For seven days Barger traveled to seven different airports, didn’t leave the premises, ate on $20 a day, and snatched bits of sleep on benches and floors – all to observe human behavior.  Step Back from the Baggage Claim is his extended metaphor that how we treat each other and how we behave at the airport is how we behave in our day-to-day lives.  If we change the way we act at the airport we can change our lives and thus change the world.

I have to admit that the idea does sound a bit hokey when I lay it out like that but let me share with you a few passages from the book:

I’m convinced that the lessons learned from our airport experiences can point us toward more fulfilling lives and toward a more compassionate world.  If we really want to change the world, it starts with small moments in our daily interactions.  Since so many people travel by air daily, airports are the perfect locations to begin to affect change in our mobile world.  This book uses air travel experiences as a metaphor for how each one of us can impact our world.

The title Step Back from the Baggage Claim comes from the observation that we all crowd around the conveyor belt to claim our luggage.  We jostle for the best position, crowd each other out and are anxious to catch sight of our bags first.

Just imagine what the experience at the baggage claim would be like if everyone took those three steps back so everyone could see, and if everyone actually helped those around them with their bags.  not only would the spirit and environment around the conveyor belt be more positive for all, but it also would be a more efficient way for everyone to get their bags as quickly as possible.  Imagine if stepping back at the baggage claim became the norm; imagine how that inclusive spirit could impact the underlying tone of complaining that permeates other aspects of the airport.  A place commonly filled with chaos, negativity, and frustration would be changed because of the thoughtful awareness of many. Then, imagine what that same spirit could mean for the world if we carried into other areas of our lives as well.

The analogy works.  I get it.  I totally get it.  And I’m sure that I won’t be able to fly anymore without thinking about my own airport behaviors nor observing others to see how they act.  But oddly enough, I can’t relate to the initial analogy of the baggage claim.  In my experiences of flying, claiming my bags has been nothing but calm and orderly.  My only anxiety that I’ve had is when my luggage was lost upon arrival at my home and the company ended up delivering it to the apartment across the street.  The other is when I moved cross country for college and everything had to fit in three boxes.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to get the largest box off of the conveyor belt but some nice man helped me out.  I’ve yet to experience a overcrowded, impatient baggage claim area.  Perhaps, I’m not well traveled enough?  When Barger says , “Take three big steps back” I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Hmm . . . I didn’t know there was a problem there in the first place.”  Luckily, he’s not only thinking literally but metaphorically as well.  The baggage claim message is simple.  Be aware and thoughtful of those around you.  Turn chaos and negativity into order, calm and a positive experience.

For the remainder of the slim volume, Barger furthers the airport analogy and touches upon the following points:

• Gain perspective and create space for others.
• Practice stillness in this movement.
• Share compassion with those along your journey.
• Quit the comparison game and thrive where you are.
• Celebrate an ethic of creativity.
• Put a grateful spirit into action.

Barger shares stories about his airport observations, movie analogies, stories from his life working in the nonprofit sector and his ministry in his church.  Each chapter ends with a summary, a self-evaluation questioner and place to jot down notes.

For having spent seven days in an airport I had hoped for more stories about the people he met or conversations he had.  I’m sure he has some great ones.  The book is not really about his experience living in airports for seven days but more about his general observation while doing so and combining them with his life experiences and metaphorically sharing the message:  “We can change the world because each one of us has the innate ability to expand our awareness, change our focus, and alter our daily interactions.”

There were a few problems with the design of the book (large font, small margins, unclear headings – which is something that Dawn at She is Too Fond of Books picked up as well) that has me nervous that some won’t pick it up after an initial thumb through.   While I sometimes felt that the airport analogy was a bit over the top, Barger has a sound philosophy and a great message to share:

Change the world by choosing to travel gracefully, living this message not only in the airports, but throughout the path of your life.  Take time to step back and gain a new angle of vision and consider those around you.  Slow down and commit to thriving where you are in the present moment.  Embrace the creative process of living the lift you want to live and, ultimately, build relationships and share compassion with those along your journey.  Small loving actions in every facet of our lives will change the world.  Daily commitment to this spirit in all corners of our lives can’t help but allow a movement like this to take flight!

