Connie ’s
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(group member since Nov 11, 2013)
Connie ’s
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from the Reading with Style group.
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Nice article, Elizabeth.I've never read Zola, but he's on my list to read as I go through France, Karen Michele.
Here's a list of languages and the countries where they are spoken if you are looking to read globally:
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld...
I'm reading through the French provinces so I picked French for poll #3. I haven't looked yet, but there must be some Canadian women authors that wrote originally in French for a combo, as well as some Caribbean, African, and Vietnamese authors. Considering colonial history there are lots of opportunities to read globally in any of the language choices.
10.2 3,4, or 5The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion
After twenty-two years apart Adam Sharp gets an e-mail from a former lover. Their flirty e-mails become a regular thing so he's constantly thinking about his lost love. Two decades earlier, Adam had been an IT consultant in Australia playing a few tunes on the piano in a neighborhood bar. Angelina, a beautiful actress, joined him singing at the piano. That was the start of a three month affair before Adam had to fly away to the next consulting job.
Now Adam is living in his native England with his partner Claire in a comfortable relationship that has lost its sizzle. Angelina and her husband invite Adam to a week in France at their country home. Adam might have a second chance at love with Angelina, but there are Angelina's children to consider. The second part of the book did not seem very realistic, but there were some interesting thoughts about childhood, choices, commitment, marriage, personality traits, and lifestyles.
Although it was not as humorous as "The Rosie Project", Adam had a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor. Music, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, plays a big role in the story and the lyrics often show the feelings of the characters. The situation and the lyrics get the emotional idea across so there is no need to be familiar with the songs. There is a playlist at the end of the book. This is a book where I enjoyed the music and the cute romance in the first half, but felt that the second half had some kinky, surprising moments that didn't seem to fit with the beginning of the book. Adam seemed more like a man going through a midlife crisis than someone who was really emotionally committed to either woman.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 770
Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "10.2 3,4,or 5The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
Review
A couple goes to a party next door and leaves their baby at home. When they return from the party, the ba..."
Jayme, you wanted to know what was on the cover of the book. It's a woman's face in a black shadow or silhouette, surrounded by blond hair in the light. I had to stare at it for a minute, then the face stood out.
20.2 RebeccaThe Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is Agatha Christie's first published novel. It is set in a country house in Essex, England during World War I. The narrator, Arthur Hastings, is on sick leave from the military when he is invited to spend some time at Styles, the Cavendish manor, by an old school chum. Emily Cavendish, the widowed stepmother of John and Lawrence Cavendish, has recently remarried. Her new husband, Alfred Inglethorp, is a younger man that the family regards as a fortune hunter. In the middle of the night the family and servants at Styles are awakened by Emily who is dying. Poisoning is suspected so Hastings asks his friend Hercule Poirot to aid in the investigation of Emily's death. Many of the residents at Styles could benefit by Emily's death.
The reader is told the clues mostly through the conversations between Hastings and Poirot. Poirot has a fantastic mind and years of experience investigating crimes, so he leaves Hastings in the dust (much like Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson). The culprit is not obvious so it was entertaining to see Poirot in action. Poirot is a wonderful character, and it was fun to see where it all started. While it was not my favorite Agatha Christie mystery, it was impressive for a first novel.
+20 task
+15 combo 10.2, 10.3, 10.7
+10 review
Task total: 45
Grand total: 750
10.4 International Question DayThe Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
Rachel, the daughter of an African-American serviceman and a white Danish mother, had spent most of her early life on European military bases where she had never thought about her race. She survives a family tragedy where her mother and siblings die. Her alcoholic father is overseas and out of her life. Rachel gets sent to her paternal grandmother's house in Portland, Oregon. For the first time in her life Rachel must learn to "act black". But she does not fit in with her light brown skin and striking blue eyes.
The story is told from many points of view with flashbacks to the past. It's a coming of age story with an exploration of racial identity and racism. It's also a mystery about what actually happened on a ninth story roof to Rachel's mother and her three children--which is revealed in the final pages. Rachel cannot emotionally move on from that day on the roof. This is a well-written story that slowly reveals a troubled family, and the girl who is trying to survive. The story does not tie up in a neat bow, but there is a ray of hope.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 705
I've done various country challenges over the years, and have my TBR list arranged according to country/US state settings. That's part of the reason my list is so long--I keep adding books on for tiny countries that I might need someday for a challenge. It's a great way to discover new authors.
20.6 My Name Is RedLilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
When author Martha Hall Kelly toured the beautiful lilac and rose gardens at the Bellamy-Ferriday House in Connecticut, she had no idea that she would also learn about one of the most gruesome medical experiments designed by the Nazis. Caroline Ferriday came from a philanthropic family with connections to New York high society. She volunteered at the French consulate with a special interest in helping French orphans during the war. After World War II Caroline raised money and obtained medical help for a group of Polish women, survivors of Ravensbruck, a forced labor camp for women.
