The Book Of Unknown Americans

Christina Henriquez is the author of The Book Of Unknown Americans. The story takes place in a housing development in Delaware. Immigrants from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuala and Panama live there. Some come because a large mushroom farm that employs immigrants is nearby. One set of couples come from Mexico with their daughter Maribel. Maribel fell from a tall ladder while visiting her father at work one day and has a head injury. Her parents bring her to Delaware to offer the best of special education for head injuries. Mayor, a 17 year old boy who came from Panama with his parents and older brother, sees something in Mirabel that others don't notice. Their burgeoning love story is lovely. 

 

 

Remains Of The Day

Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of Remains Of The Day. This novel is historical fiction about a butler in an English estate during World War One. Stevens is the butler. He is the son of a butler. He was very professional. He had a lot of esteem for his employer at the estate. After his employer dies, an American takes over the estate. The American employer offers Stevens the chance for a holiday. He encourages Stevens to take his car and enjoy a road trip. While on his adventure Stevens travels the countryside and thinks about his former employer. With the advantage of hindsight his esteem for his former employer decreases. Along with that, his pride in his work as a butler also diminishes.  His desire to please his employer overrode his development of his own personality and beliefs.  Despite the entire book taking place in a butler's mind, this was a very interesting book.

 

  

Tell My Horse

 Nora Zeale Hurston is the author of the travelogue called Tell My House: Voodoo And Life In Haiti And Jamaica. This book details her travels in two countries. She explores the country side, the food, and the culture. She writes about the folk tales and the saying. She explores religious concepts in both countries. We learn about zombies, poison, and Voodoo ceremonies. I found the book to be interesting in that it is so different than other travel books I have read.

 

 

Free Things To Do

Minnesota Institute of Arts

Como Conservatory

This week I am pet sitting in Minneapolis. With time on my hands I looked for things to do besides walking around the neighborhood or visiting the library. There is so much available in this area. 

 

 

Orbital

Samantha Harvey, a British author, wrote Orbital. This is a literary novel published in 2023 about the International Space Station. The story takes place during 24 hours in space. There are four astronauts and two cosmonauts. The people from space are from Russia, Japan, USA, Italy, and Britain. Two are female. This is to be one of the last missions before the International Space Station is dismantled. Traveling at 1700 miles per hour, they glide over the earth and admire the beauty. They see a huge typhoon over the Pacific. The book talks about their meals and their exercise and their sleeping arrangements. We learn about their assignments. We learn what countries and cities they are passing. Interesting book but the list of countries and cities got to be too long and extensive. 

 

 

The Favorites

 Layne Fargo is the author of the novel called The Favorites. This is a sports/romance story. The sport is ice dancing. Katarina grew up north of Chicago into a poor family. She met a boy and they became friends. Heath grew up in a series of foster homes until Katarina's father took him in. They practiced skating at a neighborhood ice rink. Katarina's goal was to win at the Olympics. Heath went along with her dream. Their story, their success and their failures makes up this novel. I found this turbulent story to be very intriguing.

 

 

Happy Labor Day