Constant Reader discussion
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I love Maureen Corrigan's reviews and I also love that comment from Amazon.
Also, I really like the title you gave this conference. I think it might inspire future notes from me.
Thanks Barb! Sometimes I enjoy considering what to read almost as much as the reading - such wonderful choices!
I remember my joy when I first discovered CR and realized that I'd found a group of people who liked to talk about everything about books as much as I did. Most people find my love of book reviews, even when I may not plan to read the book, a little strange.
Barbara wrote: "I remember my joy when I first discovered CR and realized that I'd found a group of people who liked to talk about everything about books as much as I did. Most people find my love of book reviews,..."Not me! Although I will say I now read less when I'm pretty sure I'll read the books, although I might circle back when I'm finished.
Barbara wrote: "Most people find my love of book reviews, even when I may not plan to read the book, a little strange."Exactly! I used to read all the reviews in the NYT Book Review, precisely because I knew I'd never be able to read all the books! (Now I don't even have time to read the whole Book Review, alas!)
i get the Sunday NYTimes and read it all week. The Book Review section is so precious and though I don't read every review, I do read many of them. The NYTimes Book Review podcast is also outstanding. My favorite part is when some of their writers get together at the end and talk about what they're reading.
Margeaux* never reads reviews; when she goes to the library she wanders around - usually in the YA area - looking at titles and sometimes pulling out a book to look at the cover. Some of them she takes, others she doesn't. Of the 3 or 4 she checks out she reads about half, and when I ask she almost always says she liked them.Last time she wandered around in 'Fiction' and chose 4 books. It is routine then to get my opinion, so I read the flaps and make a comment like "Sounds interesting," or "I bet you'll like that!" But this time there was one with a "Winner of the Prix Femina** award" note on the cover and the description sounded really good, so I was a little more interested and Googled around about it. So here's the head-scratcher part: on GoodReads this 2001 book has been reviewed twice, on Amazon it has 4 reviews, even tho the critical reviews were really good. GoodReads doesn't even have the author's name (François Cheng) correct!! It is under the translator's name! The book is The River Below.
This seems really bizarre to me!
* For those who don't know me, Margeaux is my daughter. She is 27 and special needs, but her language skills are good.
**French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine La Vie heureuse (today known as Femina). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written in prose or verse, by both women and men. The winner is announced on the first Wednesday of November each year.
What a mystery! Have you read any of it? The goodreads librarians would probably like to know about this.
I read a page or two, enough to appreciate that it is well written - or translated I guess. But there's just too much in the way for now to read the whole book.
I just got an email that our July selection, An American Marriage has won the 2019 Women's Prize for fiction! We do a great job choosing, don't we?
Tonya wrote: "Margeaux* never reads reviews; when she goes to the library she wanders around - usually in the YA area - looking at titles and sometimes pulling out a book to look at the cover. Some of them she t..."The River Below sounds interesting- I’ll be reading it soon.
My library catalogue described it as:
Intricately plotted
Leisurely paced
Thought-provoking
Lyrical, Descriptive, Stylistically complex
Tonya wrote: "I just got an email that our July selection, An American Marriage has won the 2019 Women's Prize for fiction! We do a great job choosing, don't we?"That's great news!
Joan wrote: "The River Below sounds interesting- I’ll be reading it soon. .."I think Cultural Revolution novels are interesting, I hope you will let us know what you think of the book if you do read it.
Joan wrote: "Tonya wrote: "Margeaux* never reads reviews; when she goes to the library she wanders around - usually in the YA area - looking at titles and sometimes pulling out a book to look at the cover. Some..."I belong to 3 libraries and none have a copy. The title doesn't even come up to recommend it.
Tonya wrote: "Joan wrote: "The River Below sounds interesting- I’ll be reading it soon. .."I think Cultural Revolution novels are interesting, I hope you will let us know what you think of the book if you do r..."
Have you read Red Azalea by Anchee Min? That was amazing, especially since the author didn't learn English until she was 24 (I think).
I think not. I read 3 or 4 in a short time, but I'm sure it was longer ago than the publication of that book. But it sounds interesting. It's on the list now!
I finished listening to The Last a couple of days ago--it stays with me, and was quite effective throughout, but was very much compromised by a completely unnecessary (and unearned) final paragraph.(Also, a pet peeve: an American character refers several times to sweaters as "jumpers". Just no.)
