MusicMom41's 2009 Reads

Everything I read will be posted here. If you want a preview of what I'll be reading visit me at the 999 challenge. But you don't have to go there--my reviews will be posted here; 999 books will be identified as 999.

I welcome comments and/or suggestions both on what I'm reading and what you think I should read. Be warned--I love to talk about books. If you talk to me I'll answer!

Cheers for the welcome...any time you want to chat about fantasy books, feel free! I know some good ones that's for sure...

Look forward to reading your list...

K

Looking forward to what you have to say, especially about your Civil War reading list!

Hi MusicMom
So glad to see you here!

Oh, there you are . . . I was beginning to think I had lost you in amongst all the other threads :)

Hi MusicMom, I am doing the 100 Book Challenge, but have you starred so I can follow your reading.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I'm going to try to finish my first book today. Back to reading!

looking forward to your year of reports :)

Book 1:

Willis, Connie: The Doomsday Book
999 SciFi/Fantasy category
PL pages 578

This book falls in the SciFi group because what sets if apart from an historical novel is that part of the story takes place at Christmas time in the year 2054, part of it takes place at Christmas in Medieval times and that involves time travel. Oxford University has a device that their historians can use to travel back in time to study “history as it is happening.” During the Christmas break when the head of the department is unavailable the acting head, a medieval historian, decides to change the rules and allow a young historian to go back to the Middle Ages, even though no one has tried to go back that far before and it has been forbidden. The novel unfolds as two parallel stories in the two time periods with the “link” being Kivrin, the young historian who travels back in time. I don’t want to reveal any more of the plot for fear of spoilers. This novel is beautifully written and well researched with characters that seem very real. Not only is the story a “page turner” the reader gets a very authentic view of Medieval times and customs. Highly recommended.

Hi MusicMom41,

I read this book about this time last year and enjoyed it as much as you did. To Say Nothing of the Dog, its sequel (more or less), is supposed to be even better.

Now, Carolyn, what made you think science fiction was all fluff? It provides the opportunity to decontextualize all our cultural and societal assumptions and explore them in novel settings, to warp them or extrapolate them or reverse them or nullify them--for me, it keeps me loose in my head, not thinking that my society is the only way it can be. Try Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue or Sheri Tepper's Gibbons Decline and Fall or Women's Country or Ursula Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness. All societal or cultural explorations rather than space opera--not that space opera isn't a lot of fun too. It's that sensawunda that keeps us reading!

As cautioned before, To Say Nothing of the Dog is not a direct sequel to The doomsday Book, and is completely different in tone. It uses the same university campus and the same time travel technology, but results in a scintillating Victorian comedy of errors and romance, made all the more fun if you have read Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men and a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog. I can't say I LIKE The doomsday book because it is too wrenching, but it is very good. I very much enjoy TSNOFD and reread it much more frequently.

(with great inner struggle, step OFF of soapbox, let the NICE people go on with their threads...)

hi musicmom
Thanks for the excellent review of The Doomsday book I'll look out for this one.

#12: Linda, I think it is one you will really enjoy - just my 2 cents.

I love The Doomsday Book -- so glad you enjoyed it too.

I'm also thrilled to be in on your posts from the beginning of the year :)

#11: I think LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness is a masterpiece. I've one through 3 copies; one, my 2nd one, I don't read anymore because it's autographed by LeGuin--it's now a National Treasure, as far as I'm concerned. At the time it came out--what, 25-30 years ago?--no one was looking at societal impacts. LeGuin was one of the first to use sci fi as a sociological tool. She is a flaming feminist, but is hysterically funny about it. She spoke at a round table discussion in Portland, OR, where both she was living, as was I, at the time. I've never been able to take fantasy seriously again since she pointed out in a way that had the audience, both men and women ROFL the phallic symbolism of magic wands! I still smile, all these decades later.

I am not sure I want to know about the phallic symbolism of magic wands. No, I take it back - I am sure I do not want to know about it! And I definitely do not want my daughters knowing about it either, lol.

It does change your perspective, believe me! (snicker)

>9 MusicMom41: and following: So, we have another fan...good!

If I remember correctly from the threads last year, you have Left Hand of Darkness in your SF/Fantasy category for this year. As Roni intimates, I think you'll find it similar in that it's a an examination of society rather than "hard" science fiction though, otherwise, they are nothing alike.

LeGuin is a fairly consistent writer (consistently good), but she really did a bang-up job on this one. I enjoyed it second only to the first three of her Earthsea series.

Her suggestion of Tepper's work is interesting. Both of the titles fall into her "feminist-messaging" stories more than her "environment-messaging" stories—most of her books being one or the other or both. In her feminist works, I think (admittedly, male perspective here) she very often walks right on the line of over-the-top.

Though regularly categorized as "man-hating crap", I found Women's Country sitting just on the balanced side of that line. Men don't fare well in it but I think women take a few shots, as well, they are just more subtly delivered. I found it a thoughtful book to read.

In Gibbon's Decline and Fall, I think she crosses over that line. Perhaps my favorite quote about the latter is, "It's understandable that women object to being walking wombs. Why, then, should men be walking sperm banks?" If you are a fan of her harsh brand of feminism, then this book probably appeals. However, I found it one of her weaker works.

I think she really shone in Grass and in her "True Game" books (first book: King's Blood Four).

Hi MusicMom41 - I'll have to add The Doomsday Book the ever growing TBR list.

I also love The Doomsday Book. It's on my Top 10 books list. I re-read it every December. The last 40 pages or so I become a sobbing mess. My only problem with Connie Willis books is that she always puts too many obstacles in the paths of her characters. Also, in the future sections of the book, how do they manage time travel when they can't figure out students class schedules or how to contact anyone? Nitpicking, I know. I just let it slide and enjoy the wonderful,sad Middle Ages sections.These sections seem really well researched and written. Kivrin and Father Roche are great characters. I read To Say Nothing of the Dog prior to DB -- it explains in more detail how "the net" functions for time travel. I didn't like it anywhere near as much as I liked DB. It is good - and funny.

Tad, I agree that in Gibbon's Decline and Fall, Tepper crosses over the line, but I had so much fun with her doing so. I was hard put to speak to my husband civilly for the first two days after reading it! Call it escapist fantasy! Need it every once in a while.

I first got into to Tepper (well, they were her first books) with the 9 book "True Games" series, which are still on my shelves as we speak. I agree, they were outstanding, especially when you consider that they started out as so many fantasies of the time were doing, based on D&D type gaming. They went far beyond the average such fantasy.

Ooh, I like the sound of The Doomsday Book! That's going on my TBR pile for this year (and possibly the sequel too!)...

I too love The Doomsday Book, but my favorite book by Connie Willis is Bellwether, which I realize may be a bit dated by now.

Bellwether is such a sly, deliciously funny book--I love it too. I may have to read it again to see if it is dated now or not--what a, um, chore.

Wow, lots more for my TBR pile - Doomsday Book and its sequel, Tepper. Thanks MusicMom41 for the review and everyone else for comments and additional suggestions!

I really think you guys should stop selling TSNotD as "a sequel"...it's giving folks who haven't read them the wrong idea.

Beyond the fact that it's set in the same Oxford setting, the two books are absolutely nothing alike and clearly not intended as a "series". Doomsday is history and drama; TSNotD is a comedy.

OK, sequel or not, I'm still interested in both books.

>27 LisaMorr: you go girl! LOL

>28 suslyn: right back at ya!

My apologies. Only trying to help since we had some folks last year who were quite disappointed in Doomsday given they thought it would be like TSNotD.

lol You're absolutely right Tad -- we're just having fun :) And, it wasn't to be at your expense! Sorry about that.

eta: I would have preferred a real sequel actually. I was expecting that when I got to the second and was quite disappointed. I can imagine that the intensity et al of Doomsday would be hard to duplicate and then if she did folks might say she was unimaginative, just using the same old plotline...

>30 TadAD:: Tad, would your recommended-reading-order for these two still be The Doomsday Book first, all other things being equal? I'm definitely going to try to fit these in this year (and have even picked up a copy of Three Men in a Boat in preparation for TSNotD) so would welcome your thoughts.

>32 FlossieT:: FlossieT, I really don't think it matters between those the two Willis books. They are really unrelated to each other except for the minor fact of the technology. I'd read whichever one you have on hand first. Or, whichever one appeals to your mood: somber and moving, or light-hearted and sometimes silly.

However, what I do think is extremely useful is to read Three Men in a Boat and Gaudy Night before reading TSNotD. You'll catch more references. If you can only read one of them, there a more references to the Jerome book.

#11 ronincats

My husband gave me both Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome and To Say Nothing of the Dog by Willis for Christmas and I plan to read both of them (in that order). I'm already a big fan of Gaudy Night so I am very much looking forward to the other two. I think I will wait for a long weekend or a couple of days off so I can just immerse myself in them. I anticipate those being lots of fun. Doomsday Book was not 'fun' but I found it a great read and I'm sure I will read it again because I know I will get even more out of it when I'm not trying to figure out what's going to happen and can concentrate on the parallels of the two stories.

Left Hand of Darkness is on my 999 list for this year (I already own it and have never read it and I will look into your other suggestions.

#18 TadAD

Thanks for the additional suggestions, I'll add them to my ever growing list in this genre! It will be difficult for anything to top Doomsday Book for me for quite a while. I was really overwhelmed by how great it was. I also like Ursala LeGuin and will read LH of D this year.

#20 VioletBramble

I thought about how appropriate that I was reading the book during my Christmas break-- especially since before Christmas I didn't have time to do a "Christmas Book" read as I usually do. Rereading at Christmas sounds like a good idea. I had no problem with professors and scientists being able to develop time travel and not being able to keep schedules straight or contact anyone--that's the way they are. Highly intelligent but not much common sense and definitely not "day to day detail" people. That's why they need the Finches of the world--otherwise they would never have lavatory paper! :-) (I'm married to a research scientist and have known a lot of professors.) I agree about Kivrin and Roche--and sobbing (which I don't usually do!). The research for this book was so good I just felt it was all real and that's how it happened.

>33 TadAD:: I know and love Gaudy Night, but JKJ I've never yet managed. Definitely this year, and Connie Willis too.

>35 MusicMom41:: MusicMom41 Many people would say that Dune will top it when you get to it. It generally wins the "best SF of all time" ranking in polls. I'm not sure how I'd come down on the question myself—they're so different. Both have a grand sweep to them, I'll say that. However, Doomsday Book is slightly more human, and that may tip the scales. We'll see after you're done with your challenge! :-)

#35 - A bunch of people in my book club have made a tradition of re-reading The Doomsday Book every December. We're big Connie Willis fans. I think some of the little details in the Middle Ages sections -- the general lack of hygeine, dirty fingernails, etc, add to the sense of realness.
Oh, I work with medical researchers and I know how helpless some of them can be with the every day stuff. But I always think --" What, no voicemail or answering machines in 2054?" But then, if they had those things in the book then the action could have moved on more quickly, eliminating some of the sense of impending doom that is part of the emotional experience of reading this book.

Book 2:

Rich, Adrienne: An Atlas of the Difficult World
999 Poets/Poetry category
PL 60 pages
Finished (1/09/09)

Shortly after we moved back to California after nearly 25 years in Savannah, Georgia, my mother-in-law found an article in a Sunday Supplement of her newspaper and she cut it out for me because she knew I was having trouble adjusting to this new place I was now living. The article was about Adrienne Rich and her move to California and it included the opening section of the title poem in this book which is description of the Central Valley as she saw it when she drove through. There were two phrases in that section that struck me full force and started me on the road to “feeling at home” here in the Central Valley where my husband was raised but I had never known. In the summer here all the hills turn brown because the only things that stay green are irrigated. I spent a lot of time driving up to my parents’ house in Northern California and I found these brown hills dreary. A phrase from the poem—“the cattle on their blonde hills” -- became something Hubby and started saying every time we made the trip, and changed my perception of this phenomenon. To this day I still think of that phrase with a smile as I pass the “blonde hills.” The section ends with the following lines: “These are not the roads you knew me by. But the woman driving, walking, watching for life and death, is the same.” That’s when I realized I had only changed my place of living, I had not lost myself—I was still the same.
It is now over 13 years later and I have finally read the entire poem and I still find it all as powerful as it was to me when I really needed that first fragment. The second half of the book are other poems she wrote during the years 1988-1991 and are also very good. This is my first encounter with a complete book of Adrienne Rich poems, although I have known her name and I’m sure have probably read a poem or two of hers in anthologies. Now I am going to be seeking her out and reading her more carefully. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves poetry. She is not easy but she is definitely worth the effort.

wonderful review, MusicMom

Wow! Lovely. I've driven those hills a few times myself, but never lived there. Business in Napa, another spot south of Sacramento, gma lives in Paradise, got married in Oroville (of all places!)...

Very powerful review, MusicMom!

I have to agree, WOW!!!
I have been to the Napa and Sonoma valleys and both my husband and I loved it. We can't wait to come back but with the economy as it is, it won't be any time soon. Maybe I'll have enough time to read some of her poetry before I get there.

This may be something I'll have to put on my TBR list for my poetry category. We lived for several years over in Monterey and would make the trip across the mountains to go to visit my husband's family in Modesto. I remember well the blond hills and the giant windmills .... very different from the east coast where I grew up. Thanks for the great review.

On my last visit to Modesto I chased a dog, lost my sandal, landed flat on my face on the sidewalk, smashed my glasses, broke a tooth, got two black eyes, and had 4 stitches in my busted lip. Anything like that in the book?

hope not!

Suslyn...how awful!! Modesto has certainly grown from the sleepy little city it was 50 years ago but I never encountered anything like this. Hope you have long since recovered.

LOL -- mostly -- fake tooth hasn't needed replaced and the scar is visible on my lip. It was my 4th major fall since I moved to Europe in '98 (even though this one happened in the US). I made the 'note to self': don't even think about trying to run.

Message 45...OUCH>>OUCH

#45: I have to tell you, Susan, that sounds exactly like something I would do!

Stasia -- I am so sorry! My mom is that way too unfortunately. She's had a knee and hip (opposite sides) replaced and needs both shoulders done. I don't wanna go there!!

Unfortunately, I am in the 'needs every body part' replaced category too: both knees, 1 hip, and 1 shoulder.

Sorry Stasia -- and Sorry MM -- didn't mean to hijack the thread!!

Book 3.

Campbell, Jack: The Lost Fleet: Dauntless
999 SciFi/Fantasy Category (Genre: SciFi)
Library 293 pages
Finished 1/11/09

John Wayne in Space! Commander John “Black Jack” Geary performed an heroic feat getting his all by one of his spaceships away to safety while he held off the enemy escaping in his survivor pod when the ship was destroyed. Unfortunately he was never recovered and a legend grew up around him and he became the symbol of daring and bravery in the war that was just beginning. He was posthumously promoted to captain and became the “ideal” that all space navel officers as the war drug on. Nearly a hundred years later Captain John Geary is rescued from survival hibernation and circumstances force him to take command of the large fleet which rescued him. And the fun begins! Luckily it’s a series so there will be more fun ahead.

