Fun murder mystery set in seaside town called Mardle, near Newcastle in England, modern day. Police detective, Vera Stanhope, and her team looking for the murderer of Margaret Krukowski, a 70-year old beautiful woman, living in the attic room of an inn on Harbour Street. Loved the characters, the setting. Vera is a hefty older woman, genius at solving murders, trying to get in shape but loves her cakes, pastries, whisky, fish and chips. Her #1 teammate, Joe Ashworth, is a handsome family man with wife and 3 children. He loves his job, loves his boss, but his precious daughter, Jessie, almost becomes the 3rd victim of this murderer. If it weren’t for Malcolm Kerr, who you really like but at the end think he might be the murderer, Jessie would have been the 3rd victim. The murderer ended up being Ryan Dewar, the teenage son of Kate Dewar, who runs the inn on Harbour Street. There were many engaging twists and turns and details in coming to the successful conclusion. Loved reading this book. I got it from a little free library (Smith Street?) and read it while on our wonderful Dead Horse Ranch State Park vacation with Adam, Danette, and Eliya.
Excellent book by Sir Anthony Hopkins, telling his life story. He never mentions when he was born, just that he is 87 years old, and the book was published in 2025, so I’m guessing he was born in 1938, just like Mom. He was born and grew up in Wales, the only child of a baker and his wife, in the town of Port Talbot, South Wales. Richard Burton was a neighbor of his and used to come back to visit. Anthony got his autograph one day. He watched him drive away in his Jaguar and vowed to be like him one day.
This was an excellent book. I love the way he writes and tells stories – you are carried away page after page. Unbelievably, he is a very morose and lonely boy. The only child of his father and mother, Arthur Richard Hopkins and Muriel Hopkins. His dad is a baker. They all grew up in hard times, wars and hardships and endless work from an early age. His dad was particularly hard on him – berating him – telling him he’ll never amount to anything – basically, what’s wrong with you, you loser.
I picked this book out from Parkwood Estate’s Library; there were a lot of Rita Mae Brown books. I love the cover. It was disappointing. Her style is very clipped sentences, talking animals (foxes, hounds, horses, cats), and a mystery that never really made sense, even when you find out who did it. But, I did like the setting – Virginia foxhunting land – and I did like some of the characters. I learned a lot, too – foxhunting is a very involved and intricate thing – and they no longer kill the foxes (since the 1970’s). They have scheduled hunts and people fix up their horses and put on their best foxhunting clothing and shoes. They bring all their dogs and horses and let the dogs go until they find a fresh fox scent, and then the chase is on! Over hill and dale until the hounds run the fox into his hole. There is a Master of Fox Hounds, MFH, and in this book, she is Jane Arnold “Sister.” I wish our neighborhood had foxes again. This book made me miss them.
She dedicates the book to: “Dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. James Evert, who taught us at South Side tennis courts and later at Holiday Park tennis courts that it is the Ten Commandments not the Ten suggestions”
It’s strange that it is dedicated to tennis legends in Florida and there is not one reference to tennis in the whole book, and the book is set in Virginia.
I am glad I read the book – it was an interesting cast of characters and setting and subject – foxhunting in Virginia and the people and animals and countryside.
Fun mystery set in the desert of Iraq, near Baghdad. A nurse, Nurse Amy Leatheran, is sent to help the anxious wife (Mrs. Leidner) of an archaeologist (Mr. Leidner). They all live together in a gated compound with 8 other people who each have various jobs on the dig: Miss Johnson (elderly spinster), Mr. and Mrs. Mercado (strange, foreign couple-he’s an addict), Mr. Reiter, Richard Carey (handsome young archaeologist), David Emmott, Father Lavigny (an impostor monk), Mr. Coleman (young Englishman).
Mrs. Leidner reveals the reason for her fears to Nurse Leatheran: her first husband was a Nazi spy, she turned him in, he was supposedly executed but it wasn’t certain. Whenever she falls in love with another man, she receives a letter from him telling her he will murder her if she ever marries another man. After decades, she marries Mr. Leidner. No threats or letters come until a few years later, after they have lived a number of years at the archaeological dig in Iraq. A day or two after Mrs. Leidner tells Nurse the reason for her terrors, Mrs. Leidner is found murdered by a “heavy great quern or grinder” to her head.
Hercule Poirot is called in to solve the mystery. He happened to be in Syria and then passing through Iraq. He does solve it! It ends up being Mr. Leidner, who threw a heavy quern off the roof that lands on his wife’s head as she is looking out the window to see who is trying to scare her with a scary mask dangling by her window. Mr. Leidner is her long, lost husband. She didn’t recognize him after all those years. He starts up the threatening letters and determines to kill her because he found out his wife has fallen in love with the young, handsome Richard Carey. He loves her but he can’t handle her loving anyone else. Miss Johnson was also murdered a few days later by substituting her glass of water with a glass of poison. She died a horrible death and managed to tell Nurse Leatheran, “the window” as she died. Miss Johnson, who loved Mr. Leidner and was totally devoted to him, had figured out how Mrs. Leidner was killed and that it was Mr. Leidner who did it from the roof. Mr. Leidner felt he had to kill her too. That was a big mistake and helped Hercule solve the mystery.
Read this book because Anza and Isabel were talking about it in the context of a movie or TV show coming out that would have the effect that the movies Lord of The Rings had on Wayne and I – we loved those books but now our images of the characters have been replaced by the actors in the movies.
It’s a children’s book series. Anza and Isabel have read all of them. There are 7 books, the last of which was published in 2024 and is called Wrath of the Triple Goddess. At first I could barely stand it. So formulaic – a copy of every children’s book series ever written: child has powers unknown to him and must fight an evil force. This book, the child is Percy Jackson, short for Perseus, 11 year-old son of the god, Poseidon, and a human mother, Sally. He is a “half-blood” and dyslexic and ADHD and continually kicked out of boarding schools. His mom lives with a disgusting human, Gabe, who plays poker all day and is a mean slob. Percy has no idea he is half human, half god. He and his mom are going on a vacation to the sea after school is out one summer. They are attacked by monsters. Percy’s mom gets scattered into gold dust, Percy is rescued by the creatures and half-bloods of the summer camp for half-bloods. Percy finds out he’s a half-blood and his father may be the god, Poseidon. He must go on a quest to find and return Zeus’s master bolt. He and his friends, Annabeth (half-blood daughter of Athena and human father), and Grover – a Satyr, venture across the country (east coast to west coast) and then down deep into Hades to recover the master bolt and return it to Zeus and save the world from another world war.
The ending was really good and I’m glad I stuck with it.
