Constant Reader discussion
Constant Reader
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What I Just Put Down, and what I just began
I did know about the Taliesen murders before I read Loving Frank, so I knew all along where it was heading. In a book like that I think it takes excellent writing to maintain interest, seeing as the reader knows the outcome. For me, Loving Frank was pedestrian.What nonfiction did you read about the Taliesen murders, WR? Driven by Loving Frank I just finished Death in a Prairie House.
I just finished reading First Landing by Robert Zubrin, which is a great science fiction read, and that's coming from a person who usually doesn't read science fiction! Last night, I picked up Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza, a very inspirational and powerful nonfiction read.
I just finished The Bishop's Daughter: A Memoir by Honor Moore yesterday. My review is here:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26...
And, I started At Freddie's by Penelope Fitzgerald.
Re: The Bishop's Daughter, I was truly afraid that I'd made a mistake in my choice after I read the first few chapters. I'm not interested in the inner workings of churches or large, wealthy families. However, the politics of the Episcopal church in the 60's and 70's reflected what was going on in the rest of the world. And, Paul Moore and his wife were pretty fascinating people. I got an extra little bonus because the family lived in Indianapolis, Indiana for a short while at about the same time, I was growing up in Muncie nearby. The descriptions brought back lots of memories.
There was a long article in the NYer about this. Was it part of this book?
Yes, it was an excerpt. Then, I heard an interview with Moore on the NYer podcast. Both of them motivated me to put a Hold on the book at my library. I think you might like it, other than having the same reaction to the church setting that I did initially. These are some very human, very intelligent, larger than life personalities. I don't think I'm giving anything away to say that Paul Moore also struggled with the fact that he was either bisexual or homosexual. Honor Moore has been criticized for talking about that, but I think she does it in a way that actually shows a lot of respect for him.
As usual, the discussion here is so timely. As soon as I finish The Blindfold for next week's discussion, I will start The Bishop's Daughter - I also put a request in at my library once I read the NYer piece and now it has arrived. I love using my library network like my Netflix queue. Although it is more like a combination of Netflix and the lottery since you never know what book will come in next after requesting a bunch with long waiting lists. Loving Frank has also arrived. After reading the comments here, I am less excited about it, but I've also heard so many people rave about it, so I will give it a shot.I just finished a wonderful book last night that I think would be perfect for a Constant Reader discussion - Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It is a novel, but it unfolds as a series of 13 interconnected short stories - a technique that I really enjoyed and worked very well for this author. Lately I find I am reading a lot of books that switch between 2 different characters' stories (The Lazarus Project) or each chapter/section is a told from a different character's point of view (The Plague of Doves). Is this just a coincidence for me or is anyone else encountering that?
Also, per the earlier discussion on Out Stealing Horses, I didn't think I was really enjoying the book so much when I was reading it at first, but the images he described have stayed with me for months now and whenever I see or hear someone mention it, I perk up and think about those images wistfully, so clearly there is something going on there.
The other two books I would "plug" that I have recently read are: Infidel and The Story of A Marriage. The first is a stunning memoir of a Muslim woman from Africa and the second is just a beautiful story set in SF decades ago that I found very touching and beautifully written.
I especially think the folks who participate in the short story discussions would enjoy Olive Kitteridge.
I read The Story of a Marriage a couple of weeks ago. It appealed to me because I lived in the same place just a few years later. However, I didn't like the book as much as I wanted to.
Al, I use the library in somewhat the same way sometimes, particularly for audiobooks. One problem is that all of my Holds come in at the same time.I just checked and my library does own Olive Kitteridge and it's on the shelf, surprisingly, rather than out. I may pick it up. The form reminds me of The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro. It's written as a series of short stories but proceeds chronologically involving the same two characters. It's my favorite book by Munro which is high praise because I love all of her writing.
I'm still contemplating Loving Frank so I'll be interested to hear your impressions.
Barbara:I know exactly what you mean about all the holds arriving at once! Somehow I have learned the system - it seems to me that the more books you have on order, the more they come in at the same time, so i have learned to space it out a bit. it seems to work for now.
I just finished The Blindfold - I am not sure how i feel about the book, but I think it was a good choice for the group as there is a lot to talk about.
i will add The Beggar Maid to my to-read list.
Thanks!
Just finished Breaking her Fall by Stephen Goodwin, which is a poignant addition to the reality parenthood novels like We Need To Talk About Kevin. A little long-winded but beautifully done, honest, and very true.
Now I am reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics which is very preciously precocious but pretty interesting.
I also read the new Denise Mina, Jeffrey Deaver, Lee Child, and Ruth Rendell over my "vacation," and was given a wondrous old novel by Brian Moore called The Feast of Lupercal (he also wrote The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne) which makes me want to read others by him.
Now I am reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics which is very preciously precocious but pretty interesting.
I also read the new Denise Mina, Jeffrey Deaver, Lee Child, and Ruth Rendell over my "vacation," and was given a wondrous old novel by Brian Moore called The Feast of Lupercal (he also wrote The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne) which makes me want to read others by him.
