Nop's Trials

By Donald McCaig

Nop is a border collie. He is a working dog, helping his owner with herding sheep on the farm. Lewis, Nop's owner, also entered Nop in sheep dog trial, which is a contest for sheep-herding dogs. Nop won the last local trial which angered one of the contestants. This man, Doug, when he was drunk, said he would pay anyone who took care of Nop $500. Two men who heard him believed him and snatched Nop one night when the dog was running loose.
But Nop is a very valuable dog. His owner was offered $5000 for Nop, which he declined. When the thieves discover this, they panic and sell the dog to a man who works for the rodeo. This man puts Nop in the rodeo with a monkey riding him and they herd calves for the amusement of the crowds.
Doug sees Nop on TV and buys him from the rodeo man, intending to breed Nop to his prize-winning bitch, also a border collie. But he becomes worried when the police and Nop's owner come looking for Nop and he gives Nop to two thugs to dispose of.
One of the thugs has a soft heart for dogs and just dumps him in the city where he is briefly adopted by a bag lady. She doesn't have him long, though, because the shelter where she wants to live doesn't allow pets. Nop is then destined for an animal shelter.
The custodian who was instructed to take Nop to the shelter instead sells him to a lab that uses animals to test drugs. Nop's future looks very bleak, indeed, and his faith in humans will be tested to the maximum.

This was an OK book. It was a very depressing read, as Nop goes from one bad situation to another, as Nop encounters one bad person after the other. The only one who treats kindly, other than his owner, Lewis, is the bag lady. But she only has him for a few days.
However, it works out in the end. I don't know if wading through all the cruelty is worth it though.

Empire of the Ants

By Bernard Werber

A man gets stung to death by wasps and, in his will, his nephew inherits his apartment. The apartment has a cellar but there is a sign on the cellar door to never go into the cellar. But then the family dog gets in and the man goes in search of the dog.
He is gone for hours and finally returns with the body of the dog, which killed by the rats inhabiting the cellar. His wife and son are upset, the son because of the loss of his pet and the wife because of living above a cellar full of rats.
The man puts a new door on the cellar and then returns to it. He never comes back. The wife calls the police, they go into the cellar and vanish. The wife goes into the cellar and vanishes. The son goes to an orphanage but runs away, and, of course, goes into the cellar and vanishes. Once more the police go into the cellar and vanish, as before.
Meanwhile, in the nearby woods, a colony of russet ants are coping with the usual ant crises of their own: invader ants, mysterious deaths of fellow ants, political intrigue, gathering supplies and food, and just being ants.

This was kind of a strange book. The whole "people disappearing in the cellar thing" turns out to be something rather stupid and unbelievable and it brings about the ending of the story and really has very little to do with the ant story other than the stupid plot twist at the end. I think the book would have been just fine without the human part of the story.
The story of the ants was, compared to the drama in the cellar, more interesting and more believable, if somewhat fantastic. These ants do things that no ant has ever done, like using beetles as aircraft. But that is just part of the fantasy and actually more believable than the cellar story.
But the book was not originally written in English, I assume it was written in French since that is its locale. It was translated by Margaret Rocques and maybe it lost something in the translation.
It was an OK read.

Ghost Light

By Frank Rich

Frank Rich's memoir of growing up in Washington DC in the 1950s and 60s.

Frank's parents divorced when he and his younger sister were quite young. The children didn't handle the divorce well, especially Frank, who was beset by night terrors and sleeplessness.
Not too long after the divorce was finalized, Frank's mother started dating the man who would become her two children's step-father, Joel. It wasn't apparent right away, but Joel was abusive. Not only to his own kids but later on, after the marriage, to Frank, his sister and even his mother.
But Frank had an escape from the torments of home: the theater. At a young age, he developed a passion for theater plays. He spent as much time as he could at the National Theater in DC, and, when opportunity presented, at the mecca of American theater, Broadway in New York City. In fact, that was about the only good thing about Joel, their shared passion for theatrical productions. Joel paid for many trips to NYC for his new family. And, since he had connections to the theater business, could often get his family in to view plays that were already sold out.
The book follows Frank through to his going off to college, about the girls he loved, the show folk he became friends with and his puzzlement over his mother's acquiescence to Joel's brutality. Towards the end, he decides that the benefits that Joel brought to the family outweighed, in his mother's eyes, the negativity.

Before I read this book, I had no idea who Frank Rich was or why I decided to get the book. I still don't know much about him except that he had a rough childhood and loved theater. I enjoyed the book but found the last part a bit slow, a bit of a slog to get through. Although it is always fun and comforting to read about someone else's miserable childhood.

On a side note, I was totally puzzled by this section, where Frank is talking about his bar mitzvah:

"It was a relief when the rabbi decided to perform a radical circumcision on my Haftorah portion because, he said, 'It's not the kind of thing our congregation should be exposed to before lunch.' I wasn't quite sure what he meant until one of my more knowing religious-school classmates looked over the unexpurgate version and cried out: 'Hey, they've given you a rape!'" [Italics are mine.]

