Month: August 2022

made by New York Puzzle Co. ~ artist Emily Winfield Martin ~ 500 pieces

When I opened the box of this puzzle and saw the pieces are fairly large, I thought: oh, this one will be easy. Not at all! The shapes are random cut and fit together at odd, unexpected angles so it really was a challenge. The kind I love, though. I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for more by the same maker. Love the unique piece cut, the nice linen finish, the lack of glare.

from CList - free

I completed my library’s summer reading challenge. Like last year, there were sixteen items to do. For two of those I just counted reading for thirty minutes. Here’s the rest:

Read-read a book from childhood: The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

Watch a program on the library’s YouTube Channel: I viewed a clip on making a hidden book box. Mentioned here.

Read a book that was made into a movie, then watch the movie: No Way But Gentlenesse by Richard Hines. More on this one below.

Read a local author’s book: Accidental Health by Dee McGuire

Check out a book that’s on display at the library: Doctor Dogs by Maria Goodavage

Read a biography or autobiography: On the Move by Oliver Sacks

Check out a cookbook and make a recipe: Gluten-Free Family Favorites by Kelli and Peter Bronski

Check out a nonfiction book about a hobby that interests you: Still Life by Melissa Milgrom

Read a book set in a place you’d like to visit: Eucalyptus by Murray Bail (Australia)

Watch a movie on Kanopy: I watched a film about feral cats in Cornwall, NY. I mistakenly thought this was going to be set in Cornwall in England, not a small American town. It was still good!

Read a book outside: The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui Sutherland

Read a graphic novel: Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

Read a book that takes place somewhere you’ve never been: Eat, Pray, Love (I haven’t been to any of those countries!)

Read a book recommended by a librarian: Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran

I kind of fudged it on the book-to-movie requirement. The film was called Kes. Based on a novel (which I still want to read!) called Kestrel for a Knave. But I read the younger brother’s memoir, not realizing until after that it was different. It was explained to me in the book! The older brother wrote the novel inspired by his younger brother’s experience with the hawk, and then a film company asked to use the story. I was glad to know the differences (via the actual memoir) before I saw it. (I’m still intending on watching the film version of Eat, Pray, Love when I can, too.)

As in years past, participating in this reading challenge prompted me to borrow far more items from the library than I normally do. I had three options for book-to-movie. I only had to read one for each category but I borrowed six local authors’ books, five graphic novels (and took a few off my kid’s library stack), and two books on hobbies. Plus a bunch others that just caught my eye while I was looking for those options. A lot of them are still sitting by my bed, waiting to be read!

I was a bit disappointed in the prizes, though. I guess I have to be quicker at finishing the challenge, to have a better selection off the book cart. I wasn’t interested in the tickets offered for a local sporting event, and all the books remaining on the “adult” cart seemed to be mysteries or teen romances. I picked out a romance novel about a girl who has to break a family curse, based on the ballad “Scarborough Fair”. I’ll give it a try, but I have a hunch this is one I might end up giving to my teenager.

the True Story of the Girl Who Soared Beyond Expectations

by Aisholpan Nurgaiv

Written with co-author Liz Welch who travelled to Mongolia to work on the book. This short, simply told and wonderful story is about girl from a nomadic group of people in northern Mongolia, the Kazakh. They traditionally hunted with golden eagles, but the practice was forbidden for sixty-five years during communist rule. Aisholpan tells how eagle hunting went back for seven generations in her family, and her grandfather had to keep his eagle hidden, hunting it in secrecy. When eagle hunting was allowed again, festivals celebrating the skill were organized to help revive it. Aisholpan grew up right alongside her father’s eagle in their house. She helped feed it, and when her older brother left for a year of military service, she took care of his bird. When she was older, Aisholpan not only wanted to learn how to hunt with an eagle, she wanted to catch and train her own bird. Her family took only a little convincing, but when Aisholpan later took her eagle to the festival to compete, she was openly mocked and criticized. She was the only girl there with an eagle. And she won the competition. Not only that, but tourists who visited their home were so amazed at seeing this girl with her large eagle, a filmmaker came and made a documentary about her. Now that’s one I really want to see!

