YELLOW CROCUS by Laila Ibrahim

From Amazon.com:

Moments after her birth to the mistress of a sprawling Virginia plantation, Lisbeth Wainwright is entrusted to Mattie, an enslaved wet nurse.  From then on, Mattie serves as Lisbeth's stand-in mother, nursing her, singing her to sleep, and soothing her in the night.  And yet mothering Lisbeth tears Mattie away from her own baby, Samuel, who lives in the slave quarters.  Growing up under Mattie's tender care, Lisbeth adopts her traditions of prayer, singing, eating black-eyed peas, and hunting for yellow crocuses in the spring.  As the years pass, Lisbeth is drawn back into the white world, earning a growing awareness of the inequality of her and Mattie's stations.  She struggles to reconcile her love for Mattie with her parents' expectation for her future, intent on keeping the best of both worlds - until a terrible betrayal forces her to choose once and for all.  Yellow Crocus is a compelling novel of love, loss, and redemption set during one of the most sinister chapters of American history.

This was a free book for my Kindle.  And one of the few free books that I've really enjoyed.  The story showed the viewpoint of both Mattie and Lisbeth, highlighting their different lives but also their love for each other.  Mattie, being a house slave and nurse for Lisbeth, was treated well and the reader could almost forget that she was a slave.  Almost...

The Civil War period is one of my favorite eras to read about, and this was a nice departure from the brutal treatment of slaves in other books.

A CIRCLE OF SOULS

A CIRCLE OF SOULS by Preetham Grandhi

From the back of the book:

The sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut, is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered.  The town's top detective, perplexed by a complete lack of leads, calls in FBI agent Leia Bines, an expert in cases involving children.

Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Gram, a psychiatrist at Newbury's hospital, searches desperately for the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hastings's devastating nightmares.  Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Naya's parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope.

The situations confronting Leia and Peter converge when Naya begins drawing chilling images of murder after being bombarded by the disturbing images in her dreams.  Amazingly, her sketches are the only clues to the crime that has panicked Newbury residents.  Against her better judgment, Leia explores the clues in Naya's crude drawings, only to set off an alarming chain of events.

In this stunning psychological thriller, innocence gives way to evil, and trust lies forgotten in a web of deceit, fear, and murder.

I was sent this book by the author about a year or so ago.  I apologize to Dr. Grandhi for not reading this sooner.  I really enjoyed this book.  I didn't want to put this one down.  I had to know what would happen next.  How frightening it must have been for Naya to have these dreams and not understand their meaning.  These dreams were the only clues the police and FBI had to help them solve this case, and also a very similar case from years before.

This was a debut novel for Dr. Grandhi, but it read like he had been writing for a while.  A clear story line that moved from incident to incident without losing its way.  I'll be on the lookout for further books by Dr. Grandhi.

THE DRY GRASS OF AUGUST

THE DRY GRASS OF AUGUST by Anna Jean Mayhew

From the book flap:

On a scorching day in August 1954, thirteen-year-old Jubie Watts leaves Charlotte, North Carolina, with her family for a Florida vacation.  Crammed into the Packard along with Jubie are her three siblings, her mother, and the family's black maid, Mary Luther.  For as long as Jubie can remember, Mary has been there - cooking. cleaning, compensating for her father's rages and her mother's benign neglect, and loving Jubie unconditionally.

Bright and curious, Jubie takes note of the anti-integration signs they pass, and of the racial tension that builds as they journey further south.  But she could never have predicted the shocking turn their trip will take.  Now, in the wake of tragedy, Jubie must confront her parents' failings and limitations, decide where her own convictions lie, and make the tumultuous leap to independence...

Infused with the intensity of a changing time, here is a story of hope, heartbreak, and the love and courage than can transform us - from child to adult, from wounded to indomitable.

I liked this book - I liked the author's writing style as it changed from present to past and back again.  But the story was so upsetting.  I grew up in the North and had no idea what it was like for blacks in the South during this time period.  I would hope that it wasn't this bad as a norm.

But what upset me as much as the despicable way the blacks were treated by outsiders was the way most of this family treated Mary.  True, she worked for them, but they treated her as a non-person.  It was just do this, do that - never please or thank you.  Never acknowledging her as a person with feelings.  The young children relied on Mary and treated her with love and respect, but the parents and their friends were horrible.

This was a book that opened my eyes.

401.1

401.1 - the ICD-9 code for benign essential hypertension.

I've noticed that my blood pressure has been slowly rising the past few years.  This is common with getting older, but it has gotten to a range with which I didn't feel comfortable.  Yesterday, at a routine doctor visit, my doctor felt the same way.  While possibly attributing the current numbers to taking Sudafed for a cold, she saw the recent increases and decided it was time to call it what is is.  And she started me on medication.

This is no big deal.  A lot of people take medicine for high blood pressure.  But to me, it was just another definitive sign that I'm really not as young as I think I am.  The graying hair, the wrinkles, the lack of energy, the weight that won't go away, and now this.

