The Day the Falls Stood Still

The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Hardcover, 307 pages
Voice, August 2009
ISBN-13: 9781401340971
historical fiction
highly recommended

Publishers Weekly:

Set against the backdrop of WWI and Niagara Falls, this debut tells the story of young Bess Heath and her struggle to navigate a quickly modernizing world. A child of privilege, Bess sees her fortunes change when her father loses his job. Cast into poverty, her family disgraced, Bess tries to hold things together while her sister slips into depression, her father drinks and her mother withdraws. After another tragedy strikes, Bess finds comfort in the love of Tom Cole, a river man with a mysterious connection to the falls. Overcoming the deep privation of the war and their own limited means, the two begin building a life together and renew their commitment to each other and their family. Based loosely on the history of Niagara river man William “Red” Hill, the book incorporates mock newspaper articles with limited success, but does integrate some detailed depictions of domestic life and fascinating natural history into an otherwise uneventful romance. (Sept.)

My Thoughts:

The Day the Falls Stood Still, Buchanan's debut novel, is set at the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, from June 1915 to October 1923. Buchanan has based some characters and historical references on actual people/events. The falls and river are an integral part of the story and with the inclusion of actual historical photos, I now want to read a nonfiction book about the history of Niagara Falls. In fact, I really wish Buchanan had based even more parts of her story on historical events. Exploring even further the history and exploitation of the Niagara River would have made the novel stronger for me. The love story in The Day the Falls Stood Still is realistic, with struggles and trials, rather than over-the-top emotional melodrama, which I appreciated. There are parts of the characters lives that I found rather unbelievable (for example, the ease in which Bess becomes a seamstress - no spoilers here) and wish their struggles had been more fully developed and explored. (To be honest, I actually didn't really like any of the characters.) Still, I found that The Day the Falls Stood Still held my interest and attention to the end. (I'm going to pass this book along to my mother and we'll see what she has to say after she reads it.)

highly recommended

(Won from Ti in a book giveaway at http://bookchatter.net/ )

Quotes:

For a moment I cling to the possibility that I will return to the academy in the fall for my final year. But Sister Ignatius is yet another example of the sisters having gone soft and sentimental, the way people tend to when they are saying goodbye. pg. 6

I have only the foggiest notion of what an unemployed father means. pg 9

Usually when I leave Loretto for the summer holiday, Father is here, waiting in his Cadillac at the north door. He feigns impatience, shaking his head with the other fathers as we girls embrace and weep our goodbyes....But today as I pass through the doorway, I am unmoved. I give only a cursory glance to the arched window overhead, with its etching of the Last Supper. Jesus and his friends. Peter, who denied him. Judas, who betrayed him for thirty coins. pg. 12

...he was wearing the matching waistcoat and jacket, neckcloth, and flat cap of the working class, though he carried himself well. His hair hung a little long, with a few locks the color of wheat reaching beyond his ears. His skin was bronzed, suggesting he spent a great deal of time outdoors. His eyes were like the Niagara River: green, full of vigor, captivatingly so. He was handsome, but not at all in an aristocratic way. There was nothing to suggest an easy life or time spent primping and preening. pg. 13-14

I linger on the fifth bead and pray in earnest.

O Father, forgive me, my family, our sins. Save us from the misery and poverty that I do not think we know how to bear. We are in need of your mercy, all of us. I am afraid. Amen. pg. 18

"...I'm sewing frocks again."

"A dressmaker?" Though Mother is a whiz with needle and thread, a skill picked up way back when Father was only a clerk, it is difficult to imagine her bent over a sewing machine rather than ambling about the garden...."

"I've made seven dresses and have orders for nine more. Mrs. Atwell convinced me I could earn a decent wage, and then she ordered the first three." pg. 21

Father had lost his job and his fortune, and convinced a handful of his colleagues to gamble away theirs. Even so, there was something more that had caused folks to turn their backs on a woman as respected as Mother, something truly appalling, like a husband whiling away the days with his nose in a pint, particularly with so many young men suffering overseas.

