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What I'm Reading - Nov.- Dec. 2020
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Intriguing, Patty. I'm eagerly awaiting the US release of this one in February.THE LOST MAN really doesn't seem to have much substance to it just reading the description. Would you say it's a good mystery with compelling characters? Or do you think it would be better to start with THE DRY?
Thank you.
Jane Harper is a great mystery writer. I am really looking forward to The Survivors .Kiki, I really liked THE LOST MAN. The story was very compelling. On the other hand, you can't go wrong with THE DRY either.
Ann D wrote: "Jane Harper is a great mystery writer. I am really looking forward to The Survivors .Kiki, I really liked THE LOST MAN. The story was very compelling. On the other hand, you can't..."
Thank you, Ann. I appreciate your input.
I read 3 books that I really liked recently.Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell. Winston Churchill has fascinated me for a long time. He was bigger than life and had many flaws, but he was certainly the right leader for wartime Britain. His wife Clementine was an important factor in his success. Like Winston, she had an unhappy childhood, but rose above it. Not much was available for a very bright, ambitious, and focused young woman in her day, so she married Winston and dedicated her life to his success. Their marriage was not easy, but I don't think she ever regretted it.
Deacon King Kong by James McBride. This book has been on different top 10 lists and I heard McBride interviewed on NPR. It took me quite awhile to get into this book, but eventually I got so wrapped up in the story that I couldn't put it down. The novel is set in a New York housing project in 1969 before heroin made such a big impact. Among the characters are an elderly drunk (Deacon King Kong), a 19 year old would-be drug king, some wonderfully drawn church ladies, low level Italian and Irish criminals, cops, etc. This book has been called a farce, and parts of it made me laugh out loud, but McBride also loves his characters and shows their deep humanity. He is also a great storyteller.
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker. This is a nonfiction book that was on the Top 10 lists of both The New York Times and the Wall Street journal. At first I was not sure I could read this book because of the terrible tragedy at its heart. It is the story of a real family with 12 children. 6 out of the 10 sons developed schizophrenia. The 2 daughters were not afflicted with mental illness, but suffered greatly from the family dynamics - as did the parents and 4 non-afflicted sons.
That sounds pretty dour doesn't it? However, the author really know show to construct a compassionate and compelling non-fiction narrative. The book is as much a story of the non-afflicted family members as well as those with the illness. He also includes much about the medical history of the disease, an explanation of the side effects of the treatments, and the scientific search for the biology of the disease, which will hopefully lead to better treatments. The research has a very long way to go and there are no miracle cures.
Obviously, this book is not for everyone. I don't think I could have read it if I was close to a victim of this terrible disease. But for me, it was a book that I stayed up late reading.
Kiki wrote: "Intriguing, Patty. I'm eagerly awaiting the US release of this one in February.THE LOST MAN really doesn't seem to have much substance to it just reading the description. Would you say it's a goo..."
I'd start with The Dry, Kiki. It's probably more relatable as a small town mystery with good characters and a storyline that includes a past mystery and a current one.
The Lost Man, on the other hand, takes place on more remote properties in the outback, although there is a town around which some of the action is based.
I wasn't as crazy about Force of Nature, because it was more about a group of women on a bush retreat, (and it was cold and wet!), but it did include the original main character of Aaron Falk from The Dry.
I did review them all if you're interested.
Link to my review of The Dry
Link to my review of Force of Nature
Link to my review of The Lost Man
I have just finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and adore his 11-year-old experimental poisoner/investigator, Flavia de Luce. This is the first of what seems to be a terrific mystery series - can't wait to find the rest! 
5★ Link to my Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie review
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "I have just finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and adore his 11-year-old experimental poisoner/investigator, Flavia de Luce. This is th..."A fun series. Read and loved them all. Flavia is indefatigable.
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Kiki wrote: "Intriguing, Patty. I'm eagerly awaiting the US release of this one in February.THE LOST MAN really doesn't seem to have much substance to it just reading the description. Would you s..."
