Before the Fall

Hawley, Noah. Before the Fall. New York: Hatchette 2016. Print.

First Sentences:

A private plane sits on a runway in Martha's Vineyard, forward stairs deployed.

Description:

Maybe you still need a solid summer read for the upcoming chilly fall months. If so, I can recommend Noah Hawley's novel, Before the Fall, a quick, absorbing read about a mysterious plane crash and the passengers aboard. Hawley is a television writer and producer who created, among other shows, the devilishly-intricate and dark Fargo series

In the opening pages the small private plane loads up with two families who know each other through business, their children, a stranger invited at the last minute, and the crew. Moments later the plane and all passengers plummet into the sea. Only one adult and one child survive the crash in the huge ocean. [Not really a spoiler alert since the crash happens in the opening pages]. The adult becomes a reluctant international hero, but the child refuses to speak to anyone except his rescuer. Do either of them know anything about the crash or the other passengers that might explain the deaths of nine people?

The rest of the book examines each person on board the fated plane. Who are they? What are their individual lives like? Are any under some sort of pressure that might make them want to harm others aboard? Or maybe the crash was simply no one's fault, just an accident, a doomed plane fated to fall to pieces.

As in any great mystery story, each adult seems a likely suspect. Reader suspicions jump from character to character as motivations and lifestyles unfold. But it is not until the final pages that the mystery is finally solved.

It's a page-turning read, an engaging mystery full of interesting characters with secrets that culminate in the plane crash. Exactly the type of book to plop yourself down in a favorite chair and wile away some hours with a mug of something hot on a cold, cloudy winter afternoon.

Happy reading. 

Fred

(See more recommended books)
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Vendela, Vida. The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty. 

A woman traveling in the Middle East assumes the identity of another person via a found backpack she claims as her own. (previously reviewed here) 

Britannia: Rowing Alone Across the Pacific

Fairfax, John. Britannia: Rowing Alone Across the Atlantic. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1971. Print.

First Sentences:

"Seven! Seven out!"

"Seven! Seven out!" Once more the recollection of those fateful words brought a savage curse to my lips; and the sight of the dark, majestic mass of Buckingham Palace, invoking visions of untold splendors within as it loomed in the mist of that chilly winter's night, did nothing to mitigate my fury.

Description:

John Fairfax is a man prone to whims. He calls himself a "professional adventurer," taking on menial jobs to finance the exotic challanges he dreams up. One such brainstorm in 1966 was to row a boat solo across the Pacific Ocean from England to the United States. With only a bit of sailing experience "as a pirate" on a fishing boat and no skill in rowing, no boat, and no financial backing (he's lost his stake gambling as in the quote above), he forges ahead anyways toward his goal. The resulting preparations and actual voyage are documented in his book, Britannia: Rowing Alone Across the Atlantic.

He talks Uffa Fox, England's premier boat-builder, into designing the perfect open-sea boat. Fox's creation, The Britannia, is 25 feet long with a rubberized self-righting chamber so the boat cannot capsize, self-drains any sea water from waves that crash over the sides, and has square oar-locks to assure perfect rowning style with minimal effort to position the oars for each stroke.

But why take on this task? It is the quest that catches his attention. He wants to be the first to row solo, as it had been done by a two-man boat once before.

I hate rowing.... [But then] why row across the Atlantic? Because, with a bit of know-how, almost anybody can sail, but I was after a battle against nature at its most primitive and raw. 

The actual voyage is fascinating. Fairfax recorded in his daily problems of storms, lack of sleep, sharks, sickness, loneliness, rowing time (over 12 hours per day), contrary winds, and almost being run over by passing boats. Navigation was by the stars and sun rather than computers, so cloudy days were problematic, as were unexpected currents and a balky radio antennae that kept him cut off from friends and family in London. He tossed out most of his food for taking up too much space and being disgustingly unflavorful, choosing to rely on spear fishing instead. Much of his success was determined by a Ronson lighter, the sole source of fire to start his tiny burner and cook food.

Fairfax is a survivor, a confident man willing to take chances to achieve his goal to reach the United States alive and in precisely the location he intended. No drifting around or being towed during the final 100 miles as he was tempted to do. 

