Category Archives: Books

October Reading Material: The Vampire Chronicles Continue

prince lestatOne of the items on my bucket list is to read all of Anne Rice’s novels.  I’ve read many, but not all of her works.  When I finally read Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, I started to rethink keeping this wish to read all of her books on my bucket list.  From darkness comes light and if she was going religious on me, I wasn’t going to continue reading her work.

But alas, she decided to return to what made her so famous to begin with…Vampire Lestat has risen from the dead (again).  Mrs. Rice has decided to resurrect her anti-hero, the Vampire Lestat in her new novel, Prince Lestat.

Here’s a little snippet from Barnes & Noble:

The novel opens with the vampire world in crisis…vampires have been proliferating out of control; burnings have commenced all over the world, huge massacres similar to those carried out by Akasha in The Queen of the Damned . . . Old vampires, roused from slumber in the earth are doing the bidding of a Voice commanding that they indiscriminately burn vampire-mavericks in cities from Paris and Mumbai to Hong Kong, Kyoto, and San Francisco.

As the novel moves from present-day New York and the West Coast to ancient Egypt, fourth century Carthage, 14th-century Rome, the Venice of the Renaissance, the worlds and beings of all the Vampire Chronicles—Louis de Pointe du Lac; the eternally young Armand, whose face is that of a Boticelli angel; Mekare and Maharet, Pandora and Flavius; David Talbot, vampire and ultimate fixer from the secret Talamasca; and Marius, the true Child of the Millennia; along with all the other new seductive, supernatural creatures—come together in this large, luxuriant, fiercely ambitious novel to ultimately rise up and seek out who—or what—the Voice is, and to discover the secret of what it desires and why . . .

And, at the book’s center, the seemingly absent, curiously missing hero-wanderer, the dazzling, dangerous rebel-outlaw–the great hope of the Undead, the dazzling Prince Lestat . . .

This being the month for all things spooky and scary, reading any of Anne Rice’s supernatural books will not only make you fall in love with these villains, but they will also make you look at history very differently.  Rice’s re-telling of history through the world of the supernatural is what makes me love her stories so much.

Stuart Townsend as Lestat in Queen of the Damned.
Stuart Townsend as Lestat in Queen of the Damned.

One of my favorite novels by Rice is Memnoch The Devil.  The way she depicted the temptation of Christ made me wonder if perhaps the devil was just misunderstood.  She gave new meaning to the term ‘sympathy for the Devil.’  That book made me look at the Bible very differently.  What if everything about the Devil was just a misunderstanding between God and his angel?  The Bible vilified him, making him out to be the bad guy, when instead all he wanted to do was to help.

If an author can change your way of thinking like this, they would have to be a master at their craft.  Anne Rice is definitely the master of hers.

After reading why the Christ the Lord years happened (she was close to death on several occasions and turned to religion during that time), and then why she turned away from Christianity afterward, I forgave her for the Christ the Lord years.  Those years were the years she needed to know something bigger than all of us was looking out for her.  We all find ourselves in those moments in our lives.  The Christ the Lord years were just the years when she needed God.

When you look at the progression of her work, you realize that the books she placed before us were just a reflection of her own world at that time.  It was about her own spiritual growth, it was about dealing with the death of her child.  You begin to see that these books are not just supernatural chronicles, they’re a chronicle of the things she was going through in life.

Even in Memnoch, she was grappling with the duality of good and evil.  That perhaps, the way religion is taught to us is a lie.  The Devil was and still is an angel.  What if his whole story was just a lie?  What if he was only trying to help, not deceive?

These are questions she posed to the reader.  She made you re-think how you viewed the world.  Instead of going on what religion tells you is the truth, what if there was another truth?  That was the whole purpose of Memnoch.  What if there was another truth?  It was her way of making you re-evaluate how you perceive life, God, and the world, that makes me believe that, like the gothic novelists before her, her works will be celebrated and adored centuries after we’re gone.  Why?  Because you’re a different person after you read her work.  She awakens your mind to question what you believe and take on the possibility that what you believe may not necessarily be true.

