Book Review: Wide-Open World by John Marshall

Title: Wide-Open World
Author: John Marshall
Source: Publisher

Goodreads Summary:

For readers of Three Cups of Tea; Eat, Pray, Love; and Wild comes the inspiring story of an ordinary American family that embarks on an extraordinary journey. Wide-Open World follows the Marshall family as they volunteer their way around the globe, living in a monkey sanctuary in Costa Rica, teaching English in rural Thailand, and caring for orphans in India. There’s a name for this kind of endeavor—voluntourism—and it might just be the future of travel.

Oppressive heat, grueling bus rides, backbreaking work, and one vicious spider monkey . . . Best family vacation ever!
  
John Marshall needed a change. His twenty-year marriage was falling apart, his seventeen-year-old son was about to leave home, and his fourteen-year-old daughter was lost in cyberspace. Desperate to get out of a rut and reconnect with his family, John dreamed of a trip around the world, a chance to leave behind, if only just for a while, routines and responsibilities. He didn’t have the money for resorts or luxury tours, but he did have an idea that would make traveling the globe more affordable and more meaningful than he’d ever imagined: The family would volunteer their time and energy to others in far-flung locales. 

Wide-Open World is the inspiring true story of the six months that changed the Marshall family forever. Once they’d made the pivotal decision to go, John and his wife, Traca, quit their jobs, pulled their kids out of school, and embarked on a journey that would take them far off the beaten path, and far out of their comfort zones.

Here is the totally engaging, bluntly honest chronicle of the Marshalls’ life-altering adventure from Central America to East Asia. It was no fairy tale. The trip offered little rest, even less relaxation, and virtually no certainty of what was to come. But it did give the Marshalls something far more valuable: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to conquer personal fears, strengthen family bonds, and find their true selves by helping those in need. In the end, as John discovered, he and his family did not change the world. It was the world that changed them.


My Thoughts:

I absolutely loved this book. Like really loved it. It wasn't necessarily always the greatest from start to finish- I did find some areas bogged down a bit, or just weren't as interesting to me as others. However, it didn't matter. I still loved it.

John Marshall and his wife had a struggling marriage, and they were losing contact with their children, one of which was retreating heavily into the world of technology and friends. Marshall's teenage daughter was a typical American teen, glued to her phone and her friends. One day, Marshall decided enough was enough. The family was going to make some changes, together. The best part: they were going to make these changes by helping other people, in far off distant locales.

Marshall and his family volunteered in a few different places over the course of the year - a monkey sanctuary in Costa Rica, an orphanage in India, teaching English in Thailand. They also volunteered as WOOFERs, which is a program where people volunteer on an organic farm. I was most fascinated by the family's time at the monkey sanctuary and at the orphanage. Those two experiences really struck something within me, and drew me in. I just didn't connect with the other adventures the way I did with these two.  I actually could have read more about those two experiences, what we got just wasn't enough.

If this seems like an Eat, Pray, Love experience, it kind of is. However, at the end of this book, not everything ends hunky dory. I loved Marshall's commitment to being honest and open about what happened with his family over the course of this year. Also, another neat feature is at the end of the book, Marshall breaks down how his family managed to take an entire year off and also broke down the financial aspect of the trip as well, which I really wanted to know.

I feel inspired by this book. I love books that inspire me, and this one certainly did. I see voluntourism in the future for my family, and I can't wait!

If you are interested, you can check out Marshall's website, complete with photos!

My Backyard Jungle - Review

Title: My Backyard Jungle
Author: James Barilla
Source: NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

For James Barilla and his family, the dream of transforming their Columbia, South Carolina, backyard into a haven for wildlife evoked images of kids catching grasshoppers by day and fireflies at night, of digging up potatoes and picking strawberries. When they signed up with the National Wildlife Federation to certify their yard as a wildlife habitat, it felt like pushing back, in however small a way, against the tide of bad news about vanishing species, changing climate, dying coral reefs. Then the animals started to arrive, and Barilla soon discovered the complexities (and possible mayhem) of merging human with animal habitats. What are the limits of coexistence, he wondered? To find out, Barilla set out across continents to explore cities where populations of bears, monkeys, marmosets, and honeybees live alongside human residents. My Backyard Jungle brings these unique stories together, making Barilla’s yard the centerpiece of a meditation on possibilities for coexistence with animals in an increasingly urban world. Not since Gerald Durrell penned My Family and Other Animals have readers encountered a naturalist with such a gift for storytelling and such an open heart toward all things wild.


