JustJoey reads in 2017

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JustJoey reads in 2017

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1Trifolia
Modifié : Déc 26, 2017, 10:59 am

Read in 2017

December
52. The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam (2009) - 4 stars
51. Old Filth by Jane Gardam (2004) - 4 stars

November
50. Le mystère Henri Pick by David Foenkinos - 3,5 stars

October
-

September
49. Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter (2015) - 3 stars
48. The Lighthouse by Alison Moore (2012) - 4 stars
47. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain - 2,5 stars

August
46. Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence by Stefano Mancuso - 4 stars
45. Stern by Thomas Heerma van Voss - 3,5 stars
44. Cadres noirs by Pierre Lemaitre - 4 stars
43. Zwarte dageraad by Cilla Börjlind (2014) - 4 stars
42. Third Voice by Cilla Börjlind - 4 stars

July
41. Spring Tide by Cilla Börjlind (2012) - 4 stars
40. The test by Hjorth Rosenfeldt - 4 stars
39. The Silent Girl by Hjorth Rosenfeldt (2014) - 4 stars
38. The Man Who Wasn't There by Hjorth Rosenfeldt (2012) - 4 stars
37. My Soul to Take by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (2006) - 2 stars
36. Ashes to Dust by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (2007) - 3,5 stars

June
35. The Man Who Watched Women by Hjorth Rosenfeldt (2012) - 4 stars
34. Memento Mori by Muriel Spark (Author) (1959) - 3 stars
33. Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type by Isabel Briggs Myers (1980) - 3,5 stars
32. Dark Secrets by Hjorth Rosenfeldt (2010) - 4 stars
31.The Naked Shore: Of the North Sea by Tom Blass - 3 stars
30. De bedreigde vrijheid uw vrije meningsuiting in gevaar? by Johan Op de Beeck - 4 stars
29. Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah (2016) - 2,5 stars

May
28. The Girl Before by JP Delaney - 3 stars
27. The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins - 3 stars
26. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet - 3 stars
25. Hallo muur by Erik Jan Harmens - 2 stars
24. Rest You Merry by Charlotte MacLeod (1978) - 3 stars

April
23. Dijk by Hans Maarten Van den Brink (2016) - 4,5 stars
22. Heaven and Hell by Jón Kalman Stefánsson (2007) - 4 stars
21. Het hout by Jeroen Brouwers (2014) - 3 stars
20. Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (1984) - 4 stars
19. The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny - 4 stars
March
18. The end of the night by François Mauriac - 4 stars
17. De greppel by Herman Koch (2016) - 2,5 stars
16. Thérèse Desqueyroux by François Mauriac (1927) - 4 stars
15. De Franken in België en Nederland heersers in de vroege middeleeuwen by Luit Van der Tuuk - 2 stars
14. Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power by Michael Kranish - 4 stars
13. The Seventh Child by Erik Valeur (2011) - 3 stars
12. Het meisje op de weg by Michael Berg (2015) - 4 stars

February
11. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1961) - 4 stars
10. After the Fire by Jane Casey - 4 stars
9. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter - 2 stars

January
8. Good as Gone by Amy Gentry - 3,5 stars
7. Thuisvakanties voor beginners minder stress, geen gedoe, lagere kosten, meer plezier by Jan Dijkgraaf - 2,5 stars
6. De wedergeboorte van een moffenmeid een verzwegen familiegeschiedenis by Jan Hopman - 4 stars
5. The Exiles Return by Elisabeth de Waal - 3,5 stars
4. Een volle agenda, maar nooit druk: benedictijns tijdmanagement by Denise Hulst - 3 stars
3. En attendant Bojangles by Olivier Bourdeaut (2015) - 4 stars
2. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (RTT/QTR/16th Century) - 2,5 stars
1. Summer by Edith Wharton (RTT/PC/1917) - 4,5 stars

2Trifolia
Modifié : Mar 27, 2017, 4:59 pm

.

3Trifolia
Modifié : Jan 9, 2017, 2:40 pm

I'm Monica and after a false start last year, I decided to join this group again. I'm a 50-something historian living in the Flemish (northern) part of Belgium. I work as an archivist / information-specialist, a job far more exciting than it sounds.

I enjoy reading books, mainly world literature, classics, historical fiction, non-fiction and new novels. In between, I like to read detectives and mysteries. I'm not into SF, horror and fantasy, but that's probably more due to ignorance than conviction.

