lit_chick's 2013 Reading (1)

Welcome, everyone! I look forward to sharing another year of literary adventure with all of you. Here's to 2013 on the threads!




February

9. Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
8. Coventry, Helen Humphreys
7. The Englishman's Boy, Guy Vanderhaeghe
6. Broken Wings, Clarissa Smith

January

5. The Lighthouse, Alison Moore
4. Philida, Andre Brink
3. Small Wars, Sadie Jones
2. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry
1. Can You Forgive Her, Anthony Trollope

2012 Wrap-Up:

The Best:
(Top 10 reads)

The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
Far From the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
Small Island, Andrea Levy
Unbroken, Lauren Hillenbrand
Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel
The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt
A Good Man, Guy Vanderhaeghe
The Jade Peony, Wayson Choy
The Detour, Gerbrand Bakker
Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng

The Rest:
(Those I struggled not to include above)

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
Juliet in August, Dianne Warren
Sorry, Gail Jones
The Outcast, Sadie Jones

I'm presently reading two fabulous selections. On audio, I'm almost through Can You Forgive Her, the first of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels. I'm thoroughly enjoying and hope to get through at least a couple more of these this year. I'm also reading Lonesome Dove, about which I've heard much much – both the book and the movie – but am only now venturing into that territory. How wonderfully entertaining and witty! I had no idea!

No. 1? I knew I stayed up late tonight for a reason. Welcome back, Nancy...and Happy New Year!

#3 Hi Donna! No 1! Thank you, and Happy New Year to you, too : ).

Oh so excited to see you! Maybe I can find a graphic? ....... Hey, I looked up Lonesome Dove and it said it was 960 pages or so! That's real chunkster , Nancy! Happy New Years! I'm bringing in the New Years with the dog - husband will be in bed for work again tomorrow - so romantic!!!! :)

Happy New Year, Nancy! Good to see you back for 2013.

DesiComments | http://www.coolnsmart.com | Happy New Year | Forward this Picture

Oh it worked!! :) Sorry its mice, but they were cute in a picture format!... :)

Found your new thread Nancy - happy New Year!

#6 Hi Deb, excited to see you, too! Lonesome Dove is indeed a chunkster, but wholly entertaining! Enjoy New Year's Eve with your dog, LOL.

#8 Hi Anne, thank you. Happy New Year to you, too!

#9-10 Aw, Deb, SO cute, LOL!

#11 Glad you found me, Cushla. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Nancy. Glad to see you have kept on reading in the last part of 2012, and of to a rocket start with the first in the Pallister-series. You are way ahead of me now, Trollope-wise.

Unbroken and Detour were among my favorite reads for 2012 too.

Happy New Year, Nancy!

I love many of your top picks from 2012, I look forward to following your reading this year!

Nancy - one of my pioneer friends in the group, I am so pleased to see you back in the heart of the group and making a flying start with your reading.

I hope that the difficult times that beset the second half of 2012 are well and truly consigned to the past. Chin up dear lady!

Happy new year Nancy!

Happy New Year, Nancy! Don't mind me, I am just settling in to follow you reading for the 2013. I keep getting prodded by Lonesome Dove - a book that seems to want my attention which is surprising as I usually steer clear of anything of its genre, so I am looking forward to seeing what you think of it once you finish it.

#13 Hi Carsten! Good to see you! I think when you get to the Palliser series, you will really enjoy. I'm listening on audio, with Simon Vance reading. I loved the Barchester series, but if Can You Forgive Her is any indication, I may love the Palliser novels even more! Glad you enjoyed Unbroken and The Detour as much as I did. Stellar reads!

#14 Happy New Year, Diana, and welcome!

#15 Welcome, Karen! We do share some gems! I'll look forward to following your reading as well.

#16 Hi Paul, you are indeed one of my "pioneer" friends : ).

#17 Happy New Year, Chelle!

Yay, Nancy! I think that Can You Forgive Her? is the weakest of the Palliser novels. You are in for a REAL treat!!! If you encourage me to read Lonesome Dove, I may have to hurt you -------

#18 Happy New Year, Lori! You must have snuck in while I was posting above : ). It's interesting how books prod for our attention, isn't it? Guy Vanderhaeghe's frontier novels did that with me. I remember thinking, when a friend recommended, "I don't think so." Turns out I can't put him down, LOL. He was on my Best list again this year for A Good Man.

#20 Hi Peggy, good to see you : ). I'm delighted by your comments on the Palliser novels, woot!! A real treat, indeed! Laughed out loud at your Lonesome Dove remark : ).

Welcome back!

A warm welcome for your return to posting Nancy. And a Happy New Year too. Lonesome Dove is one of my desert isle books:-)

#22 Thanks, Jim!

#23 Thank you, Bonnie, and Happy New Year! You know, I remember you saying that Lonesome Dove was a desert isle selection for you. It's looking promising that it may be so for me as well : ).

Blimey, girl, if you haven't already finished Lonesome Dove. Hmm - must have been abridged! Ha! Just teasing you! Yesterday I got hit with some nasty vertigo and nausea for oh - 8 hours - really bad. Then William arrived home from Hong Kong and I told him that I would like to try Vietnamese Pho , since I am reading about Vietnam. He regaled me with stories of what he ate in Hong Kong - including Pho with pig intestine in it - ugh - I see it in the supermarkets here -and he also ate........... bird - with the head on it! He said he did not eat the head, but a couple of the cousins did . Oh Ralph!

#25 Hope you are feeling MUCH better today, Deb. "Oh, Ralph!" indeed to the "bird - with the head on it!" Pass, LOL. I am nowhere near finished Lonesome Dove, ha! But it is highly entertaining.

Nancy, I'm so glad you're enjoying Can You Forgive Her?. I loved the whole series. I'm going to look for Lonesome Dove, which sounds excellent. I've heard of it, but never thought of reading it. But the reviews are amazing!

#27 Welcome, Susan : ). Glad to know you also enjoyed the Palliser novels. I'm looking forward to them! I know, the reviews for Lonesome Dove are fab! (so many 5* ratings) At this point, not quite halfway through, I'm thinking mine will also be 5*.

*eyes copy of Lonesome Dove sitting at the top of the pile on the floor near my bed... resolves to rescue it soon...*

Glad you're enjoying it, Nancy!

Ohhh I'm so impressed by your love and reading of English Lit! First the Barchester series, now the Palliser novels! Wowser Nancy! And then there is me.... eying my copy of Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley as soon as I finish my current book . Yeah to Flavia! :)

PS I'm glad that you know what ralphing is. A bit of slang from my younger days slipped in there!:)

Nancy - Anthony Trollope is suc a joy - still witty and accessible after a remove of almost 150 years. John Major is apparently never without one of his novels - pretty much explains why he never got any work done when he was British PM.

#29 Hi Anne, LOL. Well, it's at the top of the pile!

#30 Hi Deb, I enjoy Trollope tremendously, and I think his Palliser novels will be even better than the Barsetshire series! I remember how much you enjoyed Flavia, so delighted to hear you've got another coming up. Funny, I read the first of those and then just ... well, left them. Perhaps I'll get back to Flavia one day.

#31 Hi Paul, chuckled at your remark the former British PM never got any work done for reading Trollope. At least he was doing something productive (more than can be said for many government reps).

Ha, ha, Paul - wonderful comment!!!

If only more world leaders would read Trollope - preferably The Way We Live Now - and listened to the cautious words of dear Trollope the world would soon be a better place...ahem, well, maybe. I haven't read that particular one but it was a great BBC-production. Recommended by you, Nancy.

#33 Carsten, I couldn't agree more : ). I also haven't read The Way We Live Now, at least not yet, but I'll definitely watch the BBC production again at some point. You must try to get hold of it!

Nancy - John Major's passions were/are cricket, Trollope and female junior ministers. Two out of three ain't bad.
Have a lovely weekend.

Hi Nancy!
From your list:
The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt- (really want to read (got it from library but took it back unread, still feeling bad)
The Detour, Gerbrand Bakker (Really want to read, heard great things about it)
Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng (love love loved)
Great to see you back this year.
I hope the year treats you well :)

Your wrap up... The Sister's Brothers - finally girl! I wish I could read that fresh again! :) I think I lent it to my sister.. must get it back...
The Detour - that was fun! You positively must get to The Lighthouse by Alison Moore .. I liked it even more and interestingly Carsten and I have a great discussion -and it's short!
Small Island - one fab book!
The Jade Peony - he's fabulous author!

I wonder what books you and I will discover this year that are totally fab! I think The Lighthouse is one of them, maybe The Light Between Oceans...I recommend those to you! I'm sure Carsten will second me! :)

I do hope you are having a wonderful weekend, dear friend!

#35 LOL, Paul!

#36 Welcome, Megan : ). Think you will love The Sisters Brothers!

#37 Hi Deb, looking forward to The Lighthouse and The Light Between Oceans. Read one of Carsten's comments recently that he is really enjoying the latter (your thread? his? ... oh, my scrambled mind!) It's always fun when we see books we LOVE on another's Best Books list, isn't it : ).

Happy belated New Year, Nancy--that's a great list of favorites you've got there. I'm still working my way through the Barchester novels and can't imagine I'll get to the Pallisers before 2014, but who knows?

Lovely to 'see' you again Nancy! I'm hoping to make progress with Trollope's Barsetshire series this year but I loved BT so much that once I've finished that series I'm sure I will want to read all his other books!

My evil plan is working! Mwuh-ha-ha-ha-ha...!

#39 Thank you, Anne, and Happy New Year to you, too. So glad you are enjoying the Barchester novels : ).

#40 Hi Heather, yes, lovely to "see" you again, too! Delighted you enjoyed Barchester Towers so much! I loved that series as well. And if Can You Forgive Her is any indication, I'm going to enjoy the Palliser novels even more!

#41 Welcome, Liz! If your evil plan is Trollope addiction, it is working, LOL! Do tell : ).

C'mon, you know how this works: I can't reveal my evil plan until you're tied up in my secret lair, about to die in some overly complicated way, while I stroke my cat and sip cognac. But psst, you're on the right track...

#43 Too much, Liz! Cats, cognac, complicated ...

