Author: BraverGal

I thought blindness was seeing nothing at all. I didn't even know I was blind! Nobody ever told me. So I marched through life like everybody else. Sharing my life, and seeing it my way.

BOOK REVIEW: The Secret Life of Bees

Pictured:  Book Cover showing a jar of honey on a window ledge.

By Sue Monk Kidd

This book was recommended to me. At that time, I thought bees? Really?  A whole book about bees? Bees are interesting, I give you that. Pretty, too, as long as they keep their stingers to themselves. They are productive, organized, and contribute to the world.  See?  I know a little about bees already.  But a whole book about them?  A paragraph, maybe two, would be okay, not a whole book.  So I passed this one by.

Well, it came up again from a second source at a time I was desperate for a book to settle in with, so I tried it. Surprise, surprise!  I got sucked in immediately.  Yes, I learned a lot about bees.  Yes, I even learned from the bees.  But the bees did not keep me hooked on this book.  Rather it was the characters that kept my attention.  It was Lily what’s-her-name, and the calendar sisters, and Rosaleen,  and Zach, and the Daughters of Mary.

And I don’t like books about religion.  I am not looking for inspiration or devotion, not from a novel anyway.  But there was lots of religion, religion that miraculously (if I may use that term) didn’t turn me off but kept me going.  It was a different kind of religion, a kind they adopted and adapted and made strictly their own.  And it was beautiful.

In brief:  A young white girl in a small southern town in 1964 runs away from an abusive home and is taken in by colored folks.

Great characters, great storyline, great adventure.

Keep the faith!

 

_____________________________________

Available through BARD and bookshare.

.

In Time for Fall

Two weeks ago it was 93° here in New York City.  Now it is Poncho Time!

I am not partial to big crochet projects.  They can be unwieldy to work on, and become heavier and heavier as they grow.   I don’t know why I thought a poncho would be a quick and easy project. Easy?  Yes.  Quick?  Not at all!

Nevertheless, my poncho is done and in time for fall.  It is warm and comfortable.

I used a medium weight 4 Caron Simply Soft yarn and a size J hook.  The project started at the neckline with a chain of 76 and worked down to the hem, growing with every row.   It it is Back Loop Double Crochets with an increase at each arm and a double increase mid front and mid back. It is trimmed with a scalloped border at bottom and 3 rows of single crochet added to the neck with a small notch at neck front.

Poncho 2
Pictured:  That’s me wearing the poncho described above. Color is Minty Blue, according to Caron.  At my feet is my usually shy 25-pound cat Ernie.

Crochet a Doll’s Dress

My granddaughters love their dolls.  One has an Adora toddler doll she named Scarlett, a 20-inch tall doll that weighs a full 2 pounds!  The other has the ever-popular Barbie doll.  Both dolls need lots of care, and lots of clothes, naturally.

Adora Scarlett Dress

Pictured: This is Scarlett sitting pretty in her new crocheted dress. The dress has stripes of colors that blend gradually from reds to pinks to a bright yellow hem . The skirt is V stitches with a scalloped border.

Adora Scarlett Dress back

Pictured: Scarlett has her back to us now.  Don’t worry!  She is not mad or upset.  She is just showing us the back of her dress with button at the upper back.  –  Photos by Emilia, age 11.

Barbie dress front

Pictured:  Barbie is wearing a fitted yellow dress with spaghetti straps. Not shown is the low cut back. Barbie has accessorized with a red hair ribbon.  –  Photo by Sidrah, age 9.

BOOK REVIEW: The Institute

Image result for the institute

By Stephen King

Tucked away in the woods of rural Maine there is The Institute.  The facility has been there for about 75 years, its secrets known only to a select few.  Those involved are paid handsomely for their dedication, their loyalty, and their secret-keeping.

