Top Ten Tuesday for August 9th!

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is open-ended. 

I am choosing to follow-up on the topic from July 5th: 

The Top Ten Books I Enjoyed 

That Have Under 2000 Ratings on Goodreads

I'm sure most of you are aware that 

this weekly meme is hosted by 

The Broke and the Bookish. 

But, just in case you didn't already 

know that, now you do! :)

I am excited to revisit this topic 

since my July 5th posting consisted
exclusively of books from 
series with which I am enamored! 

There were another 20+ books 
as well!

On to another 10 of that longer list!

A White Wind Blew by James Markert

Definitely one of the best books I have ever read, 

particularly within one of my absolute favorite genres, 
historical fiction! And there is also mystery/suspense involved! 

You can see a partial list of the historical fiction books 
I have read here. How can I best describe this book? 
It's virtually impossible because it is so very unique, IMHO! 
I can tell you that the Borders Book Club read it and 
each member RAVED about it. We also very much appreciated 
Mr. Markert taking time to speak with us during our discussion! 

I can tell you that a person I know who mostly just reads history read the copy I donated to our local library and LOVED it! She was telling everybody how good she thought it was! Rarely do I unreservedly recommend a book to 
virtually anyone and everyone, but this is one of those. 
And it needs to get more press than it has in the past, IMHO! 

I can tell you that this is one of the rare books I would gladly reread 
in the very near future...if only there was more reading time! :) 
My rereads are typically books I haven't read for DECADES, 
not just within the past 5-10 years. 
[This is what happens when you get "wiser," you can remember experiences 
from decades ago! :) Which I actually think is rather remarkable!]

Growin' Up White by Dwight Ritter

Oh, my gosh! Again, simply one of the best books I have ever read! 
I met Ritter and became aware of this book through the 
Christamore House Guild Book and Author Benefit in 2015. 
(If you're ever going to be in Indianapolis in April, attend this event, 
if at all possible. It is unique and definitely worth the time and money, the latter of which goes to a very good cause--supporting 
scholarships for students with limited financial resources!) 

I admire Ritter in so many ways, not the least of which is that he chose to self-publish, thereby retaining total control of the publication of his text. I am sometimes a bit leery about self-published books 
(having been burned by a couple), this one is definitely top-notch! 
Ritter spent his youth in Indianapolis and this book is very very loosely based upon 
some of his experiences and people from his younger years, including his family. 

Harvard Yard by William Martin

This is one I simply pulled off the shelf while working at Borders! 
And, it contains elements of both of my favorite genres, 
historical fiction AND mystery! :) I feel that Martin's writing style 
is very similar to Dan Brown's, and that must be a good thing, 
in my book! (Pun intended!) :) 
I was fascinated by the plot as well as the historical details 
masterfully interwoven throughout...

Born Under a Million Shadows 
by Andrea Busfield

I am preparing to reread this for Bex's Re-Readathon #4 
(August 10-21) that begins tomorrow! 
And...Andrea has agreed to complete an author interview 
which will be posted here! And...she has a new release out! 
The Silence of Stone! It is available for purchase from 
Books-A-Million, Book Depository, Wordery, IndieBound, and 
Barnes and Noble. (I'm sure it's also available on Amazon, 
but you're on your own with that vendor!)

You can hear her speak of her experience in Afghanistan here. (Yes, she lived there!) 

I always recommend this book as an alternative or companion read to The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It is not that I disliked The Kite Runner, quite the contrary, however, I found it so very intense and rather depressing. Overall, I prefer this publication mainly because I feel as if people outside Afghanistan may be better able to relate to the ex-pat characters, and thereby also obtain a bit more personalized understanding or at least exposure to Islam and the Afghan culture. If I have time I will also re-read Aphrodite's War, her second book, which has remained with me in detail over the past four years! 

As I re-read, 
I will post reviews 
here 
and provide 
updated links!

Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye

I'm certain I would have never read this book had it not been 
selected as a Fiction Expert read for Borders. 
I was very glad to have read it. 
Certain images and the overall plot certainly remain 
lodged in my mind these 6 years later! That says something! Something good! Geye is a master at using the environment as a character in and of itself. The lakeshore landscape of northern Minnesota emphasized aspects of the story: 
loneliness, isolation, solitude, 
returning to nature.
Though many aspects of human life were explored: fertility, death, the "right to die," 
and all those wonderful (*cough cough*) 
"family relationships"! 
At the time I read somewhere that this 
book qualified as "chick lit" for guys. 
I have no idea about that, but I do know 
that I personally found it be a powerful read, especially for a debut! 
He has had two other books released 
since this one: 

The Lighthouse Road in 2012 
and Wintering in July 2016. 
Both of these are on my TBR listing! 

