NIGHT NAVIGATION by Ginnah Howard

Ginnah Howard’s NIGHT NAVIGATION is a powerful and unflinching novel about drug addiction and mental illness. It is beautifully written in a terse and spare style that is both rich and evocative. The narrative reminded me of the music of Erik Satie or the pizzicato violin in the andante movement of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto. The writing is that beautiful and melodic. It made me rise out of myself into the world that Ms. Howard has created.

November 11, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , , ,  Â· Posted in: Contemporary, Debut Novel, Family Matters, NE & New York

LOWBOY by John Wray

This is a brilliant book, a masterpiece. Because LOWBOY has the ability to bring about such intense emotional reactions and is so riveting, writing an adequate review of it is very difficult. It is like trying to describe why I get goose bumps when I listen to my favorite symphony played by the greatest orchestra or trying to describe why I felt the way I did when I first saw Botticelli’s paintings at the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy.

November 11, 2009 · Judi Clark · One Comment
Tags: , ,  Â· Posted in: 2009 Favorites, Contemporary, Literary, Unique Narrative

SOME THINGS THAT MEANT THE WORLD TO ME by Joshua Mohr

SOME THINGS THAT MEANT THE WORLD TO ME: What a wonderful book this is. As a clinical social worker and marriage and family therapist, I was very impressed with the clinically accurate portrayal of Rhonda, the protagonist. Rhonda is a 30-year-old man who suffers from depersonalization disorder which is one of the more severe symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is virtually always caused by extreme childhood abuse. When someone suffers from depersonalization, they can go into what is considered a fugue state or see themselves or parts of their body as “other.” As part of his disorder, and also as an homage to his resiliency, Rhonda has an inner child that accompanies him from time to time. He calls this child “Little Rhonda.” He also has an older Rhonda as a friend. She is nurturing and loving towards him and he calls her “Old Lady Rhonda.” Both of these Rhondas help him come to terms with his present life in relation to the trauma he’s suffered in the past.

October 15, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: 2009 Favorites, California, Contemporary, Debut Novel, Family Matters, US Southwest

SAVING SAMMY: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD by Beth Alison Maloney

Are your kids healthy and happy? If so, you are way ahead of the game. Just ask Beth Alison Maloney, whose son, Sammy, came down with a mysterious malady at the age of twelve. He started yelling at the treetops and the squirrels, refused to go into bed at night, could not enter or exit through the front door of his home, and did not allow anyone to touch him…

September 22, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , , ,  Â· Posted in: NE & New York, Non-fiction

NATURAL ELEMENTS by Richard Mason

NATURAL ELEMENTS is the present-day story of Joan McAllister, a woman in her seventies, whose forty-something daughter, Eloise (also McAllister), gently but firmly deposits her in an elegant nursing home called The Albany. Before they return to London to accomplish this move, the two take a trip to South Africa, home of Joan’s ancestors. Eloise, a high-powered investment fund manager, returns to England prematurely on a business emergency, leaving her mother to sort through some family history on her own.

September 14, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , ,  Â· Posted in: Facing History, Literary, South Africa, World Lit

TROUBLE by Kate Christensen

Josie is in trouble, much more trouble than she’d ever imagined. She’s in the kind of trouble that eats you up from the inside out, not the kind where you worry about being harmed by outsiders. She is also feeling a sense of sexual freedom and wanting to explore these feelings. This book is best read in a cool place with the air conditioning on – no tight bodices and no long sleeves!

September 5, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , ,  Â· Posted in: Contemporary, Literary, Mexico, Reading Guide, y Award Winning Author