Sara wrote: "I finished listening to The Last a couple of days ago--it stays with me, and was quite effective throughout, but was very much compromised by a completely unnecessary (and unearned) final paragraph..."Don't you just hate that!
Very glad to know it! There are a lot of ways it could go when a writer makes an "On the Beach," "And Then There Were None," and "The Shining" fusion, but I did trust the review. Since my library didn't get it I ordered it, and it came a few days ago.Maybe the American's parents were immigrants? (Kidding, I blame the editor.)
Tonya wrote: "Very glad to know it! There are a lot of ways it could go when a writer makes an "On the Beach," "And Then There Were None," and "The Shining" fusion, but I did trust the review. Since my library d..."Definitely interested in hearing what you think of it--
Has everyone seen this!?!?! Embarrassed to say I've only read 5 of these. After reading these descriptions it would be hard to choose one to read next, but I think it would be one of the older ones, something I've never heard of.
The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...
I've read 8, but I don't typically reach for a memoir as my choice for reading.
Carol wrote: "Wow, am I under read. I only read one."The most important answer to this is, if your one wasn't H is for Hawk you should fix that right away!
Mary Anne wrote: "I've read 8, but I don't typically reach for a memoir as my choice for reading."Me either, not at all. In fact when I read both This Boy's Life and Liars' Club I didn't know I was going to read a memoir.
Tonya wrote: "Carol wrote: "Wow, am I under read. I only read one."The most important answer to this is, if your one wasn't H is for Hawk you should fix that right away!"
Ok will do.
Can't view it because I don't subscribe. Apparently, I've already looked at the "maximum" of free articles this month.
Tonya wrote: "Has everyone seen this!?!?! Embarrassed to say I've only read 5 of these. After reading these descriptions it would be hard to choose one to read next, but I think it would be one of the older on..."
I've read 5 of them but there are several others on the list that have piqued my interest. Also, maybe not on par with those on the list, but recently I read In Pieces by Sally Field which is really funny in places. I think she was truthful about those memories she shared but it's always difficult to know with memoirs what things are left out.
Tonya wrote: "Mary Anne wrote: "I've read 8, but I don't typically reach for a memoir as my choice for reading."Me either, not at all. In fact when I read both This Boy's Life and Liars' Club I didn't know I w..."
Honestly, it was Liars Club (which was a big DNF for me) that turned me off memoirs in general.
I did enjoy Sally Field's and Sissy Spacek's books--they really got into process and that is always good for me.
I was really interested in that article because I sometimes like well written memoirs. I've only read 3 on the list: Country Girl by Edna O'Brien, Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel and This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff. I've put the book by Vivian Gornick on my towering TBR list though.
I read Men We Reaped and H is for Hawk. Ditto what's been said for H is or Hawk. It was wonderful.
Gina wrote: "I read Men We Reaped and H is for Hawk. Ditto what's been said for H is or Hawk. It was wonderful."H is for Hawk is the next book on my list.
Oops, I've read 4! Somehow, I missed H is for Hawk when I was counting. I loved that book. For me, I think it was because I'm usually fascinated by animal behavior. When I've read less positive reviews, they are usually from people who aren't terribly interested in that part of it.
I've read six. I owned Growing Up by Russell Baker years (decades!) ago. The only thing I remember is that it was funny.
I've been rereading Wolf Hall but in an audiobook production. The narrator is Simon Slater and he's outstanding. I would never have used an audiobook for the first read because there are simply too many characters. But, it's a lovely way to refresh my memory while I look forward to the third book in the trilogy.
Thanks for the audiobook suggestion, Barb. I need to refresh my memory too. I tried the audiobook when I first read the book, but ran into exactly the problem you describe, so I switched to a hard copy. I do a lot of driving during the summer, so that would be a nice road companion.
Just found this thread.It’s been awhile since ive read any memoirs, but I have read The Liars’ Club, This Boy’s Life, Country Girl, The Year of Magical Thinking, Autobiography of a Face, The Color of Water, Angela’s Ashes. Of these, my favorites were The Liars Club, Angela's Ashes and This Boys Life.
