#20 - "Middle Passage" by Charles Johnson

I found Middle Passage by Charles Johnson in one of my many sojourns in my local book store. It was written in 1990 and winner of the National Book Award. So far I’ve been able to count on the award winners for consistently interesting, creative writing, and this book was no different.

Middle Passage finds the protagonist, Rutherford Calhoun in New Orleans in 1830. A recently freed slave from the farm lands of Illinois, Calhoun is dodging gangster-like creditors, a spinsterly woman who wants to make a “catch” of him and his own fear of settling. He jumps aboard the Republic to escape his life and ends up on a slave ship to Africa commanded by the deranged Captain Ebenezer Falcon. Rutherford’s life on the ship begins much like the life he left behind in New Orleans. He follows the path of least resistance with no loyalties to anyone or anything. When they land in Africa, Rutherford Calhoun is relieved to get on land and off the claustrophobic ship, but is horrified by his first-hand view of the slave trade. But with much foreboding by everyone on board, the ship gathers its newly bought slaves and cargo and heads back to sea with disastrous results.

Not far into the book you realize that what you are reading is, in fact, the ship’s log from the Republic. Shortly after an uprising on the ship, Rutherford Calhoun takes possession of the ship’s log and describes in detail the circumstances leading him to be on the ship and every aspect of his travails as he tries to safely make it back home. While at sea, Calhoun becomes a provider/protector of a young girl from the Allmuheri tribe, he contends with storms, a mutiny, an uprising, a ship falling apart, disease, and hunger. Rutherford also copes with his inner demons. He describes his past interactions with his father, brother, and the most important woman in his life as he contemplates these relationships and their effect on him.

When I first finished this book, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, probably because it has so many things going on that it’s hard to classify. But looking back on what I read, I appreciate it more. Told through Calhoun’s written narrative, his perspective is often entertaining and funny. Johnson manages to weave together a story about race relations, the horror of the slave trade, an adventure story about survival, experiences that necessarily change everyone they touch, and a fascinating portrait of a character.

(SPOILER!!!) My only slight discomfiture with the characters came at the end of the novel with Rutherford Calhoun’s love interest, Isadora. Rutherford Calhoun’s time at sea forces him to face his life and become a more responsible, caring person, and Isadora changes while he’s away as well. However, Isadora’s transformation only includes her getting thinner from stress and losing some of her prudishness. It bothered me that what it took in the book to make a woman “better” was as simple as making her skinny and more sexual. I could not determine her role besides being a place of comfort for Calhoun, and their reconciliation occurred a little too quickly and with too little explanation for my taste.

#19 - "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler

My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands (2005) by Chelsea Handler is a book I discovered through Alabama Pink's review. A funny book about sex sounded like more than enough entertainment for me, so I immediately looked it up in the library. Surprisingly, for a book from 2005, there was quite a long wait list for it, which only made it more appealing. So, when it finally became available, I forgot about all the other books I have piled up and waiting for me and read it immediately.

And I completely agree with Alabama Pink. This book was thorougly entertaining and hilarious. Chelsea Handler is a smart, funny writer and even in the first couple of pages I was already laughing out loud. Some of the situations she gets herself into as well as some of the lies she comes up with are absolutely unforgettable. I don't particularly want to describe any of her stories. They're all funny and probably better if you don't know what to expect, but I enjoyed each and every chapter.


Now, I don't want this next bit to take anything away from what is a non-stop funny book, and I feel like even mentioning some of these issues completely ruins the intention of the book, but I can't help it. So, every once in awhile I thought Chelsea Handler couled actually be kind of mean and it occasionally bothered me. I guess it doesn't help that I'm the most sensitive person in the world and automatically imagine how I would feel in someone else's position. And it's not that I would ever actually sleep with some of the guys that she lied to and then snuck out on, but sometimes I actually felt bad for them. Or at least the way she thought about them and treated them.


