Ponder: This Is Our Story

After reading First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston last month and giving it five stars I wanted to read another one of her books. I followed a few weeks later with The Lying Tree, also awarding it five stars in my review. I later learned that The Lying Tree was a young adult novel and First Lie Wins was the author's first venture into adult fiction.  This is Our Story by Ashley Elston ©2016 is another young adult novel of Elston's which I sought out to better understand the distinctive features that make up the YA book genre.

Per Wikipedia's description of Young Adult Literature

Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as friendship, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. Stories that focus on the challenges of youth may be further categorized as social or coming-of-age novels. The earliest known use of term young adult occurred in 1942. The designation of young adult literature was originally developed by librarians to help teenagers make the transition between children's literature and adult literature, following the recognition, around World War II, of teenagers as a distinct group of young people. While the genre is targeted at adolescents, a 2012 study found that 55% of young adult literature purchases were made by adults.

The main characters of young adult novels may be teenagers but the conflicts and dilemmas are mature enough to engage an adult reader. In This Is Our Story, five teenage boys go deer hunting and one of them is killed by a rifle shot. Is it an accident or was it murder? The remaining boys have a tacit vow to remain banded together, stick with the same story, and claim ignorance. The boys come from wealthy, influential families, so justice is at risk of being compromised to curry money and/or favor among officials. The perspective of the narrator is unique. She is a high school senior who works in the district attorney's office and sees files of evidence compiled on the case. There are interspersed chapters as commentary, written by one of the surviving boys... maybe... perhaps... the killer? Teen angst and cliques are evident, hence the YA genre. This Is Our Story was a convoluted, but engaging read.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Broadway Spooktacular

On Sunday October 13th we'd gone to see the Canadian Brass at our local Bankhead Theaters and were not thrilled with that particular choice of outing due to our unfamiliarity with the majority of the music selections. Within the same week, on Friday evening, October 18th, Frank and I went to Spooktacular Broadway, at the Firestone Arts Center in the neighboring town of Pleasanton. It had been a long, tiring day but we went anyway and throughly, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. What an upbeat, lively, entertaining show it was, especially when contrasted with what we'd sat through five days earlier! The songs selected, most of them very familiar, had a spooky theme appropriate to the upcoming Halloween holiday. Familiarity is comforting and relaxing, plus several of those songs also brought back pleasurable memories 

The staging was simple but highly effective with a huge image projected on the screen behind the singers. There was a chemistry lab with all the vials and tubes one would expect with Frankenstein. There was a humongous chandelier projected to go with the Phantom of the Opera numbers. A graveyard scene lended ambience to the Grim Grinning Ghosts and Nightmare Before Christmas numbers. The singers came out in small groups in keeping with the song and their costumes were very creative. The Grim Grinning Ghosts choralists came out onto a blackened stage with flashlights held up to illuminate only their faces from beneath... eerie and fun... and so like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland! The following program is a list of the musical numbers performed.

We had seats far enough back that we could enjoy the ginormous screen projections. The opening number encouraged audience participation with the finger snapping along with the Addams family singers.

Following are some of the particular memories these songs conjured:

• Grim Grinning Ghosts brought to mind traveling through Disney's Haunted Mansion.
• The Phantom of the Opera song Music of the Night made me remember when we took Dan and Robin to San Francisco, all dressed up in their finery, to see the full scale impressive musical, complete with "the chandelier"
• Suddenly Seymour commemorated for me when Dan had a role in the Little Shop of Horrors musical during high school. Frank went to one show but I, as the anal mother, attended all performances. After one of the performances, the party was at our house. We thoroughly enjoyed when the students serenading us with encores of the songs. 
• Last Midnight and Giants in the Sky are from Robin's favorite musical Into the Woods with clever lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. I think of her whenever I hear it.
• When my kids grumbled about something I used to sing them the title passage from Poor Unfortunate Souls that Ursula croons in the Little Mermaid. They'd groan and get mad at me. It was cute.

This show was our third activity of the day and I am so glad we decided not to skip it. Spooktacular Broadway was super enjoyable! 

Canadian Brass

Sunday October 13th,  Frank, Alex, and I went to a matinee performance by the Canadian Brass at our local Bankhead Theatre. Before buying the tickets I checked out the link  provided by the ticket seller and listened to a few lively You Tube videos. A particular toe-tapping number was the song America from the musical West Side Story. About 45 second into the video, the tempo gets peppy. Using the rousing video as a sample, I'd bought three tickets. I must admit the group of five men made a fun entrance playing their instruments as they marched across the theatre and up onto the stage. This was going to be good!