This story is not just about eagle hunting. It’s about nomadic life, boarding school, and what it was like to have tourists come stay in their home, from Europe, Africa, and other far countries. She tells about going into town on visits with her family, and being astonished at all the ready-made products. I had assumed they would use the eagles to catch food- but actually they only hunt eagles at prey in the winter, going after foxes and other fur-bearers. The pelts are used to make warm clothing. For these people, it was a source of pride to make their own clothes, most of their food provided by their herd animals, and so on. Such a different way of life. The last part of the book tells how Aisholpan suddenly experienced fame after the documentary became popular. It was shown at the Sundance film festival and then many other places around the world. Aisholpan travelled for the first time in her life to attend film showings, a falconry event she was invited to in Dubai, and more.

But her biggest event was back home, where she had to prove herself to critics in her community. They said winning the eagle competition was one thing, but a true hunter would successfully catch prey out on the mountain in winter. So she had to face the dangerous conditions to hunt her eagle in winter. And it was difficult. Many attempts before success. It was really interesting to read this so soon after No Way But Gentlenesse. Both stories are about a young person training a bird of prey, but otherwise couldn’t be more different. I’ve read so many books about falconry now, the differences in how golden eagles are trained and hunted in Mongolia leaped out at me. Many things are exactly the same, but other things were quite different. I’ve got to put that film on reserve now!

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
198 pages, 2020

Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher

by Ingrid King

Disappointing. Although for a self-published book it really was well done- I didn’t notice any typos, the writing itself was okay, and it only occcasionally got repetitive- as far as I could tell. Because honestly, I started skimming after just a few chapters and didn’t really read the whole thing. Here’s why.

This little memoir is about a cat. The author worked in a veterinary hospital and when cats were up for adoption at the hospital, she’d usually take one in as her office cat. She was so enamoured of Buckley- a small tortishell female- that she wanted to adopt the cat permanently and take her home. But fretted about how Buckley would get along with her resident cat, who’d been solo feline in the house for many years. Cats always require quite an adjustment period to new arrivals, but this was done so abruptly. Convinced that the two cats were destined to be good friends because she felt they had a spiritual connection, the author pretty much put them together from day one, then got upset because there was lots of hissing and posturing, and took Buckley back to her office three times before finally keeping her at home for good. Must have been very stressful for the cat, to say the least.

The story continues to tell how the cats did finally get along and to effusively exclaim over the peace and joy this cat’s presence brought into the author’s life. She tells how she changed jobs, started her own business, and then had to deal with Buckley’s ongoing health issues- made more difficult because the cat (and her owner) got very stressed when receiving medical treatments. The end, when Buckley’s health finally begins to fail, is very sad as you see the cat go through her last moments, cared for very tenderly.

I just- couldn’t connect to this story. I felt iffy about it from the very beginning when the author goes on and on about how admirable animals are because they simply live in the moment and don’t let their past affect them, but then talks about how this cat had always dreamed of having a forever home (back when Buckley was a stray). So the cat doesn’t remember it’s past, but can feel hope for a projected future it imagines? I don’t get that. Then pretty soon in the narrative it’s apparent the author believes she has telepathic communication with her cats, in mental pictures and feelings- sometimes via a medium from afar. A lot about feelings in this book. She’s an “energy healer” too. Not trying to be too critical- this was unquestionable a very sweet cat, who meant a lot to her owner, and her story is quite heartwarming. Too much of it was just too far out there for me.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: Abandoned
120 pages, 2009

