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What I'm Reading JULY 2015
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – 5***** This is the second time I’ve read this wonderful book this year (first read in February 2015). It’s just an absolute delight – fun for both adults and children.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I love the way Steinbeck writes. I just finished the latest Tom Robbins, Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life. In my college years, I had fallen in love with Robbins after reading Still Life with Woodpecker (its interplay of delightful fun and nonsense with essential truth and beauty seduced me smoothly and utterly, and I have read everything he's written. Tom Robbins' love dance with language and ideas has always been colorful and delightfully playful, and this book fully reminded me of that (he does similes and metaphors for a German jelly donut that go on for over two pages!). Tibetan Peach Pie is autobiographical, and it was great to learn more about the background and adventures of the author I loved (and long-distance lusted for) as a young adult.
Tom Robbins? Is he still writing. I loved his stuff back in the day, when I was a frustrated hausfrau tempted by the hippie life.
He hasn't written much to speak of for at least a decade or more, but his turns of phrase in Tibetan Peach Pie sparkle with his vintage flair. I was sad to finish it.
Mmars wrote: "Another tie-in is White's "The Goshawk" (Sorry. Can't link from phone app) anout White trying his hand at falconry. I read it as a companion to Once/Future King. I think it is somewhat like H is fo..."White's book is on the goshawk is directly and often referred to in H is for Hawk.
I just finished Paper Towns, by the YA author John Green. I'd seen a preview of the movie, and we had the book. So. If you read his Looking for Alaska, you'll find plenty of overlap: nerdy boy hero, funny sidekicks, Manic Pixie Dream Girl & wild teenage adventures prompted by the same. It'll make a good movie, I'm sure.
Ann wrote: "Has anyone else read How to Be Both by Ali Smith? This is one of those books that I bought on sale at Amazon on the strength of its reviews. There are two parts to th..."I read this one a few months back. Like you, I tried the painter's story first but couldn't hack it. However, starting with the modern story worked for me. Though there were places I had to push myself to get through it, by the time I was finished I had a very high opinion of it--it really is a brilliant work, I think. I gave it four stars.
Gina wrote: "I read The Grapes of Wrath many years ago when I was younger. I listened to it this time on audio tapes. John Steinbeck wrote such a great and despairing story. Even..."I'm rereading East of Eden right now, but not enjoying it as much as I did in high school. The character of Cathy strikes me as so completely unconvincing and impossible that it's poisoning the whole thing for me.
I finished my first book by Percival Everett a few days ago: Erasure. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this author is not more read (a question which is also treated in the events of the book itself, as it happens). I've checked out a second of his books from the library, but if they are all as good as the first one, this author should be getting a LOT more attention than he does.
Nicole wrote: "I finished my first book by Percival Everett a few days ago: Erasure. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this author is not more read (a question which is also ..."I saw Percival Everett at the Key West Literary Seminar and read one of his books, Assumption, which I liked very much. It was unique, but I haven't made a point of reading more of him. I need to change that.
Assumption is the one I have checked out now. I'm very interested in Glyph, but I would need to buy it because the library has only a translation.
Nicole wrote: "I finished my first book by Percival Everett a few days ago: Erasure. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this author is not more read (a question which is also ..."So glad to find someone else who loved Erasure! I also really enjoyed I Am Not Sidney Poitier.
Sherry wrote: "Nicole wrote: "I finished my first book by Percival Everett a few days ago: Erasure. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this author is not more read (a question..."Just put this one on my TBR list. I love books about writers. Am currently enjoying Elizabeth Taylor's Angel, about a vain, clueless writer of popular fiction, I'm loving it.
Nicole wrote: "I finished my first book by Percival Everett a few days ago: Erasure. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this author is not more read (a question which is also ..."
Thanks, Nicole, just put one of them -- not Erasure -- from my library on my [endless] hold schedule. I'll be getting emails from the library that my reserved book is in long after I've shuffled off this mortal coil...
Thanks, Nicole, just put one of them -- not Erasure -- from my library on my [endless] hold schedule. I'll be getting emails from the library that my reserved book is in long after I've shuffled off this mortal coil...
Kat, I haven't read East or Eden. I'll let you know what I think about Cathy when I finish.
