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100 Book Prompt Challenge -2023
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Deborah's 100 Book Challenge - 2023
Well done, deb. They all sound very interesting.I've read The Chosen—Chaim Potok back in March 2011 and gave it 4/5 GR stars. 2011.....Please, someone, tell me were the years go?
Excellent job! I was aware of the Chinese exclusion act, although how racists could just ignore people born here as citizens is incomprehensible. You can't rationalize the irrational was how one woman told me she manages to deal with why female voting was even questioned.The Australian mystery book seems very interesting, indeed.
John, for me that lack of reasoning was a key. It was just blind prejudice catching fire across the nation.
Alias Reader wrote: "Well done, deb. They all sound very interesting.I've read The Chosen—Chaim Potok back in March 2011 and gave it 4/5 GR stars. 2011.....Please, someone, tell me were the years go?"
I hear you! Today i texted with a woman my son’s age, 42. I told her our nephew, one she met when he was 7, got married last week and SHE asked where the time went. Him, i wondered, i met this woman when she was 19!! LOL
Time…
Thank you for the excellent reviews, madrano, and congratulations on four more prompts ticked off.
It was easy to begin and finish prompt #19 - Book written by OR about a current or past First Lady because my edition was in Large Font. Martha Washington: An American Life—Patricia Brady. No tired eyes and a good story moved me right along.Because Martha destroyed the personal letters between herself and George, historians have less sense of who Martha was. Brady managed to find enough remaining letters, including three to George to flesh her out. There are some suppositions, as well, but all sounded reasonable to me.
Martha married her first husband, Daniel Custis, for love, but first had to persuade his dogmatic father she was worthy. The elder Custis was originally against Martha because her family had little status or wealth. The marriage was strong, two heirs survived early childhood, two didn’t. Her husband died young, a result of one of many epidemics which decimated communities at times.
Martha resumed control of his estate and appears to have been firm. Perhaps the strongest indication of her character was that when informing business establishments she was in control, she made clear they knew she would go elsewhere if she felt they were giving her untrue accounting.
Whether George was in love with her when they married is up for grabs, as he ousted after a neighbor’s wife. What is certain is that once we’d, he wanted her with him as much as possible, which is the main reason she spent winters during the Revolution with him and the soldiers. Once she arrived, other officer’s wives arrived, making the camps more bearable. Males and females loved and respected Martha, as much for her giving nature as her warm welcoming style.
Brady made it clear that after the Presidency, Martha was an important reporter of events from the colonial and revolutionary years. Her memory was strong and she was well spoken. Good for the US, methinks.
madrano wrote: "It was easy to begin and finish prompt #19 - Book written by OR about a current or past First Lady because my edition was in Large Font. Martha Washington: An American Life—[author:Pa..."I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did, deb.
The only thing which disappointed was the cover painting of her. While beautiful, it wasn’t from her era. Curious choice. While i understand the likeness was based on an age regression conducted by a forensic pathologist and that it is now on display at Mount Vernon, i just don’t know why a book portraying the authentic woman, of whom there are paintings from her true likeness, used it.
madrano wrote: "It was easy to begin and finish prompt #19 - Book written by OR about a current or past First Lady because my edition was in Large Font. Martha Washington: An American Life—[author:Pa..."I love bios but haven't read one on Martha - adding it to my list!
I believe you will find it good, Julie. Learning bits about Colonial and Post-Revolutionary home living was informative, too.
I finished two book prompts this past week. 29-- biography, memoir or autobiography. Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back—Jackie Speier. I have written about this book elsewhere. Basically, US Congressional Representative (Dem—California), relates her life, in light of her status as a survivor of the Jonestown massacre. She was a legislative aide to Rep. Leo Ryan when he went to South America to investigate Jim Jones and his cult. The visit ended with shooting the official party on the runway, after some members decided to leave the commune.
97- a color in the title The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman—Margot Mifflin
In 1850, the Oatman family, following a teenaged Mormon sect leader, headed west to settle in California. Disagreements along the way whittled the size of the group until the Oatman family of seven children were alone, on a bluff. Members of the Yavapais tribe approached them, eventually attacking each member while absconding with 7-year-old Mary Ann and 14-year-old Olive. Unknown to the girls, their brother Lorenzo survived, eventually escaping to a US fort.
Meanwhile the girls lived for one year with the tribe, being poorly treated, until they were traded/sold to some Mohave tribe members, who raised them as their own. During a drought, with famine killing members, Mary Ann died a slow death. Olive survived and stayed with the tribe for five years, being treated as a member, including the tradition of tattooing female’s arms and chins.
