Summer Reading 2022: West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

 

This summer has flown by so fast my head is spinning. Now it's August, and I did finally manage to finish a book! I spent yesterday cleaning my house, which I haven't done in some time. That involved gathering all the piles of books I have sitting around and putting them all in one spot. Now instead of a lot of small piles, I have just one big pile by my living room bookcase. Cleaning felt good, and helped me reset a bit. It's been a very busy work summer, and I'm definitely feeling low energy. Finishing this book, which has been on my TBR list for a long time, also helped reset my mental "can do" attitude. 

I read this book now because I was invited to be on a podcast with a local library. They discuss books with librarians from area libraries each month, and I picked West with Giraffes. When I say I enjoyed this book so so much, I'm not understating it. I even decided to add it to our library collection as a book club kit because it is such a wonderful book, and must be shared. 

WWG takes place over a two week period in September, 1938. It also bounces to 2025, where the main character Woody Nickel (yes that's his name) is 105 years old and nearing the end of his life. Woody realizes he doesn't have much time left, and he still has a story to tell. It's a story he must tell, because he's the only one left to tell it, and he can't stand the thought of the story dying with him. So Woody starts writing in notebooks in his room at the care center; feverishly writing it all down. 

The story starts out with Woody surviving the Hurricane of 1938 that hit New Jersey and killed hundreds of people. Woody is there, and survives through sheer luck. He's traveled from Texas to work with the only remaining relative he has: a third cousin who doesn't survive the hurricane. Woody is seventeen, broke, and alone. And to his amazement, he sees two giraffes on a boat that have miracularly survived the hurricane. He finds out they are to travel across country to the San Diego Zoo, their new home. Woody wants to get to "Californy" to start over--after all, it's the land of milk and honey. 

Old man is tasked with hiring a driver to take the giraffes to California. Woody, through some sheer ingenuity and luck, gets to drive the truck. He's formed a connection with the two giraffes he calls Boy and Girl. And so the adventure begins, filled with bad men, good people, danger, and a whole lot of amazing moments. 

Woody, Old Man, and Red, the beautiful photographer who follows the truck across the U.S. capturing all the special moments of the journey, are three characters that grew on me so much so that it was painful to end the journey. Each has a back story that is slowly revealed as they connect over their love for the giraffes. 

I still find myself thinking about this novel and the characters days after I finished it. It was quite unlike anything I've read this year, and exactly what I needed to read this summer. I think it would make an excellent movie on any of the streaming services. It's definitely a hidden gem that I will be sharing with everyone who asks me "what should I read next?"

Rating: 5/6 for a sneaky novel: it begins interestingly enough, but somehow grabs you by the heartstrings and doesn't let go. Characters reveal themselves and their hidden secrets and form unbreakable bonds. And the giraffes are just unforgettable. 

Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio. 

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Summer Reading 2022: West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

Read Off the TBR Pile: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

This is a novel I've been wanting to read for quite some time. February is African American History Month, and I felt this was the perfect time to read it. I finished last night, and had to take some time to digest, because it's a book that left me gobsmacked. 

First of all, Colson Whitehead is an amazing writer. Amazing. This was a novel that grabbed me and occasionally let me come up for air. I  read it in chunks, because some of it was brutal, and left me feeling a bit sick and horrified. 

Cora is a young slave working the cotton fields at the Randall plantation in Georgia. Two brothers own two parts of the plantation, and while she is under the ownership of the less brutal brother, it is still a harsh life. Her mother Martha had run away when Cora was very small, and the famous slave catcher Ridgeway had failed to bring her back to the plantation. Ridgeway just could never let that go, and that plays a big part in Cora's journey throughout the novel. Cora herself is at turns angry and bitter at her mother for leaving her, and desperately missing her mother. 

Cora's owner dies, and his brother Terrance takes ownership of the whole plantation. Terrance is quite possibly the most sadistic and horrible character in the novel. He has his eye on Cora, and she is terrified of what's to come. Caesar, a fellow slave, decides to run, and asks Cora to go with him. The two run away and so begins Cora's amazing flight to freedom. 

The underground railroad is stunning; it's an actual railroad, complete with trains and tracks. Cora travels from Georgia to South Carolina and beyond. At each stop she thinks she's found a safe place. The people who help along the way are all part of a huge network of folks who risk their lives to keep the railroad moving. Some of them pay a harsh price. 

I can't tell you more, because if you haven't read it, you should and discover Cora's journey for yourself. While some reviewers expressed disappointment in not getting to know Cora on a deeper level, I didn't find that to be true. The brutality she experiences is told in a matter of fact way which makes it that much more awful. This was every day life. I was reminded at times of witch hunts--people taking the opportunity to turn others in on suspicion in order to get even for imagined slights. I was reminded of World War 2, when people took great risks to hide Jews and help them get to safety. I was reminded of those people who were so afraid for their own safety that they willingly, and sometimes gleefully betrayed others in order to survive. Time and again, Whitehead reminds us that the machine of the South was relentless, asking for more and more human flesh to keep it churning, greedy for more cotton, more money. 

