The Passage by Justin Cronin

766 pages

"IT HAPPENED FAST.

THIRTY-TWO MINUTES

FOR ONE WORLD TO DIE,

ANOTHER TO BE BORN.

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret US government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear - of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from a doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. Wolgast is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors, but for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey - spanning miles and decades - toward the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun." -Dust Jacket

This is a hard book to review because I feel like I will be justifying its biggest flaw. First, let me say that it is difficult for me to stop reading a book once I've started it. I'll do it if I find something offensive, for instance A Million Little Pieces by James Frey with its language that started on page 1 and which turned out to be made up anyway, but most of the time I become invested in the story and want to see it through to its conclusion. I think that's why I read so many young adult/kids' books - they're safe and good. You don't have to worry so much about coming across crap. This book's crap? Language. But it doesn't start until around the 100th page. By then you're (I'm) sucked in. The author enjoys using the "F" word. I hate that word anyway, but what I really hate is when that word is used in a way that doesn't even make sense. For me, the "F" word is the go-to word for someone too dumb to come up with something smarter. But this author is plenty smart - and so are his characters - which is why it's so frustrating. I had to read with a pen in hand so I could cross out the bad words.

So huge justification aside, this story was really good and smartly written. I'd recommend it without reservation if it didn't have language. (I can recommend my copy without reservation because all the swear words are crossed out.) One of the things that I like about stepping out of the YA/Kids genre is that you get books that don't always end happily ever after. This book has characters that you really care about and things don't always end well for them. They have to make difficult and brave choices and the author isn't afraid to write things that will make you sad.

This story starts in the near future with a military disaster that results in the end of the world as people know it. Then in the middle it flashes forward 100 years in the future to a colony that is fighting for its survival. There are also writings "discovered" that flash forward even farther than that. There are a lot of characters but the author does a good job blending them all together in a coherent way. Amy is the constant character throughout. I don't want to give too much away because there are some great twists and turns in this book but her fate and destiny are tied to all of the characters.

This book ends with more than one cliff-hanger. I closed the cover thinking "Noooo! That can't be the end!" It's not. I googled the book and found out that this is going to be a trilogy. The darned trilogy! Why does every book seem to have to be a trilogy?! As much as I was hoping for more at the end of this story I kind of liked how it ended and wish that would really be the end. Some books should let the reader imagine what happens next. But there is a book 2, supposedly slated to come out in September of this year and titled The Twelve. The second book will go back in time 100 years to right after the disaster in Colorado and give you a different point of view of those events. That should be interesting.

Dear Mr. Cronin,
Please, please lose the language. I really want to recommend this to my friends and put it on my favorites list. I also don't want my kids to see me writing in books!

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

417 pages

"A snowy winter's night. Three small children are chased from their home by the forces of a merciless darkness. Ten years later, Kate, Michael, and Emma are no closer to the truth about what separated their family.

The answer lies with an enchanted atlas.

The power of the atlas unleashed, the children are transported to a land ruled by a golden-haired Countess and her army of soulless Screechers. Kate and her siblings soon find themselves on an incredible adventure - one that involves captive children; unexpected allies; bloodthirsty wolves; underground battles; a glittering, ghostly ball; sword-wielding giants; and a quest for three books of unspeakable power." -Dust Jacket

This is a fun kid's book. It started out so-so, not a standout among children's fantasy for me. Until the dwarves made their appearance. They added a great comedic element to the story. Hamish and Fergus had me laughing out loud. It helps that Michael has a fascination with dwarves and knows everything about them, even before he knew they actually existed.

{MINOR SPOILERS}

Kate is the big sister, age 14. She promised her mother the last time she saw her (when she was 4) that she would protect her brother and sister. As they have moved from orphanage to orphanage keeping that promise has made Kate grow up faster than most kids and has been a constant stress in her life. She goes through some emotional healing in this book. I liked that her brother and sister grow up and become more like equals by the end of the story.

Michael is sort of wimpy in the beginning. He gets picked on at the orphanages and has to be protected by his younger sister, Emma. He has a fascination with dwarves and knows everything about them from his dad's book, even before he knows they actually exist. That makes for a fun interaction when they first meet the dwarves and Michael really comes into his own after that.

Emma is a little spitfire. She's 11 in this book. She reacts before she thinks but she also leads with her heart. Gabriel was another favorite character in this book and their relationship is really sweet. He's a big giant of a man but he has a soft spot for Emma. I'm glad that his story turns out okay. I was worried for a minute.

