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Trim 2021 – The Official Unofficial Challenge Thread
Hayjay - I could start Cold Sassy Tree tomorrow! I dumped my chunkster gothic book the name of the rose, for The witch of willow hall, and got so into it, that I am finishing it tonight!Next Question - we have a streak going! What are we going to read together in May?
Amy wrote: "Hayjay - I could start Cold Sassy Tree tomorrow! I dumped my chunkster gothic book the name of the rose, for The witch of willow hall, and got so into it, that I am finishing it tonight!Next Ques..."
I'll be able to start Cold Sassy Tree on Sunday so won't be too far behind. Yes, let's make a plan for May! Books at the top of my list to get to soon are Umami, Murder in Old Bombay, Train From Marietta, A Place for Us and Miss Benson's Beetle. Any of those catch your interest?
We have to ‘friend’ each other and figure it out. I was surprised we weren’t already and couldn’t figure out how to send you a request.
Also, for anyone’s interest to join in, likely reading Library of Legends (China) for Skies. Unless I’m forced of course to see if there’s anything remotely available and enjoyable from Antarctica…
Guys February was such a crazy month for me that I just realized I never posted this review for my #8 that I read and typed up back in February!The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis- 4 Stars
This book was my first by Fiona Davis and will not be my last. I love that she has a focus on crafting stories related to New York landmarks.
In this story we meet Laura Lyons who is the wife of the superintendent of the New York Public Library which enables the family to live in an apartment within this grand building. Laura has dreams of becoming a journalist and enrolls in the Columbia Journalism School. While conducting research for a story she encounters a former classmate who introduces Laura to the Heterodoxy Club and the progressive ideas of the women who attend. Soon, Laura is balancing the tension of fulfilling her role as a wife and wanting to draw attention to women's rights. When valuable books begin to be stolen from the library Laura is caught between her varying desires.
Eighty years later, her granddaughter, Sadie, is a curator at the NYPL and getting ready to launch a show featuring rare manuscripts, books and notes from the famed Berg Collection. Once again, items are being stolen and Sadie determines to unravel who the thief is. In the process, she unravels her own family history and piece of library history that has remained unsolved for years.
Reign of the Marionettes- Sheena Macleod - 3.5 -Rounded uphttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
One additional note, it was quite long.
Finished my April #5. I had accidentally already read it, so I substituted one by a local author (whom I know!) with very few readers here (or LT), so few (or no!) tags for it to ever come up in a search to fit for a theme I'm looking for. I read In the Mood for Peace: The Story of the Izzy Doll by Phyllis Wheaton.
I just wanted to announce that Kelly is our Trim Picker for May, and she will announce after Anita announces the tag. Stay posted, and thank you, Kelly! Can't wait to see....
The Unofficial Trim Pick for May is #6.
My # 6 The Sword of Bedwyr is MIA-I was suppose to read it this month for another group and I cannot find it anywhere-I may be replacing it with something else
Oh, my #6 is totally a local thing for me (Herbert is a small town about a hour from the small town where I grew up; I had an aunt and uncle there and cousins. My uncle is still there, as is one of my cousins and one of her daughters.) Herbert Has Lots for a Buck: How 12 Small Prairie Towns Reinvented Themselves for the 21st Century
My #6 is The Wolf and the Watchman which continues my odd streak of mystery/ thrillers. I do still need to finish my pick for this month. It is a slow paced one and I got distracted by the fun Gothic ones.
Jen K wrote: "My #6 is The Wolf and the Watchman which continues my odd streak of mystery/ thrillers. I do still need to finish my pick for this month. It is a slow paced one and I got distracted..."I read that one last year and really enjoyed it.
My #6 is Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World-from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief - Tom Zoellner
My #6 is Priest by Matthew Colville, but I'm debating swapping it out with Obama's A Promised Land since that came in at the library after being on hold for months and I haven't even cracked it yet. I need some motivation to engage with it since it's such a chonker. Plus, Priest is a fantasy novel and I've been binging on that a lot lately because I'm re-reading A Dance with Dragons in between my other books... Decision, decisions.
