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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 4, 2021 2:31:24 GMT -5
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 4, 2021 3:00:01 GMT -5
26. First finished in April. A Question of Belief, Donna Leon. Another excellent Brunetti mystery, set in Venice in summer.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 4, 2021 5:50:13 GMT -5
Thank you ozzie! Bookmarking.
Right now I'm going through a Too Burned Out From Work to Read period, but ostensibly I am reading a collection of short stories based on traditional Japanese ghost stories. It's a good book, but since it's short stories there's no continuous plot pushing me forward with it. I'm sure I'll end up liking it once I pick it backup.
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Post by snowwhite on Apr 4, 2021 9:28:29 GMT -5
Just finished Limitless the autobiography of Tim Peake, British astronaut who spent time on the ISS 2015-2016, which was a big deal at the time.
As with almost all astronauts he always comes across as a really nice guy and although it was a chunky book (nearly 500 pages) it was a quick and easy read (in a good way).
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Post by Oweena on Apr 4, 2021 10:28:13 GMT -5
You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe
Bio of the first prez of the U.S. by a female writer who isn't afraid to call out all the exhausting male-centric bios of Washington that have been written over the years. Right from the start she refers to these biographers as the "The Thigh Men of Dad History" which is awesome. This sets the tone for her dismantling many of the myths around Washington.
It's a short book (just 200 pages) that doesn't take itself too seriously but is thoroughly sourced.
Can recommend.
Oh, and of course thanks Ozzie for starting this April thread.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 4, 2021 11:40:52 GMT -5
Thanks Ozzie!
Yesterday I finished On the Edge of the Wild: Passions and Pleasures of a Naturalist by Stephen Bodio. It was ok - some good writing, and he is a falconer so that was interesting to read about - but also kind of annoying. Because in his world, "Naturalist" = hunter/fisher. He doesn't seem to believe that it's possible to be interested in and fascinated by nature if you don't hunt and fish. And in this collection of essays, rather than focusing on the beautiful places he does those things, and the joys of nature in those locations, he spends a lot of time defending being a hunter and sniping about vegetarians/environmentalists/animal rights people/catch-and-release fishermen, all of whom he thinks ruin everything.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 4, 2021 12:12:49 GMT -5
And that's likely my only post this month, as I've started a ~1200 page book - Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, by Rebecca West. Although, I'm telling myself that if I don't really enjoy it, I won't force myself to finish it.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 4, 2021 20:06:59 GMT -5
Thanks Ozzie! Yesterday I finished On the Edge of the Wild: Passions and Pleasures of a Naturalist by Stephen Bodio. It was ok - some good writing, and he is a falconer so that was interesting to read about - but also kind of annoying. Because in his world, "Naturalist" = hunter/fisher. He doesn't seem to believe that it's possible to be interested in and fascinated by nature if you don't hunt and fish. And in this collection of essays, rather than focusing on the beautiful places he does those things, and the joys of nature in those locations, he spends a lot of time defending being a hunter and sniping about vegetarians/environmentalists/animal rights people/catch-and-release fishermen, all of whom he thinks ruin everything. I find it hard to equate naturalist with Hunter/fisher, and I’m currently living in an area where our local state parliament member is a member of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party! |
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Post by scrubb on Apr 4, 2021 21:45:55 GMT -5
And that's likely my only post this month, as I've started a ~1200 page book - Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, by Rebecca West. Although, I'm telling myself that if I don't really enjoy it, I won't force myself to finish it. ... and, I already bailed on it, half way through the prologue. It's about Yugoslavia, it's history and people and so on, and I'm sure it's excellent and I might read it one day. But this is not that day. (When I bought it I thought it was all about WWII in eastern Europe, and had spies, etc. That's not what it is.) |
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Post by scrubb on Apr 4, 2021 21:53:31 GMT -5
Thanks Ozzie! Yesterday I finished On the Edge of the Wild: Passions and Pleasures of a Naturalist by Stephen Bodio. It was ok - some good writing, and he is a falconer so that was interesting to read about - but also kind of annoying. Because in his world, "Naturalist" = hunter/fisher. He doesn't seem to believe that it's possible to be interested in and fascinated by nature if you don't hunt and fish. And in this collection of essays, rather than focusing on the beautiful places he does those things, and the joys of nature in those locations, he spends a lot of time defending being a hunter and sniping about vegetarians/environmentalists/animal rights people/catch-and-release fishermen, all of whom he thinks ruin everything. I find it hard to equate naturalist with Hunter/fisher, and I’m currently living in an area where our local state parliament member is a member of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party! He just didn't appear to know that there are lots of people who make choices for themselves without believing that others should make the same choices. That is, although my choices are very, very different from his, I have absolutely no problem with his choices. He makes it clear that he is a respectful hunter, who only takes what he'll eat, and tries to make sure he doesn't cause undue pain and suffering. If a certain species is suffering, he won't hunt it. He loves being outdoors in amazing places with his dogs and/or his partner/friends. He focuses that experience around hunting, and I don't condemn him for it. But he doesn't feel the same in reverse - anyone who doesn't hunt is an enemy - a tourist or a "greenie". But maybe he just had to defend himself so often that he has lost sight of a middle ground. And he does admit at one point that he romanticizes ranchers sometimes. And also sees his own contradictions - he wants to hang around grizzled mountain men and slag off anyone who comes to visit the area, but he's also literary. And loved travelling in Europe. |
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 5, 2021 4:15:29 GMT -5
What an annoying person, scrubb. You'd think he'd be happy that all us non-hunting naturalist types aren't competing with him for hunting and fishing resources! As long as he follows the rules and doesn't shoot me accidentally I'm fine with him doing whatever. |
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 5, 2021 4:47:24 GMT -5
Someone posted on our local community information page that they were looking for properties where they could shoot feral animals. They didn’t get any replies, although they may have got private messages.
