Review: Based On Availability by Alix Strauss

Based On Availability by Alix Strauss is a haunting tale of the inner lives of eight women tenuously connected. It is dark and moving with very little light.

Morgan is one of the managers of the Four Seasons in Manhattan. Haunted by the loss of her sister, she weaves in and out of the lives of the other characters in the book. The methods that Morgan uses to cope with the void left by her loss are desperate and sad.

In a moment of desperation to connect Morgan reaches out in friendship to Trish, the owner of a new art gallery in town. Trish is obsessed with her best friend's upcoming wedding and dramatic weight loss. The two will struggle to build new connections.

The women are varied in backgrounds but all have deeply hidden inner struggles that may prove to undo them. Anne, an employee of the hotel, who struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Louise who is a rock star struggling with addiction, Franny, a Southerner struggling to fit into life in Manhattan, Sheila, a teacher, and Ellen who wants so badly to be a mother, and finely Robin, who is worn down by the abuse of her sister.

Based On Availability illuminates the inner struggles that many women face. Insecurities and low self-esteem are products of this dark abyss that haunts so many women. The book can be hard to read at times because of the cimmerian existence of these women. Their fears seem to be in control much of the time.

It is not a happy read but it will haunt you and perhaps send you inward to examine your own inner fears and insecurities. Although I struggled connecting with the book and the women at the beginning I was drawn into their stories. These women will remain with you for a while after you finish the book. Enjoyed would not be quite the right word for how I experienced this book. Based On Availability was an interesting book that I do find worth recommendation.

Review: Thumbing Through Thoreau

Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau Compiled by Kenny Luck/Illustrated by Jay Luke and Ren Adams

“…simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real. Probe the earth to see where your main roots run.” P160

Thoreau is known for his urgings of man to live simply and honestly. So often we get so caught up in our possessions that we miss the everyday miracles that life bestows. Kenny Luck has put together a beautiful rendition of quotes both famous and less known that encourage us to pause and remember our journey and through our recognition of life around us to improve ourselves.

Thumbing Through Thoreau is a collection of quotations taken from Thoreau's journals, writings, and personal letters. Kenny Luck, a journalist, compiled the quotes to address a variety of subjects that include society & government, spirituality & nature, and love. The book is timely and relevant to today. It is beautifully crafted and easily accessible. As a teacher it is a book that I might use in conjunction with studies of Thoreau and Emerson in the classroom. As an admirer of Thoreau I found the book to be fresh and exciting. I have enjoyed reacquainting myself with these concepts. The book will sit nearby on my desk so that I might grab it at any moment and find inspiration for the day.

Excerpt from book's Introduction:

As I stood on the edge of Walden Pond, about to make a symbolic leap into what had become in my mind a scared place, Hawthorne’s poetic observation was not present in my thoughts. For a summer day, it was unusually cold; a light mist rose above the surface of the water; and having forgotten my towel and bathing suit at home in Pennsylvania, I was forced to strip down, making do with what I was wearing in that revealing moment. I hung my clothes on a nearby tree branch and began inching my way toward the water. It was a ritual Henry David Thoreau, one of America’s first literary giants, had performed countless times during his stay in the woods.


It was June 2007, and this was my second trip to Walden Pond. I had visited the previous summer but resolved only to walk along the shoreline, avoiding the seduction of the water. “This time,” I thought to myself, “I am going in.” Although I was initially reluctant, once the water rose past by waistline, I felt an extraordinary release. I made one final push off the rock where I was standing and let go. I let the water take me. Feeling free from constraints, I had transformed into one of Hawthorne’s angels, baptized by the clear, cool waters of the pond.

My experience at Walden Pond that day was emblematic. It was the culmination of a two-year journey which led me to Concord, Massachusetts, where I hoped to retrace the steps of a man who I had never met, but felt an extraordinary affinity towards. Moreover, I saw a little bit of myself in Thoreau. Here was a man who, despite the conventions of his day, shunned every comfort and convenience. Thoreau once refused to take a doormat, for instance, offered to him by an elderly woman, hoping to avoid what he called the “beginnings of evil.” It seemed like something I would have done had I not read about it first. For the first time in my young life, I met my literary and intellectual soul mate.






