Chatterbox Reads Omnivorously, and Fires Book Bullets Indiscriminately -- Part II
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1Chatterbox
Let America Be America Again
Langston Hughes
1902-1967
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?our text
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!
(A timely poem to open a new thread with....)
Langston Hughes
1902-1967
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?our text
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!
(A timely poem to open a new thread with....)
2Chatterbox
I don't intend to start ALL my threads with political poetry, but I couldn't resist this one... Meanwhile, decided to start a new thread now, to prod me to start commenting on my February books. I'm actually doing quite well this month, despite a slow reading start in January (only 28 books.) My overall goal for the year, once again, is 401 books -- I've surpassed that in 2013 and 2014, but fell short in 2015 and 2016, both years in which I had bad personal stuff derail my reading. Last year my total hit a personal worst of only 347 books...
Since sometimes (especially last year) I am bad at updating my reading and mini-reviews on this thread, if you want to see what I have been reading in real time, your best bet is to go to my library on LT, and look at the dedicated collection I've established there, under the label "Books Read in 2017. As I complete a book, I'll rate it and add it to the list. I'll also tag it, "Read in 2017". You'll be able to see it by either searching under that tag, or clicking on https://www.librarything.com/catalog/Chatterbox/booksreadin2017.
My TBR mountain is out of control. I think for every book I read last year, I acquired three. The good news is that the vast majority of those were freebies or Kindle sale books ($1.99 or so), or books bought using money from Apple's settlement with Kindle -- I got a massive Kindle credit as a result (north of $450). So I can console myself that I actually didn't spend that much. But I do literally have book stalagmites around the house, with all the ARCs (advance review copies) that remain unread! So one goal for this year is to do better on that front: purchase/acquire fewer relative to the number that I read. I've done a VERY bad job with that so far, but I blame it on going to the ALA Midwinter fiesta in Atlanta. I have decided to give up buying books for Lent. Really.
My guide to my ratings:
1.5 or less: A tree gave its life so that this book could be printed and distributed?
1.5 to 2.7: Are you really prepared to give up hours of your life for this?? I wouldn't recommend doing so...
2.8 to 3.3: Do you need something to fill in some time waiting to see the dentist? Either reasonably good within a ho-hum genre (chick lit or thrillers), something that's OK to read when you've nothing else with you, or that you'll find adequate to pass the time and forget later on.
3.4 to 3.8: Want to know what a thumping good read is like, or a book that has a fascinating premise, but doesn't quite deliver? This is where you'll find 'em.
3.9 to 4.4: So, you want a hearty endorsement? These books have what it takes to make me happy I read them.
4.5 to 5: The books that I wish I hadn't read yet, so I could experience the joy of discovering them again for the first time. Sometimes disquieting, sometimes sentimental faves, sometimes dramatic -- they are a highly personal/subjective collection!
The January list...
1. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (finished 1/2/17) 4.2 stars
2. Bleaker House by Nell Stevens (finished 1/3/17) 4.1 stars
3. City of Secrets by Stewart O'Nan (finished 1/3/17) 3.85 stars
4. Consequences by Penelope Lively (finished 1/5/17) 4.15 stars
5. Fatal by John Lescroart (finished 1/5/17) 2.8 stars
6. The Angry Tide by Winston Graham, (finished 1/6/17) 4.3 stars
7. Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman (finished 1/8/17) 3.8 stars
8. The Futures by Anna Pitoniak (finished 1/9/17) 3.7 stars
9. The Honeymoon by Dinitia Smith (finished 1/11/17) 4.2 stars
10. Russian Roulette: How British Spies Thwarted Lenin's Plot for Global Revolution by Giles Milton (finished 1/11/17) 4.15 stars
11. The Stranger From the Sea by Winston Graham (finished 1/12/17) 4.1 stars
12. Jonathan Swift by Leo Damrosch (finished 1/13/17) 4.4 stars
13. The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham (finished 1/14/17) 4 stars
14. The Loving Cup by Winston Graham (finished 1/15/17) 4 stars
15. The Long Room by Francesca Kay (finished 1/16/17) 4.2 stars
16. Generation Revolution: On the Front Line Between Tradition and Change in the Middle East by Rachel Aspden (finished 1/16/17) 4.35 stars
17. Buried in the Country by Carola Dunn (finished 1/16/17) 3.35 stars
18. A Prisoner in Malta by Phillip dePoy (finished 1/17/17) 2.9 stars
19. The Girl in the Glass Tower by Elizabeth Fremantle (finished 1/19/17) 4.5 stars
20. Latest Readings by Clive James (finished 1/20/17), 4.8 stars
21. The Twisted Sword by Winston Graham (finished 1/21/17) 3.9 stars
22. The Bertie Project by Alexander McCall Smith (finished 1/23/17) 3.35 stars
23. Bella Poldark by Winston Graham (finished 1/25/17) 3.8 stars
24. East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity by Philippe Sands (finished 1/26/17) 5 stars
25. The Empty House by Michael Gilbert (finished 1/27/17) 3.1 stars
26. Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty (finished 1/29/17) 4.3 stars
27. Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King (finished 1/30/17), 5 stars
28. Death on Delos by Gary Corby (finished 1/31/17) 3.5 stars
The February list....
29. Human Acts by Han Kang (finished 2/2/17) 4.2 stars
30. A Want of Kindness by Joanne Limburg (finished 2/3/17) 2.9 stars
31. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths (finished 2/4/17) 3.85 stars
32. Small Admissions by Ivy Poeppel (finished 2/5/17) 3.5 stars
33. The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins by Antonia Hawkins (finished 2/6/17) 4.4 stars
34. American War by Omar El Akkad (finished 2/6/17) 4.6 stars
35. Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty (finished 2/8/17) 4.4 stars
36. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (finished 2/8/17) 5 stars
37. The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak (finished 2/9/17) 4.15 stars
38. Death in Bordeaux by Allan Massie (finished 2/10/17) 4 stars
39. Bartleby and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville (finished 2/10/17) 4.35 stars
40. *Dark Summer in Bordeaux by Allan Massie (finished 2/11/17) 4.15 stars
41. Cold Winter in Bordeaux by Allan Massie (finished 2/12/17) 4.2 stars
42. End Games in Bordeaux by Allan Massie (finished 2/12/17) 4 stars
43. The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World by James Barron (finished 2/14/17) 4.1 stars
44. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths (finished 2/14/17) 3.9 stars
45. The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford (finished 2/15/17) 3.3 stars
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell (finished 2/15/17) 4.1 stars
47. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny (finished 2/16/17) 4.4 stars
48. Metamorphosis and In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka (finished 2/17/17) 4.15 stars
49. I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet (finished 2/18/17) 4.5 stars
50. The Marches: A Borderland Journey between England and Scotland by Rory Stewart (finished 2/19/17) 4 stars
51. In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant (finished 2/20/17) 4.15 stars
52. The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today's America by Mark Sundeen (finished 2/21/17) 4.45 stars
53. Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner (finished 2/22/17) 3.75 stars
54. Meet Me At Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell (finished 2/22/17) 3.4 stars
55. The Drowning King by Emily Holleman (finished 2/22/17) 4 stars
56. *Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (finished 2/24/17) 5 stars
57. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear (finished 2/26/17) 3.85 stars
58. The Bone Tree by Greg Iles (finished 2/27/17) 3.4 stars
59. A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi (finished 2/28/17) 3.25 stars
60. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (finished 2/28/17) 3.2 stars
The March list...
61. The Sellout by Paul Beatty (finished 3/2/17) 4.3 stars
62. Conviction by Julia Dahl (finished 3/2/17) 3.85 stars
63. Defectors by Joseph Kanon (finished 3/3/17) 4.3 stars
64. The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood (finished 3/4/17) 3.7 stars
65. Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung by Min Kym (finished 3/4/17) 4 stars
66. The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood (finished 3/5/17) 4.1 stars
67. Who You Think I Am by Camille Laurens (finished 3/5/17) 3.65 stars
68. Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry (finished 3/6/17) 3.5 stars
69. Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøhndahl (finished 3/7/17) 4 stars
70. The Strange Case of Rachel K. by Rachel Kushner (finished 3/7/17) 3.65 stars
71. Lenin's Roller Coaster by David Downing (finished 3/8/17) 3.45 stars
72. How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality and the Fight for the Neighborhood by Peter Moskowitz (finished 3/9/17) 5 stars
73. All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg (finished 3/10/17) 4.4 stars
74. A Single Spy by William Christie (finished 3/11/17) 3.7 stars
75. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel (finished 3/11/17) 4.6 stars
76. The Angel Court Affair by Anne Perry (finished 3/12/17) 2.9 stars
77. The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes by Zach Dundas (finished 3/13/17) 4 stars
78. City of Friends by Joanna Trollope (finished 3/14/17) 3.85 stars
79. The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky (finished 3/15/17) 3.5 stars
80. Death at the Chateau Bremont by M.L. Longworth (finished 3/16/17) 3.4 stars
81. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild (finished 3/17/17) 4.15 stars
82. If I Could Tell You by Elizabeth Wilhide (finished 3/17/17) 2.7 stars
83. *The Danger Tree by Olivia Manning (finished 3/18/17) (The Levant Trilogy, Part I) 4.35 stars
84. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney (finished 3/19/17) 4.4 stars
85. Barney: Grove Press and Barney Rosset, America’s Maverick Publisher and His Battle against Censorship by Michael Rosenthal (finished 3/20/17) 4.15 stars
86. Murder in the Rue Dumas by M.L. Longworth (finished 3/20/17) finished 3/20/17
87. *The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey (finished 3/21/17) 4.75 stars
88. Treachery at Lancaster Gate by Anne Perry (finished 3/22/17) 3.4 stars
89. Notes From the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone (finished 3/22/17) 3.8 stars
90. The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott (finished 3/24/17) 3.4 stars
91. The Summons by Peter Lovesey (finished 3/24/17) 3.7 stars
92. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer (finished 3/25/17) 3.4 stars
93. *The Battle Lost and Won by Olivia Manning (finished 3/25/17) (The Levant Trilogy) 4.3 stars
94. *Venetia by Georgette Heyer (finished 3/26/17) 4 stars
95. *The Sum of Things by Olivia Manning (finished 3/26/17) (The Levant Trilogy) 4.1 stars
96. The Golden Legend by Nadeem Aslam (finished 3/27/17) 4.65 stars
97. The Pen and the Brush: How Passion for Art Shaped Nineteenth-Century French Novels by Anka Muhlstein (finished 3/28/17) 4.3 stars
98. Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession by Alison Weir (finished 3/28/17) 4.35 stars
99. The Night Bell by Inger Ash Wolfe (finished 3/29/17), 4.25 stars
100. Stoner by John Williams (finished 3/30/17) 4.3 stars
101. Black Widow by Christopher Brookmyre (finished 3/30/17) 4.5 stars
The April list...
102. Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin (finished 4/1/17) 3.8 stars
103. Death in the Vines by M.L. Longworth (finished 4/2/17) 3.45 stars
104. Murder on the Ile Sordou by M.L. Longworth (finished 4/2/17) 3.4 stars
105. The Graduate by Charles Webb (finished 4/3/17) 2.25 stars
106. Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles (finished 4/4/17) 3.25 stars
107. The Water Museum by Luis Alberto Urrea (finished 4/6/17) 4.1 stars
108. Lenin on the Train by Catherine Merridale (finished 4/6/17) 4.15 stars
109. *The Rose Garden by Susanne Kearsley (finished 4/7/17) 3.7 stars
110. Testimony by Scott Turow (finished 4/7/17) 3.8 stars
111. The Mystery of the Lost Cézanne by M.L. Longworth (finished 4/8/17) 3.5 stars
112. Reading Turgenev by William Trevor (finished 4/9/17) 4.2 stars
113. Mozart's Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt (finished 4/10/17) 4.6 stars
114. Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (finished 4/10/17) 4.4 stars
115. The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan (finished 4/11/17) 3.8 stars
116. The Agent Runner by Simon Conway (finished 4/12/17) 2.9 stars
117. Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Giles Milton (finished 4/13/17) 3.9 stars
118. The Devil and Webster by Jean Hanff Korelitz (finished 4/13/17) 4.3 stars
119. Prussian Blue by Phillip Kerr (finished 4/14/17) 4.3 stars
120. *The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer (finished 4/15/17) 3.9 stars
121. The Curse of La Fontaine by M.L. Longworth (finished 4/15/17) 3.7 stars
122. The Little Teashop of Lost and Found by Trisha Ashley (finished 4/16/17) 4.2 stars
123. A Very Expensive Poison: The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and Putin's War with the West by Luke Harding (finished 4/17/17) 4.35 stars
124. The Last Hack by Christopher Brookmyre (finished 4/17/17) 4.4 stars
125. Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication, and Music by James Rhodes (finished 4/18/17) 4.2 stars
126. Night and Day by Elizabeth Edmondson (finished 4/19/17) 3.65 stars
127. *A Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer (finished 4/20/17) 3.9 stars
128. The Lady and the Unicorn by Rumer Godden (finished 4/20/17) 3.7 stars
129. The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond by Stephen O'Shea (finished 4/21/17) 4.1 stars
130. The Patriots by Sana Krasnikov (finished 4/21/17) 4.3 stars
* Re-reads
Since sometimes (especially last year) I am bad at updating my reading and mini-reviews on this thread, if you want to see what I have been reading in real time, your best bet is to go to my library on LT, and look at the dedicated collection I've established there, under the label "Books Read in 2017. As I complete a book, I'll rate it and add it to the list. I'll also tag it, "Read in 2017". You'll be able to see it by either searching under that tag, or clicking on https://www.librarything.com/catalog/Chatterbox/booksreadin2017.
My TBR mountain is out of control. I think for every book I read last year, I acquired three. The good news is that the vast majority of those were freebies or Kindle sale books ($1.99 or so), or books bought using money from Apple's settlement with Kindle -- I got a massive Kindle credit as a result (north of $450). So I can console myself that I actually didn't spend that much. But I do literally have book stalagmites around the house, with all the ARCs (advance review copies) that remain unread! So one goal for this year is to do better on that front: purchase/acquire fewer relative to the number that I read. I've done a VERY bad job with that so far, but I blame it on going to the ALA Midwinter fiesta in Atlanta. I have decided to give up buying books for Lent. Really.
My guide to my ratings:
1.5 or less: A tree gave its life so that this book could be printed and distributed?
1.5 to 2.7: Are you really prepared to give up hours of your life for this?? I wouldn't recommend doing so...
2.8 to 3.3: Do you need something to fill in some time waiting to see the dentist? Either reasonably good within a ho-hum genre (chick lit or thrillers), something that's OK to read when you've nothing else with you, or that you'll find adequate to pass the time and forget later on.
3.4 to 3.8: Want to know what a thumping good read is like, or a book that has a fascinating premise, but doesn't quite deliver? This is where you'll find 'em.
3.9 to 4.4: So, you want a hearty endorsement? These books have what it takes to make me happy I read them.
4.5 to 5: The books that I wish I hadn't read yet, so I could experience the joy of discovering them again for the first time. Sometimes disquieting, sometimes sentimental faves, sometimes dramatic -- they are a highly personal/subjective collection!
The January list...
1. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (finished 1/2/17) 4.2 stars
2. Bleaker House by Nell Stevens (finished 1/3/17) 4.1 stars
3. City of Secrets by Stewart O'Nan (finished 1/3/17) 3.85 stars
4. Consequences by Penelope Lively (finished 1/5/17) 4.15 stars
5. Fatal by John Lescroart (finished 1/5/17) 2.8 stars
6. The Angry Tide by Winston Graham, (finished 1/6/17) 4.3 stars
7. Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman (finished 1/8/17) 3.8 stars
8. The Futures by Anna Pitoniak (finished 1/9/17) 3.7 stars
9. The Honeymoon by Dinitia Smith (finished 1/11/17) 4.2 stars
10. Russian Roulette: How British Spies Thwarted Lenin's Plot for Global Revolution by Giles Milton (finished 1/11/17) 4.15 stars
11. The Stranger From the Sea by Winston Graham (finished 1/12/17) 4.1 stars
12. Jonathan Swift by Leo Damrosch (finished 1/13/17) 4.4 stars
13. The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham (finished 1/14/17) 4 stars
14. The Loving Cup by Winston Graham (finished 1/15/17) 4 stars
15. The Long Room by Francesca Kay (finished 1/16/17) 4.2 stars
16. Generation Revolution: On the Front Line Between Tradition and Change in the Middle East by Rachel Aspden (finished 1/16/17) 4.35 stars
17. Buried in the Country by Carola Dunn (finished 1/16/17) 3.35 stars
18. A Prisoner in Malta by Phillip dePoy (finished 1/17/17) 2.9 stars
19. The Girl in the Glass Tower by Elizabeth Fremantle (finished 1/19/17) 4.5 stars
20. Latest Readings by Clive James (finished 1/20/17), 4.8 stars
21. The Twisted Sword by Winston Graham (finished 1/21/17) 3.9 stars
22. The Bertie Project by Alexander McCall Smith (finished 1/23/17) 3.35 stars
23. Bella Poldark by Winston Graham (finished 1/25/17) 3.8 stars
24. East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity by Philippe Sands (finished 1/26/17) 5 stars
25. The Empty House by Michael Gilbert (finished 1/27/17) 3.1 stars
26. Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty (finished 1/29/17) 4.3 stars
27. Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King (finished 1/30/17), 5 stars
28. Death on Delos by Gary Corby (finished 1/31/17) 3.5 stars
The February list....
29. Human Acts by Han Kang (finished 2/2/17) 4.2 stars
30. A Want of Kindness by Joanne Limburg (finished 2/3/17) 2.9 stars
31. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths (finished 2/4/17) 3.85 stars
32. Small Admissions by Ivy Poeppel (finished 2/5/17) 3.5 stars
33. The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins by Antonia Hawkins (finished 2/6/17) 4.4 stars
34. American War by Omar El Akkad (finished 2/6/17) 4.6 stars
35. Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty (finished 2/8/17) 4.4 stars
36. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (finished 2/8/17) 5 stars
37. The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak (finished 2/9/17) 4.15 stars
38. Death in Bordeaux by Allan Massie (finished 2/10/17) 4 stars
39. Bartleby and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville (finished 2/10/17) 4.35 stars
40. *Dark Summer in Bordeaux by Allan Massie (finished 2/11/17) 4.15 stars
41. Cold Winter in Bordeaux by Allan Massie (finished 2/12/17) 4.2 stars
42. End Games in Bordeaux by Allan Massie (finished 2/12/17) 4 stars
43. The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World by James Barron (finished 2/14/17) 4.1 stars
44. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths (finished 2/14/17) 3.9 stars
45. The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford (finished 2/15/17) 3.3 stars
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell (finished 2/15/17) 4.1 stars
47. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny (finished 2/16/17) 4.4 stars
48. Metamorphosis and In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka (finished 2/17/17) 4.15 stars
49. I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet (finished 2/18/17) 4.5 stars
50. The Marches: A Borderland Journey between England and Scotland by Rory Stewart (finished 2/19/17) 4 stars
51. In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant (finished 2/20/17) 4.15 stars
52. The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today's America by Mark Sundeen (finished 2/21/17) 4.45 stars
53. Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner (finished 2/22/17) 3.75 stars
54. Meet Me At Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell (finished 2/22/17) 3.4 stars
55. The Drowning King by Emily Holleman (finished 2/22/17) 4 stars
56. *Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (finished 2/24/17) 5 stars
57. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear (finished 2/26/17) 3.85 stars
58. The Bone Tree by Greg Iles (finished 2/27/17) 3.4 stars
59. A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi (finished 2/28/17) 3.25 stars
60. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (finished 2/28/17) 3.2 stars
The March list...
61. The Sellout by Paul Beatty (finished 3/2/17) 4.3 stars
62. Conviction by Julia Dahl (finished 3/2/17) 3.85 stars
63. Defectors by Joseph Kanon (finished 3/3/17) 4.3 stars
64. The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood (finished 3/4/17) 3.7 stars
65. Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung by Min Kym (finished 3/4/17) 4 stars
66. The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood (finished 3/5/17) 4.1 stars
67. Who You Think I Am by Camille Laurens (finished 3/5/17) 3.65 stars
68. Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry (finished 3/6/17) 3.5 stars
69. Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøhndahl (finished 3/7/17) 4 stars
70. The Strange Case of Rachel K. by Rachel Kushner (finished 3/7/17) 3.65 stars
71. Lenin's Roller Coaster by David Downing (finished 3/8/17) 3.45 stars
72. How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality and the Fight for the Neighborhood by Peter Moskowitz (finished 3/9/17) 5 stars
73. All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg (finished 3/10/17) 4.4 stars
74. A Single Spy by William Christie (finished 3/11/17) 3.7 stars
75. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel (finished 3/11/17) 4.6 stars
76. The Angel Court Affair by Anne Perry (finished 3/12/17) 2.9 stars
77. The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes by Zach Dundas (finished 3/13/17) 4 stars
78. City of Friends by Joanna Trollope (finished 3/14/17) 3.85 stars
79. The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky (finished 3/15/17) 3.5 stars
80. Death at the Chateau Bremont by M.L. Longworth (finished 3/16/17) 3.4 stars
81. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild (finished 3/17/17) 4.15 stars
82. If I Could Tell You by Elizabeth Wilhide (finished 3/17/17) 2.7 stars
83. *The Danger Tree by Olivia Manning (finished 3/18/17) (The Levant Trilogy, Part I) 4.35 stars
84. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney (finished 3/19/17) 4.4 stars
85. Barney: Grove Press and Barney Rosset, America’s Maverick Publisher and His Battle against Censorship by Michael Rosenthal (finished 3/20/17) 4.15 stars
86. Murder in the Rue Dumas by M.L. Longworth (finished 3/20/17) finished 3/20/17
87. *The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey (finished 3/21/17) 4.75 stars
88. Treachery at Lancaster Gate by Anne Perry (finished 3/22/17) 3.4 stars
89. Notes From the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone (finished 3/22/17) 3.8 stars
90. The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott (finished 3/24/17) 3.4 stars
91. The Summons by Peter Lovesey (finished 3/24/17) 3.7 stars
92. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer (finished 3/25/17) 3.4 stars
93. *The Battle Lost and Won by Olivia Manning (finished 3/25/17) (The Levant Trilogy) 4.3 stars
94. *Venetia by Georgette Heyer (finished 3/26/17) 4 stars
95. *The Sum of Things by Olivia Manning (finished 3/26/17) (The Levant Trilogy) 4.1 stars
96. The Golden Legend by Nadeem Aslam (finished 3/27/17) 4.65 stars
97. The Pen and the Brush: How Passion for Art Shaped Nineteenth-Century French Novels by Anka Muhlstein (finished 3/28/17) 4.3 stars
98. Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession by Alison Weir (finished 3/28/17) 4.35 stars
99. The Night Bell by Inger Ash Wolfe (finished 3/29/17), 4.25 stars
100. Stoner by John Williams (finished 3/30/17) 4.3 stars
101. Black Widow by Christopher Brookmyre (finished 3/30/17) 4.5 stars
The April list...
102. Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin (finished 4/1/17) 3.8 stars
103. Death in the Vines by M.L. Longworth (finished 4/2/17) 3.45 stars
104. Murder on the Ile Sordou by M.L. Longworth (finished 4/2/17) 3.4 stars
105. The Graduate by Charles Webb (finished 4/3/17) 2.25 stars
106. Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles (finished 4/4/17) 3.25 stars
107. The Water Museum by Luis Alberto Urrea (finished 4/6/17) 4.1 stars
108. Lenin on the Train by Catherine Merridale (finished 4/6/17) 4.15 stars
109. *The Rose Garden by Susanne Kearsley (finished 4/7/17) 3.7 stars
110. Testimony by Scott Turow (finished 4/7/17) 3.8 stars
111. The Mystery of the Lost Cézanne by M.L. Longworth (finished 4/8/17) 3.5 stars
112. Reading Turgenev by William Trevor (finished 4/9/17) 4.2 stars
113. Mozart's Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt (finished 4/10/17) 4.6 stars
114. Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (finished 4/10/17) 4.4 stars
115. The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan (finished 4/11/17) 3.8 stars
116. The Agent Runner by Simon Conway (finished 4/12/17) 2.9 stars
117. Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Giles Milton (finished 4/13/17) 3.9 stars
118. The Devil and Webster by Jean Hanff Korelitz (finished 4/13/17) 4.3 stars
119. Prussian Blue by Phillip Kerr (finished 4/14/17) 4.3 stars
120. *The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer (finished 4/15/17) 3.9 stars
121. The Curse of La Fontaine by M.L. Longworth (finished 4/15/17) 3.7 stars
122. The Little Teashop of Lost and Found by Trisha Ashley (finished 4/16/17) 4.2 stars
123. A Very Expensive Poison: The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and Putin's War with the West by Luke Harding (finished 4/17/17) 4.35 stars
124. The Last Hack by Christopher Brookmyre (finished 4/17/17) 4.4 stars
125. Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication, and Music by James Rhodes (finished 4/18/17) 4.2 stars
126. Night and Day by Elizabeth Edmondson (finished 4/19/17) 3.65 stars
127. *A Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer (finished 4/20/17) 3.9 stars
128. The Lady and the Unicorn by Rumer Godden (finished 4/20/17) 3.7 stars
129. The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond by Stephen O'Shea (finished 4/21/17) 4.1 stars
130. The Patriots by Sana Krasnikov (finished 4/21/17) 4.3 stars
* Re-reads
3Chatterbox
While I want to read serendipitously, I also have some reading goals. I did a truly appalling job at meeting those that I set for myself last year, so this is my other New Year's reading resolution: to do better at reading the books that I know I want to complete. They only add up to about a quarter of my total estimated reading, so it shouldn't be too much of a hardship...
Reading Series Books
The Poldark Series by Winston Graham (the remainder of these)
The Angry Tide read
The Stranger From the Sea read
The Miller’s Dance read
The Loving Cup read
The Twisted Sword read
Bella Poldark read
The Bordeaux quartet by Allan Massie
Death in Bordeaux read
Dark Summer in Bordeaux read
Cold Winter in Bordeaux read
End Games in Bordeaux read
The Elena Ferrante quartet
My Brilliant Friend
The Story of a New Name
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
The Story of the Lost Child
The Cornish trilogy by Robertson Davies
The Rebel Angels
What’s Bred in the Bone
The Lyre of Orpheus
The Levant trilogy by Olivia Manning
The Danger Tree read
The Battle Lost and Won read
The Sum of Things read
The Quintilian Dalrymple series by Paul Johnston (remainder)
The Bone Yard
Water of Death
The Blood Tree
The House of Dust
Heads or Hearts
Skeleton Blues
The Teetering Tower of ARCs (Advance Review Copies
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith
City of Secrets by Stewart O’Nan read
The Honeymoon by Dinitia Smith read
City of Thorns by Ben Rawlence
At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell
Country of Red Azaleas by Dominica Radulescu
Three-Martini Lunch by Suzanne Rindell
Mercury by Margot Livesey
The Terranauts by T.C. Boyle
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure
The Patriots by Sara Krasikov read
Among the Living by Jonathan Rabb
A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker
The Fall of Princes by Robert Goolrick
Authors New to Me -- and Recommendations
The Blind Astronomer’s Daughter by John Pipkin
The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
Serious Sweet by A.L. Kennedy
The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan
The Guineveres by Sarah Domet
The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver
Did You Ever Have a Family? by Bill Clegg
Em and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto
The Allegations by Mark Lawson
Stoner by John Williams read
Canadian Content
The Parcel by Anosh Irani
Stranger by David Bergen
Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
The Piano Maker by Kurt Palka
The Night Bell by Inger Ash Wolfe read
Us Conductors by Sean Michaels
His Whole Life by Elizabeth Hay
Punishment by Linden Macintyre
Reading Series Books
The Poldark Series by Winston Graham (the remainder of these)
The Angry Tide read
The Stranger From the Sea read
The Miller’s Dance read
The Loving Cup read
The Twisted Sword read
Bella Poldark read
The Bordeaux quartet by Allan Massie
Death in Bordeaux read
Dark Summer in Bordeaux read
Cold Winter in Bordeaux read
End Games in Bordeaux read
The Elena Ferrante quartet
My Brilliant Friend
The Story of a New Name
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
The Story of the Lost Child
The Cornish trilogy by Robertson Davies
The Rebel Angels
What’s Bred in the Bone
The Lyre of Orpheus
The Levant trilogy by Olivia Manning
The Danger Tree read
The Battle Lost and Won read
The Sum of Things read
The Quintilian Dalrymple series by Paul Johnston (remainder)
The Bone Yard
Water of Death
The Blood Tree
The House of Dust
Heads or Hearts
Skeleton Blues
The Teetering Tower of ARCs (Advance Review Copies
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith
City of Secrets by Stewart O’Nan read
The Honeymoon by Dinitia Smith read
City of Thorns by Ben Rawlence
At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell
Country of Red Azaleas by Dominica Radulescu
Three-Martini Lunch by Suzanne Rindell
Mercury by Margot Livesey
The Terranauts by T.C. Boyle
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure
The Patriots by Sara Krasikov read
Among the Living by Jonathan Rabb
A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker
The Fall of Princes by Robert Goolrick
Authors New to Me -- and Recommendations
The Blind Astronomer’s Daughter by John Pipkin
The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
Serious Sweet by A.L. Kennedy
The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan
The Guineveres by Sarah Domet
The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver
Did You Ever Have a Family? by Bill Clegg
Em and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto
The Allegations by Mark Lawson
Stoner by John Williams read
Canadian Content
The Parcel by Anosh Irani
Stranger by David Bergen
Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
The Piano Maker by Kurt Palka
The Night Bell by Inger Ash Wolfe read
Us Conductors by Sean Michaels
His Whole Life by Elizabeth Hay
Punishment by Linden Macintyre
4Chatterbox
Reading Challenge Part II
Why Haven't I Read This Yet??
No Great Mischief by Alistair Macleod
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Animal Farm by George Orwell read
Lolita by Nabokov
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Europa Editions
The Golden Age by Joan London
Baba Dunja’s Last Love by Alina Bronsky
The Pope’s Daughter by Dario Fo
Fire Flowers by Ben Byrne
Revolution Baby by Joanna Gruda
In the Orchard, the Swallows by Peter Hobbs
A Voyage Around the World
Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John (Nigeria)
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (Cameroon/US) read
Human Acts by Han Kang (South Korea) read
Judas by Amos Oz (Israel)
The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck (Germany)
Sergio Y. by Alexandre Vidal Porto (Brazil)
The Chosen Ones by Steve Sem-Sandberg (Sweden)
Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila (Congo)
Harlequin’s Millions by Bohumil Hrabal (Czech Republic)
2084 by Boualem Sansal (Algeria/Germany)
An Englishman in Madrid by Eduardo Mendoza (Spain)
The Golden Legend by Nadeem Aslam (Pakistan/UK) read
The Dream of the Celt by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
Broken April by Ismail Kadare (Albania) (or The Traitor's Niche)
The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak (Turkey) read
They Were Counted by Miklos Banffy (Hungary)
The Four Books by Yan Lianke (China)
The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien (Ireland)
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Vietnam/USA)
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Ghana/USA) read
Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy (India)
Who You Think I Am by Camille Laurens (France) read
The Dove's Necklace by Raja Alem (Saudi Arabia)
Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt)
The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)
Why Haven't I Read This Yet??
