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Post by scrubb on Apr 2, 2022 21:08:18 GMT -5
Finished a book so needed a thread for this month.
Five Wives, by Joan Thomas
In the 1950s 5 missionaries went into the Amazon jungle to try to bring Jesus to a tribe that had killed anyone that came into contact with them before. The book tells us right away that they were all killed. The book tells the story from the vantage point of a couple of their wives, and with a split time line format, the modern day narrator is one of their sons, grown up to be a pastor in Seattle.
It's based on real people and real events - Life Magazine did a story on it at the time. It's not a spectacular book, but it's well done and I liked it a lot. The author managed to balance the story - some of the missionaries were horrible; unlikeable, smarmy, self-righteous, etc., - but some were sympathetic, genuine, good hearted and likeable. One of them even goes through some soul-searching and growth. And while the book doesn't shy away from showing the harm that the missionaries did to the tribes (the change from nomadic jungle people to living in a settlement destroyed their culture and their health), it also points out that was going to happen anyway, with or without missionaries. There was oil to be pumped in the area and although Shell had pulled out (due to their people being killed by the aggressive tribe), the Ecuadorian government was very determined to extract that resource.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 2, 2022 23:07:03 GMT -5
That does sound interesting, Scrubb.
Thank you for posting the thread. I have one book almost finished, and two more happening.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 3, 2022 6:23:08 GMT -5
That sounds interesting, scrubb. I'll have to wait to be in a very good mood to read it, though.
Right now I'm just beginning a little book of essays about warblers, which in North America are these tiny very colorful tropical birds that are sometimes hard to find and only show up for a couple weeks in spring and fall; seeing them is the best thing that happens all year for most birders. A friend gave it to me, and it's lovely.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 3, 2022 11:06:26 GMT -5
Ooh, I'd appreciate the name and author for that one.
Warblers in the spring are great. Out of breeding season many turn into LBJs...
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 3, 2022 12:39:52 GMT -5
Ooh, I'd appreciate the name and author for that one. Warblers in the spring are great. Out of breeding season many turn into LBJs... Sure! It's "The Warbler Road," by Merrill Gilfillan Yes re the LBJs, or LGYJs (little greenish-yellow jobs) |
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Post by sprite on Apr 3, 2022 15:26:54 GMT -5
The Actual Star, Monica Byrne
Set in three times (1012, 2012, 3012), it follows the story of Royal twins in a Mayan city, a Mayan-Belize-born American who goes to her birthplace to try and develop a sense of identity, then falls in romance with twin brothers, and a young woman who challenges the religious orthdoxy that has grown up from the story of the American woman and her lovers.
I kept wondering if ShannaMuppet has read it.
I really liked the future world--compostable clothing. I'd read more of Byrne's work, but I think a lot of it is on Patreon.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 3, 2022 16:53:03 GMT -5
Ooh, I'd appreciate the name and author for that one. Warblers in the spring are great. Out of breeding season many turn into LBJs... Sure! It's "The Warbler Road," by Merrill Gilfillan Yes re the LBJs, or LGYJs (little greenish-yellow jobs) Thanks! I just ordered it, and the fungi book - Entangled. Mr_S and I will both like both of them. |
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 3, 2022 17:28:25 GMT -5
Oh, I'm so glad!! "Entangled" was just great, I bet you will like it.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 4, 2022 21:02:57 GMT -5
27. Frobisher's Savage, by Leonard Tourney
Another Bookbub special - I had it in my head that it was possibly a true story, about an expedition that brought back a native from some far shore. Or if it wasn't non-fiction, that it was historical fiction about that sort of thing. It turned out to be an Elizabethan mystery story with a clothier and his wife in Chelmsford starring as the detectives. The fact that there was an indigenous person who'd been taken from his homeland was part of the story, but it was really just in there to be interesting, I think.
