Chatterbox's Second 75-Book Challenge

Having finished the first challenge, rather than just adding more books on to my previous one as it looms perilously close to the 250-post limit imposed by the thread police, I'm starting an entirely fresh challenge. As before, I'm going to try to divide my reading between fiction and non-fiction, although this being summertime, it will probably be chock-full of light stuff (mysteries, historical fiction) for the next several weeks until it's cool enough for my brain to function properly once more. I'm also still doing a lot of reading for my 1010 Challenge and my off-the-shelf challenge; I don't count those books toward this one, but will list them in posts here as I finish them so people don't have to go racing all over to find them!

For anyone who's curious, here is a link to the final thread in the first 75 Challenge. You can see a list of what I read, and go back through links there to the earlier threads to read my comments on them.

The counter for the second 75-book challenge is here:




And the one for my total year-to-date reading is here:




Here I go again....

(I have no idea why some of these touchstones aren't working, but I simply can't force them to, so...)

1. Methland by Nick Reding, ****, STARTED 7/7/10, FINISHED 7/10/10 (non-fiction)
2. When Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong, *****, STARTED 7/8/10, FINISHED 7/10/10 (fiction)
3. The Witness House by Christiane Kohl, ***, STARTED 7/10/10, FINISHED 7/11/10 (non-fiction)
4. The Last Train from Hiroshima by Charles Pellegrino, ****1/2, STARTED 7/10/10, FINISHED 7/12/10 (non-fiction)
5. The Violins of Saint Jacques by Patrick Leigh Fermor ****, STARTED 7/12/10, FINISHED 7/13/10 (fiction)
6. The Anatomy of Murder by Imogen Robertson ****1/2, STARTED 7/13/10, FINISHED 7/14/10 (fiction)
7. Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife by Lisa Miller ***1/2, STARTED 7/10/10, FINISHED 7/14/10 (non-fiction)
8. City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris ****, STARTED 7/15/10, FINISHED 7/16/10 (fiction)
9. The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle, ***1/2, READ 7/16/10 (fiction)
10. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, **1/2, STARTED 7/14/10, FINISHED 7/17/10 (non-fiction)
11. Silk Parachute by John McPhee, ****1/2, STARTED 7/15/10, FINISHED 7/18/10 (non-fiction)
12. The Cobra by Frederick Forsyth, ***1/2, STARTED 7/17/10, FINISHED 7/18/10 (fiction)
13. Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Art Treasures by Robert Wittman, ***, STARTED 7/16/10, FINISHED 7/19/10 (non-fiction)
14. The Summer House by Marcia Willett, ***, STARTED 7/19/10, FINISHED 7/20/10 (fiction)
15. Fault Line by Barry Eisler, ***, READ 7/20/10 (fiction)
16. 1490981::The Fancy by Monica Dickens, ****, STARTED 7/19/10, FINISHED 7/21/10 (fiction; reread)
17. 9543763::The Clouds Beneath the Sun by Mackenzie Ford, ***1/2, STARTED 7/20/10, FINISHED 7/21/10 (fiction)
18. Midnight Angels by Lorenzo Carcaterra, **, STARTED READ 7/21/10 (fiction)
19. Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker, ****, STARTED 7/21/10, FINISHED 7/22/10 (fiction)
20. The Girl from Botany Bay by Carolly Erickson, ***1/2, STARTED 7/22/10, FINISHED 7/23/10 (non-fiction)
21. The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman, ****, STARTED 7/22/10, FINISHED 7/24/10 (fiction)
22. Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? by Thomas Geoghegan, ****, STARTED 7/23/10, FINISHED 7/24/10 (non-fiction)
23. The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker ***** READ 7/26/10 (fiction)
24. The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr **** 1/2, STARTED 7/25/10, FINISHED 7/27/10 (non-fiction, audiobook)
25. Along the Enchanted Way by William Blacker ****1/2, started 7/26/10, FINISHED 7/28/10 (non-fiction)
26. Chef by Jaspreet Sigh ***, STARTED 7/27/10, FINISHED 7/28/10 (fiction)
27. Enemies of the Heart by Rebecca Dean **1/2, STARTED 7/20/10, FINISHED 7/28/10 (fiction)
28. Promises to Keep by Jane Green *** 1/2, READ 7/29/10 (fiction)
29. Revenger by Rory Clements **** 1/2, STARTED 7/27/10, FINISHED 7/29/10
30. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley, STARTED 7/28/10, FINISHED 7/31/10 (fiction)

And now, my first books in the new challenge!!

1. Methland by Nick Reding. This is a chilling and terrifying saga of the meth 'epidemic', told through the experiences of individuals -- addicts, dealers, law enforcement types and doctors -- in one small town, Oelwein, Iowa. Reding makes a convincing case that the destruction of the farm economy and the changes to the country's broader industrial commodity had the unintended consequence of fueling the meth problem: workers forced to work harder and longer to make ends meet found meth helped (in the short term) while those with no work options founded making meth a cheap and profitable second "career". This isn't a flawless book; the writing was uneven, with some great descriptive passages followed by malapropisms like "he was resolved to the fact that he would not find it" (vs "resigned to the fact".) Still, it's probably a must-read for anyone concerned about these issues as it points out their complexity. It's not cheerful, but the issues raised are important ones. 4.1 stars; STARTED 7/7/10, finished 7/10/10.

2. When Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong. This is the third Inspector Chen book I've read this year, and the series keeps getting better. The theme is the legacy of China's revolutionary history on present (i.e. early 1990s) life in Shanghai, with this book dealing adroitly with topics ranging from the rise of a new middle class, free enterprise, corruption and the housing problem as part of the backdrop to a very good mystery that surrounds the death of Yin, a former Red Guard-turned-dissident who had written a thinly-autobiographical novel about her love affair with a doomed professor who was politically "black" during the final years of the Cultural Revolution. Was her death due to politics -- or something more personal? I love the way Qiu adroitly weaves in details of everyday life in Shanghai (his descriptions of food make me hungry...) and his characterizations are always subtle and intriguing. This series is a must-read for any mystery fan. 4.8 stars. STARTED 7/8/10, FINISHED 7/10/10.

Looking forward to following your second challenge - I lenjoy your mix of light and serious reading.

Found you again, Suz!

I picked up Death of a Red Heroine based upon some Amazon recommendations, so I'm glad to hear that this series is a must-read.

I really have to pick up Inspector Chen since this is the 2nd glowing review I've read from you about this series. Ahh... what a perfect excuse you give me Suz, to head out to B&N after brunch today ... walking between the aisles, and bending down to read the titles on the bottom shelves and reaching up for books on the higher ones will be exercise enough to work off the meal .... well, not really, but I can live in denial for a little while. ;-)

Nice review of Methland, Suzanne. Meth is a big problem, especially in the small towns in the north Georgia mountains, and all too frequently we take care of kids in the hospital that have been abused or neglected by meth-abusing parents.

I've read horrifying stories about meth, too, especially about how people make it in their homes, around their kids, and recently about a new way of making it in just one container: people do this in their cars and then throw the container out the window when they're done, and the chemicals still in the containers not only poison the land and potentially the water but also can be picked up by children or pets along the roadside. Really scary. Will look for the book, Suzanne.

Rebecca -- ugh, that approach to meth-making doesn't come up in the book, although the author refers to a way of "single batching" using a soda bottle strapped to their bikes! My attention to this issue was piqued (if that is the right word) after I interviewed Tom Siebel last fall for a philanthropy story -- he has launched this program to convince people never even to try meth (via some truly horrifying ads, etc.) that seems to be working. His point was that once people try it, it's too late. Meth addiction is probably the most impossible to treat, he says, which is a scary thought.

Thank you for the review of Methland. I live within shouting distance of the Appalachian mountains and it is a huge problem in the area. We have training on how to identify signs that the children are being exposed to meth production, but it is often difficult for the authorities to prove it. Finding the objects used to make the stuff isn't sufficient; there must be actual evidence that it has been made recently. I'll look for the book as I need to be more educated on the economics of the issue. Thanks again, Suzanne!

Today's books du jour:

1. For my 1010 challenge, the latest book in the wonderful Dr. Siri series by Colin Cotterill, Love Songs from a Shallow Grave. For all those already feeling oppressed because of my enthusiasm for Inspector Chen, prepare to become even more irritable as I wax rhapsodic about this series, which revolves around the quirky character of the national coroner of Laos, Dr. Siri Paiboun, in the years immediately following the Communist victories in Indochina. Siri is also Laos's ONLY coroner -- and he has to struggle to do his job in a country without access to such basic tools as microscopes. This is really a series that revolves around Siri and his constellation of friends -- Civilai, the communist politician-turned-fancy baker, Crazy Rajid, Nurse Dtui, Inspector Phosy and Mr. Geung, his assistant, who has Down Syndrome. Outspoken to a fault, Siri, despite his revolutionary credentials, has few fans among the country's new leadership, so it's a surprise when the book opens with him being considered as a candidate for "national hero"; less of one to read the segments that break up the main mystery narrative, in which Siri lies in prison, being tortured, apparently by the Khmer Rouge. As Siri moves toward solving the mysterious deaths of three young women who have recently returned from studying overseas, the reader moves closer to realizing how his curiosity may have led him into a fatal situation this time... I'm not going to spoil the book by disclosing anything about the outcome, and will just urge anyone who enjoys mysteries and hasn't tripped over this series to hasten off to read the first book The Coroner's Lunch, pronto. There's a bit of mysticism in the books -- Siri has encounters with mysterious spirits -- but that just enhances the overall whimsical nature of these unpredictable and enticing books. Cotterill has created characters that truly live, and shed light on a little-known part of the world. (He also gives a chunk of his royalties to victims of the land mines that still litter Laos, and to education of Hmong youths; I'm going to be sponsoring a Hmong girl through 4 years of post-secondary education starting this year.) Highly recommended, 4.7 stars.

2. The Witness House by Christiane Kohl, is one of the ARCs that I picked up at BookExpo back in late May. It is a compelling story that should have been a riveting book, but wasn't -- let down by a clunky "first this happened, then that happened, and then the next week, the other thing happened" structure and lackluster writing. (Sometimes, I think the problem was the translation, but in other cases, the problem clearly lay in the original text.) Kohl's book is about the people who came and went from a nondescript house on the outskirts of Nuremberg during the war crimes trials -- and the way in which the house sheltered some of the victims of the Nazi regime at the same time it did its perpetrators, ranging from the first head of the Gestapo to Hitler's personal photographer. This is very uneven; at times, Kohl seems more interested in describing her interviews with those who went through the houses than what they witnessed or experienced. Some anecdotes are riveting, but too short; in other cases, characters get way too much attention. Oddly, the most memorable conflicts aren't between perpetrators and victims, but rather between Nazis who saw the light and those who are still in denial; it's far more revelatory about the efforts of Germans in the immediate postwar period to come to grips (or not) with the Nazis than it is with respect to the issue of guilt, confrontation, reconciliation, etc. It's still intriguing as it shed light on a little known element of the Nuremberg trials, but ultimately left me hungry for more -- I felt the book skimmed too lightly over the surface and could have delved more deeply into some of the issues and personalities. (I was also frustrated that while Kohl spends times on details like what books were in the parlor of the house, she never tells us how many bedrooms it contained or how many people could be housed at one time -- it wasn't until the final pages when a guest comments that at any single breakfast, there could be 8 to 16 people, that I had a sense of how big the place was.) Ultimately, this was frustrating for me, but I'm still giving it 3.3 stars because of its fresh angle, however unsuccessful. The book is scheduled for publication here in October 2010. For this challenge.

Book du jour:

Last Train From Hiroshima is a chilling story of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's a very difficult read, because of the grueling details of the suffering, but also a fascinating one. There's scarcely an aspect of the human stories, both on the air and in the ground, that Pellegrino overlooks, and he weaves it adroitly together with scientific detail. Even having been twice to Hiroshima (including attending one of the commemorations of the August 6 bomb attack with some Japanese friends), and having read a lot about it, there was material here that was utterly new to me. The scientific detail was fascinating, such as the details of the response times that humans would have required to take shelter and protect themselves from the immediate blast, which he compares to the response times of flies, etc., and his analysis of what it would have been like at the literal Ground Zero. There are bizarre tales, some of which are disturbing (the alligator people, for instance), some just odd, such as the survivors who found that the atomic blasts had reshaped their eyeballs, and they no longer needed glasses. But above all, the stories (which include those of several individuals who survived BOTH bombs!) are poignant, in particular the tendency over time of many survivors to focus on the lessons of the attacks rather than on their anger. Whether coming from the Buddhist or Christian or Shinto tradition, their focus came to be on the need to live in peace and harmony, and the 'golden rule'. Pellegrino doesn't sermonize; he just tells the stories in a forthright and eloquent way, without getting in the way as a narrator. Highly recommended for those able to read through the horrific details of the attacks. On the other hand, that is a part of our history and our present; if we have these weapons, we should be willing to understand what they will inflict on those we drop them on before uttering the phrase "nuke 'em all" as readily as sometimes happens. 4.6 stars, for this challenge. Goes on my recommended list for the year.

