There aren’t a lot of books that really make me sad, though there are many books with individual moments that cause me to get a little weepy. One book that does make me sad, however, is Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie. I actually only read it for the first time last month, but it made me sad, and it made me angry – we don’t treat our older citizens very well – and it made me miss my grandparents.
It was roughly a year ago that I received my Kindle e-reader as a birthday present from my aunt. I fell in love with it almost immediately, although I confess that the ability to have a new book in just a few seconds means that I spend far more on ebooks than I ever did on physical ones, especially since I still buy paperbacks to read in the bath!
Soon after I received my Kindle, I was introduced to ereaderIQ.com, a website that compiles new releases, price changes, and even free books for ereaders, and helpfully shoots you a daily email message with links to them.
Now, some of the free books are obviously free because they’re self-published (which that doesn’t mean they’re BAD, though it often means they’re either explicit sexual or explicitly Christian), but others are the first books in established series that are free to garner new audiences, or free because they’re backlisted, or free because they’re previews…
The thing is I’ve discovered some amazing work that people are literally giving away for free. The week before my nephew died, I downloaded a free book called Blue, by Lou Aronica, which was about a divorced father trying to maintain a relationship with his teenaged daughter, while she struggled with a relapse of cancer. It sounds really sad, and I guess parts of it are, but it was also a lovely fantasy, a brilliant father-daughter piece, and actually, I found it to be full of healing and hope.
I didn’t review it, because – well, I didn’t review anything, or maintain any of my blogs, really, between April and August. But I thought it was a great read, and I heartily recommend it.
Then, last week, as part of my self-indulgent birthday week of reading as much as possible, I downloaded a free copy of Megan Foster’s award-reading novel Megan’s Way. I finished it on Thursday or Friday, and tweeted about it, and ended up in a brief chat with the author. It, too, was a lovely book with a really beautiful parent-child relationship at its heart – this time with the title character – Megan – and her teen daughter Olivia.
More magical realism than true fantasy, this was exactly the book I needed to read at the time that I downloaded it, and I loved it so much that I’m eager to read more of Foster’s work. Look for the review of Megan’s Way here on this blog in the next day or so (I meant to get it done over the weekend but life conspired against me).
These are just two examples of books I’ve read for free (or very little money) via my Kindle. Do I still love cracking open a paperback, or going to a reading and buying a signed copy? Of course! But I love being able to have a portable library as well.
My only dislike of my Kindle – and the technology in general – is that not EVERY book is lendable. After all, every hardcover and paperback is.
The 30-day book meme asked me to talk about the best book I read last year. I don’t really rank my books in “best ever/worst ever” categories. I either didn’t like something, liked it, or loved it enough to read again. One of the books that fit the latter category, was The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean, by Susan Casey (review here).
This book alternates chapters, speaking with scientists and then surfers about finding the world’s biggest waves, predicting ocean waves and currents, surviving rogue waves, and even seeing waves from space – no really.
It’s a great book to go back to in weeks like this one, when it’s predicted to reach 109 today, and I’m really missing the ocean, but I’d recommend it to anyone who likes the science behind sailing and surfing, and why waves may be getting bigger and more dangerous.
Was it really the best book I read in 2010? Maybe, maybe not. It did, however, inspire me to download a surf report app for my iPhone.
Seaworthy
Linda Greenlaw
Viking, 256 pages
June, 2010
Read the first chapter for free >> or Buy this book from Amazon.com >>
Product Description (from Publishers Weekly):
After a 10-year hiatus from blue-water fishing, Greenlaw (Hungry Ocean) went cautiously to sea, seeking a payday and perspective on her life. Thanks to The Perfect Storm phenomenon (both book and film), she was celebrated as America’s only female swordfish boat captain. She was now also a mother and an author who relished a new challenge, traveling 1,000 miles from her Maine home with an eager crew of four guys—three of them experienced sailing buddies—looking for swordfish on the 63-foot, six-and-a-half–knot steel boat Seahawk on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. It was a 52-day trip—and a sensational misadventure. Nearly everything that could go wrong, did, including her arrest for illegally fishing in Canadian waters. Greenlaw chronicles it all—a busted engine, a malfunctioning ice machine, squirrelly technology—with an absorbing mix of nautical expertise and self-deprecation. After inspecting the Seahawk, Greenlaw calls it rough, but stable and capable. Then she writes, “Although I was referring to the boat, I couldn’t help thinking the same could be said of her captain.” From mishaps to fish tales, Greenlaw keeps her narrative suspenseful. Between bad luck and self-doubt, she moves from experience to wisdom, guiding both crew and readers on a voyage of self-affirmation.
