Penguin Threads

I came across these interesting editions in a catalogue this week. The covers are designed as hand stitched embroidery, and then each book has an embossed version of it.
I'd like to see one in person to get a real sense of it.

Siren Song

Finished July 7
Siren Song by Stephen Schwandt
This short mystery is very different. Schoolteacher JP Griffin is disillusioned with teaching American lit to high school students. Near the end of the school year, he runs back to the area he grew up in, the Door County of Wisconsin. It is foggy that night and he passes an unlikely trio of vehicles on the bridge.
He decides to buy a boat with the money he inherited when his parents died and take the fall term off. He purchases a used boat and intends to take the summer to relax and cruise around the area. But the secrets of the previous owner of the boat, a cop who died on the night he arrived won't let go. He begins to feel that he has taken on the cop's life. He is reading his books, living on his boat, discovering his secrets, and meeting his friends. Where will it all lead him?
This book is intense and gave me a feeling of lacking control (from the character's viewpoint).

Kamchatka

Finished July 5
Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras, translated by Frank Wynne
This novel is told by a man looking back at a few months from his childhood the year he was ten.
Structured like a school day with each section a subject, this book follows a young boy in Argentina in 1976. His parents have spoken out against the government and feel threatened. They pull him and his younger brother, referred to as Midget, out of school in the middle of the day, whisking them off to a house in the country with only the items they have with them. His favourite game is Risk. In Risk, Kamchatka is the furthest you can get from Argentina, and the narrator makes reference to a period of time spent there after the events described in the book.
In the country villa, the boy finds a book on Houdini and when asked by his parents to pick a new name as they go into hiding, he picks Harry. We see how he tries to help his younger brother, but still struggles to be as strong as his parents need him to be. He is befriended by a young man, Luke, also in hiding, who helps him to gain skills he thinks will help him. As we switch back and forth between the adult narrator looking back at his younger self, and the young boy in voice, we see how his mind struggled to comprehend the events as he experienced them, and how his adult self feels for him. This is a very moving story, as we can guess what the events are leading to. The boy Harry is losing his innocence, far before he should have to.
A wonderful read.

Look Again

Finished July 4
Look Again by Lisa Scottoline, read by Mary Stuart Masterson
One again Scottoline writes a winning story. Here the main character is Ellen Gleeson, a reporter for a Philadelphia newspaper. A couple of years back, while writing a story, she came upon a very sick young boy in a hospital. Something about him drew her to him and she made enquiries. She ended up adopting him, and Will is now the center of her life.
There are cuts at the newspaper and Ellen is worried about her job. When she arrives home one day, she notes a white card with a photo of a missing child as part of her mail. She is struck by how much it looks like Will. She is continually drawn to the fact of this resemblance. She knows her adoption was legal, but still begins to ask questions. "What if" keeps going through her head, along with the question of what she should do.
Scottoline brings the thought processes and emotions involved into view and we feel Ellen's struggles and worries. This book will get you thinking about what you would do in that position and face the worst fears a parent can have.
A winner.

Our Mothers' War

Finished July 3
Our Mothers' War: American Women at Home and at the Front during World War II by Emily Yellin
Emily Yellin was inspired to write this book after finding letters and other papers relating to her own mother's war experience. Yellin found these items when clearing up after her mother died in 1999. She began wondering about the roles that women played in the war and did some serious research.
The book is divided into several sections, each on a different aspect or role of women's lives during that period.
She included factory workers, military personnel, auxiliary workers, entertainers, nurses, spies, politicians. She looked at the roles of black women, Jewish women, and those involved in right wing anti-Semitic groups. She interviewed Japanese-American women on their experience. She looked at the women of Los Alamos and how they dealt with uncertainty.
She even looked at sexuality during the war, covering prostitution, young girls enamored of soldiers, unwed mothers, and lesbians.
I learned a heck of a lot reading this book, and it was funny that it related to another book I was reading, a fictional account of women pilots in the UK during WWII, The Beauty Chorus. Even some of the same names came up in both books.
The courage of these women, getting a taste of independence and fighting for their image, their jobs, their country, and sometimes their lives was inspiring. I was particularly taken by the last chapter, Emily Yellin's personal experience from her mother, which included her mother's words giving a story about Emily and her friends when she was nine.
This is an extremely well-researched book that tells a story that was untold for far too long.
More information is available at the book's website.

