Part 1 can be found here




51. Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes by Shoba Narayan.



Memoir of a young woman raised in India who emigrated to the US. Each chapter explains how the events described revolve around a particular food or recipe. The memoir itself is fairly interesting but nothing too unique; the recipes all include some ingredient that can only be found at your local Indian market (which not all of us have).

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jun 13, 2009, 5:47pm.

Got you starred again!

>1 I might see if I can track that one down, Cariola. I enjoy culinary memoirs, esp. if curries are involved :)

52. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks.



Faulks's vivid prose captures better than any other novel I've read the experience of being a soldier in the trenches in World War I. Stephen Wraysford, recovering from a passionate romance that didn't work out as planned, finds himself, like so many other young men, struggling to survive in the tunnels, trenches, and fields of France. The descriptions of battles, bodies, and wounds are horrific; I couldn't help but think what a sanitized view of warfare we are given today. In the midst of it all, Stephen is torn between wanting to withdraw into himself--why make friends with a man who might be blown to bits beside you the next day?--and to retain a measure of humanity. There's a second story line, set in the late 1970s, as Stephen's granddaughter uncovers a series of family secrets; but it's the reality of war that makes this novel memorable.

4 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jun 7, 2009, 10:46am.

Birdsong is now on the tbr pile. I really like your description. My husband reads a lot of WWII themed books. I'll get this one for him.

Oops! Correction: it's World War I.

Thanks for the correction...gosh...I must have WWII on my mind after watching the DDay ceremonies from Normandy yesterday. I thought Gordon Brown's message was incredibly powerful.
I see that today the media is jumping all over him for making an error in calling it Obama beach instead of Omaha....Sadly, they won't focus on the beauty of his message, which I thought was the most eloquent and beautiful of all the presenters.

Linda, the error was mine--I mistyped, but I've corrected it now.

Birdsong does sound wonderful - thanks for the review!

#7 - I really hate when the media focus on little mistakes like that. No public speaker is perfect; we all make mistakes, even world leaders. Tripping over a word, mispronouncing something - is it really that important?

#4: I own that one, having bought it a couple of months ago. I really need to read it!

One of my favorite books by Faulks is nonfiction: The Fatal Englishman. I highly recommend that one if you have not had chance to read it, Deborah.

I have to confess I hated Birdsong... I just found the romance with the Frenchwoman (can't even remember her name) so completely implausible that the rest of the book collapsed under the strain of belief. But I know I'm in the minority - most people seem to love it. (I felt much the same way about Charlotte Gray, and am still a little mystified as to why I've purchased a copy of Engleby to give Faulks a third chance. Maybe three strikes and he's out?)

11> I didn't find the love story implausible--but it was definitely unnecessary and digressive (the granddaughter story even moreso).

I remember loving Birdsong though I can't remember any of it now, but I hated Charlotte Gray as FlossieT says - implausible, couldn't get my head around how utterly stupid the plot was. There are much better books on the resistence in WWII even in the YA arena - Tamar by Mal Peet and Aidan Chambers' Postcards from No man's Land even Martin Booth's Midnight Saboteur come immediately to mind. I thought Engleby was creepily ok, but I'm not really a fan of books that have the main protagonist up to no good.

53. These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Pamela Aidan.



I enjoyed the first book in this trilogy that tells the story of Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view; the second, not so much. Thus I put off for awhile getting around to the third installment--but it was, by far, the best of the three. Aidan does a good job of maintaining the tone and times of Austen, and here she gives us some believable insights into what Darcy was thinking and feeling as he pondered whether or not to propose to Elizabeth, his response to her reaction, and what he does in the time following, all of which change him into the man he had always hoped to be. Aidan links back to some of the more fanciful events in the second book, making them, in retrospect, more acceptable. Overall, I quite enjoyed this series.

4 out of 5 stars.

Glad your last read was better for you than the last few have been, Deborah!

54. The Book of Other People edited by Zadie Smith.



Written mostly by well-known writers (Smith, Edwidge Danticat, David Mitchell, Jonathan Zafran Foer, ZZ Packer, Nick Hornsby, etc.), these stories are a pretty mediocre bunch overall. Each writer was asked to submit a story (well, two of them are graphic stories, I guess) about one character, and the proceeds go to a charity. The characters and styles are diverse, but most of the stories left me flat; the best are perhaps "Frank" by A. L. Kennedy and "Donal Webster" by Colm Toibin--but they aren't exactly "uppers." A few years ago I read a similar charity collection edited by Hornsby, and that one was even less successful. (Hopefully these authors aren't just donating work that hasn't been accepted elsewhere.)

3 out of 5 stars (saved by Kennedy and Toibin from a lower score).

Message edited by its author, Jun 13, 2009, 5:51pm.

Yikes! Another one to give a pass.

55. Vivaldi's Virgins by Barbara Quick.



(Note to self: Avoid any book written by an author who wears a flower in her hair in the cover photo.)

The comparison to Girl with a Pearl Earring is GREATLY exaggerated! I was disappointed in this book--too much adolescent angst and silliness, too little Vivaldi and Venice. I also found the writing style rather precious, and thedevice of the letters to a nonexistent mother just didn't work for me. Maybe it gets better, but I gave up on it halfway through.

(So maybe I shouldn't count a book I didn't actually finish?)

>18: I'm glad for that review. A couple friends recommended it as they knew I liked Girl with a Pearl Earring a bit. Their tastes are hit-or-miss for me, so it's always nice to have outside input on whether to listen to them.

Cariola - in reference to Vivaldi's Virgins, I recently read a similar book called The Four Seasons which may be a bit better - it certainly taught me alot about life in the Ospedale. However, this one doesn't go into very much of Vivaldi's life either...

laughing about your note to self in #18...I have a thing about authors with their chin in their hand too. But I'm a sucker for an author with a dog.

#18: Yikes! Skipping that one.

Well thats is one to skip.

By the way I have always avoided books that deal with Pride and Prejudice as I just don't want anything to take away from the original. But your high praise of Pamela Aidan's books have got me and I am going to add them to my list of books to buy.

You review of Birdsong also has me sold.

23> You're right to be cautious: there are some truly dreadful P&P spinoffs out there! I've read some of them (or tried to). But Aidan's trilogy is quite good overall.

>14 I didn't even know that a book existed from Darcy's point of view! It's definitely on my tbr pile now. For a creative writing class, I had to take a scene from a famous story and rewrite it from someone else's point of view, and being a huge Austen fan I decided to take Mr. Bennet's side, but I found it terribly hard! I'm really curious what this book is like, thanks for the tip!

I have been eyeing The Book of Other People at the bookshop for a while now. I guess I will let it pass after reading your thoughts on it.

What judylou says... I've had that on my wishlist for a while but if it's that disappointing I may give it a miss after all.

Wouldn't you know, I forgot that I started a new thread and have been posting on the old one! So I'm transferring the latest reads. Here we go! (There were several posts on Brooklyn and Regeneration on the old thread--sorry!)

56. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.



I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book. In the 1950s, a young Irish girl, Eilis Lacey, is sent to America to make her way in the world. Most of the book details her adjustment to her new life, her relationships with her fellow lodgers, and her falling in love. In the last third, a family tragedy calls Eilis back home to Enniscorthy, where she is faced with new challenges and the decision of whether or not to return to Brooklyn. I won't give away the story (I hate reviews that do that!), so all I will say is that I really started to dislike Eilis at this point, and I found the conclusion abrupt and dissatisfying as she seems to make her decisions for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to know more about how things turn out for her, but Toibin left me hanging.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jun 26, 2009, 11:57am.

57. Regeneration by Pat Barker.



A beautifully written novel, the first in Barker's "Regeneration Trilogy" (the third volume won the Booker Prize). Set in a war hospital in Engliand during World War I, the story revolves around several patients and physicians, including the poet Siegfried Sassoon. After serving honorably, Sassoon wrote an anti-war statement, which he asked an MP to read in session. His friend and fellow officer Robert Graves, knowing that Sassoon would be facing a court martial, claims the statement was due to battle fatigue and has him sent to Craiglockhaven for treatment. Dr. Rivers's task is to get Sassoon to agree to return to the front. A fascinating look at the social pressure put on young men during the war, as well as the effects of the war and of the treatment of the psychological scars it caused.

I listened to this one on audio, read wonderfully by Peter Firth, and I will be moving on to the next two volumes, The Eye in the Door and The Ghost Road.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jun 26, 2009, 11:58am.

58. Water by Bapsi Sidhwa. (Not the right touchstone; it's not on the list, although it is listed on LT.)



Having seen the film version of Water last year, I was eager to read the novel. It takes place in the 1930s in India. Chuyia, age six, is married to a man in his forties. Per custom, she is allowed to remain at home until she reaches puberty. However, two years later, her husband falls ill with typhoid, and since it is a wife's duty to be by a dying husband's side, her father takes her to the in-laws' home. When her husband dies, Chuyia is sent to a widows' ashram where she will spend the rest of her life because widows--especially young widows--are considered a danger to society. The rest of the novel edtails her adjustment to her new life, her relationships with the other widows, and her contact with the outside world for which she yearns.

The story is a striking one, However, the writing, I felt, left something to be desired. It seemed flat--not in the way one would right simply to tell a child's story, just flat.

3 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jun 26, 2009, 11:59am.

Glad to see someone else enjoying Birdsong, which I consider one of the most realistic descriptions of the horrors of war (I would imagine). Despite the unnecessary romance at the beginning, and the side story of the granddaughter, I think the language and descriptions more than redeem it.

The description of the sound after one of the battles (can't remember which but those who have read it should know what I'm talking about) stayed with me and has continued to stay with me long after reading it.

I am also in the 'loved' it camp wrt Birdsong. I also loved Charlotte Gray but thought Engleby was a big disappointment.

Yes, it surprised me that a book could be simultaneously so beautiful and so horrific.

59. Cousin Phillis by Elizabeth Gaskell. (Actually, the book I read is not listed on LT: Cousin Phillis and Other Stories; it's an Oxford World Classic.)



This collections was mixed--and a bit repetitive. Bad children, long suffering parents, moments of redemption and forgiveness. I'm not sure if Gaskell wrote these before some of her well-known novels or at the same time, but I did note a lot of similarity in characters and themes. The selfish, debt-ridden son in "The Crooked Branch," for example, was the same type as the son in The Moorland Cottage, and his faithful, sacrificing fiancee/cousin was a match for that young man's sister. "Lois the Witch" was a stereotypical tale of the witch craze in Salem, where jealousy and religious fanaticism turn into false accusations; it made me conclude that Gaskell is much better in familiar territory. While not really bad, this collection made me wish I had spent my time reading or rereading one of her better developed novels.

3 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jun 28, 2009, 11:41am.

Some good reads here, Cari. I'm enjoying your reviews, as usual.

60. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.



OK, let me explain; obviously, this is not my usual fare. I'm co-editing an issue of a journal with a biologist. The topic is 'Vampires and Other Bloodsuckers.' Obviously, he's doing the leeches and bats, and I will be overseeing the submissions on vampires in literature and culture. Since I have to write an introductory essay, I felt that I HAD to read one of these wildly popular novels. (I'll probably also watch Season 1 of True Blood and will read The Historian.)

So . . . what did I think of the book that started the phenomenon? In short, it was pretty awful. First, it brought back a lot of painful memories of high school--which may be the reason that so many young people relate to it, but it's an era I'd sooner forget. Second, I hated Bella, the main character; talk about a superiority complex! Her inner dialogue about what dorks everyone else is, from ALL the boys who were after her to the girls trying to befriend her, got tiresome. Third, it's full of cliches. The jock, the cheerleader, the geeky guy, the quiet Native American, the flighty mother. And cliche situations, too, such as Bella falling for Edward simply because he doesn't seem interested in her when every other male in sight is trying to ingratiate himself to her. (Ah, the mystique of the unobtainable!) Fourth, there's a lot of downright silliness; Edward's skin sparkles, for one thing, and he can also stop a speeding truck with a single hand. (This weekend, I'd been watching some Michael Jackson tributes, and I couldn't help but connect his 'Thriller' line, "I'm not like other guys," to Twilight's Edward. But at least Jackson was an original talent.) Fifth, the writing style is facile.

I've been reading a lot of other critiques of the series. One is that it has "Mormon overtones," not only in the abstinence message but in the way men and women relate to one another. I'll need to do a little more checking up on that.

I'm willing to give the novel at least one star, simply for the fact that, like the Harry Potter series, it has gotten a lot of young people to read for pleasure who otherwise wouldn't. (Let me say that I've never read a Harry Potter book, but I'm hoping that they are better written than this.) I have the second book in the series awaiting, but I think it's going straight to a swap site.

Message edited by its author, Jun 28, 2009, 11:40am.

#34: OK, I will skip that one by Gaskell and stick with Cranford and North and South.

#36: My oldest daughter, who is by and large not a reader, loves both the Twilight and Harry Potter series and they did spur an interest in reading for her. For that, I am grateful. The quality of writing, however, in the Twilight series leaves a lot to be desired as you pointed out and I for one, will never be reading another one. Like you, I stopped after the first one.

61. The Outcast by Sadie Jones.



I got so caught up in The Outcast that I stayed up until 3:30 last night finishing it. That says something for the power of the book--even though, in terms of content, it is probably the most depressing book I've ever read. The novel starts in 1957, as Lewis has just been released from prison and returns home. We flash back to 1945, with seven-year old Lewis and his mother taking the train to London to meet his father, who has long been away in the war. Dad turns out to be . . . well, not exactly an affectionate father; and things go from bad to worse a few years later when Lewis's mother dies. (No spoilers or details, I promise!) Different sections of the novel cover pivotal events in the years in between and in the weeks following Lewis's return. There's only a sliver of happiness in the ending, so if you're looking for a light summer read, don't pick up this one.

My main criticism is that it is a bit hard to believe that so many characters could be so cruel and downright abusive with no one seeming to notice or care and everyone blaming a ten-year old boy for his own misery. I know that the setting was 1945-57, but even then people might question some of the things that happen to Lewis. No one seems to figure out that his quietness has something to do with the fact that he witnessed his mother's death or that he's angry that his father remarries only five months later? Still, the author's ability to evoke a visceral respone in her reader is the novel's strength. She made me physically experience the sadness and anxiety and hopelessness that Lewis must have experienced.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Message edited by its author, Jul 4, 2009, 5:12pm.

thumbed for a good review. Looking out for that one.....I like the dark, brooding reads sometimes.

I really enjoyed The Outcast when I read it earlier this year too - though I guess, like with so many "dark" reads, "enjoyed" doesn't really sound like the right word. I'm glad it has found another fan! Great review, Cariola!

>40 I know what you mean . . . there's something masochistic in "enjoying" a book like this one, isn;t there?

I read The Outcast last year after Lois (avaland) mentioned it on her thread. I found the story totally compelling. Since it was Jones' debut novel, I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

Good news! It seems Jones has a new novel coming out in late August (at least it is in Canada) called Small Wars. No touchstone yet, but there is a work page on LT.

#43: Thanks for the update, Cait! I will be on the lookout for it.

The Outcast has been on my tbr pile for awhile. After your excellent review, I'm moving it up closer to the top. And, like BDB, I gave your review a thumbs up.

Thank you! I'm much happier to see this one than Twilight in the "Hot Reviews!"

(Wow, LT is still banning that book from touchstones!)

62. Love Falls by Esther Freud.



Initially, this book sucked me in. I was very interested in young Lara's first trip to Italy with the father she barely knew, and I was hoping to learn more as their relationship grew. Unfortunately, it didn't. About 60 pages in, it becomes the story of a rather wimpy, emotionally self-indulgent teenager who is obsessed with a beautiful rich boy . . . I felt like I was back in Twilight, reading Bella's cheesey descriptions of Edward. (Lara's decriptions of Lulu are almost as bad!) Her idolization of the idle--and generally mean and stupid--rich soon got to be a bore, and I couldn't wait to finish this one and turn it over to some poor sucker who wishlisted it on a swap site. The only plus I can give it is that Freud does a fine job of creating the feel of an Italian summer and of describing the surroundings in which Lara finds herself.

1.5 stars out of 5.

Message edited by its author, Jul 7, 2009, 12:56pm.

63. Granta 97: Best of the Young American Novelists 2.



A plethora of well-known writers contributed short stories: Jonathan Safran Foer, Nell Freudenberger, ZZ Packer, Nicole Krauss, Karen Russell, Dara Horn, and others. Unfortunately, most of the stories were just not to my taste. They seem to be trying a bit too hard to be avant garde, kinky, "new," which meant that the main characters just didn't engage me.

3 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jul 7, 2009, 8:36pm.

64. The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker.



This is the second novel in Barker's 'Regeneration' trilogy. As such, it reads a bit like a transitional novel and doesn't quite stand on its own as well as the first, Regeneration. I'm hoping that the final installment, The Ghost Road, will raise the bar again.

In The Eye in the Door, psychiatrist Dr. Rivers and several of his patients, including Billy Pryor and Siegfried Sassoon, return, and we find out what each has been doing since leaving Craiglockhart, the Scottish war hospital for soldiers suffering mental trauma. Barker explores a myriad of questions concerning loyalty to one's country, family, and friends. Because the setting has moved to London, she is able to expand her scope to include British society outside the confines of the hospital. (One of the themes is the persecution of homosexuals; one character notes how strange it is that the war encourages love between men as a motivation to fight, yet at the same time. those in charge want to set parameters on the kind of love that is acceptable.) Through Pryor, who has joined military intelligence, we see the corruption of the justice system and the conditions of prisons, and Rivers's visits to his colleague (aptly named Dr. Head) provide insight into what now seem like primitive forms of treatment for psychological problems. Overriding all is the power of the war machine and its efforts to keep providing bodies to fill the trenches.

4 out of 5 stars.

Regeneration is one of the few books that I'll read again one day - I loved it. I enjoyed the next two in the trilogy much less (and gave up on The Ghost Road). Hope you find the Ghost Road better.

Yes, I'm 2/3 through The Ghost Road and am not captivated. All those digressions into Melanesia, for one thing . . .

65. The Ghost Road by Pat Barker.



The third installment of Barker's "Regeneration" trilogy (and a Booker Prize winner), The Ghost Road was a bit of a disappointment. I'm not exactly sure why, although I think that Dr. Rivers's digressive reminiscences about his time in Melanesia may have had something to do with it. I'm sure Barker included them to make a comment on human nature, who is civilized and who is not, etc., but it really didn't work for me. Pryor, Sassoon, Owen, and a new character, Hallett, are considered well enough to return to the front, each to devastating results--Barker's comment, again, on the insatiable war machine. I'm not sorry that I read all three books, but I could as easily have stopped after the wonderful Regeneration.

3 out of 5 stars.

66. Irish Girls Are Back in Town by Cecelia Ahearn et al.



A rather lackluster collection of stories by some of Ireland's best known female writers (Maeve Binchy, Patricia Scanlon, Marita Conlon-McKenna, etc.).

2.5 out of 5 stars.

#53 I'm planning on reading Pat Barker's trilogy later this year, mainly because The Ghost Road was a Booker Prize winner and is on my 999 challenge list. Now I'm really looking forward to reading Regeneration.

#53: Too bad about The Ghost Road - I was looking forward to reading the trilogy, but I may just stick with reading the first book instead.

#56

I would mildly disagree and say I enjoyed all of the trilogy equally but for different reasons. However, I believe I may be in the minority so perhaps your decision will be the right one!

Caught up again, Cari. Like your reviews, even your Pah and Meh ones.

ETfix tupo

Message edited by its author, Jul 13, 2009, 7:48pm.

67. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome.



This was a bit of a departure from the usual book I read, but I'd heard good things about it from some fellow LTers, and the fact that this was an audiobook read quite delightfully by Hugh Laurie made it all the more appealing. However, I found it only mildly amusing. At times it reminded me of vacations taken as a child, when my dad would never admit that we were lost or that he didn't know how to do something, however much of a botch he made of it (like trying to pitch a tent after midnight in the rain with only the car headlights to see by). Both the plot and the characters were a bit slim; Montmorency, the fox terrier, was probably the most interesting. Don't get me wrong: it wasn't bad, it's just not a book that will stick with me for long. If you're looking for a bit of light humor that you can read or listen to in a few hours, you might enjoy it more than I did.

3 out of 5 stars.

#59

I wonder whether some first hand knowledge of the territory and typical English ways are required for full enjoyment of this book. I know I laughed A LOT when I read it. Sorry you didn't enjoy it so much!

Luna, I was thinking that too. Having come from a Scottish family, the humour just seemed to come naturally and I grinned while reading it too. Humour is such a subjective thing...I remember thinking it was just daft that the French found Jerry Lewis funny.

Nah, I don't think that's the case; it's probably just me. I've been to a number of the places mentioned in the book (the scene where Harris tries to herd everyone through the maze at Hampton Court did have me laughing), and I've been to England enough times to be fairly familiar with the idioms and customs. I'm just not a big fan of humorous novels, I guess.

68. Granta 107.



Most recent issue of Granta, this one features world writing--some fiction, some memoir. A mixed bag, but interesting overall. Mary Gaitskill's piece on her lost cat and the disadvantaged children in her life was the bext.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

69. Life Class by Pat Barker.



Barker takes yet another approach to World War I. She begins with a group of young people attending art school. Paul is constantly told by the teacher that he has no talent, while Eleanor wins scholarship after scholarship. Yet the war disrupts everyone's lives. Too ill with asthma to enlist, Paul volunteers for ambulance duty. Barker questions the pressure for everyone to "do their bit" while pondering whether art is really a frivolous pursuit or has a place in time of war. In the end, everyone is changed--some for the better, some, well, maybe not so much.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jul 22, 2009, 9:13am.

Getting close to 75! Will I make it before classes start up again? We'll see.

Hang in there! You are very close to completing the goal. When will your classes start?

August 31. I'm almost done with #70. Once classes start, reading will go more slowly, although I'll be adding several rereads that I'm teaching.

What books are you teaching next term?

Intro to Lit (non-majors):
Frankenstein
Girl with a Pearl Earring
When the Emperor Was Divine
Q & A (aka Slumdog Millionaire)
Proof

Intro to Lit Studies (majors):
general textbook of stoires, plays, poems + Frankenstein

Shakespeare:
Titus Andronicus
Richard III
As You Like It
Tewlfth Night
Merchant of Venice
King Lear
Winter's Tale

I should take your Into to Lit class. I should read Frankenstein, I liked When the Emperor Was Divine, and I want to read Q & A and Proof. I might have to cut class on the night of Girl With a Pearl Earring, though...

69> Yeah, it's not exactly great lit, but I do have some interesting lessons to go with it. I've kind of given up on teaching anything too literary or written before 1960 in gen ed classes (but I'm sneaking in Frankenstein, which they seemed to enjoy last semester--I used lots of film clips!)

Since I am a schizophrenic reader, I would have to take both courses. They sound fascinating.

70. The Hero's Walk by Anita Rao Badami.



I don't know why I left this one on the TBR shelf for so long, but I'm very glad that I finally got around to reading it. Badami effectively recreates the world of a middle-class Indian family and their struggles. Sripathi, the 50-something father, disillusioned by his job as a jingle-writer for an advertising company, spends his free time writing letter to the editor under pseudonym. Cowed by his traditional, domineering mother, he nevertheless resents his children's moves towards modernism. He considers Arun's dedication to activism a waste of time, and nine years ago he cut off his daughter Maya, a university student in Toronto, for breaking off plans for an arranged marriage and marrying a Westerner. Sripathi's 40-ish sister, Putti, would love to marry and stop being a burden, but their mother selfishly has rejected every suitor as "not good enough"--although her motive is obviously to keep her daughter as her virtual slave. Nirmala, Sripathi's wife, is resourceful and kind--but also passive. The family is thrown into turmoil by a phone call from Canada that Sripathi can't ingore: the granddaughter he has never met, 7-year old Nandana, has been tragically orphaned.

This is a family that is familiar and at the same time foreign to Western readers--a refreshing difference from many novels about Asian family life that rely on the exotic alone to engage the reader. Srithpathi's dilemma--yearning for the old while recognizing the opportunities in the new--is one with which we can all empathize. Badami's fine style, interesting story, and believable characters result in an enjoyable, highly recommended novel.

4 out of 5 stars.

71. Black Dogs by Ian McEwan.



Probably the most boring novel I've ever read by Ian McEwan, whose work I usually love. Jeremy plans to write a memoir of his mother-in-law June, and most of the novel recounts stories that she and her husband Bernard told him of their courtship, early marriage, honeymoon in France (where she encounters two black dogs), membership in the Communist party; June's odd spiritual quest, which leads her to a life alone on the southern coast of France; etc., etc. The only thing I can imagine that might be more boring would be reading the memoir that Jeremy hoped to write.

1 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Jul 26, 2009, 1:58pm.

A thumb for you on The Hero's Walk. It sounds great. Strangely, I have been drawn more and more to Indian authors and Indian stories of late.

Thank you! It was a great book. If you haven't read A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, it's also well worth the time (although I should tell you that it's over 900 pages in length).

#72: I wish my local library had a copy of that one. I have a couple of Badami's books on Planet TBR - that one and Tamarind Mem.

#73: Too bad about that one by McEwan. I hope your next read is better for you, Deborah.

> 73 So glad you read Hero's Walk, Deborah! It is one of my favourite books and she is one of my favourite authors; I would say Anita Rau Badami and Rohinton Mistry are my favourite Canadian authors. I have read all of her books and have Mistry's Family Matters to read.
I have Black Dogs on the TBR list and it has to be read soon as it has to be returned by early September. Am a little worried now...but will give it a try.

>77 At least Black Dogs is short! I enjoyed Family Matters, espcially the relationship between the professor and his grandson.

Message edited by its author, Jul 27, 2009, 3:00pm.

Adding neither book as the first isn't my kind of thing (although I know I should expand my horizons) and I only like some McEwan's and I'm guessing that won't be one of them!

Oh, I really enjoyed Black Dogs - not up to Atonement, but I thought it was a good short novel. Amsterdam, now, left me really disappointed.

The Hero's Walk looks great though!

>73 sorry to hear this wasn't so good - Black Dogs is one of the few McEwans I haven't read (yet). Will still probably pick it up eventually, but maybe not rush...

I started Black Dogs a couple of days ago (while reading another one); so far it is good. I have to get both these books read before I fly to Ireland (via NJ) on Monday. I have to choose a couple of books to take with me! Ah...the sweet agony of choice for a Libra.

Whenever I learn of excellent authors I've not read, I come away wishing I had so much more time. Retirement is a long time away. While I read 107 books thus far in 2009, I am so frustrated because there are so many more suggestions out there. I haven't read Atonement or another McEwans books and hope to be able to do so in 2009.

Cario, so glad you like Badami. I have read everything of hers so far - one of those authors whose books I will always pick up. Dihiba, I too love Mistry's writing.

I liked Black Dogs...but I also liked On Chesil Beach and Saturday, which a number of readers were not fond of. Amsterdam is my least favorite McEwan novel so far.

I think Chesil Beach is his best that I have read - am not sure where I would list Saturday, Atonement. Amsterdam, and A Child in Time which I have also read. I need to read Amsterdam again, as it has been a few years and I can't remember much of it! I have Enduring Love but it might wait until 2010 - anyone read that?

Yes, I really enjoyed Enduring Love; it's very quirky. I think it was the first McEwan that I ever read, and it got me hooked. My favorites are Saturday and On Chesil Beach. I didn't expect to like the latter, based on reviews I read beforehand. But it was one of those books that just stuck with me for a long time after I finished it.

I loved Enduring Love. I agree that it's a quick read--I whipped through it in one day on the beach in Maui (and ignored my family for the duration!). Atonement is still my favourite, but I read it before all the hype.

72. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym.



This was the first Pym novel I've read, and it wasn't quite what I expected. I had heard that her books were quite funny; this one had its moments, but, overall, I found it rather sad. It focuses on the relationships among four 60-something co-workers: Marcia, who keeps her private life very much to herself (it consists mainly of storing and organizing milk bottles and plastic bags); Letty, whose plans to move in with a longtime friend after her retirement are sidetracked; Edwin, who spends his spare time going from church to church; and Norman, a lifelong bachelor with a habit of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Overall, I enjoyed this quiet little book and felt that the characters, while quirky, were very believable (we've all known one or more of them, I'm sure). I will likely be picking up more Pyms in the future.

4 out of five stars.

Pym is a new to me writer too. What time period is this book set and when was it written?

She wrote Quartet in Autumn in 1971 (after having breast cancer/a mastectomy and then a stroke) but it was rejected by several publishers. I think the feeling was that her kind of novel wasn't titillating enough for the current 'modern' taste. But Philip Larkin wrote in an article in the Times Literary Supplement saying that she was one of the most underrated writers of the 20th century and suddenly she became hugely successful. So it actually got published in 1977.

Her cancer recurred and she died in 1980. Her last novel was A Few Green Leaves. I think her writing is timeless but I get the sense that her characters are somehow between the wars through to the 50s in their ways of living.

I went on a big Pym kick last year when I discovered her for the first time, reading everything of hers I could get my hands on. She's so bang on about people.

Thanks. On to the very long TBR list she goes!

I just "discovered" Pym. I had read about her here on LT and when I saw a half-dozen of her novels at the secondhand shop at the library I grabbed them. She is an interesting writer - I found one gets very fond of the characters, which isn't the case with other writers. I just read an Anita Brookner for the first time - another writer who is very character rather than plot driven. Still haven't tried my only Elizabeth Taylor though, any thoughts on her?

I like Anita Brookner (she is a relationship observer). Never read any Pym, but I really want to. Read one Elizabeth Taylor and she is not for me - although most seem to rave about her writing so I am defo in the minority.

Any/all of the McEwan books are wonderful for me.

Message edited by its author, Aug 5, 2009, 2:03pm.

I think I read the Larkin article about Pym when it was written. At least I read an article about her in some periodical at about that time that said basically the same thing--she was one of the most underrated writers of the century. The article prompted me to run out and buy several books by her, including Quartet in Autumn. Generally, her books are quietly humorous. However, Quartet in Autumn is very poignant, and its characters are lonely and sad. I found it most enlightening on the feelings one must face as one gets older. I was in my late 20's, early 30's when I first read it, and was very moved by it even then, as a "callow youth." I've reread it twice since then, and it still moves me. It's my favorite Pym.

Yes, I've heard Quartet in Autumn is a bit different in style from Pym's other books. I've only read one of her books so far - look forward to reading that one.

I've heard a lot about Barbara Pym haven't got round to trying one of her books yet. The Bloomsbury guide to good reading sings her praises.

I just ordered several more of her books on swap sites: The Sweet Dove Died, A Few Green Leaves, Crampton Hodnet, and Some Tame Gazelle. I remembered that I had indeed read and enjoyed Excellent Women as well.

Good for you, Cari! I've reviewed some of these, if you're interested.

I've read Some Tame Gazelle and Excellent Women but not the others, so I will be anxiously awaiting your reviews, Deborah.

73. Out of the Shadows: The Life of Lucy, Countess of Bedford by Leslie Lawson.



Lucy, Countess of Bedford was one of the most brilliant, powerful, and influential women in the early court of James I. Married to the young Earl of Bedford at only 13, she suffered a series of miscarriages and infant deaths, near financial ruin due to the couple's extravagant lifestyle, and the shame of political exile following her husband's participation in the Essex Rebellion. But when Queen Elizabeth was nearing death, Lucy and her mother raced to Scotland to accompany the new queen to London. This began a friendship that placed Lucy at the center of power, enabling her to sue for offices, favors, and commisions for her friends and clients. She was a featured performer in the Jacobean court masques and was patroness to John Donne (she owned Twickenham), Ben Jonson, John Florio, Samuel Daniel and others. As a Sidney cousin, her political and artistic circle included many powerful figures: William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke; his mother, the Countess of Pembroke, Robert Sidney and his daughter, Lady Mary Wroth; Sir John Harrington; and many others. Though we know that Lucy was also a poet, none of her work survives--in fact, not much aside from her court activities is known about her life. Lawson brings together the facts here with some intriguing speculation.

4 out of 5 stars.

#101: That one looks interesting. I will see if I can find it. Thanks for the recommendation!

Couldn't find this book on amazon..........either UK, or USA. How annoying!

lunacat, I found it on amazon (US) this morning when hunting for a cover photo. They didn't have the photo and said they had only one copy left. But I did find it on B&N. It's pretty pricey, being a scholarly press book (something like $58). I had to order it via InterLibrary Loan.

Message edited by its author, Aug 10, 2009, 6:16pm.

Hang in there, you are almost finished with the 75 challenge! Congratulations.

I am an avid fan of anything Tudor related. Your description of book #73 is intriguing.

74. The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert.



Seiffert's Afterwards was one of my top books last year, so I was eager to read more of her work. This is her debut novel, and while it's not as polished as Afterwards, it is still a moving and finely written book. The novel is divided into three sections and three stories:

1) In 1944 Berlin, Helmut, a young photographer's assistant, persistently supports the Fuhrer until hesees--and secretly snaps--scenes he had never expected imagined.

2) As the Russian, American, and British troops begin to occupy Germany, Lore--her age is never given, but she seems to be about 15--is left in charge of her four younger siblings with instructions to take them on a long and desperate journey from Bavaria to their grandmother's house in Hamburg.

3) In 1998, Micha is obsessed with the concern that his Nazi grandfather might have executed Jews in Belarus during the war. A teacher, he is disturbed by the fact that German children are taught to empathize with the victims and survivors but never to consider that their loved ones were the perpetrators.

The links between the stories, aside from the war in Germany, are a bit hard to make. Are the photographs Lore sees posted those taken by Helmut? Is Michael somehow related to Lore's family? In the end, it doesn't really matter. Seiffert has taken a different route from most who write about the Holocaust and the Nazi regime: instead of focusing on victims, she recreates this world through the eyes of average people who have been caught up in the historical moment. As in Afterwards, she questions the concept of war and what it does to human beings--not only those who live through it but those who, like Micha, must live with an ongoing national guilt.

Highly recommended.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Edited to correct touchstone, but it keeps bouncing back to Minette Walters.

Message edited by its author, Aug 13, 2009, 11:35am.

The Seiffert books are patiently waiting for me - they sound wonderful. Thanks for the review, Deborah. (or Cari if you are Tif).

And Number 75 is:

Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox.



You've heard of Anne Boleyn, you've heard of Mary Boleyn The Other Boleyn Girl, but have you heard of Jane Boleyn? (Maybe--if you're a fan of 'The Tudors.') Jane Parker was the wife and widow of George Boleyn, who was beheaded for treason, accused of having slept with his sister Anne. Part of her "infamy" is that she gave evidence that helped to convict her husband, saying that he had told her that the king was unable to perform sexually. But the greater part comes later. With Cromwell's help, Jane was able to spring back from financial ruin and public shame. She retained a portion of her jointure lands and remained a member of the ladies-in-waiting for the next three queens (Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, and Katherine Howard). But as lady of the bedchamber to Katherine, she obviously knew of the young queen's adultery and was even perhaps an accomplice. Like her husband, the "infamous Lady Rocheford" ended up with her head on the block.

This biography is relatively sympathetic to Jane, who seems to have been caught in a double bind in the case of Katherine Howard. She could say nothing or deny everything, but if she confessed what she knew, she would be guilty of not revealing the information sooner. While not the exciting read that it promised to be (or maybe I've just read too much about the Tudors), Fox does create a sense of what the court must have been like for noblewomen trying to please fathers, uncles, husbands, counselors, kings, and queens. I have to agree, however, with other LT readers who complain about Fox's admittedly unfounded speculations and that much of the filler is rehashed material.

3 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Aug 13, 2009, 5:43pm.

Sounds pretty interesting, Deborah, but I know what you mean about having read too much about the Tudors. If this one falls in my lap I'll read it, but based on your review, I won't hunt it down.

I am putting both of the Seiffert books on Planet TBR. I just wish my local library had them! They both sound very good.

Her style is so beautifully spare and her characters are both unique and believable. I have a collection of her short stories, Field Study, somewhere in the stacks.

Cario, definitely going to look for the Seiffert books too. Excellent reviews here.

How could I have forgotten to update my ticker? Yes, I really have read 75 books!

Congratulations!

Way to go Deborah!

Congrats!

Deborah - Congrats on 75! You've done some great reading this year.

Congrats!

Maybe I can get close to 100 by the end of the year (although my reading pace will slow way down once classes start).

I've not been having very good luck with audiobooks. I started two over the weekend--The Elegance of the Hedgehog and Mistress Shakespeare--and wasn't enjoying either one after listening for more than an hour. So I'm going back to the classics: Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope, the third novel in the Barchester Chronicles.

76. Granta 106: Fiction Special.



Lots of big names (Ha Jin, Nicola Barker, Paul Auster, Amy Bloom), but none of these stories particularly thrilled me. I did enjoy John Banville's "objet trouve" (a small musical sphere from Arles) and Jhumpa Lahiri's interview with Mavis Gallant. I do love the cover on this one.

3 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Aug 17, 2009, 6:45pm.

Belated congratulations on reaching 75 books read!

77. No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym.



I am absolutely charmed by Barbara Pym! No Fond Return of Love was the perfect end-of-summer book for me. I love Pym's focus on "little" characters and "small" events and the way she relates both with humor and affection. These are the sorts of people we pass by every day, often without notice, yet their lives, too, hold a drama of their own, and Pym tells and interweaves their stories deliciously. Here, she begins at a small summer conference for editors and researchers. Dulcie Mainwaring, an indexer whose engagement was recently broken off, kindly but persistently all but forces her friendship upon Viola Dace, also an indexer, but one who prefers to call herself a researcher. Dulcie is immediately attracted to Alwyn Forbes, a scholarly editor whose marriage is on the rocks, and with whom Viola (his indexer) claims to have had a fling. The lives of these three characters are thrown together in unexpected ways when Viola moves into Dulcie's home, Alwyn forms a passion for Dulcie's young niece, and Dulcie quietly "stalks" the man of her dreams.

This description really doesn't do the novel justice. It's in the little things that Pym excels--the tongue in cheek or offhand comment; the expression of feelings; a character's internal debate. All I can say is that this novel had me smiling all the way through, and I hated to leave the characters. I've become a big fan of Pym's and have seven more of her novels now waiting at the top of my TBR stacks.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

I've upped my challenge goal to 90. I'd like to go for 100, but, with classes starting on the 31st, that's probably a bit too ambitious.

I just read that Pym book last month - it was my first taste of her writing. I'm addicted now. But she 'got' me so subtly that I didn't even realize I was becoming addicted...

Hi Deborah

You are reading such great books. I'm adding your most recent reads to the pile of tbr.

>77 Thanks for the great review, Cariola. I have No Fond Return of Love and A Glass of Blessings waiting to be read. I became a Pym fan in 2007, thanks to recommendations by the Anglophiles group.

Congratulations on surpassing 75 books! :)

I read Excellent Women by Barbara Pym earlier this year and plan to read moreby her. Thanks for the review of No Fond Return of Love. I'm adding it to the wish list.

I'm reading Crampton Hodnet now--another delightful Pym.

Congratulations for your hot review found on today's home page!

78. Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym.



One of Pym's earliest novels, Crampton Hodnet doesn't quite equal No Fond Return of Love; still, it is delightful and shows the promise of what's to come. Set in Oxford, it's not quite what I would call an academic novel; the university is more of a background for the novel's tighly knit social world. One of the main characters, Francis Cleveland, is a professor of sixteenth-century English poetry, and although a number of his students (notably a young woman named Barbara Bird) and colleagues figure into the story, the novel focuses not on academic rivalry but--like most of Pym's work--on the relationships and distances between family members, friends, and neighbors.

Pym is a master of the light touch, particularly when she makes her readers privy to the thoughts and observations of her characters. For example, when Margaret Cleveland notices that her husband (who has taken Miss Bird to tea and sent he a bouquet of lilies--without telling his wife) looks unwell, her immediate question is:

"Have you got indigestion?"
"I don't think so," he answered shortly.
"Then it must be the effect of the British Museum," she said.
That was exactly it, thought Francis, suddenly blaming it all on the British Museum. Everyone knew that libraries had an unnatural atmosphere that made people behave oddly. He felt that he had somehow made a mess of things this afternoon. But of course he was not used to dealing with situations like this; he had no practice. He had wasted his time in libraries, doing research about things that were no good to anybody. He thought of his companions in the Bodleian: Arnold Penge, Edward Killigrew, Professor Lopping . . . They wouldn't have done any better either. Probably not as well. This thought was some consolation to him, and he began to feel quite pleased with himself.

Or this little gem of an observed conversation. The aged Miss Doggett and her companion, Miss Morrow, discuss her grandneice Anthea's having made "a good impression" on her boyfriend's mother, Lady Beddoes:

"I believe she is very easy to get on with," said Miss Morrow.
"Well, she has that graciousness of manner that one would expect," said Miss Doggett, who did not somehow like the idea of her companion's finding someone of Lady Beddoes's position 'very easy to get on with.' "You see, Anthea is really nobody on her mother's side," she went on, "and even the Clevelands can hardly compare with the Beddoeses."
"But Anthea is such a sweet girl," protested Miss Morrow. "Anyone would like her. And Lady Beddoes's father was only an English professor teaching in Warsaw. She told Anthea."
"Miss Morrow, I don't think you understand these things," said Miss Doggett.
"No, I don't think I do,"said Miss Morrow humbly.
"It would be a splendid thing for Anthea, really splendid," purred Miss Doggett. "I wouldn't have thought she had so much sense."
But sense is just what a girl in love doesn't have, thought Miss Morrow, who didn't understand such things.

The Crampton Hodnet of the title is a nonexistent village created by the new young vicar, Mr. Latimer, to explain a suspicious absence; he claims to have been called to give a sermon in place of an ailing friend. It's the first of many lies, untold truths, and misunderstandings at the heart of the novel. Pym excels here, as in her other novels, at the little dramas in the lives of seemingly little people.

Overall, Crampton Hodnet is a charming novel that I read with a continual smile on my face.

4 out of 5 stars.

Cariola, your reviews of Barbara Pym are mouth-wateringly delicious as she sounds just like my cup of tea!

I will check to see what my public library has of hers - can't access their website at the moment.

~ TT

134> I hope you find them! They are truly little gems. (Pym has a knack for creating wonderful names for her characters as well.)

Well done on hitting 75!

79. Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope.



The third volume in Trollope's Barchester Chronicles, Doctor Thorne is, for the most part, a typical tale of young lovers separated by the rigid class distinctions of Victorian England. Frank Gresham, whose father has mismanaged the family fortune and is on the verge of losing his beloved estate, is expected to marry for money, but he has long loved Mary Thorne, the titleless, penniless niece of the local doctor. It all turns out well for them in the end, of course, as in such novels it usually does; but it's the many sidetracks and delightful characterizations and the way these are all intertwined that make Doctor Thorne so enjoyable. The perpetually intoxicated Sir Roger Scatchard, for example, a murderer who did his time, made a fortune in the railroads, and was granted a baronetcy, and his lovable, unaffected wife, Lady Scatchard, who enjoyed life much more as a wet nurse. Lady Gresham, who would willingly marry her children to nobodies--as long as they came with enough cash to save the estate. The down-to-earth Miss Dunstable, heir to the Oil of Lebanon fortune, who knows a golddigger when she sees one and encourages Frank to go with his heart. Uber-snob Amelia DeCourcey, who persuades her cousin Augusta Gresham that it is her duty to rejct the proposal of the lawyer, Mr. Gazeby--and then promptly marries him herself. Doctor Thorne himself takes the part of the voice of reason throughout. While not quite as enjoyable as The Warden or Barchester Towers, partly because of its predictable plot, Doctor Thorne is still an enjoyable read.

3.5 stars

Makes me think that maybe I won't bother with Doctor Thorne. Whilst I enjoyed Barchester Towers, I did keep dozing off during it and I fear I would be worse throughout this!

I have Crompton Hodnet and a clutch of Pym's to look forward to - think I'll wait til a dreary day (the weather's too good right now) to read another one. Something to savour!

Cario, isn't Pym the best? Your review made me want to read Crampton Hodnet all over again. dihiba, I had a Pymfest last winter when I was knocked sideways with a cold. I can't tell you how delicious it was to commandeer the couch, cocooned in an afghan with hot tea, reading Barbara Pym. Either a dreary day or a dreary you, she's perfect for those.

Couldn't agree more, tiffin. Comfort reading!

>140 I am going through a real transition in my life (and probably for the next year) - and it's mostly positive - but I might just need some of those "comfort reads" once in a while to slow down and take a deep breath.

dihiba:

You might want to try the Newbery award winners. They are delightful, easy reads. Some of these books deal with difficult subjects, in a very heartwarming way, others are simply fun, quick, breezy books.

Here are a few I recommend (quickly written off the top of my head)

Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
the Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
the View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg

I also enjoyed the The BFG by Roald Dahl,
Blitzcat by Robert Westall

dihiba

I forgot to mention that the later two are not Newbery award winners, but simply books that were fun to read.

Whisper1 - thank you so so so so much for thinking of me and making this list - however, I rarely read YA lit. Once in a long while I'll reread something I read as a child, but that's it. Hope the list is helpful for someone else.

My transition will be a bit stressful but it is not *bad*. Basically, I'll be moving in with my guy. We're middle-aged, so these things involve some readjusting (you know, we get set in our ways). But I am v. happy about it and forsee great fun and contentment.
I am still in my job transition thing (i.e. unemployed) but am trying to develop a business for myself. Also trying to get my son on a path in life and crossing my fingers my daughters will find some more stability in the job market (they are in Korea right now, returning in a few weeks, but not to Ontario, to Vancouver - I will be going to visit them in Oct or Nov if I am not working - I have ALWAYS wanted to see Vancouver, oh yes, and my daughters too - ha!).

Diana

I can relate to the joys and stresses of readjusting after combining two households. I was single for a long time and three-four years ago my life changed dramatically...for the good...but, it was/is an adjustment for both of us.

Good luck with everything.

Yes, I expect it to be an adjustment, but good. I have been living alone (well, sometimes 1-2-or 3 of my kids have been with me) for over 7 years now. And what a seven years of change! My attitude is that it's better than stagnating!

I guess I'm stagnating. ;)

I doubt it!!!! I know I could stagnate if I let myself...one of my goals as I get older is not to let my brain atrophy by keeping interested in a lot of things...and reading, of course.

80. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.



I read this novel when it first came out and just reread it for a class that I'm teaching. I can't say that I enjoyed it as much the second time around, but at least it is accessible to my students. Chevalier does create a believable narrator with a great depth, but the character of Vermeer falls a bit short. Still, the novel opened up a lot of discussion about the lives of women in the 17th century, class and status, and art. The new edition includes a fine full-color insert of all the Vermeer paintings described by Griet in the novel---very helpful!

(This has nothing whatsoever to do with Girl with a Pearl Earring, but I just want to throw in that I'm dying to see Jane Campion's new film, 'Bright Star,' about Keats and Fanny Brawne.)

Message edited by its author, Sep 19, 2009, 1:06pm.

I'm very interesting in learning your approach to teaching this book. I think it is a wonderful subject.

I think that having the pictures within the Chevalier edition is a wonderful addition. I thought her book was rather mediocre, however, although a good way to pique interest in the artist and the historical times.

Another fiction book that uses art as its focus is the book Headlong by Michael Frayn referencing to Bruegel - who I think is a much more masterful writer. I had to go to the library and figure out which pictures he was referring to - in this case the story was based around a moral dilemma when the protagonist finds a missing Bruegel. I really enjoyed it.

Message edited by its author, Sep 19, 2009, 2:49am.

152> I'll look into that one. While I don't think Girl with a Pearl Earring is an exceptional book, keep in mind that I'm using it in a class of mostly 18-year old non-English majors who hate to read. So for them, it's a "coming of age" novel and reasonably enjoyable, and at least it's fairly well-written and structured. They are responding much better than they did last semester to classics like The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

81. Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym.



Another charming novel set mostly in rural England, ca. 1930's. Jane and Prudence became friends at Oxford, despite a difference of about 10 years in their ages, and have kept up their firendship through the years. Now Jane has just settled into a new parish with her husband Nicholas while Prudence, still attractive but pushing thirty, wonders if she will ever find true love. The novel centers around Jane--her difficulty fitting in to the new town, her efforts at matchmaking for Prudence, her reminiscences of working on the seventeenth-century poets at Oxford, etc. She is quite the character--bright and independent-minded, a modern woman but concerned that she isn't fitting properly into the role of a vicar's wife. Several characters from Crampton Hodnet reappear, including the domineering Miss Doggett and her delighfully understated but sly companion, Miss Jessie Morrow.

4 out of 5 stars.

I'm enjoying catching up on your thread, and one of these days I'm going to read Girl with a Pearl Earring. Great that you're getting a good response from your students.

And Karen, I just looked up the Michael Frayn book and LT reckons I'll love it, so I'll look for it at the library. Ooh - it's in there. My TBR-laden bookshelves don't get a look in!

155: A Pym I have not read yet. Definitely look for that one!

Hey Deborah, I just added your last book to my amazon wish list. For some reason, I have never read any Pym but I think that will soon change.

I also want to see Bright Star. Its started playing here on Wednesday but I have been too busy with work and have not had the time to see it. It looks amazing.

Thank you so much for the Barbara Pym suggestions. I read a few of her books many years ago and can't remember the titles but your reviews have renewed my interest in her.

#152 I agree that Headlong is a very good read. My favorite Michael Frayn is Spies about two young boys pretending to be spies in WWII London and causing havoc among the adults as they unwittingly unearth many secrets. Frayn is best known in the US for his plays but these two books are well worth the read.

I just snagged a swap copy of Headlong. Looking forward to it!

Trish, I hope you find Pym as charming as I do. I have five or six more of her novels awaiting.

The works of Barbara Pym are mentioned often here on our 75 challenge thread. I hope to read some of her books soon. Alas, I confess, I am overwhelmed with all the books I want to read and the lack of time I actually have.

Thanks for your recommendations! Many of the books on my tbr pile are from your reads.

82. Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope.



Framley Parsonage, the penultimate book in the Barsetshire Chronicles, covers familiar territory and brings back a number of characters from earlier novels: Dr. Thorne, his niece Mary (now Mary Gresham), Miss Dunstable (whom I was particularly glad to meet again), the Grantleys and the Arabins, for starters. Of course, new characters also appear, primarily the Ludlows and the Robartses, and the setting shifts between rural towns and London.

