Little Century

by Anna Keesey

I almost didn't read this book because I was worried it was a thinly veiled romance. And it was a romance, in some ways, but well-written enough that I continued reading.

The story sounds like a Harlequin romance: a young city girl in the turn of the century is orphaned. She turns to her only remaining family, a distant cousin who owns a remote ranch in the high desert of Oregon. He is a single hard-headed rancher (can you guess where this is going?).

However predictable the romance, the book was enjoyable. I picked it up, of course, because it was set in my neck of the woods but I think I would have like it even if it wasn't. Keesey has pleasant writing style, neither too sterile or too florid. 

All Over but the Shoutin'

by Rick Bragg

I don't recall if I knew that this was written by a journalist before I read it but I realized that I truly enjoy nearly all books, fiction or non, written by former reporters.

This is a memoir, the story of Bragg's childhood in the South through his career culminating in a Pulitzer Prize. It was like the American "Angela's Ashes," with horrific poverty, very sparse language that manages to be poetic at the same time.

This is one I'd read again, definitely.

The Egg & I

by Betty MacDonald

Funny that I never read this book before because it was famous in my family growing up. It was my mother's favorite book and she often spoke about how wonderful it was. As a kid I'd seen the film but I had no interest at that time in reading a book about a woman living on a chicken farm.
But I found a copy at an estate sale (and later the same month a family member gave me another) so I read it and was thunderstruck. It was like opening a page and hearing my mother's voice.
MacDonald was a satirist, she reminded my very much of Mark Twain. So slyly sardonic, so humorous and so biting. I realized instantly what a huge impact MacDonald had on my mother in developing her writing style.
In a nutshell, the story is a memoir covering the period in the late 1920s when as a newlywed she lived on a chicken farm in a remote part of the Olympic Peninsula. As a city girl, you can guess the rest.
I loved her style, her wit, her self-deprecation. Even her descriptions of the natural world all around her were wonderful. Like many satirists, especially of a different era, she is harsh is her judgements of others, with cutting and ofttimes racist descriptions of some of the locals. But if you can get past that and understand it is a product of the time, it is a wonderful book.

Autobiography of Henry Vlll

by Margaret George

It was inevitable that I read this book, as besotted as I am with Tudor history. Considering how well I know the story, I found this book very enjoyable. It was huge, nearly 1,000 pages but great storytelling. It was very interesting hearing an infamous historical character telling his own story, albeit fictional, after so many others have written about him.

Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving

by Jonathan Evison

I enjoyed "West of Here" so much I tried another by this author and I was not disappointed. Evison's characters are so incredibly complex, flawed and fascinating. It's rare that literary characters feel THAT real.
In "Fundamentals" the main character is almost an anti-hero. He can be a self-absorbed jerk, a bit of a loser. He's lost everything, in a large way because of his own actions and he can't forgive himself for that. Neither can the reader, for quite a while. He gets a job as a caregiver for a disabled boy, not a transformative experience as it would be in a more melodramatic book, but an experience that helps him grow- abeit, very slowly.

Indian Killer

by Sherman Alexie


Transfixed by Alexie's short stories, I picked up this novel - his first. Still haven't gotten to his poetry yet, which I understand is great, but I never seem to take the time poetry requires nowadays.

Anyway, this book is a murder mystery on some levels, a heartbreaking look into mental illness and an expose on the race relations - or lack of them - between whites and American Indians.

The book is set in Seattle, where a serial killer is leaving clues that may or may not lead to the culprit being Indian. In between the crime thriller, however, is the story of John Smith, a young man adopted by whites and struggling painfully with what sounds like schizophrenia. Top that off with brutal portrayals of pretentious whites, homeless Indians and well-meaning liberals and soon you don't know whether it's a murder mystery or not.

My vote is not. It's more like a novel about two longtime warring tribes trying to coexist - or not - with a bit of murder tossed into the middle, like a grenade

I liked the book but not as much as his short stories, which are sparse and lovely.

News from Heaven

by Jennifer Haigh


This was an audio book and by the time I got around to listening I had forgotten it was collection of loosely interwoven short stories, all connected to the same small East Coast town,

Once I got over my surprise I sank into the stories. It reminded me very much of the short stories by Alice Munro, some of which have connections, some strong, some as delicate as a spider's web.

Bakerton, Penn., is a working class town but the stories don't just touch on the miners or millworkers. There are stories about troubled heiresses, repressed merchants and confused kids. Each one is compelling and yet careful in how it peels back the layers of the people and their stories -- which can different depending on who you ask.

I found out this author has another collection of short stories in Bakerton. I'm gettin' it.