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Post by Queen on Jun 2, 2018 1:34:42 GMT -5
No pun so here's a cartoon instead  |
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Post by Liiisa on Jun 2, 2018 6:11:17 GMT -5
Bookmarking, thank you Q!
I'm currently about halfway through "How to Change Your Mind," the latest Michael Pollan, which is about psychedelics. So far I'm really enjoying it, partly for nostalgia (back in the day I was quite the enthusiast, and he quotes lots of books that I've read), and partly because there's a lot of history from the 50s that I was unaware of. And it's cute because it's not written by some 60s acid-head, he's a younger atheist scientist, so it's coming from a fresher perspective (one which I'm more likely to identify with now). Anyway, I like it.
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Post by scrubb on Jun 2, 2018 11:50:57 GMT -5
oh, I have heard him interviewed about that a couple of times. I'm a little less interested in the topic than I am in the subjects of his previous books, but he writes well enough that I'll probably pick it up some day.
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Post by shilgia on Jun 2, 2018 19:26:30 GMT -5
Ooh, I hadn't heard of that book. Sounds really interesting.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jun 3, 2018 6:01:58 GMT -5
45. The Skeleton Garden, by Marty Wingate. I'm enjoying this series and the characters. There is good development in the lives of the characters, and the plot of this book is interesting, with intertwined themes of the present and World War II. The author seems to have a good understanding of her setting and characters of all ages, and the whole has more depth than many cozy mysteries.
46. The Secret Chord, by Geraldine Brooks, the first of my five recently purchased audiobooks, which I finished about 10 km out of town on my way back from Sydney. Review to come when I charge the iPad!
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Post by mei on Jun 3, 2018 10:24:06 GMT -5
#5 - Exit West - by Mohsin Hamid. Man Booker Prize finalist. Beautifully written, very 'introverted' (I don't know the correct English word for what I mean). I really liked the concept of the plot. Enjoyed it. But wasn't quite as good as I was hoping.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jun 3, 2018 19:46:03 GMT -5
My Goodreads review of The Secret Chord. I couldn't help singing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah at various points throughout the narrative.
A brilliant reselling of the story of King David, from the point of view of Nathan the Prophet. The audiobook version was excellent. I have a good knowledge of the original biblical stories, and I think this helped, but the retelling would be brilliant regardless. This book is faithful to the detail of the original narrative.
However, there are parts of the story that might offend both Jewish and Christian fundamentalists.
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Post by Queen on Jun 4, 2018 1:35:58 GMT -5
However, there are parts of the story that might offend both Jewish and Christian fundamentalists. High praise? |
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Post by riverhorse on Jun 4, 2018 7:42:17 GMT -5
I love Geraldine Brooks, so will keep an eye out for this. Thanks for the tip, Oz!!
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jun 4, 2018 7:49:30 GMT -5
I'd always planned to read this after People of the Book, which is waiting on my shelf. I gave The Secret Chord to a friend as a gift last Christmas, and planned to borrow it after she read it. (She is a non-fundamentalist clergy widow in her 80s, who has a personal connection with Geraldine Brooks). However, when I found the audio version on special from Audible, I had to have it.
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Post by Liiisa on Jun 4, 2018 17:59:25 GMT -5
I liked People of the Book - I think I liked her one about the plague best, though (The Year of Wonders?)
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Post by Queen on Jun 5, 2018 0:36:35 GMT -5
I liked People of the Book - I think I liked her one about the plague best, though (The Year of Wonders?) I think those two are my fav of her books, as far as I've read. |
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Post by lillielangtry on Jun 5, 2018 1:04:06 GMT -5
Thanks q!
First read for June:
Chloe Benjamin, The Immortalists
How would you live if you knew when you were going to die?
This is a book about four siblings who, as children, visit a fortune teller who tells each of them the date of their death. You then follow each of them through their lives - do they believe in the prediction? How does it affect them?
Hm, well. It's an engaging premise and I enjoyed the book. I felt it was, well, predictable, but presumably that was deliberate?! Also in some ways, the more translated fiction I read, the more I feel that many contemporary "literary" novels written in English have the same feel about them. It's hard to put your finger on but there's just something about the way you can gobble them up but they don't really stick with you.
Also, the youngest brother, whose Story was told first, was perhaps the most sympathetic to me. I really liked his part. But then it was over and there was 3/4 of the book still to go. So yes.
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Post by Liiisa on Jun 5, 2018 4:49:21 GMT -5
I wondered about that one, lillie... it seemed like it could be interesting but I wasn't sure. OK then.
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Post by Webs on Jun 5, 2018 10:42:38 GMT -5
Just started "Women in Sunlight" by Frances Mayes - about 3 women of a certain age who decide to forgo living in a senior community and go live in Tuscany instead. It made me think of the "home for mature figjammers"
And will be starting "Dietland" because after watching the first episodes of the series I think this book is going to talk to me.
I also have "Lillian Boxfish takes a walk" in the wings. But I'll discuss that when I actually open the book.
I'm excited about my reading list for the summer. All books about women, written by women.
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Post by scrubb on Jun 5, 2018 10:46:02 GMT -5
Last night I finished "Mating for Life" by Marissa Stapley. It was listed as Literary Fiction when I bought it from Bookbub but it should have been listed as "well written Women's Fiction". About 3 sisters and their mother and their various romantic problems. All of them very different from each other, and with a fairly unusual family structure (mother was a hippy folksinger and the women all have different fathers, for example). Like I said, well-written, but nothing very compelling.
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Post by Queen on Jun 5, 2018 13:32:23 GMT -5
Bring Me Back
B A Paris
Meh
Supposed to be a psychological thriller with a surprising twist, but the real answer was so well signposted that I think I skim read the second half (I wanted to stop reading but had that nagging feeling... what if I'm wrong about the twist - I wasn't)
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jun 6, 2018 6:58:43 GMT -5
47. The Trial, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. A good quick read for Women's Murder Club fans, with a surprise ending.
