Liz (Eliz_M) reads and writes the occasional review in 2020
Talk Club Read 2020
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1ELiz_M
Sixth time is the charm?
While I love reading and list-making, I do not enjoy writing and am perpetually behind on reviewing. I have many excuses for the derailment and hopefully have found some solutions. Time will tell.
For many, many years I have been reading primarily from he 1001-Books-to-Read-Before-You-Die list, Other reads are dictated by my real-life book club (alternating contemporary literary fiction with non-fiction) and, now and again, a contemporary novel found on one of your threads or on my now favorite social media version of LT, Litsy (https://www.litsy.com/web/user/Liz_M).
Aside from reading, my weekdays are spent working for a large performing arts organization in NYC and my weekends are for eating brunch out, walking around my Brooklyn neighborhood/Prospect Park, visiting MoMA or the Met Museum, and cooking vegetarian meals for myself and/or baking the occasional treat for the office.
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Henri Matisse. La Japonaise: Woman beside the Water. 1905.
Constantin Brancusi. Bird in Space. 1928
Willem de Kooning. Untitled XIX. 1977.
Cindy Sherman. Untitled Film Still #13. 1978.
While I love reading and list-making, I do not enjoy writing and am perpetually behind on reviewing. I have many excuses for the derailment and hopefully have found some solutions. Time will tell.
For many, many years I have been reading primarily from he 1001-Books-to-Read-Before-You-Die list, Other reads are dictated by my real-life book club (alternating contemporary literary fiction with non-fiction) and, now and again, a contemporary novel found on one of your threads or on my now favorite social media version of LT, Litsy (https://www.litsy.com/web/user/Liz_M).
Aside from reading, my weekdays are spent working for a large performing arts organization in NYC and my weekends are for eating brunch out, walking around my Brooklyn neighborhood/Prospect Park, visiting MoMA or the Met Museum, and cooking vegetarian meals for myself and/or baking the occasional treat for the office.
. 
. 
. 
Henri Matisse. La Japonaise: Woman beside the Water. 1905.
Constantin Brancusi. Bird in Space. 1928
Willem de Kooning. Untitled XIX. 1977.
Cindy Sherman. Untitled Film Still #13. 1978.
2ELiz_M
Currently Reading:
The Book of Disquiet
LT adds to the TBR:
Women Who Read Are Dangerous by Stefan Bollmann (recommended by torontoc)
Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson (recommended by avaland)
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (recommended by AnnieMod)
The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili (recommended by rachbxl)
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer (recommended by auntmarge64)
The Book of Disquiet
LT adds to the TBR:
Women Who Read Are Dangerous by Stefan Bollmann (recommended by torontoc)
Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson (recommended by avaland)
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (recommended by AnnieMod)
The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili (recommended by rachbxl)
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer (recommended by auntmarge64)
3ELiz_M
2019 stats:
Books read/listened: 79
paper/ebook: 75
total pages read: 22,061
ave. # pages: 294
audio: 4
1001-list-books: 39 (49.4%)
Female Authors: 37 (46.8%)
In Translation: 22 (27.8%)
Non-fiction: 1
Pre-1800: 2
1800s: 5
1900-1949: 24
1950-1999: 28
2000s: 20
Libe books: 27 (34%)
Owned-pre-2018: 40 (51%)
Bought & read: 12 (15%)
New-acquisitions-2019: 81
Books read/listened: 79
paper/ebook: 75
total pages read: 22,061
ave. # pages: 294
audio: 4
1001-list-books: 39 (49.4%)
Female Authors: 37 (46.8%)
In Translation: 22 (27.8%)
Non-fiction: 1
Pre-1800: 2
1800s: 5
1900-1949: 24
1950-1999: 28
2000s: 20
Libe books: 27 (34%)
Owned-pre-2018: 40 (51%)
Bought & read: 12 (15%)
New-acquisitions-2019: 81
4ELiz_M
2020 Goals:
Write reviews within a week of finishing the book
Read more books from the owned-tbr than from other sources
At least 33% of books written by women or poc
At least 33% of books translated into English
At least 50% of 1001 list books
Read at least 6 non-fiction books
Write reviews within a week of finishing the book
Read more books from the owned-tbr than from other sources
At least 33% of books written by women or poc
At least 33% of books translated into English
At least 50% of 1001 list books
Read at least 6 non-fiction books
5ELiz_M
Reading Europe 2020:
1. Russia: The Duel by Anton Chekhov
2. Ireland: The Charwoman's Daughter by James Stephens
3. UK: The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
4. Austria: The Afternoon of a Writer by Peter Handke
5. Norway: Alberta and Jacob by Cora Sandel
6. Hungary: Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabó
7. Spain: Pepita Jimenez by Juan Valera
8. Romania: Forest of the Hanged by Liviu Rebreanu
9. Switzerland: Homo Faber by Max Frisch
10. Italy: As Man Grows Older by Italo Svevo
11. Sweden: The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
12. Greece: Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki
13. Poland: The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Bashevis Singer
14. Portugal: The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa
15. Germany: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
16. Czech Republic: Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
17. Finland: The Manila Rope by Veijo Meri
18. France: Nadja by André Breton
19. Turkey: Life Is a Caravanserai
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
-------------------------
Reading Women 2020: (~12 prompts)
__________ 1. A Book by an Author from the Caribbean or India
The Memory Police - 2. A Book Translated from an Asian Language
Weather - 3. A Book about the Environment
__________ 4. A Picture Book Written/Illustrated by a BIPOC Author
__________ 5. A Winner of the Stella Prize or the Women’s Prize for Fiction
All the Real Indians Died Off - 6. A Nonfiction Title by a Woman Historian
The Fifth Season - 7. A Book Featuring Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism
__________ 8. An Anthology by Multiple Authors
The Snow Child - 9. A Book Inspired by Folklore
Severance - 10. A Book about a Woman Visual Artist
__________ 11. Read and Watch a Book-to-Movie Adaptation
__________ 12. A Book about a Woman Who Inspires You
__________ 13. A Book by an Arab Woman
__________ 14. A Book Set in Japan or by a Japanese Author
__________ 15. A Biography
The Golden Notebook - 16. A Book Featuring a Woman with a Disability
Ducks, Newburyport - 17. A Book Over 500 Pages
Tell Me How It Ends - 18. A Book Under 100 Pages
Lost Children Archive - 19. A Book That’s Frequently Recommended to You
The Pursuit of Love - 20. A Feel-Good or Happy Book
Christmas Days - 21. A Book about Food
A House and Its Head - 22. A Book by Either a Favorite or a New-to-You Publisher
The Member of the Wedding - 23. A Book by an LGBTQ+ Author
Good Talk - 24. A Book from the 2019 Reading Women Award Shortlists or Honorable Mentions
BONUS
A Book by Toni Morrison
A Book by Isabel Allende
1. Russia: The Duel by Anton Chekhov
2. Ireland: The Charwoman's Daughter by James Stephens
3. UK: The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
4. Austria: The Afternoon of a Writer by Peter Handke
5. Norway: Alberta and Jacob by Cora Sandel
6. Hungary: Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabó
7. Spain: Pepita Jimenez by Juan Valera
8. Romania: Forest of the Hanged by Liviu Rebreanu
9. Switzerland: Homo Faber by Max Frisch
10. Italy: As Man Grows Older by Italo Svevo
11. Sweden: The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
12. Greece: Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki
13. Poland: The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Bashevis Singer
14. Portugal: The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa
15. Germany: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
16. Czech Republic: Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
17. Finland: The Manila Rope by Veijo Meri
18. France: Nadja by André Breton
19. Turkey: Life Is a Caravanserai
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
-------------------------
Reading Women 2020: (~12 prompts)
__________ 1. A Book by an Author from the Caribbean or India
The Memory Police - 2. A Book Translated from an Asian Language
Weather - 3. A Book about the Environment
__________ 4. A Picture Book Written/Illustrated by a BIPOC Author
__________ 5. A Winner of the Stella Prize or the Women’s Prize for Fiction
All the Real Indians Died Off - 6. A Nonfiction Title by a Woman Historian
The Fifth Season - 7. A Book Featuring Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism
__________ 8. An Anthology by Multiple Authors
The Snow Child - 9. A Book Inspired by Folklore
Severance - 10. A Book about a Woman Visual Artist
__________ 11. Read and Watch a Book-to-Movie Adaptation
__________ 12. A Book about a Woman Who Inspires You
__________ 13. A Book by an Arab Woman
__________ 14. A Book Set in Japan or by a Japanese Author
__________ 15. A Biography
The Golden Notebook - 16. A Book Featuring a Woman with a Disability
Ducks, Newburyport - 17. A Book Over 500 Pages
Tell Me How It Ends - 18. A Book Under 100 Pages
Lost Children Archive - 19. A Book That’s Frequently Recommended to You
The Pursuit of Love - 20. A Feel-Good or Happy Book
Christmas Days - 21. A Book about Food
A House and Its Head - 22. A Book by Either a Favorite or a New-to-You Publisher
The Member of the Wedding - 23. A Book by an LGBTQ+ Author
Good Talk - 24. A Book from the 2019 Reading Women Award Shortlists or Honorable Mentions
BONUS
A Book by Toni Morrison
A Book by Isabel Allende
6ELiz_M
Around the Year in 52 ~26 Books
January
1. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y: G.
