Arubabookwoman's World of Reading

I'm officially starting my thread today, my 5 year Thingaversary, the beginning of my sixth year in the 75'ers. My only goal this year is to participate more, and to that end I'm going to try to visit my own thread once a week, rather than every two months or so. Since my primary reason for staying away was the backlog of unreviewed books (I reviewed less than half of the 153 books I read), I'm going to comment each week on what I'm reading or have read, regardless of whether it turns into a review or not. I also expect to read a lot fewer than 153 this year, since I plan to read some of the tomes that have been hanging around here. Welcome all!.

FIRST QUARTER

JANUARY

1. Command and Control by Eric Schlosser 640 pp 3 1/2 stars
2. Fukushima by Mark Willacy 284 pp 3 1/2 stars
3. Dr. Neruda's Cure For Evil by Rafael Yglesias 704 pp 3 1/2 stars
4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 432 pp 3 stars
5. Toms River by Dan Fagin 560 pp 2 1/2 stars
6. Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by Dominique Lapierre 432 pp 3 stars
7. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman 944 pp 5 stars
8. Visit Sunny Chernobyl by Andrew Blackwell 320 pp
9. The Expendable Man by Dorothy Hughes 264 pp 3 1/2 stars

Read in January: 4,580 pp

TBR 1294

FEBRUARY

10. Dominion byC.J. Sansom 628 pp 3 stars
11. Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk 630 pp
12. Orfeo by Richard Powers 385 pp
13. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris 448 pp 4 stars
14. New Earth by Ben Bova 384 pp
15. Young Stalin by Simon Montefiore 528pp
16. Goat Days by Benyamin 264 pp
17. The Terrors of Ice and Darkness by Christoph Ransmayr 240 pp

Read in February: 3,507 pp

MARCH

18. A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam 336 pp 3 stars
19. Methland by Nick Reding 288 pp 2 1/2 stars
20. The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott 480 pp 4 1/2 stars
21. The Professor of Truth by James Robertson 333 pp 2 1/2 stars
22. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick 288 pp
23. Orphan Island by Rose McCauley 336 pp
24. Greenvoe by George Mackay Brown 256 pp
25. Inferno by Henri Barbusse 124 pp 2 1/2 stars
26. Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household 182 pp
27. Christian Nation by Frederic C. Rich 342 pp

Read in March: 2,965 pp

Total pages read First Quarter: 11,052

SECOND QUARTER

APRIL

28. When I Was Otherwise by Stephen Benatar 301 pp 3 1/2 stars
29. JFK and the Unspeakable by James W. Douglass 560 pp 3 stars
30. Island at the End of the World by Sam Taylor 215 pp
31. Martian Time Slip by Philip K Dick 226 pp
32. The Man Who Killed Kennedy by Roger Stone 424 pp 3 stars
33. The Kennedy Half Century by Larry Sabato 624 pp 3 stars
34. Reasons of State by Alejo Carpentier 400 pp
35. Gillespie and I by Jane Harris 528 pp
36. The Last Man Standing by Davide Longo 352 pp
37. Pompeii by Robert Harris 304 pp 3 stars
38. Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey 288 pp 3 1/2 stars
39. Betrayed by Brendan DuBois 367 pp

Read in April: 4,589 pp

MAY

40. Existence by David Brin 560 pp 2 1/2 stars
41. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple 357 pp 4 stars
42. Journey Into the Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg 432 pp 5 stars
43. A True Novel by Minae Mizumura 880 pp 4 stars
44. Life by Keith Richards 576 pp 3 1/2 stars
45. The Martian by Andy Weir 384 pp 3/12 stars
46. Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson 320 pp 1 1/2 stars
47. The Tractor by Tor Hansen 348 pp
48. Someone Else by Tonino Benaquista 285 pp 3 1/2 stars

Read in May: 4,142 pp

JUNE

49. The End Is Nigh 372 pp
50. Fallen Land by Patrick Flanery 478 pp
51. The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker 656 pp 1/2 star
52. A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens 186 pp
53. Shelley's Heart by Charles McCarry 576 pp 3 1/2 stars
54. London Belongs To Me by Norman Collins 738 pp
55. The Frozen Heart by Almundena Grandes 800 pp
56. Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer 415 pp 3 stars
57. Eldorado by Laurent Gaude 261 pp

Read in June: 4,482 pp

Pages Read Second Quarter: 13,213

THIRD QUARTER

JULY

58. Biohazard by Ken Alibek 336 pp
59. Time's Long Ruin by Stephen Orr 576 pp
60. Big Ray by Michael Kimball 192 pp 2 1/2 stars
61. Island in the Sea of Time by S. M. Stirling 608 pp 2 stars
62. Edith's Diary by Patricia Highsmith 317 pp
63. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer 317 pp
64. Trieste by Dasa Drndic 432 pp 3 stars
65. Before I Burn by Gaute Heivoli 336 pp
66. The Spectre of Alexander Wolf by Gaito Gazdanov 192 pp
67. The Summer Of the Apocalypse by James Van Pelt 206 pp
68. Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon 477 pp
69. The House of Ulloa by Emilia Bazan 288 pp
70. The Great Mortality by John Kelly 364 pp 2 1/2 stars
71. The Deaths by Mark Lawson 416 pp
72. The Fishermen by Hans Kirk 305 pp 4 stars
73. Child Wonder A Novel by Roy Jacobsen 256 pp

Read in July: 5,618 pp

AUGUST

74. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston 304 pp
75. The Disappearance by Philip Wylie 405 pp
76. The Day of the Scorpion by Paul Scott 504 pp
77. Mr. Theodore Mundstock by Ladislav Fuks 223 pp 4 stars
78. Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg
79. Fury by Salman Rushdie 352 pp 2 1/2 stars
80. The Convent by Panos Karnezis 212 pp 3 1/2 stars
81. Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast
82. Alberta and Jacob by Cora Sandel
83. The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark
84. A Voyage For Madmen by Peter Nichols 336 pp

SEPTEMBER

85. Kapitoil by Teddy Wayne 295 pp 2 1/2 stars
86. The Tax Inspector by Peter Carey 304 pp 2 stars
87. The Viral Storm by Nathan Wolfe 320 pp 1 star
88. Silence Once Begun by Jesse Ball
89. The Time of Women by Elena Chizhova
90. Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks
91. Careful He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliot
92. Montano's Malady by Enrique Vila-Matas
93. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan 353 pp 5 stars
94. The Attack by Yasmina Khadra
95. Germinal by Emile Zola 481 pp

FOURTH QUARTER

OCTOBER

96. Eyrie by Tim Winton 433 pp 2 1/2 stars
97. The End Is Nigh 362 pp 3 stars
98. The End Is Now 336 pp 2 1/2 stars
99. Strong in the Rain by Lucy Birmingham and David McNeill
100. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes 384 pages 2 1/2 stars
101. Born Yesterday: The News As Novel by Gordon Burn 224 pp
102. The Children of Dynmouth by William Trevor 188 pp 4 stars
103. Late Call by Angus Wilson
104. Coincidence by J.W. Ironmonger
105. The Shift: How I Finally Lost Weight and Discovered a Happier LIfe by Tory Johnson

NOVEMBER

106. My Real Children by Jo Walton
107. Little Exiles by Robert Dinsdale
108. Timeless Land by Eleanor Dark
109. Roosevelt's Beast by Louis Bayard 320 pp 3 stars
110. The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson 130 pp 3 1/2 stars
111. Cutting Season by Attica Locke

DECEMBER

112. Prisoner's Dilemma by Richard Powers 341 pp 4 stars
113. The Waiting Years by Enchi Fumiko 204 pp 3 1/2 stars
114. The Last Brother by Natacha Appanah
115. Wartime Lies by Louis Begley
116. Specters by Radwa Ashour
117. The Names of the Dead by Stewart O'Nan 416 pp
118. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson 288 pp

NOBELISTS

NOBELISTS

NOBELISTS

NOBELISTS

Welcome back!

NOBELISTS

YEARS

2014 Orfeo by Richard Powers
2013 Command and Control
2012 Gone Girl
2011 Gillespie and I
2010 Methland by Nick Reding
2009 The Island at the End of the World by Sam Taylor
2008 Goat Days
2007 Young Stalin
2006 Summer of the Apocalypse
2004 Agaat
2003 Pompeii
2002 A Voyage For Madmen
2001 Fury
2000 Biohazard
1999 Cloudsplitter
1998 Dr. Neruda's Cure For Evil
1996 The Names of the Dead
1995 Shelley's Heart
1994 Edith's Diary
1991 The Tax Inspector
1988 Prisoner's Dilemma
1984 The Terrors of Ice and Darkness
1983 When I Was Otherwise
1982 The Sunne in Splendour
1978 A Five Year Sentence
1976 Children of Dynmouth
1974 Reasons of State
1972 Greenvoe
1970 The Driver's Seat
1968 Day of the Scorpion
1967 Journey Into the Whirlwind
1966 The Jewel in the Crown
1964 Martian Time Slip by Philip K. Dick
1963 The Expendable Man
1962 The Man in the High Castle
1957 The Waiting Years by Enchi Fumiko
1951 The Disappearance
1949 Brat Farrar
1946 Independent People
1945 London Belongs To Me
1941 Timeless land
1939 Rogue Male
1928 House of Ulloa
1926 Alberta and Jacob
1924 Orphan Island
1908 Inferno

Thank you Jim. I can't imagine how busy you've been, and will be the next several weeks, greeting everyone.

To give an example of how my reading habits work, I am currently reading Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Incident and the Illusion of Safety. I had first read Melal, a novel about the Marshall Islanders who were relocated and whose lives were disrupted, and in some cases shortened, by the atomic testing there. This led to Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Island, the memoir of a volunteer teacher on one of the atolls in the Marshall Islands. Thus to Command and Control, which will at some point lead to a book newly purchased based on the above reading, The Atomic Times: My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground by Michael Harris.

Yay! Glad you're back. I always love to hear what you're reading because they're often books I've never heard of.

Hi Deborah, happy New Year. Your thread gets my star.

Hi Deborah!

Welcome Deborah! Seems like I am seeing you after a long time! Maybe missed your thread for the last year, already starred this one.

Dear Deborah, I wish you a happy, smooth, productive, satisfying 2014 --- and .....

Hi Deborah! Happy New Year and Happy Thingaversary!

I do love your indepth reviews, but I'm even more thrilled that you plan to visit here more often, as brief comments are preferable to long disappearances. :-)

Happy New Year Deborah! You are personally responsible for a great number of the books on my teetering tower and that is just fine with me haha.

Deborah here is another of your devotees, fresh from sleep, glad to see you back in your place here. Have a wonderful 2014. xx

Hello!
I found you as promised, and am glad my looking skills weren't lacking, it was only your absence that hindered my finding....
You fell off my radar last year and if you are going to be more often visiting your own thread I can bet it wont happen this year! Good luck with reducing the TBR piles!

Counselor -- so glad to have found and starred you. Looking forward to following you this year.

Welcome back, Deborah!

Happy Thingaversary! Did you treat yourself to some books?

