Category: BookLust II

Poker Face

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Lederer, Katy. Poker Face: a Girlhood Among Gamblers. Crown Publishers, 2003.

Reason read: Chris Ferguson is a famous American professional poker player who celebrates his birthday in April.

To be honest, I am not sure what to think about Poker Face: a Girlhood Among Gamblers. I found Lederer’s short memoir to be incredibly sad. While she has reached critical acclaim with her poetry, I am left wanting something else by the end of Poker Face. I can’t put my finger on why or what is missing. I found everyone in the Lederer family to be depressing and I have to wonder what they thought of Lederer’s tell-all book. Dad was a teacher at a New Hampshire boarding school before authoring books on word games, while the rest of the family takes up gambling in one form or another (mom goes to work for her son). While on the surface, Poker Face is the personal memories of one woman’s coming of age, the story takes the reader deep inside the mysterious world of gambling in New York and Vegas; specifically the card game that made her siblings famous, poker. In truth, it is more a primer on the ins and outs of learning the game. I learned more about professional gambling then I ever thought possible. I had no idea someone wrote a book on “tells” – the mannerisms and facial expressions that inadvertently give away a player’s hand or next move.

As an aside, when Lederer’s mother goes on the gameshow, “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” I couldn’t help but think of the Oxygen taping of Natalie Merchant’s concert. The end result, what viewers at home saw, was nothing like what happened live in the studio. The magic of editing!

Confessional: if I saw my mother sitting in the dark drinking and crying, and playing solitaire I would be freaked out.

Author fact: at the time of Poker Face‘s publication, Lederer was not even calling herself a writer. She worked for a proprietary trading firm.

Setlist: the soundtrack to Alanis Morrissette, Bob Marley, Chopin, Copland, “Convoy”, Duran Duran, Elvis, Phish, Sinatra, and Tracy Chapman.

Nancy said: Pearl called Poker Face fascinating.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Me, Me, Me: Autobiographies and Memoirs” (p 162).

Small House at Allington

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Trollope, Anthony. Small House at Allington. Illustrated by John Everett Millais. Robert Hays, LTD Rosebury House, Breams Buildings, E.C.4. 1925.

Reason read: Trollope’s birthday is in April. Read in his honor.

Here is an ah-ha moment for you: you cannot have a small house without the presence of a big house. Here is another: croquet is best played by the light of the moon.
Trollope is a bit like my mother when she hasn’t talked to another living soul in over three months. Her main story takes forever to tell because she is sidetracked with subplots and tangled details. She goes down rabbit hole after rabbit hole, all the while getting more bogged down by superfluous minute he-said, she-said that have nothing to do with the point of the story. Trollope’s side stories in Small House at Allington have nothing to do with the main plot and are mostly ignored by reviewers. Some would argue Trollope is masterfully setting up his next series by introducing minor characters like Plantagenet Palliser and Lady Glenora (Duke and Duchess of Omnium) as they will be focal to the Palliser Series. But I digress.
The basic plot of Small House at Allington is one of relationships and a society full of gossips. Lillian (Lily) and Isabella (Bell) Dale are sisters with different successes in romance. Bell marries the local doctor while Lily falls for Adolphus Crosbie. Crosbie only cares about social status and when a more prosperous match comes along he leaves Lily. Enter Johnny Eames, the childhood friend with a secret crush on Lily. His outrage over Lily’s abandonment prompts him to violently attack Crosbie when their paths cross. Despite this show of valiant devotion, Lily proclaims her everlasting love for Crosbie and cannot be swayed.

Here is a master description of someone’s face: “…face was destroyed by a mean mouth with thin lips” (p 4). Can’t you just see it?

Author fact: many people believe Trollope modeled Johnny Eames after himself.

Book trivia: Small House at Allington was originally published as a serial from September 1962 to April 1864.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Barsetshire and Beyond” (p 20).

Easter Parade

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Yates, Richard. Easter Parade. Delacorte Press, 1976.

Reason read: Richard Yates was mentioned in More Book Lust in the siblings chapter for The Easter Parade and April is National Siblings Month. Also, Easter is traditionally in April. A couple of reasons for reading Easter Parade in April.

Easter Parade is an easy read about two sisters and their very different lives. Sarah Grimes marries quickly and has three children while Emily Grimes focuses on her career. Neither has a happy existence as each sister is deeply flawed. Easter Parade has been described as Yates’s most autobiographical novel. Many, if not all, of the characters are loosely based in real people in Yates’s lifetime. For some individuals, the veil that separates fiction from reality is spider web thin and they are easily identifiable. Many other details are just as transparent; right down to the name of the house on Long Island.
It has been determined through other documentation that Richard had based the character of Emily on himself. Interesting. I say interesting because I found Emily to be a sad and lonely woman. She bounced from one meaningless sexual encounter to another. Her relationships are shallow and fleeting because she is miserable at picking men or keeping friendships. At times I wanted her to find love while other times I was annoyed by her shrill personality.

