billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
The story of Dr. and Mrs. Wolfberg's harrowing experience with the birth of their premature daughter is one that will tug at anyone's heartstrings, parent or not. The difficulty of the situation must have been nearly overwhelming at times yet Dr. Wolfberg has turned that experience into the opportunity to furnish us with not only his personal story but a well-researched examination into the state of NICU care today and its future going forward. What struck me most about this book was the situation the author found himself in when thrust to the other side of the exam room curtain. Usually privy to all conversations regarding a patient care situation Dr. Wolfberg finds himself cast in the role of worried parent while others decide his daughter's fate. His ability to blend both experiences and produce this lucid, moving book like this speaks volumes about his dedication to his profession and his strength of character.I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an emotionally taut medical story that will keep you on the edge of your seat or a meticulously researched insight into the current state of NICU operations and ethics.
billyminersbooks rated this book 4 of 5 Stars.
Unfortunately the beginning of Daleen Berry's story is not unique. Sexually abused from the age of thirteen, she became pregnant in high school and by the age of twenty-one found herself the mother of four children, trapped in a joyless marriage to an abusive alcoholic. The important part of Daleen's story is what happened next.Repeated fantasies of harming one of her children leads her to seek help and she eventually discover that the intense stresses of her life have left her mentally ill. By the end of this chapter in her life Daleen is in treatment, having ended her relationship with Eddie, and on her way to changing nearly every aspect of her life.The book is not without its flaws. Early on, the pace is slow and the chronology is sometimes patchy. There are some grammatical and spelling errors as well but the story Daleen tells is so intense and so important we are willing to overlook these small problems and focus on the more important story of the prevalence of abuse in our society. Indeed, as the book progresses the writing seems to improve, making Daleen's transformation from a victim to a survivor all the more evident. Berry pulls no punches. She admits that she is not perfect. She has made some mistakes. What is important to her and evident to the reader is her drive to move forward, to purge the negativity of the past from her life and to tell her story in such a way as to make other young women in similar situations realize that they too can break free, save their own lives and thrive.Daleen's second book 'Children of Silence', which deals with the emotional struggle faced by her children due to their experiences with abuse, is soon to be published. Her life will have changed for the better but for Daleen, struggle and challenge are never far away. The future will undoubtedly be have its difficulties but through the exercise of her own emotional courage Daleen is able to face them not only as a survivor but as a warrior and a spokesperson for abused women and children everywhere.
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
First visited by foreigners in when Captain James Cook arrived in 1778, Hawaii was already an established society with a thriving culture and economy. The arrival of Christian missionaries thirty years later and the subsequent conversion of the Royal Family to Christianity was only the first link in a chain of events that eventually led to the American military annexation of this sovereign nation in America's first act of international imperialism beyond its own borders.Award-winning journalist and author of the New York times best-seller, The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty, Julia Flynn Siler, tells the story of Queen Lili'uokalani, sovereign of a nation already heavily mortgaged to foreign interests when she took power at the end of the nineteenth century. The gradual erosion of a broad-based subsistence economy eventually led to the creation of a one-crop system based on the raising and exporting of sugar cane for the benefit of a small group of wealthy men known as the sugar kings. Finally, the U.S. Marines landed on the island and, marching to the palace, incited the monarch's overthrow.Ms. Flynn Siler's accessible style brings the reader into the life of the island immediately with her glossary of native Hawaiian words so important to our understanding of local cultural concepts. The main players are introduced straight off and then the historical drama begins to proceed to, what seems to be, its inevitable conclusion. Her lively writing avoids the pitfall of dry, historical reportage, retaining the colorful palate of the islands themselves in order to better illustrate their unique story.Equal parts history lesson, human drama and social, political and economic commentary, Lost Kingdom is an insightful look into America's past and may provide an important lesson for those who will determine her future. For today's Americans, desirous of a more responsible participation in world affairs, this examination of the events of the last century may lead to better understanding of a unique part of our own nation and a clearer view of the effects of our participation in the affairs of other nations. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
billyminersbooks rated this book 4 of 5 Stars.
