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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20.6 John BuchanChristodora by Tim Murphy
I have a feeling that the characters in "Christodora" will continue to haunt me for a while because this book is so well written. The Christodora is a real apartment building with a colorful history, located in the East Village of New York City. Artists Milly and Jared Traum live there with their adopted son, Mateo, whose natural mother died of AIDS. Hector Villanueva, a former public health worker and AIDS activist, also lives in the building. The book slides back and forth through four decades in time. It centers around the three generations of Milly and Jared's family, their friends, and acquaintances.
The well-developed characters have to deal with challenging problems--mental illness, addiction, marital difficulties, HIV/AIDS, and identity problems. The story goes from receptions in art galleries to public health offices to AA meetings to group homes for residents with AIDS. I felt a roller coaster of emotions as the characters struggled with the difficulties life threw at them, or as they created their own problems with reckless actions. The writing is gritty with graphic scenes of hooking up and/or shooting up. But there are also moments of tenderness, love, and friendship.
The story moved from a time of despair to a time of hope. Political activism led to the creation of better drugs to fight HIV/AIDS, especially the protease inhibitors. Drugs were also combined to be more effective. The survivors often have few financial resources and huge credit card bills from the years they were unable to work.
The author is part of New York City's gay community, had experiences with addiction and depression as a young man, and works as a freelance journalist for POZ Magazine and other publications. He's created characters that seem very real--people who hit bottom, but crawl up to face life again. The book has been optioned by Paramount Television with plans to create a mini-series, produced by Cary Fukunaga and adapted by Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias.
+20 task
+10 review
Task total: 30
Grand total: 630
I have about 90 books from 2016 in my TBR list, although I don't own them. I'm in the public library almost every week. I also have some books from the 1960s and 1970s in my bookcase. There are lots of possibilities for this task.
Bea, maybe you could ask him to return the books the next time the son-in-law visits after he has read the books.
20.5 John dos PassosTender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Lexile 990
"Tender is the Night" is the story of Dick Diver, a charming young psychiatrist, whose life spiraled downhill due to alcoholism and the pressures of marriage to mentally ill Nicole Warren. He is trying to be a psychiatrist, a husband, and even a father figure to Nicole. The young Dick Diver is based a bit on the author's friend, Gerald Murphy. As the novel progresses, the characters of Dick and Nicole increasingly resemble Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
I had mixed feelings reading the story. On one hand, Fitzgerald has written many beautiful and insightful scenes in the book. He's included interesting themes of mental health treatment, sexual abuse, a difficult marriage, infidelity, and alcoholism. The novel is set in wonderful settings--the French Riviera, Paris, and Italy. The characters are partly based on the rich, famous, and artistic people the Fitzgeralds socialized with in the 1920s. But the story contains many incidents that never go anywhere. The first part of the book, involving the young starlet Rosemary meeting the married Dick Diver, is overly long and slow.
I've done some reading in the past about Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald so it was heartbreaking reading about the decline of Dick Diver. "Tender in the Night" is a flawed book, but a beautifully tragic story.
+20 task (born 1896)
+15 combo (10.6, 10.4, 20.1)
+10 oldie (pub 1933)
+10 review
Task total: 55
Grand total: 600
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "It's not as if you couldn't figure out the double trouble authors on your own, but we had a LOT of them when we did this task before:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/......"
I love this task, and found lots of them in just the first few pages of my TBR list. Looking at your spreadsheet, I see even more that I want to read.
15.5 Half and HalfAll female authors A-M
The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee
+15 task
+25 all female authors
+25 first half completed
Task/bonus total: 65
Grand total: 545
Tien, this book is set at the time of the American Civil War:The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
Fabulous banner, Amanda!
I fixed it, Elizabeth. It should link to the correct Tim Murphy now. Thanks.
