Play Book Tag discussion
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2016-19 Activities & Challenges
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Trim the TBR—December Planning and Reporting
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Joi wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "My number 2 is Before the Fall."Buddy read! You, Anita, Joi, and kimber are on the original list."
Yes, this is still my #2 also. Haven't decide..."
Well, I screwed up my challenges in November, but I'm bound to redeem myself in December. I'm ready to start reading Before the Fall so will be putting up a buddy read thread shortly.
Three of us for A Piece of the World? Going to start it next. Gotta slog through my current book...
December Trim #2Doesn't fit tag
336 pages
Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb
4 stars
I don't know why this has sat on my IRL TBR for so long. I'm so glad that it came up in the Trim. Now on to the 6th! :)
I am a huge Nora Roberts fan and love her books! This one is written under her pen name that she uses for the Eve Dallas and Roarke series. It continues to follow Eve's story and her adventures as a Lt in the NYPD in Manhattan in the 2050s.
What was fun for me is this book was originally published in 1997, so it's interesting to see what Nora Roberts got right and what she didn't about things in the future. She talks about discs for this or that and we are still decades away from when this book is set and we've moved away from discs years ago. They are obsolete now. She does talk about Roarke's watch and the different things that it can do, um... Apple watch?!? We really aren't that far from some things.
A really fun read and I'm so very glad that it came up on my Trim!
December #2Does not fit the tag
There is no hardcover version - my e-book is 457 pages, paperback is 456 so take your pick
The Doctor's Daughter: Journey to Justice by Belle Blackburn - 457 pages - My Review
PBT Comments: 3.5 stars, rounded up, since I very much enjoyed about 90% of this book.
This book is an unusual blend of mystery, coming of age, and family saga leading up to the American Civil War. Kate Seaver is a young woman living in a small town outside Nashville, Tennessee. Her mother, the titular “doctor,” is an herbalist who has provided for herself and Kate since her husband died of what was ruled a suicide, but Kate believes was murder. Kate is at an age to be courted and is being pursued by the son of a powerful lawyer in Nashville society. The story focuses on Kate’s daily life, the people she meets, and many small steps she takes toward finding out what really happened to her father.
This is a very well-researched book. I have read a good amount of non-fiction about the 19th century, and the writing here has a ring of authenticity. We accompany Kate to various events of the era, such as the gathering of local women to sew a quilt, a community hog-killing, assisting at the birth of a lamb, and attending a local dance. There is also discussion of herbal remedies vs. the “science” doctors practiced at the time, with both appearing equally outlandish. Readers that enjoy being immersed in a time period through a depth of detail will enjoy this part, as I did.
The characters are well-crafted, complete with strengths, flaws, and growth over time. The lesser developed area is the murder mystery. It is mostly in the background until it takes center stage toward the end. It is a good selection to read for pleasure if you enjoy historical fiction set in the 1860’s American south. Be prepared for a cliffhanger ending.
Trim NOVEMBER # 28
The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols
5*****
I've had this book on my TBR "radar" for a bajillion years and I don't know why I waited so long to read it. I really liked it a lot! The quirky characters, the message, the humor, the pathos, and the landscape all made this an especially moving book for me. I could not help but think of my grandparents - we always referred to their property as a "dirt farm" - "dirt" being their most reliable crop. They were on their ranch / farm well into their 80s ... even after my grandfather had two strokes. He just got up and kept caring for the animals, tending the orchards, repairing the truck, doing whatever it took to keep on living.
So thank you, PBT Trim the TBR for finally giving me the "push" I needed to get to this gem of a novel. I can hardly wait to read it again!
(Haven't written a full review yet .. just finished it in the last hour)
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le GuinDoes not fit theme.
205 pages - original 1968 hardcover.
4 stars
This is a bildungsroman written as a fantasy novel, telling the story of the wizard Sparrowhawk and how he came into himself as a wizard. We meet Sparrowhawk as a child, hear about the first serious use of his power (to save his village), wizard school, the mistakes he makes and the good he does as he matures and becomes fully vested as a wizard. You see him grapple with pride, anger, jealousy, hate but also loneliness, true friendship, gentleness, patience. You see him confront and accept his own darkness and eventual death. There are battles with dragons and shape-changers.
Reading it was much like listening to a storyteller telling a heroic tale around the fire. It felt 'removed' -- something I was 'hearing' (I read an ebook version) -- rather than being actively engaged or drawn into the story, becoming part of it. That did change a bit towards the end; if it hadn't, I probably would only have given this 3 stars. I also really appreciated that LeGuin wrote a YA story that certainly holds its own as an adult story.
