The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel by Garth Stein: October 2010

Saturday, October 30, 2010

[The Art of Racing in the Rain]THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN[Hardcover] ON 01 Jun,2009)

!1: Now is the time [The Art of Racing in the Rain]THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN[Hardcover] ON 01 Jun,2009) Order Today!

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Oct 30, 2010 22:19:21

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Monday, October 18, 2010

The Book Thief

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$5.17
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Oct 18, 2010 03:57:17

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

From the Hardcover edition.

!1: Best Buy I might not have ordered this book if I had seen the "Young Adult" label. I am so very glad that I didn't.

I spent a good deal of time pondering this book and I think it excels at showing an interplay between the extraordinary and the ordinary. Death narrates but not as an evil figure...he's rather ordinary despite having the job of carrying souls away from bodies. Death's not happy about his job but he isn't the cause of the end of a life...he just comes in to deal with the ending (and these are busy times for him with the war and the death camps). Likewise, the novel's characters are ordinary citizens living in Nazi Germany before and during WWII. Most are swept along in their times, there aren't many bad people and Hitler Youth and swastikas are just part of their world...it is their normal, their ordinary...even if some recognize something is amiss. Some, including the main character and her family, show extraordinary bravery in their quiet resistance. These are truly acts of heroism, but they are (in some ways) just acts of ordinary humanity (handing bread to a hungry man, sheltering a Jewish man) that are rendered heroic by the context of their times.

The style of the novel is a bit unique, with the omniscient narration at times interrupted with short, bulletpoint thoughts or facts. The style appealed to me (a lover of lists, bulletpoints, and non-traditional stories). I saw a review that said this wasn't a quick read but I found the pages flew by fast and I was through the 550 pages in no time at all. It is, however, a story that I'll ponder for much longer than it took me to journey through the words. Strongly recommended
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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Lost & Found

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$2.60
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Oct 05, 2010 09:38:17

A poignant and unforgettable tale of love, loss, and moving on . . . with the help of one not-so-little dog

Rocky's husband Bob was just forty-two when she discovered him lying cold and lifeless on the bathroom floor . . . and Rocky's world changed forever. Quitting her job, chopping off all her hair, she leaves Massachusetts—reinventing her past and taking a job as Animal Control Warden on Peak's Island, a tiny speck off the coast of Maine and a million miles away from everything she's lost. She leaves her career as a psychologist behind, only to find friendship with a woman whose brain misfires in the most wonderful way and a young girl who is trying to disappear. Rocky, a quirky and fallible character, discovers the healing process to be agonizingly slow.

But then she meets Lloyd.

A large black Labrador retriever, Lloyd enters Rocky's world with a primitive arrow sticking out of his shoulder. And so begins a remarkable friendship between a wounded woman and a wounded, lovable beast. As the unraveling mystery of Lloyd's accident and missing owner leads Rocky to an archery instructor who draws her in even as she finds every reason to mistrust him, she discovers the life-altering revelation that grief can be transformed . . . and joy does exist in unexpected places.

!1: Best Buy Rocky, a clinical psychologist at a student center, has her life dramatically altered when her husband, a veterinarian, dies unexpectedly. She is initially overwhelmed by her grief. Rocky escapes to a tiny island town in Maine, where she gets a job as the animal control warden. She has hidden her past from those around her, but slowly warms to a few select people. When Rocky captures a labrador retriever who has been shot with an arrow, her life begins to change. Rocky fosters the dog and begins developing relationships with Lloyd (the dog), Tess, her neighbor with synesthesia, and the young girl, Melissa, whom Rocky immediately suspects has an eating disorder. They begin to investigate the mystery behind Lloyd. The handmade arrow leads Rocky to an enigmatic archery expert who she takes lessons from and becomes attracted to him. I liked the characterization and the multiple points of view. This was a well done story that felt very real and honest. on Sale!