Tom Pawlik
417 pages

Connor Hayden had a heart attack two months ago. His heart stopped beating and during that time he had a near-death experience. He spent time in a place called Interworld which is a place that is a passage between this life and the next. During his time in Interworld he encountered other people: Helen, Howard, Mitch, and Devon. Valley of the Shadow is primarily about Connor’s interactions with Howard, Mitch, and Devon.
Mitch is trapped in Interworld but he doesn’t know it . Devon was revived but he didn’t return alone. <insert spooky music here>

Seriously, Valley of the Shadow was a page-turner from the get-go. It was one of those books that I really  didn’t want to put down. Interworld is a really creepy place. The reader is presented with just enough mystery that you keep reading to find out that extra little tidbit. The only problem is that once that mystery is solved you’re immediately faced with another. It took great restraint to put the book down and go to sleep when I needed to.

I would love to go back and read Vanish by Tom Pawlik to see how this all started. Fortunately for me, I recently acquired a copy from PBS.

I highly recommend Valley of the Shadow. There’s a blurb on the front cover that says, “Fans of Dean Koontz and Ted Dekker will appreciate Pawlik’s debut novel, Vanish.“- Library Journal.

I can tell you that I am a big fan of one of these authors. The other, not so much. However, I am a fan of Tom Pawlik’s. If you love edge-of-your-seat fiction without gore, check out this series. (5/5)

Amity Shlaes

Audiobook (Narrated by Terence Aselford)

The Forgotten Man  is a book that is packed with information. It recounts The Great Depression from several different viewpoints. There are snippets of thought(complete with quotes)of the major players including Roosevelt and Hoover but we also learn of lesser known characters such as Rex Tugwell, Andrew Mellon and Raymond Moley.

Since I am primarily a visual learner, I struggled quite a bit with the volume of information contained in this audiobook. It would have been much easier for me to absorb the information if I had been reading a physical copy. However, non-fiction is one genre that I find well-suited to audio so that’s why I chose this one. I found The Forgotten Man fascinating and there were several times that I wanted to make notes about the parallels to the things that I see happening today. However, because I was busy doing other things as I was listening, that didn’t happen. 

The overall theme I came away with this book was that though it may have been well-intentioned, the experimentation done by Roosevelt and other people during this time in history actually prolonged The Depression. We see some of the same things being repeated today as far as huge spending versus scaling back and reducing the deficit. 

In all honesty, though I found this a fascinating book as I was listening, I didn’t retain a lot of it. I would like to revisit the print version because there is a wealth of information there. In light of current events, I highly recommend reading this one. Just take notes. (4/5)

I had been participating in the Book Awards II Challenge and enjoying it very much. I knew that I was pushing my time constraints but even as late as last week, I thought I would be able to complete it. Real life intervened though and I just couldn’t pull it off this week. I only managed to finish eight of the ten titles required to complete the challenge.

Here’s what I read:

A Proper Pursuit - Lynn Austin(Christy)
The Stones Cry Out - Sibella Giorello (Christy)
The Worst Hard Time - Timothy Egan(National Book Award)
A Northern Light - Jennifer Donnelly(Printz Honor Book)
The God of Animals - Aryn Kyle (Spur) (AB)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - John Boyne (Irish Book Award)
Mudbound - Hillary Jordan(Alex)
The Whistling Season - Ivan Doig (Alex)

Even though I wasn’t able to complete the challenge, I still enjoyed all of the books I read. In looking back over the reviews I noted that I gave 5/5 stars to both The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and The Worst Hard Time. I loved both of these books and found them both very important books that caused me to think about significant events of the past.

My least favorite for this challenge was The Whistling Season. While I did enjoy this book, I found it the hardest for me to finish.

I am going to set aside my other two books that I had planned to read for this challenge for now. I plan to come back to them eventually (maybe even for Book Awards III). Thanks Michelle for hosting this challenge!

Timothy Egan

Audiobook(Narrated by Patrick Lawlor)

I’ve always been fascinated by The Great Depression. I am not sure exactly why but I it has always held a particular interest when I am choosing to read about history. However, in learning about The Great Depression, I had never taken the time to learn about The Dust Bowl. 
As I mentioned in a previous post, I thought The Dust Bowl was a brief incident that happened during the same time period as the depression but in reading The Worst Hard Time , I came to understand how little I knew. I must have been talking during that section of history class.