On a brighter note, the new Imogen Robertson mystery just arrived today!!

While Last Train from Hiroshima sounds disturbing, I'm going to add it to the list.

Many thanks for your excellent review!

Ditto to what Linda said; Last Train to Hiroshima is added to my wish list.

I'd thumb your review, but I didn't see it on the book's LT home page.

Feeling better today?

Darryl, I admit I don't post many of these mini-reviews on the book's home pages... *sheepish*

Feeling better, but mostly because I'm not trying to walk around much! We'll see how tomorrow and Weds. go...

CB, although your review of "Last Train to Hiroshima" is good, the material is too hard for me to read. Kudos to you for being able to.

The title Last Train to Hiroshima rang a bell, and I found this New York Times article which discusses the controversy over the accuracy of some of Pellegrino's material, although not so much what you discuss in your review, Suzanne.

Hi Suz, almost lost your thread! Glad you are feeling at least a little better.

Wow, Rebecca, that's fascinating... It's definitely worrying, not so much that Pellegrino was sucked in by a source, but that he doesn't seem to have double-checked his facts with other sources who could have alerted him to a problem with this! Still, to me, the American point of view (and the issue of whether the Hiroshima bomb had been compromised), although it's played up in the jacket copy, was definitely a subsidiary issue in the book's impact and, I think, its importance. The question that still resonates is why it was dropped, and what ensued. We like to shy away from debating the morality of war, or at least try to see civilian deaths (which are now the vast majority of deaths in war) as sad but inevitable. The A-bomb attacks, to me, force that issue into the open in a way that little else does; the climax to a massive war in which the number of civilian dead vastly outnumbered military casualties to a degree that hadn't been seen before and that remains in place today. To me, that was the important lesson to take away from Pellegrino's book: the fact that nuclear weapons make the concept of warfare almost absurd.

Book du jour:

The Violins of Saint Jacques by Patrick Leigh Fermor: I've read a lot of this author's wonderful travel writing and some of his other prose, so it was interesting to discover this slim novel/novella, and I promptly added it to my TBR list. (Alas, it didn't really provide all that much of a break from doom and gloom and grief in some of my recent reading, ultimately...) It's the fanciful story, almost a fable, of an island in the Caribbean, nestled between Martinique and Dominica, but that never appeared on any chart -- Saint Jacques. Told through the recollections of a woman in her 70s whom the narrator encounters on a Greek island, it's the story of the reckless and hedonistic lifestyle of the Creole population of the island, their Negro servants and the new Governor of the island, a Republican sent by the French government. But what appear to be the real threats to carefree Saint Jacques -- a futile love by Berthe, the woman who tells the story to the narrator; an equally futile love by her cousin, Sosthene; an unsuitable love between Josephine and the governor's repugnant son; a duel; a threatened suicide -- prove, in the end to be a dim reflection of the real shadow hanging over the island... The author has a knack for writing in the polished and elegant style of a former day, whether it is of the 1950s (when the book was written) or a century ago (when the imagined events took place) which adds to the stylized feeling. Recommended for anyone looking for something a little different, although I still prefer Fermor's travel writing, particularly A time to Keep Silence, A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water. I just hope he'll stay around long enough to complete work on the third volume of the trilogy of which the latter two books are part: the story of his travels, in the early 1930s, on foot from Holland to Constantinople, along the Rhine. In those, he has painted the picture of a vanished real world, just as he crafts one that is about the disappearance of an imagined one in this novella.

found you :)

and I have nothing more to add at this time, since it is after 8 pm, and my brain has clocked out for the nigh.

carry on...

I've added The Violins of Saint Jacques, since you and Rebecca both enjoyed it; nice review!

Suzanne, still keeping fingers crossed that Leigh Fermor will complete that third volume . . .

Suzanne..
As always, there are such interesting conversations and books listed here.

Message #17..thanks Rebecca. The link was very informative. I still will read the book, but it is helpful to have the correct reference when doing so.

>20 Chatterbox:: While The Violins of Saint Jacques sounds interesting, the travel books sound even more so. I've added A Time of Gifts to the list.

Tad, I definitely agree that "Paddy's" travel books are the creme de la creme. I plan to read Mani and Roumeli soon; they were out of print when I first became addicted to him. Too bad he's several decades too old for me -- he is definitely my kind of guy!

*dragging my mind back to the world of books*

Two books du jour:

1. The Anatomy of Murder by Imogen Robertson. This is the sequel to Instruments of Darkness, the historical mystery that I read about two weeks ago (maybe less) and enjoyed enough to go and order the hardcover edition of the second in this series from the UK -- and didn't begrudge paying Amazon the 7 pound shipping fee. Well, I mind even less now; this is an even better book, which seamlessly blends several plot lines (ranging from French naval spies to skulduggery at the opera house and life in London's "rookeries") and ends up, once again, in a dramatic chase scene that had me trying to turn the pages faster and faster. I particularly enjoy Robertson's ability to craft characters in such a way that they really come alive for the reader, and this book, to me, is an excellent example of combining a great story, superb characters and solid writing that, while formal enough to be in the spirit of the times (no modern jargon) reads effortlessly. Once again, however, she messes up the titles; Susan Thornleigh, a character from the first book, reappears here and is alternately referred to as Lady Susan (correct) and Lady Thornleigh (a title that only a married woman would carry.) As the only real irritation in this book (unusually for historical writers, she has nailed the details of the era she writes about) I ended up e-mailing her last night, and got a very sweet and slightly sheepish reply this morning. The good news from that e-mail is that book #3 will be out next year and she's already starting work on #4. The US edition of Instruments of Darkness is already well into the publication process. This is a 4.5 star book, for this challenge.

2. Less rewarding was Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife by Lisa Miller. It was only somewhat intriguing, perhaps because too much of it simply reiterated various theological cases for what's in heaven, who gets there, whether it's boring, what we might do there, etc. rather than what the subtitle hinted at. There are some potentially provocative ideas here, to do with our fear of mortality, and our attempts to explain our own existence and provide meaning for ourselves, but Miller deals with them only tangentially. There are bits that are fascinating, such as the way Dante gave artists of later generations free rein to imagine what Heaven might look like, or her comments on whether we have had to re-imagine heaven now that life on earth is so much better than it used to be, and how people who can afford to do whatever they want on earth can try to conceive of something "better" in heaven. Ultimately, though, it's neither really meaty or very provocative, and it needed to be one or the other to really grab me as a reader. She's doing a tour of the major monotheistic religious beliefs, which may be interesting to those who have no religious background, but the fact that she completely ignored two major belief trends (Hinduism and animism) irked me, as did her decision to focus only on a Judeo-Christian/Muslim concept of heaven as an afterlife, rather than including Buddhist "englightenment" or nirvana in the mix. Surely, that's part of the same human attempt to come to grips with existential issues. Mildly worthwhile, but not if you've already good some grounding in comparative religion, and I can't see it appealing much to people who already have a very clear definition of heaven themselves. 3.3 stars.

After all this dark reading -- murder mysteries, meth, heaven, nuclear war, the holocaust -- I am going to have to seek out some light and fluffy reads. You have been warned...

>26 Chatterbox:: The Robertson sounds good. That's two to the list from you just today.

I will exact revenge...there are a couple working their way up the pile that I hope pan out simply so I can make you add them to your TBR pile.

Suzzanne

If you haven't read Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth, I highly recommend it. It is a hilarious satire regarding man/woman's view of heaven and the afterlife.

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainlfe.htm

I believe that his daughter Clara tried to stop publication of this work because she thought it was too sarcastic and scathing.

I will definitely put this on my list!! Perhaps not immediately, since I think I'm overloaded on philosophy (though never on sarcasm...)

My new air-conditioners have been delivered; now I'm just waiting for the installers to show up!! they called to tell me they'd be here between 11 and 1; it's now 1:30... At least it's cooler today after all the rain in the last two days. Slightly cooler...

Thank you, SEC and Goldman Sachs. I'm back on Bloomberg TV at 8:15 or so tomorrow morning...

I've been missing out on everything, so maybe I'll get to catch this one, I hope!

Also recording something for BBC radio in about 20 mins, Stephen; not sure when it will air but I'll ask. My local NPR station airs a 60 minute BBC broadcast in the mornings; there may be a way to catch that locally, or you call hop on to wnyc.org. Not 100% sure it will appear there, but mebbe...

memo to self: find something respectable to wear tomorrow...

>30 Chatterbox:: yep, I thought of you when I heard the news today. Hooray for the publicity eh?

I am just catching up to you from this point forward . . .

You almost slipped my gaze once again, as the satellite was flickering in and out from a thunder storm, but I luckily caught that interview, brief though it was!

Haven't seen the interview, but saw the headlines and thought of you.
Also forgot to tell you that your book (hardback) is in Bider and Tanner. Next time I'm in I'll make a second pile of it for you on another NF stand.

Ooooh I so wish we had AC here. Nada. It's only 32 today but it was 35.7 on Tuesday...

Am going to look for the Imogen Robertson books but not till I've finished some of the other crime books you've led me to buy - like all the Philip Kerrs!

I'm sure Bider & Tanner will appreciate the help, Cushla!!!! ;-)
(I do...)

Also did a Reuters online TV segment, which will be somewhere on their site (streaming video) and am doing a Bloomberg radio segment at 2 p.m. Eastern today. Thankfully it's via phone because I've got a gigantic migraine today.

Just popping in to say hello while I'm here in Tokyo where you lived for a spell. Muggy and steamy ....but still a bustling and cool city.

Finally got to see you on TV. I was quite surprised at how small the settlement was. I understand your point that they didn't want to put companies out of business, but I wonder how much of a lasting impression this will have.

Exactly, Tad. It wouldn't be the settlement that made a lasting impression, but the business standards review -- if it's a serious one, and if people inside view it more as just a nuisance. I'll probably write about that in my Portfolio.com column for next week.

For anyone who didn't see it, the Washington Post picked up the Bloomberg thing and linked to it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/07/16/VI2010071602760.ht...
(I refuse to watch myself on TV...)

Headache is marginally better, but not enough to spend time updating on my reading. Will get back to that tomorrow...

Have a good weekend, ya'll! Caro, go visit a beer garden for me, and down some edamame; or have a big glassy of icy mugi-cha...

I have never lived anywhere interesting.. but.. I have read a few good books.
( best I can do )

I have been reading entertaining drivel, and I am starting Mame. I loved the movie, and didn't realize there was a book until rd pointed it out. I will pass it on to my sister, after.. as she loves the move madly. So if you are looking for fluff, you might enjoy Mame... :)

Kath, places are always more exciting to visit than to live. When you live somewhere 'exciting', you still end up doing grocery shopping, laundry, going to work, cleaning the house/apartment, battling with repairmen, worrying about your commute, and all the other boring stuff. You're just doing it against a backdrop that's different. Which becomes very unexotic after a while, but can be far more frustrating on some days, trust me!!

My fluff just arrived outside my front door, and as my migraine is finally clearing (hurrah!!!!) I will start reading it tomorrow -- my ER "win" from last month, The Cobra by Frederick Forsyth. I enjoy many of his books; nice intricate plots, but not excessively demanding on a cerebral level. In the meantime, will finish another ARC, City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris, and report back on that & the other stuff tomorrow!

To give all of us 75ers hope -- here's a brief story from the Telegraph about a guy who figures it will take him the rest of his life to reach that #!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/7894300/How-many-books-can-I-read-befor...

#43: I am never dying - the BlackHole is just too dang big!

I suspect that the BlackHole is, in fact, larger than the Library of Congress. Although I have no evidence of this, I would probably be comfortable making this assertion under oath, Stasia!

#45: I keep the BlackHole on Goodreads but it is not as big as the LoC (yet!)

I suspect that the BlackHole is, in fact, larger than the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress actually consults Stasia's wishlist for book recommendations. :P

#40 thanks for sharing the bloomberg clip. I like the way you present yourself with your knowledge, confidence and wit. Very similar to your posts here on LT. Off to put hold on Chasing Goldman Sachs from my library.

#12 - Re: The Last Train From Hiroshima - I've been intending to read this book since it was released, but have instead been watching the war of words it has stirred on the Amazon review feature. I won't enter into the debate, but for anyone who has read the book, or contemplating doing so, I think THIS REVIEW - between John Coster-Mullen and the author, amongst others - is worth reading.

#49: Evidently the controversy is still not over. When I went to add the book to the BlackHole over on Goodreads, I found this:

**As of Mar 2010, the publisher is discontinuing publication of the book due to issues with its veracity.
"Publisher Henry Holt and Company, said that author Charles Pellegrino "was not able to answer" concerns about "The Last Train from Hiroshima," including whether two men mentioned in the book actually existed...Doubts were first raised about the book a week ago after Pellegrino acknowledged that one of his interview subjects had falsely claimed to be on one of the planes accompanying the Enola Gay, from which an atom bomb was dropped by the United States on Hiroshima in 1945. Holt had initially promised to send a corrected edition.

