Emerald Star (Hetty Feather)

Emerald Star by Jacqueline Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third in the Hetty Feather series.  Hetty left the seaside and her job as a mermaid and has come to Monksby to try to find her  father.  To say that Monksby didn't live up to her visions is an understatement.  There is nothing glamorous about this little fishing village.  Could imaginative Hetty Feather live in a village where the morning arrival of the fishing fleet is the biggest thing that happens?  Could she see herself gutting and salting fish every day?

As much as she loves her father when a letter comes to tell her of the death of her foster father and asking her to come home, she must go.  Seeing her old family is a mixed bag.  In some ways, nothing has changed, and it others, everything has.

My major complaint about this book is that it appears to be the end of the Hetty books.  Hopefully, the Diamond books will give us more information on Hetty's life while we follow the fascinating story of Diamond.



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Diamond

Diamond by Jacqueline Wilson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this last book out of order, so it was a little abrupt at the beginning, but I quickly filled in the blanks.  This story is one that Hetty has written about a young girl called Diamond and her life.  Diamond is actually Ellen-Jane Potts, the 5th child in a family that had a Matthew, Mark, Luke and was looking for a "John."  There was another daughter called Mary Martha, but Ellen-Jane was definitely a disappointment.  Ellen-Jane was different from the rest of the family.  She was blond and tiny like her mother and the rest were all dark and sturdy like their father.  She was also "bendy."  She could do back bends, crab walks, walk on her hands and other gymnastic feats as soon as she could toddle about.  Unfortunately, life didn't go well for Ellen-Jane and eventually her father sold her to the Tanglewood circus where she lived a brutal life under her owner, "Beppo, the clown."  Beppo once was an acrobat until he fell and broke his back.  His sons still were acrobats and he was brutal with them and "Diamond."

Hetty and Diamond's lives come together at the Tanglewood circus where Hetty fulfills a dream of becoming a circus performer.  In the first book, Adeline, the stunning horse rider, tells Hetty that the circus life is brutal, but she has to learn herself.  This book again reveals the lives of poor children of the Victorian era when a child could be sold and mistreated. Hetty and Diamond find some kindness in the circus, but they, along with the other children of the troupe are exploited.

The only reason I gave this three stars is the abrupt ending.  While this is part of a series, I think the author could have made the book resolve in a satisfying way and yet still leave room for the sequel.


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Sapphire Battersea (Hetty Feather)

Sapphire Battersea by Jacqueline Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the second book in the Hetty Feather series.  Hetty has met her mother enjoyed being with her, but the secret was to come out sooner or later.  Life at the foundling home home comes to an end when she was 14 and her dear friend, Miss Smith, arranged for her to be a servant.  Hetty doesn't want to be a servant, but there seems little hope of anything else.  While she has learned to control some of her temper, it is still there and leads Hetty into some difficulties.

Hetty reminds me of Little Orphan Annie and Anne of Green Gables.  She has the same red hair and spunk that makes her a favorite of girls young and old.  All three of the books also have good vocabulary and paint an accurate picture of life for children, and especially young girls who don't have a proper home. In this part of the series, we see what a life of servitude was like and the precarious life servants had if they were turned out without a reference.

It also exposes the class distinctions of the age and the indifference that the middle and upper class had for the poor.  In the Hetty stories, the children are much more on their own.  While Annie and Anne went from the orphanage to their new homes, Hetty and Diamond have to fend for themselves.                                                    


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The Ring of Rocamadour (The Red Blazer Girls, #1)

The Ring of Rocamadour by Michael D. Beil
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great mystery for middle school girls and older.  It is very much like Nancy Drew, except that the girls are in the 7th grade.  They go to a Catholic girls school and the Red Blazers are the uniform of the upper school.  The girls come from different backgrounds, but they are  all day students.

The girls are bright and inquisitive and they soon stumble on a mystery involving the old church which is part of the school.  There is some suspicious activity going on and a puzzle to figure out.  Margaret, the brightest and best student, figures out some of the clues which involve geometry and the author even has her give a geometry lesson.

I liked this book because it combined ingenuity with good school work.  Maybe it is the teacher in me, but I love the way Margaret explains how geometry can help them solve the puzzle and the other girls each come up with clues based on things they have learned.  The school aspects aren't heavy handed, but it gives the reader a better understanding of how what they learn is useful.


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Hetty Feather

Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a delightful book about a red-headed orphan in the style of Little Orphan Annie and Anne of Green Gables .  Hetty was left at a foundling home (which still exists)and was fostered out to a country family until she was six.  The family had other foster children and one, Gideon, came together with Hetty when they were a few weeks old.  Life on the farm was idyllic and although she was small, Hetty thrived.  She was very attached to her brother, Jem, the youngest of the families biological children was about 5 years older than her.  Even in this loving family, Hetty's impetuous nature and fiery temper led her into trouble.  She was bright but headstrong.

Just before she was six, she and Gideon were sent back to the foundling  home, an event that was devastating to both of them.  The foundling home was regimented and unforgiving, especially for a child like Hetty.  She got into one scrape after another and earned the enmity of the two of the most important matrons.  The girls worked most of the day on household task which prepared them for life as servants, something that Hetty never intended to be.

This is a great book for girls, young and old.  We feel for Hetty when her irrepressible personality is hammered into a mold not made for her.     Today's children have little idea of the life of children of earlier and much harsher ages.  The Hetty Feather series does a better job of showing that the orphanage system, however problematic, was better than previous ages when children as young as 4-5 were left to roam the streets, surviving as they could.  Fostering the children under the age of 6 in a home was an enlightened step in the care of children.


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The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was fantastic!  It read more like a novel than a medical history.  It was how these two men started out from opposite points and came to the same conclusion.  It is also interesting to read of a time period so different from ours.  I kept wanting to tell the people to wash their hands or instruments.

The book starts out slowly with more information on cholera and London than you think you want to know, but it is necessary to understand just how little they knew about the spread of the disease.  I have to think back to how we felt when AIDS burst on the scene.  No one knew how it passed from person to person.  A friend of mine was one of the earliest researchers of the disease and he wanted to study AIDS because so many of the early researchers were contracting it.  He went on to be one of the foremost experts on the disease and, in a way, became very much like Dr. Snow.

Unlike most historical mysteries, this book wraps everything up very much like Miss Marple.  The doctor is finally able to reach back to patient "0" and everything clicks into place.  It is unbelievable how strong Dr. Snow was as he went against the "misama" theory of infection.  Even when the smoking gun is found there were still people in the medical field who would not change their minds.