The "magical realism" of the railroad and some of Cora's experiences portray a world gone mad and out of control. Time and again, Cora meets and loses someone; she must continue on this journey alone. Ridgeway has not given up on finding Cora and bringing her back to the plantation. He's obsessed with her, and will not let Martha's daughter escape. 

Will Cora make it to freedom? Is it worth the sacrifices and loss she must suffer?   Will she ever find Martha?

This is a novel that will stick with me for a long time. I feel emotionally exhausted. Worthy of all the accolades, and definitely one of the best books I've read in a very, very long time. 

Rating: 6/6 for a Pulitzer prize winning novel that is astonishing in the brutal portrayal of slavery and a flight to freedom. A cast of unforgettable characters and excellent writing make this truly an epic read. 

Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audio.  

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Read Off the TBR Pile: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

I first read Paulette Jiles years ago, when I stumbled on Enemy Women at my bookstore.  I was gobsmacked by that novel, and it remains one of my favorite Civil War novels. 

I've had an advanced reader's copy of this book for a few years.  I was excited to read it, but somehow lost my enthusiasm about 30 pages into it, put it down, and didn't pick it up again until last week. I deliberately picked it for my book group this month so I would finally read it.  It's only a few hundred pages; easy enough, right? Read it in one sitting.  

Yet it still took me the better part of a week to read, and my only thought about that is because I liked Captain Kidd and Johanna so much I didn't want anything to happen to them on their journey.  I just couldn't bear to read a passage that would endanger, injure, or tear Johanna away from the Captain.  So that very reason kept me from reading it a few years ago, and had me taking a week to read a book I could have read in a day. 

It's a simple enough story.  Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd is a man in his early 70's who travels the West reading newspapers to audiences. It is, indeed, news of the world. His eloquent, commanding voice, and his choices of which articles to read make him a popular man in his travels.  The Civil War is over, yet fallout remains.  Texas, where this novel is set, is torn apart by political factions, hideouts from the war, and Native Americans attacking pioneers, cowboys, and pretty much everyone. Kiowa Indians are in a fight for survival that sadly they won't win. Captain is asked to deliver ten year old Johanna to her Aunt and Uncle, after being rescued from the Kiowa tribe that killed her parents and sister four years earlier.  Johanna has completely lost any identity as a white child, and is scared, angry, and speaks only Kiowa. She wants to go back to the tribe, which she considers family.  

As Captain and Johanna travel from Wichita Falls through Texas on a 400 mile journey, they slowly get to know each other. Their developing relationship is the heart of the novel, and for me that was the best part, and the most surprising part.  I kept waiting for disaster to strike, and it did, but Captain and Johanna came together and saved themselves in a pretty ingenious way.  My fears of a journey plagued by fire, floods, and attacks were unrealized, and that made me very relieved.  Instead, this novel is about a child who is suffering from PTSD, an elderly gentlemen who has been around (and also suffers from PTSD), fought wars, lived, loved, raised children, and is now continuing to spread the "news of the world" to folks who have little contact with the world outside their towns.

A bigger conversation could be had about the effects of tragedy on small children, and what family means, especially when children are forcibly returned to family that neither cares nor wants them. It's stirred my interest in historical figures Cynthia Parker and Olive Oatman, two women who were returned to white society after living with Native Americans.  Their stories are available in books and films, and are fascinating.  

Rating: 4/6. I'm glad I had the chance to go back and finish News of the World. I love Paulette Jiles' writing style; she says a lot with few words, and her characters  become quite endearing very quickly. You'll not soon forget the Captain and Johanna. 

Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audio. A National Book Award Finalist. 

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News of the World by Paulette Jiles

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

I'll start out by saying that this book took me a loooong time to read.  It's not very lengthy; I can only say that I don't consider it time wasted spending weeks picking it up and putting it down.  It's the type of book that is meant to be read slowly, thoughtfully, and with a box of tissues at the ready.  Oh, and since it takes place in France, and the characters drink wine pretty much every day...well, stock up on some bottles before you begin this touching, lovely, quietly powerful book.  

Jean Perdu lives in an apartment building in Paris inhabited by an eclectic group of people.  The latest resident is Catherine, a middle aged woman who has been dumped by her husband for a younger woman.  She spends her days crying in her apartment.  Perdu is mildly curious, but only in the way he can give her a book that will help her heal.  Yes, Perdu owns a book barge moored on the Seine, and he's a literary apothecary.  Seriously, a man after my own heart.  

But while Perdu can diagnose and recommend the perfect book for each person who steps onto his barge, he himself is closed off from love, living, and moving on with his life.  Twenty years before, in 1992, the love of his life, Manon, left him for her husband.  They had been having an affair for five years, and their time spent together was magic.  Manon had traveled to Paris before she married her fiance Luc, in hopes of seeing something more than the small village in which she was born and raised.  Luc, being the good, decent man she couldn't say no to, accepted this life she had in Paris with Perdu.  Not being able to give up either man, Manon found love with both men. 

