What are you reading the week of July 13, 2019?

Hi, I'm back. My parents lived in the same house for 57 years, and I swear they must have never thrown anything out. The tornado knocked out power to half of the house, and of course the half without power included the air conditioning system. As my father would have said, "Times are fun when you're having flies."

I actually did manage to do some reading while I was away. I finished up a couple of more Inspector Maigret novels, The Yellow Dog and Night at the Crossroads. I've started reading A Crime in Holland.

I am bouncing around between Terror In the Shadows Volume 3 which is an Early Reviewers book, Watercolor With Me In The Forest by Dana Fox which is a book that teaches painting techniques and you paint directly onto the pages (a lot of fun!), How I Know That The Dead Return by William S. Stead, and The Man Who Sank Titanic - The Troubled Life of Quartermaster Robert Hitchens by Sally Nillson and am listening to the audio version of Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

>1 fredbacon: Thanks for starting us up, and my sympathies for the loss of your parents.

I didn't have much reading time this week. I only read one book: 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall-Smith, which I enjoyed a great deal. I've taken the next in the series out of the library. McCall Smith is the perfect antidote to stress, in my opinion.

I'm now moving back and forth between two books: The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell, and Those People by Louise Candlish. Gaskell's book - - what to say? I'm a third of the way through and Miss Bronte has only been mentioned once in passing, but pages and pages have been devoted to the rough natures of Yorkshire folk, and to the scenery in that part of England. Interesting, but not what I was hoping for. It may improve!

Welcome back, Fred ~ you're welcome ~ I live in the Pioneer Valley of Mass./near the Connecticut border

Continuing to enjoying this library audiobook ~

The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory
(Plantagenet and Tudor Novels/mid 1500s/Elizabeth I/Robert and Amy Dudley)

I've gotten past the 3/4 mark of Georgia and State Rights, by Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, a mostly political history of Georgia from the Revolution up to (but not including) the Civil War, originally published in 1902.

Still reading Oliver Twist and Happy Doomsday.

Still reading The Economist for July 6-12. Also just started Darwin and the Mysterious Mr. X by Loren Eiseley.

>2 ILuvBookplates: Gift from the Sea is a lovely book. My ancient audio cassette edition is read by Claudette Colbert.

>4 Molly3028: That's where I live too. Howdy, Neighbor!

>9 Catreona:

Hi ~ it is sure a small world!
I also had that cassette version of GFTS.

>8 Catreona: My new digital audio version is also read by Claudette Colbert. They must have dusted off the old cassette.

So enjoying The Sheep Queen by Thomas Savage it is a reread and very hard to put down.

Patrick Leigh Fermoor: A Life in Letters

Earthly Paradise: Colette Autobiography from the Writings of a Lifetime

It was a total coincidence that I found these two at the same time in a bookstore!. I love this idea, of using the letters (in his case) and writing (in hers) to not only explore their lives but their work as well. I know less about Colette so I am eager to learn more (and have couple of her books coming my way)

I finished reading the marvelous short story collection, The Ebony Tower by John Fowles.

Next up to read is Leaving Tangier by Tahar Ben Jelloun.

<12 You can't improve on perfection.

I finished What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi. I enjoyed this collection of stories. Now I'm reading The Man Within My Head by Pico Iyer.

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
Casey Cep
5/5 stars
The trial of the murder of Reverend Willie Maxwell, who had taken out insurance policies on numerous family members with several ending up murdered, was the one story that Harper Lee could not resist. And so she returned to Alabama to attend the trial to take notes in an attempt to write a book about the crimes. Cep’s book flows so well that it was hard to put down and the information on Lee and the trial was fascinating.

I finished Georgia and State Rights by by Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, originally published in 1902 as Phillips' doctoral thesis at Columbia University. Ulrich, according to New Georgia Encyclopedia, went on to become "the first major historian of the South and of southern slavery." Writing from 50 to around 80 years after the Civil War, Ulrich during his career never moved off his view of slavery as "a relation characterized by 'propriety, proportion, and cooperation.' Through years of living together, Phillips maintained, blacks and whites developed a rapport not of equals but of dependent unequals. Though masters controlled the privileges that the slaves enjoyed, Phillips considered blacks 'by no means devoid of influence.' Phillips considered slavery to be a labor system 'shaped by mutual requirements, concessions, and understandings, producing reciprocal codes of conventional morality' and responsibility."*

At any rate, the history is an interesting tour through the attitudes about Southern history from the perspective of the South circa 1900. Subjects like the "removal" of the Creeks and Cherokees from Georgia territories, the internal party politics of the state are provided through the lens of the debate between states rights proponents and those hoping to maintain a stronger Federal U.S. government. Ulrich also makes it clear that the Civil War was fought over the issue of slavery. He shows that even the non-slaveholding, poorer Whites became convinced that the economic prosperity of the state, and so their own prosperity, depended on the continuation of slavery. While many/most of Ulrich's attitudes on these issues are unpalatable, the history provided here is interesting.

