Book 209: Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale

I just finished this book. It was 277 pages and I read it in a few hours while recovering from a stomach bug. 

Truth be told, I loved the Tom Hanks/Leonardo DiCaprio/Christopher Walken movie version of this book. But for once, I wasn’t disappointed when I picked up the book after seeing a movie, or vice versa.

For those of you that don’t know the story already, Frank Abagnale was one of America’s most successful check forgers. He made millions by forging and cashing thousands of checks around the world. He impersonated an airline pilot, a doctor, and a state prosecutor. And he did it all before he turned 21.

While the book doesn’t provide an ending to the story, it does provide much more detail about how the illustrious conman got away with his scam for so long. He kept moving, using the banking system to cover his tracks while he was on his way to his next destination… and target. Over and over again, he repeated his scam and refined it, with nothing but confidence and research on his side.

Things have changed quite a bit since the 1960s due in part to Abagnale’s criminal endeavors. He helped uncover weaknesses in the banking system that allowed him to succeed in cashing two and a half million dollars worth of fraudulent checks in five years’ time. 

A fascinating tale - though I don’t know how much of it was accurate. Seemed like an awful lot to remember. 

Book 208: You Perfect, Broken Thing by C.L. Clark (Levar Burton Reads Podcast Episode # 106 (August 3, 2021)

This short story knocked my socks off. Levar Burton chose "You Perfect, Broken Thing" for the 106th episode of his "Levar Burton Reads" podcast which I follow pretty closely. I had to include it.

C.L. Clark is a master at bringing the feelings of both despair and joy and showing that they truly can exist together. As far as I can tell, her story was published with Uncanny Magazine. You can read that version here: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/you-perfect-broken-thing/ 

The author paints a gorgeous story about an athlete who must push herself to the brink to save her family. Training and competing isn't about winning some trophy or a gold medal. In this world, training and competing translates to saving your family's lives.

I was stunned at how much depth a short story could hold. I've shared this story with at least two friends, and one was in tears, like I was. For me, Levar Burton's voice lent itself to the beauty of the story (he's been a favorite of mine since childhood) and brought the themes home for me. I was enraptured at the love portrayed in this story and the sacrifices made for that love. Without ruining the ending for you, I will only tell you that it was an enormous surprise.

I encourage you to check out the "Levar Burton Reads" podcast on whatever platform you use to subscribe to podcasts. And check out this particular episode, which aired August 3, 2021.

Much love, LB!!! :)

Book 207: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

 

This book made me laugh out loud. At the present moment, books that make me laugh out loud are something I appreciate. 

Don's life is compartmentalized, neat, and bland. He looks at life in such a utilitarian way that he's just moving through the motions from one day to the next. He embarks on a project he's convinced will help him find the love of his life (and, he thinks, a wife). Unfortunately, he's a little light on experience with women, and the whole thing goes sideways.

When Rosie enters Don's life, he begins to learn why his project is a lost cause. But through the process, Don learns what is really missing from his life. I won't ruin the ending for you, but I can tell you that you'll enjoy getting there.

On a deeper level, this book taught me something about "the best laid plans" that we all try so hard to put into place. As humans living in reality, we're actually totally and hilariously underprepared for this task, and Simsion puts all of our shortfalls on display in this lovely little book. Plan your heart out, he seems to be saying, But enjoying the ride is just as important as where you wind up.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read it in two days (a feat for me at this time of my life) and I bought a copy for my permanent collection. I hope you love it as much as I did.                                          

Book 206: The People of the Abyss by Jack London

Jack London is best known for his exploration of the unknown. Today, he'd be known as an "immersion experience junkie." I came across this book while reading another classic and took a break from that behemoth to read this beautiful little book. I'd highly recommend The People of the Abyss. 

The East End of London in the early 1900s was a terrible place, rife with poverty and starvation. News of the conditions reached Jack London in the United States, and he decided to embark on a journey to see the conditions for himself. He boarded a boat in 1908 and rented a room in a safe house near the East End. He purchased ragged clothing and assumed the identity of a lowly laborer immerse himself fully. With an emergency guinea (about a shilling and one penny) sewed into his sleeve, he stepped out into the streets to experience life in the most derelict corner of the "civilized" world.