My thoughts:

I absolutely positively loved this book! When I requested it from NetGalley, I was worried that it could potentially be a little bit boring. Well, let me tell you, I actually couldn't put it down! Barilla's writing style is so engaging and interesting, you get sucked right in to his subject matter.

This book made me think twice about all the little critters that are living around my home. Possums, raccoons, mice, rats - in some cases (not near me!) monkeys and bears!! I can't even imagine having a bear den under my deck and not know about it. But it happens all the time in areas where there are bears.

Barilla talks about the relationship between animals and the ever shrinking areas they live in. They are forced to adapt or die out. And most of the time, like they say in Jurassic Park, "Life finds a way". Life changes, but it still goes on. Sometimes. Obviously, not all the time, and animals still struggle everyday to survive in our new world. My Backyard Jungle focuses however on more successful cases than not so successful. Barilla travels the world, investigating and seeing just how animals live around some of the most populated areas of the world. He relates this back to his own life, and to the lives of people like me and parts of America, the suburban world. Probably the chapter that I liked least was the chapter where Barilla followed an animal removal agent around. I felt sad for the animals that find there ways into homes - I know that I am not a fan myself, for however much I love animals. I still don't want a dead possum in my walls or rats in the attic.

The chapter I enjoyed the most was about bees, in particular the growing apiarist community in Brooklyn. One hive of bees produced red honey one year, and it was discovered they were getting their sugar from a maraschino cherry factory! I knew that the honey from bees would match what is in their environment, like lavender  etc. but learning about the maraschino cherry honey was crazy! And to make it worse, it was terrible tasting as well as bad for you, due to all the Karo syrup.

One thing Barilla did in an effort to share urban space with nature was have his backyard certified through the National Wildlife Federation as a wildlife habitat. I was inspired to the do the same, and my husband has agreed to help me, and even is excited as well. He agreed to build me a few bird houses, and even volunteered to add a small pond to our yard. It doesn't seem too terribly hard, and I am already halfway there. I am trying to focus more on fauna that begins with the letter b, such as birds and butterflies, bees and bats- I don't think my neighbors would like it if I enticed vermin to the area.

I really loved this book, and after I read that Barilla teaches creative nonfiction at the University of South Carolina, it made sense as to why this book was so readable. I think it is an interesting and informative read, and should be given a try.

And did you know that monkeys live in a small area of Florida? I didn't, but now I do.

History of a Pleasure Seeker - Review

Title: History of a Pleasure Seeker
Author: Richard Mason
Source: Library

 Goodreads Summary:


Piet Barol, the titular pleasure seeker, is a priapic, ambitious young man come to seek his fortune in belle époque Amsterdam. Unlike Frédéric Moreau in Flaubert's L'Éducation sentimentale (to which this book owes no meagre debt), Piet is magnificently gifted, not only "extremely attractive to most women and to many men," but also a fine pianist, draughtsman and lover. We first meet him interviewing for the role of tutor to the son of the wealthy hotelier, Maarten Vermeulen-Sickerts. All is not well in his gilded household. Egbert, the son, is agoraphobic. The matriarch, Jacobina, hasn't been touched by her husband in almost a decade. Into this highly strung atmosphere comes Piet, charged with the task of freeing Egbert from his paralysing fear of the outside world. We soon realise, however, that Egbert isn't the only one in need of help. Piet sets about liberating the libidos of the repressed family through music – championing bawdy Bizet over abstract Bach – and oral sex. While the setting is Dutch, the influences are French – think Bel-Ami, Les Liaisons dangereuses and Gide's L'Immoraliste.

My thoughts:

I had so many thoughts on this book, that I wrote them down, and took them to book club with me.  I am not sure where to even start.