Eventually Olive was recovered by white soldiers, after bartering for her. The rest of this book shares how Olive and Lorenzo told their stories to the world, with bits being changed, apparently for dramatic effect. A Methodist minister wrote their book, sharing profits, while they travelled and lectured about the above events.
Margot Mifflin’s book reaches beyond what is written about the Oatman’s, including facts and fiction of the two tribes involved. As may be imagined, the minister, Royal Stratton, used their story to rail against Native Americans, with his prose becoming more vitriolic as the story began to fade from headlines. Mifflin even introduced me to a genre of literature with which i was unaware, captivity narratives. For the most part they relate the stories of females captured by tribes from Colonial times until the 20th century.
This book was informative, as well as instructive. One’s heart goes to Olive, despite the marketing of her life. Eventually she married a man who saw beyond her tattoos, settling in Sherman, Texas, north of Dallas. After publication of this book, the author received a copy of the sole surviving letter written by Olive, without benefit of the minister and readers see the pleasant, even joking, personality her husband loved. In the latest edition it is included in its entirety.
Congrats on the prompts! Appreciate the thorough comments as always.
madrano wrote: "I finished two book prompts this past week.,.."Two interesting-sounding books, madrano. Thank you for your comments and congratulations on two more prompts!
Thank you, John and James. It’s another joy to remove them from my lengthy TBR, as well.
madrano wrote: "I finished two book prompts this past week. 29-- biography, memoir or autobiography. Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back—[author:Jackie Speier|245..."
Adding Jackie Speier's book - sounds very interesting and I love bios!
1- A book adapted to the big screen and 54- book set in Australia/Oceania My Brilliant Career--Miles Franklin was the source for the Judy Davis vehicle that brought her fame. The story is of a turn of the century teenager, raised in Australia. Sybylla was initially raised in a fairly lush village, where her mother’s family lived but, due to her father’s poor management, moved to an arid part of the nation. All family members worked hard with the animals but drought and her father’s inebriation, turned the proposition into a dismal life. Arrangements are made for Sybylla to return to her mother’s family for a year, to gain socialization and explore the arts, which are her passion. Wonderful retelling of what is said to be Franklin’s real life.
I read both a paper version, as well as an eBook, due to the small print. There were a couple of disappointments in the ebook. First, any word beginning with a “e” was printed as a “c”. Thus, the family sat down to a tasty dish to cat! Also, the prose was interspersed a bit with poetry, which was printed as prose. Only by looking at my paper version did i realize such.
Still, it is a good story, well told, particularly in describing Sybylla’s appreciation of the nature around her. Both versions offered a short bio of the author’s later life, which i liked, given the ending. For decades, she considered this novel a failure, thanks to critics who could not appreciate the unique female presented. Truly ahead of her time!
80- set around a holiday
Death on a Winter Stroll—Francine Mathews is set on Nantucket at the beginning of December, toward the end of the worst of the COVID pandemic confinement. The island hasn’t held their traditional “Christmas Stroll” for two years, so is eager for it. In the midst of this excitement a Hollywood series has begun filming there and the Secretary of State is in town with her family and staff. And there is a Murder, then two.
Recently installed Chief of Police, Merry Folger’s head detective, Howie Seitz, investigate the crimes by interviewing both crowds of visitors. The setting is nice, but the holiday tradition seems feeble to me. The “stroll” is to walk Santa, who’s just arrived by boat, to the shopping area of town. The cover drawing seemed to promise more, as it showed bare trees arching into a lovely path. No dollar signs involved! lol
I don’t think i will revisit the series. First, i wasn’t fond of the approach, character after character introduced with their own chapter. It made it more challenging to make the connection of the characters where i think it was needed. As this is #7 in the series, there wasn’t much time spent on Chief Folger, so my overriding sense is that her grandfather’s death from COVID was still acute for her. This was a nice way to place the timing of the pandemic in the mystery but it told me little about the woman.
Congratulations, madrano, and thanks for your reviews!
Very nice, deb. You really are on quite a reading roll !
My pleasure, Book Friends. What i didn’t mention was that reading the mystery was a breeze after the fact-filled heavies I’ve been reading. I had forgotten how quickly mysteries can read sometimes.
2- A book about slaves in the U.S. OR freed slavesFor this prompt i just finished reading The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House—Jesse J. Holland, instead of the planned A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons-Elizabeth Dowling Taylor, which isn’t offered at my library.
