Tangledthread "Shall wear my trousers rolled" in 2013...

Having just celebrated a significant birthday yesterday, I will "dare to eat a peach" and begin my reading list for 2013:

I will start the year by reading The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout, an early reviewers selection received in December.

Later today I'll review The Round House by Louise Erdrich. I just squeaked it in as the 75th book for 2012 last night. I give it 5 stars.

1/3/13 - Time for me to start fleshing out the reading list:

January:
1. The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout (an Early Reviews Selection) fiction
2. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (ebook) nonfiction
3. Astray by Emma Donoghue (audiobook) fiction
4. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (audiobook) - nonfiction
5. We Sinners by Hanna Pylvainen - fiction
6. The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje (ebook) fiction
7. Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (audiobook) fiction/fantasy

February:
8. Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa (ebook) fiction/short stories
9. Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron (ebook) nonfiction
10. All This Talk of Love by Christopher Castellani (an Early Reviewers Selection)
11. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (audiobook) fiction
12. The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles fiction

March:
13. The Lost Carving by David Esterly nonfiction

April:
14. The Art Detective by Philip Mould (audiobook) nonfiction
15. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson (audiobook) nonfiction
16. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt (ebook) fiction
17. Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (ebook) fiction
18. The Bruges Tapestry by P.A. Staes (eboook) fiction*
19. My Reading Life by Pat Conroy (audiobook) nonfiction

May:
20. Life after Life by Jill McCorkle fiction
21. Knit to Flatter by Amy Herzog nonfiction
22. Benediction by Kent Haruf (audiobook) fiction
23. All Woman and Springtime by Brandon Jones fiction
24. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson fiction

June:
25. The River Swimmer by Jim Harrison, fiction (audiobook)
26. The World is a Carpet by Anna Badkhen, nonfiction*
27. Good Kings, Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum, fiction*
28. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayer (audiobook) nonfiction
29. Driftless by David Rhodes fiction*
30. Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel*
31. The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver, fiction
32. Bobcat and Other Stories by Rebecca Lee, fiction*
33. Spin to Weave by Sara Lamb, nonfiction
34. The Birth House by Ami Mckay, fiction

July:
35. The Coat Route by Meg Lukens Noonan, (e-book) nonfiction*
36. The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, fiction*

August:
37. The Explanation for Everything by Lauren Grodstein, fiction*
38. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers, fiction

September:
39. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, (audiobook) fiction
40. Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan, nonfiction*
41. When She Woke by Hilary Jordan,(e-book) fiction
42. Harvest by Jim Crace, fiction
43. The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg, (audiobook) fiction. (this is a re-read while on a car trip.)
44. The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin, (e-book) fiction.

October:
45. Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King, (e-book) nonfiction
46. The Telling Room by Michael Paterniti (e-book) and text, nonfiction
47. The Secret World of Sleep by Penelope A. Lewis, nonfiction
48. The Minds of the Bible by James Cohn, ebook, nonfiction*
49. Confessions of a Weaver by Sherrie Miller, ebook, nonfiction*
50. Woven to Wear by Marilyn Murphy, ebook, nonfiction
51. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro, ebook, fiction*

November:
52. Guests on Earth by Lee Smith, fiction
53. Mary Coin by Marisa Silver, fiction*
54. The Bells by Richard Harvell, fiction*
55. Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick, audiobook, fiction

December:
56. Buried in Treasures by David F. Tolin & others, nonfiction / self-help
57. Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee, nonfiction
58. The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penney, audiobook, fiction*

*currently reading.

Welcome back!

Happy New Year! I am looking forward to following your 2013 reading!

Just added what I am currently reading to my header note. This year, I will not add a title to the list until I am actively reading it. Last year, I added books based on intentions....and well, we all know about good intentions.

Another thing I want to keep track of this year is the format of the book, since I read traditional books as well as ebooks and audiobooks. It will be interesting to see the distribution of what I read over the three formats.

I still plan to write reviews for The Light Between Oceans and The Round House, books from 2012. Maybe I'll get to that this weekend.

Welcome, tangledthread! I like your idea of keeping track of the format of the books you're reading. I think I'll borrow that idea for my thread, if you don't mind.

>5 bunkie68: not at all bunkie.... As last year progressed and I bought an e-reader, I realized I was using different formats but not keeping track.

