Winter Journal (Review by Marsha)

Winter Journal By Paul Auster 5/5	Published 2012 First Sentence "You think it will never happen to you, that it cannot happen to you, that you are the only person in the world to whom none of these things will happen, and then one by one, they begin to happen to you in the way they happen to everyone else."
Publisher's Description: From the bestselling novelist and author of The Invention of Solitude, a moving and highly personal meditation on the body, time, and language itself "That is where the story begins, in your body, and everything will end in the body as well. Facing his sixty-third winter, internationally acclaimed novelist Paul Auster sits down to write a history of his body and its sensations—both pleasurable and painful. Thirty years after the publication of The Invention of Solitude, in which he wrote so movingly about fatherhood, Auster gives us a second unconventional memoir in which he writes about his mother's life and death. Winter Journal is a highly personal meditation on the body, time, and memory, by one of our most intellectually elegant writers.
Dear Reader, Now this is my new favorite Paul Auster book. I feel this is the beginning of my new adoration of him. This is an autobiography in the coolest sense of the word. It's written in a free verse, run on and totally true way that is so Paul Auster. It makes me feel like I've been there through most of his life, his youth in the 60s and 70s and his very cool reality of living abroad in France for several years in his early 20s. He gives the context that most American readers will be accustomed to. He is the same age as my parents and growing up in that household has made me familiar with the cultural realm in which they grew up in. I love how he story tells. One good example is the department store incident. His mother and one of her friend when she was in her 20s and Auster was a toddler.  He describes his frolic with another child in a construction area in this large New Jersy department store. The story ends in a permanent facial scar after having escaped the watchful care of his mother. In this story snippet, he sets up the joy of being free and sliding with his young comrade on his belly along the smooth floor. Becoming more and more daring until he is suddenly rushing face first into a nail that is jutting from a pile of wood boards. We, as readers, can remember that moment in our lives which we received our first serious injury and how it became imprinted both upon our selves both physically and mentally. The feeling of the floor falling away and the realization that death and danger are not far away from everyday situations. It is universal to the human condition and Auster does a flawless job resurfacing that core experience. He sorts the autobiography narrative into things that scarred his body and how those stories lead to pinnacles of time in his personal development. He sorts his life by the women he loved and the depth or brevity of those affairs. He sorts his life by the physical pleasure and ailments that have arisen and then were handled in the course of his life. He doesn't tell his life story in a chronological pattern but much like the thought patterns of a dream. He jumps forward and back in time to the synchronicity of being in Paris, feeling like he was about to die, or the deaths of people close to him. I am touched deeply by the vulnerability of the premise of the book, which is defined metaphorically in the title: Winter Journal. This is the winter of his life. He tells the reader about the spring, summer, fall and ends with what he is calling the winter. Not quite old; but no longer young. I have often spent many a moment considering the chronology of my own life. I think about how it'll be to age, and be "old," to have my once young and elastic body become stiff and weakened (even in the amount of time that I have been alive.) "You never expect it to happen to you." So true. I thought I'd never age, never be given the chance to be an adult with her life together: a car, an office-job, a life-partner, and children. But now I feel I'm the same child I have always been but people are continually born and I seem to be advancing forward and away from the years I was in high school, and in college. Life is much different after those two eras. Not awful, but no longer full of; unpredictable hi-jinx, wide open possibilities and partying. Now I want to go to bed earlier, I just want to stay at home and cook meals with my life partner and our dog. I want to own a house and have children. The longer lasting pieces of happiness ring true and foretell my actual age. I like hearing about the life of a writer. A real writer who has done it; made a living from his artistic craft. I can relate to that passion; to write and create something that you've poured your soul into. Something that you can be proud of. It has always been my dream to be able to make a living from one of my artistic crafts. Paul Auster has done it. Yours, Marsha

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Orange Is the New Black

Orange Is the New Black Piper Kerman 3 / 5	Published 2010 First Sentence "International baggage claim in the Brussels airport was large and airy, with multiple carousels circling endlessly."
Publisher's Description: With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424—one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison—why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they’re there.
Dear Reader, I have just begun watching the TV series that is based on this book, so I won't be discussing much about that. AmberBug gave me this audiobook a few years ago, having received it from a publisher friend. This was well before the show had been made, and so while I was interested in reading it, it wasn't until everyone was talking about the show that I really started to push it up towards the front of my queue. I'm glad I did; it was certainly interesting! A very unique story, really. Piper Kerman is unfortunately forced to pay for a small mistake she made over a decade ago, and must serve time in prison. She is sentenced to 15 months at the Danbury FCI - this also interested me greatly, since until a few weeks ago, I worked at Western Connecticut State University, which is located in the same city. (And, WCSU does get a brief mention! That made me smile.) Kerman is a typical upper-middle-class white woman, which made her experiences so enthralling to me because I would often think about how I might have handled the same situations she encountered while on the inside. Some things she dealt with the way I probably would have; others, she went an entirely unexpected direction, but things always seemed to work out all right. (Which sometimes surprised me!) What I liked best about the book was how the author concluded by realizing that, ultimately, our American correctional system is broken. People are incarcerated and simply left to their own devices; there is no help to minimize recidivism. I've been seeing this for years with my past work in the Prison Book Program: training programs for convicts are abysmal, for the most part. They don't help prisoners prepare the necessary skills (technology they've missed out on being a big one that Kerman mentions) that they'll need for when they are released, and therefore find it much easier to go back to a life of crime. I think that part is what will stick with me most after having read this book. The author herself sometimes bothered me, but she kept the book moving with anecdote after anecdote, and managed to make it one cohesive story. Her interactions with the woman who put her behind bars in the first place was the most interesting part to me: I don't know if I could have reacted the same way Kerman did. However, you never do know until you are in that sort of a situation - and I hope to goodness that I never am! Yours, Arianna

