Tag: Fiction

May Day or I Need Help

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This list started as the Mini List of books I wanted to read between November 1st, 2012 and October 31st, 2013. I compiled this list of the 95-100 books I expected to read within a twelve month span of time. I should have known such a prediction would be setting myself up for failure. Lots of things got in the way of me strictly sticking to the list. For starters, there was (and still is) the inability to predict which (if any) Early Review books I would win from LibraryThing. Then, there is my never-ending habit of “filling in” with a shorter book at the end of the month. This is the scenario: Let’s say there are eight days left in the month of January and I have nothing left to read from the mini list for the month of January… so I scan the Big January list, looking for something 175 pages or less. I read that short(er) book and voila! I have read a filler that wasn’t on the Mini List.
Now, there are two new “things.” First, the decision to bypass a book simply because I’m not in the mood for it. Ugh! For the first time ever I skipped over a book simply because I wasn’t ready to read it. The House of Morgan by Ron Chernow fell victim to my whim. I won’t get to read the book about banking until NEXT April. Second, a big mistake – I forgot to include other books in the Martin Boyd series. There are three others that didn’t make the original list. Duh!

So, having said all that, here is the list of books STILL TO GO from the mini list:

  1. Abide By Me by Elizabeth Strout
  2. Among the Missing by Dan Chaon
  3. Apollo: the epic journey to the moon by David West Reynolds
  4. At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O’Brien
  5. Beyond the Bogota by Gary Leech
  6. Burma Chronicles by Guy Delise
  7. Burning the Days by James Salter
  8. Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
  9. Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford
  10. Conspiracy and Other Stories by Jaan Kross
  11. Deafening by Frances Itani
  12. Death in Verona by Roy Harley Lewis
  13. Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
  14. Fixer by Joe Sacco
  15. Going Wild by Robert Winkler
  16. Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
  17. Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels
  18. Guardians by Geoffrey Kabaservice
  19. House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
  20. Light Infantry Ball by Hamilton Basso
  21. Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
  22. Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
  23. ADDED: Outbreak of Love by Martin Boyd
  24. Old Friends by Tracy Kidder
  25. Panther Soup by John Grimlette
  26. Points Unknown edited by David Roberts
  27. Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
  28. Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
  29. Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham
  30. Southpaw by Mark Harris
  31. Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  32. Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner
  33. What you Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell
  34. ADDED: When Blackbirds Sing by Martin Boyd
  35. Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
  36. Working Poor by David Shipler

ON DECK FOR MAY:

  1. Dining with Al-Qaeda by Hugh Pope (audio)
  2. Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
  3. Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengist (audio)
  4. Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
  5. ADDED: Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou for the Early Review Program
  6. ADDED (because I am an idiot – I forgot to add the next books in the Martin Boyd series): A Difficult Young Man by Martin Boyd
  7. ADDED: The long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz

FINISHED:

  1. Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
  2. Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day by Philip Matyszak
  3. Apples Are From Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins
  4. Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton (I started this last year. No, sorry – two years ago)
  5. Ariel by Sylvia Plath
  6. Author, Author by David Lodge (audio)
  7. Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
  8. Before the Knife by Carolyn Slaughter
  9. Bellwether by Connie Willis
  10. Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
  11. Billy by Albert French
  12. Brass Go-Between by Oliver Bleeck
  13. Breakfast with Scot by Michael Drowning
  14. Brush with Death by Elizabeth Duncan
  15. Brushed by Feathers by Frances Wood
  16. Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes
  17. Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
  18. Churchill, a life by Martin Gilbert
  19. City of Thieves by David Benioff
  20. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
  21. Descending the Dragon by Jon Bowermaster
  22. Diamond Classics by Mike Shannon
  23. Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
  24. The Evolution of Jane by Catherine Schine
  25. Edward Lear in Albania by Edward Lear
  26. Fanny by Edmund White
  27. Final Solution by Michael Chabon
  28. Flamboya Tree by Clara Olink Kelly
  29. Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
  30. Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin
  31. Galton Case by Ross MacDonald
  32. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
  33. Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
  34. ADDED (in lieu of House of Morgan): God: a biography by Jack Miles
  35. Gold Coast Madam by Rose Laws
  36. ADDED: Good City edited by Emily Hiestand
  37. Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
  38. Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan
  39. Good-bye Chunk Rice by Craig Thompson
  40. Her by Christa Parravani
  41. Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch
  42. Hole in the World by Richard Rhodes
  43. ADDED: Iliad by Homer
  44. Idle Days in Patagonia by William Hudson
  45. ADDED: Imperfect Harmony by Stacy Horn (for LibraryThing’s Early Review program
  46. Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
  47. Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
  48. Lives of the Painters, vol 2, 3 & 4 by Giorgio Vasari
  49. Mortality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
  50. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
  51. Of Human Bondage by William Maugham
  52. Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam
  53. Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
  54. Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
  55. Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
  56. Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
  57. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
  58. Tatiana by Dorothy Jones
  59. Tattered Cloak by Nina Berberova
  60. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
  61. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
  62. Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
  63. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
  64. Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
  65. Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer
  66. Widow for One Year by John Irving
  67. Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan

POETRY COMPLETED:

  1. “Golden Angel Pancake House” by Campbell McGrath
  2. “Lepanto” by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
  3. “Listeners” by Walter De La Mare
  4. “Mandalay” by Rudard Kipling
  5. “Road and the End” by Carl Sandburg
  6. “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield
  7. “Winter” by Marie Ponsot
  8. “In My Craft or Sullen Art” by Dylan Thomas
  9. The Long Hill” by Sarah Teasdale
  10. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

NEXT YEAR:

  1. House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (as previously mentioned)

A Difficult Young Man

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Boyd, Martin. A Difficult Young Man. New York: Penguin, 1984.

I have to admit this story lagged for me. It wasn’t as non-directional as The Cardboard Crown but it still couldn’t hold my attention for long periods of time. Shoot, I couldn’t get through ten pages without straying from the page. A fly crawling along a windowsill could capture my attention faster and hold it longer.
So, right from the start I need to tell you the “difficult young man” of the story is Dominic Langton, grandson of Alice (writer of the journal in The Cardboard Crown). Dominic’s story is being told by his younger brother, Guy. Dominic is indeed difficult and troubled and sort of a loose cannon. He kills a horse, after all. But, it’s also the story of a family who is discontent wherever they are. Bounding between England and Australia, the grass is always greener on the other side.

Interesting lines, “It was difficult to run a house that was being looted” (p 105). good point.

Reason read: to continue the Langton Quartet (in honor of April being a good time to visit Australia).

Author fact: According to Penguin books Boyd had a preoccupation with his family and out of that preoccupation rose the mostly autobiographical Langton Quartet.

Book trivia: This is the second book in the Langton Quartet. It should be read before Outbreak of Love.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter “Australian Fiction” (p 29).

Author, Author

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Lodge, David. Author, Author. Narrated by Christopher Kay. New York: Recorded Books, LLC, 2005

This was a long listen! 14 cds equaling almost 17 hours. If you want to do the math that meant 51 trips to and from work in order to finish it. While the print version is under 400 pages the audio seemed much longer. Because Lodge’s writing is rambling I found myself getting distracted and confused about what was happening when.  Author, Author is a biography that focuses mainly on Henry James’s relationships with Constance Fenimore Woolsen, the granddaughter of James Fenimore Cooper and with fellow author/friend George Du Maurier and the “horrible opening night” of his play “Guy Domville.” The best part of the story was Henry’s relationship with Constance Fenimore Woolsen (fondly known as Fenimore throughout the book). James struggles to have a relationship with her that is private yet meaningful.

Confessional – I swapped this out for another audio book as soon as the new one became available.

Reason read: Henry James was born in April and so to celebrate his birth I am listening to Author, Author.

Author fact: Lodge’s body of work is quite impressive. I have a few more of his titles on my challenge list.

Book trivia: The audio version of Author, Author is read by Christopher Kay.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called “Literary Lives: the Americans” (p 144).

In the Heart of the Canyon

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Hyde, Elisabeth. In the Heart of the Canyon. Westminster, MD: Books on Tape, 2009.

