The Paranormal Ranger by Stanley Milford Jr.

 "As interesting as the paranormal may be, sometimes there is simply a logical explanation for the phenomena that people encounter. My job as a Navajo Ranger--even as The Paranormal Ranger--wasn't to prove that the paranormal was out there. It was simply to investigate the cases that came my way and do my best to find the truth. ... I truly did try to be like Sherlock Holmes when I investigated these cases, taking nothing for granted and doing my best to solve the puzzle. It was just as satisfying when that puzzle turned out to have a mundane cause as a paranormal one. The important thing was finding the truth."

"While, as an investigator, I would prefer to always have evidence and answers, my experiences with the paranormal have taught me to coexist with mystery when I must." 

This was my nonfiction book for the month of October, and it was an interesting one. Stanley Milford is part Cherokee, Part Irish, and half Navajo. Growing up, he spent every summer in the Navajo Nation with his father and grandparents learning the stories, traditions and beliefs of the Navajo. When he grew up, he became a Navajo Ranger, a law enforcement branch that patrols the vast, remote  regions of the Navajo Nation protecting ruin sites and archaeological artifacts, dealing with fish, game and livestock, and enforcing the laws. But his job also came to include investigating paranormal activity such as Bigfoot and UFO sightings, Skinwalkers, witch curses, and even ghostly hauntings. It was a fascinating look at his many strange encounters over the years as a Navajo Ranger. I enjoyed the way he writes and really appreciated his outlook on life. 

"For me, paranormal investigation is less about what's Out There than what's right here in front of us:  a chance to connect with and help one another and to do our very best to make our world a better, kinder place than it was the day before."

Happy Reading!

 

 

The Cave by Amani Ballour, M.D.

 "I know what happened because I lived it. I survived it. This is my story which I am telling for history's sake. I will not live forever, but these testimonies, these truths, should.... I will always speak out rather than remain silent. When it comes to illuminating the suffering in Syria, I believe I must speak for the ones who were silenced. I also believe we must tell the truth for history's sake--to let the world know, including the criminals who harmed us, that we are still here. That we have not forgotten what they did to us, or our cause, and that we will fight for freedom until one day we get it." 

 

Amani Ballour grew up in Kafr Batna, a smaller, more rural community in Eastern Ghouta, Syria. The fifth child (and youngest daughter) in a family of eight children, she attended medical school in Damascus in 2006, focusing on becoming a pediatrician. Then the Syrian revolution began in 2011 and life changed for Amani, her family, her community, and the thousands of Syrians who dared to stand up against the brutal Assad regime and demand their basic human rights and freedoms. Amani ended up returning home and going to work in an underground hospital dubbed The Cave, where they treated anyone who needed help, even though they had little equipment, money, or medications.

This is her story. It is also the story of Syria. And of all those killed by Assad just because they longed for democracy and liberty. It's gut-wrenching and heartbreaking...and one of those must read books. The international community may have ignored the dreadful things that happened in Eastern Ghouta-- starvation, shelling, children dying, bombings, Sarin gas attacks, disappearances, arrests, torture, threats, fear, and brutal crackdowns--but we shouldn't.

Yes, this book can be hard to read at times. But this is such an important book!  Amani's story and determination and strength will inspire you. And her sorrows and heartbreaks will make you cry. 

Here's just a taste of her words:

• "I thought the International community would surely do something to stop our misery, that it wouldn't just let Assad kill and punish people for protesting. And I couldn't imagine that starvation would be used as a tactic in the 21st century."
• "I learned through experience that the human capacity to endure hardship is vast; we are capable of extraordinary resilience."
• "I fear for my family and friends in Syria, for my beloved countrymen and -women, and always for the children. But I am not hopeless. I know that human beings are capable of changing history. I believe in the ability of people in democracies to change government policies and to help others elsewhere through humanitarian gestures if their governments won't. We can all do our part. My colleagues and I in The Cave never faltered or wondered. What difference can one person make? Every helping hand is precious. Individual efforts can snowball into group efforts. And group efforts can change the world."

My rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Happy Reading!

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie

 "I would answer violence with art."

