West with the Night by Beryl Markham

 

She was the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic from Britain to North America. (1936)

Book Club read - Our fist book of 2026.

She's a total stud. 

This is a memoir about her flight but actually more about her child hood and young adult hood growing up in a very rural part of east Africa (now Kenya.)

She's an excellent writer. 

Her free-range and unorthodox childhood was a breeding ground for her to live an original life. She helped her father train racehorses, hunted with the locals, tussled with a lion once and portrays it all charmingly. 

Her father moved to South America when she was a teenager and she decided to stay in Africa, striking it out on her own as a horse trainer. 

She eventually met a pilot who taught her to fly and she became a professional independently contracted commercial flier in Africa. 

There are some personal details omitted (relationship stuff) and it focuses more on her adventures, flying, horses, and the characters surrounding these endeavors. 

I would love to know more about the other stuff, but it was a very interesting and original read. 

Eager to discuss it at book club Sunday!

Bloody Long Narrative Drains the Life out of Listener- Dracula by Bram Stoker

 

This book is nearly driving me to madness. No wonder it captured the interest of posterity though. 

A little backdrop from my childhood:

When I was four, I was staying with a relative who let me stay up late at night and watch Dracula. I was a very sensitive child who rarely watched tv at all so this made a huge impression on me. I remember being terrified of bats flying into my window. To this day, I remember the images of those black and white figures from the (1931) version?? 

Now, after I finish reading this, (currently 80% through) I must prepare myself to watch the movie for the first time since I was four years old. Will its hold over me be amplified or dispelled? 

I'll let you know. 

We Open:

The novel started out strong with a riveting opening recounting the tale of Jonathon Harker's visit to Transylvania as a guest and solicitor to the mysterious Count Dracula told through the medium of his journal.

This audio book has two readers; a male and female and they are truly amazing; fine reading and even different voices and accents for the different speakers.  (Duke Classics audio book version - there are several)

This is where I rant for a second:

Dr. Van Helsing's long monologues began to wear on me in the next portion of the book which takes place in England. He was tending poor sick Lucy who had a penchant for sleep walking to the graveyard where a tall dark figure was found "bending over her neck," I couldn't wait for her to either convalesce or perish as quickly as possible. Firstly, her sickly sweet Victorian female persona was more than mildly annoying. 

It's a book of its time; as the ladies are always being gently shafted out of anything interesting, are more virtuous than angels and are never even for a second brought down from their lofty pedestals to anything resembling normal human behavior. Seriously, vampire Lucy had a lot more personality than her human predecessor; it was almost a shame that she had to have a stake driven through her heart by her poor ex fiancée who also kind of suffers from one dimensionality. 

I'm not even finished with the book and I really don't know the plot so I'm committed to finishing it so I can watch the movie (s). I just had to rant about it a little bit to get it off my chest. 

The author also likes to ramble along a bit too much into side characters who have little to do with the main story line. 

I'm a sad person of my time who just is in a hurry and wants people to cut to the chase just a little bit more. I'm usually nicer to authors who are still living sorry Bram; if you're reading this from the hereafter; I'm sure you understand my perspective. I've never once fainted because of being shocked by something someone said so...

Hysterical Victorian Women

Ok; one more thing. The "guys" form a vampire hunting guild and have all these secret meetings and stakeouts that would be "ever so much for poor Mina" so they leave her alone at night in her bedroom....

Excellent idea guys.  Guys who does visit her while you're out "working?" The man who harnesses the mist and flows through cracks in doors, materializing to mesmerize and bite. She doesn't want to say anything about her "strange" dreams because it might worry them? They don't do any serious inquiry about her strange onset of paleness and fatigue that poor Lucy suffered from and "died" from like last week?? Oh by the way have we noticed that her teeth are getting sharper? Best not speak of it; she might faint. 

Also bro doesn't put it together that his mental patient Renfield is obsessed with bats, blood, and has a "lord and master?" hmmm. Could these things be connected somehow? 

If Van Helsing would do less talking and hinting around the subject and more fact connecting... well.... the story could be less tortuous and shorter.... Also Mina might not have Count Dracula attached to her slender virtuous Victorian neck. 