Thank you, Patty. I'd already started reading THE LOST MAN before I read your post, and I am finding it intriguing. I love the setting, and I think the author has a beautiful prose style. I really, really want to know how Cam ended up at the stockman's grave! I will definitely read THE DRY as well.
Thanks! :)
Alice Walker’s MERIDIAN. I wanted to like this book; I didn’t. I’ve had Alice Walker’s novels on my TBR list for a long time and decided to start with this one - her second. It was a good idea; it had potential; I think AW got in the way of her character Meridian and prevented her from being what she could be and the story from being the thoughtful, honest portrayal of one person’s experience of the civil rights movement in Mississippi that it wanted to be.
Scott McCloud’s UNDERSTANDING COMICS: THE INVISIBLE ART. This book was a gift. I wasn’t sure I’d read it. After all...comics aren’t my thing, even though I have read and enjoyed a few graphic novels in recent years. During the pandemic, wondering what to read next and committed to reading what was on my real and virtual shelves, I picked it up and I’ve been dipping into it from time to time over the past 6 months. This morning I finished it. If you like visual art or love comics, do read it. If you’re curious, give it a try. It was interesting and I learned a lot.
Mary wrote: "Alice Walker’s MERIDIAN. I wanted to like this book; I didn’t. I’ve had Alice Walker’s novels on my TBR list for a long time and decided to start with this one - her second. It was a good idea; it ..."I haven't read that one, Mary, but it's just my personal opinion that no one should skip THE COLOR PURPLE. Maybe my all time favorite book. I don't think Walker was guilty of any authorial intrusion in that one. Made me cry at the end, and I rarely cry. Not even once a year.
I stayed up half the night to finish THE LOST MAN. I liked it very much. Taking place in Australia's Outback as it does, it's sort of like a closed room mystery. From time to time, I expected almost everyone as the culprit, and sure didn't figure things out until the end, when I read it. The book was extremely atmospheric, which I loved. I can't say I particularly liked any of the characters, and I really didn't like the character who turned out to be the culprit. I didn't like the ending. I would have made the opposite decision, I think, because the culprit was so cold-hearted. I did enjoy reading the book, though, and I will read Harper's other books. Four and a half stars for this one.
Spurred on by my rereading of The Anthologist , I sprang for The Paul Chowder Chronicles: The Anthologist and Traveling Sprinkler, Two Novels just to read the further adventures of Paul Chowder. My conclusion? Baker should have resisted the urge to continue the story, Dull and repetitive. I haven’t even quite finished it and I’m thinking I may not bother.
Thanks, Ruth. I was tempted but was waiting for your reaction.
Kiki, I’ve read Jane Harper ‘s The Dry and The Lost Man. I found both of them to be very atmospheric and I agree with your other comments about The Lost Man. Apparently, The Dry is the first in a series around Aaron Falk and she spent a lot of time laying out the background for the main character.
Donna wrote: "Kiki, I’ve read Jane Harper ‘s The Dry and The Lost Man. I found both of them to be very atmospheric and I agree with your other comments about The Lost Man. Apparently, The Dry is the first in a s..."Thank you, Donna. I do intend to read her other books. Patty thinks I'll enjoy THE DRY more than THE LOST MAN. I did like the latter, just not the ending.
As a christmas present to myself I've just stopped reading Diane Evans's Ordinary People it has to be the most boring book I have ever read or tried to read, I managed about half way through before throwing in the towel My Review
Permission to quit reading something you aren't enjoying is a great self-gift idea, Sheila! :)
The Only Woman In the Room – Marie Benedict – 3.5***
Hedy Lamarr was a movie star in the 1930s-50s, known for her ethereal beauty. She was also a highly intelligent, self-taught scientist and inventor. I knew some of this before reading the book, but still found it fascinating and engaging.
My full review HERE
I am on tenterhooks now, waiting to see where Gregg Hurwitz takes the Nowhere Man next! Terrific, disturbingly real warfare concerns in Prodigal Son.