I read this book "in one exhilarating sitting", as Mr. Tohline says. The writing is charming and reminiscent of an earlier age, perhaps the twenties. The characters are well-drawn and likeable (for the most part.) And the mystery of Lenore carries you through the book to arrive at the shocking ending.It's a glimpse into the affluent life of Nantucket high society, all the quirks, the dreams and the lifestyle. The plot will have you guessing, and the mystery will drive you through the book without coming up for air.I highly recommend this short novel. I know I'll keep it and read it again.
billyminersbooks rated this book 4 of 5 Stars.
This wonderful book truly shows life in rural Maine, revealing both the drudgery and the joy of fully living off the land. One feels present in the tiny cabin from which the main character, Peter, sets forth daily to perform his endless chores.The complex familial relationships are as compelling as the eventual unfolding of the tragic story. We are allowed into Peter's mind, and the secrets it holds, in only small flashes, so the story reveals itself in a halting, flickering manner, the only way Peter can allow himself to think about his family and their terrible ending.The other character, Elaine, who literally stumbles into his lonely world, is an enigma as well. Pregnant and deeply troubled, she keeps her own secrets hidden until their revelation is inevitable.Cynthia Thayer has a special gift for poetic description. Her passages concerning Peter's bagpipes and his deep relationship with them, for example, bring an unexpected beauty to the otherwise prosaic instrument and infuse it with such a powerful presence that the reader may even hear the music and long for it to continue. A Certain Slant of Light illuminates two strong, damaged people and the building of their relationship in an honest and very readable way.
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
One of the best books I've read recently this story takes place before, during and after Hurricane Katrina.It opens with the birth of China the pitbull's puppies and, through the eyes of Esch, the 12-year-old daughter of the family, it spins a story of love, poverty, trust and hardship. Esch's family consists of all men. Her brother Skeetah, who owns, tends and nearly worships China, Randall, the oldest, a budding basketball star who takes care of the family when the father is too drunk to do so, and Junior is the smallest of the boys, by turns confused and hurt by life. China herself,is a main character and the money her puppies could bring would fulfill a dream for at least one family member.The lead-up to the hurricane is desultory, she is a vague threat that no one seems to take too seriously. When she hits, she is terrifying and we're swept along in the fear and horror of her rage. Afterward, we wander the coast with her characters, awed and confused by the scale of the destruction. "There is a house sitting in the middle of the road, facing us, like it guards the secrets we will find farther in."The prose is fluid and lovely even poetic at times. Read this book- a remarkable, well-written and touching story.
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
Although begging comparison to Ruth Krauss's 1967 classic This Thumbprint, graphic designer Patricia Intriago's Dot brings a more current aesthetic to the table. Krauss's thumbprints were folksy, some only partial, a little smudged, and often whimsically humanized with stick arms, clothing and hand-drawn faces. Intriago's dots are hard-edged, modern and without the addition of a single off-center grin they are packed with personality. Paired in opposing relationships the dots can be large or small, positive or negative, even on dogs and not on zebras. One is stuffed too full to maintain its naturally round shape and must be squared off to fit the page. One sits heavily on the floor while others float above it, one peeks out from behind an invisible box. Most appropriately for a book that can be used as a short bedtime read for the very young it actually follows the course of a day, from the bright yellow dot on the sky blue background that opens the book, to the moon and star dots that bring it to a close in the last pages and on the endpapers. Patricia Intriago has done a very clever, totally up-to-date version of a classic theme. Ruth Krauss would be proud.
billyminersbooks rated this book 4 of 5 Stars.
What a great book! It's a love story, an historical novel, a mythology and a detective story all in one. The characters are intriguing and well-drawn, the story moves along at a rapid pace, and you are kept on the edge of your seat right up to the end.
