What I'm Reading NOVEMBER 2013

[Joan]

I gave up on Parker over the past few years as he'd become a self-parody. The earlier books were great.

[Jane]

I just finished The Interestings. I loved this book. I think it is Meg Wolitzwer's best book so far. A novel filled with characters whose lives unfold and overlap, with themes that push past what I expected... particularly the themes of money, class and jealousy as they play out among long time friends. I hope we read and discuss it at some point in a Constant Reader group.

[Sara]

Jane wrote: "I just finished The Interestings. I loved this book. I think it is Meg Wolitzwer's best book so far. A novel filled with characters whose lives unfold and overlap, with themes that push past what I..."

We will be--sometime between Jan-June, 2014. It was selected for our reading list. I'm looking forward to it.

[Jennifer]

Robert wrote: "Dudette?"

General statement that I completely agree with you. :-)

[Joan]

Jane wrote: "I just finished The Interestings. I loved this book. I think it is Meg Wolitzwer's best book so far. A novel filled with characters whose lives unfold and overlap, with themes that push past what I..."

I loved it too, I couldn't put it down. Definitely, Wolitzer's best.

[Larry]

Joan wrote: "I gave up on Parker over the past few years as he'd become a self-parody. The earlier books were great."
Joan,

I read them all, but I do know what you mean. He hit his nadir about ten years ago, but he had been declining even before that. The last few books were better but not a lot better. I think he was perhaps just tired of Spenser.

Larry

[Sue]

Just finished Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune and definitely recommend it to all interested in U.S. history and biography. The lifespans of the people involved covered most of the country's history and Clark's father was in the thick of things while accumulating his fortune.

[Ann D]

I just finished reading Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I was totally caught up in this novel, whose characters are involved in the Biafran war for independence from Nigeria. I haven't been this absorbed in a book since, well, since I read Adichie's 2013 book Americanah. I love this Nigerian writer, who now divides her time between the U.S. and her native Nigeria.

[Barbara]

I really liked Half of a Yellow Sun too, Ann. I've been wanting to read Americanah.

[Sue]

Those are two books I definitely plan to read, Ann and Barbara.

[Carol]

I too want to read "Americanah".

[Ruth]

I read Americanah and thought it was really good. I fully intended to nominate it for our Reading List, and then forgot when the time came.

[Sara]

Sue wrote: "Just finished Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune and definitely recommend it to all interested in U.S. history and bi..."

Waiting for my library hold to come through on this one!

[Sara]

Ruth wrote: "I read Americanah and thought it was really good. I fully intended to nominate it for our Reading List, and then forgot when the time came."

If folks want to do a side read of Americanah, I'd be up for that--

[Sherry, Doyenne]

Ann wrote: "I just finished reading Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I was totally caught up in this novel, whose characters are involved in the Biafran war for ind..."

We had Half a Yellow Sun on our Reading List about three years ago. You probably hadn't retired yet or I'm sure you would have joined us for it. Here's the link to our discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Ann D]

Sherry,
Thanks so much for pointing me to the CR discussion of
Half of a Yellow Sun. I really enjoyed reading all those perceptive comments by real book lovers - much, much better than searching out very limited reviews by critics.

[Cateline]

I've started The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker.

[Sara]

Cateline wrote: "I've started The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker."

I have that one in my soon-to-be-read. I absolutely devoured his Dreamland.

[John]

If anyone here is a foodie, and enjoys memoirs that are anything but boring, Spilling the Beans is one of those books that look forward to between readings, not wanting it to end.

[Cateline]

Sara wrote: "Cateline wrote: "I've started The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker."

I have that one in my soon-to-be-read. I absolutely devoured his Dreamland."

I have his trilogy, unread as of yet. I like his style in this one, so far.

[Sara]

Cateline wrote: "Sara wrote: "Cateline wrote: "I've started The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker."

I have that one in my soon-to-be-read. I absolutely devoured his Dreamland."

..."

I also have the other two books in the trilogy, also unread as yet--the pile grows.

[Karlyne]

Robert wrote: "I'm thinking one of the great missed opportunities of all time was not casting Orson Welles as Nero Wolfe and Paul Newman as Archie Goodwin in the Fifties/Sixties."

Brilliant! What a shame it's too late...

[Larry]

Halfway though Keigo Higashino's The Devotion of Suspect X and thoroughly enjoying every page of it! Already placed the next book in this series, Salvation of a Saint, on reserve at our library.

