LisaCurcio's 2009 Reading

Books read January through March, 2009:

A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena De Blasi
A Thousand Days in Tuscany by Marlena De Blasi
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin
Tehanu by Ursula Le Guin
The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks
Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye
The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kay
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycak
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
The Bridal Wreath: Kristin Lavransdatter Vol. 1 by Sigrid Undset
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
The Children by David Halberstam
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Graveyard Dust by Barbara Hambly
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
My Dearest Friend Abigail and John Adams
Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather
Fatal Remedies by Donna Leon
Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough
The Reluctant Tuscan by Phil Doran
Italian Lessons by Peter Pezzelli
Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey
Death at Gallows Green by Robin Paige
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin

and abandoned: Mort by Terry Pratchett

Since I started the year on the 75 Books Challenge, I am just going to list the books I have read this year and comment briefly on a couple of them. I have not fully reviewed any of them. Most of them really don’t need a review from me since there is not much that is not widely read.

I do not have a reading plan. I just like to read and sometimes pick up what is closest, what someone else recommended that appeals to me, what would be easy to read quickly, or I find themes from something I read and meander off from there. For example, I am reading The Inferno, and something about it prompted me to look up The Decameron. It looks interesting, and I have a copy, so that is going to move up on the TBR pile.

There is some young reader/young adult here. Some of it I read to decide whether it is appropriate for the various reading levels of the various nieces, nephews and grandchildren to whom I constantly give books. Some of it I read because I enjoy the uncomplicated stories and can read it quickly.

For some reason, I have read more fantasy/science fiction this year than I normally do. Going forward, I will be getting back to history and mystery, I think. In trying to read the threads in this group, however, I have already found many authors and books in various genres to add to the pile.

I disliked A Thousand Days in Venice, so don’t ask me why I went on to read A Thousand Days in Tuscany. I did and I liked it. I read the books because I like reading about living in Italy. I love Italy and, yes, would be happy to be one of those insufferable Americans with a house there if I could afford it. The first book used Venice as a backdrop. It did not talk about the city or its people; it was a very self-centered book about the author. On the other hand, the second was much more about the small town in Tuscany to which they moved and the people De Blasi and her husband came to know.

I was barely able to finish An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England, and probably should not have. I did not see why it was supposed to be funny and found the characters to be pathetic. From reviews I read afterward, I saw that people either loved it or hated it. I certainly fall into the latter group.

The Belly of Paris introduced me to Zola's Rougon-Macquart novels. It was the third of the twenty, but I don't think that matters. Zola almost paints with his pen, and the portrayal of the bourgeoisie so intent on their comfortable lives that they will go along with almost any government regulation is fascinating and strangely apropos of recent history in these United States.

I picked up Mort because I liked Good Omens and thought I would try reading Terry Pratchett. Others familiar with Terry Pratchett suggested Mort as a starting place. I enjoyed the first twenty or thirty pages of Mort, but then it just started to irritate me. I cannot put my finger on it. If Mort is a true representation of Pratchett's writing, I must have liked Good Omens because of Neil Gaiman's participation in the writing. I thought Neverwhere was a very good fantasy read.

Finally, I just finished The Children by David Halberstam, and this one I am going to review--probably tomorrow.

ET update list

I like The Decameron. It has some really bawdy stories in it. Make sure you read the 10th story in which Rustico the monk teaches the innocent young Alibech "how to put the devil back in hell." You should check out Marguerite de Navarre's The Heptameron as well. I love Le Le Guin by the way. Definitely take a look at The Telling if you haven't already. It is beautiful - well worth reading just so you can let the last lines sink in.

urania, thanks for the recommendations. I will look at The Telling--I was going to try The Left Hand of Darkness, too.

