Catarina1's List for 2012 - AKA The Third Times the Charm

In 2010 I read 75, but 2011 was a poor showing. Too many other things going on, competing for attention. Trying again. The specifics:

1) Last year one goal was to read 5 books set in or about Australia and New Zealand. That goal I actually reached. But I have 10 more on my TBR mountain. So, I'm going to try to read 5 more again this year.

2) I have a huge number of books that have been either nominated or won the Orange Prize. Second goal is to read at least 5 of these.

3) I'm participating in the Steinbeckathon for this year. Just purchased a 4 volume Library of America set of his writing (good excuse for a book purchase).

4) As I was googling Steinbeck, I came across list of Banned Books. Only two of his books seem to make those lists (Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, so these lists should provide more interesting reading for the year.

Books about or set in Australia and New Zealand

1) The Colour
2) The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman
3)
4)
5)

The Orange Prize

1) The Idea of Perfection - Kate Grenville - winner 2001
2) The Colour - Rose Tremain - short list 2004
3) The Road Home - Rose Tremain - winner 2008
4)
5)

John Steinbeck

1) Cannery Row (1945)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Banned Books

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Glad to see you back with us again!

Hi, I will be interested to see what books you read on New Zealand and Australia this year. Happy reading.

#7 - thanks for your interest

Last year I read:

the Tin ticket - about women prisoners who were sent to New South Wales

A Commonwealth of Thieves - have The Fatal Shore on tap for this year

Dirt Music - have another Tim Winton Turning for this year

Sorry - Gail Jones

the Idea of Perfection - Kate Grenville

And then the others that are "waiting in the wings":

The Bone People - set in New Zealand

The Colour - Rose Tremain

Rabbit Proof Fence

The Paperbark Shoe

A River Town - also by Thomas Kennealy

In a Sunburned country - Bill Bryson

a mystery by Peter Temple

three books by Peter Carey

so a lot to choose from

Some very good books among that list. Thanks.

Diane -
I see you are from New Zealand. Do you have any suggestions? - since my selection of books about your country are quite meager - at just two.

1) The Idea of Perfection - Kate Grenville - Australia

Orange prize winner 2001

I began this in 2011 but just finished it, so I'm counting it for 2012. Lots have been written about the book, so no need to discuss the plot. A very enjoyable read. I'm getting more of a "feel" and understanding of Australia through this personal challenge as well as being introduced to more authors. I believe that she has written a couple more books since this one which I'll be on the lookout for.

There really were two basic storied going on in this book - the relationship between Harley and Douglas and that of Felicity. There was not much connection between the two except that they were all in the same small town. Felicity's story could have been a separate book in itself.

2) The Ghost Map - Steven Johnson

Another one that was begun in 2011 and just finished.

From the library

About the cholera epidemic in London in 1854, several of the local figures involved, as well as the people and city of London. The social and economic conditions, the state of public health and sanitation at the time, the beginning of epidemiology. A very interesting read, although the author does go on a bit much. It makes you grateful for a public sewer and treatment system. Oh, yuck!!

I keep meaning to get to The Ghost Map but have not managed it yet. One of these days. . .

I really enjoyed two books by Linda Olsson Sonata for Miriam and Let me sing you gentle songs. Another good author for chicklit, easy reading is Michelle Holman Bonkers. Predicament was also a very good read.

For many years I did not read anything by NZ authors as I found them quite hard going and bad but I am determined to get through some of them and give them a fair chance, I am sure that they can't all be bad.

Let me know how you get on.

Diane
Thanks for the suggestions - I'll look into them. Scanned through The Bone People several times - it seems like a little difficult read, due to the dialect. So I might be looking for something a little easier to read.

I just looked at my library and I have another one by Linda Olsson -Astrid and Veronica. I'll put that one at the top of the pile.

Astrid and Veronica was released in New Zealand under the title Let me sing you Gentle Songs. Hope you enjoy it.

So, they are the same book. Why is that? Why do publishers think different titles will appeal in different countries? Doesn't make sense to me. Thanks for the info.

I also find it odd that books can have such completely different titles in different countries, although I do like Let Me Sing Your Gentle Songs as a title. It was a pretty good book, too, by any name!

I have Astrid and Veronica in a TBR box around the house!

Lots of interesting reading going on here!

I loved The Idea of Perfection and Sorry and am now intrigued by The Ghost Map.

I also recommend Australian author, Joan London. The Good Parents is set in Melbourne and Gilgamesh: A Novel is (partly) set in 1930s Australia.

Thanks Dee, for the suggestion. I'll put Joan London on my list. Its getting hugh.