It’s understanding that, you begin to realize there are always other truths.  You will never know which truth is the real truth.  Every story has many different sides.  You can’t just listen to one and consider it the only truth.  You have to hear all sides.  Even when you hear all sides, you’re not always going to come up with one singular truth.  You begin to see that the duality between good and evil is really not a duality.  It’s just a misunderstanding of what is good.

While I’m only in the sixth book in The Vampire Chronicles (The Vampire Armand) out of 11, I will definitely be purchasing Prince Lestat to add to my library.  The Vampire Chronicles are worth spending time enjoying.  It may not scare you, but the stories will stay with you.  I’m glad to see Lestat is back.  I didn’t start to love him until The Tale of the Body Thief.  To see that he lives to see another novel, this, indeed, makes me happy.

The book is due to be released on October 28.

UPDATE: Just a few minutes after posting this, Anne Rice tweeted that her first book signing for Prince Lestat will be on 10/28 in NYC at 192 Books.  You must purchase the book through 192 Books in order to attend the event. DETAILS.  Space is limited {I have my order in for the event!}.

Labor Day Reading Material

It’s the final days of summer.  With only 3 days remaining before we officially kick start our autumn mentality, here are a few books worth picking up during your last few days of relaxation.

Half-Broke Horses

half broke horsesI’m not a lover of Westerns, but imagine looking at it through the eyes of a woman.  Then imagine being one of those women who lived every single adventure you can ever imagine.  Cowgirl.  Pilot.  Horse Jockey.  Teacher.  Wife.  Mother.  Ranch Caretaker.  Gunslinger.  Gangster selling booze during prohibition.  Gambler that’s better at poker than the rest of the gunslingers at the table.

This was the life of Jeanette Walls’ grandmother.  Her story is a great story, especially for women.  It’s inspiring to read because you begin to realize what it takes to live every dream you can dream for yourself.

Imagine being a 15 year old girl traveling 500 miles on horseback to teach at a schoolhouse then seeing a plane fly overhead and think to yourself, “Some day I’m going to fly a plane.”  She actually went out and did just that.  She was more than just a teacher or a girl living on a ranch.  She was a tough, courageous woman who had no fear of living every dream she could think of for herself.

That is what is so inspiring about the story.  She had no fear of living her dreams.  When the opportunity presented itself, she grabbed it by the horns and rode it out…just like these half-broke horses that came into the ranch.

It’s a quick read.  I finished it in less than two days.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

a tree grows in brooklynIf you’re interested in reading a classic, I highly recommend this book about a girl coming of age in Brooklyn, New York.  This is the book that really got me started on trying to live more simply at home and started my de-cluttering campaign.  It made me re-think being absorbed in consumerism, and learning to cut back and be more of a minimalist (I thought about it, it didn’t fully shape into being).

I really loved this story, as well as did everyone in my book club.  In this recession, it’s good to read about stories of harder times.  If we think we had it bad, our grandparents had it worse back during the Depression era.  But the thing is…they survived on the bare minimum.  That’s what so intriguing about the book.

This story is about how one family survived in poverty before, during and after the Great Depression era.  It’s a story you will never forget.  It’s also a story you will enjoy immensely.

The Golem and the Jinni

Golem_and_the_Jinni_book_coverSpeaking of New York stories, this story is about two cultures: the Jewish and the Syrian culture.  One tale is about the Golem and how she comes about living in New York City, another tale is about a Jinni that finds himself in a different time in the shop of a tinsmith in another neighborhood of New York City.  This story is about how to very magical creatures collide and try to survive without anyone (but a few people) know about their true nature.

All of this comes to a head when a very evil man decides to use them for his own evil purposes.  This story is about correcting the wrongs of the past, and learning to live when you are just so different from everyone else.

This was a great read, especially in understanding two very different cultures and watching them collide in this great city called New York City.

 Cloud Atlas

cloudatlasI have a new favorite author and his name is David Mitchell.  I saw the movie and read the book.  As always, the book was way better than the movie, because it goes into more detail.  What I loved about the story is that it really made me think of the various lives we live and how it is always in a constant state of repeat in each lifetime.  The people we meet all have a meaning in our lives.  We may play our roles differently in each lifetime, but the end result is always the same.

OR is it?

