Tag: librarything

October Was…

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October was dinner with a few good friends, a trip homehomehome, a walkathon, the decision to not care about you anymore, the Pumpkin Fest, a trip to the sugar shack, a Rock Band party, a Sex in the City night, a car accident, a dislocated arm, a marathon phone call which I needed desperately, the birth of Manorabug Spuke, a few anniversaries, cleaning house, setting up shop.


Here is October’s list of books:

  • Carry on, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse ~ delightfully English and silly
  • Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler ~ characters so real you could bump into them on the street.
  • Big If  by Mark Costello ~ probably the best book of the month, considering we are in an election year.
  • Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer ~ a book for kids but delightfully wicked for adults as well.
  • Dubliners by James Joyce ~ celebrating the best time to visit Ireland.
  • The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe ~ perfect for Halloween!
  • Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s & 40s (Contents selected and notes written by Robert Polito) ~ Reading this knocked three other Challenge books off my list!
  1. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
  2. They Shoot Horses Don’t They by Horace McCoy
  3. The big Clock by Kenneth Fearing

For the first time in a long time I didn’t get a Early Review book from LibraryThing. Odd thing is, I’m not disappointed. It was nice to not have to worry about how to squeeze it into an already packed reading schedule. It was nice not having to stress about writing the review “on time.” True, one could argue that there isn’t really strict deadline but I always feel obligated to get something written before the book goes on sale. Isn’t that the point? Having said all that, I will be requesting for October because well, the wait is half the fun!

Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex

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Kennedy, Pagan. The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories. Santa Fe: Santa Fe Writers Project, 2008.

When I requested this book from LibraryThing’s Early Review program I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Sure, I had read the paragraph and *thought* I knew. It’s like when you think you know the way, and so for awhile you think you are going in the right direction, until you’re not. Then you realize you didn’t know the way and and still don’t; suddenly, there you aren’t. You are lost.

Pagan Kennedy’s Dangerous Joy is a series of nonfiction essays with two central themes: invention and humanity. You could call them short stories, mini biographies because each chapter focuses on the life of someone creative – ranging from Alex Comfort to Pagan’s own mother. As readers we are drawn into not only the science behind their inventions, but the personality behind the answer to why they did what they did. Every story is peppered with humor and science – an unlikely combination that works.
Kennedy’s first story is about Alex Comfort, the man behind The Joy of Sex. Who knew that Alex was a British biologist hell bent on reinventing orgies as the norm for sex? His story is compelling and completely tragic. Kennedy goes on to introduce us to Amy Smith, recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s Genius award; Dr Irene Pepperberg, trainer of a brilliant African Grey parrot named Alex; Cheryl Haworth, Olympic weight lifter; and Conor Oberst, a tormented musician…just to name a few.

Blackbird, Farewell

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Greer, Robert. Blackbird, Farewell. Berkley: Frog Books, 2008.

I took a chance requesting Blackbird, Farewell for the Early Review program. For one thing, I don’t know that much about basketball (the little I do know I learned this season from watching the Celtics win the championship this year). For another, I have never read a CJ Floyd novel. I didn’t want to make comparisons or see how it stacked up against to other CJ Floyd books. None of that really mattered when I got down to the serious reading.

Blackbird, Farewell starts out a little rough. It begins with Shandell “Blackbird” Bird going to make a deposit at a bank. Within 27 pages he is dead. Leading up to his murder Bird is described as “having a problem”, jittery, frustrated, sad, mechanical, dismissive and blank. It seems excessive considering the reader already knows he is to die. The cliches did little to pique my interest as to what was really wrong with Bird or care when he was killed.

When Bird’s best friend and college teammate, Damion “Blood” Madrid decides he needs to solve the murder the plot of Blackbird, Farewell  picks up. Madrid is the godson of famed CJ Floyd, a Denver, Colorado bail bondsman. While rough around the edges Madrid does a good job tracking down key players in the mystery. Of course he has his beautiful girlfriend, Niki, for a sidekick as well as the mafia, a hitman, and a Persian Gulf war vet (flora Jean Benson, CJ’s partner). Blackbird has enough drama (violence & sex) to make it interesting but not overly stereotypical of murder mysteries. The streets of Denver, as well as surrounding towns of Fort Collins and Boulder serve as an accurate and appealing backdrop for Greer’s mystery to play itself out.

Final thought: If Greer is trying to sell Blackbird, Farewell on the popularity of other CJ Floyd mysteries he shouldn’t. CJ Floyd doesn’t even enter the picture until the final 20 pages of the book. It is misleading to lure readers in by saying CJ Floyd is there to watch Madrid’s back (back cover) when he isn’t even in the book until the very end. Floyd fans are sure to be disappointed. Blackbird, Farewell stands alone a fun read apart from the CJ Floyd series.

