row, row, row your boat.

Daniel Brown's The Boys in the Boat is the account of the nine man University of Washington rowing crew that won gold in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Through loads of research Brown managed to create a narrative story told mostly from the perspective of one of the rowers, Joe Rantz, who had the type of childhood that would of lead most people to an early grave. This is a tale about young men from different backgrounds learning to work as a team and overcome tremendous obstacles, and that in and of itself makes it a must read. However, Brown's description of the current world events of this time period, the Great Depression and the rise of Nazi Germany, makes this a story about much more than rowing.



not to go all jesus on you lately...

Jerry B. Jenkins takes us back to first century Rome in his Christian fiction novel I, Saul, where he switches between writing about the Apostle Paul's last days in prison, to his life story, and even goes as far as incorporating Paul’s memoirs into a modern day tale that is quite the adventure. The three different story-lines enhanced the reading experience in my opinion; it definitely keeps you on your toes, so pay attention!

Jenkins’ plot is obviously based on the real life history of Paul, only spiced up with his excellent story-telling skills, including themes such as love and redemption. Messages that we all should be reminded of.

no means no.

The Boy Who Said No by Patti Sheehy is based on a true story, yet reads like a novel. Told from the point-of-view of young Frank Mederos, who is desperate to escape Cuba (under the rule of Castro Fidel) for the land of the free, a boy who has all odds against him.

We watch as our courageous protagonist falls in love, is drafted into the army in Cuba where he is quickly promoted to the Special Forces, and despite his position in the military, still cannot safely leave his home country to meet his girlfriend in America. Sheehy keeps the suspense high as Frank risks his life to obtain the freedom every one of us constantly takes for granted.


GIVEAWAY: If you would like the opportunity to win a free copy of this book, follow this blog and email your name, address, and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com by 6/28!!

if you loved the film, purchasing this book is a given.

Author, Glenn Frankel (from Rochester, NY – my area as well!) has come up with a perfectly original take on John Ford's movie The Searchers in his historical “fiction” novel of the same name.

The Searchers’ initial story is the true historical account of the slaughter of the adult members of the Parker family and the capture of nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker by Comanche’s in Texas, 1836. Frankel's book is a chronological telling of Cynthia Ann's capture, her family’s gruesome murder, and her life as a reluctant prisoner who gradually accepts the Native American way. Frankel then moves on to Cynthia’s Uncle Jack Parker's search for her and other captives, her return to her white family, and her tragic early death in despair and wish to return to the Comanche's. Irony at its finest.

Part two of the story involves the son of Cynthia Ann, Quanah Parker, who was left homeless and motherless with the capture of his mother by white society when he was a teenager. Quanah would grow up into a fierce warrior and Comanche chief and continue to attack white settlements and settlers for many years thereafter.

Glenn Frankel has created a classic of his own with this one.

GIVEAWAY: If you would like the opportunity to win a free copy of this book, follow this blog and email your name, address, and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com! 

a story for the nature lovers.

Tomorrow I leave for San Diego with the manfriend. Five glorious days, and our very first vacation. Fricken romantic shit going on here people. Really, I invited myself (and my free airline miles from maxing out my credit card) to his friends wedding. Same difference. Needless to say, there will be little time for reading and reviewing while I'm gone.

Since I am going to the land of granola heads, I thought I'd leave you with an appropriate read for the occasion. Let me start by saying that I am not some tree hugging nature lover. Especially after I was forced to kill a huge spider in my room the other day, and I’m pretty sure he had a gun. I enjoy the outdoors well enough. I am all for patio drinking, camp fires, and getting a tan. I like to hike on occasion, but I am more beach (tomorrow!!) than forest, and I typically don’t volunteer to sleep outside. I don’t think the manfriend has ever been camping in his life, but he has a green thumb. Or he would if he didn’t live in Queens. He grows herbs on the windowsill at his office. That is how desperate he is for a garden. Alright, enough boring you with the silly aspects of my completely adorable relationship, I will cut to the chase.

Last summer, communing with nature and apparently not wearing pants.

Where Lilacs Still Bloom is the almost true story of Hulda Klager and the fifty years she spent living on a farm in the Northwest. It’s actually the perfect read for this time of year. I suggest that you read it outside, on a nice sunny day, sipping on a mimosa. But that’s just me. Author Jane Kirkpatrick writes of Hulda’s life from youth to death. Hulda lived in a time when a woman’s role was clearly defined, but she wanted more. She became fascinated with the hybridizing of fruit as a young woman and throughout her life created hundreds of hybrid fruit and flower varieties, particularly lilacs. This is much more than a story of apples and lilacs. It is about a woman who loved her life yet still strove to make it better, not just for herself, but for everyone who crossed her path.You can still visit Hulda’s lilac gardens in Woodland, Washington. Check out their website at www.lilacgardens.com.