"At a quarter to eleven on August 12, 2022, on a sunny Friday morning in upstate New York, I was attacked and almost killed by a young man with a knife just after I came out on stage at the amphitheater in Chautauqua to talk about the importance of keeping writers safe from harm. ... On that beautiful morning in that attractive setting, violence came running at me and my reality fell apart."

In just 27 seconds, Salman Rushdie was stabbed 15 times in the face, neck and chest; the tendons in his left hand were severed, and he was blinded in his right eye. Miraculously, he survived. This book is his musings on that day, and on his recovery, his love for his wife, sons, and friends, the importance of free speech, writing as art, and on his getting a second chance at life. It's quietly thoughtful, emotional, and smart. Rushdie has such a gift with words. And his writing is always literary and meaningful. This short memoir is no exception. I'm really glad I chose it for my nonfiction read this month. 

"Language, too, was a knife. It could cut open the world and reveal its meaning, its inner workings, its secrets, its truths. It could cut through from one reality to another. It could call bullshit, open people's eyes, create beauty. Language was my knife."

Happy Reading!

Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond

     This Fonz was supposed to be a knockabout guy, a man of few words, rough around the edges. Confident. A guy who could make things happen with a snap of his fingers. If this wasn't the diametric opposite of who I was in the fall of 1973, it was pretty close. I was twenty-seven years old, a short Jew from New York City with a unibrow and hair down to my shoulders, confident about next to nothing in my life.

    The one exception was when I was acting.

    When I was on stage, playing someone else, I was transported to another world, one where pretending made you successful. What I was miserable at was being myself. 

My thoughts:  I was too little to watch Happy Days when it first aired, but when it went into reruns I watched it for one reason: The Fonz. He was always my favorite character. Which made Henry Winkler one of my favorite actors. And his memoir is full of humorous candor and charm.  He tells about his foibles and flaws, his struggles with anxiety, and his severe dyslexia and how he nearly flunked out of high school because of it. He talks about getting into Yale's School of Drama and his love of acting onstage with an ensemble. And how he made the leap from New York to California and landed the role of the Fonz on only his second audition in L.A. A role that changed his life.

I had fun reading about Henry's life and his love not only for acting, but for his wife and kids, his friends, his dogs...and fly-fishing. I related to his fears and insecurities. And I loved his honesty and humor. This memoir is conversational, personable, and as entertaining as Henry Winkler himself. 

Favorite quote:  "...you really don't know what you can accomplish until you try. All you have to do is try. And you will amaze yourself. So simple. But so crucial. And so true."

Happy Reading!

The Next Everest by Jim Davidson

 

First line:  We climbed the deadliest section of Everest at night.

From the blurb:

 "On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in eighty-one years and killed about 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with eighteen people losing their lives on the mountain.

"After spending two unsettling days stranded on Everest, Davidson's team was rescued by helicopter. The experience left him shaken, and despite his thirty-three years of climbing and serving as an expedition leader, he wasn't sure that he would ever go back. But in the face of risk and uncertainty, he returned in 2017 and finally achieved his dream of reaching the summit."

My thoughts:  I read Jim Davidson's previous climbing memoir, The Ledge, several years ago and have never forgotten it. It's a gut-wrenching and emotionally powerful read. His chronicle of climbing Mt. Everest is equally compelling. I love reading these kinds of books. And this one is richly detailed and descriptive, and honest, too. Davidson weaves in moments from his past that taught him valuable lessons that helped him on this difficult adventure. He writes about the importance of patience and persistence, hard work, inner resilience, dealing with grief and loss, choosing confidence over fear, and "focusing on the climb, not the drop". I highly recommend it. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

The Unlikely Thru-Hiker by Derick Lugo

 

About the author:  "Derick Lugo had never hiked or camped a day in his life. This Brooklyn-born, New York city urbanite hopped a train to Georgia, grabbed a taxi at the station, and told the driver to drop him off at the beginning of the Appalachian Trail. Then he did as he has always done--put one foot in front of the other and never looked back."

My thoughts:  You already know how much I love reading about other people's journeys hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, and Lugo's is one of the better ones. He's a gifted storyteller, and this memoir is full of humor, adventure, and some profound and uplifting advice...not just about hiking the AT, but about living life. I loved it.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Favorite quotes from the book:

"I'm not going to fall into a mindset of maybe I'll make it. I already have enough going against me, starting with how clueless I am about the trail. Positive thoughts are my biggest asset out here in the unknown."