2. A book by an author whose last name is one syllable
3. A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019
4. A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live The Drowned and the Saved
5. The first book in a series that you have not started The 42nd Parallel
February
6. A book with a mode of transportation on the cover The Charwoman's Daughter
7. A book set in the southern hemisphere
8. A book with a two-word title where the first word is "The"
9. A book that can be read in a day The Afternoon of a Writer
March
10. A book that is between 400-600 pages The Big Money
11. A book originally published in a year that is a prime number
12. A book that is a collaboration between 2 or more people
13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge
14. A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers
April
15. A book set in a global city Basti
16. A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area Pepita Jimenez
17. A book with a neurodiverse character
18. A book by an author you've only read once before A Game of Hide and Seek
May
19. A fantasy book The Memory Police
20. The 20th book on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list, etc.
21. A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1720
22. A book with the major theme of survival Severance
June
23. A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author How We Fight for Our Lives
24. A book with an emotion in the title
25. A book related to the arts The Golden Notebook
26. A book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards
27. A history or historical fiction
July
28. A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author
29. An underrated book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book Pedro Paramo
30. A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year
31. A book inspired by a leading news story Tell Me How It Ends
August
32. A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan
33. A book about a non-traditional family The City We Became
34. A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name One, No One, One Hundred Thousand
35. A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover
September
36. A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize or recall putting there
37. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: The Member of the Wedding
38. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: The Green Hat
39. A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce
October
40. A book with a place name in the title
41. A mystery
42. A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’
43. A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse
44. A book related to witches
January
1. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y: G.
2. A book by an author whose last name is one syllable
3. A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019
4. A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live The Drowned and the Saved
5. The first book in a series that you have not started The 42nd Parallel
February
6. A book with a mode of transportation on the cover The Charwoman's Daughter
7. A book set in the southern hemisphere
8. A book with a two-word title where the first word is "The"
9. A book that can be read in a day The Afternoon of a Writer
March
10. A book that is between 400-600 pages The Big Money
11. A book originally published in a year that is a prime number
12. A book that is a collaboration between 2 or more people
13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge
14. A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers
April
15. A book set in a global city Basti
16. A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area Pepita Jimenez
17. A book with a neurodiverse character
18. A book by an author you've only read once before A Game of Hide and Seek
May
19. A fantasy book The Memory Police
20. The 20th book on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list, etc.
21. A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1720
22. A book with the major theme of survival Severance
June
23. A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author How We Fight for Our Lives
24. A book with an emotion in the title
25. A book related to the arts The Golden Notebook
26. A book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards
27. A history or historical fiction
July
28. A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author
29. An underrated book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book Pedro Paramo
30. A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year
31. A book inspired by a leading news story Tell Me How It Ends
August
32. A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan
33. A book about a non-traditional family The City We Became
34. A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name One, No One, One Hundred Thousand
35. A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover
September
36. A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize or recall putting there
37. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: The Member of the Wedding
38. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: The Green Hat
39. A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce
October
40. A book with a place name in the title
41. A mystery
42. A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’
43. A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse
44. A book related to witches
7ELiz_M
First Quarter Reading Ideas:
January:
Real-life book club: The Library Book
R1001-TBR Challenge:G.*
nyrb-Litsy:A House and Its Head*
RT Big Book:The 42nd Parallel*
RT Translations:The Duel
LT 1001 Book: The Diviners*
R1001-BotM:The Drowned and the Saved
February:
Real-life book club:The Fifth Season
R1001-TBR Challenge:The Charwoman's Daughter*
nyrb-Litsy:Irretrievable*
RT Big Book:1919*
RT Translations: Corinne, or Italy
LT 1001 Book:The Water Margin
R1001-BotM:Amok, Germinal
March:
Real-life book club: How We Fight for Our Lives
R1001-TBR Challenge:News from Nowhere
nyrb-Litsy:Iza's Ballad*
RT Big Book:The Big Money*
RT Translations: Basti
LT 1001 Book: Sometimes a Great Notion*
R1001-BotM:The Midnight Examiner, The Flamethrowers
----------
Second Quarter Reading Ideas:
April:
Real-life book club:Where the Crawdads Sing
R1001-TBR Challenge:Pepita Jimenez
nyrb-Litsy:A Game of Hide and Seek
RT Translations: The Slave
LT 1001 Book:Mr. Norris Changes Trains
R1001-BotM:The Great Indian Novel , The Secret History
R1001-Theme: The Adventures of Augie March*
May:
Real-life book club:How We Fight for Our Lives
R1001-TBR Challenge:As Man Grows Older*
nyrb-Litsy:The Invisibility Cloak
RT Translations:The Gate
LT 1001 Book:Homo Faber*
R1001-BotM:The Cement Garden, The Razor's Edge
R1001-Theme: The Magic Mountain*
June:
Real-life book club: The Left Hand of Darkness*
R1001-TBR Challenge:The Graduate
nyrb-Litsy: A Way of Life, Like Any Other*
RT Translations:
LT 1001 Book:Love Medicine
R1001-BotM:Austerlitz, White Teeth
R1001-Theme: The Magic Mountain
----------
Longer Projects
R1001-Random:The Living and the Dead*, City Sister Silver
Reading Europe 2020:The Duel (Russia), The Charwoman's Daughter (Ireland), The Pursuit of Love (UK), The Afternoon of the Writer (Austria), Alberta and Jacob (Norway), Iza's Ballad (Hungary), Pepita Jimenez (Spain), Forest of the Hanged (Romania), As Man Grows Older (Italy), Homo Faber (Switzerland), The Slave (Poland), The Unit (Sweden)
Multi-month Books: Anniversaries: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl*,Ducks, Newburyport*, The Golden Notebook*
----------
Key:
strike through book linked - A book I read this year
strike through - A book I have read before and don't plan to reread
book linked - A book I am thinking of reading for the relevant group/challenge/theme
book title - A book that I haven't read and currently don't plan to read
* - A book I own (paper copy)
January:
Real-life book club: The Library Book
R1001-TBR Challenge:
nyrb-Litsy:
RT Big Book:
RT Translations:
LT 1001 Book: The Diviners*
R1001-BotM:
February:
Real-life book club:
R1001-TBR Challenge:
nyrb-Litsy:
RT Big Book:
RT Translations: Corinne, or Italy
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM:
March:
Real-life book club: How We Fight for Our Lives
R1001-TBR Challenge:
nyrb-Litsy:
RT Big Book:
RT Translations: Basti
LT 1001 Book: Sometimes a Great Notion*
R1001-BotM:
----------
Second Quarter Reading Ideas:
April:
Real-life book club:
R1001-TBR Challenge:
nyrb-Litsy:
RT Translations: The Slave
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM:
R1001-Theme: The Adventures of Augie March*
May:
Real-life book club:
R1001-TBR Challenge:
nyrb-Litsy:
RT Translations:
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM:
R1001-Theme: The Magic Mountain*
June:
Real-life book club: The Left Hand of Darkness*
R1001-TBR Challenge:
nyrb-Litsy: A Way of Life, Like Any Other*
RT Translations:
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM:
R1001-Theme: The Magic Mountain
----------
Longer Projects
R1001-Random:
Reading Europe 2020:
Multi-month Books: Anniversaries: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl*,
----------
Key:
book linked - A book I am thinking of reading for the relevant group/challenge/theme
book title - A book that I haven't read and currently don't plan to read
* - A book I own (paper copy)
8ELiz_M
Third Quarter Reading Ideas:
July:
Real-life book club: The Broken Heart of America
R1001-TBR Challenge:The Man of Feeling
nyrb-Litsy:Hons and Rebels
RT Translations:Pedro Páramo
LT 1001 Book:The Master
R1001-BotM: A Handful of Dust, The Return of the Soldier
CR-Buddy-Read:Lost Children Archive, Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions
August:
Real-life book club: The Widows of Malabar Hill
R1001-TBR Challenge: One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand
nyrb-Litsy: Three Summers
RT Translations: Cheri and The Last of Cheri
LT 1001 Book:Passing
R1001-BotM:The Book of Disquiet
September:
Real-life book club:How to be an Anti-Racist
R1001-TBR Challenge:The Green Hat
nyrb-Litsy: The Pilgrim Hawk
RT Translations: Hopscotch
LT 1001 Book:The Magician of Lublin
R1001-BotM:The Human Stain, Contact
LT-group read: The Magic Mountain
Longer-term reads:Anniversaries: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl
----------
Fourth Quarter Reading Ideas:
October:
Real-life book club: The Overstory
R1001-TBR Challenge: The Pilgrim's Progress
nyrb-Litsy:The Dud Avocado
RT Translations: The Land of Green Plums
LT 1001 Book:The Well of Loneliness
R1001-BotM:Summer Will Show, The Master
LT-group read: The Magic Mountain
RT Novellas:The Turn of the Screw, The Lifted Veil, The Sorrows of Young Werther
November:
Real-life book club: The Splendid and the Vile
R1001-TBR Challenge: All About H. Hatterr
nyrb-Litsy:Tun-Huang
RT Translations:
LT 1001 Book: The Unknown Soldier
R1001-BotM:Black Box, At Swim, Two Boys
RT Novellas:The Driver's Seat, Too Loud a Solitude, Ru, Passing
Bookspin:Life of a Good-for-Nothing, Her Privates We
December:
Real-life book club: The Silence of the Girls
nyrb-Litsy:
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM:Pale Fire, The Sea, the Sea
RT Novellas: The Fifth Child, The River Between, Chess Story
Bookspin:
--------------------
R1001-Random: City Sister Silver, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Reading Europe 2020: Death and the Dervish (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Under the Yoke (Bulgaria), The Return of Philip Latinowicz (Croatia), The Castle (Czech Republic), The Unknown Soldier (Finland), The Third Wedding (Greece), The Garden where the Brass Band Played (Netherlands),The Magician of Lublin (Poland), The Book of Disquiet (Portugal), Life is a Caravanserai (Turkey), The Cathedral (Ukraine)
Integrate Your Bookshelf:How to Be an Antiracist, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, The Fire This Time, Me and White Supremacy, All the Real Indians Died Off, The Beadworkers, Heart Berries, That Deadman Dance
July:
Real-life book club: The Broken Heart of America
R1001-TBR Challenge:
nyrb-Litsy:
RT Translations:
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM: A Handful of Dust, The Return of the Soldier
CR-Buddy-Read:
August:
Real-life book club: The Widows of Malabar Hill
R1001-TBR Challenge: One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand
nyrb-Litsy: Three Summers
RT Translations: Cheri and The Last of Cheri
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM:
September:
Real-life book club:
R1001-TBR Challenge:
nyrb-Litsy: The Pilgrim Hawk
RT Translations: Hopscotch
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM:
LT-group read: The Magic Mountain
Longer-term reads:
----------
Fourth Quarter Reading Ideas:
October:
Real-life book club: The Overstory
R1001-TBR Challenge: The Pilgrim's Progress
nyrb-Litsy:
RT Translations: The Land of Green Plums
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM:
LT-group read: The Magic Mountain
RT Novellas:
November:
Real-life book club: The Splendid and the Vile
R1001-TBR Challenge: All About H. Hatterr
nyrb-Litsy:
RT Translations:
LT 1001 Book: The Unknown Soldier
R1001-BotM:
RT Novellas:
Bookspin:
December:
Real-life book club: The Silence of the Girls
nyrb-Litsy:
LT 1001 Book:
R1001-BotM:
RT Novellas: The Fifth Child, The River Between, Chess Story
Bookspin:
--------------------
R1001-Random: City Sister Silver, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Reading Europe 2020: Death and the Dervish (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Under the Yoke (Bulgaria), The Return of Philip Latinowicz (Croatia), The Castle (Czech Republic), The Unknown Soldier (Finland), The Third Wedding (Greece), The Garden where the Brass Band Played (Netherlands),
Integrate Your Bookshelf:
12ELiz_M
>9 lisapeet:, >10 katiekrug:, >11 NanaCC: Thanks for stopping by, good to see the tri-state area represent!
