Before Dorothy

 Hazel Gaynor is the author of Before Dorothy. This fiction novel, set in the 1920's and 30's is the story of Auntie Em. Em and her husband moved to Kansas. Her sister stayed in Chicago, got married and had a child named Dorothy. When the sister and her husband drowned in a boating accident, Em traveled by train to Chicago to pick up Dorothy. Dorothy was 7 years old. She had nightmares about a black wind. Sometimes Dorothy walked in her sleep. Once in Kansas Dorothy came to love the prairie and the farm animals. Life for Dorothy really settled down once Em bought her a puppy. The puppy's bed was in a tomato box. The dog's body covered the middle two letters of tomato so the dog was named Toto. Honestly this is the best book I have read for some time. Even when I had important things to do I could hardly put it down.

 

 

Thirteen Reasons Why

 This afternoon my banned book book club discussed Thirteen Reasons Why written in 2007 by Jay Asher. In this story a 17 year old high school student named Hannah recorded a series of cassettes about thirteen people. After she died by suicide, the thirteen stories on cassettes were in a shoe box and sent to all thirteen people. Some people in our group think Hannah was a passive/aggressive whiny girl and I can see that. She chose to die by suicide and then makes sure all thirteen people feel guilty about it. The strongest evidence was her school counselor. Instead of her telling the story on tape, she records his voice as she explains what happens. The school counselor minimizes her concerns and doesn't do a single thing to help her. I was concerned that this book glorifies suicide. Several in the book club were teachers. Sometimes this book is taught in school. Certain scenes (bullying, rape) could be triggering for students in class especially as the details are discussed. I didn't enjoy reading this book. The format of the thirteen tapes was interesting. I also watched the film version on Netflix.  The book and the film stay very close to the same. The book was inspired by a family member of the author who died by suicide.

 

 

The Winners

 One of my favorite authors is Frederik Backman. He is the author of A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Told Me To Say I'm Sorry. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden. The Winners is the third in a series about hockey players in the town of Beartown and Hed. I enjoyed getting to know the same characters after a two year absence. This book seemed more violent than the first two in the series although there was violence in those too. My favorite characters were Peter, Maya, Alicia and Bobo. This is a wonderful story.

 

 

I See You Have Called In Dead

 John Kenney is the author of the comedic novel called I See You Have Called In Dead. I listened to the book via audio-book. I think if you are a fan of the old TV series "The Office" you would like this book. The main character is Bud Stanley. Bud's job is to write obituaries. Bud struggles in life. He seems to be afraid to live. His wife leaves him for a more interesting man. One night, after drinking too much scotch, he writes his own obituary and sends it in. His company wants to fire him but they can't because he is now classified as dead. With the help and encouragement of a good friend named Tom, Bud makes a change for the better. He attends the funerals of strangers so he can learn how to truly live.

 

 

Horse

 Geraldine Brooks is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Horse. The story is told in two time lines. Lexington is a horse who was born in 1850. This horse won nearly all the races in Kentucky. The horse was owned by a free black man but since blacks were not allowed to participate in horse racing, his employer was listed as the owner. Later the black man's son took over the care and training of the horse. Rather than  using brute force in training horses he took a gentle approach gradually building trust. The other end of the story takes place in 2019. A horse researcher comes to Washington, D.C. to investigate the bones of a horse kept in the attic at a Smithsonian Museum. As it turns out, this horse skeleton belonged to Lexington. This was a fascinating story about a horse and the people involved in it's story.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

The South

Tash Aw is the Malaysian author of The South.  Published in 2025 the story details a family of six moving from the city to their recently deceased grandfather's fruit farm. Most of the story is focused on the youngest and only boy of the family, Jay, who is 17. The farm is in southern Malaysia. Jay meets the son of the farm manager named Fong. The son's name is Chuan and he is 19. Together they form a friendship and a bond. The farm is in a poor state due to climate change and an economic depression. Jay's family has more wealth and more education. I really enjoyed this coming of age novel.