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Post by lillielangtry on Apr 5, 2021 8:11:22 GMT -5
Thanks ozziegiraffe ! scrubb I've been meaning to read Black Lamb and Grey Falcon for years, as I have an interest in travel writing by women (though it's an interest that keeps being sidelined by my other reading projects!). I'm sure you do have to be in the mood for something that long though. I read her novel (novella?) Return of the Soldier, incidentally, and really liked it. #17 Hana, by Alena Mornstajnova, translated from the Czech by Julia and Peter Sherwood Well, this was amazing. You are forewarned that it deals with the Holocaust as the cover features a yellow Star of David sewn onto striped cloth. It deals with a Jewish family in then-Czechoslovakia, moving between the 30s and the 50s. It's beautifully written (and translated) and all the elements fall into place. It doesn't shy away from the horror though, so not an easy read. |
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Post by lillielangtry on Apr 5, 2021 11:43:06 GMT -5
Ah, I could have just waited to post before because I was expecting to finish this today:
#18 Jim Butcher, Storm Front (Dresden Files #1)
Thanks to those here who mentioned/recommended this series, this was fun.
Did I enjoy it as much as Rivers of London? No, but partly because I know London and that's part of the joy of the books, and I've never been to Chicago. Also I think Butcher is not as witty as Aaronovitch. But it's a good, pacy story and I will probably continue with the series when I'm in the mood for some urban fantasy.
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Post by sprite on Apr 5, 2021 16:04:40 GMT -5
Killjoy, Ann Cleeves.
One of her Northern England ones, but not Vera. Pleasant enough mystery, including looking at some of the social unrest on housing estates.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 5, 2021 18:15:47 GMT -5
Thanks ozziegiraffe ! scrubb I've been meaning to read Black Lamb and Grey Falcon for years, as I have an interest in travel writing by women (though it's an interest that keeps being sidelined by my other reading projects!). I'm sure you do have to be in the mood for something that long though. I read her novel (novella?) Return of the Soldier, incidentally, and really liked it. Yes, I've read one of her autobiographical books and thought it was great. I think what put me off this one at this time was a reader review who said "I didn't need to know everyone who lived in this village, and their lineage for 100 years, and every thing that happened, and where". Well written, I can enjoy a fair bit of that, but I wasn't in the mood for 1300 pages of it (in my edition, may only be 1100 in others). Instead I'm reading "Daughters of Britannia: The Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives" which was recommended by multiple people. I like how it starts, telling of an ambassador's sister running into a Kryg shepherd on a remote pass, with her pith helmet and veil and sunburn, but thrilled to be there. |
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 5, 2021 22:42:56 GMT -5
27. Best Murder in Show, Debbie Young. A refreshingly good light cozy mystery.
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Post by sophie on Apr 6, 2021 22:48:13 GMT -5
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Fabulous book. The author is a member of the Potawatomi nation as well as a professor of botany. She has combined her scientific background along with the belief that plants and animals are our oldest teachers in this book which is part philosophy, part natural history and part scientific thesis.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 7, 2021 4:33:44 GMT -5
Oooh sophie I've had that and Kimmerer's other book on my to-read list for ages... thank you for the reminder.
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Post by riverhorse on Apr 7, 2021 9:15:27 GMT -5
A quick, light read was Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall. Luc, the rather adrift son of rockstar parents, needs a stabilising and suitable partner to save his job, and keep him out of the tabloids. So he forms an arrangement with Oliver, a rather uptight barrister, to be his fake boyfriend for a while. Of course they end up falling in love... But not just a badly written chick-lit romance novel, the characters were more nuanced and there were some interesting developments and back stories, as well as some subtle digs at celebrity culture.
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Post by riverhorse on Apr 8, 2021 2:15:01 GMT -5
A much more interesting read was "Next Year In Havana" by Chanel Cleeton. An American journalist travels to Cuba for the first time, to scatter the ashes of her grandmother who fled Cuba with her wealthy sugar baron family after the revolution in 1959.
The story jumps between these eras, and tells a lot of the story about the build up to the revolution, its aftermath, the lives of Cubans in exile, and the changes facing Cuba today after Fidel's death. At times I ended up putting the book aside to go down a Wikipedia rabbit hole about Cuban history.