14nancyewhite
Oh! I like the ideas for Reading Women. Excited to see what you find.
16ELiz_M
>13 dchaikin: >14 nancyewhite: Dan, Barbara good to see you here!
>14 nancyewhite: Me too -- half the fun is the looking to see what fits a prompt!
>14 nancyewhite: Me too -- half the fun is the looking to see what fits a prompt!
20ELiz_M
Any Audible fans out there? I was gifted a one-month gold membership and need advice for how to best take advantage -- what are he BEST recordings that I can't get at the library? What free stuff should I snag?
21katiekrug
I use Audible! Each month, you can get 2 free Audible originals (from a selection on offer) in addition to your one credit.
January's selection: https://www.audible.com/ep/audible-originals-member-benefit?pf_rd_p=48123c35-e88...
The selection can be a bit hit or miss. I don't always find two (or even one) that I'm interested in.
As for using your credit, I'm probably not the best person to advise, since our tastes are very different :) In general, I like to use audios for re-"reading" things I'm already familiar with, though that is by no means all I listen to.
January's selection: https://www.audible.com/ep/audible-originals-member-benefit?pf_rd_p=48123c35-e88...
The selection can be a bit hit or miss. I don't always find two (or even one) that I'm interested in.
As for using your credit, I'm probably not the best person to advise, since our tastes are very different :) In general, I like to use audios for re-"reading" things I'm already familiar with, though that is by no means all I listen to.
22OscarWilde87
Dropping my star! Love the Brancusi and will be lurking for reviews!
23dchaikin
Ooh - now you have the danger of a really huge selection. I would be crazy to think I can give you advise other than to advise you to make ample use of the samples and find a reading performance you mesh with
Curious if this leads to a second month...
Curious if this leads to a second month...
24NanaCC
I use Audible and love it. I agree with >21 katiekrug:, take advantage of the audible originals if you can find one or two that you think you’ll like. And follow Dan’s advice, and listen to the samples before selecting, because a reader you don’t like can spoil a good book.
25mabith
Keep in mind with Audible that you can return a book for pretty much any reason, including simply not liking the book. I like to use Audible especially for non-fiction books that, even if my library CAN order them, I'm probably the only one interested, and for works in translation that my library might be less likely to get.
Happy reading!
Happy reading!
26lisapeet
>19 ELiz_M: Hey, let me know when you kids are going (if you want to, that is). I'd love to do an artsy meetup.
27lilisin
>25 mabith:
https://twitter.com/mikeh5856/status/1210912746868559873?s=21
That twitter thread shows why you SHOULDN’T return audible books without genuine reason even if you didn’t like the book because when you return a book the AUTHOR has to pay for it. Basically an author receives royalties for having their book on audible but when people return the book audible takes the return out of the royalties. So if an author was given their royalties in June and a reader returns a book in December, the author now owes money TO audible. So unless you have a genuine reason like sound quality, etc, a book shouldn’t get returned just because it wasn’t liked. The thread even mentions how people will read entire books and then give one star ratings to the author just so they can return the book and get their credits back to then get another audiobook and then just repeat the process.
https://twitter.com/mikeh5856/status/1210912746868559873?s=21
That twitter thread shows why you SHOULDN’T return audible books without genuine reason even if you didn’t like the book because when you return a book the AUTHOR has to pay for it. Basically an author receives royalties for having their book on audible but when people return the book audible takes the return out of the royalties. So if an author was given their royalties in June and a reader returns a book in December, the author now owes money TO audible. So unless you have a genuine reason like sound quality, etc, a book shouldn’t get returned just because it wasn’t liked. The thread even mentions how people will read entire books and then give one star ratings to the author just so they can return the book and get their credits back to then get another audiobook and then just repeat the process.
28katiekrug
>27 lilisin: - WOW! I had no idea. I've never returned a book to Audible, but know people who have. Thanks for sharing this. Good information to have.
29ELiz_M
>21 katiekrug:, >23 dchaikin: Thanks for this advice! I think I need to reframe the question -- is there a book that you listened to that was BETTER in audio? An audio that you really loved? For some reason, mentally, audio books are "extra" so I can use them to read outside my usual pattern/plans.
For example, I am considering Born A Crime because I can't get it through the library and everyone seemed to love the audio version. (But I also want to get a huge book so it's worth the credit...).
>24 NanaCC: Hmmmm, I wonder if I join mid-January if I can select a freebie from both Jan and Feb.... >:)
For example, I am considering Born A Crime because I can't get it through the library and everyone seemed to love the audio version. (But I also want to get a huge book so it's worth the credit...).
>24 NanaCC: Hmmmm, I wonder if I join mid-January if I can select a freebie from both Jan and Feb.... >:)
30ELiz_M
>26 lisapeet: I would love to have you (and katiekrug) along!
31ELiz_M
>27 lilisin: Thank you for sharing this. While I want to take advantage, I would never keep returning audios in order to continue to get free ones -- that is what the library is for!
32dchaikin
Does this link work? 🙂
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/18695911-daniel-chaikin?shelf=audio-favori...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/18695911-daniel-chaikin?shelf=audio-favori...
33sallypursell
Hi, Eliz M. I have never visited your thread before. I plan to follow you this year, if you don't mind. It is nice to "meet" you.
34katiekrug
Born a Crime is brilliant on audio. I also loved Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming. I peeked at Dan's list in >32 dchaikin:, and if you want a big book, I would second his rec of The Warmth of Other Suns. Fascinating subject and the narration was great.
35katiekrug
>30 ELiz_M: - I'm in :)
36japaul22
I'm not a huge audio book fan, but I've found I like memoirs read by the author best on audio. Born a Crime, Becoming, How to be a Woman (if you are in the mood for funny and crude feminism). I also love rereads of classics. I loved Middlemarch read by Juliet Stevenson and I think Jane Austen's books are fantastic read aloud. I can hear Austen reading them to her family when I listen to her books.
37NanaCC
Not My Father’s Son was excellent. Alan Cummings accent is lovely to listen to. He also read Macbeth: A Novel by A. J. Hartley and David Hewson. It is a novelized version of Macbeth, and because it’s a novel, it fills in all of the imagined stuff that you don’t see on stage. I loved that one. Very imaginative.
38ELiz_M
>33 sallypursell: welcome aboard!
39ELiz_M
>34 katiekrug: I read The Warmth of Other Suns a few years back with my bookclub. Definitely excellent, but not something I am ready to revisit.
>34 katiekrug:, >37 NanaCC: Ooooh, Alan Cummings is a very good idea. And I love Macbeth, so that could be a lot of fun.
>34 katiekrug:, >37 NanaCC: Ooooh, Alan Cummings is a very good idea. And I love Macbeth, so that could be a lot of fun.
40ELiz_M
>36 japaul22: I could see how an audio of Austen would be something to own & re-listen to. I've read (and listened to) Middlemarch fairly recently, but a big classic might be just the ticket!
41ELiz_M
I finally finished a book. Well, technically a novella, but I did read it twice!
The Duel by Anton Chekhov, pub 1891
Finished 9-Jan-2020
. 
Set in a small seaside town in the Caucasus region, the story centers on a young ne'er-do-well and his effect on various inhabitants of the town. Laevsky, the main character, is from an aristocratic family and has run away with Nadya, a married woman. A former philosophy student, he is blond and fair. His supposed opposite is represented by Von Koren, a zoologist, with dark curly hair frequently described as swarthy. Laevsky's conversation tend to the introspective and self-aware (or self-centered) while Von Koren pontificates on scientific and philosophical theories. Although they should be representing opposing societal forces, they both believe that mankind is degenerating in general and that Laevsky is a deplorable individual in particular.
I first read the Melville House edition on the subway and found the whole thing disjointed and not very enjoyable, so I then tracked down the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation. It seems that my difficulty was with the structure of the story which is told through multiple points of view, allowing the reader to glimpse each through several other characters' eyes. but instead of internal thoughts or showing how one character reacts to another, Chekhov has the various characters either confess (Laevsky) or pontificate (Von Koren) to others. It weirdly had a TV-like feel to it -- with the rotating points of view and the build to a cliffhanger which then cuts away to a different character at the same time of day. Unfortunately one such cut was from a moment of great tension to a philosophy lecture, killing all momentum for me. Once past all the talky-talky and establishment of character through big ideas, the pacing does improve.