In the Heart of the Canyon is an accurate portrayal of a thirteen day river trip down the Grand Canyon; so much so that I felt I could have been there. Hyde effectively describes the guides, the tourists, the scenery, and of course, the Colorado River picture perfect. The character development of everyone involved in the trip builds just  as if you were in the boats with them, getting to know them as the days and miles pass by. The weather (and how to deal with the heat) and surrounding nature comes alive with Hyde’s words.  And when it comes to rafting down the river you can tell Hyde has seen rapids and even had a “maytag” experience or two. She puts you right in the action. A story about a rafting trip down the Colorado would be enough material for a book but Hyde takes it a step further by introducing a stray dog early in the story and creating characters that are not only interesting but complex. One character in particular, seventeen year old Amy keeps a journal. Her journal gives the events described by Hyde a new perspective. She introduces a different point of view and her comments serve as a reminder that everyone has an alternate truth based on their own unique personality. It’s what happens when you put twelve strangers and three guides together.

As an aside about the guides, I am around these kinds of people all the time. I can picture them perfectly. Tanned, well-built, confident and sure-footed moving in and around the boats. Congenial and comfortable. They give off an air of relaxed attitude but in the back of their minds they know everything about the trip is in their hands. Safety and fun.

Reason read: John Muir was born in April. Being a naturalist I thought it would be appropriate to read something that takes place 100% outdoors.

Author fact: According to Hyde, In the Heart of the Canyon came about when she was on a rafting trip and got “maytagged.”

Book trivia: In the Heart of the Canyon has a YouTube trailer. It makes the book out to be more of a dramatic thriller than it is.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “AZ You Like It” (p 31).

“Mandalay”

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Kipling, Rudyard. Mandalay. Rudyard Kipling’s Verse: Definitive Edition. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1940. p 416.

“Mandalay” is like a song with a chorus. It could easily be set to music. Even the subject matter, a soldier imagining his Burma girl pining away him, is appropriate for a ballad. He is still in lonely London. In my mind’s eye this poem is visually stunning.

Reason read: Poetry month. Need I say more?

Author fact: Kipling has long been a childhood favorite of mine. I can remember wanting to meet Mowgli just so I could hang out with the animals.

BookLust Twist: Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Travelers’ Tales in Verse” (p 237).

Full Cupboard of Life

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Smith, Alexander McCall. The Full Cupboard of Life

Reason read: In honor of Mystery Month I started this series way back in January. The Full cupboard of Life is the fifth book in the series recommended by Nancy Pearl in either Book Lust, more Book Lust, or Book Lust To Go. I am nearing the end of my time with Mma Ramotswe and her family at the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I started in January with The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and now have one more book to read after The Full Cupboard of Life.

When we return to Mma Ramotswe we learn she is still engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. They have yet to set a wedding date. There is no doubt Mma Ramotswe is patient lady! Although, in this 5th installment she is losing faith and dares to ask Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni the dreaded “when” question. It is even starting to weigh on Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni as he dreams about a wedding date.
The one noticeable difference about The Full Cupboard of Life is that, unlike previous books in the series, the plot is not as seamless as the others. Instead of picking up where the reader left off Smith takes the time to bring the reader back to the very beginning of the series, explaining who Mma Ramotswe is and how she came to have the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana. He also takes the time to reintroduce us to Mma Ramotswe’s beloved daddy and other early relationships. There is less emphasis on “mysteries” to solve.

Book trivia: The Full Cupboard of Life is  the last book I will read in order in the series. After this I am actually skipping THREE others: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies, Blue Shoes and Happiness, and The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (does this mean I missed the wedding?). I wonder why Pearl doesn’t include them in any of her recommendations?

Author fact: Alexander McCall Smith is currently on a lecture tour but (unfortunately!) comes nowhere near me. Bummer. I’m a huge fan now.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Ms. Mystery” (p 171). But, of course. As an aside, this was the first book I listened to on cassette and sadly, the tape was a little warped. This listening experience was not as enjoyable as the disc versions.

Cardboard Crown

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Boyd, Martin. The Cardboard Crown. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. 1953.

