Skipping Christmas & The Christmas Thief

For True Book Addict's Christmas Challenge, I'd decided to read at least one book and then move on to the Obesity Help Rants & Raves book club pick of the month. I just couldn't get into that book, though, and so I went back to the Christmas challenge and read another book. Now I've read books 3 and 4, Skipping Christmas by John Grisham and The Christmas Thief by Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark.

I'd seen Skipping Christmas with TB at the movie theater when it first came out. I thought it was hilarious ... at first. Then something happened that bothered me and it sort of "spoiled" the movie for me. I realized I had a copy of the book here and I'd never read it. I picked it up and wondered if I would feel the same way about the book ... and I did. Here's why:

Luther and Nora Krank are a couple of empty nesters who find themselves facing a Christmas without their adult child, Blair. Blair's joined the Peace Corps and is going to be away, starting with the end of the Thanksgiving holiday. The parents are understandable down-spirited about this. Luther is drawn to a travel agency one day and is totally sold on the idea of a vacation cruise in lieu of staying home to celebrate Christmas. He convinces his wife by saying it won't be the same without Blair and they can afford the trip by cutting out all the expenses of Christmas. I think, in their case, it was like $7,500.

I'm thinking, great idea. Since they are leaving on Christmas day, I don't get why they have to totally forgo the celebration since they obviously have money but I won't argue that point. Nora likes the idea although she's not totally convinced about giving up the tree, the yearly Christmas Eve party, cards, and so on.

Once they put their plans into action, the Christmas terrorists come out of the wooodwork--overbearing neighbors who try to dictate when and how they decorate the outside of the house, employees that don't get the concept of not going to corporate parties or giving meaningless gifts to each other, police/boy scout/other organizations travelling around trying to force their wares (calendar/trees/other) on homeowners in the name of charities, and merchants looking for business (the guy who sells Christmas cards and so on). They think the Kranks are crazy, selfish, or grinchy for not celebrating the way everyone else does and for breaking formation.

So far, it's all funny as all get out and the Christmas Nazis are obnoxious as well as amusing. So what goes wrong?

On Christmas Eve, Blair decides to come home ... and she's bringing a fiance. She asks her mom if the usual party will be happening ... and her mother says YES.

That's what bugged me. A lot.

Luther and Nora are running around like lunatics trying to find Christmas dinner, put together a party, get a tree and yadda yadda yadda. I didn't find it funny. It was pathetic. I was annoyed. I didn't enjoy the story anymore.

I guess if Nora had said, gee, no dear, I'm sorry, we decided to take a cruise instead ... maybe it wouldn't have been "funny". Or maybe it would. Maybe we'd see what kind of daughter Nora and Luther really had. Oh well.

Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark have a few characters they've been reuniting the last couple of years to tell a new Christmas story. The books have been cute and predictable. It's a little too complicated for me to get into all the characters of the book because it was just an enjoyable little bit of fluff. Bottom line: the group is headed to Stowe, VT for a weekend around Thanksgiving. It turns out that the Christmas tree going to Rockefeller Center is being cut down right in that area and they want to go see it. Also headed to Vermont is a recently released con man who hid his stolen loot 12-1/2 years ago in a tree ... guess which tree? It's a nice little story, light hearted and with the usual happy ending.

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

I just finished the second of 3 books I definitely chose for the Christmas reading challenge.

I've always enjoyed A Christmas Story, a low budget film released in 1983. My first husband and I saw it while we were dating. At that time, I thought it focused too much on kids' "gimme gimme" attitude but it's grown on me over the years. I didn't realize until years later that it was based on a story written by Jean Shepherd--well, actually, a series of stories.

Because I've become so fond of the movie, I picked A Christmas Story up one year from one of the bookstores, probably Borders.

It's rare for me to say this but ... the movie was better. Here's why:

Jean Shepherd reworked three or four of his other stories to fit in with the actual Red Ryder BB gun/Christmas story piece. I thought they were all part of the same story or, at the very least, they all took place around Christmas time. Ahem. No.

Second, two of the short stories start out with occurrences that have nothing to do with the story that follows. For example, in the first one he's eating in an Automat with an elderly woman sporting a button that says "Disarm the toy industry". His conversation with her eventually leads to his look back at his obession with getting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. It didn't feel right and didn't "fit" in my opinion. I thought it detracted from the story.

Third, it just wasn't as funny as the movie was. The movie really seemed to tell the story from the boy's point of view. The short stories were told by an adult. There's a big difference between the two perspectives. One is charming and one ... isn't.

Lasstly, the Christmas story piece came first in the book. That was a real let-down. After that, where do you go? Oh well ... I've still got the movie to look forward to!

I'm reading Skipping Christmas by John Grisham next. The story was also made into a movie just a few years ago, called Christmas With the Kranks. I sure hope I like the book better!

Push/Precious by Sapphire

Wow. What. A. Powerful. Book.