But further doubts about the book emerged. The publisher was unable to determine the existence of a Father Mattias (the first name is not given) who supposedly lived in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing, and John MacQuitty, identified as a Jesuit scholar presiding over Mattias' funeral.

Pellegrino's own background was also questioned. He sometimes refers to himself as Dr. Pellegrino, and his Web site lists him as receiving a Ph.D. in 1982 from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. But in response to a query from the AP, the school said it had no proof that Pellegrino had such a degree."

#50 - Thanks Stasia. I completely forgot to add that tidbit. The publishers have a note listed in the "Editorial Reviews" section on Amazon as well...

From Henry Holt and Company and Macmillan Books

It is with deep regret that Henry Holt and Company announces that we will no longer print, correct or ship copies of Charles Pellegrino's The Last Train from Hiroshima due to the discovery of a dishonest sources of information for the book.

It is easy to understand how even the most diligent author could be duped by a source, but we also understand that opens that book to very detailed scrutiny. The author of any work of non-fiction must stand behind its content. We must rely on our authors to answer questions that may arise as to the accuracy of their work and reliability of their sources. Unfortunately, Mr. Pellegrino was not able to answer the additional questions that have arisen about his book to our satisfaction.

Mr. Pellegrino has a long history in the publishing world, and we were very proud and honored to publish his history of such an important historical event. But without the confidence that we can stand behind the work in its entirety, we cannot continue to sell this product to our customers.

#51: Maybe we should see if we can steal Suzanne's copy? We may never get our hands on it any other way!

#52 Stasia - Have you seen the prices on Amazon?

11 new from $85.00 10 used from $59.99 2 collectible from $129.99

I have to assume these prices arose after the publisher's announcement. I wasn't keeping my eye on that one, so I can't be sure!

While I do have the audio version of this book, I very very much doubt I'll ever read it given the facts.

#53: Given the prices, I will definitely have to steal Suzanne's copy!

49/50/51 -

Speechless. Wow.

Echoing Kath. My copy came from BookSwim (rented/borrowed.) I do have the option to buy it at a discounted price from the publication price -- maybe I should do that!! It's an ex-library copy.

Sloppy research/writing... It's one thing to make small errors, but this -- as I worried about somewhat up top -- is turning into a pattern.

Reading the exchange -- Wow, just wow. I don't know enough about the science to comment on those claims, or the detailed military history to weigh on the comments about "kaiten" torpedos sinking a military ship. If Pellegrino simply willfully adapted the facts to suit his theories, that's a massive black mark.

However... while I have no dog in this fight, I can't help comparing some of the vituperative discourse to the right/left wing ranting that happens within our political system -- eg the "birthers" or those who believe that the WTC towers were brought down deliberately by controlled explosions on 9/11. I knew that the debate over dropping the atomic bomb, 65 years later, is still one of those issues. How could it NOT be? The people who dropped the bomb were ordinary individuals, carrying out orders. They had to live the rest of their lives with that knowledge and for many (Tibbetts included) it could only be done by celebrating what they had done. Personally, I find that repugnant. What I do know a reasonable amount about (to the extent that any lay person can) is the decision making leading up to the dropping of the two weapons (vs the Manhattan Project as a whole). I continue to feel that those decisions were influenced as much by the wish to send a deterrent message to the Soviet Union (the Potsdam conference had made clear just how difficult that relationship would be postwar) as by the wish to save lives among US troops. It's no accident that the picture with which we are most familiar is that of the mushroom cloud above Hiroshima, not the devastation below. It's ultimately a very personal call -- how able/willing people are psychologically to accept that the consequence of their actions (or, in the case of the Japan invasion force whose lives were spared by the dropping of the bomb, the price of their salvation) was such horror on the ground, 95% of which had no military impact or connections. The more it became clear what had happened, how long-lasting the impact proved for the hibakusha, the more defensive many of this group became. On the other hand, I've met people involved in this, both directly in the Tinian support team and generally, among military troups based in Okinawa, who decades later continued to think about the price paid by others for their subsequent safety, and who felt a kind of "survivor's guilt" whenever they did so. (The other person who I know who went through the same kind of experience was a Brit who ferried weapons to the fledgling state of Israel in the months leading up to its independence and witnessed the often-forcible expulsion of Arab/Muslim residents of some cities like Haifa. In his 70s, while he remained a supporter of Israel, he found himself dwelling more on the horror of what he had seen, a horror he told me over a Christmas dinner once, most of us don't even realize had happened.)

I suppose what I'm trying to say, in a roundabout way, is that the value I found in this book was to provide a reminder of the true horror of the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- the survivor stories and their efforts to cope and make peace with themselves. My confidence in Pellegrino as a narrator of those stories has been shaken, perhaps shattered; but nothing in the nature of those stories is at all jarring, given the hibakusha that I've met and the accounts that I've read. It's dismaying that Pellegrino may have/did choose to invent or enhance characters and facts, because it does an immense disservice to the specific case he's trying to make (about which he obviously feels passionately) and to the issue of whether readers can trust a narrator. It's just as dismaying that this particular case happened to be one of those hot potato issues, and now those who believe Tibbetts was a hero for his Enola Gay mission over Hiroshima can use Pellegrino's laziness and own personality flaws to support their case.

Whoof. OK, rant over. Though I may have to dig up the 1985 op-ed that I wrote and got a LOT of flak over.

That's the thing. Even most bad books do have value of some sort. ( note: most)

I wonder why he didn't just go with historical fiction? I suppose it is because he swears by his story? He seems to be a decent writer though, judging from reviews I scanned on Amazon. Historical fiction would do as you suggest and be a reminder, and still give him license to use his imagination to further fill out the shallow bits.

He isn't the first, and will not be the last to think that he can fool all of the people all of the time. Sad.

Kath, excellent point. I found myself wondering the same thing. I suppose one answer might be that the narrative might lose gravitas, and be more readily dismissed by the people he wants to impress, etc. But this is a far worse outcome than that would have been...

The migraine is back, and I have gremlins in hobnailed boots practicing their tap-dancing skills on the inside of my skull. When they pack up and go home, I'll be back.

future reference, try Dramamine and excedrine.. it works...

Some of these multi-day suckers, not even Demerol works on... Especially the ones I wake up with in the mornings. But since the little gremlin buggers are now doing more of a demure waltz than a tap dance, I'll seize a few minutes to update the reading.

1. Another controversial book, potentially, or at least, the author's first mystery set in Saudi Arabia raise the ire of some (male) expats who had lived in the kingdom for lack of precision in fine details. But I liked Finding Nouf (which is, after all, fiction), and also enjoyed the second book, City of Veils, which is due out early next month. (I got an ARC from Amazon Vine.) The story revolves around the death of a young woman, an ambitious Saudi documentary maker, whose family doesn't know what she's really up to. Other secrets are discovered, ranging from the domestic life of one of the cops to the investigations of a scholar trying to debunk the inerrancy of the Koran. It sounds complex, but it does all fit together, and I particularly enjoyed the fact that this is a character-driven mystery (albeit still a procedural.) The two who investigate the crime are the returning characters from Ferraris's first book, desert guide Nair, and Katya, a forensic technician who now has an opportunity to work on bigger crime investigations. Perhaps some of the tiny details of daily life in Saudi may not be accurate, but a friend of mine who lived there for a few years said that he found the first book gave an accurate reflection of the atmosphere and daily life; Ferraris was briefly married to a Saudi Bedouin and lived in Jeddah, where she now sets her books. 4 stars, recommended.

2. Fitting my need for mindless was Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle. Anyone who has read his memoirs about Provence knows Mayle as a bon vivant, with a focus on great wine and good food, and his novels tend to devote a lot of time to that as well. In this, the insurance investigator and his sidekicks trying to trace and recover some stolen great vintages spend a bunch of their time breaking for great meals, but that's OK... it added a degree of charm to the novel, as did the setting (largely in the wine country around Bordeaux and in Provence). And charm and a modest amount of wit is the reason to read this book; it certainly isn't great literature or offer deep thoughts. But it's amusing and kind of warm and fuzzy. Still, if I were to steer someone to a Mayle novel, it wouldn't be this one -- try Hotel Pastis, my fave, or A Good Year, which is vastly better than the film with Russell Crowe. I rate this 3.4 stars.

3. Read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, but found it a big disappointment. It's a cross between a classic self-help book (complete with 'testimonials' from people who posted comments on Rubin's blog) and a compendium of thoughtful/inspirational/cliche comments from Big Thinkers like Samuel Johnson and Thoreau. Maybe I'm a curmudgeon, but I ended this largely annoyed, rather than inspired. Firstly, there's the tremendously systematized approach to happiness, with checklists, etc. Then there was the tone (i'm sure unconscious and perhaps not at all what Rubin is like in real life), which veered from pompous to simplistic, and on to self-satisfied. There were a few tidbits that I found interesting in the sections on how to clean a closet, and on work. But for the most part the book was a great example of what can happen when an ambitious writer gets so carried away with her own project, which happens to be about a topic that has resonance for everyone, launches a blog and lands a book contract. I can't imagine that many men would find much of interest here (a friend of mine who also recently read it agrees with me on this) and while I like the general idea of being rigorously honest with yourself about what happiness is, about your own attitude, about kindness to others, etc., I think pretty much anyone could follow the worthwhile bits of advice here without even reading it, just thinking about it. I certainly wouldn't recommend buying this (I got a free copy from BookExpo, happily). 2.6 stars.

4. For my 1010 Challenge, the final volume in Sarah Frydman's historical fiction trilogy about the Medici family in the 15th century, Le Saga des Medicis: Lorenzo (I'm not sure the Touchstone exists or will work.) I definitely preferred the first two books; perhaps because I was more familiar with the history behind this third volume (which follows Lorenzo the Magnificent's relatively short life), I found myself a bit frustrated. Firstly, Frydman focuses almost exclusively on Lorenzo's youth and his early 20s, and on his love affair with Lucrezia Donati. That's fine, but it comes at the expense of the dramatic events of his years as de facto ruler of Florence, which featured the Pazzi conspiracy and conflict with the Vatican. All of that is squeezed into less than 150 pages of a 600 page novel, making me glad I'll be reading Miles Unger's newish bio of Lorenzo for the same challenge later this year. I'd rate the first volume in this series, Contessina, 4.8 stars -- it is the best at combining the political and mercenary achievements of the Medici with the classic historical romance elements of a novel -- but this gets 3.7 stars from me. Still, all three are good historical novels that deserve to be translated into English.

Just felt the need to share the fact that my Kindle 2 is FULL. (About 735 books, or half the capacity Amazon says it has...) Shocked & awed.

#61: Wow, already! I wonder what Amazon has to say about it being full at half-capacity.

I hope the gremlins stay away today, Suz!

I liked Hotel Pastis and A Good Year and Vintage Caper is in my TBR Tower. I would like to meet Mr Mayle .. I think he'd make a great dinner party guest.

Wow, half the capacity and your Kindle is full? Have you contacted Amazon to ask them if they will send you another one at no cost because it's not supposed to be at full capacity yet?

#60 I'm intrigued to learn I wasn't the only one who had problems with some of the details in The Night of the Mir'aj. Some of the details were just plain wrong - there are no two-humped camels on the Arabian peninsula, for example. I couldn't comment on the atmosphere of life there as I only lived in the Gulf states, but I still maintain Hanan Al-Shaykh's Women of Sand and Myrrh is the better book. Having said that, I'll probably pick up a copy of City of Veils and read it...

Interesting list. The Mayles books have piqued my interest.

I'm excited that I have two Mayles on my bookshelves for future reading and continue to keep a lookout for more. I'll check out the Hanan Al-Shaykh's, they sound interesting.

>60 Chatterbox:: I'm with you on the assessment of Mayle's books. Vintage Caper was pleasant but not his best. Hotel Pastis was one of my favorite of his novels, though I confess to loving the memoirs a bit better. I must have read A Year in Provence at just the right moment because I absolutely loved it.

>64 iansales:: I've only read Al-Shaykh's The Locust and the Bird, which didn't overwhelm me. Have you read the latter and is it typical or atypical of her writing?

nope...nope...nope..I did not read these latest posts regarding interesting books that could be added to my tbr pile...

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Tad, if you love a book then that is indeed high praise.

I think I love the word "blurbees" . I never, ever, ever, give blurbees thoughts the tiniest bit of consideration. Don't trust them. Sorry, cause you probably blurb, but.. it seems... like a secret society of mutual admiration. I go to the "bad side of town" on Ammy and see what is being said there by the real folks. Then I discount most of that and do what I want :)

Vine offered me a baby doll this time. I am intrigued.

Kath, this was the weirdest Vine month ever...

Actually, I don't blurb. Haven't ever really been asked. Some people do so routinely that I automatically distrust them; if it's an author I know and who rarely blurbs, it might get me to take a look at a book by a new writer.

Caro, I suspect if I asked Amazon for a new Kindle, they would tsk tsk, and remind me that I'm downloading 99 cent copies of Gibbon's Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, etc....

