Author: Former Lemurians (Page 6 of 137)

Undeclared: ‘The English Major’ by Jim Harrison

By Katie Magee

If you know John Evans, Lemuria’s owner, then you know that he is a huge fan and friend of Jim Harrison. A few months back, John mentioned that he was planning on re-reading Harrison’s stuff. I had not read any, so I asked if I could tag along on his little literary adventure. John obliged and the first leg of our trip was The English Major, a novel Harrison published in 2008. This book is the story of a retired English teacher-turned-farmer, Cliff, whose wife, Vivian, decides she is going to leave him for someone else.

english majorCliff, having become increasingly disappointed in the names of the states and names of the state birds in the United States, decides this is a perfect time to travel around the entire country and rename both of these things. With him, he carries a puzzle of the fifty states and as he leaves each state he tosses the puzzle piece in a place of his choice.

Somewhere about Montana, Cliff and an old student of his, Marybelle, decide they should meet up. This meeting leads to Marybelle traveling with Cliff for a little while. Marybelle is an extremely estranged woman with an unhealthy obsession with her cellphone and a fictional son that she speaks of as if he is real. Cliff’s trip is supposed to help him figure out his next step in life, figure out what to do with the rest of his time, but Marybelle very much hinders his soul search.

Besides Marybelle, we spend a good but of time with Cliff’s friend AD (Alcoholic Doctor) who he goes on a fishing trip with in Montana. Along the way, we also meet Cliff and Vivian’s son, Robert, who is a big shot in San Francisco. To me, the most interesting visiting characters you get to know are Bert and his girlfriend Sandra. Bert owns a snake farm and Sandra is an ex-meth addict who sometimes shoots coyotes out of the upstairs window.

Cliff, eventually returning back to Michigan where he started his journey, seems to have come to terms with his new life. I so thoroughly enjoyed traveling around the states with Cliff and meeting the various interesting people he has shared his life with. If you are like me and you haven’t read any Harrison, this book is a wonderful introduction to Jim’s world. If you are like John and you have read all the Harrison that is out there…twice, pick up this one for a third time.

Get Your Freekeh On!: ‘The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook’ by Salma Hage

by Guy Stricklin

It was my father who encouraged me to cook. I was nine years old when I first made him m’juderah (page 208), a dish of lentils cooked with rice and covered in fried onions. He said, “My darling, that’s delicious, you are such a lovely cook!” I am not sure how truthful he was being but I believed him at the time and there began my love of cooking.

mideast veggie cover

Salma Hage’s father was certainly correct. The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook is overflowing with beautiful photographs of delicious and absolutely approachable recipes perfect for the new initiate into global flavors and a vegetarian diet. Hage’s book offers a easy and healthy way to explore new territories of taste through classic (and vegetarian) middle eastern dishes.

Most ingredients can be found at any grocery if not already in your pantry and anything else is certainly available at the nearest mediterranean grocery (Aladdin Grocery if you’re in the Jackson area). The real magic comes from her beautiful combinations of flavors. Even familiar staples are elevated to staggering and mouth-watering heights (e.g. cardamom oatmeal and rosewater pancakes with pistachio and honey).

My wife and I have been cooking through some of Salma Hage’s recipes, and I want to tempt you with a couple of our favorites so far:

carrots cilantro seseame seeds

A deceptively simple and delicious combination of roasted carrots, cilantro, and sesame seeds.

chickpea and freekah salad

A rich grain-salad containing freekeh (a delicious nutty grain new to us and available at Aladdin), olive oil, eggplant, garlic, parsley, mint, chickpeas and sun-dried tomatoes.

dinner

A few weeks ago my wife snapped this photo of a memorable dinner that included roasted beets with lebneh and mint, spinach fattoush, and baba ganoush from Hage’s cookbook.

