FINALLY - the last of my overdue book reviews for 2010!! I actually wrote this entire post once already and somehow it disappeared before I could post! Egads! So, here's a really quick review on four books to finish up 2010. Better late than never, I suppose.
1. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death by Jean-Dominique Bauby; Paperback: 131 pages, Publisher: Vintage; Later Printing edition (June 23, 1998), ISBN-10: 0375701214
Source: Random selection at a used book store
Rating: A really high 5 of 5 STARS
I thought I had heard of this book before when I came across it in the bottom of a cardboard box in our local used book store. For a buck, it wasn't much of a chance. I am so glad I read this. It's the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby (editor of Elle Magazine in France) written after he had a stroke at age 42. The stroke resulted in Bauby living with Locked-In Syndrome meaning he was left with a totally intact mind but with no control over his body except his left eye. He wrote the memoir by blinking through the alphabet with an assistant. He wrote and edited whole chapters in his mind before blinking them out. The title comes from the thought that his mind (the butterfly) could take him anywhere even though he was tethered to his useless body (the diving bell.) His writing is lovely and the story is moving. There's a movie based on this memoir that I'd like to see. Highly recommended.
2. Christ Our Mediator: Finding Passion at the Cross by C.J. Mahaney, Hardcover: 96 pages,
Publisher: Multnomah Books (September 21, 2004), ISBN-10: 1590523644
Source: I've read him before and picked this little book up off a sales rack
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
This is a very short book aimed to bring us back to the simplicity and beauty of the Cross of Christ. The chapters are short and it made a wonderful daily devotion book for about a week and a half. It would probably be a great Easter devotional but, really, like Mahaney says, we should daily be looking to the Cross over and over again so it would be a great read anytime. Highly recommended.
3. Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life by Terry Brooks; Paperback: 208 pages, Publisher: Del Rey (February 3, 2004), ISBN-10: 0345465512
Source: Yet another random choice from a used book store (I have store credit. Really, it's ok!)
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
I've never read any of Terry Brooks novels and doubt I ever will as they are a genre I don't really enjoy - fantasy. But this memoir was a great read. If you're at all interested in the publishing industry or how a writer gets his start and develops his career, this book is for you. There's some advice on the craft itself but mostly this is about Brooks career and experience as a writer. It was really good. It makes me want to try one of his fantasy novels. Almost! :-) Glad I read this one, though.
Source: Random selection at a used book store
Rating: A really high 5 of 5 STARS
I thought I had heard of this book before when I came across it in the bottom of a cardboard box in our local used book store. For a buck, it wasn't much of a chance. I am so glad I read this. It's the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby (editor of Elle Magazine in France) written after he had a stroke at age 42. The stroke resulted in Bauby living with Locked-In Syndrome meaning he was left with a totally intact mind but with no control over his body except his left eye. He wrote the memoir by blinking through the alphabet with an assistant. He wrote and edited whole chapters in his mind before blinking them out. The title comes from the thought that his mind (the butterfly) could take him anywhere even though he was tethered to his useless body (the diving bell.) His writing is lovely and the story is moving. There's a movie based on this memoir that I'd like to see. Highly recommended.
2. Christ Our Mediator: Finding Passion at the Cross by C.J. Mahaney, Hardcover: 96 pages,
Publisher: Multnomah Books (September 21, 2004), ISBN-10: 1590523644
Source: I've read him before and picked this little book up off a sales rack
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
This is a very short book aimed to bring us back to the simplicity and beauty of the Cross of Christ. The chapters are short and it made a wonderful daily devotion book for about a week and a half. It would probably be a great Easter devotional but, really, like Mahaney says, we should daily be looking to the Cross over and over again so it would be a great read anytime. Highly recommended.
3. Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life by Terry Brooks; Paperback: 208 pages, Publisher: Del Rey (February 3, 2004), ISBN-10: 0345465512
Source: Yet another random choice from a used book store (I have store credit. Really, it's ok!)
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
I've never read any of Terry Brooks novels and doubt I ever will as they are a genre I don't really enjoy - fantasy. But this memoir was a great read. If you're at all interested in the publishing industry or how a writer gets his start and develops his career, this book is for you. There's some advice on the craft itself but mostly this is about Brooks career and experience as a writer. It was really good. It makes me want to try one of his fantasy novels. Almost! :-) Glad I read this one, though.
4. Beautiful Girls by Beth Ann Bauman; Paperback: 186 pages, Publisher: MacAdam/Cage Publishing (March 2004), ISBN-10: 1931561664
Source: And ANOTHER used book pick-up
Rating: 4 of 5 STARS
Source: And ANOTHER used book pick-up
Rating: 4 of 5 STARS
I love short stories and this is a nice collection. I wouldn't say the writing is especially moving or the characters especially clever. It's just a good, solid gathering of stories about everyday women. One is about a young lawyer whose father is dying in a nearby hospital and she tries to figure out how to be with him, work, and get her laundry done. Another is about three sisters living with a single mom who has rotting food in the basement no one wants to deal with. That sort of thing. The reason I like these stories is that they are pretty much all about ordinary women doing ordinary things. And usually I find that interesting. (P.S. I thought the choice for the cover photography was unfortunate. It's really not a reflection of the book at all!)
WHEW! That's it for 2010. Much better than I did on reviews for 2009. I think there were about seven books I never got around to reviewing last year (er... or I guess it's actually year before last, huh?) I've already finished my first for 2011. THAT review to come soon! Promise!
I.Will.Not.Procrastinate.This.Year!
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