catarina's 75

Last year, my first on LT, I tried for 50 and got to 74. Actually never even thought I would be able to read 25. But its not the number but the enjoyment. And my fellow readers here on LT have been a huge inspiration. Thank you, thank you.

1) The Fragile Edge by Julia Whitty

Winner of the Kiriyama Prize, non-fiction 2008

Whitty, a documentary filmmaker, weaves a tale of the coral reefs of the South Pacific touching on a wide range of topics. The environment, climate, sea creatures and the coral reefs are the main focus.

But she also touches on yoga and Buddhism, the culture of the inhabitants of the atolls as well as descriptions of wonderful characters like Father Kamilo - Catholic priest, originally from Quebec, who was sent to Funafuti from Samoa, sent into exile from paradise to minister to 50 dutiful Catholics, the minimum number for a parish - only to find that that number was padded by half, by the dead.

She describes the effects of the French and US nuclear testing the South Pacific, the current garbage dumps on Funafuti which "had grown too crowded for its inhabitants to grow their own food" and the destruction of coral reefs (the fragile edge) by the aquarium trade and the live reef food fish trade, among others, which collect fish with poisons and blasting.

There were times, especially at the beginning of the book, where she lost me with the "superlatives" - 64 thousand square miles, 30 thousand islands, 5 climate regions, 40% of the world's reefs, etc. Or with her descriptions of pranayama and diving. (Perhaps this would appeal more to divers than to me).

But then there were the passages like this: "Above them, huge swells from the Antarctic roll toward the islands. Below, the stony corals of the outer reef slope hunker down to withstand the surge. Ahead lies the barrier reef, the natural buttress between sea and lagoon. . . It is this seemingly insurmountable obstacle the baby fish must breach to enter the sanctuary of Mo'orea's inner lagoon. The young fish are anticipating the moonless night to come. . .After nightfall, despite having never done anything of the kind before, they will gather under the humped back of a wave, ride up its powerful rise and down its thunderous landfall and surge across the algal ridge."

A wonderful read for a cold, winter's night.

2 - Turning Japanese by Cathy Yardley
not to be confused with Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sensei by David Mura

Its pink cover with sakura blossums and manga girls caught my eye on the library shelf. And I'm a sucker for anything with "Japan" in the title. It would fall into the category of "chick lit" - something I don't often read. Not very challenging but fun. The characters were generally likable, the story, more or less, interesting.

something weird was happening with LT and this message got in here twice

I always look at a book that has something Asian about its title, cover art, etc. Why? Who knows? But it has led to some great reads, for me. Have you read The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima?

#2: That one sounds like one I would really enjoy so it is going in the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation!

No, I haven't read The Sound of Waves but I have a copy. Have a huge selection of books about Japan - the acquiring them has gotten ahead of actually reading them. But I have made some plans for "mini reads" this year.

Currently planning to read all of the books that have won the Kiriyama Prize - and thus the review above about The Fragile Edge. Next will be the books written by Tanizaki and Kawabata - more or less contemporaries. After that, probably all of Mishima's.

Wow!

Ooh, I'm sure I'll be adding a lot of books to my wish list from this thread! I'd like to read more by Tanizaki, Kawabata and Mishima, so I'll be watching your thread closely.

The Fragile Edge sounds like a book I'd like. I'll be keeping my eyes open for it. Great review.

3) Oh! A Mystery of Mono No Aware - Todd Shimoda

"Mono no aware" is a Japanese term that is said to have been first used in the Edo era by Motoori Norinaga to describe deeply felt emotions. He used this first to describe the Heien era book "The Tale of the Genji" but this concept is used by contemporary writers like Haruki Murakami. I have also read of it being used in manga. But like many Japanese concepts it is difficult to define - being a little "mono no aware"ish itself.

It has ties to Shinto, to Buddhism, to sakura blossoms, to transience, impermanence. Some have described it as the "ahh-ness" of things. It sometimes encompasses sadness but not always. It is so tied to the culture that I think it is impossible to understand Japan without a little understanding of this concept.

The author attempts to describe "mono no aware" by interspersing passages about the term, some from Norinaga, with a story about a Japanese-American who is despairing of his life as a tech writer in an engineering company in southern California. He leaves his work and his life and travels to Japan - not actually "find himself" but almost for lack of something else. And without plan he stumbles into relationships that lead him to an understanding of "mono no aware".

The ending is somewhat shocking but it is possible to see that it was actually set up from the beginning of the story.

The book, itself, is very "mono no aware" - grey and tan colors, paper that has the appearance of rice paper without it actually being that. The art work, done by the author's wife, is pleasant and contributes to the ambience. I thought that the titling of the artwork was a little pretentious though. But I generally enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who was interested in learning more deeply about Japan and the Japanese culture.

Shimoda is also author of The Fourth Treasure which I read a few years ago - and might get out again after reading this one. It also is about cross-cultures but in the setting of calligraphy, some haiku. In this one, incidentally, I thought that his wife's artwork worked better.

note: edited for clarity

4) Love in Tennessee - John Bowers

I started out liking (or wanting to like it) the book but by a quarter of the way into it, I was losing interest. I skimmed some, read some, then skimmed some more. I think it is just that I want to be reading something else right now rather than this book which I got through Early Reviewers. Don't get me wrong, I'm always grateful for a free book. But I think this one was sent by mistake. Or maybe I'm just being cranky.

