Kate’s 2¢: ”The Diary of a Bookseller” by Shaun Bythell

”The Diary of a Bookseller” by Shaun Bythell

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

I mean no offense when I say this is a great ‘bathroom’ book. The short diary entries can be read one at a time or several as you sit on the throne in your private reading room. The entries are entertaining and a good depiction of what a book  seller puts up with every day.

From NLS/ABARD/LOC:

The Diary of a Bookseller DBC16580

Bythell, Shaun. Reading time: 9 hours, 29 minutes.

Read by Tom Speich. A production of Minnesota State Services for the Blind, Communication Center.

Biography of Writers

Literature

A funny and fascinating memoir of a year in the life at the helm of The Bookshop, in the small village of Wigtown, Scotland and of the delightfully odd locals, unusual staff, eccentric customers, and surreal buying trips that make up his life there as he struggles to build his business . . . and be polite. Unrated.

Downloaded: April 12, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “Swag” by Elmore Leonard

“Swag” by Elmore Leonard

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

While Leonard was probably a very nice man, I found his story “Swag” to be racist, sexist, and amoral. The poetic justice of Frank and Ernest getting left holding the bag, doesn’t exonerate them.  I hope Arlene kept some of the money for herself.

From Wikipedia:

Elmore Leonard  (Born October 11, 1925- Died On : August 20, 2013) was an American author, screenwriter, and film producer. He wrote crime and western fiction with titles such as Rum Punch, 3:10 to Yuma, and Get Shorty.

Elmore Leonard was born on October 11, 1925, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He and his family frequently moved during his childhood, thus settling in Detroit, Michigan when he was 9. Leonard was an avid reader, which inspired him to write fiction. Many of his stories were set in and around Detroit.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Swag DB97637

Leonard, Elmore. Reading time: 6 hours, 12 minutes.

Read by Frank Muller.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Ernest Stickley Jr. figures his luck’s about to change when Detroit used-car salesman Frank Ryan catches him trying to boost a ride from Ryan’s lot. Frank’s got some surefire schemes for getting rich quick–all of them involving guns–and all Stickley has to do is follow “Ryan’s Rules” to share the wealth. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 1976.

Downloaded: March 21, 2020

Download Swag

Kate’s 2¢: “Carry The Wind: Titus Bass, Book 4” by Terry C. Johnston

“Carry The Wind: Titus Bass, Book 4” by Terry C. Johnston

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

This was a long story, but I kept with it to the end. I like the longer stories, as you can get to know the characters before the end of the book. I wasn’t real fond of the “potty mouth” language, but, then, I wasn’t ever a mountain man either.

Joe Wilson did an excellent job of reading this long story for NLS. Thank you.

From the web:

Terry C. Johnston (1 January 1947 – 25 March 2001)   (1947-2001) was an American author of western novels. Before he started as an author, Terry travelled around, working various jobs and all the while learning more about the Old West. He is best known for his Titus Bass series, set during the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade, as well as his Plainsmen series.

Johnston was born January 1, 1947 in Arkansas City, KS. Nineteen publishers rejected Johnston’s first novel, Carry the Wind, before it was printed in 1982. However, this first novel was to gain the honor of receiving the Western Writers of America Medicine Pipe Bearer’s Award for best first fiction.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Carry the wind: Titus Bass, Book 4 DB96671

Johnston, Terry C. Reading time: 35 hours, 16 minutes.

Read by Joe Wilson.

Historical Fiction

Western Stories

On the run from his past in St. Louis, Josiah searches for shelter against winter in the Rockies. Chance brings him to an old trapper’s camp. Sequel to Titus Bass, Books 2-3 (DB 96178). Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. 1982.

Kate’s 2¢: “Hill women: finding family and a way forward in the Appalachian Mountains” by Cassie Chambers

“Hill women: finding family and a way forward in the Appalachian Mountains” by Cassie Chambers

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

As I read Chambers’s auto-biography, where she high-lights the strong men and, especially women in her life, I felt like I was reading about the early 1920  and 1930’s, (Perhaps, because I’d read  “The Giver of Stars” by Jojo Moyes.) until I would be brought up straight when Chambers would refer to the 1990’s and 2000’s.

The first two-thirds or so of this book presents a powerful portrait of a young woman very determined to pull herself from mountain poverty into one prestigious school after another in the pursuit of becoming a lawyer to help the people of her root community, but, the last part dissolves into political stumping.

In the end, Chambers grew and changed, but she’ll always remember the hills she came from, especially the strong hill women who helped shaped her, with her Mother at the top of the list.