Those are some super heavy, really sad books you've been reading. Undoubtedly important stuff to know about, but it seems like it'd be really hard to read... I have a similar interest in books about the atomic bombings of Japan.

Anyway, one of the better local Seattle bands actually used video footage from documentaries/home videos that kinda looked at the effects of nuclear radiation on Marshall islanders then and now as the imagery for one of their music videos. It's pretty moving. The song is good, too. Check it out if you're interested and have a few minutes.

Happy belated Thingaversary!

Look forward to seeing what you bought for your Thingamajigamy.

Have a lovely weekend.

Interested to read your new plans for handling keeping up with thread and reviews. I tend to get a mental block about reviews too, and find it far easier to write a few thoughts in passing, when commenting on a book in progress, than to write a 'proper' review when I've completed the book. Good luck with your plans this year, anyway.

Have a wonderful weekend, Deborah!

Deborah - Just whizzing through to wish a wonderful weekend for you. xx

Well I'm back--a bit longer than a week, but well sooner than 2 months--I'm trying.

--Pat--I saw somewhere that you'll be at the Portland meetup. I'm going to try to go, but it's not looking good now. I'd love to meet you.

--Monica--Thanks for stopping by. I love reading your reviews, and have wishlisted many of the books you read.

--Diana--Hello to a Dutchwoman from a sort of Dutchwoman. :)

--Piyush--I'll be following you too!

--Peggy- I'm enjoying my read on the sofa month so much, I say let's do it again next month.

--Kerri--Hi--I am trying to be here more, with at least a little bit of success. Hope the Seahawks win this week (or whenever their next game is).

--Bonnie--If I'm responsible for books on your WL, you're responsible for as any on mine!

--Hi Megan--I'll be following you and your two little cuties down there in (hot) NZ.

--Michigan (Marianne??)--Wow! Your thread has become one of the busiest in the 75'ers group. I'm still managing to keep up so far.

--Hi Daryl--I love following your reading, and your travel--especially SF and London. I can't wait to hear about your Barcelona trip. My H is an architect, so I'd really love to see the Gaudi buildings.

--Listen I haven't ventured to any bookstores yet this year, though I've bought a few (well, maybe more than a few) Kindle books. I'm not counting those for my Thingaversary though. I did get gift certificates from my kids for Half Price Books and for Better World Books for Christmas.

--Andrew--thanks for the link. Very good song. I don't know much about the Seattle music scene, but my middle son does. He worked at the Showbox for several years, and had his own band which played at many of the clubs in Seattle, including the Showbox. He is in NYC now, and has a new band which is in the process of signing a recording deal. He still has a "real" job though. :)

Paul--you amaze me with your ability to keep up with so many threads and maintain your own insanely busy thread, not to mention all the statistics, your successful business, and your monopoly cheating skills.

Hello Genny--I think I still have my review writing phobia--at least I have 4 to write. But at least I haven't let that keep me from entering my own thread.

I'm going to eat lunch now, and I have the rest of the afternoon set aside to do something about those reviews.

Nice to hear from you, Deborah! Don't let the reviews get you down, it's the books and friends talking about books that's important. I would love, love, love if you came to Portland. And did you hear that Paul C. is coming to Seattle this summer?

Hi Lisa--Are you going to Portland? I'm going to have to work harder to find a way to make this work! Yes I heard that Paul has Seattle on his list. I can't imagine how many LTers he'll be meeting on his trip.

Deborah, I would love it if you could come to Portland for the meetup! I'll be keeping my fingers tightly crossed that it works out.

Hey there Deborah! Stopping by to say hello. Hope your week is going well

Yes, yes, yes! Come to Portland! I sent you a message with some options. Check your profile page.

ETA: Ellen started a Portland Meetup thread.

I kind of explained above how I came to read Command and Control. Melal and Surviving Paradise were two among the many books I failed to comment on last year, but I recommend them both. Melal is fiction, mostly from the point of view of the native Marshall Islanders. Their lives have been disrupted by the tests, they have been uprooted from their homes, and many suffer from radiation poisoning. There are alternating sections in which we follow one day in the life of a father who works in a menial position of the US base on an island to which he must commute by ferry since no native Marshall Islanders are permitted to live there. In alternate sections, we follow the day of his two sons, as they decide to visit one of the forbidden ancestral islands. All of this is told in the context of some of the native myths and mythic characters who are observing and to some extent controlling these events as they occur.

Surviving Paradise is the memoir of a man who spent a year as a volunteer teacher on one of the smaller Marshall Island atolls. This was fascinating--and I could relate to the feelings of awe experienced when one sees ocean all around. However, as I was reading the book, I sometimes felt that I was reading an anthropology study--succeeding chapters covered: the place of women in this society; the place of men; child rearing habits; food; social gatherings; etc. At the end of the book I read that the author did go back to school to obtain his PhD in anthropology. He also returned to the atoll to study what effect the fact that the atoll is being eaten by rising sea waters caused by climate change was having on the islanders.

I tried to come back right after lunch, but I had completely lost internet. H fixed it when he came home, but I'm tired now, so the actual reviews of the four books I've read so far this year will have to wait, hopefully only til tomorrow.

Lisa--I left you a note on your profile page. Hope I can work it out so I can come.

#32: I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I go to the Showbox all the time! What is/was the name of your son's bands? I've been to a bunch of the venues in Seattle... if he's performed here in the last ~6 years there's a decent chance that I may have seen him play.

The two books on the Marshall Islands sound sobering and sad.
- I've read articles here and there about these matters, small islands too, that are actually being gobbled up by the rising ocean, one storm at a time, as well.

Deborah - Yes Portland and Seattle are on the list which is starting to take shape nicely. Distances between places are a bit intimidating but the 144 miles between Seattle and Portland are a nice trip.

Have a lovely weekend.

Bummer about the internet! Looking forward to those reviews (appreciated your comments on Melal and Surviving Paradise). No pressure, though!

Hi Deborah - Interesting Marshall Island reading. I don't know much about the subject, but may put Melal on the wishlist.

Go Seahawks!

Great to see that you got the book, Deborah.

Not forgotten your thread by any chance have you? xx

Hi Andrew--I guess I'm a terrible mom, but I can't remember the name of his band--I will try to remember to ask him the next time I speak to him. The band he is in now in NYC is called Arc Wave, and they have a web site or you tube or something you can listen to them on. The lead singer in this new group is a female, which is new for him. He writes the songs and plays lead guitar. ETA--Just spoke to my son and the name of the group was MK Speed Dial. There was an article in The Stranger when they broke up (when he moved to NY).

Luci--Yes it is very disturbing. I grew up hearing about the A-tests and H-tests, and although it scared me, I never really made the connection that these were happening to someone's homes.

Michigan--My intent is to get to some reviews today, and try to catch up with all January reads by the end of the month. BTW your thread is very difficult to keep up with--you're so popular!

Hi Kerri--Yep--it's so exciting to have the SeaHawks in the Superbowl. Lisa and I are trying to figure out whether we'll get back to Seattle from the Portland meetup in time to see the start of the game.

Hi Paul--Thank you for nudging me to comment on my own thread for a change and to try to bring it up to day. I'm going to have to hang my head in shame soon, to fail at all my resolutions so soon.

I thought I'd try to catch up with my reading by commenting on my non-fiction reads first, since the first book of the year was non-fiction, and most of my other non-fiction reads are related in some way (at least in my own mind) to that book.

1. Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser (2013)

This is a sobering look at U.S. nuclear policy from immediately after WW II until the end of the Cold War. Inserted among this history is a minute by minute account of an accident in a nuclear missile silo in Damascus Arkansas in the 1980's.

After the end of WW II, there was no cohesive plan for how to handle nuclear weapons, and in fact no one was even sure that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki could be replicated. A rivalry between the military and civilians for control of nuclear weapons immediately began, with control swinging toward the military each year until there was no longer even the pretense of civilian control. Each successive president was pressured by the military to to delegate the authority to "push the button," to the military, as well as to allow foreign governments, i.e. NATO) to possess and control some of the bombs.

There has also been an ongoing conflict between policies of safety and reliability, with the scientists arguing for more safety controls to prevent accidental detonation, and the military pushing for bombs that would go off every time. Needless to say, the military has won, and each time defense spending is authorized the funds are used to make bigger and better bombs, rather than to alter the bombs we already have to make sure they don't accidently go off.

Throughout this history, Schlosser details the thousands (yes I said thousands) of nuclear accidents that have occurred, many minor, but an unsettling number major, including crashes of planes carrying nuclear weapons and the accidental dropping of nuclear bombs. I personally remember the incident in which a plane crashed near Spain in the mid-60's and weeks were spent looking for a lost nuclear bomb. (The other two bombs the plane was carrying were immediately found). And a lot of us of a certain age remember the Cuban missile crisis, and many think that this incident was the closest we've come to nuclear war. Not true--behind the scenes we apparently came even closer during the Berlin Wall crisis.

My criticism of this book is that it basically ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the so-called end of the Cold War. I don't think anyone can assume that because the US and the USSR are no longer facing each other down the barrel of a nuclear bomb we are safe, or even safer. There is obviously the problem of the possibility of regional nuclear wars (Indian/Pakistan; Israel/Arab country). Many experts believe, however, that if there is a nuclear holocaust it will most likely be because of a mistake or accident. One of the scariest events the book describes took place during the early 60's when the early warning radar screens at NORAD showed dozens of Soviet missiles headed for the US. The officer in charge had mere minutes to decide whether to launch in retaliation. Fortunately the officer remembered that Khruschev was at the UN in NYC that week, and reasoned that the Soviets wouldn't start a nuclear war while their leader was in the US. It was later determined that the "missiles" that showed up on the radar screen was the moon rising over Norway.

Highly recommended.

3 1/2 stars

Postscript:

Command and Control has become even more relevant in light of recent disclosures about the agency that replaced SAC. First, the commanding officer was fired after he went on a 4 day drunken spree in Russia bragging of his power to "push the button." He also engaged in long conversations with "bar maids" discussing nuclear physics.

Then another leading officer at the facility was fired after he tried to use counterfeit chips at a casino. Apparently he had a bad gambling problem, as well as issues with alcohol.

Within the past few weeks some other high-ranking officers in this group which controls the nuclear bombs were discovered to be engaged in drug-dealing activities, including cocaine and meth. (Drug usage among enlisted men was previously known). Then it was learned that these officers were all cheating on their periodic nuclear proficiency exams.

The latest disturbing event involves the break-in of a nuclear facility in Tennessee by three elderly activists (one is 84). Using just wire cutters, they got through the protective fence, broke into one of the buildings, and then sprayed graffiti messages and splattered blood around. They then just sat there for one hour waiting to be arrested. It took one hour for them to be discovered.

Next I read a book about the tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima:

2. Fukushima by Mark Willacy

Mark Willacy is an Australian reporter who happened to be stationed in Japan at the time of the tsunami. He has written an informative and compelling book about the tsunami and nuclear meltdown that is still on-going at the power plants. Regarding the meltdown, he gives us just enough technical information for a basic understanding of how a nuclear power plant works, and what can go wrong, but not so much technical information that the reader's eyes glaze over.

