Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach

Note: This is a repeat of last year's sole post. I'm back to writing here at a bi-weekly rate (hopefully)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

During the early 1970s, it seemed everyone read Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. I had read it several times, and had fond memories of it.

Several years ago, I received a copy of this slim book from two different people and decided to reread it to see how it stood up over the intervening years. Since then, I've reread it several times.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull tells of a seagull who doesn't quit fit in and is banned from his flock as a misfit. Jonathan's misdeed? He loves to fly, loves learning how to improve on flight, how to fly faster, and knows that such learning is, itself, what makes life worth living. The flock, however, has come to the understanding that flight should be merely to be used for food-gathering. Thus, since Jonathan can't comply with living beneath what he is capable of, he is labeled a misfit and cast out of the flock.

It doesn't take long for him to reach a higher consciousness, learning from those who have gone on before him. However, those gulls who teach him soon admit that Jonathan is higher than they are, and that the student has become a teacher.

Soon Jonathan realizes that he must go back to his previous flock and start teaching the newer out-casts, several of whom call him the Son of the Great Gull.

This novella, with its photos of seagulls, can be considered spiritual in nature without being preachy. It shows the reader that we all need to be the best we can be, that we should be our truest self, and while we are learning from those more knowledgeable than we are, we are also to teach those coming up after us.

This is one book that I feel has held up well over the years.

View all my reviews

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

During the early 1970s, it seemed everyone read Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. I had read it several times, and had fond memories of it.

Several years ago, I received a copy of this slim book from two different people and decided to reread it to see how it stood up over the intervening years. Since then, I've reread it several times.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull tells of a seagull who doesn't quit fit in and is banned from his flock as a misfit. Jonathan's misdeed? He loves to fly, loves learning how to improve on flight, how to fly faster, and knows that such learning is, itself, what makes life worth living. The flock, however, has come to the understanding that flight should be merely to be used for food-gathering. Thus, since Jonathan can't comply with living beneath what he is capable of, he is labeled a misfit and cast out of the flock.

It doesn't take long for him to reach a higher consciousness, learning from those who have gone on before him. However, those gulls who teach him soon admit that Jonathan is higher than they are, and that the student has become a teacher.

Soon Jonathan realizes that he must go back to his previous flock and start teaching the newer out-casts, several of whom call him the Son of the Great Gull.

This novella, with its photos of seagulls, can be considered spiritual in nature without being preachy. It shows the reader that we all need to be the best we can be, that we should be our truest self, and while we are learning from those more knowledgeable than we are, we are also to teach those coming up after us.

This is one book that I feel has held up well over the years.

View all my reviews

Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline

Have you ever read a book that you felt would be only mildly interesting, only to find that you could not put it down, since it was that good? Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is the most recent book that did that for me.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer, a Penobscot Indian, has been in and out of foster care for most of her youth. After stealing a battered copy of a book from the library, she is court-ordered to do community service in an effort to keep her out of juvenile hall. Her service involves helping 91-year-old Vivian Daly clean out her attic.

As Molly helps Vivian go through her possessions, Vivian, an Irish immigrant, tells her stories of her youth, which she spent on the Orphan Train across the U.S. Some of the families that Vivian stayed were, at best, uncaring, others, worse, before Vivian finally arrived with a caring family.

It doesn't take long for Molly to realize that she and Vivian are more alike than not and the two form an unexpected friendship.

While Orphan Train does have a few rough spots - most particularly dealing with an atrocious family Vivian stays with for a short while - this is a book well worth the read. For anyone looking for a basically good read, Christina Baker Kline's Orphan Train is what you're looking for.

Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved The Appalachian Trail, by Ben Montgomery

As a child, I loved the outdoors. I still love going outside to "commune with nature," as my mom used to say.

Early on, I'd heard about the Appalachian Trail and, after asking my parents about it, thought that walking the A.T. sounded like a great adventure. I thought it would be fun. My parents looked at me askew, hoping I'd forget about such fun.

I never did get around to walking the A.T.; there's a chance I might never get around to it. But that's where reading comes in: one can live vicariously through other people's adventures, whether in fiction or non-fiction.

Ben Montgomery's Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved The Appalachian Trail is one of the latest in books dealing with one's adventures hiking the Appalachian Trail. Emma Gatewood, a 67-year-old mother of eleven, loved to walk. In 1955, after divorcing an abusive husband, she told her grown children she was going for a walk and left home with $200. The walk was along the then 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail, where she encountered not only breath-taking scenery, but two hurricanes, survived a rattlesnake strike and, at one point, spent the night with Harlem gang-members.

Unlike AWOL On The Appalachian Trail, by David Miller and Dennis Blanchard's Three Hundred Zeroes, Grandma Gatewood's Walk was written by someone other than the A.T. thru-hiker. It also moves at a slightly slower pace than the latter two books. Part of the slightly slower pace comes from introducing history and what was going on in the world at large during Emma's first thru-hike. The history part was both Emma's personal history - her marriage to P. C. Gatewood and, years later, her divorce from him, her relationship with her children, and why she decided to hike the A.T. - and history of the A.T. The book also weaves the outside world into Emma's walk, telling of the two hurricanes that, unbeknownst to Emma, were heading up the Eastern United States and would affect part of her hike. Also mentioned after her first hike, which takes up the majority of the book, are her second A.T. thru-hike (she was the first person - man or woman - to walk the trail more than once, going for three trail walks), as well as other walks, and mention of her guest appearance on Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life.