Prairie Evers by Ellen Airgood

This is a bit of a diversion...
into juvenile literature, but I do so enjoy reading "kid's lit"! 
The story of Prairie is so very poignant! 
I don't know how anyone could resist rooting for her!

A Lost Wife's Tale: A Novel by Marion McGilvary

Sadly, it seems Miss McGilvary is no 
longer writing/publishing! :( 
I felt this was an excellent debut novel! 
Ironically, just as Edith believes she has 
hidden her past, it comes right up and punches her!
I didn't believe Edith quite deserved the bad treatment she received, 
though that would be a very difficult thing to forgive...

The Midnight Dog of the Repo Man (introductory e-short story) 

and The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man: A Novel 
by W. Bruce Cameron

I read the short story first and was glad I had. 
I liked having that introduction to 
these characters, Ruddy and Jake. 
I admit that after receiving an email from 
Mr. Cameron, asking if I would 
read and review this book, 
when I saw the cover my reaction 
was kinda "meh"... 
Although I have adored every one of 
his publications I have read, 
so that was the motivation for me to continue onward, reading and reviewing it! Some of the raucous humor 
in this book reminded me of 
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series! 
(And that's some high praise, coming from me! lol) 
And I am thrilled that the promised sequel, Repo Madness, 
is due to be released August 23 2016! YES!!!

Emory's Gift by W. Bruce Cameron
I'm uncertain if I've ever read a book which better depicted
an adolescent--so much hesitation,
so little confidence, so "clueless" at times!
This one gives you so very much to ponder...
And, of course, don't forget about LOVE:
first loves and girlfriends, loving/"romantic" relationships
later in life, and just how committed/connected we remain 
to those we've lost...and have we really "lost" them?
Will we have the opportunity to reconnect with them 
in the future? In this lifetime? In another lifetime? 
Ahhh...the possibilities are endless...
Thank you for taking the risk to write this story, Mr. Cameron!
Everyone in our book club truly enjoyed this book!

The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell


I won a free copy of this book through Goodreads. 

THANK YOU!!
As I told my book club members about it, they decided 
they wanted to read it, too, so we did! 
Each member really enjoyed it and it prompted 
much valuable discussion: ecological issues 
and climate change, love between humans and 
animal companions, and impetuous actions 
that end up providing such benefits!
Though we all cried!

I am struggling to re-enter the world of blogging!
It seems that my time becomes more and more limited, 
or perhaps I am just so much more enamored with reading that I find it 
increasingly difficult to publish on the blog...
I am currently helping at an information desk in the lobby of our building on campus,
so brought my laptop so I can access the Registrar's website, 
faculty/staff directory, etc., in helping guide students,
then thought I should access the blog and see what I might be able to finish and publish
during the lag time between students.
And...voilá! 

(Doesn't that make you feel oh, so much more productive?!?)
😉😉😉

Happy reading

--Lynn

Love is really at the heart of life, no matter the location!

Born Under a Million Shadows 

by Andrea Busfield

This is one of the very first books the Borders Book Club read. 

It is one of my favorite books ever...and particularly of those I've read set in Afghanistan. 

While working at Borders I often recommended it as an alternative to The Kite Runner. 

I particularly appreciate the fact that BUaMS presents a much more diverse 

group of characters, and thereby, I believe, 

is more approachable for many readers than TKR might be. 

One of my favorite first sentences in any book appears here:

My name is Fawad, and my mother tells me I was born under the shadow of the Taliban. (3)

Immediately followed by

Because she said no more, I imagined her stepping out of the sunshine and into the dark,

crouching in a corner to protect the stomach that was hiding me, 

while a man with a stick watched over us, ready to beat me into the world. (3)

Yikes! I guess that sounds about right, given what I've read of the Taliban... In speaking of his friends, Spandi, Jahid, and Jamilla:

...all of us were born during the time of the Taliban, but I only heard my mother talk of them as men making shadows, so I guess if she'd ever learned to write she might have been a poet. 

Instead, and as Allah willed it, she swept the floors of the rich for a handful of afs 

that she hid in her clothes and guarded through the night. (3)

In discussing his friend, Jahid's age:

We don't celebrate birthdays in Afghanistan; we only remember victories and death. (4)

Ah. Life is truly a challenge for so many people in this world. Those of us who have no direct knowledge of such challenges to survival are truly lucky and should be appreciative of our opportunities. Of Jahid, Fawad's mother admonishes him to "keep away"...from that "dirty little thief." 

How my mother actually thought I could keep away from Jahid was anyone's guess.

But this is a common problem with adults: they ask for the impossible 

and then make your life a misery when you can't obey them. 

