Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango

 Iveliz is excited to have a new start in seventh grade.  The last few years have been difficult as she has dealt with PTSD and other mental health issues.  She makes goals to listen to her mother, do well in class and not be sent to detention.  She also wants to help her grandmother, who is suffering with Alzheimer's disease and recently moved from Puerto Rico, feel comfortable in America.  All her plans fall apart when kids at school make fun of her and she looses control.  From there things spiral until she finally has to face the fact that she needs real help. 

This is one of the Newbery Honor books for this year.  It is written in free verse, but listening to it on audio, I wouldn't have been able to tell you it was written in verse.  It it really just very sparse prose. It has a lot of Spanish in it, and usually I can follow Spanglish in books, but on the recording it was spoken with a Puerto Rican accent and I had a hard time following.  This is one of the social issues books where there are multiple trials the girl is going through.  Unfortunately life for some kids are like that, and perhaps reading a book like this will give some kids hope.  Iveliz has an authentic voice, and the other characters in the story--the mother, her friends, her therapist and her grandmother--are all multidimensional and sympathetic.  It is impressive how much Arango fits into so few words.  I can see why this book won the Newbery Honor, but sometimes I feel sad that all the Newbery winners these days are RX books.  None of them are just fun books that are a delight to read.  I know it is important to have books that help children deal with complicated lives, but it is also important to have books that allow kids to escape and have fun.  I guess those kinds of books are out there.  They just don't win prizes.  (272 p. 2022)

The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams

 In 2015 Desmond Tutu was invited to attend a celebration of the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday.  The two men had met before and had developed a quick and deep bond.  The week before the celebration the two men met daily to talk about different aspects of finding joy.  They were lead by Douglas Abrams and their discussions were recorded. In writing the book, Abrams adds notes about current scientific research that supports the concepts put forward by the two men.  He also gives some history of each man's journey in life and contributions to the world.  The book ends with descriptions of different practices performed by the two religious leaders that support the eight-fold path to joy discussed in the book. 

Last week I was having some emotional struggles including feelings that I lacked sources of joy in my life. I usually turn to a fluffy clean romance in such cases, but I had read several of those lately, and was a bit tired of them. I found this title by chance, and checked it out because I admire the work of both the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. The book turned out to be, not only delightful, but insightful.  It is delightful because the author describes the caring and joyful interactions between these two spiritual giants. He recounts gentle teasing and light heartedness, as well as gestures of genuine affection. The two men really do seem to be dear friends, despite the differences in their religious views. Abrams makes a point to emphasis that they agree more than they differ on their views of how to bring joy into life.  What I loved most about the book is that His Holiness and His Grace didn't give slick, carefully scripted sermons about Joy.  Instead they were just sharing simple principles they learned from long lives of both suffering and service.  The whole book feels very authentic, like the reader is able to sit down and have tea with two of the greatest forces for good in our generation.  I also liked the suggested practices at the end of the book.  Some are meditation practices, and some are prayer practices.  I am considering purchasing the ebook version for my kindle so I can go back and review those again. (2016, 386 p.)

Yesterday's Tides by Roseanna M. White

 Evie Farrow is an innkeeper on a small island in South Carolina in 1942.  Her life is, if not peaceful, then predictable until a U-boat sinks a British naval boat off shore.  One survivor, Stirling Bertrand, washes up on her beach and she takes him in without alerting the authorities. 18 years earlier, on the same island, an English aristocrat, Remington Culbreth, spends a summer at the inn and falls in love with the innkeeper's daughter, Louisa Adair. When war breaks out in Europe, the two are separated in tragic ways.  As Sterling tries to unravel Evie's family secrets in 1942, the reader learns more about Louisa's fate in 1918. The two stories of love and loss intertwine into a beautiful tribute to the strength of the human soul.

Ms White is one of my favorite Christian historical writers.  I loved her series about the codebreakers of WWI and was excited when this book was released this year.  I thought it was a stand alone book, but was pleasantly surprised when it tied into the earlier series. The plot of this book is quite complicated and Ms White does an amazing job of unfolding the stories in both time lines in a way the keeps the reader enthralled and wanting to know how it all works out. Both Evie and Louisa are strong Christian woman, and Ms White's treatment of the prejudices of the 20th century American south are handled well. I am not completely thrilled with reader of the audiobooks in this series.  The way that Pilar Witherspoon's voice goes up at the end of a sentence instead of down drives me crazy for about the first three chapters every time I listen to her, but then I get used to it. Maybe the next time a book comes out in this series, I will check out the print copy and read it the old fashion way. (2023, 410 p)

Otherwise Engaged by Joanna Barker

 Rebecca Rowley is a proper society debutant on the outside, but a rebel on the inside.  She likes to ride, bareback (gasp) when no one is looking, and has entered into a secret engagement while vacationing in Brighton with the son of her parents' sworn enemy.  She and her fiancé decide to return to their respective families and try to discover why they hate each other.  Back home Rebecca meets her handsome new neighbor, Lieutenant Avery, and a quick friendship blooms.  She keeps telling herself that he is just a friend and she is not being disloyal to the love of her life, but the sparks between the two keep flying. Meanwhile she slowly gathers information about her family's past that unsettles her and complicates her plans with her fiancé.  She wants to do what is right, but what if that means denying her heart?

