The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
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GETTING TO KNOW YOU
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<closed thread>What are you currently reading?
The Alchemist – Paulo Coehlo – 3***
This is Coehlo’s international best-selling classic tale of an Andalusian shepherd boy’s quest to find his own Personal Legend. It’s an allegorical fable about find your true self, wrapped in an adventure tale, with a little romantic interest added. I found it entertaining but not particularly inspiring.
LINK to my review
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The Birchbark House – Louise Erdrich – 4****
What Laura Ingalls Wilder did for the pioneer families in 19th century plains states, Erdrich has done for the Native Americans in this same time period. Omakayas is a seven-year-old Ojibwa girl living on Lake Superior’s Madeline Island. The novel covers the four seasons of 1847. I was fascinated by this story of the life of the Native Americans during this time period.
LINK to my review
I finished "Letters to Skye" and starting "Angel Falls" by Kristin Hannah
Written in Stone – Ellery Adams – 3***
This is book number four in the Books By the Bay Mysteries series. I like Olivia and her friends – the Bayside Book Writers. Of course the writers’ group includes the town Police Chief, handsome Sawyer Rawlings, which is convenient for the amateur sleuths.
LINK to my review
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The Shape of Water – Andrea Camilleri – 3.5***
Book number one in the Inspector Montalbano mystery series, set in Sicily is an absolute delight! Montalbano is a wonderful character. He deals with the worst of human situations and yet still finds humor in his life. Camilleri’s writing is very atmospheric. I almost felt as if I were visiting Sicily. I look forward to reading more of this series.
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 4*,
- 4*,
- 5*Reading:
In Farleigh Field - Kindle
Fashion Faux Paw
The Black Tulip
Vespers Rising
The Angel Makers
A Walk Across the Sun
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Catch Me If You Can – Frank Abagnale – 4****
Subtitle depends on the edition: The Amazing True Story of the Most Extraordinary Liar in the History of Fun and Profit! -or- The True Story Of a Real Fake. Frank Abagnale began his career as a forger, check-kiter and con-man when he was just sixteen years old. It’s a fascinating memoir of his years of crime, full of daring escapades, humorous situations, and outlandish lies.
LINK to my review
The Turn of the Screw – Henry James – 3.5***
A ghost story and psychological thriller. A young woman is hired to be governess to two young children, Miles and Flora. The governess is certain that some malevolent entity is intent on capturing the children in her care, and she is determined to prevent it from doing so. All the uncertainty and secrecy serve to increase the emotional tension in the story. It is dark, and puzzling, and disturbing.
LINK to my review
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky – Heidi W Durrow – 4****
Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a fateful morning on a Chicago rooftop. I found the book in turns horrifying, moving, disturbing, riveting, and confusing. The story moves back and forth in time, and with multiple narrators. I was moved by Rachel’s predicament. And empathized with her struggles to come to terms with what had happened to her, and to those she loved. All told, this is a great debut, and I look forward to reading future works by Durrow.
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 5*This is the story of a polygamist group in Utah. It is a brutal story about the abuse of children and about love - both true love and cruel love. There is a good outcome after all the trauma, but it is not realized until the last page. Wonderful writing.
Our House in the Last World – Oscar Hijuelos – 3.5***
Hijuelos’ debut novel spans five decades, telling the story of the Santinio family from 1929 in Cuba to 1975 in New York. Alejo is a man who has never met a stranger. He is exuberant and generous. Mercedes is a woman who lives in the past. She cannot let go of past glories of life in Cuba as a girl. She loves Alejo, but the man he has become is a stranger to her. Hijuelos’s writing is vivid and passionate, with scenes that are ethereal and full of mysticism contrasted with scenes of brutal reality. People yell in anger, whoop in celebration, and cry in despair.
