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from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 781-800 of 1,905
10.9 Autumn LeavesThe Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian
Wine: pg 23 "Talia went to the credenza against the wall and brought an open bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and a glass to her."
Alexis met Austin when she treated him for a bullet wound in the emergency room, and they soon became a couple. Austin worked at the same New York City hospital as a fundraiser. Austin, an avid biker, asked Alexis to go with him on a bike tour in Vietnam where he wanted to visit some sites where his father and his uncle had served during the war. He went off alone one day on his bike to honor his relatives, but never returned to the resort where the bike tour was staying. Alexis and the tour guides saw some energy gels by the side of the road, but found no signs of Austin or his bike that afternoon.
As Alexis looks for the truth about what happened to Austin, the plot goes back and forth from Vietnam to New York City. She hires a private investigator to help unravel the mystery of what Austin was really doing in Vietnam. Unsavory characters are connected with a deadly agent. Should she be grieving for her boyfriend, feeling angry that he deceived her about his plans in Vietnam, or both? Alexis does not know who she can trust, and tensions are high.
This mystery/thriller also shows the terrible effects of Agent Orange which was used during the war in Vietnam. "The Red Lotus" is a good read for the pandemic. However, it's best to go into this suspenseful page turner without knowing too much about the plot in advance.
+10 task
+25 combo 10.4 Pilgrim; 10.8 Jetsetter (NY, NJ, Vietnam); 20.2 Journalist; 20.3 Prolific; 20.5 Wine
+10 review
Task total: 45
Season total: 885
10.7 Non-fictionFurious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Wine (sauterne) Pg 186 "Mrs Dewey plied them with avocado salad, country-fried steak, shrimp, sauterne, and a Cajun dish with rice and navy beans and bacon."
Scrabble: FHMFATLTOHLCC Word: HOT
Reverend Willie Maxwell was allegedly the serial killer of five family members, but there was not enough evidence to convict him. Autopsy results were inconclusive. But he profited from each death since he took out multiple life insurance policies on each victim. Finally a distraught cousin, Robert Burns, practiced vigilante justice and shot Maxwell at his family member's funeral.
Reverend Maxwell had been successfully represented by an excellent defense attorney, Tom Radley. In a strange twist of fate, the same attorney acted as the defense for Robert Burns, Maxwell's killer.
Author Harper Lee was fascinated by true crime ever since she helped Truman Capote with his research for his book "In Cold Blood." Lee attended the trial of Robert Burns, and did extensive research into the Maxwell case. She attempted to write a book about the Maxwell killings, but there was so much gossip and speculation about voodoo in the black community that she felt that she didn't have enough hard facts. Lee was also a perfectionist who felt pressure to produce another bestseller after the overwhelming success of her first book. Alcoholism and writer's block were also problems. We'll never know if Lee left a hidden manuscript about Maxwell somewhere, or if she destroyed all her attempts at a book.
Casey Cep's book covers the Maxwell case, Attorney Tom Radley's defenses, race relations and politics in Alabama, and Harper Lee's true crime investigation. I was impressed with Cep's lively writing especially when she was writing about the interesting Harper Lee.
+10 task
+20 combo 10.2 Scrabble; 10.8 Jetsetters (AL, NY, KS, England); 20.2 Journalist; 20.5 Wine
+10 review
+10 not a novel
Task total: 50
Season total: 845
20.1 AwardGod Help the Child by Toni Morrison
Wine: pg 9 "Around noon I opened a bottle of Pinot Grigio and sank into the sofa, its suede and silk cushions as comfy as any arms."
The theme of childhood traumatic events leaving lasting damage runs through "God Help the Child". The central figure in the book is Lulu who was rejected by her lighter skinned parents because her skin was "midnight black, Sudanese black". When she was young, Lulu makes a terrible mistake to get her mother's attention and approval. When Lulu becomes older, she works for a cosmetics firm and changes her name to Bride. The beautiful Bride embraces her dark blue-black skin, and accentuates it by always wearing white. Although she is successful in business, Bride seems like a superficial person. When her boyfriend, Booker, leaves her, she searches for him to find out the reason.