You might check out the book at these sites:

The Book's Website

Purchase the book today: Thumbing Through Thoreau


About the Author:
Kenny Luck is a graduate student at Marywood University in Scranton, Pa., and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History & Political Science from the same institution. He writes for The Weekender – an arts and entertainment weekly – and The Independent. He is currently working on his second book. He enjoys recording music, book browsing and travel.


“If I were to be baptized it should be in this pond,” wrote Nathanial Hawthorne, reflecting upon the majesty of Walden Pond one autumn afternoon in 1843. “But then one would not wish to pollute it by washing off his sins into it. None but angels should bathe here.”

 
Kenny Luck Facebook:
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Review: The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell

The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell

Henry Holt and Company NY

                     225pps

                                          On sale August 2010

“The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” p176

The Reapers Are the Angels works a little differently from your run-of-the mill “zombie” story. It has been 25 years since the disease that brought down civilization struck. Zombies have been roaming around long enough for Temple never to have experienced a different world. At the age of 15 she has become a lone warrior, fending for herself, wise and mature beyond her years.

“She tells the woman that she has been traveling all her life that’s worth remembering, and that her mind feels almost filled up already, with people and sights and words and sins and redemptions.” P189

Humanity has managed to hang on and struggle to survive in the face of devastation. It can be found in bits and pieces, scattered throughout the world. Temple is a well rounded, mature character at the tender age of 15. She is the face of new civilization, struggling with a past that haunts every decision she makes. More afraid of herself than of the “slugs” or “meatskins” that have brought down society, she becomes a loner, certain of an evil that lurks inside.

Nevertheless, when she stumbles across a helpless mute by the name of Maury, she sees her chance to right some of the wrongs that she perceives in herself. Setting off across the southern states with Maury in tow, she has bigger problems than the “slugs”.

Moses Todd is hot on her trial set on revenge that can only be achieved by her death. But underlying this twist in the plot is the relationship that forms between Temple and Moses. They have an underlying affinity, understanding the new world and its code, seeing eye to eye, a shared vision. Moses is perhaps the only living person to truly understand Temple.

Moses serves Temple as both her would be murderer and as a surrogate father figure. It is a strange yet inspiring relationship. Maury also plays a significant role in showcasing Temple’s iron will, her kindnesses, and at times reveals the young girl inside.

The story is engaging and very different from what I expected. The Reapers Are the Angels is both well written and engaging. Strong prose mixed with unforgettable characters and an underlying sense of hope for humanity make this book a triumph. This is a book that focuses on human relationships, the struggle to create order out of chaos, and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. I would recommend this book as both an individual read and as part of a book club.

In My Mailbox, It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren! Check out her blog to see what

*

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, And the History of the World From the Periodic Table of Elements by Sam Kean

Received from Hachette Book Group

Synopsis:

Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I,53)? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium (Cd, 48)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why did tellurium (Te, 52) lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history?

The periodic table is one of our crowning scientific achievements, but it's also a treasure trove of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The fascinating tales in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, gold, and every single element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.

Why did a little lithium (Li, 3) help cure poet Robert Lowell of his madness? And how did gallium (Ga, 31) become the go-to element for laboratory pranksters?* The Disappearing Spoon has the answers, fusing science with the classic love of invention, investigation, discovery, and alchemy, from the big bang through the end of time.

*Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal with a unique property: it melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. So a classic prank for scientists is to fashion gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch as guests recoil when the Earl Grey makes their utensil disappear.

*

Shadows in Summer: A Novel in Six Voices by Crescent Varrone

Received Through Bostwick Communications

Synopsis  (from back cover):

The house was older than the other homes in the area, and more exposed. While they were hidden, protected by ivy, hedges, walls, #18 was on display. No gates, and not even a fence, just a few tall trees on the left-hand side and a handful of shrubs. Even its innards were laid bare in a huge picture window; though from where I was standing on the opposite sidewalk, all I could see were reflections of the gray clouds behind me.