No Great Mischief by Alistair Macleod
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Animal Farm by George Orwell read
Lolita by Nabokov
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Europa Editions
The Golden Age by Joan London
Baba Dunja’s Last Love by Alina Bronsky
The Pope’s Daughter by Dario Fo
Fire Flowers by Ben Byrne
Revolution Baby by Joanna Gruda
In the Orchard, the Swallows by Peter Hobbs
A Voyage Around the World
Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John (Nigeria)
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (Cameroon/US) read
Human Acts by Han Kang (South Korea) read
Judas by Amos Oz (Israel)
The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck (Germany)
Sergio Y. by Alexandre Vidal Porto (Brazil)
The Chosen Ones by Steve Sem-Sandberg (Sweden)
Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila (Congo)
Harlequin’s Millions by Bohumil Hrabal (Czech Republic)
2084 by Boualem Sansal (Algeria/Germany)
An Englishman in Madrid by Eduardo Mendoza (Spain)
The Golden Legend by Nadeem Aslam (Pakistan/UK) read
The Dream of the Celt by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
Broken April by Ismail Kadare (Albania) (or The Traitor's Niche)
The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak (Turkey) read
They Were Counted by Miklos Banffy (Hungary)
The Four Books by Yan Lianke (China)
The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien (Ireland)
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Vietnam/USA)
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Ghana/USA) read
Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy (India)
Who You Think I Am by Camille Laurens (France) read
The Dove's Necklace by Raja Alem (Saudi Arabia)
Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt)
The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)
5Chatterbox
Reading Challenge Part III
NetGalley Tower of Shame
The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova
The Lauras by Sara Taylor
Boat Rocker by Ha Jin
The English Agent by Phillip DePoy
The Futures by Anna Pitoniak read
Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch
The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott read
The Whole Art of Detection by Lyndsay Faye
Surrender, New York by Caleb Carr
The Private Life of Mrs. Sharma by Ratika Kapur
The Girl from Venice by Martin Cruz Smith
Black Widow by Christopher Brookmyre read
The Last One by Alexandra Oliva
The Imperial Wife by Irina Reyn
I am No One by Patrick Flannery
Darktown by Thomas Mullen
The Letter Writer by Dan Fesperman
Non-Fiction Challenge
Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Lesley Blume
Spain in Our Hearts by Adam Hochschild
The Immortal Irishman: the Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero by Timothy Egan
Tom Paine by John Keane
We Were Feminists Once by Andi Zeisler
All Strangers are Kin by Zora O’Neill
Charlotte Bronte: A Fiery Heart by Claire Harman
The Porcelain Thief: Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China by Huan Hsu
Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones
Deep South by Paul Theroux
Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman
Mercies in Disguise by Gina Kolata
Strangers Drowning: Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices and the Urge to Help by Larissa MacFarquhar
Game of Queens: The women who made sixteenth-century Europe by Sarah Gristwood
The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao by Ian Johnson
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
The Trials of the King of Hampshire by Elizabeth Foyster
Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction by Helen Pilcher
Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication and Music by James Rhodes read
Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge
Beethoven for a Later Age: Living With the String Quartets by Edward Dusinberre
The Pigeon Tunnel by John Le Carre
Thieves of State by Sarah Chayes
Dark Money by Jane Mayer
The Invention of Russia by Arkady Ostrovsky
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neill
The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding
Valiant Ambition by Nathaniel Philbrick
A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer
In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon’s Wars by Jenny Uglow
Once Upon a Time in Russia by Ben Mezrich
The French Intifada by Andrew Hussey
Hotel Florida: Truth Love and Death in the Spanish Civil War by Amanda Vaill
How to Ruin a Queen by Jonathan Beckman
Scott-Land: The Man Who Invented a Nation by Stuart Kelly
Russian Roulette by Giles Milton read
Travels With a Tangerine by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain by Charlotte Higgins
The Emperor Far Away by David Eimer
The Broken Road by Patrick Leigh Fermor
Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms by Gerard Russell
NetGalley Tower of Shame
The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova
The Lauras by Sara Taylor
Boat Rocker by Ha Jin
The English Agent by Phillip DePoy
The Futures by Anna Pitoniak read
Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch
The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott read
The Whole Art of Detection by Lyndsay Faye
Surrender, New York by Caleb Carr
The Private Life of Mrs. Sharma by Ratika Kapur
The Girl from Venice by Martin Cruz Smith
Black Widow by Christopher Brookmyre read
The Last One by Alexandra Oliva
The Imperial Wife by Irina Reyn
I am No One by Patrick Flannery
Darktown by Thomas Mullen
The Letter Writer by Dan Fesperman
Non-Fiction Challenge
Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Lesley Blume
Spain in Our Hearts by Adam Hochschild
The Immortal Irishman: the Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero by Timothy Egan
Tom Paine by John Keane
We Were Feminists Once by Andi Zeisler
All Strangers are Kin by Zora O’Neill
Charlotte Bronte: A Fiery Heart by Claire Harman
The Porcelain Thief: Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China by Huan Hsu
Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones
Deep South by Paul Theroux
Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman
Mercies in Disguise by Gina Kolata
Strangers Drowning: Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices and the Urge to Help by Larissa MacFarquhar
Game of Queens: The women who made sixteenth-century Europe by Sarah Gristwood
The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao by Ian Johnson
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
The Trials of the King of Hampshire by Elizabeth Foyster
Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction by Helen Pilcher
Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication and Music by James Rhodes read
Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge
Beethoven for a Later Age: Living With the String Quartets by Edward Dusinberre
The Pigeon Tunnel by John Le Carre
Thieves of State by Sarah Chayes
Dark Money by Jane Mayer
The Invention of Russia by Arkady Ostrovsky
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neill
The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding
Valiant Ambition by Nathaniel Philbrick
A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer
In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon’s Wars by Jenny Uglow
Once Upon a Time in Russia by Ben Mezrich
The French Intifada by Andrew Hussey
Hotel Florida: Truth Love and Death in the Spanish Civil War by Amanda Vaill
How to Ruin a Queen by Jonathan Beckman
Scott-Land: The Man Who Invented a Nation by Stuart Kelly
Russian Roulette by Giles Milton read
Travels With a Tangerine by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain by Charlotte Higgins
The Emperor Far Away by David Eimer
The Broken Road by Patrick Leigh Fermor
Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms by Gerard Russell
6Chatterbox
Saved for another book list
7Chatterbox
Books Purchased or Otherwise Permanently Acquired in 2017
Part I
1. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (Kindle Sale, $), 1/1/17
2. The Children by David Halberstam (Kindle Sale, $) 1/2/17
3. Amberwell by D.E. Stevenson (Kindle Sale, $) 1/3/17
4. The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley (NetGalley) 1/3/17
5. The Exile: The Stunning Inside Story of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda in Flight by Cathy Scott-Clark & Adrian Levy (NetGalley) 1/3/17
6. Grief Cottage by Gail Godwin (NetGalley) 1/3/17
7. All the Lives I Want by Alana Massey (NetGalley) 1/3/17
8. The Lost Woman by Sara Blaedel (NetGalley) 1/3/17
9. Down City: A Daughter's Story of Love, Memory and Murder by Leah Carroll (NetGalley) 1/3/17
10. The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries by Andrei Soldatov and Irinia Borogan (Kindle Sale, $) 1/4/17
11. The Girl in the Glass Tower by Elizabeth Fremantle (Audiobook, $$) 1/4/17 read
12. The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $) 1/5/17
13. Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin (Kindle Sale, $), 1/6/17
14. A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson (NetGalley), 1/6/17
15. Trajectory: Stories by Richard Russo (e-galley from publisher) 1/6/17
16. There Your Heart Lies by Mary Gordon (e-galley from publisher) 1/6/17
17. Chemistry by Weike Wang (e-galley from publisher) 1/6/17
18. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny (e-galley from publisher) 1/6/17 read
19. Harmony by Carolyn Parkhurst (Kindle Sale, $) 1/7/17
20. Sex Object: A Memoir by Jessica Valenti (Kindle Sale, $) 1/7/17
21. As Good As Gone by Larry Watson (Kindle Sale, $) 1/7/17
22. Prussian Blue by Phillip Kerr (NetGalley) 1/7/17 read
23. The Fall Guy by James Lasdun (Kindle, $$) 1/8/17
24. The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/8/17 read
25. Bed-Stuy is Burning by Brian Platzer (NetGalley) 1/8/17
26. Icy Clutches by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
27. Curses! by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
28. Twenty Blue Devils by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
29. Skeleton Dance by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
30. Fellowship of Fear by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
31. Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker (NetGalley) 1/9/17
32. Small Hours by Jennifer Kitses (NetGalley) 1/9/17
33. A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn (Kindle, $$) 1/10/17
34. Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig (NetGalley) 1/10/17
35. The Unbanking of America by Lisa Servon (Kindle, $$) 1/10/17
36. Bad Blood in Meantime by Murray Davies (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $) 1/10/17
37. The Believer by Joakim Zander (Amazon Vine ARC) 1/11/17
38. Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast by Megan Marshall (Amazon Vine ARC) 1/11/17
39. On Turpentine Lane by Elinor Lipman (Amazon Vine ARC) 1/11/17
40. If I Could Tell You by Elizabeth Wilhide (Amazon Vine ARC) 1/11/17 read
41. The Dry by Jane Harper (Kindle, $$) 1/11/17
42. We Do Our Part: Toward a Fairer and More Equal America by Charles Peters (NetGalley) 1/11/17
43. Signals: New and Selected Stories by Tim Gautreaux (e-galley from publisher), 1/14/17
44. The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/16/17 read
45. The Loving Cup by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/16/17 read
46. The Twisted Sword by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/16/17 read
47. Bella Poldark by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/16/17 read
48. Shield of Three Lions by Pamela Kaufman (Kindle, $) 1/16/17
49. Latest Readings by Clive James (paperback, $$) 1/17/17 read
50. Shelter in Place by Alexander Maksik (paperback, $$) 1/17/17
51. Othello by William Shakespeare (paperback, $$) 1/17/17
52. The Bertie Project by Alexander McCall Smith (NetGalley) 1/20/17 read
From here to end of page, all are ARCs from ALA Midwinter in Atlanta, at no cost to me, Jan 20-22
53. The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World by James Barron read
54. In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant read
55. Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe by John Julius Norwich
56. The Long Drop by Denise Mina
57. How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pigliucci
58. I See You by Clare Mackintosh
59. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
60. Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli In His World by Erica Benner
61. The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
62. Silver and Salt by Elanor Dymott
63. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid read
64. The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky read
65. Death on Delos by Gary Corby read
66. The Leavers by Lisa Ko
67. Death on Nantucket by Francine Mathews
68. Europe's Last Chance: Why the European States Must Form a More Perfect Union by Guy Verhoefstadt
69. The Trophy Child by Paula Daly
70. Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford
71. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan
72. When the English Fall by David Williams
73. NK3: A Novel by Michael Tolkin
74. The Dime by Kathleen Kent
75. Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty
Part I
1. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (Kindle Sale, $), 1/1/17
2. The Children by David Halberstam (Kindle Sale, $) 1/2/17
3. Amberwell by D.E. Stevenson (Kindle Sale, $) 1/3/17
4. The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley (NetGalley) 1/3/17
5. The Exile: The Stunning Inside Story of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda in Flight by Cathy Scott-Clark & Adrian Levy (NetGalley) 1/3/17
6. Grief Cottage by Gail Godwin (NetGalley) 1/3/17
7. All the Lives I Want by Alana Massey (NetGalley) 1/3/17
8. The Lost Woman by Sara Blaedel (NetGalley) 1/3/17
9. Down City: A Daughter's Story of Love, Memory and Murder by Leah Carroll (NetGalley) 1/3/17
10. The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries by Andrei Soldatov and Irinia Borogan (Kindle Sale, $) 1/4/17
11. The Girl in the Glass Tower by Elizabeth Fremantle (Audiobook, $$) 1/4/17 read
12. The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $) 1/5/17
13. Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin (Kindle Sale, $), 1/6/17
14. A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson (NetGalley), 1/6/17
15. Trajectory: Stories by Richard Russo (e-galley from publisher) 1/6/17
16. There Your Heart Lies by Mary Gordon (e-galley from publisher) 1/6/17
17. Chemistry by Weike Wang (e-galley from publisher) 1/6/17
18. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny (e-galley from publisher) 1/6/17 read
19. Harmony by Carolyn Parkhurst (Kindle Sale, $) 1/7/17
20. Sex Object: A Memoir by Jessica Valenti (Kindle Sale, $) 1/7/17
21. As Good As Gone by Larry Watson (Kindle Sale, $) 1/7/17
22. Prussian Blue by Phillip Kerr (NetGalley) 1/7/17 read
23. The Fall Guy by James Lasdun (Kindle, $$) 1/8/17
24. The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/8/17 read
25. Bed-Stuy is Burning by Brian Platzer (NetGalley) 1/8/17
26. Icy Clutches by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
27. Curses! by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
28. Twenty Blue Devils by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
29. Skeleton Dance by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
30. Fellowship of Fear by Aaron Elkins (Kindle Sale, $) 1/9/17
31. Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker (NetGalley) 1/9/17
32. Small Hours by Jennifer Kitses (NetGalley) 1/9/17
33. A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn (Kindle, $$) 1/10/17
34. Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig (NetGalley) 1/10/17
35. The Unbanking of America by Lisa Servon (Kindle, $$) 1/10/17
36. Bad Blood in Meantime by Murray Davies (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $) 1/10/17
37. The Believer by Joakim Zander (Amazon Vine ARC) 1/11/17
38. Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast by Megan Marshall (Amazon Vine ARC) 1/11/17
39. On Turpentine Lane by Elinor Lipman (Amazon Vine ARC) 1/11/17
40. If I Could Tell You by Elizabeth Wilhide (Amazon Vine ARC) 1/11/17 read
41. The Dry by Jane Harper (Kindle, $$) 1/11/17
42. We Do Our Part: Toward a Fairer and More Equal America by Charles Peters (NetGalley) 1/11/17
43. Signals: New and Selected Stories by Tim Gautreaux (e-galley from publisher), 1/14/17
44. The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/16/17 read
45. The Loving Cup by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/16/17 read
46. The Twisted Sword by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/16/17 read
47. Bella Poldark by Winston Graham (Kindle, $$) 1/16/17 read
48. Shield of Three Lions by Pamela Kaufman (Kindle, $) 1/16/17
49. Latest Readings by Clive James (paperback, $$) 1/17/17 read
50. Shelter in Place by Alexander Maksik (paperback, $$) 1/17/17
51. Othello by William Shakespeare (paperback, $$) 1/17/17
52. The Bertie Project by Alexander McCall Smith (NetGalley) 1/20/17 read
From here to end of page, all are ARCs from ALA Midwinter in Atlanta, at no cost to me, Jan 20-22
53. The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World by James Barron read
54. In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant read
55. Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe by John Julius Norwich
56. The Long Drop by Denise Mina
57. How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pigliucci
58. I See You by Clare Mackintosh
59. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
60. Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli In His World by Erica Benner
61. The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
62. Silver and Salt by Elanor Dymott
63. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid read
64. The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky read
65. Death on Delos by Gary Corby read
66. The Leavers by Lisa Ko
67. Death on Nantucket by Francine Mathews
68. Europe's Last Chance: Why the European States Must Form a More Perfect Union by Guy Verhoefstadt
69. The Trophy Child by Paula Daly
70. Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford
71. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan
72. When the English Fall by David Williams
73. NK3: A Novel by Michael Tolkin
74. The Dime by Kathleen Kent
75. Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty
8Chatterbox
Books Purchased or Otherwise Permanently Acquired in 2017
Part II
Until further notice, all books below were ARCs acquired (free) at ALA Midwinter in Atlanta, January 20-22, 2017
76. A Twist in Time by Julia McElwain
77. The Last Hack by Christopher Brookmyre Read
78. Agent M: The Lives and Spies of MI5's Maxwell Knight by Henry Hemming
79. The Unruly City: Paris, London and New York in the Age of Revolution by Mike Rapport
80. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
81. The Little French Bistro by Nina George
82. Stranger in a Strange Land: Searching for Gershom Scholem and Jerusalem by George Prochnik
83. Mozart's Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt Read
84. The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
85. Lenin's Roller Coaster by David Downing Read
86. Music of the Ghosts by Vaddey Ratner
87. A Colony in a Nation by Chris Hayes
88. The Child by Fiona Barton
89. 4 3 2 1: A Novel by Paul Auster
90. The Girl in Green by Derek B. Miller
91. The Trump Survival Guide by Gene Stone
92. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
93. The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill
94. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney Read
95. The Marches: A Borderland Journey between England and Scotland by Rory Stewart Read
96. Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King
97. The Young Widower's Handbook by Tom McAllister
98. The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak
99. Miss You by Kate Eberlen
100. Fateful Mornings by Tom Bouman
101. Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane
102. The Other Widow by Susan Crawford
103. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel Read
104. Final Demand by Deborah Moggach
105. The Cutaway by Christina Kovac
106. The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne
107. The Jane Austen Project by Karen Flynn
108. Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists by Donna Seaman
109. The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker
110. City of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York by Tyler Anbinder
111. The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown
112. My Last Lament by James William Brown
113. The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown
114. The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepinstall
115. What My Body Remembers by Agnete Friis
116. New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
117. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
118. No One is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts
119. The Birdwatcher by William Shaw
120. Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation (edited Michael Chabon)
121. Double Bind: Women on Ambition by Robin Romm
122. The Secrets You Keep by Kate White
123. The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve
124. The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor
125. Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams
126. The Confusion of Languages by Siobhan Fallon
127. Our Little Racket by Angelica Baker
128. The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett
129. Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy
130. Party Girls Die in Pearls by Plum Sykes
131. The Dinner Party by Joshua Ferris
132. Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
133. UNSUB: A Novel by Meg Gardiner
134. Bad Seeds by Jassy Mackenzie
135. Touch by Courtney Maum
136. Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes
137. The Idiot by Elif Batuman
138. The Widow's House by Carol Goodman
139. Devastation Road by Jason Hewitt
140. Easternization: Asia's Rise and America's Decline From Obama to Trump and Beyond by Gideon Rachman
141. Dead Man Switch by Matthew Quirk
142. Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
143. Mad Country by Samrat Upadhyay
144. Bad Dreams and Other Stories by Tessa Hadley
145. Most Dangerous Place by James Grippando
146. Inheritance From Mother by Minae Mizumura
147. Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures, 1935-1961 by Nicholas Reynolds
148. Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles Read
149. Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us by Sam Kean
150. Shining City by Tom Rosenstiel
151. Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War by Lynne Olson
152. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths Read
End of list of ARCs from ALA Midwinter
Part II
Until further notice, all books below were ARCs acquired (free) at ALA Midwinter in Atlanta, January 20-22, 2017
76. A Twist in Time by Julia McElwain
77. The Last Hack by Christopher Brookmyre Read
78. Agent M: The Lives and Spies of MI5's Maxwell Knight by Henry Hemming
79. The Unruly City: Paris, London and New York in the Age of Revolution by Mike Rapport
80. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
81. The Little French Bistro by Nina George
82. Stranger in a Strange Land: Searching for Gershom Scholem and Jerusalem by George Prochnik
83. Mozart's Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt Read
84. The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
85. Lenin's Roller Coaster by David Downing Read
86. Music of the Ghosts by Vaddey Ratner
87. A Colony in a Nation by Chris Hayes
88. The Child by Fiona Barton
89. 4 3 2 1: A Novel by Paul Auster
90. The Girl in Green by Derek B. Miller
91. The Trump Survival Guide by Gene Stone
92. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
93. The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill
94. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney Read
95. The Marches: A Borderland Journey between England and Scotland by Rory Stewart Read
96. Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King
97. The Young Widower's Handbook by Tom McAllister
98. The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak
99. Miss You by Kate Eberlen
100. Fateful Mornings by Tom Bouman
101. Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane
102. The Other Widow by Susan Crawford
103. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel Read
104. Final Demand by Deborah Moggach
105. The Cutaway by Christina Kovac
106. The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne
107. The Jane Austen Project by Karen Flynn
108. Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists by Donna Seaman
109. The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker
110. City of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York by Tyler Anbinder
111. The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown
112. My Last Lament by James William Brown
113. The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown
114. The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepinstall
115. What My Body Remembers by Agnete Friis
116. New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
117. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
118. No One is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts
119. The Birdwatcher by William Shaw
120. Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation (edited Michael Chabon)
121. Double Bind: Women on Ambition by Robin Romm
122. The Secrets You Keep by Kate White
123. The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve
124. The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor
125. Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams
126. The Confusion of Languages by Siobhan Fallon
127. Our Little Racket by Angelica Baker
128. The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett
129. Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy
130. Party Girls Die in Pearls by Plum Sykes
131. The Dinner Party by Joshua Ferris
132. Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
133. UNSUB: A Novel by Meg Gardiner
134. Bad Seeds by Jassy Mackenzie
135. Touch by Courtney Maum
136. Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes
137. The Idiot by Elif Batuman
138. The Widow's House by Carol Goodman
139. Devastation Road by Jason Hewitt
140. Easternization: Asia's Rise and America's Decline From Obama to Trump and Beyond by Gideon Rachman
141. Dead Man Switch by Matthew Quirk
142. Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
143. Mad Country by Samrat Upadhyay
144. Bad Dreams and Other Stories by Tessa Hadley
145. Most Dangerous Place by James Grippando
146. Inheritance From Mother by Minae Mizumura
147. Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures, 1935-1961 by Nicholas Reynolds
148. Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles Read
149. Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us by Sam Kean
150. Shining City by Tom Rosenstiel
151. Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War by Lynne Olson
152. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths Read
End of list of ARCs from ALA Midwinter
9Chatterbox
Books Purchased or Permanently Acquired in 2017
Part III
153. The Best American Short Stories 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
154. The Best American Mystery Stories 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
155. The Best American Essays 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
156. The Best American Travel Writing 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
157. The Best American Non-Required Reading 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
158. The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance by Anders Rydell (NetGalley) 1/24/17
159. The Devil and Webster by Jean Hanff Korelitz (NetGalley) 1/24/17 read
160. The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams (Kindle, $$) 1/26/17
161. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Audiobook, 2 for 1 deal, $) 1/26/17
162. The Last Days of Cafe Leila by Donia Bijan (NetGalley) 1/26/17
163. Citadel by Kate Mosse (Kindle Sale, $) 1/27/17)
164. Strange Stones: Dispatches from East and West by Peter Hessler (Kindle Sale, $) 1/27/17
165. Every Dead Thing: Dark Hollow by John Connolly (NetGalley) 1/27/17
166. Age of Anger: A History of the Present by Pankaj Mishra (Kindle, $$) 1/27/17
167. Friday, the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman (Kindle Sale, $) 1/30/17
168. Beartown by Fredrik Backman (NetGalley) 1/30/17
169. Exit Music by Ian Rankin (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
170. The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
171. The Rivals of Versailles by Sally Christie (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
172. Fool's Gold by Caro Peacock (NetGalley) 2/1/17
173. Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death by Brenna Hassett (NetGalley) 2/1/17
174. Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
175. We'll Meet Again by Philippa Carr (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
176. In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen (Kindle Freebie) 2/1/17
177. House of Names by Colm Toibin (NetGalley) 2/1/17
178. The Ambulance Drivers: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and a Friendship Made and Lost in War by James McGrath Morris (NetGalley) 2/2/17
179. The Novels of Alexander the Great: Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy, and Funeral Games by Mary Renault (Kindle sale, $) 2/2/17
180. My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul (NetGalley/ARC) 2/2/17
181. Barney: Grove Press and Barney Rosset, America’s Maverick Publisher and His Battle against Censorship by Michael Rosenthal (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/4/17 read
182. The Watcher by Ross Armstrong (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/4/17
183. Bleeding in Black and White by Colin Cotterill (Kindle, $$) 2/6/17
184. The One-Eyed Man by Ron Currie (Hardcover, from publisher) 2/6/17
185. Bartleby and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville (Kindle, cheap, $) 2/6/17 read
186. The Silent Dead by Tetsuya Honda (Kindle, $$) 2/6/17
187. Corpus by Rory Clements (Kindle, $$) 2/6/17
188. Garden of Lamentations by Deborah Crombie (Kindle $$) 2/7/17
189. Cockfosters by Helen Simpson (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
190. Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
191. The Woman on the Stairs by Bernhard Schlink (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
192. Living in the Weather of the World by Richard Bausch (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
193. My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
194. Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/8/17 read
195. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan (NetGalley) 2/8/17
196. Hardcastle's Runaway by Graham Ison (NetGalley) 2/9/17
197. Sissinghurst, an Unfinished History by Adam Nicolson (Kindle Sale, $) 2/10/17
198. The Americans: The Colonial Experience by Daniel Boorstin (Kindle Sale, $) 2/10/17
199. Testimony by Scott Turow (NetGalley) 2/10/17 read
200. Animal Farm by George Orwell (Kindle, $$) 2/11/17) read
201. Mikhail and Margarita by Julie Himes (ARC from publisher) 2/11/17
202. A Climate of Fear by Fred Vargas (paperback from publisher) 2/11/17
203. Forever On: A Novel of Silicon Valley by Rob Reid (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/11/17
204. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (Kindle Sale, $) 2/12/17
205. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History by Brian Kilmeade (Kindle Sale, $) 2/12/17
206. Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/13/17
207. Scars of Independence by Holger Hoock (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/14/17
208. Murder on the Serpentine by Anne Perry (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/14/17
209. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/14/17 read
210. The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017)
211. A Harvest of Thorns by Corban Addison (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017)
212. Conviction by Julia Dahl (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017) read
213. Who You Think I Am by Camille Laurens (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017) read
214. Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøndahl (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017) read
215. The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017)
216. Everything Belongs to Us by Yoojin Grace Wuertz (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017)
217. Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka (Paperback, $$) 2/14/17 read
218. The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald (Paperback, $$) 2/14/17
219. The Trespassers by Laura Z. Hobson (Kindle sale, $) 2/15/17
220. The Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell (Kindle sale, $) 2/15/17
221. Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman (Kindle sale, $) 2/15/17
222. The Drowning King by Emily Holleman (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/15/17 read
223. Shadow Man by Alan Drew (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/15/17
Part III
153. The Best American Short Stories 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
154. The Best American Mystery Stories 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
155. The Best American Essays 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
156. The Best American Travel Writing 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
157. The Best American Non-Required Reading 2016 (Kindle Sale, $) 1/24/17
158. The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance by Anders Rydell (NetGalley) 1/24/17
159. The Devil and Webster by Jean Hanff Korelitz (NetGalley) 1/24/17 read
160. The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams (Kindle, $$) 1/26/17
161. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Audiobook, 2 for 1 deal, $) 1/26/17
162. The Last Days of Cafe Leila by Donia Bijan (NetGalley) 1/26/17
163. Citadel by Kate Mosse (Kindle Sale, $) 1/27/17)
164. Strange Stones: Dispatches from East and West by Peter Hessler (Kindle Sale, $) 1/27/17
165. Every Dead Thing: Dark Hollow by John Connolly (NetGalley) 1/27/17
166. Age of Anger: A History of the Present by Pankaj Mishra (Kindle, $$) 1/27/17
167. Friday, the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman (Kindle Sale, $) 1/30/17
168. Beartown by Fredrik Backman (NetGalley) 1/30/17
169. Exit Music by Ian Rankin (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
170. The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
171. The Rivals of Versailles by Sally Christie (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
172. Fool's Gold by Caro Peacock (NetGalley) 2/1/17
173. Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death by Brenna Hassett (NetGalley) 2/1/17
174. Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
175. We'll Meet Again by Philippa Carr (Kindle Sale, $) 2/1/17
176. In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen (Kindle Freebie) 2/1/17
177. House of Names by Colm Toibin (NetGalley) 2/1/17
178. The Ambulance Drivers: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and a Friendship Made and Lost in War by James McGrath Morris (NetGalley) 2/2/17
179. The Novels of Alexander the Great: Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy, and Funeral Games by Mary Renault (Kindle sale, $) 2/2/17
180. My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul (NetGalley/ARC) 2/2/17
181. Barney: Grove Press and Barney Rosset, America’s Maverick Publisher and His Battle against Censorship by Michael Rosenthal (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/4/17 read
182. The Watcher by Ross Armstrong (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/4/17
183. Bleeding in Black and White by Colin Cotterill (Kindle, $$) 2/6/17
184. The One-Eyed Man by Ron Currie (Hardcover, from publisher) 2/6/17
185. Bartleby and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville (Kindle, cheap, $) 2/6/17 read
186. The Silent Dead by Tetsuya Honda (Kindle, $$) 2/6/17
187. Corpus by Rory Clements (Kindle, $$) 2/6/17
188. Garden of Lamentations by Deborah Crombie (Kindle $$) 2/7/17
189. Cockfosters by Helen Simpson (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
190. Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
191. The Woman on the Stairs by Bernhard Schlink (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
192. Living in the Weather of the World by Richard Bausch (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
193. My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith (e-galley from publisher) 2/7/17
194. Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/8/17 read
195. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan (NetGalley) 2/8/17
196. Hardcastle's Runaway by Graham Ison (NetGalley) 2/9/17
197. Sissinghurst, an Unfinished History by Adam Nicolson (Kindle Sale, $) 2/10/17
198. The Americans: The Colonial Experience by Daniel Boorstin (Kindle Sale, $) 2/10/17
199. Testimony by Scott Turow (NetGalley) 2/10/17 read
200. Animal Farm by George Orwell (Kindle, $$) 2/11/17) read
201. Mikhail and Margarita by Julie Himes (ARC from publisher) 2/11/17
202. A Climate of Fear by Fred Vargas (paperback from publisher) 2/11/17
203. Forever On: A Novel of Silicon Valley by Rob Reid (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/11/17
204. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (Kindle Sale, $) 2/12/17
205. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History by Brian Kilmeade (Kindle Sale, $) 2/12/17
206. Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/13/17
207. Scars of Independence by Holger Hoock (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/14/17
208. Murder on the Serpentine by Anne Perry (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/14/17
209. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/14/17 read
210. The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017)
211. A Harvest of Thorns by Corban Addison (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017)
212. Conviction by Julia Dahl (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017) read
213. Who You Think I Am by Camille Laurens (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017) read
214. Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøndahl (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017) read
215. The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017)
216. Everything Belongs to Us by Yoojin Grace Wuertz (Amazon Vine ARC) (Forgotten from January 2017)
217. Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka (Paperback, $$) 2/14/17 read
218. The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald (Paperback, $$) 2/14/17
219. The Trespassers by Laura Z. Hobson (Kindle sale, $) 2/15/17
220. The Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell (Kindle sale, $) 2/15/17
221. Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman (Kindle sale, $) 2/15/17
222. The Drowning King by Emily Holleman (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/15/17 read
223. Shadow Man by Alan Drew (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/15/17
10Chatterbox
Books Purchased or Permanently Acquired in 2017
Part IV
224. Unquiet Ghosts by Glenn Meade (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
225. The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World by Brad Stone (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
226. The Awkward Age by Francesca Segal (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
227. The End We Start From by Megan Hunter (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
228. The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
229. A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/16/17
230. The Heirs by Susan Rieger (NetGalley) 2/16/17
231. New Boy by Tracey Chevalier (NetGalley) 2/16/17
232. Racing the Devil by Charles Todd (Kindle, $$) 2/16/17
233. I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet (NetGalley) 2/17/17 read
234. An Honorable Man by Paul Vidich (Kindle, $$) 2/17/17)
235. Augustus by John Williams (Kindle, $$) 2/18/17
236. The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today's America by Mark Sundeen (Kindle, $$) 2/18/17 read
237. A Gathering of Spies by John Altman (Kindle Sale, $) 2/19/17
238. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (paperback, $$) 2/20/17 read
239. The Water Museum by Luis Alberto Urrea (paperback, $$) 2/20/17 read
240. Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell (UK Kindle, $$) 2/22/17 read
241. City of Friends by Joanna Trollope (UK Kindle, $$) 2/22/17 read
242. A Secret Garden by Katie Fforde (UK Kindle, $$) 2/22/17
243. Girl in Disguise by Greer Macallister (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/22/17
244. What's Become of Her by Deb Caletti (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/22/17
245. The Diplomat's Daughter by Karin Tanabe (NetGalley) 2/23/17
246. A Rabble of Dead Money: The Great Crash and the Global Depression by Charles R. Morris (from publisher) 2/23/17
247. Detective by Arthur Hailey (Kindle sale, $) 2/24/17
248. The Photograph by Penelope Lively (Kindle sale, $) 2/24/17
249. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (Audiobook, $$) by Arlie Russell Hochschild 2/25/17 read
250. The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers by Thomas Fleming (Kindle Sale, $) 2/25/17
251. The Lubetkin Legacy by Marina Lewycka (UK Kindle, $$) 2/25/17
252. Rosy is My Relative by Gerald Durrell (Kindle sale, $) 2/26/17
253. Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak (UK Kindle, $$) 2/26/17
254. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese May Fowler (Kindle Sale, $) 2/26/17
255. Literary Wonderlands: A Journey Through the Greatest Fictional Worlds Ever Created, by Laura Miller et al (Kindle Sale, $) 2/26/17
256. A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain (Kindle Sale, $) 2/26/17
257. The Summer Seaside Kitchen by Jenny Colgan (UK Kindle, $$) 2/26/17
258. Promises by Catherine Gaskin (UK Kindle sale, $) 2/26/17
259. Edge of Glass by Catherine Gaskin (UK Kindle sale, $) 2/26/17
260. Libra by Don DeLillo (Kindle sale, $) 2/27/17)
261. A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey (Kindle sale, $) 2/27/17
262. Miss Treadway & the Field of Stars by Miranda Emmerson (NetGalley) 2/28/17
263. Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore (UK Kindle, $$) 2/28/17
264. The Templars' Last Secret by Martin Walker (NetGalley via publisher) 3/1/17
265. The Thirst by Jo Nesbø (NetGalley via publisher) 3/1/17
266. Defectors by Joseph Kanon (NetGalley) 3/1/17 Read
267. Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times edited by Carolina de Robertis (NetGalley) 3/2/17
268. A Single Spy by William Christie (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/2/17 read
269. The Wasting of Borneo: Dispatches from a Vanishing World by Alex Shoumatoff (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/2/17
270. Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier by Tatiana de Rosnay (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/2/17
271. My Darling Detective by Howard Norman (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/3/17
272. All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/4/17 read
273. The Curse of La Fontaine by M. L. Longworth (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/3/17 read
274. The Chalk Artist by Allegra Goodman (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/5/17
275. Cave Dwellers by Richard Grant (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/5/17
276. Eleventh Hour: a Tudor Mystery by M.J. Trow (NetGalley) 3/7/17
277. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (Audiobooks, $$) 3/7/17
278. The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria by Alia Malek (Kindle, gift) 3/7/17
279. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (paperback, loan) 3/9/17
280. The Graybar Hotel by Curtis Dawkins (NetGalley) 3/10/17
281. How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs (NetGalley) 3/12/17
282. How to Behave in a Crowd by Camille Bordas (NetGalley) 3/12/17
283. The Song and the Silence: A Story about Family, Race, and What Was Revealed in a Small Town in the Mississippi Delta While Searching for Booker Wright by Yvette Johnson (NetGalley) 3/17/17
284. Lenin on the Train by Catherine Merridale (NetGalley) 3/17/17 read
285. The Standard Grand by Jay Baron Nicorvo (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/20/17
286. Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession by Alison Weir (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/20/17 read
287. The Spy Across the Table by Barry Lancet (NetGalley) 3/20/17
288. Take Me to Your Heart Again by Marius Gabriel (Kindle Freebie) 3/22/17
289. Stockholm Delete by Jens Lapidus (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/22/17
290. Once, in Lourdes by Sharon Solwitz (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/22/17
291. Slow Horses by Mick Herron (Audible audiobook, $$) 3/22/17
292. Young Radicals: In the War for American Ideals by Jeremy McCarter (NetGalley) 3/24/17
293. The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
294. The Second Day of the Renaissance by Timothy Williams (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
295. Gender, Politics, News: A Game of Three Sides by Karen Ross (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
296. There Your Heart Lies by Mary Gordon (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
297. The End of the Day by Claire North (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
298. The Parthenon Bomber by Christos Chrissopoulos (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
299. Protest in Putin's Russia by Mischa Gabowitsch (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
300. A Quiet Life by Natasha Walter (Amazon UK, Kindle Sale, $) 3/27/17
301. Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta (NetGalley) 3/30/17
302. The Misfortune of Marion Palm by Emily Culliton (NetGalley, From Publisher) 3/31/17
303. The Red-Haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk (NetGalley, from Publisher) 3/31/17
304. A Deadly Betrothal by Fiona Buckley (NetGalley) 3/31/17
305. A Small Revolution by Jimin Han (Kindle First, Freebie) 4/1/17
306. The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan (Kindle Sale, $) 4/3/17
307. A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols by Tim Marshall (NetGalley) 4/3/17
308. Steam Titans: Cunard, Collins, and the Epic Battle for Commerce on the North Atlantic by William Fowler (NetGalley) 4/3/17
309. Reading With Patrick by Michelle Kuo (NetGalley) 4/3/17
310. Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin (Kindle Sale, $) 4/3/17
311. The Lake by Lotte Hammer (NetGalley) 4/3/17
312. The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America by Frances Fitzgerald (Kindle pre-order, $$) 4/4/17
313. Modern Gods by Nick Laird (NetGalley) 4/4/17
314. Am I Alone Here?: Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live by Peter Orner (NetGalley) 4/5/17
315. Down a Dark Road by Linda Castillo (NetGalley) 4/6/17
316. Woolly: The True Story of the De-Extinction of One of History's Most Iconic Creatures by Ben Mezrich (NetGalley) 4/6/17
317. Salt Houses by Hala Alyan (Amazon Vine ARC) 4/7/17
318. Moving Kings by Joshua Cohen (Amazon Vine ARC) 4/7/17
319. Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer (Amazon Vine ARC) 4/7/17
320. My Glory Was I Had Such Friends by Amy Silverstein (Amazon Vine ARC) 4/7/17
321. The Vanishing Futurist by Charlotte Hobson (UK Kindle, $$) 4/8/17
322. Beware This Boy by Maureen Jennings (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $) 4/8/17
323. The Little Teashop of Lost and Found by Trisha Ashley (UK Kindle, $$) 4/8/17 Read
324. The Good People by Hannah Kent (UK Kindle, $$) 4/8/17
325. About Last Night... by Catherine Alliott (UK Kindle, $$) 4/8/17
326. The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic (Hardcover from publisher) 4/10/17
327. Friends and Traitors by John Lawton (NetGalley) 4/11/17
328. A Very Expensive Poison: The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and Putin's War with the West by Luke Harding (Audible audiobook, $$) 4/13/17 Read
329. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon (Kindle sale, $) 4/13/17
330. The Islamic Enlightenment: The Struggle Between Faith and Reason, 1798 to Modern Times by Christophe de Bellaige (Kindle, $$) 4/13/17
331. The Locals by Jonathan Dee (NetGalley) 4/14/17
332. Domina by L.S. Hilton (NetGalley) 4/14/17
333. Akenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz (gift) 4/14/17
Part IV
224. Unquiet Ghosts by Glenn Meade (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
225. The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World by Brad Stone (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
226. The Awkward Age by Francesca Segal (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
227. The End We Start From by Megan Hunter (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
228. The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer (ALA Midwinter, ARC) (Forgotten from Jan 2017)
229. A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/16/17
230. The Heirs by Susan Rieger (NetGalley) 2/16/17
231. New Boy by Tracey Chevalier (NetGalley) 2/16/17
232. Racing the Devil by Charles Todd (Kindle, $$) 2/16/17
233. I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet (NetGalley) 2/17/17 read
234. An Honorable Man by Paul Vidich (Kindle, $$) 2/17/17)
235. Augustus by John Williams (Kindle, $$) 2/18/17
236. The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today's America by Mark Sundeen (Kindle, $$) 2/18/17 read
237. A Gathering of Spies by John Altman (Kindle Sale, $) 2/19/17
238. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (paperback, $$) 2/20/17 read
239. The Water Museum by Luis Alberto Urrea (paperback, $$) 2/20/17 read
240. Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell (UK Kindle, $$) 2/22/17 read
241. City of Friends by Joanna Trollope (UK Kindle, $$) 2/22/17 read
242. A Secret Garden by Katie Fforde (UK Kindle, $$) 2/22/17
243. Girl in Disguise by Greer Macallister (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/22/17
244. What's Become of Her by Deb Caletti (Amazon Vine ARC) 2/22/17
245. The Diplomat's Daughter by Karin Tanabe (NetGalley) 2/23/17
246. A Rabble of Dead Money: The Great Crash and the Global Depression by Charles R. Morris (from publisher) 2/23/17
247. Detective by Arthur Hailey (Kindle sale, $) 2/24/17
248. The Photograph by Penelope Lively (Kindle sale, $) 2/24/17
249. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (Audiobook, $$) by Arlie Russell Hochschild 2/25/17 read
250. The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers by Thomas Fleming (Kindle Sale, $) 2/25/17
251. The Lubetkin Legacy by Marina Lewycka (UK Kindle, $$) 2/25/17
252. Rosy is My Relative by Gerald Durrell (Kindle sale, $) 2/26/17
253. Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak (UK Kindle, $$) 2/26/17
254. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese May Fowler (Kindle Sale, $) 2/26/17
255. Literary Wonderlands: A Journey Through the Greatest Fictional Worlds Ever Created, by Laura Miller et al (Kindle Sale, $) 2/26/17
256. A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain (Kindle Sale, $) 2/26/17
257. The Summer Seaside Kitchen by Jenny Colgan (UK Kindle, $$) 2/26/17
258. Promises by Catherine Gaskin (UK Kindle sale, $) 2/26/17
259. Edge of Glass by Catherine Gaskin (UK Kindle sale, $) 2/26/17
260. Libra by Don DeLillo (Kindle sale, $) 2/27/17)
261. A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey (Kindle sale, $) 2/27/17
262. Miss Treadway & the Field of Stars by Miranda Emmerson (NetGalley) 2/28/17
263. Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore (UK Kindle, $$) 2/28/17
264. The Templars' Last Secret by Martin Walker (NetGalley via publisher) 3/1/17
265. The Thirst by Jo Nesbø (NetGalley via publisher) 3/1/17
266. Defectors by Joseph Kanon (NetGalley) 3/1/17 Read
267. Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times edited by Carolina de Robertis (NetGalley) 3/2/17
268. A Single Spy by William Christie (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/2/17 read
269. The Wasting of Borneo: Dispatches from a Vanishing World by Alex Shoumatoff (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/2/17
270. Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier by Tatiana de Rosnay (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/2/17
271. My Darling Detective by Howard Norman (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/3/17
272. All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/4/17 read
273. The Curse of La Fontaine by M. L. Longworth (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/3/17 read
274. The Chalk Artist by Allegra Goodman (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/5/17
275. Cave Dwellers by Richard Grant (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/5/17
276. Eleventh Hour: a Tudor Mystery by M.J. Trow (NetGalley) 3/7/17
277. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (Audiobooks, $$) 3/7/17
278. The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria by Alia Malek (Kindle, gift) 3/7/17
279. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (paperback, loan) 3/9/17
280. The Graybar Hotel by Curtis Dawkins (NetGalley) 3/10/17
281. How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs (NetGalley) 3/12/17
282. How to Behave in a Crowd by Camille Bordas (NetGalley) 3/12/17
283. The Song and the Silence: A Story about Family, Race, and What Was Revealed in a Small Town in the Mississippi Delta While Searching for Booker Wright by Yvette Johnson (NetGalley) 3/17/17
284. Lenin on the Train by Catherine Merridale (NetGalley) 3/17/17 read
285. The Standard Grand by Jay Baron Nicorvo (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/20/17
286. Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession by Alison Weir (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/20/17 read
287. The Spy Across the Table by Barry Lancet (NetGalley) 3/20/17
288. Take Me to Your Heart Again by Marius Gabriel (Kindle Freebie) 3/22/17
289. Stockholm Delete by Jens Lapidus (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/22/17
290. Once, in Lourdes by Sharon Solwitz (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/22/17
291. Slow Horses by Mick Herron (Audible audiobook, $$) 3/22/17
292. Young Radicals: In the War for American Ideals by Jeremy McCarter (NetGalley) 3/24/17
293. The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
294. The Second Day of the Renaissance by Timothy Williams (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
295. Gender, Politics, News: A Game of Three Sides by Karen Ross (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
296. There Your Heart Lies by Mary Gordon (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
297. The End of the Day by Claire North (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
298. The Parthenon Bomber by Christos Chrissopoulos (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
299. Protest in Putin's Russia by Mischa Gabowitsch (Amazon Vine ARC) 3/24/17
300. A Quiet Life by Natasha Walter (Amazon UK, Kindle Sale, $) 3/27/17
301. Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta (NetGalley) 3/30/17
302. The Misfortune of Marion Palm by Emily Culliton (NetGalley, From Publisher) 3/31/17
303. The Red-Haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk (NetGalley, from Publisher) 3/31/17
304. A Deadly Betrothal by Fiona Buckley (NetGalley) 3/31/17
305. A Small Revolution by Jimin Han (Kindle First, Freebie) 4/1/17
306. The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan (Kindle Sale, $) 4/3/17
307. A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols by Tim Marshall (NetGalley) 4/3/17
308. Steam Titans: Cunard, Collins, and the Epic Battle for Commerce on the North Atlantic by William Fowler (NetGalley) 4/3/17
309. Reading With Patrick by Michelle Kuo (NetGalley) 4/3/17
310. Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin (Kindle Sale, $) 4/3/17
311. The Lake by Lotte Hammer (NetGalley) 4/3/17
312. The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America by Frances Fitzgerald (Kindle pre-order, $$) 4/4/17
313. Modern Gods by Nick Laird (NetGalley) 4/4/17
314. Am I Alone Here?: Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live by Peter Orner (NetGalley) 4/5/17
315. Down a Dark Road by Linda Castillo (NetGalley) 4/6/17
316. Woolly: The True Story of the De-Extinction of One of History's Most Iconic Creatures by Ben Mezrich (NetGalley) 4/6/17
317. Salt Houses by Hala Alyan (Amazon Vine ARC) 4/7/17
318. Moving Kings by Joshua Cohen (Amazon Vine ARC) 4/7/17
319. Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer (Amazon Vine ARC) 4/7/17
320. My Glory Was I Had Such Friends by Amy Silverstein (Amazon Vine ARC) 4/7/17
321. The Vanishing Futurist by Charlotte Hobson (UK Kindle, $$) 4/8/17
322. Beware This Boy by Maureen Jennings (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $) 4/8/17
323. The Little Teashop of Lost and Found by Trisha Ashley (UK Kindle, $$) 4/8/17 Read
324. The Good People by Hannah Kent (UK Kindle, $$) 4/8/17
325. About Last Night... by Catherine Alliott (UK Kindle, $$) 4/8/17
326. The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic (Hardcover from publisher) 4/10/17
327. Friends and Traitors by John Lawton (NetGalley) 4/11/17
328. A Very Expensive Poison: The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and Putin's War with the West by Luke Harding (Audible audiobook, $$) 4/13/17 Read
329. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon (Kindle sale, $) 4/13/17
330. The Islamic Enlightenment: The Struggle Between Faith and Reason, 1798 to Modern Times by Christophe de Bellaige (Kindle, $$) 4/13/17
331. The Locals by Jonathan Dee (NetGalley) 4/14/17
332. Domina by L.S. Hilton (NetGalley) 4/14/17
333. Akenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz (gift) 4/14/17
11thornton37814
Happy new thread!
14Chatterbox
Thanks all! Now I've caught up with my book acquisitions postings, the pressure is on to report on the book reading... gulp. But not tonight. I think I'll go and do some more reading instead!!
15FAMeulstee
Happy new thread, Suzanne!
