Twain's End

Twain's End Lynn Cullen 4/5	Published October 2015 First Sentence "Isabel's mother watched her tie on her hat with the look of intense pride and suppressed doubt that is particular to the mothers of grown daughters."
Publisher's Description: From the bestselling and highly acclaimed author of Mrs. Poe comes a fictionalized imagining of the personal life of America’s most iconic writer: Mark Twain. In March of 1909, Mark Twain cheerfully blessed the wedding of his private secretary, Isabel V. Lyon, and his business manager, Ralph Ashcroft. One month later, he fired both. He proceeded to write a ferocious 429-page rant about the pair, calling Isabel “a liar, a forger, a thief, a hypocrite, a drunkard, a sneak, a humbug, a traitor, a conspirator, a filthy-minded and salacious slut pining for seduction.” Twain and his daughter, Clara Clemens, then slandered Isabel in the newspapers, erasing her nearly seven years of devoted service to their family. How did Lyon go from being the beloved secretary who ran Twain’s life to a woman he was determined to destroy? In Twain’s End, Lynn Cullen re-imagines the tangled relationships between Twain, Lyon, and Ashcroft, as well as the little-known love triangle between Helen Keller, her teacher Anne Sullivan Macy, and Anne’s husband, John Macy, which comes to light during their visit to Twain’s Connecticut home in 1909. Add to the party a furious Clara Clemens, smarting from her own failed love affair, and carefully kept veneers shatter. Based on Isabel Lyon’s extant diary, Twain’s writings and letters, and events in Twain’s boyhood that may have altered his ability to love, Twain’s End explores this real-life tale of doomed love.
Dear Reader, Lucky me! I got to read an advanced copy of this (via netgalley & BEA) from a well liked Author (Hi Lynn!) and a topic close to home. Samuel Clemens has so much history in Connecticut and anyone who lives here has been subjected to many Mark Twain themed educational romps. You can't grow up in Connecticut without some knowledge of who he was and what he wrote. I'm curious if people who haven't grown up around here have the same basic knowledge of him... it would be interesting to find out. My guess would be, other towns/states would have their own historical figure to learn about in detail, ours was just Sam Clemens (Mark Twain). For whatever reason, I had a feeling that I'd enjoy this book more than Mrs. Poe, but that wasn't the case. Although I really, really enjoyed "Twain's End", the subject, setting and characters had me more enchanted in Mrs. Poe.  Even though I had extensive knowledge surrounding SC/MT (my new nickname for him), I learned soooo much more from Lynn Cullen. She really dug in deep (just like she did with Mrs. Poe. Something I did know but maybe I should clarify for those of you reading this... Mark Twain is Samuel Clemens and vice versa (almost like an altar ego). Twain was the beloved (his pen name) and Sam was the grouchy/greedy jerk (the majority of the public only saw him as Mark Twain and didn't know he had this other side). Another tidbit I was aware of was the connection he had with a comet, how he felt it would be with the comet he would meet his death. But it wasn't just the background details that I loved so much, Cullen even added wonderful little references to the times (again, reflecting something I loved about Mrs. Poe): "Now I know why he called his stories 'Just So'. But I think he forgot the second 'so'." I know, I know... I'm not supposed to quote until the finished product but that was too good not to share! If it didn't make you giggle a little, you have a questionable sense of humor. Notorious Cigar Smoker There was so much the book had me questioning, "Is it true?", well rest assured that Lynn divulges all at the end, which makes the story even more enriching. For example, I had no idea Mark Twain was close friends with Helen Keller! Check it out: Helen Keller & Mark Twain That's right, Lynn based a huge chunk of the story on an actual meeting that happened. I never knew! Shame on me. Thankfully, Lynn Cullen is giving me the history lesson everyone wants (the gossipy one). Her books should have a tag line of, "These are the things you don't learn in school". Let's just say this woman opened up my repertoire of  fun facts to use while chatting it up with others - especially in Connecticut. I should also mention that the title of this book is very aptly named and will be something you'll discover once you read it... ahem... wink, wink... shove - go read it already!   Happy Reading, AmberBug P.S. - If any of you readers come to visit Connecticut, you should visit the Mark Twain House (one of the biggest 'not to miss' spots in CT): Mark Twain House in Connecticut