The house disclosed nothing......

When injured ballet dancer Katrina Nielsen and her American husband, Richard, purchase Sound House, they hope that the charming home will ease their transition from New York to Copenhagen. Katrina was just nineteen when she fled gloomy Denmark, leaving behind her mother, Ingrid, and her grief over her father's death. Seven years later, she returns home to face the ghosts of the past. Yet when weird events begin to occur at Sound House--inexplicable smoke and footsteps, a ghostly face at the window--she starts to think she is being haunted by the ghost of Karl Damsgaard, the original owner. After she's "attacked" by an unseen force, Katrina becomes convinced that something is trying to drive her out of the house...or out of her mind.

Shadows in Summer: A Novel in Six Voices is told by multiple narrators who keep readers reassessing whether the haunting is real, psychological or the result of purposeful manipulation. Inspired by actual events, this deliciously scalp-prickling tale will haunt readers long after the final page.

*

The Eighth Scroll by Dr. Laurence B. Brown

Received through Bostwick Communications

Synopsis:

An ancient scroll has been unearthed....

Nineteen hundred years after the Essene Jews hid their most precious scrolls in the caves at Qumran, a Catholic priest working on the Dead Sea Scrolls Project discovers a text that describes the final edict of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but hides it in fear of the heresy it contains. When a prominent archaeologist Frank Tones unearths a reference to the hidden scroll, he wonders if this scroll could be the long-lost Gospel of James, or even of Jesus himself. But before he can act, those who know of the scroll's existence become mysteriously silent or dead, leaving only a father and son team to find the scroll and tell its secrets to the world. In an epic, multigenerational story that spans the globe, they must outwit the Mossad, the CIA, and the Vatican's secret weapon--the Italian Mafia--to bring the truth to light. No matter the cost.

The author of two books of comparative religion, MisGod'ed  and God'ed, physician and religious scholar, Laurence B. Brown provides a thrilling read, while at the same time reviving critical religious controversies. Powerful and revealing, this book makes you think, feel, react and wonder--what if we knew the truth about Jesus.

*

The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge by Patricia Duncker

Received through Librarything's Early Reviewers

Synopsis (Barnes and Noble):

The thrilling tale of a secret European sect and the musical mastermind at its center, from a critically acclaimed novelist at the top of her form.

The bodies are discovered on New Year’s Day, sixteen dead in the freshly fallen snow. The adults lie stiff in a semicircle; the children, in pajamas and overcoats, are curled at their feet.

When he hears the news, Commissaire André Schweigen knows who to call: Dominique Carpentier, the Judge, also known as the “sect hunter.” Carpentier sweeps into the investigation in thick glasses and red gloves, and together the Commissaire and the Judge begin searching for clues in a nearby chalet. Among the decorations and unwrapped presents of a seemingly ordinary holiday, they find a leather-bound book, filled with mysterious code, containing maps of the stars. The book of the Faith leads them to the Composer, Friedrich Grosz, who is connected in some way to every one of the dead. Following his trail, Carpentier, Schweigen, and the Judge’s assistant, Gaëlle, are drawn into a world of complex family ties, seductive music, and ancient cosmic beliefs.

Hurtling breathlessly through the vineyards of Southern France to the gabled houses of Lübeck, Germany, through cathedrals, opera houses, museums, and the cobbled streets of an Alpine village, this ferocious new novel is a metaphysical mystery of astonishing verve and power.

The Passage by Justin Cronin

Bought this at Barnes and Noble

Synopsis (The Passage Website):

“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

And now......

A book meme by Shelia at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books.

Last time I posted It's Monday I was reading The Caliphate by Andre Le Gallo and Happy Hours by Michele Scott both of which I have finished.  I have received so many good books that it is hard to decide where to start next.