I looked up bar mitzvah and rape and all I got was just rape, the assault. I don't what he means here and he doesn't explain the term.

Saville

By David Storey

This is the story of Colin Saville. Colin is the second son of his parents. His older brother died shortly before he was born. This brother was a talented artist even at a very young age. His parents had high hopes for him.
Colin is a bright lad, egged on especially by his father. The father is a coal miner and wants his children to have a better, less arduous life. So he pushes Colin to do well in school, even though he himself is very poorly educated. Colin's feelings about this are not part of the discussion, either with the parents or with the reader.
Colin succeeds in passing his exams and graduates to another school. At this point, I must admit I know nothing about how England structures its school system. I gather, from the book, that how well you did on your exams dictates what school you will be attending. Colin is now attending a better school and maintains his grades and eventually qualifies to attend college or university. Here, again, I don't understand the distinction between college and university in the British system. I'm guessing university is considered a better education than college, at least that is what the novel seems to indicate. Colin chooses to attend college and become a teacher.
At this point, and for the first time in the story, the reader is finally included in Colin's desires. Up until that point, he has been a bit of a cypher, with no hints given about how he feels about his life, his parents, his younger brothers, his dreams, his future. We are told, a couple times, that he writes poetry but not what he is thinking. He gets involved with a girl only to lose her to a rich friend. This grieves him, as he was pretty sure they would eventually marry. At last, Colin seems to have some actual feelings about something.
Colin goes on to be a teacher, and, at this point in the story he turns into a real stinker. He bullies his younger brothers, he argues with his parents, he starts dating a married woman, he gets into arguments with his boss and gets fired. He has an off again, on again relationship with the woman and eventually he leaves it all behind for a new life abroad. What happens after that we are not told.

Colin as a kid is a zero and Colin as an adult is a jerk. For some reason, he feels no obligation to anyone and seems to believe that he has the only true answers to the big questions. This transformation from quiet, obedient child to major pill seemed hard to understand to me. Towards the end of the book, I was kind of hoping the married woman's husband would show up and shoot him.
This was a hard book to like. Like I said before, Colin's interior life his hidden from the reader until the end when he turns out to be a prick. I usually don't care for a book if I don't care for the main character and I really didn't care for Colin at the end.
However, as a look at life in the 1930s to early 1950s for a working class family in northern England, it was very interesting. Too bad all the characters are rather repulsive and disagreeable, especially Colin the jerk.
I see that it won the Booker prize, which seems to usually pick books featuring repulsive and unpleasant characters. If I had know that beforehand, I probably wouldn't have bothered to read it.
For another review, see http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/nov/18/david-storey-monty-python.

If You Were Here

By Jen Lancaster

Mia and Mack got tired of dealing with life in the city and decided to look for a place in a smaller town, specifically, Abington Cambs. (I'm confused about this, if it is a real town or just an area in Lake Forest, Illinois. Apparently it was the location of several John Hughes movies and the main character is a huge fan of his work, as is the author, Jen Lancaster.) So, relating to Mia's affection for John Hughes movies, a mansion where some of the scenes were filmed is on the market. It's a huge house, near the lake, but it is within their price range and it passes inspection. It is a bit of a fixer-upper, having stood vacant for several years and has out-dated fixtures but that is not a problem. Mack wants to try his hand at doing some remodeling and Mia is anxious to redecorate.
But it turns out the building inspector was incompetent and nearly everything that could go wrong does go wrong. To start off, the neighbors are hostile and complaints keep flooding in about everything Mia and Mack are trying to do. The police even show up one day with one of the cats under arrest for peeing outdoors.
Then after Mack gets the master bedroom all fixed up beautifully, the ceiling falls in on Mia, raining scummy water and carpenter ants all over her and the new bedroom. That's when they discover they have a serious infestation problem of carpenter ants and termites.
As far as problems go, though, the house problems pale in comparison to their marital problems. Mia is getting more and more frustrated with Mack's efforts at remodeling and their communication is suffering. And the bills are piling up to the point where they have to take out a second mortgage on the house and Mack has quit his job to focus on fixing the house. Mia has become the main source of income (she writes young adult zombie romances) and the working conditions at the house are ruining her concentration. If she isn't able to get her newest novel finished by the deadline, things could get real bad real fast
And then the contractor they hired disappears with the money they paid him.

