August, 2017--The sun also rises on a long, hot summer...

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August, 2017--The sun also rises on a long, hot summer...

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1CliffBurns
Aug 2, 2017, 12:28 pm

Just finished another book on walking, Geoff Nicholson's THE LOST ART OF WALKING.

An enjoyable read, Nicholson an agreeable and charming companion as he takes us on walks around Los Angles, New York, London...and reminisces about a life spent putting one foot ahead of the other.

Recommended.

2anna_in_pdx
Aug 2, 2017, 12:55 pm

Ha ha, thanks for the post title Cliff. That sounds like a neat book. Is it a collection of essays?

3CliffBurns
Aug 2, 2017, 2:42 pm

No, more like a walking memoir. And there are cool anecdotes, like about this guy, "Mudman", a performance artist who covers himself with mud and walks around Los Angeles (and he's been doing it since the 1970s, if I'm not mistaken).

A good read, definitely worth a look.

Inter-library loan?

4BookConcierge
Aug 7, 2017, 5:14 pm

Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener – M.C. Beaton
Digital audiobook narrated by Penelope Keith
3***

Third in the series starring 50-something Agatha Raisin, former PR executive who is trying to make a life in the village of Carsley, in the English Cottswolds. As the novel opens, she has just returned from a long holiday, and is determined to win the affections of her neighbor James Lacey. But in her absence, he has developed a relationship with newcomer and avid gardener Mary Fortune. So Agatha determines to become an expert horticulturalist … or at least give the appearance of one, in hopes of winning back James’ affection. It’s clear to all that the women are competing for James’ affection – and then Mary is found murdered.

This series is growing on me, as I get to know Agatha better. She’s a smart woman in business (apparently), but she is woefully bad at relationships. Seems she cannot make friends and/or keep them, other than the detective Billy Wong and – perhaps – James. It takes a long time to get to the murder (pg 82 out of 192 pages in my edition) with all the relationship drama, but once Agatha discovers the body, her curiosity keeps her nosing about.

All in all it’s a satisfying cozy mystery, and I’ll keep reading the series.

Penelope Keith does a great job performing the audio book. I really like how she brings Agatha, James and the other residents of Carsley to life.

5BookConcierge
Aug 7, 2017, 5:21 pm

When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
Digital audiobook narrated by Sunil Malhotra and Cassandra Campbell
4****

Paul Kalanithi was in his mid-thirties, about to finish his training as a neurosurgeon when he was diagnosed with an aggressive lung cancer. This is his memoir.

Kalanithi certainly writes eloquently about his experiences, both as a physician, dealing with some heart-breaking cases, and as a patient facing his own devastating diagnosis. The forward by Abraham Verghesse gives some additional insight, and an afterward by Paul’s wife finishes the story of how this came to be published. I was interested and moved by his story.

It’s a good book… perhaps even a great book. I’m glad he and his wife shared this story with the world, but perhaps my expectations were too high, given all the accolades and the number of people telling me I MUST read this book. It just didn’t rise to the 5-star level for me.

The audiobook is narrated primarily by Sunil Malhotra (for the forward and the memoir written by Kalanithi himself), and Cassandra Campbell (reading Lily’s afterward). Very well done audio.

6Limelite
Edited: Aug 7, 2017, 8:19 pm

For all the summer walking aficianados, what about reading Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods in your tent at dusk while you hike the Appalachian Trail?

My favorite relatively recent read about a summer hike is The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

Of course, no reader can get through Jane Austen's most famous novels without being fond of participating in long walks and rambles, regardless of the season or weather. Perfect for a couch potato like me!

7CliffBurns
Aug 8, 2017, 1:19 pm

Just finished another book relating to walking (starting to see a theme here?).

This one is Matthew Beaumont's NIGHTWALKING: A NOCTURNAL HISTORY.

Fascinating and informative book on those people, great and small, who loved perambulating around London in the wee hours.

Good social history, engagingly written.

8RobertDay
Aug 8, 2017, 4:37 pm

As I was feeling a distinct lack of Banks in my life, I've started on The Crow Road.

9CliffBurns
Aug 8, 2017, 6:36 pm

Good man...

10CliffBurns
Aug 11, 2017, 10:19 am

Laughed my way through Spike Milligan's first novel, PUCKOON.

Hilarious view of the Irish, every page has at least one line or observation that's laugh out loud funny.