As an aside, I want to know if Irving Berlin say his greatest fear is to reach for something and it isn’t going to be there? That is such a profound image. What do you take for granted? A favorite pen? An old lover? What will you reach for and discover its absence?

Favorite phrase, “…the room exploded into clarity” (p 150).

Author fact: Yates also wrote Revolutionary Road. I hope to be reading that in a few years.

Book trivia: Easter Parade addresses uncomfortable topics such as domestic violence, erectile dysfunction, alcoholism, and even hints at incest.

Setlist: “All the Things You Are”, “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”, “Bye Bye Love”, Chopin, Everly Brothers, “Look for the Silver Lining”, Sinatra, “Welcome, Sweet Springtime”, and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”.

Nancy said: Pearl called Easter Parade “perfection” and a book to be read with Off Keck Road by Mona Simpson and Our Kind by Kate Walbert. Confessional: I have already read Simpson so I will have to go back and read the review.

BookLust Twist: only from More Book Lust but mentioned quite a few times. First, in the chapter called “Literary Lives: the Americans” (p 145), then in the chapter called “Men Channeling Women” (p 166). Also mentioned in the chapter simply called “Sibs” (p 199). Lastly, The Easter Parade is included in “Two, or Three, are Better Than One” (p 226). Four times in one book! I think Pearl liked this one.

Vindication of the Rights of Woman

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Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects. Source Book Press, 1971.

Reason read: March is Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day was last Marth 8th. Read in honor of all women everywhere.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was originally published in 1792. Nearly 180 years later when Source Book Press republished it, women were still clamoring for those rights. Title IX of the Education Amendments wasn’t even a thing until 1972. Think about that for just one second. In 1792 Wollstonecraft was demanding justice for her half of the human race as loudly as she could. Hers was a plea for all womenkind and not a singular selfish act of only thinking of herself. She argued that reason, virtue, and knowledge were the keys to a successful life regardless of your sex. However, the notion that physical strength promotes power indicates a man’s authority over a weaker woman exists even today. To put it crudely, inequality among the sexes is still a thing. To be sentimental is to be silly.
Wollstonecraft was not afraid to challenge her readers, asking us what does it mean to be respectable? To have virtue? To be a woman of quality? Are these traits euphemisms for weakness? She addresses the assumption that women are designed to feel before applying reason. Maybe that is why men are trained to never argue with a woman in public (she might become irrational) or allow a woman to exert physical strength (unseemly). Most of Wollstonecraft’s arguments are disguised as philosophical and moral conversations with Rousseau.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman introduced me to a seraglio. I had never heard the word before.

As an aside, when Wollstonecraft talked about the overgrown child I had an ah-ha moment. I know a man-child who refuses to grow up. It all makes sense now.
As another aside, back in the late 1970s or early 80s, my parents subscribed to a number of magazines. I clearly remember a cigarette advertisement picturing a woman laughing, mouth wide open and head thrown back with a cigarette in her hand. The caption read, “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!” Even as a kid I remember questioning what it all meant. Were they proclaiming women now had the right to smoke? Smoke in public? Smoke that particular brand? And why the word baby?

Author fact: Everyone knows Mary Wollstonecraft is the Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein and in case you forgot, the Shelley is the last name of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Book trivia: Wollstonecraft had never written a dedication before. She decided to dedicate A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to the Bishop of Autun in response to a pamphlet he wrote.

Nancy said: Pearl calls Vindication an “influential feminine essay” (More Book Lust p 146).

BookLust Twist: I am reading the unabridged republication of the 1792 London edition. From More Book Lust in the chapter called “Literary Lives: the Brits” (p 146).

I Know This Much Is True

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Lamb, Wally. I Know This Much Is True. HarperCollins, 1998.

Reason read: March is considered Family Month. Brothers are family. Read in honor of brothers everywhere.

Thomas and Dominic. Identical twins.
Dominic’s life reminded me of a country song. You know the ones where anything that could go wrong eventually does. Consider: Dominic spent his entire life worrying about three things. One, who was his father? By not knowing his father Dominic feels he does not know himself. As a child he dreamed of his biological father and fantasized about the day this mystery man would swoop in and save him and Thomas from their abusive stepfather, Ray. Two, Dominic was convinced his mother loved his brother more. Maybe she really did because of Thomas’s mental illness. On her deathbed she makes Dominic promise to look after Thomas, all the while refusing to reveal the true identity of their father. Three, Thomas’s mental illness could be hereditary and sooner or later Dominic would inherit his brother’s schizophrenia. Was he just as crazy as his brother and just not know it? All of these worries weigh on Dominic as he tries to cope. In giving up his own life to fulfill the promise he made to his mother his marriage falls apart and he quit his job as a history teacher (ironically, it is history that sets him free).
In order for this story to be successful the reader needed to be grounded in the current events of the time, otherwise Thomas’s internal angst doesn’t make sense. Eric Clapton’s son falling from a window. Desert Storm. The beating of Rodney King. The world on fire. In addition to these unsettling times, Lamb throws in some equally difficult subjects like racism, AIDS, post traumatic stress suffered by veterans, diabetes, and of course, the complicated system of treating mental health.
I deeply love flawed characters; ones who find a way to change just enough that by the end of the book they are going to be okay, even if it is only somewhat okay. They haven’t gone from devil to angel but their lives are not the disaster they once were.