This is the story of Alice Verso told through her grandson’s discovery of her diary. From its pages half written in French he is able to uncover generations of intricate and complicated relationships. Alice marries into the Langton family and brings the clan financial stability. But, despite this Alice discovers her husband is having an affair with a childhood friend named Hetty. Told across three generations and bouncing between Australia and England everything about this story was strange. As a reader, I couldn’t stay engaged with the story or the characters. There wasn’t a single person I connected with or cared about. It was the kind of story I often lost place with – meaning, when I put it down I couldn’t remember the last thing I read.

Favorite lines, “All history is a little false” (p 43), “If she could bring her prey to bed, she wouldn’t have cared if she had mutton fat in her hair and a smut on her nose” (p 46), and “We must accept that people do behave idiotically…” (p56). And the follow up to that quote, “Any idiot can reproduce himself” (p 112). Too true!

Reason read: April is the best time to take a trip to Australia.

Author fact: Boyd is one of Australia’s best loved authors. He was a talented poet as well.

Book trivia: The plot of The Cardboard Crown is “founded on fact” according to the author.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “Australian Fiction” (p 37).

“Golden Angel Pancake House”

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McGrath, Campbell. “The Golden Angel Pancake House.” Spring Comes to Chicago. Hopewell, New Jersey: Ecco Press, 1996. p 5.

I loved this poem. This has got to be one of my favorites read so far this year.  It reminded me of Natalie Merchant’s song “Carnival” off her 1995 album, Tigerlily. In “Carnival” Natalie pays homage to New York City and I see Campbell McGrath doing the same thing for his hometown of Chicago in “The Golden Angel Pancake House” (which is a real restaurant, by the way). The imagery is amazing. I can just see this group of friends stumbling out of a bar at closing time. It’s way early in the morning and they are prowling the streets looking for a place to eat. The sights and sounds are chaotic and gripping. A freak show.

Favorite line, “a troupe of toothless, dipsomaniacal clowns.”

Reason read: It’s still April and I’m still reading poetry. Obviously.

Author fact: As I mentioned before McGrath is from Chicago.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Kitchen Sink Poetry” (p 139).

Gentlemen Prefer Blonds

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Loos, Anita. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: the Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady.” Grosset & Dunlap, 1925.

This was a positively silly book and it almost embarrassed me to be reading it. Luckily, it was incredibly short (less than 200 pages) so I was able to get through it in one weekend. It is the journal of Lorelei Lee, a Midwest girl making her way in the New York City with gal pal Dorothy. Lorelei’s idea of making her way is to see how many men she can charm into “educating” her with their wallets. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is Lorelei’s diary from March 16th to July 10th and chronicles (complete with spelling and grammatical errors) her trip to Paris, France and Europe beyond all the while juggling many different male suitors. She starts nearly every sentence with “So” to the point where it got on my nerves the way someone says “like” all the time (and not the “like” on FaceBook, although that can get annoying as well). Lorelei uses shopping as her weapon and is quite good at it. I had a few laugh out loud moments. My recommendation is to find the 195 version. The illustrations are priceless.

The line that made me know I was in trouble, “I mean I seem to be thinking practically all the time” (p 11). That’s on the first page of the book.

Reason read: Anita Loos was born on April 26th so I am reading Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as a Happy birthday to Loos.

Author fact: Anita Loos was also an actress. Too cool.

Book trivia: Every one knows of the movie version starring Marilyn Monroe, but did you know there was an earlier version from 1928? Obviously, it didn’t do as well.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “100 Good Reads: Decade By Decade (1920s)” (p 176)

April Foolish List

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I kinda like the pulse check I took last month. I have decided I like watching one list shrink while another grows.
As a result I decided to keep the lists separated for this month as well. Starting with the books that haven’t been read.

