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Post by Liiisa on Sept 1, 2019 8:13:06 GMT -5
I can't remember how the rest of that song goes. Anyway: It's September now, so time for a new book thread! I just started reading Olga Tokarczuk's "Flights," which is 400 pages long, so I'll be at that for a while (love it so far). Here's the link to August: August |
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Sept 1, 2019 17:41:32 GMT -5
I have to finish my bookclub book today. I should be able to do it. I hope.  Also need to pick up the next lot of book club books from the library. |
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 2, 2019 7:28:16 GMT -5
Bookmarking. Thank you Liiisa.
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Post by Webs on Sept 3, 2019 15:44:50 GMT -5
That's good. I was going to go with "Do you remember... The books that you read in September"
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Post by Webs on Sept 3, 2019 15:52:48 GMT -5
Try To Remember - The Fantastiks
Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh
so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember and if you remember
then follow
follow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
When no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
When dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
When love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember and if you remember
then follow
follow.
Deep in December it's nice to remember
Although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December it's nice to remember
Without a hurt the heart will hollow.
Deep in December
it's nice to remember
The fire of September that made you mellow.
Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow
follow.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 3, 2019 16:48:11 GMT -5
Right!! Thank you. My dad played that record all the time when I was a kid.
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Post by scrubb on Sept 3, 2019 21:20:59 GMT -5
#70 21 Stories, by Graham Greene. Some of them were very good, but some weren't particularly. He's an excellent writer but sometimes he falls into cliche. And he's very 'of his time'. But sometimes he really captures a way of thinking or a character or a frame of mind (usually an unhappy one) brilliantly.
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Post by scrubb on Sept 3, 2019 23:32:03 GMT -5
I'm reading Jack Maggs by Peter Carey. It seems to be one of his lesser known ones (I'd never heard of it before seeing it at a used book sale) but I'm liking it a lot, so far (a bit under 1/2 done). I'm a big Peter Carey fan.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Sept 4, 2019 1:52:49 GMT -5
75. Malamander - Thomas Taylor
Middle-grade fiction.
A fantastical tale of a strange town, a sea monster and plucky orphans. I liked it, but I didn't love it, but I think in part that was because I had loved the previous middle grade novel so much. I could certainly see Wes Anderson turning this book into an excellent film.
76. The Women in Black - Madeleine St John
Bookclub selection.
This was recently made into a film titled "Ladies in Black".
Set mainly in the dress section of an upmarket department store in the summer of 1959, showing the fairly ordinary lives of the staff and in particular Lisa, who is on the cusp of adulthood and marking time between the end of high school exams and the possible start of university. It is a gentle coming of age novel more in terms of becoming aware to possibilities.
A book that you need to read in huge chunks. Even though it was written in 1993, there is an older style to the writing that fits the late 50s era. Some excellent moments of humour, particularly when poking fun at the uncultured Australians.
77, Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries 3) - Martha Wells
Third in a sci-fi series of novellas where the narrator is a rogue security robot.
Good fun
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Post by Webs on Sept 4, 2019 9:01:11 GMT -5
Listening to "The Witches of New York". Women in the late 1800s, who practice the craft in New York, take on an apprentice with other worldly gifts.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 4, 2019 9:25:51 GMT -5
53. Better off Wed, Laura Durham. Quite a good cozy mystery with an interesting group of characters. The plot was quite well drawn, and the villain was not obvious for most of the story, although the clues may have been more obvious to Americans.
There is plenty of scope for future character development. I found the Washington DC setting intriguing.