* https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ulrich-bonnell-...

I'm currently going through a round of my "between books." After that will be a recent book about the new York Yankees, The Baby Bombers: The Inside Story of the Next Yankees Dynasty by Bryan Hoch.

>15 hemlokgang: My first Master's thesis (for English) was on Fowles' short stories and the existentialism therein. I went on to do another Master's degree at another university in Medieval Studies - that thesis was on nomenclature in ninth and tenth Anglo-Saxon sermons that were based on earlier Medieval Latin sermons. All very fascinating, but not at all practical in the modern world.

Over the weekend I read extensively. I read the terribly tedious Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell - why is it so popular? I love Gaskell's fiction, particularly North and South, but this was nightmarishly long and dull dull dull.

I also read a thriller - I needed one after the Gaskell. It was Those People by Louise Candlish. It's not a patch on her previous book, Our House, but I enjoyed it for what it was, a light suspense novel.

Am now reading World War Z by Max Brooks. I'm liking it far more than I thought I would - it's done as an oral history and is clever.

Hero Of the Empire – Candice Millard
Audio book read by Simon Vance.
4****

Subtitle: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill

Millard writes an interesting and detailed biography of the young Winston Churchill. Long before he became the statesman who shepherded his nation through the darkest days of WW2, he was a young, somewhat rash man eager to make his mark in the world. Working as a journalist and war correspondent, he was captured during the Boer War. He connected with a couple of other prisoners of war and planned a daring escape. Churchill was the weakest member of the team and his comrades considered leaving him out of the escape, but he was the one who managed to get across the fence. Unfortunately, he had no idea what came next. His propensity to talk out of turn had resulted in his mates keeping the complete plans secret from the talkative Winston. Also, they had the maps and supplies that would sustain them on the hundreds of miles of dangerous and wild terrain. So there he was – facing miles of unfamiliar territory, and without food or water to sustain him. He did the only thing he could … he started going forward.

It’s a fascinating story and gives a somewhat different picture of the man most of us know only from his prominence during WW2. Yet, the reader gets a sense of the man he will become.

Simon Vance does a marvelous job narrating the audiobook. His pace is good and he has the skill as a voice artist to different the many male characters.

Finally finished last week's Economist and have started this week's. Along with Darwin and the Mysterious Mr. X, I'm also reading The Red Scrolls of Magic: The Eldest Curses, book 1 by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu.

I finished the collection of surreal and fanciful stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Strange Pilgrims. Each is about South Americans living or visiting in Europe.

I just finished The Electric Hotel which I wanted to like but didn’t . Currently working on Brooklyn, The Most Fun We Ever Had, The Stationery Shop and Three Things About Elsie.

Finished another round of "between books," as follows:

* “The Evolution of World Views” from The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View by Richard Tarnas
* “Richard Hell” from Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs
* Excerpt from Child of the Dark: The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus by Carolina Maria de Jesus from The Norton Book of Women's Lives edited by Phyllis Rose
* “Germany’s New Order” from The Secret History of the War, Volume 2 by Waverley Root
* “Stay With Us” from Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks
* "The Grace of the Lord Be With You" - Part Three, Chapter 20 of the novel The Apostle by Sholem Asch
* “The Illustrated Man” by Ray Bradbury from Esquire Magazine - 40th Anniversary Celebration edited by Don Erickson

As noted above, I'm now on to a recent book about the new York Yankees, The Baby Bombers: The Inside Story of the Next Yankees Dynasty by Bryan Hoch. This was a recent birthday present from my darling wife.

Enjoying this OverDrive eBook (Alexa can read this to me) ~

Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake by Sarah Graves

(Death by Chocolate Mystery, book #1/two friends in Maine open a bake shop)

Frustrated with Patrick L Fermoor, a life in letters. Way way too many letters about who he saw and who he had dinner with. Yes he met many people in his travels, but les of all this would have been good. I did enjoy the parts where he writes about his books, tho each of these letters starts out with 'oh forgive me I know this is so late, but I ha a nose bleed blah blah blah, im skimming most of it, focusing on what interests me - the books and travel

Loving Earthly Paradise, Im in the section where she talks about her mother, and her childhood. Far from boring or mundane, and yet very every day things she remembers, written in a descriptive style that I love.

