Friday Book Report: The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper is widely considered one of America’s first great novelists.  His story, Last of the Mohicans, part of The Leatherstocking Tales is quite possibly his most famous and most read.  Originally published in 1826, Last of the Mohicans has been a classic ever since.

Set in 1857 during the French and Indian wars, a young British officer is tasked with the safe delivery of Commander Munro’s daughters to Fort William Henry.  Munro is stationed at Fort William Henry and wants his daughter’s with him.  The British officer, Duncan Heyward employs an Indian by the name of Magua to guide them through the wilderness of New England.  Soon after they set off, we learn that Magua is not the trusting guide he seemed to be and he is using the Munro daughters as revenge against their father for a past wrong-doing. 

We meet Hawkeye, a white-man travelling with Mohican companions, Chingachgook and his son Uncas, and together with the young Heyward, they weave through the wilderness to protect the Munro sister’s from the clutches of the vengeful Magua.  This is a story about love and hate, survival and death, treachery and deliverance.  It’s an engrossing tale, not for the faint of heart, but definitely one worth reading to really appreciate just how American literature came to be. 

I really don’t know what to make of this book.  At times I really loved it, and then there are other times when I hated it.  Cooper, being a 19^th century writer ventures the route of extreme literal description and prose to tell his story which at times made me lose focus on what was actually going on.  There are times when his descriptions are beautifully done, but for the most part the verbal assault was too much for me to take.  The language is old, and I kept that in mind while reading, but there were several times when I just had to stop reading after a chapter to let what I just read sink in and really digest what was going on.  Cooper’s writing style and the dialogue he applies to this tale definitely took some getting used to.

I found I really enjoyed the character of Cora Munro, and wished very much that she was in this book more.  She was strong and brave and confident for a typical 19^th century heroine.  She wasn’t afraid of what happened to her, so long as her sister was safe.  An attitude like that in those days speaks of tremendous courage.  My only beef is that at times Cooper displays Cora’s strength of character, but later on condescends himself by describing her has gentle and tender.  I didn’t get that at all…ah well; the male brain of the 19^th century can’t make a woman look too strong-willed without some character defects…right?

I will say this book is non-stop from chapter to chapter.  Once you get into the meat of the story, the action hardly ever stops and Cooper sends the reader on quite a bloody journey.  There are a lot of battle scenes, and some really graphic descriptions (especially of the massacre at Fort William Henry – which actually happened) and definitely not to be read by anyone that isn’t a fan of bloody and horrific battles.   Some of those scenes were hard for me to get through, and I don’t know if all of the graphic descriptions were really necessary to the overall plot of the story, they definitely did make me perk up and pay attention to the gruesome accounts Cooper was telling. 

After I read the book, I decided I needed to watch the movie to compare and contrast the two mediums.  I found I liked the movie adaptation much more than I enjoyed the book.  While the movie veers off absolutely from the book, it appealed much more to my 21^st century mind.  Michael Mann (the director) took the plot of the book and made it his own, with a totally flip-flopped ending that I found much more pleasing.  Usually when a movie deviates from the original story I don’t like it, and most books are much better than their film counterparts, but this is one exception (to me at least).  If you’ve seen the movie but not the book (or vice versa) be prepared that the two are sort of the same, but essentially a different story with the same characters involved. 

This is considered a “classic” for a reason.  It depicts (in Cooper’s opinion) early America before the revolution and the relationship between Native American’s and the Europeans taking over the land.  There’s a little bit of history to be learned as some of the events actually did take place, such as the massacre at Fort William Henry and the scalping of Jane McCrea (her story comes much later, but is mentioned in Cooper’s footnotes) and I found I was actually looking up some of these historical events to learn more about them.  So, I guess the book taught me a little bit, which counts for something.  It’s hard to say I didn’t love a “classic”, but I didn’t love this book.  The relationships between all the main characters just weren’t developed enough for my taste.  The story is good (until the end, in my opinion) and the non-stop adventure and action is appealing, but the overuse of haughty language and confusing dialogue was too much for me to ignore.  I give this book a C+ grade, and recommend reading only to those die-hard literature fans that want to broaden their knowledge of early American novelists.  If you’re looking for pure entertainment, just watch the movie with Daniel Day Lewis.

Friday Book Report: Color Me Grey by J.C. Phelps

Published in 2004 by NewPub Binding, Color Me Grey by J.C. Phelps is a fun and humorous tale that chronicles the beginnings of Alexis Stanton’s adventurous new job. 

