Inspirational Memoirs for Easter Reading

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HOME TOWN TALES
by Philip Gulley
          ©1998 This book was not nearly as funny as Gulley’s I Love You, Miss Huddleston, but it was still a humorous and thoughtful look at small town life and the characters that live it.
          The author, raised Catholic, is a Quaker convert and minister in Indiana. Each section of the book covers one of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Within each section are humorous, poignant essays that demonstrate these values as played out in the lives of the people in Gulley’s town and in his congregation. When I look at that list of the fruits of the Spirit, I can’t help but think that’s what the world needs more of today, not less of…

HAVE A LITTLE FAITH 
by Mitch Albom
          ©2009 Mitch Albom has done it again. A quick, easy-to-read, inspirational true story --- this one addressing faith lost and faith regained.
          Albom, who visited with an old college professor during his final months and wrote about the wisdom he gained from the beloved teacher in the book Tuesdays with Morrie, was later asked by his childhood rabbi to deliver his eulogy when the time came. As with Morrie, Albom makes regular visits to the rabbi so he can learn more about him before attempting to write the eulogy. Little does he know that those frequent visits between Detroit and New Jersey would span eight years before his services as eulogist would be required.
          Albom, who grew up in a Jewish family in New Jersey, had grown away from his faith in his adult years. He had also married a Christian woman, and they moved with his writing career to Detroit. It was there that he became interested in ministry to the homeless. And it was there that he met an ex-druggie, ex-con preacher who was ministering to the homeless from a dilapidated old church with no heat and a big hole in the roof.
          Between the lives of those two men of God, one Jewish and one Christian, Albom comes to a renewal of his faith. Of the four Mitch Albom books I’ve now read and loved, this one stands out for me as the very best, nothing less than a small miracle. It demonstrates that in our modern world, where religion is so often seen as divisive and hypocritical, it is good people of faith (regardless of differences in their belief systems or religious affiliation) who bring unity and the love of God to a hurting world. Highly recommended.

FRONT PORCH TALES 
by Philip Gulley
          © 1997 Philip Gulley never fails to amuse me. He talks about family, childhood memories, God, his kids, his small town and its lively characters --- and his sense of humor cracks me up.
          The subtitle "Stories of Family, Faith, Laughter and Love" sums up what the book is about. Since the author writes short, concise essays, his books are perfect for pick-me-up or on-the-go reading. I get them in large print so I can read while I trudge along on the treadmill. If inspirational and heart-warming is your style, it’s Gulley’s style too.
          In one story he talks about all the “helpful” parenting advice you get from your childless friends and relatives when you have a baby: ”The worst advice we received was from a man who told us that holding our baby would spoil him. Obviously, he didn’t understand how babies require the intimacy that cuddling provides. Besides, cuddling babies is fun and almost makes up for what our children do to us as teenagers.”


 

An Early Zane Grey Trilogy

©2010 Godar Graphics

BETTY ZANE
by Zane Grey
          © 1903 This was Zane Grey’s first novel, a pioneer romance based on family stories about his Revolutionary War era ancestors. When he couldn't find a publisher, his wife put up the money for him to self-publish---and so began his long, successful career as a writer of western novels.
          The author's great-grandfather was the pioneer Col. Ebenezer Zane, who founded the town of Zanesville, Ohio (where Zane Grey was born).             
          This is a historical novel, based on fact, (the first book of The Ohio River Trilogy), that centers around the Zane family and their life on the frontier at Fort Henry, Virginia, during the Revolutionary War.
          There are two romances going on during the story: that of Isaac Zane (the Col.'s brother) and an Indian princess, Myeerah, as well as the one involving three frontiersmen who all were in love with the Col.'s sister, Betty.
          Betty was a remarkable gal who was the heroine of the Battle of Fort Henry in 1782, often referred to as the last "battle" of the war. The Zanes, with about three dozen of their neighbors, held off a force of 40 British soldiers and 250 Indian allies. The siege of the fort is graphically depicted in this book.
          Grey packed his first novel with lots of pioneer and Indian lore. He was a very descriptive writer, and I enjoyed this first sampling of his writing.

SPIRIT OF THE BORDER
by Zane Grey
          ©1906 I liked the first book of this trilogy --- the second book? Not so much. It strays away from the Zane family in Fort Henry, and follows two brothers who travel with a minister and his two young nieces to the Moravian Indian Mission, Village of Peace.
          The book feels like one endless, bloody fight between the pioneers and the Indians. There’s a lot of violence and bloodshed in this book, but the worst part is the dialog of the Native Americans. “Ugh! Me---heap big Injun---ketchum Pale Face and scalp-um.” Oh, brother. I don't remember this so much in the first book.