As another aside, the next time I am feeling threatened by anyone I think I want to try Dominic’s trick of protection – look your tormentor directly in the eye without flinching.

Author fact: Lamb also wrote She’s Come Undone, another fantastic book.

Book trivia: this is a reread for me. I remember being intimidated by the number of pages. Some things never change.

Playlist: Aerosmith, “Age of Aquarius”, Beatles, “Beautiful Dreamer”, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley’s “One Love”, “Cool Jerk”, “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Hunka Hunka Burning Love” by Elvis, Eric Clapton, “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”, “Good Lovin'”, “Happy Birthday”, “Hot Diggity Dog Diggity”, “I Shot the Sherriff”, Indigo Girls, John Lennon’s “Instant Karma”, “Marzy Doats” The Monkees, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, “Night Moves”, “Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown”, Olivia Newton-John, Question Mark and the Mysterians’s “Ninety-Six Tears”, Rolling Stones, Sam the Sham and the Pharaoh’s “Wooly Bully”, “The Boys are Back in Town”, “Three blind Mice”, Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”, Verdi, “Wild Thing”, Willie Nelson’s “Heartland”, and Yanni.

Nancy said: Pearl called I Know This Much Is True an interesting portrait of therapists. She said more than that but you should check out Book Lust or More Book Lust for more.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Shrinks and Shrinkees” (p 221). Also from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Oh! Brother” (p 180).

Long Finish

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Dibdin, Michael. A Long Finish. Pantheon Books, 1998.

Reason read: Dibdin was born in March. Read in his honor.

Do you like wine or truffles? This is a murder mystery centered around both delicacies in Alba, a small hill town in northern Italy. Aurelio Zen has been sent from the big city of Rome to aid in an unusual case. Instead of finding the real killer, he is to clear the name of a winemaker accused of (and jailed for) killing his father. Only when Zen gets to Alba, the murder case of Also Vincenzo is “solved” without his contribution or nosey interference. Strange. When the authorities try to rush him out of town he grows even more suspicious and decides to stick around. The town intrigues him and he is no hurry to leave. It becomes even more mysterious when subsequently two more people die. One by suicide and one by accident…or so it seems.
The more I read about Zen the more I remembered his character from Cosi Fan Tutti. He is still a very complicated man. He is prone to sleepwalking to the point of serious injury. When he starts receiving strange calls he doesn’t know about phone devices that can disguise voices. As a police officer, this detail surprised me. He has the ability to become unglued at a moment’s notice. An act or truth, I could not tell. He might have fathered a child out of wedlock. He doesn’t always have the best intentions but other times he will surprise you.

What exactly is a “powerful but lazy wind” (p 155)?

Author fact: Dibdin passed away in 2007.

Book trivia: Long Finish is the sixth book in the Aurelio Zen series.

Playlist: Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Ciao, Italia!” (p 46).

City Room

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Gelb, Arthur. City Room. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2003.

Reason read: a long time ago I read somewhere that February was scholastic journalism month. This is journalism in February.

City Room takes place in a time in America’s history when you could jot down your resume on the back of an index card while racing to an interview in a sputtering New York City taxi cab. There is an innocence to the era in which Gelb got his start. As the story of City Room goes on, Gelb reveals so many interesting behind-the-scenes details about life at the Times. For example, the strategic military censorship came back to haunt the paper when the American public belatedly learned of the true atrocities of World War II; especially the genocide in the German concentration camps of Buchenwald. Or how he scooped the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executions. His front row seat to the Papp/Moses battle over the free Shakespeare theater in Central Park made for fascinating reading. His interest in the arts brought Gelb and John F. Kennedy together. And speaking of Kennedy, here is something I did not know. The New York Times was in the practice of writing obituaries for people before they died. Although The Times did not have an advance obituary for President Kennedy because he was so young when he was assassinated. Everyone collectively thought they had more time. Didn’t we all? Other scoops of The Times: the Transit-Authority strike, the first Pope’s visit to the United States, the largest power outage in history, the obtaining possession of Pentagon papers regarding the Vietnam War, and pervasive police and city hall corruption. When you put in forty-five years at one paper you can accumulate a lot of stories.
Gelb was grateful for early mentors. Enough so that he included a short biography of Mr. Fairbanks, a man who gave Gelb a chance at The Times. Gelb also reveals a wicked sense of humor. The story about sending the same pound cake back and forth between couples was hilarious.

Quote to quote, “Abe and I knew that every once in a while, the story of a single individual came along that symbolized a deep, sometimes disturbing truth about human nature and life in New York” (p 376).