The book narrates an hour by hour account of the events occurring inside the plant. It also tells the stories of a cross-section of the people living and working in and around the power plant, including a nuclear engineer (who spent days inside the plant after the tsunami), a pig farmer, a teacher, a fisherman, and so on. We learn of their lives before the event and how they cope after the event, each suffering different degrees of loss.

Willacy also was able to interview the Japanese prime minister while the events were on-going, and these interviews provide a chilling glimpse of just how unprepared the Japanese government and the power company were to deal with the situation. Indeed, their primary concern at first was to cover up just how serious the event was. This resulted in many people being exposed to much more radiation than they could have been, due to the failure to order evacuation in a timely manner, and also ordering evacuation in the wrong direction, i.e. to where the fallout was the most dense.

This book was published fairly soon after the tsunami. We know that the full extent of the damage is still unknown and ongoing. I'm going to try to find something more up-to-date, although that is not a criticism of this book, and I still recommend it.

3 1/2 stars

3. Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin

At first the people of Toms River, New Jersey didn't notice. Then one of the nurses at a children's hospital recognized that there seemed to be a disproportionate number of childhood cancer cases from Toms River. When the parents and other residents became involved, attention focused on a chemical plant which had been the mainstay of the economy of Toms River for many years and which employed many of its residents. This book is the story of the children and families affected by the chemical plant, the attempts by the citizens and governments at local, state and federal levels to establish that the chemical company was polluting the environment (primarily drinking water), that the pollutants were carcinogenic, and that these carcinogens were the cause of the Toms River cancer cases. This was more difficult than might be assumed. In fact the only other instance in which this has been accomplished was the W.R. Grace chemical plant case which was the subject of the book A Civil Action. (A book I highly recommend by the way.)

This book suffers much by way of comparison with A Civil Action. A Civil Action had a strong narrative arc, and it read like a thriller. It focused on the legal maneuverings of the lawyers for both sides, the scientific difficulties encountered by the plaintiffs, and the suffering of the families. It was a sort of David and Goliath story, and the plaintiffs' attorney ultimately ended up bankrupt. In Toms River, the author ranges broadly, which makes the book choppy and sometimes difficult to follow. For example, he goes back to ancient Egyptian times as part of his discussion of garbage disposal methods. It seemed to me the author was saying, "Look at all this research I did, and I'm going to tell you every single iota of information I learned."

The book is not bad, and it is an interesting look at what can be described in no other way than as corporate crime, and the apparent helplessness of the government to deal with this. It is an informative but sometimes tedious book.

2/12 stars

Continuing in the same vein, I next read a book about the chemical disaster in Bhopal, India:

4. Five Past Midnight: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster by Dominique Lapierre

Last year I read Animal's People by Indra Sinha, an excellent novel about the slum dwellers who lived around the Union Carbide plant releasing the deadly chemicals. The novel was set years after the release, and focused on the tragic effects the disaster had on those people and their attempts to hold the company responsible.

This book sets the stage for the disaster with the history of Bhopal, how the plant came to be built, its executives and employees, and the manner of its operation, from the beginning until the accident, which occurred during a period of time the plant's operations were being phased out. It also introduces us to a number of the families who resided in the makeshift dwellings surrounding the plant.

It may be my imagination, but having read Animal's People, I think that this book is slightly too sympathetic to Union Carbide, or at least to the American employees who were running the plant. For example, in the acknowledgements section the author thanks the individual "who made us welcome in their charming house..., enabling us to reconstruct the happy years when Warren was in charge of the Bhopal factory." Or, "The pursuit of perfection was Carbide's hallmark." The accident itself occurred when Americans were ceding management to Indian employees, and it was those employees whose mistakes or inaction caused the chemical release. However, it was the American owners who stinted on proper safety equipment when building the plant, on maintaining what safety equipment there was, and who failed to provide adequate training for the employees.

The book was written shortly after the accident, and does not stress that Union Carbide has failed (and has actively resisted) to pay adequate recompense to the victims. The long-term health problems of the victims is also not completely considered, although the author has a charity which does provide some assistance to victims with health issues. With those caveats, I can state that the book is informative and moving. It is well-written--certainly in such way that it is a page-turner, and tells a compelling story.

3 stars

Currently my nonfiction read is Visit Sunny Chernobyl And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places by Andrew Blackwell. This book narrates some very sad things, but with black humor. So far I've read the chapters about his visit to Chernobyl (tourists can actually walk right up to the reactor building), to an oil sands mining facility in Northern Alberta, to Port Arthur Texas refineries, and to the great Pacific garbage patch.

I'll try to get to my January fiction reads tomorrow. I'm trying to read an easy fiction and a hard fiction at the same time. My hard fiction is Lieutenant Colonel Maumort by Nobelists Roger Martin du Gard. I'm quite enjoying it, but it's going slowly because it's my "downstairs" read, where I only read in the daytime. While du Gard is part of the literary canon in France, he's not very well known in the US apparently. He has written: "The supreme problem for the artist is precisely to separate what is time-bound from what is permanent, what is the current, short-lived debate of contemporary humanity from what is the anguishing enigma of eternal humanity." I think this is a great description of what separates the classics from ordinary literature.

De-lurking to say that I'm enjoying reading your reviews!

*re-lurks*

http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/battle-over-the-burial-richard-iii-be...

Just found this article about Richard III, which I'm bookmarking here for when I review The Sunne in Splendour. There has been some discussion (I think on Peggy's thread) about whether Richard was a "good guy" or a "bad guy".

Hi Amber--please delurk more often. It's good to see you.

Deborah - A downstairs read? How intriguing.

Splendid reviews as always.

Of course Richard III was a good guy.

Have a lovely weekend. xx

>52 arubabookwoman: Thanks to your comments, I have ordered a copy of Lieutenant Colonel Maumort through one of Amazon's booksellers. I could not find a thing by him in our local library systems. It's disappointing that a Nobel winner should be so overlooked.

My spousal unit has upstairs and downstairs reads - I have a basket!

I commend you for reading these in-depth books on difficult matters. I like reading the views very much - so you are helping me be more informed, thankyou!

Excellent review of Five Past Midnight, Deborah. I also read and was impressed by Animal's People, and although I'm interested in reading more about what happened at Bhopal, I think I'll pass on Thayer's book.

>52 arubabookwoman:: Deborah, that is a wonderful quote and I agree that it so well captures the distinction between classics and ordinary literature.

It was great to see you today and I'm looking forward to our return trip tomorrow.

Hi Deborah - Delurking to admire the great reading you packed into January. I love the quote from du Gard. I'll be interested in your comments about him; I'm not familiar with him at all. Animal's People goes onto the list.

--Hi Paul--Re downstairs reading--I do most of my reading in bed at night, from about 8 til whenever I fall asleep, usually somewhere between 11 and 1. My husband goes to sleep much earlier though and likes the lights off when he sleeps, so most of my "upstairs" reading is on the Kindle. I read Lieutenant Colonel de Maumort downstairs where I can turn the lights on.

--Linda--I'm glad you were able to find a copy of Lieutenant-Colonel de Maumort. I recently found a copy of The Thibalts , so that is on my shelf as well. Unfortunately, Volume II of The Thibaults is oop and impossible to find, but I remain hopeful. During the meetup this weekend at Powells in Portland I bought a third book by du Gard (whose name escapes me but which I will list below when I list my acquisitions).

--Daryl--Since Five Past Midnight is nonfiction it of course has much more factual information than Animal's People, but I agree that you can probably find a better and more up-to-date book about the disaster.

--Hi Ellen--I agree that the quote is a wonderful expression of the difference between classics and non-classics--and is not derogatory or dismissive or non-classics, just noting the difference. It was great to visit with you too.

Beth--I'm glad to see you here, and also glad that the du Gard quote resonated with you too. I highly recommend Animal's People.

I'm not usually a football fan, but as a Seattlelite I have been following the SeaHawks for the last few months as they made their way to the Super Bowl, now onto a lopsided win. My oldest son, who lives in NYC, was able to get a complementary ticket to the Super Bowl at the last minute, so he was lucky enough to watch the game in person. He called as he arrived at his seats, and was so excited he could hardly speak. One item checked on his bucket list.

The Great Portland meetup was this past weekend, and I met some wonderful LT'ers. Unfortunately I think I will take the champion book buyer prize. I bought 2 bagsful, which were so heavy I needed Ellen and Lisa to help carry them back to the hotel. The only good thing is that they were purchased in February, and so don't have to be added to my already obscene list of books purchased in January.

I will be back to list my purchases once I see what my newly retired husband is calling me for. I'm used to my quiet solitary days, so we'll have to see how this new 24-hour a day togetherness works out.

so we'll have to see how this new 24-hour a day togetherness works out

You'll have to get him hooked on LibraryThing. :-)

P.S. The book you were talking about was Born on a Blue Day. I did some research and posted my findings on my thread.

So here are the books I bought at Powell's. I tried to buy mostly books that are difficult to find elsewhere, and I tried to stick mostly to books that were already on my wishlist:

1. Unclay by T.F. Powys (1932)--the author is I believe the brother of John Cowper Powys who wrote A Glastonbury Romance, which I tried to read a few years ago with Luci (sybix). I wimped out about 1/2 through, not because it was bad, but because it was hard. In this book, Death visits a quaint English town in the guise of Death. I hadn't realized but it is the companion to the book Mr. Weston's Good Wine in which God visits the same village. This one was on my list.

2. The End of All Men by C.F. Ramuz (1944)--this was not on my list, and I had never heard of it. It was described as praised and admired by Thomas Mann. The author is Swiss, and the book "tells of the eruption of a great, universal catastrophe in the everyday lives of men and women."

3. Massacre River by Rene Philoctete (1989)--this was on the WL, recommended by Daryl I believe. It's the story of a conflict between Haiti and the Dominican Republic under Trujillo.

4. Towards the End of Morning by Michael Frayn (1967)--this was on my wishlist because I've admired Michael Frayn since I read his book Spies. It's a story "set in the crossword and nature notes department of an obscure national newspaper during the declining years of Fleet Street...."

5. The Hothouse by Wolfgang Koeppen (1953)--this was on my wishlist, and is on the 1001 list. It's set in Germany after WW II.

6. My Father's Wives by Jose Eduardo Agualusa (1988)--Agualusa's Creole, which was on my wishlist, but wasn't available, so I got this by Portuguese/Angolan author Agualusa, since I loved his book The Book of Chameleons.

7. A Reader's Guide to The Remembrance of Things Past, since I would like to try to read Proust again. Last time I got through Volume IV.

8. Aerodrome by Rex Warner (1941)--On wishlist. I read this back in the 80's but don't remember much except that I liked it. It's now on Anthony Burgess's "Best Of" list, so I thought I'd try it again. Written before 1984, it's described as "probably the only novel of its time to understand the dangerous yet glamorous appeal of fascism...."