There was no program, however, so we did not know what songs were going to be played. The brass quintet began by playing lengthy compositions from Mozart, Bach, and Brahms, while we hopefully waited for some peppier choices later in the program. Unfortunately, their overall repertoire was too classical and not popular enough for our tastes. They did play two songs from the Beatles, Eleanore Rigby, which I knew, and Blackbird , which was totally foreign to me. Our spirits were sagging and we were doubtful of, but hopefully wishing for, a zestier second half. They did play Tuba Tiger Rag (hold that tiger... ), a bit jazzier. The song had a bemusing component where the tuba player held a B♭ note continuously while rotating the huge tuba 360°, only almost dropping it once. The group made efforts to introduce levity into their performance, noting their red/white Dr. Seuss style striped socks, on sale of course in the lobby.

Then in the second half the audience was asked who was the most famous composer of movie music scores. Now I was getting energized. OK wait for it. Finally, now maybe stuff I know... music by John Williams perhaps... Jaws theme, Olympic theme, Star Wars theme. Nope, not to be. The famous composer they named, Canadian of course, was Michael Kamen composer for Die Hard movie themes. Even after I played the music from the Bruce Willis movie, I still did not recognize the melody and it is certainly not memorable. But, even more obscure, The Canadian Brass did not play the "famous" Die Hard music, instead playing Quintet, a special piece custom-composed for them by Michael Kamen. Quintet was a total snore.

Overall, the performance was dull, but Alex did not act out nor try to leave, instead sitting quietly throughout. After each selection the five guys stood up and took bows, singling out the musician among them who had been featured in a solo. After    every    selection! This practice certainly lengthened the performance time. Were they excellent, highly-skilled musicians? Yes, certainly; that was obvious. But because of the song choices I have to philosophically look upon the show as a mediocre semi-comedic, cultural experience.

Ponder: Tourist Season

Tourist Season by Brenda Novak ©2024 was a very enjoyable read for me. I like the variety this prolific author offers. Wikipedia lists her as having written over fifty books but that count is outdated; she has written more. A list of her books and book series can be found at the website listing her books in order. I have read thirty-three of her books since 2017 and this is my thirty-fourth. With such a large output, her books are not destined to be classic, ponderous, literature, but they are engaging reads and the characters are well defined and have some depth to them.

Despite the cover image, I do not consider this a beach read. In my opinion the term beach read is a derogatory term. Publishers must think that sitting in the sun, slathered with sunscreen, also deadens the brain cells because my experience with those summer "beach" reads is that they are generally glib and predictable with ditzy females and muscle bound males. Tourist Season does indeed take place on an island off Cape Cod, but the female is no scatter brain. She has just completed passing the bar after obtaining her law degree. She is supposed to be enjoying a three-week vacation at the lush beach house of her future in-laws while her fiancé Remy stays behind to finish studying for his medical boards. 

Immediately after Ismay's arrival, the island is hit with a hurricane, or perhaps technically called a nor'easter. The house loses power, and in the strange new environment with torrential rains and gusting winds, Ismay stressfully struggles to find candles or batteries for a flashlight to wait out the storm. A huge tree branch snaps off but misses the house. Calling his parents' newly renovated and extensively lavish beach house a cottage would be a disservice and an understatement. Her fiancé is not sympathetic to her situation, telling her she is overreacting, and chides her for interrupting his studying. He does, however, alert his mother to the situation and she phones the caretaker Bo to go over to the house with lanterns and to start the generator. Bo lives in a bungalow behind the main house and so he is close to assist. Bo is a supportive rock, especially in comparison to Remy's apathy. Bo however is a loner with a secretive past.

This story opener is a real page turner. In her search for candles and matches Ismay discovers some disturbing items hidden within the walls of the beach house. The physical action is more toned down in the rest of the novel but the interpersonal relationships and the prospect of a psychopathic component arise with the surprise arrival of Remy's twin brother Bastien. These brothers do not get along. Ismay is the oldest in her family with seven younger siblings, all very close and supportive of each other. She struggles to make sense of the combative relationship of the brothers and the lone wolf actions of Bo. Simultaneously Ismay's younger brother Jack is undergoing a painful divorce and Ismay invites him to spend the summer with her on the Mariner's Island.

