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What books did you get from the library, bookstore or online ~ 2021
Good to know, John. I have plenty by Griffiths to look forward to reading.
Yesterday i read Remote Control, a science fiction novella set in Ghana. Nnedi Okorafor wove a small bit of science fiction with a touch of multinational corporation and much mythology, both from Africa and Greek. It was an intriguingly simple story. It begins with a woman people fear as a representative of death. And then...A young girl, whose name changes as the book progresses, likes looking at the stars, drawing pictures, which she calls "sky words", in the dirt featuring star patterns and who lives with her family, observes what appears to be a meteor fall with one bit landing near her. (Try diagramming that sentence!) After she picked up a piece of it, she dropped it & it burrowed into the ground.
From there her story progresses, as she begins to understand that by touching the object, she sometimes turns a shade of green, at which point she can kill. From that discovery, begins a road trip and we learn about the myths created about her, as well as her own story about the travels. Did i mention a fox travels with her? She's seen it since the day of the landing.
I liked the writing and found the story fascinating. Okorafor has written other science fiction novels, including a series (Binti) but this one is a standalone, at this point, anyway.
madrano wrote: "This is the latest in the series of two books and was just released this month. Poor Deb will now have to wait some time before there will be another. ..."It's hard to wait for a favorite author's new book. Still, the anticipation is kind of fun, too.
True. It keeps me working on my impatience, too. :-)
I have been working my way through Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. The book is divided into 10 chapters which discuss racist laws and practices which harm not only the intended targets, people of color, but end up harming poor white people, sometimes more than anyone else. McGhee, a specialist in the US economy, addresses different points, such as banking, housing, voting, health and more. She shares a history of most of the topics, as well as the impact such acts which seem to target minorities, succeed while also harming the rest of us, as well. It's eye-opening.
I heard about the book from one of Alias's nonfiction book lists, then learned further from Shomeret's review of the book, seen here-- http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...
This morning i began the chapter on voting restrictions, which left me so angry i needed to put the book down. It's as timely as Georgia's news about its legislature this week. And as sickening.
madrano wrote: "I have been working my way through Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. The book is divided into 10 chapters w..."Thank you for the review. I'm going to put it in my TBR notebook.
Alias, i knew some of the information but the details & inclusion of similar circumstances have been enlightening. I hope you'll get a chance to read it.
madrano wrote: "Alias, i knew some of the information but the details & inclusion of similar circumstances have been enlightening. I hope you'll get a chance to read it."Thanks, deb. My TBR is literally a notebook as I have so many titles. That said, this is a topic I want to read about.
My TBR is (yet another) Word program. I've been trying to categorize topics, such as "Indigenous/Tribal", "Science Fiction" (and now i've broken that down to, for instance, "Alternative History", "Time Travel", "Alien Cultures"), "African American", Autobiography", etc. It makes it easier for me to locate titles/topics (& easier to insert additional titles). However, in the time it took for me to copy & paste them to the "correct" category, i could have read several chapters in some book. :-)
Sign my TBR is too big?? Yup. Gonna change it? Nope.
madrano wrote: "My TBR is (yet another) Word program. I've been trying to categorize topics, such as "Indigenous/Tribal", "Science Fiction" (and now i've broken that down to, for instance, "Alternative History", "..."My TBR is a notebook. I can see how helpful it would be to have it online.
Annie wrote: "I got the new book Clap when you land by Elizabeth Acevedo but still didn't start reading it... I have a lot on my waitlist ok?.... If you want to more you can see my Reading Now list..."
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth AcevedoThat's interesting that it's written in verse.
Annie, i haven't heard of that book but it sounds appealing. The Goodreads reviews are favorable, so i look forward to your opinion.I certainly understand what you mean about Very Long waitlists! LOL!
Alias Reader wrote: "My TBR is a notebook. I can see how helpful it would be to have it online. ..."When i see appealing or well-reviewed books from Book Nook Cafe reviews, i've been trying to go to my library's ebook/Overdrive website to put it on my waitlist. So, it's really another TBR, as it happens. (Kinda what Annie wrote above!)