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The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a delightful book, although I feel kind of silly using that as a description when the subject of the book is a graveyard.  It's the story of a baby boy who crept out of his home when the sinister man Jack sneaked into his house and killed his parents and older sister.  He finds his way to a graveyard where the ghosts of the inhabitants decide to give him sanctuary.  A couple, long deceased and childless, agree to raise him as their own and, because he is human, Silas...who can go between worlds, agrees to be his guardian.  They give the boy the name Nobody Owens, because no body knows his name, and he has the freedom of the graveyard.  He knows all the spirits who choose to be known and he even knows a witch, some ghouls and an even more unsavory specter. He is able to walk through the stones and converse with any of the ghosts who care to talk to him.  He even learns to fade into the background so that he is invisible.

His life is happy in the graveyard.  He is taught history from the ghost who were actually alive through the various eras and he learns to read, although there aren't a lot of books. From time to time, he goes out of the graveyard, and even went to school for a while, but he puts himself at risk because the man Jack has sworn he would kill him.

We've been using this for homeschool and my granddaughter has been creating stories for people in an imaginary graveyard.  While a little ghoulish, it has been very interesting and offers an endless source of creative writing topics.  This is one of the best books I've read in a long time!


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A Spy in the House (The Agency, #1)

A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book in this series and it promises to be a good one.  While it is improbable that there was an agency in Victorian culture which took in poor but bright young girls and educated them to become something other than governesses or wives, it is a good plot device.  If you like Anne Perry, then you will like this one.

Mary, who was sentenced to be hanged at the age of 12 for breaking into houses, is taken in by the Agency and trained as a private detective.  Her first assignment is to take a position in a wealthy home to gain information concerning a case that the Agency is working with Scotland Yard to investigate.

Mary makes a number of mistakes in her assignment, but she manages to find some important information and also an attachment to a young man who is also investigating.  I am looking forward to reading more of Ms. Lee's books


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The 9th Girl (Kovac and Liska #4)

The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I would give this another star, but I couldn't stand the language.  I can not understand why authors continue to insult their readers with it.  It is bad enough in a book, but when it's an audiobook it sounds like someone sitting right next to you saying it right in your ear.  Couldn't a professional author come up with some more useful adjectives?

The plot itself is not bad.  There's a serial killer on the loose and seems to fit the body of a teenage girl, but there is so much going on in her home and school that doesn't seem to fit.  The detectives come to realize that there are differences and delve deeper.  That is when they find that one of the young girl's friends is Detective Liska's son and he is behaving very strangely.  There are a lot of suspects, but none of it makes sense.


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Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Finally I have finished this book!!!  I don't think I have ever read about such a whiny protagonist.  The fact that it is written for kids has me concerned.  Katniss Everdeen is more of a self centered brat than a heroine.  When she was left off the team to go to the capitol, I had a moment of hope for her learning a lesson, but alas, she made some improvements, but she continued on in the same depressing, selfish and headstrong vein.

It also concerns me that this book is so popular with kids.  In the end, Katniss is extremely depressed and the example she presents is about the worst one I think of.  The reader is presented with pages and pages of self pity.

The first two books in the series are pretty good, but this is another series where the reader is disappointed with the conclusion.  Instead of gathering all the plot elements together and showing how the main character is either victorious and has learned from all her mistakes, this series just left me wondering what was the point.


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Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories

Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has been ages since I have read these Miss Marple short stories and they were excellent!  Miss Marple, some friends and some detectives all discuss crimes from their past which were interesting, both solved and unsolved.  Miss Marple makes the point that most crimes need to be solved not only for the sake of the murdered person, but for the sake of people who were suspected but innocent.

In each case, Miss Marple understands the personal aspect of the crime and is able to apply it to the crime in question.  While I always try to observe all the details, just like Miss Marple, I hardly ever can solve the crime.  I have to say that the reader is always provided with enough information to come to a conclusion, but the depth of her understanding of human nature is enough to rival the best detective.


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The Interrupted Tale (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, #4)

The Interrupted Tale by Maryrose Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third book in this series and there are a few new character:  Lord Ashtons's mother and her companion, Admiral Faucet.  Admiral would very much like to be the good lady's husband and he brings along a  prized racing ostrich.  The admiral would like to start a new business racing ostrich and, when they are too old to race, sell them for eating.  Unfortunately, Bertha gets loose and the Admiral enlists Miss Penelope Lumley and her charges, the wolf raised children.  Penelope is concerned that the children will become wild again if left in the forest.  Her concern is doubled when she learns that Lord Ashton, who is almost blind, will be going on the hunt.  Miss Penelope is aided in the woods by some real wolves and the children don't suffer any of the mishaps she feels, but there are even more mysteries to handle when they return from the woods.


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The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #4)

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is your basic Sherlock Holmes from start to finish.  These are some of the short stories arranged in a way that shows Sherlock over his long career.  The stories are as fresh as they were 100 years ago.  While I know that there are some of the confident deductions Holmes makes could have other explanations, it is still pretty remarkable that a detective would even look at these clues.

I am using the stories as material for my homeschooled granddaughter to teach her how to think deductively.  I hope to inspire her to try to figure out things for herself instead of waiting for information from the adults around her.  She's pretty good at it and enjoys the challenge.


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100 Cupboards (100 Cupboards, #1)

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book in what I think will be an interesting series for middle graders.  Henry comes to live with his aunt and uncle and 3 cousins who seem very strange.  In his room in the attic he uncovers a whole wall full of small doors.  The entire wall is covered in plaster, but he and the middle girl manage to uncover it.  Once some of the drawers are opened, the pair of kids learn that they can go through the drawer and into another world.

There is more to the mystery in the house.  At the end of the corridor on the second floor there is a large room which is locked and no one has the key.  One night Henry wakes up and sees an unusual looking old man whom no one wants to talk about.  They try to say that it is Grandfather's room, but he is supposed to be gone away.  How can he be getting in and out of the room when there is no key?


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The Unseen Guest (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, #3)

The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The third installment of this series answers a few questions and brings up some new ones.  The household returns to Ashton Place after the disastrous trip to see a play about pirates.  Lady Ashton can hardly hold her head up in society so they all pack up and go home, but that is hardly an end to their problems. Lord Frederick's mother comes for a visit with her amorous attendant, Admiral Faucet, and his ostrich, Bertha.  It is obvious to everyone that he is hoping to marry the dowager Ashton in order to fund his proposed business, ostrich racing.

