brenzi's 2013 Reading - April Antics

---Guy Cambier – French painter -1923-2008

“I read for pleasure and that is the moment I learn the most.”
― Margaret Atwood

OTS – Off the Shelf (books owned at least six months)

L - library book

NF – Non-fiction







BOOKS READ IN 2013

30. Curse of the Narrows - Laura M. MacDonald - NF - Canada - 4.2 stars
29. Less Than Angels - Barbara Pym - UK - eBook - 3 stars
28. At Lady Molly's - Anthony Powell - UK - 3.5 stars
27. Life After Life - Kate Atkinson - L - UK - 5 stars
26. Wave - Sonali Deraniyagala - NF - L - Sri Lanka - 4 stars
25. The Dinner - Herman Koch - L - Holland - 3 stars
24. Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood - OTS - Canada - 4.5 stars
23. TransAtlantic - Colum McCann - Ireland - ER - 4.5 stars
22. Mary Coin - Marisa Silver - L - 3.5 stars
21. The Good Soldier - Ford Maddox Ford - eBook - 4 stars
20. The Acceptance World - Anthony Powell - OTS - UK - 4.2 stars
19. The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century - Edward Dolnick - NF - OTS - Holland/Gremany - 4 stars
18. Jane and Prudence - Barbara Pym - UK - OTS - 4 stars
17. Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales - Yoko Ogawa - Japan - L - 3.8 stars
16. Doctor Thorne - Anthony Trollope - eBook - UK - 4.2 stars
15. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk - Ben Fountain - eBook - 4 stars
14. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia - Mohsin Hamid - ER - 4 stars
13. Geek Love - Katherine Dunn - OTS - 4.5 stars
12. The Lions of Al-Rassan - Guy Gavriel Guy - L - 4.5 stars
11. A Buyer's Market - Anthony Powell - 4 stars
10. Galore - Michael Crummey - Canada - OTS - 5 stars
9. Excellent Women - Barbara Pym - UK - OTS - 4.3 stars
8. The River of Doubt - Candice Millard - OTS - Brazil - 4.5 stars
7. Barchester Towers - Anthony Trollope - eBook - UK - 5 stars
6. The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien - OTS - Viet Nam - 4.4 stars
5. The Line -- Olga Grushin - L - Russia - 4.4 stars
4. We Die Alone - David Howarth - NF - eBook - Norway - 3.8 stars
3. A Question of Upbringing - Anthony Powell - UK - 3.7 stars
2. The Burgess Boys - Elizabeth Strout - ER - 4.5 stars
1. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy- L - Russia - 4.9 stars

Currently Reading:



BOOKS THAT CAME INTO THE HOUSE THIS YEAR:

JANUARY

Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Explosion of 1917 Laura M. Mac Donald- PBS
The Enchanted April - Elizabeth Von Armin - PBS
Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places - Bill Streever - eBook
Palladian - Elizabeth Taylor - PBS
Strength in What Remains - Tracy Kidder - PBS
The Best American Short Stories 2012 - Tom Perrotta - eBook
Company of Liars - Karen Maitland - PBS
The Eyes of Venice - Alessandro Barbero - Talking Leaves Bookstore
How It All Began - Penelope Lively - Talking Leaves Bookstore

FEBRUARY

Frenchman's Creek - Daphne Du Maurier - PBS
Home From the Vinyl Cafe - Stuart McLean - PBS
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia- Mohsin Hamid - ER
The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold - eBook.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian - Sherman Alexie - PBS
The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter I) - Sigrid Undset - PBS
Two Days in Aragon - M. J. Farrell - PBS

MARCH

The Rising Tide - M.J. Farrell (Molly Keane) - PBS
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison - PBS
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - Jared Diamond - PBS
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Sherman Alexie - PBS
A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby - Orchard Park Book Sale
Faithful Place - Tana French - Orchard Park Book Sale
Good to a Fault - Marina Endicott - Orchard Park Book Sale
Lost in Shangri-la - Mitchell Zuckoff - eBook
Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin - eBook
River Town - Peter Hessler - eBook
Waiting for Sunrise - William Boyd - eBook
Transatlantic - Colum McCann - ER
Before I Go to Sleep - S.J. Watson - eBook
Dancer - Colum McCann - Hamburg Book Store
The Last Stand - Nathaniel Philbrick - Hamburg Book Store
The Life of Margaret Laurence - James King - Hamburg Book Store
Less Than Angels - Barbara Pym - eBook

April

A Very Private Eye: An Autobiography in Letters and Diaries - Barbara Pym - PBS
The Judge - Rebecca West - PBS
Agent ZigZag - Ben Macintyre - PBS
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont - Elizabeth Taylor - PBS
Kikwaakew - Joseph Boyden - eBook
The Shell Collector: Stories - Anthony Doerr - eBook
Whose Body? - Dorothy Sayers - eBook
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: An Essay - David Foster Wallace - eBook
The Frozen Thames - Helen Humphreys - Amazon
The Shutter of Snow - Emily Holmes Coleman - PBS
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath - PBS
Hellhound on His Trail - Hampton Sides - Barnes and Noble
Imagined Lives - John Banville - Amazon
Son of the Morning Star: Custer and The Little Bighorn - Evan Connell - PBS
Destiny of the Republic - Candice Millard - Talking Leaves Bookstore
Crime and Punishment - Fyodoro Dostoyevsky - Talking Leaves Bookstore

March Summary

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain – a sad commentary on the state of veterans who return home from service in Iraq and are faced with well-meaning but totally uneducated Americans who fall all over themselves in their futile attempts to “support the troops.”

Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope - The third book in Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire series had the same effect on me as the first two: I was lulled into a stupor of pleasant reverie while simultaneously fuming at an intolerable injustice. So very well done and I’ve officially become a Trollope fan. Onto the next episode in The Chronicles of Baretshire

Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa - Exquisitely unsettling. That’s the only description I can come up with for this finely understated story collection that creeps in under your skin, unobserved, and niggles at the subconscious mind until you’re afraid to let a breath out. It’s actually pretty darn scary, how good Ogawa is at frightening you in the most polite way.

Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym - another delightful Pym (who is quickly becoming a favorite author) and it gives me another reason to ponder the appeal of this type of book to me. I have no idea what I see in a book about women, single for the most part, or married to a vicar, in 1950s Great Britain, whose main claim to fame is their devotion to their church's fund raising activities. If single, they may have a hum drum job where not much happens to enrich their lives other than their inevitable pursuit of a suitable mate. I’m finding that this type of book is just my cup of tea, and oh my, do they ever drink a lot of tea.

The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century – by Edward Dolnick - This is the story of the man who swindled the Nazi head of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering, as well as fooling nearly the entire recognized European art world and became a multimillionaire in a matter of a few years by creating paintings that bore no resemblance to paintings by Johannes Vermeer, yet were passed off as just that. Fascinating story and a page turner to boot.

The Acceptance World Volume 3/12 of A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell - I have finally come to terms with the “dance” metaphor and now that I can see it clearly I feel a bit foolish because it seem so obvious. Some characters move in and out of the narrative and while they are “on the dance floor” they are the center of the action and then they move off and someone else dances onto the floor. Managing this choreography is not easy but Powell is up to the task and at the end of this first movement, I am already looking forward to what the 1930s will bring for these characters, which we know pretty well now.

The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford – “This is the saddest story I ever heard.” So begins the 1915 novel by Ford Maddox Ford, a book that even he, ten years after its publication, was surprised by the combined intricacies of voice and non-linear construction that make this narrative confusing and just a bit odd. But dang, it seems to have left me considering a reread in the not too distant future.
The story itself is fairly straightforward: two wealthy couples, one English (Edward and Leonora Ashburnham), one American (John and Florence Dowell), spend many seemingly happy years together after meeting in a German spa town. At some point, it is revealed that Edward and Florence have carried on a long affair which Lenora knows about but Dowell does not. This affair appears to be the vehicle for a bleak string of deaths, suicides, and one woman’s spiral into mental illness.

Mary Coin by Marisa Silver - Novelist Marisa Silver had an idea for a book that was really quite clever. She took the iconic photograph, Migrant Mother, and created a narrative around it. The mother, Florence Owens Thompson, became the eponymous Mary Coin. The photographer, the immensely talented and respected Dorothea Lange, became Vera Dare. And through flashbacks the author recreated their lives and that one moment in time that brought them together in 1936 on the side of the road when Vera worked as a photographer for the U.S. government’s Farm Security Administration, documenting the plight of migrant workers in California during the Great Depression and Mary was sitting in a make-shift tent with her six children. I had a slight problem with the third thread that the author introduced and didn’t feel it was needed.

MY BUDDY

APRIL TIOLI

Challenge #1 - Read a book whose title is in ABC/123 order:

Life After Life – Kate Atkinson
Enchanted April – Elizabeth Von Armin

Challenge #3: Read a book with an embedded word whether scrambled or unscrambled in a single word within the title

Less Than Angels – Barbara Pym
The Dinner - Herman Koch

Challenge #4: Read a book with two or more people on the cover:
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

Challenge #9: Read a work with a 4 syllable word on the 13th page:

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann

Challenge #10: Read a work in which both the title and the author's name contains double letters:

At Lady Molly’s by Anthony Powell

Challenge #13: Read a book with a 'water' word in the title

Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

Challenge #15: Read a Book to Start a Trend

Curse the Narrows by Laura MacDonald

Challenge #16: Read a Book by Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Bonnie! Great new thread!
I love your place...the cube shelving was a great idea. But I know it cant really be yours as there are not enough books!
;)

> 4 Megan LOL!

Wonderful new thread Bonnie!

>4 LovingLit: Hi there Megan, I was wondering why there were all those blank spaces. I have trouble squeezing in even one or two new books haha.

>5 drachenbraut23: Hi Bianca, thanks for visiting:-)

#3 Oh, Bonnie, that is a library/den to die for!! Some great reading coming up for you in the April challenges. Curious to see how you like Life After Life. And I know that The Keeper of Lost Causes and Alias Grace are excellent. It's many years since I read the latter; I should pick it up again (ha, can't get through what's already on the list).

Oh yes Nancy, the unending LIST!! No point in rereading when there are so many unread books clamoring for attention. The Atkinson is there but who knows if I'll get it from the library this month.

Hi Bonnie- Love the April Antics! It looks like you are having another solid year of reading, which benefits me because I end up reading many of those same books, including Galore, which I just started. It's just a taste but I like it.
Have you read the Blind Assassin? This looks like something you would like.

Hi Bonnie - Beautiful new thread. I LOVE those bookshelves -- yes, in my house they would not look so neat. Books would be crammed in every which way. You did great reading in March and have an ambitious April planned.