Alexis Stanton, known as Alex to her friends and family is a twenty-something that didn’t grow up with a normal childhood.  Homeschooled until college, Alex studied various different subjects and turned out to become a well-rounded young woman.  After excelling with general education courses, she studied computers and became a whiz; she practiced martial arts and self-defense, took etiquette classes and became proficient at rock-climbing.  Growing up this way, she became a woman with a desire for adventure and excitement but with little knowledge of the “real world.”  One morning she decides to quit her job as a data processor and look for something more thrilling.  What she finds is an obscure want-ad in the local paper looking for someone with specialized training for an exciting and highly paid position.  Intrigued by this mysterious ad, Alex decides on a whim to apply for the position.  Little did she know what she was really getting herself in to.

I really enjoyed this book.  The premise had me from the first page, and it continued to pull me in all the way through.  Alex Stanton is not your typical female protagonist and I really liked her character.  She grew up in a privileged home, and never had to want for anything.  Her parents let her live in the guest house and she still gets an allowance from Daddy.  Now, most times that sort of spoiled character would annoy me, but I got the opposite reaction from Alex Stanton.  Yes, she grew up in a rich household and still lives off Mommy and Daddy, but I think her naivety of the real world is what sets her apart.  She was homeschooled and didn’t venture into the “real world” until college, and for most of the book she’s still trying to understand who she is and what she wants from life.  That characteristic made her more believable and a lot more likeable.  She may have grown up spoiled, but she has this ignorance about her that me as a reader found endearing.  She grew up learning all kinds of special skills in unusual fields, and while she can come across as cocky in spots, for the most part she’s vulnerable and still has self-doubts.  So while in most ways she’s pretty much perfect, it’s those character flaws that make her character so likeable.

This book reminded me a lot of the television series “Alias” and I loved that series.  It’s probably my most favorite television series of all time, and most likely always will be.  Alex Stanton is a strong and very capable young woman determined to fit in and succeed in a man’s world.  She does not want to fail around all her male co-workers, and I thought that the determination of Alex was an awful lot like the character of Sydney Bristow in “Alias.”  For those unfamiliar with “Alias” (shame on you, you should watch it!) it’s also a lot like “James Bond” for women.  White & Associates (the company Alex applies for) is a private military corporation (PMC), doing reconnaissance and recovery missions for the government that the government cannot claim.  There’s a lot of spy-type action and thrills in this book, but mostly it’s about Alex Stanton and her journey of self-discovery.  She does a lot of this while training for her new job, and she comes away with a new sense of herself, and a few more skills as well.

The only thing I’d really caution another reader on is the first person narrative this book is written in.  It’s all told in Alex’s point of view, and at times it can get a little exhausting reading it this way.  It’s very narrative driven, like she’s writing it down in her journal.  There isn’t much dialogue to be had, and a lot of the sentences are short and concise.  I think Phelps could’ve got more depth out of the other characters if she wrote in the third person, but then again, this is the first book in the series and this story is about Alex, so I can understand it being in her point of view.  There is also a lot of time spent on her training that can get a little dull in spots, and I thought a lot of the sections dealing with her extensive training weren’t needed.  I wished the actual missions were more developed instead.  I felt the last mission was real abrupt and I wanted more depth and explanation than what we got. 

Overall I give this book a B+ grade.  It’s not the best written book in the world, but it’s fun and the character of Alex is great.  Her interaction with all the other men is fun and humorous and I really enjoyed watching her character grow from beginning to the end of this book.  It’s the first in the series, and I look forward to reading more about the adventures of Alex Stanton.  Anyone that enjoys a strong and capable female lead with a little bit of action and adventure mixed in will probably enjoy this book as well. 

Project Basement: Bar

Okay, I know I haven't posted much about our basement progress in a while so I thought I'd update on another "room" that's been completed (mostly).  We've been using the basement quite a lot now that the carpet is in and the television and Dan's computer have moved into their respective rooms, but I never realized how handy it would be to have a little kitchen/bar down here!  We bought a fridge and it's so convenient to have downstairs!  I know the exercise is good for me, but I gotta say that I really enjoy being able to stay downstairs and not have to climb up the stairs everytime I (or Dan, or Josh) wants something to drink. 