This is Lancaster's first published fiction story and it is funny and entertaining. Although the building repair disasters seem a little unlikely, with remodeling I guess it can be one thing after the other. Mia certainly gets herself into situations, including being arrested twice, but it was all quite amusing and more than a little scary, if you are ever thinking about doing some remodeling. Or buying a fixer-upper house. Be warned by Mia and Mack's struggles!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

By Sherman Alexie

Arnold, or as he is known on the Reservation, Junior, has had a lot of trouble in his life. He had a lot of illnesses as a young child but his health has improved quite a bit. His parents, Spokane Indians, have problems too. His dad drinks too much. His mother used to drink a lot too but she is better. Money is always tight or nonexistent.
Junior is a bright boy who loves to draw cartoons to poke fun at life and to help him cope with stress. In his last year of classes before starting high school, Junior throws a book at a teacher. Later the teacher stops by his house to talk to him and tells Junior that he needs to make a life for himself and not be limited by the his circumstances. He needs to leave the Reservation.
Inspired, Junior decides to attend high school in a nearby town, Reardan. Since he is pretty good at basketball, he hopes to be on the team too. It will be a great hardship for Junior to attend a school so far away from his house. His parents can sometimes take him but often he has to walk it or hitchhike.
The rest of the tribe turns against him for leaving the local school. His best friend turns against him too. But his family respects and admires him for his choice and he struggles on.
The Reardan kids are cold at first, but he gradually makes friends and becomes accepted and he does get a position on the basketball team.
Seems like all is going well for Junior. Then tragedy strikes his family, not once, not twice, but three times. Has the world turned against them? Is it his fault for daring to do something different? His questions and depression mounts as tragedy after tragedy slams down on those he loves the most.

This was a pretty good story. Junior has a lot of strikes against him but he also has the intelligence and drive to rise above. The book is mildly amusing at times but also very sad and depressing too, especially the last third of the book. A strike against it, for me, was the emphasis on sports. One whole chapter, twenty pages long, is a description of a basketball game. I just skimmed that chapter.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, although it is most definitely not the laugh-fest as portrayed by the blurbs on the back of the book. To me, it was much more sad than amusing, so that was misleading. Because of that and the boring sports descriptions, I rate it a fair read.

Quail in My Bed

By Burley Packwood

The true story of three tiny quail chicks who accidentally entered the lives of Packwood and his wife Betsi.
A few days before they were scheduled to leave on an extended camping trip, Betsi found an abandoned baby quail. She named the quail Pedro and assured her husband that the chick would not interfere with the trip. Amazingly, a few days later, she found another chick, this time wandering the aisles of a store. This one she named Pedra.
So both chicks came with them on the camping trip, coddled and cuddled by Betsi. Packwood hardened his heart against the quail but gradually came to admit that they added a lot to the trip, being entertaining little birds.
Unfortunately, Pedro managed to escape and they never found him. Native to the desert southwest, Pedro got loose in the northern United States into a habitat ill-suited to his breed, the Gambels quail. He most certainly perished when winter arrived.
Pedra remained with them on their trip although they promised to free her when they returned home to Arizona. Meanwhile, she wormed her way into the author's affections and he came to cherish the little bird as she did him, regarding him as the love of her life.
Upon returning home, they gave Pedra her freedom but she refused to go. She stayed with them, sleeping inside and have free range in their house. She also had free access to the outdoors and she spent a lot of time out there but never strayed away from their patio area.
She had quite a few ailments, possibly a result of her domesticated lifestyle. She nearly died of a lung ailment, and, on the road to recovery, was bitten by a poisonous spider. Her recovery from that and a subsequent fall was slow and painful but she eventually pulled through.
Betsi soon found another lost quail chick and Pablito joined Pedra. Pablito was a ball of fire compared to Pedra and his antics kept the two people very well entertained. Pedra pretty much ignored the new addition except when the chick tried to nestle under her feathers. Pedra refused to adopt the little orphan and usually gave him a good pecking for his efforts.
Even though he totally opposed the addition of quail to his home, the author soon came to realize that their life was much richer for the presence of the little birds.

I thoroughly enjoy this story of raising young orphan quail. I personally have never seen a wild quail where I live, but from what the author says, they must be quite common in Arizona. From this book and the previous quail book I recently read, That Quail, Robert, quail sound like very interesting and amusing little birds. Although I don't suppose the author is promoting the adoption of wild quail as pets.

Rumpole Misbehaves

By John Mortimer

Rumpole has entered a bit of a dry patch when a nice juicy murder is handed to him. Graham Wetherby was discovered standing over the body of a young prostitute in her bedroom by her maid. The maid locked him in the bedroom and called the police. It seems like a clear case of murder.
Rumpole takes the case and with a little investigation discovers the dead woman was a Russian who was smuggled into the country to work as a prostitute along with several other foreign women.
Rumpole is also dealing with the other members of his chambers. They decided that the chambers would no longer allow people to eat, drink or smoke in their offices, all of which Rumpole is in the habit of doing. Of course, he disregards the new rules and carries on as usual only to find himself being charged with an ASBO, an anti-social behavior order. If he is found guilty, he could actually have to spend time behind bars!
At the same time, he has decided he might like to stop being a junior and become a QC, a queen's counsel. To do so, he has to get the help of a judge and appear before a committee. But getting the help of a judge is going to be tricky, since Rumpole has angered every judge he has ever appeared before. But if he becomes a QC, maybe he will finally get the respect he deserves and, most importantly, make his wife happy.