Then again, it makes us ask ourselves what our roles are in each lifetime and our own purpose to the grand design.  Sidney Poitier talks about this in his books, how each generation is meant to mean something greater in further generations.  Each generation is setting the tone for what is to come.  Each generation plans and prepares and creates the backdrop to the greater story.  Each story leaves its clues for future generations, even if it is for the same set of souls that are repeating the same story line again and again.

The book is amazing and will really get you to think about your own purpose to the story we’re living.

A Winter’s Tale

a winter's taleSpeaking of purposes in life and our timing…Mark Helprin brings one of his greatest stories he’s ever written…”A Winter’s Tale.”  This book is also a movie starring Colin Farrell and Russell Crowe (with a surprise appearance from Will Smith).  If you want to know if you should pick up the book, see the movie first.  There are elements in the movie that made me want to dive further into the story…mainly because it was about destiny.

What if your purpose was to save someone, but it wasn’t the person you thought you were supposed to save?  You meet your one great love, a person you were destined to love, only to lose all of your memories, walk through this lifetime with no recollection of who or what you are, just to save one soul.  That is the story of Peter Lake, except his journey is a bit more on the magical side.

With angels and demons trying to help or thwart his progress, as is the struggle with all humankind when they are chasing after their destiny, we go through this tale of adventure with Peter Lake as he discovers love, friendship, fear, loss, and love far greater than he could ever imagine.

And yes, the irony here is that the story takes place in New York City, too!

What can I say?  Some of the best stories come from my fine city. 🙂

Happy reading this weekend and have a safe, wonderful end of the summer Labor Day Weekend!

The Right Book of Art

booksCoffee table books, especially large books of art, are never cheap.  Finding the right one for your home when there are so many to choose from may seem a little daunting at first.  Then when you’re at the bookstore and find just the right book, it’s either too big to carry home or the price tag doesn’t match your budget.

In the picture, you can see the large Manet and the Tissot.  In the background, there’s a Bernini and Rubens.  What you don’t see is the big book from the Louvre, another on Italian architecture and another on Flemish music.  Either I have a love for large books or I found them on sale.

Trust me, it was the latter.  My library has seasonal book sales where people in the community donate books they don’t want (including the area schools).  I picked up all of these art books for $2 each.   It was just luck that I happened by when they were unloading so many art books.

I picked up books from my favorite artists, and artists I wanted to know more about, like Bernini and Tissot.  I chose books that had large illustrations, but also had plenty of details in the narrative where I could learn more about the artists.

Out of all books I’ve found on artists, this book is my favorite from David Sylvester on Magritte: Magritte: The silence of the world.  I loved it so much the first time I saw it, I didn’t return it to the library until it was 6 months overdue.  I couldn’t justify spending $100 on one of my own.  Luckily, it went down to $30 (guess what I’m getting for my birthday), because there is a newer version (published in 2010): Magritte

 

Finding the right book is all about what you want to take from the story of the artist.  Does his work speak to you?  Does the artist’s story speak to you?

The reason why Magritte’s book was very meaningful to me all surrounded the story of the artist and why he chooses to hide the face of the subject in his paintings.  His story brinks on the form of madness, the loss of someone he loved, and disconnection.

I’ll spoil the story for you…Magritte’s mother committed suicide when he was a child.  She drowned herself.  When they pulled her out of the water, her nightgown was over her head.  That’s how Rene Magritte saw his dead mother.  That’s why he paints faces like that.

After having lost someone dear to me, I understood Magritte’s loss and how, at times, it can force you to the brink of madness…the memories.  I think, for myself, I related to Magritte because someone I loved had committed suicide when I was younger.  I understood how he felt and I could see his loss in his paintings.  I could feel that same sorrow, but I also saw the great beauty and bigger understanding of the universe as a whole in his paintings.

Discovering an artist you can relate to and finding the right book that tells the story in a way that moves you, THAT is the right art book for you.  Many of the art books I own are both decorative and they also help me to learn more about the artist.

Magritte’s story by David Alexander is told so well…like I said, I had a hard time parting with the book.  You may think I had a hard time parting with the book because I love Magritte’s work…that’s not true at all.  I actually don’t like his work at all.  His artwork haunts me.  To me, his artwork is my definition of insanity, but at the same time, his artwork is like a ball of memories for me…and yes, that ball is a symbolism in his artwork.

