Alias's 2024 Book Challenge

[madrano]

I think there are many people like that. Sometimes i wonder whether i'd feel the same if i didn't have my husband. Am i faking my yearning for solitude? lol

[Alias Reader]

:)

✅29- cosmology, space, astronauts, outer space- F/NF
To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery

I gave this one a 3/5 rating. I'll write up a review for the Book Salon thread.

[John]

Great job with the prompt! 👍

[Alias Reader]

Thanks, John !

It wasn't an easy read for me. However, overall I did enjoy the book.

[James]

Alias Reader wrote: " ✅29- cosmology, space, astronauts, outer space- F/NFTo Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery I gave this one a 3/5 rating. I'll write up a review for the Book ..."

Thanks for your review of this in Book Salon, Alias, and congrats on the prompt.

[Alias Reader]

Thanks, James !

[Rachel]

James wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: " ✅29- cosmology, space, astronauts, outer space- F/NFTo Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery I gave this one a 3/5 rating. I'll write up a review ..."

The author is so charming when he is on TV or the radio. I wish I liked non fiction better. Good that you fulfilled a prompt.

[madrano]

Well done, Alias. Terrific graphic to go with it.

[Alias Reader]

Thanks, Deb !

[Alias Reader]

Checked off another prompt !

✅7- Legal or lawyer character F / NF
The Rooster Bar

I enjoyed this John Grisham novel. I'll give it a write up in the Book Salon.

[madrano]

Quickly accomplished, Alias.

[Lindsey]

Nice job! I haven't read any John Grisham somehow. Glad you enjoyed it!

[Alias Reader]

Thank you !

I think I'm going to tackle the historical fiction prompt next.
The First Ladies by Marie Benedict

[Rachel]

Alias Reader wrote: "Checked off another prompt !

✅7- Legal or lawyer character F / NF
The Rooster Bar

I enjoyed this John Grisham novel. I'll give it a write up in the Book Salon."

That sounds like a very interesting premise for a book.

[madrano]

Alias Reader wrote: "Thank you !

I think I'm going to tackle the historical fiction prompt next.
The First Ladies by Marie Benedict"

This sounds like a good story, Alias. Bethune's home is one of the stops on several tours around the District of Columbia. We were on a bus when the guide told us about her. What a remarkable woman. Since then, i've learned more & feel this novel will explore all Mary McLeod Bethune was and inspired.

I hope the book surpasses your expectation.

[Alias Reader]

Re: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict

madrano wrote:

"This sounds like a good story, Alias. Bethune's home is one of the stops on several tours around the District of Columbia. We were on a bus when the guide told us about her. What a remarkable woman. Since then, i've learned more & feel this novel will explore all Mary McLeod Bethune was and inspired..."

I've read around 40 pages so far and I'm enjoying it.

I've read books about FDR and Elenore. However, I'm sorry to say, I've never heard of Bethune. So I am happy to fill in that gap in my education.

The book has two authors. This is part of their bio from Amazon.

Marie Benedict is a lawyer . She is a bestselling author of Her Hidden Genius, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, The Only Woman in the Room, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and Lady Clementine.

I've read,
The only women in the room 3/5 stars Good.
The personal librarian 3/5 stars Good
The Mitford affair. 4/5 stars. above average.

Victoria Christopher Murray is one of the country's top Black contemporary authors with more than one million books in print. She has written more than twenty novels, including the Seven Deadly Sins series and Stand Your Ground, a Library Journal Best Book of the Year.

[madrano]

Oh, neat! I didn't notice there were two authors. I'm familiar with Benedict. Simon, who relished reading Historical Fiction, really liked her novels, as i recall.

This is one of my frustrations with Goodread's book/author searches. They list only one author. Many's the time i've had to ferret out the other names, if i am aware there are more than one author on the cover. Pity.

[Rachel]

One of my reading quirks is that I usually stay away from books with two authors. I am not sure why but it turns me off. Does anyone else have an opinion?

[Alias Reader]

Rachel wrote: "One of my reading quirks is that I usually stay away from books with two authors. I am not sure why but it turns me off. Does anyone else have an opinion?"

It depends. If it's something like James Patterson does, then I am usually not that interested. He writes an outline and then person fills it in. Though I did read the one he did with President Clinton. So I guess it works for him and sells books.

In the case of the book I'm currently reading, the chapters alternate between Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Bethune. I am assuming the Eleanor chapters are written by Benedict and the Bethune chapters are written by Murray. So far, I'm enjoying it.

When I finish, I'll see if there is anything at the end of the book that addresses the question.

[madrano]

Rachel wrote: "One of my reading quirks is that I usually stay away from books with two authors. I am not sure why but it turns me off. Does anyone else have an opinion?"

I've read several books over the years with more than one author.
I wish i could recall which one it was that explained their process. It entailed something along the line of what Alias mentions, writing alternating chapters. However, they are free to mention problems they see & such, which seems healthy. I would think that this might also remind a writer to cover something they might miss in their own chapters.

Some have been wife/husband teams, which seems as though there would be challenges. In the 20th century past, it was learned, sometimes via feminist writers, that a wife contributed enormously to her husband's work but was only acknowledged in the acknowledgments. Will Durant being the best known. His wife, Ariel Durant apparently contributed to many of his books but wasn't listed as author until '61 or so. Together they created 5 or 6 of the Story of Civilization installments.

I'm sorry but i've forgotten other couples whose literary careers were this way, too. They exist, my memory fails me.

Another circumstance i vaguely remember is when two authors realized they were researching the same topic but from different vantage points and decided to combine. This was neat but memory!