As an aside, I thought it was cool to see the inclusion of Myrna Loy. You don’t hear much about her. Another aside, on Grover Loud’s advice to Arthur Gelb, I want to visit Sebasticook Lake in Maine. Nope. Never been there.

Author fact: Gelb’s opinions are dated. Plumbers, don’t take offense when he implies people in your profession are dim witted. Gelb was ninety when he passed in 2014. Another interesting fact: Gelb spent 45 years with The New York Times. He never worked anywhere else.

Book trivia: there are no photographs, no illustrations in City Room. This was such a disappointment because there is a fantastic description of a photograph taken during the blackout but it is not included. It would have been cool to see.

Playlist: “Auld Lang Syne”, Barbra Streisand, The Beatles, Benny Goodman, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”, Bob Dylan, Bud Freeman, Burl Ives, Cab Calloway, Canned Heat, Creedence Clearwater Rival, Country Joe and the Fish, “Deres a Man Goin’ Roun’ Takin’ Names”, “Dixie”, Ethel Waters, Frank Sinatra, George Harrison, “Hail to the Chief”, Janis Joplin, Jascha Heifetz, Jimi Hendrix, John and Lucy Allison, John Coltrane, Joseph Marais, Josh White, Ledbetter, Leopold Godowsky, Lena Horne’s “When It’s Sleepytime Down South”, Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, “Marseillaise”, Meat Loaf, Mick Jagger, Miff Mole, Miles Davis, Mischa Elman, Mugsy Spanier, the National Anthem, Nina Simone, Odetta, Paul Robeson’s “Mandy”, Pee Wee Russell, Pete Seeger, Rolling Stones, “Shenandoah”, Sly and the Family Stone, Stan Keaton, Stepin Fetchit, Tchaikovsky, Theodore Bikel, Woody Guthrie’s “Talkin’ Dust Bowl Blues”, Vladimir Horowitz playing Chopin’s Polonaise Fantaisie, and “You Are My Sunshine”.

Nancy said: Pearl called City Room interesting.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “The Fourth Estate” (p 93).

Brother of the More Famous Jack

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Trapido, Barbara. Brother of the More Famous Jack. Viking Press, 1982.

Reason read: Nothing is more annoying that not remembering why I chose a book to read within a certain month. Since I cannot remember the original reason I am just going to say I chose it for Valentine’s Day since one of the themes is finding the right relationship.

It all starts when John Millet takes Katherine to meet friends of his, the Goldman family. Only Katherine knows the mister of the family, Jake Goldman. He is her philosophy professor, but Katherine is meeting his family for the first time. If you can get over the misogynistic overtones of Brother of the More Famous Jack you will fall in love with some of Trapido’s characters. I loved Jane. Here is what I mean about the subtle disparagement of women: when Jacob complained that his wife, Jane, does not do enough around the house it set my teeth to grinding after Jane felt she needed to point out that she has brought the group tea, and has made them lunch, in addition to gardening and making music. Trapido says this of Jake, “He gains strength from the myth of his wife’s incompetence” (p 25). Katherine dates a man who didn’t like women when they turned into mothers. Mostly, I tried not to be too offended by the light banter about rape and abortion.
All in all, I wasn’t sure I liked Katherine. She is very unlucky in love and has this air of helplessness that bothered me throughout the entire book. She pines for a Goldman son even though it is apparent he never feels the same way. For six years she dates a married man who is ugly to her. This man left his previous wife because he lost respect for her when she became pregnant with his child. When Katherine finally escapes this relationship she runs straight back to the Goldman family. Why does she keep returning to these people? Because she has fallen in love with the entire family. Even after ten years away from them she finds herself ensconced in their lives.

Lines I liked, “Being in love and unable to acknowledge it, they were fond of generalizing about love” (p 92) and “…your brother dismantled my character” (p 161).

As an aside, I could relate to Katherine when she admitted she was afraid to ride a bicycle after breaking her arm riding one when she was nine years old. Sometimes, childhood trauma stays with a person for a very long time.

Author fact: Even though Trapido has written other books, Brother of the More Famous Jack is the only one I am reading.

Book trivia: In case you were wondering, William Butler Yeats is the borhter of the most famous Jack.

Playlist: Abba, George Formby, Haydn, “The Harmonious Chime”, John Dowland, Monteverdi, Mozart, “O Worship the King”, Schubert, Scarlatti, Suite Italienne, “Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son”, and “Yellow Submarine”.

Nancy said: Here is the interesting thing about what Pearl said, not specifically about Brother of the More Famous Jack, but about the chapter called “Friend Makers.” If you like any of the books in this chapter Pearl sees you as a friend.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Friend Makers” (p 95).

First American

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Brands, H. W. The First American: the Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. Doubleday, 2000.

Reason read: Benjamin Franklin was born in January. Read in his honor.

