The Land of Painted Caves

The Land of Painted Caves
Jean M Auel
6th in the Earth's Children series
Random House
2011
5/5

From the back of the book: In this , the extraordinary conclusion of the ice-age epic series Earth's Children, Ayla, Jondalar, and their infant daughter, Jonayla, are living with the Zelandonii in the Ninth Cave. Ayla has been chosen as an acolyte to a spiritual leader and begins arduous training tasks.
   Whatever obstacles she faces, Ayla finds inventive ways to lessen the difficulties of daily life, searching for wild edibles to make meals and experimenting with techniques to ease the long journeys, the Zelandonii
must take while honing her skills as a healer and a leader. And there are the Sacred caves that Ayla's mentor takes her to see: They are filled with remarkable paintings of mammoths, lions, and bears and their mystical aura at times overwhelms Ayla.
   But all the time Ayla has spent in training rituals has caused Jondalar to drift away from her. The rituals themselves bring her close to death, but through them Ayla gains A Gift of Knowledge so important that it will change the world.

My thoughts: This last in the series was a long time coming. And so when I was finally able to borrow a copy from a friend, I put all other reading aside to dive in. This is a long book, 828 pages, and as with all the preceding stories, it has great and glorious detail. Auel paints a wondrous picture of the Earth and its inhabitants during the glacial ice age. She writes in vivid detail of the living arrangements, the utensils used to cook and hunt and the family structure. She weaves a believable story of this amazing young woman and her life, now as a young mate and mother. If I have any criticism at all, it would be that the chapters describing the inside of the painted caves became a bit long for me.
     Ms Auel uses her stories to raise questions and maybe even give us some answers as why our modern day customs are the way they are. In this last story she delves into relationships and family structure. This book will sit with all her others on my 5 Happy Hands shelf.

Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday a blog word and more from The Land of the Painted Caves

Hosted by Kathy at BermudaOnion's Weblog , Wondrous Words Wednesday is one of my favorite weekly memes. It gives me a chance to learn new words, to explore new titles and most of all to share with others. Join us. Just hop on over to Kathy's blog, grab her button, create a post with your new words for the week and link up with Mister Linky back on Kathy's blog.



griot ~ noun.  \gre-o\    : any of a class of musician-entertainers from Western Africa whose performances include tribal histories and genealogies;  broadly: storyteller   Origin:  French

This word was discovered while reading a review of The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating by Carole Radziwill on BookNAround.

Other words in my reading this week:   The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel

numinous - adj.  having a mysterious, holy or spiritual quality.

describing the character's vision of the painted caves. "It was a very enigmatic, spiritual numinous and it gave Ayla a chill."

I could have guessed at the meaning, but I looked it up to be sure.


bumptious - adj.  proud or confident in a loud and rude way that annoys other people.

"She did, however, like the attentions she was getting from all the young men, both the young hunters and Willamar's apprentices, though the traders did back off when she was surrounded by all of the rather bumptious youths.



calcareous - adj   a)   resembling calcite or calcium carbonate, especially in hardness.
                           b)   growing on limestone or in soil impregnated with lime.


"The cave was high above the river valley floor, and reasonably dry inside, but it was calcareous rock, which was naturally porous, and water saturated with calcium carbonate constantly seeped though it."

I was pretty sure I knew what this word was describing. I have visited several caves in the Black Hills of So Dakota, so I am familiar with stalagmites and stalacites.

All these definitions come from Merriam Webster online dictionary.

I am almost finished with this book. (828 pages), so I may go on to a faster, easier read and then probably won't find nearly as many interesting words.

It's Monday! What Are Your Reading? David Baldacci and Jim & Joyce Lavene

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It is great fun to link to the others participating and see what everyone is reading. Fair warning though....it will add to your reading list!!

This week Mr Busy and I are listening to the next edition in the Shaw series. I think this is the last one, but I can't be sure. We have been working our way through the David Baldacci books that we can find on audio. It is a great way to listen, multi-task and share a good read. Our library has quite a few of his books on audio and if they do not have it they are willing to go to the inter library loan section and order it for us. They charge a minimal $2 fee, but that doesn't even cover the postage. So it is still a "good deal". 

I was loaned this Peggy Lee Garden Series by my daughter-in-law. She is an intense book lover like me and has shared many books with me. Now she is in college working on her undergraduate degree in English or Creative Writing, I am not positive exactly. But she is a talented writer and very much wants to get a novel published. I wish her well. This is the last in the trilogy and I have been reading in the car when we run our errands.  I just leave it in the car, seems every time we go out, Mr. Busy "needs to stop at the hardware store"...not my favorite place, so I stay in the car and read!

It is a fun story and I love all the gardening information at the beginning of each chapter. 

Until next time 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Non- Fiction Reading Challenge #5 and #6

I participated in this challenge in 2013 and wanted to do it again. When I signed up at The Introverted Reader the link did not link back to my sign up post. So I added a section to my 2014 Challenges page. I will keep a list of the nonfiction books I read and link back to my reviews. Hope this works. Challenges keep me focused!  You can join any time through out the entire year, so why not link up and see how many non-fiction books you can read this year.?