20.2 Roald DahlShopgirl by Steve Martin
+20 task (book/movie on approved list)
+5 combo 10.4 (pub 2000)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 480
Sam wrote: "Our neighborhood's annual book fair was this weekend, and I made out pretty well! 78 new books to add to my shelves, lots of which I'd been looking for for a while! Now I just have to find somewher..."That's a terrific haul! You can never have too many books.
20.1 VeteransThe Kindly Ones by Anthony Powell
"The Kindly Ones" starts with a look back to Nick Jenkin's boyhood just as World War I is starting. Nick learned in his mythology lessons that the Greeks called the Furies the flattering name the Eunenides (or the Kindly Ones) to appease their wrath. The Furies were responsible for the gods inflicting war, dissension, and other maladies on the earth. Nick also remembers a visit from General Conyers and his wife to the Jenkins' home. As they were leaving, Uncle Giles arrived with the news that the Austrian Archduke was assassinated at Sarajevo.
Flash foreward to 1938-39 when Nick encounters old friends from the previous five volumes. The mystics Dr Trelawney and Mrs Erdleigh also keep popping up in this book. War is again looming, and Nick is hoping to be commissioned as an officer in the Army with the help of Stanley Jeavons. The pompous Kenneth Widmerpool is already in the Army using his natural talents for ordering everyone around. The writing combines delicious British social comedy with history. Now on to the next trio of books, all set during World War II.
+20 task
+15 combo (10.4, 10.9 # 6 in series, 20.6)
+ 5 oldie pub 1962
+10 review
Task total: 50
Grand total: 440
20.6 John BuchanThe Oath: The Obama White House and The Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
Legal correspondent Jeffrey Toobin discusses the relationship between the Supreme Court and the executive branch during President Obama's first term in office. As major cases are presented, he weaves in the backgrounds, confirmation processes, legal views, and colorful personalities of the Justices.
There is a deep division between the "originalist" interpretation of some of the Justices, going back to the concepts of the Founding Fathers, and the "living Constitution" interpretation of others. In the 18th Century, the Founding Fathers had slaves, women were second-class citizens, and the militia shot muskets so we are living in a very different world today. The Court has become more conservative in recent years as moderate Republicans were replaced with more conservative Justices.
Two interesting cases drew the most attention in the book. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010 was important since it removed restrictions on corporations funding political campaigns. It was considered to be freedom of speech.
The other highlighted case was about health care reform in 2012, National Federation of Independent Business v. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services. Surprisingly Chief Justice Roberts cast the deciding vote upholding the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). He characterized the financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance as a tax, which is permitted by the Constitution. Although the Court has been leaning in a conservative direction overall, the legislation most important to the President was saved.
Toobin writes in an accessible manner understandable to the general reader. It was an entertaining and informative look behind the scenes at the people holding an immense amount of power in determining the direction of the country.
+20 task (approved)
+ 5 combo 10.8 PTSD
+10 review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 375
10.5 Man BookerDid You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
June's home went up in flames the night before her daughter's wedding. It only took minutes for her to lose everyone she loved--her daughter, her daughter's fiance, June's boyfriend, and her ex-husband. How does a person go on after experiencing such a great loss? June took off in her car alone, and headed west from Connecticut to a Pacific coast town important to her daughter and her fiance.
The story is told from multiple points of view of ordinary people living in June's Connecticut town, and in a small community on the Pacific Ocean. The characters' back stories are slowly revealed. Many had regrets that they had not handled things better when their loved ones were alive. Although the story is emotionally heartbreaking, it also contains brighter moments of hope as people reach out to each other.
Bill Clegg has written about addiction and recovery in his memoirs so he knows what it's like to hit bottom, and somehow make connections and recover from the darkness. Clegg writes beautifully, and certainly deserves being longlisted for the Man Booker prize.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 340
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Is anyone beginning to think about goals for 2017? Yeah, I know it's not even Halloween yet.In another group, someone mentioned a goal of reading 10 Canadian women, and I decided I'd try to do th..."
I read around Canada a few years ago, and I loved the Canadian fiction. That's a great idea, Elizabeth.