>14 Chatterbox: Reading is always the best you can do :-)
>14 Chatterbox: Reading is always the best you can do :-)
16charl08
Another poem fan. Some of the lines read as though they could have been written today. Powerful stuff. Happy new thread.
Your lists of books and even more books make me happy. So many intriguing titles.
Sadly, I didn't get the Toibin as a preview, so will look forward to your thoughts on that.
Your lists of books and even more books make me happy. So many intriguing titles.
Sadly, I didn't get the Toibin as a preview, so will look forward to your thoughts on that.
17benitastrnad
I am so happy to see a reader and book owner with the courage to list all of their acquisitions for the year - so far. There are some great titles in that bunch.
18Chatterbox
>17 benitastrnad: I just had to backtrack and add some that I had forgotten about from last month, too! Thus adding to my shame...
>16 charl08: I'm excited about the Toibin, and also excited about the new Jacqueline Winspear, now that she seems to be back on form. And about getting the new historical novel by Emily Holleman, who has followed up a very good book about Cleopatra's younger sister with a sequel -- I got an ARC from Amazon, and it should arrive tomorrow.
That poem is stunning, isn't it? And the eerie synchronicity with Trump's slogan -- Langston Hughes has a much more modest request, to just let America be America...
I have had a long tiresome day, characterized by horrible machines two floors above me and an exhausting quest for footnotes for Alice's book. She has succeeded in driving me demented and I have discovered that no, my name will not be on the book, even though I have written nearly every word of it. Sigh. Perhaps the acknowledgments?
>16 charl08: I'm excited about the Toibin, and also excited about the new Jacqueline Winspear, now that she seems to be back on form. And about getting the new historical novel by Emily Holleman, who has followed up a very good book about Cleopatra's younger sister with a sequel -- I got an ARC from Amazon, and it should arrive tomorrow.
That poem is stunning, isn't it? And the eerie synchronicity with Trump's slogan -- Langston Hughes has a much more modest request, to just let America be America...
I have had a long tiresome day, characterized by horrible machines two floors above me and an exhausting quest for footnotes for Alice's book. She has succeeded in driving me demented and I have discovered that no, my name will not be on the book, even though I have written nearly every word of it. Sigh. Perhaps the acknowledgments?
19Chatterbox
29. Human Acts by Han Kang
I confess that I couldn't get through The Vegetarian, but this novel is a remarkable accomplishment. Han Kang, who herself grew up in Kwangju, has chronicled the student uprising there in 1980 (when she was still a young child) but has chosen to do is in an indirect way, with a micro focus, by concentrating on a single life and its aftermath -- that of Dong-ho, a middle-school student who watches a friend die and then himself is killed in the final storming by the country's military of the city center, cracking down for good on the demonstrators. By showing us the lives and memories of those whose existence overlapped with that of Dong-ho, the author deftly portrays the way in which this horrifying incident in Korea and its aftermath continues to ripple through the minds of citizens, even if the rest of the world knows little to nothing about it. Definitely try to read it, although the gritty detail is tough, as is the subject matter. 4.35 stars.
30. A Want of Kindness by Joanne Limburg
Oh dear. After reading the bio of Jonathan Swift earlier this year, I was drawn to a novel about Queen Anne, who gets short shrift from everyone. If this is the best that can be done, all I can say is -- no wonder. I like the author's writing style and approach, but wow, she certainly succeeds in making Anne unlikable and unknowable -- the opposite of what should be the goal in a historical biography. OK, you may not like Anne, but you should emerge from this feeling empathy and understanding. I was just bored and indifferent. 2.8 stars.
31. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths
Catching up in the Ruth Galloway series in order to read the new one -- this mystery involves dead women and the Walsingham shrine. Not my favorite and not her best, but a subplot involving Nelson does raise some interesting possibilities for Ruth. 3.9 stars. (Still good...)
32. Small Admissions by Ivy Poeppel
Picked this up to read from the Athenaeum because I needed something light, and it fit the bill, but I'm a little bored with reading novels about millennials who can't get it together. Perhaps this is intended for other millennials and not for readers like me? The problems are so self evident, and the very idea of the main character having a nervous breakdown for a year, to the point where she can't get up and do any work, just because of a breakup, annoyed me tremendously. How self indulgent... Once into the main plot, involving preteens applying to middle school in Manhattan, it was still predictable, but less annoying, because everybody wants to be annoyed at the kind of people who can afford to pay $40k a year for grade 7 tuition, right? And the satire is decent. 3.4 stars.
33. The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins
Antonia Hodgson does a pitch perfect job in portraying early 18th century London (reign of George II) in this, the second in a series featuring a young man who enjoys roistering so much he might have stepped from a print by Hogarth. But when we first see Thomas Hawkins in this book, he's being dragged to the gallows -- which beats his previous mishaps (being jailed at the Marshalsea) hollow. Will he be saved? And how did he end up here? It's partly his own stupidity, but also partly the machinations of the mighty and powerful, including Queen Caroline, who makes some GREAT cameo appearances here. Can't recommend this series too highly for fans of the genre, and this one has some real, nail-biting suspense, along with fabulous characters. Hope somebody makes it into a TV series, it richly deserves it and would make great TV! 4.6 stars.
More later....
I confess that I couldn't get through The Vegetarian, but this novel is a remarkable accomplishment. Han Kang, who herself grew up in Kwangju, has chronicled the student uprising there in 1980 (when she was still a young child) but has chosen to do is in an indirect way, with a micro focus, by concentrating on a single life and its aftermath -- that of Dong-ho, a middle-school student who watches a friend die and then himself is killed in the final storming by the country's military of the city center, cracking down for good on the demonstrators. By showing us the lives and memories of those whose existence overlapped with that of Dong-ho, the author deftly portrays the way in which this horrifying incident in Korea and its aftermath continues to ripple through the minds of citizens, even if the rest of the world knows little to nothing about it. Definitely try to read it, although the gritty detail is tough, as is the subject matter. 4.35 stars.
30. A Want of Kindness by Joanne Limburg
Oh dear. After reading the bio of Jonathan Swift earlier this year, I was drawn to a novel about Queen Anne, who gets short shrift from everyone. If this is the best that can be done, all I can say is -- no wonder. I like the author's writing style and approach, but wow, she certainly succeeds in making Anne unlikable and unknowable -- the opposite of what should be the goal in a historical biography. OK, you may not like Anne, but you should emerge from this feeling empathy and understanding. I was just bored and indifferent. 2.8 stars.
31. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths
Catching up in the Ruth Galloway series in order to read the new one -- this mystery involves dead women and the Walsingham shrine. Not my favorite and not her best, but a subplot involving Nelson does raise some interesting possibilities for Ruth. 3.9 stars. (Still good...)
32. Small Admissions by Ivy Poeppel
Picked this up to read from the Athenaeum because I needed something light, and it fit the bill, but I'm a little bored with reading novels about millennials who can't get it together. Perhaps this is intended for other millennials and not for readers like me? The problems are so self evident, and the very idea of the main character having a nervous breakdown for a year, to the point where she can't get up and do any work, just because of a breakup, annoyed me tremendously. How self indulgent... Once into the main plot, involving preteens applying to middle school in Manhattan, it was still predictable, but less annoying, because everybody wants to be annoyed at the kind of people who can afford to pay $40k a year for grade 7 tuition, right? And the satire is decent. 3.4 stars.
33. The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins
Antonia Hodgson does a pitch perfect job in portraying early 18th century London (reign of George II) in this, the second in a series featuring a young man who enjoys roistering so much he might have stepped from a print by Hogarth. But when we first see Thomas Hawkins in this book, he's being dragged to the gallows -- which beats his previous mishaps (being jailed at the Marshalsea) hollow. Will he be saved? And how did he end up here? It's partly his own stupidity, but also partly the machinations of the mighty and powerful, including Queen Caroline, who makes some GREAT cameo appearances here. Can't recommend this series too highly for fans of the genre, and this one has some real, nail-biting suspense, along with fabulous characters. Hope somebody makes it into a TV series, it richly deserves it and would make great TV! 4.6 stars.
More later....
20avatiakh
Saw that you have a copy of Anders Rydell's book, The Book Thieves, I just came across an article about it and immediately moved it to my wishlist.
Only a nonfiction picturebook but I read The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust today. It was quite illuminating, mostly they saved North African Jews & young children who could be passed off as Muslim. At the time most of the Paris based Muslims were Berbers from Kabylia in Algeria. There was mention also of their work in the resistance. I wondered if you'd come across any good fiction or nonfiction that covered this?
The author was denied entry to the mosque's archive and it's known that documents have been removed or lost to time. They got most of their material from interviews with Derri Berkani who made a documentary on the 'forgotten resistance' in 1990.
Only a nonfiction picturebook but I read The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust today. It was quite illuminating, mostly they saved North African Jews & young children who could be passed off as Muslim. At the time most of the Paris based Muslims were Berbers from Kabylia in Algeria. There was mention also of their work in the resistance. I wondered if you'd come across any good fiction or nonfiction that covered this?
The author was denied entry to the mosque's archive and it's known that documents have been removed or lost to time. They got most of their material from interviews with Derri Berkani who made a documentary on the 'forgotten resistance' in 1990.
21lunacat
Argh, two book bullets - Human Acts and Thomas Hawkins. That doesn't bode well for when you pop back and add some more comments. Please have mercy!
22jessibud2
>20 avatiakh: Oh, Kerry, that book looks so intriguing!
24charl08
Loved the Thomas Hawkins. I was so worried the sequel wouldn't live up to the first one, but it totally did. And I live the cover on your review. Might buy my own copy if it gets that one here for the pbk.
Good luck with the footnotes. I am trying to use a new reference programme at the moment and feeling very disloyal to Endnote. Which I love. Until it goes wrong.
Good luck with the footnotes. I am trying to use a new reference programme at the moment and feeling very disloyal to Endnote. Which I love. Until it goes wrong.
25Chatterbox
>21 lunacat: Cue evil chortle...
>20 avatiakh:
>22 jessibud2:
I hadn't heard that story before at all, and it's very intriguing. It's sad that the documents are gone and that there isn't any ability to get first-hand stories from the mosque itself, but given what happened following the war, that isn't very surprising. It wasn't long after that that de Gaulle -- who after all claimed the title of head of the Resistance -- oversaw the effort to maintain colonial authority over Algeria and a bloody civil war took place (I'm oversimplifying, I know...), part of France's bid to hang on to some of its empire (see also Indochina and Dien Bien Phu part I...) So there was that, and then add to it the anti-Maghrebi tone of much of French policy among some parts of the polity (LePen, whose party may yet rise to near the top in the elections.) It's a shame, as once again, France's Muslims and its Jewish population are feeling the fallout from the same kind of rigid definition of what is a "real" French citizen. Whatever it is, neither is it...
Some convents also hid Jewish children, of course, but too often at the price of requiring them to undergo baptism. Sigh.
I've just finished reading my way through Allan Massie's quartet of WW2 "romans policier" set in Bordeaux. Good, but not great, although the final one was shortlisted for last year's Walter Scott historical fiction prize. Glad it didn't win...
Currently reading:
The Marches by Rory Stewart
In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neill
Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Soon to start:
In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
The new mystery by Julia Dahl
A Death at Fountains Abbey by Antonia Hodgson
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Judas by Amos Oz
Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner
>20 avatiakh:
>22 jessibud2:
I hadn't heard that story before at all, and it's very intriguing. It's sad that the documents are gone and that there isn't any ability to get first-hand stories from the mosque itself, but given what happened following the war, that isn't very surprising. It wasn't long after that that de Gaulle -- who after all claimed the title of head of the Resistance -- oversaw the effort to maintain colonial authority over Algeria and a bloody civil war took place (I'm oversimplifying, I know...), part of France's bid to hang on to some of its empire (see also Indochina and Dien Bien Phu part I...) So there was that, and then add to it the anti-Maghrebi tone of much of French policy among some parts of the polity (LePen, whose party may yet rise to near the top in the elections.) It's a shame, as once again, France's Muslims and its Jewish population are feeling the fallout from the same kind of rigid definition of what is a "real" French citizen. Whatever it is, neither is it...
Some convents also hid Jewish children, of course, but too often at the price of requiring them to undergo baptism. Sigh.
I've just finished reading my way through Allan Massie's quartet of WW2 "romans policier" set in Bordeaux. Good, but not great, although the final one was shortlisted for last year's Walter Scott historical fiction prize. Glad it didn't win...
Currently reading:
The Marches by Rory Stewart
In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neill
Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Soon to start:
In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
The new mystery by Julia Dahl
A Death at Fountains Abbey by Antonia Hodgson
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Judas by Amos Oz
Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner
26michigantrumpet
>19 Chatterbox: Nice set of reviews, Suz!
And I fully commit to using the word 'roistering" at lest once n the next 48 hours!
And I fully commit to using the word 'roistering" at lest once n the next 48 hours!
27Chatterbox
>26 michigantrumpet: You will have to report back on the context in which you employed "roistering" -- and the response of your audience!! Bonus points if you did so in a legal setting...
29PaulCranswick
Just getting caught up, Suz.
>1 Chatterbox: Langston Hughes was topical then and is, unfortunately, topical now.
>1 Chatterbox: Langston Hughes was topical then and is, unfortunately, topical now.
30LovingLit
:)
I still haven't read anything new from Clive James. I think it was a memoir that I read of his as a teenager.
>25 Chatterbox: Animal Farm huh? I read that a while ago (again) and was surprised to note that it was so short! When I read it at school it seemed to drag.....nothing unusual there I suppose.
I still haven't read anything new from Clive James. I think it was a memoir that I read of his as a teenager.
>25 Chatterbox: Animal Farm huh? I read that a while ago (again) and was surprised to note that it was so short! When I read it at school it seemed to drag.....nothing unusual there I suppose.
31Chatterbox
>28 sibylline: Start with The Devil in the Marshalsea so that you know who Thomas Hawkins is and how he ends up running a bookstore and "roistering"!
>29 PaulCranswick: Indeed, it may be time for me to read/re-read more of Langston Hughes.
>30 LovingLit: This book contains just short pieces -- snippets. I read another, similar book/anthology a number of years ago now, in pre-LT days (maybe as far back as the early 1990s?) I confess I'm enjoying the satire in Animal Farm now, although it also feels very obvious and evident to anyone with a knowledge of history. I keep wondering how it would have read to his contemporaries when it was first published? I suspect its reputation rests to a large extent on the fact that Orwell was early to the game of criticizing Stalin, although it is a very clever, pointed satire.
Sigh, I identified four more books from my ALA Midwinter haul that I hadn't catalogued. The total is now up to 108. Of which I have read -- 5.
>29 PaulCranswick: Indeed, it may be time for me to read/re-read more of Langston Hughes.
>30 LovingLit: This book contains just short pieces -- snippets. I read another, similar book/anthology a number of years ago now, in pre-LT days (maybe as far back as the early 1990s?) I confess I'm enjoying the satire in Animal Farm now, although it also feels very obvious and evident to anyone with a knowledge of history. I keep wondering how it would have read to his contemporaries when it was first published? I suspect its reputation rests to a large extent on the fact that Orwell was early to the game of criticizing Stalin, although it is a very clever, pointed satire.
Sigh, I identified four more books from my ALA Midwinter haul that I hadn't catalogued. The total is now up to 108. Of which I have read -- 5.
32thornton37814
>31 Chatterbox: I'm really bad about not adding books as they arrive. I need to go through my recent acquisitions to see which ones are in and which aren't. The e-books are the ones I'm worst about adding.
33benitastrnad
#25
The college of Education here at UA is does a spring group book discussion. The title chosen for this year is Weapons of Math Destruction. I ordered my copy on Wednesday and will be reading it and participating in the book discussion. I will be waiting to hear what you have to say about it.
The college of Education here at UA is does a spring group book discussion. The title chosen for this year is Weapons of Math Destruction. I ordered my copy on Wednesday and will be reading it and participating in the book discussion. I will be waiting to hear what you have to say about it.
34michigantrumpet
>31 Chatterbox: I still have quite a few from the 2016 haul to get through!
I showed up at the Springfield Court this morning, only to find opposing counsel had failed to put it in his calendar. He was in Boston on other cases! He and I have had innumerable cases over the years, so I can get away with a certain amount of kidding. After getting the case continued for him, I called back:
Me: I got another date for you on our case in three weeks.
Him: Thanks! I don't know how I managed to screw that up.
Me: That's what you get when you go roistering about!
Him: Huh?
Cue the snickering! I had to hang up quickly before falling completely into gales of laughter.
The humor helped soothe the irritation over 3 hours needlessly spent on the road round trip between there in Boston. Thank heavens for audiobooks. finished My Name is Lucy Barton on the way back.
I showed up at the Springfield Court this morning, only to find opposing counsel had failed to put it in his calendar. He was in Boston on other cases! He and I have had innumerable cases over the years, so I can get away with a certain amount of kidding. After getting the case continued for him, I called back:
Me: I got another date for you on our case in three weeks.
Him: Thanks! I don't know how I managed to screw that up.
Me: That's what you get when you go roistering about!
Him: Huh?
Cue the snickering! I had to hang up quickly before falling completely into gales of laughter.
The humor helped soothe the irritation over 3 hours needlessly spent on the road round trip between there in Boston. Thank heavens for audiobooks. finished My Name is Lucy Barton on the way back.
35Chatterbox
>34 michigantrumpet: OK, you have just earned a free drink when we meet up next!! :-)
Just finished my Kafka reading (Metamorphosis and In the Penal Colony) for our discussion at the seminar I'm taking at the Providence Athenaeum on Saturday mornings this week. It has been fascinating, and I'm glad I signed up for it (and paid for it, argh).
Just finished my Kafka reading (Metamorphosis and In the Penal Colony) for our discussion at the seminar I'm taking at the Providence Athenaeum on Saturday mornings this week. It has been fascinating, and I'm glad I signed up for it (and paid for it, argh).
36katiekrug
Just catching up a bit here and trying to dodge the BBs. Will PM you about your schedule and when you'll be in NYC next....
37Chatterbox
34. American War by Omar El Akkad
OK, this book blew me away as a debut novel, in spite of its weaknesses. The author has imagined a future world in which the Red and Blue states have become rival warring factions (the cause of the conflict is over the use of fossil fuels) and a civil war erupts, complete with rogue drones and militias -- and foreign interference by a new Middle Eastern empire, the Bouaziz empire, made up of the countries in North Africa and parts of the still inhabitable Middle East (global warming having left other parts unoccupiable, just as it has flooded large swathes of the coastal US.) We follow Sarat and her family from the former's childhood in Louisiana to her coming of age in, yes, a refugee camp, where she is easy prey for terrorist recruiters. The parallels to today's world are eerie, and all the more so for the way that the author stands the tale on its head -- the US is the region ripped apart by strife and it is other parts of the world that grow stronger as a result (eg China and the Middle East.) And it's not that implausible. Sometimes a bit obvious, sometimes a bit heavy handed and sometimes the imagination and writing are brilliantly on display. 4.65 stars.
35. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Yes, Hamid's critics rightly say that his prose and narrative style generally can be distancing; he takes a step back from his characters and their plight, describing them rather than inhabiting their skin. But that didn't bother me in the least in this compelling and imaginative novel. Saeed and Nadia meet in an unnamed country teetering on the verge of civil war. When they first meet, the conflict is distant -- an occasional bomb in another city. Suddenly, it arrives on their doorstep and eventually fundamentalists take over their own city and the young couple decide to leave. Here is where Hamid's fantastical side takes over -- he imagines a network of doors that open up, and lead to doors in other countries. It's all about finding the right door to a more desirable country. All over the world, migrants are looking for doors and playing games of hopscotch, trying to work their way up to the best possible new home, while trying to outwit nativist inhabitants in this new communities and police and other law enforcement. Chutes and ladders? Because if you get the wrong door, you can end up somewhere even worse... And of course, when a promising door opens up, it's promptly guarded, if it's found by the "wrong" people. Against this parable, Hamid tells the story of Nadia and Saeed, and a cluster of other global migrants in an increasingly chaotic world. READ THIS. 5 stars.
36. Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
This mystery series just keeps getting better. When this book starts, Sean Duffy, a Catholic inspector in Carrickfergus RUC on the outskirts of Belfast is being marched up a hill by an IRA death squad, who are preparing to shoot him and bury his body. It turns out that his utter inability to walk away from what looks like a banal investigation (a dead drug dealer) and dismiss it as unimportant has resulted in him stumbling over some very, very messy stuff indeed, of critical importance to the IRA (it's the late 1980s.) And all those years checking under his car for mercury tilt bombs may have been in vain... Can Duffy make it out of this book alive? 4.4 stars. Excellent, but start the series at the beginning.
37. The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak
I found the setting and the story fascinating, in a way -- Istanbul in the era of Suleiman, Selim and Murad -- but the overall story of Jahan and his white elephant, who arrive at the shah's court as youngsters, and survive everything from plague to the machinations of an evil vizier, didn't always work for me. It kind of plodded, a bit like the elephant. The details might have been compelling, but there was a lack of suspense, except intermittently, and I found elements (especially the final pages) completely unconvincing. The character of Jahan, in particular, was a bit odd: he somehow manages to get by in the hostile and manipulative environment of the palace and win the favor of the sultan's architect, and yet at the same time is hopelessly naive in other respects. So, a mixed bag.
38. Death in Bordeaux by Allan Massie
40. Dark Summer in Bordeaux by Allan Massie
41. Cold Winter in Bordeaux by Allan Massie
42. End Games in Bordeaux by Allan Massie
I'm commenting on these four books as a quartet, which is what they are, and how I would suggest anyone read them. My initial frustration with the first book, in fact, was that it seemed oddly unsatisfying, partly because of the way it ended and partly because of the nature of the plot -- investigating crime against a backdrop of world war and invasion, especially when that crime (murder) turns out to involve people who turn out to be "untouchables." As the series continues, the same characters recur and the plot lines ripple from one book to the next -- an evil collaborationist lawyer who threatens Inspector Lannes in the first book tries to bolt for the Spanish border in the final one (will Lannes be able to stop him?) and in between plays different roles in other cases that Lannes must investigate and in his life. Some elements get repetitive but in other cases, you're able to really appreciate the nuances. It really is a single novel in four parts, which is why I read these back-to-back. That said, I don't think that the final book would have deserved to win the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction last year (it was shortlisted.) For convenience, let's give the series an across the board rating of 4.1 stars.
39. Bartleby and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville
Read these two novellas last week, the second of them for the discussion at the Athenaeum seminar (on "the other" in literature) that I'm taking on Saturday mornings (a Brown University professor is teaching/overseeing it, and there's a group of about 35 people. Bartleby, of course, is a classic -- "I would rather not". You must read it. The second novella is less known, but based on a real incident, and is an argument to the need for re-reading. An American whaling captain goes on board a dilapidated Spanish vessel and offers assistance -- misinterprets all kinds of signals and decides that the Spanish captain is inept and his servant/slave is a gem. Then he realizes what is really happening on board, and everything is turned on its head... I won't tell you what it is, you'll have to read it for yourself. It's probably very, very cheap for Kindle, being long since out of copyright, and is reasonably short. But when you have read it, go back and re-read it and look for the signals... 4 stars. Fascinating, although I still found some of the prose a tough slog. And no, I've yet to read Moby Dick!
OK, this book blew me away as a debut novel, in spite of its weaknesses. The author has imagined a future world in which the Red and Blue states have become rival warring factions (the cause of the conflict is over the use of fossil fuels) and a civil war erupts, complete with rogue drones and militias -- and foreign interference by a new Middle Eastern empire, the Bouaziz empire, made up of the countries in North Africa and parts of the still inhabitable Middle East (global warming having left other parts unoccupiable, just as it has flooded large swathes of the coastal US.) We follow Sarat and her family from the former's childhood in Louisiana to her coming of age in, yes, a refugee camp, where she is easy prey for terrorist recruiters. The parallels to today's world are eerie, and all the more so for the way that the author stands the tale on its head -- the US is the region ripped apart by strife and it is other parts of the world that grow stronger as a result (eg China and the Middle East.) And it's not that implausible. Sometimes a bit obvious, sometimes a bit heavy handed and sometimes the imagination and writing are brilliantly on display. 4.65 stars.
35. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Yes, Hamid's critics rightly say that his prose and narrative style generally can be distancing; he takes a step back from his characters and their plight, describing them rather than inhabiting their skin. But that didn't bother me in the least in this compelling and imaginative novel. Saeed and Nadia meet in an unnamed country teetering on the verge of civil war. When they first meet, the conflict is distant -- an occasional bomb in another city. Suddenly, it arrives on their doorstep and eventually fundamentalists take over their own city and the young couple decide to leave. Here is where Hamid's fantastical side takes over -- he imagines a network of doors that open up, and lead to doors in other countries. It's all about finding the right door to a more desirable country. All over the world, migrants are looking for doors and playing games of hopscotch, trying to work their way up to the best possible new home, while trying to outwit nativist inhabitants in this new communities and police and other law enforcement. Chutes and ladders? Because if you get the wrong door, you can end up somewhere even worse... And of course, when a promising door opens up, it's promptly guarded, if it's found by the "wrong" people. Against this parable, Hamid tells the story of Nadia and Saeed, and a cluster of other global migrants in an increasingly chaotic world. READ THIS. 5 stars.
36. Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
This mystery series just keeps getting better. When this book starts, Sean Duffy, a Catholic inspector in Carrickfergus RUC on the outskirts of Belfast is being marched up a hill by an IRA death squad, who are preparing to shoot him and bury his body. It turns out that his utter inability to walk away from what looks like a banal investigation (a dead drug dealer) and dismiss it as unimportant has resulted in him stumbling over some very, very messy stuff indeed, of critical importance to the IRA (it's the late 1980s.) And all those years checking under his car for mercury tilt bombs may have been in vain... Can Duffy make it out of this book alive? 4.4 stars. Excellent, but start the series at the beginning.
37. The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak
I found the setting and the story fascinating, in a way -- Istanbul in the era of Suleiman, Selim and Murad -- but the overall story of Jahan and his white elephant, who arrive at the shah's court as youngsters, and survive everything from plague to the machinations of an evil vizier, didn't always work for me. It kind of plodded, a bit like the elephant. The details might have been compelling, but there was a lack of suspense, except intermittently, and I found elements (especially the final pages) completely unconvincing. The character of Jahan, in particular, was a bit odd: he somehow manages to get by in the hostile and manipulative environment of the palace and win the favor of the sultan's architect, and yet at the same time is hopelessly naive in other respects. So, a mixed bag.
38. Death in Bordeaux by Allan Massie
40. Dark Summer in Bordeaux by Allan Massie
41. Cold Winter in Bordeaux by Allan Massie
42. End Games in Bordeaux by Allan Massie
I'm commenting on these four books as a quartet, which is what they are, and how I would suggest anyone read them. My initial frustration with the first book, in fact, was that it seemed oddly unsatisfying, partly because of the way it ended and partly because of the nature of the plot -- investigating crime against a backdrop of world war and invasion, especially when that crime (murder) turns out to involve people who turn out to be "untouchables." As the series continues, the same characters recur and the plot lines ripple from one book to the next -- an evil collaborationist lawyer who threatens Inspector Lannes in the first book tries to bolt for the Spanish border in the final one (will Lannes be able to stop him?) and in between plays different roles in other cases that Lannes must investigate and in his life. Some elements get repetitive but in other cases, you're able to really appreciate the nuances. It really is a single novel in four parts, which is why I read these back-to-back. That said, I don't think that the final book would have deserved to win the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction last year (it was shortlisted.) For convenience, let's give the series an across the board rating of 4.1 stars.
39. Bartleby and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville
Read these two novellas last week, the second of them for the discussion at the Athenaeum seminar (on "the other" in literature) that I'm taking on Saturday mornings (a Brown University professor is teaching/overseeing it, and there's a group of about 35 people. Bartleby, of course, is a classic -- "I would rather not". You must read it. The second novella is less known, but based on a real incident, and is an argument to the need for re-reading. An American whaling captain goes on board a dilapidated Spanish vessel and offers assistance -- misinterprets all kinds of signals and decides that the Spanish captain is inept and his servant/slave is a gem. Then he realizes what is really happening on board, and everything is turned on its head... I won't tell you what it is, you'll have to read it for yourself. It's probably very, very cheap for Kindle, being long since out of copyright, and is reasonably short. But when you have read it, go back and re-read it and look for the signals... 4 stars. Fascinating, although I still found some of the prose a tough slog. And no, I've yet to read Moby Dick!
38LizzieD
--- and I have read Moby-Dick (but need to reread) and not the shorter ones except for *B. Budd*. I'm falling to BBs all over the place and won't bore you with them.
Good wishes for a happy weekend!
Good wishes for a happy weekend!
39charl08
Great reviews Suzanne. Glad your seminar is proving so interesting. An Austen scholar came to the last book group meeting (Emma) and I wished he ran something for nonspecialists on all the books. So much enthusiasm.
American War sounds worth the time. I've picked up a collection of short stories Iraq +100 that similarly imagines new state configurations of the future.
American War sounds worth the time. I've picked up a collection of short stories Iraq +100 that similarly imagines new state configurations of the future.
42Chatterbox
>41 katiekrug: I will bring an ARC of American War down to NYC for you when I come, if we can manage to coordinate a time to meet.
I had planned to go see a movie today, but my head is just teetering on the verge of a migraine, so refrained and came home from the Athenaeum. Instead I shall cocoon myself with my mountain of books and read all weekend. I'm starting with I Was Told To Come Alone by Souad Mekhennet, the story of a German-born journalist's reporting on Iraq, and global jihad, including ISIS. I was just approved for a copy by NetGalley, dove into it, and finding it VERY compelling reading. It has derailed all my other reading plans, of course.
The Kafka discussion today was great, although In the Penal Colony is exceptionally creepy and demoralizing. I'm glad we had some guided discussion around that to make sense of it. >39 charl08:, Yes, it REALLY helped to separate the wheat from the chaff. I feel exponentially smarter by noon every Saturday, and just wish that this was continuing into March!
I had planned to go see a movie today, but my head is just teetering on the verge of a migraine, so refrained and came home from the Athenaeum. Instead I shall cocoon myself with my mountain of books and read all weekend. I'm starting with I Was Told To Come Alone by Souad Mekhennet, the story of a German-born journalist's reporting on Iraq, and global jihad, including ISIS. I was just approved for a copy by NetGalley, dove into it, and finding it VERY compelling reading. It has derailed all my other reading plans, of course.
The Kafka discussion today was great, although In the Penal Colony is exceptionally creepy and demoralizing. I'm glad we had some guided discussion around that to make sense of it. >39 charl08:, Yes, it REALLY helped to separate the wheat from the chaff. I feel exponentially smarter by noon every Saturday, and just wish that this was continuing into March!
43Chatterbox
>40 LovingLit: The "Bordeaux" covers look particularly nice put together like that! I'm not sure Hamid's cover really speaks to the book's content, but I like it. The Shafak reminds me more of a Persian miniature, but that's OK.
>38 LizzieD: My mission in life is to inflict book bullets on people. You were fairly warned by the thread's title!! :)
>39 charl08: I think CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) had an episode recently (fairly lengthy) about why we're all listening to more dystopian literature. I haven't listened to the episode in question yet (I have it bookmarked on my laptop) but it makes sense intuitively!
>41 katiekrug: You're welcome?? *grin*
>38 LizzieD: My mission in life is to inflict book bullets on people. You were fairly warned by the thread's title!! :)
>39 charl08: I think CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) had an episode recently (fairly lengthy) about why we're all listening to more dystopian literature. I haven't listened to the episode in question yet (I have it bookmarked on my laptop) but it makes sense intuitively!
>41 katiekrug: You're welcome?? *grin*
44ffortsa
I'm glad to see you've been enjoying your reading these days. All of these sound at least attractive if not downright required. At the moment, I'm buried in my own lists, but I will circle back to these eventually. (I hope!)
45Chatterbox
I just did a rough calculation -- out of all the books I have acquired this year, I think I have paid full price for only 26 or so of them, or about 10%. The rest were either Kindle sale books (so a maximum price of between $1 and $4) or else ARCs or digital advance reader copies, or free books sent by publishers. I like this ratio!! :-)
46katiekrug
>42 Chatterbox: - ARC would be gratefully accepted :)
47benitastrnad
Sorry to hear you are on the verge of a migraine.
I finally got the last of the ARC's from Atlanta mailed to my sister last week. She called last night to tell me that she got them, but it turns out that I had already given her most of them in the first box I sent (sent the same time as your box.) I didn't keep a list of what I had sent her, so that will teach me to keep better track. She is going to put a new label on the box and send it on to my cousin in Wyoming. I can't believe I did that - but I wanted to get them out of my house so I did things in a hurry.
I have been busy at work so haven't read much. Had supper with Helga last week and she asked about you and how I had met you. I then had to tell her about Librarything. I had told her before, when she was my supervisor, but until she met somebody else who participated LT didn't have much context or meaning for her.
I finally got the last of the ARC's from Atlanta mailed to my sister last week. She called last night to tell me that she got them, but it turns out that I had already given her most of them in the first box I sent (sent the same time as your box.) I didn't keep a list of what I had sent her, so that will teach me to keep better track. She is going to put a new label on the box and send it on to my cousin in Wyoming. I can't believe I did that - but I wanted to get them out of my house so I did things in a hurry.
I have been busy at work so haven't read much. Had supper with Helga last week and she asked about you and how I had met you. I then had to tell her about Librarything. I had told her before, when she was my supervisor, but until she met somebody else who participated LT didn't have much context or meaning for her.
48benitastrnad
I forgot to tell you that the College of Eduction at UA has selected Weapons of Math Destruction for their spring read. I am in the process of getting a good start on it. It was long listed for the National Book Award last year.
49Chatterbox
>47 benitastrnad: Meant to tell you that I got my package VERY quickly -- many thanks! So all my ALA books are safely in one place, finally. And I have stacks of books everywhere. I am indeed ready for the worldwide book famine....
Sorry about your book confusion, though with so much acquisition going on and so many copies, it's not surprising. You did mention the Weapons of Math Destruction, though i have set that aside for the moment, after reading the first two chapters. It's good, but it's dense, and having just finished the dense (in a different way) read of Rory Stewart's travel memoir, I didn't want to delve into something that would require that much of my brain. Instead, I'm shifting to something about off-the-grid living (for my next non-fiction book.)
Sorry about your book confusion, though with so much acquisition going on and so many copies, it's not surprising. You did mention the Weapons of Math Destruction, though i have set that aside for the moment, after reading the first two chapters. It's good, but it's dense, and having just finished the dense (in a different way) read of Rory Stewart's travel memoir, I didn't want to delve into something that would require that much of my brain. Instead, I'm shifting to something about off-the-grid living (for my next non-fiction book.)
50Chatterbox
Will I ever get caught up on my reading notes???? Sigh.
43. The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World by James Barron
This is the kind of book that I find fascinating -- a peak into a sub-culture and its inhabitants, who are obsessive about something, in this case, stamp-collecting. Barron follows the fate of a particular stamp, the only surviving one of its kind. It's actually a rather ugly stamp, and battered as well, but that doesn't matter, because it's unique, and to stamp collectors, that trumps everything. The author follows its fortunes as it moves from the hands of one collector to another, ending up with the scion of the du Pont family who murdered the wrestler, before being prepared to be auctioned off again on the latter's death in prison. It's a quirky, intriguing, well-written tale, even if he doesn't go far enough into the broader world of stamp collecting as such to give readers a context. 4.2 stars.
44. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
The most recent Ruth Galloway novel, which I enjoyed, although some biggish plot twists involving Ruth's personal life made me wonder whether Griffiths isn't kind of running out of energy trying to sustain the plot line with these characters. But the mystery, involving underground chalk tunnels and people who just... disappear... is a good one. Recommended to series fans; I'm starting to drift over to favor her other series, however, set in England in the early 1950s. It's just that much 'fresher'.
45. The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jane Ashford
Reading this reminded me of why I almost never pick up books published by Amazon's own publishing arm. I was very interested in reading it because it was an imagined version of Agatha Christie's first trip to the Middle East's archaeological sites (she set several books there, including Murder in Mesopotamia, and met and married her second husband, an archaeologist, thanks to her interest in the region and archaeology.) But the author takes what could have been an absolutely fascinating story and turns it into a purple potboiler, taking shortcuts whenever necessary. I was still interested in Agatha, and didn't want to read a biography, but by the time I had finished, I wished I had. 3.25 stars. The detail and ideas were fine, but what a waste of good ideas. I suppose if you're into romance in a bigly way, you'll like this more than I did.
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
Finally read this other dystopian novel by Orwell, which I've always thought of (rightly or wrongly) as a counterpoint or twin to 1984. It's more of a parable than a novel, and what intrigued me to realize is that Orwell first sought to publish this quite obvious critique of the Soviet system and Stalin (i.e. Napoleon the pig) in 1943 or so, when the USSR was still a wartime ally of the UK and the USA. In a way, I'm glad that I didn't read it when I was younger, and that I came to it now, having read a lot of history and being able to relate that to Orwell's writing. On the other hand, no one reading it today will ever get the sense of shock that someone reading it then would have done: someone on the left, writing a devastating satirical critique of the hypocrisy of Stalin's Russia, as opposed to someone on the right, whose views could simply be dismissed. We simply can't appreciate it in the same way; our grasp of what was meant/said can never be the same. Of course, it is a parable/satire, and that's it: it doesn't have the same # of layers that 1984 offers. So, not really on that level as a companion piece. But still important to read when contemplating the nature of the human "animal." 4.2 stars.
47. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
When I read Katherine Heiny's debut story collection Single, Carefree, Mellow, I thought to myself that her ability to capture the essence of her characters reminded me a lot of that of Laurie Colwin, and I still think, having read this, her first novel, that her ability to create compelling, vivid characters who live on long after the final page is turned, is one of her greatest strengths. (She also is a wonderful artist with language, incidentally.) I'm not yet convinced that she has the ability to structure a novel, rather than a short story -- the parts of this that work best tend to feel like segments within a greater whole, as if she is writing a series of related short stories that combine to form a bigger tale that isn't quite a novel, but is something greater than an anthology of short stories. It's definitely worth reading, and Heiny is an author very much worth watching, simply for her talent and her ability to build characters: I feel like I know these people and will bump into them walking down the streets in New York. So, if this isn't quite what I had hoped for, it's still one of those books that I'm going to hang on to and probably come back to and dip into, in search of good writing. 4.4 stars.
48. Metamorphosis and In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka
Is there anything more to be said about this iconic story about Gregor Samsa's awakening as a giant bug that hasn't already been said? We discussed it last week at the Athenaeum, and it was fascinating -- the way that a member of the family becomes the "other" so literally that he isn't just disabled, or another race or something like that, but a cockroach. And the impact on the family, how its various members actually draw strength from that. Eerie, but actually creepier still was the second story, and its grotesque execution machine, which engraves the sentence of death (literally) on a condemned man, and ultimately kills him and -- in the view of the officer administering the sentence -- forces the man to realize in his body, literally, the meaning of his misdeeds. So, how do we get past our inability to communicate? To internalize what we want to tell each other? Yeah... OK, I'll never forget either story, though there probably will be times I will want to... 4.2 stars. For this coming Saturday I'll be re-reading Disgrace by Coetzee.
43. The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World by James Barron
This is the kind of book that I find fascinating -- a peak into a sub-culture and its inhabitants, who are obsessive about something, in this case, stamp-collecting. Barron follows the fate of a particular stamp, the only surviving one of its kind. It's actually a rather ugly stamp, and battered as well, but that doesn't matter, because it's unique, and to stamp collectors, that trumps everything. The author follows its fortunes as it moves from the hands of one collector to another, ending up with the scion of the du Pont family who murdered the wrestler, before being prepared to be auctioned off again on the latter's death in prison. It's a quirky, intriguing, well-written tale, even if he doesn't go far enough into the broader world of stamp collecting as such to give readers a context. 4.2 stars.
44. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
The most recent Ruth Galloway novel, which I enjoyed, although some biggish plot twists involving Ruth's personal life made me wonder whether Griffiths isn't kind of running out of energy trying to sustain the plot line with these characters. But the mystery, involving underground chalk tunnels and people who just... disappear... is a good one. Recommended to series fans; I'm starting to drift over to favor her other series, however, set in England in the early 1950s. It's just that much 'fresher'.
45. The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jane Ashford
Reading this reminded me of why I almost never pick up books published by Amazon's own publishing arm. I was very interested in reading it because it was an imagined version of Agatha Christie's first trip to the Middle East's archaeological sites (she set several books there, including Murder in Mesopotamia, and met and married her second husband, an archaeologist, thanks to her interest in the region and archaeology.) But the author takes what could have been an absolutely fascinating story and turns it into a purple potboiler, taking shortcuts whenever necessary. I was still interested in Agatha, and didn't want to read a biography, but by the time I had finished, I wished I had. 3.25 stars. The detail and ideas were fine, but what a waste of good ideas. I suppose if you're into romance in a bigly way, you'll like this more than I did.
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
Finally read this other dystopian novel by Orwell, which I've always thought of (rightly or wrongly) as a counterpoint or twin to 1984. It's more of a parable than a novel, and what intrigued me to realize is that Orwell first sought to publish this quite obvious critique of the Soviet system and Stalin (i.e. Napoleon the pig) in 1943 or so, when the USSR was still a wartime ally of the UK and the USA. In a way, I'm glad that I didn't read it when I was younger, and that I came to it now, having read a lot of history and being able to relate that to Orwell's writing. On the other hand, no one reading it today will ever get the sense of shock that someone reading it then would have done: someone on the left, writing a devastating satirical critique of the hypocrisy of Stalin's Russia, as opposed to someone on the right, whose views could simply be dismissed. We simply can't appreciate it in the same way; our grasp of what was meant/said can never be the same. Of course, it is a parable/satire, and that's it: it doesn't have the same # of layers that 1984 offers. So, not really on that level as a companion piece. But still important to read when contemplating the nature of the human "animal." 4.2 stars.
47. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
When I read Katherine Heiny's debut story collection Single, Carefree, Mellow, I thought to myself that her ability to capture the essence of her characters reminded me a lot of that of Laurie Colwin, and I still think, having read this, her first novel, that her ability to create compelling, vivid characters who live on long after the final page is turned, is one of her greatest strengths. (She also is a wonderful artist with language, incidentally.) I'm not yet convinced that she has the ability to structure a novel, rather than a short story -- the parts of this that work best tend to feel like segments within a greater whole, as if she is writing a series of related short stories that combine to form a bigger tale that isn't quite a novel, but is something greater than an anthology of short stories. It's definitely worth reading, and Heiny is an author very much worth watching, simply for her talent and her ability to build characters: I feel like I know these people and will bump into them walking down the streets in New York. So, if this isn't quite what I had hoped for, it's still one of those books that I'm going to hang on to and probably come back to and dip into, in search of good writing. 4.4 stars.
48. Metamorphosis and In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka
Is there anything more to be said about this iconic story about Gregor Samsa's awakening as a giant bug that hasn't already been said? We discussed it last week at the Athenaeum, and it was fascinating -- the way that a member of the family becomes the "other" so literally that he isn't just disabled, or another race or something like that, but a cockroach. And the impact on the family, how its various members actually draw strength from that. Eerie, but actually creepier still was the second story, and its grotesque execution machine, which engraves the sentence of death (literally) on a condemned man, and ultimately kills him and -- in the view of the officer administering the sentence -- forces the man to realize in his body, literally, the meaning of his misdeeds. So, how do we get past our inability to communicate? To internalize what we want to tell each other? Yeah... OK, I'll never forget either story, though there probably will be times I will want to... 4.2 stars. For this coming Saturday I'll be re-reading Disgrace by Coetzee.
51katiekrug
Uh oh re: the new Ruth Galloway...
I have the first in her other series on my Kindle, so I will be sure to give it a try!
I have the first in her other series on my Kindle, so I will be sure to give it a try!
52Chatterbox
>51 katiekrug: Oh, it's still good. I think I may just be getting bored with the series. It may be all about me... *grin* Or else the series, which felt very new and different at first, is just becoming formulaic. Which is still fine. That can happen, and then it's just about how much you love it.
More books to come a little later on.
More books to come a little later on.
53Chatterbox
As promised, more book comments:
49. I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet
OK, this is a book that I think should be widely read whenever it comes out this spring/summer. Born in Germany, Mekhennet's parents are Moroccan and Turkish, and so when she turned to journalism, she faced both an advantage and a disadvantage: she knew the region and the stories she wanted to cover, while at the same time facing discrimination on the part of some editors within Germany. She has ended up building a career working with US newspapers (the NYT and Washington Post), covering an amazing array of stories and getting stories that probably no one else could get, and in this book, she recounts her experiences, right up to the impact of the recent influx of refugees on Germany. If you think you know what her views on anything are, you're probably wrong -- this is a breath of fresh air, and a thoughtful book about what it means to be the child of Muslim immigrants during an era when discrimination and hostility to those groups has only grown. To understand radicalization, and to understand the immigrant experience in Europe, it's worth reading this. To understand what it's like to try to cover global jihadism, it's crucial to read this. 4.5 stars. Not beautifully written, but who cares? English is her third or fourth language.
50. The Marches: A Borderland Journey between England and Scotland by Rory Stewart
This was a very frustrating book to read, and I finally finished it wondering what Stewart was really trying to accomplish, because it didn't always feel to me as if he knew. Was he trying to make comments about borderlands in general, and regions with strong territorial and clan identities? There's a lot of that here. Was it a historical survey? Again, lots of that surfaces here and there. Stuff about Scotland and England on the eve of the independence referendum? Yes, that's here, too. A nostalgia for times past. Yes. About bonding with his father. And that as well. But there's a lack of focus, as he jumps from one element to the next, throughout his wanderings. So the vignettes and details are intriguing and even fascinating, but a good/great travel narrative usually has a theme or direction to it. Stewart's just wanders around in circles. It does become poignant in the final pages, when he recounts the last days of his much older father, but prior to that, it also has been extremely irritating. He doesn't always find what he wants to find or thinks he should find during his walks, in the form of people who are deeply connected to their local ground, and he is disgruntled by this. He's also unhappy by the changing use to which land is being put -- i.e. the shift from intensive farming to return some of the land to wetlands. He mentions what is gained but emphasizes more what is lost, from habitats for voles (although there are gains for habitats for wetland birds) to family farms and bonds within the community. Since his voice predominates, it's hard to tell from reading this what the overall economic picture is: whether the community is better off, net/net; whether the succeeding generations of children from those family farms feel unhappy and as if they have been driven off or whether they are grateful for the opportunity to sell (given foot & mouth disease and other farming issues...) We just don't know, because we only see Stewart's own nostalgia for his own memories of growing up in his own Borders home and what he hoped to find, and didn't find. He teeters on the verge of being a curmudgeon.I'm giving it 4 stars for the writing and micro insights, but not for its narrative arc or overall structure. Probably the book about which my opinion is most divided so far this year... I'd certainly refrain from recommending it and am glad I didn't spend money on it -- it was an ARC from ALA Midwinter.
51. In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant
Dunant has followed up Blood and Beauty, her first book on the Borgia family, with this sequel, devoted to the latter stages of Pope Alexander's rule, Cesare Borgia's decline and Lucrezia Borgia's attempt to establish herself as the queen bee in her new home of Ferrara as the wife of the younger duke and sister-in-law of the formidable (and envious) Isabella d'Este. It's a little scatty and unfocused, as the Borgias themselves are all over the map, giving Dunant a challenge that she doesn't always cope with perfectly -- the result is a quite acceptable standard historical novel, albeit one that never transcends the genre and that struggles to match its more focused predecessor. The most interesting elements, to me, were those about Machiavelli, studying Cesare as the future model of his The Prince, and Lucrezia, as she tries to find a way to create a life for herself that doesn't depend completely on her family ties. Good, not great. 4 stars.
52. The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today's America by Mark Sundeen
This is one of those books that I found absolutely compelling, even if it perhaps isn't one that will resonate with everyone to the same extent. Perhaps the reason for my own interest is that this is actually a theme I vaguely thought of trying to explore seven or eight years ago -- looking for people who were actually trying to reinvent the economic system in a more sustainable way. Sundeen has focused on a very particular aspect of this, honing in on three different families who have resolved to walk away from America's consumer-oriented society and live self-sufficiently, driven in part by his own questions about how to live. His own dithering about his lifestyle choices comes perilously close to navel gazing and is much less interesting than he thinks it is, but what is very interesting indeed are the three portraits he paints of the families in Missouri, Detroit and Montana who in their unique ways are reimagining what it means to be "un-American": to shun growth, consumerism, the "more is better" ethos. They are living the Occupy lifestyle, though most of them have little time for protesting because they are too busy just getting on with it. It's a simultaneously inspiring and daunting portrait of how difficult this life is and what it is that we've sacrificed in our pursuit of the latest gadgets and latest brand-names. Want the new iPhone? What kind of waste is the disposal of your old phone creating -- do you know? Have you asked? The people here have thought about hard questions like that, and decided what they will DO about it, in their own lives; what tradeoffs they will tolerate. In some cases, the motivation is economic and lifestyle; in others, it is political and spiritual. The book? It's fascinating, and from the hints that Sundeen drops of disciples and broader circles forming, it's part of a broader trend. The only reason this isn't a five-star book is that Sundeen sacrifices that broader context, and it screams out for it. Otherwise, it's highly recommended. 4.45 stars.
53. Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner
A better-than-expected potboiler, even though the thriller suffers from having too many points of view. There are those of Gardner's veteran characters, Quincy Pierce and Rainey, two profilers; Sharlah, the 13-year-old girl with a troubled background they are fostering and about to adopt; that of the latter's brother, whom she hasn't seen since he murdered their parents in order to defend his little sister many years ago; the perspective of an expert tracker now hunting Telly Ray who seems to have gone on his own new murder spree many years later. But what triggered it, is there a danger to Sharlah, and is it really just a simple case of a teenage boy run amok? The book gets going about halfway through when the story becomes more complex. 3.75 stars.
49. I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet
OK, this is a book that I think should be widely read whenever it comes out this spring/summer. Born in Germany, Mekhennet's parents are Moroccan and Turkish, and so when she turned to journalism, she faced both an advantage and a disadvantage: she knew the region and the stories she wanted to cover, while at the same time facing discrimination on the part of some editors within Germany. She has ended up building a career working with US newspapers (the NYT and Washington Post), covering an amazing array of stories and getting stories that probably no one else could get, and in this book, she recounts her experiences, right up to the impact of the recent influx of refugees on Germany. If you think you know what her views on anything are, you're probably wrong -- this is a breath of fresh air, and a thoughtful book about what it means to be the child of Muslim immigrants during an era when discrimination and hostility to those groups has only grown. To understand radicalization, and to understand the immigrant experience in Europe, it's worth reading this. To understand what it's like to try to cover global jihadism, it's crucial to read this. 4.5 stars. Not beautifully written, but who cares? English is her third or fourth language.
50. The Marches: A Borderland Journey between England and Scotland by Rory Stewart
This was a very frustrating book to read, and I finally finished it wondering what Stewart was really trying to accomplish, because it didn't always feel to me as if he knew. Was he trying to make comments about borderlands in general, and regions with strong territorial and clan identities? There's a lot of that here. Was it a historical survey? Again, lots of that surfaces here and there. Stuff about Scotland and England on the eve of the independence referendum? Yes, that's here, too. A nostalgia for times past. Yes. About bonding with his father. And that as well. But there's a lack of focus, as he jumps from one element to the next, throughout his wanderings. So the vignettes and details are intriguing and even fascinating, but a good/great travel narrative usually has a theme or direction to it. Stewart's just wanders around in circles. It does become poignant in the final pages, when he recounts the last days of his much older father, but prior to that, it also has been extremely irritating. He doesn't always find what he wants to find or thinks he should find during his walks, in the form of people who are deeply connected to their local ground, and he is disgruntled by this. He's also unhappy by the changing use to which land is being put -- i.e. the shift from intensive farming to return some of the land to wetlands. He mentions what is gained but emphasizes more what is lost, from habitats for voles (although there are gains for habitats for wetland birds) to family farms and bonds within the community. Since his voice predominates, it's hard to tell from reading this what the overall economic picture is: whether the community is better off, net/net; whether the succeeding generations of children from those family farms feel unhappy and as if they have been driven off or whether they are grateful for the opportunity to sell (given foot & mouth disease and other farming issues...) We just don't know, because we only see Stewart's own nostalgia for his own memories of growing up in his own Borders home and what he hoped to find, and didn't find. He teeters on the verge of being a curmudgeon.I'm giving it 4 stars for the writing and micro insights, but not for its narrative arc or overall structure. Probably the book about which my opinion is most divided so far this year... I'd certainly refrain from recommending it and am glad I didn't spend money on it -- it was an ARC from ALA Midwinter.
51. In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant
Dunant has followed up Blood and Beauty, her first book on the Borgia family, with this sequel, devoted to the latter stages of Pope Alexander's rule, Cesare Borgia's decline and Lucrezia Borgia's attempt to establish herself as the queen bee in her new home of Ferrara as the wife of the younger duke and sister-in-law of the formidable (and envious) Isabella d'Este. It's a little scatty and unfocused, as the Borgias themselves are all over the map, giving Dunant a challenge that she doesn't always cope with perfectly -- the result is a quite acceptable standard historical novel, albeit one that never transcends the genre and that struggles to match its more focused predecessor. The most interesting elements, to me, were those about Machiavelli, studying Cesare as the future model of his The Prince, and Lucrezia, as she tries to find a way to create a life for herself that doesn't depend completely on her family ties. Good, not great. 4 stars.
52. The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today's America by Mark Sundeen
This is one of those books that I found absolutely compelling, even if it perhaps isn't one that will resonate with everyone to the same extent. Perhaps the reason for my own interest is that this is actually a theme I vaguely thought of trying to explore seven or eight years ago -- looking for people who were actually trying to reinvent the economic system in a more sustainable way. Sundeen has focused on a very particular aspect of this, honing in on three different families who have resolved to walk away from America's consumer-oriented society and live self-sufficiently, driven in part by his own questions about how to live. His own dithering about his lifestyle choices comes perilously close to navel gazing and is much less interesting than he thinks it is, but what is very interesting indeed are the three portraits he paints of the families in Missouri, Detroit and Montana who in their unique ways are reimagining what it means to be "un-American": to shun growth, consumerism, the "more is better" ethos. They are living the Occupy lifestyle, though most of them have little time for protesting because they are too busy just getting on with it. It's a simultaneously inspiring and daunting portrait of how difficult this life is and what it is that we've sacrificed in our pursuit of the latest gadgets and latest brand-names. Want the new iPhone? What kind of waste is the disposal of your old phone creating -- do you know? Have you asked? The people here have thought about hard questions like that, and decided what they will DO about it, in their own lives; what tradeoffs they will tolerate. In some cases, the motivation is economic and lifestyle; in others, it is political and spiritual. The book? It's fascinating, and from the hints that Sundeen drops of disciples and broader circles forming, it's part of a broader trend. The only reason this isn't a five-star book is that Sundeen sacrifices that broader context, and it screams out for it. Otherwise, it's highly recommended. 4.45 stars.
53. Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner
A better-than-expected potboiler, even though the thriller suffers from having too many points of view. There are those of Gardner's veteran characters, Quincy Pierce and Rainey, two profilers; Sharlah, the 13-year-old girl with a troubled background they are fostering and about to adopt; that of the latter's brother, whom she hasn't seen since he murdered their parents in order to defend his little sister many years ago; the perspective of an expert tracker now hunting Telly Ray who seems to have gone on his own new murder spree many years later. But what triggered it, is there a danger to Sharlah, and is it really just a simple case of a teenage boy run amok? The book gets going about halfway through when the story becomes more complex. 3.75 stars.
54PawsforThought
>50 Chatterbox: Metamorphosis was required reading when I was in upper secondary school and while I can't remember enjoying reading it or even liking it it did make a big impression. I should re-read that one some day.
I read Animal Farm some 10-15 years ago (late teens, I think) and loved it. It was my first Orwell (I read 1984 immediately afterwards) and thought it was quite a good introduction to him. I wasn't very well versed in Russian/Soviet history - and still don't know more than the basics, we only gave it a cursory run through in school and I haven't studied it much on my own - but I didn't feel it was needed. in fact, you learn quite a lot just by reading the book and looking up who the animals are satirizing. Anyways, it's a great book and I'd recommend a hundred times over.
I read Animal Farm some 10-15 years ago (late teens, I think) and loved it. It was my first Orwell (I read 1984 immediately afterwards) and thought it was quite a good introduction to him. I wasn't very well versed in Russian/Soviet history - and still don't know more than the basics, we only gave it a cursory run through in school and I haven't studied it much on my own - but I didn't feel it was needed. in fact, you learn quite a lot just by reading the book and looking up who the animals are satirizing. Anyways, it's a great book and I'd recommend a hundred times over.
55Chatterbox
>54 PawsforThought: I think Animal Farm is one of those novels that you'll react to very differently depending on when you read it -- what age you are, what you know, what is known and/or happening in the society around you. I wish that I had read it earlier so that this had been a re-read, and I could compare my experiences, and encounter the historical element the way you did.
In contrast, I did read Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler at the age of 15, and that was another Soviet/Stalinist critique, albeit not a parable/satire. It was memorable for that very reason; clearly a novel written from passionate conviction.
In contrast, I did read Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler at the age of 15, and that was another Soviet/Stalinist critique, albeit not a parable/satire. It was memorable for that very reason; clearly a novel written from passionate conviction.
56PawsforThought
>55 Chatterbox: Oh, I really need to read Darkness at Noon.
And I agree, some books you really have massively different reactions to depending on where you are in your life when you read it (and who you are).
And I agree, some books you really have massively different reactions to depending on where you are in your life when you read it (and who you are).
57michigantrumpet
Stopping through to say my box of ALA books came through two days ago! Thanks you! Tahk you! Book friends are the best friends!
58Chatterbox
>57 michigantrumpet: And now the big decision: what to read first????
59PaulCranswick
>54 PawsforThought: & >55 Chatterbox: & >56 PawsforThought: Interesting little discussion on those three big books although I must admit that I haven't yet read that particular Kafka. I think that the comment about when you read a book is as on point as it is seemingly obvious. A little knowledge of the context helps Animal Farm along. Darkness at Noon is a particular favourite of mine.
60sibylline
> 31 Your wish is my command, On my WL now! As is McGinty.
I've been wowed by every Melville I've read.
I've been wowed by every Melville I've read.
61Chatterbox
What am I giving up for Lent? Why, buying books... Seriously. I have too many (unread) in the house, and while I haven't spent the full purchase price on all that many, I do not NEED to be spending more money on more of them, especially given the dearth of income right now. So, the library is fine; Amazon Vine ARCs are fine; NetGalley is fine. And I can use any audiobook credits that I have on my account (I'm not canceling or suspending that). But I'm not going to be checking the Kindle daily deals, buying any books for Kindle, going into a bookstore to buy a book, etc. Nor am I placing pre-orders for soon-to-be-released books. Because while I may want yet another book, I don't need one. I can wait, and get it via the library. Or wait, and get it in April. So there.
Now, let's see how this goes.
Now, let's see how this goes.
62PawsforThought
>61 Chatterbox: Good luck with your non-purchasing.
I have the opposite problem. As I have empty shelves that look sad and depressing, I'm constantly trying to find books to fill them up with. But I don't want to buy books I'm not sure if I want to keep or not, and I don't buy books if I don't like the cover - so it doesn't leave all that many books.
I have the opposite problem. As I have empty shelves that look sad and depressing, I'm constantly trying to find books to fill them up with. But I don't want to buy books I'm not sure if I want to keep or not, and I don't buy books if I don't like the cover - so it doesn't leave all that many books.
63Chatterbox
>62 PawsforThought: When I have a box I want to dispose of, I'll send you a list...
64PawsforThought
>63 Chatterbox: Oh, if only shipping books across the globe wasn't so incredibly expensive.
65LizzieD
>63 Chatterbox: --- There's always me.........
(I just finished The Strangler Vine, which I ended up loving. Thanks for the BB, Suz!)
(I just finished The Strangler Vine, which I ended up loving. Thanks for the BB, Suz!)
66Chatterbox
>65 LizzieD: The new book was just offered on Amazon Vine in that series, so it should be out in the next few months, Peggy! And I promise to send you some lists of books...
Just reading The Sellout by Paul Beatty. I can see what it has opinions divided -- every sentence, it seems, is more provocative than the last.
Just reading The Sellout by Paul Beatty. I can see what it has opinions divided -- every sentence, it seems, is more provocative than the last.
67Chatterbox
Day one of my Lenten book fast (no spending on books) and I got three FREE books from NetGalley -- two from being pre-approved from Knopf (their monthly list arrived promptly, and I got the new Jo Nesbø Harry Hole thriller and the new Bruno, chief of police book) and one from being pre-approved by Atria: got Joseph Kanon's upcoming Cold War espionage thriller. But I didn't spend any money!!
And I read more books in February than in January, and they tended to be better books (in spite of a few duds...)
And I read more books in February than in January, and they tended to be better books (in spite of a few duds...)
68PawsforThought
>67 Chatterbox: Sounds like a terrific start to the month (and Lent)!
70brodiew2
Hello Chatterbox! I hope all is well with you.
I have waited too long to return to your thread. I really enjoy your reviews.
>53 Chatterbox: Unsettlers sounds interesting.
I have waited too long to return to your thread. I really enjoy your reviews.
>53 Chatterbox: Unsettlers sounds interesting.
71avatiakh
>67 Chatterbox: Thanks for mentioning Jo Nesbø / harry Hole. I'm up to date with the series and really thought he'd finished with Harry. I'm now #43 in the queue at my library.
72Chatterbox
>68 PawsforThought: Waving my own paws hello in reply...!
>69 katiekrug: Right back atcha... :-)
>70 brodiew2: Well, I've not been visiting anyone's threads at all, so you are a big jump ahead of me -- and thanks for the return visit! Unsettlers was a fascinating and memorable read; even though I doubt I'll emulate them, it gave me a LOT to think about.
>71 avatiakh: I'm far, far behind in that series; I think I'm up to #4. So this should be an impetus to read some more and perhaps add this to my personal series challenge. Though I think the next series I read will be either Robertson Davies or Olivia Manning.
>69 katiekrug: Right back atcha... :-)
>70 brodiew2: Well, I've not been visiting anyone's threads at all, so you are a big jump ahead of me -- and thanks for the return visit! Unsettlers was a fascinating and memorable read; even though I doubt I'll emulate them, it gave me a LOT to think about.
>71 avatiakh: I'm far, far behind in that series; I think I'm up to #4. So this should be an impetus to read some more and perhaps add this to my personal series challenge. Though I think the next series I read will be either Robertson Davies or Olivia Manning.
73LovingLit
Backtracking a little, but >19 Chatterbox:, Human Acts is definitely on my radar after reading The Vegetarian, which I loved. I have high expectations for Human Acts. It looks gritty and great.
>67 Chatterbox: that old trick ay? Getting by the lent restrictions nicely ;)
>67 Chatterbox: that old trick ay? Getting by the lent restrictions nicely ;)
74benitastrnad
I finished reading First Eagle by Tony Hillerman for the Hillerman/Craig Johnson mystery challenge, but now it is just the Hillerman challenge because we have caught up with Johnson on the Walt Longmire series. I enjoy reading these books. They are quick reads and yet provide a window into the culture of the regions in which they are set.
I said that about the Jo Nesbo books as well, but stopped reading them as they got so gruesome I couldn't take it. Nesbo's early novels really helped explain the divisions in the Norwegian political culture and so when the massacre happened in Oslo I felt like it wasn't that much of a surprise.
I am now going back to finishing Warleggan and carrying on with the Poldark series.
I said that about the Jo Nesbo books as well, but stopped reading them as they got so gruesome I couldn't take it. Nesbo's early novels really helped explain the divisions in the Norwegian political culture and so when the massacre happened in Oslo I felt like it wasn't that much of a surprise.
I am now going back to finishing Warleggan and carrying on with the Poldark series.
75annushka
Hello Chatterbox! I found LT discussions just recently and wanted to thank you for mentioning Russian Roulette. I finished reading it last night and enjoyed not only learning about the British Secret Service but also reading how Russian Revolution was viewed from the outside.
76Chatterbox
>75 annushka: You're welcome! It's got me on a bit of a reading jag on the era, so I've read Helen Rappaport's book about the expatriates in St. Petersburg/Petrograd/Leningrad in 1917/1918 (different titles in the UK and US), which I really enjoyed, and I'm looking forward to the US publication of Catherine Merridale's Lenin on the Train, about Lenin's journey back to attempt to seize control of the revolution after it had already begun spontaneously. (Apparently he issued first and second class passes to the train's bathroom facilities, which should have been a warning of things to come!)
Went to hear Gish Jen talk about her latest book, The Girl at the Baggage Claim: Explaining the East-West Culture Gap at the Providence Athenaeum earlier this evening. No major revelations -- the whole thing revolves around individualism vs being part of a group identity, and she tends to over simplify regional disparities (so the US stands for the "West", while China stands for the "East", as the country with which she is most familiar.) That made it a little bit easier to stick to my resolution NOT to buy the book and get it signed!
Tomorrow afternoon there's an event with Ann Hood discussing The Book That Matters Most, which I probably should try to read beforehand -- I've got an ARC that I've had since last summer. Sigh. THIS is why I'm not buying new books during Lent.
Went to hear Gish Jen talk about her latest book, The Girl at the Baggage Claim: Explaining the East-West Culture Gap at the Providence Athenaeum earlier this evening. No major revelations -- the whole thing revolves around individualism vs being part of a group identity, and she tends to over simplify regional disparities (so the US stands for the "West", while China stands for the "East", as the country with which she is most familiar.) That made it a little bit easier to stick to my resolution NOT to buy the book and get it signed!
Tomorrow afternoon there's an event with Ann Hood discussing The Book That Matters Most, which I probably should try to read beforehand -- I've got an ARC that I've had since last summer. Sigh. THIS is why I'm not buying new books during Lent.
77annushka
I've added both books to my TBR list. Growing up in the Soviet Union I've studied that time period substantially as it was required part of our history classes. It is fascinating to read latest publications on this subject as many documents became available recently for research.
78Chatterbox
>77 annushka: Have you read Inside the Stalin Archives: Discovering the New Russia by Jonathan Brent? It literally is about one historian's look into the release of those documents. Fascinating. One of my favorite books is The Whisperers by Orlando Figes, whose subtitle -- private life in Stalin's Russia -- says it all. It's about the era of the purges and mysterious disappearances and betrayals, and doesn't just focus on the well known people (Akmatova, Babel, etc.) but on ordinary individuals whose lives left enough of a track record via some kind of family oral history, letters, journals, memories of survivors, official records and combinations thereof, to make up an incredibly vivid picture of what life may have been like. Of course, I'm not Russian, but a close friend of mine's parents left in the immediate aftermath of WW2 (the details of how are murky) and settled in Belgium and while they didn't discuss how they came to leave they did tell stories of how/why they decided they wanted to leave. Ironically, I met Tania because she ended up working as an "accompagnatirce" for guided tours from Belgium and France to the then-USSR. She was about ten years older than I, and the two of us (17 and 27 or so) slipped away from the tour group and the hotel in the evening to walk through whatever city we were in. I ended up going to a wedding reception/party, and swapping a pair of my blue jeans for black market caviar without my parents' knowledge, smuggling it out of the country. I'm kind of astonished now at the risks I took! But I also learned so much about life and people and how they saw their world. Even had I not spent half my life living in Western Europe (vs N. America) that experience drove home how easy it is to make assumptions about "others" and to be unaware of their circumstances. For instance, meeting a group of elderly babushkas (in 1979) who were very happy with the current state of affairs. The country was peaceful. Yes, they had to line up to get food, but so what? There was food. So what if they had to share a kitchen? They had running water and indoor toilets -- none of which they had had in their childhood. They were secure, for the first time in their lives. We in North America rambled on about freedom, and I could just think about these babushkas: they probably didn't give a damn about freedom if it meant giving up security, a modicum of comfort and peace.
OK, rant over.
Continuing the Russian theme, though, I'll be reading a mindless thriller, David Downing's Lenin's Roller Coaster very soon. And commenting further on Giles Milton, I found his brand new book, about Churchill's WW2 spies, at the Athenaeum today and promptly snaffled (whoops, borrowed) it.
Migraine day today, but I did manage to finish Ann Hood's novel today, as well as a quirky memoir by a young Korean former child prodigy violinist whose Strad was stolen at Euston station. Almost works, but not quite.
Yes, I'm once again falling behind when it comes to book comments. Sigh.
OK, rant over.
Continuing the Russian theme, though, I'll be reading a mindless thriller, David Downing's Lenin's Roller Coaster very soon. And commenting further on Giles Milton, I found his brand new book, about Churchill's WW2 spies, at the Athenaeum today and promptly snaffled (whoops, borrowed) it.
Migraine day today, but I did manage to finish Ann Hood's novel today, as well as a quirky memoir by a young Korean former child prodigy violinist whose Strad was stolen at Euston station. Almost works, but not quite.
Yes, I'm once again falling behind when it comes to book comments. Sigh.
79sibylline
I kind of like Ann Hood, but I feel that maybe I've had that response to a novel or two of hers. But I keep reading them.
Love the start to your Lenten bookfast!
Love the start to your Lenten bookfast!
80benitastrnad
I decided to do something crazy and I am going to travel to Berlin on March 13. I will be spending one week there with a friend of mine who lives in Berlin. He was a Research Chemist here at UA for 14 years and went back in 2013. He is now retired and has time to show me around. We are going to spend two days in Lubeck and I will have 5 days in Berlin. It is a hurried trip and won't do the city justice, so I hope it is merely an introduction and that I will be going back.
I started reading Berlin: Portrait of a City Through the Centuries by Rory Maclean which was recommended by Rick Steves. I am also reading a couple of guide books in hopes that I will be prepared for the trip.
I started reading Berlin: Portrait of a City Through the Centuries by Rory Maclean which was recommended by Rick Steves. I am also reading a couple of guide books in hopes that I will be prepared for the trip.
81PawsforThought
>80 benitastrnad: Have a great trip! I was in Berlin a few years ago and it was the best trip of my life. Such a great city, so many things to see and do.
82drneutron
Sounds great! I'd love to visit Germany, but will likely have to wait a few years to get to retirement. :)
83alcottacre
Hello, Suz!
84annushka
>78 Chatterbox: I've have not read either book - have added them to my TBR list for now. Thank you for sharing the story with me. You are correct in your conclusions about freedom and comforts of daily lives. I vividly remember the years after the Soviet Union fell apart. While before it happened many families did not live in luxury, many had just enough to survive. After the country fell apart, things changed for the worse for many. I'm glad to see this subject is getting attention and more books are being published.
85Chatterbox
>80 benitastrnad: I'm glad you were able to find an affordable ticket and follow through on that, Benita -- hurrah!! A friend of mine is there right now, and people have been bombarding her with suggestions of places to go and things to see, but I'll refrain, since you'll have your own local tour guide... :-) The last time I was there was waaay back in the mid/late 1990s, close enough to the fall of the Berlin Wall that it was still a visible "thing" in terms of the landscape, and the neighborhoods in east and west were quite different. Was staying with a journalist friend, and alternated between touristy stuff and hanging out with expat journalists, including a longstanding friend who had just returned from covering a change of regime in the Congo, and ferrying herself in a pirogue of some kind across the river from Kinshasa to safety to avoid rebels or something. There were alligators or crocodiles (can't remember which is native to Africa.) Yes, I realize I'm rambling.
Too bad you won't have enough time to do any more travel, as it's so close to Prague (by our standards), which also is really worth a visit. Oh well...
>83 alcottacre: Stasia!! Welcome back!! Will you be able to spend more time on LT now that you have finished your coursework?? I hope that is one of the side benefits!
>84 annushka: Yes, when people wonder "why Putin??" they forget about that chaos in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the fact that many ordinary Russians (logically enough) equate that chaos with democracy. A fallacy, but understandable. In the same way that when I visited the Baltics, I was started to realize that many people there equated Russians, Communism and Jews, simply because in the interwar years, when the Bolsheviks first swept into the area, and then again before 1941, so many leading Russian commissars were Jewish -- and Lavians, Lithuanians, etc. did suffer under Russian communist occupation in those years, with massive deportations to Siberia. So when Hitler swept in, in his turn, and said, hey, I'll get rid of the Jews... Well, the Jews were evil Russian communists that had treated them badly... It's so easy to forget about how an individual's perspective and experiences can cause them to simply forget about morality, at least in the short term and in the aggregate. It's as if a light bulb went on in my head -- aha, that is one of the ways that anti-Semitism got started. Though it was still chilling to have an elderly Latvian tell me, bluntly, that he preferred Hitler's SS to the Soviet troops, because they were "nicer." I was speechless.
Too bad you won't have enough time to do any more travel, as it's so close to Prague (by our standards), which also is really worth a visit. Oh well...
>83 alcottacre: Stasia!! Welcome back!! Will you be able to spend more time on LT now that you have finished your coursework?? I hope that is one of the side benefits!
>84 annushka: Yes, when people wonder "why Putin??" they forget about that chaos in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the fact that many ordinary Russians (logically enough) equate that chaos with democracy. A fallacy, but understandable. In the same way that when I visited the Baltics, I was started to realize that many people there equated Russians, Communism and Jews, simply because in the interwar years, when the Bolsheviks first swept into the area, and then again before 1941, so many leading Russian commissars were Jewish -- and Lavians, Lithuanians, etc. did suffer under Russian communist occupation in those years, with massive deportations to Siberia. So when Hitler swept in, in his turn, and said, hey, I'll get rid of the Jews... Well, the Jews were evil Russian communists that had treated them badly... It's so easy to forget about how an individual's perspective and experiences can cause them to simply forget about morality, at least in the short term and in the aggregate. It's as if a light bulb went on in my head -- aha, that is one of the ways that anti-Semitism got started. Though it was still chilling to have an elderly Latvian tell me, bluntly, that he preferred Hitler's SS to the Soviet troops, because they were "nicer." I was speechless.
86benitastrnad
#85
My eminent departure for Berlin has brought about a change in my reading. I am reading a travel book of essays about Berlin. Berlin Now: The City After the Wall by Peter Schneider was recommended on the Rick Steves web site, and it has been really funny so far. The essay about the creation and building of the Daimler Center on Potsdamer Platz was great fun to read. This is going to be my airplane book. Usually I read a Michael Dibdin Aurelo Zen mystery on the airplane, (I have two more to go to finish the series) but this time I will be reading for knowledge in hopes that I will have some background about some of what I am seeing.
My eminent departure for Berlin has brought about a change in my reading. I am reading a travel book of essays about Berlin. Berlin Now: The City After the Wall by Peter Schneider was recommended on the Rick Steves web site, and it has been really funny so far. The essay about the creation and building of the Daimler Center on Potsdamer Platz was great fun to read. This is going to be my airplane book. Usually I read a Michael Dibdin Aurelo Zen mystery on the airplane, (I have two more to go to finish the series) but this time I will be reading for knowledge in hopes that I will have some background about some of what I am seeing.
87annushka
>85 Chatterbox: Many Russians support Putin not only because he brought order and financial stability to the country, but because he wants to make Russia to be the world leader. He created many programs/opportunities to support development of young and talented people. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people living in poverty or just barely getting by. Recalling the 90's, I would not say people were not interested in democracy. I think their primary goal was to provide for themselves and for their families. Many factories, farms, companies were not paying salaries on time and when people would get paid, it was not enough to buy basic food and other necessities. Inflation rates were skyrocketing. I know of a case when Jews in a small town in Ukraine did not want to evacuate during WWII because they remembered Germans being nice during WWI. Unfortunately they were wrong and they all got killed.
88alcottacre
> I am going to try. Whether or not I succeed at being here more often is another thing.
89Chatterbox
>86 benitastrnad: When do you leave, Benita?
>87 annushka: Yes, the "make Russia/America great again" syndrome. It's hard to be a global superpower and then to be bounced out of that role and have to leave in a unipolar world. The US hasn't had to do that, but one of the reasons that Trump's message resonates, I think, is that Americans look at the military setbacks in Afghanistan and Iraq, the inability to compete with China (and realistically, how can we, given the wages and working conditions in factories in Shenzhen, etc? No one here would work in the way that Chinese employees do, and it's simply impossible to draw comparisons between the two) make Americans feel as if they are facing headwinds that didn't exist a few decades ago and that these are getting stronger. Of course, no one is entitled to superpower status, as the French and British discovered in the mid-20th century.
>88 alcottacre: I hope so!
Just heard via Facebook that the young (late teens) daughter of a high school friend of mine is dead, quite suddenly. The friend lives in Luxembourg; no details. Stunned and shocked and horrified for her. Reminds me of the friend who lost her partner in a dreadful accident last summer, although Louise-Marie's life was just getting started. Tired of all this death, illness, anger, callousness and thoughtlessness in the world. Where is the hope? The good news?
>87 annushka: Yes, the "make Russia/America great again" syndrome. It's hard to be a global superpower and then to be bounced out of that role and have to leave in a unipolar world. The US hasn't had to do that, but one of the reasons that Trump's message resonates, I think, is that Americans look at the military setbacks in Afghanistan and Iraq, the inability to compete with China (and realistically, how can we, given the wages and working conditions in factories in Shenzhen, etc? No one here would work in the way that Chinese employees do, and it's simply impossible to draw comparisons between the two) make Americans feel as if they are facing headwinds that didn't exist a few decades ago and that these are getting stronger. Of course, no one is entitled to superpower status, as the French and British discovered in the mid-20th century.
>88 alcottacre: I hope so!
Just heard via Facebook that the young (late teens) daughter of a high school friend of mine is dead, quite suddenly. The friend lives in Luxembourg; no details. Stunned and shocked and horrified for her. Reminds me of the friend who lost her partner in a dreadful accident last summer, although Louise-Marie's life was just getting started. Tired of all this death, illness, anger, callousness and thoughtlessness in the world. Where is the hope? The good news?
90m.belljackson
Nathaniel Philbrick's Why Read Moby-Dick is smart, fun reading both before and after reading Moby-Dick, as is Sam Ita's Pop-up Moby-Dick.
91LovingLit
I got it!!! All the way from RI :)
So cool, thank you.
>89 Chatterbox: NOT good news to hear about the death of someone you know. It is almost too much to bear isn't it!? Just thinking about the process your friend will be going through, it's enough to break you heart. :(
92Chatterbox
>91 LovingLit: I'm glad it arrived safely! Not only did it come from RI, but it was mailed in NY, NY, so it is a very well traveled book indeed!
It is devastating. I can't say that I knew Louise-Marie, but she looked so much like her mother did at her age, and had the most impish sense of humor of all of them. I'll send Frieda a longer note later, but right now don't want to put her under any pressure to reply or think about social niceties. I'm too far away to be useful or helpful in any real way. I just find this beyond imagining, and almost don't want to think about what she is having to endure.
It is devastating. I can't say that I knew Louise-Marie, but she looked so much like her mother did at her age, and had the most impish sense of humor of all of them. I'll send Frieda a longer note later, but right now don't want to put her under any pressure to reply or think about social niceties. I'm too far away to be useful or helpful in any real way. I just find this beyond imagining, and almost don't want to think about what she is having to endure.