THE LAST TRAIL
by Zane Grey
          ©1909 The third book of the Ohio River Trilogy was a pretty good frontier romance. We’re back with the Zane’s at Fort Henry. Some new settlers arrive at the fort, and the beautiful young daughter, Helen, falls in love with Col. Zane’s younger brother, Jonathan.
          But Jonathan is a borderman (Indian fighter), just like his legendary older friend, Lew Wetzel (who is a major character in all three books). These solitary woodsmen have no time or inclination to take wives and settle down to family life.
          The Indians have largely been subdued on the frontier by this time, but the settlers have all kinds of problems from bands of cut-throat, horse-thieving outlaws. Of course, as expected, the lovely Helen is kidnapped and must be rescued by Jonathan and Wetzel.
          This was the only book of the trilogy that was made into a movie. In all, 101 full-length movies were made from Zane Grey’s many western novels.
          Grey was a very descriptive author. His description of a sunset was exquisite. He gave credit to the women of the frontier, whose sacrifices and determination helped their men settle the West. And even though his books contain graphic violence, the gun being the law of the West, he had sympathy for the Native Americans, who he sees as noble savages that were driven from their ancestral lands by the European immigrants.

True-Life Tragedy

c.2006 Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

ZEITOUN 
by Dave Eggers
         This is one New Orleans family's story of survival and hope in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
         Abdulrahman Zeitoun was a hard-working, honest and prosperous Syrian-American, husband of an America woman who'd converted to Islam, and the father of four children. When Hurricane Katrina hit, he sent his family to stay with relatives, but he chose to remain behind and ride out the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the chaotic aftermath of Katrina, he traveled the flooded streets of his neighborhood in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies, feeding pets abandoned by their evacuated owners, and helping those in need. Then, a week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared.... 
          Moving and powerful, it's a work of non-fiction that reads like a novel. This book is a warning of the chaos, suffering, and racial profiling that follow in the path of monumental national disasters, as well as a look at life under martial law in America. Highly recommended for reading by every American citizen. This could happen to you and your family next time around.

THE BEAR’S EMBRACE 
Patricia Van Tighem
          ©2001 This is not a book about the Great Outdoors. And it’s not a story about a bear. It’s one young woman’s heart-breaking, true story account of being mauled by a grizzly bear and her long journey through the pits of depression and despair as she struggled to heal from her trauma.
          Patricia, a nurse, and Trevor, a med student, were a young Canadian couple experienced in back country travel. They followed all the bear country rules. This never should have happened to them. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time --- then BAM! Their lives were changed forever.
          This book, which mostly takes place in hospitals, tells of Trish’s ordeal of healing and coping with her life, now that she is horribly disfigured. Her husband, who was also attacked twice by the bear, was seriously injured too, but his scars are less noticeable. The couple go on to start a family (four kids), build a new home, and get on with their lives. Trevor is a rock through it all, but over the course of the next 17 years, Patricia undergoes countless reconstructive surgeries, endures endless pain, recurrent infections, and spends much of her time in and out of hospitals, sinking deeper into the darkness where the bear continues to torment her.
          This was a hard book to read, wondering if Patricia and Trevor’s marriage would survive their ordeal and hoping that Trish would eventually get better. The benefit I get from reading about other people’s tragedies is in putting my own small problems, which I sometimes feel are so overwhelming, into proper perspective. I do know one thing. If I was mauled by a bear, I sure wouldn’t want to live to tell about it. There’s no way I could have survived what Trish and Trevor went through.

THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD
by David McCullough
          ©1968 A well-researched and vividly descriptive account of one of the worst “natural” disasters America has ever suffered: the Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889.
          The book starts out a little slowly, with an overview and history of the area and the story of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive summer resort for the families of millionaire steel magnates from Pittsburgh.
          An old, earthen dam had been hastily rebuilt to create Lake Conemaugh, with its sailboats and prime fishing, up in the mountains above Johnstown, Pennsylvania. For years the citizens of Johnstown and nearby villages on the Conemaugh River had lived in fear of the shoddy dam breaking and washing them away, which it did, one spring day in 1889, after torrential rains had deluged the area. The official death toll was 2,209 souls.
          The second half of the book covers the rescue, relief and rebuilding efforts, as well as the litigation that followed. It doesn’t surprise me that nobody was held responsible for the negligent situation that led to this great tragedy. The people affected by the flood lost everything; club members were wealthy enough to convince the court that the flood had been an “act of God.”
          It was interesting to learn that the Johnstown Flood was the first major disaster aided by the newly-formed American Red Cross. The group’s founder, 67-year-old Clara Barton, was on the scene with fifty doctors and nurses to set up the cleanest, best-organized hospital in town. She personally stayed on the scene for five months, directing the care of the injured, ill and destitute survivors.
          There’s a very long list in the back of the book that gives the names, ages, and addresses of those who perished and where they were buried, if indeed they were found at all. It was heartbreaking to read of whole families wiped out by the wall of water that raged down the valley, sweeping away nearly everything in its path. A section of old photos is included. This is a truly sad story, filled with unbelievable suffering and heroic stories of brave rescues.

