THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, by Mark Haddon is probably the book with the best voice that I’ve read in a long time. Voice is important in any story but particularly interesting and enticing when the story is told by an 15-year-old English boy living with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.

Haddon’s remarkable character Christopher John Francis Boone find a neighbor’s dog dead in the yard, he begins a search for the killer and in turn finds mystery after mystery and begins to solve them in a way that only a savant, such as Christopher, can. The story becomes less about the killer of the dog and more about Christopher.
He begins chronicling his investigations at the advice of his friend and counselor Siobhan. Inserted as randomly as the thought forms in his mind, Christopher inserts drawings, diagrams and explanations into the dialogue in his way of assisting the reader in understanding his tale.

CURIOUS is refreshing in tone, both light-hearted and serious at times. Despite having a very limited world to live in, Christopher details his universe with such detail that it actually sounds like an interesting place to reside. He despises yellow and brown, loves the color red. He does not like to be touched, to the point where even his parents hold out their hands and fingers and touch his fingertips, rather than hug. He does calculations and math in his head to calm his nerves, much like any of us would take deep breaths or attempt a meditation. He cannot tell a lie, speaking what many of us only think.

I found my reaction to CURIOUS to be similar to when I had read Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. I saw Christopher doing things, although deemed characteristic of autism, that I do, just in a different way.

Where he would do calculations, I might pray or recite poetry; where he cannot handle certain situations, I become panicked on occasion and wonder how I will complete the situation at hand.

OVERALL: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a extraordinary read. It is both honest and moving sans the sappy heart-warming mush.

SUMMER AT TIFFANY by Marjorie Hart
Yet another recommendation from Trashionista, SUMMER AT TIFFANY was a great end-of-summer read for me. Marjorie Hart’s true-life account of the summer 1945 as a shop girl at Tiffany of New York (yes, that Tiffany) is as sweet as she and her friend Marty seem to be during their season in the city. Turned away from the stores they thought they wanted to work for, Hart and friend land positions as pages, jobs usually held by young men. With the majority of the available young men away at war, the young collegiates become the first women to set foot on the Tiffany sales floor.
Once there in their Tiffany blue shirtwaist dresses and leather shoulder bags, the eager girls are responsible for whisking clients’ diamonds and pearls through the secret elevator to the elusive rooms where the pieces are to be repaired. They work diligently while living in a cramped apartment, mingling with midshipmen on leave in the city and admiring the rich and famous visiting their workplace.
SUMMER AT TIFFANY combines two of my favorite things. I love reading and learning about the WWII era and believe the zest with which people lived during that time has influenced current culture. And quite simply, who doesn’t like Tiffany’s?
Its just as romantic and funny as readers would hope and inspirational as well. Hart grows up quite a bit during her summer away from Iowa- she falls in love, she questions authority, she ventures out on her own. And what a better way to do it, than with a summer working at one of the most famous places on earth?
OVERALL: Not to sound trite, but SUMMER AT TIFFANY was completely delightful. I’ll definitely be gifting this book!

