brenzi's 2012 Reading - LXXV and Beyond - Part 6 - Summertime, and the READING is Easy

“Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
― Albert Camus

WELCOME FRIENDS!!



May/June garden harvest!









MY ORANGE JANUARY THREAD

MY NON-FICTION CHALLENGE THREAD

OTS - Off the Shelf (purchased at least 6 months ago)

L - library book

NF - Non-fiction

Books Read in 2012

41. The Pickwick Papers - Charles Dickens - UK - ebook - 4 stars
40. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn - L - 4 stars
39. The Missing - Tim Gautreaux - OTS - 4 stars
38 The Memory Chalet - Tony Judt - NF - OTS - 4 stars
The Balkan Trilogy - Olivia Manning - OTS - 4.4 stars
37. Friends and Heroes - Greece
36. The Spoilt City - Romania
35. The Great Fortune -Romania
34. I Shall Not Want - Julia Spencer-Fleming - L - 4.5 stars
33. Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel - UK - ER - 7 stars
32. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman - NF - OTS - 4 stars
31. Salvage the Bones - Jessmyn Ward - L - ebook - 4.5 stars
30. Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier - OTS - 4.6 stars
29. Broken Glass Park - Alina Bronsky - Germany - OTS - 4.1 stars
28. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - L - 4.2 stars
27. A Wreath of Roses - Elizabeth Taylor - UK - 4 stars
26. The Leopard - Giuseppe Di Lampedusa - Italy - OTS - 3.7 stars
25. The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller - Greece - L - 4.6 stars
24. Voyagers of the Titanic - Richard P. Davenport-Hines - NF - ER - 4.2 stars
23. Binocular Vision - Edith Pearlman - 4.3 stars - L
22. Sovereign - C. J. Sansom - UK - 4.6 stars - OTS
21. There But For The - Ali Smith - UK - 3.5 stars - L
20. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption - Laura Hillenbrand - Japan - 5 stars - NF - OTS
19. All Mortal Flesh - Julia Spencer-Fleming - 4.3 stars - L
18. A View of the Harbour - Elizabeth Taylor - UK - 4.5 stars - OTS
17. Gillespie and I - Jane Harris - Scotland - 4.8 stars - L
16. How to Breathe Underwater - Julie Orringer - 3.5 stars - OTS
15. The Artist of Disappearance - Anita Desai -India - 3 stars
14. Silk - Allesandro Baricco - France/Japan - 4 stars - OTS
13. Emma - Jane Austen - UK - 4.3 stars - OTS
12. Inferno: The World at War 1939-1945 - Max Hastings - 5 stars - NF - e book - L
11. The Frozen Thames - Helen Humphreys - UK - 4.5 stars - L
10. Bleak House - Charles Dickens - UK - 5 stars - e book
9. Bossypants - Tina Fey - 3.5 stars- audio - NF
8. The Scapegoat - Daphne duMaurier - France - 4.5 stars - OTS
7. The Orphan Master's Son - Adam Johnson - North Korea - 4.3 stars - L
6. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader - Anne Fadiman - 4 stars - NF - L
5. Old Filth by Jane Gardam - UK - 4 stars
4. The Observations by Jane Harris - Scotland - 4.5 stars - OTS
3. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff - Egypt - 4.2 stars NF - OTS
2. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - UK - 4.3 stars -OTS
1. Sorry by Gail Jones - Australia - 4.5 stars

CURRENTLY READING:

May Summary

Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky – a unique teenage voice presents the story of life as a young Russian immigrant in present-day Germany that exposes all the risks, dangers and responsibilities that she faces daily; startlingly vivid and stark language.

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier – history comes to life on the page as Chevalier brings the story of fossil hunters and early paleontologists Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot to light. The characterizations are quite remarkable and the accomplishments of the two women, in light of the barriers put in their way by the males of the era are quite, well, again remarkable.

Salvage the Bones by Jessmyn Ward – Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the Mississippi coastal town where fourteen year old Esch lives with her father and two brothers. She’s expecting a child but the father will not give her the time of day so she counts on her loving brothers. But her brother Skeetah makes the decision to allow his lactating dog China, to fight another dog. The prose is poetic but the subject matter, for the most part, is stark and unsentimental.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman - On the surface, the book is about the care that Lia Lee, an infant Hmong immigrant in the early 1980s, who suffers from severe seizure disorder, received at a California hospital. But, more deeply, it investigates and reveals the long history of the proud Hmong people. And what Fadiman does so brilliantly is to make clear how that history affected the plight of one family.

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel – the follow-up to Mantel’s brilliant Wolf Hall doesn’t miss a beat and may actually be better than its predecessor. How else to explain the 7 stars that I gave it. In all likelihood, my book of the year.

I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming – the sixth book in the series has Clare and Russ investigating three murders that suggest a serial killer.

I’m also two-thirds of the way through The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning but won’t finish or review it until later in June.

Yes, I have a slight "book problem."

Hi Bonnie, great new thread! I'm very excited to have The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down on tap for June. Great looking library in message 3! Wouldn't you just love to meander through that collection?

Wow, nobody sneeze! LOL!

Love the stylish new thread, my friend! I like the Camus quote and the lovely asparagus!

I just snagged a copy of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down and did I tell you I FINALLY received a copy of The Colony of Unrequited Dreams? I know it only took 3 years!

Hello Donna and Mark, you know that any of us would be scanning every title in those piles looking for those elusive titles. I'm glad you'll both be getting to The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, a life altering kind of book. And I'm glad you finally managed to find The Colony of Unrequited Dreams Mark. Three years isn't too bad. I've had books sitting on my shelves, unread, for a lot longer than that LOL.

Nice new thread! I am salivating over both the asparagus and the library!!

Er, that's not really a....library Mamie. It's more or less piles of books just shoved into place because there are too many for the room. Unfortunately, the asparagus is just about at it's end but the rhubarb will continue for another couple of weeks anyway.

These are not "your" actual books are they? It's just a photo, right?

library
li⋅brar⋅y /'lī,brĕrĭ/
noun
a room where books are kept • they had brandy in the library
a collection of literary documents or records kept for reference or borrowing
a depository built to contain books and other materials for reading and study
syn: depository library

Um..according to the dictionary, that's a library!!

>9 msf59: Right Mark. If I had a room that looked like that, my hubby would have divorced me long ago LOL.

>10 Crazymamie: Well technically, I guess it is Mamie. Not like any I've ever been in LOL.

Well, probably not as user friendly as the public library!

>12 Crazymamie:. :)

Nice new thread, Bonnie. I love your pics. You had some great May reading. I'll be anxious to hear what you think about the Manning book/s?

Bonnie - congrats on part 6. Love the Camus quote and it is very, very apropos of the group.
How did you manage to get the shot of my reading room!

LOL!

>14 BLBera:. I' enjoying it Beth. I have about 200 pages left.

>15 PaulCranswick:. Thanks Paul, I'm not about to give away something top secret like that;-)

Love your opening pics, Bonnie. There are few things better in my summer world than stewed rhubarb with toast : ). Glad you are enjoying The Balkan Trilogy; what a great reading year you're having!

eta: Laughed out loud at the Grammar Warning! Too true!!

Bonnie - I read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down a few years ago and absolutely loved it. It was this book that made me aware of the assistance the Hmong provided the US during the Vietnam war, and how they felt lost between keeping their culture and understanding the American culture when they were brought to the US. I still have this book on my re-read shelf, not sure if I will read it again, but am loath to part with it.

>18 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, I can't say I've ever tried stewed rhubarb on toast but it was our Toronto relatives who got us started on stewed rhubarb on ice cream...warm rhubarb, cold ice cream...mmmmm. And rhubarb pie is my family's favorite.

I think when I read Ex Libris I mentioned that I am a grammar and spelling corrector from way back. It's embarrassing to my family when they accompany me to the grocery store and I pull out my marker LOL.

I am having a great reading year aren't I? Thanks to all the great suggestions here on LT.

>20 brenzi:. Yes Caroline, I had very little knowledge of the help the Hmong gave the US when we fought in Laos and really no knowledge of the difficulties they had in adjusting to the culture here. We have a shameful history in how we did not keep our promises to them in exchange for that help. I'm not sure I'll read it again either.

I posted this on Paul's thread but thought I might as well post it here too.

Favorite Reads of the 2000s

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Siege by Helen Dunmore
**Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville
Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

**Also my nominee for Best Debut Novel.

Now I have to think more about the question Mark posed on his thread: What books written in the 2000s will still be read in fifty years? That's a much harder question.

>3 brenzi: There is a used bookstore in a barn south of Seneca Lake that looks exactly like that, Bonnie, except that there are many rooms and the aisles are much more narrow. I love our annual trip to the area and that bookstore is always on the itinerary (along with several others - great area for used books), but I do feel a bit uneasy about those teetering stacks. Last year we were there in 100 degree heat and I was certain that it would be unbearable in the barn. Turned out to be nice and cool. Who knew that books were such great insulators - better than air conditioning!