The setting is East Tennessee, circa the 1940's or 50's, I think. For someone who has been "reading globally" for the past year, this is a change. But perhaps I just need to get out of my rut and read something different. I'm not sending it to the donation pile just yet - just going to put it aside for a while.

I did like the graphics - way cool! And the great red hen card that came with it. It is annoying, however, when a book just won't open flat for reading, and you start getting carpal tunnel in your thumbs just to keep the book open.

I hope your next read is better for you!

Actually I usually have a few books "in process' at any time. I was reading Song Yet Sung by James McBride. And then I saw the obituary for his mother this past Monday (MLK's birthday) in the NY Times. So I bought his previous book The Color of Water about his mother. I'm now reading both at the same time. Both are very good, and more of my type of book.

Song Yet Sung is set on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, much of it in Cambridge - which is where I lived for about 5 years in the 90's. The main character, Liz, a slave, is called "The Dreamer". The book also refers to "the gospel train" - a reference to the underground railroad and Harriet Tubman who was from Dorchester County. I'll be posting my reflections of both soon.

I read The Color of Water a couple of years ago, but have not read Song Yet Sung. I will have to look for that one. Thanks for the mention.

5) The Color of Water - James McBride

Just this past the obituary of Ruth McBride Jordan appeared in the NY Times. At the time was reading her son's book Song Yet Sung. I put that aside temporarily to read the book that James McBride wrote about his mother.

It is a book about his mother, a tribute to her, but it is also the story of his search for who he is. There are passages that are in her word's like they are from a tape recorder interspersed with longer passages in which he describes his childhood. But in essence it is a story of a family "where kindness was a way of life".

6) The Post Office Girl - Stefan Zweig

A new author for me. I had not heard of him until there were discussions on LT about him. This book was quite a pleasant read and I will probably read more by this author. (The copy that I read was published by the NY Review of Books, one of their "Classics". The web site lists all of the books they publish, quite an interesting list, from a wide range of authors.)

The story takes place in post-WWI Austria and the privations of that era play a role in the story.

Christine lives in a small town and has a more-or less- secure job as a government employee but also feels trapped by both the job and the small town. She is invited by an aunt to spend a vacation at a luxury resort and she gets swept away by the opulence there, the privileges of that life. She is devastated when it is taken away. And that sets the stage for the second part of the book.

Money plays a major role in the story - "the vast power of money, mighty when you have it and even mightier when you don't, with its divine gift of freedom and the demonic fury it unleashes on those forced to do without it.

Zweig's words will melt you, will make you "know" the characters, even if you don't really like them.

#17: I really wish my local library had more of Zweig's books!

7) My Year of Meats Ruth L. Ozeki, non-fiction, 1998

Finally, on to my second book in the Kiriyama Prize challenge - just too many books, not enough time!!

I actually bought this book several years ago - just a sucker for anything with even a hint of Japan, but never got around to reading it. Such a big mistake. It is a very good book. Not a deep book but a very enjoyable one, with a message too boot.

This book was published in 1998, years before Michael Pollan was publishing his books on the meat industry. The focus of the book is that issue. But it encompasses a lot more. The author weaves together meat politics with The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagan, with the story of a Japanese-American woman (Jane), that of a Japanese housewife (Akiko), the stories of a diverse group of American families.

Jane is out of work, in the early 90's when she gets a job offer that she can't pass up - to make films for a Japanese TV program called "The American Wife". The program aims to show a selection of American housewives, cooking American favorite meals, but it really is sponsored by the beef industry, BEEF-EX, trying to market meat to the Japanese. And, all of the "favorite" meals must be beef.

The author takes off from this premise and tells a tale that takes the reader back and forth from the US to Japan, into the personal life her Japanese client (John Ueno, pronounced Wayne-o) and his wife, the horror of the meat industry, cattle feed lots, use of antibiotics and DES. Wal-mart is even thrown in there.

And the chapters of her year of meats is based on the pre-Heien era calendar in use at the time "The Pillow Book" was written. The author uses passages from Shonagan's work to introduce each chapter, each month of the "Year of Meats". In a way, this connection seems a little forced but the book is so good that is not a distraction.

A warning, there are some passages that can be hard to take. John Ueno physically and mentally abuses his wife and I just couldn't read sections near the end that described the cattle feed lots. But this was a very enjoyable book to read. And I love it when one book leads me on to others - in this case, Sei Shonagan's work and Michael Pollan's books. Some of the next books in my TBR pile.

8) the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon

Written by a member of the court in Heien-kyo (present-day Kyoto) about 990-1000 AD. Sei Shonagon is more of a title than it is her actual name. She was a "lady-in-waiting" to Empress Sadako who was a member of the Fujiwara clan.

The book consists of her observations of court life, descriptions of nature, and many lists of things - embarrassing things, depressing things, elegant things, things worth seeing, etc. Sometimes she is peevish and petty. And she doesn't hide her scorn for the lower classes. But she writes wonderful descriptions of court life, of the clothing they wore, their carriages, even the traffic jams in Kyoto.