Re Zoe Ferraris -- I wouldn't readily compare her to Hanan Al-Shaykh, as what they are trying to do is very different. The latter is trying to capture the essence of life in the Middle East; Ferraris is simply using it as a backdrop for a mystery novel. I wouldn't read Ferraris's books for insight into Saudi Arabia, but I would as good mysteries set in an unusual (for us) environment.

Is there a horror novel in existence without a Stephen King blurb? :(

Stephen, I assume that's a rhetorical question... ;-)

Books du jour:

1. I happen to love John McPhee's quirky writing style and sometimes oblique approach to his subjects, though until I picked up Silk Parachute I had forgotten how much. For me, the essay/article on the fine-art of fact-checking at magazines makes the whole book worth its purchase price (he even includes an example of how when a rare error crept into a story, identifying someone as dead, the correction made things worse: the individual in question had died over the weekend before the correction had been published!) Even when a subject is less compelling (lacrosse, for instance), McPhee's writing and his vocabulary (who else uses words like "funct" and "argentocracy") make me marvel and sometimes laugh out loud. There's a great essay here, that is almost a rambling train-of-thought, about the chalk "zone" in England and France, that forced me to think of a Europe with a different kind of boundary, geological rather than political. A delight to read; you can pick this up and put it down at your convenience and some of the pieces are very short. I'm not sure if there's a theme that connects them -- but find I don't really care! 4.7 stars, recommended.

2. The Cobra by Frederick Forsyth. This was my new Early Reviewer book, and a good escapist read for the hot weekend. At his best, Forsyth blends fact and fiction so effortlessly you can end up wondering whether what you are reading really did happen. Alas, this isn't his best, although it's not his worst. Two characters from Avenger return to do away with the cocaine trade when the president of the United States decides to play hardball. As in any Forsyth novel, there's more attention paid to the mechanics of how this is done than to characters or dialogue, etc., but that's usually OK. In this case, it doesn't quite work. Many of Forsyth's better novels have focused on events of the recent past -- the first Gulf War -- or complex situations based on reality, like the rise of a populist anti-Semitic new force in Russian politics. In this case, however, the "twist" in the story isn't really that surprising, if the reader thinks through what MIGHT happen should the powers that be decide to really pull no punches in killing off the cocaine trade. And the fact that Forsyth is concerning himself with a moral issue rather than the usual shades-of-grey political/military conflict also makes it tricky. There are the heroes, and the villains, and both do nasty things. Only recommended to Forsyth fans; if you haven't discovered his books yet, I can strongly recommend The Deceiver and Icon as well as classics like The Odessa File, or even Avenger. They would all get ratings of 4 stars or greater. This was a 3.4 star book for me.

Well Suzanne, it's not that I've been ignoring you, it's just that I just found this thread thanks to somone who put a link on your old thread. So 72 posts in I think I'm caught up;-)

Can't begin to count the books you've added to my teetering tower on just this one visit.

Enough promises; I will start reading some books by McPhee, especially this one and A Sense of Where You Are, his account of Bill Bradley's 1965 basketball season at Princeton (yes, the same Bill Bradley who was a Rhodes Scholar, played professionally for the New York Knicks, served as a U.S. Senator from New Jersey for several terms, and was defeated in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Democratic primary by Al Gore, which I'm still upset about).

I own a couple of McPhee's books that I have never read. I must bump them up the stack.

I am adding Silk Parachute to the BlackHole.

I am also adding Silk Parachute - it sounds like fun.

I never heard of John McPhee (although I see here that he has written loads of books), but this does sound good. I've just finished a book by Michael Chabon, Maps and Legends, which was great, and which reminded me that I really like essays, and made me want to read more of them, so this suggestion comes at the perfect time.

I read a lot of McPhee a long time ago, mostly his geological history stuff, but this makes me want to pick up some of those books again, or read new ones.

I had read Uncommon Carriers last year, and that is what prompted me to get this one; that and the fact that I love essays.

A Sense of Where You Are sounds terrific. Adding that one to my list.

I was eager to read The Last Train from Hiroshima but the ever-increasing controversies have soured me on that. I probably will read it at some point.

Books du jour:

1. For my 1010 Challenge, Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. This fits into the category for newish books and authors who are new to me (whose work I haven't read before; Kwok's book, in fact, is a debut novel, one that is getting a lot of buzz. It was well written and interesting, but it didn't resonate with me; certainly it's not one I'll remember clearly or have any interest in picking up to re-read. At its heart, it's a banal and sometimes bathetic tale of an immigrant girl who struggles against poverty and sacrifices for love. There's little original here, other than, perhaps the fact that the girl is Chinese. But even then, the characters are legal immigrants, so the author loses the ability to at least make a point about the dead-end lives of many of our immigrants, to compensate for the lack of originality in either writing or plot. I feel like a bit of a curmudgeon, beating up on a kitten or something, because the story is so "worthwhile", but I ended up irritated by it. 2.8 stars, as I at least finished it and found some descriptive parts (like life in the garment factory) worthwhile. But it borrows heavily in theme from better books like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and at every turn in the narrative I invariably guessed what was coming next. A disappointment, and the reason I don't often read books with "buzz".

2. Priceless: How I went undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by Robert Wittman was better, despite the fact that the writing and structure were often sloppy or over-the-top. I nearly gave up in the first pages, when he's describing a sting operation, a false sale of "stolen" art. The car he's traveling in has a "menacing stainless steel grille leading the way", the guy driving it has "cold green eyes"; there's lots of talk about the babes with hot bodies (undercover cops) in bikinis on the yacht to lull the bad guys into a sense of false security. Gag; faux hard-edged thriller. Wittman is also one of those defensive guys, eager to tell the world how silly many of his superiors were vs. how smart and far-seeing he was. I kept muttering to myself "less is more" and "show, don't tell". Still, the individual stories of the art recoveries -- from old native Indian war bonnets with eagle feathers to blood-stained Civil War flags and priceless paintings -- were intriguing. And I enjoyed Wittman's thoughts about the art that he is rescuing and its role in society. When he's talking about the thefts and the art, it's almost as if he forgets the need to impress the reader, and that was a good thing! Nowhere near as good as Provenance, which I read for my first 75-book challenge, but cautiously recommended to anyone fascinated by art crimes. 3.2 stars.

#81: I have Girl in Translation in the BlackHole already, but it is not available at my local library yet and I am not rushing out to buy it either, so it may be there quite awhile before I get to it.

I think I will pass on Priceless.

#61 What?!? Only 735 books fills up your Kindle?

I'm at about half that and thought I had plenty of room left.

It gets worse, Linda. I took some off, and it still says zero MB available. May actually have to buy a second Kindle... (I don't trust the "archived items" feature...)

Stasia, yes, Girl in Translation is definitely not a book that I would recommend buying. I'm relieved that I didn't.

OK, should I buy a second-hand copy of Last Train from Hiroshima for $22?? Opinions, please!

I recall archived items often on my Kindle. No problems with that.

I have noticed that, sometimes when I delete an item, it doesn't immediately increase the MBs or whatever they are.

Hmm, very odd. This morning, I was at 816 free MBs and now it's 854. Plus, when I have my cursor on the line, the subtitle is popping up in smaller type.

I wonder if I finally got the update. I think I did: mine now says version 2.5.4. There's also a "create new collection" option.

Where do you see the create new collection option?

I may get a backup anyway, now that prices have come down. I occasionally have frustrating freezes, and it would give me an option for long plane flights. I worry about getting somewhere where I can't move stuff from archived items onto the main Kindle. I could use one as backup reading, and the other for the stuff I'm actually reading. I really miss the ability to extend the capacity infinitely via the SD card that was a Kindle 1 feature...

#86, with my list of books open, I press menu. "Create new collection" is the 5th choice, below search and above "sync and check for items."

My "view archived items" choice is grayed out, which I need to investigate.

Phew, never mind. I turned on the whispernet and the "view archived items" option came back on. (Remained available even after I turned the whispernet off.)

I'm thinking I will categorize my books, though not yet sure exactly how. Mysteries would be a definite.

Suz, you can see what version you have by pressing menu and then settings. The version you have is at the very bottom.

#84: I would buy the book for $22. It may end up being a collector's item given the controversy surrounding it.

That's what I'm thinking. Plus, the survivor anecdotes are intriguing.

Getting ready to record an interview for BBC 4 radio (airs tomorrow/today in the UK) and then will have to get up at 3:45 a.m. to be at CNBC for an early morning interview. (5:40 is the schedule.) Eeeeek. Goldman Sachs reports earnings at 8 a.m.

Good luck with the interviews, Suz!

One more book to note before I go to bed for 4 hours or so...

Finished (for my 1010 Challenge), Fighting France by Edith Wharton. This is a slim little book, which left me intrigued, fascinated and slightly depressed and puzzled. I read it on my Kindle, which left me without the introduction that Colm Toibin provided for the new Hesperus edition -- I set off in search of more info about the book and realized that all the articles collected here were originally published in 1915 in Scribners, which helps explain the tone. What I found most intriguing about the book is that tone and the fact that it reflects the view of someone who, while well-informed, is not intimately familiar with the daily horrors of trench warfare; these days, our views of the war are invariably shaped by the fact that we know those horrors would continue until 1918, and change the world the survivors returned to. Wharton is writing in the earliest days and months of this war, and she still finds something glamorous or at least faintly awe-inspiring about the spirit of self-sacrifice, the wilingness to fight, etc., which would probably sound absurdly propagandistic to anyone after the Somme (in 1916). Wharton is almost jingoistic in her support for the French and hostile to the evil enemy -- writing "we felt that on the far side of that dividing line were the men who had made the war, and on the near side the men who had been made by it." (These days, we tend to view the inhabitants of the trenches, vs. their superiors who foolishly launched the carnage, as equal-opportunity victims, in contrast to WW2.) Still, she has a keen eye for detail. She writes of Ypres that it is a city without a profile; she notes the impact of a shell on a house, with its front stripped away and exposing the daily life of its inhabitants; she tells of soldiers who spend their idle hours crafting mementos out of the scraps of aluminum from enemy shells that had landed near their trenches. I kept mentally comparing this reportage to what someone might write of war in Iraq and Afghanistan today (there are lots of similar memoirs by observers, of course) and found myself concluding that hers is a more partisan and yet less personal account. In nature, perhaps it more reflects the prewar zeitgeist and style than that which would emerge after the conflict was over. Recommended to anyone interested in the period, as a historical document rather than as history. 4.2 stars

#92: I will look for that one.

#92 - A nice review!

#93 Stasia - If you don't mind librivox, try HERE, or if you'd just like to download a PDF (kindle, epub, etc...) version, try HERE.

#94: Thanks, Peter!

#95 Stasia - You're welcome. You know, one of the things I love most about ebooks/ereaders (and digitizing projects) is that so many of these 'forgotten' books are finally becoming accessible, and finding a whole new lease of life! Personally, I've downloaded over 1,000 titles I hope to read well into my retirement :)

#96: I have already downloaded Fighting France on to my Kindle-for-PC so I have it ready to read when I get to it!

I agree with you about 'forgotten' books being made accessible. I think it is fantastic.

I have Fighting France as an ER copy and need to review it! Also a life of Goethe.

Stasia I love your Kindle-as-PC idea.

#98: Cushla, you can download the Kindle-for-PC app from Amazon.

I thought it was a joke!! Wow. Will have a look (not buying...)

#100: It is a free app, Cushla.

There is also an Amazon Kindle app for the BlackBerry; I have two unread books on my phone, in case of a book emergency.

Kindle for BlackBerry

Interesting re the Edith Wharton book - I looked up because I remembered that the US hadn't entered the war at that point (only did so in 1917) - was she arguing that they should?

#103, Wharton was a real Francophile; had made her home in France by then, I think. She wasn't explicitly arguing that the US should enter the war, but rather implicitly suggesting that their moral support should be tilted toward the French (and by extension, the English). Which, of course, wasn't a given: there was a large German immigrant population and the Irish as well (anti-British). She comes across as very ambivalent; simultaneously talking about the glorious sight of young soldiers galloping off to war and the horrors of war in what strikes me as a very pre-war manner.

#102 -- Love the description; a "book emergency". It has happened to me all too frequently...

Books du jour were very mindless brain candy, reflecting the lack of sleep due to media stuff, and generally high level of angst.

1. The Summer House by Marcia Willett. Before there was chick lit (i.e. pre Bridget Jones), there was the "Aga saga", with Aga referring to the solid-fuel stoves, massive and pricey, found in chic renovated English country houses. These books are softer than the classic chick lit, dealing with family/domestic crises. Think Barbara Pym lite? Or Joanna Trollope? Anyway, Marcia Willett has written a whole cluster of these books, often set in the Devon countryside, and typically involving the muddles in which a bunch of characters -- relations and friends -- get into. By the end, the story line is neatly resolved. Really, these are a bit like rice pudding, comforting and undemanding. In this one, Matt, a successful novelist, returns to Devon to deal with the aftermath of his mother's death, writer's block and a nagging sense of something missing from his life -- and solves a family secret. Other plot lines involve his sister Imogen and her husband, and their parent-figures, Milo and his sister-in-law, Lottie. Pleasant, a bit of an unconvincing twist, but "comfort reading", which was all I wanted. Recommended only to those who are looking for the same. 3.2 stars.

