The River, by Moonlight: a novel

Title: The River, by Moonlight
Author: Camille Marchetta
Pages: 362
Awards: Winner of The Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Independant Publishing
Publisher: virtualbookworm.com Publishing
Yearly Count: 57


Hey, and Welcome to Camille Marchetta's blog tour stop with The River, By Moonlight!

In 1917, on one April moonlit eve a woman happened to end up in New York City's Hudson River. The family that she leaves behind mourns the hole she leaves empty. How did she die? Why did she do it? Was it an accident? Chapter after chapter each character floods the pages with their perceptions about and relationship with the deceased Lily Canning.It is as if they all revolved around Lily and now that she is not there to engulf and delight them all, they don't know what else they have in common with each other besides their last names. She leaves behind so many loose ends, nothing is tied up neatly, it is as if she was blown by the wind into one of her moods of depression and thinks of a way to make it be the last time she will have to suffer.

I wasn't yearning to read another book on suicide just yet, since I just finished one (Surviving Ben's Suicide review) last week. But once again, when I began to read I was submersed in the read and wanted to know, what had actually happened. I enjoyed the chapter switch-ups, since each chapter was narrated by a different character who knew and loved Lily. I thought it flowed well, and made things even more interesting. Marchetta's writing is great, I felt as if I were in 1917 where the book was set. She did an excellent job of pace and writing style to match the times. Also, what made the book even more interesting were the thoughts the current war was bringing up in the characters, especially Lily.

What stood out the most to me about this novel, was the reality of blame amongst the family members and friends of Lily (or any other person who chooses to take their own life). Even more importantly I was once again reminded of how much each person who was touched by the deceased blamed themselves for Lily's death. Each of them showered with thoughts on how they could have just kept her with them a little longer, if....


Here are the two previous stops on this blog stop tour, excellent reviews, check 'em out!:

The Bluestocking Society

Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?

Mrs. Lieutenant

Title: Mrs. Lieutenant
Author: Phillys Zimbler Miller
Pages: 486
Yearly Count: 48

It is the year 1970, a year of change, uncertainty, and insecurity in our nation. Four women, officer's wives must either embrace or fight the changes that are coming their way. Their husbands, are deciding their own fate. Vietnam is the avoided subject in their gatherings, maybe if they don't talk of it, it will simply be swallowed whole. An amazing novel of the lives of four women, unlikely friends who are almost force to unite in order to make it through their uncertain days together. A racist southerner, an educated Jewish woman, a sheltered black woman, and a Puertorican. Unlikely friends sometimes make the best buddies. They find that their differences are not enough to keep them apart. This is a novel of friendship, relationships, and life under stress.

I wondered how I would do with it, as my brother has just returned from Iraq, after being there over a year and a half. I was worried it would be a liberal bashing of the army, or a republican "we all need to get our guns and go" read....it wasn't either. I felt the whole way through that the characters ballanced each other out. There were some fanatics both ways, which made the balance perfect, and feel much more like the truth than many wartime stories. I did not have to raise my guard at all. I fell in love with this book. A great American read for sure.

This book is so different than what I read most of the time, what a sweet break from my international reading blis. I enjoyed the journey this one brought me on. Overall a great read, intense, loaded and full of well-developed relationships.

Thanks to the Literatehousewife, and the author Phyllis Zimbler Miller for hooking me up with this one!! :) YAY!

Check out the Author's website: Mrs. Lieutenant

Have you reviewed this book too? Give me your review link! :)
Also reviewed by:
Literatehousewife
Fizzy Thoughts

Oh, and don't forget about my giveaway!!!

Title: Three Cups of Tea
Author: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Pages: 338
Yearly Count: 45
(July book Blowout book 8)

A world away form here what many of us would view as life's necessities are extravagances for many. In Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson's story is told. He wants to do something to honour his sister so he chooses to climb K2 to honour her.He fails at his attempt to do what he has always done, but then begins his journey at something he has never done and something that comes completely from the heart, and will use up all his brain power and energy as well. He sees a need for schools in Pakistan, the children sit outside in the cold winter months to learn their lessons on their own, without a teacher. Mortenson makes it his one mission to change that. Three Cups of Tea is the process of building, buying and brining these dreams together.

I was inspired by Mortenson in this book, by his relentlessness and drive. I was moved by his heart, his dreams and the relationship he formed with the people of Pakistan. One of the Pakistani men he admired the most was illiterate. The fact that Mortenson could understand that this man was wise even if he was illiterate was a breath of fresh air (even though the book is about schools and education!).

Inspired as I was I did not fully enjoy the reading of this book. I think that is fine, I don't know that it was intended for enjoyment, but that is not really what I mean. I guess I am much more of a relational person, than a factual one. I enjoy day to day feelings of people and sufferings and dreams. Facts are nice, but only on the side, not as my main meal. Three Cups of Tea is all about the facts, and when it is not about the facts it is about Mortenson's life and not ever about the lives of the Pakistanis. I do not complain though, because I actually understand why it is that way: It is a NON-FICTION book. And in order to call it non-fiction the author had to go by the facts and off of what Mortenson said and remembered and not on character development of the Pakistani people. I get it, I do....but somehow I feel like I am missing a chunk of the story anyway. Silly me.

