#32   
Title:   Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
Author:  Helen Simonson
Read by:  Peter Altschuler
Genre:  Fiction
Rating:  A
Published:  2010
Read:   5/13/12 - 5/31/12
CD/hours:  11/13

I love what the back of the cover of the CD holder says about as much as I enjoyed the story itself.  “You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family.  Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired).  Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completed endearing.  Major Pettigrew is one of the most indelible characters in contemporary fiction, and he will steal your heart.

“The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea.  But then his brother’s death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village.  Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more.  But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and regarding her as the permanent foreigner.  Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?”

Helen Simonson is an Englishwomen living in the States.  I’m looking forward to more books by this awesome author.

#31   
Title:   Man in the Dark
Author:  Paul Auster
Genre:  Fiction
Rating:  B
Published:  2008
Read:   5/24/12 - 5/28/12
CD/hours:  4/4.5

After a recent car accident, 72 year old August Brill is recovering at his daughter’s house.  He finds it difficult to fall asleep and begins telling himself stories.  Trying not to think about the recent death of his wife and murder of his granddaughter’s boyfriend, he begins wondering what it would be like to line in a parallel of modern day American, where there is no war with Iraq and America is actually in a bloody brawl with itself.

Fairly interesting in that there is a story within a story that Brill tells himself.  The characters in his story refer to him, Brill, and that he has to be killed before he kills them.  That’s just one story.  Then he and his granddaughter have a great discussion about Brill’s wife, and she asks him to describe all the details about their marriage from infidelity to his wife’s career as a singer.  As he fills her in with what he wants her to know, the two of them begin the healing process of coming to terms with their respective loses.  Well done!

#30   
Title:   Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross
Author:  Helen Dore Boyleston
Genre:  Non-Fiction
Rating:  A+
Published:  1955
Read:   5/23/12 - 5/26/12
Pages:  182

Boyleston, author of the Sue Barton nurse series, also penned this jewel of the famous Clara Barton who dedicated her life to the care and encouragement of others.  Raised in Oxford, Massachusetts and the last of five children Clarissa Harlowe Barton pursued her passion in nursing when, at the beginning of the Civil War, she brought up supplies and nursed wounded men on the battlefields.  Unfortunately, at the outbreak of the Civil War there was not one trained nurse in the whole United States.  Women worked heroically in base hospitals, but a battlefield was not considered an appropriate place for a woman.  Not only did Clara dedicate herself to this profession she also taught school, worked for the patent office in Washington, D. C., wrote books and helped locate missing men who fought in the war between the states.  It was during her trip to Europe where she tried to offer assistance to soldiers of the Franco-Prussian War that she learned of the Red Cross and how the Treaty of Geneva had brought together nations to care for all wounded in time of war.  This was the starting place for Clara to think about and form the American Red Cross whose purpose it is to help others during natural disasters.

In this book Helen Dore Boylston tells the amazing story of this angel of mercy whose wartime nursing service eventually resulted in a world-wide peacetime service to help all who suffer.  This is an easy to read book because it’s a Junior Biography yet gives much depth in the character of its heroine.

#29   
Title:   When I Fall in Love
Author:  Iris Rainer Dart
Genre:  Fiction
Rating:  B
Published:  1999
Read:   5/12/12 - 5/23/12
Pages:  259

Set in Hollywood, a group of sitcom writers, have just lost their boss and get a new one.  Charlie’s a bit disabled yet doesn’t let that get to him.  He’s either a gag writer with a terrific sense of humor that flops over into his personal life or he’s a man who’s living life to the fullest with the hand he’s been dealt.  Fortunately, Lily who works for him, has a son who was shot and is now paralyzed and is finding it hard to adjust to the world.   When Charlie butts in with his off-the-wall personality and tries to make Bryan laugh and not take himself so seriously, things change.  During this time of uncertainty, Lily is engaged to Mark, the cardiologist who is trying to accept Charlie as part of his fiancée’s  life but is having a hard time of it, especially when he notices Lily’s vehicle at Charlie’s place overnight.  A sweet story.