Over the years, I've set myself a few reading-challenges but lost my focus these last few years. However, I realize that these challenges have taken me out of my comfort-zone and were often the more exciting and rewarding reads. So my new year's resolution is to revive and finish some of these challenges and participate in some others.
- Reading Globally Personal Challenge;
- Reading Globally Quarterly Theme Reads;
- Reading Through Time Personal Challenge (mostly books from the "1001 Books to read before you die"-list);
- Reading through Time Quarterly Theme Reads;
- Reading through Time Monthly Theme;
- Tour through Europe Personal Challenge;
- Reading the Dutch and Flemish classics Personal Challenge;
- Any other challenge that might pop up or catch my attention. Suggestions are welcome.

4edwinbcn
Déc 30, 2016, 6:59 am

Will follow more closely than before...

5Simone2
Jan 1, 2017, 10:52 am

Hi Monica, good to see you here again. I'll drop a star to your thread.

6NanaCC
Jan 1, 2017, 10:56 am

You have a nice selection of books in your planned reads. I loved Wolf Hall and Edith Wharton is a favorite.

7Trifolia
Jan 1, 2017, 3:17 pm

>4 edwinbcn: - Thank you, Edwin. Ominous as this sounds, I think it's a good thing :-) I'd love to see you visit here.

>5 Simone2: - Thank you, Barbara. I'll try to keep up this thread this year right till December.

>6 NanaCC: - Thanks, Colleen. I'd been dreading Wolf Hall a bit because the 16th century is not my favourite era, but now I am reading and loving it. And Edith Wharton is already the discovery of the year for me. I love her style.

8Trifolia
Modifié : Jan 1, 2017, 3:19 pm

1. Summer by Edith Wharton (RTT/PC/1917) - 4,5 stars


Read for: Reading Through Time Personal Challenge: 1917

A powerful novella with a limited scope: interaction of three key players in a small village in New England during some summer months. We get to see the story through the eyes of 19-year-old Charity, the adopted daughter of a somewhat cranky widower, lawyer Royall.
Young and naive as she is, she falls in love with Lucius Harney, a young architect who makes a study of old houses in the village. A romance develops. Ultimately there are some events that follow each other rapidly and lead to a climax.

Although the end is very clear, the reader is still left with many questions. The romantics will be disappointed, the critics will think that Charity has gotten more than she ever deserved, while the realists will find that it is the right solution in the circumstances. Much will also depend on the personal situation and even age of the reader. A young person will probably have hoped for more, while a more sedate reader will realize that life often runs differently than hoped for and that is not always a bad thing. Personally, I do not think Charity got her dream-life but Wharton gives away enough elements in this story to tell us that, taking all circumstances into account, she will recover and have her chances.

I know too little of the works of Edith Wharton and the 'mores' of that time to know what she meant herself, but that's really not necessary to like this novella. This is a story which raises many more questions than it gives answers and ultimately these are the best books. Wharton also uses a very beautiful style that enhances the atmosphere. The characters would have been powerful enough to play a leading part in a novel. In this case it would certainly have been on the same level as Pride and Prejudice of Jane Austen. Due to the limitations of the short story, the characters are not fleshed out well enough to achieve that level but it is and remains a very beautiful story, even after 100 years.

9AlisonY
Jan 1, 2017, 3:44 pm

Look forward to following your reading this year.

10The_Hibernator
Jan 1, 2017, 9:09 pm

11Trifolia
Modifié : Jan 5, 2017, 9:57 am

>9 AlisonY: >10 The_Hibernator: - Thanks Alison and Rachel.

I have updated my list of books per country for my personal Reading Globally-challenge. I've also added the books I read for my European Challenge which I've almost finished. I'm pleased to see that I'm already over 30% with 72 countries but I'll have to figure out where to find books for countries like Tuvalu and Monserrat...
Obviously, I have read more than one book for some countries, but I'm only adding one book per country. My choice is based on the most "appropriate" book for this list, e.g. because the author is a native, the book is a classic or it's my favourite.
If anyone's interested, you can find my list and map here.

12ELiz_M
Modifié : Jan 5, 2017, 10:51 am

Oh goody, a place to read your reviews of the 1001 books you read and get some ideas for more diverse reading!

13Trifolia
Jan 5, 2017, 10:57 am

>12 ELiz_M: - Yes, this is the hub where it all comes together.

14labfs39
Jan 7, 2017, 7:20 am

Hi Monica! I too was AWOL for 2016, but am making a gallant effort to make a fresh start. Being an archivist/information-specialist is indeed an exciting job. (We need to stick together and help change the image of an archivist away from a dusty octogenarian. We are cool people doing cool work. ;-)

Loved your review of Summer. I should read more Wharton as I have enjoyed everything I've read. Perhaps Summer should be my next one.