And now I’ve ordered Hitch 22. Thanks, Tonya
I've read 8 (and seen film adaptations of 3 more):The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston*
The Liar's Club, Mary Karr
Boyhood, JM Coetzee
Country Girl, Edna O'Brien
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
Between the World and Me, Ta Nehesi Coates
Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealey
Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt
*I read this years ago when I was living in Oakland, CA - MHK also lived there and I had the meta experience of seeing her walk past me on the sidewalk one day at around the time I was reading her book. I am certain it was her, she is very distinctive looking small Asian woman with long, wild white hair.
It looks like they should have said 50 best "originally published in English" - it's totally fine to have that criteria, but seems NYT should have made it clear.
Here to make my annual CR post. Maybe I'll make it back more often going forward. It is nice to see you here, Tonya, miss you on Facebook.
Theresa
From Top 50 List:* This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff (taught it a couple of times; big hit!)
* The Memory Chalet, Tony Judt (well, read only an excerpt, "Night," published in NYR, about a typical night with ALS; whew, powerful piece!)
Fav Memoirs Not on List:
* Life with Picasso, Francoise Gilot
* Goodbye to All That, Robert Graves
* Teacher Man, Frank McCourt (audio narrated by McCourt himself)
* The Road from Coorain, Jill Ker Conway (read twice, looking forward to a third)
* A Woman in Berlin, Anonymous (she's been "outed" since)
* Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968, Heda Kovaly (Czech Jew who survived Holocaust, followed by years of post-war harassment by Communists; a searing work but ultimately inspiring testament to endurance and conviction.)
* The Star Factory, Ciaran Carson (really more of a memoir of a city, Belfast, than a life; Carson is acclaimed Irish poet, and his prose is a delight to read -- witty, whimsical, celebratory, lyrical in tone.)
Memoirs Not on List but Plan to Read (at some point I hope ... )
* Hope Against Hope, Nadezhda Mandelstam (widow of Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, who died in Stalin's Great Purge)
* The Seven-Story Mountain, Thomas Merton
* Fire and Stone: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, Priscilla Long (read a few chapters published in The American Scholar as stand-alone essays; a hybrid of memoir, science, and history. Excellent writing!)
I considered reading The Woman Warrior this month for the "Now Read This" part of the PBS Newshour. But it's over now and I didn't; the interview with Maxine Hong Kingston is on their Web site.https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/cel...
Tom wrote: "From Top 50 List:* This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff (taught it a couple of times; big hit!)
* The Memory Chalet, Tony Judt (well, read only an excerpt, "Night," published in NYR, about a typical nigh..."
A woman in Berlin was a Reading List book in 2016.. Here’s a link to our discussion. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Any thoughts/advice on books by William JamesHis name keeps turning up in a book I am reading.
Both The Will to Believe, Human Immortality and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy and The Varieties of Religious Experience seem interesting. I’m not sure where to start.
Like Falling Through a Cloud: A Lyrical Memoir by Eugenia Zukerman,an excerpt read on the show:
maybe mine are lost,
or maybe they're rolling around in my head looking for a place to land or maybe not.
My daughters tell me to get tested.
Tested for what? - I ask, even though I know for what.
But it's for what I don't want to know. So let the marbles roll around in a swirl of distracting colors because I don't want to listen to them, the daughters.
Because if I hear them, I will be very afraid.
And this mother cannot be that mother not ever, never.
I heard an interview with the author on NPR Morning Edition, Saturday November 10.
https://www.npr.org/templates/transcr...
Joan wrote: "Like Falling Through a Cloud: A Lyrical Memoir by Eugenia Zukerman,an excerpt read on the show:
maybe mine are lost,
or maybe they're rolling around in my head lo..."
I heard the interview also, and it was striking.
Constant Reader
Books mentioned in this topic
Like Falling Through a Cloud: A Lyrical Memoir (other topics)Like Falling Through a Cloud: A Lyrical Memoir (other topics)
The Varieties of Religious Experience (other topics)
The Will to Believe, Human Immortality and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (other topics)
Hope Against Hope (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Eugenia Zukerman (other topics)Eugenia Zukerman (other topics)
William James (other topics)
Sally Field (other topics)
François Cheng (other topics)
This really got my attention. I've read and enjoyed 2 of them, and enjoyed movies/miniseries about all 3! So I just went to see what other readers had to say about the book at Amazon, and the first one included this tidbit:
"If I've survived an apolocypse only to listen to more people argue about Trump---just kill me."
Really, really, cracked me up! Anyway, the review was titillating enough I added it to my list.
The Last