School Librarians Rock!

Today is SCHOOL LIBRARIAN DAY. I was my son's school librarian for three years when he was little. I loved reading stories when the kindergarden class came for Story Hour. I also enjoyed helping older students find the books they were looking for using the card catalog and the Dewey Decimal System. And I spent a lot of happy hours rearranging the books on the messy shelves so they would be in Dewey Decimal System order for easy finding. What would schools do without their librarians? If you're a school librarian: WE LOVE YOU! If you see a school librarian today, tell her that.  It'll make her day!

MRS. ROOPY IS LOOPY 

by Dan Gutman

          c.2004  A.J. is a second-grader who hates school. And he doesn’t much like know-it-all Andrea either. Will he like the school’s new librarian, Mrs. Roopy? Her hero is Melvil Dewey, the man who invented a number system so librarians and kids can find the books they’re looking for easily. She likes to dress up as book characters and read to the children. They think she’s loopy and needs professional help.

          This is a funny, easy-reader chapter book in the “My Weird School” series.

THE LIBRARY DRAGON

by Carmen Agra Deedy

          c.1994  Sunrise Elementary School puts a help-wanted ad in the local newspaper for a children’s librarian. She must be a thick-skinned professional with a jealous love of books, a burning love for children, and on fire with enthusiasm. No half-baked applicants need apply.

           But the new librarian they hire is a real dragon! Miss Lotta Scales is so over-protective of the books that she won’t let the kids touch them with their gooey fingers and snotty noses. The books are for display only. Also, she burns books she doesn’t like. Nobody likes her --- not the children or their parents, not the teachers or the principal. Will the library ever be kid-friendly again?

On the Road Again

The starting point of all my road trips.

BLUE HIGHWAYS 
by William Least Heat Moon
          ©1982 This is a classic road-trip book, the first of several written by Least Heat Moon. After losing his job, and his wife to another man in 1978, the author sets out on a 3-month-long, 13,000 mile trek around America in a green van, trying to avoid interstates and big cities by taking the secondary highways and backroads that were once marked in blue on old highway maps.
          As Steinbeck named his truck/camper “Rocinante,” in his book TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY, LHM christens his van “Ghost Dancing.” In it, he searches out small towns with strange names to learn how they came to be called what they were. He rates wayside diners and cafes by the number of calendars they have on their walls (the food is best in cafes with 3 or more, he claims). He stubbornly avoids campgrounds and tourists traps, sleeping in his van most nights wherever he finds himself when he wearies of the road for the day.
          As an author, LHM is superbly observant and sweetly gifted at putting those observations down on paper for the reader to experience with him. I suffered when he suffered (from heat, cold, bugs, loneliness, unfriendly locals, suspicious lawmen, highway hypnosis) and celebrated when he celebrated (the beauty of nature, the friendly folks along the way, the freedom of the open-road).
I read this book slowly, over a whole month, not my usual reading speed. By reading a few sections of chapters at a time, it was as close to a real road-trip as you can get in a book. I’m always amazed at LHM’s gift for details and descriptions, for deep insights and the vivid recreation of his adventure. The book is full of American history, changing culture, and fascinating stories. It also gives a look at what America was like 30 years ago.