I first heard about the book on another forum, Obesity Help. The poster read it and wanted to know if anyone had. The synopsis she gave sounded really depressing but I was intrigued and so I went to request it from the library. That was in *June*. The waiting list was miles long.

Since then, I forgot about it.

The book is actually called Push originally but I understand the author, Sapphire, renamed it to match the name of the heroine and the title of the newly released movie. Yes, a movie has been released, called Precious and I am scared to see it!

The heroine is a 16 year old girl named Precious Jones. She lives with her mother in Harlem and has a harsh, depressing life. She's been traumatized and severely abused by both her parents and at the beginning of the book, she is pregnant with her second baby by her father. Her mother, one of the most hateful and despicable characters I've ever had the displeasure to read about, not only blames Precious for "taking" her man away she also engages in some really perverted abuse of her own--on her own child.

Precious is illiterate but still goes to school. She sits in the back and tries to learn and actually has a good aptitude for math. No one can reach her, although she does like her math teacher.

She's suspended (or was it expelled?) from school for being pregnant. The story starts in 1987 and since when was that a reason for expulsion anymore? Anyway, the principal (if that's who it was) has a change of heart somewhat and comes to Precious' flat in Harlem to tell her about an alternative school.

That's really when Precious' life begins. She shows up to apply for admission to the program and is placed with a wonderful teacher. She is in a class with others who are struggling with their own demons and trying to learn too. The teacher wants everyone to write everyday in a journal. At first Precious is very skeptical. How can she write if she doesn't know how?

But she starts with just a few letters she knows from the words she wants to say. The teacher writes in the spelling of these words below and then adds a response. For the first time, Precious feels she's made a connection with someone and can communicate.

You would think that this is one of those feel-good books that starts out so miserably and ends on a happy note. I wish that was the case but in this story, life keeps getting in the way of Precious' plans. It's sad but it's also inspiring and more true to life this way.

It's not a big book and so I was able to finish it in just a couple of days.

Back to the Christmas challenge...although in its own way, this book was part of that too. It was a gift to read it.

Christmas Challenge

I found a blog called Word Trix and learned about the Christmas Challenge on The True Book Addict. I love book challenges--especially Christmas ones! This particular challenge is easy--read 1 to 4 Christmas books. I thought of one I could do, up to 5 if there was no Obesity Help Rants & Raves Book Club choice for December.

Today, I finished the first book I picked: A Christmas Blizzard by Garrison Keillor. I've completed the challenge and yet I can go further if I want! I chose this book because it's new and I love Garrison Keillor. He writes funny stuff, very down to earth and true to life. Well...usually.

As I started to read the book, I wondered if this would be yet another variation of the bah-humbug-find-the-meaning-of-Christmas types. They're good but enough already, you know? Anyway, James Sparrow is a 42 year old successful self made man (by a lucky meeting with a down-in-his-luck chemist). Sparrow has it all--tons of money, a lovely loving wife, a successful business...but there's just one thing. He has this "thing" about cold weather, Christmas and iron water pumps.

He really wants to go to his home in Hawaii with his wife to celebrate Christmas. She's one of those people, though, that loves the traditional holiday and weather and helping people. She gets the flu. On top of that, he gets a call from his cousin. Apparently his favorite uncle is dying and so he has to fly to North Dakota.

He's only planning to go for a few hours but stuff happens, you know. Like ... a blizzard. Up until this point, the story was coherent and kind of funny in places. I started to get lost, though, when Sparrow was on his way through the snow to the uncle's but ended up back at the airport somehow. The plane is snowed in and no one's going anywhere so he decides to go stay in a fishing shack.

At that point, I felt like I entered Wonderland. I kept wondering if James was having some kind of drug trip or blizzard hallucination but some of the strange things that happened actually were real. Other things...well, were they real or were they like the scenes with Clarence the angel in It's A Wonderful Life?

I won't give away the ending but I will say I wasn't especially crazy about the story. Oh well. Better luck next time.

Booking Through Thursday: Authors

Do you think any current author is of the same caliber as Dickens, Austen, Bronte, or any of the classic authors? If so, who, and why do you think so? If not, why not? What books from this era might be read 100 years from now?

Actually, I do. There are several I can think of, actually. I'm assuming authors like Harper Lee and John Steinbeck are already considered "classic". The authors I'm thinking of are "classic" for their storytelling techniques, themes, plot and character development. In my humble opinion, these are:

1. Mary McGarry Morris
   Kevin Baker
   Herman Wouk
   Arthur C. Clarke
   Margaret Atwood
   Barbara Kinsolving
   John Irving
   Wally Lamb

I'm sure there's more but Survivor's on in 10 minutes and I've got to book! When I get back, it'll be interesting to see which other other bloggers suggested!


For more Booking Through Thursday, click here.

Booking Through Thursday: Too short?

