Category Archives: Mom Camp 2013

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Allow to begin by saying I love Philip K. Dick as an author. He is responsible for some really thought-provoking works of literary art. He is the author of some true sci-fi classics such as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and even some of his lesser known short stories are wonderful. Now before you attack me for only pointing out his famous works, I have read a number of his lesser known stories…

Dick, however, is also a very prolific writer. He seems to have a pretty good number of both AMAZINGLY OUT OF THIS WORLD creations and so-so stories. For me, The Man in the High Castle is one of his more mediocre works.

I first took up The Man in the High Castle because of the upcoming Amazon series based on the work. I loved the pilot, as did many other people across the internet world.

The book does offer the typical otherworldlyness of Dick’s novels. And, he plays on his themes about the nature of reality. In some ways, his themes are more accessible because he grapples with the idea using the backdrop of post-WWII America. Although the Axis Powers have won the war, Dick is not transporting readers to another planet or even to thousands of years in the future. Perhaps that is what falls short for me. I never felt truly captive to the alternate universes Dick creates in many of his stories.

I still love Philip K. Dick and his a Grand-Daddy in Sci-Fi literature. But for me, the book was not on par with some of his other great works.

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The Expats by Chris Pavone
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this at my book club’s annual holiday book exchange party. Everyone brings a book and we do a White Elephant exchange or as some people call it a Yankee Swap. Chris Pavone’s novel is one of two books I got my hands on.

The basic plot pretty simple… a woman working in the CIA quits her job and moves to Europe when her husband lands a job overseas. She has been lying to him about her job with the CIA for their entire marriage. Pretty soon she’s a little bored simply taking care of the kids and traveling all over Europe (how this can be I have no idea… haha) and she starts to believe some other American expats seem to be hiding something. That’s as far as I will go with the story line encase you actually plan to read the book.

For me, there was really nothing special about the book. The writing was okay, the story was okay. If you are bored on the plane or at the beach or trapped with nothing to do in snow storm I suppose the book will help you pass the time. But, there are so many other things to read out there…. I say just skip it.

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The Ludwig Conspiracy by Oliver Pötzsch
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Potzsch’s The Ludwig Conspiracy seems to be a rather poor Northern European version of the Da Vinci Code. In his novel, a book seller and a young art detective roam through the castles of Bavarian King Ludwig II looking for clues to solve a hidden puzzle. The primary sleuthing revolves around the mysterious death of Ludwig II.

I was unaware of the strange and inconsistent circumstances surrounding his death. While the odd ‘facts’ of the case do lend themselves to a mystery novel something in Potzsch’s execution of the story is lacking. The book so closely mirrors Da Vinci Code in so many ways that it is a distraction to paying to attention to Potzsch’s plot. To be fair— I enjoyed the Da Vinci code for what it was worth— but I was not among its major fans! So for me, a weaker version of the story was a little painful.

Additionally, and I do not fault the author for this, the dialog came across as rather stilted. Something about the cadence of the speech was off putting. I am going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and attribute this to the translation. Perhaps, it was better in the original.

Finally, I really did enjoy Potzsch’s Hangman’s Daughter series and plan to read his upcoming release in October .

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Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ayse Kulin’s book is an intriguing book about the troubles facing a Turkish family during the early days of WWII. Unlike many daughters of an aging Turkish pasha, Selva and Sebiha, choose different life paths to create the setting for this story.

Selva falls in love with a Turkish Jew. Her father is shamed and embarrassed by her choice. His unwillingness to accept her Jewish husband causes Selva and her husband to move to France.

Sebiha does exactly was is expected of her and marries a promising Turkish government official. She has one child and finds her self depressed and lonely. Sebiha soon makes friends with one her husband’s co-workers, Tarik.

All the while, Turkey is trying to avoid entering the war either for or against Germany. Tarik is posted in France and makes contact with Selva.

Through Sebiha’s friendship with Tarik, Selva encourages the Turkish consulate to issue “papers” to other Jews. Soon the Turkish consulate creates a plan to transport hundreds of Turkish and non-Turkish Jews out of Nazi occupied France.

Will the Turkish Jews make out of France? Will Selva finally be accepted by her father?

The emotions run high in this well written and compelling story of one family’s challenge during the war.

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One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hmmmm…. I know I am going to get into a lot of trouble for this review from Bill Bryson fans…BUT, I simply did not love the book. I am not sure if it’s because I expected more out of him or if the book simply did not click with me. Whatever it was, I sort of wish I had not wasted my time or money. So what were the issues I had with book?

1. I get the feeling Bryson really wanted to do a book on Charles Lindbergh, rather than the Summer of 1927. A LARGE portion of the book is devoted to aviation and Lindbergh’s flight and subsequent celebrity. Too much of the book in my opinion. That might have been the biggest thing to happen that summer… but it simply got to be too much. I feel as if the book was something of a bait and switch– if was going to be a long tale of Lindbergh Bryson should have just said at the outset.

2. I did not care for Bryson’s treatment of President Calvin Coolidge. His tone and disrespect for MY FAVORITE president was truly unfair. He presents Coolidge as something of a simpleton, when that is far from the case. Further more, he does not defend his depiction of Coolidge with hard facts. Rather he treats him as a fool without backing it up.

3. I am not sure that Bryson made his case as to WHY this was a critical summer in American history. He did a nice job explaining the summer and Lindbergh’s success spurred the American airline industry. But, this conclusion does not come until the afterword. Other than that, I am not sure that Byrson really closed the loop on WHY this summer mattered more than say 1926 or 1928. And, again he should have simply written a book on aviation.

All and all, the book was a unsatisfying for the genre. I wish I had picked something else.

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In celebration of the opening of the Minion Movie we dedicated a full day to all things Minion.  You may know we had a Despicable Me Two Day a few years ago at Mom Camp.   We changed things up this year and did new crafts and activities.

In the days leading up to the movie, we read the novel:   

Plus, Target had a TON of Minion items in the dollar section that we purchased (sketch pad, giant pencils, erasers and more…)  We even found Minion Duct Tape at the art supply store!

Our creations included mini paper Minions,you can find a template for them here.

Minion finger puppets, Minion eye goggles, and Minion maze were also part of our day of fun.  Click Here for the Link.

We ended the day with the 3-D version of the Minion movie.