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What I'm Reading - July - August 2021
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Lyn
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Jul 18, 2021 12:22PM
There were native tribes there who were sometimes hostile, but I haven't read anything about the Cinta Larga people.
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Indigenous Aussie author Adam Thompson's recent collection of short stories is spot-on. The fifteen stories in Born Into This take place in Tasmania, but the problems and challenges are nation-wide. Well worth reading.
4.5~5★ Link to my review of Born Into This
Derek B. Miller has given Sheldon Horowitz, his elderly protagonist from Norwegian by Night, a great back story in How to Find Your Way in the Dark. Sheldon wants to kill his father's murderer, but he's only 12. Loved it!
5★ Link to my review of How to Find Your Way in the Dark
spoko wrote: "Lyn wrote: “...Teddy Roosevelt’s journey of 1913 to do a first descent of a river deep in the Amazon wilderness that had never been explored before”Wasn’t that area not only explored, but actuall..."
I just read the part last night where they encountered huts of the Cinta Larga indigenous people, the Cinta Larga so far killed one of their dogs and now are stalking them. The exploring party is leaving them gifts in hopes that they will not attack. The author includes a lot of cultural information about them, but neither American nor Brazilian explorers of the time seemed to know of them. Interesting that they practiced cannabalism! Roosevelt would have made for a large meal.
I'm a fan of picture books that will prompt ongoing conversations between grown-ups and children. Together Again: A Story About Joy by Kochka is about a little boy who's about to burst with anticipation!
4.5★ Link to my review of Together Again with several of the exuberant illustrations
I knew I'd enjoy Elizabeth Strout's latest book, Oh William!, and I was right. She knows people inside and out, and it is a delight to be caught up in her stories. This is Lucy Barton's memoir, but you don't need to have read My Name Is Lucy Barton first. It's a standalone.
5★ Link to my Oh, William review
That’s nice to hear, Patty. I have received an ARC for O William, which is published in October here. Have to admit I was expecting something good after all I have read from Strout.
The Old Gringo – Carlos Fuentes – 1*
The novel is framed as the reminiscence of a woman. An old journalist heads to Mexico during the time of the Mexican Revolution seeking, not a story, but his death. There has been much praise for this work; it was the first translated work by a Mexican author to become a bestseller in the United States. But I had great difficulty engaging with the characters and the plot, such as it was. Our book club struggled to find anything positive to say about this work.
My full review HERE
Sue wrote: "That’s nice to hear, Patty. I have received an ARC for O William, which is published in October here. Have to admit I was expecting something good after all I have read from Strout."I think you'll probably like this one, too, Sue!
I must read more Jeffery Deaver! I enjoyed his latest Amazon Original Story, Cause of Death, which could easily have been deveoped into a novel. While the title may not be unique, the cause of death certainly is. 
5★ Link to my review of Cause of Death
My Name is Anton by Catherine Ryan Hyde will be enjoyed by her fans. I also think younger readers would like this story of a young man in love.
3★ Link to my review of My Name is Anton
I recently finished The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare. It's a very good book, but I recommend the audio version, which helped me get through the dialects.
I just finished listening to The Secret Garden in an audiobook production by Tanter Audio and read by Josephine Bailey who did an excellent job. I somehow missed this classic when I was a child. I truly it, largely because of Bailey's performance. It's also nice to know that there will be a happy ending occasionally.
Barbara wrote: "I just finished listening to The Secret Garden in an audiobook production by Tanter Audio and read by Josephine Bailey who did an excellent job. I somehow missed this classic when I was..."That was a favorite when I was a kid. I read it a gazillion times.
"Revolutions never start at the top." Aussie social psychologist Hugh Mackay has studied and written about the Australian community for decades. The Kindness Revolution: How we can restore hope, rebuild trust and inspire optimism is a terrific resource for anyone wanting to make a difference, not only in Australia.
4.5★ Link to my Kindness Revolution review
I loved Akwaeke Emezi's debut novel, Freshwater, but I think other readers will enjoy The Death of Vivek Oji more than I did. Love, sex, acceptance.
3.5★ Link to my . . . Vivek Oji review
I loved The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare. The audio book is particularly good. The entire book takes place in Nigeria and centers on one 14 year old girl.
I was disappointed by Elena Ferrante's The Lying Life of Adults. Great title, though, but the book doesn't live up to the standard set by Ferrante's 4 book series My Beautiful Friend. It did make me miss Naples, however,
I loved John Boyne's latest novel, a satire about The Echo Chamber that is Twitter. The Cleverley family is less than clever, but oh, so funny, as they learn what being cancelled means.
4.5~5★ Link to my Echo Chamber review
I often admit that I have a soft spot for short stories, and I've just read two very different ones. Both are FREE and I've included links where you can find them.Well-known author Amor Towles wrote The Line about a simple Russian peasant, Pushkin, who finds contentment easily, while his wife keeps seeking greener pastures.