Find an artist that speaks to you in ways you can’t even imagine, like Magritte speaks to me.  His work comes from a very dark place in the psyche.  For those who have lost someone they loved to suicide, his work explains things that cannot be explained with words.

There are plenty of artists and books out there that help people to heal.  Magritte was my way of healing and understanding.  For the next phase in my life, who knows what artist’s story will define me and my life.  When I discover that book, it will be when I need it the most.

 

 

Weekend Reading: Normandy, France & D-Day

ddayToday we remember D-Day. June 6, 1944. Seventy years ago today, the end of World War II began in the Battle of Normandy.  By late August 1944, the Allies were able to liberate Western Europe from the control of Nazi Germany.

My grandfather used to tell me stories of D-Day.  He was in France at the time (as a soldier), but did not participate in the raid.  What he brought back from that moment were French stamps and coins, including Nazi money.

These were items that were passed down to me.  Each time I touch these relics, I think of what my family was feeling during that time period.  I think about that moment in time and how many lives were lost.  I think of the state of the world during that time.

For those who don’t know the story of D-Day, go down memory lane with The History Channel as they tell the story of long ago.

Also of Interest

I just came across this beautiful blog today written by a woman in Normandy, France.  The pictures and stories are of a life lived.  Very beautifully done: My French Country Home.

Response to The Case of A*

I received this letter (hand-delivered) through someone that had read my blog post about “The Case of A*.” I was really surprised to read this letter (or to have received it).

It brought a tear to my eye. I just pray that poor A* will get the help he really needs in the justice system before he takes a step in the wrong direction.

Response to The Case of A*




I will admit that I was surprised that an inmate in a prison would respond to the original post. I think it was a fear for A* and his future, that he might some day wind up in prison, too.

Of all the twists and turns in this case, you can only pray that this child will grow up to fight the odds and become an outstanding person in his community and in his own pursuits and endeavors.

Will exposure to his mother cause him more harm? Will it cause irreparable harm? Or will his mother turn out to be a better human being and actually take very good care of her son for once?

Only time will tell. If anything, I hope he knows that there are people that care about him and love him very much. Even if his circumstances change, he has a father, aunts, uncles and cousins, even friends of the family that all care about him and love him very much.

He’s always been such a beautiful, loving and caring soul. These struggles he has in his life now are only supposed to make him stronger. He has the capacity to do something amazing for someone else in his life, no matter what happens to him. I just pray that his mind and emotions don’t become so damaged that he’ll make all the wrong decisions because he feels the world failed him.




The Case of A*

The Case of AThere is a family court case I’ve been following for the past year. This case goes all the way back to the time A* was 2 years old. He is now 11 years old.

His parents never married, but they have been in a constant custody battle for the past 9 (going on 10) years.

The trial finally arrived this week…and what came out of it has left me in complete shock.

I’d like to go over a few things that came up in this case that has me scratching my head and thinking…so this is what NY State has to say is the correct way to parent a child?

1. The father is a very caring man. Loves his son…he would give the world for his son. He’s been going full force into this battle for his son because his son asked him to.

He pays for all expenses his son incurs. Pays for schooling, sports, activities, dental, health, clothes, etc.

He really goes all out to take care of his son.

He and his family make sure to give A* the best life possible. They are a loving and caring family.


2. The mother has been a party girl her entire life. She’s a drunk, was drunk the majority of the time during her pregnancy.

She recently got drunk and told A* when she stumbled into the apartment that she was going to put a hit out on him and have him killed.

She’s hit him with knives. On numerous occassions, she’s told her son how much she hates him. She hits him all of the time. Degrades him all of the time and makes her son contemplate killing himself (he’s already been known to hurt himself purposely by ramming his own head into the wall).

3. A* says he wants to live with his father. He hates his mother. He talks about how he wants to kill both the mother and his step-father.

He tells his father he loves him all of the time. He’s a sweet kid with a pure heart that is kind to everyone. He’s more like his father and is a very loving child.

But when the subject of his mother comes up, you can see the child change into an angry child filled with hate and disappointment towards his mother.

