Saturday, February 19, 2011

A note - Stars & Ebooks

I've decided to try to go back in the blog and use the labels to indicate a star rating, from 0 to 5, kind of like grades A through F. That way these ratings will be listed under "Labels" and it will be possible to find books by their rating.

On another subject, I've felt almost guilty that the last several books I've read have been on my iPad using Kindle. I love physical books. I love their smell and feel and look. I love sitting surrounded by them in my library. I feel conflicted about not purchasing them or going to the library for them. My plan is that if I think I'll re-read a book because I think it's so good, I will purchase it. And I know that I won't purchase all my books that way. It's a changing world. Even a big chain bookstore like Borders is going bankrupt. I wonder how it will all turn out.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken is by Laura Hillenbrand, who wrote Seabiscuit. I like both these books. Hillenbrand is a good writer who can make non-fiction interesting. I don't read as much non-fiction as fiction but I've always liked biographies because they are still a story.

My brother and father both mentioned reading this book, which is why I picked it up. It's about Louis Silvie Zamperini. I'd never heard of him but it turns out he was quite a famous runner. He came close to breaking the 4-minute mile record back in the days when everyone was trying to beat that mark.

The book tells about his childhood. It sounds like he was a naughty boy and got into more serious trouble in his teenage years, but his brother encouraged him to put his energies into running and that turned out to be something he could do well at. He went to the Olympics and would have continued competing in running except the war started -- World War II.

Louis joined up and became a bombadier. I never knew that the saying "bombs away" came from such a literal source. As a bombadier Louis would sit by the bomb doors, open them, and when the bombs had gone out he'd yell, "Bombs away!" so the pilot knew he could start climbing higher.

Louis was in the Pacific arena in the war. It was interesting to read about the way the war went over there, some of the strategies and reasons the U.S. was fighting for these islands, and also the way the mechanical abilities of the planes had a lot to do with those strategies. That may sound dry but, trust me, it wasn't, which is why I say that Hillenbrand is good at making non-fiction interesting.

Louis' plane was shot down and he was one of 3 survivors. The tale of their survival for more than 3 weeks on an inflatable raft is amazing. One of the 3 died during that time and then Louis and the other, the pilot, were captured. Japanese prisoners of war had a horrible time, much worse than those taken in Europe, another thing I had never known. Louis' experiences in prison were horrible and unforgettable.

After the war Louis' body had been so wrecked by prison that he couldn't go back to running. He bacame a kind of celebrity for the military but started drinking and went into a downward spiral. He also started to be obsessed about killing a particularly horrible Japanese officer who had singled Louis out for torture during the war. Hillenbrand also chronicles that officer's life.

Louis' wife persuaded him to attend a Billy Graham crusade. What Graham said affected him so much and reminded him of his childhood plus the promises he'd made to God during the war and he absolutely turned his life around. He opened a nonprofit boys camp where he helped boys learn how to turn their lives around, too. He also went on speaking tours and was given many awards. He lived a long, active life, even skiing at the age of 90.

As you read the book you get to know other people important in Louis' life, such as the pilot who survived the plane crash and prison with him, his brother, and others. I just found it very interesting to get to know Louis and these others and to hear how they lived and changed.

Never in My Wildest Dreams by Belva Davis

I read this book for a book club. My overall assessment is that it was good, rather more interesting because it is about a "local girl" but I didn't feel like it was extremely well written or compelling.

Belva Davis is a journalist/reporter in the Bay Area. She was born in Louisiana but nearly immediately was given to her Aunt Ophelia and her husband, who had no children, to be cared for by them. When Belva was 3 her aunt died and Belva then went back to her mother & father's home and for the rest of her childhood was shuffled around from one part of the family to another. She wasn't always badly treated, but she was pretty much unwanted, there was a period where she was molested by one of her male relatives, and when her father was under the influence of drugs and alcohol she was abused, so her childhood was an unhappy one. It got to a point where Belva was ready to commit suicide. She didn't do that but she did decide to escape somehow.

By high school they were living in Berkeley and she attended Berkeley High. They were integrated but Belva experience many instances of discrimination, at places of business refusing to serve her and many other things.  She got married at 18  and had two kids. Belva worked throughout her marriage and eventual divorce. Eventually she started to write and became a reporter. She had many jobs around the Bay Area and ended up with a career at NPR.

It was interesting to read about the experience of growing up as a black woman, especially as she was experiencing the changes that happened in the '60's and '70's. When I try to figure out why I didn't particularly love the book, I think it's because I didn't feel like I got to know her well enough. When I read of all that she went through, it is a marvel that she turned out so strong and successful, but I feel like I didn't really learn how that happened.

So, a pretty good book.