I guess by now it won't be a surprise for you that I will be following with interest your reading adventures, particularly the Jewish interest/Israeli author areas. Good luck.
hi squeakychu, i'm glad u are liking Kertesz's writing. may i recommend another book of his
Liquidation, which was one of my best reads this year. also, for your category Books of Jewish interest, i highly recommend
The Yellow Wind by David Grossman, a powerful non-fiction account of Palestinians living in occupied territories. if ur interested to see my thoughts on these books, pls go over to the 75-challenge where i keep a thread
http://www.librarything.com/topic/33820. they're book #65 and #88, respectively.
I read
Fatelessness two and a half times. First I started in English but it was a really bad translation. A few years later I read it in Hungarian. After he (yes Imre Kertesz is a he) got the Nobel prize I read the new English version, which was much better. Plus I saw the movie they made out of it.
Kaddish for an Unborn Child is on my list, but right now I only have an English copy. I will get a Hungarian one next time I am in Hungary.
From your italics 888 list I only read Maus (both volumes) and Cool Jews. I will check the others out. BTW: You must have liked Roth's
Exit Ghost as you gave it 94 out of 5. Or mistyped the opening parenthesis. :-)
Message edited by its author, Dec 22, 2008, 8:42am.
I've got
People of the Book listed as one of the next few to make the leap from the TBR pile. It's supposed to be about Jewish history (judging from the tags), but I don't know much about it. I read other books by this author for the 888 and completely fell in love.
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I just added both of those books to my wish list. Thank you for the suggestions.
David Grossman is such a great author (forget the fact that I couldn't make it through
See: Under Love). I was devastated when Grossman (in real life) lost his 20-year-old son in the Lebanese war. The author is a peacenik. That was so sad.
I more recommendations for you about Israeli Arabs:
1. Have you read anything by
Sayed Kashua? If not, grab those books! Start with
Dancing Arabs, then read
Let it be Morning. Kashua is an Israeli Arab journalist ... and a great writer!
2. How about graphic novels? If you like them or not, read
Palestine by Joe Sacco. Warning: This book is from an Arab point of view (and not kind to Jewish Israelis) - so be prepared. It's an amazing work by an Arab journalist.
Message edited by its author, Dec 22, 2008, 8:22pm.
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I'm reading the newest translation of
Fatelessness. I find the writing really beautiful but it doesn't sound like the voice of a 14-year-old child. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the book and wonder why this character seems so calm and oblivious to what is going on around him. That might become more clear later in the book. i've never read this book before.
I'm reading this book slowly because my maternal grandparents were taken from their home in the former Yugoslavia (near the Hungarian border) to their deaths in Auschwitz. In narratives such as the one in
Fatelessness (and in the graphic novel of
Maus which I also recently read), I try to imagine how it felt for my own grandparents to have endured that journey by train to their ultimate deaths. I can only take such narratives in small doses, then I move on to lighter fare.
You are so lucky to be able to read Hungarian. I'd love to know how the original is different from its translation(s).
My library has a copy of the movie "Fateless". Perhaps I will borrow the film after I read the book.
FYI: To others reading this thread:
Fateless and
Fatelessness are two different translations of the same book.
Message edited by its author, Dec 22, 2008, 11:56am.
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People of the Book got rave reviews from my best friend so that one's going onto my wishlist as well!
By the way, I heard Geraldine Brooks speak at The National Book Festival, but I didn't know who she was at the time!
>7 I'd been looking at
Palestine, but was wary. I think I'll give it a shot, though. It looks really good. (Btw, your touchstone points to
Palestine by Jimmy Carter...)
Btw, I put
Girl on the Fridge in the mail to you today. It has a small piece of saran-wrap stuck to the back - I think because glue from the price-sticker wouldn't come off - hope that's OK. I don't think it smells of cardamom, though - sorry. :)
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I think Palestine will be okay for you to read. Not to worry. I fixed the touchstone. To tell you the truth, the touchstones are usually so bonkers that I hardly pay them much mind any more.
I don't mind the saran wrap, but I am sorry about the missing cardomom! :) Thanks, again!
Hi, Madeline.
I think I've seen you a couple of times at the Twinbrook library. I'm usually at the Olney Library but sometimes I stop at Twinbrook on my way home from Rockville.
I saw that you have a category of biographies and wonder if you'd thought about joining the US Presidents Challenge? I started this challenge because we live in the area that is so greatly affected by the Historical events about to occur, maybe you would like to too?
Cheli
>7 thanks for the recommendations -- will certainly look them up. i'm not into graphic novels, but this one by Sacco seems worth exploring. i read about Grossman's losing his son --- and to think just a couple of days before it happened, he had been speaking together with Amos Oz and another eminent writer, pushing for the need to have a negotiated settlement. very sad indeed...
u mention about where ur grandparents were from...is it by any chance a town called Subotica in Serbia? i was in the area last summer (lovely place) and saw the synagogue and the memorial in the grounds, as well as several other memorials elsewhere in the town.
like u, i wish i could read Hungarian -- they have such an impressive literary tradition, unfortunately very few books of which have been translated into english.
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Hi Cheli,
If you see me again, please stop me to say hi since you know what I look like, and I don't know what you look like!
I'm sorry to say that I don't particularly like reading about Presidents so I will pass on the offer to join your challenge. Thanks for thinking of me, though.
By the way and since you're a local, if you would be interested in joining some of my Bookcrossing Meet-Ups, please let me know. Our next meeting will be in January to see the movie "The Reader". The movie is based on a book by Bernhard Schlink. The book is really good so I'm looking forward to this event. In March, my group will be distributing books free of charge at a book fair in Westminster, Maryland. In April we will will be working another book fair, again distributing books free of charge, in Kensington. We'd love for you to join us for any or all of the events.