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
Although John Steinbeck wrote many great works of American literature Cannery Row is my favourite by far. This short tale of the inhabitants of a stretch of industrial property on the coast of California is a rich little comic gem that Steinbeck lifts briefly into the Summer sun so that we might glimpse a society different from, but not entirely unlike, our own.Though it's not socially revolutionary like The Grapes of Wrath, nor the genesis of a Hollywood blockbuster like East of Eden, it is told with such precision and with such affection and respect for its ragtag cast of characters that the reader feels privileged to have met them.Mack and the boys are not bums and drunkards but "gentlemen and philosophers united by a common dislike of a steady job and a mutual feeling for the pleasures of living according to their lights" and Doc, the main character, is "half-Christ and and half-satyr" as he collects his marine and terrestrial fauna for sale to scientific laboratories while unofficially ministering to the sick puppies, lost children and unhappy souls on the Row.You must be somewhat slipshod in your own morals to like this book, it's not for the ramrod stiff among us. As Lewis Gannet wrote: "It does not rank cleanliness next to godliness, and its everyday vocabulary takes four-letter words in its Elizabethan stride". And there are whores, but you must be able to see them as sisters and daughters with dreams of their own, and better places to be in time.And so I invite you, after the busy canneries shut their doors in the late afternoon. Come out with the boys to sit on the rusty pipes in the vacant lot, watch as the girl's emerge from Dora's "for a bit of sun if there is any", cross the street to Lee Chong's for a couple of quarts of beer and take them over to Western Biological to see if Doc is in.
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
A few years ago, 50 years after its initial publication, and 35 years since I had read it for the first time myself, I loaned my battered paperback copy of On The Road to a young friend of mine who had asked me "What should I read next?". Her reaction was, as I would have hoped, overwhelmingly positive. "It made me want to go hitchhiking" she told me. She didn't go, of course, that's considered too dangerous these days, but she caught the spirit of Kerouac from those yellowed old pages and that made me happy. It made me remember myself from the days before I was twenty. When the world was wide-open in front of me with all my limitless imagination and inexhaustible energy to carry me forward. Those two-and-a-half-hundred pages created in a Benzedrine-fueled typing frenzy spoke to both of us across generations as great writing is meant to do. Jack's tales of Casady, Ginsberg, Burroughs, and the rest would continue in his books that followed but the spirit and zest of On The Road stand alone. Bob Dylan said of On The Road, "It changed my life like it changed everyone else's". Myself and my young friend were lucky enough to experience it that same way.
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
Sometimes it's about being in the right place at the right time and Patti Smith certainly was.Now, all these years later, we get to hear the stories too, and great ones they are.'Just Kids' is chock-full of wonderful anecdotes about the greats and the unknowns who shaped the New York music and art scene in the 60s, and 70's and who's influences on outsider culture in those days reverberate today in the mainstream.Unflinchingly honest, and recalled with crystal clarity, Smith's remarkable memoir of this pivotal period in American art is a well-deserved award winner.Once again, as we move further into the 21st Century, our minds and hearts are stirred by Patti Smith.
by Charles De Secondat Montesquieu
billyminersbooks rated this book 4 of 5 Stars.
Published nearly three hundred years ago, in 1721, Persian Letters by Montesquieu (Charles-louis De Secondat Montesquieu) is an epistolary novel made up of the fictional correspondence between two eighteenth-century Persians and their countrymen as they travel through the occidental world for the first time, eventually settling in Paris for a decade during the last years of Louis XIV’s reign. The book illustrates what we would now call culture shock for the two main characters as they try to make sense of their new surroundings and the people they encounter in their day-to-day lives during the first few years of the Age of Enlightenment.There are more than a few witticisms and biting criticisms of the times as Montesquieu uses the fictional characters to voice his own social critiques. Much of what this Frenchman wrote would have been shocking, even scandalous to his social peers.Montesquieu muses on many topics, ranging through government, virtue, law, morality, taxation, meteorology and religion, particularly the Catholic Church. Many are quotable, this one on religion is a favourite. “I believe in the immortality of the soul periodically. My opinions depend entirely on my physical condition. According to whether I have greater or less vitality, or my digestion is functioning well or badly…I know how to prevent religion from disturbing me when I am well, but I allow it to console me when I am ill.”...Although the character development of the Persians is slight and the plot thin until the last few letters when events seem to pick up and then rush towards the finale, it is more fair to judge the book on its playful musings and witticisms than to view it as a standard, plotted novel. In all, an interesting and amusing read, and an entertaining look at early eighteenth-century France.
billyminersbooks rated this book 4 of 5 Stars.