4.5★ Link to my Prodigal Son review
Rainbow Colors by words&pictures is a cute little book for very young kids to enjoy with an older friend to help them find the things that are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
4★ Link to my Rainbow Colors review
Alice Walker’s THE THIRD LIFE OF GRANGE COPELAND. I liked this first AW novel better than I did her second - Meridian. I still think,however, that her agenda - one she acknowledges in an Afterword written 17 years after the novel was first published - gets in the way of the story. I wish AW had trusted her readers enough to let them discover her message and its meaning in their lives on their own rather than having her characters instruct and preach. For me, it would then have been a richer reading experience.
I finished SNOW by John Banville today. After reading so many mediocre books, it was a joy to read Banville's beautiful prose. The mystery wasn't difficult to figure out, and I can rarely figure them out, but it didn't detract from the beauty of the book because you're never sure until the end. Very sympathetic protagonist.
Jennifer just wanted to kill someone, make the world a better place, but Judy Fitzwater's aspiring murder mystery writer, who was Dying to Get Published, had a lot of (amusing) trouble getting her act together in real life.
3.5★ Link to my Dying to Get Published review
Frederik Backman's thought-provoking short novella, The Deal of a Lifetime is about a meeting between a somewhat estranged father and son that happens to take place on Christmas Eve. Loved it!
5★ Link to my Deal of a Lifetime review
Song Of the Lion – Anne Hillerman – 3.5***
This is book # 21 in the Leaphorn & Chee mystery series, set on the Navajo nation in Arizona and New Mexico. A car bombing in a high school parking lot begins the action, which focuses on the mediator for a dispute over a major development at the Grand Canyon. Hillerman matches her late father’s skill at plotting and character development. I love Officer Bernadette Manuelito who is a strong female lead. I read this out of order, but didn’t feel lost; still I think it’s a series that begs to be read in order.
My full review HERE
John Lennon by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara is a beaut little kids' book about his life and the Beatles. This is a lovely little tribute to the musical genius we lost to a gunman 40 years ago this month. 40 years!
4.5★ Link to my John Lennon review with illustrations
Tweet-length "fiction". I love, love, love wise sayings, witticisms, simple fun. I am too wordy - these guys are not. A Small Fiction by brothers James Mark Miller and Jefferson Miller is a sheer delight. Funny, clever, excellent!
5★ Link to my Small Fiction review with excerpts
I read The INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE. My recommendation would be: Don't bother. Don't waste your time. Nothing happens. That sums it up.I also read THE DRY, and, for me, it was "just okay." The prose is nice, and it is atmospheric, but I didn't like the flashbacks, and if you can put two and two together, you'll know who the murderer is as soon as that person makes an appearance in the book. I wasn't too fond of the Melbourne detective, either, the protagonist. I will read THE SURVIVORS when it is released here next month, though, because I did enjoy THE LOST MAN, and I do like books set in Australia.
Hilary Mantel’s THE MIRROR & THE LIGHT, narrated by Ben Miles. Beautifully written. Excellently narrated. Way too long.
Escape – Caroline Jessop with Laura Palmer – 3.5***
Carolyn Jessop was only eighteen when she was coerced into an arranged marriage with a high-ranking member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). Merril Jessop was thirty-two years her senior and already had three wives, but polygamy is a way of life for the FLDS. Despite her indoctrination into the belief system, she felt she simply had to escape … with all eight of her children in tow. It’s a fascinating and harrowing tale.
My full review HERE
I'm 2/3 through The World That We Knew for a local book club. After the considerable suspension of disbelief needed for the hocus pocus of the golem creation and superstition stated as fact, it's not bad. It helps that a heron becomes a main character (I love heron).
I'm closing out this thread to set up a new one for January & February.
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Constant Reader
Books mentioned in this topic
The World That We Knew (other topics)Escape (other topics)
A Small Fiction (other topics)
John Lennon (Volume 52) (other topics)
Song of the Lion (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
James Mark Miller (other topics)Jefferson Miller (other topics)
Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara (other topics)
Frederik Backman (other topics)
Judy Fitzwater (other topics)
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Jane Harper's Tasmanian coast in The Survivors is just as compelling as her outback in The Dry and The Lost Man. Evelyn Bay is such a small town that it's almost a locked room mystery. Loved it!