#52 syslyn

That's okay. alcottacre needs conserve space on her thread! :-)

LOL >53 MusicMom41: That looks like a fun read :) Hope I see it somewhere!

#54: I have a feeling at the rate it is going I will be starting a new thread for every month of the year . . .

#55: It is a fun read and a series I think you would really enjoy.

>53 MusicMom41: - Glad you liked it.

@58 sgtbigg

Thanks for reminding me who recommended it! I used to read a lot of military novels when I was younger, especially but not exclusively navy ones. I had forgotten how much I loved them and it's nice to find a series that will give me hours of pleasure! :-)

Book 4:

Bradbury, Ray: The Martian Chronicles (the revised and updated version of 1997)
999 SciFi/Fantasy category (1/13/09)
PL 268 pages

I finished The Martian Chronicles and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. This is my first Ray Bradbury book and I had expected more. I have no problem with the writing--his prose is lovely and his descriptions are excellent. However, I'm not enthralled with his plots or his characters (most of them are pretty "flat"—with a couple of exceptions). Of all the stories I felt one was incredible and there were 2 or 3 others that I enjoyed in spite of the above mentioned shortcomings; the rest of the were--as richard would say--meh. And some of them were very predictable after you had read a few. The stories with “connecting” vignettes are supposed to create a novel but most of the stories do not relate much to each other, there is very little character development (and that’s being generous!) and no plot development. There was one story, “The Fire Balloons”, right in the middle of the book (and only in the 1997 version, not in the original) that prompts me to raise my rating to 3 stars. Two others that had interesting plots with memorable characters were “And the Moon Be Still as Bright” and “Usher II”. The final story, “The Million-Year Picnic”, was all right and seems to be an attempt at a resolution of the “novel” but with very little indication as to how the planet came to that point. As a collection of short stories the book was mediocre with a few exceptions; as a novel it was a mess.

>60 MusicMom41: So that's one to miss then, Carolyn? It's always disappointing when an author is praised up to sky's and then fails to deliver. But, I am sure other books by Bradbury are probably better. Not read any, so I don't know.

- TT

try Bradbury's very famous Fahrenheit 451 : a dystopia where critical thought is dangerous, reading books is against the law (because, of course, reading encourages critical thought), people watch television 24/7 and firemen's job is to burn books. What could be more horrifying to all bookworms here on LT than that?

I think also that you have o remember when Bradbury wrote and what was in style then. that was at the height of my sci-fi reading days, and I loved his stuff. I don't know what they mean by an updated edition, but knowing/remembering the style and the kinds of things he addressed--including some social issues--the stories might not be so satisfying now.

About it's structure as a novel and how successful that was--it's been too long and I simply don't remember.

Good point, Joyce. I was thinking the same thing. I loved his books of short stories (and both Illustrated Man and Martian Chronicles are basically collections of short stories with a framework added later) but that was 40 years ago, and the whole concept of writing in science fiction was so different than it is now. What was fresh and exciting then is so been there-done that now that it's really hard to grasp what they meant to us then. Obviously this book, at least, hasn't aged well.

#61 TT

I have two more to read so I'll let you know if I change my mind. His prose can be really wonderful--maybe it was just the subject matter. I did love "The Fire Balloons." I almost feel "guilty" about not loving the book. But TadAD has me in therapy so I am recovering. :-)

Next up will be Dandelion Wine. If that goes better I may try Fahrenheit 451--but I'll be giving that one the 50 page rule!

#65: Carolyn, IMHO, Dandelion Wine is the better of the two. That being said, however, I think Fahrenheit 451 more thought provoking.

#62 girlunderglass

Funny you should describe that to me. In MC Bradbury had a story (one of the ones I liked) called "Usher II" which includes oblique references to many of Poe's works (of course the reference to House of Usher is not oblique--the protagonist actually builds a replica of it) that could be considered the antithesis of Fahrenheit 451--I don't want to be more specific because I don't want to give a spoiler. However, I had anticipated what was going to happen, but that didn't spoil the story for me.

>65 MusicMom41: & ff: My problem with Fahrenheit 451 is not the thought-provoking-ness of it (though, in this post-Cold War era, it loses a trifle of its punch, imo). It's the awkward, tedious style of writing.

I'm firmly convinced that this remains a classic only because everyone "knows" it's a classic. If it were written today, I think the reaction might be, "Fair, interesting ideas about censorship and conformity, but not good writing."

I'm a bit behind on posts. Can barely find time to read books...

In any case, I'm happy to hear such a glowing report of Doomsday Book which is my book club contribution to our next queue of books for winter/spring.

This is a rare occasion where I will actually weigh in on something TadAD has said and disagree. I love Farenheit 451 and think it is one of the best written books I've ever read. Bradbury's typical lyrical style is not as much in evidence, but the subject matter doesn't lend itself as much to it. The story, as much as the prose, was, for me, tightly woven and built a wonderful tension, so that I was sucked right into the conflict. I have read several classics that everyone knows are classics only to be disappointed. But this one hooked me on Bradbury for good, and sent me to Something Wicked This Way Comes and Dandelion Wine. I have yet to be disappointed bout a Bradbury. Of course, this is all just my opinion. And TadAD will appreciate the disagreement.

#71 BDB: Having now read 4 Bradbury books, I am now an expert (yea, right), but honestly, I could not recommend The Martian Chronicles to anyone. I was very disappointed in it, especially since I had just finished up Dandelion Wine, which I loved. I also liked Something Wicked This Way Comes, but not as much as Fahrenheit 451, although I am only giving Fahrenheit a slight edge because I think it is more thought provoking. I guess I have my own personal Bradbury scale, worst to first: The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Fahrenheit 451, and Dandelion Wine. I have another of his home from the library now, Farewell Summer. I am anxious to see how I like it!

Okay, guys. I guess I will have to read Fahrenheit 451 and Dandelion Wine (both of which I own) and be the arbiter. Unfortunately that won't make me an expert because i will only had read 3 Bradbury books! Watch this site for further developments. But not immediately--I'm a slow reader! :-)

I'm enjoying the posts regarding Ray Bradbury.
Carolyn, please do try to hang in there with him. His writing is wonderful. And, I agree that some of the stories are outdated, but IMHO, he can capture more in one sentence than some can do in an entire book.

Book 5:

Cook, Glen: Sweet Silver Blues (could also be Fantasy)
999 SciFi/Fantasy category (1/17/09)
PL 311 pages

TadAD recommended this to me because he knows I love Nero Wolf. I love mysteries but had never read a fantasy mystery so at the beginning I had a little trouble getting into it. At first I couldn’t see why all those characters had to be non-human. But after a couple of chapters I got wrapped up in the story and enjoyed it very much—especially when the “Nero Wolf” type character in introduced. As you get into it you understand the story is a fantasy story that is also a “hard-boiled” mystery—and it works! And non-humans can do things humans can’t, which is why they are necessary for the story.

This is my first fantasy/mystery and I loved it! In short: The story was good, the characters interesting, there was humor and tension, and I didn't even mind the vampires! I’m now looking for the second one in the series—this is another one that is going to be fun. I can’t believe I’m hooked on two scifi/fantasy series!

Book 6:

Dunn, Mark: Ella Minnow Pea: a progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable
999 Want To! category (1/18/09)
Library 205 pages

Recommendations on LT caused me to order this book from the library in November of 2008. Unfortunately it did not get to my branch until January 2009 and being immersed in (drowning!) all the reading for 999 I was planning on returning it unread. Yesterday I read a comment about it from alcottacre that caused me to drop all my plans for the afternoon and read it for myself. Thanks, Stasia—I had a blast and also laughed out loud. Even for me, it was a quick read which also made me happy.

The setting of the story is a barrier island off the coast of Georgia where a community has established an independent nation called Nollop, flourishing since the middle of the 19th century. (I was almost tempted to check to see if this were an actual community because many of the barrier islands are home to unusual communities.) The nation is named for the person who is responsible for the typewriter’s testing sentence and there is a statue honoring him in the city square of the main city with “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” encircling the plinth. One day one of the letters falls off and the ruling faction decides it is a sign from Nollop that the letter should no longer be used. From there it becomes a rollicking ride into zaniness, all told in letters which become progressively harder to decipher. If you like words, epistolary novels, slap-stick humor, crazy religions, and think politicians sometimes go to extremes you will love this quirky novel.

I loved Ella Minnow Pea as well. Such a clever story!

#75: I am so glad you enjoyed it, Carolyn.

I've seen so many comments on Ella Minnow Pea, and it took me forever to GET IT!...I an't wait to read it now, and am trying to decide what book to drop down to 10 or 11 in my Books about Books and Language category. You've all convinced me.

Hi MusicMom,
I'm just stopping by to check out your thread. It looks like you're reading some interesting books. I hope you like Dandelion Wine. I read it years ago and loved it. I've got Ella Minnow Pea in my TBR pile and hope to read it soon. I'll also be interested in knowing your thoughts on our group read of The Coffee Trader.

Lorie

Hi lorie

I've had my head buried in a book lately--except when I have to work or sleep! I'm lagging behind on Coffee Trader but hope to make up some time either this weekend or next week. I'm saving Dandelion Wine for spring because I think I will really be in the mood for that kind of book then. I really want to love it so I can buy the sequel! I finally finished my ER book that I've had since late November and the book hubby gave me for Christmas which he really wanted me to read. Now I hope I can get on some kind of schedule so I don't get behind on my 999 challenge.

I'd love to hear what you think of Ella Minnow Pea! It was so funny and yet in many ways so provocative. I may end up buying it because I think I'll want to read it again.

Book 7:

Samet, Elizabeth D.: Soldier’s Heart: Reading Literature through Peace and War at West Point
999 Books about Books category
PL 271 pages (1/21/09) ER for LT

I requested to review this book because I love books about books and I was curious what kind of literature a professor would choose to teach to students who would someday become commanding officers in our armed forces. This book definitely fulfilled that mission. In 1997 Elizabeth Samet went to West Point to teach in the English Department after receiving her PhD in English at Yale. In Soldier’s Heart she has given us look at West Point not only during the time she has been there but also as it has developed historically from the beginning. Samet not only talks about the literature the students read, but also how they react to it and why it was important to their development as soldiers. She includes the difficulties of teaching students who come into class after training classes where all they are allowed to say is “Yes, Sir” “No Sir”, and "I do not understand, Sir” and are now expected to discuss issues and make decisions on what they have been reading. As it turns out, the range of topics chosen was much wider than I had anticipated. It included the expected works that deal with war, including poetry and some nonfiction. But there also many selections that had nothing to do with war and a lot to do with making decisions in life, moral and otherwise. Throughout the book she also discusses literature that many of her students read after they graduated and would correspond with her about, especially those who found themselves commanding units in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was enlightening to discover how literature was influencing many of these young officers.

However, this book goes far beyond just the literature the soldiers read. Samet gives us glimpse into the workings of a military academy and how it walks the fine line between teaching soldiers to be able to give complete obedience to commands they are given and yet not lose the ability to think for themselves. She discusses what it means to be a career officer and the impact that this has on the families of these officers. She talks about how much has changed in the military, especially in the second half of the 20th century as a result of the Viet Nam War and because of the acceptance of women into the ranks of the officer corps. She relates some of the problems that women must deal with in a formerly all male society. And this is only part of the story she tells.

I would recommend this book for every one who loves literature and how it can be applied to life. This book would also be for anyone interested in learning more about the U.S. Military establishment, its history and its current functions. Samet is very balanced in her story, telling us what she considers both the strengths and weaknesses of the education the students receive at West Point. She delivers this all in an easy, readable style generously sprinkled with anecdotes from her life, the lives of the people with whom she works, most of whom are military officers themselves, and stories about her former students. Highly recommended.

Book 8:

McGregor, Robert Kuhn: Conundrums for the Long Weekend
999 Books about Books category
PL 258 pages (1/25/09) Christmas gift from Jim

The subtitle for this book is England, Dorothy Sayers, and Lord Peter Wimsey. McGregor, a history professor at the University of Illinois, Springfield, collaborated with Ethan Lewis, an English professor at the same institution, to demonstrate how Dorothy Sayers’ series of mystery novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey portrayed what was happening in Great Britain in the period between the two world wars, often referred to as “The Long Weekend.” The volume opens with a description of WWI and how it differed from previous wars in how it was fought; in the death toll, and how British society was completely changed as a result of the economic hardships brought about by the war’s devastation and the return of so many “damaged” soldiers which placed an enormous burden on society. The book ends with describing the build up to WWII and how the onset of that war completed the change with the aristocracy losing most of the power it had wielded in the 19th century.

The authors examine how Sayers made a conscious effort to incorporate these conditions into her stories and also how she also portrayed the changing role of women in society at this time. In addition, Sayers life during this time is discussed as is how she developed her characters and themes in her novels and how she gradually developed the mystery novel as a puzzle in to novels which contain a mystery. Each individual novel in the series is given a thorough analysis. There is even an appendix with a time line summarizing by year what was happening in England, in Dorothy Sayers’ life, and in Lord Peter’s “life” during this period of history.

For die-hard Dorothy Sayers fans who are also interested in the history of the period during which these stories take place this book is absolutely fascinating. The novels are thoroughly analyzed (with major spoilers if you haven’t read them!) in context with the times. Sayers readers who are also Maisie Dobbs fans will also recognize many of the situations that Jacqueline Winspear incorporates into her novels, viewing these societal changes from the perspective of “the common man” rather than the aristocracy. Highly recommended for the readers who love Dorothy Sayers.

Hi Carolyn

I hope to read Ella Minnow Pea this weekend when I have some down time.

Like you, I'm also lagging behind on The Coffee Trader. While at first it held my interest, long about page 120, it seemed to bog down.

Glad to here you liked Soldier's Heart- Bob gave it to me for Christmas, and I have it on my 999 list in the "don't know where to put it category. I too have a books about Books category and probably will end up putting it there, but right now that list is full, and I can't decide which one to take off. So once again, the first nine read will fill that batch. I do hope you get a chance to read Ella Minnow Pea- it's already on my read it again list.

tutu

I read Ella Minnow Pea in one sitting last Sunday and loved it! My review is in message 75. I found it both very funny and also thought provoking.

>80 MusicMom41: There's a sequel to Dandelion Wine!?!?

>81 MusicMom41: I really enjoyed your reviews of Soldier’s Heart: Reading Literature through Peace and War at West Point, and Conundrums for the Long Weekend. Neither are the type of books I normally read, but you make them sound very interesting (especially Reading Literature through Peace and War).