One other thing that I noticed was that Handler wasn't always having fun with all the sex she was getting. Quite often the book went directly from one "low point" to her next "low point." It would be so satisfying to actually see a real woman able to sleep around and enjoy it. I've tried the whole casual sex thing and sometimes really, really wish I could enjoy it, but it never works for me. I was kind of hoping that Handler could be some kind of role model of a woman enjoying casual sex. It seemed instead that something--unhappiness maybe--was spurring her on into these one-night stands, but that she wasn't getting much/any satisfaction from them. And maybe this is the problem with reading so many books, one after the other, but there were also some eerie similarities between Chelsea Handler's father--who occasionally acted kind of creepy--and the father from the much more serious book that I just read, If I Am Missing or Dead. And Handler herself even started saying that she needed to make changes and that she wanted to get married. I was almost afraid that the last chapter would be of Handler finally finding the man of her dreams. But fortunately that didn't happen here, and the book ended, as it began, with a laugh.

#18 - You Are Here by Thomas M. Kostigen

You Are Here (2008) by Thomas M. Kostigen is another one of those books that I grabbed after seeing it on the display table at the library. I'm a natural conservationist, I've always hated wasting anything and that propensity extends to the environment. However, I still find it difficult to read books about the environment where I have to learn about all the natural beauty and splendor that humans manage to permanently desecrate every day, every hour, or every minute of our lives. Sometimes it's just easier to focus on your own life and live in ignorance. But maybe because of my work, I can't completely ignore what's going on. So, that's what made me watch An Inconvenient Truth, and that's what encouraged me to pick up this book. After all, as someone who worked for a nationally recognized environmental non-profit, it would be embarassing not to know some of the basics of the environmental problems that we're facing today.

You Are Here is a book that seeks to explain how the everyday habits of people impact the rest of the world. In doing this, Kostigen discusses the major environmental problems that we face today including air and water pollution, scarce resources, and climate change. Kostigen says that, "[t]oo often we don't connect our morality with the practicality of everyday things in our lives." The problem is that we never see the consequences of our actions. We're pretty lucky here in the United States, where we might hear about some environmental problem, but few of us actually experience theworst of the effects. Kostigen tries to educate the reader through this book by showing what happens to our trash after we put it on the curb, where our water comes from, and where the pollution goes. In order to accomplish this, he travels to nine different places throughout the world including the slums of Mumbai, India; the most polluted air in the world of Linfen City, China; a distant village in Alaska that is falling into the sea; and even the Eastern Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean.

I wasn't too sure about this book when I started reading it. Although I readily agree with the intent, I often find these books hard to digest. And even with this book, I found myself dreading to start another chapter because I knew I was going to learn that something else was being destroyed. But overall, I think this book admirably accomplishes what it set out to do. You Are Here is set up almost like a travel diary, so besides learning about the environmental woes of an area, you are sharing the experiences of the writer as he travels around the world and meets people in these exceptional places. I was also impressed by how Kostigen was able to limit the book to something manageable and meaningful. He focused on some of the major environmental problems such as climate change and pollution and managed to clearly describe the causes and effects of these issues with the backdrop of a real locale and real people that are being affected. He doesn't simplify the problems or solutions but also doesn't get too bogged down in detail and always had some kind of positive message about how we as individuals can make a difference if we actually know the consequences of our actions.

Although I am hopeful that many people already know much of what Kostigen talks about in You Are Here, I definitely learned something new in every chapter. Probably what impressed me most about this book, though, was that Kostigen managed to encourage change without being political, authoritative, blaming, or holier-than-thou. He gives examples of what people can do to make a difference but he lets the reader decide what might actually work in her life without being judgmental. Kostigen seems optimistic that people care enough about others that if we could see the effects we have on the world around us that we will want to make a difference if we possibly can.

#17 - "This Land is Their Land" by Barbara Ehrenreich

I don't have much to say about This Land is Their Land by Barbara Ehrenreich (2008). I read Nickel and Dimed by Ehrenreich at some point in the past. I found it interesting enough, but it always felt a little off to me. I sometimes felt that Ehrenreich wrote it as if she were exposing what it was like to work for low-wage employers like Wal-Mart. Granted I never had to fully support myself with those kinds of jobs, but I'd done enough menial work to not be too surprised by her story. But not everyone has had my experiences, and perhaps it was eye-opening for some people to actually see the process of an industrious woman work full time and yet still have so much trouble supporting herself.