As she looks for Booker, she meets a young girl who was abused by her prostitute birth mother. She also learns of a violent event in Booker's family that haunts him. There is a bit of magical realism in the book as Bride examines her life, and feels like she is turning back into a young child physically.
The theme of childhood abuse--both emotional and physical--is an important subject to present. Toni Morrison came through with some beautiful writing as usual. Although I liked the book, I wished it was a bit longer so that the characters, especially Booker's Aunt Queen and Bride's mother, could have been seen with more depth.
+20 task
+10 combo 10.4 Pilgrim; 20.5 Wine
+10 review
Task total: 40
Season total: 795
10.1 Short WorksMy Own Collection
The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 31 pg, 1836
Haircut by Ring Lardner 32 pg, 1925
The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade by Edgar Allan Poe 33 pg, 1845
My Kinsman Major Molineux by Nathaniel Hawthorne 34 pg, 1831
+10 task
+10 oldie
+10 not a novel
Task total: 30
Season total: 755
10.6 BannedThe Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 920 Lexile
Scrabble: TBETM Word: MET
Set in 1941 in Toni Morrison's hometown in Ohio, "The Bluest Eye" tells about black girls surrounded by an Anglo white version of beauty and culture. There are references to the Dick and Jane series of reading books which show an idealized happy white family with no black faces in the books. Black girls were given white, blond, blue-eyed dolls as presents. Shirley Temple represented childhood beauty. This also influenced how black girls treated each other, and made them feel inferior.
Pecola Breedlove is a sensitive black girl with little self-confidence who lives in a dysfunctional family. She wishes for blue eyes to make her beautiful and loved. Her story is partly narrated by Claudia MacTeer, an emotionally strong girl from a nurturing black family. The poor black girls feel the effect of sexism, racism, and comparison to an idealized white middle class. There's lots of food for thought in "The Bluest Eye." The book has often been on banned book lists for its topics of incest, pedophilia, and racism.
+10 task (#132 on list)
+15 combo 10.2 Scrabble; 10.8 Jetsetters (Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, West Indies); 20.1 Award
+ 5 oldie (pub 1970)
+10 review
Task total: 40
Season total: 720
20.7 P.I.Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Scrabble: DIABDWM Word: BAD
Ezekeil "Easy" Rawlins is an African American worker at an aircraft plant who has just been fired. He needs to pay the mortgage so he takes a job as a private investigator for a smooth white guy. He wants to locate femme fatale Daphne Monet who is fond of Easy's favorite jazz club. Easy has no idea that this job will pull him into Los Angeles' underworld, and eventually into a new career.
In addition to being an exciting mystery with snappy dialogue, the book also shows the state of race relations in 1948. Easy grew up in Houston, and fought during World War II when the army remained segregated for most of the war. He avoids police intervention in the case since he's afraid of being framed for the violent crimes he's investigating. Easy Rawlins is a likable character who demands respect as he tries to make ends meet in a tough city.
+20 task
+20 combo 10.2 Scrabble; 10.5 Monster Redux; 10.8 (California, Texas, Louisiana, Germany); 20.3 Prolific
+10 review
+ 5 oldie (pub 1990)
Task total: 55
Season total: 630
10.5 Monster ReduxGhosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella
Scrabble: GOHFS Word: FOG
Wine: pg 172 " Her mother lifted a glass of champagne off a passing silver tray."
Cady Archer is emotionally haunted by the suicide of her schizophrenic brother, Eric. She and her parents each carry a sense of guilt that they did not do enough to save him during his last year of life as a Harvard student. When Cady enters Harvard in her freshman year, she carries Eric's notebook of coded messages which he wrote while he was struggling with his mental illness.
Cady begins to hear voices of ghosts from Harvard's history. Is she also developing the same mental illness, or are the ghosts trying to contact her for another reason? She has trouble keeping up with Harvard's intensive courses because she's spending so much time talking to Eric's friends and mentor as she looks for the truth. The cryptic writings in Eric's notebook point to complications in his life that his family could never have imagined.
"Ghosts of Harvard" is a suspenseful mystery, as well as a coming-of-age story. The ghosts help Cady understand that none of us can rewrite history in other people's lives. The book has a good sense of place since author Francesca Serritella is a Harvard graduate. 3.5 stars.