93benitastrnad
#89
I leave for Berlin on March 13, but I am leaving Alabama tomorrow to go to Kansas for a few days. I have to do some business for my mother and we have a family Memorial Service to attend. I am looking forward to the trip, but think I really should have spent more days in Berlin. 7 is just not going to be enough.
I am reading a very good book of essays about Berlin written by a German author. I found the book on Rick Steves travel blog and I was surprised at the length of the list of recommended readings. I found myself ordering two books by Henrich Boll and these two books about Berlin. The first is Berlin Now: The City After the Wall by Peter Schneider - this one is making me laugh, and, I think, it is giving me a good dose of culture as well. The other is Berlin: Portrait of a City Through the Centuries by Rory MacLean. I will be taking the Berlin books with me, along with 4 different travel guides. I am trying to maximize the impact of what I do have time to see and think that being well informed about what I am looking at will enhance the experience.
High on my list of things to see is the Jewish Museum and the Museum with the old German masters. And, because I have a quirky fondness for tall cylindrical towers, I want to have coffee in the TV/Radio tower. I understand it is not far from my hotel, so I am hoping that I can get this in on the day of my arrival so I can use the height to orient myself to the city.
I leave for Berlin on March 13, but I am leaving Alabama tomorrow to go to Kansas for a few days. I have to do some business for my mother and we have a family Memorial Service to attend. I am looking forward to the trip, but think I really should have spent more days in Berlin. 7 is just not going to be enough.
I am reading a very good book of essays about Berlin written by a German author. I found the book on Rick Steves travel blog and I was surprised at the length of the list of recommended readings. I found myself ordering two books by Henrich Boll and these two books about Berlin. The first is Berlin Now: The City After the Wall by Peter Schneider - this one is making me laugh, and, I think, it is giving me a good dose of culture as well. The other is Berlin: Portrait of a City Through the Centuries by Rory MacLean. I will be taking the Berlin books with me, along with 4 different travel guides. I am trying to maximize the impact of what I do have time to see and think that being well informed about what I am looking at will enhance the experience.
High on my list of things to see is the Jewish Museum and the Museum with the old German masters. And, because I have a quirky fondness for tall cylindrical towers, I want to have coffee in the TV/Radio tower. I understand it is not far from my hotel, so I am hoping that I can get this in on the day of my arrival so I can use the height to orient myself to the city.
94PawsforThought
>93 benitastrnad: The Jewish Museum is very good. Obviously mostly about the Holocaust but there is some lighter fare as well (which is needed). The iron masks made the biggest impression on my, I think.
I'm assuming that the museum with German masters is the Gemäldegalerie (though it has plenty of non-Germans)? It's good, and the art is obviously spectacular but it wasn't my favourite of the art museums. Alte Nationalgalerie for old works and Hamburger-Bahnhof for contemporary art were my faves. I think it depends a lot on your personal taste in art. I'd also highly recommend the Pergamon Museum if you're interested in history (particularly Mediterranean and Middle Eastern history). The Ishtar Gate literally took my breath away when I saw it.
There are also plenty of nice green areas to wander around in (Tiergarten being the most obvious and central).
Shout out if you want more tips and recs. I could talk about Berlin for days.
Thanks for the book recs, I'm putting them on my list.
I'm assuming that the museum with German masters is the Gemäldegalerie (though it has plenty of non-Germans)? It's good, and the art is obviously spectacular but it wasn't my favourite of the art museums. Alte Nationalgalerie for old works and Hamburger-Bahnhof for contemporary art were my faves. I think it depends a lot on your personal taste in art. I'd also highly recommend the Pergamon Museum if you're interested in history (particularly Mediterranean and Middle Eastern history). The Ishtar Gate literally took my breath away when I saw it.
There are also plenty of nice green areas to wander around in (Tiergarten being the most obvious and central).
Shout out if you want more tips and recs. I could talk about Berlin for days.
Thanks for the book recs, I'm putting them on my list.
95torontoc
I have to add- you should really try to see Nefertete- she is absolutely gorgeous- and the photographs don't do her justice!
I really liked the architecture of the Gemaldegalerie and the paintings!
I really liked the architecture of the Gemaldegalerie and the paintings!
96Chatterbox
I really liked the Charlottenburg Palace, and the Belvedere there has, or used to have, a lovely little collection of porcelain. A bit of a different kind of thing! And among the green areas, because the palace has gardens, while being reasonably central.
97benitastrnad
#96
I love porcelain. Wasn't it some German prince who said something about catching the porcelain disease?
I met with friends last night as her daughter was home for spring break. It turns out that the apartment she lived in while in Berlin is right across the park from the hotel I am going to stay at in the Prenslauer district. She told me I am going to love that neighborhood. She also told me that the tram system in the Eastern part of the city is great and lots of fun. I know that the weather won't be great right now, but weather doesn't usually bother me.
I love porcelain. Wasn't it some German prince who said something about catching the porcelain disease?
I met with friends last night as her daughter was home for spring break. It turns out that the apartment she lived in while in Berlin is right across the park from the hotel I am going to stay at in the Prenslauer district. She told me I am going to love that neighborhood. She also told me that the tram system in the Eastern part of the city is great and lots of fun. I know that the weather won't be great right now, but weather doesn't usually bother me.
98Chatterbox
It's central Europe; the weather is going to be catch-as-catch-can whenever you go, pretty much. Sure, May/June would be nice, or September, but otherwise? Just pack an umbrella, sweaters and layers and ignore whatever is going on and enjoy.
99PawsforThought
>98 Chatterbox: And heatwaves in summer! I thought I was going melt or evaporate while I was there. Debilitating heat all week. I'm eternally grateful for marble-floored museums and air conditioned shops.
100Chatterbox
Finished book #75! It was a very good one -- The Stranger in the Woods: the Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel.
106annushka
>100 Chatterbox: Congratulations!
107PaulCranswick
Congratulations on passing 75, Suz. I am sure that you will hear that again in a few months time. xx
108LovingLit
>100 Chatterbox: tagged "quirky" by someone....makes me suspicious, as that could go either way! Happy 75!!!
109Chatterbox
>108 LovingLit: tagged "quirky" by me!
110Chatterbox
Oh dear, I'm far behind again...
54. Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell
I was in the mood for some classic English chick lit when I read this, and it fit the bill perfectly -- light and fluffy, lots of wish fulfillment without having characters that are terminally annoying and/or so young as to be un-relatable, or who drink and party constantly. A young woman meets a guy on a plane and they find each other intriguing -- but then he eventually confesses he's married. Fast forward several years, and they meet again. The truth emerges: his wife was in a coma and dying. Now he's dating he stepsister, someone glamorous and not terribly fond of our heroine (and vice versa.) Will true love win out? You'd have to be prepared to set aside some highly improbable coincidences to survive this, but it's kind of sweet and heart warming if you're in the mood for this fare, and the writing is above average for the genre. 3.4 stars.
55. The Drowning King by Emily Holleman
I didn't realize that the author was planning a sequel to the fascinating Cleopatra's Shadows, which came out about two years ago, so I was very excited to run across this at ALA Midwinter in Atlanta. The first book covered a little known part of Cleopatra's life, when her older sister Berenice briefly seized power in Egypt before being dethroned in her turn by Cleopatra and their father with the aid of Roman legions and executed. All of this is told through the eyes of Arsinoe, the youngest of the sisters, who must try to survive -- feeling a tremendous tug of loyalty and affection for Cleopatra and yet not knowing why her beloved sister sailed off and abandoned her in Berenice's "care." The same ambivalence becomes increasingly acute in the sequel; on the surface, Cleopatra cherishes her sister, but Arsinoe is increasingly puzzled and aware she is being excluded, leaving her vulnerable and exposed to Egypt's brutal power politics. She's particularly concerned by her sister's insistence on forming close ties to the Romans... Perhaps not quite as fresh and intriguing as the debut, and the narration alternates between Arsinoe and her brother Ptolemy, which doesn't work as well, but I liked it very much. Two good books for historical fiction buffs. 4 stars.
56. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
This is the third time I've read this novel, and it simply keeps getting better. If I had to pick 100 novels that I consider to be among the best I've ever read, this would be in that group. This time I read it for my group that discussed literature and the other at the Athenaeum in February, and there was a LOT of discussion -- it carried on past noon, our official stop time. The story of a man who insists on his right not to apologize for acting on his erotic impulses with a student at a South African college, and who loses his job as a result, and leaves to stay with his daughter who works on a smallholding in a remote rural area. Then an act of sexual and physical violence brings about a reconsideration of all kinds of themes. It's difficult, but it's tremendously nuanced and brilliant. Not a comfortable read, but it's the kind of thought and writing about human beings that earned Coetzee his Nobel, I think. 5 stars.
57. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
The next in the Maisie Dobbs series, just out or just about to come out. (This was another ARC, from Amazon Vine.) In the opening pages, war is declared (WW2), but Maisie Dobbs must deal with a mystery dating back to the previous war: the violent deaths of several Belgian refugees. Meanwhile, she also has her own refugee issue -- an appealing little girl -- to address. At least this time, Maisie's somber nature fits the tone of the times, but this wasn't as good as the last one and the pacing is overly ponderous. 3.85 stars, and I'm being generous.
58. The Bone Tree by Greg Iles
Someone needs to tell Iles that this epic did not need to stretch across three books of 700 to 800 pages, each full of too much explaining of what happened in previous books, and what characters did in the past, etc. before there is any action and suspense. Someone should have cut this by at least a third -- it's too talk and convoluted, with people running around and being stupid and self-important. That said, having read the first book and just obtained a galley of the third, I feel sort of invested in understanding what Iles is doing. Plus, I've been following his main character ever since The Quiet Game, which was an excellent read. My recommendation, however, is to stop with that. This? 3.3 stars, in spite of or perhaps because of the fact that major characters keep getting murdered by cartoonish bad guys.
59. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
OK, this bemused me. I read it for our RL book circle and while I found the writing elegant and fascinating and at times stunning and perfect, the book as a book left me completely cold. I understand its role as an iconic work, and perhaps it's one of those that you have to read a certain age -- i.e. when you're younger? -- to really appreciate, or to have read it when it first appeared, to grasp how truly revolutionary it was in terms of the themes it addressed (lesbianism) and its narrative technique. Little about the book did anything for me except as a piece of history, and isolated bits and pieces of writing. 3 stars.
60. A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi
Nadia Hashimi seems to be picking stuff out of the headlines about Afghanistan -- refugees fleeing to the west, women locked up in prison for years for crimes against feminine modesty -- and building novels around them. The problem? It looks like that is what she is doing. These aren't novels that start out with characters and ideas, but instead feel more forced and structured. None of the women in the prison feel like more than examples or case studies. Plenty of people will love this because it will seem to them to shed light on life in Afghanistan. But that's why I read NON fiction. If I'm reading a novel, I want a great, compelling drama with characters who convince me they are alive. This wasn't it. 3.2 stars.
54. Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell
I was in the mood for some classic English chick lit when I read this, and it fit the bill perfectly -- light and fluffy, lots of wish fulfillment without having characters that are terminally annoying and/or so young as to be un-relatable, or who drink and party constantly. A young woman meets a guy on a plane and they find each other intriguing -- but then he eventually confesses he's married. Fast forward several years, and they meet again. The truth emerges: his wife was in a coma and dying. Now he's dating he stepsister, someone glamorous and not terribly fond of our heroine (and vice versa.) Will true love win out? You'd have to be prepared to set aside some highly improbable coincidences to survive this, but it's kind of sweet and heart warming if you're in the mood for this fare, and the writing is above average for the genre. 3.4 stars.
55. The Drowning King by Emily Holleman
I didn't realize that the author was planning a sequel to the fascinating Cleopatra's Shadows, which came out about two years ago, so I was very excited to run across this at ALA Midwinter in Atlanta. The first book covered a little known part of Cleopatra's life, when her older sister Berenice briefly seized power in Egypt before being dethroned in her turn by Cleopatra and their father with the aid of Roman legions and executed. All of this is told through the eyes of Arsinoe, the youngest of the sisters, who must try to survive -- feeling a tremendous tug of loyalty and affection for Cleopatra and yet not knowing why her beloved sister sailed off and abandoned her in Berenice's "care." The same ambivalence becomes increasingly acute in the sequel; on the surface, Cleopatra cherishes her sister, but Arsinoe is increasingly puzzled and aware she is being excluded, leaving her vulnerable and exposed to Egypt's brutal power politics. She's particularly concerned by her sister's insistence on forming close ties to the Romans... Perhaps not quite as fresh and intriguing as the debut, and the narration alternates between Arsinoe and her brother Ptolemy, which doesn't work as well, but I liked it very much. Two good books for historical fiction buffs. 4 stars.
56. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
This is the third time I've read this novel, and it simply keeps getting better. If I had to pick 100 novels that I consider to be among the best I've ever read, this would be in that group. This time I read it for my group that discussed literature and the other at the Athenaeum in February, and there was a LOT of discussion -- it carried on past noon, our official stop time. The story of a man who insists on his right not to apologize for acting on his erotic impulses with a student at a South African college, and who loses his job as a result, and leaves to stay with his daughter who works on a smallholding in a remote rural area. Then an act of sexual and physical violence brings about a reconsideration of all kinds of themes. It's difficult, but it's tremendously nuanced and brilliant. Not a comfortable read, but it's the kind of thought and writing about human beings that earned Coetzee his Nobel, I think. 5 stars.
57. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
The next in the Maisie Dobbs series, just out or just about to come out. (This was another ARC, from Amazon Vine.) In the opening pages, war is declared (WW2), but Maisie Dobbs must deal with a mystery dating back to the previous war: the violent deaths of several Belgian refugees. Meanwhile, she also has her own refugee issue -- an appealing little girl -- to address. At least this time, Maisie's somber nature fits the tone of the times, but this wasn't as good as the last one and the pacing is overly ponderous. 3.85 stars, and I'm being generous.
58. The Bone Tree by Greg Iles
Someone needs to tell Iles that this epic did not need to stretch across three books of 700 to 800 pages, each full of too much explaining of what happened in previous books, and what characters did in the past, etc. before there is any action and suspense. Someone should have cut this by at least a third -- it's too talk and convoluted, with people running around and being stupid and self-important. That said, having read the first book and just obtained a galley of the third, I feel sort of invested in understanding what Iles is doing. Plus, I've been following his main character ever since The Quiet Game, which was an excellent read. My recommendation, however, is to stop with that. This? 3.3 stars, in spite of or perhaps because of the fact that major characters keep getting murdered by cartoonish bad guys.
59. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
OK, this bemused me. I read it for our RL book circle and while I found the writing elegant and fascinating and at times stunning and perfect, the book as a book left me completely cold. I understand its role as an iconic work, and perhaps it's one of those that you have to read a certain age -- i.e. when you're younger? -- to really appreciate, or to have read it when it first appeared, to grasp how truly revolutionary it was in terms of the themes it addressed (lesbianism) and its narrative technique. Little about the book did anything for me except as a piece of history, and isolated bits and pieces of writing. 3 stars.
60. A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi
Nadia Hashimi seems to be picking stuff out of the headlines about Afghanistan -- refugees fleeing to the west, women locked up in prison for years for crimes against feminine modesty -- and building novels around them. The problem? It looks like that is what she is doing. These aren't novels that start out with characters and ideas, but instead feel more forced and structured. None of the women in the prison feel like more than examples or case studies. Plenty of people will love this because it will seem to them to shed light on life in Afghanistan. But that's why I read NON fiction. If I'm reading a novel, I want a great, compelling drama with characters who convince me they are alive. This wasn't it. 3.2 stars.
111rosalita
I could not agree with you more, Suzanne, on the Iles trilogy. It is badly bloated and "cartoonish" is an excellent description of some of the villains. And like you, I feel compelled to read the third one eventually because I've invested the time in the first two. I have a couple of his standalone novels on my e-reader but haven't cracked them open yet. I hope they are more like The Quiet Game than this Natchez trilogy.
112Chatterbox
>111 rosalita: They are a mixed bag -- some are good and some are just... well, let's say that I would regret having spent real money on them.
Don't spend money on Mississippi Blood. I'll send you the ARC when I finish it.
Don't spend money on Mississippi Blood. I'll send you the ARC when I finish it.
113avatiakh
Enjoyed reading your comments on Disgrace, I read it years ago and you make me want to read it again.
Regarding your thoughts on A House Without Windows, I've noticed a lot more books like this of late in my local bookshop, I read the blurb on the back cover and just don't want to read them.
Regarding your thoughts on A House Without Windows, I've noticed a lot more books like this of late in my local bookshop, I read the blurb on the back cover and just don't want to read them.
114rosalita
>112 Chatterbox: Thank you, Suzanne! That's very generous of you. I hope he ends the trilogy on a high note, at least.
115charl08
I'm just reading the latest Sarah Dunant - thanks for your review which was an encouraging push in the right direction.
116thornton37814
Congrats on hitting 75 so early. I'll hit it earlier this year, I think, but I'm only in my 40s as far as quantity read goes, partially thanks to several children's books. Those will slow down a bit soon.
117FAMeulstee
Congratulations on your first 75!
119LovingLit
>110 Chatterbox: third time for Disgrace!!? Wow, maybe I need to revisit. I have only read one book three times, The Great Gatsby. It got better each time too (although, the second time I read it I was barely concentrating so third read was necessary).
120Chatterbox
Thank you all!
>113 avatiakh: I completely agree with you -- they are theme books, or something like that. Issue books? There needs to be a word for the genre.
>114 rosalita: As high a note as is possible when he's dragging around so many themes and so many main characters who are deceased or whose lives are in peril. It's as if he wants to kill off this set of characters so he can do something else!
>115 charl08: Enjoy it!!
Well, the books above took me to the end of February. Now it's time to tackle March's books.
61. The Sellout by Paul Beatty
If there is a single novel designed to stir controversy published in the last year, this has got to be it. While Colson Whitehead's novel playing with the tropes of the Underground Railroad took the concept of racism in deadly earnest, Beatty does -- but doesn't. His antihero/main character, living in a decaying community on the fringes of LA that is so out of the center of things that it literally has lost its name (the city of Dickens exists no longer on maps or in any urban affairs department, with predictable results), decides on some radical measures to reinvigorate his home town. Its sole "celebrity", a black member of the Little Rascals gang, has attached himself to our hero and insisted on being enslaved (I kid you not) and even being whipped (with the narrator arranging the whipping from a local, ahem, specialist in this in a bordello, of course.) Of course, the "slave" does no work... But this prompts some thinking. What if segregation returned? This is like going on some bizarre, whirlwind ride that forces the reader to consider absolutely every truism and sober pontification about race relations. I mean, what IF a black school refused to integrate by allowing white students in? If the idea of all this makes you uncomfortable, Beatty's argument has been that this says more about the reader than him (he's black) or his ideas and writing. It's worth noting that he's a humorist/satirist -- but I don't think that this is intended either as humor or satire. And every page, as the narrative careens along, will force you to go back and re-read events through a different prism. I couldn't say I loved it (although the writing is superb) but it was memorable and deserves all the plaudits it has earned. 4.3 stars.
62. Conviction by Julia Dahl
When tabloid reporter Rebekah Roberts, passed over for a full-time job in favor of a young whippersnapper (male) with a journalism degree from a prestigious university, starts looking for her next scoop among letters from prisoners claiming to have been wrongly convicted, someone says, well at least she's not looking into the world of Orthodox Jews again. Except that, of course, that isn't quite true. Her second look at the case of the murder of an African-American couple and their foster daughter leads back to days of troubled relations between the black community and the Orthodox in Brooklyn, and proves to have its roots in that relationship. It's a decent read, if a bit predictable. 3.85 stars. This was an ARC, so it might not be out yet - but soon. Start with the first book in the series, though.
63. Defectors by Joseph Kanon
I was talking to my mother about how much I had enjoyed reading the e-galley of this suspense novel (a spring release -- May, I think?) when she said that it sounded a lot like his last, Leaving Berlin, which involved someone moving from West Berlin to East Berlin, having to maintain a false identity and secrets in the immediate aftermath of World War II, and consorting with spies. Hmm. Yup. Just shift the scene of the action to Moscow, and change some of the details.... In this case, it's about brothers (and I think Kanon has done that before, too...), one of whom defected to the USSR in the 1950s. It's now 1961, and Simon, who stayed in the US and was forced out of the State Department following his brother's defection from the CIA, has gone into publishing. Frank, his defector brother wants to publish his memoirs in the west, and summons Simon to Moscow to be his editor and publisher. It's a coup -- but the summons turns out to be more complicated than it seems. There are double, triple, quadruple, crosses and Simon will have to find a way to figure out who and what he can trust and try to get out alive. 4.3 stars.
64. The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood
I finally read this (an ARC that I got at BookExpo last year) because the author and I both got our cats from Rita that cat lady in Providence, and she spoke at the Athenaeum last month and we are now Facebook friends. So I kinda had to read the book! It's good and fun, because it's set in Providence, with the main character participating in a book group that takes place at -- wow -- the Athenaeum. So, lots of fun to read in terms of local knowledge (to put it mildly...) The book's title is the theme of the book group, with each member selecting the title of the book that means most to them. The main character's selection turns out to be a children's book that she got the year after her mother apparently killed herself following the accidental death of her sister. The problem? The novel is utterly awash in improbable coincidences (and some melodramatic stuff involving the dysfunctional daughter of the main character, who becomes addicted to heroin in Paris, then struggles out of it in the final pages.) But the coincidences and improbable twists were just so over the top and made me crazy. 3.6 stars. Whether you like it will depend on your tolerance for these; the writing is good.
65. Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung by Min Kym
A memoir about a child violin prodigy whose violin is stolen at a Pret a Manger in a London railway station -- that's it in a nutshell. Except that it's about more than that -- it's about how being a child musical prodigy can end up distorting you, even as it opens up wonderful opportunities. Where this book worked best was in describing the author's relationships with her violins and what it's like to build that kind of tie -- I never imagined the complexity, in spite of my love of classical music! It's also intriguing to go behind the scenes to get a better sense of musical education of a prodigy. What was less engrossing was the part where Min Kym appears to be using this memoir as a kind of poorly-conceived therapy, working out her frustration with her ex-boyfriend, the dealers whose advice she trusted and even some of the professional management she worked with, in the pages (or perhaps even as revenge?) It started sounding repetitive and more grumpy and bitter than informative. A mixed bag, but I'd still strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in music or performance, or who reads memoirs. 4 stars.
>113 avatiakh: I completely agree with you -- they are theme books, or something like that. Issue books? There needs to be a word for the genre.
>114 rosalita: As high a note as is possible when he's dragging around so many themes and so many main characters who are deceased or whose lives are in peril. It's as if he wants to kill off this set of characters so he can do something else!
>115 charl08: Enjoy it!!
Well, the books above took me to the end of February. Now it's time to tackle March's books.
61. The Sellout by Paul Beatty
If there is a single novel designed to stir controversy published in the last year, this has got to be it. While Colson Whitehead's novel playing with the tropes of the Underground Railroad took the concept of racism in deadly earnest, Beatty does -- but doesn't. His antihero/main character, living in a decaying community on the fringes of LA that is so out of the center of things that it literally has lost its name (the city of Dickens exists no longer on maps or in any urban affairs department, with predictable results), decides on some radical measures to reinvigorate his home town. Its sole "celebrity", a black member of the Little Rascals gang, has attached himself to our hero and insisted on being enslaved (I kid you not) and even being whipped (with the narrator arranging the whipping from a local, ahem, specialist in this in a bordello, of course.) Of course, the "slave" does no work... But this prompts some thinking. What if segregation returned? This is like going on some bizarre, whirlwind ride that forces the reader to consider absolutely every truism and sober pontification about race relations. I mean, what IF a black school refused to integrate by allowing white students in? If the idea of all this makes you uncomfortable, Beatty's argument has been that this says more about the reader than him (he's black) or his ideas and writing. It's worth noting that he's a humorist/satirist -- but I don't think that this is intended either as humor or satire. And every page, as the narrative careens along, will force you to go back and re-read events through a different prism. I couldn't say I loved it (although the writing is superb) but it was memorable and deserves all the plaudits it has earned. 4.3 stars.
62. Conviction by Julia Dahl
When tabloid reporter Rebekah Roberts, passed over for a full-time job in favor of a young whippersnapper (male) with a journalism degree from a prestigious university, starts looking for her next scoop among letters from prisoners claiming to have been wrongly convicted, someone says, well at least she's not looking into the world of Orthodox Jews again. Except that, of course, that isn't quite true. Her second look at the case of the murder of an African-American couple and their foster daughter leads back to days of troubled relations between the black community and the Orthodox in Brooklyn, and proves to have its roots in that relationship. It's a decent read, if a bit predictable. 3.85 stars. This was an ARC, so it might not be out yet - but soon. Start with the first book in the series, though.
63. Defectors by Joseph Kanon
I was talking to my mother about how much I had enjoyed reading the e-galley of this suspense novel (a spring release -- May, I think?) when she said that it sounded a lot like his last, Leaving Berlin, which involved someone moving from West Berlin to East Berlin, having to maintain a false identity and secrets in the immediate aftermath of World War II, and consorting with spies. Hmm. Yup. Just shift the scene of the action to Moscow, and change some of the details.... In this case, it's about brothers (and I think Kanon has done that before, too...), one of whom defected to the USSR in the 1950s. It's now 1961, and Simon, who stayed in the US and was forced out of the State Department following his brother's defection from the CIA, has gone into publishing. Frank, his defector brother wants to publish his memoirs in the west, and summons Simon to Moscow to be his editor and publisher. It's a coup -- but the summons turns out to be more complicated than it seems. There are double, triple, quadruple, crosses and Simon will have to find a way to figure out who and what he can trust and try to get out alive. 4.3 stars.
64. The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood
I finally read this (an ARC that I got at BookExpo last year) because the author and I both got our cats from Rita that cat lady in Providence, and she spoke at the Athenaeum last month and we are now Facebook friends. So I kinda had to read the book! It's good and fun, because it's set in Providence, with the main character participating in a book group that takes place at -- wow -- the Athenaeum. So, lots of fun to read in terms of local knowledge (to put it mildly...) The book's title is the theme of the book group, with each member selecting the title of the book that means most to them. The main character's selection turns out to be a children's book that she got the year after her mother apparently killed herself following the accidental death of her sister. The problem? The novel is utterly awash in improbable coincidences (and some melodramatic stuff involving the dysfunctional daughter of the main character, who becomes addicted to heroin in Paris, then struggles out of it in the final pages.) But the coincidences and improbable twists were just so over the top and made me crazy. 3.6 stars. Whether you like it will depend on your tolerance for these; the writing is good.
65. Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung by Min Kym
A memoir about a child violin prodigy whose violin is stolen at a Pret a Manger in a London railway station -- that's it in a nutshell. Except that it's about more than that -- it's about how being a child musical prodigy can end up distorting you, even as it opens up wonderful opportunities. Where this book worked best was in describing the author's relationships with her violins and what it's like to build that kind of tie -- I never imagined the complexity, in spite of my love of classical music! It's also intriguing to go behind the scenes to get a better sense of musical education of a prodigy. What was less engrossing was the part where Min Kym appears to be using this memoir as a kind of poorly-conceived therapy, working out her frustration with her ex-boyfriend, the dealers whose advice she trusted and even some of the professional management she worked with, in the pages (or perhaps even as revenge?) It started sounding repetitive and more grumpy and bitter than informative. A mixed bag, but I'd still strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in music or performance, or who reads memoirs. 4 stars.
121Chatterbox
>119 LovingLit: I've read lots of books three or four or more times, but they tend to be lightweight books (Georgette Heyer, etc.) Mostly because when I was stuck in Europe and Japan without access to a lot of English language books, I'd read what I had repeatedly, to the point where some of them, I now know the turns of phrase by heart. Scary... Rebecca is one novel I don't think I can read easily again now...
122alcottacre
Congratulations on hitting 75 for the first time this year, Suzanne!
My local library actually has a copy of The Stranger in the Woods, so I have put that on hold. Min Kym's book is of interest to me as well, so into the BlackHole it goes! Thank you for the recommendations.
My local library actually has a copy of The Stranger in the Woods, so I have put that on hold. Min Kym's book is of interest to me as well, so into the BlackHole it goes! Thank you for the recommendations.
123Chatterbox
>122 alcottacre: Welcoming the return of Stasia's black hole... :-)
125Chatterbox
More...
66. The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood
Since discovering this is the pen name adopted by Serena Mackesy (or perhaps vice versa? at any rate, they are the same person) and reading her 'debut' novel under this moniker, The Wicked Girls, which I thought was excellent, I have dithered about reading her other books. I am still struggling with The Killer Next Door, which may go unread because some of the details are simply too gross. But then I read this one, her latest, and it's quite good, if not as good as that first book. An obnoxious playboy dies suddenly, leaving behind several families of daughters. One of the eldest girls, from the first family, is the main protagonist here and the vehicle through which we see back to a key weekend: her wealthy father's 50th birthday, at which one of her toddler twin half-sisters simply vanishes. Now, 13 years later, he is dead and his fourth wife/widow is one of the teens who was among the group of partiers that fateful night, along with a cluster of other hangers on. Millie, then a spoiled teen and now a still bitter young woman long alienated from her father, takes her remaining twin sister (whom she has never before met) to the funeral, where all the remaining hangers-on have forgathered. The stage has been set for some secrets to emerge. I admit I saw many of the twists coming, but that doesn't make many of the details any the less grueling or wrenching and suspenseful. Who knows what?? Definitely NOT as good as The Wicked Girls, which also is about what happens when the past comes calling, though. 4.1 stars.
67. Who You Think I Am by Camille Laurens
It's kind of suitable that the cover of this book shows a woman's back, with her arms holding a mask, because throughout it, I was never really sure who the narrator was or whether I could/should trust her. The answer is no -- absolutely not. It's a narrative about love, passion and shifting identities, camouflage and the role that social media can play in the stories that we tell about ourselves, and that's really all I can say. You'd have to read it for yourselves and make up your mind what you think. It's quirky, and challenging and just when you think you have the narrative pinned down, it shifts. It's not for those who like books about complex women and unreliable narrators and manipulative, unlikable characters. You don't always like the main characters here, but they tell vivid and convincing stories of life as middle aged women who refuse to become invisible. (The catalyst, ostensibly, for much of the narrative, is when the friend of a woman's younger lover tells her over the phone when she calls her lover and the friend answers, to just go away...) What does it say that I've written this much about a book about which I'm deeply ambivalent?? 3.65 stars.
68. Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry 3.5 stars
76. The Angel Court Affair by Anne Perry 2.9 stars
So, I requested an ARC of the latest in this VERY long-running series (let's just say that when it started, I was still living in Tokyo and was in my early 20s, trying to break into journalism...) from Amazon Vine -- and then realized that I had fallen three books behind. Whoops. So, I had a couple from NetGalley and got one out of the library to catch up; here are the first two, of which the first is by far the more readable, being a political book of sorts, involving espionage and corruption. Good stuff. The second involves religion, and a young woman leading some kind of religious group or preaching some kind of message being kidnapped. Perry gives us some half-baked theology but no more than that, and doesn't really explain what kind of "religion" this is supposed to be (she also makes the most absurd and dire error, several times, by confusing Thomas Cromwell with Thomas Cranmer, thinking that Cromwell and not Cranmer was the first Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, a laughably bizarre mistake that tells you what a half-assed plot this was; I suppose this is what happens when someone is rushing to write something and just can't be bothered getting stuff right. Perry bugs me by pontificating and bloviating, using fancy, ruminating language that really means absolutely nothing when you try to pin down the essence of what she is saying. It's at it's worst in the second of these books. I suppose I'd better hope book #3 in my mini-marathon is better and that the ARC is OK.
69. Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøndahl
Another intriguing novella featuring a middle-aged/older woman! Hmm, what does this say about me?? A Danish writer, this time, and his main character is a woman who has just been widowed for the second time. Her late husband was previously married to her best friend, and the book is written as a kind of extended letter to that friend, as she remakes her life to her own taste following their joint husband's death. It's oddly dispassionate at times, but it's also the voice of a woman who hasn't dared to allow herself to feel deeply, or at least to show her deep feelings. I found the morphing relationships with her two stepsons particularly interesting -- as she claims her independence, they seek to box her in and have her behave in ways they find acceptable and comfortable. The language is sometimes somewhat awkward (the translation is the author's own) but the imagery is elegant and I really enjoyed this voyage into something completely different. 4 stars
66. The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood
Since discovering this is the pen name adopted by Serena Mackesy (or perhaps vice versa? at any rate, they are the same person) and reading her 'debut' novel under this moniker, The Wicked Girls, which I thought was excellent, I have dithered about reading her other books. I am still struggling with The Killer Next Door, which may go unread because some of the details are simply too gross. But then I read this one, her latest, and it's quite good, if not as good as that first book. An obnoxious playboy dies suddenly, leaving behind several families of daughters. One of the eldest girls, from the first family, is the main protagonist here and the vehicle through which we see back to a key weekend: her wealthy father's 50th birthday, at which one of her toddler twin half-sisters simply vanishes. Now, 13 years later, he is dead and his fourth wife/widow is one of the teens who was among the group of partiers that fateful night, along with a cluster of other hangers on. Millie, then a spoiled teen and now a still bitter young woman long alienated from her father, takes her remaining twin sister (whom she has never before met) to the funeral, where all the remaining hangers-on have forgathered. The stage has been set for some secrets to emerge. I admit I saw many of the twists coming, but that doesn't make many of the details any the less grueling or wrenching and suspenseful. Who knows what?? Definitely NOT as good as The Wicked Girls, which also is about what happens when the past comes calling, though. 4.1 stars.
67. Who You Think I Am by Camille Laurens
It's kind of suitable that the cover of this book shows a woman's back, with her arms holding a mask, because throughout it, I was never really sure who the narrator was or whether I could/should trust her. The answer is no -- absolutely not. It's a narrative about love, passion and shifting identities, camouflage and the role that social media can play in the stories that we tell about ourselves, and that's really all I can say. You'd have to read it for yourselves and make up your mind what you think. It's quirky, and challenging and just when you think you have the narrative pinned down, it shifts. It's not for those who like books about complex women and unreliable narrators and manipulative, unlikable characters. You don't always like the main characters here, but they tell vivid and convincing stories of life as middle aged women who refuse to become invisible. (The catalyst, ostensibly, for much of the narrative, is when the friend of a woman's younger lover tells her over the phone when she calls her lover and the friend answers, to just go away...) What does it say that I've written this much about a book about which I'm deeply ambivalent?? 3.65 stars.
68. Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry 3.5 stars
76. The Angel Court Affair by Anne Perry 2.9 stars
So, I requested an ARC of the latest in this VERY long-running series (let's just say that when it started, I was still living in Tokyo and was in my early 20s, trying to break into journalism...) from Amazon Vine -- and then realized that I had fallen three books behind. Whoops. So, I had a couple from NetGalley and got one out of the library to catch up; here are the first two, of which the first is by far the more readable, being a political book of sorts, involving espionage and corruption. Good stuff. The second involves religion, and a young woman leading some kind of religious group or preaching some kind of message being kidnapped. Perry gives us some half-baked theology but no more than that, and doesn't really explain what kind of "religion" this is supposed to be (she also makes the most absurd and dire error, several times, by confusing Thomas Cromwell with Thomas Cranmer, thinking that Cromwell and not Cranmer was the first Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, a laughably bizarre mistake that tells you what a half-assed plot this was; I suppose this is what happens when someone is rushing to write something and just can't be bothered getting stuff right. Perry bugs me by pontificating and bloviating, using fancy, ruminating language that really means absolutely nothing when you try to pin down the essence of what she is saying. It's at it's worst in the second of these books. I suppose I'd better hope book #3 in my mini-marathon is better and that the ARC is OK.
69. Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøndahl
Another intriguing novella featuring a middle-aged/older woman! Hmm, what does this say about me?? A Danish writer, this time, and his main character is a woman who has just been widowed for the second time. Her late husband was previously married to her best friend, and the book is written as a kind of extended letter to that friend, as she remakes her life to her own taste following their joint husband's death. It's oddly dispassionate at times, but it's also the voice of a woman who hasn't dared to allow herself to feel deeply, or at least to show her deep feelings. I found the morphing relationships with her two stepsons particularly interesting -- as she claims her independence, they seek to box her in and have her behave in ways they find acceptable and comfortable. The language is sometimes somewhat awkward (the translation is the author's own) but the imagery is elegant and I really enjoyed this voyage into something completely different. 4 stars
126LizzieD
I'm mostly dodging BBs and popping out of lurk to add my congratulations for your first 75. Whew! Read on, my friend, read on!
127Chatterbox
>126 LizzieD: tsk tsk tsk -- you're not supposed to dodge book bullets! You are supposed to collapse, mortally stricken, to the ground under a barrage of books...!
128cushlareads
Mmm ok I am collapsing, mortally stricken, because I didn't know there was a new Bruno Chief of Police out, and the Joseph Kanon is also headed for my Kindle because I really liked Leaving Berlin.
129Chatterbox
>128 cushlareads: It's not out quite yet, Cushla; due out in May, I think. I have an e-galley, thanks to the publisher. Will be reading it soon-ish. (Sorry...)
130SandDune
>120 Chatterbox: I've read The Sellout recently and it's got me thinking as to how far it's possible to appreciate a book,
particularly a satire, without a certain level of knowledge of the society in which it is set. Time after time I felt that I just didn't have enough background knowledge to make sense of it.
particularly a satire, without a certain level of knowledge of the society in which it is set. Time after time I felt that I just didn't have enough background knowledge to make sense of it.
131Chatterbox
>129 Chatterbox: What struck me is the extent to which the ongoing debate over the issue of cultural appropriation has ended up affecting me, without my realizing it. I found myself wondering about whether I had the right to judge this as a novel, or to judge Beatty's views, since I myself am not African American. I think I have enough basic understanding of the issues underlying the narrative, even if it isn't my lived experience, but since it isn't my lived experience, does that limit my right to comment on certain aspects of it? I was amazed to find myself thinking along those lines. And yet, that is how hypersensitive questions surrounding race are in the US. And remember, this isn't the kind of issue like the woman who passed as African American and was revealed to be white; this is a novel by an African American, published for a general audience to read and, presumably, discuss and review. But I have friends who have become de facto African American separatists -- one in particular who argues that black Americans will never be treated equitably in America and that all whites are inherently racist. (Think, Ta-Nehisi Coates on steroids; ironically, his wife is white.) The more I become aware of this hyper-consciousness/hyper-vigilance on his part, the more hyper-vigilant and hyper-aware I become myself -- and it feels that a day when we can all live peaceably together becomes even more distant.
132m.belljackson
>129 Chatterbox: Chatterbox: And, having the elected heads of our failing government "inherently racist" and determinedly proving it every day
sure does not help...
sure does not help...
133Chatterbox
>132 m.belljackson: Indeed... It's like watch a wreck in action. I was about to type "slow motion wreck", then realized that this would be very inaccurate. This is a relatively fast-moving wreck, given that the current administration has been in office a mere two months or so. I want to hide under my duvet and read those Georgette Heyer historical romances and pretend that THAT is reality. Sadly, my conscience won't let me.
