brenzi's 2012 Reading - October Happenings!- Part 10

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

72. Kings of the Earth - Jon Clinch - OTS - 4.5 stars
71. The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan - 5 stars
70. Iron and Silk - Mark Salzman - OTS - China - NF - 4 stars
69. Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison - 4.2 stars
68. Tunneling to the Center of the Earth - Kevin Wilson - OTS - 4.8 stars
67. Grendel - John Gardner - L - 3 stars
66. The Beautiful Mystery - Louise Penny - L - Canada - 3.5 stars
65. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon - 3 stars
64. City of Women - David Gillham - ER - Germany - 4.3 stars
63. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald - 5 stars
62. The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng - Malaya - L - 4.5. Stars
61. Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson - e book- 3.5 stars
60. NW - Zadie Smith - UK - L - 4.5 stars
59. A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson - OTS - NF - 4.1 stars
58. My Antonia - Willa Cather - OTS - 4.5 stars
57. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys - OTS - 3 stars
56. Summer - Edith Wharton - e book - 4 stars
55. Sugar Street - Naguib Mahfouz - Egypt - 4 stars
54. The Warden - Anthony Trollope - e book - 4 stars
53. In the Shadow of the Banyan - L - 4.8 stars
52. Columbine - Dave Cullen - OTS - NF - 5 stars
51. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith - OTS - 4 stars
50. Palace of Desire - Naguib Mahfouz - OTS - Egypt - 4 stars
49. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark - OTS - UK - 4 stars
48. Escape From Camp14:One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West - L - Blaine Harden - NF - North Korea - 4 stars
47. Juliet in August - Dianne Warren - ER - Canada - 4.8 stars
46. When I Lived in Modern Times - Linda Grant - OTS - Palestine - 4 stars
45. Palace Walk - Naguib Mahfouz - OTS - Egypt - 5 stars
44. The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker - L - 3.7 stars
43. The Septembers of Shiraz - Dalia Sofer - Iran - OTS - 4 stars
42. Finding Nouf - Zoe Ferraris - Saudi Arabia - OTS - 3.6 stars
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:



BOOKS THAT CAME INTO THE HOUSE THIS MONTH

In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck - PBS
Angel by Elizabeth Taylor - PBS
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne - Talking Leaves Bookstore
Beijing Coma by Ma Jian - Talking Leaves Bookstore
Rondo by Kazmierz Brandys - Talking Leaves
Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood by Barbara Demick - an LT friend:)
Moth Smoke - Mohsin Hamid - PBS
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin - library sale
The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok - library sale
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Tom Friedman - library sale
The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers - library sale
Straight on Till Morning: A Biography of Beryl Markham by Mary S. Lovell - library sale
The House on the Strand by Daphne duMaurier - PBS

Best of Third Quarter AND SEPTEMBER SUMMARY
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys - Although Rhyss did an exceptional job of evoking place and time, this book did not work well for me. For one thing, she chose to use two narrative voices, Rochester and Antoinette, but I was confused as to who was talking. I didn’t like having to try and figure that out. But most egregious was the denigration of Mr. Rochester, who comes off as an absolute brute and a cad of unbelievable proportions. Not the impression I’ve had of him in the past. Sure he was rough around the edges when I met him in Jane Eyre but the picture that Rhys paints of him is that of a real monster.

My Antonia by Willa Cather – classic story of Jim Burden’s time growing up on his grandparents’ farm on the Nebraska prairie in the late 19th century and loving the enigmatic Antonia Shmerda. Too complex for words or summary, a five star read.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson – What a pleasure to join Bill Bryson as he attempts to walk the Appalachian Trail. Part travelogue, part social commentary, always engaging and mostly very funny, Bryson lets you tag along as he and his overweight, out-of-shape friend Stephen Katz, start the hike in Georgia and head north. I loved this book, its style, its happy-go-lucky author and all the history about the trail and its surrounding regions.

NW by Zadie Smith - a big, heart-felt, sprawling novel that tries to define a place in ways that will make the reader feel the big, surging cheek by jowl, packed intensity of the widely diverse population that occupies northwest London. Highly recommended.

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson – 22 connected short stories set in the town of Winesburg. Each story illustrates the life of a grotesque and Anderson wove interconnectedness between the stories to try to connect the characters that were totally incapable of any human connection at all. Frankly, as I read the book about small town USA at the turn of the century, I was thinking I needed to take a mega dose of Prozak. What a parade of depressed, lonely, alienated, frustrated, down-in-the-dumps creatures. But in 1919 this book was ground-breaking. And by the end of the book, I felt like I knew these characters very well and could sympathize with them.

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng – What a joy for the reader to unfold layer upon layer of narrative in this Booker-nominated novel. Set in the Cameron Highlands, outside of Kuala Lumpur, it is told by Yun Ling Teoh, sole survivor of a Japanese prison camp during WWII. But it’s the garden called Yugiri and its role as a symbol for memory that gives the book its vehicle for transporting the reader to another time and place. Lovely.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – I first read this book as a freshman in college. I loved it then and I still love it. Fitzgerald writes of that time in the twenties when greed and avarice were running rampant among the so-called elite class. More about it after our class discussion on Tuesday.

City of Women by David Gillham - Berlin, 1943. In a city populated mostly with women and old men, young boys, and soldiers too badly injured to return to the front, and a sprinkling of men whose jobs were “essential” to the Reich’s efforts to win the war, Sigrid Schroeder is living a tentative life in her mother-in-law’s flat while her husband serves at the Eastern front. Soon she, inadvertently becomes involved with a group rescuing Jews and getting them out of the country. A brilliant debut, this book’s mysteries are unfolding right up to the last page.

MY BUDDY



And yes, he has his own couch!

October Reading Plans


These are some of the books I will be reading over the next three months for the October-December 2012 Theme Read: Asia II (Asia II: China, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Tibet).If you’re interested, the thread is here. On the iPad I also have:

The Distant Land of My Father: A Novel of Shanghai by Bo Caldwell
The Woman Who Could Not Forget: Iris Chang Before and Beyond The Rape of Nanking by Ying-Ying Chang
The Garlic Ballads by Mo Yan
The Secret Piano: From Mao’s Labor Camps to Bach’s Goldberg Variations by Zhu Xiao-Mei

OCTOBER TIOLI

#1 – Random Tag Generator - Tunneling to the Center of the Earth – Kevin Wilson
#3 – Book Published Over a Hundred Years Ago or in 2012 - The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
#4 – Book Set in China - Death of a Red Heroine by Xiaolong Qiu; The Joy Luck Clubby Amy Tan; The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
#7 – Jasper Rolling Order Challenge - Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
#11 – Word in the Title to do with Cemetery - The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
#15 – Banned Book Challenge - Grendel by John Gardner

I think I'm first ... am I first on your new thread, Bonnie?

You are Caro! Welcome!

oooh..so glad to see you've got 'Iron and Silk slated for one of your October reads.

Nice new thread here, Bonnie! So glad to see that you brought along a quote that I first saw on Mark's thread and fell in love with!

>6 cameling: Yep I was just waiting for the right opportunity Caro. It's been an my shelf since just after you read and recommended it.

>7 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie, yes I saw that quote first on FB, then after I posted it here I saw it on Mark's thread. It's good enough to be repeated though:)

Hi Bonnie- Congrats on the new thread! I love the Winterson quote too! You might want to fix "BOOKS THAT CAME THE HOUSE THIS MONTH", in post one, unless that's some kind of upper-New York poetry. LOL.

>9 msf59: Thanks Mark, ok I fixed the so-called "upper-NY poetry." I think I'll be getting a book from Chicago pretty soon to start that list off;-)

Hi, Bonnie! Happy New Thread!!!! I thought that I was keeping up with you since I saw the star and only 10 posts, but I guess when I go back to your last thread, I'll find myself far behind. Anyway, I love and agree with the Winterson quote and also the doggy sofa (with doggy) and also the October scenery!

Hi Bonnie! What a great fall picture at the top of your new thread. I just bought The Secret Piano for my Kindle, so I'll be watching for your comments on that one especially.

LOVE Buddy's couch!!

>11 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, I have a hard time keeping up with you too. It's the name of the game around here but it's fun all the same.

>12 porch_reader: Hi Amy, I think I got it as a Kindle daily deal quite a long time ago. Anyway, my iPad is starting to resemble my actual bookshelves LOL. This is a good excuse to make it one of the Read books.

>13 Crazymamie: Haha Mamie, I told you he is the master of his universe.

Congratulations to the queen of the reviews on her latest thread.

Thank you for placing me in the realm of royalty Paul, but unlike the royal family, my clothes will remain firmly in place;-)

OK I just finished reading The Crying of Lot 49 for my course and my first reaction is, "Huh?" Have any of you read it? Never has Dorothy Parker's famous quote ("This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” ) been more appropriately applied. I just scanned some of the reviews on LT, mostly negative, and a couple of them hit the nail on the head:

"As always, Pynchon's is a strange world full of drug trips and people who never bother to eat or sleep and thus spend their time in a weird haze. "

"So much information, so little clarity."

"This is a kind of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas meets Orlando meets On the Road only less funny, just as confusing and more disjointed respectively."

"I enjoy interesting and different books, but books loaded with pretentious intellectualism bore me to death."

We'll start discussing this book this afternoon during class. Post-modernism has not gained a fan.

Snazzy new thread, Bonnie! And I like your take on royalty. :-)

ETA: Your Crying of Lot 49 post came in while I was typing. I'm looking forward to your post-discussion thoughts. I'm not a fan of this one either. I read it from a sense of obligation, but it took me nowhere.

Bonnie: I haven't read Pynchon, so I was waiting for your comments. At least it's short :) I love your summary of recent reads -- The Great Gatsby seems timely, doesn't it? If I haven't read your 4 + star books already, they are now moving up on my list. I would like to read The Vagrants soon, too. We'll see.

Great photos, quotes. Congrats on your new thread.

Hi Bonnie. I'm just checking in. I still need to at least read your last thread to catch up a bit.

I'm thrilled you're taking a class. It's going to be fun to tag along with you.

I'll be interested to see what you think of Death of a Red Heroine, Iron and Silk and The Vagrants, all books I own but haven't read.

Hi Bonnie - am looking forward to seeing what you think of all the books in your photo (and half-expecting 5 book bullets!) Am in the middle of an enormous book (Truman) and trying not to go over the the Reading Globally thread and get tempted to switch to something else...

Hi Bonnie,
Looks like you have some great reading ahead - may make up for your post-modernism read.

LOVE little Buddy! At least if he is on his own couch, he is not on yours!

>17 brenzi: I started The Crying of Lot 49 and then cast it aside and have been too scared to go back! I only read the first page, and was a little bewildered by it. So more power to you for finishing!

The class discussion should be fun, let me know what the book is actually about, if you find out ;)

Cool new thread, Bonnie, headed up by a lovely autumn still life featuring books. Love it!

I will be reading two books along with you this month. A Beautiful Mystery is waiting for me at the library - finally! - and I also plan to read The Rape of Nanking, a book that can be aptly described as "powerful". I have put off reading it for too long.

>18 jnwelch: Hi Joe, I'm surprised you could get away from the cafe during the busy lunch hour. Well the discussion didn't cover much today so we will get more into it on Thursday. We had to finish up The Great Gatsby first.

>19 BLBera: Hi there Beth, yes Gatsby was a very timely read. Of course stories about people who don't care much about anything but themselves are always in vogue. I think readers like to think they're not part of the self-absorbed crowd and so find their stories entertaining.

>20 phebj: Hi Pat, it's good to see you around and posting again. I've been looking at Death of a Red Heroine, Iron and Silk and The Vagrants on my shelf for way too long myself. I'm really looking forward to the Global Theme Reads.

>21 cushlareads: Hi Cushla, it's good to see you around and posting again too. I know school keeps you mighty busy. I have Truman and hope to get to it during the long winter, maybe when we're snowed in and need a chunkster to hunker down with. LOL

>22 -Cee-: I guess you and Dorothy Parker are in the same boat Megan haha. Fortunately, it was a short book. That was about its only redeeming quality I'm afraid.

