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2021 Reads and Reviews ~ Anything goes
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[book:The Dog Who Could Fly: The Incredible True S..."
I did enjoy it.
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Saturday
Ian McEwan
4/5 stars
Neurosurgeon, Henry Perowne wakes up to what was supposed to be an uneventful day of work and time with his family. However, the opposite occurs and an after a traffic accident between him and someone who is not so happy about the outcome starts off a chain of events that will affect him and his whole family. I enjoy McEwan’s books - you never know what is going to happen in them.
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Martian Time-Slip
Philip K. Dick
3/5 stars
Mars is now a colony of Earth though there are a lot of problems in living there, like having not enough water access. However, it is still valuable land and entrepreneurs are buying up property. The plot surrounds a young boy; Manfred who is autistic and who may be able to see the future. Arnie Kott, leader of the Water Works Union hears about Manfred’s possible ability and takes him to the FDR Mountains on Mars to try and use his mental powers to see if his development plans will come true. Interesting concept!
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret – Judy Blume – 3***
First published in 1970, this has become a staple of children’s literature, as well as a frequently challenged book. I think if I had read this at a young age I would have easily identified with Margaret. I certainly recognize some of my own anxieties about growing up, though my situation was very different from Margaret’s.
My full review HERE
A Bookshop In Berlin – Françoise Frenkel – 4****
Subtitle: The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman’s Harrowing Escape From the Nazis. Originally titled ”No Place To Lay One’s Head”, this is an interesting first-hand account of the author’s ultimately successful journey to safety in Switzerland.
My full review HERE
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Strange but True
John Searles
4/5 stars
The Chases have had a hard life, their son Ronnie was killed in an automobile accident which severely injured his date/girlfriend Melissa. One night Melissa shows up on their door step claiming she is pregnant with Ronnie’s baby though Ronnie has been dead for 5 years. So begins this very interesting mystery about a family wracked with grief, trying to get through life and absorbing this new information. Is the baby really Ronnie’s? Is Melissa trying to scam them?
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Diary of a Mad Housewife
Sue Kaufman
4/5 stars
Set in the 60’s, Bettina Balser is a stay at home mom, the norm for that generation dealing with child and husband issues. One of her outlets is a diary to vent all her feelings as she deals with her issues, fears and everything going around her including an affair of hers with a writer. Well written and still holds up today!
Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout – 4****
After my F2F book club chose to discuss the sequel, Olive, Again , I decided to revisit the original. I can clearly see her growth as a character. And I’m more sympathetic to Olive, even though she is still hard to like.
My full review HERE
The Dutch House – Ann Patchett – 4****
Patchett uses the youngest member of the Conroy family, Danny, to tell this decades-long story of the family’s fortunes. I love Patchett’s writing. I love the way she reveals her characters in what they say and do. We see Danny grow from a young child to a middle-aged man with children of his own. And we watch Maeve take on the mantle of responsibility for her younger brother, encouraging and pushing him to succeed, to prove that they can thrive without the legacy they expected.
My full review HERE
Summer Of the Monkeys – Wilson Rawls – 4****
At the end of the 19th century, Jay Berry Lee lives with his parents and twin sister on a farm in Oklahoma. A troop of escaped circus monkeys provide a summer’s entertainment as well as the opportunity to earn a large monetary reward - if only he can capture them! Fun adventure and a charming boy-and-his-dog tale.
My full review HERE
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The Dutch House
– Ann Patchett – 4****
Patchett uses the youngest member of the Conroy family, Danny, to tell this decades-long story of the family’s fortu..."
This is a popular book at our library and a lot of the book clubs are reading it. I have it on my list but have not gotten it yet!
The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling – 3.5***
Of course I was familiar with Mowgli, Shere Khan, and Baloo, but I had never this classic of children’s literature. This edition had Mowgli’s tale, but also included three bonus stories: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (the mongoose), Toomai (who watches the elephants dance), and Kotick (the white seal). They are marvelous adventure stories with a few life lessons included. The exotic nature of the setting appeals to the imagination as well.
My full review HERE
The Last Rhinos – Lawrence Anthony & Graham Spence – 3.5***
Lawrence Anthony has been called the Indiana Jones of conservationism. He certainly lives up to that moniker in this memoir of his efforts to save the last remaining Northern White Rhinos in the wild. Anthony went to great lengths to plan a rescue of these magnificent beasts. I only wish that more of the book was focused on the animals rather than on the negotiations with government officials and rebel group leaders.