One of the highlights of this edition - newly published around 2012 -- is the Afterward added by LeGuin in 2012. She talks about how she came to write it, her hesitation and eventual commitment to it. What she tried to accomplish, the importance of seeming to conform to fantasy convention yet not, and how it has never been out of print (originally published in 1968). This for me epitomizes what she accomplishes in what is a deceptively simple story:
Its subversive elements attracted little attention, no doubt because I was deliberately sneaky about them.
This is my first Ursula LeGuin - not a surprise given I'm not much of a fantasy reader. It won't be my last. In fact, I added it to my TrimTBR list because it is a classic I never read when my peers read it.
I just started my Trim book, and have realized how lucky I am. In my trim list books range between a short play and a 600 page mammoth.
Thank goodness that December brought me a short play. I don't think I would have managed to read a huge book right now. my brain is just about fried crisp
#2 - DecemberThe Library Book by Susan Orlean
4 stars
The Library Book, tells of the Los Angles Central Library fire that took play in 1986. It talks about the fight to save the building, the loss of books and the person suspected of starting the fire. The story is more than this though, it gives the history of the building and the people who ran it over time. It also discusses the many ways libraries extend themselves to the community. The author adds elements that take the book beyond just a story about a a particular library; although facts are told, it is personalized through Susan Orlean's many interviews with individuals and her detailed research. This book has depth and will greaten someone's appreciation of the library system.
#2The Silence of the Library by Miranda James 3 stars
308 pages
doesn't fit tag
Charlie Cartwright is helping his local library organize a tribute children's writers, especially Electra Banes Cartwright. When he discovers Mrs. Cartwright is 100 years old but still alive the library invites the author to hold a special talk. This brings a lot of avid fans to the area and the author of a newsletter devoted to Mrs. Cartwright is murdered. Charlie has a cat Diesel who goes nearly everywhere with him. I like mysteries with animals in them but there was way too much time spent describing every move Diesel made. I don't need to know what [art of its body the cat is cleaning or where its taking a nap. The plot was fine though fairly easy to solve but I'll be skipping the rest of the series due to excessive cat descriptions.
December #2- does not fit TagBefore the Fall by Noah Hawley - 4 stars
pp. 400
"A camera must be aimed to be a camera. To service a microphone, a question must be asked. Twenty-four hours a day, frame after frame, we feed the hungry beast, locked in perpetual motion as we race to film it all. Does television exist for us to watch, in other words, or do we exist to watch television?"
Before the Fall is about a plane crash and its survivors, particularly the middle aged artist, Scott Burroughs. If that was all it was about it wouldn't be satisfying even though, I have a book crush on Scott.
Scott happened to be on a private jet owned by the owner of news network, Bill Bateman, because of an invitation from Bateman's wife Maggie.
Bateman's network is his dreamchild:
"CNN, ABC, CBS, they sold the news like groceries in a supermarket, something for everyone. But people didn’t want just information. They wanted to know what it meant. They wanted perspective. They needed something to react against. I agree or I don’t agree. And if a viewer didn’t agree more than half of the time, was David’s philosophy, they turned the channel. David’s idea was to turn the news into a club of the like-minded. The first adopters would be the ones who’d been preaching his philosophy for years. And right behind them would be the people who had been searching their whole lives for someone to say out loud what they’d always felt in their hearts. And once you had those two groups, the curious and the undecided would follow in droves."
This may sound familiar perhaps you have heard of a network similar to this with opinionated hosts spouting their conspiracy theories.
So Scott as a survivor becomes an immediate target. How does one survive when everyone else dies?
And it is far more interesting than that. I leave out all the juicy details.
December #2doesn't fit tag
368p
The House of Tomorrow - Peter Bognanni 4/5
Sebastian lives in a geodesic dome in in Iowa with his eccentric Grandmother. She's sheltered him and homeshooled him so he's a bit eccentric himself.
To make ends meet they give tours of the dome and it is thus that Sebastian makes his first friend his own age.
This is the story of their friendship and family. It's definitely YAish, and I thought I was bored a couple times, but quickly got over it and ended up liking it quite a bit. Cute and enjoyable.
Lots of references to Buckminster Fuller ... who I know nothing about. LOL
I managed 9 or 10 of my official trim list, plus oopsed a number of them, so I feel good I knocked some (older) books of my TBR this year.
December #2 - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson / 3 starsDoes NOT fit tag
246 pgs
"I am like a small creature swallowed whole by a monster, she thought, and the monster feels my tiny little movements inside."
This has been on my TBR for years, and one of the more egregious gaping holes in the list of horror novels I have read.
