Roots: The Saga of an American Family

Author: Alex Haley

Pages: 729

Rating: PG-13 (Very intense scenes of violence, rape, and obviously, the N-word is scattered through practically every page of the last 2/3 of this book.)

Summary:
"Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a man-child was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte."

So begins Roots, one of the most extraordinary and influential books of our time. Through the story of one family—his family—Alex Haley unforgettably brings to life the monumental two-century drama of Kunta Kinte and the six generations who came after him: slaves and freedmen, farmers and blacksmiths, lumber mill workmen and Pullman porters, lawyers and architects...and one author.

A national and international phenomenon at the time of its original publication, Roots continues to enthrall readers with its masterful narrative drive and exceptional emotional power, speaking to us all with an undiminished resonance and relevance.

"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage.... Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning no matter what our attainments in life."—Alex Haley

My Thoughts: Wow, what a book! I've wanted to read this for a long time and finally dove in. Honestly, the slavery portion of American history is not something I've spent a lot of time reading about. I think mainly because it's so hard to read about something so horrific and immoral happening in your own country. I flew through the beginning part, where Kunta is growing up in Africa, but my reading slowed considerably once he was captured by a slave trader.

I admit, I was shocked by what Kunta had to go through. Although this book is largely a work of fiction (obviously, the author wasn't there and doesn't have any detailed records of words that were actually spoken), Haley tried to make the events as realistic and as historically accurate as possible. And I was appalled. The horrible conditions on the slave ship, the fact that so many of them died before even reaching the US, and then, that they advertised, "Healthy, prime slaves" upon arrival, when in reality, most were horribly emaciated, extremely ill, weak, and covered in sores.

Then, once a slave, treated basically as no more than an animal would be. I learned so much from reading this, and it was so exciting to follow the author's path at the end as he searches out and eventually traces his roots all the way back to the African tribe that Kunta disappeared from back in the 1700's. Due to lack of records and the fact that slaves were bought and sold so frequently (and every time that happened, their last names were changed to their new master's last name), being able to trace a family all the way back to Africa is probably a unique occurance.

I was incredibly humbled by my reading of this book. Especially to note how religious the slaves generally were. They led terrible lives, and yet they clung to God sometimes more fiercely than their "Christian" owners. I also feel deeply grateful that I grew up in a time and place where I literally don't even remember noticing that some people have a different color skin than me. Looking back on my childhood, I can't remember a single instance where I thought less of someone because they didn't look like me. Roots doesn't go into much detail into the lives of the author's ancestors after they were officially freed from slavery after the civil war. But as we all know, the fight for freedom was far from over. We are still battling racism in so many ways, but it sure is amazing to see how far we've come. I was amazed to read that even many abolitionists, who felt that the slaves should be freed, did not believe that blacks and whites could live together in harmony, and many favored shipping all the freed slaves back to Africa.

This book was definitely an epic, but so worth the read!

The Wind in the Willows

Author: Kenneth Grahame
Pages: 259
Rating: PG - only because the word "ass" is used numerous times - this book was written in an era where that word was simply another word for "fool" or "stupid" and no one thought anything of using it as such.

Summary:
The adventures begin when Mole, feeling all the restlessness that springtime brings, abandons his burrow to discover the magic of the great river. With the able assistance of Rat, Mole learns to row and swim, and the chums fill their idyllic days with summertime rambles along the river and cozy fireside feasts on crisp nights. The pair take to the open road with the pleasure-loving Toad, track reclusive Badger to his snug lair, and stand together to reclaim Toad Hall from an invasion of stoats, ferrets, and weasels.

My Thoughts: This is a nice little book and each chapter is pretty much it's own little story. Toad's story is woven throughout but mostly, you could just read a chapter at random and have a cute little anecdote. The language used in this book is rather old fashioned, which makes it kind of fun, because I wasn't familiar with all the vocabulary used in it. It's definitely a children's book, although I don't know how many children would actually be captivated by these simple little stories in today's fast-paced world. Which is a shame really. I also wasn't really a fan of Toad. He's really full of himself, and he kind of gets off scott-free in the end, which I didn't love either. But there are a lot of really good lessons about friendship in here.