EAT, PRAY, LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert
I’m not one to read the Oprah book selections because she said so. However, I did feel justifiably smart and ahead-of-the-times when I had already started reading EAT, PRAY, LOVE because I saw it on my fave-o blog Trashionista and then saw that Oprah had approved it for her book club.
I could not have read it at a better time in my life. Much like the author, I found myself in a transition period in my life and looking for answers. I was actively seeking an answer for any and every question I was asking myself, but never sure where I was to ask them. As usual, books and literature tend to act as my Magic 8 ball and provide the answers just when I needed them most.
Author Elizabeth Gilbert goes looking for answers herself when she divorces at thirty-something and decides to travel to Italy, India and Indonesia. It is there she, and the reader, find the answers in the title verbs of eating, praying and loving in her effort "to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India, and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two."
Drawn to Italy by its romantic language, Gilbert learns that the culture feeds itself both literally and figuratively with food. She learns conversational Italian and aids in teaching English to her newfound Italian friends and begins her journey towards finding her God. I say her God because after reading this I have grown and strengthened my belief that everyone believes in their own personal God. Upon her divorce, she calls upon God while on her bathroom floor. It is there, her journey truly begins. But I digress.
In battling her demons of Depression, Loneliness, which she says ‘track her down" only a few days after arriving in Italy, she personifies them. Having conversations with them and addressing them as if they were people surely must make it simultaneously easier and harder to escort them from the life to which they have become accustomed and until you see the light of Happiness at the end of the dark tunnel clouded by negativity.
Gilbert writes "when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after dark times, you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until drags you face-first out of the dirt." She continues with its justification by saying, "this is not selfishness. But obligation. You were given life; it is your duty to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight." This is a good summary of her time in Italy.
In India, Gilbert, also a practitioner of yoga, enrolls in an Ashram. In layman’s terms, an Ashram is a place one goes seeking instruction in disciplined personal divinity. Yoga is the effort to experience ones’ supreme excellency personally and hold onto that experience forever. She fights to quiet her mind – a struggle I can definitely empathize with – and learn what her krishna and her focus is during her time there. Again, she confronts the demons that keep her from truly meditating and uses them to build on and create her most enlightened focus. Once its found, she works to hone it, to make it the perfect focus and realizes that it’s a continual process. One that is never truly complete; one that moves and morphs and alters with her life and one that will tell you what it senses that it needs.
Gilbert travels to Indonesia – Bali more specifically, with no particular plan in mind. Living in a hotel for a few weeks, she makes quick friends with a Balinese healer and a an ancient medicine man. The two of the, aid Gilbert in her continuing journey. While she is seemingly quiet in mind following her stint in the Ashram, there is always more to learn. The medicine man continues teaching Gilbert enhanced meditations that build on what she had accomplished in India.
The meditation of the Four Brothers I found to be most interesting and according to the medicine man rarely taught to Americans. Balinese believe that every child born is accompanied by four spiritual brothers –represented physically by the umbilical cord, the placenta, the amniotic fluid and the waxy substance that protects the baby’s skin. Parents save as much of the four elements as they can and bury it in a sacred space near the home in a coconut shell. The child is taught that these brothers who represent intelligence, friendship, strength and poetry always surround him/her and are always with him/her. They are taught to speak with their brothers and ask them for protection whenever is needed. If you call for them when you wake, they will join you; to say their names at mealtimes and you will include them in the meal and to tell them at bedtime that you are sleeping and need their protection and they will keep you safe from demons and nightmares.
Gilbert extends the happiness and joy that she finds in Bali full circle when she asks her American friends for assistance in helping the healer she has befriended. It is here that we see the true karmic mantra of getting back what is put into the universe.
EAT, PRAY, LOVE is not only a journey for the author but also for the reader. I underlined passages and made notes in the margin and discovered new ways to think about conflict, happiness and the quest for both.

Banned Books Week September 29 - October 6

Yesterday, September 29, began Banned Books Week which runs until October 6. The American Library Association's slogan for Banned Books Week is "Free people read freely." And that meant a lot to me.

On this year's list includes "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. An award-winning book featuring two male penguins who raise a baby penguin so that it may have a two parent home, has been noted as the most challenged book of 2007. Also on this years list is "Beloved" and "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, the Gossip Girl series by Cecily Von Ziegesar and "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier which I remember reading in eighth grade. Our friends JD Salinger (Catcher in the Rye), JK Rowling (the Harry Potter series) and Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) did not join the list this year, but are notable list-makers from years past. They join the likes Ernest Hemingway, Judy Blume and Stephen King. But are these writers and authors known for being on the banned book list or for being unbelievably talented story-tellers? I think the latter.

In a day and age where anything goes on cable television, I simply cannot believe and am enraged that books are still continually banned for content and wording deemed inappropriate. Wasn't Gossip Girl just made into a television show? In the first episode, if I can recall correctly, there were two attempted date rapes. "The Chocolate War," considered unsuitable for sexual content, was required reading in my middle school honors English class as was "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Catcher in the Rye" in my high school honors and AP English class. The Harper Lee classic was under fire for use of the always-enraging N-word that was at one time, a common place word. Not to say that it was right, but it was typical in the lexicon, and society learned from its mistakes and has made effort to correct that. We know now it's not suitable for conversation but would surely still benefit from other lessons in "Mockingbird."