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Post by sophie on Sept 4, 2019 19:27:04 GMT -5
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. I can’t believe I missed this book when it was first published in 2005. Fantastic memoir and literary analysis and historical commentary all rolled into one well written and fascinating book. The author returned to Iran with her freshly obtained PhD from the USA just as the Islamic Revolution was beginning and end when she leaves for the USA in the late 1990s. As someone whose parents lived in Iran before I was born and heard many stories growing up I visited Iran prior to the revolution. I liked my time there and have always paid attention to politics surrounding the country. Fascinating stuff. Highly recommended.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 4, 2019 20:43:35 GMT -5
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.... Oh, that was great - I remember really liking it. I read it while I was traveling in Kerala, so I remember referring to it as "Reading Reading Lolita in Tehran in Kerala." |
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Post by scrubb on Sept 4, 2019 20:46:44 GMT -5
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. I can’t believe I missed this book when it was first published in 2005. Fantastic memoir and literary analysis and historical commentary all rolled into one well written and fascinating book. The author returned to Iran with her freshly obtained PhD from the USA just as the Islamic Revolution was beginning and end when she leaves for the USA in the late 1990s. As someone whose parents lived in Iran before I was born and heard many stories growing up I visited Iran prior to the revolution. I liked my time there and have always paid attention to politics surrounding the country. Fascinating stuff. Highly recommended. I started reading it for the old LPTT book club on Culture Vultures, but ended up not finishing it for reasons I don't remember. RIght now I'm gradually working my way through a huge list of ebooks I have (I call it "the next 100), and that one is on it. I might start it as soon as I finish one of the 3 books I'm currently reading! |
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Post by sophie on Sept 5, 2019 0:07:10 GMT -5
The Mountain Master of Sha Tin by Ian Hamilton. One more in his series featuring Ava Lee. Action, triads, intrigue .. a good entertaining read. My version of a cozy mystery.
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Post by lillielangtry on Sept 5, 2019 1:02:07 GMT -5
I might reread Reading Lolita on Audio now you mention it...
p.s. Thanks for the thread Liisa! I haven't finished my first book of September yet, but hopefully today.
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Post by Queen on Sept 5, 2019 12:07:33 GMT -5
Reading Lolita was one of my favourite books of whatever year I read it in... Memento Mori Muriel Spark It was written in the 50s and some of the manners and concerns are definitely of that time. It is centered on a group of elderly people burdened by their devious histories. It's full of fascinating insights and charm. Great writing. Big improvement on last book  |
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Post by scrubb on Sept 5, 2019 13:54:55 GMT -5
JAck Maggs, by Peter Carey. JAck Maggs is a returned convict - at risk of being hanged if he is found back in England. He's searching for his son.
It reads much like an homage to Dickens - convict named Maggs, benefactor to a young boy who helped him. But beyond that, it's very much in Dickens' style. Lots of notable side characters, some conspiracies, pathetic stories of the poor who struggle to put food on the table, angelic young girls, etc., etc.
In the end I didn't like it as much as I thought I was going to, but that's not to say that it wasn't still very good. I don't think it's one of Carey's very best, but it's still very good and worth reading. I think the only flaw, to me, was that the main character - Jack Maggs himself - was never quite as clearly drawn as all the other characters. I have much less of a picture of him than of all the other characters, and he never quite became sympathetic. Or at least, not until near the very end. I think I'd have enjoyed it all more if I had found him a bit more compelling. But maybe that was just my mood - maybe he really is sympathetic and I just didn't feel it due to distraction?
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Post by snowwhite on Sept 8, 2019 9:19:09 GMT -5
I've been continuing to rip through the Rivers of London series. Not sure I thought Whispers Under Ground or Broken Homes were as good as the first two. Too many loose ends and the plotting generally wasn't as tight. Foxglove Summer was better imo; hoping The Hanging Tree is better again - I've read the first bit as a sample via fanstasticfiction.
Also started The Furthest Station (novella), but might pause in favour of Big Sky (Kate Atkinson's latest Jackson Brodie) since I picked it up from the library the other day, and it's in demand.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 8, 2019 19:48:08 GMT -5
49) Olga Tokarczuk, Flights (transl. Jennifer Croft)
Wow! This is just as good as people say... so glad I found a copy.
It's one of those books that's a lot of loosely connected little bits, all about travel, except for the parts that are about the history of organ preservation, i.e., in jars and such. It all makes sense when you get to the end.
At first I was reading it kind of slowly, since it felt at that point like a short story collection - there wasn't a sense of forward propulsion about it that kept me reading. But then I realized it was almost due back at the library, and I wasn't able to renew it because there were holds out there for it, so I started reading it faster - and that was when I started seeing the connections and having trouble putting it down. So good, just the kind of weirdly structured, insightful book that I love.