11CliffBurns
Aug 13, 2017, 8:07 pm

I kind of lost interest in Springsteen about fifteen years ago--before that I was quite a fan.

But there are people like Steve Earle (his "Jerusalem" album is nothing short of magnificent) who really do leave Springsteen in the shade when it comes to poetic instinct, passion and ideology.

Still enjoy occasionally dipping into Bruce's early stuff--"Born to Run" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town"--but think we parted ways, aesthetically at least, a long time ago.

12Sandydog1
Aug 13, 2017, 11:28 pm

>10 CliffBurns:

Nabbed it for my TBR list, Cliff.

13CliffBurns
Aug 13, 2017, 11:32 pm

You will laugh like a loon.

14anna_in_pdx
Aug 14, 2017, 11:26 am

Reading On the Rez per a recommendation from a friend on LT. It's great! Highly recommend.

15CliffBurns
Aug 14, 2017, 11:39 am

#17--I've read some of Frazier's work and enjoyed it immensely. If I recall, he did one on Russia that was particularly good...

16mejix
Aug 14, 2017, 7:29 pm

>14 anna_in_pdx: Oh yeah, I know the feeling. I used to be a huge Caetano Veloso fan but we kind of parted ways a while back. Thanks for the Steve Earle recommendation. Will definitely look him up.

17justifiedsinner
Aug 15, 2017, 9:40 am

>14 anna_in_pdx: >19 CliffBurns: If you like Earle you might want to check out his mentor Townes Van Zandt, Townes buddy Guy Clark is also worth a notice.

18CliffBurns
Aug 15, 2017, 10:22 am

Got 'em both in my collection. Guy Clark, in particular, is one of those songsmiths that never got his due (I have a pal who considers him a hillbilly Shakespeare). Steve Young is another one that comes to mind.

But, Townes, yeah, he's in a category by himself.

"Tecumseh Valley" is my favorite Townes song and Steve Earle does a great version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmrd5cXcbTU

19CliffBurns
Aug 15, 2017, 4:58 pm

Finished a collection of short prose (each tale only a page or two long) by Jim Heynen.

Originally published by Graywolf Press, THE MAN WHO KEPT CIGARS IS HIS CAP is rather mundane and bloodless, its cumulative effect almost inconsequential.

I shall add this to the pile of books to be weeded...

20Jargoneer
Aug 16, 2017, 6:44 am

Where is this long hot summer people do speak of?

>14 anna_in_pdx: - completely agree about Springsteen. The early albums still repay listening but he jumped the shark with Born in the USA, it has an over-processed sound, too many of the songs sound constructed to be radio fodder and it contains shockingly bad Dancing in the Dark. I do have a soft spot for Tunnel of Love, divorce always seems to inspire songwriters, but after that his albums tend to contain a few good songs and much filler, they aren't so much bad as boring most of the time.
I like Steve Earle but he is also one of those artists who sometimes get in the way of their own songs.
What I find strange about Townes Van Zandt is that he was effectively finished as a songwriter by the age 30, in the last 25 years of his life he recorded two albums of original songs, neither of which match his best but innumerable versions of the classic songs, either re-recorded or live.

21mejix
Aug 16, 2017, 10:16 am

>20 Jargoneer: Thanks for the recs!
>21 mejix: That was a beautifully written song. The lyrics are interesting on their own.

22justifiedsinner
Aug 16, 2017, 10:26 am

>21 mejix: Indeed. I also like Nanci Griffith's version of Tecumseh as well. My favorite Townes' covers are by Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, their version of Pancho and Lefty beats all the others.

23Jargoneer
Aug 16, 2017, 10:55 am

>25 Limelite: - Now those are good choices. Been listening to the Gillian Welch Boots 1 album recently, and noticed that Dave Rawlings has a new album out now (half the songs are co-writes with Welch who also plays and sings on it)
Ah, Nanci. There was a time I would willingly have become Nanci's 17th husband purely on the basis of The Last of the True Believers album. With a voice like that just hearing her say 'Good Morning' would make the day better.

24CliffBurns
Aug 16, 2017, 10:06 pm

Finished GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS by Max Porter.

I dunno. This is supposed to be a meditation on grief and yet I found it tepid, bloodless and utterly lacking in terms of emotional impact.

Give this one a miss...

25Limelite
Aug 17, 2017, 1:52 pm

Reads for a hot month. . .or, in praise of idleness.