The thing about Linda Greenlaw’s books is that even if you have no real interest in commercial fishing, her storytelling style is so engaging, that for a moment at some point, you’ll wish you were on the boat with her. Well, you will if you’re not me. I love scented bubble baths, mochas, and mani-pedis too much to ever live the rough life of a fisherman, though I’ll admit that it must be nice to spend weeks at a time without all those ads exhorting you to “watch this” or “click here.”
Like many people, my first introduction to Greenlaw was through the book and the movie The Perfect Storm, but my first introduction to her writing was one of her books about lobstering and living on an island – I still haven’t managed to read The Hungry Ocean (I really want to, though). So this book, Seaworthy was my first experience with Greenlaw writing about her first passion, sword fishing, and for a moment, even I did want to be there.
Greenlaw’s writing, though, is so vivid that you almost are there with her in the wheelhouse of her boat, listening as she leads her crew into a battle against the sorry shape of their boat, the fish, the sea, the weather, and the calendar. It’s her first time back on a sword boat in ten years, and she admits to feeling rusty, but capable. Her crew, made mostly of people who have spent their lives fishing, clearly has deep respect for her, and if their interactions seem casual to the reader, then it’s best to remember that this is not a ship at war, but a commercial fishing boat.
It was only a line item at the end of the acknowledgments that made me realize Seaworthy was somehow connected to the Discovery Channel’s series Swords: Life on the Line which I vaguely remembered seeing ads for (I’m so talented, I missed both season one AND season two, however, despite the fact that they follow Shark Week, and you all KNOW I LOVE Shark Week.). Netflix had season one streaming, however, so while I was in bed with a nasty cold over the weekend, I watched all eight episodes.
The events relayed in Seaworthy roughly coincide with season one of Swords but the book includes events not shown in the series, and also goes into more detail. I’m looking forward to the second season, when it’s available on DVD or in streaming format.
As for this book, I read it in Kindle format, so I’ll probably have to archive it to save space at some point, but it’s definitely something I plan to re-read. It was a wonderful memoir, full of jeopardy and laced with humor. That Greenlaw went back out on a sword boat the next year, explains much about both the author, and the book.
Goes well with grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment
Keith R. A. DeCandido
Simon and Schuster, 320 pages
March, 2008
Buy this book from Amazon.com >>
Product Description (from Amazon):
A new Federation President has been elected, and his first order of business is to attempt to restore the alliance with the Klingon Empire. To that end, he sends Captain Picard to Deep Space 9, in the hopes that Picard’s relationship with Chancellor Gowron might lead to a normalization of relations.
At first, things go well, as Gowron agrees to meet with Picard and Captain Sisko of DS9 on a neutral planet — but when their runabout is shot down, it’s up to Commanders Worf and Data to find out the truth before their captains are killed!
I hadn’t read a new Star Trek book in a while but I always enjoy Keith DeCandido’s additions to the franchise, and I’d been wanting something that took place post-series but pre-Nemesis, that all my favorite characters. I wasn’t disappointed at all – even though some of those characters were off-screen, their presence was still felt, and while this was essentially a DS9 crossover, it was a legitimate one. Picard and Sisko must team up to fix the Federation-Klingon Empire alliance (I maintain that the best way to lose weight fast is to try and out-fox the Klingons) and of course Data and Worf, working from the Enterprise and the Defiant have to help.
The thing about Star Trek novels is that they’re best when they expand the Trekiverse, giving us glimpses of parts of future life that the shows don’t. This novel was a bit short on that, but still a satisfying read.
Goes well with tea, Earl Grey, hot.
