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Constant Reader
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What I'm Reading in October - 2012
I just finished The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean. What a heartbreaking book - starvation in World War II Leningrad, plus the mental disintegration of Alzheimer's. At times it was too much, although the writing is generally very good.I preferred another book about the siege of Leningrad:
City of Thieves by David Benioff. The dark comedy relieves the unremitting horror of the circumstances.
I liked the idea of using a memory palace to "store" all the missing paintings in the Hermitage museum. I found myself looking up the paintings on the internet.
My mother suffered from Alzheimer's for 19 years. The part where the main character could remember the past in an organized fashion (which is essential to the plot device) did not ring true to me. The writer got the feelings of the family right.
I loved Madonnas, Ann. And preferred it to City of Thieves. Although I liked it, too.I kept thinking that Thieves would make a good movie.
I finished The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. It is every bit as good as the many reviews say that it is ... and every bit as harrowing also. It's a short read that I truly believe will leave you thinking about it and men at war for a long time.
Well, I was reading Oxford Blood, a mystery by Antonia Fraser, but I left it on the plane. I hope some kind soul will send it back to the library; that happened the last time I left a book on the plane! I don't know what to read next. I've been thinking of a classic, but nothing is striking my fancy.
I don't usually read war books, but The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien was absolutely outstanding. Maybe I especially related to it because I was young during the Vietnam war. What a tragedy.
At the moment, I have a few books on the go:To Prussia with Love: Misadventures in Rural East Germany by Roger Boyes - "Money Pit" story of his his gf's inheriting a house in East Germany, okay not great. (print version)
On the Slow Train Again: Twelve More Great British Railway Journeys - author travels several little-known railway lines in the U. K. Intertesting enough that I'm willing to read the first book, which was not recorded for audio, and a shame as the Narration is very good!
V is for Vengeance, most recent of Sue Grafton's "alphabet" series. I like Judy Kaye's narration, though dislike that the story alternates between Kinsey Milhone's point-of-view and that of story-specific characters.
Lucia's Progress - fifth of the six E. F. Benson Mapp and Lucia comedy-of-manners novels set in 1930's Britain. This one not quite as entertaining, but still good reading for series fans (ebook).
On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future, excellent coverage of the kingdom today by an American female journalist, who had extensive contacts and access to women of all social classes, although the book covers other issues such as foreigners, youth, etc.
I temporarily abandoned Shantaram because my hold number at the library had come up for Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trailand my mom just died, so I pretty much inhaled that one. Really enjoyed it, and her descriptions of the land she hiked through and the people she met along the way.
I am reading Capital by John Lanchester. What a pleasure to read a novel narrated in an intelligent, authoritative and engaging voice. The focus is on the various residents and bypassers of Pepys Road in London and how the financial crash of 2008 affects them. Lanchester has a marvelous ear and develops each character as a distinct and memorable individual. I'm only half way through so I can't comment on the conclusion.
Susan_T. wrote: "Well, I was reading Oxford Blood, a mystery by Antonia Fraser, but I left it on the plane. I hope some kind soul will send it back to the library; that happened the last time I left a book on the p..."I just left a book (The Poisonwood Bible) at the gym, Susan, and someone yoinked it. Hope you have better luck.
Ann wrote: "I don't usually read war books, but The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien was absolutely outstanding. Maybe I especially related to it because I was young during the Vietnam war. What a tragedy."I agree. Terrific book. I gave copies to my son and brother.
Joan wrote: "I am reading Capital by John Lanchester. What a pleasure to read a novel narrated in an intelligent, authoritative and engaging voice. The focus is on the various residents and bypassers of Pepys R..."Have you read Lanchester's The Debt to Pleasure? I was crazy about that book.
And welcome to CR, Joan.
Lyn wrote: "I temporarily abandoned Shantaram because my hold number at the library had come up for Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trailand my mom just died, so I pretty much inhaled that one. ..."Oh, Lyn, I'm sorry. It's hard to lose a parent.
Love the poetry, Joan and nice to see you here.Working on Our Man in Havana for the upcoming discussion. I love Graham Greene.
I just finished The Age of Miracles, which I really enjoyed but it read like a YA book to me. My library shelves it as adult fiction. As adult fiction it was a little to simple--as YA it is great. It is fully YA appropriate and the reading level is right too. I wish my 7th grader would read it (or anything, really).I am now 25 pages into Solar and it is starting to pick up. It has no chapters, which I am having issues with.
The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Obsession, Commerce, and Adventure is "in transit" per my library. I am happy to pick up some nonfiction, it has been awhile, as a bunch of fiction books came in for me one after another. (But I got them all read!)