The Prescribed Burn by Laryssa Wirstiuk
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

We meet Veda in this collection of 15 short stories. I sort of feels like a novel because it involves the same main character and her family and friends. The stories are not told in chronological order, I am not sure why the author did that, but it doesn't detract from the reading at all. It's a bit like sneaking a peek in someones diary at various times and you just open it to a random page and sneak a read.

Veda's story is told with candor and open-mindedness. She is a young woman experiencing unthinking adults in her life, accepting her body as a young teen, her first boyfriend, being on the pill, having a job, trying to get her life in order ( whatever that means).
I enjoyed the reading of these short stories.

Laryssa Wirstiuk tells it like it is or at least was for her probably. To be able to go through these painful times in our lives and then write about it is a wonder to me. I hope Ms. Wirstiuk continues to write and be published. I especially like the bonus materials in this book. There are 15 color photographs, a crowd sourced story that is very interesting, book club discussion questions and creative writing exercises.  





The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As non-fiction goes, this was ok. It was full of facts, but Grisham managed to make it sound like a story too. I was getting really upset with the way the judicial system was handled in Ada, Oklahoma. I hope that isn't the norm. My brother who has a degree in Criminal Justice and works in the system in our home town would say it most often works as it is intended.

John Grisham was a lawyer and he makes a statement at the end of the audio, explaining how he researched the details and how the Innocence Project works. I was glad to hear about that.




Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

A Celebration ! 90th Birthday!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at  West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky (at West Metro Mommy). Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Last weekend we celebrated my MIL's 90th birthday. That is her in the middle in the aqua top. Four of her five children and their spouses were in attendance as were our daughter, her husband and both our granddaughters from Colorado. My SIL's granddaughter and her boyfriend came from North Dakota and as you can see there is a small boy on Grandma's lap. Her great great grandson, my great grandson from Colorado.  It was a great success and we had a wonderful time. 

This beautiful boy was part of the best part of the visit!. It was such a joy to have him at our house. His mom and dad also took him to visit his grandpa, great grandmother and great aunties in South Dakota, since they were so close. He did so well with all the attention and all the different people. He is almost 7 month old and I predict he will be walking soon. He is so strong.

Some of you will remember that I posted a picture of 4 1/2 generations at the baby shower last June. So now we have a real 5 generation picture.

My MIL, my DH, my daughter, granddaughter and great grandson. Wow, am I ever blessed!!!


Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Non Fiction Reading Challenge Entries #3 & #4

Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anne Lamott writes a frank nothing is sacred little book about the 3 essential kinds of prayer. She thinks that all prayer falls into these 3 catagories.  Help - Please, God help me get through this!
Thanks - Thankyouthankyouthankyou for helping me accept this situation.   And Wow!- I'm speechless, God, that sunset is awesome!

This book is not written just for Christians although Anne Lamott professes to be a Christian. She explores all types of higher power.

I grinned and really enjoyed this small easily read book. Yes, I agree, most prayers are Help, Thanks or Wow, but maybe I needed a little nudge to remember that I do pray all day. And that is the way, my God says I should.

I am glad I have this little book. I will re read it often.  I recommend this book to all who believe in some higher power, be it my Christian God, an agnostic's "somebody up there", or something else. 

Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife by Eben Alexander

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I want to believe, I really do!
Dr. Alexander writes a compelling memoir of his 7 day coma, NDE and reawakening. He had awesome medical support and care at Lynchberg General Hospital in Virginia. He experienced and is able to articulate his experiences in a way we can all understand ( almost). Some of the medical jargon and the explanation of his NDE is hard to follow. But I know, somewhere in my deepest inner thoughts, that NDEs are possible. I am just finding it hard to fully accept. Not sure why, not sure I even want to know why. 

The Telling Room by Michael Paterniti

The Telling Room, A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World's Greatest Piece of Cheese by Michael Paternitt.

From the Front Flap:
In the picturesque village of Guzman, Spain, in a cave dug into a hillside on the edge of town, an ancient door leads to a cramped limestone chamber known as "the telling room". Containing nothing but a wooden table and two benches, this is where villagers have gathered for centuries to share their stories and secrets--usually accompanied by copious amounts of wine.

It was here, in the summer of 2000, that Michael Paterniti found himself listening to a larger-than-life Spanish cheesemaker named Ambrosio Molinos de las Heras as he spun an odd and compelling tale about a piece of cheese.



My Thoughts:

The book started slow for me. I could not decide why on earth this young journalist wanted to write the story of a cheese maker from Spain. It didn't seem all that interesting to me. I mean, yes, it afforded him an opportunity to visit Spain. But he barely spoke or understood Spanish, so why put himself through that? Evan as I struggled to understand, I kept wondering Why? Who cares? What is interesting about a cheese and the man who made it in the small village in the Central Plateau of Spain.

Gradually as the book progressed, I came to understand that it wasn't just about the cheese. It wasn't even just about the the cheese maker. It was about this young husband and father finding his voice as a storyteller. And what a journey it was. He is passionate, articulate and able to humanize the everyday of life. He treats his subject with respect, curiosity and empathy.

This was the March selection for my local bookclub and I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more discussion. Most had not finished the book, so that may be why. I think it was a slow start for most as it was for me, and too, some had trouble finding the book. The library had one copy that was checked out and not returned on time. Our one and only bookstore did not have it in stock, but could order it by the end of March ( that would be too late). So in fairness, it was a difficult book to discuss.


Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy