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What did you read last month?
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What I read in ~~ August 2020
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Sad to report overall a disappointing month - on the plus side, the ones I've started and will be carrying over to next month are proving decent.Becoming Duchess Goldblatt: A Memoir - - dropped an Audible credit on it as if seemed promising, and the narration sample was good. However... the more I listened, the more I got the impression that I wasn't the target audience; nor could I pin down exactly who that might be? When she recounted begging her attorney to reject joint custody of her son with her ex-husband, wailing, "My son and I are TOO close for that!" it was time to give up. (Her attorney wasn't impressed with the temper tantrum either.)
Aunty Lee's Delights just didn't work out for me. By the end, I found nothing much there beyond the foodie angle; Singaporean (Straits) cuisine is one of my favorites, too! Stick with Ovidia Yu's colonial Singapore series featuring Chen Su Lin instead!
A Glass of Blessings - - granted some of this could have been from the narration, but I found the main characters Wilmet and Piers rather unlikeable. She's a sort of "poor little rich girl", while he struck me as narcissistic. Secondary characters were better, especially mother-in-law Sybil. Pym does get credit for her gay characters as being accepted, rather than scorned, in 1950s Britain. If you haven't read Pym before, start with Excellent Women; it's more approachable, as well as introducing some characters who later appear again here (briefly).
Dolls! Dolls! Dolls!: Deep Inside Valley of the Dolls, the Most Beloved Bad Book and Movie of All Time was interesting, having read it right after viewing the film for the first time. I wouldn't so much say it got bogged down as such in places, as that readers with a stronger knowledge of, or interest in, mid-century American movies might appreciate it more than I did.
John, I hope that September leads you to books that resonate more. Sometimes a book sounds a lot better than it turns out to be. Still, overall, not a bad month
I haven't read Valley of the Dolls but it always piques my curiosity when it's mentioned.
Here's what I read in August:To be Read at Dusk - short story; 4-star. Charles Dickens can really tell a story. This short ghost story was a fun read.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Hunted Down - short story; 3-star). Another short story by Charles Dickens. This one was quite different in writing style. Very enjoyable.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Better Man - audio; 3-star. The latest Inspector Gamache book. Not as strong as some of them but still a good book to listen to while out jogging.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Die For Me: The Terrifying True Story of the Charles Ng & Leonard Lake Torture Murders - 2-star. A true crime story of two serial killers. Horrible crimes. However, the book made the murders sound rather dull and mundane. The second half of the book was entirely the court drama. So much repetition.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My Lobotomy: A Memoir - 3-star. This is a situation that should never have happened. No one.....not one person in any authority.....stood up for or guided this boy. He needed a caring person with patience; not a lobotomy.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mason & Dixon - 3-star. A very strange book. Compelling, full of fun & strange stories out of history. Told as a "bedtime story" by the fireside, this tale leads to wild exaggerations and side stories. In the end, I liked it but it was a slog at times. I will look into other books written by Thomas Pynchon.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Seven Stones to Stand or Fall - audio; 4-star. Seven short stories & novellas based on the characters of the Outlander series. I enjoyed these. It brought some earlier stories of the main characters (before the beginning of Outlander), continued stories of characters who left to live elsewhere and a few Lord John stories (with zombies) which are always fun.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mason & Dixon is one of those popular books that I've felt I should have tried. However, I've had the feeling I wouldn't be able to get into it. Thanks for the review!
John wrote: "Sad to report overall a disappointing month - on the plus side, the ones I've started and will be carrying over to next month are proving decent.."Sorry to hear that August was disappointing. I hope things get back on track for you in September.
Petra wrote: "Here's what I read in August:To be Read at Dusk - short story; 4-star. Charles Dickens can really tell a story. This short ghost story was a fun read.
Review: https://www.goodread..."
Thanks for bringing these Dickens short stories to my attention. The only short stories I've read of his are Christmas ones.