A fun video about The Step Back from the Baggage Claim movement:

Have you had any airport or travel experiences where somebody touched you by their actions?  Vice-versa any horror stories?

Links of interest:  Jason Barger website, blog,  on Twitter, and Facebook.  More book blogger reviews.
Genre: Non-fiction, inspirational.
Publisher: One Love Publishers. September 25, 2008
Paperback , 134 pages. ISBN 0615226663
Step Back from the Baggage Claim is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

From the criticisms that I’ve read of the book and a discussion that we had at book club is the fact that the braille text is virtually unreadable as braille.  The raised dots simply are not raised high enough off of the paper.  I’d be curious to know if a blind individual could actually read the book.

But the book isn’t intended for the blind but rather those with sight and it’s very cool.  I enjoyed feeling the raised line art.  I knew what I was feeling for as I could see the image that the line art created but I would often close my eyes to see if I could figure out what I was feeling.

Thomas thinks that without the sun, water, doesn’t amount to much.
It has no color, no taste, no smell.
He says that green tastes like lemon ice cream and smells like grass that’s just been cut.
But black is the king of all the colors.  It is as soft as silk when his mother hugs him and her hair falls in his face.

How does one describe a color?  A very creative book that would be a welcome addition and a different type of reading experience for any children’s library.

Links of interest:  More book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Groundwood Books.   June 28, 2008.
Hardcover, 24 pages. ISBN 0888998732
The Black Book of Colors is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Her husband is out of town and as she leaves with the kidnapper her only thought is with her children who are now left home alone.  Taken to a hotel and tied to a bed for the better part of a week, Claire – as the title suggests – has time to be still.  She has time to think.  To evaluate.

Ironically, her kidnapper is kind (but she fears his boss) and they spend a lot of time talking.  As she begins to understand him and the reasons for his actions, she sympathizes with him and forms a special bond.  As the negotiations take place for her return, Claire discovers that her husband might not be who she thinks he is.  She  reevaluates her marriage, family, and motherhood.  If she makes it home, she will not be the same person that she was before.

The few reviews that I’ve read of Standing Still all mention  Claire’s irrational anxieties and now that I read the back cover, I see that it mentions it as well.  How could I have read the entire book and not put a label on Claire’s behavior as anxiety, panic attacks or acute panic disorder?  Sometimes I wonder if I’m a good reader at all.  Do you sometimes feel like this after reading a book?  That you missed the obvious and wonder how you managed that?

I thought Claire was a bit “off” but I wasn’t able to label it.  I certainly questioned some of  Claire’s behavior.  She seemed overly nervous but yet maintained an incredible degree of calm while being held hostage.  There is also a certain element of mystery as Claire alludes to a possible reason for her abduction but we don’t know the circumstances behind it.   I didn’t relate to Claire at all despite the commonality of both being mothers.  But we don’t always need to relate to the main character and this case I liked getting into the head of someone I didn’t understand.

The strength of this novel is definitely the writing and the style.  In alternating chapters between the present and the past, we gradually learn more about Claire and her past as she is coming to grip with her future.   I particularly liked the style of the chapters set in the past.  Each begins with a photograph description and Claire reminisces about the circumstances surrounding the photograph.

A taste of the writing:

Fear doesn’t always serve you in life.  It lives on your surface, visible as your skin.  People can take advantage of your weakness.  Dogs can smell it on you, and so can children.  But when  you turn it outward, and fear for the lives of the world, you can warn someone.  You can save someone.  You can see the potential for destruction around us all.  It’s what makes me certain I’m a good journalist.  But a very bad seatmate on an airplane.

A great book which kept me hooked and I’d recommend for all readers.  The writing was poetic.  Fantastic prose.  The premise and story were intriguing.  Characters were engaging.   But ultimately, I fear that it’s one that I could also easily forget.  And I hate it when that happens.