Overall I do recommend it, not for enjoyment so much as to be inspired and to know the difference that one person (with a super-crazy drive) can do to change the world.
Here are some pictures that are included in the book, dreams that Mortenson made true:

Some of the organisations mentioned in the book for helping fund this project:

Pennies for Peace
Greg Mortenson's website
Central Asia Institute (CAI) The Organisation funding Mortenson's Projects



Three Cups of Tea also reviewed by:
justareadingfool
Reading and Writing about it


Have you read it?? Give me your link.

Did I Expect Angels? (+giveaway!)

Title: Did I Expect Angels?
Author: Kathryn Maughan
Pages: 182
Yearly Count: 41
(July book 4)

The power of a testimony, or one's life story, is sometimes all that will shake us from our own grief long enough to enable change. Did I Expect Angels? is a book that shows just how powerful it is to listen and to be heard, and to let those that love us know that we are not doing well, to cry out for help. Humans can be angels, it all depends on if they are the right person at the right time, and if they are willing to invest a little. We all have angels.

In Did I Expect Angels? the grieving Jennifer meets an unexpected angel, Henry who tells her the story of his life. She never thinks to listen until her story becomes so much like his that her mind is finally able to focus on someone, on something besides her pain. Life does not make pretty, endings are not always good but if we try to pretend that we have gotten better, improved, or no longer need anti-depressants when we do, it is just a matter of time before our momentum will decrease and our life will fall apart with it. Jennifer was exactly in that spot when she met the greeter at a the local 24 hour store, an older man from Costa Rica. Jennifer thought the world would be a better place without her, that her daughter would do better in the loving arms of someone else rather than being surrounded by her own mood swings and depression.

Did I Expect Angels? is a new take on 'It's a Wonderful Life', this is a novel that does not smoothe over, it does not dumb down pain. A captivating read, it shows the power of one life impacting another. Kathryn does a spectacular job in the writing. It is not mystical, surreal or strange at all, the angels are modern day heroes who mostly just happen to be the perfect person in the right place and time. I loved this book, the whole way through I was emotionaly tied in to the book. I highly recoomend it, really. It blew me away.

And I have a giveaway copy up for grabs!!! Kathryn sent me an extra copy for a super special commenter who would love to read this book as well. That could be you!!! Leave a comment on this post for one entry and post about it on your blog for another two entries! (make sure you let me know you have posted about it) I will give you through Sunday to do it, and on Monday I will pick one lucky winner.

check out the author's website: Kathryn Maughan

Also reviewed by:
Trisha at the Library Queue
Trish at Hey Lady! Whacha Readin' ?

Read and reviewed this book? give me your link, so I can post it here!

Dreams and Stones

Title: Dreams and Stones
Author: Magdalena Tulli
Publisher: Archipelago Books
Pages: 110
Yearly Count: 27

Architecture, dreams, life, lines and asphalt is where Magdalena Tulli takes the readers of Dreams and Stones. Along for the ride of a city, where the stones of reality will fall, but only the dreams survive. Life will always be imperfect, but dreams they can be what you make of them.

Magdalena Tulli could take the most hideously boring subject and write beautiful sentences. I adore her writing, it is deep, intense and ambiguous. She dares to go places that her readers may not be able to follow, yet she fear not as she takes them there. Dreams and Stones is a balance between the mystical dream world and the harsh reality of life. Life is too real, dreams are too far gone. I could drool over this book, there are certain key sentences which I will share, that might as well be screaming "I CAN'T BELIEVE NO ONE HAS WRITTEN ME YET!!!!", but she does, and does it with ease and a tenderness that willingly ushers the reader into a new place.

In saying all that, I can come clean and say that a lot of her writing was very deep for me, or just too hard for me to grasp. I love strange and weird and unsettling, however I am not fully able to comprehend what was hard for me about this book. Tulli's writing is incredible, yet many times I just had no idea where she had taken me and what she was writing about. I felt as though it were poetry in form of prose, which would make sense because so much of poetry is how it speaks to the individual, therefore making poetry on the hard-to-understand side sometimes. Throughout the book I was rocked out of my seat with her writing, others I was only holding on by a molecule. It could be that it was too philosophical for me, I am not sure.

The writing, it is heaven though, here are two quotes from the book:

Eventually the day came when the sofas were chopped up for firewood; a stray shell released the letters from their drawers. Paper turned to ashes, windowpanes shattered, door frames and tiled stoves were smashed to pieces. But this too failed to stop the pain. For pain does not belong to those who experience it but rather they belong to it (p. 71).

But their brightness always arises from darkness and their beauty from horror. The tangle of dreams, untouched by pruning shears, fills the whole world; it can even be said that it is the world and that the inhabitants of the city - along with their houses, their beds, their blankets, their recollections and their unanswerable questions- are only necessary for the dreams to be dreamed.
Only for dreams to be dreamed? What about maintaining order in the world? What about polishing floors, making repairs? Surely the reason why people sleep at night is to gather strength for the labors of the day? (p. 78).