John wrote: "Mason & Dixon is one of those popular books that I've felt I should have tried. However, I've had the feeling I wouldn't be able to get into it. Thanks for the review!"John, I enjoyed Pynchon's style of writing, his humor and how he tucks puns into the story........but I'm not sure that this was the best choice as a first book. It was weird, as well as entertaining.
I look forward to trying another of his books.
Deb, the Dickens short stories are truly short......like 20-40 pages or so (it's hard to tell on an ereader). They are fun reads. The only Dickens Christmas story I've read is The Christmas Carol. I read it almost every Christmas (and I always watch the movie with Alistair Sims).
Sorry to report that I was unable to read anything this month and probably won't get much read in September. Unexpectedly, I have to move. So my life is in a bit of an upheaval at the moment. But I hope to be back on track by the end of September.
Still, I am enjoying reading your posts and hope to be more active here soon. I so miss reading !
Thank you for understanding and a big thank you to all who keep this board running so smoothly. Book Nook Cafe is very fortunate to have such a lovely group of people.
Oh no, Alias! Have you found a new place yet? I hope all goes smoothly. Just remember: "This, too, shall pass". We're here anytime you need or want to vent or scream or just chit chat.
Alias Reader wrote: "Sorry to report that I was unable to read anything this month and probably won't get much read in September. Unexpectedly, I have to move. So my life is in a bit of an upheaval at the moment. But..."
I've been doing a lot of re-reading lately, Alias, so you're not as" "behind" as you may feel. You're under no obligation for anything other than the occasional check-in.
Alias Reader wrote: "Sorry to report that I was unable to read anything this month and probably won't get much read in September. Unexpectedly, I have to move. So my life is in a bit of an upheaval at the moment. But..."
Good luck with your move! I hate to think about all the work that is involved in moving!
Petra wrote: "Oh no, Alias! Have you found a new place yet? I hope all goes smoothly. Just remember: "This, too, shall pass". We're here anytime you need or want to vent or scream or just chit chat."
No. With the NYC economy on very shaky ground I decided to move in with my sister for a while. So I have to put most of the stuff in storage. She lives upstate NY in an apartment that has a spare bedroom. Living in the suburbs will be a big change for me. I do hope I will be able to come back to the city at some point.
I figure it will give me time to regroup as I see how things go with Covid and the economy.
Thanks for understanding.
Alias Reader wrote: "Good luck with your move! I hate to think about all the work that is involved in moving!."It is a horror. It has me watching minimalism YouTube videos. If I can give one bit of advice is declutter and downsize where you can.
John, sorry to read about your not-so-great reading August. I've never read Pym, so i appreciate your tip on her best. It seems to me you've connected me to some interesting authors that i've heard about but not read. Again, such help is appreciated.Better reading in September!
Petra, first, thanks for all the short story leads. It's nice to know he could contain his writing. LOL! I wonder what he was like as a speaking storyteller. Did he ramble or was he more concise? Actually, i wonder that about many authors.I wonder if you felt that Don Lasseter's book was intentionally boring in recounting the murders? As in, he didn't want to glorify them? From your review, i'm led to wonder the same thing you did. Again, we wonder, did Lasseter deliberately understate the searching for these victims? Sad.
Howard Dully's story is a sad one. I suppose a sort of upside is that he underwent the operation in the 1960s, rather than much earlier in that century. Still, to do that to a child has me questioning authorities. Today we question giving children meds to help them, i cannot imagine resorting to a lobotomy!
It seemed to me that Thomas Pynchon's career really flourished when i was in my 30s & 40s. The books garnered my attention, in that i added to my To Be Read list but i never read a single one. This one is the one which most called to me & i believe it will be the one i read, someday.
Alias, i know how discouraging it is to have one of those "no books read" months. When you look at your Books Read list in the future, it will remind you what was going on in such months. Some consolation!?Good luck with your move. What a contrast is ahead for you. I hope the adjustment is an easy one. You suburbanite! Now you'll at least see how the rest of us live. I hope you aren't jonesing too much for the Big City Lights. More than any of these wishes, i hope the market in your Main City stabilizes soon.