Frankly, i was hoping for a little bit more; others might not be disappointed, but having read the biographies of all the presidents mentioned, i felt much of the material was a rehash of what i already knew. While Holland certainly introduced new facts, and a number of firsts, such as first person to give birth in a White House was a slave, many details are not known, and therefore readers only learned that slaves existed, but usually not even their names.
As I read this book because my original selection about James Madison, slave, Paul Jennings was no longer available in e-book form, i still felt that i probably got a good share of the information from that book. Madison’s was the longest chapter in Holland’s book, apparently with facts from the first.
Readers also learn more about the two slaves who escape from Geo. Washington, including the PA. state provisions which encouraged them. The Washingtons were stunned, as they had treated those two as family! Sure, family you could give as a wedding gift! I kid you not.
However, this is not a book about field slaves, other than the ready threat to send such house slaves into the field if they misbehave. Slaves in this book were often bought and trained in skills from an early age.
Overall, two points struck home very deeply. The first was that every time, the former slave of a president was asked if they weren’t better off— Better fed and safer—in slavery, they agreed that yes they were. But in each case, they said would still choose freedom. It was almost as though the white person asking the question could not comprehend that that might be the answer.
The second point is that once a slave worked in the White House, they felt a connection to all other presidents, and as freedmen, went out of their way to try to meet personally with subsequent presidents, even if just to anonymously shake their hands. For instance, William Johnson, White house slave for President Andrew Johnson. Once FDR, found out Johnson hoped to meet with the president, paid for his transportation, overnight accommodations, and a tour of the city after meeting with him in the White House.
As always, the saddest aspect was our original founders, talking out both sides of their mouths. Perfect example is James Madison who “appeared to understand his personal slave’s desire for freedom. He wrote about a slave of his attempting to escape, that he could not ”think of punishing him…merely for coveting that liberty for which we have paid the price of so much blood, and have proclaimed so often to be the right, and worthy pursuit, of every human being.” And still he kept slaves!
Another interesting, thorough report - many thanks for the information!
Congratulations on the prompt, madrano, and thanks for another of your always-interesting reviews!
Two more completed.#5. A book with an epistolary or diary format.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette, written by Maria Semple. In a reverse process from my usual reading, i happened to see the film, starring Cate Blanchett first; as should be expected, the novel was so much more. I could not believe how immediately i was drawn into the book and stayed connected. The fact it was an epistolary novel helped, as they engage me the way snail mail letters from do.
While it’s supposed to be a book about an architect who ceased working to raise her child, it seemed to be so much more. I also enjoyed the two main settings—Seattle and the Antarctic. Sadly, the part with the most humor was the main character’s snarky comments about Seattle and life in today’s world. I don’t know if you tend to do this, but i seem to focus a lot of negativity in my dotage about my frustration with the way life is today.
Two examples from the book follow:
“The drivers here are horrible. And by horrible, I mean they don’t realize I have someplace to be.”
Charity fundraiser, “…a triathlon, because God forbid you should ask one of these athletic do-gooders to partake on only one sport per Sunday.”
Possibly i laughed so much because it hit home—i could have uttered them. It’s a challenge to watch one’s tongue. lol Of course, i still make the observations. I just keep them from roaming around in my own brain and going to my tongue/voicebox.
This is a bright novel, which i enjoyed enormously.
The second took almost a month to finish because i was studying it for my personal life. #99- spiritual or inspirational,
Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience—Sharon Salzberg.
The subtitle perfectly describes the idea. As a nonbeliever, i have found i still have faith, but in the process of living. In tough times, this is more of a challenge. The books explores claiming the right to question, fears, and action.
Salzberg uses her own life and awful childhood to explain the processes. In her college years she turned to Buddhism, so some of her points use principles of that for exploration. I suppose the most thoughtful point she made, for me, was the following: “Doubt is usually considered to be the force that opposes faith. However, in my experience, doubt is an intrinsic part of genuine faith. I think the state of mind that is truly the opposite of faith is despair.”
Thanks once again for your comments, madrano, and there's two more ticks!
madrano wrote: "Two more completed.#5. A book with an epistolary or diary format.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette, written by Maria Semple. In a reverse process from my usual reading,..."
I loved Where'd you go, Bernadette !
Thank you, James and Alias. I’m pleased with my progress.Alias, i thought you read & liked that book. Did you see & like the film?
Re: Where'd You Go, BernadetteI didn't see the film. I'm not a big movie person. I did love the book.
Thanks for the reply, Alias. The book was more fun but i liked seeing the recreations of the architect’s buildings. I’ve seen bits online but it was cool to see the whole.