The Worst Hard Time  chronicles the events in areas of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado where the grasslands were plowed up during the wheat boom and the destruction that was left behind when the land was left blowing and desolate. After finishing the book I am amazed at the perseverance of the people who managed to hang on and at the same time I am horrified that they tried.  They seriously must have thought the world was ending with huge walls of dust descending upon them followed by hoards of grasshoppers. Every time they tried to plant something to sustain themselves it was killed either by dust, hot, dry, winds or grasshoppers.

Some of the other nightmares they faced:

• People went five years or more with absolutely no income and after selling off everything they owned, they resorted to pickling tumbleweed to avoid starving to death.
• Hungry livestock chewed on fence posts. They died because their digestive tracts were so full of dust that food couldn’t get through.
• People hung wet sheets and wore face masks made of sponge in an effort to keep the dust out of their homes and lungs yet people still died from “dust pneumonia.”
• Towns and counties were decimated by this tragedy and in some areas both the population and the land have never been the same.

One part, in particular, that touched me was when a woman was found burning a diary written during that time because it was such a bad time that there was nothing worth remembering. I am so glad that diary was rescued and parts of it are found in The Worst Hard Time. It’s hard to even imagine being in the writer’s circumstance and how hopeless he must have felt but at the same time, I am glad his voice survived for those of us who weren’t there to see the devastation. It is unimaginable but Timothy Egan helps to give us a glimpse.

I thought this book was so good that I plan on owning my own copy so I can read it again. I highly recommend The Worst Hard Time whether you are a fan of history, this particular era, or if you are just looking for a fascinating book to read. The writing is excellent and I absolutely didn’t want to stop listening. It’s very informative. The speculating that we saw in the recent housing boom has eery similarities to the wheat boom right before The Dust Bowl. There are lessons to be learned about human greed that runs unchecked. This is my favorite book, so far, of 2009 and I understand why it is a winner of the National Book Award.(5/5)

Lynn Austin
432 pages

Violet Hayes has always thought that her mother, who left when she was nine years old, was in a hospital somewhere struggling to recover and return to her family. However, upon announcing his intention to remarry her father tells her that her mother didn’t want to be tied down and that she left and divorced him. Violet discovers that her mother is in Chicago and since the World’s Fair(the year is 1893)is in town, Violet convinces her father to let her go there, stay with her grandmother, and see the Fair. She has intentions of searching for her mother and finding a little adventure. She also hopes to find love. Everyone seems to have their own agenda for Violet but she must do some soul-searching and discover what she truly wants as well as God’s will for her life before she is ready to fall in love.

Lynn Austin is one of my favorite authors. I have read several of her books and loved them all. Since A Proper Pursuit is a Christy award winner, I decided to read it for the Book Awards Challenge. As I mentioned this book was set at the turn of the century. In the past, this hasn’t been one of my favorite time periods to read about but since I have loved everything else written by Lynn Austin, I didn’t let that deter me. Violet is headstrong and beautiful as you would expect from our heroine. She is proposed to no less than three times in one week. However, each gentleman that has proposed has done so for his own selfish reasons and has not mentioned love to Violet. It takes her a while but Violet sorts out her life and reaches a satisfactory conclusion. It seemed to take her a bit too long, in my opinion, but she gets there eventually.

Overall,I enjoyed reading A Proper Pursuit. I found it a bit predictable and not my favorite Austin book but still very sweet. (3/5)

Carrie Ryan
320 pages

Since I have seen this one on several different blogs recently, I am going to save time and skip the synopsis. Here’s what’s on the flap:

In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

I’m not usually a fan of zombies but I have seen this one pop up on a few of the blogs that I read frequently. The zombies weren’t what reeled me in initially. It was the fact that this is dystopian fiction.

I often wonder why I enjoy dystopian fiction so much. I think it has to do with the fact that it makes this world look a lot less crazy to me once I have wrapped up a novel such as The Hunger Games or The Forest of Hands and Teeth where their world is just a nightmare. Makes my world tame by comparison.