So, I have been working for the last 8/9 days in NY, covering a series of events organized by an NGO or at which their people are participating. This was a last minute gig, picked up as the long-time former friend (she poached a lucrative contract from me three years ago...) passed it on to me when she couldn't do it on 48 hours' notice. Right out of my zone, but whatever -- covering about six things, several hours at a time, spread over ten days. A lot of moving parts -- one event canceled by snow, another by office politics, NGO style, and replaced by something else. Then, today I show up when and where I'm supposed to be only to find that the event I'm supposed to be at isn't there -- it's something else that is going on. With considerable difficulty, I find that this event is happening TOMORROW -- when I'm scheduled to be back in Rhode Island. (I have a ride leaving at 9:30 a.m.) Moreover, that there is ANOTHER event that they want me to cover that they simply forgot to tell me about, that I'm supposed to simply somehow know about, I guess. I pointed out it wasn't on my agenda, that these were the events I was supposed to go to, that I had told them I was returning home early Saturday morning, etc. and no one had said a thing. I am NOT staying on after all this time to cover yet another meeting. I'll lose my ride, have to pay a lot more for the train AND find someone to take over from my cat sitter, who isn't available over the weekend. This, after spending 90 mins to get to the site of the conference this morning (at the UN) past the St. Patrick's Day parade route, and 2.5 hours to get home again, all completely in vain.
Thank you for letting me vent!!
So, I have been working for the last 8/9 days in NY, covering a series of events organized by an NGO or at which their people are participating. This was a last minute gig, picked up as the long-time former friend (she poached a lucrative contract from me three years ago...) passed it on to me when she couldn't do it on 48 hours' notice. Right out of my zone, but whatever -- covering about six things, several hours at a time, spread over ten days. A lot of moving parts -- one event canceled by snow, another by office politics, NGO style, and replaced by something else. Then, today I show up when and where I'm supposed to be only to find that the event I'm supposed to be at isn't there -- it's something else that is going on. With considerable difficulty, I find that this event is happening TOMORROW -- when I'm scheduled to be back in Rhode Island. (I have a ride leaving at 9:30 a.m.) Moreover, that there is ANOTHER event that they want me to cover that they simply forgot to tell me about, that I'm supposed to simply somehow know about, I guess. I pointed out it wasn't on my agenda, that these were the events I was supposed to go to, that I had told them I was returning home early Saturday morning, etc. and no one had said a thing. I am NOT staying on after all this time to cover yet another meeting. I'll lose my ride, have to pay a lot more for the train AND find someone to take over from my cat sitter, who isn't available over the weekend. This, after spending 90 mins to get to the site of the conference this morning (at the UN) past the St. Patrick's Day parade route, and 2.5 hours to get home again, all completely in vain.
Thank you for letting me vent!!
134SandDune
>131 Chatterbox: I think that the problem I have is not specifically that it is written on the context of an African-American background, but that it is written in the context of an American background. A US reader (I assume) will be picking up on any number of references to how racism works in the U.S. which are just passing me by completely. I just don't have enough of the context to put it into.
135avatiakh
I think you are allowed a vent after a day like that.
>131 Chatterbox: Interesting to read your post about race relations and cultural appropriation in the US.
Paul Beatty will be at our Auckland Writers Festival in May and as I've purchased a 5 event concession pass I'm thinking about attending his talk. I haven't read the book, though sometimes I prefer that when I go to a writer event.
>131 Chatterbox: Interesting to read your post about race relations and cultural appropriation in the US.
Paul Beatty will be at our Auckland Writers Festival in May and as I've purchased a 5 event concession pass I'm thinking about attending his talk. I haven't read the book, though sometimes I prefer that when I go to a writer event.
136Chatterbox
Now, more books:
70. The Strange Case of Rachel K. by Rachel Kushner
I'm not sure whether you would call this a novella told in related vignettes, or three interlinked short stories, or... They lead up to the final episode, featuring one of the characters from Kushner's debut novel, Telex from Cuba. Read it to wonder at Kushner's prose, and to puzzle over her intent (though don't pay for this; it's overpriced for what you'll read in an hour or two...) but I suspect there's more satisfaction to be had from that novel. I find her writing utterly engrossing but having read only The Flamethrowers, have yet to decide whether I "like" her as a writer -- she doesn't immediately appeal to me other than intellectually, and this short work didn't help. Rewarding only on an ultra-cerebral level. 3.65 stars.
71. Lenin's Roller Coaster by David Downing
This series, from the author of Zoo Station and the other Jack Russell novels, continues to disappoint and I keep looking for something in it that might prove me wrong. The main character, Jack McColl, is an English spy; his love interest, Caitlin, is an American socialist and supporter of Irish independence. Initially, the two struck sparks off each other, but now they hardly ever see each other, making for a very dull relationship. Indeed, in this book, they have almost completely different adventures, although there is a sense that eventually, both will wind up in Moscow, pursuing their own goals: Caitlin wants to help Lenin's revolution succeed and get some great stories for her newspaper, while Jack's bosses want to make sure the Germans don't get access to any weapons that the Bolsheviks are laying down, and any Russian raw materials. The narrative moves back and forth between them, so you're essentially reading two completely different books. Caitlin, at least, is a fresh and interesting character; Jack is just too perfect and always has perfect luck. When he's travelling with a fellow spy, it's the other guy who is mysteriously murdered while Jack is out. When traveling incognito on a train and a bunch of Germans want to shoot every tenth passenger in reprisals for the murder of one of their own, something distracts the guy doing the counting just enough to make him lose his place in the count and save Jack's life. And so on. He's basically some kind of superhero, and it's annoying. Only a moderately interesting book, in spite of the setting/backdrop. 3.45 stars.
72. How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood by Peter Moskowitz
One of only a tiny handful of five-star books this year! This is an excellent and immensely readable look at the changes in policy and governance of major urban areas in four major cities in the US -- New Orleans, Detroit, San Francisco and New York -- to delve into the ways in which gentrification has pushed out many of the original residents of the downtown city neighborhoods, destroying the character of individual city neighborhoods, making them bland and unaffordable to all but the whitest and richest, in the name of gentrification and safety (and profits for developers.) Those who can't afford to stay? Well, they can just go "somewhere else." Left unsaid is where that somewhere else is, and what the implications of their departure is on the city, from the loss of workers who are needed to make it run to the loss of a vibrancy that only economically, culturally and socially diverse communities bring about. The irony, of course, is that there is a tipping point: at some point, the "gentrifiers" are drawn to an area by its amenities, community spirit, diversity, etc., until they flood it and little of what appealed to them at first is left. I've seen this happen in the area of Brooklyn that is one of those that Moskowitz looks at, and it rings true. His choice of cities is very wise: two that are gentrifying in the wake of a crisis and two that have never experienced a major downturn but that still are undergoing the same phenomenon. The only flaw I'd find here is a slight tendency to conspiracy thinking -- to thinking that when lenders red-lined the inner-city and denied loans to minority home buyers, they were already thinking far ahead and assuming that one day they would gentrify and make oodles of money. I don't think bankers and real estate lenders think 40 or 50 years into the future in this way... Otherwise, this is a stellar, thought-provoking book. 5 stars!
73. All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg
Saint Mazie was the first book by Attenberg that I read, and I enjoyed it so much that I was eager to grab the ARC of her upcoming new novel, revolving around a women in her late 30s who is still in the midst of defining what it really means to be herself -- and an adult. She doesn't mind being single and unmarried, or being childless, although both of those states of affairs seem to matter a lot to those around her. Andrea Bern, like most of us, is muddling through life more or less successfully, but the emphasis too often is on "muddle." We see those who populate her world, in particular her mother (whose house warming gift to her is the elegant chair in which her drug addicted father died...); her best friend Indigo, and her brother and sister-in-law, none of whom has it all together as much as they seem as they struggle (respectively) with a marriage in crisis and a dying child. There are no easy answers here, and ultimately that's Attenberg's message. Beautiful writing and emotionally honest; but this is a book that women will enjoy more than men. 4.4 stars.
74. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
For 27 years, Christopher Knight lived in the woods of Maine, within shouting distance of "civilization" and relying on his ability to burgle local cabins to replenish his food supplies, but shunning all contact with other people: in all those years, he said only a single word to another human being, and was spotted on only three occasions. Why did he walk into the woods and how did he live there? Well, this is no tale by Thoreau: Knight was a recluse, even though he ended up being just as familiar with every rock and bit of moss or sign of wildlife in his chosen part of the Maine woodland was Thoreau was with Walden Pond. He simply didn't want to be alone, and when he was finally caught, he still shunned human contact, making Finkel's ability to write this book all the more impressive. How do you talk to someone who doesn't want to see anyone or talk to them, and who took to the woods precisely to avoid the difficulty of engaging in such exercises as baring his soul to others? An absolutely fascinating look at the need for silence and solitude on the part of some of us and what we lose when we fill up our worlds with jabber and noise and distraction, as well as Chris Knght's individual story. 4.6 stars.
75. A Single Spy by William Christie
This is a kind of rollicking adventure story that leaves all kinds of loose ends in its wake as it steams along at full blast, kind of hoping you won't notice because the adrenaline level is so high. Our hero is born in the Soviet Union, and extensive flashbacks fill us in on his quirky background and oddball skill set, which include expert lockpicking abilities and fluency in German. Still a teen in the perilous 1930s, he is given a choice: cooperate with the NKVD and go undercover in Hitler's Germany as an agent -- or get six grams of lead in the back of the neck (aka the death penalty. ) A bit of a no brainer for someone as smart as Alexsi, reborn with no fewer than two new identities in 1938, just in time to try to warn Stalin of Hitler's invasion plans. When Stalin doesn't want to listen, it's off to some other espionage stuff. The final third of the book is disjointed and confusing and while the final page is amusing, it leaves too much of a dangling loose end. I hope there isn't a sequel. I doubt I'd read it. 3.6 stars.
70. The Strange Case of Rachel K. by Rachel Kushner
I'm not sure whether you would call this a novella told in related vignettes, or three interlinked short stories, or... They lead up to the final episode, featuring one of the characters from Kushner's debut novel, Telex from Cuba. Read it to wonder at Kushner's prose, and to puzzle over her intent (though don't pay for this; it's overpriced for what you'll read in an hour or two...) but I suspect there's more satisfaction to be had from that novel. I find her writing utterly engrossing but having read only The Flamethrowers, have yet to decide whether I "like" her as a writer -- she doesn't immediately appeal to me other than intellectually, and this short work didn't help. Rewarding only on an ultra-cerebral level. 3.65 stars.
71. Lenin's Roller Coaster by David Downing
This series, from the author of Zoo Station and the other Jack Russell novels, continues to disappoint and I keep looking for something in it that might prove me wrong. The main character, Jack McColl, is an English spy; his love interest, Caitlin, is an American socialist and supporter of Irish independence. Initially, the two struck sparks off each other, but now they hardly ever see each other, making for a very dull relationship. Indeed, in this book, they have almost completely different adventures, although there is a sense that eventually, both will wind up in Moscow, pursuing their own goals: Caitlin wants to help Lenin's revolution succeed and get some great stories for her newspaper, while Jack's bosses want to make sure the Germans don't get access to any weapons that the Bolsheviks are laying down, and any Russian raw materials. The narrative moves back and forth between them, so you're essentially reading two completely different books. Caitlin, at least, is a fresh and interesting character; Jack is just too perfect and always has perfect luck. When he's travelling with a fellow spy, it's the other guy who is mysteriously murdered while Jack is out. When traveling incognito on a train and a bunch of Germans want to shoot every tenth passenger in reprisals for the murder of one of their own, something distracts the guy doing the counting just enough to make him lose his place in the count and save Jack's life. And so on. He's basically some kind of superhero, and it's annoying. Only a moderately interesting book, in spite of the setting/backdrop. 3.45 stars.
72. How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood by Peter Moskowitz
One of only a tiny handful of five-star books this year! This is an excellent and immensely readable look at the changes in policy and governance of major urban areas in four major cities in the US -- New Orleans, Detroit, San Francisco and New York -- to delve into the ways in which gentrification has pushed out many of the original residents of the downtown city neighborhoods, destroying the character of individual city neighborhoods, making them bland and unaffordable to all but the whitest and richest, in the name of gentrification and safety (and profits for developers.) Those who can't afford to stay? Well, they can just go "somewhere else." Left unsaid is where that somewhere else is, and what the implications of their departure is on the city, from the loss of workers who are needed to make it run to the loss of a vibrancy that only economically, culturally and socially diverse communities bring about. The irony, of course, is that there is a tipping point: at some point, the "gentrifiers" are drawn to an area by its amenities, community spirit, diversity, etc., until they flood it and little of what appealed to them at first is left. I've seen this happen in the area of Brooklyn that is one of those that Moskowitz looks at, and it rings true. His choice of cities is very wise: two that are gentrifying in the wake of a crisis and two that have never experienced a major downturn but that still are undergoing the same phenomenon. The only flaw I'd find here is a slight tendency to conspiracy thinking -- to thinking that when lenders red-lined the inner-city and denied loans to minority home buyers, they were already thinking far ahead and assuming that one day they would gentrify and make oodles of money. I don't think bankers and real estate lenders think 40 or 50 years into the future in this way... Otherwise, this is a stellar, thought-provoking book. 5 stars!
73. All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg
Saint Mazie was the first book by Attenberg that I read, and I enjoyed it so much that I was eager to grab the ARC of her upcoming new novel, revolving around a women in her late 30s who is still in the midst of defining what it really means to be herself -- and an adult. She doesn't mind being single and unmarried, or being childless, although both of those states of affairs seem to matter a lot to those around her. Andrea Bern, like most of us, is muddling through life more or less successfully, but the emphasis too often is on "muddle." We see those who populate her world, in particular her mother (whose house warming gift to her is the elegant chair in which her drug addicted father died...); her best friend Indigo, and her brother and sister-in-law, none of whom has it all together as much as they seem as they struggle (respectively) with a marriage in crisis and a dying child. There are no easy answers here, and ultimately that's Attenberg's message. Beautiful writing and emotionally honest; but this is a book that women will enjoy more than men. 4.4 stars.
74. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
For 27 years, Christopher Knight lived in the woods of Maine, within shouting distance of "civilization" and relying on his ability to burgle local cabins to replenish his food supplies, but shunning all contact with other people: in all those years, he said only a single word to another human being, and was spotted on only three occasions. Why did he walk into the woods and how did he live there? Well, this is no tale by Thoreau: Knight was a recluse, even though he ended up being just as familiar with every rock and bit of moss or sign of wildlife in his chosen part of the Maine woodland was Thoreau was with Walden Pond. He simply didn't want to be alone, and when he was finally caught, he still shunned human contact, making Finkel's ability to write this book all the more impressive. How do you talk to someone who doesn't want to see anyone or talk to them, and who took to the woods precisely to avoid the difficulty of engaging in such exercises as baring his soul to others? An absolutely fascinating look at the need for silence and solitude on the part of some of us and what we lose when we fill up our worlds with jabber and noise and distraction, as well as Chris Knght's individual story. 4.6 stars.
75. A Single Spy by William Christie
This is a kind of rollicking adventure story that leaves all kinds of loose ends in its wake as it steams along at full blast, kind of hoping you won't notice because the adrenaline level is so high. Our hero is born in the Soviet Union, and extensive flashbacks fill us in on his quirky background and oddball skill set, which include expert lockpicking abilities and fluency in German. Still a teen in the perilous 1930s, he is given a choice: cooperate with the NKVD and go undercover in Hitler's Germany as an agent -- or get six grams of lead in the back of the neck (aka the death penalty. ) A bit of a no brainer for someone as smart as Alexsi, reborn with no fewer than two new identities in 1938, just in time to try to warn Stalin of Hitler's invasion plans. When Stalin doesn't want to listen, it's off to some other espionage stuff. The final third of the book is disjointed and confusing and while the final page is amusing, it leaves too much of a dangling loose end. I hope there isn't a sequel. I doubt I'd read it. 3.6 stars.
137Chatterbox
>134 SandDune: Yes, I did understand that -- I was just taking your point a little further. Apologize if I wasn't clear.
>135 avatiakh: Do let me know if you decide to go! After reading this, I'd love to see Beatty talk about his novel.
>135 avatiakh: Do let me know if you decide to go! After reading this, I'd love to see Beatty talk about his novel.
138Oberon
How to Kill a City sounds superb! I will need to find a copy and delve back into urban planning for a bit.
139katiekrug
Sorry about the frustrating work experience.
I love both Jami Attenberg books I've read - Saint Mazie and The Middlesteins. I'm looking forward to this new one!
ETA: I just got Exit West from the library and it's very good!
I love both Jami Attenberg books I've read - Saint Mazie and The Middlesteins. I'm looking forward to this new one!
ETA: I just got Exit West from the library and it's very good!
140cushlareads
In a weird coincidence I bought the 2nd Jack McColl novel on my Kindle last night. I hope I like it more than you did! I didn't realise there was already a 3rd (or soon to be, if you have an ARC). Such a shame because the Zoo Station series was so fantastic.
Hope you have a *much* better Saturday than Friday.
Hope you have a *much* better Saturday than Friday.
141LovingLit
>120 Chatterbox: Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung by Min Kym sounds like it could be a great read. The nutshell part of your description could be fleshed out with some amazing stories, I bet.
>125 Chatterbox: Another intriguing novella featuring a middle-aged/older woman! Hmm, what does this say about me??
To me, it says that you are reading books about real life! I love books about stuff I think about, and lately all it seems to be is kids, home, work, partner, friends and books. I read The Women's Room and loved that it was so domestic, and I'd gladly read a book about anything else on my list :)
Also, I need to read something from Anne Perry, given her connection to my city, I am curious.
>125 Chatterbox: Another intriguing novella featuring a middle-aged/older woman! Hmm, what does this say about me??
To me, it says that you are reading books about real life! I love books about stuff I think about, and lately all it seems to be is kids, home, work, partner, friends and books. I read The Women's Room and loved that it was so domestic, and I'd gladly read a book about anything else on my list :)
Also, I need to read something from Anne Perry, given her connection to my city, I am curious.
142Chatterbox
>141 LovingLit: You will find that Anne Perry steers very, very, VERY carefully away from even mentioning the Antipodes in ANY of her novels. It is almost eerie. Given the number of them that she has written by now, and the era in which they are set, you would have expected that at least one character would have ventured there, made a fortune there, or something. But nope -- nothing. (North America, Africa, Europe, do feature, as does China and, I believe, India.) It's a glaring omission, and I can only believe it's because she doesn't want to remind people of her own background. But then, I have a nasty suspicious mind. It's truly amazing to me that her own role in a murder is never, ever, ever raised, except as a tiny footnote and very occasionally, and she is able to pretend it never happened. There is a lot to be said for fresh starts, but do we allow people this level of denial, especially given their chosen profession? Her characters tend to ramble introspectively, which is an annoying tendency in an author, but I think reflective of all of this. (And of the tendency of editors to let bestselling writers have their head -- alas.) Her early books were much better -- crisper and more focused. Stick to them!
I loved The Women's Room when I first read it in the early 80s, when I was about 21 or so. I re-read it several times (it was during the period, noted above, when my access to English-language books was very limited -- it was my mother's copy and I took it off to my graduate school with about 40 or 50 other paperbacks, all of which I simply re-read in a cycle and supplemented when I could afford to do so, which wasn't often.) Life before Amazon and Kindle! If that were me now, I could see me frantically downloading books onto my Kindle up to the very last moment in Vancouver airport...
>140 cushlareads: I hope you enjoy them more than I did, too! I think partly they flagged by comparison, but also that McColl was Downing's previous hero on steroids -- no real flaws, just a macho man.
>139 katiekrug: I'll have to read The Middlesteins now; I missed that one when it was published, or passed it by; can't remember which. Clearly, since I've enjoyed her other two tremendously, I need to read it.
>138 Oberon: Even if you don't agree completely with his conclusions, you'll have to engage with his arguments, because the latter are so well founded on facts (at least the section on New York is, and to the best of my understanding of San Francisco, based on reporting about the impact of the tech sector's growth/expansion, so is that section.) To me, that's the sign of a good book. It's provocative, and I've pointed out the one area where his implications, at least, seemed to me to go too far, but there are plenty of places to engage thoughtfully. I'm not sure I find his recommendations list at the end completely convincing, either -- it read like something his editors asked him to add, and it's very self evident and "d'uh, what do you think we're already trying to do???" But that's appendix material, not the meat of the book, and I never judge a critical book by a failure to come up with a complete replacement system in six pages at the end of his/her analysis.
I loved The Women's Room when I first read it in the early 80s, when I was about 21 or so. I re-read it several times (it was during the period, noted above, when my access to English-language books was very limited -- it was my mother's copy and I took it off to my graduate school with about 40 or 50 other paperbacks, all of which I simply re-read in a cycle and supplemented when I could afford to do so, which wasn't often.) Life before Amazon and Kindle! If that were me now, I could see me frantically downloading books onto my Kindle up to the very last moment in Vancouver airport...
>140 cushlareads: I hope you enjoy them more than I did, too! I think partly they flagged by comparison, but also that McColl was Downing's previous hero on steroids -- no real flaws, just a macho man.
>139 katiekrug: I'll have to read The Middlesteins now; I missed that one when it was published, or passed it by; can't remember which. Clearly, since I've enjoyed her other two tremendously, I need to read it.
>138 Oberon: Even if you don't agree completely with his conclusions, you'll have to engage with his arguments, because the latter are so well founded on facts (at least the section on New York is, and to the best of my understanding of San Francisco, based on reporting about the impact of the tech sector's growth/expansion, so is that section.) To me, that's the sign of a good book. It's provocative, and I've pointed out the one area where his implications, at least, seemed to me to go too far, but there are plenty of places to engage thoughtfully. I'm not sure I find his recommendations list at the end completely convincing, either -- it read like something his editors asked him to add, and it's very self evident and "d'uh, what do you think we're already trying to do???" But that's appendix material, not the meat of the book, and I never judge a critical book by a failure to come up with a complete replacement system in six pages at the end of his/her analysis.
143alcottacre
>125 Chatterbox: Adding Often I Am Happy to the BlackHole!
>136 Chatterbox: How to Kill a City and Saint Mazie are going in too!
>136 Chatterbox: How to Kill a City and Saint Mazie are going in too!
144benitastrnad
I am sending you greetings from Victor's Residenz Inn on Friedrichshan strasse in Berlin. This is a very interesting city that seems to be looking back to the past more than into the future. Why do I say that? There are to many memorials and not enough art work in the public spaces. They need more of the Molecule Man and less of the Wall.
145m.belljackson
ISTHMUS, a Madison, Wisconsin, free newspaper, recently offered an article, "Images of Berlin."
It features Professor Alan Luft's new book, Photographic Portraits Berlin, released in October by
German publisher Kehrer Verlag. Pictures are described as both stark and lush.
It features Professor Alan Luft's new book, Photographic Portraits Berlin, released in October by
German publisher Kehrer Verlag. Pictures are described as both stark and lush.
146LovingLit
>142 Chatterbox: There is a lot to be said for fresh starts, but do we allow people this level of denial, especially given their chosen profession?
Wow- I have dared to think that, but it does seem un-talk-about-able. I have been fascinated with her ability to make a career in something so closely aligned with her past- which, let's face it, was pretty gory. Although, I can't really say that, as haven't read any of her novels. But they seem to be murder mysteries.
Wow- I have dared to think that, but it does seem un-talk-about-able. I have been fascinated with her ability to make a career in something so closely aligned with her past- which, let's face it, was pretty gory. Although, I can't really say that, as haven't read any of her novels. But they seem to be murder mysteries.
147rosalita
>142 Chatterbox: Well said, Suzanne, and I have felt the same. I remember being absolutely gobsmacked when I watched the movie Heavenly Creatures and then learned that one of the girls was a bestselling novelist of murder mysteries! Like Megan, I've never read any of her books myself.
148Chatterbox
>146 LovingLit: They are ALL murder mysteries. And as I noted, she delves into a lot of introspection on the part of her characters, musing by proxy on issues like criminal responsibility, culpability, one's duties to others in the community, etc. So I can't stop wondering whether this is a particularly oblique way of dealing with some kind of unresolved issues related to her role in that teenaged crime, or whether she is in massive denial. Given that she utterly refuses to ever discuss the past -- and the willingness of everyone to drop a polite veil over it, as if it never happened at all, which I struggle with -- it's bizarre. Second chances, sure, but there is politeness and then there over-delicacy, tiptoeing around to save her feelings that we wouldn't do in any other circumstances or if she weren't a middle aged woman and a bestselling author. In many ways, I'm appalled by it. I read the novels in part because I started reading them long before I knew her past history, but wow...
>144 benitastrnad: I do hope you enjoy Berlin anyway! I remember seeing art in oddball spaces -- not necc. public art, but art created by local people and propped up in neighborhoods, mostly in the former Eastern part of the city. Your friend can probably take you to some of those places. But then Germany is a different kind of city, and in Berlin, the emphasis has been on recreating the city as a national capital, rather than on smaller-scale public art projects. A different focus, perhaps? I'll ping my friend Bill, who works there as a journalist, and see if he has any suggestions for places to go art-spotting (he has been there for 25 years or so...)
>144 benitastrnad: I do hope you enjoy Berlin anyway! I remember seeing art in oddball spaces -- not necc. public art, but art created by local people and propped up in neighborhoods, mostly in the former Eastern part of the city. Your friend can probably take you to some of those places. But then Germany is a different kind of city, and in Berlin, the emphasis has been on recreating the city as a national capital, rather than on smaller-scale public art projects. A different focus, perhaps? I'll ping my friend Bill, who works there as a journalist, and see if he has any suggestions for places to go art-spotting (he has been there for 25 years or so...)
149benitastrnad
#148
It is just that the art is so formal and ponderous. Laden with meaning and such. The graffiti art is just that. I think they need something like the Chicago bean.
It is just that the art is so formal and ponderous. Laden with meaning and such. The graffiti art is just that. I think they need something like the Chicago bean.
150LovingLit
In other news, please do let me know if you receive a book from me in the post. I am sure I sent one, but then saw the one I was sure I'd sent on my bedside table. So its either a case of (a) you will get nothing, or (b) you will get something that is not the one I thought to send you initially.
:)
:)
151elkiedee
Anne Perry used to come to the St Hilda's conference on crime fiction every summer - she may still do so but I've not been since 2006, initially because of kids then finances. She was accompanied by a young man who would drive her down from the Scottish Highlands. I believe she would speak on the programme but I can't remember the subjects of her papers. I just looked up her age, thinking she looked about 70 then, and she's actually 78 now (so would have been mid to late 60s when I saw her). I've borrowed the first few Pitt books from the library and have some secondhand copies from both Victorian series, and have heard some negative reviews of her WW1 series which would put me off reading them.
152Chatterbox
>151 elkiedee: I did read the WW1 books (because, WW1 -- I read whatever fiction is set against that backdrop) and while I have managed to purge them from my mind now, about 20 years later, I would say avoid at all costs! They were bewilderingly pointless. At least the Victorian ones have interesting backdrops. The one I'm reading now (the final one I have to read to catch up in the Pitt series before I read the ARC I requested from Amazon Vine) has an interesting backstory about anarchists and police corruption.
I knew she lived in the Highlands -- I just looked it up and found that it's about 10 miles away from where all my own Highland ancestors originated, Portmahomack, near Tain. And I saw that the first book in this series was published in 1979, the year I graduated from high school. Gulp. So I'll definitely give her credit for longevity!
>150 LovingLit: LOL, I will definitely keep a keen eye open! That is absolutely hilarious. So a mystery book MAY be on its way -- or not. The suspense will keep me going!
It SNOWED this morning. It's supposed to be spring. I am annoyed.
On the flip side, I have an ARC of the new Alison Weir novel about Anne Boleyn -- more than 500 pages, a real chunkster, and an excellent take on the young Anne at the courts of Margaret of Burgundy in Mechelin and of Queen Claude of France and Marguerite of Alençon -- a period that someone who isn't a biographer would just skip over to get to the juicy bits. But she's laying the groundwork for why Anne was such a distinctive character and doing it in an interesting way. So I approve!
I knew she lived in the Highlands -- I just looked it up and found that it's about 10 miles away from where all my own Highland ancestors originated, Portmahomack, near Tain. And I saw that the first book in this series was published in 1979, the year I graduated from high school. Gulp. So I'll definitely give her credit for longevity!
>150 LovingLit: LOL, I will definitely keep a keen eye open! That is absolutely hilarious. So a mystery book MAY be on its way -- or not. The suspense will keep me going!
It SNOWED this morning. It's supposed to be spring. I am annoyed.
On the flip side, I have an ARC of the new Alison Weir novel about Anne Boleyn -- more than 500 pages, a real chunkster, and an excellent take on the young Anne at the courts of Margaret of Burgundy in Mechelin and of Queen Claude of France and Marguerite of Alençon -- a period that someone who isn't a biographer would just skip over to get to the juicy bits. But she's laying the groundwork for why Anne was such a distinctive character and doing it in an interesting way. So I approve!
153LovingLit
>152 Chatterbox: wondering how long we can leave it before assuming it is not coming. A card I send to RD once took something like 7 months to come back to me here because he was not longer at that address!!! (I probably won't wait that long though)
154cushlareads
Just chipping in on Anne Perry... I found Heavenly Creatures such a disturbing movie and I hadn't heard of her as an author before then. I've never wanted to try one of her books because of it - I don't like that she never acknowledges what happened. Suz, that's really interesting that she never has anything set down here.
The Alison Weir novel sounds promising - hope it stays good.
The Alison Weir novel sounds promising - hope it stays good.
155PaulCranswick
Oooh Benita is in Berlin!
Shame that she doesn't have a thread to post her photos to!
It is funny that Alison Weir, a distinguished (if misguided from a Ricardian point of view) historian of the War of the Roses and Tudor period has seemingly moved more to the mainstream with a series of novels. Since the Tudors invented much of their history it is apropos that one of their apologists should invent detail to add to it.
Have a great weekend, Suz.
Shame that she doesn't have a thread to post her photos to!
It is funny that Alison Weir, a distinguished (if misguided from a Ricardian point of view) historian of the War of the Roses and Tudor period has seemingly moved more to the mainstream with a series of novels. Since the Tudors invented much of their history it is apropos that one of their apologists should invent detail to add to it.
Have a great weekend, Suz.
156Chatterbox
>155 PaulCranswick: Oh, she has been writing novels for a while. Started off with one about Lady Jane Grey many moons ago. They are of varying degrees of quality; I'd avoid the one about Eleanor of Aquitaine, alas.
These books, written from the POV of the "wives", are actually very good, as historical fiction goes. There's a lot of it out there, and I'd rather it be well researched compared to some of the romantic dreck, or the Jean Plaidy pedantry. (based on Agnes Strickland's Victorian pedantry, and bawdlerized, to boot.)
These books, written from the POV of the "wives", are actually very good, as historical fiction goes. There's a lot of it out there, and I'd rather it be well researched compared to some of the romantic dreck, or the Jean Plaidy pedantry. (based on Agnes Strickland's Victorian pedantry, and bawdlerized, to boot.)
157alcottacre
I hope the migraine has long since departed, Suz!
158benitastrnad
I am back from Berlin and on the road back to Alabama. The two are far removed from each other in many ways.
#155
I couldn't post my pictures on a thread even if I had one because I don't have a camera and refuse to take "pictures" on a phone. Since I don't have access to the internet, even if I deigned to use the phone as a camera, I would have no way to get the photos from the phone to Librarything.
Besides I simply don't understand the desire for selfies. What is important is that I went to the Reichstag and walked all the way to the top and back - not that I made an ass of myself snapping a series of selfies just to prove to unknown someones that "I was there!"
If anyone is interested in what I have to say about my visit to Berlin they can read about it in my e-mails, or when I post snippets on other threads.
If anyone needs a fantastic hotel in Berlin I highly recommend the Victor's Residenze Inn's. The place was wonderful and the price was right. These hotels will probably be outrageously expensive in the summer and during the Christmas holidays, but in March it was exceptionally high quality and service for the price I paid. It was old world elegance personified. Complete with brass room key.
#155
I couldn't post my pictures on a thread even if I had one because I don't have a camera and refuse to take "pictures" on a phone. Since I don't have access to the internet, even if I deigned to use the phone as a camera, I would have no way to get the photos from the phone to Librarything.
Besides I simply don't understand the desire for selfies. What is important is that I went to the Reichstag and walked all the way to the top and back - not that I made an ass of myself snapping a series of selfies just to prove to unknown someones that "I was there!"
If anyone is interested in what I have to say about my visit to Berlin they can read about it in my e-mails, or when I post snippets on other threads.
If anyone needs a fantastic hotel in Berlin I highly recommend the Victor's Residenze Inn's. The place was wonderful and the price was right. These hotels will probably be outrageously expensive in the summer and during the Christmas holidays, but in March it was exceptionally high quality and service for the price I paid. It was old world elegance personified. Complete with brass room key.
159Chatterbox
Good for you, Benita! (re your photo manifesto...) For myself I enjoy taking pics of the things I see, mostly because I like photography, but have roughly the same view of the "selfie".
Am listening to audiobooks of works by Georgette Heyer while I grapple with the epic migraine. Sigh.
Am listening to audiobooks of works by Georgette Heyer while I grapple with the epic migraine. Sigh.
160benitastrnad
#159
Ugh on the migraine.
I purchase post cards instead of taking my own pictures. Post cards are usually high quality pictures of the places I have been and if somebody wants to hear about my trip I can use those as illustrations. Besides, doing so also reminds me to send people postcards. I sent lots of postcards from Berlin to my family members.
I will confess that I am going to try to scan some of the postcards so that I can use them as illustrations for some of my e-mail remembrances that I send to friends. I have never tried to scan them before so this will be something new for me.
Ugh on the migraine.
I purchase post cards instead of taking my own pictures. Post cards are usually high quality pictures of the places I have been and if somebody wants to hear about my trip I can use those as illustrations. Besides, doing so also reminds me to send people postcards. I sent lots of postcards from Berlin to my family members.
I will confess that I am going to try to scan some of the postcards so that I can use them as illustrations for some of my e-mail remembrances that I send to friends. I have never tried to scan them before so this will be something new for me.
161benitastrnad
I hope you are feeling better. I am back at work, and just now getting out from under the deluge. I am going to write a short blog post about crayons for the library this morning. Have you heard about the big announcement from Crayola? They are going to retire a color from the 24 box and will make the big announcement tomorrow (Friday) morning.
I am also going to be attending a mandatory meeting today in which our Associate Dean (I call her the Ass Dean) is announcing our new job duties. I read the preliminary document and it is just more of the same using updated words and sexy catch phrases. Does the crap from above never cease?
I am also going to be attending a mandatory meeting today in which our Associate Dean (I call her the Ass Dean) is announcing our new job duties. I read the preliminary document and it is just more of the same using updated words and sexy catch phrases. Does the crap from above never cease?
162Chatterbox
No, the crap from on high never does cease...
Apparently tomorrow is National Crayon Day! Who knew?? (Tuesday was Respect Your Cat Day... My cats reminded me of this pointedly, as they do the other 364 days of the year...) Jimmy Fallon apparently has some Trump-themed ideas for colors -- presidential orange, super white (in honor of the cabinet), "Paul Ryan blue it" (re health reform) and so on... I suspect they will light up the Empire State building in the new color, as has happened before. Still, as a bit of a Luddite, I will be sad to see an old color retired!
Just finished my 100th book -- Stoner by John Williams. Remarkable to consider that he wrote only four novels in his career (one of which he later disowned), all of which now are considered to be minor classics, and the final one of which, Augustus, won the National Book Award. Stoner felt stylistically older than it is -- reminiscent of Sinclair Lewis, perhaps? -- but also was very moving, being the portrait of a man who considers himself to be happy and fulfilled even though from the outside, readers would view his life as desperately miserable. It's not sentimental, but ruthlessly honest in its emotional insights and yes, made me cry in points in spite of the rather old-fashioned tone. And now I have 25 books to report back on. Oh dear. Lethargy, migraine, depression, occasional work -- I'm blaming those. And the bloody weather. This is the first sunny day in more than a week.
Apparently tomorrow is National Crayon Day! Who knew?? (Tuesday was Respect Your Cat Day... My cats reminded me of this pointedly, as they do the other 364 days of the year...) Jimmy Fallon apparently has some Trump-themed ideas for colors -- presidential orange, super white (in honor of the cabinet), "Paul Ryan blue it" (re health reform) and so on... I suspect they will light up the Empire State building in the new color, as has happened before. Still, as a bit of a Luddite, I will be sad to see an old color retired!
Just finished my 100th book -- Stoner by John Williams. Remarkable to consider that he wrote only four novels in his career (one of which he later disowned), all of which now are considered to be minor classics, and the final one of which, Augustus, won the National Book Award. Stoner felt stylistically older than it is -- reminiscent of Sinclair Lewis, perhaps? -- but also was very moving, being the portrait of a man who considers himself to be happy and fulfilled even though from the outside, readers would view his life as desperately miserable. It's not sentimental, but ruthlessly honest in its emotional insights and yes, made me cry in points in spite of the rather old-fashioned tone. And now I have 25 books to report back on. Oh dear. Lethargy, migraine, depression, occasional work -- I'm blaming those. And the bloody weather. This is the first sunny day in more than a week.
163Chatterbox
Currently reading:
164charl08
Ooh, the Patriots! Hope it's as good as it sounded from the Guardian. Might just mosey over to Amazon to see how much the kindle copy is.
Hope the migraines have gone. And congrats on 100 books!
Hope the migraines have gone. And congrats on 100 books!
165rosalita
I picked up a copy of Stoner in a book sale ages ago, and have somehow never gotten to it. It sounds like I should dig it out and give it a go.
166Chatterbox
>164 charl08: I have just dug into it. It's interesting, but one of those books with multiple voices and timelines, so it's taking me a bit of time to get into. It's intriguing, but not yet (40 pages) quite captivating.
>165 rosalita: I'd recommend Stoner. It was slow at first, and I can't emphasize enough the old-fashioned character, but then that is appropriate to the era about which Williams was writing. I'll probably going back to it. There's a precision to his language that I admired. An excellent intro to the NYRB edition by John McGahern.
>165 rosalita: I'd recommend Stoner. It was slow at first, and I can't emphasize enough the old-fashioned character, but then that is appropriate to the era about which Williams was writing. I'll probably going back to it. There's a precision to his language that I admired. An excellent intro to the NYRB edition by John McGahern.
167Copperskye
Coming out of lurk mode to say how glad I am that you liked Stoner. I read it a few years ago and then immediately purchased a copy of Butcher's Crossing. I really should get to it.
168Chatterbox
I just had a big "d'uh" moment, realizing that the reason for all these Russian related books (Helen Rappaport; Catherine Merridale's book about Lenin's return to Russia) are because this year marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution(s). The Patriots also ties into that theme. But damn, am I slow on the uptake.
169benitastrnad
#168
This made me laugh. I just realized that a few weeks ago - prior to the Berlin trip - and then got hit with it in Berlin a couple of times. Like you, I was slow on the uptake.
Here at UA 2017 is all about the centenary of the U.S.A. going to war in WWI. Special exhibits from our archives, etc. etc. etc.
This made me laugh. I just realized that a few weeks ago - prior to the Berlin trip - and then got hit with it in Berlin a couple of times. Like you, I was slow on the uptake.
Here at UA 2017 is all about the centenary of the U.S.A. going to war in WWI. Special exhibits from our archives, etc. etc. etc.
170Chatterbox
>168 Chatterbox:
>169 benitastrnad:
You have to wonder what the impact on the outcome of World War I had the first series of events (the back to back revolutions, resulting in Russia's withdrawal from the war) taken place, without the US's entry into it. Had the Germans been able to resolve things on the Eastern front even slightly earlier, it could have had a very, very different result. Remembering that it was essentially a stalemate, in which the Germans were forced to their knees where they stood, rather than a conclusive defeat with German troops forced to retreat, as in 1945. Hence the whole rationale on which the Nazi ideology depended... This is why history fascinates me so much!
>169 benitastrnad:
You have to wonder what the impact on the outcome of World War I had the first series of events (the back to back revolutions, resulting in Russia's withdrawal from the war) taken place, without the US's entry into it. Had the Germans been able to resolve things on the Eastern front even slightly earlier, it could have had a very, very different result. Remembering that it was essentially a stalemate, in which the Germans were forced to their knees where they stood, rather than a conclusive defeat with German troops forced to retreat, as in 1945. Hence the whole rationale on which the Nazi ideology depended... This is why history fascinates me so much!