I just starred your thread, so I'll see how you do it. :^)

Just wrote my review for The Light Between Oceans which I finished in 2012. Generally I need time to digest a book before writing a review. So, here it is, rated with 4 stars:

The Light Between Oceans is a big metaphor of a novel. Tom Sherbourne has returned to Australia from the trenches of WWI, having witnessed the death of many of his colleagues. He bears the scars of war and the anxieties of a survivor. In looking for work, his engineering training qualifies him to work for the national lighthouse service. The opportunity to work in the solitude of a light house setting sounds attractive after the crowded trenches.

His first assignment is to the light on Janus Rock, situated at the southwest corner of Australia where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. The rock of an island is well named with Janus meaning:
"a. The god of doorways and gates and protector of the state in time of war. He is usually represented with two faces, so that he looks both ways.
b. Two-faced; hypocritical; two-sided." (the free online dictionary)

On his way to the island, Sherbourne meets Isabelle. She's almost a decade younger than him and has a lighthearted open spirit despite having lost her two older brothers in the war. They court, marry, and she moves out to the island. In this isolated place their love grows, but they do not escape the sadness of loss as Isabelle loses 3 children at various stages of pregnancy.

Shortly after the loss of the third child, a rowboat washes up on Janus rock carrying a dead man and an infant. Isabelle is convinced that this child, whom they name Lucy, has been sent to her by divine providence. Tom is less sure of that. Aand he is constantly constrained by his sense of duty and awareness that disappeared children leave grieving parents behind...a lesson acutely learned in his war experience.

The remainder of the novel rests on the horns of this dilemma....what are the best interests of Lucy, what is in the best interest of the adults involved in the situation, and what is the role of community in the time of tragedy?

The plot is tightly woven, the characters are well developed, and the writing is beautiful:
"Gradually, lives wove together once again into a practical sort of fabric in which every thread crossed and recrossed the others through school and work and marriage, embroidering connections invisible to those not from the town.
And Janus Rock, linked only by the store boat four times a year dangled off the edge of the cloth like a loose button that might easily plummet to Antarctica." (p. 20 hardcover version)

Such is the metaphoric language of this wonderful first novel from M. L. Stedman.

Finished Astray by Emma Donoghue this evening. Will review over the weekend.

Just finished Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. I gave it 5 stars and will review later.

Wrote a quick review of Astray which should show up on the book page.

Started reading We Sinners by Hanna Pylvainen who is a Michigan native.

I've decided that I would like to concentrate on Michigan authors for awhile. We Sinners is the beginning of that list.

More Michigan Authors on my to read list:
Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
The Farmer's Daughter by Jim Harrison
The Road Home also by Jim Harrison

And I'm going to add Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store to the list because Robin Sloan grew up in Michigan even though he now lives in San Francisco.

The Long and Shining Waters by Danielle Sosin doesn't quite count since the author is from Minnesota, not Michigan.

Any other Michigan authors I should add to my list?

Any other Michigan authors I should add to my list?

List of Michigan writers (Wikipedia)

The Light Between Oceans sounds great. Onto the list it goes.

Thanks, kidzdoc. That's pretty daunting....any personal recommendations from that list?

>13 tangledthread: The only book I'd recommend would be Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Read it....
But I haven't read The Virgin Suicides or The Marriage Plot, so maybe I'll pick up one of those in my Michigan authors challenge.

Finished listening to Guns, Germs and Steel today while winding warps for dyeing next Saturday.

And I created a pie chart to keep track of formats of what I've read. Now maybe I should go read.....

Started listening to Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore while working in the weaving studio last night.

Tho I'm not usually a fan of fantasy fiction, this one has caught my attention and somewhat distracts me from the threading sequence at the loom. So far it reminds me a little bit of The Night Circus

Finished We Sinners by Hannah Plyvainen this afternoon. This is the first in my Michigan authors challenge. This book enlightened me a bit. I onced worked with a Finnish Laestadian Lutheran and never quite understood what was going on with him. That was about 20 years ago. While reading this, a few light bulbs went off. I hope he and his family are now doing well where ever they are....don't know if they ever achieved their goal of 10 kids...but they were well on their way with 5 by the time I moved on from that job.

Review:

We Sinners is a collection of stories about the Finnish-American Rovaniemi family, located in the upper Midwest, mostly Michigan. The family of 11, 2 parents and 9 children, are members of the Laestadian Church, a conservative fundamentalist faith. In fact Warren, the father, becomes the minister of their congregation in the first chapter of the book.

After the first chapter, which deals mostly with the parents, their beliefs and parenting style (though style is too flattering a word), each following chapter deals with the various children in a coming of age format. Each child struggles with the social limitations and constrained behavior required of them by conservative church doctrine. Some leave the church, some do not, but all are equally haunted by the experience of growing up in a family where the church was placed above all else. It is interesting that none of the children simply drift away from their religious upbringing. This is a black and white faith, with no room for shades of gray in belief.