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Neverhome

Neverhome Laird Hunt 4/5	Published September 2014 First Sentence "I was strong and he was not, so it was me went to war to defend the republic."
Publisher's Description: She calls herself Ash, but that's not her real name. She is a farmer's faithful wife, but she has left her husband to don the uniform of a Union soldier in the Civil War. Neverhome tells the harrowing story of Ash Thompson during the battle for the South. Through bloodshed and hysteria and heartbreak, she becomes a hero, a folk legend, a madwoman and a traitor to the American cause. Laird Hunt's dazzling new novel throws a light on the adventurous women who chose to fight instead of stay behind. It is also a mystery story: why did Ash leave and her husband stay? Why can she not return? What will she have to go through to make it back home? In gorgeous prose, Hunt's rebellious young heroine fights her way through history, and back home to her husband, and finally into our hearts.
Dear Reader, Neverhome is a fascinating tale about a woman who sheds her female skin (and life) to leave her farm and husband and disguise herself as a man to fight in the Civil War. This was another book I picked up at Book Expo this year and to be honest, this was one I was searching for and heard a little about before the event. With so many Civil War stories out there, this is a refreshing change. I have yet to read a book that features a female impersonating a male in order to fight in the war. At first this story didn't grip me, it might have been because I was so excited for it. You know when you have something in your mind but it can disappoint you because it's really something else? Well at first, Neverhome did that for me... but then I got over it and went along for the ride that Hunt sends us along. After surrendering to the story, I felt myself starting to connect with Ash (her made-up male name)and got a glimpse into what the Author was trying to convey. Ash (or "Gallant Ash" as her comrades call her - a nickname given early on in the story) is a strong and brave woman with human characteristics that show in her faults. She is quick to rise amongst the ranks with her sharp shooting skills and fearlessness. She is almost meant for this role and we see this during flashbacks of discussions with her husband (why she has to go and how she feels this urge). As admirable as Ash may be, the Author also shows us that she is flawed which brings her closer to someone a reader can relate to. The rest of the cast in the book comes and goes, some important while others make a small appearance. The real grit lies within Ash and her wandering thoughts of home, war and longing for purpose. Around halfway through the book, I realized what the Author was trying to say... and I felt like a dolt for not getting it sooner. This book isn't just about a woman making her way through the war in an unconventional way. That only touches the huge iceberg the Author has set this ship on. We all know the hardships and horrible things that have happened during the Civil War through History class or the books/movies we read/watch. But what about the lack of respect women got back in those days. How about the fact that women were oppressed so much that they didn't have much of a voice. The Author must have done research and felt the need for this story to be told. A handful of women back in that time decided to fake their anatomy and fight in the war. The sad part is that if they got caught, they had absolutely no respect from anyone. No war badges or trophies, instead they got jail cells or insane asylums. This war was all about equality and human rights... yet, even the side fighting for those things showed quite a hypocritical view when it came to women. No voting, no fighting, just stay at home and be with the family. Such a sorry, sad and empty feeling but knowing that so many women back then tried to break those barriers, THAT soothes my soul. Neverhome is a new kind of story, a different perspective of the Civil War, but one that should be told and read. I would recommend this to pretty much everyone. Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Left: Hardcover - Right: E-Book (unavailable to pre-order at this time)

Astrid & Veronika

Astrid and Veronika Linda Olsson 3.5 / 5	Published 2005 First Sentence "There had been wind and drifting snow during her journey, but as darkness fell, the wind died and the snow settled."
Publisher's Description: Veronika, 32, a writer whose boyfriend just drowned in New Zealand, rents a house in a small Swedish village next door to recluse Astrid, 81. They share walks, meals, wine, and dangerous memories.
Dear Reader, My oldest sister sent me a copy of this book, because she had so enjoyed it.  I was already pretty sold just from the beautiful cover, haha!  But it took me a while to get around to this slim volume, strangely enough.  I finally picked it up and flew through it, as I'd expected I would. The story centered tightly on the lives of two neighbors, one new to the area, and one who had lived there all her life.  It took me several weeks after I finished it, but I finally realized why this book didn't sit entirely well with me: it reminded me a lot of a blend of chick lit and a Mitch Albom work.  I don't know.  It was good, don't get me wrong.  Very powerful and emotional, and told a beautiful story of unexpected but deep friendship, and it definitely made me cry a bit.  But it felt sometimes too much like it was trying to be preachy about how one should be sure to appreciate the little things, the here and now, and make the most of life.  How not to get trapped in unhappiness.  The women were good for each other, both having suffered terrible losses and struggling to find their way back from them.  I definitely liked how the story was almost exclusively focused on these two women, which worked because they lived in a pretty isolated spot.  So the author was able to keep the camera lens focused narrowly on these women and their pasts, as they began to open up to each other.  It was lovely the way Veronika found the mother she never had in Astrid, and ditto the daughter Astrid needed.  I did love the magical way the women's lives ended up weaving together and how they learned to lean on each other. Overall, I did like the book.  I actually DO appreciate when books send me messages, give me subtle (or not-so-subtle) reminders about why and how to enjoy the little things in life.  I think there was just something slightly off about the way this one was done, despite how well written it was.  Oddly, though, I WOULD recommend it - particularly to other women.  I don't think it would resonate so well with men; it was definitely written to reach out to the female sex. Yours, Arianna

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