Mink River

by Brian Doyle

Figuring out how to describe this book is tough. It's kind of indescribable. It's a novel but a very nontraditional. I picked it up for two reasons: heard good things and it takes place on the north Oregon coast -- a place I know very well and was curious to see how others see it.

There are many characters in the book, interacting, thinking, doing things. But there isn't a singe quote mark. There are also animals and elements of nature with personalities, free will and their own philosophies.

The 'sense of place' as they call it, was very familiar. Coastal rain forests, salty estuaries, tumultuous seas -- check. Bitter, moody fishermen -- check. Vulgar, prickly hometown girls with round heels and soft hearts -- check. Brilliant artists with chronic depression -- check. Devoted sheriff deputy who married his high school sweetheart -- check.

The stream of consciousness style was hard to get used to but it came eventually. And by then I was entranced. It's a brilliant book, an amazing journey and very rewarding.   

so many books...

What do you get with a long commute? Audio books.
Since the last book I posted here I've listened to probably 15 or more books in the last several months but forgotten to post my thoughts about them here. And now I don't recall all their titles.

 I did finish something I started as a 'beach read.' Another Jodi Picoult. I always enjoy her books, even if they are not any fancy great literature. The characters are good, complex and the stories compelling. She reminds me of Stephen King that way, without the bite.

I'll try to recreate my book long, audio style, just for continuity's sake.

Snow falling on cedars

by David Guterson

I've had more reading time than is typical in the last few months, which has been awesome. I've had this book for a while but I've been avoiding it. I vaguely recall the film, which was high in the romance aspect.

The book takes place in a quiet Puget Sound island community. Farming and fishing sustain it and it's populated with immigrants of many types, the most recent pre-WW11 Japanese. There is an ill-fated romance, a mystery and feelings of distrust and regret.

It's a beautifully written book, elegant in its prose but not overly lush. I realize I've been reading a lot of books set in the Northwest lately. Not sure why but I have been enjoying them tremendously.

Border Songs

by  Jim Lynch

This is a mystery book. I have a whole shelf of books I haven't read yet, a product of my overestimation of how much I can read or gifts. I don't know which this is. It may have been a suggestion from the independent book store in Redmond. 

No matter. It's a character-driven, sense-of-place book, probably my favorite type. The book's 'hero' is a bit off, maybe autistic, or maybe just a genius. He lives in a town bordering the Washington/Canadian border. What it means to live in a border town is a major theme and plot point of the book but really it is about the characters. None are wholly good, or bad, smart or stupid. They just are, like all of us. 

This book snuck up on me. At first it seemed very plain but in fact could be quite lyrical.  I enjoyed this writer's style very much. 

Not enough time for too many books

Seven months since my last book report? I can't believe it. I have actually read a handful since then but haven't had a chance to list them. And now, of course, I've forgotten what they were. 

But now I've just finished "Stalin's Ghost" by Martin Cruz Smith. Another Renko detective book, I think this is my third or fourth. 

In this book he gets involved with a soldier-turned-cop-turned politician and some shady dealings with the blackmarket, the Chechnyn rebellion aftermath and a peculiar hobby of digging for bodies and WWII loot in the Russian countryside. 

I enjoyed it, although the first half seemed slow. It was not my favorite Smith novel however, I'm not sure why. I found it difficult to keep track of the characters, perhaps all of the Russian names. And, as in all Renko books, it was dark. Very dark. 

I also recently finished a Stephen King book, "Mr. Mercedes," that was fantastic. Not his usual supernatural thing but more of a suspense/crime novel, the story follows a serial killer and a retired detective obsessed with finding him. 

I know there are more but it's too late -- I can't recall their names. 

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.

Wild: From lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail

by Cheryl Strayed


Here's another book that received a lot of acclaim when it came out, so I perversely avoided it for some time. Then I read it.

It's a nonfiction account of Strayed, who inexplicably became obsessed with hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. A 20-something, Strayed was living up to her name: promiscuous, no career, drug addiction. She decided to hike the trail for three months, with no knowledge of the wilderness beyond a book.

Strayed's writing style is very clean and concise but not boring -- anything but. I burned through this book, fascinated with the adventure and this very, very flawed heroine.

I highly recommend this book.

Ada Blackjack

by Jennifer Niven

So this wasn't the most compellingly written nonfiction ever but the subject was fresh and the research thorough.

The story follows a polar expedition closed to the turn of the century, one that came a bit late in the explorer game, so the riches and fame weren't quite as heady. A key plot point is the fact that the organizer/main explorer did not even go on the trip, which was to Wrangle Island in the Bering Sea.

Instead he recruited a team (mostly inexperienced), raised money (not enough) and outfitted (poorly) the team, which included a single Inuit woman, Ada Blackjack.

Educated but abandoned by her husband and desperate for money to support her son, Ada joins the team as a seamstress/cook. She knows little about living in the wild, having been raised in the city.