“Life is too short to read bad books.” I’d always heard that, but I still read books through until the end no matter how bad they were because I had this sense of obligation.

That is, until this week when I tried (really tried) to read a book that is utterly boring and unrealistic. I had to stop reading.

Do you read everything all the way through or do you feel life really is too short to read bad books?

I used to read books to the bitter end as well out of obligation but I don't do that anymore. Actually, let me take that back. I'll still do it with a book-of-the-month club I belong to. That's only because I feel committed to the club. I've read so many books I wouldn't normally read and none of them have been that bad.

That being said, if I pick a boring book or one that eventually doesn't appeal to me on my own, then I will abandon it as soon as possible. Usually that would be within the first 100 pages.

The reason I give up on it now is that I realize there are so many good books out there I could be reading. Why waste my time on something I'm not enjoying? Do I really need to inflict that kind of agita on myself when reading is supposed to be so pleasurable for me? No.

I'm teaching myself to stand up for myself in more ways than one. :)

The Gate to Women's Country by Sherri S. Tepper

Discussion Questions

1. Which of the cultural innovations of the Women's Country do you think is working best for them?

Since they're trying to eliminate destruction and war, I think it was a good idea to keep women in charge of the professions (other than warriors) i.e. teachers, healers, judges.

2. Which cultural innovation is not working for them, or not working well?

Weeding out warriors genetically is a good idea, I guess, but it takes a long time! I also thought it was a terrible idea to turn the boys over to the warriors at such a young age (5) and then make them decide whether to be warriors or not at 15. Mothers can be a much better nurturing influence on their boys when they're young. At 15, most adolescents still want to "fit in" and don't want to be stigmatized. Maybe more boys would return through the women's gate if they were given to the men at an older age and if they decided what they wanted to be when they're older.

3. If you were required to practice a science, an art, and a craft, what would they be?

I think I'd be most interested in healing, music and pottery.

4. Do you think the sub-theme presented by the Homerian-style play "Iphigenia at Illium" was helpful? Did it add anything to your understanding of the story?

I understand why it was there but I didn't like it. It interrupted the "flow" for me.

5. What did or didn't you like about the book, and why?

The genetics twist was terrific. I got a good laugh out of that one. I didn't care for the fact that Stavia was so taken in by Chernon. I was really impressed with her intelligence and dismayed that she would let such a self-serving creep use her the way he did. :P I guess it just shows to go ya that "love is blind." Yuck.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help was the sixth book we read. Questions asked and my answers:

• Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was Aibileen. I was able to make the strongest emotional "connection" with her. Aibileen was the kindest and most loving of all, sensitive to the needs of small children--especially poor Mae Mobley, who's mother was so awful to her. Maybe the author was closest to Aibileen too--she seemed to be more fleshed out than any of the other characters. I could just about see her there, telling me her story.

• Do you think Minny was justified in her distrust of white people?

Without a doubt! Other than Skeeter and Celia Foote, I haven't seen a single white character that treated her decently.

• Were you disappointed that Miss Skeeter didn't end the engagement before Stuart did?

I was disappointed that she went back to him so easily, yes. He was rude to her on that first date so I was surprised she'd even consider going out with him again--and then he dumped her again. I was totally not surprised that he walked out on her as soon as she told him about the book. :P

• Hilly seems to be a horrible, controlling woman, but a good mother. Is that possible?


It depends. I suppose a controlling woman could be a good mother, but not one that spews hate like Hilly did. It wasn't just her bigotry it was also her spiteful revenge she'd take out on someone who has the "nerve" to cross her. Children live what they learn. Hilly might love her kids but from her, they'd learn to be bigotted, small minded and vengeful. Nope, not a good mom.

• What did you think of the pie Minny made? Justified?

Hilly deserved every bite she took. It did gross me out though. (shudder) I sure do understand why Minny did it!

• Would you have had the courage to stand up and do what Miss Skeeter did? Or would you be the type to go along with the flow and the times.

I had a little trouble with this. I'm not sure to call what Skeeter did "courage". For a long time she didn't understand the risk she was putting the lives of the maids into. When she did do something "rebellious" I wasn't sure if it was really such or not. Example: Hilly demands that Skeeter print that horrible directive of hers. I think it would have been more courageous to flat out refuse and resign or write a disagreeing editorial about it than to pull a prank and then act all innocent about it.

I'm conflicted about it because Skeeter and I would be from two different generations. Skeeter was born around WWII and there was a whole different set of "rules" then. I can remember opening up my big mouth to object rather than to just go along with the flow. Sometimes I was ostracized and it did hurt but oh well. It was better to have that than not to say anything about something that was wrong.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

This was the fourth book we read in the R&R book club. The person who picked the book posted a lot of discussion questions and that's how we handled it that month. The questions I picked and my answers:

1. Do you sympathize with Olive Kitteridge as a character?

I found Olive to be a difficult character to like and it's hard to sympathize with someone you don't like. I found her to be overbearing and mean in the first story and it was only gradually that I was able to feel any sympathy at all for her. In the very last story I liked her a teeny bit. I was very surprised by the sensitivity and compassion she showed in some of the stories. I wasn't sure I believed it but apparently it was part of her nature. Appearances *can* be deceiving!