I was overall underwhelmed, but I do seem to trend toward lukewarm for haunted house stories. The first half is mostly setting up the characters, their relationships with each other, and then the architecture of the house. Just when you think the phenomena is a series of coincidences that aren't very scary Jackson amps up the activity and that was an element I really enjoyed.
I thought the ending was phenomenal and it is a really short book, so you are not sacrificing a lot of time to read this classic.
Still, once it was all said and done I felt just 'meh about it.
Glad it is finally off the TBR.
A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline
Usually when I write a review, words, phrases, images, ideas, they just spill forth. Its like an artistic reaction to a piece of work. A story that still lingers. This one lingers, but for the first time in a while, the words don't come so easily. Here's why. This is one of those books where the writing is beautiful, but that its really hard to connect with, and deeply care for the main character, the narrator. Not that I wasn't moved by her, but I found it painful and sad, and I really "took her on" emotionally. It created an emptiness in me, that she herself would have hated. I looked at her with the eyes that everyone else looked at her with, and she felt repulsed by being seen for her emptiness, even worse for being seen as cold and mean, and as if her fate were deserved.
And yet this is one of those books where while you are engaged in it, and you don't know how its going to turn out, the last forty pages really pulls it together and tugs at the heart. Ultimately Christina is seen for other sides of herself, even beyond what we have seen as passengers and voyeurs to her journey. The last part of the book pulls it together beautifully - and I am a little less sad, and more moved. I feel in deep appreciation. Through all the senses.
A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train, chronicles the life of Christina, the woman depicted longingly in Andrew Wyeth's well acclaimed painting named Christina's World. The story is about the woman behind the painting. And that was exquisitely beautiful to hazily remember the painting, and then to read Christina's story and learn of her inner world and life, and then to see how the painting defined her brilliantly. I think we all felt her when she was seen through Andy's eyes, who is a passing character at best. And then to see the painting at the end of the book, where I hadn't seen it until that point - well that was a whole other level of experience and artistry. As I said, beautifully done!
December#2
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
2 stars
432 pages
does not fit the tag
Mariah White is 'emotionally fragile'. Seven years ago she learned that her husband Colin was having an affair. Deep depression set in and Mariah attempted suicide leading to a 4 month stay in a psychiatric hospital. The order for committal was initiated by Colin who said he was terrified that Mariah would repeat the behavior. Now they are the parents of a precocious 7 year old daughter named Faith. Returning home early one afternoon, Mariah and Faith find themselves face to face with a towel-clad Colin and a shower-bound woman named Jessica. Colin is apologetic but quickly decides to leave his marriage and move in with the lovely Jess. Fragile Mariah is on her own but apparently Faith is not.
Faith begins talking to, what is first assumed to be, an imaginary friend she calls her 'guard'. It turns out that she is talking to God, who is female, and now has amazing powers to heal those who are ill or physically afflicted. Her 'miracles' begin to draw a crowd to the White's rural New Hampshire home including religious leaders, desperate people who want Faith to heal them, and a noted 'teleatheist' Ian Fletcher. When Faith's lifestyle begins to affect her own body with dangerous physical ailments, Colin decides to sue for custody and a heated court drama ensues. Suddenly Mariah is the focus of Colin's oily lawyer who wants to prove that Mariah is behind Faith's injuries and fantasies.
Nope, didn't like this one particularly. Colin is a pig, Mariah is a little too eager to enter into an odd relationship a little too quickly, and Faith is sweet but totally confusing. I always expect that there will be a big reveal that I never expected and maybe there was? but I didn't get it. The last scene made absolutely no sense to me so I have no idea what the heck was going on. Oh well; they can't all be winners for me.
September Trim - #3Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd - 897 Pages - 4*
Finally finished! I started this book in September and finished it just a few weeks ago. I'm used to long book since I'm an Outlander fan, but this book was really dense - as in they packed a lot of text onto a page. I alternated between reading and listening, and it was 49 CD's.
Having said that, I'm really glad that I read this book. This was Rutherfurd's first novel - the one that set up his standard theme of following the ENTIRE known history of a location by writing multiple novellas set in time periods from the beginning of that location's history to current times. And the location for this book was Sarum - whose history extends waaaaaay back because it includes the Salisbury plain upon which Stonehenge sits. I'm a bit of a Stonehenge buff, and - although theories abound - no one really knows why and how Stonehenge was built. I thought this author wove a very plausible and entertaining tale around that.
And since the Salisbury Cathedral was also built in Sarum,
that was also a focus of many of the stories, as was the centuries that England went back and forth between being a Catholic country or a Protestant county. This novel really helped me understand all of the Catholic vs Protestant conflicts and battles.