My #6 is Modern Girls. Not a buddy read. Just a book I have owned that still is on my 2018 list....
My #6 is a double header, both taking me to my favorite place on earth - France - and one qualifies as short stories! Great pick, Kelly!Three Lives by Gertrude Stein - stories of 3 working class women, and then
Provençal Cooking: Savoring the Simple Life in France
I am not going to France in May for FtS - too short a trip from Barcelona...I could walk! - but might just go to my next destination the long way, stopping in both Provence and Paris before taking my next long flight...and the planned read for FtS is short stories!
My # 6 was originally What Alice Forgot but I read it already this year.So my substitute # 6 is
The Face Of Deception by Iris Johansen
My #6 was supposed to be The House Girl but I returned it to the library so I have to pick a replacement book. I'm finishing The Midnight Library right now.
Sally - how are you finding the Midnight Library? I think that one has been yo yo-ing on my list on and off.Hayjay - writing you right now in the early morning hours, so we can pick a book for May.
Tessa - you're on for the Girl with No Shadow! I couldn't find that thread, but I do think that a lot of my library requests with the endless waits have come in. So even though Girl with No Shadow is sitting in my backseat, I daresay I might not get to it until June! But if you need to start, don't wait. I will get there. But that is my timing.
Amy wrote: "Tessa - you're on for the Girl with No Shadow! I couldn't find that thread, but I do think that a lot of my library requests..."Not to worry ... I'll go ahead and read it in May since the audiobook is available and I have that long drive to/from Texas to fill. But I'll hold off posting my review until you can read it and we can discuss a bit. It doesn't work for either Fly the Skies or the monthly tag so that shouldn't be a problem. However, if I find any of the Pursue it items in it ... well... we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
My #6 was a free space so I'm going to read The Stand which would have been my April for last year but I never got to.
Charlotte wrote: "My #6 was a free space so I'm going to read The Stand which would have been my April for last year but I never got to."I read The Stand for the first time a couple of years ago, and thought it was very good.
Amy, The Midnight Library is just ok for me. It didn’t bowl me over it it was an enjoyable read. Nextfor me is The Sympathizer
Amy- Am I right in thinking that you read The Great Alone and lived it
My number 6 is Steppin' on a Rainbow by Kinky Friedman. It's been years since I read one of his novels, so I'm looking forward to it.
Kimber wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "My #6 was a free space so I'm going to read The Stand which would have been my April for last year but I never got to."I read The Stand for the first time a couple..."
Hubby and I are doing a long roadtrip and I thought this would be the perfect audio book for us to listen to during it.
@Sally - ditto on The Midnight Library.
My April #5 books is complete, The Elegance of the Hedgehog and I have my May #6 book queued up for a long drive on Saturday. I ended up mostly liking The Elegance of the Hedgehog but it was perhaps a bit of the right book but wrong time.
Reading The Great Alone. I’m not going to say too much but reading this book is just making me very angry.
Sallys wrote: "Reading The Great Alone. I’m not going to say too much but reading this book is just making me very angry."I have not read it, but a friend who lives in Alaska had a very negative reaction to it, almost violently so.
I haven’t been hearing great things about the Midnight Library. I thought the Great Alone was very hard. But I also think she is a great writer with tough material. I certainly haven’t forgotten it.
Theresa wrote: "Sallys wrote: "Reading The Great Alone. I’m not going to say too much but reading this book is just making me very angry."I have not read it, but a friend who lives in Alaska had a very negative ..."
Picked up The Sympathizer and Where the Crawdads Sing today. Just have to get through The Great Alone
#5 April
Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder - Ann Rule - 5 Stars
The first chapter begins with Diane Downs driving to an Oregon hospital, her three mortally wounded children beside her, where she screams, “Somebody just shot my kids.” This is the story of a shocking crime committed by a narcistic and sociopathic young mother.