And to you and whoever else might be reading, here is my review of The Children by David Halberstam (719 pages; Fawcett paperback edition):

In 1959, James Lawson, a Methodist minister who spent several years in India studying the methods of Gandhi, organized a group of college students to protest segregation in Nashville through lunch counter sit-ins.. The original group of students attended various local schools including American Baptist College, Fisk University and Tennessee A & I—all primarily black colleges. Among them were the later infamous Marion Barry and John Lewis, who became a Congressman from Georgia. Several of the others became prominent in the larger civil rights movement. Many of them were interested in ministry, or came from backgrounds which gave them deep religious convictions. Halberstam tells the story of these individuals and of others who joined them along the way. He reports on and analyzes the development of the non-violent direct action movement during the early 1960s.

The largest focus is on the students' involvement in the lunch-counter sit-ins that began in early 1960 and in the Freedom Rides that began somewhat later. The students’ movement started in Nashville--which was a relatively liberal city with regard to segregation—and expanded to cities and towns of the “Deep South” in Alabama and Mississippi. There were relatively peaceful mass arrests in Nashville and vicious beatings sanctioned by the local governments in Alabama and Mississippi. Until the later 1960s, these protesters reacted non-violently, and many of them suffered serious injury.

Halberstam comments on the almost complete lack of involvement by the Kennedy administration until confronted with the extreme violence perpetrated on the protestors by law enforcement officials. He discusses the connection between some of the local police and the Ku Klux Klan. He also calls attention to the relatively new phenomenon of television broadcasting these scenes to the average American, and the significant impact on the populace and on the federal government of that visual evidence.

Halberstam was a reporter for the Nashville Tennesseean when the sit-ins started and moved to the New York Times in the early 1960s where his emphasis shifted to the Vietnam War. The writing is that of a very good reporter, but it is not a scholarly investigation and analysis. It is based upon anecdote and interviews with participants in the events and can be taken as a well written factual account. My one criticism is that he spends approximately 200 pages at the end of the book briefly recounting what happened afterward to all of the individuals he saw as key players. Since I was reading it for information about the civil rights movement, I was not so interested in the "after" stories.

I do, however, highly recommend this very readable book, particularly as one that covers the contributions of the less well known young participants in the early civil rights movement.

HA! The Decameron!!! Naughty girls (and YOU, urania, even more than Lisa). ;-)

Wide-eyed says "who? me?" The copy I have is one of those leatherbound Franklin Library books that was part of a subscription years ago. How could anything that is so beautifully bound and came from the Franklin Library be naughty??

>4 aluvalibri:: aluvalibri it takes one to know one ( said in urania's best magnolia breath accent).

Mort is a pretty fair reflection on Terry's writings, especially the earlier books though the satire is somewhat muted compared to some of the later works. Mort is often a book people pick as one of their favourites of all of the 30+ discworld novels.

How did you get on with Tigana? It's recieved a lot LT love in the fantasy forums, but I found it distinctly lacking somewhere. Again difficult to put a finger precisely on where my problems with it were.

I really didn't get on with Left hand of darkness I just couldn't see why it recieves any aclaim. At the time sure I guess it was challenging, but now? Not at all, and so many more worthy possabilities were completely unexplored. (oh and it's very very different to Earthsea). But I do generally like the LeGuin works that I have read. Tales from Earthsea is worth hunting down. A collection of short stories from before Ged's time, establishing how and why society is structed as it is there. Always an interesting theme

HA!

P.S. Better naughty than boring!

Lisa--I'm a big Zola fan. I have read all of 20 of the Rougon MacQuart books. Some of them I really didn't care for but the Belly of Paris is very good. Written more or less in present time back then it wasn't really a historical novel--now it really has transformed pretty much into exactly that. His best works IMO go into detail about late 19th century France--the meticulous detail in this one about the food markets etc. help emphasize other aspects of the story. Meticulous detailing is the hallmark of his best work and give a window into a modern 19th society transforming into a modern 20th century society. Another particularly good one is The ladies paradise which is actually a kind of sequel to Pot Luck. In the Ladies Paradise Paris itself is being redrawn--secluded neighborhood cul de sacs giving way to straight avenues--small shops to the first ever department stores. Very fascinating.