Hey there Nancy, too much cognac you say? I can tell... I came over to your thread to remind you to update your ticker. I'm a Nosy Parker and bossy too! :) Can you tell I'm a mother? Update your ticker please... :)

#45 LOL, Deb. I'm still reading Lonesome Dove and Can You Forgive Her, so ticker is not yet an item for update. But thank you, dear friend, for the reminder : ).

Your reading year is off to an excellent start, I see! Good for you.

#47 Welcome, Stasia! So good to see you : ).

hehe, you got ticked off about your ticker :)

#49 Just so, Megan : ). Those freaking tickers, LOL!

Nancy, I found Lonesome Dove at the library at lunchtime, in a brand new sparkly clean version. I took that as a sign that I should borrow it immediately :-)

#51 Susan, how delightful! Don't you love when that happens? My library copy was also on the shelf when I found it, also a shiny new one!

1.
Can You Forgive Her, Anthony Trollope



Rating: 5/5

2011, Blackstone Audiobooks, Read by Simon Vance

“What's a woman to do?” (Ch 6)

Indeed! Trollope introduces a delightful cast of women in Can You Forgive Her, all of whom have their own ideas as to the age-old dilemma. Heroine Alice Vavasor cannot make up her mind at all as to what a woman should do. Twice engaged to her cousin George Vavasor, and twice engaged to John Grey, she eventually marries. But she could not possibly have made the decision more complicated. Kate Vavasor, cousin to Alice, is firmy of the mind that her role is to manage the affairs of others, in particular those of her cousin and her loathsome brother, George. Unfortunately for all concerned, Kate seems not qualified to manage her own affairs, never mind those of others. Lady Glencora Palliser, also cousin to Alice a wealthy heiress, does what a woman in her position was expected to do: marry a title and yet more wealth. Alas, she is in love not with her husband, Plantaganet Palliser, but with the worthless Burgo Fitzgerald. And Arabella Greenow, Alice’s aunt and an impressively forward thinker, determines that a woman’s best course of action is to marry young to a wealthy old man, wait out the “old,” secure the “wealthy,” and then enjoy the luxury of doing precisely as she pleases!

“Her marriage for money had been altogether successful. The nursing of old Greenow had not been very disagreeable to her, nor had it taken longer than she had anticipated. She had now got all the reward that she had ever promised herself, and she really did feel grateful to his memory. I almost think that among those plentiful tears some few drops belonged to sincerity.” (Ch 47)

Trollope’s staple political landscape is inhabited by Plantaganet Palliser, John Grey, and George Vavasor. Palliser, heir to the enormously wealthy Duke of Omnium and wholly preoccupied with politics, aspires to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. Grey, a well-educated gentleman of modest means, seeks the parliamentary seat at Silverbridge. And finally, George Vavasor, a disinherited, despicable, scoundrel, and the perfect foil to both Palliser and Grey, hopes to secure any seat he can, by any means he can.

I adored Can You Forgive Her! Hands down, my favourite character is the charming and irrepressible Lady Glencora. She is Trollope at his absolute finest, and I often could not help but laugh aloud at her spirited chatter. I read the Barsetshire series last year and loved them, but, if Can You Forgive Her is any indication, I’m going to absolutely treasure the Palliser novels! Highly recommended.

Wow, the Palliser-series are of to a great start, I can tell. And a good start of this reading-year. Loved your review and the quote: I almost think that among those plentiful tears some few drops belonged to sincerity. Typical Trollope :)

It's good to know there are many good hours of delightful reading left with Trollope and Simon Vance. Well, soon I will be of to Allington....

Great review, Nancy! I did get a bit impatient with Alice, but there is a great cast of characters to follow in this book, and indeed the series.

I have a lovely set of the Palliser novels just sitting there, waiting for me. Your review helps their cause :)

Oh my, what a great review, Nancy. Thumbed you. I've simply got to add this to my obese wish list and get hold of a copy sooner rather than later. I've still to read the Barsetshire series, even though that's been in my TBR Tower for a while. I should move it up a rung or to and perhaps make it a February read.

5 out of 5!
Great, good start.

You are on a Trollope roll Nancy. Thumb for your excellent (and enticing) review. I will be reading Barchester Towers this month.

That was an excellent read, 5 out of 5. Happy weekend, Nancy!

What a great way to start the year with a 5 star Trollope (why is it I keep wanting to drop the "e"?)

Really enjoyed your review Nancy. Have a lovely weekend.

How great to start the new year with a 5-star book. I must read Trollope someday. So many books I want to read.

Have a fabulous week end, Nancy!

#54 Thanks, Carsten. I know you will enjoy Small House at Allington, and Simon Vance rocks!

#55 Hi Susan, I also found myself getting impatient with Alice. But Lady Glencora was something else altogether!

#56 Katie, I hope you will enjoy the Palliser debut as much as I!

#57 Thanks, Caroline, I hope you will love the Barsetshire series as well as I did!

#58 Megan, yes 5/5! Love it!

#59 Thanks, Bonnie, I am on a Trollope roll! Enjoy Barchester Towers : ).

#60 Thank you, Diana : ).

#61 Thanks, Paul. I must agree that 5/5 is a great way to start off a new year.

#62 Donna, I am tickled about my first read of 2013 being a five star! You have a good weekend, too : ).

Yes, Lady Glencora is a great character! What's up next for you, Nancy?

I can answer that, Susan - Phineas Finn! Right, Nancy?
I'm thrilled that you are as pleased with the Pallisers as I was, and that was a very, very good review!

Excellent review, Nancy! Enjoy your Trollope roll! :) Now, about your ticker.... ;) And I need to get to my own thread and update it very soon!

Ohhh just noticed that your review is hot -maybe has been for a day or two! Always hot, Lit Chick! :)

#64 Hi Susan, Peggy is right that that Phineas Finn must be up next on audio!

#65 Thanks Peggy, you are so right! Tickled that you loved the Pallisers, too!

#66 Thanks, Deb. Yes, about that ticker ... done, LOL!

#67 Hot stuff, Deb, hehe!

I mean to get to all of Trollope one of these days. I have not read anything in the Palliser series and still need to finish the last book in the Barchester series.

Wow! Great review of Can you forgive her? and what a book to start the year with! I will most definitely be reading the Palliser series once I've finished with Barsetshire.

#69 Hi Stasia, I know you will enjoy Trollope when you are able to get to him.

#70 Hi Heather, I'm thrilled with Can You Forgive Her and with starting off my year with a five star read!

Enjoy Phineas Finn! I think once I've finished Lonesome Dove (which I started this morning, and love!) I'll read The Last Chronicle of Barset as I have been trying to finish that series for ages.

Ahhh I can rest easily now. Your ticker is up to date. I am thrilled to see in my feed that you have uploaded The Light Between Oceans. I hope you enjoy it as much as Carsten and I did !

Wonderful review, Nancy. One day I will read Trollope!!

#73 Glad you are resting easy now, Deb, LOL. No idea when I'll get to The Light Between Oceans, but with both your and Carsten's endorsement, I couldn't pass it by!

#74 Thanks, Dee! Trollope is another one I love to listen to. Simon Vance, Blackstone Audio, is a fabulous narrator. I've also read good things about Timothy West, Cover to Cover.

Just cruising through, Nancy!

*Hi!*

Crusing through too Nancy! I'm pretty sure that my " Orange Read" for January is going to be Sorry by Gail Jones thanks to your " HEAVY " influence. It takes two... :)

What do you think of Lonesome Dove, Nancy? Is it another 5 star read to keep up a perfect score so far this year.

Wishing you a lovely weekend whilst dropping by.

Oh don't miss Island of Wings, Nancy! But I'll understand if Philida comes first, since it is in your library for you. I'm enjoying the heart breaking Sorry.. And your ticker - are you due for an update? ;) I just love seeing my ticker move forward, so by extension , I like to see your ticker up to date.

Hi Nancy, great review of Can You Forgive Her?!! It looks terrific. I have had Lonesome Dove in my pile (backed by a whole truckload of superlative reviews) for an embarrassingly long time. I hope you love it!

#78 Hi Paul, I'm loving Lonesome Dove. Hope to finish it tomorrow. It's either a 4.5 or 5 star read : ). Hope your weekend is lovely, too.

#79 Thanks, Deb, re Island of Wings. So glad you are enjoying Sorry. Nope, my ticker's not ready for moving yet, unfortunately. That said, I hope to move it tomorrow : ).

#80 Thanks, Anne. I'm so delighted to have started off 2013 with a 5 star read in Can You Forgive Her? I am loving Lonesome Dove; you need to unpack the truckload!

Lonesome Dove- that is a good kick in the shins there to remind me to read that one this year. One of those ones I have meant to read for a while now.
Luckily I dont own it yet, so can look out for it about the place and be prompted to read it when I spot it 2nd hand:)

#82 Hi Megan, I think you will enjoy Lonesome Dove. And it's always fun to be on the lookout for books!

2.
Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry



Rating: 5/5

“’It’s a fine world, though rich in hardships at times,’ Augusts said.” (Ch 96)

Famed, retired Texas Rangers, Augustus McRae and Woodrow Call, are proprietors of the Hat Creek Cattle Company in Lonesome Dove, Texas. The Rangers, who could not be more different, enjoy a quirky friendship come solid partnership. Gus, warm, personable, and understanding, is the perfect antidote to Call’s military-like precision, aloneness, and apparent indifference. When Call decides that the Hat Creek outfit’s destiny is in Montana, he, Gus, and their hands work to gather a herd of 3,000. Conveniently, Lonesome Dove is located very near the Mexican border. Gus dryly observes, “It’s a funny life. All these cattle and nine-tenths of the horses is stolen, and yet we was once respected lawmen.” (Ch 24) So begins a legendary cattle drive beset by “snakes, wild pigs, Indians, bandits, bears or other threats” (Ch 38) through the American frontier.