9. Urwind by Bo Carpelan (1993)--Another book by Finnish author Bo Carpelan was on my wishlist, but was unavailable, so I purchase this. It comprises of "fifty-three letters from an aging second-hand bookseller...to his wife...."

10. Daniel Stein, Interpreter by Ludmilla Ulitskaya (2006)--I'd never heard of this book or author, but this is a winner of the Russian Booker and the book was on the bargain shelf. I think Lisa picked this one up too. It's the story of a Polish Jew who escaped the Holocaust by working for the Gestapo as an interpreter. It is apparently based on a true story.

11. Costals and the Hippogriff by Henry de Montherlant (1940)--this was not on the wishlist, but I don't often see books by this controversial French author, whose The Bachelors I have read and enjoyed. This book is described by the author as "an attempt to let the woman see the true sentiments of the man in her direction, and to let the man also see the woman as she is."

12. Jean Barois by Roger Martin du Gard (1913)--this is the book I mentioned buying above by Nobelist du Gard. It tells the story of "a young man outgrowing his inherited beliefs...."

13. Red Shadows by Yvonne Navarro--Classic SciFi about the end of the world.

14. The Grass Crown byColleen McCullough--second volume of The First Man in Rome series which I want to reread after seeing it mentioned on Chatterbox's thread.

That completes the first bagful of books. I will try to do the second installment after lunch.

Nice book haul ... And nice groups of reviews. VERY informative. You are doing some important and interesting reading. Thanks for posting.

Hi Marianne--thanks for visiting. I've only posted about half of my book haul, so here goes the rest. Hope I can get through this before my husband decides he needs me again. :)

15. Journey Into the Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg (1967)--this memoir of Stalin's gulag has long been on my wishlist.

16. The Master Mariner by Nicholas Monsarrat (1978)--this wasn't on my wishlist, but the author has been on my radar screen since I read The Cruel Sea last year. The Cruel Sea is a book I remember my father reading when I was a child, and I really didn't expect to like it. I surprised myself by loving it. It's the story of a British war ship that accompanied civilian supply shipments and troop transports in the North Atlantic during WW II. The Master Mariner is described as the story of British sailor/explorers over the ages. Monsarrat accomplished this by the conceit of using as his protagonist a sailor who is cursed after an act of cowardice at the battle with the Spanish Armada to roam the seas until his guilt is purged. Thus, he accompanies various historical explorers. As an aside, the book was written after the author, fascinated with what British sailors had done to open the world, decided to visit places where crucial events had occurred, and in the course travelled around the world twice.

17. Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger (1978) I purchased this retelling of the Arthurian legends because: 1. I like this genre; and 2. The author is on my radar screen. (I have his Little, Big which is highly praised on my shelf.

18. Catherine the Great by Robert Massie--this has been on my wishlist since it was published--I was just waiting for the right price.

19. Three Cities: A Trilogy by Sholem Asch (1943)--This was on my wishlist, but I can't remember why.

20. Petersburg by Andrei Biely--set in Petersburg in 1905 with reactionaries, nihilists and bombs, but with the city as the main character. I had it on my wish list because Nabokov said, "My greatest masterpieces of twentieth century prose are in this order: Joyce's Ulysses; Kafka's Transformation; Biely's Petersburg; and the first half of Proust's fairy tale In Search of Lost Time.

21. Rising Up and Rising Down by William Vollman (2004)--this is an abridgement of Vollman's seven volume treatise on violence. Everything I've read by Vollman has been masterful. I finally realized that I'll never get to the seven volume edition (if I could even find it or afford it), so I'll settle for reading this.

22. Famous Last Words by Timothy Findley (1981)--this novel by Canadian novelist Findley is the story of "an expatriate American writer, Fascist camp-follower and protegee of Ezra Pound" at the end of WW II. I read Findley's Headhunter a couple of years ago and rated it highly. Years ago I read The Wars which is his novel about WW I, and which I believe is on the list of WW I novels to read. This was on my wish list.

23. My Bookstore by Richard Rice--"Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop." Self-explanatory. Not on the wishlist, but who could resist?

24. A Curse on Dostoevsky by Atiq Rahimi a reworking of Crime and Punishment in Afghanistan in which Rahimi (author of The Patience Stone) "describes his country so that we may understand it like we never have before." This wasn't on my wishlist, but it sounds so intriguing I couldn't resist.

25. Chronicles of My Mother by Yasushi Inoue--this is an autobiographical novel about aging by respected Japanese author Inoue. This is "a sensitive chronology of the last fifteen years of the life of his mother, seen through the eyes of her children...."

26. These Demented Lands by Alan Warner (1997)--I had Morvern Callar (on the 1001 list) by this Scottish author on the wishlist, but it cost $30. I got this instead. "An aircrash investigator haunts the hitherlands of an island...gathering debris from fallen planes...."

27. Children of Dynmouth by William Trevor (1976)--I've read quite a few of Trevor's books. This one has been on my wishlist for a very long time, so I grabbed it. "A small, pretty seaside town is harshly exposed by a young boy's curiosity."

28. In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (1953)--this semi-autobiographical novel has also been on my wishlist forever. It is a "classic first novel about growing up in 'Little Englan', colonial Barbados."

29. Papillon by Henri Charriere (1969)--I plan to read a book about the Dreyfus affair and his exile to Devil's Island soon. I've never read this account of the escape from Devil's Island, so I picked it up. Not on my wishlist.

30. The Ogre by Michel Tournier (1970)--This was on my wishlist and is also on the 1001 list. It won the Prix Goncourt, and is about a French POW in WW II.

Well--that's what I bought at Powell's. When I get to read them is another story.

Should I list my obscenely long list of books acquired in January? These are only my books acquired in February (so far).

Yes, please do list your January acquisitions. I am marking your lists as favorites for future reference!

Hi Deborah! You most certainly do get the prize for most books purchased at Powell's. :-) I'm embarrassed to say that I've only heard of a couple of the titles and just slightly more than that of the authors. After leaving you guys at Powell's for your second assault, I felt like turning around and going back and if my husband wasn't waiting at the hotel I would have.

I had a fantastic time and was glad to get the chance to talk to you at Deschutes Brewery. I'm so glad all you Seattleites could make it.

I didn't realize that your husband had recently retired. I can see how that would be an adjustment. My husband and I retired at the same time and he tends to be more of a homebody than me (which is saying something) so there are times when I wish I had house to myself but for the most part we do pretty well spending a lot of our time together.

Looking forward to your review of Sunne in Splendour when you get to it.

49: It is an informative but sometimes tedious book.
I actually liked the “ranges broadly” aspect, and it didn’t feel tedious until the legal case toward the end, which, in its defense, isn’t a sort of thing that grabs my attention at the best of times. I haven’t read A Civil Action.

Hi there, Deborah. I've been lurking on the Portland meet-up thread and had to come over here to check out your two bags of books! Peeking in the first bag, I've only heard of the Colleen McCullough book. In Bag #2, I've read and loved Catherine the Great. That's it! I look forward to learning about a host of new-to-me books. Nice new thread here, btw. How cool that you started here on LT on January 1st five years ago. I'm so glad you did!

Hi Deborah, I found your thread to star it. You have such an interesting library. I know I'm going to find some good tips here. It was so great to meet you!

These are only my books acquired in February (so far).

Giving Paul a run for his money, eh Deborah;-) Another bunch of thoughtful and intriguing reviews too.

Wow, what a haul! Well done!

Hi Deborah!

#50 - I read this years ago, and have memories of it being a well done account of the tragedy. For some reason, I haven't retained the bits that are slightly too sympathetic towards Union Carbide, but I completely trust your interpretation and now I'm horrified (I'm usually very critical and in tune to that sort of thing). Eek! And I think I recently recommended it to someone, but can't remember who. Anyway, I have Animal's People on my wishlist, due to your review, I believe.

Amazing book haul at Powells! I loved seeing the meet-up photos too.

...since I would like to try to read Proust again. Last time I got through Volume IV. That's quite impressive. I'd like to tackle it too some day.

Hi Deborah! Things sure are hopping here! Does Paul know he's got hot competition in the book buying league?

Deborah/Bonnie - That haul certainly beats most of my efforts into a cocked hat. Some wonderfully obscure stuff there. I believe that I only have two or three of your 30. Jean Barois is a particular envy-tinged note as, even on Book Depo, it is not a sure find. I have and have read the William Trevor (loved it), the Frayn (not bad either) and I have but haven't read Famous Last Words.

Have a great weekend. xx

Amazing haul -- the T.F. Powys sounds fascinating. Timothy Findley is an underappreciated writer, I think. I haven't read all his novels, but I've never been disappointed.

Happy Valentine's Day, Deborah

Deborah I hope you'll put in another appearance shortly as I have almost as many posts on your thread as you have yourself. xx

Well I am definitely catching you up on posts on your own thread! Hope you will come back and give us an update soon.

Have a lovely weekend, Deborah, wherever you are and whatever you're doing. xx

Just checking in Deborah and wishing you well. The weather is glorious here in Boston.(Finally!) Hope you are having some of the same.

Nothing to see here folks---move right along--it's just ABW slinking in shame into her dreadfully neglected thread. Lots of excuses, but at the same time no excuse. Been traveling--a reunion of sorts with all 5 kids, spouses, and grandchildren in NYC, where I got to see my son Brandon's band playing at a club. Then a few weeks in Houston taking care of my mom who had hip replacement surgery, and then going to visit daughter and grands Boden and Madeleine. We're doing a major remodel which includes painting the entire interior. For the last 6 weeks we've been confined to two rooms, and there's several more weeks to go. In preparation I had to pack away all my books, and my husband "suggested" I use this "opportunity" to cull some books. I ended up giving away about 700 books, but I haven't yet reflected that in my LT library.

Best of all, my husband started taking a newly approved cancer drug in late January, and it is really a miracle drug. His numbers are better than when he was diagnosed, and approaching normal after just 3 1/2 months. He's decided he will be returning to work part time in June.

I hate to say I'm making new goals, since I so gloriously abandoned my January goals, but as a non-goal I'm not going to expect myself to do full reviews of all books I read. I'm finding that having this expectation causes me to abandon LT. Instead, I'm going to try just to write a few descriptive words about the books I've read within a couple of days of when I finish the book. Some may develop into longer reviews, and some may just be 2 words.

I want to say thank you to everyone who visited since I was last here in February, and I'm sorry to have ignored you all. I have occasionally visited some of your threads, but usually not commented. Paul--thank you especially for so faithfully checking up on me.

All the books I've read since I was last here are included above in messages 2 and 3, and the numbers I'll be using in commenting will correspond with those numbers, which reflect the order in which I read them.

43. A True Novel by Minae Mizumura

This Japanese novel is a reworking of Wuthering Heights to 20th century Japan, although this connection is not slavishly in your face. The author writes well, and the characters and their development are excellently portrayed. The structure of the novel is complex (and I believe that in some ways it reflects the structure of Wuthering Heights, though it's been many years since I read that). The first narrator is a Japanese woman who as a teenager lived with her family on Long Island. During her time in America her life crossed paths several times with an enigmatic Japanese man named Taro. When she first meets Taro, he is working as a chauffer, and cannot speak English. Later he comes to work for her father, first as a repairman and then as a salesman. He becomes fabulously successful and moves on to fame and glory.