Dunno how it is that I seem to fall into books by accident -- like a dying star falls into a black hole -- and disappear into one so wholly that it's hard to claw my way up and back into reality. But I do.

This time I just idly clicked on a little something I'd put on my Kindle quite a while back, Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space by Lisa Randall. She's a theoretical physicist and my current favorite science writer. Her first book, Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions, like this one, is eminently readable, the material so simply and clearly presented that it must be universally comprehensible by all who attempt it.

So, now I'm being bathed in all things Higgsian from particle to field to mechanics of endowing mass to how to navigate the mysteries of LHC collisions. Wonderful!

26BookConcierge
Aug 17, 2017, 10:11 pm

Kitchens of the Great Midwest – J Ryan Stradal
Audiobook narrated by Amy Ryan and Michael Stuhlbarg
3.5***

From the book jacket: Midwestern chef Lars Thorvald has three loves in his life: his kitchen; his wife, Cynthia; and his newborn daughter, Eva. He devotes his life to sharing his passions with his only child, starting with pureed pork shoulder. Eva is blessed with a once-in-a-generation palate, and ultimately becomes the mysterious chef behind the most sought-after dinner reservation in the country.

My reactions:
A debut novel that shows the writer’s promise. The story is told in roughly chronological order, but each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character. Each of these characters has some connection to Eva, though sometimes the connection is barely mentioned within that chapter. Still, through all these characters we get to know Eva: resilient, talented, intelligent, private, loyal to her friends, a nurturer, and amazingly well-grounded despite her somewhat chaotic upbringing. All these different storylines converge in the final chapter: The Dinner, in which Eva uses her creative cooking to share the story of her life.

I look forward to Stradal’s next work.

I listened to the audiobook, which was capably performed by Amy Ryan (voicing the female narrators’ chapters) and Michael Stuhlbarg (voicing the male characters’ chapters). This certainly helped this listener feel a little less disoriented with the shifting perspectives. However, while I’d rate their performance on audio at 4****, I think this style of storytelling is best enjoyed in a text format.

27BookConcierge
Aug 17, 2017, 10:17 pm

Half Broke Horses – Jeannette Walls
Audiobook read by the author.
4****

In what she calls a “true life novel,” Walls turns her attention to her maternal grandmother: Lily Casey Smith. Not having the specifics of dialogue and thought, Walls felt it was not appropriate to call this nonfiction, yet it truly is her grandmother’s story.

Walls is a wonderful storyteller; she really brings Lily and all the other characters to life. And what a life!

Lily survived floods, a tornado, the Great Depression, financial losses, and the pain of personal tragedy. Yet she remained strong and steadfast in her goals. And she was fearless. Still in her teens, she left her home and rode her pony alone some five hundred miles to teach in a one-room school house in a frontier town. She learned to drive a car and fly a plane. She would not tolerate prejudice of any kind, and fought for her rights. She was not afraid to get her hands dirty or to tackle difficult tasks; she rolled her sleeves up and set to work.

The author also does a fine job of putting the reader into this time and place. I could practically smell the horses, and feel the dust on my skin. I had a very clear picture in my head of this landscape, thanks to Walls’ skill.

Walls narrated the audio book herself, and she does a marvelous job.

28CliffBurns
Aug 18, 2017, 10:23 pm

Polished off two books in the past few days:

ADOLF HITLER: MY PART IN HIS DOWNFALL (Spike Milligan)
BARREN COVE (Ariel S. Winter)

The first is volume one of Spike's memoirs of serving as an artillery grunt in World War II. Funny and irreverent, as you'd expect.

The latter is an interesting SF novel, positing a future where humans have almost died out, but human-like robots continue their former masters' legacy of hate, jealousy and murder.

29CliffBurns
Aug 19, 2017, 8:30 pm

Today I added Vonnegut's MOTHER NIGHT to my monthly tally.

Haven't read Vonnegut for years, so it was fun to revisit the ol' curmudgeon.

Could one possible theme of this book be "we're only traitors if we betray ourselves"?

There's a pretty decent movie adaptation of this novel as well, starring Nick Nolte...

30CliffBurns
Aug 20, 2017, 9:16 pm

Finished THE LOST AMAZON, a photographic tribute to the Amazonian travels of ethno-botanist Richard Evans Schultes.

Compiled and edited by one of my heroes, Wade Davis. Schultes was his mentor.

Gorgeous volume.