Now I've moved onto London by Rutherfurd - which was also on my Trim list and got chosen for October!
December Trim - #2
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World - Stephen Brusatte - 12/6/19 - 3.5 Stars
404 pages
Does not fit the tag
I was leery about adding this book to the TBR in 2018 because the reviews were all over the place. Maybe, because I had no expectations, I ended up liking it more than I thought I would.
Brusatte has expertly crafted the story of the evolution of the dinosaurs and their ultimate demise, interweaving his own early career as a paleontologist and introducing a diverse cast of characters who are involved in dinosaur research.
I didn't know much about the Chicxulub Crater, a widely accepted theory that worldwide climate disruption from the event was the cause of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, along with mass extinction of 75% of plant and animal species on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs. Brusatte ends with a brief epilogue in which he and his University of Edinburgh students explore Paleocene fossils in New Mexico to fill out the story of what happened in the wake of the Chicxulub impact. Maybe, because I was totally ignorant of this, I found it the most interesting.
If you are looking for an academic look at the history of dinosaurs, I think you will end of being disappointed. Brusatte's view is more of a personal journey into his love of dinosaurs, particularly sauropods, theropods, and bird evolution. There's a lot of fanboy extolling of fun times spent with colleagues who are equally excited about discovering dinosaur fossils. I always envy someone who loves his or her job so much that they can't really think of it as “work”. It wasn't my favorite book of the “Trim the TBR” challenge but it was interesting to me and I'm glad that I finally got around to reading it. It's a great “check it out at the library” book.
The Cherry Orchard - a play by Anton Chekhov96 pages
3 stars
A Russian play that was written before the revolutions, but after the abolition of slavery (1886-ish). Things are starting to change, but not in the extreme way that will happen in the near future. Too subtle for the nobility to notice, but there's restlessnes already in the middle class and the lower classes
This is the story of a family that is losing it's fortune and is forced to sell their house and their cherry orchard. They are disconnected from the new reality and are a bit pathetic. The new rich middle class is not much better than them, and it is a very realistic view of a change of the guard from flawed people to other flawed people.
There are parts in the play that are very touching, but there are too many characters that just confused the whole thing, and I'm not sure the translation I chose was a very good one
Just finished my trim TBR- ‘Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance’ by Barack Obama. 453 pp. does not fit tag. A really quick collection of thoughts:Some really deep and profound stories and thoughts on growing up in modern America as a person of mixed race and also a person of color. The social divides, Obama’s journey to learn about the man who was his father, whom he met only once and his dawning awareness and involvement in social action, organizing and lobbying in the poorest parts of Chicago during his 20s. At times gripping, profound and moving, there were large sections that seemed less interesting, particularly during the middle parts of the biography. I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of his childhood growing up in Indonesia and his young adulthood as he sought purpose and a vocation he could feel passionate about. My favourite part of the book is towards the end and the stories of Obama reuniting with his African side of the family which he had previously not known and his growing understanding of who his father was, through the descriptions and stories of his family members. A solid 3 star read.
Idit wrote: "The Cherry Orchard - a play by Anton Chekhov96 pages
3 stars
A Russian play that was written before the revolutions, but after the abolition of slavery (1886-ish). Things are startin..."
I actually really dislike Chekhov. I've seen so many of his plays and hated them all. I've now walked out of productions of Uncle Vanya twice, just for example. If Chekhov shows up in a subscription series, I give the ticket away to friends!
Chekhov always seems so pointless. I will say though that one production of The Cherry Orchard I saw went down as perhaps the worst production ever. Ian McKellan was in it and he along with everyone else in the cast were clearly acting in different plays. I wished I'd left at intermission.
Jemima wrote: "Just finished my trim TBR- ‘Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance’ by Barack Obama. 453 pp. does not fit tag. A really quick collection of thoughts:Some really deep and profound s..."
I have a copy of this floating around my apartment somewhere...need to find it to read because it sounds so interesting.
Theresa - I was surprised and underwhelmed. 3 stars for me is a ‘no thanks’. I didn’t hate it and don’t feel angry I read it, but very unexcitingI remember fondly some short stories of his that we studied at years 7-8 but never before tried his plays and I don’t think I’ll again. I will check again some of his short stories to see if they are as good as I remembered.
I remember having to read something(I know I hated it) in High School-I think it was Stories of Women. Never picked him again
Idit wrote: "Theresa - I was surprised and underwhelmed. 3 stars for me is a ‘no thanks’. I didn’t hate it and don’t feel angry I read it, but very unexcitingI remember fondly some short stories of his that we..."