5. Why does Henry tolerate Olive as much as he does, catering to her, agreeing with her, staying even-keeled when she rants and raves? Is there anyone that you tolerate despite their sometimes overbearing behavior? If so, why?

He gave in way too much to her, in my opinion. That's the way some people are, though. They always put the needs of the ones they love first. No one's going to agree all the time in any relationship and usually one or the other will give in or compromise somehow. I don't think it's particularly healthy for one person to be giving all the time and the other to be taking/controlling all the time and that's the way Henry-Olive's marriage seemed to work. Neither one was totally happy with the arrangment. :P As for me, sometimes I tolerate my DH's overbearing behavior because I love him and because he *is* trying to be more flexible. He's become less rigid in the 7 years we've been married.

7. Does it seem fitting to you that Olive would not respond while others ridiculed her body and her choice of clothing at Christopher and Suzanne’s wedding?

Olive's response does seem fitting to me because it's what I would have done. I have overheard other people making fun of me because of my appearance. I've been terribly hurt but too proud to be confrontational about it. I don't want to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing they hurt me.

14. Was Christopher justified in his fight with Olive in “Security”? Did he kick her out, or did she voluntarily leave? Do you think he and Ann are cruel to Olive?

I don't know for sure if Christopher was justified in what he said to Olive because I haven't seen them together often. The few times I have, however, I did get the feeling that Olive was a controlling presence in his life. Until he said so, I didn't know that her mood swings affected him. I think that he has very real mixed feelings about his mother and his feelings definitely needed to be expressed. I wouldn't say he kicked her out. She said she wanted to go. She may not have realized it but I believe she said she wanted to leave to make him feel guilty. This time, he didn't play into her hands. I absolutely do not think he and Ann were cruel to Olive.

A short answer to #15, which is a follow-up: I do believe Olive is completely oblivious to the impression she makes on others. I believe she was truly shocked by what her son said to her. She probably doesn't realize how much her former students feared her and would be surprised by that too. She would be equally shocked to know that she did make Henry miserable many times.

22. Apart from the hostage-taking, Olive Kitteridge refers to many violent or traumatic events in the lives of its characters or their friends or relatives – suicide, divorce, infidelity, miscarriages, death by drowning, a major stroke, a fatal hunting accident. Books can seem oppressive when painful events pile up, or so dark you can’t finish them. If you read all of Olive Kitteridge, how did Strout keep you reading? Why didn’t the book seem oppressive? Did it?

I'll be perfectly honest here: I kept reading because I felt committed to it. I really enjoy the R&R Book Club. If I'd picked up the book to read on the own, I wouldn't have finished it. I really did find it to be very dark and depressing.

Books I read for the R&R book club

No, R&R doesn't stand for rest & relaxation! It stands for Rants & Raves and is on the Obesity Help website. In March, there was a thread about starting a book club. I was interested and I joined. These aren't real reviews, I guess, but they do give the gist of what I thought about some of these books. We started reading the books in March or April and have been going since.

1. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls--She recounts some hair-raising experiences growing up with her sisters and brother. Her parents were totally dysfunctional even if they did love their kids...and it was hard to tell at times. I was amazed that the three older kids did so well, managing to support themselves and make good lives for themselves. I have a lot of admiration for what Jeannette Walls and her brother and sister were able to accomplish.

Personally, I grew up with a possibly bipolar, probably alcoholic and definitely raging mother and an indifferent hard drinking father. This book was good but hit a little close to home for me too!

2. Prayers for Bobby by Mary Griffith


I felt sad reading much of the book. What a waste of a young life! Bobby seemed like many teenagers, just trying to find his way in life. I think whether gay or not, lots of kids feel alienated like Bobby did and many are left to flounder on their own. But to have your own mother telling you you need to be saved or go to hell is just too much! I would have preferred to stick more to Bobby's story than to hear Mary's story, especially the last section of the book. I thought her change could have been condensed a little more. I did appreciate the afterword although I realized at that point it was written in 1996?

Just as personal experience, I was the member of a more liberal minded Presbyterian church in the 1990s and I remember the whole movement to try and have gays become ordained and open members of the session and deacons and all that. The committee I was on wrote up a report and I remember how full of hope we felt. Two of my friends wanted to be deacons but were afraid because they couldn't come out openly. One friend was a deacon but couldn't come out and it was one of those don't-ask-don't-tell BS type policies we had.