Certainly Lonesome Dove is enough cowpoke adventure to satisfy those yearning for a froniter read. But McMurty masters more than the frontier novel here. An abundant cast of perfectly flawed, unforgettable characters and a crackerjack plot result in much more: love story, coming of age, longing, regret, prejudice, and betrayal. Superb characterization and an omniscient point of view allow readers a look at the human, relatable flaws of those who, as in real life, are most always much more than they initially appear. Woodrow Call, for all of his detached remoteness, acknowledges the painful experience of past love:

“Better by far never to have known the pleasure than to have the pain that followed. Maggie had been a weak woman, and yet her weakness had all but slaughtered his strength. Sometimes just the thought of her made him feel that he shouldn’t pretend to lead men anymore.” (Ch 46)

An absolutely epic read, Lonesome Dove is not to be missed!

Two 5 star books in a row! You are on a roll...

ETA Great reviews, by the way.

Now you've done it Nancy...made me want to reread Lonesome Dove with that terrific review. Thumb!

Thumbs up on your wonderful review, Nancy! I see that you are also reading Small Wars by Sadie Jones. It will be interesting to hear from you how that compares to Sorry which I am nearly finished.

Congratulations on finishing Lonesome Dove - and even moving your ticker along without a reminder from me! A 5 star day all round! :)

Yippie, Nancy! Another five star and a sure thumb :) perfectly flawed, unforgettable characters - don't you just love them. I remember another frontier novel from you last year. I'm more interested in these stories since I read Cathers My Antonia last year.

#85 Thanks, Anne. I'm tickled with two 5* reads in a row!

#86 Thanks, Bonnie : ). Usually when I give a book 5*, it is one I can imagine rereading (although, of course, one lifetime will never be long enough).

#87 Thanks, Deb! I'm torn as to what to read next, but for the moment it's Small Wars. I've got a library collection of excellent reads on my dining room table, several of which cannot be renewed because they're in demand. Oh, decisions, decisions! Glad to hear you are nearly finished Sorry.

#88 Thanks, Carsten, another 5* read is fab! I read a couple of excellent frontier novels last year: A Good Man and The Sisters Brothers, but the latter was as much humour as frontier. My Antonia is on the pile TBR; I remember that you thoroughly enjoyed it.

Great review, Nancy!

Excellent review, Nancy! I hope to finish it this week.

#90 Thanks, Katie : ).

#91 Thanks, Susan. I hope you enjoy it as much, or even nearly as much, as I did!

Stopping by to say hi and thanks for the recommendation of Sorry which was so excellent on many levels. I really did enjoy it. You'll have to let me know what you think of Small Wars.

I have a book out from the library called The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. I'm not sure if I'll get to it, but with your love of semi - westerns, or all out westerns, I wondered if The Tenderness of Wolves might appeal to you - or perhaps you have already read it?

#93 Hi Deb, so delighted you enjoyed Sorry as much as I did. I'm thoroughly engaged in Small Wars and will post a review when I've finished. I haven't read The Tenderness of Wolves, but it certainly looks interesting. Murder in the Canadian North?

Wow, another great review and another 5* read?! I've never felt particularly interested in westerns but you've made this one sound tempting.

Nancy, indeed, Murder in Canadian North, and I believe a female protagonist!!! Just up your alley, like The Outlander by Gil Adamson - maybe, I have not read The Tenderness of Wolves. Oh that keeping up the Jones , I hang my head in shame. I live on the " wrong side of the tracks." Oh sure, I can read a book here and there - but keeping up with the Jones..................oh Nancy you sure made me laugh! I kept thinking about Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones and trying to put that together with the author of Sorry and it did not compute. I have not read The Univited Guests as it has not appealed to me, but thanks for solving the mystery, Sherlock!

#95 Thanks, Heather. It's funny, I wouldn't say I'm particularly interested in westerns either, but I've read three this past year which have just rocked: A Good Man, The Sisters Brothers, and Lonesome Dove. The Last Crossing, which I read several years ago, is another all-time favourite.

#96 Hi Deb, I haven't read The Uninvited Guests either, so I can't comment on that connection. But you're most welcome for the rest of our Joneses mystery, hehe!

Nancy, I finished Lonesome Dove last night. What a read! Thank you so much for the recommendation. I would have missed a fabulous book if it wasn't for LT!

Oh, yes - A Good Man - I remember your recommendation of that one, Nancy. Hope Simon Vance is treating you fine with the second Pallister...it is Vance isn't it?

#98 Susan, I'm so tickled that you enjoyed it as much as I did. Like you, I'd miss many wonderful books without LT!

#99 Hi Carsten, I couldn't find a Simon Vance recording for Phineas Finn. Blackstone Audio, for whom Vance reads all of the other Trollope novels, features only Robert Whitfied on this one. That said, Whitfied is also fabulous! And, yes, I did love A Good Man (I just realized that my wording here could lead to a whole other conversation, but I'm not going there, LOL).

:) but an interesting conversation, Nancy. Not to pry but I do hope he was A Good Man.

>84 lit_chick: just from the quote you put there, I know I want to read it now. Good for you getting another 5 star book! Now for the trifecta.......*can she do it we all ask ourselves*

#101 LOL, Carsten, interesting indeed : ).

#102 Megan, I think you would really enjoy Lonesome Dove. I'm so pleased with my first few book selections of 2013. I'm just finishing Small Wars which is also excellent!

@101 - Good one, Carsten. I do wonder too.... :)

#104 Indeed! LOL, Deb : ).

3.
Small Wars, Sadie Jones



Rating: 4.5/5

“This sick fear was new to him; like shame, it had been unknown. Now he was well acquainted with both.” (348)

Major Hal Treherne is a young, dedicated soldier who has risen impressively through the ranks. Thirsting for action, he does not hesitate to accept a transfer from Europe to the Mediterranean in 1956. He, his wife Clara, and their two young children relocate from Germany to Cyprus. Their timing is certainly amendable to action: the island is in the midst of the Emergency. The British are defending their colony from the Cypriots who are battling for union with Greece.

Of course, there is nothing small about war, even a “small war.” Hal, like most soldiers, is changed by atrocity. And Clara grows fearful of the world she is living in. Doubt, fear, betrayal, and shame threaten to derail their marriage.

“She was hot and panicking and felt imaginary Cypriot eyes upon her. She had started to feel like that all the time now. When she was in her bedroom she imagined them watching her house, when she was opening her front door she imagined tripwires across it and had begun to check, without letting anyone see she was doing it. Whenever she got into the car, part of her was expecting it to blow up. Every sound she heard had both a benign and a sinister interpretation, and she would have to remind herself to keep to the real world and not be drawn into her fear completely, not let it overtake her.” (154)

Small Wars is eminently readable, so much so that I didn’t want to put it down. In addition to being a haunting depiction of the Cyprus Emergency and a marriage in crisis, it raises bold questions which resonate acutely about our contemporary world view and, even less flattering, about the moral superiority with which we righteously defend our ruthless assault on “terrorists.” Jones is quickly becoming a favourite author. Small Wars, like The Outcast before it, is highly recommended.

“History doesn’t end. Places that are fought over are always fought over, and will always be fought over, and there will never be an end to it, and each conflict is just adding to the heap of conflicts that no one can remember starting and no one will ever, ever finish.” (82)

Great "Orange" review, Nancy. I appreciated it as I've had Small Wars on my shelves forever waiting for me and I needed a prompt!

Another thumb-review. You have picked the right books to start of the year, Nancy. Your last quote from the novel is sad but so true. It will never end. I've been to Cyprus twice and it holds some very nice memories and also sad ones for that matter. Maybe I should visit again, reading this novel....

That's an excellent review, Nancy. I confess I have never heard of Sadie Jones, but maybe I should have!

Oh, those Jones girls! First there was Gail and now Sadie. I hope her books are more available in our library than Gail's are. Your thread is quickly becoming dangerous territory for me, Nancy. Thanks for those wonderful reviews. I also thought Lonesome Dove was a 5-star read.

#107 Hi Dee, thank you! It's SO good to "see" you : ). I think you would really enjoy Small Wars.

#108 Thanks, Carsten. You're right, I've managed to pick some wonderful reads to start the year. The quote you are referring to held true for me, too, though I've never been to Cyprus. I can imagine it is at once beautiful and sad.

#109 Thanks, Susan. Oh, I think you would enjoy Sadie Jones. Last year, I read The Outcast, also an Orange nominee. Completely different premise than Small Wars, but excellent!

#110 Yes, those Jones girls, Donna! I'm always glad to become dangerous territory for a LT friend : ). Delighted that Lonesome Dove was also a 5* read for you.

Great review, Nancy! You had some wonderful reads so far this year - in fact all of your reads this year have been very good - 4.5 to 5 stars! Bravo to you!

I'm very much enjoying How it all Began at the moment - just so readable and kind of fun.

Good reading and great reviews! Glad you're having such a fine January and I hope that the rest of the year stands up to it. I have Small Wars to be getting on with, but I haven't gotten a copy of Sorry yet. I guess I'll have to. I wasn't a great fan of The Invisible Ones, Stef Penney's second book, but I think I was expecting too much from it.
My Western superior reading now includes The Sisters Brothers (as you know) and Doc. If you haven't read that one, you do need to get to it before the sequel arrives. And I will have to put Lonesome Dove higher on Mt. Bookpile. (Another Western that I own and haven't read even though people rave about it is Deadwood...... I'm just saying..........)

#112 Thanks, Deb. Yes, so far 2013's reads have been incredible! So glad you are enjoying How It All Began. Will be looking for your comments.

#113 Thanks, Peggy : ). It has been a fine reading month, and I too hope the rest of the year stands up to it. Doc is now on my WL; thanks for the tip! I'm also going to look up Deadwood. I think you would really enjoy Lonesome Dove, and had to chuckle at Mt. Bookpile Too true!

I just read your review from the book page, randomly enough :) A great sounding book, covered by a great review!

Speaking of Westerns, I need to read some more Cormac McCarthy. I have been saving his for when I am desperate for a good book, and Im also a little scared of the violence that is likel to be there :|

I only know "Deadwood" the TV show that was on for a couple of years. I was a huge fan. Gritty doesn't begin to cover it.

Terrific review of Small Wars Nancy and I'm glad to see it because I have the book on my shelf. I loved her The Outcast too. It looks like I'm not going to squeeze in any Oranges this time around as I'm reading Barchester Towers rigt now and probably that will take me just about to the end of the month.