I am working on my list, but realizing that many of the books I have truly loved in recent years have been either older or nonfiction. But I would absolutely agree on Wolf Hall, Let the Great World Spin, and Matterhorn.

Like I mentioned on Paul's Thread, I love your list. I've read 12 of 'em (You know I stalk you). And I have Plague of Doves in the stacks. Is this your favorite Erdrich?
I also have Wolf Hall & Memory of Love high on my WL. You have, impeccable taste, my friend.

>23 Linda92007: It sounds like I need to take a trip to the Finger Lakes Linda. But what if the book you've been looking for for eons is at the bottom of the pile? Do they have a way to get books out for you? I wonder why that area is so good for used books? Maybe because it's near Ithaca College and Cornell University.

>24 msf59: That may be my favorite but I always say my favorite is Love Medicine. But it's been so long since I read that one (late 80s maybe) that I can't remember much about it other than the fact that I loved it. I should probably reread it Mark.

Well actually I don't know how impeccable my taste is actually. I usually just take my recommendations from other LTers such as, well, yourself. So probably you're the one with impeccable taste too LOL.

Bonnie - hope your weekend is going swimmingly. I want to go and find that bookstore that Linda mentions - my idea of heaven.

Nice garden harvest Bonnie! You've reminded me that I'd like to grow asparagus. We created a new garden this year and are a bit behind in our planting, so maybe next year.

I had an unread copy of Love Medicine all ready to donate to our arboretum's book sale, but was overcome by an irresistible urge to pull it back. You must have been sending me vibes, Bonnie!

I think the plethora of great used book stores in the area is definitely connected to the colleges. Ithaca is certainly very much a college town and a wonderful throw-back to the 60's. The books in the barn are actually broken up some by shelves, although not all easy to get to. I have never asked the owner to retrieve anything, although I am sure he would. He is a very pleasant guy who obviously loves his books! He is generally found behind the counter, which is also piled high with books!

What fun it would be to organize a meet-up there. My partner very patiently lets me drag him around to all of the stores, but as much as he also likes to read, I know that he would rather be on the lake.

Bonnie: What a wonderful list; I've read many of them, and the ones I haven't are on my wishlist. You are having a great reading year this year. My favorite Erdrich is Tracks. Love Medicine is a close second, though. I am working on rereading her early work -- it's been a while. I also have a few of her later ones to read.

>26 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, I'm afraid today is a dismal, dreary day. Of course that's the perfect kind of day to curl up with a good book so I think I know what the rest of my day will involve.

>27 lauralkeet: Oh Laura, I remember creating a a new garden space and the time it takes to get it productive so I understand completely. When you get around to planting asparagus, be sure to get plants that are at least two years old because otherwise they'll take a long time to bear actual spears. But they are very prolific so at this point we've eaten a LOT of asparagus and are ready to move on. Unfortunately, it doesn't freeze well at all.

>28 Linda92007: It's only about two and a half hours from here to Seneca Lake Linda so that's certainly doable and would be great fun. I wonder who else is anywhere near the area.

My partner very patiently lets me drag him around to all of the stores I'm afraid my partner has no patience for this sort of thing.

I hope you find Love Medicine to your liking and I really have to reread it sometime in the not too distant future.

>29 BLBera: I really have had a great reading year Beth. Erdrich is one of my favorite authors but I need to reread some of her earlier works too. Have you read The Plague of Doves?

Bonnie: I did read The Plague of Doves; I didn't think it matched up to Tracks or Love Medicine or other early work.

>3 brenzi: I'd love to visit, but I know as well as I know anything that the book I'd have to have would be on the very bottom of the teeteringest stack.
I like Erdrich; thanks for reminding me about her! I haven't read *Plague*, but then, there are several older ones that I haven't read.
We finally let our asparagus die one drought-ridden summer when we weren't supposed to water anything. *sigh* I miss it. I've never had rhubarb. *sigh again*

>32 BLBera: Well now that's why I have to reread her earlier stuff. I really liked The Plague of Doves Beth.

>33 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, I guess we're lucky here. We had a really dry spring but nothing like a drought of any kind so watering is never a problem but really, seldom necessary. Never had rhubarb? You don't know what you're missing.

Hi Bonnie!
Re your list above: I'm in the same boat as Beth - "I've read many of them, and the ones I haven't are on my wishlist. "

No big surprise there. These are great books.
I really want to get to Matterhorn - it is waiting a bit impatiently on my bookshelf. But it's rather a chunkster and I have to get my priorities straightened out... which means reading first, everything else last.

Well I've really over-booked myself but here are my TIOLI Challenges for June:

1. Read a book whose third title word has exactly 3 letters - Tess of the d'Ubervilles

2. Read a book with a goofy, whimsical title that makes you think to yourself "what on earth is THAT about?" - How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone by Sasa Stanisic

4. Read a book visiting a state or country you've never been to before in a book's setting - The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning

6. Read a book dedicated to the author's father - The Missing by Tim Gautreaux and The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton

Challenge #9: Leaders Are Readers Challenge: Read a book from a Legacy Library (FYI: Note the Leader's name) - The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

23. Read a book whose title contains the word "of" - A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor

>35 -Cee-: Hi Cee, Matterhorn was such a great read and even though it's long, it goes by very quickly, mostly because you will probably not be able to put it down. At least I couldn't. It went by in a flash.

Hi Bonnie, love your list! I am seeing so many great books mentioned in lists around LT lately. I might actually do my own list when I find some time

Hi Bonnie, I'm all caught up on this thread but still want to read what I missed on your last thread so I appreciated your May summary up above. (It reminds me of the NYT Editor's Choices from the previous week in the Sunday Book Review.)

I have a copy of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down and have wanted to read it ever since (a) Darryl recommended it (b) I read Fadiman's Ex-Libris and (c) I read The Coroner's Lunch which involves the Hmong people. Hopefully I can get to it this summer.

I loved the start to this thread--vegetables from the garden (which look great), the grammar warning, and the Camus quote.

36: You can do it, Bonnie! Let your dear husband tend the garden. ;-)
I am still reeling (in a good way) from my last Dickens read. I hope to get to one or another of his works later in the year.

Attention all Erdrich fans: A fun way to get your Erdrich "fix" would be to read The Red Convertible. It's a collection of excerpts from her books and some new short stories in chronological order. I think it would make a fine introduction if one hasn't read her books or a pleasant review for her fans.

I see you're just speeding through The Balkan Trilogy, Bonnie--I have finally settled in to read but am only finished with Part I of the first book. I am not going to crack open Bring Up the Bodies until I at least finish The Great Fortune.

I saw your 2000s list over on Paul's thread earlier and marveled at the overlaps. Makes me think I need to get to Cloud Atlas, The Siege, Matterhorn, American Salvage, The Cellist of Sarajevo, The Idea of Perfection, and Fingersmith ASAP, since all your others are already on my favorites list (however I was a little undisciplined with my own favorites list).

I never knew that opening quote was from Camus.

>38 ChelleBearss:. Hi Chelle, now how in the world are you going to find time to make any lists? I would assume the only lists you would be making are guest lists, gift registry lists and a list of sights to see on the honeymoon;-)

>39 phebj: Hi Pat, for the short version, the last thread is, for the most part, about Bring Up the Bodies. I really do love Mantel. After reading Wolf Hall I planned to read more of her books and never got around to it. This time will be different. I already downloaded A Place of Greater Safety onto my iPad.

I do hope you get to read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. It's very eye opening.

>40 Donna828:. Hi there Donna, I'm trying to read one Dickens each quarter; a little goes a long way.

Yes, I could easily leave my hubby behind and take a ride. He loves to get lost in his garden.

Sounds like I need to read The Red Convertible to remind myself of those books I read eons ago.

>41 AnneDC:. Oh hi Anne, it took me so long to write that last post that you sneaked in. I did notice on Paul's thread that we share a lot of favorites. Why do you think I lurk so often on your thread;-)

I finished up The Balkan Trilogy today and it really went out with a bang. It was an exhausting read but well worth the effort IMO. I think I'll dip into a little non- fiction now, which you won't see own that TIOLI list above. Purely an impulsive choice from my shelf.

What??? You're going to put off Bring Up the Bodies!!! Obviously I can't fathom that reasoning;-)

I'm jealous. My rhubarb is a little tiny thing. Will there be pie in your future?
I didn't know Camus was the guy who came up with that often quoted line. Thanks for enlightening me.

