What are you reading now?: January 3, 2025

Let's hope for a happy new year!

Currently reading Communications Failure. The Second Coming of the KKK and Creating Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force, 1945–2015 will be next.

Starting Imprudent King today.

Started this audio via Libby ~

The Dictionary of Lost Words: A Novel
by Pip Williams
(was a Reese's Book Club pick)

I'm starting the year with The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride for my book club.

Happy New Year!

I'm reading King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild, which is the story of the King of the Belgians whose greed for land and gold led to the mass murders that killed more than eight millions Congolese citizens. Eight million - and I knew nothing about it. I don't read history quickly in the way I do when it's fiction, so I'm only a quarter of the way through.

I was listening to Shirley by Charlotte Bronte, a tale set among the poverty of Yorkshire farmers in the early decades of the 19th century as the Industrial Revolution got up and swinging. Between poor farmers and dead Congolese I had to cut one or the other, and I chose to end my acquaintance with Shirley. In 2025 I choose sanity!

I'm reading The Harps That Once...:Sumerian Poetry in Translation. Also reading a technical book that I won't bore you with.

This Lovely City – Louise Hare
4****

Lawrie Matthews has come to London from Jamaica to answer England’s call for laborers to help rebuild after World War II. He has rented a tiny room and found a job as a postman, in addition to playing with a jazz band. And he has fallen in love with the girl next door. Evie Coleridge is a naïve sixteen-year-old when she first meets Lawrie, in 1948, but by 1950 when they reconnect, she is ready for a relationship. And then one day, Lawrie makes a horrific discovery, and their world is turned upside down.

Hare’s debut work captured me from beginning to end. There are several twists in the story as we learn a bit about these young people’s background and history, as well as watch their relationship mature. London shortly after the war is still experiencing rationing. And while the Jamaicans who have come to London were invited to come (and are British subjects), they are not necessarily welcomed by all the residents. Prejudice and discrimination are the rule rather than the exception, and things get ugly.

I worried for these two innocents, but I should have had more faith. They are strong and resolute, and never give up hope.

Yesterday I got A Tree a Day by Amy-Jane Beer to read every day this year. It has famous trees as well as literary trees, scientific information...I think I'll love it.

The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness
Susannah Cahalan
4/5 stars
This is an older book but it still holds up. It is the true-life story of a doctor that convinces 8 healthy people in the 1970's to enter into a mental hospital and eventually had to prove their sanity to get out of the hospital. Was the study legitimate or did it really happen? Very interesting! Non-Fiction

I'm finishing up James Patterson's London Bridges (I started it last month out of order, and wondered why it was not making sense). Also on the docket to read are A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton and The Warsaw Protocol by Steve Berry.

Behold the Dreamers – Imbolo Mbue
Book on CD performed by Prentice Onayemi
4****

Mbue explores the “American Dream” through an immigrant family’s experiences. Jende Jonga comes from Cameroon with his wife, Neni, and his young son. His hope is to provide for his family, to allow his wife to finish school to become a pharmacist, and to give his son the advantages that are not available in their hometown of Limbe, Cameroon. It is 2007, and Jenda has been blessed to land a job as a chauffeur to Clark Edwards, a rising star at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands promptness, professionalism and discretion, and Jende is up to the task. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even employs Neni at their summer home in the Hamptons. So, they are well on their way to the American Dream, saving money, learning the ways of America, hoping for a bright future. And then Lehman Brothers collapses, and the Jongas are desperate to keep their hold on the dream.

What a powerful and insightful look at the immigrant experience. I was particularly impressed by Neni and the strength she showed when push came to shove, and her family’s future was at stake. But cultural expectations, even when far from home, are hard to ignore. Her desire to keep her children in America cannot fully and fairly compete with the ingrained behaviors of their homeland.

Mbue gives us complex characters, fully realized, with all their gifts and faults. At times I sympathized even with the “villains” of the story. Mbue made me think about the complexity of immigration policy. In the end, though, my money is on the Jonga family. They are more than dreamers. They are winners.

Prentice Onayemi does a superb job of narrating the audiobook. I was particularly impressed by how he voiced Jende and Neni.

I've finished my first book of the year, The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World by Maya Jasanoff, first published in 2017. What Jasanoff has done is provide a biography of Conrad, revealing the important episodes/periods of his life that so strongly informed his writing. Jasanoff weaves these all skillfully with deep dives into four of Conrad's major works: The Secret Agent, Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, and Nostromo. She also explores in depth the historical contexts of these works. Jasanoff is an excellent writer, and her prose flows beautifully throughout this volume. Also, the book profits significantly from Jasanoff's frequent quoting from Conrad's letters, journals and memoirs that provide a greater depth of understanding of Conrad's own experiences, opinions and insights, both good and, from our perspective, frustrating and lamentable.

One important warning: in her descriptions of the four novels mentioned, and of others of Conrad's works, Jasanoff does not shy away from plot spoilers. Other than that, I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Joseph Conrad and the world he lived in and wrote about.