When the teenage girl is a middle-aged college professor, she is approached by a young man who has had a "ships in the night" meeting with Taro. He takes over the narration, and within his narration, Fumiko, a Japanese woman living in the countryside who seems to be a domestic servant, but whose relationship with Taro is somewhat ambiguous, narrates large portions. These portions, which constitute the bulk of this nearly 900 page tome, besides being an engrossing story with complex characters, give us a fascinating view of Japanese culture, particularly its social stratification.

Although the book is long, and its narrative structure is unusual, it is not a difficult read, and it was one that called to me to pick it up when I wasn't reading.

4 stars

42. Journey Into the Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg

This is a memoir of Ginzburg's life as a loyal Communist, and then her arrest, interrogation, and transport to the Siberian gulag during Stalin's reign of terror. She tells us her story without a hint of self-pity, yet she conveys the immensity of the tragedy that has overcome her, her family and friends, and all those she comes into contact with during her journey.

I read Gulag, Anne Applebaum's excellent history of the gulag last year, which in part was structured by considering separately each aspect of the process, i.e. the arrest, the interrogations, the transports, etc. I was struck by how closely Ginzburg's experiences matched those described in general by Applebaum. Ginzburg's memoir, however, conveys these events as unique and personal, and so all the more tragic.

I'll be reading the sequel, which focuses on her time in the gulag rather than her journey to the gulag, as soon as I can get my hands on it. This is a book everyone should read.

5 stars

These next two are the other books I've read so far in May.

40. Existence by David Brin and 41. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple

Existence is a science fiction novel exploring what happens after earth's first contact with an alien intelligence. It's told through myriad strands and diverse characters: a space garbage man who snags an artifact that is soon found to be an alien communication device; a poor Chinese fisherman "homesteading" the former mansions of rich men which have been submerged due to global warming who finds a similar device in one of the drowned mansions; a rich playboy heir; several of the unimaginably rich oligarchy who now run the world and who fund scientific research stations as hobbies; a reporter whose body was nearly mortally destroyed in a dirigible (yes dirigible) accident, but who continues with her human intelligence in an artificial body; an autistic boy and girl (victims of an autism plague) whose special intelligence contributes to scientific research; and so on and on.

That was the problem for me with this book. It tries to cram too much in, and I'm not sure all of it was needed. For example, the rich playboy heir. In his first appearance he is making a "rocket trip", a futuristic hobby for the very rich, somewhat akin to sky diving, in which he is propelled into space by means of a rocket attached to his personalized survival suit. Through various antics with one of the other spoiled rich boys, he ends up crash landing far from his planned splashdown point. He encounters some friendly dolphins, and is soon able to communicate with them. They bring him food, and help him survive for what is apparently weeks as they swim with him to a small island which is the site of an abandoned dolphin research lab. The lab had been abandoned due to lack of funding, and he realizes he has finally discovered his purpose in life--i.e. to explore the depths of dolphin intelligence and human communication with dolphins. After he is rescued, he has his mother, a member of the oligarchy, provide funds for him to get the research station going again so he can return to his dolphin friends.

All very interesting, even though I've described this somewhat facetiously, and I think that in and of itself it could be the basis of a good book. However, I really couldn't figure out what his story had to do with the rest of the book, which is about communication with aliens--maybe because of the communication with the dolphins?

So--although I enjoyed the book in its sections, some just didn't seem to belong, which made for a book much longer than it needed to be.

2 1/2 stars

41. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple

This is categorized as a crime novel, but it is so much more. It is set in a small seaside town outside of Melbourne, and the ostensible story is about the investigation of the murder of its wealthiest inhabitant. In prose that is precise, crisp, and beautiful Temple develops his complex characters--a wounded detective, a wandering "swaggie" (handyman), disenchanted aboriginal youths, local politicians, and elderly pedophiles--while also immersing us in life in the life of a small Australian town.

This book won a prestigious British award for best crime fiction, and Temple's next book Truth, which features some of the same characters as The Broken Shore, won the Miles Franklin Award in 2010, the first time a crime writer has won an award of this caliber anywhere in the world.

Highly recommended even if you think you don't like crime novels.

4 stars

25. Inferno by Henri Barbusse

(From March)

A man finds a hole in the wall separating his room in a boarding house from his neighbor's. He begins to obsessively spy on various inhabitants as they occupy the room, and ponders the differences between the way we act in private (our real selves?), and the way we act in public or with others. This is an introspective and intellectual book. It did not captivate my mind in a visceral way, and sometimes moved slowly and required will power on my part to finish reading.

I read Barbusse's Under Fire, a novel about life in the trenches in WW I not long ago, and it touched me in a deep way, and was beautifully written. Although this is more philosophical (or perhaps because this IS philosophical) I did not like it nearly as much as Under Fire. Both books are on the 1001 list.

Very pleased to see ABW back!
Even more pleased to see the positive news about your husband's treatment. xx

That is great news about your hubby's treatment Deborah. And I'm glad your absence from LT is due to a lot of fun stuff going on in your life.

HI Deborah - I'm happy to hear your husband's treatment is going well. Both the Ginzberg and Mizumura books sound interesting. I'm going to look for them.

>81 arubabookwoman: I ended up giving away about 700 books
Woah!
That is some cull! Are you OK?

>87 PaulCranswick: ABW! Love that. And it only took me a few seconds to figure out the code....no one ever accused me of being quick-witted.

You've been busy! Glad your husband is doing so well Brief reviews are great, and it's good to catch up with your reading.

That is excellent news, regarding your husband's treatment!

Paul, Bonnie, and Beth--Thanks so much for visiting, and thanks for the good wishes on my husband's recovery. I'm happy to know that I have some readers on this thread.

Megan--Believe me it was very difficult to give away so many books. I kept pointing out to my husband how stoic I was being and that he really owes me--like maybe no comments on the next 700 books I buy. :)

Rebecca--Thanks for coming over from your busy Club Read thread. I don't know how you keep up in multiple groups. I'll probably cross-post on my thread in Club Read soon, and I wish I could become more active on Reading Globally again.

Pyush--We cross-posted. Thank you for the good wishes.

>93 arubabookwoman: I've starred the threads I want to follow, so I can follow them no matter what group they're in!

Wonderful reviews and most enjoyable. Even better yet is your lovely and informative post at >81 arubabookwoman:. Wow! I was quite exhausted reading it all! Welcome back! No pressure here, I just love having you around.

So happy to hear the new meds are making such a difference for your husband!!

Hi Deborah. I'm so glad that your husband is responding well to the new drug. And I fully support your new approach to "reviews." Just write what you want to remember.

Keep taking good care ----

Your assessment of Brin matches that of my spousal unit exactly! I have sort of avoided them for that reason.

I read the Ginzberg long long ago....

Several people here whose threads I visit only write a line or two, real thumbnails, and I like them! I occasionally do shorties myself - esp if a book has a million reviews.... I mostly try to write a decent one if a book has either reviews I disagree with or next to none!

So glad that your husband is doing well.

>93 arubabookwoman: I'll always be a reader and a visitor here, Deborah.....100 posts up!

Welcome back, Deborah! Big smiles at hearing G is doing well. I'm glad the drug finally got approved and is so effective.

I can't even imagine culling 700 books. In my household that would be grounds for divorce! What did you do with them all? I hope you traded them in and have lots of book bucks to spend now. :-)

Hoping you are well and having a wonderful long weekend.

Thank you for the good wishes Marianne, Suzi and Ellen. Lucy--I have read at least one other book by Brin, Earth, but that was eons ago.

Paul--Thanks for the business--I'm zooming right along here.

Actually Lisa, I donated them to Friends of the Library. Selling them to Half Price Books always annoys me because they pay so little for them. As for 700 books, about 4 or 5 years ago I gave away about 1200, but those were ones I knew I would probably not miss. This time I forced myself to give away books that in a perfect world I would have kept.

My reading since last here:

44.Life by Keith Richards

This book has gotten a lot of positive response here on LT. It is well written and highly readable. Here are my personal reactions to it:

First, it evoked a lot of memories for me. I lived in London in 1967-69 when London was the center of the universe for a teenager. So I feel like I was "there" during the height of the Stones, the Beatles, and other British groups. It really was a magical time, and I get really nostalgic thinking about it (which is why I can't listen to too many Stones or Beatles songs in a row). While I'd never want to go back to that period in my life, sometimes I wish I knew what I know now while living those times.

Second, I wanted to like Keith, and he does have a lot of good traits. But in many ways he was thoroughly dislikeable. He instigated a lot of fights (physical I mean), saying he sees a "red mist" and then can't stop himself. He also can act like a prima donna--for example, he ordered a shepherd's pie once before a show. When it was delivered, some of the crew members ate it. Although he never eats before a show, he threw a hissy fit and wouldn't go on until he received another shepherd's pie, which he put a knife in, without eating any of it.

Third, the children. He has 4. He says the rock and roll life style is not conducive for raising kids, which I think is true. Then why did he have them? The mother of his first two children was a totally unstable drug addict. He parked his daughter with his mother for her to raise. His son Marlon went on tour with Stones from about the age of 5 or 6. It was Marlon's responsibility to wake Keith up when it was time to go on, since he was the only one who could do so without being ranted at. He had two other daughters later in life while in a stable relationship, so I would assume they have had a more conventional life.

Fourth, the drugs. He took everything, and barrels of it. I don't know how he functioned with all the drugs in his body (and all the Jack Daniels), but apparently he did. He had many car crashes, including some with his kids in the car. Luckily there were no serious injuries. The only thing that concerned him was the heroin, which he tried to kick several times before he was ultimately successful.

The best thing about the book is the music. Just the mention of the songs and I hear them in my head. More fascinating is Keith's description of the songwriting process. Most songs were written by him and Mick. On some songs Keith contributed more, on others Mick did. Many of the songs began by them pulling a first line out of the air, or by something extraneous that they saw or heard. Keith's thoughts on the guitar are also fascinating. He describes his use of a different tuning (Open G with only 5 strings instead of 6), and explains that this tuning is how he gets his special sound.

As I said, I wanted to like Keith, but ultimately I didn't. However, the book is a unique look at the lifestyle and music of the times, and I recommend it.

3 1/2 stars

45. The Martian by Andy Weir

I nearly gave up on this one at the beginning. An astronaut gets stranded on Mars, and he immediately starts making (mathematical) calculations about how long he will have enough to eat on 3/4 rations, and then about growing potatoes, since there are 12 potatoes there, but how does he get dirt to grow the potatoes, wait--he'll use Martian dirt, and mix it with his poop and set all this up inside of the small habitat he occupies. It felt like I was hearing about a 9th grade science project.

But it did improve, and became a compelling adventure and survival story. Problems large and small present themselves, and the astronaut devises clever ways to solve them, including the use of duct tape as used by the Apollo 13 crew. The author tells the story well, although nothing sparkles about the language which is sometimes rather corny.