Tomorrow, I hope to post some thoughts about The Great Gatsby.

>24 Donna828: Hi Donna, it took me so long to write that post that you came and went. I was only half paying attention since I was getting in some TV time. I started the Penny this morning and it's a terrific book to follow up The Crying of Lot 49, I can tell you that. LOL.

My response to The Crying of Lot 49:

Og think nasty writer-man laughing at Og.

Bonnie - hahaha I honestly didn't imagine you would follow La Kate anytime soon (what the heck was the silly fool thinking of anyway?- bet her Gran-in-law was chuffed).

>22 -Cee-:. Almost missed you there Claudia, at least if he is on his own couch he is not on yours!

You got that right. I'm no dummy;-)

>27 richardderus:. Once again Richard, you do have a way with words. But I am in complete agreement with you on this one. An older gentleman who sits next to me in class said he thought the book was wonderful. I just looked at him with my mouth hanging open, dumbstruck. He has to have been looking for brownie points.

>28 PaulCranswick:. Well exactly Paul, why do these people continually take their clothes off. I mean I'm no prude but, honestly, are tan lines that important? And we won't even begin to consider Harry.

From Louise Penny's Blog:



The filming of STILL LIFE is underway! Stanbridge East, in Quebec's Eastern Townships is standing in for Three Pines - and the actor who will play Armand Gamache is....

Nathaniel Parker! I'm thrilled. As you can see, we met yesterday, and a nicer man would be hard to find. He never behaved like the 'star', but subtly made sure all the actors and crew knew this was a collaboration. Here we are on the set - as you might be able to see, I'm busy writing him in. Such power. More on the film as things progress....and more information on casting and photographs on the 'film' section of my webpage. So exciting.

Does he look like the Gamache you pictured? I'm reading The Beautiful Mystery right now and now I'm excited to see this next step for the Chief Inspector:-)

Oh, he was Inspector Lynley too, I loved him in that series.

Thanks so much for posting the picture and Louise Penny's comments, Bonnie! I can picture him as Gamache, but I also remember him as Lynley and he was so good in that. I wish Masterpiece Mystery would do some more of the Lynley series. Do you know if Still Life is being filmed for PBS? I'm picking up my copy of The Beautiful Mystery tomorrow and am sooo looking forward to reading it!

Whew, I like many others had fallen so far behind I actually, shamefully, skipped over many postings on your last thread and ran to catch up on this new one! I am glad to say, I've read all 32 postings. And I like the actor's looks for Gamache. I think he'll do, if he is a good actor, too.

You are reading some fine books and I'll be interested to see what you'll be thinking.

Carry on

(and I think The Royals undress because they are young and need to have some adventure in their staid royal lives.)

I don't feel so bad now about not finding The Crying of Lot 49 gripping. I could be in the same boat as a few others!

>32 lauralkeet: Ohhhh Inspector Lynley. I don't think I've watched that one Laura.

>33 Nancy618: A year is way too long between Penny books, don't you think Nancy? Not PBS, although they may pick it up, but the CBC will be broadcasting the movie.

>34 maggie1944: Hi Karen, thanks for visiting. I can appreciate that the Royals need for adventure in their staid lives but they need to realize that they are constantly being followed by people armed with cameras:)

>35 LovingLit: Hi Megan, I think most of us are in that boat and paddling furiously, trying to get away from Thomas Pynchon haha.

Yes, I'm sure the royals are mindful, but even the most mindful slip from time to time. Thanks god they are human beings.

I've never read The Crying of Lot 49 myself, but I did almost read another Pynchon many years ago Vineland, maybe? I struggled through about 2/3 of it and then accidentally left it at an airport somewhere (not on purpose, I swear). Never found it, never was motivated to finish it. Maybe I didn't miss anything.

>37 maggie1944: Hi Karen, I think the royals are to be commended for the most part on the way they deal with the relentless paparazzi:)

>38 AnneDC: Hi Anne, "almost read another Pynchon" is where I will probably permanently remain haha. But he certainly has his fans. I know most of his books are door stoppers but I thought Lot 49's saving grace was that it was mercifully brief.

Hi Bonnie!

I have Still Life sitting on my shelves, but since it was a rather recent acquisition and the fact that I only have 2 other books in the series, I think I will wait until I find all the other books to start the series. There is nothing worse then getting addicted to a good series and not having the next book handy!

Hi there Valerie, There is nothing worse then getting addicted to a good series and not having the next book handy!

That's exactly where I am with the Penny series, and the Kate Atkinson series and Julia Spencer-Fleming series are not far behind. It's hard waiting a year or more for the next book to arrive:(

Bonnie, thanks for posting the picture of Louise and Nathaniel Parker. He was the perfect Inspector Lynley. I hope that role isn't too firmly entrenched in my head so I can accept him as Garmache. I must check out the Penny website.

It's funny, I loved the Inspector Lynley books, but just could never see Nathanial Parker as Lynley (He's a blond in the books). I think he's an excellent actor, and although I would have preferred a Gamache with a mustache (doesn't he have one in print?) I think he'll do a good job. I just wish we could have Maggie Smith as Ruth, and give us Richard as Gabri (there's a chuckle)........

>42 Donna828: I wonder how it is that I completely missed Inspector Lynley, Donna. Oh well, I guess I will just have to look forward to the new Still Life production.

>43 tututhefirst: Oh Maggie Smith as Ruth would be fabulous Tina. And I can't think of anyone else but Richard as Gabby now that you mention it haha. Perfect!

Class Notes – The Great Gatsby

diegesis- a style of storytelling which presents an interior view of a world and is: that world itself experienced by the characters in situations and events of the narrative telling, recounting, as opposed to showing, enacting
hypodiegetic - story w/in a story
extradiegetic - outside the diegetic level
Hart, Jeffrey – The Living Moment: Modernism in a Broken World - ; technique of jumping from one level of story to another; increases aesthetic difference; Fitzgerald drew from T. S. Eliot and Joseph Hardy; the Valley of Ashes (in Gatsby)=the Wasteland; evocative images rather than photographic; from The Heart of Darkness came the uninvolved narrator.
epicedium, epicedial - the signature genre of post-modernism; an elegy, funeral song, eulogy for someone or something that is no more.
die Weltanschauung - world view; Nick’s world view changes in the book---he is better than others but he ends up becoming involved with other characters; he’s the only character who changes
F. Scott Fitzgerald – influenced by Sherwood Anderson; in 1936 he wrote a piece for Esquire Magazine where he stated that a test of intelligence was the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time and still be able to function---He had endowed Gatsby with this quality.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 4.8 stars

SPOILERS

Is there anyone out there who hasn’t read this eponymous novel at least once? I first read it eons ago as a college freshman. The book’s epigraph is a quotation from Thomas Parke D’Invilliers, a minor character from another Fitzgerald novel, This Side of Paradise:

Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high bouncing lover,
I must have you!”

That tells us a lot about an author who quotes himself in the epigraph;-) F. Scott Fitzgerald was a highly successful commercial success, producing many stories for major U.S. publications when he told his editor, ”I want to write something new, beautiful and simply patterned.”

The Great Gatsby opens with our narrator, Nick Carraway, looking back on the events that happen in the book. The most interesting thing about the first few pages of the book is how blatantly Nick’s egoism comes across. He says he graduated from “New Haven” and Fitzgerald expects us to know he means Yale. Nick proudly proclaims:

”I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth.”

Living next door to Nick, in an impressive mansion is Jay Gatsby, an enigmatic character that Nick, as a newcomer, knows little about. He is known for his extraordinary weekend parties, which draws party-goers from near and far. The party-goers don’t know much about Gatsby either. They have some of their own ideas (”Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once.” “He was a German spy during the war.” And Nick muses, “It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world.”) So everything we learn about Gatsby has to come from other people.

Gatsby, as it turns out, bought his house in order to re-kindle a romance he had before the war with Daisy Buchanan. He can see the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock across the bay. It doesn’t take Gatsby long to figure out that Nick, who is a distant cousin of Daisy’s, can help arrange his meeting with Daisy. Of course, Daisy is married now, to Tom Buchanan, who is carrying on an affair with Myrtle Wilson, whose husband runs the local garage. Early in the novel Buchanan is described as a ”straw haired man” which, of course, can be compared to the straw man in The Wizard of Oz who had no brain. That’s a pretty good description of good old Tom. I’m sure you can see what’s coming. We can see a gradual change in Daisey, from being described in luscious terms of gold and green to being represented by the gray Valley of Ashes, as she turns out to be fully capable in the end, of looking out only for herself. This is representative of this time during the 1920s when the American form of Royalty, those families of the wealthy patrician class, came together with bootleggers and took on pretensions of sophistication.

Two love triangles can only spell trouble. But it’s the brilliant way that Fitzgerald brings about the climax that makes this novel, still selling over 200,000 copies a year, almost a hundred years after its initial publication, worthy of the designation, classic. His powerful prose ushers in the foreshadowed tragedy and the progression that ensues from manslaughter to murder to suicide seems all the more ghastly in comparison to the party atmosphere that preceded it. Simply brilliant.

I enjoyed reading that review. Bravo.

>46 brenzi:: Is there anyone out there who hasn’t read this eponymous novel at least once?

* raises hand, meekly *
* hangs head in shame *

Bonnie..What a great writer you are! I love your comments regarding The Great Gatsby.

>47 maggie1944:. Why thank you Karen.

>48 lauralkeet:. Now that is surprising, just in the fact that it's assigned by so many high school and college instructors. I think you would probably like it Laura, if you can overlook the self-absorbed, snobbish characters that made up that generation. But then that's exactly what Fitzgerald was trying to depict so it's really something to appreciate and wonder at.

>49 Whisper1:. Thanks Linda!

Me! Me! I haven't read it. (Hangs head in shame... and I am avoiding your review because ONE DAY I will.)

Ooh Laura I just saw your post #48. Phew!

>46 brenzi: Please to post review/dissertation on work page for the upgethumbing.

Jay Gatsby has always made me feel sad and forlorn. Nick Carraway I want to throttle. He reminds me of that useless jerk in Less Than Zero.

>51 cushlareads:, 52, did they have the Lost Generation in NZ Cushla? I don't know if it was a world wide thing. At any rate, I think you would enjoy reading about this time in history when people were so self absorbed. Hmmm, sort of like today I guess haha.

>53 richardderus:. When I think Of Gatsby at the end of the book, totally alone and w/o a single friend, except for Nick, who wasn't really a friend, I feel very sad too Richard. I'm not familiar with Less Than Zero Richard. Is it any good?

I'm not doing actual reviews of any of these class books. They're loaded with spoilers for the most part but I certainly appreciate the sentiment:)

Nathaniel Parker as Gamache is growing on me. Since I listen to the audio versions, I think his voice might throw me!

>48 lauralkeet:, 51: re: Cushla and I hanging our heads ...
Reminded me of the hilarous tumblr site, Dog Shaming, with pictures of dogs "admitting" naughty behaviors (example below). We could start an "LT Shaming" site for all the books we regrettably have never read!

Bonnie- Outstanding review of The Great Gatsby! I have read it once or twice but I am way overdue for a re-read. Repeat reading is always one of my biggest literary challenges.

Laura- Love the "Dog Shame"!

I enjoyed that review of The Great Gatsby, too, Bonnie. Thanks for bringing an old high school read back to life. Its staying power is remarkable.

Also loving that Dog Shame site. Thanks, Laura.

>55 Copperskye:. Hi Joanne, have you "listened" to all of them? I could see how that would be a problem when you hear Nathaniel Parker's voice.

>56 lauralkeet: Well Laura, unlike most dogs, you and Cushla can be rehabilitated;-) And when I say most dogs, i mean most Labs, like the two my son has who will chew on anything w/in reach haha. I have to check out that site!

>57 msf59: Thank you Mark, I had only read it once but it lost nothing in the reread. I seldom reread.

>58 jnwelch: Hi Joe, yes it has remarkable staying power but, really, the more things change, the more they stay the same, don't you think. Some of the excesses that Gatsby brings to light occur today to an even greater extent. Aren't we supposed to study history so that we don't make the same mistakes?