+10 task
+20 combo 10.2 Scrabble; 10.4 Pilgrim; 10.8 Jetsetter (MA, PA, NY); 20.5 Wine
+10 review
Task total: 40
Season total: 625
20.5 WineAmerican Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Wine: Pg 35 "Lydia cringed and took a gulp of wine."
Scrabble: ADJC Word: CAD
"American Dirt" is a riveting read about survival and a mother's love as a Mexican mother and her precocious eight-year-old son travel north to escape a narcotics cartel. The cartel had just murdered the rest of her family after her journalist husband wrote an article about "el jefe." How do you travel when the cartels control the roads? Migrants are raped or "disappeared" if they cannot pay the cartels. The trains closest to the United States border are only cargo trains, so the migrants must risk their lives riding on top of the railroad cars. They band with two Honduran sisters and help each other through the journey. Coyotes lead the migrants on a harrowing trek at the border. The danger and suspense starts on the first sentence, and never lets up.
There has been controversy with some people thinking that a non-Latinx should not be writing the story about forced migrations in Latin America. The book is written in an American voice. But fictional books are constantly being written by authors about places, events, and eras other than something they personally experienced. It would be wonderful if publishers published and promoted more writers from Latin America. But it seems unfair to verbally attack the author when the critics should be lobbying the publishers for more diversity. While there are certainly many more migration stories that should be told, "American Dirt" is a page-turner that has plenty of food for thought.
+20 task
+10 combo 10.2 Scrabble, 10.8 Jet Setters (Honduras, Mexico, Arizona, Delaware)
+10 review
Task total: 40
Season total: 585
20.5 WinePew by Catherine Lacey
Wine: pg 48 "Hilda, can I get you a glass of white wine?"
In a small Southern town, the congregation arrives at church to find a stranger sleeping on a pew. The person will not speak to them, and their gender, race, and age are ambiguous. The visitor is nicknamed Pew and spends the next week being cared for by the townspeople.
People tend to fill the silences when confronted with a person who remains silent, and Pew often acts as a confessor as they open up about their pasts. The people don't know what to do with someone who is so different since Pew does not fit into any category, and they fear the unknown. We learn about the townspeople by how they treat Pew.
The week leads up to the big event in town, the Forgiveness Festival, which has the feeling of a religious cult. It is interesting that people living in the black side of town refuse to attend. People are forgiven for their transgressions during the Day of Forgiveness. But one has to wonder if their victims forget, especially since there have been serious incidents in town in the past. Chilling revelations about collective guilt come out during the festival.
The introspective story is prefaced by a quote from "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." This adds to the philosophical mysteries surrounding the town and its unusual visitor. The reader will wonder about Pew's identity. Is Pew a messiah? A scapegoat? An angel? An alien? A lost soul? I'm glad it remains a mystery for us to ponder.
+20 task
+10 combo 10.3 Single; 10.4 Pilgrim
+10 review
Task total: 40
Season total: 545
20.4 SimilarDear Edward by Ann Napolitano
Scrabble: DEAN Word: DEAN
Wine: pg 37 "Florida drank wine and shook her ass. . ."
"Dear Edward" is a compelling story about the need for human connection following a great loss. Edward Adler, his brother Jordan, and their parents were moving to California where their mother has a new job opportunity. They board a full plane in New York, but the plane crashes in Colorado with Edward as the lone survivor.
Twelve-year-old Edward is taken in by his aunt and uncle, but he is emotionally disconnected from everyone but Shay, the girl next door. Edward misses his family terribly, especially Jordan. The siblings were very close, and had spent most of their time together while they were home-schooled by their father. Edward has both physical and emotional damage. He also has to deal with being a survivor, the Miracle Boy.
Alternating chapters tell about the people and events in the plane before the crash. The other passengers are a fascinating group of people, all with interesting backstories. These chapters also provide emotional relief from the heartbreak that Edward faces after the crash. Later, Edward receives letters from some of the victims' families. They feel the need to connect with the last person to see their loved ones alive. They are all facing a great loss, and feeling very alone.