I love the way your thread begins, it's like a fun house! lol

Just making sure I stay caught up here. Nice list of possibilities for June. The only Thomas Hardy I have read was The Mayor of Casterbridge, and I was not a fan. However, that was waaaaay back in high school, so I will be looking forward to your review of something else by him to see if I might dip my toe in those waters again.

I listened to a couple of Hardy novels this past year which were fabulous. Alan Rickman is outstanding as narrator of The Return of the Native; that one has become one of my best reads of all time. More recently, i listened to Far From the Madding Crowd, read by Simon Lee and also superb!

Alan Rickman!!!*sigh* Now I remember Lucy saying something about listening to that. OK, going in search of that - thanks, Nancy!

>44 Carmenere:. Our rhubarb is well established Lynda. Our neighbor originally gave us very mature plants and they just took off. We've been pulling it for many years. Camus: such a fabulously interesting man.

>45 mckait:. Thanks Kath! I haven't been in a fun house in years so I guess I should warn you about the blasts of air ahead LOL.

>46 Crazymamie:. Yeah I remember despising The Return of the Native in high school but I guess that says it all: it was high school. Haha. I'm hoping for a different response now.

>47 lit_chick:. Thanks for reminding me of all the Hardys that are out there to explore, Nancy.

Hot air if Richard shows up...( JK )

>50 mckait: :)

37.



The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning 4.4 stars

MY REVIEW

I picked up the mammoth The Balkan Trilogy expecting to read a book that revealed, comprehensively, the effects of the beginning of WWII on a group of expats, living in Rumania in 1939. What I got was a book about two wars, so well-written and character driven that those very characters are vibrantly occupying my mind days after completing the book.

The second war that Olivia Manning writes about is taking place between the protagonists Harriet and Guy Pringle. They’re young newlyweds as the story opens, early twenties, and quite naïve and Manning cleverly juxtaposes their lives and the advance of the Germans into Rumania. Guy is an English professor and lecturer at the university in Bucharest. And as they begin their married life in 1939, Germany has just invaded Poland, and Harriet is shocked to discover that she must share her outgoing husband with a wide range of personalities and it doesn’t take long before she begins to feel neglected. Harriet, you see, is a complete introvert. Why these two didn’t figure out their differences during their two-week romance before they got married is a question that will remain unanswered. Later in the book, Harriet muses,

”In Bucharest, where he continued his classes for Jewish studies in spite of Fascist demonstrations, he said: ‘They need me. They have no one else. I must give them moral support,’ yet he seemed unable to understand that, living as they did, she, too, needed ‘moral support’. As she met every crisis alone, it seemed to her she had been transported to a hostile world, then left to fend for herself.” (Page 765)

As far as sweeping epics go, this one is exceptionally well done. Manning builds suspense through Harriet’s eyes and that which affects her, affects you as a reader. As Guy got more and more involved, first with his production of Troilus and Cressida in Bucharest, and then with his socialist friends in Greece, she feels more and more isolated and, consequently, looks for companionship with other male friends. Meanwhile, the Germans march on.

The book is populated by profiteers, con artists, pompous intellectuals, hangers on, over-populated you might say, with those who want to save the world and don’t mind telling you how they will do it. And Manning pulls it all off beautifully but the solutions are often quite complex. Take for instance Prince Yakimov; oh, probably not a real prince but no point in arguing the point with him. Initially, I was disgusted and irritated by him. He doesn’t work and therefore has none of “the ready.” (reminding me initially of Harold Skimpole in Bleak House.) But he manages to get people to pay for his food, his drinks and, eventually his shelter when he takes advantage of Guy’s good heartedness and moves into their flat in Bucharest, much to Harriet’s great irritation. But then Manning started to tweak his personality, imperceptibly, and little by little, somewhere along the way my feelings toward him changed, and I found that I was actually cheering him on. As I said, complex characters. And intricate plotting. And a husband I would have divorced early on. But that’s me. See for yourself. Highly recommended.

Wow, what a read, and what a fabulous review, Bonnie. Thumb from this corner!

Bonnie: Great review. I have to get to this soon.

Thanks Nancy and Beth, yes it was quite a read; sweeping epic just about sums it up:)

Hi, Bonnie! Love the asparagus, and the book-filled photo looked enticing, too.

Great review of Balkan Trilogy!

I loved The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down; I learned a lot from it, too.

I loved The Balkan Trilogy dramatization (Branagh/Thompson) ... should probably read the book someday, it sounds very good.

Hi Bonnie. I could swear I left you a congratulatory message on your review of The Balkan Trilogy last night - and a thumb. Maybe I wrote it and forgot to push the button. Well anyway, your review is great, as usual!

>56 tymfos: Thanks Terri, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down was an eye opener wasn't it?

>57 lauralkeet: Ahh good to know Laura as Ive already ordered it from the library. I'm really looking forward to it.

>58 Linda92007: Thank you Linda. LT is full of gremlins.

Wow, The Balkan Trilogy is a new one for me. Great review, Bonnie! Love it when I find out about good ones I'd never heard of!

P.S. thumb!

Thumbed your review, Bonnie....and then quickly scooted off to add this to my obese wish list.

LT is a humbling experience IMO ... every time I log in, I am reminded that there are so many amazing books that I haven't yet read and am likely not to have the opportunity to. Too many books, too short a life span.

Wow! FAbulous review.. thumbed, of course :)

>60 jnwelch: Thanks Joe, I'm not sure how I heard about The Balkan Trilogy. The three books that make it up were written in the early 60s and reissued by NYRB recently. That's the one I have.

>61 cameling: Thanks Caro, I know exactly what you mean. It's a bit depressing at times to realize that I'm never going to get to read all the books I want because more are added every day:(

>62 mckait: Thanks Kath!

Bonnie - wonderful review of Manning's first war trilogy - I have read the first of her Levant trilogy. Interested as to why you don't count them as three books as they were all published separately The Great Fortune 1960, The Spoilt City 1962 and Friends and Heroes 1965. Only subsequently in 1981 and after she died were they published collectively in an omnibus edition.

Thanks Paul. I actually did count them as three books in my total at the top (I think). Yes I'm sure I did.

Quite rightly so Bonnie!

Oh what a lovely review, Bonnie. A thumb from me and duly added to my WL. How do you do it?!

Bonnie- Great review of The Balkan Trilogy. Anything you love, I have to add to the bulging WL. If I don't, it will come back to haunt me.
I just received a copy of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, thanks to you.
The problem is, my NF is really beginning to back up, on both audio and in print.

OK, the Balkan Trilogy just got bumped way, way up the TBR list!

Well I skimmed over that Balkan Trilogy review Bonnie because as you know I am in the middle of it, but I'm glad it was so great. I may pause when I get to the end of the first book, maybe tonight, because I am eager to get to Bring Up the Bodies.

>66 PaulCranswick: :)

>67 Crazymamie: Why thank you Mamie, how's your WL coming these days?

>68 msf59: Thanks Mark, The problem is, my NF is really beginning to back up, on both audio and in print. I do believe I know what you mean. But you'll find a way to shoehorn it in I'm sure:)

>69 cushlareads: There you go Cushla. I'm just wondering between teaching and uni how you're going to squeeze it in.

>70 AnneDC: Hi there Anne, What, you mean you can't just wait to start BUTB? Well I wouldn't know anything about that;-) Seems that you could have, oh, IDK, just kept that book sitting on the shelf;-)

#71 When you figure out a way for me to get through the books and the work, let me know!! I am sitting on a glorious 0 books for June so far. (200 pages through BUTB though.)

I have The Balkan Trilogy and The Levant Trilogy waiting for me on my shelves and one day I will read them! I think your wonderful review has brought that day a bit closer actually!

WL...um...completely out of control!

re your review of the Balkan Trilogy -
what everyone else said...
esp Mark's "Anything you love, I have to add to the bulging WL. If I don't, it will come back to haunt me." *heavy sigh* ;-)

>73 cushlareads: When you figure out a way for me to get through the books and the work, let me know!!

Well IDK I could be wrong Cushla but my biggest worry now is, "Hmmm what shall I do today?" That's a little different from your, "OMG how in the world can I get everything done that I have to do today?" You see, a slightly different problem. So I'm afraid I have no answers for you except maybe, "this too shall pass." Not soon, but eventually;-)

>74 Soupdragon: Thanks Dee. I don't own The Levant Trilogy so for now I'm just happy to have read The Balkan Trilogy.

>75 Crazymamie: Well Mamie, welcome to the club. The Ridiculously Out of Control Teetering Tower Club that is. Have a seat and settle down for an uncomfortable visit LOL.

>76 -Cee-: Thanks Claudia, gee I hate to think about you and Mark being haunted;-)

Well it's taken some thought but I've finally come up with my 90s favorites. These are books published in the 90s but I may have read them anytime up to this year:

Not in any particular order:

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett
The Living by Annie Dillard
Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth

Another superb list, Bonnie. I loved many of these: A Fine Balance, Snow Falling on Cedars, No Great Mischief. I've had The Shipping News since forever and have never read it ... thanks for the reminder that "later has arrived."