Hello, Bonnie! I love your puppy! Such an adorable thing!

>9 msf59: Oh I really hope you like Galore Mark. I fell into the rhythm of that one within the first few pages. I have another one of his on my shelf---River Thieves. I liked The Blind Assassin a lot. Read that in my pre-LT days:-)

>10 BLBera: Hi there Beth, yes I'm afraid my April is way too ambitious. And it looks like The Dinner will be coming in at thye library this week too. Aye Yaye Yaye. That's what I hate about library books. Of course I love library books too haha.

Hi Terri! Great to see you here. He's actually 10 years old but many people think he's just a puppy:-)

Well, I meant "puppy" in the sense of "dog." I still call my dog a puppy, and she's 7. "Puppy" just sounds cuter than "Dog."

Hi Bonnie, I'm glad to see even more pictures of Buddy. I didn't realize he was 10 years old. He sure is a good looking boy. I only see two books on your list that we'll share this month...Transatlantic and At Lady Molly's...unless I'm lucky enough to have my bid for Life After Life come up at the library in April. Have a wonderful month of reading!

>14 tloeffler: Haha you're right Terri, we call my son's eight year old Black Lab a puppy because he acts like one;-)

>15 Donna828: Hi Donna, I'm guessing as to whether Life After Life will come in in time to read it this month. At our library, while the book is "on order" there's no way to tell where you are in the queue, so who knows how many are ahead of me? I'll finish TransAtlantic tonight.

Good evening, Your Honour. Some butter cookies?

Ohhhhhh those look mighty tempting, sir. Maybe I could have just one. Or are these the kind that you say, Bet you can't eat just one? Is that it Richard?

You *so* can't eat just one that there are only a dozen. Limits the damage.

Ohh lovely new thread, Bonnie! I'm afraid that Richard's cookies look very tempting! Oh yum!

As for Life After Life , which I am so enjoying, I was so surprised to find it at the library on March 27 or 28 - I rushed out to the bookstore assuming that they would have a copy -and they did. I had read that the publication date was April 2, but I figured if the library already had it ( and of course it was out) the bookstore must have it.

I hope you can get a copy soon.

>19 richardderus:. Well they look irresistible Richard so I'm just going to dive in. Thanks for sharing;-)

>20 vancouverdeb:. Yes Deborah I just checked my library account and they have the book already but they still haven't posted what number I am in the queue so I just have to be patient. I could be #1 or # 74. Who knows?

HI Bonnie! I love all your pictures on your pretty new thread. I've been meaning to read Curse of the Narrows since I read Blizzard of Glass and I have a copy of Transatlantic I really want to get to! Awaiting your thoughts on both.

Hi, Bonnie! Just wanted to let you know that I'm still out here lurking, even if I don't say much! I love your new thread!

I just checked the status of Life After Life at our library.....I'm #6 out of 29 on the hold list, but the web site just says the copies have been ordered, so I guess they're not even in processing yet. I don't think I have much of a chance of getting it during April. Bummer! :-( Oh, well....it's not like I don't have anything else to read!

>22 Copperskye: Hi Joanne, I'll be reviewing TransAtlantic shortly. In a word...wonderful. I have a fairly ambitious list for April especially since a bunch of library requests that are bound to all come in at once. **sigh**

>23 Nancy618: Hi Nancy, we cross-posted I guess. It's always good to see you here. You're ahead of me for Life After Life. I don't even have a number yet. But yes, there are plenty of other books I could be reading. Making ambitious lists usually proves to be a dismal failure for me haha.

23.



TransAtlantic by Collum McCann 4.5 stars

TransAtlantic opens with the daring first ever flight across the Atlantic from New Foundland to Ireland by two young WWI airmen, Jack Alcock and Teddy Brown, in 1919. Not many literary novelists start their narrative with an edge-of-your-seat, thrill-a-minute description, but then McCann is not your ordinary novelist. All the elements that brought him accolades of praise for his last novel, Let the Great World Spinare present in this tour-de-force novel that should further secure him his place in the top realm of literary novelists.

Using a non-linear construction, McCann recreates four historical events: the Alcock/Brown crossing, Frederick Douglas’s 1846 escape from slavery and subsequent sailing to Ireland and George Mitchell’s 1998 participation in the Northern Ireland Peace Process. Each of these historical figures was involved in crossing the Atlantic between North America and Ireland. And each of these events is witnessed by four generations of fictional women beginning with Irish maid Lily Duggan in 1846. McCann weaves their stories into a compelling narrative as he combines history and fiction.

McCann spells out his theme very clearly on page 218:

”The tunnels of our lives connect, coming to daylight at the oddest moments, and then plunge us into the dark again. We return to the lives of those who have gone before us, a perplexing mobius strip until we come home, eventually, to ourselves.”

And it is in connecting these events that the four generations of women provide a luminosity to the narrative that simply shines. Not to be missed.

Bonnie- I just glanced at your review! 4.5 is good enough for me. Looking forward to that one. I am really enjoying Galore but it's a bit tougher on audio. It moves fast and changes narratives rapidly and I find myself rewinding quite a bit. But boy, is he a good writer.

Excellent review of TransAtlantic, Bonnie! What an attention-grabber, a edge-of-your-seat, thrill-a-minute opening!

>26 brenzi: great! Glad you loved it, and Im sure the author will be pleased for some favourable (early) reviews too :)

I'm glad that you liked TransAtlantic, Bonnie! I thought that the writing was beautiful. I loved Let the Great World Spin too. I'm going to have to go back and read some of McCann's earlier books.

>27 msf59: Ohhhh Mark, I can believe that Galore is a tough go on audio. The fast moving narrative is the best thing about it haha.

>28 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, Everything about the book is attention-getting but that opening was a real hum dinger LOL.

>29 LovingLit: I'm willing to bet that most of the early reviewers were McCann fans already Megan but he is such a gifted writer.

>30 porch_reader: Hi there Amy, yes I happened to snag a nice used copy of his book Dancer last week which is a bio of Rudolph Nurevyev that I'm anxious to get to. He's such a great writer.

Looks like I need to make time for Transatlantic soon!

Transatlantic sounds very interesting, Bonnie! Thumb - I'll have to look for that one at my library. I think I've purchased mu quota of books for at least a few weeks........... ;)

Nice review of TransAtlantic, Bonnie. I loved Let the Great World Spin, so I'll definitely read his new novel this summer.

That sounds so good. Thanks for the review, Bonnie!

Bonnie, I gave you a thumb last night but I was too tired to comment here. I wish I had read it before you because I'll never come close to that wonderful review! I have Dancer in the wings, too, and will look for more McCann books at the library sale later this month.

Even though I am only mid-way through, I couldn't resist a quick peek at your review of Transatlantic: A Novel. I love McCann's writing and also have Dancer to look forward to.

TransAtlantic sounds good, Bonnie. I haven't read him before, and may start with this one.

>33 Copperskye: That would be a good idea Joanne although it won't be published until June 4.

>34 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deborah, look for it in June, when it's published:-)

>35 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:-)

>36 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura, if you loved Let the Great World Spin I'm pretty sure you will love this.

>37 Donna828: Thanks Donna, when I finished Let the Great World Spin I vowed to read some of his older books but....well, you know how that goes. But now that there's one sitting on my shelf, there's a much better chance.

>38 Linda92007: I don't think I gave anything away Linda. And I agree completely with you about his writing. It's just sublime.

>39 jnwelch: Haven't read him before Joe? You must read Let the Great World Spin without delay.

Great new thread, Bonnie. You've got me with a couple of book bullets. Our library just got Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, so I've added it to the list; also, Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales sounds very good.

Bonnie - After your great review of Transatlantic, I added McCann to my list of authors to try. I haven't read Let the Great World Spin either. Too many books!

Just stopping by to see what sort of antics you are up to! :)

I can't quite say "happy new thread" anymore, but it's new to me. LOVE that library and, of course, Buddy the Beautiful.
Thanks for listing your TIOLI entries like that. I'm off to double you with At Lady Molly's, which I'm reading now rather than saving for later.

>41 tymfos: Thanks Terri, I think Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales might be right up your alley as long as your alley includes "grim and unsettling" haha.

>42 BLBera: Whatttttt?!? Haven't read Let the Great World Spin? Well all I can say is that you have a real treat in store. Lucky you Beth. I wish I could read it again for the first time.

>43 vancouverdeb: Hahahahaha, very funny Deborah:-)

>44 LizzieD: It's pretty new Peggy. Of course I can fully understand why you're jumping right into At Lady Molly's but does that mean you will then have to read it at the beginningof every month? I probably should have read it right now myself. Hmmm.

I'm late to the new thread party.... :)

No one is ever late Tina! Welcome aboard.

So here is my problem: I started Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace yesterday and I am loving it. I am on about page 150/465. Last night I got notice that The Dinner by Herman Koch is in at my library. That will be a 7 day book but I understand it is fairly short so, not a problem.

Now I look at my account and two more books I requested are on their way to me, one of which is the new Kate Atkinson, which will be a 21 day book as it's over 500 pages. I think it's too late to deactivate either of these books.

There is no way I'm going to stop reading the Atwood, it's just too good. Possibly, I can go to the library first thing tomorrow morning and if they haven't unpacked the books yet I will only have to take The Dinner and then have 8 days to pick up the other. That will be the best case scenario, finish the Atwood and then The Dinner and then pick up the other two and be able to take a leisurely stroll through Atkinson land. But if I check in the morning and those two books are already listed as Ready for Pick-up........................I'm in trouble.

Why does this always happen when I decide to request books? Grrrrr

Hi Bonnie how fortunate to score an Early Reviewer copy of Transatlantic. I have read Zoli and loved it and purchased a copy of Let the Great World Spin earlier this year, which still awaits my attention. I returned Gone Girl to the library yesterday, so glad I didn't by it, not recommended and purposely didn'y stray to the bookshelves. Plenty of good reads awaiting me at home.

Bonnie I can relate to your library woes! I played a bit of reading roulette with The Dinner myself. I was in a loooong queue and my number just came up this week. Although I haven't finished my current book yet, I'll pick it up tomorrow. I think it's a standard 3-week loan so I'm not worried about finishing it in time. But in a bizarre coincidence, just yesterday I took a peek at the hold queue for Life After Life and was trying to decide whether to add my name yet! I will probably wait a week or two.

>48 brenzi:: LOL.

In Mark's memorable formulation, "This calls for a bookhorn."

Bonnie - It's a mystery about the library wait lists. I am 7 on one list right now and 1 on another, and I know the books will come at the same time! What's with that?

Hi there Helen, Laura, Tad, Richard and Beth, thanks for visiting!