I couldn't resist this cartoon.

Bonnie, I enjoyed your review of The Great Gatsby much more than the actual book...haha!

I always appreciate the perspective from someone who is able to see the brilliance behind a book that I struggled with because there is so much from what others gleamed that I missed. If I had been able to pick up on all those points in your review, my reading of TGG would have been a completely different experience. So, thank you for opening my mind with your thoughtful review! :)

Bonnie.....LOVED the book burning cartoon. Sadly, it may actually be more true than we care to admit.

>46 brenzi: and 48

I also hang my head in shame that I have never read The Great Gatsby. Avoided reading your review since you so clearly denoted it has spoilers....

>61 jolerie: enjoyed your review of The Great Gatsby much more than the actual book.. Hmmm, am I in the same league as F. Scott Fitzgerald Valerie?? Haha that would be pretty, well, preposterous I think. His writing is nothing short of spectacular and mine is more or less pedestrian fluff. But I'll take the compliment anyway. LOL

>62 tututhefirst: Oh Tina I absolutely believe it to be very true. I know way, way too many people who never crack a book to not think that the cartoon is very accurate. That's what makes what we have here on LT so very important to me:)

>63 TinaV95: Hi Tina, well, you don't have to hang your head. Just pick up the book and read it. I think you'd probably like it:)

I'm catching up, Bonnie, and am so glad to see the news about the Still Life movie. I hope they do the book justice. And I love the cartoon! I wore my "I'm with the Banned" t-shirt this week in honor of Banned Books Week.

Hi Amy, it's always good to have a movie adaptation of a favorite book to look forward to, isn't it? Must find your thread where I am woefully behind.

Bonnie, back to Less Than Zero...1980s-era fast lane NYC.

Avoid.

On the subject of people who have no books, I once had a conversation with my SIL who mentioned that she had never read a book since leaving school, and even then had only read one under duress. Nothing too surprising there you might think - lots of people could say the same thing. The scary thing was at the time she was a librarian with responsibility for providing children's books to all the local schools!

I'm so happy that I can be rehabilitated!! I will look for the Great Gatsby at once and read the first page.

>68 SandDune:. Hi Rhian, that is a very disturbing story. I wonder if any studies have been done on why some people will read contentedly for hours days on end and other, seemingly intelligent people, would never consider picking up a book!

>69 cushlareads:. Haha yes we're all capable of rehabilitation in the book department Cushla. I'm trying to catch up on all the classics that I missed over the course of my life and I've decided there are probably too many and not enough years left in front of me.

My old lady resolution is to not read any bad books. Because you know there are lots of good books to read, and not so many years left to me (I'm guessing)

Bonnie - I'm not sure if it is an American thing or not but when I read The Great Gatsby many moons ago I couldn't see what the fuss was about. I would be interested to see who from outside the USA is a big fan of the book.
In any event have a wonderful weekend. Your thread is rocking at the moment by the way - well inside the top ten in the last week or so.

Hi Bonnie - I don't know if research has been done about why, everything else being equal, some people read and some people don't. Hmmm. I'll check into that. I do know that there is a lot of research that says if one is not read to as a child, the likelihood of that child becoming a reader is much lower than if parents read.

I've been talking to my students about their reading habits, and another sad thing is that many of them say they loved to read until about third or fourth grade when books they had no interest in were forced on them. I hear that consistently from non-readers. That would also be a great area for some research.

Gatsby is one of those books I appreciated more than enjoyed. I even reread it a few years ago to see if my older perspective might make me love the book. Appreciation once again.

>71 maggie1944:. Well apparently Karen, you and I have the same old lady resolution. Lol. Anyway, I try hard to never read any bad books and being in this group has made that quite possible. I can't remember when I had a DNF, but not in a long time although I probably would have dropped The Crying of Lot 49 if I hadn't had to read it for my course.

>72 PaulCranswick:. Oh I'm glad you pointed that out about The Great Gatsby Paul, because its something I've wondered about. It is the quintessential American novel so I'm not sure that translates to other countries. The spectacular writing, however, would be universal.

>73 BLBera:. Hi Beth, well my own fa,ily would be in the minority in that research. I read extensively to both of my children and they read as children but now, as adults, only one could be considered a reader, and then only books that would provide stimulation for things to do with career. I'm glad you will look into that research. I think it would be interesting.

>74 Donna828:. You snuck in while I was dawdling over that post Donna. I found that Gatsby resonated with me as an adult just as much as It had as a young student. Of course both times I had a professor guiding me through the analysis so I'm not sure how much that affected my opinion.

I love Buddy's couch! So cute!

Hi Bonnie - So many interesting things going on around here. Regarding reading only "good books." Don't you think after a while, you know what you will connect with. I haven't picked up something I hated for a long time. My fellow book group members say that I like everything, but I think I just choose what I know I will like. If that makes any sense at all? Of course, once in a while one must step out of one's zone and try something new...:)

>77 ChelleBearss:. Well Chelle, Buddy loves his couch too and as a matter of fact is snoozing in it right now haha.

>78 BLBera:. Don't you think after a while, you know what you will connect with

Oh yes Beth, definitely and returning to a favorite author too. But I credit the 75ers with most of my great book recommendations and knowing which ones most closely match my taste. I'm reading a lot more NF than I used to, more classics, and more series books too than before LT and I'm going to venture way, way out of my comfort zone and try a genre I've never tried and never thought I'd enjoy. I'm going to take Valerie's suggestion and read Tigana, a fantasy novel in December.

Yes, Bonnie, we do get great recommendations here. I, too, am reading something I would never have picked up were it not for a recommendation from a 75er. Now I wish I could remember who it was. It is Among Others by Jo Walton, and it is an amazing coming-of-age/fantasy mix. I'm not much of a fantasy reader, but I was sucked in right away.

Yes! hearing about great books from 75ers - check
reading stuff I might not have picked all by myself - check
reading more than I used to, even if that seemed impossible - check
enjoying telling others about what I'm reading - check

Yes, yes, and yes

>80 BLBera:. I'm racking my brain Beth trying to remember where I saw Among Others but now that I think of it, it may have been your thread LOL. I usually tag my books to remember who recommended them. Otherwise I would be at a complete loss.

>81 maggie1944:. Hi Karen, I know! Did you ever wonder how you got on before LT?? I know I was reading a lot of two and three star books haha.

Among Otherswas a five star read for me, but I can't remember whose thread I saw it on first either. Tagging your recommendations sounds a really good idea.

Seconds the suggestion to read Tigana. I loved this book.

Great review on The Great Gatsby, Bonnie ... it's reminded me of all the reasons why I enjoyed reading that book. I'm going to need to dust it off my re-read shelf and read it again some time before the year is out.

I also read Among Others. Some one must have done a bag up job of reviewing it to catch us all with BBs.

>83 SandDune:. Hi Rhian, I started tagging books when I found I could never remember who recommended any of the books I read. So I guess you could say circumstances forced me to start doing it haha.

>84 cameling:. Hi Caro, I wondered if Gatsby would lose any of its charm over the forty years since I last read it but no, I think enjoyed it even more:-)

Another Tigana fan...great!

>85 maggie1944:. Wow I'll say Karen, possibly Rhian since it was a five star read for her.

OK, I am way behind but congrats on the new thread, Bonnie :)

Love the cartoon, Bonnie!

And yes, I've listened to all of the Three Pines books, even the ones that I read first. I really like listening to a favorite book - a reread with less of a time committment. But the voice has to be just right.

>87 alcottacre:. Thanks so much Stasia, I have no idea how you could possibly hope to catch up what with your job, your full time school and your family. And you even manage to read a few books each week! Amazing woman!

>88 Copperskye:. Hi Joanne, I'm not much of an audio book person. I like to see the words and either take my time to concentrate or skim-read when the mood hits. Audio doesn't work for me

Just jumping in to say that I've just added Among Others to my wish list based on these rave recommendations!

I'm with you Tina. And I seldom go for YA fiction. That's the power of LT:-)

90: Audio doesn't work for me.. Me either, Bonnie, but I think your experience makes that the understatement of the decade!

I'd love to have this clock in my house. Well I actually do have this clock in my head but I'd like to have it on my wall. Hmmm, I've been looking for a new kitchen clock. This one would be just about perfect. Do you have a clock like this, maybe just in your mind, but still??

OMG, that's great! I want one of those!!

>93 Donna828: Haha I can laugh now Donna, but at the time it took a year out of my life.

I've mentioned this in a couple places in the past but never really talked about it here. In 2001, as I was walking along the road probably 200 feet from my house, I was hit by a pick-up truck that swerved onto the shoulder. Luckily, several people in passing cars saw the accident and called 911 because my hubby was obliviously home in the shower (this was in the morning before work).

The worst injury was a traumatic brain injury (the truck's side mirror hit the side of my head) that incapacitated me for almost a year. I lost huge gobs of vocabulary; common words I'd used all my life were gone, along with their meanings. My short term memory was also, shall we say, greatly impacted. My field of vision had shrunk to a tiny field with very little perceptual vision (vision skills we need to understand, analyze, and interpret what we see). Massive headaches and herniated disks in my neck also were problematic and long-lasting. Reading was pretty much out of the question since I couldn't remember what happened from one paragraph to the next and many of the words were unfamiliar to me.

Luckily for me, I had absolutely wonderful medical care that, according to all the physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, vision therapists, counselors and doctors, produced nothing short of a miracle. When I would get a little bit frustrated, they would point out that I was lucky to be alive. Gradually, I regained my former self.

Since I was listening to John Irving's The Cider House Rules on my walkman at the time, that may explain why I haven't read anything else by Irving or find audio books to my liking. But I did pick up A Prayer for Owen Meany a couple of years ago, on Donna's recommendation. Now I feel like I'm meant to read it very soon.

>95 msf59: I know Mark, it's something we all need to have!. Just to remind us of something we might forget;-)

What a horrifying accident! We are so blessed to have you still with us. Wow! You seem to have recovered very well, despite the Irving phobia, which is understandable.
Your story reminds me of Stephen King's accident, which was very similar.

Bonnie, thank you so much for sharing with us your personal story. It is so true, unfortunately, that everyone seems to be "blessed" by some very big difficulties over the course of one life time. Oh, maybe not everyone, but most of us. It gives me so much more of a picture of you as I read your postings, and answer back, from time to time. And for that I am very grateful. It makes LT such a friendly place, and we get to feel as though we truly get to know each other, at least a bit.

I hope whatever recovery is left for you to gain will come quickly and smoothly. And you inspire me to hit the pool!

Wow. That's an awful story, Bonnie, but I'm glad to hear that you've recovered so well.

>98 msf59:. Hi Mark, not a morning goes by that I am not reminded of how lucky I am and how grateful to be alive. Yes King's accident was brought up to me at the time and many times since.

>99 maggie1944:. Thank you Karen, this group is absolutely the friendliest place imaginable and I so appreciate everyone I've met here and am grateful to have found this compassionate community.

I wish I would inspire myself to get in the pool;-). You go girl?

>100 kidzdoc:. Thanks Darryl, I would say just about fully recovered and loving life, especially retired life:)

Wow, what a story, Bonnie. I'm sure you treasure getting your life back the way you have. Remarkable.

Absolutely Joe. What's that old adage---you don't know what you have until you lose it---or something like that.

That's an amazing story Bonnie. I'm so glad you recovered so well. And, I can understand that feeling of having renewed appreciation for your life.

Seeing as I was just calling someone else Bonnie, I thought I better come and check how the real one was! How are you?

Love the Great Gatsby review, am going to re read that one as last time was at high school.

Wow... That is an amazing story. You must feel so blessed ... You're a walking miracle!

>104 phebj: Hi Pat, I can understand that feeling of having renewed appreciation for your life.

I'm sure with what you are experiencing right now you know exactly what I'm talking about Pat.Yay to life's second chances!

>105 LovingLit: Hi Megan, now I'm wondering who you were calling Bonnie, haha. I'll be interested in getting your take on Gatsby.

>106 TinaV95: Hi Tina, I feel very blessed, also, grateful, lucky and any other adverb you want to conjure up:)

Wow Bonnie, that's an incredible story. You're a lucky woman. And so are we, for having met you!