>84 MusicMom41: I also read Ella Minnow Pea in one sitting. It's a quick, fun read. A lot of people in this group are now reading it, I think thanks to alcottacre!

#85: Lorie, the sequel to Dandelion Wine is called Farewell Summer.

I wish I could claim the start of the Ella Minnow Pea chain, but I first heard about it here on LT myself.

#81: Carolyn, I am adding both of your books 7 and 7(again?) to the ever-expanding Continent. Thanks for such wonderful reviews!

#87 Stasia

As you can see, I'm a little "groggy" after a "hard day's teaching!" thanks for the heads up--I've corrected it.

I was happy to have time this evening to finally get these reviews done! Especially the ER book which I received at the end of November!

Back to Nell and her adventures!

Nell?? Are you reading The Old Curiosity Shop? If I missed a discussion above about the Nell you're talking about and it turns out she's not at all related to Dickens, my excuse is I just woke up!

#89 g-u-g: MusicMom and I are reading The Diamond Age together. Nell is a character in the book.

*slaps right hand with left hand and makes note to self:* Never.comment.before.coffee.again.

#91 - I don't do the coffee thing myself, but mine might read "never comment before tea again". No big deal about the honest mistake, honestly. Please do not keep slapping yourself :)

Phew. Ok, I've stopped the slapping. I cannot function without coffee myself, if I skip it for a day then that evening I usually get sleepy at about 8:00 PM. But I shouldn't talk to you about sleep, your superhuman ability to go without it is already legendary here on LT. Happy reading to both of you!

As Lorie said in #85, Soldier's Heart isn't the type of book I'd normally go for, but you do make it sound very appealling. I may have to check it out. Thanks for writing such informative reviews.

Both Soldier's Heart and Conundrums for the Long Weekend sound excellent.

>81 MusicMom41: re: Soldier’s Heart My nephew, age 16, has the dream of a life in military service, the secret service, or something of that ilk. He is also an avid reader -- wondered if this might be a good read for him. Any thoughts? I gave him My FBI by Freeh for Christmas.

ETA touchstone wrong, won't bring up 'others' for me to fix it.

Great review of Soldier's Heart I have added it to my wish/lookout list (with a note of your recommendation. I had already sort of been interested but you sold me.

By the way, if you are interested in military academy's and the way they work, try Honor and Duty by Gus Lee. The book was written by a Chinese graduate of West Point and is about a Chinese graduate of West Point. It is colorful, well-written, and a great story about the clashing of cultures!!

I'm glad so many people like Ella Minnow Pea cos I loved it as well. Such a unique concept!!

#91 g-u-g

That's okay--you have reminded me that Old Curiosity Shop is one of the few Dickens I've never read. I'm going to pick up that book next time I'm shopping because i should remedy that! Thanks!

#96 suslyn

I actually considered adding to the review a recommendation that anyone considering attending a military academy, especially West Point, should read that book.

#97 bdb

Honor and Duty sounds like it would be something I would enjoy. I'm putting it on my TBR list. Thanks.

Sure.....had to reciprocate, given that you've added several already this year to my tbr/look out list. I enjoyed Honor and DUty a great deal!!! He has become an author I buy up other titles, though he is not too prolific.

>99 MusicMom41: musicmom! Concerning Curiosity shop, wiki says: The hype surrounding the conclusion of the series was unprecedented; Dickens fans were reported to storm the piers of New York City, shouting to arriving sailors (who may have read the last installment in Britain), "Is Little Nell alive?" In 2007, many newspapers claimed the excitement at the release of the last volume The Old Curiosity Shop was the only historical comparison that could be made to the excitement at the release of the last Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.'" I loved that story and actually there's more to it. Unfortunately, because Dickens himself (not only the characters in his novels) was poor and needed his writing to sell in order to survive he had to change some things in his books in order to please the readers. For example, a lot of his novels that had grim endings when they were serialized, were latter changed by Dickens into happy endings when in book form - because he needed his books to sell, and a lot of people said they would not buy them if the main heroes weren't alive and happy in the end. I guess their lives were already grim enough, and another dose of misery is not exactly what they looked for in books. I'm not sure if this happened with The Old Curiosity Shop as well, but if it did, then the answer to "is little Nell dead?" would be "Which edition are you reading?" :)

#101 g-u-g

Okay--Now I have to get the book!

BTW, what a unique way to avoid a "spoiler!"

LOL!

wait did I? spoil the ending? I don't think I did!! Just read it and see!! :D If you still think I did after you read it I will present my humble apologies :)

#104 g-u-g

No--the point I was making was that you wrote your post in such a clever way that you "teased" me into having to read the book by being very ambiguous about the ending!

I also now know not to read any other reviews or comments about the book before I read it because they may give away the ending. I won't have time to read a Dickens until summer--but I think I'm going to try to do it then. I am so curious about it now!

phew - I thought I screwed it up! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it!
P.S. You said it's one of the few Dickens you haven't read, I'm curious what was your favorite? I've read Old Curiosity Shop, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friends and Oliver Twist...any other you'd like to recommend?

I'll just butt in to say my favorite Dickens is David Copperfield. I read Bleak House this year, and it's excellent as well.

butting in, too, to recommend A Tale of Two Cities... i remember liking it very much.

My all time fave is David Copperfield. Mr. Micawber is a great comic creation. It is just full of good things and Dickens stuck to the plot in this one. It isn't quite a wooly baggy monster like his other books!

- TT

Hi! Have any of you ever read Aquamarine?

#106 g-u-g--and others who are interested!

My favorite Dickens is Bleak House--I was glad to see arubabookwoman agreeing with me because many people don't like that one, but I think it's great.

My least favorite of the ones I've read is Oliver Twist--not sure why and maybe I should try again but not until after I've read the three I want to do next: Old Curiosity Shop has moved to the top of the list, now, even though I don't own it. I also want to read two I do own and haven't read: The Pickwick Papers and Our Mutual Friend.

Of the others--off the top of my head--these are ones I can highly recommend:

Great Expectations
David Copperfield (but not back-to-back because they are rather similar--young boy coming of age in trying circumstances getting help from unexpected sources. But they are different enough that they should both be read.)

A Tale of Two Cities (a must read--so much of this one is embedded in our--or at least my--psyche--besides, even Captain Kirk was familiar with this one! :-) so it really is a classic!)

Nicholas Nickleby (I seem to have liked the ones about the boys!)

I also have a volume with the Christmas Stories which I enjoy but except for A Christmas Carol they aren't essential -- IMO.

I read The Mystery of Edwin Drood several years ago--I don't think I have that one any more--and enjoyed it but i found it frustrating because it is unfinished.

Other people may recommend some of the others.

Edited to try to fix touchstone for A Tale of Two Cities and Our Mutual Friend--it says they are workng but it didn't when I first posted.

I used to hate Dickens!!!!! Blame it on an 8th grade English (truly English) teacher who insisted on our class reading Great Expectations. I think I was too young to appreciate it. Because now.....I am trying him out a little at a time and enjoying it so far. Started with safe territory A Christmas Carol and moved on to A Tale of Two Cities which I really enjoyed!!

I read Our Mutual Friend last year, and enjoyed it. I read Pickwick Papers years ago and didn't like it--but it could have been that I just wasn't ready for Dickens.

Sorry - count me in the camp of Dickens deniers. Loved A Tale of Two Cities, just about tolerated Oliver Twist, can't bear the rest....

Actually, one of my favourite Dickens jokes comes to mind - from a comedy troupe in the UK: "It'd be rubbish if Dickens wrote murder mysteries. Because at the denoument, the detective would say: " I suspect Reverend Brown-in-the-Kitchen-with-the-Lead-Piping. And I think he did it in the kitchen, with the..." (mmm, works better spoken really....)

We are planning a group read of Bleak House mid-June, if anyone is interested.

In terms of characters I must say Our Mutual Friend is my favorite from the ones I've read.
>116 alcottacre: I think I'd be interested in that! Summer is the best time for long reads! (I'm thinking a long stretch of sand and me sitting under one of those beach umbrellas with Bleak House in hand. Some to balance the exuberant cheerfulness that people tend to exhibit on beaches. Don't I sound like a happy person?)

Book 9:

Stephenson, Neal: The Diamond Age
999 SciFi/Fantasy category
PL 499 pages (1/30/09)

I think this book would be classified Science Fiction with elements of Fantasy. There are a lot of technical devices which are designed to protect the individual societies, manufacture needed articles and create food (these last two are in the home), among a lot of other things which I won’t try to explain—mainly because I found this part of the novel difficult to comprehend. The main story involves a very young street urchin girl who accidentally receives a book that is interactive and will teach her many things. This is the part of the book I really enjoyed as she learns not only to cope with the bewildering world but eventually becomes someone who will impact this world. In spite of some of the frustration I felt in trying to unravel all the threads in this very dense story (almost as many threads as on LT :-) )which slowed down my reading—am I’m not fast to begin with—I never lost interest in the book and in some ways enjoyed it. I started it as a library book but finally bought it because I know I will want to read it again to see if some of my questions will be answered the second time around when I know somewhat what to look for.

I would rate this 3 ½ stars and recommend it to hard core Science Fiction/Fantasy fans. They will probably rate it higher!

January Reading Summary:

January Purchases Read

Cook, Glen: Sweet Silver Blues
Campbell, Jack: The Lost Fleet: Dauntless
Stephenson, Neal: The Diamond Age

Other PL Books Read

Willis, Connie: The Doomsday Book
Rich, Adrienne: An Atlas of the Difficult World
Bradbury, Ray: The Martian Chronicles
Samet, Elizabeth D.: Soldier’s Heart
McGregor, Robert Kuhn: Conundrums for the Long Weekend: England, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Lord Peter Wimsey

Library Books Read

Dunn, Mark: Ella Minnow Pea

Books Acquired 29 (read 3)
Books Read PL 8 (Pages: 2,538)
Books Read lib. 1 (Pages: 205)
Total in Jan. 9 books / 2,743 Pages

Book 10:

Hilton, James: Was It Murder?
999 Mystery category
Library 252 pages (2/1/09)

TheTortoise talked so much about James Hilton last year that I decided I needed to read something by him. This was a book my library had that I had not read and I have a mystery category in my 999. I didn’t know that Hilton had written a mystery and I’m curious now if he wrote any more. This was a mystery set in a boys’ school in England which starts with the protagonist, a former student himself, being called in to decide if a death of a student was an accident or murder. Although I knew almost immediately who the culprit was, there were many twists and turns and surprises before the final solution was reached. A very entertaining Sunday afternoon read and highly recommended for fans of older English mysteries. For me, it was a 4 star read, for others who like this kind of thing it would probably be a 3 star read, so I’ll compromise and give it 3 ½ stars.

118, some hard SF can be bewildering if the underlying concepts are not familiar. In Diamond Age, Stephenson employed nanotechnology for the assemblers. Or manufacturing from the molecular level to finished product. In real life there are some problems with this but Stephenson assumes these problems have been solved for this novel. There is another trope in SF arising from self-replicating nanobots called the grey goo syndrome. Basically all the molecules in the environment (a spaceship or sometimes the Earth) get used up and all that's left is 'grey goo'. Total destruction. Therefore a cease and desist option needs to be inserted at the beginning.

Sometimes nano-manufacturing is replaced by bio-tech for manufacturing. In this case if one wants a seven bedroom, four bath house with built in floor to ceiling bookshelves throughout then the plans are encoded and placed in something like a seed. The seed is 'planted' and the house grows at a rapid rate using biological materials.

Another concept in recent SF is the singularity. A technological awakening of the total datasphere which renders humanity to near the bottom of the food chain. Humans create their own gods which can then treat them benignly, eradicate them, ignore them, or push them into slavery.

Some of the SF using these themes are cautionary, utopian, apocalyptic, or predictive. What's interesting to me is how a lot of this stuff is working its way into mainstream literature and how that lag time from SF to mainstream is shrinking. Some of the non-fiction dealing with such disciplines is even running ahead of the SF.

I don't know if you want to get more deeply into nanotechnology or not. If so, a non-fiction place to start is Engines of Creation which was fairly influential on SF. Later books refute or bring up the difficulty of molecular manufacturing.

Current newsworthy events that are cropping up are nanoparticles, even though they are not quite nano in size, are the ones used in sunscreen and makeup. These things are so small they can become embedded and built-up in the lungs or other tissues and then no one knows how to remove them.

VisibleGhost

Thanks so much for the explanation of nanotechnology and bio tech manufacturing. As I understand it, in Diamond Age the prevailing technology is nanotechnology--manufacturing from the molecular level which accounts for the need for the 'Feed lines." Bio-tech manufacturing using "seed technology" is what Nell was learning and what Doctor X planned to base his new society on. It that correct?

As soon as I solve my computer problems I will transfer you notes to my Reading Journal so I can refer to them as I explore Science Fiction genre this year. This will help a lot.

MusicMom41, I was afraid you were going to ask me a specific question about Diamond Age. ;) It's been a long time since I read it. I remember the assemblers for basic needs being nanotech. And the book Nell ended up with was designed to give some of the upper sheltered classes some street/survival smarts but I'm fuzzy on Doctor X's plan and the technology he was going to use to implement it. I've read enough of this stuff that it runs together in my head. I need a file/sorting/recall system implanted into my brain to keep it all straight.

S'kay. I know what you mean. After a while even with a book you love the details tend to fade. And with Diamond Age there were so many threads to keep track of I may even be wrong in thinking the Doctor X is starting a new society with Nell and her subjects! But that's the way I figured it had to be.

>122 MusicMom41:: MM, I don't think the distinction between nano forges and biotech exactly parallels the two production methods in the book.

Seed technology isn't fully described in the book. However, my take was that Seed technology still used nanotech. The difference was that matter compilers used a centralized Source of material and ran that material through their centralized templates. Seeds extracted what they needed from the environment and contained their fabrication templates within themselves.

The former was amenable to centralized control. The latter approach would allow the the Have-nots access to the resources currently available only to the Haves, destabilizing the society.

>119 MusicMom41:: MM, so glad to see you own up to your purchases ;-) Makes me feel a bit less bad (or at least, in good company in my badness!!)

#126 FlossieT

I really agonized about exposing my vice so publicly! I finally decided to do it in hopes that it will make me use better sense this month! My excuse is that last year I didn't buy any books for the first six months (it was a challenge I had with my son) and now I'm making up for it. ;-)

Enjoying your thread, MM. Soldier's Heart is not something I would normally read, but you made it sound VERY interesting. And enjoyed the discussion on The Diamond Age that you initiated - 2 more for the pile!