I became so involved in the story that I read it in one night, and part of the next day, even though I don't usually read during the daytime.

3 1/2 stars

46. Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson

This is a pretty rotten book. There is a swarm of aliens surrounding the earth, and 7 years before they sent some to Earth in the guise of humans to kill all the scientists who were aware of their existence. Now they've decided to track down and kill any surviving scientists, and any families of both the dead scientists and the still living scientists. The protagonist is the teenage daughter of one of the scientists who had been killed 7 years before, although I don't think the book is aimed at the YA market.

The book is basically a chase and shoot-em-up tale. The humans are on the run and the aliens are close behind. Occasionally, a human shoots an alien (they have yucky green goo inside).

I've often liked books by Robert Charles Wilson, and was very disappointed in this.

Interesting set of reviews. I think I'll take a pass on anything in outer space. Very intrigued by the Keith Richards memoir. Lots written about it here on LT. One of the better reviews I've seen. Heading off to bestow my thumb right now.

ETA: no place for a thumb! Will have to give you one here instead.

I'm glad you gave them to the Friends of the Library. I'm sure they will be able to find good readers for them. When I do cull books (a handful at a time), I donate them to the Friends too.

When I think about Keith Richard's book, I remember the day it came out because I had gone to Third Place Books to browse and read, and instead of their usual classical music, they were playing loud rock. I finally asked them what was going on, and they said it was in honor of the book coming out. I didn't even recognize the music! ;-)

Dr. Neutron approved the science in The Martian, so if it sounded like a science project, at least it was a good one! I'll probably pick it up when it comes out in mass market pb.

>107 labfs39: Dr. Neutron approved the science in The Martian

Ooo, can we make stickers? "DrN approved"! :)

And T-shirts! ;-)

Hi Deborah - We're reading Life for my book club this month, and it sounds like one of the members is having some of the same reactions you did. I haven't started it yet. When I heard him interviewed for this book, I was amazed at how coherent he sounded -- he's lucky to be alive after all the drugs he's taken, much less be able to converse intelligently.

>103 arubabookwoman: Deborah your impressions of Life were similar to mine although I think I marked it slightly higher. The creative process details were fascinating and I think he damages himself a little in the skits about Mick.

Have a lovely weekend.

be able to converse intelligently

Although, of course, it is ghostwritten...

Hi Deborah, although aliens and drug-addicts are not to my taste, I'm so glad you're back. Given the reviews you've written already, I wonder if you're serious about your comments earlier ("I'm going to try just to write a few descriptive words about the books I've read within a couple of days of when I finish the book. Some may develop into longer reviews, and some may just be 2 words"). Really ? :-)

What a whirlwind you've been living in for the past few months! I do hope that things are settling down, that you've moved back into your house, that your husband continues to flourish, and that you get back to the business of reading and reviewing.

Hello there Deborah -- nice review of "Life". Hope all's well there with you.

Be back to answer all, after I write about a few books:

48. Someone Else by Tonino Benacquista

This is one of those quirky European character studies I like so much. In this one, two strangers are randomly paired for a tennis game at their club. Their hard-fought game is described in detail, if you like tennis. If not, bear with it. After the game over more than a few drinks the two men, both approaching middle-age, confess their dissatisfaction with their lives, and their regrets at how different from their youthful dreams their lives have turned out. A challenge is proposed: they agree to meet in three years to see who has been able to change his life the most--who succeeds in making himself "someone else."

The two part, and do not meet again for most of the book. The stories of their lives over the next three years are told in alternating chapters. One of the men takes logical and planned steps to change his life; the other merely drifts along. Will they remember their plan to meet in three years? Which one will have changed the most?

The reader is taken along on a most enjoyable journey to discover the answers to these questions.

3 1/2 stars

I'm currently reading two books--my "downstairs" (or day) book, and my "upstairs" (or night) book. The night book is the one I read on my Kindle in the dark after my husband has gone to sleep. I tend to get more reading done on my upstairs/night book. Right now, that book is The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker. This book has received rave reviews from France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany etc., as well as winning some prestigious literary prizes. I'm about 3/4 this 600+ page tome, and not sure what to think of it.

The plot involves the disappearance of a 15 year old girl in 1975. The girl had been having an affair with 34 year old writer Harry Quebert. 33 years later her body is discovered buried on Quebert's New England beachfront home, and he is arrested for murder. Quebert's friend, student, and fellow-writer, Marcus Goldman wants to prove Quebert's innocence.

First, we have Dicker, a Swiss/French writer (who admittedly spent summers in New England) setting his novel in America and peopling it with American characters. The novel is also primarily set against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential election. I'm puzzled by the author's intent regarding his characters. Many of the females in the small town are portrayed (almost to the extent of parody) as social-climbing snobs, constantly trying to be "chic" enough for Harry. Their husbands are all thoroughly hen-pecked (to the point of being almost verbally abused by their wives). And Marcus's mother is the quintessential Jewish mother carried to the nth degree. It's unclear to me whether the author intends these people to be real--or if they are just intended to be caricatures in a satire or a parody.

Then we have the "romance" between the 15 year old Nola and the 34 year old Harry. Her side: "I love him. He's a famous author. He's so wonderful. I love dancing in the rain. I want to run away with him. He's a famous writer. I can take care of him. And I like dancing in the rain on the beach." etc. etc. His side, "I love her. I adore her. She's beautiful. I can't live without her. But it's criminal. She's 15. I love her. You can't do this--she's 15." etc. etc. There truly is nothing in the way the characters are developed to explain the sudden infatuation--especially that of the supposedly intelligent 34 year old man. (Who ultimately comes up with a plan for them to run away to Canada, where she will complete high school--she's just finished 9th grade.)

Nevertheless, the book is keeping me reading and reading, and I'm not sure why. I'm just going with the flow, while in the back of my mind wondering if I'm missing something, or whether the whole thing is meant as a joke. We shall see.

The downstairs book I'm reading is The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney by Henry Handel Richardson. This is a 19th century Australian classic. It's big, with lots of characters, and most of all it conveys a sense of what it was like to live in Australia, while still thinking of Great Britain as "home." Richard Mahoney came to Australia voluntarily at the height of the gold rush north of Melbourne. When he failed to make his fortune in gold, he returned to his original profession of doctor. The book tells the ups and downs of his life, but it is also as much the story of his wife, Polly, and her extended family, and the characters they come in contact with. There is an extended episode in the middle of the book when Richard believes himself entirely fed up with Australia, and returns to England with Polly. Their stay in England is a study of contrasts with life in Australia. This is a lovely book.

Great reviews - I loved the bio of Richards - thought he was very candid, didn't hide any warts, and it never occurred to me (which might be a bit weird) that I needed to end up liking him! Yoicks. He would never be invited to be a guest at my wishful dinner table..... What energy and determination though. And an iron constitution! And talent.

I'm giving The Martian to the spousal unit on Pop's Day - we mostly give each other piles of books and I will avoid the Wilson - I've read one The Chronoliths and like it very much. This sounds like an idea that ran away with him, so to speak.

I have the Richardson somewhere and haven't read it yet..... Or did I read it? Oh dear!

Last fall was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, and a plethora of books considering the tragedy were published. I bought several, and read three of them earlier this spring.

The Kennedy Half Century by Larry J. Sabato, JFK and the Unspeakable by James W. Douglass, and The Man Who Killed Kennedy by Roger Stone.

I was never a conspiracy-theorist, but as more and more secret evils the US government has perpetrated become known, the more inclined I am to believe that we do not have the whole story of the Kennedy assassination. For the most part, these three books relate much of the same evidence (and there is a lot) indicating that there is reason to believe that Oswald did not act alone. The Sabato book is more cautious in the conclusions it draws, and does debunk, or at least question, some of the witnesses the other two books accept at face value.

All three books agree that the Warren Commission was rushed and deeply flawed. LBJ began pushing for a quick conclusion to the investigation almost immediately after the assassination, and at the onset of the hearings made it clear that the commission had to find that Oswald acted alone. There may have been good reason for this--there was some justified fear that if there was any reason to believe that if Cuba, the USSR, or Communists were believed to be involved in any way, some trigger-happy generals would gladly resort to nuclear weapons in revenge. Nevertheless, the consensus of the books is that most of the problems created by the Warren Commission's sloppiness cannot at this late date be corrected.

The Douglass and Stone books both conclude that the CIA was deeply implicated in the assassination, and Stone goes one step further and lays the blame primarily on LBJ. As noted, all three books present ample evidence that Oswald did not act alone, although Sabato cautions that the evidence is not conclusive--merely that it exists and is left unexplained by the Warren Commission. The other two books accept the conclusion that Oswald did not act alone, and may have been a pawn. Both present credible evidence that JFK was about to make some major policy shifts that deeply disturbed the CIA, the Generals, and many conservatives. JFK intended to withdraw from Vietnam. He was also involved in some behind the scenes détente negotiations with Khrushchev, and was beginning plans for nuclear disarmament. While I can accept that these assertions may be true, I have a hard time making the leap from disagreeing with his policies to assassinating him. In the case of the Stone book, which concludes that LBJ was behind the assassination based on the fact that LBJ was under investigation by the Department of Justice and was about to be indicted for numerous felonies, the leap of faith required is even greater. Even with someone as brutally ambitious as LBJ, I have a hard time making the leap from motive to act.

I found all three books to be enlightening and I'm glad I read them Last year I read Oswald by Norman Mailer, which concludes, through an in depth examination of the Oswald's life, that he acted alone. On the other hand Family of Secrets by Russ Baker definitely comes down on the conspiracy theory side.

Also, late last year I read Dallas, 1963 by Bill Minutaglio which is a more general examination of the state and psyche of the US, and particularly the south and Dallas, in the months before the assassination. It is chilling how similar some of the things coming out of the mouths of the tea-baggers and the likes of Rick Perry echo what was going on in 1963.

Marianne, Lisa, Beth, Paul, and Lucy--re Life. Based on things I'd read and heard before, I had no doubt going into the book that Keith was extremely intelligent. I also think it's been generally reported, whether accurately or not, that Keith's input in terms of the writing of Life was significantly greater than might be expected with a celeb. bio. Certainly, his "voice" in the book is personal and unique, and felt very authentic to me.

And I guess I wanted to like Keith because: 1. He's intelligent; 2. He's talented; 3. He likes to read; and 4. Like George was "my" Beatle, Keith was "my" Stone.

Paul--my 3 1/2 star rating means very good to me (B+/A-). So our ratings are probably very similar. Re Keith's snipes at Mick--most of the time Mick seemed to deserve it. :)

Dr. N--I'm glad The Martian has the science seal of approval. I liked the adventure and ingenuity of the book, and I liked the science part--I was just worried in the beginning that that was all it was going to be.

Monica--glad to seeing you back too. Looking forward to reading The Quincunx soon.

Peggie--Thanks for dropping by. Things are settling down in life, but we still don't have our house back. Even when all the workers are out, it's going to take weeks to find things and put the house back together. They have to be out by the end of the month, because my oldest son has rented a house on the Jersey shore over the 4th of July week, and we will be visiting there then for a get together with our three boys, their SO's, and of course the star attraction, the Grand, Teddy.

