Bastard Out of Carolina, by Dorothy Alison

Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While some people are fortunate enough to live "the good life," with enough money, food, and housing, others live a hard-scrapple life. Bastard Out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison shows us the hard life of Ruth Anne "Bone" Boatwright.

Bone was born to Anney, an unwed teen who gives birth after being involved in a car accident that renders her comatose for a short period of time, and who, therefore, can't lie about her marital status (or lack thereof). Anney spends the next couple of years trying to get an updated birth certificate for Bone, hoping to have the term "illegitimate" is removed.

Narrated by Bone, the book briefly mentions Lyle, her first step-father; Anney's marriage to Lyle produces Bone's sister. When Lyle dies, Anney takes up with Glen Waddell, eventually marrying him. The primary conflict throughout the book is between the abusive Glen and Bone.

The family - Anney, Bone, her sister Reese, and Glen - are forced to move from place to place, due to finances. They never seem to move up or down, simply to another ramshackle place. Jobs come and go, adding to the family's stress, which is also exacerbated by Glen's abuse.

By the end of the book, Bone has sustained broken bones, and more from Glen. Anney leaves Glen several times because of the abuse, but in the end, disappears, most likely with Glen. Anney's final act towards Bone is to bring her a new birth certificate with the word "illegitimate" removed, before disappearing again.

This semi-autobiographical novel is not the easiest book to read, but it is insightful, giving the reader an idea of how choices can make or break a person. Bastard Out of Carolina is a must read, while Dorothy Allison has much to say about the struggles of too many who are struggling to survive.

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Hardball, by Sara Paretsky

Hardball by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Several years ago, I made a concerted effort to start reading Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series in the order that they were written. I'd already read quite a few books in the series, but really wanted more of a sense of time-flow: When someone is mentioned in one book as an ex-lover, or a reference is made from an earlier book, I wanted to be able to relate.

In Hardball, by Sara Paretsky, V.I. reluctantly takes a case to find Lamont Gadsden, an African-American man who's been missing for 40 years, a case that unearths the seamy side of Chicago politics.

In 1966, a nail-studded baseball kills Harmony Newsome as she attends a civil rights gathering. Gang member Steve Sawyer is wrongly convicted, after being tortured to confess.

During his trial, Sawyer states that Lamont Gadsden has photos of who really killed Harmony. However, Gadsden has disappeared.

Fast forward to the present: Vic's cousin Petra, a recent college grad, is in town to help with a local political campaign. However, the campaign involves people who were instrumental in the death of Harmony Newsome, in the torture of Steve Sawyer, and the death and disappearance of Lamont Gadsden, and the death of a nun who marched with Harmony. Vic must unravel the threads in this case before both she and her cousin are killed in an effort to keep the truth secret.

While I've been a fan of Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series for years, I am partial to Hardball, and feel that is is one of Paretsky's best that I have read thus far. This is definitely worth reading (and rereading). I highly recommend it.

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Some Things You Just Have To Live With: Musings On Middle Age, by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton

Some Things You Just Have To Live With: Musings On Middle Age by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Years ago, while wandering through the local library, I discovered The Sewing Room : Uncommon Reflections of Life, Love, and Work, by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton. I didn't read the book; I devoured it, and ended up buying a copy for myself.

Since this happy meeting, I've bought other books by Rev. Crafton, including Some Things You Just Have To Live With: Musings On Middle Age.

I just finished Some Things..., a slim volume of essays written by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, a retired Episcopal priest. The essays in this volume deal with the joys (and foibles) of middle age, describing the changes we go through during this time in our lives. Written in good spirits, with a touch of humor intact, Some Things You Just Have To Live With: Musings On Middle Age is a joy to read, especially by those of a certain age. I highly recommend this slim volume.

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Talk Before Sleep, by Elizabeth Berg

For those of us who love to read, there are a few books that we reread for a variety of reasons. Whether it's to learn more on a subject, reread a well-written book, or simply akin to revisiting an old friend, it's something we usually enjoy.

Talk Before Sleep, by Elizabeth Berg is one of my go-to books when I want something quick, yet satisfying. It was the first of Berg's books that I'd read, and probably my favorite, for several reasons.

