An UNNECESSARY WOMAN-An Essential Esoteric Novel by Lebanese Writer R Alameddine

Rabih Alameddine's brilliant bibliophile's gift & Nat'l Bk Award winning novel AN UNNECESSARY WOMAN is essentially a hybrid of literary genius, historical fiction, and an ode to art's ability to transcend humanity.   Alameddine (b. Jordan 1955) makes both Beirut & San Francisco home.  The  novel is set in Beirut.  The heroine, Aaliya, ("highest, most exalted) is a misanthropic, auto-didactic, voracious reader & translator of translated literary works into Arabic.  Her self-imposed rules for translating and monastic lifestyle render her affable, laughable and infuriating. "I am alone. It is a choice I've made, yet it is also a choice with few other options available. Beiruti society wasn't fond of divorced, childless women…"  Aaliya has deep love for her country and contempt for its backwards misogynistic mentality and penchant for military confrontation.  Her hatred for Israel is clear. She faults  Israel for constantly "retaliating-excessively, as has always been her won't." Still, she maintains the highest esteem for many Jewish writers.  Homage is made to many of the worlds' greatest artists, composers, musicians and writers.   The most exalted praise is reserved for Chopin, Matisse and Tolstoy. It's not true to claim Aaliya was without a beloved ally.  Sadly, "Hannah reappears in my memories to remind me of how alone I am, how utterly inconsequential my life has become."  It's also disingenuous to describe this as morose meanderings.  This miraculous masterpiece is a testament for  availing oneself to friendship and opportunities.        

THE REASON I JUMP-A 13 yr. Old with Autism Explains His World

THE REASON I JUMP is an incredible insight into what it feels like to live with autism.  Written by 13 year old Naoki Higashida it is a triumph of eloquence & empathy and nothing short of miraculous.  Naoki insightful and inspiring responses to questions regarding behavioral traits are astonishing.  His prose is remarkable for its literary skill.  This is a book that can be read in one sitting and should be shared with everyone.  There are so many reasons to recommend this testament to humanity, compassion, patience and understanding.  Naoki's answer to what's the worst thing about having autism is nothing short of humbling "Whenever we've done something wrong, we get told off or laughed at, without even being able to apologize, and we end up hating ourselves and despairing about our own lives…It's impossible not to wonder why we were born into this world…But I ask you, those of you who are with us all day not to stress yourselves out because of us. When you do this, it feels as if you're denying any value at all that our lives may have-and that saps the spirit we need to soldier on. The hardest ordeal for us is the idea that we are causing grief for other people."  The judiciousness with which Naoki shares his feelings leaves an indelible mark, "Everybody has a heart that can be touched by something."    

10 Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew-Every Adult Needs to Read This

TEN THINGS EVERY CHILD With AUTISM WISHES YOU KNEW is an eye opening and heart melting book that is cogent, compelling and powerful.  Author, Ellen Nothbohm is a parent of 2 sons with autism and an award winning writer.  Nothbohm shares her personal experiences, trials & triumphs.  Even more enlightening are her insights into how children with autism are experiencing & interacting with their surroundings.  Startling statistics reveal that 1 in 68 children born today will be somewhere on the autistic spectrum.  This is up 30% from just 2 years prior.  It is highly likely that you, a family member or someone you know has a child with autism.  The compassionate understanding & perspective that Nothbohm shares is both thoughtful and extremely helpful. It is never preachy but it is a wise lesson in empathy.  TEN THINGS EVERY CHILD…is tremendously beneficial for everyone who interacts with children (which should be everyone.)   I recommend this fascinating find which reminds us "Like all kids, they need time to just be kids."  