[Cateline]

Larry wrote: "Halfway though Keigo Higashino's The Devotion of Suspect X and thoroughly enjoying every page of it! Already placed the next book in this series, Salvation of a Saint..."

:) Glad to hear it, Larry. "Saint" is equally interesting.

BTW, there is another on my shlef, unread by me as of yet, Naoko.

And.....there is a film of The Devotion of Suspect X that was well done.

[Karlyne]

I just finished "Absent in the Spring" by Mary Westmacott, an alter ego of Agatha Christie's. And, although it is not a murder mystery, it is, in many ways, much scarier than anything else she wrote!

[Larry]

I started Eli Brown's Cinnamon and Gunpowder. In it, the female pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot has taken captive chef Owen Wedgwood and given him an ultimatum. Make a great meal every Sunday for her or die. As at least one reviewer has pointed out, it's a "twist on the tale of Scheherazade."

[Karlyne]

Larry wrote: "I started Eli Brown's Cinnamon and Gunpowder. In it, the female pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot has taken captive chef Owen Wedgwood and given him an ultimatum. Make a great meal every Sun..."

Sounds like fun!

[Jane]

Thanks Larry. Sounds like fun. I put this on my tbr!!

[Ruth]

After saying I quit with Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, I found myself with nothing to read in the house, and picked it up again. This time I finished it. Still not impressed with the writing. So flat and affectless, but at least after the crash she's talking about more interesting things than childhood misbehavior.

[Joan]

Agree wholeheartedly, Ruth. She should have begun with the crash, in my opinion. The entire prologue was unnecessary, this was (or should have been) the story of his adventure/survival, not a biography.

Same goes for the epilogue. I suppose she wanted to flesh out what was really a novella.

[Paakhi]

I am reading The General's Daughter I am thoroughly enjoying the pace n flow of this thriller I guess thats what I needed after reading The Silent House by Orhan Pamuk

[Ruth]

Joan wrote: "Agree wholeheartedly, Ruth. She should have begun with the crash, in my opinion. The entire prologue was unnecessary, this was (or should have been) the story of his adventure/survival, not a biogr..."

If some of those childhood pranks had been seeded as flashbacks during the lifeboat/prison camp experiences, they would have been far more effective. As it is, all they did was make me want to spank the kid.

[Mary Anne]

I just finished Memories of a Marriage: A Novel by Louis Begley. I really liked this book. I'm not sure how this book made it to my TBR list - perhaps someone here recommended it. I had also never read Begley before (About Schmidt) and now I'll have to see about remedying that gap.

[Tonya]

I watched and liked About Schmidt way back, in the theater, and I liked (not loved) it. But it is maybe a little surprising that I never delved into the author. Doing so now, I see 3 or 4 books I think I will enjoy. Thanks, Mary Anne!

[Lisa Hope]

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff. Quite remarkable.

[Larry]

Cateline wrote: "Larry Wrote: From your review: "If one is a fan of stories of Tolkien, or similar fantasy this is for you." But not necessarily, Cateline. I liked Tolkien a lot. And TITUS GROAN still was not very ..."

Cateline,

I've been thinking several days about fantasy and how little I've actually liked within that category. While this list isn't exhaustive, it probably captures most of my favorites: Robert Heinlein's Glory Road, Jack Vance's The Dying Earth,Poul Anderson's The Broken Swordand his Three Hearts and Three Lions,Peter Beagle's A Fine and Private Place,Jack Finney's Time and Again, Roger Zelazny's Jack of Shadows,John Crowley's Little, Big, Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale, and Ken Grimwood's Replay.

Then there are the two fantasies that I loved as books and as movies. These are William Goldman's The Princess Brideand W.P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe, which was turned into FIELD OF DREAMS.

I could have added Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber, which I truly loved, but then he went on to write nine sequels, each of which was worse than the previous book. That truly is a singular accomplishment but it also took away from how I regarded the very first book in the Chronicles of Amber series.

Oh yeah, I forgot about John Gardner's Grendel, the retelling of the Beowulf saga from Grendel's point of view. Brilliant and moving.

[Jane]

Yes, sometimes succeeding books in series improve, but often it seems they just get worse or formulaic.
Maybe the writer just runs out of inspiration.

[Joan]

Absolutely. Seems to happen to most. To wit: Robert Parker's Spenser series. The Maisie Dobbs series.

[Larry]

Jane wrote: "Yes, sometimes succeeding books in series improve, but often it seems they just get worse or formulaic.
Maybe the writer just runs out of inspiration."

