Book Review: The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow

First, I must apologize. I thought my scheduled date was March 8, but I just realized it was the sixth. So, this is a day late - despite the fact that I had the review ready to go like a week ago.

The Story: Conceived in love and possibility, Bonaventure Arrow didn’t make a peep when he was born, and the doctor nearly took him for dead. No one knows that Bonaventure’s silence is filled with resonance—a miraculous gift of rarified hearing that encompasses the Universe of Every Single Sound. Growing up in the big house on Christopher Street in Bayou Cymbaline, Bonaventure can hear flowers grow, a thousand shades of blue, and the miniature tempests that rage inside raindrops. He can also hear the gentle voice of his father, William Arrow, shot dead before Bonaventure was born by a mysterious stranger known only as the Wanderer.

Bonaventure’s remarkable gift of listening promises salvation to the souls who love him: his beautiful young mother, Dancy, haunted by the death of her husband; his Grand-mère Letice, plagued by grief and a long-buried guilt she locks away in a chapel; and his father, William, whose roaming spirit must fix the wreckage of the past. With the help of Trinidad Prefontaine, a Creole housekeeper endowed with her own special gifts, Bonaventure will find the key to long-buried mysteries and soothe a chorus of family secrets clamoring to be healed.


My Thoughts: The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow by Rita Leganski is like Benjamin Button, haunting and curious and magical and fantastic. I was immediately taken in by the quiet majesty of Bonaventure, which is wonderfully mirrored in the language of the book. The emotions, both universal and personal, portrayed in the novel feel raw and honest.

Many times, especially today with my harried schedule, I speed through books. I can read rather fast and still manage to catch every word and feel satisfied when I have finished. This book, however, I savored, reading slowly and many times re-reading a particularly moving passage. Perhaps it was just the profound difference between this writing and the writing of the books I have recently been reading (primarily books focused more on action than style) but I was very much drawn to the way Leganski crafts the story.

Magical realism is quite the draw for me, and this book really delivers. Even though the novel is infused with southern spirituality, voodoo, ghosts, christianity, extraordinary abilities, and the such not, I never felt like we were in a different world; the characters, the setting, it all felt very real and possible.


On a side note, Leganski has a facebook page which is currently rather dedicated to this book, and I have to admit I was kind of fascinated by the updates about who's reading it, where it's at, and the such not.

A big thank you to TLC Book Tours for giving me the opportunity to read this one. And a big apology for getting it up late!

Book Tour: Beyond the Possible

With admirers ranging from the Clintons, Warren Buffett, Maya Angelou, and Dianne Feinstein, Glide Memorial Methodist Church in San Francisco has been inspiring, infuriating, welcoming, and changing the world for fifty years.

Now in Beyond the Possible, the two founders, Reverend Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani, show how Glide transformed a dwindling all-white congregation into a diverse and energetic community of the poor, the disenfranchised, the homeless, the addicted, the mentally ill, the newly immigrated, and the politically passionate.

A vivid storyteller, Cecil describes removing the trappings of conventional religion to make way for a new spirituality—one that embraces gay rights, jazz in the sanctuary, the antiwar movement, and Celebrations that fill the church to this day. In prose as gripping as her acclaimed poetry, Janice recalls starting out at Glide as a nonbeliever in the 1960s who found herself drawn to Cecil’s vision for social justice.

Soon we see how Cecil’s charismatic power, combined with Janice’s organizing genius, created a model for wraparound health care, a million free meals for the hungry each year, apartments for the homeless, and a stand-up pride that confronted police brutality, riots, racism, and institutional bigotry. And we discover that Glide’s insistence on inviting rather than avoiding controversy has revolutionized approaches to drug addiction, racial conflict, and domestic violence.

Both a personal love story and a riveting view of American history, Beyond the Possible demonstrates what is truly possible for all of us. Here is Obamacare with a human face. Here is Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of “the beloved community” come to life at last. And here is a courageous couple facing impossible odds—and discovering the power of unconditional love time and time again.

The above description is from the inside cover. I chose to do this in part because I am (gasp) not finished with the book quite yet. The publisher ran a bit behind on getting the books out, and then I was on vacation when the book arrived, leaving me only three days before my scheduled post. Back in the old days, I could have rolled my sleeves up - errr...thrown on some lazy pants - and had a reading marathon, but these days that just isn't possible.

I have gotten about half-way through though, and I am loving it. The book is episodic and jumps back and forth in time - both of which are conventions I adore, for some unknown reason, in memoirs. I am also enjoying both Cecil's and Janice's voice. The tone is conversational and intimate for both. To add to the sense of intimacy, there are two sections of pictures in the book with images ranging from Cecil's and Janice's childhood through the present. For me, being able to see them grow, to see them work, really adds to my enjoyment of the book.

More than anything though, I am enjoying reading about two people with big ideas who actually followed through. They knew something was wrong - a lot of somethings - and instead of just talking about it, they went out and did something, something amazing. One day I would like to visit Glide and see this church in action.

I highly recommend reading this book, not just for the inspiring content but also for the artful construction. Yeah, I require both content and form in my reading. :)

Book Review: Wild About You

Title: Wild About You
Author: Kerrelyn Sparks
Publisher/Year: Avon / 2012
Source/Format: TLC Book Tours / Print
Date Finished: 12 November 2012
Book # 65


Buy | Borrow | Accept | Avoid

The Short and Sweet of It
Howard has two secrets: one he is a were-bear and two he is in love with a woman he has only seen on tv. When he finally gets to meet her thanks to the matchmaking of his vampire boss, he finds Elsa just as irresistible in person. Unfortunately an ancient curse may keep them apart.

A Bit of a Ramble
Paranormal steamy romance. Bring it on baby. Some good supernatural sex is just what a new mom needs to shake things up a bit. And the book delivers; although I could have handled a bit more in the sexy sexy department.

What I found rather interesting about the characters is their physical appearance and its importance. As a were-bear, Howard is rather large, and part of the reason he is attracted to Elsa is that she is no dainty flower. Over six foot tall and weighing in a 170ish, Elsa has always felt large - obviously, she doesn't next to Howard who quite charmingly carries her around and "makes her feel like a woman" for lack of a better description. On the one hand, its nice to read about a woman who isn't 5'9" and 110 pounds. On the other hand, her desire to feel small seemed to just perpetuate the stereotype of a female needing a larger male. Then again, I like big men, so what can I say?

As with many a romance novel, the plot does not just revolve around their romance. In this book, the fight between Howard and his arch-nemesis takes up quite a bit of space; unfortunately though, the plot line isn't as dramatic as it needs to be to justify so much time. The nemesis himself is barely in the book.

Overall though, I enjoyed the story and the characters. It was a nice, quick read. Apparently this is part of a rather large series, Love at Stake, but as this is the only one I've read, I can't comment on its place in the larger scheme of things. It is no problem, however, to read it as a stand alone.

Question: Has anyone read the other 12 books in this series? Is it worth looking into?

NOTES: Received for review as part of a book tour by TLC.

If anyone is interested in receiving this book to review on his/her blog, please let me know in the comments (including your email address). If you aren't comfortable leaving your email, you can email me at eclectic.eccentric@hotmail.com! After a few days, I'll randomly pick a number.