LINK to my review
I finished Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter and starting The Lies of Locke Lamora
Finished:
- 4*,
- 4*,
Reading:
In Farleigh Field - Kindle
Vespers Rising
A Walk Across the Sun
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Starry Night – Debbie Macomber – 2.5**
It’s a typical Macomber holiday schmaltz novel. The characters are straight out of central casting and the plot is predictable. Still, it’s a fast and entertaining holiday read.
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 4*Only one more book to go to finish this series. I will be sorry to reach the end as I have enjoyed the characters of McGee and Meyer.
Killers of the Flower Moon – David Grann – 4****
Wow. I am ashamed to say that I knew nothing of this shameful episode of American history. Grann did a marvelous job researching and reporting his findings. He did more than simply report what the FBI managed to uncover, and that only emphasizes how institutionalized the racist attitudes were.
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 3*Currently Reading:
In Farleigh Field - Kindle
A Walk Across the Sun
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mistletoe Man
The Tale of Hill Top Farm
Commonwealth – Ann Patchett – 4****
The novel follows the four parents and six children of the Cousins and Keating families over five decades. As children, the six kids are frequently left to their own devices, the adults in their lives too busy with their own drama to focus on the children. How the adult siblings each interpret and remember what has happened, and how they manage the guilt or shame is the main focus. Patchett really shines when exploring human relationships. She slowly reveals secrets, hopes, and fears until the reader feels she truly knows these people. Little by little events are revealed, and characters are fully realized. Like her other works, this would be a great choice for a book club discussion.
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 4*,
- 5*,
- 4*Currently Reading:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mistletoe Man
The Green Ripper
Just One Look
City of Bones
Cotton – Christopher Wilson – 1.5*
I was intrigued by this idea of a “white-skinned black boy” in the segregated South of the mid-20th century. But the novel took a decided turn for the weird. …. Let’s just say that Lee Cotton changes skin color and/or gender like some women change hair color. Wilson gives Lee a unique voice – with an odd mixture of local dialect and educated English. But in the end, I found this just too fantastically absurd to be believed. I never warmed up to Lee or any of the other characters, and I found it a chore to finish.
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 4*,
- 4*Currently Reading:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Just One Look
City of Bones
The Counselor: A Screenplay
Letters For Emily – Camron Wright – 1.5*
Harry is dying of Alzheimer’s and he struggles to complete a book of wisdom for his favorite granddaughter. I thought the plot was predictable and emotionally manipulative, and that the characters were straight out of central casting. If it hadn’t been a book-club selection I would not have finished it. I will say that some of the advice Harry leaves is poignant and resonated with me, but the book’s construct really irritated me.
LINK to my review
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen – 4****
One of the best opening lines of literature: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” It's no wonder this is a classic. Austen is simply the master of dialogue. The way in which the characters interact brings them to life.
LINK to my review
Hidden Figures – Margot Lee Shetterly – 3.5***
The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. I had seen the movie, but it covers just a few years, and compresses the story of many women into three characters. Shetterly’s book covers the time from the early years of WW2 to the Moon Landing in August 1969. I’m glad I read it, and that these women’s stories are finally brought to the forefront of America’s consciousness.
LINK to my review
I finished Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale and starting Talon of the Silver Hawk by Raymond E. Feist
Inside the O’Briens – Lisa Genova – 5*****
A diagnosis of Huntington’s Disease affects not only Boston cop Joe O’Brien, but his entire family. Genova writes so well about neurological disorders, making the story both entertaining and informative. I really felt as if I knew these characters – their fears, joys, dreams, and anxieties.
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 3*Currently Reading:
White Butterfly
The A.B.C. Murders
The Invisible Bridge
Moondogs
Davita's Harp
The Golden Compass
The Midnight Watch – David Dyer – 2.5**
Subtitle: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian. Like many people, I am fascinated by the Titanic’s story, and I was eager to read Dyer’s debut novel. But his changing points of view somehow failed to capture my attention. The last sixty pages of the novel, however, were gripping.