Unfortunately, the ostrich gets out of her pen necessitating a hunt led by the almost blind Lord Frederick and his pack of hunters.  The hunt introduces the reader to Mama Woof and her other pups, and a disastrous chain of events soon follows. Like the other books in this series, it is fast paced and clever and leaves the reader with a thirst for answers.  


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The Hidden Gallery (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #2)

The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood


In the second book of the tales of the Incorrigibles the whole Ashton family rent a luxurious house in London for the season.  Lady A. sends out notices that she has arrived and when no one responds, she is furious.  Penelope meets Simon, an aspiring actor and he proves to be a loyal friend and a good ally.  Penelope and the children are directed by a guide to London which contains the pictures and roads of the Alps, but does end up helping them a great deal, and their attendance at the opening of a play has all the farce of a Marx brothers show.

More clues to the suspicious relationship between Penelope, the children and the mysterious Judge Quinzy are found, but add to the confusion.  More is out about Penelope's parents, but that also adds to the confusion also.  This wacky tale has it all.


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The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #1)

The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This delightful series reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events.  The combination of understated prose and exquisite vocabulary is enchanting.  I am using the books for homeschool free reading as well as vocabulary.

In this book young Penelope Lumley, graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, has come to Ashton Place to care for the 3 young wards of Lord Ashton. The assignment sounds simple but the children have been raised by wolves and there is something very suspicious about them.  


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The Red Headed League (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, #2)

The Red Headed League by Arthur Conan Doyle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the most memorable of Sherlock Holmes' cases.  A mad with bright red hair calls on Sherlock Holmes with a shocking story.  He has been encouraged by his assistant to apply for a vacancy in The Red Headed League.  All he has to do is to come and copy from the encyclopedia every day for a number of hours.  He can not leave for any reason.  Suddenly, the job disappears.  The sign is gone and the man who rented the business space is not the name of the person he dealt with.  What is going on?  Sherlock Holmes asks a series of questions and then he goes to visit the site of the copying as well as the houses or businesses on the street behind.

I am using these Sherlock Holmes stories to teach my granddaughter to "think outside the box."  She is homeschooled and I teach her Language Arts (among other things.)  I feel like classic mystery stories combine the vocabulary and structure as well as deductive reasoning.  They also are just plain fun.


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Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme by Donald J. Sobol
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In this series, Encyclopedia Brown solves cases using common sense and his "encyclopedic" knowledge.  I am using it in a homeschool lesson to help my granddaughter to observe her surroundings and to think creatively to solve problems.  She would like to be a veterinarian and this type thinking is necessary in any medical profession.

Encyclopedia Brown solves problems by thinking the problem through and looking at all possibilities.  He often picks up little clues that are easy to overlook.  Some of the problems are difficult and he has to use outside information that is not provided, but is well within the ability of a middle grader to obtain.  Each of the cases is only a few pages long and so the hunt for clues is very limited, but they still will stump even adults.


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The Colony

The Colony by F.G. Cottam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At first, I couldn't get into this book, but I am glad I stuck with it.  I think it was because I thought it sounded like the kind of science fiction I don't like. It is definitely not science fiction.  The plot involves an abandoned island in the Hebrides where all the inhabitants of the island mysteriously disappeared.  A wealthy newspaperman decides to put together a team of people from various disciplines to go to the island and find out what happened.  He suspects that the people have been taken by aliens and he wants to get definitive evidence that aliens have interacted with humans.

The author does a good job of creating believable characters who represent all the various hypothesis people have as to what happened.  He has 2 reporters, an archaeologist, a doctor specializing in  virulent diseases such as plague, a detective, a woman who has helped the police solve crimes through her gift of second sight, an exorcist and a few others. There are tensions and romances among the people and quite a bit of history.

The only criticism I have is that it was just a little too pat, but then, this is fiction.  Even though the clues were from the 1700's, there were diaries, journals, mysterious people who appeared in dreams and a number of fortuitous finds that explained most of what happened.

The pace was fast and the topic fascinating, so the reader can overlook a few heavy handed plot devices.  There was a lot of suspense and a good resolution.


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The Next Always (Inn BoonsBoro, #1)

The Next Always by Nora Roberts
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book because my 4th great grandfather owned the Inn that is at the center of this romance, and the building diagonally across from it. He also owned a section of the National Road between Boonsboro, MD and Sharpsburg, WV, including the the corner on which the inn sets.  I visited the town 3 times while I was doing genealogy and fell in love with it.  I went in the bookstore and several of the other buildings, including the Trinity Reformed church where John and other of my ancestors were buried. The town is charming and I can see why Nora Roberts chose to make it her home and to write about it.

The first time I saw the Inn it was forlorn looking just as Roberts described it and I had the same feelings of sorrow over this lovely historical building going to ruin.  The second time I saw it, Nora Roberts and her son had bought the buildings and were having the Inn redone. She had gutted most of the building by then.  I took numerous pictures of the inside because it was stripped down to its earliest woodwork which my ancestor would have known and probably built.  I am glad I did because it was later burned.  Thank goodness they decided to salvage what they could and rebuild.

As for the story, I am not much of a romance reader, so the story seemed a little stilted to me.  It seemed as if the romance was the point of the book instead of something that developed as part of a greater story.  However, it is written as a romance and it certainly delivers.  I will be reading the rest of the book in this series, but mainly because of the historical association.


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Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen #16)

Red Velvet Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book is a real lightweight. I put it as a cozy mystery, but there isn't much mystery about it.  The villain is pretty clear even from the beginning and local law enforcement should have figured that out right away instead of having to depend on Hannah.  

There are so many ways to make this book better and I think that is what bothers me.  There are more plausible ways to give the reader and our amateur detective clues without too much effort.  Also there are better reasons for the characters to get into dangerous situations than the ones given.

I don't expect cozy mysteries to be overly realistic, but this goes too far with the clumsy plot moves.  The recipes are about the only redeeming feature.


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The Cherry Cola Book Club

The Cherry Cola Book Club by Ashton Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a cute, but light weight book.  The town library is in danger of being shut down by a Councilman who is looking to use the land for an industrial park.  The valiant librarian begins a book club to try to increase membership and local interest.  What follows is the story of the members struggle to keep their little library alive as the come to know each other and become friends.


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What are "Classics?"

From a discussion on Goodreads:

I think we might need to clarify what we mean by the term "classics." In college I took a class in philosophy class with one of the worst teachers I ever had, but I learned a number of important concepts. The one that is germane is the definition of the terms.” If you don’t agree on the definition of the term “classics” then the arguments keep going in circles.