#27   
Title:   Jennie’s Tiger
Author:  Eva Gail Six
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Rating:  A
Published:  2011
Read:   1/4/12 - 5/12/12
Pages:  303

I’ve savored this book for the better part of four months and marveled at the work Eva Gail put into this novel.  I’m looking forward to writing her a note to say how much I enjoyed getting to know Jennie and Wes Wooding and their boys, neighbors, and animals, the adventures they experienced and the relationships they forged over the 23 year period that the book spans.

Jennie’s Tiger is based upon a true story.  The story of Jennie Wooding is sub-titled A Woman’s Pioneering Stand in an Untamed Corner of Washington State.  The setting is the Pend Oreille area of northeastern Washington; the years covered are 1900 to 1923.  Those formative years in that part of the state lend themselves to the earthy, down-home nature that still abounds. 

As I read Jennie’s story I not only came to know and love her and her family but also Eva Gail and her husband, Al.  I’ve known this couple for years though more recently have only exchanged Christmas cards.  Yet I felt that in the conversations and camaraderie of the characters I was hearing how the Sixes relate to each other, too.  And that made me smile.  Their love is reflective of how Eva Gail paints the people of her prose.  And I’m  hoping she’ll soon turn out another masterpiece.

#26   
Title:   The Infinities
Author:  John Banville
Narrator:  Justin Rhind-Tutt
Genre:  Fiction
Rating:  B
Published:  2009
Dates listened to:   4/26/12 - 5/11/12
# of Cds/hours:  8/9 3/4

I just could not get into this end-of-life story of Adam Godley whose family has gathered for his passing.  They seem to be a bunch of dysfunctional types -- from 19 year old Petra who cuts to Adam Jr. struggling to maintain his marriage.  Even the family dog gives his perspective of the group.  To top it off Zeus, Pan and Hermes hover with their ethereal account of the whole affair.  The story did have a bit of a redeeming ending when with child, Adam Junior’s wife feels the quickening of her fetus as the old man passes from his earthly realm.

#25   
Title:   Back When We Were Grownups
Author:  Anne Tyler
Narrator:  Blair Brown
Genre:  Fiction
Rating:  B
Published:  2000
Dates listened to:   4/30/12 - 5/11/12
# of Cts/hours:  6/9

Anne Tyler weaves a meandering tale of a tight-knit, extended family -- all with colorful names -- Poppy, No-No, Patch, Jeep, Zeb and Biddy.  The story is from Rebecca’s point of view.  She is 53 and has decided she’s “turned into the wrong person”.  Yet, Bec is so non-judgmental of people whether family or the electrician and his son -- she welcomes all with open arms.  Open Arms is the name of her establishment where, with cruise-ship director command, Rebecca Davitch responds to people who want birthday parties, baby and wedding showers at her lovely old Baltimore home. 

I like how the tale rolls along and the interpersonal give and take among family and friends.  Tyler has such a great way of story-telling and developing characters.  I felt like I knew these people.  And Rebecca’s self assessment of who she is comes through at the end.

 #24    
Title:   Helping Teens Who Cut
Author:  Michael Hollander, PhD
Genre:  Non-Fiction  618.9285
Rating:  A
Published:  2008
Read:   2/1/12 - 5/6/12
Pages:  214

Since I have a friend whose seventeen year old granddaughter is in a facility for her penchant for cutting I’m continuing my education about this disease.  This book is sub-titled Understanding and Ending Self-Injury.  Hollander has done a marvelous job handling all aspects -- from diagnosis to treatment, from helping the family deal with their child to listing resources, both intensive treatment programs and websites related to self-injury.  The method of dealing with the problem is called DBT or Dialectical  Behavior Therapy.  The case studies are realistic and helpful for parents in understanding and dealing with frightening circumstances.

Even if a family doesn’t have a child with this issue the information about interpersonal relationships and the skills outlined for validating and keeping the lines of communication open are outstanding and can be used in over-all child-rearing.