Religious groups and civic organizations have burned books in the name of morality and ethics since 200 B.C. The premise is always the same: to offer up that which they believe goes against their god in an effort to save and/or protect themselves and others. While banning books, and in some instances burning books, is a practice of free speech rather than censorship, who is to tell me what I can and cannot read? Simply put, if you find it offensive, turn it off. Close the book. Don't buy clothes from that manufacturer. Censor and/or edit yourself, but don't censor others.
As an avid reader, I'm often chastised for spending time with my nose in between the pages, but I truly could spend an entire day reading. Ask my friends how long it took me to read the last Harry Potter book. I'd much rather have my nose in a book than my eyes glued to the latest episode of "Deal or No Deal".

In an effort to offer up what I believe is a opportunity to enrich, engage and educate and I'm asking everyone to read a Banned Book this week. If not this week, this month; if not this month, this year. If you need one, ask me, I have a great deal of them in my personal collection or check it out from the library. Or better yet, spend some time in your local bookstore and BUY it for your home library. You'll feel empowered having something you know is controversial in your collection and you'll be offering up to the powers that what you truly believe in as well.

For more on Banned Books Week and for a list of banned books over the years, visit the American Library Associations website at www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm

SAMMY'S HOUSE by Kristen Gore
When I read that there was a sequel to my premier review Sammy's Hill, I couldnt get to the library fast enough. Thank goodness for home delivery!
Samantha "Sammy" Joyce, fresh off the campaign trail for her vice-presidential boss RG and fresh in love with Washington Post reporter and boyfriend Charlie, has her work cut out for her in the WHite House under the presidential rule of President Wye and his enemies the conniving opposition group called the Exterminators. When Sammy gets the hint that President Wye has slipped off the wagon, she makes fast frenemies with her fellow staffers and struggles to come to terms with boyfriend Charlie's quick move to the New York bureau to cover a developing story, all in a single bound.
SAMMY'S HOUSE is heavier in tone and politics than Sammy's Hill so there are a couple, albiet brief, monotone spots, but is nonetheless entertaining with several laugh-out-loud situations including a Say Anything reference (Lloyd Dobbler anyone? How do you NOT love that?) Readers consume the book in an almost stream-of-conciousness way, as if hearing Sammy's internal monologue. It is definitely chick lit but for the political set that power walk the streets of D.C versus the runways or publishing hallways of NYC.
OVERALL: If you liked Sammy's Hill, you will definitely want to read SAMMY'S HOUSE. While it was not quite as entertaining, its understood that Sammy has overcome several obstacles, conquered some new tasks, taken on new adventures and grown up quite a bit - right alongside her readers.

THE WILDE WOMEN by Paula Wall
While I had not read anything by Paula Wall prior, she authored The Rock Orchard to favorable reviews, I am a self-admitted fan of Southern Literature, and so thought it right up my alley. I chalk it up to being from the same town as Flannery O’Conner – Savannah in the house. But whatever the reason, THE WILDE WOMEN, wears the label well and appropriately.
Wall’s second novel, THE WILDE WOMEN, starts off with a typically Southern scenario. Pearl Wilde catches her fiance with her sister and promptly leaves town. When she returns a few years later to her depression-soaked hometown of Five Points, she brings with her a business venture unlike any other and thus a truly entertaining read.
Opening the Five of Clubs, a members-only brothel, just on the edge of town, Pearl not only employs some of the town’s typically southern-lit characters but also finds them as clients as well and lets the gossip traditional of small towns do her promotion for her. The more the town talks, the more interesting swanky enterprise becomes and the more expanded the story lines of each character.
Reading seamlessly like a collection of short stories, THE WILDE WOMEN, oozes like molasses through the sweaty sex, illicit affairs, drinking, money or lack thereof, work troubles and drama they only have in the south. We learn about the long-ago incident that turned the Wilde sisters into who they have become, the town’s token widow, the good ol’ boys network, the outcast single mom and her Hollywood-handsome son, the unfaithful fiance, his family and their covert business of outlawed alcohol production.
Having read THE WILDE WOMEN, I’m ordering The Rock Orchard from my library’s home delivery service. When it gets here, I’m pouring a glass of sweet tea and cracking it open with high hopes for a good read.