Thanks for the reminder about A Good Man. I meant to put that on my WL the last time you raved about it.

#115 I hope you pick up Small Wars at some point, Megan. I think you'd enjoy it. Hmm, need to go look up Cormac McCarthy. The name is very familiar to me ... *I'm back.* Ah, haven't read any of his work but definitely recognize the popular titles which have become movies.

#116 Bonnie, I must look up the TV show, "Deadwood" and see if I can find it at my library. Gritty doesn't begin to cover it. That sounds too appealing to pass up!

Will look forward to your take on Small Wars when you get to it; I think you'll really enjoy. Oh, Barchester Towers, love love! You're welcome for the reminder about A Good Man; I think you'll really enjoy that one, too. Actually, speaking of Vanderhaeghe, I've got The Englishman's Boy here on loan from the library; it's the first of Vanderhaeghe's loose trilogy which I missed when I read The Last Crossing and then A Good Man.

“History doesn’t end. Places that are fought over are always fought over, and will always be fought over, and there will never be an end to it, and each conflict is just adding to the heap of conflicts that no one can remember starting and no one will ever, ever finish.”

Isn't that the truth, Nancy! Great review as I have said and ... you are hot again!

#118 Hi Deb, that quote resonated with me, too, and Carsten as well. Yes, sad but true. Thanks for the thumb; good to be hot again, LOL.

Great review of Small Wars, Nancy. I'll probably read it later ths year.

#120 Thanks, Darryl. I think you will really enjoy this one.

4.
Philida, Andre Brink



Rating: 4.5/5

“I belong nowhere. What happen to me will always be what others want to happen. I am a piece of knitting that is knitted by somebody else.” (65)

Philida is an intelligent, young South African slave who belongs to Cornelius Brink and works on his farm, Zandvliet, near Cape Town. Industrious and quick-witted, often too much so for her own good, she is employed at Zandvliet as the “knitting girl.” Philida has had four children with Baas Cornelius’s son, Francois, who promised her he would buy her freedom if she would lie with him. It is a promise which Francois, of course, does not keep.

The year is 1832, and Philida is well aware of the rumours that South Africa is soon to emancipate its slaves. Unable to accept that Francois has reneged on his promise, she has decided, as the novel opens, to risk everything and lodge a complaint against him with the Office of the Slave Protector. Ultimately, her actions will see her sold at auction. But she refuses to let go of the hope that emancipation is eminent, that she and her children will live to be free. She befriends a Muslim slave, Labyn, and the two undertake a journey to the far north of Cape Town. Here, Philida will come to the realization that we learn where we belong by discovering where we do not belong.

“I can tell you something about knitting: In the past I hate correcting a dropped stitch, or two knitted together, or a purl too soon, but now I know that one of the best things that can happen to you is to find a mistake in the knitting. When you find it you feel so happy because you can make it right. You unravel and you unravel until you get to the right place, then you pick up the wrong stitches and you knit them right. Now you got a beautiful piece of knitting that is perfect. There is nothing, nothing wrong with it. Every stitch is just where it must be.” (302)

I thoroughly enjoyed Philida. Andre Brink, writing here about his ancestors, does a superb job of giving voice to his main character. He writes bluntly about the humiliation and brutality that was the experience of slavery, but he does so without sensationalism. I particularly loved Brink’s brilliant use of knitting as extended metaphor for life’s experiences. Highly recommended.

“I can say: I knit my story to the end. Or I can say: I walk all the way to the last stitches of my story. It’s all the same.” (57)

What a brilliant start to your reading year Nancy. Lonesome Dove and Philida on the shelves and very much in mind. I have long been an advocate for acceptance of the brilliance of Andre Brink and I look much more forward to a new book by him than either Gordimer or Coetzee.

The Sadie Jones is another I will look out for.

Adding Philida to my wishlist--thanks for bringing my attention to that one...

Fabulous review of Philida, Nancy and a thumbs up from me! Wow, you are really having a productive and enjoyable start to your reading year!! I am so excited to see on your home page that The Lighthouse is up fairly soon! :) I think I can speak for both Carsten and I to say that we are in a swoon ( well, maybe only females swoon, sorry Carsten! ;) but oh I think we can say that we are very excited!!

As for myself... wiping sweat of my brow, owing to writing a review for How It All Began. Wonderful read - but you seem to have no shortage of those without my nudging!! What's up with that! :)

Nancy, I'm glad to know more about Philida from your thoughtful review. I haven't read anything by Andre Brink, and this looks like a good one to begin with. Thumbs up from me.

#123 Hi Paul, the brilliant start to my reading year is all thanks to recommendations from LT! I hope you will move Lonesome Dove and Philida forward on the shelves : ).

#124 Welcome, Jennifer! I hope you will enjoy Philida as much as I did.

#125 Thanks, Deb! As I remarked to Paul, the wonderful reads have all been recommendations from LT : ). The Lighthouse, up next, is a rec from you and Carsten. I'm looking forward to it!

*scurries off to check on Deb's review of How It All Began.

#126 Thanks, Donna! I hadn't read anything by Andre Brink either, but I think you will enjoy Philida.

Andre Brink have been on my radar, several are translated into danish, but I haven't read him yet. I can hear he is worth considering. Didn't think he was still writing. I'm using my thumb again. It will soon be quite sore if I continue visiting this thread, Nancy....

Another terrific review Nancy and another thumb! I have A Dry White Season that I really want to read since it's been sitting on my shelf for quite some time. Now I see I'll have to make room for Philida too. *sigh* So many books...

Nice review, Nancy. I just picked up a copy of Philida and, like others, have never read anything by Brink before. I think I will bump this one a little higher on the list to read.

#128 Interesting that you, as well as others, have had Andre Brink on your radar, Carsten. I have to confess that until the Booker nomination for Philida, I was not at all familiar with him. Thanks for the thumb : ).

#129 Thanks, Bonnie. I'm happy to have A Dry White Season on my radar. Woot, it is rated very highly by our LT readers! I'll be interested to know how you enjoy Brink.

#130 Thanks, Katie. I think you will really enjoy Philida.

Great review of Philida, Nancy! I'm glad that you enjoyed it as well.

#132 Thanks, Darryl. Was curious exactly how much you'd enjoyed Philida, so I dropped by your library : ). I remember what a great job you do each year of reading the Booker nominess.

Hmmm..... I'd had Philida on my Booker radar last year, but had given up when it did not make the short list. I had never heard of Andre Brink, unlike the educated masses, but I may have to reconsider.
By the way, Rainpebble has a great review of Sorry by Gail Jones should you wish to read that. So many books , so little time.

#134 Deb, I also was not familiar with Andre Brink until Philida was nominated, so I guess we're two in a pod! I thumbed rainpebble's review of Sorry and tracked down her thread to tell her how much I enjoyed it. Excellent!

Hee -hee , don't look now but guess who is hot - you!;)

Wow, Nancy, you have been doing some terrific reading! The only Brink I have read is A Dry White Season and if you have not read the book, I highly recommend it. In the meantime, I am adding Philida to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation.

#136 LOL, Deb!

#137 Hi Stasia, I'm delighted with my January reads. Bonnie mentioned A Dry White Season, too, so I've put it on my radar. Glad to know it's highly recommended : ). I always get a chuckle out of your "BlackHole" expression -- it's so perfect!

#138: Well, the BlackHole was not always a BlackHole. I place the blame firmly on the 75ers for making me create a BlackHole! ;)

Your review, plus the Booker nomination makes me very interested in Philida.....even if I might not act on that interest too quickly, it is very much there!

Yay for a great January- reading wise. I had one too.

#140 Hi Megan : ). I'm certain you'd enjoy Philida. I'm absolutely delighted with my January reads (and just about to post one last review). Glad yours was awesome, too : ).

5.
The Lighthouse, Alison Moore



Rating: 4.5/5

Futh, middle-aged and recently separated, travels to Germany for a restorative walking holiday, such as he took with his father as a young boy. A lonely, depressive individual, he reminisces as he walks of significant moments of his life, those which signalled life-altering events. With him he carries a silver lighthouse, a perfume case which belonged to his mother, a treasured possession.

Written parallel to Futh’s story, every other chapter, is that of Ester, proprietor of Hellhaus, a small family-run inn where Futh both begins and ends his walking holiday. Ester, also a sad, middle-aged, lost character is married to the overbearing, abusive Bernard. Her story becomes eerily entangled in Futh’s.

The Lighthouse is rich with symbolism and sensory language. As Futh’s walk is circular, so do his memories return repeatedly to the same moments in time. His parents’ marriage, also a failure, mirrors his own; and yet time and again, Futh fails to make this connection. The lighthouses in the novel, both real and ornamental, are, of course, beacons for those lost and those who would be. Alas, a lighthouse of its own cannot prevent every wreck. Sensory images, primarily smell, also abound and several chapters are so named : Violets, Sun Cream, Oranges, Camphor, Cigarette Smoke. Expectedly, each smell triggers a reminiscence for Futh. Moore’s writing in this regard is so masterful, so beautiful, I was awed. Following is one of many such short passages, appealing effortlessly to all five of the senses:

“Futh’s first memory is of playing under the kitchen table while his mother stewed apples for his dinner. She had the radio on and was humming along while she peeled and cored and chopped the apples and put the pieces in a simmering pan, and the kitchen was full of music and sunlight and the smell of unadulterated apple.” (77)

Moore has knocked it out of the park with her debut novel. The Lighthouse more than earned its spot on the Booker shortlist. Highly recommended!

“’There were still shipwrecks,’ his father said, ‘after the lighthouse was built.’”

Fabulous review of The Lighthouse, Nancy! The Lighthouse is rich with symbolism and sensory language.. That is so true! Thumb up!

I just love the symbolism - it was so well done! Did you think that the ending was ambiguous or a decided one? We'll have to have a bit of discussion via PM! The ending was so ambiguous and unexpected to me , that I had to turn around and do a re- read before I could make more sense of it all.

