Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has a vague title.  It has pictures of tents on the front.  It is also a National Book Award Finalist and has been on several "best of" lists.  But it is about an apocalyptic event, and haven't we all read enough of those?  But wait, this one is different-- it is about a group of traveling Shakespeare actors and musicians.  Yeah, sorry, that's not really going to help your end-of-the-world mailaise.  But when the kindle version went on sale, I grabbed it because I have read worse for more.  And I loved it.  It's not really about the struggle of survival, or about the establishment of new societies, but about how we appreciate what we have.  Are we doing what we want to do or are we in a holding pattern waiting for someone or something before we live the life we want?  If it were to end tomorrow what would we regret? Or not? What or whom do we take for granted?
The writing was perfect.  The characters came alive.  The pacing was great. Very little swearing or violence. No sex.  Recommend for everyone.


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Violet Orchid

He eats tuna fish

Beside the violet orchid.

Caterpillar yellow stamen slinks down

Butterfly winged petals.

His teeth crush muscle,

Tear apart flesh

Mixed in with borrowed mayonnaise.

Green stalks to hide

His wonton eyes

Behind purple petals.

He devours the plant.

Sneer with false teeth

Stamens extruding from his 

Tongue.

Love Poem

You are the leech
that drains the poison.

You are the snore
that drowns out my alarms.

You are the salt
that draws out my sweetness.

You are the sap
that keeps me water tight.

You are the dirt
that feeds my blooms.

You are the dragon
that makes me his treasure.

The Bees

The Bees by Laline Paull
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a slow burn. Keep reading. It pays off in the end. .I think I was trying to find some allegorical or symbolic meaning. But then I realized it is just about a bee in a hive. Then I almost gave up....why do I care about Flora 717? But she crawled under my skin, and I was crying by the end. The prologue and epilogue are superfluous, and detract from the whole,. Original and well-written.

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Trail of Broken Wings

Trail of Broken Wings by Sejal Badani
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Somehow I have stumbled on to reading books about domestic violence lately. This one by far explores the aftermath of what is like to deal with the after effects of violence by someone you loved. However, I also had the least emotional connection with any of the characters in the book. It is readable, and the bits of Indian culture sprinkled throughout was interesting and made me hungry for some Chai, but all in all, it is forgettable.

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Eleanor & Park

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Move over Belle and Edward...this is what teen love should really look like. Yes, there are cliches, but what are cliches other than relateable situations? Yes, there are unanswered questions, but you don't notice until you are reflecting on it later, which you will, because this story sticks with you. Yes, there is language, but somehow it makes the love story that much more pure, set on the back of a high school bus amidst bullies who are loud and crass. All I can say is I hope all of the Eleanors out there (and what girl isn't insecure to some extent?) find a Park to love them just as they are .

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Thank You for Your Service

Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

David Finkel starts out by explaining that soldiers who come home from war and have trouble with PTSD or traumatic brain injury or one of another myriad injuries seen and unseen from the latest wars, if seen as red dots on a map would make America glow from coast to coast. But instead of choosing the many, Finkel concentrates on a few of the individual dots. Apparently he followed the same soldiers during their tour in a previous book, but it is not necessary to read it to understand or know these vets. Most of his vignettes are typical day to day occurrences, yet he writes with such style and poetry, you find yourself getting caught up in their minutiae and it in fact better informs the reader how every day, from nightmares at night to trying to keep a job, and especially interacting with loved ones is a daily ordeal. It highlights the struggle to go through the military beauocracy to get help, and the randomness as to what program they get help from. It also helps you see the struggle family members, especially wives, have of ttrying to understand and empathize with this man who no longer acts like their husband. And they seem to get no help at all from the military community. Althogh focusing on a handful of soldiers is helpful for creating empathy, I still wish Finkel might have included a picture for the whole...are there programs that have been shown to work? Are women vets as affected with PTSD? Are there any preventative measures we can take? What can the public at large do? (It seemed the soldiers found any sympathy given from civilians both paltry and insincere). Great read.

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