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JulieLill's 2019 Reading Challenge
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madrano
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Sep 08, 2019 05:47AM
Clearly this sort of challenge has encouraged research into favorite authors. Neat idea!
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4/5 starsThe Dog Stars
Peter Heller
4/5 stars
Years following a massive flu epidemic and the death of his wife, Hig finds himself adrift despite the company of his dog and his neighbor. With his wife gone, there is nothing to live for anymore. After his dog dies, he decides to take his plane for a final ride leaving his friend to take care of his property. He lands in an area and finds a father and a daughter trying to eke out a living on their plot of land and stays with them where he makes his decision of what to do with his life. I enjoyed Heller’s book Celine and this one too. Looking forward to reading more of his books! Set in a Post-Apocalyptic World
Sounds like a good one, Julie. (And dare i say i love that category?!) Some year i should make a DL of only science fiction books. That would be fun for me!
Alice in Quantumland: An Allegory of Quantum Physics
Robert Gilmore
2.5/5 stars
This is an allegorical book that is supposed to help teach you the different aspects of quantum mechanics by following Alice around as she encounters the different theories. This got very high marks but this is not for everyone. I had taken physics many decades ago but had lost that knowledge since it was never my major field of study. I think someone studying beginning quantum physics now would benefit from reading this cleverly written and illustrated book. An Allegorical Book
What a clever idea to write such a book, too. Frankly, this is the way i like to learn science! Thanks for the title. I never would have thought this sort of book for that category. Neat!
Less
Andrew Sean Greer
3.5/5 stars
In this Pulitzer Prize winning book, Arthur Less is in the doldrums. His former lover is getting married and he needs to leave town before the wedding. Les is an author so he books as many literary events and readings around the world so he doesn’t have to face up to the fact that he is turning 50 and not in a relationship. Probably not the funniest book I ever read but a highly enjoyable novel and I would read him again. A Humorous Novel
Julie wrote: "Less
Andrew Sean Greer
3.5/5 stars
In this Pulitzer Prize winning book, Arthur Less is in the doldrums. His former lover is getting married ..."
I have read this author before and had just forgotten when I was searching out his other novels. I had read The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells and enjoyed that one too.
Julie, Less was the selection for the NY Times/ PBS Book club a few months back. I took a pass on it as I was reading other things.
I've not read Greer but the story in Less sounds like a good premise. However, the Greta Wells book really calls to me!
Cat's Eye
Margaret Atwood
5/5 stars
This is the fictional story of the artist Elaine Risley. Going back and forth through different time periods, Risley relates her life as a child in Canada during WWII and tells of her life as a mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend and artist through good and particularly bad times. Wonderfully written and relatable to most women, I had a hard time putting this down. Set In a Country You Visited
She is quite the wordsmith, imo. Your challenges are such a joy to discover!
madrano wrote: "She is quite the wordsmith, imo. Your challenges are such a joy to discover!"Well, I wanted to read another Atwood and I haven't traveled much outside of the USA though I have been in Canada, Central America and Mexico so I googled Canada and her book popped up. I was delighted to read her and really felt a affinity to the main character in the book!
I read her first two novels and was sorry she left poetry behind her. However, the raves for subsequent books were high, yet i've not tried them. AND she didn't, in fact, leave poetry, as she's published a few volumes of it since. When i read one of those novels (The Edible Woman and Surfacing), a Canadian character mentions the material-ness of US citizens, which struck a chord with me. Reading the GR recaps, i cannot tell which one but the second, Surfacing, doesn't even sound like the same book i read. Hmmm. Perhaps it all went over my head.
ANYway, i think it's a neat idea. Most of us seldom read Canadian authors.
The Clockmaker's Daughter
Kate Morton
3.5/5 stars
A multi-layered tale told over several generations beginning with Elodie, a young archivist who finds a case with a sketch book and an old photo of a beautiful woman in it. The author takes the readers on a journey, back and forth throughout several generations to find out the history and the story behind the photo. Good read but sometimes I had trouble figuring out what time line I was in since it was not a straight narrative. A Family Member's Favorite Book Recommended by my oldest sister.