Thanks Nancy, oh my yes do get to The Shipping News. I don't think you'll regret it.

Bonnie- Great list! Voyage of the Narwhal is an excellent addition. I forgot about that one. I NEED to get to A Fine Balance. I've had this one in the stacks for a couple years and now that I finally have a copy of Colony of Unrequited Dreams, I'll try to bookhorn that one in.

>81 msf59:. Thanks Mark, A fine Balance may have the saddest ending of any book I've ever read but so so good. Unputdownable, for sure.

Hi, Bonnie..........just catching up. I love that we're so different! Of your 90s list, I've read *Balance*, *Snow*, and *History*. Of those *Balance* is the only one I'll have on my 90s list if I ever get around to making one. So sad - and yet, what hope!

We are different Peggy and yet look how much we both love Bleak House and Bring Up the Bodies and I just picked up a copy of Truman today at my favorite used book store because you loved it. Yep there's hope there.

Another great list! Shared favorites: A Thousand Acres, Snow Falling on Cedars, and The Shipping News. And I have A Fine Balance and Colony of Unrequited Dreams reproachfully waiting on a shelf.

>79 lit_chick: Nancy I agree you should read The Shipping News. It is set in Newfoundland and I have a hunch you would like it.

>78 brenzi: I love reading peoples best of lists, it is quite inspiring. And can only spell trouble for my tbr pile....

Great list... I will chime in especially in favor of Shipping News and Snow Falling on Cedars - terrific reads. several others on your list are now going onto mine to be investigated.

>85 AnneDC:. Don't you wonder Anne, why Jane Smiley seemed to peak so early in her career? I read a few more after A Thousand Acres but nothing that came close to that one. I really loved The Colony of Unrequited Dreams which also is set in New Foundland.

>86 LovingLit:. Hi Megan, all I see with all the lists is my teetering tower finally toppling over. But there is great overlap with all of them I think.

>87 tututhefirst:. Investigate away Tina. I'm planning to reread The Shipping News later this year. When I read it back in the 90s it lead me straight to her Postcards which I loved almost as much. Have you read that one?

Interesting list. I've only read The Secret History from it but have four more on my TBR.

I've read just one Smiley which I received as a LibraryThing ER copy and it didn't leave me wanting to rush out to read more by her. From what you say, A Thousand Acres is the one to read though.

Bonnie: Another great list. I haven't read any of these but own almost all of them... I'm going to be reading until I'm 500 to get through all of these.

No Bonnie, I haven't read Postcards but based on your rec, it's going onto the pile...

I do wonder that about Jane Smiley, Bonnie. I've read Moo, and was underwhelmed, and have not been moved to pick up any of her other books. Maybe she should have modeled herself on Harper Lee--one brilliant book.

I liked Postcards too, and Accordion Crimes, but not as much as The Shipping News. I haven't read her short stories at all but she strikes me as a writer who would be good at short stories.

How on earth do you remember what you read in the 90's, never mind the 80's?

Great list, Bonnie. I'm happy to see Shipping News and Snow Falling on Cedars on it, and my daughter would be happy to see The Secret History on it (she loves that book!)

I agree with you about the ending of A Fine Balance. Woo.

That's a great list of your 90s favorites, Bonnie. I especially love both A Thousand Acres and The Secret History. In fact, they are both on my pile of possible re-reads for this year!

>89 Soupdragon: Smiley is an interesting writer Dee. Very highly thought of in the literature community and often serves on the prize committees as judge. But although she's a very prolific writer nothing has come close to A Thousand Acres which was breathtakingly beautiful.

>90 BLBera: Yes Beth I think I'll be right next to you reading along. LOL

>91 tututhefirst: I think you'll like it Tina.

>92 AnneDC: I have According Crimes on my shelf Anne. I guess I need to push it up. Not sure why I haven't read it yet.

>93 mckait: The 80s would be tough Kath. That was a long time ago. I think I was in my Stephen King/Dean Koontz phase with some Louise Erdrich thrown in. God that was a long time ago. I was a different reader then.

>94 jnwelch: Oh yes Joe that ending will stay with me forever I'm afraid.

>95 katiekrug: Hi Katie, now those are two very good books to be rereading. I wonder when I'll reread them myself.

38.



The Memory Chalet by Tony Judt 4 stars

MY REVIEW

Tony Judt was a public intellectual, diagnosed in 2008 with ALS. He describes it in hauntingly beautiful and poignant language in his memoir of the subtle details of his life, The Memory Chateau:

”I suffer from motor neuron disorder, in my case a variant of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): Lou Gehrig’s disease…What is distinctive about ALS is firstly that there is no loss of sensation (a mixed blessing) and secondly that there is no pain. In contrast to almost every other serious or deadly disease, one is thus left free to contemplate at leisure and in minimal discomfort the catastrophic progress of one’s own deterioration. In effect, ALS constitutes progressive imprisonment without parole. First you lose the use of a digit or two; then a limb; then and almost inevitably, all four. The muscles of the torso decline into near torpor, a practical problem from the digestive point of view but also life threatening, in that breathing becomes at first difficult and eventually impossible without external assistance in the form of a tube-and-pump apparatus.” (Page 16)

This is where Judt is at as he dictates the essays that make up The Memory Chalet to his assistant. The next step in the disease will leave him incapable of speech. The dread of this and the heaviness of the progression of the disease hang over every word in the narrative. It serves to make you sit up and take notice of every statement, every detail, every finely crafted utterance that has been put down on paper. This is a book of beautiful language and a book of memories. Because that is how Judt went about creating this slim volume. He remembered a chalet in Switzerland where he had stayed as a child and produced one like it in his mind and it is in it that he has stored the memories of his life, to be retrieved now, in the final throes of this insidious disease.

His memories take us back to his boyhood school days; his college days; his time spent on a kibbutz in Israel. We hear him speak about the sounds and smells of trains; the early Beatles; the austerity of the post-war years in Britain; fast cars and radical politics and when he talked about the upheaval of the sixties I could only nod my head in agreement. Yes, that was my time too. I lived through it too. You’re so right.

”The night porter was hammering angrily at a bedroom door, incoherently sputtering a man’s name. I brushed him aside, announced myself, and was let in. Lizbeth was standing on the bed wearing nothing much. ‘He’s going to kill us!’ she hissed. Us? She pointed at the cupboard from which emerged a blonde-haired young man in underpants: the sous-chef. ‘It’s me he wants,’ the boy explained sheepishly in German. I conveyed the situation to his American host; she was utterly bewildered. ‘There are men,’ I clarified, ‘who are attracted to other men.’ Magnificently indifferent to her diaphanous appearance, Lizbeth stared at me in disgust: ‘Not in Biloxi there aren’t.’ This was July 1968. In Munich later that month, I instructed our Germen bus driver to take us to the Dachau memorial. Horst refused point-blank: nothing worth seeing there, he assured me, it’s all American propaganda. The holocaust and the camps were not yet a universal moral reference, and there were no homosexuals in Mississippi. It was a long time ago.” (Page 132)

He goes on to talk about his years at Berkely and NYU where he finally finds he has a home. And when he finally wraps it all up I could only find myself a little teary eyed, thanking this man I didn’t know for taking me with him on this tour of reminiscence. Tony Judt died in August 2010. His like will not be seen again.

Oh! Great 90s list, Bonnie. And I am happy to say I have read half of them :)
Of those I have not yet read, you are reminding me to get serious about Voyage of the Narwhal.
I think I have Memory Chalet on my WL. Great review!

Bonnie - Had to mark your 90s list as a favorite so I could return to it. Believe it or not, I have read none of those books - where should I start? Loved your review of The Memory Chalet (also love that title), and I have added it to my WL. I guess I had better get cracking!

>98 -Cee-: Thanks Cee. Oh my The Voyage of the Narwhal was just so so good. I wouldn't waste one minute getting to it.

>99 Crazymamie: where should I start?Well what are you in the mood for Mamie? Sweeping epic saga? Then try a A Fine Balance or The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. Rousing adventure story? The Voyage of the Narwhal might be the one. Murder mystery par excellence? Snow Falling on Cedars would fill the bill. Family saga with a murder thrown in? No Great Mischief would do you well. Murder and mystery at a New England college? Try The Secret History. Modern take-off on King Lear? A Thousand Acres would do nicely.

Oh excellent, Bonnie! Thanks! I will start with Snow Falling on Cedars.

>101 Crazymamie: :)

>100 brenzi: Looks like I have to buy the Voyage one first!
Off to check Ammy :-)

ETA: In my cart!