Sometimes i realize i won't get to it anytime soon, so i put those books on my eLibrary wish list. I think some books i've put there have stayed there for 4 or 5 years already. Yikes! Still, i try to keep even that number low. It's just too discouraging. :-(
I know there is a debate in the world of science fiction about genres and i do not want to wade too far in. Toward the bottom, this wiki article offers types. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science... I mention this because my latest book, Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold, could be considered science fiction. There is a time travel component, a person can travel into the past or future but only to the cafe where the chair is. There are other rules, as well, including the title rule than one must drink the cup of coffee before it gets cold in order to return to the present.
So, yes, it's time travel, yet there is no attempt to explain the hows and whys of it. The real story is about humans. Set in today's Japan, the story is about how people relate to one another. I liked the short book very much and found myself in tears twice, which is remarkable. (My mood, maybe? I don't think so.)
Still, upon completion, i couldn't actually say i felt i'd read a science fiction novel. But perhaps this is what makes quality scifi appealing, making the characters thoughtful and caring.
madrano wrote: "I have been working my way through Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together...."I finished this book yesterday. Basically, i would read one chapter, take notes, then read something else. It was the only way i could retain all McGhee addressed. Each chapter illustrates some aspect of life in the US and how the intent may have been to limit people of color, all races were effected in negative ways.
One thing i really liked was that in the concluding chapter she covers some possible resolutions. The one dearest to her heart is Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (https://healourcommunities.org/ ). As it happens, the local chapter she discussed was here in Dallas. It impressed me because much of the history the group shared was unknown to me, despite the fact i lived here when much of it occurred.
ANYway, i liked the book very much and feel better informed on how awry many of the areas of our daily life has been impacted by continuing rules and laws, which were aimed at excluding people of color, when the harmed were really poor people. Period.
During my visit to the Dallas County Historical Museum (I think it was) I gasped in horror being confronted with a Klan robe display after rounding a corner.
John, i don't remember seeing that, although i've only been to that museum (Old Red Museum, some call it) once. It would be chilling. My gosh, what were they thinking?Ok, i did some research. I cannot find whether it is still on display there. However, i learned that in 2018 a robe was on display at the African American Museum at Fair Park, where the Texas State Fair is yearly held. Here's an article about that--
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/klan-d...
If you read the article, you'll see there that in 1923, there was a KKK Day at the State Fair, where over 160,000 turned up for that. This was when the Klan pretty much owned Dallas.
Re. the State Fair building which now houses the African American Museum. In 1936 there was a sort of World's Fair, called the The Texas Centennial Exposition. It was held to honor the state's centennial but is considered a World's Fair, even though it was different and not listed in their list of Fair's. To learn more, read Fair America: World's Fairs in the United States. This is where i learned about such expositions, in addition to the WF.)
The state built many building, in the Art Deco style, which still stand. Controversially, There was a Hall of Negro Life, which was quite popular and is believed to be the first recognition of African-American culture at a world's fair. Texans fought against this and the building which held it was destroyed almost immediately after the Fair closed.
Well, i see i rambled again.
madrano wrote: "John, i don't remember seeing that, although i've only been to that museum (Old Red Museum, some call it) once. It would be chilling. My gosh, what were they thinking?Ok, i did some research. I c..."
Ramble away! It was the old red museum, mentioned on the t-shirt that eventually wore out. The Klan robe was in a case, but caught my eye immediately as the hood was at eye level.
Picked up Ready Player Two for the kindle from the library, Wagging through the Snow and The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them from the library bookstore ☺️
Stephanie, i'm interested in knowing what you think about this Ernest Cline sequel. I liked the first but have not tried this one. Nice collection of books purchased.
John wrote: "The Klan robe was in a case, but caught my eye immediately as the hood was at eye level...."Awful. I cannot help but wonder if i've seen that or not. It seems like something i would take a photo of but i cannot find any such shots.
That old red building is so unique for Dallas. When we visited i spent a long time taking photos of the inside architecture, which was ornate. Maybe i just didn't realize there was a museum there? I know we talked a long time to gift shop employees. Weird.