My full review HERE
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Airs Above the Ground
Mary Stewart
4/5 stars
Vanessa, whose husband is missing, sees him in a newsreel from Vienna though he was supposed to be on a business trip to Stockholm. Worried she takes off to Vienna and encounters on the plane her friend’s son Timothy on a trip without telling his parents. They bond and decide to travel together to find out what has happened to her husband Lewis but they also get caught up in investigating a mysterious circus fire. Are the two connected? Very enjoyable!
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
John M. Barry
4/5 stars
This is a historical comprehensive look at the 1918 flu/influenza epidemic. Barry discusses the epidemic, the scientists who went about researching influenza and their attempts to find a vaccine for it and he includes information about previous epidemics. He also writes about the time period and what was going on during the flu in the USA and other countries. Detailed but very readable.
Dead Man’s Switch – Tammy Kaehler – 3***
This was a fun, fast read that taught me a bit about racing. I liked Kate as a lead character. She’s intelligent, prepared, determined, skilled and strong. I liked the way she thought through the scraps of information she collected to arrive at her conclusions. I also really liked her focus on the job at hand – driving that Corvette as part of a team.
My full review HERE
Three To Get Deadly – Janet Evanovich – 3***
Book three in the Stephanie Plum series features “Uncle Max” – the proprietor of a storied candy shop / soda fountain who has gone missing. This is a hugely entertaining series that continues to delight and make me chuckle even on re-reading. The success of the series is due in part to the likeable Stephanie, and her romantic conflict between Joe Morelli and Ranger. But the supporting characters are also marvelous.
My full review HERE
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Three To Get Deadly
– Janet Evanovich – 3***
Book three in the Stephanie Plum series features “Uncle Max” – the proprietor of a storied candy shop / sod..."
I do like that series.
Well, here's another one for you, Julie ...
Hot Six – Janet Evanovich – 4****
Episode Six in the Stephanie Plum series has our charmingly inept bounty hunter on the trail of her mentor, and man of hot dreams, Ranger. This is possibly the funniest of the books in the series that I’ve read. I first read this in about March 2003, and I remember clearly reading in the cafeteria during my lunch break and bursting out in laughter loud enough to have people several tables away look up to see what was going on.
My full review HERE
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Hot Six
– Janet Evanovich – 4****
Episode Six in the Stephanie Plum series has our charmingly inept bounty hunter on t..."
I am up to #24 with the Plum series. I haven't gotten to 25 and 26 yet. I still get a kick out of them!
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In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash
Jean Shepherd
5/5 stars
This book was the basis for the wonderful film A Christmas Story and is a fictional account of Shepard’s life as a child in Indiana. It starts out with Ralph returning to his hometown and hooking up with his friend Flick, now a bartender at his own bar and relating their childhood /adolescent escapades. Some of the stories that were included in the film were altered and a few of the stories were not covered in the film but it was a great read and hard to put down. Highly recommended!
How To Train Your Dragon – Cressida Cowell – 4****
A delightful children’s fantasy book about dragons and Vikings and young people who rise to the occasion. I’ve never seen the movie, and I don’t have children, so really didn’t know what to expect. But I was completely charmed by this outrageous story. It’s fantastical, but relatable. The names of the characters (SnotLout, Fishlegs, Dogsbreath…etc) will appeal to tween boys as well.
My full review HERE
The Librarian's Vampire Assistant, Book 5
by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
4**** for book but series only 2*
I thought this was going to be the book with HEA for main characters but while there are changes, the romance continues to be one step forward, two steps back.
Next book is from different character's POV. While villain redeemed stories can be great after 3 years and 5 books with no HEA I'm tired of this.
I'm through trying to keep up with any Pamfiloff series. Her writing style is interesting and I find the events in individual books entertaining but I don't like how her series develop.
Mod
When Eight Bells Toll
Alistair MacLean
4/5 stars
This is the suspenseful fictional tale of the British Secret Service. Philip Calvert, agent, is called upon by his superior chief, Rear Admiral Sir Arthur Arnford-Jones to assist in a mission to find the Nantesville, a ship which has gone missing with eight millions pounds of gold. But this is not the first ship to go missing; but it was the first ship that was equipped with a transmitter and 2 secret servicemen aboard. Can Calvert find the ship without getting killed and just who could he trust? I have never read MacLean before but I found his writing compelling.
Halfway There
by Eve Langlais
2**
Narrator Nicole Poole makes this listenable.