At the time, the British Empire was still thriving, and it claimed had landholdings throughout the world. I'm not sure how it was received at the time of its publication, but The People of the Abyss certainly made it known that all was not well on the home front. Jack London does a fair job of making it clear that none of the wealth of the British Empire trickled down to the city of London's neediest citizens.

Jack London visited the infamous workhouses of London and met other "casual" workers who were daily fighting for their next meal and a safe place to sleep. He wrote about the gradual weakening of the workers by hunger, fatigue, and unjust, arbitrary laws like the one that made it illegal to sleep in public places during the day. The situation was so bad that huge numbers of people were committing suicide or killing members of their own families rather than allow them to suffer. Until I read this book, I didn't know the history of the East End.

This book was fascinating because it was a snapshot in time of a region that has been the subject of so many literary, television, and film projects. It also struck me that the socioeconomic situation documented within this book parallels our own right now - how the world's wealth is held by the top 1% of the population and everyone else is just trying to skimp by. Jack London does not mince words - he closes his book with an expression of his own opinion that if a country is truly civilized, there should be no abject poverty.

This e-book is available for free on Project Gutenberg (go to https://www.gutenberg.org/) and you can download it in several e-book formats. 

Hiatus: OVER.

Good morning/afternoon/evening, whenever you are reading this!

An odd coincidence got me thinking that it's time to get started again on this whole book blogging project. (Don't worry, I've been reading all along and keeping track of the books I've read...)

For anyone who thinks 2020 is bad, let me tell you: my 2019 was worse. My personal life got completely turned upside down, and I have questioned just about every life choice I've ever made. Except for reading. 

Books have been a constant companion for me throughout my life. I wasn't always the most ardent reader, but I've always been in the middle of a book or two since I was able to read. Books and their authors provide me with all of the stuff my parents didn't (or couldn't) teach me.

Life has not been easy. Some days I just want to quit everything and go live in a hut in the jungle by myself. And I really shouldn't complain, because so many others have such bigger difficulties.

Anyway, here's to another 200 books and another 12 years. May we continue on this journey together, our love of books uniting this global community as we confront our daily uncertainties and challenges.

Shout out to my eastern European audience - I'm very glad to have your support.

Love, Es

Book 200: A Beautiful Work in Progress by Mirna Valerio

I LOVE MIRNA VALERIO. She is the bomb.

For my 200th book, I'm featuring A Beautiful Work in Progress, a book about a woman that doesn't give a rat's ass that she is technically obese. She is a mother. She is a writer. She is a teacher. She is African American. And she is an accomplished marathoner.

Mirna Valerio does not play. She trains every day and has run everything from a plain old 5K to an ultramarathon (anything over 26.2 miles). She is known as "The Mirnavator" on the trails and among her social media followers.

Although there were many wonderful stories within this memoir, the chapter that is most memorable is the one in which she paid homage to her own body. Mirna talks about each feature of her body and how each contributes to her success on the trail. I think I was so taken with this chapter because most women just hate their bodies, even those who have perfect ones. After reading this chapter, I had a serious conversation with myself about how I feel about my body.

As women, we need to support one another and stop beating ourselves up. This book changed my life. I encourage you to pick up a copy, especially if you are a woman. The Mirnavator is inspiring. She is on Instagram and shares many aspects of her life as a marathon runner. Go to https://www.instagram.com/themirnavator/.

Book 199: Hiroshima by John Hersey

This is one of those books that SCREAMS for your attention long after you've finished reading its pages.

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. These bombings, a few days apart, absolutely leveled both islands. This book features several true accounts of people who - against all odds - survived the Hiroshima bombing.

I still don't know how anyone could have survived such a disaster, but they did. One man happened to be caught under a mattress when the house around him was obliterated, collapsing on top of him. He and many of his neighbors wandered around, stunned, while trying to figure out what in the world happened. They tried to help other survivors, but some were too far gone. The author, John Hersey, described their catastrophic injuries in detail. Nothing can prepare you for these graphic details.