This was a wonderful book with characters the reader can care about. Although parts of the book are very sad, the moving story shows the healing power of love and a sense of hope for a better future.
+20 task
+15 combo 10.2 Scrabble; 10.8 Jet Setter (NY, NJ, CA, CO); 20.5 Wine
+10 review
Task total: 45
Season total: 505
10.3 SingleMischief by Charlotte Armstrong
Scrabble: MCA Word: CAM
When their sitter backs out at the last minute, a couple hires the niece of the hotel operator for the evening. They were going to attend an important dinner where the husband was to be the speaker and guest of honor. The wife felt uneasy about leaving their nine-year-old daughter with the sitter who seemed a bit strange. However, she felt that she should be with her husband while he was being honored. By the end of the evening, the wife wished she had followed her maternal instincts.
The book was written in 1950 so it seems rather dated and "cutsie" in the beginning. A visitor comes to the hotel room later, the abnormal actions of the sitter are seen through his eyes, and the suspense builds. The movie "Don't Bother to Knock", starring Marilyn Monroe as the sitter, was based on this book. A modern mystery/thriller might have been more intense, but it was interesting to read a classic mystery for a change of pace.
+10 task
+15 combo 10.2 Scrabble; 10.4 Pilgrim; 20.3 Prolific (29 novels per GR author page)
+10 review
+ 5 oldie (pub 1950)
Task total: 40
Season total: 460
20.2 JournalistPale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter
Scrabble: PHPRKAP Word: RAP
Wine: pg 7 "[She] called out 'Good-by, good-by,' and refused her cloak, and said, 'Give me a glass of wine.' And none of us saw her alive again."
The three short novels in the book "Pale Horse, Pale Rider" have common themes of mortality and death. The title comes from the Book of Revelation 6:8 where Death was the rider on a pale horse (one of the Four Horsemen of the Apoocalypse.)
The semi-autobiographical title story features a journalist, Miranda, and a soldier, Adam, in the days leading up to his deployment during World War I. The influenza epidemic of 1918 is hitting Denver, and Miranda contracts the disease. She experiences nightmares, fevers, and periods of delirium as she fights the illness. Death, the pale rider, had numerous victims from both the war and influenza at that time.
"Old Mortality" is about the discrepancies between the family legends that are told about a romantic couple, and the reality of the situation. Miranda also appears in this story as an impressionable young girl, and later as a wiser, married, eighteen-year-old woman.
"Noon Wine" is set on a dairy farm in Texas in the 1890s. Royal Earle Thompson's farm is unproductive until he hires a Swede, Olaf Helton. Helton is a responsible man with a strong work ethic who turns the farm around. But he is very odd and silent, and spends his free time playing the same songs repeatedly on his harmonica. Then a stranger comes to the farm looking for Helton, and sets a tragic sequence of events in motion.
All three short novels are very well-written. As I was reading, I was thinking what a great stage play "Noon Wine" could be, and later learned that it was made into a TV film. It was very poignant reading about the influenza epidemic in "Pale Horse, Pale Rider" while we are in the midst of the Covid pandemic.
+20 task (approved)
+20 combo 10.2 Scrabble; 10.4 Pilgrim; 10.8 Jet Setter (LA, TX, ND, CO); 20.5 Wine
+10 review
+10 oldie (pub 1939)
Task total: 60
Season total: 420
Could you please approve Katherine Anne Porter ? Her GR page and Wikipedia list her as a journalist.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katheri...
20.1 AwardThe Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama
Scrabble: TCOAGT Word: COAT
"Like this island, I'm already remaking myself. Look and you will find me everywhere, in the rocks, in the water, in the color of the air."
-Mariko's Ghost Voice
The 1935 eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano on Hawaii's Big Island is the backdrop for the return of Daniel Abe to the village of Hilo. Daniel had become a physician in Chicago, but he now has doubts about his career. Japanese immigrants came to the island to work on the sugar plantations and fish, and formed a close community where they helped each other like a family.