So, this book was about a predictable and stereotypical as it sounds.  Of course, we know what is going to happen and are assured of a happy ending for all, but isn't that why we read these books?  The writing is pretty good, and the characters are interesting enough.  There are a few little plot points that don't quite work, like how do Rebecca and Lieutenant Avery keep meeting in the meadow, day after day, without a chaperone, and never get caught?  Doesn't anyone notice that they are both gone for hours at a time, at the same time almost every day?  I also read a comment that the descriptions of her riding bareback were totally unrealistic.  Still, I enjoyed it and it met the need that I always have when I pick one of these sentimental historical romances--entertainment, and escape from the stresses of life. (2022, I couldn't find a listing of how many pages it has, but the recording was 9 hrs.)

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

 Aladdin is a street rat from Agrabah.  Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan.  When they meet by chance one day in the marketplace, it sets in motion a series of events that puts the whole Sultanate in peril. Sound familiar?  Yes and no. This series of books, written for a teen audience, asks the question, "what would have happened if..." In this story the question is, "what would have happened if Jafar had gotten the lamp at the Cave of Wonders instead of Aladdin."  What happens is the Jafar instantly kills the Sultan and makes himself the ruler.  He then makes himself the most powerful sorcerer in the world.  Jasmine escapes from the palace. Aladdin, with the help of the carpet, escapes from the Cave, and together they lead a revolt against Jafar.  The authors try to reimagine key points of the original story into the new plot.  It is Jafar that has the grand parade to the castle, not Aladdin.  There is a giant hour glass but it is not Jasmine trapped inside. There are also new characters, like the Street Rat Queen, that are interesting. All in all, it is cleverly written and an interesting concept.  (2015, 220 p)

Meriden Park by Julie Daines

 Mary Grace grew up in Calcutta, the daughter of some unknown mixed heritage, and the ward of a generous English woman, Lady Welling. When Lord Welling dies in India, Lady Welling returns to her family estate near Nottingham England, bringing a reluctant Mary Grace with her.  Will Mary Grace, with her dark skin and shadowed pass find a home in England?  One of the first men Mary Grace meets on arrival is the saucy Robert Markham.  He is enamored with the tales of Robin Hood and secretly acts the part of greenwood crusader, trying to right the wrongs of society. The two bond over an affinity for wandering around the woods at night, but get caught up in a smuggling ring that proves dangerous.  

This was an odd little retelling of the story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian. The author's attempt to tie the legend into a Regency romance is a bit eye-roll worthy.  Much of Mary Grace's and Robert's behavior is so far outside what would have been considered socially acceptable for the time period that a veteran Regency romance reader will have a hard time.  If you can let that go, however, underneath is a fun, lighthearted story with all the stock characters and plot twists readers of the genre have come to expect. I have read other Julie Daines novels, and none are going to win the Pulitzer prize, but they are decent samples of the genre.  This was not my favorite, but I finished it and will probably read more from the author. (240 p. 2022)

The Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield

 When Xeones is a young man his town was conquered by an invading army. He escapes and lives as a vagabond for a few years, but eventually unites himself with the Spartans because he sees in them prowess and valor that would have saved his hometown if they had been there.  He becomes a squire to a young spartan noble, Alexandros, and later to a Spartan commander, Dienekes, who is enlisted to stand at Thermopylae with 300 Spartans and their allies to off the overwhelmingly larger Persian Army.  It is a suicide mission and of the 300 Spartans and their squires that are called as defenders, Dienekes is the only survivor.  He is captured by the Persians, and Xerxes compels him to tell his story and explain how a group of 4000 men were able to kill tens of thousands of Xerxes best fighters before they were overcome. Xeones not only tells about the battle, but about the lives of the brave Spartan warriors, their families and their training.  He contrasts the code of honor and the self discipline of the Spartans to the excesses of the Persian court.  Through the Spartan's heroism, the Persian army's advance is delayed long enough for the Greeks to later launch a sea offensive that halted the Persian invasion of Greece. 

This is an older books someone recommended to me when they heard that I studied classics in college.  As I listened to it I was transported back to my years reading Homer and Virgil in my Greek and Latin classes. The subtitle of the book is "A Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae" it is just that.  It is written in the high epic style of the old classics.  I loved the long descriptive similes, just as one finds in Homer, and the rousing and wise speeches of the military leaders and leading women.  I kept asking myself, "who is this guy" meaning the writer.  He is clearly familiar with the Greek and Roman classics. I expected to discover that Pressfield was a professor of ancient languages or something, but no. He is a man who struggled for 30 years to get something published, going from one minimum wage job to another. He is a military veteran, so he does understand the idea of comrades at arms.  I am still shaking my head as to how he was able to capture the feeling of an epic with no formal training. I enjoyed the book quite a bit, despite very descriptive battle scenes, and lots of crude references as one might expect among fighting men.  The whole book is very masculine, and a reader can almost feel hair growing on their chest as they read it.  It brings up interesting philosophical questions about the nature of valor and the meaning of honor.  Wikipedia says that it is required reading in several military academies. (400 p. 1998)