University of Iowa Virtual Book Club with Sheri Salata

 
On Thursday, November 12, 2020 at 5pm PST, I attended the University of Iowa Virtual Book Club with Sheri Salata. Read more about this event below:

Join the Iowa Women’s Leadership Network (IWLN) for a virtual book club showcasing Sheri Salata’s memoir, The Beautiful No: And Other Tales of Trial, Transcendence, and Transformation, with a special guest appearance by the author!

Salata (80BBA) is an author, speaker, and producer who worked with Oprah Winfrey for 20 years. The University of Iowa alumna’s inspirational memoir was named an Amazon best-selling new release and an Apple Must Listen audiobook.

Salata’s five-year stint as the final executive producer of The Oprah Winfrey Show was featured in the docuseries Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes. She also served as president of Harpo Studios and the Oprah Winfrey Network and was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Our discussion will celebrate Salata’s journey, empower readers to apply the lessons within the memoir to their future endeavors, and center around the IWLN’s mission to inspire women. Support your favorite local bookstore by purchasing her memoir and participating in this fun, interactive discussion with Salata, alumni, and friends.

I enjoyed watching this 45 minute virtual talk. Ms. Salata comes across as confident, passionate, and heartfelt. She was big on finding your joy, leading yourself, and radical self care.

Chat From the Old Cap: Joy Harjo (78MFA)

 

I am an alumni of the University of Iowa. I was very excited to attend an online virtual event titled, Chat From the Old Cap: Joy Harjo (78MFA), on Wednesday, November 11, 2020 at 1pm PST.

Joy Harjo is the current U. S. Poet Laureate and the first Native American to hold this position. Little did I know (until recently) that Joy Harjo earned her MFA from the Iowa Writer's Workshop in 1978.

During the 45 minute discussion, we heard Joy Harjo read her poems Grace and American Sunrise, talk about her music as well as her two new Native American anthologies, and her experience as a student at the University of Iowa. 

Joy Harjo also gave writing advice when asked what advice she would give to those wanting to follow in her footsteps. To paraphrase, she essentially said don't follow in her footsteps... Make your own footsteps. Great advice!

Which virtual author events have you attended recently or will be attending soon?

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

 

I decided to listen to the unabridged audio version of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson and narrated by Richard Armitage. I've been familiar with the term "Jekyll & Hyde" in reference to this novel and the application of using the phrase to describe a person's shift in personality from sweet to mean. But alas, I had never read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson until now.

I found the The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson to be a suspense novel... A thriller novel in fact. I also found The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde to be a tad on the slow side overall. I'm glad that I made the time to listen to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, but the best part of this novel for me was the narration by Richard Armitage.

Listening time for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is 3 hours, 7 minutes.

Below is the plot summary for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson from Audible:

Robert Louis Stevenson presents the suspenseful, eerie and captivating story of a ruthless scientist who sets out to liberate his inner demon from the firm clutches of his conscience.

Upon bearing witness to the extent of Mr Hyde's violent nature, Jekyll is horrified by his callous disregard for the welfare of others and greatly ashamed by the unstoppable nature of his ambition.

Eager to redeem himself, Jekyll sets out to capture and stop the bloodthirsty Mr Hyde, by any means necessary. However, in keeping with true gothic tradition, Dr Jekyll must now face a race against time as damning evidence is uncovered, and the investigating detectives and interested parties are brought right to his door.

Hailed by the Detective Club as 'one of the most amazing crime stories ever written', Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde was met with immediate critical approval, ensuring its success and popularity for years to come.

A highly accomplished Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer, Robert Louis Stevenson is also credited with stories of Treasure Island, A Child's Garden of Verses and Kidnapped. Arguably, however, none have contributed to English literature quite like the unique tale of Dr Jekyll and his monster, Mr Hyde.

I am giving The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

P. S. My hubby and I visited The Stevenson House in Monterey, California is April 2013!! The Stevenson House is where Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson lived in Monterey, California for three and a half months during 1879. A fantastic find!! Click on above link to read my post about our visit.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

 

I finished listening to the unabridged audio version of Animal Farm by George Orwell narrated by Ralph Cosham. 