15Trifolia
Jan 7, 2017, 2:41 pm

>14 labfs39: - How lovely to see you here, Lisa! I didn't know you were back but I'll look for your thread asap. I hope we'll both be able to stick with our plans this year and exchange the best of what we read.
And indeed, archivists are cool people :-) I love my job. I find it very rewarding to bring order into chaos and especially retrieve information that people need but haven't been able to find on their own. That's priceless.

I will continue to read Edith Wharton's books. Years ago, I saw and loved the movie of Ethan Frome and I just found out she's the author of the book it's based on. I therefore suspect she is my kind of author.

16Trifolia
Jan 7, 2017, 2:48 pm

2. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009) - 2,5 stars


I had the weirdest experience while reading this book. I've been working my way through all 674 pages and when I say "working", I mean "Working". Somehow, this book and I never made a connection and I was so relieved when I turned the last page. And all the time, I was wondering why we did not connect. First, I thought it was the language, so I switched from English to Dutch and back again but that didn't change anything. Then I thought it might have anything to do with the fact that it's not my favourite era but I've read plenty of 16th century-books that I loved. I wondered if it had anything to do with the point-of-view, which I thought created distance between the reader and the book, but I've read weirder books with weirder points-of-view that worked for me. And then finally, as I was having breakfast this morning, it dawned on me: I couldn't connect with the book because I couldn't care less about the characters. Normally, I find it quite easy to make up my mind about a character: like, dislike, admire, loathe, adore, despise, etc. But in this case, I just didn't feel anything and apparently, I find this very important. For a brief moment, I was worried that something had hit me on the head and I had lost my ability to empathize with fictional characters, so I started another book. Fortunately, I discovered that I empathized with the characters immediately and was able to picture them right away. With Wolf Hall, all the characters were blurred. I just could not picture them, could not relate to them, could do nothing with them. This is a first for me and I hope it will be a last either. Needless to say, this book was a big disappointment for me. I had high hopes that I would like it because so many other readers whose judgement I trust apparently loved it. I read their reviews but it just feels like I've been reading another book. I just gave it 2,5 stars because I don't want to feel like I've wasted a whole week on a book I gave a lesser rating and because it has given me an important insight. So maybe it was worth the effort after all.

17labfs39
Jan 7, 2017, 3:59 pm

>15 Trifolia: Having the ability to exert intellectual control over unknown chaos is a thrill, and an important coping mechanism for me when I feel like other parts of my life are out of my control. I find cataloging, for instance, very soothing.

Being a New Englander, Ethan Frome was required reading in school. Then I discovered The Age of Innocence, another gem. I once led a book discussion group where we read books then watched the movies, The Age of Innocence with Daniel Day-Lewis was fabulous. I love movies that actually quote from the book.

>16 Trifolia: To be honest, this has been my secret fear, and although I own Hilary Mantel's books, I have not read any of them. Not my time period? Not my subject matter? I'm not sure...

18AnnieMod
Jan 7, 2017, 4:07 pm

>16 Trifolia:

I have a suspicion that it works a lot better for people that know the story very well so they can connect the dots here and there and flesh some of the acts... I loved it when it came out - once I got used to her style anyway.

19Trifolia
Jan 7, 2017, 4:25 pm

>17 labfs39: - I had my reservation's about Wolf Hall too but decided to give it a go when a RG-Challenge came up. Maybe I should have followed my intuition and left it on the shelves. Some books are just not for me, while it's probably a very good book, given the fact that so many readers seem to love it.

>18 AnnieMod: - That may be true for some readers but I happen to know the story quite (very) well, which even baffled me more when I noticed I could not connect. After all, the characters are authentic so I should have been able to envision them. It's probably Mantel's style that put me off but that impresses others.

20Simone2
Jan 8, 2017, 2:15 am

>16 Trifolia: I have owned this book for years - and Bring up the Bodies - because they won the Booker Prize. Many people recommended them but I haven't read them yet for somehow they don't appeal to me. Maybe because I am not really interested in the era in which they take place. Your thoughtful review confirms my fears, though I also think I should give it a try.

21Trifolia
Jan 9, 2017, 2:14 pm

>20 Simone2: - I understand what you mean, Barbara. I felt something similar before I read the books. You might or might not like the book, but I think if you don't like it after the second chapter (I thought the first one was rather good), you can safely give up because it will be more of the same for the rest of the 700+ pages. Might save you some time :-)

22Trifolia
Jan 9, 2017, 2:14 pm

3. En attendant Bojangles by Olivier Bourdeaut (2015) - 4 stars


After the Wolf Hall fiasco, I needed to read something completely different. So when I read Lunarreader's review on his thread I decided this might be the perfect book for me. And it was: a beautiful, heartbreaking, thought-provoking novella about the ups and downs of madness and love. It was a short, but impressive read, told from two points of view which gave an interesting twist to the story. The novella does not allow the author to elaborate on his characters, but Bourdeaut has given plenty to his readers to make it worth its while. This book was quite a surprise and I loved it.