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The World's Strongest Librarian

The World's Strongest Librarian Josh Hanagarne 4/5	First Sentence "Today the library was hot, humid, and smelly."
Publisher's Description: An inspiring story of how a Mormon kid with Tourette s found salvation in books and weight-lifting  Josh Hanagarne couldn t be invisible if he tried. Although he wouldn t officially be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome until his freshman year of high school, Josh was six years old and onstage in a school Thanksgiving play when he first began exhibiting symptoms. By the time he was twenty, the young Mormon had reached his towering adult height of 6 7 when while serving on a mission for the Church of Latter Day Saints his Tourette s tics escalated to nightmarish levels. Determined to conquer his affliction, Josh underwent everything from quack remedies to lethargy-inducing drug regimes to Botox injections that paralyzed his vocal cords and left him voiceless for three years. Undeterred, Josh persevered to marry and earn a degree in Library Science. At last, an eccentric, autistic strongman and former Air Force Tech Sergeant and guard at an Iraqi prison taught Josh how to throttle his tics into submission through strength-training. Today, Josh is a librarian in the main branch of Salt Lake City s public library and founder of a popular blog about books and weight lifting and the proud father of four-year-old Max, who has already started to show his own symptoms of Tourette s. The World s Strongest Librarian illuminates the mysteries of this little-understood disorder, as well as the very different worlds of strongman training and modern libraries. With humor and candor, this unlikely hero traces his journey to overcome his disability and navigate his wavering Mormon faith to find love and create a life worth living.
Dear Reader, I was extremely lucky to attend a Q&A and signing by Josh Hanagarne at the Hartford Public Library. The book itself had been on my to read list for awhile and when I saw the chance, I grabbed it. Josh is extremely tall, which normally would have people intimidated but his presence was inviting and his lovable sense of humor had me sold. I wanted to dive into the book after seeing him. He spoke of his love of Stephen King, who by chance was doing his own Q&A at the Mark Twain House the next day (Josh was able to grab a position as his bodyguard for that event and arm wrestled Stephen King which you can read about by clicking here or you can read about his Hartford trip by clicking here). The picture I've attached below is one I took from the event: Getting back to the book, I loved it right from the beginning. If you're at all like me, you'll like this book. It has fond childhood memories of the library, youthful adoration of Stephen King, struggling with the pressure of religious beliefs, finding our what you want to do with your life, and so much more. His experience with King mirrored my own, reading his books at TOO young an age to be appropriate. I'll leave all the hilarious stories about doing so for when you read it, but they're great. I related so much to his childhood memories of the library that it brought me right back. My Aunt used to take me to the library and create fun treasure hunts for me and a friend, magical times I will never forget. Reading his library experiences brought me right back to those moments. So why did I give this 4 stars? Maybe this book does deserve 5, it probably does BUT a major part of this book didn't really speak to me. He goes into quite a bit of detail on his strength training with kettle balls, something that had little interest to me but I now have a clearer understanding because of it. I'm sure there is someone out there that will love these parts of his book, but it wasn't for me. I also understand why they're in there... it IS his life after all. I don't think you should be weary to read this because you're not interested in this, the parts of the book that go into it are still very interesting. The Tourette's played a large part of the book and will speak to many with the same problems. The book is very inspiring, one part will stay with me forever; "Learning was a reward. And when I came home from school, instead of asking, 'How was school today?' they'd ask, 'What did you ask today?' " I can only hope to someday use this with my own children, it really is the perfect question. Happy Reading, AmberBug