|
Post by Liiisa on Nov 11, 2021 6:55:41 GMT -5
Thank you for reminding me about that, mei. I think I put it on the Kindle for my trip to Vermont that got canceled for the pandemic, and then forgot about it.
|
|
|
Post by tucano on Nov 11, 2021 15:13:48 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by sprite on Nov 11, 2021 16:26:34 GMT -5
oooh!
So, I enjoyed Shadowplay, a sort of fictionalised biography of Bram Stoker, and the work his wife did to help writers protect, and be paid for, their work. She needs a lot more credit. I'm not sure how fictionalised the book was, but still a really interesting way of seeing London from the persepctive of people trying to live through the Jack the Ripper era. Sort of how I think people in the future might wonder what it was like living through our pandemic.
I was also reading "Slay in your LAne" which is billed as a guide for young black women trying to make their way through a white-male-dominated society. It's divided into chapters based on areas of life, such as education, entering the workplace, health...
I haven't actually finished it (my loan ran out), but I learned quite a lot of interesting stuff. One of hte key points the authors make is that in the UK, cultural discussion of 'black' people is heavily influence by what's happening in the US, but actually the social/cultural/legal history is completely different. They also point out that there are two main populations of Black British people, those from the Afro-Carribean and who mainly came during the 50s and 60s, or those from the African Continent, who have come more recently and have different family backgrounds. (and quite a few other differences between various groups). But the problem is that they all lumped together in policy or cultural discussions.
I'll put a hold on it to read a few other chapters.
|
|
|
Post by ozziegiraffe on Nov 11, 2021 19:27:22 GMT -5
That’s a really good point about lumping them together. I introduced some young women of similar age at church on Sunday. One came from South Sudan in 2017. I’m not sure if she herself came as a refugee, or came because she married a former refugee. The others are seasonal workers from Solomon Islands. I’m pretty sure neither had met anyone from the other culture before, even though they superficially look similar. Even in the short time they chatted, some differences emerged, including rights and responsibilities on different visas. I’m hoping it will lead to more intercultural understanding and friendship.
|
|
|
Post by Oweena on Nov 12, 2021 15:40:55 GMT -5
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
The anticipated new novel by the author of A Gentleman in Moscow. This 500+ page novel covers just a few days of a road trip gone awry with lots of meandering back story to fill in the 4 main characters personalities. I quite liked the main character Emmett, who mostly tries to do the right thing. But I wasn't so much into the side stories about the heroes of years gone by that arise out of a book his 8 year old brother Billy carries around and refers to all the time. I'd say the plot is engaging and I definitely wanted to find out the ending, but I sometimes felt the author was trying to fit too much into the overall story, and I also found the ability of the characters to be so forgiving to each other unrealistic.
I can recommend (with a few reservations). It's overall likable but certainly not up to his Gentleman book.
|
|
|
Post by lillielangtry on Nov 14, 2021 5:52:07 GMT -5
#68 Agatha Christie, Taken at the Flood I've got quite a few Christies on audiobook, they are only around 6 hours each so easy to get through and relaxing. This one is a well-set up Poirot mystery. As several people have pointed out on Goodreads, the epilogue has aged very poorly. How to say this without giving anything away? It's basically that a particular romantic relationship is presented as a happy ending when it's not a healthy one and what it says about women is... not great. Acknowledging that, I still enjoyed it.
#68 Ka(t)e Tempest, The Bricks that Built the House The author, who I saw live a few years back, has since come out as non-binary and changed their name, but their old name is still on the cover of the book. This is a very competently structured novel based around a cast of connected characters in south-east London. I didn't love everything about it, but it's a lot of fun and the author's background in poetry/music is quite evident.
|
|
|
Post by Liiisa on Nov 14, 2021 7:20:41 GMT -5
Oooh lillie I LOVE that latest Kae Tempest record... must read that book. I went through a period about six months ago where I was watching that video for their song "Holy Elixir" like three times a day.
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Nov 14, 2021 20:32:44 GMT -5
#18 The Testaments by Margaret Atwood A good reminder that I should read more gripping fiction as it takes me away from my phone. This had been on my to read list for a while and finally picked it up from the library. Really enjoyed it, though the ending seemed rushed after a long build-up. It ties together a lot of things about the workings of Gilead which I found satisfying. You reminded me that I had it waiting for me, too. I just finished it. I thought it was very good - a satisfying follow up to The Handmaid's Tale. Maybe not quite as intense as it could have been, but I liked it a lot.
|
|
|
Post by lillielangtry on Nov 15, 2021 2:08:20 GMT -5
The Testaments was really enjoyable. I'm half inclined to read it again.
|
|
|
Post by ozziegiraffe on Nov 15, 2021 7:27:39 GMT -5
72. The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams. A beautiful book, and it was this month’s free book on Audible. It tapped into so many threads that are important to me. The baby was born in the same year as my parents. My dad was a letterpress printer, so I grew up with compositors and printing presses. And of course, it was “me too “ a century earlier. The people in the book were so real and sympathetically drawn.
|
|
|
Post by sprite on Nov 15, 2021 8:31:44 GMT -5
Breaking Hate, Christian Picciolini He was part of the 80s/90s Neo-Nazi thug scene, but left and began working to help others leave, or help family members get family members out. His theory is that extremist groups, of any sort, find people who are missing something in their life, and the extremists offer to fill the gap. He's not the only one saying this--it's part of the prevention strategy from people who believe that hate is a public health issue, and should be treated as such.