If you have read this book, leave a comment with the link to your review...I'd love to link to it!

Invasion of the Bible Thumpers

Title:Invasion of the Bible Thumpers
Author: Skookum Maguire
Publisher: iUniverse
Publisher Address: 2021 Pine lake Road, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68512
Url: www.iuniverse.com
ISBN: 978-0-595-44814-2, Price $11.95 Publication Date: 2007
Reviewed by Bethany L. Canfield for Reader Views (5/08)
Yearly Count: 27


Jammed tight from cover-to-cover with loggers, lumberjacks, crew workers and big-butt waitresses ,is "Invasion of the Bible Thumpers" by Skookum Maguire. A story it has about life and country-folk, that will almost get you dirty and able to smell the rain and pine just by opening the book. Nine short stories of lives that are lived, dreams that fall apart, and antics that will kill you, they are fun to read and learn from. The voice of Maguire is stout and rich in quality, that is also a treat. Each story was deep, and engulfing yet when the last page of the the book was done the short stories came together as a joined unit. Nothing is given freely, the characters have a common thread of grit, dirt and crudeness to them. The harsh reality is what is lived, and they would die to keep it that way. Each story is incredible and endearing in its own way, but the theme: live your life, you won't get another screams like a hard-core rockstar. The life that is hard-lived is the life of quality, yet it is not a life that is given, but one that must be fought for.

Enjoyable, down-to-earth and honest, the "Invasion of the Bible Thumpers" is one that once picked up, dived in to and pages are turned, the reader will not want to abandon it part way. The stories that stayed with me were: A Time for Mourning, Newspapers and Invasion of the Bible Thumpers. Maguire does an exceptional job of portraying the loggers, construction workers, and down-to-earth Oregonians and I should know since I am a true North westerner myself, with grandparents on both sides being loggers and farmers of this sweet, wet land.

The one thing that was difficult was that the rest of the stories (besides the three mentioned above) really did not stand out significantly. I enjoyed them, but Maguire's characters became too similar, too generic. A book of short stories to me is about variety, diversity, switching-it-up and the ability to go deep fast and keep the reader there too. The three stories I mentioned above were like that for me, but the rest seemed weak, and I did not develop that deep interest in the people whom the story was about. Almost like I was reading a story about an extra in a movie and the action was really somewhere off to the right or left. The book was good, and the stories that I enjoyed I really enjoyed, the others were just nothing extra-ordinary. I would recommend the book, especially to people I know from the grand 'ol Pacific Northwest just based on the stories that I did like. So over all, it was good not great.

The Writing Circle by Rozena Maart

Title: The Writing Circle
Author: Rozena Maart
Publisher: TSAR
Pages: 199
Awards: Journey Prize
Yearly Count: 25


The Writing Circle is a group of five women who live in Cape Town, South Africa and gather every Friday as a group of women, looking for the strength that in their community only comes from unity and protecting each other. A place where they who cannot trust are surrounded by each other, therefore embracing their loss, and while participating gain the friendships they hold. Healing comes to a halt one night as the rest of the women are gathered together, one of the circle members Isabel, is late, they start without her, and she is raped in her car in front of her very own house. The members of the group hear a gunshot, and from that moment the question will be: can they survive this common scab being scratched and picked at, or will the pressure and soreness cause hatred from within the group?

Maart leads the reader though that night and the following days. This was a group of women, united through experience, yet different in most everything else, who are filled with a desire to live their lives, and hope for a future that is better than their past. The Writing Circle cries out for women all over, but especially in places where they are not allowed to speak out on their own. Rozena Maart brings up difficult subject matters facing her nation today, the ramifications of apartheid, racism and segregation, rape, incest and calls forth life into the souls of these raped and silenced women, she gives a voice to the women of the world whose lives parallel the women of The Writing Circle, but have not had the chance to let it off their shoulders.

It is easy to hear that Maart's every desire is for the people of her nation, and others like it around the world, to open closed ears stunned by an ugly tradition. That all people of all races would listen to the cries of women and girls and to heed the suffering that surrounds them is real and needs attention. The dark and horrid secrets of uncles, fathers, and husbands shriek out from Rozena Maart's The Writing Circle.

This book is a novel, but it is not based on fiction, but fact, as South Africa is one of the nations with the highest number of reported rapes (and estimated 500,000 cases of rape every year!) The law pass system, is one that becomes a breeding venue for rape and incest. The men are removed from the homes, placed in hostel like locations in the city thus leaving families unprotected in the country. Before that apartheid. Those in power feel the freedom to do as they please with their supposed inferiors. When those angry, powerless inferiors became free...things did not improve in the aspect of women's voice.

Hope returns, it always does. Dark days turn bright, and South Africa has begun taking steps of action against this problem. Good things are on their way!



If you are interested in articles on the situation in South Africa:
South Africa Begins Getting Tough on Rape
Tackling South Africa's Rape Culture
Rape Survivor Journal- Rape Stats for South Africa and Worldwide

The Writing Circle:
Reviews of The Writing Circle on TSAR Publications