So when the whole thing was rejected out of hand we were crushed. I fell away from the church. I can't say for sure that was the reason specifically. I just felt the whole thing (organized church & its rules) was hypocritical and I just didn't want to go anymore. I thought, I don't have to be in a church to worship God and to have Jesus in my heart.

My biggest regret about that, though, is that my kids were young when I pulled out and they know very little about the stories and their own salvation. Recently I asked if they believe in God and that Jesus has saved them and I got, "well, it's a comforting idea" and "I sure hope so." I guess while I was home worshipping I didn't do a very good job passing the teaching onto my kids. All I taught them was bigotry in any form is WRONG and the do unto others rule. But that is how I try to live my life--love your neighbor as you love yourself and love God with all your heart. There are NO clauses in there that says love your neighbor except if he/she is gay/black/poor/fill-in-the-blank.

3. Napalm and Silly Putty by George Carlin

One night I needed my son Bill to drive me somewhere and he put in a George Carlin tape for us to listen to. It's funnier listening to him than reading him although I found many parts of the book hilarious. I *did* notice the repetition though. Parts of this book were on the tape which was from a different book entirely. Bill told me, yeah, he does tend to use some of his routines over and over.

A few things I enjoyed--

"Do you ever look at your watch and immediately forget the time, so you look again? And still it doesn't register so you have to look a third time. And then someone asks you what time it is, and you actually have to look at your watch for the fourth time in three minutes? Don't you feel stupid?" Heh heh, yes!

I liked the section about new speak. Carlin called them euphemisms that soften our language. Like, saying dental appliances instead of false teeth, landfill instead of dump, civil disorder instead of riot, job action instead of strike and gaming resort for gambling joint.

Some of the material I didn't find funny at all, especially the references to rape and other violence.

Booking Through Thursday

Something I’ve been thinking about lately: “What words/phrases in a blurb make a book irresistible? What words/phrases will make you put the book back down immediately?”

It's easier for me to explain why I put a book back down immediately. I don't like to read formula books (i.e. detective) or romance stories. As soon as I see the word detective or investigator, the book goes down. The same thing happens if it hints of romance--like, young woman with 3 kids loses husband, moves to a new town, meets obnoxious contractor working on her new house. Bam! Down it goes. Sometimes I'll put the book down as soon as I get a good look at the author's name because of the genre they write in.

Books I'll open up and browse through:

They're "different" in that the hero/heroine is unique or has an unusual problem to handle. One example of a book I browsed further and then read is Stones From the River. Excellent book!

Maybe it's about a time travelling heroine--i.e., Outlander. I'll overlook the romance because there's enough other interesting and thrilling parts of the story.

I usually enjoy historical fiction so sometimes I'm hooked by the time period. Paradise Alley centered on a group of characters experiencing the anti-draft rioting in NYC back in 1863 (or was it 1862, duh!).

Books I read while I was unable to move around in July

From This That & The Other Thing:

I did a *lot* of reading the last 10-12 days which really helped me pass the long hours. Two of them I'm holding back while I decide which book to choose for a club I belong to on another forum. The others:

Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Donnell: I ordered the book because I saw it was about a family with a deaf member and I was interested in it. It's actually a book for teens or young adults but I still enjoyed it. Dovey Coe is a child growing up in the mountains around the time of the Great Depression. She is a plucky character and speaks in her mountain accented voice. There's a nasty bully that rags on her deaf brother and is pursuing her pretty older sister. He lures Dovey to the store his family owns. Dovey becomes involved in an altercation with him, trying to stop him from killing her brother's dog. She's knocked out but when she comes to, the bully is dead. She's accused of murder...but did she do it?

Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin: This was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me. Doris Kearns Goodwin grew up on Long Island and so a lot of the places she mentions were totally familiar. She also describes small town/block living where people knew and looked out for each other and I remember that too. She & her family were avid fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers before they defected to LA. It's a great book for anyone who grew up in the '50s and '60s!

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert: The story is about Rachel Kalama and takes place in Hawaii between 1890s to mid 1900s. Rachel is about 7 when she develops leprosy and is forcibly quarantined on Molokai. Although you'd think this would be a very sad book, it's very upbeat in many places. Rachel has a great deal of courage as do many of the other people suffering from leprosy. I enjoyed it and was moved by it.

I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven: This is the story of a dedicated young vicar sent to live in a very isolated village of native Americans in British Columbia. The people grow to love and trust him as he learns their language and culture. Ah...but the bishop has a very special reason for sending the young vicar--a sad one. It's a quick and easy read.

I'm holding back on: In This Sign by Joanne Greenberg and Train Go Sorry by Leah Hager Cohen

Eye Opening Books II

When the civil rights movement began in the south I was still kind of little. I didn't know what was going on at first. Later, when I began watching the news for seventh grade current events, I saw the rioting in places like Watts and didn't understand. My parents explained the riots were instigated by "troublemakers".