I have Based on Availability by Alix Strauss sitting next to me and I may start The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell (Zombies!) just to change things up. I am also going to pick up Parting River Jordan by ML Barnes so I can add a little fun to the mix.

It should be a fun week, drama, zombies, and fun! I promise to not let the projects get in the way. I am planning a beach day tomorrow weather permitting. That means some good reading! I am also going to post those reviews!

In My Mailbox and It's Monday! What are you Reading?

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren! Check out her blog to see what others are reading.

This week I received these books for review:

Vexation by Elicia Clegg

Synopsis:

For him power and glory are not enough, immortality is the only possibility. His vanity consumes him, forcing his actions to capture, control, and twist her very reality. He will make her like him, in this he will not yield. Welcome to Devin Sinclair's world... A world where each move is watched, each move is carefully controlled, and trusting your eyes can be a fatal mistake. She is alone, terrified of even her own deteriorating sanity. She must find the truth which hides in the book, the book that reviles what really happened the few months she was held captive, locked in a game he directs. Devin must unravel the truth and learn to trust her mind if she is ever to find freedom for her and her fellow captives.

Duckegg & Persons of Interest by NovaMelia

Synopsis:

A Small Town Goes Mad

A large pharmaceutical company begins operations in a small outlying community in New England. Interdependence, intrinsic distrust, confused rumors and local ethics all become part of the mix. A local school teacher leads a group of concerned citizens who are suspicious about the research being conducted by the company. Honesty and morality and a menagerie of animals become part of the debate.

There are the weak and the strong and sometimes there is bullying in the Company and among townspeople. In all of this Duckegg moves between his sense of not belonging to his often dysfunctional family and the pride of being a hero. He is honest with himself but sometimes blatantly dishonest with others. He suffers the sorrow of loss and the shame of unintentional harm done by him.

The balancing act between the Company and the Town's people, the personal conflicts and the clashing of personalities, the bullies and the bullied, the clever and the not so smart; the conniving and the innocent, ultimately culminates in a town gone mad, at least for a day.
 
These books sound so interesting. I am looking forward to reading them. Yea Me! I won a book this week. Beguiled by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand! I am excited. I will let you know when the book arrives. Thank you Lucie at http://luciesbookreview.blogspot.com/
 

 
 

So that is my week. I haven't gotten much reading done as I was working on completing some projects: knitting a baby blanket for my first grandchild expected in August. I am too young to be a grandma but I am very excited. I also am completing a plastic canvas tote just for fun. Next up a crocheted produce bag. I love new projects and new books. I will be furiously reading over the next few weeks. I also have several completed books that I need to write up and post the reviews. Sorry for the delay. Hope your July 4th was awesome.

 
 
 

A book meme by Shelia at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books.

Last time I posted It's Monday I was reading A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George and Happy Hour by Michele Scott. I stated that I was getting ready to start The Caliphate by Andre Le Gallo.

 I finished up A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George and did started on The Caliphate by Andre Le Gallo. I am still working on Happy Hour by Michele Scott I just got distracted by projects as stated above.

In My Mailbox

This weekly meme is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren! Check out her blog to see what others are reading.

Fishers of Men: The Gospel of an Ayahuasca Vision Quest by Adam Elenbaas

Synopsis

This harrowing, poignant, and deeply memorable true story of a minister's son escaping his anguished youth in the American heartland, to gain spiritual awareness through the uses of mind-expanding native plants and shamanic rituals in South America, is the most evocative tale of psychedelic experience since Jeremy Narby, Terence McKenna, and Daniel Pinchbeck.

In the tradition of memoirs like Daniel Pinchbeck's 2012 and Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries, Adam Elenbaas's Fishers of Men chronicles his journey from intense self-destruction and crippling depression to self-acceptance, inner awareness, and spiritual understanding, through participation in mindexpanding-and healing ayahuasca ceremonies in South America and beyond.