Ann, I loved How to Be Both by Ali Smith. My copy began with the modern story. My best friend Mary Lynn had the other version. I had just found out that it was published both ways and she was blown away that her experience had been different. Yes, there is a story; and yes, there are themes that run through both interconnected stories, and a painting that connects them as well. Mary Lynn went to Italy this summer and went to the museum that houses this painting. She loved the experience. Oh, and there are some great interviews with Ali Smith. Seeing her...and how curious, humble and personable she is...and hearing her talk about this book...would intrigue you, I think. I thought the book was brilliant.
Just finished In the Home of the Famous Dead: Collected Poems poetry by Jo McDougall. I read this in two great gulps. Then turned to the front page and started all over again. That's how much I liked it. Beautiful, compact poems, where every word counts and then some. Lovely, lucid language. Deceptively simple, yet complex.
Ruth wrote: "Just finished In the Home of the Famous Dead: Collected Poems poetry by Jo McDougall. I read this in two great gulps. Then turned to the front page and started all over again. That'..."Sounds very appealing Ruth. On to my list it goes.
Just finished Among the Ten Thousand Things--a big debut novel that got a 6 figure deal and some glowing reviews in the NYTimes and on NPR. I found it a well-written empty bag. Just never revealed itself to be worth my time and thought. The structural "twist" she pulls about halfway through doesn't work, either. Grrrr.
Sara,I loved your "well-written empty bag" description.
Sara wrote: "Just finished Among the Ten Thousand Things--a big debut novel that got a 6 figure deal and some glowing reviews in the NYTimes and on NPR. I found it a well-written empty bag. Ju..."This isn't on my list and I think it will probably stay away. Thanks.
Thanks, Jane, for your comments on How to Be Both. They are very encouraging. I need to finish up a couple of things and then I'll get back to it.
I just finished The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was a very well told story, and it was smart to focus more on the background of Joe Rantz than any others, as his tale of growing up is compelling and really grips the heartstrings. It made me think of my parents, who were young adults in the Great Depression, and especially my dad, who also worked his way through to an engineering degree.
I'm two-thirds of the way through Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Hated to put it down at One this morning.
I think the story and the writing in Station Eleven are just wonderful. One chapter in particular took my breath away.
I'd long been on the fence about reading it, but a friend on another forum loved it, so I downloaded it. Very glad I did!Which chapter? :)
Portia wrote: "Section 7. The Terminal, Chapter 42."ahhh, just short of it. :)
My advice is to set aside time for all of Section 7 before you begin. Please post when you've finished.
Portia wrote: "My advice is to set aside time for all of Section 7 before you begin. Please post when you've finished."I'm listening to it on audiobook. Really like it so far. Only a couple of hours into it so far.
I recently finished Station Eleven as well, my second post-apocalyptic novel of the summer. I'm now ready for a novel in which the end of the world-as-we-know-it is narrowly averted and civilization lives happily ever after. Though Station Eleven is actually more moving than scary. It's nice to hear human society honored instead of lambasted for once.
Kat wrote: "I recently finished Station Eleven as well, my second post-apocalyptic novel of the summer. I'm now ready for a novel in which the end of the world-as-we-know-it is narrowly averted and civilizatio..."Ok, I have to ask.....what was the other one?
Portia wrote: "My advice is to set aside time for all of Section 7 before you begin. Please post when you've finished."
I will, thanks. :). Tonight, I hope.
Cateline wrote: "Kat wrote: "I recently finished Station Eleven as well, my second post-apocalyptic novel of the summer. I'm now ready for a novel in which the end of the world-as-we-know-it is narrowly averted and..."Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood, which I thought was terrific--I gave it four stars. But it's not exactly upbeat.
Kat wrote: "Cateline wrote: "Kat wrote: "I recently finished Station Eleven as well, my second post-apocalyptic novel of the summer. I'm now ready for a novel in which the end of the world-as-we-know-it is nar..."
Yah. (That's my Katherine Hepburn impression!) I'm not ready to move on to the next in the series, and it's been over a year, I think. When I'm really happy, I'll read the next one. The Atwood, I mean. Thought Station 11 was simply wonderful.
Yah. (That's my Katherine Hepburn impression!) I'm not ready to move on to the next in the series, and it's been over a year, I think. When I'm really happy, I'll read the next one. The Atwood, I mean. Thought Station 11 was simply wonderful.