I did not know about the short stories. Might see what I can find and try one.
December: #2 It's Not My Mountain AnymoreFits the December tag, NO:2005
Page Length of the book-194 pages
3 stars
Barbara Taylor Woodall gives you a peek into her life and of others on what it was like living in the Appalachian Mountains. Good book but at times lacks focus, tends to jump around and rush through stories. Pictures are scattered throughout the book which is a nice touch.
I could relate to the changing of the place you love and grew up. It hurts deep when people step in and take over that truly don't love it but want to use it up.
#2 - Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven - 3.5 starsDoes NOT fit the monthly tag (2005)
In 1921, four men and one Eskimo woman went on an expedition to the remote and desolate Wrangell Island, under the direction of the explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who was determined to prove his theory (but only via others) that the Arctic was not a dangerous place and living off the land would be easy. What was expected to be a six month stint instead turned into two years, and when another vessel, captained by Harold Noice, was finally able to make it back island, they found Ada Blackjack as the lone survivor of the expedition.
Niven does a good job of telling the story, gleaned from the diaries of the four, as well as various newspaper articles and interviews with relatives. While it was a fascinating tale, once Ada is back in civilization the story gets a bit tedious at times, but also quite infuriating as Stefansson and Noice war with each other, both trying to exploit the story to their own financial gain and to the detriment of the reputations of the expedition members.
I enjoyed seeing the pictures at the end of the book, they were actually big enough to see clearly, unlike other Kindle ebooks I've seen.
My rating is actually 3.5, but I'm rounding down.
July Trim - #23In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan - 205 pages, 2 stars
This was a short book and it still took me five months to slog through it!
I really liked The Omnivore’s Dilemna and although I didn’t hate In Defense of Food, I didn’t feel there was as much useful information presented here. The entire premise of the book can be summed up with the opening line, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” The rest of the book is mainly an argument against nutritionism – an assumption that the key to understanding food is through individual nutrients, or, food "science". Pollan’s thesis is that we should look at the benefits (or lack thereof) of an entire food and not simply the chemical components of said food. He’s not wrong. But it shouldn’t have taken him 205 pages to explain it to us in the driest way possible.
#2Iced in: Ten Days Trapped on the Edge of Antarctica / Chris Turney
4 stars
The author, Chris Turney, gathered together many people in 2013/2014, mostly scientists, to travel to Antarctica to do some research. Antarctica is a dangerous place, as the weather and ice conditions can change in a heartbeat. This group was lucky enough to start off with a number of good weather and ice days, but things quickly changed on Christmas Eve and they ended up locked in by ice.
This was really good. Turney also recounts Ernest Shakleton’s story of being trapped 100 years earlier, so he goes back and forth between his crew and Shakleton’s. As the leader of the expedition, and impressed by how Shakleton had handled things in his time, Turney made decisions based on “what would Shakleton do?”. It’s a different world now, though, as compared to during Shakleton’s time when no one knew what had become of Shakleton and his crew. With Turney’s group, they kept in connection via radio, satellite phone, social media, and were able to call in for help. Even still, there were times where things were dicey, and they really weren’t sure when or if they’d be able to get everyone out safely.
#28 MirrorMask by Neil GaimanFits the 2005 Tag for December.
MirrorMask
I put this on my trim list since it was a Neil Gaiman book I hadn't read. Even though it was short, there's no way I would have finished if it wasn't on my trim list.
This book was like a bad dream - the kind where nothing makes sense and it feels like your feet are stuck in bubble gum.
The main character is a teenaged girl named Helena. She finds herself pulled into an alternate reality where nothing is normal. I don't want to give any spoilers, and with any Gaiman book it's hard to review without spoilers.
I found this book to be too much Gaiman if that makes any sense.
#2 The 19th Wife5 Stars
This book provided so much information on the history of Mormons, and on polygamy, but yet I was fascinated for the entire book.
While this is historical in nature, the true heart of the book is around faith. What you believe and how you show it. Faith has positive and negative connotations, depending on how it is used.
The original story of how Mormons were founded, persecuted, and misunderstood, as well as how the doctrine - any doctrine - can be warped is an age old tale that we all continue to face.
So well done.
November #28 - Unexploded - Alison MacLeod - 2*340 pages
Evelyn, Geoffrey and their son Philip live on Brighton during the Second World War, where it is rumoured that the Germans will soon attack. The tension in the city is palpable as everybody waits and prepares as they can. Philip imagines what ife will be under German rule, Geoffrey is Superintendent in the labour camp outside of town, and there is a rift growing between him and his wife, especially when Otto, one of the prisoners, falls in love with Evelyn.