Message edited by its author, Dec 23, 2008, 8:40pm.
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My grandparents lived in Osijek (northwest of Beograd). I traveled through Yugoslavia in 1974, but never made it as far north as Osijek (where my mom also grew up). I loved traveling in Yugoslavia. People were very friendly, and the country was beautiful. It was during the time of Tito, so people were kind of reticent to talk too much, though!
Message edited by its author, Dec 23, 2008, 8:48pm.
I think I'm going to start my 999 Challenge with
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels because, in January, I need to read both a Canadian author and an Orange Prize nominee or winner. This book fills both of those requirements! :D
On second thought, I might not as I don't know where I put it. I'll keep looking for it, though.
I too will be stalking your Israeli/Jewish interest reads. I thought Sacco's
Palestine was a very interesting book. What impressed me most was how he really was upfront about his own biases & didn't try to whitewash himself and make himself look like a saint. Of course, that also led to me feeling like he was a jerk sometimes, but hey....
fannyprice, are you going to be doing a 999 Challenge? If so, do a Jewish-themed category with us!
I'm gonna do it! (Even though I know I'll fail miserably to keep to my categories or any sort of reading list... I can't help but tempt fate...) Who else is involved?
Hi and good to 'find' you! I made a blunder and started two threads - thanks for commenting on my list. Do you know if I can delete my 'wrong' thread?
Now, down to the business of your groups and books! They are great categories and I was so pleased to see that you are contemplating keeping going for nine years!!
I will be interested in following your Jewish themed category but am wondering what type of books you will include as it seems a pretty broad canvas lol :). I am a Christian and love learning more about other peoples faith and the impact of that faith upon their lives.
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Well, I found several people who are doing a Jewish themes category. Here are some. Star them and let's do it together! After all, it's only 9 books in 81 of them. :)
Of Jewish Interest:(Information moved up into post # 3 above)
An FYI:
I don't know about others, but I am certainly willing to trade some of my "Jewish interest books" with others (I've already done this with biblioholic13). Unfortunately, it will need to be done with U.S. participants only due to the high cost of posting overseas. The best way to do this is by reserving books for each other on BookMooch. As an aside to everyone, all of my books are also registered on Bookcrossing so they can be individually tracked. If anyone is interested, just let me know. I'm always receiving and sending books. If you do this, PLEASE use MEDIA MAIL, which is quick and the least expensive way to ship used books.
Message edited by its author, Dec 28, 2008, 1:18pm.
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You cannot delete your wrong thread. The best you can do is delete all of the written content. Then make a link to the correct thread. It'll soon disappear down the list.
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I was so pleased to see that you are contemplating keeping going for nine years!!LOL! I *hope* this challenge isn't going to last for nine years, but I can't read more than about 50 books a year. I needed to make this challenge one that I could possibly complete.
My Jewish-themed category will be as broad as possible. It will include anything that is of Jewish interest. Those books could be Israeli novelists, biographies of Jewish figures, kosher cookbooks, graphic novels (
The Rabbi's Cat is one of my favorites), or anything else. We'll see as the year goes by.
Message edited by its author, Dec 27, 2008, 2:45pm.
>25, Yeah, my Jewish theme is going to be broad too. I like the idea of including cookbooks - perhaps we'd even have to cook the things we read about. Yum! I have
Cucina Ebraica that I REALLY REALLY want to get into. Although after my recent bad latke experience on Xmas eve, I am a little scared to eat anything right now.
#24Thank you ! Good on you for making the challenge work for you - after all, we are here because we enjoy books and reading.
(Message moved up into another post)
Message edited by its author, Dec 28, 2008, 1:12pm.
I'm starting the year off with Etgar Keret's
Girl on the Fridge. OMG, is Keret ever funny and weird! I love his writing. It's so entertaining. biblioholic13, let me know if you find any extra copies of his other books. I'd be willing to trade to get them.
In addition, I chose to begin reading
When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka as my choice for
Orange January. This is an Advance Reader's Copy that I've had on Mount Toobie for over four years. I need to move it along!
Message edited by its author, Dec 29, 2008, 12:57am.
:) Yeah, he's all kinds of great, isn't he!! Did you get to "Crazy Glue" yet?? It's my favorite, just the image of them swinging there cracks me up!!
squeakychu - I really like the way you have organised your thread.
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OMG, yes!! I need to copy that story for my younger son who's a Crazy Glue freak. I think I'll stick it in his Chanukah present (which I only ordered online yesterday and who knows when it'll arrive and he'll get it). By the way, the present is
Janna Gur's new Israeli cookbook called
The Book of New Israeli Food - and it's gorgeous!! I'm going to need to get a copy for myself as well.
http://www.librarything.com/work/4615278--> 31
Thanks! Setting up and fooling around with these threads and posts are fun, aren't they?
Message edited by its author, Dec 29, 2008, 9:33pm.
Oh, me likey! I'm a sucker for cookbooks!
Ok.. Ms. Squeaky.. rub it in that you've been to the National Book Festival and it's only on my sometime before I die list!! And that you've got to see one of my new favorites. (love the pictures on your profile!!)
By the way if you're looking for some humor
A Year of Living Biblically is a good religious humor book. The author describes his religion as he's as Jewish as Olive Garden is Italian food. He spends part of the year following the Old Testament as literally as possible, the moves on to the New Testament.
Message edited by its author, Jan 2, 2009, 4:52pm.
Thanks for the recommendation, ShannonMDE. I'm not sure that
A Year of Living Biblically will make it onto my reading list this year, but I'll keep it in mind.
I really like Imre Kertész (yes, I know I said I didn't like most Jewish fiction! but I like Kertész) but Kaddish didn't really click with me. Can't comment on the translation because I'm reading his works in Hungarian. I really like it when he writes about his Hungarianness, Jewishness, living abroad, and deliberately not living abroad tie together (OK I know Fatelessness has little to do with this, but much of his later oeuvre does).
How did you like
When the Emperor was Divine? I read it a few months ago, it was an impulse buy. (I found a ridiculously cheap new copy in a bargain bin) I found it OK but nothing earth-shattering... I felt that this topic would deserve more.
I've not read Linda Grant's works. Her novel might be interesting, but I think I could write her very same non-fiction book. After having lived in Israel for a year, studying Hebrew in a Qiryat Shemona ulpan, working as a home visiting nurse in Jerusalem (among Moslems, Christians, and Jews) and as a staff nurse in a government hospital in Beer Sheva, and having done an immense amount of traveling throughout the country, I'm very familiar with Israelis and in all the forms they come. :) It might be an interesting read nonetheless.
I just finished
When the Emperor Was Divine for my Orange January read. I have no idea why I waited so long to read this book. It was so beautiful ... but sad.
Now I'm reading
The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata. I'm reading it for the January theme read of
Reading Globally. By the way, this is a great group. I invite others who are interested in world literature to join.
I've read another book (
Snow Country) by Kawabata in the past. I don't remember the details but I do remember lovely imagery and lyrical writing from that book. I'd also read a book in the past called
The Girl Who Played Go by French writer Shan Sa when a fellow Bookcrosser decided to send me
The Master of Go, another book based on the same game of Go. My son, at that time, also purchased the game of Go (the real gameboard and stones) for unrelated reasons. I never got around to reading
The Master of Go until now, though.
Hmmm. This is a book I'd probably not have read otherwise, but it fit perfectly with two challenges I'm in. The book is about the Master (in this book, the Japanese champion) of Go. Go is a game requiring a high degree of strategy and is played with black and white pieces on a gameboard. The action takes place during the last game before the Master died. This doesn't sound like an exciting theme for a book, but it is surprisingly readable. It follows three characters: the Master of Go, his opponent, and the narrator who is a newspaper reporter.
A captivating aspect of this book is that it also follows the gameboard! Therefore, it is highly unlikely that someone will read this book without trying to learn more about the game of Go itself. Very interesting.
By the way,
The Master of Go is considered by the book's author, Nobel Prize-winning Yasunari Kawabata, to be his finest work.
Okay. I'm not done with this book yet, so I need to keep on reading...
Message edited by its author, Jan 9, 2009, 11:09am.
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cmbohn had this ---
WHAT'S IN A NAME CHALLENGE --- posted on her thread. It looked like fun and came from here:
********************************************
http://whatsinaname-2.blogspot.com/2008/...Here's the official challenge for What's in a Name 2:
*The Challenge: Choose one book from each of the following categories.
1.
A book with a "profession" in its title. Examples might include: The Book Thief, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Historian mine: The Faith of a Scientist
******
Completed 2/8/09: The Moldavian Pimp - Edgardo Cozarinsky -
Review2.
A book with a "time of day" in its title. Examples might include: Twilight, Four Past Midnight, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time no book yet!
******-
Completed 5/23/09: Joy Comes in the Morning - Jonathan Rosen
3.
A book with a "relative" in its title. Examples might include: Eight Cousins, My Father's Dragon, The Daughter of Time mine - The Warrior's Heir
******
Completed 2/8/09: Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter -
J. Nozipo Maraire -
Review 4.
A book with a "body part" in its title. Examples might include: The Bluest Eye, Bag of Bones, The Heart of Darkness mine - Men at Arms
******
Completed 5/23/09: -
What the Deaf-Mute Heard - G.D. Gearino - It has the word "ear" in the title!
******
Completed 6/10/09: Tongue - Kyung-Ran Jo
5.
A book with a "building" in its title. Examples might include: Uncle Tom's Cabin, Little House on the Prairie, The Looming Tower mine - We Have Always Lived in the Castle
******
Completed 03/06/09: Death at the Old Hotel - local author
Con Lehane -
Review6.
A book with a "medical condition" in its title. Examples might include: Insomnia, Coma, The Plague mine - Life's Handicap
******
Completed 2/28/09: Nervous Conditions -
Tsitsi Dangarembga -
ReviewETA: I did register for this challenge officially even though I do not have a blog (and no more time in my life for additional time sinks!). I am challenger # 229.
Message edited by its author, Jun 19, 2009, 11:39pm.
#42> Your post sent me on one of those long, meandering Internet journeys because I hadn't heard of the original challenge and wanted to see what it involved. This one looks really interesting, so I'm going to see if my current challenge fits in already. Thanks for mentioning that!
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Thanks really go to cmbohn who mentioned it on her thread!
Ooh! Can I recommend a book, medievalmama? I read your tag cloud, and the first book that popped into my mind was
Neverwhere by
Neil Gaiman. I didn't think I liked fantasy until my husband convinced me to read this book. It turned me on to some of Neil Gaiman's other works as well.
I concur with recommending Gaiman. He is fantastic in the best sense of the world. (Avoid though the movie made from his Mirrormask.)
I finished reading
Crow Lake last night, and can't believe how good it was. When I have more time, I'll write a few words about it.
I'm excited to have started Friendly Fire, a new book by the Israeli author, A.B. Yehoshua.
Message edited by its author, Jan 16, 2009, 11:23am.
I read Crow Lake on a summer day, then immediately started reading it all over again on the same day!
Actually, my favorite Gaiman novel was Anansi Boys. I found that read quite fun!
Message edited by its author, Jan 17, 2009, 7:41pm.
I liked Anansi Boys as well! And I'll be glad to see how you do on the What's in a Name challenge.
I'm afraid I've got to the stage where I find it very hard to have any perspective about
Neil Gaiman's work - I've loved pretty much everything he's written (with the exception of one or two stories in
Fragile Things, which I only liked ;)
Neverwhere and
American Gods currently the top of my list, but that may all change yet! I also enjoyed Anansi Boys SqueakyChu - but you may have guessed that!
I have read and really enjoyed
American Gods, I keep meaning to grab
Neverwhere and Anansi Boys, after reading this thread I may have to see if I can get them soon (I am at the library computer so all I would have to do is walk up stairs).
Thanks for an idea of where to go next.
I own Anansi Boys and it's been in my TBR queue for quite awhile I'm sad to say...I just never seem to get around to it. Now that I'm hearing it's equally wonderful, I'm moving it up a few spots!
I've been busy reading graphic novels etc and haven't been reading much of my challenge books in the past few days. Anyway one I just read was
We are on our own by Miriam Katin which I thought was very good and wondered if you had come across it - the illustrations really make this. I was also trying to remember an Israeli YA book I read last year that you might enjoy if you haven't already come across it -
Real Time by Pnina Moed Kass.
Thanks! I wishlisted both of your suggestions.
How do you wish list books? Sorry for the interruption...
I have a wishlist on BookMooch. If I keep my wishlist there, I get an email if someone has the book to offer.
http://www.bookmooch.com/m/wishlist/sque...When Collections comes to LibraryThing, we'll be able to have a wishlist here. I probably will just keep mine there, though.
I have a wish list through Amazon.com They have a universal wish list button that you can use to add a book from any site to your Amazon wish list. Makes it easy for me to add the books I find on librarything.
Okay, I thought you guys meant you had one on here. Thanks for the ideas.
I also have a wishlist on Bookcrossing, but I don't keep that one updated very well.
I just started The Gargoyle. I'm well sucked into it after hearing just the opening of the story. I'm listening to it on CD, and the reader has this gravelly and spooky voice... Creepy!!
Message edited by its author, Jan 22, 2009, 8:22am.
I read the opening chapter of
Gargoyle on the NYT website. Not sure what I thought of it. I'm interested to hear what you think.
The Gargoyle was one of my favourite reads last year. I'll be interested to see if you like it as much as I did.
Have either of you (65, 66, 67) read
A Million Little Pieces* by
James Frey? The opening of The Gargoyle reminded me a bit of that book and the style of writing and also in the way the writing tries to sensationalize the feelings that one experiences, although in Gargoyle the issue is burns and in Frey's book the issue is drug and alcohol withdrawal (as well as tooth extraction).
*I know Frey's book was controversial in that it was supposed to be nonfiction, but some of it turned out to be fiction. However, I liked the experience of reading Frey's book and would recommend it to others.
Message edited by its author, Jan 22, 2009, 8:22am.
I haven't read Frey's book. I've been a little hesitant to since he was an Oprah pick. I have not read one of her choices since Morrison's
The Bluest Eye. That one really put me off.
I have read
A Million Little Pieces and liked it. I pretty much think along the line of what you said after your *. Even if I had known he'd exaggerated or miss remembered (deliberate or not), I still think the book did a good job at what it was trying to do. I think the beginning of
The Gargoyle is a bit more formal and clear (as opposed to JF's being scattered/falling apart style) though.
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I really can't stand Oprah picks, but do give James Frey a try. Go into Frey's book thinking that it is a novel. Then enjoy it.
I actually started to listen to Frey's book on CD, but was upset when I discovered that the CD was abridged! I needed to know everything that he put into that story, so I went back and read the whole book in hard copy. It did not disappoint.
Message edited by its author, Jan 22, 2009, 8:38pm.
"I really can't stand Oprah picks"
I've never gone out of my way to look at what she has recommended but being curious from hearing everyone say what you just said I had to look. Out of the list I have only read
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez but that is excellent. And out of the list people have really enjoyed and recommended The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
And the only pick from 2006 was Night by Elie Wiesel which is supposed to be incredibly moving.
Personally I don't find those choices to be so bad.
Oprah has a new book club now in which she picks much better material, including many classics.
Her original book club tended to be books that were almost all alike. There was a protagonist who had a tough life. That person struggled to overcome adversity and won the battle. The end. It grew tiresome.
When Jonathan Franzen's book
The Corrections was named an Oprah pick, he got mad. It was a step down for an author who wanted to be known for his literary talent. He felt that Oprah's picking his book was an insult to his writing. Never mind that her publicity was worth much.
I never liked Oprah's original books, but I did like the book club. She brought reading into the lives of people who never read much before. I was sad to hear that her original book club ended but was happy to know it has been revived with better choices.
Message edited by its author, Jan 22, 2009, 11:32pm.
About the books you mentioned...
Love in the Time of Cholera was my aunt's all-time favorite book.
The Road was an outstanding read and a book I often recommend to others.
Night is also an excellent read.
I found
Middlesex so-so, but others really loved it. However, these are books from Oprah's *new* book club.
Books I liked less were
Midwives,
Jewel,
House of Sand and Fog, and
We Were the Mulvaneys.
For this year's picks, I was all set to not like
A New Earth, but I did like it. Now I have
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle sitting here waiting to be read. I borrowed it from a friend!
The bottom line ... Oprah's picks are improving! :)
Message edited by its author, Jan 22, 2009, 11:36pm.
I was not aware that she had an old and a new book club. I figured it wall all one and the same. Although I did look at the books in the previous years and I certainly have not heard of them.
As you say though, if people are reading something, then it's all good. :)
PS. I have your thread starred.
Message edited by its author, Jan 23, 2009, 12:48pm.
I see that
Oprah's Book Club is nowhere marked as "old" or "new". However, there was one point at which she stopped the book club. I don't know what made her decide, afterward, to resume it.
ETA: I found this
2003 article from CNN.com. That marks when the way she picked books changed. It also has a (to me, humorous) reference to Jonathan Franzen. I think the article expresses well what I was trying to say above.
Message edited by its author, Jan 23, 2009, 1:18pm.
>57 and 58, the TBR pile grows. Following Madeline's thread is dangerous! So many good suggestions here. Thanks avatiakh!
>73, I agree with you on Oprah's book club - good for her for picking smart books & getting people to read. I've never really followed it, I just tend to notice when there is a controversy or when one of my LT books suddenly has a different cover with "Oprah's Book Club" stamped on it because I've chosen an Amazon cover. :) Franzen was a pretentious ass to object to having his book featured on her show...no matter how "literary" you think you are, sales matter & I bet he didn't object to increased royalties as a result of the plug. The thing that has seemed strange about Oprah recently is that she keeps picking fraudsters - James Frey, then that guy who wrote the Holocaust memoir that he had to recant details of (whose name and book title I cannot remember) - it makes me wonder about the vetting process.
I don't like "Oprah's book club" on the covers of my books. I peel them off if they are stickers!
>Franzen was a pretentious ass
LOL!
This is the
book about the Holocaust that was exposed as a hoax.
I'm not sure about the vetting process other than Oprah does read the books and then decides which ones whe wants to feature.
>78, right, thanks for posting that link! Things like this make me sad - its unclear to me, was the whole story a fake? Was he in fact not even a camp survivor?
>78
I don't like "Oprah's book club" on the covers of my books. I peel them off if they are stickers!
So I'm not the only one who does that!
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Was he in fact not even a camp survivor?From what I can tell,
Herman Rosenblat was a survivor of Buchenwald. There's more about him and his alleged story on Wikipedia.
I recently finished the book
Fatelessness by Imre Kertesz. That was a very interesting novel about the Holocaust. It is told through the eyes of a 14-year-old boy who iss taken to Auschwitz, but perceives everything that happens around him with wonder and without emotion. I now have another of Kertesz' books, but like all other books I have, I just need time to read it!
Message edited by its author, Jan 24, 2009, 2:41pm.
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I also peel off all other removable stickers ... and then add my Bookcrossing labels and logos!! :D
>81, Thanks for the link - I don't know why Wikipedia didn't occur to me in the first place!
My latest read was
Rat by
Andrzej Zaniewski.
This was definitely one of my weirder reads of 2009. I love weird, so I was fascinated by this book. It's the story of a male rat from birth through death as seen through his own eyes.
Category change...
I needed a miscellaneous category, so I changed
Library CDs to
Just Because...That helps a lot for cross-posts. :)
I'm now starting
The Girls by Lori Lansens, having been introduced to that book by a great review on LT by mrstreme's book selection for Orange January. I was lucky enough to pull this book from BookMooch recently.
Message edited by its author, Feb 8, 2009, 2:37pm.
I just read your review of Rat -it sounds fantastic! I have added it to my wishlist.
I just started Maple Sugarin' in Vermont: A Sweet History by Betty Ann Lockhart. This was an Early Reviewer book won by melydia. Fortunately for me, melydia is also in BC in DC, my local BookCrossing club, so she passed this book on to me!
I love maple syrup and remember taking my (now grown) children when they were young to maple syrup festivals at our local nature center. I'm very happy now to have the opportunity to learn more about the history and process of maple sugarin' from this new book.
Thanks again, melydia!!
I just found your "Animals" category. I have a "Animals in the Title" category which is slightly different, but Rat sounds interesting. Have you read
The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas - there is a bit in there where the heroine ends up instead the mind of either a mouse or rat so we see things from that point of view.
I've finished
Trout Fishing in America. Not sure what I think but looking forward to your thoughts. In particular I would like to know if any of his other books have a bit more of a traditional structure (just a bit would do), because I did enjoy his writing style and his imagination but would have liked it sustained on one topic for longer.
I'd never heard of
Rat before. I just found it while browsing at my used book store. I couldn't resist it. The book was well written and fascinated me. I'm a person who used to breed hamsters so I really like rodents and find their world, albeit gruesome at times, interesting.
Richard Brautigan's writing is definitely off the wall. People either love his writing or hate it. I love it because it takes me back to the 1960's and early 1970's when young people were indealistic and activist. I find his writing playful and fanciful. I've read his books so long ago that I don't have a clear picture of most of them. I remember really liking his poetry. In fact, my 22-year-old daughter, started moving all my old Richard Brautigan books into her room when she was in college until I stopped her. Those are the only books I actually collect!
The novel of Brautigan's that I read most recently was called
Willard and His Bowling Trophies which I thought was hilarious. That's a novel, rather than short essays, so it is a book with a story-line from beginning to end. I think Brautigan's most popular novel is
In Watermelon Sugar. It's worth reading, but it's anything but a traditional story. If you like his writing style and imagination, my guess is that you'll like his poetry and his novels as well.
Odd. I seem to be on a memoir kick. I read five of them back to back unintentionally.
I'm really excited to have discovered
Abraham Verghese and am enjoying his book,
The Tennis Partner, very much now. I'm going to be looking for his other two books for sure.
Of the memoirs I've completed so far in 2009, I like Loon: A Marine Story by
Jack McLean best. It's an ex-Marine's look back in time at his boot camp in Camp LeJune, North Caroline and his overseas duty during the Viet Nam War. I read the book as an Early Reviewer. The book is due out this May. Don't miss it.
I also just started an audiobook (which will take me longer to complete now that I take the Metro to work) by Elinor Lipman. I think I'm going to enjoy this author very much. Her writing is so spirited, bright, and funny. Listening to the the parts in which Fredericka is talking to her parents reminds me a bit of the relationship between the daughter and father in
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, a book whcih I loved (and others hated).
Has anyone read any other books by Elinor Lipman. Which one(s)would you recommend?
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I've finished Trout Fishing in America. Not sure what I think but looking forward to your thoughts.
I could *not* get into this book. Although I love going back to read Richard Brautigan, I'm not sure I ever read this book before. If I did, I don't remember it. If I forgot it, I now see why. It makes very little sense. Or perhaps I was just not in the mood. I'm setting it aside to read at another time, but I'll probably pick up a different Brautigan book the next time I feel like reading one.
I've read 6 of Lipman's books, so you can safely count me as a fan! Isabelle's Bed and
Inn at Lake Devine are my favorites.
If you recommend
Elinor Lipman's books, they must be good. I trust your recommmendations, bonniebooks. I'm pretty picky about books that are humorous.
I'm only going to get to "read" it sporadically because I have it on tape and no longer drive to work. That limits my "read" to my weekend driving.
Next book on deck is an ARC of
Lost City Radio by the Peruvian author
Daniel Alarcon. I've had it sitting around here since I read a review of it in the Washington Post a while back. I'm looking forward to reading about South America again.
Message edited by its author, Apr 2, 2009, 8:23am.
You made my day, SqueakyChu! I felt simutaneously thrilled and freaked out to think you trust
my recommendations! We've both liked quite a few of the same books, haven't we? (
Crow Lake and
Special Topics... come to mind.) I've got quite a few books on my "Authors/Books to Look at" list thanks to you too. I definitely want to read
Rats. And Verghese's book,
Cutting for Stone, is even starred, but I'm being really good about waiting for it to come out in paper. Have you read it yet?
No, I haven't read
Cutting for Stone yet but I do want to get hold of it very, very much. I probably looked like an idiot today as I sat crying on the train while reading the ending to
Abraham Verghese's
The Tennis Partner. I pretended I wasn't crying by just gently dabbing under each eye and putting the book slowly back in my bag. I only have a few more pages to go. I'll get to them this evening.
Your name is number 8 (!) out of all the LT members who have the same books as I do!! The numbers next to your name are 63/1001. I guess that means we share 63 books? I *am* going to follow your reading list closely. It must be as good as mine. :)
I'm a very eclectic reader so you probably have the same tendency as I do to skip around to many different kinds of books.
I've already read
Fire in the Blood and loved it. Even my husband enjoyed reading that book.
I don't like Trilogies. Too much of the same thing. I would rather go from one book to something completely different.
The Remains of the Day might be a possibility as I did read another book by Ishiguro that I liked very much - (
When We Were Orphans). I don't know anything about
Nights at the Circus. I'll check it out.
I only have two more books to go in the
What's in a Name Challenge so I should be able to complete it by the year's end. It is, of course, one of the easier challenges that I've found. :D
Well, at least I'm consistent in what I like. LOL!
>95: Well, SqueakyChu, I went on my 'bonnie-run' but almost all of the books I bought were off my list of LT recommendations so probably won't have much new to say by the time I finish them all. The only novel not already on my list was Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell. I really loved both
The Sparrow and
A Thread of Grace so hoping this will be equally good. Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think?
I haven't read them, but, of course, (since we own the same books...Ha!), I do have one. It's
The Sparrow. I heard that
The Sparrow is very inspirational.
Yesterday, I sadly tossed aside
Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon, a native Peruvian novelist now living the U.S. I just couldn't get into his writing style. It was too fractured to keep my interest. The story was a fable about a nameless South American country in which two factions (the government vrs. guerrilla forces) had just finished with war. Norma, a radio newsreporter rwas reading lists of these men's names in order to try to find some of them.
For a great novel about "disappeared" South Americans, I most highly recommend
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander. After reading that book, I immediately ran out to by Englander's only other book - which, again, I've not had time to read!
I'm turning now to
The Big Year, a book about birdwatching. That should be a fun read as I was an inept, but aspiring, birdwatcher for a few years anyway. :)
This all looks really interesting! The animals category is a stroke of genius :) I'll be keeping an eye on the Jewish interest books, too...
You know, you do have
Heart Shaped Box in your TBR pile, that is a body part...and a few of us have already read it for the 999 challenge - I'm just saying. :)
Unless you'd like to start down the path of graphic novels and try out
Torso by
Brian Michael Bendis - I promise it's more grown up. It's black and white and follows the end of Elliott Ness's career in Cleveland.
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Run, don't walk, then to get
The Ministry of Special Cases if you've not yet read it. It *is* of Jewish interest because it involves a Jewish family in Argentina's dirty war. It's a brilliant novel!
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Yes!! I never even thought of
Heart Shaped Box, and I looked at all my book titles yesterday. For some reason, I never thought of looking them up on LT, but rather, I started walking all over the house to see which books I actually had. :)
Excellent idea! I'll do that book then.
I love graphic novels (my favorite being
the Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar, but there are many others that I've read and truly enjoyed. Elliot Ness doesn't interest me, though.
I've read some of Gaiman, but not that one. I'll check it out.
Thanks,
MM
Isn't it fun to get a book for free? :-) Hope you enjoy it!
I just love getting those ER books! It makes me feel so important.
I have some issues with this book by Lalami, but I'm enjoying reading the story because I love reading books with the setting of North Africa or the middle east.