I got this book from a Little Free Library. It was about wolves, ranchers, and Federal biologists. Set in a fictional town called Hope, Montana. The beginning is SCARY – a big black wolf almost snatches a baby (the rancher’s grandson) out of his carriage on the front porch. The dog saves him but gets killed in the process. The war between the ranchers and the Federal biologists trying to keep the wolves alive and away from cattle begins. I liked the characters, a lot. Dan Prior – Head of the Fish and Wildlife division; Helen, 28-year old wolf biologist brought to Hope to help locate the wolves; Eleanor Calder, beautiful wife of Buck Calder – arrogant rancher who cheats on Eleanor; Luke Calder, 18-year old son of Buck and Eleanor, he stutters and has a heart of gold, very smart, very loving, very miserable in his father’s house; Kathy and Clyde Hicks and their baby boy, Buck – the daughter and son-in-law of Buck and Eleanor, Clyde is a ranch hand but not too bright, Kathy is the loving and bright daughter of Buck and Eleanor, and mother of baby boy Buck who the wolf almost snatched.
The interplay between these characters and the other ranchers near the town of Hope, and the town of Hope (bars, restaurants, gift shop, different events) seems very realistic. He seems to be pro-wolf, but then he does show the problems they create when they start to eat cattle. He doesn’t provide a solution either. In the end, Dan Prior and Helen are releasing 2 wolves, an alpha male and female, into the highest part of the wilderness, to replace the wolves the ranchers killed, and the young pups they had to remove down to Yellowstone.
The love story between Luke and Helen is really, really sweet. Luke saves Helen’s life – she tried to commit suicide when she finds out Joel, her boyfriend for the last few years, is getting married to a Belgian doctor he met while doing relief work in Africa. He nurses her back to health and they fall in love. Luke is a stutterer. He’s gentle and loving. He loves the wolves and all nature and wildlife. For a long time, he went around after Helen set her traps and sprung them, saving the wolves from being trapped and collared. They finally work together and face the ire of the ranchers together. In the end, Luke’s dad accidentally shoots Luke as he’s coming out of the wolf den with a load of pups, thinking he was a wolf (it was night and extremely tense). The bullet goes right through Luke’s neck with no damage but splinters on a rock and a splinter damages Luke’s left eye. The very end: Buck Calder is a changed man, a broken man. Eleanor has left him, Luke is going off to college, Buck is going to face trial for killing wolves, Dan Prior has resigned his position (he is “wolfed out”), and Helen and Luke are going to Minnesota where Luke is going to study biology and Helen is just going to “be” and she would “be” with the person she loved best in the world.
P.S. The Loop refers to a horrible trap that kills young pups when they first come out of the den.
by William Davis, MD (author of Wheat Belly), 2022
Danette’s Aunt recommended this book; it helped her lose 30 pounds and feel so much better all around. His premise is that modern life has wreaked havoc on our microbiome and that destruction and proliferation of bad bacteria up the digestive tract, SIBO and SIFO – Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth and Small Intestinal Fungal Overgrowth – are causing us to have many, many problems that we look to pharmaceuticals to cure, when really, simply restoring a health gut biome would fix us. His 4-week plan involves first killing the bad bacteria that is in the small intestine, mainly through natural antibiotics like clove oil or oregano oil – a few drops in olive oil twice a day – and his Super Gut Yogurt, which is these 3 species of probiotics: Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938, ATCC PTA 6475 (from everidis.com); Lactobacillus gasseri BNR17 from mercolamarket.com called “Biothin Probiotic” with 10 billion CFUs per capsule, and Bacillus coagulans GBI-30,6086 available as the Digestive Advantage product from Schiff, available at Walmart.
It is very hard to test for SIBO and SIFO. SIBO testing involves a breath analyzer. But the symptoms of SIBO are like irritable bowel syndrome, bowel urgency, bloating, fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome, fatty liver, diverticular disease, various food intolerances, gallstones, autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions, and type 2 diabetes. Also, rosacea. “Unhealthy bacteria and fungi have been recovered from arteries, breasts, prostate glands, even the human brain, representing an invasion of microbes whose health effects are only beginning to be appreciated.” (page 11).
This invasion starts at birth with a C-section and then not breast-feeding. Babies born via C-section do not get the microbiome from their mothers that comes from the birth canal. Then, formula-fed babies do not get the good microbiome from their mother’s milk. He has recipes for a yogurt that a mother can eat that will pass along the good probiotics to the baby through breast-feeding. He talks about how Nestle encouraged mothers in Africa to formula-feed their babies, rather than breast feed. So these poor women did not breast-feed, instead paying for formula, and then diluting it so it went further, resulting in malnourished babies. Formula feeding was encouraged in the U.S. too – doctors and hospitals were paid to hand out formula. All of these babies did not get the good bacteria that sets them up for a healthy life: Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.
So many factors involved in the destruction of our gut: Glyphosate and other herbicides and pesticides destroy good gut biome. Antibiotics destroy good bacteria. Ozone pollution destroys them. NSAIDs destroy good gut biome. Prescription drugs that reduce stomach acid destroy them.
Page 12: “The recent discovery that people who die of Alzheimer’s dementia have brain tissue riddled with fungi, an observation that we shall discuss further, is especially concerning.”
Neighbor Sue loaned me this book, mostly for Wayne and his back pain. Wayne had already bought and studied “Built from Broken” from Justin. That has given him good exercises to do.
Good beginning – stressing how modern Americans no longer move and that is our problem in a nutshell. We sit almost all day and our bodies are changing as a result. Then, we try to start exercising and we experience pain.
Stanford did a study on his method and found that 17 people experienced a 31 percent decrease in pain levels after 2 months (May 2017).
He looks at his clients to determine what category they fall in:
Condition 1 reminds me of Tyler – feet everted (angled outward), knees out, pelvis tilted forward, sagging gut, head tilts forward and down, chin drops.
Condition 2: head angled off-line to one side, shoulder drooped forward and down, back of hand showing and may be hanging lower than other hand.
Condition 3: Head juts forward; rounding, drooping shoulders; S-curve of lower spine flattened out, both hips tilted under.
D-Lux is ideal: Everything is aligned and parallel: Shoulder joints, hip joints, knee joints, ankle joints, feet pointing forward, weight on balls of feet. Head erect and straight chin level. Hands hang alongside body, thumb and index fingers visible.
When people come to him in pain, he has them do three exercises until they no longer have pain: Static back press, supine groin stretch, and air bench (wall sit). Once the pain goes, you start with a series of exercises, up to 22 of them, in order, every day. There are different exercises depending upon which Category you fall into. If you have some characteristics of more than one Category, start with the exercises for Category 2 or 3 and then move to Category 1.
The Static Back Press is lying flat on your back with your knees and lower legs resting on a box or platform knee high. Right and left hips both flat on the floor. Breathe in and out deeply.
The Supine Groin Stretch: lie on your back with one leg resting on a block at 90 degrees and the other leg stretched out with something to prop the foot and keep it from flopping to the side. Not really easy to understand but the idea is to keep the hips level and the back completely flat on the floor. Breathe deeply and keep lowering the extended leg (???) until the hip flexors are relaxed (????).