I lived on Long Island with my parents and brother until December 1964. Our schools weren't segregated so I had no idea that they had been in the south. Later, I remember reading about the violence of busing issues in the north to fully integrate schools. The only thing I thought was how silly it was to have to ride a bus across town when there was a neighborhood school a kid could walk to. By then, I was living in Baltimore and I don't remember we really needed busing. The schools were pretty much integrated and so we went in our neighborhoods.

When Martin Luther King was assassinated, I was shocked, saddened and confused. He was only 39 years old, a preacher. Who would kill a preacher? I was confused, though, because my parents said he was a "troublemaker". How could he be? He was a preacher! Yet, there was rioting in Baltimore and smoke filled the sky. Maybe my parents were right, I thought...but why? Why were people so angry?

Well...I was dumb. I didn't know very much about what was going on in the country or in the world either until then--1968, when all hell seemed to break loose.

I read Gone With the Wind and saw the movie with my parents when it was re-released. Oho, the people in the south had owned slaves. That was very bad, I thought, but that was 100 years ago. Why was everyone still mad now?

I was thinking and seeing things like the naive child I was.

I started to get it when I read To Kill A Mockingbird. A black man was on trial for his life after being accused of raping a white woman. The first thing that troubled me was that some of the white people expected appointed lawyer Atticus Finch to put up a dummy defense. They all anticipated that Tom Robinson would be hanged anyway.

The "star" witness, Mayella Ewing, was a pathetically poor and lonely young woman who only had her child siblings for company. Their father was on the dole, an alcoholic, and the kids showed up for one day of school and that was it. They were worse off and off crummier character than anyone else, black or white, and yet she was going to be believed just because of her color. During question, it became very clear she was lying. She hadn't been raped. She'd been attracted to Tom and her father saw her hugging the terrified handyman. Tom ran out of the house and the bum father beat the hell out of his daughter.

Atticus proved there was no way Tom could have committed the crimes Mayella accused him of...yet Tom was convicted. He was "shot" while trying to "escape". I felt as sick as the kids in the story felt.

No wonder black people were mad! They were "kept in their place" by Klan mentality, shot, beaten or hanged because of what? The color of their skin. That was sickening.

I felt angry because no one had told me any of this happened. This was supposed to be a free country, why wasn't it? I began to argue with my parents about the things they said. Why did they think protesters were troublemakers? Why did they hate Puerto Ricans? Why did the government lie to us?

I still didn't know much about the civil rights movement in the '50s and '60s. It just didn't come up in school and my parents surely weren't going to talk about "troublemakers". Once I began to see footage of the police with clubs, hoses and dogs set on marching blacks I was really horrified. Those policemen and the hate filled white crowds looked more like Nazis than Americans.

I was already out of high school so it was after 1973 that I saw that old footage. I thought, what! That kind of segregation was still going on when I was a child? What! Blacks in states like Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana couldn't all vote? What! Even in 1968, Rev. King was still working on civil rights? It hadn't happened for everyone even then? What!

I just finished reading Coming of Age in Mississippi and again my stomach turned at the hateful behavior of white Christians. They'd kill a black man for even looking at a white woman. Anne Moody writes about the murders of several young men from her town and she had to get out because she couldn't stomach all the hatred.

She wrote about her work in "the Movement", exposing herself to being beaten, arrested or killed just to be able to sit in a restaurant and be served or sit down and wait for a bus like everyone else. Segregated restaurants, bathrooms and waiting rooms? She lived in constant fear because she had the nerve to go around trying to get other blacks to register to vote. That whole system was crazy. Blacks already had the right to vote...why did they need to pass some kind of crazy test the whites thought up?

Worst of all...where was everyone? It wasn't just the white southerners and the KKK causing the trouble. And they were the troublemakers, not the protesting blacks. What's wrong for asking for what you're due? It was the whites who responded with murder. Now that is wrong wrong wrong. Anyway, where were the rest of us? Where was the government? They were quaking in their shoes, I guess. They didn't care enough or were too scared to get involved.

I don't want to come off sounding sanctimonious or righteous. It just makes me sick. Apparently we're all capable of being Nazis and Klansmen. When we look the other way, that's just as bad. That's what happened in Germany to the Jews, here to the blacks, and all around the world.

Eye Opening Books

From This That & The Other Thing:

Eye Opening Books
This is probably going to be a rambly post today--sorry! I was thinking about the books I've been reading over the last several months and what eye openers they've been. Why are people so mean to each other--especially in the name of God?

I grew up with deaf parents, deaf relatives and deaf friends. I learned early about discrimination and repression of deaf people. Yes, they've been repressed too. I can't tell you how many times I was asked as a small child, "Can they talk?" "Can they read?" "How can they drive a car?" "How can they have children?" I mean, DUH!