I have read quite a few books about the U.S. war with Japan, including accounts of American prisoners of war, who were held in deplorable conditions and tortured. After reading Hiroshima, I am more convinced than ever that war is horrible for all involved, and that people do awful things to each other for reasons I will never understand. War is tragedy. No one really wins.

This was a short book that I read in a weekend, and I'd recommend it, if you think you can handle the really gory parts. It's not a horror novel, it's real life, and it really happened.

Book 197: Paper: Paging Through History by Mark Kurlansky (Audiobook read by Andrew Garman)

Mark Kurlansky has written exhaustive books on everything from the history of the American oyster to the story of Clarence Birdseye and frozen food. Usually his books are interesting, but this one felt like a chore. The book was longer than it needed to be, and narrator Andrew Garman did not help, either. This audiobook was a drag. I couldn't wait to be through with it.

Despite the almost complete bore fest, there were a few tidbits hidden within the pages of this book that had to deal with watercolors, which is one of my interests. (Read this article on Medium.) Through Paper: Paging Through History, I learned that watercolors were used for a long time in other countries (Japan, China) and finally "adopted" by British artist Turner, who made watercolor a more widely  accepted art form. (Professional grade watercolor paper is usually made made of cotton, not wood, because it absorbs the water and leaves the pigment behind.)

I also learned about xuan paper, which is made from the bark of blue sandalwood in China, and it takes two years to prepare the raw materials to make the paper. Part of the process is laying the materials out on a hillside for months at a time and turning them periodically. (Professional watercolorists use double xuan, which is more absorbent than the single ply version.) Of course, I immediately had to find a xuan paper maker that would ship to Delaware. For $55 a sheet, I could have my very own xuan paper. Ummmm....

One more fairly interesting thing was that paper was initially made from rags, like the kind you might have sitting in your basement waiting to be used for dirty work - ripped up tee shirts and the like. There were people who went around collecting rags for paper mills, which cooked down materials until they were basically sludge and then put them into trays to dry to make paper. The idea of using wood fibers to make paper wasn't introduced to the western world until the late 1800s. In the U.S., the first operating paper mill was in my hometown of Philadelphia, near where I grew up. And they routinely ran out of rags and had to reach out to housewives to get them to save their rags to make paper.

Not every learning experience is a pleasant one, I suppose. Kurlansky's book was like that for me.

Book 196: The Long Shadow by Celia Fremlin

Celia Fremlin wrote this book before she died. Her publisher, Faber & Faber, reached out to me to read the book and write a review of The Long Shadow and publish it today as part of an international blog tour. And I am extraordinarily sad that I can't tell Celia myself how much I loved it!

Imogen, the main character of this story, has lost her husband. She's been trying to put the pieces of her life together ever since he died so that she could move on. She's been in sort of a funk, and some guy keeps accusing her of having something to do with her husband's death.

All of a sudden, her family - her husband's stepchildren, their families, and even one of her husband's ex-wives - descend upon Imogen's home to keep her company during the Christmas holiday. Just as suddenly, odd things begin to happen around the house that make her question her own sanity and analyze the relationship she had with her husband. Who was he, really? What did she really know about him? The truth eventually comes out.

This book is full of surprises. Just when I thought I understood what was happening, Fremlin would open another door with her writing that I didn't even know was there.

I'm not going to tell you the conclusion, but I will say that if you love a good mystery, this is a great book to dig into!

And thank you, Joanna Lee of Faber & Faber, for the opportunity to contribute to the blog tour!

Hugs,

Es

Book 195: A Case of Need by Michael Crichton

Last week, I mentioned this book to my boss and told him I thought it was one of Michael Crichton's last books written before he died. I was completely wrong: this was one of the first books Crichton ever wrote - and in fact, he wrote it when he was still in medical school.

The book was a quick read, but a good one. It is the story of a pathologist (someone who figures out what kind of illness or cancer or infection a patient has based on evidence) that finds out that a colleague has been arrested on charges of performing an illegal abortion... because the patient died of a hemorrhage. He knows his colleague is innocent of the charges and decides to stretch the boundaries of his job description a bit to solve a murder and clear his friend's name.