Any book you pick up by H.W. Brands is going to be entertaining. Never dry or boring, in First American, Brands not only brings his subject of Benjamin Franklin to living and breathing life, but also the era in which Franklin lived. Society, religion, politics, and the arts are vividly presented to the reader as the backdrop to Franklin’s life. For example, details like explaining how apprentices were not allowed to visit taverns, inns, or alehouses served to give insight into Franklin’s future beliefs. As a young man, he could not play cards, dice, or even enter into marriage. Franklin was essentially slaves with pay.
Brands also brings to light what an interesting man Benjamin Franklin became in his older years. His range of interests, his need for self-improvement, his contradictory beliefs, and his ambitions were nothing short of astounding. His goals and resolutions surrounding virtue and the way he went about trying to master his them were admirable for all mankind. Everyone knows the story of the silk kite and key, but who remembers Franklin deciding that Philadelphia needed more academia to teach the subjects that were useful to the youth? His quest for vegetarianism? His ability to change his mind about slavery?
With Franklin’s use of aliases (Silence Dogood, Martha Careful, Caelia Shortface, and Polly Baker to name a few), I wonder what Franklin would have thought about our ability to hide behind user names and criticize our fellow man for everything from the color of her skin to the way our neighbor mows the lawn.

Author fact: Even though Brands has written a plethora of books, I am only reading two for the Challenge: First American and The Age of Gold.

Book trivia: there are absolutely no photographs or illustrations of any kind in The First American. Maybe that is because we all know what Ben Franklin looks like? I would have liked to see maps of Philadelphia and Boston.

Nancy said: Pearl mentions Brands talent.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Founding Fathers” (p 91).

Krik? Krak!

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Danticat, Edwidge. Krik? Krak! SoHo, 1995.

Reason read: Danticat was born in January. Celebrating her birth month with Krik? Krak! I also needed a book for the Portland Public Library Reading Challenge of 2024 with a book about loss. This definitely fit the bill.

Right away, you know you are in the presence of a great writer when you read the very first short story of Krik? Krak! In “Children of the Sea” two teenagers who are in love keep journals when they are separated by dictatorship. Danticat keeps the two first person narratives clear by using capitalization and punctuation for one voice but not the other. The educated boy, a member of the Youth Federation, has escaped Haiti on a boat bound for Miami, Florida, while his young love (who does not use capitalization of punctuation) is left behind to endure military abuses. This was probably one of my favorites. Each subsequent story builds upon the next with the tiniest of threads. A minute detail will tie one story back to another.
“Nineteen Thirty-Seven” is a painful story about a woman visiting her mother in prison. Her mother is accused of flying. The government believes she is a witch, capable of rising like a bird on fire.
“A Wall of Fire Rising” tells the short but devastating story of a family barely making ends meet.
“Night Women” demonstrates the lengths a woman will go in order to provide for her child.
“Between the Pool and the Gardenias” is another heartbreaking story about loss.
“The Missing Peace” illuminates innocence abandoned.
“Seeing Things Simply” shares the story of an artist looking for beauty while ugliness crowds all around her.
“New York Day Women” demonstrates just how much a mother’s love can suffocate a daughter.
“Caroline’s Wedding” weaves a tale of expectation in age old customs.
“Women Like Us” is a message to daughters.
“In the Old Days” is an additional story for the twentieth anniversary edition of Krik? Krak! It tells the story of a woman asked to visit her dying father, a man she has never met.

The short stories of Krik? Krak!:

  • Children of the Sea
  • Nineteen Thirty-Seven
  • A Wall of Fire Rising
  • Night Women
  • Between the Pool and the Gardenias
  • The Missing Peace
  • Seeing Things Simply
  • New York Day Women
  • Caroline’s Wedding
  • Epilogue: Women Like Us
  • New to the 20th Anniversary Edition: In the Old Days

Quotes to quote, “At times I feel like I can just reach out and pull a star down from the sky as though it is a breadfruit or a calabash or something that could be of us to us on this journey” (“Children of the Sea” p 8), “I want him to forget that we live in a place where nothing lasts” (“Night Women” p 73), “They kept their arms close to their bodies, like angels hiding their wings” (“Nineteen Thirty-Seven” p 137).

Author fact: I am reading five books by Edwidge Danticat. Brother, I’m Dying in the last one.

Book trivia: reviewers call Krik? Krak! virtually flawless, passionate, lyrical, devastating, moving and luminous. I couldn’t agree more.

Nancy said: Pearl did not say anything specific about Krik? Krak!

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “The Contradictory Caribbean: Paradise and Pain” (p 55)

White Boots

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Streatfeild, Noel. White Boots. Illustrated by Milein Cosman. Puffin Books, 1963.

Reason read: Noel Streatfeild, if you couldn’t tell by her first name, was born on Christmas Eve. Read in her honor.