"Last week I told him I could smell the whiskey on him," Isobel says, "He said I sounded like a prohibitionist, and I said if prohibition meant keeping fathers sober, then war or no war, maybe I was." pg. 27-28

It is my chance to tell her about Tom, but is there anything to say? He and I have spoken politely, only about practical things - scaling a fish, westerly winds pushing water over the falls. I learned his name just this morning. pg. 41

"The river's been bound up with cables and concrete and steel, like a turkey at Christmastime."

It was the most I had ever heard him say, and his seeming idea that the river ought to be left alone took me by surprise. It was contrary to anything I had ever heard.... pg. 49

Amigoland

Amigoland by Oscar Casares
Hardcover, 357 pages
Little, Brown & Company, August 2009
ISBN-13: 9780316159692
highly recommended

Synopsis

In a small town on the Mexican border live two brothers, Don Fidencio and Don Celestino. Stubborn and independent, they now must face the facts: they are old, and they have let a family argument stand between them for too long. Don Celestino's good-natured housekeeper encourages him to make amends—while he still can. They secretly liberate Don Fidencio from his nursing home and travel into Mexico to solve the mystery at the heart of their dispute: the family legend of their grandfather's kidnapping. As the unlikely trio travels, the brothers learn it's never too late for a new beginning.

With winsome prose and heartfelt humor, Oscar Casares's debut novel of family lost and found radiates with generosity and grace and confirms the arrival of a uniquely talented new writer.

My Thoughts:

After reading the synopsis on the cover, I was sure I would not like Amigoland. Consequently, I was surprised at how much I did enjoy it. (Don't read the synopsis on the cover of the book - I'm telling you I would not have read this book if that were the only information on which I was relying.) It opens up with ninety-one year old Fidencio Rosales in the Amigoland nursing home - and hating every minute of it. He doesn't think he needs to be in the nursing home, he's sure people are stealing from him and needlessly medicating him. He is sure he does not need his walker and that he could walk with his canes. Also living in Brownsville is his youngest brother, Celestino, whom he hasn't spoken to for many yeras. Celestino's younger maid and lover Socorro helps encourage the two brothers to reconcile.

Amigoland surprised me. It is funny, touching, sad, and thoughful. The brothers are realistic characters, sometimes likeable, sometimes not. My only complaint about Amigoland is the sexual relationship of Celestino and Socorro. I didn't feel it added anything to the book and it some ways was distracting. If Casares had kept her character as a maid who simply became a friend and confidaunt to Celestino, it would have rang more true to me. Nonetheless, Casares is a gifted writer and one to watch. Highly Recommended

I won this book from Hachette Book Group in a give-away at Gwendolyn B.'s A Sea of Books

Quotes:

The One With The Flat Face was taking her time coming around with the cart. opening

"A man your age should not be smoking cigarettes."

"Leave me alone. I smoked my two cigarettes a day for most of my life, long before you or your mother and father were born, maybe even before their mother and father."

"Still, it's not good for you, sir. If you get sick with the flu, your luings are not going to be strong."

"And what, you afraid I won't make it all the way to ninety-two?" pg. 4

After that night he had gone to bed asking God to please not torment him with these dreams of
The Gringo With The Ugly Finger. It was just one more humble request added to the short but growing list of things he prayed for every night: for the staff to stop pilfering his chocolates, particularly the ones with the cherries that he was partial too; for the gout to go away once and for all; for some rest from the aches in his muscles and bones each morning; for some releif from his constant need to make water; for The One With The White Pants to stop finding new pills to give him; and most important of all, for him to find some way to escape from this prison where they kept him against his will; and for his freedom to come soon, even if it should cost him his life, so long as he didn't die here in this bed, surrounded by so many strange and unfamiliar faces. pg. 9-10