Edited to add: If I were Greer’s editor I would have asked him to change Flora Jean’s “gasket popping” comment to something else, especially since not even five pages later a completely differently character is using a very similar gasket phrase.

May Was…

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A month of allergies. Lilacs. The end of the school year (yay). Dreams coming true. The final Chuck Lelas walk. A new haircut. The serious house hunt. Family time. Natalie Merchant performing with the Boston Pops and ten good books (Nine and a half…).

  • Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year by Esme Raji Codell (National Education Month)
  • Plain Speaking by Merle Miller (Harry Truman’s birthday, Merle Miller’s birthday, on the heels of a book about Roosevelt…it just made sense).
  • True Confessions: a Novel by Mary Bringle (Mothers & Daughters)
  • Dreamland by Kevin Baker (History. I have to admit, tail between my legs, that I didn’t finish this one. Once I found out what the reader doesn’t find out I didn’t want to continue. BooHiss).
  • Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie (Music month)
  • Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin.

Books added to the list because I gave up on Dreamland:

  • Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (celebrating Barrie’s birthday)
  • The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien for no ther reason than it was a great book!

For LibraryThing & the Early Review Program~two books!:

  • Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide by Marybeth Bond (really, really fun travel guide)
  • Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block by Judith Matloff. Interesting, considering I’m dreaming of houses these days…

 

 

Franklin And Lucy

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Persico, Joseph E. Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life. New York: Random House, 2008.

Here’s what went on LibraryThing:
When I finally finished the last page of Franklin and Lucy I had two very different thoughts. The first was this was a well written, very thorough biography of the social side of the Roosevelts. It was written in an easy, conversational style that, at times, was hard to put down. The detail given to who, what, where, when, and why made you feel as though you were experiencing every aspect of the era. My second thought was it was an unfortunate title for a work comprised of so much more than just the relationships of Franklin D. Roosevelt. A more accurate title would have included Eleanor. A possible option could have been Franklin and Eleanor: Mrs Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in their lives. Another option would be to remove any section dealing with Eleanor that didn’t include her husband’s involvement and focus solely on Franklin.
The other detraction from the book was Perisco’s almost obsessive need to repeatedly include Lucy Rutherfurd’s physical description in such flowery detail. While Franklin’s oft repeated “barrel chested” description was needed to stress his need to hide his disability (and to emphasize his physical decline before his death), and Eleanor’s lack of beauty was important in context to her character as being tragic and unlovable, they were not mentioned nearly as often as Lucy’s exquisiteness.

As an aside (something that didn’t go on LibraryThing), how awful is this? I kept comparing myself to Eleanor! Before you think I’ve gone crazy, hear me out: Perisco described Eleanor as:

  • when stressed Eleanor’s voice grew shrill
  • was insecure
  • was earnest instead of vivacious
  • “schoolmarm air about her”
  • Eleanor failed to recognize humor
  • oblivious to fashion, often choosing sensible over stylish
  • overwhelmed by children
  • suspicious about kindness
  • fought for the underdog

OKay, so I will never go onto greatness and my marriage is a thousand million trillion times better, but the other stuff fits. Kinda sorta maybe.

Imagine Me & You

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Imagine Me And You
Mernit, Billy. Imagine Me & You: A Novel. New York: Shaye Areheart , 2008.

This is March’s LibraryThing early review book but, receiving it late, I just finished it. It’s bright and funny and witty. I loved it. I hated it. Simply put, Imagine Me and You is about a screen writer named Jordan who, because he is in danger of losing his wife Isabella, creates imaginative and sometimes halarious schemes to win her back. It illustrates how communication when confused with emotions (and language barriers) can be misconstrued. Misunderstandings make mountains out of molehills.
While I had issues with shallow character development, one of my biggest problems with Imagine Me and You  was the Dickens-like gimmick of placing a ghostlike “Christmas Carol” character in Jordan’s path. His “muse” Naomi tries to steer Jordan in the right direction beyond writing –  even going so far as to show Jordan what his estranged wife is doing without him. One minute Naomi and Jordan are in California, the next, Italy – watching Isabella moon over a photo she just happens to pull out. Of course Jordan wants to speak to her, but as Naomi warns, “she can’t hear you”…of course she can’t.  
The ending is predicatable. Jordan himself gives it away. It’s no mistake his story mirrors the screenplay he has been writing throughout the story. But, the real saving grace of Imagine Me & You is how the story is written. Setting up each chapter to follow the script of a romantic comedy lends a playful foreshadowing to the plot.