Joanna’s
Comments
(group member since Nov 17, 2010)
Joanna’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 1,741-1,760 of 2,307
10.6 Foreign LanguageThe Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Review:
This is real science fiction, of a type that I've rarely read. Thus, I'm the wrong reviewer to compare this book to others in the genre or track any references to Arthur C. Clarke or anyone else. But even though this was far outside my usual reading choices, I found the book exciting and interesting.
The physics concepts are just outside my understanding, but the author does a good enough job explaining and analogizing that I felt I could follow the science even if I couldn't use it to solve the problems myself. I'd never heard of the three-body problem (and actually had to go read the Wikipedia article about it), but loved the way it was played out in this book.
The narrator for the audiobook did an excellent job reading the sometimes technical material in a way that was easy to follow.
I'll be eagerly awaiting the translation of the next two books in the trilogy.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Non-Western
Task total: 30
Grand total: 345
20.2 PersephoneA New System of Domestic Cookery by Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell
Review:
I found this book quite enjoyable to read. I read a bit each day during my lunch as well as at other odd times waiting on hold and such. This isn't a novel - it's an instruction book filled with information that a middle to upper class household would need for food preparation and preservation, as well as a few tips for how to clean certain items, in the 1800s. It serves as a strong reminder of how all parts of animals were used for all meals -- many of the desserts used suet or other specific animal fats, gelatin was made for use in fruit jellies by boiling calves' feet and other similar sources. The quantities were often huge in the recipes and all the descriptions related to different levels of cooking fire. I'd be hard pressed to actually follow any of the recipes, but I enjoyed reading about them.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.7 - originally pub. 1806)
+10 Review
+15 Oldies
Task total: 50
Grand total: 295
10.1 Square PegEighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman
Review:
My bookclub selected this book, which I hadn't otherwise heard about. I enjoyed the story of the race, particularly in the details the author added to put these women in the context of their time. Still, during the actual description of the travels, I wondered whether I should just read the primary source instead of the selected quotations. This author also felt the need to editorialize nearly every time a newspaper article was quoted. When discussing reaction to Bly's post-travel lecture tour, Goodman frequently notes that a paper was "unkind" or "disapproving." While I never found the characterizations incorrect, the frequent commentary distracted from allowing the material to speak for itself. Overall, an interesting story, but only middling writing by Goodman. I won't be rushing to find more by this author.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 245
15.3 A to ZH-S
Happenstance: Two Novels in One About a Marriage in Transition by Carol Shields
Task total: 15
Grand total: 225
10.3 1980sThe Locked Room by Paul Auster
Review:
My favorite of the three books in the New York Trilogy, this book continues the exploration of philosophical questions of self, authorship, character, truth versus fiction, watched versus watcher, and other such themes. The book neatly brings in elements from the earlier stories and changes the way those other stories resonate in my mind. The book is too hard to describe and too strangely constructed to be worthy of much in the way of plot description, but rest assured that despite being post-modern metafiction, it's highly readable and accessible. I've enjoyed the other Paul Auster books I've read, so I think I'll be seeking out more of his work this year.
+10 Task (Part of The New York Trilogy)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.5, 20.4)
+5 Oldies
Task total: 35
Grand total: 210
20.3 HistoricalRestoration by Rose Tremain
Review:
This was historical comedic fiction. The main character was surprisingly interesting and developed over the course of the book in a believable and lovable way from a shallow court onlooker to a more thoughtful adult. The historical setting was believable and detailed and made the book thoroughly enjoyable. Reading about the medical beliefs of the time was particularly interesting and I think the author did a fair job keeping with the beliefs appropriate for the setting (e.g., whether or not spontaneous generation was a valid theory). The reader for the audiobook tried a little too hard to create voices, which sometimes actually made the characters hard to understand or annoying to listen to rather than merely differentiated. Still, I'm glad to have read this one. It's my final audiobook of 2014!
+20 Task (was #198 when I picked it - see help thread)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.10, 20.10)
+5 Oldies (1989)
Task total: 45
Grand total: 175
10.8 Two for OneChess Story by Stefan Zweig - 84 pgs
Ghosts by Paul Auster - 96 pgs
Reviews:
Chess Story: A very enjoyable short novel that captures the way that chess can take over one's mind. I enjoyed reading about the match between a chess savant and a person who had used chess as a means of maintaining, but also losing, mental sanity. The book is so short that too long a review would be pointless, so just pick up a copy and read it. I've never read anything else by Zweig, but would happily read something else if I came across it.
Ghosts: This is the second book in the New York Trilogy. This story is completely separate and stands alone. This story continues Auster's philosophical exploration of authorship, writing, reading and the interactions between these. The story reads like a weird detective story, but, unlike the first book in the trilogy, it doesn't really have a forward-moving plot. Still, I enjoyed this book and am immediately starting the third book in the trilogy.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.4)
+5 Oldies (1941, 1986)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 130
15.2 A to ZG-V
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh
Task total: 15
Grand total: 100
10.5 Author AchievementsCity of Glass by Paul Auster
Review:
I suppose it's time for me to admit that I actually enjoy these weird post-modern novels. I didn't know what to expect from this book, the first in the New York Trilogy. At first, it seemed like it might be a detective novel, set in New York, with just slightly strange characters. But the novel takes a turn for the postmodern as the main character begins to lose touch with reality and devolves slowly into madness. Or does he? The novel does not provide answers. And it includes a twist that will either be fascinating or completely irritating as the reader learns that there is a novel within the novel buried in this story. In some ways, this book reminded me a bit of If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. Recommended for those who like this sort of weird fiction; definitely not recommended for those looking for a straightforward plot or character study. I'm now immediately diving into Ghosts, the next in the trilogy.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.3, 20.4)
+5 Oldies (1985)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 85
20.4 1001All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Review:
Cormac McCarthy is unrelentingly bleak. The characters in this book are well drawn, the dialogue rings true, and the reader for the audiobook did an admirable job keeping the run-on sentences flowing in a comprehensible manner. But the story was so grim and violent that I really feel like I should just go read some JD Robb or something to counteract it. I'll probably read the other two books of the trilogy, but I need a break from the bleakness first.
The setting comes alive and feels completely real; Texas and Mexico in the mid-1900s was a dusty, cowboy dream with horses and ranches and campfires. The romance, unfortunately, never came alive. I did not get to know the love interest at all and did not understand her or her decisions or even why the protagonist was interested in her.
Overall, a powerful book, but a depressing one.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.9)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 35
As noted above, Elizabeth Peters and pseudonyms passed away in 2013.
And Cormac McCarthy (b. 1933 - still alive)Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels/Barbara Mertz (1927-2013) [and on the 20.5 list]
Here are the ones I'm considering:From The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Carter Beats the Devil
From The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - number9dream
From The Bone People - Moon Tiger
From Revolutionary Road - Housekeeping
From The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings - The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue
From Tenth of December - The Color Master: Stories
From Orfeo - J
From The Goldfinch - We Are Water
From The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Pinocchio
Duh! I need to read more carefully. Thanks!