Let me start with Piet - a supposed hedonist, but I found his version watered down and joyless. I was comparing him to Dorian Gray, and he just didn't measure up in the hedonist category.  I thought a hedonist was supposed to revel in their pleasures, but I thought Piet was like whatever about it all. Like if it happened cool, if not, then whatever.  I didn't feel that he received any happiness or joy from much, not really.  Maybe over winning or succeeding in something he put his mind to doing. But otherwise I found him lacking self confidence and empty.  His relationship with Egbert and Maarten were the most real, in my opinion.  He cared for them and what they thought, and not just for the sake of  wanting anyone to think highly of him.  Piet did have his moments however - he did magically "cure" Egbert's OCD, and let Didier down gently.

I found it slightly absurd that every male in this book instantly wanted to have sex with Piet.  It just became unsurprising, and I think we were supposed to feel more than, oh of course, another dude wants Piet, with an eye roll.  Every male servant in the house he worked in, then every guy he met on the cruise.

Did I like this book? I did.  I liked the first part of the book, and Piet's interactions with the family.  There is a scene where he gets in over his head with the daughters, who are smart and and kind of like mean girls- they set Piet up, and he inevitably fails, miserably. I felt this was the scene we learned the most about the character Piet.  The girls were the most lively characters in the book, witty, smart, sassy.

This book definitely gives you something to talk about. It was an interesting choice.

Jill listened to this book with an interactive Apple app - the book was also read by Dan Stevens, who played Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey if you are a fan.

Inside Out and Back Again - Review

Title: Inside Out and Back Again
Author: Thanhha Lai
Source:  My work (school library)

Goodreads Summary:

No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next. 

My thoughts:

I cannot sing the praises for this book enough. I thought this book was excellent.

We had purchased this book for our library's collection because it is a 2012 Newbery Award winner, without knowing too much about it.  All we knew is what we had learned from the Scholastic Book Fair video we watched before the book fair in the fall, and it was a tiny little sneak peek.

Inside Out and Back Again is written in verse, first person point of view.  I don't usually read books that are written this way, and I was hesitant at first but very quickly loved it. Lai's imagery is so descriptive, you can visualize Saigon before the war, taste the foods Lai describes, and feel the emotions of Hà as she crosses the ocean with her family on her way to a foreign land and also how she felt about living in Alabama.

Hà, her mother, and her brothers were living as well as they could in Saigon during the war. Ha had her papaya tree, her brother Khôi had his chicks, but they all were missing their father and husband who was MIA. Hà is an untraditional girl at this time, who does what she wants and is stubborn and opinionated.  She doesn't like to listen to her mother that often, and on Tet, when it is unlucky for anyone but the oldest male to touch the floor first, Hà wakes up first and in a moment of rebellion, allows her toe to touch the ground. This reminded me so much of myself when I was about her age; at church one Christmas I demanded to be a shepherd because I insisted one of them could have been a female. When Saigon falls, Hà and her family join the mad rush to leave the country.  They manage to get space on a ship headed to the U.S.  

They arrive in Alabama. Alabama was so different from her homeland, the food, the religion, the people - and Hà and her family were just as different to the Alabama community they moved to. Hà endures bullying daily at school, where she looks different from all the other kids, and doesn't understand the language. She doesn't understand their taunts, but she does understand that it is directed at her, that she is being made fun of.  One part that I found particularly interesting is when Hà is learning English, she comments on how difficult the language is, with all its weird rules. Interestingly, for me, My father is a Vietnam vet, and I grew up hearing phrases he picked up while he was there, such as mau, di di mau (not sure on spelling etc) which my dad would say when he wanted us to move quickly.

Throughout the story, papaya is a symbol of home and hope to Hà.  She loves her tree in Vietnam, and when she has to leave it behind just as it starts to bear fruit, it breaks her heart.  Papaya is her favorite food, and one not found in  Alabama during that time. When she is given dried papaya by her friend and tutor, she at first rejects it, saying that it tastes bad. Later, her mom soaks it as a surprise for Hà, and Hà admits that maybe it is not all bad, signifying that Hà is beginning to accept her new life in a positive manner. Or so I believe.

Hà talked so often of food, especially Vietnamese food, that I am going to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant this weekend. I will let you know how it is!

I thought this book told a story that could be very heavy and sad in a beautiful, light way.  I think the subject itself is one I do not see often, especially in middle grade books. I recommend this to everyone. 

City of Bones- Review

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Source: Library

Goodreads Summary:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . . 