The Wave
Susan Casey
Doubleday, 352 pages
September, 2010
Read the first chapter for free >> OR Buy the book from Amazon.com >>
Description (from Publisher’s Weekly):
Casey, O magazine editor-in-chief, travels across the world and into the past to confront the largest waves the oceans have to offer. This dangerous water includes rogue waves south of Africa, storm-born giants near Hawaii, and the biggest wave ever recorded, a 1,740 foot-high wall of wave (taller than one and a third Empire State Buildings) that blasted the Alaska coastline in 1958. Casey follows big-wave surfers in their often suicidal attempts to tackle monsters made of H2O, and also interviews scientists exploring the danger that global warning will bring us more and larger waves. Casey writes compellingly of the threat and beauty of the ocean at its most dangerous. We get vivid historical reconstructions and her firsthand account of being on a jet-ski watching surfers risk their lives. Casey also smoothly translates the science of her subject into engaging prose. This book will fascinate anyone who has even the slightest interest in the oceans that surround us.
I was browsing books on the Kindle when I came across the latest from Susan Casey, who wrote one of my favorite books, The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks about the white sharks near the Farallon Islands, and the scientists who observed them. I love ocean stories, have been reading a lot of memoirs lately, and knew the author’s work, so I tried the sample chapters and was instantly hooked.
What I love about Casey’s work is that she blends science with interviews and personal observation, and The Wave combined all three to perfection. While the chapters didn’t always alternate between scientists and surfers, most of them did, and looking at waves from these two, radically different perspectives really worked. As I was reading, I could almost feel a surfboard beneath my feet (and I don’t even surf!) and taste the salty tang of ocean air.
If you love the ocean, are fascinated by climate change, or are just seeking a glimpse into the life of big-wave surfers, this book is for you.
Goes well with clam chowder and a cup of brisk, black tea.
I first heard about No Impact Man through a friend who mentioned his blog at least a year ago. Now, I can’t speak with any authority on what the best fat burner might be, but I’m thinking giving up elevators, meat, cabs and cappuccinos while living in New York City is probably a pretty good alternative, and that (and more) is what No Impact Man (aka Colin Beavan) and his wife and daughter chose to do (in stages) for a year.
They began with small changes – giving up buying any new clothing or other items, eliminating the use of plastic water bottles, disposable diapers, or foods from further away than 250 miles, and even, for the last half of their year of experimentation, turning off the electricity in their apartment.
While I haven’t read the actual book, I’ve read the original blog the book is based upon, and I’ve seen the documentary (which, btw, is playing this month on the Planet Green (GRN) cable channel, and available from Netflix in DVD or streaming formats).
So, I’ve added it to my list of books to buy the next time I buy books. I’ll be getting the Kindle edition, but never fear, the paper versions are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
Baby Bonanza
Maureen Child
Product Description (from Amazon.com):
Twins? The startling revelation that his affair with Jenna Baker had produced two little boys was almost impossible to grasp. Tycoon Nick Falco had never considered himself the settling-down type, yet now that fatherhood had been thrust upon him, he was determined to give his sons his name. But their mother wasn’t about to let him back into her life…at least not without those three little words Nick had never, ever said.
Sometimes a Silhouette romance can be just as much of a boost to your mood as a multivitamin can be to your health, and this book was no exception. Formulaic? Of course. Dashing hero with feisty heroine in preposterous situation? You bet. But, at the same time it was also a lovely two hours or so of reading on a day when all I wanted was light fluffy stories with happy endings.
Of course, the fact that I got this book in Kindle version for free, didn’t hurt.
Still even with all the “required elements” that a Silhouette Desire novel has to have, and even though I don’t believe a woman finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand would keep the babies, author Child created a lovely mood and I’m seriously lusting after the beach house at the end of the book.
Goes well with hot tea and banana bread.
Dreams Made Flesh
Anne Bishop
Product Summary (from Amazon.com):
The national bestselling Black Jewels trilogy established award-winning Anne Bishop as an author whose “sublime skill…blends the darkly macabre with spine-tingling emotional intensity, mesmerizing magic, lush sensuality, and exciting action.”* Now the saga continues-with four all-new adventures of Jaenelle and her kindred.