I hope you enjoy them, Lisa. I think they are both worth reading--even they they are poles apart in style, subject matter and genre! :-)

Book 11:

Connolly, John: The Book of Lost Things
999 SciFi/Fantasy category
Library 339 pages (2/6/09)

I had very mixed feeling about this book. When I started it I had expected a YA book because many people on LT seemed to treat it that way. The story is a coming of age story about a 12 year old boy, David, who must deal with the death of his mother and his father’s remarriage and the birth of a brother. David is an avid reader, a passion he shared with his mother, and he ends up in a fantasy situation based on “fractured fairy tales.” However, this story is very intense and contains quite frightening elements that might not be suitable for younger readers. That said, I enjoyed the book quite a bit, even though I often find “coming of age” stories not my favorite genre. I do love fairy tales, so that aspect of the story appealed to me even though in spite of finding some of the violence disturbing. By the time I got to the end of chapter 31 I was debating whether to give the book 3 ½ stars or 4 stars. Unfortunately there was a chapter 32 which rather ruined the story for me. It won’t for everyone—but I will give a brief hint as to why it did for me.

WARNING—MILD SPOILER AHEAD: The last chapter is rather tacked on, having very little to do with what preceded it, but was quite revealing about the author’s view of life. (IMO) When I finished it the first thing that came to mind was a song that Peggy Lee used to sing called “Is That All There Is?” (I think I have the title correct! The idea is correct, anyway!) It left me feeling flat and wondering if that’s the way Connolly feels why was David’s ordeal an important story to tell?

A reluctant 3 stars because of the first 31 chapters.

Book 12:

Horwitz, Tony: Confederates in the Attic
999 Civil War category
PL 406 pages (2/8/09)

In the late 1990s journalist Tony Horwitz spent over a year touring the South (USA), meeting with many people who celebrated the Confederacy including United Daughters of the Confederacy, Sons of the Confederacy, and Children of the Confederacy. He spent much time with reenactors, visited many battle sites, museums, and monuments and read much literature about the Civil War. This book gives a fascinating look at the many views held by Southerners, both Black and White, about the Civil War, its aftermath, and even about Civil Rights and the 20th Century battles that have been fought for that. Although his viewpoint is that of a Northerner, he is often moved to compassion and developed some understanding of the Southern viewpoint as well. I read this as my first book in the Civil War category. I think it made a good introduction because he visited so many sites in such a short period of time I have a better idea in my mind the names of events I will be reading about later and a little taste of the history which I will be filling in with more detail as I explore this area more thoroughly. His style is engaging mixing humor as well as pathos into his stories. I suspect someday this book will also be part of the literature of the Civil War, explaining how in the 20th Century, in many ways, the “war” was continuing. Highly recommended. 4 ½ stars

Hi Carolyn,

I read The Book of Lost Things and really enjoyed it. I'll have to take another look at it now, because I don't remember the last chapter that you mention.

I also read Confederates in the Attic quite some time ago and thought it was very interesting. I enjoy reading about slavery and the Civil War. Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball was especially interesting to me. My mother and I have done some extensive geneological research of our ancestors and we have discovered that Slaves in the Family wasn't just the story of Edward Ball's family, but also our own, Edward Ball is a very distant cousin. A couple of other good ones are Tara Revisited and Bullwhip Days the Slaves Remember. Bullwhip Days is from a project in the 1930's, I believe, when a group of people interviewed a number of former slaves, recording their personal narratives. It's fascinating.

edited for correct touchstones

#132 loire

Lorie, probably no one would be as disappointed in the ending as I was. It was basically a short summary of everything else that happened in David's life after the big adventure--with a "that's life" feeling that offended me. I didn't need everything spelled out neat and tidy and without the "stories" behind all the events listed it was meaningless.

The story of David's adventure showed how he grew, changed, and in many ways became a better person because of what he went through and what he discovered. The last chapter gave the impression that after that big adventure--"he laughed, he cried, he lived he died"--so what? Without the stories the events are meaningless. That was the point of Peggy Lee's song (which I also disliked intensely!)--we do all these things between birth and death and in the end it has no meaning! That is definitely not my philosophy of life. It may not Connolly's, either--but that was the impression he left me with with that last chapter! Don't tell me what happened if you don't tell me how, why, and what differences it made. Or at least give me enough information (as he did in the story of the book) to let me figure out the answers to those questions.

He should have stopped with "Rose, I'm sorry!" That would have been the perfect place to end the book.

Off the soap box! As I say--I'm probably the only person who would be offended by his last chapter. Thanks for giving me a chance to vent! :-)

Thanks for the suggestions for other reading in Civil War. Slaves in the Family is definitely going on my TBR. That is one of the areas I'm very interested in. I'll check out the others also. I'm not a big fan of Gone with the Wind--didn't particularly care for the book or the movie (except when I read the book as a teenager i surely had a crush on Ashley Wilkes!). And now that I'm older and lived for quite a while in the South I sometimes wonder if that book didn't contribute to a lot of the animosity that still lingers.

Carolyn,
Just to let you know that Tara Revisited is not about Gone With the Wind. In fact the premise of the book is to expose Gone With the Wind and other such unrealistic depictions of the South as the glorified fantasies that they really are.

Thanks for the "heads up!" I had check out Edward Ball book, but hadn't gotten to the others yet! Now I'm more interested! That sounds like I really might like.

#131: I am a big Tony Horwitz fan, although I found his last book a bit disappointing. Anyhow, try his Blue Latitudes and Baghdad without a Map when you get the chance. I think you will enjoy them.

It's pretty well documented that Southerners rewrote history to suit themselves and their Cause. Tara Revisited is an excellent exposé of some aspects of that--the slave-master relationship. Clinton points out how that attitude permeates the South today and how you can buy "mammy" figurines at at least one Southern airport. She does a superb job with analyzing the movie. It's a great book.

Slaves in the Family sounds like one for my TBB list, too.

Book 13:

Taylor, Susie King: A Black Woman’s Civil War Memories
999 Civil War category (or Memoir category) also “Black History Month” read
PL 154 pages (2/10/09)

This is a wonderful memoir written by a Black woman from Savannah, Georgia, who served with the Black regiment that was formed in South Carolina. These Black troops did much to secure the Barrier Islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina and gained territory that made Sherman’s march to the sea possible. Her perspective on this aspect of the war is a valuable addition to the literature available from that era. I especially enjoyed this memoir because it takes place in the area of the South in which I lived for nearly 25 years. Its most important aspect, however, is that we see a perspective of the Civil War from the viewpoint of a Black person who had high stakes in the outcome of the conflict. Her observations are perceptive and show an understanding of what is at stake. Extensive additional notes on the information she gives helps to make this account valuable in understanding much about what these Black regiments accomplished and the sacrifices they made. Highly recommended! 4 stars

#138: I've had this book in mind for a while--now it goes on the TBB list. Thanks, MusicMom.

The lists are in your email!!!

Almost spring training and I am not too happy with the lackluster acquisitions the Giants put together in the off season. But, here's hoping for a better season. I'll be glad when Bochy is gone!

BDB

You and Hubby agree about Bochy. I haven't quite given up on him yet--we'll see. It they could put together a more solid team for him he might be able to do more. Unfortunately, it's hard to be optimistic right now--and the season hasn't even started!

Thanks for the lists--I can hardly wait to see them Monday night. I love lists of Books!

I got a little carried away with this review--you don't have to read it! I still trying to figure out my jumbled feelings. I'll put an abreviated version on my 999 challenge.

Book 14:

Faiz Ahmed Faiz: The Rebel’s Silhouette (trans. By Agha Shahid Ali)
999 Poetry and Poets category
Library 101 pages (2/15/09)

I requested a copy of this book of poems from the library because VioletBramble recommended it. When it came I read a few, found them interesting but not compelling and put the book aside because I had so many other books to read. When it was due I took it back to the library, but at the last minute, on a whim, I renewed it instead. And it sat for another week. On another whim I grabbed it as I went out the door when we were on our way to our get-away house in Vallejo. I’m currently reading a fantasy book that has to do with living under tyrants, fighting back and accepting responsibility for knowing that others may suffer because of what you are doing. There is torture, intrigue and most of all the importance of memory. This afternoon, giving myself a “rest” from my main read I picked up this book of poems.

About the author: Faiz was born in 1910 (or 1911 depending on which reference you are reading) in Punjab, he earned degrees in both English and Arabic literature and in WWII served in the Indian Army, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1947 after the partitioning of the Indian subcontinent, Faiz chose to live in Pakistan where, in 1951 he was jailed on a charge of planning a Soviet sponsored coup. He spent four years in prison under a sentence of death, mostly in solitary confinement. After his release he held various positions on newspapers, in the Pakistan government—depending who was in power—, won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962 when his poetry was translated into Russian and became a world renowned figure especially in Pakistan, India, the Soviet Union, and the Middle East. He died in 1984 in Lahore.

Reading Faiz’s poems would give one no clue to his political views. He is a romantic poet writes of love, but usually as memory, especially in his “prison” poems. The feelings that resonated with me were his passion for life and his deep feelings about the suffering of his country and its people and his despair about not being able to “make things right.” There was also the feeling of finding strength to keep on trying, as well in the delight with so many of the “little things” in life. Many of his poems would put side by side images of love and peace with images of war and terror. Roses and blood were often used together, for example. In some ways my reading of his poetry this afternoon became entwined with the feeling I have been having about the novel I’ve been reading—life often means having to bear great pain and great responsibility to try to a greater good. One of his most poignant poems concerns a death by torture of a prisoner he knew.

I’m not expressing myself very coherently because in many ways I’m still trying to sort out all these feelings myself. It just seem strange—and somehow fitting for a passionate reader—how a fantasy novel and a group of poems originally written in Urdu have made me think deeply about the world we live in—with is beauty and pain all mixed together. Also the importance of memory--remembering good times helps us endure the bad.

On another note—this poet introduced me to a new form of poetry, which I try, rather inadequately, to describe below.

GHAZAL, a traditional Urdu poetic form, is the most popular poem in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh/Iran. Many of Faiz’s poems use this form, of which he was a master, although the form must necessarily be lost in translation.

In Ghazal:

(1) Minimum 5 Stanzas, which is called share. (The introduction to the book said a minimum of 4 stanzas or couplets.) Mostly Ghazal comprises a 7 Stanza/share, but there is no limit; you can write thousands stanzas/shares as you like.
(2)Every stanza/share comprises 2 lines
(3) In first stanza/share last word in both lines is repeated.
(4) Thereafter, last word of 2nd line of all the subsequent share/stanza is repeated as last word of first stanza.
(5) MOST IMPORTANT is that every Stanza/share has separate subject or meaning

From the introduction here is an example– created by John Hollander-- to illustrate the form:

For couplets ghazal is prime; at the end
Of each one’s a refrain like a chime: “at the end.”

But in subsequent couplets throughout the whole poem,
It’s the second line only will rhyme at the end.

You gathered all manner of flowers all day,
But your hands were most fragrant of thyme, at the end.

Unfortunately, because Faiz’s poems were translated from Urdu, the form was lost in the translation, although you could see it visually on the Urdu page.

What an absolutely terrific review, MM! Thank you for the explanation and example of ghazal. it comes up again and again in A Suitable Boy, and while I had figured out that it was a form of poetry, and while rhyming couplets are important to many of he characters, it was never explained.

Great review.

And I empathize with the sorting out you're trying to do. I don't find it the least bit odd that two seemingly very different things are somehow connected so that the whole is more complex and greater than the sum of the parts.

Carolyn....terrific review...I am in awe of your ability to get your feelings and reactions down on paper. It is one of the things I like best about LT...finding others who show us different works that we would never in a thousand years have looked at...now....who knows? Hope your weekend getaway continues to be successful.

The Rebel's Silhouette sounds like something I would really enjoy. Thanks for including the Ghazal explanation, I'm loving the form!

I'm glad you found the Faiz book so thought provoking. I think you expressed your feelings very well -- not at all incoherently. Your review was amazing. It makes my feeble attempt at describing the book look even more feeble. I wish I could express my thoughts as eloquently. (Oh well, I'm really good at math.)
By the way, what's the name of the fantasy book you're reading ? It sounds interesting.

VB

I'm reading Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay--a new author for me. I'm finding it very absorbing--sometimes I almost forget it's fantasy!

I just read on LisaCurcio's thread that she's currently reading Tigana as well! I'll be watching both threads to see what you think because I'm considering reading it myself.

>147 MusicMom41: Yes! I use that book to introduce folks to the genre -- engrossing and a gentle easing into the realm. And compelling reasons for it being fantasy -- sometimes it seems like an author just throws in elves or whatever just to make it 'fantasy' but Kay does such a wonderful job weaving it into the story. I can't wait to read more (I've been checking your thread regularly since you said you were going to read it just to see -- LOL -- hmmm that sounds like I wasn't checking in regularly before. guess I mean I've been checking even more regularly recently :)

Thanks Susan

Unfortunately, I've been making my comments as I read on Stasia's profile because we are reading this together. I will try to remember to make them on here, too as I go along. I should really keep track of them because they could help when I go to write a review!

Somehow, this years seems more overwhelming than last did and I'm having trouble keeping up with everything. Usually I keep a journal of my thoughts as I read but so far I haven't had time to do that very much.

One thought comes to mind: I read Lord of the Rings many years ago and loved it--in fact it is a regular reread for me still. But except for that and the C.S. Lewis books I have read very little fantasy or SciFi--at least it seems that way to me. One reason was because after LotR almost every fantasy I tried seemed to be a pale imitation of the original. The first thing I thought when I got truly into Tigana was that this was fantasy on the level of LotR without any hint of being influenced by it. This is a very rich, layered novel with well drawn characters that we care about and themes that resonate with the problems we face in the world we live in but set in a "fantasy" world. The setting helps us view these themes without being influenced by our preconceived prejudices of the "way things ought to be" so it can speak to us as straight fiction, and especially nonfiction, may not be able to.

Of course, as someone pointed out to me when I mentioned I was going to read this--there is also the music! :-) I love the way that the music is not irrelevant to the the characters lives but integral to their very being! And Kay does such a beautiful job of portraying that music.

no prob -- i read stasia's too, I'm just a bit behind there (it grows exponentially when my back is turned!!)

Rhapsody and Curse of the Mistwraith also have a mess of music, but in Wurts' series it's importance doesn't become clear until the next book or so in the series. That's one advantage of Tigana, a stand alone :)

Thanks for sharing here... and I'm off to read in Stasia's thread :)

>150 MusicMom41:: So much of the fantasy from the 70s-00s has been Tolkien-derived. He was the runaway smash seller (so why not emulate him?) and what people read to become introduced to the genre (so a huge influence). In fact, one of Kay's big works, The Fionavar Tapestry, clearly has Tolkien influences (along with a lot of other things). Kay never tried to hide that, and has such an ability to write that he makes it work and you don't spend your time thinking "Tolkien wannabe" the way you do with Terry Brooks or others.

