A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

This is my first novel by Usula Le Guin. I have used her Steering the Craft writing exercises before and have a lot of respect for her, but had just never gotten around to reading any of her novels. She does not disappoint.

I found her writing style devoid of superfluous world building, which I greatly enjoyed. She gives you what you need and leaves other things unexplained. I like this kind of world building because it’s true to real life. No one person knows every detail of their world. The world is built as you go, not presented as a whole, which is also true to life.

I enjoyed the journey of Ged and learning the importance of one’s self. I did see the end coming, simply because I am very familiar with this type of story (even the idea of true names being the basis of magic). I don’t know if Le Guin was the first with this idea and others have used it, or if she got it somewhere else. But I am familiar with many of the magical concepts presented in this story, so could guess what was about to happen.

I definitely like all the open mysteries that Ged comes across, they make me interested in reading more. But at the same time, some of them seemed very contrived to just suck you in for a future novel. I like it better when the mysteries have a a natural flow. For example, the two castaways on the island felt very natural to the story. But Terrenon felt very forced.

All in all, an enjoyable read. I plan to read more.

Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key

I read this book on a whim, mostly surprised to learn that there was a book before either of the movies were made. I, like most children of the 80s, saw Disney’s 1975 Escape to Witch Mountain multiple times when I was growing up. A childhood favorite. I saw the 2009 Race to Witch Mountain with my own children. When I learned that there was a book, I had to read it. Just to see which movie was more true to the book, and to see how the original story was told.

Not surprisingly, I really enjoyed the book. I read it in an afternoon when not feeling well, so didn’t have anything to really interrupt me. The story is closer to the 1975 movie, but there are huge changes (nothing surprising about that considering Hollywood’s record in movie adaptations). Most notably, Tony and Tia are in the foster care system in the book, Tia can’t speak (kind of), and Jason O’Day is a pastor the children are already familiar with.

The book is a fast-paced read, which is great for younger readers that aren’t interested in loads of detailed imagery. I think my kids will really enjoy having this read aloud to them during family reading time. I’m glad I bought it, instead of just borrowing it from the library. There is some environmentalism in it, but it’s not heavy handed and doesn’t detract from the story. I whole-heartedly recommend this to parents looking for a fun science fiction story for their children. It’s very clean, no profanity, very little violence, lots of cute animals. Kids will enjoy it, as will most adults.

The Miracle Girls by Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt

So, I read this based on a friend's review.  And all I can really say about it was that it was okay.  Not bad.  Not great.

The story is a sweet idea and it might have resonated with me more if I was a teenager.  It was refreshing to read something wholesome, not filled with violence, profanity, and/or sex.  I would have no issue with letting my daughters read this if they were so inclined.

I really liked two of the Miracle Girls – Zoe and Christine.  Their characters worked for me because they were similar to girls that I knew in high school, but didn’t feel like stereotypes.  They had personalities that felt believable.  But Ana and Riley felt like forced caricatures of typical types found in high school.  This made me really not care about what was going on in their stories.  And several of the situations presented to further to plot just felt trite and cliché.

Though I wasn’t super impressed with character development, I really enjoyed the writing style.  The way things were described wasn’t over the top in detail, but I knew exactly what was happening.  Specifically the scenes of Maria and Ana in the kitchen, when she was getting food out of the fridge.  Or whenever they were drinking diet coke.  I enjoyed the way these descriptions were written because they felt natural and real.

So, to sum up.  I enjoyed the ideas and writing style, but felt the character development was lacking. 

Mormon Scientist by Henry J. Eyring

I have never been much of one for biographies and memoirs.  But this year, I set myself the goal of always having one I'm working on.  My first choice was Mormon Scientist.  And I'm so glad it was. 

Brother's Eyring's view of how things are is so clear and uncluttered.  I really took to heart his ability to take what seems like an unsolvable paradox (science vs. religion) to so many and say, there is no paradox - what you think is a paradox is something we just don't fully understand yet.  His sense of humor and being so down to earth makes him immensely relatable.  His ability to articulate difficult ideas in everyday speech helps to understand where he's coming from and teach me more about myself.

As a Latter-day Saint and a homeschooler, I've struggled a lot with how to approach teaching science to my children.  I didn't want to teach them anything contrary to doctrine and was constantly bombarded with arguments about how science is wrong because it doesn't support religion.  But I didn't feel in my heart that science was wrong!  I've always wanted to teach my children pure science, but shied away for fear of leading them astray.  This book helped me realize that my innermost feelings were right and should have been listened to.  Teach them pure science.  Teach them pure religion.  And help them to understand that where there seems to be contradictions, it just means there is something we don't understand yet - keep working on it.  Don't give up on science or religion to protect the other.  Through both, we grow into better people - which is really the whole point of this life.

A 19th Century Classic - Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell

Books & Chocolate's Back to the Classics Challenge 2017: a 19th Century Classic



This book is beautiful.  Just beautiful.  Why aren't kids reading this in school, instead of the rubbish that's handed out instead?  Seriously!

Ruth is a story about a young woman that has an illegitimate child in the 1800's.  At that time, women that became pregnant out of wedlock were most often forced into horrible situations while the men had little, if any, accountability.  It was very common for those that made mistakes or sinned in ways that couldn't be hidden and were made public knowledge to be shunned and kicked aside.  Never mind that it was very hypocritical of society to do so, illegitimate children were the perfect example of this hypocrisy.  It takes two to make a baby, but only the woman visibly carries it.  We all make mistakes and are in need of kindness and mercy the most at those times. Just because one person's faults were visible and another's were not doesn't make them holier.

This story is about what would happen if someone in those circumstances had support to help guide them back to a good, God-fearing life instead of being cast aside to fall into worse sin and lifestyle.  Ruth goes on to bring light into many lives through her goodness and selflessness.  But even if she hadn't, even if the only two souls brought back to the light had been her own and her son's - wouldn't that be enough? 

These are lessons that still need to be taken to heart and applied in today's world.  Though the reason for casting off those we feel are beneath us may be different and the circumstances of how they are cast off changed, it still happens.  And it still shouldn't.