Imperfect Birds - Anne Lamott

“Each has to enter the nest made by the other imperfect bird.”

Rosie Ferguson has everything going for her. She's smart, athletic, pretty and popular and about to rule the school as a senior. Too bad her mother and stepdad seem hellbent on making her life miserable. But Rosie has a secret. Her mother Elizabeth has her own issues. As a recovering alcoholic, she suffers from depression and paranoia about her daughter's safety and the fidelity of her husband James. The relationship between the three is strained at best. It all comes to a head when the truth about Rosie comes out, almost tearing the family apart.

Let me start by saying I really enjoyed "Bird by Bird", Lamott's book on writing. I couldn't wait to read her fiction, to salivate over the diction, the carefully constructed dialogue. Unfortunately I had several issues with this book.

I found it difficult to get into this book, rereading the first couple pages over several times. The story also drags for the first 100 pages. While I understand this was an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) and not the final draft, the core of the book should already exist and as is, I wasn't engaged as a reader.

The story felt extremely real but I was frustrated by the characters. No one was likeable. Every teenager is drinking or doing drugs and Elizabeth and James' marriage is strained. Add to that Rosie and Elizabeth seem to have interchangeable voices. Rosie's voice felt extremely mature for a teenager and not always consistent. And while I do think the book is meant to make the reader feel uncomfortable I found it difficult to enjoy any aspect of the story.

In the end I was left feeling unsatisfied and most likely would not have finished the book if it hadn't been an Early Reviewer copy from LibraryThing.

Rating: 2/5

Girl On Top - Nicole Williams

"Some people search their whole lives and never find a career they love, some fall into love on day one and are committed for life, and still others fall in love8 over and over again. I've come to believe that just like in our relationships, loving your career has a lot to do with expectations - ultimately you get the love (and the career) you think you deserve."

This is an Early Reviewer copy that I received from LibraryThing.

The book is divided into sections that each address certain aspects of work life, some that fall by the wayside if an employee is inexperienced or shy when it comes to asking for what they deserve. The book has a flow, making it easy to read and includes several visual aids, from appearance to how to ask for a raise. Interestingly Williams' no non-nonsense advice can be applied to both the workplace and in relationships for a variety of situations. For example, Williams writes on loyalty, how it's important to reward it, that trust be earned through action and to believe in your instincts, all qualities that can apply to both.

Williams made the read enjoyable by peppering the book with humour, separating it from other career success books that can often read more like wheat germ.

One drawback I did find was that the guide seems tailor-made for a very specific job type, such as a media/PR person. I'm not sure how this advice would work outside the corporate world. As well, some of the advice seemed more common sense than anything, telling the reader things they would already know.

Rating: 3/5

Powers - John B. Olson

"The man let out a stream of words hot as coals as he struggled to his feet and glared down at her, eyes blazing. His face was a dark shade of purple-tinged red. He lunged toward her with clenched fists. Veins bulged at his neck."

Mariutza Glapion has been living in a swamp for as long as she can remember. One night she sneaks out to the road, a forbidden place and on her way home, senses something is wrong. She senses the Badness, hears a gunshot in the dark, finds her home empty, her grandfather missing. She finds him dying in a pool of blood and he makes a strange request. Forced to flee her home she encounters Jazz, a musician with strange powers of his own. Together they must solve the mystery her grandfather left for them to solve, all the while avoiding the Badness and the authorities.

I received this book as an Early Reviewer from LibraryThing and found the mythology of the world intriguing as Mari belongs to a small group of people called 'The Standing'. She has special skills and powers, is wary of cities and as a result, doesn't know how to survive inside one. Her dialogue has an earthy feel to it and her diction reveals her ignorance of technology and mordern society.

She's also very tactile when it comes to describing her world. Olson has some beautiful descriptinos that paint concrete images of the setting. "Smooth moonlight, soft and timid as a sleeping babe's breath, seeped through the forest canopy, painting Old Man Oak's mossy beard with twisting ribbons of silver and shadow."

Various terms and concepts associated with the mythology of Olson's world are introduced throughout the book but by the end I still wasn't sure what some of them meant. I only saw the 'Badness' as an amorphous blob and wasn't sure exactly how Mari's 'dikh' sight functioned. As well there were various references to the Bible which seemed contrary to a book I would classify as fantasy. Then I realized this book is classified under Christian Fiction and the core of the book relates to a story in the bible.

I found it difficult to orient myself at the start of the book. The combination of Mariutza's diction and the mythology of her world launch the reader straight into the unknown. It would have been easier to adjust had the POV not jumped into another character in chapter two. This jumping around occurs for the rest of the novel and included a POV for a character called Daniel Groves that seemed unneccessary. I didn't fully engage in the story until halfway through the book because at that point, the plot felt solid.