Over - reading, - that's my pitfall, Nancy! :)

Reading your review brought back memories of a suspenseful and captivating read last year....and an "ending-disscussion" with Deborah :) great thumb-review, Nancy!! I wasn't all that satisfied with the ending concerning Futh and the last scene left me wondering what that was all about.

Great reviews of Philida and The Lighthouse! Both sound like they need to be on my wishlist!

You've had a great January, Nancy! I'm looking forward to seeing your choices for February.

#143 Thanks, Deb, I remember how much you enjoyed The Lighthouse; and I also remember you saying that you reread it immediately. For me, the ending is one of those that I've had to mull: initially, I found it abrupt and ambiguous, as you say; on further reflection, and on rereading the last chapter, I found it something different altogether: implied, perhaps almost expected? It's one that will wander around in the back of my mind for a time. I'm not always satisfied with these type of endings; sometimes, they really annoy me, frankly. But this one is "morphing" even as I've finished the book, and that I think is brilliant on Moore's part. And oh, yes, the symbolism and the rich sensory language I just loved!

#144 Thanks, Carsten, your description of The Lighthouse as suspenseful and captivating is perfect! My immediate response to the ending was also that I wasn't satisfied with it. But, as I've commented to Deb, it's one I continue to contemplate. Were the clues there for me all along? It's really a book that would benefit from another reading, but I won't do that right now. So many books, as we say, and so little time!

#145 Lovely to "see" you back from your Cuban honeymoon, Chelle : ). I think you would really enjoy both Philida and The Lighthouse.

#146 Yes, January has been fabulous, Susan. Starting off February with a non-fiction novel out of Newfoundland/Labrador, Broken Wings, about the hardships endured by a young, abandoned family (can't find the touchstone, so I've used a URL link). My sister, who lives in NS, discovered it and read it a couple of years ago. She sent me a copy for Christmas : ).

eta: touchstone grief! now I've selected the wrong Lighthouse!

I have given up on that Lighthouse touchstone. Didn't work for me. Nancy, well put about the ending. It's about the same feeling I have. If I still now think about that door, that car, that ferry, that smell etc then she must have got something right. But I still don't like it :)

#148 I'm doing the same, Carsten: thinking about that door, that car, that ferry, that smell. It certainly is an ending I won't forget any time soon.

I tried to get The Lighthouse from my library back when it was nominated for the Booker and they didn't have it . Maybe now they will because your excellent review makes me want to read it Nancy. Thumb!

My local library does not have The Lighthouse either. Rats.

#150 Thanks, Bonnie. Like you, I requested The Lighthouse from my library right after it was Booker nominated. My library didn't have it, but I could see that it was on order, so I requested it. Took months, but I was first on the list when it finally became available. I hope your library has it now, too.

#151 Hi Stasia, rats to your library is right! It needs to get The Lighthouse!

Going back apiece, Nancy, I was able to order The Englishman's Boy from PBS, so I'm starting that trilogy in the right place. I'll keep The Lighthouse on my list for later.
Thank you, Your Hotness!

#153 Hi Peggy, make me smile, and you're most welcome : ). Delighted you were able to order The Englishman's Boy, and that you'll start the trilogy in the right place (unlike me!). Actually, The Englishman's Boy was to be my next read, but I got sidetracked, which happens more often than not, LOL. I do hope you will enjoy Guy Vanderhaeghe as much as I do.

I want to read The Lighthouse, too, but I don't think it's been published in the US yet.

#155 I think you're right about that, Katie, and I'm not sure how to find out when a book will be published in a particular country. I do think you will enjoy The Lighthouse when you get to it.

Nancy I had the good fortune to be able to order/have The Lighthouse on my kindle right away when it was announced. Only now am am I seeing in the library and in the bookstores. Later on - perhaps in a day or two, I shall ask your opinion on a few part of The Lighthouse, which as you know, Carsten and I had a great PM discussion and I am curious to ask you a bit about my idea/ theories. Such a fabulous read - with some ambiguity and so much symbolism. No word wasted, and I saw an interview on the computer with the author and she said that indeed, she endeavored not to waste a word. Really a top notch read!

#157 Deb, agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of The Lighthouse. In fact, in terms of the sparse, beautiful prose, it reminded of The Twin. Will await your PM for further discussion : ).

6.
Broken Wings, Clarissa Smith



Rating: 4/5

Clarissa Smith grew up along the Quebec/Labrador coast in the early 1960s. Broken Wings is her story of life in a land which, despite its wild beauty, is harsh and unforgiving. May, Clarissa’s mother, birthed twelve children over the course of a seventeen year marriage. Hers was the unenviable role of making a home of a tarpaper shack, sans running water or electricity. Robert, her husband, is weak, cruel, and an unspeakably savage man. He is also mostly absent, leaving his family to stave off starvation in his absence – or not. May, dying, and aware she cannot leave her children in her husband’s care, pleads with Clarissa to raise for her young siblings:

“Clarissy, see im fer wot he is. Es not gonna elp youse like youse tinks … Promise me, my maid, youse wont let e give youse all away after Im gone. Promise me, youse will rear dem youngsters. Youse is fourteen now, a woman almost. You re dere only hope. Promise me, my maid.” (123)

Broken Wings is a story of love, hate, abandonment, broken spirits and broken family relationships. Its gift is its naked honesty – shocking and heartbreaking. The writing, while not the stuff of Booker nominations, is nonetheless impressive for its bareness and its extensive use of the Quebec/Labrador dialect. Recommended.

“The long cold winter nights following her death, the empty cupboard and the empty woodbin, hunger and desperation has taken its toll on all of us. Even though we have survived, those of us who remember are all emotionally handicapped still, individually broken, like ships caught in a tempest with no safe port to go to.” (vii)

>142 lit_chick: wow, great review! I loved this book too, and rated it as you did.

>143 vancouverdeb:/44 now Ill have to go and re-read the ending too! I cant recall my feelings on it other than loving it.

>148 ctpress: The Lighthouse touchstone always comes up with the PD James one, so you just click on (others) as is shown under the title on the right of the text box...it should bring up a list of alternative Lighthouse novels.

>159 lit_chick: Clarissa’s mother, birthed twelve children over the course of a seventeen year marriage.
Bah! Sounds like a nightmare :)
And a harrowing story, which I will leave for now as I have just read a harrowing story regarding children, starvation and abandonment. :( Glad you got lots from it though Nancy.

#160 Hi Megan, glad you also loved The Lighthouse: ). Broken Wings reminded me of Glass Castle: I remember thinking as I read that one, too, that it would be a miracle of any of the children survived and became functioning adults. And yet they did. Amazing!

I loved the Glass Castle, in spite of it being about poverty and abandonment, I managed to find it uplifting, probably as it was told from the perspective of an optimistic child.

thumb up for a great review! I can't imagine birthing 12 children over 17 years! Hmmm, if Broken Wings reminded you of Glass Castle, perhaps I'll to search it up. I really enjoyed Glass Castle.

It can't all be well constructed Booker-prize style of writing. Just to read a plain account with "naked honesty" of an unusual hard upbringing can be quite effective. Broken wings, indeed. Thumb!

#162 Good point about Glass Castle, Megan. Clarissa, the narrator in Broken Wings is not an optimistic child. She is not without hope, but these are dashed time and again for her, and she's developed a very hard though very realistic view of her world.

#163 Thanks, Deb : ). Broken Wings is not in wide circulation, but my sister tracked it down at Chapters and sent it to me for Christmas : ). She's in NS and had read it a few years ago through the Learning Centre at her work. It piqued my interest, but my library didn't have it; and even though I requested it, it was never purchased.

#164 Thanks, Carsten : ). I agree wholly that all books cannot be Booker-prize style of writing. Broken Wings is very effective in its raw, naked honesty. Well said!

eta: fixed touchstone for Broken Wings

Hi Nancy, excellent review of Broken Wings. May, Clarissa’s mother, birthed twelve children over the course of a seventeen year marriage. Good Lord!!

Still on a roll! I'll have to put Philida on the wishlist, though I suspect it was already there because of the Booker nomination. I picked up The Lighthouse on my London trip so I'm eager to get to it. And I have Small Wars and a battered old copy of Lonesome Dove around here somewhere.

#166 Hi, Bonnie. Yes, Good Lord, indeed!

#167 Hi Anne, yes, still rollin' for the moment, anyway. Lovely that you picked up The Lighthouse in London. I love reading a book all the more when I know that I've brought it from a special place. Sounds like you have a copy of everything I've been reading lately : ).

Well, Ma'am, I see youse is on another Wild West roll with The Englishman's Boy. Enjoy, Ma'am - and it may hearten you to know that if you pick up The Secret River it definitely has a " frontier" quality to it. Yes sireee. Well, that is about the extent of my cowboy lingo for now.

I'm enjoying " Denmark" , Hungary and the Roma's in my current read. Well, better go and water my horse, as they say! ;)

#169 LOL, Deb, you are too much! Yep, I'm back in the saddle again, loping around the wild west. Yes siree : ).

I finally gave up after asking the Seattle Public Library to purchase The Lighthouse and ordered it from BookDepository. Received it last week and figure I will most likely get to reading it next month. Once I'm done, I'd be willing to ship it to someone. :-)

#171 Ellen, I hope you will enjoy The Lighthouse as much as I did. What a generous offer to ship your copy to someone after you've read it. As Katie pointed out above, it is not yet published in the US, and there are several LTers waiting on it ...

Goodness, this thread is a dangerous place - dangerous for my giant wishlist! Good to hear you're revisiting the West, Nancy.

#173 Hi Susan, I know just what you mean about the wishlist! Yes, I'm back to the west to finish off Guy Vanderhaeghe's trilogy. I didn't realize it was a trilogy until I'd read the first two books. The Englishman's Boy is actually first, and I'm reading it last. But the other two were easily stand-alone novels, so I think this one will prove the same.

Oh Nancy, please stop reading such good books! Philida and The Lighthouse both wishlisted...

#175 Hi Heather, I know just what you mean about adding more books to the ever-burgeoning WL! That said, I think you will really enjoy both Philida and The Lighthouse.

Just stopping by to say hi! I've got Philida out from the library -but I am not sure what I will read next - still on my same book. Really enjoying the start of Downton Abbey - Season Two. Have you seen it?

