When You Are Engulfed In Flames

There is not much to say about this book.  The first book I ever read by David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day, was hilarious!  I can't say the same about this collection of essays/stories.  It was just kind of blah.  I didn't laugh out loud with any of these stories.  In fact, I only vaguely even remember some of the stories and I just finished the book.  If you read anything by Sedaris, I would definitely recommend Me Talk Pretty One Day.  However, you can skip this one and still have a full life.

Habibi

The book cover and the heft of this book (650+ pages) captivated me in the bookstore, but I did not want to spend the money at the time.  So I submitted my request for the book to my library and was placed somewhere around #40 on the list to receive it.  It was worth the wait. The story has way too many sub-plots to get into here on my little piece of the Internet. However, they all weave together to tell a solid story that is ultimately about love and redemption. Zam and Dodola are two orphans who have a lifetime of hardship both together and apart. The story spans the years from childhood to adulthood and intertwines their story with stories from the Bible and the Qur'an. What I loved about the story is that because the author intertwines all these stories you truly start to see the similarities between Christianity and Islam.  So why can't we all notice these similarities and connect our own stories in order to create a more peaceful existence?  Among other topics touched upon in this graphic novel are kidnapping, slavery, child abuse, ecological warfare, castration, suicide attempts, female submission and rape.  So with that being said, this is not a book for children.  Horrible and hateful things happen to both Zam and Dodola while they are children, but it is the foundation for the climax of the story, which speaks to the overwhelming power of love.  God's/Allah's love as well as love for one another.  There is a lot of mature content, but if comparative religion interests you, this is one to pick up.

Bird by Bird

I have been taking my time with Bird by Bird specifically because I want to write.  This book has great insight into the art of writing and the real reasons one should pursue it. I view it as an instructional guide for me. Now all that remains is for me to put words to the paper and cast fear aside.  I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to write.  I put post-it notes in the book and underlined key points.  Yes, it was that serious for me. The author does an excellent job of making the topic funny as well.  If you can't laugh at the ups and downs that go along with putting yourself out there to be eviscerated, then you will most certainly end up crying.

Playing God in the Nursery

This book was mentioned at one of our patient management meetings when we were discussing NICU care.  So of course I had to pick it up because, having worked in a NICU for a little over 4 years, I have a big interest in it.  The disclaimer is that this book was written in the 80s when hospitals still had smoking lounges and words like "defective", "crippled",  "retarded", and "handicapped" were acceptable.  So if words like that will offend you, this may not be the medical history book you want to read.  The book does a very good, detailed job of describing the evolution of NICU care and the consequences of that care.  It raises the very same ethical questions that we are still dealing with to this day.  I found it interesting, but only if you have worked in a NICU or have a keen interest in NICUs and ethics. Otherwise you may be too bored to care.

The Sense of an Ending

Hmmm, I don't quite know where to begin with this book.  I keep getting sidetracked from my 2012 book list and reading whatever catches my eye or whatever someone is excited about. This is a book that a friend of mine was so excited about that he emailed me and practically demanded I get it the next day. I enjoyed reading it, but it's one of those books that left me frustrated at the end.  I wanted an open and shut plot, but didn't get that.  It's a short book coming in shy of 165 pages.  Still, I'm trying to figure out what is real and what is a figment of the narrator's imagination.  The main premise of the book is that memory is unreliable and we create the history that best suits us at the time of recollection.  However, if we were to step back and really look at our past with a magnifying glass we would be confronted with the imperfections that show all the warts that make our lives ugly. This is a book that could be deconstructed in a literature class and still have many unanswered questions.  There is no clear answer, and perhaps that *is* the answer.

Eighteen Acres

My cousin recommended this book to me.  If you are into politics and the inner workings of the White House, this novel may interest you.  It was okay but I found the characters to be one sided and not fully developed.  One of the characters has a history of a failed marriage in the past and the author doesn't describe what happened in that marriage until around page 220 and the book is 280 pages.  How can a reader understand a character's motivation if her history is unclear?  By the time she described the earlier marriage I had forgotten that she was married. Anyway, the story follows the first female president and the scandals that pop up and try to derail her campaign for re-election.  The story is told from the perspective of three women (the President, a journalist, and the chief of staff). It reads very quickly and, since the author is Republican, has shades of Sarah Palin portrayed towards the end.  The story doesn't really have any surprises. If you've ever followed a political campaign in the media, you can pretty much guess what happens.  Also, I wasn't particularly drawn to any of the characters, but I'd put it in the "decent travel book" category.  It's fine if you're on a plane, train or car trip and want to pass the time.