Another Zola fan weighing in. Iriley thanks for the tip about The Belly of Paris. For some reason I didn't think it would be all that good. What did you think about Pot Luck?

I'm a Zola fan too, and I would like to read all of the Rougon books. I've read the more well-known ones. Is there any advantage to reading them in chronological order, or can one read them as fancy chooses?

Urania 1--Pot luck if I remember correctly was written one year before the Ladies Paradise. They share major characters and I look at both books as companion pieces. That said I did not read them in order. LP at least at the time was easier to find than PL. So I read the last part first. It would have been better the other way but c'est la vie. If I only was going to read one though Ladies Paradise would be the one. It's excellent. Pot Luck is very good as well but not quite as good--it's mainly about the residents of an apartment house--some of whom work in nearby smaller fashion related shops. LP expands greatly expands the range of what PL starts.

aruba--I read them all out of order. Someday I'm going to go back and read some of them more in order--IMO some of them though just aren't worth the time to read again. My favorite work of his is The Earth--but L'Assommoir, Germinal, The Debacle (a great war novel) and The belly of Paris rate highly. Money and His excellency Eugene Rougon are both interesting for looking into the worlds of government and high finance. La Bete humaine I like better for the detail about mass transit rail than the psychopathic serial killer content.

>7 reading_fox:: reading_fox, I liked Tigana a great deal. Just discovered Kay last year, and have also read The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, the Sailing to Sarantium duology and Ysabel. Thought they were all good, and would probably rate Tigana second to The Fionavar Tapestry books. Sometimes a book just does not strike a chord for some reason that is difficult to articulate--along the lines of "I don't know anything about art, but I know what I like"?

As to LeGuin, I read all of the Earthsea books, and really liked the first two but less so the last two. I see differing opinions here about The Left Hand of Darkness as opposed to others by her, so I will probably try a couple of them when I have time. (Time? HaHaHa!) Tales From Earthsea looks like a good prospect--thanks for suggesting it.

Iriley, you are the first person I have "talked" to who has read all of the Rougon-Maquart books. I might try picking up the first two and then reading selectively after that based upon your comments to aruba. Being a bit of a francophile, I like reading about the country in general and Paris in particular, whether in fiction or history. Again on Zola: have you read Therese Raquin? I read it in college in French for one of my classes, but do not remember a thing about it. I have it in French and in translation, and was thinking of trying the French again with the English available. But I don't know if it is worth reading at all! Should I save my efforts at reading in French for something else?

Lisa--read Therese Raquin a long time ago. It's more of a crime story than anything else. If I remember Therese falls out of love with her husband (something like that) and colludes with her lover to murder him--after which she's consumed and destroyed by guilt. A little bit Edgar Allan Poe like.

I've also read Zola's Lourdes which came after the RM series. It's pretty much a critique of Catholicism set around the holy site at Lourdes. It's so so.

All in all I think the best way is to pick through the series. Some time ago I set it as a goal to read every book. Well I did and if you're going to do that probably in order is best but I found several of them disappointing notably The sin of Father Mouret, A page of love, The dream and Doctor Pascal.

I know I haven't mentioned Nana--I think it's good though overrated. I don't think it's his best--probably the most notorious though.

I love Zola too!
I read many of the series when I was in my teens (in Italian), and I remember particularly liking The Ladies' Paradise, L'Assommoir, and Germinal. After reading your comments, lriley, I feel like reading them all, even those I read already.

Those three you cite aluvalibri are certainly among his best. The Earth IMO is hilarious and is the one I'd say was his best novel. The Debacle is a great war novel. At the front end of the book the scenes of the battle of Sedan have such a chaotic feel and at the back end you have the French Army burning down half the city of Paris putting down the revolt of the population in the Paris commune.