Good news! Book Crisis Averted!!

Just as I hoped for, I picked up The Dinner first thing this morning and they were still unpacking the books so they hadn't dug my two books out yet. I just checked and they are sitting there waiting for me but I'm good until next Friday so YAY! I will have no trouble finishing both The Dinner and Alias Grace by then.

>49 HelenBaker: Hi Helen, yes I was one of the lucky ones to get TransAtlantic and now I guess I will have to look for Zoli too. He's a wonderful writer. I must say, I quite enjoyed Gone Girl when I read it last summer. I thought it was good for what it was: pure brain candy! Haha.

>50 lauralkeet: This kind of thing invariably happens to me Laura. I get a yearning for something new and/or hot and I throw caution to the wind. I should have been able to predict this result plus I have a short story collection I'm waiting for and that's getting close too. Grrr.

>51 TadAD: Go ahead and laugh Tad haha.

>52 richardderus: Yes I'm afraid you're probably right Richard. The trouble is, I think Mark has the market cornered on bookhorns as I have not been able to find one anywhere;-)

>53 BLBera: I actually think it's a devious plan by the library to get us to read more books and to read faster Beth hah.

I am so glad to hear that you are loving Alias Grace!! It's one of my favorites of Atwood!

Love the Buddy pics too! :)

Wow, all these book woes! Those are the best kind, right? Actually, I have just landed the Dinner on audio. Once again, I will be happily tagging along behind you, like a plump and eager puppy.
I did finish Galore and loved it. Sorry, to leave it behind. Where does the title come from? Do you know?

Our library titles/holds are the same in terms of when they arrive. I think because people can "suspend" a request, I sometimes receive books on which I am still #30-40 in the queue. This can work well or not ... sometimes I get books piled up here and, well, you know ... by the time I decide what I'm doing there's no way they all get read before due dates.

>55 ChelleBearss: Hi Chelle, yes I am absolutely loving Alias Grace; at the halfway point now and it keeps calling me back.And I know Toronto fairly well so I like seeing some familiar points like Yonge Street and Richmond Hill.

>56 msf59: I took the title to mean "bigger than life" which is how I pretty much viewed the whole book Mark. But I think it's pretty much open to interpretation. I'm surprised you could follow it on audio.

>57 lit_chick: I think you're right about the suspend function Nancy. That was probably why I got The Dinner kind of unexpectedly. Argh due dates!!

I'm also halfway through Alias Grace and it's all I want to read. It's my first Atwood novel.

That sort of thing happens to me quite often, too, Bonnie. Put in a few holds at the library and yes, they all come up at once! Argh! I'm nearing the finish of Life After Life and I'm loving it !!!!! I'll be sorry to finish the book! Another 100 pages or so. OH Bonnie it's wonderful - at least I think so!!!! :)

Hmm - just looking up - and yes we can suspend a hold too -but who ever knows til they all come available at once that you wanted to suspend a particular book! Yes, like Mark, just " Book horn " it in :)

I'm excited to hear that everyone's loving Alias Grace so much! It's been on my shelf forever and all this great talk has convinced me that I need to read it this month....plus, it fits in the Atwood Challenge!

I'm heading to the library later today to pick up The Dinner! Looks like we have ourselves a little unofficial group read. :)

>59 cbl_tn: Atwood has certainly drawn me into the world of Grace Marks, Carrie. It's just so compelling:-)

>60 vancouverdeb: I'm really looking forward to Life After Life Deborah, and maybe after I finish it I will feel a more urgent need to read the three other Atkinsons that I have on my shelf namely, Human Croquet, Behind the Scenes at the Museum and the last Jackson Brodie novel. Ach, too many books!

>61 Nancy618: Hi Nancy, Alias Grace is simply top-notch historical fiction. I wish Atwood would have done more of it rather than the apocalyptic stuff she seems to favor.

>62 lauralkeet: Haha you'll probably get to it before I do Laura but I'll look forward to comparing notes:-)

Hi Bonnie, my favourite Atkinson novel is still Behind the Scenes at the Museum. A different league to the Jackson Brodie novels.
I agree about Atwood, I just didn't enjoy The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake still sits on my shelf. I am not in any hurry to read it.

Hi Helen, I'm glad I have Behind the Scenes at the Museum to look forward to. And I have no desire at all to read either of those Atwood books. Too many people feel the way you do. I really am enjoying Alias Grace though.

Bonnie- I picked up a copy of Alias Grace today, from the library. I am seriously hoping to squeeze it in. I have not read the same author, in the same month, for decades. This will be historic.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum is my favourite as well. A great read!

>66 msf59: I have not read the same author, in the same month, for decades. This will be historic. Does this mean you have not read two books by the same author in the same month Mark?

>67 SandDune: Another reason to move Behind the Scenes at the Museum up. Thanks Rhian.

Happy Saturday, Mark! Pleased for you to have two days off in a row.

At last I finished and reviewed Life After Life , Bonnie! I too am most eager to read Behind the Scenes at the Museum, after my 5 star read ! If I have failed to convince you to throw down your current book in favour of Life After Life, then I have failed with my review! ;)

At the moment, the Life After Life e-book is available for a relatively cheap (for a new release) price, as are several others of Atkinson's, including Case Histories. Maybe it's time to introduce myself to her.

You can add me to those who have not enjoyed Atwood's more recent work. I couldn't even get through Oryx and Crake, although I remember greatly enjoying several of her earlier books, read years ago.

Bonnie- It's a very rare event that I read the same author in the same month and to read 3? Wowza.

I have still not read Behind the Scenes at the Museum, although I have a copy on shelf.

>69 richardderus: I know what it's like to be mind-numbingly dazed by the plethora of threads Richard so I feel your pain but I do believe you think you're on Mark's thread LOL. I certainly don't mind as I appreciate any visit from you.

>70 vancouverdeb: 5 stars?? Did you say 5 stars Deborah? Well I do believe I will have to savor it when I pick it up. Right now I'm ready to start The Dinner after finishing the absolutely compelling and wonderful Alias Grace. Don't have a review written yet but at some point I will. In the meantime I must go read your review.

>71 Linda92007: Her writing is wonderful Linda and Case Histories is the first book in the Jackson Brodie series so you really can't go wrong with either book especially at bargain prices. Alias Grace is the first Atwood I've read since The Blind Assassin several years ago and I loved it (better than BA). But of course it was published in 1996.

>72 msf59: You're reading three Atwoods?? Wow, impressive Mark. Did you start Alias Grace yet? I think you're going to like it:)

I just finished Alias Grace too. It's a great start to the month, isn't it?!

I am still wrapping up The Blind Assassin and then I might squeeze in 2, including Old filth and then Alias Grace. I really don't want to return that unread, especially since you loved it so much.
I also have the Dinner saved on audio and I might start that after the Roach. What a busy book world we have made for ourselves!

>74 cbl_tn: I just posted my review Carrie. Absolutely loved it!

>75 msf59: Busy, busy, busy Mark. Would you have it any other way haha?

24.



Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

MY REVIEW

Grace Marks is an actual historical figure who was convicted of murder in Toronto in 1843. Originally given the death sentence just like her co-defendant James McDermott, the judge acquiesces to local sentiment and reduces the sentence to life in prison. In her novel, Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood has scoured the historical documents and done what all truly great historical fiction writers (Hilary Mantel comes immediately to mind) do: filled in the gaps in the history of the story with a compelling narrative while, at the same time, staying true to the history that is already documented. The result had me furiously turning pages well into the night.

Much of the book is told by Grace herself with a great deal of the narrative taking place between herself and Dr. Simon Jordan who, in 1859, is working on behalf of a group that believes that she is innocent and should be set free. He is trying to use prevailing mental health methods to get Grace to remember her part during the murders of her former employer, Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper/mistress Nancy Montgomery, which she seems to have blocked out of her memory.

Or has she? From page one up until the last page I suspected we were dealing with an unreliable narrator. And even now, after having finished the book I still can’t decide if Grace was truthful or not. This character, so finely crafted by a master crafter, had me guessing the whole time. And speaking of characterizations, it’s hard to beat this description of Dora, a housemaid:

Dora is stout and pudding-faced, with a small downturned mouth like that of a disappointed baby. Her large black eyebrows meet over her nose, giving her a permanent scowl that expresses a sense of disapproving outrage. It’s obvious that she detests being a maid-of-all-work; he wonders if there is anything else she might prefer. He has tried imagining her as a prostitute…but he can’t picture any man actually paying for her services…Dora is a hefty creature, and could snap a man’s spine in two with her thighs, which Simon envisions as greyish, like boiled sausages, and stubbled like a singed turkey; and enormous, each one as large as a piglet.” (Page 57)

Atwood brilliantly constructs the narrative from numerous perspectives and an assortment of formats including letters, newspaper articles, legal records, poetry, third person accounts, first person accounts and Grace’s own flashbacks. In so doing, I somehow found myself questioning everything. What is the truth? Can we ever be absolutely sure?

If you like your endings tied up in a neat bow with all the loose ends accounted for, you will be disappointed. If you like a book that draws you in and leaves you questioning, well, everything, Atwood delivers in spades. I have decided that I need to reread some of her earlier books that I’m not sure I understood completely when I read them eons ago. And I will definitely reread Alias Grace because it’s the kind of book that almost demands a reread.

Bonnie ... I keep going back to the photo of Margaret Atwood because there's something about her that reminds me of someone else ....couldn't figure out who until just this morning ... the hair is a different color and a little shorter, but she reminds me of the actress Alex Kingston. She was in ER and also played the role of River Song in Dr Who.

Oh, Bonnie, your review of Alias Grace makes me want to drop everything and reread it immediately. I read it many years ago, but, as you say, it definitely merits a reread. I remember thinking the same thing as you: What is the truth? Can we ever be absolutely sure? That quote is perfection, as only Atwood can deliver it, LOL.

>77 brenzi: I've applied a green thumb to your review. You *almost* talked me into reading the book! Quite an achievement.

>78 cameling: Well Caro, I watched ER but I'm not sure who Alex Kingston is. You've got me intrigued though so off to consult my friend Google. ETA oh yeah I know her and she does look like that picture of Atwood.

>79 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, I was surprised at how easily Atwood drew me in to the narrative. I literally could not wait to get back to it right from beginning to end.

>80 richardderus: Thanks Richard, and darn it Richard, how do I rope you in?

To Atwoodliness? Can't. I'm immune. I loved The Handmaid's Tale but not Oryx and Crake and disliked The Blind Assassin. Three's enough.

Great review, Bonnie! I read Alias Grace ages ago - I think I was in high school? - and I loved it but I remember very little detail of it. Definitely due for a re-read...