Links of interest:  More book blogger reviews, Kelly Simmons website.
Genre:  Fiction.
Publisher: Washington Square Press.  February 10, 2009  (Hardcover by Atria in Feb. 2008)
Paperback, 288 pages. ISBN 0743289730
Standing Still is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

June does go into a downward spiral but the book really begins as she’s starting to get on with her life by deciding to complete Marissa’s list of twenty things that she wanted to do before her next birthday.  A list which June found and took from Marissa’s purse the night of the accident.  Some of the things are seemingly silly, like go braless for a day or kiss a total stranger and others are more difficult like change somebody’s life and show your brother how grateful you are him.

The Next Thing On My List is June’s journey as she attempts to complete each item.  Along the way she finds romance, career fulfillment and how to live again.  It’s a fun, quick read that while it has a great message – live your life instead of watching somebody else live theirs – doesn’t take itself too seriously.

I did find some of the book unbelievable.  Like June’s relationship with Marissa’s brother, mother and grandmother.  I would think that it would be very awkward to be friendly with the person who killed their family member despite that it was an accident.  In the aftermath of the accident, they don’t take the time to find out more about each other or details about the accident, which I found odd.  When June comes back into their life with this list of Marissa’s they are curious of course but act as more casual bystanders.  I think something needed to be done slightly differently with that aspect of the book but what that solution is I honestly don’t know.

Overall, a quick read that doesn’t leave me feeling heavy afterwards.  And with some of the heavy hitting issues that I like to read about it’s nice every once in a while to read something that doesn’t get me down. It’s not a book that I’m running out and telling everybody that they HAVE to read it because it’s SO good but I enjoyed my time with it.

And of course, one can’t help thinking about their own life lists.  I’m a list maker.  My husband’s a list maker.  Making lists are just plain fun.   My lists would be different if I were to put time limits on them like one year, 5 years, 20 years or a lifetime.  So I came up with something that seemed reasonable for the next 10-15 years. And from the looks of it I need to also come by a cash load somehow as my list involves spending a lot of money!

• Go on a cruise.
• Vacation in Thailand.
• Take the Advanced Master Gardener class (a four year program).
• Read all the Newbery books.
• Remember every Birthday for a year.
• Decorate a tree for the Festival of Trees as a family.
• Take out my large 4×5 camera and start shooting again.
• Vacation with the family to Yellowstone, Redwoods, Southern Utah.
• Go to Disneyland and stay in a nice hotel instead of cheapest we can find.
• In fact, don’t let the cheapest always be the deciding factor.  Allow myself to treat myself well without feeling guilty about it.
• Buy a bed.
• Take family to Hawaii to visit the family.
• Have another baby (or two).
• Snorkel but be brave enough to go more than twenty feet out from the shore.
• Digitize all of my negatives.
• Get a massage.
• Go on an African safari.
• Do volunteer work in Africa.
• Get involved with helping refugees here.
• Go skinny dipping (yikes my parents & in-laws read my blog!)
• Book a flight last minute and just go!
• Take my boys fishing.
• Learn sign language.
• Cook a turkey.

Now, it’s your turn!  What are five things that you would like to do in the next ten years?  Spill it!

Links of interest:  Jill Smolinksi website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Fiction, Chick-lit
Publisher: Three Rivers Press.  March 25, 2008
Paperback , 304 pages. ISBN 0307351297
The Next Thing On My List is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Anyways, in Goodnight Goon a little werewolf is having a hard time going to sleep.  He names the things in his room which includes pictures of martians taking over the moon, three little mummies rubbing their tummies, moans and groans, a skull, and a pot full of goo.  After he names them he says goodnight one by one to each of them. He puts the monsters under the bed (so clever) and ends by saying goodnight monsters everywhere.

This has potential to be a really, really cute book but the illustrations were just not doing it for me.  My kids weren’t crazy about it either but I only tried it once on them.  And well, sometimes, especially my kids, need to be exposed to a book more than once.  So, it doesn’t seem fair that I’m sharing their reaction after only one reading but to tell you the truth, they never picked it out of the pile on their own either.  It just couldn’t compete with Where’s My Mummy or Leonardo the Terrible Monster this week.