His mother told him that if he didn’t lie to the Court and tell the Court that his father was a bad father, then she would have his father killed. So naturally, the child fearing for his father’s life…LIED to the Court…and then later confessed that the reason why he lied was because his mother said she would have his father killed if he didn’t.

4. The court’s decision in the matter…

The father is a bad father. There is something wrong with a child hugging his parent and telling him that he loves him all of the time.

The father is wrong to place the child into sports or take him to get his teeth done.

The mother’s drunkenness and threats to have the son killed along with hitting the child with a knife has been overlooked.

The bad parent is the FATHER according to the Court and the mother is raising the child the way the child should be raised.


CONCLUSION. Am I wrong in thinking that something is wrong with this situation?

The mother is being rewarded and being told that her method of parenting is the correct way, while the father’s method was wrong.

The father is being ripped of his custodial rights over the child. The court has refused him entry saying that he is a scumbag.

When the child was first taken away from him, he acted like any normal parent would act…out of anger on the verge of insanity that his child was taken from him. His child is his world. Any normal person would have the same reaction. You see it in the animal kingdom as well. The parent will go after whoever has taken their child away.

His son was handed over to a woman who is a drunk and threatens the son with death all of the time.

Am I wrong in thinking that the Court is wrong? The Court has decided that the bad parenting is the good parenting and the good parenting is the bad parenting.

Or is this a child that has slipped through the system that no one really cares about?

A*’s friends talk about how suicidal the child has been after he was stripped of all rights to see his father. He’s hurt himself continuously because of it.

The interests of the child are non-existent. What this court case is really about…the mother and the father.

The mother is punishing the father for leaving her. That’s what this court case is really about…and A* is caught in the middle.

For many years, the mother was absent in the child’s life. During the summer when he was out of school and all vacations, she willingly sent him to his father because she wanted nothing to do with the child.

She ran out on the child when he was just a few days old. That left the child in the hands of the father…that is why the child bonded so well with the father and not the mother. Those first few days are the most precious days of bonding for the parents. If it is gone, it cannot be repaired.

Then she came back months later (the drunk that she was) wanting back in…and then she kidnapped the child stating that if the father wanted to see him again then he had to marry her.

Well, marriage wasn’t forthcoming, but she moved in.


The real reason why this has gone on for so long is because the mother is in love with the father, but based on everything that’s happened, the father of the child has no interest in the mother. Because she knows that, she is trying to make his life a living hell and destroy him because she did not get what she wanted out of him…his love.

Sure, this could end up as a book someday, but all of this is a true story.

And the Court has given the mother full custody and told the father to give up because he is a scumbag that should not be allowed anywhere near his son ever again.

Did I miss something in all of this? How is it that the mother that didn’t give a rat’s ass about her son (still doesn’t) is being awarded her meal ticket and the father is being accused of being the scum of the earth?

Is it not okay to love your children?

Is it okay to be a drunk that threatens to have your son killed?

Is it not okay to nurture and care for your children, put them up in the best schools, go to their after school activities, place them in after school activities (sports, etc.)?

Is it okay to beat your children?

Is it not okay to take your child to the dentist to have their teeth fixed?

Is it okay to demean your kids continuously?

I don’t think I got the memo that good=bad and bad=good. But apparently the NY court system believes that bad parenting is good parenting.

This is yet another child lost in the system that will end up on the front pages of the papers when either his mother kills him or he commits suicide.



The Greatest Love Stories

love_in_the_time_of_cholera_wallpaper_6_800Ok, everybody..don’t kill me for asking this, but I need some help with a summer project I’m working on.

I’ve enlisted a couple of friends to help me, but I thought I would see if by posting something this would get more responses.

I was Googling the ‘greatest love stories of all time’ and came back with ‘Wuthering Heights’ as number one. Of course, I’m sitting there thinking…WHAT? That’s got to be the absolute worst book of all time. I wouldn’t even call it a love story. Love turning into evil…that’s not a true love story. Why in the world would some great library say that love turning into evil is the greatest love story of all time?

Forget Romeo and Juliet.


Perhaps some guy thought ‘Wuthering Heights’ up just because he was obsessed with some chick that turned into a bad ending…and that’s why it hit #1 on the list.