I am cautious when books include term Women's Fiction but had high hopes for this because it is also on paranormal romance and mystery lists.
Naomi's life changes make slow progress which is realistic but hearing her thoughts as she repeatedly thinks about same problems is a bit much.
Her health problems would be more realistic if she were 10 or 20 years older. Nothing about going to doctor about (this may be TMI for some so) (view spoiler). It starts in US so doctor situation understandable but then she's Canadian living in Canada.
Paranormal story arc - things happen but little is learned.
Near end a mystery is abruptly solved but threat remains to be dealt with in another book.
Already have the second installment On My Way from Hoopla so I started it. Hope story arcs progress and I want whatever keeps Naomi from seeing paranormal dealt with. That plot device is annoying, not amusing, me.
I have no plans to listen to book 3. Evidently there are two endings, one in the book and another the author posted online. This trilogy may end in a cliffhanger. Author's done that with series at least once before with additional information revealed in other series. When I finish book 2 I'm done listening. If I do book 3 it will be e book so I can easily skim.
White Fragility – Robin DiAngelo – 3***
I’m not sure what to think about this book. I am a person of color. And this book is written by a white woman, trying to explain why it is so difficult for white people to have meaningful conversations – and, more importantly, change behaviors – about racism. I agree with some of her perspectives and applaud her efforts at calling out racism in a tactful manner. Not that her tactic always works. I listened to the audio because it was the version that arrived first, and I needed to read it for my F2F book club discussion. But I think this is a book best absorbed via text format.
My full review HERE
On My Way
by Eve Langlais
Narrator Nicole Poole
2**
Part 2 of Midlife Mulligan trilogy.
About the same as Part 1. Made tolerable by being almost an hour shorter than part 1 and I sped up the narration. Narration is good. The story is the problem.
Don't Stop Believing
1*
Part 3 Midlife Mulligan e book
This one starts, at least to me, sad. It's also dark from the beginning. Read first few chapters then started skipping, reading a scene here and there. For me the HEA ending did not line up with how the books were going so I read the alternative ending. It's the creepy dark ending I expected.
Eve Langlais at the end of the alternative ending of Don't Stop Believing
"And that is the most scream-worthy ending, the kind I love."
American Spy – Lauren Wilkinson – 4****
What an interesting and inventive debut. Told as a letter to her young children, Marie relates the events that led to her meeting their father and her career in counterintelligence. Wilkinson uses some events from history – particularly the assassination of Thomas Sankara – to frame this story of personal responsibility, family dynamics, and loyalty: to family, to country, to social ideals.
My full review HERE
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Eight Cousins
Louisa May Alcott
4/5 stars
This is the story of the orphaned Rose Campbell who after the death of her mother is sent to live with her aunts and then eventually with her guardian, her Uncle Alec. Upon moving into her aunt’s house she learns that she has seven boy cousins and it takes a bit of time to get used to all the activity. Though this is a juvenile book, I found it quite fun, sweet and amusing.
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The Johnstown Flood
David McCullough
5/5 stars
This is the fascinating look at a flood that devastated Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1889. Johnstown was a small town with mostly workers that worked at the coal/steel plants. It also was the site of a resort that had many famous industry members including Andrew Melon and Andrew Carnegie. Unfortunately, the resort had a dam and that dam was not well maintained and on May 31, 1889 it burst open killing thousands and opening up an investigation into what happened and who was responsible. McCullough does wonderful job relaying the story of the people of the area and what happened after the tragedy.
Secretariat – William Nack – 4****
Subtitle: The Making of a Champion. I think everyone knows about this horse and his extraordinary Triple Crown victory. Nack did extensive interviews with the people involved: owner Penny Tweedy, trainer Lucien Laurin, jockey Ron Turcotte, and groom Ed Sweat, as well as the many others surrounding the horse. The book starts slowly with a laborious genealogical history of both the people and the horse. But once he starts writing about the actual races …Nack makes the telling of those races almost as nail-bitingly exciting as it was to watch them live.
My full review HERE
Walk Two Moons – Sharon Creech – 5*****
I was completely drawn into the book from the beginning, as I learned that Sal was forced to move from her beloved Kentucky farm some 300 miles north to a town where there wasn’t even a tree in her yard. I liked the multi-generational aspect of the novel, as well as the story-within-a-story way Creech revealed what had happened. As Sal told the story of Phoebe and the lunatic, she was peeling back the layers of her own story, and finding ways to process her loss. Though I cried at the ending, I was left with a feeling hope. A marvelous book.