But overall, I think it’s worth taking a look at this Halloween picture book to discover if it will be a new classic in your home.  Because your kids just might love it.

Links of interest:  Michael Rex website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher:  Putnam Juvenile.  August 14, 2008.
Hardcover, 32 pages.  ISBN 0399245340
Goodnight Goon is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Little Baby Mummy doesn’t want to go to sleep, so he plays a game of hide-and-shriek with his Big Mamma Mummy.  But Little Baby Mummy gets scared and can’t find Big Mamma Mummy.  There are a lot of scary noises in the night and Little Baby Mummy is apprehensive about what he may discover.  But when he realizes it just your run of the mill (scary to us but not scary to him) Halloween characters, he’s not scared until it’s a little thing that makes him wish he was back home with his Big Mamma Mummy and being tucked in bed.

The illustrations are wonderful!  They are cute and they are funny.  They make my boys laugh.  And with it’s fun, lyrical text and page turning adventure, it’s as much fun to read for the parent as it is for the child listening to it.  This one is going down as a classic Halloween picture book that I HAVE to own.  Definitely seek this one out and share it with the children in your life this Halloween week.

Links of interest:  Carolyn Crimi website, illustrator John Manders website,  more book blogger reviews,
Genre:  Fiction Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher:  Candlewick.  July 3, 2008
Hardcover, 32 pages. ISBN 0763631965x
Where’s My Mummy? is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

And to tell you the truth that’s all of the jacket copy I read.  Because I tend to only read the first sentence of jacket covers in fear of knowing too much about the book.  But that was just enough to make me anxious to dive into the book right away.  A book set during World War II.  Score!  A book set in India during World War II?  Double score! I’ve never read a book set in India during the war that I can recall.

Let me go ahead and share the rest of the summary from the dust jacket with you.  Simply because I’ve written three reviews in a row tonight and well, despite my own avoidance of them, this particular summary does a fine job.

When tragedy strikes, Vidya and her brother, Kitta, are forced to move into a traditional household with their grandfather and their extended family, where men live separately upstairs and the women who live below are meant to be married, not educated.

Breaking the rules, Vidya finds refuge in her grandfather’s second-floor library.  There she meets Raman, a young man also living in the house.  Surprisingly, he treats her like and equal and encourages her intellectual curiosity.  But soon it’s clear Raman wants more than just friendship, and when Kitta makes a shocking choice the family cannon condone, Vidya’s life becomes a whirlwind of personal and political complications.  Will she be strong enough to survive the storm?

What a wonderful book.   I loved Vidya sneaking upstairs and reading Oliver Twist, Hans Brinker, Ivanhoe, Pride and Prejudice, The Mayor of Castorbridge and more.  I loved how Vidya defied all conventions that was expected of her.  She desperately wanted to go to college, she did not want to get married young, and she wanted to be treated as an equal with her male counterparts.  I hated that women in her society were meant only to serve the men.  Vidya wanted so much and stood up for her rights.  I love a girl who can stand up for herself.   I desperately wanted to see her hopes and dreams come true.

A great historical fiction novel set in India.  It was wonderful.

Links of interest:  Padma Venkatraman website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile.  May 1, 2008.
Hardcover, 256 pages. ISBN 0399247467
Climbing the Stairs is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Michelle and Anne are looking forward to laying out in the sun, snorkeling,and  hanging out with some cute guys. They’ve even promised to check out the ancient Mayan ruins which are surrounded by myths and legends of virginal sacrifices upon the temple alters.

While Michelle is becoming more enthralled with Ander, the tour guide they picked up at their hotel, Anne is becoming more leery and distrustful and turns to a few familiar high school boys for help.  The girls are swept up into a mess that is literally life or death.

I had no idea where the story of Feathered was going to take me.  It was slightly slow to get there but once it hit the crisis, the momentum was huge.  I think at one point my mouth was hanging open from disbelief of the crisis and it’s aftermath.