Music journalist Rob Sheffield has put together a chronological series of essays based on pop tunes from the 1980s that he feels define some major turning points in his life as he came of age in that decade.One would think that such a limited time-frame would exclude those of us who experienced adolescence earlier or were born later, but this is not the case.We are all aware of the major players in this game: The Go-Go's, Culture Club, Hall & Oates, Prince and Madonna and if we find ourselves floundering with L'Trimm or Haysi Fantaysee Sheffield stands by to throw us a lifeline from his vast footlocker of pop music trivia.His references to early MTV bear surprising parallels for those of us from the birth-of-FM-radio generation. In fact he transcends the whole idea of generations by taking us back to our own eras when the answers to life's most difficult questions could be found on the radio. We all have a store of emotional and biographical touchstones, these are Rob's and he explores them with sensitivity and wit that brings the reader into the picture with him.And the guy can turn a phrase. His stream-of-consciousness style rapping has a rhythm as infectious as any good dance tune and his wide-ranging references, from Byron to Baba Ram Dass and back, are esoteric enough to make us feel smart while accessible enough to let us all in on the joke. So, if you can't tell John Taylor from Nick Rhodes don't despair, Rob Sheffield will see you through, and let you in on the secret to proper toilet paper placement when entertaining female guests as well- "They just DO".
billyminersbooks rated this book 3 of 5 Stars.
Edgar Award nominee Philip Atlee began the Joe Gall counter-espionage series in 1951 with Pagoda (as James Atlee Phillips) where he first introduced the protagonist as a world-weary, soldier-of-fortune. The 10th installment in the series, The Ill Wind Contract, appeared in 1969. Joe Gall is a hard-boiled cuss, self-described as "ruthless" but with "lots of integrity" and a cynical sense of humor reminiscent of Richard S. Prather's Shell Scott. The Ill Wind Contract finds Joe in Indonesia attempting to smuggle out several tons of gold and silver, but a problem arises when Communist insurgents attempt a bloody coup. The body count runs high, and Gall encounters a sexy Swedish siren who appears to be right in the middle of it all. Hard-boiled fun in a colorful setting with a definite macho twist.
billyminersbooks rated this book 4 of 5 Stars.
Narrated by the stouter half of a pair of old west hitmen, Patrick deWitt's The Sister's Brothers takes us on a journey from Oregon to California during the gold rush, ostensibly to complete an assignment from their shadowy boss, but really in search of the dual protagonist's futures.Eli Sisters is becoming ambivalent about his career path and longs to settle down, Charlie prefers to drink and womanize as always but this particular assignment will change them both permanently.A new western novel full of the taste of dust and grit, plenty of pain and blood, and large doses of humor and human emotion, The Sister's Brothers delivers on all levels with rich and complex characters, a plot full of twists and a conclusion that takes both the characters and the reader by surprise.
billyminersbooks rated this book 4 of 5 Stars.
What a ride! The tale takes place in the past and the present, slipping from one plot line to the other easily. There are many similarities in the stories, and both focus on the intelligent Alex and the sinister but even more intelligent Richard Aldiss, her mentor and teacher.In the past she takes his night class and works on a puzzle to exonerate her professor of the murder charges that keep him in prison. The night class is taught by Richard from prison, making those scenes very tense and mysterious.In the present her old classmates join her to mourn the death of one of their own and the mystery continues as the now free, but still creepy, Dr. Aldiss, insists that someone from the night class committed the murder.Well-written and fast-paced, it's an intelligent mystery. As the book goes on, the chapters get shorter and shorter, creating a sense of urgency as Alex is in danger in both the past and present.I would recommend the novel highly.
billyminersbooks rated this book 4 of 5 Stars.