{{{{{Alias}}}}}
Thank you, deb. There won't be much happening upstate NY, so on the plus side I guess I'll get a lot of reading in. :)
It was too hot last month to do much more than read. Here's some of what i read, particularly listing those from my '20 DL, indicated by an asterisk.*Beverly Connor has a series of mysteries featuring an archaeologist, which is something i wanted to be when i was a teenager. So, i used her series (Dressed To Die is one) to learn more about the occupation. I found it interesting that her archeologist created stories at digs to explain some items found. In another mystery a journal from 1500s was used to aid the dig; in another, a story is told throughout the book but it was more like an additional novel than part of the dig. In all, i liked learning about some of the terms and equipment.
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie-Ayana Mathis. Read because my daughter mentioned she read & liked it. In some ways it was composed like a dozen or so short stories, all with the female leader of the family, Hattie, as the tie. Followed were her children, husband, grandchild through the years. The writing was excellent, i felt immediately engaged with each story, even though each was a different setting.
In The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands-Jon Billman looks at some instances of people who disappear while in National Parks. Throughout the book he follows one case but interspersed are stories of others missing, ranging across the US and into Canada. It's aim was to share statistics on the high numbers lost, the lack of coordination between services looking for the lost but also to illustrate how families are haunted by not knowing the outcome. Also covered are alien abductions, Big Foot and psychic. What more could you want?
Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir--Natasha Trethewey. She is a poet whose *Native Guard i read at the end of the month. Both books discuss her childhood in Gulfport, Mississippi, as a mixed-race child, as well as her mother's death. Her ability as a poet to create pictures enhanced her prose. It is a good, yet sad story.
*The House on the Strand-Daphne du Maurier. A sort of time travel back to the 1200s in England, although no one in the past could see him. It was neat to read how the "traveler" looked at the modern day landscape/village to figure out some of the questions accrued by the travel. I actually preferred the modern part of the novel, as to the ancient.
Zombie, Ohio--Scott Kenemore. A zombie who can talk and isn't sure if he's really dead or not tells the story. I didn't love this one but i stayed with it to see whether he could be "reclaimed", so to speak. Also, my cousin lives near where most of the action took place.
*The Feather Thief--Kirk Wallace Johnson. True Crime story but without murder. This one included the "race" with Darwin by Alfred Russel Wallace, feathers in fashion in the late 1800s and fly tying for fishing! I liked the variety, as well as the question of the thief's life--he was a flutist, ending up with the Berlin Symphony, who claimed autism as a defense for his thefts.
The Eighth Detective--Alex Pavesi is a clever book in that readers are treated to 7 or so short mysteries, as well as a story which connects the author with someone who wants to reprint the collection. Meanwhile, there is some nice discussion about what a mystery "needs".
When These Mountains Burn--David Joy. North Carolinians battle opioids and other drugs in their neck of the woods. Explored are deaths of addicts and how families handle this, law enforcement which abets sellers, and such. All amidst mountain forest fires. Didn't love it, didn't hate it.
The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir--Sara Seager. I selected this one as my Science book for my DL but decided it wasn't science-y enough. Seager tells the story of her search for exoplanets (sharing some good science info) but more of the book was about her husband and how she handled his death. Good, not great, book, just not what i wanted.
A Man--Keiichirō Hirano. Set in modern day Japan, a lawyer helps out a woman who was his client years ago when she divorced her first husband. Now her second husband has died & she's learned something disturbing. In this, i learned about family registers, which are extremely important in that country for tax purposes, locating people, genealogy and such. I've seen mention of them in other books about Japan but didn't know the history of them. For me, this novel had too much introspection from the lawyer, who was third-generation Korean but born in Japan. However, without that i don't know that i would have realized that even today Koreans are targets of hatred from some Japanese.
madrano wrote: "It was too hot last month to do much more than read. Here's some of what i read, particularly listing those from my '20 DL, indicated by an asterisk.*Beverly Connor has a series o..."