Who doesn’t love Noel Streatfeild’s “Shoes” books? Whether you read the British version (White Boots) or the American (Skating Shoes), either is just as cute. Ten year old Harriet is a frail child, recovering from a long illness that has left her legs “cotton-woolish” and weak. Her doctor prescribes exercise to rebuild her muscles. He knows just the sport, ice skating. There at the rink Harriet meets a girl her age, skating sensation Lalla. Lalla’s father was a world famous skater as well but died in an accident. His sister is tyranically determined to make her niece the next star on ice. Seeing that Harriet is a good influence on Lalla’s training, Harriet soon starts taking ice skating, dance and fencing lessons to keep Lalla engaged. I think you can see where this is going.
This is a story of opposites attract. Lalla is beautiful and wealthy. Harriet is plain and poor. Lalla’s skating prowess prompts her to be shallow and selfish. Harriet’s lack of privilege leaves her hungry for friendship. Harriet has a loud, loving, and large family while Lalla only has her nanny, her prim and proper aunt, and a home-schooling governess.
This is also a story of acceptance. Just because you have a world class athlete for a father doesn’t mean you have inherited the genes. All Lalla’s life she has been pushed into believing she had to be the skater her father was. She had been given every advantage to fulfill that expectation except she lacked one thing. Talent. Along comes a nobody of a girl. No fancy clothes. No world class father. No money to buy premier lessons. But Harriet did have one thing. Ability.
As an aside, times have changed. In today’s world it is incredibly rare for a sibling to start a paper route just to support his sister’s recovery. What kid does that? Alec is a smart brother. He knows exactly how much he will earn from delivering papers and he also knows how much the skate rental will cost. His business sense drives him to save the two extra shillings to put towards his father’s failing business. Again, what kid does that? I enjoyed the side story of the garden very much.

Confessional: when Streatfeild was setting up the family’s history of poverty, I couldn’t keep up with who lived in which house.
Father Christmas only has six tiny reindeer?

Author fact: Noel Streatfeild was born on Christmas Eve.

Book trivia: Originally published in 1951 in the United States as Skating Shoes.

Playlist: “Where the Rainbow Ends”, “The First Nowell” (Streatfeild’s spelling, not mine), “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, and “O Come All Ye Faithful”.

Nancy said: Pearl said Streatfeild is best known for her shoe books.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Fantasy For Young and Old” (p 83). The “Shoe” books should not be included in this chapter because they are not fantasy. Pearl only mentions them because of The Fearless Treasure, which I have not been able to find.

D.B.

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Reid, Elwood. D.B. Doubleday, 2004.

Reason: I started this in the last week of November because the book opens with the date November 24th, 1971.

Does everyone know the real story of the man who used a bomb to skyjack a plane back in the early 70s? Elwood Reid takes the real-life events of D.B. Cooper and turns them into two parallel stories. Fitch’s sounds like a bad country song. He loses his wife, his job, and his Dodge Dart all in quick succession. In truth, it reminded me of a movie called Dead Presidents where a man, down on his luck, is forced into a life of crime because he cannot catch a break the honest way. He tries and tries but finally decides he needs a one-time, single-payout super crime. Something huge that will take him away from it all for the rest of his life. As an interesting aside, Dan Cooper, aka Fitch, skyjacks a plane for $200,000. Today, that same sum would be worth $1,519,362.96 Not too shabby.
On the other side of the narrative is newly retired FBI agent Frank Marshall. Typical of most law enforcement, Marshall can’t immediately give up all he has ever known for a life of leisure. He still feels the need to protect a female witness with whom he is slowly falling in love, he continuously carries the finger bone of a murder he couldn’t solve, and occasionally thinks about a man who jumped from a Seattle-bound 727. When a fresh faced eager agent approaches Marshall about putting down the bottle to help him with the still-open D.B. Cooper case, Marshall feels the tug of solving the old mysteries. Is it possible D.B. Cooper survived the jump? Is he still out there?

Confessional: this takes place in a different time so the details are a bit dated. This happened in a time when one could call an airline for the names of passengers on a certain day’s manifest. I appreciated how Reid used the presidents in office orientate the reader to the appropriate era.

A point of irritation: Dan Cooper asked the stewardess to sit next to him. He then looked at a note he had written on his wrist. Did Susan see that note? How could she not? I know seats were a little more comfortable in the 1970s, but surely she noticed this?

Author fact: While Reid wrote a bunch of novels, I am only reading D.B. for the Challenge. As an aside, Reid publicity shot looks like a head shot and he could be a stand in for Treat Williams.

Book trivia: D.B. is based on a true story.

Playlist: John Lennon’s “Imagine”, Carole King, “American Pie”, Blood Sweat and Tears, Nancy Sinatra, “Lara’s Theme”, Wagner, 96 Tears, Frank Sinatra, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”, Bob Seger’s “Night Moves”, Willie Nelson’s “River Boy” and “Crazy”, Neil Young’s “Everyone Knows This is Nowhere”, Thelonious Monk’s “Crepuscule with Nellie”, “Over the Hills and Far Away”, Beatles, the Golden Variations, Roy Orbison, “Sister Ray”, and Velvet Underground.

Nancy said: Pearl called it a great read.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Plots for Plotzing” (p 185).