Also it was difficult to tell how old everyone was. At the beginning of the book I thought Mariutza was quite young but the farther the read the older she seemed to become. She acted like a child though that may only have been to show how apart from the world she really was. Then when she was with Jazz she seemed to age seven or eight years and appeared closer in age to him.

Rating: 2.5/5

a mercy - Toni Morrison

"You can think what I tell you a confession, if you like, but one full of curiosities familiar only in dreams and during those moments when a dog's profile plays in the steam of a kettle. Or when a corn-husk doll sitting on a shelf is soon splaying in the corner of a room and the wicked of how it got there is plain." p 3

Florens is a slave, given away by her owner to pay a debt to one, Jacob Vaark, landowner. She's brought to his plot and works off the land along with several other women of varied backgrounds. Rebekkah, Jacob's wife who "shat among strangers for six weeks to get to this land"; Lina, a native whose tribe was killed by disease; and Sorrow who never has much to say, having been rescued from a shipwreck against her will. While trying to survive, Florens finds love and loss, with the women of Vaark's land having to fend for themselves.

Morrison conveys the reality of a virgin landscape, offering a brief glimpse of a land still wild, the harsh realities of digging out a life in the 1600s. Her writing, almost more like poetry in this work, has a fluid rolling quality that softly tickles the mind with description and dialogue. Her artistry is evident in that she writes in several voices, all with their own rhythms and cadences. These voices are more often than not dwarfed by the landscape though this is perhaps fitting. Back then the land was as much a threat to survival as was bad weather and illness.

One problem with the book is the beginning. An unknown speaker confesses to an act of violence. The form and meaning of this convoluted explanation only become clear towards the end of the book. A reader shouldn't have to struggle that hard just to get into a book. It was a bold move on Morrison's part, trying the intelligence of readers but in the end, fails to pull the reader in.

"a mercy" is an interesting glimpse into the world of slavery in the 1600s. Morrison paints a stark picture about the fragility of survival and the delicate nature of the human heart.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Geography of Hope - Chris Turner

" Under our current economic system, you can never have enough and you can never have too much. In fact, our entire economy is predicated on continued, endless growth. Yet we live in a finite world, with finite resources and a limited amount of space to dump our wastes. Bit of a problem there." David Suzukip 283

For years now we've been assaulted by the media shouting from the rooftops about global warming and dark predictions for the future. While "if it bleeds it leads" may still apply to journalism, no one welcomes the paralyzing terror that news organizations seem hellbent on shoving down our throats. It seemed as if all we could do was gird our loins and hope for the best until I came upon this book from MiniBookExpo In it, author Chris Turner explains what various countries and companies around the world are doing to create environmentally friendly and sustainable communities. For example, Singapore is working on a zero-emission automobile project and currently suffers from a grid-lock free city. The island of Samso, near Denmark has reduced their CO2 emissions to less than zero. And did you know that the Reichstag in Berlin generates its own power from vegetable oil?

This is the first book I've read that doesn't spell doom and gloom for our future. Turner focuses on the positive, on the leaps we've made in sustainable technology. He also makes it sound surprisingly easy to switch over to a more sustainable lifestyle. The book is helpfully divided into sections that each address areas of concern. From power to transport to housing, Turner draws upon examples from various countries and explains how they're adapting to the needs of their people and the changing world around them.

The leaps and bounds in technology though, sound like something out of Star Trek. A high-performance glass made by French company Saint-Gobain, is designed to allow 75 percent of available light in but only 25 percent of the heat and is ideally suited for Southern India's climate where it's being put to good use. As well currently ten percent of the roofs in Germany are covered in vegetation. They keep the buildings cool in the heat and warm in the cold, produce oxygen and provide great green space for workers to use for relaxation.

One danger that books on heavy subjects often suffer from is a dry style and complicated language but this book is surprisingly readable, most likely because Turner is a journalist. The writing also reads more like fiction at times, pulling the reader along. "The grey sky faded fast into black. In fits and starts, the lights of the village came on, gold and orange and the strobing blue of a TV or two against the encroaching dark. I felt ecstatic in the warm embrace of it all."

My only complaint was the swearing peppered throughout the book. I can understand the need to get angry at our current state of affairs but it diminishes the message and academic candor of the book.

If you're concerned about what we're doing to meet the challenges ahead of us then I would highly recommend this book. Turner provides a myriad of examples that give me hope for what we can accomplish.

Rating:4/5

We Interrupt This Broadcast - Joe Garner

"There are events that have become more than defining moments in history; they've become benchmarks for our lives, reference points for "where we were when..." Almost without exception, there is a television or radio broadcast that indelibly etched the moment in our imagination, weaving itself into our memories of the event itself." - page xiii

This book is a compendium of events that have influenced the world for the past 70 years. They include events both political and social, full of joy and grief. Each story has accompanying photos as well as cds with the actual broadcasts that changed the lives of so many. Small details are included to help flesh out the description of events. For example, both Neil Armstron and Buzz Aldrin wore 185-pound spacesuits for their moonwalk but thanks to the moon's gravity they had little trouble getting around. Events like the moon landing have helped to shape our world today and it's thanks to those broadcasters who informed the world.