Human History of Vampires

I'm no connoisseur of things horror, gothic etc. I'm not versed on this stuff; but a cursory plunge in google has informed me that legends of blood sucking monsters are rife in ancient folklore from multiple civilizations, people groups, and different continents.

 I watched Twilight so I know Bella did her research. I'm a sucker for unrequited love y'all. Bram was doing his research and he claimed that his story had a solid foundation in true events. Ooh that's spooky.

Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

 

I read this on my kindle app.

My favorite thing about this read was that the author writes as if she were talking to you while she's doing your hair and you feel like you're her best friend. 

She's a great storyteller and this is a fascinating tale about how she started out as an emergency relief worker and ended up in Afghanistan starting a non profit Beauty School for women entrepreneurs. 

There are lots of anecdotes and interesting cultural experiences. I know very little about the culture so reading about some of their customs as well as the many different people groups/ethnicities/ that exist within the country was eye-opening. 

I see that she has several other books out there and I added one to my list. 

One thing that really stands out is her fearlessness. A lot of people prize personal safety above all else. She went boldly and relied on her wits and ability to connect with people and I really admire that. You could say that there were multiple points where her life was unstable and seemed on the verge of extreme calamity - yet there she is "in the arena" as Teddy Roosevelt memorialized and Brene Brown has expanded on. 

Her life is full of color, adventure and yes peril! Very different from how my life feels currently, but very much how I imagined my life would be when I was younger.

Maybe soon Deborah 

Nemonte Nenquimo's Memoir We Will be Jaguars

 

A kindle read from the library.

Nemonte is a Waorani woman. See bio below from:   Amazon Frontlines

"Nemonte Nenquimo is a Waorani woman, mother, and climate leader, who has dedicated her life to the defense of Indigenous ancestral territory and cultural survival in the Amazon rainforest. She is the co-founder of Ceibo Alliance and Amazon Frontlines, and has won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize."

When I was a kid growing up in an enclave of evangelicalism, some of our heroes were Jim and Elisabeth Elliot. Jim Elliot and Nate Saint were killed in an attempt to evangelize indigenous people in Ecuador (the Waorani people then known as "Auca.")  Elisabeth Elliot and Nate Saint's sister Rachel (featured in this memoir) returned to the area to try to establish influence with the Waorani. 

Although I believe that the evangelizers were trying their best to follow an ideology that they had persuaded themselves to believe and were themselves a victim of (I understand I was there), it's heartbreaking to read firsthand about how such doctrines negatively impacted others and how the Waorani people were abused and manipulated by people who hoped to "save them" or exploit the resources on their lands. 

Nemonte emerges from oppression and seeks to integrate her own cultural identity with the one that has been imposed on her by outside forces. She is broken by abuse at the hand of "missionaries" and by the messages that she had deeply internalized that would lead her to believe that she and her people were "less than." As the story continues, she discovers healing and succeeds in forging a new life that embraces progress while maintaining an allegiance to deep cultural values and practices. 

The reader is taken on a quest with Nemonte who finds her voice, her unique role as a unifier of her people, activist, dreamer, partner, and mother. She reclaims the beauty of her heritage and unites her family and the greater community to defend their lands against those that would seek to harvest and destroy. 

On a personal level, as someone who has recently emerged from religion and cast aside doctrines that I had long found distasteful but now openly disbelieve, I found myself identifying with certain parts of her story when as a child, she continually prayed to God "the white man's God" hoping for some kind of supernatural experience that never happened. What she did experience were dreams, visions, and symbolic messages linked to her heritage that served as guides. You can call this god or not, I'm not sure what it is, but to me, it solidifies my position that there are many different ways of tuning into the mystical. The minute that one person claims that one way is superior to another, or that the experience that they have had is somehow something that everyone needs to have, is where I walk away. I'm more than saturated with that attitude. 

As strange as it may be for some, the deep indoctrination that all other mystical experiences (outside of a certain Christian one) should be viewed with skepticism and mistrust and are likely demonic, is hard to shed. I really enjoy being able to read, watch, listen to the stories and art of others without the fear of being "tainted" or worse falling under the influence of the devil. 

Thank you Nemonte for being courageous and sharing this fascinating story. 