STILL TO GO:

  1. Abide By Me by Elizabeth Strout
  2. Among the Missing by Dan Chaon
  3. Apollo: the epic journey to the moon by David West Reynolds
  4. Ariel by Sylvia Plath
  5. At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O’Brien
  6. Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
  7. Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengist
  8. Beyond the Bogota by Gary Leech
  9. Burma Chronicles by Guy Delise
  10. Burning the Days by James Salter
  11. Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
  12. Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford
  13. Conspiracy and Other Stories by Jaan Kross
  14. Deafening by Frances Itani
  15. Death in Verona by Roy Harley Lewis
  16. Dining with Al-Qaeda by Hugh Pope
  17. Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
  18. Fixer by Joe Sacco
  19. Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
  20. Going Wild by Robert Winkler
  21. Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
  22. Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels
  23. Guardians by Geoffrey Kabaservice
  24. House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
  25. Light Infantry Ball by Hamilton Basso
  26. Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
  27. Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
  28. Old Friends by Tracy Kidder
  29. Panther Soup by John Grimlette
  30. Points Unknown edited by David Roberts
  31. Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
  32. Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
  33. Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham
  34. Southpaw by Mark Harris
  35. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
  36. Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  37. Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner
  38. What you Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell
  39. Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
  40. Working Poor by David Shipler

ON DECK FOR APRIL:

  1. Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
  2. Diamond Classics by Mike Shannon
  3. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
  4. House of Morgan by Ron Chernow
  5. Added: Hole in the World by Richard Rhodes
  6. Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
  7. Added: Author, Author by David Lodge (audio)
  8. Imperfect Harmony by Stacy Horn (for LibraryThing’s Early Review program
  9. Lots of poetry

FINISHED:

  1. Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
  2. Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day by Philip Matyszak
  3. Apples Are From Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins
  4. Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton (I started this last year. No, sorry – two years ago)
  5. Before the Knife by Carolyn Slaughter
  6. Bellwether by Connie Willis
  7. Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
  8. Billy by Albert French
  9. Brass Go-Between by Oliver Bleeck
  10. Breakfast with Scot by Michael Drowning
  11. Brush with Death by Elizabeth Duncan
  12. Brushed by Feathers by Frances Wood
  13. Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes
  14. Churchill, a life by Martin Gilbert
  15. City of Thieves by David Benioff
  16. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
  17. Descending the Dragon by Jon Bowermaster
  18. Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
  19. The Evolution of Jane by Catherine Schine
  20. Edward Lear in Albania by Edward Lear
  21. Fanny by Edmund White
  22. Final Solution by Michael Chabon
  23. ADDED: Flamboya Tree  by Clara Olink Kelly
  24. Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin
  25. Galton Case by Ross MacDonald
  26. Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
  27. Gold Coast Madam by Rose Laws
  28. Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
  29. Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan
  30. Good-bye Chunk Rice by Craig Thompson
  31. Her by Christa Parravani
  32. Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch
  33. Idle Days in Patagonia by William Hudson
  34. Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
  35. Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
  36. Lives of the Painters, vol 2, 3 & 4 by Giorgio Vasari
  37. Mortality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
  38. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
  39. Of Human Bondage by William Maugham
  40. Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam
  41. Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
  42. Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
  43. Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
  44. Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
  45. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
  46. Tatiana by Dorothy Jones
  47. Tattered Cloak by Nina Berberova
  48. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
  49. Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
  50. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
  51. Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
  52. Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer
  53. Widow for One Year by John Irving
  54. Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan

Snow Country

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Kawabata, Yasunari. Snow Country. New York: Vintage International, 1996.

Read any review of Snow Country and you will find people making comparisons to a haiku or to music. Kawabata’s descriptions are like water, flowing easily from page to page, but indeed like water very powerful. The details of the story are like music, lilting and magical and sometimes, more often than not, sorrowful. The story itself is very stark. It’s the relationship between a wealthy businessman and his snow country geisha. Their relationship is complicated by an imbalance of feelings. She cares for him more passionately then he does for her. In fact, his feelings are as cold as the winter countryside. It is frustrating at times to know they will never bridge the cultural or emotional gap…until you remember he is married.

Favorite lines, “He knew that if he spoke he would only make himself seem the more wanting in seriousness” (p 15).

Even though I have complained about reading translations there is also something cool about learning new words like “kotatsu” which is a small heating device.

Reason read: March is supposedly one of the best times to visit Japan.

