Book 18 of 52: A Briefer History of Time

A thank you to Helen for lending me this book. After reading a few fiction books, especially a couple of  'trashy' ones, I thought it was time for another non-fiction selection. Here's something that not everyone knows about me. Despite having a Bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics and a Masters degree in Statistics, I never really liked or did well in Physics. I blame it on my grade 12 physics teacher who made us construct a trebuchet to hurl a raw egg nested in a homemade protective device through the air and land safely (see image below). Never in my life has a project caused me such stress and anxiety. So much so, upon entering university I was so traumatized I deferred my required first year physics course until final semester of a four year degree.

So needless to say I approached this book with a little bit of hestitation.

In all honesty, I was very surprised with how much physics I learned in that first year university course. I remembered Newtons simple and elegant Law of Gravity, but didn't realize it has been replaced with Einstein s relativity equations. Did you know that Newtonian gravity describes the motion of the solar system almost perfectly, but not quite? Relativity actually describes it perfectly. More importantly without relativity, my GPS would be about 1000 times less accurate (if I had a GPS). Given my math background, I was actually itching to see some formulas and numbers, but there weren't any -- this book is readable for the non-scientist. I also finally understood Star Trek and the "Space-time continuum", in that time passes at different rates for different observers and it's not linear. That's why physicists refer to it as "space-time".....Whoa! It was making sense.

Toward the end of the book, where Hawking discusses the theories that scientists are currently trying to prove, such as string theory, it started getting to be a bit above my head and I lost interest. I stuck with it though and now I won't feel so guilty going back to my fiction books for a while.

I thought this book was well worth reading, but I did have to slog through parts. A bit like working out at the gym....hard work while you're there, but worth the effort once you're done! That reminds me, I better go pack my gym bag for tomorrow. 

Book 17 of 52: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

 

This was another stellar recommendation from my colleague Michelle and the third book I read during my vacation. I didn't realize the book was entirely in the format of letters written between the characters. I found this format very hard to read at first. I had trouble following the characters and the letters weren't giving me enough information to really understand the eessence of the characters. But I stuck with it, as I suspected it would get better and I would get used to the style. I was glad I did! What a delightful and inspiring book. It really piacked up in the second half.

Did you know that during World War II the Germans occupied Guernsey in the Channel Islands? Despite both sides of my grandparents living throught WWII in England and a couple of high school courses in English history (when I lived in New Zealand), I didn't know this. The Germans built heavy fortifications against the islanders, built a concentration camp on Guernsey, and Guernsey's children were evacuated to England. I just cannot fathom sending my two little boys off to another family, hundreds of miles away to care for them and not knowing how they are growing up.

I enjoyed the wonderful Islander characters, learned some history, and the underlying love story was just the frosting on the cake. If you can get used to the letter/correspondence format and stick with it, this book is well worth it! I feel like if I was to get a plane ticket over the Guernsey right now I'd find all the characters of the book alive and well, and they would greet me like a long lost friend.

Book 16 of 52: I've Got Your Number

A little bit of chick lit for my vacation down South! Here's the author describing the book (it saves me giving the details here). The main character, Poppy, is so darn loveable, as are all of the main characters from Sophie Kinsella's books (Shopaholic series). It is a light-hearted, romantic, fun read and perfect for sitting on the beach, although I read it mostly at night when the kids went to bed. This book was pure entertainment. If you're looking for something more, don't bother with this one.

P.S. I also love the name "Poppy"...but I highly doubt I'll be having a daughter anytime soon (or ever!).

P.P.S. XXXX <3 <3 <3  (read the book and you'll get it!)

Book 15 of 52: The Peach Keeper

A thank you goes out to my colleague at work, Karen, who introduced me to this author. It was the first book (of three!) that I read this week on my trip to Florida. With the kids in bed by 8:30pm and very little chores to be done, I managed to get at least two hours of reading in every night. It was heaven!