Silver Scream

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Daheim, Mary. Silver Scream: a Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery. William Morrow, 2002.

Reason read: I have no idea.

In a word, goofy. Everything about Silver Scream was goofy. The premise goes like this: the owner of a bed and breakfast needs to solve a murder on her property before the authorities blame her for the death and shut her business down. I thought that was a plausible and clever way to have a civilian try to solve a mystery. A bunch of movie are staying at Hillside Manor for a movie premier. When the producer is found dead, drowned in the kitchen sink, the race is on to solve the death. Accident? Suicide? Murder? The cleverness ends here and the story becomes just plain goofy. Judith, as the bed and breakfast owner, became completely unbelievable when she promised to have an elaborate costume for an actress repaired in one day. Then there was this goofy moment: the rookie police officer, responding to aforementioned death in Judith’s kitchen, makes bunny ears behind her superior officer’s head while investigating the scene. This is at a potential crime scene! Goofy! And another (still at the same crime scene): Judith’s husband’s ex-wife shows up. She’s not only allowed to enter the potential crime scene, but she hangs around for awhile. I could go on and on, listing all the silliness of Silver Scream. Even though I didn’t solve the mystery right away, I wasn’t sure I cared.

Here is another head-scratcher for me. In the toolshed, where mother is squirreled away like Rochester’s wife, one has to go from the bedroom and through the living room and kitchen in order to get to the bathroom (counter clockwise), when the bathroom is literally on the other side of the bedroom wall. In the main house there is a guest room but no bathroom unless the guest is allowed to go through the master bedroom in order to get to the nearest bathroom. I guess whoever designed these structures wanted the bathrooms as out of the way as possible.

As an aside, as a former housekeeper, if I found a slip of paper that appeared to be a prescription of some sort, I don’t care how illegible the handwriting was, I would never throw it in the trash. That is definitely not my call.

Quote I liked, “Who will you blame if something happens while these movie nutcases are staying at Hillside Manor?” (p 3). The word nutcase is one of my favorites.

Author fact: all of Daheim’s books have pun-typical titles.

Book trivia: It is not necessary to read the other Daheim mysteries in order to enjoy Silver Scream. Daheim will fill you in on details such as Judith worked as a librarian and bartender during the time of her first marriage and there were two other murders at Hillside Manor. Of course there were…

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Living High in Cascadia” (p 154). Maybe it was just me, but I felt Silver Scream could have taken place anywhere.

Orchid Thief

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Orlean, Susan. The Orchid Thief. Ballantine Books, 1998.

Reason read: I swore I got rid of all categories regarding the best time to travel to a region but somehow this one slipped by. December is the best time to visit the Caribbean. I swear, this is the last one for this category. And! And this book doesn’t really fit in the genre, so there you go. Luckily, I also needed a book with a flower on its cover for the Portland Public Library Reading Challenge…

Orchids have been described as evil, mysterious, challenging, captivating, beautiful, the devil, sexual, an obsession…
John Laroche seemed like an interesting character. Susan Orlean found him to be the most “moral amoral person she had ever known” (p 6). Is this why she chose to write his biography? I don’t think it was for the love of orchids. If I am being honest, Orchid Thief isn’t a biography of John Laroche either.
A few facts I picked up about orchids: They can live seemingly forever; they often outlive their owners. They are incredibly durable despite being difficult to grow from seed. (As an aside, I now want to visit the New York Botanical Gardens to see the 150 year old wonders.) Here’s something I can spout at a party the next time I need small talk: Charles Darrow, the inventor of the game Monopoly, retired at the age of forty-six to devote himself to all things orchids. What is it about these flowers? I see them at Home Depot and think they are garishly ugly.
Then there were all the things I learned about Florida: the development of the swamp lands, the way anything can grow there (I have a story about that for later), the mystery of Osceola’s head. In the end, I came to the conclusion that the whole state of Florida was one big cesspool for scams.
All in all, Orchid Thief was entertaining.

I love it when a book makes me explore history, geography, or biography. This time I needed to seen the image of Annie Paxton sitting on a ginormous lily pad.

So. The Grow Anywhere story. A friend of mine moved to Florida to be closer to his granddaughter. One day he and said granddaughter were eating peaches. Once granddaughter was finished eating the fruit she didn’t know what to do with the pit. She asked her grandfather if she could plant it. They now have a peach tree in their backyard. Whether it is bearing fruit, I do not know.

As an aside, I was reminded of an episode of Northern Exposure when Laroche’s boss couldn’t spend more time with Orlean due to the fact he had Japanese investors in town. Golf course?

Author fact: Orlean used to write for Newsweek.

Book trivia: Orchid Thief started as a piece in a Florida newspaper and the Orlean wrote about it in the New Yorker. Suddenly it became worthy of a whole book.

Playlist: “Polly Wolly Doodle”, “My Darling Clementine”, Grateful Dead, Mama Cass, “Yes, We Have No Bananas Today”, “Down in the Boondocks”, “Jailhouse Rock”, and “It’s My Desire to Live for Jesus”.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in two chapters. First, in “Dewey Deconstructed” (p 73) and again in “Line that Linger, Sentences that Stick” (p 143).