Feathered is told in two different viewpoints.  One is that of Michelle which is third person present and the other is Anne’s which is first person past tense.  It took a little bit at the beginning of the book to get used to the back and forth but I found myself  liking this set up because it worked well for where the story was ultimately going.

The Mayan flair added a lot of depth to the story and is what made it so beautiful.  I felt as though Cancun itself was a third character, with it’s gorgeous blue water and Mayan ruins.  A third character that the book could have done without was that of Terri, a third friend of the group.  I honestly haven’t the faintest idea of what she added to the story.

Albeit, slightly heavy handed with the metaphors, Feathered, is a great mystery with a mix of magic realism.  I was on my toes the entire book anticipating what I thought was the inevitable, but yet,  I had no idea what would happen.  Feathered will make you sit back when you’re done and think to yourself, “Hmmm . . . “    Because to tell you the truth, I’m still thinking about the drama of the story.  Recommended.  I liked it.

And speaking of spring breaks.  Am I the only one who graduated from a high school where nobody went anywhere cool on spring break?

Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Harper Teen. April 8, 2008
Hardcover, 272 pages. ISBN:  0060813172
Feathered available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s and Amazon.
Feathered is competing in the Nerds Heart YA book tournament and is paired up against I Know It’s Over in which I’m the judge.  I’ll be posting my decision today.

Pure. Unplanned.  Perfect.

That’s exactly what Nick, a popular and good looking guy, wanted from summer.  And it started out that way when he hooked up with Dani and they have a casual relationship.  What I would call ‘friends with benefits.’  He’s simply having fun without the commitment.

Pure.  Unplanned.  Perfect.

But then he meets Sasha and she’s different.  He surprises himself when they get really serious, he even thinks that he’s in love.  After losing their virginity with each other (they’re sixteen) and having a grand old time, they have a moment in bed where they realize just how serious being sexually active is.  And it scares Sasha so much that she breaks off the relationship.

Nick is devastated.  As if the break up is hard enough, he is dealing with his divorced parents and his best friend since childhood coming out of the closet.   But it’s not long before Sasha reenters his life, only this time it’s on Christmas Eve and it’s to tell him that she’s pregnant.

Nick is reeling.  And understandably so.  Neither knows quite what to do about the situation but Sasha insists that she does not want to get back together.  She’ll “figure something out.”

I Know It’s Over is ultimately about teen pregnancy, teen culture, teen sexuality, first love, family relationships, sexual orientation, friendship, actions, decisions, and consequences of ones actions.

What I did like:

1. I thought that the sex scenes could have gotten extremely explicit.   Nick’s happiest when he’s having sex.  They are in bed a lot.  I’m not one to read books with a lot of sex and I’m not one for extreme details and luckily this book did not provide them as much as it could have.  I was expecting worse so was surprised that details were glossed over.
2. The fact that it was a teen pregnancy story told from the point of view from the guy.

What I didn’t like was lots and lots of assumptions and beliefs that are not once challenged or expanded on.  For example:

