Many years ago, a young singer named Helen Reddy was performing in a hotel in Miami. She had recently come out with a song that became my anthem...I Am Woman. I belted it out in the car when I was alone, in the shower when no one was home, and in my head constantly. Arthur decided to treat me to a night on the town...dinner and Helen Reddy. The warm up act for Ms. Reddy was a comedienne who was new to me. Her humor was shocking...she was criticizing people a la Don Rickles, and she was bringing up topics that most men wouldn't touch. She was hysterical! She was Joan Rivers. Recently I bought her book , Diary of a Mad Diva, and then forgot I had it. I decided to pull it out this week and give it a try. I guess I am getting older, but it made me a little uncomfortable. I think I liked her a lot more than I like her writing. Don't get me wrong, there are some very funny parts in that book, but some other parts were just a bit too much for me. That being said, the world (and I) will miss Joan Rivers. She told it like it is...said things most of us wouldn't dare to even think and through it all she made us laugh till we cried. I hope that she and Robin Williams are indeed yucking it up, up there. I also hope that I won't feel compelled to write about anymore well known people who have left us before we were ready to say goodbye.
Saying goodbye to senior citizens is difficult enough, but saying goodbye to children is beyond what we should ever have to do. My second reviewed book this week is The Competition by Marcia Clark. Her story about a Columbine-like shooting situation was upsetting, but it did keep me interested. Unfortunately there will always be enough tragic events in the news to give authors a plethora of ideas for new novels to keep us reading.
Speaking of keeping us reading, the first step is to start children reading at an early age. Kids like consistency, and children's series have always been popular. We all remember the Bobbsey Twins, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, etc. We couldn't wait until the next book in the series was released, no matter which series we were involved in at the moment. WHERE IS MY HOME ? by Tali Carmi is part of a series written for younger children. The series is about a little redhead by the name of Terry Treetops. Young readers seem to enjoy this energetic young man as do I. My reviews on children's books are my way of promoting books as gifts for the very young. Forming new readers...one book at a time!
Hope all of you are enjoying the book that you are reading right now, but even if you are not, remember that there is always another great one waiting to be read.
Happy reading,
- Beverly