Books 2011

Here are the books I have read during the first 10 months of 2011:

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. I enjoyed this book a lot, especially having grown up in Texas (which is kind of like “the South). It is about black women’s experiences working as housekeepers in Mississippi in the early 1960s. I heard about people who treated their “Help” the way the women in the book treated them, and I may have even known some without realizing it. It’s a powerful trip through memories of the bad old days of race relations.

The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean M. Auel. This is the first book in Auel’s Earth’s Children series. Somehow I missed reading it when it came out 30 years ago. Then, having missed the first one, I skipped the others until now when the final book has been released. This first book is about Ayla (a Cro-Magnon girl who is adopted by a Neanderthal medicine woman living 30,000 years ago) growing up and becoming a woman. A fascinating story. I have a lot of catching up to do and have arranged to either buy or borrow the rest of the series.

The Valley of Horses, by Jean M. Auel. The second book in the Earth’s Children series, an excellent read. In this installment of the saga, Ayla lives alone for several years, raises a horse and a lion cub, and meets Jondalar, a young man travelling on a Journey. I love these books!

Lean Mean Thirteen, by Janet Evanovich. I have read a number of the Stephanie Plum books over the years, and this one just happened to fall into my hands recently. It is outrageous, as they all are, but this series is a little old.

The Mammoth Hunters, by Jean M. Ael. This is the third book in the Earth’s Children series. In this one Ayla and Jondalar stay with a tribe called the Mammoth Hunters. More lore about how people might have lived 30,000 years ago. I’m still enthralled.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, by Louise Murphy. A novel about a Jewish brother and sister who are trying to survive the Nazi occupation of Poland. This is a spellbinding story, compelling and difficult to read. I recommend it.

Animals in Translation, by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson. This is a non-fiction book about the human relationship with animals and the possible similarities between the way some people with autism and animals think. Temple Grandin is a well-known animal scientist who is also autistic. She was the subject of a movie and has written other books about animals. This book is interesting but parts of it are repetitive. It could have been trimmed down a lot.

The Plains of Passage, by Jean M. Auel. The fourth book in the Earth Children series. In this book Ayla and Jondalar travel with their animals across the continent to the land of the Zelandonii. There are a lot of places where it gets bogged down in descriptions of terrain and long lists of plants and animals encountered along the way. I skipped over those parts. Otherwise, it’s good, just not as good as the first three books in the series. I still plan to read the remaining two.

Ultimate Prizes, by Susan Howatch. This is a novel about a neurotic clergyman in the Church of England in the 1940s. Not really that good, sort of like watching a train wreck – I kept reading. There’s lots of discussion about various theological viewpoints people were apparently wrestling with at the time. Since I don’t subscribe to any of it, I found those parts just stuffy and boring.

Until Tuesday, by Luis Carlos Montalvan. This is a memoir by a former army captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was wounded, had a brain injury and PTSD, and after returning home was able to receive a service dog, named Tuesday, who was trained by Puppies Behind Bars, a prison program. The parts of the book about the Tuesday and the relationship between Luis and Tuesday were very interesting. However, I had to skip over some parts about Iraq and Afghanistan – just too graphic for me. It’s a nice story about a special dog.

The Shelters of Stone, by Jean M. Auel. The fifth book in the Earth’s Children Series. I can’t believe how caught up I am with this series. In this book, Ayla and Jondlar are finally mated under the auspices of the Zelandonii people. And they have a baby. It is a wonderful penultimate to the six-book series. I can hardly wait for the conclusion!

The Land of Painted Caves, by Jean M. Auel. This is the last book in the Earth’s Children Series. The story is very interesting, but there was too much detailed description of every painted cave Ayla visited. I’m glad for having read all six books, but I believe the earlier ones were the freshest, with descriptions of how people might have lived so long ago.

Sacred Hunger, by Barry Unsworth. A novel about a doctor aboard a slave ship out of Liverpool, England, in the 1750s. This is a tough book both because of the slavery and because of the overly descriptive language. Not a book for the faint of heart. I’m not sorry I read it, but I don’t give it a high recommendation.