Listening time Animal Farm by George Orwell is 3 hours, 11 minutes.

This year marked the 75th anniversary of the publication of Animal Farm by George Orwell. Since I'd never read this important work of fiction, I thought I'd better go ahead and make the time to read Animal Farm and I'm glad that I read (or rather listened) to this novel.

Animal Farm by George Orwell is a short, powerful read and well read by Ralph Cosham. I really enjoyed the preface to Animal Farm as it was a nice introduction to this important work.

I enjoyed the writing, storyline/plot developement and characters as well for Animal Farm by George Orwell. It's a chilling tale of how totalitarianism is a game changer in the worst sort of way! Betrayal in the worst kind of way ends this novella.

I've also learned that Animal Farm by George Orwell has been a banned book as well!

Below is the plot summary for Animal Farm by George Orwell from Audible:

George Orwell's classic satire of the Russian Revolution is an intimate part of our contemporary culture, quoted so often that we tend to forget who wrote the original words. It is an account of the bold struggle that transforms Mr. Jones' Manor Farm into Animal Farm, a wholly democratic society built on the credo that All Animals Are Created Equal. Out of their cleverness, the pigs Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball emerge as leaders of the new community in a subtle evolution that bears an insidious familiarity. The climax is the brutal betrayal of the faithful horse Boxer, when totalitarian rule is re-established with the bloodstained postscript to the founding slogan: But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.

I am giving Animal Farm by George Orwell a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading! 

Cain’s Jawbone - A literary puzzle solved for just third time in almost 100 years!!

I stumbled across an interesting article this morning on The Guardian's website titled, Literary puzzle solved for just third time in almost 100 years. In the article, I learned the following bit of information:

One of the world’s most fiendish literary puzzles – a murder mystery in which all the pages are out of order – has been solved for just the third time in almost a century.

Cain’s Jawbone was dreamed up by the Observer’s first cryptic crossword inventor, Edward Powys Mathers, who was known as Torquemada. First published in 1934, it invites the reader to reorder the book’s 100 pages – there are more than 32m possible combinations – and solve the murders within.

“The pages have been printed in an entirely haphazard and incorrect order, a fact which reflects little credit on somebody,” wrote Powys Mathers at the time. “The author assures his readers, however, that while it is now too late for him to remedy the ordering of the pages, it is quite possible for them, should they care to take the trouble, to re-order them correctly for themselves.”

Just two readers managed to solve the puzzle in the 1930s, Mr S Sydney-Turner and Mr W S Kennedy, both of whom won £25.

The solution was then thought to be lost, but three years ago the Laurence Sterne Trust was presented with a copy of The Torquemada Puzzle Book, and Shandy Hall curator Patrick Wildgust embarked on a mission to solve it. Once he did, the mystery was reissued last autumn by Unbound, with the publisher offering a £1,000 prize to anyone who could solve it within a year. It warned, however, that the competition was not “for the faint-hearted”, and that the puzzle was “phenomenally difficult”.

John Finnemore, British comedy writer and creator of Radio 4’s Cabin Pressure, was one of 12 entrants, and the only one to get the answer right. He said Cain’s Jawbone was “far and away the most difficult puzzle I’ve ever attempted”.

Wow, Cain's Jawbone sounds like an incredibly difficult literary puzzle to solve with 32 million possible combinations!! I wish I had known about Cain's Jawbone earlier in the year (around the time the initial pandemic lock down began) as it would have been fun staving off boredom by attempting to solve this literary puzzle during shelter in place with all that extra free time... I suppose it is never to late to begin trying to solve this literary puzzle on my own though. 

I'll let you know if I decide to move forward in trying to solve Cain's Jawbone!

Saucy by Cynthia Kadohata

 

I received a FREE advanced reader's copy of Saucy by Cynthia Kadohata and illustrated by Marianna Raskin through the Goodreads Giveaway program. 