>107 brenzi: Hi Laura, yes, very lucky indeed. I count my blessings every day and find that things that used to be of vital importance to me, no longer matter much, in the big scope of things.

Bonnie - What a great story. You are so lucky. Each book, each day, must certainly be a blessing.

>110 BLBera: Hi Beth, well you know, I never thought about it in terms of books but you're absolutely right. What a great way to look at it.

>96 brenzi: Happier than ever to have you around. And that's saying something.

Wow, what a scary experience, Bonnie. It must have been such a traumatizing experience and the road to recovery would not have been easy either, but we are doubly blessed to have you in our midst!

I am glad you are still here with us, Bonnie!

What a horrible experience, Bonnie. Your remarkable recovery is certainly a testament to your personal strength.

Great review of The Great Gatsby (I obviously fell far behind this weekend). But Thomas Pynchon? Did your professor explain his reasons for including him in the syllabus? I was quite astounded to see him included in the betting odds for the upcoming Nobel Prize in Literature.

Love the clock. I'd like to have one for the library instead of the one that no longer works. Our maintenance folks come over occasionally to fix it, but it's been stuck at the same spot for a long time. I'm not sure if they gave up or what.

>112 richardderus: That is so sweet of you to say. And people describe you as a curmudgeon! Hah what do the know??

>113 jolerie: Thank you Valerie. That was actually the first I'd heard of PTSD and was one of the longer phases of rehabilitation. The sound of tires on gravel still gets my attention

>114 alcottacre: Thank you Stasia, and I'm happy to be here with all you wonderful people:)

>115 Linda92007: Thank you Linda, I still have to post some of the information about The Crying of Lot 49 but suffice it to say, the professor was wild about him; me, not so much. When I saw his name on the list of betting odds for the Nobel Prize my immediate thought was, "OMG, they never give the prize to an American, and now he's the one who might actually get it?? Horrors!"

>116 thornton37814: Hi Lori, hmmm maintenance people are famous for not actually fixing things or at least that's my experience. They're really good at remaining elusive and impossible to find when you need one. At any rate, that clock is perfect for a library.

66.



The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny 3.5 stars

MY REVIEW

The latest book in the formerly known as Three Pines series has Chief Inspector Gamache and Inspector Beauvoir in a monastery deep in rural Quebec. Twenty four monks in residence at this facility observe a vow of silence and are known for their remarkable ability to perform Gregorian chants. Gamache and Beauvoir are there to investigate the murder of the monastery’s prior, or music director. And once they are admitted they make it clear that they will be staying until the murderer is found. And since the monastery is locked down and generally admits no outsiders, the possible suspects are limited to those monks in residence. To make things interesting, Gamache’s nemesis, Chief Inspector Francoeur shows up and moves in, in order to “help” with the investigation.

But something isn’t quite right. Yes, Penny’s impressive prose is there throughout. And the plot is fairly plausible, as usual. The Chief Inspector is on his toes and using all his considerable skills and Beauvoir demonstrates his overbearing investigative techniques. But, dare I say it, the plot is sluggish. I think Penny went overboard trying to create the atmosphere of the ancient monastery. And poring over architectural drawings that were hundreds of years old does not add a dynamic thrust to the book’s story line. It’s well, boring. And it went on for way, way too long. The book is almost 400 pages long and the plot didn’t thicken until the last 75 pages so that made for a lot of reading that just plain bogged down.

I don’t want to say I missed Three Pines, because I’ve enjoyed the other mysteries that weren’t set in Three Pines but what I didn’t warm up to was the fact that there was only Gamache and Beauvoir. Where was Agent LaCoste? And where oh where was Reine Marie? They usually add something to the story. A bunch of stodgy monks cannot make up for the absence of all the complex characters that Penny has become known for. Yes, I admit that I missed Ruth.

And one last thing…I hated the ending. First of all, since when has Penny needed a cliffhanger? People love her books and will get her next book without using such a cheap ploy. It was unnecessary and implausible.

All that said, it’s still Louise Penny and she still writes a much better than average mystery. I will continue to read her books and hope that this one was just a fluke. The next one will return to what brought her to the dance. At least, that is my hope.

A good and surprising review, Bonnie! I wasn't expecting you to be lukewarm about it. Unfortunately, I never continued after the first two books. I don't think I like to read series. But I am looking forward to eventually seeing the CBC production of Still Life.

BTW, I hated book 2 but went ahead and tried 3, and it was better. So you may want to reconsider "quitting".

>119 phebj: Thanks Pat, you know how it is when you read a book that everybody just loves. And in the back of my mind I kept thinking it was just me. I was in some kind of a reading rut. But I don't know. I just wrote an honest review. That's what I thought about it and others can have their own opinions.

>120 maggie1944: Hi Karen!

Interesting point about the ending...I was not of that mind about it, seeing it as a jumping-off place and not a cliffhanger.

So you're wrong and should be left on an ice flow to freeze to death.

(Now who's not a curmudgeon?!)

#120 Karen, thanks for your comments about Book 2 (Fatal Grace). I didn't like it nearly as much as Still Life. I'll probably try the third one from the library at some point. For awhile I was looking for a nice copy to buy but have only ever seen the mass market paperback version which didn't appeal to me.

Hi Bonnie! I do know what you mean when everyone loves a book that you haven't read. Expectations become very high.

Hahaha I certainly didn't expect you to agree with me Richard nor anyone else really. The reviews are mostly positive but I calls 'em like I sees 'em. No ice on lake Erie yet my dear, so I'm safe for awhile;-)

>123 phebj: Absolutely Pat. Also, I kept asking myself, "What's wrong with me? Why isn't this grabbing me?"

#125 Yeah, there's that too. I think the best example was when I read The Sparrow. I couldn't figure out why so many people loved it and what I was missing. But I did purchase a copy of Doc and read a little bit of it. That I think I'll like when I get a chance to read the whole thing.

Oh well The Sparrow...I was the other person who didn't care for it Pat. Haha. But I loved Doc and A Thread of Grace.

I remember that and I was so glad I wasn't the only one who didn't care for it!

>128 phebj:. :). Did I mention how happy I am that you're back posting??

Me too! (Big happy face!)

It would probably help if I read the first book in the series. :)
My collection of the series is rather haphazard at this point since I'm buying used copies of the books, so I guess that's a reason to hold off on starting the books.

Wow what a story! You must have worked so very hard at your therapies to recover from such an event. We are so lucky to have you!

I loved the latest Penny book but was a little disappointed at the ending, no so much with the way she ended it but by the actions of the characters. *sigh* one whole year to wait to find out the rest!

>130 phebj: :-)

>131 jolerie: Hi Valerie, you really do need to read these in order as there is a continuing back story that continues from book to book.

>132 ChelleBearss: Aw, thank you Chelle, it was a lot of hard work but it certainly paid off:-) Yes, the actions of the character was appalling.

Wow, Bonnie! How terrifying to lose so much from your brain injury. You must have wondered if you would ever be back to "normal" and struggled with that fear.
I'm so glad you are a woman of bravery and strength. I'm so inspired by many LTers when they share their stories. Thanks.
I'm thinking you have a much different view on life and family now - and how precious they are.

btw, keep writing your fabulous reviews. Ron pointed out an article in Reader's Digest today on how to improve brain power. Writing reviews online was one of six things listed :-)

>134 -Cee-:. Hi Cee, yes on all counts. I was terrified....once I actually realized how much I had lost. At first I wasn't even aware of what was going on. I could still speak and carry on a rather disjointed conversation and I can actually remember what made me realize that something was terribly wrong. My daughter, who was a college student and had come home when her Dad called her, said to me that she had to run to the drugstore to get some shampoo and "conditioner" and I just stared at her. What is conditioner? I asked. You know what conditioner is, she said. But no, I didn't. When she patiently explained what it was used for, of course, I knew what it was. But the word itself was totally unfamiliar to me. A new word that I had to relearn. Over the next few weeks it became more and more obvious that there were tens of thousands of words like that, words that I used to know the meanings of but no longer did.

And yes, I have a much different view of life in general and how precious it is; how precarious life, and our hold on it, is; how if the truck had swerved another half inch over onto the shoulder, I would have been dead. A half inch between life and death! If that isn't terrifying, I don't know what is.

Now when I wake up in the morning, I am hugely grateful that I've been given another day.

Oh writing reviews improves brain power? Well then I guess I'll keep on keeping on;-)

Hi Bonnie, I'm not as far behind here as it might appear since I've lurked a bit. I hadn't, however, read your story of the lost year. What a miracle you are! And how glad we are that you are 100% here and reading and posting. improving your brain power, and otherwise living life to its fullest!
I'm really, really glad that you're going to read Tigana. It is my very favorite stand-alone fantasy. If you don't love the first 25 pages or so, don't stop! It suddenly comes together and then doesn't let up until the end. Great characters! Great perils! Great love, especially the love for Tigana itself! Excellent December reading!
(I am a *Gatsby* and *Sparrow* fan but don't care too much for 3 Pines even though I've read 3 of them. I'll continue sometime, but they are not on my MUST READ SOON list.)

Good review of The Beautiful Mystery, Bonnie. I know what you mean about missing characters like Clara. I did find it beautifully written, and I didn't experience slow parts like you - I got caught up in the whole of it. And like Richard I didn't think of the ending as a cliffhanger, just another reason I can't wait for the next one. The mystery was resolved but there was . . . more.

But that's what makes life, and reviews, interesting. Your reactions make sense and are well said.

Bonnie, I am halfway through A Beautiful Mystery and hope to have a good reading day today so I can finish it. I can see why you thought it was slow. I happen to be fascinated by the monastic life so I am really liking the slowness. I could never get up that early so I guess it's safe to say that I will never be a monk! Like you, I miss Ruth. She is my favorite character. Since I can't be a monk, maybe I can be a cranky old lady who swears a lot! Lol.

>136 LizzieD: Why thank you Peggy. I'm really happy to be here among so many passionate readers as well as compassionate friends. I'm getting very anxious to read Tigana especially since it seems to have so many fans. The reason I picked December was because I'll be done with my course and, therefore, the required reading, so I should have plenty of time to savor it.

The Sparrow was another one that just left me cold but I know it has many fans so maybe it was just me.

>137 jnwelch: Thanks Joe, I hope I'm not coming to the end of my love for the Louise Penny mysteries but this one just didn't do much for me. I did not feel compelled to pick up the book whereas usually I can hardly put the Penny books down. We'll see. I'll have to wait until September 2013 to find out if I'm truly disenchanted or if it's just a bump in the road.

>138 Donna828: You can certainly be a cranky old lady who swears a lot as far as I'm concerned Donna. LOL. I just hope I can get back on track with the next one which, according to her FB page, is in the second draft stage.

LOL ... I love that, Bonnie.

Great cartoon. I'm enjoying the discussion about The Beautiful Mystery, too. I enjoyed it more than you did, but if we all agreed on books, life would be boring. I found the parts about the monastery and Plainsong fascinating. I did miss Three Pines and Ruth.

>141 cameling: It does tell a familiar story, doesn't it Caro?

>142 BLBera: Apparently, most people enjoyed it more than I did Beth haha. I'm not too concerned yet. We'll see what the next book has in store. I just scanned the reviews on Amazon and they are much more mixed.

>140 brenzi: LOL!

>144 -Cee-:. :-)

Love it! :)

Love the cartoon, Bonnie! Thanks for sharing it!

The Beautiful Mystery is my next book. I'm really looking forward to it -- especially since you and Donna had such different reactions to it. You two are my book barometers!!

Hi Bonnie- I love the cartoon! Very heart-warming. I made a deal with Valerie, so I will also be reading Tigana early next year, maybe kick-off FF with it.
Still no luck with the book?

I love that cartoon, too, Bonnie! I sent it to my book-loving god-daughter.

Lovely cartoon!
And amazing story of survival and recuperation from your good self further up. No wonder audio books arent your favourite! If there was ever a reason to be wary, thats one. A very powerful association.
I myself havent gone there yet as am not so good on the aural comprehension....sometimes listening to the radio I have to really concentrate to keep the gist of the story. At university lectures, I would frantically write notes down, but would only understand it all once I had re-written it neatly, and then read it.