One of her pleasing things - "finding a large number of tales that one has not read before. Or acquiring the second volume of a tale whose first volume one has enjoyed."

9) Song Yet Sung - James McBride

In the 90's I lived on Maryland's Eastern Shore, specifically in Cambridge, for about 4 years. That was what drew me to the book at first. It is set on the Eastern Shore, near the Choptank River, specifically Cambridge and the Neck.

In 1808 the US government banned the importation of slaves but not the institution of slavery. This thus established a "scarcity" and then the phenomenon of "slave stealing". And thus was born people like Patty Cannon.

Also in Dorchester County lived Harriet Tubman. These two individuals set the story for this book. But it is not really about them. Runaway slaves, free blacks and watermen play the main roles.

It is an enjoyable read. The author has "done his homework" and he is a good storyteller. And I am always particularly happy with a book when it leads to the suggestion of other books.

The author lists several in his notes about the Underground Railroad and slave stealing and he alludes to much that is not known about the Underground Railroad (or "gospel train"). I was particularly intrigued by the codes that might or might not have been used for communication.

#21: I already have that one in the BlackHole. I need to get to it!

I had also read his book the Color of Water which is about his mother but also, about him, and his heritage.

In the Song Yet Sung the author mentions codes that were used - that whole idea is intriging. The codes were whether the pants leg was rolled up, knots in a rope, etc. There were mentions of quilt patterns but that seems a little far-fetched. Just because it takes a while to make a quilt, its not something someone could easily assemble and use for a signal. It might be that the quilt pattern was used to symbolize an intention.

I have ordered a book about the Underground Railroad and about Harriett Tubman to learn more about this era. I feel greatly remiss in not learning more about this when I lived on the Eastern Shore.

#23: I read his The Color of Water several years ago and really liked it. If you are looking for a good book on Harriet Tubman, I read a very good one last year, Bound for the Promised Land, by Kate Clifford Larson.

thanks, I'll put it on my list.

#25: I look forward to your thoughts on it.

I just checked the catalog for my local public library. And they have the book. I need to go by there anyway to return some books. So I'll pick it up. I may actually have a chance to read it since it looks like we are going to be getting slammed with another snow storm tomorrow.

My snow is coming down as rain :(

We should be so lucky. There is already about 28-38 inches from this past weekend. I couldn't get either my front or back door open. Had to spend about 6-7 hours over the weekend shoveling. Its a mess.

The snow is kind of pretty for the first hour but then, once it gets salted and the dogs start popping on it, it not very pretty.

10) Knots and Crosses Ian Rankin

The first of a mystery/detective series starring Detective John Rebus, set in Edinburgh.

This first one seems to be setting the story for the rest of the series. The focus is not on the crime itself of really the detective work to solve it. But it seems to be more the establishment of the character and ancillary characters.

It was an interesting read and I would be looking to continue the series but the book didn't draw me in the way other of this type have.

I borrowed Ian Rankin's first 3 Rebus novels from the library in an omnibus edition. I liked the first enough to read on but didn't think the 2nd was quite as good, or the 3rd. I wasn't sure what the fuss was about, until the 5th book in the series. But I was really hooked by The Black Book and then read up to The Falls which was then the latest instalment in the series. I read the rest at some point after they came out.

Thanks, Elkiedee. After reading the first in the series, I, too, was wondering about the fuss. But figured this one was just the first in the series, and it was written quite a while ago now - 1987. I usually like to read these things in order of publication, but, with your suggestion, I'll skip Hide and Seek 1990, Tooth and Nail 1992, and Strip Jack 1992 and go straight to The Black Book 1993. I read the reviews of that and the Falls on LT and they sound much, much better than this first one. Thanks again. This is why I love LT.

11) Ordinary Thunderstorms - William Boyd

The first of his books that I have read. Enjoyable but seems to run out of steam about 3/4 thru. The ending is a little too easy. There are a few things that stretch credibility.

12) Excellent Women - Barbara Pym

My first Barbara Pym, already planning to read more. Full of dry British humor. Nothing much happens to this "excellent woman", Miss Mildred Lathbury - but that's the story.

#34: I am so glad you tried Barbara Pym. She is just an excellent author. I hope you try more of hers.

13) Man on the Boulevard - Georges Simenon

One of the Inspector Maigret series, published first in 1953 but I don't know where it falls in the series. I have seen these books often in the past but have never read any until now. It is not a very complicated story but it is interesting and well-written. I love the descriptions of a murky Paris - "a thin, cold drizzle had been falling all that Sunday, and the roofs and pavements were black and glistening. A kind of yellowish fog seeping in through the chinks in the windows."

The author was born in Belgium, lived most of his life in Switzerland but the Maigret series are based in Paris.

14) Barefoot Gen Vol 1 - Keiji Nakazawa

The first part of a 10-book series about the bombing of Hiroshima. The rest of the series deals with the aftermath. Gen is a young boy living in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing. It was the hope of the author that this graphic series will contribute to the abolition of nuclear weapons.

