Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Heretic's Daughter (copy)

Not only do I travel to Salem, Massachusetts, but back in time to the year of our Lord, 1690, in this week’s book The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent.

The story opens with this foretelling paragraph:

“In 1630 Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony took a small group of men and women from the old England to the new. These Puritans, so they were named, would make a place in the colonies by surviving war, plague, and the work of the Devil in a small village called Salem. One woman and her family would stand against religious tyranny, suffering imprisonment, torture, and death. Her outraged and defiant words were recorded by Cotton Mather, who called her, The Queen of Hell. Her name was Martha Carrier.”
Kent is a direct descendant of Martha Carrier on her mother’s side. She grew up hearing the stories passed from generation to generation and includes most in this slow-paced historical fiction. The Carriers were known to feed their cow pumpkins to make golden milk, and the children made bows and arrows shooting them above each other’s heads ala William Tell.

When I say slow-paced, I do not mean in the negative sense. She sets the stage for the atrocities by framing meanness and petty jealousies within the Carrier family and their surrounding neighbors. Rumors and innuendoes fill the first half of the book then the story rolls faster as accusations begin the ultimate downhill spiral.

It was said John Carrier brought plague to his chosen settlement, Billerica. Many years prior to establishing his family, he lived with this bitterness associated with the name Carrier. Now, after learning their neighbor has died of the pox, John’s wife, Martha, packs the families’ things for her grandmother’s in Andover. It was their son, Andrew, who carried the contagion to the new community. Like father like son, they would say.

The story is narrated by nine-year-old Sarah Carrier. Looking back on the story she retells, it is in the wagon to Andover she leaves the carefree life of a toddler and becomes aware of the surrounding world. Author Kent picked one so young to explain happenings as she sees them without mucking the waters with her own theories. Through Sarah, readers are not privy to the parent’s conversations and make do with the child’s point of view. Sarah soon turns 10 and has a keen eye for the wicked.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Greasy Rider (copy)

Continuing this summer’s armchair travel theme, it is time for a road trip. This week I hopped in the car with Greg Melville and his college buddy, Iggy, for a cross country from Vermont to California as reported in Melville’s book Greasy Rider. As one may guess, this is not a typical vacation. We are traveling in a 1985 Mercedes 300TD wagon converted to burn vegetable oil, and we are proving to be the first “Greasecar” to traverse America.

Did you know that diesel engines were designed to run on vegetable oil instead of fossil fuels? When Rudolf Diesel designed his first engine he powered it with peanut oil. His idea was to maintain a farmer’s self-sufficient nature by allowing him to produce fuel from his own crop to run a flywheel engine. In the 1900s this might have been practical, but in the age of relatively cheap diesel fuel it is slightly easier to pump from a gas station than plant, fertilize, irrigate, spray insecticide, etc. a crop, for example cotton for the cottonseed oil.

Yes, today’s diesel engines can burn vegetable oil after installing a conversion kit. Unfortunately, Melville’s kit cost $8,000 and to most owners who already have a car note this added expense is too pricey. It is easy to justify the onetime expense when fuel is free though. With an additional $25, one can purchase a filter system and then pull to the back of any fast food restaurant and ask for the used deep-fry oil.

As you can guess, we got a little on the Kentucky Fried Chicken side of funky. At the first toll booth we were waved through as a possible gesture of support, or the fact that we reminded him it was time for lunch. Whatever the case, we made ourselves hungry, too as the smell permeated our clothes and hair after one day on the road.

There are two bad scenarios associated with free fry oil. One, we have to ask for permission to take the used oil. Two, filtering is a nasty project. We quickly got over the embarrassment of asking since many times the need outweighed the humiliation. Most often we gained permission only to find the oil dumpster empty or the oil full of chunks such as taco chips. Filtering can be a fast process if the oil is clean; otherwise, we purchased in bulk fuses that blew with the chunks. Out of frustration one night, Iggy ran to the nearby Wal-Mart and purchased Wesson.

Off route, readers will also visit attractions such as Al Gore’s not so green home in Tennessee, a geothermal heated and cooled Fort Knox in Kentucky, a “green” Wal-Mart in Texas, and a solar-powered Google in California. Sit back and enjoy the scenery in this eco-friendly read.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Summer Reading Program 2009


My plan was to read Kid Tea by Elizabeth Ficocelli (2007), but when I arrived Veneda was setting them up with garbage sack smocks and they had exactly 30 minutes to be done with the craft and back at the elementary school!

The book has a great sing-song verse, for example "elbows-green-with-grass day, knees-and-toes-to-match day." On the next page young footballer is in the tub with the lines, "Dunk me in the tub, please, for green kid tea!" The idea that goes along with the book, is have the children make tea with the different colored paints as they rinse between hand prints. Both tubs were pink when we finished! :D

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

2nd Book Report Due July 15!

Mary's ready! How 'bout you!!!
Y'all are reading so fast!
Good job!
Now promise me you will visit with one another.
You know, "Set a spell."

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam (copy)

Note: This is written for North Mississippi newspaper audiences. I do not want to start another challenge!

Is money tight and options for travel this summer limited? Why don’t we wander all over the world through books? For the next two months, let us globe trot on the cheap. Pull out a world map and push-pin the many places visited without burning gas or running up huge room service bills. Do not forget the starting point (Somewhere, Mississippi) and then join them with string.

I gain a huge head start with Ann Marie Fleming’s graphic memoir of her great-grandfather in The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam. This story took me to China, Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia.

