Heart Berries

 Heart Berries: a memoir
By Terese Marie Mailhot
Counterpoint, 2018. 142 pgs. Nonfiction

Mailhot's memoir is a scattered, but poetic story of her upbringing on the Seabird Island Indian reservation. Most of the book you can tell is written during Mailhot's stay at a psychiatric hospital. She willingly checked herself in after attempting to take her life, as long as she could write in a notebook she brought and could be home soon enough to see her son for Christmas. She writes about her experiences as a Native woman that is making her way in school, relationships, and society controlled by white people.

The story is not linear, and jumps around from her painful abusive past to a raw emotional letter written to a lover. She opens up about her most deep desires, and honestly owns up to her deepest desires and what makes up who she is. 

Following Mailhot's narrative over audio format was good, but sometimes difficult to follow if she quickly changed subjects. However, the poetic aspect was greatly enhanced by listening to this. The way her stories are portrayed and thoughts on her mother are beautiful. It feels like you are reading a journal, making it a deep and personal memoir. 

MM

The Great Glass Sea

 The Great Glass Sea     
By Josh Weil
Grove Press, 2014. 474 pgs. Science Fiction                   

This is a story about twins, Yarik and Dima. They grow up living on their uncle’s farm after the death of their father, the boys once spent their days helping farmers in collective fields, their nights dreaming about their uncle's mythical tales. Years later, the two men labor side by side at the Oranzheria, a sea of glass—the largest greenhouse in the world—that sprawls over acres of cropland. Lit by space mirrors orbiting above, it ensnares the denizens of Petroplavilsk in perpetual daylight and constant productivity, leaving the twins with only work in common—stalwart Yarik married with children, oppressed by the burden of responsibility; dreamer Dima living alone with his mother and rooster, continually dreams of going back to the simple life on their uncle's farm land. 

After witnessing an encounter with the Oranzerhia’s billionaire, their lives change forever as they are forced to take different shifts from each other. Yarik, works the day shift and starts his ascent in the company getting promotion after promotion, while Dima drifts into a laborless life of bare subsistence working the night shift. 

Although it felt a little long at times, I really enjoyed this book. When I read the description, and saw the pictures I did expect this to lean more toward fantasy, but it is definitely all science fiction. I loved reading Weil's writing style. His beautiful descriptive words in combination of using a high number of Russian vocabulary throughout draws you fully into the Russian scenery and culture. The story he presents is great at capturing the spirit of the Russian family, and the tragedy of transitioning political ideals drawing them apart from their simple life on the "dacha". 

MM

Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success

Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success
By Rory Vaden
Perigee Book, 2012. 212 pgs. Nonfiction

Rory Vaden is an incredibly successful person, and motivational speaker. In this quick read on self management, he answers the question of how to be successful in 7 steps: sacrifice, commitment, focus, integrity, schedule, faith, and action. What you will find in common with all Rory's principles is that there is nothing truly magical about them. He says it all in the title "taking the stairs" rather than "riding an escalator" metaphorically speaking is how we can change and become successful people.

If you really enjoyed The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  you will like reading this. I felt a lack of motivation recently in school, and this reminded me that I should make choices that stretch me. The only way to have it all pay off is to put in the time and dedication. This books sparks motivation as well through Rory's personal experiences that have shaped his character. When you read about him you realize he is not privileged in any way, but has achieved great things by not taking any short cuts.

MM

Lilac Girls

Lilac Girls
By Martha Hall Kelly
New York: Ballantine Books, 2016. 487 pgs. Fiction

This World War II historical fiction is about three women, whose lives will come together as a result of the war. There is Caroline Ferriday who works with aiding orphanages in France, Kasia Kuzmerick a Polish prisoner  at the Ravensbruck concentration camp, and Herta Oberheuser a doctor at Ravensbruck. Although this is a fiction book it is based on the true of the prisoners of Ravensbruck.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was powerful in helping me to understand the trauma that happened to these particular prisoners at Ravensbruck. Throughout the book I did not understand how Caroline's story fit in with the other two narratives, but Kelly did a great job at pulling the story together at the end. Martha Hall Kelly's website provides some great sources that helped in writing the book, which I read through in-depth wanting to know more about these stories of World War II.

MM

The Girl With the Red Balloon

The Girl With the Red Balloon
by Katherine Locke
Albert Whitman & Company, 2017, 277 pages, fiction

Ellie’s class trip to Germany is supposed to be a fun adventure, but she is having some conflicting feelings since her grandfather, a holocaust survivor, did not want her to come. When visiting the Berlin Wall she sees a red balloon, unattended, and decides to get a photograph with it. Her grandfather, often talks of the girl with a red balloon that saved him from a terrible fate.

As soon as Ellie touches the balloon, she finds herself in East Berlin 18 months before the Berlin Wall will come down. She is found by Kai, a young Romani man who works for a secret organization that smuggles people over the Wall by using magic red balloons. Reluctant at first she has no choice, but to trust him or risk being caught by the German police.

Ellie, Kai, and Kai’s work partner, Mitzi, soon discover that someone is breaking the magic laws in their rescue society to attempt time travel, and people are dying as a result. They need to find out who is behind it. Throughout Ellie’s time in East Germany, accounts of her grandfather’s experience in a Polish Ghetto are weaved throughout the book.

This book was wonderful. All the characters were well developed, and it was fun to mix magic and science fiction in with a historical fiction. Locke did her research and made sure to touch on the difficulties experienced in East Berlin, and the types of circumstances that would lead to someone risking their life to escape to West Germany. She also includes the quiet ways that people rebel and resist the oppression in the East.

MM