Lynda Rutledge

I was in the mood for a road trip, and I don't think I could have found a better one to read about than Lynda Rutledge's West With Giraffes, which was inspired by actual events. The book weaves real-life figures like the world's first female zoo director with fictional ones.

The narrator of the story, young "Woody" Nickel, is an almost feral child, barely surviving a brutal father and a harrowing life on a farm during the Dust Bowl in the Texas Panhandle. But no matter what he's had to do to show more survive, his voice tells you that he's basically good. He may not always do the right thing, and readers may wince a time or two at what he does, but everyone will want Woody to come out on top. Watching his growth as a person is one of the many highlights of the book.

He has a tough time convincing Riley Jones, the caretaker in charge of getting the giraffes to San Diego, that he's just the driver Jones needs, and it doesn't help when a pretty red-headed female photographer starts following them, but Woody is determined to get to California.

The well-paced story of West With Giraffes will sweep readers right out onto the road with Woody, Riley, and the giraffes. It's part adventure story, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, and it has a lot to say about the kindness of strangers, being changed by the grace of animals, and the need to tell a story before it's too late. The setting is spot-on, and anticipating what the passengers in that custom-built truck will be facing next is part of the fun of reading the book.

If you're in the mood to turn back the clock and experience a cross-country road trip in 1938, I strongly suggest that you pick up West With Giraffes. show less

I received Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale as an advanced reader's copy. What a delightful book and fabulous first novel book by Lynda Rutledge! I literally did not put it down; read it in one go on a lazy Sunday by the pool. Faith Bass Darling is an elderly woman living on her own in a large Victorian mansion located in Bass, Texas. She awakens one morning after receiving repeated messages from God that she is to sell off her precious belongings, because she is going to die within the show more day. The novel takes place on the last day of 1999 on the eve of the Y2K millennium. Faith suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Rutledge does a moving and realistic representation of the devastation that this disease creates in those afflicted by its symptoms. At the same time she manages to create characters that we immediately feel a connection with. There is humor, there is sadness, there is tragedy, love, and redemption. The writing style reminds me of Fannie Flagg. I would definitely recommend this book. show less

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I loved this! Deserves more than 5 stars! A heartwarming, historical, coming-of-age story that takes place during a time of massive cultural upheaval, this remarkable novel explores the power of friendship, hope, and progress.

The novel begins with this paragraph, “In 1964, a small miracle of a summer happened in Kate “Corky” Corcoran’s tiny, segregated town because show more of a softball game, a pastor feud, a drugstore sit-in, and a girl named America who Corky saw run as fast as Olympic champion Wilma Rudolph, the fastest woman in the world.”

After reading that sentence, I couldn’t put this book down. It’s well-written, with realistic characters, authentic dialogue, and edge-of-your-seat plotting. The book smoothly shifts from various characters’ points of view, including a dog, as well as an omniscient narrator. The suspenseful foreshadowing kept me turning the pages in anticipation. Talented author Lynda Rutledge (“West With Giraffes”) creatively takes the larger 1964 issues of racism and the Civil Rights Movement, women’s rights, the Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy assassination, Viet Nam war, Martin Luther King Jr., and makes them personal by telling the story from the perspective of naïve 13-year-old Corky.

Rutledge explains how “The moral of this novel, if it has one, is about the absolute miracle of friendship and also about the miraculous ability that books and sports possess to draw those new worlds together.” Of course the book she is referring to is “To Kill A Mockingbird” and the sport is girls’ softball. If you want to read similar heartwarming 5-star coming-of-age novels of small-town drama mixed with poignant humor after finishing this one, I highly recommend “The All-American” by Susie Finkbeiner, “The Incredible Winston Browne” and “Kinfolk,” both by Sean Dietrich.

This would be great for book clubs and is one I’ll be telling everyone to read. Don’t miss this feel-good novel! show less

Book on CD performed by Danny Campbell

As the world struggles to escape the Great Depression, and on the cusp of a new World War, orphan Woodrow Wilson Nickel finds himself cast adrift in the wake of the devastating Hurricane of 1938. Stumbling about hoping to find some shelter he comes across a scene that completely changes his life.

Rutledge based this work of historical fiction on an actual event: In 1938 two giraffes DID survive a hazardous ocean voyage and then an arduous cross-country show more road trip to finally arrive at the San Diego Zoo. Belle Benchley was the first woman to head the San Diego Zoo. But Woody, Red, and “the old man” are fictional characters, marvelous though they be.

I was completely captivated by this story. It helps that I am a big fan of road trips, especially getting off the major interstates and following the less-traveled “blue highways.” I’ve traveled through much of the landscape this group drove through. I recall those “wigwam” motor courts (never stayed in one, though). My family was helped by a local farm family when our car broke down in the middle of nowhere (on a Sunday, no less). I know what it’s like to drive the switchbacks of mountain roads, or a long empty drive across a desert plateau. This made the novel all the more real to me.

Woody is a wonderful character, and narrator, though I did get tired of the “breaks” that brought us back to the present when he is anxious to finish writing his memoir while in a nursing home, and away from the road trip itself.

Rutledge balances Woody’s naivete and basic good instincts, with the Old Man’s experience and compassion. I’m not sure we really needed Red’s storyline, other than as a reason for Woody to write his memoirs.

Danny Campbell does a superb job of performing the audiobook. The basic story is, after all, told by a very old man; Woody is 105 when he sets out to write his memories of that historic road trip. And Campbell give him an “old voice” throughout, which I found very effective for this work. show less