I loved following his adventures, his matter-of-fact style of solving problems as well as his anger over daily misfortunes, like when dolphins attacked and ate all the fish that had been following his boat. A reader never feels any obstacle will prove too great to stop him and end his quest, and [spoiler alert] of course he reaches America exactly as planned. A true adventure, matched only by his next rowing trip, this time across the Pacific, as recounted in his next book, Oars Across the Pacific. Can't wait to read that one as well.

Happy reading. 

Fred

(See more recommended books)
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Fairfax, John and Cook, Sylvia. Oars Across the Pacific

Fairfax rows across another ocean, this time the Pacific, this adventure undertaking with girlfriend Sylvia Cook.

The Passenger

Lutz, Lisa. The Passenger. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2016. Print.

First Sentences:

When I found my husband at the bottom of the stairs, I tried to resuscitate him before I ever considered disposing of the body.

I pumped his barrel chest and blew into his purple lips. It was the first time in years that our lips had touched and I didn't recoil. 

Description:

In Lisa Lutz's compelling thriller, The Passenger, we meet "Tonya" standing at the bottom of the stairs of her home. Her husband has just fallen down the stairs to his accidental death, but Tonya feels the police will blame her. Worse yet, they might discover her true identity and name. So she takes to the road and changes her name, actions we soon learn she has been doing for the past ten years.

Along the way she stops in backwoods towns, meeting several people of questionable pasts like her own, and flees each location just before she is questioned too deeply. But what exactly are her secrets? 

Author Lutz follows Tonya/Amelia/Debra/Emma/Sonia/Paige/Jo closely through her stream of consciousness narration and inner thoughts. We readers are sitting next to this seemingly normal yet elusive character as she makes up new identities and continues to run with no real plans for a future except to keep moving ahead of discovery. There is even another killing, which definitely complicates Tonya's life and any hope of regaining her former peaceful life. 

If you murder someone once, even with a tenuous argument for self-defense, you can blame it on chance, being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong name. But the next time you kill someone, you have to start asking the hard questions. Is it really self-defense or a lifestyle choice? 

But there are hints about her history. Short email correspondence from the past years are revealed that were sent between Tonya and "Ryan," someone who seems to be a friend from the past but also seems to be an enemy who can no longer be trusted. Through these notes, vague hints are given to tease readers about what happened to make Tonya hit the road and never look back.

How long can she survive without much money? Where will she stop next? What identity will she create for herself? Who can she trust? Tonya is an extremely complex character, yet her thoughts reveal her as someone not so different from anyone else. Awkward circumstances and feelings of self-preservation have dictated the course of her life over the last decade, and we ache to see her triumph somehow and be freed from the questionable events of her past.

Highly recommended for its crisp writing and dialogue, as well as a clever story that holds one in suspense up to the very last pages, my favorite kind of tale.

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Mackintosh, Clare. I Let You Go.

A woman involved in a tragic car accident that killed a small child disappears with a new name and life on an isolated coastal village, trying to hide avoid the past catching up with her.. (previously reviewed here)

The Last American Man

Gilbert, Elizabeth. The Last American Man. London: Penguin. 2002. Print.

First Sentences:

By the time Eustace Conway was seven years old, he could throw a knife accurately enough to nail a chipmunk to a tree.

By the time he was ten, he could hit a running squirrel at fifty feet with a bow and arrow. When he turned twelve, he went out into the woods, alone and empty-handed, built himself a shelter, and survived off the land for a week.

Description:

Some people harbor dreams of forsaking civilization, disappearing into some isolated forest and living off the land peacefully in harmony with nature. Of course, none of us could survive more that a few miserable days, but what if ....

Elizabeth Gilbert depicts such a man in her strongly-written biography of Eustace Conway, The Last American Man. 

For years, Eustace had escaped his father's badgering and humiliations by spending time in a local American Indian museum, learning the Indian philosophy and their skills of living in nature. He gradually acquired the abilities to live independent of civilization and, when he reached 17, tooks off from his home with his homemade teepee and motorcycle to find his perfect land in the woods of North Carolina to make a home in nature.

Eventually he purchased acres of isolated lands and built Turtle Island, his refuge which could preserve of enough natural forest for him to live freely with animals, water, and trees in his own way without roads, electricity, or contact with the outside world. Supporting himself by giving demonstrations and talks to schools and organizations, everything seemed perfect in his chosen life.

