Laurel’s Comments (group member since Dec 30, 2013)

Laurel’s comments from the All About Books group.

#24 An American Marriage
3 green stars

I've been reading quite a few books relating to the theme of what it means to be American this year. This one tells the story of an already somewhat rocky marriage tested by the separation of a wrongful conviction, and a love triangle. I read books like this to try and expand my empathy and understanding of people different from myself, but I'm not sure how much the implied racial injustice depicted here actually had to do with the story. As a single woman, I can't relate to the kinds of choices needed to make a marriage work, I couldn't relate to the affluence of the characters, and while I felt the writing tried to depict honest and heartfelt emotions, the characters themselves came across as very shallow at times. I am left feeling that I am not the right audience for this book.

June plans:
The water issue is almost resolved. It was a hole in the water tank, and the tank has been replaced. The old one is draining and will be taken out tomorrow. No more new water is there, so I have turned off the pump. Will probably have to do more mopping with towels to finish up tomorrow.

The ongoing reads that I had planned to finish by the end of June, won't get picked up again until after my trip, so I'll redo the reading schedule for those when I get back. Before I go, I hope to finish
READ An American Marriage - audiobook. Book club isn't until the end of June, but I wanted to be sure I got it out of the way.
READ Awayland - if I read a story a day, it'll be done before I go.
DNF Here We Go Again: My Life in Television - Maybe...

For the trip, I have downloaded on Libby
READ The Prague Sonata - audiobook for the plane ride...
The Summer Queen - green cover challenge for June, and F is for France for A Good Yarn book club.

I have a couple other Prague books lined up, but probably won't get to them
The Lost Wife - takes place in Prague and Terezin, which I'll be visiting
Time's Magpie: A Walk in Prague

For later in June, I hope to get to
Queen By Right - half-read but long stalled...
The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors

And somewhere in there, I'd like to add a reread of
The Apothecary Rose

Too ambitious, as usual, but I'm REALLY hoping things will settle down, so I can enjoy my summer!

#23 The Illuminated Desert
5 gold stars

I treasure this book because it reminds me of my grandparents who spent their final years in Arizona, and loved the desert and all its natural wonders. It is also patterned after the medieval illuminated manuscripts known as "A Book of Hours." The page for the letter A might say Antelope, but there is so much else going on: ants marching across the page, arrowheads, aspen leaves, a red rock arch, and more. There is a glossary in the back describing all of these things, as well as the poetic text under each picture. An exquisite book. I am pretty sure I have past lives in the four corners area of the southwest. I have studied both North and South American spiritual traditions and many of these animals have significance to me: bat, badger, golden eagle, hummingbird, jack rabbit, owl, prairie dog, raven, stag.

Description: The Illuminated Desert is a stunning dialogue in painting and prose by two daughters of the Colorado Plateau: Terry Tempest Williams and Chloe Hedden. This is more than an abecedarian, or alphabet book. It is an exquisite rendering of life in the red rock canyons of Southern Utah and the natural history that evokes a poetry of place. The audience for this book is the audience of the desert itself, from children to adults who share in discovery and delight.

Late May update:
I was doing SO well at the beginning of May, and outlining a "schedule" whereby I would finish 3 chunksters by the end of June and another one that goes into August. But my roller-coaster life has taken a deep downward swing yet again, to be followed by an upward swing in June (trip to Prague and Vienna). I haven't felt much like reading (except for the audiobooks in my car), and I know I won't get any reading done on the trip.

