The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

I finished The Aviator's Wife last week and am just getting around to blogging about it.  This isn't due to a lack of things to say, or because I am not excited to share this book with my readers.  No, it was due to the lack of time to do this book justice.

I heard about this book thanks to Amazon.  You know--"if you liked ______ you may like_____."  I have learned to trust what Amazon knows about my reading habits and don't feel the least bit worried about that.  If the worst thing anyone ever knows about me is what I read I'm happy about that. The Aviator's Wife was reccomended because I had recently downloaded and read our February book club selection The Paris Wife.  Amazon's intuitive software recognized the connection. 

The Aviator's Wife is about Anne Morrow Lindberg, the wife in the shadows just as Hadley Hemingway lived in the shadows of her famous husband. There are also many other comparisons.  Anne lived a life guided by her husband, his interests and his image.  In the pages I read how wonderful and how horrible life with a famous, egotistical man can be.

Anne Morrow first met Lindberg when he appeared on the big screen as the hero of our country with his plane The Spirit of St. Louis.  Not long afterward she met him in person at the home of her parents in Mexico where her father was a U.S. Ambassador.

I first met Anne Morrow Lindberg years ago when I read her book Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead the story of their life together and the tragic kidnapping of their firstborn, Charles Lindberg Jr.  While the story of the "Lindberg Baby kidnapping" was part of my childhood the details were either never shared or long forgotten.

This historically based novel by Melanie Benjamin offered a new view of this once famous family.  Love and commitment are not always enough.  Ego and loneliness both damage a relationship.  Trust is difficult to repair. Political alliances can harm reputation and image.

Please read The Aviator's Wife.  The Lindbergs already seem to be fading into distant history for our generation so we may not have the images and biases our parents carried of this celebrity couple.  Visit their lives from a perspective so very different from the sense of "celebrity" we carry now.  You will be treated to a wonderful story with all the trials, tears, mistakes and blemishes of a real life.

The Paris Wife, February's Book Club Pick

The discussion was lively and diverse when we met Friday to discuss Paula McLain's book The Paris Wife.  Everyone in attendance had great things about the book.  McLain covered all the bases, it appears, in discovering and depicting this portion of Ernest Hemingway's life.  They are all there, his friends, acquaintances, and his first wife Hadley Richardson.  The people who loved him, the people who trusted him, the people who used him and the people he used all make their appearances.  The list reads like a guide to literature:  Ezra Pound, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Sherwood Anderson and many more.

As a young teenager the people included in this book were more real to me than the students who passed me in the hallways at school.  They returned as I read, each as amazing and flawed as I had remembered them.

While this is a novel it is a wonderful way to discover the feel and lifeblood of Jazz Age Paris.  Literature was growing,developing and re-inventing leaving a lasting stamp on what we believe and read today. 

If you love Hemingway--read this book.  If you know very little about the man Hemingway--read this book.  If you ever wondered what the art and literary explosion in Paris during this time was really like--read this book.  The popularity of The Paris Wife by Paula McLain is not a fluke. You might as well save yourself a trip to the library or book store and get a copy of Hemingway's A Movable Feast while you are at it.  You'll want to read that as well!

Fire Watch by Connie Willis

Fire Watch is a collection of twelve short stories by Connie Willis a well known science fiction author from my home state, Colorado.  She has won six Nebul awards--more than any other science fiction writer.  If you enjoyed her novels Blackout or All Clear you will enjoy the title story Fire Watch which is in the same setting, but Willis has a varied offering in this collection. 

The stories cover a large scope of subject matter. They range from Daisy, in the Sun a story about the sun going super nova to A Letter from the Clearys about a family's life in the aftermath of a nuclear war. My favorites were Samaritan and Blued Moon.  Samaritan brings up the question of whether animals have souls in a unique and thought provoking way.  Blued Moon takes place in Wyoming at a site where a company is sending waste into outer space and the unique consequences that result.

Many are moving and some are a little creepy but they all kept me reading.  Most of them are not for someone who worries about what will happen in the future because the stories in this collection are not all "happily ever after" tales. 

Sometimes a short story fits into my schedule more seamlessly than a longer book.  It is easy to pick up, read a quick story and then put it down again.  A short story also seems to required less energy and commitment from the reader, although at least one of the these stories seemed quite intense to me. 

I always encourage people to read something by Connie Willis.  Her storytelling skills are top notch and her imagination runs everywhere!

Mrs. Dalloway, January Book Club

Let me start by saying everyone should read something by Virginia Woolf at least once in their lifetime.  I think this holds true for man authors such as Shakespeare, Hemingway, Joyce, and Rand.  You don't need to fall in love with the book or the author but you just may.