I am the Ardent Reader, and I am very fussy about the books I read. I start and put down more than I finish, just because I know life is short and my bookshelf is stuffed with books I must finish before I die. I tell you this because I don't often find books that are as intense and engaging as this one - and it hooked me from the very first page. I don't want to spoil the book for you, but I'll tell you one thing: it definitely had momentum... and a ton of twists. And, like most Michael Crichton books, A Case of Need was filled with all kinds of real science, so I learned a thing or two along the way.

There were some hints here and there that the story was not set in today's modern healthcare setting. For one, the doctors all smoked inside and stowed flasks in their desk drawers. Abortion was also illegal in this book, so I knew it had to be set sometime before Roe v. Wade. In fact, Crichton wrote this book in 1969, which I didn't find out until the end. 

A Case of Need was available on Amazon Prime Reading, so I borrowed it for nothing! I hope you'll put it on your list of books to read. I found it fascinating.

Book 194: Fascism: A Warning by Madeline Albright (Audiobook read by author)

Well, this was one of the most disturbing books I've ever read.

I'm not sure what your political views are, but I have been closely following the insanity documented by the press ever since my world was completely changed in 2016. I'd heard the word "fascism" a thousand times before, but never knew the depth of that term's meaning. I have a lot of respect for Madeline Albright, so I figured if anyone was going to give me the lowdown, it would be her. 

Albright didn't disappoint me - although I did sometimes wish she would have paid a narrator instead of reading the book herself. (At a few points, it was clear that her voice was fatigued, and I sort of felt bad for her.) She presented a historical perspective on the fascists in history and did it incredibly well. Then she turned the tables on me and pointed her attention at today's political environment here in the U.S. 

Fascism is about riling up people, using their anger and nationalist tendencies to build political support. Truth has no place in fascist strategy - lies are much more effective. Fascists play on fears, ignorance, and pride (not good pride.) In her book, Albright profiles Hitler, Mussolini, and many lesser-known world leaders in this book to illustrate how fascism takes hold within otherwise civilized societies. 

Toward the end, Albright provides her readers with a list of questions that people should ask themselves about their leaders. This was enormously helpful for me. 

I hope you'll read this book. Thanks. 

Book 192: Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang, MD, and Nate Pederson

Damn, this book was funny... and also, not so funny. So many people died because of the insane cures that were detailed in this book.

Quackery is a list of certifiably ridiculous "solutions" that were concocted by their creators to heal people. In some cases, the quacks themselves believed in their cures, and in other cases, they knowingly defrauded their own patients.

The authors of this book are so, so snarky. I enjoyed the little remarks here and there that just brought the insanity of the "cures" home for the modern reader. I liked the photographs, too, although they probably would have shown up a lot better in the printed version of the book. (I had it on my Kindle Paperwhite.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think you would, too.

Book 191: The Shape of Water by Guillermo Del Toro and Daniel Kraus (Audio book)

The movie was beautiful, poignant, and well made, but the book had more of an impact on me. I was happy to have it as company on a really long road trip. And it was really good.

This book is unique, because its author was also the director of the movie. Guillermo Del Toro - who made the most disturbing movie I've ever seen (Pan's Labrynth) - has created a book that is engaging on so many levels.

In the book, some of the characters are more well cultivated in the book than they were in the movie. Some characters are more interconnected than I originally thought, and at least two did not exist at all in the movie but appeared prominently and were in fact instrumental to the story in the book.

The story of the Gill God, Eliza, Giles, Zelda, and Strickland and his wife Elaine is an incredible one. It begins in the jungle and ends in Baltimore sometime in the 1960s. On their regular rounds as custodians for a scientific research facility, Eliza and Zelda encounter an amazing creature being held captive in a lab. When Eliza - who is mute - discovers that she can communicate with the creature, they become inseparable. The story that unfolds is one of courage, strength, and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds.

I hope you'll pick up this book because it was worth reading, even after seeing the movie and having a preconceived notion of what things looked, felt, and sounded like.

Book 190: The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (Audiobook)

I am so-o-o-o lucky to have a coworker who is happy to share her advanced listener's copies of audio books. That's how I got my hands on this fantastic book.