"This journey will go better if I don't dread and curse the things I cannot control."

"Change can be frightening at times, but out here it's our way of life. When I stepped onto the AT, I sought change. I wanted to move away from a static existence. Suitably, the end of one thing opens the way for something wondrous. I see not the end but a new start."

"Hike your own Hike."

Happy Reading!

 

 

 

Mud, Rocks, Blazes by Heather "Anish" Anderson

 "I would attempt to hike the 2,189-mile-long Appalachian Trail faster than anyone else had. I would do it alone and not to prove anything to anyone this time except myself. ... There was something  I needed to learn out there on the rocky, rooty, trail."

This was the perfect book for my first nonfiction read of 2024. I've always wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail--not to try and set any kind or record, but just to see if I could do it. That kind of wilderness adventure has always appealed to me. Though it's something I probably should have attempted in my 20s. (I doubt my knees could take it now.) But I still love reading books about people who do achieve their AT dream. And this well-written memoir gives you a real taste of hiking the AT, as well as some great words of wisdom. (Anderson has also hiked the Pacific Coast Trail with the fastest known time and written a book about that adventure, too.) Here are some of my favorite quotes from this excellent memoir: 

"I had to always remind myself that everything that happened along the way was out of my control, that I could only change my reactions, and dedicate myself to putting one foot in front of the other, even when I wanted to stop."

"Pain and hardship are integral to any thru-hike, as they are to life in general. It is suffering that is a mindset. ...I decided in that moment--even if it was going to take a thousand conscious choices every day--that I would choose not to suffer. There would be no drudgery on my hike. I would move forward with passion for adventure. Just as I always had." 

"I smiled at the changes in myself. I'd learned courage. And from that courage had come confidence. And from that confidence had grown acceptance of all circumstances."

Happy Reading!

A few of my other favorite Appalachian Trail reads:

A Woman's Journey on the Appalachian Trail by Cindy Ross

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Becoming Odyssa by Jennifer Pharr Davis

A Journey North by Adrienne Hall

And if you know of any other books about hiking the Appalachian Trail that you think I'd like, please let me know!  😎

 

 

The Hard Parts by Oksana Masters

 

From the blurb:

"Oksana Masters was born in Ukraine—in the shadow of Chernobyl—seemingly with the world against her. She was born with one kidney, a partial stomach, six toes on each foot, webbed fingers, no right bicep, and no thumbs. Her left leg was six inches shorter than her right, and she was missing both tibias.

"Relinquished to the orphanage system by birth parents daunted by the staggering cost of what would be their child’s medical care, Oksana encountered numerous abuses, some horrifying. Salvation came at age seven when Gay Masters waged a two-year war against stubborn adoption authorities to rescue Oksana from her circumstances.

"In America, Oksana endured years of operations that included a double leg amputation. Determined to prove herself and fueled by a drive to succeed that still smoldered from childhood, Oksana triumphed in not just one sport but four—winning against the world’s best in elite rowing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, and road cycling competitions. Now considered one of the world’s top athletes, she is the recipient of seventeen Paralympic medals, the most of any US athlete of the Winter Games, Paralympic or Olympic.

"This is Oksana’s astonishing story of journeying through a series of dark tunnels—and how, with her mother’s love, she finally found her way into the light. Her message to anyone who doesn’t fit in: you can find a place where you excel—where you have worth."

My thoughts: 

Wow! This is one of the best books I've read this year. Oksana's story is both riveting and moving. I cried for her because of all the hard things she had to endure, and I cheered all of her breakthroughs and successes. She has such tenacity and grit and determination; I really admire her fire to win and her never-give-up attitude. 

"Ugly things happened to me. They. Are. Not. Me. No matter how ugly I feel, how much I hate my body, how much I hate my memories, I'm still worthy of love. Of a good life. This is what I wish everyone who's experienced physical or emotional  trauma could grasp: You are not the product of where you came from. You are not what happened to you...there's beauty in you."

