Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez

This book is an autobiography, which is a sequel to The Circuit. The Circuit covers the younger years of Francisco Jimenez and Breaking Through starts when he is around 13 years old until after his high school graduation.

Francisco, his older brother Roberto, and their parents left their small village near Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico when Francisco was four years old. They entered the United States illegally and settled in California. They were hoping to leave behind their life of poverty in Mexico, but ended up living in poverty in California. When Francisco was 14 years old, their illegal status was discovered and they were sent back to Mexico. Since the three younger siblings were born in California, it was only Francisco, Roberto and their parents that had to apply for citizenship to live in California. Fortunately, that was one thing in their lives that they were able to make happen, but when they were cleared to return to California, only Roberto & Francisco went. Their father had significant back pain and he decided to remain in Mexico until he could heal, since he wasn't able to work the fields in California anyway due to his pain. Roberto & Francisco attended school, worked before and after school, and sent as much money back to Mexico as possible to help out their family. Within the year, the family was reunited in California.

What was most impressive to me was Roberto, Francisco, and eventually Trampita's (the oldest of the younger kids) work ethic. They worked their tails off to help support their family, and they never complained about it. They were honest, hardworking, reliable, and quite honestly, "obedient" to their parents, teachers and employers. Francisco definitely understood the importance of learning English, getting good grades and finding a way to get an education post high school. It was really remarkable how hard he worked at everything. He is an excellent example of someone learning to empower themself to rise out of the poverty they were born in. He also didn't let other people's prejudices against Mexicans stop him from succeeding.

Wendy's Rating: ****


Thursday, April 25, 2024

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I can see why this book won the Pulitzer Prize. The writing is excellent. The story is extremely detailed and the characters evolve over time. I would love to give it 5 stars, but I just can't. Not regarding the book overall. Despite the talented writing, I had a really hard time with the main character! That took away some of my enjoyment in reading his story.

The book starts near the end of the story itself. We are introduced to Theo Decker as an adult. Then we go back to the beginning and move forward through this 771 page book. The story starts when Theo is 13 years old. He lives with his mother, his father having left them the previous year. His father, to sum it up in a neat, tidy package, is an abusive, self-centered, alcoholic, actor-want-to-be who blames his wife for his own failures as a human being. Theo's mother is Theo's foundation. So, when his mother has to take off work one day to take Theo to school to meet with a teacher (due to Theo's misbehavior), and she ends up being killed by a terrorist attack bombing in the museum they stopped by on the way to school, Theo's life falls apart. He is filled with regret, guilt and grief. He also has no one to take him in, since no one knows where his father went, and his (very unlikable) grandparents don't want him.

Theo ends up going to stay with the family of a childhood friend, Andy Barbour. The Barbours are wealthy - and certainly dysfunctional. The oldest son is a trouble-maker; Andy is the odd duck; the two younger siblings are quite annoyed that Andy is staying with them. Mrs. Barbour is distracted by her social events and Mr. Barbour is rarely home (and we find out later has some significant mental health issues). Oddly enough, this family ends up being the "center" of Theo's life, even though he is soon sent away with his father, who suddenly shows up one day to claim Theo.

Theo's dad moves Theo to Vegas with him and his girlfriend, Xandra. Theo's dad now earns his living by gambling and he has reportedly given up alcohol. (But not really) Theo's life spirals downward pretty fast in Vegas. He meets Boris, who is 100% trouble. These two boys live an unsupervised life filled with alcohol & drugs. It's painful to read. I actually took several breaks from reading this book! It took me almost 6 weeks to finish it. Theo's poor decision-making was a key factor in that.

Anyway, Theo ends up moving back to New York and he is taken in by Hobie. Hobie is the partner of Welty, who died in the same museum explosion as Theo's mother. Theo found and talked to Welty as he lay dying. Welty gave Theo his ring and asked him to bring it to Hobie. Welty also convinced Theo to take the famous painting, The Goldfinch, off of the museum wall to save it. This is, of course, an essential part of this story. Another key person in Theo's life is Pippa, who is also at the museum that day. Pippa is Welty's niece, who was living with her uncle because her mother had died from cancer. Anyway, Pippa survives the bombing, but is seriously injured. Theo falls in love with her at first sight, when he first spots her in the museum before the bombing.