Even though this story doesn’t unfold quickly, I was drawn in from the beginning. Mary’s world is dark and scary because of the zombies but for some reason The Sisterhood and the life in the village are what really captured my interest. It kept me hooked until it started to be more about what Mary wanted and less about the society. Then I started to have a hard time relating. I was really rooting for Mary to follow her dreams…until she stopped caring about what it cost the people around her. Then Mary went from losing my interest to getting on my nerves.

Even though I was having a hard time, I wanted to finish the story for several reasons. I wanted to find out how it was resolved(It wasn’t. At least not the way I was hoping it would be.) I think the author is a talented writer and I enjoyed her writing very much. I just didn’t like the direction Mary’s character took. However, that’s a personal preference sort of thing and I would definitely try something else by Carrie Ryan.

If you like zombies and dystopia….you should give The Forest of Hands and Teeth a shot. (2.5/5)

Sibella Giorello
270 pages

In the middle of a hot Richmond summer two men(one white and one black) fall from the top of a warehouse during a racially-charged rally. Though there are hundreds of people at the rally, no one sees anything.

Raleigh Harmon is an FBI Agent who specializes in forensic geology. She is assigned to investigate this case as a civil rights case. Her supervisor considers it a waste of time and manpower and she is breathing down her neck to wrap it up quickly. Raleigh wants to do it right but can Richmond’s racial unrest be contained while she solves this case?

The Stones Cry Out falls into the mystery category but it’s also Christian Fiction. I wouldn’t say that it’s a thrill ride or grabs you and won’t let go but I would say that it’s steadily paced to keep your interest. Raleigh’s field of geology is interesting and I thought that it was handled well. It’s the type of information that is interesting in small does but could easily be overdone if it was written in minute detail. That’s not the case in this story.

Raleigh is a Christian and there are definite elements of faith in the story but, once again, they are handled nicely and don’t come off as pretentious or preachy.

My only problem with The Stones Cry Out came during dream sequences where Raleigh’s dead father directs her investigation. It just seemed sort of been there, done that, to me. Yet, on the other hand, it’s very sweet to think of her father helping her even after his death. It’s a bit contradictory but I guess I both liked and disliked the dreams.

I would recommend The Stones Cry Out if you enjoy good, clean, mysteries. It’s an enjoyable read and it also won the Christy Award for Best First Novel in 2008. (3.5/5)

This is another of my favorite challenges which is hosted by Maggie from MaggieReads. Sadly, I joined this challenge last year but I wasn’t able to complete it.

The Rules:

You may choose to read any style of Southern book such as Appalachian tales, Civil War sagas, Gothic myths, Grit lit, and heart-wrenching biographies.Click here for ideas. Just as long as you read three (fiction or nonfiction) between May 15th and August 15th.

I plan to choose my three from these books:
A Bride Most Begrudging - Deeanne Gist
The Richest Season- Maryann McFadden
Trouble the Water- Nicole Seitz
Losing the Moon- Patti Callahan Henry
Sweetsmoke - David Fuller

Here’s hoping for success!

 I know, I haven’t even finished Book Awards 2 yet. I am hard at work on finishing this challenge and Michelle from 1 More Chapter has announced the next Book Awards Challenge.

I am so there. I love reading award-winning books from several categories so I am definitely going to sign up for this one too. The rules are nice and flexible and the challenge runs from July 1, 2009 to December 1, 2009. If you’d like to join then check out the challenge HERE.

I am not exactly sure what I will be reading. I am pretty sure which award categories I will choose from but even that is subject to change(I told you the rules are flexible!):

1. Alex Award Winner
2. Printz Award Winner
3. Newbery Award Winner
4. Christy Award Winner
5. Agatha, Anthony or Edgar Award Winner

I have completed The Christian Reader’s Challenge…just in the nick of time too!

Here’s what I read:

1. Scream- Mike Dellosso
2. Tender Grace - Jackina Stark
3. The Apothecary’s Daughter - Julie Klassen
4. The Shape of Mercy - Susan Meissner

I really enjoyed everything I read for this challenge. Thanks for hosting MizB!