This was good and entertaining read. Rumpole is up to his usual tricks and saves his clients through a series of coincidences.  At times I found the story a little draggy, especially towards the end. It was fun, though, to revisit Rumpole's world with its cast of characters so familiar from the TV series.

Pillar of Cloud

By Jackson Burgess

Garvin Cooper had graduated from law school and wanted to leave his home and family and make a life for himself in the lawless west in 1858. He came to Kansas with high hopes, hopes that were dashed in the face of the conflict between the free states people and the pro-slavery people. Too much lawlessness, apparently.
During his travels, he had joined with another young professional out to make a name for himself as an engineer specializing in bridges. Bob McVey was a talented man but maybe a little too excitable.
They both decided Kansas wasn't for them and determined to head further west. They had become acquainted with a guide who was planning to blaze a new trail west to the Rockies. Cooper and McVey joined up with the guide, Ned Drum, and the small group of people he was to lead across the prairie.
So they set out, Drum, Cooper, McVey, a Quaker man and wife and few other men. The Quakers had a wagon but the rest rode horses. They experience the typical pioneer trials, days when it just rains and rains, rough river and stream crossings, failing water supply, and the hot, dry, dusty days of summer. But they soldier on, united.
Things start to go bad when they are nearly caught by a prairie fire. Some wanted to start a backfire, but Drum overruled and insisted that it would be smarter to race to a nearby river. They managed to get to the river, but it was a very close thing and people began to question Drum's leadership. And then they started encountering the natives and the story changed from adventure to just trying to survive as the clash of personalities puts all their lives at risk.

I did enjoy this tale of a small group of people setting out on a grand adventure that became much more perilous than they had imagined. The ending was sad and I wished for a happier one, but debts had to be paid and that was how the author decided to do it. Still it was a good story, exciting and interesting and seemed pretty accurate in its depiction of those times.

A Rumpole Christmas

By John Mortimer

A collection of five short stories, featuring Rumpole and centered on the Christmas season.
In Rumpole and Father Christmas, Santa pays a visit to Chambers and leaves with something a little extra in his bag.
Rumpole's Slimmed Down Christmas  finds Mr & Mrs Rumpole spending the holiday at a fat farm.
Rumpole and the Boy sees Rumpole playing a fatherly role to a boy whose mother is standing trial for blackmail.
In Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces, Rumpole and wife are off to the country for Christmas, where Rumpole encounters an old client.
And finally, Rumpole and the Christmas Break, sees Rumpole defending a Muslim accused in a religious murder.

All the stories are good and are typical Rumpole stories. If you are a fan of Rumpole, you will enjoy this slim volume of Rumpole stories. I know I did.

My Antonia

By Willa Cather
After his parents died, young Jim Burden was sent from his home in Virginia to live with his grandparents on their farm near Black Hawk, Nebraska. Traveling on the same train to that same area was Antonia, a young teen girl, and her family. From Bohemia, none of them spoke much English and were looking to start a new life in America.
Antonia and her family were neighbors to Jim's grandparents and over the years, Jim and Antonia became good friends, even though she was a few years older than he was. They explored the countryside together and Jim helped her improve her English.
Back in Europe, Antonia's father had been a professional musician but, in the wilds of Nebraska, he languished. After only a few months in America, he became so depressed that he killed himself. After that, Antonia had to assume part of the burden of caring for the farm, along with her older brother and her mother. There was less time for Jim and their friendship.
Jim and his grandparents eventually moved from the farm and into the small town of Black Hawk. Jim had decided he wanted to go to college and devoted a lot of his time to his studies. That is until Antonia moved into town.
She got a job with the next-door neighbors as a housekeeper. Her salary was sent home to the farm. A lot of other country girls were coming to town to work too, also to send money back home to the farm. These girls liked to socialize together and Jim became part of their group. They had a lot of fun together and created a bit of scandal because of it.
Time passes and Jim heads off to Lincoln to attended university. He is there for a few years and goes back East to attend Harvard and becomes a lawyer. The girls he used to socialize with all go on to have good lives, better than the townsfolk predicted for them. Even the ones who were most disapproved of. Except for Antonia. Jim learns that she was deceived and conceived a child out of wedlock and is back on the family farm, working the fields like she did as a teenager.
Jim always means to catch up with her but the years speed by and he never gets back until decades later. He is pleased to find out that life hasn't been as bad for Antonia as he feared. She married and had a heap of children and has a kind and understanding husband and their farm and family are all doing well.
Jim always carried a torch for her, but to Antonia, he was always just a boy. He probably would have married her if she had given him a little encouragement. But the one time he made his move, she made it clear that he was like a brother to her and not a suitor.

This was an okay read. Jim was certainly more taken with Antonia than I was. I think I enjoyed reading about life in those times more than I did about Antonia. I guess I never understood what his fascination with her was beyond her basic good looks. She was attractive, and healthy, and a hard worker. But so were a lot of other girls in the area. I guess what made her special to him was that she was his first, if unrequited, love. Beyond that, she really didn't seem that special to me. Towards the end of the book, I was getting very bored with the story and just want it to be over.

Armada

By Ernest Cline

Zack Lightman is just your typical high schooler. He lives with his mom who works as a nurse. His dad died in an industrial accident when Zack was just a baby.
Zack has an after-school job at a video game arcade. It is not a demanding job and his boss is really laid back. They both love video and computer games and Zack is one of the highest scoring players of the video game, Armada, ranking at about sixth place in the world.
One strange day, Zack is staring out the window in class when he sees an flying vehicle in the sky that looks exactly like one from the video game Armada. He is quite startled by the sight and it makes him doubt his own eyes. But soon after he sees the craft he is taken away by a mysterious group and told the truth about Armada.
It turns out that Armada and other games like it have been designed by the government and the military to train and prepare people for an upcoming battle with an implacable alien foe who is based on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. This foe has declared its intention to destroy humanity.
But as Zack faces the aliens in battle, it all seems like just another video game. He begins to doubt everything he has been told and, with the help of family and friends, he discovers what is really going on.

This was an okay story. I have to admit I just skimmed a lot of it because battle sequences just don't interest me. I also found the premise lacking, the idea of video games and movies being used to prepare people to fight a war. Seems like a silly idea. There is more to being a soldier than manipulating a controller and pushing a few buttons. It requires more training and discipline than can be learned from a game.
Zack doesn't get close to the truth until nearly the end of the story, Until then, the story never really engaged me.
For another review, see: http://www.avclub.com/review/ready-player-one-authors-follow-armada-pale-imitat-221974

That Quail, Robert

By Margaret A. Stanger

Orleans, Massachusetts, July 1962. Mildred and Tommy Kienzle know that a quail has a nest in their yard. They then notice that the nest is empty except for two eggs. One of the eggs was obviously damaged but the other was fine. They took it in the house more as a curiosity than from any expectation that it would hatch. In fact, they just left if sitting on the counter. But it soon became apparent that this egg contained a living chick and in three days, Robert made her first appearance.
She quickly made herself at home with the Kienzles and with the author, Margaret Stanger, who was a kind of godmother to the chick. Robert, named so because they believed she was a male until one day when she laid an egg, loved people. She was friendly and greeted visitors with a glad cry. She loved attention and she loved to snuggle.
Robert also loved going outside, where she chased and ate bugs, took dirt baths, and dined on vegetation. But she always wanted to be back inside after awhile. She never showed any inclination to leave the Kienzles and join the wild quail. She was courted, at one time, by a male quail, and did produce several eggs, but showed no interest in nesting or paying any attention to her clutch. None of the eggs hatched.
She wasn't kept locked up and she could have flown away at any time. But she never did. Sometimes she would fly up on to the roof and sit there briefly, but she always wanted to be back in the house with her family and friends.
Robert was quite a sensation in her time and acquired many admirers. Her guest book was filled with signatures from people who came to see the little quail for themselves. A postcard with her picture was even created for her fans.
Unfortunately, quail are not long-lived creatures and even the protected environment in which Robert lived did not extend her lifespan. But even though the time she spent with the Kienzles and Margaret Stanger was all too brief, she was greatly loved and greatly missed. She was a gentle, affectionate and amusing companion.  She rarely caused problems, her worst crimes being the time she knocked over a glass of juice because she wasn't getting enough attention, the time she took a bath is a dish of broccoli, for the same reason. And the time she took a bath in a bowl of flour just because it felt so good.

This was a fun story, despite its inevitable end. Robert required a lot of care but she also brought a lot of joy into the lives of those who knew her. I know she gave me joy just reading about her. A very sweet story about a very sweet and entertaining little bird.

On a side note, I encountered three terms that I had never come across before: spatchcock, keeping room and borning room.  Spatchcock in, "He [a dog] was most often in a spatchcock position, front legs stretched out before him and hind legs stretched out behind, laying on his stomach." So I looked it up and spatchcock refers to splitting a fowl open and spreading it out flat for grilling.
Keeping room, "The routine was for me to get my book, lie down on the day bed in the keeping room, spread the blanket on my middle and call Robert." A keeping room was a room next to the kitchen and thus warmer than the rest of the house in winter. So people would gather there in the evening and even sleep there at night. It is somewhat equivalent to a family room.
Borning room, "The red velvet hat [Robert's bed] was put in the carton up on a high shelf in the little bedroom off the kitchen which in these old New England homes is called the 'borning room.'" So this is a bedroom, as the author says, next to the warm kitchen, designed for the woman of the house to use while giving birth.

