Open Book August 2018

I’m joining with Carolyn Astfalk and Catholic Mom for An Open Book.  Here’s what I’ve been reading this past month:

 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Amazon Synopsis: Few creatures of horror have seized readers’ imaginations and held them for so long as the anguished monster of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The story of Victor Frankenstein’s terrible creation and the havoc it caused has enthralled generations of readers and inspired countless writers of horror and suspense. Considering the novel’s enduring success, it is remarkable that it began merely as a whim of Lord Byron’s. “We will each write a story,” Byron announced to his next-door neighbors, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and her lover Percy Bysshe Shelley. The friends were summering on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland in 1816, Shelley still unknown as a poet and Byron writing the third canto of Childe Harold. When continued rains kept them confined indoors, all agreed to Byron’s proposal. The illustrious poets failed to complete their ghost stories, but Mary Shelley rose supremely to the challenge. With Frankenstein, she succeeded admirably in the task she set for herself: to create a story that, in her own words, “would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror — one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart.”

My review: This was actually a very entertaining book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I had seen several movie versions of this book, but they’re quite different from the original story.  Beautifully written and with a interesting premise written more than 200 years ago.

The Lion’s Game by Nelson DeMille, read by Scott Brick (audiobook)

Amazon Synopsis: April 1986 : American F – 111 warplanes bomb the Al Azziyah compound in Libya where President Gadhafi is residing. A 16-year-old youth, Asad – Arabic for ‘lion ‘ – loses his mother, two brothers and two sisters in the raid. Asad sees himself as chosen to avenge not only his family but his nation, his religion and the Great Leader – Gadhafi. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.Twelve years later, Asad arrives in New York City, intent on killing all five surviing pilots across America who participated in the bombing , one by one. John Corey – from the international bestseller PLUM ISLAND – is no longer with the NYPD and is working for the Anti-Terrorist Task Force. He has to stop Asad’s revenge killings. But first he has to find him.A thrillingly entertaining read from a master storyteller.

My review:  Most of the beginning chapters take place in and around an airport and an airplane.  So when I had read the paperback years ago (yes, when I was at an airport), I found it to be quite compelling. Recently,  I downloaded the audio-book so that my husband and I might have a book to listen to on our way to Cincinnati for the Humanae Vitae 50 Conference (#HV50CCL).  It’s even better as an audio-book, because I find that when I read a page-turner, I’m almost skimming.  When I listen, there’s no skimming and I’m actually hearing the story in a whole new way.  I love the John Corey series (although he can be a crass character with his language).  Excellent and well-drawn characters.

Passionate Parent Passionate Couple by Ed and Betty Coda

Amazon synopsis: Through their heartfelt and inspiring book, Passionate Parent Passionate Couple, Ed and Betty Coda provide you with practical wisdom and upbeat, moving insights about how you can: • Create a foundation of love, trust and support that pulls your family together • Rejoice in your children and strengthen your marriage through parenting • Develop clear, honest communication skills that include fun and humor • Cultivate an environment of belonging and generosity within your home.

My review: I met Ed and Betty at the recent #HV50CCL Conference earlier in July.  They are a wonderful CCL teaching couple from Hawaii and had sent several boxes of books to the conference (and as I recall, none ended up arriving at the conference! Thankfully, they insured their packages!)  We had some lovely chats and agreed to do a book exchange.  I haven’t read the entire book, but what I have read is wonderful.