The final chapter, titled "The Whiskey Dragon", is not about the Rovaniemi family but it takes the reader back to the Lapp region of Finland in the 1840's at the birth of Laestadianism. The environment is cold, dark, and harsh. The Lapp people are easily susceptible to alcoholism. And fines are incurred for failure to attend religious services. I'm not quite sure what to make of Gunna, the main female character of the story. Since she has no descendents, she cannot be an ancestor to the Rovaniemi family. But she does reject Laestadianism and appears to be headed for self destruction at the end.

I look forward to reading more of this author's work.

That sounds like an interesting one. I'm putting it on the Giant Freaking Wishlist, which has taken a beating so far this year...

Thanks Fourpawz2. Yeah...reading other people's threads sure does add to the wish list.

Review: Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. This is a piece of fantasy fiction about an out of work graphic artist/web designer who gets a night shift job at a bookstore that is open 24 hours per day. It turns out that this is not just any book store, but a literary cult which has been going on since the printing press was developed. The book started out interesting to me, then took a sharp turn toward the puerile: a millionaire friend whose fortune is made by digitally imaging breasts...and not in the mammogram way; too many references to Harry Potter (aspirational perhaps?); and overt google worship. These are the things that ended up ruining this book for me. I was hoping for something more along the lines of The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern (which I loved!)...but alas, Penumbra's story fell short.

Hmm. Sounds disappointing!

>23 Cynara: It was. But fortunately there are always more books in the stack to be read!

The Burgess Boys review: (Early Reviewers Selection)

The story takes place between Manhattan and Maine and primarily involves the three Burgess siblings. Jim and Bob both live in Manhattan and both are lawyers. And that is where the similarities between them end. Jim is the eldest in the family and is a power house lawyer having won a case that recieved national attention. Bob has withdrawn from trial work and does mostly appeals and pro-Bono cases. Their sister (and Bob's twin), Susan is a divorcee living in the family's hometown in rural Maine, and works as an optometrist in the mall. Over the past decade, the small Maine town has become the home of many refugees from the ongoing wars in Somalia. The Burgess Boys are called back home to Maine when Susan's socially inept 19 yr. old son, Zack, rolls a pig's head into a Somali mosque. The event threatens to be come a national incident. The author has an unerring talent for writing down the nuances of relationship between people, both in narrative and dialogue. She deftly draws the reader's attention to the subtle events that tip a situation/relationship from a static to dynamic to chaotic state. And yet, there is always that old New England reticence in her writing.

Favorite quote: "You have family......You have a wife who hates you. Kids who are furious with you. A brother and sister who make you insane. And a nephew who used to be kind of a drip but apparently is not so much of a drip now. That's called family." (p.311 of the advance reader's copy.)

The Cat's Table review:

The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje is a coming of age story of young Mynah (nickname for Michael) as he sets sail for England from Ceylon in 1954 at the age of 11. On the ship he meets up with two other boys of similar age and destination. The three of them set about exploring the encapsulated adult world on the ship, Oronsay.

This 21 day journey is pivotal in the life of Michael, affecting his perceptions of the world and choices he makes in adult life. There are parts of the book where Michael's narrative veers into what happened in his adult life that remind me of Julian Barnes' Sense of an Ending. But unlike SOE, there is humor, wonder, and adventure in the antics of the three pre-teen boys aboard the ship.

It's a great coming of age story populated with a cast of characters who are somewhat cartoonishly exaggerated by the viewpoint of an 11 year old boy. This makes the story that much more endearing. The awe and mystery of a storm at sea, going through the Suez Canal, and stops at Aden and Port Said are experiences lovingly communicated through the narrative. This author of The English Patient has a way of writing that just draws me into the envelope of the world he is describing. I found myself wishing for more time with Mynah after finishing the book.

I am starting The Rules of Civility for the third, maybe fourth, time. It's for our book group next Friday. Each time I barely get past the second chapter......this time I will persevere.

It took me about 2/3's of the way through Rules of Civility to decide that I liked it and would give it 4 stars.

Finished Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales today. Yoko Ogawa is certainly a versatile writer with a pretty broad range. This one also rates 4 stars from me.

Finished The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. The story reminds me a lot of John Irving's writing, not just because of the character Owen. Will write a review after having chance to think about it....perhaps after book group discussion in April.

wow...it appears I have fallen off the reading wagon! Not so, I've just been a bit busy.
Am currently reading (and very much enjoying0 Tell the Wolves I'm Home Will write a review when I've finished.