I enjoyed the different perspectives -- the moderate viewpoints shown by the military doctor, who treats everyone as he would a neighbor, or the deacon with his religious slant, and the glimpses into the domestic sphere through the internal thoughts and conversations of Nadya and Marya. Also, in-between and around the lectures the descriptions are fantastic -- an amazing thunderstorm, a lovely portrayal of sea bathing, a picnic in a more remote area and the mountains and rivers viewed along the way. And, of course, the portrayal of he duel was riveting. But, then the last scene was a little heavy-handed with obvious (even to me!) symbolism, which the author apparently found necessary to be commented upon by a main character, explaining the learned moral.
I have a fond memory of reading Chekhov's short stories in school; stories that were like a Rembrandt painting - intimate with a warm glow and was a little disappointed in this novella's different tone and structure. All in all, there are wonderful moments, but I prefer Chekhov's shorter works.
.
For those considering translations, I had a quote in each that I really liked:
"For whoever seeks salvation in a change of place, like a migrating bird, won't find anything new, because for him the earth is one and the same everywhere." (Melville House, Shalina)
"And he who seeks salvation in a change of place, like a migratory bird, will find nothing, because for him the earth is the same everywhere." (Everyman's Library, Pevear/Volokhonsky)
"It seemed to her that all her bad memories had left her head and were walking in the darkness beside her and breathing heavily, while she herself, like a fly that had fallen into ink, forced herself to crawl down the sidewalk, staining Laevsky's side and arm with black." (Everyman's Library, Pevear/Volokhonsky)
"It appeared to her that every bad remembrance had left her head and now walked through the darkness beside her and breathed heavily, as if she were a fly that had fallen into ink, crawled along the pavement using all is strength and sullied Laevsky's side and arm with black." (Melville House, Shalina)
The Duel by Anton Chekhov, pub 1891
Finished 9-Jan-2020
. 
Set in a small seaside town in the Caucasus region, the story centers on a young ne'er-do-well and his effect on various inhabitants of the town. Laevsky, the main character, is from an aristocratic family and has run away with Nadya, a married woman. A former philosophy student, he is blond and fair. His supposed opposite is represented by Von Koren, a zoologist, with dark curly hair frequently described as swarthy. Laevsky's conversation tend to the introspective and self-aware (or self-centered) while Von Koren pontificates on scientific and philosophical theories. Although they should be representing opposing societal forces, they both believe that mankind is degenerating in general and that Laevsky is a deplorable individual in particular.
I first read the Melville House edition on the subway and found the whole thing disjointed and not very enjoyable, so I then tracked down the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation. It seems that my difficulty was with the structure of the story which is told through multiple points of view, allowing the reader to glimpse each through several other characters' eyes. but instead of internal thoughts or showing how one character reacts to another, Chekhov has the various characters either confess (Laevsky) or pontificate (Von Koren) to others. It weirdly had a TV-like feel to it -- with the rotating points of view and the build to a cliffhanger which then cuts away to a different character at the same time of day. Unfortunately one such cut was from a moment of great tension to a philosophy lecture, killing all momentum for me. Once past all the talky-talky and establishment of character through big ideas, the pacing does improve.
I enjoyed the different perspectives -- the moderate viewpoints shown by the military doctor, who treats everyone as he would a neighbor, or the deacon with his religious slant, and the glimpses into the domestic sphere through the internal thoughts and conversations of Nadya and Marya. Also, in-between and around the lectures the descriptions are fantastic -- an amazing thunderstorm, a lovely portrayal of sea bathing, a picnic in a more remote area and the mountains and rivers viewed along the way. And, of course, the portrayal of he duel was riveting. But, then the last scene was a little heavy-handed with obvious (even to me!) symbolism, which the author apparently found necessary to be commented upon by a main character, explaining the learned moral.
I have a fond memory of reading Chekhov's short stories in school; stories that were like a Rembrandt painting - intimate with a warm glow and was a little disappointed in this novella's different tone and structure. All in all, there are wonderful moments, but I prefer Chekhov's shorter works.
.
For those considering translations, I had a quote in each that I really liked:
"For whoever seeks salvation in a change of place, like a migrating bird, won't find anything new, because for him the earth is one and the same everywhere." (Melville House, Shalina)
"And he who seeks salvation in a change of place, like a migratory bird, will find nothing, because for him the earth is the same everywhere." (Everyman's Library, Pevear/Volokhonsky)
"It seemed to her that all her bad memories had left her head and were walking in the darkness beside her and breathing heavily, while she herself, like a fly that had fallen into ink, forced herself to crawl down the sidewalk, staining Laevsky's side and arm with black." (Everyman's Library, Pevear/Volokhonsky)
"It appeared to her that every bad remembrance had left her head and now walked through the darkness beside her and breathed heavily, as if she were a fly that had fallen into ink, crawled along the pavement using all is strength and sullied Laevsky's side and arm with black." (Melville House, Shalina)
42kidzdoc
Great review(s) of The Duel, Liz. Your quotes from the two translations reminds me of an author event about translation I attended at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, in which two noted Spanish literature translators were given a short and previously untranslated text before the event written by Javier Cercas, my favorite living novelist, asked to translate and read them out loud, and Cercas and a narrator, who was also a translator of Spanish literature, commented on the translations. The audience members were given handouts with Cercas's original text in Spanish, and the two translations into English (hopefully I still have my copy of it). My description probably sounds not very interesting, but I enjoyed it.
43sallypursell
>42 kidzdoc: Since I have done (a very little) translating, it sounds fascinating to me. Translating is hard.
44rachbxl
>41 ELiz_M: I enjoyed your thoughtful review. Chekhov is one of those gaping holes in my reading which I keep thinking I might think about possibly putting right one day, but I’m never quite in the mood (though your comparison of his short stories with Rembrandt tempts me...)
>42 kidzdoc: no, that doesn’t sound ‘not very interesting’ to me at all! I would have loved that.
>42 kidzdoc: no, that doesn’t sound ‘not very interesting’ to me at all! I would have loved that.
45ELiz_M
>42 kidzdoc: Sounds brilliant to me -- starting with a language that many audience members would have a passing familiarity with (as opposed to Hungarian or something) and having the handouts for people to read along with and later to second guess the translators' choices.
>44 rachbxl: Well, the good thing about short stories is that the are short. So you can try one or two to see if my impression is wildly inaccurate without too big of a time investment.
>44 rachbxl: Well, the good thing about short stories is that the are short. So you can try one or two to see if my impression is wildly inaccurate without too big of a time investment.
47ELiz_M
>46 lisapeet: Thanks! :)
48arubabookwoman
I was just commenting over on rocketj’s thread about Chekov. In her earlier book on reading/writing (which I reviewed and gave 5 stars to on CR several years ago), Francine Prose said she read (and contemplated) one story by Chekhov everyday. I thought that might be a good project to undertake some day—maybe when you finish Anniversaries (which par for the course for me I abandoned the day by day reading after about a month—maybe I should try to catch up).
49mabith
Interesting comparing quotes in the Chekhov! And yet another reminder I really ought to get around to reading Chekhov.
50AnnieMod
>41 ELiz_M: "It weirdly had a TV-like feel to it"
Funny that you would say that. :) I usually love Chekhov but that one made me scratch my head for awhile - the structure of the whole thing was weird. Until I remembered that Chekhov has two somewhat distinct styles - one he uses in his stories and one he uses for his plays. This one, despite being a prose piece, suddenly clicks if you start thinking of it as a "play in prose with some exposition". It is somewhere between his two styles really but I always found it closer to his plays than to his stories. Nice review. And now I want to go and find the original to these quotes...
Funny that you would say that. :) I usually love Chekhov but that one made me scratch my head for awhile - the structure of the whole thing was weird. Until I remembered that Chekhov has two somewhat distinct styles - one he uses in his stories and one he uses for his plays. This one, despite being a prose piece, suddenly clicks if you start thinking of it as a "play in prose with some exposition". It is somewhere between his two styles really but I always found it closer to his plays than to his stories. Nice review. And now I want to go and find the original to these quotes...
51ELiz_M
>48 arubabookwoman: I've also given up on the daily reading, but am trying to stick to reading a week of entries every Saturday morning.
>49 mabith: I had to do it because I was curious why different quote caught my ear in the different translations.
>50 AnnieMod: Thank you! I read it for a goodreads group and no one else thought the pacing was weird!
>49 mabith: I had to do it because I was curious why different quote caught my ear in the different translations.
>50 AnnieMod: Thank you! I read it for a goodreads group and no one else thought the pacing was weird!
52katiekrug
Nice review of the Chekhov (whom I have never read....), Liz! I find issues of translation so interesting - and kind of mysterious because I'm rubbish at languages.
53dchaikin
So many interesting comments. I just want to say I enjoyed your review and I’m intrigued you read two different translations. I hope to read Chekhov again some time.
>50 AnnieMod: Interesting about the two different writing styles.
>50 AnnieMod: Interesting about the two different writing styles.
54ELiz_M
>52 katiekrug: Thanks!
>53 dchaikin: Only because it was a novella. I am much less likely to do this for anything longer than 125 pages!
>53 dchaikin: Only because it was a novella. I am much less likely to do this for anything longer than 125 pages!
55sallypursell
I last read Chekhof in Russian, and that tells me how long ago it was. I should be re-reading him soon.
56ELiz_M
G. by John Berger, pub. 1972
Finished 13-Jan-2020
G is not a typical coming-of-age story. It has the general shape, but Berger is coloring outside the lines. G., called "the protagonist" in the text, is Giovanni. The novel begins well, with the impressionistic memories of a child and some exquisite writing and imagery, but the private experience that is supposed to, layer by layer, build-up a fully realized character is just boring sexual intrigues. I was disappointed that the author did not have him meet the same end as his operatic namesake.