4★ Link to my review of The Line On a completely different and funny note -
Cost of Care by Betsy Robinson is an extremely short story that is bound to delight you! Spare a few minutes to see a pair of entitled folk get their come-uppance. Supremely satisfying!
5★ Link to my Cost of Care review
Hi Patty, I’m always looking for links to good short stories that are free online for our short story conference here. You mentioned 2 stories in your note but I only see mention of 1. I found the Towles story on Granta. Thank you! What was the other one?
SEVENEVES by Neal Stephenson. This is a fascinating story and I was eager to continue reading it. I thought the epilogue, however, was unnecessary. I would have been more satisfied with the ending without it. Now that I have read 2 books by this author - ANATHEM was the first - I have discovered that I love hard science fiction. I am intrigued with the detail of the technical and scientific ideas. Interestingly, because this book was written 7 years before I read it some of those ideas are already outdated. SPOILER For example, the importance of women to the survival of humanity is emphasized because they are the ones who carry embryos to term, and yet recently an artificial uterus was used to bring a small mammal to term - a mouse I think. Changing that one detail would offer the opportunity for significant twists in the story.
Mary, Slow me Im still reading Seveneves
Barbara wrote: "Hi Patty, I’m always looking for links to good short stories that are free online for our short story conference here. You mentioned 2 stories in your note but I only see mention of 1. I found the ..."If you mean the Cost of Care, there is a link in my review.
Here are some other resources:
George Saunders
https://www.openculture.com/2013/03/1...
Neil Gaiman
https://www.openculture.com/2011/12/n...
Alice Munro
https://nothingintherulebook.com/2016...
New Yorker flash fiction - I don't know if you need to be a subscriber or not.
https://www.newyorker.com/books/flash...
Happy hunting, Barbara! 😊
The Story of Climate Change: A first book about how we can help save our planet by Catherine Barr is just what it says. Attractive and surprisingly informative for a children's book. Goes right back to before the dinosaurs. Cute cartoonish drawings.
4.5~5★ Link to my review of Story of Climate Change with several illustrations.
This one's for dads, or rather kids with dads. My Dad by Susan Quinn shows a cute little kid with a dad who is a happy, fulltime parent. Warm, fuzzy stuff and nicely imaginative.
4.5★ Link to my My Dad review with selected illustrations.
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger is such a favourite of so many readers that I finally just had to read it. If you haven't yet, do! Great characters, family, mystery, tragedy - the works!
5★ Link to my review of Ordinary Grace
I was one of those that loved it. Krueger is a great storyteller.
A Long Petal Of the Sea – Isabel Allende – 4****
A family epic covering six decades of history from 1930s Spanish Civil War to 1990s in Chile. This is the kind of historical fiction at which Allende excels. She seamlessly weaves the real historical events into the story line, while giving the reader characters that come alive on the page and about which we come to care. Central to this work, as to all of Allende’s novels, are the strong women. Roser and Ofelia certainly take center stage. But the older women – Carme, Laura and Juana – are equally strong, resilient, intelligent and determined.
My full review HERE
Gina wrote: "I was one of those that loved it. Krueger is a great storyteller."I'll say!
A Gathering Of Old Men – Ernest J Gaines – 4****
A dead man. A running tractor. A white woman who claims she shot him. A gathering of old men with shotguns. A sheriff who knows everyone is lying. A father who needs revenge. What is so marvelous about this work is that Gaines tells it from a variety of viewpoints, as different characters narrate chapters. One by one they tell their stories simply but eloquently.
My full review HERE
I love mysteries. I just finished reading SON OF SIMON, and I have a love/hate relationship with it. I couldn't engage with the characters, and I disliked the writing style, but the plot was good, and for once, I really did find the ending very, very surprising, yet it didn't "come out of no where"; it made perfect sense.Of course, for me, no one can write a mystery like Elizabeth George. I measure all mysteries against her "Inspector Lynley" books, and all come up wanting.
Just finished
The Woman in White
by Wilkie Collins. A long read, but a fun one. Intriguing mysteries, interesting characters, and well paced. Really enjoyed it, and will be looking to read some more of his work.
spoko wrote: "Just finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. A long read, but a fun one. Intriguing mysteries, interesting characters, and well paced. Really enjoyed it, and will be looking to r..."I read that book as a teenager, and I love it!
Ruth wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I just finished listening to The Secret Garden in an audiobook production by Tanter Audio and read by Josephine Bailey who did an excellent job. I somehow missed this cl..."That was a favorite of mine and my mother's, too, Ruth.
spoko wrote: "Just finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. A long read, but a fun one. Intriguing mysteries, interesting characters, and well paced. Really enjoyed it, and will be looking to r..."The Woman in White is considered one of the first mystery books, Spoko. The author was good friends with Charles Dickens, which was also interesting!