Yes, there is a beach, but that is the only reason this might be classified as a beach read. Well, maybe not the only reason. I will admit, there is a bit of a romantic involvement that may tend to place this book in the beach read genre. But romance is not the major focus. I have usually rated most of Brenda Novak's books that I have read three or four stars. My most highly rated Novak novel, at five stars, was Brenda Novak's thriller Before We Were Strangers ©2018 reviewed in my post for 10/26/21. Tourist Season is more of a psychological study with potential psychopathic components. I found it very engaging and rate it four stars.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: Because of Winn-Dixie

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo ©2000 first caught my attention in an editorial where an adult recalled having the book read to him in an elementary grade classroom. The notion that a book, introduced to a child that young, had stuck with that child into adulthood made me consider the book as being worthy of a read myself. Looking into it I learned that Because of Winn-Dixie is a Newbery Honor Book for 2001.

Per Wikipedia

The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". ... Besides the Newbery Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to leading contenders, called Newbery Honors or Newbery Honor Books.

Because of Winn-Dixie is the story of an ugly stray dog that erroneously makes his way into a grocery store and wreaks havoc within. He is claimed and taken home by a young girl named Opal, motherless since the age of two, who is being raised by her father, who is a preacher.  Her father allows her to keep the dog and Opal names the dog after the grocery store Winn-Dixie. Per Wikipedia

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., styled as Winn✓Dixie, is an American supermarket chain headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It operates more than 546 stores in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The company has had its present name since 1955 and can trace its roots back to 1925.

Opal meets many people in different walks of life. The influence of her father, who advocates kindness and understanding, forms her actions and opinions in herself and others. Is that older woman who lives alone on the outskirts of town really a witch? Is the kind soul who plays music for the animals in the pet store really to be avoided since he, in his earlier life, had a run-in with the law? Are the two brothers who live nearby really to be ignored and shunned since they seem to be guilty of tormenting Opal? Is the librarian really as stiff and unbending as she seems? I loved an early chapter when her daddy tells Opal ten things about her mother. 

Although written very simply, this book teaches young readers strong lessons about being accepting and loving of others. Truthfulness is a non-negotiable trait to be emulated. The general ambience is a breath of fresh air in the current environment of this election year and this time of horrendous weather catastrophes. Poor Winn-Dixie is terrified of thunder. This is a very feel-good book without being preachy or mawkish. I very much enjoyed reading Because of Winn-Dixie and found it quite fitting to be recognized as presenting "distinguished contribution to American literature for children". Amazon cited this book as appropriate for a reading age of 8-10 and a grade level 4-7. I think even younger children can gain a lot of wisdom from Because of Winn-Dixie, even when read to them, if necessary. In the genre of Young Adults books, Because of Winn-Dixie definitely deserves a five star rating.

★★★★★ Great! Read it!

Ponder: The Lying Woods

The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston ©2019 really made me think about embezzlement from another perspective, that of the family of the embezzler. Owen is in his senior year at a private posh boarding school when the news breaks that his dad has run off with the money from his fracking company as well as the funds in the retirement  accounts of all the employees. Subcontractors' companies go belly up and those employees are out of a job, too. Owen and his mother are viewed as complicit in the crime when really they were clueless and they themselves are victims. Their house and all their belongings are seized and put up for auction in an attempt to recoup some money. Owen needs to switch schools to a school in the town where he and his mother are hated, insulted, and shunned. No one will rent them a place to live and no one will hire his mother for a job.

It is difficult for me to summarize this book because it has so many spoilers and I would not want to give any of them away. Owen finds solace in working at a pecan orchard outside town for a man who is open enough to give him a chance. Apparently, many years ago, a young man in similar need was also accommodated at this orchard. A bit of romantic interest creeps in both for Owen in the present day and for Noah in the summer of 1999. The plot twists are very strategically revealed much to my enjoyment. The ending is satisfying and I was about 90% finished with the book before I had my suspicions and theories, some of which I can gleefully admit proved to be wrong.

In writing this post I noticed that I had read a novel by this author before. I rated First Lie Wins, also by Ashley Elson five stars, and I am rating The Lying Woods the same. I also learned that Ashley Elston has written six books for young adults. I am going to check out one of them and give it a whirl.

★★★★★ Great! Read it!

Ponder: Counting Miracles

Counting Miracles ©2024 by Nicholas Sparks is a slow moving and emotionally non-moving novel that was a disappointment. The storyline follows three main character groups: a female divorced doctor and her two children, an 83-year-old severely scarred man who lives alone in his cabin with only his dog, and a lone-wolf type man with a military background and varied history of deployments. How these three groups are inter-related seems forced. The romantic aspects typical of Sparks' books were minimal. A redeeming plus, however, was the bantering good-natured relationship between a teenage girl and her younger brother.

