11 On My Own

Yesterday I returned from work to find a package had arrived in my absence. 11 On My Own had finally arrived.

This is a book written by Kristin Luscia, a single, Catholic, mother of eleven children!

I read the book cover-to-cover last evening while my husband was out with half our children and the other half were watching a movie.

Having known Kristin for years, online, I was familiar with much of her story. I remember when Ted left her, I remarked to my husband that I was stunned. Then when I heard about Ted's girlfriend, his abandonment of his parental responsibilities both in rearing and supporting his children, and his manipulation of the court system, I was left shaking my head wondering that men like this actually exist in real life. But I did not even know the half of it.

As Kristin tells her story, some are sure to wonder if this all actually happened, it seems so impossible that a man would father so many children and yet behave so abominably. It also appears to be fallacious that the court systems could abuse a woman with so many dependents, who was abandoned by her husband, stripped of all financial assets, and even lost the home the family lived in through this abandonment!

But it is all true. I remember it all happening.

Her story is candid, she exposes her soul for the reader. I read the book and wondered how she could reveal so many intimate details, so publicly. I wondered how she could let out her deepest secrets, more than we had even realized, why she wouldn't want to leave her past in the past, let sleeping dogs lie.

Kristin doesn't have the luxury of sleeping dogs. She has pit bulls pursuing her, biting at her heels, and there are more than one. There is of course Ted, but also the guardian ad litem, the judges, some of the attorneys in the process, and even family members who are attacking.

Given all of this, a weaker woman would run and hide. But not Kristin. She doesn't hide, she finds a way to move on. She faces her battles head on and she says on her blog in an entry dated May 13, 2010, "My life has always been an open book, anyway. I never really had anything to hide. My book lays my soul and my entire existence bare, all my deep dark secrets are exposed. I like it that way. I don't lie, it's that simple. It's so much easier not to. "

The book is written in a conversational tone, much like a blog, colloquially. She has shown us the mistakes of her past, and how she pulled herself up by her bootstraps through faith, determination, and fortitude. Many have called her a religious zealot. Without faith she would have collapsed under the anguish and burden, perhaps even surrendered to despair.

This book relates a family drama which is painful, but through it all Kristin is able to keep her children happy and grounded, what all parents strive for. She admits to a litany of mistakes in her past. Her book is about divorce and how to survive it. Even if you are not going through a divorce, I would recommend reading it. Again from her blog, in response to criticism about her book, "I am not husband-bashing. Really. I simply state the facts as honestly as possible. I think people should know just what the "Justice" system does to families. Especially traditional, large, Catholic ones. And I also think people should know just what a "man" is capable of doing to his own family."

Go to Amazon and buy her book. Not only because it is an amazing and on-going true story, but because the proceeds will help support those children. And, check in with Kristin, follow the continuing events on her blog. Tell her I sent you.

A look at some young adult fiction

I have a mission to read many of the young adult books in our local library. Being a voracious reader myself, and always lacking for time to read, I have found the young adult books fill a void in my life. I started reading them to know what to recommend to teenagers and other parents at the library. Then I found they fill a nice place in my life, a quick read that is usually fulfilling. Most of what I've read has been well done.

Well, let me qualify that a bit. I prefer to read classics. I love books that make you think while telling you a story, books with depth of character, outstanding descriptions and character development, wit and clever wordplay. Most of the current books lack many of those qualities, therefore I find them to be quick reads, promptly forgotten once put down. There are notable exceptions to this observation about current bestsellers and new releases, but for the most part I'm not a fan of current fiction.

That all being said, I have taken to reading young adult books to see what the kids are reading these days. Last year I read all of the Twilight books. I enjoyed the stories, though I could not stand the writing style. Stephenie Meyer is a great story-teller who should have been given more support from her publisher. She needed better editors. By the time I read her fourth book, I was substituting words in my head to take the place of 'muttered' and 'mumbled' because she used those words so frequently. Despite the excellent story of Edward and Bella, the writing quality was so poor I am resolved to avoid further releases from this author. Her publisher did her a grave injustice.

I have also read the Maximum Ride books written by James Patterson. This is a fabulous series which opens teens to thinking about issues which they may have to face in the future, such as cloning, genetic mutation, inter-species breeding, pollution and air quality, etc. All of these issues are dealt with by the protagonists, bird-people, Max being the teen-aged leader of the flock. The writing style I found to be accessible to teens, and appropriate for the story. When compared with Ms. Meyer, Mr. Patterson is the superior writer by far, but I still found myself longing for a quality possessed by the classics. I think most people would be intrigued and drawn in to these books, and I would recommend them for anyone. There is also an excellent resource to help your teenager understand the issues more fully: http://www.max-dan-wiz.com/page/educators-1

I have read the Harry Potter books, and the Books of Pellinor, both of which I've discussed in earlier posts which I believe are still on my sidebars. They are examples of the writing style which I prefer to read. Surprisingly they are both fantasy series, a genre I never fully appreciated until reading these.