The fact is I lived under the same roof as Jahid, along with his fat cow of a mother, 

his donkey of a father, and two more of their dirty-faced children, Wahid and Obaidullah. (5)

Ooohhh...I can only guess that Fawad is repeating that which his mother has stated to him regarding the descriptions of his relatives. Her family had lost everything once the Taliban gained rule over the country. 

I was no expert, but it was pretty clear my mother was depressed. (6)

And who wouldn't be? Going from owning your own home to being dependent upon the generosity of your sister and her husband for food and shelter for you and your son, and to have lost your other child, your only daughter. 

It is obvious that respect for others and using respectful language is not the norm for Afghans. At one point Fawad and Jahid are fighting about money and their respective mothers, and Fawad is cruel...

My country can be a tough place to live in if you're poor, but it's even tougher if you're poor 

and ugly. And now Jahid was like stone, a stone that knows he will never find a woman 

who will willingly marry him, but whose father might agree for the right price. (9)

Therefore, Jahid was saving money to purchase a wife as an adult. Though Fawad understood his goal, he still blamed Jahid for not turning over more money to his family to help meet living expenses. How horrifying to realize as a child that the money you collect is vital to your family's survival. Their is no true childhood for these young ones; adult responsibility is thrust upon them very early. And being poor and ugly? Unfortunately, that combination is a huge challenge in any culture/society. 

Fawad describes how vendors would setup tents to sell goods to tourists at a higher price than could be found in the local bazaar.

...if they walked twenty minutes into the heaving mess of Kabul's river bazaar, 

they would find all these items for half the price, but the foreigners were either 

too scared or too lazy to make the journey--and too rich to care about the extra dollars 

that would feed most of our families for a week...as Jahid noted, 

their laziness was good for business. (10)

It is not long before Fawad's mom lands a job as a housekeeper and cook for a group of foreigners living in a house in a 'better,' more protected part of the city, behind barbed wire fencing with armed guards. 

In this house are three foreigners: Georgie, James, and May. Each of them is very different from the other and none of them is Muslim. This is a culture shock to Fawad and his mother, who have never lived with non-believers. Needless to say, Fawad is exposed to way more than he would otherwise have experienced if not living in this particular house. He spends his nights spying on them by creeping throughout the house. One night James allows him to drink beer and he gets drunk, vomiting all over himself, leaving him with a vicious hangover the next day. Consuming alcohol is an Islamic sin, so his mother makes Fawad take a job in Pir "the Madman" Hederi's shop. Per is blind and very old, though wise in his own ways as he talks to Fawad and eventually Jamilla, whom he also hires at Fawad's request. 

Despite Pir's crazy old-man ways,...there was always something a little real to his words. (195)

Fawad falls in love with Georgie at first sight and is quite annoyed at the way Khalid treats her, not calling for days and weeks, then just showing up unexpectedly and unannounced. 

His voice was deep and low, and it suited his face, which was strong and 

framed by thick black hair, a trim black beard, and heavy eyebrows. 

He looked like an Afghan film star, and I hated him for it. (44)

Ah, yes, definitely a bit of jealousy there. Fawad has a love/hate relationship with Haji Khalid Khan throughout most of the book, until he learns that he is NOT a drug runner and completely innocent of the most vile gossip circulating about him. And...that he truly does love Georgie and finally 'does right by her.' 

The Taliban cede control of Afghanistan and the new conquerors are welcomed by the citizens who share their food and wares with the soldiers. However, as Per tells the children, the Taliban were also similarly welcomed "like saviors."

Your mother was right: when they first arrived everybody more or less loved them. 

The country was being bombed to hell by warlords who worked only to fill their own pockets,   

and the people were scared and tired of being scared. 

Suddenly this group of fighters emerged from Kandahar promising order, preaching Islam, 

and hanging child rapists. Who wouldn't welcome them? (47)

The Taliban proved to be "bastards" whose leaders were even illiterate, but they learned to rule through fear, and therefore succeeded in controlling the country. 

God, Afghanistan, and the Taliban were complicated subjects when put together, 

and difficult to make sense of, especially when you were only a boy, because the bottom line 

was this: a good Muslim should never question the ways of the Almighty. 

A good Muslim would trust in God to provide, no matter what, and even if He didn't provide, 

a good Muslim would trust that the hunger, death, fighting, and disease that came to visit 

his door were all part of God's plan. And given that knowledge, the Taliban planning minister 

must have been right and his regime must also have been part of God's plan for Afghanistan. 

And that's quite an argument when you're taking over a country. (49)

And, in my humble opinion, that is one of the dangers of "organized religion": believing that you have absolutely no control or impact upon your own life...that some deity "will provide." Dangerous ground...rife for manipulation.