 In another post I wrote the dictionary definition of “classic” because I was struggling with the concept even then, but it didn’t really gel until Martha mentioned a “need-to-read” list. Those two terms are not interchangeable. I think that a “need-to-read” list is something informal and it mixes books that you might call “book-group books,” and “potential classics.” I’d put the latest best sellers, books by writers like Isabel Allende, Barbara Kingsolver, William Styron, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Anne Tyler, Lee Smith, Paulo Coelho, Khaled Hosseini and many more authors, some of whom write to entertain, but some because they have something important t say. Only time will weed out the ones that have no staying power. In this group I think you will find popular books that are a waste of time to read as well as good literature.

 Classics, on the other hand, have passed the test of time. They are taught in high schools and colleges because they meld exceptional language with ideas that have a lasting impact on society. If you take a class in American Literature, you will look at the literature that our country produced on a continuum. It is like archeology of the mind. You can compare American Lit with French Lit and not only see a difference but you can see a national personality. Classics have also been reprinted again and again and in different languages. They were valuable in their day and continue to have value. You can teach a class on the meaning of the books and how the style of the author conveys his or her ideas. I think this is why some of us say that classics can’t be over-rated.

1984

1984 by George Orwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this in high school and remember thinking that 1984 was so far in the future it seemed impossible for some of the issues in the book to be relevant. It is amazing how many things have come true, or are comprehensible now.  I think the border between "political Correctness" and the concept of "thought crimes" is actually scary.  I am also amazed at the role of the media.  Until the last 20-25 years, the idea of a biased media was something I never thought I'd see.  I remember talking in class about propaganda and thinking it couldn't happen here and now I am all too aware of "interpretive journalism." Once a country loses the objective voice of truth everything can be manipulated.

1984 isn't fanciful thinking, it is the natural extension of things that are taking place right now.  Some have called our government a "nanny states" and the government in 1984 is a logical extension of that kind of thinking; "Big Brother knows best"...and then "Big Brother is watching."


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Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second time around with this book and it is just as enjoyable this time. Miss Julia is the perfect old-school Southern woman. She is gracious and her manners are impeccable. She deferred to her wealthy husband in everything and was above reproach. Then in one night, her world turned upside down. Her husband, a pillar of the community and an elder in the Presbyterian Church, had a heart attack and died in the driveway and before she could take it in, her husband's mistress arrived at her door with her 9 year old son, left the child with her and rushed off to go to school in Raleigh.

To say that Miss Julia was shocked was an understatement, but that was just the beginning. How could Miss Julia hold her head up in society? Everyone, even her closest friends, was gossiping about her and how could she explain the presence of Little Lloyd? Delightfully, Miss Julia comes into her own. She realizes that she was not the one who did anything wrong!!! There wasn't any reason why she should be ashamed. She brings the child shopping with her and to church and doesn't miss a beat.

I think one of the reasons I like this book is because we see Miss Julia come into her own. Her husband and her society defined her role for 60 some years and suddenly she has broken free and her spunk, humor and her common sense are delightful. The book is light and fun and doesn't pretend to be serious. The characters are pretty well drawn for this genre and book is fast pace. It's great to curl up with on a rainy afternoon...or if you are tired of the men in your life, this would be a good choice.

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David Copperfield

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am reading this again for my Ravelry "Knitting like the Dickens" group and these are my comments for this reading. December 30, 2013:

I'm finished! (again) This book has been with me for months and months. What will I do without it??? It did drag a bit in the middle, but then it picked up and I wanted it to go on and on. For one thing, I would have had a chapter on Mrs. Micawber's family and how the felt about Mr. Micawber after he was such a success. I bet they would have been on the first boat to Australia swearing they always knew he was going to be successful!

I've read this so many times, but I always see things I missed. When he was traveling and finally realized that he had taught Agnes not to love him and now he realized that he loved her he wrote so beautifully about the regret of missed opportunities and the sorrow of seeing things clearly when there was no way to rectify an earlier action, I realized that he had felt that in his life. I know that sounds obvious, but I don't think I have ever thought about someone of Dickens genius feeling the same kind of feelings we all feel. I see him as so wise and insightful that it's hard to see him as oblivious to his feelings about "Agnes."

That got me to thinking about the tortured lives of many of the greatest artists, writers, dancers, songwriters etc. I've heard the saying that genius is closest to madness, and I am just realizing a bit more about how it happens. First the writer has to have disturbing things happen...for Dickens, his father's imprisonment for one example. He has to allow himself to really feel that pain instead of sublimating it in some way. Then he has to open himself to the pain again in order to write about it convincingly and convey it to his audience, then, he writes of its consequences. Dickens created a new better outcome, but other writers, Sylvia Plath in *The Bell Jar* not so good. All this leads me to a conclusion. If you wish to become a great writer you are going to be very thin skinned and you are inviting tragedy into your life ;>)

For Dickens, another deep pain was the unfairness of Victorian society and the treatment of the poor and infirm. I've have often thought that the nightly news brings us more of the pain and human misery than we can absorb and that can make us callous. Dickens saw that misery all around him and he never allowed himself to become calloused. It is what Jacob Marley told Scrooge. He was cursed to spend eternity seeing the poor and miserable and not being able to do something to help them.

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The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful story! There is a adage in writing that the writer must not tell the reader, but let the characters tell their own story. This is all there is in this story. There is no narrator except for the main character. There are no other people telling the story. Everything we see, we see through the main character's eyes.

She is actually suffering from postpartum depression, but everything being done for her is missing the mark. In fact, it is possibly the worst thing that can be done for her. We hear the voices of her husband and others involved with her care, but only filtered through her depression. Are they really that oblivious to what is really happening to her?

I read a book about the Galveston Flood in 1902. One of the reasons the hurricane was so devastating was the hubris of the new National Weather Bureau. They thought they knew all there was to know about the behavior of hurricanes and they were contemptuous of the reports coming in from the "too easily excited" Cubans. I felt the same kind of hubris in this story. The husband and the doctor think they know exactly what his wife needs and they don't listen to her. They also don't question their own wisdom even when she is obviously getting worse and worse. They do everything wrong for what they are sure are the right reasons.

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My Story

My Story by Elizabeth Smart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The only reason I give this only 4 stars is because the writing in some places was weak. As far as the story goes, I give it 5 stars.

I also read a lot of the reviews before I wrote mine and I am amazed at the number who don't believe in God and therefore dismiss Elizabeth's faith. After such a harrowing experience, Elizabeth has recovered and is leading a well-rounded, normal life. She is helping other victims and in every way has risen above this trauma. It is hard to ignore the evidence that there were miracles in her life and that God has touched her in an unbelievable way. Unfortunately, if one of a person's "first premises" is that there is no God, and all evidence is ignored or explained away then that person is forever cut off from faith and no amount of evidence will be enough. For this I feel very sorry.