Bonnie, thumb for The Memory Chalet. Hauntingly beautiful language, indeed. This line in the quotation confirmed that ALS could only be an utterly horrifying experience: In contrast to almost every other serious or deadly disease, one is thus left free to contemplate at leisure and in minimal discomfort the catastrophic progress of one’s own deterioration. I can't imagine having the strength to write about it.

>103 -Cee-:. Yay! I don't think you'll regret it Cee. I know Mark liked it too.

>104 lit_chick:. Thanks Nancy, I've actually known two people who have died from it and it is indeed utterly horrifying Nancy. And why does it seem that it takes some of the most brilliant people? I'm thinking particularly of Judt and Christopher Hitchens.

Bonnie: The Memory Chalet sounds wonderful. Great review.

Fabulous review of The Memory Chalet, Bonnie. Just heartbreaking.

Excellent review of The Memory Chalet, Bonnie. It was one of my favorite books of 2011, and your comments about his illness reminded me of my own grief about his death. I still haven't read anything else by him, but I'll pick up his latest book, Thinking the Twentieth Century, very soon.

I'm not sure I'm up for The Memory Chalet, Bonnie. It's a tantalizing review as always but the memory of a friend's father with ALS who checked himself into the hospital to have all his lines and tubes removed is still too raw. I don't think my friend will ever be the same.

Bonnie - There are 6 books on your list that were either in or at the edges of my own list. Noticed Sacred Hunger's Barry Unsworth passed away this week and will be sorely missed. Grea review of The Memory Chalet too btw.

I'm glad The Secret History was mentioned -- and enjoyed! -- by several readers. I loved that book and also her other book, The Little Friend. Anyway, the mention of it reminded me that she sure hasn't had anything new for a looong time. So I looked Donna Tartt up on Amazon and discovered she's working on her third book. Sure hope it's as good as the other two!!

Have a great weekend, Bonnie!

Hello Beth, Linda, Darryl, Donna, Paul and Nancy. Thanks for visiting!

>106 BLBera:. Thanks Beth, I'm looking forward to Judt's other books.

>107 Linda92007:. Thanks so much Linda, yes very heartbreaking but at the same time, heartwarming.

>108 kidzdoc:. Thanks Darryl, is that a reissue or did they cull his many essays to come up with a new book? I think I want to read Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945.

>109 Donna828:. I understand that completely Donna. I know two people who succumbed to the disease myself but it was some time ago. When my cousin died thirty years ago, I knew very little about the disease. We learned quickly how devastating it is.

>110 PaulCranswick:. Thanks Paul, I really loved Barry Unser and still have his Morality Play on my shelf which I think, in light of his death, I will read this month.

>111 Nancy618:. I remember when The Secret History was released and all the hype that surrounded it. Fortunately, in this case, the book lived up to the hype. I think Tartt is the kind of writer who takes about ten years to write a book. No cookie cutter books that take a I year to produce, thankfully. You have a great weekend too!

>112 brenzi: Neither, Bonnie. According to the foreword of Thinking the Twentieth Century, the book is a "long conversation" that Judt had with Timothy Snyder, who visited him in his NYC apartment on Thursdays in 2009, when he appeared to be in the final stages of ALS (he lived for another year or so afterward). So, this book consists of previously unpublished essays and comments by Judt.

I also want to read Postwar. I also own Ill Fares the Land, Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century, and The Burden of Responsibility: Blum, Camus, Aron, and the French Twentieth Century.

Love your 90's list. A Fine Balance, The Shipping News, and Sacred Hunger would definitely be on my list if I made one, and a few others probably would make the list too.

Your reviews are enticing as always. The Memory Chalet sounds like a must read. I'll be adding it to my WL (unless it's already there).

Good stuff going on! I won't read Morality Play this summer, I don't guess, but I did love A Sacred Hunger, and I too mourn B. Unser. And I had an acquaintance who eventually died of ALS. I used to sit with her some when she was at the use of her eyes/eyelids stage. It's hard to think of anything crueler. I don't believe I'll be reading The Memory Chalet, but I'm glad that you did and reviewed it for us.
I'm such a spoilsport - I liked The Secret History O.K., but I wasn't crazy about it. Amber would be the one to ask, but I thought the whole business about the Attic Greek was a little thin. Also, I read Elizabeth Hand's Waking the Moon at about the same time and thought that it was the better book.
Looking at your list again, I hope to read No Great Mischief before this year is out and maybe The Shipping News.

>114 kidzdoc: Interesting, Darryl, that his thoughts continue to intrigue, after his death. On second thought, that could be said of a lot of well-known people I guess. But Judt has ground breaking stuff to say and that's what makes his musings so important.

>115 arubabookwoman: Thanks Deborah, it's so good to see you. And I'm happy to be able to contribute to your WL but it may already be there as Darryl and Suzanne both liked it.

>116 LizzieD: You're no spoilsport Peggy, just an enlightened reader stating an opinion and I certainly respect that. I think favorites are certainly a personal thing and we're not necessarily going to always agree. I think it's just fun to think about what books remain with us after a certain period of time. If I had to think as far back as the 80s my list would be populated by Louise Erdrich, and Harriet Doerr but I'm not sure who else would be on it.

Whew! I made it!
Thought I would stop in to say hi before you posted another review :}

Is this what's called keeping up? or maybe keeping ahead?

Hi Cee, yes that's call keeping up. Unlike what I do on your thread which is called not keeping up haha.

This is it; the very last "BEST" list. In the 70s I was a newlywed, then a new mother and we built two houses while I worked full time. Not a lot of books got read. But the 80s.........many really great books were read.

My "BEST of THE 80s

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally (later they changed the title to Schindler's Ark; same book(?)
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Paris Trout by Pete Dexter
Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

You have a great list there, Bonnie, and a great memory!

Oh boy Linda, I don't know about a great memory but I do keep a list of favorites and just had to ascertain that they were published in the 80s.

What a list! It almost looks like I wrote it myself. Except that there are books on it that I've never read. But not many...

I am also drawing the line at a 70s list. I think.

Well you practically did write it Anne.......or some of it anyway;-)

Bonnie- You guys are so contagious! Wow. I'm nearly done with my 80s list too! I loved your choices! Big shock, right! And it's great seeing Paris Trout in there. I've read 6 of yours. I NEED to get to that Tyler!

These lists are too much fun! I haven't thought about Sophie's Choice since forever; thanks for the reminder. Btw, the movie (Meryl Streep) is awesome, too; have you seen it? And I know you've mentioned Lonseome Dove before, as your desert island book (or one of them). HAVE to get to that one!

Oh dear, Bonnie - I have only read one of those - The Joy Luck Club, which I loved. My daughter just finished reading it, as a matter of fact, for an English class that she is taking - Women Writers. She also loved it - gave it 4.5 stars.

I've only read Remains of the Day from your list. I also loved it and have put on my own eighties top ten which hasn't yet made it over from Paul's thread. I've enjoyed others by Amy Tan but don't think I've ever got around to The Joy Luck Club.

I've been meaning to read Schindler's List and Toni Morrison, since the eighties!

>125 msf59: If you're going to read Tyler Mark, I suggest you start with her early books. Her later ones were so-so; I haven't read anything she's written in quite a while.

>126 lit_chick: It's pretty hard to forget Sophie's Choice isn't it Nancy? And yes I've seen the movie and Streep was unforgettable in that role. Hey, did she win an Oscar for that?

>127 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie, The Joy Luck Club is the only other book (besides Gillespie and I) that I finished and turned back to the first page and began reading again (not that I reread either one).

>128 Soupdragon: Remains of the Day was just sooo good Dee. If you liked the other Amy Tan books you'd probably love Joy Luck Club.

I took Sophie's Choice to the clinic with me when I had my second child. I still wonder what I was thinking. Hormones played into it, but I cried buckets as I read that book.

>130 BLBera: Oh my Beth, I can't imagine how anyone could get through that book without crying but while awaiting the birth of a child???? I have to wonder what you were thinking too. Actually, you probably weren't. You were just mindlessly shoving books into a bag, At least that's what I did.

39.



The Missing by Tim Gautreaux 4 stars

MY REVIEW

This book has been languishing on my shelves since early 2009 so I'm happy to have finally read it.

Sam Simoneaux has returned from France, where a life changing experience during WWI has him eagerly longing for the normalcy of his job as a department store floorwalker in New Orleans. His wife also longs for his return where they both face their new life together without the child they lost to a viral infection. But much to their great disappointment, quite a different life is in store for them when Sam fails to prevent a kidnapping from taking place under his watch at the store. The bad publicity prompts the store’s owner to fire Sam for allowing the abduction to take place and Sam soon finds himself working on a Mississippi riverboat, along with the child’s parents. He took this job hoping to get a lead on the child’s whereabouts, return her to her parents and, ultimately, be able to return to his floor walking job. Along the way, Sam discovers the truth about the loss of his own family, when he was an infant. Two mysteries for the price of one! What could be better.