Anyway, Nickel and Dimed couldn't have been that bad because when I saw This Land is Their Land by Ehrenreich propped up on the display table at the library, I grabbed it for a quick read. This Land is Their Land is comprised of a number of short essays outlining the many problems in our country and society. The essays are very short--between three and five pages--and most have the running theme of protecting the downtrodden middle and lower classes and calling for more equality.

Ehrenreich makes strong calls for change, and I'm glad her point of view is out there and, with any luck, part of the discussion. And, on the whole, I enjoyed reading her essays. However, there's not too much to this book. The essays are too short to get into a detailed discussion of the issues, so I was left with a couple pithy sentences saying how bad things are and that things need to change. The rich are getting richer. The poor are getting poorer. Americans are floundering in debt, getting screwed by the bigwigs and corporate America. The healthcare system is in shambles and we are in trouble. Maybe I found these sections even more pessismistic and disturbing because right now I am unemployed and uninsured, so I found it more than a little disquieting to read horror stories about how we're all doomed.

In addition, this book is not where to go to get facts and figures or a thorough discussion of the issues. Ehrenreich's politics and point of view is consistently left, probably more so than most Democrats. Considering that my point of view is very similar, this didn't bother me in the least. However, Ehrenreich only has a couple of pages to make her point, so there is no room to get into the complexity of issues or present both sides. In addition, not much is cited in this book, and even when she does cite something in her text, her information often comes from other writers or politicians' websites. Perhaps I am too cynical, but I would never believe or use statistics obtained from a politician, so for me there was sometimes too little foundation for what she was saying. I never got the feeling that Ehrenreich was being dishonest or twisting the truth, just that sometimes she didn't go into enough detail to give some of these complex issues enough justice.

Perhaps that's why I enjoyed her section on "Getting Sex Straight" the most. I feel much stronger about social issues than complex, economic problems where cause and effect can be argued for eternity. But Ehrenreich highlighting some of the absurdities of teaching abstinence or the irrationality of banning gay marriage were pointed, amusing, and fun to read. I also especially liked her essay titled "Owning Up to Abortion" where Ehrenreich describes her frustration at women who think they are somehow on a higher moral plane when they have abortions because their fetuses have birth defects rather than a simple "run-of-the mill" abortion, or even women who have abortions but yet describe themselves as pro-life. "The freedoms that we exercise but do not defend, or even acknowledge, are easily taken away."

#16 - "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy

I bought The Road by Cormac McCarthy for a second father's day gift when it turned out the first book I bought him he had already read (I'm not a very creative gift giver). Of course, by that time, my father had already headed off somewhere on vacation and The Road was just sitting in my apartment begging me to read it. So, a couple weeks later, my father returned from his trip and received a slightly used book, and I had become a fan of Cormac McCarthy. I hadn't been expecting too much from The Road when I started it. I had read someone's review somewhere or other that had described it as boring, and I wasn't sure how well I would relate to McCarthy. But I found The Road surprisingly enthralling. The story is simple and powerful. A man and his son are trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, surrounded by dust, darkness, violence, starvation, and desperation. The survival aspects of the story made it immediately engrossing and tense, but overlaid on their journey is the question of whether all this pain and suffering is worth it. To be or not to be; but when that question is placed in an existence of such stark hopelessness, the fight for something good becomes even more emotional and powerful. Even looking back on the plot, I can't quite understand how The Road affected me so strongly, but it is a book I will never forget. Thus, I had to move on to some other Cormac McCarthy novels.

And Blood Meridian (1985) was the next Cormac McCarthy novel that I chose. I found it much more of a complex and difficult read than The Road. The worlds of the two books are eerily similar in some ways: wastelands with little life and roving bands of marauders who are a danger to anyone they come across. A life where power is all important and derives directly from guns and weapons and the will to use them. But instead of focusing on the humane father and son as in The Road, McCarthy centers Blood Meridian on a roving band of marauders, whose violence and depravity are psychotic and almost inhuman. There is so much going on in this novel that I kind of want to just sit and think and re-read for a week or month or so before I can even get enough of a handle on this book to write down my impressions.