Elizabeth's book did not go into detail about the sexual abuse and people also criticized that. I can understand why she didn't. First, anyone who watches the news and reads a newspaper knows all too well what kind of things happened to her. Second,for her to write a book about the prurient details of her captivity would be like writing pornography and that is completely alien to any person of faith.

I think the book was just what I expected. My questions weren't about the abuse she endured, but about how she has recovered. The fact that Elizabeth has come out of this experience as a psychologically healthy and poised young woman who is not hiding away continuing to be a victim is something that I think the world needs to know. She now lives her life in the public eye and even appears on ABC news and that is wonderful. Just as Robin Roberts made public her cancer while continuing on Good Morning America, Elizabeth gives people struggling with sexual abuse the example becoming a whole person again. We need people to provide us examples of overcoming.

Her explanation at the end of the book is something that every victim can use. In fact, a person doesn't have to be a victim of this kind of crime to take courage from what she has done. I am afraid our society has become too quick to turn us into victims when anything bad happens. We need to be able to think of others whose examples give us courage.

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Haunted Sister

Haunted Sister by Lael Littke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a short, but interesting book for YA-Juvenile. Janine is in a terrible accident in which she receives a severe concussion and dies on the operating table. She goes into a nebulous state in which she sees people relatives who have died including her identical twin, Lenore, who died when she was 4. Janine is encouraged to come back to earth and when she does, she finds that her twin sister comes with her. When she wakes up, she finds that Lenore, the "bad" twin is talking to her and she wants to participate in the life she feels she has been robbed of. The situation is very much like a person with multiple personality disorder. Once Lenore manages to get out, she attempts to gain more control and causes Janine a number of problems.

The story line is very good and it is well developed. The characters are believable and the conclusion is well thought out. I think it could have been longer, but since it is for the early young adult group, it is probably the right length.

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The Remains

The Remains by Vincent Zandri
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an odd book. It started with an interesting premise. A young woman’s identical twin sister died of cancer and when some odd things begin to happen, she writes a journal in the form of letters to her sister. When they were children they went into a forbidden wood and were molested by a serial killer. They swore to never tell anyone, especially after he was later sent to prison for 30 years for the rape of a woman and was suspected in other rapes and murders. Suddenly, Rebecca starts receiving odd text messages, calls and evidence that someone has been watching her. When she finds that the man has been released, she begins to fear for her life. Added to the plot is an autistic savant artist who paints pictures for her of what seem to be her nightmares.

Unfortunately, the book seemed to fizzle out after the first third. Odd things happen which ought to send a sane person right to the police, but Rebecca seems to be unusually stupid. One minute she is a competent young businesswoman and the next she is a fainting hysteric straight from a Victorian novel. She is totally ineffectual and contributes to most of her worst problems. Another reviewer mentioned the jarring notes in the story and I completely agree. The oddest was the directions for making her favorite scrambled eggs. I could believe that someone substituted a page or two from a cookbook into the manuscript.

The story is interesting and has some novel plot elements, so it is worth the read, but don’t expect to be impressed with the writing.


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The Adventures of Caterwaul the Cat: Feline Pie

The Adventures of Caterwaul the Cat: Feline Pie by Damon Plumides
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great book for middle graders. It's a bit of a "Puss in Boots" story mixed with the wicked queen in Snow White. Caterwaul the cat escapes from the old witch he lives with and ends up with the beauty obsessed Queen. He remembers a recipe for a potion the old witch has and he goes to get the ingredients to make her forever young. In her obsession with being beautiful she has him put a spell on all the mirrors in the kingdom so that anyone who looks in them becomes a cat.

Caterwaul goes on a long adventure to get the recipe and meets a number of interesting creatures along the way. Since the kingdom is awash with formerly human cats, they come with human vices. There is even a cat mafia and a speakeasy with imported French milk.

The book is clever and entertaining. It's probably going to be a series and sure to be a kids favorite.

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The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was reading this for my granddaughter to use in her homeschool free reading and I was very impressed with it. There's lots of action and pretty well drawn characters. Young Percy Jackson has been expelled from every school he has been to. He is ADHD, dyslexic, conduct disorder...you name it. Things just happen around him and they are the kind of things that get people, especially teachers, very upset. Needless to say, he doesn't have a lot of friends, but he does have Grover, a skinny boy who walks funny, and he likes his Latin teacher who is always after him to become very serious about learning Greek and Roman mythology.

After a harrowing visit back home with his mother and step-father, Percy finally learns why he has such trouble fitting in with his peers. It turns out that his peers are all "half-bloods;" children who have one parent who is one of the ancient gods of mythology. He barely makes it to the "half-blood camp" after being chased there by monsters. From there on, the action really begins.

This is a great book for middle graders and up.

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Albion's Seed

Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America by David Hackett Fischer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful book, especially for genealogist. The author takes the first four waves of immigration to America: The Virginians, the Puritans, the Quakers and the Scots-Irish. For each group, he gives information on what part of England they came from, their motivation, their characteristics, religion, habits, beliefs, influences, and any other attributes they had. He then discusses the place where they settled, the relationship they had with the people they found here and other factors such as the climate and quality of the site they first landed.

Briefly, the Virginians were speculators and adventurers, the Puritans were austere and disciplined looking for a place to worship in peace. The Quakers sought the same freedom, but were a completely different type of religious group. Finally, the Scots-Irish were independent Highlanders from the borderlands between Scotland and England and were fiercely independent, stubborn, proud and often a law unto themselves.

These are the people who came to America and became its first citizens. They left their mark on the people who descended from them and influenced the course of events that led to the United States of America.

There is so much information here that is vital to genealogists. It is possible to look at an ancestor and find the year they came to America, the area they settled and their naming patterns and determine which of these four groups they probably belonged to. In my case, I can't find the place my Munn ancestors came from, but they came at a time when the Scots-Irish were immigrating, they have sandy reddish hair and ruddish complexion, they are fierce stubborn people with a number of disowned children and feuds, sometimes violent tempers and they settled first in the Appalachian Mountains. I feel safe in believing that they came from the borderlands especially since Andrew is a favorite given name. When I looked at that area, I found that there were records of Munns. I still don't know exactly where they came from, but the preponderance of evidence tells me that they were Scots-Irish.

