Author: Juliana Lightle

One Book a Week-54: “On A Night Of A Thousand Stars”, Andrea Yaryura Clark

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For decades I have been a bit obsessed with Argentina and its history. When the horrible events described in this recent novel occurred during the military dictatorship in the 1970s, I closely watched news and read books about it. Later, I hosted an exchange student from Argentina and visited him and his family. Therefore, when I saw this novel on the new books shelf of the local library, I checked it out.

At a polo match in New York, a wealthy Argentinian diplomat and his wife and daughter meet a woman from his college days. She says things about him and his past that upset him and cause his daughter, Paloma, to wonder about her dad’s past, about which she knows little. When they go to Argentina on a trip related to his diplomatic duties, Paloma decides to investigate. She meets a local university student whose parents had disappeared (as thousands did) during the military dictatorship. He is part of an activist group searching into the disappearance of close family members during the dictatorship. He decides to help her with her research into her dad’s past. This creates a chain of events that upsets everything she knows and endangers her life.

If you want to read a heartbreaking love story, learn more about a brutal period in Argentinian history and some Argentinian customs and lore, this is the book for you. I went back and reread some of it twice.

Cruise of Lights at Huntington Harbor

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For more than sixty years this cruise has benefited their local orchestra. I signed up through a local tour, rode the bus to a shopping center at Huntington Beach, strolled around, and then later rode the bus to the actual harbor to board the boat that took us through all the canals that made up the harbor. The houses are close together and right on the water. Many are three story because no room to expand except upwards. While some are smaller, many of the houses are large with landings where they have large vessels docked. It was not easy to take photos because the boat was moving rather rapidly at times. It was a warm night and not very windy so perfect for this little adventure.

One Book a Week-53: “The Last Ride of the Pony Express”, Will Grant

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Since I was born in St. Joseph, MO, and grew up 30 miles from there, the Pony Express is something I have heard about my entire life. Therefore, when I saw this book at the local library, I decided to read it. What a fun and informative book!! In 2019, Will Grant, who lives in Santa Fe, NM, decided to locate the right horses, transport them to St. Joseph, and ride the route of the Pony Express from there to Sacramento, CA, the other end of the trail. After the sheriff’s department escorted him across the bridge to Kansas, he managed to avoid cities for the most of the 2000 mile trip. This book is his account of the old Pony Express Stations, ranchers, farmers, historians, businessmen, ordinary people, and wild horses he encounters on his 142 day adventure. Although many have written books about the Pony Express, he is the only person who has followed the entire route on horseback.

One Book a Week-52: “Small Things Like These”, Claire Keegan

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This book was short listed for the Booker Prize in 2022. It is short (116 pages) and simply written. It illustrates the life of a small businessman in Ireland who delivers coal for heating to both homes and businesses. One of his customers is the local convent which houses young, unwed, pregnant women and their babies. To make money for the convent these young women are forced to do laundry under dire circumstances. While delivering coal one day, he discovers something that disturbs him so much, it changes his life.

The book is dedicated to the women and children who suffered in these Magdalen laundries. The last of these horrible places was not shut down until 1996. Estimates as to the number of young women subjugated to forced labor varies between 10,000 to 30,000. The number of women and babies who died in these places is unknown.

Note: At the beginning of 2023, I created a goal of reading at least one book per week. I am slightly ahead since the above is no. 52. I probably will get to at least 54 because nearly finished with another book. Now I have to decide whether to continues this goal into 2024.

One Book a Week-51: “The Watch”, Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

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I could not stop reading this book. The setting is a US military outpost during the Afghan war in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Kandahar. The weather is brutal–extremes of cold and heat, sand storms, heavy fog early in the mornings. Suddenly, after a brutal battle where they lose some soldiers, a young Afghan woman, Antigone, with stumps for legs shows up pulling a cart. Her brother, who the soldiers think was part of the Taliban, was killed in the battle; she wants her brother’s body for a proper Muslim burial. The soldiers do not know whether she is who she says she is or a suicide bomber. It confuses them even more when she plays hauntingly beautiful music on her rubab every night. All this leads to a lot of confusion over and raises many questions about morality and duty. Each chapter is from a different viewpoint, the young woman and various soldiers in the outpost.