I like to hear the author reading her own auto-biography. Now I know how to authentically pronounce Appalachian Mountains: appa-latch-in, not appa-lay-chin.

From her website:

After rising from poverty to earn two Ivy League degrees, an Appalachian lawyer pays tribute to the strong “hill women” who raised and inspired her, and whose values have the potential to rejuvenate a struggling region—an uplifting and eye-opening memoir for readers of Hillbilly Elegy and Educated.

Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County is one of the poorest counties in both Kentucky and the country. Buildings are crumbling and fields sit vacant, as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women are finding creative ways to subsist in their hollers in the hills.

Cassie Chambers grew up in these hollers and, through the women who raised her, she traces her own path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Chambers’s Granny was a child bride who rose before dawn every morning to raise seven children. Despite her poverty, she wouldn’t hesitate to give the last bite of pie or vegetables from her garden to a struggling neighbor. Her two daughters took very different paths: strong-willed Ruth—the hardest-working tobacco farmer in the county—stayed on the family farm, while spirited Wilma—the sixth child—became the first in the family to graduate from high school, then moved an hour away for college. Married at nineteen and pregnant with Cassie a few months later, Wilma beat the odds to finish school. She raised her daughter to think she could move mountains, like the ones that kept her safe but also isolated her from the larger world.

Cassie would spend much of her childhood with Granny and Ruth in the hills of Owsley County, both while Wilma was in college and after. With her “hill women” values guiding her, Cassie went on to graduate from Harvard Law. But while the Ivy League gave her knowledge and opportunities, its privileged world felt far from her reality, and she moved back home to help her fellow rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services.

Appalachian women face issues that are all too common: domestic violence, the opioid crisis, a world that seems more divided by the day. But they are also community leaders, keeping their towns together in the face of a system that continually fails them. With nuance and heart, Chambers uses these women’s stories paired with her own journey to break down the myth of the hillbilly and illuminate a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Hill women: finding family and a way forward in the Appalachian Mountains DB97966

Chambers, Cassie. Reading time: 7 hours, 33 minutes.

Read by Cassie Chambers.

Biography

Drawing on her own journey as well as those of her fellow women from the Kentucky Appalachians, the author paints a portrait of life in that region. Discusses child marriage, young motherhood, subsistence farming, education, domestic violence, poverty, the opioid crisis, and community leadership. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Downloaded: April 12, 2020

Download Hill women: finding family and a way forward in the Appalachian Mountains

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The giver of stars DB96907

Moyes, Jojo. Reading time: 13 hours, 54 minutes.

Read by Julia Whelan.

Historical Fiction; Romance

1937. Alice Van Cleve is still trying to adjust to married life and living in Kentucky after being raised in England. When offered the chance to join a group of women to deliver Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, she jumps at it. But they face dangers. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Kate’s 2¢: “The giver of stars” by Jojo Moyes

“The giver of stars” by Jojo Moyes

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

The Pack Horse Library gave Alice a chance to make a difference and what a difference she makes!

The Pack Horse Library Project was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program that delivered books to remote regions in the Appalachian Mountains between 1935 and 1943. Women were very involved in the project which eventually had 30 different libraries serving 100,000 people. Pack horse librarians were known by many different names including “book women,” “book ladies,” and “packsaddle librarians”, as well as, less complimentary names by its distractors.

The project helped employ around 200 people and reached around 100,000 residents in rural Kentucky.

In Paintsville, Kentucky, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) helped pay shipping expenses for the books donated.

I encourage you to research the Pack Horse Library’s history. It is fascinating and “The Giver of Stars” weaves fact and fiction together beautifully. Julia Whelan’ reading of this digital book from BARD was well done. Thank you.

From the web:

Jojo Moyes is a British novelist. Moyes studied at Royal Holloway, University of London. She won a bursary financed by The Independent newspaper to study journalism at City University and subsequently worked for The Independent for 10 years. In 2001 she became a full time novelist.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The giver of stars DB96907

Moyes, Jojo. Reading time: 13 hours, 54 minutes.

Read by Julia Whelan.

Historical Fiction; Romance

Alice Van Cleve is still trying to adjust to married life and living in Kentucky after being raised in England. When offered the chance to join a group of women to deliver Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, she jumps at it. But they face dangers. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Cornucopia: An Abecedarian Odyssey

An Abecedarian Odyssey

By Kate Chamberlin

Andy and his best friend,

Bonnie were strapped into the

Capsule’s ergonomic pilot seats.

