Constant Reader discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Constant Reader
>
What I'm Reading - May/June 2020
Have you seen the TV series, Shetland, Lynn?
I have seen it, Ruth. It was a little confusing at first because the main character doesn't look like the description in the books (e.g blond instead of dark) and there was a teenage daughter that didn't make sense at first, but I enjoyed them anyway.
The accents were fun. I sure needed subtitles.
I never turn the subtitles off, even for regular tv. It helps for American regionalisms too.
Sue wrote: "I never turn the subtitles off, even for regular tv. It helps for American regionalisms too."I always have them on, too.
I just read The Topeka School by Ben Lerner, a work of partly autobiographical fiction, which is currently getting a lot of critical praise. Someone here on CR - I'm sorry I can't remember who - said she is over books with shifting timelines. Well this book has the shifting timelines, plus shifting narrators. In the second section of the book I realized I was three pages into a different narrator, I had to backtrack to the point of the transition. Now that I've finished the book, I'm going back to reread the first section to see if I missed something. So if you read this book, lookout for those ellipses!
I gave this book 3***.
Thanks, Mary Anne. I have The Topeka School on my shelf and started it but gave up when it moved to a new narrator. I may try again later. Meanwhile, I just finished Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff which I would give 4 stars for fascinating content and 3 stars for execution, due to a writing style that was not very accessible.
Several people suggested I'd like The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, and they were right! 
4★ Link to 'Ocean' review
I’m currently reading A Registry of My Passage Upon This Earth, a new book of short stories from Daniel Mason, of Winter Soldier fame. It is published on the 5th. So far the stories are excellent. Very vividly drawn, they feel like non-fiction mini biographies or episodes from lives. I’ve only read two so far but I really liked both though the people described were polar opposites.
Thank you, Sue! I had no idea this will be available and I love Mason's writing.
Barbara, this was a NetGalley find and I think you will appreciate it, being a short story lover already. I’d love to talk with you about it once you get it.
I read Chances Are... by Russo, and though I loved his "Nobody's Fool" and "Everybody's Fool," this one was way too sleepy and kind of boring.Just finished Olive, Again and look forward to the discussion soon.
I didn’t care much for Chances Are, either. In fact this one and the one before it (I forget the name) make me wonder if he’s lost his touch.Just started Olive again. Looks promising.
I'm about halfway through Olive Again. It is very good. Elizabeth Strout's writing continues to remind me of Alice Munro's. She doesn't quite reach those heights but comes close.
I felt exactly the same way about Chances Are. I said, "I love Richard Russo and read most everything he writes. This book is good and satisfying, but not quite as good as Nobody's Fool or Everybody's Fool. He now needs to write Somebody's Fool or something close. Not to say this book is bad, it's just not my favorite."
Barbara wrote: "I'm about halfway through Olive Again. It is very good. Elizabeth Strout's writing continues to remind me of Alice Munro's. She doesn't quite reach those heights but comes close."I have already read Olive Again. I asked for it "again" from the library to review before our discussion but the coronavirus has screwed that up.
Ever wanted to drop out, disappear, become somebody else? The Last Flight by Julie Clark brings to mind the old saying "out of the frying pan, into the fire"!
4★ Link to my 'Last Flight' review
I just started listening to Case Histories--which I read in print years ago and absolutely swooned over the writing. I read her later books with much enjoyment, but never went back to Brodie because the first case wasn't solved and it broke my heart. Well, I found out a few months ago that it is later in the series (don't tell me!) so I spent some audible credits last night on the first three Brodie books. She is *so* good, and I've really been looking for some satisfying reading!
I just finished News of the World, which I think I found through one of the many book recommendations for quarantine reading. It is set in post-civil war Texas and describes the unique relationship that develops between a 10 year old girl who was rescued from the Kiowa Indians and a man in his 70s who is hired to return her to her family. The man is a former soldier named Captain Jefferson Kidd, who earns his living by traveling from town to town reading the news to groups of people. It has both heartwarming and heartbreaking moments as they make their way through a variety of perils while traveling from the northern edge of TX to San Antonio. The cover says that this is going to be a motion picture with Tom Hanks in the lead role - perfect casting in my opinion.