I think this took the longest to finish.  All the wordwork and tiling that went into this little area was really time-consuming, but I have to say the overall result was well worth the wait.  Dan did a fabulous job building this from the ground up.  The cabinets were the only thing that was already "pre-built" but Dan still had to install them.  Major props to my man for his work, I helped when I could, but the entire design and layout was all Dan.

Before we got started.

With the drywall in.

As you can see, we didn't have much to start with.  The picture on the right is what the place looked like when we bought the house.  The picture on the left shows the area with the drywall installed.

Once the drywall was in, Dan started laying down the tile.  We wanted to keep things as uniform as possible downstairs, so the tile in the bar is the same that's installed in the bathroom downstairs, too. 

As soon as the tile was layed down and the walls were painted (I did that myself!) it was time to install the cabinets.  These cabinets were the same style as what we've got in the kitchen upstairs -again, going for the uniform look- and I think Dan did a great job putting them up.  I did help lift when needed, but most of the time I just stood back and watched my man work. 



Cutest little bartender ever!

The next step was to put in the backsplash tile and the countertops.  Again, I have to give all the credit to Dan since he did most of this by himself.  I think the backsplash turned out really great and I love the eight little accent pieces we put in (even if Dan grumbled about cutting more tile), it really makes the wall stand out.  We could've gone fancy with granite countertops, but we decided to just go the same route with what we had upstairs.  I figured since we didn't have granite upstairs, we didn't really need it downstairs either.  It would've looked nice, but I don't think the cost was worth it, and it is nice that we've got the same countertops upstairs and downstairs. 

After all the tile and countertops, Dan started working on what the outside of the bar would look like.  I think it turned it so pretty.  It's so simple looking(not quite the right word, but I think you catch my drift) and yet it really flows well with the rest of the room.  I love all the wood, and I think it matches perfectly with the cabinets.  The woodwork really helps to make this area stand out in the room.  I'm really happy with the way the bar turned out. 

Ta-Da!  Our finished (almost) bar!  We (when I say "we" I mean Dan) are still doing work down here, so a lot of the cabinets are holding tools at the moment, and the sink doesn't have running water yet, but all in all this room is done!  Mark it off (sorry, inside family joke)!  My only real complaint is that I wish we had tiled a few feet on the outside of the bar, so when we finally got around to buying some barstools they wouldn't be placed on the carpet.  I'm told that I was asked if I wanted tile on the outside and I said, "no."  Frankly, I don't recall that conversation so it couldn't really have happened...right?  Anyway, if I did say no to that, I wish I hadn't...hindsight I suppose.  I still really like how this turned out, and am totally pleased that I found a handy-man to marry.  I can't imagine all the money we saved by doing just this small area ourselves, but I'm sure it cost us less than half if we would've hired someone to finish it for us.  Now I'm trying to decide what kind of decorations to put in here, but I've got plenty of time for that.  Right now I'm enjoying the super-big fridge and the extra counter space I have (except when it's time to clean it)!  I hope you enjoy seeing all the work and progress we've made as much as I enjoy using this room!

Friday Book Report: Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin

Written by Charles Martin and published in 2008 by Nelson, Thomas, Incorporated; ChasingFireflies is a story about family and searching for the truth.

Seconds before a train crashes into her Impala, a woman; on an apparent suicide run kicks her little boy out of the car.  The boy is found a day later wandering near the tracks with horrific wounds and scars that would suggest a lifetime of chronic abuse.  He can’t remember his name and therefore the mute boy is known to the state as John Doe 117. 

Journalist Chase Walker is sent to write a story about the little boy.  Chase finds that even though the boy is mute, he is far from silent.  An artistic prodigy that excels at chess, the little boy’s life mirrors Chase’s own past and Chase soon realizes he is writing more than just a story about the boy, he wants to help him.  Chase Walker was abandoned as a child.  He grew up in various boys’ homes before finally settling in with a couple he calls Uncle Willee and Aunt Lorna.  Even though Willee and Lorna provide all that Chase could ever need, he still looks down the drive hoping to see his real father come to claim him.

Uncle Willee has led one tragic life.  Director of his father’s bank, he is sentenced to prison after his father and wife are murdered and the townspeople’s bonds are stolen from the bank vault.  Willee has to sell most of his land to cover the cost of the bonds and signs over custody of his young son to the state to keep him safe.  But his young boy is taken at ransom and so Willee must sell more of his land to recover the boy.  The ransom goes foul and Willee’s son is found burned and dead on the courthouse steps.  After a mysterious pardon releases Willee from prison, he marries Lorna and together they become foster parents, taking in the children no one wants and trying to give them the life that Willee was unable to provide for his son.