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Post by snowwhite on Jun 7, 2018 7:54:48 GMT -5
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.
I enjoyed it, and found it a pretty quick read, which is probably a good sign - I found it reminded me of Behind the Scenes at the Museum (Kate Atkinson) and This Charming Man (Marion Keyes), but it was a much more straightforward redemption (I think?) novel than either of those. It should be interesting to see what she writes in the future. The (small) twist at the end was interesting, and I didn't see it coming.
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Post by Webs on Jun 7, 2018 9:35:57 GMT -5
Snow, wasn't it unexpectedly enjoyable? I didn't know if I would like it and was wondering about the twist in the end all through the book. I too recommend it.
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Post by snowwhite on Jun 7, 2018 14:01:54 GMT -5
Given the subject matter, it was easier / more enjoyable to read than one might expect (eg if you'd just read a synopsis, you might think yikes!) - but I also thought there was a lack of complexity; for example a fairly linear narrative. A more assured writer might have at least hinted at Eleanor's mother's background, and I sort of wondered about a couple of lose plot points. I dunno, I'll be interested to see how the author develops. And I think the other two books I mentioned deal with similar themes in a more complex way.
ETA: I basically just repeated my first post, but with more words, didn't I?
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Post by Queen on Jun 8, 2018 10:11:15 GMT -5
A Quiet Life in the Country
T E Kinsey
A light mystery with all the ingredients of Agatha Christie; stately houses, a cast of dodgy characters, unlikely events, a slightly bumbling policeman. But a thoroughly modern protagonist (or pair of protagonists)
A fun read.
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Post by sophie on Jun 9, 2018 11:41:13 GMT -5
Reread Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory as that is this month’s selection for the book club. I read it originally a few decades back in university. What a difference in perception a few decades make! I am much quicker now to see the flaws as well as the strengths of this book and am quicker to perceive his bias. And what a difference a few decades make to the physical landscape he writes about. A classic, flawed or not may depend on your POV.
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Post by Liiisa on Jun 9, 2018 20:54:51 GMT -5
27) Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind
What I wrote about this back on June 2nd still holds - I really enjoyed it. What I didn't mention above that I particularly enjoyed was a thorough treatment of the neuroscience of how people think the things work, which was fascinating. He also included a discussion of research being done with psychedelics to help people with depression, addiction, and terminal cancer diagnoses. **Recommended**
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Post by scrubb on Jun 10, 2018 13:50:01 GMT -5
Cry, the Beloved Country - by Alan Paton. Really good, and also very sad to read it now, seeing how things have gone in that country since it was written in 1949. It's a hopeful book in many ways, and depressing to see where those hopes have not been fulfilled, and how in some ways things have changed so much and in other ways not much at all.
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Post by Queen on Jun 10, 2018 15:03:42 GMT -5
I read that back in the 80s scrubb, cried for ages, because that was the height of Apartheid and you couldn't imagine it ending. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts Joshua Hammer Brilliant. A tale of heroes, and the incredible history of Mali. Loved it, learnt a lot and now want to visit Timbuktu and see the surviving manuscripts. The Alice Network Kate Quinn Historical fiction set in two time zones, WW1 and just after WW2, the WW1 bit was fascinating and based on real people, the post WW2 bit was a bit silly until it evolved into a simple love story. Overall a good airplane/train read. |
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Post by sprite on Jun 10, 2018 15:47:05 GMT -5
Ann Cleeves, 'The Mill on the Shore.'
good story, good characters, good interactions, believable developments. but honestly, crap writing. just very.. not literary.
"Mark re-read the letter from Meg. It had surprised him. He would need to think carefully about how to bring up the contents with his wife. She had never liked Meg."
it lacked rhythm, i guess? it just sounded like a lot of sentences, no style or voice. i find this with her--i really enjoy her stories, characters, and places. she tells a good story, but doesn't write well.
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Post by Liiisa on Jun 10, 2018 16:05:45 GMT -5
Hmm yes sprite; sounds a bit like Chick Lit in the Style of Hemingway.
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Post by shilgia on Jun 10, 2018 19:34:17 GMT -5
Hmm yes sprite; sounds a bit like Chick Lit in the Style of Hemingway. Except in his case it's Dick Lit, and in that genre it's apparently accepted. ETA - I heard Michael Pollan on Terri Gross, talking about psychedelics. There should really be a legal (and safe) way to try these things, yes? |
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Post by lillielangtry on Jun 11, 2018 1:27:40 GMT -5
Cristina Peri Rossi, The Ship of Fools
This is my reading-around-the-world pick for Uruguay and was originally published in 1984. Well, it's quite hard to describe. It's a sort of rambling travel narrative centred around a character called Ecks that I think is supposed to tell us about the fragmentary, aimless nature of modern life. I got a few literary references in a way that made me suspect I was missing many more. I did like this as a contrast to the male-dominated Latin American literature of the time, but it's perhaps one for the hardcore LatAm fans...!
Bill Bryson, Collector's Edition - audiobook
This was abridged Versions of three of Bryson's books. I didn't realise he wrote them so Long ago until he went to Yugoslavia! I have a soft spot for Bryson, who used to be Chancellor of my University and presented me with my PhD, and a lot of what he writes has stood the rest of time really well. The occasional sexism, not so much, but the Environment stuff - absolutely. And he still made me giggle.
Alexander McCall Smith, Tears of the Giraffe - audiobook
I'm "rereading" this series as audiobooks. The Narration is well done. I'm going to have to space them out with other stuff though because they really are a bit sickly sweet, and also at less than 6 hours I get through them pretty fast.
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