In a novel that is consistently vague about time, places, and ages, Blood Meridian is bookended by a couple of dates. The story begins in 1847 when the fourteen-year-old “kid” runs away from home and eventually ends up with a gang of mercenaries offered a bounty by a Mexican governor for every Apache scalp they return. The gang travels throughout the territory searching for Indians to kill, often avoiding the war parties and preying on the weak and helpless, eventually killing even those they had been hired to protect. In their bid to rid “civilization” of the problem with the Indians, the gang became incapable of any kind of society themselves. The town that celebrated the gang’s return by grotesquely hanging the scalps about in celebration could not handle the day-to-day violence and depravity of actually sharing living space with them.

This gang is led by Glanton, a ruthless leader, generally fair to his men, and primarily focused on gaining wealth by any means possible. Although he was loyal to his men, he did not appear to suffer from any kind of conscience. “The kid,” in contrast, although he did not shy from violence did have some idea of right and wrong and did not always murder as thoughtlessly as some of the others. If we had been allowed into his mind, there might have been some remorse within, especially as he grew older. However, perhaps the most important, thought-provoking, and enigmatic character was Glanton’s second-in-command and known as “the Judge.” The Judge is a huge man, often walking around shirtless or naked, and completely without hair on his entire body, including even his eyelashes. His actions were often completely unpredictable, mysterious as to his purpose, and cruel. He is intelligent and knowledgeable and in many ways bigger than life. No matter what the situation or how hopeless the predicament, the Judge could come out on top. He was almost all powerful. I spent much of this book trying to figure out the meaning of the Judge’s actions or trying to find out what he might have represented in McCarthy’s mind. Was he a symbol of the United States in its infancy? Was he Death? Progression? Man? The actions of “the Judge” always brought more questions than answers.

This book was a challenge to read for a number of reasons. The violence that permeates this story is disturbing. McCarthy is never sentimental, and he doesn’t glorify it, but the pain and suffering was neverending. Sometimes the violence is described so quickly, almost glossed over, that with the paucity of any reaction from the characters I would wonder if the horror just described had actually occurred or if I had misread. Another challenge for me was simply following the complexity of the story. McCarthy focuses on the characters and the landscape, but besides the couple of dates he throws out for his readers there wasn’t any explanation of social or political context. This was often hard for me as my knowledge of this time in history is not great. In addition, I know I could also use a larger vocabulary, but McCarthy seems to know and use every rare, Spanish originated word for desert landscape or tools and equipment, many of which I had never heard before. In addition, some entire conversations occurred in Spanish, which, unfortunately, I do not speak. This made for a much richer story that really sucked you into McCarthy’s world, but it also makes the book a little more unapproachable. I feel like I could study this book for years and still find new nuances and meaning throughout. I will definitely be reading some more of McCarthy’s books.

#15 - "If I Am Missing or Dead" by Janine Latus

Amy Latus's coworkers are concerned because Amy has not shown up for work for a couple days and she is usually so reliable. While three of them head off to her apartment, some others look through her desk at work to see if they can find any clues to where she might be. They find an envelope taped to the inside of her drawer marked "Knox County Sheriff. Personal." The coworkers open the letter and read, "To Whom It May Concern: In the event of my disappearance or death I need to let it be known that I advanced Ronald Lee Ball a considerable amount of money...Today Ron and I are romantically involved, but I fear I have placed myself at risk in a variety of ways...We are struggling in our relationship right now and life would be much simpler (for him) if the financial issues between us just went away." Amy Latus wrote this letter about the man who had been living with her for months. And even though she was so fearful of her safety that she took the precaution of writing that letter, she never mentioned this fear to any of her family.

Amy's death is the catalyst for If I Am Missing or Dead, the book written by Janine Latus, Amy's older sister, and published in 2007. After finding this book while wandering through Target one day, I picked it up at the library. I was afraid I would be reading 300 pages of violence and beatings that continually escalate until Amy Latus dies. But the focus throughout the book remains on Janine Latus and her life, and although there is some violence, it does not overwhelm the narrative.