He uses the stories of several individuals to illustrate this idea. He also claims to have been aware of Russian trolls exploiting/amplifying hate groups to push T's election--before the FBI were taking it seriously. I'm nto sure how accurate that is.
I'd recommend the book to anyone wanting to learn more about extremism. THe personal stories make it an easy read, but relies on experts and research so it isn't just a misery memoir. It is realistic, but hopeful.
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Nov 15, 2021 13:09:04 GMT -5
I missed that I finished a Dresden Files book a couple days ago. It's a collection of short stories the author wrote about his characters for various anthologies.
I enjoyed them, but the 2 where he wrote from a different character's point of view weren't convincing. It was still Harry Desden's voice and thinking coming out of someone else's head.
|
|
|
Post by mei on Nov 16, 2021 4:34:44 GMT -5
#19 Een bijna volmaakte vriendschap (translated from the original German 'Ich nannte ihn Krawatte'; I have no idea how it's been translated to English) by Milena Michiko Flasar.
A really beautiful little book. I was a bit skeptical at first (despite a friend's recommendation) because it brings together two Japan clichés: a hikikomori (someone who doesn't leave his room for years) and an older 'salary man' who had lost his job but doesn't dare tell his wife. The story is about their unlikely friendship, sharing stories, which is therapeutic for both of them. The language is very precise, every word is thought about it feels. Doesn't always work, but mostly it's beautifully written. Really enjoyed reading this.
|
|
|
Post by riverhorse on Nov 16, 2021 9:56:37 GMT -5
"The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins-Reid.
I binge-d this book in just one day on the weekend. I absolutely loved it. It is the story of an ageing Hollywood icon, who brings in a totally unknown lowly magazine reporter to tell her life story to, especially all the stories behind her 7 marriages.
This sounds like chic-lit fluff, but there is a lot of depth to it, the characters are really wonderful, there are themes touched on that you wouldn't really expect like a big LGBTQI thread running through the novel, stories about how Hollywood studios used to basically have total control over the lives of the stars even down to who they married, which seem so plausible you wonder if they were actually based on fact, and then a couple of twists at the end that explain why Evelyn chose Monique to tell her life story to.
One of the best books I've read so far this year.
|
|
|
Post by Queen on Nov 16, 2021 12:11:21 GMT -5
You don't belong here; how three women rewrote the story of war Elizabeth Becker Three women reporting on Vietnam; a French photographer, an American journalist and an Australian journalist. They face some stupid sexism during the war and then after the war were largely erased from the record. The author was also a war correspondent who met at least two of the three... and there's a taste of her personal story at the end. So four remarkable women that led the way for women war correspondents. Also realised how little I knew about the Vietnam war, or the whole end of colonialism in Indochina and now I want to go and read the words of Kate Webb, Frankie Fitzgerald and view the images of Cathy Leroy. We should all know their names www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/three-female-journalists-who-braved-the-chaos-of-vietnam/2021/03/11/be8a182e-71f3-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html
|
|
|
Post by sophie on Nov 17, 2021 1:17:17 GMT -5
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. An interesting novel, so very different from his All the Light We Cannot See. I found it a challenge to read, as it swings wildly around through historical and geographical settings, but the last quarter of the book, I could sense how all the threads were going to get connected. The short chapters (along with that hopping through time and place) made me feel like reading just a bit was enough at a time. It wasn’t a book I could ever read in one sitting. But now that I have finished it, I feel strangely satisfied with it. Just don’t ask me what it was about!!
|
|
|
Post by Liiisa on Nov 17, 2021 6:20:21 GMT -5
Sounds like my kinda book, thank you sophie!
|
|
|
Post by sprite on Nov 17, 2021 7:48:04 GMT -5
yes, I've put a hold on it with my library.
|
|
|
Post by Oweena on Nov 19, 2021 11:03:46 GMT -5
I think Cloud Cuckoo was a finalist for the National Book Award
|
|
|
Post by sophie on Nov 21, 2021 10:31:53 GMT -5
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki. Great book, deals with loss and grief and the resulting chaos often resulting in mental illness. The book is told from the main character’s (a young teenaged boy) point of view as well as a book’s point of view. Interesting technique. I just finished this book, so I need to digest it a bit more before I am ready to talk about it, but I was reading at a stupid early time this morning which says something!
|
|
|
Post by Queen on Nov 21, 2021 12:56:42 GMT -5
Cloud cuckoo is our next book for the book group I belong to but can't be present at.
|
|
|
Post by Liiisa on Nov 21, 2021 13:26:53 GMT -5
I was at my mom's yesterday and saw that she had a copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land and asked if I could borrow it when she's done. She said "you can have it now," I think it was too nonlinear for her, so now I'll have that for as soon as I get done with the linear but very dense novel that I'm reading now.