He staggered back to the closet, leaning against the edge of the bed for support, and retrieved the #1 box and placed it on the overbed table with the other box. He did the same thing with the #2, #4, and #5 boxes. It was part of his morning routine now to do an inventory count at the start of every day. How else was he going to know when these people were dipping into his shoe boxes for another piece of chocolate ot to take one of his pens or simply to move things around in an effort to make him think he couldn't keep track of his things? pg. 39-40

Don Celestino heard the phone ringing in the living room and wondered who would be calling him in the middle of the night. pg. 44

He was waiting for the caller to say something, waiting to see if it was her voice, when suddenly the line was cut. pg. 46

Movie Dude: Transformers

Transformers, 2007

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
a.k.a. Transformers 2, 2009

Director: Michael Bay

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox

Wonder Boy, Dragon Scribe, and I watched the movies.

Movie Dude: There's my Friday night gas!

Movie Dude (concerning Meagan Fox): I feel good and I'm lovin' every minute of it!

Just like the Transformers, Movie Dud and Just Me learned many new things through the world wide web.

Wonder Boy: Are you going to sketchy web sites again?

Just Me: Psychedelic Squirrel? That's a totally legitimate web site.

They searched for, among other things, road kill pictures, Santa with Muscles (apparently there was a bad Hulk Hogan movie), and exploding things.

Wonder Boy: Ssshhh! Quiet! We're trying to watch the movie!

Movie Dude: Search General Grant car.

Just Me: I thought we were going to google exploding toilets?

Wonder Boy: Ssshhh! Quiet! We're trying to watch the movie!

Movie Dude: Sssshhhhh! Quiet! We're trying to watch the expolding whale video.

Just Me (reading from website): "Watch the video, read the articles, and learn about more exploding whales.... Welcome to the definitive exploding whale site on the internet." Exploding whale even has a Wikipedia entry!

Wonder Boy: Ssshhh! Quiet! We're trying to watch the movie!

Movie dude: Poop is "poop" spelled backward.

(My nephew, formerly referred to as Cool Man, now has the moniker "Dragon Scribe." It encompasses his interests in dragons, drawing, and reading.)

Fast Food Nation

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
by Eric Schlosser
Hardcover, 356 pages, including index, bibliography, notes
(270 pages text)

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001
ISBN-13: 9780395977897

nonfiction

highly recommended

Synopsis from publisher:

Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Scholsser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning. Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisions, where the business was born, to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike, where many of fast food's flavors are concocted. Along the way, he unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths -- from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate.

My thoughts:

If you currently eat a lot of fast food, then reading Fast Food Nation may instigate a dramatic change to your dietary habits. Although the book is about fast food, it really is about the influence and affect the fast food industry has had on many cultural and social aspects of American life (and the increasingly global influence as fast food chains expand to many other countries). If you think about the many industries and businesses whose economies are based on the myriad of fast food businesses and their consumers, it is easy to see how the fast food industry has permeated every aspect of American culture and society. The hold the fast food industry has on various businesses includes farming (potatoes for French fries) ranching (beef and chicken), marketing (toys, endorsements, characters), labor practices (not only theirs, but those in other industries because of their huge contracts/influence), public health (foodborne illnesses and obesity), and the list goes on. Contemporary life is very much influenced by the fast food industry.

Fast Food Nation was originally published in 2001 and even at that time much of the information was readily available and understood by many people, but Schlosser has done an excellent job putting all the information together and making it more accessible and understandable to a wide range of people. I'm old enough that I remember a time when there were not many fast food restaurants or chains around (where we were living) and eating out at one was always a special treat for us. Today I still don't eat fast food very often - it's just not a part of my lifestyle. Even so, it was extremely interesting and disturbing to contemplate how much McDonald's, for example, has influenced the United States' economically, as well as culturally and socially. Schlosser sometimes has a heavy hand in assigning blame to a specific group of people (Republicans) rather than focusing on where the real problem lies. He does mention how some fast food chains have been responsible and currently are taking their role very seriously (In-n-Out Burger and Jack-in-the-Box, which is good for some west coast states). Ultimately, we, as consumers, have a choice. You can eat at the fast food restaurants or not. If you choose to eat fast food, you can look for a chain that has shown more responsibility or not. Truthfully, we, as consumers, dictate whether fast food chains stay around or not. We can demand more accountability.