2. Fault Line by Barry Eisler. This was a book that I added to my BookSwim pool on a whim, in hopes of finding a new thriller writer whose work I enjoy (without having to buy the book.) So when it showed up in my latest shipment, I gave it a whirl, with relatively low expectations. While it was a fast-paced read, it faltered about halfway through when the suspense gave way to an implausible romantic subplot, and the final twists were utterly unconvincing. Still, it might make a good summer beach read for anyone tired of the usual suspects. I wouldn't recommend purchasing it, however; this is definitely a library book. 2.9 stars, though some readers might be more generous. The plot revolves the efforts by mysterious forces to steal a newly-developed encryption technology and bump off anyone who knows about it; two estranged brothers have to reunite to fight the forces of evil!

I'm now re-reading an old fave that I haven't read in decades, and tackling some slightly meatier/more promising material... Although I may get sidetracked by the latest Daniel Silva novel.

In case anyone is thinking of ordering something from Book Depository in the UK -- they are offering 10 of my "friends" 10% off on orders; I have to provide e-mail addresses. If you're interested, PM me.

SO CONFUSED! Thread here, thread there, threads that have seconds but are fifths, eee help eee

Richard, it's really quite simple -- this is the active thread. It's my second challenge, and the first thread in that second challenge...

Just focus on this thread and feel free to ignore my others now... :-)

Having a real pig of a week here, generally. Tempted to go to sleep and get up on Monday. Rip van Chatterbox.

>108 Chatterbox: So totally relate. 25% of our 50-ft-tall sweet gum gave up and hit the garage roof. Ludy and Marvin, the yard lads, got up there and hacked it up...no power tools, lest damage be inflicted to self and roof...and took an hour cutting it up, trimming the sweet gum, and carting all the stuff away. PLUS the usual mow, edge, blow.

I forked over an extra fifty for doing it in this heat.

Copacetic re: threads. This is it.

OK this is the thread and I'm staying here. Love the sounds of the Wharton book Suzanne. I'm adding that one for sure.

sorry to hear lousy week is running rampant through the 75ers :P

Great idea Suz, Rip van Chatterbox

I suppose I should take comfort; despite what looks like being a week filled with classic Mondays, I did get some books in the mail today. One of them is more brick than book, however -- the ARC of Ken Follett's Fall of Giants. 985 pages. Ye gods.

ETA: Oh, and I just learned that Ralph Nader requested a copy of my book...

Fall of Giants. 985 pages.

Aptly named, I suppose! I remember feeling similar when a certain 700+ page Justin Cronin book showed up on my doorstep.

Ohh Ralph Nader... Are you going to autograph it? You could say the financial system is "unsafe at any speed" (tee-hee)

The publishers have already sent it -- and I suspect he has copyrighted that particular catchphrase!! :-)

OK, the books du jour are:

1. The Fancy by Monica Dickens. This was a re-read of an old favorite; a book I haven't read for well over a decade. It's probably my second-favorite of the author's, with Mariana well out in front as top fave. The title refers to the rabbit "fancy", or the interest in breeding and raising rabbits, which is the passion of Edward Ledward's life. His day job is routine -- he's a charge-hand at an aircraft engine plant -- and his marriage is less than inspiring. And yet, over the course of this novel, his world undergoes a complete upheaval, thanks to his job and his rabbits. This novel is set against the backdrop of World War 2 in a London suburb, but it's very much a story that is told against the backdrop of the home front. Edward supervises a workforce of women, whose menfolk are caught up in the war in various ways; his story is interspersed with insights into their world. Dickens is very adept at capturing characters, and although the story she tells is rather dated, as with many of her other novels she does an excellent job of making people whose ordinary lives strike us as banal and incredibly tedious full of a different kind of adventure. After all, how many of us can get excited about eating a new kind of salami with fresh bread, or the size of a rabbit? And yet we empathize with Edward's modest goals and achievements. Still a favorite; worth seeking out. 4.2 stars.

2. The Clouds Beneath the Sun by Mackenzie Ford. This was a VERY frustrating novel, because the plot and the ideas underlying it are extremely compelling. It's set at a paleontological research camp in a Kenyan gorge, on the eve of independence in 1961/62, and the plot begins with a discovery and a murder and climaxes in a trial and its consequences. The main character is Natalie Nelson, who has just received her doctorate at the same time her mother dies and her married lover leaves her, so Kenya is a great refuge. But it soon proves more than that, as she becomes the key witness in the murder trial, one which pits Kenya's white community against the Maasai, Kikuyu and other native inhabitants and highlights rival views of what the country's future may hold. But while the ideas are fascinating, the execution is flawed. Natalie spends a lot of time in repetitive agonizing over what the consequences of her testimony will be, and the love triangle at the heart of the book isn't always convincing (or well executed, in the sense of well written.) Few of the characters come alive. Had a very good editor gotten his or her hands on this and cut and shaped the narrative, it could have been a very good book. As it is, it's written in a rather pedestrian way, and while I'd recommend it, it would only be with some caution as it's a bumpy narrative. Still, if you're looking for something set in Kenya in this era, it's lively and it grabbed me. The problem, I think, is that despite all his books, Peter Watson (the author behind the nom de plume) simply isn't a natural storyteller. He has the instincts (i.e. can identify a great plot) but can't follow through. 3.4 stars; I've deducted about half a star for a couple of small bloopers, such as the fact that the author has Natalie in attendance at Jesus College, Cambridge, nearly two decades before that institution admitted its first female undergraduates. Tsk, tsk. (ETA: the family in charge of the dig seems to be very loosely (VERY loosely) based on the Leakeys and their work in Olduvai gorge.)

#116: The only Monica Dickens book I have read is Mariana, which I very much enjoyed, so I am going to have to find The Fancy. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

One more to add to the list, although I can't even say that this passed the "mindless reading enjoyment" test. It did, however, qualify for the TIOLI Challenge in the ISBN ending in "4", so I suppose there is some point in having read Midnight Angels by Lorenzo Carcaterra. Set in Florence, it's an art world thriller that I thought might be interesting set against the bio of Lorenzo de Medici that I'm now also reading, but turned out to be a Swiss cheese of a book, so full of gaping plot and character holes it's nearly impossible to follow. And those elements that are present are implausible. The "heroine" is a young woman in her 20s, a kind of Harry Potter figure who is heir to her parents' quixotic mission to restore long lost art works to their rightful owners, but it takes a while to realize that she knows what she is doing vs finding herself in her plight by accident. The reader is plunged into the middle of the story, and I, for one, never really found my feet. Or had much interest in doing so. The myriad structural and narrative problems are compounded by shoddy writing and dreadful copy editing -- someone was a "navy sailor" (how many "army sailors" do you know?), "undo" is used in placed of "undue" -- I could go on, but it's too painful. Avoid. 1.5 stars, for the sometimes interesting descriptions of Florence and the art.

#118: Skipping that one!

You are exerting undo influence on Carcaterra's readers, you tuna fish you (I ask you...is there a tuna mammal? Or tuna reptile?)!

No idea whats happening at "Black Rock" but hope it sorts .. or turns .. soon.

Kath, lots of different stuff, none of which I really what to discuss in public -- family, finances, the book. The relationship is as OK as it's going to get with a long-distance thing, but that's not helping with the other stuff.

Richard -- tuna fish???? *puzzled*

He gets a little lightheaded when he flounces... and he has be flouncing.
that could explain it.

"Tuna fish" is like "navy sailor" but is more common to hear, I don't know how many times in life I've been offered "tuna fish" and I've always replied, "what? no tuna mammal?"

Never mind. Ya hadda be there.

Aha, the department of redundancy department... I was overthinking it, wondering why being hypercritical made me seafood; struggling to follow the logic. :-)

Book du jour: I have been very very lucky with the mysteries I have discovered this year. From Inspector Chen's adventures by Qiu Xiaolong, to Matt Beynon Rees's books set in the West Bank, and Imogen Robertson's historical mysteries, to a new book recommended to me by the staff at Politics & Prose in DC, Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker. The title is a propos, because the book is more about Bruno (aka Benoit Courreges), chief of police in a town in Perigord, and his life policing the community (which involves protecting its residents from over-zealous EU food inspectors who want to stop them selling home-made pork rillettes.) The book is tangentially about the murder of an elderly North African, and deals with very contemporary issues -- or is it really about the distant past? Walker isn't crafting a terribly complex mystery puzzle here, although it's intriguing enough -- this is more a novel than a mystery. Think Peter Mayle meets Louise Penny. I really enjoyed it, more than either of those, and was delighted to discover that his second book comes out next week and was already available on Kindle. Reader, I downloaded it... 4.2 stars, recommended.

#126: I will look for that one, Suz.

I hope everything gets cleared up at Black Rock so you can get back to being your normal bubbly self :)

>126 Chatterbox:: You had me at Peter Mayle meets Louise Penny.

#125, The one that always gets me is "free gift."

>129 rebeccanyc: I think of that phrase as fair warning: If someone must adivse the potential recipient that a gift is free, it isn't.

Book du jour: The Girl from Botany Bay by Carolly Erickson. I can't stand the liberties that this author has taken with historical fiction (she has Mary, Queen of Scots, escaping from captivity in England, visiting the Pope and then setting up house in Normandy with her illegitimate daughter before returning to be beheaded in one of these misbegotten books) so I thought I'd read one of her non-fiction works to remind myself that she actually can write about historical events. It sort of worked. This is a book about Mary Broad, born in one of my fave places on earth (Fowey, Cornwall) in some of its darkest days -- when the pilchard fishing failed. Mary turns to crime, is sent to Australia in one of the prison ships belonging to the First Fleet -- and then escapes to return to London. Her adventures are almost incredible, but true. The story was fascinating and told in a lively way; the only thing I didn't enjoy was the way Erickson veers from one extreme to another in trying to convey Mary's experiences. At one extreme, she's vividly re-creating living through a storm at sea while chained in the hull of a boat (when there's no written evidence to indicate what Mary thought or felt); at the other extreme she takes refuge in "we can't know what she thought about xyz". A better writer would have found a way to walk the line between these two extremes. But she paints a fascinating picture of the first years of European "settlement" in Australia and piques my curiosity about Mary. Reminds me that I must read Robert Hughes's non-fiction account of Australia, The Fatal Shore, and one day re-read a novel I read as a teenager that has an early convict sent to Australia as its heroine, Sara Dane by Catherine Gaskin. This is 3.6 stars, mostly due to the nature of the story rather than the way it's be told. Recommended to anyone interested in this history.

Hi Suzanne,

Bruno Chief of Police sounds good. Onto the pile it goes.

I think the new Martin Walker's just been reviewed on The Bookbag this week.

Just checking in and sending positive stuff your way.



The Girl from Botany Bay sounds ... well, it sounds like I will give it a pass.

Started Chasing Goldman Sachs this evening. Finished chapter 3 over dinner, liking it so far!

Love the gif, Kath -- it reminds me of Cassie chasing her own tail. Which she still does with relative frequency. One would think that after a few years of doing this, she would realize the futility -- but hey, it keeps her amused.

#133 -- I'll start the new Martin Walker tomorrow, I think, when I finish The Cookbook Collector.

#135 -- Hope it stays enjoyable!

Bought some books today to cheer myself up. My TBR pile is out of control...

Bought some books today to cheer myself up.

Good for the soul.

The Bruno, Chief of Police sounds very interesting. I'll look around for it. Thanks!

And The Fatal Shore is excellent - I've read it twice (and it's probably the only time I've read a non-fiction book twice).

#131: I have had The Fatal Shore in the BlackHole forever now. Thanks for the reminder to bump it up!

Re: Bruno, Chief of Police

Despite largely purging my life of fiction, I still do make an exception for mysteries set in Europe, particularly France and Italy. Bruno, Chief of Police, and the second in the series The Dark Vineyard (which was released in July, '09 in the UK) are both on my bookshelf. Check out the website.

I'm another fan of The Fatal Shore - read it 18 years ago for a legal history paper and loved it. I haven't re-read it yet but will try to in the next few years.

My TBR pile is out of control . Mine too. Sad and wonderful state of affairs. I need more shelves, but for that, I need a new and bigger house.
The Fatal Shore sounds very harsh. I don't think it would fit into my current reading of drivel and light, airy reads?

Saints and Goddesses save me from ever having a life without fiction!!
The very idea horrifies. There is plenty of good in non-fiction, but there is also plenty of good in fiction. IMO

*shudders at the thought of life with no fiction* *wanders off*

#139 - I forgot to add that book 3 in Martin Walker's Bruno Courreges series, Black Diamond, was released this month in the UK.

