Grandma Hikes the Appalachian Trail

"'What the Lord didn't provide, I did. One day I was walking down the road and came upon a tin can. I turned it over a couple times with the tip of my cane and found a full, unopened can of beef stew. Opened it with my knife, and dined real well that night.'"

-Grandma Gatewood, Grandma Gatewood's Walk, p.204, by Ben Montgomery
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 I enjoy walking and hiking, so I "get" some of the reasons that Emma Gatewood, age 67, decided to hike the entire Appalachian Trail beginning in Georgia in the year 1955. She did not take a map, a tent, or a sleeping bag. she only took a blanket, a raincoat, a walking stick, a pair of ordinary sneakers, a little bit of money, and a few other small items that she carried in her homemade bundle. But why did she abruptly leave her home in Gallia County, Ohio without telling her 11 children or anyone else where she was going? Emma Gatewood was a Great-Grandma who just loved to walk and enjoyed the great outdoors so much that she decided one day that she would "go for a walk" just for the same of walking. She was blind without her thick gasses, and she needed her set of false teeth, but she was in great health for a woman her age so she didn't see any reason why she couldn't go on a very long walk.

Along her trip, Grandma met many kinds of people who gave her shelter or a hot meal. But many nights she made a bed of leaves and slept in the open air, realizing that the leaves made a very nice bed. She shared cabins with all sorts of hikers, people such as boy scouts, hunters, or reporters. She was friendly and outgoing, and so she wasn't hesitant to ask people for food, a place to sleep, or a ride to a nearby motel. And she was never afraid. She seemed to trust everyone, and she never feared for her life. She didn't even seem to be afraid of wild animals, but a porcupine did try to sleep in her leaf bed one night. Every now and then she would mail a postcard to her children just to let them know that she was having a great time and was in good health. To Emma Gatewood, her historic hike was "just a walk," but she did it because she had never enjoyed anything about her hard, abusive life with her husband. The long hike was something she wanted to do for herself, something she saw as a great vacation. Eventually reporters got wind of her trip. They began to show up at various points along the trail to ask for a photo. Of course, they always had questions for her as well. The trail of 2,050 miles was out there, and Grandma wanted to see every bit of it so she flew to Georgia and began her adventure.

Emma Gatewood had a hard life. Her abusive husband beat her nearly to death several times, so one day she decided it was the last time. She filed for a divorce and got rid of him for good, well before she hiked the trail. She had endured unimaginable beatings and a hard life on the farm, so she thought walking the trail would be much easier than those experiences, so she set off. She faced challenges such as the time she broke her glasses, and getting through parts of the trail were sometimes very difficult. She noted later on that the A.T. wasn't as well-carved out as advertised, and many of the shelter huts were in bad disrepair. So she noted the areas of the trail that needed to be worked on and improved. Emma Gatewood went on to hike the trail two more times, more than any other woman in America. She became a sort of folk hero, leading parades and making guest appearances in many settings. Articles and such were written about her extraordinary adventures, and she received gifts of clothing, meals, and more.

In the front of the book by Montgomery there are some great quotes that I'd like to share here. They are...

"We do not go into the woods to rough it; we go to smooth it. We get it rough enough at home." -George Washington Sears

"Now or never." -Henry David Thoreau

And Emma Gatewood said of herself, "I get faster as I get older." And she was pretty darn fast!

I think you'll enjoy this book that came out just three years ago. It's about a woman who thought she was just an ordinary lady who liked to walk, yet she was so much more. You don't need expensive hiking supplies like boots from R.E.I., R.T.E. rations, a tent, and other things in order to do what she did, you just need to want to do it. And don't be afraid of the unknown. That's what she would tell us today. She was 85 years old when she died peacefully in 1973.

What's on the bestseller list today? Below you'll find pictures of the current shelves at a bookstore chain. Have you read some of them? I've read Hillbilly Elegy, A Man Called Ove, Lilac Girls, The Circle, The Nest, The Shack, and All the Light We Cannot See. I've written about these books in the past couple of years as well. The Circle will hit the big screen in a couple of weeks, so look for this film starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks. This science fiction book and movie will really make you think about your personal privacy and how the world is changing rapidly. Also, if you have HBO look for the movie version of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Laks. Sure wish I had HBO! I was intrigued by this true story about how an African-American woman's cancer cells were used long after her death. Have a blessed Easter and a beautiful Spring.