 This amazing and emotional book is truly a memoir of courage and triumph! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Swan Dive: the Making of a Rogue Ballerina

 

Georgina Pazcoguin joined the New York city Ballet when she was just seventeen. In 2013, after dancing ten years in the Corps de Ballet, she was promoted, and became NYCB's first Asian American female soloist. Her candid memoir is a revealing look into the competitive (even cutthroat), demanding, sexist, and sometimes toxic culture that exists at the NYCB. What else comes through is her fierce love of ballet. In her twenty years as a professional ballerina, she's had some exhilarating highs and some devastating lows. She's persevered through it all. And she shares her struggles and her joy with refreshing frankness, honesty, and humor. 

I've always loved reading about anything that has to do with ballet, and this book is a very engaging memoir! It's interesting and eye-opening, and it gave me an even greater appreciation for the years and years of dedication and effort, and all the hard work that these dancers put forth in hopes of becoming a professional ballerina. This book is a 5-star read!

Happy Reading!

The Perfect Predator...

...A scientist's race to save her husband from a deadly superbug. 

From the blurb:  Epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee and her husband, psychologist Tom Patterson, were vacationing in Egypt when Tom came down with a stomach bug. What at first seemed like a case of food poisoning quickly turned critical, and by the time Tom had been transferred via emergency medevac to the world-class medical center at UC San Diego, where both he and Steffanie worked, blood work revealed why modern medicine was failing: Tom was fighting one of the most dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the world.

My thoughts:  This memoir reads like a medical thriller! I got so caught up in Strathdee's and her husband's story I didn't want to put this book down. It's scary to think that something as small as a bacteria can be so deadly. Did you know that more than 150,000 people die of a superbug infection in the United States each year? And apparently there are at least a dozen different strains of bacteria that have now evolved into these kinds of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. I learned a lot reading this book. And I found Strathdee's quest to find a treatment for her husband completely compelling. She writes so well; even the way she describes the science of it all is readable and easy to understand. This is a fascinating book. I loved it enough to give it 5 stars.

Happy Reading!

Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

 The beginning:

"Having been born a freeman, and for more than thirty years enjoyed the blessings of liberty in a free State--and having at the end of that time been kidnapped and sold into Slavery, where I remained, until happily rescued in the month of January, 1853, after a bondage of twelve years--it has been suggested that an account of my life and fortunes would not be uninteresting to the public."

 The middle:

"Oh, how heavily the weight of slavery pressed upon me then. I must toil day after day, endure abuse and taunts and scoffs, sleep on the hard ground, live on the coarsest fare, and not only this, but live the slave of a blood-seeking wretch, of whom I must stand henceforth in continued fear and dread....I sighed for liberty; but the bondsman's chain was round me, and could not be shaken off. I could only gaze wistfully towards the North, and think of the thousands of miles that stretched between me and the soil of freedom, over which a black freeman may not pass."

The end:

"I looked in the direction indicated, and as my eyes rested on his countenance, a world of images thronged my brain .... all the friends of other and happier days, appeared and disappeared .... until at last the perfect memory of the man recurred to me, and throwing up my hands toward Heaven, I exclaimed, "Henry B. Northup! Thank God--thank God!" In an instant I comprehended the nature of his business, and felt that the hour of my deliverance was at hand."

Solomon Northup's eloquent and moving narrative of his life speaks for itself. His story is powerful, haunting, and unforgettable. I've never see the movie version of his life, but I'm so glad I read this book. It counts as my Nonfiction Classic for Karen's Back to the Classics Reading Challenge.

Happy Reading!

Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas

 "Behind a vandweller's decision to move into what is often a cramped, smelly, heatless, air-conditioning less vehicle--there is always a story....a vandweller doesn't become a vandweller simply by purchasing a van. Rather, some personal change or transformation must first occur. The answer to the question about why I lived in a van is this book, which means that the following story isn't so much about a van but about student debt, and wilderness, and all the people and places and journeys that have made me the person I am today...."