Maya Angelou's MOM and ME and MOM-Her Last Great Work of LOVE

Maya Angelou's many awards & well deserved accolades include the Nat'l Medal of the Arts, Medal of Freedom, Pulitz Prize nom., Tony nom. and 3 Grammys.  This exceptional auto-bio is her loving tribute to her mother is her last published work before she passed away in 2014.  It also paints herself as a wonderful role model as both a daughter and mother.  Angelou's literary legacy is well known.  Her many other artistic gifts are revealed in her modest and moving life narrative.  She was a nightclub performer, a scintillating dancer, a Calypso singer and screenwriter.  Her life intersected with talented musicians, writers and dancers prior to her own illustrious career as a writer:  Leontyne Price, Cab Calloway and Langston Hughes to name a few.  Her early childhood was marred by rape and a 10 year separation from her mother, Vivian Baxter.  Maya & her brother Bailey, with whom she shared a lifelong, loving bond, were sent to AK from CA to life with their paternal grandmother.  The reunion between mother & daughter was tentative. Vivian was a maverick, an entrepreneur and colorful, indomitable force of nature.  Vivian taught her daughter to feel confident and omnipotent.  She also  packed heat (for backup.)  Maya was 17 when she gave birth to her only child, Guy, whom she raised as a single parent.  MOM and ME and MOM is an uplifting and inspiring homage of motherhood. Angelou writes in her graceful & insightful style what she felt from her mother's love "in an interesting and maybe an eerie and unworldly way, she stands in the gap.  She stands between the unknown and the known…my mother shed her protective love down around me and without knowing why people sensed that I had value."  Vivian told her daughter often, "I love you and I am proud of you.  With those two things, you can go anywhere and everywhere."

Harper Lee's GO SET a WATCHMAN-Prompts Imperative Social Discussion

GO SET a WATCHMAN is the most anticipated prequel/sequel for Lee's TO KILL a MOCKINGBIRD.  TO KILL… was declared the best novel of the 20thC (by the Library Journal '99.) Lee has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Pres. Medal of Freedom, the Nat'l Medal of Arts and numerous literary & humanitarian honors.  GO read GO SET a WATCHMAN because it is an accurate account of our country's systemic racism. This prescient issue is pervasive and must be divulged, discussed & dismantled.  Lee's new novel is set 2 decades later. Scout, now referred to as Jean Louise, returns home to AL from NYC where she has been living.  Atticus Finch, the literary beacon of justice and honor is older but surprisingly not wiser. We along with Jean Louise are appalled to discover Atticus' segregationist & racist views.  Scout had always regarded her beloved father as a pillar of justice. Her rude awakening to the shared views of her father, family & white society leaves Jean Louise dislodged "Everything I have ever taken for right & wrong these people have taught me-these same these very people.  So it's me, it's not them. Something has happened to me."  Jean Louise absent for the past years has distanced her to the offensive, prevailing sentiments she held and confused by her affections for Calpurnia who helped raised her"…nobody in Maycomb goes to see Negroes any more, not after what they've been doing to us. Besides being shiftless, now they look at you sometimes with open insolence, and as far as depending on them goes, why that's out," explains her aunt.  Her uncle informs her that Reconstruction only resulted in banning slavery. "The people became no less than what they were to begin with-in some cases they became horrifyingly more…up popped the ugliest, most shameful aspect of it all-the breed of white man who lived in open economic competition with freed Negroes."  Harper Lee' GO SET…may not be as popular or lauded as her other novel but it is just as important as a reflection of past & our present.  The novel is a watchman "to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make {us} understand the difference."

John Green's LOOKING for ALASKA-Finds Similar Ground from His Other Novels

John Green is a NYT's best selling author in the young adult (Y/A) genre.  Green finds fault with this classification.  He has been awarded the Michael Printz award for LOOKING for ALASKA and the Edgar Award for PAPER TOWNS.  Both PAPER TOWNS & The FAULT in OUR STARS have been made into popular movies.  And, both these 2 novels have similar material found in LOOKING for ALASKA.  Alas, it is legal to self-plagarize but it serves to ward off reading multiple Green's coming of age, buddy bonding, prank pulling, 1st sexual experience and infatuation books. (My recommendation is The Fault in OUR STARS.)  In LOOKING for ALASKA, Miles (Pudge) heads to boarding school where his ho-hum existence goes through a major metamorphosis,"for the 1st time in {his} life-the fear & excitement of living in a place where {he} never know{s} what's going to happen or when."  The reader knows Pudge is in for the time of his life with both epiphanies and tragedy.  Green's talent lies in his ability to capture the essence of teen temperament & temptation.  His Y/A writing rises above the genre with literary, philosophical lessons camouflaged within high school raucous.  LOOKING for ALASKA pays homage to literary giants Green obviously admires.  Religious studies are covered in the guise of Miles' religious studies course (of course.)  Green was a divinity student.  Miles grapples with questions of life's meanings & an after-life while studying Buddhist, Muslim and Christianity view points.  I suggest seeking enlightenment elsewhere.    