Ruth wrote: "Joan wrote: "I am reading Capital by John Lanchester. What a pleasure to read a novel narrated in an intelligent, authoritative and engaging voice. The focus is on the various residents and bypasse..."I haven't but I intend to--I love his style.
Lyn wrote: "I temporarily abandoned Shantaram because my hold number at the library had come up for Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trailand my mom just died, so I pretty much inhaled that one. ..."Sorry to hear. Dad died a year ago today, so I feel your pain. Holler at your GR friends if we can help!
im currently reading
but i might change it, for a mystery if it does not hold my interest.
Catherine might I suggest you add the title of the book you are currently reading. Old eyes like mine can't see the title.
Catherine wrote: "im currently reading but i might change it, for a mystery if it does not hold my interest."Please read the opening note in this thread and try to remember to add titles in your notes. I have no idea what this book is.
Lyn wrote: "I temporarily abandoned Shantaram because my hold number at the library had come up for Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trailand my mom just died, so I pretty much inhaled that one. ..."Lyn, I am sorry for your loss. It's so hard to lose a parent, as Ruth said. I read Wild just after my father passed away this year, and it was just the right book at the time.
Sara Grace ('00-'05) wrote: "I am tearing through State of Wonder. I think if I could be friends with any living author I might pick Anne Patchett. Her imagination is just so rich! How could she be anything but fascinating to ..."Great choices Sara...all on my TBR!
I'm reading James Salter's A Sport and a Pastime Finding it slow going. I feel a decision to abandon ship may be in the offing.
Ruth wrote: "I'm reading James Salter's A Sport and a Pastime Finding it slow going. I feel a decision to abandon ship may be in the offing."They had a good discussion of this book on an Australian TV show this week called The First Tuesday Book Club, it is online, but not sure you can watch in America.
Sherry wrote: "Catherine wrote: "im currently reading but i might change it, for a mystery if it does not hold my interest."Please read the opening note in this th..."
Im currently reading The House on Willow Street
Just wanted to say thanks for the condolences and mention something book-related to that: A few days before Mom passed and with one of her few last good hours of consciousness, one of my sisters was showing her pictures of me on a recent hike to a peaceful lake, and said that Mom smiled in special recognition of how "me" it was when she saw the last pic, which was one of me sitting on the lakeshore totally absorbed in a book. I remember that as a bookworm child, mom would often take me to 2 or 3 different libraries, since each had a limit of 10 books out at a time then. On topic: Back to Shantaram, which I am really liking.
I just finished Simple by Kathleen George, the author we will meet at the Pittsburgh CR convention. I am very impressed. I think the genre is called police procedural, but basically it's about a group of Pittburgh cops trying to solve a case. That might be ho-hum except that George creates believable, interesting characters and a plot that completely held my attention. I got so worried about the character who was jailed for the crime that I had a hard time reading the sections that focused on him.I'm also listening to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Ruth recommended it to me and I'm grateful. Gaiman narrates it himself and he does an outstanding job. Normally, if an author does his own narration, I just hope that it won't be so bad as to be distracting. In this case, the author ranks up with the best who do it for a living. Like Ruth, I don't normally read a lot of fantasy but the quality of the writing is so good that it transcends genre distinctions.
Lyn, that's a wonderful story about your mom. I'm so sorry to hear that she died but glad that you have such great memories.
Oh Barb, I'm so glad you're enjoying Neverwhere. It's outside both of our reading habits, but it's so damn good. Gaiman could definitely make a living just reading.
Mike wrote, "Next on the nightstand is The Comfort of Strangers. Let's see, my next eagerly awaited non-fic to begin is The First World War by Keegan (he died earlier this year), because, who can ever get enough of WWI?"I can't. Am just finishing Ken Follett's Fall of Giants. Excellent, and the first book that helped me to finally understand how all those countries got involved in that war.
Ian McEwan's Comfort of Strangers is a book I won't forget. Strange, but good. I was also fascinated by the film made from it starring Christopher Walken (in a role perfect for him) and Helen Mirren. Very good screenplay by Harold Pinter and wonderful atmospheric photography of Venice. Available at Netflix.
Marge
Mike wrote: my next eagerly awaited non-fic to begin is The First World War by Keegan" Mike, the Keegan book is even better than some of his others (I do tend to prefer his earlier works to his later ones). A great book to complement it is Hew Strachan's The First World War published in 2005. It's focused a bit less on just Europe than is the Keegan book.
Barbara wrote: "I'm also listening to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Ruth recommended it to me and I'm grateful. Gaiman narrates it himself and he does an outstanding job. " I don't read much fantasy any more but I absolutely loved Neverwhere ... after reading the book, I then read the graphic novel!
