Wrong Lanes Have Right Turns--#90 finished

Michael Phillips grew up in Baltimore, early in life in a tougher African American neighborhood where he saw and knew drug dealers and others.  His father died suddenly and that was a big influence on his life--he struggled with that and started to get into that street life.  His mom moved out of that neighborhood and into the suburbs where Michael did succeed to where he got a college athletic scholarship.  He was/is smart but wasn't using those talents.  During that first semester in college he was back home and out with friends and was in a terrible car accident injuring his leg to where could not play basketball.  While he returned to school 2nd semester he didn't try and was then out of college.  Back in Baltimore he and friends get to buying & selling drugs and stepping up more and more into that life.  In a roundabout way gets arrested and while sitting in jail, a guy finds him that was looking to give people 2nd chances finds him.  He is release and no record of his drug activity and given full ride to Oral Roberts Univ but again falls back into his drug use and not following the rules there.  Until at one point he does see his mission in life through a conversion of faith.  He had a good job corporate kind of car dealership type but left that to work in a foundation as CEO to help people.  Good story, wish/hope more kids are given this chance.

There are no copies in PBS at this point but setting aside for now but will probably post later.

Sylvanus Now--#88 finished

Sylvanus Now is the main character's name, this is a story of his life, at least most of it.  He is a fisherman off Newfoundland Canada in the years after WWII.  He tries to stick with the old ways of fishing as larger commercial fishing is basically attacking the fishing grounds.  He marries Adelaide and while she dreamed of more out of life, she seems at time happy or at least settled.  This is a story about a tough life and how you just have to find ways to live it.  I enjoyed this book even if at times was slow and other times tough to get through.

I have posted it on PBS & there were no copies.  It got requested right away & I will probably mail off later today.

The Colony--#88 finished

This is a true story about the killings of 2 vehicles loaded with women and children in Mexico.  They are Mormans living there that were traveling between towns there that were hours apart.  The towns are fundamentalist Morman towns where plural marriage is practiced.  The book looks at the history of the Mormans, John Smith, Brigham Young, the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the disavowing polygamy and the split it caused.  I knew Mormans had moved to Mexico but the other books I had read hadn't gone into any details about this.  This book does, it explains some of the towns and the conflicts they have with the local indigenous people and the Mexican state and the drug cartels as well as the internal Morman conflicts.  Really enjoyed the book, lot of information in a short read.  It is confusing because in the polygamist marriages there are so many people with same or similar names that it is hard to keep straight who exactly is being talked about.

There are 5 WL for this book on PBS but not posting now.  I really like this author Sally Denton so might keep or might see if any friends want to read it. 

Riding the Bus with My Sister--#87 finished

This is a true story about the author Rachel and her younger sister Beth.  Beth is mentally delayed sounds like from a possible birth issue, not genetics.  Beth is basically independent but does have some social workers and friends that help her out.  Rachel is 39 when starting this book, freshly divorced and kind of between writing assignments.  Beth spends her day--6 days a week riding the local buses in Philadelphia.  Beth is only a year younger than Rachel.  There is an older sister and then a younger brother.  Both parents are around it sounds like but no one lives in Philadelphia near Beth--Rachel is an 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours away.  Kind of interesting that Beth was on her own with social workers basically for a long time until Rachel stepped in.  Beth had a few jobs but they didn't last.  Because she gets SSI, she has figured out she doesn't have to work so decided to ride the buses instead.  Lots of conflict with people she drives sort of crazy on bus and sometimes bus drivers.  Rachel's year of riding the buses is a few times or maybe a week a month.  She sort of did this with the idea of writing about it too so not surprising a book came of it.  There was also a TV movie with Rosie O'Donnell as Beth--I can see that.  

I think part of the story that didn't come out until late in book was the family drama growing up--especially with Beth.  The parents divorced and mom had the kids except for weekends it sounds like.  Mom starts dating and eventually meets an awful guy--oldest in college, Rachel gets sent to boarding school, youngest--the boy goes to dad and Beth stays with mom and step dad.  They move to Vegas, AZ, etc and family basically has abandoned them.  Step dad won't let any contact happen, eventually mom sneaks Beth to airport and calls dad to be there to pick her up.  Step dad had threatened Beth with knife and probably worse.  Mom does get away from step dad but no one trusts her enough to contact for years.  Eventually Rachel does and maybe part of the family does as well--not clear or maybe I don't remember.  Just wonder if part of Beth's attitude issues stem from treatment by step dad--sounds like just awful thing to have gone through.  Not really probed in book and I guess hard to do so since Beth probably couldn't give details.