>78 cameling: Now that you mention it, she does look like Alex Kingston.

I'm tickled that you so enjoyed Alias Grace, Bonnie! It may be my favorite Atwood, and I pretty much love Atwood except for Blind Assassin, which I didn't dislike. (I'll tell you a truth about your friend Richard. I liked *AG*, so he's bound never to try it. I've noticed that that's pretty much the way we work.)
Good luck on your dated reading. I just can't do library books. As soon as I know that I must read something in a time frame, my sorry deisre for it disappears immediately. Talk about being a contrarian. So I wait until I can own.

Holy cow! So many love Alias Grace and I am moving it up my TBR pile. Need to borrow Mark's bookhorn!
Nice review, Bonnie! Thumb for you ;-)

Life after Life is calling me too! yikes!

>82 richardderus: **Sigh** I will not give up Richard. I really think you'd like this one.

>83 katiekrug: Thanks Katie, it's certainly a book that can be reread, probably many times.

>85 LizzieD: I can't afford NOT to do library books Peggy haha but I do understand that idea of dated reading. I didn't dislike The Blind Assassin but it certainly wasn't a favorite. My next Atwood will probably be the short story collection I own Wilderness Tips. And we all know how you feel about Dickens and how Richard feels about Dickens so that may go a long way toward explaining your divergent views haha.

>86 -Cee-: Thanks CEE, oh so did I manage to get you with two BBs? Hmmm, didn't mean to. Let me know if you can get that bookhorn away from Mark. I haven't had any luck;-)

@85 - I so understand about the library book situation! I do get books from the library as often as I can -but oh it crimps my style to have to read a book when the library says I have to so between such and such dates! Atwood... every so slowly and with great difficulty................Bonnie, I'll give you the thumb....but not for Atwood herself. I'm a very bad contrarian, as well as a temptress, I'll confess right now! ;)

Oh but Life After Life begs to be read! Hugged to one's body even, as I have done..

Intriguing review of Alias Grace, Bonnie. Thumber from me.

My thumb is working overtime tonight, Bonnie. Loved your review of a lovable book!

Hi Bonnie - Great review of Alias Grace; I just read it, too and agree, it's a wonderful book.

>88 vancouverdeb: Thanks for going out on a limb for the thumb Deborah; much appreciated. I am ready to start hugging any time now;-)

>89 jnwelch: Thanks Joe!

>90 Donna828: Thanks Donna, go rest your thumb. You may get carpal tunnel haha.

>91 BLBera: Thanks Beth, I didn't realize you were reading it too:-)

Fantastic review of Alias Grace, Bonnie!! You earned another thumb from me. I really enjoyed that book.

It sounds like it would be impossible to convince Richard to try another Atwood, but I would say the two he hated (Oryx and Crake & The Blind Assassin) fall into more of a sci-fi category where Alias Grace is more literary fiction. I find I enjoy Atwood's literary books more than her sci-fi stuff.

Happy Monday, Bonnie! quick wave, gots ta get ready for my bible timeline class. Have a good day :0)

Great review of Alias Grace! I'm glad to see you liked it
She really does write some great books eh!

>93 lauralkeet: Thank you Laura, I think you hit the nail on the head as far as Atwood's books go. I much prefer her literary fiction but it's been quite a while since she published anything in that form.

>94 Carmenere: Thanks Lynda!

>95 ChelleBearss: Thanks Chelle, she does write some great books. She also writes some not so great books. I like her literary fiction:-)

This basically describes my day today, in a snapshot;-)

And here's your night!

#97 Ah, I LOVE ... makes me look so forard to retirement!

#98 I have this as a desktop wallpaper on my comptuer : ).

>98 richardderus: Ohhhhhh Richard, I really like that. Thanks so much.

>99 lit_chick: Haha yep that is one of the perks of retirement Nancy.

Great review and awesome photos! I am a big Atwood fan and I'd better get my butt in gear and read one for this month! April is already getting away from me! I am in the middle of Supreme Court justice Sotomayors memoir and then I have to read the Henrietta Sacks book for book club...so many books, so little time!!

Thanks Kim, so April is getting away from you only eight days in, huh? Well I feel your pain. I'm looking at my library books and wondering how I will get them in as well as the books I "have" to read this month. Yes, so many books....

Bonnie, I had to LOL at the library book woes! I've stopped requesting more than one at a time because of similar pressure! :)

I love your "day in a snapshot," Bonnie. The perfect day!

Multiple holds at the library always seem to result in a deluge of books all at once, no matter where I am on the list when I place the hold. It must be a law of nature.

Great review of Alias Grace. I think you got me with a book bullet . . .

ETA to add Oops! I already had Alias Grace on my Ever-Expanding list . . . which has expanded to the point where I can't keep track of it anymore.

the Forger's Spell is just the kind of book I love!

Happy Day to you dear one!

>103 TinaV95: It does get frustrating, doesn't it Tina?

>104 tymfos: Hi Terri, I can sympathize with your burgeoning WL as I seem to have one of those myself LOL. I don't get into that crazy situation with library requests very often because I don't often request more than one at a time but once in a while...

>105 Whisper1: Thanks Linda, I thought you might like that one.

25.



The Dinner by Herman Koch

MY REVIEW

”Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Echoing Tolstoy’s words, this is a book about families. Oh, not yours or, thank God, mine; but the families of the protagonist Paul Lohman and his brother Serge. They and their wives, Claire and Babett, are having dinner at a very upscale Amsterdam restaurant but beneath the surface of idle conversation, their real reason for getting together on that particular evening has a dark and seamy side.

Paul is our narrator and it is not a stretch at all to say he hates most things and particularly detests his much more successful politician-brother. The only things he seems to esteem are his wife and son. He would do anything for them and I do mean anything. No crime is beyond consideration in defense of his family or what he believes to be wrongs done to his family. Add to this the fact that his temperament is so volatile that he may blow at any time and you can see the possibilities for danger are at a very high level. He lost his job as a high school history teacher twelve years before and is being treated for some sort of psychiatric condition. However, he’s decided he no longer needs to take the prescribed medication. He has a fairly low opinion of the average Dutch citizen and espouses a commentary on the merits of the far right political persuasion. He’s fairly crazy. His wife knows just what buttons to push to get a violent reaction out of her husband when it’s to her advantage.

As the story unfolds, layer by layer, I fully expected the narrative to reveal parents with at least a semblance of moral fiber but it was not to be. Not one character with a single redeeming characteristic, leaving me no one with whom to sympathize. They are all, in one way or another, somewhat (or entirely) scumbags. So although the book was gripping, it was also unsettling and very, very dark, and it left me feeling totally bereft and this “dinner” left me slightly nauseous. Some have compared it to Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl but I don’t see that at all. Nick and Amy were characters I found myself sympathizing with. I think someone who appreciates seedy unreliable narrators surrounded by characters of similar ilk would value the book more than I did.

Interesting review, Bonnie. I picked up a copy of The Dinner (in Amsterdam, appropriately enough) after - was it Joanne's? - rave review. I'll be interested to see what I make of it since there seemed to be more mixed reviews now. I did like Gone Girl but didn't find Nick or Amy very sympathetic at all (especially not Amy) so The Dinner might work better for me...? Must bump it up and get to it sooner rather than later!

Superb review of The Dinner, Bonnie. That said, thanks for reading it for me. It's one I've seen on several threads now and have wondered about. I'm done wondering. Thumb-up for your always-informative review : ).

>108 katiekrug: Well you may come away with a different impression Katie. I know I'm usually drawn to dark themes but these flat characters were impossible to like and I couldn't find anything to cheer about.

>109 lit_chick: Thank you Nancy, I'm just glad it was so short:-)

Bonnie- Oh, I am sorry to see you disliked the Dinner. I started it today and like the beginning. They are just starting their appetizers. It seems like opinion is divided on this one, so I'll have to see what side I come down on. At least it's a shorter read.
I am truly loving Old Filth.

Great review of The Dinner. Thumbed, and thanks for helping me dodge a book bullet! :)

>111Hi Mark, it's only when things start to become apparent that the whole thing fell apart for me. Up until then, I kept thinking somehow this will resolve itself. The flattest characters in the world. But yes, it's mercifully short.

I loved Old Filth too.

>112 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deborah, and happy to oblige:)

Well Bonnie, you liked The Dinner a bit less than I did. "Seedy, unreliable narrators", LOL, I liked that! They were all so awful. I gave it 3.5 stars and kept wondering while I was reading it exactly why I was reading it, but like a train wreck, I just couldn't look away. But it was short and I did like the way it was written. I liked the uniqueness of it. And everyone seems to have a strong opinion, which is fun.

Great review of The Dinner, Bonnie ...and although you didn't like the book, your review's actually pricked my interest and I'm adding it to my obese wish list. I must be a perverse person .. ;-)

Bonnie, I just finished The Dinner the other day and rated it 3.5. My review is still percolating but I hope to write it tonight. I think I liked it a little more than you did, more for the writer's craft than for the characters who I agree were despicable.

Hi Bonnie - I'll echo what others have said: nice review -- as usual. I've been thinking about The Dinner but now feel able to not get it from the library.

>115 Copperskye: I actually like "seedy unreliable narrators" Joanne, but when all the characters fall into the same category, it gets to be too much. At least this book gives people something to think about like hmmm, do I know anybody this low?? LOL And then there was that whole section that was, you know, boring....

>116 cameling: Thanks Caro, have fun with The Dinner. Maybe you'll escape the indigestion haha.

>117 lauralkeet: I'll be interested in your take on it Laura. I just kept waiting for someone to step up and show a backbone. Serge came closest I guess but I have such a low opinion of politicians in general that I couldn't buy it LOL.

>118 BLBera: Thanks Beth, there will be plenty of time to get it from the library if you decide later that you want to read it. Reviews are very mixed here on LT.

I am reading what may be the most heartbreaking book ever---Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala. She survived the 2004 tsunami while her husband, children, mother and father were swept away. Her memoir is mercifully short but OMG it's a wonder she could cope. I can't imagine.

#121 OMG, I cannot imagine either, Bonnie. Too much is simply too much.

Bonnie- the Dinner has definitely taken a very dark turn. I started to get pretty irritated when Paul left the dinner table and seemed to be gone for an hour or more (it felt like it anyway) and no one came looking for him. LOL. It's funny how in the opening chapter, Paul gushes about how happy his family is. What??
I requested Wave. Joanne is reading it too.