Transgender Teens Speak Out

by Susan Kuklin

This book has the stories of six transgender teenagers, narrated in their own words, from interviews with the author. Four of them contain photographs, a fifth has pictures that don’t show the face, and the sixth one requested no images at all. They were all in different stages of the transition process when the book was written. Some male to female, some female to male. One teen was non-binary and another intersex (very interesting to me, was reading the part where they described several doctors’ tests that showed they had a physiology not quite male or female, but literally something inbetween). These stories are so individual. Reading them will make you realize that of course, trans kids don’t fit any stereotype (no more than anyone else does!) Some of them came from well balanced, supportive families. Others struggled with bullying at school, family members who refused to speak to them, or couldn’t accept it when their child came out. Some had caring friends, others got the cold shoulder and had to forge new relationships. There’s kids in here who knew they were different from a very young age, and others who only realized it when they hit puberty. Their awareness and decisions on what to do about it all took different paths, too. One teen delves a lot into definition of words and muses on the injustice of how society defines things. Then you read about another who doesn’t care about that stuff at all, just wants to be a person happy in their own skin. That’s the common thread here. How they felt different than what they looked on the outside, and needed something to change about that. And how things became better, when that finally happened. For the most part.

There’s also an interview in the back, with a doctor who works at a trans clinic in New York. Only one chapter felt awkward to me, the final one, where the author interviewed the teen at a theater venue where he was performing. It didn’t feel as coherent and thorough as the other sections. Honestly, a few of the attitudes and opinions in this book took me by surprise, but overall I think it’s a great insight into what teens who don’t fit the binary role go through. What their daily lives, relationships with family and friends, and struggles to fit in are like. They just want to be themselves.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
182 pages, 2014

More opinions: Lindy Reads and Reviews
anyone else?

by Mai K. Nguyen

Very endearing illustrations, in a story that dives deep into emotions. Main character is young Willow, who goes walking in the woods and meets a forest spirit girl (reminiscent to me of Aisling in The Secret of Kells film, although not quite as fierce). The forest girl Pilu -with green hair full of growing leaves- had run away from home and is now lost. Willow offers to help her find her way back- she lives in a magnolia grove that Willow thinks is the same one her mother took her to visit on hikes in the past. As the two journey through the forest (accompanied by a very cute dog) they exclaim over plants and mushrooms they find and discuss their struggles with emotions and family dynamics. Little flashbacks reveal between the lines that Willow lost her mother recently, is having difficulty getting along with an older sister who acts bossy, and has outbursts of anger. Pilu reveals that she feels ignored in her large family and sometimes feels that nobody cares about her. They counsel each other. The message seems to be: don’t bottle up your emotions, find ways to express the negatives instead of shoving them aside, and understand that yes, your family loves you, they’re just going through their own struggles too. Maybe I was a bit slow reading this- but it took me a while to realize that yes, Willow’s mother had actually died, and that those little blobby things with leafy ears and faces in the middle or lower part of image frames, represented the characters’ emotions. Or maybe I was just distracted by the lovely artwork. Really nice book, although the message felt a bit forced at times- almost like the kids are lecturing each other on how to manage emotions. The love of nature in here is very strong.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
158 pages, 2019

by Jen Wang

I liked this middle-grade graphic novel, though it had some surprises for me! The main character is Christine, whose rather strict Chinese-American family rents their backyard guest house to a single mother on hard times. Christine is wary of the new family’s daughter- Moon is her age, but has a very different, outgoing personality, and she’s heard rumors that Moon beats up other kids. They soon connect over a shared love of music, dancing, art and painting their nails. Even plan to enter the school talent show together. Christine feels like some of the activities Moon gets her involved with are rather daring, because against her parent’s rules (nothing shocking or dangerous though) whereas Moon shares with Christine a secret- that she sometimes sees stars and has “visions” of angels- she thinks she’s from the realm of the stars and really belongs there instead. Christine doesn’t know what to make of this (and neither did the reader). Meanwhile at school, Moon starts making other friends and Christine becomes jealous, but she also stars to back off from their friendship when she sees Moon react with violence to teasing. Then Moon suddenly faces a health crises, and Christine has to show she’s really a true friend.