Janine Latus grew up in Michigan with her four other siblings, her mother, and an abusive father. The abuse wasn't as simple as beating the shit out of his kids, but he was constantly bullying them, putting them down, and sexualizing his daughters in ways that obviously had repercussions in their own relationships as they grew older. Janine Latus has a fascinating life story and this book is hard to put down. Not all of her relationships with men are negative, but the cycles of abuse and dysfunction that started in her own family follow tradition and haunt her throughout her life, often mirroring her relationship with her father. The book follows Janine through a string of boyfriends and finally her dysfunctional relationship with a husband whose lack of self esteem and inability to deal with anger often makes him possessive, jealous, and controlling.


However, as soon as I read the letter written by Amy about her boyfriend Ron, I wanted more information about her life. Amy had a lot of people who loved her and her death was a tragic waste of life. I wanted to understand what happened, why she let herself get involved with someone like Ron, what happened in her childhood with her father, and what she was thinking throughout her life. But the story is about Janine's life, told from her point of view. The only insights she has into her sister's life are when Amy comes to visit or their telephone conversations, and that is just what Amy chose to tell her at the time, which ends up raising more questions than answers. Amy was hiding a lot. I realize that it would probably be impossible for the sister of a murder victim to do the kind of research and dig into her sister's life to get that kind of personal information, even if it was available. The story I was looking for would probably have to be written by somebody else, but I felt a little betrayed by the advertising on the book. I went into it thinking the story was about two sisters. I anticipated reading about Amy, or a comparison of the two sisters' lives. And as absorbing as Janine Latus's life was, when I finished the book, I felt as though something important was missing.

#14 - "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert

I'm not even sure where I first heard about Eat Pray Love (2006) by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's a "#1 New York Times Bestseller" so I'm sure I've seen it around in stores and bookstores. And I remember my mom mentioning it. But then my father, who prefers buying books to using libraries, bought the book on one of his many trips to Costco. I think at the time he didn't realize quite what it was that he was buying, because evidenced by the pristine condition of the book, he hasn't read a page of it. But far be it from me to ignore a brand new book just sitting on my parents' bookshelf all ignored and unread. So, entranced by the beauty of the pretty cover and the newness, I started in.

Eat Pray Love is the story of the 34 year-old author when she spends a year in Italy, India, and Indonesia as she tries to recover from a brutal divorce and subsequent depression. She first spends four months in Rome, Italy seeking pleasure by eating all the tasty morsels Italy has to offer. Then she spends four more months in an Ashram in Italy, devoting herself to meditation and prayer in an effort to find transcendence, God, etc. Finally, the last four months she spends in Bali, a small Hindu island in Indonesia where her plan was to find a balance between pleasure and devotion in her life.

I like reading real stories about people, what their lives are like, how they make it through difficult circumstances, what makes them keep going, and what made them who they are today. Gilbert's accounts of her circumstances and her travels were honestly and bravely told. She talks about her depression, the pain of her divorce, and how long the guilt, remorse, and sadness followed her. I also enjoyed her insights into the culture of the countries she was visiting. My favorite parts of the book are when Gilbert talks about the stories of the people she meets along the way. Her new friends are vividly portrayed and immediately likeable and generally unforgettable, whether that includes Giovanni or Luca Spaghetti in Italy; Richard from Texas in India, or Wayan, Felipe, Ketut, or Yudhi in Bali.