So I’m not using ‘Wuthering Heights’ as a model this summer…thank you very much.

Let me explain what I’m looking for in this project…

I am looking for the most inspiring love stories in book or movie format…especially stories that talk about FATE/DESTINY. “Serendipity” with John Cusack is a good example for the movie category.

I’m starting on “Love in the Time of Cholera” later this week when I finish “Dreamers of the Day” (a historical novel based in 1918-1921 about the days of Lawrence of Arabia and Winston Churchill).

What books/movies inspired you and made you think that love was worth it all? Or books/movies that made you sigh thinking…WOW…

You can post the comment here or email me at: msmichellekenneth@yahoo.com.

And guys…come on, there’s got to be a good one out there for you. My brother swears by “Notting Hill.” Well, at least the soundtrack. 😉 And right after I wrote that…my brother calls me to ask me if he sounds like he’s high when he talks on the phone. Brothers…




The Septembers of Shiraz

septembers of shirazI just finished reading “The Septembers of Shiraz” by Dalia Sofer. It really made me think a lot about religion, privileges and circumstances.

I’ve learned over the past few years that it is difficult to be friends with people that are not in the same class as you financially. The main reason has a lot to do with how money makes others feel.

For those who have abundance and can buy their own freedom, they can’t trust those who do not have these same privileges. Why? Because the green eyed monster can take its toll. In places like Iran (where the setting in this book takes place) where the mullahs rule, having abundance is looked down upon.

They will rob a man who worked hard to have the finer things in life. They will say that they have a right to those things. They take from others what they did not earn. They justify their thievery by saying that someone who worked hard for those things did not deserve them.

The thing is, we see this everywhere. People who are less fortunate blaming those who are fortunate and worked hard. That’s not to say that everyone doesn’t work hard. It’s just sometimes people think that people that are more fortunate didn’t earn it or work hard for it. We all do…but the type of labor performed is different in every circumstance.

Some people work 18 hour days and even though they have a family, they are married to their work moreso than to their own families. They miss out on that treasure because they’ve determined that providing for them was more important then nurturing them.


Others make their family their priority, and in some people’s eyes, that makes that family the richest family around. Some people can’t have a family, so seeing a couple with a few kids running around will make them a little bit jealous.

What one man’s fortune is can be different for the next man. It doesn’t always involve money. Being fortunate requires a lot of work in life (no matter how it’s performed). We oftentimes give up one thing so that we can have another thing.

I gave up the thoughts of getting married and having a family of my own because I was more fortunate in my career. I’m already well aware that if I were to have a family I would have to choose whether to give up my career or let my children be raised by nannies. With the way my life has been going, it’s better to just forego making that decision and continue doing what I’m doing…that is until God changes my circumstances.

A lot of people assume I’ve always had money. The truth is…there was a time when I had to hit rock bottom in life and try to be the starving artist in order to realize what it was I wanted out of life. I remember how my diet consisted of chicken broth (which ironically is still the case but that’s due to different circumstances).

During that time, I didn’t have a choice…I could only afford chicken broth. Now, it is a choice.

I always like to remind myself of where I came from and how I rose above those circumstances to be where I am today. I was fortunate in my path in life. But this is my path. It is not meant to be traveled upon by anyone else but me.

We make choices as we go along this path in life. We have a choice of suffering or letting go of the suffering and realizing that we don’t have to suffer in life. We are in charge of our own life and the choices we ultimately make.  Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist” is a great example of this.

When people allow jealousy in to dictate how they will treat the next person…it’s not right. Shakespeare did not call it the green eyed monster for nothing! Jealousy is a monster. It changes people. It makes them bitter, evil and mean. It does not serve anyone any good to be jealous. It only promotes more hate in the world.

The “Septembers of Shiraz” really made me think a lot about life and our circumstances. It’s not just a story of a Jew that is thrown in prison by mullahs in Iran. It has a lot of deep meaning to it.

It also really made me dislike religions even more. It’s just amazing how much hate is spread if you believe differently then the next person. To be ridiculed, tortured and forced to believe in something you don’t is to me…absolutely STUPID. Can’t we all just get along?

You believe how you want to believe. I’ll believe how I want to believe. The only thing we can agree on…is just being neighborly. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.