FALL FROM GRACE by L.R. Wright (1991)

Fall from Grace by L.R. Wright


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I like the way that L.R. Wright thought and wrote. "Fall From Grace" is book #4 (out of 9) in the Karl Alberg series set on the Sunshine Coast in Canada on the Pacific coast near Vancouver.

Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg and his girl friend, town librarian Cassandra Mitchell, take a boat ride and end up with a body. The plot concerns a secret from the past that is never clearly revealed. I felt like I was missing something when I got to the end because things weren't wrapped up as in her earlier entries in this series. The writing and characters still delight however!

View all my reviews >>

The Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin is a best-selling writer whose new book, The Happiness Project, is an account of the year she spent test-driving studies and theories about how to be happier. The book will hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller when it is published on February 7, 2010)! On her blog, she shares her insights in how to create your own happiness project.

Recently she wrote about Twelve Tips for Reading More with suggestions that include "Choose my own books", which reminds me of an earlier post I wrote.

SoCal school district bans the dictionary

This is amazing. As someone commented, "What next?" Click here to read more.

How did mere words become so dangerous?

The Little Stranger (2009)

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Slogging through this tome of a book, I declared it had better not be a shaggy dog story, but, in fact, that is what it turned out to be. I tend to handle unresolved endings pretty well if there is a point. I LIKE Henry James, for goodness sake.

The good news is that the story is well written and plotted. Sarah Waters spins a decent tale.

Reviews draw a parallel between the decline of the aristocratic families in Great Britain after World War II and the disintegration of the grand house and its family in the story. The problem lies with unsympathetic characters and repetition of dialogue and arguments. Add an unfulfilling ending and leave the reader uncertain about what they should feel.

Stephen King pronounced this his favorite book of 2009. Previous recommendations like "Memory of Running" and Kate Atkinson's "Case Histories" have given credibility to his choices. Read it if you like ghost stories but I am not recommending it.

View all my reviews >>

The People of the Generation (2003)

The People of This Generation: The Rise and Fall of the New Left in Philadelphia by Paul Lyons



This book is very academic and historically detailed and my interest flagged about halfway through. So why did I track down this title in the first place?

I lived through the sixties as a young housewife and mother and therefore missed the excitement of the times. Reading about people who I knew in high school effecting change in Philadelphia during the protests of the Vietnam War and fighting for equality made me realize how much I missed.

View all my reviews >>

Illustrations from Childhood

If you remember reading Golden Books as a child, the illustrations of Gustaf Tenggren will feel very familiar to you.

"Immediately after publishing this book [Tenggren's Tell It Again Book ], Tenggren produced The Poky Little Puppy, the book that was the model for the hundreds of Little Golden Books that followed over the next seventy years. By going back to his roots and synthesizing his Swedish cultural upbringing, Tenggren invented a style that now seems to us to be quintessentially American." (ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive to see his artwork. )

Other well known illustrators who worked for Golden Books included Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, and Martin Provenson.

Ballet Shoes (2008 the movie) (1936 the book)

I remember reading and loving Noel Streatfeild's wonderful tale about Pauline, Posey, and Petrova Fossil. Their story, Ballet Shoes, as well as Movie Shoes (also called The Painted Garden) and Theater Shoes (also called Curtains Up), enthralled me as a young reader. So for a holiday treat I had my local library get me the 2008 BBC movie version with Emma Watson (Hermione in the Harry Potter movies).

If you've read the book, you will find the story has been altered for modern audiences and sensibilities. The children come off as far more selfish and a love interest has been added. That being said, it is a charming film by today's standards and, as many reviewers point out, something that mothers and daughters can experience and enjoy together.

See the trailer by clicking here.

And you can read more about the author here.