But not all was easy. He was determined to spread his philosophy that anyone can live in nature, and should. To that end, Eustace opened Turtle Island to campers seeking his knowledge of survival skills. What they found were hours of digging post holes, eating meager meals from whatever Eustace can scrounge (including roadkill and dumpster diving), and whatever other work Eustace felt was needed to keep Turtle Island running. Few campers were happy with these arrangements and many left early.

And then there was his strong desire to start a family and his plan to find the perfect woman. Not all went well in this area as might be expected, as potential girlfriends were left to mind the teepee and campers to Eustace's exacting standards while he traveled the country giving demonstrations and preaching his back-to-nature philosophy.

But what an interesting man he is, and what a life he carved out for himself. The book is filled with story after incredible story of incidents in his life of interacting with nature, including raising a hundred turtles in his childhood backyard, riding horses across the United States, and through-hiking the Appalachian Trail without packing any food and surviving on what he could hunt or scrounge. Throughout the book he is always carefully plotting the perfect existence and spreading his enthusiasm to kids and adults alike.

Wonderful reading about a complex man who defines and then carves out his ideal life.

Happy reading. 

Fred

(See more recommended books)
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet

Young city-born teen survives a plane crash in the wilds of Canada and must learn how to survive. Wonderful book for teens and adults alike, as the best news is there are several other books in this survival series. (previously reviewed here)

Touching the Void

Simpson, Joe. Touching the Void: The True Story on One Man's Survival. New York: Harper & Row 1988. Print.

First Sentences: 

I was lying in my sleeping bag, staring at the light filtering through the red and green fabric of the dome tent.

Simon was snoring loudly, occasionally twitching in his dream world.

Description:

Need a breathless true survival tale during the cold winter nights? One that will never again allow you to complain about being chilly, having a sore leg, or being just too tired to do some task. Well, let me introduce you to Joe Simpson, the author and main character in the high-altitude climbing disaster memoir, Touching the Void: The True Story on One Man's Survival.

Simpson and partner Simon Yates, both experienced high-altitude climbers, set off to climb the previously unscaled Siula Grande, a 21,000 foot peak in the Peruvian Andes. From their base camp at 15,000 feet, it was anticipated to be a three-day excursion.

But during the descent, author Simpson fell and broke his leg. With only Simon to assist, a descent to their base camp was virtually impossible. But they agreed to try, with Simon bracing himself and then lowering Simpson down a huge sheer cliff on the end of a rope 300 measly feet at a time. 

Imagine being lowered down a sheer cliff, banging and twisting your broken leg every few feet on the face. Agonizing, but progress was being made.

That is, until Simpson fell into a deep crevasse. He dangled freely from the rope over an opening thousands of feet deep, held only by the waning strength of Simon who could not possibly pull him back up during the nighttime raging storm.

There was only one thing to to -- Simon had to cut the rope to let Simpson fall, giving in to the inevitable. Simon reasoned that Simpson probably hadn't survived the crevasse fall, and he simply could not pointlessly hold onto the rope with a dead body on the other end. He had to try to survive himself. 

And he does cut the rope... and Simpson, miraculously still alive and dangling, falls again further, deeper into the unknown crevasse.

Since this is a memoir of survival, it is not a spoiler to relate here that Simpson survives this second drop. The remaining half of the book is Simpson's incredible struggle to reach the home camp. Step by agonizing step he overcomes obstacles of the crevasse, cold, darkness, and his own twisted leg, thinking each one has used his final strength. He has no knowledge whether his climbing companion Simon survived his own descent, and if so, whether Simon hung around camp to wait for his partner whom he knew to be dead.

Gripping, emotional, draining, and exhilarating. For any climber or lover of adventure or survival stories, this is one of the best. The first-hand account of the man actually recounting each tiny movement on the mountain puts readers almost in his boots.

Happy reading. 

Fred

(See more recommended books)
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Murphy, Brian. 81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness

A World War II pilot parachutes out in the desolate cold of Alaska on his own. Tremendous survival story, even better because it is all true. (previously reviewed here)

Special Post: Young Adult Fiction for Adults

Sometimes adult readers turn their noses up at Young Adult fiction simply because it is shelved differently in libraries and bookstores. Maybe they feel YA books are all simplistic and juvenile in themes, characters, and writing to appeal to a less sophisticated audience.

Boy, how wrong they are.

There are some doozies out there that will engross readers of any age. With students returning to school and needing some great reads for book reports, here are some of my absolute favorites that won't disappoint adult or younger readers on any level. 