Pretty eclectic assortment!
I didn' t mind the lawyer's details in A Man, since the story itself is from his point-of-view. Still, I recognize that many reviewers found that extraneous.
Elemental: How the Periodic Table Can Now Explain (Nearly) Everything and Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements are both on my TBR pile, if you're still thinking about science books? There's also The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, which I'm sure I read years ago, as usual recall no details, but might not by science-y enough to you? It should prove easier to get a copy though.
madrano wrote: "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie-Ayana Mathis. Read because my daughter mentioned she read & liked it. In some ways it was composed like a dozen or so short stories, all with the female leader of the family, Hattie, as the tie. Followed were her children, husband, grandchild through the years. The writing was excellent, i felt immediately engaged with each story, even though each was a different setting...."I recall this was a Oprah book club selection. I'm glad to hear it's a good one.
Terrific assortment of reads, Deb! Have you read any of the Amelia Peabody books? She's a Victorian, independent woman with an interest & knowledge of archaeology. The mysteries are lame and the side characters can be rather caricaturist, but Amelia is such a hoot and the focus of the book that all this doesn't really matter. I read these books for Amelia's antics and story, not the mysteries.
madrano wrote: "It was too hot last month to do much more than read. Here's some of what i read, particularly listing those from my '20 DL, indicated by an asterisk."Wow ! Excellent reading month, deb. As you noted, a nice plus side from a too hot summer.
John, you are right that since the lawyer is the main character, i should give more allowance to that. Initially, i liked it but there came a point when i tired of it. On the other hand, it made the ending of his own story more rewarding.And thanks for the tip on the Tim James book. It sounds very good. I was zeroing in on Lawrence M. Krauss's A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing but have had a tough time becoming engaged.
Alias, that's right. Indeed, talking about the Oprah book with Autumn was when she mentioned it. Duh. Too often my mind is a sieve.
Petra, i have tried the Amelia books and darned if i can explain why they rub me the wrong way. I read two, then abandoned them. To be fair, i'm noticing that i'm not much of a fan of historically based mysteries, so maybe they were the first?
I have read two other series by Amelia's creator, Elizabeth Peters. I liked them better. So, i suppose that should indicate something to me. :-)
madrano wrote: "John, you are right that since the lawyer is the main character, i should give more allowance to that. Initially, i liked it but there came a point when i tired of it. On the other hand, it made th..."The Peabody series started out strong, but then brought in the villain (who loved Amelia passionately), as well as Ramses' point-of-view via" Manuscript H" etc.
After Peters died, one of my favorite cozy mystery writers, Joan Hess, completed the last Amelia book, The Painted Queen. Even that didn't alter my mind, however, i think it was too late for me to recover, given the changes you mentioned, John.Not long after completing that Peters book, Hess herself died. I miss her Claire Malloy series (https://www.goodreads.com/series/4103... ).
madrano wrote: "After Peters died, one of my favorite cozy mystery writers, Joan Hess, completed the last Amelia book, The Painted Queen. Even that didn't alter my mind, however, i..."I liked the Malloy series a lot, although not the same after she married Peter. Never read any Maggody.
I agree about post-marriage. She wrote about teens the way i was living it with mine, too. The Maggody series was more slapstick than anything else. I also read the Theo Bloomer series she wrote under the name Joan Hadley. They were fine but didn't call to me the way Claire did.
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Painted Queen (other topics)The Painted Queen (other topics)
A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing (other topics)
Elemental: How the Periodic Table Can Now Explain (Nearly) Everything (other topics)
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Joan Hadley (other topics)Joan Hess (other topics)
Joan Hess (other topics)
Lawrence M. Krauss (other topics)
Tim James (other topics)
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