June 2018 - Books with title and subtitle

[Peggy]

If the two chosen books are not to your liking, you can read another book that has a title and subtitle.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have completed the book before or during June 2018.
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favourite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread. Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (include a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock. Chapter numbers/titles are generally best as they are the same across all formats and editions. See our spoiler policy
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge, Topplers, and Monthly Challenges.

Happy reading!

[Janice, Moderator]

I've decided to go with As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride and double dip with the toppler. I'm starting it today.

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm about 40% into the book and I'm enjoying it so far. I think this might be a difficult book to discuss. I like hearing the actual actors for the various parts tell about their experience.

This movie was fairly early in Cary Elwes' career, which rather surprised me. He was recognizable to me when I watched the movie. It was interesting to hear how he got the part.

It was also interesting to hear the reasoning behind why the various actors were chosen and which ones were pivotal to the movie even being made. Andre the Giant is one of my favourite characters in the movie (view spoiler)[ and it was sad to hear how he struggled physically. It was shocking the amount of food and alcohol that he consumed. (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

My 1st toppler book will fit as an alternate title for the group read. Sweet. I'm reading The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary.

edited 6/5. It was a fascinating story! The background on the people who were in charge of the undertaking was ho hum, but the story of the mad man was unforgettable and so strange. He was strange man, but without his contributions and eventual friendship with the man in charge of the project, the book might never have happened. I am looking forward to the movie.

I have several of the same author's books on my TBR list.

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride and really enjoyed it. It was a great trip down memory lane.

So many of the sayings from the movie became household sayings. I chuckled when Cary Elwes told the tale of how he ordered steak medium rare at a restaurant and the waitress replied, "As you wish."

I think I enjoyed the bits about Carol Kane and Billy Crystal the best. It must have been an absolute scream when they were on set for the three days their scenes were filmed. (view spoiler)[They adlibbed a lot of it. Rob Reiner was laughing so hard he had to leave the set or ruin the scenes. Apparently, his laugh is quite loud. I even laughed when Billy, in character, said he'd had a rough night because his nephew had gotten involved with a sheep. Can you imagine just blurting that out? Needless to say, it was left on the cutting floor. (hide spoiler)]

The movie seems so timeless that I was a little shocked to realize that it was released around 1988. Carol Kane was 34 when it was released and she sounds quite aged in the audiobook.

The only thing I'm disappointed about is that there wasn't a pdf containing the pictures that were included in the book.

[Lori Z]

I'm glad you enjoyed the book as much as I did, Janice. I too was disappointed that the pictures weren't included. My library has a copy of the book and I'm going to check it out just to see the pictures when it becomes available again.

[Janice, Moderator]

The movie was uplifting in that it was lighthearted, comedic, and had something for everyone. Cary's memoir echoed that lighthearted tone and I'm still feeling that inner smile the next day. I've needed a book like that since I've been reading some serious fodder recently.

[Peggy]

Wow! You finished that quickly Janice. Of course a toppler always helps ;-)

[Janice, Moderator]

It was a 7 hour audiobook, and it was easy to listen to.

[Silver]

While I intend on reading the chosen book Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome I also really wanted to read Rape: A Love Story.

Thus far I am finding Rape: A Love Story to be a very compelling read. I want to just keep turning the pages. I noticed one reviewer called it an “ugly” book and while the subject matter might be ugly it is brutally beautiful. Oates has no fear or hesitation she is not afraid to go there wherever there is.

Every word is written with effect and purpose.

[Peggy]

I didn't plan on reading anything for this theme, but now with the death of Anthony Bourdain I thought I might read a book of his I own soon. I only just realized it fits the theme: Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

[Renee]

I find it so sad that both Kate Spade and Bourdain left us this way.

[Silver]

Rape: A Love Story is a brutally honest story about how many victims of rape are persecuted and to feel or treated as if they are at fault. Especially in a small town when a woman has acquired a certain reputation because of her behavior or perceived behavior and how she dresses.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I read Dark Water. It is listed as Dark Water: A totally gripping thriller with a killer twist (Detective Erika Foster Book 3) on Amazon.

I'm enjoying this series, but this was my least favorite of the three. I knew who the 'bad guy' was from the beginning. I didn't know the details of the why or how, but I knew the who. There was also some character development that I didn't care for and some behavior from characters that was out of character, which bothered me. I'll have to read the next one to see where the author goes with it, but I'm hoping the next one is better because I really loved the first book.

Not really a spoiler, but a hint of something that has nothing to do with the mystery part of the story, just in case... (view spoiler)[ Also, is there some reason authors think there needs to be a romantic interest in every book or series? It really bothers me that we had a fairly strong female lead and now the author is giving her a possible somewhat messy romantic slant. I mean he added it in this book, so now he needs to either write it out in the next book or develop it. Either way, it's not good. Why did he have to go muddy things up like that? It's a mystery/thriller series with a female lead. The least he could have done was given her better decision making in that area. (hide spoiler)]

[Lori Z]

I started A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life for this month's read. I originally checked it out for the toppler but didn't get to it but thought I'd use it for this. Anyway, I'm enjoying it so far. I can relate to taking in a "street" cat as all 3 of mine were strays. It really touched me when James said Bob gave him a purpose. Furbabies can add so much to our lives.
Anyway, back to reading!