Also have several Early Reviewers selections to finish and review. So I'd better get busy reading.

Review: Tell the Wolves I'm Home

June Elbus is a 14 yr. old girl growing up in Westchester outside of NYC in 1987. She feels socially inept and has a fascination with medieval times. Her walks in the forest behind her home afford her the opportunity to imagine herself back in time as the forest carries none of the trappings of modern society.

As the story opens June and her 16 yr. old sister, Greta, are having their portrait painted by their maternal Uncle Finn in his NYC apartment. Finn is June's godfather. He is a well known artist and he is dying of AIDs. The relationship between June and her uncle is a very special bond. He is the one who understands her fascination with medieval society and feeds her imagination with visits to The Cloisters, medieval fairs, movies, etc.

The story explores themes of love, sibling relationships, compassion, secrets, and art as a means of expression. There is a secret relationship, a high school musical, and a very well drawn cast of characters. The author has done an excellent job of capturing public sentiment towards AIDs in that time period and uses that as a vehicle to drive the plot.

I rate it at 5 stars.

Just finished reading Caleb's Crossing and give it 31/2 stars. I'll write a review, perhaps after book discussion next Friday.

Finished and reveiwed Pat Conroy's My Reading Life:

I listened to this as an audio book, read by the author. IMO it made the experience that much more rich. This is a memoir, narrated through the lens of the author's favorite prose and poetry. The first chapter deals with the author and his relationship with his mother, summed up through his analysis of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. Other chapters go on to reveal other books, both classic and contemporary; other relationships with family, mentors, and friends; and insights into his writing life. Sprinkled through the book are anecdotes of brief but meaningful encounters. One hilarious encounter is the befriending of a Japanese man in a French restaurant.

At the end of the audio book, there is an author interview with the producer of the audio version. Conroy compared the audio book to the great story telling tradition from the south. He pointed out the acting ability required of a reader to be able to authentically conveyed in a well produced audio book. There are still a few of Conroy's books that I have not read, so now I can look forward to Conroy to do what he claims are the greatest four words in the language: "Tell me a story."

I gave it 4 stars..

Finished and reviewed Jill McCorkle's Life After Life:

It's an odd quirk of the publishing world that Jill McCorkle's book, Life After Life was released just a week before Kate Atkinson's book by the same name. I hope that the confusion doesn't cause McCorkle's book to be overlooked.

The author uses the setting of a multi-stage retirement home of Pine Haven in Fulton, North Carolina as a back drop similar to Thornton Wilder's Our Town. The chapters are mostly written in differing points of view of the various characters with a delightful and well drawn range of personalities.

There are several narrative threads in the book:
One deals with Joanna and C.J. Joanna, in her mid-40's, is a native of Fulton who left (escaped) town in her late teens and has returned home after three marriages to care for her dying father. Her mantra is "the longest and most expensive journey you will ever make is the one to yourself". Her job at Pine Haven is a hospice worker who serves as "a bridge between two places - the past and the present -- the before and the after." Her notebook pages about those she has cared for appear in the book, often followed by a short narrative in the voice of the deceased, a bit like Spoon River Anthology.

Joanna is friend and mentor to C.J. a 26 year old "punk, pierced, and tattooed with a baby boy whose father she won't dicuss" who works at Pine Haven as a beautician. She does hair, manicures, and pedicures in a loving way. C.J.'s life has been hard, including her mother's suicide when she was still in school. Joanna and C.J. have shared their stories, many (tho' not all) of their secrets including an exchange about "if anything ever happens to me".....

Another thread deals with Abby, a 12 year old girl who is suffering the loss of her dog, Dollbaby; the effects of a frustrated, selfish mother, Kendra, and an inept "Southern boy" father, Ben. Abby often seeks refuge at Pine Haven, especially with Sadie, the woman who has taught third grade just about everyone in town, and has a business in the nursing home helping to others to realize thwarted dreams.

The remaining cast of characters include:
Stanley, a retired lawyer who carries out his own brand of theatrics in the nursing home for his own reasons, and also knows most of the long time residents of Fulton. Rachel, a retired Jewish lawyer from Massachusetts who has come to Pine Haven to recover the essence of an unfulfilled romance. Toby, a retired high school literature teacher and lesbian. And Marge, the widow of the town judge who keeps a scrapbook of true crime in the region.

The author uses poetic, descriptive language to describe emotions, events and memories. She is a southern woman writer who spent much of her adulthood in New England and this provides keen insight into the characters and culture conveyed in the novel. She is able to convey a Southern sensibility as well as a Northern perspective on that sensibility (mostly through the character of Rachel).