However, there have been a number of authors who have a distinctly unique voice. Nix, McKillip, Carey, LeGuin, de Lint are some that come to mind immediately as authors who write top-flight fantasy (imo) and where I don't sense any Tolkien or Lewis lurking within.

Nix, McKillip, Carey, LeGuin, de Lint are some that come to mind immediately as authors who write top-flight fantasy (imo) and where I don't sense any Tolkien or Lewis lurking within.

I will eventually get to them all *sigh*

>150 MusicMom41:: now you make me want to read Tigana... funny how sometimes you can read about a book 20 times and it's only on the 21st that the review makes you sit up and go, "Now THAT sounds like my kind of book." Thanks for your very thoughtful comments.

*Knock Knock* Yoo Hoo, anyone home? What is your thread doing here on the third page? Where have you been, Carolyn? You must be in the middle of a very good book. Tigana, maybe? I'm almost half way through with it and think it's excellent so far. I hope all is well with you.

Lorie

Thanks for stopping by, lorrie! I had almost lost "me" too I was so far down the list. :-)

The last two weeks were crazy with the book sale and busy with work. Just when I thought I would have most of Friday to do some catching up we had a minor family emergency--our son had to be in San Diego at 8 AM today for a class and yesterday we discovered that he wasn't going to be able to drive himself because the medicine the doctor gave him so he would be well enough to go to class meant he couldn't drive the 5 hours to get there! So we dropped everything, packed an overnight bag and now hubby and I are on our computers in the motel room while our son is in class. We go home after his class tomorrow.

I did get a little reading done and am now trying to get it posted--before February is over! I'll be finishing Tigana in March--hopefully in a couple of days. I put it on "hold" because I was enjoying it and didn't want to try to read it in small increments--so I read a couple of shorter books that worked well for "short snatches" of reading time.

You've nudged me--I'll get those reviews done ASAP.

Hi, Carolyn, welcome to town! We are having beautiful weather here today (sun and 70s), so you should go down to the beach for a walk, or hit the zoo while you are here.

ETA or you could sit on the beach and read!

roni

Actually, I've spent the morning getting my February reviews organized so I can post them this afternoon. But now we are going out for lunch and hubby knows he can keep me away from the computer for a while if he takes me to a book store--he's located one in Escondido that he thinks will be used books called Seasoned. Or maybe porn? he says. I said maybe cookbooks. I'm taking something to read in case it is cookbooks! I'll never get him out of there. :-) We will pick up our son around 4 o'clock and depending on how much homework he has to do before tomorrow will decide what to do this evening.

I do hope when we come down on a planned trip to go to the zoo. When I was a child I lived in Seal Beach and a trip to the San Diego Zoo was a major event which I always loved. I'd like to see it now because I'm still a "zoo person."

I'm loving the beautiful weather!

Are you in North County, then? There are lots of used book stores down in San Diego proper--Wahrenbrocks downtown on Broadway is not to be missed, but I don't know the north county as well. Most of the bookstores carry a pamphlet that list all the used bookstores in the county, though.

Hi Carolyn

I've missed your posts and wondered how you were. I hope your soon is better..The phrase "once a parent/always a parent" comes to mind.

I smiled when I read that you drove your son to his class (five hours away.) I thought of the time when my daughter was fresh out of grad school and interviewed for a teaching job in the Boxboro/Acton school district of Mass. We were planning on enjoying a leisurely vacation time after the interview. We drove eight hours to our destination. Crying after the interview, she insisted we go home the next day because she was upset, stating she knew she did not get the job. By the time we arrived home, there was a message on the answering machine telling her that she had the position.................

#159 roni

I'm not sure what "north country" would be around here. Our motel is in Rancho Bernardos and the campus of the school is in San Marcus. Last semester they held classes in a high-rise office complex they leased because the buildings on the campus didn't get completed on time and this motel was close to that building. In January they moved over to the new campus--two of the five buildings are now complete and I think they are starting the third. We didn't have time to locate a place to stay closer to the campus. The new campus is very close to Cal State San Marcus.

Unfortunately the book store we had planned to go to was no longer in business. But the Mexican lunch was good!

#160 Linda

Thanks. The doctor was right--he's feeling much better today and had no problem going to class. And you are right--he's 10 years out of undergraduate school and has been supporting himself for even longer than that, but he's still "my baby" so we drop everything to help him when he needs it --if we can. :-) Actually, we do the same when necessary for his older brother, too! Always a mother!

I'm glad your story about your daughter had a happy ending. I hope she liked the job!

Book 15:

Jerome K. Jerome: Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog!)
999 Classics category (2/25/09)
PL 250 pages

This book far exceeded my expectations. I chose to read it because it was recommended as a prelude to reading To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, which is on my 999 list this year. The reviews I read were favorable and I anticipated a few enjoyable hours of light reading. Which, indeed, I experienced—I feel sorry for people who read very quickly, because for me this was a book I really savored. It’s humor can be compared to Wodehouse; but although Wodehouse makes me smile, I had to be careful where I was when reading Jerome because I would find myself bursting into loud laughter without warning—which earned me some astonished stares a couple of times. A favorite story that makes me laugh just to think about it was the hysterical description of Harris trying to perform his “comic song.” There were other episodes just as delicious. However, I think the book was really special because of the gems of history and philosophy lightly sprinkled by the narrator into this story of 3 young men traveling down the Thames for two week from London to Oxford in the 19th century. A lovely nostalgic “travel” book with great descriptions from an earlier era. Highly recommended. 5 stars (but only if you enjoy British humour!)

Book 16:

Willa Cather: The Old Beauty and Others
999 Classics category (2/26/09) Monthly Author Group Read for February
PL 166 pages

These are the last three stories Will Cather wrote, finishing in 1945. For me they seemed to have a common theme: looking back over life when one comes to nearing the end of one’s own life. In the first story, “The Old Beauty”, a fifty-five year old man catches a glimpse of an older woman with who he had been acquainted when he was a very young man and she was a famous “beauty” in London society. Although the narration is in the third person, we get the story of her life as seen through his eyes as well as how this encounter and the relationship they build from it affects them It is a beautiful and touching story.

The second story in the book is the last story Cather wrote: “The Best Years.” In this story Cather is looking back to the Nebraska farm country where so much of her great work was centered. It is a bittersweet story that describes the life of a school teacher early in the century and includes the changes that happened as the century progressed.

In “Before Breakfast”, the third story, an older man looks back over the life he has led, the choices he made with their consequences and learns to come to terms with how his life came out. This was the shortest story but a fitting ending because this is what we all will at some time go through. Cather was genius to the end with her ability to say so much with such spare but beautiful language.

Highly recommended. 4 stars

Book 17:

17. Milosz, Czeslaw: Facing the River
999 Poetry category (2/28/09)
PL 66 pages

I seem to be having a theme this week. As Willa Cather in her last stories, Milosz in these poems written when was eighty seem to be looking back on many things. Fifty years after he escaped Lithuania he was welcomed back. Many of these poems look back on the Lithuania he knew growing up and fighting in a war for before he fled in 1939, sometimes making comparisons with “then and now.” He has poems that look back on many of the catastrophic events of the 20th century and others that look back on his own life. I was especially moved by his pondering of how and why he became a poet and what it has meant to his life. Here are two favorite quotes on that subject—from different poems:

Quote from “Capri” (remembering his childhood and the things that influenced him)

“Early we receive a call, yet it remains incomprehensible and only late do we discover how obedient we were.”

Quote from “Report” (addressed to “O Most High”—looking back on his life)

“How does it happen then that such low beginnings lead to the splendor of the word?

“I gathered books of poets from various countries, now I sit reading them and am astonished.

“It is sweet to think that I was a companion in an expedition that never ceases, though centuries pass away.”

Last year I read one of the most wonderful anthologies of world poetry I have ever encountered, A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry by Czeslaw Milosz, and decided I wanted to read a volume of his own poetry. This is the one I found and it is equally “luminous.” Highly recommended. 5 stars.

edited to fix touchstone

Book 18:

Dahl, Roald: The Witches
999 SciFi/Fantasy category (2/28/09)
PL 207

This was an enjoyable children’s fantasy with a clever story line. My first thought when I read it was “this certainly isn’t Beatrix Potter!” Although I have known about Roald Dahl for a long time and once rented the DVD of Gene Wilder’s version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to watch with my family, I have never read him before. I’m trying to decide for what age this is intended. My older grandson, not quite seven, would enjoy the humor and probably the scary bits but it would have to be read to him. I wonder if I wait until he is old enough to read it on his own if he would still enjoy it. Entertaining. 3 stars

Next up for me will be The BFG. I found it this year for twenty-five cents at the used book sale. I got Witches at last year’s sale.

#162: I have that one on audiobook home from the library, so I will probably be chortling out loud at odd moments and my children will be staring at me again :)

#163: I have not read that one by Cather yet, but I finished The Song of the Lark this week and it is going on my memorable list for the year. Next up for me is One of Ours, the novel that won her the Pulitzer, but I will read The Old Beauty after that. I hope I enjoy it as much as you did.

Stasia

I'm not familiar with The Song of the Lark. I will add it to the TBR because I'm really getting back into Cather right now. At the book sale I purchased a large volume of her early short fiction Collected Short Fiction 1892-1912 and Shadows on the Rock, a novel set in Quebec, which I also did not know about. I already own O Pioneers! but haven't read it yet. 2010 I may have a Willa Cather category--these four, rereads of My Antonia and Death comes for the Archbishop, a couple more volumes of her short stories, a biography, and perhaps I could find a lit. crit. book about her work and I'm set. I think I'll make a note of this! :-)

February Reading Summary:

Hilton, James: Was It Murder? (library) 3 ½ Stars
Horwitz, Tony: Confederates in the Attic (PL) 4 ½ Stars
Taylor, Susie King: A Black Woman’s Civil War Memories (PL) 4 Stars
Connolly, John: The Book of Lost Things (library)3 Stars
Faiz Ahmed Faiz: The Rebel’s Silhouette (trans. By Agha Shahid Ali) (library) 4 ½ Stars
Jerome K. Jerome: Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog!) (PL) 5 Stars
Willa Cather: The Old Beauty and Others (PL) 4 Stars
Milosz, Czeslaw: Facing the River (PL) 5 Stars
Dahl, Roald: The Witches (PL) 3 Stars

Books Read PL 6 (Pages: 1249)
Books Read non PL 3 (Pages: 692)
Total Pages/ February 1,941
Books Acquired (bookstore) 4
Books Acquired (gift) 1
Books Acquired Church Sale) 36 (but they were very cheap! PB $0.25; HC $0.50-$1.00)

ETA missing book and missing touchstones

Genre summary: 2 nonfiction (Civil War); 2 poetry; 2 fiction; 1 mystery; and 2 fantasy.

I like your summary, too. This summary thing seems to be catching, but I think I will give it a pass. Too much work and I am too lazy to do it, lol.

You give us a summary every week! I need a month to have enough for a "summary." :-)

I just noticed I'm missing a book in my summary--I'd better go find it!

#170: I never thought of my 'This week's reads' as a summary, but I guess it is. Ok, now I do not feel as bad for not doing a monthly one. And I can still be lazy :)

Hope you find your missing book!

What's PL stand for?

Public Library?

>162 MusicMom41: Carolyn, I was happy to read your review of Three Men and a Dog because I recently bought a copy, together with The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. I read both of these years ago, but my copies got left behind in South Africa twenty years ago. So, I am looking forward to reading them again.

- TT

>168 MusicMom41::

Great group of reads! I also love how, when we buy a bunch of books (church sale-36), we feel obligated to provide a rationalization! I'm enjoying your thread. :)

#172 Susan & 173 Stassia

I can see I made it very confusing! PL = Personal Library (i.e. books I own); library = public library; other = borrowed, public library (sometimes), and-- if I ever do--read off computer.

Last year I only kept track of the pages I read from my personal library because my older son and I had a challenge going to get pages that we own read. This year I decided to keep track of all pages read as well as number of books. don't ask me why--probably because I read so slowly I get encouragement from seeing how many pages I actually get done.

#174 TT

Oh, no! Another one for the TBR stack! If The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow is anywhere as good as Three Men I will want to read it.

#175 profilerSR

Thanks for stopping by--and for the compliment (Blushing!) This month, when I was so busy with other things, I was lucky that everything I read was enjoyable and worth the time it took!

I also fudged a bit on the church sale total--I didn't count the books I bought for other people!

Before we check out to start our 5 to 6 hour drive back home I plan to post the list of "treasures" I found and, or course, some impulse buys that I hope turn out to be good reads!

2009 Church Book Sale finds:

Nonfiction

Civil War

Tucker, Glen: High Tide at Gettysburg (HC)
McCann, William, ed.: Ambrose Bierce's War (HC)
Leech, Margaret: Reveille in Washington 1860-1865 (TP)

Other History

Toland, John: No Man’s Land: 1918-the last year of the Great War (HC)
Tuchman, Barbara W.: Stilwell and the American Experience in China 1911-45 (PB)

Memoir/Biography

Memoirs by Harry S. Truman Volume 1: Years of Decisions (HC)
Memoirs by Harry S. Truman Volume 2: Years of Trial and Hope 1946-1952 (HC)
Christie, Agatha: Come, Tell Me How You Live (HC)
Christie, Agatha: An Autobiography (HC)
Chang, Jung: Wild Swans—Three Daughters in China (TP)

Other Nonfiction

Eiseley, Loren: The Star Thrower-- essays (TP)
Fagan, Brian: Time Detectives: How Archeologists Use Technology to Recapture the Past (HC)
Hanson, Victor Davis: Fields Without Dreams: Defending the Agrarian Idea (HC) (local author talking about our area)
Schaeffer, Moselle: Camel Lot Impulse buy!

Fiction

Calvino, Italo: Invisible Cities (TP)
Calvino, Italo: If on a winter’s night a traveler (TP)
Calvino, Italo: The Baron in the Trees (TP) planning to discover a "new to me" author
Cather, Willa: Shadows on the Rock (HC)
Cather, Willa: Collected Short Fiction 1892-1912 (HC)
Graham Greene: Our Man in Havana (HC)
Guareschi, Giovannino: Comrade Don Camillo (HC)
Hemingway, Ernest: Islands in the Stream (HC)
Lewycka, Marina: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (TP)
Murakami, Haruki: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (TP)
Penman, Sharon Kay: Here Be Dragons (Welsh Princes series No. 1) (PB) impulse buy!
Sams, Ferrol: The Widow’s Mite and Other Stories (TP)
Spark, Muriel: The Only Problem (TP) impulse buy!
Waugh, Evelyn: Brideshead Revisited (TP)

Children/YA

Dahl, Roald: The BFG
Barker, Clive: The Thief of Always: A Fable impulse buy!
Juster, Norton: The Phantom Tollbooth: Special 35th Anniversary Edition impulse buy!