Children are brought to the Institute after years of clandestine investigation.  When ripe for the project, they are abducted and meticulously groomed for the tasks at hand, their childhood and humanity discarded,.  Children are selected to perform a vital service not just for family or community, not just for their country, but for the world.  Without them and their unique skills, the world would end.  It is their psychic abilities and potential that qualifies them – psychopathic and psychokinetic qualities that will be augmented and exploited until those powers, like the minds and bodies that house them, are used up.

This is the work of Stephen King.  Therefore, what happens within the Institute will be horrific and will culminate in an uprising of unimaginable proportions.  Walls will creak, electrical wires will crackle, sparks will fly, buildings will rise from their foundations and fracture in a cloud of smoke and debris and terrifying screams. People will die.  Children will die.  And I, for one, would have preferred the omission of this incredulous cataclysm.

There is a lot of politics woven throughout the story, some of it obvious, much of it subliminal. Hillary Clinton’s “stronger together” is a central theme.  Yeah, I could do without the politics, too.

Stephen King writes horror stories around psychic phenomena. Much of what is in this book we have read before from him.  But the storyline is unique and captivating.  And I loved Orphan Annie.  What a colorful character!  Give me more of her!

___________________________________________________________

Available from bookshare

.

Slice Veggies, Not Fingers

Ordinary things do extraordinary things!  In this video, we talk about how to slice fruits and vegetables easily and uniformly.  With today’s simple tip, people who are blind or visually impaired can master this kitchen task safely and easily, and with a very simple and inexpensive tool.

Click on the video below. to find out more.

 

AUDIOBOOK: The Other Woman

Pictured:  Book cover

by Sandie Jones

The other woman is not the best friend who slept with her fiancé.  Sure, there is one of those, but she is not the other woman. The other woman is not the mistress, the temptress nor the stalker. The other woman is actually none other than Emily Havistock’s future mother-in-law.

Emily is head-over-heels in love with the perfect guy, Adam Banks. And nothing will shake her commitment to him, not even his evil, manipulative, maniacal mother, Pammie.

I say Get Out Now! Run!

Mothers-in-law get a bad wrap. It is hard to adjust to new family with different ways of seeing things and doing things. There is that awkwardness that seems always to be there, even as it fades. So how far does it go?

Yet I do not hate Pammie. Unlike Emily, I do not like Adam. I want to shake some sense into Emily. What doesn’t she get?

Well written, suspenseful, with plot twists that work. In the end, I do hate Pammie, and Adam,  and Emily. And I hate James, too! I have been through a lot!

 

_____________________________________________

Available through BARD.

AUDIOBOOK: The Secret Wisdom of the Earth

Pictured: Book cover

by Christopher Scotton

It had been a horrific few months for Kevin and his family, and the tragedy lives on and roots itself in new agonies.  Kevin and his Mom return to Mom’s roots in rural Kentucky in hopes of each finding a way to deal with their grief and guilt.

Then Paul Pierce is brutally murdered.  Who would do such a heinous thing, and why?  Paul was a gentle man who showed strength and caring and concern for his friends and neighbors,  always readily supportive for anyone in need.  After 18 years as a vital part of the community, Paul had made one fatal error – he had come out.  His homosexuality was always known and accepted by all, but never acknowledged. Now it hung like a banner across the town, across the surrounding hollers and villages.

What greater retreat than tramping, time alone with nature.  Pops (Doc Peebles, veterinarian), Kevin Gilooly (his grandson), and Buzzy Fink (Kevin’s new and only friend)  set off on a 20-mile trek through woods, across mountains, and past man-made coal-mining devastation.  Instead of the quietude and escape from daily life, they must deal with the unthinkable.

A well told, gripping tale.  I was only disappointed in the ending, which revealed the story to be a flashback.  I thought the ending was a little slow and unimpressive following all that came before.

This book is beautifully written with clarity of imagery. I loved the writing style and the stories – my favorite scenes in the Tellin Cave.

______________________________________

Available through BARD and bookshare.

AUDIOBOOK: Girl, Stolen

Image result for girl, stolen cover
Pictured: Book cover showing a girl with her hands held up covering her face so that she cannot see.