Well, let's face it, when you're on vacation you want a nice quick read, something that doesn't make you think too hard. This is want I was hoping for and generally got with The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. This book revolves around two women, Willa Jackson and Paxton Osgood, both thirty years old and living in Walls of Water, North Carolina, the small town where they grew up. Paxton was prom queen in highschool, seemingly perfect, and never left town; Willa was quiet, intense and couldn't wait to leave Walls of Water and her family's disappointments behind. Willa's family had a logging fortune but lost it in the 1930s. Willa's family lost their home at the same time, a mansion called the Blue Ridge Madam, and Paxton's wealthy family purchases and renovates the Madam in present day toturn it into an inn. During renovations, a skeleton with some personal belongings is found buried under a peach tree and secrets from the past related to Paxton and Willa's ancestors threaten to come to light.

While Allen is a good storyteller and  I got that nice cozy feeling reading it, I couldn't quite connect with the characters. Despite the fact it centred around two strong women (I would normally like this!), all the characteres seemed quite stereotypical, and their actions and dialogue, trite and predictable. The book was supposed to be a bit of a "mystery" but by the middle of it I could predict what would happen in the end (and I was correct, sadly). All in all, it wasn't bad, but I was expecting something more.

Even though this book was a "so-so" on my list, I'm definitely tempted to give this author another chance, as many of reviews of another of her books called "Garden Spells" are wonderful. Karen lent me this one as well, so it might get into the rotation this year.

Book 14 of 52: The Art of Racing in the Rain

I visited my sister and her family today (Easter Sunday). I am not a dog-person. Period. They have a dog. Evi likes to give kisses and share the love with visitors to their house. Dog slobber is disgusting, and shedding blonde hair does nothing to help my severely limited wardrobe of black yoga pants and black t-shirts. So when two people I know (Celina & Michelle) suggested this book, saying it was written from the perspective of a dog, I had to think twice before picking it up. It's funny that I finished this book this morning, just before heading off to her house.

The Art of Racing in the Rain is the story of a family's journey through life told through the eyes of their beloved dog Enzo. By telling the story from his perspective there's a beautiful innocence in the narrative voice. At times the voice is of a crotchety old man, and at other times a young child. He's wise, he's naive, and he is devoted. The family he is devoted to is made up of Denny, Eve, and their child, Zoe. Denny is an up and coming race car driver, but has to put this aside when his wife Eve is diagnosed with brain cancer. Eve decides to move into her parents home for the last weeks of her life and takes her daughter with her, while her husband and his dog Enzo are left alone. Even worse, Eve's parents, Zoe's grandparents lauch a custody battle after their daughter's death. The book has a bit of a Hollywood ending that seems too good to be true, but I certainly enjoyed the journey to get to the ending.

For a book written from the perspective of a dog, this is one of the most human stories I've read in a while. It was also quick read -- perfect for the long weekend!

Book 13 of 52: Cutting for Stone

I've been wanting to read this for over a year and when I found out it was a book club selection I decided to wait until closer to the time when we'd be talking about it at our April book club meeting. I didn't realize that it would take me until April to actually finish it.

I thought I'd be writing this entry a couple of weeks ago, but life has a way of taking it's own twists and turns. I happen to pick a 600-page book to read just as things with work and the kids got really busy. I'm back to reading now and re-focussed on finding time for myself and hopefully catching up on my weekly entries. In fact, after I finished this book, I read another one in only two days (another blog entry to follow shortly on that one as well!).

This book started off a little slowly and for some reason, whether it be sleep deprivation thanks to a teething 15 month old or the language in the novel, it was a slower read for me than normal. It might have been that the author loved details...and I loved them too. It took me to the unknown worlds of Indian, Ethiopia and inner-city New York. It was a fascinating look into medicine and its practitioners, a love story, as well as a political drama. The narrator is Marion Stone, a 50 yr-old surgeon, who recounts his life from inception and of his twin brother, Shiva, and the lives of the people that cared for them. They were born conjoined at the head (successfully separated), sons of an Indian nun/nurse living in Ethiopia. Their father is an extraordinarily talented surgeon, Thomas Stone, who had worked with Sister Mary Praise (their mother) for seven years. The setting of most of the book is Abba Adaba, Ethiopia, at the fictional Mission Hospital (pronounced "Missing" by many Ethiopians).

If I say too much about this book, I'll have to throw in a lot of spoilers, and suspense has its delicious rewards. So I won't. Suffice it to say, your patience with the story will be worth it. It was truly a wonderful read, and I think it could have only been even better if I had had more free time to get through it in a few sittings, rather than spread it across weeks.