Bonnie, I was going to "unreserve" my library copy of The Dinner but I think I'll join Caro in her perversity and read it anyway! I don't have to finish it if it doesn't grab me. I'd just kind of like to see for myself what all the hoopla is about. I still haven't decided about Wave. I've read more than my fair share of sad books, but this one sounded too sad even for me. I'm sure you will write a scintillating review and I'll succumb to book envy and have to read it. Or maybe I'll luck out and you won't like it. No pressure, my friend, none at all.

I just posted my review of The Dinner, Bonnie.

And did you hear about Wave on Books on the Nightstand? Ann talked about it on a recent episode and it does sound very moving but oh ... I don't know if I could read it. But Donna may be right -- you're going to make me want to read it more!

Hi Nancy, Mark, Donna and Laura, thanks for visiting:)

>122 lit_chick: Yes Nancy, too much is too much but somehow this is not maudlin or overly dramatic.

>123 msf59: I thought there were huge sections where Paul musings were, how shall I say it, uh, boringgg. And you can't say you don't think he's a jerk, can you?

>124 Donna828: You should read it Donna. Absolutely. Draw your own conclusions. I'll certainly try to draw you into Wave. I don't need to make it scintillating; I mean really, I don't. I panned The Dinner and that made you and Caro both want to read it. Hahaha

>125 lauralkeet: Hi Laura, I actually heard about Wave on NPR. I'm too far behind on BOTN to hear about anything new. By the time I hear about them, they're old news. LOL Off to check out your review.

On FB and a lot of other places haha

HA HA HA! I love that. I work with a wonderful woman who shares my keen eye for poorly worded corporate communications. It makes work more fun, even if everyone else thinks we're weird.

The Dinner gave me outrage nausea. So rotten, those people.

#127 LOL, my English teacher's motto! (wouldn't be SO bad if it stopped at FB, but as you've noted ... there's no end!)

>128 lauralkeet: It never ceases to amaze me how many people fail to see the importance of correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. And it seems to be getting worse Laura. Oh well, preaching to the choir I see;-)

>129 richardderus: Yes Richard, not a redeemable quality among them.

>130 lit_chick: Seriously Nancy, you're still in the classroom. Is it really getting worse? Or does it just seem that way?

It's really getting worse. A LOT worse!

>127 brenzi: Bonnie, my biggest problem is in worship services when the lyrics for songs are projected on a screen with at least one spelling error per screen. It's very difficult to maintain the proper attitude for worship when I'm itching to get my hands on a keyboard to correct the mistakes!

Great review of The Dinner, Bonnie. I bought it for my Kindle when it first came out, so I guess I will read it someday. Some day I will learn to wait before purchasing a new release until someone on LT has reviewed it!

Hi Bonnie - You should see the emails I get from students. No punctuation and no uppercase letters. Sigh.

>132 lit_chick: You could see it coming Nancy. Ever since text messages became the preferred mode of communication you could almost predict that all other forms of communication would go downhill.

>133 cbl_tn: Haha Carrie I could imagine someone going up to the front and grabbing the laptop to make corrections.

>134 Linda92007: Thanks Linda, it's getting mixed reviews so you may have more tolerance for people with absolutely no moral fiber at all. And I do mean all the people.

>135 BLBera: Hi Beth, yep I'm not surprised. I'm kind of glad I'm not fighting that battle anymore.

26.



Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

”I wasn’t stuck under anything. I was moving. I could tell now. My body was curled up, I was spinning fast. Am I underwater? It didn’t feel like water, but it has to be, I thought. I was being dragged along, and my body was whipping backwards and forwards. I couldn’t stop myself. When at times my eyes opened, I couldn’t see water. Smoky and gray. That was all I could make out. And my chest hurt. It hurt like it was being pummeled by a great stone…The water was pulling me along with a speed I did not recognize, propelling me forward with a power I could not resist. I was shoved through branches of trees and bushes, and here and there my elbows and knees smashed into something hard.”(Page 10-11)

On December 26, 2004, Sonali Deraniyagala was vacationing at a hotel on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, with her family---her husband, two sons and her parents---when a tsunami hit. By the end of the day she knew that the rest of her family had been swept away leaving her as the only survivor. In haunting prose, her memoir explains how she managed to get through those first few days after the tragedy, vaulting between disbelief and acceptance, until final acknowledgment and preservation of the memories of the wonderful years she shared with her family.

It’s always interesting when reading about people who overcome great obstacles and prevail in a way that we cannot even begin to understand, to wonder how we would respond to similar circumstances. I think when we do this we often can’t give ourselves much credit for exhibiting similar characteristics and so it was with this story which left me wondering how I would respond to a tragedy of this magnitude. But the author understands this, I think, and explains very courageously, how difficult it was to go on living with the immense guilt that this tragedy foisted on her. She certainly thought she would kill herself, and prepared for it. She also tried drowning her sorrows in alcohol and drugs. But at some point in time she realized that rather than stifle the memories she had she would gradually allow them to be a part of her and planned accordingly. I’m sure writing this memoir helped in preserving as well as sharing the memories of her two boys, her husband Steve and her parents. She came to realize she needed these memories and so they changed from a catalyst for sorrow to a vehicle for healing. I think that was what made her writing so powerful without being sentimental. And as times passes, she found her grief turning into something quite different:

”Seven years on, and their absence has expanded. Just as our life would have in this time, it has swelled. So this is a new sadness, I think. For I want them as they would be now. I want to be in our life. Seven years on, it is distilled, my loss. For I am not whirling anymore, I am no longer cradled by shock….But I have learned that I can only recover myself when I keep them near. If I distance myself from them, and their absence, I am fractured. I am left feeling I’ve blundered into a stranger’s life.”

I finished this memoir feeling very grateful for all I’ve been given. Very highly recommended.

>31 brenzi: I'm willing to bet that most of the early reviewers were McCann fans already
I just took a peek at the author page, and I must say, he is rather easy on the eye too....not having read anything of his, I am reduced to commenting on his appearance. :)

Oh man, your latest read sounds too hard for me to read. Im not sure I could cope with such heartbreak. One day I will though, as I think it is a good record of the personal impact of such wide spread tragedies. *thumb*

Whoa, that sounds like one powerful book, Bonnie. Haunting, indeed. The quotes are absolutely transporting; I guess they could hardly be otherwise given the scope of the loss and the grief. Big thumb-up from me!

eta: I was stunned to see you already had another review up! You are reading up a storm!

>138 LovingLit: Thanks Megan, McCann easy on the eyes huh? Well he's easy on the brain too haha. Surprisingly Wave comes across as a hopeful book. I know that's hard to understand but I came away from it feeling grateful for all I have and really admiring a very courageous woman.

>139 lit_chick: I was stunned to see you already had another review up! Haha, it was a very short book Nancy. Thanks for the thumb!

Good evening, Your Royal Hotness. Your name is all over my homepage tonight! Congrats. I'm off to thumb that latest review.

Hi Bonnie

How could I not put The Wave on the tbr pile. Your review is excellent!

Royal Hotness, eh? I think that fits. Great review of Wave. I have requested it from the library.

>141 lauralkeet: Funny isn't it Laura? And thank you for the thumb:-)

>142 Whisper1: Thanks Linda, I'll look forward to seeing what you think of it.

>143 msf59: Thanks Mark, it'll be a very fast read for you and may appeal to your sensitive side ;-)

Wave = rave. Thumb.

Always a busy thread, Bonnie!Wave is definitely going on the wish list , Bonnie. It really sounds tragic, so I will have to first have a real life peek at it. I was at the library this evening and looked for Wave but did not see it on hand. I'll have to check the library catalogue. Thumb, of course!

>145 richardderus: Your cleverness never ceases to amaze me Richard. Thank you.

>146 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deborah, it's brand new so it may not be cataloged yet. It certainly is tragic, but I did not feels terribly depressed reading it and, as a matter of fact, felt quite uplifted when I finished. I can't really explain that.

I'm feeling the urge to read Austen; maybe Sense and Sensibility next month:-)

Loved that moving review, Bonnie. Thumb from me. I hope never to experience a loss like that one.

P.S. Cross-posted with the Jane Austen stamps. They look great!

I can just hear Mr. Knightley scolding Emma there, "Badly done, Emma. Very badly done!"

>149 jnwelch: Thank you Joe, it's the kind of loss that is unimaginable and that was what made it such a powerful read. Aren't those stamps something?

>150 katiekrug: Haha exactly Katie. And is that Elizabeth Bennett admiring a portrait of Mr. Darcy?

I love the Austen stamps! I also saw those on FB. I am way overdue on picking up another Ms. Austen.
Stop by my thread. I didn't review the dinner but shared some thoughts. I'm glad that one is over. I am not sure I could spend any more time with those dreadful people.
I did LOVE Old Filth, though!

I love your review of The Dinner but methinks I'll skip it!

I LOVE the JA stamps! I'd buy a lifetime supply of those in a heartbeat, LOL. #150 Indeed!

The JA stamps are lovely, I do like a pretty stamp.

There you are!Gorgeous stamps! Love them - I can think of a good friend of mine who so love them ! I'd love them myself, but I know she'd appreciate them even more then me. I'm not surprised in the least that Life After Life will be a best seller! Saturday our newspaper lists best sellers in both Canada and the US separately - should be interesting to see. I'm so glad that you enjoying Life After Life . I'm so happy for you! Best of luck finding Our Daily Bread. It has been fairly popular in Canada, but it may less popular in the US. The Stubborn Season by the same author. I found The Stubborn Season on amazon ca in there second hand books category. I find a lot of books there for 1 cent plus 6.49 shipping. Makes me extra happy!

Oh and I popped into a bookstore and had a brief peek at Wave. In a brief moment of thrift I decided to put in a request at the library.

Hi Bonnie,
just want to Echo everone else. The Jane Austen stamps are beautiful. I am not a stamp collector, but seing them makes me want to own a selection. However, just stopping by to wish you a wonderful weekend.

I see you like Sherman Alexie's works. I just picked up a novel entitled Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge. I bought it at Chee's Trading Post in Houck, AZ last week on my way to Albuquerque. The novel won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, and although not written by a Native American author, I think it's quite good.

>152 msf59: Yes they were dreadful people Mark. There's no other way to describe them. I'm planning to read Sense and Sensibility if you care to bookhorn it in.

>153 TinaV95: Thanks Tina!

>154 lit_chick: Aren't they cool Nancy? I assume they actually have them in the UK.

>155 LovingLit: Hi Megan, pretty stamps indeed:-)

>156 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah, unfortunately I have had very little time for any reading today but I am really loving Life After Life; absolutely love the non-linear construction and even though it is over 500 pages it seems to be a fast read. Glad you like the stamps, as do I. I read a library copy of Wave too.