Air Bench is basically a wall sit: press the small of your back and your hips against the wall. Feet shoulder width apart and far away enough so that your knees are above your ankles, not your toes. “If you have pain in the kneecaps, slide up the wall a bit.” Breathe, and to come out of this, push off with your hands against the wall and walk around for a minute.
LOVED this book! I love the way Michael Connelly writes. His crime dramas are meticulously detailed but so suspenseful. They are never graphic or explicit, ugly or dirty. The character, Harry Bosch, is so kind and well-meaning and professional and good. He teams up with his former partner, Kiz Rider (black female) whom I loved also. They solve the cold case (“Open-Unsolved”) murder of a 16 year old girl, Rebecca Verloren, in 1988. It’s 17 years later. They have a DNA match for a Roland Mackey. They find him, working at a Tow Truck company. They get approval for wire-tapping and they use an article in the paper that the case has been reopened due to a DNA match, to make him nervous and hope he makes some phone calls. It works – too good – the actual murderer reads the article and manages to kill Roland Mackey by squishing him between his car and a the tow truck. Harry and Kiz are there right after it happens but the murderer is gone.
Harry figures out who the real murder is – it’s Gordon Stoddard. He is now the principal of the school Rebecca went to. He was her teacher then. It is amazing how Harry and Kiz figure it out – by looking at the phone logs into the Tow Truck company from the wire-tap. Then, because Harry is so observant, and he had seen a post-it note at the Tow Truck company the day before that Roland was trying read (he is dyslexic) that said Visa called to verify his employment. They figured out that that call was made by the real murderer to see if he worked there. The way they figured that out was by calling the tow truck company listed in the yellow pages right above that one and asking them if someone had called yesterday from Visa asking about Roland Mackey. Sure enough, someone had. So then they knew the phone call coming in at 1:40 was from the murderer – only it wasn’t – it was from a student at the high school. Turns out her phone was confiscated and was in the Principal’s office all day-the principal used it to make the phone call. He was the murderer. AMAZING – page-turner. Loved it!
This book I got from Mom. After she moved into Parkwood Estates, she had it (must have gotten it from the Little Free Library on Columbia) and she said it was so good she couldn’t stop reading it. I think it is the last book she read that she really understood.
I got this book from the Little Free Library on Locust Street. She is too educated for me. Many chapters started with a quote in French, with no translation for those of us who don’t know French. She also assumes the reader knows a lot more about history. So many things went over my head. But, she does paint a picture of Mexico in the 1950s, and she does give a detailed history of Mexico that I was able to grasp, just barely. The Spanish conquered Mexico from the Aztecs, destroyed much of the culture, sold much of Mexico to the United States, then fought against Juarez, who tried to reform Mexico for the natives. Before the in-depth history lesson, and after it, she takes you with her and her friend from New York City to Mexico by train – what an ordeal that was. Then to Mexico City. Then to Don Otavio’s villa next to Lake Chapala. Don Otavio is from a rich Spanish family in Mexico. He has a villa and a hacienda. He is gracious and accommodating and generous. Elizabeth and Sybille are welcomed there with open arms and treated like royalty. They enjoy many, many months in this beautiful, comfortable place. They take forays to Mazatlan, which was a nightmare – ugly, decrepit seaport in the 1950s. Everything rotting and derelict and so extremely difficult to get there (by train, about 18 hours late). Sybille also goes to Mr. Middleton’s for tea one day – an Englishman who is controlling, opinionated, obstinate. He wants them to leave the gracious host Otavio and come live in a cottage without running water, and none of the beauty and conveniences they have with Don Otavio. He wants them to have their caskets built – because if you die in Mexico without one, your body will rot before its casket can be built. He is the first Englishman I haven’t liked.
Near the end of the book, Sybille goes on a jungle trip with two gentlemen friends, against the timing recommended by this Mr. Middleton, because the gentlemen do not like Mr. Middleton and refuse to let him have any sway in their lives. They have an absolutely miserable trip. They never make it to the seaside. Sybille gets really sick after a few days back to Don Otavio’s and takes months to recover–not until Don Otavio gets her some penicillin does she actually recover.
She is really good at describing places. Here’s how she describes Don Otavio’s place at San Pedro Tlayacan:
“Wide French windows opened from the domed, whitewashed room on to a sun-splashed loggia above a garden white and red with the blooms of camellia, jasmine and oleander and the fruits of pomegranate, against a shaped luxuriance of dense, dark, waxed leaves; and below the garden lay the lake, dull silver at that hour…Three tall, tall, tapering palms swayed lightly on the shore. The air was sweet with tuberose and lime, and dancing like a pointillist canvas with brilliant specks, bee and moth, hummingbird and dragonfly. Birds everywhere: slender birds with pointed scarlet tails, plump birds with yellow breasts and coral backs, smooth birds with smarmed blue wings; darting birds and soft birds and birds stuck all over with crests and plumes and quills; tight-fitted and striped birds as fantastically got up as cinquecento gondoliers; ibis and heron, dove and quail, egret and wild duck, swallows and cardinals, afloat, in the trees, on the lawn, dipping and skimming, in and out, out and in of a dozen open windows…”
Another town she liked was Oaxaca: “I went for a morning walk. Mornings in Mexico are always serene. The young blue air floats lightly upon the arid land and one is wafted along with the empyrean balloon.”
The area she stayed with Don Otavio was a paradise and he was the kindest, most generous host for almost a year. He was going to open a hotel but it never got off the ground – very difficult to get to (no road), and money running out. It is now a popular place for expats and retirees. It’s about an hour south of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, on the shores of Lake Chapala.
This was disappointing. I’ve loved everything he’s written, and I did love the ending of this book, but it took a while to get through. It’s about 4 friends who live by the sea and have the crappiest parents ever. Some of the parents are so abusive, it’s terrible, terrible. And one of the boys (C.Jat, but KimKim is his real name) is an amazing artist. He becomes famous because another of the boys (Joar) makes sure he enters a contest for young painters. It takes forever to find out each little bit of the story – most of it is told while Ted, another of the friends, 25 years later is on a train with an 18 year-old orphan, Louisa, who fell in love with the painting that made C.Jat famous – The One of the Sea. Finally, finally, everything comes together in the last couple of chapters, but getting there was a real slog at times. Maybe I will appreciate it in a few days, though. The 4 friends are 14 years old and most of the story is about their lives that summer. They have so much fun out on the pier. The painting is of the sea and the pier, and the artists 3 friends on the pier, which only a few people actually notice. When Louisa finds a postcard of this painting years later, she treasures it. When the painting is going to be sold at auction, she makes sure she is there to see it in real life. The artist is now a grown man, famous, and dying. Louisa literally runs into him in the alley behind the museum, escaping the security guards. He looks like a homeless man with a cat. He’s actually just in the alley waiting for his painting to be sold for millions. His friend, Ted, who loves the artist – he’s gay – is actually buying the painting before the artist dies. When the artist meets Louisa in the alley, she’s an abused, about to turn 18 years old, genius artist like himself, he makes sure she is the one who Ted gives the painting to after he dies.