 

How would I describe this memoir? It's honest, humorous, enlightening and entertaining. And it's about more than Ken Ilgunas trying to get out of debt or live in a van; it's a chronicle of his own journey to personal freedom and a better, more satisfying life. And I enjoyed every page of it. He meets a lot of interesting people and has many memorable moments in his quest to become debt free. I loved his Alaskan adventures and his experiences hitchhiking across America on his way back home. And all the living-in-a-van parts are especially funny. This is a great book. Here's just one of the quotes from it that I loved:

"Sometimes it's not until you see your shackles that you see your dreams. The soul must first be caged before it can be set free. For all the trouble it had put me through, I had the debt to thank for that. Still though, now that I was out of debt, I couldn't stop dreaming about what I could finally do. This sense of hope and anticipation that I felt made living a delight. This was freedom, I thought. Freedom didn't have to be about tramping around or having adventures:  freedom was simply being able to entertain the prospect of changing your circumstances."

Happy Reading!

 

A bookish book...

 

My Live With Bob:  Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul

For twenty-eight years Paul has kept track of the books she's read in a notebook she named Bob. Those books track the different stages of her life from high school and college, to living abroad, different jobs, marriage, divorce, children. All of it. Books and reading helped shape her life; in turn, her life experiences influenced the books she chose to read. As a lifelong reader myself, I related.

I laughed when she wrote: "There was a shiftiness to kids who secreted themselves in a corner to read instead of what they should have been doing.... I did everything I could to read my way out of doing anything else. It was the one thing I was good at."

And I nodded my head in agreement when she said:  "...lending a book to an unreliable reader inevitably leads to regret. It is lovely to share books, but they need to come home. I have known people to maintain years-long grudges over unreturned books. Who can blame them?" (I admit, I still remember the name of the girl who borrowed my copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes in high school and never returned it; and I still haven't quite forgiven my uncle who lost one of the books he borrowed from me...mostly because he was so unapologetic about it.)

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. But then I do tend to like reading books about books and reading. Paul's a likable person, and her musings on reading made me smile. And I agreed with many of her sentiments, though not all of them. Some of the chapters were less interesting to me than others, but that's typical in any biography. And while this one won't make my favorites list at the end of the year, it's a solid 3-star read. Now I'm off to choose my next book. Because as Paul writes, "There (are) lots of books needing to be read."

Happy Reading!

 

Lost Among the Birds by Neil Hayward

 "Nutting's Flycatchers can be elusive, hiding in dense foliage and waiting for insects to fly by before darting out in pursuit. I waited patiently as the calls got louder and closer. Wheep! Wheep! I was using my ears to triangulate the call, while my eyes were poised for any movement...And that's when it popped out, a brown missile flying to the edge of the road. It sat there on a bare mesquite branch, tilting its head, surveying me as if it had never seen a Neil Hayward before and needed one for its life list."

When 2013 begins, Neil Hayward finds himself at a crossroads in his life. Having quit his job in 2012, he still has no idea what he wants to do next. He's turning 40 at the end of the year. He's in a new relationship that's going a little too fast, but that he doesn't want to end. He's struggling with depression. And he fears that the best parts of his life are in the past.

To escape, he goes birding. Because birding is the one thing that always brings him peace and makes him feel better. At first, it's just for one trip to Arizona. Then he goes to Texas. And Florida. And Alaska. Then, without really planning it, he finds himself in the middle of doing a Big Year...and on track to join that elusive club of birders who manage to see over 700 different species of birds in just one year. In the end, he sets a new birding record: 749.

"It's difficult for non-birders to understand the rush of adrenaline and love that you feel when you see a bird you've dreamed about. It's like planning a trip to India. No amount of poring over the guidebooks can quite prepare you for the moment when you walk through the large brass doors in the Southern gateway and behold the bone-white marble of the Taj Mahal...That serenity and sense of timelessness is what seeing a Connecticut Warbler feels like to me."

 I loved this book! Probably because I love birding, too. I am nowhere on the same level as Neil Hayward, but I do know the wonder and joy of seeing a new bird for the first time. This book was such an enjoyable read. Hayward's well-written narrative is conversational, insightful, and humorous. And it's not just about the birds and his travels across America; he also deals with his depression and his relationship with his girlfriend. I found it to be both honest and heartwarming. For me, this was a 5-star read.

Happy Reading!

Other excellent birding books:

The Big Year by Mark Obmascik

Red Tails in Love by Marie Winn

The Twenty-ninth Day by Alex Messenger

 "...this was the beginning of something life-changing for my fellow paddlers and me--this was Hommes du Nord, forty-two days of canoeing Canada's wild rivers and lakes."