The hardest part of the book for me to wade through was the second section, the part where she details her trip to the Ashram in India and her four months spent in prayer and devotion. Although I am a fan of yoga and enjoy "shavasana", I have almost no knowledge of the true spiritual aspects of yoga and have never tried "real" meditation. Thus, Gilbert's explanation of her guru, the Ashram and its purpose and workings, and her quest for God were all new to me. Being so ignorant, I was actually very interested in learning what the Ashram was like, but I also found it difficult to follow her on her quest for a "relationship with God" when I personally don't believe in God. Long explanations of her meditations and how she was feeling closer to God, or wrapped up in God, or she had some kind of breakthrough were hard for my skeptical brain to accept. I have great respect for the power of the human brain, so when someone says they found peace and felt as one with God, it makes me think they might have been successful in transforming their subconscious as they meditated. It doesn't make me believe in God. Even though I am a very introspective person, I also tend to be very practical. Apparently, I don't have a lot of patience when it comes to the spiritual. I appreciate the necessity of being aware of your feelings and working through them, but "opening up your heart" and shifting your loneliness from your head to your heart, or asking God to protect you or to help you doesn't do anything for me and I get tired of reading about it. I'm big on independence and facing life's problems as best you can. An imaginary friend may be comforting if you can truly believe in him, but faking it could not bring any kind of comfort to me.

One of the hardest sentences for me to buy was when Gilbert was describing a real breakthrough she had in meditation where she said she got "pulled through the wormhole of the Absolute, and in that rush I suddenly understood the workings of the universe completely." Really? my skeptical self asked. Then why don't you share the answers to all the universe with your readers? I do not doubt she was having true and meaningful experiences and far be it from me to declare what is and is not God, especially when I was not there, but my connection to her story diminished during this section of the book. However, I enjoyed Gilbert's insight into the countries that she visited and the touching way she shared her experiences and the people she met along the way.

#13 - "Show No Mercy" by Cindy Gerard

With this latest book I read, I am definitely showing my somewhat guilty affinity for romance novels. I can't handle reading too many of them because the repetition gets boring, but there are a couple of authors that I enjoy reading, so when they come out with a new book, I'll generally take a break and enjoy some time escaping into some kind of fantasy land where all the strong, sexy, alluring bad boys who would never commit to anyone fall in love and change their lives. Susan Elizabeth Phillips is my favorite of these authors. I tend to gravitate towards romance stories with some action or mystery, but Susan Elizabeth Phillips is so much fun to read, that I don't require the action from her stories. Cindy Gerard isn't my favorite author, but her stories tend to have some good action in them, often involving bodyguards or military men, so I picked up Show No Mercy from the library for a quick read.

There's not much that I have to say about this book. It was pretty much what I was expecting and I read it quickly and found it pretty entertaining. Sure, it took awhile to get into the action of the story. I felt like I was reading setup for about 100 pages, which was not entirely interesting, especially considering the main characters had been introduced in Gerard's last book. I also felt like the plot had been borrowed from Alias. Jenna McMillan is a reporter who goes back to Argentina for a story and an interview with some important billionaire. Gabe Jones is an ex-army and ex-CIA agent who works for a small black operations firm in Argentina. It turns out that both Gabe and Jenna are a target for a terrorist turned lunatic who is intent on getting back at them for being involved in destroying his terrorist cell (which happened in Gerard's earlier book). But really, these books aren't so much about the actual plot, but the chemistry between the characters. I feel like this wasn't Gerard's best book, but it was adequate and entertaining enough for me to finish it quickly.

However, I couldn't help but drag some political thoughts into this book. Maybe it's because of the upcoming election or just my complete and utter disgust with Bush and how he's dragged us into the Iraq war and sullied the idea of American Democracy and patriotism for his own selfish ends. Gerard's storyline of neo-nazi terrorist cells located throughout the world, who are conspiring to increase the animosity between muslim jihadists and the christian world, so they can take over after the fallout, is preposterous and paranoid. But, it sounds like something that would come from the current administration at the White House. I can't help but imagine that Gerard is a Republican who, although she may not be too happy with Bush, has still bought a lot of his bullshit.

I'm also very sensitive to any kind of positive portrayal of torture, and although there was not too much of it in this book, I still got annoyed. The "bad guy" was merciless and his evil and inhumanity were shown through his use of torture, which was fine. But it was at least alluded to that the "good guys" used torture as well. There were jokes about the good guy using "sweet talk" to get information from someone. And he threatened to cut off someone's fingers in order to get some information. The assumption was that the "good guys" knew how to use torture to get the necessary information, but that we could trust them to not go too far or only use it on the really bad guys. I guess I just think of this book as reflecting a basic, majority public opinion, and it really bothers me that public opinion is not more compassionate.