The four friends that summer are Ali (a wild girl), Joar (whose father is a violent drunk who physically abuses he and his mother so badly, so constantly, it’s amazing they haven’t died. Joar plans to kill his father that summer, before his father kills his beloved mother.) Also, Ted (a young, timid, weak, frightened gay boy), and the artist, who is also physically abused by his father.
One of the things that bothered me about the book is he never tells where this town by the sea is located – what continent, what country, what town. It’s probably Sweden since that is where Backman is from, but they go swimming in the sea, and I can’t imagine Sweden’s sea is ever warm enough to swim in! He also doesn’t name the artist’s real name (Kim) until the book is almost over. There are also hints of homosexuality in both the artist (for Joar), Ted (for the artist), and Louisa (for her dear, dead friend, Fish), but thankfully, nothing explicit. Lately, his books have gay characters – like in the Hockey book – the main hero hockey player is gay.
There is a love story between Ali and Joar, girl and boy, but they are so immature and hostile to one another – he presents them as constantly nagging and fighting one another. That got old. There are lots of fart jokes and slapstick type antics. I found those irritating, not funny. And the abusiveness, the constant fears, were tough.
But, the ending was good. Ali ends up moving away that summer and becoming a really good surfer. She ends up paddling out one day at the age of 18, never to be found again. Joar lives a long life as a single man – he loved only Ali. His abusive Dad gets hit in the head with a steel beam at his job on the harbor – actually on the same day that Joar was planning to murder him. He and his mom end up taking care of his dad the rest of his life. He changed and they both forgave him. Ted ends up a high school teacher, a really good one, and he ends up being a father to Louisa. Louisa becomes another rich and famous artist. One day, she runs into a young girl who is just like she was – poor and hopeless, but full of talent. You know Louisa is going to take her under her wing the way Ted did for Louisa. And the good continues. Nice ending.
Wayne has been recommending this book for years. He read her work when he was getting his Master’s at Regis.
After reading it, I understand Brandon better, and am really, really proud of how he has changed and grown after 8 months of living at Harvest Farm and having Mr. Snyder as a mentor.
There are 9 types of resources: Financial, Emotional, Mental/Cognitive, Spiritual, Physical, Support Systems, Relationships/Role Models, Knowledge of Hidden Rules, and Language/Formal Register.
“Emotional resources provide the stamina to withstand difficult and uncomfortable emotional situations and feelings. Emotional resources allow you to not engage in destructive behaviors–to others or yourself. Emotional resources may well be the most important of all resources because, when present, they allow the individual not to return to old patterns…”
Spiritual resources are the belief that help can be obtained from a higher power, that there is a purpose for living, and that worth and love are gifts from God. This is a powerful resource because the individual does not see himself/herself as hopeless and useless, but rather as capable and having worth and value. Furthermore, spiritual resources provide a person with a “future story,” which gives him/her hope for the future.”
“No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship.” Dr. James Comer.
Knowledge of hidden rules, sometimes called mores…Hidden rules exist in poverty, in middle class, and in wealth, as well as in ethnic groups and other units of people. Hidden rules are about the salient, unspoken understandings that cue the members of the group that a given individual does or does not fit. For example, three of the hidden rules in poverty are the following: The noise level is high (the TV is almost always on, and everyone may talk at once), the most important information is nonverbal, and one of the main values of an individual to the group is an ability to entertain. There are also hidden rules about food, dress, decorum, etc. Generally, in order to successfully move from one class to the next, it is important to have a spouse or mentor from the class to which you wish to move to model and teach you the hidden rules.”
“…One of the hidden rules of poverty is that extra money is shared. Middle class puts a great deal of emphasis on being self-sufficient. In poverty, the clear understanding is that one will never get ahead, so when extra money is available, it is either shared or immediately spent, often on some type of entertainment because entertainment takes away the pain…”
“In poverty, people are possessions, and people rely on each other in order to survive. After all, that is all you have — people.”
“In their study, Hart and Risley found that a child in a welfare home received two negative comments to one positive while a child in a professional household received six positives to one negative.”
“Gangs are a type of support system and often a source of revenue due to the drug trade. They provide virtually all of the resources needed for survival.”
“Fighting and physical violence also are a part of poverty. People living in poverty need to be able to defend themselves physically, or they need someone to be their protector.”
Here are the Hidden Rules Among Classes:
“One of the biggest difficulties in getting out of poverty is managing money–and the general information base around money. How can you manage something you’ve never had? Money is seen in poverty as an expression of personality and is used for entertainment and relationships. The notion of using money for security is grounded in the middle and wealthy classes.”
“Adult personality is not considered to be formed until around age 29.”
“Students need to be taught the hidden rules of middle class–not in denigration of their own but rather as another set of rules that can be used if they so choose.”
“An understanding of the culture and values of poverty will lessen the anger and frustration that educators may periodically feel when dealing with these students and parents.”
“Most of the students in poverty I have talked to don’t believe they are poor, even when they’re on welfare. Most of the wealthy adults I have talked to don’t believe they’re rich; they will usually cite someone who has more than they do.”
“Generational poverty is defined as having been in poverty for at least two generations; however, the patterns begin to surface much sooner than two generations if the family lives with others who are from generational poverty.
“Situational poverty is defined as a lack of resources due to a particular event (i.e., a death, chronic illness, divorce, etc.)…
“One of the key indicators of whether it’s generational or situational poverty is the prevailing attitude. Frequently the attitude in generational poverty is that society “owes me a living.” In situational poverty the attitude is often one of pride and a great reluctance (sometimes refusal) to accept charity.”
Patterns present in generational poverty: Background noise, importance of personality, significance of entertainment, importance of relationships, matriarchal structure, oral-language tradition, survival orientation, identity for men tied to lover/fighter role, identity for women tied to rescuer/martyr role, importance of nonverbal/kinesthetic communication, ownership of people, negative orientation, discipline – “Punishment is usually about penance and forgiveness, not change.” Belief in fate: “Destiny and fate are the major tenets of the belief system. Choice is seldom considered.” Polarized thinking: “Nuanced options on the continuum are hardly ever examined. Just about everything is polarized; it is one way or the other. The concept of “gray areas” seldom enters the picture. These kinds of statements are common: “I quit,” “I can’t do it,” and “He’s just plain no good.”