My full review HERE
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The Unteachables – Gordon Korman – 4****
This was a fun, enjoyable middle-grade book about kids – and at least one teacher – who need a little extra help and a hefty dose of understanding and empathy. I loved how the kids came to understand one another, and how they came to understand their teacher and his struggles. I think that young teens and middle-grade students will particularly like the focus on what the kids CAN do. Put down and bullied, they are clearly NOT helpless victims. Bravo!
My full review HERE
Julie wrote: "The Johnstown Flood
David McCullough
5/5 stars
This is the fascinating look at a flood that devastated Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1..."
I read a book (a novel) focused on the Johnstown flood ... of course I can't remember the name of it now. I'll have to look for this nonfiction account.
Mod
The Johnstown Flood
David McCullough
5/5 stars
This is the fascinating look at a flood that devastated Johnstown, Pen..."
This was good and it wasn't very long.
Beneath the Bonfire – Nickolas Butler – 4****
In this collection of short stories Butler explores relationships: men and women; male bonding; fathers and children; people and the land. The ten stories are dark and mesmerizing, Butler’s characters are lonely and yet reaching out for connection. I recognize the landscape which can be brutally unforgiving for the person not experienced or equipped to survive the dangers of the north woods.
My full review HERE
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Homo Mysterious: Evolutionary Puzzles of Human Nature
David Philip Barash
3.5/5 stars
Barash explores the history of mankind and why humans do the things that they do. Topics he explores, include religion in culture, how did art develop, the development of consciousness, the different life spans between men and women and much more. While he explores these questions, he also raises more questions that have yet to be answered. Very interesting!
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The Edible Woman
Margaret Atwood
4/5 stars
Set in the mid 1960’s, Marian McAlpin is engaged to a wonderful man and is set to get married but she has developed a problem. She can’t eat meat. She hides the problem from her friends and fiancé and starts to hang out with Duncan whom she met in a laundromat. Life is becoming unbearable for her as she has to face her future. Can she get over her fears or let them over take her? Atwood doesn’t disappoint in this story!
My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South by Rick Bragg5 stars and a heart
I rarely read a book the second time but I could read this guys books over and over. The words flow and have a lyrical and soothing quality. I'm one of those Yankees he laughs about but this author's books make me wish I was born in the South. This book is a compilation of stories he has written for various magazine articles. As it would be difficult to have subscriptions to each magazine or even to keep up with them on-line it is nice to have them all in one book.
Julie wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "Julie wrote: "The Johnstown Flood
David McCullough
5/5 stars
This is the fascinating look at a flood that de..."
I liked that one too.
Just finished Paul Harvey's the Rest of the Story. I miss that show!
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A Closed and Common Orbit
Becky Chambers
2.5/5 stars
This is the sequel to the The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet which I enjoyed. In this book, the author focuses on Lovelace who was her old ship’s artificial intelligence. After leaving the ship, she had been taken out of the ship computer and wakes up in a new synthetic body but her memories had been scrubbed clean. Lovelace has to learn how to function again with the help of her friends. I really enjoyed the first story in the series but this one was just okay for me.
Home – Nnedi Okorafor – 4****
Book 2 in the marvelous “Binti” science fiction trilogy. Okorafor is a wonderful storyteller! I love the way she crafts her tale, combining science fiction and traditional mysticism. I also like how she weaves in a message of social justice and against racism. Binti is one strong female lead. I’m looking forward to Book 3, to see how (I’m not even wondering whether) Binti manages to bring peace between warring factions and ensure the future of her people.
My full review HERE
Blood Stained: When No One Comes Looking, by Dory Maust2 stars
While I value this book for all the detailed background it gives on David Maust -- it is based on the autobiography he wrote in prison -- reading it was quite a slog. The author was trying hard to be literary and the story was struggling to make itself visible in the choppy waters of the mixed metaphors, inserted show-tune lyrics and generally clumsy writing added by the author. I came away not knowing how much of what I read was fact and how much was fiction. It's one of those informative, valuable books that you want to slam shut and never read again.
Mod
Anxious People
Fredrik Backman
4/5 stars
This is a story about a bank robber who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time but is helped by the people who have been taken hostage by the robber. As the situation occurs we learn all about the hostages, the robber and the father/son policemen who show up to solve the crime and try to apprehend the criminal. Backman never disappoints in this unusual story.