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

Fiction

Nonfiction

Paperbacks

A History of Social Class in America

 

"If this book accomplishes anything it will be to have exposed a number of myths about the American dream, to have disabused readers of the notion that upward mobility is a function of the founders' ingenious plan, or that Jacksonian democracy was liberating, or that the Confederacy was about states' rights rather than preserving class and racial distinctions."

-Nancy Isenberg,  White Trash. The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America.

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A few weeks ago my friend recommended that I read this book about social classes in America. She somehow knew that I would probably enjoy it because we've known each other for more than forty years. Even though we haven't lived in the same state for more than thirty of those years, we keep in touch and always manage to talk about a good book. I think my friend knows that I don't like beach reading such as romances, mysteries, comic books, or a book that is just too fluffy for me. I'm not opposed to these, I just don't enjoy them. More than anything, I enjoy books abut history or epic-style dramatic novels that pull me in such as Cutting for Stone. And I love to read historical novels. What do you like to read?

That being said, I did finish the book before I had to renew it at the library, and I'm pleasantly surprised. The book has over 100 pages of notes in the back, and since I didn't feel that I needed to read all of those, I stopped at the end of the book. You can tell that Isenberg did a ton of research for this book. She had to do it in order to honestly study the social trends of our country, dating from the time of the pilgrims until today. She discusses the slang terms that we have used in our country to refer to various groups of people, titles such as "white trash," "trailer trash," "squatters," "crackers," "half-breeds," "clay-eaters," "mudsills," "thoroughbreds," "scalawags," and of course, "rednecks." She devotes a lot of time to discussing the views of class of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and some of our more current political leaders. She discusses celebrities and politicians such as Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Jimmy & Billy Carter, the Duck Dynasty family, Sarah Palin, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and many others. She shares what people in the U.S. said and wrote about these people, many of whom rose from homes of immense poverty to become very wealthy and famous. There is also another side of this, of course, and this is when celebrities and others claim to come from humble roots when they actually came from a fairly affluent family. But don't we all like to read that a celebrity or politician worked very, very hard to get where he or she is today? Everyone likes a story about a hardworking person who "made it" by struggling, not merely be receiving the silver spoon. But as always, we must search for the facts before we believe anything. In general, Americans like to believe that this is the best place in the world to live because if we are born into a poor, uneducated family we can still climb up the ladder to become middle-class people. It is possible, of course, as many people throughout history have proven, but to do so honestly and authentically is still challenging. This is a very enlightening book that sheds light on the cultural phenomena that have shaped our country, so if you've ever wondered why we are the way we are as a nation, you will get a lot out of White Trash. The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg. The author is currently a professor of American History at L.S.U. 

There are so many other good non-fiction books that I've come across and read over the years. As you probably remember, I've kept a card file on all of the books that I've read in the past 33 years so bringing titles to mind is pretty easy. Have you ever heard of My Life in Orange by Tim Guest? I found this book on the shelf while browsing in a store one day, and it was very "interesting." This book is about someone who grew up in a cult that required everyone to wear orange clothing at all times. Other memoirs that I've enjoyed are My Life in France by Julia Child, Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams, Tramp for the Lord by Corrie ten Boom, A Woman in Berlin by "Anonymous," and We'll Always Have Paris by Jennifer Coburn (one of my readers). Some of the biographies that I've enjoyed are The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper, and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I can't help but wonder what other stories still need to be written. The world is full of amazing people who have had extraordinary experiences that need to be told. I've read many other non-fiction ooks that  have been eye-opening and inspiring, and I'll share more of these titles in the future. As I've said before, there is so much to share and so little time!

So...how does your basketball bracket look? I did have Gonzaga and North Carolina going far in the NCAA tournament, but I didn't have them playing each other for the championship. But I'll watch the game along with millions of other people and I'll enjoy my last one fix of basketball. I'm very sorry to see the season end. And WHY oh WHY doesn't the media do more with the women's tournament?? As a former player myself, I do follow women's basketball. After all these years of struggle, women's sports still aren't where they should be. I go to all of the Duke women's games because they play just a few minutes from our house, but the crowds are tiny most of the time. I don't understand it. The Duke women have gone to the NCAA tournament every year in the past 20 years that I've watched them except for last year, so why don't more people support them? And I promise you, it won't cost NEARLY what it costs to get in to the men's games.

I'm now going to return my library book and pick up another one. Time is a wastin'.