So I was a bit disappointed, but as mysteries go it wasn't bad. Enjoyable, but it didn't leave me wanting to rush out and get the rest of the series, whereas when I finished the first book in Mel Starr's series of Elizabethan mysteries (The Unquiet Bones) I did immediately go get the next one.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 5, 2022 6:18:49 GMT -5
18. Body Over Troubled Water, Denise Swanson. Latest in a favourite cozy mystery series, with the protagonist a school psychologist. We share many work dilemmas!
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Post by lisamnz on Apr 5, 2022 17:01:31 GMT -5
Read lots of books while in bed sick.
Without Merit- Colleen Hoover. Is this YA? I dunno. It was enjoyable, but quick, and ended super abruptly.
The Diamond Eye - Kate Quinn. This is the one about the Russian sniper I mentioned elsewhere. Very interesting historical fiction, what is now Ukraine during WW2.
Remember Me - Charity Norman; His Loving Wife - Miranda Smith; The Couple upstairs - Shalina Boland. All very meh, but they were on the kindle cos my mum's bought them, and my head coped.
The Maid - Nita Prose. Am sure I'm not the only one to have read this. Much enjoyed, even the happy ending :-)
The Little Wartime Library - Kate Thompson. A bit meh, but an interesting time and place to read about, another war-time story I hadn't heard of before.
Wish You Were Here - Jodi Picoult. Not her usual story at all. Quite a surprising departure from her usual, in fact. Quite readable, not much thought required :-)
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Post by sophie on Apr 5, 2022 17:32:46 GMT -5
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson. One of my very favourite writers, she uses three main characters’ POV about a series of events and how the events and the characters intersect. Beautifully written, with a deep understanding of the human spirit. Loved it.
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Post by lisamnz on Apr 5, 2022 20:52:10 GMT -5
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson. One of my very favourite writers, she uses three main characters’ POV about a series of events and how the events and the characters intersect. Beautifully written, with a deep understanding of the human spirit. Loved it. I'm pretty sure I've read this and I remember at least one of the characters, an otherwise 'nice' one, saying lots of horrible things about fat people. Is that it? I didn't really get the point. If there was one. |
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Post by scrubb on Apr 5, 2022 22:02:20 GMT -5
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson. One of my very favourite writers Heh, I just looked her up on Goodreads and the final sentence of her brief biography says: Her three novels to date, both published by Knopf Canada were set in Northern Ontario. |
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Post by sprite on Apr 6, 2022 6:03:56 GMT -5
or, why an editor is necessary.
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Post by sophie on Apr 6, 2022 9:53:49 GMT -5
Lisa, is that the scene in the hospital where Elizabeth is in for her heart condition and is looking at the condition of the tumour of one of the other women? I suspect you might be mixing up this book with another. That’s the closest…
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Post by lisamnz on Apr 6, 2022 16:56:59 GMT -5
I will have to check - possibly.
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Post by lisamnz on Apr 6, 2022 16:58:01 GMT -5
Currently struggling through Exit .45. It's Jack Reacher, without the super polished writing and dry humour.
I've resorted to skim reading to find out what happens.
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Post by sophie on Apr 6, 2022 23:27:54 GMT -5
Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin translated by Hildegarde Serle. A gem of a novel, moody, melancholy and romantic. The main character, a woman who had been given up at birth and grew up in foster homes, has challenges but never gives up on hope. Not really chick lit.. much better than the typical book of that genre.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 8, 2022 13:09:22 GMT -5
Radiant, Shimmering Light, by Sarah Selecky.
A satire of modern life and new age- ness. Lilian is an artist who sees and paints animal auras, and blogs.
She ends up working for her cousin who has become a guru with a "Women's Ascendance" program. It's clear that the program is a bunch of expensive crap designed to make a lot of money - and it's very successful.
It's not a mean hearted satire and Lilian is sympathetic most of the time. Gullible and spacy, as she seems to buy into all the crap, but that makes her genuine, at least.