While Grandma Gatewood's Walk takes a different look at the Appalachian Trail than either AWOL or Three Hundred Zeros (both reviewed here on June 6, 2013), Ben Montgomery wrote a totally engrossing book about Emma Gatewood and the Appalachian Trail. It should be noted that Montgomery was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize. I highly recommend picking up a copy and hiking through it.

Note: You can also read a review of Cheryl Strayed's Wild: Lost To Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, posted here on May 14, 2014.

Also reviewed here at Goodreads.

Brush Back, by Sara Paretsky

Brush Back by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Live long enough, you're bound to have a person or two from the past you'd rather keep there. In Sara Paretsky's latest V.I. Warshawski mystery, Brush Back, that person is the difficult Stella Guzzo, a woman who spent twenty-five years in prison for the murder of her daughter, Annie.

When Frank Guzzo arrives at V.I.'s office with a favor to ask, Vic almost turns him down. Frank wants Vic's help in exonerating his mother, an angry woman who hated Vic's beloved parents - especially her mother, Gabriella - and who has recently gotten out of prison for the murder of her daughter. Against her better judgement, V.I. agrees to go back to the old neighborhood to ask questions.

Meanwhile, Vic also has company - Bernie, the daughter of one of her late cousin Boom-Boom's team mates, a likable and high-spirited teen who occasionally tags along while Vic checks out a few leads from Frank and Stella's past.

Before long, the questioning has Vic in trouble with several of the local corrupt politicos, some with ties to the Russian mob, as well as several of Chicago's gangs. The run-ins nearly cost Vic her life, as well as getting Bernie injured.

Will Vic get Stella exonerated? Will she manage to get Bernie back to her parents alive? How does Vic escape more gang and mob violence with her life? Will her latest love-interest, Jake, stick around? All these, and more, make this one of the best books in Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series - all of which are well-written nail-biting page-turners.

View all my reviews

The Art of Mending, by Elizabeth Berg

Some writers have a knack for telling a story that on its surface is just every-day life - visiting one's aging parents, taking one's children to the local county fair - but that, in reality, is startling in its life-changing honesty.

Elizabeth Berg has that knack. In her novel The Art of Mending, Berg tells of three siblings putting their lives temporarily on hold for their annual family reunion at their parents' home. The siblings' plans include going to the county fair being held while they are in town.

Laura Bartone, her husband, and children come to the family reunion hesitantly; Laura knows she will have to deal with her sister, Caroline, the family's black sheep, as well as their brother, Steve, who would rather not deal with whatever is bothering Caroline. But staying home and avoiding the reunion is not an option.

While visiting, their father is hospitalized for what is thought to be a short stay. It is while the siblings are in the waiting room, taking turns to see their father, that Caroline lets on that she has a secret that she needs to unload on Laura and Steve. The three meet outside of the hospital, without any extended family, to hear what Caroline has to say. The secret is explosive, causing Laura and Steve to question everything they remember from their childhood.

On top of the secret, the entire family must deal with the unexpected loss of their father.

Back at her own house, Laura questions the validity of Caroline's story. But when their mother comes to stay with Laura and her family, Laura goes digging for the truth. In the end, she learns from her mother that the secrets revealed were, indeed, true, and forgiveness and healing can begin.

Seemingly slowly meandering, this novel is actually fairly fast-paced and while the surface waters seem calm, the undercurrent is swift and truthful. This book is a must-read for both fans of Elizabeth Berg and for anyone who likes reading about the reality of family life.

Read more at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128289.The_Art_of_Mending.

Kramer vs. Kramer, by Avery Corman

Many people who have thoroughly enjoyed a movie based on a book eventually want to read the book; the same can be said when one has enjoyed a book that has been turned into a movie: it becomes a must see. Some adaptations outshine the books that they are based on, while others don't do the book justice. Some, like the adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, leave portions of the book off film while still capturing the essence, the spirit and plot of the book, thus leaving the viewer/reader satisfied.

Shortly after viewing the movie adaptation of Kramer vs. Kramer, by Avery Corman, I vowed to read the book. While the movie came out in 1979, it has taken me until recently to read it.

The book and movie follows what happens when Joanna Kramer walks out on her marriage, leaving her soon-to-be ex-husband, Ted, to raise their son Billy. Ted, a workaholic, suddenly has to adjust to caring for his son while still pulling in a paycheck, something many women have had to do. The book (and movie) follow father and son's growing bond over the next two years...until Joanna decides she wants her son back. The custody hearing is emotionally trying for both parents, and results in Joanna gaining custody of Billy. Yet, as Ted and Billy wait for Joanna to pick Billy up, we learn - along with father and son - that Joanna has decided to let Ted remain the custodial parent.

The movie, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep as Ted and Joanna Krammer, tugged heavily at the heart-strings, showing two flawed but likable people coming to terms with their new - and newer - realities.

In this case, the movie surpassed the book. The book began with Ted and Joanna meeting, dating, and finally marrying. While it gave good background on the couple, this section could have been shortened considerably. It slowed the book down, especially since the title lets the reader know that there is a divorce on the horizon.

The book also seemed to deal a lot on some of Ted's dating after the divorce. This, too, slowed the book and could have been condensed.

For the most part, though, the book is worth reading. However, it would be more satisfying to read the book first, and then watch the movie, rather than movie-then-book, as the book doesn't quite hold up to the movie.