There is time travel in this book which gets a little confusing at times, especially for a kid reading it. The atlas has the power to travel through time and space and Kate has been chosen by the book. At first they need a photograph to travel back and forth but then by the end all she has to do is think about where she wants to go. The story starts out in the present, then travels back 15 years, then another few months before that, then back to 15 years in the past, and then to the present! On top of that you have Dr. Pym who is a wizard. He has been a part of the children's lives since before they can remember because he knows their parents. He is with the children in every time period, so they start out meeting him, then they have to meet him again in the past, then again before that, then their meetings change the future. I know my kids would probably get lost in all that.

The Countess is a great villain. Her secretary is equally vile and the Screechers are scary. The author did a great job making them just evil and scary enough for a kid's book.

I'm getting really tired of having to wait for sequels and this is another one of those. The Emerald Atlas is the first in what I imagine will be a trilogy, with each book dealing with the three Books of Beginning. It looks like there will be a book for each child. I can't find a release date for the second book which means it will probably be awhile. This first book came out last year. It left a few things undone - like you still don't know the fate of the kids' parents - but I appreciated that the author didn't leave you totally hanging and the storyline wrapped up enough not to make the wait obnoxious.

Freedom in Exile, The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama

271 pages

This year one of my new year's resolutions was to branch out in my reading genres. I read a lot of books that my girls like but I felt it was important to learn some things this year in my reading rather than just be entertained.

The Dalai Lama is a remarkable person and I have wanted to read his autobiography for a long time. I knew about what had happened in Tibet but only had a surface knowledge. This book was a great education about the Dalai Lama's childhood, his training, the Chinese invasion, his exile, and his experiences through 1990. I wish he would write another book that covers the last 20 years. The Dalai Lama is a man who loves people and who is gentle and kind. The Chinese committed some Nazi-like atrocities against his people, yet he remains forgiving and hopeful for his people's future with the Chinese. One of the things that I really liked about him is his ability to learn from every experience he has.

The book presented a heartbreaking look at what communism does to a peace-loving country. Tibet sounded beautiful before the Chinese, with its people respecting life and nature. The Chinese have basically destroyed the country and its people. I learned a lot about Buddhism. Parts of it were very fascinating, in particular the belief that the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lamas and the evidence to support that. It was fun to read that he was a typical boy. At times he didn't take his training seriously. I loved reading about how the Tibetan monks debate with one another. I would love to see that. In contrast to the Chinese was the Indian people. They have done a lot for the Tibetan refugees despite the sweeping poverty in their country. This is such a good book.

I read - on a blog I think - that the author kept a journal of favorite quotes from the books she read. I wanted to start doing that. Here are some favorites from this book:

"All had gone well until the man turned to Lobsang Samten (the Dalai Lama's brother) (who spoke some Chinese) and asked him what was the Tibetan word for 'Kill him'...The idea of killing even an insect was so far from his mind that he was lost for words...This story is another illustration of the differences between Chinese and Tibetan attitudes. To one, the killing of human beings was a fact of life; to the other, it was unthinkable."

(Speaking of his first experiences with the Indian government) "This was in direct contrast to my experience in the People's Republic, where the received opinion was that you can change people's minds by bullying them. I could now make comparisons and see for myself that this was faulty thinking. Only through the development of mutual respect, and in a spirit of truth, can friendship come about. By these means it is possible to move human minds, but never by force."

(Speaking about the charitable Christian organizations) "This is one area where we can learn from our Christian brothers and sisters: it would be very useful if Buddhists could make a similar contribution to society. I feel that Buddhist monks and nuns tend to talk a great deal about compassion without doing much about it."

"So far, I have received only support for my belief that wherever you go, people everywhere are basically the same, despite certain superficial differences. They all, like myself, seek happiness: no one wants suffering."

"Another observation is that there are a lot of people in the West who live very comfortably in large cities, but virtually isolated from the broad mass of humanity. I find this very strange - that under the circumstances of such material well-being and with thousands of brothers and sisters for neighbors, so many people appear able to show their true feelings only to their cats and dogs. This indicates a lack of spiritual values, I feel. Part of the problem here is perhaps the intense competitiveness of life in these countries, which seems to breed fear and a deep sense of insecurity...For me, this sense of alienation is symbolized by something I once saw at the home of a very rich man whose guest I was on one of my trips abroad. It was a very large private house, obviously designed expressly for convenience and comfort, and fitted with every kind of appliance. However, when I went into the bathroom, I could not help noticing two large bottles of pills on the shelf above the hand basin. One contained tranquilizers, the other sleeping pills. This was proof, too, that material prosperity alone cannot bring about lasting happiness."

"It would be much more constructive if people tried to understand their supposed enemies. Learning to forgive is much more useful than merely picking up a stone and throwing it at the object of one's anger, the more so when the provocation is extreme. For it is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others."

"I believe that this suffering is caused by ignorance, and that people inflict pain on others in pursuit of their own happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through cultivation of altruism, of love, of compassion, and through the elimination of anger, selfishness and greed."