Way back when, my parents couldn't go to school with everyone else. They went to special schools for the deaf. My dad's education was better than my mom's because the teachers and students all signed freely. At my mom's signing wasn't allowed and all the communication was through lip reading. No one was even allowed to gesture. Sign language was looked upon as dummy language. Deaf men could be printers or machinists, never managers or lawyers or doctors. Deaf women could be seamstresses or key punch operators, and certainly never managers, lawyers or doctors. Things are better now but we're not there yet.

What's that got to do with eye opening books? Now I'll get to that. I knew that Jewish people and people of color were also different but I had no idea of the extent and cruelty we could have towards one another. I read Exodus by Leon Uris, The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee when I was in high school. We didn't learn about the holocaust in Nazi Germany during my school years. Up until I read Lee's book, I didn't understand what African Americans were so mad about in the late '60s. Genocide, discrimination, repression--who wouldn't be angry about that?

Here's a funny thing: although my parents suffered discrimination themselves, they also carried around very bigoted ideas. When I was growing up in the '60s, they'd ignorant things about Jewish people and people of color, specifically African Americans and Puerto Ricans. They would say that blacks are trouble makers for protesting injustices against them. They had stereotypical beliefs about Jewish people. My dad told me he would disown me if I ever dated or married a Puerto Rican. I wondered where their hatred came from. When books like Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas and Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody were first published, I was afraid to read them because I knew my parents would disapprove and because I was afraid of what the books might say.

I joined a book club a few months ago on a support forum I visit regularly. Recently, one of the members chose a book called Prayers for Bobby by Mary Griffith. The book is about a young gay man who killed himself because he'd learned (from his mother & prevailing religious beliefs) to hate himself. He jumped from a bridge onto a highway below because he couldn't stand to live with himself anymore. I was shocked and saddened by the things I read in the book; that the suicide rate for teenagers is highest among the gay kids; that in the name of our loving God, parents and other people would condemn gay people instead of opening their hearts and churches to them. I remembered the gay pride parades and gay rights movements but am sorry to say I hadn't given them much thought--just as I hadn't given much thought to the Jews or the African Americans until I started to read about what had happened to them.

After that, I found both Down These Mean Streets and Coming of Age in Missippi at a book sale at the library and read them. They made me feel sick to my stomach and thoroughly disgusted that these things could happen in our country, so wealthy and supposedly "the land of the free". Free, yes--if you are white and Protestant (both of which I am). But what about everyone else? This country is for all of us, not just us white heterosexual Protestants!

Now...let's see what else I've got to read around here?

Gump & Co.

From This That & The Other Thing
Gump & Co. by Winston Groom


My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I absolutely loved the movie "Forrest Gump" so when I saw this book at a library sale, I had to have it. It picks up where the movie left off but I have to say that the first book and the movie must have been quite different. For instance, Forrest's shrimp company apparently went bankrupt and he was left flat broke. His true love Jenny didn't die as she did in the movie although she was pretty quickly dispatched in this sequel. Forrest got into plenty of adventures in this book as well, including Iran-Contra, the first Gulf War, the fall of the Berlin War, and other historical events from the 1980s. Forrest even met Tom Hanks who suggested that a movie should be made from Forrest's life. Heh. It was an amusing book, very light and easy to read.

Duma Key

From This That & The Other Thing:

Duma Key by Stephen King

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I just finished reading the book and while I liked it, I don't consider it to be one of his best. My favorite is and always will be The Stand, I guess. T



Edgar Freemantle was a happily married, middle aged owner of a construction firm when a horrible accident severely injured him physically and mentally. In the aftermath of such traumatic injuries, he's changed and as a result, his life takes some dramatic changes. His therapist suggests a change of scenery and Edgar chooses to relocate from Minnesota to Duma Key, FL.



Edgar had already begun sketching by the time he moves to the house he renames "Big Pink". Suddenly, he is a prolific artist, moving on from pencil drawings to oils.



There is a chilling mystery on Duma Island. Why is the southern part overgrown with trees and plants not really native to the area? Why does no one live on that part of the island? Edgar's only neighbors are an elderly patron of the arts struggling with Alzheimer's and her caretaker. As Edgar becomes friends with them and learns more about them, his artwork takes a dark turn.



I don't want to go any further and include spoilers. I enjoyed the book but felt it was too long. That's been an issue with some King books I've read, particularly the ones since his accident. His writing has changed and while I haven't read everything he's written since then, I haven't been a big fan of the stuff I have read. The story could have ended a lot sooner. Part of the ending reminded me of something that happened in one of his other stories and I didn't think it was necessary to have it happen in this book.



I love Stephen King and will continue to read whatever he writes, including going back and re-reading the old stuff.

Hideaway

From This That & The Other Thing:

Hideaway by Dean Koontz

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hatch Harrison and his wife Lindsey were on their way back from a vacation to try and rekindle their marriage (they lost their son almost 5 years ago) when they are in a terrible car accident. Hatch is actually killed in the accident but is successfully resuscitated by a dedicated doctor at the hospital. It's this second chance at life that revitalizes their marriage and Hatch and Lindsey decide to adopt a disabled child, Regina. Unfortunately, Hatch seems to have brought back a disturbing ability with him -- he has an inexplicable connection to a psychotic serial killer and is able to see through that man's eyes.