Well, I never thought I’d be bored by a WWII novel, but here we are. It was advertised as a story different from the usual London Blitz tales, and different it was, but not in a good way. The story could have been interesting, but every character, even the kids, ranked somewhere on a scale that went from “completely drab” to “downright unpleasant.”
I do not recommend this. There are too many good WWII books out there to waste time on this one.
December #2: The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough
3 1/2 stars
(first edition hardcover has 533 pages)
The Thorn Birds is a generational historical fiction that takes place mostly on a sheep farm in early twentieth century Australia. It tells the story of the Cleary family and their close friend, Father Ralph de Bricassart. The Australian outback was a tough environment with many droughts, fires, and invasive rabbits but it was not the environment that caused most of the drama in the story, it was the characters relationships. I really wished the story revolved more around surviving the environment rather than the love stories, but I think that is because I had a hard time buying in to the major love story in the book. I was not routing for them and found myself having a hard time buying into its intensity and endurance. I liked the characters and the setting, but I was more interested in the side characters than the main characters and wanted to learn more about their stories. I think this story was too much tragedy for my personal tastes, but did enjoy reading it and learning about early twentieth century Australia.
Cora wrote: "December #2: The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough..."
This, I think, will be my first audio in 2020.
The Angel of Darkness - Caleb Carr - 5 stars
629 pages
Doesn't fit the tag of 2005
Blurb: In this sequel to 'The Alienist', the characters from that novel once more investigate a crime committed in the New York of the 1890s. Concerning a nurse, Elspeth Hunter, the crime is one of kidnapping the daughter of a Spanish diplomat.
Review This story is much more than stated in the blurb above - Elspeth is evil! I can't reveal too much more about the book because *SPOILERS* but I can recommend it for next month's tag! :-)
It also feels good to be finishing the official Trim challenge with this chunkster at 629 pages!
Cross-posted from December - Other Books
629 pages
Doesn't fit the tag of 2005
Blurb: In this sequel to 'The Alienist', the characters from that novel once more investigate a crime committed in the New York of the 1890s. Concerning a nurse, Elspeth Hunter, the crime is one of kidnapping the daughter of a Spanish diplomat.
Review This story is much more than stated in the blurb above - Elspeth is evil! I can't reveal too much more about the book because *SPOILERS* but I can recommend it for next month's tag! :-)
It also feels good to be finishing the official Trim challenge with this chunkster at 629 pages!
Cross-posted from December - Other Books
A Piece of the World, byChristina Baker Kline352 Pages
4 stars
Does not fit tag
Andrew Wyeth painted a hauntingly sad portrait of Christina Olsen, called "Christina's World." This famous painting never fails to move me. It shows a woman pulling herself up the hill to her home. It reveals both the pride and longing felt by Christina. She had a progressive disability that eventually made her unable to walk. She refused to use a wheel chair and by the end, she preferred to pull herself using her arms.
A Piece of the World is about Christina Olsen's life, including her twenty year long friendship with the Andrew Wyeth, who was married to a friend of Christina's. Much of the property was humble and run down, which suited Wyeth. We learn about her family life, her brother, romance, friendships, and choices regarding treatment. Her life was challenging, with more bitter than sweet. It was very interesting to see Christian's evolving view of who she was as a person. Christina said the painting wasn't an accurate portrayal of her face or body (she was older than the girl in the picture), but she agreed that he captured who she was. The book also reveals interesting details about Wyeth's approach to life and art.
ninety-nine stories of Godby Joy Williams
3 stars
Trim the TBR #2
doesn't fit the monthy tag
168 pages
A collection of super short stories, some poetical, all loosely or explicitly related to God. Most are darkly humorous, or just dark, with a few moments of absurdity or hope. I appreciated the incredible amount of personality and place communicated in so few words, but I can't say I really enjoyed most of the stories. Perhaps this collection wasn't for me. I don't know how it made it to my list. I may try another collection, or a novel, and see how I like her writing elsewhere.
Here are two of the shorter of short stories, to give a flavor of the collection:
38
The child wanted to name the rabbit Actually, and could not be dissuaded from this.
It was the first time one of our pets was named after an adverb.
It made us uncomfortable. We thought it bad luck.
But no ill befell any of us nor did any ill befall the people who visited our home.
Everything proceeded beautifully, in fact, until Actually died.
ACTUALLY
96
When a woman sits down to a meal alone, her beloved dead arrive to share it with her, but only at the last moment, the last possible moment, in her prayer that they will.