 Alex Messenger was 17 in the summer of 2005 when he set off with five friends on a 600-mile trip across Nunavut in the Canadian sub-artic. And for the first twenty-eight days all went well. They successfully navigated the white water rapids strung along the Dubawnt River and happily camped in the taiga. And Alex tried to appreciate each moment along the way.

"The purpose of a journey is to experience those things that can't be explained and to forge the memories that will never be forgotten, the ones that change you forever."

Then, on the twenty-ninth day, while traversing a ridge alone, he encounters his worst nightmare. A grizzly bear. Somehow, Alex survives the bear's attack. But he and his friends are still miles from nowhere, and with his injuries, getting home just got a lot harder.

"One of the ways an expedition tests your mettle is that it's up to you and the group to solve any problems. If you wait for help to suddenly appear, your odds are not good." 

This is such a compelling biography! I loved Alex's lyrical descriptions of their canoe trip, and the river, the islands where they camped and the Inuit ruins they find along the way. And his recount of the bear attack itself is pretty chilling. He's so honest. About everything. I could not put this book down. If you love memoirs about outdoor adventure and survival, I highly recommend this one.

Happy Reading!

 

Last the best!

I read several good nonfiction books this year:  It's All A Game: The History of Board Games From Monopoly to Settlers of Catan, Obsessive Genius (about Marie Curie), 1776, Educated, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, and The Lost City of the Monkey God. But The Operator by Robert O'Neill is by far the best.

It's a fascinating chronicle, not just of O'Neill's personal journey from Butte, Montana to being a key member of the SEAL team that found and killed Osama bin Laden, but of the Navy SEALS themselves. No wonder these men are so remarkable: their training, teamwork, and "never quit" attitudes are unmatched. They're the ones called in to do the things no one else can do. And after reading this book, I respect them and their valor, unflinching sacrifices, and mad skills even more.

"I would learn that in a gunfight the combination of adrenaline, muscle memory, and super-human focus leaves no psychic space for fear. I wasn't shutting it out. There was just no room for it."

O'Neill himself enlisted in the Navy in 1995, became a SEAL in 1996, and participated in more than 400 combat missions between then and 2012, including the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates and firing the shots that killed bin Laden. But he'd probably tell you he's no hero; he was just doing his job--being a Navy SEAL.

"...we were always joking around and high spirited. We were on a mission we believed in, doing something very few in the world could do as well as we could. And we had absolute faith in and love for everyone on our team. When we called each other brothers, we meant it."

This is such a great read! I loved it.

Happy Reading!

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Ishmael Beah's memoir is compelling, traumatic, heartbreaking, and unforgettable. The atrocities of war, and the losses he experienced in Sierra Leone, should never happen to anyone, let alone a 12-year-old boy. The fact that he survived to tell his story is a testament to the kind strangers who helped him along the way and to his own courage and indomitable spirit. But instead of telling you my opinion of his remarkable journey, I'd rather let his own words speak for themselves.

The first time that I was touched by war I was twelve. It was in January of 1993. I left home with Junior, my older brother, and our friend Talloi to participate in our friend's talent show. ... We didn't know that we were leaving home, never to return.

I had heard from adults that this was a revolutionary war, a liberation of the people from corrupt government. But what kind of liberation movement shoots innocent civilians, children?

During the day we searched for food and take turns sleeping. At night it felt as if we were walking with the moon. It followed us under thick clouds and waited for us at the other end of dark forest paths....Some nights the sky wept stars that quickly floated and disappeared into the darkness before our wishes could meet them. ... (And) the moon hid behind clouds to avoid seeing what was happening.

We tied our heads with the green cloths that distinguished us from the rebels, and we boys led the way....We walked for long hours and stopped only to eat sardines and corned beef with gari, sniff cocaine, brown brown, and take some white capsules. The combination of these drugs gave us a lot of energy and made us fierce. The idea of death didn't cross my mind and killing had become as easy as drinking water....Whenever I looked at rebels during raids, I got angrier, because they looked like the rebels who played cards in  the ruins of the village where I had lost my family. So when the lieutenant gave orders, I shot as many as I could, but I didn't feel better.  

