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Trim Challenge 2023 – Community Announcement and Discussion Thread
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Book Concierge
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Mar 21, 2023 01:17PM
My # 6 is Finding Nouf by Zoë Ferraris
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It’s so good that you guys piped in to help me, because I’m not back from the airport yet and I haven’t had a chance to look it up. Yes, both of those two are buddy reads, both with HayJay, and one at least with book and blues. Hopefully you filled me in because I can order these from the library straight from my phone. I do know west with giraffes is tagged is friendship because of the main characters, friendship with the Giraffes.
HayJay, I think I’m going to dump the botanist daughter. I just can’t seem to get it from the library no matter what I put in, and I just think I’m not as interested as I was. But this is helping me clear it off the TBR. On for West With Giraffes.
Amy wrote: "HayJay, I think I’m going to dump the botanist daughter. I just can’t seem to get it from the library no matter what I put in, and I just think I’m not as interested as I was. But this is helping m..."Oh, Amy, I should have looked here first, but it was a deal on Amazon today so I picked it up.
Nevermind, Hayjay and Amy let me know when you plan to read West with Giraffes.
In other news I DNF my #7 Gray. Sometimes a book sits on your shelf just occupying space. In a month in which< I've read a number of depressing books, I'm not willing to read another. I'm donating this one so somebody else can get depressed.
Booknblues wrote: "Amy wrote: "HayJay, I think I’m going to dump the botanist daughter. I just can’t seem to get it from the library no matter what I put in, and I just think I’m not as interested as I was. But this ..."Seems like March, for some odd reason, has been the depressing book month for a lot of us. I have been trying to read The Sandcastle Girls for three weeks now and have had to take it a chapter a day, sometimes not at all, It is good, but so sad and I have enough sad and yuk going on in my life right now that I just cannot read sadness!
BnB, maybe Hayley will read Botanists Daughter with you. It does seem to get quite high reviews.
March #7 Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger
4 stars
It is 1963 and Cork O’Connor and his friend have found the body of Big John Manydeeds hung from a tree. At first it seemed as if Big Jim had committed suicide; however as the story goes on clues point to he may have been murdered. Big John lives on a reservation with his Indian tribe. The author, Krueger, notes the tensions between the tribe and the town. He includes discrimination the tribe faces and past ways the government has interfered with their lives.
Cork’s father, Lain, is the sheriff of the small town where they live. Liam is investigating this situation and trying to be thorough. However, the tribe is upset with the type of questions he asks and they believe Liam does not understand their ways or what they have been up against. Cork sees all this and is learning how an investigation works along with the political side of things.
The descriptions of people and places in the book are excellent. Family relationships are focused on, especially the father and son one between Liam and Cork. Characters are well developed and there are many suspects with their own motives. Krueger includes different beliefs of both the tribe and the town people when he talks of death; and Cork feels the spirit of Big John is helping lead them to to solve the case. Krueger brings many minor characters into the story who are unique and interesting. He draws in the reader as Cork and Liam follow clues in the case. It is a fast and good read. I enjoyed it.
My #6 is West with Giraffes. I picked it up a couple of years ago because the author had the same name as my maiden name. Even spelled the same way. I really have no idea if it's any good or even what it's about but I guess we'll find out next month.
Yesss! This Buddy Read is getting better and better! Is there anyone else in addition to us four?
My #6 is either: The Black Company by Glen Cook or The Odyssey, Emily Wilson’s translation... I'm leaning toward the former since it's been a hot second since I've been able to read a high fantasy book; but I'm finally about to get to my #7 and #4s so it might be awhile yet....
I might join the Buddy Read for West with Giraffes. I'm finishing Sea of Tranquility which will most probably be a 5 star.
Finished Sea of Tranquilty- next is The Winners.
Please join us. I assume you read the first two, you know that the winners is the third of a trilogy?
Yes. I've been waiting anxiously for this one and it finally came into the lirary. I'm very excited about this author I just started reading, Emily St. John Mandel.
Olivermagnus wrote: "My #6 is West with Giraffes. I picked it up a couple of years ago because the author had the same name as my maiden name. Even spelled the same way. I really have no idea if it's an..."I just read that book this month for my F2F book group and loved it. Have a good buddy read!