As in baseball and the legal system, "three strikes and you're out". Counting Miracles contained

• detailed terminology and descriptions about hunting
• lengthy lists about military deployments
• many, many quotes from the bible

Normally I am a Nicholas Sparks fan - or at least I thought I was, having read all his novels. Counting Miracles is his 25th book. I checked back in my records and I rated his books 19, 20, and 21 three stars and books 22, 23, and 24 two stars. I need to reassess my loyalty to this author. Either my tastes have changed or his writing has.

19. ★★★☆☆ See Me ©2015
20. ★★★☆☆ Two by Two ©2016
21. ★★★☆☆ Every Breath ©2019
22. ★★☆☆☆ The Return ©2020
23. ★★☆☆☆ The Wish ©2021
24. ★★☆☆☆ Dreamland ©2022

Oh, and the title is kind of hokey. Do not waste your valuable reading time on Counting Miracles. I rated it

 ★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Ponder: The Only Survivors

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda ©2024 is a thriller that held me engaged throughout the novel with plot twists that kept me on my toes. The downside of this favorable review is that, since I read for enjoyment and relaxation, this book kept me so tense I could not alleviate the tightness of the muscles in my neck and shoulders. Reading this novel was a constant battle between enjoyment and relaxation. Although there was not a lot of graphic violence, the sense of danger and impending doom was all pervasive. I felt like I was hearing the background music from the movie Jaws with each page turn. 

A pretty accurate initiation into The Only Survivors is provided on the back cover:

A decade ago, two vans filled with high school seniors on a school service trip crashed into a Tennessee ravine. Only nine survived. A year later, after one of the survivors dies by suicide on the anniversary of the crash, the rest of them make a pact: to come together each year to commemorate that terrible night. But by the tenth anniversary, Cassidy Bent has distanced herself from the tragedy. This year, she is determined to finally break ties with the group once and for all. But when Cassidy receives an anonymous text with the obituary of another survivor, she finds herself going to the reunion once more. Tensions immediately run high, and with a storm approaching, the group finds itself facing the threat of closed roads and surging waters... again. When another survivor suddenly disappears, Cassidy begins to wonder if something stronger than survivors' guilt has drawn them back together.

It was challenging to keep straight the personalities of the those who were survivors but those nine were well developed characters. The characterization of those who did not survive was also presented well. The setting at the Tennessee ravine where the accident occurred was frightful but even the beach house for the annual reunion had a suspenseful, not a peaceful, beach theme. It was perched somewhere on the East Coast amidst sand dunes and adjacent to a campground. Several outdoor decks on multiple levels and external staircases contributed to the creepy feeling of maybe being watched or even vulnerable to invasion.

Triggered memories can be random. The house where the survivors gathered annually called to my mind one vacation where Frank, I, and the kids stayed for a week at a resort in Pajara Dunes, a secluded, gated community nestled on the coast of Monterey Bay CA featuring a collection of beautiful beachfront houses, townhomes, and condominiums. We originally had paid for a condo but due do its broken dishwasher and my brazen complaints that it would be no vacation with three kids and having to hand wash all the dishes, the rental agency relocated us to a three story house with a dark gray beach-weathered exterior. 

Robin and Dan loved the adventure of exploring the huge house and being allowed to sleep on the first floor, two staircases away from their parents on the third floor. I was a bit nervous but Frank convinced me it was OK. The third-floor, large bedroom suite was surrounded by floor to ceiling windows on three sides, providing an awesome view of the ocean waves on one side and sprawling farmlands in the opposite direction. We happened to be there during harvest season. Huge machinery paced back and forth in the distance, highlighted in the dark night by spotlights. The situation did not make for great sleeping but watching the operations was certainly fascinating. Ironic how the eerie experience of The Only Survivors conjured up these intense but pleasant memories from Pajara Dunes. Alex was still in a crib so those memories are over 35 years old!

Who should read The Only Survivors? Those who are fans of horror movies may think this novel is too tame. Those who like suspense and a lot of plot twists and turns will like this. The author's unfolding action alternates between two time periods. The first is an hour by hour account of the accident time in the Tennessee ravine with the storm and raging rising waters. The second is the conversation and exchanges during the tenth anniversary at the beach house with the psychological probing of the survivors a decade past their senior year. Both storylines are equally gripping. 

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: Riding Lessons

Riding Lessons ©2004 is written by Sara Gruen, the same author who wrote Water for Elephants ©2006. I chose to read Riding Lessons because I very much liked Water for Elephants; but I did not care for Riding Lessons nearly as much. 