There are growing numbers of children from poverty in our schools, and decreasing numbers of children from the middle class. “Education is the key to getting out of, and staying out of, generational poverty. And as stated in the Introduction, individuals leave poverty for one of four reasons:
A situation that is so painful that just about anything would be better
A goal or vision of something they want to be or have
A specific talent or ability that provides an opportunity for them
Someone who “sponsors” them (i.e., an educator or spouse or mentor or role model who shows them a different way or convinces them that they could live differently)”
“Schools are virtually the only places where students can learn the choices and rules of the middle class.”
“The culture of poverty has some universal characteristics which transcend regional, rural-urban, and even national differences … There are remarkable similarities in family structure, interpersonal relations, time orientations, value systems, spending patterns, and the sense of community in lower-class settlements in London, Glasgow, Paris, Harlem, and Mexico City.” -Oscar Lewis, “The Culture of Poverty” in Four Horsemen
In Chapter 6, Support Systems and Parents, here are seven categories of support systems: 1. Coping Strategies, 2. Options during Problem Solving, 3. Information and Know-How, 4. Connections to Other People and Resources, 5. Temporary Relief from Emotional, Mental, Financial, and/or Time Constraints, 6. Positive Self-Talk, 7. Procedural Self-Talk.
If a family becomes homeless: “In the research, if you are homeless, religious social capital does more to move you out of being homeless than any other form of assistance. Link the homeless family with a church, synagogue, mosque, or other religious organization.” (Our churches are failing the homeless miserably – they are missing a bet on being the hands and feet of Jesus. They should be open 7 days a week for the homeless to find shelter, food, and rest.)
Chapter 7, Creating Relationships: In a book by Margaret Wheatley called Leadership and the New Science(1992), “…The Newtonian model of the world is characterized by materialism and reductionism–a focus on things rather than relationships … The quantum view of reality strikes against most of our notions of reality. Even to scientists, it is admittedly bizarre. But it is a world where relationship is the key determiner of what is observed and of how particles manifest themselves … Many scientists now work with the concept of fields–invisible forces that structure space or behavior [emphasis added].
“Wheatley goes on to say that, in the new science of quantum physics, physical reality is not just tangible, it is also intangible. Fields are invisible, yet:
“[They are the] substance of the universe … In organizations, which is the more important influence on behavior–the system or the individual? The quantum world answered that question: It depends … What is critical is the relationship created between the person and the setting. That relationship will always be different, will always evoke different potentialities. It all depends on the players and the moment [emphasis added]. …”
“When students who have been in poverty (and have successfully made it into middle class) are asked how they made the journey, the answer nine times out of 10 has to do with a relationship–a teacher, counselor, or coach who gave advice or took an interest in them as individuals.”
Relationships Bank Account: Deposits are, “Seek first to understand; Keeping promises; Kindnesses, courtesies; Clarifying expectations; Loyalty to the absent; Apologies; Open to feedback.” Withdrawals are, “Seek first to be understood; Breaking promises; Unkindnesses, discourtesies; Violating expectations; Disloyalty, duplicity; Pride, conceit, arrogance; Rejecting feedback.”
Deposits made to an individual in poverty: “Appreciation for humor and entertainment provided by the individual; Acceptance of what the individual cannot say about a person or situation; Respect for the demands and priorities of relationships; Using the adult voice; Assisting with goal setting; Identifying options related to available; Understanding the importance of personal freedom, speech, and individual personality.”
Withdrawals made from an individual in poverty: “Put-downs or sarcasm about the humor or the individual; Insistence and demands for full explanation about a person or situation; Insistence on the middle-class view of relationships; Using the parent voice; Telling the individual his/her goals; Making judgments on the value and availability of resources; Assigning pejorative character traits to the individual.”
“Students often know only one choice. They don’t have access to another way to deal with the situation.” She recommends having them complete a sheet, asking them to write down what they did; when they did that, what did they want; then list four other things they could have done instead of the choice they made (this is hard for students from poverty); and lastly, what will you do next time.
Describing three voices: The Child Voice – “Defensive, victimized, emotional, whining, losing attitude, strongly negative nonverbal.” The Parent Voice – “Authoritative, directive, judgmental, evaluative, win-lose mentality, demanding, punitive, sometimes threatening.” The Adult Voice – “Not judgmental, free of negative nonverbals, factual, often in question format, attitude of win-win.”
She talks about “Reframing” in order to show parents and children a different way. She uses the example of fighting, which is the behavior you want to change. She reframes is by saying, “It takes more strength to stay out of a fight than get into it.” She asks the parents if they fight at work? When they say no, she lets them see there is an “appropriate place to physically fight, and it isn’t school or work.” Reframe situations with phrases like: “This behavior (not fighting) will help you win more often; This will keep you from being cheated; This will help you be tougher or stronger; This will make you smarter; This will help keep the people you love safe; This will give you power, control, and respect; This will keep you safer.”
Instruction techniques include building vocabulary – “Vocabulary becomes the tool by which the mind categorizes information (like and different), sorts the information, assigns the information to a pattern or group, and then communicates shared meaning….But meaning has value only to the extent that it can be shared and communicated. This requires a collective understanding of what a word means. Vocabulary literally is the key tool for thinking.”
In Appendix B, she discusses the causes of poverty. There are four main causes: Behaviors of the individual, Absence of human and social capital, Exploitation, and Political/economic structures.
Behaviors of the individual include “intergenerational character traits, dependency, single parenthood, work ethic, breakup of families, violence, addiction and mental illness, and language experiences.” Strategies for helping include, “”work first,” literacy education, treatment interventions, a cluster of abstinence issues, and programs that promote marriage.”
Causes related to the absence of human and social capital include employment and education, declining neighborhoods and middle-class flight.
Exploitation refers to low wages paid to people who cannot protest, large corporations hiring people for only 30 hours a week (to avoid paying health insurance and other benefits), the drug trade, the high interest car lots, and rent to own stores, and payday loans.
Social, economic, and political structures require systemic changes so that those who are poor can influence the political and economic structures that affect them, like providing good teachers and sound school buildings in poor areas, and holding corporations accountable for their actions.
Race and gender play a huge role in poverty:
“America’s economic, social, and political policy and structures built and supported a white middle class. Slavery exponentially magnified racial disparities in income and wealth. Generations of African Americans were subjected to captivity, hard labor, and human rights controlled by slaveholders. The economic advantages slavery afforded to the slave owners is calculated in The Color of Wealth. During the mid to late 1800s U.S. government policy supported agriculture by giving lands taken from Mexico and Native Americans to white settlers (e.g., Manifest Destiny, the Gold Rush, and the Homestead Act). Land ownership was largely restricted to whites. U.S. policies continued to develop during the Industrial Revolution, which spawned the working class. Child labor was outlawed, tariffs made U.S.goods more desirable (hence more Americans could be employed), Ford mechanized production (and improved working conditions to a degree), unions developed to help protect workers, and some employers began to provide healthcare and pensions in order to compete for workers in a tight labor market. But segregation and discrimination limited employment opportunities. The white-collar middle class emerged and was supported by the GI Bill, mortgages, Social Security, and Medicare. Between 1930 and 1960, just 1% of all U.S. mortgages were issued to African Americans, and segregation in colleges meant there were not enough openings for black GIs to go to school on the GI Bill.”
