Lots of Reads This Week
130. Around the World in 80 Dinners by Cheryl & Bill Jamison
It is their twentieth wedding anniversary and the Jamisons decide to celebrate by taking a three-month trip around the world, stopping in places known for their excellent cuisine. The Jamisons make stops in Bali, Australia, Thailand, India, China, South Africa, and Brazil and find great food in every country.
I had to read this book very slowly so that I could think about all the foods the Jamisons ate, foods I had never heard of, foods I had to look up. Surprising there are so many foods in this world that I’ve never heard of, not even in fifty years.
Other than the odd foods, the other strange thing about this book was the way it was told in first person plural. It felt peculiar to hear a story told by two people in first person with off-and-on shifts into third person as one or the other of the Jamisons did something without the other member of the team. A little disconcerting.
But, all in all, a nice little trip around the world…of food.
Philip Marsham signed on to work on a ship. Before he had traveled far, however, pirates on the ship kill the ship’s captain and part of the crew and take the ship over. Philip has no choice but to stay on the ship and help the pirates, as much as he is able, to carry on with their plan to take over other ships. Finally Philip has an opportunity to escape from the ship onto an island, but he cannot survive long there. He finds another ship and has hope to convince the captain of this ship that he was not a willing member of the pirate crew and that he will be allowed to travel on the ship to home.
I saved the worst for last. My final Newbery and what a struggle it was to get through it! This is the story of the history of the world through the ages, written for a young audience. It is said to have been amended and updated and added to, but, if that is so, I can only shudder to think of the awful book that this book was originally. It is, in its present form, chock full of cruel opinions and mean asides about various peoples and their actions through the ages. I had considered keeping this book for my library, but, having read it, I cannot do it.
And now I move on to Newbery Honor books. This was my first and I loved it. The kind of book I want to read again, to share with others. A redemptive book about the amazing power of truth and forgiveness and friendship to make the world a better place.
Based on my previous experience with a Polly Horvath novel, I’d anticipated that this book would be a funny book. Not so, at least not in an uproariously hilarious way. Primrose finds that her parents have been lost at sea, but she never doubts they will return. In the meantime, she is sent to live with a bachelor uncle who wants to transform her town into an economic boom town. The parents do in fact return, against all odds, but most of the other loose ends just seem to drift off.
Sarah and her father travel together to build a new home for their family in early 18th century America. The house is built and it is time for Sarah’s father to collect the rest of the family and bring them to their new home. Sarah must remain near the new home, with a Native American family. It is a good experience for Sarah as she comes to care for the family almost as much as her own, as she sees the commonalities of the Native American family with her own. There is a general feeling of condescension, but that has to be placed in the context of the time in which this book was written. In addition, the experience of discovering the ways the families are alike makes the book worthy of reading despite the book’s flaws.
Tigre’s father is hurt. It is to Tigre that the Mayan family must look to take over the father’s work. Tigre rises to the occasion and successfully helps the family to put in a good corn crop, though a severe drought threatened the family’s crop and their survival.
There was no feeling of judgment in this book, no feeling that the people in the story were savages or ignorant. Instead, the story was told from the point of view of a detached observer. The story holds up.
Tomie DePaola, an accomplished author and illustrator of picture books, told his editor that he would like to try a chapter book. The editor suggested DePaola tell the story of his life. This book is the first of a series DePaola has written about his life. It is light and gentle, told with humor and love.
I knew nothing about yellow fever. I certainly had no idea that yellow fever periodically hit cities and towns along the coast during warm weather every year, killing millions. The epidemic of this book occurs in Philadelphia during the time it served as capitol of the new country of America. I was shocked to learn that it occurs suddenly and kills just as quickly and that we, even today, have no cure.
It would be easy to belittle this book, with its sixties feel and its you-can-do-it attitude and its mystical all-religions-are-one philosophy. It is easy to be cynical in the face of such idealism. Let’s hope Tolle doesn’t disappoint us later with tell-all revelations.
I found much to like in this book, if one can overlook its flaws. Tolle is just a person, not a prophet, for one. I’d like to take the good parts from this book, just like I take from Socrates, not as if he is Moses carrying the Ten Commandments.
And here is what I took away: Ego is killing our world. We must step back and look at the world from a bigger perspective. We must set aside our thoughts of taking everything we can get as what is due to us. We must live in the now, not in the anxiety-filled world of what has already happened or the fear-filled world of what might happen.
140. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
I was told at TLA that Christopher Paul Curtis said this is his favorite book. For a person who loved Bud Not Buddy like me, I couldn’t see how this could be. Having read Elijah, I would say I still like Bud Not Buddy a little more, but this is a worthy sibling.
Elijah is the first child born free in Canada to former American slaves. Buxton is a real town in Canada that was founded by a Presbyterian minister in the 1800’s as a refuge for American slaves and as a place to make a brand new, wonderful start.
This was a novel of great hope and terrible sadness. One of the last big scenes in the book, the scene that takes place in the barn, is a scene of heart-wrenching sadness and yet beautiful hopefulness.
141. The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith
The ninth book in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. The characters are just as lovely as ever. Precious Ramotswe has reached an age where she is a person of great wisdom. She takes action only after careful reflection, and her actions are taken out of love for her people and her country. She is a person I am happy to know, even if it has to all take place within the pages of a book.
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