171SandDune
>162 Chatterbox: J has just read Stoner on a recommendation from a friend. Not his usual sort of relaxation reading at all: he usually prefers sci-if and fantasy. He was very shocked that someone would read something so miserable for pleasure!
172Chatterbox
>171 SandDune: McGahern's preface argues that it shouldn't be viewed as a miserable book at all, and that Stoner isn't a miserable or even unhappy man; that he is content in his mission as a teacher. It's an intriguing idea, and reminds me of Camus's assertion that one has to imagine Sisyphus as happy. (I can't remember the precise wording re Camus.) Not that Stoner is either an existentialist OR a stoic, in any sense. Poor J, though! A big leap from sci-fi/fantasy to Stoner...
173alcottacre
>162 Chatterbox: I read Stoner years ago. I was the first New York Review Books Classics book I ever read. I have not read anything else by John Edward Williams. I really need to rectify that fact.
174LovingLit
>162 Chatterbox: Congrats on reaching 100!!! And with Stoner too. I loved that book :) I also loved that it was a hidden gem that was given a second chance for recognition. I hadn't realised the author had written more, I will have to WL them! (>171 SandDune: I am firmly in the reads-depressing-books-and-loves-them camp)
175SandDune
>172 Chatterbox: To be fair to J he does read some fairly literary aci-if and fantasy. And I suppose he reads literature for his English class. But not his normal fare.
>174 LovingLit: From J's description I thought it was one that I would really like!
>174 LovingLit: From J's description I thought it was one that I would really like!
176benitastrnad
My local Sunday paper had an article about the new Matisse exhibit in Boston. It sounds like a good one. Are you making plans to go see it? It is going to be there through the summer, so if you go I want to hear about it on our threads. It sounds wonderful!!
This morning on NPR local Boston chef Barbara Lynch was interviewed. Her memoir Out of Line: A Life Playing with Fire has just been published. It sounded very interesting and I have added it to my Wishlist and my ever growing list of chef memoirs. I have had her cookbook Stir on my wishlist for a long time and the publication of this memoir might push me over the edge to purchase it.
This morning on NPR local Boston chef Barbara Lynch was interviewed. Her memoir Out of Line: A Life Playing with Fire has just been published. It sounded very interesting and I have added it to my Wishlist and my ever growing list of chef memoirs. I have had her cookbook Stir on my wishlist for a long time and the publication of this memoir might push me over the edge to purchase it.
177Chatterbox
77. The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes by Zach Dundas
For those infatuated with Benedict Cumberbatch's "Sherlock", or who grew up devouring the stories of Conan Doyle, this book will be manna from heaven. It's a biography/bibliography of all thinks Sherlockiana, combining the story of how Conan Doyle came to write the larger-than-life stories (and analyzing what makes them work -- hint, it's all to do with Dr. Watson), with the way these tales have acquired a near-obsessive following, to the extent of becoming more real than any fictional detectives. Once, Holmes was ahead of his time, pursuing scientific techniques in late Victorian England, but rapidly he became a historical artifact, stuck in a world of gas lighting and hansom cabs, as the world moved rapidly toward global warfare. It's a smart, interesting book, even if at times it sometimes feels exhaustingly exhaustive. 4 stars.
78. City of Friends by Joanna Trollope
I've been reading Trollope's novels ever since (almost) she began writing them -- a more literate form of chick lit, or women's literature. She continues to deliver precisely that, even if sometimes the plots veer into the potboiler territory or limp along, without the characters ever really coming to life. This was one of the books that I enjoyed even while admitting that its literary merit was de minimis. Sure, it was well written, but also terribly predictable, with characters that weren't very convincing. The usual group of four friends, in middle age (we've all seen this before, right?), whose lives are sort of upended (as much as is possible for white, affluent, educated women...) when one of them loses her job and sense of identity and all kind of secrets start emerging from the woodwork. Still, I was in the right mood to read this one when I did, hence the rating. 3.85 stars
79. The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky
I had really been anticipating this ARC, based on the description, so the fact that it was unmemorable and fell kind of flat was disappointing. Two women have a childhood or youthful tie to a single painting by Chaim Soutine, stolen from their families in very different circumstances. Rose, sent to England in a kindertransport, will discover that the painting, like everything else (including her parents), the painting has disappeared during the Nazi terror; decades later, in the 1960s/1970s, Lizzie's father buys it only for it to be stolen one night when she throws an illicit party in high school. There's an unconvincing romance for Lizzie, a connection between the elderly Rose and the young Lizzie, and a downright bizarre backstory about what happened to the painting. I was too busy wondering how the author expected me to believe all this to enjoy the (unmemorable) writing or characters. 3.5 stars
80. Death at the Chateau Bremont by M.L. Longworth 3.4 stars
86. Murder in the Rue Dumas by M.L. Longworth 3.6 stars
103. Death in the Vines by M. L. Longworth 3.35 stars
104. Murder on the Ile Sordou by M.L. Longworth 3.4 stars
110. The Mystery of the Lost Cézanne by M.L. Longworth 3.5 stars
Well, I've finally read this series and can read the ARC of the upcoming book, The Curse of La Fontaine, but I fail to see what the fuss is about. These are at best mildly charming, but their charm relies heavily on their Provençal setting, rather than the characters or (heaven forbid) the mysteries. Some of these are more interesting than others, such as Murder in the Rue Dumas, set against the backdrop of a theological college, but others, such as Death in the Vines, are so transparent, that it's risible. I had figured out what someone had been murdered even before the body was discovered, and solved the mystery of the disappearing wine by the time the culprit was fully described. That's a sub-par mystery. So we're left with the local color and charm, which is present in spades, but it's also there in Martin Walker's "Bruno" mysteries, which stand up better as mysteries and offer more suspense (even if they now also include far too many details about food preparation...) These are second-tier Bruno, chief of police novels that happen to be set in Provence, rather than Perigord. If that's what you're looking for, go for it. Few of the characters are really convincing, especially a very rich Parisian examining magistrate who heads the series but who doesn't seem to have to work hard to solve the crime -- clues just fall into his lap behind the scenes. Well, I have the ARC to read and review and then I'll be done with this series, I suspect.
81. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
This book is getting a LOT of attention right now, and it's certainly very, very timely. The author spent months/years involving herself in the lives on those of the other side of the political divide and seeking to cross the empathy wall (her description, and a very valid one.) And she reports back on what she finds -- fair enough. She chooses not to judge or reach any conclusions -- her goal is empathy. Also OK. But this isn't the first of these attempts I've read in various forms, all very well written, all thoughtful, and all reporting more or less the same conclusions and details. Hochschild's is more detailed, true, and the result of spending more time in a single place, and applying a sociological discipline to her reporting, but that doesn't change the fact that the results held little that surprised me -- little that brought fresh insight to the debate or offered me any hope that we will find a way, as a nation, to come together. Because if one thing emerged clearly, it was that her new friends on the other side of the wall had little to no interest in conducting the same experiment themselves. They didn't object to someone listening to them -- they felt (justifiably, in many cases) that their concerns had been neglected or overlooked by "elites." But ask any of them to repeat the experiment? (Which is something that would seem to be a logical corollary of what Hochschild herself seeks to do, no?) The author doesn't even address that possibility, insofar as I recall. There is a lot of listening going on here, and a lot of "wondering" on the author's part, but questioning and challenging weren't on the agenda. I think that if listening is the first step, there are others, and this book makes it sound as if listening is a panacea. Incidentally, I'd feel just the same if this were written by an evangelical, who had come to live in New York for a year and immerse himself/herself in secular culture, but who had only listened and never challenged people on what he/she had found there. So, great anecdotes, but I was hoping for and expecting so much more based on the buzz. 4.15 stars.
82. If I Could Tell You by Elizabeth Wilhide
Oh dear. Too many novelists have battened on to the drama of WW2 as a backdrop for romantic fiction. Elizabeth Bowen did it and it worked beautifully. Elizabeth Wilhide turns in a piece of turgid romantic tripe. Wife who imagines herself contented meets documentary filmmaker just before the war, starts affair, husband kicks her out (melodrama style, husband is Evil Beyond Measure) and she must try to forge new life in London during Blitz with cavalier bohemian lover, who isn't quite as lovely as he seemed when he was just a lover. Yeah, you get it. Yawn. You could probably draft an outline based on the preceding sentences and predict what happens next, and get it right. I should stop requesting ARCs that sound as if they might be good, with this kind of plot. I stopped enjoying them in my teens. 2.7 stars
83. The Danger Tree by Olivia Manning 4.35 stars
93. The Battle Lost and Won by Olivia Manning 4.3 stars
95. The Sum of Things by Olivia Manning 4.1 stars
(collectively The Levant Trilogy)
Then I turned to Olivia Manning's "Levant Trilogy" for a reminder of what it's like to do domestic drama against a WW2 backdrop PROPERLY. I still prefer the "Balkan Trilogy", but this is good, too -- this was a re-read. (I first read both in the late 1980s, after the miniseries with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson -- HIGHLY recommended -- came out on PBS.) The three books that make up this trilogy alternate between Simon Boulderstone's attempts to find (a) his brother and (b) meaning in the chaos of desert warfare, and the "home front", mostly in Cairo. What struck me on this re-reading is how the producers of the TV series made many of the characters, notably Aidan Sheridan/Pratt, Angela Hooper and Bill, the poet, more sympathetic -- Manning is ruthless in her descriptions of their selfishness, alcoholism and other failings. Meanwhile, Harriet and Guy Pringle drift further and further apart in their mutual incomprehension, and the reader is left wondering what on earth will happen to this couple, apparently locked together, but to what end? The re-read has left me wanting to read Manning's biography, which I have on my Kindle (an Xmas gift from a few years ago.)
84. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
An ARC from ALA Midwinter, bumped up my TBR list after a friend gave it a rave review (a non-LT friend.) I can see why he liked it, although I don't share the enthusiasm to the same degree -- I found it charming and anyone who loves or enjoys New York should definitely read it. The background is a New Year's Eve in the mid-1980s, and the narrator is the elderly Lillian of the title, who uses the walk of the title to revisit old haunts and ponder her life and the changing city. Rooney is skilled wordsmith, and what could have been clunky or sentimental is neither; Lillian is feisty, and views the introduction of TVs into bars with horror and bemusement, just as she accepts the changing landscape with aplomb. I was afraid this would be one of those cutesy, whimsical books (based on the cover and title -- like Harold Fry, Ove, etc. etc.) but it isn't. 4.4 stars
85. Barney: Grove Press and Barney Rosset, America’s Maverick Publisher and His Battle against Censorship by Michael Rosenthal
I read this for last month's nonfiction challenge, the theme of which was heroes and villains. You'd definitely consider Barney Rosset, the owner and publisher of Grove Press, to be a hero if you happen to be a big defender of the first amendment and the freedom to publish, but if you happened to be one of his four ex-wives or someone else who became entangled with him in some kind of dispute (he argued with people and yelled at them), you could well view him as a villain, even if a talented visionary one. Barney Rosset bought the Grove Press right after WW2 for a few thousand dollars and turned it into an avant-garde publishing house, famously publishing authors like Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco, among many others. (He also had a penchant for Victorian erotica, so Grove had a lot of that happening, too.) Rosset saw no reason why books should be banned as obscene, and fought to overturn decades-old laws that made it illegal to read tomes like Lady Chatterley's Lover (he got the first unexpurgated text published in the US) and Tropic of Cancer, which led to a Supreme Court decision that essentially said that anything that had some redeeming artistic value couldn't be censored. My only problem with this is that the book feels like too brisk a canter through his life and the US publishing scene, as if I'm getting all the highlights or the bullet points, but missing a lot of the detail and broader context that would have made it a much richer read. The focus is very, very narrow. It's good, but I suspect the more you know, the more you'll like this, even if you feel you already know everything you're reading, except a few of the anecdotes. 4.15 stars.
For those infatuated with Benedict Cumberbatch's "Sherlock", or who grew up devouring the stories of Conan Doyle, this book will be manna from heaven. It's a biography/bibliography of all thinks Sherlockiana, combining the story of how Conan Doyle came to write the larger-than-life stories (and analyzing what makes them work -- hint, it's all to do with Dr. Watson), with the way these tales have acquired a near-obsessive following, to the extent of becoming more real than any fictional detectives. Once, Holmes was ahead of his time, pursuing scientific techniques in late Victorian England, but rapidly he became a historical artifact, stuck in a world of gas lighting and hansom cabs, as the world moved rapidly toward global warfare. It's a smart, interesting book, even if at times it sometimes feels exhaustingly exhaustive. 4 stars.
78. City of Friends by Joanna Trollope
I've been reading Trollope's novels ever since (almost) she began writing them -- a more literate form of chick lit, or women's literature. She continues to deliver precisely that, even if sometimes the plots veer into the potboiler territory or limp along, without the characters ever really coming to life. This was one of the books that I enjoyed even while admitting that its literary merit was de minimis. Sure, it was well written, but also terribly predictable, with characters that weren't very convincing. The usual group of four friends, in middle age (we've all seen this before, right?), whose lives are sort of upended (as much as is possible for white, affluent, educated women...) when one of them loses her job and sense of identity and all kind of secrets start emerging from the woodwork. Still, I was in the right mood to read this one when I did, hence the rating. 3.85 stars
79. The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky
I had really been anticipating this ARC, based on the description, so the fact that it was unmemorable and fell kind of flat was disappointing. Two women have a childhood or youthful tie to a single painting by Chaim Soutine, stolen from their families in very different circumstances. Rose, sent to England in a kindertransport, will discover that the painting, like everything else (including her parents), the painting has disappeared during the Nazi terror; decades later, in the 1960s/1970s, Lizzie's father buys it only for it to be stolen one night when she throws an illicit party in high school. There's an unconvincing romance for Lizzie, a connection between the elderly Rose and the young Lizzie, and a downright bizarre backstory about what happened to the painting. I was too busy wondering how the author expected me to believe all this to enjoy the (unmemorable) writing or characters. 3.5 stars
80. Death at the Chateau Bremont by M.L. Longworth 3.4 stars
86. Murder in the Rue Dumas by M.L. Longworth 3.6 stars
103. Death in the Vines by M. L. Longworth 3.35 stars
104. Murder on the Ile Sordou by M.L. Longworth 3.4 stars
110. The Mystery of the Lost Cézanne by M.L. Longworth 3.5 stars
Well, I've finally read this series and can read the ARC of the upcoming book, The Curse of La Fontaine, but I fail to see what the fuss is about. These are at best mildly charming, but their charm relies heavily on their Provençal setting, rather than the characters or (heaven forbid) the mysteries. Some of these are more interesting than others, such as Murder in the Rue Dumas, set against the backdrop of a theological college, but others, such as Death in the Vines, are so transparent, that it's risible. I had figured out what someone had been murdered even before the body was discovered, and solved the mystery of the disappearing wine by the time the culprit was fully described. That's a sub-par mystery. So we're left with the local color and charm, which is present in spades, but it's also there in Martin Walker's "Bruno" mysteries, which stand up better as mysteries and offer more suspense (even if they now also include far too many details about food preparation...) These are second-tier Bruno, chief of police novels that happen to be set in Provence, rather than Perigord. If that's what you're looking for, go for it. Few of the characters are really convincing, especially a very rich Parisian examining magistrate who heads the series but who doesn't seem to have to work hard to solve the crime -- clues just fall into his lap behind the scenes. Well, I have the ARC to read and review and then I'll be done with this series, I suspect.
81. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
This book is getting a LOT of attention right now, and it's certainly very, very timely. The author spent months/years involving herself in the lives on those of the other side of the political divide and seeking to cross the empathy wall (her description, and a very valid one.) And she reports back on what she finds -- fair enough. She chooses not to judge or reach any conclusions -- her goal is empathy. Also OK. But this isn't the first of these attempts I've read in various forms, all very well written, all thoughtful, and all reporting more or less the same conclusions and details. Hochschild's is more detailed, true, and the result of spending more time in a single place, and applying a sociological discipline to her reporting, but that doesn't change the fact that the results held little that surprised me -- little that brought fresh insight to the debate or offered me any hope that we will find a way, as a nation, to come together. Because if one thing emerged clearly, it was that her new friends on the other side of the wall had little to no interest in conducting the same experiment themselves. They didn't object to someone listening to them -- they felt (justifiably, in many cases) that their concerns had been neglected or overlooked by "elites." But ask any of them to repeat the experiment? (Which is something that would seem to be a logical corollary of what Hochschild herself seeks to do, no?) The author doesn't even address that possibility, insofar as I recall. There is a lot of listening going on here, and a lot of "wondering" on the author's part, but questioning and challenging weren't on the agenda. I think that if listening is the first step, there are others, and this book makes it sound as if listening is a panacea. Incidentally, I'd feel just the same if this were written by an evangelical, who had come to live in New York for a year and immerse himself/herself in secular culture, but who had only listened and never challenged people on what he/she had found there. So, great anecdotes, but I was hoping for and expecting so much more based on the buzz. 4.15 stars.
82. If I Could Tell You by Elizabeth Wilhide
Oh dear. Too many novelists have battened on to the drama of WW2 as a backdrop for romantic fiction. Elizabeth Bowen did it and it worked beautifully. Elizabeth Wilhide turns in a piece of turgid romantic tripe. Wife who imagines herself contented meets documentary filmmaker just before the war, starts affair, husband kicks her out (melodrama style, husband is Evil Beyond Measure) and she must try to forge new life in London during Blitz with cavalier bohemian lover, who isn't quite as lovely as he seemed when he was just a lover. Yeah, you get it. Yawn. You could probably draft an outline based on the preceding sentences and predict what happens next, and get it right. I should stop requesting ARCs that sound as if they might be good, with this kind of plot. I stopped enjoying them in my teens. 2.7 stars
83. The Danger Tree by Olivia Manning 4.35 stars
93. The Battle Lost and Won by Olivia Manning 4.3 stars
95. The Sum of Things by Olivia Manning 4.1 stars
(collectively The Levant Trilogy)
Then I turned to Olivia Manning's "Levant Trilogy" for a reminder of what it's like to do domestic drama against a WW2 backdrop PROPERLY. I still prefer the "Balkan Trilogy", but this is good, too -- this was a re-read. (I first read both in the late 1980s, after the miniseries with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson -- HIGHLY recommended -- came out on PBS.) The three books that make up this trilogy alternate between Simon Boulderstone's attempts to find (a) his brother and (b) meaning in the chaos of desert warfare, and the "home front", mostly in Cairo. What struck me on this re-reading is how the producers of the TV series made many of the characters, notably Aidan Sheridan/Pratt, Angela Hooper and Bill, the poet, more sympathetic -- Manning is ruthless in her descriptions of their selfishness, alcoholism and other failings. Meanwhile, Harriet and Guy Pringle drift further and further apart in their mutual incomprehension, and the reader is left wondering what on earth will happen to this couple, apparently locked together, but to what end? The re-read has left me wanting to read Manning's biography, which I have on my Kindle (an Xmas gift from a few years ago.)
84. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
An ARC from ALA Midwinter, bumped up my TBR list after a friend gave it a rave review (a non-LT friend.) I can see why he liked it, although I don't share the enthusiasm to the same degree -- I found it charming and anyone who loves or enjoys New York should definitely read it. The background is a New Year's Eve in the mid-1980s, and the narrator is the elderly Lillian of the title, who uses the walk of the title to revisit old haunts and ponder her life and the changing city. Rooney is skilled wordsmith, and what could have been clunky or sentimental is neither; Lillian is feisty, and views the introduction of TVs into bars with horror and bemusement, just as she accepts the changing landscape with aplomb. I was afraid this would be one of those cutesy, whimsical books (based on the cover and title -- like Harold Fry, Ove, etc. etc.) but it isn't. 4.4 stars
85. Barney: Grove Press and Barney Rosset, America’s Maverick Publisher and His Battle against Censorship by Michael Rosenthal
I read this for last month's nonfiction challenge, the theme of which was heroes and villains. You'd definitely consider Barney Rosset, the owner and publisher of Grove Press, to be a hero if you happen to be a big defender of the first amendment and the freedom to publish, but if you happened to be one of his four ex-wives or someone else who became entangled with him in some kind of dispute (he argued with people and yelled at them), you could well view him as a villain, even if a talented visionary one. Barney Rosset bought the Grove Press right after WW2 for a few thousand dollars and turned it into an avant-garde publishing house, famously publishing authors like Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco, among many others. (He also had a penchant for Victorian erotica, so Grove had a lot of that happening, too.) Rosset saw no reason why books should be banned as obscene, and fought to overturn decades-old laws that made it illegal to read tomes like Lady Chatterley's Lover (he got the first unexpurgated text published in the US) and Tropic of Cancer, which led to a Supreme Court decision that essentially said that anything that had some redeeming artistic value couldn't be censored. My only problem with this is that the book feels like too brisk a canter through his life and the US publishing scene, as if I'm getting all the highlights or the bullet points, but missing a lot of the detail and broader context that would have made it a much richer read. The focus is very, very narrow. It's good, but I suspect the more you know, the more you'll like this, even if you feel you already know everything you're reading, except a few of the anecdotes. 4.15 stars.
178TheWorstOffender
Ce utilisateur a été suspendu du site.
179Chatterbox
Several re-reads and audiobooks in this batch, partly because of my intractable migraine!
87. The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
This is hands-down my favorite novel by Josephine Tey, and what a delight to find that the audiobook narration by Carole Boyd lived up to the book. It's a slightly old fashioned novel in tone, even though the alleged crime that brings together a stuffy solicitor and too eccentric women living in a remote country house (the Franchise) couldn't be any more horrific -- alleged kidnapping of a teenage schoolgirl. But this is the 1950s or so, and Tey softens the narrative so that the focus is on Robert and his attempts to prove Marion and her mother innocent -- and on Robert's own change in character as the case progresses. It's that which gives the novel its interest -- as Robert seeks to prove what Betty Kane was actually doing during the period she claims that Marion and her mother held her captive, proving that the young Miss Kane is a manipulative liar becomes a deeply personal cause... a must-read book. 4.8 stars.
88. Treachery at Lancaster Gate by Anne Perry
I hoped this Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novel was going to be a lot more interesting than it turned out to be -- wow, anarchists! But it still ended up being slightly more provocative and intriguing than I feared, even though the family dramas ended up being too melodramatic and sentimental for my taste. Houses get blown up, so that an opium addict can draw attention to a miscarriage of justice, which gives Perry a lot of opportunity to ramble on the importance of various higher order things, like truth, love, justice, etc. etc. Now I just have the ARC to read, and then I'll swear off this series for some time to come, I think. 3.45 stars.
89. Notes From the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone
The premise of this book caught my eye in the library. Imagine waking up one morning and there is no more Internet. What would porn addicts do? Would those addicted to looking at cute videos of kittens doing tricks on YouTube really stalk cats in the park and torture them until they performed for their pleasure? Gladstone has some fun with the ways that people find to replace the Web and how completely dominated our lives have become by it, but his hero decides to go out in search of a last lingering trace, having heard that it's still available in some remote corner of the world. As this gets stranger and goofier, remember the idea of unreliable narrators... (Warning: there's a lot of bad sex described here. I don't care about good sex, but this is boring and bad.) 3.7 stars, clever, the first in a trilogy, but I'm not curious enough to venture further. Yet.
90. The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott
I've enjoyed Alcott's previous books, but this one was dreary and predictable -- a coming of age tale in Hollywood of the days of the McCarthy witch hunt and the morality police. Our young heroine is obsessed with Ingrid Bergman, who runs afoul of the latter; her father is Bergman's publicist. And really, that's it. Which is pretty much an anaemic basis for a book. It's Catholics in Hollyood, and it's light reading, which helps, and which probably will mean that it will be well read, but it was a yawn for me. 3.35 stars.
91. The Summons by Peter Lovesey
Having now read all the latest of Lovesey's Peter Diamond mysteries, I have to go back to the earlier books in the series, which actually isn't that bad, since, as with many series books, they tend to be among the best written and structured. In this one, a convicted murderer escapes from prison and kidnaps a top cop's daughter; the Bath police must convince Diamond to return from his menial jobs to help them, since the kidnapper convict insists he was innocent of the original crime and wants Diamond to reinvestigate. The clock is ticking... A very good procedural mystery. 3.7 stars.
92. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
One of the only Heyer novels I hadn't read to date. Kitty Charings will inherit her adopted great uncle's fortune, but only if she agrees to marry one of his actual nephews. All the candidates are summoned but when her (and the uncle's) preferred candidate decides not to show up (pride, dontcha know), she hatches a plot to show Jack what he has missed out on. She convinces the mild-mannered Freddy (who had no intention of proposing, since he doesn't need the money and doesn't want to marry) to agree to a fake betrothal so that she can visit his family in London for a month or two, and at least escape the countryside for a while. Complications ensue... What saved this one from banality was the fact that heroes aren't all they turn out to be, which was fun. This was an audiobook. 3.4 stars.
94. Venetia by Georgette Heyer
That prompted me to listen to one of my favorite Heyer novels on audio, which was a much better experience. I tend to prefer those with older or more sophisticated heroines (eg Lady of Quality) rather than naive younger girls, who are witty and entertaining heroines. Venetia is a good example -- never allowed to go to London by an unpleasant father (deceased for a few years), she now runs the family estate and overseas her younger brother's education. In fact, the males of her family are rather selfish, although her younger brother is, at least, affectionate toward her. Then a rake arrives to live next door, and the dynamic changes somewhat... Meanwhile, people (notably a most obnoxious suitor) insist on trying to alter Venetia's life. Entertaining. 4stars.
87. The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
This is hands-down my favorite novel by Josephine Tey, and what a delight to find that the audiobook narration by Carole Boyd lived up to the book. It's a slightly old fashioned novel in tone, even though the alleged crime that brings together a stuffy solicitor and too eccentric women living in a remote country house (the Franchise) couldn't be any more horrific -- alleged kidnapping of a teenage schoolgirl. But this is the 1950s or so, and Tey softens the narrative so that the focus is on Robert and his attempts to prove Marion and her mother innocent -- and on Robert's own change in character as the case progresses. It's that which gives the novel its interest -- as Robert seeks to prove what Betty Kane was actually doing during the period she claims that Marion and her mother held her captive, proving that the young Miss Kane is a manipulative liar becomes a deeply personal cause... a must-read book. 4.8 stars.
88. Treachery at Lancaster Gate by Anne Perry
I hoped this Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novel was going to be a lot more interesting than it turned out to be -- wow, anarchists! But it still ended up being slightly more provocative and intriguing than I feared, even though the family dramas ended up being too melodramatic and sentimental for my taste. Houses get blown up, so that an opium addict can draw attention to a miscarriage of justice, which gives Perry a lot of opportunity to ramble on the importance of various higher order things, like truth, love, justice, etc. etc. Now I just have the ARC to read, and then I'll swear off this series for some time to come, I think. 3.45 stars.
89. Notes From the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone
The premise of this book caught my eye in the library. Imagine waking up one morning and there is no more Internet. What would porn addicts do? Would those addicted to looking at cute videos of kittens doing tricks on YouTube really stalk cats in the park and torture them until they performed for their pleasure? Gladstone has some fun with the ways that people find to replace the Web and how completely dominated our lives have become by it, but his hero decides to go out in search of a last lingering trace, having heard that it's still available in some remote corner of the world. As this gets stranger and goofier, remember the idea of unreliable narrators... (Warning: there's a lot of bad sex described here. I don't care about good sex, but this is boring and bad.) 3.7 stars, clever, the first in a trilogy, but I'm not curious enough to venture further. Yet.
90. The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott
I've enjoyed Alcott's previous books, but this one was dreary and predictable -- a coming of age tale in Hollywood of the days of the McCarthy witch hunt and the morality police. Our young heroine is obsessed with Ingrid Bergman, who runs afoul of the latter; her father is Bergman's publicist. And really, that's it. Which is pretty much an anaemic basis for a book. It's Catholics in Hollyood, and it's light reading, which helps, and which probably will mean that it will be well read, but it was a yawn for me. 3.35 stars.
91. The Summons by Peter Lovesey
Having now read all the latest of Lovesey's Peter Diamond mysteries, I have to go back to the earlier books in the series, which actually isn't that bad, since, as with many series books, they tend to be among the best written and structured. In this one, a convicted murderer escapes from prison and kidnaps a top cop's daughter; the Bath police must convince Diamond to return from his menial jobs to help them, since the kidnapper convict insists he was innocent of the original crime and wants Diamond to reinvestigate. The clock is ticking... A very good procedural mystery. 3.7 stars.
92. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
One of the only Heyer novels I hadn't read to date. Kitty Charings will inherit her adopted great uncle's fortune, but only if she agrees to marry one of his actual nephews. All the candidates are summoned but when her (and the uncle's) preferred candidate decides not to show up (pride, dontcha know), she hatches a plot to show Jack what he has missed out on. She convinces the mild-mannered Freddy (who had no intention of proposing, since he doesn't need the money and doesn't want to marry) to agree to a fake betrothal so that she can visit his family in London for a month or two, and at least escape the countryside for a while. Complications ensue... What saved this one from banality was the fact that heroes aren't all they turn out to be, which was fun. This was an audiobook. 3.4 stars.
94. Venetia by Georgette Heyer
That prompted me to listen to one of my favorite Heyer novels on audio, which was a much better experience. I tend to prefer those with older or more sophisticated heroines (eg Lady of Quality) rather than naive younger girls, who are witty and entertaining heroines. Venetia is a good example -- never allowed to go to London by an unpleasant father (deceased for a few years), she now runs the family estate and overseas her younger brother's education. In fact, the males of her family are rather selfish, although her younger brother is, at least, affectionate toward her. Then a rake arrives to live next door, and the dynamic changes somewhat... Meanwhile, people (notably a most obnoxious suitor) insist on trying to alter Venetia's life. Entertaining. 4stars.
180ronincats
Cotillion is one of my favorite Heyers exactly because it confounds expectations. Freddy is such a great character, and the side characters are wonderful as usual.
181Chatterbox
>180 ronincats: Yup, the defying expectations is what saves it, IMHO, but too many of the characters just didn't work as well for me as in other Heyer novels, alas. I have an audiobook of The Nonesuch and may listen to that sometime soonish.
>178 TheWorstOffender: Lurkers always welcome...
>176 benitastrnad: I do hope to get to the Matisse exhibit, but haven't made any firm plans yet. Every time I think I'll make it to Boston, life throws me a curve ball of some kind. I had planned to go this weekend, but ended up completely exhausted and headachey, and I really just didn't want to organize myself for a major multi-event, 24-hour long exodus, which is what it would have been.
>178 TheWorstOffender: Lurkers always welcome...
>176 benitastrnad: I do hope to get to the Matisse exhibit, but haven't made any firm plans yet. Every time I think I'll make it to Boston, life throws me a curve ball of some kind. I had planned to go this weekend, but ended up completely exhausted and headachey, and I really just didn't want to organize myself for a major multi-event, 24-hour long exodus, which is what it would have been.
182charl08
Thanks for all the reviews Suzanne, and sorry about the headaches. I'm another Cotillion fan, because of that unexpected plot. Matisse sounds wonderful - in contrast, London seems full of Russian revolution centenary exhibits.
183brodiew2
Good morning, Chatterbox!
It seems you've had more disappointments than encouragements recently. However, I loved your take on If I could tell you. I cracked a smile at your consternation. I hope the reading gets better going forward.
It seems you've had more disappointments than encouragements recently. However, I loved your take on If I could tell you. I cracked a smile at your consternation. I hope the reading gets better going forward.
184benitastrnad
The following e-books are available today for $3.99. Just follow the link to purchase the books. All of them are Pulitzer Prize winners.
Carry Me Home by Diane McWhorter http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Carry-Me-Home/Diane-McWhorter/978074322648....
John Adams by David McCullough http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/John-Adams/David-McCullough/9780743218290
No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/No-Ordinary-Time/Doris-Kearns-Goodwin/9781....
Lincoln at Gettysburg by Garry Wills http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Lincoln-at-Gettysburg/Garry-Wills/97814391....
Carry Me Home by Diane McWhorter http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Carry-Me-Home/Diane-McWhorter/978074322648....
John Adams by David McCullough http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/John-Adams/David-McCullough/9780743218290
No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/No-Ordinary-Time/Doris-Kearns-Goodwin/9781....
Lincoln at Gettysburg by Garry Wills http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Lincoln-at-Gettysburg/Garry-Wills/97814391....
185Chatterbox
I am still adhering to my Lenten "no book buying" pledge, alas, Benita -- but thanks...
I have done fairly well on that front -- slipped up only once, forgetting about a pre-order that I had placed way back in mid-February, only to have it drop into my Kindle in early April. Whoops! And I exempted audiobooks from this, since I started this period with credits and got two more (in March and just this week) and didn't see using them as equivalent to spending cash money on new books. (Didn't want to cancel my Audible membership...)
I've got about six or seven books that I'll buy at the end of this period, but overall, have done pretty well. It has stopped me buying books spontaneously at least three times, and from walking into bookstores to "window shop" (yeah, right) two or three times. Given the size of my TBR mountain, that's good!!
>183 brodiew2: The reading has been OK, but just not a lot of super-great-fabulous-fantastic books that make me utterly delighted that I have read them. Where can these be lurking? There are some decent mysteries and historical novels to keep me going, and some quite good other novels, but I really hunger for something that is really superb. Oh well. I'm just greedy! And picky...
>182 charl08: I wouldn't mind a Russian centenary exhibit here; hopefully, some of them will travel to the US. Shall keep my eyes peeled. Or perhaps the Met or someone will sponsor something. I really haven't looked around to see what is coming. I let my MFA membership lapse as I really couldn't justify the expenditure for another year, alas. But I have friends in NYC with memberships to various places there, and I should try to venture out a bit more. I always seem to be in a bit of a rush, or not there when it's convenient to go.
I have done fairly well on that front -- slipped up only once, forgetting about a pre-order that I had placed way back in mid-February, only to have it drop into my Kindle in early April. Whoops! And I exempted audiobooks from this, since I started this period with credits and got two more (in March and just this week) and didn't see using them as equivalent to spending cash money on new books. (Didn't want to cancel my Audible membership...)
I've got about six or seven books that I'll buy at the end of this period, but overall, have done pretty well. It has stopped me buying books spontaneously at least three times, and from walking into bookstores to "window shop" (yeah, right) two or three times. Given the size of my TBR mountain, that's good!!
>183 brodiew2: The reading has been OK, but just not a lot of super-great-fabulous-fantastic books that make me utterly delighted that I have read them. Where can these be lurking? There are some decent mysteries and historical novels to keep me going, and some quite good other novels, but I really hunger for something that is really superb. Oh well. I'm just greedy! And picky...
>182 charl08: I wouldn't mind a Russian centenary exhibit here; hopefully, some of them will travel to the US. Shall keep my eyes peeled. Or perhaps the Met or someone will sponsor something. I really haven't looked around to see what is coming. I let my MFA membership lapse as I really couldn't justify the expenditure for another year, alas. But I have friends in NYC with memberships to various places there, and I should try to venture out a bit more. I always seem to be in a bit of a rush, or not there when it's convenient to go.
186LizzieD
Congratulations on both your reading and your non-book-buying. I'm not doing well on either front, but I guess I've done worse.
I was surprised that I didn't love and adore Venetia; I certainly expected to. I merely loved it and found her a more modern heroine than I thought she should have been. Meanwhile, my two favorite Heyers are Frederica (definitely young and witty) and A Civil Contract (older, wiser). Go figure.
Sorry I can't speak about your graver reading!
I was surprised that I didn't love and adore Venetia; I certainly expected to. I merely loved it and found her a more modern heroine than I thought she should have been. Meanwhile, my two favorite Heyers are Frederica (definitely young and witty) and A Civil Contract (older, wiser). Go figure.
Sorry I can't speak about your graver reading!
187LovingLit
>177 Chatterbox: Re: Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right- until the last sentence of your review, I was still wondering if this author was the one who was "on the American right" herself. I love how your review steps away from the details and goes straight to the theoretical level.
>185 Chatterbox: good for you for resisting the purchase of new books. I bit the bullet and posted you the one I though I already had. Which I think I can safely now say that I never posted to you at all...or any other one. So, if you get two I'll be very surprised!
Eta: and I gave my dad the one you sent me, seeing as he is Latvian and the protagonist of City of Secrets is also. He took it away with him on holiday so there is a good chance he will have already read it by now. I'll let you know what he thinks!
>185 Chatterbox: good for you for resisting the purchase of new books. I bit the bullet and posted you the one I though I already had. Which I think I can safely now say that I never posted to you at all...or any other one. So, if you get two I'll be very surprised!
Eta: and I gave my dad the one you sent me, seeing as he is Latvian and the protagonist of City of Secrets is also. He took it away with him on holiday so there is a good chance he will have already read it by now. I'll let you know what he thinks!
188brodiew2
>185 Chatterbox: I could make a few recommendations from my most excellent reads. No harm. No foul.
To Serve Them All My Days
The Killer Angels
At Home in Mitford
Brighton
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Alive
Get Shorty
Coyote Blue
Rendezvous With Rama
Destiny of the Republic
to name a few... :-)
I hope I haven't listed too many that you have already read. There is a nice mix in there as well. Enjoy.
To Serve Them All My Days
The Killer Angels
At Home in Mitford
Brighton
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Alive
Get Shorty
Coyote Blue
Rendezvous With Rama
Destiny of the Republic
to name a few... :-)
I hope I haven't listed too many that you have already read. There is a nice mix in there as well. Enjoy.
189benitastrnad
#177
Your review of Strangers in Their Own Land was very good. I have started reading it, but only have about the first 50 pages done. What you said reminded me of what my father said about Thomas Frank's book What's the Matter With Kansas. He said it was alot of describing the problem and nothing on how to fix it. But then that's what the title says the book is, so how can you fault the author for doing what he said?
Your review of Strangers in Their Own Land was very good. I have started reading it, but only have about the first 50 pages done. What you said reminded me of what my father said about Thomas Frank's book What's the Matter With Kansas. He said it was alot of describing the problem and nothing on how to fix it. But then that's what the title says the book is, so how can you fault the author for doing what he said?
190Chatterbox
>186 LizzieD: Thanks for the reminder of A Civil Contract. It has been a looong time since I read that, so it may be a worthy addition to my Audible list.
>187 LovingLit: Nope, no books from you yet! So I will look forward to receiving a package from NZ!!! Woot... a reward for all my self-discipline... Do let me know what your father thinks about City of Secrets. I think I'll need to read another O'Nan (and I do have another ARC here) before deciding whether I like him as a novelist or am just "meh".
That's a great point you make about my comments on Strangers in Their Own Land. I'm so accustomed to the fact that everyone in the US is buzzing about this book, I forgot that to readers elsewhere it wouldn't be known. It's one of the genre (a growing one) of books and articles written during and in the wake of the election by people beating their breasts and saying "we don't understand middle America and the white working class and why they are voting for Trump" and running off to ask them questions etc etc. It's why Hillbilly Elegy was such a slam dunk success last year. Benita is right in >189 benitastrnad: to note the similarity to What's the Matter with Kansas, which was one of the first of these "WTF is going on?" books.
The problem, of course, is that even if we figure out what is going on, that only takes us so far. So, what comes next? I do think that you have to correctly describe the issues (emphasis here on "correctly") before you can take the next step, but there's a temptation to come up with a list of quick fixes, or to mistake listening for a solution. It isn't, unless it's mutual. I'm rather glad that few of these books have a list of "10 things to do now" at the end. That cheapens the effort. But at some point two things need to happen: there needs to be a corresponding effort from the other side (as I noted) and people will have be willing to devote serious time and attention to thinking about what unifies versus what divides us, and not just in soundbites or concepts. There's a lot at stake. The more we stay stuck in this descriptive "this is what the other side is like" phase, the more we relish just describing what we find bizarre about these other people, the worse off we'll be.