“Poverty traps people in the tyranny of the moment, making it … difficult to attend to abstract information or plan for the future–the very things needed to build [toward the attainment of a college degree]. – Philip DeVol
This is the 2nd book selection for the Old Town Library Book Club 2025-2026. It was very different, very funny in spots, a wonderment, sometimes irritating, but touching and beautiful. The story takes place in Toronto. There are 4 main characters: Grandma, Mom, Swiv, and Gord. Swiv is 9 years old, very precocious, maybe a genius. She has been suspended from school for fighting and is at home taking care of her beloved Grandma, who takes a billion pills, has heart problems, is in danger of dying at any moment, but is full of love and fun and strength for Swiv and her Mom (and Gord). Mom is an actress who is pregnant. They call the baby, Gord. They don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, but Gord is a powerful being. Mom is forgoing her bad habits to keep Gord healthy, and is pretty much insane most of the time; sometimes very angry (“Scorched Earth”) but almost always over-the-top emotional. Grandma and Swiv and Mom are very excited for Gord to be born.
The book is told by Swiv; it is her stream of conscious through 251 pages. She is FUNNY but neurotic. She is responsible for Grandma, she thinks, and she thinks her Mom is insane. She and Grandma are a team. Swiv takes care of making sure Grandma takes her billions of pills correctly, picks them up off the floor, along with Grandma’s hearing aids. Swiv helps Grandma take a shower. Swiv helps Grandma boil her conchigliettes (little shell macaroni).
Grandma and Swiv have a bond between them. They go through their days together while pregnant Mom is away at rehearsal. They start the day with Editorial Meetings. Then Math class and Swiv is able to immediately answer the most complex Math problems. Each and every part of the day is an adventure together. Grandma is an amazing woman – one of about 15 children, a very hard life, but so full of love and joy for everyone. She loves people and makes friends with everyone she meets. Swiv doesn’t know what to think but she goes along and watches closely and narrates every adventure they have through her 9 year-old genius eyes. Towards the middle of the book, Grandma decides she needs to go to California to see her beloved nephews, Lou and Ken, who live in Fresno. Swiv goes with her. It’s a harrowing, grand, eye-opening adventure for Swiv, with some beautiful, poignant moments for Grandma. Grandma ends up getting hurt in California. She and Swiv go to a nursing home to visit some of her old friends. Grandma does a kick while dancing for some old guys in the nursing home and falls and breaks her arm and loses a tooth. She refuses to go to an American hospital because it will bankrupt her daughter and Swiv. She and Swiv fly home, another harrowing adventure. Grandma goes straight to a hospital in Toronto. She is failing. Swiv and Mom are there, and Mom goes into labor. Gord is born in the maternity ward while Grandma is in ICU. Swiv takes baby Gord from atop her sleeping mother, and puts her in her backpack and takes her to see Grandma in the ICU and shows her to Grandma. Grandma opens her eyes and sees baby Gord. Then Mom shows up frantic for Gord and sees Swiv and her infant sister with Grandma. What a touching scene. What a beautiful ending. Grandma dies and Swiv and Mom and Gord (who is named Elvira after Grandma) are together with her to the end. Beautiful!
An excellent book on homelessness, recommended in the packet of materials Wayne got from Harvest Farm. As a young man, Mike Yankoski decided to show his faith by living as a homeless man for 5 months. He and Sam, a volunteer who became a good friend, stayed about a month each in Colorado (Mike at the Denver Rescue Mission, Sam at Harvest Farm), then Washington D.C., then Portland, Oregon; then Phoenix, then San Diego.
Mike writes about his experiences. There is a lot of fear at first, a lot of discomfort. The homeless are by and large mentally ill or addicted or both. The ones with schizophrenia are the worst. You cannot really communicate with them. You can only pray for them, help them with momentary physical needs (food or water or clothing). They are a minority, though. He describes a man in San Francisco, Henry, who, as soon as he wandered into the park, every dog started barking and lunging for him. “As soon as his foot stepped into the park, every dog in the courtyard began barking viciously, ears back, hair raised, fangs bared…I am not comfortable saying that Henry was demon possessed. I don’t know. I will say that the experiences surrounding him were some of the most challenging for me to deal with or explain. How did every dog in the park sense his presence? Why were his actions so uncontrolled and erratic?…But here’s the thing: Jesus expects us to reach out to Henrys, too–and He draws the expectation in the clearest of terms. How we treat people in this life will determine whether we hear “whatever you did for one of the least of these…you did for me” (Matthew 25:40) or “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matthew 25:45, emphasis added).”
The very worst thing he ran into, though, was the hypocrisy of the Church. One church in Portland, Oregon, had a gate with a padlock and a sign on the front doors, ‘No trespassing. Church Business Only.’ It disgusted him.
He was amazed at how many people ignored him. That’s what I do, ignore the homeless. As usual, what Wayne does is the most loving – smiles, acknowledges them, sometimes helps with a bit of food or a soda pop. That’s what meant a lot to Mike and Sam. He doesn’t recommend giving homeless people money – in most cases, it will go for drugs and alcohol. “Unfortunately, it’s also true that the majority of the men and women we knew on the streets would-within a half hour of receiving a donation-spend it entirely on drugs or alcohol…That’s why I recommend you give something other than cash. For example, gift certificates to fast-food restaurants make a good alternative….Having said that, I think the most meaningful gift might be your genuine attention and caring. It was amazing how much a smile or quick hello did for Sam and me on the streets, partly because such kindnesses were so rare. When someone stopped to talk, even for a minute, the powerful underlying message was, “I notice you, you’re a human being, and you’re worth my time.””
Here’s what he recommends:
Find the rescue mission nearest to you. Call and find out how you can get involved. Show up an hour early and plan on leaving an hour after you’re scheduled to. Have conversations with the homeless as they stand outside, waiting to get in. Bring bottled water, baked cookies, granola bars, patience, and a sense of humor. You’ll bless those who cannot bless you in return.
Go downtown with a friend or friends (don’t go alone). Buy cups of coffee or a bag of take-out food, find a homeless person sitting around asking for money, share your gifts, and enjoy a conversation. No agenda, no plans, no purpose other than to be with that person. You’ll be amazed at what unfolds.
Is it cold outside? Go to your closet and grab the sweater, sweatshirt, or coat you keep telling yourself you’ll wear sometime but know you won’t. Call up four friends and tell them to do the same thing. Then go downtown and hand out your warm clothing to the men or women huddled under the overpass or in a doorway. As you stand there thinking of how cold your nose is, you’ll be amazed at the genuine thankfulness of someone whose whole boy is probably numb. And your giving will warm your soul, too.