Include your own favorites in the Comments section if you are so inclined.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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Hatchet  (and others in this survival series) - Gary Paulsen

First Sentences 

Brian Robeson stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below. It was a small plane -- a Cessna 406 -- a bush plane -- and the engine was so loud, so roaring and consuming and loud that it ruined any chance for conversation. Not that he had much to say   

          - from Hatchet 

Description:

I love the survival tales of Brian Robeson who, after a plane crash, finds himself stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness and now must survive by his own wits. Hatchet and Brian's Winter are my favorites and worthy reads for any adult for the challenges faced, the struggles to survive, and the overcoming of self-doubts that we all feel in our lives.

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I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak

First Sentences 

The gunman is useless. 

I know it. 

He knows it. 

The whole bank knows it. 

Even my best mate, Marvin, knows it, and he's more useless than the gunman. 

          
Description:

Author of the popular The Book Thief, Zusak has written a fascinating mystery about an aimless young cabdriver who begins to receive cryptic notes written on playing cards. When deciphered, he feels these messages refer to neighbors who have problems that he must address and help, whether through simple encouragement, friendship, fighting, or simply listening. His friends don't understand his quests, but undeterred he resolves to understand and complete the missions alluded to in the four cards.

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Brewster - Mark Slouka

First Sentences 

The first time I saw him fight was right in front of the school, winter.

It was before I knew him. I noticed him walking across the parking lot -- that long coat, his hair tossing around in the wind -- with some guy I'd never seen before following twenty feet behind and two others fanned back like wings on a jet.

        

Description:

This is the book I feel should replace The Catcher in the Rye as the novel that most honestly represents teen angst and the reality they face in the twenty-first century. One high school boy deals with the untimely death of his popular brother by trying to become a cross-country runner. Another friend, gifted mentally, drifts in and out of school and picks fights everyone to build a reputation as dark as his countenance. Along with a girl and an unpopular bully, these four contemplate their present and future world in honest and halting words and actions to meet their fates head on. A brilliant, strongly-written book.

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The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

First Sentences 

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, nor yet a dry sand bare sand hole: it was a hobbit hole and that means comfort.

   

Description:

Originally a small story told by author Tolkien to his children, The Hobbit became a runaway best seller to millions of children and adults throughout the world. A tale of adventure, humor, dragons, gold, and most importantly Good and Evil, The Hobbit is worthy of any reader who loves a great story simply told with great depth of character and plot. Here, an unsuspecting hobbit is recruited to join a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim their ancestors' ancient gold from the dragon guarding it. The major (and minor) figures are unforgettable, whether hobbits, dwarves, men, dragons, spiders, mythic figures, or a strange creature who lives in the dark and cold under the mountain. 

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

First Sentences 

It was 7 minutes after midnight.

The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears's house. It's eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing cats in a dream.

Description:

Maybe not technically a YA book, this fascinating novel explores the mind of the autistic teenage narrator who seeks to find the answers to who violently killed the neighborhood dog. His quest takes him into many worlds that he fears but faces with straightforward honesty and questions which are uncomfortable for many to answer.

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The Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling

First Sentences 

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number 4, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

They were the last people you'd expect to be involved with anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. 

          - from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Description:

Probably no one has not heard of the Harry Potter series of magicians, Muggles, and evil forces combated by teenage wizards in training. But if you have only seen the movies, you are cheating yourself of great writing and characters not found on the silver screen. Although the books become increasingly darker and longer, the entire series is a treasure to read. Start at the first and read consecutively for the fullest effect of a maturing author and characters, flowing into complex stories and decisions from the heroes to thwart He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named.

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Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

First Sentences 

"I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears and I tell you he's the one. Or at least as close as we're going to get."

"That's what you said about the brother."

"The brother tested out impossible.For other reasons. Nothing to do with his ability."

Description:

Earth's government recruits child geniuses and trains them in an orbiting Battle School to be soldiers against the predicted invasion of fierce, insect-like aliens. Ender Wiggen and his two siblings take leadership roles in this coming conflict on Earth and in space. Ender rises in the ranks of selected trainees, overcoming bullies, mental challenges, and mock battle in weightless environments and sophisticated video simulation games. And they wait of the coming alien battles, hoping their are ably prepared. Extremely well-written, gripping, and unpredictable. 