So, time to make some changes.  The hair - that'll be done this week.  The wrinkles - time for a good facial and better skin products and, possibly, a visit to my dermatologist for a little nip-and-tuck.  The lack of energy and the weight problem - those I'm going to tackle starting today.  Walking, more moving around, watching what I eat, less salt, more water, more fruits and veggies.

I can't stop the clock.  I can't turn back the calendar.  But I don't have to age gracefully.  I'm fighting!

A FEW SAD DAYS

Joe Paterno died on Sunday.

I never met the man.  My brother Paul played football at Penn State in the 1970's under Joe.  He had the utmost respect for JoePa, considering him as much more than just a coach.  He was a friend, a leader, a mentor.  He taught the boys how to be men.  He taught them to win with honor and lose with graciousness.  Lessons that were carried off the field and throughout life.

My daughter, Donna, went to Penn State.  Obviously, she didn't play football, but she loved JoePa.  She said everyone there loved him.  He was more than football.  He gave millions of dollars of his own money to help fund a new library.  He worked with the College of Liberal Arts to make sure that the classics were being taught.  There is a Paterno Fellowship program now in that College.  Penn State was his life.

He was a loving husband, father of 5 and grandfather of 17.  He was also a father to thousands of Penn State students and athletes.  His father had told him, as a young man, to make an impact in his life.  He did that.  He touched so many lives on and off the playing field.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, thousands and thousands of people stood for hours in the cold for a chance to say a last goodbye to JoePa.  They came from all around the country because they felt they had to give back the respect Joe had given them.

Yesterday, there was a tribute where former players and others stood and spoke about the impact Joe had on their lives.  They all told how he had cared for them, not just as players but as people.  They spoke about how he molded them into better men.  The love they all had for Joe was evident.

Joe Paterno fulfilled his father's wishes.  He made an impact in so many lives.  To say he will be missed is an understatement.  Penn State will live on, but it won't be the same without Joe.

BREAKING THE SILENCE

BREAKING THE SILENCE by Diane Chamberlain

From the back of the book:

Laura Brandon's promise to her dying father was simple:  to visit an elderly woman she'd never heard of before.  A woman who remembers nothing - except the distant past.  Visiting Sarah Tolley seemed a small enough sacrifice to make.

But Laura's promise results in another death.  Her husband's.  And after their five-year-old daughter, Emma, witnesses her father's suicide, Emma refuses to talk about it...to talk at all

Frantic and guilt ridden, Laura contacts the only person who may be able to help.  A man she's met only once - six years before.  A man who doesn't know he's Emma's real father.

Guided only by a child's silence and an old woman's fading memories, the two unravel a tale of love and despair, of bravery and unspeakable evil.  A tale that's shrouded in silence...and that unbelievably links them all.

Ms. Chamberlain is one of my favorite authors.  Every book of hers that I've read has been a winner.  This one was great.  I loved the characters, especially Sarah.  Her stories of the past were heartbreaking.  I just wanted to reach inside the book and give her a big hug.  The ending had some twists that I really didn't see coming.

Lucky for me, Ms. Chamberlain has quite a few books that I haven't read yet.  I'll be sure to get to all of them.

BOOKS FOR A BUCK

Yesterday, I visited a little book outlet store near my home that I've been to quite a few times.  As soon as I walked in, I could tell something was different.  Lot of empty shelves.  The owner told me that they were closing that day and all books were $1.  So I started looking around.

I wound up with 8 books (5 hardcover, 3 trade paperback) for $8.  I had never heard of any of them, but they looked interesting.

WHO STOLE THE FUNNY? (A Novel of Hollywood) by Robby Benson
CATCH A RISING STAR by Tracey Bateman
A GREAT FEAST OF LIGHT (Growing up Irish in the Television Age) by John Doyle
FRIDAY NIGHTS by Joanna Trollope
THE LAST WILL OF MOIRA LEAHY by Therese Walsh
BLUE COLLAR, BLUE SCRUBS (The Making of a Surgeon) by Michael J. Collins, M.D.
MATCH DAY (One Day and One Dramatic Year in the Lives of Three New Doctors) by Brian Eule
THE HIGH CITY by Cecelia Holland

I think I got a pretty good deal.  If nothing else, they'll help fill up an empty bookshelf.

Have you heard of any of these title or authors?

THE WINTER SEA

THE WINTER SEA by Susanna Kearsley was read for the What's in a Name 5 Challenge.

From Amazon.com:

History has all but forgotten...In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel.  Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.

But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth - the ultimate betrayal - that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her...

I sent a copy of this book to a friend for Christmas and she raved about it.  When I saw I could get a free copy for the Kindle, I jumped at the chance.  I liked the book a lot, although maybe not quite as much as my friend did.

This was actually a book within a book - the book Carrie was writing and the story about Carrie as she was writing it.  Confusing?  Not really.  I actually enjoyed the "book" part better.  I knew very little of Scottish history, so it was fun to learn about it.  The author states that the characters and events are factual for the most part.

Note to person writing the above description:  The last part - "and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her..." - were you and I reading the same book?  I think you might have been stretching the truth there a wee bit!

This book fits the category - things you would see on a calendar - for the What's in a Name 5 Challenge.