Although it took some time to get sucked into the suspense and mystery of the narrative, this book turned out to be a terrific stand alone mystery and I was glad to read one that is not ultimately a part of a series. Gautreaux builds suspense and evokes a time and place that no longer exists in this country. The music on the riverboat calls to mind a simpler time, it’s during Prohibition after all, and the characters we meet during the voyage really do make the sting of a horrific crime easier to take. And it doesn’t take Gautreaux long before he relieves the reader that the child is safe and being held by a couple of bunglers and you know that this will come out fine. It’s not about that anyway. It’s more a novel about love and family, human travail, history and hope, and the idea that revenge can take many forms and isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. All this with the backdrop of a Mississippi riverboat. You’ll swear you can hear the honky tonk piano and the sax wailing in the style of the twenties. Simply beautiful.

”(Sam) barely had time to sew his vest buttons back on before climbing the bandstand and catching the downbeat from the drummer. The first tune was ‘Japanese Sandman,’ jacked up in tempo, and he felt he was an eighth beat behind everyone else, playing uphill into the alto sax and clarinet duel in the middle. Several young Vicksburg couples began dancing badly, tripping, kicking shins on their turns, and Sam hung on. The next tune was a waltz, and then he got on top of the following foxtrot and stayed there. As the dance deck heated up, sweat began to sting his eyes; then the boat pulled out and the breeze came through, fluttering the bleached tablecloths. Between tunes he watched the floor, looked at faces, tried to read minds, studied the men lurking against the white-enameled stanchions, hoping to see…someone whose face showed inexplicable guilt or longing.” (Page 109)

If you liked The Sisters Brothers you may find this southern version to your liking too. Quirkiness without the violence. Highly recommended.

Bonnie- Good review of "The Missing". I've never heard of it but it sounds interesting. Speaking of Anne Tyler, give her new one a try, The Beginner's Goodbye. It's such a treat and reminds me why I loved the Accidental Tourist.
I can't believe you have read a 166 books off that list!! You are truly an LT Goddess!!

Interesting thread here.. good sounding books....
really?!?!? to Gillespie ? You liked it that much ? wow.

There have been few of those for me... one is The Sparrow

Hmm, most interesting review of The Missing, Bonnie. I'm intrigued at your comparison to The Sisters Brothers which, as you know, I read recently and loved. Another for the pile! Btw, I think Streep did win an oscar for her role in Sophie's Choice; unforgettable is right!

Nice review of The Missing, Bonnie. Love the quote you chose!

>133 msf59: Goddess?? Now I'm blushing Mark! Ok I'll put The Beginner's Goodbye on the teetering Tower on your rec.

>134 mckait: I did love Gillespie and I and although I love MDR The Sparrow was my least favorite. Give me Doc or A Thread of Grace any day Kath.

>135 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, ah so she did win the Oscar. What a tough role to have to play. The Missing was The Brothers Sisters without the bloody violence.

>136 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie. It was a book that grew on me as I got into it.

>132 brenzi: How is it that I'm your first thumbs-up on that passionate advocacy?

Nice review of The Missing, Bonnie. Have you read The Clearing? I have that one around somewhere and it seems mostly to have been well received by LT reviewers.

Good review of The Missing. I'm trying to resist putting it on my ever-expanding list . . .

>138 brenzi: Thanks Richard but I guess this one isn't anyone's cuppa.

>139 richardderus: I haven't read The Clearing.....yet. I plan on it at some point although I don't own a copy. He definitely has an engaging style.

>140 Linda92007: Thanks Terri, I hear you about the ever expanding list.

At least we don't have to worry about too many book bullets in each other's threads, Bonnie :)

I suppose that's true Kath although we both love Doc and Three Pines:)

Lots of excitement here. In case you weren't aware, Nik Wallenda is presently walking a tightrope across Niagara Falls from the American side to the Canadian side. Huge crowds are watching and if you didn't know I was born and raised in NF (USA) and live about 30 miles from the Falls now. The hype around here has been incredible leading up to this but I'm happy to be watching it on ABC in the comfort of my home LOL.

I've just been watching Nik Wallenda, too, Bonnie! Glad it's him and not me, but he made it!! What a feat!

Thanks for the review of The Missing, Bonnie. It's one I didn't know much about but you've described it really vividly. I also appreciated the reassurance about the child. I wouldn't have been able to read the book without it!

Hi Bonnie! Last night I watched a few minutes of Nik Wallenda crossing Niagra Falls. All I can say is Wow!

I like your lists. Some I've read and some I've been meaning to read.

>146 lit_chick: Hi Nancy, Yes it was actually pretty exciting wasn't it+

147 Thanks Dee, yes the book was very well done especially in the way it handled the abduction.

>148 tjblue: Hi Tammy, I'm glad we share some good books. It's hard to avoid here on LT. Who would want to anyway LOL?

Just checking in to keep up. Hope you are having a lovely weekend.

Thanks Mamie, I had a great weekend celebrating my hubby's special day with our family.

40.



Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 4 stars

MY REVIEW

If you like your fiction dark and disturbing, have I got a book for you. Gillian Flynn’s recently released Gone Girl takes up the story of Nick and Amy Dunne’s disastrous marriage. On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing and the book unfolds in alternating chapters told by husband and wife. Predictably, the police hone in on Nick as their prime suspect. But beware things aren’t always what they seem and I found myself going back and forth, up and down and around the bend with my suspicions.

The writing is stark and the staccato style that Flynn adopts is so effective in setting the tempo for a suspense thriller for the ages. But here’s the problem with reviewing this book: there’s very little I can say about it that won’t give away, well, everything. This is a book of surprises, one after another. A psychological thriller that had my head spinning throughout its 400+ pages and the author tantalizingly keeps you guessing right up until the last sentence. And even then, I wasn’t absolutely sure what would happen to these two after the book was back on the shelf.

But it’s the crisp, addictive writing, again and again, that had me furiously turning pages. Nick writes:

”The two detectives entered with end-of-shift weariness. The man was rangy and thin, with a face that tapered severely into a dribble of a chin. The woman was surprisingly ugly---brazenly, beyond the scope of everyday ugly: tiny round eyes set tight as buttons, a long twist of a nose, skin spackled with tiny bumps, long lank hair the color of a dust bunny. I have an affinity for ugly women. I was raised by a trio of women who were hard on the eyes---my grandmother, my mom, her sister---and they were all smart and kind and funny and sturdy, good, good women. Amy was the first pretty girl I ever dated, really dated.” (Page 33)

Her characterizations of the two protagonists are incredibly clever and cunning. She carefully crafts their characteristics and just when you think you have them pegged, she throws out something new. Think you know them? Think again. And the plot just twists and turns and takes a sharp right then, just as abruptly, heads in the opposite direction, the tension building until you have to stop and catch your breath. Unputdownable? Oh yes. Definitely. Highly recommended for thrill seekers.

Well, Gone Girl just went straight to my wish list after that terrific review.

Bonnie- Great review of Gone Girl. Big Thumb! Since I knew the set-up, I went ahead and read it. And I just received my copy today from B & N. Yah!!
I'm nearly 60 pages into river of Smoke and I am entranced. Is this guy, a helluva story-teller or what?

>153 AnneDC: Well, Gone Girl just went straight to my wish list And that's right where it needs to be until it graduates to your shelf Anne:)

>154 msf59: I'm pretty sure you're going to like this one Mark. Ghosh is such an incredible writer.

Wow! What a review! Another thumb from this corner, Bonnie.

145: While others are saying "wow," I'm asking "why"?

Bonnie, that is a terrific review of the new Gillian Flynn book. The Missouri Readers group has read and liked her first two books. She is a heckuva writer to make me "enjoy" a book about cutting - Sharp Objects. She does dark subjects really well, and it sounds like her latest is no exception.

wow you've sold me, Gone Girl is on my list now!

>156 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy!

>157 Donna828: But Donna, where's your daredevil spirit;-) I haven't read any of her other books but I will.

>158 ChelleBearss: I think you'll like it Chelle.

back up to post #120...

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler is one of my favorite books...nice to know you like it as well.

I WANT that book. You could have just posted the quote that you chose from it and I would have been intrigued, but it also has "dark and disturbing" and "crisp, addictive writing" - sold! And a thumb for your excellent review. Thanks, Bonnie.

Great review of Gone Girl, Bonnie. I had thought I might pass this one up, but that was before I read your review. You have a talent for being first to read and review the newest and best!

Skipped right past your review of Gone Girl because I'm on about page 100 right now. Seeing all the comments that followed, I know I have a winner in my hands. Why oh why do I have to work today? Waaaah!