It was longer than it needed to be, though. Too many pages showing up the ridiculous bullshit. But I enjoyed it overall.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 10, 2022 9:08:29 GMT -5
19. the Unexpcted Mrs Pollifax, Dorothy Gillman.
Thank you for the recommendation, Q-pee and Scrubb.
I actually made this series a monthly read on the Goodreads Cozy Mystery group, and it was very well received, even though it is more of a cozy spy story!
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Post by Queen on Apr 10, 2022 9:45:26 GMT -5
The Cookbook Collector
Allegra Goodman
This is the book I mentioned in the abandoned book thread.
I got to a certain point reading it today... and thought I could guess the outcome, so decided to read the last chapter and if 2 of my 4 predictions had come true I would quit.
All four came true. So we're done.
Can't recommend it.
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Post by Oweena on Apr 10, 2022 17:53:27 GMT -5
Read two books while camping.
Rebellion by Peter Ackroyd
Book three of six in his history of England that I've been making my way through. 500+ pages of James I to Oliver Cromwell to the close of the the 1600s. I like that the chapters are interspersed with what was happening with science, religion, politics, art, and religion so you get a good overview of what life was like. There's a lot of talk of Parliament that seems repetitive and is lost on me, but the rest is accessible to a non-UKer like myself.
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry
Perry uses her family ties to Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Virginia, etc. to show the influence the Deep South has had on the United States. Her argument is that there isn't a political, religious, or social aspect of our lives today that doesn't somehow thread back to the south.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 10, 2022 19:29:50 GMT -5
Oweena I have that Imani Perry book on my list -- did you find it worthwhile?
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Post by Oweena on Apr 11, 2022 21:32:57 GMT -5
Worthwhile? Yes. Dense in several places where I was a bit lost. Also she quotes others a lot to make her points and that's a pet peeve of mine.
But if I was only going to read one recent book on a similar topic I would definitely recommend How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith.
It's a similar book in that Smith uses his family story and history to make the same argument that Imani Perry does in her book, but Smith pulls it off in a more interesting and engaging way.
His book has stuck with me, and I doubt Perry's will.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 12, 2022 3:45:25 GMT -5
20. Dead and Breakfast, Kate Kingsbury. A light cozy mystery, good for, drives home from work. I found quite a few free ones on Audible.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 12, 2022 5:01:13 GMT -5
Thank you Oweena - appreciate that
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Post by sprite on Apr 13, 2022 3:33:22 GMT -5
A Trail through Time (St Mary's #4), Jodi Taylor.
Another fun adventure through time with Dr Maxwell, the slightly chaotic historian and her colleagues.
Good fun, but I read a set of short stories from this series last month, and it's definitely an author you have to spread out. I'll probably wait 6 months before thinking about reading the next on in the series.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 13, 2022 18:59:39 GMT -5
12) Merrill Gilfillan, The Warbler Road
A set of short -- tiny, even -- essays about places and times when the author has seen warblers, the tiny jewel-like tropical birds that spend their summers in North America to take advantage of our huge crop of summer insects. These are delightful little stories - as close as you can get to being in the field and watching the birds yourself. Recommended for those who like such things.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 14, 2022 23:56:11 GMT -5
Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir, by A.E. Hotchner. Written by a good friend of his, shortly after his death, I learned a lot about Hemingway. This isn't a biography, though - it's a friend, reminiscing about his very famous old pal. The author totally forgives all EH's flaws but, well, that's what you do with friends, right? Along with the bluster and drinking and always having to be a man's man, he was very generous to a lot of people, and had many loyal friends right to the end, in spite of being very bad tempered and hard to be around in the last couple years.
The last 3rd or so of the book is about Hemingway's last couple years and his sad decline. I suspect he had Alzheimers or a similar dementia, but it may have been on top of some other mental illness, maybe from the many serious concussions he'd had, or perhaps there'd been a TBI with one of his head injuries. He was not only depressed, but also paranoid and delusional, convinced everyone was out to get him.
overall it was a really good read and I did learn a lot about the man.
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