PS It was Berly I was calling Bonnie, cos of all the B's!

>146 jolerie: It's great, isn't it Valerie?

>147 Nancy618: Hi Nancy, Ohhhh I hate being a barometer. I'm not good at it. You should know that I'm in the minority in my opinion about The Beautiful Mystery; most people loved it.

>148 msf59: Not yet Mark. Tigana will be my very first fantasy. What do you think? Am I going to like it? No book yet.

>149 jnwelch: Hi Megan, ahhh Berly. I think I did see that. Yes I have a hard time with just aural learning. I'm more of a visual learner. I really have to see it. Rewriting notes would be a good idea for any student, I would think:)

Crying of Lot 49

Class notes –

Thomas Pynchon – famously reclusive, his picture hasn’t been taken in 50 years; as a student at Cornell he had Vladimir Nabokov as a teacher; (Did you know his name is pronounced Nuh-bo-koff with the accent on the second syllable {long o}?) I’ve always pronounced it Nab-uh-koff with the accent on the first syllable but apparently he set an interviewer straight at one point.

post-modern novel - Perhaps demonstrated most famously and effectively in Joseph Heller's Catch-22 and the work of Thomas Pynchon, the sense of paranoia, the belief that there's an ordering system behind the chaos of the world is another recurring postmodern theme. For the postmodernist, no ordering system exists, so a search for order is fruitless and absurd. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon has many possible interpretations. This often coincides with the theme of technoculture and hyperreality.

John Barth - Among the modernist deviceswhich postmodernism pushes to a new extreme are: the rejection of formal representation in favor of a self-referential "playing" with the forms, conventions and icons of literature; the rejection of the cult of originality in recognition of the inevitable loss of origin in the age of mass production; the rejection of plot and character as meaningful artistic conventions; and the rejection of meaning itself as delusory.

OK so now that the definition of post modernism is about as clear as mud let me give my own definition: if the novel makes absolutely no sense to you, if the narrative seems to follow no logical order, if you often find yourself scratching your head and wondering what in the world is going on, if the symbolism is so thick that you think that every word written stands for something else, you are most probably reading a post modern novel. If it was written in the sixties or seventies the probability that it is a post modern novel increases and if it was written by Thomas Pynchon it is almost certainly a post modern novel. He didn’t write much else.

A word of caution from the professor: “Oh, don’t try to make sense out of it.” Hmmm, so, on to



The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon 3 stars

(I decided to post this review. Since I couldn't make any sense out of the book, I doubt there are any spoilers;-)

Are you old enough to remember the sixties? I certainly remember them very well but sometimes I wonder if I was living in some sort of parallel universe because the sixties I was a part of wasn’t nearly as chaotic and drug-fueled as the one that is most often portrayed in books and movies. This book, which was written in 1965, is all about
one of the most politically and socially turbulent decades in U.S. history: the rise of the drug culture, the Vietnam War, the rock revolution, as well as the birth of numerous social welfare programs, John F. Kennedy's assassination, Martin Luther King's assassination, Robert kennedy’s assassination, Civil Rights, and, to some extent, women's rights. The novel uses this explosion of cultural occurrences, depicting a dramatically fragmented society. But of course, being a post modern novel, it doesn’t come right out and say this in any way. No it’s all done through symbolism, substitution, puns and plays on words, and smoke and mirrors. After a few pages the reader is left to wonder, ”Is the protagonist on drugs? Are all the other characters on drugs? Maybe I’m on drugs, because none of this is making any sense.

Oedipa Maas comes home from a Tupperware Party (remember those?) one day to find a letter naming her executor of the will left by a former lover, Pierce Inverarity (don’t underestimate the power of names in this novel). In the course of fulfilling her duties in this regard, she discovers what appears to be another functioning postal system, known as Tristero, unknown to her (really to any of us) prior to this time. (Here, Pynchon was foretelling the rise of UPS, Fed-Ex and DLS.) Part of the use of the postal system is the requirement that anyone using it is required to mail a letter once a week even if they have nothing to say. (Perhaps this requirement could save our present postal system.) Oedipa seems to go about completing her task mostly in a drug-fueled haze. Not that it matters. Everyone around her is in the same state. At least, that’s the only plausible explanation for all the things happening that, otherwise, made no sense at all. At any rate, her world systematically falls apart as she goes about resolving the issues involved with the will.

Along the way she meets Randolph Dribbelette, Dr. Hilarity, her husband Mucho (a disk jockey at radio station KCUF!), Tony Jaguar, Mike Fallopian----on and on, names with other names, names with other meanings.

OK enough. I couldn’t make heads or tails of the narrative. This is not the kind of straight forward story that I enjoy. Who wants to work so hard to understand what the author is trying to say? I like to lay back and sink into a deeply satisfying novel and this wasn’t it.

If I'm a-gonna work this damn hard for somethin' it better be fabulously amazingly terrific or there better be a paycheck involved.

Glerchhhhh.

Thumbs-upped the review.

Thanks Richard, does the phrase pretentious intellectualism ring a bell??

"pretentious intellectualism"...what a great phrase.

I love the cartoon.

Haha that's not my phrase Linda but someone else who had reviewed The Crying of Lot 49 and it's such a perfect fit as a description of this book that I had to use it again:)

It is les mots justes for the stupid thing. What a crock of horse hockey.

Good morning, Bonnie! I don't know how I got so far behind that this is my first trip to this lovely thread. Love the photos (and the dog sofa!) and the cartoons, and most impressed by the sobering story of your 2001 accident. I'm so thankful -- to God and to all those wonderful doctors, therapists, etc. -- that you made such an amazing recovery and are here with us on LT!

I think I'll pass on reading any Pynchon. "Pretentious intellectualism" isn't my cup of tea!

Great review of The Crying of Lot 49, Bonnie. I see no reason to subject myself to unnecessary mental torture, so I'll continue to pass on it or anything else by Pynchon.

I think I can live without Pynchon, too. Thanks for doing us all a favor Bonnie!

Fun review, Bonnie. It sure mirrors my experience of that book. Why is he held in such high regard by some? I suppose they like the search for sense and hidden meanings. His personal mystery (dedication to staying out of the public eye in this most public of times) probably helps, too.

>158 richardderus: How many ways can I say you have a way with words Richard, you silver tongued devil you;-)

>159 tymfos: Thanks Terri, who wants to work so hard to read a book? Well, I know I don't haha.

>160 kidzdoc: But Darryl, what if he eventually wins the Nobel Prize. It's continually being speculated that he could win and they've even offered odds on his winning. What a travesty that would be.

>161 lauralkeet: Well Laura, there's only so much of this "taking one for the team" that I'm willing to do;-)

>162 jnwelch: Thanks Joe, yeah what's up with no picture in 50 years? I mean he's not in the Royal Family or Lindsay Lohan---the paparazzi aren't going to be hounding him incessantly. He's a writer in a world populated by mostly non-readers. Seriously.

I am in no way caught up, but the opening is a dazzler and the pup a cutie and now that i have found you, I will be back!

>160 kidzdoc: But Darryl, what if he eventually wins the Nobel Prize.

He can't possibly be worse than Elfriede Jelinek, right?

Hmmm I'm not familiar with her work Darryl but from that comparison I guess I won't be finding out either. Thanks for the warning.

I thought this was interesting. All about Books About Books,and who doesn't love those:)

Novelist Nick Hornby writes the monthly "Stuff I've Been Reading" column for the Believer, and More Baths Less Talking (McSweeney's Books) is a compilation of his last two years of reviews. Eclectic and amusing.

The Books That Mattered: A Reader's Memoir by Frye Gaillard (NewSouth Books) is a tribute to the books that "enriched and altered his life." His literary explorations include excerpts from the works he cites, reminding us of past favorites and showing us soon-to-be new ones.

Hans Weyandt, co-owner of Micawber's Books in St. Paul, asked indie booksellers for their top 50 reads, which, along with anecdotes on the bookselling life, he has collected in Read This! Handpicked Favorites from America's Indie Bookstores (Coffee House Press).

Jacques Bonnet has thousands of books, and in Phantoms on the Bookshelves (Overlook), muses on collecting books and even cataloging them, good advice for those of us "besieged" by our own libraries.

With The Books They Gave Me: True Stories of Life, Love and Lit (Free Press), Jen Adams gathered stories of books received as gifts--perfect selections, ill-chosen ones, romantic ones, illuminating ones.

Who doesn't judge people by what's on their bookshelves (although e-book readers make this well nigh impossible)? Lauren Leto, in Judging a Book by Its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere (Harper Perennial) not only helps you stereotype someone by their favorite author, or figure out what your child will grow up to be by what you read them, but shows you how to fake reading, say, Jonathan Franzen.

Or you could just get How Not to Read: Harnessing the Power of a Literature-Free Life by Dan Wilbur (Perigee). Entire genres summed up in one page, storming through the classics by reading every third word, literary insults to memorize. --Marilyn Dahl, book review editor, Shelf Awareness

I cannot imagine that Pynchon would ever be a serious contender for a Nobel Prize. I have to hand it to you, Bonnie, for being dedicated enough to your class to have read that book.

That is the one drawback to this class Linda: reading (and finishing) books I would otherwise drop like a hot potato! So far they have been more good than bad but the last one Grendel by John Grendel. It was a re-telling of Beowulf from the monster's POV. It was a meh read for me. I would have finished it but I never would have chosen to read it on my own.

Bonnie- I love those Books about Books! I have the Hornby book from the library, (I own his first 2) and I recently read Read This!, which gave me a bunch of recs.

>170 msf59:. Hi Mark, yes all of these books sound good. I know you liked Read This! and I actually sat down with it at the bookstore last week and read most of it so I didn't buy it. But of course now I wish I had. What's better than a book about books? And Patchett's introduction was so enticing I think I may have to go back and get it. Not that I need any more recs. I can't get to all the ones I garner from LT.

Hi Bonnie - I'm catching up at last. What an amazing story of recovery and grit - and I can't imagine how freaked out your daughter was when she realised you had no idea what conditioner was. Your recovery story is really amazing (ok now I am repeating myself ).

Thanks for putting me off Pynchon for life - one more author not to want to read!

I heard about Read This! on Books in the Nightstand last weekend - I am trying to reacquaint myself with my ipod and my legs with walking...

Well Cushla if putting people off Pynchon is my job I embrace it with relish. IDK, some people apparently enjoy books that have a puzzle to figure out and I don't mind a puzzle that adds to the enjoyment but this was one big puzzle that left me scratching my head. And I didn't know the secret handshake LOL.

I'm definitely going back to the bookstore to pick up Read This. I figured since I read most of it in the bookstore I didn't need it but I do. I really do.

Bonnie - What' more fun than books about books? You have a great list here. I'm going to pick up the other collections of Hornby columns. More Baths Less Talking was great. I'm going to check out Read This. I also like The Modern Library. One of the editors was Colm Toibin, and they included 200 books since 1950, and there was a wide variety.

Hi Beth, I just suggested More Baths Less Talking for our library to purchase. I hope they get it. So many books so little time....I don't really need more book suggestions. I can't keep up with the ones I get here on LT. But those kind of books are so addictive. And the addict has to want to quit...

I understand that cartoon. I do indeed :)

Me too Kath!!

68.



Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson 4.8 stars

Oh my! What a strange, twisted, wild world Kevin Wilson creates when he sits down to write. This collection of stories, where Wilson turns the mundane into the surreal into the achingly beautiful surpassed every expectation I had for it. It’s been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years and I’m not sure what prompted me to pick it up now but am I ever glad I did.

Each story is finely crafted but I’ll warn you now, it’s a weird, weird world. For instance, ”Worst-Case Scenario,” opens this way:

”I work for Worst-Case Scenario, Inc. I have a degree in Catastrophe from a small college in the Northeast, where I learned all the ways that things fall apart. I am a field agent in ‘what could happen.’ I go to amusement parks and punch numbers in my computer and tell them how many people could die on a ride, what we call absolute disaster. I calculate what would happen if a city bus full of people was taken hostage and then got stuck in a freak blizzard during rush-hour traffic.”