I’ll leave you with a few recipes I can’t wait to try:

  • Blood orange juice with pomegranate and rosewater
  • Almond Hummus
  • Fava bean and mint falafel
  • Stuffed zucchini in yogurt
  • Pistachio meringues with rose cream
  • Anise and sesame cookies
  • Cardamom banana cake

Learning to See Beyond the Mountain: ‘Educated’ by Tara Westover

by Abbie Walker

Let me start off by telling you that Educated by Tara Westover is the best memoir I’ve ever read! This captivating and inspirational story about a girl breaking free from her family’s ideals to pursue an education will stay with you for a long time—perfect for fans of The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls and Augusten Burroughs’ Running with Scissors.

educatedTara Westover tells the true story of growing up on a mountain in Buck Peak, Idaho with her eccentric family. But eccentric doesn’t even begin to cover this cast of characters. Tara’s father, a zealous Mormon and self-proclaimed prophet, is convinced of the Illuminati and Y2K. Tara and her 6 older siblings spend time canning food and burying guns in preparation for the “end times.” Their mother, who turned her back on her strict and proper upbringing to marry Tara’s father, is a midwife and herbalist.

Bipolar and paranoid about the government’s control, Tara’s father forbids doctors, public education, and a manner of other “worldly” things, leaving the family practically isolated from normal society. Tara doesn’t receive a birth certificate until she is 9 years old, and even then there is debate about the day she was born. She and the rest of her siblings grow up working in their father’s scrapyard and helping their mother make healing tinctures in the kitchen.

From a young age, Tara struggles to accept her father’s bizarre rules. Dance classes are filled with “harlots,” and antibiotics can cause infertility. Tara says her father convinced them that their family were the only “true Mormons.” Any opinions that contradicted these rulings were met with religious lectures or silent disappointment.

But Tara can sense that there is a whole world beyond the mountain, waiting to be known. Her brother Tyler is the first to leave the family in pursuit of an education, which sparks Tara’s own desire to learn. Without any formal education, she teaches herself enough algebra and grammar to pass the ACT and get accepted to Brigham Young University.

At first, Tara struggles to immerse herself in the foreign world of the classroom. She’s never heard of the Holocaust or the Civil Rights Movement, has never studied for a test, and has trouble connecting with other students who appear as “gentiles” to her. But after receiving a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, Tara discovers the power of education to “free the mind” and realizes she can thrive as a student, despite her upbringing and “otherness.” She goes on to earn an MPhil from Trinity College, Cambridge, and a visiting fellowship at Harvard, before being awarded a PhD in history from Cambridge.

But the more she learns, the more Tara is distanced from her family. She becomes even more of a stranger when she tries to call out the abuse of her older brother “Shawn” (a pseudonym), leaving Tara torn between her family and her own beliefs.

This story reads like a novel. Westover beautifully captures the complexity of family. Her parents and the world they created for their children seem almost too bizarre to be real, which keeps you turning the page. That question of how to love family when you no longer see the world the same as they do is a struggle that I found fascinating and relatable. Tara’s journey to get an education made me appreciate my own education even more. It’s not so much about the classes or the actual degree that define Tara’s education—It’s the freedom that comes with knowledge.

“You could call this selfhood many things. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal. I call it an education.”

‘An American Marriage’ powerfully illuminates nature of human will

By Kelly Pickerill. Special to the Clarion-Ledger Sunday print edition (February 25)

Tayari Jones’ fourth novel, An American Marriage (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill), quickly reaches its inciting incident. 9781616201340-2TNewlyweds Celestial and Roy drive from their home in Atlanta to visit Roy’s parents in Eloe, Louisiana. Tension between Celestial and her mother-in-law makes the young couple decide to rent a hotel room rather than stay at the house. At the hotel, an argument between the couple sends Roy out of their room for less than an hour, an hour that will determine the course of both of their lives.

That night, a woman at the hotel is raped, and she accuses Roy, with whom she had a brief encounter earlier in the evening at the ice machine. Despite a lack of physical evidence, Roy is convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison. After Roy serves five years of his sentence, a lawyer hired by Celestial’s family succeeds in getting Roy’s conviction overthrown.