The Good:

This book causes curiosity. After reading about the Hindenburg and the fact that the US, the world's only source for helium, had priced the precious gas out of reach of the Germans, I wanted to know more. The book is also educational as well as reflective. I'd always assumed Korea was divided after the 1950 Korean War but it turns the country was separated into north and south after WWII.

Amazing photos accompany each story, giving the reader insight into the time and place of the events. My personal favourite was the celebration at the Brandenberg Gate during the reunification of Germany. Night had fallen but the scene was lit with blazing lights and fireworks. People were crammed together, surrounding the gate that had once served as a passage between the two Berlins.

There are also three cds that include the actual broadcasts from the stories. They really brought the events to life and you can track the passage of time throughout. For example, you can hear the formality and the archaic diction from the man reporting on the Hindenburg disaster.

In all I would recommend the book to history lovers. This book is chock full of events from the past and the cds bring them back to life.

The Bad:

I was curious as to the decision to start in 1937 with the Hindenburg disaster. There were earlier events that gripped the world that I thought could have been included such as the Lindbergh kidnapping. I was hoping for a broader spectrum of broadcasts but the majority of the stories seemed squished into the 90s.

I wish that there had been more international stories included in this book. It seemed too Amero-centric to me. While I agree that many moments in American history gave the world pause, such as the moon landings, I don't think stories like "Truman defeats Dewey", belong in the same category, let alone the same book.

As well, there were some stories I couldn't relate to, as they had either happened before my time or had little impact on my life. I didn't grow up in the era of the Cold War so it's hard to comprehend the anxiety around atomics and the Cuban Missile Crises.

The Ugly:

Somebody find Eli Wallach.

Rating: 3/5

Khubilai Khan's Lost Fleet by James Delgado

..."very few Westerners have any understanding of how the forces of nature and history brought Khubilai Khan and kamikaze together off the shores of Japan's southern coast in the late thirteenth century. Even today in China and Japan, where Khubilai once reigned and where the battles and shipwrecks that marked his failed invasions played out, most do not have more than a cursory understanding of what really happened."

Khubilai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, took control of his grandfather's empire and for a time ruled China as Emperor. In 1274 and 1281 he tried to invade Japan, failing both times. The story that most of the world knows is the second invasion was supposedly destroyed by a "divine wind", otherwise known as a kamikaze. This gave rise to the idea that as an island nation, Japan had the divine protection of the gods. No one knew what had really happened to these invasion fleets until the early 1908s when mechanical engineer and WWII veteran, Torao Mozai made a discovery off Takashima Island.

The Good:

Delgado tells a good story around the facts when this book could have easily been a dry academic text. Things are described in layman's terms, making it easy for the average person to understand. As well, the reader gets a good background on ships, sailing and trading in Ancient China, showing how technologically advanced the Chinese were. They invented the stern rudder whereas it was unknown in the Mediterranean until the 13th century. Also, Chinese mariners used watertight bulkheads, something the Titanic failed to faithfully reproduce.

It was fascinating to discover how much of a contribution Khubilai made to China as well as read about his rise to power, despite the machinations of other family members. He introduced paper currency to China and "in his memoirs, Marco Polo waxed eloquent on the novelty and efficiency of the Khan's paper money, manufactured from the bark of mulberry trees."

Despite the face that "nautical archaeology has yet to be developed", we are able delve into what really happened to the Mongol invasion fleets of 1274 and 1281. Several theories are put forward, including the idea that a great storm, a kamikaze, was indeed responsible for breaking up the fleet of 1281. The proposed truth is far more interesting and complex.

The Bad:

This book includes a photo section and Delgado make various references to paintings, artifacts and manuscripts but very few of these examples are accompanied by photos. For example, Delgado mentions surviving portraits of both Kubilai and his wife Chabi, yet they aren't reproduced in this book. Delgado goes to great lengths describing the Great Khan's rise to power and his decisions as Emperor of China so why not let us take a look at the man?

As well I don't believe enough time has passed since excavation began to warrant a book. It's only in the last twenty years that some major discoveries have been made. I would have expected to see a book perhaps twenty years down the road, when a more concrete idea has emerged from Takashima Island. Here the archaeologists and Delgado only scratch the surface of the invasion fleet with less than one percent of the estimated underwater battlefield excavated. Only one chapter out of twelve is actually devoted to the finds made. This was disappointing considering the book seems aimed at answering the big question: what happened to the fleet? Even with the proposed theories, archaeologists admit theres a lot they still don't know.

The Ugly:

Somebody find Eli Wallach.


Rating: 3.5/5