Dead ahead their destination was a fly-by an

Extra-terrestrial orb, not knowing what their

Future might be.  Would they return to the

Gravitational pull of earth and

Hug their loved ones?

Instantly, the beeps and dongs of their instruments  .

Jerked their thoughts back to the task at hand.

Knowing scientists had said two blind astronauts, much less children,  would never be able to   complete any mission of

Learning anything during  a fly-by an ET orb.  Andy and Bonnie were about to prove them wrong.

Many times before, children had shown how resilient and creative they could be in this age of   technology.

Numerous electronic gizmos, sensors, and synthesized speech programs had proven dependable   and

Operationally sound to complete any mission.

Perhaps, being used to working in total darkness; to focus on the instruments’ data and not on the   visual

Quirks swirling around the capsule, gave them the

Relative security to focus on the task at hand.

Soon, Andy and Bonnie bumped each other’s fists and breathed a sigh of relief.

Tragedy had been averted and they were on their way to

Unite with the Space Station, before their return to earth.

Vision, in this age of electronics, GPS, remote controls, and synthesized, computer  speech, opens   a whole new World for people with disabilities; from programming

Xylophone symphonies to writing prose and poetry; from driving a car to piloting a space craft.

Youngsters and oldsters can still fulfill  the dream they might dare to dream.

Zeal, persistence, and the Good Lord willing, are all it takes.

©2018 by Kathryn (Kate) Chamberlin

Kate’s 2¢: “The World That We Knew” by Alice Hoffman

“The World That We Knew” by Alice Hoffman

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

Hoffman weaves the lives of two brothers, two young girls, and a mother’s love into the historical facts of Nazi Germany and France. Blended in is a plethora of Jewish lore and mysticism to make a ‘can’t put down’ book.

The ending reminds me of “The Velveteen Rabbit” By Margery Williams (english).

From Encyclopaedia Britannica

Alice Hoffman

AMERICAN AUTHOR

Alice Hoffman, (born March 16, 1952, New York City, New York, U.S.), American novelist whose books about women in search of their identities mix realism and the supernatural.

Hoffman was educated at Adelphi University (B.A., 1973) and Stanford University (M.A., 1975) and began her professional writing career by contributing short stories to magazines. Her first novel, Property Of (1977), which traces the one-year relationship of a suburban girl and a gang leader, is both gritty and romantic. Many of Hoffman’s other novels also deal with complex relationships, such as Angel Landing (1980), a love story set near a nuclear power plant on Long Island, New York; White Horses (1982), which concerns a girl’s struggle to rid herself of incestuous feelings for her elder brother; and Illumination Night (1987), the story of a young couple whose marriage is challenged by a teenage girl. In At Risk (1988) a young girl with AIDS sparks varied reactions from her family and community. Seventh Heaven (1990) concerns an unconventional divorcée in a Long Island suburb in 1959–60, and Turtle Moon (1992) contemplates the status of single mothers. Practical Magic (1995; film 1998) is about two sisters trying to leave behind their family’s tradition of witchcraft, while Here on Earth (1997) depicts a woman unexpectedly coming to terms with her past.

Hoffman continued her prolific career into the 21st century with The River King (2000; film 2004), about the mystery surrounding a small Massachusetts town after a student drowns in the local river. Blackbird House (2004) describes the many generations of families who have lived in the same Cape Cod farmhouse, and The Ice Queen (2005) details how a woman’s life changes for the better after she is struck by lightning. The Third Angel, which weaves together the stories of three women all hopelessly in love with the wrong men, was published in 2008. In The Dovekeepers (2011; TV miniseries 2015), Hoffman imagined the 1st-century Roman siege of the mountaintop fortress of Masada—where some 1,000 Jews had retreated after the fall of Jerusalem—from the perspectives of four women.

In 2014 Hoffman published The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a tale centring on an early 20th-century New York City boardwalk curiosity show. The Marriage of Opposites (2015) imagines the life of painter Camille Pissarro’s mother, a Creole Jew living on the island of St. Thomas who, following the death of her first husband, scandalizes her community by marrying his nephew. The Rules of Magic (2017) is a prequel to Practical Magic. Hoffman’s later books included The World That We Knew (2019), which is set during World War II.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The world that we knew DB97106

Hoffman, Alice. Reading time: 10 hours, 9 minutes.

Read by Judith Light.