Ann Rule does a great job of trying to get us to understand what makes Diane tick without building sympathy for her. The story seems like fiction but remains one of the best true crime books I've ever read. Sure, Ann Rule could have easily cut out a hundred pages but she always writes long books.
If you can get your hands on an old copy of the 1989 Made for TV Movie starring Farrah Fawcett as Diane Downs, you are definitely in for a treat.
February's # 8 
Even In Paradise – Elizabeth Nunez – 4****
This is a retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear set in the Caribbean. What a wonderful character study! Nunez had me on the edge of my seat a few times, even though I knew the basic story line already. I liked how she wove in current issues of race and class and the history of colonialism (and slavery) in the Caribbean.
My full review HERE
NOT called yet, but read my # 1
Eva Luna – Isabel Allende – 4****
I’m already a huge fan of Allende’s magical realism, and this book did not disappoint. I loved the many characters – from the Lebanese merchant to the petty criminal/guerrilla leader to the transsexual entertainer. As Eva tells the story of her life, she tells the story of this South American nation – of corruption, class struggle, feast and famine. The story comes alive with saints and ghosts, servants and political leaders equally profiled, skewered and cherished.
My full review HERE
I replaced my March book Joust with Empire of Sand-Not even bothering to review it, I hated it. IMO poorly written and can't understand what the hype was all about. It has been on my TBR since 2018, and now *poof* it is off. 2 stars, barely. I am all caught up now! And currently reading my May replacement (original book is lost in the piles somewhere) The Last Enchantment-this book is what fantasy is all about it, loving it!
Joanne wrote: "I replaced my March book Joust with Empire of Sand-Not even bothering to review it, I hated it. IMO poorly written and can't understand what the hype was all about. It ..."Damn, congrats! I am only 2 for 5 (already throwing in the towel on May, no time).
Joanne wrote: "I replaced my March book Joust with Empire of Sand-Not even bothering to review it, I hated it. IMO poorly written and can't understand what the hype was all about. It ..."It is trimmed from the TBR! And I agree....what was all the hype?
We are all here, in this sub group of PTB, for one reason: reduce the TBR. So I came across this article, and thought I would share it with you all-It made me feel better about that old Tumbling Tower of bookshttps://www.tor.com/2021/05/03/stop-f...
Love it, Joanne! I of course have zero guilt over my massive TBR Towers. I know I am a well-read eclectic reader who devours between 150 to 190 books a year. I have been reading voraciously since I was 10, I was a literature major in college, and I love shiny new books. My goal in Trim is just to quiet the nagging voice of so many shiny books buried in those Towers. I actually have zero expectation or desire of reducing that TBR by quantity. Heaven forbid! I might then not have something to read!
I totally find that article comforting! I also realized in grad school that you can be expected to have “read something” when it’s 200 pages of dense dreck and you have like 2 hours the night before to inhale it all. What inevitably happens is you scan for a few paragraphs to highlight so you can mention it in class and look like you did the assignment. I didn’t feel great about doing that, but often times it did help me separate material that’s considered part of the “canon” that I found completely useless from stuff I liked and would want to genuinely spend more time with... which I would put aside for after graduation, lol.
I think it’s better to know yourself and what books resonate with you than to be absorbing a ton of works superficially because you’re “supposed to” just so you can “look educated.”
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Creation of Eve (other topics)Let the Great World Spin (other topics)
Last Night in Nuuk (other topics)
Last Night in Nuuk (other topics)
Last Night in Nuuk (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Colum McCann (other topics)Fiona Davis (other topics)
Sharon Kay Penman (other topics)
Ann Rule (other topics)
Diane Chamberlain (other topics)
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Kelly, loved that pick, and your review.
Meli - You made me laugh out loud with an actual guffaw! You go girl! You get that unofficial prize and the reward of r..."
Haha, glad I could make you laugh :)
I want to thank my family for this reward of recognition, without them I couldn't have time to read. And I want to thank Libby for an endless supply of various audio books.