So of course, mishaps and misadventures mean Ada has to survive on her own and the story is told very carefully and without drama (except the actual drama taking place). I've read little about explorers so if nothing else it was interesting on that level.

Heartsick

by Chelsea Cain

Funny thing, this. I've been meaning to ready books by this author for years. I used to follow a personal column she wrote for "The Oregonian" that I just loved. I loved her style, loved her personality, loved her.

But then she came out with a crime novel/mystery, one fated to become a series, and I hestitated. Because I really don't enjoy them that much and I think there are way, way too many of them. So I avoided dealing with it.

 But eventually I caved and it was worth it. Story revolves around a serial killer and a reporter-turned-dectective (nothing new there) but it was set in Portland (always fun to have someplace you're familar with) and the tone and characters were fresh enough it felt good. 

Even though I avoid series like the plague, I will read the next one and hope it's just as good.

The Invisible Ones

by Stef Penney


So I realized recently that I rarely check out books from the library anymore. Oh, I check out books on building chicken coops, books on gluten-free baking, books with knitting patterns or design ideas but rarely 'reading matter', especially fiction.

And it's not that I'm not reading these things, it's that I have so much of it at home (and keeping adding to it, despite the fact that I can't keep up) that I don't need to check out books from the library.

And funny, because I used to haunt the library and take absurd amount of books home.

Yet, by chance this book jumped into my arms from the library and even though I'm reading three at home, I checked it out anyway. And on a day off from work, when I was going to treat myself to a bit of reading before my chores, I ended up reading the whole friggin' book. In a day. It was that good and that compelling -- like a good Stephen King read that's impossible to walk away from.

The book revolves around English Romanies (Gypsies) so I was a sucker for it already. The main character, Ray, is a Rom by birth by not lifestyle, having grown up a fairly ordinary English life. He goes to college and becomes a private detective.

Onto his office walks a Romany father with a missing daughter. He chooses Ray because he's a Gypsy but doesn't know Ray doesn't live 'the life'. Needing a case, Ray takes the job and gets sucked into the enormously complex life of the Romanies, despite his efforts to remain removed.

As a mystery, it avoids cliches to such an extent it doesn't feel like a mystery story. It feels like a story. And even though I deduced a crucial plot point slightly more than halfway through, I still finished the book because the telling of the story was that good. 

Let's Take the Long Way Home

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by Gail Caldwell

I don't read at ton of nonfiction but this one was recommended by my local bookstore owner and I respect his opinion. He was right, it was a wonderful book. Caldwell rights mostly about the arch of her friendship with her closest woman friend but the book is about more than that: her career, her relationships, with family, friends and her beloved dogs.

The book is very simply written (Caldwell was a journalist) and I love her style. It's clear uncluttered language was poetic on some levels. She writes about her best friend, who is her soul mate in many ways and who died painfully of cancer. It's brilliantly told, this story of friendship and love. It makes you cry at the same time it makes you believe in the power of love.

The Orchardist

by Amanda Coplin

Honestly, the main reason I read this book was because it is set in North Central Washington, around Wenatchee, Cashmere and Methow Valley, an area I've come to love.

It takes place around the turn of the 20th century and revolves around a lone orchardist, Talmadge, who takes in two teenage girls fleeing a horrible situation.

Despite his desire to be left alone, the bachelor gets drawn into a complex situation involving the girls and the man who is after them.

I enjoyed the book, the plot was intriguing and the period and geographic details felt true. The characters were tough to get to know, however, a little too obtuse. I like complex characters but these just seemed...vague.  

The Lacuna

by Barbara Kingsolver

This book was such a surprise. A huge Kingsolver fan, this book in no way resembled anything she's done before.
Its hero is a man, it takes place in pre-WWII Mexico and post-war U.S., the prose is more sparse but still lyrical in an open, disarming way. The story is told through journals, letters and other documents.
In 'The Lacuna,' Harrison Shepherd (presidential name, isn't it?) is a boy a bit on the outside, with a vivacious Mexican mother, a remote American father and a very active imagination. Later still, he lives in the U.S., going to school and trying to be American. He's more comfortable in Mexico, where he meets up with artists, scholars, revolutionaries and cooks. But eventually he finds himself back in the U.S., where he becomes sucked into the anti-Communist fever that spreads through the populace like a virus, leaving no one immune.

I very much enjoyed the book but not as much as others by Kingsolver -- and I don't know why. I really enjoyed reading about a time and social upheaval I knew little about. I loved the character of Harrison. Why didn't I treasure it like I did others by her?

Crossing the Borders of Time

by Leslie Maitland

I love reading books by journalists, at least the well-done ones. The research and attention to detail can be breathtaking.
This book is an  account of Maitland's mother's life, from well-to-to childhood in Germany to terrifying pre-war years in France. It delves into amazing detail of Janenne's personality, her motivations and emotions, her memories and how reality conflicted with those.
The book tells you as much about Maitland as her mother, but in a side-glance way, as clues tune you into her motivations, her emotions as well.
The depth of characters and little plot side trips (just like real life!) in this book were endless.

Loved it.