#141 - Have yet to read a work of fiction in 2010! And honestly, I don't think I'll see one this year. In fact, in the last 12 months to date, I think I've read a grand total of three :)

I don't think I could live without reading both fiction and non-fiction; they fill different needs in me. Fiction gives both author and reader a way to reimagine the world, to travel without leaving home, etc. And non-fiction helps satisfy my curiousity about the way things are (or how we got to where we are.) They are synergistic. I do have a friend who refuses to read fiction out of some principle, which I just don't understand. I suppose I can understand that someone wouldn't enjoy reading fiction, but to make a decision that abstract just seemed odd to me when he told me. I asked what would happen if I wrote a novel -- would he read it? He said nope, shrugged. Needless to say, our friendship has cooled slightly!!

Thanks for the tip re book #3 -- I just ordered it from Amazon UK...

Kath -- from what I've read about it, The Fatal Shore is a good book to read when there is a blizzard outdoors and you need to remind yourself that your life could be oh, so much worse than shovelling five feet of snow!!

Will update my reading later on...

>142 petermc: Have yet to read a work of fiction in 2010!

I can't imagine a life without fiction. It actually boggles my mind. That said most men I know who read, read ONLY non-fiction.

The books du jour:

1. The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman. Generally, I don't like "faux literary fiction", where a book that is really just a thumping good read gets dressed up in fancy duds and pretends to be Booker Prize-caliber, zeitgeist-changing lit. This book may be an exception. While it obviously has pretensions (Goodman is trying to get the reader to think about what it is that we value in our lives; she uses the backdrop of the height of the dot.com boom to 9/11 and its aftermath to do so) and it's occasionally too heavy-handed in its message and prose (at one point, a character is even given to musing what he will do when he beats his sword into time-shares -- Puhleeez...). But there are many more occasions that are genuinely thoughtful, from the reflection of one character at a stage of a dinner party that this would be the time in a Virginia Woolf novel where the lamps are lit; to the post 9/11 offhand remark that the grief of those closest to someone dead can't be appeased or cleansed by memorial services: "The memorial was something they suffered for the sake of others." While it's ostensibly a novel about two sisters, there are really a bunch of characters whose lives are loosely or indirectly connected to the sisters, and that kind of blunts the impact that the novel could have had -- it's somehow too noisy. And yet I liked it a great deal -- it has a kind of charm, and there are at least two characters who are intriguing and appealing, however flawed (i.e. human) they may be. So, on balance, I'd recommend this. 4 stars.

2. Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? by Thomas Goeghegan -- this book jumped out at me at Barnes & Noble, since I've long been convinced of this fact. The ultra-chatty tone really, deeply annoyed me, especially combined with the author's whimsical approach. On the other hand, for most Americans that SHOULD read this (vs those that will), that's probably the only way to reach them. Essentially, Geoghegan argues that while Europeans pay more in taxes, they also get far more of nearly everything that we here tend to claim is valuable: leisure, time with family, access to culture, higher education, health care, etc. etc. He raises some important questions, from the flawed nature of per capita GDP, and the fact that excess monetary wealth isn't a panacea if you have to spend MORE than that excess to send your kids to school and to save for retirement. True, he's a labor lawyer, and comes to the issue with certain preconceived ideas. And he's also a pragmatist, which I tend to think is a bigger flaw: he doesn't address the way in which certain American ideas and ideals will mean that we can never have European-style social democracy here, no matter how much better our lives might be. Still, I'd like to hope that even those who think they disagree with his arguments will consider them seriously rather than just dismissing them out of hand. Masked by the flippant tone of the book is the fact that he's done some serious research, not just thrown together a bunch of facts and figures and dressed them up with a provocative theory. A side-note -- I do wish he had put together some kind of reading list of all the books he has consulted or that deal with these issues; he mentions many in passing, but an annotated bibliography would have been great. 4 stars, recommended for those who like to engage in ideas, not rant about principles.

#145: Adding both of those to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendations, Suz.

The latest bibliomaniac quiz making the rounds:

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
-- Yup. I also eat my meals while I read. Or read while I eat my meals (whichever way you want to look at it.) But only if I'm eating solo, don't worry!

What is your favorite drink while reading?
-- Diet Pepsi, one of the Vitamin Water zero-calorie drinks (Mega-C), Earl Grey tea, Perrier with lemon or lime.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
-- Rarely, but it does happen. I have some books that my ex-bf gave me and that belonged to my grandfather, and I kind of enjoy tripping over their notes on their reading. But it's definitely the exception! With Kindle, I can highlight, which helps -- although it annoys me now that there are "shadow highlights" telling me that 7 people highlighted a phrase, etc. I don't know them, so I don't want to know about what struck them!

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ear? Laying the book flat open?
-- I try to use bookmarks. I've got a bunch of old leather ones that I've bought at various English attractions, from Ely Cathedral to HMS Belfast -- some are nearly 40 years old! I've also got bunches of the ones that they hand out in bookstores. But if it's a paperback and it belongs to me, I'll turn a page corner down. Or I'll use the dust jacket flap.

Fiction, non-fiction or Both?
-- Definitely, both!

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
-- I like to try ending at the end of a chapter, so I can pick up easily, but when that's a cliffhanger, I can't! More often than not, I end wherever I end...

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
-- On a very few occasions I have thrown a book into the garbage. If I fling a book across the room, I would frighten the cats and probably end up breaking something.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
-- Doesn't happen too much. When it does, I'll work through the context. Kindle is great if it happens, but I don't use the feature much.

What are you currently reading?
-- Finishing up a bio of Lorenzo de Medici and The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield; about to start the second Bruno Courreges mystery by Martin Walker.

What is the last book you bought?
-- The third Bruno Courreges mystery, ordered from the UK. The Quickening Maze was the last one I put on my Kindle. The last fiction work I bought was The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall; the last non-fiction work was Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? by Thomas Geoghegan. The last (and one of the only) audiobooks I bought was The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
-- Always more than one. Though only until I get completely caught up in one, in which case I just zoom right through it to the last page.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
-- I can and do read anytime/anywhere. But at home, on my living room sofa, or in bed, before I go to sleep. Often for hours, more often in the evening (or in the afternoon as well, on the weekends.)

Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?
-- I'm indifferent. As long as the book is good. Some series books get stale after a while.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
-- They tend to be books rather than authors, and vary by the person I'm talking to. Colin Cotterill's mysteries. The Handmaid's Tale, Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett to anyone who likes memoirs, Medici Money to anyone interested in art and history. Patrick Leigh Fermor's travel books, Hazlitt's essays, the intriguing and intellectually meaty but very well-written books by Ian Buruma, such as Occidentalism.

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author's last name etc)?
-- I try hard. Because I've probably got 5,500 to 6,000 of them floating around. I try to keep the non-fiction books on similar subjects in roughly the same place on the shelves. The older paperback fiction (books I read in the 70s/80s) is shelved behind the front row (mostly non-fiction) because I pull it out more rarely. It is very roughly alphabetical, in the sense that the Ms tend to be together, but they may be cheek by jowl with the Bs. My hardcover fiction and ARCs live downstairs in the office, along with books that I use for work. Poetry and plays go into a couple of glass-fronted bookcases that belonged to my grandfather. New arrivals go into stalagmites on the floor...

2. Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? by Thomas Goeghegan would probably make me furious. Americans can be so dense when it comes to looking at the big picture. They think by buzzwords ( like taxes, help, need, ) and selfish greed. Ahem. imo.

I might have to give the quiz a whirl on my own thread, as I suspect that yours will soon be filling up :) thanks!

>145 Chatterbox:: I commented on how perfect for me the Goeghegan sounds on another thread. Sorry...that thread was before this one in the list. But, it still sounds perfect! :-D

Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? sounds interesting, especially since I'm starting to wonder if I was a Londoner in my previous life. I'm adding this to my wish list.

A I said on that "other" thread Suzanne, I'm adding Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?

No, no, no ... I refuse to be drawn in by your reviews .... I refuse, I absolutely refuse to keep adding books you've so wonderfully reviewed to my obese wish list! I shall stand firm, I shall not weaken ..... I need my stressball....

Caroline needs a pacy:

>145 Chatterbox:/2: I was. I'm quite sure of it. Wishlisted.

>148 mckait: Yeup. She's right again.

>152 cameling: ROFL! I need to get and use that GIF.

>153 kidzdoc: LMAO!! Creepy as all hell, but funny!

Or, we could get her a redneck pacifier:

>155 kidzdoc: I swaNEE! It's Cuz'n Cletus's girl Marjuliayan!

Aw, shoot! I wuz sure it wuz Lil Bubba.

Oh. My. God. I take half a day away from thread, and look what happens. I think I'll go and clean the house to take my mind off this insanity!! :-D

ETA: One of the interesting anecdotes Geoghegan relates in Were You Born on the Wrong Continent is how continental Europeans (he excludes the Brits from his analysis) and Americans differ in what we define as a "political discussion". In the US, when we talk about politics, we talk about who is winning and who is losing, among the politicians and parties. In Europe, they can have an entire political conversation without mentioning that topic -- they talk about the issues. He interprets that to mean we are more focused on the "game" of politics and less on how much we, as the governed, may end up winning and losing. We are reluctant to engage in the real business of policy (vs just yelling about what it is that we want.) I'm extrapolating a bit here, but that's the gist of it.

Suz

Rumor has it that you are attending Richard's birthday bash. I look forward to meeting you!

Rumor, for once, is accurate -- always allowing for a deux ex machina, of course!

Do we need to bring dancing boys with us to entertain the Birthday Boy, though?

#158: Caroline started it. It's all her fault.

#158 - I agree regarding def. of "political discussion". I think it's the main problem with American politics. Who cares who is winning or losing? It's the actual issues that matter. I maintain (as a conservative lower-case republican in a family of, shall we say, federalists?) that the issues that are important can be discussed as long as you focus on the things that matter. We don't differ all that much on the things that matter. How I wish we could get "Americans" to focus on being American rather than an R or a D or whatever else.
*stepping off soap box*

Pacifier photos are hilarious.

Book du jour: OK, I admit I was underwhelmed by The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. By the end of it, I found I really didn't care too much what the title meant, or what the tale might be. The author's pen was too visibly present throughout, artificially heightening the sense of tension or of unreality. There's been a lot written about this novel already, so I'll just leave it at an example of one of those books that is a clever idea, but unconvincing in execution. I never got the sense that these characters could or did exist in reality. Now, contrast that with Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, where the situation is implausible, and yet the characters are so vivid I still imagine what they may look like and where I might trip over them. It's also one of those books where not liking most of the characters (I found Margaret a wimp and Miss Winter and the whole Angelfield crowd deeply unsympathetic.) 2.8 stars, mostly for the pacing. For my TIOLI challenge, and the off-the-shelf challenge.

In case anyone has ideas about birthday presents: Naked muscular men are *not* for sale, more's the pity. Rentable perhaps...but who wants a gift that comes with an expiration date?

I'm 50, I live in a stuffed house, I drink in moderation, and my only vice is reading. You do the math....

But Richard, surely they can be rented by the hour??? (the naked muscular men, I mean...)

ETA: we can provide an automatic renewal function, or weekly visitations, perhaps -- kind of like a magazine subscription?

I love the subscription idea: "Studmuffin of the Month"--January's has a few extra pounds to keep the customer warm; February's arrives in a little heart-shaped doily strapped to the relevant hidden anatomy, bearing Veuve Cliquot and a single red rosebud in a crystal vase; March's Muffin comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, need I say more?

#166: As much as I like that idea, I think my husband would blanch at the thought (and the cost!)

Perhaps you could just supply us with a list of your most wanted books? Then we can all get together and decide who is buying what so we do not duplicate copies.

Dear Stasia...the fact that you're coming is more than enough gift. Don't think you need to buy something. Well, a bottle of wine is always helpful.

I have a whole wishlist collection. Anything from there is welcome. Or the Amazon wishlist. Makes no difference!

A bouquet of books.... :-)

>169 Chatterbox: *OOO* Now THERE's a visual that'll keep me happy for *days*!

LOL ...Darryl, those pics were just priceless! When I first scrolled down and saw the first one, it startled me and then I had a major fit of the giggles.

*waving* - how's Monday going for you, Suz?

166: I'm glad you quit before you got to april 'showers.' I don't want to know what that man does...

#171: I'm glad that you liked it, Caroline! We'll have to restrain ourselves, otherwise Suzanne will ban us from her thread.

>168 richardderus: Oh, what kind of wine do you like? Missouri has some excellent ones....

>174 tloeffler: Reds. Shiraz and Sangiovese are my favorite varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon my least favorite. White wine treats my various systems poorly. We'll have a Yellow Tail sparkling wine for toasting, and of course that's white, but champagne-y things have to be, don't they?

>172 Ape: *shocked silence* You are ENTIRELY too young to know of such...such...depravity, Stephen! Go wash your eyes out with soap!

Richard: Oh...dear. If I can shock a gay man into silence with such a joke... My my, maybe I do have a problem!