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The Sociopath Next Door

The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this years ago and it's one of those books that changes a person by reading it. It opened my eyes to the motivations of some of the people I've known whose behavior was incomprehensible to me. It seemed to me at the time that these people just wanted to control every situation but there was a maliciousness in their actions that I couldn't account for. This book made their behavior a lot clearer.

After reading this the first time I became more aware of the characteristics of a sociopath and found that there are more people like that around. It also made the behavior of some public figures make more sense. In some cases, the person not only betrayed the people who trusted him/her but actually ran for election again! Hmmm, the mayor of Toronto may be a very good example.

Reading it again, has given me more insight, especially the last chapters which discuss risk taking behavior. I thought immediately of ex Senator Gary Hart in 1987. At the time of the presidential campaigns, he had already had one close call when a young woman was seen leaving his residence and he was outraged at the press. He actually taunted the Miami Herald which continued to investigate. Almost immediately the trip to Bimini with Donna Rice was exposed. Even that wasn't enough; he tried, unsuccessfully, to enter the presidential race again. I remembered being so confused because he was obviously an intelligent person and yet his behavior belied it. This book made everything so clear. He, and a lot more public figures fit the pattern of a sociopath perfectly.

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Miranda's Shadow

Miranda's Shadow by Mark Micloskey
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Actually, I'd give it no stars except that looks like I haven't read it.

I'm 5% done with Miranda's Shadow: I am having a lot of problems with this book. The writing is terrible. I'm sorry to be so negative, but the grammar errors and misuse of words make it very hard to read. I am also having trouble with the diagnosis. This is not a doctor, but a person Miranda only knew via the Internet. They didn't meet until the book was finished. I might not finish this one. —
Later:
I read another chapter and then gave up, but not without a great deal of concern for Miranda. The author confronts her with a number of harsh realities in an Instant Message session with no thought to the fact that she is depressed, has a death wish and has been known to cut herself. He has never met her, is obviously miles away from her…possibly even states away…with little thought about her mental state after these revelations. It’s a wonder she is alive. He makes sweeping generalizations about the abusers, her parents and grandparents without knowing the facts. He is a complete train wreck and I fear for this woman’s safety.


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The Bloodletter's Daughter (A Novel of Old Bohemia)

The Bloodletter's Daughter by Linda Lafferty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read several negative reviews on this book, but I found it to be fascinating. I just didn’t see the stylistic problems noted by some others. The author’s words did not get in the way of a gripping tale of history and madness.

I checked on the internet to see what was known about the historical figures and found that the book followed what I read. I thought the character of Marketa, bloodletter's daughter, to be very well drawn. She was an inexperienced young girl and the fact that she misunderstood the reality of mental illness is plausible. When I was and Evaluator at the Diagnostic Center for the Dept. of Juvenile Corrections, the supervisors accidentally left me alone in the building while I was interviewing a very disturbed (and very large) 17 year old boy. All my experiences with the boy had been very positive until I pointed out that he couldn’t be released to his mother because he told me he hated her. Suddenly, my 6’ x 8’ office became very small when he reacted very badly to being challenged. I barely breathed while he struggled for control. (A few weeks later, I saw him handcuffed to his waist and waiting to be transferred to a mental hospital for an involuntary commitment.) I could well understand how Marketa could think that her special relationship with Don Julius would protect her.

I also found the history of the Hapsburgs fascinating. I started looking for images of the “Hapsburg lip” and found some interesting information about their inbreeding and mental problems. The mental problems of Don Julius became understandable as well as his father’s refusal to admit to the extent of his illness.

For anyone who enjoys history and especially this time period, this is a great book.


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Silencing the voices: one woman's experience with multiple personality

Silencing the voices: one woman's experience with multiple personality d by Jean Darby Cline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book about a woman with multiple personalities or dissociative identity disorder is very well written. It is told from the viewpoint of Jean, the patient with some parts seen through the eyes of her alters. There are parts that are very difficult to read. The splitting off of personalities is not difficult to understand when you read of the terrible abuse. It is incredible that children survive this kind of background.

One thing this book has that I have never read before is what happens to the family when the sexual abuse comes to light. Jean and her sisters told their mother what happened when she asked if there ever was any sexual abuse. It is hard to understand why the mother brought the topic up because she did not want to hear the answer. In this case, at least 2 of the sisters confirmed that there had been horrific sexual, physical and emotional abuse and the other two daughters confirmed the physical abuse and believed their older sisters. From the younger two sisters comments it was likely that at least one other was sexually abused but was not ready to confront her memories. The brothers also believed their sisters and each had a child or step-child molested by the father and all confirmed the horrible physical abuse.

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The Haunting of Maddy Clare

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book turned out to be pretty good. I wasn't sure in the beginning. Sarah Piper was working at a temp agency and she was interviewed by the dapper and handsome Alistair Gellis, who had a interesting proposition. He wished to hire her to help him make contact with a ghost...a man hating ghost. Sarah doesn't have many options, so she agrees to the task.

The ghost, a 19 year old serving girl named Maddy Clare, hanged herself in a barn which she continued to haunt. The two elderly ladies who had once employed her have sensed her increasing distress and want to help her make the transition to the afterlife.

There is more going on though. Sarah makes contact with her and senses her tremendous anger. Something is not right and Sarah and Alistair, with the help of his assistant, Matthew Ryder, begin to suspect that she has not committed suicide, but has been murdered.

There are interesting plot turns and a bit of romance and intrigue which make for a very entertaining ghost story. I will be reading more of this author.

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The Visitation

The Visitation by Frank Peretti
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What would it be like if Jesus came to our town and started doing miracles right and left? It sounds nice, but this fascinating book shows what kind of things could happen. First, how many people would know how to tell if he truly was Jesus? Just because someone does miracles doesn't mean that they are from God. The Bible is very clear about a time in our future when people will do miracles in Jesus' name and they won't be from God.

Frank Peretti is great at creating characters who are flawed, but resonate with the reader. Even people whose religious background seems different are created with the good and the bad of each denomination. The main character, Travis Jordan, was an eager Pentecostal minister before his beloved wife sickened with cancer and died. He resigned from his church to examine his priorities and sort out the spiritual fallout from this difficult time. Unfortunately, the present minister of his church won't let him sit on the sidelines. As irritating as Kyle is, Travis can see himself in the young minister and somehow is able to separate the chaff from the wheat.