I have the second volume of this series and plan to read it soon. It is a graphic novel and is thus a fast read. Being quite familiar with Japan and somewhat with the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was little that I "learned" from the book. What struck me most was how violent the book is, unrelated to the violence of the bomb. Everyone is always fighting, hitting each other.

15) The Man From Beijing Henning Mankell

A "stand-alone" not part of of the Kurt Wallender series. Interesting, but also far-fetched. It is never made clear why someone from China would really want to kill so many people in Sweden and in the US. A lot of time is spent bringing one character from the western part of the US, to England, and then back to China again - and for what reason? That took up a quarter of the book and was just not necessary.

#38: I think I will skip that one. I hope your next read is better for you!

16 The man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Oliver Sacks

I've had this book on the shelf for a couple of years, and just pulled it down to read. Having been written in 1970, it is a little dated. But still there are some interesting stories about people with neurological deficits or "losses" as well as "excesses". I found the most interesting passage to be about Mrs. O'C who had "musical epilepsy" - showing that "the brain retained an almost perfect record of every lifetime's experience" and that for her the misfiring of neurons evoked musical memories from her past.

An interesting read for a rainy Saturday, but not one that I'm likely to pick up again.

#40: I read that one a couple years back and found it very interesting. Amazing what the human brain comes up with, isn't it?

17 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot

This really was a wonderful book. It has everything going for it - everything you ever look for in a book. A good story and she is a good storyteller. Hard to believe that this is her first book. It is very well written, well researched.

The main topic is HeLa cells, what they are, how they came to be, their importance in medical and scientific research. But Skloot also tells the story of the unwitting donor of these cells, of her family, the impact of the existence of HeLa on the family.

I look forward to her next book.

* * * * *

I don't think I am going to meet the 75 book goal this year. Other things have gotten in the way. Most of my free time lately has been spent working on my family's geneology - something I started many years ago but after hitting deadends, put aside. Now with the internet there is an amazing amount of info available and I'm making great progress now.

I did have plans to read the books that won the Kirayama Prize, to read all the Tanizaki this year, and the like. But the books that I will be reading in the next few months are going to be my attempt to learn more about the political, social, religious history of the times and places where my ancestors lived - Italy, England and Ireland, and Maine, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the grape growers of Sonoma County, the English Civil War, the immigrant experience.

#42: I am glad you liked the Skloot book too, Caitlin. It has been one of my favorite nonfiction reads this year.

I do hope you stick with the group even if you do not make the 75 book mark for the year. The genealogy project sounds fascinating.

I've had that Oliver Sacks book on my shelf for a few years now as well, but haven't got around to reading it! And yet every so often, I hear another recommendation for it. I'd better get to it sooner or later!

18) Clandestine in Chile Gabriel Garcia Marquez

An Early Reviewer book - but not a new book. Was originally published in the 1980s, but now reprinted by New York Review Books. It's an account of 6 weeks that film maker, Miguel Littin, spent sneaking back into Chile, after exile in Mexico and Spain, during Pinochet's regime. Litten planned to make a film about life in Chile under Pinochet, using three different film teams who did not know of the existence of each other and being in disguise himself.

We never do read about the film itself, what it actually portrays. But this is about the process, and "harvesting my nostalgia". And it did make me want to track down the film, and read more about Chile, Allende, etc.

19) Committed Elizabeth Gilbert

i had read Eat, Pray, Love early in its publication and enjoyed it as a travelogue. I was a little put-off by the subject of her new book but when I saw it on the table at a recent book sale, decided to pick it up.

It was sort of enjoyable for the first 1/3 or so but I soon tired of her whining and the subject. Little new is revealed about the subject of marriage and, all in all, it made me glad that I am single - "been there, done that" and don't want to do it again.

20) The English Civil War Diane Purkiss

I attempted to read this in my plan to learn more about the lives of my ancestors. So far in my geneology search, I have traced two family lines back to the Mass. Bay Colony and then to England, about 1638.

I wanted to learn about their motivations to leave England and travel to the colonies. Purkiss is very knowledgeable about the subject but her style makes this a very difficult book to read. She assumes that the reader already knows about the subject - unfortunately, I know next to nothing. I didn't get very far in this (and it is 600 pages). I will have to put it aside until I learn more about the persons and events that she is discussing.

21) Havana Bay Martin Cruz Smith

An installment of a series of espionage books starring Arkady Renko - the first one being Gorky Park which I have not read. It might have been better if I had done so, but I doubt it. You still get a feel for the character even coming in at, I think, the 4th book in the series.

The book started out well. The reader gets a sense of Havana - dark, mysterious, murky. I have read almost nothing about Cuba, about espionage. But about half way through, it is a less than satisfying read. The pace slowed down, the characters seemed to do the same thing over and over and got nowhere. I did finish it, and will probably go back and read the others in the series, just not yet.

#46: That one sounds interesting. I will have to look for it. Thanks for the recommendation!

22) The Master Key by Masako Togawa

The speed of my reading has slowed way down - with the warm weather, there is just too many other things to do. I finished this one a couple of weeks ago after picking it up at a book sale recently. I had never heard of the author but I did find a YouTube video of her singing in a nightclub in the Yanaka area of Tokyo.