The author writes beautifully about Hawaii's natural world--the fragrance of ripe mangoes, the lush vegetation, the gorgeous beaches, the sulfurous smell and rumblings of the volcano, and the hot molten lava. But the island also has workers doing backbreaking work cutting cane in the hot sun for little pay, bothered by insects, snakes, and tough bosses.
The story revolves around David, his deceased mother Mariko, his father who left them, and his Uncle Koji. Mariko was the only woman that Koji ever loved, and the kind man acted as a second father to Daniel. When Daniel returns home, secrets are revealed about his family and close friends.
The people of Hilo are hard working and compassionate with every generation helping others in their large community. Flashbacks and the ghost voices of the deceased show us the bonds that were first established in the early 20th Century. "The Color of Air" is a lovely story with characters to care about. Readers will be hoping that the fire goddess Pele spares Hilo from the rivers of lava.
+20 task
+10 combo 10.2 Scrabble; 10.8 Jetsetter (Japan, Hawaii, Illinois)
+10 review
Task total: 40
Season total: 360
10.4 PilgrimThe Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
The lives of three women intersect as a deadly hurricane heads toward Key West, Florida in 1935. Mitza Perez's family had great losses during the Cuban Revolution of 1933, and she was on her honeymoon after an arranged marriage to a wealthy man. Times are hard for the families of Americans Helen Berner and Elizabeth Preston during the Great Depression.
As the powerful hurricane approaches the Keys, pregnant Helen has an opportunity to leave her abusive husband. Elizabeth is searching for a World War I veteran who is helping to build a railroad across the Keys, and is living in a flimsy tent in a work camp. Mitza has concerns that her new husband's business ventures involve some dangerous people. The tension builds as the hurricane draws nearer, and each woman has to trust someone she recently met.
Author Chanel Cleeton writes her novels with a good mix of historical events, love, and suspense. Although there were a few unlikely coincidences, the book is a real page-turner as the characters showed strength and courage during one of the worst hurricanes of the 20th Century.
Wine: pg 57 "I'm too nervous and tired to eat much, but Anthony had a crate of champagne sent down from New York, and he toasts our marriage in an extravagant fashion."
+10 task Last
+10 combo 10.8 Jet-Setter (Florida, New York, Cuba, Wash. DC); 20.5 Wine
+10 review
Task total: 30
Season total: 320
20.5 WineThe Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan
The three redheaded Sweeney sisters-Liza, Maggie, and Tricia-were devastated when their father died. William Sweeney was a complicated man, a well-known author, and a Yale professor. They held a big Irish wake to honor his memory. The next day they met with his lawyer, and the three women were shocked to learn that there was a fourth Sweeney sister who grew up in their neighborhood. On top of that, they cannot find their father's manuscript for his last book and he already spent the advance.
Family secrets, sibling rivalry, and sisterly love are themes in this story. The women are dealing with this new sibling relationship in a small coastal Connecticut town where news travels fast. There have been both pressures and perks associated with being the daughters of a difficult, but brilliant, literary icon with a taste for whiskey. "The Sweeney Sisters" is an entertaining book full of family drama. 3.5 stars.
Wine: pg 52 "Sure you don't want to skip the run and have some wine instead?" Maggie asked, pouring another splash into her glass.
+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.8 Jet Setter (CT, NY, CA, Washington DC)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 290
10.2 ScrabbleTime and Again by Jack Finney
Simon Morley, an artist working for an advertising agency, is bored with his job. When he is approached by a government agency to work on a secret project, he is intrigued by the idea of a new adventure. This project will take him from 1970 back to 1882 in New York City to unravel a mystery. His instructions are to limit interactions with other people to avoid changing the future. But that becomes difficult as he tries to protect Julia, a lovely young woman, from marrying a man who would make her life miserable.
The book takes a nostalgic look at New York City with very detailed descriptions of the buildings, people, entertainment, and the modes of transportation. Photographs and sketched illustrations of the Victorian era are beautiful, especially scenes of horse-drawn sleigh rides in Central Park. The book picks up its pace in the second half as Simon and Julia find themselves in several dangerous situations. The ending had an unexpected twist.