By April Henry

A 16-year-old blind girl sick with fever, cough, and misery of pneumonia, lies curled up in the back seat of her stepmom’s car in a mall parking lot. Her stepmom Danielle has dashed into the mall to pick up new prescriptions to fight the pneumonia. The car keys dangle in the ignition, the door is unlocked. It has only been a few minutes at most.

The car door opens and soon the car is moving quickly out of the parking lot. Cheyenne Wilder, huddled in the back seat, realizes it is not Danielle at the wheel.

Kidnapped! That was not Griffin’s plan. His mission was to steal packages from vehicles in a busy parking lot. Spotting the key in the ignition changed his plan.

Cheyenne’s harrowing adventure had begun. Cheyenne is sick, she is blind, and now she is terrified.

Written for young adults and older, this book is carefully crafted and beautifully written. There are no loose ends. It is suspenseful, scary, and packs an emotional wallop. Blind and visually impaired people of all ages will identify with the protagonist while sighted people will gain insight into the challenges of blindness and ancillary acquired skills.

 

 

_______________________________________

Available through BARD and bookshare.

________________________________________

AUDIOBOOK: The Couple Next Door

Image result for the couple next door
Pictured:  Book cover

by Shari Lapena

The baby is gone!  Anne and Marco had been at the 40th birthday party of their neighbor next door.  Their houses are attached; they share a wall.  It was just Anne and Marco and Cynthia and Graham celebrating Graham’s birthday with dinner and drinks.  They brought the baby monitor with them.  They would hear the baby and they would take turns checking on the baby every half hour.  Cynthia did not want a fussy baby at her dinner party.

When Anne and Marco returned home after 1:00 in the morning, the baby was gone!  Her crib was empty.  She is barely six months old – she did not walk or crawl away, she could not be hiding in a closet, but they scoured the house looking for her anyway.

The hours ticked by, the days passed slowly . There were clues.  There were suspicions.  There were accusations. Secrets unraveled. So many secrets! Through the anguish, the sobs, and the clenched hands, there was still no baby.  Hope flickered and was dashed time and again.

So many lies! Cover-ups.  Who is protecting whom?  What to believe?  Whom to trust?  Most of all, where is the baby!

What I think does not matter.  Except that I was dead wrong!

Shari Lapena is turning out to be my favorite author.

 

______________________________________________________

Available through BARD and bookshare.

______________________________________________________

AUDIOBOOK: The Death House

Image result for the death house
Pictured: Book Cover depicting a young couple holding hands at the water’s edge under a night sky.

by Sarah Pinborough

The Death House by Sarah Pinborough is a horror story. It is a mix of a 19th century orphanage and a futuristic leper colony. Toby was snatched from his home and dragged kicking and screaming to a waiting van while his mother stood by helplessly. He is taken to the death house where he joins other children who, like him, are “defective.” Toby’s blood had tested positive.

The death house is an old secluded boarding school-type facility on an island somewhere in northern England. When the sickness becomes evident, children are taken in the night to the sanatorium on the top floor never to be seen again.

And I have questions.

  1. What is the illness?
  2. Why are the children taken from their families?
  3. There are no indications of contagion. So why are the children removed from society?
  4. Why are the children permitted no contact whatsoever with their families?
  5. What happens in the sanatorium?
  6. Are the children alive when taken to the sanatorium presumably to die, or are they already dead?
  7. Since the children die sometime during the night, are they killed at that time?
  8. What happens to the children after they are taken to the sanatorium? (It must be pretty crowded up there!)
  9. How could Louis, at his tender age, possibly complete even step 1 of the mission he is assigned by Toby?
  10. How can Toby tell the story? Spoiler Alert: Toby is dead!

As much as I enjoyed the story as written (and I did), development of this dystopian society would have greatly enhanced the experience. We are left instead with a love story. This is the discovery of young love, with beautifully written scenes of sexual awakening and exploration.

I was looking for dystopia.

___________________________________________________

Available through BARD and bookshare.