As I was adding this last entry, I found that there is a Kindle edition that contains the summary of this book. Maybe I wasn't the only one struggling with it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Neat premise, imo. This is a great category, imo. I was very happy that the last book i recommended to my own youngest sister was one which led her to read other books! She isn't much of a reader, so this was quite an accomplishment. The book i suggested was Michelle Obama's Becoming, which she liked so much she decided to read Barack Obama's first book, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. The timeline issue is something authors (& their editors!) need to keep a close eye on for corrections. It can mar a good book, as it appears it did for some people. I hadn't previously heard of such summaries for contemporary novels. Is this something Kindle does often?
Julie wrote: "A Family Member's Favorite Book Recommended by my oldest sister."I have to say I enjoy reading your categories almost as much as the books you choose !
madrano wrote: "Neat premise, imo. This is a great category, imo. I was very happy that the last book i recommended to my own youngest sister was one which led her to read other books! She isn't much of a reader, ..."This is the first time I have seen an edition like that. But I could have used that in a couple of books I have read. Sometimes if I am struggling with a plot and I will google it. Wikipedia is a good place for that too. I know some people don't like Wikipedia but sometimes it is useful.
Actually, my first choice was Where Crawdads Sing but there were so many holds on it, I didn't think I would get it before the end of the year. I had two other relatives recommended that and that is on my never ending reading list.
Wow, that's three relatives recommended it. This is amazing to me, although i, too, would be discouraged by the long list. I am not above looking up resources to help me understand what i am reading if i'm lost or befuddled. I begin with the synopsis here on GR, then try Amazon and if that fails i go to Wiki but i don't want spoilers, which can be a challenge.
Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World: The Twin Towers, Windows on the World, and the Rebirth of New York
Tom Roston
4.5/5 stars
This is the history of the restaurants in the Windows on the World which resided in the Twin Towers/ the World Trade Center in NYC and was created/developed by the restaurateur, Joe Baum. Roston gives the readers a behind the scenes look at the restaurants in the WTC and the people who ran them. He also talks about the history of the city during that time period and the tragedy that still affects people today. Sad but a compelling read.
This did not fit into my challenge but I was processing this book in tech services at my library where I work when I was compelled to check it out immediately and read it. And I am glad I did.
I've only been in two "top of the city"-type restaurants but it was such a thrill (Mexico City & Dallas), that i can only imagine how neat it must have been to be in that spectacular city. I would think that the hardest part of working in a library is wanting to read many, many of the books you work with. One day in the late '70s i substituted for our small town's librarian and was excited. THEN, the actual night, i realized i wouldn't really get to read all the books, just stand near them. Frankly, i ended up depressed because i saw the vast numbers & knew my attempt to read even all in that small place would never happen. *sigh* It was the first "Too Many Books" moment for me.
My reading list is so long between being on Good Reads and working in the library.
The Madwoman Upstairs
Catherine Lowell
3.5/5 stars
In this fictional story, Samantha Whipple is a descendant of the Bronte family on her late father’s side. After her eccentric father who was a writer passes away she decides to go to Oxford to study. She supposedly has an inheritance of Bronte memorabilia that nobody can find until it starts showing up, a piece at a time at Oxford. I enjoyed this fast, light read and it makes me want to read some bios on the Brontes. A Beach Read
Julie, your book couldn't have come at a better time for me. As i mentioned on another thread i am presently reading The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects, a sort of biography by Deborah Lutz, in which she examines 9 objects to tell their bio. It's not in chronological order and has large swaths of excerpts in which she relates how the objects fit into the novels the sisters wrote.Over the years i've read a number of bios on them, either accidentally like this one, or specifically. Another curious fictional bio looks at their father's life with his children. Glyn Hughes created a slim and strong work titled Brontë. Again, as it's fiction, i ended up wanting to check out his facts, which were valid.
ANYway, as i'm reading Cabinet, i've become dismayed by the footnotes which are full of references for books written over the years about this family. Each individually, including the brother Branwell, as a family, from their servants, letters, and on. Plus the myriad of books exploring their books, relevance, veracity and on. No dearth of books on this family, i'll say!