The Fetch would be categorized as a supernatural romance, like Twilight, though The Fetch is not about vampires. I read this book and was not at all sure how I felt about it upon completion. Written by Laura Whitcomb, The Fetch is about a young man, Calder, who died at nineteen and has been dead for over 300 years. His job is to escort the dying down the Aisle of the Unearthing, to Heaven. It is intriguing. He makes some choices that disturb the natural order of things, such as occupying the body of deceased man which deprives the dying man of his escort through the Aisle and condemns him to the Land of Lost Souls (purgatory or even hell perhaps). By stealing a body, Calder is able to walk the earth as an immortal trapped in a mortal (dead) man's body. By choosing to do this, Calder upsets the land of the living and the land of the dead and must go about setting things right. His reasons for committing what he sees as a dereliction of his duties and a sin against God, are love. He falls in love with a mortal woman. Of course there are many more twists to this interesting tale, my heart was not in it to begin with, as I mentioned in my earlier post. In the end the book proved interesting enough to give me pause, and to make me ditch my schoolwork in favor of reading! I think I shall have to leave this book on my nightstand, it deserves a closer look than what I gave it initially. If anyone should read it, I would be interested in your insights. While it is classified as a romance, I feel it is more of an examination of choices, consequences, humility, and yes, love.

What am I reading?

On my nightstand are two books. The book I'm currently reading is The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb. It is a young adult fiction book which my husband picked up for me a while back because it is a supernatural love story and he thought I'd like it. I'm reading it bits at a time because as I mentioned I am busy taking classes, and frankly, it hasn't grabbed me and made me want to ditch school for a book. But I will reserve my comments until after I'm finished. The book has an interesting premise, a little different than what I am sure you are thinking. It is NOT a vampire story!

Now for the second book on my nightstand:

I loved the first book in McGowan's "Magdalene" series called, The Expected One. It is intriguing, beautifully written, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Therefore, I am waiting until I can immerse myself in the second book. It is a treasure waiting for me. It will be a reward to indulge myself when I have earned a brief respite from studying.

What are you reading??

On My Mind

As you may recall, I started this blog with the intention of practicing my writing for a portfolio. A venue for sharpening my skills if you will, as well as a place to record what I’ve written. I also write quite a bit on Helium, though I haven’t written much in a while as I get rather frustrated with the whole rating system. They’ve improved quite a few things since I’ve written there this past summer, so perhaps I ought to give it a go once again.

Reading, however, has always been a passion of mine. At one point in my adult life, after years of neglecting my passion in favor of being a wife and mother, I was advised by a medical professional (of all people!!) to pick up my passion once again. After great grief, one needs to fall back on the things which provide comfort. For me, aside from my faith which is the greatest comforter, I find reading and writing to be relaxing, enjoyable, fulfilling, and it brings peace to my soul. It is also something entirely for me, which as a mother of a large family, me has been a bit neglected these past two decades.

So, what have I been reading? I’ve been reading through the classics. Well, obviously that is a rather long list, I’ve been making a dent in them. I have also been doing a lot of spiritual reading, which seems to be cyclical for me. I do not read spiritual books all of the time, but I often have one going along with some great work of literature. I am looking forward to reading a book about St. John Vianney which has been recommended to me. If I had to choose a favorite saint, he would be among my top favorites.

Also on my reading list of late was Harry Potter. I’ve already explained in an earlier post why I felt the need to read those books. I was surprised at how good the story was. One advantage I had was I read the books straight through. One disadvantage of doing that is the series really penetrated my thoughts for the two or three weeks it took me to read the seven books. I suffered through the first book, really didn’t enjoy it too much. Somewhere in the third book my interest was piqued, then I was hooked. The story is rather dark, definitely for a teenager and not for the young, but it was entertaining. There are some people who shouldn’t read this series, that is for the family to decide, but I enjoyed them myself. Surprise, surprise.

Upon a suggestion from Mary over at Against All Heresies, I’ve recently read the Maximum Ride books by James Patterson, also a current teen series. I must admit the story was compelling, dealing with genetic experimentation on humans. The heroine of the story is a girl named Maximum Ride, and she is a genetic experiment where they injected avian DNA into her making her bones lighter, her eyesight like an eagle, and she has wings which work, so she can fly. Patterson’s writing style was in teen-speak. I found the books to be a VERY fast read. I think I read all three of them in less than 48 hours. I didn’t care for the writing style very much, but the subject of genetic experimentation was handled in a way that would make teens pause and think. For that accomplishment, Patterson is to be commended.

More to my taste, however, I’ve just finished A Room With A View by E.M. Forster. This one really tugs at your heart strings, and also illustrates quite vividly why honesty is the best policy. The classics are more interesting to me, I think, because even the most indelicate subjects are handled tastefully, no vulgar descriptions, one doesn’t tend to learn new obscenities to spew in a moment of anger. Bound into the same volume are two more novels by E.M. Forster. I am currently reading Howards End. I’m not far enough into the story to comment on it really. I think I’m likely to pass on Maurice, the third of the stories. Has anyone read that one? It doesn’t seem like one I would much care to read.

But of all the books I’ve been reading lately, my hands down favorite has been The Books of Pellinor. I thought I wouldn’t like The Crow, as it is primarily about Maerad’s brother and I was disappointed at the thought of not continuing Maerad’s story. But, as it turns out, this third installation was excellent. Just as good as the first two, it really fleshes out Hem, Maerad’s brother, who is much more important to the story than was originally realized. Between Potter and Pellinor I’m developing a taste for fantasy stories where I never would have predicted.

Coming back round to writing, all of this literature (some definitely better than others) is starting to plant seeds into my head. Little story ideas are beginning to grow. I’ve always felt there is a story in me somewhere, ever since I was a little girl I expected I would write a book. I always thought it would be a creative non-fiction piece, but now I wonder if I’m not going to end up writing some teen fiction. There is so much trash out in the market these days, it is no wonder kids don’t want to read anymore. This is where my thoughts have been of late, while my computer is acting up, I’m reading and apparently forming ideas for some phantom book I hope will come into existence one day. If the seeds start to take root and grow, you all will be among the first to know! God bless!

Note: The image above is a live link back to the company where you can buy that lovely stationery set.