Mysteries

Brady, John: A Stone of the Heart (Inspector Matt Minogue #1) (TP)
Brady, John: Unholy Ground (Inspector Matt Minogue #2) (TP)
Brady, John: The Good Life (Inspector Matt Minogue #5) (TP) impulse buy! hopefully a new series
Queen, Ellery: The Player on the Other Side (HC)
Upson, Nicola: An Expert in Murder (Josephine Tey mystery #1) (HC) impulse buy! hopefully a new series

Wow! Some of those author touchstones are bizarre. Nicola Upson but not Ernest Hemingway!

>177 MusicMom41: Carolyn, not sure if you have read Wild Swans or not. I read it a few years ago and remember being very impressed with it.

- TT

I will second Tortoise's recommend of Wild Swans. I could not put it down. It is poetically written, with sympathetic characters (the author, her mother and her grandmother), and I got a grasp of 20th century Chinese history, especially the Cultural Revolution, more clearly and enjoyably than from any other book I've read.

What a great haul, Carolyn. I really liked Wild Swans as well.

I guess I'd better find a place in my 999 challenge for Wild Swans! :-D

The only reason I bought it was we had two perfect condition paperback copies donated and someone had put the "extra" in the trash! (You have to watch them every minute--I buy a lot because if it has been around "too long" they will trash it!) I knew I had seen it favorably mentioned on LT so I grabbed it--and paid for it! Serendipity--with so many readers I admire recommending it I know I will love it.

edited to correct touchstone!

Wow, your church book sale is HIGH QUALITY. in awe. I'd be in trouble if I had your church.

Carolyn, I am going to have to stop reading your thread, because everytime I read about the books you read, I end up having to go to the library to get another book that is not on my 999 list.
I guess I'm just going to have to grin and bear it (hehe....)

( she laughs under her breath as she moves another book onto the calendar for March and her husband looks at her wondering if she is going insane)

Thanks for the review of Facing the River. I'm adding both the Milosz books to my wish list. The anthology sounds particularly interesting.
It was smart to read Three men in a Boat before To Say Nothing of the Dog. I read them the other way round. I think I missed alot of references that would have made TSNoTD even funnier.

Oh, the Phantom Tollbooth! I've always liked that one... kinda weird, but still... it's fun!

me too - i loved The Phantom Tollbooth (and nicked it from the family bookcase when i left home!)

I jealous of the Agatha Christies! I can't remember if you had said that you had read Come, Tell Me How You Live but I know that I really enjoyed it last year. Congrats on some excellent finds!!

Ok, where is your church? Perhaps we can get a LT bus and all take a trip to your church book sale..
You have quite a few interesting books obtained..WOW.

Thanks everyone for the dcomments. I felt I really did do a good job this year--most of the books I bought will either fit into the reading I have planed for this year or for categories I plan on next year. Of course, a couple are just for fun.

#187 tapestry100

The Agatha Christie Come, Tell Me How You Live I read last year from the library. As I read I got to thinking about the similarities as well as the differences in the areas today she and her husband had the digs in the 30's (I think!) and I thought about maybe someday doing a read of more recent books about that area. When I saw the book for a quarter at the book sale I decided if I had it on hand I might actually get that in depth read organized next year! The Autobiography was just serendipity. I may read that one this year!

#185 drneutron & 186 flissp

I'm so much into fantasy this year I had to grab those children's books. I knew I wanted The BFG because of Whisper1's recommendation; the other two I just decided to take a chance. I'm glad to get encouragement on The Phantom Tollbooth. I does like it will be "different!" If they are good I will send them on to the grandsons.

>189 MusicMom41:: The Phantom Tollbooth is great. I don't have a copy, which is weird as it's one of those books I used to serially borrow from the library (you know, the kind where when you can't renew it any more, you hang about the desk waiting for them to reshelve it so you can take it out again. Or was that just me?). I want one now.

My sons always LOVED The Phantom Tollbooth. Their grandmother also gave them a video of it, which their 6th-grade teacher (a friend of mine) borrowed every year to show her class. They wore them both out! I should try to find another copy for my granddaughter...

I've loved Phantom Tollbooth since I read it in 5th grade. I also checked it out regularly from the library until I finally bought it at a scholastic book fair at my kids' school. Except that it was for me, not them. One of them (no one ever 'fessed up) took it and spilled something sticky all over it, and it had to be thrown out. So now, I'm also looking for a copy to buy.

Phantom Tollbooth gets my vote too. Our daughter took her copy when she left for college, so we had to buy another one. Son-san got another copy so ours stays here to read w/gbaby when she comes.

ok, no doubt about it, Phantom Tollboth goes on the soon to be read pile. Thanks to all for the great recommendation.

The Phantom Tollbooth is my favorite kids book!

I'd never heard of The Phantom Tollbooth until reading about it here... my, my, my.

ETA (or is that migh, migh, migh? LOL I feel an entymologic urge coming on, or at least one for phrase usage)

There's a video of The Phantom Tollbooth - ooh where? who? when?

I've not heard of this video either!

Video?? Really? Where could one locate such a delight?

For anyone looking for the book, Barnes and Noble has it in their online store.
Also the video is an animated version, at least the one I saw at the library.

This is my reading so far this month. It has been a rough 4 weeks so I've been reading quite a bit of YA literature. I got interested in the Newbery Winners because of Neil Gaiman's award so I added an extra 999 category for them. These next 2 weeks won't be much better but I will be taking a week's vacation beginning March 24 so I'm hoping to get back on track with my regular reading then.

Book 19:

Gaiman, Neil: The Graveyard Book
999X Newbery Winners (3/02/09)
Marty’s 311 pages

This is a wonderful story reminiscent of The Jungle Book by Kipling, only this baby is left in the care and protection of ghosts and a special mentor who is neither living or dead, who inhabit the graveyard. The boy is given “Freedom of the Graveyard” so that he needs to learn how to behave like a ghost as well as how to behave as a live human. The Newbery Award Winner this year, the book should appeal to all ages who enjoy fantasy and coming of age novels. There is mystery, suspense, and danger for a young boy who doesn’t always obey the rules. Highly recommended. 4 stars

Book 20:

Raskin, Ellen: The Westing Game
999X Newbery Winners (3/4/09)
Library 182 pages


A group of people are specially selected to live in a brand new condominium type edifice and become involved in trying to solve a murder. They are paired off to work as teams with a large monetary prize offered for the winning team. Each team is given a paper with words on it that are supposed to be part of a clue that will help lead to the solution. Of course, one of these people may be the murderer! This is an intriguing puzzle mystery written for about middle school age, which makes the solution to the first set of clues pretty obvious quite early for adult readers. However, there are enough twists and turns in the story and enough interest in several of the characters to keep the story appealing to the reader. I think I would have really liked this book when I was about nine or ten—my Nancy Drew phase. 3 ½ stars

Book 21:

Konigsburg, E.L.: The View from Saturday
999X Newbery Winners (3/7/09)
Library 163 pages

This story is about a sixth grade Academic Bowl Team of four students and their teacher who defeat older teams. But the heart of the story is learning about these 5 people and their life journeys to this point. It is a very special book if you like reading about life experiences that help shape the person you become. Highly recommended. 4 ½ stars

Nice reviews, Carolyn. I read The Graveyard Book and enjoyed it. I've been hearing a lot of good things about E.L. Konigsburg lately and will be adding this one to the TBR pile.

I haven't seen your reaction to Tigana yet, so I assume you had to set it aside for awhile. To bad that sometimes life gets in the way of reading. :)

I read The View from Saturday years ago. It was a good book. I remember having a little difficulty believing that sixth grade boys would be that interested in tea parties and calligraphy. Konigsburg is one of my favorite YA writers.

# 202 lorie

I read two chapters of Tigana Saturday--about the only reading time I had for the weekend. Lately, in the evening I'm too tired to read something I really want to get into (hence, the Newbery Books!). I'm hoping this coming weekend I will be able to carve out enough time to finish it.

I've already told my son that he's not getting it back soon--he lives in Chicago and the book is with me in California. I have every intention of rereading this book in summer of 2010--straight through with no interruptions! Knowing that helps keep me from being too frustrated. I often enjoy a book even more the "second time around" and I want a chance to really immerse myself in the story. One nice thing--even though I had a very long break, I had no trouble picking it up and remembering exactly what was going on. I really do like this book!

Carolyn, it is nice to have you and allthesedarnbooks along with me on the journey through the Newbery classics.

I'm currently regarding The Westing game.

Carolyn,

Tigana is definitely worth a re-read. It was very thought provoking for me.

I'm so glad you're enjoying Tigana even if you are having difficulty getting to it -- I'd find that frustrating!

I can relate to not being alert enough to get into a particular book. I'm trying to read Last of the Mohicans but it requires more brain cells than I seem to have available most of the time. I keep thinking 'now who was that guy?' etc. So it's regencies or fluff scifi... :-

Carolyn, it is nice to have you and allthesedarnbooks along with me on the journey through the Newbery classics. Not to mention juliette07; she's on that trip as well! :-)

opps..sorry I forgot to mention juliette07 as a member of the Newbery Journey Club.

Book 22:

McEvedy, Colin: The Penguin Atlas of African History
999 Africa category (3/14/09)
PL 144 pages

I bought this book when I decided to do an Africa category for the 999 challenge. I had intended to just have it on hand so I could refer to the maps of the period of history on which I was planning to concentrate. However last week when I was looking it over I decided it would be a good idea to read the entire book and I’m really glad I did. First I am astonished how much I enjoyed it. I’ve mentioned before that I have a brain that’s wired differently and one of the challenges this presents is the ability to decipher maps—I find this very difficult to do and it takes me a long time to study a map. Since this book contains 60 full page maps that need to be studied in conjunction with the accompanying text, covering the history of Africa from 175 million years ago when it was part of the Pangaea up to the final end of the colonial period in 1994, it was a little daunting when I started. Once I got started I was so fascinated by the complex history of this continent that although it took me a long time to read and absorb it I enjoyed every minute—and was constantly reading aloud portions of the text to my husband. (He is definitely NOT geographically challenged, so sometimes he could even help me understand things which were causing me problems.)

I now feel I have a good background of knowledge to under gird my further reading in this category and I have a more definite plan of what and when I will read this year because I know that I will continue to read about Africa after the 999 challenge is done. Now, I need to find an atlas that goes up to the present because there have been additional changes in the last 15 years since this atlas was last updated. Poor Africa seems to have been in flux throughout most of its existence! Highly recommended as an overview of the history of the African Continent. 4 ½ stars

#210: Looks like a good reference book, Carolyn, and certainly one to have handy when doing any reading on Africa. I am going to see if I can find a copy of my own. Thanks for the recommendation.

Book 23:

Hornby, Nick: The Polysyllabic Spree
999 Books about Books category (3/15/09)
PL 143 pages

This book was just plain fun to read. It is a collection of monthly essays from September 2003 through November 2004 that were originally published in a book review publication called “Believer.” The title of the book is the term he uses when talking about the people who put out the magazine. I picked this book up on a whim because I liked the title and I had never read anything by Nick Hornby even though I have seen him mentioned many times. He starts each month with a list of the books he purchased that month and a list of the books he read. This approach is one of the few things we have in common; that is how I begin each month of my reading journal. Reading the essays is almost like having a conversation about books with him, except he can’t answer my questions or respond to my comments. :-)

Although our reading tastes have only a little overlap (we both love Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, however!) we have a lot in common in how we approach our reading with its joys and frustrations. I plan on keeping this book to reread in a year or two. There are some books he mentions that I might like to give a try when I’m not involved in so many challenges. I’m now reading a lot of books recommended by LTers that I wouldn’t have found on my own and maybe Hornby and I may have more similar tastes than I imagine.

Here are a couple gems of “wisdom” from Hornby:

“I should have read (the book) in a sitting, but I didn’t, and I never gave it a chance to leave its mark. We are never allowed to forget that some books are badly written; we should remember that sometimes they’re badly read, too.” That really spoke to me because of the problems I’ve had finding time to read Tigana.

Commenting on So Many Books by Gabriel Zaid: “Zaid’s finest moment, however, comes in his second paragraph, when he says that ‘the truly cultured are capable of owning thousands of unread books without losing their composure or their desire for more.’” I didn’t realize how cultured we all are!

If you like to read about books, authors, and reading you should enjoy this book. Highly recommended. 4 stars

I've never read anything by Nick Hornby either, but I enjoy books about books and will be adding The Polysyllabic Spree to my wish list. Thanks for the review!

Oh you should read High Fidelity as well! I know the movie's really famous and all that so everyone knows the story already but it's still worth it. Consider yourself warned though: it is a little sad (as well as funny).

I love the Gabriel Zaid quote! I'm just about to go and put it on my profile page I think :)

#213 lorie

I hope you enjoy it. I found it a great one to take with me and read "on the go."

#214 Eliza

I just read the reviews of High Fidelity and have added it to my TBR. Thanks for the suggestion; I'd like to try his fiction because i liked his "voice" so much in the Spree.

#215 luna

That's a great idea--I certainly have "thousands of books" I haven't read yet! I won't steal the idea though--you thought of it first! :-)

Book 24:

Kay, Guy Gavriel: Tigana
999 SciFi/Fantasy category (3/16/09)
Tucker’s 676 pages

I finally finished Tigana last night--I just refused to go to bed until it was done! I'm not sure how to review this book. When I started the book I knew nothing about it except that TadAD had put it on his top ten all time fantasy list. I didn't even know the significance of the title. Everything was fresh and new to me and I relished every moment I was able to spend reading it--even during a very busy stressful time it became a refuge for me. I was frustrated when I had to put it aside and couldn't wait to get back to it; now I feel a sense of loss because it's done. I don't want to give too much information in a review because I think I had the perfect way to enjoy this story--letting it unfold on its own with no prior knowledge of anything. Kay created a world that is not only believable but fascinating, including maps. The characters are believable, well rounded and show development as the tale progresses. There are many threads to the plot but they are handled adeptly and even when I had to wait days between chances to read the book I never lost the train of the story. In my admittedly limited experience in fantasy reading this is one of the very few books that I would put on the level of Lord of the Rings, and yet, except in its quality, it bears no resemblance to that classic. I'm already planning my reread for next summer, which I think will be just as rewarding in a different way--I will notice things I may have missed the first time because now I do know the story and can enjoy its richness on another level. I also plan to read it without interruption either by other books or by RL! Highly recommended. 5 stars

What high praise! To say that you are already planning to re-read this book is a superlative recommendation. On to the tbr pile it goes. Thanks for your comments!