I'm adding the one you shared to my list. As you might imagine memorabilia figures heavily in the Lutz book i'm reading now.
madrano wrote: "Julie, your book couldn't have come at a better time for me. As i mentioned on another thread i am presently reading The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects, a sort of biogr..."Thanks for the info!
For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World's Favourite Drink
by Sarah Rose
5/5 stars
This is the story of the lengths that England and the British East India Company went about to monopolize the tea industry and take it away from China. Robert Fortune, gardener, botanist and plant hunter was sent by England to secretly gather plants from China to send to India (where England had British Rule). Aiding him in the transplantation of the plants (besides some Chinese citizens) was the newly invented Wardian case, a predecessor of the terrarium. This was definitely a hard to put down book. So interesting! Set In China
Thanks for the title, Julie. When we were near London we went to the National Maritime Museum ( https://www.rmg.co.uk/national-mariti... ). There was a room dedicated to sharing openly about this story and the racism involved. Indeed, the exhibits were remarkable for their presentations which illustrated how their many successes were at the expense of locals in different countries. I appreciated that honesty.
madrano wrote: "Thanks for the title, Julie. When we were near London we went to the National Maritime Museum ( https://www.rmg.co.uk/national-mariti... ). There was a room dedicated to sharing openly about ..."This was so interesting and pretty concise- it didn't drag on with too much information. It also was a story I didn't know anything about and so I was thrilled to read it.
I can understand that, Julie. This is why the UK Maritime Museum impressed us so much. Many stories we never knew. And it's why i am pleased to now have a title, thanks to you, to pursue the topic.
The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers
Maxwell King
4/5 stars
This was an enjoyable and interesting biography of the wonderful Fred Rogers. The author takes us through his life discussing his family and his work on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. He also discusses his strong religious faith and his unwavering sense of the belief that children should be valued and heard. The First Book You See In a Bookstore/Library
Julie wrote: "The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers
Maxwell King
4/5 stars
This was an enj..."
I am putting this on my TBR list. Though I didn't watch too much of the show, I do recall watching it sometimes with one of my nieces.
The First Book You See In a Bookstore/Library--- That category could have been a disaster ! You are lucky Mr. Rogers was there for the save. :)
Great category. This sounds as though it would be the best bio of the admirable man.
The Instructions
Adam Levin
1/5 stars
This is the story of ten year old Gurion and his feeling/belief that he was going to be a/the Messiah. This 1000 page book has wonderful reviews but it was just too long and the story line is very repetitive at times. Also I just didn't get most of it- but I did finish it. I did like the characters and would have loved to hear more about his parents who I thought were more interesting than Gurion.
This was not on my reading list-I found this on the free shelf at the library and took it in case I had to read another 1000 page book. I read this when I had no other book from my list available and it was a challenge to get through it.
Julie wrote: "The Instructions
Adam Levin
1/5 stars
This is the story of ten year old Gurion and his feeling/belief that he was going to be a/..."
OMG. You stuck with a 1000 page book you didn't enjoy.
Alias Reader wrote: "Julie wrote: "The Instructions
Adam Levin
1/5 stars
This is the story of ten year old Gurion and his feeling/belief that he was ..."
Well, it was a book on the free shelf and I was between books so I brought it home. I read pages some pages everyday and there were parts I liked. Actually, I loved the parents of Gurion and wished they had a bigger role in the novel. I just couldn't believe how many people gave this rave reviews. Time to move on to the next book. I really have had some good luck with 99% of the books I have read.
Julie wrote: so I brought it home. I read pages some pages everyday"That's a good approach to these big door stop books. A little at a time.
I'm sort of doing that with a book I read on the train. My ride is short and I usually don't get a seat both ways, so it's taking me quite a while to finish The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany---Thomas Childers
I know the book is going to be a top rated 5 stars for me. It's well written and he explains a lot of things that I never knew.
They Called Us Enemy
George Takei
4/5 stars
Wonderful graphic novel/biography about the trials of George Takei (Star Trek's Sulu) and his family when they were forced to leave their home after the Pearl Harbor attack and go into a internment camp simply because they were Japanese. Well written! I had read of his interment in one of his previous books but I feel this provided a little more information. This was not on my Challenge- I just wanted to read this!