>13 LisaCurcio:, Thanks, I've read "The Ladies Paradise." I was surprised at how timely it still is.

Of the ones I've read, I liked L'Assommoir, La Terre and Germinal the best, sort of in that order. I see lots of people like The Ladies Paradise, which I wasn't particularly taken with. I've read Therese Raquin too, and even though you don't remember it, I think you'd enjoy some of Zola's other works first rather than a reread.

Wow -- excellent info on works by Zola in this journal! I've been meaning to get to him for ages (have a copy of Germinal on my shelf, but got around to Balzac first and was seriously sidetracked)...

I do have a copy of Good Omens also, as it was recommended by a friend, but haven't gotten around to it yet either. I've never really read much sci-fi or fantasy. But I did try The Difference Engine recently and was pleasantly surprised by how readably realistic it seemed. I think what I liked best were the 'historical fiction'-y details, in other words.

I've never read the book Germinal but saw the film with Gerard Depardieu, with I thought was incredibly good.

Recent reads worth noting for one reason or another:

Graveyard Dust is the third book in Barbara Hambly's historical mysteries set in 1830s New Orleans. Benjamin January was introduced in A Free Man of Color and his story continued in Fever Season. He was freed by his father/owner, along with his mother and sister, when he was a child. He was trained in music and medicine. In an effort to escape the prejudice of New Orleans, he lived in Paris where he was able to work as a surgeon. When his young wife died of the plague, he was devastated and returned to New Orleans where he found work as a musician, but could only volunteer as a doctor, and daily meets the same prejudices he had left.

In the first two books, January seemed to be developing nicely as a character, and the interactions between the varying levels of white and black society in New Orleans society was fascinating. Unfortunately, in book three January seems to be doing the "same thing, different day". His relationship with a woman in met in book two goes nowhere. He manages to get himself beaten up in the same part of the city and in a similar way has he did in the other two books. I was quite disappointed. I hope there is someone out there who has gone on to read more of these books who can give me hope that Hambly just had an off book.

On the other hand:

My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams was a joy to read.

This is a collection of 289 of the letters between Abigail and John from 1762 to 1801 when they finally retired to their farm at Braintree. While it is satisfying to read the letters in their own right, the reader who is familiar with the history of the time will find this book particularly interesting.

From early in their marriage, John's work as a "founding father" kept them apart for months and sometimes years. Their letters were their connection, and the editors have chosen letters that illustrate the enduring love, political views, family joys and frustrations, and the mundane details of the daily lives of one of history's most famous couples.

John Adams is well known to many by way of his biographies. Abigail is often portrayed as his intelligent and supportive companion, but her true character cannot come through in those books as it does in these letters. She was left to manage the farm and household, raise and educate the children, and take care of aging parents. During the years John was in Europe, many months sometimes passed in which letters did not arrive. He was not paid at all for his work before the government was formed and was not well paid even as president. Abigail had to meet the financial challenges. She still managed to be well educated generally and in the issues of the time, and letters express her opinions and advice.

I recommend this book especially for readers interested in the way of life and the lives of a family who gave much to the formation of the United States.

Wonderful review of My Dearest Friend, Lisa!

Too bad about the Hambly books, because the premise is really interesting.

The Hambly books sound very interesting, but it is what always worries me about series. I like to finish them if I start, and many get repetitive. Is it worth reading the first one on its own?

A friend recommended My Dearest Friend, but I think I will read an Adams biography first to get an overview of the history (of which I remember very little).

>22 Joycepa:: Joyce, thank you. High praise coming from one of the best reviewers I have read.

>23 janemarieprice:: The first Hambly book is very good, and it would not matter if you never read another. You will appreciate the letters much more if you read an Adams biography first. John Adams by David McCullough is very well done, and I recommend it.

Thanks for stopping by.

#24: Glad to see that the McCullough book is the one you recommend--it's the one I put down on my order list--I should have just asked you to begin with!

Think I'll get the first Hambly book.