57ELiz_M
The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi, pub. 1986
Finished 23-Jan-2020
In these essays, Levi attempts to locate his experience of Auschwitz and that of the Holocaust into the broader context. To identify and discuss the historical and societal forces that allowed such a thing to happen; to examine the extremity of the circumstances in the death camps and the effects on people.
I read this paperback mostly on the subway commute, which was not the best choice. Levi’s essay language is very intellectual and exacting. And every paragraph contained at least one word I didn’t know (and couldn’t look up in present circumstances). So, for me, the most powerful section was the conclusion, which was more personal and informal in tone.
58ELiz_M
And in non-book related news meet Bert, the new head of my household:
I've known Bert for years and often took care of him while his owner, my best friend, was out of town. But now that she has an infant and is not able to give Bert enough attention he was misbehaving and making my friend crazy so she agreed to let me adopt him.
I've known Bert for years and often took care of him while his owner, my best friend, was out of town. But now that she has an infant and is not able to give Bert enough attention he was misbehaving and making my friend crazy so she agreed to let me adopt him.
59katiekrug
BERT! He is beautiful. I'd suggest a play date with Leonard, but Leonard is an assh*le and does not play well with others.
60lisapeet
>58 ELiz_M: Bert is very handsome! And looks like a good fellow.
61thorold
>58 ELiz_M: "No, it's not A mouse and its head!"
62ELiz_M
>59 katiekrug: No hard feelings, Bert doesn't play well with others.
>60 lisapeet: So far he is being quite good.
>61 thorold: Ha!
>60 lisapeet: So far he is being quite good.
>61 thorold: Ha!
63dchaikin
>58 ELiz_M: cutie!
>57 ELiz_M: nice to read your take. Paul (username Polaris-) pointed me to an article that goes into how Primo Levi’s first book on his Holocaust experience pulls from Ulysses in hell as written by Dante in Inferno. So... I’ll read that soon. It will be my first by Levi.
>57 ELiz_M: nice to read your take. Paul (username Polaris-) pointed me to an article that goes into how Primo Levi’s first book on his Holocaust experience pulls from Ulysses in hell as written by Dante in Inferno. So... I’ll read that soon. It will be my first by Levi.
64RidgewayGirl
Bert is gorgeous! And how lovely for him to move in with someone he already likes and who will properly cater to his needs.
65ELiz_M
>63 dchaikin: Thanks!
>64 RidgewayGirl: As soon as I figure out what the evening yowls mean, he will be more properly attended :D
>64 RidgewayGirl: As soon as I figure out what the evening yowls mean, he will be more properly attended :D
66ELiz_M
A House and Its Head by Ivy Compton-Burnett, pub. 1935
Finished 24-Jan-2020
Ivy Compton-Burnett tends to be a polarizing author. Her novels are unique and challenging, and reviewers seem to either love them or find them unbearable. Ever the contrarian, I can see both aspects and do fall somewhere in the middle.
A House and Its Head is a claustrophobic domestic melodrama. Set in a small provincial Victorian town, it focuses on a single "typical" family. There is the tyrannical patriarch, Duncan Edgeworth, his submissive wife, two spinster daughters, Nance and Sybil, and Grant, the nephew onto whom the estate is entailed. And then there are the villagers – a dozen minor characters that act almost as a Greek chorus, gossiping about the scandals of the Edgeworth household.
What makes this novel unusual and challenging is that it is told almost entirely in dialogue. I’ve read many plays and this should be fairly easy for me, but the conventional formatting of a play starts each line with the name of the person speaking and there are no such markers here. It takes a fair amount of focus to track which character is saying what and to see a differentiation in speech patterns for man of the townsfolk. This is a rare novel that I would enjoy more as a movie – I don’t have the wherewithal to understand the unspoken; expressions and tone of voice would convey so much of the subtext that I am missing.
Despite the above mentioned difficulties, the plot becomes compelling. The story is cyclical, history repeating itself but with each successive wife of Duncan, there is a slightly more outlandish and ridiculously awful event (made obvious enough for even a casual reader to get) for the family to avoid talking about and the villagers to slyly reference.
Mostly bewildering, occasionally compelling, this is a book that I waned to abandon and yet I can see how it is something that I would normally love.
67ELiz_M
The 42nd Parallel by John Dos Passos, pub. 1930
Finished 30-Jan-2020
This is the first volume of the great work, U.S.A. Intended to be all-encompassing, capturing a nation at a moment (a few decades) in time, it is supposed to be more collage or mural than portrait. While I found his earlier work, Manhattan Transfer, fascinating in its construction I am struggling with the pacing of this. MT was more even -- a series of short glimpses, 10-30 pages each, of a variety of people's stories in order to create a whole.
But this is even more experimental. There are four different components -- Newsreels which list headlines and snippets from actual sources, brief biographies of influential historical figures, The Camera Eye which is the author's stream of conscious memories, and finally the stories of a handful of characters from different classes and regions. The first three components are fairly short, a dozen pages at most, while the character stories are in much longer chunks. I find myself skimming over he Newsreels and Camera Eye sections, mildly irritated at the interruption in order to get back to the characters as quickly as possible. Their stories are compelling and I am looking forward to seeing how life in America changes in future volumes.
68ELiz_M
The Charwoman's Daughter by James Stephens, pub. 1912
Finished 4-Feb-2020
This is the mostly charming story of Mary, a young woman on the verge of adulthood. As the only daughter of a poor charwoman she is protected from the harsh grown-up world of work and allowed to roam free during the day. But she can’t remain in idyllic childhood forever.... The story is at its best and most engaging when the world is seen through Mary’s eyes; te perspective of the policeman and the middle two chapters of philosophizing are less interesting. The ending shouldn't have been the surprise it was, but I am more used to the bleaker and more experimental modern Irish novels.
69ELiz_M
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin, pub. 2015
Finished 7-Feb-2020
It may be unfair to review this book, the first in a trilogy, without reading all three volumes, as I suspect one must finish the trilogy to really understand this epic story and how it works. As an epic fantasy, it is difficult to summarize in a few words – not only the plot, but the complex structure.
The setting is a place called The Stillness, a large unstable continent with continuous earthquakes. Every so often, there is a catastrophic ecological disaster that triggers a “fifth season” a winter that depending on the magnitude of the event, can last years or centuries. This instability prevents the people from accumulating wealth or making technological advances. What wealth there is, is concentrated near the temperate equator with life becoming more purely subsistence the further one is from the equator. And with such a land, the people have evolved with it. There are some individuals that are able to absorb and direct energy, and thus able to quell the land’s tremors. These individuals called orogenes (or more often the slur roggas) are feared and hated. It doesn’t help that the are usually identified as young children when their power manifests as a result of emotional or physical distress, killing anyone nearby. To protect the general population, the ruling class has created Guardians, who’s role is purely to teach and control orogenes.
As mentioned, the structure is also complex is ways that may only be appreciated after one has read the entire trilogy. First, the reader is dropped into the world without any introductory context or info dumps. The world is what it is and most of the characters fully reside in it with little explanations needed. Second, there are multiple points of view/storylines and the timeframe for each is deliberately obfuscated. As the characters grow and interact, they question the world and this is how the reader also learns more of the context, the backstory. Each chapter concludes from a quote of “stone lore”, which I want to function in the same way the legends and poems do in Lord of the Rings – making the storyline seem fated and heroic, but instead the stone-lore is a collection of rather mundane “how-to” instructions.
I suspect this is a novel I would appreciate more after reading the entire trilogy and a re-read. The structure, the deliberate obscurity of timelines, and the with-holding of information allow for some brilliant reveals, but in the moment are frustrating. There were many times in the story where a narrator would ask a question, be given a significant look in response, and then the narrator would “get it” but I DIDN’T GET IT. And that was rather irritating. Don’t get me wrong, I fell almost completely into the story and devoured the book in three days but my annoyance, so far, has outweighed my curiosity. Plus the second book wasn’t immediately available from the library which allowed my ardor to cool and I’ve moved on to other books.
70katiekrug
Hi Liz. Was thinking of you the other day when I saw a posting about the Met streaming a new opera every night. Hope you are well and hanging in there.
71lisapeet
>70 katiekrug: I've been meaning to catch one of those! This work week was brutal, though, and I didn't have any energy left for looking at the screen in the evenings. But the weekend is a whole 'nother thing. Thanks for the reminder!
72ELiz_M
>79 thorold: Hi Katie! I am doing fine. I'm an extreme introvert and NYC's "pause" has barely made a dent in my social interactions -- It's just changed to texts rather than desk-chats now that I am working from home. I am paid through the end of the month and then we'll see if my boss has been successful in arguing the entire department is essential to continue working in order to plan for the 2020/21 season. I have some savings so I'll be fine for a while even if I did get laid off.
And I refuse to obsessively follow the news (limiting myself to reading emailed headlines and listening to a daily 10-minute news podcast) or worry about the collapse of the economy or most anything else out of control. Quite probably I am in denial, but it's keeping me sane so possibly a good trade-off.
And I refuse to obsessively follow the news (limiting myself to reading emailed headlines and listening to a daily 10-minute news podcast) or worry about the collapse of the economy or most anything else out of control. Quite probably I am in denial, but it's keeping me sane so possibly a good trade-off.
73ELiz_M
>71 lisapeet: I looked to see if I could offer any recommendations, and well it's Wagner week, so they are all (with the exception of Rheingold) rather long. But I do recommend at least watching the Ride of the Walkuries!
74katiekrug
I don't think you're in denial. Where's the sense in worrying about what you can't control? Glad you are doing okay!
75lisapeet
>73 ELiz_M: Thank you! I'm not the biggest Wagner fan in the world, but I could probably be convinced. I'm really hoping for a good rockin' production of The Magic Flute.