The characters reminded me so much of The Girl From the Sea and This One Summer.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
218 pages, 2019

by Brian Fies

Comic book artist relates how his family lost their home in a 2017 California wildfire that consumed over 36,000 acres, destroyed more than 5,000 buildings and took 22 lives. The graphic novel format makes this story vivd and immediate (in fact, he wrote part of it as an online comic while he was living through the experience). It encapsulates the family’s loss, struggles to manage the aftermath of disaster and attempts at rebuilding their lives. Everything from the senseless immediacy of what they picked up to carry with them- things they didn’t think of or notice when fleeing the home, were simply gone forever. The shock when they came back and found it all burnt rubble. Descriptions of what the incredibly high temperatures in the fire did to vehicles, garage door frames and other metal items that you think of as kind of indestructible, was just flabbergasting to me. And yet they’d find small, ceramic items in the ashes, looking unharmed. Rebuilding was not easy. Lots of frustration with lack of assistance from certain agencies, or incomprehansible complications. Gratitude towards those who helped out- numerous volunteers and donations, family members stepping in, neighbors sharing experiences. Quite a few stories are inserted of other people that lived through the same fire, acquaintances or friends of the author. Some things in here just make you blink in frustration. Other moments can have the reader close to tears. What’s horrifying is this was just one of many wildfires that ravaged the region- and the problem seems to be ongoing, every year.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
154 pages, 2019

One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book has been in the back of my mind for a very long time. A while ago I was interested in reading it, but then looked at reviews online and the many negative ones made me think this one wouldn’t be for me. I’m actually glad I finally read it, though. It’s a memoir. This woman had a painful, messy divorce and then jumped into a new relationship too fast, which eventually floundered but she couldn’t end it cleanly. Decided (on a whim it sounds like) to take a break from life as it were, and sort out her internal priorities. She spent a year travelling- four months each in Italy, India and Bali (island in Indonesia). Her basic goals were to indulge in pleasure in Italy (via food), immerse herself in the spiritual in India, and find some balance in Bali. I was impressed that she worked to learn the language before and during her stay in Italy. That she spent most of her time in India in an ashram, following the teachings of a guru, doing meditation, periods of silence, and service (this varied from scrubbing floors to being a guide and hostess to new arrivals who were attending a retreat at the ashram. The whole time she is searching for a spiritual experience, but it doesn’t come in the way she expects. Finally, she journeys to Bali where she spends her time between visiting a medicine man and hanging out with a traditional healer who becomes her friend, but then it gets a bit messy in the end when she asks people back home for donations online to help this woman buy a house . . . Through it all, she’s really doing a ton of navel-gazing, trying to understand her past actions and straighten herself out for the future. Soul searching, I guess. I thought this would put me off- the details about culture and scenery in these far away places she visited might be a lot more interesting than internal monologues or conversations with herself via writing in a journal.

But not at all. I found her struggles so very relatable, even though she’s a very different type of person than me. The honesty and humor won me over, I liked the writing style, I found all the people she met and friends she made interesting too. Even the parts about meditation and religious experiences in India were thoughtful to read about, while I don’t consider myself a religious person anymore. This book had similarlites in my mind to both Richard Bach (somebody is probably cringing at that) and Tracks– because it’s about a single woman travelling? Not sure. Maybe the voice. So while I don’t agree with or understand all the author’s opinions and means in this book, it was a good read regardless. Sometimes seeing opposite ways that other people view the world is just so interesting. And I didn’t mention yet- in the final part of the book, she falls in love with a Brazilian man. One of a group of ex-pats. I expected I was going to find that part boring, but the storytelling was still good. I am interested in seeing the movie now, just don’t know when.

It didn’t come across as terribly whiny to me, though I can see why other readers felt so. I did get annoyed at how she kept referring to herself as an “old woman” in her thirties! Please! I’m in my forties and don’t feel old yet.

Rating: 4/5
334 pages, 2006

made by Buffalo Games ~ photographer K. Yamashita ~ 750 pieces

Panorama puzzle! While a photographed landscape is not my favorite type of picture to do, I did enjoy this one. Really good puzzle brand. The pieces are sturdy and fit together well. Angles in the border pieces are fun. Glare was minimal. Hardest part was the background hillside of trees.

a thrift store find

DISCLAIMER:

All books reviewed on this site are owned by me, or borrowed from the public library. Exceptions are a very occasional review copy sent to me by a publisher or author, as noted. Receiving a book does not influence my opinion or evaluation of it

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