It started out a little bit slow... but in no time I was hooked on the story so cleverly assembled by the authors. Every time I had to get out of the car, I was upset that I didn't have more time to listen.

The Wife Between Us is the story of two women who fall in love with the same man. Their stories are interwoven in such a way that it's almost impossible to tell them apart. And when the surprises come, they aren't just surprises... they're thrills... the kind that give you goosebumps when you realize you've been wrong all along.

I can't tell you much more without blowing the big secrets in the book, but the themes are clear. Abuse comes in many forms. Perception is everything. And people who will lie about the little things will lie about big things.

Definitely, definitely, definitely pick this up and read it. And pay attention.

Book 189: Origin by Dan Brown (Audiobook)

The author of The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons wrote this book last year and it was heralded by everyone who read it as amazing. I'm not sure I'd use that word to describe it, but it certainly was entertaining.

I really like Dan Brown for his original stories and the fascinating way he weaves together fact and fiction. Origin didn't disappoint at all in that aspect. In fact, I can't imagine how much research Brown had to conduct to create the story lines of Origin and his previous books.

Where I feel he falls short, though, is in the dialogue. The main character, Robert Langdon, is the same professor that unraveled the mysteries in the books cited above. In those books and in Origin, when Professor Langdon explains something to another character, it's almost like he's reading the information out of a textbook. For me, the dialogue makes the exchanges feel disingenuous.

Other than that one small thing, Origin was a fascinating read. I loved the characters and plot twists. Like The DaVinci Code, Origin makes you question what you thought you knew about the world around you. Brown uses his characters to hypothesize about Earth's beginnings and the future of humanity. I was absolutely fascinated.

Book 187: A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership by Former FBI Director James Comey

Well, I rolled through this book in no time at all. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. And it was a relatively easy read.

Unless you've lived under a rock for the past two years, you know James Comey is the FBI Director who assumed his job in 2013 under Barack Obama and was fired in 2017 by Donald Trump. He wasn't even directly informed: he received news of his dismissal when he heard it on the news. 

This book detailed important milestones responsible for shaping James Comey's understanding and appreciation of real integrity and leadership. He told the story of his work as a prosecutor and attorney general and later, his rise to the position of FBI director. He told of the difficulty of the Hillary Clinton email scandal and the heat he took for handling it the way he did. And finally, he detailed his conversations with Donald Trump up to his unorthodox dismissal from his position. 

I received my Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership (BSOL) in 2016, so I found that I had a unique perspective on this book. Many tenets of leadership that I learned in my studies were embodied in Comey's experience. I loved his dedication to the separation of the FBI from political influences. I loved his commitment to justice. I think many people can relate to his desire to remain at arm's length from a president who so clearly could care less about integrity and facts. 

I hope you pick this up and read it, because it's not a difficult read, and it really explains a lot that I've wanted to know. 

Challenges abound.

I've been blogging for about a decade. In the past few months I've seen how this experience helped me guide people while they're writing their own guest posts for my May project.


It's been a pretty humbling experience working with folks on their individual pieces. Everyone who wrote for me had to agree to allow me to edit, but I promised to be gentle but firm.


It's also been a challenge. Here's why:


It's an exercise in self-control. I can look at a piece and tell immediately know if it feels too warm, too cold, too loose, or too tight. I can (and do) tell my guest bloggers what I think they should do, but it would be presumptuous to assume I know exactly what they want to convey. I've had a few conversations with people to discuss the concept they wish to address and help them cultivate their idea further before writing them down. They are their ideas. I'm just trying to make them shine.


It is a HUGE balancing act between my ego as a writer (sorry, we're all like this) and knowing I must be sensitive to others during this process. So, I am pushing for two things: clarity and brevity. Everything else is negotiable.


It's helped me learn to be responsive. Sometimes I must be firm and sometimes flexible. Some guest bloggers have taken me up on the offer to help them write their posts. Some have submitted them and I've suggested minimal changes. Whatever my writers decide, I've been rolling with it, with one exception: if they say they don't want to be edited, I say, "Sayonara," and move on. Being edited is the reality of being a writer. And being edited makes you a better writer.