The novel then explores the consequences those five years have on Celestial and Roy’s marriage. As the novel progresses, Jones manages to avoid many tempting paths. An American Marriage does not become an agenda-driven indictment of the failings of America’s criminal justice system, particularly involving black men.

Jones also frees her characters from the pitfalls stereotypically associated with black incarceration: drug abuse, undereducation, and poverty (Roy comes from a boostrap family, but he attended college and is on his way to becoming a moderately successful executive; Celestial, on the other hand, comes from new money, hasn’t wanted for anything, was given the resources and encouragement to embrace her creativity, and is beginning to break out as an artist who makes unique, high-end dolls).

When Celestial takes comfort in her neighbor and childhood friend Andre several years into Roy’s incarceration, and they eventually become engaged, the novel doesn’t become a character study or a bereft or cuckolded husband.

Instead, moving forward and backward through time, Celestial, Roy, and Andre in turn tell their stories. They each tell the story of what they want now that Roy has been freed, and what happened in the past that brought them to this point.

An American Marriage powerfully illluminates the nature of human will–how it adapts, but sometimes breaks, how it can transform, or be denied or asserted, and what makes it stronger. There are consequences to every one of our choices, large and small, that we make every day. And those choices affect who we are fundamentally. Though what happens to us can often be out of our own control, who we are is, ultimately, made up of our choices–of what we decide to do with the cards we’ve been dealt.

Tayari Jones will be at Lemuria on Monday, February 26, at 5:00 p.m. to sign and read from An American MarriageAn American Marriage is the February 2018 selection for Lemuria’s First Editions Club for Fiction.

‘An American Marriage’ weds the personal, the political, and the poetic

by Trianne Harabedian

Every so often, I get to be the first person at Lemuria to read a book that I know is going to be wonderful.9781616201340-2T I jumped on our advanced reader copy of An American Marriage by Tayari Jones because I had seen it advertised everywhere. The story looked intriguing, the blue and golden cover is gorgeous, and I was excited. Then the news came out that Oprah had picked it for her book club, so the attention on this novel and Tayari Jones skyrocketed. And as someone who read the book *before it was cool*, I’m here to tell you that it is absolutely worth the hype.

Told from all three perspectives, the story of Celestial, Roy, and Andre is complicated. Celestial and Roy are still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage when Roy is arrested and sent to prison. Everyone knows he didn’t commit the crime. But as a black man in a legal system overrun with stereotypes, he is sentenced to twelve years even without solid evidence. As Roy mourns the loss of his whole life, Celestial turns her pain into artistic, handcrafted dolls. Letters keep the couple close at first, but life moves on quickly. And whenever Celestial needs support, her childhood friend, Andre, is there.

Celestial, Roy, Andre, and their stories captured my heart. But the storytelling stole my breath. Tayari Jones’s writing moves like a river, hurrying readers along with little effort on their part. It feels simplistic and uncomplicated, yet the undercurrents of the story are incredibly complex and the writing itself holds the reader afloat with invisible strength. I loved the way the novel focuses on the characters themselves, on their inner thoughts and feelings and turmoil. The plot progresses gently, so I wanted to know what would happen but was more caught up in emotions.

It would have been easy for Tayari Jones to turn this novel into political propaganda in hopes of making a point or benefiting from the current political climate. Instead, this is a story about people. While their backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses are important, they are simply part of the larger tale. And instead of focusing on the developing love triangle, this is a story about families and the ripple effects of injustice and tragedy.

This novel went beyond my expectations. Complex characters, beautiful writing, and a story with just enough ebb and flow, Tayari Jones and An American Marriage certainly deserve all of the publicity and praise.

Tayari Jones will be at Lemuria on Monday, February 26, at 5:00 p.m. to sign and read from An American MarriageAn American Marriage is the February 2018 selection for Lemuria’s First Editions Club for Fiction.

Dr. Seuss bus rolling into Banner Hall

In 1954, Dr. Seuss had already published nine books, including If I Ran the ZooScrambled Eggs Super!, and Thidwick the Big-Hearted-Moose. They were funny and meant for kids.