>157 drachenbraut23: Hi Bianca, I hope you're enjoying your weekend too:)

>158 ucla70: Hi ucla70, thanks for visiting. I haven't read any of Alexi's books yet but I do have a couple on my shelf. I'll have to check out Laughing Boy.

Interesting reading you're doing, Bonnie, but so far I'm avoiding the BBs. Those stamps are wonderful! If I got a letter with one of those, I'd surely save it.

Hi Peggy, it's always good when you don't have to add to the ever-burgeoning WL so I don't mind not aiming straight haha. I'd love to get a letter with one of those stamps too.

Hi Bonnie - I just wanted to say thanks for the Galore recommendation. I had a few blissful and uninterrupted hours of reading during a flight to and from Berlin and enjoyed it immensely. The trip itself was wonderful - I went with my 88 year old mother, a refugee from Hitler who had spent her childhood in Germany - and had some memorable experiences with her.

Hi Vivian, I'm glad you enjoyed Galore. It's such a quirky kind of book I never know if people will get as much out of it as I did. And how wonderful that you got to go back to Berlin with your mother. She must have been thrilled.

I just realized that I never posted my Best Reads of the First Quarter so I guess I will do that without any further ado:

I am now past the halfway point in Kate Atkinson's wonderful new novel Life After Life. I can honestly say that it's hard to put it down long enough to catch up on a few threads.

I know I'm a day late with this because yesterday was her birthday but this is still appropriate:

Hi Bonnie- Wow, you are reading one gem after another. You go girl! I read S & S about a year ago. I am overdue for some Austen though. Hope you are having a great day!

Love the posting of your first quarter's covers, Bonnie. There are a couple in there I've read and a couple more I'm meaning to get to ... story of my LT life, LOL.

I love the Jane Austen stamps--the backgrounds for each book are so iconic! And Richard also posted the Eudora Welty quote--I loved that as well!

I read the Big Six Austens over a two-year period about three years ago. It's amazing how many years I avoided them on the theory that I absolutely wouldn't like them. :-)

So glad that you are finding it difficult to put down Life After Life. It's really one of those books that you never want to end.

>166 msf59: Hi Mark, yep I sure have been reading some stellar books. I have no complaints at all.

>167 lit_chick: Story of your life and mine as well Nancy, haha.

>168 ronincats: Those Austen stamp look better each time I look at them Roni:-)

>169 TadAD: I could say that about any number of the classics I've read over the last few years Tad. At this moment in time, they're my preferred reading.

>170 vancouverdeb: That describes it perfectly Deborah. I'll finish it up tomorrow, boo hoo:(

Well looky, looky, looky...They decided not to embarrass themselves AGAIN, and awarded a Pulitzer prize for fiction:

FICTION:

“The Orphan Master’s Son,” by Adam Johnson (Random House)

Finalists:

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank,” by Nathan Englander (Alfred A. Knopf);

“The Snow Child,” by Eowyn Ivey (Reagan Arthur/Little, Brown).

I really liked The Orphan Master's Son and have not read the other two but the point is they awarded it. Not like last year when they felt no one was worthy. Geesh!

Hi Bonnie! I was pleased to see the Pulitzer results too. I liked The Orphan Master's Son, although it didn't end up on my Best of 2012 list. But it is definitely better than last year with no winner.

I'm also glad to hear you are liking Life After Life. I have it on my Kindle and am debating about whether to read it right away or whether to save it for a long plane trip in May. It sounds like the kind of book that might make me forget about the hassles of flying!

Hi Amy, The Orphan Master's Son didn't make my Best of 2012 either but since I didn't read either of the other finalists, I thought it was a good choice;-) Personally, if I had been the one choosing the Pulitzer Prize winner it would have been The Song of Achilles:)

ETA Life After Life would be a great book for a long plane ride.

They announced the shortlist for the Women's Fiction prize, formerly known as the Orange Prize.

Kate Atkinson Life After Life British

A.M Homes May We Be Forgiven American

Barbara Kingsolver Flight Behaviour American

Hilary Mantel Bring Up the Bodies British

Maria Semple Where’d You Go, Bernadette American

Zadie Smith NW British

I've read three of them and will read the other three before they announce the winner in May. Here's my ranking so far.

1. Bring Up the Bodies
2. Life After Life
3. NW

I'd be very happy with either of the first two and there is hardly any difference between the two in my ranking. I finished Life After Life this morning and it's wonderful. Review still percolating in my brain.

Song of Achilles - nice idea for the Pulitzer winner, Bonnie. I need to read The Orphan Master's Son.

Bonnie, I am frantically trying to catch up after a quick trip to Denver. It doesn't take much to get behind here. I like the array of best books from the first quarter. I'm not surprised to see some of my favorites there.

I'm glad you're ready to come up for air after being immersed in Life After Life. My library has finally gotten with it and started circulating their three copies. Not enough! I am now #5 on the list but with a 3-week check-out time, it may be May before I get it. Sob!

>176 jnwelch: Yes Joe, wouldn't that have made a great Pulitzer Prize winner? Unfortunately, they never ask my opinion;-)

>177 Donna828: I don't envy you trying to catch up Donna after being away. I can't catch up and I'm right here at home haha. Three copies?? What in the world are they thinking about. Here's the review:

27.



Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 5 stars

Tell Kate Atkinson to write a story and she produces a thing of beauty, filled with compelling plot lines and unforgettable prose that will have you furiously turning pages. Imagine the delight then, in opening her 500+ page tome and finding not one story, but story after story, covering two world wars and most of the twentieth century. I didn’t come up for air for days, happily intoxicated in all that Atkinson offered.

Ursula Todd was born on February 11, 1910 and immediately died because of the umbilical cord that was wrapped around her neck. And then Ursula is born on that same date and grabs life by the horns as she embarks on a life where she dies again and again. It’s a hard concept to explain to anyone who hasn’t read the book but this theme, in Atkinson’s hands, flows smoothly, and provides her with the perfect vehicle to dispatch her uncanny storytelling skills. As I made my way through the oh-so-engaging narrative, I found that the author considerately gave me warning signals as to an upcoming death: snow, for one thing, and the ominous phrase, “Darkness falls.” And then you’re off to another life, another story. Ursula doesn’t understand what is happening to her or why things sometimes seem so familiar but when she’s sixteen and her mother thinks she purposely pushed the beloved housemaid Bridget down the stairs, Ursula’s mother Sylvie sends her to a psychiatrist who may be able to help her sort out these strange feelings she seems to have. He advances two theories: reincarnation and the idea of amor fati, love of fate. “It means acceptance. Whatever happens to you, embrace it, the good and the bad, equally. Death is just one more thing to be embraced.”

Atkinson surrounds Ursula with fully fleshed, complex characters that drive a most compelling narrative. But the main thrust of the book is WWII and especially the 1940-41 years of the Blitz where Ursula volunteered as a fire warden, dragging bodies out of the rubble. The tension is palpable and the scene is heartbreaking.

”One floor above the man with the yard brush (although there was no floor) a dress was hanging on a coat hanger from a picture rail. Ursula found herself more moved by these small reminders of domestic life---a kettle still on the stove, the table laid for a supper that would never be eaten---than she was by the greater misery and destruction that surrounded them. Although when she looked at the dress now she realized that there was a woman still wearing it, her head and legs blown off but not her arms. The capriciousness of high explosives never ceased to surprise Ursula.” (Page 429)

In time, she can’t understand why things seem so….familiar.

”She had been here before. She had never been here before. There was always something just out of sight, just around a corner, something she could never chase down---something that was chasing her down. She was both the hunter and the hunted….She knew that voice. She didn’t know that voice. The past seemed to leak into the present, as if there were a fault somewhere. Or was it the future spilling into the past. Either way it was nightmarish, as if her inner dark landscape had become manifest. The inside became the outside. Time was out of joint that was for certain.” (Page 505)

Unquestionably a tour de force for what has been a favorite author anyway. A book about how the little things in our lives can make an enormous difference; absolutely unputdownable and oh so good.

And thumbed! Isn't Life After Life a fabulous book!! And then Ursula is born on that same date and grabs life by the horns as she embarks on a life where she dies again and again. It’s a hard concept to explain to anyone who hasn’t read the book but this theme, in Atkinson’s hands, flows smoothly, and provides her with the perfect vehicle to dispatch her uncanny storytelling skills. Isn't that the truth! I found myself looking up amor fati myself, but in the end, Kate Atkinson handles that concept so well, that you need not worry as to how you will process that aspect of the book.

Great review, Bonnie!

Hi Bonnie- I think Orphan Master was a great book and a worthy choice. Sadly, I have still not read song of Achilles but I do plan on getting to it in the next couple of months.
I am sure that is a wonderful review of Life After Life but I just skimmed it and 5 stars is good enough for me.

And thumbed by me, too! So delighted that Life After Life was such a fabulous read, Bonnie! Love the quotes you've included; Atkinson is SUCH a fine writer. And I also got a chuckle from I didn’t come up for air for days, happily intoxicated in all that Atkinson offered. You go!!

I'm in line for Life after Life at my library. It will be a few weeks yet but I can't wait!!

>180 vancouverdeb: Thank you Deborah. When you got to the end of the book, didn't you want to read it again? There are so many ways you could read it: you could line up all that dates that match and read them in order. That was my first thought.

>181 msf59: Oh The Orphan Master's Son was a worthy choice Mark but I just liked Song of Achilles better. I hope you like it when you get to it.

>182 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, now all I have to do is hope my next book can live up to my lofty expectations of good reading. So hard being the book that comes after a five star read. *sigh*

>183 lauralkeet: Well being in line is at least a step towards reading bliss Laura:-)

Thumbs up for your Atkinson review!

Loved your review of Life After Life, Bonnie. When I saw it was 500 pages and on sale as an ebook, I bought a copy for my nook (along with Human Croquet. Looking forward to it more and more!

You've had quite a string of excellent reading!

Great review Bonnie, thumbed it!

Hi Bonnie - I am in the middle of reading Life after Life, so I skipped over your review, but I love it, too. Atkinson is so creative. I loved Human Croquet -- and now would like to reread it.

>185 richardderus: Thanks Richard!

>186 Copperskye: Thanks Joanne, 500+ pages yes, but it reads really, really fast. I didn't want it to end.

>187 SandDune: Thank you Rhian!

>188 BLBera: Isn't it just wonderful Beth? I have Human Croquet and Scenes Behind the Museum on my shelf plus the last Jackson Brodie. Yay!

Great reviews of Wave, which I'll get soon, and Life After Life, which I'm reading with pleasure now.

I passed on Life After Life the first time the e-book price dropped below $8, but that price is back now and I am not going to miss it again. Great review, Bonnie!

>190 kidzdoc:. Thank you Darryl, Life After Life made me want to go back to the beginning as soon as I finished it.