Part whimsy, part startling possibility and always told with a wink each story is shot through with humor and before you know it, Wilson cunningly convinces you that everything he’s telling you is certainly a possibility.

Each story is a gem; most are stories of loneliness and isolation. In ”Grand Stand-in,”the unmarried and childless narrator relates her story as an employee of a company that supplies substitute grandparents for families that have that need. She can contract for once a week visits or even only once a month phone calls; whatever the family needs. In ”Blowing Up on the Spot,”a teenage boy is left to care for his younger brother when his parents self-combust on the subway. In ”Museum of Whatnot”, a young woman, with a degree in Museum Science is the caretaker of the Museum of Whatnot where she meets an older man who takes an unexpected interest in her. ”Tunneling to the Center of the Earth,” tells the story of three recent college graduates without prospects, who find themselves digging a tunnel in the backyard

My favorite story was ”Birds in the House” where four brothers, who absolutely hate each other, are forced by the terms of their mother’s will, to spend time together making a thousand paper cranes which will be set on a table. Four fans will be set in motion by the oldest grandchild, the story’s narrator. The last crane left on the table will determine which brother inherits the ramshackle mansion. The ending left me holding my breath.

There’s an interview with the author at the end of the book and he talks about the different writers who have influenced him. Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio and especially his story ”Sophistication,” influenced Wilson’s story ”Worst-case Scenario”. Since I just read Anderson’s book a few weeks ago I had to return to it and try to make comparisons. Wilson admired the way in which Anderson connected two lonely, isolated people and tried to do the same in his story. And he does so, beautifully. Highly recommended.

Bonnie- I'm so glad you checked out "Read This"! I made a list of nearly 20 titles, that I'm keeping at hand. It's amazing, with all of our collective book-reading, that there are still so many worthy books out there, we've never even heard of. Baffling!

I only skimmed your review of Tunneling to the Center of the Earth but nearly 5 stars! Wahoo! That's impressive. I loved his novel the Family Fang.

Stop by my thread and vote. You are one of the reasons I'm in this dilemma, missy!

Thumbs-upped your most persuasive appreciation, Bonnie!

Great review once again, Bonnie. I wish that I could develop an appreciation for short stories. They just seem so short!

I'm another one who can relate to the cartoon upthread a bit. There is nothing like reading a moving book the first time around. I felt that way when I finished The Garden of Evening Mists last night.

>180 msf59: I haven't gotten back there yet Mark but I will. I should have known from Ann Patchett's introduction that it would be one I'd love. But yes, the last thing I need is more book recommendations.

>181 richardderus: Thank you Richard; much appreciated.

>182 Donna828: Thanks Donna. and of course you're right; they areshort. But sometimes that just hits the spot for me. Oh you finished The Garden of Evening Mists?? I'll bet you wrote a review; must go check that out.

That cartoon is absolutely perfect. I've had pretty much the same conversation with my husband before. He calls it my "vacation syndrome" because I'm often lamenting about how my trips are ending before we even get there. Of course he thinks I'm silly and truth be told I probably agree with him, but can't ever let him know I agree with him. :)

Catching up, Bonnie. What a horrifying thing to have happen to you. Thank goodness for good medical care!

Great review of Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, Bonnie! I'll look for it soon.

>184 jolerie: Yes Valerie, you only get one chance to read and swoon over that perfect book. I still get a smile on my face when I think about Bring Up the Bodies:) I think your husband may be onto something thought;-)

>185 Copperskye: Right Joanne, people can say what they will about health care in this country but it gets high, high marks from me. I really can't think of any bad connotation with the health care I've experienced over the course of my life.

>186 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl, I think Wilson's a rising star but I loved how this collection illustrated his ability to make connections between people who were lonely and isolated.

Bonnie - I haven't read or even heard of Kevin Wilson before but your review makes him seem like required reading. Thanks for the recce as you may have realised that I don't have any books to read at home!

Hi Bonnie - On to the list goes Tunneling to the Center of the Earth -- a new author for me. Isn't it wonderful to discover an unexpected treasure?

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth sounds very enticing. I'm trying to contain myself in adding more books to the tbr pile, but I think I need to add this one.

I love the cartoon!

>188 PaulCranswick: It's a shame that you are not able to purchase any books in order to assemble even a simple home library Paul. If you had that ability, I would suggest that this book would be a good addition. Maybe at some point in time, things will look up for you and you'll be able to invest in a few books;-)

>189 BLBera: I've had this book on my shelf for over two years Beth, and I can't remember who recommended it but I'm glad I finally picked it up. And yes, a new-to-me author is always a delight.

>190 Whisper1: Got it Linda, and I know exactly what you're saying as I look to put up another set of bookshelves in spite of my hubby's derisive comments. I am not a hoarder!!

I've added Tunneling to the Center of the Earth to the wishlist as well.

I hope you enjoy it Rhian!

Here's a great website called Reader Shaming.



AND:

Love those! Wonderful!

(-"

Oh how fun! Especially since we were talking about something like this upthread (#56) when I admitted to never having read Gatsby!

Love the cartoon in #176 and that website is too funny!

Hi, I love the look of the book in post #179, what an interesting and varied take on things the author seems to have :)

I can relate to the cartoon in 179 too :) Its sad to finish a book and know you'll never have the chance to read it for the first time again :( And if that's all Ive got to worry about then I m doin OK!

That is a great website! LOL Thanks for sharing it :)

Thanks for the link to the readers' shame website, Bonnie. I sent it to my daughter's dog, who is still a bit peeved about a dogs' shame website link I sent her a while ago.

>194 brenzi: Like!

That is a great website, Bonnie. Thanks!!!
I confess to being absorbed in most-modern writers. I think David Foster Wallace is a genius. Pynchon, however, is not a favorite. I appreciated Gravity's Rainbow, the only one I've read - I decided to go for broke - but I should have read it when I was turning 30.

>195 richardderus: Enjoy Richard. They're adding new ones all the time.

>196 maggie1944: :-)

>197 lauralkeet: Yes Laura that was my first introduction to the Dog Shaming site.

>198 ChelleBearss: Funny Chelle, yes definitely but witha certain degree of truth I think. LOL

>199 LovingLit: That model on the cover of the book plays an integral role in one of the stories Megan. Wilson has a quirky way of looking at life but what an imagination!

>200 mckait: I'm glad you enjoyed it Kath.

>201 jnwelch: Haha Joe does her dog have an LT account? Or did you have to use his email account?

Hi Peggy, wow I give you all the credit in the world for reading Gravity's Rainbow. Isn't that about a thousand page or so? The Crying of Lot 49 was mercifully short.

OK, I have had to deep six this book:



The Rape of Nanking by iris Change

After reading just part of the introduction I was physically sick to my stomach and couldn't go on. The description of the atrocities were so graphic I actually thought I would throw up. And that was just the Introduction!! I can't imagine how detailed the actual story is but I knew that, for now anyway, I wouldn't be continuing. I settled in instead with Mark Salzman's Iron and Silk, a much, much different book:)

Hi Bonnie- Wow, I've had a The Rape of Nanking on the back-burner for years. Sounds like a brutal book. I loved Iron and Silk. I'm sure you will too!
I've never read Pynchon. I've had Vineland on the shelf for over a decade. One of these days or years.

Well if you ever read The Rape of Nanking Mark, you can let me know what it's like. As far as Pynchon goes, I've read the one and only book of his that I will read, and that was supposed to be his most accessible!!

Bonnie - The Rape of Nanking safely despatched to the back of the cupboard I trust you will have a wonderful weekend.

Good choice Bonnie....I'm reminded of Louise Penny's theory that writers create but readers must add to the creative equation with their own minds. I don't think my mind could handle that much reality either.

>209 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, I have to try and remember who has read the book. I'm thinking it was Darryl but I don't think he necessarily recommended it. Actually, the reviews for it are very positive. I just couldn't take all the over the top atrocities. Maybe at another time...

>210 tututhefirst: Oh I never heard the Penny theory but it makes perfect sense Tina. You bring everything that's ever happened to you in your life with you to each book you read and it "flavors" what you think of the book. How perfectly sensible.

Bonnie - I read The Rape of Nanking years ago and you're right about the violence. It was worth reading, though and told a story I knew nothing about. I would recommend it -- maybe some other time.

206: Dang it, Bonnie, I finished the @#*¥ thing today because I knew we had a shared TIOLI read. In fact, I wrote a very brief statement on my thread just minutes ago. I didn't want you to think I was a wuss. Of course, I am kidding about blaming you, but I wish I had deep-sixed it as well because it has been seriously interfering with my beauty sleep.

>212 BLBera:. I know you are absolutely right Beth. It's an important story and should be read. And I may read it at some point in my life but not right now. I'm not usually squeamish about things like this and I thought I could objectively read just about anything. For whatever reason, the brief descriptions in the Intro. Proved to be too much.

>213 Donna828:. You a wuss, Donna?? You have my utmost respect as a reader and I would never think of you in those terms. After all, you read Infinite Jest and lived to tell the tale. I didn't actually remember that this was a shared read but, frankly, it probably wouldn't have mattered. And the thing is, I also downloaded The Woman Who Could Not Forget: Iris Chang Before and Beyond The Rape of Nanking written by the author's mother. I thought it would be a good companion book. Apparently, all the years of research on the atrocities left Iris in a deep depression and she took her own life in 2004.

So I may read the book at some point Donna, but not right now. I'm sorry that I'm such a wuss!

I am sorry it was disturbing. i am of the opinion that I've had enough atrocities reading/viewing in my life. I am saddened, and burdened, by the fact that human beings can be worse that animals in their lowest, most evil, behaviors. I agree that at some point one does not need to continue to submit themselves to the pain of revisiting some of the ugliness. It is important we do not pretend it can not happen again in RL, but reading about stuff over and over really is not necessary. Good choice to take care of yourself.

Oh my. Bonnie & Donna, this sounds like a rough book. I'm steering clear. I agree with Karen in #215 that it's important to be educated and aware, but that doesn't mean we have to read a book about every atrocity ever committed.

I also have The Woman Who Could Not Forget downloaded to my Kindle, Bonnie. I had thought I would read The Rape of Nanking first, but maybe I should get it from the library rather than purchasing it, just in case. I hate to waste money on books that I can't finish.

Totally understand your deep-sixing The Rape of Nanking, Bonnie. I'm a wuss when it comes to atrocities, and I'm going to try to gear up to read it at some point, but that point ain't now. I'm impressed Donna got through it. Important, apparently well-written, and awfully tough to read, seems like.

I'm pretty sure Mark and Caro recommended Iron and Silk to me, and I liked it a lot. Should be a good one for you.

It is interesting that the current difficulties between Japan and China have at least some of their roots in the pre-WW II and during WWII events. I heard on the radio the other day that China (or the Chinese people) feels that Japan has never demonstrated sufficient regret.

Hi Bonnie - I'm usually very squeamish, but I can read about horrible events that really happened -- nonfiction -- that I would never read in fiction. But, as you say, there's a time for everything.

>215 maggie1944: It is important we do not pretend it can not happen again in RL, but reading about stuff over and over really is not necessary.

I agree Karen. It's necessary to study history to learn and, hopefully, not make the same mistakes. But this year I've already read several books that deal with atrocities: In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the 70s; The Garden of Evening Mists, Malaya, WWII; Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption, Japan WWII; Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West and The Orphan Master's Son, North Korea present day. So a mix of fiction and NF. Some of them were nearly as graphic as the Chang book appeared to be and it's very disheartening to realize that atrocities continue today in various forms of genocide.

>216 lauralkeet: I'm afraid you could read nothing but books about atrocities if you really wanted to Laura. There are certainly that many. And I understand that some authors feel the need to make people more aware of the truly horrible acts man is capable of and fiction writers find it a compelling story to build a narrative around. But I guess at this point I thought that's enough for now.

