Life After: A Book Review

Katie Ganshert's Life After is just part of a title. The rest of the title is "...I woke up as the sole survivor of a terrorist train bomb." 

(And look at this pretty picture I took of the appropriately worn library copy against the first-day-of-spring blizzard the northeast was awarded this week?)

There's a lot of heart in this story. Survivor Autumn gets to know the families of the victims  (everyone else on the train) as a way to pay tribute to their memories. She is deeply entrenched in survivor's guilt, and even has some heaped on her by a few families. Others are resilient and see her as a beacon of hope. The entire city of Chicago focuses on her with either hope/faith or anger that she can't or won't be who they expect her to be. One deceased woman's daughter connects with Autumn and, of course, then there's her handsome widowed dad... The story revolves around their intersecting church/work/therapy worlds and the two damaged but tentatively hopeful people forming a relationship.

Story element I could have done without: the "just friends" go to a baseball game. Surely, they won't be put on the big screen Kiss Cam, will they? 

Autumn seems to be true to what I've read about PTSD and survivor's guilt. You definitely see her struggle to even want to "move past" this experience before she can even consider trying to actually do so. She wanders in cemeteries and compulsively clips newspaper articles. She reads about the people online and starts a video tribute for them. Reality shows up when not everything is good and peachy and wonderful. They were real people, with issues.

I had hoped this book would be more about Autumn's recovery as a person and in her relationship with God--and less about her finding romance. (I found this novel researching comps for the novel I finished last year, which focuses on the God-protagonist relationship recovery after a tragedy.) But that's not the book this author chose to write, and I enjoyed it very much. He's FAR more than handsome; she's FAR more than wounded. A giant leap-and-a-half above many Christian romances I've read.

Recommend. 

Deep Water: A book review

A book about a patent lawyer shouldn't be this interesting.

I stumbled onto this series while looking for books with a hearty story that don't go light on the science. Of all things, this book is written by a PhD in Art History. 

The story is about a clinical trial for a drug to "cure obesity" -- and there's extensive descriptions of labs, lab procedure, and a lab book which ultimately ends up factoring into the story very heavily. 

There's a lot of human drama, too -- somebody's dead ex-wife may or may not have been involved in the patent case -- and somebody's young child may or may not be suffering from a rare genetic condition impacted by the drug trial's failure.

Girl Power Highlights: Written by a woman, scientists are women (but not because they are Bond's Christmas Jones--kill me now--or some similar caricature). Drama between women isn't about dudes, so a nice passing of the Bechdel test.

The final scene was the best in the book. A lot of things pulling together into a scary, fiery, watery, stormy action sequence, touched by sacrificial family love.

The Time Keeper: Book Review

I finally read a Mitch Albom book! I know, I should read Tuesdays with Morrie because it probably changed your life. 

I found this one by accident, looking up books with interesting or unique views of time. The Time Keeper has that, for sure.

The book is about Father Time (whose name is Dor), but not in a cheesy cartoonish way. In fact, he takes several opportunities to be sure you know that all the cheesy cartoons are BASED on Dor's real life experiences.

The descriptions of this book are super misleading, saying that God punished this man for trying to number his moments. It's the same way people say God punished Jonah by making him spend three days in the whale. What would have happened to Jonah WITHOUT the whale? He would have drowned. Same thing here... what they are calling God's 'punishment' is a lesson-learning opportunity brought about by human failing that book-God seized to teach the character something.

I liked it. Mitch's words are so sparse. The book is a fast read, mostly because there's a lot of blank space. I mean that as high praise; what I would use a thousand words to almost describe, he uses 16 to nail perfectly. He's very gifted.

There are two stories woven in with Dor's -- a younger high school girl and a man about to die. The author has a depressing view of where humanity is heading in the future scenes, but not one that I hold against him. The story's "moral" if you will (which the reader watches all three main characters learn) is to cherish each moment. 

Sad, but not in a depressing way.  Bittersweet, possibly. You mostly know where the story is going from the first chapter, but that doesn't mean you won't want to keep reading. This story isn't a boring hike to a beautiful view; it's a beautiful hike that just goes in a circle. 

coming soon to a garden near you (if you live near me)

I'm so excited for my garden to come back to life! The daffodils are already starting to Frankenstein their way up through the hard-packed mulch. The only green, dull and drab though it is, that remains in my garden year-round is from yucca, Moonshadow Euonymus, a particularly stubborn rhododendron, and myrtle.  Other than those few puffs, the grass and a topiary evergreen tree stand alone against the white, brown, and grey of winter garden,

I just ordered several flowers for this upcoming season...

