Review

The biography of a brilliant mathematician, A Beautiful Mind is not only fascinating but extremely well written. John Nash is a mathematician whose brilliance is matched by illness, specifically schizophrenia. When his illness takes over, his life changes dramatically. And in turn, he is changed by his illness. Although the book is nothing like the movie (with very few exceptions), it does a much better job of conveying the extremes involved in Nash’s life. A brilliant, and arrogant, man who becomes ill but is still brilliant. On the other hand, a life full of promise becomes a living hell, which Nash eventually overcomes. ...

This is a story about the year two colored nuns came to a small town in Southern Louisiana to teach at the white Catholic school. One nun was to teach first and one fifth grade. But the real story is about change, and growth. Vivian Leigh (named after the movie star) is 10 and in the fifth grade. The story follows her, her little sister, and their friends, family, and neighbors. All the people of Vivian Leigh’s little town begin to question their place in the world and how they think about others’ places. ...

Merry Gentry, a member of the Faerie royal bloodline, has been in hiding for the past three years. Now working as a Private Investigator in Los Angeles specializing in supernatural crime, she is drawn back into the Royal Court and all the dangers she tried to escape. Laurell Hamilton has done it again! This is a great book with intriguing characters and great action. Merry Gentry’s world is like our world except that Faeries and Goblins still exist in the world and, through political alliances, have made a home in America. ...

Andrew Bjorklund and Ellie Wold have known they would wed since grade school. Two years before Ellie graduated, her family moved to a different community. Her father made the decision to further his furniture manufacturing business. It was only an hour away by train, but it may as well have been a thousand miles. Andrew and Ellie had to content themselves with staying in touch by letter. Finally, Ellie would graduate in May, and they planned to marry in June. ...

Arabella Newberry was not only fleeing the life of the Shakers, she was leaving her father behind her. Her father had forced his wife and daughter, Bella, to join a shaker community when Bella was 14 years old. Bella’s mother died a couple of years later of a broken heart. Though she loved God, Bella could not embrace the Shaker doctrine that forces families to be separated and live as though they were not family at all. ...

The two main characters, Jaycee and Bud, share similar emotional challenges, but were raised in very different environments. Both are extreme narcissists, egocentric, self-indulgent magpies with no likeable qualities. Both lost their mothers when they were very young, and both complain of fathers who do not love them. Jaycee was born and raised in a small Alabama town. She grew up poor and quickly learned to fend for herself; her father was to busy with booze to take care of or even notice her. ...

All Creatures Great and Small is a classic written in 1972, but I just discovered it. It is now an all-time favorite. The author is the main character. James Herriot (a pen name) evidently kept a journal through the years about his experiences as a country veterinary surgeon. Each chapter tells one of his experiences. They follow in chronological order, so it reads like the story of his first year in practice. It is at times hilarious and at times tense as he deals with difficult cases. ...

Reviewer: Sally James Qwilleran stayed the compulsory five years in Pickax to complete the requirements placed on his inheritance. He is now officially a billionaire. Now it is time to decide what to do with the rest of his life. He intends to go somewhere–a quiet island with a beach or a mountain hideaway–someplace where he can have seclusion and quiet to sort out his options and make plans. ...

Interesting novel of an earthquake (8.4 magnitude, of course) on the New Madrid fault in Southeast Missouri/Southwest Illinois/Western Tennessee, etc. The science was fun to read. The romance was bad, as there was no basis for the romance. Over all, worth reading if you are an earthquake buff, or interested in the science of quakes.

The first chapter of Nick Hornby’s novel, “A Long Way Down” introduces the 4 main characters, Martin, Maureen, Jess and JJ. Each main character tells the story in a rotating first person, and each section clearly identifies who is speaking. The story starts with Martin explaining why he is on top of a fifteen-story building, on New Years Eve, “Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?” ...