There is a lot packed into this book. It's the kind of story that calls back to the reader long after reaching the end of the story.

Disclosure: I received this book as an Early Reviewers Selection through Library Thing. And though a review is requested as part of the program, the opinion and content of the review is entirely my own.

Finished Benediction by Kent Haruf yesterday. Here's my review:

Through his writing, Kent Haruf has the ability to show the reader the extraordinary in the ordinary. The town of Holt, Co. is again the setting for this story about: Dad Lewis, recently diagnosed with terminal cancer; Rob Lyle, the preacher who was moved to Holt after publicly defending a gay colleague in Denver; and 8 year old Alice, who lives with her grandmother next door to the Lewis family after losing her mother to breast cancer.

The narrative takes place during Dad Lewis' decline and follows the thread of these three characters as their lives are loosely braided together. Haruf has an uncanny ability to convey a character through dialogue. Many of the conversations ring true....the kind of thing you hear at a kitchen table, a quiet picnic, or at a funeral visitation. He also reveals his characters to you over time, much in the way a friendship develops. You meet the character, then through the story you learn about their loves, their losses, their past.

In some ways this is the third of a trilogy , following Plainsong and Eventide, which also take place in Holt. But these are new characters. In the conversation some of the characters from the previous two books are mentioned but this book does not hinge on them.

Haruf's writing has a grace and spirituality about it that reminds me of Marilynne Robinson's writing minus the theological dilemma's.

If you're looking for an action packed thriller, this isn't it. But if you love language and appreciate the struggles of real people in everyday life, this is an extremely satisfying read.

Finished Kate Atkinson's Life After Life last night. Here's my review:

This book is introduced by three quotes: One enigmatic quote about the endless circularity of life by Nietzsche; one by Plato; and the third quote is from a character in the book, the main character's favorite brother. The tenet of this book is based on this third quote: "What if we had a chance to do it again and again, until we finally get it right? Wouldn't that be wonderful?" Hence the title, Life after Life.

The main character is Ursula Todd. Ursula means "little she bear". Todd is an ancient word for fox. She is born into a comfortable, middle class home called Fox Corner. These animal references are used through out the book. Aspects of Ursula's birth are chronicled 12 times in this book, all on Feb. 11, 1910. In the first account she dies at birth. In subsequent accounts she lives, but we are given glimpses of the characters attending her birth. Or not, as in the case of Mrs. Haddock, the midwife who never does make it to the birth and is another animal reference in the book.

The narrative has a circularity about it where we see Ursula go through similar, but not exact circumstances repeatedly. As the story progresses, she has deja vu experiences and premonitions where she takes action to alter the course of the previous history. Key characters in her life remain constant through out the various iterations. The mother, Sylvie regards Ursula as an odd child and seeks psychiatric help for her as a 7-10 year old because of her odd premonitions. The father, Hugh, and the older sister, Pamela, are consistently benevolent characters. The oldest brother, Maurice, is universally disliked by the family.

The variations on the theme of repeated lives are different lovers, predators, and a husband or two. There are several variations on living through WWII, which is really the crux of what Ursula is supposed to "get right"...the assassination of Hitler in the last months of 1930, before the march toward the second world war begins.

Ms. Atkinson is a good story teller and wonderful wordsmith. But I'm not sure that this modernistic approach to story telling deserves the amount of praise this book has garnered. The circularity of the story seems a bit overdone and gimmicky. It reminds me a bit of the movie Ground Hog Day, or life as character in a role playing video game..."darkness had fallen"...or screen fades to black, then start all over again. In short, I enjoyed reading the episodes but became bored and restless with the book as a whole. I gave it 3 1/2 stars.

Life after Life is still on my future reading list but given the number of holds ahead of me, I am quite happy to continue reading other books while I wait. It is nice to see a review that isn't overly gushing about Atkinson's latest. Great review!

>37 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori!

Nice review of Life After Life, although I enjoyed it more than you did.

>39 kidzdoc: Thanks Daryl. Still can't figure out why Mrs. Haddock was in there? Maybe she was just someone who never got it right?

A review of All Woman and Springtime:
All Woman and Springtime is the first novel by Brandon W. Jones who has taken on the topics of North Korea and human trafficking in one big gulp of a story. The story centers on two young women who are about to age out of a women's orphanage in North Korea.

Gi (Gyong-ho) was orphaned in a concentration camp after inadvertently revealing a trivial infraction by her family's care of "the Dear Leader's" portrait hanging in their home...it had dust on it. Her torture in the camp is graphically described and she survives only by withdrawing into a world of math and numbers, an area in which she is a savant.