This story is very detailed and very complex. Theo lives his life, hiding the famous painting, making really bad decisions, betraying people who care about him, trusting people he shouldn't, loving someone who can't love him back and planning to marry someone that doesn't love him back. I kept waiting and waiting for Theo to do something, anything, to redeem himself. I desperately wanted him to make a positive change in his life. I guess he does, ultimately, but it take over 750 pages to get to that point, and even then, it doesn't actually end the way I wanted it to.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

I never would have read this book if it wasn't a book club selection, despite the rave reviews. I could not imagine that a book about two giraffes would be interesting or entertaining. Well, this is why I belong to a book club! I read the book in one day, and the story was quite engaging.

Woody Nickel is the main character. He is 17 years old - and on his own. He is dirty, starving and doesn't have a dime to his name. His parents and sister are dead (from the Dust Bowl) and his uncle, who he located on the east coast & lived with for awhile after his parents died, has recently died as well. Woody is a thief and a liar, but he is a survivor. He falls in love (at first sight) with a red-headed photographer who wants to take pictures of the "hurricane giraffes" and make a name for herself with Life magazine. The giraffes were being transported via ship from Africa to the New York Harbor when the ship (SS Robin Goodfellow) got caught in the Great Hurricane of 1938, off Haiti. The giraffes, who are young, were initially saved from poachers. Now they miraculously survive a hurricane in their crates on the ship. Woody names them Wild Boy and Wild Girl.

Riley Jones is the head keeper of the San Diego Zoo. He is charged with the mission of driving the giraffes across county from New York to the San Diego Zoo - which is quite a feat in and off itself, especially since Wild Girl has an injured leg. Riley has a driver since he can't drive due to an unexplained injury of his shifting hand. This driver is certainly not a solid fellow, and soon he abandons Riley. Woody wants to take his place. Riley finds himself between a rock and a hard place because he needs a driver asap, and he doesn't trust Woody at all (as he shouldn't!), but Woody finds a way to convince him to give him a try as a driver.

Woody has a nickname for everyone. He refers to Riley as "Old Man" and the photographer Augusta (aka Augie) as "Red". Red follows Woody & Old Man across the country taking pictures. This adventure takes 12 days, but they nearly lose their lives a few different times. It's a harrowing journey.

I normally don't like characters that make bad decisions again and again, which Woody does. Fortunately, he learns a few important things along the way as well. So, although he does some really stupid things and suffers the consequences, he does manage to redeem himself in my eyes. I really enjoyed this book, especially since the author includes historical facts.

Wendy's Rating: *****

Thursday, April 11, 2024

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

I really liked this book. It not only showed the incredible strength of two very different women during World War II, but it demonstrated the disparity of privileges, depending on what country one resided in. The book jacket makes a comment about the two women connecting, which yes, technically they do - eventually. But that's really not what their individual journeys are about.

Ava Harper is a librarian in the Rare Book Room of the Library of Congress in Washington DC. She gets sent to Lisbon, Portugal to help with the war effort. She is intelligent, speaks French & German, and knows how to use microfilm. Her new job is to collect all daily publications (newspapers) she can find each morning and send them to Washington DC for filing. She works out of the US Embassy. Since Portugal is a neutral country, she doesn't experience the same things that people living in occupied countries do in Europe. She eats wonderful food whenever she wants (while so many other people are starving), she attends fancy events in beautiful gowns, comes and goes as she pleases. There ARE Germans to be wary of, and she learns that lesson very shortly after her arrival.

Meanwhile, Elaine (Helene) lives in occupied France. She yearns to help with the Resistance, but her husband, Joseph, forbids it. This causes problems in their marriage. One day her husband doesn't return to their home (after a significant fight). Joseph had fought in the Great War and become a pacifist. In their final argument, Helene had called Joseph a coward. Helene has to seek out Joseph's best friend, Etienne, for information and help. She quickly discovers that Joseph is deeply involved with the Resistance and he was simply trying to protect her by forbidding her to be involved - and not telling her what he was doing. Joseph had already made new identity papers for Helene, which Etienne had. So she became Elaine. Etienne tells Elaine that Joseph has been arrested and is in prison. (He eventually gets sent to a concentration camp.)

These two women, with the help of other incredibly brave men and women, do whatever they can to save people and put an end to the war. Ava doesn't skirt danger completely, but she has plenty of food and a place to live with meaningful work. Elaine is starving, scared and at risk every minute of every day. Very different lives, but on the same mission.

Definitely a good read in my opinion!

Wendy's Rating: *****