LINK to my review
I finished "Talon of the Silver Hawk" and starting "House Rules"
The Longest Night – Andria Williams – 4****
A young military couple, Nat and Paul Collier vs his supervisor at the nuclear power plant where Paul works, and MSgt Reynolds’ mean-spirited wife, Jeannie. Add a handsome local cowboy and a reactor with problems that are being ignored and it’s only a question of which will blow first: the reactor, Paul’s career, or Paul and Nat’s marriage. Great character-based novel with a gripping story line. I was engaged and interested from beginning to end.
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 4*,
- 5*Will finish today:
- 3*Still Reading:
White Butterfly
The Invisible Bridge
Davita's Harp
Started:
Simmer Down
Packing For Mars – Mary Roach – 3***
Subtitle: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. Another entertaining and informative read from an author who has become a favorite “science” writer for me. As she has done for sex, our alimentary canal, and cadavers, Roach turns her curiosity, sense of adventure and wit to the topic of space travel. Entertaining and informative (and with some laugh-out-loud moments).
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 3*Reading:
White Butterfly
The Raven King
Backburner for now:
Davita's Harp - own
I decided to return The Invisible Bridge to the library unread. I had renewed it already and so was unable to keep it. Although I started reading it, it just did not grasp my attention enough to continue at this point. I will try it again another time.
I finished "House Rules" and starting "The Bonesetter's Daughter" by Amy Tan
Etta and Otto and Russell and James – Emma Hooper – 3***
Eighty-two-year-old Etta has never seen the sea, so she decides one day to leave her Saskatchewan farm and head out on foot. It reminded me of Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, but it was not quite as engaging. Use of magical realism and non-linear timeline.
LINK to my review
Barbaro: A Nation’s Love Story – Tom Philbin and Pamela K Brodowsky – 1*
It seemed that some of this must have been written for a contemporary magazine or journal piece, and perhaps the other author came in to expand it to book length. The result is uneven and boring.
LINK to my review
Finished:
- 4*Reading:
The Raven King
Miss Zukas and the Library Murders
Magic Strikes
Night Moves
Egg Drop Dead
Backburner for now:
Davita's Harp - own
The Butterfly’s Daughter – Mary Alice Monroe – 2.5**
I knew this was a chick-lit, road-trip, find-yourself kind of novel going in. I was intrigued by the link to the monarch butterfly migration, and by the main character’s journey. I liked how Luz grew through the novel, and liked the various characters she picked up along the way and how they helped her. I also liked that the ending, while hopeful, was NOT just wrapped up in a pretty little happy-ever-after bow. But there were elements that dropped it a half-star, chiefly how bad the audio performance was. If you want to read it, do so in text format. Skip the audio.
LINK to my review
’Round Midnight – Laura McBride – 3.5***
As she did in her debut work, McBride tells the story of four different characters with little apparent connection, until their stories come together in one specific event. The reader gets a pretty clear idea of the connection of at least two of these women early on but must wait for events to unfold over several decades before the characters will catch on.
LINK to my review
It’s All in the Frijoles – Yolanda Nava – 2**
Subtitle: 100 Famous Latinos Share Real-Life Stories, Time-Tested Dichos, Favorite Folktales, and Inspiring Words of Wisdom. Nava has compiled the wisdom of our ancestors through the stories, legends, folktales and sayings they imparted. She divides the book into chapters, each dealing with a basic value: Responsibility, Respect, Hard Work, Prudence, Chastity, etc. These short vignettes (many barely a page long), are perfect for a daily meditation, so it’s a nice book to have around the house for that purpose. But reading it straight through just emphasizes how repetitious it is.
LINK to my review
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The Seasonal Reading Challenge
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Rainbow Rowell (other topics)
Liam Moiser (other topics)
Barbara Mertz (other topics)
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Reading:
In Farleigh Field - Kindle
The Rainaldi Quartet
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Fashion Faux Paw
The Black Tulip
The Christmas Shoes