>217 Linda92007: Hi Linda, yes a library book would be a good choice. I happened to pick up my copy at a local used bookstore. But I suppose that's a chance you take with any book you buy, that you might not like it. And I don't know about you but my iPad is looking more and more like my RL bookshelves i.e. loaded (or overloaded really) with books I haven't read. *sigh*

>218 jnwelch: Yes, Joe, I have tagged Iron and Silk with Caro as the recommender but I know several people in the group enjoyed it and I'm finding it to be a very soft and gentle read so just about right:)

>219 maggie1944: I heard on the radio the other day that China (or the Chinese people) feels that Japan has never demonstrated sufficient regret.

Well Karen, that could be because the Japanese never punished any of their war criminals who committed atrocities not only in Nanking but in Japanese prison camps. Truly unspeakable crimes were committed and not one sentence was handed down, not one war criminal was brought to trial so I can understand the Chinese attitude completely.

>220 BLBera: I think in fiction, Beth, they tend to be somewhat softened from whatever the reality was. It would be hard, in fiction, to depict what went on in the death camps although many have tried. But a NF account tends to be so visceral that it becomes hard to swallow, for me anyway.

Well of all things. I had to come back to tell you all what I just read in Iron and Silk. For those who don't know, the book is a series of vignettes about the author's time in China in the late 1980s when he was a teacher of English there. So in the passage I just read, he reads aloud to his class Shirley Jackson's classic story "The Lottery." If you haven't read it you really should; it's pretty short and it's available free online. Anyway in the story there's a lottery held every year in the village and participation is compulsory and the "winner" is stoned to death.

No one knows why the lottery is held or how the tradition began, but no one questions it. Even the victim, when her number is finally called, seems blind to the madness of it all: as the crowd falls upon her, she cries that the choice was not fair, she should have had another chance. When I finished reading the story, a particularly opinionated student raised her hand.

"Teacher Mark," she asked , with a mixture of confusion and disgust in her voice, " why did people in America do that?"

I explained, perhaps too quickly, that this was a fictional story, but she did not seem convinced.

"It must be based on some kind of experience, or else how could she think of it?" She asked, giving me a knowing look. I said that the story gave us an exaggerated and therefore dramatic example of a kind of behavior that occurs all over the world, not just in America, where individuals do terrible things they would ordinarily never do, when they are part of a crowd."

Another student points out that he saw something similar during the Cultural Revolution when everyone had to show their love for Chairman Mao so when he swam across the Yangtze River, hundreds of Chinese people followed him and because there were so many people in the water at once there was no room for them to move their arms so they couldn't swim and, therefore, drowned. The young woman got exasperated and just ended by saying, Anyway, we have all seen terrible things. Why must we read about them? Can't you give us stories that have happy endings?"

So now I'm wondering if the crowd mentality had something to do with the atrocities in Yanking. And I'm also thinking that right now, at this point in my life my need was for a story with a happy ending, which is totally opposite my usual preference which is for something dark.

I don't really know how to explain it all but I thought it was very interesting that after right after I talked to you about The Rape of Nanking I would read this vignette about "The Lottery."

Yes, Bonnie, there is lots of food for thought in that. I think that during the 1950s a lot of energy was directed towards "being happy" in the USA. The USA was competing with "godless communism" and it was so important to know we were just the very best. So, we ignored the continuing racial discrimination and the unpleasantness about priests who did bad things to boys and the occasional murder in a family and....

well, you know. So sometimes perhaps some of the evil needed to be expressed in the fiction world.

I have Iron and Sil somewhere in this very room..... but I know not where. I think I will move onto something I can find. ..

I so enjoy conversations on your thread Bonnie...so glad you are here!

>223 maggie1944: Hi Karen, I think fiction has always been a reliable reflection of societal norms and ongoing interaction among the population (Dickens comes immediately to mind). In the fifties, people were still recovering from the war effort so I think that probably colored their attitudes and the US population still enjoyed a "We're all in this together!" outlook. I can't help but think how different things are now with the country so divided.

>224 mckait: Good idea Kath, to read something that you can find. Those elusive books don't make for good reading;-)

>225 Whisper1: And I'm so glad you're here Linda!

I can understand your abandoning TRoN, Brenda. I told Donna as well that I saw a movie on that particular event and was disturbed. Some of the images are still etched in my mind today so I don't think I could read a book about it, even though I think we shouldn't be ignorant about that part of world history.

And, I can't spell Dyosketsvy?? either. See, no Google used either...haha!

Good excerpt from Iron and Silk, Bonnie. I think you're onto something with the crowd mentality. If others are committing atrocities, it must be okay, right?

>227 jolerie: Hi Valerie, I'm just wondering how they could make a movie that would demonstrate the particular brand of terror inflicted on the people of Nanking. People would go screaming from the theater, I would think.

The thing about typing a word into Google is that you have to be at least close to get a correct response LOL.

>228 jnwelch: Yeah Joe, I've heard of that crowd mentality but it certainly makes one wonder about the commitment of atrocities. Of course, they have the excuse that they were following orders for the most part, I surmise.

One year ago today I was having a fabulous time at my daughter Sara and Kevin's wedding. Any chance I get to relive that wonderful day I grab. So I just looked back at the photo album for a great visual. Now, one year later they have their dream home and seem to be more in love than ever.

Awww ... ! Happy anniversary to the lovely couple.

Beautiful picture. My daughter has finally set a date, Jan. 11, 2014. I don't know much else at this point. It sounds like it will be a destination wedding on St. Thomas, with a reception the following summer for the hundreds of immediate family members of the groom and our smaller family (His mother is one of 14 children, and many of the cousins were brought up together).

Happy Anniversary to Sara and Kevin, Bonnie! I can't believe it's been a year already but it's so nice to hear they're more in love than ever.

Lovely photo...lovey couple...and very lovely mother of the bride!

Happy anniversary to Sara and Kevin! Many many more!

Beautiful!

Love the anniversary photo! Thanks for sharing. Wow, time flies, doesn't it?

>231 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura, I'll relay your wishes:)

>232 BLBera: Ohhhh Beth, a destination wedding! How much fun will that be for you??

>233 phebj: The year has absolutely flown by Pat. Why does time fly by so much faster the older we get?

>234 Whisper1: Thanks Linda:)

>235 richardderus: Thank you so much Richard. They could take after my hubby and me---41 years of wedded bliss:)

>236 mckait: Thanks Kath!

>237 msf59: Thanks Mark, yes and the older we get the faster it flies haha.

What a beautiful couple and of course they look uber in love. :)

Why thank you Valerie. Much appreciated.

70.



Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman 4 stars

I have "Rec by Caro" in my tags for this book but I know a bunch of other LTers have also enjoyed this little gem.

After graduating from Yale in1982, with a degree in Chinese language and literature, Mark Salzman spent two years teaching English at the Hunan Medical College. This book is a reflection of that time in a series of vignettes that enables the reader to develop an appreciation for the little, everyday activities that he encountered in his daily interactions with the Chinese people.

The book is delightful in its revelations of how Chinese society works or did in the 1980s. In addition to being a teacher, Salzman’s love of martial arts gets a real boost when one of China’s most respected wushu masters, Pan, agrees to give him lessons in exchange for English lessons. Their interaction provides for many of the book’s more engaging moments.

There were more humorous quotes than it would be convenient to mention. His dealings with all the forms of Chinese bureaucracy are priceless. Here are a couple, purged from the passages about the author’s initial introduction to his new home, Changsha:

”I had heard that everything in China was spotlessly clean. Instead, dishwater and refuse were thrown casually out of windows, rats the size of squirrels could be seen flattened out all over the roads, spittle and mucus lay everywhere, and the dust and aswh from coal-burning stoves, heaters and factories mixed with dirt and rain to stain the entire city an unpleasant grayish-brown. The smell of nightsoil, left in shallow outhouse troughs for easy collection, wafted through the streets and competed with the unbelievable din of automobile horns to offend the senses.” (Page 10)

And:

”Comrade Hu led me into the house and pointed to my room. A four foot seven, sturdy-looking peasant woman in her late fifties sat inside. As soon as I came into view, she jumped straight up and ran at me, greeting me in Changsha dialect so loudly I thought her voice would knock me down. ‘This is Comrade Yang,’ Comrade Hu told me. ‘Everyone calls her Old Yang. Her name means sheep. She cleans the house and boils the water. If you need anything, let her know.’ Old Sheep laughed in shrieks and ran to pick up my bags. The largest of them, my cello case, stood as tall as she, but she insisted on leaning it against her back and carrying it into the room.” (Page 11)

I enjoyed this look at China in the eighties and I especially liked getting to know the Chinese people who came across, on the whole, as a kind, humble, and naïve people who displayed a politeness that was quite charming to behold.

Great review of Iron and Silk! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading more of Salzman's work.
I started another NF gem, Destiny of the Republic. I'm falling for Millard. She's amazing.

Thanks Mark, I've been seeing all the buzz about Destiny of the Republic. I know absolutely nothing about Garfield so I will probably get to it eventually. I already own but haven't read River of Doubt so I need to read that first. I picked up Team of Rivals from the library today. I hadn't realized how massive it was but I just read Goodwin's introduction so I think it will be a good one.

Another thumbs-up for your review of Iron and Silk!

I enjoyed your review of Iron and Silk, Bonnie. Well-written accounts of experiences in other countries and cultures are a favorite of mine and I will be on the alert for this one.

Iron and Silk sounds quite enjoyable. I'll put it on the Christmas list.

Another thumb for your Iron and Silk review, Bonnie. It's fun to be reminded of the humor in that book, and the so different part of the world it depicted.

Hi Bonnie - I highly recommend Destiny of the Republic. Garfield was a remarkable man (about whom I knew nothing before reading this) who might have gone on to accomplish great things. The story itself weaves the shooting into a larger narrative about the state of medicine and science in the early 1880s, both on the cusp of enormously important new developments. Millard has great skill and crafted a very engrossing history.

>245 richardderus: Thank you Richard!

>246 Linda92007: It's a short book Linda so it would be easy to fit it in and it was a unique look at the Chinese people in the 80s. Their innocence and, their sweet nature came through loud and clear.

>247 TadAD: Hi Tad, oh my, it is time to start thinking about Christmas isn't it? Once again, time is slipping away.

>248 jnwelch: Thanks Joe, the understated humor in Iron and Silk was one of its most endearing qualities.

>249 vivians: Hi Vivian, it's great to see you here. I'm convinced that I will have to add Destiny of the Republic to my teetering tower. Thanks for giving me a nudge:)

Beautiful pic of your daughter and son-in-law!
I am not going to read The Rape of Nanking, I just dont think my brain will be able to cope with what is in that book. Once you read one horrible horrible detail, you cannot unread it. Times 50, the same.
Im glad you had the foresight to abandon it.

Nice review :)

>252 LovingLit: Hi Megan, Once you read one horrible horrible detail, you cannot unread it. Times 50, the same.

Very well put.

>253 mckait: Thanks Kath.

Great to see the photo of the still happy couple in all their finery Bonnie - your daughter has a passing resemblance to the late great Karen Carpenter by the way although she looks more healthy certainly.

I just caught up and echo the compliments on your handsome couple and resolve not to read *RoN* ever.

>225 Whisper1: Hi Paul, Hmmm Karen Carpenter?? IDK....maybe....

Thanks Peggy, yep I would advise that you skip The Rape of Nanking.

Wow, Sarah does resemble Karen Carpenter. Does she sing like an angel? Congrats to the happy couple on their first anniversary. That year went by quickly.

I think Sarah is much prettier! Just make sure she EATS! Great photo!

Bonnie - I did say a healthier looking version of Karen Carpenter and I think your side-by-side shots demonstrates it. btw Mark is right.

>259 Donna828:. Thanks Donna, sing like an angel? I doubt that. She gave up on chorus in school and opted to play the clarinet in the high school wind ensemble instead so.... But you're right about the year flying by quickly.

>260 msf59:. Thanks Mark, we don't worry much about her eating. She was an athlete in hs and college and I do recall after practice for field hockey and softball having to get out of the way when she got home, ravenous. Haha.

>261 PaulCranswick:. Thanks Paul, yep I saw that you noted a healthier version of KC. Sad, sad story, that one.