When a leader tells illiterate people what their 'holy book' says, how can they argue? They cannot since they can neither read nor write. 

...that's why the best weapon the Afghan people have against the Taliban or any other terrible power that may choose to put itself in Afghanistan is education. (50)

Exactly! Otherwise you are sheep willing to be led to the slaughter! As Ismerai, Khalid's uncle says,

Education is the key to Afghanistan's successful future...because it fights ignorance and intolerance and brings the blessing of opportunity. 

When a man has knowledge he has power--the power to make informed decisions; 

the power to distinguish truth from lies, 

and the power to shape his own destiny in accordance with God's will. (50)

I admit to wondering what just happened here in the US! Our country has just "elected" (well, per the electoral college system, anyway) a man who is quite ignorant and simply power-hungry...but I digress. :(

Jahid states it fairly succinctly as he and Fawad consider whether Khalid is into drugs:

Jahid shrugged. Show me a rich man in Afghanistan who isn't mixed up in drugs.

It doesn't make him a bad man, does it? This 'stoop growing poppy' shit is the West's problem,

not ours. It's all their people who are injecting the stuff and contracting AIDS off each other. We're just trying to get by. (68)

I do believe that until Afghans are provided with a decent alternative to growing poppies this agricultural crop will continue to be grown and processed. Although ongoing efforts have and are being made to this end, I'm sure there is much more progress needed. Isn't there always? And what of the 'end users'? He is correct. If 'the West' didn't purchase and use it, there would be little to no market for poppies as a cash crop. I agree with his analysis.

Fawad reflects upon his first Christmas spent with the foreigners...

As I lay in my room, I looked back on the day with all of its color and surprises--

a day when the rich sat with the poor, the Godless with the believers, 

the foreigners with Afghans, the men with women, and the children with adults. 

It was how a perfect world might be if people didn't keep strangling one another 

in rules and laws and fear. Were we really so different from one another? (83-84)

Fawad is wise beyond his years. No, we are not really so different, but we allow ourselves to be convinced that we are...and why do we keep allowing that to occur? I truly believe we have enough people to make a significant difference among humanity that believe we are very much more similar than dissimilar, but we allow political leaders to divide us. The recent US presidential campaign is, sadly, a demonstration of a significant minority even in the United States who are easily manipulated into believing they want to remain isolated as a homogenous group with little to no diversity.

Immediately following this one beautiful day, Fawad's mother becomes ill with cholera. Although this disease acts very quickly and the fatality rate is overwhelmingly high, May and Georgie are able to treat her systems and keep her hydrated so that she is able to survive and fully recover. It is at this time that Fawad learns of May's preference for women and her plans to adopt a baby if she wishes to have a family in the future. He learns it is possible in the US for same-sex couples to marry and make a life together just as any heterosexual couple. This conversation shocks Fawad who decides

I always knew the West was filled with crazy ideas, like scientists 

believing we all come from monkeys, but this was just incredible. 

I decided...I'd write to President Karzai to warn him. 

There could be such a thing as too much democracy, 

and he should be made aware of that fact. (92)

Oh, I had to laugh at this realization! I could easily understand how shocking such revelations might be to a boy of about 10 years of age who had led a very sheltered life, living only among those who believed and behaved as he was being raised to do. 😮

Fawad must remain in the house while his mother convalesces at a neighbor's house until she has regained her strength and can return. During this time, Fawad defends May's honor, realizes that one of the guards at the house loves his mother, and forms closer relationships with all three of the foreigners, particularly with Georgie. And then...tragedy really does strike, in the form of a bomb set off in the market place and shots being fired at Haji Khan. Fawad learns about the death of one friend and the near death of another friend, and the power of love. Fawad comes to the realization that

I could see that away from the politicians and their arguments, 

away from the suicide bombers and their murders, 

and away from the soldiers and their guns, people were good. 

Afghan people were good... I knew I had to try to hold on to at least that truth. (208)

Truer words were never spoken or written. 

Though not just Afghan people, ALL people the world over...are good.

We must not allow anyone to override this one truth. 

We all fight the same battles to survive and thrive.

Each of us must overcome challenges to do so.

We are definitely much more similar than dissimilar.

We are one, in the end.

I am so very glad to have revisited this wonderful book as part of 

Bex's Re-Readathon #4 this past summer!

I can hardly wait for my interview with Andrea Busfield!

I will also re-read her second book, 

Aphrodite's War.

And I am so anxious to read 

her newest release, 

The Silence of Stone.

What is one of your favorite books

set in Afghanistan?

Happy reading

--Lynn