>191 Linda92007:. Thank you Linda, I read a library book because I missed the eBook sale too so now I think I may just pick it up if the price is back down again. Thanks for the info:)

Your recent reviews are excellent, Bonnie! I will avoid The Dinner like the plague. Wave is probably going on the Ever-Expanding list. Now, despite your kudos, I'm not sure what I think about reading Life after Life. As you say, "It’s a hard concept to explain to anyone who hasn’t read the book . . ." But your enthusiasm has me seriously considering it.

Thanks Terri, well I don't know what else I can say about Life After Life. You certainly have to be able to suspend disbelief or believe in reincarnation and/or fate if that helps you.

I''m heading to the library tomorrow to obtain a copy of Life After Life. Thanks, as always, for your excellent comments.

Lucky you Linda, I hope you like it as much as I did:-)

Life After Life made me want to go back to the beginning as soon as I finished it. Oh, fab! That happens all too rarely. But then, I suppose that's what makes it so cool when it does happen!

Another thumb for your review of Life After Life Bonnie - it sounds really intriguing. I may succumb and download a copy to my kindle as the waiting list at my local library is so long.

Bonnie, this morning I caved and bought Life After Life for my Kindle. Yesterday, somewhere on LT, somebody mentioned the Kindle edition was available for about $8. I decided it was better to spend $8 than to be #65 in my library queue. Plus, the book is a chunkster and it will be easier to read on Kindle than in hardcover.

All this to say I blame you for this book purchase because your review was my personal tipping point! :)

Sounds great, Bonnie! Thumb from me.

>197 lit_chick: All too rarely---you said it Nancy. But when it happens, bliss. Total bliss.

>198 souloftherose: Thanks Heather, as usual here in Buffalo, people are slow to pick up and reserve books that go on to be be in high demand. I always seem to benefit from that if I request when the book is still on order, which is what I did with Life After Life.

>199 lauralkeet: All this to say I blame you for this book purchase because your review was my personal tipping point! Moi??? Well, I'm tempted to take credit Laura, because I think you'll love it. Good idea to get it on Kindle.

>200 jnwelch: Thanks Joe!

I thought this would be me after being immersed in the wonderful Life After Life, but I chose a book where I'm already familiar with the characters and story---A Dance to the Music of Time Vol. 4 - At Lady Molly's and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm not having much time to read though, as I'm completely immersed in the TV coverage of everything that's going on in Boston.

FABULOUS ARTICLE about Kate Atkinson. Highlights---

No more Jackson Brodie books in the foreseeable future

Companion book to Life After Life concentrating on Teddy's life - WooHoo!!

I didn't get to the library today, but hope to do so tomorrow.

Again, thanks for your wonderful review and recommendation of Life After Life.

Thanks for the link to the article about Kate Atkinson, Bonnie. It was really interesting....but I'm bummed that we won't have Jackson Brodie around for a while. :-( I just hope he turns up again some day!

Have a great weekend!

Bonnie, that is a wonderful article on Atkinson; thanks for posting. Love this quote, and how true: Atkinson’s true genius is structure. Her books wend forward and backward, follow multiple stories from multiple points of view, throw dozens of balls up in the air — but always conclude with loose ends tied up, so that everything makes sense. I didn't know she lived in Edinburgh, away from the "clawed" London literary scene. Good for her.

>204 Whisper1: You are very welcome Linda. The best thing about LT is finding out about books that might otherwise escape our notice:-)

>205 Nancy618: Thanks Nancy, I was hoping there was going to be some announcement as to when the next JB would be coming along, darn it. Honestly though, I'll be happy with anything she writes.

>206 lit_chick: You're welcome Nancy, I wondered why you never see any interviews with her. Now we know.

Bonnie- I am really enjoying Alias Grace. Once Grace's story begins with her move from Ireland, I think the book really kicks in. Atwood is such a terrific storyteller.

That's good to hear Mark. I really loved it. I was drawn in almost from page one. I was hoping to get to her short story collection Wilderness Tips but that's not going to happen this month. I'm suffering from a huge shortage of reading time lately and I don't like it at all.

28.



At Lady Molly's: Book 4 of A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell 3.6 stars

Just a few comments about book 4/12. I continue to follow the social activities of Nick Jenkins and his friends. I love Powell's dry humor. And there's romance in the air for Nick and Widmerpool. This quote sums up our friend Widmerpool very well:

"He suddenly began to look wretched, much as I had seen him look as a schoolboy: lonely: awkward: unpopular: odd; no longer the self=confident businessman into which he had grown. His face now brought back the days when one used to watch him plodding off through the drizzle to undertake the long, solitary runs across the dismal fields beyond the sewage farms: runs which were to train him for teams in which he was never included." (Page 58)

Some new characters move onto the dance floor and provide some diversion but we see nothing of Charles Stringham during this volume. I'm still very much enjoying it, but this volume seemed to slow down the music a bit.

Next up: Barbara Pym's Less Than Angels

So far behind Bonnie!! Stopping to just say hello and try to catch up. I will have to get to Life After Life soon!

>210 brenzi: OMG I'm changing my name to Widmerpool! Love that quote.

It is an excellent quote, Bonnie. So glad you continue to enjoy Powell's Dance.

*waving* at Bonnie

>211 TinaV95: Maybe after your honeymoon you'll have time for Life After Life Tina. Right now you seem to have a lot on your plate LOL.

>212 richardderus: Hello there Richard Widmerpool. Nice to meet you;-)

>213 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy:-)

>214 alcottacre: Yay a Stasia sighting. We miss you around here.

I came across this and thought I'd post it since the Chautauqua Institute is practically in my backyard and I had no idea they awarded a prize like this.

Chautauqua Prize:

The finalists for the 2013 Chautauqua Prize are:

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (HarperCollins)
The President's Clubby Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy (Simon & Schuster)
Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King (HarperCollins)
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (HarperCollins)
The Names of Things by John Colman Wood (Ashland Creek Press)

The winning book will be selected from this shortlist and announced in mid-May.

In its second year, the Chautauqua Prize is given by the Chautauqua Institution to a book of fiction or literary/narrative nonfiction that "provides a richly rewarding reading experience" and to the author for "a significant contribution to the literary arts." The winning author receives $7,500 and all travel and expenses for a one-week summer residency at Chautauqua.

#216: Wow, I really am out of it. The only book in the list I have even heard of is The Song of Achilles!

>215 brenzi:: Richard Widmerpool -- LOL!
>217 alcottacre:: me too, Stasia!

That's Widmerpool de la Russie, if you please.

Me too, Stasia and Laura.

Hi Bonnie- I only have a few pages left in Alias Grace and I am still really enjoying it. It may have been a bit on the "long" side but it always kept my attention. Next up, will be Howards End. I have never read Forster, (it's why I am reading it). Have you?
I snagged an audio copy of Life After Life. Yah, me! Is there mystery or crime elements to this book? If so, I might bookhorn it into M & M.

>217 alcottacre: Well you have a pretty good excuse Stasia. I believe you've been reading text books, which seldom win awards.

>218 lauralkeet: Well you must recognize the author of Short Nights Laura. I read Billy Lynn not long ago and it was also nominated for the Pulitzer and won the NBCC award. I'll have to investigate the other three.

>219 richardderus: I stand corrected sir;-)

>220 ronincats: Hi Roni, see #218.

Bonnie

I'm stopping by to wave hello. I hope you are enjoying the lovely spring.

>221 msf59: Hi Mark, I'm glad you enjoyed Alias Grace. I read Howard's End eons ago and loved it. I thought I was going to get to A Room with a View this month but my reading has slowed to a crawl so that's not going to happen. There's not really any murder/crime in Life After Life but there's lots of mayhem.

>223 Whisper1: Hi Linda, yes I'm happy that spring is finally here:-)

Bonnie

It has been a cold, wet and dreary winter. The advent of spring is ever so welcomed. The cardinals seem to be happy as they feast on their early morning seeds. The grass was cut for the first time this spring and the buds on the sand cherry tree are lovely, simply lovely.

It was chilly today, but the sun was bright and spirits were high.

Hi Bonnie,
I hate book hangovers :)
Ive never heard them called that before, but I know exactly what one feels like!

>225 Whisper1: It's been a cool and rainy day here too Linda, but the outlook for the weekend and next week looks very summery so I'm happy for that:-)

>226 LovingLit: Hi Megan, now you know and can put a name to that feeling as you flounder from one book to another trying to find something, anything that can replace that wonderful book you just left:-)

#222: If any of the textbooks I have been reading have won awards, I would be shocked! One of them had such poor editing I am wondering if it even was edited.

#179: A book about how the little things in our lives can make an enormous difference; absolutely unputdownable and oh so good. Great review of Life after Life, Bonnie - I have to admit I was sceptical of the plot - but after your glowing recommendation and also Deborah's it's going on my Kindle. I have to give it a try.

Hi there Carsten, and thanks for visiting. Oh I do hope you like Life After Life. It may very well end up as my Book of the Year. I was skeptical about the plot too but somehow Atkinson makes it work so well.

29.



Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym

I don’t know anything about anthropology and I didn’t learn anything about it reading this book. However the story itself dealt with anthropologists and anthropology students. With this volume, Pym steered clear of her familiar stomping ground of “excellent” women (often unmarried) who lay down life and limb for the men in their lives and volunteer endlessly for their church. Instead, we’re given a story without a protagonist. I’m not sure why she took this tack because, frankly, it didn’t work very well. Apparently, Pym actually spent time at London’s Africa Institute and probably based this book very loosely on experiences there.

Within a group of anthropology students, Deirdre has fallen for Tom, who has just returned from studying tribal life in Africa. Tom is living with a slightly older woman, Catherine, who makes a living by writing romance fiction but e decides to move out and pursue a relationship with Deirdre. To further complicate matters, he still has feelings for his first love, Elaine. Students Digby and Mark are fairly passive observers but add some humorous moments as do Deidre’s mother and aunt, who scrutinize the world from their bedroom window. And the comic characters, Esther Clovis and Gertrude Lydgate, make a return appearance (previously seen in Excellent Women) and like to be thought of as a guiding force for the young people.

It’s all very light stuff, as is usually the case with Pym, until right near the end where she throws a curve that I never saw coming. I think it was supposed to allow for the resolution of some of the loose ends but, for me anyway, it served no purpose and was so unexpected that I can’t imagine what possessed her.

I hope my next Pym, A Glass of Blessings, is more like the other Pyms I’ve read.

Oh dear, a disappointment indeed. I hope a thumbs-upping will cheer you a bit.

