Pamela’s
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(group member since Oct 22, 2019)
Pamela’s
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from the VIRTUAL Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 group.
Showing 21-40 of 52
Book 27 Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine.
3 stars, eBook
It started out okay for me, but after a while it seemed like the writing weakened. A very solid atmosphere, bleak and so very cold. But overall the book was mediocre for me.
Book 26 Coffee by Dinah Lenney.
3 stars, eBook
Another quick yet not spectacular book. It had more about the author's family than the subject of coffee. Sure there was a lot about the drink, but not as focused as I expected the book to be. It's part of a series: Object Lessons, I have several of the books, but this is the first I've read. Not sure if that is typical, the wandering off topic.
Book 25 Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam.
3 stars, AudioBook
This was a quick audiobook. This book had some interesting moments but overall I wasn’t a fan of the book. It is certainly an AirBnB rental that doesn’t go well. It could be stuff of nightmares, well not that bad. The ending fell flat for me as well. I think my not being a fan of the genre hurt my rating, so it's me not entirely the book. The narration was good.
Book 24 Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy.
4 stars, eBook
Last stop on Mount Crumpit. There is a bit of a mystery in this book, and it’s about our central character’s life, Franny Stone. What happened in her past? She is obsessed with birds and since nearly all are now gone, she has taken it upon herself to follow the Arctic Terns migration from the north to Antarctic. The book is dark and bleak, with nearly the entirety of animals gone from this world. But despite that I enjoyed it, wanted to find out Franny's past. I think the language, the words drew me in.
Book 23 People of the Canyons: A Novel of North America's Forgotten Past by Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear.
4 stars, eBook
This is book #26 in the series, just published. I've read many, maybe half of the books. I enjoy the husband/wife team that are professional archaeologists that attempt to write as accurately for the people who lived in ages and ages ago. This particular book wasn't quite a five star, but many are for me. Love the cover!
Catching up with July reads, book 22 Slam by Lewis Shiner.
2.5 stars, print book
Rounded down to 2 stars. So much of this book I could have done without reading. It felt like male fantasy at points, older guy with girl half his age. There is some philosophy about how to live, and society, and a couple other ideas that actually saves the book. Yet it comes so late in the book that it’s a slog to get there.
Belated in posting my last June read, book 21 was Roadside Americans: The Rise and Fall of Hitchhiking in a Changing Nation by Jack Reid.
3.5 stars, eBook
This book provides an insight to economic conditions and sentiments towards self-reliance, leisure, community versus individualism, within the context of hitchhiking. A decent book on the rise and decline of hitchhiking.
Book 20 done The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis.
5 stars, eBook
I really enjoyed this book. This book is told between two alternating time lines, around 1913 and 1993, and both take place around the New York Public Library. In the older time line a family lives in an apartment in the library! It was made for the superintendent and his family. The book is a bit of many things, with a mystery around rare books being stolen.
Book 19 done yesterday My Struggle: Book Four by Karl Ove Knausgård.
4 stars, print book
Actually hovering between 3 and 4 stars. I read the first three in the series of six books somewhat close together, now it's been three years. I found myself getting bored with his story while reading this one. It was way too consumed by him trying to get laid, it felt like he just wanted to use someone, anyone. Perhaps if I was male this book would appeal to me more. And yet, there are parts, with his inner life and other aspects that is appealing. Then there's just amazement for the details of his life, of course much is fictionalized. I'll likely read the next one, but may be a while, hopefully not another three years.
Half-way point with book 18 The Milkman's Son: A Memoir of Family History, a DNA Mystery, and a Story of Paternal Love by Randy Lindsay.
3.5 stars, eBook
A story about a may at aged 57 discovering that the dad who raised him all his life isn't his biological dad. Lindsay then meets his other family and the bio-dad. With more DNA with genealogy searching this may become more and more common. It was an easy, conversational style read, yet some details were a bit odd. Well worth reading.
Book 17 is Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner.
3 stars, eBook
There's several major problems with this book, one is that the first half has a different writing quality than the second half. The book had a major shift, and then it went off the rails. Well, maybe it also saved itself, since I was getting bored with the before before the shift and it did get somewhat more interesting. Guess it's a good summer read.
Book 16 is Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran.
3.5 stars, eBook
This book took me a month to read, when in reality it could be a week by page length. The problem wasn't the content, it was interesting, it's just it felt more like a bunch of essays, each chapter was self contained. I guess it was more me than the book. I did like it, and found the writing decent.
Book 15 is The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland by Walter Thompson-Hernandez. 
4 stars, audio book
The writing was decent, except for the foul language by the people being profiled. It gives it authenticity but sometimes grating to the ears. The subject was one that definitely needs a spotlight, but the organization of the book left me wanting. I did like the focus on some people, so we get to know the specific individuals, these unknown cowboys in an urban setting.
Book 14 is My Green Manifesto: Down the Charles River in Pursuit of a New Environmentalism by David Gessner.
4 stars, print book
Somehow I forgot my little blurb after finishing this book. It was a decent read. I keep meaning to write a review, maybe that's why I forgot to mention here. I've had to adjust my entries too. Anyway, the book was about finding a way to environmentalism that doesn't make people feel guilty or depressed. I enjoyed it more than another book I read by the same author just before this one.
First book up Mount Crumpit with book 13 The Quarry Wood by Nan Shepherd.
3 stars, print book
A nearly 100 year old book! A Scottish one at that. I took a 3 week break while reading it, wasn't sure I'd finish, but picked it back up and got into the book. The Scottish brogue was a bit difficult reading the dialogue, but the rest was fine. The plot was okay, not that new really, I was looking for atmosphere more than plot and got a wee bit of that.
Book 12 finished yesterday with Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker.
4 stars, eBook
With this book, there is two aspects, one being a family of twelve children, where half develop mental illness, schizophrenia. The other aspect of the book is the history of how the medical field has approached this illness, with treatments and research in combating the illness. Well written for the most part.
Book 11 finished earlier this week The Adventurer's Son by Roman Dial.
4 stars, audio Book
About a father who raised his son to be adventurous, in an extreme way, like himself. The son goes on an extended solo trip through South America, then goes missing in Costa Rica after saying he was going into the jungle without a guide against the local rules. The second half of the book is about trying to figure out what happened.
Book 10 is Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver.
4 stars, print book
Mary Oliver is a poet and these essays of hers are poetic. I enjoyed the third section the most, where she discusses Emerson, Poe, Whitman and Wordsworth. The last essay was to her town and felt less polished in writing style than the rest of the book. Overall the book had a nature theme.
Book 9 is Iphigenia Murphy by Sara Hosey.
4 stars, ebook
This is a fictional book about a teen dealing with a severely dysfunctional family, with a lot of abuse at her to where her best option is to go live in a tent in a public park. Decent writing, and the story is hopeful in that the teen Iphigenia finds ways to improve her life for herself.
Hi Natália, all your "my review" is sending to your fist book for Morrighan. Happy reading.