#177 Oh, Deb, I think you will really enjoy Philida when you get to it. I've seen Seasons 1 and 2 of Downton. I have Season 3 here ready to watch. Love it! So glad you are a convert : ).

Hi, Nancy. I've wishlisted Philida and The Lighthouse too. I don't think I can do Broken Wings though, for more reasons than one.

#179 Hi Peggy, the ever growing WL! I think you will really enjoy Philida and The Lighthouse; they're the only two I've read, at least thus far, from the 2012 Booker nominations, but both were wonderflly worthwhile. And I understand not doing Broken Wings.

Oh the ever growing wishlist! I'm beginning to understand the pressure of book nudging, but now that both Bonnie and I have read and written review of Excellent Women - well, I'll give you a slight nudge. Right now my copy is at a friends, or I'd do more than a nudge! :) It really is a lovely , gentle witty tale, that I think you would enjoy.

Nancy, I am so eager for the release of The Lighthouse in the U.S. I don't understand what the delay is. I'm not very patient when it comes to books!

#181 Hi Deb, the endorsement for Excellent Women from both you and Bonnie has indeed added to my ever-growing list. I think Stasia says it best with the Black Hole!

#182 Donna, I am certain you will enjoy The Lighthouse. How's that for an endorsement? I can understand not very patient when it comes to books. What's more, I don't think you'll find any such virtue here at LT!

eta: touchstone for The Lighthouse, again!

hehe touchstones can be troublesome huh?

#184 LOL, that's an understatement, Megan!

Lonesome Dove DVD, 2008



Rating: 5/5

I have no idea how I missed Lonesome Dove for as long as I did, but I did. After reading the novel a few months ago, I wanted to follow up with the TV mini-series. Perfection! Leading the epic cast are Robert Duvall as Augustus McRae and Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow Call; the two are at their absolutely best here. Other actors who put in superb performances include Danny Glover, Chris Cooper, Angelica Huston, and Steve Buscemi – I mean, does it get any better than this? I sat down Saturday evening thinking to watch two or three hours of the series, and I found myself glued to the film for its entire six hours.

The Houston Chronicle is quoted on the front of the DVD cover: "The best western ever made." Watch it!

Look,Nancy, I'm keeping up!!!
I've never watched Lonesome Dove, but I do hope to read it before I die. I love movies, but I almost never watch. It mostly seems as though it's time stolen from reading.

#187 Peggy, you're doing markedly better than I if you're keeping up! Impressive! I like to watch a movie after I've read a book, provided the movie has garnered acclaim by viewers. Such was certainly the case with Lonesome Dove. All of that said, it is time stolen from reading.

Wow, Nancy - I have missed this one - You just mentioned some of my favorite actors in the same tv-series and I have not seen it. Duvall, Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones - and throw in Buscemi and Glover....I'm all in :) Gotta see that soon..hey, just found out it's on Netflix so I can start right away.....

Have you seen Open Range? - Costner and Duvall are a great team - a western with a wonderful sense of place and mood. I just love that one.

#189 Carsten, I'm tickled you found Lonesome Dove on Netflix! Let me know what you think. I have seen Open Range and also loved it; in fact, I have a copy of it.

Nice to see the mini series for Lonesome Dove holds up as well as the book does. Looks like it has quite the all star cast!

#191 Hi Lori, it is nice when a movie/series holds up as well as a book. Funny you should visit my thread just as I'm about to post another Vanderhaeghe review!

7.
The Englishman's Boy, Guy Vanderhaeghe



Rating: 3.5/5

“I’ve been knocking around this country ten years – it changes a man. But I’m not all the way there yet … I’m betwixt and between – half civilized, half uncivilized. A centaur.” (Ch 19)

Vanderhaeghe tells two stories, past and present, in alternating chapters in The Englishman’s Boy. In the past, the eponymous protagonist finds himself adrift in Fort Benton, Montana when his employer dies unexpectedly. He hooks up with a group of wolfers, hot in pursuit of the Assiniboine whom they believe to have stolen several of their horses. The wolfers are harsh, savage men, lusting for a fight with their enemies. The pursuit leads the pack north into Canada to the site of the 1873 Cypress Hills Massacre in Saskatchewan. The Englishman’s boy, himself a tough and hardened case, is not abjectly cruel. He is irreparably changed by his experience. In Vanderhaeghe’s signature plush description, we meet the “boy”:

“Dawe’s boy had the gaunt, cadaverous look of the rural poor, of the runt who has sucked the hind tit, who has been whupped with horse-halters and stove-wood, anything hard and hurting that came to hand. His anthracite eyes did his talking for him. They said: Expect no quarter. Give none. He owned a face white and cold as a well-digger’s ass. He didn’t string more than five words together at a time and no one could place his accent. He was seventeen but looked fifteen, stunted by a diet of bread and lard and strong tea. Everyone took him for a runaway from some hard-scrabble, heartbreak farm. Out West, his kind were thick as ticks on a dog.” (Ch 3)

Fast forward to 1920s Hollywood, and scenarist Harry Vincent is hired by plutocrat Damon Ira Chance of Best Chance Pictures to track down aged cowboy, Shorty McAdoo, the Englishman’s boy. Chance is looking to make the quintessential American Western, based on the “truth.” McAdoo has the reputation of an “Indian fighter,” and Chance wants his story. Writer Vincent has his work cut out for him: McAdoo is reclusive and cantankerous. Haunted by his past at Cypress Hills, he’s not in a mood to relive that history, particularly not to a Hollywood writer claiming to be in search of the “truth.” McAdoo is right, of course: Chance wants his “vision” of the truth, not the facts. So the greed and superficiality of early Hollywood meets the unrest of a bloodbath in the old West.

The Englishman’s Boy is the first of a loose trilogy by Vanderhaeghe, though having read all three novels, each is easily a stand alone read. While I did not enjoy The Englishman’s Boy as much as The Last Crossing and A Good Man, I’ve said before that I find Vanderhaeghe irresistibly readable, and that remains true here. Recommended!

>186 lit_chick: wow that does sound a great cast! I havent read the book yet so cant/wont seek out the dvds ;)

#194 Hi Megan, the case of Lonesome Dove is superb. But read the book first!

Thumbed and noted. This is one Canadian author I have not yet tried Nancy. I think my number is close to getting called for A Good Man on PBS though:-)

#196 Thanks, Bonnie. What is PBS? (I only know it as an acronym for Public Broadcasting Service, but I don't think one can borrow books). I do hope you get hold of A Good Man soon; I'm so curious as to what you'll think of it.

Thumbed ! Nancy, with all of these Westerns that you've been reading, I'm a little afraid of the " language" you soon may be spewing. Howdy , ma'am, I hope you had a nice " Family Day." My husband, one of my son's had to work, but one had the day off . Tis confusing and I had assumed that we would not get mail -but we did.

Nancy - two wonderful reviews of books I have had on the shelves for a while and which have looked at me askance on numerous occasions when I have picked up one of their near neighbours.

#198 Thanks Deb, you're right that it is time for a break from westerns, LOL. Funny, I didn't plan to go on a western frontier craze, it just happened : ). I had a long weekend in honour of BC's new Family Day, so it worked for me : ).

#199 Hi Paul, when books begin looking askance at you, it is time to pick them up!

I love the quotes - such a command of language - another great thumb-review from the Wild West - but don't spend too much time with these hard, savage men, Nancy - we want you back safe and sound.

>193 lit_chick:. That is a great piece of writing. I have never heard of that writer here in New Zealand but the writing is so gritty and conjures up great images. I will add them to my wishlist as I am sure they will be available on the internet. Just need to wait awhile as another six new books found homes on my shelves today.

#201 Thanks, Carsten. Vanderhaeghe does have a fabulous command of language. As for savage men, LOL, time for me to move on from westerns for a bit.

#202 Hi Helen, I think "gritty" is a perfect description for Vanderhaeghe's writing. Glad you've added him to your list, even if you have to wait a bit, having just adopted six new books : ).

Another great review, Nancy! And I liked your review of the Lonesome Dove TV series as well.

What is Family Day, exactly? (apart from another day of reading!)

Ohhh! I see that Coventry is forthcoming in your reads! :) I really loved it, and it's a fairly quick read! I felt just like I was there when I read Coventry . Enjoy! I'm scouring the amazon ca etc for books about the Romany in Europe. I totally understand how one gets on a kick about reading on a particular subject m although I see you are transferring from the Wild West to WW11 in Britain after your exploits in the Wild Wild West.

#204 Thanks, Susan : ). Family Day is a new stat holiday here in BC, basically another day of reading for me!

#205 Hi Deb, I've just started Coventry, but I love the writing, and it does seem like it will be a fairly quick read. Delighted you enjoyed it so much! Yes, I'm off to war now, having settled the wild west. Actually, I'm off to that pesky thing called "work" which interferes with my reading, and THEN I'll be off to war.

It looks like I will need to break down and pick up a Guy Vanderhaeghe novel to read. That is now two of his books you have hit me with!

I am another Coventry fan, but then, I am a fan of all of Humphrey's works, at least the ones that I have read so far.

#207 Hi Lori, yes, the book bullets around here are flying fast, aren't they? I hope that when you get to Vanderhaeghe you enjoy his work as much as I do.

Good to know you're another fan of Coventry. What other works of Humpphreys have you read? I've been eyeing The Lost Garden.

I am one of the readers that really liked The Lost Garden! Humphrey's has such a great way with words. The books I have read - Coventry, The Frozen Thames, The Lost Garden and The Reinvention of Love - are all different types of stories but all contain the same reflective quality to the story telling.

Another Helen Humphreys fan here Nancy. I love her writing and I've read The Lost Garden, Coventry, Wild Dogs and The Frozen Thames. They were all very good.

PBS is Paperback Swap. You can trade paperbacks (or hardcovers if you want) and maintain a WL. I'm close to getting A Good Man.

#209 Lori, thank you for the Humphreys recommendations. I am familiar with those titles, but have not read any of the books. I'm only about a chapter into Coventry, but I love the reflective quality of Humphreys' writing so far.