Lisa:I had a lot of fun with Special Topics in Calamity Physics when I read it.
And Barbara:
I'm enjoying The Bishop's Daughter so far.
Just finished On Beauty by Zadie Smith last week (it was my book club's July pick). For the most part, I really liked it although the majority of the club was extremely frustrated with character development and a less than satisfying end. Currently, I'm racing through Brideshead Revisited. I've got a couple others going as well, but Brideshead seems to be capturing my attention at the moment.
Al,I put Olive Kitteridge and Story of a Marriage on hold at the library. I love the library's computerized request system. Thanks for the suggestions.
Lisa,
I really enjoyed Calamity Physics. It is one of those few books which had a better second half than first half.
JT,
I understand the frustrations with On Beauty, but I really like Zadie Smith. On Beauty wasn't as good as White Teeth, but I still liked it very much.
I just finished The Memory of Running by Ron McClarty. I thought it was a good read. It alternated chapters between the present and the past (like Stealing Horses), which I found a bit tiresome after awhile. It also had a main character who was grossly overweight and an alcoholic. I wonder if traditional protagonists will ever be in vogue again?
Ann D.
I just finished Waiting by Ha Jin. I thought it was really good and would love to discuss it if anyone out there has read it and feels like talking about it.I started three different books, which all appear interesting:
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, a 1961 Sci-fi
Enchantments by Linda Ferri
Crackpots by Sara Pritchard
All three look like quick reads, which suits my current 2 paragraph attention span.
All three look like quick reads, which suits my current 2 paragraph attention span.Denise, you sound like me -- I'm fighting this but it seems to be I'm in for light and easy for a while due to lack of focus of some sort!
Denise, I know there are several CRs who've read Waiting. Why don't you start a separate thread and see if you can get a discussion going.
I'm with Ann on Calamity Physics. It really started to pick up and then I couldn't put it down.
I just finished Dorothy Dunnet's The Game of Kings and can recommend it to fans of historical fiction. Perhaps it's overly complicated in its plotting at times, but still a marvelous evocation of Scotland and northern England in the mid 16th century.I'm not sure what I will pick up next; possibly the new Library of America collection of Elizabeth Bishop's poetry, essays, and letters.
I received the Bishop book for my birthday, Philip. I haven't explored it yet.
Ann,I enjoy Zadie Smith as well. I was actually one of the minority of the club that really enjoyed the book. White Teeth is on my TBR pile!
And, after all the talk about Calamity Physics, I think I need to give this one another try. I, too, had gotten about a quarter of the way through, and just couldn't seem to get farther. I'll have to reintroduce myself to it one of these days.
Denise, my brother bought me Waiting because he so wanted me to read it. I usually follow his recommendations, but I got halfway through and couldn't stick with it. I'm going to try and finish it this summer.My attention span has been short lately too. I've been reading John Dunning's mysteries and just finished Kinky Friedman's last mystery. My review is here:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56...
Now, I'm picking up Billy Bathgate, another recommendation from my brother, and then I start The Country Girls which we start discussing on August 1st.
I loved Billy Bathgate Barb. But that was years ago, pre-CR. Who knows what I would think of it now.
Just put down The Blindfold, just picked up Lush Life.
I read the first two chapters of Billy Bathgate tonight, Sherry. It's pretty compelling stuff, so far. I think it may stand up to my post-CR critical self. I've read Ragtime, Waterworks and The March by Doctorow. Ragtime was my favorite.
Ragtime was my favorite, too. But BB came in second. I haven't read The March. How was that?
The March was about Sherman's march through the George and the Carolinas, so I'm thinking you might find it very interesting, Sherry. It's similar to Ragtime in that Doctorow uses real people and places and then winds the fiction around that. I listened to an audiobook production of it, produced by Random House audio and read by Joe Morton, who did an excellent job. Your library might have it. It's very good and Morton does a great job.
Just finished The Bishop's Daughter. Parts of it I enjoyed a lot and overall the writing was first-rate. For me the main issue was I found the father's story far more compelling than the daughter's.I'm now on to some timely non-fiction, The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy money, High Rollers and The Great Credit Crash. I know it doesn't exactly sound like summer reading, but I have learned a lot over the years from well-written financial-oriented books.
I just finished Watermelon, by Marian Keyes, and now I'm currently reading another of her books, Rachel's Holiday.
Al, I agree that the father's story in The Bishop's Daughter was more compelling than the daughters. I wanted to know more about the mother as well. That period of time they spent in New Jersey was pretty fascinating. The other draw for me was that I lived through those times that she was describing and remember some of the events. I vaguely remembered reading about some of the battles in the Episcopal church so it was neat to sort of peak behind the scenes.