Have read many of Nick Hornby's books, and really enjoyed High Fidelity, as well as 31 Songs, and A Long Way Down. I haven't read The Polysyllabic Spree yet, but will now certainly do so. Thanks for the review.

peter
I imagine time will now be spent with those two adorable little boys...Just think of all the reading that awaits you as you hold them on your lap and teach them the joy of stories, of illustrations, of voice modulation and the comfort of books.

#220 Linda - The older one has in excess of 150 books already, and loves story time. Whenever he sees me without a book, he goes to the nearest bookcase and picks out a book for me to read :)

oh, what a great story!

Thanks for your review of Tigana, I can't wait to get round to reading it!

Hi Carolyn,
I'm so glad you enjoyed Tigana. I loved it. I especially liked how the line between good and evil was blurred in this story (at least that's my take on it) and how love and hate are different sides of the same coin. Some books fade very quickly from the mind once they are read, but Tigana has stuck with me vividly for weeks after reading it. I'll be looking for other books by this author.

Reptitive, but true -- I'm so glad you enjoyed Tigana! I really value it highly and am glad I own a copy :), even if it is in France in storage ... LOL

Lorie

Warning--mild spoiler.

I agree with you about the blurring of good and evil--I think that is one of the very realistic themes in this book--the characters seem real because they exhibit many facets, both good and not so good to not so bad to bad! I was particularly fascinated by Brandin--at first he just seemed evil; we were seeing him through Alessen's view which was drawn from what Brandin had done. When we see him through Dianora who really gets to know him we see another side to him. (I don't want to say more because I don't want to spoil it for others.)

I could talk about this book for days!

#212 - Was just looking at The Polysyllabic Spree again, as the book interests me, and I note that there are actually two more volumes completing the compilation of his articles as written for his "Stuff I've Been Reading" column in "The Believer" magazine. These are Housekeeping vs. The Dirt and Shakespeare Wrote for Money respectively. Thanks again - these passed completely under the radar!

Peter

Thanks for the "heads up!" I enjoyed Spree enough that I will look for the others.. I was hoping he hadn't stopped writing the essays--they

Wonderful review of Tigana. I had seen TadAD's list of his top 10, but seeing your review in conjunction with his list - well, on to the wishlist it goes!

Ditto, about the Tigana review. I'm not a big fantasy fan, but I've added it to my list.

Yes, double ditto for me on enticing review, not being a fantasy fan, but adding it to my list anyway. I'm thinking a good book is usually a good book, no matter the genre. I usually avoid fantasy, science fiction, and mysteries; but if enough people (with different reading interests) talk about a book, I want to check it out. Plus, TadAD's Top Ten--who can resist that?! :-)

Book 25:

Tey, Josephine: A Shilling for Candles
999 mystery category (3/19/09)
PL 238 pages

This is the second novel of six in Tey’s Inspector Alan Grant series. A famous actress has taken refuge incognito in a friend’s beach house. She is discovered to have drowned during her early morning swim. It appears to be an accident but the reader is not surprised when there are suspicious circumstances discovered. Tey is more like Dorothy Sayers than like Agatha Christie in that Tey writes mysteries that are novels rather than puzzles. This story is similar to a “police procedural” in that we follow the working of the Inspector as he puzzles over this crime and comes to discover that there is more than one crime. But unlike most police procedurals, there are many supporting characters with whom we become concerned and interested in learning about. We also learn a little more about Alan Grant. While this is not my favorite of the Tey novels I’ve read (those would be The Daughter of Time, another Alan Grant novel, and Miss Pym Disposes, a crime novel) I enjoyed this book, found it a relaxing, fast read and would recommend it to those who like Golden Age mysteries. 3 ½ stars

Next up in this category is the 3rd Alan Grant novel, The Franchise Affair, which I don’t have yet. The only other Tey mystery I haven’t read is the crime novel Brat Farrar, which I own.

On fantasticfiction.com I discovered Tey also wrote three novels that weren’t mysteries: Kif: An Unvarnished History, her first novel, the story of a young man’s downward spiral during the difficult times in England after WWI; The Expensive Halo, a comedy subtitled “a fable without a moral”; and The Privateer, her last novel before she died in 1952, historical fiction about Henry Morgan. I haven’t decided yet if I will read these; I can get them through interlibrary loan. Has anyone ever read them?

#232: Sorry I cannot help with the additional Tey books, Carolyn. I thought she had only written mysteries. If you read them, let me know how they are. I like her mysteries, especially The Daughter of Time, which is my favorite of hers, followed closely by Brat Farrar.

After reading your review of Tigana, I have added it to my wishlist.

Carolyn,

There is no touchstone for the book I was recommending to you. It is called Music Lovers by Catherine D. Bowen. It is definately worth checking out as it is excellent.

~ TT

I love Catherine Drinker Bowen's books. Her book Adventures of a Biographer is a good read.

#235 & 236

re Catherine Drinker Bowen

She's not easy to get. I can't find Music Lovers either in our ValleyCat library system catalog or at Amazon.com. That one must be really out of print!

Adventures of a Biographer I can get from the library--the system one copy in storage so it will take quite a while to get it, but I won't have time to read it for quite a while! :-)

Thanks for the suggestions.

I will continue to search for Music Lovers because that sounds like it would be a god one for a music category. I'm not sure I will go for 101010 next year, but I am enjoying reading in "categories" so I know I will set up at least a few categories to explore. I like getting into a subject more thoroughly than just one book can do.

Book 26:

26. Penny, Louise: Still Life
999 Mystery category (3/22/09)
Library Audio Book 9 ½ hours (reader: Ralph Cosham)

This is a beautifully written story set in a small rural village near Montréal Canada, where a much beloved woman has been found dead in the woods—is it a hunting accident or murder? Louise Penny seems to be a modern author who writes novels that contain mysteries—there are many questions to be explored in the story. The characters are well rounded and show development. The victim and her life are central to the story rather than just a puzzle to be solved—but the puzzle of her life is even more intriguing that her death. I didn’t mind that I figured out the answer to the death before the Inspector did because the characters and their unfolding stories held my interest. Highly recommended. 4 ½ stars

I think I have found a new mystery series to love! Thanks to whomever on LT recommended it—I keep misplacing the scraps of paper I use to keep track of these things. I ordered (I thought) the book from my library to read over last weekend when we were out of town but when I picked it up I found I had accidentally ordered the audio version. As it turns out that was serendipity—we used it as our “travel book” in the car and Hubby loved it, also. That was quite a surprise for me—I will be getting the others in the series on audio because it is something we can enjoy together.

Book 27:

27. Heyer, Georgette: Friday’s Child
999 Want To category (3/23/09)
PL 480 pages

Young Lord Sherrington must marry in order to gain control of his inheritance. He elopes with a young girl, Hero, an impoverished cousin of a family whose country home is adjacent to his country estate and introduces her to London Society. Thinking that nothing will change in his life he is astounded how many scrapes his wife manages to get into because she is not wise to the ways of the world. This is a delightful story of how a spoiled young nobleman learns to take on the responsibilities of his station in life. As usual, Heyer has come up with many delightful characters who add depth to the story. This is a pleasant, light read with much humor; one of her more “frothy” novels but a lot of fun. Recommended. 3 ½ stars

Book 28:

28. Douglas, Frederick: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas
999 Biography category (3/24/09)
PL 137 pages

Several members of LT have praised this book and since it seemed it would interesting background for my Civil War category and fit into my Biography category I decided it would be a good addition to my list this year. I will have to join the chorus of those praising this memoir of the years of slavery endured by Fredrick Douglas. His writing style is clear and engaging; he describes the horrors of slavery in a matter of fact manner that somehow makes more of an impact than an impassioned harangue would have; and he is fair in recounting the times that he felt that his masters treated him with fairness or kindness. He emphasizes how dehumanizing slavery is and how most masters used that technique to keep slaves docile. He also illustrates how the culture of slave holding was deleterious to masters as well as to the victims. Intellectually, we all know that the institution of slavery was an abomination. Reading Douglas’ Narrative we learn to understand emotionally just how devastating that system was to both slaves and masters.

The edition I bought was published by the Yale University Press in 2001. In addition to the Narrative this edition includes a chronology of Douglas’ life and an extensive Introduction discussing, among other issues, the use of slave narratives by the abolitionists to drum up support for their cause and the difficulties in demonstrating the accuracy of those accounts. Douglas’ Narrative was unique at the time because he dared to name names, give dates, and describe in detail incidences that could be checked, thus putting himself in physical danger of retaliation. My edition also included responses of readers of the day to the Narrative and extensive historical annotations demonstrating the accuracy of his story. Highly recommended as an important document in the history of the USA. 5 stars

#238: Carolyn, the person who recommended Still Life was cyderry (Cheli). The only reason I know that is because I put it on the Continent for me to read, too!

Thanks, Stasia

I'll add that info to the review in my journal, too. I wish we cold get "connections" because I think that will give ua a place to keep track of that kind of information!

Hi Carolyn
I hope you are well.
Regarding keeping track of who recommended a book, my system is that when I add the book to my library, I note the date I added the book and who recommended it. Then later, after I've read the book I change the tag noting I've read it, the date I've done so and retain the information re. who recommended it.

I'm adding Still Life and Douglas, Frederick: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas

Linda

That is a good system--but usually by the time I actually get the book to enter it I have already forgotten. From what I've been reading about "collections" we will be able to use it as a "wish list" so I could enter it as soon as it is suggested--and then I will definitely adopt your system! I'm getting desperate for collections ever since I heard about it--not only for the reason above, but also because I'm hoping we can make short notes about why we want the book (I have a really bad memory if I don't write it down!). My Library List of books I want to get not only won't let you make any notes but also won't you list more than 100 books at a time. :-( So now my Amazon list is humongous!

I think you will enjoy both books! :-)

#242 If you always use the same computer when you log onto LT, maybe you could keep a word document or excel spreadsheet of all the recommendations and who made each one - you could keep it open and jump back and forth whenever you see something interesting.

I started a "suggestions" list for the 999 challenge that I did this with and it's worked pretty well, but I think I need to expand it beyond just the 999 books. Plus, I didn't make a note of who made each recommendation.

Someone here (cyderry?) had a second account they use just for recommendations, and each book is tagged with the user name of the person who recommendated it. I thought that was a good idea, too.

#243 sjm

Both of those ideas are good. Having a second account would probably work better for me because I don't always use the same computer--I have a personal computer which is where most of my LT stuff is done, but right now I'm on my business computer just taking a short break. And often I will use my husband's or my sons' computers if they are handier than either of mine. I'm an LT junkie! :-) That's why I'm waiting for collections but I'm thinking now about a second account!

I wonder how well that works? Anyone tried it, yet? Cheli?

MusicMom, I set up a separate TBR account on LT but I haven't used it all that much. I always seem to forget about it!!! It does have a few of my book suggestions, though.

I read Publishers Weekly every week so I've started going online and copying their reviews of books I want to read into a TBR file, at least until I either buy it or borrow it.

When it comes to remembering who recommended, I try to remember and end up searching (as I did with you and Josephine Tey).

I have a 2nd account, but found it was a real pain going between the two. The cookie set up on my computer doesn't like to have the two different accounts open at the same time. I keep a spreadsheet with all my challenges - it's one big file with different worksheets for each challenge. ---oh I lied...I have a separate file for the Dewey Challenge, because I have a separate worksheet for each 100 level. But in my master sheett I have a list of 'look for' - when I see a book that looks interesting to me (llike it's probably going to be a TBR) I list author, title, who recommended, and then when I have a few minutes, I look to see if it's available at the local library, ILL, on audio, etc, and also note the number of pages and Dewey number.

I don't necessarily want all those in my LT library unless I can separate by collection --tags just don't cut it for me. That way if I'm looking for something, I can sort it by any old criteria I want, without having to manipulate LT. I can cut and paste and shopping list, etc. Just works for me...but I've always been a list maker...

I initially used a Microsoft Word document, but because I am constantly moving back and forth between home and office I found it impractical. I then discovered www.goodreads.com, where I can keep track of all recommendations, ongoing books, etc. It lets you create your own shelf names, so I have shelves labelled for the libraries I can get the books at, a shelf labelled for books that I have on order, you get the picture. You might give that a try.

#245, 246, 247

Thank for all the wonderful suggestions! I have made notes on all of them and will experiment to see which will work well for me. I love lists, too, but I need to learn to keep track of them!

I've been just keeping a notebook...I've experimented with most of these options - including goodreads.com and Excel documents - but I concluded that I'll just wait for collections. I mean they said it's almost ready. I know they've said that before, but this time I'm just gonna take a leap of faith :)

#249

Eliza

"leap of faith" sounds good to me. I won't have time to do any experimenting until after Memorial Day weekend and maybe "collections" will be up by then! Or a date set? or something! It would just be so handy to have everything in one place!

Carolyn,
I've been so busy this week that this is the first chance I've had to catchup on threads. I just saw that you read Still Life and that you liked it, I'm so glad! I loved the style of the story and the characters were great. let me know if you read the next one, I'm not sure when I'm going to get to it though I could get it to fit into "New Book in old Series" ......

**now where did I put that list of the books in this series....**

Still Life is also on my tbr pile.

#251

Cheli

I'm adding that one to my "series" reads.. This summer I will take some time to read the next one in several series I'm neglecting right now and will probably have to make another category for "Next in Series! :-)

#252

Linda, I think you will like Still Life. The characters are interesting and well developed and the "small rural town" atmosphere is done very well.

edited to fix touchstone!

Book 29:

Walsh, Jill Paton: The Wyndham Case
999 Mystery category (3/27/09)
Library 223

I picked up this book on a whim because I had enjoyed Walsh’s works where she completed two Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane books, one left unfinished by Dorothy Sayers and the other left mostly in outline form: Thrones and Dominions and A Presumption of Death. I had not realized that she had written mysteries of her own until I discovered this one, the first in a series featuring Imogen Quy, the school nurse of St. Agatha’s College, Cambridge University. There are four books in this series, two written before she did the Sayers project and two after. So this book was the first mystery she wrote and I found it interesting. A young and fairly unpopular man studying at St. Agatha’s on a scholarship is found dead under suspicious circumstances in a special library always kept locked. Imogen Quy is called in at the beginning because she is the nurse; she gets involved in the investigation because she is a friend of one of the policemen. I enjoy mysteries with school settings and the many characters are interesting and engaging. There are several threads to the story and even a few surprises. I will continue with the series and recommend this to those who enjoy cozy mysteries. 3 stars

Book 30:

Millay, Edna St. Vincent: Fatal Interview
999 Poets and Poetry category (3/29/09)
PL 52 pages

Much of the poetry I have been reading in the last several months has been late 20th century or later, with its freer form of writing. I discovered this volume of Millay while searching for something else on my shelves and decided to read it since it had been years since I have read any of her works and she is a favorite of mine from my younger years. I really enjoyed these Shakespearean style sonnets, with the discipline imposed by the mandatory rhyme scheme and set pattern of three quatrains and a final couplet. In almost all of the sonnets Millay’s handling of the form was outstanding. I found that by reading each sonnet twice—once to myself to get the shape and syntax and then aloud to hear the poetry-- greatly enhanced my enjoyment of these beautiful and haunting poems. The layout of the book also added to that pleasure as each sonnet was allotted its own page of a heavy weight paper with a woven texture that made each poem stand out on its own.

