Lena goes to the Ionian coast for vacation. She plans on getting her class work ready for the next semester. While there she meets Nina and Elena, a young mother and her daughter, and takes an interest in them and their extended family. She also reflects on her daughters and her mother and their lives.

This is a character study of Lena. She does not come across well. She is mean and selfish. She should not have had children (her ex-husband either.) I found her hard to like and I wanted to be sympathetic, but I couldn't. She was not nice. I could relate to some of her experiences with her mother. I could not relate to why she kept the doll (there are a couple of dolls in the story.) I did not like her and that is rare for me. I finished it because of book club. Not sure I would have otherwise.

The reader speaks well, paying careful attention to pronunciation, but often, with so many Russian names rolling off her tongue, I was unable to picture or fathom any of them, let alone try and remember them. Although she spoke clearly, she didn’t vary much in tone or pitch. The voice was resonant, but very soft and kind of melancholy. I believe I would have been better off with the print book, rather than the audio.

The author’s excellent research is evident with the information presented on every page. It was very detailed and the lives of the Romanov daughters do come alive for the reader. However, sometimes it was repetitive, for how many times can you hear about the illness of a particular character or the balls someone attended without feeling the story should move on a bit faster. I often lost track of the children’s ages and of how much time had passed, and in the end, thought they had been in prison for years when only one year had gone by.

Actually, the book only covers a little over two decades in the lives of the Tsar and Tsarina, Nicholas II and Alexandra who was of British nobility and converted to the Russian Orthodox religion to marry. The royal couple shared a deep love for each other. The children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei, the legitimate heir, who is covered in large part only with reference to his genetic illness, Hemophilia, were largely kept out of the public eye, to the dismay of their subjects who thought they should be more privy to information about them and wanted them placed on pedestals to view as they grew. Alexie’s health was often a concern since he was the legitimate heir to the throne. Rasputin was called in often, to bring him back to health, and magically, he often did have that effect on him and others.

For much of the Romanov reign, they feared assassination attempts. Neither the Tsar or the Tsarina particularly liked the position they were in and therefore, seemed unfit for to handle the task of ruling the country. He didn’t seem to want or enjoy governing, and she preferred solitude to affairs of state. She was often sick, preventing her appearances, and the children were completely sheltered and protected at all times, as well. They all seemed to be naïve about what behavior was expected of them, both in public and private, and they did not perform their duties in the way their subjects considered proper or acceptable for royalty. Rather they seemed more ordinary. They were not opposed to doing things for themselves or to do physical labor. When the war broke out, Nicholas joined the fight and the children and their mother nursed the victims. Also, although they lived well, they did not live in the lavish style of most reigning nobility. Still they were pampered with 100’s of servants and guards protecting them when they moved about. Perhaps discontent for the ruler just goes with the job.

From this author’s presentation, I found the ultimate treatment of the family to be cruel and brutal. The revolutionaries who overthrew their dynasty were just like all other revolutionaries. They were concerned with protecting their own positions and behaved barbarically, wantonly committing murder. The Romanovs were in the wrong place at the wrong time when the Bolsheviks came to power. They seemed completely unprepared for the way they would be treated, with unrealistic expectations and seemed utterly surprised when they were taken prisoner and treated like commoners. Still, through it all, they maintained, for the most part, an optimistic attitude, always remaining hopeful that they would have their freedom back one day. They all adapted well, or tried to, no matter what the hardship, in spite of illness, in spite of the fact that they began to show the effects of their ill treatment, as time passed.

The beautiful letters that were written and the experiences documented in diaries and journals laid bare their lives for the reader who cannot help but sympathize with their plight. They were portrayed as almost guileless, and the children surely were. They had no dominion over themselves and were punished simply because of their bloodline, as were those closely associated with them.