I read Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson. It's really a romance novel with WWI history thrown in. I don't usually go for romances but this was actually quite readable. Very much from the genre that depicts young woman, against all odds, goes to war, becomes an ambulance driver, and finds love. Easy reading for this stressful time. I gave in 3***.
Lynn wrote: "I just finished News of the World, which I think I found through one of the many book recommendations for quarantine reading. It is set in post-civil war Texas and describes the uni..."I read that several years ago and remember enjoying it.
I just finished The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia. Part historical fiction and part family saga with a dose of magical realism. Takes place in northern Mexico during the early part of the 1900s amidst the Mexican revolution and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Beautifully written and mesmerizing if a little long. From the mid point on I couldn't put it down.
Lynn wrote: "I just finished News of the World, which I think I found through one of the many book recommendations for quarantine reading. It is set in post-civil war Texas and describes the uni..."I'm so glad there will be a movie with Tom Hanks. That's exciting. I loved the book.
I've had a couple of political reads recently. Colombiano is about the terrifying situation of kidnappings, guerrillas, and drug wars in Colombia.Aussie-born author Rusty Young spent a lot of time there and wrote this compelling, fictionalised, first-hand account of a child soldier.
4.5★ Link to my "Colombiano" review
On an entirely different political note, I just enjoyed this children's biography Work It, Girl: Michelle Obama by Caroline Moss. Written to inspire girls to become leaders, it has lots of details and includes more resources at the end.
4★ Link to my 'Michelle Obama' review with a few illustrations.
I loved Case Histories and News of the World. Thanks for the other recommendation.s
I know I have come rather late to the Alll the Light You Cannot See party. I have almost finished it and it has been an excellent read. An amazing amount of research went into this, and his writing style is great.
The Last Romantics – Tara Conklin – 3***
A family epic following the four Skinner siblings over several decades. I love character-driven novels, getting to know and understand the psychology of the characters as they cause and/or react to events in their lives. That these four people are damaged by their childhood is without question. The ways they find to cope, or not, is what fascinated me in the novel. I was sorry that COVID19 interrupted our book club’s scheduled meeting on this work. I would certainly have enjoyed that discussion.
My full review HERE
Kate Elizabeth Russell’s MY DARK VANESSA. An emotionally difficult book to read. I read it because my neighbor gave it 5 stars. It was a gripping and intense experience. I think Ms. Russell did an excellent job of writing so that readers would feel and think. Adolescent-teacher sexual relationships are wrong, and they are also complicated and life-changing. I do think that the author didn’t really explain or explore insights into why the school officials behaved as they did. In the author’s note, Ms. Russell states that she wrote the book in part because of her ambivalent feelings about LOLITA, which I read more than 50 years ago; I’ve added it to my TBR for a re-read. Grace Gummer’s narration was very good. At the end of this audio edition, there is an interesting interview with the narrator and the author.
Notorious RBG – Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik – 5*****
Subtitle: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Oh, my stars, but this is one HELL of a woman! I've admired her for some years, but I really enjoyed learning more about her. I thought the authors did a great job of making this a very approachable biography. There is no truth without Ruth!
My full review HERE
Haven’t read the book, but saw the movie. Nothing stopped her. Wow.
Book Concierge wrote: " Notorious RBG
– Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik – 5*****
Subtitle: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Oh, my stars, but this is one HELL of a woman! I'..."
A well done biography of a remarkable woman.
I say a prayer for her good health every day.
Mary Anne wrote: "I say a prayer for her good health every day."As do I!
Upstairs At the White House – J B West & Mary Lynn Kotz – 4****
Subtitle: My Life With the First Ladies. J B West served as the chief usher in the White House from midway through the years of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s terms through the beginning of the Nixon administration. This is an interesting and engaging memoir of his experiences running the private residence for a variety of first ladies. Some interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits, but no real juicy gossip. Discretion was – and is – a chief characteristic of JB West’s.`
My full review HERE
Mary Anne wrote: "I say a prayer for her good health every day."Yes!
THE LINCOLN CONSPIRACY: The Secret Plot to Kill America’s 16th President - and Why it Failed, written by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch. It’s written like a thriller and Scott Brick reads it as one. It was interesting and fast-paced. I enjoyed it very much.