Heavens -- I leave you lot unattended for only a few hours and just LOOk at what happens... *shocked & horrifed* :-)

However, the topic at hand is not depravity and infants with weird teeth, or even vino, but books. So, with no more ado: the books du jour:

1. For my 1010 challenge, Magnifico, the biography of Lorenzo de Medici by Miles Unger which lives up to its name (it's magnificent) and whets my appetite for the author's upcoming bio of Machiavelli. Unger does what only the best biographers manage to do -- combine the details of a life with the events of a time, highlight those that are significant and let the irrelevant stuff serve as background color and really convey the portrait of a man and an age in lively and vivid prose. That the individual in question is Lorenzo de Medici, and the place and time Renaissance Florence, makes this an even more interesting and more important a book. I was broadly familiar with the Medicis, having been reading about them (including Christopher Hibbert's books) for years, as well as more broadly about Florence in the quattrocento and cinquecento for many years, but Unger's book ties it all together. I'd still recommend a different book for someone looking for a quick overview -- Tim Parks's excellent Medici Money -- since this is a longish read, but it's so well written someone interested in the period will find it fascinating. Recommended, 4.6 stars.

2. Less overwhelmingly compelling was The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall, for my 1010 Challenge and also a TIOLI book (the category of private eyes). Vish Puri is a private investigator in Delhi who prides himself on his overwhelming competence and discretion. Ultimately, the puzzles he solves here (a matrimonial investigation, and the disappearance of a servant girl) are more interesting than Hall's characters or settings, all of which are two-dimensional. At times, it almost felt as if Hall was writing something that would live up to our preconceptions about today's India, from call centers to bureaucratic red tape. But what really irritated me was his insistence on precisely replicating the admittedly odd and amusing ways that Indians can use the English language throughout his book. It's distracting, helps turn a character into a caricature, and is heavy handed. I'm still looking for an interesting mystery series set in India that I can enjoy, therefore; I won't be reading any more in this series, I think. Certainly, I won't be buying any. Recommended only to the very curious and uncritical. 2.9 stars, since the puzzles are quite well structured.

3. The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker. This is the sequel to Bruno, Chief of Police, which was a recommendation by Politics & Prose and which I enjoyed so much last week. If anything, the sequel is even better (although you should read them in order to follow character development and events.) That's because this time around, Walker is paying as much attention to the mystery at the heart of the book as he is to the characters and settings. That plot is a fascinating one -- St Denis may get a chance to revive its wine industry and bring it up to the next level -- but will it be at the hands of an American interloper/big businessman? There are lots of subplots ranging from the value of land in rural France to eco-warriors/Greens. Walker has crafted a great mystery, which I loved. Can't wait for #3 to arrive from the UK. 4.8 stars, a must-read for mystery lovers. I think I want to move to St. Denis...

Hi Suzanne, some great reading going on here. I'm adding both Walker booksbecause I'm desperate for another mystery series ;-)

#177 - Great news on The Dark Vineyard. If there is any reason to read a fictional title this year, this might be it. And very topical too, as I just got my 2009 Bordeaux En Primeur order forms yesterday :)

#177: Adding Magnifico (which unfortunately the local library does not have) and The Dark Vineyard (which it also does not have) to the BlackHole. *sigh*

Stasia, you can borrow my dead tree version of Magnifico when you come East for Richard's fiesta... (since I also have the Kindle version). The Dark Vineyard won't even be published until today/tomorrow, so the library may yet acquire it -- can you request it? In the meantime, there's still the first book in the series...

#181: I will take you up on the dead tree version. Thanks, Suz!

Yes, the library does have the first book in the series, so I will definitely be requesting the second book!

I've been qutie restrained lately but have just added Magnifico to my wishlist. The Bruno Walker one's alrady there, but I need to find the first one.

I've just finished Mountains beyond Mountains and Tracy Kidder did the same thing as Tarquin Hall with a guy who wasn't a native English speaker - ïmplement"got written as ""eemplement", etc, the whole way through the book. It really annoyed me.

>177 Chatterbox:: Magnifico definitely goes on the list.

>177 Chatterbox: & 183: I find that kind of stuff not only annoying but faintly insulting, as well. After all, does the author write his/her own accent phonetically?...no.

Just caught up on 183 posts to your, uh hem, very entertaining thread. Please let us know if Ralph drops you a line with comments regarding your book.
#153 - #155 Who would ever! But I wish I had thought of that idea.

You wrote a great review of Magnifico. It sounds fascinating, so I think I will give it a try.

...continuing >184 TadAD:...found a new (remaindered) copy on Amazon for $4 with free shipping. What could be better?

I ran across the following quote from Howard Scott which, having just finished your book, seems appropriate:

Criminal: n. A person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation.

Way too far behind to comment on anything. Just going to wave and attempt to catch up on a few other threads.. or at least find them.. !

Catching up myself, Kath...

Books du jour:

1. For my 1010 Challenge (and TIOLI book), read The Help by Kathryn Stockett. This would go onto a list of "thumping good reads" for the year, if not onto one of great literary discoveries. The author is eloquent, very adept at both plotting and characterization, and does a great job of weaving disparate tales together. That said, there are some flaws: characters are two one-dimensional in some cases -- such as Hilly and the idiotic Marilyn Monroe-like character for whom Minny ends up working -- to be convincing and real. Still, I read it beginning to end with barely a pause, which makes it a good read, in my terms. 4.3 stars.

2. The fact that I read the above from beginning to end on my Kindle kind of debunks, in my mind, one of the assertions in the provocative new book The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. I still think that this is a 'must read' for anyone finding themselves spending more time online -- especially folks like us, who obviously value what Carr refers to as "deep reading". Some of the elements here won't be new to anyone who has read books such as The Gutenberg Elegies by Sven Birkerts or Neil Postman's work (eg Technopoly), on which Carr draws, or some of the research into the plasticity of the brain. But Carr is no Luddite -- he is simply making an argument that before immersing ourselves in new technologies without thinking, we should stop and ask ourselves not only what we might be gaining, but what we are giving up. For instance, while I want portable books on my Kindle, I don't want interactive books. That's a conscious tradeoff, and Carr is more interested in delving into the unconscious changes. The irony? I ended up "reading" this book on audio CDs, for the 'read a book in a new format' TIOLI, and found myself sometimes having to stop to focus. Audiobooks obviously aren't ideal for me in terms of "deep reading"; I would find it much harder to stop, re-read and focus on particular points. This is highly recommended as a thought-provoking work - not just because of Carr's own arguments but because it should force us, technophiles and Luddites alike, to reconsider our own choices. 4.5 stars.

re Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?, isn't Canada rather different from the US on many of these issues? It sounds like an interesting book.

#191 -- it is; just as he views England as being different (out of step with) the rest of Europe, he sees Canada as being out of step with the US. It's one of those catchy titles that perhaps over-generalizes, but still makes the broader point...

#190 Regarding audiobooks- they are useful, but not the best medium for me either. My mind wanders a bit when I listen to audiobooks. Also, my children don't seem to recognize that I am actually doing something and speak freely over the voice of the narrator. A current exception being The Aeneid, which turns out to be easier for me to understand if I'm listening.

I like the idea of a book about considering the trade-offs. I will add The Shallows to the list. I am also curious as regards the effect of the internet on my children, who will grow up with the internet as much a part of their lives as books were part of mine. My three yr. old can get on Google Earth and find America. I have been considering the difficulty they sometimes have finding something to do after I instigate random TV and internet free days. I don't remember having a lack of things to do. Of course, at my parents' house you never EVER said you were bored. You would find yourself cleaning kitchen tile grout with toothbrushes.

I have had The Help since it came out. I have simply not been able to read it.
Weird eh? Maybe I will give it another try. EVERYone who has read it seems to like it. I have no idea what my hesitation is.

I enjoyed reading The Help and originally bought it in trade paperback last year because I heard part of a serialisation on BBC radio 4 and it sounded interesting. But it's an enjoyable work of popular fiction, I think I would have rated it about 3.7 out of 5, and I think it's been a little overrated.

I did think of it when I was reading Miss Buncle's Book, another novel about a woman who writes a book about the people in the place she lives in, though this is only socially not politically contentious.

#194, A lot of people have recommended The Help to me, in real life as well as on LT, but there is something about the idea of it that turns me off. I may look at it in a bookstore . . .

Hello FB friend - just dropping in...

Your recent reads look really good - and you read SO MUCH it amazes me! :)

Rebecca, that's kind of the feeling that I had about it before I read it. It had been sitting on my Kindle for a while before I finally opened it. For me, at least part of the reluctance, was all the hype. I noted that this is one of those books that will have been out nearly 2 years in hardcover by the time a US paperback appears! and that it is being VERY heavily promoted to book clubs. Both of which facts annoy me on some level. So reading it was a pleasant surprise; the story grabbed me, and I think the author can write well. Does it make the leap into saying something bigger about us and the world we live in? Not in my opinion. Yes, it deals with the always contentious issue of race, but in a way Stockett takes the easy way out by setting the story in the early 60s, when the issues were (forgive the phrase) very black and white. It would have been fascinating to set the same story today, when the people who hire help still tend to be white, and those providing their services tend to be African-American or Hispanic. It would have been more demanding but also, perhaps, more revelatory of whether our inner attitude changes have kept up with the pace of change in the outer world. (i.e. what we think isn't necc. what we say we think.) I'm more familiar with this issue as a professional woman in the work world, where I face, theoretically, no obstacles, but where in fact I know that I have often been paid less and faced a very subtle form of discrimination (i.e. men who argue are assertive; women who argue are deemed "emotional" and "volatile".) It's relatively straightforward now to write about overt discrimination -- we can tsk tsk in outrage over Hilly's separate toilet initiative because it's so obnoxious and overt. But are there ways in which subtle discrimination occurs today? I'm sure there are, and Stockett could have blown me away had she taken that approach. As it stands, she's produced a book that's a thumping good read, but didn't transcend it. It's only the marketing that actively turned me off, and I'm glad I eventually read it. But if I re-read it, it won't be to make me think; just something to while away a few hours and maybe to remind me that it's possible to write in another's voice (and dialect) without sounding strained and patronizing (as Tarquin Hall did in his Indian mystery).

I enjoyed reading your comments about The Help and race/gender in America. I'm a bit more tempted to read it, but I still think I'll pass on it for now.

Darryl, given your challenging reading agenda and what your YTD reading list tells me about your tastes, I suspect that's a good call. You'll probably get more enjoyment out of some of the many Man Booker shortlist reads.

>198 Chatterbox: Suzanne, I think it's sometimes a good thing to be able to read a book that is just, as you say, a thumping good read. Not every book has to be intellectually challenging to be a good read. Stockett based the story on her own childhood experiences growing up in Mississippi so your suggestion that she set it in the present probably never occurred to her. She had a story to tell and she told it.

The marketing was extreme, for sure but why would they put the book out in PB whenthe HC was selling like hotcakes? It doesn't make much sense from a marketing standpoint. I'm sure Ms. Stockett is fairly pleased with the marketing effort;-)

Bonnie, no question that it was a thumping good read, and as you probably know from reading my threads, I devour a lot of those. And yes, I can see why she made the choices she did -- and that was her story to tell. But I can't help wishing, in some ways, that she had opted for the less obvious choices -- which is simply my natural reaction as a reader. Stockett had her reasons for her choices; similarly I have my own responses, all of which are equally valid. I'm not trying to say she "should" have done something different, simply that I would have responded to it on a different level, as well as on the pure storytelling level, had she done so. Just to clarify...

It is extraordinarily rare for a publisher to delay a paperback release that long. Offhand, the only two other examples I can think of are The Da Vinci Code and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. The rationale is that after a certain point, you have reached most of those you'll sell a hardcover to. If anything, the period between HC and PB release is contracting, to 10 or 11 months, sometimes. Eat, Pray, Love was about a year; the Stieg Larsson books are about the same. I think what annoys me about this is the tendency to "canonize" (in all senses!) what in most cases is a relatively straightforward and appealing novel, and try to turn it into something more. I'm always pleasantly surprised when a much-hyped book is a very compelling story (which this was) and slightly astounded, but happily so, if it happens to transcend its niche in some way. But then, I'm just one reader, and don't pretend to be passing judgment on behalf of anyone else, just providing my own opinions.

The books du jour are a rather mixed bag, in nature and in caliber.

1. Along the Enchanted Way by William Blacker is the memoir/travel book of an Englishman who, on a whim, travels to Rumania and falls in love with the countryside of the Maramures district in Transylvania. I was drawn to this because I've always wanted to visit this area, including the painted churches of the Bukovina, and Blacker has a knack for telling a good travel tale without becoming either too ponderous or too self-focused. His view of the peasant life of the region is probably somewhat romanticized -- he's viewing it through rose-colored glasses -- but his discussion later in the book of how it had changed is real enough and slightly dismaying. It's an excellent look at a little-known region that has been culturally diverse (Hungarian, Roumanian, Ruthenian, Saxon, Gypsy, Ukranian, etc.) that will appeal to anyone who read Patrick Leigh Fermor's accounts of his own travels along the Danube in the 1930s. This isn't of the same caliber, but I'm still giving it 4.3 stars. Recommended.

2. Chef by Jaspreet Singh. This was one of those novels that I never got into, even though I can't figure out why not. The writing is excellent, the plot (revolving around a young Sikh's coming of age in the Kashmir valley as an apprentice chef to a general) is intriguing, but it never clicked with me. Part of the problem was that the narrative jumped back and forth in time and space; part because I never really got a grip on what Singh really wanted to say with the novel -- it was too diffuse. The writing is beautiful, so are the word pictures of India, but as a story, I'd find it hard to recommend. That said, I imagine that other readers will find it more digestible. (sorry about the pun!) 3.2 stars.