Become a spokesperson in your youth group, church, and community for those who have no voice. Be relentlessly suspicious of our comfortable life, and of the comfort zones that render so many Christian fellowships insensitive and ineffective in our communities. God calls us all to more. And you and I can lead the way, one small step at a time.
Yes, if every church in Fort Collins was open during the week (daytime for all, nighttime for some), for a place the homeless could go and get relief – bathrooms, showers, food, water, clean their clothes, maybe – what a plethora of help and love of God flowing to the least of these. This book really convicted me.
This is the first selection for the Old Town Library Book Club for 2025-2026, and the Fort Collins Reads Headliner for 2025. It was an easy read, about a fictional southern town, Troy, Georgia, filled with good people and bad people. One of the bad people is Lula Dean, an ignorant, petty, jealous, hypocritical, self-righteous, bitter white woman, who decides heads up the Concerned Parent Committee and bans a bunch of books. She then puts up a little free library in her front yard full of mostly putrid books, like The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette, Buffy Halliday Goes to Europe!, 101 Cakes to Bake for Your Family, Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Art of the Deal, Manhood, Our Confederate Heroes, The Art of Crochet, Contract with America, A Caledonian Fling, The Rules: Time-testedSecrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right. (Some of those books are made-up.) The lesbian daughter, Lindsay, of one of the towns most respected woman, Beverly Underwood, switches out the books with banned books, leaving the covers intact. As the town takes books from Lula Dean’s Little Free Library, they become educated to their own prejudices and self-righteousness. Some of the books she puts inside the jackets are banned books and some are made up: All Women are Witches: Find Your Power and Put It to Use, Beloved, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, The Hemingses of Monticello, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; Gender Queer, Humankind.
Every type of ignorance in America today is reflected in many of the people living in this town. There are Nazis, the ugliest type of ignorance–murderous, evil racists. There are those who believe women are meant to serve. Those who believe the Confederates were heroes. Those who believe our slavery was a kind of benevolence towards black people. Those who are anti-gay and afraid. Those who have been brainwashed by media. They are self-righteous, hypocritical, judgmental, holier than thou, ignorant. The good guys are educated, open-minded, sane; some are queer, one becomes a witch (goddess), and some are just regular folks. Lots and lots of characters.
In the end, the Nazis are either dead or run off in shame. The ones who had prejudices and were swayed by misinformation become educated and more open-minded. Because of DNA testing, the town discovers many of the black people are descendants of the horrible cowardly rapist, Augustus Wainwright, and his statue is pulled down.
All of the good changes happen because of the banned books the town reads that were hidden in Lula Dean’s Little Free Library.
Here’s a list of the banned books Kirsten Miller recommends: “Those with an asterisk have been banned in parts of the United States. You’ll find no pornography. No Communist propaganda. Just the truth.”
*Beloved by Toni Morrison
*Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
*Maus by Art Spiegelman
The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed
How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith
*Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
*Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
*All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
*Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
*The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
*Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Battling the Big Lie by Dan Pfeiffer
Humankind by Rutger Bregman
I liked this book, but she goes too far for me. She presents things like butt plugs, tripping on mushrooms, pornography on the internet, witchcraft, as nothing to be concerned about, and that books cannot make people one way or another, but the whole premise of the book is that books can change people. I agree that books and education can change minds and hearts that have been misinformed, and I pray for that.
She dedicates the book, “For all the good people down south.” In A Note from the Author, at the end of the book, she writes about growing up in a small town in rural North Carolina, with parents who taught their children the truth. She says, “But I want to make it clear that the issues addressed in this novel–book banning, white nationalism, anti-Semitism, etc.–are by no means unique to the South. These are American problems. Pretending they only occur in the South has allowed them to flourish unchecked elsewhere in the United States….Contrary to popular belief, the rural South is home to countless principled, well-informed people. But I also knew kids who were far less fortunate. Some simply had no access to the truth and grew up in a vacuum that would eventually be filled with disinformation and conspiracies. A tiny but notable minority were fed a diet of hatred and lies from an early age. My heart breaks for those kids. How can you come to know what’s right when all the information you’re ever given is wrong?”
While reading this book, Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah, by a 22 year-old Utahan who was raised in Saint George by Republican parents. The lies and disinformation abound on both sides of the aisle. God help us! Have mercy on us! We’ve let Satan rule in our hearts and minds and he has used abortion and homosexuality to divide us as a nation, move us far from You, where hatred and evil rule, instead of Your love and grace. God have mercy on us. Only You can truly change hearts and minds. Come, Lord Jesus, Come! Amen.
This Blood and Soil is a book one of the main characters, Beverly Underwood, read when she was a child, that educated her to the truth of slavery in America.
When Betsy Wright, a sweet mother, owner of a successful flower shop, who had to fight racism against her all of her life, finds out her son, Isaac, is gay, it devastates her. She is talking to the friendly postman and he is praising Isaac. She says, “You know he’s gay, don’t you?” He acts like that’s nothing. She tells him, “The pastor says Isaac’s soul is in jeopardy.” “The Bible says men lying with men is an abomination.” He replies, “The Bible’s got about a million words and that’s the only quote people can ever come up with to prove God frowns on gay folks. It’s from the Old Testament, which also says pigs are unclean and shouldn’t be touched. I don’t recall the pastor turning his nose up at any barbecue.”
Mom’s OT, Kaylee, recommended Teepa Snow’s book, “Dementia Caregiver Guide: Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care techniques for caregiving, Alzheimer’s, and other forms of dementia,” but the library didn’t have that one. So, I got this one from the library and checked it out. It’s compassionate, caring, loving, accepting, positive, and lots of information on the brain of a person with dementia. Basically, the brain is shrinking and dying. There are 4 truths about all of the 120 types, forms, and causes of dementia:
at least two parts of the brain are dying
It is progressive and will get worse
It is chronic-there is no cure or treatment
It is fatal
“The neurons in the brain are deteriorating and dying.”
This book was on the monthly e-mail list of recommended biographies from the Poudre River Library. It really showed me the insides of what Mormons believe, and it is complete BS. Wow! She loved her Mormonism and it was her life as a child and a young teenager. When she started college, she dated a man named Gary who was a Christian. He asked her, “How do you know Mormonism is true?” That question started her on a very long and torturous journey of leaving the Mormon church and becoming a Christian. It is REALLY hard for Mormons to leave the Mormon church. They are shamed, ridiculed, and, according to the Mormon plan of salvation, those that leave the church will dwell in Outer Darkness forever. “Apostates and murderers will suffer the wrath of God with the devil and his angels forever.”
Mormons believe they are born of a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother in a spirit world. When a Mormon family has a child, that spirit child takes on flesh, Jesus gives them salvation, but then they must work to gain eternal life in one of three levels of a Celestial Kingdom. The way to gain eternal life is to do good works which include attending church regularly, giving a full tithe, and eventually marrying in the temple.
