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Book Recommendations and Reviews

My personal picks!

Read This Book: One of Us by Tawni O'Dell

8/23/2014

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I fell in love with Tawni O'Dell's work with her first novel, Back Roads, a work set in the coal mines of Western Pennsylvania. Since that time, I have looked forward to all of O'Dell's works. (Her second book, Coal Run, is my favorite). When she came to speak at our local library two years ago, I was in heaven. And she was as great in person as she was on the page!

Her latest book, One of Us, returns to a setting that is familiar to me and to all of her fans: the Western Pennsylvania hills where coal mines lay abandoned and small towns rest in rural poverty.  In this story, Dr. Sheridan Doyle, a small town boy that "made good" (a saying I heard a lot growing up about people who left my own small town, became educated, and earned a lot of money) returns to Lost Creek, the place where he is from, to take care of his aging grandfather and his mentally ill mother.  During his visit, he comes face-to-face with a murder that opens up the town's dark history of violence and injustice. 

O'Dell grapples with both family and local history in One of Us, introducing the Nellies (a group that echoes the history and legends of Pennsylvania's Molly Maguires) and taking on the task of describing the impact of mine disasters on small communities. Certainly, her best characters are the ones who are part of this setting: a small town detective who is both gruff and kind; an aging grandfather who is part of the town's coal mining history; an alcoholic father who is weighed down with both coal dust and personal ghosts.  The main character, Sheridan Doyle ("Danny" to most of the characters in the book) is  both sympathetic and interesting and the readers will find themselves rooting for him to make peace with both the town's secrets and his family's dark past.

The only "bump" that I saw in this novel was the introduction of Scarlet -- the cruel daughter of the family who owns the mines. While her part is indeed important to the overall plot of the novel, I often dreaded the chapters where her voice took over, telling the stories of her own life and her malicious perceptions of the people around her.

All in all, O'Dell's latest work is a great addition to her line of books.  I will never grow tired of reading about the Pennsylvania landscape (yes, I am biased, since it's my world), and I will always be fond of the stories she tells in her pages.








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Read This Book: The Hard Way on Purpose by David Giffels

8/4/2014

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I'm a product of the American Rust Belt. Having grown up in the 1980s, I watched family members lose their jobs and friends leave the little northwestern Pennsylvania town where I lived. As teenagers, we dreamed of leaving and never coming back. And some did leave. And some of us stayed.

I was one who stayed. Well, I kinda stayed. I left to go to school (there were no local colleges in the area) and returned and then took a job just across the state border. (To be honest, my 20s was a series of small moves around three counties -- too long of a story to retell here.) I now live 45 minutes from my hometown.

In The Hard Way on Purpose: Essays and Dispatches from the Rust Belt by David Giffels, the author explores the history of his own hometown, Akron, Ohio through both memoir and observation, making personal commentaries about those who decide to stay in their struggling towns and cities. His essays are both humorous and insightful, and as a reader I found myself nodding "yes" on numerous occasions in response to his insights about the landscape and people of the Rust Belt.

The main focus of Giffels' collection is, of course, Akron, Ohio, and this can be seen  as he explores the specific history of his hometown, notably discussing what happens to a city when its main industries leave, often leaving a city without an identity. In the case of Akron, these industries were Goodrich and Firestone, thus making Akron's nickname, "The Rubber City" a bit problematic.  He further explores his hometown's identity by focusing on famous people including Lebron James, the music group Devo, and Chrissie Hynde.


Still, Giffels' collection doesn't just focus on other people; many of his stories are his own, cataloging his own stories and experiences. One piece titled "Popular Stories for Boys" chronicles his love of reading and his relationship with a book store owner. Another piece, "Lake Effect" describes the crazy (and sometimes harsh) weather conditions of northern Ohio.


My favorite essay, however, is titled "Do Not Cry For Me, Arizona" where he discusses the perception that some believe the term "Rust Belt" is overused, dated, and even a bit tired. To this, Giffels responds, "We need to be the Rust Belt. We've paid so dearly for that designation that we deserve to have it as our own and to allow it to represent the fullness of its story. It's our blues."

I loved The Hard Way on Purpose: Essays and Dispatches from the Rust Belt, namely because I am from the Rust Belt (although, a much more rural part), and as a reader I could see the stubborn pride that shined through Giffels' stories and recollections.








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    In many ways, I am more of a reader than a writer. This page will serve as a home for my informal reviews of what I've been reading.

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