>72 ELiz_M: I'm also of the mind that I don't want to obsess over what I can't control. But I think I'm also very good at putting stuff in boxes—I'd like to say it's my experience as a journalist but mostly I think it's just how I'm wired. I hope your work is considered essential—I think cultural organizations are more essential than ever, but I'm not exactly part of the audience that needs persuading.
>72 ELiz_M: I'm also of the mind that I don't want to obsess over what I can't control. But I think I'm also very good at putting stuff in boxes—I'd like to say it's my experience as a journalist but mostly I think it's just how I'm wired. I hope your work is considered essential—I think cultural organizations are more essential than ever, but I'm not exactly part of the audience that needs persuading.
76ELiz_M
1919 by John Dos Passos, pub. 1932
Finished 14-Feb-2020
As the title would suggest, set mostly during WWI with the various characters off in Europe. But rather than depict either the brutality or horror of war, most of the characters are on the fringes -- working as ambulance drivers or Red Cross administrators or the occasional journalist. The war itself is barely mentioned, with most of the "story" focusing on the drinking and constant near poverty of trying to get along in wartime conditions. Although I understand the structure of this work and try to appreciate, I am still only interested in the characters. I find myself skimming the Newsreels, mildly annoyed with the snippets of headlines pasted together without distinction between the separate news stories and somewhat baffled by Camera Eye sections that have no discernible relevance for me. But, Dos Passos is a talented writer and I am fascinated how the characters lives weave together and how a main character becomes a bit player or just a passing mention in another character's chapter.
77ELiz_M
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford, pub. 1945
Finished 19-Feb-2020
The Pursuit of Love is set amongst England's landed gentry in the years between the two world wars. It is the story of two cousins, narrated by Fanny, the abandoned child brought up by an aunt who believes in stability and education and the beautiful and wild Linda, whose eccentric and terrifying father and unobtrusive mother don't seem to raise their children at all.
As they grow into adulthood, Linda's life consists of hunting, socializing with neighbors, playing cards, and dreaming of a prince who will whisk her away. Of course this doesn't bode well for her future and Linda, like Fanny's mother lurches from one incompatible husband to another, searching for her dream of love -- a wealthy partner that will shower her with gifts, attention, chat, and with whom she never need have a serious moment.
While this makes for a delightful, frothy read in the moment, it strongly reminded me of The Man Who Loved Children and in this comparison if one thinks too much about the contrast between Fanny's more ordinary, sensible life with a loving husband and children Linda's reckless abandonment of her husband and child, her thoughtlessly following her second lover to the Spanish Civil War and later predicament in Paris, the only reason Linda's story can be made fun is money. Because she is part of the landed gentry and rich, her behavior and the damage she does to others is excused with money and this story is considered delightful rather than dysfunctional.
78ELiz_M
Irretrievable by Theodor Fontane, pub. 1891
Finished 23-Feb-2020
A quiet, contemplative book. It was a tough read for my busiest time at work, but when I focused it offered a respite.
This is a gorgeous, melancholy depiction of the slow disintegration of a marriage. Holk fell in love with Christine for her intelligence and quiet demeanor. And for many years the marriage is a happy one, Holk's cheerful joking manner livening Christine's somberness, and her thoughtfulness curbing his impulsiveness. But after the death of a child and the move to a custom-built and more remote house, their differences become contradictory rather than complimentary.
It is an oddly structured novel, beginning in the close domestic world of Holk and Christine, then Holk is summoned to court and the story shifts to purely his point of view as he socializes flirts with women and generally enjoys himself until after some dramatic events he throws everything over.
After that, there are three endings -- as if the author couldn't decide if Holk and Christine should have a modern ambiguous ending - remain apart but with hope of someday finding happiness, or should reconcile and find new happiness, or suffer an unavoidable tragic ending.
79thorold
>78 ELiz_M: That’s one I must get to. Also comes with a RebeccaNYC review, I see! I read Irrungen, Wirrungen about a year ago and really enjoyed that.
>77 ELiz_M: Yes, I think you have to be in the right mood for the Mitfords. Perhaps best achieved by going back in time seventy years and joining the Conservative Party first...
>77 ELiz_M: Yes, I think you have to be in the right mood for the Mitfords. Perhaps best achieved by going back in time seventy years and joining the Conservative Party first...
80arubabookwoman
>69 ELiz_M: Despite seeing it everywhere, I wasn’t too interested in The Fifth Season. Two things are now making me consider reading it: there was a recent article in my alum magazine about the author; she attended my small southern women’s college. And, your review makes it sound intriguing.
>77 ELiz_M: I didn’t care for The Pursuit of Love. The scene where she sits on her suitcases in her furs in the Paris train station and is swept off her feet by a handsome millionaire stuck in my craw. It reminded me of all the 1930’s B &W movies about eccentric heiresses. For the life of a woman in those timesI much preferred Ursula in Life After Life.
>78 ELiz_M: I read and liked Effi Brest which seems to have similar themes, so I will look for this one.
Hope you are staying safe. My son in Brooklyn is having a hard time keeping a toddler confined in the apt. Daughter in Manhattan and son in Queens are sheltering and working from home with few problems. I’m just glad that so far they’ve all kept their jobs.
>77 ELiz_M: I didn’t care for The Pursuit of Love. The scene where she sits on her suitcases in her furs in the Paris train station and is swept off her feet by a handsome millionaire stuck in my craw. It reminded me of all the 1930’s B &W movies about eccentric heiresses. For the life of a woman in those timesI much preferred Ursula in Life After Life.
>78 ELiz_M: I read and liked Effi Brest which seems to have similar themes, so I will look for this one.
Hope you are staying safe. My son in Brooklyn is having a hard time keeping a toddler confined in the apt. Daughter in Manhattan and son in Queens are sheltering and working from home with few problems. I’m just glad that so far they’ve all kept their jobs.
81ELiz_M
>79 thorold: Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed the Mitford. It wasn't until I was writing the review that I realized how how ghastly her behavior was.
>80 arubabookwoman: Thank you -- I had more to say about Fifth Season that I thought and I am glad to have intrigued! I read Effi Brest a while back and was impressed by it. It might be a better book than Irretrievable.
Thank you for the well-wishes. Compared to so many people, I am doing fine. I am still employed, healthy (knock on wood), and have savings to fall back on if my personal situation deteriorates, and rather enjoy being at home (helped by the terrible rainy weather). I hope your move goes through as planned, or if you must stay put that you find new accomodations easily.
>80 arubabookwoman: Thank you -- I had more to say about Fifth Season that I thought and I am glad to have intrigued! I read Effi Brest a while back and was impressed by it. It might be a better book than Irretrievable.
Thank you for the well-wishes. Compared to so many people, I am doing fine. I am still employed, healthy (knock on wood), and have savings to fall back on if my personal situation deteriorates, and rather enjoy being at home (helped by the terrible rainy weather). I hope your move goes through as planned, or if you must stay put that you find new accomodations easily.
82ELiz_M
The Afternoon of a Writer by Peter Handke, pub. 1987
Finished 23-Feb-2020
This dreamy little story has an outside perspective that is also inside. The third person limited narration creates an in-between world -- distancing the reader from the protagonist with the use of he, him, his -- but is so focused on how the main character thinks about the world that contextual details his name, the town in which he works are not supplied. Nothing much happens and yet I was utterly charmed by it.
83AlisonY
>76 ELiz_M: interesting. Sally and Jerry were only just recommending Dos Passos on my thread.
84ELiz_M
>84 ELiz_M: I saw that discussion, but as I've only read two of his works didn't have much to add :)
85ELiz_M
Reviewed in my 1001-books thread (click the picture to read the full review):
Alberta and Jacob by Cora Sandel, pub. 1926
Finished 1-Mar-2020
A dreary coming-of-age story set in northern Norway with gorgeous description and oppressive details.
Alberta and Jacob by Cora Sandel, pub. 1926
Finished 1-Mar-2020
A dreary coming-of-age story set in northern Norway with gorgeous description and oppressive details.
86ELiz_M
The Big Money by John Dos Passos, pub 1936
Finished 16-Mar-2020
The final installment of the trilogy, this is the novel that proved how comprehensive the work is -- I was delighted to find a reference to my small, Minnesotan, liberal-arts college in one of the biography sections! Covering the post-WWI period, the roaring 20s, it continues to follow most of the twelve fictional characters from the earlier volumes, their efforts to cash in, to make money, or their growing involvement with the socialist movement. While the writing is as excellent as ever, it had become too much -- even the characters that are doing well are ruinous. I was just so tired of the more upright individuals being ground down by poverty and the ne'er-do-wells drinking and gambling away their good fortunes. A brilliant work, but too much of a good thing.
87ELiz_M
Reviewed in my 1001-books thread (click the picture to read the full review):
News from Nowhere by William Morris, pub. 1891
Finished 20-Mar-2020
I am not sure there ever would have been a time when I would have enjoyed this pontificating utopia, but reading it during a pandemic was especially eye-roll inducing.
News from Nowhere by William Morris, pub. 1891
Finished 20-Mar-2020
I am not sure there ever would have been a time when I would have enjoyed this pontificating utopia, but reading it during a pandemic was especially eye-roll inducing.
88katiekrug
I've long meant to try the Dos Passos trilogy. How closely did you read the 3 together?
Hope all continues to be okay with you!
Hope all continues to be okay with you!
89ELiz_M
Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabó, pub. 1963
Finished 27-Mar-2020
When Vince, a judge ousted and shame for issuing a morally correct ruling in Communist Hungary, passes away his successful doctor daughter, Iza, is determined to take of her mother, Ettie. She returns to the small-town of her childhood and efficiently organizes everything -- the funeral, the selling of the house, the move to Budapest. She makes all the right decisions and spares no expense to ensure her mother is relieved of work and cares. But Ettie is from the generation or communism, small towns, and poverty she has spent her whole life in the same town, ingenuously managed to care for her family through the years of poverty and ostracism. She does not belong in Iza's world.