The sketches, supposedly made by Simon, helped transport the reader to another time and place. Simon's musings about history makes us realize that every era has its problems. Modern technology has fixed some problems, but created many new ones.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the publication of this classic. "Time and Again" is an enjoyable book full of adventure, mystery, romance, and history. Simon's sense of excitement and wonder when he was in 1882 New York was infectious, and I always loved picking up the book again.
Scrabble tiles: TAAGJF Word: FAT
Wine: pg 444 "Julia had a glass of wine, I had whiskey-and-soda, and Julia relaxed."
+10 task
+10 combo 10.8 Jet-Setter (New York, Montana, France, Colorado); 20.5 Wine
+10 review
+ 5 oldie pub 1970
Task total: 35
Season total: 255
20.2 JournalistOnce Upon a Time I Lived on Mars: Space, Exploration, and Life on Earth by Kate Greene
Kate Greene, a science journalist and physicist, and five other people spent four months living in a geodesic dome on the red, rocky slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. They were chosen to participate in a NASA-funded 2013 research project which simulated some of the challenges faced by astronauts in a Martian environment. The participants had to wear space suits if they ventured outside the dome. There was limited electricity and water in their tight quarters.
They were surveyed each day about the different types of astronaut food they ate, crew bonding, and their reactions to boredom, isolation, and delayed communication. Each crew member had special jobs to perform, and they all spent time doing chores in the dome. They also tested various types of clothing. Everyone had to exercise daily, although they found it led to increased carbon dioxide in the air.
The author wrote a series of essays with the research project as a jumping off point to information about the space program, and musings about her personal life. Although this book was written before the pandemic, the essays on boredom and isolation certainly had a ring of truth about them. Her disabled brother was confined to a hospital bed for a year which gave another view of the psychological effects of isolation.
Greene also writes about the amount of food needed on a long mission. The largest men need twice as many calories as the smallest women. Perhaps more small women and small men could be chosen for the long Mars mission someday. The human urge for exploration through the ages, private versus public-funded exploration, and space tourism were also interesting topics. She also tells about the emotional reactions of astronauts as they viewed Earth from space, and some dangerous situations they experienced on space walks.
The essays are based on themes, rather than chronological order. It sometimes seemed like the author jumped from one idea to another. However, her reflections fit the themes and provided lots of food for thought about space exploration and everyday life on planet Earth.
Scrabble: OUATILOMKG Word: LOT
+20 task approved
+10 combo 10.2 Scrabble; 10.8 Jet Setter (Hawaii, New York, Kansas, California, etc)
+10 not a novel (non-fiction, essays)
+10 review
Task total: 50
Season total: 215
20.3 ProlificRedhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler
"He slowed to a walk on the last stretch approaching York Road. He momentarily mistook the hydrant for a redhead and gave his usual shake of the shoulders at how repetitious this thought was, how repetitious all his thoughts were, how they ran in a deep rut and how his entire life ran in a rut, really."
Micah Mortimer does not see clearly without glasses. He also is unable to see clearly when emotional relationships are involved. Micah is exceptionally organized and sticks to the same daily routine. The forty-three year old man runs a computer help service called Tech Hermit, and does odd jobs around his apartment building in return for free rent. Micah, with his OCD tendencies, can't understand how his disorganized older sisters and their loving, boisterous families can live in such chaos. He has a woman friend, Cass, who is a warmhearted teacher. But Micah is forced to reevaluate how he emotionally responds to people when Cass ends the relationship. His routine is also disrupted when he gets a visit from the teenage son of an old college girlfriend.
Anne Tyler's novels always bring a smile to my face because they are heartwarming and humorous. The reader can recognize the strengths and weaknesses humans possess in her quirky characters. Micah may sometimes be emotionally clueless, but Anne Tyler has us pulling for him and hoping for a happy ending.
Scrabble: RBTSOTRAT Word BOAT
Wine: p.72 "Behind him came Ada, big-boned and brightly lipsticked beneath a frizz of dyed red hair, bearing a magnum of chardonnay."
+20 task (23 novels)
+25 combos 10.2 Scrabble; 10.4 PILGRIM; 10.9 Autumn Leaves approved; 20.1 Another Birthday? Born 1941; 20.5 Wine
+10 review
Task total: 55
Season total: 165