By the way, I'm silently joining in the read of The Raj Quartet. Actually, it's my third (or 4th?) reread, and it gets better each time. So far I've only covered The Jewel in the Crown this time--hope to start The Day of the Scorpion soon.

I was going to mention above re the JFK books that it is a cliché that everyone of a certain age remembers exactly where they were when they heard the news. It was Friday afternoon, and about 3 p.m. in Aruba when I heard. My school had PE Fridays after school at the bowling alley across the parking lot from the high school. The PE teacher was sitting at the bar listening to the radio while we bowled (no drinking beer--that's just where the seating area was). He heard it on the radio, somberly told us the news, and dismissed us to go home. The only news we could get about it was on shortwave radio (VOA or BBC), but they were often difficult to tune in. Newspapers were flown in a few times a week, and we got Friday, Saturday and Sunday's papers on Monday afternoon. That was the first time we could get very much information about what had actually happened. I was 13, and I still have my diaries from then, and they are full of my feelings about that horrible tragedy.

Very interesting about the JFK books. I've never read up about any of the theories although I've certainly heard plenty and I appreciate your talking about the comparative content and theories of the books you read.

I read The Raj Quartet 30 years ago and loved it; I've been afraid to read it again for fear I might night not like them, so it's good to know that you think they've gotten better every time!

Interesting set of reviews about the Kennedy assassination. I think you are right to question that disagreeing about policy on behalf of the CIA or potential motive on behalf of LBJ translates to actual action. There are so many books out there on the Kennedy assassination -- it's daunting to try to pick one or two out of the crowd. Thanks for taking all these on and giving us a solid review!

Deborah, I am all caught up with you. I'm glad your husband is doing better and that you've had opportunities to travel and keep up with your children and grandchildren. About those 700 books…I feel your pain. I have been thinking about downsizing my home library in anticipation of moving to a smaller house someday. I have been buying more books for the Kindle which seems the perfect solution to holding onto books yet not taking up space. Of course, I will keep the books I fully intend to read someday along with my favorite books from past years.

I like reading your reviews whether they are in depth or on the short side. I have been curious about the Harry Quebert book and look forward to your final opinion. I hope your house renovation is done soon so you can spread out and get your remaining books organized. Enjoy the upcoming summer months…and don't ever think about quitting LT!!!

Thank you from me also for your in-depth review of the books you have read on the Kennedy assassination. It is amazing, isn't it, to know how hard it can be to figure out 'what really happened'.

Stopping by to say hello. I've been off LT most of the summer, but had to stop in and check out your thread before I do much else. Glad everyone is doing well. Hope your visit to the East Coast was Teddy-licious. Thanks as always for sharing your thoughts on your reading!

Checking in to say hello, Deborah, and to wish you a wonderful rest of the summer.

Stopping by and waving hi.

Hello Deborah! Happy thanksgiving my dear and I hope we see you soon.

Thinking of you Deborah. Hope all's well there!

Thanks all for visiting my mainly inactive thread this year. I hope I'll do better next year. I did do a fair amount of reading this year (see my first few threads above which are pretty current). I've been kept away recently by some travel and some health issues. I spent a couple of weeks in Houston in October visiting Boden and Madeleine and attending the International Quilt Festival. We were then gone most of the month of November with 4 days in London then a couple of weeks in France on a riverboat cruise of the Seine from the Normandy beaches to Paris. The beaches were very moving--D-Day was a simply amazing accomplishment. I was also thrilled, given my interest in textiles, to be able to see the Bayeux Tapestry, a 200+ foot long embroidery from the 11th century telling the story of the Norman Conquest. (My husband called it the first graphic novel--although I suppose it's a history rather than fiction--maybe the medieval Gone With the Wind). I was also thrilled to visit several medieval cathedrals, since my art history group had just completed our study of the Gothic period. Saint Chapelle in Paris was absolutely stunning--one of the art wonders of the world in my view. We also visited the town where van Gogh spent the last few months of his life and is buried. It was so interested to see the sights there, then view van Gogh's paintings of those things, many of which were at the Musee D'Orsay in Paris.
We came back to spend Thanksgiving in NY with our three sons, daughter-in-law and grandson Teddy. We managed a visit to the Strand Bookstore on Black Friday, but only to the children's department to replenish Teddy's library.

My doctor of thirty years retired last summer, and I found a new doctor to whom I reiterated my complaint of feeling tired all the time, which he took seriously. I had a heart stress test in October, which showed a potential blockage, which led to an angiogram. Fortunately, the angiogram showed I have "pristine" cardiac arteries, and my heart is totally healthy, so I won't be dying of cardiac disease. The new doctor also found I had high calcium in my blood, and after some tests it was determined that I had a tumor on my parathyroid gland. These are almost always benign, but do cause the types of symptoms I have been having. I had the surgery to remove the gland on Monday. I don't know if I've got all my energy back yet, but my appetite is back--I've been gorging on macaroni and cheese and Hagen Daaz Dulce de Leche ice cream. I'm quite hopeful of getting back to normal soon.

My husband continues to do very well, but he wants to travel more. So in January we are going to San Francisco to visit daughter Mia, and will spend a few days in Monterrey too. Then in February we are going back to Houston. In March, we are planning a trip to Hawaii, but that is not settled yet. Then in May, we are taking a cruise of the British Isles--we will go to Guernsey, the Scilly Islands, Cornwall, Wales, some of the Hebrides and other Scottish Islands, including St. Kilda's. We'll spend some time in NY again on our way back from that trip.

So far in December, I've read: The Prisoner's Dilemma by Richard Powers, The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi, and The Last Brother by Natacha Appanah

The Prisoner's Dilemma by Richard Powers

Richard Powers is one of my favorite contemporary (hmm--should I limit this further with the modifiers "male" "American"?) authors, and Prisoner's Dilemma, his second novel, was one of only two of his novels I haven't yet read. (The other is his first novel, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance.

I read a fascinating interview with him in Paris Review, Winter 2002-3 (will add link) which describes Powers as writing "stereoscopic" novels, which I agree is a good description. His novels often include the themes of art, music, medicine, science, artificial intelligence. His latest novel is Orfeo, which I read earlier this year, and admit to being somewhat disappointed with. It involves an avant garde composer who in his retirement is dabbling in his home laboratory with genetic modification. When he comes to the attention of Homeland Security as a potential terrorist, he goes underground. One of the concerns I had with the book was the description of the music. I was a music major in college, and have retained some familiarity with the technical aspects of music, but I found some of the terminology and descriptions too esoteric. However, I have read many reviewers who enjoyed the book. The Time of Our Singing, is an earlier novel of his dealing with music (in this case juxtaposed with the theme of racism, rather than terrorism, and I liked that one immensely. My favorite novels by Powers are The Goldbug Variations, Operation Wandering Soul and Galatea 2.2.

Back to The Prisoner's Dilemma--in which a Midwestern family falls apart. There are 4 adult children, visiting their parents due to the unnamed illness of their father, who has for years suffered from mysterious symptoms, resulting in multiple job losses (he is a history teacher), but who refuses to see a doctor. Various chapters are narrated by each of the children, and by the mother, depicting the difficult family relationships over the years. All of this is done with wit and black humor. The father's relationship with his children is one in which he engages with them in logic and philosophical puzzles, and these puzzles prominently feature in each of the children's narratives, including the eponymous "prisoner's dilemma."

Interspersed with the family narrative is a portrayal of life in the US during WW II, and particularly of the uses of propaganda, focused around Walt Disney. At first, I thought these sections of the novel were factual, but it eventually became apparent that much of this story is the product of Powers's imagination. But what an imagination!--in the narrative, Disney is part Japanese, and hugely affected by the mass incarceration of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. Disney therefore devised a scheme, approved at the highest levels of government, for the release of a vast number of the internees (a number of whom had been "creatives" at Disney Studios) to produce a propaganda film on a scale until then unknown. Ultimately, the whole propaganda film aspect of the novel is tied into the father's story.

I would recommend this novel if it sounds like a subject you'd be interested in. I don't rank it with his best, because to a certain extent I found some of his characterizations of the children a bit too "cutesy" (always ready with the witty reply), but overall very moving, and I learned a lot from it.

One other interesting note from the Paris Review article, this quote:

"Contemporary humanity has lost the ability to engage in productive solitude."

This thought arose when Powers was discussing the inspiration for his book Plowing in the Dark, which deals with virtual reality. Powers said he was struck when Terry Waite, released after a 5 year captivity in Beirut was asked what was the main thing he learned after being shut away for 5 years. The quote above was Waite's response.

I love my "productive solitude."

The Waiting Years by Enchi Fumiko is a quiet Japanese novel written in the 1950s, but set around the turn of the 20th century, I believe. Tomo, wife of a well-to-do government official, has reached the ripe old age of 30, and has been instructed by her husband to purchase a concubine for him. The novel is an interesting study of the family dynamics, as the concubine settles into the family, and then over the years, when Tomo must find another, younger concubine for her husband. It is written in a style, which I find present in many Japanese novels, but have difficulty in describing, that is formal and which seems to distance the reader from the emotions of the characters. Or perhaps it is that the characters themselves distance themselves from the emotions, and act strictly according to the rules of the society in which they find themselves. In any event, I enjoyed this novel, and would read other books by this author.

3 1/2 stars

>133 arubabookwoman: Hmm, I haven't read that one. I read Gold Bug Variations some years ago and loved it; everything else so far has paled in comparison (to that book, or perhaps to my memory). Incidentally, your touchstone goes to the wrong author.

Another Richard Powers fan: http://www.librarything.com/topic/174851#4927436 .

Qebo--the Gold Bug Variations is my favorite book by Powers as well. I also really liked Operation Wandering Soul and The Time of Our Singing and Galatea 2.2. For some reason, I haven't liked his more recent novels as much. No question in my mind, though, that he is brilliant.

I'll just copy and paste some of my comments on some of my other reading this year (which I've put in the comments section in my library).

Eyrie by Time Winton

Tom Keely, a disgraced environmentalist, lives in a rundown apartment building in Freemantle, Australia (suburb of Perth). When the novel opens, he is jobless, short of cash, and popping bills. Then he runs into neighbor Gemma and her grandson Kai. Gemma lived in Tom's neighborhood when they were growing up, and often escaped to Tom's family's home from the abusive situations she faced in her own home. Now, years later, she insinuates herself and her problems (daughter in jail, thugs threatening her) into Tom's (not so very stable) life again. Tom is particularly engaged with 6 year old Kai, partly because his own marriage had recently dissolved partly over issues relating to whether to have children. Kai is a puzzle, and seems to have visions, including of his own death by fall/leap from the balcony of the top floor apartments in which Tom and Gemma live, so the reader is often quite on the edge dreading tragedy.

I like the way Winton writes. An example of his prose, describing the patrons of his neighborhood coffee shop ("yummy mummies. Uber-matrons"):

"Late morning they ran in packs, descending upon the quarter to circle their wagons and colonize entire cafes for cistern-sized lattes and teensy-cutesy babycinos."