DAKOTA: A SPIRITUAL GEOGRAPHY 
by Kathleen Norris
          I chose this book back in the spring of 2010 because I was making plans for what I consider will be the trip of a lifetime that summer. (So far, it hasn't happened, but stay tuned!) An open-ended trip across the northern tier of states to Seattle, then down the Pacific Coast.
          To me, the Great Plains have always been a sort of boring no-man's land to whiz through on auto-pilot on my way to and from the mountains. This time, I want to appreciate the essence of a land that's sometimes called America's Outback, a place both wide open and very sparsely populated.
          On a smaller scale, Norris has done for the Dakotas what William Least-Heat Moon did for the flat plains of one county in Kansas in his book PRAIRY ERTH. Both of them have shown that in the Great Plains, there's more than meets the eye of the traveler hurrying through these "empty" states on his or her way to more picturesque locales.
          But Norris's book is more than just a description of the land and people. As the subtitle states, hers is also a "spiritual" geography. Twenty years ago, this successful writer and her husband left their lives in New York City behind and moved to Norris' native South Dakota where she had inherited her grandparents' home. Out on the prairie she befriends a community of Benedictine monks, and so begins her journey back to her religious roots, which, curiously, happen to be Protestant. She frequently contrasts the welcoming monastic community with the community life she finds in the small towns of the Dakotas.
          I found the best writing to be in the final third of the book. In the first part , she seems hung up on how unwelcoming small towns are to newcomers. I enjoyed her stories of the retreats she made at the monastery and her beautiful descriptions of a part of America that's alien to most of us.

THE LOST CONTINENT 
by Bill Bryson
          As a big Billy Bryson fan, I found this book disappointing because of the author's overpowering negativity towards just about everything he experienced on his two road trips around the small towns of America. Bryson had been living and working in England for years, so on his return to the U.S., he set out to revisit some of the places his family had been to on their vacations when he was a kid.
          What I enjoyed about the book was the fact that I've been to many of the places Bryson visited, and I always enjoy reading travel books anyway. But Bryson's whining about just about every experience he had really grated on my nerves. I almost threw in the towel halfway through the book. The second half, though, didn't seem nearly as bad as the beginning.
          Bryson has this clever and cutting sarcasm that I like, but in this book, it was downright ugly. He came off as way too judgmental and almost impossible to please. I'm not sorry I read it. I did enjoy the travel aspect of it, but this is one book I won't be recommending.

Love Dogs ---Love Their Books!

Baby Beary, on his 1st day with us, missing his mama!

THE ART OF RACING 
IN THE RAIN 
by Garth Stein
          I loved this book! I laughed, I cried, I didn't want it to end. The book is told from the POV of a beloved family pet, the dog Enzo, as he watches his loved ones go through trials, tragedies, and triumphs.
          I'm a dog lover. I love cats too! And all animals...I like them better than most people. LOL. This story touched me so deeply, because I'm blessed with a wonderful dog just like Enzo. Now I'm wondering what goes on in his head.
          I also connected with the racing aspect of the story. Instead of being a race car driver like Denny, my son raced motocross. I could empathize with Eve, Denny's wife, left at home with the child while her husband was off racing all over the country. For seven years, I was left alone every weekend for 9 months of the year. I could have gone to the races, but I just couldn't watch my son race after he was nearly killed in a crash when he was 14. I also understand the importance of sponsors. My son's passionate dream to be a pro-racer nearly bankrupted us and split us apart as a family. Unless you are beau-coup rich, it's pretty much impossible to get to the professional level in any kind of racing without a factory ride.
          The book is easy to read and fast-moving. It reminded me of that old classic Black Beauty, where a horse narrates the story of its life. For me, this was a five-star read and I recommend it to everyone.

FROM BAGHDAD, WITH LOVE 
by Jay Kopelman
          © 2006 Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman should have known better! He did know better. The military has rules against it. According to General Order 1-A, service members are prohibited from adopting as pets or mascots, caring for, or feeding any type of domestic or wild animal in the foreign countries where they serve.
          But he falls in love with a 5-week-old abandoned puppy named Lava that a group of Marines had found in the ruins of Fallujah during the first week of U.S. military operations there.
Knowing that he would be returning stateside soon, Kopelman just couldn’t leave his little buddy behind. He had to find a way to smuggle Lava out of war-torn Iraq and get him safely home to California.
          He began sending out emails begging for help. News journalist Anne Garrels, in Baghdad reporting on the elections, kept Lava with her when Kopelman was sent to the Syrian border. Eventually, several groups such as the Helen Woodward Animal Center of San Diego, Military Mascots, and Iams Pet Food Company came to his aid. With the help of Vohne Liche Kennels and Triple Canopy Security, private contractors who train and provide canine service dogs for the military, Lava was shipped out of Iraq as one of their bomb dogs returning stateside for some R&R. It’s absolutely amazing what these people had to go through to make this happen.
          This isn’t just a story about a dog, though. It’s a nitty-gritty, often gruesome account of serving in Iraq in the war on terrorism, as seen through the eyes of a Marine stationed there during the worst of the fighting. Kopelman finds out that he’s not the only soldier trying to get his adopted pet out of the war zone and back to America. But for every dog that Military Mascots was able to rescue, a dozen more had to be abandoned as soldiers moved on to other assignments. Lava was a very lucky dog to have made it out alive.
          This is a short, fast-paced read that I just couldn’t put down. It’s a wonderful story about love, separation, loyalty, set-backs, frustrations, danger, perseverance, and ultimately victory for one special pup and the soldier who loves him.

