What are you reading the week of January 12, 2019?

I'm almost finished with Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization. Next I'm planning to read The First Day on the Eastern Front.

I have to shift myself into high hear and get my review of Our Man in Havana in hand.

Your usual frothy bagatelle reading, eh Fred?

I'm reading and enjoying Miss Mapp, the second (or third depending on whose list you go by) novel in E.F. Benson's droll Mapp and Lucia series, dating back to the 1920s.

I'm continuing The Expanse series with Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey and it's awesome.

I've also been sprinkling in a poem from Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón here and there. I don't typically read a lot of poetry, but I'm fascinated by her poems so far.

I haven't had much time to read the last few days, so I'm just getting into Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist, but I already admire it and understand why so many people have recommended it to me.

Cowboy Charm School (The Haywire Brides)
Margaret Brownley
3/5 stars
Kate Denver is about to be married to long time beau Frank when Texas Ranger Brett Tucker storms the wedding to arrest Frank. Unfortunately, it is all a mistake. Frank is no criminal but it sets into motion in Kate’s mind about whether she and Frank should get married and it doesn’t help that the handsome Brett Tucker is hanging around the town looking for the real criminal Frank Foster. Typical romance novel but sweet.

Still reading The Wall, In This House of Brede, and The Neutronium Alchemist.

>5 mollygrace:

The Miniaturist is also one of my favorites, if you like the era I suggest you seek out Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggah.

>8 aussieh: Thank you for the recommendation. This is supposed to be my year for reducing the size of my library, and I'm working on that, but it doesn't help much when I keep buying books at the usual rate. Still, your suggestion will go on the wish list.

I stayed up until nearly 5:00 this morning so that I could finish reading Stephen King's The Stand, the complete and uncut edition. It was a work of art, this book, a modern masterpiece. I have not enough good things to say about it.

Next up is Becoming by Michelle Obama, which I'm looking forward to greatly.

Finished Dear Hamilton which wasn't bad, interesting speculation about Elizas life. Too much forecasting, too much repetition make for lots of eye rolls. Things get better and go faster in the second part of the book

I have an embarrasment of riches, between Christmas and birthday gift and upcoming book group reads: The Door Becoming, Leadership in Turbulent Times Every Heart a Doorway, The Sun and other stars, plus reread Circe for February. The Pasulka has me intrigued, as does Szabo as does Becoming. I've juggled three reads before, ets see if I can to it again..

Working on a bunch of things:
Everything Here is Beautiful by Mina T. Lee;
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You Shes Sorry by Fredrik Backman;
Becoming by Michelle Obama; and
The Witch Elm by Tana French

Two Little Girls in Blue – Mary Higgins Clark
Book on CD narrated by Jan Maxwell.
3***

Three-year-old identical twins Kathy and Kelly are kidnapped while their parents are out for the evening, the babysitter left gagged and unconscious. An excessive ransom is demanded of this young, middle-class couple, and Steve’s employer agrees to put up the $8 million ransom as a gesture of goodwill (and to temper the bad press of some dicey business dealings). But things do not go as planned.

This is a fast-paced thriller with a building sense of suspense. The reader is always in on the crime, knowing the identity of the kidnappers and even the “secretive” Pied Piper long before the characters catch on. But the changing points of view, keeps the novel moving forward and helps maintain that sense of suspense.

My main problem with this book is how the twins are portrayed. I get that they have a sort of “twin telepathy” but I think Clark takes this to extremes. Also, their speech (although stated as advanced) seems just too complicated in both grammar and vocabulary for their age and experience.

Still it kept me interested and entertained, and certainly meets the standards of the genre.

Jan Maxwell does a fine job narrating the audiobook, though I did read the last half in text version. She sets a good pace and has sufficient skill as a voice artist to differentiate the many characters. I particularly liked the way she voiced Angie/Mona …. Really brought out her psychopathology.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius – Dave Eggers
Digital audio read by Dion Graham
1*

Water the Flowers!

I had heard about this memoir when it first came out and had it on my TBR ever since. I was intrigued by a book written by a young man who took on the responsibility for raising his much younger brother after both their parents died within a few weeks of one another. I expected some tragic, emotionally charged scenes and some sense of enlightenment or inspiration. I read another book by Eggers and really enjoyed it, so when the audio finally came in from the library, I was pleased to finally get to this on our long drive to Texas.

It’s clear that Eggers is intelligent. Obviously, the circumstances that resulted in his guardianship of his baby brother were tragic, and every older sibling’s nightmare. I should have read the reviews by Goodreads members before I decided to finally read / listen to the book.

I found Eggers self-absorbed, immature, irresponsible and totally lacking in any insight. I really pity his little brother who might have been better off raised by wolves.

The most entertaining part of the book is the forward/preface/acknowledgments/copyright notice … which on the audiobook are read at the very end. Had this come first, I might have gone into the book expecting something more on the lines of satire, and (while satire is not my favorite genre) had different expectations and a different take on the work. But I went into it expecting a memoir of a tragic and difficult time in a young man’s life, and some reflection / insight / growth in character as a result. Too bad for me. Well, the preface, etc gets him one star.