The sense of place he creates is palpable, and all the characters are well-developed, alive and breathing. Yet the plot never seemed to coalesce for me. There seemed to be more build-up than action, and the ending is quite abrupt.

I read this about the same time I read Narrow Road to the Deep North by fellow Australian Richard Flanagan, which was a 5 star read for me, so perhaps my rating of this book suffers in comparison. Eyrie is good enough, I'm glad I read it, but it didn't live up to its internal hype.

Kapitoil by Teddy Wayne

Brilliant computer whiz Karim is brought from Qatar to NYC in the fall of 1999 to deal with the potential Y2K problem at a Schwab-like brokerage firm. In his spare time, he writes a code/program that predicts moves in the oil futures market. When this is brought to the attention of the higher-ups he receives permission to trade using the program, and is soon making barrels of money for the company. The book is a humorous look at corporate greed, and at the clash of cultures, as Karim attempts to obey the strictures of his culture and religion while enjoying life as a young Wall Street entrepreneur during the boom years.

This was a pleasant read, and insofar as I could tell, Karim's voice (the novel is written in the form of Karim's journal entries) feels authentic. However, I tend not to read fiction about a country or culture written by an author not of that background for the very reason that I feel that I'm not a good judge of whether what the author conveys about a culture is 'real' or not. As far as I can tell, Kapitoil's author is an American born and bred, non-Muslim Harvard grad. (One of the Amazon reviewers states that the author worked for a few years editing essays written by foreign students so he had an opportunity to study their way of thinking and/or expressing themselves.) However, I can't help but be a bit suspicious, although I suppose it is also possible to read the book as a look into the mind of any socially inept computer nerd navigating the complexities of contemporary human relationships.

There were just a couple of small plot points that struck me as not credible, but with those caveats I enjoyed the book

Island in the Sea of Time by S. M. Stirling
I really liked the concept of this time travel book--the whole island of Nantucket and all the people on it is transported back to the bronze age. They have to relearn how to grow their own food, make their own tool, live without electricity, phones, etc. And I really liked how well the characters are developed, especially the Coast Guard captain and the druid girl she marries. But by the end, it became clear where this series is going--war. The book became the story of martial encounters with various stone age tribes and cultures--weapons, military strategies, medicine etc. And that appears to be what goes on in the rest of the series. In this one, the tribes were in Great Britain. I think the next one involves somewhere in Latin America. How interesting it might have been if the series would explore doing history differently, i.e. no wars! (As I write this Obama is about to go on TV and is expected to declare war on ISIS, as if that's going to solve any problems

Shelley's Heart by Charles McCarry

Excellent political thriller, all the more interesting because it was written well before the infamous Gore v. Bush debacle. It is inauguration day and the loser in the presidential election presents conclusive evidence that the election was stolen to the president-elect, who nevertheless goes through with the swearing in. Thus begins a constitutional crisis and labyrinthine political intrigue, involving all three branches of government, as well as the CIA. As good as House of Cards in its way.

The Great Mortality by John Kelly

The Black Plague was called the Great Mortality by Medieval Europeans, and this history of the plague is jam-packed with information and with quotations from and references to such diverse contemporaneous sources as property records and The Decameron and Journal of the Plague Year. Generally the history is presented chronologically, which is also geographically, as the plague seemed to have descended on a place, devastated it, and then moved on. "In a century when nothing moved faster than the fastest horse, The Black Plague had circumnavigated Europe in a little less than four years."

"Few events in history have evoked such extremes of human behavior...the horrendous brutality of the Flagellants...and the sweet selflessness of the sisters of Hotel-Dieu.the fearfulness of Pope clement VI, who fled Avignon....and the fearlessness of his chief physician."

My complaint about the book is that it frequently and I felt jarringly anthropromorphized the plague: the plague "slithered", "crept", "devoured", "stopped to admire the piles of waste and refuge", "killed with ferocity, as if killing was the only happiness it knew."

Accidental duplicate post.

Pompeii by Robert Harris

This is historical fiction about life in and around the Roman city of Pompeii, and its destruction by the volcanic eruption. The actual plot is somewhat lurid and silly (love story between daughter of evil aristocrat and "working class" guy), but what saved the book was the extensive information about Rome's aqueduct system--how it was built, how it moved the water (i.e. calculations were made as to the slope it needed from the source to the destination in fractions of inches), how the water was allocated and how it was stored and used. Worth reading for that part alone.

The Fishermen by Hans Kirk

This is the best-selling Danish book of all time (according to the forward). It is the story of a small group of pious fishermen and their families who uproot themselves from the wild and dangerous open coast of the North Sea to a village on a fjord, with safer fishing grounds. It is a "collective novel" (like Heinessen's Windswept Dawn), in which a group microcosm rather than an individual main character is the focus. In this book, we follow the lives of these insular fishermen as they try to maintain their religion and style of living, yet incorporate themselves into their new town and fishing grounds. Highly recommended.

The Tax Inspector by Peter Carey

I've read several Peter Carey books, but the only one I've loved is The True History of the Kelly Gang. There is nothing particularly wrong with this book, but it just didn't grab me. It's the story of the well-beyond quirky Catchprice family, and it wavers between comedy and tragedy, and seems not to know where to settle.

The family business, a decrepit car dealership, is on the brink of financial ruin when a tax inspector shows up to audit its books. She is a Greek-Australian woman, unmarried and hugely pregnant with her married former lover's baby. She must contend with this oddball family, beginning with matriarch grannie, who carries sticks of dynamite in her handbag and is usually off in lala land. (And who also apparently anonymously informed the tax authorities that there were some financial irregularities at the business.) Her daughter and son-in-law are in charge of the day-to-day running of the business, but are more interested in pursuing their dream of becoming country music stars. As the audit begins they are about to embark on a tour with their band. One of the grandsons has fled the toxic atmosphere of the family to join the Hare Krishnas. The other, 16 year old Bennie, is thought to be "simple", but he harbors plans to become a top salesman and to make the dealership the most successful in the world. He grew up believing the story that he had been shot in the head as an infant by his mother, who then ran away leaving him to be raised by his authoritarian father. Underneath it all, Bennie is also a dangerous psychopath.
With all this going on, you would think that even though the book is ostensibly about a tax audit, there is plenty going on. And there is, but none of it interested me, and I was glad when it ended (no spoiler to say "with a bang.")

Fury by Salman Rushdie

Professor Malik Solanka has left his wife and child, and is residing purposelessly in NYC. An extremely successful media personality/intellectual, he found himself one night standing over their sleeping bodies with a knife, and so filled with fury that he feared he would kill them. Now they are safely behind him in London, and he is trying to "find himself."

Rushdie writes beautifully, of course, and eruditely and wittily and....so on. But this theme of the middle-age male crisis is no longer one I care to indulge in, so I found myself skimming a lot. I've been considering reading Joseph Anton, and have Shame on my shelf, and I wondering whether these will be more like his earlier work, or more like Fury.

Another issue I had with the book was its unending references to popculture ephemera. The book was written in 2000 (and set then), and although that is the not-so-distant past, I couldn't remember many of the things referred to. (Coincidentally, I was reading this while Boden was visiting, and during the visit we watched the Disney Robin Hood movie. Rushdie does a long riff on this movie, which Malik's son watches, featuring, "a singing C & W rooster, cheap rip-offs of Baloo and Ka from the Jungle Book, unadulterated American accents all over Sherwood Forest, and the frequently uttered, if previously unknown, Disney Olde Englishe cry of 'Oo-de-lally'!"

Quotes: "The film would of course use anthropomorphic animals to represent human originals.....The golden age of Florence...Simonetta Vespussy, the most beautiful cat in the world, being immortalized by that young hound Barkicelli. The Birth of Feline Venus. The Rite of Pussy Spring! Meanwhile Amerigo Vespussy, that old sea lion, her uncle, sails off to discover America! Savona-Roland the Rat Monk ignites the Bonfire of the Vanities! And at the heart of all, a mouse. Not just any old Mickey, though; this is the mouse that invented realpolitik....Mousiavelli...."

"America, because of its omnipotence, is full of fear; it fears the fury of the world, and renames it envy...." (written before 9/11).

Dominion by C.J. Sansom

This is a novel of alternate history in which Churchill lost to the appeasers, and Lord Halifax made peace with the Nazis in 1940. It is now 1952, and England is a Nazi puppet, although the war goes on between the Soviets and Germany. The author subtlely sets the background of a Nazified Britain, with Jews wearing the Star of David on their sleeves, and everyone afraid to speak out.
David Fitzgerald, a timid civil servant, joins the Resistance, led by Churchill who remains in hiding. Because of his connection with a scientist, David becomes involved in an action to smuggle the scientist out of the country to keep his "secret" out of the hands of the Nazis. Thus, apart from the alternate history aspect of this novel, it is a straight forward spy thriller: one side (the Resistance) has, in the person of the scientist, something ("a football")and is trying to get the "football" to the US for use against the Nazis. The Nazis, on the other hand, want to keep the "football" from getting to the other side.
And that was my main problem with this book: the "football" was in fact something the good guys already had and didn't need. Through all the machinations to get the "football" out of England, I had a hard time forgetting the particular "football" both sides were after was illogical.
The other thing that didn't ring true to me in this book was the love complication between David and a beautiful Polish spy. Based on David's character, and his marriage, this aspect of the novel didn't ring true, although I suppose every spy thriller needs a love affair with a beautiful woman to move it along.

Despite those problems the book held my interest, and kept me turning the pages. The book is worth the read simply for the details and atmosphere it creates of what a Nazi Britain would be like

The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson

Ambrose Zephyr who is married to Zappora Ashkenazi, is told he has one month to live. He decides to spend it traveling, travel inspired by the alphabet, beginning with Amsterdam, moving to Berlin, and so forth. Will Ambrose and Zipper make it to Z (Zanzibar)?
This short book is tersely written, fable-like, and there is very little plot. It begins and ends with the sentence, "This story is unlikely," and indeed it is. It is a quick read, but not especially emotionally-engaging, which is surprising given the subject matter. There are no major problems with the book, but it seemed to have been written more as an exercise for the author, than as a communication with the reader. But it is also filled with gems like this:

"It is just a story. Life goes on. Death goes on. Love goes on. It is all as simple as that. Years from now, even you will return. Perhaps as the ocher that colors an artist's brush. Or a kindly stray cat in a small park in London. And you will love the birds you chase."

Lots of interesting books recently. Definitely some I want to put on my library list.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Chiming in to day that although I haven't posted much here, I've enjoyed following your reading this year and am happy that you've rejoined us this fall after a bit of a break up there. Happiest of Holidays and wishing you all the best for the new year!

Merry Christmas, Deborah! I look forward to reading more of your great reviews in 2015. Have a nice time in San Francisco next month. Are you planning to visit City Lights?

I'll check back later to read your most recent reviews in detail.

It was so nice to meet you this year, Deborah! I've especially enjoyed your thoughtful and articulate book reviews. Looking forward to more in the upcoming year! Happy travels -- Love that itinerary!

Have a safe and Happy New Year!