While I did not love Mrs. Dalloway, or the author Virginia Woolf I am extremely glad I read the book.  The style, stream of consciousness, was at first a chore to read but gradually I got into it.  The story takes place on one day of the life of Mrs. Dalloway and includes some peripheral characters that touch her life very remotely.  As someone who loves the extremely large epics this book forced me to change my focus. 

This book was the pick for our early January discussion at book club.  Since it was for our group I was committed to reading the whole book.  Since my book club met on January 4th I began reading after Christmas and read in several large chunks.  For me that may have helped to hold everything together. 

One thing I have learned belonging to a book club is that the book you love is not always the book that generates the best discussion.  Some books lend themselves to a lively and diverse discussion while some do not.  Mrs. Dalloway is an excellent discussion book. 

Have you read a Woolf book?  If not, I do highly recommend Mrs. Dalloway.  You many not fall in love with the book or the author but you will be glad that you read it.   If possible share this book with someone else, you will have a lot to discuss.

Welcome Back!

I feel like this message is for me, but I intend it for you as well.  It seems like summer arrived, we tackled a huge landscaping project and suffered through the heat then suddenly school began.  I just fell off the bandwagon and I apologize.  It was heart warming to come back and discover that you've been here all along, checking in from time to time.  Thank-you.

My resolutions for 2013 including blogging every book I read this year.  Although I won't complain about books I don't like I will at least least acknowledge that they were read.

So, lets skip the lame excuses and go right to the books!

Seaside Knitters Mysteries

I have been a big fan of mysteries since I was a pre-teen.  It was about that same time that I first learned to knit through 4-H.  Move ahead many years and it is not surprising that I read a couple of knitting related mystery series.

Recently I finished the latest installment of the Seaside Knitters Mystery series, A Fatal Fleece.  This is the sixth book and Sally Goldenbaum continues to turn out engaging new plots. 

The characters are all inhabitants of a small seaside town but vary enough to offer many twists and turns to the plots.  Despite age and career differences they are tied together through the women at the local knit shop.  In many books a young yarn shop owner, her aunt and uncle, a lobster fisherman, the singer with a local band and a rich elderly woman would not have a lot in common.  I have found knitting to be a bond like that in real life as well. 

Goldenbaum's mystery plots are well worth the read even if you are not a knitter.  The main tie to knitting is the relationship between characters.  Although I have never lived by the sea the details seem plausible and real. This particular book touched me because the murder reminds us that "family" is not necessarily and can take on many shapes within a community.  I have experienced this many times in my own life.

Although this is a series it would not hurt to pick up or check out a copy of A Fatal Fleece, you will learn everything that is important to this story.  Then, perhaps, you will choose to start back at the beginning.  Don't knit?  Don't worry the mystery and setting will keep you engaged.

A Lindsay Buroker Marathon

Last week I suddenly realized that the fourth book in Lindsay Buroker's Emperor's Edge series would soon be out.  All of my "have to" reads have been keeping me busy and I had not caught up with Lindsay for a while so I held my own "Buroker Marathon".  Over a weekend I read the third Flash Gold book and the stand alone novel Encrypted. 

Peacemaker, from the Flash Gold Chronicles, is an enjoyable book and a fairly quick read.  Set in the Yukon the main characters are Kali and her friend/protector Cedar.  Kali is a gifted inventor and mechanic.  Much of her work is powered by flash gold which her late father created.  Even small flakes of it are very powerful.  When she met Cedar in the first book, Flash Gold, she first thought he was out to steal the flash gold but a friendship began and continues to grow. 

Cedar's brother was killed by a villain, Cudgel, who continues to elude capture.  While on his track, however, Cedar has been helpful in protecting Kali and stopping several other criminals.  There is plenty of action in the Flash Gold books along with the steam powered vehicles and weapons that I enjoy so much. 

Probably my favorite Buroker book so far, Encrypted takes place prior to the Emperor's Edge series but has one cross-over character, Sicarius.  Getting to know more about Sicarius's past was a real treat since he is my favorite Buroker character.  The other main characters, Tikaya and Rias are also very interesting and made me want to learn more about them and the ancient technology they discovered in some very old caves.  My hope is that Buroker will return to Encrypted and create another series or that this plot will find its way into future Emperor's Edge books. 

If you haven't tried one of Lindsay Buroker's books, what are you waiting for?  The Amazon digital downloads are quick, and reasonably priced.  If you would like to get to know Sicarius a little better Lindsay currently has an interview with him on her blog, check it out.