"The Master Key" is apparently her first book and won the Edogawa Rampo prize - named after one of Japan's early mystery writers. Written in 1962 and translated in 1984, the setting is Tokyo, a few years after the end of the war, in an apartment building for single women - the "K Apartments for Ladies".

The mystery involves a secret buried in the building's basement years before that is threatened to be discovered when the building is moved to make way for a new road. But this is only one of many secrets hidden away in the building - all of which are at risk now that the master key to all of the apartments has gone missing.

The characters are well-developed and their stories are well-entwined. The book is well-written but not terribly suspenseful. But I like this author enough to purchase another of her books - Slow Fuse which, according to the book's cover flap "draws the reader into the dark realm of spiritual alienation, emotional inertia, sexual decadence and mystifying violence that defines the underbelly of the this Asian superpower". This seems to be an apt description of much of contemporary Japanese mystery stories written by authors such as Miyuki Miyabe and Natsuo Kirino who are more known to the American audience.

Since I really like Natsuo Kirino, I'll be adding that one to my list.

Thanks for giving me some more Japanese writers to track down, Caitlin!

23) The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

My reading has slowed way down in these past few weeks - the garden is taking up much of my free time.

When I saw this book listed as a choice on Early Reviewers, I jumped at it. Not because of the author, I actually had never heard of him. (He seems to be the favorite of many here on LT.) But my passion is Japan and I was hoping to return to it.

The setting for most of the book is Japan, but it is not "of Japan". The reader learns some things about Dejima, about the Dutch trade, but it is more of a "character-driven" novel, the setting could have been anywhere. So that was a disappointment for me. However, I did enjoy most of the book - enough to also be reading his Cloud Atlas.

My main objection to the book is the second section which is gruesome and I think unnecessary to the purpose. The main character in this section is a woman, Aibagawa Orito, a mid-wife, a fairly independent and accomplished woman in an essentially feudal society. But the subject matter (without be a "spoiler") made me want to rush my reading is just get through it, rather than reveling in it.

I hope you are enjoying Cloud Atlas, Caitlin!

Stasia -

I can say that I'm enjoying Cloud Atlas more or less. Most of the reveiws of it have been raving about it, but there are a few people who write of being annoyed by the changes in the story - and I have been also. Also I'm not a fan of SF or dystopia so shiped a major portion of the book.

also I've been listening to it on CD during my commute time - and one of the readers had an obvious difficult time with the accent he was trying to acheive.

but it has been an interesting read. Last night I was so longing for something Japanese I culled through by TBR Japanese pile and found The Kobe Hotel which is short stories set in wartime Tokyo and Kobe and for a few yrs thereafter. Saito was apparently also a Haiku poet and wrote some unconventional Haiku that is included in the back portion of the book. From the Preface he sounds like a very interesting person. Am enjoying this one so far.

#56: If you skipped a major portion of Cloud Atlas then I think it is just not your kind of book, and I would put it aside. The book is not a traditional narrative by any means.

I am glad to hear that you found something more to your taste though!

It would be hard not to realize that Cloud Atlas is not a "traditional narrative. I'm just not a fan of the characters, topics, settings that he used for his technique. And I just get really skeptical when there is so much press about how wonderful and inventive a writer is.

I understand being skeptical about a 'hyped' book. I am leery of those books as well - with the exception of books hyped here in this group. I find books talked a lot about in this group generally deserve consideration.

BTW - Thank you for your recent recommendation of Clandestine in Chile. I read it this past weekend and enjoyed it.

24) Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

I finally finished it. My feelings about it didn't change

Well, the good news is that you never have to read it again and you can finally move on to something more to your taste.

25) The Sleeping Dragon Miyuki Miyabe

This is the 5th of her 40 or so books that have been translated into English. I had read the first one, All She Was Worth several years ago. Comparing the two, I thought the first one was better. Better written, more interesting.

The Sleeping Dragon is a mystery, but not terribly mysterious, about psychics. The crime is more or less predictable but what I found most interesting was the "problems" that psychics can have - not something I ever thought about before.

26) A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

Finally got around to reading this, perhaps the wrong season but reading about a cold and snowy England helped cool a very hot Baltimore day.

27) Major Pettegrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson

A first novel by this author, and a good one. Generally light summer reading. More or less in the tradition of Barbara Pym. Deals with contemporary issues - race relations and conflicts being the main one. Characters are well drawn, mildly complex. And the Major is quite wry.

28) The Return of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Actually have had this book around for a while, but finally read it mainly to read the story about the Norwood Builder. In the process of working on my family's geneology, I have discovered a connection to Norwood, south of London. Doyle also lived for a time in Norwood.

At the time his mysteries were written, they were very popular. I think they are a little dated now since they seem fairly simple - a reader would probably be able to figure out "who done it" fairly easily. But the stories do contain much information about London at the time, turn of the century which is when my relatives lived there. Good research material.

29) Dreaming in Hindi Katherine Russell Rich

I think I picked this up after a review in the NY Times Book Review. I'm a sucker for travel narratives and love languages. It turned out to be a mildly interesting read but more so for her research on the process of learning a second language and less so for a description of India.