I am finally chiming in on Wallenda.. I was so happy that he made it. I haven't been to
NF since I was 12. I took one trip with my sister as navigator. I wanted to go there.. but she
refused.. wanted to go to Gettysberg.. she had been to both places multiple times. Anyway..
it is just too hard to fight, I always knuckle under with her.. and so we went to GB instead.

I admit, I did not like it when I was in NF, but wondered if I would feel different as an adult.

>160 Whisper1: That is definitely one of my favorites by Anne Tyler Linda. Saint Maybe is another.

>161 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie, I'm glad to know you're susceptible to "dark and disturbing" just like Mark LOL.

>162 Linda92007: Thanks Linda, this one got a lot of advance praise and I guess I just couldn't let it pass for long. I requested it from the library before they owned it (it was on order when I read the NY Time review) so there was no long waiting list.

>163 lauralkeet: I'm sorry you have to work Laura because Gone Girl is one of those books you just cannot put down. Such a fast read.

>164 mckait: Hmmm I wonder what you didn't like Kath. If you were on the Canadian side, you probably didn't like the blatant commercialism. And if you were on the American side you probably didn't like the total lack of commercialism. Or maybe you didn't like the ubiquitous crowds on both sides. The crowds for the Wallenda walk were incredible. So was the hype leading up to it. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed Gettysburg.

Hi Bonnie. Gone Girl goes on my list -- thanks for another great review. What are you reading next? I like Anne Tyler, but I haven't read either Saint Maybe or Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. It sounds like I have some catching up to do.

Another wonderful review Bonnie of the latest Gillian Flynn - you are ever reliable! Onto my hitlist it duly will go.

>166 BLBera: Thanks Beth, well there's a mile of difference between Gone Girl and my present read, The Pickwick Papers but what can I say. I really loved both of those Tyler books but it's been so long since I read them that I barely remember them.

>167 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul, I love filling up your hitlist:)

The Pickwick Papers.

Oh, Bonnie.

Hi Bonnie, Lots of great book talk here. I love your 80s list. Lots of good memories there and a couple that I keep meaning to read. Sophies Choice in particular.

I'm so happy to see Anne Tyler getting some love. She is such a favorite of mine.

Gone Girl is waiting for me on the library's hold shelf. I hope I can get to it!

I saw some of Wallenda's feat on the news. Craziness to me. I know it's in his blood, but yikes!

Hi Joanne, yes Sophie's Choice is a wonderful read as long as you don't mind having your heart ripped out LOL. It's Tyler's earlier books that I've loved. I'd fallen off the bandwagon in later years but hope to get back on with her newest book. The Wallenda feat was pretty crazy but that's what he was born to do. I saw on the news tonight that he didn't make a cent on the event so I'm not sure what the purpose of it was.

I know, seriously! I've seen the movie, Bonnie, and that's why I'm a bit reluctant to read it, I guess.

Part of the reason I liked Tyler's newest was that it reminded me of her earlier books. Her more recent books have left me wanting.

I was 12.. so...all I can remember is the feeling of being crushed.

Another thread mentioning Tyler.. guess she is trending at LT :)

>169 richardderus: Oh sorry I didn't mean to ignore you Richard. Yep The Pickwick Papers and actually enjoying it pretty much so far:)

>172 Copperskye:. Oh good to hear that her latest reminded you of her earlier books Joanne.

>173 mckait:. Yes I think she is Kath. And it is very easy to get crushed at the Falls, understand that completely.

Bonnie- You are up and about early! I love the hard-left turn you made, by picking the Pickwick Papers (another I've never read) as your next reading choice. RD is displeased but he'll get over it.
I see the Tyler love continues. Have you read back When We Were Grownups? I just found it buried in the stacks.

Hi Mark, I'm usually up by 8:00 but I seldom go online that early; don't know what prompted me this morning. Have you read back When We Were Grownups? Yep I have and I rated it 2 stars I'm afraid. That's one of the reasons I haven't read much by her in recent years.

No, I haven't read it. Maybe that's why it got lost in the stacks. LOL. I would definitely go back and read her earlier books first, anyway.

Really like the sound of Gone Girl!

I'm probably 2/3 through Gone Girl and it is gripping!

#179 I'll bet! I put a request for Gone Girl at my library right after reading Bonnie's review.

>177 msf59: That's a plan Mark---read her earlier books.

>178 Soupdragon: Oh yes Dee, do give Gone Girl a try.

>179 lauralkeet: and 180 :)

I started Gone Girl last night and had trouble tearing myself away this morning to get ready for work. Gripping indeed!

I like the harry potter series any one with me

>182 katiekrug: Yes Katie, gripping from the first page to the last word. I think I'm going to have to look for her two other books.

>183 vasinthi: Wow you must really love Harry Potter vasinthi; it's the only book in your library. I guess my tastes are a bit more eclectic.

I thought I was the only oddball that showed up over here?? How did they find you?

>184 brenzi: LOL at HP

Gone Girl vaults to the top of my WL! Thanks.

You can't go wrong with Harry Potter and it was read in French, so extra points for that.

Bonnie, I just finished Gone Girl a few minutes ago. Wow! is all I can say ...
Thanks for being part of the hype that caused me to rush out and buy this book!

>185 msf59: You're not nearly as odd as you may think Mark LOL. I have no idea how they found me except the possibility of spam roulette;-)

>186 mckait: Where do these losers come from Kath?

>187 Berly: Oh goody, good aim on my part Kim! Yay!

>188 lauralkeet: Ahh that's one review I will look forward to Laura!

Bonnie just passing to wish you a happy weekend.

Uh, oh. Snagged by the blue type again. Gone Girl going straight onto my list (after thumbing your review).

Unfortunately, I totally missed the Wallenda walk. My husband proposed to me at Niagara Falls (we were spending Easter break from our studies with his grandma in North Tonawanda) so the place is special to me.

>190 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, happy weekend to you too my friend.

>191 tymfos: Oh my Terri, my son in law is from North Tonawanda. How romantic for you to have been proposed to in the mists of Niagara. **sigh**

Loved your reviews of Manning's Balkan novels and the Memory Chalet. One small note, though: while Judt died of ALS, Hitchens died of cancer. I was about to write "thankfully", thought the better of it as it was a nasty disease and painful death, but then thought a third time and figured it's probably better to go that way than ALS. A friend of my family's, the wife of one of my father's college roomates, who came to my own college graduation, died of ALS in early 2007; a high school friend has been battling it for 9 plus years now with tremendous courage, and the sister of a good friend is losing ground much more rapidly and still resisting the diagnosis -- heartbreaking.

I think I got Gone Girl from Net Galley -- will have to go and check! I do have the posthumous Judt/Snyder collaboration and it's something I need to get to.

>193 Chatterbox: Thanks Suzanne, Duh! Of course Hitchens died of cancer; not sure who I had in mind, probably Stephen Hawking I suppose. Oh well. Ever onward.

I have to figure out how to get books from Net Galley. I think I tried it once and gave up because I needed a blog or something. Must check it out again.

I opted out of net galley :P too many books that I have to read already, so I need time
for wanna reads.. Hope you have better luck with it. I am having the hardest time reading! Every time I picked up a book today something came along to tear me away... oh well.. books wait.

Well that's true Kath. I certainly don't want to be over-loaded with books that I might like as opposed to those I pretty much want to read now. I don't even opt for ER books every month.

Reviving my thread. It needs reviving because:

A. I've been doing things other than LT and

B. I've been reading Dickens' The Pickwick Papers and as with all things Dickens, it's very long. I hope to finish it tonight and write a review tomorrow.

Have any of you seen THIS BLOG of the underground New York public library? WARNING!! This is highly addictive. I just wasted spent an hour scolling through and deciding that the first book I see that I own, I will read next. Stay tuned.

That is a GREAT blog, Bonnie. Yep, easily addictive!

Ooh, Bonnie, I saw a link to the NY underground public library on Facebook, but a) I wasn't sure what it was and b) I was working, so I moved along smartly and forgot all about it. I'm off to check it out!

You've been posting a couple of really good reviews, Bonnie. I've had The Missing in my TBR Tower for quite a while as well ...and your review has made me push it up a couple of rungs. I'm going to make sure I read it before the year is out.

And woah...that blog is way too addictive... I was roaming around the place for over an hour before I realized how much time had passed. Arrgghhh... I've had to bookmark it. ;-)

That blog is addictive - how cool! Thanks for sharing that asI never would have found it on my own.

Oh, that blog is fun! When I lived in DC, I rode a bus and then the metro to work and when I wasn't reading myself, I loved to see what other people were reading...

>199 lit_chick: Hi Nancy, so cleverly done, don't you think?

>200 lauralkeet: Yeah Laura, not a site you'd want to get sucked into at work LOL.