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com 

 

This is me yesterday as I headed to the Al Buehler Trail at Duke. I found this great hat at Costco, the perfect thing for sun protection and a little style!

The Three Books of March

"Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul."

 -Joyce Carol Oates, author of We Were the Mulvaneys and 40 other novels, quoted from flavorwire.com

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It's been an active month of reading for me, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I read Hillbilly Elegy, A Man Called Ove, and The Life We Bury. I discussed Hillbilly Elegy in my last post, and I am still savoring this true story about a man who was born in Jackson, Kentucky and spent most of his youth in and around Middletown, Ohio. He writes about what it was like to grow up in an extremely dysfunctional family and to get past those experiences to graduate from law school in an ivy league university. The reading of this book led me to find a book that a Tennessee friend recommended, White Trash. The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. This book isn't "easy reading," but it's very interesting so I'll write about it when I finish it (that won't be anytime soon!).

Before I start writing about the other two books that I read in the past month I want to let you know something interesting. I wasn't aware of this news, but this week I found out that The Immortal Life of Henrietta Laks is being made into a movie and will be released sometime next month. I was mesmerized by this story when I read it a few years ago, as I've mentioned in my posts in the past. This movie stars Renee Goldsberry, Oprah Winfrey, Courtney B. Vance, and others. Apparently it's going to premiere as an HBO movie on April 22, 2017, so look for it. I'm not sure how I'm going to watch it since we don't have HBO, but I'll search diligently for a way to be able to see it. 

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman is a book that kept popping up on my Amazon searches so I thought, why not? Backman also wrote a book that I discussed earlier, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. It's a newer book so it's probably hard to get at the library, but I discovered something new: they now have copies of recent books in a special location in the library, but readers can only keep them for one week. So I read non-stop and finished the book in three days. These books that are only for one week are labeled with a yellow band on the side as well as a yellow note on the front. I'm so glad the library added this section for speedy readers and people who are just dying to read a newer book and don't want to wait until a copy becomes available.

 This book centers on the life of a man named Ove, 
a depressed 59-year-old widower who is planning to end his own life.  
He is probably the crankiest person you've ever "met," and he finds something to complain about all the time. Nothing is good enough for Ove. He complains about the neighbors and acts as a sort of "neighborhood policeman." Since his wife died, Ove has not been able to enjoy anything in his life so he plans various ways to end it,  but things don't work out, mostly due to the interference of neighbors. In the end, it's the people in his neighborhood who help him see what's really important in life. I don't want to spoil it for you so I won't go into too much detail, but it's basically a character study of a man who asks critical questions that we might be able to relate to. These are questions that many of us have asked ourselves in the past.

The other book that I read recently is The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens. It's about a college student, Joe Talbert, who comes from a bad home experience but manages to stay in college while his mother and autistic brother live in a nearby town. Because of his mom's alcoholism and bad relationships, Joe must be the leader in the family and takes steps to protect his brother from a dangerous home situation. While working on an assignment for his English class, Joe discovers Carl Iverson in a nursing home and decides to write his assignment about him. Joe learns a lot from Carl, and the two become fast friends. But why is Carl in a nursing home? And why does Joe become so wrapped up in his writing assignment? There is a lot of danger and mystery in this book, so if you enjoy that type of thing you will like this one. One thing I thought about as I read his book is that I don't think a young college student would behave in the way that Joe does. I really think Joe is characterized as maybe a 30-year old at least. The way he talks, his relationships, how he communicates, etc. are unbelievable for me. I just don't think a young man his age would behave in the way that Joe does. That's just my opinion. I read that the book has won several awards as a new novel or "best debut novel," so readers are enjoying it. I wouldn't say that the two books I've discussed today are "great novels" in the realm of The Poisonwood Bible, Cutting for Stone, Huckleberry Finn, Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Edgar Sawtelle, but they are both good reads and have a lot to say about life. I could see them being good books to discuss in your reading group. 

So, what is a good novel, anyway?

Well, it has a long, epic story with intricate characters who deal with many different kinds of issues. It has to be interesting to people. It has to "catch you" on the first page. It has to have appropriate and beautiful language that makes the reader want to go on to the next page. Lots of twists and turns help to take the story on and on, but it also has to know when to quit. It must also have a memorable plot. I tend to read a lot of non-fiction because I love to learn, but I also learn from novels that are well-written. Fiction and non-fiction must reel me in so that when I'm finished I can say it was worth my time and energy.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave a note below. Have a wonderful weekend....

Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

My parents gave me this fun mug for Christmas.Look closely as the titles appear.

A Hillbilly, War, and More

 

"...Why didn't our neighbor leave that abusive man? Why did she spend her money on drugs? Why couldn't she see that her behavior was destroying her daughter? Why were all of these things happening not just to our neighbor but to my mom? It would be years before I learned that no single book, or expert, or field could fully explain the problems of hillbillies in modern America. Our elegy is a sociological one, yes, but it is also about psychology and community and culture and faith."

-J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (p.144) 

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 This morning I'm sitting here in the beautiful North Durham Library near my house. This side of the building has a wall of windows that allows us to look out at the sunshine and daffodils in their early bloom, just before cold weather returns this weekend. I've always loved libraries and I come here often. My first memory of a library is when we lived in Louisville, Kentucky. I was about 8 years old and loved getting "free" books to read and enjoy. I continued the trend with our own children as they grew up, and they both enjoy reading to this day. There is something about the smell of books that is unequaled anywhere. You probably know the feeling. 

I had a nice surprise when I arrived here this morning. They have a long display of newer hardback books that we can check out for just one week. Yesterday I requested some books online, some of which I had to put on hold, but I found one of them here so I checked it out for just one week. So, I need to read A Man Called Ove very quickly, and then I'll get A Gentleman in Moscow. I read books pretty quickly anyway, so I'm not too worried about trying to read a book in one week. I'm pretty excited about this new program that the library is using.

A few days ago I finished reading J.D. Vance's book published in 2016, Hillbilly Elegy.  He spent most of his early life in Middletown, Ohio, a town just about halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati. His grandparents were from Jackson, Kentucky, a small town in Eastern Kentucky where lower-class whites often had a very hard time making a living. Many of the people were, of course, coal miners, and they had little hope of doing much else with their lives. Vance's grandparents, people he calls "Mamaw and Papaw," left Jackson when they were teenagers. They heard there were good jobs up in Middletown, so they left home for the first time in the hopes of a better life. Mamaw was just 14 years old, and Papaw was 17, and they were expecting a baby. The company job in Middletown gav Papaw more opportunities so they were able to live a middle class lifestyle, own a home, and pay their bills. But their lives were so chaotic due to alcoholism, drug addiction, divorce, and more. Vance always thought of his grandparents as his primary guardians because his own mother wasn't really able to take care of him as she went in and out of prison, had several husbands, etc. Vance analyzes his life now that he is an adult, but he can't solve the problem that has plagued generations of hillbillies. He wonders how to stop the madness, as the quote above indicates, and yet he loved his family members very much. He was very close to Mamaw, even though she could cuss a sailor or pull a gun on somebody, because he knew that she loved him and wanted the best for him. He and Mamaw used to love to watch the movie "Terminator 2" together, and Mamaw say Schwarzenegger as the embodiment of the American Dream. She liked seeing an immigrant coming out on top, but Vance saw the movie more as a metaphor for his own life. He thought of Mamaw as his protector, keeper, and terminator, and she wouldn't let anyone harm him. With Mamaw, he knew he would be ok. After reading this warm hearted book, I can see why it's so popular. Today Vance and his wife are lawyers, and they definitely live the American Dream.

Another book that I finished this week is War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans. This historical novel was so good that I didn't want to put it down. It is translated from the Dutch and is dedicated to the author's father. The narrative is told from the perspective of the grandson, a man who found two notebooks that were kept by his grandfather, Urbain Martien, and he strives to understand the information that he learns. His grandfather was both an artist and a survivor of the atrocities of World War I.  Martien grew up watching his poor, lowly father paint in churches, and he would often retouch his father's work. The speaker wants to understand his grandfather so that he can accept some things about himself as well. This book is so beautifully written and is worthy of being called a great novel. I encourage you to read it or something else written by Hertmans, an internationally acclaimed Flemish author.

I listened to a couple of books on CD in the past few weeks. I listened to a book set in England, The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson, and Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson. I've read another book by Simonson as well, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. The Summer Before the War is sort of a "Downton Abbey" type of a book, and the "class" of a person is as important as anything else. I enjoyed both of her books and found them to be fairly relaxing stories. Patterson's book set in New York is about a girl and her imaginary friend, Michael. She is a lonely only child, and she longs to feel loved so she turns to someone no one else can see for comfort. On her 9th birthday, Michael has to disappear, but she later encounters him again when she is an adult. It's a fun, easy book to listen to (only 5 CDs) so if you want some light reading, it's a pretty good one. 

Well, there's so much to read and so little time, so I'll read A Man Called Ove and my Great Britain tour book in the coming week. I'm "reading up" on England and Ireland in preparation for a summer trip. Let me know what you're reading. Or, you can let me know what you'd like to read.

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.ongoodbookblog.blogspot.com 

 

The Light Between Oceans and Other Great Reads

"Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world."

-Malala Yousafzai, author of I Am Malala 

(as quoted in Brainy Quotes)

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I'm happy today that I have the time and energy to write another post on this beautiful, sunny, Carolina morning. I haven't written for a few weeks simply because life happened and it's been hard to concentrate on my favorite hobby, reading great books. My husband had open heart surgery on December 19, 2016 and he's doing well now, but it sort of kept me from my normal routines. Additionally, I must admit that at times basketball season has interfered with my reading time, but when I go to a game I almost always take a book to read during the timeouts and half-time. This year I have season tickets to the Duke women's home basketball games, and I've spent a good deal of time enjoying basketball at Cameron Indoor Stadium here in Durham. This Sunday is my last home game, but I hope to see the games that are televised in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. I also follow the Duke and Kentucky men, so it's a busy time. That being said, I have several books to share with you that I have read recently.

Next week my book club will discuss a good book, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. I read this book a few weeks ago and found that it was very easy reading. It was different than what I usually read, but I enjoyed it as a change of pace. The book is set in Australia with the main character, Tom Sherbourne, living on an tiny island in Western Australia while he works as a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock. He marries Isabel, a young woman who grows to love the island as much as Tom does. They have a wonderful time together as the only residents of the island, and they decide to start a family. Unfortunately for them, they are unable to conceive a healthy baby, and after several losses, they suddenly become the guardians of a baby that has washed up on shore in a rowboat. Inside the boat there is also the body of a man who has died at sea, and although they can't imagine who he might be, they bury him on the island and decide to raise the baby as their own. 

When the child is two years old, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland where they visit with family and friends once again. Tom is faced with a moral dilemma regarding the child. Isabel was so determined to raise Lucy as her own that she would do almost anything to keep her. Tom wonders who the birth mother is, and he struggles inwardly with the question of whether they have done the right thing. He, too, loves Lucy desperately, but he is a man of honor and knows more than he really wants to about the birth mother. You need to read this book to find out what happened in the end, and you will find out what Tom and Isabel did with the child that came to them as if she was a gift directly from God.

I'm listening to a book from the library while I'm driving around. I'm enjoying it so far and it reminds me of the episodes of "Downton Abbey" that I enjoyed last year. I'm listening to The Summer Before the War: A Novel by Helen Simonson. The book is set in the English countryside, and it seems like all of the characters are more interested in their "honor" and "standing in the community" than they are about doing anything of relevance. They have plenty of time to sit around and drink tea, and while they do so they, of course, discuss who is doing what, how so-and-so looks, and other tidbits of rumor. I read that this book is a follow-up to Simonson's earlier book, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, another book that I commented on in an earlier post. Both of these books are fun to read if you enjoy stories about British people who speak a little more "gracefully" than most of us do.

In the near future my book club is going to read Hillbilly Elegy, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and The Boys in the Boat. While I've already read the two latter books, I look forward to skimming them so that I'll be prepared for the discussion at the library. I have a copy of Hillbilly Elegy and hope to start it soon, but in the meantime I'm reading a book that I got for Christmas, War & Turpentine, by Stefan Hertmans. Hertmans is a very good writer, so I'm enjoying this book and look forward to working through it to the end.

What have you read lately? Have you read any of the books that I've discussed today? Your thoughts are eagerly anticipated so please leave your comments. It seems lately that I've more information online than I have actual words on a page, but I usually have two books that I'm working on. I've been reading a lot online to prepare for a trip to England and Ireland this summer, and this is part of the fun of traveling. I enjoy learning everything I can before I go somewhere so that I can get the most out of the trip as possible. While we've been to England and Scotland before, Ireland is new to us so we're very excited about this opportunity. We'll be on a five-day tour throughout Ireland, and then we will head back to London for a few days. We get to be with our young adult children during this time.  

Have a fantastic weekend, and I look forward to hearing from you. Read on.

Melissa Hill

Book Blogger

www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com 

A Hidden Gem from a Kentucky Author

"I was born to dig coal," Father said. "Somewheres they's a mine working. Fires still burning the world over, and they got to be fed. All the hearthstones in North Americkee hain't gone cold. I been hearing of a new mine farther than the head o'Kentucky River, on yon side Pound Gap. Grundy, its name is."

-Father in River of Earth, by Kentucky author, James Still, 1940

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I read a good little book this week about an Appalachian family who struggled for every little piece of food that they got. The narrator of River of Earth by Still is one of the children, a boy who was often hungry and cold along with the rest of his family. James Still depicts the struggles of his own mountain people in Kentucky as if he knew exactly what they were going through. His poetic use of the mountain language of the day in the early 20th century is an art form in itself. Granted, it was difficult for me to understand at times, so I just reread the sentence until I got what the character was saying. 

I first heard of this book when I read Dimestore by Lee Smith last month.  Smith devotes a chapter to this writer. She was very impressed with his natural writing ability, and she was very happy to be able to get to know him. She grew up in Grundy, Virginia, a small town that Still mentions in the above quote from his book. River of Earth reminds me of books like The Grapes of Wrath where great human suffering affects droves of people who cannot seem to find a way out. Still depicts a family who lived on some farmland, but they rarely were successful in growing enough food for the family. On top of that, Father would often allow relatives to stay a while when they had nowhere else to go because they were kin. Of course, this took food from the mouths of the children, and it angered Mother to no end. Eventually, Father felt he had no choice but to work in the coal mines, so he moved the family to one of the company houses in Blackjack. The narrator vows that he will never become a coal miner because he plans to become a "horse doctor" one day, yet the people around him say that there is no way out once your family works in the mines. His own relatives told him this would be his fate, and their words burned in his ears: "'What'er you're aiming to be, you'll end snagging jackrock.' It throbbed in my head like truth, and however swiftly I ran, it sped with me." The book only covers about three years in the life of this family, so I don't know if the boy ever became a veterinarian. But the ending doesn't lead the reader to believe that he will reach his dreams. 

Today I counted the number of books that I read in 2016, and I found that I read 24 of them. I seem to read from various genres so it's hard to pin me down on what kinds of books that I like. I read historical novels such as The Nightingale by Hannah and Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings by O'Connor. I also read some fun novels set in Paris such as A Paris Apartment by Gable, and Hidden in Paris by Gantz, I enjoyed some memoirs such as The French House by Don Wallace and The Magnolia Story by the Gaines'. I enjoyed all of these and look forward to discussing some great ones in the months ahead. Next on my list is a book that I got for Christmas, War & Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans. It was on the NY Times best 10 books of the year list in 2016, so it's going to be a great ride. Have you read it? If you have, no spoilers please!

I appreciate the book list of one of my readers, and I will hang on to it for when I need a new book. Readers, please leave me your thoughts on what I've shared today - your opinions are truly appreciated.

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

 

A Reading List That Grows

"She'd become an English major for the purest and dullest of reasons: because she loved to read."

-Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot

(goodreads)

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Well, we finished another year, a year that had some ups and down for all of us. The year 2016 is over and done with, and now is the time to think about what we are going to do in 2017. We may not want to change anything, and we may accept that there are many things that we just can't change. Many things are out of our control, and yet we still strive to be healthy and happy, somehow reaching for our dreams at the same time. Oh, and by the way, I was an English major too, and I received my secondary teacher's certificate as well. I guess I do enjoy languages and literature, because my minor was Spanish.

One dream I have is to write about my E.S.L. students and to figure out how to get published. I teach E.S.L. in a public elementary school, and I always hear funny and honest things come from the mouths of my First and Second graders. The first language of all of my kids is Spanish, and they are quite good at speaking English, but some of them struggle in the areas of comprehension and writing. But all learning aside, they always seem to have a lot of things on their minds. I would like to write these stories down and find a way to get them published so that other people can enjoy them.

My other dreams are to read more and travel more. I am a restless soul and I'm always on a quest to do something that I've never done before. No matter where I go, I can find some interesting things to do there. I remember a few years ago when we visited our son in Sandusky, Ohio. I researched what there is to do in the area, and a found a little gem that I'll never forget - we visited the birthplace of Thomas Edison in nearby Milan. It was so much fun to learn about Edison, tidbits of info that we had never read before. While in Sandusky we also visited one of the Lake Erie islands, Kelley's Island. We rented a golf cart and drove around the island. Wow - such a pretty little place for a quiet vacation, complete with beautiful homes and a nice beach. On the negative side, I don't remember seeing any hotels there, but I'm sure there must be some. Last summer I went to visit a friend in the Birmingham, Alabama area and we found some beautiful gems there as well. We visited the home of Helen Keller in Ivy Green, and then we visited the hometown of Harper Lee (Monroeville). There are no adequate words to express how much I enjoyed these two outings. Again, I'm always looking for something new to learn and experience, and these two places met all of my expectations and then some. Interestingly, my friend has lived in Alabama for many years, but she had never visited the Keller or Lee hometowns. I think she enjoyed the day trips almost as much as I did!

In December I did a good bit of reading. I finished The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan. I wrote about the book last time, so I'll just summarize it now. I loved this book so much because I learned about something that happened in America that I had never heard of before, the making of the atomic bomb and the war attacks at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The book discusses the science behind the project, but it also gives us a glimpse into the lives of young, ordinary women who left their families far behind to move to Tennessee to work. They had no idea what they were going to do, and the secret of their work was kept from them for a very long time. The young peopled were lured to Oak Ridge because of the good pay and the ability to help their families back home who were just coming out of the depression. I highly recommend this book to history buffs or anyone who is looking for a good, true story to read. Other true stories that I thoroughly enjoyed in the past few years are Unbroken, The Boys in the Boat, A Woman in Berlin, The House at Sugar Beach, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

One day last month I picked up a newer book from the library, All the Winters After by Sere Halverson. It's the story of Kachemark Winkel, a depressed man who returned to Alaska long after his family was killed in an airplane crash there. He meets a young woman, Nadya, who is living in the family home deep in the woods while she is hiding out from the Old Believers sect of Russians and her ex-husband who was abusive. As you can guess, it's a love story between Kache and Nadya, and there relationship helps them both to get out of their depression and loneliness. I don't usually just pick up a book while browsing at the library, but I admit that I enjoyed this one. It doesn't hurt that the story takes place in beautiful Alaska amid beautiful wildlife and vegetation.

Most recently, I finished reading a little hardback book that just came out in 2016, Dimestore by Lee Smith. Incidentally, Smith lives in our nearby Hillsborough, North Carolina, a small town that is known for its artistic residents and good restaurants. Smith is a prolific writer who teaches writing. She has published several books, and I saw that I've read one other book by her, The Last Girls. Dimestore is a memoir of her years growing up in Appalachia in Grundy, Virginia, a small town that is close to my home state of Kentucky. Smith's father owned a Ben Franklin store, and she remembers fondly the life that they had in small-town America. If you've lived very long in the south, I'm sure you can remember the Ben Franklin stores. They had just about anything you might need in the way of clothes, household goods, etc. They usually had a lunch counter too, a place where you could order a BLT or ice cream soda and wile away the hours. Smith was an only child and was much-loved, but her home wasn't perfect. Both of her parents suffered periodically from mental illness, diseases that she really didn't understand. All she knew that Mom or Dad sometimes "went away" for a while. Her parents loved each other very much, and they doted on their only child, Lee, while always hoping for the very best for her. I think she would say that she's thankful that she grew up in Grundy, Virginia, a memorable town where life was simple and strong values were taught.

I did a lot of reading in December, and I thoroughly enjoyed each book. I also browsed through Moravian Christmas in the South as well as some magazines such as American Bungalow, one of my favorite periodicals. I'm an avid browser, although sometimes that means I miss some important details. But it is what it is, and I just enjoy just about everything that I read. There is power in words, and there is knowledge in words, and these two things together make for an adventurous life.

I am currently reading a book by a Kentucky author, River of Earth by James Still.  I borrowed this book from my mother a long time ago, and since Lee discusses Still in Dimestore, I felt it was an omen that I should go ahead and read it now. I have a new book that I got for Christmas that I'm anxious to read as well, but I'll get to it soon since I'm enjoying Still's book so much and can't put it down. Sometimes I just have to chase a rabbit when it's dangling in front of me.

I hope you're reading a scrumptious book right now. If you aren't, get at it - your reading list will grow!

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com