Ruth wrote: "I'm reading James Salter's A Sport and a Pastime Finding it slow going. I feel a decision to abandon ship may be in the offing."I love James Salter's writing, but this book is probably my least favorite of all his books. For truly stellar writing, try his memoir Burning the Days: Recollection. My copy is getting ragged ... I keep on lending it to friends ...
Just finished The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History which was solid but not as fascinating as I'd hoped it would be. The author did do a great job recreating the 1878 Memphis yellow fever epidemic. My gold standard for narrative non-fiction on infectious diseases is And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic.
Just read Lee Child's new Jack Reacher book A Wanted Man. Disappointing book and bad editing for the American edition. Repeated use of British English expressions, e.g. kerb for curb, tyre for tire, chequerboard for checkerboard. I wouldn't mind any of these in a novel set in the UK. In this suspense novel set in the U.S., it's just sloppy editing. More important is the fact that the novel just isn't that good. I like a good suspense novel. This one had a few good moments but it was so unbelievable that it made me think that it's time for me to finally give up on the Jack Reacher series.
Started Taylor Branch's The Cartel: Inside the Rise and Imminent Fall of the NCAA. I think that this is only available on the Kindle. That's disappointing, because it is too important not to be available in all forms. It is an expansion of Branch's Atlantic Monthly article, in which he looks at how colleges and universities exploit college athletes with the cooperation and connivance of the NCAA.
Started re-reading Jennifer Egan's Emerald City--liked it quite a bit the first time.
I'm reading:Kitty Foyle
and The Caine Mutiny: A Novel of World War II
, the latter on audio, and the narrator sounds a little like Bogie when he reads the Queeg character, which I can't help thinking is deliberate. Also reading A Brew to a Kill
, The Paris Wife
and The Sister Queens
-- so I'm kind of all over the map at the moment!
Mike & Larry, I loved Keegan's WWI history. I've thought of picking up his WWII book some fine day - have either of you read it? I haven't read the Strachan, but will keep an eye out for it.
Larry wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I'm also listening to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Ruth recommended it to me and I'm grateful. Gaiman narrates it himself and he does an outstanding job. " I don't read much fantasy a..."My library owns some of Gaiman's graphic novels and I'm planning to try one eventually. It will be my first.
I'm sorry to hear that report on the new Jack Reacher novel. I was really looking foward to it.
My next Jack Reacher will only be number 7, so I have a way to go. Most I listen to, but the seventh came free for the Kindle. I'll probably continue with the series, but it's too bad the last one had those errors in it. It really must have pulled you out of the experience.
Sherry wrote: "My next Jack Reacher will only be number 7, so I have a way to go. Most I listen to, but the seventh came free for the Kindle. I'll probably continue with the series, but it's too bad the last one ..." Yeah, it was a bit jarring ... of course, you won't notice it when you listen to it in audiobook format. The equivalent "mistake" would be if you heard the narrator describing Reacher lifting the bonnet of the car or reaching into the boot. No, those mistakes don't occur in the written copy. I found the whole thing more odd than disturbing. ;-)
Barbara wrote: "My library owns some of Gaiman's graphic novels and I'm planning to try one eventually. It will be my first."I'm really not a huge fan of graphic novels, but it was great ... a little bit different fromm the novel but just as enjoyable. If your library has the graphic novel,Joe the Barbarian, by Grant Morrison, check that out also. The Amazon blurb says this, "One of the hottest writers in the industry, Grant Morrison, brings this Home Alone meets The Lord of the Rings story to life." It's that and more. In a word, it's wonderful.
Mary Ellen wrote: "Mike & Larry, I loved Keegan's WWI history. I've thought of picking up his WWII book some fine day - have either of you read it? I haven't read the Strachan, but will keep an eye out for it."Mary Ellen, I have Keegan's WW2 history but haven't read it. I'm pretty sure it's good. The one book to stay away from that he wrote is his,The American Civil War: A Military History. Many serious errors. If you know a lot about the Civil War, the book is okay ... because you know when it's factually wrong. Otherwise, it's best left unopened.
Dumped James Psalter's A Sport and a Pastime in favor of starting this month's Reading List book, Cloud Atlas.
I finished reading
by Christopher Ransom this morning. This book was one of the worst horror novels I've read in my entire life. It wasn't even the slightest bit scary. The author's writing style is terrible and I felt like most of the book was written by a horny 12-year-old. The whole plot was confusing and I disliked all the characters. I ended up not really caring what happened to any of them. This book is definitely one to avoid. My full review is here.Now I'm about to begin
by Stephen King.
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Constant Reader
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I'm about one-quarter way through Cloud Atlas for our Reading List selection for October. So far the structure seems very similar to Goon Squad, but I don't think there will be a Powerpoint chapter. I'm really liking it so far.