Added Aftershocks by Marko Kloos to my reading rotation.

Born with Teeth
Kate Mulgrew
4/5 stars
This is the autobiography of Kate Mulgrew, actress, who grew up in Iowa in a very interesting family dynamic and who eventually got into acting. She started out in the soap opera Ryan’s Hope and the book ends with her starting in her new role as Captain Janeway in the show Star Trek: Voyager. She certainly led an interesting life and this is definitely a page turner.

Finished The Red Scrolls of Magic, which I enjoyed.

I just got back from Kansas so I've been reading Wizard and Glass by Stephen King.
A woman on the plane last night saw my book and told me the series is her favorite. We sat next to each other in silence for 3 hours but were able to discuss the series while waiting to get off the plane like old friends.

I just began reading Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout, which I received as a NetGalley ARC. I loved Olive Kitteridge and so far the sequel is starting off just as good.

Biting off big chunks of The Proud Tower because Tuchman's chapters are so lengthy and take time post-read to be digested. Also listening to Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy, a bucolic novel about a gossipy, tipsy village choir and a pair of young lovers. The novel reminds me of the TV series "The Vicar of Dibley."

> 32 browner56
I am interested to hear of this follow on novel, I so loved Olice Kitteridge, I shall follow this one up. I have to date read all of Elizabeth's novels and loved them all.

I finished listening to the very disappointing Knife.

Next up for listening is Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell.

>33 Limelite: Tuchman is one of my favorite non fiction writers, have read every book. Try also Guns of August, March of FollyThe First Salute. Oh she also wrote a book about 14th century France A Distant Mirror. Enjoy!

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

First Mistake by Sandie Jones

(England/suspense/involves a woman, her husband and her "best" friend/Brit narrator)

Finished with Protect the Prince by Jennifer Estep, #2 in the "Crown of Shards" series.
The excerpt for #3 installment Crush the King (releasing spring 2020) follows at the end of the novel.

Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios
Roy Milano
3/5 stars
I picked this book because it had some more information on the film The Creature From the Black Lagoon which I read about in The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara which was really interesting. This is a pretty short book about some of the first monsters in film history but it has some great photographs from the films plus some interesting facts about the actors and the monster films they were in.

Almost done with
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. Sci Fi. I like it!

>36 cindydavid4:

I'm her fan, too. I decided to read her WW I books (will proceed to "Guns" when I finish "Tower" because I found A Distant Mirror so vivid and memorable. Am enjoying "Tower" because as with "Mirror," Tuchman views history through the human lens rather than the event or institutional one. Consequently, I remember what her themes are and the events and institutions that she's describing.

A few other authors who do that (if you haven't already who do something similar tony horowitz (who unfortunately passed this last month) Stephen Ambrose, Joseph Ellis, Ron Chernow and
Rebecca Skloot. These are the ones I know of, suspect other folk would know

>42 cindydavid4:
I may be the only reader who found Skloot's "Immortal Life" seriously wanting on various fronts. Haven't read any Chernow bios probably because I'm not terribly curious about his subjects. Same goes for most presidential biographers.

None of that negative reaction applies to the writing of the late Mr. Horowitz's widow, however!

I started the Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead- very intense, very moving an so very very good

Finished Aftershocks by Marko Kloos. Enjoyed it. Pre-ordered the next book in the series.

Next into the reading rotation is Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty.

>43 Limelite: Geraldine Brooks does better in the non fiction realm, certainly tha in the fiction. Only novel I read that I liked was people of the book but even that was ruined by a Dan Brown over the top ending. Her non fiction tho is so on target and yeah, I'd put her in the same category as her husbaned.

Curious you had problems with the Lachs book; care to spell them out?

Just finish the Fermoor book A Life in Letters I have some problems with how much gossip and name dropping was included in the editing. That being said, what a wonderful self memoir of a very extraordinary life indeed. Afterwords, took down Broken Road the last third of his young journey that was put togethr posthumously from his letters and notes. Remember loving it when I frirst read it; with the information gathered from this 'biography in letters" I suspect my enjoyment will be expanded.

I'm reading Rules for Civility by Amor Towles

I finished listening to the very good Suspense novel, Then She Was Gone.

Next up for listening is The Only Woman In The Room by Marie Benedict.

The new thread is up over here.