One particular strength of the novel is that it is told almost exclusively from the perspective of its strong female characters. There are also two romantic threads woven through the novel that are quite well done.
Best of all, I discovered at the end that the author has also written a book about another of the sisters in the family, which I will now hunt down.
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Post by lillielangtry on Apr 11, 2021 12:04:50 GMT -5
#19 Cherie Jones, How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House
I noticed that there was a book from Barbados on the longlist of the Women's Prize and I didn't have a full-length book from Barbados on my reading the world challenge yet, only a short story, so I decided to rectify that.
I would say this debut novel is very well written and structured, plus the audiobook narrator's voice was atmospheric and beautiful. However, this book really needs to come with multiple content warnings, whatever you normally think of those. If you are bothered by bad things happening to children or explicit descriptions of domestic violence, this is not one for you. It shows a side of Barbados where poverty and reliance on the tourist industry leads to abuse, exploitation and drug smuggling. For that reason I was simultaneously curious to find out what happens and reluctant to carry on listening. I can understand why it's on the prize list.
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Post by Oweena on Apr 11, 2021 12:20:47 GMT -5
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
Jaouad was diagnosed with leukemia a year after graduating uni and moving to Paris for a job. She wrote a series of articles in the the NYT that I used to read that were about having a potentially terminal diagnosis in your 20s.
This book is in two parts, the first being a summation of the diagnosis, treatment, and it's effect on her and her relationships. The first half is lots of medical stuff, relationship trials with the long term boyfriend, her bone marrow transplant, etc.
The 2nd half is the solo cross country road trip she took over 100 days to visit several strangers who wrote to her during her years of treatment after reading her NYT column.
I found the 2nd half way more interesting and wished that half had been the longer of the two. It's a whole lot of her reflecting on her and others mortality and overcoming her fears. It missed the mark for me for several reasons. Mainly because at my age and years of dealing with the dead and dying I long ago stopped worrying about loss and grief and accept it as a part of what it means to be human.
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Post by lillielangtry on Apr 11, 2021 12:25:34 GMT -5
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad Jaouad was diagnosed with leukemia a year after graduating uni and moving to Paris for a job. She wrote a series of articles in the the NYT that I used to read that were about having a potentially terminal diagnosis in your 20s. This book is in two parts, the first being a summation of the diagnosis, treatment, and it's effect on her and her relationships. The first half is lots of medical stuff, relationship trials with the long term boyfriend, her bone marrow transplant, etc. The 2nd half is the solo cross country road trip she took over 100 days to visit several strangers who wrote to her during her years of treatment after reading her NYT column. I found the 2nd half way more interesting and wished that half had been the longer of the two. It's a whole lot of her reflecting on her and others mortality and overcoming her fears. It missed the mark for me for several reasons. Mainly because at my age and years of dealing with the dead and dying I long ago stopped worrying about loss and grief and accept it as a part of what it means to be human. Ah, thanks for this Oweena. I followed Jaouad's column closely because we had cancer at the same time (although her treatment was way tougher than mine). I kind of want to read the book but then, I'm not sure I need to be pulled back to that time for me. |
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Post by mei on Apr 13, 2021 4:19:34 GMT -5
Book #5: Winners take all by Anand Ghiridharadas.
Very good look at modern-day philanthropy and entrepreneurs and billionaires claiming to 'change the world', while they are in fact part of why the philanthrophy is needed in the first place as business as usual is a main reason for increasing inequality. Very interesting (and it took down quite a few names that I've read, use in classes, etc. quite confronting, in a way)
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 13, 2021 4:47:21 GMT -5
That sounds good, mei! Hey rich people: stop trying to impress us with your benevolence and just pay your taxes like you're supposed to.
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Post by mei on Apr 13, 2021 4:49:26 GMT -5
yup, exactly that Liiisa. the book had been on my to read list for a while, happy I ordered it a while back. |
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Post by sprite on Apr 13, 2021 6:21:25 GMT -5
Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik.
Another reworking of fairy tales, set in medieval Lithuania. This one takes on the story of the Miller's daughter who spins hay into gold, only it's the daughter of a Jewish money lender. Part of the attraction is trying to work out how many other fairy tales are in the story, but I think some of them are from Eastern Europe, so I don't know them as well.
I haven't finished it yet, but I'm up until midnight trying to finish it, and yesterday I found myself wondering if I could read it while teaching on online lesson...
I've finished it now, and while you could sort of see the ending coming, it was satisfying. I wouldn't read her books close together, because they are similar, but they're good enough to read one a year or so.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 13, 2021 19:03:33 GMT -5
28. The Lost Man, Jane Harper. An excellent contemporary mystery/suspense book set in the Australian outback. My audiobook for my trip home.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 15, 2021 5:47:22 GMT -5
29. Trick or Murder, Debbie Young. Not as good as the first in the series, but still a funny light cozy.
As I don’t have a working NBN service at the moment, I’m reading more than usual.
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