Friday, August 28, 2015

Patty PIck for 8/27/15 is "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

Harper Lee's classic, To Kill A Mockingbird, has always been one of my favorite books, as I am sure it is for many others. I can not count the times I have read and re-read it over the years, which is a rare thing for me to do. I had forgotten how much I liked it, until I read it again recently. It is a timely reminder that race relations have been effecting our lives in this country for many years unfortunately. 

Scout is one of the best female characters, which has been written into life by an author, in any decade. She is fearless, smart and vulnerable at the same time. Throw in Jem, Atticus, Dill and Calpurnia and the cast is one you will not be able to forget. 
Scout's father, Atticus, usually gets all the attention, but I feel that Scout steals the show. 

While Atticus, the small town lawyer and state congressman, is busy trying to raise his motherless children in small town Alabama, he is assigned the task of representing an innocent black man in a no-win trial. Parts of this book could have taken place in any small town in the South during this time period of our history. While many people concentrate on the lesson of fairness this part of the book relates, the empowerment of women and the discovery of one's true self should be the themes we discuss as much. Unfortunately this book too accurately portrays the truths of the South and other parts of our country during this time in our history concerning the color of one's skin.

But more importantly it shows us the special time of innocence many of us were lucky enough to experience in our youth. How many of you slept with your doors unlocked? Were you ever inside during your summer in daylight hours except to eat? School pageants that the whole town would attend were once standard fair in small town life.

I choose to concentrate on the well-written story of one family living through a special time in their lives, when the kids were innocent and walking to school was the norm. While the famous movie concentrates on the trial and the rescue of the kids by Boo Radley, I think the best part was Scout and her brave outlook on life. The thought of not studying to be a lawyer just because of the norms of the day, did not stand in Scout's way.

Next blog post on 9/10/15 will be on the recently released prequel by Harper Lee, 
"Go Set a Watchman".

Patty Pick for 8/13/15 is "Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes" by Janel Grandowski!


Image result for doughnuts and deadly schemes





Janel Gradowski has her third book out in her successful Culinary Competition Mystery series and it looks like Amy is at it again. Janel has brought us some memorable characters that make revisiting them again a must. Amy, Carla, Alex and Shepler will
be very busy in this third book in the series. Amy is trying to plan her best friend Carla's wedding, when she runs into a murder.

The killer is wreaking havoc on the retail center of her town and the business owners are running 
scared of the mysterious stalker. All during these crazy happenings, Carla and Shepler are trying to plan and get ready for their wedding. Shepler, a detective assigned to solve the murder, has his plate full with solving the crime.
Carla just wants it all to go away and let her and Shepler have a quiet, unique wedding.
The food in this book will make your mouth water as the action is taking place. Amy will work
to solve the crime as she struggles to give her friend the best wedding she can. The ending will be
full of surprises!

If you are interested in this or other Janel Gradowski books, you can contact her at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JanelGr

Page with book purchase links in case you would like those: http://www.janelgradowski.com/culinary-competition-mysteries/1347-2/