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Post by Queen on Sept 9, 2019 2:10:57 GMT -5
Am reading "A Year At The Circus: Inside T_rump's White House by Jon Sopel So far there are no surprises, if you have been paying attention this won't be revelationary. What it does well is explain why a particular behaviour deviates from the norm, and why that norm is important. The author was a White House correspondent under Obama and HeWhoCannotBeNamed and his personal experience and contrasts show just how frustrating it must be for journalists trying to do their job. This means there's a certain amount of snark, which I get, but I also kinda wished he hadn't because it makes him easier for Trumpsters to dismiss... mind you I guess the title would act as an effective filter. |
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Post by lillielangtry on Sept 9, 2019 2:23:59 GMT -5
49) Olga Tokarczuk, Flights (transl. Jennifer Croft) Wow! This is just as good as people say... so glad I found a copy. It's one of those books that's a lot of loosely connected little bits, all about travel, except for the parts that are about the history of organ preservation, i.e., in jars and such. It all makes sense when you get to the end. At first I was reading it kind of slowly, since it felt at that point like a short story collection - there wasn't a sense of forward propulsion about it that kept me reading. But then I realized it was almost due back at the library, and I wasn't able to renew it because there were holds out there for it, so I started reading it faster - and that was when I started seeing the connections and having trouble putting it down. So good, just the kind of weirdly structured, insightful book that I love. I've got Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead waiting for me from the same author... and I've heard from some quarters it's even better than Flights! So excited for that. |
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 9, 2019 4:37:52 GMT -5
Oooh yes, I want to read that too.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Sept 9, 2019 4:43:54 GMT -5
Trump
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Post by sophie on Sept 9, 2019 8:38:47 GMT -5
I loved Flights’, so I will look for that new book.
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Post by sprite on Sept 9, 2019 11:36:54 GMT -5
Try To Remember - The Fantastiks Try to remember the kind of September When life was slow and oh so mellow. Try to remember the kind of September When grass was green and grain was yellow. ... it's nice to remember The fire of September that made you mellow. Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow follow. I really love this song. And I've read a Finnish mystery novel. Not quite Scandi noir, bit more YHA. I'll dig out the details later. |
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Post by sophie on Sept 9, 2019 21:58:51 GMT -5
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie. I heard rumors of some poor reviews, but I loved this book. It is witty, well written and so relevant to the current times. Almost every page has a sentence or group of sentences I could lift and use as a quote for something I have been contemplating. This work is also very evocative of some of Murakami's work in that the concept of space and time is rather fluid. It is not a book you could race through. I am a fast reader, and it took me 3 or 4 days to read and savour it. The main character is rather Quixote like, along with a similar quest, but for me, the resemblance ends there. Highly recommended if a) you have read and liked his writing previously ..although this one is somewhat different b) you have read and liked something of Murakami's work c) you have time for reading a rather dense novel.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 10, 2019 5:09:42 GMT -5
50) Helen Phillips, The Need
OK, I got home last night, picked this book up with the idea of "beginning it," and then ended up just sitting there and reading the whole thing.
It's a very intense little novel about a paleobotanist with two little children who ends up in a disturbing supernatural situation. My only quibble was that there wasn't as much paleobotany in it as I'd hoped when I read the review that got me to pick it up, but that's a very minor quibble obviously, since I couldn't put it down.
PS: Huh sophie... I'd written the new Rushdie off, but it does sound like the kind of thing I'd like (and I do love Murakami).
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Post by lillielangtry on Sept 10, 2019 6:07:20 GMT -5
"not as much paleobotany as I hoped in this Thriller" - sorry Liiisa, that's the most on-brand Review from you! :-)
Leonie Schwann, Glennkill (English title Three Bags Full)
A cosy mystery in which the main characters are sheep. Sweet, touching, funny.
Adam Kay, This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor
As the title says. It's very good on the British health System with all its wonderful and terrible sides. funny and simultaneously awful. And not for the squeamish - tales of bodily fluids and objects in orifices as you would expect. But a serious message too.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 10, 2019 6:28:50 GMT -5
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