Below is my honest, unbiased review of Saucy by Cynthia Kadohata.

Cynthia Kadohata is a new to me author this year and one of her previous novels, The Thing About Luck, became the 2013 National Book Award Winner for Young People's Literature.

I initially liked Saucy a lot more in the beginning than I did later in the novel. However, I enjoyed reading Saucy by Cynthia Kadohata overall. Saucy is a children's book with a girl named, Becca, as the leading character, which I enjoyed very much as I like seeing women/girls as leading characters in novels. Becca is a quadruplet and has three brothers for siblings. Becca's brothers all seem to be really good at something, but Becca feels she doesn't have any special talents like her brothers do.  

Becca, her brothers, parents and grandmother are a tight knit family and all live together in Ohio. As a family, they take nightly walks together. They soon discover an abandoned baby pig in the bushes that was very sick on one of their nightly walks. They rescue this baby pig, which survives and becomes their pet pig, Saucy. Saucy, the pig, becomes Becca's main purpose and gives her direction as she goes about caring for Saucy. In fact, the entire family falls for Saucy and her antics, but a growing pig becomes too much to care for when you do not live on a farm... So, Saucy is given to a pig sanctuary.

Eventually, we learn that Becca and her family live near a pig factory farm they didn't even know existed. Becca and her brothers sneak into the factory farm late one night without their parents knowledge. The kids are horrified by what they find at this farm and decide to rescue nine baby pigs from a horrifying life on the factory farm. One brother even snaps several photos with his smartphone, which they eventually use to make flyers and distribute within their community with help of their friends... The purpose to show the horrors of factory farming. It is eventually realized that Saucy must have come from this same factory farm and some how escaped or was disposed of because she was sick.

Becca feels good about rescuing the pigs. This seems to be her goal/talent in wanting to help animals. Who knows? Maybe Becca will eventually become a vet when she grows up?

Becca also makes up with a friend she feels guilty for abandoning and the two girls become fast friends once again. We even see a budding romance start to grow between Becca's friend and one of her brothers.

Below is the plot summary for Saucy by Cynthia Kadohata from Goodreads:

A story about a girl and her ever-growing pig, Saucy.

Being a quadruplet can make it hard to stand out from the crowd. Becca’s three brothers all have something that makes them...them. Jake has his music and dancing, Jammer plays hockey, and K.C. thinks they’re all living in a simulation and doesn’t see the point of doing much of anything. Becca is the only one with nothing to make her special.

But when she finds a tiny, sick piglet on the side of the road, Becca knows this is it. This is her thing. She names the piglet Saucy and between her own pleading and Saucy’s sweet, pink face, Becca convinces her family to take her in. Soon, Saucy is as big a part of the family as anyone else—and getting bigger. With each pound Saucy gains, the more capable she becomes of destroying the house and landing Becca in trouble.

Some tough decisions need to be made about Becca’s pet, and her search for solutions brings to light exactly where Saucy came from. Turns out, there are a lot more scared piglets out there, and saving them may take Becca and her brothers finally doing something together.

I am giving Saucy by Cynthia Kadohata a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

 

Here's a look at the world’s most mysterious book!!

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

 

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata and narrated by Nancy Wu.

Listening time for Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata is 3 hours, 21 minutes.

I've heard a lot of buzz surrounding Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, so I decided to give this novel a listen. I am glad I gave this novel a try as it was surprising good! I enjoyed the storyline and main character, Keiko, for Convenience Store Woman. It's an interesting novel that examines the notion of what it means to fit into society, what it means to be normal, along with examining traditional gender and societal stereotypes about relationships, etc. Convenience Store Woman is a novel that definitely makes you think about what it means to "fit in" and feel a sense of "belonging" within one's culture/community. 

Also, I found Nancy Wu to be a good narrator.

Below is the plot summary for Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata from Amazon:

The English-language debut of one of Japan’s most talented contemporary writers, selling over 650,000 copies there, Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction―many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual―and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It’s almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action…

A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.

I am giving Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy ready!!

Bookish Quote of the Day!!