30) American Music Jane Mendelsohn

Another one that I picked after a review in the NY Times Book Review. Connected stories that don't become "connected" until the end. Only a tenuous connection to "American music". Sometimes lyrical writing that occasionally becomes annoying and overdone

31) Fidel's Last Days Roland Merullo

Espionage. A lesson in who to trust and who not to trust - sounds a little like where I work. A good read, interesting read about contemporary Cuba. Also reading Take Me With You - Cuban-American journalist from Florida traveling to Cuba a few years ago at the time of Castro's last illness.

32) The Man from Saigon Marti Leimback

Female Western journalist taken captive by the VietCong during the war, the story is told in flashbacks. At times seemed a little unnecessarily long, and we don't really learn much about the "the Man", other than he has a secret. But it was still enjoyable.

33) Let the Northern Lights Erase your name

Quick and easy read. Clarissa travels to Lapland to find her "real" father but finds someone else instead. I would have liked to learn more about the indigenous people, the Sami, but I'll be looking out for her new book, set in Turkey.

34) The Oxford Murders - Guillermo Martinez

Interesting murder mystery that tended to get bogged down occasionally in math theory.

35) The Lovers: A Novel - Vendela Vida

Was interested to read the latest novel after finishing her prior one (#33). Set in Turkey, neither a place I have been or a place I have ever read about, it sent me to pull an old atlas off the shelf. Good read about family relationships.

36) Hotel Iris - Yoko Ogawa

Well-written, well-translated, but an unappealing, creepy central theme, unless you like masochism and humiliation.

#71: I have seen mixed reviews of that one, but I think I will give it a try any way.

#72: I wish my local library had some of Vida's books. Unfortunately, it does not.

#73: Skipping that one! Thanks for the heads up.

37) Noah's Compass - Anne Tyler

I've read just about every book that she has written - they are all wonderful. This one, her latest, reminds me of The Accidental Tourist. Quiet, cozy story, ordinary people - reminds me of Barbara Pym. She is also a "hometown" author, ie from Baltimore, like Laura Lippman and (formerly) Sujata Massey.

38) Breakfast With Buddha - Roland Merullo

Another "road" story but this one comes with some Buddhist lessons. Funny, too, in the same was that The Flying Troutman's was.

Vendela Vida The Lovers: a novel and Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name wrote an article that appeared in the Travel section of the NY Times - about the setting of her latest book (Datca, Turkey) and how she came to spend time there.

#76: I wish my local library had Vida's books. I would really like to read them some time!

ETA: Woot! I just discovered that Vida's books are available for the Nook!

Stasia -

Glad you found her books on Nook. They are both worth reading. And see if you can read the travel article from yesterday's NY Times - it is apparently from a series that they are doing about authors and the places that inspire their writing.

I had picked up a used copy of LTNLEYN last summer at Powell's, on a trip to Oregon (only took a year to get around to reading it) but had read her latest on my Kindle. I'm still amazed by the process of getting a book that way - imagine there are books "flying" around in the air right now. Whoosh!!! There goes another one.

I like that picture of books flying through the air!

39) I'd Know You Anywhere - Laura Lippman

I've read all of hers, as well as those by Sujata Massey and Anne Tyler - all "hometown girls". A little creepy - why, I ask, would someone really want to meet their kidnapper and rapist years later? But if she didn't there wouldn't be a story to write about.

40) The Lotus Eaters - Tatjana Soli

Another book about a female journalist in Vietnam during the war but, I think, better that #38.

41) At Home in Japan - Rebecca Otowa

A memoir of an American who has been married to a Japanese man for about 30 years, and has lived in a small town in rural Japan, in a 350 yr old farmhouse. A personal account of a gaijin's experience but she goes beyond that to discuss the particulars of being a foreigner in Japan. She toches on the customs of the country, on nature. A very enjoyable read.

#80: I already have the Lippman and Soli books in the BlackHole, so the only one to add is the Otowa book. Thanks!

Oops, just discovered that the Otowa book is already in the BlackHole too. . .

42) A Question of Belief - Donna Leon

The latest Guido Brunetti mystery, he slowly gathers evidence in the case of a dead civil servant, in a sweltering summer in Venice. Her books are always a good read.

#82: Another series to which I need return. . .*sigh*

Dear Diary -

There are some days, like today, when I just don't know why I bother coming in to work. Especially when I would rather be home, reading books - at least that is something constructive.

Perhaps this ennui was spurred on by a thing I caught last night while scanning thru the stations on the TV, for something worthwhile to watch. Of all things, an Oprah interview with Simon Cowell of "American Idol" fame. Referring to the fact that he just recently said "enough is enough", he said that he just felt it wasn't any fun or challenging anymore. That, I can relate to!!!

#84: LOL!

There's not a whole lot of great things about living in Baltimore (a place I landed by accident) but one of them is that I live just a few blocks from Daedalus Books - which was originally a mail-order remainder book company but now has two "bricks-and-mortar" stores.

I stopped by last night and got:

The Road Home - Rose Tremain
The Book of Evidence - John Banville
The Vagrants - Yiyun Li
Wolves of the Crescent Moon - Yousef Al-Mohaimeed
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears - Dinaw Mengestu

They were each $5. I guess that's a good deal!!! But does that make up for not living in NYC or SF - two places where I once lived?