Kyle needs all the help he can get when a young man comes to town working miracles and preaching love and fellowship. If everyone in town will just love and believe in themselves, then heaven will reign on earth...only it isn't that simple. What is interesting about this book is that it takes some superficial beliefs and draws them to their complicated conclusions. If people believe that they just have to be true to themselves and follow wherever their desires lead them what happens to the people whose lives are linked to theirs? Poor Jim and his daughter just want to know what to do about dinner and what do they do while Dee is out finding herself? Things are not as simple as sound bites might lead us to believe.

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Who Could That Be At This Hour? (All The Wrong Questions, #1)

Who Could That Be At This Hour? by Lemony Snicket
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you like Lemony Snicket, will like this. It is full of quirky plot twists and unbelievable characters. Unbelievable characters is what Lemony Snicket does best. I think a good bit of genealogical research would turn up Charles Dickens in Snicket's ancestry. Is this book as fun for kids as it is for adults? I am not sure, but someone is taking them off the library shelves!

This is like a prequel. We get to find out more about Lemony Snicket as an apprentice spy well before he went on to write the "Series of Unfortunate Events." He has drawn the worst possible trainer, but he manages to finish his assignment although we are left with a lot of questions. It is obvious that this is going to be the start of a new series.

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Jennifer and Her Selves

Jennifer and Her Selves by Gerald Schoenewolf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is hard to say a book like this is enjoyable when you are dealing with the unraveling of a life full of pain and abuse, but it was captivating. Jennifer was subject to physical and emotional abuse and to cope with the pain, she dissociated into 7 different personalities. Each personality was "born" as a response to a horrifying situation that the child, Jennifer, was not able to cope with. In her creative mind, another personality emerged who was able to bear the pain and betrayal. While these alters enabled her to cope with her situation, they eventually began to cause her problems. Jennifer was unaware of the alters, but she was aware of losing time. When she would awaken, sometimes in an strange location, she would find that days or weeks had disappeared. Frequent suicide attempts and "cutting" brought her to mental hospitals and new therapist until she finally arrived at Gerald Schoenewolf's office.

Shortly after she began work with Schoenewolf, her personality changed so drastically that he finally became aware that he was dealing with a multiple personality. The book deals with the portion of her therapy that dealt with exposing all of the alters and eventually integrating them. The story is a fascinating look into the way a creative and intelligent mind protected a vulnerable child from abuse that she could not cope with.

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Lost Boy

Lost Boy by Brent W. Jeffs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the forth book on this subject which I have read recently. It covers a different perspective than the others. It concerns the boys who were raised in the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints (FLDS)and were either forced out by the prophet, Warren Jeffs, or who ran away. Boys were undervalued in this society because the church leaders often had 40, 60 or more wives and they married girls as young as 12. There was always a need for more young girls, but that left scores of boys for whom marriage was impossible. This was doubly difficult since a man was unable to enter the "Celestial Heaven" unless he had at least three wives.

These boys were forced out of a closed society which totally controlled their lives. When they left, they were penniless, abandoned, ill educated, and totally alone. They not only lost their homes, families, and friends, but their whole culture. These boys were raised to not only distrust the "gentiles," (non FLDS) but to hate them. The schools they went to while in the FLDS emphasized church history and were devoid of subjects like science and US or World history. They were hopelessly under educated and unprepared for life outside the FLDS. Most of them drifted into drugs and alcohol and many died of overdoses or suicide.

The author of the book, Brent Jeffs, also had to cope with horrible nightmares and an all pervasive fear. His drug use was a double edged sword; it blunted his dreams and memories, but it also left him less able to repress the horror of his childhood. After the suicide of his beloved brother, Clayne, who had recently confessed to his family that his uncle Warren Jeffs had repeatedly raped him as a young boy, Brent's nightmares and panic attacks reached a level which left him unable to cope. He was beginning to remember his own attacks by Jeffs beginning when he was 5.

Eventually, Brent’s story and those of other lost boys led to criminal and civil charges of Warren Jeffs and ultimately his downfall. The book is well written and documented and provides a much fuller understanding of the FLDS and it’s prophet, Warren Jeffs.


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The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook-- What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook-- What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fascinating book! It answered many of the questions I have had about people who commit horrible crimes. It is actually a book about how the brain develops and what happens when something goes terribly wrong in the early years of brain growth. The early experiences of children determine how there brains will grow. If the are given no stimulation or are traumatized, the early brain can't develop properly and every additional experience will be influenced by the missing stages.

I've read a lot of books about feral children, serial killers, sociopaths and psychotics in an attempt to figure out what makes them the way they are. Most of what I have read is limited to what they do instead of why. I keep looking for the missing link. This book is the closest to an answer as I have found. The author uses a medical model of brain development to explain the changes in the brain from trauma or isolation and yet leaves room for individual personality. To me this is the key to why not all children who experience this kind of trauma go on to become murders, serial killers and predators.

As someone else mentioned in a review, this book has made me more compassionate towards people who do heinous things and yet made me more aware of why they cannot be trusted to be free among us. The case of Leon was the best example. Guilty of the rape and murder of two young girls, Dr. Perry was called on to give a pre-sentencing report to decide if his sentence was life in prison or the death penalty. Dr. Perry found that Leon had been left alone in an apartment all day long, day after day. He had no stimulation or love which impaired his ability to relate to others. Sadly, it was a vicious circle for him. He was unlovable because he wasn't loved in infancy but he couldn't get love from the people around him because he was unlovable. He developed into a brutal young man with no conscience and low impulse control. He was damaged by his childhood, but he turned into a man who could not be allowed to live in society. Dr. Perry does not say what happened in his sentencing, but I would have given him life in prison without parole.

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The Third Wheel (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #7)

The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this to see if it would good for homeschool free reading. It's written for middle school readers and I can see why the kids like it. Greg is his usual bumbling self as he tries to find a date for the school dance. He's pretty nerdy and unsure of himself, so he is easy for middle graders to identify with. He also manages to be one of those kids for whom everything that can go wrong does go wrong.

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Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints

Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints by Sam Brower
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the story of the Warren Jeffs saga told from the viewpoint of the private detective who spent seven years of his life tracking down Jeffs and helping to bring him and his henchmen to justice. Sam Brower was uniquely positioned to deal with the FLDS as he is a Mormon and understands how this polygamist cult differs from the mainline church and the effects of the abuses of the practice of polygamy. He also had and continues to have strong feelings about the abuse, sexual, financial and psychological, that the majority of the members suffer from. The FLDS is not just a sect that believes in polygamy between consenting adults, but includes incest, child abuse, rape, murder, kidnapping, and the abandonment of a great many of the young boys who have little value in this society. In fact, since the upper level of the "priesthood" have upwards of 50 wives, there are not enough for the young men so they are pushed out at the slightest offense.

