Reading for Me

The Books I Have Read…..Just for Me

Feb 2

#3: Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned (Wells Tower)

by kennithfreeman

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned is the debut collection of short stories by the American author, Wells Tower. I was thrilled to see a brand new voice included on “My Library Shelf” project. However, reviewing a collection of unrelated stories can be challenging.

The theme of familial relationships united many of the stories in Everything Ravaged. Sometimes the families were traditional; others were groups with common bonds that made them like family. Almost without fail, the families described would be classified as dysfunctional. A teenage girl preparing for a tryst with a man older than her father. A boy is sexually molested in a carnival bathroom while his father is on a blind date. A pre-teen boy pretends to pass out in the driveway due to the exertion caused by walking to the mailbox; his charade leads to the intervention of the police.

Tower’s stories are enjoyable pieces for the most part, although they left this reader a bit unfulfilled with each conclusion. The issue for me was not that things were left unresolved; consistently, the story just seemed to end abruptly. There was no ambiguity to be considered. There was no image that was burned into the mind’s eye. After reading the final story, I admitted that they were nicely told….but I wouldn’t say they made a tremendous impact on the audience. They were simply stories — in the most basic sense of the word.

I read the collection. I wouldn’t be opposed to reading Tower’s future works. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned did not inspire me to actively seek out the author’s periodical publications. I’m left a little uninspired to say the least.

What’s coming up for me? I’ve got several books in the active stack at the moment.

  1. The Crazyladies of Pearl Street – Trevanian
  2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
  3. Menahem Pressler: Artistry in Piano Teaching – William Brown
  4. Mendelssohn: A Life in Music – R. Larry Todd

With that stack of books, I suppose I should get my glasses on and get to work.

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Dec 31

#22: The Oriental Wife (Evelyn Toynton)

by kennithfreeman

My final book of 2014 was another installment in My Library Shelf project. The Oriental Wife was a book that was both engaging and confusing at the same time. The story begins with three young German children who find themselves dealing with the horrors of the 1930s. Ultimately, all three find themselves in the United States, but things do not turn out any smoother for them. It seems the book itself is a study of the impact of human loss and human cruelty.

The confusion came on several levels. First, there is the issue of the title. What in the world does the idea of an “oriental wife” have to do with anything in this story? There are references at the end of the novel to a wife of a Indo-Chinese businessman who leaves New York unexpectedly, but Toynton does not establish a clear connection between the figure and the rest of the story. My other issue with the book is its abrupt shifts and lack of continuity. Divided into three parts, the book is united by returning characters. However, the lives of these characters seem totally different than what was observed in the previous section. For instance, part 2 centers around the severe illness of Louisa and her apparent helplessness. By the time we begin part 3, Louisa is living in a boarding house where she requires little assistance for her disability and it is her ex-husband who is now sick with terminal cancer. While there is a certain amount of karma in this aspect of the story, the end of the book focuses on Louisa’s daughter to such a large degree that the idea of revenge is completely loss.

The writing had potential. I found myself thrust into the author’s world. It simply lacked development of plot. This is the only work by Toynton on my library shelf….and I don’t intend to seek out other works by this horribly confusing author.

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Dec 13

#20: Takedown (Brad Thor)

by kennithfreeman

How is it possible that I have missed Brad Thor’s work? This author is definitely one that I am excited to have discovered through My Shelf project!

Takedown features ex-SEAL Scot Harvath and a rag-tag group of discharged veterans in an unexpected situation. Terrorists have attacked New York City again. This time, they have targeted the city’s tunnels and bridges — essentially cutting the island of Manhattan off from the rest of the world. While first responders are busy rescuing victims, the terrorists continue their plot and create havoc at seemingly unrelated locations throughout the city. As Harvath and his team discover that the locations are actually sites in an ultra-secret government project, the importance of stopping the terrorists becomes more evident. Brad Thor’s novel is definitely a page-turning thriller that cannot be put down easily.

After reading Takedown, I learned that it is actually the 5th book in Thor’s series featuring the character of Scot Harvath. I was impressed that the novel stood alone so well, despite making subtle references to past plots (which I assume are told in the earlier novels). The novel was an easy read and very entertaining. I’m not sure that I will read the entire series, but Takedown‘s ending certainly left me with many questions and a classic cliff hanger that are drawing me in to read the next book in the series. For more information on Brad Thor and his work (including a new series that begins with the first book released in 2014), visit his website at www.bradthor.com. To see books in the Scot Harvath series in order, here’s a convenient list from our friends at Mystery Sequels.

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Nov 13

#18: The Heather Blazing (Colm Toibin)

by kennithfreeman

I was so inspired by Phyllis Rose’s The Shelf that I decided to begin my own version of the project. I planned to select a random shelf in the library that contained at least one classic novel and had no more than 5 books representing a single author. The selection process was much more difficult than I expected. The main branch of the Memphis Public Library shelves most of its classic novels in an area separate from general fiction. So, on Halloween Day, I made my way to the White Station branch and found my shelf:  THO – TRE.  (At the end of today’s post, I will include a complete list of the books included on my shelf on that day.)

Randomly, I chose my first book from my library shelf project — The Heather Blazing. The story centers around Eamon Redmond, an Irish judge whose life has been plagued by immense loss. As a child, he lost both of his parents. Although still living, he has a decaying relationship with both of his children. The two great loves of his life — his beautiful wife and his childhood home that overlooks the sea — are both facing dire circumstances and will be removed from his world very quickly.

While the novel contains immense tragedy for Eamon, the book is quite beautiful. The descriptions of the Irish landscape are riveting. Toibin weaves a thread of hope throughout the plot and provides an ambiguous conclusion to the novel that allows the reader to determine for himself Eamon’s ultimate outcome. Although I would have never picked up The Heather Blazing on my own, I am happy that I encountered this charming book through my library shelf project.

MY LIBRARY SHELF: THO – TRE

White Station Branch of Memphis Public Library – October 31, 2014

  1. Takedown – Brad Thor
  2. Reboot – Tintera
  3. The Good Thief – Hannah Tinti
  4. The Barbarian Nurseries – Hector Tobar
  5. A Complicated Kindness – Miriam Toews
  6. Brooklyn – Colm Toibin
  7. The Empty Family – Colm Toibin
  8. The Heather Blazing – Colm Toibin
  9. The Masters – Colm Toibin
  10. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
  11. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
  12. Tomahawk – David Poyer (This book appears to have been shelved incorrectly. Since it was on the shelf on this day, however, I will include it in my reading project.)
  13. Masked Innocence – Alessandra Torre
  14. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned – Wells Tower
  15. The Key – Simon Toyne
  16. The Oriental Wife – Evelyn Toyston
  17. Sanctus – Simon Toyne
  18. Off the Grid – P.J. Tracy
  19. The Legacy – Kirsten Tranter
  20. The Colour – Rose Tremain
  21. The Crazyladies of Pearl Street – Trevanian

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