Welcome to TheBookJeanie

Winter is upon us. . . time to wrap up with a blanket on the couch and spend the day reading.

I must admit that I am hopelessly addicted to true accounts of mountain-climbing, a sport that I would never attempt myself but nonetheless find fascinating.  Savage Summit profiles those women who found the thrill, excitement, and danger of high altitude climbing so compelling that it became an obsession.  The five women that Jennifer Jordan came to know intimately through her intensive research and interviews, all succumbed to the lure of the mountain known as K2 and are the only women to ever reach the summit of the peak that is considered more perilous than Everest.  Three of them died on that mountain.  The other two died later while challenging themselves on other peaks.  Jordan explores the lives of these women, the factors that motivated them to face the hardships, discrimination, and ultimately their own mortality on the highest peaks in the world.  You will admire their courage but also you might wonder at the extreme sacrifices that they and their families had to make in order for them to achieve their dreams.  But you cannot help but admire the courage and determination that each woman possessed that drove them to this harsh but awesome landscape that grazes the farthest reaches of our world.

In terms of literary style, I wouldn't rank Weather's compelling book, Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest, very highly.  But as a testimony to one man's ability to gain insight into his own behavior and change his life in a positive direction, this book is a winner.  Weathers was a member of that fateful 1996 expedition to Mt. Everest that left six members dead on the mountain as the result of a fierce and sudden storm that descended upon the climbers as they attempted the summit.  Although Weathers was later celebrated as the man who was "left for dead" near the summit of Mt. Everest only to emerge 22 hours later, stumbling into the last camp site before the final assent, he was a man tormented by his own demons unrelated to the punishment that Everest meted out .  To my surprise, this fascinating account was not one of struggle and and survival on the mountain, rather it was the story of the struggle of one man against himself as Weathers shares his battle with depression and his obsession to prove himself to his friends and family.  In this startlingly frank memoir, Weathers reveals the self-obsessed and narcissistic patterns of behavior that alienated him from his wife and children and threatened to destroy his life.  As he admits, the near-death experience on Everest and the long road to recovery saved his marriage, his relationship with his children, and his career as a pathologist by jolting him into recognition of what is truly important in life.

 

Build Your Own Library

Thanks to a friend who posted this picture on my Timeline, I have discovered an incredible group of people who are dedicated to providing free library services to all readers, no matter how remote the location.  The mission of the Little Free Library organization is "to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide."  Take a look at their website: 

                                          http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/index.html

and discover how you can become part of this movement to enrich the lives of readers everywhere.

Keep warm by the fire with a good book. . .

I just picked up Charlotte Rogan's first novel, The Lifeboat, from the library after waiting weeks to get my hands on it.  Grace, a newlywed, has been flung from an ocean liner after an explosion at sea and finds herself with 30 strangers in a lifeboat on the Atlantic.  Her husband's fate is unknown and Grace must find the strength to survive while coming to terms with the wrenching decisions that must be made as the survivors find themselves adrift for 21 days.  As the book opens, Grace is on trial for her life after finally being rescued . . .  

Have a wonderful week and . . . keep reading!