Long Tack Sam is virtually unknown to American audiences today, but in the 20’s and 30’s his vaudeville and magic act were world renown. Fleming puzzled how someone so famous could be completely forgotten in history. She, even as a close relative, did not know the extent of his fame, fortune and the exploits of his troupe. The book unfolds as she discovers the Long story.

Born in 1885, Long Tack Sam ran away from his home in the Shangdung Province of China to join the circus. This area of China is known for providing many schools in acrobat training. He became an apprentice to a magician and expanded his act with magic. Along the way he perfected the Goldfish Bowl Trick that consist of a little dance, forward tumble into a standing position then raising arms to reveal a bowl full of goldfish. He last performed this trick at age 73.

Long Tack Sam began to accumulate money and fame at a young age. While still traveling with the circus he met his future wife in Austria. He needed soap and toothpaste and behind the counter stood Leopoldine Roesler. Love at first sight? Well, this is how genealogy works. We can assume they liked each other enough to marry, have three children and live together until Long died. To add romance without fact would be misleading, but it was Poldi who became his financial manager and the force behind his touring as leader of his own troupe.

Fleming is a director and The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam first appeared as a documentary in 2003. The graphic memoir was produced in 2007 after the successful movie. It is apparent, Fleming has an inherent humor for the arts like her great-grandfather who became an acrobat, magician, comic, business owner (restaurants and theatres), impresario, teacher, and according to the comic George Burns, “the greatest act in the history of vaudeville!”

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Haiku Review Time


Ready to win an autographed hardback of Mudbound by Hillary Jordan?
Why Maggie, I don't know nothin' 'bout writin' no hi-kus!
Don't be silly! We won't follow those stiff Japanese rules. No need to mention the season or what happens to be bloomin' in the backyard. Let's keep it simple and use the 5-7-5 format, as in 5 syllables for the first line, 7 syllables for the second, and 5 for the ending. Place your Southern Haiku in a post then leave a post specific URL on Mister Linky here. One may enter as many times as a haiku is written for southern books read this summer. Contest ends July 31, 2009.
For fun, you may choose not to tell the book's title and let bloggers guess. Here is an example of one I recently read. Too easy, huh?!?
The quick brown fox jumps
amazingly over the
la*y dog sans z.

Friday, June 05, 2009

Friday Winners!



We have some winners!

That's raight! My lazy butt forgot to draw last Friday! I would say there has been a slow start on my part to the challenge. So sorry!

I'd like to talk with you about sum maintenance. In the sidebar you can see the SRCIII button and "Sign Up" and "First Review" underneath which are highlighted. Click the highlight and go directly to that post. Don't feel like you cannot participate because you missed a post. I made it easy and will continue with the contests in the same manner until the end of the challenge. This way our first contest "Haiku Review" can be entered multiple times during the summer for a chance at a hardback Mudbound signed by the lovely Hillary Jordan. Please visit fellow southern bloggers and Good Luck!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
17 JMNLman @ Strategist Personal Library

29 Amelia @ Books Love Us
Timestamp: 2009-06-05 14:45:24 UTC

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Sweet Potato Queens Rule!





"On their own my eyeballs could be considered purely ornamental."

~ Jill Conner Browne

Tupelo native and first Mississippi Queen, Jill Conner Browne, has a laugh for you! All you have to do is read! Pay homage to the Queen here!



NONFICTION
Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love (1999)
God Save the Sweet Potato Queens (2001)
The SPQs' Big-Ass Cookbook (2003) Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men (2004)
The SPQs' Wedding Planner/Divorce Guide (2005)
The SPQs' First Big-Ass Novel (2007)
The SPQs' Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit (2008)
American Thighs: The SPQ's Guide to Preserving Your Assets (2008)

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

The Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Raising Children for Fun & Profit (copy)

There are many ways to recommend a book. If I read something great I tell everybody. If a patron exalts the virtues of a certain book, I suggest read-a-likes. If someone is mulling around the library, I ask what they normally read and find the latest in that genre. For hubby, I search out new mysteries that earn star reviews. Then there are those books I only recommend to my friends using a hushed voice.

I used to have an older patron that came in every Monday morning with one goal. She wanted a “good” book for the week. It was one book and one book only, therefore I had one shot to make her happy. The following Monday she would come back with a critique that led us to more books by the same author or something totally different. I felt safe handing her cozy mysteries, Christian fiction and current bestsellers.

One day I was in my office on the phone when she entered. My lovely and highly capable assistant took her request and headed to the paperbacks. Still on the phone they returned to the counter, checked out the book and she went out the door before I could say, yay or nay. I turned to my assistant and asked, “What did you give her?”

“Oh, Nora Roberts,” she said very pleased with herself. (Nora Roberts is a romance writer who makes Danielle Steel, another romance writer, blush.)

When Monday rolled around, I eagerly awaited her return. She came in, slammed the book on the counter and said with a visible flinch, “Too Much Sex!” Smiling, she headed back to her old haunts to find another book. Then she walked back to the counter and began to hem-haw around, possibly waiting on my assistant, for 15 minutes; finally, she came out with it. “Do you have any more by that author?”

The book I am currently reading, The Sweet Potato Queens’ Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit by Tupelo native Jill Conner Browne, is filled with debauchery, specifically foul language, sexual tales and crude jokes. Not a book I would place in my mother’s hands.

Number seven in the eight book franchise, this one is funnier than most; although, the original, SPQ’s Book of Love, (1999) is the best. The humor is throughout the pages even penetrating the title as Browne tells readers, “yes…children are reared, corn is raised” and she (rolling her eyes) knows the difference. Psst—girlfriends, you have to read this!