A descriptive Novel narrated by Tom Hanks The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

 

Audio read discovered on my library app "Libby."

Best thing about this book: narrated by Tom Hanks. He did a fabulous job. 

It was fairly interesting. I think what stood out the most was the relationship of the protagonist with his siter. They were kind of "us against the world." 

Their mom was a mysterious woman who apparently had once held aspirations to be a nun. She was drawn to charity work like a moth to a flame and once they moved into the gargantuan, demonstrative "Dutch House" that her husband had purchased secretly as a surprise, she became increasingly unhappy.

She moved out when her youngest son was still small and virtually disappeared. 

Maeve (the sister featured on the cover in a painting) developed severe diabetes.

The maid and nanny was relied upon by their eccentric successful father for more than just housekeeping and childcare. 

Eventually he remarries an ambitious women named Andrea who is an exacting stepmother who loves the Dutch House. 

When the father dies unexpectedly, Andrea kicks both children out permanently. They move into together but over the course of their adult lives, find themselves creeping back to observe the Dutch House from afar. 

The book centers around the concept that the house has some kind of mysterious pull for them with a mixture of unhappy and happy memories. 

Danny (the speaker) goes on to marry and despite going to medical school at his siter's insistence, ends up in real estate which is is his passion that was passed down from his father. Their mother re-emerges later in the story and there is a reconciliation of sorts. In a twist of events, the mother ends up a caretaker for Andrea in the Dutch house (which she had once despised). The mother discovers that she is needed and Andrea relies on her. 

The story ends with Danny's daughter May purchasing the house bringing everything full circle. 

Perfection Salad by Laura Shapiro

 

Perfection Salad - Laura Shapiro

Book Club read recommended by a member

Part of a throng of research projects that emerged in the early seventies when women began doing doctoral research.  The book highlights key women of influence in the United States (particularly New England) who led the charge in creating cooking schools, industrializing and streamlining the kitchen, established standards of measurement, as well as promoting quality control, safety, and nutritional awareness. 

The book discusses different waves of the movement from the mid 1800s up until the early to mid 1900s.  

She also talks about trends and public perceptions that influenced women. For example it was very popular in the 1800s for women to be "dainty." This led to women believing that they should eat very little, and when they did it should be in the form of "dainty" carb like things ie toast, wafers, tiny sandwiches etc. Meat and hearty dishes were considered more appropriate for men. This led to many women being undernourished and having anemia even. 

She also discusses the spiritualization of homemaking that transpired in the United States during the Victorian era. This was the idea that the woman was the spiritual heart and spiritual leader of the home. By maintaining order and creating domestic tranquility, training up the children etc. this was considered to be an end unto itself - a lofty goal and task that only a woman could achieve.  Through throwing herself into this work, she was truly a missionary in her home and then this could seep out beyond to include the community at large. Cooking and cleaning were thus glorified to fulfill a high and noble calling and it was approached with due seriousness. 

In our book club meeting we talked about feminism, its waves, and also the counter revolutions that followed. We see this today -with women identifying with traditional ideas of wife/motherhood. We talked about our own ancestors and the ways in which they viewed cooking and domesticity. Was it something to be accomplished in order to get on to something else or was it more? 

Views of food: In my family there was a saying "Eat to live, not live to eat." I think it's a very industrialized notion of food as a source of energy so you can go out and do more work. I noted that this is a a very different approach from the Italian family I married into. In Italian culture, how you prepare food, the ingredients you use, when you eat, in what order, at what time are all very important to them. (Not to mention the relative tastiness of the food.) 

I always enjoy pondering food processes of other times and places because they were so labor intensive. People at the turn of the century celebrated the newfangled notion of "processed foods." Our relationship with processed foods has become increasingly complex and I think most people rely on them but view the relationship dubiously. Our connection to the sources of food (for most US dwellers) is pretty remote. Most of our food travels through multiple entities before it reaches our plates or greasy paper bags. 

This book offers interesting insights into the evolution of that process and how industrialization affected the way cook, eat, and think about food and those who prepare it. 

