Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Being a baseball fan as well, it was great to see this side of such a great writer.
The stories brought back memories of my childhood - the disappointments as well as victories.

★★★¼

GENRE: Memoir
SUBJECT: baseball, Brooklyn Dodgers
Setting: Brooklyn, NY
CHARACTERS: Doris Kearns, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges
DATE READ: November 1 - November 10
NO. OF PAGES: 276
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: Audio stockpile

Little ship of fools : 16 rowers, 1 improbable boat, 7 tumultuous weeks on the Atlantic by Charles Wilkins

★★★½

GENRE: Memoir
SUBJECT: effort to row across the Atlantic
Setting: Atlantic Ocean
CHARACTERS: Charles Wilkins, Tom Butscher
DATE READ: June 13 - June 30
NO. OF PAGES: 302
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI ,  GEOCAT
SOURCE: Public Library

PLOT:....................................................................3.50

CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.50

TOPICS: ...............................................................3.50

STYLE:..................................................................3.50

ORIGINALITY:.......................................................3.50

ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.50

OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.50

Threshold Quality.................................................3.50

Average..............................................................................................3.50

Turn your imagination on.  Picture yourself on a rowboat designed like a catamaran with an area of 8 small bunks and 8 rowing positions.  There is one very small cabin for eating.  You are assigned a bunk and a rowing position and for the next 7 WEEKS you will row for two hours, sleep/eat for two hours, and repeat.  You will continue in this sequence even when your body is exhausted, you have no food and you will begin to wonder if you will ever see land again.

A great adventure story.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

 ★★½

GENRE: memoir
SUBJECT: self-discovery, meditation, spirituality
Setting: Italy, India, Indonesia, NY
CHARACTERS: Elizabeth, David, Ketut Liyer, Wayan, Felipe, Richard, Giovanni
DATE READ: May 23 - June 2
NO. OF PAGES: 352
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI , GEOCAT
SOURCE: MCL

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................2.00
STYLE:..................................................................2.50
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................2.50
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................2.50
OWNERSHIP:......................................................2.00
Threshold Quality.................................................2.50
Average..............................................................................................2.50

I thought this book would transport me to various places that I would want to travel, but it fell  short of the exotic descriptions that I was waiting for.  Instead, I read of a woman who was so self-centered she couldn't write of anything but herself complaining because her life wasn't what she wanted, and yet she had enough money and friends to just quit, give up everything and travel.

I should be so lucky…wait, I am - have a life that I appreciate, apparently she didn't.

We got to Play Baseball by Gregg Olson, Ocean Palmer

★★★★

Genre:   Memoir

Subject: Baseball stories

Setting:  Major Leagues

Main Characters:  Gregg Olson, other players

Series:  no

Dates Read:  September 28 - September 30

Number of pages: 248

Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:  yes, NetGalley for review

Category for 12 in 12 challenge: Lunch

This is a collection of stories from numerous major league players.  It is filled with tales of pranks and practical jokes (i.e. Jell-O-man, straight jackets, goats and mules, and water pistols) to remembrances of special games, events (i.e. 2131, earthquake series).  For a true baseball fan, this is a must read, full of laughter and amusements as well as background info on the contributors.  Great for any baseball fan!

Travelling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd, Ann Kidd Taylor

★★★★

Genre: Memoir

Subject: Mother/Daughter relationships

Setting: Greece, France, SC USA

Main Characters: Sue Monk Kidd, Ann Kidd Taylor

Series: no

Dates Read: July 16 - July 21

Number of pages: 419

Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?: no, public Library

Category for 12 in 12 challenge: Foreign Languages

Sue Monk Kidd is a writer (Secret Loves of Bees) but she is also a woman and mother. This book, co-authored with her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor, is about their lives and their relationship with and to each other.

The story is very spiritual in that Sue sees herself and Anne as a modern Demeter and Persephone. Sue, with health issues, projects her own fears of growing old, while Ann, shows a lack of self-confidence to go forward with her life and relationships. But as they travel and see the ancient world and hear its tales, they see that their fears and uncertainties need not stop them from doing what they want to do.

The progression from Greece and the Demeter/Persephone comparison (pomegranate charms that they wore) move on in another year to Paris where they are engrossed in the Jeanne d'Arc and then a return to Greece after Ann's marriage and their connection with Black Madonnas is filled with introspection and self-analysis.

This isn't the type of book that I normally read, but I found it interesting that a mother and Daughter would be this close. The descriptions of their travels were also enjoyable.