Zelazny always kept his imagination, but he sure became formulaic in the CHRONICLES OF AMBER series. It is interesting how sometimes a formulaic series just seems comfortable when I pick up the latest book while another series may just grow increasingly tiresome.

[Jane]

Gaius Petreius Ruso has just gotten better. Only 5 out, though.

[Sara]

Joan wrote: "Absolutely. Seems to happen to most. To wit: Robert Parker's Spenser series. The Maisie Dobbs series."

I'm still reading Maisie, and I expect to follow it all the way. I know a lot of people here have bailed, but I still appreciate it.

[Sue]

Sara wrote: "Joan wrote: "Absolutely. Seems to happen to most. To wit: Robert Parker's Spenser series. The Maisie Dobbs series."

I'm still reading Maisie, and I expect to follow it all the way. I know a lot o..."

Me too, Sara. I've read them all up to the latest.

[Robert]

Zelazny was definitely phoning it in early on in that series, but his short stories are utterly brilliant.

[Larry]

Robert wrote: "Zelazny was definitely phoning it in early on in that series, but his short stories are utterly brilliant."

"BORN OF MAN and woman, in accordance with Catform Y7 requirements, Coldworld Class (modified per Alyonal), 3.2-E, G.M.I. option, Jarry Dark was not suited for existence anywhere in the universe which had guaranteed him a niche. This was either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you looked at it.
So look at it however you would, here is the story"


And what it story it is. So starts THE KEYS TO DECEMBER by Zelazny. Short stories and novellas like this one and A ROSE FOR ECCLESIASTES and 24 VIEWS OF MOUNT FUJI, BY HOKUSAI and maybe a dozen others are about as good as it gets. I do think that they are even better than the award winning novels. Just another area of agreement between us, Robert.

Oh, yeah ... here's how it THE KEYS TO DECEMBER ends:

"Born of man and woman, in accordance with Catform Y7 requirements, Coldworld Class, Jarry Dark was not suited for existence anywhere in the universe which had guaranteed him a niche. This was either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you looked at it. So look at it however you would, that was the story. Thus does life repay those who would serve her fully."

And in between the beginning and the ending, you have a terribly poignant sf story that never fails to touch me, no matter how many times I read it.

[Larry]

Halfway through CINNAMON AND GUNPOWDER. Magical.

[Cateline]

Larry wrote: "I've been thinking several days about fantasy and how little I've actually liked within that category. While this list isn't exhaustive, it probably captures most of my favorites: Robert Heinlein's Glory Road, Jack Vance's The Dying Earth,Poul Anderson's The Broken Swordand his Three Hearts and Three Lions,Peter Beagle's A Fine and Private Place,Jack Finney's Time and Again, Roger Zelazny's Jack of Shadows,John Crowley's Little, Big, Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale, and Ken Grimwood's Replay. "

I've not been big on fantasy, certain ones like your above mentioned Replay, and the first of Finney's time travel books were ones that I liked. Especially Replay. The manner of time travel in Finney's books just didn't grab me.

Some of the others you mention are on my shelves, but most not. Tolkien, et al I haven't cared for either.

I haven't analyzed, exactly, which aspects of fantasy I seem to get along with, the closest I can come is that they are "more realistic", and less fantastical.

[Cateline]

Joan wrote: "Absolutely. Seems to happen to most. To wit: Robert Parker's Spenser series. The Maisie Dobbs series."

And Sue Grafton's alphabet series, plus Laurie King's Russell/Holmes series.

I wish they'd quit while they're ahead.

[Sue]

One series that I continue to like is Sara Paretsky's V.I.Warshawski's P.I. books. V.I., unlike Grafton's hero, ages in real time along with the baby boomers who are of similar age. Her issues are often realistic when separated from her career choice. I love this series.

[Robert]

I read a half dozen of the Grafton. Lost steam fast. Rex Stout and John D. MacDonald, on the other hand...

[Sara]

Sue wrote: "One series that I continue to like is Sara Paretsky's V.I.Warshawski's P.I. books. V.I., unlike Grafton's hero, ages in real time along with the baby boomers who are of similar age. Her issues are ..."

Me too, Sue. I'm looking forward to the newest one, Critical Mass. Paretsky was on the local NPR station a couple of days ago and as usual, spoke with great intelligence and humor.

I'm also not very far into Laurie King's Russell/Holmes series, but I plan to continue.