Posted: 2019/04/30 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, Early Review, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: africa, Anthony Trollope, audio books, Barbara Kingsolver, Craig Childs, Denise Uwimana, e-books, Early Review, family, Fiction, Henry Fielding, humor, Isaac Asimov, italy, Laurie King, librarything, Miss Read, mystery, Natalia Ginzburg, Nevada Barr, NonFiction, Paul Collins, relationships, Rwanda, science fiction, series, Sherlock Holmes, southwest, Sydney Taylor, teacher, Thorne Smith, women, writer |
“…April is over. Will you tell me how long before I can be there?”
-The Painted Desert, 10,000 Maniacs
I will have that song playing in my head from now until June. Not only am I planning to be there, the trip cannot happen soon enough. But for the purposes of this post: April is over and here are the books accomplished:
Fiction:
- The Warden by Anthony Trollope.
- The City and the House by Natalia Ginzburg (EB & print).
- Summer at Fairacre by Miss Read (EB).
- Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding.
- All Souls by Javier Marias (EB & print).
- All-of-a-Kind-Family by Sydney Taylor (AB and print).
Nonfiction:
- Sixpence House by Paul Collins (EB & print).
- Secret Knowledge of Water by Craig Childs.
Series continuation:
- Hunting Season by Nevada Barr (EB and print).
- The Game by Laurie R. King (AB/AB/print).
- Topper Takes a Trip by Thorne Smith (EB & print)
- Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov (EB)
Early Review for LibraryThing:
- Red Earth: a Rwandan Story of Healing and Forgiveness by Denise Uwimana
For fun:
- Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver – Yes! I finally finished it!
Posted: 2019/02/20 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction, Poetry | Tags: 2019, african american, Alice Walker, book lust i, book review, february, Fiction, Poetry, relationships |
Walker, Alice. Good Night Willie Lee, I’ll See You in the Morning. SanDiego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979.
Reason read: Walker’s birth month is in February.
Here’s how I read Good Night Willie Lee. I inhaled a poem, held my breath to ponder the collection of words within it, and exhaled my understanding of the connection to life. One poem at a time. Like rhythmic yoga breaths; like steady waves upon the shore, I took my time with each one of them. Each poem deserved to be fully digested as such. For when you read Walker’s poetry you get the sense she died a little with each offering. A small offering of her soul mixed with the words.
Favorite line – from the poem called Confession: “through cracks in the conversation.” What a beautiful image.
Author fact: Walker also wrote Meridian and Possessing the Secret of Joy, two novels also on my Challenge list.
Book trivia: the last poem in the book explains the title. I picture her father’s funeral.
Nancy said: Pearl said that Walker is best known for her award winning novel, The Color Purple, but “readers shouldn’t miss her poetry” (Book Lust p 2).
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “A…My Name is Alice” (p 1).
Posted: 2018/11/30 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: E-Books, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: Betsy Byars, books, childrens book, Dorothy Dunnett, Edward Ormondroyd, fantasy, Fiction, historical, Isabel Miller, Jennifer Finney Boylan, lesbian, Leslie Silko, lists, love, Martha Beck, memoir, Michael Malone, Morocco, motherhood, native american, new york, NonFiction, Oxford, Philip Pullman, real estate, relationships, Steven Millhauser, Tahir Shah, transgender |
“Live a life steeped in experiences.” That’s what my tea bag therapist said this morning. I’m not sure what to make of that advice, considering I have been passing each day as if waiting for something, but not exactly sure what.
I keep going back to the hospital for x-rays and answering mind-throttling questions like, “when did you break your back? How long have you been having extremity nerve pain?” Nearly passing out from lack of comprehension, I didn’t know what to say. I still don’t, but at that moment I sat there in silence with a stuck-in-dumb expression on my face. Yes, my back hurts from time to time, but broken? Yes, I have been complaining about my hands and feet falling asleep, but pain? I was there to get my protruding rib cage scrutinized. Now they tell me it’s a nodule on my lung and abnormally high white blood cell counts. “Probably a viral infection,” the nurse said of my white blood cell count. This was before the nodule on my left lung (25% malignant cancer) was a reality via CT scan. Are the two related? Am I falling to pieces? Sure feels that way. In the meantime, I have buried myself in books:
Fiction (Lots of books for kids and young adults):
- David and the Phoenix by Edward Ormondroyd (AB): a book for children, added in honor of Fantasy Month.
- The Pinballs By Betsy Byars: another kids book added in honor of Adoption month.
- Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko.
- Martin Dressler: the Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser.
- The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (EB).
- Foolscap, or, the Stages of Love by Michael Malone.
- Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller.
Nonfiction:
- She’s Not There: a Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan.
- The Caliph’s House by Tahir Shah.
- Expecting Adam: the Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Magic by Martha Beck (AB)
Series continuation:
- Scales of Gold by Dorothy Dunnett.
Posted: 2018/07/31 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, E-Books, Early Review, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: Alice Mattison, Arnaldur Indridason, Caroline Preston, chick lit, childrens book, cookbook, cooking, crime, David Halberstam, Early Review, Ed McBain, Elizabeth David, Elizabeth Lowell, Fiction, greed, historical, Iceland, Jacqueline Kennedy, James Stewart, Joan Aiken, Kate Walbert, Korean War, librarything, Lizzie Borden, Mediterranean, mystery, NonFiction, relationships, romance, series, short stories, Tristam Korten, Walter Satterthwait, women |
July was jamming. Guess what! I ran a few times this month. Even participated in a charity run for an aunt-in-law (is that a thing?). I am feeling much, much better! And. And! And, I was able to read a ton:
Fiction:
- Jackie by Josie by Caroline Preston – in honor of Jacqueline O. Kennedy’s birth month.
- Cop Hater by Ed McBain – in memory of McBain’s passing in the month of July.
- Miss Lizzie by Walter Satterthwait – in honor of Lizzie Borden’s birth month.
- Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken – in honor of July being Kids Month.
- Gardens of Kyoko by Kate Walbert – in honor of Japan’s Tanabata Festival.
- Animals by Alice Mattison – in honor of Mattison’s birth month.
Nonfiction:
- The Coldest Day: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam – in honor of July being the month the Korean War ended.
- The Book of Mediterranean Cooking by Elizabeth David – in honor of July being picnic month.
- Den of Thieves by James Stewart – in honor of July being Job Fair month (odd choice, I know).
Series Continuation:
- The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason – to continue the series started in June.
- Midnight in Ruby Bayou by Elizabeth Lowell – to continue the series started in April.
Early Review for LibraryThing:
- Into the Storm: Two Ships, a Deadly Hurricane, and an Epic Battle for Survival by Tristam Koten.
Posted: 2018/07/02 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction | Tags: 2018, Alice Adams, book lust i, book review, Fiction, june, relationships, short stories |
Adams, Alice. The Stories of Alice Adams. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.
Reason read: June is Short Story Month.
The first time I read a collection of Alice Adams’s short stories (After You’ve Gone) I noticed similarities that soon became redundancies throughout the stories. The same is true of The Stories of Alice Adams. Virginia, San Francisco, Maine,the Carolinas, and Mexico are popular places for her characters to either live or vacation. Lawyers, artists, and writers are popular occupations for her characters. Old wealth is especially favored. Adultery, money issues, and other marital woes always seem to be in the mix from story to story. In other words, a word of caution: these stories are best consumed intermittently. Like After You’ve Gone I could not read more than one story at a time.
Lots of quotes to quote but here are two I liked, “She was simply enraged at the sea for knocking her down” (p 54) and “Adolescent memories are not only the most recent and thus the most available. They are also the least subtle, the simplest” (p 75).
Author fact: Adams was born in Virginia, raised in North Carolina, and lived in San Francisco. Sound familiar? Proof you write about what you know.
Book trivia: There are a total of 53 short stories in The Stories of Alice Adams. Two stories are mentioned more than once in the Book Lust Challenge and there are eight that I can skip because I already read them in After You’ve Gone.
Nancy said: Nancy said there was an “excellent cross section of her short works in Stories. (Book Lust, p 1).
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the very first chapter called “A…My Name is Alice” (p 1).
Posted: 2018/06/20 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust II, Fiction | Tags: 2018, Alice Adams, book lust ii, book review, Fiction, june, relationships, short stories |
Adams, Alice. “Verlie I Say Unto You.” The Stories of Alice Adams. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.
Reason read: June is short story month.
My first reaction to “Verlie” is to comment on the blindness of the privileged. Verlie is a maid in Todd family’s home. When news of Verlie’s husband’s death reaches the Todd household no one is sure how to tell Verlie. Their naive expectation of her reaction is one of grief. Never mind the fact Verlie and Horace haven’t seen each other in years. They can’t understand why she smiles at the news. It’s obvious they don’t know their employee even though she has been with them “forever.”
Author fact: Alice’s mother was also a writer, just not as accomplished as Alice.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Good Things Come in Small Packages” (p 102).
Posted: 2018/05/21 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction | Tags: 2018, book lust ii, book review, Fiction, first book, love, may, Michael Redhill, relationships |
Redhill, Michael. Martin Sloane. Back Bay Books, 2002. http://archive.org/martinsloanenove00redh
Redhill, Michael. Martin Sloane. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001.
Reason read: May is known as missing child month in some parts of the world. Choosing this book for recognition of missing child month was a little tongue in cheek because it’s actually an adult who goes missing, but his childhood plays a big part of the story. In a way, he has been missing since childhood.
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself. I love that song.) I had to feel sorry for Jolene. At the tender age of 19 she becomes a pen pal to a man 35 years her senior. At 21 she becomes his lover and loses her virginity to him. Think about that for a second. He’s old enough to be her father. She dedicates her young life to a man 35 years older than her, teaching him how to drive and caring for him like a husband, all because she fell in love with his artistry at first sight. Little object-filled boxes of life. His life. They intrigued her, then captivated her.
Irish born artist, Martin Samuel Joseph Sloane is a conundrum. When he suddenly leaves his and Jolene’s home in the middle of the night, Jolene is left with his little boxes and a million questions. What follows is a quest for love. The themes of loss and forgiveness are unmistakable but what bubbles to the surface in the end is maturation and grace.
Quotes to catch my attention (and there were a lot of them to chose from), “I’d had my share of exquisite humiliations before, but never with someone I actually liked (p 27), “And we continued to learn the other like explorers expanding their maps of the known world” (p 34), “I learned to live with this spectacle of concealment” (p 52), and my favorite, “Love provokes all kinds of behaviour and in retrospect it all seems warranted: you have to allow for passions” (p 93).
As an aside: I think I have said it before, but I like it when a book introduces me to new music. This time it’s new old music, “When Day is Done.” I found a really sultry version sung by Clint Walker on YouTube.
Another aside: I had never been to Watkin’s Glen, New York before meeting my husband. Redhill inserts a minor character from Watkin’s Glen living in Ireland.
Author fact: Redhill wrote many other novels, some under the pseudonym Inger Ash Wolfe, but I only read Martin Sloane for the Challenge.
Book trivia: Martin Sloane is Redhill’s first novel and it nominated for the Giller Prize.
Nancy said: Pearl called Redhill’s book Michael Sloane instead of Martin Sloane. It’s indexed that way as well.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Maiden Voyages” (p ).