The revolutionaries, perhaps, ushered in an era of even greater oppression for the people of Russia, which continues somewhat today. The Socialists, the Bolsheviks, the Communists, Lenin and Stalin all eventually feared for their own futures as the Tsar and Tsarina had lived in fear of theirs. As Lord Acton said, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

Top Seven:

Autobiography by Morrissey

This book gets the #1 spot even though actually I haven’t finished it yet. I figure you can only read a book for the first time once and I want to savor it. My girlfriend keeps all three copies we own locked in a trunk so that I won’t tear through it.

It is so rare that I can include human interest in this list! My girlfriend reads one copy while the other lies in readiness.

Turn Around Bright Eyes by Rob Sheffield

I wrote a long review here. This is a memoir about karaoke and true love.

Ziggyology: A Brief History of Ziggy Stardust by Simon Goddard

The author has some odd ideas, and the first 90 pages are about kabuki theater and the origin of the universe, but this is a really cool book. The conceit is that David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona was like a real person taking over Bowie’s life. There are a lot of crazy coincidences that will blow your mind. My favorite parts were 1) when Bowie finally saw the Velvet Underground live and then met Lou Reed but it turned out it wasn’t really Lou Reed at all 2) everything about Marc Bolan; he is presented as David Bowie’s doppelganger who is trying to sabotage him. Also there are some very nice photos, and the book design is gorgeous.

The cover

Wired Up: Glam, Proto Punk & Bubblegum European Picture Sleeves 1970-1976. ed by Mary Blount and Jeremy Thompson

A collection of insanely cool &/or indescribably weird ‘70s album covers, beautifully laid out art-book style. The pages open flat. There are some interesting short essays and interviews too. A few well-known bands are included, but the criteria is just distinctive European album cover art from a time when people would buy records based on what the sleeve looked like. My girlfriend gave me this book for Chuannukah which was great because it was something I really wanted but never would have gotten for myself.

So my girlfriend has learned how to have lucid dreams, and the next frontier is for me to mentally send her a picture while she is sleeping, which we both know is impossible but it’s fun to try. I used an image from this book for one of the pictures. This practice is very restful for me because when I wake up in the middle of the night instead of worrying about one thing and another, I can just think, “Red background, two glam Asian girls with long hair in kimono-style minidresses and silver knee high go go boots, Ride Captain Ride.” Then sometimes I fall right back to sleep.

Bowie: Album by Album by Paolo Hewitt

I debated with myself over whether or not to include this because I haven’t really read it yet, just looked at the pictures, so I wasn’t sure if it counted as a book I’ve read. Last year I didn’t include David Bowie Styles in my Best of 2012 because I only looked at the pictures. But I decided that I did read this in a coffee-table-book kind of way, even though this is more than a coffee table book. It’s just lovely.

Calling Dr. Laura by Nicole Georges

Fun, touching, lesbian, Portlandish graphic novel about a young woman finding out that her father is alive even though her mother said he was dead.

The Lost Daughter by Mary Williams

A memoir about growing up poor in a chaotic, neglectful family while her Black Panther father was imprisoned. One bright spot was going to a posh summer camp run by Jane Fonda. Mary confided in Jane Fonda about how she had been sexually assaulted, and Jane Fonda adopted her (in every sense except legally.) Mary had many adventures including working in Antarctica and running a non-profit for Sudanese “lost boys,” and then finally reconnected with her biological family. I felt there was something missing, a sense of the writer being able to sum up her whole life so far and say what it was all about, but I didn’t really care because it was interesting.

What Else?

Walden on Wheels: On the Open Road From Debt to Freedom by Ken Ilgunas

Kid pays off his college debt in three years by working in grim conditions in Alaska, then decides he can get through grad school with no debt if he lives in his van, and learns what freedom and autonomy really are.

After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey

There was always some mystery surrounding Hainey’s father’s death, so Hainey finally decided to use his journalistic skills to uncover the truth. 

American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics by Dan Savage

You don’t have to agree with Dan Savage on everything to like this book. The parts that I remember best are when he has the head of the National Organization for Marriage over to his house for dinner so he can debate him, and the heartbreaking part when his mom dies.

Next Up: my favorite part! Best of 1913, and bonus 1813 and 2113!