While I enjoyed this novel, I need a Trollope break before going on to the final installment. I feel a bit overloaded with snobbish mothers who come between their sons and the worthy but common young women they love, male golddiggers trolling for wives, and cads who bring their friends to financial ruin.

3.5 out of 5

>162 Nice summary of Framley, Cariola :) Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Small House at Allington is the penultimate book in the Barset series.

Hi.

I'm stopping by to say that when I saw your post regarding book #75, I was compelled to read it.

I agree with your comments. I gave it a 3 out of 5 as well.

Thanks for noting this book. It was worth the read.

Ah, you're probably right. I read Small House at Allington a few years ago and had forgotten all about it.

83. The Aviary Gate by Katie Hickman.



Well, I tried to like this book. I really tried. But I found it full of cliches and characters about whom, for the most part, I just didn't care. Elizabeth, the grad student, was particularly whiney, pathetic, and unlikeable (not to mention that the "formula" of a grad student making an important discovery has been done to death since Possession). There's just too much going on, too many stories, most of them not very interesting and most of them left hanging. The novel is awash with Eastern stereotypes (the sly eunuch, the jealous favored wife, the aging concubine, etc.). Once you get a picture of what goes on in the harem (mostly the women bathing, plucking, and perfuming in preparation for a possible evening with the sultan), you don't really need to hear it over and over again.

2.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Sep 25, 2009, 10:54am.

Deb

Finally a book on your list that I do not have to add to my tbr pile.

Hope you like Headlong, Deborah. I did.

This Pym thing that is going on means it is compulsory for me to start reading her. I feel I am missing out on something BIG!

#168: Karen, you simply must read Barbara Pym!

>167 Linda, sadly, it was an LT Early Review book; I don't think I would have picked it up on my own.

>168 Oh, Karen, this is a bandwagon you simply MUST get on!

That said, I do think it takes a certain mindset to enjoy Pym, however. I started to read Excellent Women about a year ago and never finished it. Somehow it wasn't quite what I expected. When I picked up No Fond Return of Love last month, I didn't even recall that I had ever tried to read another Pym. Now I want to get back to it!

84. When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuko.



This book is a reread for me, but I'm giving it much closer attention because I am teaching it as well. It's a beautiful, heartbreaking, understated, and very short novel about a Japanese-American family's evacuation and internment during World War II, based on true accounts. As I expected, few students in my class even knew that the US had evacuated these families and put them into what were, in effect, concentration camps. (The family in the story actually spent the first 4.5 months living in racetrack stalls while the camp barracks were being built.) Like the Nazi prisoners, they could take only what they could carry. Their homes were ransacked while they were gone, and they lived under guard inside walls topped with barbed wire.

The story is told in four chapters, each one from the point of view of one character. They are given no names, just "the woman," "the girl," "the boy," and "the man"--a device that at once makes them universal and nonentities--and each section is told in a unique voice.

A truly wonderful book. I was surprised that my students didn't like it as well as the last book, Girl with a Pearl Earring.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Deborah, I read When the Emperor Was Divine several years ago, after a book club I belonged to read Farewell to Manzanar. I thought the Otsuka book was head over heels better than the Manzanar book. I found it to be more low-key and incredibly powerful.

#171: I enjoyed that book very much when I read it earlier this year. I think the 'matter-of-fact' approach, with no cloying sentimentality overshadowing the book, really adds to the overall appeal (at least to me).

My dad taught Farewell to Manzanar for decades in his 9th grade English class. He loved the book. I'll have to look for When the Emperor was Divine.

85. The Silent Sin by Anja Sicking.



A short and rather unsatisfying Dutch historical novel. Dismissed from her great aunt's household following her sister's disgrace, Anna takes a post as a servant to M. de Malapert, a bachelor music seller. She's attracted to him; he'd rather cavort with the boys. She's almost 30 but seems to have no understanding of what's going on until the authorities start rounding up "suspects."

2 out of 5.

# 175: I wonder why that was translated, there are better Dutch books. I never heard of Anja Sicking, which makes me wonder, as I follow a lot of Dutch book things.... Sorry that the book was disappointing, and thanks for the warning.

boekenwijs - as I see you are from the Netherlands, I would be really interested in any of your recommends for Dutch reading. (in translation of course).

kiwidoc, that's always difficult, as I normally have no idea what is translated or not ;). Some books I can recommend of which I'm sure they are translated:
- The discovery of heaven by Harry Mulish
- Beyond sleep by Willem Frederik Hermans
- The twins by Tessa de Loo -> (De tweeling, can't find the touchstone otherwise)
- and more recent: The twin by Gerbrand Bakker

Boekenwijs - thanks so much for the suggestions. I have read quite a bit of
Mulisch, and enjoyed him. Beyond Sleep also was good. The last two authors are new to me - so will pursue.

Sorry to hijack your thread, Deborah.

Message edited by its author, Oct 10, 2009, 7:58am.

No problem. I'm interested in other suggestions of Dutch authors as well. The only one I recall reading was Cees Nooteboom's Lost Paradise, and I wasn't thrilled with it.

Message edited by its author, Oct 4, 2009, 12:01pm.

Never read something by Cees Nooteboom, but I have a book with stories from here lying around. I think it's also not my first choice...

Late to Tracy Chevalier party, but I have to confess I really disliked Girl With a Pearl Earring - put me off reading any more of hers.

I also loved Headlong - fantastic book, one of those novels with the rare achievement of winning you round to what ought by all rights to be an utterly despicable narrator.

I have a copy of Spies on the shelf too.

edit for touchstone

Message edited by its author, Oct 9, 2009, 2:26pm.

FlossieT: Much as I enjoyed Headlong, I enjoyed Spies even more. Michael Frayn is also the author of the plays Copenhagen and Noises Off. All four of these works have different themes which shows what a fertile mind Frayn has!

Yet another great thread I have managed to miss - just wanted to say I read all your reviews at once and straight away mooched both Regeneration and When the Emperor Was Divine. (luckily for me, they were both available) Thanks!

I have had Headlong on Planet TBR for 5 years or more. One of these days I will actually get to it!

Cariola, thanks so much for your review of When the Emperor was Divine which I had never heard of and now wonder how that could be. It is a powerful, beautifully written work and tells the story of the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII better than any history could.

186> Thank you! I'm glad that the book is picking up some new readers. It deserves to be read more widely.

Cariola

When the Emperor Was Divine was also recommended by Akela. I added it to my library back in June. Now, I'm reminded, after reading your excellent recommendation, that I have to move it up to closer to the top of the tbr list.

For those of you interested in When the Emperor Was Divine I would also recommend Nisei Daughter. I've read both and the latter is even better in my opinion.

Message edited by its author, Oct 13, 2009, 3:05am.

I just finished reading When the Emperor Was Divine, which I'd borrowed from the library after reading Cariola's review. It is a very fine novel. What a pity Julie Otsuka has written more books!

#189: I will definitely be looking for Nisei Daughter, since I very much enjoyed When the Emperor Was Divine when I read it earlier this year. Thanks for the recommendation, bonniebooks.

During lunch today, I finished When the Emperor was Divine. It is a wonderful book. I'm adding Nisei Daughter to be list. I agree with you Laura, it is a shame that Julie Otsuka hasn't written more books. Her writing is marvelous.

The author of Nisei Daughter tells the best stories about growing up in Seattle. Some of them are quite funny even while they show you the reality of what it was like to be Japanese or Japanese-American right before the war and during WWII. It reads like fiction, but it's actually non-fiction. Please tell me when you're reading it and I'll join you!

I am adding a bunch of rereads; these are books I have reread and taught this semester.

86. Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare. His most brutal, violent tragedy. (The students loved it.)

87. Richard III by William Shakespeare.

88. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. It has been awhile since I taught this play.

89. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Awesome! So much to talk about when teaching this one--multiple themes, structure, foils, etc.

I've never read Frankenstein, but hearing you call it "awesome" makes me think that maybe I should. Thanks!

Me too! :-)

I've never heard of Titus Andronicus...looks like I need to read that!

Are you having fun teaching these books?

90. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. Another reread for a class that I am teaching. If you've never read it, you definitely should!

91. The Girls: a novel by Lori Lansens.



I know that I'm in the minority here, but I thought this book was rather dreadful. The structural concept is a good one: conjoined twins writing their autobiography in alternating and quite different voices. But that's about the only positive thing I have to say about the book. I really had to drag myself through this one because of the content, which was calculated to shock (e.g., one of them actually gets pregnant while the guy is making out with the other) and to manipulate the reader's emotions (e.g., repetitive maudlin whining for the daughter given up for adoption). If I had to read one more time about Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash mooning at each other and saying "You," I was going to hurl. It was just TOO cute. Call me heartless, but this was "girlie drek" at its worst.