An added bonus is the recent book Ender's Shadow written by Card years later to retell the same story but from the completely different eyes of a street smart youngster named Bean who was also recruited in Ender's class of soldier cadets. Interesting that a minor character now becomes the center of attention as the narrator and later Ender's right-hand officer in the training and battles. Bean gives a completely different perspective on the government, the mission, and the organization that seeks to make him a loyal soldier.

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Five Children and It - E. Nesbit

First Sentences 

The house was three miles from the station, but before the dusty hired hack had rattled along for five minutes, the children began to put their heads out of the carriage window and say, "Aren't we nearly there?"

Description:

From the author of the Railway Children series, E. Nesbit's 1902 novel tells of five siblings who discover a sand-fairy who grants them a wish a day with the proviso that at sunset the wish wears off and everything returns to as it was. The children ponder each wish very carefully - for wealth, beauty, to be big, wings, etc. - but each wish fulfillment goes unexpectedly wrong so that by the end of the day the children are glad to have the results of their wishes reversed. And they plan the next day's wish that will be perfect without possibility of misinterpretation or unexpected repercussions. A very interesting, timeless read from over 100 years ago.

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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews

First Sentences 

So in order to understand everything that happened, you have to start from the premise that high school sucks.

Do you accept that premise? Of course you do. It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. In fact, high school is where we are first introduced to the basic existential question of life: How is is possible to exist in a place that sucks this bad? 

Description:

The perfect first sentences to a Young Adult book: snarky, slangy, pessimistic, and funny. And Andrews keeps up the writing style throughout, mixing in formats of scripts, dialogue, and rambling narrative to tell this tale of two teenage boys and one girl (not a "girlfriend") working through the challenges of cancer, high school life, bad film-making, and getting along with the various high school mobs. You may have seen this movie (I did and didn't even know it was based on this book), but reading this story is so much more funny. Remember all the clever lines from the movie? Taken directly from the book which is chock full of such wit, sarcasm, insights, friendship, and genuine tenderness.

Let's just say that it would explain a lot of things if there were a fungus eating my brain.

438 Days

Franklin, Jonathan. 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea. New York: Atria. 2015. Print.

First Sentences:

His name was Salvador and he arrived with bloody feet, said he was looking for work -- anything to start -- but to those who saw the newcomer arrive, he looked like a man on the run.

Description:

On November, 2012, two men set off in their open fishing boat - really a row boat with a small outboard engine - to a rich fishing spot over 100 miles off the coast from their homes in Guatemala. But a five-day hurricane arises that destroys their engine, tosses their fishing equipment, fresh water, and food overboard, and water-logs their radio and GPS into uselessness. 

Salvador Alvarenga survived 14 months drifting 6,000 miles in his small open fishing boat. Author Jonathan Franklin spent one year interviewing Alvarenga, his friends, and family and talking with survival experts to fully understand this incredibly true story. The result is the brilliant 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea. 

After the storm, all they have left in their boat is a wood plank, a bucket, a fishing knife, a machete, an empty icebox, some empty bleach bottles, some nylon rope, a broken motor and one red onion. They can only drift with the currents and wait ... and try to stay alive. Working with an inexperienced partner, Alvarenga has to figure out how to get food, protect both of them from unrelenting sun, rain, and salt, and keep their spirits up (or at least away from despair and suicide).  

But they learn to catch fish with their hands, grab birds and keep them alive on board until ready to be eaten (feet, bones, feathers, and all), mark the days by observing the moon and stars, and fashioning "clothes" from turtle shells and shark skins. Their own fingernails and urine provide subsistence in the early days before they learn food-gathering skills.

Franklin cleverly intersperses interesting facts from survival experts and fellow castaways to comment on exactly what Alvarenga is going through at each step, how his actions help or harm his survival chances, and what his mental state is like before, during and after his ordeal.

It's an incredible tale, clearly and methodically told, but full of passion and the will to continue on whatever it takes. Days and events are carefully recalled by Alvarenga and shared with the author so clearly that one seemingly joins the two men in their boat along and feel their fears, successes, and dwindling hope. A fantastic, stranger-than-fiction epic of skill, chance, ingenuity, luck, and human will. Highly recommended, especially when you are feeling overburdened with the setbacks life tosses your way. 

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Phil brick, Nathaniel. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

The true story of a whale attack and destruction of a whale ship in the 1800s. Three boats escape, only to drift thousands of miles to try to reach the nearest land. Unbelievable, gripping, and well-researched. (previously reviewed here)