Kasia, a young member of the Resistance in Poland, was arrested and sent to Ravensbruck with her sister, her mother, and some friends. Kasia felt tremendous guilt that the SS officers had followed her to her family and friends. Dr Herta Oberhauser, a new surgeon, was assigned the task of carrying out the sulfonamide experiments on healthy Polish women. To simulate a war wound, one leg would be mutilated by breaking bones, tearing muscles, and adding various bacterial cultures, glass, wood chips, and dirt. The women developed gangrene, but only some victims were treated with the sulfa drugs. The women were called Lapins (French for Rabbits) since they were treated like lab animals and hopped around when it was painful to put weight on their wounded leg. Many died from these horrific, painful experiments. The surviving Rabbits often had to hide when the camp officials were choosing disabled prisoners for the gas chamber. It was amazing how often other women would put themselves at risk to help the weaker prisoners. Kasia and her sister were partially based on real sisters at Ravensbruck, and Dr Hera Oberhauser was a real Nazi doctor.
Caroline Ferriday's story merges with Kasia's story after the war when Caroline is asked to help the Rabbits recover. Herta's story is continued in a limited way. Reading about the cruelty at the Nazi concentration camp was not easy. But it was heartwarming that so many people reached out to help after the Rabbit's plight was publicized by the "Saturday Review". This book is well-researched with strong characters, and is highly recommended.
+20 task (4.29 rating/38 K)
+10 review
Task total: 30
Grand total: 685
I wonder if publishers would avoid words that are spelled more than one way when they are choosing titles--to make it easier when people are trying to order books online.
That man comes from the Czech Republic. He eats Chex cereal for breakfast, and heads out to Checkers for burgers for lunch.Who know there could be so many kinds of checks?
It might be a fun task sometime to have a list of words that have different British/American/Aussie/Canadian spellings, and read books with those words in the titles.
10.6 Spring EquinoxThe Bolter: Edwardian Heartbreak and High Society Scandal in Kenya by Frances Osborne
Idina Sackville had a scandalous reputation in Great Britain and Kenya after being married and divorced five times starting in 1913. Her life caught the attention of her great-granddaughter, Frances Osborne, whose research led to this biography. Glamorous Idina's first husband was the rich, handsome cavalry officer Euan Wallace. The Great War and Wallace's philandering led to the demise of her first marriage, and she left her two young sons with Wallace as part of the divorce settlement.
Idina's second husband took her to Kenya where she became part of the Happy Valley set in the Highlands. A British lottery had been set up in Kenya where settlers could obtain free or inexpensive land for farming. This land was attractive to unemployed soldiers coming back from the Great War, and the later sons of aristocrats (since the first son had inherited the family estate). Idina loved Kenya, and worked hard with her husband and native laborers building a home and establishing a cattle farm. The parties in Happy Valley were notorious--long weekends filled with alcohol, drugs, and partner swapping.
As the book progresses, it seemed to be the same type of situation with each of her five husbands. Free-spirited Idina was looking for love and sexual adventure with countless lovers, but was abandoned again and again. Gossips were busy when one of Idina's former husbands, the Earl of Erroll, was murdered--possibly by a jealous husband. Idina died of cancer in 1955. It is thought that Nancy Mitford's "The Persuit of Love", and Michael Arlen's "The Green Hat" were inspired by her life.
Although Idina's life was well researched, I found myself tiring of reading about the endless parties and affairs by the middle of the book. I've read books by other Kenyan settlers such as Beryl Markham and Karen Blixen who had much more accomplished lives, and give more information about the contributions of the native people and the changes in Kenya during that era.
+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.3 (author born in London)
+10 review
Task total: 25
Grand total: 655
10.3 English LanguageAgatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days by Jared Cade (born in London--see help thread)
Agatha Christie disappeared on the night of December 3, 1926, and her car was found on the edge of a chalk pit on a Surrey road. For eleven days the police and the public searched for the mystery author. She was finally found at a Harrogate hotel and health spa, registered under an assumed name. The story that the family gave to reporters was that she suffered from a concussion and amnesia.
Journalist Jared Cade researched Agatha Christie's life for six years and came up with probable reasons for Christie's disappearance. Christie had two devastating emotional blows during the months before she went missing. Christie had been very close to her mother who recently died. Her husband, Archie Christie, had been having an affair with a younger woman and wanted to leave the marriage. The author shows how Christie may have staged her disappearance at a time when she was very emotionally upset. This period of her life was so painful that Christie never wanted to discuss it.
The book puts the disappearance in the context of the rest of Christie's life. There is also lots of information about her books, especially those that may contain plot elements involving an unfaithful spouse or a missing person. Agatha Christie's own life, including her eleven missing days, is every bit as interesting as the mysteries she wrote.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 630
10.10 Group ReadBorn a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
"Born a Crime" is an enormously engaging memoir about the early years of Trevor Noah's life. Noah is the successful host of The Daily Show, the satirical American news show on Comedy Central. He was born in 1984 during apartheid in South Africa to a black Xhosa mother and a white Swiss father. His parents could have been jailed for five years for having a mixed race child, and Noah could have been sent to a state orphanage. He spent much of his childhood indoors at his grandmother's home with his cousins for playmates since it was dangerous for him to be seen outdoors.