#86: Nice haul! I have the Mengestu book (and one of these days I may actually get it read!) I hope you enjoy the books, despite living in Baltimore :)

You are so lucky to live near Daedalus Books. (Although NYC and SF certainly have their advantages). I read The Vagrants earlier this year and really liked it. I hope you do too.

Honestly, I just went to Daedalus to get just one, just one book. But they were having a sale!!!! Oh, no!! I ended up not getting that one book but instead -

Blindness - Jose Saramago
Women of Sand and Myrrh - Hanan Al-Shaykh
The Story of Zahra - Hanan Al-Shaykh
A Journey Around My Skull - Frigyes Karinthy
Property - Valerie Martin
Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell
Trespass - Valerie Martin
A Guide to the Birds of East Africa - Nicholas Drayson

Luckily, I don't have to sneak books into the house anymore. The cats won't tell.

Smart cats! Great haul!

I've only read Women of Sand and Myrrh out of that lot but I thought it was very good.

#91 - I had never heard of the author but the two books looked promising. Hope they are.

43) The Beautiful Things That heaven Bears - Dinaw Mengestu

When I was notified that I am to receive his second book thru Early Reviewers, I decided that I had better finish the first one. Had started it about a year ago but just got stuck.

Its a story about an immigrant from Ethiopia who has been living in Wash, DC for 17 yrs, now has a small, not very profitable store in a rundown neighborhood. He has a couple of friends who are also from Africa, one is quite successful, Ken "from Kenya".

And so the story goes, and this is why I got stuck - it was quite similar to other stories, we don't learn much more. Not that the plight of immigrants is not worthy, but I want to learn more about the character - just who is Sepha Stephanos.

But then, about half-way (not the "50 pages") we finally start to learn about his life in Ethiopia, why he is here in DC. There are some lyrical passages. And some images that will stick with me. It's not as good as What Is The What, but is a worthwhile read. And I'm looking forward to the next one.

#93: I own that one, but have not read it yet. I really need to locate my copy!

44) A Week in December - Sebastian Faulks

More or less a character study of contemporary British urban life. About the week in the life of a group who are connected by an invite to a dinner party and a few other more tenuous connections. Interesting.

45) Property - Valerie Martin

Winner of the Orange Prize in 2003. Set in southern Louisiana, 1828

Just who is the "property" here? A lot of readers have felt it is referring only to the slaves. But Manon is also the "property" of her husband and her inheritance is also his. And her actions and personality, I think, are all a result of that. A very good read. Recommended.

46) London - Edward Rutherford

At 800+ pages, it is quite a slog. Boring in parts, had to skip some. Trying to get a "feel" for the city before an upcoming trip. Its not a book I want to keep, so I'll pass it on to a book sale somewhere.

47) Tokyo Vice - Jake Adelstein

An American who gets to live in Japan the usual way - going there to study, to teach English. Ends up getting a job as a reporter for Yomiuri Shinbun in Tokyo reporting on the "police beat". A quite interesting book. I have a huge number of books about Japan, but they generally fall into categories of literature and art. This is one of the first that I have read about the "underworld" of Japan. There are reviewers who have called him arrogant, but, for the most part, he is just being a gaijin and using that to his advantage.

48) The 42th Parallel - John Dos Passos
The first book of his USA Trilogy, I've been meaning to read this for a long time. New clippings, contemporary songs as prelude to stories about ordinary Americans in the early decades of the 20th century. This one is set before WWI. It is somewhat of a "time warp" and a little dated. There are a variety of characters, we don't get to learn too much about them, it is more about the place and time.

#96: I want to read the USA trilogy one of these days. It has been in the BlackHole far too long.

49) The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - Katherine Howe
A different take on the witches of Salem - what if they really were witches, could deal with magic, cast spells, heal illnesses. The author has done extensive research for the book.

50) Joanna and Ulysses - May Sarton

Written in 1963, a very early Sarton. The tale of a woman and a donkey. Did you say donkey? Not as silly as it sounds.

Its 3/4 thru the year, and I've only reached 50. At this rate, if my math is correct, I'll only get to 66.

#98: Other than a couple of her journals, I have not read any of Sarton's work. I will have to look for that one. Thanks for the mention!

51) Black Water Rising - Attica Locke

I picked this one up at the Blackwell Bookstore at the Wellcome Museum in London earlier this month, started it there and finally finished it. (Too many other things going on right now).

A first novel, but on the long list for the 2010 Orange Prize. A mystery, set in Houston. The story gets its inspiration from an event that happened to her father many years before. We learn a lot about the main character but not much about the others, such as his wife. I think it was a good first effort. Looking forward to her others.

52) Freedom - Jonathan Franzen

Haven't been able to finish this one. Just don't have much sympathy for the characters. I know, they"re all "flawed", we're all "flawed", but I just couldn't get interested in them.

#100: I had that one out of the library earlier in the year, but did not get a chance to read it. Thanks for the reminder that I need to check it out again.

I'm not going to make 75 books this year - too many other things going on.

