|
Post by ozziegiraffe on Aug 16, 2019 1:38:07 GMT -5
49. Murder in the Parish. 4 short mysteries by C T Mitchell. The prose is badly written, the story lines are at times incoherent, there is no description, and the setting could be anywhere. For someone who claims to love the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, the geography is all wrong. Add to this detail that is in the wrong country. Funnel cakes at a rural Australian fete? Not worth the bother.
|
|
|
Post by Webs on Aug 16, 2019 9:37:02 GMT -5
I've added the audiobook of "The Billionaire's Vinegar". It's about the auction and purchase of the worlds most expensive bottle of wine (at the time).
|
|
|
Post by ozziegiraffe on Aug 17, 2019 2:30:39 GMT -5
50. This proves I do read serious books! Headscarves and Hymens, Mona Eltahawy. A brilliant expose of the double standards and repression in the Middle East, written by a young Egyptian woman journalist. The section on Saudi Arabia is particularly interesting, in view of recent defections by high ranking women. It made me realise that the west had similar standards, at least in some areas of women’s lives, fifty years ago, when I started university in Australia.
|
|
|
Post by Liiisa on Aug 17, 2019 6:28:14 GMT -5
ozziegiraffe oh right! I know her from Twitter, but forgot I'd meant to read that book at some point, thank you.
|
|
|
Post by mei on Aug 17, 2019 15:06:55 GMT -5
#16 The Overstory by Richard Powers.
Just finished this and still wondering how to describe it. It's very good, but the beginning was tough for me to get through. I was quite happy when I made it to the point where the story starts happening.
It's a story about trees but in a way it also isn't. Quite complicated at times, and the ending was a bit too vague but maybe I just need to let it rest for a bit. Very well written.
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Aug 17, 2019 17:05:24 GMT -5
DreadfulWater, by Thomas King. A mystery set on an Indian Reservation in Montana. Quite good. The author is Canadian and I used to enjoy his CNC radio programs, but this is the first book of his I've read. I'll read more.
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Aug 17, 2019 17:06:48 GMT -5
That's CBC radio - can't seem to edit my post right now.
|
|
|
Post by Oweena on Aug 17, 2019 19:58:07 GMT -5
Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin Fiction based on reality. It tells the story of an American woman who marries a French man in the 1920s. He became manager of the Ritz, and they lived in the hotel through the Nazi occupation of Paris. She worked as part of the resistance and her secret was she was Jewish, passing for Protestant.
It's an engaging read, quick to get through, and I liked her personality.
There's very little detail known about the real life couple which is sad, because I'd read a non fiction book on their lives.
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Aug 17, 2019 20:36:26 GMT -5
I think that's her genre, Oweena - she writes fiction based on real characters and real events. (Is that just historical fiction? I see it as something slightly different.) I enjoyed 'The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom THumb", and I think "The Aviator's Wife" (Lindbergs) was supposed to be good. The Ritz one sounds like an interesting story - will keep my eyes open for it.
|
|
|
Post by Oweena on Aug 17, 2019 20:52:28 GMT -5
scrubb I remember seeing the Aviator's Wife book a few years back. I think I never picked it up because in my wacky brain I thought it was of the same genre as The Pilot's Wife, and I really disliked that book. I know, makes no sense.
I'll have to look at her other stuff now.
|
|
|
Post by Queen on Aug 18, 2019 6:13:58 GMT -5
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine.
This won awards and got rave reviews... but I'm quite meh about it.
The way Eleanor speaks is weird, oddly formal and unable to read people, I think it's supposed to signify her identification with a Jane Austen character in Sense and Sensibility but it's heavy handed, and when I found out the actual events of her childhood I realised what a clunky piece of foreshadowing it was.
More annoyingly it reads as if a few months of counselling and a boyfriend will fix a lifetime of trauma.
|
|
|
Post by Liiisa on Aug 18, 2019 7:21:50 GMT -5
43. Kate Atkinson, Transcription
A woman who worked for the MI5 during the War in London is then employed by the BBC, and there are various suspenseful happenings!
I found this implausible at first (she's just 18, and doing these important things?), but then I was sucked into it & found it hard to put down.
|
|
|
Post by ozziegiraffe on Aug 18, 2019 7:26:25 GMT -5
I like the sound of that, Liiisa. Loved the books and shows about the women codebreakers.
|
|
|
Post by Webs on Aug 18, 2019 12:59:36 GMT -5
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. The way Eleanor speaks is weird, oddly formal and unable to read people, I thought it read as if she had aspergers. I can see how it would be hard to read. I thought though, that she was in therapy for a long time.