 

**For a chance to win a free copy of this book email your name, address and this book title to jenileerose@yahoo.com!

the horrors of street life in california.

Imagine yourself, thirteen or fourteen years old. Home is such a terrible place that you run away to the one place where you think your dreams will come true, Hollywood. Once you are there you have no friends and no home. You are taken advantage of and disrespected worse than you could ever imagine. But you stay because you have no where else to go, you stay because being taken advantage of by strangers is better than by your own family. You stay because home is even worse than the streets.

Now go out and get a copy of Boulevard, a novel by Bill Guttentag. It is based on the true story of a girl named Casey who ran away to Sunset Boulevard. You think you imagined the worst possible scenario? You are dead wrong. Casey's story is unlike anything you have ever heard in your life. It is filled with teenagers leaving home because they were being molested by a family member, they were kicked out by their parents for being gay or because they got addicted to meth after they tried it once at a party. Teenagers selling their bodies on the streets for cash to survive. It's disturbing, a train wreck really. You cannot help but keep turning those pages.

This book is filled with horrible things, so if you are really sensitive, I do not recommend you reading it. I have never been to California, and I don't know if this is going on still today. I am sure it is, and there has to be something we can do to help.

perfect book club book.

The Wives of Henry Oades, by Johanna Moran is based on the true story of Henry Oades, a principled man whose first wife and children are abducted by the native Maori. His wife, Margaret endures six heinous years of slavery and emotional abuse being in captivity. Henry's life sucks pretty bad as well, and he is convinced his family is dead. After deeply grieving for many years, he eventually leaves their home in New Zealand and travels to Berkeley, California, where life gives him a second chance through his marriage to an attractive young widow named Nancy Foreland. Just when Henry's life starts getting back to normal, with his new wife and her baby, his first wife and their children show up. Seriously? How outrageous is that?

So here Henry is with his first wife, who of course he cannot turn away. But he really likes his new wife, what's a guy to do? Keep them both. They all begin living under the same roof, and of course the community freaks out. I think it's pretty lame, give the guy a chance to figure things out. It's such a tough situation. They end up taking it to court, and it turns into this insane trial.

There is SO much to discuss in this book. Perfect for book clubs, or solo reads. You cannot help but talk about it. Moran did such a great job portraying this story.

from hate to hope.

"Freaks and Revelations," you can just imagine what this book could be about. You will be shocked. It's a tad disturbing, but in a train wreck kind of way, you will not be able to turn away. This is a based on a true life story of two very different boys, experiencing two very different lives, and how the moment they meet, changes everything. Jason is gay, Doug is a Neo Nazi, their lives are chaotic and unhappy, so they find joy in the only ways they know how. From doing as many drugs as possible to forget how much life sucks, to living on the streets of San Fransisco being a "working boy."

In the majority of this book these characters are kept separate, author Davida Wills Hurwin tells Jason and Doug's (inspired by the real lives of Matthew Boger and Timothy Zaal, who have shared their story on The Oprah Winfrey Show) life stories from childhood to adulthood and it takes almost all of the book to bring them into each others lives. Their true life stories are incredible, dirty, and sad. It is so unbelievably real and raw you cannot help but get emotionally involved yourself.

This book will show you how hate can ruin lives, especially the lives of children and teenagers. Five stars, seriously.

HIPPOS!

A legendary manuscript co-written by Beat Masters, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, has finally come to light as "And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks." Written when both were unknown and unpublished, leading hardscrabble lives in wartime New York, the real-life story centers on the doomed relationship between Lucien Carr and David Kammerer, mutual friends of the would-be Beats. Though the names and some facts are changed in the book, "Hippos" is for the most part a deadpan account of the relationship (which ended with Carr stabbing Kammerer with a Boy Scout knife and dumping his body in the Hudson…crazy) from the perspectives of Kerouac and Burroughs, who alternate chapters as "Mike Ryko" and "Will Dennison," respectively.

This book has been called an “unexpected gem,” and I completely agree. For you freaks (I am one of them) who love reading about murder, here is a bit of true life for ya. Enjoy!