Amusingly I've been listening to Radiohead's Amnesiac even more than usual lately since it came out in that reissue a week or so again, and there's one song that has a line "I'm living in Cloud Cuckoo land" ... so whenever I see something about that book, I of course end up with that song in my head. (Which is fine, I love that song)
|
|
|
Post by lillielangtry on Nov 21, 2021 13:29:46 GMT -5
Cloud Cuckoo Land sounds a bit David Mitchell-ish with the different threads but maybe I'm only thinking that because the word "cloud" in the title keeps reminding me of Cloud Atlas?!
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Nov 21, 2021 14:15:15 GMT -5
Cloud Cuckoo Land sounds a bit David Mitchell-ish with the different threads but maybe I'm only thinking that because the word "cloud" in the title keeps reminding me of Cloud Atlas?! Heh, I've been thinking the exact same thing. Which reminds me, I haven't read Utopia Avenue yet.
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Nov 21, 2021 15:35:31 GMT -5
Walking to Gatlinburg, by Howard Frank Mosher.
Had an idea it was a civil war story, but it was a lot more. The opening bit is fairly standard, about Morgan Kinnison of Vermont, leading a runaway slave to a hiding spot. But it quickly turns fantastical, with a giant of a man wearing a bearskin and playing a dulcimer that enchants people, killing the runaway slave while Morgan is off tracking a moose.
The rest of the novel follows Morgan as he goes to search for his brother who disappeared at the Battle of Gettysburg. He sort of follows a sort of map that the runaway slave slipped into his pocket. He meets various odd people, and an elephant, and some ghosts, on his journey, and has repeated confrontations with a band of escaped lunatic prisoners.
I read a few reviews and agree with the one that suggested that the best description is to call it a fable. Somewhere between the Odyssey (which is referenced a couple times) and Big Fish. Or maybe O Brother, Where Art Thou? Except it's not "rollicking" or light hearted most of the time. There's plenty of violence and terrible things - but also lots of beauty and kindness.
Overall, I really liked it. I'll look for other books by the author.
|
|
|
Post by Liiisa on Nov 21, 2021 17:39:49 GMT -5
Cloud Cuckoo Land sounds a bit David Mitchell-ish with the different threads but maybe I'm only thinking that because the word "cloud" in the title keeps reminding me of Cloud Atlas?! Heh, I've been thinking the exact same thing. Which reminds me, I haven't read Utopia Avenue yet. I loved Utopia Avenue because I'm a huge music nerd, but there were other reviews here that weren't quite so enthusiastic.
|
|
|
Post by sophie on Nov 21, 2021 21:01:02 GMT -5
I found Cloud Cuckoo Land quite different from a Mitchell novel. It’s non linear but no magic realism; lots of coincidences but not magic realism (at least in the way I understand it).
|
|
|
Post by ozziegiraffe on Nov 22, 2021 6:34:35 GMT -5
73. A Christmas Cruise Murder, by Dawn Brookes. A fun cozy mystery set in a British cruise ship.
|
|
|
Post by sprite on Nov 22, 2021 11:45:25 GMT -5
Another one I haven't finished yet, but am still happy to recommend.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix.
"This is the sort of how my housewife mom went up against Dracula. So, you can see, it wasn't a fair fight."
Funny. Funny, funny, funny. And gross--I had to skim through a section with rats. A group of 1980/90s housewives have a true crime book club. And then, a real life vampire moves to the burbs.
|
|
|
Post by scrubb on Nov 24, 2021 12:32:59 GMT -5
Broken For You, by Stephanie Kailos.
Her first novel, I think, and it is does feel naive and everything works out just too easily, but it's also very good hearted and has interesting characters and enough quirkiness to pull itself out of pure schlock.
A woman diagnosed with a brain tumor decides to change her life. She takes in a boarder to share her 15,000 sq ft house that is full of antique porcelain.
There are plenty of unhappy stories waiting to come out, tragic events, loneliness, sadness. Loneliness, and making connections, is the focus. But overall it is a bit facile, or at least, not very profound in dealing with them. It stays fairly lighthearted.
So, an enjoyable, comfortable read that I really liked, but was more like a fairy tale than real life.
|
|