So Many Books, So Little Time

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Nelson, Sara. So Many Books, So Little Time: a Year of Passionate Reading. GP Putman’s Sons, 2003.

Reason read: Read in honor for Melvil Dewey’s birth month. I also needed a book with a title of six words or more for the Portland Public Library Reading Challenge.

The premise of So Many Books, So Little Time is simple. Nelson has set out to read a book a week. Fifty-two books in fifty-two weeks. To some people that is a herculean task. To others, it might be child’s play. It all depends on the book…and the reader, for that matter. Only Nelson’s plan falls apart in the very first week. Her first book is a bust. So is the next one. And the next one. So Many Books, So Little Time turns out to be a memoir about books read, books skimmed, and books skipped (a total of 266 titles if you are curious).
Disclaimer: I am about to have so many meltdowns about this book and for various reasons. Please excuse my childish temper tantrums.
Rant #1: even the dust jacket states that Nelson chronicles a year’s worth of reading in So Many Books, So Little Time. Indeed, there is a section at the end of the book called “What I Actually Did Read” and it lists twenty-one books. Even what she planned to read is vague (she lists twenty-three books by name). What happened to the fifty-two? The Heartburn (March 22) and the Bird By Bird (April 6) chapters were how I thought the entire book would read. I was really looking forward to that. Here’s the weird thing. In the appendix of books actually read, Heartburn and Bird By Bird are not mentioned. And if you look a little closer she only read nineteen books, reread another, and skimmed another. Again I ask, what happened to fifty-two?
Rant #2: I didn’t understand her freaking out when someone didn’t share her opinion about a book. What is the big deal if you disagree? That is what makes books and people interesting. Imagine how boring a book club would be if everyone had the same opinion about a book?
Rant #3: Nelson will reread a book if she loved it. With so many books and so little time I move on from a reread unless I don’t remember the plot or it doesn’t take that much time. Why spend so time on something you already know?
Rant #4: What was her deal with Mitch Albom? I honestly feel she was a little jealous of his relationship with a mentor. Tuesdays with Morrie was not just an “All I Really Needed to Know” kindergarten lesson. It was about human (re)connection with a person who was dying; squeezing out as much time as possible with someone. Also, what was her deal with making excuses about reading Mary Higgins Clarke? It was if she was embarrassed to read something non-academic. Everybody needs some fun now and again.
Rant #5: The chapter on Anthony Bourdain was less about Kitchen Confidential and more about Nelson’s personal feelings towards the man. I found myself asking what was the point exactly? Maybe I am a little sensitive because the man committed suicide since the publication of So Many Books…
All is all, I felt So Many Books, So Little Time was an opportunity for Nelson to rattle off all the books she has either read, partially read, read and given up on, or only skimmed. In the end I found myself finishing just to see what books we had in common (202).

Confessional – there is a lot of Nelson’s story that I can relate to:

  1. She talks about double-booking (reading two books at once). However, I often read six at once.
  2. She talks about having a book at all times so that she is never bored. I do the same thing except I explain it as never having to wait for anything whether it be in line at the grocery store or in a doctor’s office.
  3. She talks about the dilemma of having to chose what to read. Imagine trying to figure out when to read over 5,000 books. For that same reason I know what I am reading (and in what order) for the next twenty-five years if I live that long.
  4. She talks about separating owned books from unowned. I do the same on LibraryThing. Only I don’t own a lot of my books. I support local libraries by borrowing, borrowing, borrowing.
  5. She talks about having a rule that you only read a percentage of a book you don’t like. I do the exact same thing. Why waste time with something that doesn’t hold your attention?
  6. She has horrible memories of trying to play organized sports in middle school. Try never seeing an organized sport until high school. Talk about childhood trauma!
  7. She misses conversations with her father. Me too. Every. Single. Day.
  8. She spends a lot of time talking about books she reread (Roth) and books she couldn’t get into. I couldn’t read Infinite Jest either.

Here is how I can’t relate:

  1. Nelson can’t read in the car. Luckily, I do some of my best reading in a moving vehicle. Plane, boat, car, train, treadmill, it doesn’t matter.

Author fact: Nelson went to the same high school as a few friends of mine. She went to the same college as my grandfather.

Book trivia: There are 266 books mentioned by title in So Many Books. I probably missed a title here or there. To be honest, when she mentioned movies or television shows I thought they were books because, as you all know, I am not up on my visual arts.

Playlist: Bessie Smith, Bob Dylan’s “Motorpsycho Nightmare”, a Chorus Line, Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Rolling Stones’s “Sticky Fingers”, Roseann Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Jefferson Airplane, Glace Slick, and “Somebody to Love”.

Nancy said: I think Pearl described So Many Books, So Little Time better than Nelson when she said it was a collection of essays about books Nelson has read.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Dewey Deconstructed” (p 62).