By Louis L'Amour   Sentimentality... Is there a book that takes your breath away every time you hear or read the title? Or one that breaks through the bricks walls holding the files of your past, releasing a flood of memories and emotions? Louis L'Amour's 1970 novel Reilly's Luck does that for me.   I was introduced to Louis L'Amour's writing by my second mom, Jan Federson, when I was about 11 or 12 years old. Jan, and her husband, Feddy, lived in a large walkout rambler near McCoy Lake in Eden Prairie, when all the roads off Mitchell Road were gravel, and there were only a few houses in the area. Inside and to the left of the front door was a large living room with one wall lined with cupboards on the bottom and shelves on the top. Every shelf was filled with books, as Jan was an avid reader. She loved westerns, and I believe she had every book written by L'Amour. I don't know how many of L'Amour's books Jan encouraged me to read, but Reilly's Luck stuck with me over the years.   The beginning chapters of the book tell how a 4-year-old Val Darrant ends up in the care of Will Reilly, a gentleman who is a gambler by profession and handy with a … [Read more...]

By Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston was a female black writer in the early 20th century, and she wrote this novel in 1937.   In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie tells her story to her best friend Phoebe, from her first forced marriage when she was a teenager to living with the love of her life in her 40s. It tells of her relationships, describing the three totally different men she lived with, and the adventures incurred throughout her life. The majority of the book takes place in Eatonville, a town in Florida near Jacksonville that was incorporated on August 15, 1887, and was one of the first self-governing all-black municipalities in the United States. It also is the community in which Hurston grew up.   Janie was raised by her grandmother, Nanny, who was trying to give her a better life than she had. Both Janie's mother and Janie were products of rape. When Nanny saw Janie kissing a boy over the fence, she felt it was time for Janie to get married and be taken care of by a man.   Janie was not interested in marriage, or the man Nanny chose, who Janie came to realize wanted not a partner and a wife, but a maid and someone to help with … [Read more...]

By Leonard Nimoy   Star Trek has been infiltrating my life for as long as I can remember. I watched the original series as a child, and the movies as a teen and adult. My husband loves the original Star Trek, and enjoys the more recent Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. Captains Kirk, Picard and Janeway all have different attributes, which makes each of the series unique and interesting.   One of the icon characters of Star Trek is Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, who died at the end of February. Nimoy introduced the Vulcan hand salutation accompanied by "live long and prosper". Nimoy did live long and prosper. He was 83 when he died, and he had an amazing career.   In researching his obituary, I found out Nimoy had written two books I am not Spock in 1975, and I am Spock 20 years later. Intrigued by the titles, I wanted to read both books, but the library only had the later. I don't think I need to read the first one. Nimoy mentions it in the second calling the title a mistake. The title I am not Spock gave the impression that Nimoy did not like the character or being on Star Trek. That was so far from the truth, as Nimoy … [Read more...]

By Barbara Mackinnon Where Rivers Meet has it all-sorrow, love, romance, murder, conflict, scenic settings and friendship. It is a romance novel where two emotionally injured people meet by chance and find they can love again. Their individual stories and family conflicts of their pasts continue to surface as they build their relationship. The story starts in Dunkeld, Scotland, where Mary Sinclair and her husband, Stewart, are visiting?his aunt Fiona. Being from the United States, Mary is enchanted with the city and the countryside. She takes up painting as Stewart travels, where he dies. Mary plummets into grief and is hit with another blow that sinks her even farther. The story also follows Andrew MacLean, who lost a wife and ?child in a car accident that he does not believe was an accident. His search for the truth takes him from Skye back to Dunkeld where the accident took place. Mary and Andrew meet by chance, and the story follows their rocky friendship as it grows to more. As their relationship grows, so does the investigation into the accident, which causes problems for Andrew and everyone he knows. The author writes a believable story, building to a climax … [Read more...]

Edited by Kent Nerburn This book is filled with quotes and speeches that give the reader an inside look at the wisdom, spirituality and culture of the Native American people. When the Europeans arrived, this continent was filled with various tribes of people whose customs, languages and housing were different. The different tribes governed themselves and lived according to different rules.?But, according to Nerburn, they all shared a common belief that the earth is a spiritual presence that "must be honored, not mastered." Nerburn's book looks at how the Native Americans approached life. Part 1 includes quotes compiled from various Native people that take a deeper look into the culture, customs and thoughts. Part 2 includes writings from Ohiyesa, who was born in the Redwood Falls, MN area in 1958. He was later given the name Charles Alexander Eastman, a Santee Sioux child of the woodlands and prairies who would go on to become the adviser to presidents and an honored member of the New England society. According to Nerburn, Ohiyesa spent his life trying to build bridges of understanding between the Native and non-native people. Part 3 includes speeches by Chief Red … [Read more...]

