What are you reading the week of December 11, 2021?

I've started The Landmark Xenophon's Anabasis. It's a first hand account of 10000 Greek soldiers who fought as mercenaries for Cyrus the Younger in his attempt to dethrone his brother Artaxerxes. After Cyrus is killed in battle near Babylon, the Greeks had to fight their way back across country to return to Greece.

Finished up The Leader's Bookshelf. Next up will be Age of Conquests and Diplomacy of Wolves.

I'm almost done reading My Life Among the Underdogs by Tia Torres. It's been a quick read because of the heartwarming dog stories and her conversational writing style.

Still reading Leviathan Falls, Brothers of the Wind, and Prince Across the Water.

Bailed out on Mercy. I usually like Jodi Picoult but couldn't handle this sappy cross between The Bridges of Madison County and a courtroom drama about euthanasia.

Next up is Furious Love, by Kashner & Schoenberger. (Not sure why it took two people to write this celebrity peep, but whatever.) I'm just ready for something that doesn't require the engagement of more than 10 brain cells.

I've started Sally Rooney's Normal People and liking it much more than I thought I would.

I'm listening to Viktor E. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. It is not like me at all to read philosophy, because I find the whole subject relatively incomprehensible, but this book will stay with me for life. Written after the horrors of imprisonment first in Auschwitz, then in Dachau, and suffering the death of his entire family in concentration camps, Frankl manages to write about hope and finding the meaning for one's personal existence. It is remarkable.

I'm not reading a physical book at the moment. In fact, I have read very little since I met a lovely man in September - the first time I've dated since my marriage ended in 2011. I can't even recall if dating always consumed so much of my time, but it's hard to trade off happiness, even if it does mean a shorter list of books read.

I finished No Exit by Taylor Adams. I have started The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough.

Eva Luna – Isabel Allende
Audible audiobook performed by Cynthia Farrell & Timothy Andrés Pabon.
4****

From the book jacket: Meet Eva Luna – a lover, writer, revolutionary, and storyteller. Eva is born poor, orphaned at an early age, and works as a servant. Eva is a naturally gifted and imaginative storyteller who meets people from all stations and walks of life. Though she has no wealth, she trades her stories like currency with people who are kind to her.

My reactions
I’m already a huge fan of Allende’s magical realism, and this book did not disappoint. I loved the many characters – from the Lebanese merchant to the petty criminal/guerrilla leader to the transsexual entertainer. As Eva tells the story of her life, she tells the story of this South American nation – of corruption, class struggle, peace, war, feast and famine. The story comes alive with saints and ghosts, servants and political leaders equally profile, skewered and cherished.

Both Allende and Eva Luna are great storytellers, and this a marvelous escape.

The audiobook was performed by Cynthia Farrell and Timothy Andrés Pabon. These are two talented voice artists, and having them both narrating, makes it easy to follow the shifts in perspective.

Almost Interesting
David Spade
4/5 stars
Actor David Spade talks about his life and career in Hollywood. He also talks about Saturday Night Live and the hoops that the actors go through to get to perform on the show. I thought this was a funny and interesting read.

I finished Earth System History. I didn't have the most up to date version but surely lots of information that I didn't know. Read in small bits over 4 months. Did not assimilate all of it and won't remember much that I did, but I did gain a general idea of the earth and the life upon it and how they impact each other.

Catching up a bit, I recently finished the wonderul The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Iranian novelist Shokoofeh Azar and the 1941 fun murder mystery Reunion with Murder by Timothy Fuller. Reviews of both can be found on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

I've now started In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History by Mitch Landrieu. Landrieu was mayor of New Orleans from 2010 through 2018. His book is part memoir and part explication of how he came to take the controversial decision (we learn in the book's opening pages that nobody would rent the city a crane to do the work, although post-Katrina construction was going on all over the city) to remove from their very prominent perches four statues of famed Confederate figures. More generally, Landrieu's memoir is a description of a well-meaning Southern liberal's reckoning with all the institutional racism that he had been staring at but not seeing his entire life and political career. (Obviously, he had been seeing the more overt racism that New Orleans has to offer.) Anyway, I'm only about 30 pages in and still trying to figure out whether I think of Landreiu's personal and political narrative.

Finished from the library:
Betrayal on the Bowery by Kate Belli
#2 and new installment in "A Gilded Gotham Mystery" series

Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas
#6 and new installment in "The Lady Sherlock" series

Just finished reading the novel NIGHTMARE ALLEY by author WILLIAM LINDSAY GRESHAM

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Finished listening to the excellent Canada.

Next up for listening is Lady In The Lake by Laura Lippman.

>7 ahef1963: You grab that happiness where you can even if fewer books get read! Delighted for you. :)

I finished the new Shari LaPena Not a Happy Family. Quick and readable. I needed something that didn't require a lot of me. I'm currently reading Death on the Nile and Bess of Hardwick. I've been clinging to Agatha Christie since the pandemic started. My cousin recommended Bess of Hardwick and it is fascinating!

Really enjoying Merivel a Man of His Time by Rose Tremain

Finished reading the outstanding Harlem Shuffle.

Now I will try to finish Remembrance Of Things Past, Vol 2.

Had to set aside Lady In The Lake as it just didn't appeal.

Next up for listening is the Booker Prize Winner, The Promise by Damon Galgut.

The new thread is up over here.