As Hatch struggles with the disturbing visions and dreams, he soon realizes that the killer is also able to see through his eyes and that it places his new little family in danger.

Is the killer a human or some evil manifestation from hell? That's just one of the myeteries to be cleared up.

This was an exciting, very suspenseful book which became almost unbearable toward the end. There was a couple of real nail biting twists in the story, something Koontz is very skilled at introducing into his stories.

This is one of his earlier books but one I hadn't read. I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.

The Colorado Kid

from This That & The Other Thing:


rating: 2 of 5 stars
I was very disappointed with The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. He wrote the book especially for "Hard Case Crime", a series of books by classic mystery writers and new ones that were supposed to have a 1940s/1950s old time mystery feel to them. I was expecting a hard boiled crime story and what I got was two old geezers in Maine telling their wide-eyed intern about some guy from Colorado who may or may not have choked to death on a steak sandwich. I kept waiting for the book to get better and it was charming but that is about all. Waste of time.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder: An Altered Perspective

From This That & The Other Thing:

Someone (I wish I could remember who) recommended that I read Pervasive Developmental Disorder: An Altered Perspective (by Barbara Quinn and Anthony Malone) so that I could understand better about PDD-NOS. I would like to thank that person because yes, this book helped so much! There are some sections in the book that are a little difficult to understand because the discussion is about biology and how our brains work. However, the authors suggest that the reader start out where the greatest needs or questions lie and skip around. I learned the differences between the spectrum disorders but basically it all boils down to this: the kids with PDD have some issues all of their lives, especially with socializing. There are a lot of interventions and medications available so a diagnosis of autism or PDD is not the end of the world. The book concludes with stories told by the parents of four kids diagnosed with PDD. The stories are hopeful without being sappy, realistic without being scary. I would recommend this book to anyone whose family member has PDD.

Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince

reprinted from This That & The Other Thing:

Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince
Reading the Harry Potter books is like watching Everybody Loves Raymond: I don't care for the main character but enjoy the supporting characters. Harry's become a cheeky, selfish bratty teenager--not all that much different from your typical adolescent. I just want to grab his shoulders and shake him for the disrespectful way he treats adults and other people he doesn't like. He's been known to criticize even those people he does like--Headmaster Dumbledore for one. He thinks he knows more than anyone else does and this in spite of all Dumbledore's wisdom and experience. Well, all right then.

Harry's been through an awful lot in his sixteen years. First, he was orphaned by the very evil Lord Voldemort when he was barely a toddler. Voldemort was trying a pre-emptive strike against Harry (the intended target) because of a prophecy made about the two of them. Harry's mother put herself between the baby and the dark lord after her husband was murdered and refused to budge, thereby saving the baby's life. Voldemort was weakened by his attack on Harry and ran off into the unknown. Dumbledore and several other protectors stepped forward to see to it that Harry survived. They left him with his aunt and uncle, a pair of truly despicable foster parents.

Once Harry was eleven, learned he was a wizard and went off to Hogwarts the wizarding school, he faced more traumatic events. For each of the years he was at Hogwarts, an attempt was made on his life. Voldemort was determined to come back to power but Dumbledore, headmaster of the school and prime champion, protected Harry throughout the years...until now. Each book has become darker with more twists, more deaths, and more tragedy for Harry. Lonely and neglected Harry learned he had a godfather--who was killed shortly thereafter by Voldemort's supporters. Not surprisingly, he's turned into a very angry boy.

Now that he is aware of the prophecy, Harry finds he has to learn all he can about Voldemort. His guide is his beloved mentor, Albus Dumbledore, who shows him through memories how Voldemort became the monster he is. At the climax, Dumbledore is betrayed by someone the headmaster believed to be an ally. Or was it a betrayal? Harry seems to think so but I'm not so inclined.

The half-blood prince refers to a certain someone who "helps" Harry get through one of his classes. It's totally ironic to me that Harry would feel such a pull toward taking the student's advice. Like Hermione, Harry's friend, I'm a bit miffed he felt it was okay to cheat. Well, we're all human right?

Speaking of seeing the human side, I also enjoyed seeing the "softer" sides to some of the previously thoroughly obnoxious characters...even Lord Voldemort was a thinking, feeling child once.

This was a very good book if you can get through the teenage angsty bits, the adolescents' crushes and loves, and other little boring details. There is enough of the good stuff to keep you going.

The last book is set to come out in print in July. Everyone is up in arms, worried that Harry Potter might die in the book. Stephen King, Lemony Snicket & other book writers have been appealling to Rowling to spare Harry. I sort of hope he lives even if he is bratty!