Wow, I'd never heard anything even negative about that book, let alone that bad! Love, love, love the term "girlie drek." Well, I find that I agree with you at least 75% of the time, so I think I'll let this one sink to the bottom of the ol' TBR pile.

LOL on your review of The Girls. Like Nickelini, I think I'll let this one sink to the bottom. But your review really gave me a chuckle.

I am two or three books from Frankenstein. I just got the audio book from Barnes and Noble and to my great dismay, I just realized that its an abridged version. Ughhh.

When the emperor was divine sounds heartbreaking. Is it fiction or non fiction?

Message edited by its author, Oct 22, 2009, 6:52pm.

198> I know, I expect to get some flack for that review from readers who adored the book. I disliked it so much that I actually posted it on Book Mooch when I was only 2/3 done with it. I'll be glad to see it leaving my house tomorrow. I kept wishing that their aneurism would hurry up and burst!

199> Oh, you definitely want the full version of Frankenstein--with a good reader and not a "dramatized" version. Part of what's so lovely about the novel is its structure: Shelley uses a framing device, which means that it's really a story within a story within a story with three narrators. And I can't imagine what they might have cut without doing damage to the development of themes in the novel.

When the Emperor Was Divine is fiction, but members of the author's family lived through this experience, so I'm sure it is based on real events.

I wasn't as fond of The Girls as most people either. Don't remember wanting to throw it across the room, but I have had that reaction before too. Sometimes, my negative reaction is partly because I've read something similar that is (imo) so much better, or there's been too much hype, or I'm not in the mood for that kind of book, and/or I just don't like that genre. I like it when people tell me how they really feel, so thanks!

I read a chapter of The Girls but never got in the mood to pick it back up. Once I used to think that that reflected my lack of stick-a-bility, but now I think it means the book sucked! (or both. Nixonland is one that's in the "need more willpower and time" category....)

#201: I loved The Girls, Deborah, but would never give any flack about it. I do not care for a lot of books other people love - I figure that is why there are so many different kinds of books - for every kind of reader.

Ditto what Stasia said! We should respect the opinions of others, even when we disagree.

The storyline of The Girls is unappealing for me - so even if it is controversially liked/disliked, it is not for me. Your review is just delightful.

Thanks, Karen. What bothered me most was feeling that the author was trying to manipulate my emotions. I just hate books like that.

92. The Autobiography of Henry VIII with Notes by His Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George.



What a wonderful book! At the beginning, Henry has died, and Will has found the diary he supposedly kept since his youth. He sends it to the daughter of Anne Boleyn's sister Mary, who he believes is in truth Henry's daughter. Will, whose father died when he was very young, does this because he believes that a child should know his or her father.

George has really done her research, but instead of ploddign through history, she gives Henry a realistic voice that is at time maddening, at other times sympathetic; in other words, she turns this huge historical figure into a man, like others, with both strengths and weaknesses. The interjections by Will, who, despite his cynical tone, obviously loved Henry, give us further insights into his character. Along the way, she gives us a delightful picture of life, love, and politics at the Tudor court.

5 out of 5.

#208

I read this on holiday this year and really enjoyed it and I'm glad you did as well. Nice review.

I read this book a long time ago and now your excellent review prompts me to re-read it.

>208 - That one is going right on my TBR list. I'm reading Wolf Hall right now, and would like to know more about Henry VIII. Thanks for your great review!

I already had that one in the BlackHole, but I am moving it up! Any time you give a book 5 stars, I stand up and take notice :)

Ooh, sounds fun! I've never heard of this one, but books with characters with a bit of depth and humanity to them are always worth looking out for. On the list...

93. Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age by Bohumil Hrabal.



I enjoyed the film version of Hrabal's I Served the King of England, so I thought I'd give this little book a try. I could not get through it; I stopped after about 20 pages. The entire book is a single long, rambling sentence that jumps from one topic to another, from a woman's retrieving her glass eye from under and theatre seat and popping it back in to why a shoemaker can pick his nose all day and a baker can't to red pumps. I know that is what the author intended as a kind of stylistic experiment, a post-surreal stream of consciousness, but it didn't work for me. I found it more irritating than amusing.

1.5 out of 5 stars

Better luck next book!

#214: That one sounds terrible. Thanks for the heads up - one I do not need to add to the BlackHole.

I sincerely hope your next book is better, although I do not see how it could possibly be worse!

94. The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson.



Katri Kling is an outsider in the small Swedish town of Västerby. While everyone agrees that the yellow-eyed young woman with the huge nameless dog is capable and conscientious, her cold, direct manner is offputting. But Katri has a plan for herself and, even moreso, for her younger brother Mats. Through small acts of apparent kindness--delivering the mail, dropping off groceries--she weasels her way into the life of Anna Aemelin, a wealthy spinster who paints illustrations for children's books, until it seems that she is indispensible. In no time at all, the novel has shifted into an understated thriller as Anna not only becomes dependent upon Katri but begins to lose the things, connections and beliefs that comprise her own identity. But Jansson saves some surprises for the final chapters.

I loved the author's clear, clean style that so well matches the icy winter landscape and that not only sets the tone but complements Katri's personality. Yet the novel has its lyrical moments as well; in that, it reminded me of Linda Olsson's Astrid and Veronica. (Perhaps this is typical of Scandinavian writers; perhaps it is the effect of those long dark winters and the late spring sun.) Jansson also plays with fairy tale, myth, and folklore. For example, in an early moment, Anna suddenly recognizes Katri's rare smile as an illustration from one of her childhood books: the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.

This powerful little book was just what I needed to get away from the stress of the end-of-semester crunch. It grabbed me from the beginning, and I wolfed it down quickly. I will be looking for more of Jansson's adult work.

4 out of 5 stars.

Message edited by its author, Nov 27, 2009, 5:02pm.

"...I wolfed it down quickly."

Ha! Ha! Your review was fun to read! :-)

#217: Looks like another good recommendation from you, Deborah! I will be on the lookout for the book. Thanks.

Deb.
I always find such great reads here! I like your description of The True Deceiver and hope to read this soon.

Thanks for the recommendation (s).

95. The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt.



What can I possibly say about this book that hasn't been said by other reviewers, on LT and elsewhere? It's a collection of fantasies--not just Olive Wellwood's evolving children's stories and Stern's marionette shows, but the fantasies lived out by the adults in the decades leading up to the first World War. The exposé of these fantasies is at the heart of the novel. Olive and Humphrey believe in the fantasy of free love: that it causes no jealousy between spouses, nor that it damages any of the seven children in their household, born from various liaisons yet raised to believe they are true siblings. Love, sad to say, does not conquer all, and some in the novel who give it too freely pay a heavy price. Another fantasy: that freedom allows children to grow up happy and full of potential; but freedom taken too far borders upon neglect, and not all children are by nature independent. Another set of fantasies: that art can change the course of world events, and that genius is always to be indulged for its own sake. The list goes on and on. Like the characters' fantasy lives, Olive Wellwood's stories are delightfully magical on the surface yet dark and dangerous underneath.

The novel's style and structure are inseparable, both building on the possibilities and threats in the space between fantasy and reality, between the Victorian age and the new post-world war period. Some readers have complained about excessive details in the first part of the novel; others complain about the brevity of the last. I feel this is intentional on Byatt's part, a verbal realization of the changing cultural and political milieu. The late Victorian period was still addicted to rigid social morés and manners, embellishment of one's person and one's home, etc.--and, as such, it gave birth to a myriad of reactionary movements, most of them equally pompous in their moral (or amoral) certitude. On the other hand, the rapid and extensive devastation of the war, a political killing machine gone amuck, left people back home stunned and empty--as reflected in Byatt's quickfire, almost callous list of the young men, fantasy-world Fludds and Cains and Wellwoods, cut down by a reality beyond their once-imagined control. Like Stern's marionettes, they dance in a world of fantasy, unaware that they are manipulated by strings that control their every move.

Yes, the book is massive and complex, and it takes some concentration to keep track of the various characters and their relations to one another. It's the kind of book that, when you finish it, you need to think about it for awhile, and then you know that you will need to read it again to fully appreciate its genius.

Message edited by its author, Today, 1:07am.

Great review that has tilted me even further in favour of buying it! (I am now on such an angle that I might fall over next time I see it.)

#221: I am currently reading that one and really enjoying it. I hope I end up liking it as much as you obviously did!