Catching up here with a couple of reviews and some brief comments on recent reading.

First, the good ones:

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough

Although billed as a biography of the early life of Theodore Roosevelt, it really is as much a social history as a biography. As one expects from McCullough, the work is well researched and well written.

It is a particularly engaging work because he has taken the time and effort to clearly develop the stories and characters of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and his wife, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, known as Mittie. To a lesser extent, one comes to know the future president's siblings and his large and close extended family.

TR senior comes through as a philanthropist in the best sense of the word--dispensing not only his money but his time. Mittie was a true southern belle. One comes to appreciate the effect of the family's wealth and the personalities of the parents on the development of the younger TR. The political events and jockeying of the day are also an important part of this history.

This book gives the reader an excellent understanding of how Teddy Roosevelt came to be the larger than life man who was the 26th president.

Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey

True to form, Tey wrote an unconventional mystery. This one is set at a girls' college where Miss Lucy Pym has been invited by her old friend who is the head of the school to be what we might today call a guest lecturer for a day. She ends up staying on for various reasons, becoming friends with some of the students. The murder occurs about two-thirds of the way through the tale, but the book is less about the mystery than about Miss Pym's thought processes. A quick, but engaging read. I recommend it, but not as highly as Brat Farrar.

Second, the "okay" ones:

Death at Gallows Green by Robin Paige

Robin Paige is the pen name of the husband and wife team of Susan Wittig Albert and Bill Albert writing mysteries set in Victorian England. The protagonist is Kate Ardleigh, an orphaned and independent American woman who first traveled to England to be secretary to one of her late father's sisters.

This is the second book. In these pretty typical murder mysteries, someone gets killed on the first page or two, Miss Ardleigh gets involved and ultimately solves the case. Of course there is a developing love interest. No deep thoughts to be found, and that is part of the charm when trying to take a break from more engrossing reading.

So far, I like these better than Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles mysteries, mainly because so much time is pent in the China Bayles books describing what people are wearing. I have yet to figure out why.

Italian Lessons by Peter Pezzelli

I generally like Pezzelli's books for light reading about first generation Italian Americans who havemade a good life in the U.S., but maintain an emotional tie to Italy. His writing is a bit uneven, and there is no depth to these stories, but I find them fun to read because they remind me of good things from my growing up years, and ignore the dysfunctional parts. I liked this one well enough, but it certainly won't make a top 100 reads of 2009 list.

Finally, the bad:

The Reluctant Tuscan by Phil Doran

The story of a couple who buys a run down, ancient building in the hills and renovates it is not unique. The appeal when I picked up this book was the claim by Doran, a former Hollywood screenwriter, that he was telling the story of how he came to love Italy after he and his wife renovated a house near Pisa.

I don't believe him. From the beginning, when he reluctantly joined his wife after she bought the house, to the end, when they are living in the house, his tone is sarcastic and his description of the culture and people is derogatory. He is the classic "Ugly American" at the outset; in the end he is only slightly less ugly.

The book might have been redeemed had he related the stories of the local people in a believable way. All of them, however, are caricatures. Every odd characteristic is exaggerated. In the end, Doran could not overcome his screenwriter training and mentality.

So, I have had my fluff break and am going back to Team of Rivals, Diary of Gideon Welles, and History of Florence.

Nice reviews, Lisa, and I've noted Mornings on Horseback as a book to get. I sure agree with you about McCullough.

Good reviews! I've never read anything by Tey; is Miss Pym anything like Miss Marple (unassuming little elderly lady detective)...? The name 'Pym' screams knitting and murder mysteries to me. :)

No, Fullmoonblue, not at all like Miss Marple. Miss Pym would seem to be in her 40's or 50's and her claim to fame at the time of the book is that she has read many, many books on psychology and then decided to write her own. She sort of falls into the role of the detective in this tale.