This is a remarkable story.  I don’t even know how I could begin to describe it.  It’s essentially about a grown man trying to live with the knowledge that his parents abandoned him and that he has no idea what his real name is.  He spends the better part of his life trying to find the truth, trying to find his heritage.  Chase also wants to find the truth about the bank robbery and murders that cost Uncle Willee everything he ever had.  This story is also about love, and how love can fill in the void we all have in our hearts.  Love gives names to the nameless and voices to the voiceless.  When Uncle Willee’s niece Tommye comes back from Los Angeles, Martin shows us how different people deal with adversity and what the after effects are.  Tommye runs away from her demons, she runs all the way to Los Angeles to escape but in doing so she runs right into more bad decisions that could ultimately cost her her life.  Willee doesn’t run, but he never fights back either.  The townspeople mock him, spit on him, hate him for what they think he did and through it all Willee turns the other cheek.  Oftentimes you find yourself shouting, “stand up for yourself Willee!”   The differences between the two are remarkable, but the one similarity is that love brought them back.  Chase and Willee’s love for Tommye brought her back to the girl they once knew.  And Willee’s love for Chase, Lorna, and Tommye kept him from becoming a broken man.

Martin uses a lot of backstory and flashback storytelling to weave this tale.  It sometimes feels jumbled and disjointed, but it all ties together in the end and the backstory gives all the characters depth that otherwise wouldn’t have existed.  His characters are memorable and loveable and you really feel yourself rooting for them.   It’s often frustrating to see just how tragic their lives have been, Martin piles on a lot of sadness in this book.  One of the underlying themes in this book is that life is hard and unfair and it’s how you deal with the bad that makes you who you are.  You take the bad with the good and live in it.  As Willee says, “It’s the bad that lets you know how good the good really is.”   When you do find the really good in life, nothing compares.

I really liked this book.  It’s tragic and heartbreaking with a bittersweet ending, but the overall message is lovely, Martin’s prose is delightful and his likeable characters keep you turning the pages.   This is a book I would read again and again, and I am definitely going to read more of Martins work.  I give this book an A- grade.  This is a wonderful book for fathers and sons to read.  It’s Southern storytelling at its best with baseball, fishing and the story of a bond between a boy and a father-figure that is like nothing else in this world. 

Fizzy Fun

If you're looking for a cheap and fun little experiment for the kiddos to do, you should try this one out.  I saw this on Pinterest and thought we'd give it a whirl.  Most of the items you probably already have in your home and what you don't have won't cost you much more than a dollar to get.  My son loved this little project, and it kept him busy for at least an hour (which is remarkable, considering he usually moves on to some other hairbrained idea after 20 minutes!). 

What you'll need:

Baking Soda
Vinegar
Food coloring
Squeeze bottles or droppers
A pan or dish


Add vinegar and your choice of food coloring to your squeeze bottles (I had the Wilton candy melting squeeze bottles, $1.99 for a two pack at Joann's) or eye droppers.  Pour out a decent amount of baking soda into your pan and let your kid have fun!  It's so simple, and the kids will really love watching the colored vinegar fizz when it hits the baking soda. 

This is definitely a fun project that we will do again.  My son really got a kick out of it, and he was surprisingly neat and not messy all.  Cleanup was a breeze, and the cost of this project is definitely doable.  I probably spent less than $6 for the whole thing (not including the dish since I already had that), and if you already have the stuff on hand you won't spend anything!  My kind of fun kid craft!

Friday Book Report: The Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell

Bernard Cornwell’s novel, The Archer’s Tale is the first book in the “Grail Quest” series, and it begins the journey of young Thomas of Hookton. Thomas was educated at Oxford to become a priest, but his true calling is archery, and he wants nothing more than to become an archer for the English.  Thomas not only has to battle the French during the Hundred Years War, but also his conscience.  Thomas must decide if he wants to be a mere archer in his King’s army or if he will accept the daunting quest of retrieving his family’s legendary heirloom.  This book was published in 2001 by HarperCollins Publishing.