By Rev. James E. (Jimmy Mac) McNamara An easy read, "Tales form the Wedding Altar" takes the reader through various true stories from weddings Rev. Jimmy Mac has performed in Lass Vegas over the last four years. Some of the stories are heartwarming and some embarrassing, but the majority leave the reader chuckling. The stories are short, which makes the book easy to read in spurts. I kept it in my lunch box and read it during my breaks at work. It was a fun read.     … [Read more...]

By Barbara Johnson Going through a rough time? Barbara Johnson lets you in on the secret that "Pain is inevitable but misery is optional". Her book "Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy" comes out of four devastating experiences that equip Johnson with the credentials to help others work through their own pain. There are parts in the book that made me wonder how anyone could survive through the tragedies, and parts that made me smile. It is a book that makes one feel. Johnson first takes the reader through her own experiences - her husband's near fatal accident and slow recovery from debilitating injuries, followed by the loss of one son in Vietnam and another son to a drunk driver, plus a third son declaring he is gay and Johnson herself being diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes - all within seven years, She is candid about how each experience affected her, the emotions she had to process and the depression she went through. The book moves into Johnson's Spatula ministry to help others move through tragedy into joy with stories, anecdotes, poems, quotes and Bible verses. Given Johnson's reputation as a humorist, I expected to laugh more as I read the book. I also … [Read more...]

By Dean Koontz One Door Away From Heaven is an unexpected book that follows three primary groups of people who finally converge in the last few chapters of the book. Writing styles change a bit from chapter to chapter depending on which group is being described, which dumbfounded me the first time I read it. The styles evolve into one style as the characters get closer together, which is an amazing feat! It takes a great writer to do that well. The book starts out in a dusty trailer park in California where Michelina Bellsong has moved in with her aunt, searching for a way to change the direction of her troubled life. Along comes Leilani Klonk, a precocious handicapped girl with a strong spirit who cuts through the crap and says it how it is. Thrown off guard, Micky isn't sure how to react but sees a quiet desperation underneath the strength Leilani portrays. Leilani's mother is absorbed in her world of drugs, and her stepfather, Preston Maddoc, is not who he appears to be. He has moved the family from place to place searching for UFO sightings, striving to make contact. The story he tells is that the aliens will heal Leilani by her 10th birthday or take her to live with … [Read more...]

By Tammy Kling and John Spencer Ellis The main character of The Compass could be any of us. Though his name is Jonathan, and his situation may be different, we all experience loss at some time in our lives, often to the point of making us unable to function in our current reality. This book is Jonathan's journey from crippling emotional agony to a better understanding of himself and what truly matters. The story begins with Jonathan wandering in the wilderness where he is found by Marilyn, a dying woman who chose to camp in the desert and photograph its beauty. Through their conversations, the reason for Jonathan's pain is identified. His daughter was killed in a car accident in which he also lost his wife. Marilyn imparts wisdom with comments like: "... It doesn't matter what you seek or what you find. What matters is that you allow your compass to guide you, and let your gifts and knowledge rise to the surface so you can live out your life's purpose." As Jonathan moves on through his journey into a mountain retreat and on to several stops in Europe, he meets incredible people who impart wisdom along the way. They help him on his healing journey that lands him back in … [Read more...]

By Sy Montgomery (Published 1991) The first time I read "Walking With the Great Apes" was on my way to Malaysia. I was fascinated with the relationships between Dian Fossey and the gorillas she studied, which was depicted in the movie "Gorillas in the Mist". My quest was to learn about the?relationships between the women and the primates they studied. The stories are what stuck with me. The book is a triple biography of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas, protegees of the Anglo-African archeologist Louis Leakey. Each woman was selected by Leakey to study the primates most closely related to man Goodall, chimpanzees; Fossey, mountain gorillas; and Galdikas, orangutans. Spending years in the field, they invented a revolutionary way to conduct the science of primate ethology. They dedicated their lives to a single species and lived as close to the earth and the trees as the great apes themselves. This time I read it, I was looking for something more, searching for the whole ? the journey from idea, to dedicating their lives to protect a single species, to relationships with both the primates and the new human cultures, to the establishment of the research centers. … [Read more...]