The second week of May my beloved nearly 20-year-old cat reached the end of her long life. And how do you say goodbye to an intimate companion of nearly 20 years? On top of that, we had had a major storm (winds and tornado warnings) the night before. The vet was still there when my upstairs neighbors came home and asked if I knew about the hole in the wall.... It seems the wall of my root cellar had caved inward in the storm letting in lots of rain, mud, etc. And that is the room where I had been storing all the boxes of stuff that I had hidden away so the landlord could show the apartment without so much clutter. I knew it was a very bad idea - okay while it was still cold and things remained frozen, but now that it was spring I needed to get stuff out of there. Too late. The wall collapsed, and I had boxes of books on plastic book cases along that wall. Well now those books were buried under huge cement blocks and a good 6-inches of mud and water. I didn't even have 5 minutes to grieve. I had to find people to help me get everything out of that room before we had another storm that would cause the wall to collapse even more. My sister was working until 6 pm and couldn't come out until about 7:30. The landlord couldn't help - said he had a prior commitment and I should ask the neighbors. To say I was pissed is putting it mildly. Anyway, I did manage to get everything I could get out that evening. But several boxes were buried in mud and bricks and I didn't know if it was safe to try and get to them. A few days later I went back in and was able to get to those boxes. Amazingly, there were still some books I could save, but I ended up throwing out more than 50 books. Mostly, they were ex-library books that I had accumulated and wanted to read, but nothing that I felt I needed to replace, except for one book The Illuminated Desert with beautiful paintings of desert plants and animals that reminded me of my grandparents, who spent their final years in Arizona.

Then I had 4 performances over that weekend as well with my two choirs. No time to grieve or even relax. I was sad, angry, exhausted, etc. etc. Then the following week there is water in my furnace room. The landlord said someone would be out right away - well, a week and a half later, after umpteen loads of wet towels in the washer and drier, and the realtor telling me she was showing the house on Friday, I called her up and said no way was he showing the downstairs. The landlord hadn't told her about the water, and probably thought his guy had come out and fixed it by then. Ha ha ha. Anyway, he finally got out here and brought a little pump with a hose which now snakes through the bedroom to the bathroom drain. The culprit seems to be the water tank from the well, or the pipes underneath. He'll be getting someone out to fix it this week (I'll believe it when I see it.) In the meantime, I plug in the pump periodically to deal with the slow leak and keep the water at least contained to that room... And I need to move stuff out of there (mostly in plastic tubs - Christmas stuff, etc.) but they'll need room to get back in there to do the repairs. Needless to say, I don't think he'll be showing the downstairs in the next couple of weeks.

He'd better have it fixed by June 10th however! That's when I leave for Prague with my women's choir. I'm trying to get excited, but honestly it feels like one more major source of stress to be "gotten through." I haven't been abroad in over 20 years - I had to get a new passport, I got a new phone with a great camera (though I think I'm still going to take my DSLR. My carry-on bag is too big for international requirements, so I've been searching out luggage, and trying to figure out what else I need for the trip.

Needless to say, my entire reading plan has gone out the window, and I don't even know if it will resume at the end of June. The writing is probably on the wall, so AFTER my trip to Europe, I'll be house or apartment hunting. I honestly don't know what I can afford - I'm frankly expecting to be underwhelmed at the choices that might be available to me on a part-time income. So I don't know how much reading I'm going to be able to get done over the summer. My comfort entertainment right now is turning on the TV and watching Men in Kilts or some other diversion.

I really, really hope things will settle down! It's been a very long year since my father's death last July, and my mother's move into assisted living in March.... And being in limbo over the whole house thing since August - hoping I would get to stay as a tenant with the new buyer. I never thought it would drag on this long. I should have been looking last fall when mortgages were 3% instead of 6% which it's heading toward now...

Sorry for the long, drawn out, and mostly non-bookish update! But that's where I'm at.

#22 The Lager Queen of Minnesota
5 blue stars, rounded up

Minnesota. Lots of local references. Craft beers. Pie. Gutsy women. What's not to like? I loved it. We follow the lives of three women - two sisters and a grand-daughter. Women just trying to follow their dreams and deal with whatever life gives them. And life isn't always a bowl of roses. I especially liked Edith. She did what she loved. She had a big heart. And life wasn't fair to her. But she persevered. She raised her grand-daughter after her daughter and son-in-law were killed in a car accident. She works two jobs and a third volunteer job well into her 70s because she has to. Meanwhile, sister Helen, kept all the inheritance to herself in order to further her dream of brewing beer. She rests her laurels on a mediocre but popular "light" beer, and spends her life haunted by guilt, estranging herself from her sister. Then we have Diana. Resorting to stealing tools and equipment from garages to sell just to help support her grandmother. She has inherited Edith's big heart. Luck and a lot of hard work puts her also into the brewing business. And in my favorite part of the book, she enlists her grandmother (the former pie queen who knows a thing or two about recipes) and her grandmothers friends, and they have a ball following their hearts in this new late career change. 5 blue stars, despite the open-ended and somewhat weak ending. The style reminded me a lot of Fredrik Backman. Audiobook narrated by Judith Ivey, who grew up in Michigan and Illinois, so her accent was more Midwestern than Minnesotan, but it was passable.