A new favourite, the terrific Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. A 20-year-old classic that's lost none of its punch. Great story, great characters, first-rate writing.
5★ Link to my Mystic River review
The Right Stuff – Tom Wolfe – 4****
This is the story of the Mercury Astronauts and how they came to be chosen – evaluated to ensure they had The Right Stuff to succeed in this vital mission. Wolfe does a great job of giving us the background of those first seven astronauts – warts and all. I was fascinated by the extensive testing they underwent to evaluate their fitness for this work. And I think Wolfe did a great job of explaining the differences in their personalities that resulted in success, or missteps.
My full review HERE
Isabel Wilkerson’s THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. I learned a lot. I particularly appreciated the interweaving of demographics, exposition, analysis and interpretation with the personal stories of 3 migrants. One of them had journeyed from Florida to NYC, one from Mississippi to Milwaukee and then Chicago, and one from Louisiana to Los Angeles. I was distracted by the author’s frequent repetition of some demographics and concepts, almost as if she were recycling essays for this book and hadn’t edited them sufficiently for the flow of this book’s format. I think it is important, from time to time, to think about the bigger impact of the movement of large numbers of people on their families and descendants, on the country and the world as a whole. And in the USA we have many groups to consider - blacks moving from the south to the north and west, Chinese influx to build the railroads, northern and Eastern Europeans, and Mexicans and Central Americans - to name just a few.
I have a vague memory that we read that as a Reading List book some time ago. Pretty much agree with your evaluation.
Enrique’s Journey – Sonia Nazario – 4****
Subtitle: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite With His Mother. Journalist Sonia Nazario first heard of mothers who leave their children behind from her cleaning lady. Her interest piqued, she sought to document what such a journey entails … for the mother who goes ahead, for the children left behind, for the boy who was determined to travel nearly 2,000 miles alone to find the mother he had not seen for more than a decade. Their stories are heartbreaking and eye-opening.
My full review HERE
Abigél, has restored my interest in books. This one is very good. For those who liked The Door (same author) this is about Hungry , WWII and a young girl coming of age . There is a mystery and intrigue involved as well.
After Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel won the Booker Prize in 2009 and was short-listed for the Golden Booker in 2019 (best in 50 years), I figured I should read it again and write something. So I did.
Link to my comments
Terri-Lynne Defino’s THE BAR HARBOR RETIREMENT HOME FOR FAMOUS WRITERS (AND THEIR MUSES), narrated by Bernadette Dunne. This isn’t a bad book. In fact there are some parts of it I quite liked, and I loved the idea of this book, but somehow it just didn’t come together for me. Perhaps I wasn’t in the mood for its rather maudlin romanticism.
Murder Plain and Simple – Isabella Alan – 3***
I found this moderately entertaining as cozy mysteries go. There’s a decent premise, and I did like Oliver (her bulldog, who is afraid of birds). Alan gives the reader the beginnings of a possible love interest, which will likely develop in subsequent books in the series. And there’s a reasonable cast of supporting characters.
My full review HERE
Thanks to Donna who recommended The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia in this thread on message 24. I read it, and wow is it a great story. I love a good story! And a bonus is that it is now $1.99 on Kindle.I gave it 5*****.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Wow. The author of the book I just reviewed in the previous post has liked my review of her book. That's pretty cool! It's never happened to me before in all my years posting here.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Constant Reader
Books mentioned in this topic
An Artist of the Floating World (other topics)A Pale View of Hills (other topics)
The Remains of the Day (other topics)
Never Let Me Go (other topics)
The Remains of the Day (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Friedrich Dürrenmatt (other topics)Patrisse Khan-Cullors (other topics)
Yōko Ogawa (other topics)
Yōko Ogawa (other topics)
Publishers Lunch (other topics)
More...
I'm looking forward to reading the latest Harlen Coben book at some point. I ordered it as a gift for my sister's birthday next week, but I think I'll wait until I can get it from the library. Instead, I've got Dead Water on my "next to read" pile. It's a police procedural, one of a series, set in the Shetland Islands, that was recommended to me by a friend. I like the quirkiness and isolation of the setting as much as the characters.