• Blue Delphinium (larkspur)
• Ranunculus
• Nova Needle Asters
• Appleblossom Snapdragons

Photos are from EdenBrothers.com, where I order my bulbs and seeds.

Last year, I added a few new flower types to my landscape, including an orange hibiscus that my boys picked for Mother's Day, these purple allium that make me feel like I'm a Seuss character, some multi-colored tulips (clearance bulbs!), and a Japanese anemone from my aunt (that one is not my photo).

And because I'm just like this and into flowers, here are my favorites from years past, the first three photographed by a friend. These are two thumbelina zinnias (which turned out to be ENORMOUS--4 feet at least, not the 12-18" I'd hoped), various daylilies, and pink columbine.

The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
    is heard in our land.

Song of Solomon 2:12

no parent left behind

We did a seminar at church today, and I find it helps me remember to re-hash the information in writing. (Typing is writing, right?) So here are my jumbled-up notes from a really informative and well-read speaker, Dr. Walt Mueller from CPYU. 

Technology

• As a parent, you can engage with media to be aware instead of engaging for it to guide you

• Learn Dual Listening – between the Word and the world – how to discern which of Christ’s riches are need most and how to present them in their best light

• Mental health needs in kids are on the rise due in part to the extreme dependence on devices: isolation, depression, anxiety, lack of ability to communicate

Authority and Morality

• Our culture's "no authority" leads to "no respect" which leads to "no morality"

• Relationships will always be louder than culture.

• Age aspiration, age compression, and age extension: beyond the stewardship of your body, but a hyper focus on it, turning to idolatry

• Interesting fact: Adult brain activity occurs in the front (reasoning and planning) while adolescent thinking occurs in the center (pleasure and rewards)

• Today's culture is expressive individualism – I am the highest authority. “Follow your heart.”

Influence

• Control in young kids... influence in older kids

• The biggest lie Satan speaks to us and to our kids is... “Did God really say…?"

• Look for other trusted adults who will speak the same truths to your children.

• Setting your own heart right

• Presenting a testimony instead of just instructing (this is what the Lord has done for me...)

i found the next thing you should read

My sister-in-law gave me a simple-looking book: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. You should read it.

**Note: I don't normally like to "gender" stereotype books, but it's definitely women's fiction. Sorry. There's a (hilarious) bikini-waxing scene in addition to many other bits that I don't think men would like or understand. **

How can a book make me laugh SO HARD and also be about the growing-up experience of a woman who was severely traumatized as a child? How can a book have SUCH recondite vocabulary and still be accessible? How can I get that awful oh-please-no-i-know-what's-coming-next awkwardness where you're DYING with secondary embarrassment for a character and somehow still endear her to you?

You should read this book. Lots of language and some tough issues, but entirely worth it. This would be a great book club read. SO MUCH to discuss. SO MANY characters to love and hate and gossip about.

Did you like the movie White Oleander?  This book has elements of that... how women treat women, how mothers and daughters relate, how foster care can impact a child...

Did you like Sherlock's last episode? (Of course you did, because you are brilliant!) Someone reminded me of Euros, too, in a weird way. Long-gone memories and unclear motivations. Sadness. So so much sadness, but told in a redeeming way.

I think the reason the book is so fascinating is its EXTREME everyday-ness juxtaposed against the extraordinary life story it is revealing.  There is a huge element of mystery playing beneath the surface, and it is a treat to learn -- alongside Eleanor -- what is coming and what has already happened. 

There is a TON of social awkwardness, easily on pay with Dwight & Michael, yet all believable. No one shoots the ceiling or fakes a fire. Just a person navigating social conventions that are completely beyond her grasp. And frankly, she offers Seinfeld-level "did you ever notice" hilarious commentary on a LOT of it.

One of my favorite passages:

"I'd made my legs black and my hair blonde. I'd lengthened and darkened my lashes, dusted a flush of pink onto my cheeks and painted my lips a shade of dark red which was rarely found in nature. I should, by rights, look less like a human woman than I'd ever done, and yet it seemed that this was the most acceptable, the most appropriate appearance that I'd ever made to the world. It was puzzling."

I love how she's pointing out that only by changing herself to someone else's standard does she feel like a woman -- when she is already one to begin with! What an ODDITY, but such a TRUTH.

I also have to give a shout-out professionally to these hilarious tid-bit about the clients of her graphic design firm (where she is a financial professional):

I read this in a day and a half (granted the full day was a snow day for my kids). But still. very fast-paced for 325 pages.