Il-sun is the daughter of a deceased military officer. Her older brother died in a concentration camp because of his outspoken behavior. She became orphaned when her mother died in her early teens. Il-sun has dreams of marrying well and living happily ever after in so far as that is defined in North Korean terms.

Part 1 of the book details their lives in the orphanage and their work in a sewing factory. The deprivation, hunger, and meanness of spirit is brought home through the narrative and anecdotes. Gi is merely trying to survive and is looking forward to when she and Il-sun will leave the orphanage. Il-sun is acting more like an adolescent that a westerner might recognize. It is Il-sun's flirtations that move the story into the second part of the book.

Part 2 chronicles their transport across the DMZ between North and South Korea under the belief that the North Korean authorities are after them. Instead they, along with another young woman, Cho, are sold as sex slaves to a South Korean thug. Again the narrative brings home the effect of their isolated lives in the North. One anecdote described how startled the women were to see an overweight person and their first interaction with fast food. The rest of this section describes their captivity as sex slaves and the machinery of the porn empire their captor has built. Some of this is brutally described. With the help of another captive woman who is South Korean, they develop an escape plan with a tragic outcome that causes all four of them to be sold.

Part 3 of the book takes place in Seattle in a Korean mafia owned brothel. They are kept indoors and not allowed to wear shoes. They are "branded" with the gang's tattoos as is the madame and the shady doctor who comes to care for them. After more suffering, there is an upbeat ending to the book.

The story is compelling. The author's writing is adequate to the story. In journeying through the story, there are characters that are introduced then left behind. Some reviews fault the author for that, but I suspect that it brings home the nature of human trafficking....people (mostly women and children) disappear and are never heard from again. So we don't learn what happens to the mistress of the orphanage, or the woman who saved Gi from the concentration camp and other characters. Given the topics, it would have been artifice to have them all tied up neatly at the end of this story.

I give the book 4 stars.

Great review of All Woman and Springtime; I'll add it to my wish list.

Thanks, kidzdoc.

Review: My Beloved World

Sonia Sotomayor's memoir gives us a candid peek into the early life of the first Hispanic, female Supreme Court Justice of the U.S. The first portion of the book deals with her diagnosis with Type I diabetes at age 7, the dysfunctional marriage of her parents and her father's struggle with and demise from alcoholism.

She shares the joys and heartaches of belonging to a large extended family of Puerto Rican descent growing up in the Bronx in the 1960's. A central figure in her life was her mother, who placed a high value on education. She demonstrated this to her children by earning her LPN despite language difficulties, and by sacrificing to send both of her children to private Catholic schools. Though Sonia experienced her mother as an emotionally distant person, her paternal grandmother's expansive love and personality filled that void.

Nancy Drew Mystery books and Perry Mason television shows are cited by the author as her inspiration toward a career in law. Her constant awareness of the implications of her diabetes also influenced her career and other life decisions.

As a carry over from her mother's influence, much of this memoir focuses on the author's educational experiences and achievements, which are truly remarkable. Including a full undergraduate scholarship to Princeton followed by law school at Yale. She was married from 1976 to 1983 to her high school sweetheart, but the demands of her work in the district attorney's office and her husband's graduate school created a divide that could not be bridged and the marriage failed.

Her early law career in the district attorney's office, then later in private practice are chronicled in an almost case study style. The author seems to use these cases to explain how her style as a judge has been formed by experience.

In some ways the book is surprisingly revealing for a Supreme Court Justice. And yet, once the book is finished, one can't help but feel that she has also been quite reserved. I greatly appreciated (and derived some hope) from a section at the end of the memoir where she discusses the importance of making decisions based on the context of a situation rather than rigidly sticking to some ideology.

I listened to the audio version of this book which was beautifully narrated by Rita Moreno.

4 stars from me.

Another review:
When She Woke by Hilary Jordan

Hilary Jordan knows something about the meanness of the human spirit as expressed in bigotry and hatred of "the other". But she also knows how to write a character with indomitable spirit. She's done it twice now: first with Mudbound and now with When Whe Woke. Though the settings and story lines are very different, these two themes are shared by the two books.

As the book opens, Hannah Payne awakes to find herself in a Chrome ward in Texas, where she will be in solitary confinement and video monitored 24-7 for 30 days. She has been given a virus that turns her red which is part of the punishment for having had an abortion.

