Tag: Books

Book Review: Where the Crawdads Sing

Did you ever find yourself excited to hear that a favorite book was being made into a movie? Movies can only cover maybe two hours of plot versus the longer read or audio listen of the original work. But if you fell in love with the book, hearing that a movie is coming is encouraging and hopeful, because the original printed work was just that good.

This edition I found from Barnes & Noble has beautiful artwork and detail.

Did you ever find yourself excited to hear that a favorite book was being made into a movie? Movies can only cover maybe two hours of plot versus the longer read or audio listen of the original work. But if you truly fell in love with the book, hearing that a movie is coming is exciting. Where the Crawdads Sing is a treasure of a book I enjoyed two years ago and is movie-bound next. I’m crossing my fingers it does the author’s work justice.

Occasionally a movie will miss the mark due to acting or screenwriting (which will rarely satisfies the following of literary fans). We want to see every last moment and word of dialogue. Yet I am cautiously holding out hope that Where the Crawdads Sing will hopefully rise to the high bar set by author Delia Owens.

This novel took the literary community by storm after it was published in 2018. The now famous sun-toned cover was getting mentioned in friends’ social media feeds as their beach books of choice or as a new “discovery read” that surprised readers as to how impactful it was. I began to be intrigued by the book when I started hearing how friends crowed on social media that it was the best read they had enjoyed in a long time. One almost could not help it but to get a copy to see what all the fuss was about (an author’s best advertising, no doubt). So, in 2020, I bought my first copy via Audible. A year later, it still was resonating with me and I listened to it again. And as is my practice when I am taken with a work this much, I buy a printed copy.

Owens takes the reader on a wonder-filled journey for the mind and spirit. The book paints vivid imagery of an Audubon-painted marsh home of a naturalist’s dreams. Once started into the first few chapters, our minds want us to be there in our imaginations. We follow the main character, Kya, through a coming-of-age story, but this story has teeth that make you hurt for, cheer for and believe in the determined spirit of survivors and thrivers. Kya’s resilient personality, born of struggle, inspires the reader forward through each chapter despite obstacles that are common to our society regardless of past or present.

It is a beautiful experience to read this book. Even if you just read it once, it will stay with you in the way the good books do.

Book Review: Code Name: Lise

I started and finished Code Name: Lise this month and am still coming to terms with the gravitas of reading it and it boggles the mind this is a true story. I made it to the middle and laid the hardcopy down on my nightstand to sleep. However, the fate of the main characters wouldn’t let me rest until I finished it.

I started and finished Code Name: Lise this month and am still coming to terms with the gravitas of reading it. This book boggles the mind that is is a true story. Late at night, I had arrived at the middle and laid the hardcopy down on my nightstand to sleep. However, the fate of the main character wouldn’t let me rest until I finished it. Back on went the lamp and I continued on until nearly midnight to see it through.

Now that I have finished the read, I still feel a small lump in my throat thinking back on it. This is my first Larry Loftis book and I am really impressed at his ability to craft a gripping tale and robustly source it to high standards.  Odette Sansom’s name should be a part of World War II in history classes and when the history of secret services are discussed. Not just because she is a woman doing what was predominately a man’s job then, but because of her rare courage and success in a role that offered equal risk and danger to both genders.

-Summary-

Like many families having witnessed World War I, Odette Sansom possesses a perspective of living one’s life with honor and duty. Despite having a plethora of reasons to not involve herself in the war as a Frenchwoman living in Britain, she courageously ventures forward into the role of a secret agent against the enemy.

Despite being a woman, a mother, a wife and a civilian, she bravely takes on every assignment sent her with abandon. As her role requires the reliance on and use of relationships of all types, Code Name: Lise follows a web of individuals that become part of Odette’s story as she fights to win and later survive. The odds stacked so high as the story progresses, it is the kind of story few can fathom actually happening to a regular person. But such was the tale for many in war.

The full spectrum of the human experience is within the covers of Code Name: Lise: Love, honor, bravery, motherhood, war, leadership, luck, conflict, fear, world history and the will to survive on one’s own terms. Odette’s journey covers a geography and duration of insurmountable odds that defy expectations. Many accounts from World War II are raw and uncomfortable due to the atrocities of the worst of humanity, and Code Name: Lise is no different. But stories like these should be read, should be known and the lives of everyone who experienced them should be remembered generations later