The Chronicles of Narnia

Author: C. S. Lewis
Books in Series: The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Last Battle

Summaries: 
The Magician's Nephew: On a daring quest to save a life, two friends are hurled into another world, where an evil sorceress seeks to enslave them. But then the lion Aslan's song weaves itself into the fabric of a new land, a land that will be known as Narnia. And in Narnia, all things are possible. (This is the story of how Narnia is created, and also how the white witch came to be in Narnia.)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.

The Horse and His Boy
 On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself. (This one is the most disconnected from the rest of the books, in that it is about a random character who never surfaces in any other stories. But it was still interesting.)

Prince Caspian 
The Pevensie siblings travel back to Narnia to help a prince denied his rightful throne as he gathers an army in a desperate attempt to rid his land of a false king. But in the end, it is a battle of honor between two men alone that will decide the fate of an entire world.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 
A king and some unexpected companions embark on a voyage that will take them beyond all known lands. As they sail farther and farther from charted waters, they discover that their quest is more than they imagined and that the world's end is only the beginning.

The Silver Chair
Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, a noble band of friends is sent to rescue a prince held captive. But their mission to Underland brings them face-to-face with an evil more beautiful and more deadly than they ever expected.

The Last Battle
During the last days of Narnia, the land faces its fiercest challenge—not an invader from without but an enemy from within. Lies and treachery have taken root, and only the king and a small band of loyal followers can prevent the destruction of all they hold dear in this, the magnificent ending to The Chronicles of Narnia.

My Thoughts: I read all the Narnia books back in 4th grade, but barely remembered how they went, so I decided to read them again, this time specifically looking for the religious aspect of the books. Which was a really fun thing to do really. I enjoyed picking out the parallels between Aslan and Christ, each time the great lion shows up in the stories.I personally feel that while each book is a great, adventuresome story, told in a very personal way (Lewis writes as if he is telling each story to you and only you) there really is no way to escape the religious themes of the books. To me, they were SO OBVIOUS! Which is what made the books so fun to read, for me. I would say my least favorite was "The Horse and His Boy" although I still enjoyed the underlying theme of it that Christ is always there helping us along our path, even if we may not realize it.

My favorite book, hands down was "The Last Battle." There is so much based on religion in that book, I can't even begin to start describing it. But it was so good, particularly the end of it. Honestly, while these books were technically written for children, I would definitely recommend them to any adult, especially a religious one. I felt like I learned so many great lessons about faith, loyalty, redemption, and the love of Christ. It was definitely worth the time it took to reread them all.

Mary Poppins

Author: P.L. Travers
Pages: 209
Rating: G
Summary: A blast of wind, a house-rattling bang, and Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane. Quicker than she can close her umbrella, she takes charge of the Banks children - Jane, Michael, and the twins - and changes their lives forever.
Unlike other nannies, Mary Poppins makes the most ordinary events extraordinary. She slides up banisters, pulls all manner of wonders out of her empty carpetbag, and banishes fear or sadness with a no-nonsense "Spit-spot." Who else can lead the children on one magical adventure after another and still gently tuck them in at the end of the day? No one other than the beloved nanny Mary Poppins.

My Thoughts: I decided to read this book after watching the movie "Saving Mr. Banks" which is a phenomenal film, by the way. I had no idea that Mary Poppins was a book, so of course, I had to read it. I didn't love it. Honestly, there's not much of  a plot. Each chapter is a separate fanciful story about something Mary Poppins does with the children. And then at the end of the book, she leaves. Young children would probably really like it, but I was bored. I like my books to have substance. Also, Mary Poppins is kind of mean, as are most of the other adults the children encounter. Their parents are barely mentioned at all, and Bert is a character in only one chapter. They certainly took a lot of liberties with the movie. I found myself wondering what in the world Mrs. Banks was doing all day since the family has a housemaid, butler, cook, and nanny.

As I said, young children would probably be delighted with the silly little stories and adventures the children go on, but I was just bored. It took me weeks to read this book, and it's not even very long.