Beach Read Sweepstakes

Simon and Schuster is running a Beach Read Sweepstakes beginning today and going until July 31, 2011.
Summer is such a great time to catch up on all kinds of reading.
Check it out!

Beach Read Sweepstakes

The Beauty Chorus

Finished July 3
The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown
This novel focuses on women pilots in World War II, specifically the ferry pilots working for the Air Transport Auxiliary. We see the lives of three pilots up close: Evie, a girl from a wealthy privileged background; Stella, married with a young child and trying to find a future for herself; and Megan a girl from Wales who longs to make her dreams come true.
Evie's father Leo works for the Air Ministry and is reluctant at first to have her fly. Stella has come to England from Singapore, leaving her young son with her in-laws in Ireland. Megan is still mourning the loss of her brother, but wants to make a difference in the war and come back to run her parents' farm.
We see the not-so-glamorous lives of the pilots, the hard work and long hours. We also see some of the resentment from the men they serve with, while other men respect the hard work they do.
This was eye-opening and very interesting in showing a side of war I hadn't been aware of before, and oddly enough one also touched on in another book I am reading. It's nice to learn history and be well entertained at the same time.

Matched

Finished June 30
Matched by Ally Condie
This teen dystopian novel is set in a society where the Officials decide most things for the citizens. Everything from your job to your life partner is decided by Officials on your behalf. Cassia goes to her Matching ceremony and is matched with someone she already knows (an unusual occurence). She knows the choice is right for her, but later when she views her card with information on her match, another face pops up, briefly.
She is now faced with a choice: accept the official version of the story and choose Xander, or take a path of resistance and choose Ky.
There are many questions here about society, choices, and how the choices we make determines our future. Did someone make an error, and if so, who? Why Ky? And how does Cassia really feel about this. Small acts of rebellion can make a big difference, and Cassia is not the only one to face choices against the Officials.
An interesting plot, with interesting characters.

The Last Christian

Finished June 26
The Last Christian by David Gregory
Proselytizing through fiction is what I came away with from reading this book.
It's a thriller set in the year 2088, a time where Christianity has disappeared from North America. Abigail Caldwell emerges from a jungle village in Papua New Guinea, the sole survivor of a mysterious illness that killed the other villagers. Abby's parents were missionaries to the local Isisi tribe, and Abby lived her whole life there. Abby is assisted in making her way back to her parent's home country of the United States by an American doctor working in the country. She is forwarded an old message left for her at the mission offices by her grandfather saying that he and her grandmother felt that her mission was to reintroduce the Christian faith in America.
There is also another force at work in the US. The leading manufacturer of artificial intelligence has perfected a technique to download the human brain to a silicon device. Brain transplants have begun and the manufacturer is looking to enlarge his market by getting government funding for the operation. How determined are these people to achieve their goal? And is the technique really perfect or does it come at a cost? These two questions are the core of the plot, and keep things moving along.
Abby is an intelligent person with a one-track mind. Her intensity and focus moves those around her to assist her in her actions.
An interesting plot, but a bit forced at times.

Crooked Letter Crooked Letter

Finished June 24
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
This author was new to me, but definitely caught the flavor of the setting here. The book's title refers to the spelling of Mississippi, a new fact to me.
The action is in the present, but has flashbacks to the 1970s when the two main characters were young.
Larry Ott was a bit of an outsider, a reader rather than a jock, lacking any real friends. When he encounters Silas Jones, a black boy near his age, he makes some overtures. The two boys begin to hang out together when they aren't in school, finding a way toward a friendship of sorts.
Action by Larry's father creates a barrier between the two and the friendship falters.
Fast forward a few years and Larry takes a neighbour girl to the drive-in, his first date. He returns home without her, and she is not heard from again. Larry denies any wrongdoing and is never charged, but becomes ostracized further by the community.
Go forward a few decades and there is another missing girl. Larry is under suspicion and Silas is the town constable. As Silas tries to chase down the facts around the case, he and Larry must face the events of their past and make their way through them.
A fascinating tale of suspicion and prejudice, this book is a great read.