We had been fighting for over two years, and killing had become a daily activity. I felt no pity for anyone. My childhood had gone by without my knowing, and it seemed as if my heart had frozen....In my head my life was normal. But everything began to change in the last weeks of January 1996. I was fifteen.

"None of what happened was your fault. You were just a little boy."  Even though I had heard that phrase from every staff member--and frankly I had always hated it--I began that day to believe. That didn't make me immune from my guilt that I felt for what I had done. Nonetheless, it lightened my burdensome memories and gave me strength to think about things.

Ishmael Beah is an amazing person. I'm so glad he decided to share his story with the world. My only complaint about this book was the abrupt ending. It felt like the last chapter of Beah's life was missing from the story. Even a brief epilogue of how he ended up in New York would have helped. But that's my only complaint. All in all, this is a powerful and gripping book that I think everyone should read.

Happy Reading!

A bookish gem...

How good it is to be among people who love reading!

I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel is a love letter to reading. And I loved every word of it, from her thoughts on finding the right book (or letting the right book find you) to how to organize your bookshelves. ("You're a reader; your hobby is organizing your bookshelves.") But I have to say, her chapter on Bookworm Problems made me laugh out loud. Here are three of my favorite ones:

• You have reached your limit on library checkouts, but nine books are waiting for you on hold.
• Your To Be Read list holds 8,972 titles, and you want to read every one.
• Someone asks you to name your three favorite books, and you can narrow your list to only five. Or seven. Or seventeen.

I don't know about you, but I've experienced all of these bookish problems to one extent or another. (Thankfully, my To Read list is NOT in the thousands of titles...yet.) My current bookworm problem? Lack of sufficient bookshelf space!
Anyway, I'd Rather Be Reading is a delightful read...it's short, and humorous, and very relatable, and it'd make the perfect Christmas gift for any bookworm or bibliophile.

Happy Reading!

Live Long and...What I Learned Along the Way!

"Success always begins with showing up. ... Any success I have had began by showing up on time, being prepared, and doing the best possible job. ... A good work ethic is the foundation of success. ...Show up and do your job and good things are going to happen."

"We have to yearn for things, we have to pursue them, and if we are fortunate enough to obtain them we have to savor them--and then set off on the next pursuit. ... The pursuit and enjoyment of passion, however the hell you want to define it, is what life should be about. I have great news for you:  I can report to you from eighty-seven years old that no matter how passionate you are, you will never run out of it. There is no limited reservoir of passion."




"There are people who lead a cautious life, but to me, that's like going through life with the emergency brake on. ... Comfort and predictability have never been sufficient for me. ... My regrets are for those things I didn't do, rather than the risks I took."


William Shatner's self-deprecating wit and unpretentious honesty make this book a quick and easy read. It's not as funny or as full of humorous quips as I thought it would be, and it's not quite as good as the book he wrote about Leonard Nimoy, but it's still a book worth reading.

Happy Reading!

And if you're a fan of Mr. Spock, be sure to check out this amazing book:

It's awesome!

In My Hands by Irene Gut Opdyke

"I was only a girl, alone among the enemy.

What could I do?"

Irene Gut was only seventeen when Poland was invaded by Germany on the West and Russia on the East. Separated from her family, raped by Russian soldiers, and then forced to work for the German army, she found a way not only to survive, but to fight back. She snuck food into the Jewish ghetto, passed on information she overheard from the German officers she served, and managed to hide twelve Jews from the SS in the basement of the house where she worked. She even fought with the Polish Resistance. Her memoir is an amazing story of survival, courage, and sheer grit, and shows what World War II was like through the eyes and heart of a young Polish girl caught between countless enemies who refused to give up. It's honest and moving and several parts made me cry; I read it all in just one day and loved every single word. Irene Gut is such an inspiring person and her story is a truly memorable one. This is one book that's definitely going on my list of favorite reads in 2018!

"The war was a series of choices made by many people. Some of those choices were as wicked and shameful to humanity as anything in history. But some of us made other choices. I made mine. ... I did not ask myself, Should I do this? But, How will I do this? Every step of my childhood had brought me to this crossroad; I must take the right path, or I would no longer be myself. You must understand that I did not become a resistance fighter, a smuggler of Jews, a defier of the SS and the Nazis, all at once. One's first steps are always small:  I had begun by hiding food under a fence."

 Happy Reading!