Anyway, that is a long writeup for me on these books.  There are 3 copies in PBS system already so not sure if will post or give away.  Might see if someone else interested first.

Murder Book--#86 finished

This is a book by Thomas Perry, a writer that I really enjoy.  This book while had some good parts, just didn't seem up to the writer's normal good standards.  It seems to me that it was a book started years ago and set aside only to be re-worked and published recently.  If the book was set in the 1990s, it would make more sense but in today's internet world the story didn't work for me.  A real estate guy is hired to buy up whole towns--small towns, along a river in IN.  He hires a bunch of thugs to go into the towns to threaten and force protection rackets where eventually businesses & homeowners would have to sell a cut rate deals.  A IL state attorney hears something going on & hires an ex-husband private eye to investigate and he immediately gets caught up in this.  Several people murdered including a police officer.  This is where I don't believe the story--in the internet age this would be a big enough story that the state police would investigate and people would talk.  Instead this PI eventually gets the good people of the town to uprise and are able to arrest the thugs.  This was all happening because a big corporate group found out this area has rare earth metals and wanted to buy the land up cheap to start mining.  Some good parts to the book but just seemed like it was forced together.

There are 4 WL for this book on PBS so I will post at some point & send off.  I have had a bunch of requests in the last couple weeks and have mailed off a bunch of books so back to having enough credits for now. 

You'll Never Blue Ball in This Town Again--#85 finished

This is a book by a writer, comic & actress in LA.  She was a writer on the Chelsea Handler show on E and from reading Chelsea Handler books this one sort of falls into that same line.  Crazy stories about her life.  The hook for her book is that she was a virgin until she was 27 and how that affected some of her relationships--where after telling the guy, he basically breaks up with her.  Sounds like was afraid if they had sex it meant a long term relationship and he ran.  Lots of funny stories, funny parents, people she meets, her sorority sisters and so on.  Just a light and mostly funny book, nothing too serious.

I have posted it on PBS, it is the only copy in system but since published in 2010 is not exactly new so could be a wait before gets ordered. 

Nine Rabbits--#84 finished

This is a book that I added to an order on PBS.  Wasn't really sure what I was getting other than about a writer growing up in Bulgaria during communism and extending into today or at least 2014 when the book was published.  Beginning of the book was about her very tough life being mostly raised by her grandmother, who was basically a cruel, tough old lady.  That was the 1st part of the book.  The 2nd part dealt with the writer's struggles in adulthood.  A couple marriages, struggling for a career and then to find herself.  Some strange type happenings, kind of wonder if some things were confused in translation at times.  Not really interesting to me but was a short book and something different so worked as a change of pace kind of book.

There were no copies in PBS so I have already posted it.  Not sure it will go anywhere but it is out there so maybe someone will find it.

The Nineties--#83 finished

I have read a couple other books by Chuck Klosterman and they are enjoyable reads.  He is a lot more into music than I am but still his writing style is fun and informative.  This book certainly fits this as well.  I grew up in the 1990s I guess--graduating college in 1991 and eventually with our first kid born in 1999--beginning of real adulthood so this book spoke to me in a lot of ways.  Good memories of the 1990s but also good insights about the times as well.  

I have already recommended the book to a friend so will be passing along instead of mailing out.  There are I think 5 WL for it on PBS but won't be going back there for a while.

The Art of Power--#82 finished

This is Nancy Pelosi's book about her time in Washington DC as a Congressperson and Speaker in the House.  An interesting read about her accomplishments and what was going on during her time there.  It was written & published in Summer of 2024 so before Biden dropped out & then Trump re-elected so there are those stories missing from this book.  Still a lot was covered and made for interesting reading.  I wasn't a fan of her earlier, yes I was a Fox News watcher in the 1990s & into the 2000s.  I was moving away from it during the Bush years and had mixed reactions during Obama years but it was Trump that really turned me away from the Republicans and their news organizations.  I have since tried to re-think some of what I was thinking back then and while not so much changing everything, I have figured that more respect for Nancy Pelosi and what she did for the Democrats and our country was overall good.  Not the evil, devil on earth stuff you get from the right wing.

There are 13 WL for this book on PBS so I will probably mail off at some point.  I have actually gotten a few offers from PBS so mailing out some to rebuild my credits there.