Art Garfunkel is the best friend who helped his college roommate, Sanford D. Greenberg deal with his sudden blindness. Greenberg's memoir, Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: How Daring Dreams and Unyielding Friendship Turned One Man's Blindness Into an Extraordinary Vision for Life. It is fabulous! Greenberg knows everybody who's anybody, worked in the Johnson White House, and tells great stories!
5★ Link to my review of Hello Darkness
It’s not a book but I just read an interesting essay by Sarah Smarsh
, she is the author of She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her SongsThe essay suggests ways to rethink the vaccine divide in the USA.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/07/op...
I really liked the book Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles. She is the author of News of the World, which was made into a 2020 movie with Tom Hanks. STORMY WEATHER is the story of a feisty young girl who grew up in 1920's and 1930's rural Texas. Jeanine's father was a drunk and a gambler, able to earn decent money in the burgeoning Texas oil industry, but even more adept at wasting it away. After the father exits the scene, Jeanine's mother and her daughters move to the deserted home of Jeanine's dead grandparents.I enjoyed reading about this determined and strong girl. The author obviously did a lot of research, about the wildcat oil industry, the Great Depression in Texas, and the horse racing business in rural Texas. It was woven into the novel in an organic way and interested me a lot.
Another book I can recommend is The Cold Millions by Jess Walter. It was on many best books lists for 2020. This is another historical novel - full disclosure, it is also one that I nominated for our September CR discussion. I am partial to historical fiction, especially if it involves the little people of history. The story involves two young brothers, Gig and Kye, who are itinerant workers who become involved in the labor unrest in 1909 Spokane. The mine owners brutally suppress the Wobbly union movement and their fight for free speech. The author is a native of Spokane and knows its location and history very well. Walter is great at characterization, there are a couple of very strong women characters, and the plot zig zags enough to maintain the readers' interest.
PattyMacDotComma wrote: “The Woman in White is considered one of the first mystery books, Spoko. The author was good friends with Charles Dickens, which was also interesting!”There were layers of mystery, certainly. I’d like to read one of his other books, The Moonstone, which is typically referred to as the first detective novel. It sounds like a good one, and I’d love to see the origination of so many of the genre’s tropes.
The friendship with Dickens is interesting, but what I find most intriguing about it is that they co-wrote at least one book. I can’t imagine co-writing with someone like Dickens. But Collins is a really skilled writer, so I’m sure he held his own.
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "spoko wrote: "Just finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. A long read, but a fun one. Intriguing mysteries, interesting characters, and well paced. Really enjoyed it, and will b..."Interesting as was your note about Greenberg & Art Garfunkel.
Joan wrote: "It’s not a book but I just read an interesting essay by Sarah Smarsh, she is the author of [book:She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Wome..."This article is very interesting. I find that I am also getting angrier about the "spreadnecks" as referred to in this article. I heard yesterday that Dallas only has 25 Covid beds available.
Ann D wrote: "I really liked the book Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles. She is the author of News of the World, which was made into a 2020 movie with Tom Hanks. STORMY WEATHER is th..."I've read this and rated it four stars, but don't remember much of it. Also read News of the World and watched the movie. Both were excellent.
Gina, I'm still looking forward to watching the movie NEWS OF THE WORLD. I'm glad to hear you liked it.
Just finished Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, which I liked a lot. I had wanted to read Circe, but haven’t yet gotten around to it. Read this one instead, thanks to another book group. I may yet give Circe a try. The character development was strong in this one, and the writing was compelling. I would also be pretty curious to see how the character of Odysseus is in the other book, relative to how he is in this one.
spoko wrote: "Just finished Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, which I liked a lot. I had wanted to read Circe, but haven’t yet gotten around to it. Read this one instead, thanks to another ..."I'm amazed, with all its reviews, that this book is holding a 4.41 rating here on GR. I did read that it was buoyed by young Instagram reviewers, which is a "thing" these days, a great one for writers.
Meaning? When the young influencers take to a book (and this is one mentioned in the article I read), the book's sales take off a second time, even though its debut is in the distant past.
Anyway, I had ambivalent feelings about the book. Maybe I'd like Circe better. From what I read, there's a divide in opinions between the two, wherein people who liked one didn't so much like the other.
Bottom line: I should have Madeline Miller's problems. Does anyone know a young Instagram "influencer"? ;-)
This is the Kopp sisters, World War One style! Norma's in France with her pigeons, young Fleurette is touring in the US with a dance troupe, and Constance is spying. Always fun. Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart is #5 in the series.
3.5★ Link to my review of Dear Miss Kopp
1. A Knock At Midnight by Brittany K. Barnett"2. Asha and Boom Pt. 3 by Keith Thomas Walker
3. Wilmington's Lie by David Zucchino
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