Connie ’s Comments (group member since Nov 11, 2013)

Connie ’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

20.8 Texas

These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 by Nancy E. Turner

Pg 52 "He is a big boy and didn't want me to hug him, but he didn't mind at all if I made him a little sweet cake at dinner tonight."

I loved reading the fictional diary of pioneer Sarah Prine, partly based on the life of author Nancy E Turner's great-grandmother. Sarah is only 18 years old when her family travels by wagon to Arizona. It's a dangerous trip through Indian territory, guarded by Captain Jack Elliot and his soldiers. After her family settles in Arizona, Sarah marries a friend in what would prove to be a short, unhappy marriage before his death. Sparks would fly when she sees Captain Jack again. The story of their warm, loving relationship and the challenges of living in Arizona Territory fill the rest of Sarah's diary. The early diary entries show misspelled words and poor grammar. But Sarah finds some boxes of books in an abandoned wagon, and her writing improves quickly as she develops a lifelong love of reading and learning.

Sarah is a spitfire--courageous, hardworking, devoted to her family, a smart businesswoman who also knows how to handle a gun. Sarah worries about Jack as he goes off on his assignments with the Army, but they share a genuine love when he returns. The hardships of frontier life are tempered by Jack's teasing and other humorous moments. This was a wonderfully written book about the West in the late 19th Century. I was on an emotional roller coaster as Sarah experienced the joys and sorrows of being a high-spirited pioneer woman.

+ 20 task (author born in Texas)
+10 combo 10.4 Name; 20.9 Birthday
+10 review

Task total: 40
Seasonal total: 295

20.9 Birthday

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

Pg 359 "The young crow cocked his head, beady black eye looking first at the cake and then at her face, back and forth. She'd been trying to train him to take food from her hand, even though she knew she shouldn't."

"The Book of Form and Emptiness" is an unusual, imaginative story about Benny Oh and his mother, Annabelle, whose lives were upended by grief. Benny's father, Kenji, was a Korean-Japanese jazz musician who was run over by a truck. Traumatized by his father's death, Benny begins to hear voices coming from nonliving objects. His mother, who works for a news service clipping topical stories from newspapers and online sources for clients, is filling their apartment with trash bags of clippings. Annabelle is overwhelmed by the loss of Kenji, and searches for cute collectibles at the thrift store in an effort to feel better. Annabelle is turning into a hoarder, and Benny is surrounded by voices coming from all the clutter.

Eventually Benny is diagnosed as having a mental health disorder. The library becomes a refuge for Benny where he can quiet the voices, and associate with others on the edge of society. One begins to wonder where the boundary exists between a creative, questioning mind and mental illness in some of the neurodiverse characters who are also dealing with poverty and other issues. Annabelle is influenced by a small book written with a Zen attitude toward consumerism and tidying up clutter.

Ruth Ozeki packs a lot of ideas and issues into this tale--love, grief, healing, mental illness, poverty, consumerism, the importance of books and libraries, art, Zen philosophy, the environment, politics, and the nature of reality. Since the book combines magical realism with reality, it's best not to overanalyze the story and just enjoy Ruth Ozeki's original storytelling.

+20 task
+10 combo 10.2 Easter (the, and, emptiness); 10.4 Name
+10 review

Task total: 40
Season total: 250

10.8 Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished

A Boy in Winter by Rachel Seiffert

It's 1941 in a small Ukrainian town, and the Russian army has been burning farms as they retreated. The Ukrainians are hoping for better treatment from the Germans who are invading. However, the Germans round up the Jews into an old factory building. Thirteen-year-old Jewish Yankel decides he does not trust the German soldiers, and runs away with his younger brother on his back. A farm girl, Yasia, shelters and feeds the two boys for the night, putting herself in danger so she must also flee. Meanwhile, a German civil engineer, who is building a road through the marshes, is facing a moral dilemma. He thought he could stay away from the Nazi mission by only doing his road building, but that proved impossible.

Rachel Seiffert writes with lovely spare prose. While there is terror and darkness in this book, kindness and compassion are also demonstrated. There is also the sense that people can be backed into "no-win" situations, even if they are courageous, in the presence of deep evil. "A Boy in Winter" shows people making moral choices in terrible circumstances. The mental picture of Yankel carrying his little brother on his back for days, determined that they would survive, will remain with me. This was a timely read since the world has been watching the people of Ukraine carrying their loved ones to safety from a new terror during the last month.

+10 task
+ 5 combo 20.3 Small Town
+10 review

Task total: 25
Season total: 210

10.4 Name

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

This is a YA book, 620 Lexile. I'm including my review because I enjoyed it as an adult, and know I would have loved it when I was a teen too.

Daniel, an 18-year-old Texan and aspiring photojournalist, is visiting Madrid with his family in 1957. Spain is under the steel grip of Francisco Franco's dictatorship. Daniel's father, an oil executive, is working out a business deal with Franco. Daniel meets Ana, a hotel worker at the Castellana Hilton, and comes to realize that things are not what they first appear to be in the fascist country. Like his photos, there is much under the surface. Ana's parents were left-wing Republicans during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. The children of Franco's enemies are now paying for their parents' "sins," and live with fear.

The book is written in short, fast-paced chapters with historical quotes from letters and articles between chapters. In addition to the main story (which includes a love story), there is a storyline about corruption in adoption agencies, and another about a disadvantaged young man training in secret to become a bullfighter. By setting some chapters at the Hilton, and others in an impoverished village, the contrast between the privileged and disadvantaged is accentuated. The beauty of sun-filled Madrid is contrasted with the chill of blood spilling from bullfighting and the attacks by the Guardia Civil.

Ruta Sepetys writes "crossover fiction" that can be enjoyed by both teens and adults. The book emphasized the effects of the Spanish Civil War and the fascist government on the children and teens that were born after the conflict. The characters were engaging, and photojournalism was an effective way of revealing the repression of the Franco regime. The viewpoints of Daniel's mentors, references to the famous photojournalist Robert Capa, and Ana's perspective all brought depth to the interpretation of the photos. This is the second book I've read by this author, and I found them both to be informative and interesting.

Task total: 10
Season total: 185

15.6 Central Asia (Kazakhstan)

Apples Are from Kazakhstan: The Land That Disappeared by Christopher Robbins

Christopher Robbin's travelogue about Kazakhstan is an engaging look at the large former Soviet state bordering the powerful countries of Russia and China. The population is composed of the formerly nomadic Kazakhs, Russians, Chechens, Germans, and others. Robbins tells us about famous people being exiled and imprisoned in remote Kazakhstan--Trotsky, Dostoevsky, and Solzhenitsyn--as he describes the various regions of the country. He also notes the extreme weather of hot summers and dangerously frigid winters.

The author was fortunate to have access to Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazabayev who offered comments about the country under Soviet control, and the independent nation it became. They traveled to the Aral Sea which has shrunk into a small salty sea after its waters were used for an irrigation project by the Soviets. Nazarbayev also took Robbins to visit the toxic area where nuclear bombs were tested by the Soviets. Kazakhstan has great stores of oil and minerals, and President Nazarbayev helped bring modern industry to the country. Kazakhstan is putting up modern buildings, but old Soviet-style construction is still present in many cities. While the information provided by President Nazarbayev was interesting and offered some rare opportunities to the author, the reader should be aware that the politician has been accused of corruption.

As the title suggests, Kazakhstan is the birthplace of apples and the author visited orchards growing the native variety which is no longer popular. Robbins loved the beautiful open spaces, the mountains, and the resilient spirit of the Kazakhs. The book combines humorous incidents with solid research and serious topics to form a fascinating travel book.

+15 task
+20 project bonus
+10 review

Task total: 45
Season total: 175

I read Lonesome Dove last year, and it was the first book I thought of when I read the task. Lots of horse thieves and cattle thieves! I loved the book! It's up to the mods, of course.

I set up shelves for books to be read in each separate month. I put my books for my library book clubs, group reads for my GR groups, advance reader copies, and any other "must read" books for the month. I include where I can get a copy of the book in the "notes" section.

Same here!

Thank you, Elizabeth.

15.7 East Asia

A Quiet Place by Seichō Matsumoto

Tsuneo Asai is an efficient section chief in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry whose life revolves around his job. He's on a business trip when he gets a phone call that his wife died of a heart attack. She had a known heart condition so the cause of death was not a surprise. But his shy wife climbed a steep hill before collapsing inside a cosmetic shop in a neighborhood that she had never mentioned to her husband. What was she doing in that sketchy neighborhood? Tsuneo has questions about her death, and investigates the people in the neighborhood in his search for the truth.

This is a psychological suspense mystery that starts out slowly and builds in tension to a clever ending. The story also illustrates the large role that Japanese social norms and obligations play in everyday life. The book has many interesting characters, including Tsuneo who becomes more and more paranoid. "A Quiet Place" is a quick read, and left me wanting to sample more of Seicho Matsumoto's work.

+15 task (Japan)
+10 review
+10 non-Western
+ 5 oldie

Task total: 40
Season total: 130

I read A Quiet Place by Seichō Matsumoto. Goodreads has it first published in 1971, but the book lists 1975 as the date first published in Japanese as "Kikanakatta Basho." The copyright date in the book is 1975. I checked "Kikanakatta Basho" on World Cat and they list 1976.

I want to use the correct date for my mystery challenge. My best guess is 1975, but you may have a better source.

10.9 Dual

The Glorious Guinness Girls by Emily Hourican

The Main Timeline: 1018-1930
Second Timeline: 1978

Cake: Pg 178 "I watch from the side of the ballroom, secretly agreeing with Maureen: a giant white cake, topped with 181 candles. It is absurd."

Aileen, Maureen, and Oonagh Guiness were the daughters of Ernest Guiness, the wealthy owner of the famous Dublin brewery. Fliss, a fictional distant relative, is sent to live with the Guiness family after the death of her father in World War I. She's a companion to the three Guiness girls and their mother. Fliss is not really part of the family, but often shares their glamorous lifestyle. The political situation in 1920s Ireland is volatile. Her brother becomes involved in the unrest, then disappears, leaving Fliss hoping that he is hiding and alive.