Szabo tells this story brilliantly. First, the perspective of "the old woman" and each subsequent section adds other points of view, spiraling outwards and showing the family dynamics from many points of view. Minor characters are imbued with life in a few pages and their understanding of Ettie is a perfect foil for Iza in a few quick scenes. The complete, genuine inability of Iza and Ettie to understand each other is perfectly told and makes the read utterly compelling and rather uncomfortable.
90ELiz_M
>88 katiekrug: Oh, you snuck in a message when I was in review mode! Yes. it was a "Big Read" for a goodreads group, so we read one volume a month. See >67 ELiz_M: >76 ELiz_M: >86 ELiz_M:. I think I took a one or two week break between each volume to meet other gorup read obligations.
91ELiz_M
First Quarter Stats*
Books read/listened: 16
paper/ebook: 16
total pages read: 4404
ave. # pages: 275
audio: 0
1001-list-books: 10 (66%)
Female Authors: 5 (33%)
In Translation: 6 (40%)
Non-fiction: 1
Pre-1800: 0
1800s: 3
1900-1949: 7
1950-1999: 5
2000s: 1
Libe books: 4 (27%)
Owned-pre-2020: 11 (73%)
Bought & read: 0
New-acquisitions-2020: 8
*I've counted the three volumes of USA as individual books, rather than as one single work.
Books read/listened: 16
paper/ebook: 16
total pages read: 4404
ave. # pages: 275
audio: 0
1001-list-books: 10 (66%)
Female Authors: 5 (33%)
In Translation: 6 (40%)
Non-fiction: 1
Pre-1800: 0
1800s: 3
1900-1949: 7
1950-1999: 5
2000s: 1
Libe books: 4 (27%)
Owned-pre-2020: 11 (73%)
Bought & read: 0
New-acquisitions-2020: 8
*I've counted the three volumes of USA as individual books, rather than as one single work.
92kidzdoc
Congratulations on finishing John Dos Passos's U.S.A. trilogy, Liz! I own The Library of America edition of it, and will read it sometime in the future.
Great review of Iza's Ballad.
How are you holding out in Brooklyn? What's it like there?
Great review of Iza's Ballad.
How are you holding out in Brooklyn? What's it like there?
93lisapeet
>86 ELiz_M: My parents had the Dos Passos trilogy on the bookshelf in the big hardcover versions, and I always wanted to read them... still do, actually. I'm not sure I could read them all in a row, but your review makes me think I want to tackle at least the first.
Funny (not funny), when I read Darryl's question I thought, I wonder what Brooklyn's like too. We're technically in the same city, and I have friends reporting from Brooklyn, but it might as well be an entirely different state.
Funny (not funny), when I read Darryl's question I thought, I wonder what Brooklyn's like too. We're technically in the same city, and I have friends reporting from Brooklyn, but it might as well be an entirely different state.
94ELiz_M
>92 kidzdoc: Good morning Darryl! I am doing fine, so far. I am still employed, working from home, of course. So far, none of my family or friends have gotten sick. As for the rest of Brooklyn, I hardly know -- I've only left the building four times in the past three weeks.
It feels like there are still too many people on streets, in the park. But the neighborhood is so dense that even if everyone is being careful and only grocery shopping once a week that is still hundreds of people for every block. My co-op grocery store has limited the number of people that can be inside at once, so now there is almost always a two-hour wait to shop. But there is also a (expensive) grocery store next door that is not crowded. The pet store has re-arranged the checkout and added plastic sheeting between the cashiers and the customers. Most people are wearing scarfs/bandana/masks, unless they are exercising. It is an odd, odd world.
I happy that you've resurfaced and have rested and that your parents situation has stabilized.
It feels like there are still too many people on streets, in the park. But the neighborhood is so dense that even if everyone is being careful and only grocery shopping once a week that is still hundreds of people for every block. My co-op grocery store has limited the number of people that can be inside at once, so now there is almost always a two-hour wait to shop. But there is also a (expensive) grocery store next door that is not crowded. The pet store has re-arranged the checkout and added plastic sheeting between the cashiers and the customers. Most people are wearing scarfs/bandana/masks, unless they are exercising. It is an odd, odd world.
I happy that you've resurfaced and have rested and that your parents situation has stabilized.
95ELiz_M
>93 lisapeet: It is a worthwhile read, but I think it helps to understand the structure before starting.
:) My best friend is in Brooklyn, on the other side of the Prospect Park and she also might as well be in a different state -- working full-time with a one-year old baby means I hardly saw her before we were self-isolating. I am glad to hear thta you are doing well and were already fully stocked with essential items before this craziness started.
:) My best friend is in Brooklyn, on the other side of the Prospect Park and she also might as well be in a different state -- working full-time with a one-year old baby means I hardly saw her before we were self-isolating. I am glad to hear thta you are doing well and were already fully stocked with essential items before this craziness started.
96AlisonY
>87 ELiz_M: It's a while since I read News From Nowhere, but I seem to remember enjoying the exploration of the idea of this (completely unrealistic) utopia. It wasn't the most enjoyable book I've ever read, but I think I liked it a bit more than you did from memory.
97ELiz_M
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, pub. 2019
Finished 4-Apr-2020
"...the fact that what is with this constant monologue in my head, the fact that why am I telling myself all this stuff since I know it already, the fact that I knew it all before I said it to myself because I'M ME,..."
Well, that was a whale of a book! Ostensibly written in a stream-of-conscious, single sentence, this is a book that cannot be read, but experienced . In fact (the fact that...), the novel is composed of two narratives . The majority is the flickering thoughts of an Ohioan, a working-from-home mother, and her daily anxieties and hopes about life in the near-present day . These blocks of text are punctuated (with periods/full stops, even!) by short, 2-3 page introspection's of a mountain lioness.
The challenge with this book is in accepting the rhythm and structure of the main text . The endless flow of fragments of thoughts and words are not representative of the most people's top layer of conscious thought, the one where a person might practice a conversation or review an interaction ina directed way . It seems to be only the representation of an under-layer -- the wandering, sometime frenetic thoughts, we have when occupied by rote tasks that do not require our full attention, such as during a walk or, in the narrator's case, baking pies and Tarte Tatin to sell to local cafes .
And what a wonderful mess of an inner monologue it is! The narration is full of snippets of the world around the narrator as well as anxieties about her baking, her children, worries about about money, environmental degradation, politics, American gun culture, plots of old black and white movies; her failures as a wife, mother, daughter, friend; bits of memory about her past, more and more punctuated by rather odd and improbable events (a flash flood complete with a floating house on fire, an explosion of a house across from the school) .
Since her conscious thought is not represented -- the inner monologue just skips or smooths over the real life interactions -- there are gaps in time . Eventually it becomes clear that the frame of the book takes place over several months of 2017, beginning in winter and ending in early summer . Over time, themes emerge and with each repetition of a memory fragment it is seen from a different angle and enlarged upon . Eventually there is a hint of, if not an actual plot, a story arc as the narration coalesces into a more coherent, structured re-telling of a climatic event.
And then there is the fun-house mirrored narrative of the mountain lioness . The novel actually begins with her narrative . At first it is a realistic (although anthropomorphized) and beautifully told . The events and thoughts seem to parallel and amplify the main narration, with a tragic event (it broke me) early on that defines the rest of her story . As the main narration seems to cohere, this narrative becomes less and less realistic, with a very odd climatic event, which eventually allows the narratives to intertwine.
-----
Well, I was worried that I had allowed too much time to pass before writing a review. Clearly the novel made more of an impression than I realized! This novel really worked for me, despite the occasional oddity that pulled me out of the narrative. Sometimes the thought patterns so closely matched my own that my mind would wander off into an associative memory rabbit hole. Other times I would find myself humming a song from a musical, only to realize later that it was a reoccurring fragment in the pages I was currently reading. I thoroughly enjoyed submerging into the flow of words
It's just a very impressive work and an incredible experience if you can get past the narrative tics and the urge to analyze and just let it happen.
98katiekrug
Ducks, Newburyport was a Kindle deal a few days ago and I toyed with the idea of buying it. Sounds like I should have.
Hope you are well, Liz!
Hope you are well, Liz!
99ELiz_M
>98 katiekrug: For goodness sake don't read it in paperback! Especially with a cat on your lap -- it is murder on the hands/wrists.
100katiekrug
>99 ELiz_M: - Ha! I wouldn't even think of it :)
101AlisonY
>97 ELiz_M: Great review. I think yours is the first 5 star review in CR for Ducks, but the rest of us weren't far behind in our appreciation of it.
102RidgewayGirl
>97 ELiz_M: With Daniel's review and now yours, I'm eager to read this, but I'm going back and forth between reading a physical or electronic copy.
103lisapeet
>97 ELiz_M: Huh. I am so disinclined to want to invest the time in this, and then after I read these reviews I keep thinking, "Well, maaaaaybe..." If it pops up as an ebook deal again I might bite. My library has it but I'm not sure I could stand the pressure of a checkout period.
104dchaikin
I’m catching up, so, before Ducks, I was fascinated by your Dos Passos reviews and all the other (lost?) classics you’re reading. But especially Dos Passos
Love your review of Ducks, and your following the trend with yet another completely different take. You have me rethinking the whole level on consciousness narration again - as I think you’ve simplified it for me. The what-she’s-thinking-about-when-doing-something-else idea makes a whole lot of sense. The whole book becomes a kind of idle contemplation - in a way that, for me, opens it up.
Anyway, hope you’re well and Brooklyn is holding strong.
Love your review of Ducks, and your following the trend with yet another completely different take. You have me rethinking the whole level on consciousness narration again - as I think you’ve simplified it for me. The what-she’s-thinking-about-when-doing-something-else idea makes a whole lot of sense. The whole book becomes a kind of idle contemplation - in a way that, for me, opens it up.