This is a terrific story of childhood friendship and hardship. Will Shepherd's dad is an abusive drunk. When Will is 13 he's had enough and stabs his father. That's where the book starts.Will gets sentenced to a reformatory on a ranch high in the Colorado Rockies. There's no escape and many reasons to want to. The author relays the difficulties and horrors the boys go through without getting overly graphic. A group of the boys become fast friends and their support of each other makes their lives a little bit easier.This book really grabs you, and moves along quickly. It's a good story, told well. I recommend it.
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
Chuck Palahniuk reminds me of Jerzy Kozinski and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. When you read his books, you are taken into disturbing worlds where things are turned upside down and you are upset, even appalled at times by his visions.I am a reader who loves the type of book that makes you think and question your perspective on the world, so I adored Fight Club. It centers around a man who hates his job, hates his life, and is beginning to reject and be angered by consumerism. His growing insomnia sends him to the doctor, who advises that he should go to a support group about testicular cancer, to see "what real suffering is". This is one plot line as he becomes deeply involved in these groups.Another plot line is about the actual fight club, how it comes about, the rules, and what it morphs into. Then the novel explodes with a plot twist that will have you reeling. A truly interesting psychological journey. I recommend this book highly.
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
I only wish I'd started at the beginning of this series. The novel stands on its own, however, and is a wonderful tale of family love and motherly courage. It doesn't hurt that it's played out against the background of Mao's Great Leap Forward.Ms. See has clearly studied her history of this period, and it rings true. Her writing is so vivid that you feel you are in the small village as the people clang pots and pans day and night in an effort to keep all the sparrows in flight.She portrays the mother's dismay at the new Shanghai, and her poignant memories of a time when the city was vibrant and fun, in a very believable way. The mother remembers a time of youth and parties, love and excitement which makes the Shanghai she returns to all even bleaker.Read it, you won't be disappointed!
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
Stephen King fans will love this book. The size, over a thousand pages, won't daunt anyone who read "The Stand" or "It". It's King at his best; a Maine town full of interesting characters, both good and bad; a fight between evil and good; tales of corruption and insanity.The premise is simple- what happens if a small town is suddenly submerged under an impregnable dome? The slow realization of what it means as the townspeople struggle for supplies, power and ultimately for air, makes for a great read. The interaction of the characters is what makes it a great King book.
billyminersbooks rated this book 3 of 5 Stars.
Welcome to E.N. Larsen's world. Deeply flawed individuals trapped in adversarial relationships work at unfulfilling jobs for faceless, ungrateful corporations. Scoundrels, scammers and sociopaths roam free. Murder and random violence are commonplace and cats, all named Shawn, talk back and pretty much run the place. Sound familiar? Don't be so sure.Larsen's plots and characters veer, climb and plunge at odd intervals. Some are recognizable, almost mainstream, others bizarre and dadaesque. Stories begin in the middle of a party or end when the narrator gets bored. There is no terra firma. Will you enjoy every story? Frankly, no. Hopefully some will make you smile, maybe a couple will make you laugh out loud, and more than a few will leave you scratching your head. But that's not a bad thing.In this modern age where 140-character tweets, 10-second sound-bites and two-paragraph news stories wrap everything up in nice neat packages it might be good to have a few question marks floating around. Yes?
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
This is without a doubt the most enthralling book of its genre. Callahan's story is so spell-binding and so well written that one feels that they are accompanying him through every moment of his ordeal. I have bought this book many times, given it away to friends and relatives, and have never gotten an unenthusiastic response. Try it, the physical and emotional ride will wear you out!
billyminersbooks rated this book 5 of 5 Stars.
What makes this book unique amongst books of its sort is that the points of view of the various commentators are so individual and subjective. Many of the interviewees discuss the same person, team, or aspect of the game, yet come to very different conclusions. I found that this brought an immediacy to the book, as if those days were still alive and the games and individual rivalries were still a part of current events. Kudos to Mr. Ritter for capturing so many of these voices before they were all gone.
