Searching for Dragons

Title: Searching for Dragons - Book Two of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Author: Patricia C. Wrede

Pages: 4 discs

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B

Synopsis: Mendanbar is the king of the Enchanted Forest.  He finds an area of his forest that has been burned to ashes and the only clues of what has happened are 5 enchanted dragon scales.  Mendanbar embarks with the Princess Cimorene (who's official title is chief cook and librarian to the dragon king) on a quest to locate the lost dragon king.

My Review: Just like the first book of the series, I enjoyed listening to this book in my car.  The audio cd is read by a full cast of characters and is a great production.  I'm still thinking that Ada would love listening to this series in a year or two.

Voluntary Simplicity

Title: Voluntary Simplicity

Author: Duane Elgin

Pages: 240

Genre: Non-Fiction

Grade: C

Synopsis: Originally published in 1981 and updated in the 1990's, this book is considered by many to be the simple/sustainable living bible.  The book covers the tenets of Voluntary Simplicity, which include frugal consumption, ecological awareness and personal growth.  The book concludes with a vision of the global issues that will arise if more people do not choose a path of voluntary simplicity.

My Review: This book wasn't really what I had expected.  The first third of the book is just rehashing results from a magazine survey about people who have chosen to live a life of voluntary simplicity.  The second third of the book was the part that I found most interesting.  This part gave a little bit of an idea into what living with voluntary simplicity is all about.  The last third of the book was an expose about how the whole world needs to embrace voluntary simplicity and how the unfair it is that the rich nations have more than the poor nations.  The author advocates for the United Nations to have power to enforce all of the rules and regulations needed for the world to enjoy voluntary simplicity.  I was hoping for more ideas about living simply, but there were too many political undertones in the discussion. 

The Legend of Colton H. Bryant

Title: The Legend of Colton H. Bryant

Author: Alexandra Fuller

Pages: 5 discs

Genre: Non-Fiction Biographical Novel

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Colton H. Bryant is a Wyoming cowboy, born and raised in Evanston, Wyoming.  He struggled through his school years and was often made fun of while growing up.  His favorite mantra then became "'mind over matter,'  if I don't mind, then it don't matter."  Colton seemed to know that he would die young, so he lived life to its very fullest, traveling the rodeo circuit with a friend, hunting jackrabbits or other animals every chance he could and camping with his horse and friends.  He knew that one day he would work on the oil rigs, just as his father and grandfather had.

My Review:  What really sets this book apart, is that this is a sort of biographical novel about a regular guy with a big heart. It hit close to home, because I'm quite familiar with Evanston and Wyoming and there are a lot of LDS undertones throughout the book.  While the book wasn't a thriller I found that I simply enjoyed the story and I would look forward to the next time that I'd be able to listen to the book. 

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Title: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Author: Muriel Barbery

Pages: 325

Genre: Modern French Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The story is narrated from the viewpoints of two different people.  The first is a concierge of an upscale building in Paris.  She is in her mid-50s, slightly cantankerous and lives alone with her cat.  Unbeknownst to the tenants in the building, she also adores reading Tolstoy, critiquing classical music and admires Japanese culture.  The second protagonist is the twelve-year-old genius, Paloma.  She's the daughter of a French politician and can hardly stand her family.  In fact, she is planning her own suicide on her 13th birthday.  Until then though, she's trying very hard to act like a normal 12-year-old so as to not give anything away.

My Review:  For most of the book, I didn't love it, but the last 50-100 pages really helped me to enjoy it more.  There were a few parts of the book that got me laughing and other parts that got me thinking.  From browsing other reviews, it seems that people tend to really love this book or absolutely hate it. 

Dealing with Dragons

Title: Dealing with Dragons

Author: Patricia C. Wrede

Pages: 4 discs

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B

Synopsis: Cimorene is a unique princess.  She is smart, headstrong and interested in boy things.  Every time that she tries to learn a new skill, shooting, magic, etc. her parents forbid her because "it's not what princesses do."  Her boredom gets that best of her and she takes matters into her own hands and runs away to live as a princess to a dragon.

My Review: I found out that I had to drive to Cedar City when the CD player in my car had been recently stolen, but I was able to throw this book onto my MP3 player and listen to it on the drive.  It was a fun story, one that I'll have Ada listen to in a year or two.

To a Mountain in Tibet

Title: To a Mountain in Tibet

Author: Colin Thubron

Pages: 227

Genre: Non-fiction, Travel Memoir

Grade: B

Synopsis: In memory of his mother's death, the author makes a trip to the sacred mountain of Kailas of southern Tibet which is the source of four of Asia's greatest rivers (Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, Karnali (tributary to the Ganges)).  His trek starts in Nepal before crossing over the border into Tibet (occupied by China) and onto the beautiful Mount Kailas.  The 21,778 foot tall Mount Kailas has never been climbed and is sacred to 1/5 of the world's population (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bon).  Believers of these religions find it sacred to make a pilgrimage to the mountain where they walk around the mountain in a clockwise direction (except Bon) culminating in the Drolma Pass at 18,600 feet. 

My Review: I really enjoyed the travelogue portion of the book, but I didn't find the discussions of the religious significance of the mountain and pilgrims nearly as engaging.  While the book wasn't about Tibet, it was enlightening nonetheless and helped me to understand the conflict between the Tibetans and Chinese a little better. I would love to make this trek in person one day.

From the Book: "As the track bends north-east, the ethereal sandstone disappears. The slopes turn black with granite, and the mountain's lower ridges break into unstable spikes and revetments. Their ribs are slashed in chiaroscuro, and their last outcrops pour towards the valley in the fluid, anthropomorphic shapes that pilgrims love. The spine and haunches of a massive stone beast, gazing at Kailas, are hailed as the Nandi bull, holy to Shiva; another rock has become the votive cake of Padmasambhava."