Braver Than You Think

Braver Than You Think was written by Maggie Downs. This book is a mixture of a travel adventure story and a memoir about grief. Maggie's mother has Alzheimer disease and no longer recognizes her. This is hard for Maggie so she handles it by going on a year long adventure. Her adventure starts by hiking to Machu Picchu. From there she travels through Peru and Bolivia and South Africa. She doesn't have much money so she sleeps in hostels or tents most of the trip. She volunteers at an ape rescue place where she gets attacked and bitten by an ape. Then it's on to Uganda where she thinks she will be volunteering to plant rice or possibly teach English to children. Instead she anchors a radio show for several weeks. Volunteering is another way for her to travel cheaply. Along the way she runs into a few dicey situations. Some people try to take advantage of a woman traveling alone. The author rationalizes her trip by the fact her mother wanted to travel to most of these places but never did. I enjoyed the travel parts of the story. Regarding the grief I thought the author was a bit selfish. 

 

 

In The Time Of Butterflies

 Julia Alverez is the author of In The Time Of Butterflies. This is a historical fiction novel based on the murder of three sisters in the Dominican Republic in 1960. The dictator at the time was Rafael Trujillo. Every house in the nation had to have his picture on display. The story starts when the four sisters are young and living with their parents on a cocoa farm. The farm is prosperous. Trujillo, also known as "El Jefe", ruled from 1930 until 1961. The daughters grew up and got married. Some of their husbands were in the opposition party. One sister and her husband refused to get involved in politics. In the end, she was the only sister who survived. This was a heartbreaking tale due in part because of the excellent writing but also because it really happened.

 

 

The Bear And The Nightingale

 In the fiction novel The Bear And The Nightingale, the bear is not really a bear and the nightingale is not really a nightingale. Katherine Arden is the author of the novel, the first of three in a trilogy. Set in Russia during Medieval times the heroine of the story is Vasilisa. Her name is spelled several different ways but she is the daughter of Petrov. Her mother died soon after she was born. Her mother had special powers and Vasilisa has them too. She can see mythical creatures and communicate with them. One year Petrov goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife, Anna. Anna can also see mythical creatures but she is frightened of them and clings to a rigid faith. She spends much time in the church because the creatures don't go in the church. Russian fairy tales are much darker than Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales. The fairy tales in this book are not suitable for young readers. I am not sure that I will read the rest of this trilogy.

 

 

Joy For Beginners

 Erica Bauermeister is the author of the fiction novel called Joy For Beginners.  At a posh dinner party in Seattle, five friends gather to celebrate Kate's recovery from breast cancer. To celebrate her achievement Kate decides to take a camping trip down the Grand Canyon. She urges her friends to do something out of their comfort zone. She offers to choose their "out of the comfort zone" action for them. For one, it's to get a tattoo. For another, it's  not to care whether her mother disapproves of her anymore. For another it's to get rid of her ex-husband's stuff in her house. For another it's to landscape her yard. I know this sounds like Kate must be some kind of controlling freak but she's really not. It's a delightful book written for women.

 

 

Lawn Boy

 Lawn Boy is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Jonathan Evision. Set in Wahington state, a young man named Mike Monuz, just a couple years out of high school, lives with his mother and his older brother with behavioral problems. He works for a landscaping crew run by a cheating boss. His specialty is carving plants and hedges into topiaries. He has artistic talent. His truck breaks down. His lawnmower gets stolen. Nothing is going right for him and he knows he has to shake things up. Seems like he can't get one foot on the ladder to success. Slowly things start to change for him. With another landscaper he starts their own landscaping business and they run it honestly. This book is a cute coming of age story about a kid who keeps on trying.

 

 

The Sugar Queen

Sarah Addison Allen is the author of The Sugar Queen. This novel is set in the south in contemporary times. The main character, Josey, is 27 and lives at home with her hyper critical mother. Her mother is never satisfied no matter how hard Josey tries. Josey keeps a closet full of sweets which she sneaks in after her mother has gone to bed. One day she is surprised to see a woman in her closet. Della is a local waitress who climbed in Josey's window during the night. Della gives Josey advice. Although Josey is angry with Della she takes some of her advice and starts branching out into the world instead of focusing on her mother. I didn't like that there was some magic in the book but the story was compelling.

 

 

 

 

Endangered Ancient Snails

Yesterday I attended a showing of a movie put on by a non-profit organization called Sustainable Driftless. The name of the movie was Spirit Of The Driftless; Preserving Our Legacy. Driftless refers to a landscape from Hastings, MN to south of Dubuque, Iowa, including parts of Wisconsin and Illinois, that wasn't covered by the latest glacier. I watched the movie with 40 other people at a local lodge. The movie talks about the unique and beautiful landscape that is the driftless region. Here we have unique land forms. One speaker told us about endangered ancient snails. Their first record of them was in fossils. But then one live snail was found in Iowa. They kept looking and eventually found 37 groups of these rare snails. The snails, about as big as your pinky fingernail, are found on the north facing slopes. Here the rocky ledges of limestone, marble, and gypsum break apart and fall down the bluff piling up on itself. This is the karst region. When a sinkhole forms in the flat land on top of the bluff, moisture and air gather in the sinkhole. In winter ice forms in big sheaths. In summer the ice recedes but does not disappear keeping the area cool. That is where these Iowa Pleistocene snails live. They like it cold. They like this rare habitat. Not all 37 of the snails habitats are protected by the Driftless Area National Refuge but 21 are.  I thought it was bizarre to first learn about a creature by studying fossils and then finding a live one.