My #6 is Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture – Ross KingPicked this up after viewing the Dome on a cruise to Europe and never got around to reading. Looking forward to it.
Finally finished my #7 - Haven by Emma Donoghue - didn't love it unfortunately, only 2 stars. Review is here.I've got BOTH #4s queued up next so maybe I'll have a better time with them, fingers crossed.
Finished my #7 for March:Journey Without Maps by Graham Greene - 3* - My Review
Non-fiction about Graham Greene’s travel through Liberia and Sierra Leone in 1935. It took four weeks and included walking for 350-miles at a time when a map of these countries did not exist. He and a team of hired locals from various tribes trekked through forest paths and slept in a series of isolated villages. He was occasionally carried in a hammock but preferred to walk as much as his health allowed.
I read this book to find out what western Africa was like back then. This goal was only partially achieved, as its perspective is that of a British man of his era. While he comes across as more open-minded than many, it is still filled with anachronistic and condescending views regarding the people of Africa. It seems to alternate between ideas that would have been more compatible with 19th century colonial imperialism and those that reflect the difficult times of the 1930s.
It includes descriptions of diseases, insects, rats, weather, and other discomforts that made traveling through these remote areas so difficult. Apparently, drinking was required – lots of drinking. We meet a number of interesting local villagers, as well as an eccentric group of Europeans who have decided to abandon their previous lives. It is difficult to say I enjoyed this book. Greene’s outdated attitudes are almost painful to a modern reader. However, I did find it worthwhile from a historical perspective. As I read, I noticed that Greene was willing to reflect on his own prejudices and, through living and working together, finds a new appreciation for the African people.
I finished my #7 a few weeks ago and finally found time to write a review:The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave - 4 stars - my review
Heather Reads Books wrote: "My #6 is either: The Black Company by Glen Cook or The Odyssey, Emily Wilson’s translation... I'm leaning toward the former since it's been a hot second since I've been ab..."I also have Black Company Hether, but I am not sure when I will get to it. If you let me know when you are ready perhaps we can arrange a BR
Finished the Winners. Just started When We Believed in Mermaids
Sally, I saw that. I really think you will love the book. I think it’s gonna be two hits in a row for you, followed by west with giraffes with us.
I finished my #7 for March! Kafka on the Shore5 stars
I've had this book and it's been on my TBR since late 2019, having won it in the last Swap from Johanne. I was in the midst of reading Proust at that point and could not take it on. It's been on my Unofficial Trim list since 2020 - and was an alternate read for a number or two that was picked each year but again, I was not ready for it.
I am so glad it popped up finally at the right time! Johanne - add me to the fan club!
Review:
How to describe this awesomeness - surreal, quirky, magical, mystical, fantastical, often funny, and more come to mind. The plot - even harder. There are 2 primary narrators. The even numbered chapters are Nakato, and his story is not quite told in linearly as they start back during WWII where something happens that changes the boy Nakato's life forever. For most of the book he's an older man, illiterate, odd and capable of talking with cats. Oh yes, talking cats are very important here. The odd numbered chapters belong to a 15 year old runaway whose adopted the name Kafka and is trying to evade an Oedipal prophecy imposed on him by his father. Kafka's story is sequential, linear, and basically covers about a 10 day period. Both stories twist and turn around each other with both normal and abnormal events happening, like fish raining from the sky in a set location, a bloody murder, a haunting painting and song, and a crow guiding Kafka. Then the plot gets a tad weird.
In the end, I see this as a book of journeys, of those lost on journeys who need help to find their ways forward - or to where they are to end. It's also a book about the necessity of friendships, the inability to avoid or manipulate fate, and the importance of culture, art, music, literature in one's life. It's also very funny and magical. Loved loved loved it.
This may be my first Murakami but it certainly won't be my last.
For the record, this reminded me a great deal of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita without all the christian religion overlay. I'm now curious as to whether Murakami has read it; I suspect he has.
I loved loved loved When We Believed in Mermaids. I will read West with Giraffes but may read The Candy House first.
Finished #6 for April:What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami - 4* - My Review
“Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that’s the essence of running, and a metaphor for life—and for me, for writing as well.”