While billed as a collection of short stories, Dreams Made Flesh is really four novellas, and even though they’re not full novels, they’re all meaty enough to satisfy even the most ardent lover of the Black Jewels trilogy, containing everything from fighting to sex to romance to baby clothes. Okay, well, maybe not baby clothes, but since one of the four stories is about the early days of Lucivar’s relationship with Marian, and involves setting up his home – their home – there is quite a lot of shopping. We learn, for example, that Lucian’s mother kept the money Saetan provided so that Marian could re-outfit herself, and that Marian herself had such low self-esteem that she had a hard time buying things for herself even when she could.
May I just say how much I love that author Anne Bishop injects so many things into her worlds? I mean, we know that Jaenelle can’t function before her morning coffee, and that even in the twilight and hell regions of this planet chocolate is considered an appropriate guilt gift from men to women. And the clothes…while I don’t know for sure what Earth-period the clothes match, I love the details…the fact that Jaenelle and her friends wear schmata clothes at home, and prefer trousers to skirts most of the time, or – as is the case in the above-referenced story – that the tailors are accustomed to adding wing-slits to the clothing Eyrians purchase, so were unphased about serving Marian.
Of course, the ultimate story in this collection is the post-trilogy story of Daemon and Jaenelle – the return of Witch, as well as the continuation of their romance. It also involves a lot of clothing – in this case dressing for court, and plotting at a party – but it’s more than just a fashion show.
In the seven Black Jewels books that exist, two are not part of the Jaenelle story, and the other is sort of a one-off in Jaenelle’s time, but about Surreal, though there’s another collection of Jaenelle stories coming out next year, I think.
In any case, these stories are a nice bridge, and made for a lovely, entertaining ramble through Kaeleer.
Goes well with: coffee and cheesecake.
When Life Throws You Lemons…Make Cranberry Juice
Shari Bookstaff
Buy from Amazon >>
Product Description (from Amazon.com):
When my kids were learning to walk, I remember walking behind them, ready to catch them if they stumbled backward. I never dreamed that thirteen years later my kids would be walking behind me, ready to catch me if I stumble backward. I was 42 years old when I was diagnosed with a benign, operable brain tumor in July 2006. Doctors predicted a short hospital stay followed by a speedy recovery. Complications arose, giving me lifelong obstacles that I never could have prepared for. A divorced mother of two beautiful, talented, wonderful children, I had high hopes for a bright and happy future. I tried online dating, which got me a few cups of coffee, but no real dates. A couple of dating disasters later, my dating karma was beginning to change when my brain tumor was diagnosed. My life since that fateful day has been focused on regaining basic human functions: breathing, swallowing, walking, etc. I am working again, and trying to be a good mother to my two beautiful, talented, wonderful children. Putting a positive spin on life’s disasters doesn’t always work, but looking for, and accepting, positive things in spite of life’s disasters works. Instead of making lemonade out of lemons, I add life’s sweet sugar and cranberries to my lemons. This makes life much more palatable.
First I have to say that the title When Life Throws Lemons…Make Cranberry Juice, is perfect. It completely conveys author Bookstaff’s feisty attitude. She’s been through a hellish experience and is still dealing with it, but she’s retained her sense of humor, and that’s admirable.
What I really loved about Bookstaff’s book was that she’s really candid. She talks about how her brain tumor affected her life, her work, her family and while she isn’t bringing us into the bathroom with her, we still get a really good picture of her life, with situations that probably everyone with any kind of disability foes through – friends not knowing how to act, or merely drifting away, having to re-learn to do some of the things most of us don’t even think about, and having to be a support system for her children while needing support herself.
While I enjoyed Bookstaff’s voice in this book, however, there were times when the structure felt a little uneven, as if she’d taken us from point A to point R and then we were backtracking to point C and heading for point W, before getting to the end.
That aside, however, I found this book to be entertaining, educational, and enlightening.
Also, it made me want cranberry juice, with lime.
Goes well with a tall glass of cranberry juice and a slice of lemon pound cake.