PLENARY
DECEMBER Trim = # 2Hardcover - 336 pages
Fits the monthly tag: No
The Story Hour – Thirty Umrigar – 5*****
Umrigar alternates viewpoints between these two women – an Indian immigrant and her African-American psychologist. I was completely engaged from page one through all the ups and downs of the story. I was anxious about how things would work out, sympathized with them when feelings were hurt, felt anger at some situations, and eagerly hoped for a resolution.
My full review HERE
A truly interesting book! An early PBT friend recommended it to me. I miss her and I found the book so interesting!
Amy wrote: "A truly interesting book! An early PBT friend recommended it to me. I miss her and I found the book so interesting!"I assume you are responding to my review of The Story Hour ... I was thinking of you when I was reading this, Amy. So glad to hear that you've read it. I'll have to go look up your review.
Yes! Realized I was on the wrong thread to reply to it! Happy Birthday to you book and birthday twin. And to Joi and AJ too! I have good company. Capricorn’s are strong readers perhaps....
Hi all, I will be closing out this thread and the challenge ON NEW YEAR’S DAY! I will be finalizing all of the scores and awarding all of the participation points!Please do two things:
1) Be sure to post your lingering reviews by 10:00am on January first.
2) Please review the scoring spreadsheet and PM me any discrepancies by that same time. That will be your final date to contest anything!
The link to the spreadsheet can be found at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...!
December #2 - does not fit monthly tagShelter in Place - Nora Roberts
4 stars - 438 pages
Friday July 22, 2005 at the Downeast Mall in ME a group of 3 teens opened fire killing 79 and injuring many more. The three teens died there, some present became everyday heroes, some suffered physical and mental scars. The story follows several of these people and a vengeful killer who felt the teens didn't go far enough.
Characters are pretty black or white except for some family members who take a while to adjust. The main characters don't meet up until almost halfway though the book but that time is covered bringing all of the characters through 12 years of growth and establishing their mindset. The killer's sociopathic murders pierce the story throughout.
It's a well told romantic suspense in Roberts typical style.
December # 2-does not fit tag22 Britannia Road-4 stars
Hardcover pages 323
I read a lot of WWII stories, this one was unique. It deals with the emotional aftermath of war.
The story is told from 2 POV's, a husband who has gone into the war fighting for Poland and a wife and mother left behind in Warsaw. Janusz ends up in France and then England while Silvana spends the years living in the forests of Poland. The contrast, of how they lived and what happens when they are reunited, is told in a heartbreaking tale.
On a personal note: My husband was born in Poland. He defected in the 70's and spent 20 years never being able to go home-so this story affected me in a lot of different ways.
This was Amanda Hodgkinson's first book and I found her writing beautiful yet simple. I will look into her other works.
I completed my TRIM list with this book and my personal GR goal of 120 books read, ending my year of reading on a high-note-
Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson3 Stars
Trim - #2 December
275 pages
Set in rural Oklahoma during the late 1980s, Where the Dead Sit Talking is a startling, authentically voiced and lyrically written Native American coming-of-age story.
With his single mother in jail, Sequoyah, a fifteen-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care. Literally and figuratively scarred by his mother’s years of substance abuse, Sequoyah keeps mostly to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface. At least until he meets seventeen-year-old Rosemary, a troubled artist who also lives with the family.
Sequoyah and Rosemary bond over their shared Native American background and tumultuous paths through the foster care system, but as Sequoyah’s feelings toward Rosemary deepen, the precariousness of their lives and the scars of their pasts threaten to undo them both.
I had really looked forward to this book as it had been on my list for almost a year when I picked it up. However, in reality the book failed in large part to live up to expectations and was just a moderate read for me to finish this year.
The book is billed as a Native American coming-of-age story, but for me it lacked any real sense of being connected to a Native American life. In fact, it truly did not have a plot or a purpose but was rather a meandering tale of despair.
Trying to construct a review of this book has been extremely difficult. I cannot seem to get my mind wrapped around how I feel. In some ways the book feels completely pointless but in other ways the book was insightful even if not necessarily enjoyable.
J.W. wrote: "Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson3 Stars
Trim - #2 December
275 pages
Set in rural Oklahoma during the late 1980s, Where the Dead Sit Talking is a startling, authentically voiced and l..."
That is about how I felt. I finished it this month, but was meant for November's Horizon. It was disappointing for all the acclaim it received.
Catching up on a past month …January #19 - Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell - 5*
Pages: 592 in Hardcover edition and on Goodreads.