This is a futuristic society where Los Angeles has been reduced to rubble by a terrorist act. Roe v. Wade has been overturned after "the scourge", a virulent STD which left many sterile, threatened the population. Babies and the ability to reproduce became highly valued. A cure for "the scourge" has been found. Sadly in this society, there seems to be no cure for fulminating, fundamentalist christian bigotry that has become rampant and insinuated itself into government and public policy.

Prisons have been deteriorating, and the public policy solution to incarceration is to use viruses to tint convicts various colors that align with their crime. There are yellows, blues, greens, and red is for those found to be guilty of murder. And in this futuristic society, everyone can be tracked by the government at all times.

Jordan has done more than a passing nod to The Scarlet Letter in this book. The main characters have the same initials: Hannah Payne: Hester Prynne. The adulterous minister Aidan Dale: Arthur Dimmsdale. While in a "christian" group home for "rehab", Hannah names her aborted child Pearl, the same name as Hester Prynne's love child.

Upon her release from the Chrome Ward, the story becomes action packed and Hannah learns the perils of living as a marked woman in a hateful society. There is suspense, action, hatred, and love. Hannah is a strong character and her strength draws her to those who can help her.

The book is well written and the story line is compelling. In addition to The Scarlet Letter, I would also compare it to Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale.

I give it 4.5 stars.

Great reviews of My Beloved World and When She Woke!

Thanks again, kidzdoc. Also, thanks for stopping by!

Review: Harvest by Jim Crace

Around this time of year (October) I often dig out an old Thomas Hardy novel to wade through. The language and atmosphere of his writing seems to fit well into late autumn days. This year Harvest by Jim Crace has slaked that thirst. It's a modern novel written in an old language and set long ago in a time of political and social upheaval.

The Enclosure Acts were passed in the UK in the time period from 1750 to 1860. These acts removed the grazing and cultivation rights that were the sustenance of the common people. They favored wealthy landowners giving them rights to enclose open fields and common land to use as they chose, which was often for the grazing of sheep. The result was displacement, poverty, starvation, and emigration of those on the lowest rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. The implementation of the Enclosure Acts is the background for this novel.

The story starts with two fires on the day the villagers are to rest and celebrate after completion of the communal barley harvest the previous day. One fire is the Master's dovecot, the other is the fire of outsiders who have set up camp at the edge of Master Kent's land.

Walter Thirsk, the narrator, is also an outsider to the village. Formerly the servant of Charles Kent, the benevolent land owner who became the master through marriage to his now deceased wife. Walter elected to leave the Master's service to marry one of the local women 12 years ago. His wife is also recently deceased, leaving him childless and less connected a village that values blood kinship above all else. (Two grieving men....see the Thomas Hardy connection?)

Another outsider is Philip Earle (Mr. Quill) who has come at the invitation of Charles Kent to survey the land. He has a handicap which immobilizes the left upper quarter of his body.

The final, and consummate outsider is Edmund Jordan who through the laws of primogeniture has come to seize the holdings of Charles Kent. Edmund Jordan is the cousin of Charles Kent's deceased wife and the eldest surviving male family member.

When things go wrong, the tendency to blame the outsider is manifest. The dovecot fire is blamed on the campers at the edge of the land, though the villagers know that it was the work of three of their high spirited sons. Edmund Jordan arrives on the scene and is able to manipulate the foment of the dovecot fire and the naivete' of the villagers to his advantage. His desire is to clear the land of people to install sheep.

Crace has managed to take a piece of history and through archetypal characters guide the reader through many of the fears and insecurities of today's class wars. Names are important and suggestive of the archetypes: Walter Thirsk...water, thirst. And the vagrant campers are dubbed with the surname Beldam....which I couldn't help but read as bedlam.

One of my favorite passages from Walter Thirsk is near the end of the book:
"Am I to be the only one to witness and know it all, the only one to wonder what this pageant represents?......Today I'm seeing Privilege, in its high hat. Then comes Suffering: the Guilty and the Innocent, including beasts. Then Malice follows, wielding its great stick. And, afterward, invisibly, Despair is riding its lame horse."

Loved the language and the story line, though it is dark and unsettling.

I gave it 5 stars.

Fabulous review of Harvest, tangledthread! Yours is the first one I've read, on LT or elsewhere, that put this book in a discrete historical context. I also felt that the class warfare described in the book was directly relevant to modern life in the "civilized" West, and I'm eager to read it again to gain more insight into its characters and to Crace's intents in writing this brilliant novel. I'd be happy if Harvest won this year's Booker Prize, but I still give a slight nod to The Luminaries, even though it wasn't quite as clean as Crace's book.

Thanks, kidzdoc. Am looking forward to reading The Luminaries once it's on the shelves in the US.