Encouraged by one of the lists Alias, posted--my favs, from librarians--as well as Barbara's review, i read S.J. Bennett's cozy mystery, The Windsor Knot, wherein Queen Elizabeth is the sleuth. It seems Her Majesty has been solving crimes in her own quiet way since she was a teenager but few people know. Now that she is the monarch, this begins the week of her 90th birthday, she uses staff to assist with the actual interviews and research. In all it's a clever work, mixing bits about her personal life, as she wonders about the murder, which was committed in Windsor Castle. In this case she was frustrated by the course the investigation took resulting in two of her staff being suspended for what's believed to be suspicious reasons. Overall i liked it, particularly learning about all that goes on inside that castle.
madrano wrote: "Encouraged by one of the lists Alias, posted--my favs, from librarians--as well as Barbara's review, i read S.J. Bennett's cozy mystery, The Windsor Knot, wherein ..."I'm happy to see the book lists are enjoyed ! If I have time, I'll post another one tonight.
I don't know where i heard of this book, as it doesn't come up when i search threads from this group. However, i want to share my pleasure in reading Laura Imai Messina's novel The Phone Box at the Edge of the World, which is set in Japan a few years after the 2011 tsunami. The story is based on the fact that in Japan, in the area worst hit by the storm, there is a telephone booth known as "The Wind Phone". People come to the phone in order to talk to those who are dead or missing, often from the storm. Some believe that the words are carried by the wind to the ears of those addressed by the "caller".
This short novel is about a woman who lost her daughter & mother in that tsunami. We learn that the woman, Yui, travels from her Tokyo home quite a distance to see the box. Once there she sees a man, Takeshi, whose wife died from cancer, and together they locate the phone. However, Yui ends up only walking around the garden which contains the phone and having tea with the couple who maintain the site, she does not speak into the instrument.
The story progresses and includes others they meet on site and with whom they share tea when they visit. The story itself called to me but the presentation was charming. Each main chapter in the book alternates with a very short interluding chapter that offers random information about some fragment of the preceding chapter, such as a list of the food purchased at a rest stop or one character's favorite Brazilian Songs. This enchanted me because they were random lists which may or may not flesh out the characters. I'm very pleased with this book and wanted to share.
I'm editing this to add that the title of the book i have is different than the one linked at Goodreads. The title i read was The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World. . I'm not sure why the change but i mention it because i couldn't find my title when i searched GR's records.
madrano wrote: "I don't know where i heard of this book, as it doesn't come up when i search threads from this group. However, i want to share my pleasure in reading Laura Imai Messina's novel [bo..."I had not heard of this one - thanks for putting it on my radar!
madrano wrote:The story is based on the fact that in Japan, in the area worst hit by the storm, there is a telephone booth known as "The Wind Phone". People come to the phone in order to talk to those who are dead or missing, often from the storm. Some believe that the words are carried by the wind to the ears of those addressed by the "caller".."This sounds incredible sad.
Doesn't it? The author's work is sensitive but i never shed a tear, due to the way she created the story. The notion is sad but to read about the results is comforting. I hesitated to add that it's also a sort of romance story.
Today I decided to purchase the Kindle version of 
Eleanor by David MichaelisIt's on sale for $5.
New York Times Bestseller
Prizewinning bestselling author David Michaelis presents a “stunning” (The Wall Street Journal) breakthrough portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, America’s longest-serving First Lady, an avatar of democracy whose ever-expanding agency as diplomat, activist, and humanitarian made her one of the world’s most widely admired and influential women.
In the first single-volume cradle-to-grave portrait in six decades, acclaimed biographer David Michaelis delivers a stunning account of Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarkable life of transformation. An orphaned niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, she converted her Gilded Age childhood of denial and secrecy into an irreconcilable marriage with her ambitious fifth cousin Franklin. Despite their inability to make each other happy, Franklin Roosevelt transformed Eleanor from a settlement house volunteer on New York’s Lower East Side into a matching partner in New York’s most important power couple in a generation.
When Eleanor discovered Franklin’s betrayal with her younger, prettier social secretary, Lucy Mercer, she offered a divorce and vowed to face herself honestly. Here is an Eleanor both more vulnerable and more aggressive, more psychologically aware and sexually adaptable than we knew. She came to accept FDR’s bond with his executive assistant, Missy LeHand; she allowed her children to live their own lives, as she never could; and she explored her sexual attraction to women, among them a star female reporter on FDR’s first presidential campaign, and younger men.
Eleanor needed emotional connection. She pursued deeper relationships wherever she could find them. Throughout her life and travels, there was always another person or place she wanted to heal. As FDR struggled to recover from polio, Eleanor became a voice for the voiceless, her husband’s proxy in presidential ambition, and then the people’s proxy in the White House. Later, she would be the architect of international human rights and world citizen of the Atomic Age, urging Americans to cope with the anxiety of global annihilation by cultivating a “world mind.” She insisted that we cannot live for ourselves alone but must learn to live together or we will die together.