Author fact: Yasunari Kawabata has won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “Japanese Fiction” (p 131).

Hole in the Earth

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Bausch, Robert. A Hole in the Earth. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2000.

If you are anything like me you won’t be able to decide whether you love or hate or just feel sorry for Henry Porter. On the surface he is a selfish, superficial s.o.b. who never knows the right thing to say or do. He doesn’t know how to greet Nicole, his only child he hasn’t seen in six years. He has a strained relationship with his girlfriend and doesn’t know how to respond when she tells him she is pregnant with his child. He comes across as shallow and callous. Case in point: “I calculated that if she really wanted to get my understanding, she would ask for it” he says (p 32). But, having said all that, it’s his very attitude that makes him human. We all have our moments of being selfish, superficial, shallow, awkward, cold and callous. Henry Porter is real and you can’t help but identify with him, even if it is just a little. As Henry’s life becomes more complicated (Nicole gets in trouble with a boy and Elizabeth breaks up with him) Henry starts to find his way through his inability to respond to tragedy. It’s a good thing because things go from bad to the very worst and Henry must change in order to survive.

Favorite lines, “I wanted to tell her but my mind would not surrender the words” (p 239), and “Upstairs Nicole was building a cathedral of faithful hatred…” (p 275).

Reason read: National Problem Gambling Week was three weeks ago (March 3 – 9) but in recognition of those struggling with the addiction I read A Hole in the Earth.

Author fact: I loved Robert Bausch’s short bio on the back flap of A hole in the Earth. See if you can figure out why! 😉 “He has worked as a salesman, taxi driver, library assistant, and waiter.”

Book trivia: The cover of my edition features a boy jumping off something. While he is in mid-fall he looks anticipatory and almost excited. It’s a scene from the book that is also a metaphor for Henry’s adult life.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “All in the Family: Writer Dynasties” (p 6). So, Pearl’s chapter doesn’t have anything to do with gambling. Instead A Hole in the Earth is mentioned because Robert and his brother, Richard, are both writers.

Widow for One Year

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Irving, John. A Widow For One Year. Read by George Guidall. New York: Random House Audio, 1998.

While meandering at times A Widow For One Year follows the life of Ruth Cole. In Part One it is 1958 and Ruth is only four years old. The plot doesn’t necessarily focus on Ruth at this point but rather on her Long Island parents – their endless grief over the accidental death of their teenage sons and the bitter end of their tumultuous marriage. Ruth’s father is a celebrated author of books for children, a closet alcoholic and a raging adulterer. He wants to divorce Ruth’s mother, Marion, but he first needs to make sure he’ll win the custody battle over Ruth. Given his drinking (he can’t even drive due to too many dui arrests) and sexual conquests outside the marriage he needs Marion to have an indiscretion of her own to level the playing field. Enter Eddie O’Hare, a sixteen year old high school student from Philips Exeter Academy. Ted hires Eddie to be his writing assistant for the summer but really Eddie is supposed to seduce Marion. It’s Eddie who I like the best in this part one. He plays the fool perfectly (oh, but what a sweet and pretty fool). Unwittingly he is a pawn for both Ted and Marion.
In Part Two Ruth, at thirty-six, is an accomplished writer living in New York. The section begins with the very same Eddie O’Hare. He is in town to introduce Ruth at one of her readings. While their paths cross only briefly at this point in the story Ruth is enlightened by Eddie’s memories of her mother. She begins to see her parent’s divorce in a whole new perspective. Before leaving for a European book tour Eddie gives Ruth a murder mystery he thinks was written by Marion. While in Amsterdam Ruth is witness to the murder of a window prostitute from the red light district.
This sets in motion Part Three which, in the beginning, focuses mostly on the murder of the prostitute from five years earlier. The lead chief inspector has a conundrum. While he was able to solve the murder he now wants to find the witness. The story jumps back fill in the story of the prostitute (which could have been a whole separate book). I don’t want to spoil the end except to say it’s nice that Irving brought the story full circle.

Favorite lines: “There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep” (p 151). Don’t you love the image of that? Another favorite line, “I appear to have an old disease to share” (p 324).