THE QUALITY OF LIFE REPORT by Meghan Daum
When NYC lifestyle reporter Lucinda Trout travels to the midwest to produce a research piece on crystal-meth addicted housewives, she leaves behind a miniscule apartment and a DOA love life in search of what she deems The Quality of Life Report.
Her series of Little House on the Prairie meets Sex and the City-esque productions prove not only popular to her fellow New Yorkers but quickly turn her into something else as well. The never maudlin, ultimately determined Lucinda finds herself living in a barn with a local river-bathing, bearded, eccentric semi-mountain man and his children and, gasp, liking it.
With impeccable comic timing and incorrigable social criticism, QUALITY OF LIFE REPORT, pokes fun without harm and allows every reader to move with Lucinda to Prarie City and in short, convinces readers and viewwers to drink the kool-aid. When it comes to light that PC'ers have their own set of problems and issues, just like those in NYC, Lucinda is able to see them for who they are, and she for her true self. Whereas when she arrived, she believed some actions and reactions just didnt count, much like a trip to Vegas. The yankee smarty-pants gets a hard and fast lesson in lovin' leavin' and farm animals.
OVERALL Somewhat chick-lit-ish, QUALITY OF LIFE, is LOL funny and simultaneously satistfying. We all learn a lesson(s) , if anything, about ourselves while having a good laugh as well and cheering for our heroine at the end.

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Guen
I dont remember where I had first heard about Water for Elephants. Perhaps it was while perusing my latest issue of Jane magazine; or the best seller list on nytimes.com; or even a passing mention on my Borders books emailed newsletter but it was on my list nonetheeless when headed to the library during the most recent venture to grab reading material for a work-related trip to Reno, NV (more on that later).

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is told through simultaneous but seamless present day and flashback dialogue. Telling the Depression-era story of the Jacob Jankowski, a veterinary college near-graduate who drops out during his finals following the death of his parents, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, is vibrant and colorful in depictions and descriptions. Doing what many of us mischievously say as children, Jacob does - he runs away and joins the circus. He moves both effortlessly and with difficulty through the social caste system of the circus, making friends and enemies of the upper and lower echelon, mingling with each and every "character" within the circus. Guen depicts each color, sound, smell, touch, and sighs of the circus, from setting up the tents to running for the train as it moves to the next town, with startling eloquence and beauty. Each character, normally seen as freaks or the stereotypical circus folk, becomes the star of their own show, despite their existence in a second-rate circus in its own continuous quest for greatness trailing ever so many steps behind the star Ringling Bros show.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is simplistic complex and unbelievably colorful, with romance, drama, horror, angst, action and the readers involvement within each emotion. Although mentioned on the jacket as a love story, I felt that it was less of a love story and more of a human interest piece with somewhat of a dark-sided love story drifting along side the main plot; towards the middle and end of the piece, the love story raises its head and up and begins running feverishly towards the end keeping up with the previous pace of the both.

OVERALL: I simply cannot say enough about WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. I hadnt read any of Guen's other acclaimed works but look forward to picking them up.

TALES FROM THE BED by Jenifer Estess.
Do not, I repeat, do not read this book for a feel-good laugh out loud simple read. Tales from the Bed, a memoir told to one sister by another sister dying of ALS, aka the uncurable Lou Gehrig's Disease, is nothing short of tear-jearkingly poignant, but so motivating that you feel as though you have done nothing with your perfectly-healthly-able-to-feed-yourself life, and inspired enough to do something...anything, after reading it.
Estess' physicians tell her to prepare to die; max out the plastic; take the trips you've always wanted to take; do all the things you've wanted to do. Just as she begins to truly live, her health truly begins to fade. In her failing condition, her work, including research on ALS, its effects, affects, potential cures and establishing awareness, continues to soar, accomplishing more than she could have hoped for. She relies on her sisters, to be her voice and continue to inspire others as she has been inspired by her debilitating disease to live as never before. Project ALS, as her work is called, is relied upon by not only Estess but also her own doctors, her sisters, other ALS patients and others to try and find a cure.
Estess details every instant that she realizes one more muscle doesnt work, the second she discovers that she can longer smile, the moment she uncovers that she really is dying. Each significant time period lets readers peek into her life, into THAT life, to see the disease as it ravishes the body; each span pushes readers to see do the things they need to do before it is too late.
The last pages are easily read through streaming, but well worth it tears. Jenifer Estess is not just her sister's sibling; she is every reader's sister, mother, daughter, friend.
OVERALL: a quiet moving memory that will no doubt inspire even the hardest soul