Opposite the title page Millay gives us the origin of the title of this work

“By our first strange and fatal interview,
By all desires which thereof did ensue” John Donne

A cycle of fifty-two (LII) sonnets, Fatal Interview lets us glimpse the progress of a passionate illicit love affair from the point of view of the woman. We experience the ecstasy of the beginning, the gradual dawning of realization that she loves much more deeply than he, and then the waning of the affair. The order of the sonnets lets us see the confusion and mixed emotions of the narrator as the affair progresses, her doubts and well as her utter devotion. About half way through the cycle I suddenly thought that this is a perfect introduction to the novel I plan to start reading next month, Anna Karenina! Below is the sonnet that triggered that thought:

XXII

Now by this moon, before this moon shall wane
I shall be dead or I shall be with you!
No moral concept can outweigh the pain
Past rack and wheel this absence puts me through;
Faith, honour, pride, endurance, what the tongues
Of tedious men will say, or what the law—
For which of these do I fill up my lungs
With brine and fire at every breath I draw?
Time, and to spare, for patience by and by,
Time to be cold and time to sleep alone;
Let me no more until the hour I die
Defraud my innocent senses of their own.
Before this moon shall darken, say of me:
She’s in her grave, or where she wants to be.

For those who are interested an explanation of Shakespearean sonnet form:

Note the rhyme pattern of the Sonnet:

Quatrain 1—wane, you, pain, through
Quatrain 2—tongues, law, lungs, draw
Quatrain 3—by, alone, die, own
Couplet—me, be.

Book 31

McKinley, Robin: The Blue Sword
999 SciFi/Fantasy category (3/29/09)
Borrowed 272 pages

This Newbery Honor Book should appeal to most fantasy lovers and especially to young adults. The characters are interesting and well developed, the mythical kingdom presented in a way that the reader comes to see it as “real” with a history and a presence. Maps would have been useful to help follow the action, but the descriptions were so well done that I could nearly see the map in my head. The heroine of the story must learn “from scratch” about this kingdom and in the process we get to know it very well. I liked it well enough to want to read the prequel, The Hero and the Crown. As a YA book I highly recommend it and give it 4 stars.

Great review of Fatal Interview. Edna St Vincent Millay is my favorite poet. I find her poetry so much more accessible than any other poetry I've read. And I read a lot of poetry. I haven't read this book yet. I'm adding it to the wish list.

#256 VB

Fatal Interview was a delight to read. When I was finished, I felt I really "knew" the narrator and understood her. I also think that Millay put a lot of herself into this cycle.

An outstanding review of Fatal Interview! I had forgotten about Millay, whose poetry I loved long, long ago. In fact, one of her poems--and I couldn't tell you which one--made a lasting impression in its concept. Cant' remember the lines so will summarize: she says God had it easy making the world because He used all new materials. Didn't have to use old, warped lumber, bent nails, and went on to develop that image.

Got to get sme of her poetry back into my library.

I am putting Fatal Interview on the Continent, too. Thanks for such a great review, Carolyn!

Carolyn,
I broke down this weekend and picked up the next in the series by Louise Penny on CDs from the library. I ripped it to my PC so as soon as I can fit it into the schedule I will listen to it. FYI -It has two names - A Fatal Grace or Dead Cold.

Joyce and Stasia

Thanks for the compliments. Sometimes when I really love something I get carried away--it's nice to know that other people will read the review!

Cheli

Thanks for the information. I will see if I can get it from our lbrary for the next time we go up north. It's fun to have an audio book that both hubby and I really enjoy! Usually one of us has to be satisfies with something we can tolerate. :-)

I told my husband about yours listening to Still Life and he wanted to know if it was because you couldn't agree on a radio station just like us?

We always end up listening to either a Mary Russell mystery (he likes Sherlock Holmes) or Rumpole of the Bailey (he gets a kick out of the PBS series).

I participated in a March Group read of Edgar Alan Poe which was fun. However, since practically everything of his, both prose and poetry, is a reread for me, I used an audio version I own (for those trips with hubby--he tolerates, I remember the "reading love of my youth" :-)-- I decided not to count it in either my 75 or 999 challenges. Anyone who is interested, this is what I posted for the Poe read:

Because I've read all of the works of Edgar Allan Poe's that I am aware of over the course of my life I decided to participate in this read using a set of CD's of 20 of his works (the first 3 of which I did not know about until I bought this set). The readers are Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price and I can tell you that Poe's tales are much scarier when listened to rather than read!

So far I have heard the following:

Read by Rathbone:

To--(a short introductory piece)
Alone (even shorter--more of a description of a condition rather than a story)
The City in the Sea--(the 3rd of the entries I did not know--still short and descriptive but a story)

The Fall of the House of Usher (one of my favorites--I actually also reread this last month when I read Usher II by Bradbury--one of my favorites in that book of stories, too)

The Haunted Palace (short and not as well known--I had forgotten about it until I heard the disk)
The Pit and the Pendulum (one his best known and also a favorite--Poe does have happy endings!)
The Masque of the Red Death (another classic which I enjoy)

The Tell-Tale Heart (This was the first "horror" story of his I read and started me down that slippery slope. Until then I had only read the "detective" stories. I started reading Poe when I was about 6th grade, first the poetry which I loved and then his mysteries--which I also loved. I was a teenager when I started on the horror stories--surprisingly I also liked them a lot--and I don't usually like horror stories, even to this day.)

The Black Cat (This was another story that I only remembered when I heard it again--it's a good one.)

Read by Price:

Ligeia (a beautiful haunting story--as a teenager I loved it. I was really a "romantic!" Price's reading makes it "sing!" But now, at a more mature age, I find the ending a little unsettling--what caused the illness of the Lady of Tremaine? Or is Poe meant to be taken at face value without moral questioning?

Morella (A shorter story with theme somewhat similar, if obverse, to Ligeia.)

The Imp of the Perverse ( another short one) (This touchstone refers to a Spanish edition)

Cheli

I'll have to try a Mary Russell mystery--he might like those, too.

We have no problem agreeing on a radio station--but the only radio station that we like is in San Francisco--KDFC (classical music--all the time and no comerccials on Sunday morning). We get great reception at our house in Vallejo because it is on a hill so no interference but limited reception in the car and for only a limited area.

We used to be able to find Public Radio stations when we traveled, but in this area they are almost entirely "talk radio" now and I can't abide that. Hubby sometimes will listen to some of it, but even he has a pretty low tolerance for it.

MusicMom....thanks for the push to Edna St Vincent Millay. She is a local author--in fact our "Literary Map of Maine" yielded this to me:

Millay was born in Rockland, spent much of her childhood in Camden, and won the 1923 poetry Pulitzer Prize for "The Harp Weaver and Other Poems." One of her most famous poems,
"Renascence," is said to have been inspired by the view from the top of Camden's Mount Battie.

Having been to the top of Mount Battie often (we take every visitor there), I had to run and read that one. On my new town library webpage, (who'da thunk at my old age I'd turn into a webmaster?) we have a featured Maine author every month. Since she is such a noted local, I think I will feature her and her poem in June to inspire our users to look at the view as we go to Mount Battie this summer.

Just for everyone's delight here's the poem (it's short-sorry to hijack your thread):

All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked the other way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I'd started from;
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.

It is soooooooooooo true. I could spend everyday up there just looking at those islands, spotting the schooners darting among them, and then turning to look at the mountains. You've just inspired a blog post for me .. check out tutu's Two cents

Thanks for the inspiration. Tutu

I'll check out the blog post after I finish teaching--my first student is due in about 5 minutes--but I had to stop and say That Renascence was the first Millay poem I read--I was about 12 years old--and it started my love affair with her poems. My motto was:

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night,
But ah, my foes and oh, my friends
It gives a lovely light.

I can't seem to find the book that it was in, but I still remember it from my teens.

edited to fix poem

Hi Carolyn, Popping in when I should be working and catching up on a couple of threads. I enjoyed reading about ~120 posts here and added 8 books to the pile from your reviews or recommended by others. Dangerous! But fun... Thanks for the diversion!

Thanks for stopping by, Lisa. I'm lurking on your thread and will send you a *wave* next time I'm there!--just don't have as much time as I'd like to keep up with the discussions and the reading, both! :-)

#264: Carolyn, I do not know how familiar you are with the series, but if you listen to one of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books, it would be best if you started with The Beekeeper's Apprentice.

Carolyn: I strongly second Stasia's recommendation. The first book sets the tone for everything afterwards, plus is a gem in its own right, one of the best in the series.

There's not a bad book in the series.

Lovely stuff here. Thx Stasia for the comment on Goodreads... I have my wishlist on shelfari atm but it isn't as flexible as I'd like -- Goodreads might do the trick!

ETA I have one of the later Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes booksbooks which I enjoyed, but I wish I'd been able to read the previous volumes first.

Edited again to add I am reading a truly LOL mystery right now: Goose in the Pond by Fowler. What a kick!

>266 MusicMom41: That poem can be found in "Two Figs from Thistles"

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/24991.html

Carolyn,
Definitely, The Beekeeper's Apprentice first.

Thanks to all for the advice on Beekeeper's Apprentice. I will check to see if the library has an audio version for our next trip. I think we will both like it.

Susan--I read a lot of the Beni Harper mysteries a few years ago when I was doing a lot of quilting. A very enjoyable series!

laytonwoman3rd--Thanks for coming to the rescue. I don't have that book any more and I couldn't pull that name out of my brain! It was driving me crazy.

I'm frantically trying to finish one more book for March, so my March summary may be a little late. If I don't get it done tonight it will be Thursday; on Wednesdays I don't have time to breathe!

Stopping by to say hi. :) The threads imploded and I haven't been able to keep up at all!! Saw you mention The Tell Tale Heart above - I still remember being scared by that when I was 15 in school heh..

Okay, I know this is April but I didn't have time to finish posting my March reads and do my summary, so I will do that on this thread then I am going to try and make the "big leap" to another thread. I have directions for making a link--I just hope they work!

Book 32

Nabb, Magdalen: Death of an Englishman
999 Mystery category (3/30/09)
Library 172 pages

This is another new series recommended on LT, I think by Joyce in Panama. The stories are police procedurals that take place in Florence, Italy. In this debut novel the victim is an ex patriot from a prominent family in England so there are also two members of Scotland Yard on hand to help the Italian police and to be sure the family’s honor is protected. It was a little slow for me to get into but soon became interesting enough that I had no trouble sticking with it and considering it definitely a 3 star read and worth continuing the series, even though I was pretty sure I knew the culprit. Then came the ending, the last 40 pages. I was right about who the culprit was, but it had to be intuition rather than deduction because what I thought I had spotted as clues were irrelevant to the story and the motive I had assumed was nonexistent. In the end this book became not a puzzle to be solved but a novel that brought tears to my eyes. Looking back I realized how much I had learned about the characters and their approaches to life. If the quality holds up in the subsequent novels this will be a series to purchase because I will want to reread them. Highly recommended. 4 stars

Book 33

Kadohata, Cynthia: kira-kira
999 Newbery Winner category (3/31/09)
Library 244 pages

This is the story of a Japanese-American family who must move from Iowa to Georgia in order to find work and how they adapt to their new surroundings where they are a very tiny minority. The family is hardworking and struggle together to work for the goal of a house of their own. Being an only child I was especially interested in the relationships between the siblings, especially between the two sisters. There are many subtle “life-lessons” to be found in this novel including how to face tragedy as a family. It was a well written, engaging story. Highly recommended, especially for pre-teens and early teens. 4 stars (yes, Linda, I cried and was inspired.)

A Post Script:

I started reading Battle Cry of Freedom today (4/2) and found this comment about what happened in mid 19th century USA when the economy shifted from individual craftsmen and/ or cottage industries to assembly line factories and mass production—“…workers at the bottom of the scale, especially women, children, and recent immigrants, labored long hours in sweatshops or airless factories for a pittance.” It made me think of the book kira-kira. In mid 20th century USA that family of Japanese immigrants experienced the equivalent of an ‘agricultural sweatshop!’ It makes it even more amazing what they were able to accomplish.

March Summary

Book Talley for March:

Books Acquired 13 (3 read)
Books Read PL 8 (Pages: 2,181)
Books Read non PL 6 (Pages: 1,256)
Audio Books heard 1 (9 ½ hours)
Audios Acquired 0

Total 15 books, 3,437 pages; 11 fiction; 4 nonfiction

Best in March:

Tigana (fiction)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (nonfiction)

Fifteen books in one month is awesome. I got in twelve books this month and felt like all I did was work, sleep and read. Good job Carolyn!

Thanks, lorie.

It is pretty unusual for me to get that many read. I must confess I took a week off work because I was exhausted and I read in stead of resting! I'm still exhausted--but smiling! Maybe Stasia has the right idea--sleep is highly over rated. :-)

I can't get the link from my new thread back to here to work. I hope the link to my new thread will work so you can find me!

My new thread can be found here.

I've edited 3 times and can't figure out why it won't connect to the new thread. Sorry!

MusicMom's Thread 2

Whew! It took me about four edits to do it--they keep changing the format slightly! Just put the topic number between the quotes--you don't need to add any of the rest!

I don't understand the difficulty. All I did was open my original thread, right click on the mouse, then click on properties, copy the URL address, open a new thread and then paste the link. It worked. How do others do it? I didn't have "topic numbers" or use quotes.

eta--my link is of course just the link address and not nice like your's Roni. That must be the difference. I'm all for whats easy. LOL.

>280 MusicMom41: You are successfully linking to this thread (topic #51107, if you look at the top). Your new thread is topic #61650 (which you can see in the address bar of your new thread). And I notice you did the same thing on your new thread (i.e., linked to the same thread itself), so you got the links right, just on the opposite threads! :)

#283 christi

Actually, that was the first thing I checked when I saw what was happening. But the topic numbers were correct--I even tried reversing them and still got the same results. And after roni told me what she did to make it work I tried that, too. It didn't work for me. Hubby says computers hate me. Sometimes I think he may have a point! To me they are like cars--don't ask me to do anything but drive it! :-D

I'm still trying to learn to do this, so THIS IS A TEST

MusicMom's Thread 2

Bravo!

WOW your link even kept me on the Dutch site, well done!!!