Historical Fiction

Berlin, 1941. Hanni Kohn knows the time has come to send her twelve-year-old daughter, Lea, away to save her from the Nazis. The rabbi’s daughter, Ettie, provides hope in the form of a golem, Ava, to protect Lea as she makes her way in the world. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Downloaded: April 18, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “The English Teacher” by Philip Simpson Yiftach Reicher Atir

“The English Teacher” by  Philip Simpson Yiftach Reicher Atir

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

During the self-quarantine during Covid-19, I happened across a 2016 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. It was old enough that I hadn’t remembered much of the articles, enjoying them for a second time. One of the features is recommended books. When the magazine was current, the books wouldn’t have been recorded in an accessible format for me to read, but, four years later, voila!

“The English Teacher” wasn’t available on the NLS/BARD/LOC, however, BookShare had it. Once I nestled in to hearing the synthesized speech along with some of its glitches, I really enjoyed the story.  The narrative arc jumped around from present to past to future in the blink of an eye, a possibly confusing technique employed to give the reader an omniscient pov.  I have no idea who Philip Sompson is.

From the website:

Yiftach Reicher Atir was born in 1949 on Kibbutz Shoval, in the south of Israel. As a young commando officer, he participated in Operation Entebbe and other military and intelligence operations before retirement with the rank of Brigadier General (Intelligence). More about Yiftach Reicher Atir

From BookShare:

The English Teacher: A Novel

By: Philip Simpson Yiftach Reicher Atir

For readers of John Le Carré and viewers of Homeland, a slow-burning psychological spy-thriller by a former brigadier general of intelligence in the Israeli army”Atir provides an astonishing look at Middle Eastern spycraft.”–The Washington Post After attending her father’s funeral, former Mossad agent Rachel Goldschmitt empties her bank account and disappears. But when she makes a cryptic phone call to her former handler, Ehud, the Mossad sends him to track her down. Finding no leads, he must retrace her career as a spy to figure out why she abandoned Mossad before she can do any damage to Israel. But he soon discovers that after living under cover for so long, an agent’s assumed identity and her real one can blur, catching loyalty, love, and truth between them. In the midst of a high-risk, high-stakes investigation, Ehud begins to question whether he ever knew his agent at all. In :The English Teacher”, Yiftach R. Atir drew on his own experience in intelligence to weave a psychologically nuanced thriller that explores the pressures of living under an assumed identity for months at a time.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Copyright:2013

Kate’s 2¢: “Santa Fe 1880: chronicles from the year of the railroad” by Allen R. Steele

“Santa Fe 1880: chronicles from the year of the railroad” by Allen R. Steele

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

As an armchair historian, I enjoyed this story. I suspect a lot of research and fact checking went into preparing the manuscript for publication.

There were many famous and infamous names  in the newspapers during 1880. Among them were Victorio, Billy the Kid with his gang and the lawmen who tracked him, Gov. Wallace, who wrote “Ben Hur”, and the courageous Sisters of Charity.

From his website:

Allen R. Steele grew up in a family of five kids with working parents. As a result he mastered the art of diplomacy and flattery to get what he wanted in life. They all knew he was spoiled and would amount to nothing!

Author. Dr. Allen R. Steele has spent his life in communication media, first at his college radio station and then moving up to international broadcasting networks. He also spent many years as a university professor in Australia and America. More recently, he has immersed himself in the history of the Southwest and has written many books …

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Santa Fe 1880: chronicles from the year of the railroad DBC10271

Steele, Allen R. Reading time: 5 hours, 56 minutes.

Read by Jo Chapman. A production of New Mexico Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, New Mexico State Library.

The West

U.S. History

The sleepy frontier capital of Santa Fe transformed abruptly in 1880. The city, already a vibrant mix of cultures, jolted suddenly into the industrial age when it was inundated with hordes of newcomers from the East. The freshly laid tracks of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway provided easy access to the Wild West and changed the city almost overnight. Author Allen R. Steele recounts these events and more from firsthand accounts of that dynamic year.

Cornucopia: Shelter

Shelter

adapted  Senryū 5, 7, 5)

by Kate Chamberlin

Ants in long, straight lines,

parading back to their hill,

sheltered from danger.

Prairie dogs dashing

underground burrow shelters

deep, warm and cozy.

Big, wooly Bison,

rump to rump in a circle,

shelter from attack.

Clown fish dart quickly

anemone spine shelters,

host none the wiser.

Mama bird comes home

to her four sheltered fledglings,

soon to be full grown.

Your touch makes me smile,

I feel sheltered in your arms,

safe in your embrace.