Drawing on new research, Michaelis’s riveting portrait is not just a comprehensive biography of a major American figure, but the story of an American ideal: how our freedom is always a choice. Eleanor rediscovers a model of what is noble and evergreen in the American character, a model we need today more than ever.
Publisher : Simon & Schuster; Illustrated edition (October 6, 2020)
Sounds as though this will be a powerful biography, Alias. I hope it's as good as it sounds!
Julie, my husband really liked learning about the flood from McCullough's book. He had a quibble or two (he' preceded it by reading John Adams, which was near perfection. I think it was bound to disappoint. However, the flood description was vivid in many ways, as i recall.
madrano wrote: "Julie, my husband really liked learning about the flood from McCullough's book. He had a quibble or two (he' preceded it by reading John Adams, which was near perfection. I think it was..."I gave the Adam's book a 5 star review so I don't blame him if he didn't like the book about the flood because that was so good. But I am really enjoying the book about the flood plus it is about a 1/3rd of the size of the John Adams book so it is a faster read.
Yes, my husband noted that length comparison. I liked DM's book on the Wright Brothers and intend to read his bio of Truman when i get there in my pursuit of reading Prez. bios in chronological order.The Wright Brothers
Truman
I just downloaded this eBook from the library. It's a YA book and that is not usually a genre I read. It's inspired by the BLM movement. The novel has an amazing 18,000 amazon review. 
The Hate You Give----Angie ThomasSixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
I look forward to your opinion on this one, Alias. I'm thinking they made a movie based on it, too.
madrano wrote: "I look forward to your opinion on this one, Alias. I'm thinking they made a movie based on it, too."Yes. They also made a movie of the novel. Though I haven't seen it.
Being a YA book, it's fairly quick reading. According to Kindle I've read 34% and I am finding quite engaging.
After reading Barbara's review of Judy Batalion's The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos, i put myself in the line of the ebook version. At last, it's arrived. I've only finished the intro & prologue thus far. I'm glad to know that she took such time to tell these stories, many of which would be lost to small collections, partly due to the language in which they were written. Just a shout out to Barbara for the title.
Valerie wrote: "I ordered these books this week from Barnes & Noble.The Sanatorium
The Only Good Indians
The Midnight Library
The Four Winds"
I hope they are all winners for you, Valerie !
I've heard good things about The Four Winds.
Good list, Valerie. I have the Matt Haig book on order from my library. I hope it's as good as it sounds. Enjoy your new books!
In February Alias posted a list which contained librarian suggestions. The one which called to me was Jennifer Ryan's The Kitchen Front, about four women during WWII in England in a BBC contest about creating recipes using rationed products. I just finished this one and liked it for the straight-forward story it was. The women were well drawn illustrating a bit of class struggle, some rivalries, loss and the Problems with Rationing. This last point made the book for me. The contest is over 3 months, starter, main dish and dessert. It was neat to see the considerations each woman took to create her offering.
This isn't at all challenging but offers a view at a different angle. Recipes are included, not that a person would want to duplicate many of them. However, it was instructive to learn how, for example, pastry could made with Very Limited Fat products.
And there was no dual timeline! Hurrah!
I'm not real keen on WW II experience reading, but that one sounds very interesting!
madrano wrote: "In February Alias posted a list which contained librarian suggestions. The one which called to me was Jennifer Ryan's The Kitchen Front, about four women during WW..."I'm so glad it was a winner for you, deb. :) It's good to see that people like the book lists. I'll admit I'm a sucker for book lists, myself.
What i look for when i read any period novels is discovering little bits about how people live. Of course, that was a good draw in this one.
I must again thank Simon for his review of Kate Quinn's The Huntress, which i began yesterday. The book sucked me right in, despite the fact it shares three perspectives and a back & forth timeline for each. Like Simon, my favorite part is learning about the female Russian pilots during WWII. However, most of the book takes place post War. Thanks, Simon.
You’re very welcome Madrano! I did find the start of it slowish but hooked me right in with the “mystery”, but really picked up once the three storylines got intertwined :)
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I liked The Zig Zag Girl!