>201 cameling: Well thank you Caro, I couldn't remember who had recommended The Missing to me but I bought it in April of 2009 so it's been sitting on my shelf for over 3 years. Yeah I bookmarked that site too.

>202 Crazymamie: Have fun Mamie.

>203 katiekrug: I've never had to ride any kind of public transportation Katie, but scrolling through that blog has made me jealous of those who do.

Ohhhhh that blog is so cool. And I miss the NYC underground (although maybe not right now in late June...)

wow, ok that blog is cool. I can see many hours wasted on it in the future!
(and I love that after 10 minutes of looking I saw someone reading the same book as me A Visit from the Goon Squad

>206 cushlareads: I wonder if Suzanne uses the subway? She probably does and she could relate to you missing it Cushla. I love seeing what everyone is reading.

>207 ChelleBearss:. That is cool Chelle. I haven't found anyone reading The Pickwick Papers yet although someone was reading David Copperfield.

I love the blog you posted! It is indeed addictive :)

Fun blog, Bonnie. But what I don't need is another way to spend more time on this computer! :)

Great blog. It's nice to see people reading.

Wow what a great blog!

>209 mckait: Glad you liked it Kath.

>210 Linda92007: What!!! You don't need another reason to waste time online Linda?? Seriously? haha

>211 BLBera: It is great to see the different books that everyone is reading Beth.

>212 richardderus: I think so too Richard:)

41.



The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens 4 stars

Dickens’ Pickwick Papers is comprised of a series of adventures taken up by Samuel Pickwick, a wealthy retired businessman and a few of his cronies, in and around London. Originally published serially, Dickens ended most chapters with a hook for readers to hang on, as they awaited the next installment. Like all Dickens novels, it was the author’s uncanny ability to draw intricately detailed characters that come across as the essence of 19th century London.

Pickwick himself is a sweet, kind man who goes out of his way to help others and righteously stands up for principles he considers vital to humanity. He is sued for breach of contract by Mrs. Bardel when she falls into his lap and then Pickwick doesn’t marry her. He naively opts for debtor’s prison rather than pay the fees demanded by her unscrupulous lawyers when he loses the case. I’ve learned that Dickens had little use for lawyers and often skewered them and the law in general. He uses Pickwick’s three months in debtor’s prison to lambaste that system and the horrid conditions that prevailed.

By far my favorite character was Pickwick’s valet, Sam Weller, who serves his master and advises him with Cockney wisdom. He spouts, what I came to call “Sam-isms” for nearly every situation that arises and clearly reveals his philosophy of life.

”Hooroar for the principle, as the money-lender said ven he wouldn’t renew the bill.”

“’Vell sir,’ rejoined Sam, ‘I think I see your drift, it’s my pinion that you’re a-comin’ it a great deal too strong, as the mail-coachman said to the snowstorm, ven it overtook him.’”

“’Well, perhaps,’ said Sam, ‘you bought houses, wich is delicate English for goin’ mad, wich is a medical term for bein’ incurable.’”

“’I wouldn’t make too sure o’ that, Sir,’ urged Mr. Weller, shaking his head. ‘If you know’d who was near, sir, I rayther think you’d change your note; as the hawk remarked to himself vith a cheerful laugh, ven he heerd the robin-redbreast a-singin’ round the corner.’”

“’Don’t say nothin’ wotever about it, ma’am,’ replied Sam. I only assisted nature, ma’am; as the doctor said to the boy’s mother, after he’d bled him to death.’”

Sam’s witticisms are part of the overall humor that infuses the narrative and I found myself laughing out loud. It’s a feel good novel as we follow Pickwick and his friends on their merry adventures but it’s Sam who steals the show. Highly recommended.

Oh. You liked it. How...nice...for you.

That's right Richard, I liked it. Different strokes and all that haha.

mmm hmm O.o

Delighted you enjoyed The Pickwick Papers, Bonnie, and great review. I find Dickens very difficult to review; his novels are SO full. Sounds like he's up to skewering the "justice" system again: I’ve learned that Dickens had little use for lawyers and often skewered them and the law in general. This was very apparent in Bleak House, too. And Sam Weller sounds delightful!

Bonnie- Good review of The Pickwick Papers. This is one Dickens I'm not very familiar with. Glad you liked it.
I watched Newsroom. I thought it was pretty good. A little wordy but that's Sorkin's specialty. I'll watch it a couple more times to see how it goes.

>217 richardderus: :)

>218 lit_chick: Sam Weller sounds delightful Absolutely Nancy. As a matter of fact, I think I'm in love;-)

>219 msf59:. Agree completely on Newsroom Mark. We'll do the same.

Bonnie - The Pickwick Papers was my first Dickens novel (as it was for him) and it started a love affair with his work and that has stood the test of time for me. Had a couple of missteps with re-reads of Dombey and Son and Martin Chuzzlewit this year and last but your last read, reviewed beautifully as usual has a special place in my heart.
Have a lovely weekend.

Hi Paul, I had only read Great Expectations up until this year, and that was in high school. Then in January I read Bleak House and now The Pickwick Papers. I'm planning to read two more this year---Our Mutual Friend and David Copperfield. Who knows why it took me so long to get to him but I'm certainly glad that I finally did. Wishing you a great weekend as well.

I've never read The Pickwick Papers but feel like I was exposed to it through Little Women, as it clearly played a prominent role in the imaginations of the March girls and my countless rereads of Little Women almost made me feel as if I had read Pickwick myself. I am working my way through overlooked Dickens classics this anniversary year and am hoping to get to The Pickwick Papers by the end of it--great review!

Bonnie- I'm reading an NF, I think you will love: Island of vice. NNF at it's best and incredibly well-researched. I'm starting gone Girl today. Enjoy your weekend.

I've never read The Pickwick Papers, either. I have read A Tale of Two Cities,David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Nicholas Nickleby and The Old Curiosity Shop. It strikes me that I would like to read The Old Curiosity Shop again, as I can't recall any of it just now...I am a fan of Dickens and Alcott :)
I have read Little Women many times and loved it! I have also read a time or two, Jo's Boys, Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom.

Sadly, I no longer own any of these books.. The Dickens books now live with Adam, and the Alcott's with
Amy.

It is so nice to remember good old friends !

Bonnie, you would make a compelling case for one of the few Dickens' books I don't own. While I rather enjoyed reading part of Our Mutual Friend on the iPad, it was good to have the print version as well to mix things up. I'm thinking of ending the year on a Dickens note so I'll keep Pickwick Papers in mind.

A big thank you for that great review with all those wonderful Dickens' quotes. And a more reserved thank you for the Underground NY blog. I love the thoughtful expressions on the readers' faces. I can see myself spending way too much time looking at pics of people reading books while my own books are missing me!

Bonnie - Very nice review of The Pickwick Papers - I have always wanted to read that, but have not gotten around to it yet. I loved A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol - my two favorites of his.

Hope you are having a fun and relaxing weekend.

Good review of Pickwick Papers Bonnie. Thumbed you

>223 AnneDC: Overlooked Dickens classics?? Well Anne, I apparently overlooked them all until recently. Will gradually be working my way through them, along with other classics, like Little Women which I read as a child but remember only very vaguely. Should have reread it when I read Geraldine Brooks' March.

>224 msf59: Island of Vice looks good and you've never steered me wrong so onto the pile it goes. Hope you're enjoying Gone Girl.

>225 mckait: It's so nice that you could pass those favorites on to your favorites Kath:)

>226 Donna828: Hi Donna, well if you have an iPad it doesn't matter whether you own The Pickwick Papers or not since it can be yours in seconds for free. But I understand what you say about going back and forth from book to e book. I didn't own a copy of the book. One thing about Dickens books.........they're all lon-n-n-g-g-g.

>227 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie. I'll probably read A Christmas Carol around Christmas. Of course I said that last year and it never happened.**shrug**

>228 cameling: Thanks Caro!

Bonnie- I read the 1st 30 pages of Gone Girl and can tell immediately I will love this one. It reminds me of Mr. Peanut, (although I hope this one turns out much better) and then I saw Ross had a blurb on the back cover.

A quick turn to Newsroom: One thing bugged me about the show was the Daniels character, interviewing people like he was Mike Wallace. Isn't McEvoy a network anchor? Not a muchraking crusader.

Okay, I am finished now. Strolls away...

Hi Mark, this books bears no resemblance to Mr. Peanut, at least that I could tell. You will love it, I'm pretty sure. Yeah I didn't care for the Daniels character much.. He didn't come across as an engaging anchor, that's for sure.

Great review of The Pickwick Papers, Bonnie. You have reminded me that I have Charles Dickens' complete collection on my Kindle and I've been meaning to get started with Bleak House.

Thanks Linda. I loved Bleak House when I read it in January.

I really do need to read some Dickens...

Great review, Bonnie!