As an aside, Ruth’s attitude about her American fans reminded me of how Natalie Merchant reacts to autograph signings and picture taking with her American fans. Both Ruth and Natalie are more comfortable with their European fans.

Reason read: John Irving celebrates a birthday in March, on the 18th…or so I’ve read on LibraryThing.

Author fact: John Irving was not an author Nancy Peal included in her “Too Good to Miss” chapters. Too bad because he should have been. He has written some amazing stuff.

Book trivia: The 2004 film adaptation of A Widow For One Year was “A Door in the Floor.” Note to self: put this on my movie list.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Wayward Wives” (p 232). I think Pearl got it wrong. Yes, the wife is wayward but her situation is completely more understandable than her husband’s. I think her husband is despicable. But, another thing: the book isn’t really about the wayward wife or husband.

Kalahari Typing School for Men

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Smith, Alexander McCall. The Kalahari Typing School for Men. New York: Anchor Books, 2002.

You don’t have to read the first three Mma Ramotswe books in order to enjoy Kalahair Typing School for Men but I think you would enjoy them better if you did. In the fourth installment of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency the plot continues to move away from solving mysteries (as it had been in Morality for Beautiful Girls) and the emphasis is placed more on character development. To bring you up to speed: Mma Precious Ramotswe is Botswana’s only female detective. She is engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and together they have adopted two children, a brother and sister, but still haven’t set a wedding date. It seems Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is content to stay engaged for an indeterminate amount of time. Mma Ramotswe has two cases of interest. One is a gentleman wishing to repair his not so sterling past. He wants to make amends for a series of wrongs he has done as a youth. The other mystery is a typical marital woe of a woman thinking her man is cheating on her. The title of the story comes from Mma Matakutsi’s side business of starting a typing school for men.

Now that I am actually reading I have a few favorite lines, “That was the trouble with people in general: they were surprisingly unrealistic in their expectations” (p 5) and “We do not care about other people’s hats in the same way these days, do we? We do not” (p 158).

Reason read: to continue the series (started with The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency) in honor of Mystery Month in January. Note: up until this point I have listened to the series in CD. I appreciated Lecat’s narration and pronunciation. For example, if I had read the series from the beginning I wouldn’t have known that “Zebra Drive” (where Mma Ramotswe lives) is pronounced Zeb – bra Drive and not Zee – bra Drive.

Author fact: You just have to check out the videos on Alexander McCall Smith’s website. He is quoted as saying he is very fond of Botswana and he wrote the Mma Ramotswe series as a tribute to the country. (see link on Morality for Beautiful Girls book review).

Book trivia: This is the fourth book in the series. Next up is The Full Cupboard of Life.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called “Ms. Mystery” (p 171).

Fanny

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White, Edmund. Fanny: a Fiction. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.

Here’s the premise: Frances Trollope is already famous for publishing Domestic Manners of the Americans, a no-so flattering account of American society. She now sets out to write the biography of friend and feminist, Fanny Wright. Edmund White produces Fanny’s biography in manuscript form and I have to say it would have been a clever twist to present this as a reworked manuscript. Trollope’s notes to self, musings, and edit ideas would have been more effective had they been published as handwritten notes in the margins, scribbles, and parts crossed out. Instead, Trollope’s musings are in line with the text and somewhat distracting. As it is, Trollope spends more time justifying her Domestic Manners and recounting her own family’s trials and tribulations than she does on Ms. Wright’s memoir. It’s cleverly written.

Line I liked, “I had been so absorbed in the brilliant company…the look of the elegant company, that I had completely forgotten the sad reality of me” (p 44).

Reason read: Frances Trollope was born in the month of March and this was listed as a “companion” read in More Book Lust.

Book trivia: I found it really cool that Edmund White dedicated Fanny to Joyce Carol Oates.

Author fact: Edmund White has his own website here.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called “Two, or Three, Are Better Than One” (p 226).

UPDATE: Another index error in More Book Lust! Fanny: a Fiction by Edmund White is also mentioned in the chapter “Just Too Good To Miss” (p 133) of More Book Lust.