Tags: historical-fiction, western, american-history, 19th-century, arizona, politics, gunslingers, american-west, biography, america, wild-west, doc-holliday, wyatt-earp
Review: I don't think that I've ever given a Western Five Stars before. I don't read many to begin with, and even the Prequel to this book - Doc -was good but only received four stars from me. However, Epitaph truly deserves all FIVE stars in my opinion.
On the face of it, the Gunfight at the OK Corral is pretty simple - it's the good guys (the lawmen - the Earps and Doc Holliday) versus the bad guys (the outlaw Cowboys - the Clantons and McLaureys). The gunfight only took about 30 seconds in real life - and only one page in this book. And yet this book is 592 pages long! That's because - like most things in life - it wasn't simple. In actually, what lead up to the gunfight - and the aftermath of the gunfight is … complicated. I started reading this book for the American History tag - and it truly deserves the American History tag also. This story is a tapestry woven from American History, involving politics (local and national) in a post-Civil War nation and the struggle for law and order vs the struggle to survive in the sometimes lawless American West,. And with Maria Doria Russell's excellent writing, we get to see and feel the daily lives of Wyatt Earp, Josie Marcus (the woman who became Wyatt's last wife) and their family and friends.
December #2 - Doomsday Key by James RollinsWhew! I thought I might not make it. That means I've managed to keep up each month! Hooray!
The book starts with Spring 1086 and the writing of the Domesday Book. The next chapter is at the Vatican in the current day and the book stays in current times for the rest of the story. This part starts with violence and dead bodies.
This is a Sigma story and, as such, there is a lot of action on more than one front. Gray is in Europe and Painter is off to Finland. The story bounces from one place to the other and lots of action. Rollins writes in a pretty cinematic way, I can see this made into a movie. It's a bit hard to keep track of whether its Painter or Gray in danger sometimes, I think it would be easier if I had a good picture in my mind about what these two characters look like!
The story ends with a bit of fantastic storytelling but then Rollins ends the story with this Author's Note to Readers "Everything in this book is true, except for what's not. I thought I'd end this adventure by splitting those hairs." When he does, it is amazing what is true. This author does some amazing research and he's so good at finding good storylines in what's happening in this world.
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells - 3 stars291 pages (first American edition)
Does technically fit the tag (shelved 11 times as 2005)
“And before we judge them [the Martians] too harshly, we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished Bison and the Dodo, but upon its own inferior races. The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?”
Believed to be a commentary on British Imperialism, The War of the Worlds is a first-person account of a Martian invasion of London. The Martians move about the county in towering tripod fighting machines armed with heat-ray guns and a poisonous black smoke. Within a matter of days they manage to cripple civilization (view spoiler).
This is the first H.G. Wells' story I've read and I really appreciated the effort he put into his descriptions of the most mundane things.
Slipping in under the wire with my last read of 2019.October #32 - London by Edward Rutherfurd - 829 pgs in hardcover
Rating: 4*
Since I read Sarum by this author a few months ago and have read many historical fiction novels set in England, I thought that I had a very good overview of British history. But I learned so much more from this book, which focuses on London and its neighborhoods with 21 novellas starting in 54BC. And ending in 1997.
A few of the factoids that I was surprised to learn:
- After the Romans left, the city of Londinium lay deserted for several centuries.
- During the plague of the 17th century, it was believed that cats and dogs caused the plague. So thousands of cats and dogs were killed. Not only is this very sad and (we now know) unnecessary, but it would have actually increased the rat population, which carried the fleas that were the real cause of the plague.
And, just as in Sarum, I found the role of religion in London and British history both fascinating and horrifying. From the treatment of the Jewish peoples to Henry VII's break with the Catholic church to the Puritans and the Commonwealth to James II and William and Mary. Thousands died or were killed in the name of religion in England.
As interesting as this book was, most of the novellas in the book didn't really touch me emotionally. Probably the story that touched me the most was that of Elfgiva, an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who was told by her husband of twenty years that she had to put aside her Viking gods and convert to Christianity, or he would divorce her and get a new wife. Pretty harsh.
But for the most part I just found this book interesting, fascinating and very educational.
I have calculated this month's Trim reads! Look for a final summary from me later today!!
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Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
22 Britannia Road (other topics)Shelter in Place (other topics)
The Story Hour (other topics)
The Story Hour (other topics)
A Piece of the World (other topics)
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Christina Baker Kline (other topics)Colleen McCullough (other topics)
Colleen McCullough (other topics)
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Ursula K. Le Guin (other topics)
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Buddy read! You, Anita, Joi, and kimber are on the original list."
Yes, this is still my #2 also. Haven't decided if I'm going to read it or not this month, as I've proverbially thrown in the towel on my 2019 challenges, haha.