53) How to be an American Housewife - Margaret Dilloway

An enjoyable story about a Japanese woman who married an American GI after the war and then relocated to San Diego. The second part of the book is in her daughter's voice. Well-developed story, well-developed characters, even the minor ones.

54) The Good Thief - Hannah Tinti

I know that this is her first book but it was really not very good. Very disjointed. I slogged it out and finished it, just to see if it got any better. But by the end, I really didn't care. I think I want my money back.

Do not sweat the numbers too much. Just enjoy the reads!

I didn't like The Good Thief either. On one hand, it felt too dark to be a children's book, but then had all the elements of one.

55) The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise - Julia Stuart

Having just recently been to London (but avoided the Tower and other tourist attractions) this one interested me when I saw it on the library shelf. A whimsical story set within the Tower mostly. A lot of interesting facts about the Tower are learned. But wonderful characters - Balthazar and Hebe Jones and Mrs. Cook. A sad understory about their son. But a fun read.

Balthazar is one of the Yeoman Warders or Beefeaters at the Tower and is placed in charge of the renewed Menagerie at the Tower. Hebe works at the London Underground's Lost Property Office and works diligently to return travelers lost property - her efforts provide great comic and poignant relief. Mrs Cook is a 181 yo tortoise who loses her tail to the ravens but gets great revenge.

#106: I have that one ready to read soon. Good to know you enjoyed it!

56) The Old Man Mad About Drawing - Francois Place

Always willing to read a book about Japan. This one was suggested by an LT member, it is a YA book, and my first. It was just a genre that I had never considered. Its a simple story about Hokusai, well known Japanese wood block print artist. A simple story but very good illustrations.

57) Tropical Secrets - Margarita Engle

Another YA book, and also suggested by a LT member. In the form of verse, in the words of just three characters. Also a seemingly simple story but also very poignant. This author, a Cuban-American, has written a couple of other books that I will be looking for.

58) The Brutal Telling - Louise Penny

The first Louise Penny book that I have read - also suggested by several LT readers. Her writing is well known to many here, so I won't dwell on it. But it was a good read and I'll look for more of hers - but alas, my local library only has one other of her books.

#108: I will look for the Francois Place book. It looks very good.

I would suggest that you read the Louise Penny books in order. Most series you do not need to, but hers you really do! I hope your local library gets them all so that you will have the opportunity to read them.

thats what I usually try to do, but it didn't work this time. Additionally I got that feeling when what seems to be one of the main characters is "the one who did it".

I am one of those people who 'must' read series in order, lol.

Oh, that sounds a little "anal" to me. Don't mean to offend, but it reminds me of my ex who had to line up all the pens on his desk, or arrange his shirts by color.

But, I do understand what you mean about reading the books "in order". For some authors that doesn't matter, but if you think for this one it does, I'll keep that it mind.

The only other one that the local library has is A Fatal Grace which, like A Brutal Telling is one of the latest. I believe that her first books were published in the early 90's. So, I'll have to look for them in book sales and then wait until I have all of them collected to start in on them again. Thanks for the "heads up".

(I don't know why the touchstone keeps wanting to title the book differently. Does it have two titles?)

#112: Trust me, the only thing I must have in order is books in a series. That is it.

Yes, the books have different titles because they were initially published in the UK and Canada. I hate when publishers do that!

59) Miles From Nowhere - Nami Mun

Our protagonist really doesn't like herself very much, and she allows everyone around her to abuse her. A generally depressing story - drugs, homelessness, physical violence. She runs away from home at age 13, a generally dysfunctional and not supportive home. She is able to live on the streets and "support" herself in various ways. The ending, as other readers have noted, is rather abrupt - she makes an "about face" but little is divulged about how or why she does this.

That ending doesn't sound very satisfying. Do you think the author is planning a sequel?

It would make sense that the ending of this one is a lead-in to the next - a chance for her to reflect on the years on the street and the abuse that she allowed to happen.

On another note -
I succumbed to Daedalus yesterday, and I want to confess. I didn't really "sin", since I never said I wasn't going to buy any more books this year.

1) The One-Straw Revolution - Masanobu Fukuoka - "manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge" - The Green movement in japan
2) Mediterranean Summer - a travel story of a yacht and the foods of southern France and the Italian coast
3) Gifts - Nuruddin Farah - the second volume of the Blood in the Sun trilogy, about Somalia
4) The Sultan's Seal and 5) The Abyssinian Proof - Jenny White - mysteries set in Turkey during the Ottoman Empire.

They all go on the huge TBR pile since I'm immersed in a few others right now.

Have you read the first volume in Farah's trilogy? I have it on my shelf, and was wondering how to prioritize it.

No, I didn't pick up the other two in the series. From what I read on the cover, they really seemed to be separate stories around a theme. So, I got the sense that it didn't matter what order you read them in.

60) The Shape of Snakes - Minette Walters

The first one by this author that I have read. It was OK - it did seem to drag on longer than it should have and I really hate to read or hear of abuse of animals, especially cats. I had to close my eyes during many passages. I'll probably attempt her other books - I can't imagine that she would continue the animal cruelty theme. Actually the abuse of people was pretty bad also - I was a little aghast at what husbands and wives would say to one another.

Merry Christmas Catarina!

Happy Christmas!