Cumulative annual pages: 6,021

#21 Behold the Dreamers
3 green stars

My rating for this book keeps going up and down. I'd say it shows great promise as a debut novel. The writing is good, the ideas are good. I like that it looks at the American dream from two extremes: the poor black immigrant family, and the wealthy white family. I found all of the characters hard to like, except maybe the children. I had sympathy for them, but I was really appalled at some of the choices they made. I "think" the author is saying at the end that family is the most important thing, and that wanting or having wealth is often not worth the sacrifices that are made to obtain that dream. I really wanted to rate this higher, but it just didn't have the hook that should have drawn me into the story and the plight of the characters. I wasn't convinced by the ending, and didn't really care what happened to them. On a different day I might rate this 4 red stars, but for now I will give the author room to grow.

Cumulative pages: 5,672

#20 Knight Owl
5 purple stars

This little owl is adorable. The illustrations are detailed and wonderful. (There's even a nod to the Bayeux Tapestry.) I love owls, I love dragons, I'm a night owl, and I love anything medieval. So an enthusiastic 5 purple stars. The text is quite simple and the message is one of determination, finding and doing what you are good at, and making friends.

Description: A determined Owl builds strength and confidence in this medieval picture book about the real mettle of a hero: wits, humor, and heart. Since the day he hatched, Owl dreamed of becoming a real knight. He may not be the biggest or the strongest, but his sharp nocturnal instincts can help protect the castle, especially since many knights have recently gone missing. While holding guard during Knight Night Watch, Owl is faced with the ultimate trial—a frightening intruder. It’s a daunting duel by any measure. But what Owl lacks in size, he makes up for in good ideas. Full of wordplay and optimism, this surprising display of bravery proves that cleverness (and friendship) can rule over brawn.

That's all I have at this point. I got stalled, and probably won't get back to this until July or so....

Notes on Wolf Hall Part Two. Chapter I. Visitation, 1529.

Not a lot to say on this chapter. Noticing several references to the theatrical nature of the court and the church. I suspect there will be much more of this, given the reference to Skelton's morality play "Magnificence" and the quote from Vitruvius "on the theater" in the frontispiece.

"It's hard to escape the feeling that this is a play... And that it is a tragedy." p. 47

"The river shifts beneath them, dim figures in an allegory of Fortune. Decayed Magnificence (Wolsey) sits in the center" p. 50

"The play has turned into some kind of low comic interlude; that, he thinks, is why Patch (the cardinal's fool) is here." p. 53

Notes on Wolf Hall Part One. Chapter III. At Austin Friars, 1527.

The Wolseys at home. Wife Liz. Another dog named Bella. He gets a letter from his son Gregory (13) away at school. Compared to Thomas at age 13, Gregory is "dutiful." Not a scholar. His Latin is bad.

p.36 Thomas owns a Tyndale Bible. He has also bought a German book - something to do with Martin Luther? Clearly he is interested in Protestant ideas.

p.37 He employed Liz's father, Henry Wykys, shortly after returning to Putney from abroad. Henry knew the boy Thomas. When asked what happened to change him from a fighter to a lawyer, Thomas replies "I found an easier way to be."

p.38 It is revealed he spent time in Antwerp - den of Protestant heretics and the pox (syphilis).

p.40 Thomas ponders what his wife has said about what women will think about Henry divorcing his wife. "Why should my wife worry about women who have no sons..." Is empathy just something "women do?" He can learn from that, he thinks.

Mantel is making him fully human here. "He gathers his papers for the day. Pats his wife, kisses his dog."
And the sun has come out.

Notes on Wolf Hall Part One. Chapter II. Paternity, 1527.