Winner Amer. Historical Fiction-The PERSONAL HISTORY of RACHEL DuPREE

Ann Weisgarber's award winning novel The PERSONAL HISTORY of RACHEL DuPREE tells the riveting tale of the little known subject of black frontiers who staked claims out west at the turn of the 20thC.  It is a fascinating amalgamation of Stagner's ANGEL of REPOSE, Sinclair's The JUNGLE, Wilkerson's The WARMTH of OTHER SUNS and Baldwin's The FIRE NEXT TIME.  It NEEDS to be included in our school's syllabus along with the afore mentioned works.  Added to this required reading should be historic accounts of the monstrosities inflicted on our Native American Indians.  The PERSONAL HISTORY…is the remarkable story of Rachel, a black woman working in a black boarding house in Chicago. The men all work in the city's infamous slaughterhouses.  Rachel's family were among the many black families who migrated to the big cities seeking a better life. "Whitemen were hanging Negroes…kicking down doors telling people to get out of town and then setting fire to their houses."  Rachel meets Isaac, the son of the black boarding house owner.  Isaac's mother has plans for her son Isaac that do NOT entail him marrying the too dark, uneducated Rachel from a lower working class family.  Isaac's own driving plan is to gain as much land as possible under the Homestead Act signed by Pres Lincoln in 1862.  The Homestead Act allotted land claims to anyone, male/female, former slave - all except those who fought for the Confederacy.  The entire novel is an absorbing & compelling history lesson woven into a riveting tale of hardships in the barren S Dakota badlands within a troubled marriage. The informed lessons delivered without preaching depict the  destructive, hateful prejudices & injustices pervasive throughout our nation's history. "Some people carry hate, looks like.  They don't need a reason to hurt somebody."  The vital insights gleamed from this brilliant anthology is of humanity and compassion.  

The Rosie Effect the Sequel to The Rosie Project is Affectively Substandard

Graeme Simsion's award winning novel THE ROSIE PROJECT of a oddly affecting intellectual, Don, and his quest for a suitable mate was a winning wealth of warmth & wit.  Having found love with the formidable Rosie, a beautiful, intelligent, independent free spirit, Don & Rosie get married, move to  NYC and are expecting their 1st child.  The curious & endearing characteristics that makes Don so likable still prove amazing & admirable (to most) and incredibly irritating & dysfunctional to those who fail to grasp the spectrum of Don's immense capabilities & capacities for compassion.  Rosie who fell in love with Don for all his strengths & oddities is now finding these traits do no suit her in a mate & co-parent. The overall tone of THE ROSIE EFFECT is grating.  Why would Rosie chose to terminate their marriage prior to BUD's birth (body under development?)  Why have Rosie's affections wandered?  Are we to conjecture her feelings may lie with Gene, the womanizing machine.  He has left his wife, moved from New Zealand & ingratiated himself into Rosie/Don's lives and apartment?  Still, there are new individuals who had to the quixotic cocktail of increasing friendships adding a delightful stir to the mix.  Unfortunately, there are also lascivious men and mendacious women; Lydia a cruel psychologist & a misanthropic lesbian researcher with a chip on her shoulder. The novel does speak to impact of what we say to one another.  The spreadsheet here proves the downers more potent than the warmth found in THE ROSIE PROJECT which I enjoyed.  Overall, THE ROSIE EFFECT is disappointing and disheartening.