Tey is not like the typical "British mystery writer". She did have a series of books where the detective is Inspector Alan Grant but I have only read The Daughter of Time in which he was in hospital and uses friends to try to solve the question as to whether Richard III really killed his nephews. I don't know if the others are more formulaic. In any event, the ones I have read are easy reads but a little more thought provoking than other mystery novels. And don't get me wrong--I love mystery novels!

I had completely forgotten about The Daughter of Time --I read that a couple years ago, and remember that I thoroughly enjoyed the premise, the characters, and the writing. I don't exactly remember the ending, but now that you mention it, this will have to go back onto the TBRR pile.

Hmmm . . . I have a copy of Miss Pym Disposes but have been putting off reading it because I'm not a big fan of most mystery novels. This one sounds right up my alley. Perhaps I will shove it higher up Mt. TBR.

>30 tututhefirst:: Tina, Even if you did remember the ending, it is worth rereading. The premise of a number of people being involved in this investigation of what everyone assumes is history is intriguing, and I think I would get more out of the second reading.

>31 urania1::Mary, From following your posts, I think you might like it. For lack of a better phrase, there is more thinking going on in Tey's books.

Thanks Lisa. I am recurrently recovering from an infernal, internal illness, which has me sainted internist a bit flummoxed. I have told her my devilish interns have merely been acting up. Thus far, I have received two shot in either buttock. The third shot, about whose placement I was wondering with some trepidation, is currently on hold as the lab tests have not been cooperative. The upshot - I am reading lots of fun books.

#33: The one advantage of being sick! :-)

I am doing some research on a possible constitutional issue for my work, so am reading a book about the drafting of the Illinois Constitutions:
Constitution Making in Illinois, 1818-1970 (not surprisingly, no touchstone).

Following the Constitutional Convention which adjourned in May, 1870 and before the special election at which the voters were to determine whether the new constitution would be ratified, (then) "Governor Palmer wrote to a friend that he felt 'no hesitation in saying that the interests of the people of the State demand the adoption of the proposed constitution,' and that if the people should adopt the proposed constitution and send honest, independent men to the General Assembly, they might 'firmly expect the reign of law instead of the dominion of lobbyists and speculators in special privileges and in public taxation.'"

Brought a smile to my face this day 139 years later.

Also, even though it is ostensibly work related reading, I am enjoying reading it at the same time as Team of Rivals in which Goodwin discusses the political climate in Illinois leading up to the time Lincoln was elected president.

Great ancillary reading, Lisa! Nothing really changes, does it.

Re 29 -- thanks for that info!

Just finished The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin. It annoyed the heck out of me! If anyone wants to read an inside account of the Supreme Court, your time will be better spent with The Brethren by Bob Woodward. My review of The Nine is here:

http://www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=LisaCurcio

Outstanding review, Lisa. Loved getting the analysis from a lawyer's point of view.

Thanks for the review of The Nine. It sounded like my kind of book... Nice to have one come off my Bookmooch wishlist!

Great review of The Nine, Lisa. I bought it last year (I think), but I doubt I'll read it now. I really enjoyed The Brethren, which I read on a long train trip in 1990. Are there newer books about the Supreme Court that you would recommend?

Thanks, kidzdoc. I was terribly disappointed by that book. I was interested in it because I was looking for a more contemporary account of the working of the Court after having recently read and liked The Brethren. The contrast, in my opinion, was that Woodward combined intelligent discussion of the justices' perspectives on the legal issues before them with exposition of the effects of their personality quirks and political biases.

Unfortunately, I have not read any other newer books about the Court; I tend to read about specific justices or events. Gideon's Trumpet, for example, is an excellent book and still relevant, despite its age.

It might be that the nature of the institution makes it difficult to write about the Supreme Court, except in retrospect.

Well, I have not posted since April, but just reviewed my last "Early Reviewer" of the year and decided to put it here.

For a light and funny end of the year read, I recommend Sicilian Tragedee. Not great literature, but laugh out loud funny. My review is here