Dr. Seuss & friends

Dr. Seuss & friends

However, in schools, there were no books for children that taught them how to read. And so, Dr. Seuss, as a writer for children, was asked to write a beginning reader using only the words on the “No-Nonsense” list.

When Seuss was stumped, he wore a collection of different and unusual hats while thinking up new ideas. Seuss, who loved making up nonsensical words, wanted write something using the words “zebra” and “queen,” but none of those were on the list. “Bird” wasn’t even on the list. However, words such as “cat” and “hat” and “thing,” “one,” and “two” were available for use. And so, pulling out his pencil, he started to sketch.

A cat wearing a hat who could juggle a book and a fan–all words that were on the “No-Nonsense” list. And so, only using 236 words, he wrote The Cat in the Hat, which was received really well across America. And then, he received a challenge to write a book using only 50 words. Can you guess what that might be? If you guessed Green Eggs and Ham, you are correct!

To celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday (March 2) a little early, Lemuria will be hosting the Dr. Seuss’s Super-Dee-Dooper Bus Tour on Saturday, February 24. The Cat in the Hat himself will be rolling into Jackson on a bus with an interactive Dr. Seuss exhibit for kids. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Dr. Seuss will be parked in front of Banner Hall at 4465 I-55 N and open to the public. This is a free and family-friendly event!

Find out more about how the Cat in the Hat came to be in the book Imagine That! How Dr. Seuss Wrote the Cat in the Hat by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.

suess bus card

‘Hidden History of Jackson’ educates, haunts, inspires

by Andrew Hedglin

I’ve lived almost almost all of my life in the Jackson area, but by my own admission, I know too little of its rich history. In fourth grade, I took a Mississippi history class, but at a private school in the suburbs, the curriculum wasn’t concerned with teaching much about Jackson, or anything especially problematic.

hidden history jxnPerhaps others among you received a more comprehensive education at your own schooling or by your own volition, but for anybody who considers themselves a true Jacksonian, I cannot recommend highly enough Josh Foreman and Ryan Starrett’s Hidden History of Jackson. It’s published by the History Press, purveyors of, among other tomes of local history, 2016’s well received The Civil War Siege of Jackson by Jim Woodrick.

Hidden History goes out of its way to deny itself as a comprehensive chronicle, but even at a slim 144 pages of text (several more pages of well-documented sources follow the narrative itself), the book is packed with Jackson history at moments fraught with consequence. Reading it, you will come across the men with names that continue to label our shared landscape: LaFleur, Hinds, Dinsmore, Manship, Galloway, and (shamefully) Barnett. It even details the area’s encounters with its namesake, Andrew Jackson himself.

Foreman and Starrett prove themselves up to the historian’s task, documenting with primary sources and searching for the truth, whether it glorifies, damns, or merely humanizes its subjects. Of particular interest to me were the sections of Jackson’s founding as a trading post near the Natchez Trace, its prohibition battles preceding the nation’s own, Theodore Bilbo’s plan to relocate the state’s main universities all to Jackson, and a soulful coda about one of Jackson’s unassuming treasures, Malaco Records.

Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff” was recorded on Northside Drive at Malaco Records

Hidden History weaves in tales of the Choctaws, confederates, churchmen, criminals, civil engineers, and civil rights champions that helped shaped Chimneyville into what it has become today. If you have been around long enough to remember personally much of the last section (detailing the civil rights struggle and the Easter flood of 1979), it will give you a chance to revisit where your personal history and the city’s itself converge. Perhaps the book’s greatest achievement is to re-kindle my interest in the history of my hometown. I urge all of you to pick up a copy of Hidden History of Jackson and experience the stories that Jackson contains for yourself.

jackson flag

Josh Foreman and Ryan Starrett will be at Lemuria on Saturday, February 24, to sign copies of Hidden History of Jackson. Copies can be ordered and pre-ordered at Lemuria’s online store.