3) Cannery Row - John Steinbeck - 1945

What a wonderful book. Wonderful touching stories about life in Monterey. The major character is Doc, modeled after his friend Ed Ricketts, but there is also Mack and Lee Chong and Dora, the frogs and the gopher. Memorable.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the books that will be read over this year thru the Steinbeckathon. I grew up in Santa Clara County not far from Salinas. In public school, we read several of Steinbeck's books but not this one.

4) To Be Sung Underwater - Tom McNeal

I think this book was recommended while I was scanning through books on Amazon. It is not one that I would have ever picked up but I'm glad for the suggestion.

It took a while to come to enjoy it though, perhaps not until I was about half-way but then something clicked. After finishing, I went back to start it again and then came to fully appreciate it.

The setting is Vermont, Nebraska, and S. Calif. Its about Judith, her parents, her husband and daughter and Willie Blunt, her childhood boyfriend who she forsakes when she went off to college, never to return until "the serve" occurred. And so, the story begins. And near the end I felt myself saying "No, don't do it. Don't do it". You have to read it to find out.

The author has written another called Goodnight Nebraska. I'll be looking for it.

Little progress again, just getting bogged down with too many books at one time and not finishing any of them.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Orphan Master's Son
The Wayward bus
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - I think this is the third time for this one but just wanted to read it again before i saw the American version of the movie. I've seen the Swedish version previously - and as usual, it was much better.

Oh, no. Now getting bogged down with more books started, and none finished -

Portrait of a lady - Henry James
An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro

Hi Catarina1, i have recently finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, what did you think of it?

I'm so far behind - too many other things to do right now

5) Portrait of a Lady - Henry James

6) The Orphan Master's Son - Adam Johnson

7) An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro

No need to review them - they've been well reviewed by others.

8) The Colour - Rose Tremain
Orange Prize, short list,2004
Set in new Zealand - so it fulfills both the Orange Prize and the Australia/New Zealand challenge for me.

Joseph and Harriet Blackstone come from England to settle in New Zealand. They struggle trying to survive in harsh climate and land with little knowledge of how to do so. Joseph is a selfish man, with a secret hidden in his past. He leaves Harriet to look for gold on the western side of New Zealand - another bad choice. There are other characters - Pare, a Maori woman, Chen, a Chinese immigrant, Edwin, a neighbor child. It made for a good read but did get a little tedious towards the end. Tremain did make my list of favorite authors however.

9) Elegy for April - Benjamin Black, AKA John Banville

I read his two previous books in Quirke series last year - my response was "Meh!". This one is a little less "meh", the ending still seems to wrap up a little too quickly and neatly without much reflection but it was a better book, somehow.

10) the Road Home - Rose Tremain

winner Orange Prize 2008

The second book by the author that I have read, I thought it was well written although there were some side stories that didn't seem to be tied into the main plot very well and the conclusion left some loose ends. But over all a good read.

It is the story of Lev, an immigrant to England from an un-named Eastern European country, his family and friend Rudi back in that country and the people who he encounters in London. I'll always remember Rudi's Tchevi with a smile.

Oh, it's April already and only on book #10. Alas, too many other things to do.

11) A Death in Summer - Benjamin Black, aka John Banville

He is getting better at writing in the genre. Is titled "a novel" but still a mystery, just less so.

12) Elegy for Eddie - Jacqueline Winspear

13) The Beginner's Goodbye - Anne Tyler

14) Yarn Remembering the Way Home - Kyoko Mori

15) Polite Lies - Kyoko Mori

16) Wild From lost to Found - Cheryl Strayed

17) The Girl of His Dreams Donna Leon

Starting to read all of her Guido Brunetti books since I have decided to finally go to Italy next year and Venice will be one of the cities that I visit. I've read a few of them in the past but between now and next spring hope to read all of them.

18) The Fires of the Gods - IJ Parker

One of the later Sugawara Atikada books. Set in 11th c Japan, pre-Tokagawa. Interesting for the setting.

19) About Face - Donna Leon

Another Guido Brunetti tale.

20) The Light Between Oceans - ML Stedman

A book that I received thru Early Reviewers. By a first time author, I first heard about this on some possible list of Booker Prize nominees. It didn't make the list and it is obvious why but it is still a good read. Love and loss, memory and forgiveness. A sad, sweet tale. Set in western Australia after WWI.

A trip to Italy next year. How exciting! I'm afraid I'll only visit there in the pages of books about Italy. I've heard good things about the Donna Leon series.

I'm glad to see you haven't abandoned the group, Catarina, aka Ada. Life does get busy, doesn't it?

