Book Review: The Housekeeper and the Professor

Title: The Housekeeper and the Professor
Author: Yoko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Snyder)
Published: 2003 in Japan, 2009 in America, Picador Publishing
Rating: 5/5


Ogawa created a world of nameless characters, except for the nickname of the housekeeper's son, "Root". Although, the story is told in first person through the intimate thoughts of the housekeeper, Ogawa keeps her readers at bay outside of the intimate circle of characters. The effect is successful as the reader is unable to completely inhabit the three main characters' sphere of life. Ogawa's ability to create deep, dimensional characters allows her readers to accept their nameless identities. The story itself is episodic and bittersweet about how friendship and loyalty can come in unexpected ways. The deep impressions such events have on humans is captured in the spirit of Ogawa's story. Ogawa's subtle writing style will leave her readers reflecting on human psychology as her characters strike a chord in each reader’s view of humanity.  

Book Review: The Bad Queen

Title: The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie-Antoinette

Author: Carolyn Meyer

Published: 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Rating: 5/5

Carolyn Meyer set out on a mission to tell the story of Marie Antoinette, whom history has painted as a selfish and shallow woman. Combining her in-depth research and her historical fiction writing talent, Meyer presents a stellar narrative of a young princess who is expected to be perfect. Masterfully written in first person, readers are allowed into the private thoughts and feelings of the Queen who history has horribly misunderstood. Meyer leaves her audience with a much different opinion about the character and psyche of the last queen of France. Readers will find themselves contemplating what they would have done if they were put in the position that Marie Antoinette found herself in.

Check out the other novels in the Young Royals series:

Cleopatra Confesses (Just Released!)

Mary, Blood Mary

Beware, Princess Elizabeth

Patience, Princess Catherine

Doomed Queen Anne

Duchessina: A Novel of Catherine de' Medici

SNHU MFA Summer Residency

On June 18, 2011 several of my classmates will  be graduating from the MFA program, and all of them have become an important part of my life and have been very supportive. That is why I love this program. We all supportive of each other's goals and aspirations. Our goals to become better writers and eventually to become published and share "human truths" through our stories, essays and poems. We are all writers, and in each of us we have seen our ability to express our view of the world through the beauty of words.

Today, Melanie Cecka who works for Bloomsbury told me that I had better write about horses next. She said my whole face lit up when I talked about writing about horses in Japan. That is all I want to do now; that is is now an obsession. I have started applying to companies to teach English in Japan and many of my friends here are encouraging me to go for it. Several people have asked me when I am leaving, and I told them as soon as I can secure a teaching position and get a work visa I will be going.

I am ready to be a teacher. I am not merely going to Japan just for my own writing purposes. I love knowledge  and teaching is a way for me to make use of my knowledge of the written language. Of course, I will learn more human truths from living in Japan. I will learn about the culture, their traditions, the people, their wildlife and their language. I know I will be a good teacher because of everything horses have taught me. I will be a good teacher because of what the people in my MFA program have taught me, both the mentors and the other students. 

On Sunday we leave for Star Island for a week. Last year I did not want to go. Just the thought of being trapped on a small island made my heart skip a beat. This year though, it is different. By going there part of my soul is freed from everyday society. All of us while we are there, can reflect on humanity and its relationship to the rest of the world. We are forced to look at ourselves as writers and all that we wish to convey.

I am grateful to everybody that has helped me. I am grateful to all the mentors and students. I am grateful to my friends at home. I am grateful for Skye, because I did not start to truly live until the moment she came into my life.  I am grateful to someone who made me realize I can't be afraid to live, even though he will no longer talk to me. 

 "Water in the river flows without cease, besides there isn't original water" - From the Hojoki

Book Review: A Unicorn is Born

Title: A Unicorn is Born
Author: Trinie Dalton, Illustrated by Kathrin Ayer
Published: 2007, Abrams Image
Rating: 4/5

This is a delightful book for any young girl or woman who is fascinated with the legend of the unicorn. This short story recounts a mare's pregnancy, birth, and rearing of her firstborn foal. The author does a wonderful job of weaving many legends of the unicorn into her story, and the influence of Robert Vavra's "Unicorns I have Known" is noticeable. The illustrations have a child, dreamlike, quality and are a pleasure to look at. However, the book seems to end abruptly before the young unicorn even reaches her first birthday and leaves the reader wondering what will become of Uma as her powers increase. While this book is an enjoyable read, Dalton could have brought her story to a much higher level by lengthening the tale.

Book Review: Horses in Japan

Title: Horses in Japan
Author: Vivienne Kenrick (deceased)
Published: 1964, Hokuseido Press for J.A. Allen & Co, Ltd. Published in Japan
Score: 5/5

"Why tether your young horse
To a blossoming cherry tree?
As he prances
The flowers will flutter and fall."
     -Min-yo, Folk Song (from the introduction)

In this well researched and breathtaking informational book Kenrick reveals the spirit of the horse in Japan from mythology to Post-World War II. Similar to Robert Vavra's musical soundtrack "Horses of the Wind" the reader is taken on a journey of the horse in Japanese culture. The reader will encounter the ancient war horse, the samurai and his horsemanship skills, and the introduction of European breeds into the land of the rising sun. Kenrick leaves the reader with the understanding of the great role horses have played in the Japanese culture through history, art, and religion. The translated Japanese texts Kenrick selected to be a part of her pages are fascinating and provides her work with the essence of the horse. Kenrick's desire to make horses of Japan known has continued from beyond the grave.

Book Review: Bold Ruler

Title: Bold Ruler
Series: Thoroughbred Legends #24
Author: Edward L. Bowen
Published: 2005, Blood-Horse Publications
Rating: 4.5/5

Bold Ruler was an eight-time leading sire and fathered the 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Bowen delved into the past of Bold Ruler's owner, his famous trainer, and his regular jokey making them living beings again. The writer has thoroughly done his research supporting the story of Bold Ruler with quotes from magazines and newspapers when racing was a daily covered event during the 1950's. Bowen provided backgrounds on Bold Ruler's main adversaries so that the reader could imagine just what kinds of horses that Bold Ruler was going up against. At times, however, he dedicated too many pages to the background of other horses, including the ancestry of Bold Ruler. These sections may draw some readers away from the main story but they are filled with interesting history and facts. Bowen, the former editor-in-chief of "The Blood-Horse", has indeed written a great tribute to Bold Ruler.

Book Review: Eight Belles

Title: Eight Belles: Triumph Beyond the Wire
Author: Maria Michalak
Published: 2009, AuthorHouse
Rating: 5/5

Many horse lovers remember the breakdown of Eight Belles after she came in second in the 2008 Kentucky Derby, but her story did not end there, and Maria Michalak makes sure her readers remember that. In her biography about the strong hearted grey filly, Michalak wastes no time on unnecessary side stories of the humans, the book is wholly focused on Eight Belles.  Readers will find themselves bursting from the starting gate to the finish line of this equine biography with Michalak's sentences that seem to carry the reader swiftly through like a horse race. Also, like a race, however, the reader is left with the impressions Eight Belles left in people's hearts and the changes her death caused. Readers will remember this amazing book and Michalak has been successful in her quest to make Eight Belles unforgettable.