‘Royal Rabbits of London’ is a madcap middle grade adventure

The Royal Rabbits of London by Santa Montefiore and Simon Sebag Montefiore is a new chapter book perfect for children ages 5 to 9.

royal rabbitsIt feels fresh and original, yet follows in the footsteps of The Wind in the Willows and Watership Down with strong animal characters, funny dialogue, and an intriguing plot. Originally published in the United Kingdom, this story begins when a young rabbit named Shylo goes to visit the the grizzled, battle-scarred Horatio, an elderly rabbit with half an ear. Shylo enjoys these visits because Horatio tells him stories of the Great Rabbit Empire. When Horatio asks Shylo is he remembers the oath made by rabbits long ago to protect the Royal Family, Shylo eagerly recounts the tale of how King Arthur wanted to declare rabbit pie as the favorite meal of the kingdom, but his nephew Prince Mordred loved rabbts. And so…

King Arthur was a wise king who loved (his nephew) Mordred dearly, so, after a little thought, he declared that cottage pie should be the favorite dish instead. Thousands of rabbits’ lives were saved and cottage pie did become the preferred meal of the British people. The cleverest and bravest of all the rabbits wanted to thank Prince Mordred and so they took an oath to serve the Royal Family of England. They built a warren beneath the castle in Camelot and called themselves the Rabbits of the Round Table.

At the very moment that King Arthur freed the rabbits from the Curse of the Rabbit Pie, something magical happened, didn’t it, Shylo?” said Horatio. “Children and only children were given the ability to see those very special rabbits. But it is a gift that lasts only through childhood. As soon as they grow up, they lose that magic and see just ordinary rabbits, like everyone else.

Shylo loves hearing stories of the fabled Royal Rabbits of London, and Horatio always listens to him. Shylo is the runt of the litter and wears an eyepatch over his weak eye. His brothers and sisters tease him, but is is Shylo who tumbles into a secret meeting of the Ratzis (rats who are plotting evil deeds against the Queen of England), and as it turns out, The Royal Rabbits of London still exists, after all. Horatio sends young Shylo on a quest all the way to London to Royal Rabbits Headquarters–under Buckingham Palace.

With black and white illustrations throughout, young readers and parent will enjoy following Shylo in a tale filled with a secret society of Royal Rabbits, acts of bravery, and close calls with evil rats.

As Horatio says to Shylo, “Life is an adventure. Anything in the world is possible–by will and by luck, with a moist carrot, a wet nose, and a slice of mad courage!”

Border Patrol Perspicacity: ‘The Line Becomes a River’ by Francisco Cantú

by Abbie Walker

Lately, I’ve been on a nonfiction kick. There’s something about a true story that engages and connects me more than any other genre. It’s a chance to take part in a conversation that’s happening in the world, allowing the reading experience to go beyond me and the book I’m holding.

line becomes a riverOne such conversation I feel like I’m not that knowledgeable about is immigration. I hear a lot of things, but haven’t really tried reading about the topic myself. So when The Line Becomes a River fell into my hands, I knew it was a chance for me to start listening to that conversation more closely.

The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border is the true account of Arizona native Francisco Cantú, who served as an agent for the United States Border Patrol from 2008-2012. His retired park ranger mother thought he was crazy when he told her that he’s going to go work at the border, but Cantú is determined to immerse himself in a place he has spent the past few years studying.

The book is structured into three parts. The first two are comprised of vignettes about Cantú’s work with the border patrol, both out in the field and behind a desk. Taken from his journal entries during those years, he writes about rescuing stranded migrants out in the desert, tracking drug smugglers, and researching the Mexican cartels. These snapshots of life along the border paint a vivid picture of a place few really understand.

Cantú’s experience proves that things aren’t always black and white out at the border. The numerous characters he encounters cross between countries with all kinds of intentions, and Cantú often struggles to make sense of his duty to his job and his moral duty. Plagued by strange dreams, he fears losing his humanity in a profession where the line between guilty and innocent is often a thin one.

