autism and Angelman Syndrome.  During Covid, Eugene and his dad go hiking every day.  On this particular day, Eugene returns home without his dad.  This is unsettling for Hannah, Adam’s wife, and the kids’ mom and Josh.  Even more disturbing are the facts that Mia, seems not to be concerned and Eugene, the one person who could say what happened, is nonverbal. The family does not have an effective way to communicate with Eugene, the one who can tell what happened to his dad on this particular hike.  To compound the urgency at hand this drama takes place during the pandemic, which becomes not only part of the setting but also a “character”.  

I found Happiness Falls somewhat “tiresome” at times.  Mia, being the self-proclaimed lesser of the twins, is the narrator.  She is home from college due to Covid; her personality and over-compensation for being “lesser” of the twins were at times a little over the top.  The family drama that ensued throughout this story includes a missing person investigation with a over-zealous officer, a compassionate attorney, Mia’s “boyfriend” from college, a therapist that Adam found worked with Eugene regarding communication strategies, which he kept from the family.  The pieces of this seemingly convoluted drama are sorted and resorted until they eventually lock in place with an ending that left me wondering.  

I always like to know the tie to the title… that I could not figure.  Like the many parts of this book, it left me pondering.  

Rating: 3.25 

 BOOK REVIEW:  Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo 

Mystery murders are not my preferred genre.  Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo is a book club pick, so I needed to break out of my reading bars, again.  This is the third in the Silence series.  My first from this particular group of Amish murder mysteries.  

Kate Burkholder is the sheriff in an Amish community.  Peace in this community has been shattered by the death of family members: Ma, Dat and an uncle. The sheriff is called to the Slabaugh farm as is the case when a death occurs. The deaths were ruled accidental  from methane gas asphyxiation by falling into a cesspit, until the coroner does his work. 

The twists and turns in this tale are surprising and shocking, even by Kate Burkholder’s standards.  Kate grew up Amish, but was excommunicated for reasons that are revealed in this plot-driven mystery.  

Silence is sacred to the Amish, such is the case in this work of fiction.  They do not want any help from outsiders, referred to in Castillo’s work as The English. There are several cases of harassment and violence targeting this peace-loving community in which the police intend to see that this violence ends. The  Amish response to anything dealing with society is SILENCE.  This lack of communication is vital to the solution of this mystery.  Pay attention to what is left unsaid or SILENT.  

Trigger: Language (As I used to tell my kiddos I taught when they ran across “bad words”; it is authentic to the story… let it go in one ear and out the other if it bothers you.)

 BOOK REVIEW:

The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

WOW! The heart and mind of man can be a place of great darkness. Recently, I read David Grann’s book, The Wager; in it Grann references Joseph Conrad. The Heart of Darkness was in my TBR stack, I thought I would give it a try. 

This classic, though sparse in size, weighs heavy from a psychological view of the perversion of human nature. From Dover Literature and Language Catalog (back cover of the book):  “Heart of Darkness ranks as a landmark of modern fiction. It is a book no serious student of literature can afford to miss.” So, I read it and might even read it again one day. It is beautifully written. Some remarkable scenes came alive in my seeing and hearing. About halfway through the book, I checked to see if it was available via audio. It was! I listened to it while I read the words. This helped me immensely in my picturing the story in my mind.