Ghostlight

By Marion Zimmer Bradley

Truth Blackburn was just a toddler when her mother died. They claimed it was an overdose that killed her. But the mother had been participating in a ritual designed to open a gate between this world and the realm of the ancient gods. Something went very wrong, though, and Truth's mother died and her father, Thorne Blackburn, who was conducting the ritual, disappeared.
Now, Truth, grown up, has decided to do a biography of her father and her research takes her to the scene of her mother's last days alive, Shadow's Gate.
Shadow's Gate, a Victorian mansion, is now owned by Julian Pilgrim. Pilgrim is young, handsome and wealthy and he cordially invites Truth to stay for lunch after showing her around the estate. Of course, Truth ends up staying at Shadow's Gate and getting to know all the other people staying there also.
Pilgrim has a extensive collection of Thorne Blackburn memorabilia which he invites Pilgrim to use for her research. Pilgrim is also quite open about his desire to perform the same ritual that Thorne did. All the others in the house are there to help with the ritual and bring about a new era.
All her life, Truth has blamed and hated her father for her mother's death. Staying in Shadow's Gate will open her eyes to the truth of that fateful night, even if she has to almost die in the process.

This was an OK story. I found it a bit choppy, with Truth reaching decisions that didn't make much sense to me. For instance, she hears her father's voice several times and each time he insults her. But she decides he loves her! That didn't make any sense. Also, all throughout the story, she firmly states her belief that magic doesn't exist. Then all of a sudden, she decides not only does it exist but that she has to change her life because of it. She has had some paranormal encounters which she attributes to the house being haunted. But, as far as I am aware, she had no encounters with magic at that point in the story, so why she suddenly decides it is real eludes me.
Anyways, about half way through the book, I got pretty bored with the story. It just seemed to drag on and on without getting anywhere much at all. I found myself wishing the author would just wrap it up.

Ghost Cat

By Beverly Butler
Annabel's mother has a boyfriend and she wants to spend the summer with the boyfriend and so Annabel gets shipped off to Wisconsin to live with her great aunt and uncle and various cousins for the summer. Annabel doesn't approve of her mother's new boyfriend and she resents being sent away.
The three teen cousins staying there too are Donna, Michael and Todd. These three have spent the summer there for several years and that makes Annabel an instant outsider. Especially intolerant is fifteen-year-old Todd, who call Annabel Clarabel the Cow, poking fun of the fact that Annabel is tall for her age (and much taller than Todd).
A few weeks before leaving for Wisconsin, Annabel's cat Muffin died. So not only is Annabel dealing with her mother's new circumstances, she is also grieving the loss of a beloved pet. She wakes up early one morning to the sound of a cat crying. She goes outside, worried about the cat and wanders into the woods where she is found by Old Pa, Aunt Lil's father who lives with his daughter and her husband. He tells her to leave the cat be and adds, "She'll be stirring soon...Always when there's young folks by. That's when she doesn't rest easy."
"She" turns out to be a neighbor, Julia Craig, who mysteriously vanished one day. She had a kerfluffle with Annabel's Uncle Alex long before Annabel was even born. She accused him of poisoning her cat and, ever since her disappearance, suspicion has fallen on Uncle Alex.
Now her spirit walks the night along with her ghost cat. And Julia has set her sights on Annabel because they have a connection about which Annabel knows nothing. The answer to the riddle can only be found in Julia's abandoned and decaying house.

For a kid's book, the was a pretty good read. The Julia Craig mystery was interesting and its solution neat and clever. The baggage caused by the mystery afflicts the whole group, as the Aunt and Uncle refuse to talk about it and Uncle Alex even gets a little hostile. Plus, Annabel has to deal with the constant put downs of evil cousin Toad, oops, I mean Todd.
The mystery was clever and engaging enough for an adult to enjoy yet remain on a level that would not be too scary for younger readers.

The Oregon Trail

By Rinker Buck
When Rinker was a youngster, his father took his kids traveling in a covered wagon. It was an unforgettable experience that stuck with Rinker throughout his life. Now in his later years, Rinker decided he wanted to travel the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon like the original pioneers did.
So he purchased wagons, mules, and other gear and, together with his brother Nick and Nick's dog, Olive Oyl, headed west to start their wagon trip at St. Joseph, Missouri. Both Rinker and Nick are experienced horsemen and Nick is experienced in driving a wagon and team. So they are not neophytes in this enterprise.
Unfortunately, much of the Oregon Trail has been lost to farming, ranching, development and highway construction, so the trip on actual trail only consisted of about 40% of their travel time. The rest was on highways and country roads. But they still had to contend with some of the same problems the original users faced. Storms, flooding, washed out passages, equipment failures, crashes, ornery mules, getting lost, runaway mules, dog bites, bringing too much stuff along, miscalculations and so on. About the only thing they didn't have to deal with was illness, as they tolerated the rough travel surprisingly (to me) rather well.
But this isn't just a book about the trip. It also delves into the history of the trail and of the westward emigration, presented in an easy style that made it all just part of the story.
Rinker also has some interesting opinions about the past and present:

Few organized religions, however, can prosper without stunning misbehavior by their leaders. Smith's [Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism] new faith soon stumbled over his secret endorsement of plural marriage, or polygamy, a practice he justified with a great deal of theological mumbo jumbo designed to conceal his chronic philandering. Smith was an attractive man and a spellbinding speaker, and women swooned during his sermons. He rarely met a follower's pretty wife or teenage daughter whom he didn't covet, and many of them succumbed to his charms without Smith having to make much of an effort. Under an impressive veil of deceit, Smith eventually "sealed" to forty-five wives, and his successor Brigham Young would go on to build two adjoining mansions in Salt Lake to house his own fifty-one wives and estimated fifty-seven children.

This model of government support for a major development project [the Lander Cutoff of the Oregon Trail] became popular and was accepted as the new norm for western growth. Each new phase of frontier growth -- the railroads, ranching, mining -- was also supported by either outright government subsidies, land giveaways, or federally supported irrigation and bridge-building projects. That was the tradition established by the Oregon Trail and it has always amused me that the myth of "rugged individualism" still plays such a large role in western folklore and American values. In fact, our vaunted rugged individualism was financed by huge government largesse.

The [mean] rancher reminded me of those Emperor Nero state troopers who cannot hand out a routine speeding ticket without pestering a driver with a string of useless and humiliating questions. The cops of America are poster-boys of low self-esteem. Their uniforms, silly hats, and sparkling patent leather girdles freighted down with shiny handcuffs, walkie-talkies, and spray canisters of Mace apparently do not make them feel secure enough, so they always add the hostile interrogation to make sure that the accosted citizens know who is in charge.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and I even read most of the lengthy acknowledgements in the back of the book. It's grand adventure, man vs nature and American history all in one.
For another review, see http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/books/review-in-the-oregon-trail-two-brothers-take-an-1800s-style-road-trip.html?_r=0.

Growing Up Catholic

By Mary Jane Meara, Jeffrey Stone, Maureen Kelly, and Richard Davis

A mildly amusing look at the Catholic Church. Not at all harsh or critical, it is rather nostalgic look back in time for people who were raised Catholic. Has lots of Catholic trivia, with various lists and lots of illustrations.

I was hoping for something a little more sharply funny but this is not that book. I found it rather boring and  didn't finish reading it for most of the summer. Finally forced myself to finish it. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't very funny and it just didn't capture my interest.
Catholics will probably not be offended by anything this book has to say about their church.
For another review, see: http://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/13/books/growing-up-catholic-the-making-of-a-spoof.html.