A DOG YEAR
by Jon Katz
          ©2002 The true story of a year in the life of a dog lover, who already has two wonderful, gentle, saintly older Labs. Then he gets roped into adopting an unwanted, hyperactive, head-strong Australian Shepherd named Devon. The “Helldog” turns his life upside down and tries his patience to its very limits, but he refuses to give up on the little dog with a big heart.
          This book was especially meaningful to me because I have a big lummox of a German Shepherd who tries my patience every day, but I still love him to pieces. The book gave me some ideas on better dog handling, as well as warnings about what doesn’t work when trying to train headstrong canines.
          I recommend this book to all dog lovers, but especially to wannabe dog owners. As the author cautions: Know what you’re getting into before bringing that adorable puppy home. Not everyone is cut out to be a pet owner, which is why we have so many abandoned dogs and cats in animal shelters. This story proves that even the most difficult rescue dog can be rehabilitated with enough love, patience, and a working knowledge of dog/pack behavior.

International Children's Book Day

Some of my favorite books from my childhood

 Today is INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S BOOK DAY. It’s been celebrated on or around April 2, the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, since 1967. I hope you have a chance to read to a little one today, to help inspire the love of reading in children everywhere!

When I was a little girl, back in the 1950s, my Grandma and Aunt Betty would give me and my sister LITTLE GOLDEN BOOKS every year for birthday and Christmas presents --- and sometimes for no reason at all, just because they loved us. These books were inexpensive, could be purchased at the local five-and-dime, and were always welcome additions to our growing home library. I still have many of mine, inscribed on the inside cover with the name of the loving giver.

I was so surprised to see they are still publishing many of these same titles now, and they can be bought at places like Walmart. Talk about books standing the test of time!  Below are reviews for a selection of those well-worn books that I loved so much, read countless times, and helped me become the eager reader I am today:

LASSIE AND THE LOST EXPLORER
by Leon Lazarus
          While Lassie's at the vet's for a checkup, Timmy goes off to pick berries by himself. He finds a lost baby raccoon, and then he gets lost trying to find its mother. Of course, good old Lassie saves the day! The book was published in 1958 and only cost a quarter back then!
          My only criticism lies with the fact that raccoons, while cute as they can be, are NOT cuddly creatures! They're wild animals that can carry rabies. Kids, please don't try this at home! Even a baby raccoon will go berserk and bite you if you pick it up and play with it like little Timmy did.

DENNIS THE MENACE WAITS FOR SANTA CLAUS
by Carl Memling
          For four days and nights before Christmas, Dennis Mitchell is so wound up he can barely stand it. He hides some of his toys, so Santa won't think he has too many already.  He tries to fix up some of them to give to poor children. He bugs his parents to decorate the tree and tries to find the presents they've hidden around the house. It'll be a miracle if the family makes it to Christmas Day.

 COUNTING RHYMES
by Corinne Malvern
          This book has old-fashioned illustrations to go along with favorite, short counting poems of childhood.

HI HO! THREE IN A ROW
by Louise Woodcock
          With charming illustrations of children by Eloise Wilkin, this book teaches the concept of the number THREE. This was a favorite of mine.

THE MAGIC COMPASS
based on the character "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
          I never warmed up to Jane and Michael's nanny, Mary Poppins. She just didn't look very friendly. But the three of them had magical adventures around the world when Michael found a magic compass.

HOW TO TELL TIME
by Jane Werner Watson
         This book had a "real" clock built into the cover, but after so many readings, the two hands broke off.  It was a great way to learn how to tell time though.

DAVY CROCKETT
By Irwin Shapiro
          This was definitely a favorite storybook, based on the Walt Disney movie Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier, starring Fess Parker. I knew the theme song by heart.  And when I was in kindergarten, I recognized Fess Parker riding in a southern California parade. He wasn't in his famous buckskins and coonskin cap. He was riding a plain horse, in plain cowboy clothes, and looked like just a regular guy, so people hardly noticed him. But I started shouting, "Davy Crockett! Davy Crockett!" and he rode over to where I was standing to say hello! Thrill of my young life!

BEN & ME
by Robert Lawson
           This was also an adaptation of the Walt Disney film that tells the story of the life of Benjamin Franklin as seen through the eyes of a little mouse character named Amos.