>188 brodiew2: Thanks for the list!! It's certainly every bit as eclectic as any of my reading... I have read the Delderfield already, and have Brighton at hand here. Some of the others look intriguing though I'll probably pass on Christopher Moore for now (my ex bf's fave) and I have never liked Elmore Leonard. I did try to read Alive when it first came out, but didn't enjoy it all that much -- not my genre. But Destiny of the Republic and A Canticle for Leibowitz look interesting -- if very, very different!
>187 LovingLit: Nope, no books from you yet! So I will look forward to receiving a package from NZ!!! Woot... a reward for all my self-discipline... Do let me know what your father thinks about City of Secrets. I think I'll need to read another O'Nan (and I do have another ARC here) before deciding whether I like him as a novelist or am just "meh".
That's a great point you make about my comments on Strangers in Their Own Land. I'm so accustomed to the fact that everyone in the US is buzzing about this book, I forgot that to readers elsewhere it wouldn't be known. It's one of the genre (a growing one) of books and articles written during and in the wake of the election by people beating their breasts and saying "we don't understand middle America and the white working class and why they are voting for Trump" and running off to ask them questions etc etc. It's why Hillbilly Elegy was such a slam dunk success last year. Benita is right in >189 benitastrnad: to note the similarity to What's the Matter with Kansas, which was one of the first of these "WTF is going on?" books.
The problem, of course, is that even if we figure out what is going on, that only takes us so far. So, what comes next? I do think that you have to correctly describe the issues (emphasis here on "correctly") before you can take the next step, but there's a temptation to come up with a list of quick fixes, or to mistake listening for a solution. It isn't, unless it's mutual. I'm rather glad that few of these books have a list of "10 things to do now" at the end. That cheapens the effort. But at some point two things need to happen: there needs to be a corresponding effort from the other side (as I noted) and people will have be willing to devote serious time and attention to thinking about what unifies versus what divides us, and not just in soundbites or concepts. There's a lot at stake. The more we stay stuck in this descriptive "this is what the other side is like" phase, the more we relish just describing what we find bizarre about these other people, the worse off we'll be.
>188 brodiew2: Thanks for the list!! It's certainly every bit as eclectic as any of my reading... I have read the Delderfield already, and have Brighton at hand here. Some of the others look intriguing though I'll probably pass on Christopher Moore for now (my ex bf's fave) and I have never liked Elmore Leonard. I did try to read Alive when it first came out, but didn't enjoy it all that much -- not my genre. But Destiny of the Republic and A Canticle for Leibowitz look interesting -- if very, very different!
191Chatterbox
96. The Golden Legend by Nadeem Aslam
While Pakistani society seems to crumble around them, architects Massud and Nargis are happily married and manage to live in a kind of bubble, insulating themselves from the chaos. They have even forged a friendship with their Christian neighbors, a widower (Lily) who is a rickshaw driver, and his educated and talented student daughter, Helen. Then, one day on the Grand Trunk Road, an apparently random act of violence involving an American with a gun and his attempted assassins ends up costing Massud his life, and chaos erupts. Pakistani security officers start threatening Nargis, demanding that she publicly pardon the American; meanwhile, the mysterious individual who has been broadcasting secrets about the lives of locals arrives in their neighborhood and discloses that Lily has been having an affair with the imam's widowed daughter -- a horrifying Christian/Muslim relationship that ignites a sectarian firestorm from which Nargis and Helen flee along with Imran, a young Kashmiri who is seeking refuge from life as a jihadi. Together, the trio try to find a new way of life in an abandoned mosque that Massud and Nargis had designed. Incredibly rich, beautifully written, tremendously detailed: a MUST read when it is published in the US next week. 4.75 stars.
97. The Pen and the Brush: How Passion for Art Shaped Nineteenth-Century French Novels by Anka Muhlstein
If you happen to be very interested in the works of Zola and Balzac (and Proust), this is a great little book. I'm more interested in the art, and it didn't work quite as well for me -- I've read parts of Proust and one or two books each by the other authors, but not enough for this to be a book that I could just pick up and zoom through smoothly. It's fascinating, but the better you know the books (especially since Muhlstein or her translator choose to use English rather than French titles -- annoying) the more you'll get out of her arguments that there is a strong tie between the art and the literature of the era. Sometimes the argument feels stretched, and it worked best with me in the case of Proust, but it's interesting. 4.3 stars.
98. Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession by Alison Weir
Alison Weir is writing a novel for each of the six wives, and this second one is (surprisingly) less interesting than the first one was. Perhaps that's because by this point, I have read so damn much about Anne Boleyn, it's very hard to make her distinctive or different, even though Weir does try, and largely succeeds. She's no Hilary Mantel, but writes a serviceable novel (still far, far too long) that portrays Anne is a wannabe woman ruler in the tradition of those women she served in her youth: Margaret of Austria and Louise of Savoy. It's a compelling idea and fits with Anne's later behavior and explains her motivations and actions, where mere ambition might not be enough. But the novel suffers from the fact that too much of it inevitably involves the endless matter of the "Great Matter" -- the haggling with the Pope -- followed by Anne's rapid fall from grace. One thing I have liked about both of these books is the way that Weir clings very closely to her main character's point of view, so we only get Anne's perspective. So, until the very last minute, she never has a sense of the peril that she is in, just as Katherine of Aragon is oblivious to her husband's fascination with Anne Boleyn in the first novel. Clever writing. Good book for historical fiction fans, despite the length... 4.3 stars.
99. The Night Bell by Inger Ash Wolfe
Very glad to see a new entry in the Hazel Micallef mystery series, set in a Northern Ontario town and in this case revolving around a horrible piece of Canadian history: abusive residential schools where many young boys (often native Canadian, but in this novel, also orphans of various backgrounds) were warehoused and abused. Hazel's first-ever investigation, of the disappearance of a young woman in her town when she was a teenager in which her adopted younger brother was a suspect, is combined with a modern-day probe of the site of one of those orphanages/residential schools, now being developed into a golf course community. Except that the new residents keep finding bones -- human bones -- in the ground slated to be turned into the golf course... Very good yarn. The pseudonymous author has a great way of developing characters and settings; his (it's a he) descriptions of Toronto in the 1950s are spot on. If you want to read these books, though, start with the first, because too many developments with Hazel's family and broader circle will be too hard to discern if you start here. 4.25 stars.
100. Stoner by John Edward Williams
Made some comments about this earlier. One of the three novels by this little-known US author who won the National Book Award for Augustus. It's a slow-paced novel of the life of Stoner, the title character, born on a grim Midwestern farm toward the end of the 19th century, and who is dispatched to the University of Missouri's agricultural school, but who discovers literature and his mission in teaching it. Alas: he also becomes infatuated with and marries a wildly unsuitable woman, Edith, who ruthlessly sabotages everything from his work to his relationship with his daughter and his brief love affair. John McGahern, who wrote the preface for the NYRB edition, argues that we have to see Stoner as a happy man regardless, in spite of hostility from his department head for reasons that aren't valid -- Stoner is a man with a black cloud overhead, and yet he is doing what he wants to do with his life. It's beautifully written, and if I had to compare it to a piece of music, it would be an adagio by a solo cello, or something like that. It's elegiac in tone, and you have to approach it in that way. 4.3 stars.
101. Black Widow by Christopher Brookmyre
This is the first Jack Parlabane mystery that I've read, and I'll definitely go on to read more. It's nicely twisty and turny -- the final twist is a fabulous one that I really didn't see coming at all, and I can rarely say that about a mystery novel any more! There are a number of different voices here, one of them first person, which makes possible that twist, which was fun. One of them is the investigation into a car that has gone off the road at a notoriously bad curve by an icy river: the man driving it, presumed dead, is the husband of an (in)famous surgeon, known for her demanding personality and her intolerance of IT people after having had her blog hacked and her identity exposed. Her late husband? Well, he was an IT guy. Was their six-month old marriage that blissful? That's what his sister wants disgraced journalist Jack Parlabane to find out, and Jack, attracted by the sister, is happy to oblige. 4.5 stars.
This brings me to the end of March -- 101 books read in the first three months of the year! :-)
While Pakistani society seems to crumble around them, architects Massud and Nargis are happily married and manage to live in a kind of bubble, insulating themselves from the chaos. They have even forged a friendship with their Christian neighbors, a widower (Lily) who is a rickshaw driver, and his educated and talented student daughter, Helen. Then, one day on the Grand Trunk Road, an apparently random act of violence involving an American with a gun and his attempted assassins ends up costing Massud his life, and chaos erupts. Pakistani security officers start threatening Nargis, demanding that she publicly pardon the American; meanwhile, the mysterious individual who has been broadcasting secrets about the lives of locals arrives in their neighborhood and discloses that Lily has been having an affair with the imam's widowed daughter -- a horrifying Christian/Muslim relationship that ignites a sectarian firestorm from which Nargis and Helen flee along with Imran, a young Kashmiri who is seeking refuge from life as a jihadi. Together, the trio try to find a new way of life in an abandoned mosque that Massud and Nargis had designed. Incredibly rich, beautifully written, tremendously detailed: a MUST read when it is published in the US next week. 4.75 stars.
97. The Pen and the Brush: How Passion for Art Shaped Nineteenth-Century French Novels by Anka Muhlstein
If you happen to be very interested in the works of Zola and Balzac (and Proust), this is a great little book. I'm more interested in the art, and it didn't work quite as well for me -- I've read parts of Proust and one or two books each by the other authors, but not enough for this to be a book that I could just pick up and zoom through smoothly. It's fascinating, but the better you know the books (especially since Muhlstein or her translator choose to use English rather than French titles -- annoying) the more you'll get out of her arguments that there is a strong tie between the art and the literature of the era. Sometimes the argument feels stretched, and it worked best with me in the case of Proust, but it's interesting. 4.3 stars.
98. Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession by Alison Weir
Alison Weir is writing a novel for each of the six wives, and this second one is (surprisingly) less interesting than the first one was. Perhaps that's because by this point, I have read so damn much about Anne Boleyn, it's very hard to make her distinctive or different, even though Weir does try, and largely succeeds. She's no Hilary Mantel, but writes a serviceable novel (still far, far too long) that portrays Anne is a wannabe woman ruler in the tradition of those women she served in her youth: Margaret of Austria and Louise of Savoy. It's a compelling idea and fits with Anne's later behavior and explains her motivations and actions, where mere ambition might not be enough. But the novel suffers from the fact that too much of it inevitably involves the endless matter of the "Great Matter" -- the haggling with the Pope -- followed by Anne's rapid fall from grace. One thing I have liked about both of these books is the way that Weir clings very closely to her main character's point of view, so we only get Anne's perspective. So, until the very last minute, she never has a sense of the peril that she is in, just as Katherine of Aragon is oblivious to her husband's fascination with Anne Boleyn in the first novel. Clever writing. Good book for historical fiction fans, despite the length... 4.3 stars.
99. The Night Bell by Inger Ash Wolfe
Very glad to see a new entry in the Hazel Micallef mystery series, set in a Northern Ontario town and in this case revolving around a horrible piece of Canadian history: abusive residential schools where many young boys (often native Canadian, but in this novel, also orphans of various backgrounds) were warehoused and abused. Hazel's first-ever investigation, of the disappearance of a young woman in her town when she was a teenager in which her adopted younger brother was a suspect, is combined with a modern-day probe of the site of one of those orphanages/residential schools, now being developed into a golf course community. Except that the new residents keep finding bones -- human bones -- in the ground slated to be turned into the golf course... Very good yarn. The pseudonymous author has a great way of developing characters and settings; his (it's a he) descriptions of Toronto in the 1950s are spot on. If you want to read these books, though, start with the first, because too many developments with Hazel's family and broader circle will be too hard to discern if you start here. 4.25 stars.
100. Stoner by John Edward Williams
Made some comments about this earlier. One of the three novels by this little-known US author who won the National Book Award for Augustus. It's a slow-paced novel of the life of Stoner, the title character, born on a grim Midwestern farm toward the end of the 19th century, and who is dispatched to the University of Missouri's agricultural school, but who discovers literature and his mission in teaching it. Alas: he also becomes infatuated with and marries a wildly unsuitable woman, Edith, who ruthlessly sabotages everything from his work to his relationship with his daughter and his brief love affair. John McGahern, who wrote the preface for the NYRB edition, argues that we have to see Stoner as a happy man regardless, in spite of hostility from his department head for reasons that aren't valid -- Stoner is a man with a black cloud overhead, and yet he is doing what he wants to do with his life. It's beautifully written, and if I had to compare it to a piece of music, it would be an adagio by a solo cello, or something like that. It's elegiac in tone, and you have to approach it in that way. 4.3 stars.
101. Black Widow by Christopher Brookmyre
This is the first Jack Parlabane mystery that I've read, and I'll definitely go on to read more. It's nicely twisty and turny -- the final twist is a fabulous one that I really didn't see coming at all, and I can rarely say that about a mystery novel any more! There are a number of different voices here, one of them first person, which makes possible that twist, which was fun. One of them is the investigation into a car that has gone off the road at a notoriously bad curve by an icy river: the man driving it, presumed dead, is the husband of an (in)famous surgeon, known for her demanding personality and her intolerance of IT people after having had her blog hacked and her identity exposed. Her late husband? Well, he was an IT guy. Was their six-month old marriage that blissful? That's what his sister wants disgraced journalist Jack Parlabane to find out, and Jack, attracted by the sister, is happy to oblige. 4.5 stars.
This brings me to the end of March -- 101 books read in the first three months of the year! :-)
192katiekrug
Oh, goodness...
The first Weir is available for $1.99 on Kindle so I'll be snapping that up.
The Golden Legend is going on the list to seek out.
Does the Inger Ash Wolfe series need to be read from the start or could I jump in with this one?
I already have Stoner on the shelf so dodged that one, sorta.
And I've put the Brookmyre on my Kindle and Library watch lists.
See what you've done?!?!?
The first Weir is available for $1.99 on Kindle so I'll be snapping that up.
The Golden Legend is going on the list to seek out.
Does the Inger Ash Wolfe series need to be read from the start or could I jump in with this one?
I already have Stoner on the shelf so dodged that one, sorta.
And I've put the Brookmyre on my Kindle and Library watch lists.
See what you've done?!?!?
193lunacat
A Canticle For Leibowitz is a book I didn't think I had liked, but has stuck with me for many years. I should give it another go someday. It certainly made me think.
I always like Alison Weir, and I got to go to a talk she did in a tiny theatre, that was actually about something else, and she was publicising the first in the Six Queens series. It looked interesting and I should have bought a signed copy, but I had (what turned out to be) a raging kidney infection so we left immediately afterwards. She was absolutely fascinating though, and the depth of her knowledge was incredible.
I always like Alison Weir, and I got to go to a talk she did in a tiny theatre, that was actually about something else, and she was publicising the first in the Six Queens series. It looked interesting and I should have bought a signed copy, but I had (what turned out to be) a raging kidney infection so we left immediately afterwards. She was absolutely fascinating though, and the depth of her knowledge was incredible.
194Chatterbox
>192 katiekrug: The title of this thread provides full disclosure of book bullet threat. You have been warned... That said, the next batch won't be nearly as dangerous, sadly for me.
You need to start the series at the beginning -- with The Calling. This was the fourth book. You should be able to get the first quite cheaply for your Kindle -- it has often been on sale, even if it isn't now. And you can probably find some of the earlier Brookmyre books available inexpensively.
>193 lunacat: From the comments I read about A Canticle for Leibowitz, that's my sense of the book -- something that even when people didn't love it, they seemed to think it had interesting ideas.
Yes, Alison Weir's first books about this era were non-fiction tomes written maybe 20/25 years ago. She has written NF books about the Tudor court, about Henry and his wives, about pretty much everything Tudor, including Mary Boleyn, the last days of Anne Boleyn (including the tidbit that someone who is beheaded is probably conscious for 8 to 30 seconds after losing their head, meaning they are aware that their head is in one place and their body in another, and may be able to see their own bleeding body -- ponder that, if you will...), and books about Elizabeth Tudor. She has ventured a bit further back, to Eleanor of Aquitaine (her worst novel -- very tedious) and Katherine Swynford (an interesting biography, done very creatively, given the lack of documentation.) What is interesting to me about this series is that she wrote a novel that was sympathetic to Katherine of Aragon, and now one with Anne Boleyn as the main POV character (thus sympathetic, while acknowledging she was often foolish, as was Katherine.) That's unusual, as often novelists tend to be a bit more partisan!
You need to start the series at the beginning -- with The Calling. This was the fourth book. You should be able to get the first quite cheaply for your Kindle -- it has often been on sale, even if it isn't now. And you can probably find some of the earlier Brookmyre books available inexpensively.
>193 lunacat: From the comments I read about A Canticle for Leibowitz, that's my sense of the book -- something that even when people didn't love it, they seemed to think it had interesting ideas.
Yes, Alison Weir's first books about this era were non-fiction tomes written maybe 20/25 years ago. She has written NF books about the Tudor court, about Henry and his wives, about pretty much everything Tudor, including Mary Boleyn, the last days of Anne Boleyn (including the tidbit that someone who is beheaded is probably conscious for 8 to 30 seconds after losing their head, meaning they are aware that their head is in one place and their body in another, and may be able to see their own bleeding body -- ponder that, if you will...), and books about Elizabeth Tudor. She has ventured a bit further back, to Eleanor of Aquitaine (her worst novel -- very tedious) and Katherine Swynford (an interesting biography, done very creatively, given the lack of documentation.) What is interesting to me about this series is that she wrote a novel that was sympathetic to Katherine of Aragon, and now one with Anne Boleyn as the main POV character (thus sympathetic, while acknowledging she was often foolish, as was Katherine.) That's unusual, as often novelists tend to be a bit more partisan!
195avatiakh
Yes, I also didn't much like A Canticle for Leibowitz but can see it deserves its place in the canon. Have you read anything by Eca de Queiroz? I've loved the two books by him that I've read.
196Chatterbox
>195 avatiakh: Nope, unknown to me.
197ChelleBearss
Hope you have a great Easter weekend!
198avatiakh
>196 Chatterbox: I think his work would appeal to you, he's one of Portugal's best. The city and the mountains was a good introduction for me.
199charl08
I've also heard Alison Weir speak: she was part of a world book night just at the point when she was starting to wrote fiction. It was fascinating to hear her experience. I think I've only read one of her books, but would go hear her speak again.
200Chatterbox
>187 LovingLit: The prezzie arrived -- very exciting!!! A copy of Akenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz. Not a Mahfouz title I'm familiar with at all, but I find both author and subject fascinating, so this will get bumped waaay up my TBR list. THANK YOU!! :-)
>197 ChelleBearss: Thanks for dropping by, Chelle, and a happy Easter to you, to. I'm just sooo happy that the weather has warmed up enough that I can keep windows open and let the fresh air in and blow some cobwebs out of my brain. Though today, opening one of the giant sash windows (from the top), I was standing on the back of my sofa (which has a flat surface, about four inches wide) when I slipped and fell onto the surface of the sofa, giving my head a massive thwack against the window frame and wall on the way down. Ended up with such a bad headache (non migraine) that I skipped the Athenaeum's Friday evening salon, to my distress. I just couldn't get out of bed to go. Bah humbug!
>198 avatiakh: Thanks for the recommendation! I will definitely add him to my watch list; the Ath may have a copy of one of his books.
>199 charl08: Shall remember that, should she embark on a book tour on this side of the Atlantic, or otherwise pop up as a speaker. I don't know that I've ever noticed her listed, but I may simply have missed it. I don't think I've ever looked at her background, but I think she is one of those passionate non-academics who adheres to academic standards in research but writes for general audiences, vs. academics who has found an audience in crossover territory.
Meanwhile, my current and pending reading. Yes, I'm still reading The Patriots. It's good, but just too easy to put down and not quite compelling enough to keep reading through. I'm sure at some point I will reach that point where I just have to keep going.
I'm finishing up the audiobook of The Nonesuch by Geogette Heyer, but not counting it in the above.
More book updates (from my April reading list) will go into my next thread.
>197 ChelleBearss: Thanks for dropping by, Chelle, and a happy Easter to you, to. I'm just sooo happy that the weather has warmed up enough that I can keep windows open and let the fresh air in and blow some cobwebs out of my brain. Though today, opening one of the giant sash windows (from the top), I was standing on the back of my sofa (which has a flat surface, about four inches wide) when I slipped and fell onto the surface of the sofa, giving my head a massive thwack against the window frame and wall on the way down. Ended up with such a bad headache (non migraine) that I skipped the Athenaeum's Friday evening salon, to my distress. I just couldn't get out of bed to go. Bah humbug!
>198 avatiakh: Thanks for the recommendation! I will definitely add him to my watch list; the Ath may have a copy of one of his books.
>199 charl08: Shall remember that, should she embark on a book tour on this side of the Atlantic, or otherwise pop up as a speaker. I don't know that I've ever noticed her listed, but I may simply have missed it. I don't think I've ever looked at her background, but I think she is one of those passionate non-academics who adheres to academic standards in research but writes for general audiences, vs. academics who has found an audience in crossover territory.
Meanwhile, my current and pending reading. Yes, I'm still reading The Patriots. It's good, but just too easy to put down and not quite compelling enough to keep reading through. I'm sure at some point I will reach that point where I just have to keep going.
I'm finishing up the audiobook of The Nonesuch by Geogette Heyer, but not counting it in the above.
More book updates (from my April reading list) will go into my next thread.
201LizzieD
Whoo HOOOOO! I'm happy that you were happy with Parlabane #1, Suz. Brookmyer is a favorite on the basis of only a couple of books, so I hope that you continue with him from time to time.
Please add me to the list of people who don't love Canticle for Leibowitz. I've tried more than twice to read the whole thing, but the "golly, gee whiz" '50's tone puts me away every time. Please don't let this be your science fiction/fantasy trial balloon.
Please add me to the list of people who don't love Canticle for Leibowitz. I've tried more than twice to read the whole thing, but the "golly, gee whiz" '50's tone puts me away every time. Please don't let this be your science fiction/fantasy trial balloon.
202Chatterbox
>201 LizzieD:
I have an ambivalent relationship with science fiction/fantasy. I adored Fahrenheit 451 for instance, and love most of Terry Pratchett's oeuvre (though I'm lukewarm about his witches. I have mostly enjoyed Lev Grossman's fantasy books, and even the romantic time travel trilogy by Deborah Harkness. Liked Red Rising, and I intend to finish the other extant books in that series by Pierce Brown. But I just Pearl-ruled Genevieve Coogan's book (first in a trilogy), set in a fantastical multi-verse that was overly complicated and required way too much explanation out of the gate. Even though it was about book collecting and librarians venturing to alternate worlds. I just couldn't make sense of what kind of worlds the author was constructing and I simply couldn't care less. So I'm extremely picky when it comes to worlds that are fantastical or that don't exist -- more so than I am a mediocre book set in the real world. Because I just have to suspend believe all that much more...
Peggy, will be happy to send the ARC of this new/upcoming Parlabane to you when I'm done with it. Its publication date is July, so you will get a jump on the rest of the world! :-)
I have an ambivalent relationship with science fiction/fantasy. I adored Fahrenheit 451 for instance, and love most of Terry Pratchett's oeuvre (though I'm lukewarm about his witches. I have mostly enjoyed Lev Grossman's fantasy books, and even the romantic time travel trilogy by Deborah Harkness. Liked Red Rising, and I intend to finish the other extant books in that series by Pierce Brown. But I just Pearl-ruled Genevieve Coogan's book (first in a trilogy), set in a fantastical multi-verse that was overly complicated and required way too much explanation out of the gate. Even though it was about book collecting and librarians venturing to alternate worlds. I just couldn't make sense of what kind of worlds the author was constructing and I simply couldn't care less. So I'm extremely picky when it comes to worlds that are fantastical or that don't exist -- more so than I am a mediocre book set in the real world. Because I just have to suspend believe all that much more...
Peggy, will be happy to send the ARC of this new/upcoming Parlabane to you when I'm done with it. Its publication date is July, so you will get a jump on the rest of the world! :-)
203LizzieD
Gracious, Suzanne! By which I mean, "Gracious Suzanne." Thank you! I'd be thrilled with the new Parlabane anytime.
204elkiedee
The Last Hack is published in the UK as Want You Gone , Jack Parlabane #8.
205SandDune
>200 Chatterbox: Interesting that you're reading the Luke Harding book. His son is one of J's friends and goes to the same school, and so we bump into him and his wife from time to time. I've never actually read one of his books though.
206Chatterbox
>205 SandDune: I read his book about Snowden, and also his book about covering Putin's Russia as a journalist. He's not without controversy -- the pro-Russia group and pro-Wikipedia people get all snooty about him. He doesn't have the same deep knowledge of Russia as many people who have made it their life's work (I'm not sure that his language skills are that great) but he seems well sourced and to be an aggressive, solid reporter.
207benitastrnad
#202
I had many of the same feelings about SCI/FI as you did. It was too hard to figure out the worlds these authors created, but in the last year I have changed my tune. My revelation came because I needed escape and these novels supplied it. Murder mystery thrillers just seemed to depress me and seemed so misogynistic. All that violence towards women was hitting a bit to close to home. The alternative world provided me with a space in which I could read safely and creatively. I am sure that there will come a time when I will move on from this genre but for now it is a welcome part of my reading.
I am getting ready to start the Red Rising series. I liked the magicians series by Lev Grossman but haven't read the third one in that series or watched the TV series. I loved the first two of Richard K. Morgan's Takeshi Kovach series, and discovered Elizabeth Bear.
I had many of the same feelings about SCI/FI as you did. It was too hard to figure out the worlds these authors created, but in the last year I have changed my tune. My revelation came because I needed escape and these novels supplied it. Murder mystery thrillers just seemed to depress me and seemed so misogynistic. All that violence towards women was hitting a bit to close to home. The alternative world provided me with a space in which I could read safely and creatively. I am sure that there will come a time when I will move on from this genre but for now it is a welcome part of my reading.
I am getting ready to start the Red Rising series. I liked the magicians series by Lev Grossman but haven't read the third one in that series or watched the TV series. I loved the first two of Richard K. Morgan's Takeshi Kovach series, and discovered Elizabeth Bear.
208benitastrnad
How is that Alps: A Human History book? I may have to look for it.
209alcottacre
>191 Chatterbox: You convinced me that I need to read The Golden Legend, so I went ahead and ordered a copy. BAD strikes again!
Happy Easter, Suzanne!
Happy Easter, Suzanne!
210benitastrnad
#209
She got me with that book bullet too, but I haven't yet made a purchase. I simply added it to my wish list.
She got me with that book bullet too, but I haven't yet made a purchase. I simply added it to my wish list.
211benitastrnad
I finished listening to my latest commuter book. Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown turned out to be a surprisingly good book. I don't usually read chick lit and so had put of listening to this one for a long time and, honestly, had set the bar quite low for this title. This was a pleasant surprise when I did get around to it.
This is a story of three sisters who love each other, but don't want to spend the rest of their lives in close proximity. Circumstances, however, have other plans, and the sisters find themselves all back at home living with their parents due to one thing or another. All of them use their mother's cancer and subsequent illness as the excuse, but all of them are back because they have unfinished business with their siblings. How, this quandary is resolved is the story, and the author does a bang-up job of telling it. The narrator for this recorded version was also very good and did a great job of bringing this twist on the genre to life. It was a great commute book. And, I loved all the Shakespeare quotes.
This is a story of three sisters who love each other, but don't want to spend the rest of their lives in close proximity. Circumstances, however, have other plans, and the sisters find themselves all back at home living with their parents due to one thing or another. All of them use their mother's cancer and subsequent illness as the excuse, but all of them are back because they have unfinished business with their siblings. How, this quandary is resolved is the story, and the author does a bang-up job of telling it. The narrator for this recorded version was also very good and did a great job of bringing this twist on the genre to life. It was a great commute book. And, I loved all the Shakespeare quotes.
212Chatterbox
>208 benitastrnad: I'll read the book about the Alps this week. I have reasonably high hopes for it, since I've read everything else that Stephen O'Shea has written, pretty much. He's not a brilliant author, like Tony Horwitz, but does an excellent job of blending reportage with history and great anecdotes. I think he's also originally a Canadian and according to the author bio on the flap, now apparently lives in Providence. Who knew??? Well, maybe the people at the Athenaeum know. I may have to draw this to their attention and get them to coerce him into doing a Salon next season, so that I can meet him. The first book of his that I read was Back to the Front, a walking tour of the Western Front battle lines that he wrote in the mid-1990s or thereabouts, which was my particular interest, given my experience as a tour guide at a WW1 battlefield.
213Chatterbox
Happy Easter to all! And happy (belated) Passover to all who are celebrating that holiday!
214Chatterbox
After finishing The Curse of La Fontaine and The Nonesuch, I watched the final episodes of a Netflix series, "13 Reasons Why", all about teen suicide, and bullying, etc. It was very good, and compelling (and I'd recommend it -- complex and great acting) but a big downer/depressing, culminating in a horrifying on-screen depiction of the main character's suicide (the action moves back and forth in time). So I had to turn to a feel-good chick lit book to save my sanity, and read the new book by an old fave author, The Little Teashop of Lost and Found by Trisha Ashley.
Now to do some dishes and some laundry.
Now to do some dishes and some laundry.
215LovingLit
>200 Chatterbox: yay! It arrived!!!
I can guiltily confess now that I do recall wanting to send it, and then having second thoughts as it was too good to give away!!! Clearly, I was a bit precious about it!!! I am glad that I did send it, as it sounds like it has ht the mark. The proof will be in the reading though as usual.
Oh, and my dad thought similarly to me about City of Secrets, we didn't feel like we really got to know how the main guy rolled, as it were- what his motivations were, or his deepest thoughts. But, we both liked the lesson on post-WWII Israel it gave us!
I can guiltily confess now that I do recall wanting to send it, and then having second thoughts as it was too good to give away!!! Clearly, I was a bit precious about it!!! I am glad that I did send it, as it sounds like it has ht the mark. The proof will be in the reading though as usual.
Oh, and my dad thought similarly to me about City of Secrets, we didn't feel like we really got to know how the main guy rolled, as it were- what his motivations were, or his deepest thoughts. But, we both liked the lesson on post-WWII Israel it gave us!
216Chatterbox
>208 benitastrnad: Reading The Alps: A Human History and enjoying it -- not breathtakingly literary or beautiful, but a solid and often entertaining overview. He keeps running into annoying Dutchmen. It would be a good read for those who don't know that Mary Shelley was inspired to write Frankenstein when staying in the region, or who don't know that Voltaire and Mme. de Staël hung out here.
>215 LovingLit: Yes, completely agree with you re the main character in the O'Nan book. It was as if he had sprung from nowhere -- well, not completely, obviously, but he wasn't a fully realized character in the sense that all that mattered was what was happening now, not the backstory and the motivations. Somewhat frustrating, at least for me. I like rich characters, and will sometimes even sacrifice plot (horrors) for an amazing character.
Finished the new Brookmyre, so that can go out in the mail to Peggy when she PMs me her address?? I'll probably have a few things to send out by the end of the week.
>215 LovingLit: Yes, completely agree with you re the main character in the O'Nan book. It was as if he had sprung from nowhere -- well, not completely, obviously, but he wasn't a fully realized character in the sense that all that mattered was what was happening now, not the backstory and the motivations. Somewhat frustrating, at least for me. I like rich characters, and will sometimes even sacrifice plot (horrors) for an amazing character.
Finished the new Brookmyre, so that can go out in the mail to Peggy when she PMs me her address?? I'll probably have a few things to send out by the end of the week.
217benitastrnad
I am starting to get bulletins about speakers and authors at ALA this summer. I will e-mail the LT Gods around May first and see if they are giving the free passes. In the meantime - time to energized about the conference. It is in Chicago at the McCormick Place Convention Center and the exhibits are open on June 24-26 from 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m.
218alcottacre
>211 benitastrnad: I need to locate my copy of that one.
219Chatterbox
>217 benitastrnad: I am going to have to have a think about that. It means another airfare, more hotels, etc. etc. I told myself Atlanta was an exception...
220benitastrnad
I finished the bizarre Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. It wasn't his best novel, but it was interesting enough to keep me interested. I should have expected bizarre. It is a Murakami novel. I am on to Baklava Club the last of the Yashim the Eunuch novels by Jason Goodwin. I also dug out Wanderlust and will start that one soon. It just isn't calling out to me as loudly as is Yashim.
221Chatterbox
>220 benitastrnad: I miss Yashim! I wish Goodwin had kept on with that series; it isn't as if he had run it into the ground, as other authors do, basically writing the same book over and over again.
222charl08
Oh I didn't realise that series was finished. I would have read the last one more slowly!
223benitastrnad
#221
I am sorry to see the Yashim novels end too. I agree with you that Goodwin didn't run them into the ground. Each one had something new and fresh in it. The friendship between Palewski and Yashim continues to grow and provide both of them with sustenance. I thought that perhaps Goodwin was running out of historical ideas on which to turn and center his novels. The Ottoman court is changing, and Goodwin thought it might be a good place to end the series? I do have to say that these novels have been a good introduction to the history of the late Ottoman Empire, and I have found them enlightening about Turkish life, customs, and history.
I am sorry to see the Yashim novels end too. I agree with you that Goodwin didn't run them into the ground. Each one had something new and fresh in it. The friendship between Palewski and Yashim continues to grow and provide both of them with sustenance. I thought that perhaps Goodwin was running out of historical ideas on which to turn and center his novels. The Ottoman court is changing, and Goodwin thought it might be a good place to end the series? I do have to say that these novels have been a good introduction to the history of the late Ottoman Empire, and I have found them enlightening about Turkish life, customs, and history.
225benitastrnad
#224
You won't be sorry you read these. They are full of history and they made me want to put Istanbul on my before-I-die bucket list.
You won't be sorry you read these. They are full of history and they made me want to put Istanbul on my before-I-die bucket list.
226FAMeulstee
I enjoyed the Yashim books too, sadly the last one wasn't translated, so for me it ended with book 4 :-(
227Chatterbox
I have had to run off and start reading/re-reading light and fluffy stuff after reading a grueling (if very compelling and interesting) memoir by James Rhodes, a pianist and media personality/classical music advocate who was traumatized by many years of sexual abuse beginning as a five-year old at his posh day school in London. Horrifying, and what it did to him as an adult -- the way it completely messed up his life -- was just as dreadful. He pulls absolutely NO punches in Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication, and Music, which I got from NetGalley and read for the non-fiction challenge this month, expecting it to be a gentler, more indirect read. Ha! So I've listened to a re-read of a Georgette Heyer book, read something by Elizabeth Edmondson that I had lurking on my Kindle and shall probably read another of the latter's self-published books from the latter days of her writing before finishing some of the intense (better written, more intriguing, more complex) books on my TBR stack. Yes, I'm STILL looking at The Patriots, with which I'm only have done. It's good, and I make a bit of progress, and then I stall, or rather, I lack the impetus to just want to devour the rest of it. Puzzling. Nearly finished with Stephen O'Shea's book about the Alps, however.
Went to the Athenaeum earlier this week; returned four books and withdrew five. I am incorrigible. At least this means I didn't spend money on a few that I had earmarked for possible purchase now that my Lenten book-buying fast is at an end, like Spaceman of Bohemia and The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan.
Went to the Athenaeum earlier this week; returned four books and withdrew five. I am incorrigible. At least this means I didn't spend money on a few that I had earmarked for possible purchase now that my Lenten book-buying fast is at an end, like Spaceman of Bohemia and The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan.
228katiekrug
I am interested in The Sport of Kings - interested to hear what you think of it.
229vivians
Me too! I'm about 75% done with The Sport of Kings on audio and it's feeling like a huge slog at this point.
230elkiedee
I'm interested in hearing about Spaceman of Bohemia - I got a copy from Amazon Vine (VfA) which disappeared in the post, and there were none left. Wonder if libraries here have bought any copies.
231Chatterbox
Well, my reading lineup now looks something like this, when I finish The Alps: A Human History:
I might squeeze Spaceman of Bohemia in there, but the Morgan novel is a chunkster... and I have to re-read Austerlitz and read The Garden of the Finzi-Continis for book group/book circle meetings in the next week/ten days.
I might squeeze Spaceman of Bohemia in there, but the Morgan novel is a chunkster... and I have to re-read Austerlitz and read The Garden of the Finzi-Continis for book group/book circle meetings in the next week/ten days.
232benitastrnad
I have The Garden of the Finzi-Continis on my list of books to read this year. Don't know if I will get to it, but it is on the list.
233michigantrumpet
May I say yet again how exceedingly jealous I've been about your Athenaeum series? What a treat to have that to anticipate on one's calendar!
Once I get back from travels this weekend, things will settle down a bit before revving up again in the Summer. Perhaps a little Marianne/Suzanne Meet Up?
Be well, my friend!
Once I get back from travels this weekend, things will settle down a bit before revving up again in the Summer. Perhaps a little Marianne/Suzanne Meet Up?
Be well, my friend!
234Chatterbox
>233 michigantrumpet: I have been meaning to follow up with you to see how you were doing, but know you have had a lot on your plate, with your usual marathon guests and the other, less happy stuff. I'll be off to NYC next week, but then let's think about later in May. G. also has decided that he wants to come up to Providence and Boston now that he is able to travel again, and wants to see the photography exhibit at the MFA, but not the Matisse (sniffily: I can see all the Matisse I want in New York) so maybe you and I could plan to take in M. Henri Matisse's works of great genius?
My Athenaeum lecture series that I enjoyed so much ended, alas. It was only for February. Perhaps just as well as it was fairly pricey and I couldn't afford to do that every month until I am back with some kind of stable income, which appears to be elusive. The good news is that my landlord's decision to transform the apartment upstairs to Airbnb means that he has offered to cut my rent by $30 a month in exchange for allowing those folks to piggyback on the signal. Score!
My Athenaeum lecture series that I enjoyed so much ended, alas. It was only for February. Perhaps just as well as it was fairly pricey and I couldn't afford to do that every month until I am back with some kind of stable income, which appears to be elusive. The good news is that my landlord's decision to transform the apartment upstairs to Airbnb means that he has offered to cut my rent by $30 a month in exchange for allowing those folks to piggyback on the signal. Score!
235michigantrumpet
I have been wanting to visit M. Matisse, so sign me up!
Huzzah on the rent cut! Nicely played!
Huzzah on the rent cut! Nicely played!
236magicians_nephew
Our downtown group did Austerlitz a few years ago with mixed results - be curious to read your reactions to it
237Chatterbox
>235 michigantrumpet: Done deal! We'll talk late next week when I get back from NYC.
>236 magicians_nephew: I really liked it on my first read -- and having now read the rest of Sebald's oeuvre, would say it's my fave of his four quasi-novels. So I'm looking forward to revisiting it. I've got an audiobook version of it and will be alternating reading and listening for a different experience. You shouldn't just listen, however, as a key part of Sebald are the "found" pieces of art -- photographs, altered and edited -- that he includes in the text. I simply wanted a different experience, and a way to prevent myself from reading too rapidly through the text.
>236 magicians_nephew: I really liked it on my first read -- and having now read the rest of Sebald's oeuvre, would say it's my fave of his four quasi-novels. So I'm looking forward to revisiting it. I've got an audiobook version of it and will be alternating reading and listening for a different experience. You shouldn't just listen, however, as a key part of Sebald are the "found" pieces of art -- photographs, altered and edited -- that he includes in the text. I simply wanted a different experience, and a way to prevent myself from reading too rapidly through the text.
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