I enjoyed the book enormously for many reasons, one among them the insight into the culture and lifestyles of the tech start-ups; another the foibles of the overprivileged private school moms. All very funny.
Michele, it seemed as though so much was addressed in the book. Of course, humor allows (demands?) a wide range.
Ooh I have the 'Where'd you go Bernadette' book. I think I'll read it for the challenge as well.was it good?
Reem wrote: "Ooh I have the 'Where'd you go Bernadette' book. I think I'll read it for the challenge as well.was it good?"
Reem, I found it funny. However, I guess that depends on ones humor. I gave it a 5/5 rating.
I hope you enjoy it too !
Reem wrote: "Ooh I have the 'Where'd you go Bernadette' book. I think I'll read it for the challenge as well.was it good?"
I enjoyed it quite a bit, Reem. The humor was bright and the story a tad zany but fun.
7- Told from the antagonist's point-of-view. Circe—Madeline Miller.This is a retelling of the life of Circe, a Greek immortal and later witch, who was vanquished to an island for creating a monster. Overall, it was a fine book but i didn’t like it as much as i thought i would, fan of Greek myths that i am.
However Miller has created a wise creature, smart and aware of how fickle other gods can be. Most of us know her story from Homer’s The Odyssey, wherein Odysseus stays on her island to repair his ship on his Very Long Trip back to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
Beginning with her family, father Helios and his line, going through her early years, we read about her encounters with others, leading to her banishment. The isolation is occasionally broken up by visits from crippled ships or whimsical gods. Bit we feel her loneliness.
The author tells the story well but it was too descriptive for my tastes. I suppose it tied into the witchcraft, but i personally didn’t feel the need. Picky, i know. The story is otherwise well told and even though Circe does awful things, we understood her, in a fashion.
I didn’t know she was the antagonist, I was thinking of reading to the prompt: related to classics!
Reem, it could be construed either way, imo. Goodreads lists it as a novel with the antagonist point of view, which is why i used it, as that was on my TBR. https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...However, she was also “victimized”, too. So, a bit of a mixed bag. Turning Scylla into the monster who menaced Odysseus certainly qualifies as antisocial —lol.
This book would cover 25 - Retelling of a Fairy Tale, fable, legend or ancient myth, 42-A classic (modern or older) and #7, i think. I have something else for the others, so i won’t be doing that, though.
Congratulations on that prompt, madrano, and with I book I very much enjoyed! By the way, have you read The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood? Very different vibe than Circe, but I thought it was another interesting re-telling of a part of The Odyssey
No, James, i haven’t. Penelope played a part in this novel, which i found a good idea. Thanks for the tip.
madrano wrote: "Reem, it could be construed either way, imo. Goodreads lists it as a novel with the antagonist point of view, which is why i used it, as that was on my TBR. https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/vil..."I know what you mean, I started reading Vicious for the antagonist prompt and was raving about it to my sister; that it's the first book I read from the villain's point of view.
She was like, that can't be true, there are a lot of books about them you just didn't think of them as the bad guy!
What does that say about me 😱😱😱 ???
LOL, Reem! You have a smart sister there.
madrano wrote: "Two more completed.#5. A book with an epistolary or diary format.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette, written by Maria Semple. In a reverse process from my usual reading,..."
I've been leery of Bernadette, though lived in Seattle for 20 years. May give it a try after reading your comments.
As i somewhat identified with Bernadette’s snarkiness, i am biased toward it. My husband wasn’t at all interested in reading it, although he lived in Seattle for part of a year in the ‘90s. If you read it, i’ll be interested in your opinion, John.
I’ve been postponing posting my latest books because i like to write about them. It seems i’m too far behind to do so now. Instead, i’ll briefly mention them.14- A comic novel or humorous book. The Interrogative Mood—Padgett Powell. This “novel” is nothing but questions. The subtitle to it, which GR didn’t share, is “A Novel?”, which indicates not even Powell was sure. It’s not. There is no connective tissue, imo.
Entertaining, yes, as most readers probably answered as they read. Of course this also bogs down the reading, as does the fact one can only read so many questions before the reading is mind-numbing.
47-A book written about an author, novel, biography, criticism—Washington Irving: An American Original—Brian Jay Jones. Well presented, chronological bio about the writer who became an international bestselling author, thus proving to the world the new United States could produce Literature. Educated as an attorney, Irving despised that career but it came in handy for copyright purposes over the years.
I really wanted to write more, as he was fascinating, but now i must keep it at this. Short version—he wrote steadily only when in stressed financial circumstances, with the exception of times in mourning. Also, he had a variation of herpes which produced rashes, pain and disabling days, particularly on his legs and hands, making writing excruciating.