23Trifolia
Jan 16, 2017, 1:11 pm

4. Een volle agenda, maar nooit druk: benedictijns tijdmanagement (A full agenda, but never busy: benedictine time-management) by Denise Hulst - 3 stars


The title of this book grabbed my attention, because I have a soft spot for books about time-management and time-efficiency. The author explains that the benedictine rule can be applied in our lives to get things done: knowing when to start, knowing when to stop, being in the moment, etc. It is an interesting premise and the book contained some eyeopeners but nothing that I did not know already.

24labfs39
Jan 17, 2017, 1:45 am

>23 Trifolia: What has been your favorite book on time-management? I read Cheaper by the Dozen as a ten year old and tried out some of the crazy things Frank Gilbreth had his kids doing (bath routines complete with foreign language instruction and educational incentives). Do you have a book you would recommend for a list-making, slightly obsessive, never in the moment, stressed-out, divorced mom? :-)

25Trifolia
Jan 27, 2017, 2:41 pm

5. The Exiles Return by Elisabeth de Waal - 3,5 stars

The manuscript of this book was retrieved from the family archive of Edmund de Waal, known for his book The Hare with Amber Eyes. He found it between some documents from his grandmother who had made several attempts to write a book. Also this manuscript never got published. On the one hand is understandable because the book has too many flaws to comply with the literary standards that were applied in those years. But then that is unfortunate because the work still has a certain literary value that makes it worthwhile to read it. The story, or rather the various stories are set in postwar Vienna where some of the original inhabitants who fled before the war, return to build a new life. We follow an introverted professor who hopes to start where he left off his broken career, a wealthy Greek who buys and renovates a luxurious little palace in order to receive guests and a depressed daughter of an exiled Austrian princess who wants to escape her oppressive American surroundings. There are also a number of family members and other figures who connect the main characters in a greater or lesser extent. Although the book has a clear beginning and end, the book seems not finished to me. The story is too thin and the story-lines are too light. But there is potential. Especially in the fragmentary, the Waal is masterful. With few words she creates an atmosphere that lingers, conveys feelings that touch you. de Waal gets under the skin of her characters and lets you see the world through their eyes. For that reason alone this book is worth a read.

26labfs39
Jan 31, 2017, 3:07 pm

Nice review. I haven't read The Hare with Amber Eyes, but I've heard wonderful things about it. It has been published in several beautiful editions here in the US. I think it would be interesting to learn more about Edmund's finding the manuscript, his grandmother's history, and his feelings about editing it (if he did). Is there an introduction or something that talks about these things?

27Trifolia
Fév 3, 2017, 2:18 pm

>26 labfs39: My Dutch edition merely has a short introduction by Edmund in which he mentions that his father gave him a box of documents in which he found this manuscript. He then elaborates a bit on the history of his mother and her writing-aspirations, but not much else. But it's enough to get a better understanding of how this manuscript came about. And it's quite obvious Elizabeth must have had a few people in mind when she wrote her book. Such a pity that she did not work it through, because it might have become a true classic which would have fitted in with Tolstoj, Mann, Wharton, etc. I have a feeling that this sort of book, written in the 1970s, was a bit old-fashioned by then, which might have been the reason that it was turned down then.

28Trifolia
Fév 3, 2017, 2:19 pm

6. De wedergeboorte van een moffenmeid een verzwegen familiegeschiedenis by Jan Hopman - 4 stars

Report by a Dutch radio-journalist of the quest for the history of his mother's family, allegedly Nazi-sympathizers before, during and after World War II and more specifically the fate of his aunt, who worked for the Nazis, was sent to a psychiatric hospital after the war and then moved to Scandinavia and South-America where she died in sad circumstances. The author describes how he became curious to find out more about his family's past and how he tracked down witnesses, relatives, people who knew her and sources where he could find information.

In the first place, he wanted to find out why she worked for the German occupiers (she worked in the Jewish registration office): what were her motives and what was her role which led to her estrangement from his family. But much to his surprise, he found very trustworthy sources which proved that she was in fact working for the resistance and not only helped Jews to escape their fate, but also helped to sabotage the work from the occupiers and gathered information for the resistance. Obviously, after the war, her role was not so clear, possibly because she was in a very bad mental shape by then and because she relied on and kept close contact with her brother who was a true sympathizer of the Nazi-party. Even after finding out these facts about his aunt, he's still not sure about the true motives of his aunt.