A gap of 27 years. Thomas is now 40-42.

p.16 Stephen Gardiner. Tall and skinny, dressed in black, like a crow. Omen of death?
"I'll pray to anyone, till I'm on dry land." He doesn't like being on water. What are his religious beliefs?
Stephen is condescending, critical, arrogant, resentful. "supposedly some sort of semi-royal by-blow."
Brought up by wool-trade people. Thomas knows too much about his past. He is jealous of anyone else getting close to the cardinal.

p.17-19 Cardinal Wolsey. Easy, familiar, teasing. He treats everyone, servants and visitors, the same.
In contrast to the crow, he is "like a leopard." Tall, regal, impressive, but fat. "Even the candles bow civilly to the cardinal."
Thomas is his man of business. He jokes that the cardinal can control the weather - ask God to make the sun come out. ("It has been raining since last September.")
Thomas has just come back from two weeks in Yorkshire. The cardinal has never been to York (considered something of a backwater) even though he is the Archbishop of York.

The cardinal's project is heartily disliked - to divert income from merging some 30 monasteries into revenue for two colleges he is founding: Cardinal College in Oxford, and one in Ipswich.

p.20 There are difficulties. "The people say they are going to kill me." Is it bluster? Thomas will need an armed guard - the cardinal hates any show of force. Would prefer prayer and persuasion.

p. 21-22 The cardinal would like Thomas to be a spy in the queen's household. "Do you have any Spanish?" Thomas doesn't give a straight answer.

The cardinal to Thomas: "If you ever plan to be off your guard, let me know."

King Henry wants to divorce his wife, Katherine and be free to marry again so he can have a son. "If only he wanted something simple. The Philosopher's Stone. The elixir of youth."

p.23 Thomas doesn't know when he was born - "Kat has assigned him a date."

p.24-26 The cardinal considers sending Stephen to Rome. The cardinal has never been to Rome either. Thomas has. "He knows the money markets." Wolsey hopes to convince Henry to stay with Katherine. But he also is making plans for other outcomes.

p. 27 Wolsey reminisces about Henry VII meeting Katherine. Spanish etiquette requires that she remain veiled until her wedding day. "Why may I not see her, have I been cheated, is she deformed...?" Thomas muses that Henry "was being unnecessarily Welsh."

p.29 Thomas's accomplishments (besides being fluent in Spanish): he knows by heart the entire New Testament in Latin, he is at home in courtroom or waterfront, bishop's palace, or inn yard. He can draft a contract, train a falcon, draw a map, stop a street fight, furnish a house and fix a jury. He knows new poetry (in Italian), Plato and Plautus...

The Duke of Norfolk has complained that the cardinal has raised an evil spirit to follow him around. Thomas is highly amused by this notion.

p.30 Rafe Sadler. Ward of TC since age 7 and now his secretary.

Nancy wrote: "Very thorough notes Laurel! If we just read your notes, we wouldn't have to read the book! Haha. Just kidding. I've finished Wolf Hall and am beginning Bring Up the Bodies. Will read at my own pace..."

Thanks, Nancy. Shall I continue posting them? No one else has commented, so wasn't going to continue if no one is interested...

#19 Anglesey Blue
4 red stars.

Definitely gritty/gruesome - not for the faint of heart. So if you can't read detailed descriptions of violence, this isn't for you. This reminded me a lot of the Cormoran Strike series by "Robert Galbraith." But without the humor and love interest. Tudor Manx is hard-boiled, jaded even, and carrying a lot of baggage from his past. Despite all that, I think he is likeable. There is hope for him! Other characters are well-developed and I hope they will become regulars: officers Morris "Minor", Kevin Priddle, Maldwyn Nader, and potential future love-interest (?) bar-tender/ beautician Gwen and her son Owain. I enjoyed the Anglesey setting, and all the references to things Welsh. Yes, there were errors and inconsistencies. I hope the sequels will be better edited. (Yechid dda? Not quite.... But then, Manx has been away from Wales for a long time...)

I started this on Kindle last year, and then decided to start over with the audiobook narrated by Malk Williams. I've tried other books set in Wales with narrators that had no clue how to pronounce Welsh place names, never mind replicate a passable Welsh accent. Malk did a pretty good job, although not so much on the North Walian local characters. Close enough for jazz, as they say, and close enough for a character that has been gone from Anglesey for many years.

