Review: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

There has been a lot of buzz about this book by Delia Owens going back on two years now.  The book's protagonist is Catherine - but she goes by Kya and is known in her small town as "The Marsh Girl" - who has lived and grown up in the marshes of North Carolina alone since she was a small girl.  Kya didn't attend schools and was taught to read and do math by another local boy named Tate, who befriended her.  Intertwined with the story of Kya's life growing up without family, there is a murder mystery and, ultimately a trial to contend with.

Delia Owens is a trained zoologist and it shows in her descriptions of the marshes that Kya inhabits as well as the animals that Kya observes and writes about.  Owens' language and how she writes is so evocative and the story that she weaves combined with the language itself hooked me from the beginning.  I couldn't put the book down and it was one of those books that literally took me two days from start to finish to read simply because I had to read it. I felt like I was transported to the marshes of North Carolina's Outer Banks with Kya.

This was also one of the few books that have made me cry.  Kya has such a raw deal and a raw story and her abandonment by all those she cares for was just profoundly sad.  And yet, she managed to rise above it all and, to some degree, find her own success on her own terms.

This book is a must read and, while Owens isn't a trained novelist, I look forward to more novels from her. 

The Education of an Idealist by Smantha Power

For those of you who know, on some level, who Samantha Power is, the above picture could be both informational and brilliant or absolutely confusing. Most recently, Ms. Power gained notoriety for being the Ambassador to the UN for the United States. She served from 2013-2017, preceding Governor Haley, and for the Obama administration.  However,  she began her career as a journalist covering the war in the Balkans.  This book, her fourth and most recent, is a memoir about her life beginning during her childhood in Ireland and ending with her last days as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

Sometimes, I don't know why I pick up autobiographies written by politicians because I find parts of them to be completely and utterly boring and self serving.  Nothing changed with this particular memoir/autobiography.  The most trying parts of the book involved Power's description of political theory, use of statistics and attempts to justify the steps that were taken by the political administration that she was serving during her career.  I already understand the theories and the maneuvering and could have done without the additional education.  It was trying and skimmable.

I found myself immensely intrigued by her descriptions of trips to various parts of the world, her attempts and struggles to balance work, life and being a mother and her descriptions of her life in Ireland, as an immigrant, her education in college and then her time as a journalist.  I really wanted to learn more about her as a person and in this area, Ms. Powers delivered a home run (baseball is her favorite sport!).  Ms. Powers is a very intelligent and driven woman that is someone to look up to based upon how her life has developed.  I really enjoyed these parts of her book. I found that she was very open and vulnerable and honest, which was impressive considering what she was putting out there.  The feelings that she admitted having are ones that are all too familiar to me and are, perhaps, also very familiar to other people as well - anxiety, self doubt, shame - and she puts it out there.  I also admire that she was and is still very driven.

So, while I absolutely wish that I had just skipped the political theory sections, I enjoyed the rest of the book tremendously and hope that one day, I may meet Ms. Powers.  SHe seems like someone that I could have a few beers with and laugh with.

Amazon Jeff's Big Discovery

Author Ofer Shapira has hit a home run in this charming children's picture book. Jeff is a deer that lives in the Amazon and he faces a challenge that all of us struggle with, sometimes at multiple times in our lives. Jeff is trying to figure out who he is and what he is good at. Jeff also very much wants a new challenge in his life, so with his mother's and his friend's support, he sets out to try new things in the hopes of achieving his dual goals.

Jeff encounters many of his friends during the course of the book. He finds that himself attempting to growl and roar with Leo, the lion king, trying to fly with Robin and Jay and trying to sing, sway and howl with Wolf. Jeff comes across a busy bee and a bear that has hibernated the winter away. During the course of his interactions with these friends, Jeff has a moment of self-realization and finds something that he is good at doing as well as something that he also happens to enjoy doing.

The message that it's perfectly acceptable to not know who you are as a person as well as what you're good at is extremely valuable for the children reading the book. The book normalizes this and encourages the young reader to explore their talents and skills and what they enjoy, particularly with their parents, guardians or the person that they are reading the book with. At the end of the book, Mr. Shapira even provides space for readers to list skills that they are good at, which is a tremendously useful and convenient tool. I also enjoyed the pictures in the book. They related well to the book itself and I found myself smiling at them, particularly at the ones of the wolves. It is obvious that a lot of effort went into not only developing the story for children, but also in illustrating the book in an appropriate way.

Children will absolutely love the characters and the pictures in this book while learning a valuable lesson (or two!) that they can carry with them throughout their lives. This is a book that you must get immediately to read to the children in your life!

Symphony NH Americana Christmas

Last night, I had the absolute privilege of going to see the New Hampshire Symphony play their holiday concert nearby.  I have seen the Boston Pops do their holiday show, but I'm embarassed to say that I have never seen the New Hampshire before last night.  I was so impressed by the concert but I was perhaps most impressed by their co-act: An Act of Congress. I do like Americana music, so I probably was already pre-disposed to liking them but I was completely blown away by how GOOD it all sounded together.  There were a number of traditionally played symphonic tunes  but then collaborations that moved me.

I found myself driving home feeling so revived and feeling like I had had a really cathartic moment.  I felt that I had energy where I had been feeling the lethargy and stress of a particularly dark time of year.  It's not going to start getting lighter again until December 21 after all.  This gave me hope.  

They have many, many good takes on traditional holiday songs but they also have many original tunes as well.  They played one or two of their original pieces and closed the show with a quiet and unplugged version of a song and I literally was just moved beyond belief.  Please go give them a listen.  Totally worth it.

Biggish news I guess

If you're a regular here, you know that I love reading and I enjoy writing and I also enjoy sharing that passion with other people as well. I now have a variety of ways that I can assist you in your own ventures.  Please feel free to visit my gigs here and let me know your thoughts!