The author has done a very good job in reconstructing the past of his aunt in a bigger context and he managed to fold all this information into a very readable and noteworthy book. The book shows that history is rarely as black and white as we are sometimes inclined to believe and that people sometimes become heroes (or victims) because of the circumstances. It calls upon the reader to be less judgmental before and even after knowing all the facts.

Although this book is non-fiction, it reminded me of The Darkroom of Damocles by W.F. Hermans, because of the haziness of the role of the main character. Highly recommended.

29labfs39
Fév 3, 2017, 11:52 pm

>28 Trifolia: Rats. Your review makes me think I would enjoy this book, but it doesn't look like it's been translated into English yet...

30dchaikin
Fév 4, 2017, 12:52 am

Great review of the Hopman book. But, like Lisa, I can't read it.

31Trifolia
Fév 5, 2017, 1:20 pm

>29 labfs39: - >30 dchaikin: - Thanks and too bad about the translation. I guess learning Dutch is not an option... (sigh).
As a matter of fact, your remarks made me wonder if a book with this theme has ever been written by an English, American or other English-speaking author, because its theme is very "national" or at least specific for the occupied countries. It requires occupation and resistance and although the English-speaking world has produced wonderful literature about war, espionage and combat, they have not lived it from within. So, could they have written or has there been written a book about what it's like to live under foreign occupation with all that comes with it English-speaking authors?
And this thought made me wonder if there is something like a "local" literary topic, a local literature that is typical for a country, a region or a specific part of the world. And if so, is or will this sort of literature ever be translated to another language for readers that are not familiar with the issues? If not, are we not missing out on a lot of literature? Just thinking...

32Trifolia
Mar 27, 2017, 5:00 pm

7. Thuisvakanties voor beginners minder stress, geen gedoe, lagere kosten, meer plezier by Jan Dijkgraaf - 2,5 stars

One of the perks of an e-book-subscription is that I sometimes come across books that I would not find nor look for in a bookshop or a library. And even if I would find them, I would not bother buying or lending them. This is one of these books: a non-fiction book on the advantages of a "staycation", - taking a holiday at home - and why we should not travel anymore.
The author sums up a lot of reasons why it's better to stay home, why we should not travel and how we can organize a staycation. The undertone of the book is humorous and I often had to laugh with his arguments that were often silly, but - to be honest - to some extent made sense (why do we bother to travel for hours under horrible conditions to arrive at a noisy hotel with awful hotel-guests, terrible food, risk being robbed or attacked, suffering from the heat, exhaustion or other discomforts, etc., while we have all the comfort we need at home). It did make me think about the reasons why I am travelling but it could not convince me to stay home. Although I do have a very good home, we do not have mountains here, to mention only one reason why I still like to go travelling.
All in all, it was a good book because it did make me think about something that is obvious to me, but not convincing enough to make me change my mind.

33thorold
Modifié : Mar 27, 2017, 5:11 pm

>32 Trifolia: Interesting - I spent the evening reading Herman Koch's Boekenweek book, where the narrator is a successful author of self-help books for the feeble-minded: at one point he mentions that his next project is a book in which he will set out the reasons for staying at home and not travelling. Maybe Koch was having a dig at the one you just read?

34Trifolia
Mar 27, 2017, 5:45 pm

>33 thorold: - He might have. The book was published last January, so who knows...
After having read your review and Simone's, I think I really should read this book, although I've always had mixed feelings about Koch's books so far. I finished De greppel yesterday and read two others before. One more won't hurt.

35Trifolia
Avr 1, 2017, 11:14 am

8. Good as Gone by Amy Gentry - 3,5 stars

A mystery-novel set in Texas. After having been kidnapped as a teenager, a young woman comes home. But is she really the daughter who went missing and what really happened. The book is told from different points of view. While the mother tells the story from the present, the young woman spirals back to her memories of the past and slowly unravels what really happened. And the outcome is more surprising than expected.
Not the best mystery I've ever read (the characters lack personality), but it's an enjoyable read and somewhat different from the British and Scandinavian crime-novels I usually read.

36Trifolia
Avr 1, 2017, 11:20 am

9. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter - 2 stars

Admittedly, I have given up on this book after about 100 pages. I had heard a lot of good comments on this book and the premise looked interesting, but it did not work for me. I thought it was a bit trite and sometimes even ridiculous and that was not what I had expected. Maybe I was not in the right mood for this book, but I had expected something different, so I decided to give up eventually. Not my habit, but it can happen.