Anyway, hope you’re well and Brooklyn is holding strong.
105ELiz_M
>101 AlisonY: Thanks! It was a 4.5 star review before I started writing it, but by the time I was finished writing so much about a book I read 6 weeks ago, I figured it deserved that last 1/2 star for how well it stuck with me.
>102 RidgewayGirl: The physical copy is doable and it's so gratifying when you pass the halfway point. I found I was mostly reading this in smaller chunks, 15-25 pages at a time, so my wrists got some rest.
>103 lisapeet: I do not recommend attempting to read this in 3 weeks! Or when you are overwhelmed with work. It read faster when I was less stresed/busy with work.
>104 dchaikin: No pressure, but I would love to see your take on Dos Passos. I sill think Manhattan Transfer was a better book, but that may be because I read it first. I am happy (and maybe surprised) my rambling review simplified things!
I am well and I hope Brooklyn is holding up. Thankfully none of my favorite restaurants have had to close yet.
>102 RidgewayGirl: The physical copy is doable and it's so gratifying when you pass the halfway point. I found I was mostly reading this in smaller chunks, 15-25 pages at a time, so my wrists got some rest.
>103 lisapeet: I do not recommend attempting to read this in 3 weeks! Or when you are overwhelmed with work. It read faster when I was less stresed/busy with work.
>104 dchaikin: No pressure, but I would love to see your take on Dos Passos. I sill think Manhattan Transfer was a better book, but that may be because I read it first. I am happy (and maybe surprised) my rambling review simplified things!
I am well and I hope Brooklyn is holding up. Thankfully none of my favorite restaurants have had to close yet.
106ELiz_M
Basti Intizar Husain, pub. 1979
Finished 5-Apr-2020
A fluid beautiful, befuddling story of Pakistan in the mid-1900's, through the experience of Zakir. Zakir was born in India and as a boy witnessed the beginnings of modernization and the havoc wreaked by the 1947 partition. His family fled to the new-born Pakistan city of Lahore while his mother's relatives escaped to East Pakistan and his childhood love stayed in India. But this is not a linear narrative and in actuality begins in 1971, during the partition of Pakistan into Pakistan and Bangladesh.As Zakir, a mostly passive participant in his life, tries to make sense of the world and his past, his narration moves seamlessly, disorientingly between oblique descriptions of current events, memories of the past, myths, stories, and legends from both Hindi and Muslim traditions.
At first a beautiful and immersive experience, I set it aside to finish another book and when I returned, discovered that the spell had broken. It is a book I must re-read.
107ELiz_M
Reviewed in my 1001-books thread (click the picture to read the full review):
Pepita Jimenez by Juan Valera, pub. 1874
Finished 14-Apr-2020
In this story of Don Luis de Vargas, a young man training to be a priest, set in an almost utopian Spanish village you can probably guess what happens but the outcome may still surprise.
Pepita Jimenez by Juan Valera, pub. 1874
Finished 14-Apr-2020
In this story of Don Luis de Vargas, a young man training to be a priest, set in an almost utopian Spanish village you can probably guess what happens but the outcome may still surprise.
108ELiz_M
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, pub. 2018
Finished 20-Apr-2020
A Disneyfied version of "Good Will Hunting", set in the south with a female protagonist. Kya Clark, the youngest child of a family of poor whites living in the marshes of North Carolina, remains as her family dissolves. One by one they walk out of her life. Some, like her mother, choose to leave. Some, like her closest sibling, are driven away by their father's drunken rages. Until at a young age she is left alone.
With grit, spunk, and sass she raises herself. Although she only spent one day in school, with the help of her brother's friend she learns to read and is soon ordering college textbooks from the nearest library. She, of course, grows into a beautiful young woman, catching the eye of the town's football hero. She also turns out to be a talented artists and, again with help from the same friend, publishes beautifully illustrated, academic field guides to the flowers, birds, insects of the marsh. But her wonderful life is threatened by the suspicious death of the football hero and Kya "the Marsh Girl" Clark finds herself on trial for murder.
I can see why this book is popular--it is a relatively good blend of a legal thriller, romance novel, and rags-to-riches fantasy with stunning descriptions of the land. But I found it somehow...distasteful.
109kidzdoc
I'm glad that you loved Ducks, Newburyport, Liz. I'll have to get back to it later this year.
I bought a copy of Basti years ago, but I haven't read it yet.
I bought a copy of Basti years ago, but I haven't read it yet.
110ELiz_M
>109 kidzdoc: I hope that you do, if you were enjoying it, get back to Ducks!
111ELiz_M
Reviewed in my 1001-books thread (click the picture to read the full review):
Forest of the Hanged by Liviu Rebreanu, pub. 1922
Finished 28-Apr-2020
A WWI perspective with which I am not familiar -- a Romanian officer in the Austro-Hungarian forces, fighting on the Eastern front. While I was drawn in by the description in the first scene, overall I was not up to the philosophical dithering.
Forest of the Hanged by Liviu Rebreanu, pub. 1922
Finished 28-Apr-2020
A WWI perspective with which I am not familiar -- a Romanian officer in the Austro-Hungarian forces, fighting on the Eastern front. While I was drawn in by the description in the first scene, overall I was not up to the philosophical dithering.
112ELiz_M
A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor, pub. 1951
Finished 30-Apr-2020
I don't know what to say about this book and since it is causing reviewers block, I am skipping it for now.
113ELiz_M
Reviewed in my 1001-books thread (click the picture to read the full review):
Homo Faber by Max Frisch, pub. 1957
Finished 2-May-2020
The novel encapsulates a series of coincidences and improbable events that completely disrupt the narrator's stasis. Unfortunately, I just never settled into this book, was never sure what I was reading.
Homo Faber by Max Frisch, pub. 1957
Finished 2-May-2020
The novel encapsulates a series of coincidences and improbable events that completely disrupt the narrator's stasis. Unfortunately, I just never settled into this book, was never sure what I was reading.
114ELiz_M
All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld, pub. 2013
Finished 3-May-2020
An intriguing, quick read that seems to have been nominated for all the awards when it was published. Jake Whyte, a fiercely independent newcomer to a remote British Island is making a go at raising sheep. Under the best of circumstances it is a difficult life for a woman alone, but circumstances are not normal, have never been normal for Jake.
The story is cleverly told in two intertwined narratives. The present-day story in Britain with unseen menaces, both natural and perhaps unnatural moves forward in time, with an ever-increasing sense of dread as every few nights one's of Jake's sheep is killed. There are rumors about strange men and tales of beasts and then there is Jake's past which may finally be catching up to her. The second story, as yu might have already guessed, is the story of Jake's past and what drove her to this remote place and lonely occupation. This is narrated in reverse.
Up to a point, the stories worked for me each one building on the tension of the other, never quite sure which events are real or imagined. Unfortunately, the present-day story with it's hints of the unnatural was impossible to resolve satisfactorily. The unnatural was too exaggerated for the reality of the final scene. Also, the cover art did no favors to the story, providing an all-too real image for what was built up as fantastic.
115ELiz_M
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson, pub. 2019
Finished 4-May-2020
One of my favorite ways to learn a little something about foreign countries/different culture is to read mysteries. I'm always intrigued by the subtle difference in societal norms, and their breaking, that can be found in them.
In 1986, Marie Mitchell is a black woman in the mostly white, male FBI. As her career is going no where and her days are generally filled with routine paperwork, jumps at the chance to work on an operation revolving around the newly elected revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso, even if it is off-the-books.
I should have enjoyed this novel, with a protagonist that is an outsider in the US and very much so in the FBI and her assignment in an African country I know little about. But it is a spy story, not a mystery, and I was kind of bored by the layers of deceptions, not knowing who was fooling who.
The narrator never became real for me, there would be glimpses, like her pride in out-smarting her boss. But most of the time her motivations didn't make sense. Over and over Marie tells us that her family didn't approve of her childhood friend, but she trusted him absolutely. However, their friendship wasn't portrayed in moments, just though the narrators declarations so when he appears near the end of the story it is emotionally meaningless. And in order for the twists and the reveals to have an impact, you have to be invested in the story, the characters. I was not.
116ELiz_M
Reviewed in my 1001-books thread (click the picture to read the full review):
As a Man Grows Older by Italo Svevo, pub. 1898
Finished 10-May-2020
The writing at times is beautiful but it is almost too much from a different time. While the characters feel very real and I found myself frustrated with Emilio's delusions, I just couldn't quite connect with it.
As a Man Grows Older by Italo Svevo, pub. 1898
Finished 10-May-2020
The writing at times is beautiful but it is almost too much from a different time. While the characters feel very real and I found myself frustrated with Emilio's delusions, I just couldn't quite connect with it.
117Simone2
I am sorry you didn’t connect with >115 ELiz_M: and >116 ELiz_M:, I enjoyed them both. Your reviews of Ducks and Iza are great as usual (sorry, I had some catching up to do).
I hope all is well in Brooklyn and things are getting a bit back to (new) normal again!
I hope all is well in Brooklyn and things are getting a bit back to (new) normal again!
118rachbxl
I like your two-sentence reviews, in the posts with the link to a longer review on your other thread - they give a tantalising glimpse of what you've been reading and really make me want to click through. Not always easy, summing up one's experience of a book in two lines...
119katiekrug
I also was not a big fan of American Spy. I appreciated the different perspective, but I thought the story fell short.
120ELiz_M
>117 Simone2: I also have catching up to do -- 13 reviews behind!
>118 rachbxl: Thank you! It's much easier to write the two-sentences after one has written 2-3 paragraphs.
>119 katiekrug: I missed your review on this one, but your review of another book I've recently read was spot on. If I ever get caught up....
>118 rachbxl: Thank you! It's much easier to write the two-sentences after one has written 2-3 paragraphs.
>119 katiekrug: I missed your review on this one, but your review of another book I've recently read was spot on. If I ever get caught up....