As she grew up, she believed this with all her heart, but then, she started partying, drinking, making out with guys, all to help her escape the pressure of the Mormon life. She started learning the history of Joseph Smith. He had 30 wives, even forcing a 14 year-old girl to marry him by telling her parents of a vision he had, making men go on mission trips so he could take their wives, the so-called Book of Abraham being an Egyptian funeral rite, and on and on. She started comparing the Jesus of the Bible to the Mormon Jesus. Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are our brothers, and when one is baptized, Jesus saves you from the sins committed up to that point, but then its up to you and your good works to gain eternal life.
Her mother and father were devastated when she finally worked up the nerve to tell them she was leaving the Mormon church to become a Christian. But, she loved them and still does, and they eventually came around. When a Mormon leaves the church, they lose everything and many decide to abandon any kind of faith. Thankfully, Lisa chose the real Jesus. She learned He is God, and He has always existed with the Father and the Spirit, three-in-one. She found freedom in Christ. She learned that good works flow out of a life of faith and from the unconditional love that God pours into our hearts. That God will never leave us nor forsake us, even when we sin.
The Mormon Church is really, really bad. They use terminology and language that sounds Christian but it is so un-Christian in every way. I realize that now. Their god is not God in any way, shape, or form.
Run away, Mormons, run away, as fast as you can, from your despicable cult, conceived and created by a very sinful, odious man.
I got this book from a Little Free Library and it was on my stack for a long time. I finally read it and it was GOOD! The main characters are Mom (Pearl), Cody (oldest son), Jenny (daughter), Ezra (youngest son). Mom is a mean, terrifying, abusive woman but filled with love for these children. The youngest boy, Ezra, loves her and each of them completely and unconditionally. He chooses to see the good, not the bad. Cody sees only the bad and he is mean and cruel, especially to Ezra. When they grow up and Ezra finally has met the woman of his dreams (Ruth) and they are about to get married, Cody steals her away and marries her. Mom knew Cody was just doing it out of spite and tells him so. Their father, Beck, up and leaves the family when the children are little. He writes letters and sends checks. Pearl never tells the children that he left, just that he was on a business trip, which was not unusual as he was a traveling salesman. But the weeks turned into months and then years and he never returns. But he always keeps in touch with Pearl and she writes down his addresses in her address book.
Jenny has trouble in love and may be anorexic. She’s a beauty. She becomes a doctor, but is going through residency and is 8 months pregnant when her husband leaves her. It turns out she is starting to be abusive to her baby girl, when her mother comes to the rescue and takes care of everything so Jenny can finish her training and become a pediatrician. Jenny eventually marries a man with 6 kids whose wife left them, and she is an energetic, fun-loving, optimistic, hard-working, tireless, loving wife and mom and doctor.
Ezra is the loving child who Cody picks on his entire childhood, and steals his one and only love (Ruth). Ruth and Ezra were going to be married and live over the restaurant Ezra owns (the Homesick Restaurant). They love food and cooking food. Cody steals Ruth away, he doesn’t even like her type (red-head, not glamorous, small). But he steals her away and makes her fall in love with him. Cody is terrible. Yet Ezra never, never, never hates. He still wants the family to come to the restaurant for family dinners at Thanksgiving, Christmas. He invites them and they come but it never works – someone always gets mad and leaves before anything can be served.
Ezra takes care of his mom until she dies. He lives with her, still sleeping in his childhood bedroom. She told him to invite everyone in her address book to her funeral. There aren’t very many people – she had no friends or family except for the children and their families. But Beck, the husband and father who abandoned her and the children, is in there, and Ezra writes to him and he comes.
Ezra has, once again, planned a family dinner, this time including Beck. Cody tries to destroy it and Beck does leave the restaurant in a rush, but Ezra demands everyone go and find him. Cody finds him sitting on a stoop and has a heart-to-heart with him, finds out why he left them (Pearl was a witch to him, he couldn’t do anything right, it was misery). He never divorced her though, and he did come back once and watch Cody from afar and determined they were happy, so left again.
But it seems that, in the end, Beck is going to stay with them. He really has nothing to return to. So that is how it ends – they all go back to the restaurant.
The writing was EXCELLENT. I loved this book but it was pretty alarming the abuse handed out by Pearl and then Jenny. Those passages were few, and slipped in here and then there. Ezra is the shining light – forgiving and loving all. And Pearl gave the children a gift in the end – their father – he really didn’t want to abandon them, he just couldn’t take life with her.
by Dave Eggers, 2000, 2001 (First Vintage Books Edition: February 2001)
I got this book from the Little Free Library in front of Poppy’s house on Locust Street. It was mostly laugh out loud funny and I adored it until the end. It’s a memoir. Dave’s father and mother died within 5 weeks of each other, both of cancer. His mother was expected, taking her slowly. His dad went first though, and none of them expected that. He was a smoker, an alcoholic, sometimes mean and scary. Dave and his sister Beth (but mostly Dave) end up raising their little brother, Tofe, whom they love so much. They move to California – first Berkeley, then San Francisco. The book is full of Dave’s angst and worry about Tofe and everything that goes with raising a child, and it’s hilarious. Tofe seems to be an incredibly healthy, fun, happy, beautiful child. And Dave can write! The words just flow perfectly onto the page from his mind, it seems.
Really good book – I got it from the Little Free Library in Cooper Landing, Alaska, along the bike path. It’s a crime mystery. A former FBI agent, Terry McCaleb, has received a heart transplant. The heart was from a murdered woman, Gloria Torres. Gloria’s sister, Graciela, comes to Terry while he is living and recovering on his boat in the marina. She asks him to find the killer. At first he refuses, until she tells him he has her sister’s heart. Then starts the most intricately detailed, meticulous investigation. It turns out, when Terry was an FBI agent, he tried to find the Code Killer. He never could. The Code Killer stopped killing and is mentioned only briefly in the first 300 pages, as an aside. But then, in the end, Terry finds out the Code Killer killed for Terry – to be sure Terry lived, got a new heart. He had to kill three people to get it right, and Terry figures out the three people are linked because they have the correct rare blood type for a list of people waiting for a transplant. When none of those people are rich or powerful, all eyes turn towards Terry – he becomes the #1 suspect, and then it all starts to fall into place. Fascinating, well-written, loved this book! Love this author! He is not graphic, although what he is writing about could be very disturbing. I was so afraid Buddy was going to be the murderer, but he wasn’t. Buddy is a fellow boatman who drove Terry around to investigate. He sometimes found things that no one else could find. But, thankfully, he was a good guy – the murderer was someone else. Fun book by Michael Connelly. I’ve never read him before. I have another book by him, The Closers, that Mom read last year, when she first moved into Parkwood Estates, which she said was a really good book. I will read that soon. I can’t believe she actually could read a book because she hasn’t really read one since. It must be a very good book.