In the spring of 1343, a gang of French raiders ambushes the small English village of Hookton.  The French attackers pillage and plunder the town, taking anything that will fetch a price and kidnapping the women of the town.  Thomas of Hookton, a young and aspiring archer and the bastard son of a priest (yes, a priest) is the only survivor left.  His father’s dying wish is for Thomas to reclaim the legendary lance of St. George that the raiders pilfered from the town.  Thomas promises his father he will return the lance to England and kill the man responsible for the death and destruction of Hookton.  A banner of golden eagles on a blue field and the knowledge that his cousin was amongst the mauraders are the only clues that Thomas has.  So, in 1343 Thomas heads to France to join the English army during the Hundred Years War and during every raid and battle he is constantly looking for that banner with the golden eagles.

Thomas enjoys being an archer in the English army, and after a while he forgets about the lance and his family responsibilities.  He meets and forms an alliance with the French widow Jeannette, the Countess of Armorica when they both discover they have a similar enemy in the English army, a proud and vengeful knight named Sir Simon Jekyll.  After a failed attempt on Jekyll’s life, Thomas and Jeannette must flee the army camp to request the help of Jeannette’s dead husband’s family.  Again they must flee and end up joining the army of Edward, the Prince of Wales.  After a fierce battle and the sacking of Caen, Thomas saves a young French woman from certain rape and death and in turn she saves his life.  And so the real journey begins, the French girl’s father was present during Hookton’s demise and they form an alliance to find the lance and kill the man that has betrayed them both. 

This is one historical fiction novel not for the faint of heart.  It’s bloody, it’s gory and there are vivid descriptions of not just battles and war, but of the aftermath of a 14^th century battle.   It was really tough for me to get through, because some of the scenes were so gruesome, and the women treated so poorly I often felt like I didn’t want to keep reading.  Add to that, that this story doesn’t start to kick into gear until about halfway through, and it was a struggle.  But if you can get through the horrific details, it’s not a bad story.  The battle scenes were some of the most descriptive I’ve ever read, and the plot can be intriguing.  I thought at times Cornwell became too descriptive in his scenes (he spends about 3 pages describing how a 14^th century cannon works) and that took away from the storyline.  Cornwell didn’t have to go into great detail about some things, and other parts he was very vague and non-descript.  Otherwise, I found it was a fairly enjoyable read. 

This book won’t make you think too hard, and it won’t provoke any deeper meanings; but for pure entertainment purposes, anyone that enjoys historical fiction and bloody battles will probably enjoy this book.  Thomas does battle with his conscience throughout the book.  His destiny and the lance of St. George are always in his mind, even though he tries to push past them and just become an archer.  He doesn’t want to accept his destiny, but it won’t seem to go away and certain situations and circumstances in this book always seem to lead him back to where he doesn’t want to be, despite it being the right decision.  This is the first in a series and it sets up Thomas’ journey nicely, while this isn’t typically my type of book I just might read the rest to see how it all turns out.

I give this book a B-.  This isn’t my favorite type of book, but it kept me entertained for the most part.  It started out really slow, and some unnecessary descriptions of scenes and objects took away from the storyline, but overall it’s not badly written.  It’s just very graphically written, and if you do not want to hear about bloody battles and pillaging of towns, then do not read this book.  It’s very unpleasant in parts, much like the 14^th Century was.  If you enjoy the bloodier historical fiction novels, you probably would enjoy this book.  But if you like the lighter side of historical fiction, this isn’t the book for you.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone that celebrates this blessed holiday.  It is truly amazing to know that someone would sacrifice their life for little ol' me.  The priest this morning spoke about celebrating Easter everyday, and remembering everyday what God gave us.  It was a very inspirational sermon and I know I will try and remember what he said and take it to heart.

To kick off our Easter week, we had to color some eggs (of course!).  Joshua had a hard time with patience, and more times than not we had a little hand in the egg dye before the eggs were actually ready.  But, he loved it and despite his blue hands it was a real fun evening spent with my little boy.

On Friday we did a little Easter Egg hunt with some friends.  Unfortunately the weather was been very wet lately, and hunting for eggs outside just wasn't doable.  It was way too wet and muddy for the little kiddos - I'm sure they would've loved it, but the parents not so much - but I think it was still a success.  Luckily we have the basement now, which provided plenty of room for an egg hunt!

Easter Sunday, on our front porch just before heading to church.  I love this boy.  After church we came back home to see what the Easter Bunny brought, and then we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma's for lunch.  Now it is rest and relaxation time.  All in all a very good day!  I hope everyone has a wonderful day and that it's spent with loved ones.  Take care!