highly recommended

Random Reading Challenge

Quotes:

Over the last three decades, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society. An industry that began with a handful of modest hot dog and hamburger stands in southern California has spread to every corner of the nation, selling a broad range of foods wherever paying customers may be found. Fast food is now served at restaurants and drive-throughs, at stadiums, airports, zoos, high schools, elementary schools, and universities, on cruise ships, trains, and airplanes, at K-Marts, Wal-Marts, gas stations, and even at hospital cafeterias. In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than $110 billion. Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music - combined. pg. 3

This is a book about fast food, the values it embodies, and the world it has made. Fast food has proven to be a revolutionary force in American life; I am interested in it both as a commodity and as a metaphor. What people eat (or don't eat) has always been determined by a complex interplay of social, economic, and technological forces. The early Roman Republic was fed by its citizen-farmers; the Roman Empire, by its slaves. A nation's diet can be more revealing than its art or literature. On any given day in the United States about one-quarter of the adult population visits a fast food restaurant. During a relatively brief period of time, the fast food industry has helped to transform not only the American diet, but also our landscape, economy, workforce, and popular culture. pg. 3

The basic thinking behind fast food has become the operating system of today's retail economy, wiping out small businesses, obliterating regional differences, and spreading identical stores throughout the country like a self-replicating code. pg. 5

Southern California had....given birth to an entirely new lifestyle - and a way of eating. Both revolved around cars. pg. 18

Walt Disney and Ray Kroc were masterful salesmen. They perfected the art of selling things to children. And their success led many others to aim marketing efforts at kids, turning America's youngest consumers into a demographic group that is now avidly studies, analyzed, and targeted by the world's largest corporations. pg. 33-34

The future heralded at Disneyland was one in which every aspect of American life had a corporate sponsor. pg. 39

"But when it gets down to brass tacks," a Brandweek article on fast food notes, "the key to attracting kids is toys, toys, toys." pg. 47

No other industry in the United States has a workforce so dominated by adolescents. About two-thirds of the nation's fast food workers are under the age of twenty. pg. 68

Becoming a franchisee is an odd combination of starting your own business and going to work for someone else. pg. 94

Every day in the United States roughly 200,000 people are sickened by a foodborne disease, 900 are hospitalized, and fourteen die. According to the [CDC] more than a quarter of the American population suffers a bout of food poisoning each year. pg. 195

The Millionaires

The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer
Mass Market Paperback, 524 pages
Warner Books, 2002
ISBN-13: 9780446611923
action/adventure

recommended

Synopsis from the cover:

Charlie and Oliver Caruso are brothers working at an ultra-exclusive bank when they're faced with an offer they can't refuse - three million dollars in an abandoned account that no one even knows exists. Almost as soon as they take the cash, a friend is killed and the bank, the Secret Service, and a female P.I. are closing in. Now the Caruso brothers are on the run and about to uncover an explosive secret that will test their trust and forever change their lives.

My Thoughts:

While The Millionaires is entertaining and does deliver the action, it is also one of those novels that border on the unbelievable in several different ways. The plot itself, with brother's on the run out witting the Secret Service, is a stretch, to say the least, and there are several unrealsitic elements in it. The writing isn't the best, and the dialogue between the brothers is sometimes annoying. However, it is an easy to read and follow thriller that held my attention to the end, which counts for something. Recommended

Quotes:

I know where I'm going. And I know who I want to be. That's why I took this job in the first place ... and why, four years later, I still put up with the clients. And their demands. And their wads of money. Most of the time, they just want to keep a low profile, which is actually the bank's specialty. Other times, they want a little ... personal touch. opening

"Charlie!" I shout.
He stops right there-he already knows I'm wound too tight. "I could really use your help," I add, watching his reaction. For anyone else, it'd be a moment to treasure-an admission of weakness that could forever retip the scales between walnut desks and beige Formica. To be honest, I probably have it coming.
My brother looks me straight in the eye. "Tell me what you need me to do," he says. pg. 7

"What are you saying? You think it's fake?"