Until one day Manon left, and never returned.  Perdu, bereft, refused to contact her again, closed off the room in his apartment where they spent all their time together, and stopped living.  Until Catherine came along.  She was in dire need of furniture for her apartment, and Perdu reluctantly offers up his kitchen table.  By opening up the forgotten room, memories come flooding back.  Catherine finds a letter in a drawer of the table, and Perdu realizes Manon left him one last, final letter.  He reads the letter.

This sets Perdu off on his book barge, floating down the rivers of France to find Manon's village, and put the past to rest.  So many unexpected things happen on this journey I can't even begin to tell you, and I wouldn't anyway.  It would spoil the whole story.  Needless to say, you will laugh, cry (a lot!), and witness the healing power of books, forgiveness, and love.  If you're lucky, you'll have a life blessed with all three things.  Join Perdu and his friends on a pretty remarkable journey.  

This novel was first published in Europe before it made its way to the U.S.  You really must read it slowly, and savor the language.  It is simply beautiful and so full of color and power that you'll need to take a deep breath.  Lush and lovely.  

Rating:  8/10 for a novel that will break your heart and lift you up all at once. 

Available in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook. 

 

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The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck

Do you ever wish you had the guts (I'm using the word "guts" instead of my preferred word "b*lls" 'cause I'm a lady ;) ) to drop your normal, routine life for a few months and do something completely crazy?  Follow your radical, makes-no-sense-but-I- want-to-do-it-dream?  Rinker Buck and his brother Nick do just that, and chronicle their "crazyass passion" in The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey.  

Rinker and Nick outfit a covered wagon, gather a team of mules, and over the course of four months follow the Oregon Trail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Baker City, Oregon.  They travel a trail that hasn't been visited by a covered wagon in over 100 years. In this journey, Rinker and Nick find adventure, teamwork, sheer dogged determination, and an America most of us never have the privilege of seeing, and probably never will.  We're so busy driving our cars everywhere, rushing around, that we don't take the time to slow down, walk, and look at what's around us.  We don't listen to the birds chirping, the sound of the wind rustling leaves, or any of the quiet sounds of nature that are a peaceful tonic, just waiting for us to slow down and enjoy them.  

I loved this book.  I'm a history fan to be sure, but Rinker is a mega-history fan, and he writes about the Oregon Trail in such a way that you completely realize the social and economic impact the great migration to the West had on our country.  It made our country in so many ways that it boggles my mind. The parallels between pioneers and people today are staggering. The waste of goods, recycling, and money-making enterprises were very much in place during the 1830's-1860's, and it's pretty interesting to see that people haven't changed much at all in this country.  That drive that homesteaders had to succeed and thrive is still with us today, but in a different way.  I think that kernel of determination and grit needs a renewal and reawakening.  Reading Rinker's journey just may do it for you.    

 I can't say I'd survive a 2,000 mile journey in a covered wagon.  I'm convinced my boyfriend would have not only made the trip, but thrived on the challenges, setbacks, and sheer physical strength it took to survive.  I told him I'm convinced he was a pioneer in a previous life.  His response was to let out a gentle snore as he fell asleep listening to me drone on about the settling of the West.  

I've read some reviews about this book, and people compare Rinker to Bill Bryson.  I can see that, but while Bill Bryson writes about all the ways he comes near to disasters as he travels around, Rinker grabs onto those challenges and beats them into submission.  He quickly realizes he's no different than the pioneers, and that the trail will be chock full of surprises and potential disasters.  You can plan, but that doesn't mean everything will go according to plan.  Rinker writes with humor, and I found myself laughing out loud at his conversations with Nick.  Anyone with a sibling knows they're the only people you can swear at and call stupid idiots, but they'll love you anyway, and stick with you through thick and thin.  One of the highlights of this journey is the team of Rinker and Nick, along with Nick's dog, Olive Oyl.  Olive Oyl works just as hard as the men and the mules to make the trail ride a success.

And there are the mules: Jake, Beck, and Bute.  They are characters that literally drive this journey forward.  I have to say I got a bit teary-eyed at the end of the trail, saying goodbye to the mules.  This book is a journey that will keep you enchanted, laughing, swearing with Rinker and Nick at the mishaps along the trail, and reluctantly turning the last page.  It truly is the journey that is the important, most memorable part, and not the final destination.  Fans of American history, pioneers, the West, memoirs, and humorous travel writing will enjoy this book.  What an accomplishment to make in your lifetime:  to ride the 2,000 mile Oregon Trail with a wagon and mules.  Makes successfully weeding my garden in one day seem kinda trivial!  

This book is available the week of June 30th in hardcover and ebook.  

Rating:  9/10 for a purely enjoyable read, a great history lesson that won't bore you, and a reminder that we all  have moments of crazyass passion that drive us to reach for those grand-but not impossible, dreams.  

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The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck