"Poppy" --- A Vivid Animal Tale

It seems that we're on a flower theme so let's just continue forward with it.

The children and I just finished Avi's book Poppy. I believe it is one of a series focusing on the adventures of various animal characters inhabiting Dimwood Forest.


Poppy is a young mouse who inadvertently becomes cross-ways with Mr.Ocax, the resident owl. All the members of the large mice family must ask permission of Mr. Ocax to be out and about --- otherwise, they may be eaten! Poppy's ever-expanding family needs to move because food is growing scarce, but Mr. Ocax will not allow it due to Poppy's disobedience. Poppy sets out to discover what "New House" contains that provokes some apprehension on the part of Mr. Ocax.


This is really a delightful story. The animals are so believable, and the character of Ereth, the porcupine, is really a crack-up. We were always eager to read about Poppy everyday!

Until next time, may your reading be pleasurable and profitable!

"Alice's Tulips" a Pleasant Read

I recently finished Sandra Dallas' "Alice's Tulips." At first, I wasn't sure I would like the book, but by the end, I did enjoy it.

Alice is a young married woman living in Iowa with her mother-in-law. Her husband has gone off to fight for the Union in the Civil War. Alice must grow up quite a bit as she faces hardships ranging from deprivation, immaturity, loneliness, and assault/rape. The book is written as an epistolary novel in which all the letters are from Alice to her sister, Lizzie.

I particularly liked the development of Alice as well as the growth of her relationship with her mother-in-law as well as her relationship with her sister. At first I wasn't fond of Alice. She seemed spoiled, petulant and supremely unwise. But upon further reflection, her growth out of her flaws was what made the novel work.

Sandra Dallas is an enjoyable writer. I also have read "Persian Pickle Club."

I enjoyed this one so much I gave my grandmother a copy of it! I will probably read more of her novels in the future. While they are not earth-shattering in their contributions to literature, they are simply pleasant to read.

Until next time, may your reading be pleasurable and profitable.

"Cold Day is Paradise" Is Just Lukewarm

I just completed Steve Hamilton's "Cold Day in Paradise." This is another story with a lot of hype associated with it. Written back in 1998, this novel won the 1997 St. Martin's Press PWA Award for Best First Private Eye Novel. It also received the Edgar and the Seamus awards for Best First Novel. I was excited to read this book.

Alex McKnight is a former minor league baseball player and former Detroit police officer. When his partner is killed and he is wounded, McKnight leaves the force and is on disability. He moves to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Paradise, a small town where his father had built some cabins. McKnight begins to manage the cabins for the tourist trade. The book opens with McKnight as a newly-licensed private investigator in the employ of a local attorney.

McKnight becomes embroiled in a series of murders which soon becomes associated with the man who previously shot him and killed his partner. How can this be, since that man is in prison? Who is killing the bookmakers, and who is haunting and stalking Alex?

The storyline is good, and the setting also perfect for this series. I like Alex. I must say, however, that I found the relationships between Alex and others problematic. I just couldn't get the "passion" between Alex and Sylvia (his "best friend's" wife). Also, the chief of police just didn't work for me either. And although the plot is good, I figured this mystery out way before I should have.

Given that I am particularly drawn to this area of the country (see previous posts!), I knew I would like that aspect of the book. I would like to see Alex's character more developed as well as that of the "supporting cast." I couldn't relate to Alex the way I have been able to relate to another cold weather mystery-solver, William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor. Cork is a delight. He is complex, he is flawed, and he has this whole Native American thing going on. Also, being a family man makes for some additional and familiar characters.

Even though I'm just lukewarm after reading "Cold Day in Paradise," I may read another Alex McKnight novel. I did like the way the book ended. I would love to discuss it, but I would have to really spoil it for you!

Until next time, may your reading be pleasurable and profitable!

Cather's 20th Century Masterpiece

"No romantic novel ever written in America, by man or woman, is one half so beautiful as My Antonia."

H. L. Mencken

Now, that is some high praise indeed. I had been wondering, prior to reading this novel, whether or not it could possibly be true. Having read Death Comes for the Archbishop, also by Cather, I knew the writing would be masterful, but I couldn't conceive of a romantic novel by Cather. I knew she had never married and that her closest friendships were with women. I also knew that the novel's narrator was a man. I wasn't certain Cather could pull it off, and so I reserved judgment until I had read the book. After all, Cather believed this to be her best work. If she thought so, then perhaps this novel would live up to the praise.

Mencken was right. It is simply beautiful, and it is romantic.

The story follows Jim Burden, a young boy who comes to Nebraska following the death of his parents. He is to live with his grandparents on their farm. On the train trip to Nebraska, Jim meets Antonia and the Schimerda family. They are from Bohemia. The rest of the book is about Jim, his growing up, the life on this frontier, and the challenges of immigrants coming to pursue a dream. Antonia figures prominently. She is both the land and Jim's love; she is that which is innately good, bursting with life and love. Although Jim and Antonia never become more than friends in a physical sense, they are inextricably bound together:

For Antonia and for me, this had been the road of Destiny; had taken
us to those early accidents of fortune which predetermined for us all that
we can ever be. Now I understood that the same road was to bring us
together again. Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the
precious, the incommunicable past.

While Jim leaves the farm to pursue a career back East, he can never really leave behind the frontier land. He loves it. It is a part of him.

Cather has a huge gift for descriptive writing. One can feel the landscape she so vividly describes. Her writing style is not excessively verbose, nor is it as spartan as Hemingway. Her character development is not overly introspective. There is a certain restraint which gives a wonderful tension to the story.

Reading this book brought back memories of Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. This is another book which I would describe as sublimely written. It is a delicious and captivating tale which lingers long after the cover is closed. I would admit that this book, while not as thrilling in its action, nevertheless is equally lovely in its style and romanticism.

I can wholeheartedly encourage you to read this book. You will be edified through it.

Until next time, may your reading be pleasurable and profitable!