1. It’s totally great to have a sexual relationship at the age of 16.  Absolutely nothing wrong with it.  In fact, Nick’s dad gives him condom money.    I would have liked to seen more conversation based around the pros/cons and the responsibility one has entering into a sexual relationship.  Yes, she got pregnant but it seemed as though having sex when so young was presented as a totally okay thing.  I needed the book to explore the morals a bit more and perhaps the characters would have had more depth if that was the case.
2. Drugs and alcohol.  If you get caught, you get a slap on your hand.  But who cares.  They make you feel better and that’s what matters.  I would have liked to see some consequences from their use.
3. Homosexuality.  I mention this because to tell you the truth, I’m not 100% sure why this storyline was in the book.  Likely it was included because it furthered the exploration of  teen sexuality, but the book already had so many other issues regarding teen pregnancies that it’s inclusion made the book go over the top.
4. Abortion.  Not a single person has a second thought about abortion.  Including the parents.   Everybody was an advocate with no dissenting voices.  Nick keeps saying, “It’s not really a baby yet.”  To tell you the truth, I was bothered with this statement simply because nobody offered up the opinion that it was a baby.  I needed opposing voices.  No other options besides abortion were ever discussed.  Adoption?  Nope.  Keeping the baby? What and ruin their future?  Abortion was naturally the only solution.  I would have liked to see some deeper decision making on this one and a further exploration of the issues.
5. When somebody has a problem, you run to your friends house to “clear your head” for a while.  I thought it was odd how many times the characters would run off to a friends house to hide out instead of facing the problems head on.  Yes, friends are great.  I couldn’t have survived high school myself without them.  But everybody seemed to be hiding out half the time.
6. The parents reactions to the pregnancy are so unbelievable to me that I had a really hard time buying it.  Nick tells his father about the pregnancy the same night that he finds out about it.  His father tells him, “Let me know if there is anything I can do”  and then basically turns around and goes back home!  He calls in occasionally for updates but he does not get involved in any type of decision making, offers no counseling.  Nothing.  His kid is sixteen!  He’s not an adult and therefore incapable of making adult decisions.  Nick does not tell his mother at all, nor does his father.  She can tell something is up, but doesn’t push it.  He decides to wait until after the abortion and when he does, it’s literally a three minute conversation that goes something like, “What?  Your ex-girlfriend had an abortion today?  Oh, wow. That’s tough . . . so what  would you like for dinner?”
7. No consequences for their actions.  You would think that getting your teen girlfriend pregnant at the age of sixteen would get you in trouble. Emotionally they were hurting, but no consequences from their family.
8. What is love exactly?  The characters did not feel like they were in love to me, either.  Besides the sex, I could see nothing holding them together.  What exactly did they find so appealing about each other?  I was never really sure.

I think that there is huge teen appeal in this book and that teen readers will really like it.  But everything in that list above bothered me so much that it sometimes pained me to turn the pages to see what exactly was going to happen next.  But I did want to turn the pages.  I really wanted to know how Nick and Sasha were going to handle their situation and then got mad because things didn’t go my way.

Hmm . . . so, I’m ambiguous on I Know It’s Over.  Will teens like it?  Absolutely yes.  Did I like it?  Not as much as the teens will.  Dang it, I’m getting old and cranky.

Links of interest:  C.K Kelly Martin website.  More blogger book reviews.
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Random House. September 23, 2008
Hardcover, 256 pages. ISBN: 978-0375845666
I Know It’s Over is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.
I Know It’s Over is competing in the Nerds Heart YA book tournament and is paired up against Feathered by Laura Kasischke in which I’m the judge.  I’ll be posting my decision today.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard are as stated by the introduction:

. . . a collection of stories written for young wizards and witches.  They have been popular bedtime reading for centuries, with the result that the Hopping Pot and the Fountain of Fair Fortune are as familiar to many of the students of Hogwarts as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are to Muggle (non-magical) children.

. . . it was a surprise to discover a set of notes on The Tales of Beedle the Bard among the many papers that Dumbledore left in his will to the Hogwarts Archives.  Whether this commentary was written for his own satisfaction or for future publication, we shall never know; however, we have been graciously granted permission by Professor Minerva McGonagall, now Headmistress of Hogwarts, to print Professor Dumbledore’s notes here, alongside a brand-new translation of the Tales by Hermione Granger.

The stories are definitely strange.  A one footed hopping pot?  A hairy heart locked away in a box?  But they kept me entertained.  My favorite was probably The Tale of Three Brothers (which if I’m not mistaken is not an original tale, I’ve heard of this before), where three brothers meet Death at a river crossing and Death gives each of them a gift of their asking.

Dumbledore’s commentary gave this book the extra something that this book needed.  Without it I don’t think it would be as fun.  Overall,  a nice read for Harry Potter fans but I really missed Harry and his gang.  Makes me want to go back and read about him instead.

Links of interest:  J.K. Rowlings website.  Harry Potter website.  All net proceeds from the sale will be donated to The Children’s Voice campaign through The Children’s High Level Group.
Genre:  Fantasy, ages 9-12
Publisher: Scholastic, December 4, 2008
Hardcover, 111 pages.  ISBN: 9780545128285
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.