Never Let Me Go
I keep thinking about this river somewhere, with the water moving really fast. And these two people in the water, trying to hold onto each other, holding on as hard as they can, but in the end it’s just too much. The current’s too strong. They’ve got to let go, drift apart.
Never Let Me Go was written by Kazuo Ishiguro, the prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day. Nominated for several awards (Booker Prize, Arthur C. Clarke Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award), Never Let Me Go is the story of three children – Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy – who were students at a prestigious and very exclusive boarding school in the English countryside called Hailsham. Read more 
Brain on Fire
She’s still in there. I can see her. She’s still there. I know it.
Brain On Fire – My Month of Madness – by Susannah Cahalan is an award-winning memoir (2012) about the author’s struggle with illness and her journey back to health. In February of 2009, 24-year old Susannah Cahalan is living in a studio apartment in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City, working as a reporter for The New York Post newspaper and in love with her boyfriend, a man named Stephen. Read more
Whole Grain Vegan Baking
The average adult only eats 15 grams of fiber per day. Women need 25 grams of fiber per day, and men need 38 grams of fiber per day. ~Institute of Medicine, National Institute of Health
Fiber is one of those things that most people under the age of 60 don’t want to talk about because fiber helps move food through the digestive system and youngish people tend to avoid any discussion about indoor plumbing. But, because so much of the food we consume is refined and processed, we need to talk about this issue because most of us are not consuming enough fiber on a daily basis. Read more
Everybody’s Fool
I’m so tired of being everybody’s fool.
Twenty-three years ago, a wonderful book entitled Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo was published. Set in upstate New York in a small town called North Bath (thinly veiled and thought to be Schuylerville) adjacent to Schuyler Springs (again, thinly veiled and thought to be Saratoga Springs), the story revolved around Donald “Sully” Sullivan – a middle-aged, stubborn and cantankerous man who chose to be faithful only to his nature – independent and undependable – and yet Sully was a good guy. At the end of each day, his destination of choice was a bar stool in the local watering hole where he gave as good as he got. Although Sully was a neglectful husband and father, he had an abundance of charm and wit which endeared him to many, especially readers. Read more
The Good Lord Bird
It weren’t slavery that made me want to be free. It was my heart.
If the cover of The Good Lord Bird did not disclose the author to be James McBride, the reader would think that Mark Twain was the genius behind this novel. Winner of the National Book Award (2013), The Good Lord Bird is the story of the years leading up to the historic raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 from the perspective of a young boy named Henry Shackleford, who is known throughout the book as Henrietta when he is mistaken as a girl and decides to play the part to save his hide. Read more
Elie Wiesel, Night, and July 4th
Three years ago, I posted a book review of Elie Wiesel’s Night – the story of his family and how the teenage Wiesel survived the Holocaust during World War II. On this July 4th as we celebrate independence and the passing of 87-year old Wiesel just a few days ago, it seems only fitting that we honor a man who spoke out against violence, racism, and repression, told us why we need to stand up to injustices, and how important it is to listen to those with the courage to speak out. With that in mind, the post of Night – one of Wiesel’s most important works – is reprinted below: Read more
Bright Shards of Someplace Else
Twenty years ago, George Dawes Green wrote a book entitled The Juror about a young mother (Annie) chosen for jury duty for a high-profile murder trial of an organized crime mob boss. The story is filled with suspense and tension with the creepiest, most memorable part involving Annie’s best friend, Juliet – a strong, tough, and protective character – the type of person we all want watching our back. Read more
Florence Gordon
It was a joy to be alone. It was fun to play the social role, it was fun to play the old lion at Town Hall, but it was far, far better to be alone again.
Florence Gordon is a 75-year old feminist writer living in New York City when her family descends upon her quiet orderly life. Her son, Daniel and his wife, Janine along with their 19-year old daughter, Emily are visiting for a few months while Janine completes a fellowship at Columbia University. Nestled into a sublet close to Florence on the Upper West Side, Daniel (a Seattle police officer) and Janine (a psychologist) along with Emily, a college sophomore who has taken a semester off from Oberlin College embark upon a journey where the words spoken between them are as important as what’s not said. Read more
“The Bridge of Sighs”
In youth we believe what the young believe, that life is all choice….To see a life back to front, as everyone begins to do in middle age, is to strip it of its mystery and wrap it in inevitability, drama’s enemy.
Richard Russo, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls wrote the Bridge of Sighs nearly a decade ago although the book is timeless in the classic Russo style of writing about life in a small town in upstate New York. A 640-page novel divided into 24 chapters (of which 23 are named), the Bridge of Sighs is primarily the story of Louis C. Lynch (also known as Lucy), a 60-year old business owner who has lived his whole life in Thomaston, New York – a small industrial town described as a trifecta of “stupidity, ignorance, and violence” and not unlike the real Johnston or Gloversville in New York which were known for their tanneries and glove making industries. Read more
The Light Between Oceans
The oceans never stop. They know no beginning or end. The wind never finishes. Sometimes it disappears, but only to gather momentum from somewhere else, returning to fling itself at the island, to make a point….
Using the two oceans – the Indian Ocean and the Great Southern Ocean – as a metaphor for two families whose lives blend and collide, M.L. Stedman tells the story of the Sherbourne’s and the Roennfeldt’s in a book entitled The Light Between Oceans.
Published in 2012, the 340 page novel is divided into three parts (Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3 ) and 37 chapters. A New York Times bestseller, The Light Between Oceans is also being made into a film that will be released in September, 2016. Read more
Paddock Post 