31drmamm
Aug 21, 2017, 7:40 pm

Just downloaded The Alchemist. I guess I will see what all the fuss is about!

32BookConcierge
Aug 23, 2017, 10:36 pm

Groot – Jeff Loveness (illustrated by Brian Kesinger)
2**

Hmmm. Really don’t know what to say about this graphic novel / comics collection starring a talking tree with limited vocabulary, and a perpetually irritated Rocket Raccoon.

Clearly I’m not the target audience, but I think I see the appeal. The illustrations are colorful and advance the action. I particularly like how Kesinger gives Groot so many emotions in the illustrations. On the other hand, I was quickly bored by the repetitive “I am Groot” with Rocket or other characters supplying the rest of the dialogue. Reminded me a little of those comedy sketches Bob Newhart was so good at, where you hear only one side of the conversation, but clearly understand the other half.

Oh well, it satisfied a challenge and took my mind off my troubles for an hour.

33BookConcierge
Aug 23, 2017, 10:45 pm

Lucky Man – Michael J Fox
Audiobook narrated by the author.
4****

Michael J Fox was barely thirty years old when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. At the height of his career, and with a young family, he kept that diagnosis a very closely guarded secret. But in 1998, seven years after his diagnosis, he publicly revealed that he had Parkinson’s, retired from his hit television show, Spin City, and began a new career as a spokesperson for research into Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders.

This is his memoir in which he explains “The ten years since my diagnosis have been the best ten years of my life, and I consider myself a lucky man.”

He is honest and forthright in describing his childhood, early career, missteps, alcohol abuse, successes, and failures. He’s also funny and self-deprecating at times. I was interested and engaged in his story. Not your typical celebrity memoir.

Fox narrates the audio version of the book himself, which really gives the listener a feeling of hearing his story person-to-person. However, the audio is an abridged version of the book. I had the text available and read it as well as listening to portions of the audio.

34BookConcierge
Aug 27, 2017, 9:54 am

Don’t You Cry– Mary Kubica
Digital audiobook performed by Kate Rudd
2.5**

Quinn is a bad roommate; she’s frequently late with her share of the rent, she doesn’t respect her roommate’s privacy, and she’s messy and disorganized. But when her roommate Esther disappears out of the fire escape of their Chicago apartment, Quinn is certain something very wrong has happened. She investigates (- okay, snoops), and what she finds shocks and puzzles her. Meanwhile, in a small town some 70 miles away, in Michigan’s Harbor Country, Alex notices a strange woman in the diner where he works and quickly develops a major crush on her.

Kubica uses these two narrators, telling seemingly different stories in alternating chapters. In this way the reader gets clues that Alex and Quinn (who don’t interact) do not have. Additionally, Kubica occasionally includes the text of a “letter” (or is it a diary entry), supposedly written by Esther. I’m assuming Kubica felt this technique would build tension and suspense, but it didn’t quite work for me.

I think part of the problem is that both Alex and Quinn are somewhat broken people, with difficult pasts (and presents). This makes them unreliable narrators, especially Quinn. I didn’t really care about them, and I didn’t get a good sense about the missing Esther, other than Quinn’s repeated “Esther would never do that!”

The two stories finally intersect in the last few chapters, and the tension increases. The final reveal is both cliched and strains credulity. And that last sentence is just plain lame.

Kate Rudd does a fine job performing the audio. She’s a talented voice artist, and it’s too back she didn’t have better material to work with.

35BookConcierge
Edited: Aug 27, 2017, 10:02 am

The Dud Avocado – Elaine Dundy
2**

The book jacket promises “the romantic and comedic adventures of a young American who heads overseas to conquer Paris in the last 1950s. (Other authors) wrote about the American girl abroad, but it was Dundy’s Sally Jay Gorce who told us what she was really thinking. Charming, sexy, and hilarious…”

That’ll teach me to believe a book jacket or publisher’s blurb.

In fairness, I think the whole concept would be considered romantic and comedic in the late 1950s (originally published in 1958). But I don’t think it really translates well today, when readers have been entertained by Sex and the City and the reality TV (and internet) escapades of Paris Hilton and the Kardashians. It’s not bold enough, or shocking enough, or entertaining enough.