Dion Graham does a reasonably good job reading the audiobook. Not his fault that the F bomb is used so often or that the writer gives us a manic narrative. (Not helped by my decision to listen at double speed to get through the 13 hours faster.)

now reading -

firestorm by Iris Johansen. thriller, ho hum, I was hoping for more about the dog. : |

and just started
women of the silk Gail Tsukiyama. hist fic, China 1920s.

I've posted my review of Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene. Sixty years old, still feels modern in its story if not its details.

>14 BookConcierge: I like his writing but I am with you on this book. I did not care for it.

The Exile by Pearl S. Buck

I've just started reading To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood, about a woman who threw two of her three children off a bridge in the middle of the night. I hope this book will give me some understanding, but right now, it's just making me angry.

I was gifted a copy of The Power recently, and although I didn’t intend to start it, I got sucked in. Not at all what I was expecting.

>20 Copperskye: I got an ARC of that book a couple years ago and I still haven't cracked it. Looking forward to your thoughts, Joanne.

I finished and enjoyed Miss Mapp, the second novel in E. F. Benson's 1920s series of dry, wonderful comedies about life among the middle class in small village England.

Next for me will be a pair of novellas by Argentine writer César Aira, published together by New Directions: The Little Buddhist Monk & The Proof.

Enjoying this Kindle/Audible combo ~

True Places by Sonja Yoerg

(a girl named Iris and a woman named Suzanne cross paths in a remote forest area/a typical suburban family ~ an atypical parentless child/healing and hope themes)

Finished In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden. Read it first 30-odd years ago and liked it. This time around . . . meh.

Next into the mix is Circe by Madeline Miller.

Someone wrote a book about her? I have no words - hope shes not getting any money for it.

>14 BookConcierge: Wow. I haven't ever listened to the audiobook, but I bought the hardcover of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius when it first came out--a hardcover!--and thought it was utterly brilliant, so smart and funny and clever that I couldn't read another book for a few months!

I've been in & out of reading for the past month or so. Almost finished with The Year of Living Danishly, which if even possible, makes it more depressing to live in this country in this moment in time.

I've read two novels so far.

1) Yoko Tawada : The Last Children of Tokyo
2) Philip K. Dick : Ubik

Both good books that kept me turning the page but nothing that'll leave a lasting impression by the end of the year.

About halfway through The Star Thrower. If I could write a thousandth as well as Eiseley, I would think I'd died and gone to heaven. This book is rich and intoxicating. Unfortunately, I can only take it in small doses. What a remarkable man he must have been.

For those of you interested in personal-development books.

I recently finished reading The Magic of Thinking Big by David Scwhartz, a incredible book that made me believe more in myself and what I can achieve just by developing a different mindset. Right now I'm reading Healthy On The Inside Out by Linda Luoma, a book for you who wants to change your life, become more optimistic and get a different perspective on life. So far really great and I’ve had some really valuable insights.
Two amazing books which I highly recommend to anyone wanting to transform their mind.

I finished the LTER book, Tacoma Stories. A group of people in a bar are the characters in this collection of stories. I enjoyed many of the stories although some seemed far fetched. My one problem with the book was that I often lost track of who was who.

>30 snash: I'm still reading that one, (Tacoma Stories) bit by bit, and I'm not loving it. I almost gave up at the goat story, and I think that was only the second one. I'll just have to wait and see what I think about it overall.

Finishing up Becoming which I’m loving. Next up either Colm Toibin’s Good, Bad, Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Yeats and Joyce; or Nina Stibbe’s An Almost Perfect Christmas.

Also reading The Girl Who Heard Dragons, a volume of short stories by Anne Mccaffrey, long a favorite author.

Over the weekend I reread {Break in and {Bolt by the incomparable Dick Francis. Have also recently been reading and rereading a fair amount of Isaac Asimov, always a delight. Well, almost always. Not altogether sure I want to finish Nightfall, a novel Asimov co-wrote with Robert Silverburg. The concluding section promises to be rather grim.

Jell-O Girls: A Family History
Allie Rowbottom
4/5 stars
Jell-O was invented prior to 1899 and Rowbottom’s great-great-great uncle bought the patent and manufactured it. The book details her family’s lives living in privilege and how the so called “Jell-O” curse affected their lives. The book also details the history of Jell-O over the years and touches on the story of a group of girls from LeRoy, New York, who came down with a Tourette-like syndrome which was blamed on the manufacture of the product in the area. Interesting!

Finished The Wall by John Lanchester. Intimate, well written story.

I finished The Miniaturist which I really enjoyed.

Tessa Hadley's new book, Late in the Day, arrived this afternoon, so I think I'll read it next.

I finished and reviewed Coming Through: Three Novellas by CanLit monadnock David Helwig. Wonderful.

I just finished Why Religion A Personal Story by Elaine Pagels.
It is an intellectually engaging, emotionally gripping memoir of loss, grief and religion. I want to reread it again soon.