My Girl Liz

 Liz Gilbert captured me with her famous memoir Eat Pray Love which I read years ago when I was living in London. I've written about two of her other books on this blog: Big Magic, and The Last American Man. It's safe to say I'm a gushy fangirl. In fact, I think I've read all of her books. She's brilliant, funny, authentic, candid, confident yet vulnerable. 

Stern Men was first published in 2000, so an earlier work in her book career. I tend to like her nonfiction more than fiction. This story is inspired by actual lobster fishing communities but is an entirely fictional narrative. It was definitely enjoyable and having grown up in a resource based industry (agriculture) I'm always fascinated to delve into other types of livelihoods imaginatively that source an existence from the earth itself. 

One of my takeaways was just really internalizing how difficult life can be and how that difficulty can bring or bear with it a deal of harshness. Those who have to physically work very hard to earn a livelihood particularly as independent business people carve a mold that is very familiar to me. Collaboration and dependence are viewed with unease. Competition can be fierce. Bullshit is not tolerated. Nepotism and succession matters weave a complex web into the mix. Creativity gives an edge over sheer muscle. It's a journey into a microcosm that casts light on the entirety of the human story. 

I got the kindle app again! I had it then I didn't. I'm not sure why I thought it no longer existed for a time. I dunno. Anyway, I was waiting for this one to come out. All right; I confess, I was curious to hear about Liz's lesbian affair. I'm being honest. I think most of us are a little prone to morbid curiosity, the kind that makes you prick up your ears and lean in when someone mentions some juicy gossip. 

But I knew it would be so much - so much more than just a let me tell my story, because it's Liz! I knew it would be hard packed with spirituality, in-depth processing, discovery, humor, anecdotes, and Liz does not disappoint in All the Way to the River. 

I would definitely put it in the mid life re-alignment zone. Perfect for any anonymous people who may be in that zone. Near that zone, having had been in that zone, probably will continue to be in that zone, forever - another decade?

It's about her love story with Rayya, but it's also about addiction and recovery. I have a second hand relationship with recovery. Not because I probably don't need the rooms. I believe we all do on some spectrum or another. I have a friend who has told me all about recovery. I can't speak about it for myself, but I'm familiar with the language and the concepts and I deeply admire the work that is done for and with people and the support they receive. 

Reading Liz's nonfiction is like speaking with a friend. She oozes familiarity and ease in her tone and I get super drawn in and not bored. Def recommend for anyone who wants to hear a powerful story and is interested in the topics of intimacy, co-dependency, and recovery. 

One thing that surprised me was how much she talks about God. "Is the Universe good, bad, or indifferent?" While she doesn't attempt to directly answer this question, she implies that she believes there is a God or force who cares and can be appealed to, spoken to, and who offers direction. 

This led me to ponder where I'm at with this. Over the past few years I had arrived at an experimental plateau of neutrality about this topic. I definitely believe all religions are invented by humans, but as to God.... not sure. Is there a God, are they a distant or personal God, are they malicious, benign, or loving. (if loving, I concluded they don't love the creatures on earth to have a comfortable physical existence.) Liz witnessed her friend go through unspeakable pain, yet she walked away with an openness to embracing the God of her understanding. 

My intellect allows me to experiment with prayer, because why not? It feels good to pray for people. (even if I think of it more as loving meditation and imparting positive energy). It feels great to surrender my fears to a higher power. It feels comfortable to ask for a sign or a sense of direction (as long as I'm not putting my logic, common sense, and instincts in the trunk of the car.) I think I needed Liz's book to remind me that there is potential richness in embracing the God of my understanding (or at least experimenting with it.)

If some fundie tells me that "the god of my understanding is not valid" here's what I would say: "If God wants to impart to me a clear picture of who they are and what I should think about them or do for them" it needs to be very clear and that should be easy for GOD. And by easy I don't mean an ancient manuscript written in another language. 

ooh I squeezed in a mini rant.

I jumped on here to add something for myself. I realized that the thing from this book that seems to be hitting me the most isn't even what I wrote about so far here. It's the codepndency thing. It's the constant pull to over function in many relationships. To not know where I begin and others begin. To take responsibility for things that are not mine. My reading of this book is not going to halt a pattern of people pleasing that began when I was like 3 years old, but it is helping me to raise my awareness around this topic, this pull, shining light of intentionality on this dance that is relationships.