Note: The rubab is a traditional Pashtun 12 string guitar-like instrument. You can find recordings on YouTube.

One Book a Week-50: “The Poet X”, Elizabeth Acevedo

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I purchased this book not long after it won the National Book Award, but never managed to get around to reading it until recently. I love this book. Yes, it won in the youth category, but since I have worked with teens for decades, I “get” it. It is a novel in poetry where the narrator, a 15 year old Dominican Latina, Xiomara, who lives in Harlem, keeps a poetry journal to stay sane. Her very religious Catholic die-hard Mom frequently drives her crazy with rules like she can never talk to a boy, much less date one. Her dad is a bit of a playboy and less strict. Her twin brother is a genius who won a scholarship to a fancy private school, and her best friend, Caridad, is hyper religious. Yet these young people all keep each other “together”. Her English teacher realizes Xiomara has a gift and encourages her to become involved in poetry slam events. She cannot see how this is possible given her mother’s attitude toward her poetry. You do not have to be a teenager to enjoy this book. In fact, if you think you do not understand teenagers, I suggest you read this book. It will enlighten you.

At the Coffee Shop–Part One

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I did not know we were coming here.

I say, “I didn’t bring any money.”

He says, “That’s what they all say.”

I’m shocked, speechless.

Does he think women just want

a man’s money? What?

It’s too late to cancel my coffee order.

I wish I’d turned around, walked out,

walked home.

It’s only two miles.

One Book a Week-49: “Anything Is Possible”, Elizabeth Strout

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Her books are deceptively simple with so much to say about people and life. This is the fourth book I have read of hers this year. It interweaves many of the characters in the books I previously read back to the towns where they were born and grew up. One part of the book discusses one family who were so poor the children dug food out of dumpsters and everyone made fun of them at school. Only one truly escapes and finds success. One lives a lonely life at the home place, and the other is filled with anger and resentment. Much of the book is about how even if persons escape a horribly poor and dysfunctional family and find success later in life, the terrible things that happen to them as children are always there lurking in the shadows. This includes a lot of resentment and anger from some family members who do not manage to escape. Other parts of the book detail the lengths to which people will go to find solace often secretly with few or no one having a clue about how their lives really are. How well can we really know another person?

One Book a Week-48: “The Buried Giant”, Kazuo Ishiguro

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This is not the easiest book to read in many ways. Its setting is not long after the death of mythical King Arthur. Main characters include an elderly couple who have left their home to search for their long lost son, an aged knight supposedly Sir Gawain, a dragon monster, a “gifted” older child, and a Saxon warrior. Some of them are Britons and some are Saxons, and in some cases they view each other as arch enemies. There is a monastery with both good and evil monks, a tunnel, lots of forests and mountains, rivers, and a lake where a boatman ferries people to an island–perhaps the residence of the afterlife. The potential symbolism is endless if the reader is into symbolism. The dragon monster has created an endless fog which dulls the long term memory of the humans. The elderly couple want to get rid of the monster so they can repair their memories, but will this really be a good thing. That is one of the main questions in the book. Most analyses of the symbolism say the buried giant is the dragon, but I think it is the buried memories of everyone, but especially the elderly couple, who are desperate to recover their memories.

Vegetarian (Vegan) Delight

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This recipe is vegan if you do not sprinkle grated cheese on top. It serves two. I used it as a main dish but it would also make an excellent side dish.

1/2 large beet, cut in small cubes

1/2 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes

1/2 sweet onion, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup pistachios

2 cups greens

Sauté onion and beets in olive oil until tender. Add sweet potatoes and cook until soft. Stir in pistachios and 2 cups mixed greens. Stir until greens wilt. Serve over rice. Due to the flavors in the ingredients, I did not add any spices, but you could use your favorite spices.