Sitting Practice

Book: Sitting Practice
Author: Caroline Adderson

Grade: C-

Young love. Paralyzing accident. Twisted familial relations. Infidelity and theft......

If this strikes you as an overload of emotionally wrought topics for a single novel, you would unfortunately be correct. "Sitting Practice" is the story of a young newlywed couple dealing with the aftermath of devastating car accident that left the female protagonist (Iliana) wheelchair bound.

Adderson does a phenomenal (if at times, hard to follow) job of vividly chronicling the way one event can rip through the thread that binds our lives together and what happens without that thread to keep everything in its place.

Ross (the male protagonist) moves his paralyzed wife out to country to lead a more austere life owning a bakery. His mentally unstable sister and her son follow suit since she would be incapable of functioning without her brother's help. Slowly, if barely noticeably, the once passionate love between Ross and Iliana turns into a familiarly platonic co-existence. Iliana, feeling neglected sexually, turns to the village rebel (quite stereotypically described) for the loving that she so desperately craves. In the midst of this mayhem, Ross's sister stages a half-assed suicide attempt mainly designed to add another chapter or two to this book (as far as I can tell). Ross finds out about the affair. Big fight between him and the rebel adulterer. Ross and Iliana reconcile and finally make love for the first time. The sister seems to get her shit together - but my confidence in that lasting is slim to none.

Overall.... an interesting read - when your not scratching your head going "wait, what just happened." If you can get to the end without getting lost it ends in a sweet if not memorable manner.

Hurry Down Sunshine

Book: Hurry Down Sunshine: A Father's Story of Love and Madness
Author: Micheal Greenberg

Grade: B+

A harrowing account of a father's journey into the depths of his daughter's psychosis. "Hurry Down Sunshine" delves into a dark underworld that few are forced to navigate. Beginning with his daughter's first psychotic break at age 15, "Hurry Down Sunshine" movingly takes the reader through the stages of a parent's coming to terms with a child's sickness. What moves this book from interesting into beautiful is the weaving of all the lives upended by this illness into one moving storyline. Greenberg does an incredible job at adeptly relating the ripple effect invariably created in these situations. Mental illness could be described as a tornado roaring through the lives of everyone in it's immediate vicinity and Greenberg powerfully relays his experience with this. Watching Greenberg move from blaming himself, to blaming those around him and the environment before coming to peace with the fact that this is a chemical imbalance (stemming from no one's shortcomings) is fascinating. At it's core,

"Hurry Down Sunshine" is the story of a family almost torn apart by the incredibly destructive force of mental illness before learning how to start putting their lives back together, piece by piece.

I was riveted from beginning to end. This should be required reading for parents and family members of those who are suffering at the hands of mental illness. I know i will recommend this to all those I care for in my life.

Stones to Schools

Book: Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan
Author: Greg Mortenson

Grade: A

Mortenson's follow up to his bestseller "Three Cups of Tea" chronicles his continued work in the most remote and dangerous areas of the world. Mortenson (and his multicultural team of unlikely accomplices -affectionately called the Dirty Dozen) fight terrorism by building schools deep inside these villages. Its not enough to simply drop supplies from a helicopter- most of which never actually wind up in the hands of those most in need. Mortenson demonstrates how much farther we can get by building regional literacy - especially among girls.

The highlights for me were the descriptions of him building local ties with the locals. He quickly realizes that the most effective method to accomplishing the goal of completing a new school in every village (the more remote, the better) is forging relationships with the people of these areas and asking them what they need - rather than prancing in as an almighty American promising help but only in the ways they see fit. The respect that grows between local religious leaders, farmers, porters and Mortenson is nothing short of inspiring and was by far the most interesting parts of the story. Mortenson is, at various stages of the story, kidnapped, on the verge of starvation or crashing from exhaustion. By the end of each chapter, I found myself feeling like I'd just gone on the exhausting yet exhilarating journey right along with Greg. When setbacks occurred, I suffered the disappointment right along with him also. And finally as the project gets completed and the book ends - I find myself elated and humbled by the victory.

The group of Afghans and Pakistanis that work side by side with Greg -and continue his work on the ground when Mortenson had to travel back to the US - were some of the most inspiring people I've ever heard about. Following these characters was one of the most enjoyably interesting parts of the book. They put a human face to a people of the world whom we tend to unanimously write off as religious extremists at best and violent terrorists at worst. Glimpsing into the day to day lives of these folks was fascinating while restoring my faith in the humanity of the world. This book should be required reading for military and counterintelligence personnel - it already is in some troops and offices.

The explanations of the origins and rituals of the religions of these regions was non biased in its display of normalcy of their religious practices. These beliefs are the guiding force for good for the majority of these nations - those who use these beliefs as justification for terrorism are the minority and I walked away with a deep respect for them.

Overall the book was an incredible look into a part of the world you normal get little access to. I literally had to force myself to put it down sometimes - I could keep reading nonstop until the last word -but at over 300 pages that would be next to impossible. I look forward to continue to follow the works of Greg Mortenson.....