Insane City

By Dave Barry

Seth and Tina are getting married in Miami. They are traveling separately from up north to Florida. Tina is traveling with her sister, Meghan. Seth is traveling with his three friends from college, Marty, Kevin and Big Steve.
Tina is beautiful, successful, a perfectionist and the daughter of a man worth billions. Seth still doesn't understand what she sees in him. Tina's parents, Mike and Marcia, don't understand it either and are not thrilled she has picked Seth.
Things start to go wrong from the get go. Seth arrives at the Miami airport to discover Tina in a confrontation with security who want to search her luggage because the drug dog alerted on it. Due to her father's connections, she wiggles out of the search and her sister's weed is not found. Tina and the sister head off to the hotel and Seth and his friends get in a separate cab and end up at the wrong hotel. They go to a bar and Seth passes out under the table. His friends think he has left and they go in pursuit of him. Seth wakes up and finds his friends gone and goes after them, aided by two strangers from the bar, Cyndi and Duane. Duane has a large albino snake draped around his shoulders. Cyndi and Duane agree to take Seth to his hotel but when they get there, a large woman is in Seth's suite. LaDawne is a stripper who was hired by Marty. She won't leave until she is paid and her menacing boyfriend Wesley shows up and he keeps raising the fee the longer LaDawne stays in Seth's suite. Seth leaves the suite in search of an ATM to get some cash to pay LaDawne. He finds Meghan outside smoking her weed and takes a couple puffs. It's strong stuff and combined with all the alcohol he drunk that night, it is too much. He forgets what he was supposed to be doing and falls asleep on the beach.
Seth wakes up on the beach just in time to rescue a Haitian woman and her baby and child. She had hired men to bring her to Florida from Haiti and they abandoned her and her kids in a rickety boat in the ocean. The boat filled up with water and the three were left clinging to it until it washed up near the beach where Seth was sleeping. The woman, Laurette, is leery of the authorities, fearing she will be deported back to Haiti, so she refuses to go to a hospital. A hotel worker helps Seth bring Laurette and her kids up to his suite and agrees to go search for Laurette's sister. LaDawne takes care of the refugees and sends Seth back out for baby formula and diapers. She gives him the keys to Wesley's car.
Using Wesley's car, Seth and Cyndi rescue his three hapless friends, who got rolled by some shady ladies, pick up Seth's parents, Rose and Sid, at the airport, and stop and buy the baby stuff. Cyndi's friend with the snake, Duane, has found Seth's bag that he left at the bar. In the bag is the wedding ring designed by Tina and made from tiny snippets of gold from her family's heirloom jewelry. It's a one of a kind ring and it is vital that Seth get it back. But Duane leaves the bag at a private zoo.
Seth arrives back at the hotel with his whole motley crew in tow just in time to meet friends of Tina's father, Wendell and Greta Corliss. Tina's father, Mike, belongs to an exclusive club, the Group of Eleven. But an even more exclusive club exists, the Group of Six. Mike desperately wants to belong to the Group of Six, of which Wendell is a member. Accordingly, Mike is sucking up to Wendell big time.
At the rehearsal dinner, Seth's mother unintentionally puts a box of pot brownies on the dessert tray. The waiter, thinking they are part of the dinner, serves them to everyone. Mike doesn't partake because he doesn't like chocolate. Seth and Cyndi leave before dessert to go get the Seth bag back. Wendell has three brownies and ends up buying two restaurants, a pizza joint and a Chinese food place because he has the munchies and the two places don't deliver after hours.
Seth is headed to the zoo with Cyndi to pick up his lost bag and, hopefully, the irreplaceable wedding ring.
Trevor, an orangutan, discovers Seth's bag and manages to drag to his cage.  He tears the bag to pieces and finds the red ring box. He finds Tina's scent on the box intriguing and hangs onto it.
Seth arrives at the zoo and finds the remains of his suitcase next to the cage. He spies the ring box but, in the darkness, fails to realize it is in the clutches of a now-sleeping Trevor. Seth goes into the cage to get the box only to be chased by Trevor. In his hurry to get away, Seth doesn't realize he didn't get the cage door shut securely. Trevor follows them to the parking lot, where they are confronted by the security guard who shoots at them and Seth and Cyndi flee in the car. But Trevor has climbed in the back seat.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Tina is becoming increasing exasperated at Seth, who seems to be more concerned about the Haitians than about their wedding. She turns to her father for help. But his help is just making things worse and the complications pile up.

This book is like watching a Warner Bros cartoon and suddenly an image of babies starving in Africa with flies walking on their faces appears on the screen.

For another review, see https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/in-insane-city-dave-barry-serves-up-quite-the-buffet-of-leftovers/2013/01/31/ef4442f0-6a36-11e2-95b3-272d604a10a3_story.html.

When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time To Go Home

By Erma Bombeck

Erma and her husband love to travel and there are few places in the world they didn't visit. So she has a lot to say about the joys and tribulations of vacations. Of course, since this is Erma Bombeck, she keeps her reminiscences on the lighter side, poking fun of not only herself, but also her husband, who is a man who does not believe in traveling light.
Together they went to all the places, the Far East, Africa, Europe, Britain, South America, Alaska, Australia, Russia and floating down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon of their home state, Arizona, and on and on. About the only place they didn't visit was Antarctica. And they probably visited there after this book was written.
Although she has plenty of opportunities to get maudlin, she mostly avoids doing so and sticks to keeping it light and amusing. Probably a good read for anyone preparing to take a trip to another country!

For another review, see https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/erma-bombeck/when-you-look-like-your-passport-photo-its-time-to/.

Be Sweet

By Roy Blount Jr.

Roy writes about his relationship with his mother, mostly, but also with his father. In the process, he covers parts of his writing career, but not in great depth.
His mother was orphaned and was raised by relatives who really didn't want her, one of which was quite abusive. As a result, she was self-doubting and needy, always questioning her children's love for her. This left Roy, as an adult, trying to understand his mother, trying to understand the difficulties she had to deal with as a child. Perhaps getting a handle on her suffering would explain some of the capricious and pathetic things she did and said when he was growing up.

Blount was a sports writer before he became known as a humorist and it shows up clearly in the book. Not being a sports fan myself, reading page after page about sports people was not enjoyable. There is also a chapter where he goes on and on about juniors, sons who are named after their fathers. Heaps and heaps of juniors until I was quite tired of the junior stories.
I also felt it took him a long time to get anywhere with his story. He meanders and wanders and dallies here and goes back there and does anything but get to the point. And, after all, there really is no point. His mother had problems. Whose doesn't?

For another review, see  https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/12/reviews/980712.12humphrt.html.