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Aug 18, 2019 22:30:16 GMT -5
scrubb I remember seeing the Aviator's Wife book a few years back. I think I never picked it up because in my wacky brain I thought it was of the same genre as The Pilot's Wife, and I really disliked that book. I know, makes no sense. I'll have to look at her other stuff now. Heh - I did exactly the same thing. It was only when I read the Mrs. Tom Thumb book that I realized she was the author of the Aviator's Wife, so it wasn't likely to be as awful as The Pilot's Wife! 43. Kate Atkinson, Transcription A woman who worked for the MI5 during the War in London is then employed by the BBC, and there are various suspenseful happenings! I found this implausible at first (she's just 18, and doing these important things?), but then I was sucked into it & found it hard to put down. That's one of the ones in my list earlier this month, and I think sophie (?) read it last month or the month before. I really enjoyed it too.
|
|
|
Post by HalcyonDaze on Aug 19, 2019 2:41:26 GMT -5
67. When You Read This - Mary Adkins
It took me quite a while to finish this but that was more about other books getting in the way, and being constantly put off by the cover. It is actually an enjoyable book in an epistolary style with texts, emails and blog posts that show us the dying blog of Iris Massey, and various emails after her death between her boss and her sister, as they deal with the aftermath.
68. The Town in Bloom - Dodie Smith Another Dodie Smith book - she did more than just 101 Dalmations and I Capture the Castle. This is more in the I Capture the Castle style - a coming of age novel written in flashback. Some of the attitudes are slightly off now (written in the 60s and set in the 20s) but on the whole it still works.
69. The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak - Brian Katcher young adult
A fairly cliched idea (see The Breakfast Club etc) of two very different teens who find out they aren't so different after all after going through various adventures at a ComicCon. It was quite improbable at times and yet I kept on reading because it was a fun setting.
70. The Immortal World - Genevieve Cogman The 5th book in the Invisible Library series - I started reading the series in May and have raced through the books. Good fun - love the alternate worlds and the time travel. Irene is marvellous
71. Top Marks for Murder - Robin Stevens Middle grade. The 8th book in a murder mystery series. This one is back in the boarding school.
72. The Girls in the Garden - Lisa Jewell
I have read plenty of Lisa Jewell's earlier chick lit books but none of her more recent, slightly darker novels. This sort of worked for me. I loved the setting and the gang of kids. But I was left dissatisfied by the ending - it felt as if she didn't want to go through with her set up of the story.
|
|
|
Post by Liiisa on Aug 19, 2019 4:36:56 GMT -5
I knew a lot of us here liked Kate Atkinson, which is why I picked it up, but somehow had completely forgotten that this one wasn't brand-new and that a bunch of you had already read it! Yes, it was good.
|
|
|
Post by lillielangtry on Aug 19, 2019 7:29:22 GMT -5
I also assumed that Eleanor Oliphant was supposed to be autistic.
#58 Luisa in Realityland by Claribel Alegria (El Salvador/ Nicaragua, translated from the Spanish by Darwin Flakoll)
#59 The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri - this is so beautiful, if you haven't read it please do!
#60 In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri, translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein Because, obviously, Lahiri didn't just go to an Italian class, she moved her Family to Rome and wrote a book in the language! I didn't like this as much as her fiction though.
|
|
|
Post by Liiisa on Aug 19, 2019 19:14:57 GMT -5
44. Megan Goldin, The Escape Room
On the one hand I think this would be better titled "A Child's Treasury of Wall Street Clichés," but on the other hand it was suspenseful enough to keep me reading it. If you aren't super critical about writing style and you want to read a book about a couple of investment bankers who have been trapped in an elevator by an unnamed vigilante in revenge for their past offenses, then I am happy to recommend this fine novel. It had its moments!
This was a book my mom recommended. She likes fast-paced novels with a body count at the end.
|
|
|
Post by Queen on Aug 20, 2019 1:40:25 GMT -5
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. The way Eleanor speaks is weird, oddly formal and unable to read people, I thought it read as if she had aspergers. I can see how it would be hard to read. I thought though, that she was in therapy for a long time. I've read long answers on Goodreads and some people think she was definitely autistic and some people think she definitely wasn't. I read her behaviour as a method of coping with trauma, a sort of hyper control. She wasn't in therapy that long, she's only off work for a month I think. So the therapy by the end is maybe two months?? So one kind man and a couple of months of therapy fixes the trauma of surviving an abusive childhood and watching your mother and sister die in a fire, followed by years of somewhat unloving foster care? Unlikely.
|
|
|
Post by lillielangtry on Aug 20, 2019 4:17:33 GMT -5
Yes, fairly unlikely. It's supposed to be uplifting. Sounds like it's just not your Thing - it's generally not mine either, although I sort of made an exception for EO because I did find it engaging.
|
|
|
Post by Oweena on Aug 20, 2019 12:05:27 GMT -5
The Spectators by Jennifer DuBois
Tells the story of a Jerry Springer-type talk show host through the eyes of a young female publicist working on the show and from the point of view of the show hosts boyfriend from the 1970s and 80s. The host was at that time a rising politician who was closeted.
The narrative switches back and forth between the eras, with the early days focusing on the start of the AIDS crisis and the devastation it left behind. The more current era focuses on gun violence as followers of the talk show go on a shooting rampage.
I mostly engaged with the sections focusing on the earlier plot line.
