My dog, Polo, has been at work
picking out audiobooks again. It works best to limit his choices to certain author
names so he doesn't chase all over the alphabet. After all, I have a short
attention span and might not remember which authors we've already sampled.
Mr. and Mrs. Jha have lived with
adequate comfort in their East Delhi home, but everything must change when Mr.
Jha sells a website and they come into sudden wealth. Nothing about their
current situation is good enough -- so he rushes to buy a big house in the best
neighborhood, fill it with amazing new furniture, park a fancy car in the
garage, and impress his potential new friends.
Polo's favorite scene: There is a
certain painting activity that is both hilarious and horribly embarrassing.
Also, Polo dreams about being the Jha's family dog and living in the (literal)
lap of luxury.
A modern-day court drama requires a
detailed exploration of the past in this historical novel with a mystery. Two
boys grew up in Poland during World War II; one of them became a Nazi; the
other had to hide. In present-day Chicago, one man is an elderly widower. But
did that young Polish boy, who was forced to join the German army, become a
well-known millionaire? Or is this all just the confused imagining of a lonely
old man?
Polo's best feature: The narrator's
use of different voices and slight accents makes the story easy to follow as it
goes from the 1930s to the present.
I remember the play. It was Monday
Night Football, 1985, Washington Redskins versus the New York Giants. Joe
Theismann suffered an injury seen by millions of fans on live
television. If you were a football fan, you remember it, too. That one play
changed Joe's life, and the moment lives on in twenty-two men who get together
every year to re-enact it (but without the actual injury). No matter how much
-- or how little -- changes in their lives, these men have a standing
commitment to meet every year. Just them, no girlfriends or wives or children
or distractions, going through the motions in exact detail. The real story here
isn't the football play, but the men's real lives and inner
conversations.
Polo's highlight: Playing ball on a
grassy field with friends. What could be better?
A real-life young married white
female (MWF) moves to Chicago and misses her old best friends forever (BFFs).
Needing someone to be able to call for spur-of-the-moment manicures or movie
nights, Rachel Bertsche embarks on a year-long project to find new friends. Her
goal is to have one friend-date per week, hoping that at least a few of her new
contacts will lead to more friend-dates which will blossom into real friendships.
The narrator's energy is contagious, and I felt myself wondering if I should
try this experiment!
Polo's take: This is all complicated and ridiculous! If you want to make a friend, all you have
to do is watch for friendly body language and ask them to scratch behind your
ears. If they also give you a treat, you're true BFFs.
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