#210 Thanks, Bonnie, also appreciate your recommendations. I'm going to have to read more Humphreys! Paperback Swap sounds like a fabulous idea. I'm going to look it up! What would I do without LT?

Nancy,
Your two most recent reviews are excellent. I'm glad you particularly enjoyed Lonesome Dove. It has been a while since I read it but it would certainly have gotten at least 4 stars from me.

#212 Thank you, Ellen. It was on LT that I got the idea to read Lonesome Dove, and I'm delighted with the number of fans I've found here.

8.
Coventry, Helen Humphreys



Rating: 4.5/5

“The planes come in waves and sound exactly like that, like the pulse and pound of sea on the sand, a muffled, rhythmic heaviness.” (82)

Coventry, a prime target for the German Luftwaffe in WWII, is desecrated on November 14, 1940. Hours prior, beneath a “bomber’s moon,” Harriet Marsh, a middle-aged fire-watcher is stationed atop one of the cathedral’s roofs. A young man, Jeremy, stands his post on an adjacent roof. Unbeknownst to Harriet, his mother is artist Maeve Fisher, a happenstance one-time acquaintance of Harriet’s during WWI. This night, Maeve takes her cover in the basement of a local shop. The relationship between the three brings to life into the human experience of the Blitz. The terror that is about to be unleashed upon Coventry will resonate for the remainder of the their days.

Humphreys’ writing is spare and thoughtful, and has a reflective quality to it that completely drew me in. For me, her strength in Coventry is not her brilliant capture of the terrifying bombing raid itself, but rather her meticulous portrayal of the human, emotional experience of those on the ground who lived through it. The novel is full of beautiful passages illuminating the ponderings of individuals caught in rampage. One such passage occurs as Harriet and Jeremy crouch behind a wall of rubble across the street from the burning library. The city falling around them, the cacophony of its demise deafening, Harriet reflects:

“When a building is lost, everything that happened within its walls is lost as well. She wants to know if the world in which she lives, this place where she is using herself up every day, will remember anything of her. Will the buildings that she has carefully studied, walked through, touched – will they recall her footsteps, the weight of her body on the stone steps, the smooth flat of her hand on the banister? Will the cobblestones hold her footfall? Will the river or the rain remember the shape of her body?” (108)

Coventry is my first Humphreys novel, but I will definitely look up more of her work. Highly recommended.

Fabulous review, Nancy, thumbs up! but rather her meticulous portrayal of the human, emotional experience of those on the ground who lived through it. The novel is full of beautiful passages illuminating the ponderings of individuals caught in rampage Isn' t the truth! It really is a wonderful read! So glad you enjoyed it!

>214 lit_chick: duly WL'd
*high five*

Great review! I have Coventry and really must move it up. (I find myself saying that about a lot of books... sigh...)

#215 Thanks, Deb. Yes, Coventry was a beautiful read. Another gem we've shared : ).

#216 Thanks, Megan, I hope you will enjoy Coventry as much as I did!

#217 Thanks, Katie, I know just what you mean when you say I find myself saying that about a lot of books. I do the same thing! Coventry has in its favour that it is a quick and easy read.

Thoughtful and reflective. I like that. An aspect of the war I would like to know more about - it was really devastating what happened to Coventry. Another fine thumb-review, Nancy.

Great review of Coventry! I'll add it to my wishlist but I probably won't get to it for a while as it seems every book I've read lately has some tie in with WWII. It gets to be too much after a while.

#219 Thanks, Carsten. I confess I did not know anything of Coventry's history, so I enjoyed the novel the more for it. Yes, so thoughtful and reflective.

#220 Thanks, Chelle. I know what you mean about reading of WWII and how it is necessary to pick up something else in between. Deb was just saying that it's funny how these themes seem to run through our reading. I've just left off a wild west tour.

I know I tend to go on " tours " with my reading. I was in Vietnam for three books, last summer I had an African month, another month with David Downing who wrote a series of books on WW11, starting with Zoo Station. After Invisible Murder I'm waiting the arrival of a couple of books about the Romany in Europe. I do tend to go on " flings" with my reading. I understand Chelle though, that eventually one needs to break to a different country/ theme.

Coventry was really excellent! I'll look forward to your comments on any other books that you read by Helen Humphreys.

#214: I must be one of the few people in the group who is not a Helen Humphreys fan. I did not care overmuch for either Coventry or The Frozen Thames.

#222 Hi Deb, I remember when you toured Vietnam, and I'm in Africa presently. I know nothing about the Romany in Europe so will await your education : ). I've got Cape Breton and Australia to visit when I have finished Purple Hibiscus. Then perhaps it will be time to revisit Scandinavia; I haven't been there for a while, and I miss it. Of course, I'm planning much too far ahead of myself. You know me, I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants reader!

#223 Stasia, we'd be a dull bunch if we all liked the same things : ). I would like to explore some more Humphreys and have added The Lost Garden and The Frozen Thames to my WL.

Australia - so yesterday... been there done that via Sorry by Gail Jones and The Secret River. Just kidding! I'm sure I'll return and meanwhile I've ordered a second hand book The Colour by Rose Tremain, so eventually I'll be in New Zealand. Yes, once I get my hands on the one second hand book I've ordered about the Romany in Europe, -and I'm considering another.. I'll be sure to let you know what is up with that. :)

You - such a globe trotter!

I'm so glad that you appreciated Coventry so much, Nancy. I also really enjoyed it, as your fine review reminds me!
I haven't read The Purple Hibiscus, but I did read The Colour. I do love Rose Tremain, and if *Colour* isn't my favorite, it's still wonderful.

Wonderful review of a wonderful book Nancy. Thumb! I would like to get my own copy of The Frozen Thames (I read a library book) because it was such a beautiful book with such lovely art work. I see you're reading Purple Hibiscus which I also liked a lot. So darn many good books. If only the days were a lot longer.

#225 Hi Deb : ). Not familiar with The Colour or Rose Tremain. *off to look those up* And I'm back ... wow, she has written a LOT of books!

#226 Hi Peggy! Glad you also enjoyed Coventry. I'm piqued by another endorsement for Rose Tremain.

#227 Thank, Bonnie : ). It's always a pleasure to find something so special at the library that I need to purchase my own copy. I hope you treat yourself to a personal copy of The Frozen Thames. Glad to have your endorsement of Purple Hibiscus. And I can SO relate to If only the days were a lot longer. Amen!

The Colour is supposedly one of those 1001 books you must read before you die, as well as orange short- listed book. I kind of caught onto it via reading The Secret River.

And I also endorse Purple Hibiscus. There is a Canadian author who wrote a wonderful book about Nigeria last year.. let me find the title - it was one of my favourite reads last year....Daughters Who Walk This Path by Yejide Kilanko. I really thought it was well written and offered great insight into contemporary Nigeria.

But as we can all agree - if only the days were a lot longer!

>224 lit_chick:. I was just about to say you need to visit NZ in your travels and then Deb introduces it with The Colour. Thanks Deb but that being said,(and I am a big fan of Rose Tremain), she is not a New Zealand writer, but obviously visited our shores. We do have some very authentic voices, I am reading one at the moment Maurice Gee, so if you need directions I am happy to wave the flag high!

Nancy, I haven't read any Helen Humphreys but I keep seeing her mentioned on the threads. Coventry sounds like it might be a good one to start with.

#229 Hi Deb, isn't it great how one book leads to another. I'm going to have to add The Colour to my list. Think I remember you reading Daughters Who Walk This Path last year.

#230 Hi Helen : ) Great to have another endorsement of Rose Tremain's work. Which Maurice Gee are you reading, and is it one you'd recommend? I'll certainly add a NZ author to my treasure chest!

#231 Hi Susan, Coventry is also my first Humphreys novel. I definitely recommend it as a place to start.

>222 vancouverdeb:/225 me too Deb! I spent a while in Russia a short time ago....have done a short stint in Africa and an planning to go back to Asia soon as well.
If you are going to be in NZ a while, try The Whale Rider- I plan to read that soon and if is half as good as the film it'll be a great read.

>223 alcottacre: hi Nancy- see above comment re: Whale Rider if you are looking for new NZ authors. Witi Ihimaera is very well thought of here.
*I havent read him yet*
(who said that!!??!)
lol

I have only read Under the Mountain by Maurice Gee, and it was a fair YA book. I hear he has a lot better.

And, Nancy, one of my very best books last year (or was it 2011?) was Keri Hulme's The Bone People. It's a tough one but absolutely beautiful!

>232 lit_chick: I am very much enjoying Loving Ways by Maurice Gee. One of his best known books was made into a very successful movie, In My Father's Den.
If you are going to read Witi Ihimaera Bulibasha is brilliant. There is a fair amount of spiritualism in The Whale Rider. Alan Duff is another Maori writer, although very gritty, whose books I favour.

Hi There
I found your thread and starred it!

You and I have similar reading habits. I loved Coventry by Helen Humphreys. Actually, I like everything I've read of hers.

What a great review of the Lighthouse. Your reviews are very good!

#233 Hi Megan, appreciate the NZ recommendations. Will look up Witi Ihimaera and The Whale Rider. Happy you are also travelling the world in your readings; sounds like we'll be following you back to Asia soon : ).

#234 Thanks, Peggy. I remember some of our 75ers, you for one probably, talking about The Bone People. Wow, just went to its book page: some good reviews and a 4* rating.

#235 Hi Helen, thank you for the NZ literature recommendations! I looked up Loving Ways and Bulibasha. These Maori writers are very favourably rated here on LT! Ah, and I love a gritty writer, so will look up Alan Duff, too.

#236 Hi Linda, so happy you found me! I've just looked up your profile, and we do have similar reading habits : ). In fact, we share some fabulous books: on the little "Books you share" blurb, I see Grace Williams, Tell It to the Trees, Your Voice in My Head, and Sorry. Delighted to hear you loved Coventry and other of Humphreys' works as well. I've added The Lost Garden to my list since enjoying Coventry so much. Have you read The Lighthouse? If not, you must!