I'm with Alias in standing in awe of your accomplishment in finishing the Levin book, Julie. I was once willing to wade through some books over a length of time in the past but nowadays i've lost that interest. I'm sure there must be some but if i didn't like it, i'd stop.The Takei books sounds wonderful & i'm glad he wrote it. Elsewhere on Book Nook Cafe i mentioned that this year we visited the site in Arkansas where his family was interred. I cannot imagine the contrast in lives lived there, as opposed to the coast. Let alone that they continued to behave like the US citizens they knew they were.
madrano wrote: "I'm with Alias in standing in awe of your accomplishment in finishing the Levin book, Julie. I was once willing to wade through some books over a length of time in the past but nowadays i've lost t..."A forest preserve near where we live also housed a internment camp during WWII. There may be a sign but I don't think anything remains of the camp. What a sad part of our history!
I agree. This is one reason we visited the site. While the museum isn't actually where the camp was, there were audio posts on that land. Takai was the only speaker on all of the posts--one memory was a personal for him, while the other was a memory of life in the camp. Very sad. I liked how they also addressed the differences between internment camps, concentration camps and lesser confinements. It helped explain for younger visitors, imo.
Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America's Strangest Jail
Rusty Young
3.5/5 stars
This is the true story of Thomas MacFadden, who on a trip to South American got caught by the police with drugs at the airport in Bolivia. He is sentenced and sent to the San Pedro Jail in Peru. McFadden is confounded by the prison set-up. To get a room to live in, you have to buy a cell of your own. Families live with their relative who is a prisoner, in their prison cell and businesses are run by the prisoners in the jail. Drugs are prevalent in the prison and are a main source of revenue to buy items and bribe the guards and judges. I thought this was a fast and interesting read! Set In South America
What a concept! I'm thinking about the positives and negatives of this idea.
madrano wrote: "What a concept! I'm thinking about the positives and negatives of this idea."This was quite an interesting book.
Bunny Lake is Missing
Evelyn Piper
4/5 stars
A young woman and her daughter are starting over in a new town. Blanche, the single mother drops off her daughter at her new school but on her return no one remembers a new girl at school and she is not there. This sends Blanche into a panic. No one, especially the police, believe that she has a daughter who is now missing. Suspenseful! This was made into a film by Otto Preminger though the plot was radically changed.
This was not on my challenge but I had recently seen the film and was interested in the book version. Our library system doesn't have any of Piper's books so I was lucky that I was able to get this out of the system!
I remember the film but not the book or author. I see her real name was Merriam Modell. I like finding out about authors who had good careers but that i never heard mentioned.
madrano wrote: "I remember the film but not the book or author. I see her real name was Merriam Modell. I like finding out about authors who had good careers but that i never heard mentioned."She wrote under an alias. When I was searching in my library's catalog-the only way to read her books were by downloading them to a device so I asked our librarian to order the book through another service. She has lot of books out there-I was surprised there was nothing in book form of Piper's in our library system. Also what I found was interesting that the book's ending was completely changed for the movie version. I preferred the book ending which was not so horrific.
Interesting about the ending.One reason i enjoy reading novels by authors from the late 70s & back in the 1900s is because the books they wrote were sometimes on the cusp. Few had foul language, their plots were rather tidy but the characters were still fascinating. Then i research the authors and find what i can about their lives & career as authors.
Robin
Dave Itzkoff
4.5/5 stars
This is the biography of actor and comedian Robin Williams. Itzhoff follows Robin from his very beginnings to the sad ending of his life. I thought this was a really well written biography and I just flew through it. If you are fan of his, this is a must read! Picked Out By A Stranger
Julie wrote: "Robin
Dave Itzkoff
4.5/5 stars
This is the biography of actor and comedian Robin Williams. Itzhoff follows Robin from his very beginnings ..."
The first stranger I asked about a book recommendation suggested the Bible! Unfortunately, I thought that would take too long to read all the way through.
I am excited to be through with my challenge-now I can get back to my never ending reading list.
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