While it might appear that this books, which deals with investigations and court battles, would be dry and uninteresting, but that is not the case. Brower is an excellent writer and he is able to convey the complexities of the law in a way that makes interesting reading. He also takes a stab at the psychological aspect of Jeffs character which is one of the main reasons I am reading about this subject. I have to say, that I agree with his thoughts on Jeffs mental state. This book also fills in a lot of the gaps in the understanding of this sect and the damage it does its members. It was interesting to read this book after reading The Witness Wore Red and Stolen Innocence as it seemed to complete the picture.

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Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs

Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book I've read about Warren Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and the courageous young women who have fled his iron rule. Warren Jeffs is the polygamist leader of this renegade branch of the Mormon Church.

As is my custom, I am reading as much as I can about a topic in hopes of getting a balanced view of the subject. This book is one of the first out from an actual victim. Elissa Wall was given in marriage when she was 14 to a 19 year old first cousin whom she already disliked intensely. Elissa begged the Prophet, Warren Jeffs, not to give her in marriage. She argued that she was too young and that she didn't like her prospective groom. Jeffs only told her to pray and "be sweet," a phrase which means submit to whatever the prophet, or her father says.

Everyone tells her that she must do what she is told. Obedience to the head of the family and the prophet is imperative. There is no other choice for her except suicide. If she disobeys, she will be cast out with no money, no place to go and no knowledge of the "gentiles" she has been taught to fear. Not only that, her father may lose his priesthood because he couldn't control his daughter. That means that her mother will be given to another husband and her children will take his name.

As for being married, Elissa had absolutely no knowledge of what goes on between husband and wife. In the FLDS, sex is not talked about and young girls are taught to treat boys as snakes. They are absolutely not allowed to touch one another or even become friends. Elissa is horrified at what her husband wants and eventually, she is raped and made to do to many things that she finds repugnant. Eventually, she finds the strength to leave and finally to stand up in court and accuse Warren Jeffs of the abuse he forced her into.

It is absolutely amazing that this is allowed to go on in the United States. Young girls are being reared as chattel. Sexual abuse is rampant even with girls barely 12 years old. This is a book that everyone should read so this practice can be stopped.

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of Thurber's most famous stories. In it the mild mannered Walter Mitty experiences five daydreams while on a regular shopping trip with his overbearing wife. While she goes to the hair dresser, he runs some errands and has daydreams connected to something that happens on the way. In these daydreams he is always a confident hero who gets the task done bravely at great risk. In some of the story is heard a sound of "pocketa-pocketa-pocketa" as the daydream is in full swing and which signals a "Mitty moment" to any of the readers of Thurber's best story.

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The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice

The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice by Rebecca Musser
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am  not sure why I am so interested in books on this subject, but I keep hoping that somehow I can make sense of it.  It is inconceivable to me that men, especially men who supposedly believe in God can do things as despicable as were done by these leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints (FLDS).  It is also incredible that women would allow themselves, and their children to be abused in this way. I am always searching for something that will help me understand and the best I can come up with is the old saying that "power corrupts and the absolute power corrupts absolutely" colliding with church leaders who are also sociopaths.

In this book, Rebecca Mussler gives a glimpse of what life is like for women in the FLDS.  Men cannot get into Celestial Heaven unless they have at least three wives.  It is the inner circle of this cult that has the power. The Prophet decides which women are given to which men especially after the first wife.  Men try to win favor with the Prophet by paying their tithes, turning over ownership of their houses and land, and their daughters for plural marriages.  Women are taught that it is their highest duty to obey their husbands and their prophet in absolutely everything.  Their lives are centered on their husbands and their children.  From birth, they are made slaves of men.  They are taught to “be sweet” no matter what their men do or tell them.  They welcome in new wives without complaint.  They give their daughters to the prophet to take for themselves (especially if their daughter is pretty) or to give to the inner circle.

Rebecca Musser was very pretty and caught the eye of the Prophet Rulon Jeffs.  She was 19 and he was 84.  She was his 19th wife.  He went on to have nearly 50 more wives all after the age of 84.  His wives kept getting younger and younger until many of them were underage.  When he died, his son, Warren began marrying his father’s wives, technically his “mothers.”  When Rebecca was told that she had a week to submit to his will and marry again, she gathered the courage to escape and go to her older brother who had been pushed out of the church.  (With prophets and their inner circle taking 50+ wives, there were not enough left for the young men so it didn't take much to be expelled.)

She had a better life, but she grieved for her sisters, especially one who was given to her violent first cousin.  She grieved for so many young girls, as young as 12 who were being given to men well beyond age 50.  She grieved for underage girls married two at a time to men older than their fathers and she grieved for her mothers who were made to submit to anything their husbands or the Prophet asked.

When questioned by law enforcement, Rebecca began to see that she could help the states of Arizona, Utah and Texas bring the corrupt leadership down and free these helpless women and their young girls.  She was able to help them build a case against Warren Jeffs, who was not only marrying young girls, but living a luxurious life filled with vices while he preached strict obedience and sacrifice to his congregation.  This book is an example of the power of one person can effect much change.


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More Ramblings on "Catcher" and Classics in general

Kallie wrote: Good point, Roland. In fact, I like to get into character's head when he or she is NOT like me, or like I want to be, and try to see their world from their perspective. I think characterization usually suffers when a writer tries to make a character he or she identifies with as admirable. The character becomes a puppet rather than a complex character with a life of his or her own.

I agree totally!  That is the genius of the classics and all good literature.  I think that is the essence of being "well read."  Getting inside the mind of a character in a book helps us understand ourselves and others.  What comes to mind right now is The Picture of Dorina Gray.  Essentially, Dorian does all kinds of despicable things  without seeming to change in any way. He doesn't suffer for any of his actions. He is a complete sociopath and the reader is able to get into his mind and during most of the book we see the damage he causes others.  At the end though the reader is able to see the damages he does to himself.

After finishing the book, the reader comes to understand that there are consequences to that kind of life.  One book won't put the breaks on a sociopath, but after reading Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby (Daisy), Vanity Fair (Becky Sharp), A Christmas Carol (Scrooge), David Copperfield (Steerforth) Persuasion (Mr. Elliot)even a sociopath can see the consequences of that life, and the rest of the readers understand that there are people who have no conscience and to be wary of them.
immersed in and learn from.

To me, classics gain that title because they are incredibly successful in creating characters and situations which are a different reality from the reader, but which the reader can be