Thought I'd just stop by and say hi! I have not had a lot of time to read over the last few days, but nearly finished my current book. I've got quite few books arriving and I'm quite enthused about that! A couple are second hand books that I found on amazon, and one is a new book by an Canadian author that I enjoyed reading last year, Peggy Blair. I'm so excited that she has a new book out! No touchstone for it yet, I just added the book yesterday. Hope you are having a nice weekend, Nancy!

#238 Hi Deb, you've got some exciting new acquisitions on the way! Not at all familiar with Peggy Blair, but I will be following along, as usual : ). Have just finished Purple Hibiscus and am about to post a review.

9.
Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie



Rating: 4/5

“Fear. I was familiar with fear, yet each time I felt it, it was never the same as the other times, as though it came in different flavors and colors.” (196)

Kambili Achike, the fifteen-year-old protagonist of Purple Hibiscus, and her older brother, Jaja, lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria. They attend an elite, private school and live in a beautiful home. But their existence is anything but indulged. Their father, Eugene, is a tyrannical, religious zealot. He rules the lives of his wife and children with rigid, unreasonable schedules – their lives characterized by fear, silence, and fanatical devotion. When Enugu, wracked by government corruption and civil unrest, erupts into danger, Eugene agrees to let Kambili and Jaja go their Aunty Ifeoma’s home in Nsukka where they will be out of harm’s way. Ifeoma is a activist university professor, and the upbringing of her three children could not be more different than that of their cousins. Kambili and Jaja are stunned at the laughter and the freedom in Ifeoma’s home. Jaja, older and more mature than Kambili, soon embraces the experience of independence; but Kambili remains withdrawn, fearful even. Ifeoma’s purple hibiscus, very rare, becomes a metaphor for the efflorescence of Kambili.

“The afternoon played across my mind as I got out of the car in front of the flat. I had smiled, run, laughed. My chest was filled with something like bath foam. Light. The lightness was so sweet I tasted it on my tongue, the sweetness of an overripe bright yellow cashew fruit.” (180)

Adichie’s debut novel is an impressive one. She skillfully juxtaposes Nigeria’s natural beauty, the frangipani trees and bouganinvillea, with a family demoralized and broken by its father’s cruelty. Her acknowledgement of nature makes the extended metaphor of the purple hibiscus for Kambili’s transformation the more perfectly suited. And her prose is simply enchanting; this next passage, in which Kambili speaks of freedom in a way I’d never quite imagined it, is one of my favourites:

“I laughed because Nsukka’s untarred roads coat cars with dust in the harmattan and with sticky mud in the rainy season. Because the tarred roads spring potholes like surprise presents and the air smells of hills and history and the sunlight scatters the sand and turns it into gold dust. Because Nsukka could free something deep inside your belly that would rise up to your throat and come out as a freedom song. As laughter.” (299)

Purple Hibiscus is highly recommended. I look forward to reading Aidichie’s next novel, Half of a Yellow Sun.

Oh Nancy your review has inspired me again. I have had Purple Hibiscus resting on my shelves for several years, so will pick it up next. I read Half of a Yellow Sun some years ago and thought it very good. Often one of my hardest decisions is what book next. So thanks for that! i finished Maurice Gee's Loving Ways yesterday and loved it and am currently reading Jacqueline Yallop's Obedience.

#241 Hi Helen, delighted you will read Purple Hibiscus next. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And I know just what you mean about deciding what to read next. I don't tend to plan my reading as many LTers do, so I occasionally run into the same dilemma. Loved your review of Loving Ways and added a thumb-up! Will have to look up Obedience.

I actually own a copy of The Lighthouse. Thanks for your recommendation. I'll find that book somewhere here among the hundreds...no, really, I must confess and say among the thousands of books.

That's a part of the world, I haven't visited that much in literature, Nancy. Thumb to that wonderful review. Religious zealots...they can be the worst of all, no matter what religion, if it's steered in the wrong direction. But I do sense a lot of hope or "freedom" in the story. We have some refugees from Nigeria in Denmark. Some years ago I visited some of them in a refugee camp and they came to our church. They were a wonderful smiling group of people.

#243 Hi Linda, good luck finding The Lighthouse! Hope you will enjoy.

#244 Thanks, Carsten : ). I have not visited Africa over-much in literature either. I remember reading the autobiographical A Long Way Gone a few years ago, story of a boy soldier. But I very much enjoyed Purple Hibiscus, and yes there is a lovely sense of hope in the story. Religious zealotry, I must agree, has caused a lot of damage.

Oh so glad that you enjoyed Purple Hibiscus. I really enjoyed it too!So pleased to read that you will consider reading Half a Yellow Sun. Just my opinion, but I thought The Purple Hibiscus the better read , but on the other hand Half of a Yellow Sun was more sweeping in its view of Nigeria - so both are very good books. If you need any other Africa rec's - I'm sure I have a couple of others. Thumb, wonderful review . You nearly make me want to do a re- read, or at least go back to Africa. Daughters Who Walk This Path was 5 star read for me last year, and it was about contemporary Nigeria. In some ways the culture of the family was much more modern, and on the other hand, still very patriarchal . I see that are off to Atlantic Canada, and I hope that will be a wonderful adventure too - maybe just a little cooler in temperature.

#246 Thanks, Deb. I remember you reading Daughters Who Walk this Path; I'll keep it in mind for a subsequent trip to Africa. I'm delighted to be off to Cape Breton with Beatrice MacNeil! As you know, I raved about Where White Horses Gallop, which was a 5* read for me and remains an all-time favourite.

Must...stop...clicking...links...Where White Horses Gallop sounds like exactly the sort of book I would love! And your review of Purple Hibiscus was excellent, Nancy.

Nancy, what a great review of Purple Hibiscus. I loved that book! I actually liked Half of A Yellow Sun a tiny bit better, though. Sorry Deborah. I'm looking forward to her newest book in the spring.

#248 Thanks, Susan. I hope you can find a copy of Where White Horses Gallop. I think you'd enjoy, too. And I know exactly what you mean about clicking links, LOL!

#249 Thanks, Donna! I'm looking forward to Half of a Yellow Sun. I didn't know Adichie had a new book coming out in the spring. I'll have to watch for it. (that's almost like clicking on a link isn't it?)

Where White Horses Gallop was a 5 star read for me too, Nancy. I really enjoyed the sensitivity with which Beatrice MacNeil portrayed both the young soldiers as well as the families left behind. It's rare that we read about the effects and thoughts of the siblings and parents of young soliders as they were away in WW11. Lots is written about War Brides of WW11, but I thought the coverage of the soldiers, with the post traumatic stress problems and amd their families was very unique on Beatrice MacNeil's part.

Thanks for loading up the alternate cover, you techno wizard!

#251 You echo my thoughts on Where White Horses Gallop, Deb. I hope the alternate cover actually uploaded!

Hi Nancy, thumb for your excellent review if Purple Hibiscus. Like Donna, I liked Half of a Yellow Sun a bit more especially the history of Nigeria/Biafra which I knew next to nothing about.

#253 Thanks, Bonnie : ). I'm thinking that I'm going to need to get to Half of a Yellow Sun sooner than later. I also know next to nothing about the history of Nigeria/Biafra.

>240 lit_chick: great review! You remind me of how much I enjoyed it too, and that I must schedule in Half of a Yellow Sun soon. I meant to read it soon after finishing Purple Hibiscus, but as expected, all these other books got in the way. *back on the list it goes*

Great review!! I've had Half of a Yellow Sun on my wishlist for a while and now I think Purple Hibiscus should be on my wishlist as well!

#255 Thanks, Megan. I know what you mean about intending to read something, and then several other books nudge out your plans, and then ... LT is grand for that, non?

#256 Thanks, Chelle. I think you would enjoy Purple Hibiscus!

I have just realised that I have read another book by Cimamanda Ngozi Adichie and that is a collection of short stories The Thing Around Your Neck. I thought they were very good and rated them 4*. Off to prepare dinner then I can start Purple Hibiscus with a glass of wine. Favourite time of day!

#258 Helen, thanks for posting about Adichie's short story collection. I have to admit short stories are not my favourite genre, and I rarely pick them up. But your endorsement may change that! I can see why after-dinner with a glass of wine and a great book is your favourite time of day. I can't wait to hear what you think of Purple Hibiscus. I so hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Want another Africa rec ? LOL! I do have The Thing Around Your Neck , which well may be excellent but it is still languishing in the TBR pile, but I read Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga last summer, and it was a good read - and also a 1001 book. It's also relatively short - maybe around 200 plus pages - I can't remember. And you thought I was just another pretty face. :)

Edited to add I rated Half a Yellow Sun and Purple Hibiscus with 4 1/2 stars, but Nervous Conditions with 4 stars. But as we say, your mileage may vary!

#260 Deb, thanks for additional Africa recs. I, for one, would never assume that you were just a pretty face! And I love your expression that mileage may vary ... that's what keeps us here at LT so interesting : ).

Just checking in, Nancy. You and Deb make me want to throw the Brontes down and read *White Horses*, but I am resisting! So far.

#262 Hi Peggy : ). I'd be tickled if you'd pick up Where White Horses Gallop! Nudge, nudge.

Where White Horses Gallop wounds great. It is now on the tbr pile.

I am very much enjoying Purple Hibiscus and it is bringing to mind the books of Aminatta Forna. She won the Commonwealth writers award in 2011. She writes about another African nation, Sierra Leone which I had no knowledge of. Purple Hibiscus is reminiscent of The Devil that Danced on the Water, her memoir of her father's life. Interestingly when I had a look at Where White Horses Gallop,Aminatta Forna's award winning The Memory of Love is top of the recommendations, presumably because it deals with the effects of war, albeit a very different one.

#264 Hi Linda, I hope you will enjoy Where White Horses Gallop as much as I did.

#265 Helen, how interesting that Forna's The Memory of Love, which I also very much enjoyed, is linked to Where White Horses Gallop as an LT rec. Also recommended by LT on the same page are Coventry and No Great Mischief, both exceptional reads! Sounds like I need to check out The Devil that Danced on the Water as well.

Ohh you've been hot for a couple of days now , but we knew that! :) Great review!

#267 LOL, thanks, Deb : ).

Time for a new thread. Do come and join me!