"I have no idea - but just think how easy that was: Some guy calls up, threatens that he wants his forty million bucks, then gives you an account number and says 'Make it happen.' " pg. 13

"What do you want me to say, Charlie? All the guy ever does is lurk around and act suspicious. Then suddenly, you walk in and he's Mr. Sunshine."

"See, there's where you're wrong. He's always Mr. Sunshine - in fact he's a rainbow of fruit flavors - but you're so busy angling with Lapidus and Tanner Drew and all the other bigshots, you forgot that the little poeple know how to talk too." pg. 21

"Is it really that crazy, Ollie?" he asks, his voice now serious. "I man, who's really gonna miss that cash? The owner's dead... it's about to be stolen by someone else... and if the government gets it... oh, they'll really put the funds to good use."

Just like that, I sit up straight. "Charlie, I hate to burst your seventeenth fantasy for the day, but what you're talking about is illegal. Say it out loud... illll-eeeeeegal." pg. 36

Buying Books for the Holidays

I am Buying Books for the Holidays!

(I have been buying books as gifts for over 25 years so why not make it official.)

Dog Attack

We have two dogs that I leash up and take outside several times a day. This is a daily occurrence. There is no fenced yard at this (stupid) rental house so I have to take dogs out to do their business. In the AM it is always for a quick pee in the front yard. We don't go out the back because the small flight of steps off the deck are too hard for our big dog to negotiate.

Our big dog is approximately 125 lbs. He's a Great Pyrenees / yellow Labrador Retriever mix. He has the long, thick coat of the Great Pyrenees but with the yellow lab coloring. He has the thick mane often found in male Pyrenees. We have had him for about 10 years now, since he was a puppy. For a big breed, he's a very old dog. He is a gentle giant and one of the truly nicest dogs I've ever known. We'll call him Duke. He resembles this picture only is yellow, like a big lion.

Our little dog is about 22 lbs and is a terrier mix. He actually looks very much like the terrier in the picture. We adopted him from the animal shelter when we lived in Nevada, about 5 years ago. He is also a friendly, nice, little dog. He very rarely barks, a trait I love. I'll refer to him as Sparky.



Both of our dogs are well socialized to other dogs and people. The only time our big dog has ever been aggressive was when he was protecting our daughter (and Sparky) from an attacking boxer several years ago.

On Friday, On October 30th at approximately 11:15 AM I called Duke in from the garage, he and Sparky, knowing our routine, went tails wagging right to the front door, I leashed up both dogs, and took them out to the front yard to pee.


After maybe getting 3 steps off the front porch to the yard the two dogs from the cop's house across the street came charging over, apparently to attack us. He has a young German Shepherd and what appears to be a retriever mix. The retriever was just a follower, barking but not aggressively. The German Shepherd, however, was aggressive. He was barking, snarling, snapping, and lunging at us. He was circling around us, trying to bite us the whole time.

I kept a firm hold on both leashes keeping both Duke and Sparky right by my side. I continually kept turning so I was facing the German Shepherd at all times, while holding the leashes, preparing to kick. I was repeatedly screaming at the top of my lungs in a firm, loud voice, "GO HOME! NO! GET! NO! GET OUT OF HERE! NO! GO AWAY! GO HOME!" etc. It felt like it lasted 15 minutes but I'm sure it was under 5.


