I'd have taken out your heart of flesh and put in one of stone.

When Paul Iverson got a call at his office at the University that his wife was found dead he was beside himself. Lexi had fallen from a tree and the death was ruled accidental. The only witness was the couples dog Lorelai.

Paul spent the months after her death climbing through the fog of grief and trying to make sense of the world. We believes there has to be some kind of explanation, something more than 'she had an accident'. A few key factors stuck out to him in those days of investigating; 1. the books of the bookshelf were rearranged 2. An entire cut of steak was cooked and eaten without any evidence of utensils and 3. a mysterious, very expensive phone call was made just days before the accident in the middle of the night.

Paul decides to rely on his academic background of linguistic studies to try and make sense of all of this. He decides to get the only witness to the accident to tell him what happened, he is going to teach Lorelai to talk.

The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst is a witty, interesting and encompassing look into life, marriage, dogs and honesty. This book is a page by page surprise with compelling narratives that keep the story and the pages moving swiftly. You find yourself discovery who Lexi is through Paul's eyes as he re evaluates and learns about her as if for the first time. You feel invested in Paul and interested in Lexi as you put all the pieces of this odd story together.

Another major player in this story is the Rhodesian Ridgeback Lorelai. She is our key witness and our bridge to the conclusion of this story. Through the looking glass of Paul's grief we discover how his life journey collided and eventually merged with the free spirit that was Lexi and how the love and silence of a dog kept them together.

Did Lexi have a hand in her death or was it truly an accident? Did Paul teach Lorelai enough 'speech' for her to shed light on what happened that day? Can any solace be found in not having all the answers? Find out by reading the unique and well crafted novel that is The Dogs of Babel.

Civilization has no need of nobility and herosim. These things are symptoms of political inefficiency.

The book club pick this last month was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Some of us had this as required reading in high school but I had never read it, nor had most of the people who had it assigned.

The story is your classic dystopian tale centered around the 'savage' John who was raised in what we would consider the traditional way of having a parent, free will, and social freedoms who is then brought back into a completely socially fabricated society.

Set in London, the Brave New World society is one where children are born in test tubes from only a handful of DNA combinations so they all look the same. From day one they are divided up and given status levels that dictate their socialization and indoctrination process. The children go through rigorous rounds of conditioning as prescribed by the doctors of society so that they grow up only knowing how to do one thing and being adverse to all others. Alpha's run society and are taught that beta's and everyone else in society are below them while the lowest of society are trained in a way that makes their meager status seem completely fulfilling. Every child is conditioned to fulfill whatever need the society has at that time.

If I went into all the detail that this book warrants here I am afraid this post would go on forever. Instead I will put this question to you to consider. If from the beginning of your life you were raised in a way that everyday, every action and every decision you made was inherently right and brought you nothing but contentment would you prefer that over a life of rampant free will that can lead to failure, heartache, disappointment but potentially love and happiness? I find in my life a lot of my anxieties come from discontentment as opposed to unhappiness. I have a hard time trying to decide whether I would sacrifice happiness for contentment...makes for interesting pondering.

Is the old adage of 'you cannot appreciate happiness unless you've known sadness' true?

Remember whichever you choose, you have known nothing different so you would not long for intimate relationships because you would not know what those were, you would not long for choices because you've never had them. Just something to think about.

I will confess at the start of the book I was one minded and felt as though I had made a firm conclusion but toward the end, I was questioning whether the other method would be so bad. This classic cautionary tale of what society can become is probably more poignant now than it ever has been before. If you are interested in this book I suggest you pick up George Orwell's 1984, both will hit home in a scary and very real way.

Nothing wrong in my world Today.

 

Morning Sunrise walk on the downtown waterfront in front of the soon to be demolished St. Pete Pier. Nothing but good vibes today. Spread the love, pay it forward. Connect with the universe today!

The Cahill Family starts their quest.

Seeing as I now work in the children's department of the library I decided I need to be up to date on some of the new children's literature so I can recommend and advise both parents and kids on some great reading choices. That mindset lead me into the '39 Clues' series.

The first book in the ten part series is called '39 Clues The Maze of Bones'. The cool thing about this series is that each book is written by a different popular author. This first book is written by Rick Riordan who wrote the popular Percy Jackson series. One of the others was written by names like Patterson and Baldacci. The big names lend some credibility to what is classified as a Juvenile fiction series.

Although it is Juv Fiction, it is not 'The dog ran. The dog ran fast.' These books are well written and just complicated enough to make the young readers feel like they are accomplishing something big without discouraging them by being too rigorous.

The series itself centers on 14 year old Amy Cahill and her 11 year old brother Dan. The two are orphans would spend most of their time with their beloved grandmother Grace. It turns out the Cahill clan is the most important family in human history with relatives all over the world past and present, Benjamin Franklin, Mozart, Abraham Lincoln, and Eleanor Roosevelt being among them When Grace passes away she leaves behind a mysterious will, all the members of the Cahill clan have a choice; they can either walk out of the room with a bankers check for $1 million or burn the slip and take the first clue that will ultimately lead to the discovery of something world changing and will make the finders the most powerful Cahill's in history.

7 groups take on the challenge, including Amy and Dan and the first clue takes them over seas to Paris in an attempt to hunt down the second of the 39 clues left by and based on Benjamin Franklin.

I would assume most of you who read this blog are adults and these books are specifically aimed for children but I'll tell you they are very entertaining. It's a day, day and a half read tops and it moves very quickly with action packed sequences and brain teasing puzzles.

If you have children who are skilled readers this is a great series to introduce them to because like I said not only is it fun, but their are ten books, plus other spin offs, that follow the same characters so they will get to know Dan and Amy so well they will feel like they are on the hunt with them. It is a special thing when readings can connect deeply to fictional characters and for children this is a great way to share that special time.

I'm actually really looking forward to book 2 and seeing how the writing styles will differ while telling the same story. Take away lesson for the adults here, Juvenile and Young Adult fiction has come a long way and may surprise you with how good it really is.

Self Improvement Day!