88- an author who has published at least 5 books- and 94- legal profession - fiction or nonfiction—Everywhere That Mary Went—Lisa Scottoline. I’ve not previously read her work, which was fine. As this was the first, it’s dated but that didn’t much affect the story. While there was some interesting bits about the law, i may replace this one at a later time for that category. It did, however share about working in a high-pressure big law firm. Yuk.
I might've fallen for the Powell book, so thanks for that info! Being of New Netherlands descent, I've had a fondness for Irving.
madrano wrote: "88- an author who has published at least 5 books- and 94- legal profession - fiction or nonfiction—Everywhere That Mary Went—Lisa Scottoline. I’ve not previously read her work, which was fine. As this was the first, it’s dated but that didn’t much affect the story. While there was some interesting bits about the law, i may replace this one at a later time for that category. It did, however share about working in a high-pressure big law firm. Yuk."
Was the novel "yuk" or working in a law firm, "yuk" ?
I used to be a big legal thriller reader. I haven't read her books though.
madrano wrote: "I’ve been postponing posting my latest books because i like to write about them. It seems i’m too far behind to do so now. Instead, i’ll briefly mention them...."Congratulations on those, madrano, and as for being too far behind, yes, I know that feeling, too.
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20 - Book with a character that lives with a disability (or impairment)
Resurrection Bay—Emma Viskic
Caleb Zelic, deaf since childhood, is a private investigator, in partnership with former Australia police officer and alcoholic, Frankie of short, punk hair. If she was given a last name i don’t remember. Caleb discovers his lifelong friend and police officer’s bloody body and calls police. Set in Australia, around Melbourne, the book introduces other characters as well, including Kat, Caleb's hearing wife, almost divorced. She is an Australian aborigine artist, who is excellent at signing in Auslan, the sign language of the Deaf community of Australia. (This caught my attention as in the US one sign language is know as Amslan.) The mystery is good but the characters interested me more—how good can a deaf detective be? Answer, mighty fine, picking up nuances of mannerisms, as well as language use. I look forward to more in this series of four.
22 - Book about immigration or displacement At America's Gates: Chinese Immigration during the Exclusion Era, 1882-1943—Erika Lee and 56-A book about Asians in the US. or a book written by an Asian American-- fiction or nonfiction.
This book introduced me to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, as well as subsequent adjustment legislation. The Chinese were the first to be labeled migrants, liable to be sent back to their nation of origin (even if the “immigrant” was born in the US!). Of course there was rampant prejudice previously but neither American Indians nor African-Americans could be “sent home”. The book explains steps taken to dramatically reduce immigration of Chinese migrants, expanded to anyone with Asian ancestry.
Lee is pretty comprehensive in looking at the legal attempts, including denying reentry to those who left the US for a visit elsewhere & tried to return. Meaning US born, as well as nationalized people. Unexpected, by me, was her account of the subsequent anxieties and loss of self-esteem, for which she shares many examples. Another unexpected point she made was about the resistance and subversion of the Chinese community, including bribery, alternative entry points, forged documents and legal venues. I was happy to read about that, despite the lack of many positive and effective changes.
As may be imagined many of the prejudices that created the laws are still being used for other minorities, and have been since 1882. Lee provides examples of the very similar language used to limit and discriminate against non-European immigration. As this book was written at the beginning of this century, there is a scant dimension of 9/11, and the immigration adaptations against those from the Arab world as well. We do not learn.
One issue i encountered with this eBook form was the fact more than half the charts/tables were unreadable due to a sloppy reproductive process. Numbers were present but out of any aligned order i could decipher. Additionally, the subtitle lists the 1943 date but not much beyond 1920 was addressed, other than the date when all US immigration laws were changed.
104- A book published in the 1960s. The Chosen—Chaim Potok.
What a well written novel. My familiarity with the Jewish faith and traditions is limited but Potok made certain i was not left wondering what certain words and religious significance meant. The story is about two young teenagers who meet on a baseball field and the tragic result of the animosity between their teams of differing sects within the faith. Their subsequent friendship is the real story.
Both young men plan to be rabbis, one only because his faith’s tradition requires it. Set toward the end of WWII in NYC, it is instructive to see worldwide events unfold through their eyes. I came to realize how ignorant i am of the creation of Israel and that not all Jews were in favor of creating the nation. Reading about the conflicts within the community was interesting, as well. The father’s of each boy are a large part of the story and readers come to appreciate the methods used by them to raise their children.
The timing of this book, in the 60s, must have been a welcomed release.