Post-apartheid, Noah went to school but he felt like he did not fit in because of his mixed heritage. Noah had picked up multiple languages from his mother and other people so he used language to be accepted in school and on the street. "I became a chameleon. My color didn't change, but I could change your perception of my color. If you spoke to me in Zulu, I replied to you in Zulu. If you spoke to me in Tswana, I replied to you in Tswana. Maybe I didn't look like you, but if I spoke like you, I was you." (56) South Africa has 11 official languages so Noah's facility with languages was important.
Noah's mother was a secretary who tried to expose Noah to the world. She was also very religious, and Sundays were spent going to multiple churches. Money was tight, but she made sure her son went to good schools and had books to read. Even when things were hard, their senses of humor always came through. When she married Noah's stepfather, Abel, their world changed. Although Abel was a good mechanic, he was a violent person when he was drinking. Noah left their home when he finished school, and continued his business of copying and selling pirated CDs for a few years. He also worked as a DJ at dances. Eventually he went on to become an internationally known comic.
This book is dedicated to his mother: "For my mother. My first fan. Thank you for making me a man." Noah's stories are sad and humorous at the same time. There's a wealth of knowledge about South African people in this book. Every time I put the book down, I wanted to get back to it to read more. Highly recommended!
+10 task
+15 combo 10.2, 10.3, 20.6
+10 non-Western
+10 review
Task total: 45
Grand total: 610
Jared Cade, author of Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days was born in England.https://www.tempirregolari.com/author... Cade was born in London in 1962 where he lives. He is the author of besteller biography of Agatha Chritie, AGATHA CHRISTIE AND THE ELEVEN ...
(When you see the pictures of the authors, press "see more" twice, and put your cursor over the last photo. Sorry I couldn't find an easier resource.)
20.7 #AWW2017The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough
Thirty-three-year-old Missy lives with her impoverished widowed mother and crippled aunt on the edge of the town of Byron. The town was founded by Missy's great-grandfather Hurlingford, and their system of inheritance favors the males in the family. Missy is considered a plain spinster always dressed in drab brown dresses. Then a new librarian introduces her to romantic novels, and Missy longs for romance and a more exciting life. When handsome John Smith buys property nearby, Missy thinks he may be the answer to her dreams.
The beginning of this short novel is fun and filled with social satire. But it disintegrates with a silly feud between Missy and her cousin, and a relationship based on lies between John and Missy. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.
+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.2
+10 review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 565
20.5 FoundationA Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
" A Tale for the Time Being" was one of my favorite books of 2013, and I enjoyed reading it again for a book discussion. While walking on an island beach in British Columbia, Ruth found a barnacle-encrusted plastic bag containing a lunchbox with a diary, a bunch of letters, and a watch inside. She and her husband theorize that it might have been caught up in the ocean currents traveling from Japan after the 2011 tsunami.
The diary has been crafted from an old copy of Proust's "A la Recherche du Temps Perdu" (In Search of Lost Time), and time is a strong theme throughout the book. The book explores teenage bullying, suicide, Zen philosophy, quantum mechanics, Japanese culture, and historic events. I loved Ruth Ozeki's creative storytelling and interesting characters.
+20 task
+10 review
Task total: 30
Grand total: 530
10.2 3, 4, or 5The Anatomy Lesson by Nina Siegal
Nina Siegal's novel transports us to 17th Century Amsterdam where Rembrandt has received a commission to paint members of the Surgeon's Guild observing the anatomist Dr Nicholaes Tulp. There are six important characters who each have chapters named after the part of the body that they represent. "The Body" is Adriaen, a thief who has been condemned to die by hanging. "The Mouth" is Jan Fetchet, a collector of curiosities who also acquires bodies for medical dissection. "The Hands" refers to Dr Tulp who will be dissecting the body. "The Mind" is Rene Descartes, the philosopher who is trying to determine where the soul resides. Flora, the woman who loves the condemned Adriaen and who carries his unborn child, is "The Heart". The artist Rembrandt, the painter of the masterpiece "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicholaes Tulp" represents "The Eyes". There are also a few chapters where a 21st Century art historian/conservator, tells us the secrets that x-rays reveal about the painting.
Scenes from everyday life to the mobs at the hanging seem very real and well researched. Both the novel and Rembrandt's painting show the humanity of Adreaen who had been abused as a child. Adreaen had scars from whippings, brands burned into his skin, and his right hand cut off as punishments for thefts. But Rembrandt painted him with compassion, showing death with dignity, with his scars removed, in the center of the luminous painting. This novel is recommended to art lovers and readers who enjoy historical fiction.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 500