Talk Before Sleep is the story of friendship, told from Ann's perspective. Ann and Ruth first meet at a party. Ann was immediately put off by Ruth's good looks; she soon discovers, though, that Ruth has an honesty that is even more breath-taking than her looks. The book follows their friendship, shifting back and forth through past and present. The present describes Ruth's coping with terminal breast cancer, and how the two women, along with a small group of friends cope with Ruth's ongoing health issue.

The book feels as comfortable as the flannel shirts that L.D. - one of Ruth's friends - wears, while showing how distressing the disease is to the group.

A review in Kirkus several years ago states that "Berg...offers a sappy tale about a woman witnessing the death of her friend..." (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elizabeth-berg/talk-before-sleep/). While the book might be viewed as borderline-sappy, it came across more as telling about how friendships can help us through difficult times.

Talk Before Sleep is well worth reading, especially if looking for a quick, satisfying read.

Mor and Me: Life, Language, and Love in Letters from Danmark, by Lise Margrete Greene

Mor and Me: Life, Language, and Love in Letters from Danmark by Lise Margrete Greene
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many of us have a desire to travel, to see the world, or, at least, the country we live in. Unfortunately, no everyone who wants to travel has the chance to do so. That's when books dealing with travel are wonderful to get lost in.

Mor and Me: Life, Language, and Love in Letters from Danmark by Lise Margrete Greene is one of those books.

Before we go further, I have known the author for a number of years. When she mentioned having written Mor and Me, I had to read it. (Writers are a funny bunch; if we discover a friend also writes, we feel compelled to read said book/article/etc.)

Getting a copy on my ereader (the book also comes as a hardcopy), I was able to start reading almost immediately, and was pleasantly surprised.

Lise's mother (Mor) was from Danmark (the Danish spelling of Denmark). Having heard stories from her mother's youth, Lise felt compelled to travel there. While there, she would email family and friends about her time there. This book grew from those emails and other writings about the country.

Without adding more (I don't want to add any spoilers here), Mor and Me: Life, Language, and Love in Letters from Danmark is well worth reading, especially for those of us who can't travel.

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Hearts in Atlantis, by Stephen King

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There was a time, several years ago, when I would not read anything by Stephen King. He had a reputation of writing horror books, and, well, I'm not into horror stories. Catching a glimpse of The Shining, the 1980 Stanley Kubrick movie based on King's book of the same name didn't help. If you've seen Kubrick's version, you understand; it's not something to watch if horror isn't your thing.

But several years ago, I viewed Dolores Claiborne (the 1995 movie featuring Kathy Bates as Dolores), and decided to read the book.

"Okay," I thought, "maybe it's time to give King a second chance."

That chance came with 11/22/63, back in 2017; this is truly an amazing book.

After recently watching the 2001 movie treatment of Hearts in Atlantis for the umpteenth time, and mentioning that I needed to read the book, my youngest handed me his copy.

"I think you'll like it," he told me.

Hearts in Atlantis is made up of five interconnected stories: "1960: Low Men in Yellow Coats," "1966: Hearts in Atlantis," "1983: Blind Willie," "1999: Why We're In Vietnam," and "1999: Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling". The first two stories - Low Men... and Hearts... - make up the bulk of Hearts in Atlantis. However, the other three stories fill in many gaps, tying up loose ends and giving closure.

For those who've seen the movie, featuring Anthony Hopkins, the movie follows "Low Men in Yellow Coats" fairly closely, with a couple of extra bits from the last couple of stories.

While reading Low Men, one can picture the movie (if one has watched it), seeing where the movie differs. The movie doesn't ruin the reading, any more than reading the book would ruin the movie. (Spoiler alert: at the end of this first story, Bobby gets into trouble, something not shown in the movie.)

The other four stories within the book follow other characters, with the last story (Heavenly Shades) bringing Bobby and Carol - who now goes by a different name, for reasons brought out in the other three stories - back together.

The paperback version of Hearts in Atlantis is 672 pages, not quite as long as some of Stephen King's other books, but not quite a quick one-day read. But if you're looking for a great read, this is it.

And, for the record, my son was wrong. I don't like this book; I love it.

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Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach

Note: This is a repeat of 2017's sole post, with slight changes. I should be back to writing here on a regular basis.

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, usually during the week between Christmas and New Year's.

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.

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