From his troubled and rebellious youth as a Methodist minister's son in Minnesota, to his sex and substance abuse-fueled downward spiral in Chicago and New York, culminating in a depressive breakdown, Elenbaas is plagued by a feeling of emptiness and a desperate search for meaning for most of his young life. After hitting rock bottom at his grandfather's house in rural Michigan, a chance experience with psychedelic mushrooms convinces him that he must change his ways to achieve the sense of peace that he has always desired. Several subsequent psychedelic experiences inspire him to embark on a quest to South America and take part in a shamanic ceremony, where he consumes ayahuasca, a jungle vine revered for its spiritual properties.

Over the course of nearly fifty ayahuasca ceremonies during four years, Elenbaas discovers the truth about his own life and past, and begins to mend himself from the inside out.

Wired Kingdom by Rich Chesler

Synopsis

When a Blue Whale tagged with a web-cam as part of a television nature program broadcasts a brutal murder at sea, an FBI agent with a fear of water finds herself in a deadly race to reach the animal before an unknown killer can destroy the digital evidence it carries. For Special Agent Tara Shores, the many possible suspects each present obstacles as unique and perilous as the sea itself. Is the murderer one of the web viewers vying for the controversial reality show’s million-dollar prizes? The extremist environmental group threatening violence unless the whale is liberated from its high-tech tracking device? The wealthy Hollywood power-couple who own the show? Or the troubled, young inventor of the whale-cam? And just who was the beautiful woman slaughtered live on the web?

Navigating an ocean of manipulation and deceit, the detective’s best hope for a solid piece of evidence is the original murder video, still attached to the back of the 100-ton creature which roams the Pacific tethered to its electronic leash. But when the tag’s GPS locator mysteriously fails, it seems that finding the beast will prove impossible.

As the Special Agent dives deeper into the case, what she initially dismisses as a publicity stunt for the glitzy reality series soon sweeps her out to sea in a riptide of greed, sex, and high-tech crime.

Angel of Death Row: My Life as a Death Penalty Defense Lawyer by Andrea D. Lyon

Synopsis

Nineteen times, death penalty defense lawyer Andrea D. Lyon has represented a client found guilty of capital murder. Nineteen times, she has argued for that individual’s life to be spared. Nineteen times, she has succeeded.

Dubbed the “Angel of Death Row” by the Chicago Tribune, Lyon was the first woman to serve as lead attorney in a death penalty case. Throughout her career, she has defended those accused of heinous acts and argued that, no matter their guilt or innocence, they deserved a change at redemption.

Now, for the first time, Lyon shares her story, from her early work as a Legal Aid attorney to her founding of the Center for Justice in Capital Cases. Full of courtroom drama, tragedy, and redemption, Angel of Death Row is a remarkable inside look at what drives Lyon to defend those who seem indefensible—and to win.

There was Annette who was suspected of murdering her own daughter. There was Patrick, the convicted murderer who thirsted for knowledge and shared his love of books with Lyon when she visited him in jail. There was Lonnie, whose mental illness made him nearly impossible to save until the daughter who remembered his better self spoke on his behalf. There was Deirdre, who shared Lyon’s cautious optimism that her wrongful conviction would finally be overturned, allowing her to see her grandchildren born while she was in prison. And there was Madison Hobley, the man whose name made international headlines when he was wrongfully charged with the murder of his family and sentenced to death.

These clients trusted Lyon with their stories—and their lives. Driven by an overwhelming sense of justice, fairness,and morality, she fought for them in the courtroom and in the raucous streets, staying by their sides as they struggled through real tragedy and triumphed in startling ways. Angel of Death Row is the compelling memoir of Lyon’s unusual journey and groundbreaking career.

Teaser Tuesdays

  

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, in which two sentences are shared froma ramdom page in your current read.

 

 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page  
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

Organ music seemed to be blasting from the very trees. It swelled to crescendoes, faded, and roared out again: a baroque combination of chords, rests, and flourishes that made Lynley think that at any moment the phantom himself would come swinging down from the opera chandeliers. At the appearance of the Bentley, the two men parted, the one shouting a final violent imprecation at Nigel Parrish before he stalked off in the direction of the high street.

 

A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George

p. 204