[Lori Z]

Okay, so I finished A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life for this month's theme. I really enjoyed it. It was a quick, easy read, but more important than that was how uplifting it was. Its a story about second chances. I loved the bond between James and Bob and how that bond changed both their lives. There was a couple incidents in the book that I could really relate to and knew exactly what James was feeling. (view spoiler)[When James lost Bob I felt his pain and anxiety, as I had a cat that went missing for 3 days. Luckily, we had a happy ending too. (hide spoiler)]
I usually don't read animal stories, cause I'm always afraid something will happen to them, but I'm glad I made an exception for this one.

[Sarah]

Have you seen the film Lori? I've been told it's very good although i've not seen it yet. I still need to read the book which i've had on my kindle for yonks.

[Lori Z]

Sarah wrote: "Have you seen the film Lori? I've been told it's very good although i've not seen it yet. I still need to read the book which i've had on my kindle for yonks."

No, not yet, but plan to watch it soon. I just watched the trailer and it does look pretty good.

[Peggy]

Lori Z wrote: "Okay, so I finished A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life for this month's theme. I really enjoyed it. It was a quick, easy read, but more important than that was how upl..."

Glad you enjoyed it Lori. I read it a while ago and I thought it was very uplifting too.

[Peggy]

I'm making slow progress with Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook. Overall I'm enjoying it, but sometimes he mentions certain people who may be famous in the US but whom I've never heard of and that makes it a bit hard to follow. I now read some chapters in which he describes the early years with his daughter. He's so proud and loving and caring, it makes me extra sad :(

[Sandra, Moderator]

I finished today Asperger's Children: The Origins of Autism in Nazi Vienna by Edith Sheffer. It was a tough read. It took me many days and I needed to stop from time to time and read something lighter.
I do not know where to start, to be honest. I took four pages, on both sides, of handwritten notes. I will try to write a (hopefully) neat enough review later today. If I success I will post the link to it here.

Trying to summarize, Asperger's Syndrome was named after the Austrian pediatric psychiatric, Hans Asperger, who is supposed to have define the syndrome for the first time. In this book the author explores Asperger relations with Nazism and the Third Reich. Although Asperger was never considered a collaborationist with the Nazi regime because he never joined the Nazi Party, he was indeed part of the Third Reich's eugenics program and children euthanasia system in Vienna. The author supports this theory with an incredible amount of documents. Sheffer is a incredible neat researcher.

It is impossible to try to elucidate Asperger's actions without going deep into the Nazi programs of racial hygiene, eugenics, euthanasia, hereditary health, etc, and the role of child psychiatry in these programs. Very upsetting, by the way.

The book results very insightful about the dangers of labeling and rigid concepts about what it is normal and what is not, and also when concepts are defined not by medical point of views, but from an ideological interests.

[Cherie]

I am reading one of the group read books, but I also wanted to post this one as an alternate.

I listened to Admissions: Life as a Brain Surgeon narrated by the author. I really enjoyed listening to his story. He was a very good narrator and seemed honest and caring. He seemed a very complex and driven man and his account of his personal life and stories of medicine as a new doctor and his established practice in the UK and his teaching trips to Nepal were amazing. This story was written as he was contemplating ending his time as an active surgeon and only teaching, but his issues with teaching were changing, because he could not let go of his self-induced issues that anything that happened to a patient were ultimately the doctor's fault. He also had many issues with the state of medicine in the UK and the long wait times for patients and all of the rules governing their care - short term and long term. To operate or not to operate, especially brain surgery that is so complex and has so many things that could go wrong. He was a wood worker too and loved to collect tools and make things, when he had time. He was very concerned with his own health and his mental health when the time for his quitting came up.

[Peggy]

Almost the end of the month. Don't forget to report if you haven't done so yet.

[Peggy]

Clement, can you copy your post to the reporting thread? https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The thread we're in now is for discussing other books that fit the theme.

Thanks!

[Amanda]

I read Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town.

This was probably the hardest book I've read in a while, both in content and in trying to decide how to rate it. The book looks at a few cases of rape that were reported to the police in Missoula, Montana, and how they were / weren't investigated, prosecuted, etc. It shows how difficult it is for a rape victim to get justice in America, how people tend to assume rape victims are lying and trying to "ruin" a good man's life, and how often the justice system is simply another trauma for victims to face. This book made me so angry - it has been a really hard book to get out of my mind. I decided to give it 4 stars because, even though its a frustrating book, it is an important one to read, especially with some of the problems currently being exposed in our society.