I was avoiding Things I Should Have Been Doing, so stayed in bed and read from morning into the afternoon, starting and finishing At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen: Celebrating the Art of Eating Well. I copied about four recipes, but mostly I learned that though I'm becoming a pretty committed vegetarian, I am also a way too lazy vegetarian to make very many of those recipes!
Just finished The Girl on the Train and I have no idea why. Abandoned it pretty quickly when I first started it and went back. Yep, largely junk, and I should have followed my gut when it was compared to Gone Girl, which I detested. Grrr. Need to find a good one to clear my palate!
Sara, I saw this for sale (in translation, of course) at the Carrefour the other day (Carrefour is basically like a big French Target). I know that this is snobby of me, but I still somehow feel like this in an of itself disqualifies it: the book is just another disposable commodity instead of a book, roughly equivalent to the gum you buy on impulse while waiting in line at the check out. Like, oh yes, I popped into the store and got microwave safe plastic containers, toothpaste, a new shower curtain, and The Girl on the Train. I was very happy with the shower curtain.
Nicole wrote: "Sara, I saw this for sale (in translation, of course) at the Carrefour the other day (Carrefour is basically like a big French Target). I know that this is snobby of me, but I still somehow feel li...":)
Nicole wrote: "Sara, I saw this for sale (in translation, of course) at the Carrefour the other day (Carrefour is basically like a big French Target). I know that this is snobby of me, but I still somehow feel li..."Yes! Happy to report I'm well into what seems to be a very good one: The Turner House.
The Turner House looks good, Sara. It's on my list. Let us know what you think when you finish.
Portia wrote: "My advice is to set aside time for all of Section 7 before you begin. Please post when you've finished."Yup. That is really the swing section.
Mandel really caught the confusion and sense of longing of the characters in that one.
I reviewed it here.... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Cateline wrote: "Portia wrote: "My advice is to set aside time for all of Section 7 before you begin. Please post when you've finished."
Yup. That is really the swing section.
Mandel really caught the confusion..."
I think "Survival is insufficient" is destined for greatness ... or refrigerator magnets. As long as I remember it!
Yup. That is really the swing section.
Mandel really caught the confusion..."
I think "Survival is insufficient" is destined for greatness ... or refrigerator magnets. As long as I remember it!
Ellen wrote: "I think "Survival is insufficient" is destined for greatness ... or refrigerator magnets. As long as I remember it! "
Yes! And would you believe it is originally a quote from Star Trek Voyager? :)
I loved that Mandel used it!
Cateline wrote: "Ellen wrote:
"I think "Survival is insufficient" is destined for greatness ... or refrigerator magnets. As long as I remember it! "
Yes! And would you believe it is originally a quote from Star..."
Oh, thank you! I've been tearing my hair out trying to remember where it came from! And I've been told over and over. Time for The Home! But if it weren't for forgetting there'd be no joy in remembering, would there?
"I think "Survival is insufficient" is destined for greatness ... or refrigerator magnets. As long as I remember it! "
Yes! And would you believe it is originally a quote from Star..."
Oh, thank you! I've been tearing my hair out trying to remember where it came from! And I've been told over and over. Time for The Home! But if it weren't for forgetting there'd be no joy in remembering, would there?
"Ellen wrote: But if it weren't for forgetting there'd be no joy in remembering, would there? "Well put!
Would that be a good novel title? The Joy of Remembering?
Kat wrote: "Would that be a good novel title? The Joy of Remembering?"
Recherche du Temps Perdu! (Six years of French and I don't know how to do accents on the internet!)
Recherche du Temps Perdu! (Six years of French and I don't know how to do accents on the internet!)
Ellen wrote: "Kat wrote: "Would that be a good novel title? The Joy of Remembering?"Recherche du Temps Perdu!"
I don't speak French, but doesn't that leave out the joy?
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Constant Reader
Books mentioned in this topic
The Tortilla Curtain (other topics)The Tortilla Curtain (other topics)
Beautiful Ruins (other topics)
How to be Both (other topics)
The Turner House (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Emily St. John Mandel (other topics)Percival Everett (other topics)
Percival Everett (other topics)
Percival Everett (other topics)
Percival Everett (other topics)
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Oh, what a pleasure and despair to read, isn't it? Did I hear they were remaking the movie? I sort of hope not, even though it wasn't true to the ending, I don't care. Those will always be the Joads to me.