No Pain, No Gaines: The Good Stuff Doesn't Come Easyby Chip Gaines3 stars
You may know the author from the home make-over tv show Fixer-Upper. He is a very personal guy who seems to have his life together. His previous book Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuffwas more biographical and some of the stories in this book were also in that book. Work hard, be authentic and true to yourself are the major themes in this book. Read this book more for the inspiration and motivational themes and read the other book to learn more about the author.
They're Playing Our Song by Carol Bayer Sager4 stars
If you have never heard of Carol Bayer Sager you have surely heard many of the songs she has written. Come In From The Rain, Looking Through The Eyes Of Love, That's What Friends Are For, and probably her biggest hit The Prayer (Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli). She has worked with some of the biggest names in the music business and many of the biggest names have sung her songs (Michael Jackson, Barry Manilow, Carol King, and many more). Sometimes her book seems to be a bit of 'look who I know' although it would be hard to write her memoir without mentioning all these names. She was even married to the well-known songwriter Burt Bacherach. A recurring theme of her book is her lack of self-esteem and self-confidence which began with her mother telling her she was fat. The only thing I found a bit disturbing in this book was several times when she was describing someone she would describe them as being 10 to 15 lbs. overweight. This was a fun memoir to read about all those wonderful songs that I remember from way back when and how they came to be written.
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Nobody's Perfect: Billy Wilder, a Personal Biography
Charlotte Chandler
4/5 stars
Chandler, who had met and had conversations with Billy Wilder, discusses his life and his career as a director, writer and highlights his films. She also discusses his life, surviving WWI and the holocaust though lost his mother and grandmother in concentration camps. His films and his relationships with actors are discussed. This made me want to re-watch all his films especially the ones I missed.
Son of Sam: The .44-Caliber Killer, by George Carpozi Jr.4 stars!
This is a new favorite book about an old, familiar story. Carpozi wrote this in a personable, energetic, yet faintly cheesy style that feels very tabloid but also tells me a great deal about the victims -- living and dead -- and quite a bit about the killer, always holding him responsible for devastating so many people, including his own family. He raises good questions about the killer's mental status but lets the reader decide. Full of interesting details I have not seen anywhere else.
Mod
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Barack Obama
4/5 stars
Obama writes about his life as a child living with his mother in Hawaii, then working in Chicago as a community organizer and ends the book with his travels to Africa to meet his father’s family in this well written autobiography. I look forward to reading more of his books!
The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, by Daniel Berrigan3 puzzled stars
This little book was consistently odd, from the first page to the last. I never heard of this story until I stumbled across it in a used bookstore, in the Drama/Classics section of all places. Needless to say it proved to be about a true crime case, because such books seem to fall out of every mouse-hole and passing cloud to drop into my hands. The Catonsville Nine were a group of Catholic war protestors who stole the 1A files from a draft center and, to prevent the teenagers listed in the files from dying in Vietnam they -- quite symbolically -- napalmed their paperwork. This is their trial, with the judge's rulings and attorneys' comments left intact but the defendants' testimony rendered in blank verse. Maybe the proceedings would be less mysterious to me if I were Catholic or a member of the Love Generation, but it did finally all come clear. When I read the reaction of the Nine to the verdict, I thought immediately of Jack Kevorkian and wondered what he was thinking at the moment of his own comeuppance...this gave me an unexpected insight into the thought process behind the protests against this war and probably any protest movement or crime of conscience. Very glad I found this little book.
Every Day Is a Gift: A Memoir by Tammy Duckworth5 stars
I did not know a lot about Tammy Duckworth going into this book except I thought she breast-fed on the Senate floor but in the book she says she was not going to whip out her breast in front of a bunch of 70 year old men. She only made it possible that if she wanted to, she could. I also knew she had lost her legs in Iraq. What I didn't know was what an inspiring woman she is. Born in Asia to a Taiwanese mother and an American soldier father and mostly grew up in Asia until moving to Hawaii as a teenager, she overcame poverty and adversity to go on to a military career where she lost both of her legs when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq and then became a senator (not part of her life plan at the time) and a mother through IVF treatments in her late 40's. Through all this she maintains a positive outlook (well, maybe not 100 percent of the time). If you read this book it will make any complaints you have look petty for sure.
Not a spoiler: If you are not a Democrat I think you would still enjoy this book as there is very little about politics in this book and what there is is mostly about how she juggled pregnancy and motherhood with campaigning.
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[book:The Dog Who Could Fly: The Incredible True Story of a WWII..."
I put this on hold for me at my Library. Sounds like a great book.