The third part of the book has the strongest narrative and was what really sealed the story as a winner for me. It follows Cantú after he leaves the Border Patrol and is working at a coffee shop. His friend, José, gets detained coming back to the U.S. after visiting his dying mother in Mexico. José, though an undocumented migrant, is a hard worker with a family and an entire community that rallies to support him during his trial. Cantú offers a realistic and heartbreaking account of what families like José’s go through.

Cantú’s writing is strong. I love how he blends in the history of the border, as well as Spanish dialect and local color to make the narrative more authentic. Cantú is anything but preachy, letting his personal encounters do most of the storytelling, hoping that his internal conflict stirs something in the reader as well.

I really enjoyed Cantú’s interactions with his mother in the book. The daughter of a Mexican immigrant, she acts as a voice of reason and great contrast to the harsh environment that Cantú is being exposed to on a daily basis.

I think we can all relate on some level to Cantú, who at first wants to ignore what happens to people once he rescues them from the desert and delivers them to detention. But, as is the case with his friend, José, it’s not so easy to ignore the outcome once you or a loved one is put in that situation.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about what is happening on the border or anyone who thinks they know. It’s an eye-opening book that humanizes a minority in a tension-filled political climate.

Join the conversation: Francisco Cantú will be signing copies of The Line Becomes a River at Lemuria on Monday, April 9 at 5:00 pm. The Line Becomes a River has been selected for Lemuria’s First Edition Club for Nonfiction Readers.

Reality Sent Reeling: ‘Woman in the Window’ by A.J. Finn

The last couple of years has seen an upswing in “missing woman” fiction, leaving me considering two things: why are we so excited about missing women and when would the embers of trend’s durability finally burn out? Then I picked up A.J. Finn’s The Woman in the Window. woman in the windowI said, “Self?” and myself said, “Hmm?” And I replied, “Sis, this book is good. It’s pretty good…. I mean, it’s REALLY GOOD.” And before you question my sanity, I let you in on a not-so-secret secret: I often have conversations with myself about something that speaks to me, or rather, enraptures me. Besides, once you begin reading this fast-paced psychological thriller, you’ll not only question the narrator’s sanity, you’ll be critiquing your on perspective about the world around you, the validity of your memories, and your own perception of the people we probably talk to the least: our neighbors. Oh, and if you’re a cinephile like me, this book will give you all the feels for Alfred Hitchcock’s most popular films.

Woman opens with Anna Fox, a former child psychologist confined to her New York City apartment because of agoraphobia, a type of anxiety disorder where a person fears places or situations that may be difficult to escape. But not only is she virtually imprisoned because of her condition, she is bound by the shame of not engaging with the outside world. She maintains relationships with her husband and daughter via telephone and feels guilty because she isn’t emotionally and physically available to them. Her only solace is watching film classics like Vertigo and Rear Window, spying on her neighbors with her Nikon, playing online chess, and counseling others in agoraphobia support chat rooms.

stewart camera

Not to mention mixing medication and guzzling endless glasses of Merlot. Then the Russells move in across the street, and Anna is immediately drawn to them: a perfect family that mirrors what used to be hers. But after a friendly visit from Mrs. Russell, Anna’s daily spy session from her bedroom window is turned upside down when she witnesses something ghastly in the Russells’ living room. Or did she?

Finn is a master at building the stifling world that has become Anna’s home and her very being. From playing out scenes throughout the day through tightly woven short chapters, to developing Anna’s internal monologue, Finn left me holding my breath and wondering what was going to happen next. Anna Fox is undoubtedly one of the most unreliable narrators of I’ve ever come across, spinning in a haze of what amounts to drug and alcohol abuse. With that being said, Anna is not just a caricature of emotionally instability; she is fraught with complexity and is a mirror of our own anxieties about who we are, how we see ourselves, and what we believe about others.

This page-turner kept me on edge and fed my love of both books and film. If you haven’t guessed it already, I highly recommend this ode to Hitchockian mystery.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have another conversation with myself. I’ll tell you about it later.

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