You certainly know how to cheer a girl up Richard:-)

Hmm, Pym is definitely on my list, but I think I leave this one at "Thanks for reading Less than Angels for me, Bonnie." I know she's an author you like very much, given past reviews, and I hope too that A Glass of Blessings is MUCH better! I don't think I've ever read a fiction novel that didn't have a protagonist, at least none comes to mind. As to cheering a girl, up:

Hello Bonnie and happy evening to you.

I am so close to getting Life After Life from the library I can practically taste it. Slurp! Sorry you had a setback with Ms. Pym, Bonnie. I guess they can't all be winners. Speaking of which, I have not heard of the Chautauqua Prize either. I just bought a copy of The Song of Achilles. Not sure why I haven't read it yet. I know you loved it and you are my main book recommender.

>234 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, yes I think you'd be better off starting out with one of her other books. IDK I could still be suffering from a book hangover from Life After Life. Yes it was that good.

>235 Whisper1: Thanks Linda, *waves*

>236 Donna828: You must be dying to get your hands on Life After Life Donna. You must have seen that Darryl gave it 5 stars too. I don't think there's anyone who doesn't love it. I hope you do too.

What? You haven't read The Song of Achilles yet? How in the world did that happen???

Bonnie;
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been redeemed! Thumbs up on your Pym review. I have been beating my head against the wall trying to work up my review for this book and now, thanks to you who said everything I felt about the book as I was and after I had completed this read, I no longer feel the need to write a review. I didn't NOT like the book, but I enjoy her work so much and this one felt to me as if she were 'committing an exercise in writing'. Things just felt so disjointed. Hats off me girl! :-)
And so Hi. How ya been? Me? I'm all good.
big hug,
belva

Hi there Belva, oh yes, so that's what it was, "an exercise in writing." Well, so much for that ridiculous method of practicing on unsuspecting readers haha. Too bad she decided to attempt that. I still love her writing and look forward to A Glass of Blessings and all the rest of them.

I'm doing very well and I'm glad to hear that you're "all good" too:-)

Bonnie, as usual we are in agreement on a book. I read Less than Angels three years ago, so I had to go back and re-read my review (gosh I love LT for that). Like you, I gave it 3 stars and felt the curveball at the end was just a quick & easy way to wrap things up (I can't even remember the ending now ...). While the cast of characters sounds familiar most of this book has been forgotten.

As usual I am bowled over by your reviews Bonnie and this time pushing us towards caution with Ms. Pym's work. Have a couple of hers on the shelves but they won't be coming off 'em in a hurry.

Have a lovely weekend.

>240 lauralkeet: as usual we are in agreement on a book Well, in this case Laura, too bad for both of us haha. But that also means you have Life After Life to look forward to. Lucky you! And yes, I'm sure Less Than Angels will be very forgettable.

>241 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul, I won't rule out Pym altogether. I've enjoyed the other two I've read immensely and plan to continue on this once a month excursion. I hope your weekend is lovely too.

Hi Bonnie! Thought you'd be interested to know that Francine Prose wrote a very positive review of Life After Life for today's NY Times Book Review. Read it here.

Hi Bonnie! Just catching up with you and your reading after several days away!

>243 lauralkeet: Hahhahahahaha, I just finished reading it and I come here to find you recommending it to me Laura. great minds really do think alike;-)

>244 katiekrug: Hi Katie, big wave.

I hope my local library gets a copy of Life after Life soon!

Bonnie- I hope you enjoyed the weekend and your current reads were rewarding.

^Was that a Belva sighting up there? Wow. Talk about a blast from the LT past!

>245 brenzi:: ha!

>246 alcottacre: Well I hope so too Stasia because this is a book you will want to read.

>247 msf59: You can find Belva here and there but especially in the Virago group Mark. I am finishing up The Curse of the Narrows which has been very, very good.

>248 lauralkeet: I know!!

#249: Every review of Life After Life that I have seen just makes me want to read it more. Hopefully I can get a copy.

I certainly hope so Stasia. I woulld hate for you to miss out on a great read:-)

30.



Curse of the Narrows by Laura M. MacDonald 4.2 stars

MY REVIEW

”The air was the color of bruised plums. The first few moments were marked by a still silence until survivors’ memories returned and they relived the moments preceding the explosion. Then came the clatter of people pulling themselves free of the debris. The lucky ones lay stunned on open ground. One thousand people lay dead in the streets with thousands more unconscious beneath the rubble…The dust and smoke floating through the air made it hard to breathe…Cars were overturned, horses dead. Lampposts all over the neighborhood were broken in half or leaning dangerously, with live wires snapping over the neighborhood.” (Page 69)

On December 6, 1917, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a ship loaded with highly explosive materials collides with another ship in the Narrows of the harbor setting off a devastating explosion that destroyed much of the city, and set off a tsunami that engulfed much of the area surrounding the harbor. If all that wasn’t bad enough, that night the city was buried by a blizzard that abruptly shut them off from the rest of the world. If it were a movie it would seem like overkill.

In stunning narrative non-fiction, Laura MacDonald, a Halifax native, chronicled the story from her hometown’s history, second by ghastly second, as city residents try to make sense of all they’ve lost. Since it was the height of WWI, most people’s first thought was that the Germans had launched their first attack on the North American continent. That rumor was difficult for officials to squelch but they couldn’t really worry about it as there were too many other pressing issues to be dealt with.

This is a book of two stories: the story of the explosion and tsunami and its devastation on the people of Halifax and the story of the kindness of mankind, particularly the people of Boston, in providing aid to the people. And of course the blizzard made that much more difficult, but did not stop that help from overcoming the obstacles presented and coming to the aid of their fellow man.

What makes this book a stand-out is the individual personal stories. People like you and me, going about their business, doing their job, or walking to school, or standing on a hill above the harbor watching a ship that was on fire, when the unthinkable happened that changed their lives forever. Like Charles Duggan, who was standing at the helm of his tug when the Mont Blanc blew up. He landed on the other side of the harbor, naked and dazed. Or fireman Billy Wells, who, moments after the explosion, noted that he was standing, without his clothes, far above where he had parked his fire truck. “A large portion of the flesh on his right arm was missing. Another slice of sheared-off muscle hung limp from exposed bone.” Or Dr. George Cox, an eye surgeon who made his way through the blizzard from a small town a hundred miles from Halifax, to offer his services and ended up operating for more than three days straight.

The story of the disaster and the rehabilitation is both heartbreaking and yet, encouraging. The speed of the way in which problems were solved in the face of tremendous odds makes me wonder why we can’t produce similar results today. This book should be a lesson for our elected leaders.

Using primary sources McDonald has produced a narrative that is both riveting and comprehensive. And very, very good.

#252: Glad you ended up liking Curse of the Narrows so much!

O.K. O.K. O.K. I not only know when I'm beaten, I want to be! It's Life After Life for me starting tomorrow - or maybe even tonight! Thanks, Bonnie.

Hi Bonnie - Curse of the Narrows sounds great -- I read a book about this explosion last year that was also very good. I forget the title, but it was recommended by someone here.

>253 alcottacre: I think you have also read it, haven't you Stasia?

>254 LizzieD: Haha I'm glad to see you succumb to the pressure Peggy. After all, besides myself both Darryl and Deborah gave it 5 stars. We can't all be wrong:-)

>255 BLBera: Hi Beth, OK now I'm going to have to figure out what the book is that you're talking about.

#256: Yes, I read it several years ago and my daughter Catey bought me a hard copy of my very own for my birthday a couple years back.

Bonnie, superb review of The Curse of the Narrows. The Halifax Explosion is a fascinating story, and it sounds like MacDonald does it justice. CBC did a two-part mini-series called "The Shattered City" which I very much enjoyed. One for the WL!

Hi Bonnie- Just checking in! Great review of Curse of the Narrows. That definitely sounds like my cuppa! I read the 1st 70 pages of Benediction and I LOVE it!

Great review of Curse of the Narrows, Bonnie! Onto my wish list it goes.

Excellent review of Curse of the Narrows, Bonnie. Another one for the wishlist.

Great review of The Curse of the Narrows Bonnie - I've added it to the wishlist. We went to Halifax a few years ago and I found the information on the explosion in the museum really interesting. I hadn't heard of it before then, although my husband had, but that might be because he's from Halifax in Yorkshire.

One of your gems, Bonnie...that passage you quoted from Curse of the Narrows makes it irresistible.

>257 alcottacre: What a great birthday present Stasia!

>258 lit_chick: Thank you Nancy and thanks also for the tip on the movie, which my library does have. It's on it's way to me now:-)

>259 msf59: Thanks Mark, I think you would really like Curse of the Narrows. I thought I hadn't much cared for Plainsong but when I checked back I see I gave it 4 stars, and that was before LT, when I only awarded one to four stars so I must have really loved it after all. Is it necessary to read Eventide before Benediction?

>260 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl, I'm sure you'd be very interested in the medical aspect of the recovery. It was quite fascinating.

>261 Linda92007: Thanks Linda, the ever-exploding WL. I know exactly what that looks like;-)

>262 SandDune: Thanks Rhian, I had never heard of it before I read this book either. It's quite a powerful story.

>263 richardderus: Thanks Richard, I guess we were cross-posting. I'm glad I could tempt you with one.

Hi Bonnie,
I looked up the "Halifax Explosion" on Wikipedia and there are so many books written about it. I thought I had read the MacNeil and MacLennan books a long time ago. I will put the Curse of the Narrows on my wish list!

Bonnie - I looked through my reading for last year; the book was Blizzard of Glass. It was a young adult book. I don't remember who recommended it.

Bonnie, that's a great review of The Curse of the Narrows. When I read it a couple of years ago, I was foisting it on every reader I know, whether on LT or in RL.

Glad to hear that someone else liked it.

I read a lot of disaster books and this was among the best. Another very good one I read, recently, is Killer Show, which is about the 2003 fire at the Station, a Rhode Island nightclub. I think MacDonald is a better storyteller but it's still quite good.

>266 mdoris: Hi Mary, thanks for visiting. I hope you end up enjoying Curse of the Narrows. I actually didn't know anything about the explosion and although I usually note who recommends books to me, this time I didn't. So I don't know who to thank.

>267 BLBera: Ahhhh Blizzard of Glass. That really is a great title. People were digging the glass out of their skin for thirty or forty years after the event!

>268 lindapanzo: Thanks Linda, and thanks for visiting! Maybe you were the one who recommended it to me via TIOLI. I've read a few disaster books (one that stands out to me is The Children's Blizzard) but I may have to seek out Killer Show.

Bonnie wonderful review of the Curse of the Narrows. I have got Orphan Master on my wishlist for some time.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Thanks Bianca, I hope you enjoy The Orphan Master's Son as much as I did.