Not sure what category to put this in!

My reading challenge for 2016 is a good one - and it may take me all year to fill the categories - but what about books that fill a category I've already filled?

This is one of them - and I'm liable to have lots of books for this category - a book recommended by a family member or friend!!

Leslie told me I had to read it - and I'm glad she did!  It's a great read - not sure why I'd never heard of it - it was written in 1924 and it's been made into a movie and PBS series a few years ago.

Mary Webb is a contemporary - almost - of Thomas Hardy - and this story has many Hardy-like elements.  But it is its own story and a good one too!

When you Google it, you find out everything - you'd think they'd be spoilers - but the reading of the book - even when you know what will happen - is where the joy lies.

For starters, it's written in dialect - and she does a great job with that and you feel like you are there in time!!  Also, the characters are well-drawn and compelling.  Also, there are elements of witchcraft and legend and history and culture which add a richness to the tale.

But above all else, it is a beautiful love story.  And who doesn't love a good romance??

The Rock Store!

Katie Harvey posted some photos of geodes and I responded with a comment about Burminco, the Rock Store, and she didn't remember it!  I was somewhat aghast - because I thought everyone in Monrovia knew about Burminco.  But I guess they didn't!

I told her that if she saw a picture of the place, she'd probably remember it.  So I went hunting for a photo - and look what I found??  A photo of George Burnham - founder of Burminco.  Originally it was Burnham's Mineral Company - Bur min co!!  Very clever!

 

Also found a photo of the store - which was a house really.  The Burminco store was started in a 3-car garage that George Burham owned on Encinitas! They lived there and ran the store.  Actually George was often spending months away from home, traveling around the world, gathering rocks and minerals!!

 

When I taught at Wildrose, I took 2 students a month to Burminco - a prize for doing your work, behaving, working hard - earning tickets for all sorts of good behavior - and then we had a drawing. The prize was a walk to Burminco - and no one was ever disappointed!!

I've taken Cub Scout dens, grandchildren, and of course children!!  I was sad to see it go - it has re-located in San Dimas - not quite the same though!

Just a little "walk down Memory Lane!"

A banned book!!

How exciting to fill the category of "banned book!" in my 2016 Reading Challenge!  Phoebe lead me on to this one - it is a great read.  It's a YA or even adolescent novel, and it's really not objectionable in my book. But I can see where a conservative school district or town library could have parents and teachers who objected to its inclusion.

The story moves fast, the details are abundant, and it's totally believable that a young boy from an Indian reservation would have these kinds of experiences - at least it seems that way to me.  I have actually read other "Indian" stories that had a lot of the same elements.

The cover art makes you think it has some connection to The Indian in the Cupboard, but I didn't really see one.  Maybe it's just to make for a clever cover.

Read it - you will enjoy it!

"A book you can finish in a day!"

I have been picking away at my 2016 Reading Challenge.  My latest read was the "A book you can read in a day" category.

It was a quick read, a good story, fairly well written, and not too cliche ridden. It's the story of two relatively young people - in the late 30's - who both have early onset Alzheimers.  They both - the man and the woman - end up in the same assisted living facility.  You can imagine the turn the story takes.

What adds to the story is the inclusion or frame story of a woman and her young daughter who come to work at the facility.  The husband and father of this family recently committed suicide after being found out for a Ponzi scheme he had engineered.  Eve and her daughter become involved in the lives of the residents and workers at Rosilind House and the story takes off from there.

Some of the twists and turns are a little too "pat" but by and large the story is mostly believable - and that's why we have "the willing suspension of disbelief" isn't it??

The characters are sympathetic and not always two-dimensional - but mostly.  It's lightweight for a heavyweight topic, but it is a good read. 

And one more category is now checked off!

More from Elizabeth Strout

I previously reviewed the new novel, My Name is Lucy Barton,  by Elizabeth Strout, which I enjoyed.  I was interested because years ago I read Olive Kitteridge by the same author and quite enjoyed it - assumed I would enjoy other books by the same author.  I often read everything by one author - a habit I started in high school after reading Sinclair Lewis' Main Street.

Usually, if the author has a distinct style, I find the "sameness" of the stories and books relaxing and easy reading - what you need sometimes!

Also this go round, I am trying out another "reading challenge" for this year, but these two books don't fit any of the categories! The category they do fit, and one I'm trying to implement, is books from the library instead of buying them on Kindle!

At any rate, just finished these two.  Amy and Isabelle was a disappointment on many levels.  The story was dark and depressing with no redeeming elements.  It's about a high school math teacher who "crosses the line" with a troubled young lady in his class.  After the first few chapters, I skimmed in a major way just to get the story line.  Never a good recommendation in my book - a book you have to skim or skip!!  Thinking I should have just skipped it!  Ms. Strout's writing was a "off" too - seems as if she'd written the book to sell - and not much else, although it did win prizes when it was published.  Maybe it's me.

Just finished Abide With Me, about a minister in a small town in New England.  It was well-written, with a compelling story line and some very well-developed characters.  I often enjoy books about Protestant ministers, since that is such a foreign concept for an active Mormon.

Next books needs to be one of the categories from the challenge - not sure which one it will be!