Description: Recently transferred from the London Met to the North Wales Constabulary, Detective Inspector Tudor Manx has returned to his childhood home Anglesey hoping for a quiet life. But his hopes are dashed when a brutally mutilated body is found crucified to the bow of a fishing boat sending shockwaves through the peaceful community. Manx faces pressure to solve the case quickly equipped with an inexperienced team. Is the body a message or a premonition of more murders to come? Adding to his mounting problems, Manx’s troubled past returns to haunt him. Can Manx solve the case before the body count rises? How will he cope when he is forced to choose between his family and his duty as a police officer?

Cumulative pages: 5,224

It seems I'm a glutton for punishment, not even mid-May but I've already added another book. And it's another Chunkster. Aughhh! But it's an "A" title, and darned if that alphabet challenge isn't pushing me to do it. I've started it several times in the last several years, and this is a push I need to finally get it read:
...And Ladies of the Club

My grandmother gave this book to me many, many years ago, because it was one she liked. So even though I'm already reading 3 other Chunksters I'm going to do it. At 20 pages a day, I can finish it by the end of June. Anyone want to do a buddy read?

May update:

We are one third of the way through the year, and with some effort this week, I have managed to catch up quite a bit. I am only one book behind schedule! Of course, three of my reads this past month were short stories and one was a graphic novel. But since I have a number of ongoing chunky reads, I don't feel one bit guilty!

Ongoing reads being
1. Moby-Dick or, the Whale
2. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
and just added
3. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Up-coming book club reads for May will be
READ 4. Behold the Dreamers
READ 5. The Lager Queen of Minnesota
I don't need anything new for A Good Yarn, so perhaps I can catch up on
READ 6. A Brush With Death

Currently reading
DNF 7. Here We Go Again: My Life in Television

Will try and finish
READ 8. Awayland - the last of my A titles not counting Ahab's Wife...

Debating whether or not I want to reread
9. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
before diving into
10. The Book Woman's Daughter

And I'm sure some other random reads will claim my attention by mid-May, so I'll post another update then.

#18 Behind the Scenes with Burt: A Breaking Cat News Adventure
5 blue stars

Even though this contains a number of redone strips from the first book, Georgia's style has changed a lot from the "old" days, (i.e. before newspapers). I liked the framing of going behind the scenes with Burt. The "Our IX Lives" Christmas special was a bit underwhelming, and it was a little hard to follow. Hey, I know! Georgia should do a whole book just on Our IX Lives! Loved the paperdolls, and if I were younger, I just might copy them onto tagboard and cut them out to play with. Laughter is the best medicine and this gave me a very pleasant hour away from the real world.

Description: It’s big changes for the kitties at BCN! Burt is bringing this news station up a notch. Join Burt behind the scenes as he updates some of our favorite broadcasts from the past, with better imagery and brand new footage! Including a trip to the vet, exploring the cupboards, hordes of trick or treaters, the action packed "Our IX Lives" Christmas special, and Puck daring to believe in the elusive, mythical Mailman. This book welcomes some of the first BCN newspaper strips as Breaking Cat News made the jump from web to newsprint! Enjoy classic strips with beautiful updated artwork and never before seen broadcasts! Includes a “More to Explore” section with paper dolls and a real-life behind the scenes peek into when BCN first rolled out in newspapers.

Cumulative pages: 4,766

#17 Winter's Bite

3 green stars, only because it left me wanting more. If this is meant to be a teaser then it served its purpose. It really is much too short, so I can't say anything other than I liked the writing. I do not think it is a prequel to anything. I did not read the "bonus" 5 chapters of book:A Heart in Sun and Shadow|10714047, which really made up the bulk of this ebook, but I will be adding it to my TBR, because it is set in "a Cymru that never was".

Description: Many years ago, Ysabon made her living by the sword as a skilled mercenary. Now she lives in Westedge with her brother's children, tending to the animals and afraid of dying old and useless. When a horrible winter storm drives monsters down from the mountains, Ysabon can save her family and her village if only she can find the strength and take up the sword for a final battle.