I'm in the process of trying to decide whether or not to keep
Post Office. I'm just not in the mood to read it now. Maybe I'll just keep it and read it some other time. I think I need to stop trying to read so many books at once. I tend to get so distracted that I don't finish the books I start. No wI'm only down to two books (one on CD) so I should be okay for a while.
You have to be joking. The Frey book is beyond any low ranking - I have it 1/2 star to pull its ratings down - would like to have given it MINUS 100 stars. You see like a rather discriminating reader - HOW COULD YOU like this hopelessly written crap. If I were marking a grade 4 (long) essay he'd get an F
my message #110 refers to SqueakyChu's #71
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I guess it's different strokes for different folks. I started by listening to
A Million Little Pieces on audio and only turned to the book because I found out that the audio was abridged. I wanted the whole kit and kaboodle. I was mesmerized by the story. I thought he really pulled me in to feel his pain.
Other than your thinking it was "hopelessly written crap", what particularly did you not like about it? Was your attitude affected by the discovery that his memoir was not all true?
MINUS 100 starsWell, *that* would be a bit unfair as it would negate every star it achieved. :)
Anyhow, it seems that you're in the minority because most LTer's gave it a "4" which, in my opinion, is a "good" book.
Message edited by its author, May 29, 2009, 12:40pm.
Yes, that's one of the wonderful aspects of LT, you read so many different opinions and ideas. :) I can easily get worked up about things I've read, but I try to stick to that tried and true motto, "hate the book, love the reader".
Um, that last message seemed a bit like flame bait, no? It's perfectly okay to dislike a book, but unnecessary to send out veiled insults to the person who liked it. We all have our preferences.
I've been lurking around your posts, SqueakyChu, and I believe you are a discriminating reader with interesting tastes! :)
Sheesh - that is harsh! I mean, even Oprah has come out and said
she was sorry for the harsh treatment she gave him after discovering the memoir was largely fabricated.
I'm not sure what the real attraction is to trying to tell someone that they're somehow judged for liking a "bad" book. My husband reads books I can't get past page 5 (hint - the Dune in my library is not mine!). I'm not exactly going to kick him out of the house over Frank Herbert. Then again, he's not exactly scrambling to grab Nick Hornby from me...
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Well, "hopelessly written crap" was not an insult to me, Nicole, (or at least I didn't take it that way). It seems a waste of words, though, because it never told me what there was to dislike about Frey's book. Was it the lies? The style? The fraud? The subject?
Hey, even my professors (way back when) would let me know why I was getting an F on an essay. I'd be pretty upset if they didn't!
Message edited by its author, May 29, 2009, 12:45pm.
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What makes me decide whether or not I like a book, Stephanie, is the emotional reaction I have to it. I found
A Million Little Pieces mesmerizing. Frey did with words what I could only hope to do with writing.
There are some books that I do hate (very few actually). Those are ones that I would simply like to throw with great force across the room (preferably out an open window to avoid any damage in my house). The last book to which I had this reaction was
The Truth About Hillary, a book which I thought reached for the lowest of lows and seemed like a vendetta against a potential presidential candidate (at the time the book had been written). It was all dirt and nothing about it was a balanced presentation. I'm sorry I wasted my time reading it. From that experience, I've learned not to read books by hatemongers. Therefore, all was not lost in reading Edward Klein's horrible book. If you look at this book's review, I agree with the person who gave it 1/2 a star, but, in truth (about Edward Klein), I would have given it a zero!
By the way, thanks for sharing that article about Oprah's offering a public apology. Isn't it terribly sad about Frey's son? Oprah seems to have too much power.
I have another of Frey's books in my collection to read, but don't know when I'll get to it. It's My Friend Leonard.
Message edited by its author, May 29, 2009, 1:02pm.
Oh, there are books I hate too (the 1/2 star in my library is reserved for
The Devil Wears Prada - I kept wondering at which point I was really supposed to be feeling sorry for Andi in this story - when she landed a job she wasn't qualified for? when she was skinny enough to wear free couture? when she was stealing from the company? when she got a free trip to Paris? when she chose over and over again not to quit?).
At the same time, I'm not going to look at anyone that loves the book and go, "I really thought better of you." I just realize that different things resonate with different people. So to those people that actually enjoyed that book, I sort of envy them - they weren't wanting to strangle Andi the entire time they were reading the thing! And the few times I do find myself talking to someone who loved the book, I'll talk about things I liked or I'll steer it to the movie - which actually humanized things a bit and made the story better (and a bit less thievery-ish).
ETA - Yes, the thing with Frey's son was horrible! The saddest thing is that anything that he might write about it will be met with severe speculation, so I imagine he'll have to fictionalize it at some point.
I think Oprah herself is aware of her power - which is also why she's going after nonfiction and/or classic titles. And why he got caught in the crossfire. I'm glad she felt an apology was in order. Because I think expecting perfection in human beings is a rather tall order. Her power can be used for good. :)
Message edited by its author, May 29, 2009, 1:12pm.
It's funny how those books we hate stick in our minds as well as the ones we love...
True, true, it didn't seem directed at you, but it a bit like venting the anger at the book at you. But it was late when I read these threads last night, and it's so easy to misinterpret online writings, so I should have given the poster the benefit of the doubt ... :)
I totally agree about the constructive criticism, by the way - I attended a ton of writing workshops in college, and one thing I learned was that just hearing an opinion was not helpful unless you learned the reasoning behind it.
But I haven't read Frey's book, so I can't weigh in with my own reasoning.
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Read it! I want to hear your opinion. The only difference is that you'd be reading it after knowing that part of it was fabricated.