3. Enemies of the Heart by Rebecca Dean. Well, this helped me pass a few hours sitting and waiting for airconditioners to show up last week and for various home deliveries to be made today, but that's really all I can say. Got it via Paperbackswap; an earlier novel by an author whose second book came out last summer and almost made the grade as a "thumping good read". This one doesn't come close to that -- it's a long saga of a German/British family (cousins marry German brothers in 1909) and ultimately very predictable. Mildly entertaining in spots, but not recommended. 2.6 stars.

Hoping my next batch of mindless reading will be more gripping!

Hi Suzanne - I'm going to go back to The Help for a minute. I was surprised to see The Help listed as a summer reading choice for my son's AP Lit class. There are some classic writers - Steinbeck, Woolf, Hemingway, Ibsen and some more recent - Chabon, Kingsolver, Prouix, for instance, but the inclusion of The Help (and it's the most recent book on the list and maybe that has something to do with it) just seemed odd to me. I guess maybe there are some interesting themes and character development to be discusssed (?) but it just doesn't seem to be of the same caliber. I agree that it's a "thumping good read" though!

I'm definitely adding Along the Enchanted Way to my obese wish list. I love good travel memoirs.

#204 - I am guessing they are using it for a "current" work. There is a lot of pressure for teachers to include contemporary literature in their reading lists. Which is great, as long as it is good quality.

#204 -- Interesting; I wouldn't have put Stockett on an AP Lit list either. It's interesting to see what has been added; all the writers who, when I took that exam and the Int'l Bacc English 30 years ago weren't even writing. Kingsolver I can see would be a fascinating addition; I haven't read enough Proulx to judge (only The Shipping News and that was eons ago). Never tried Chabon. I remember reading Hawthorne, Thoreau, some Shakespeare and Marlowe, Chinua Achebe, Koestler, Camus, Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence (which still scandalized some of the diplomatic community in the late 70s!) and some other stuff. Wish I had encountered Woolf at that age, though. Or some of the Russian writers beyond Tolstoy. I wonder if the inclusion of Stockett has to do with the fact it's writing about a fundamentally women's issue -- domestic help -- and race, perhaps the key American issue?

Caro, if you love good travel memoirs and you're interested in the region, this should be a winner for you. (I hope!) Blacker isn't William Dalrymple or Patrick Leigh Fermor, but he's still good. Which reminds me, I should decide whether to bring either Mani or Roumeli to the top of my TBR list next; perhaps the latter... It's paperback, and thus eminently portable for my Toronto jaunt!

Suz, did you see? The Kindle 3 is due out Aug 27th. 3,500 book capacity with a monthlong battery charge (your results may vary, I'm sure). WiFi. Thinner. Lighter. I could go on but I'm sleepy.

Omigod... I'm actually waiting on a new Kindle 2 to replace the one that died (e-Ink woes, for the third time; just negotiated this today) and I wonder if they will send me the K3 instead?? They are out of stock on the K2... I did order a DX, which was supposed to be delivered today, because I can't be without a Kindle indefinitely, and it has the same capacity as it sounds like the K3 will have. A monthlong charge?? Holy Toledo...

I tried Along the Enchanted Way but ended up skimming to the end. I just didn't catch the 'enchantment' even though I wanted to. It did get interestingly tense with the feuds and police visits towards the end. A good fiction read based on 1980s Romania is Gyorgy Dragoman's The White King.
I have the Fermor books on my tbr list.

I did see your comments, Kerry -- I was curious to see who else had discovered this book. I can completely understand that the rhapsodies about the peasant lifestyle can be less than enchanting; what intrigued me was the fact that this way of life had endured so long, and the context of the various 1940s experiences (Gypsies being deported to Transdnistria; the Saxons being hauled off by the Russians to help reboot their economy) as well as the remaining tensions. I did sometimes feel that Blacker was incredibly naive in his perceptions and actions, but I still enjoyed it. Hope you like PLF more!

#209 I'll believe a monthlong charge when I see it. I think they say it's now a 2-week charge and the longest I ever went was a week.

I download newspapers--NYT, WSJ, and the Chicago Tribune--every day. Not to mention books, magazines, and blogs. Plus use it a lot more than the average reader. I'm lucky if I can go 2-3 days without recharging.

This new software upgrade I just got is definitely making it all quicker, I'll say that for them.

I was discussing that with the guy on the phone today -- the life of a charge. Apparently one of the things that a lot of people do that soaks up battery life (and also isn't good for e-Ink) is turning off their Kindles instead of letting them go quietly to sleep on their own. Who knew? I kind of play that by ear - if I'm putting the Kindle into a bag where it might bump against something and do something odd, I'll put it to sleep, otherwise I let it drowse off on its own. I don't download stuff every day - I get magazines on it, but not papers or blogs. So a charge can last a full week, but rarely longer. I do hit the page turns a lot more frequently than the average reader, too! Still, if I had a device that would (for me) last 2 weeks without a charge, I'd be a very happy person. *fingers crossed I will get the K3* They did promise to send me a new device rather than a refurbished one, and I bet that rather than get more K2s in stock, they will be rolling out the K3s to anyone who has a K2 on order, just like they did last time. Apparently, they were out of stock of Kindles within 3 days of the announcement that Amazon was now selling more e-book versions of their stock than it was book books -- that must have spurred still more people to succumb.

When I first got it, I shut it off. Now I just let it sleep. Occasionally, I will have a problem "deleting" an item, usually a newspaper, and so I'd reboot it. Since the software upgrade, I haven't had the deletion problem.

I never keep the wireless on, though I sometimes forget. I turn the wireless on every morning for a few minutes to get my newspapers or, at other times, when I've purchased something I want to read immediately.

So you'll have a DX and either a 2 or a 3?

Yup. I decided after this week's bug hit, that i wanted to have something as a backup. And since the Kindle 2 is out of stock, and I have NO KINDLE currently, I opted for a DX as backup. And then I'll get whatever they end up sending me, a new K2 or a K3. I'm pleased that the K3 will be the same price as the K2...

Prices are just over half what mine cost in March of 2009, though mine was a birthday gift. Definitely the best gift ever.

I'd be going nuts without a Kindle.

Just saw the Kindle news on a New Zealand newspaper website - succumbation is getting much more likely here, because the Kindle 3 is the first one that's being supported for NZ. (Or something like that. Whatever, if I buy the Kindle 3 it will work when we go home!!)

Cushla, loving the phrase "succumbation"... :-)

Hi. Just catching up. Thanks for your very thoughtful comments about The Help. I was also thinking about whether to read it, was nervous for the same reasons as others (too much hype), and for me your comments made me less likely to read it, so saving me from a book I think I would have found frustrating. Thanks.

Despite your compelling comments, and he fact that it sits there on my shelf.. I am still not convinced to read The Help. But who knows, that could change.
I am in a mood for a different sort of book these days..

Kindles... from what I read and see, the best of the lot so far, but.. still not ready for that leap. The sharing factor and the book in hands/smell/ etc thing.

And good grief .. thought I would never catch up!

#193: Maybe the Aeneid works as an audiobook because it was meant to be told aloud? I have only "read" a couple of audiobooks--during a period when I had a long commute--and I chose a couple of David McCullough histories with lots of exciting events.

# 221 -- Excellent thought re The Aeneid!
I may end up getting a parallel text to follow along, but then listening to it and reading at the same time. I love that idea...

Adding Along the Enchanted Way to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Suz.

Kindle 3??? Sounds great...but I just got a Kindle 2 earlier this year...sigh...technology... :) I like the sound of increased capacity and longer battery life, though.

The book got a rave review from the Washington Post! It's online now; in print on Monday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/30/AR2010073003097....

Wow Suzanne! That's what I call an excellent review! Congratulations!

#225: That's great news, Suzanne! I'm happy for you.

McGee's book takes the reader much deeper into the history and culture of Wall Street, which is the true cause of the financial disaster.

That is a good article, Suzanne. I especially like the quote above, and the analogy with Katrina.

>225 Chatterbox: -Congratulations Suzanne!!! What a great review of your book! "Masterful!" :)

Now where can I go to thumb it??

I suppose the equivalent of thumbing it is posting it on the book's LT page...

Quickly catching up on some reading:

1. Promises to Keep by Jane Green was a three-hanky weepie chick lit novel that actually turned out better than I expected. Perhaps because personal experience fueled some of the plot, and definitely because there are some good food recipes at the end of every chapter, several of which I'm definitely going to try out. (Orange almond cake; yum.) The story is predictable - unsuitable relationships and sisterly bonds, etc. etc. A bit of a tearjerker but reasonably well-written. 3.3 stars.

2. Revenger by Rory Clements is the second in a series of mysteries set in late Elizabethan England and featuring John Shakespeare (William's hypothetical older brother) as one of the investigators working for Cecil and Walsingham to keep Elizabeth safe on her throne. It's 1592, and this complex puzzle involves the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter Raleigh and the doomed Virginia colony of Roanoke -- what really befell its settlers? (Clements has a provocative and dramatic answer.) I tremendously enjoyed this, despite the often gritty look at the underside of Elizabethan life (the smells, the violence, etc.) Clements has a great imagination and the story is a fascinating and intricate one. Highly recommended, although you'll want to read Martyr, the first in the series, to have the full backstory. The latter is out in the US, so I assume this one will follow soon.

I'll be finishing two more books tonight/tomorrow, though I probably won't be able to update anything until later in the weekend as I'm off to Toronto at midday tomorrow!

Just got an e-mail from Amazon, and they will indeed be providing me with the new Kindle 3 as a replacement for my defunct Kindle 2 -- an upgrade!

#225: Congratulations (and well-deserved), Suzanne!

Hooray for our Suzannne! congrats!

A great review of your book, a couple of good reads, and a Kindle upgrade ... I think that counts as a reasonably good couple of days, even taking into account the expiring of the original Kindle!

OK, made it to Toronto, and taking a few minutes to update the reading...

1. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley. For the TIOLI -- I listened to this on audiobook via iTunes and wow, the difference between reading this series and listening to it is immense, or else this is a much better book than the first one! In any event, I found myself much more caught up in the story and in the writing than I was with Bradley's first Flavia de Luce mystery. Highly recommended. 4.4 stars.

2. The Magical Chorus by Solomon Volkov. A lot of cultural histories of Russia go up to the 1917, or not much beyond Tolstoy's death. This one picks up where those leave off, and for anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of Russian/Soviet politics/history during those years, Volkov tells a fascinating story of the ways in which the "intelligensia" (he focuses mostly on writers, but also discusses musicians and artists) were co-opted, collaborated or opposed the regime, in various ways and various stages. Particularly intriguing is Volkov's inside view -- he grew up inside the Soviet Union, so it's not an outside academic's opinion. Fascinating tidbits and an intriguing look at the characters and issues. The nature of this means it's a bit sweeping and broad, but it's a great introduction. Highly recommended; 4.6 stars. For my off-the-shelf challenge.

3. OK, I had to read something truly banal to keep my mind off the ugly realities of packing. Private by James Patterson was exactly what I expected, fast-paced, absolutely unmemorable, and not really recommended unless you're desperate. 2.5 stars, sticking it in my overflow challenge.

Good thing I got the third Bruno Courreges mystery by Martin Walker in the mail just as I was heading to the airport...

I'm glad to hear that you're in Toronto. I'd love to know what you do while you're there (restaurants, shops, museums, hotel, etc.).

The Magical Chorus sounds interesting; I'm adding it to my wish list.

Hooray for the good review and for the Kindle 3!

#234: Adding The Magical Chorus to the BlackHole. I already have the second Bradley book there.

Have a great time in Toronto, Suz!

Yippee for James from Slate! Great review, and well-earned.

Congratulations on the great review -- and on the new Kindle.

I have had The Magical Chorus on my TBR for a while; you may have inspired me to move it up.

Wonderful review! Happy to read it.

Happy to hear all of your good news!

Oooo, Kindle 3! I can't wait to hear how it compares.

Yes - let us know about the upgrades!

*Waving feebly from hot & very muggy Toronto*

Did a lot of book buying, which I'll update later. Only finished one book so far this trip, for my 1010 Challenge, The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It was fascinating and compelling reading -- the story of college students running amok, think Patricia Highsmith's Ripley and that movie, Dead Poets Society, kind of combined, but not really. It's not a classic, it's not literature, but it's a thumping good read. Some of the characters are wonderfully portrayed; others, like the classics professor who allegedly inspires them to run amok, aren't convincing enough -- I never got the sense of what it was about him that would cause the students to behave the way they did, or even how the group's weird dynamics ended up becoming so toxic. Still, I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a compelling and fascinating read that is several notches above a conventional thriller. 4.2 stars.

The thread is getting to that point again -- you know, the one where Richard starts dropping pointed hints about length...

So, here's where you can find me henceforth...