Murakami’s memoir about running, writing, and his outlook on life. The author took up running not long after he started writing. He eventually became a marathon runner, triathlete, and even completed an ultramarathon. This book is short and covers many parallels between what it takes to be a distance runner and a novelist. I was interested in this book due to my past efforts in marathon running, and also due to my fairly recent discovery of Murakami’s fiction. While this book is in a different category than his fiction, it is well told and insightful. I could relate to his views about solitude, focus, and competing against oneself. I would definitely recommend it to runners, as Murakami articulates what draws some people to it (and also understands it is not for everyone). While it does not reach the heights of creativity that I have experienced with his fiction, I certainly enjoyed it and recommend it.
“If pain weren't involved, who in the world would ever go to the trouble of taking part in sports like the triathlon or the marathon, which demand such an investment of time and energy? It's precisely because of the pain, precisely because we want to overcome that pain, that we can get the feeling, through this process, of really being alive.”
Whew, I did it. I finished #4: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 4 stars and a lot of complicated feelings. Review is here!
Heather Reads Books wrote: "Whew, I did it. I finished #4: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 4 stars and a lot of complicated feelings. Review is here!"That is a great accomplishment! YAY! I know the feeling - my #7 trim Kafka on the Shore was a chunkster with tiny print and a slow mover. Even though I'm still behind 2 books, they will be a breeze after that. Kafka was a 5 star read for me and I'm now a Murakami Groupee Wannabe.
Guess Who is our Trim Picker for May - Its Theresa!!!!!
I just open the first page to see who was up. Could I have possibly Misread?
You are right, Amy, it's me! Of course you were right. I just double checked it. My mind and energy is so consumed with work lately that I pretty much shoot from the hip when it comes to the personal commitments and schedule. It's so bad that I even completely forgot that today was April 19th and thus my brother's birthday. He turned 78. If one of my sisters had not sent him a funny photo and greeting in the family text .... I would have missed it. Fortunately I have several cute funny images of dragons and birthday cakes saved on my phone and I texted him one. I use them for friends birthdays on FB. I'll be ready! Will look over my trim list and see what number I want to read in May.
Amy wrote: "I just open the first page to see who was up. Could I have possibly Misread?"Thought I'd better see when I'm up. I guess I'm June! :-)
My #12 is In a Lonely Place.I am anxious to read this one, but we will have to see if I have enough time for that in May.
Mine is either Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James or The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Both are sort of chonkers, but I'm leaning toward Black Leopard, Red Wolf at the moment. Still waiting for my #6 to come in at the library, though...
Had to handle a bit of work there, but my #12 is The Summer Before the War and is a buddy read wirh JoAnne!This has been on my TBR a long time. Glad to get to it.
Heather Reads Books wrote: "Mine is either Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James or The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Both are sort of chonkers, but I'm leaning toward ..."Ooooooohhh, Black Leopard Red Wolf is totally insane.
It is a chonker unlike any chonker I have read. It's just unrelenting and so much is happening. It's wild! I hope you read it.
Theresa wrote: "May trim pick is #12! "Oh, oops, My number 12 was The Marlow Murder Club which I already read and forgot to replace.
I'll see if anyone has a book, I could buddy read with them or sub in an indigenous that I've had for a while.
So I'll hang back for now.
Heather Reads Books wrote: "Mine is either Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James or The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Both are sort of chonkers, but I'm leaning toward ..."I'd suggest a buddy read for the Marlon James because I have it here and want to read it. But no way I can do it in May. I know just what a commitment it is to read a Marlon James - right Meli? Remember A Brief History of Seven Killings - it was wild and crazy and over the top and a total busty doorstopper of a book --- a knocked it out of the park type of read --- and loved every blessed second. The man is GIFTED and it deserved every prize and every accolade it received, including the Booker (and I rarely like or am interested in any Booker winner).
If you go for it, Heather, I'll be cheering from the sidelines.
@Theresa - I put the Marlon James on hold at the library and it should be available shortly, so we’ll see if I can get to it in May!I’m supposed to be (finally) finishing up A Clash of Kings for a book club read next month too. I got 2/3 of the way through last year until I fell off the wagon. I was thinking of going back to the beginning but I might just have to do a bit of a skim if I want to also fit in Black Leopard, Red Wolf. We’ll see where I land! 🤞
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