A year has gone by already? - seems like yesterday you were sharing their wedding plans. Happy anniversary to Sara and Kevin!

Just keeping up.. and agreeing..the year has certainly flown by!!!

Loved your review of Iron and Silk, Bonnie. So glad you liked it ... I get nervous sometimes, recommending books because of course not everyone likes everything I read. But I don't know anyone I've recommended this to yet, who did not enjoy it.
I think you'll also enjoy his True Notebooks, another non-fiction memoir of his time teaching a writing class to death row prisoners. It doesn't have the humor that Iron and Silk has, but I found it touching and he unearth the humanity and sensitivity that is often hidden by the hard exterior of those society want punished and forgotten.

>263 Copperskye: Thanks Joanne, as I said further up thread, the older I get the faster time flies but yes, this year in particular has really flown.

>264 mckait: Hi Kath, you working stiff you;-)

>265 cameling: Thanks Caro, you're usually a good barometer for me. I will look for True Notebooks. I also picked up The Soloist at a used bookstore recently. Have you read that one?

Wow, look at that resemblance! :) Total doppelganger!

Hi, Bonnie! Happy anniversary to your daughter and her husband. Lovely photos!

>267 jolerie: Haha Valerie I would have never thought of that.

>268 tymfos: Thanks Terri!

Thanks.. I think... lol.
I have passed euphoria, and entered into the uh oh zone....

>270 mckait: OIC Kath, the uh oh zone accompanies every new job. You'll do great!

Class notes - Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)– identified a third register of signature – the tendency of the author to inject herself into the narrative



Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison 4.2 stars

In her 1993 acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize for Literature, Toni Morrison spoke about the importance of language:

”When language dies, out of carelessness, disuse, indifference and absence of esteem, or killed by fiat,…all users and makers are accountable for its demise. In her country children have bitten their tongues off and use bullets instead to iterate the voice of speechlessness, of disabled and disabling language, of language adults have abandoned altogether as a device for grappling with meaning, providing guidance, or expressing love. But she knows tongue-suicide is not only the choice of children. It is common among the infantile heads of state and power merchants whose evacuated language leaves them with no access to what is left of their human instincts for they speak only to those who obey, or in order to force obedience.”

Powerful stuff. And through Song of Solomon, Morrison displays her own power over language and makes it the main theme of her book about family. The story opens in a chaotic passage where insurance man, Robert Smith, spreads his blue silk wings, and sails off the top of Mercy Hospital (called No Mercy by the black people who were not allowed admittance) only to find, too late, that he can’t really fly after all. In the crowd watching the spectacle is a woman, whose contralto voice sings,

”O Sugarman done fly away
Sugarman done gone
Sugarman cut across the sky
Sugarman gone home….”

A young boy in the crowd, Guitar, is told to go around the back of the hospital and get the guard. Also in the crowd is a pregnant woman whose basket of red velvet hearts is upended. The singing woman tells her she should go home because her baby will be born by morning. The rest of the story deals with the characters that Morrison introduces on the first ten pages of the book.

The newborn baby is Macon (Milkman) Dead and his journey to find his family’s roots is the basis for Song of Solomon. The song, sung by Milkman’s Aunt Pilate, is the key to enabling him to find his family, once thought lost to him. Morrison employs more symbolism in this book than can be unearthed in a few words but in many ways this story is about the author’s family. Milkman is a self-absorbed character, who doesn’t find it easy to trust others and who scorns his mother but is also dependent on her. As the narrative progresses, his story changes from simple stories to more complicated stories. His friend Guitar, on the other hand, goes in the opposite direction, from complicated to simple.

As we follow Milkman on his journey, it all boils down to language.

Morrison brilliantly weaves the tapestry that is Milkman’s roots and, in the end, wants the reader to weave the meaning of the story yourself. It can mean many things but the story will go on.

I must get to some Toni Morrison soon. I have Jazz on the shelves and will get to it this year methinks. Trust that you have had a splendid weekend.

Hi Paul, I read Jazz when it first came out and I've also read Beloved. I'm not a huge Morrison fan but I really liked Song of Solomon and I think I benefited from having a professor to help with the literal translation. I hope your weekend was fabulous as well.

love the cartoons and lovely pictures sprinkled throughout your thread... esp #176 and #230! your daughter is a beauty.

re the choice not to read dreadful books:
ditto what karen says:
"I am saddened, and burdened, by the fact that human beings can be worse that animals in their lowest, most evil, behaviors. I agree that at some point one does not need to continue to submit themselves to the pain of revisiting some of the ugliness. It is important we do not pretend it can not happen... but reading about stuff over and over really is not necessary. " ... for me too
i was truly disturbed to see the movie "A Clockwork Orange" and reading the book Blindness. Sometimes i just stumble into horrid images i just can't shake. to each their own, i guess.

otherwise - you have read some good ones up there. i enjoyed iron and silk and need to read others by Salzman.

HI, Bonnie! Just stopping by to wish you a good evening.

>275 -Cee-: Hi Cee, great to see you out and about. I can usually tolerate some pretty dark narratives but The Rape of Nanking was over the top for me and the fact that it was NF made it that much more grotesque. Is there no end to the ways man is inhuman to his fellow man? Apparently not.

I have another of Salzman's books on my shelf---The Soloist.

>276 tymfos: Hi Terri, we still have power so I'm feeling pretty good this evening:)

I went to our library sale this morning and came away with a few gems:

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin - I think Joanne recommended this

The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok - been on my WL for a long time

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas Friedman

The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullerse I read West With the Night, Markham's memoir

Straight on Till Morning: A Biography of Beryl Markham by Mary S. Lovell - I've had this on my WL since I read West With the Night, Markham's memoir, a couple of years ago

I read both of the Markham books and enjoyed them. I hope you will, too.

Nice book haul, Bonnie! A few of thoughs are on my wishlist too. I've owned The World is Flat for ages, I need some motivation to read it. Started then stalled.
Any storm troubles in your neck of the woods?

Yes, me too, for owning and not yet reading The World is Flat. Such a clever title, but I'm afraid the world has moved on and I'm not sure I'm interested in Friedman's early thinking.

>279 maggie1944:/281 Hi Karen, that's good to hear about the Markham bio. After I read West with the Night I found out from a few sources that she had a much spicier life than she revealed and there was even a question about whether she actually wrote WWTN herself so I hope this book will settle some of those questions. At any rate she was a fascinating woman, clearly way ahead of her times.

As far as the Friedmen book goes, you may be right about his early thinking. It's not a book I'll read anytime soon and anyway, i seem to collect an awful lot of books that just languish on my shelves LOL. It's part of the illness I think;-)

>280 Carmenere: Hi Lynda, we escaped with very little ill effects from the storm. It was very windy last night but I'm not sure we ever got sustained winds above 40 mph or gusts of 75 mph so we were very lucky, I guess. No flooding at all, even along the lake Erie shorline, which is usually problematic during these kinds of storms.

72.



Kings of the Earth by Jon Clinch 4.5 stars

I didn’t know which book to read next. I’m trying to put more spontaneity into my reading so I was just picking out books, reading a couple paragraphs, putting the book back, picking out something else. Easy to do when you have upwards of 400 unread books on your shelves. Anyway, the one I finally settled in with sucked me in on the first page. And many, many thanks to Mark for this book which I am happy to pass on to anyone who thinks they would like to experience Clinch's spectacular writing and storytelling ability. Just PM me your address.

MY REVIEW

The aged Proctor brothers live in squalid disarray on a rundown farm in rural upstate NY. The story opens with oldest brother Vernon dying in his sleep but the medical examiner has raised some question as to whether or not it was a natural death after all and they question younger brother Creed. That leaves feeble-minded middle brother Audie. Del Graham, the State Police officer arriving to investigate, notes:

”The house smelled like cow manure and dry rot and spoiled food. Like tobacco and burnt rope and rat droppings. Like old men and sickness and death….He walked past the old man who sat on the porch with his long white beard pooling in his lap and his hands knotted over his hairless scalp, and he went through the open front door as into a mouth full of rotted teeth. The disarray and the stink. The order and the purposefulness gone to no use in the end.” (Page 18)

Did I mention that these men slept together….in the same bed? Since they were boys. So the question becomes not did Creed kill his brother but the more complicated, how do people live like this in apparent ignorant bliss? And Clinch utilizes pitch-perfect prose to tell this story---gritty, unsentimental, stark and tenacious.

After opening with that death, Clinch goes on to tell the story of three generations of the Proctor family and it’s in the telling of the story that we realize what a talent Clinch is. The narrative is told through multiple viewpoints, and shifts back and forth in time from 1932 to the year of Vernon’s death, 1990. In the hands of a less skillful writer this kind of format could be a disastrous, convoluted and mawkish tale but in Clinch’s hands it comes through beautifully and seamlessly and had me furiously turning pages. Multi-layered; haunting, gritty prose and a story that might seem unbelievable if it weren’t for the fact that it was based on the true story of the Ward brothers of Munnsville, NY and very highly recommended..

Oh, that sounds good. Onto the WL it goes. Thanks again for a great review, Bonnie. :)

Happy to oblige Valerie:)

Bonnie, you got me with a BB of Kings of the Earth. I don't know if I'll get to it soon, but onto my WL it goes!

Well, apparently my work here is done Karen;-)

Hi Bonnie - great review of Kings of the Earth -- as always. I like your method of choosing a book to read. I often do the same. Nice haul from your book sale.

How is your class going?

Starred your review of Kings of the Earth. I've added it to my wishlist.

Brilliant review of Kings of the Earth - straight gone onto my wishlist.

Bonnie- Great review of Kings of the Earth. Hopefully, you can create a few more Clinch fans out of the deal.
And if anyone is interested, try to track down the documentary "Brother's Keeper", based on the actual events in this novel.
I really enjoyed Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter and also have the Memory Palace waiting in the wings.

Bonnie - Kings of the Earth does look great. I read The World is Flat a few years ago and struggled manfully with it and I am not sure it left me any the wiser in any event.

>288 BLBera: I like your method of choosing a book to read. I often do the same. I need to do it more often Beth. I'm tiring of all my planned reads and yet here I am doing a GR for Team of Rivals and a tutored read for Barchester Towers, both in November. **sigh** Oh well, maybe the rest of the month can be more spontaneous. Class is going great with only two books left to read.

>289 SandDune: I hope you like Kings of the Earth Rhian. It's pretty darn gritty.

>290 drachenbraut23: Thank you Bianca. I hope you find it to your liking.

>291 msf59: Thanks Mark, I ordered the dvd of "Brother's Keeper" from the library. I think my hubby will be interested too. I also ordered up Finn. Have you read that one?

>292 PaulCranswick: Yeah it's looking more and more like The World is Flat is going to end up as a library donation, Paul.

So, so, sorry Bonnie! I just realized that I've been calling you Brenda for the last couple of months! All is corrected now! These LT names are going to be the death of me. :)

Haha Valerie, don't think anything of it. You're not the only one to call me Brenda or some other name that's not mine and I'm not offended at all. As a matter of fact I'm sure I've probably called a few LTers by the wrong name, more than once too;-)

Bonnie- We just watched the latest Homeland! WOW! What a great episode. I was hoping they were going to go in that direction. It was an acting showcase for Lewis.

No, I have not yet read Finn and I have a nice signed copy too! I will move it on to my Must-Read Now shelf.

Oh yes Mark, that show is absolutely riveting. It's like I just wait to get from one episode to the next. Ridiculous.

Lucky you to have a signed copy of Finn.

great review - sounds like another good one!

i must be truly on the mend cuz i feel like buying books again.
i've been tempted by tigana - discussed above - and i ordered it on ammy. yay!

#230 that is a lovely photo! Hope they had a great anniversary!

>298 -Cee-: Thanks Cee, a very good one indeed! Yay for buying books again! I'm really looking forward to Tigana but it is so far out of my comfort zone that I'm a teeny bit nervous too.

>299 ChelleBearss: They did have a great anniversary Chelle!

Straight on Til Morning A Biography of Beryl Markham is a wonderful book! She was an incredible woman. Have you see the movie Out of Africa? It is one of my favorites.