Paul Moore was the Bishop of Washington when I was a teenager. I knew one of his daughters (not Honor) and I had great respect for Bishop Moore. I was raised, and still am, an Episcopalian. Those were remarkable times, especially in terms of the church's response to the Civil Rights movement and, even more so, to the ordination of women. The Episcopal Church is still battling, this time over the ordination of gay priests and the blessing of gay marriages. The Episcopal Church has always prided itself on accommodating a diversity of viewpoints. There's a teeshirt with "The Top 10 Reasons to be an Episcopalian", and #1 is, "No matter what you believe, there's probably at least one other Episcopalian who believes the same thing!"All that being said, I'm not sure that I am ready to read about all of Bishop Moore's flaws. For me, he was a man who stood on the right side in difficult times, and I think that's how I want to remember him.
Wilhelmina:I think you probably enjoy the book a lot. I did not know that much about Bishop Moore before reading it and learned a lot and I would say he definitely comes across as someone who stood on the right side in difficult times. The characterization of the Episcopal church was quite loving for the most part. It seemed much more inclusive than I would have expected.
Barbara:
I agree that my mother's story is worth checking out. I wonder if anyone has read the book she wrote - The People on Second Street. I bet Honor's book about her grandmother is probably pretty interesting too.
I know this group is more fiction-oriented, but I will dutifully make a plug for the trillion dollar meltdown - it is framing the current crisis in a very easy to understand way and giving great economic history about the US over the past century really.
Mina, I think you might like it too. I came away with great respect for Bishop Moore. You do learn a lot about him personally, but I don't think she wrote it as a tell-all. I've always been interested in the Episcopalian church as an organization. And, I think you might be interested in the little internal details of what was going on in the church as changes were made during that period.Al, I have a terrible time reading nonfiction but the Amazon reviews for Trillion Dollar Meltdown look outstanding. I put it on Hold at the library and will give it a try.
Just finished Ask the Dust by John Fante. About to start House of Leaves
I'll follow your advice, Al and Barbara, and give it a try.
I just finished Eldest by Christopher Paolini Friday night and now I can't wait for September 20th for his next book to come out! Last night I started The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis because one of my goals this summer was to read that series. Almost finished with it! :)
Yulia and Pamela, I disagree with you on the genre thing. If I were looking for a copy of Lady Chatterly's Lover in the bookstore, I probably wouldn't look in the section marked "Romance." Neither would I try to find Lolita in "Mysteries." The "Sci-fi/fantasy" and "YA" sections are apt to house a few more crossovers with the "Literature" or the "Fiction" sections.
Maybe it's marketing, maybe it's our tendency to categorize. And of course, with all labeling schemes there are tricky exceptions and hard-to-categorize examples.
But as a communication tool, when somebody says "genre fiction" I have a definite picture in mind. And I've read plenty of it.
Pamela, I too liked Gone to Soldiers, although it was quit awhile ago that I read it.
Sorry. Just realized I was answering a March post. Thought I was on the "newest" page.
Denise -- no problem as it's easily done. Besides, I found another person who enjoyed one of my all time favorites which I shamelessly push at every opportunity -- Gone to Soldiers.
Denise, I never realized I suggested Lady Chatterley's Lover should be in the romance section, a part of the store I've never explored in my life, nor did I suggest Lolita should be in the mystery section. We were simply noting that genres classifications aren't as strict as publishers would like you to believe. They force many bad books on well-intentioned readers as literary, while letting others languish in the dark corners of the store because they'd supposedly appeal only to a niche market. that's all I meant, and I believe Pamela agreed.
Yulia, point taken. You never did suggest those titles would be on those shelves; that was just the direction I took it.I just finished Enchantments by Linda Ferri. I thought it was lovely, which makes me assume it's a good translation from the italian by John Casey. From the back of the book: "Refreshingly joyful, full of the things that children do...an exploration of the lasting significance of the impressions of our youth."
I just picked up Crackpots by Sara Pritchard, which I think is excellent so far. These two books are very different in voice, yet they are similar in using snapshots of memory to tell their stories.
Last year, I read Tana French's In The Woods and was enthralled. This week, I am reading The Likeness, and it is better. She is an Irish author and her books are mysteries, but not of the common vein. I can recommend them without reservation.I know there are Robert Crais fans here, so I'll advise you to pick up his latest, and one of his best, Chasing Darkness.
Sandy
Sandy:thanks for the heads-up on Tana French. I just ordered In the Woods from my library network yesterday.
I just finished an excellent mystery, IN A DRY SEASON by Peter Robinson. Some of you mystery readers are probably very familiar with Robinson, since he has won a number of awards. Could anyone else recommend some other books by him or other satisfying mysteries?Ann D
Not a mystery reader, but I just had to pop in and say how nice it is to see your smiling face, Ann.
I love the grandmother character in the Evanovich mystery series One For the Money, Two for the Dough, etc.On roadtrips I like Tony Hillerman mysteries.
Denise, I listen to Evanovich's books in audiobook productions. The most recent ones are done by Audio Renaissance and read by Lorelei King who does an outstanding job. The grandmother cracks me up too and I love that dog who eats anything and everything.
I just started reading a marvelous book of poems: Queen of a Rainy Country, by Linda Pastan. I am already deeply impressed.If I remember correctly I may have been led to this book by seeing it listed on a CR's reading list ... maybe Ruth's?
Constant Reader
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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I'm enjoying Mr. Pip too!