I know people were home at the cop's house. I know the (big, fat) cop was home. I know his wife was home. I know their 4 kids were home (1/2 day of school). I also know the neighbors next to us were home and had someone over. (Sounds familiar, doesn't it? People home and certainly able to hear me yelling and yet no one came to help.)

Finally the Retriever lost interest and ran off, which lead to the German Shepherd backing off a bit and eventually he took off running. I tried to get my dogs inside but at that point Duke was unable to get up on his back legs. While holding him back away from the German Shepherd he was pulled back on his haunches. Like many big breeds Duke's having some hip problems due to his age. Normally he's been getting along very well - we no longer give him the sit command (just down) and he's able to move around pretty good. We usually do a long walk of about a mile, sometimes more depending upon how he's doing. But now, my big boy, Duke, was scooting around the front yard trying to get up on his legs but unable to do so. In the meantime, I'm keeping a hold of leashes still, looking out for the German Shepherd to return. Then I hear dog fight noises happening one block over.

All the time Duke is repeatedly trying to stand up and unable to do so. Sparky is frantic. We are all full of adrenaline from the attack. I'm keeping a look out for the cop's dogs and listening to the dog fight sounds coming from down the block and wondering how long we have before they return and how am I going to get Duke into the car to go to the vet and thinking that if he can't walk I may have to have him put "to sleep." Finally Duke was able to get up. After letting him stand for a bit, I checked to see if he could walk to the garage. I managed to get both dogs inside before the two cop dogs returned.

Right after I got my dogs inside, the cop's kids step out of their front door and start yelling for their dogs to come home. Apparently they had been watching the attack but didn't bother to stop it. No sign of the cop or Mrs. cop, even though I know they were both home. Once they got their dogs rounded up, I defiantly took mine out again, in our front yard and around to the back so they could pee, the whole reason we went out in the first place.

I was sort of expecting someone from the cops house to come over and apologize sometime during the day. After all, he's an officer sworn to uphold the law. I would imagine that even includes something as mundane as the leash law and having your dogs under control. Did an apology happen? No. Nothing. This isn't an isolated incident either. The German Shepherd has been lose more than once terrorizing people out walking their dogs or running across the street to bark at our front door.

When you hear stories of awful crimes or attacks happening where many people heard the cries for help and did nothing or watched the attack and didn't try to stop it, I imagine most people in the small town we're in would tisk-tisk and say "That wouldn't happen here." but don't you believe it. Even the Cop didn't try to control his own dogs.

No, I didn't report the attack. I'm documenting it right here. I know that the local police would not take it seriously. These are the same police who like to harass old women out walking dogs at night. These are the same police who basically dismissed my concerns over someone stopping and looking in our mailbox. (The cops and our mailbox stand by each other. Someone stopped and opened both mailboxes, looking inside. I called the police because it was weird, a federal offense, and just before Christmas. The good-old boy cop said, "Well, maybe Mrs. cop put something in her mailbox for someone to pick up. I'll ask cop about it tonight." and basically dismissed my concerns. Not a word was said to us about this.)

I know that German Shepherds can be wonderful dogs but I also know it takes training and socialization. I firmly believe it's the owners, not the dogs. In Nevada we had a Great Dane who almost looked me eye to eye. She was a wonderful, gentle dog. She and Duke liked each other immediately and Duke adored her owner. We also had the aforementioned boxer on the street. The boxer was vicious and out of control. It repeatedly attacked when our daughter was just trying to walk down the street to the walking trail. The owners never tried to restrain her and in fact could not control her. We finally had to call animal control on them after the boxer continued to be running loose and attacking our daughter when she was walking Duke down the street - on a leash.

The big question to me, after experiencing dog attacks in several different states is this:

Why don't people take controlling their dogs seriously?

Yes, it may be a loving pet to your family, but that doesn't mean you can just let them run loose. There are leash laws almost everywhere. How hard is it to follow them? I understand that sometimes dogs can get loose, but any repeated roaming free points to an ongoing lackadaisical attitude and a big problem if your dog is aggressive.