When the girls are older adolescents, they move to London to be presented to society and make good marriages. Aileen follows tradition, attending the debutante parties and dances. Maureen and Oonagh become more involved with a legendary group that throws outrageous parties in the Roaring 20s night after night. The group was nicknamed the Bright Young Things by the gossip columnists. Fliss does not really feel that she fits in with them, and wants to go in another direction. Women had more opportunities for a career in the 1920s.

This was an enjoyable book with many historic details, but a few too many descriptions of the parties in the second half of the book. Fliss called it "this endless ragtag party, a kind of sea serpent with many coils, that pops up now in Belgravia, now in Chelsea, now at the weekend homes of various friends, but is always somehow the same party. The same people, the same excitement, the same antics." The glorious Guiness girls led glamorous lives, but the rich and famous are subject to their own set of expectations and social pressures.

+10 task
+10 combo 10.4 Name; 20.9 Birthday
+10 review

Task total: 30
Season total: 90

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Donna Leon does, indeed, qualify for this task. She now lives in Switzerland, has 2 homes there, and in 2020 she became a Swiss citizen."

Wow, she's a busy woman moving among all those homes! Thanks for the updated information.

Regarding Donna Leon, I read that she doesn't allow her books to be translated into Italian because she wants to be treated like any other Venetian. She doesn't want her friends and neighbors to be wondering if her characters are based on real life--which would change her relationships with them. I think she considers Venice her home now. But that beautiful city will certainly be impacted by global warming.

20.9 Birthday

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

Pg 19: "We had food for days: fried chicken, baked chicken, macaroni and cheese, greens, deviled eggs, potato salad, black-eyed peas and rice, pound cake."

Deesha Philyaw has written a collection of nine short stories about Southern black women whose desires often conflict with traditional church teachings. There are often several generations of women in her stories with some offering love and support, but others have been ground down emotionally by hardship and the absent men in their lives. Several stories feature women full of guilt because their church and their mothers would not approve of their sexual orientation.

My favorite story is "Peach Cobbler" about an emotionally neglected young daughter who watches her mother make peach cobbler for the married church pastor every Monday. The mother disappears into the bedroom with him before he leaves. Another story, featuring the same daughter as an adult woman, is titled "Instructions for Married Christian Husbands."

Almost every story has mentions of food--the basic TV dinner, platters of food for a funeral, and hearty comfort food made from scratch. A story about a heavy woman with body image problems is also part of the collection.

Deesha Philyaw is a talented writer who shows the conflict between what black women secretly want, and what their churches and society demand from them. Relationships between mothers and daughters are especially important in these short stories.

+20 task
+10 review

Task total: 30
Season total: 60

10.9 Easter

The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore

"The Woman They Could Not Silence" is a riveting tale about Elizabeth Packard who was committed to the Jaacksonville Insane Asylum in 1860 by her husband. Elizabeth was a wife and mother of six children who upset her pastor husband when she revealed her more liberal religious views during Bible study classes. Theophilus Packard was told to quiet his wife by the conservative trustees in his church. Her controlling husband felt threatened by his intelligent, articulate, and charismatic wife. Female mental illness at that time included having a strong will, unusual zealousness, incessant talking, or expressing disappointment about a situation. Married women had no legal recourse if their husband wanted to commit them.

Elizabeth spent three years locked away in the asylum. She witnessed other sane individuals in the same circumstances. Patients were physically abused by the staff, and lived in filthy surroundings. She wrote about her observations and hid her writings in the linings of her clothes. The doctor at the asylum talked to her to gather information to discredit her, but had no type of treatment plan.

Elizabeth was eventually released, but she had to work to clear her name since her husband later imprisoned her in their home. She went on to campaign tirelessly for the release of other sane patients, for better conditions for the mentally ill, and for women's rights. She lobbied legislators to change the 19th Century laws that were used to unfairly control women. Although it is a nonfiction book, Elizabeth Packard's story reads like a legal thriller in some places as her husband and her doctor tried to silence her. It's both heartbreaking and an inspiration to read about this remarkable woman.

+10 task (The, They, Silence)
+ 5 combo 10.4 Name (Kate)
+ 5 jumbo (540 pages)
+10 review

Task total: 30
Season total: 30

Congratulations to Mary on winning the gift certificate to Amazon!

CiV 15.1

The High House by Jessie Greengrass

G-H, 261-300 pages, 2008-2022

Task total: 15
Season total: 610

20.8 Dead Sea

The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.7 Genre-Rich (Historical Fiction and Cultural>African-American)

Task total: 25
Season total: 595

“Read a book with a title consisting of at least three words, in which the initials can each be found in which holiday?”

Elizabeth, I'm not sure if I understand the task. Does it mean that you can have a title with ten words, but only three words in the title have to start with the letters of the holiday word? Also, we can reuse the letters of the holiday word so you are only using 2 letters in "Soldiers of Salamis." Maybe the task could be written up with all the details in one place so we don't get confused.