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

My thoughts:

I read this book one day while my husband was working, ignoring the housework and errands that needed to be done.  I paid attention to my animals, but that was the only thing that could drag me away from this book.  I have read the Infernal Devices series, so I knew I had to go back and start this one.  I am glad I did!

I think the idea of the Nephilim is a very cool one~ I love this world that Clare has imagined.  It is pretty different that other worlds in other books, and I think it is very well thought out and written.  There are the Shadowhunters, werewolves, vampires, warlocks, fairies, anything you can think of in this book, but I think they are all blended into the story nicely.  

The romantic relationships in this book were the only things weird to me.  I love the character Magnus Bane, but I wonder about his age and his flirting with teenagers.  Maybe I have his age wrong?  And then Jace and  Clary! What! Read below the spoiler line for more on this, if you have read this book or series, or if you aren't planning on reading it.  

Other than those issues, I am excited to see where Clare takes this series.  It is an interesting world she has created, and I am definitely going to read on.  



~Spoilers~



Jace and Clare. Brother and sister. That can't be right, right? Would Clare really do that to readers, make a series where the main character love interest siblings? How do you keep that interest going for readers over a series, I mean, you can't really ever want them to get together?  I hope that it ends up being wrong. I feel that it will all be a hoax or a mistake or something, because I can't believe we would be led to this point for nothing. Right? Right? Lol.  Anyone else read this book or series?  What do you think?

The Wind Through the Keyhole - Review

Title: The Wind Through the Keyhole
Author: Stephen King
Source: my brother

Goodreads Summary:

In The Wind Through the Keyhole, Stephen King returns to the rich landscape of Mid-World, the spectacular territory of the Dark Tower fantasy saga that stands as his most beguiling achievement.

Roland Deschain and his ka-tet—Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy, the billy-bumbler—encounter a ferocious storm just after crossing the River Whye on their way to the Outer Baronies. As they shelter from the howling gale, Roland tells his friends not just one strange story but two . . . and in so doing, casts new light on his own troubled past.

In his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt-ridden year following his mother’s death, Roland is sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape-shifter, a “skin-man” preying upon the population around Debaria. Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, the brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast’s most recent slaughter. Only a teenager himself, Roland calms the boy and prepares him for the following day’s trials by reciting a story from the Magic Tales of the Eld that his mother often read to him at bedtime. “A person’s never too old for stories,” Roland says to Bill. “Man and boy, girl and woman, never too old. We live for them.” And indeed, the tale that Roland unfolds, the legend of Tim Stoutheart, is a timeless treasure for all ages, a story that lives for us.

King began the Dark Tower series in 1974; it gained momentum in the 1980s; and he brought it to a thrilling conclusion when the last three novels were published in 2003 and 2004. The Wind Through the Keyhole is sure to fascinate avid fans of the Dark Tower epic. But this novel also stands on its own for all readers, an enchanting and haunting journey to Roland’s world and testimony to the power of Stephen King’s storytelling magic.

My thoughts:

I love the Gunslinger series, although I am a few books behind.  The Wind Through the Keyhole is number 4.5 in the series, according to King.  Which is precisely where I left off, on number 4.  

I loved this book.  It begins with Roland and his gang making their way along the beam, following Oy, and then they all have to take cover - the Starkblast was coming.  Oy, a billy-bumbler, has the ability to detect starkblasts, which are huge blizzard storms, where the wind blows so hard and so cold that anything living outside would die.  Roland and the others gather 'round the fire they have built inside an abandoned hotel, and Roland tells them a story, about one of his adventures when he was young.  

The cool part is that while Roland is telling the story to Jake, Susannah, and Eddie, the younger version of himself in his story, is telling another story, to another child.  A story within a story within a story, the Droste Effect, but with words.  I enjoyed both of the stories, but the story that the book gets its title from was the best.  A starkblast also happens in all three stories.  

King says in his prologue that even if you haven't read the series, you can read this book.   I can see why he says that, since there is not much actual advancement in the series, just Roland telling tales. King writes in his introduction as well the things he feels a reader should know before reading the book.  I have read books in the series, so I didn't have any problems with this one.  I would be curious to know what people think of the book if this is the only one they have read though.