Have to go pick up Transatlantic at the library this weekend.

I need to check to see if we still have Harvest or if it is one that has been returned to the book leasing company. I've seen a couple of reviews besides yours that are making me want to read it.

Thanks, Lori. I really liked it...will be interested to hear what you think of Harvest.

Just reviewed Devil in the Grove and The Aviator's Wife which can be found on the book pages.

Review of Lee Smith's Guests on Earth

I've been looking forward to the release of Guests on Earth since reading prepublication announcements. Lee Smith is a favorite author of mine (esp. Fair and Tender Ladies and Devil's Dream) and the advance blurb also dangled the carrot of Zelda Fitzgerald to entice.

That said, I probably would have enjoyed the book more without the Zelda Fitzgerald emphasis in the advance press. Zelda is a character in the book, but she is not the main character and she is shown to the reader from the oblique point of view of the main character and first person narrator, Evalina Toussaint.

Evalina is a character with a history strong enough to carry the plot of the story. She begins life sheltered by her mother who is an exotic dancer in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Through out the novel, some inexplicable observations are shared which are explained later in the story, so pay attention as you read. When Evalina becomes orphaned as a pre-teen, she is sent to Highland Hospital in Asheville, NC in 1936.

Through Evalina's experience growing up at Highland, leaving for a music education, and returning to the hospital after WWII, we are given a glimpse of the trends in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness through that time period. The focus is especially on the treatment of women (esp. women of the American south). The mental health professionals are depicted in a generally positive light, but one can't help but think their treatment strategies resemble a dangerous game of blind man's bluff, rather than scientific medicine.

Early in her stay at Highland, Evalina wishes for a group of "chums" to hang around with. About two thirds of the way through the book, that wish is fulfilled and the story becomes populated with so many characters, referred to by different names, that I had difficulty keeping track of them.

Evalina leaves Highland at age 17 to attend Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore. She adapts to life outside of the hospital, but instead of graduating as a performer in her own right, she graduates as an accompanist. This role as accompanist is referred to through out the remainder of the book and Evalina's life. It is the device that gives us the oblique view of mental health care and Zelda Fitzgerald, whom Evalina accompanies in performances staged by the hospital.

In general, I really enjoyed this book, but I felt like the author was having difficulty focusing on what the story was really about. Is it about Evalina and the misadventures of southern women in the mental health system during the 30's and 40's? Is it about Zelda Fitzgerald? Is it about the mysterious fire at Highland Hospital in 1948? I'm still not sure....and feel that the book could be improved by tightening up the focus of the plotlines.

Nice review of Guests on Earth, tangledthread.

Thanks, Daryl.

Review: Heading out to Wonderful

The book opens with a first person narrated introduction to the quiet town of Brownsburg, Va. in 1948. The story begins when Charlie Beale arrives with a suitcase full of cash and a set of butcher knives "sharp as razors", adding one more to the population of 538 people. The story is about a particular town, in a particular time, and a particular place to a particular group of people who belonged to the land.

Charlie Beale is not one of those particular people. He is a perpetual outsider, not just because of the nature of Brownsburg, but by his own nature as well. Through out the story we are given clues to his separate nature. One example is his difficulty fitting in at church leading to his identification with the people of the AME church, who didn't particularly want a white man man to join them. Through out the story, Charlie remains a cipher. It is not clear where the suitcase full of cash came from. There is an allusion to an unhappy childhood. The knives are German. And it's not clear where this 40 year old man spent the years of WWII.

Another theme in the story are the various types of love. There is love for a child as Charlie takes on his boss's 5 year old son, Sam Haislett. There is neighborly love as the Haisletts hire Charlie in the butcher shop and Alma takes him under her wing. There is filial love, as Charlie's brother Ned comes to help Charlie in his time of need. And there is the forbidden love that Charlie has for Sylvan Glass, the wife of Boaty Glass, the richest and possibly meanest man in town. And there is self love, which is the undoing of all of the others.

This exploration of love and motivation are similar to Goolrick's previous book, The Reliable Wife. Both are sinister and somewhat cynical. While The Reliable Wife takes place in wintry Wisconsin and St. Louis, this book is firmly rooted in summer in the Appalachian Mountains with a Southern Gothic atmosphere in the writing.

Looks like my objective of 75 books for this year is a fail.

It's been an interesting year. Newly retired dh, a new undertaking, healthcare problems for older extended family members all got in the way of accomplishing some personal goals set for this year. The only thing I know to do is to jump back in the saddle and watch for the 2014 75 books challenge group to begin.

Any day now... :)