21) Plainsong - Kent Haruf

I'm not sure why I have never read one of his books. I keep seeing them from time to time. guess I have been stuck in Japan. But finally picked this one up and loved it. An easy read. Set in Colorado. Apparently there is a sequel of sorts - Eventide. I'll be on the lookout for it and his previous books.

this one was a finalist for the National Book Award back in 1999 or 2000, leaves you with those warm, fuzzy feelings.

And yes, Donna, live gets busy and work continues to be stressful and frustrating. Sometimes all I want to do after coming home from work, is to take a sleeping pill and go to sleep and excape.

#38: I very much enjoyed Plainsong when I read it, but still have not read Eventide. One of these days i will get to it!

Sorry that work is stressful and frustrating for you right now. I hope it improves soon.

Thanks for the good thoughts Stasia. But unfortunately these things are endemic to where I work. There is very little respect for the employees. But I stay there for the fairly good pay level and the benefits. I will soon reach 1000 days until I can retire - that is a good thing - but that fact doesn't help me to look past the disrespect.

22) Eventide - Kent Haruf

The sequel to Plainsong following the came characters and some additional ones. Character-driven, regional. Small town life on the high plains.

23) Tokyo on Foot - Florent Chavouet
Graphic artist from France, living in Tokyo for 6 months, riding a bike around the city, drawing people and places in various neighborhoods of Tokyo. Lively drawings, short texts with wry observations.

24) A question of Belief - Donna Leon
Another Guide Brunetti

24) Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes
Winner of the 2011 Booker Prize, the only one on the list worthy of the prize but I don't think that says much about the book. The good thing about it was that it was short, but I felt the characters were tiresome, just coulding like them.

25) Double Comfort Safari Club

Another Mme Romotswe, warm and cuddly.

26) The Lighthouse - Alison Moore

Short-list for this year's Booker Prize

Short, low-key story about Futh who is recently separated from his wife and has embarked on a vacation (?) by making a walking trip in Germany. It doesn't really seem like a vacation because there is little fun or relaxation to be had. He walks all day with blisters on his feet, eats very uninspiring meals, if any, and stays in some borderline hotels. Poor Futh. He doesn't even have a first name.

27) the Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler

Had never read one of his so felt it was about time, but I guess I got here too late. He is reportedly the original (but not the first) in this genre but if felt a bit dated. the genre has progressed too much. Still somewhat an enjoyable, if less exciting, read.

28) Life After Death -Damien Echols

The incident back in 1993 was very low on my radar then (being in graduate school at the time) but i was more aware of it last year when the three men were released from prison.

It is a very interesting book; he is quite a good writer. He does not dwell on the details of the crime so much but explains the conditions of his childhood and youth and the conditions in the mental institutions where he was placed first and then the prisons. Chilling.

There is an extensive appendix that gives details of the crime, of the mess that the authorities in Arkansas made of the original "investigation" if it can even be called that. And there is extensive information about the evidence that these three were not involved. I am shocked that this occurred as recently as 1993 and even more appalled that in 2012, the State of Arkansas can't correct this. Total incompetence!!

29) Requiem - Frances Itani

Japanese-Canadian internment camps and the lingering trouble they caused in the lives of those interred. I thought this only happened in the US.

30) The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce

On the long list for the Booker Prize this year. No one has mentioned the similarity of this book to another that made the short list - The Lighthouse. Both involve middle aged English men going on a walking journey, both have had troubled childhoods with their mother "abandoning" them. This one has a "light" feel at first until the author gets into the real reason for Harold's desire to walk all the way to Queenie.

31) Beastly Things - Donna Leon

Another Guido Brunetti. I think this is her latest. I listened to the audio version on my commute to work. I have read (or listened to) most of them, if not all. She gets better all the time. This one is about the murder of a veterinarian who has taken a part-time job at a slaughterhouse. As an animal-lover too, there was a passage that I just could not listen to - had to fast forward through it. And the ending which is a eulogy for the veterinarian brought me to tears.

32) Points and Lines - Seicho Matsumoto

Have had this one for quite a while and just never got around to it. A quick read. Mystery about the "love suicide" of two people from Tokyo on a deserted rocky beach. In the style of an Agatha Christie. The "points and lines" refer to train and place schedules. The repeated discussion of these by the detectives involves got a little tedious at times but it was an enjoyable read.

33) The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields

a re-read
won Pulitzer Prize in 1995

I had remembered loving this book back when I read it the first time. This time can't say I absolutely loved it, but it is a very subtle book - the life of Daisy Goodwill Fleet, truly from her birth on a kitchen floor to her death in a nursing home in Florida. In the ending sections, illness and decline and death, Shields is able to describe Daisy's thoughts as she goes in an out of consciousness at the very end - "I am not at peace".