Cumulative pages: 4,574

#16 Aunt Bessie Assumes
3.5 pink stars

3.5 pink stars. First of a cozy mystery series set on the Isle of Man. The author is American, but lived on the Isle of Man for about 10 years. Aunt Bessie is quite likeable. She likes her routine, and her murder mysteries, she knows all the locals and is best friends with Doona, who works at the police station. Aunt Bessie is also keen on local history, and I hope that future books will tell us more about her "research." She apparently is something of a local authority, writing a book and giving lectures. That doesn't really have any bearing on the story, except that it establishes that she knows and is known by a lot of people. Aunt Bessie is coy about her age, but if I had to guess, I would say somewhere around 75. Not too young, but not too old either. The plot was not bad for a first of series. The glue, I think, is going to be the relationships between Bessie, Doona, the young constable Hugh, and Inspector Rockwell, who is from "across", but by the end of the book is one of those who is there to stay. The author has several other series. In fact Aunt Bessie (deceased) is introduced in one of her romance novels Island Inheritance. I'm not much of a romance reader, but that one is going straight onto my TBR. Aunt Bessie is probably not the only character that crosses over between series.

Cumulative pages: 4,520

#15 The Hound of the Baskervilles Alma Classics (not the right cover shown)
4 red stars

I probably have read Sherlock Holmes before, but long enough ago that I really don't remember. Certainly I am familiar with the canon through movies. This is the 3rd of 4 novels about Sherlock Holmes that Conan Doyle made famous in his short stories. As described below, this edition is aimed at younger readers and contains some added material, including "Legends of Wild Beasts in Britain." I would have liked a few pictures, perhaps some photos of Dartmoor. The style takes a little getting used to, but I do think it is quite accessible to younger readers. I was pleasantly surprised at the vivid descriptions of everything, especially the moor. Here is an example:

"Every minute that white woolly plain which covered one half of the moor was drifting closer and closer to the house. Already the first thin wisps of it were curling across the golden square of the lighted window. The farther wall of the orchard was already invisible, and the trees were standing out of a swirl of white vapour. As we watched it, the fog wreaths came crawling round both corners of the house and rolled slowly into one dense bank, on which the upper floor and the roof floated like a strange ship upon a shadowy sea."

Marvelously atmospheric. The first part of the story dragged a bit, but once we get into it, it unfolds a bit like peeling an onion, revealing the truth bit by bit. Of course, Sherlock Holmes makes it all seem so obvious in the end. Part of the charm is the relationship between Holmes and Watson. I just might have to read more of these.

Description: When the corpse of Sir Charles Baskerville is found on the grounds of his Dartmoor estate next to a mysterious animal footprint, thoughts turn to a fabled family curse: that of a hellhound set out to avenge a crime committed by one of Sir Charles's ancestors. As the only surviving heir of the Baskervilles is terrified for his safety, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are called in to investigate. The most famous novel in Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes cycle, The Hound of the Baskervilles is a masterpiece of terror, suspense and mystery which has enthralled readers young and old since it was first published in 1902.

ABOUT THE SERIES: Alma Junior Classics series of illustrated classics includes some of the greatest books ever written for younger readers and new translations of unjustly neglected international works. Our aim is to give our list an international feel and offer young readers to opportunity to connect with other cultures and literatures – this applies not only to the titles we chose but also to the illustrators we commission – so that we can bring a bit of novelty into the canon of British children’s literature. All children’s classics contain extra material for young readers, including a profile of the author, a section on the book, a list of characters, a glossary and a test-yourself quiz.

Cumulative pages: 4,306

#14 Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
5 purple stars

This is an impressive and important book that I think everybody needs to read. (Everybody "white" that is...) I certainly learned a great deal. Be warned, that parts of the book are disturbing and gruesome. The links between America, Nazi Germany, and India are interesting, but I'm not convinced that "caste" is the right distinction to make. Where is South Africa and the practice of Apartheid in this discussion? Humans have ALWAYS created social hierarchies, whether based on race, class, gender, wealth, or something else. Racial inequality and oppression is a sad fact of 400 years of American history. Nevertheless, a Black American became President of the United States in 2008. And was elected to a second term. Blacks and whites intermarry. White people make up the majority of those in poverty in this country. I could think of other examples that are inconsistent with a true caste system. But labels aside, whether you want to call it caste or something else, prejudice exists. Inequality exists. Humans have perpetrated a sickening litany of cruelty, injustice, and oppression, all in the pursuit of power and wealth. The point the author makes about how such a system hurts the health of society in general is valid. Now, what do we do about it?

Cumulative pages: 4,050