I seem to be on a kick of reading memoirs of loss and grief. I started Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala. Deraniyagala was vacationing in Sri Lanka when it was struck by a tsunami on December 26, 2004. Sonali was swept away but, amazingly, survived. Her parents, husband, and two children did not. I am not very far along but I cannot imagine how she deals with such loss.

Love Elaine Pagels work, haven't read that one yet.

I finished Severance yesterday, a dystopian I quite enjoyed but felt it didn't go as far as it could have gone with the social commentary, and then immediately started The Book of Essie which is another page-turner that I can't wait to see what is going to happen!

>38 jwrudn:, >39 cindydavid4: I have read quite a few of Elaine Pagels' books over the years and always learned from them and been impressed with her knowledge and insight -- particularly her Beyond Belief. I read Why Religion: A Personal Story recently and admired it very much.

>32 NarratorLady: I thoroughly enjoyed Toibin's Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know -- I've learned to expect the best from him and this book is no exception.

I continue to read Tessa Hadley's Late in the Day which is quite good. I should finish it today. Next up: Elaine Dundy's Elvis and Gladys.

Finished Circe by Madeline Miller. Good read but over hyped.

Next up is The Book of Swords edited by Gardner Dozois.

Finished The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs
Novel about Alexander and Elizabeth Hamilton. I'd read the relatively new biography Eliza Hamilton: the Extraordinary Life and Times of Alexander Hamilton by Tilar J. Mazzeo from the library before reading the novel.

Next up: With this Pledge by Tamera Alexander
The novel follows events started in Christmas at Carnton novella.

>43 princessgarnet: What did you think of the two books? I had some issues with both, but found parts in each that were quite good.

Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell
Digital audio read by Rebecca Lowman
3.5***

Cath and Wren are identical twins who are trying to establish their own identifies as freshmen in college. Cath, in particular, is obsessed with a fantasy series starring a young wizard, Simon Snow, and she’s been writing fan fiction for several years, getting thousands of hits with her stories. The novel follows the sisters, but primarily Cath, through their tumultuous first year away from home … with many ups and downs, tragedies, triumphs, love and despair.

Oh, the teenage angst of young adulthood! Been there, done that … don’t want to relive it. And yet, I found myself really engaged in this story. There were times when I thought Rowell had thrown too many wrenches into the mix. There’s enough to deal with just having the twins trying to find their own separate identities. Do we really need all the complications? Still, Rowell kept the story moving forward, and gave us a heroine to root for.

I really liked Cath, and she seemed a very believable college freshman. She struggled to find herself at school, including the self-enforced separation from her twin. She tried to rely on (hide behind) her “work” as a premier writer of Simon Snow fanfiction. She managed to maintain her integrity though flummoxed by her professor’s – and her writing partner’s – comments and criticisms. She found love, without falling headlong into sexual activity (YAY!). She seemed truly intent on doing the right thing, the important thing, even if it meant setting her own goals aside. Of course, some of that was fear of success, of moving on, of growing up. But hey, it’s a YA novel.

Rebecca Lowman does a credible job of reading the audiobook. It was sometimes confusing trying to figure out who was speaking, because she doesn’t use distinctive voices for Wren, Cath and Reagan. But I didn’t really have much difficulty.

Delicious!– Ruth Reichl
Digital audiobook performed by Julia Whelan
3.5*** rounded up

Adapted from the book jacket: Billie Breslin has left her California home for New York City and a job at Delicious!, an iconic food magazine. She feels like a fish out of water and writes long letters to her older sister, Genie. But she is welcomed by the colorful staff, and seduced by the vibrant food scene. In the magazine’s library Billie uncovers a secret cache of letters written during WW2. She feels a powerful connection to the girl who wrote those letters, and they help Billie come to terms with her own fears and anxieties.

My reactions
I’ve read several of Reichl’s memoirs and really enjoyed them. Now she’s taken a turn at writing a novel.

This is part romance, part coming-of-age, part mystery. I enjoyed the story and was caught up in the intrigue, but it didn’t bake quite long enough. Though she’s the central characters, Billie seemed a little under-developed; perhaps Reichl was trying too hard to make her interesting. I really liked Sal, Rosie and Mitch, and grew to appreciate Sammy. I loved the letters from the 12-year-old Lulu during WW2, and that part of the story really drew me in. However, Reichl really shines when she is writing about food. I can practically taste the cheeses, smell the spices, and feel the warmth of steam rising from a simmering pot.

All-in-all, I found it enjoyable and entertaining. A great beach read. (And since that’s where I was reading it, I’ll round up to 4 stars.)

The audiobook is narrated by the wonderful Julia Whelan. She is a very talented voice artist and I particularly loved the voices she used for Sal and Lulu. I found her Sammy a bit much, but that really a small quibble.

The new thread is up over here.

I finished Things Fall Apart. It's the first book of a trilogy told from the Nigerian point of view about tribal life and customs and their disruption by colonialism, religious and political. Very well done.