Message edited by its author, May 29, 2009, 1:49pm.
I listened to a long interview of Frey and have to say that after hearing him go on and on about how unfairly life had treated him and how everybody lies and it was just that he got caught and anyway, no one can understand him because he is a Great Artist, I was much less inclined to read anything by him. Usually arrogance doesn't put me off (I love Jonathan Franzen) but this was arrogance enhanced with self pity, an unattractive combination. Now, it's more than likely he will go down in literary history as one of the greats, but the initial impression lingers.
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Well, I never heard any interviews of with James Frey. He doesn't sound so great the way you describe him. The only thing I can say is that my impression of his writing came about simply from reading his book.
Jonathan Franzen was a riot when he was insulted that Oprah picked his book! That was beneath him. I sort of agree with him, though. I find Franzen's writing just okay. I read
The Corrections and then started a book of his short essays which I never finished.
Looks like we are both getting
Tongue: A Novel from Early Reviewers which seems about right considering our tastes.
I'll be interested to see how our thoughts for the book compare. Can't wait! :)
I'm excited about getting
Tongue : A Novel as well. Yes, let's do compare our thoughts about it later!
I promise, when/if I do read it, I will let you know all about my opinion. I'm a big fiction reader, so knowing that it's fabricated doesn't bother me. Plus, I find it pretty easy to divorce the author from their story, and appreciate one without the other, when necessary. :)
But I have such a backlog of books to read right now that I don't know when I might get around to Frey! Even if his notoriety is intriguing.
Okay. I understand. I have no idea when I'll ever get around to reading the other Frey book I have. That one is
My Friend Leonard. You see, I thought Frey's writing was interesting enough that I even got another of his books!
I was so disappointed to find out that Frey had falsified parts of his life. If I had read the book, I would have felt manipulated and tricked. I imagined the people who had gone through similar experiences and were maybe comparing their experiences to his, and trying to learn from it. Even though I didn't read the book (only read parts out of curiosity after the fact), just find out that he had falsified crucial parts made me sad because it made me question all the memoirs I had read before. I wondered whether I had been manipulated the way his readers had. I think it will make me question and distrust every future memoir in a way that I would never have before--and that's a real loss. So, I think Frey did real harm to both other writers and their readers!
Also, I give memoirists more leeway in terms of the quality of their writing; I don't expect as much because they're regular people writing their true stories that can help/inspire other people. If crucial parts of Frey's book are fiction then it should be compared to other fiction, and in that case, it is very badly written in my opinion. I wonder if it would have even gotten published as fiction, so again, I think Frey deserved the castigation that he got. Too bad, the added publicity seemed to help more than hurt him.
So, I think Frey did real harm to both other writers and their readers!
I'm not sure he harmed other writers. What he did would only harm other writers if they were falsifying their own memoirs. Frey had the misfortune to be the first one who got caught. That is actually good because it will cause other memoirists to be held to a higher standard. What frey did was, hands down, totally wrong. It was good that he got caught so that the message has gone out that readers will not tolerate what he did.
My only misgiving is that he was the only person to get caught so he got the complete and total wrath of everyone. I personally thought the book was good enough to hold my interest, fiction or nonfiction.
As far as the readers, I think that what he did leads readers to read memoirs with more skepticism. That's not a totally bad thing. Even books of nonfiction get facts wrong, so any improvement in the quality of truth within books is a step in the right direction.
Thanks for sharing your interesting thoughts, Bonnie. I like hearing your opinion!
I agree with you, SqueakyChu, that it's probably a good thing to bring a degree of skepticism to everything we read, and with you, bonniebooks, that that is a hard lesson to learn.
In any case, this has been a fun discussion.
I'm laughing just thinking about my friends' faces when I tell them that someone thinks I maybe should be a mite more skeptical--they already think that's one of my fatal flaws! ;-) LOL! (I'm laughing at myself, not you guys!) I think you're both right--authors lie all the time, even when they don't mean to. It would be a very rare person who can accurately remember all the details of a situation or conversation, plus everybody looks at life through their own filters. They exaggerate, they condense, they leave out information, they change details or words to make themselves look/sound better, to convince you of something they care about, to get out of trouble...the list goes on and on. I knew that. I am by nature a skeptic. Frey just went over a major line with me that feels too complicated to try to explain on your thread, squeakychu! But I'm glad you got something out of it, SqueakyChu; that's the important thing, isn't it? And I knew I could share my opinion with you, and that feels good too. :-) I agree with RidgewayGirl--it does make for fun and meaningful discussions!
Oh, feel free to explain anything you want on my thread. It's open to all!
One of my other threads was *completely and utterly* highjacked by two LT members. I just waited patiently until they resolved their issues and then moved on. See message #59 where I suggested we get back on topic. It's a wild thread, for sure. :)
I remember that. High drama indeed. Here, at least, we all seem to like each other.
I hated to interrupt it, really. It made for fascinating reading! :D
I actually went over to that thread and started reading all the posts. I was fascinated by some of the posts.
I read your review for
Tongue and basically agree with your thoughts, and for that matter, the thoughts of pretty much all the other reviews. I have added my own just today.
So, although a fun book to read to pass the evening I won't say it changed my life.
I enjoyed reading your review of Tongue, lilisin. I was actually surprised by the ending of that book but that may have been because I try not to think too far ahead in books I read. I really don't want to know what happens until it does. For this reason, I only skim reviews of books I've not yet read - if I read them at all.
Message edited by its author, Jul 25, 2009, 10:56pm.
I try not to think too far ahead either since I like the gut reaction of reading something with no previous thought but it was so foreshadowed that I couldn't help but know. Ah well. It was a nice evening spent at least. :)
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