My longer review is posted on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next up for me will be a continuation of my twice-per-year read through of the novels of Isaac B. Singer, in order of publication. I'm now up to Enemies, a Love Story, first published serially in Yiddish in the Jewish Daily Forward in 1966. The English translation was published in novel form in 1972.

Texas! Sage – Sandra Brown
Digital audiobook read by Colleen Marlo
1*

From the book jacket: Sage Tyler set her mind on a certain lifestyle and level of success, and planned to marry a mild-mannered professional type. But on a visit home, she encounters Harlan Boyd. He possesses a small-town mentality which she disparages, an inlated ego which she finds insufferable, and is amused by her imperiousness. Much to her dismay, Sage falls in love with Harlan.

My reactions
Oh, dear. I love a steamy Texas romance, and Brown delivers the steam. But the plot is ridiculous, and the characters are cardboard cutouts.

The sex was okay, if unrealistic. And I actually liked Harlan Boyd as the “outsider” who wins the girl. I also liked how Sage’s sisters-in-law came to her defense. The Tyler boys are not as in charge as they think they are.

Still, it’s a pretty mediocre book, hot sex notwithstanding. I have read later books by Brown and really liked them, so don’t let this one completely deter you from her work.

How Not to Drown In a Glass of Water – Angie Cruz
3.5*** rounded up

Cara Romero is in her mid-fifties and expected to work the rest of her life in the factory that made “little lamps.” But the Great Recession closed the factory and now she is struggling to find work. Cara tells her life story in a series of sessions with a job counselor.

What an interesting way to tell this story! The reader comes to know Cara through her
monologues, interspersed with copies of job notices, psychological and interest assessments, and forms she has completed.

Here is a woman who has always worked, and whom life has not treated kindly. She has been married to a violent man, has struggled to provide for her child, and was abused by her own mother. Yet she has continued to move forward with perseverance. She has shown kindness, even generosity, to her “found family” in her apartment complex. And yet, she has also managed to turn her only child out, though she desperately wants to reconcile.

There are times when I wanted to laugh at her antics and her odd logic. Yet, I could not help but empathize with her and her situation. And though I often winced at some of her actions, I was cheering her on throughout. I’ve known women like Cara. Women who have been knocked down but who get up and try again. Women who make the best with the cards life has dealt them. Women who express their gratitude, friendship and love through the foods they cook for others. How can I help but love such a woman.

Several of my book club buddies listened to the audio version and they raved about it. I read it in the text version but am considering getting the audio to experience “Cara’s voice.”

The Measure – Nikki Erlick
Book on CD performed by Julia Whelan
5*****

It begins with a surprise delivery. All over the world, adults receive a box. A seemingly plain wooden box with an inscription: The measure of your life lies within. Inside is a bit of delicate white fabric, under which is a string. The string is a measurement of the recipient’s life. Some people get noticeably longer strings; others receive noticeably short strings. And therein lies the difference.

This is a remarkable debut work of literary fiction. I don’t remember the last time a work of literature made me think so long and hard about my life, my goals, my experiences, my dreams.

Erlick chooses eight recipients who are of different ages and backgrounds. Some open the box immediately; others wait for a while; others never open their box. Some share their news with family or friends. Others keep the knowledge to themselves.

Will knowing your relative fate help you live your best life? Will it hinder you? If you are a “short-stringer” will you be angry enough to take drastic action? If you are a “long-stringer” will you take riskier options given you guaranteed longevity? Can those with short strings find contentment and success? Can those with long strings find compassion for those less fortunate?

Erlick takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster. At the end I’m left wrung out, and ready to go again. I can hardly wait for my F2F book club discussion!

Julia Whelan does a superb job of narrating the audiobook, though I admit to reading at least half of this in text format because I just couldn't stop "reading" and I could hardly spend 24 hours a day riding around in my car to listen. She has a significant number of different characters to interpret and several times there are conversations between two people of the same gender and relative age. Still I was never confused about who was speaking.

Paper Cuts by Ellery Adams, I love this series

The Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon
4****

From the book jacket: Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen – one of whom has now been found dead in the ice.

My reactions:
This novel came to my attention because it was a selection for my F2F book club. It took me a while to really get into the story but once I did, I was completely captured by it.

The murder “mystery” is less important really than the characters in this book. I loved Martha Ballard. This is one strong, opinionated, intelligent, empathetic and courageous woman! I loved the way in which she stood up for herself and for others. I also really liked how Lawhon focused this story on a middle-aged woman in a strong and loving marriage.

I am glad, too, that I took the time to read the author’s note at the end. AND READERS … be sure to read it AFTER you have finished the novel, as there will be spoilers in it otherwise. Lawhon based this work of fiction on a real woman – Martha Ballard, who was a midwife in 18th century Maine, and who kept meticulous journals / diaries throughout her life. What a treasure-trove of information and insight those materials were for the author!

The new thread is up over here.