The environment and background information in this book will definitely appeal to horse lovers. The author indubitably had an in depth knowledge of the subject. Riding Lessons contains an excellent description of equestrian terms and practices. But the main character, Annemarie, is repeatedly incompetent, and avoids conflict at all costs, even when it is necessary to resolve problems. Annemarie procrastinates to a ridiculous extent. She was such a dingbat that I found it hard to enjoy the book. She struggles in her relationship with her teenage daughter, is barely speaking to her mother, and is divorced from her husband. She nearly drives her parents' horse breeding business into bankruptcy. 

I think my favorite characters were Highland Harry and his brother Highland Hurrah, two uniquely striped horses. I read this book several months ago and conveniently "forgot" to blog about it. Now it is faint in my memory except for my 2 star rating. Amazon readers gave it 4 stars. Why? Perhaps because of the intricacies and accuracies of the view within the horse industry, certainly not because of character development.

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Half Moon Bay 49th Anniversary

Wednesday, September 25th and Thursday, September 26th Frank and I spent overnight at the Half Moon Bay Inn to celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary on September 27th. Half Moon Bay is a quaint little town approximately 50 miles south west of our Livermore home. It is known for the crowds that gather just north of Half Moon Bay to watch surfers in the huge, 25-to-60-foot crest maverick waves in the November to March months and for the annual Art and Pumpkin Festival in October. We have frequented the popular pumpkin festival in the past, enduring the bumper to bumper snake of traffic inching its way down the one access road into the town. We no longer have the patience for that congested trek, but this time we were there in the quieter time of year, without the crowds. The Half Moon Bay Inn is downtown on Main Street.

The last time we were in Half Moon Bay was in 2016 for Frank's 68th birthday. I had noted that distinctive purple bench in front of the Half Moon Bay Inn and said to Frank that we needed to stay at that inn someday. He remembered, and we booked a room for two nights mid-week. The room we stayed in was titled Colossal King. Per the HMB website

Indulge yourself with a stay in our colossal king room – our most spacious and elegant at the Inn. This bright and airy room overlooks Main Street and features a luxurious king bed and beautiful furnishings including two plush arm chairs and a large writing desk. The large marble bathroom features a shower.

When we entered the room I was pleasantly surprised to see a huge bouquet of red flowers, roses and carnations. When I read the card I saw that they were from Frank. He was pleased with my reaction but also a bit annoyed that whoever took his order got the notecard wrong. It congratulated us on our 40th wedding anniversary. I laughed. I knew he knew better!

One deciding feature for choosing this particular room was the two plush arm chairs. We relaxed in them reading or just soaking in the ambiance of the street below. Another use for one of the chairs, however, was also that Frank pushed it up against the bed. The bed was too high for me to climb into without some sort of boost. I am beginning to think this elevation choice is a design trend oblivious to the needs of short and/or old people!

There is a restaurant called It's Italia adjacent to the inn and we ate there out first night. I had filet mignon with roasted asparagus and Frank had a seafood special with haddock, shrimp, mussels over garlic mashed potatoes. Both were excellent. My appetite has been down of late but I relished every last bite. To quote a line from the classic 1972 Alka Seltzer commercial, "I can't believer I ate the whole thing!" 

Over the next two days we wandered in and out of the crafts and novelties shops, picking up a few trinkets for Christmas presents. We cruised some of the back roads of the town, straining for a glimpses of the beach from the comfort of our car. We did not park and trudge through long stretches of sand to reach the water, but both of us were in agreement with that decision. We were having a nice low key time looking at man-made creations and were content to view nature from a distance. The art work on the streets was enjoyable also, be it the murals on the buildings or the metal sculptures. We'd then retreat to the comfort of our room to read or nap. 

A bit of a bummer this trip, but not enough to deter us from relaxation, was Frank's double vision. He is having a flareup of his Occular Myasthenia Gravis, an autoimmune disease, and is currently in a phase of gradually adjusting the dosage of his medication for it. Ocular Myasthenia Gravis only affects the muscles that move the eyes and eyelids. The symptoms of ocular myasthenia gravis include double vision (seeing two images instead of one), trouble focusing, and drooping eyelids. Coping during his medication adjustment, Frank creatively puts a stickie note over one lens of his eyeglasses so he is only using one eye to read. Necessity being the mother of invention and all that, our attitude remained up beat. Ya can't get through 49 years without some hiccups. And Frank could no longer gripe about me being a back seat driver. I was the one behind the wheel for this adventure.