Every challenge is a learning experience. I'm taking this one to heart.


Can't wait to share the GOLD!

The Child by Fiona Barton (Audiobook)

The Child by Fiona Barton was one of the best fiction books I've ever read [or heard on audiobook]. I will remember this book for a long time to come. It was very, very good.


Barton is an expert storyteller. The characters in this story - starting with the reporter, Kate - are realistic enough to touch.


When a newborn baby is found buried in a garden in Howard Street in a small UK village, a tiny blurb - not much larger than a classified ad - appears in the newspaper. The blurb catches Kate's eye, and she decides to pursue the lead. There must be a story behind the child's burial. How did the baby die? How did it get there? Who was responsible? Kate decides to uncover the truth about the newborn's death... even if it is the coldest case most police would ever encounter.


Barton assembled the story through a number of perspectives which can be very confusing. Hang on for the ride, and let her sort it all out. You won't be sorry. The story comes to a beautiful, poignant crescendo at the close of the book.


I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Madeleine L'Engle and A Wrinkle in Time

Today, my friend Mary and I took the kids to see A Wrinkle in Time. I had read the book so long ago that I couldn't remember anything about it. 

The one thing I do remember as a child is that the book was decried as blasphemous by many Christians. Until yesterday, I thought it was because the book had so many feminist themes. I also noted that there are some similarities between "the Misses" and Gaia, known as Mother Earth. (In my experience, you never know what will trigger a fundamentalist, but something certainly will!) 

I realized also that I knew nothing of Madeleine L'Engle. So I looked her up on Wikipedia: 

L'Engle was an Episcopalian and believed in universal salvation, writing that, "All will be redeemed in God's fullness of time, all, not just the small portion of the population who have been given the grace to know and accept Christ. All the strayed and stolen sheep. All the little lost ones." 

As a result of her promotion of Christian universalism, many Christian bookstores refused to carry her books, which were also frequently banned from Christian schools and libraries. 

At the same time, some of her most secular critics attacked her work for being too religious.

Her views on divine punishment were similar to those of George MacDonald, who also had a large influence on her fictional work. 

She said "I cannot believe that God wants punishment to go on interminably any more than does a loving parent. The entire purpose of loving punishment is to teach, and it lasts only as long as is needed for the lesson. And the lesson is always love."

Are. You. Freaking. Kidding. Me.
That's why we weren't supposed to read it?

From the moment I had enough brains in my head to know anything, I knew there was something wrong with my "religion." It seemed over and over again that leaders in my church were willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater - demanding total adherence to rigid, antiquated teachings while not taking into consideration that most things in life are anything but absolute. It is inane to live life like that. When I refused to accept everything they said as the God-given truth, I was admonished. Shamed. Ostracized. For thinking.

A Wrinkle in Time is about love. If you read this book or see this movie and can't see that, you're too stupid to be leading a church full of people. 

End rant.

Book 185: Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

Although I have a million other books to read right now, when I came across this one in the library book sale room, I had to set aside everything to read it. I couldn't put it down until I was finished.

I had seen the movie Everest about the 1996 climbing disaster but I didn't know anything about the people who went through it. Journalist Jon Krakauer from Outside magazine had been along on the journey that ultimately killed twelve people and injured and disabled numerous others. He wrote Into Thin Air six months after he returned home after the traumatic event.

Krakauer was a seasoned climber and had always dreamed of climbing Everest. He had his chance when the magazine sponsored his climb to get a firsthand account of the true Everest climbing experience.

Although no one can definitively say why the 1996 team had so many problems, Krakauer makes his own conjecture about why some people lived and others died. One thing he wrote will stick with me forever: that being determined is both a strength and a weakness on Everest. A person's will can be so strong that he or she refuses to give up even when disaster is imminent. They will literally kill themselves to achieve a goal. Everest Fever is a real thing, and it looks like it was the reason 12 people died in May of 1996.

Krakauer was adept at pulling together all of the accounts into a spellbinding narrative that will stay with me forever. I'm glad I picked up this book and I hope you will, too.