Definitely a different book, using different POV's to touch on lots of "big" topics.
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Aug 20, 2019 19:57:12 GMT -5
Solar, by Ian McEwan. Bought 2nd hand for $2, but if I'd realized it was a comedy I probably wouldn't have bothered. He's a good writer, but I don't care for his brand of humour. He made his main character just such an ugly person that I don't know why I'd want to bother reading about him. Although, the writing was good enough that I kept reading it.
Not that I hated it or anything, and I could see how it was humourous sometimes, but I just didn't like it.
|
|
|
Post by Liiisa on Aug 22, 2019 19:47:15 GMT -5
45. Helen Oyeyemi, Gingerbread
I'm... not completely sure what that was all about, but I enjoyed it. Magical realism sort of novel about two Black British families who are originally from an imaginary (?) island (?) One of the characters bakes a lot of magical (?) gingerbread, which is a recurring concept in the story.
Despite often wondering what the heck was that about, I really liked the characters and the settings; how it seemed one minute like a fairy tale, and the next minute the teenaged girl is talking about hip-hop. I like these kinds of novels where the central mystery is what the plot is.
|
|
|
Post by lillielangtry on Aug 23, 2019 3:05:59 GMT -5
#61 Back to women in Translation month proper: I read Paula Chiziane's The First Wife, translated from the Portuguese by David Brookshaw. Apparently the first book by a Mozambican woman to be translated into English.
This is told from the Point of view of Rami, a middle-aged woman who discovers that her husband is not just a bit neglectful, but actually maintaining four other relationships at the same time! Rather than leaving him or trying to Keep him for herself, she takes the route of legitimising the affairs into a polygamous marriage. The women band together and some chaos ensues. Parts of this are bitingly funny, other parts terribly sad. The Story meanders around a bit and is pretty Long but it reads so smoothly, I didn't mind, and I learnt something about the North/South divide in Mozambique and some regional cultural/sexual practices that were completely new to me. I wonder if this is one of those books that some People seem to find difficult (I've experienced this in my book Club a couple of times) because they have certain expectations regarding a clear plotline, explanations for Western Readers etc that aren't fulfilled. There is no translator's note or footnotes here; if something isn't clear to you, Google it. It's over 400 pages Long and I could not have told you how it was going to turn out until the very end.
|
|
|
Post by Oweena on Aug 23, 2019 10:23:32 GMT -5
These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
It took me a while to get through this mammoth 800+ page book, but I'm glad I persevered. Lepore is a history professor at Harvard who manages to write in an accessible way. The book tracks the story of the US from 1492 to the election of the current president through vignettes of the people who played a part, both large and small.
It shows how the "fake news" drumbeat didn't just start 3 years ago, and how our current divisions have festered for longer than most of us realize. It also highlights that a country that based much of its early economy and power on enslaving humans still has a long way to go to overcome that particular stain on our DNA.
I recommend it, although I'm not sure it will appeal to non-Americans unless you're a history geek or are looking for a one volume look at what went in to making us Americans the way we are.
|
|
|
Post by Webs on Aug 23, 2019 10:25:18 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Queen on Aug 24, 2019 1:31:47 GMT -5
Weapons of Math Destruction Cathy O'Neil
It explains how biased big data can be, and how it can exacerbate existing social divides. It is fascinating and not too much math to confuse you.
I've read a lot about this already so there wasn't much that's new, but it's a good read to build understanding of how those freaky algorithms can be for good or evil.
|
|
|
Post by ozziegiraffe on Aug 25, 2019 10:54:19 GMT -5
51. The Agatha Christie Book Club, C A Larmer. This book provides a good start to a series with members of a book club as the sleuths. They are all fans of Agatha Christie , and meet to discuss her books. When a member goes missing, they have to turn to Agatha herself to find the answers. The Sydney setting and places described are authentic and well written, as are the characters. Much better than the last “set in Australia” cozy mystery I read!
|
|
|
Post by Oweena on Aug 25, 2019 12:11:14 GMT -5
Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler This book left me cold. I've seen her books everywhere so decided to give this one, the Pulitzer Prize winner of 1989 a try. I hated it. The plodding storyline was one thing, but most frustrating were the characters who either can't speak their mind, or nose in on other people's lives, or most irritatingly, can't keep a thought straight in their head. I was equal parts bored and frustrated. Was it supposed to appeal to some sense of nostalgia? Totally missed the mark for me.
Luckily it was followed by a book I enjoyed.
Never Anyone But You by Rupert Thomson Tells the fictionalized story of real life stepsisters and life partners Suzanne and Lucie who adopted genderless names (Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore) and were part of the arts movements of 1920s Paris. In 1937 they moved to Jersey and in 1940 when the Nazis occupied the island, the two women waged a 4 year resistance campaign. They were finally arrested and sentenced to death, but their sentence was commuted when it became obvious the Nazis would lose the war. I was captivated by the way the author told their story, and it's one of those books where I find myself still thinking of the writing after I've finished.
|
|