Sally is an ingenue, and somewhat naïve, but she is full of life and eager to experience all of it. Bankrolled by a wealthy uncle, she has two years of freedom in Paris to do whatever she wants and she rushes headlong into whatever strikes her fancy – mistress to an Italian diplomat, acting in a play, posing for photographers, playing an extra in a movie, drinking champagne and dancing the flamenco. She seems never to have the right outfit for the occasion, but that doesn’t stop her. She stumbled from one mess to another, but manages always to land on her feet. She falls in love with one wrong man after another, but escapes unscathed (and apparently not learning her lesson very quickly, either).

There are some scenes where Dundy really captures my attention – the way she describes a perfect cocktail, or the guests at a dinner party, for example – but I was bored with most of it. Sally has no real purpose and I just didn’t care what happened to her or her “friends.”

36CliffBurns
Aug 28, 2017, 11:46 pm

Finished ZBIGNIEW HERBERT: COLLECTED POEMS 1956-1998.

A labor of love, stretching over several weeks.

Marvelous, dazzling, soul-expanding.

37CliffBurns
Edited: Aug 30, 2017, 5:16 pm

THE ART OF SPACE, a compilation of depictions of "the final frontier", featuring some of my favorite artists, like Chesley Bonestell and Chris Foss & H.R. Giger.

Space art books can be pricey but, thanks to Bookfinder.com, I found this one relatively cheap.

Lovely tome.

38BookConcierge
Aug 31, 2017, 9:24 am

Under This Unbroken Sky – Shandi Mitchell
5*****

From the book jacket: Spring 1938. After nearly two years in prison for the crime of stealing his own grain, Ukranian immigrant Teodor Mykolayenko is a free man. While he was gone, his wife, Maria, their five children, and his sister, Anna, struggled to survive on the harsh northern Canadian prairie, but now Teodor – a man who has overcome drought, starvation, and Stalin’s purges – is determined to make a better life for them. … But Anna’s husband, Stefan, unexpectedly returns, stirring up rancor and discord that will end in violence and tragedy.

My reactions:
This debut work just about broke my heart. Mitchell’s writing is luminous and poetic in places, making the landscape and weather central characters in the drama that unfolds. In the span of a year’s time, the novel touches on the immigrant experience, the injustice of prejudice against the newcomers, the harsh realities of prairie life during this time, domestic abuse, faith, loyalty, friendship, charity, pride, survival and forgiveness. If that seems like too much to handle, trust me, it isn’t; at least not in Mitchell’s capable hands.

Teodor embodies the immigrant ethic – hard work and steadfast movement toward a goal, championing a cause for the betterment of his family. But he also falls victim to his own faults: pride and anger. He is so caught in being justifiably outraged that he cannot see his way to compromise. And yet, he is a loving father, husband, brother and uncle.

Maria is a tower of strength, keeping her family together and carefully husbanding their meager resources to feed not only her own children, but her sister-in-law and her two children. Her work is no less difficult than Teodor’s back-breaking task of clearing the land for their homestead. She instills values of charity, love and faith in her family, and tries her best to do so for her niece and nephew.

The character that most distresses me is Petro, Anna and Stefan’s son. He tries so hard to emulate his older cousin and uncle, but is understandably most influenced by his father. He may be only nine when the novel ends, but I worry for his future.

This is a book, and an author, that deserves a wider audience.

39BookConcierge
Aug 31, 2017, 9:39 am

The Member of the Wedding – Carson McCullers
Digital audiobook performed by Jena Malone, Ruby Dee and Victor Mack (Recording of a live performance of LA Theatreworks)
4****

Twelve-year-old Frankie Adams is bored with life and longing for adventure, for a sense of belonging to something “bigger.” When her older brother comes home on leave from the Army, to marry his girlfriend Janice, she becomes obsessed with the wedding and what it may mean for her own future.

Carson McCullers has a way of writing her characters that draws the reader into their very souls. Frankie’s journey through this phase of adolescence is at once painfully distressing, funny and charming. I was, in turns, afraid for Frankie and amused by her. I was – with some wincing – reminded of my own foibles at this age. That headlong rush to “grow up” to be part of an adult world that I didn’t quite understand but SOOOoo wanted to join. That in-between age when I still enjoyed the games of childhood and younger cousins, but also wanted to be accepted by the older teens and included in their dances, parties and secret societies.

I listened to the audio which I got through my library’s Overdrive connection. It is wonderfully acted by Ruby Dee, Jena Malone and Victor Mack, however, it’s an audio of the PLAY, not of the novel. I immediately picked up the text of the novel and read it through in a day.