Generally, i stay away from combo-authored books when one of the authors is renowned, as Patterson, which she mentions. However, i've read a couple of mysteries wherein a new author has picked up the threads of an established author, when s/he died. This is curious. My first like that was when Nancy Pickard, an author whose Jenny Cain mystery series i liked, finished a mystery begun by popular mystery-chef series writer Virginia Rich. There are a total of 5 in the series, the final two being "co-written", so to speak.

Wow, i didn't mean to go on & on.

[Rachel]

I had no idea about the Durants and The Story of Civilization. The Personal Librarian at the end Marie Benedict said she wanted to have a co author who was African American to add a truth to the book but I did not see it.

[madrano]

Interesting. I can see why an author who isn't of the race/culture about which she's writing might want a co-author for more authenticity. And it would certainly enhance the reputation of said co-author.

PS. While reading about the Durants, i learned a kinda creepy fact. She was 15 when they wed, he was 27. He quite his teaching job in order to marry her. Woe!

[John]

Yikes!

[madrano]

Imagine that today!

[Alias Reader]

15 !
From Wiki
"He was then a teacher at the school, but resigned his post to marry Ariel. At the time of the wedding, on October 31, 1913, Ariel was 15 and Will Durant was nearly 28 years old.[3] The wedding took place at New York's City Hall, to which she roller-skated from her family's home in Harlem. "

The Durants were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 for Rousseau and Revolution, the tenth volume of The Story of Civilization. In 1977 they were presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Gerald Ford, and Ariel was named "Woman of the Year" by the city of Los Angeles

The Durants died within two weeks of each other in 1981 and are buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

~~~Full wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_D....




The Complete Story of Civilization by Will Durant

[madrano]

Alias Reader wrote: "The wedding took place at New York's City Hall, to which she roller-skated from her family's home in Harlem. "..."

One wonders if she was trying to make a point but at age 15? Curious.

[Rachel]

That is seriously creepy. It reminds me that I tried to watch Priscilla , the Sophia Coppola movie and turned it off because it was like watching a child being groomed.

[madrano]

I can see that, Rachel. I haven't tried to watch that one but can imagine.

[Rachel]

Apparently the book was written by Priscilla that the screenplay was adapted from. I wonder if the book had the same ick factor as the movie. It is pretty weird that her parents would have let a 14 year old go out with and movie in with a guy who was 22 or 23.

[madrano]

I agree, Rachel. I suppose two factors went into their decision. First, it was Elvis & i reckon there were plenty of unofficial chaperones, so to speak. Not as many as today and with instant photos but eyes, nonetheless.

The other is from my husband, who was raised while his dad served around the world, including Germany. There was a trust in soldiers which most of us never have. Dan is amazed when he looks back at all he got away with in the military, things we wouldn't let our own children do.

I won't say these were their reasons, but i suspect much of it was mind-set. OR maybe they just wanted to bask in E's fame? lol

[Rachel]

You are right and its seems like it was probably a combination of factors. Societal mores were so different then.

[Alias Reader]

I just finished another prompt.

✅5- Historical fiction
The First Ladies

I wrote up my review in the Book Salon Thread.
I gave the novel 3/5 rating.

[madrano]

Well done, Alias. You are impressive in your steady progress.

[Alias Reader]

Thank you, deb.

Now as the list of prompts narrows it will get more difficult.

[madrano]

True enough, Alias.

I'm torqued because i created a list of suggestions to fill prompts & somehow erased it! Confoundit!

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote: "True enough, Alias.

I'm torqued because i created a list of suggestions to fill prompts & somehow erased it! Confoundit!"

:(

[John]

Congrats on getting through it, Alias. I would've likely found that character annoying, too.

[Alias Reader]

Thanks, John.

The author noted that the character was made up. Just one sentence in the author note at the end of the book. She did not say he was a composite. He was just made up out of whole cloth.

The author note at the end also noted many other fictionalized events in the novel.

I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, but if done correctly I think it can certainly be of value. This one was a disappointment.

[Rachel]

Which character was made up? It should have been told at the beginning. Otherwise people will go away believing it was a real person.

I love historical fiction but after my experience with The Personal Librarian by the same authors I think I would not be inclined to read another by them. However, you did complete a prompt. Good for you.

[Alias Reader]

Rachel wrote: "Which character was made up? It should have been told at the beginning. Otherwise people will go away believing it was a real person.

I love historical fiction but after my experience with The Pe..."

Sorry, I returned the book to the library today. I forget the name. I think it was Steve Woodburn. It is the person who took over for Louis Howe when he passed away. I believe James Roosevelt, Eleanor and Franklin's oldest son, took over that role.

The fictional person was so racist and went against Eleanor's wishes so blatantly that I immediately thought it quite odd. So I immediately tried to Google the name and found nothing. Then in the author's note at the end she says the character wasn't real.

So I guess she invented him to amplify the racism of the time. I don't think that was fair to portray that Eleanor and FDR would tolerate such a low character person in that high position.

I normally would record many of my highlights in my notes. I didn't bother with this book as I didn't want to confuse fact with fiction.

[Rachel]

After reading your comment I say that it should have been noted at the beginning. I think I am done with Marie Benedict.

[Alias Reader]

Rachel, I agree. When that much fiction is used in a book that presents itself as historical fiction, then the Authors Note should appear in the front of the novel.

[madrano]

Alias Reader wrote: "So I guess she invented him to amplify the racism of the time. I don't think that was fair to portray that Eleanor and FDR would tolerate such a low character person in that high position. ..."

Interesting note, Alias. In her effort to give her novel drama, she ended up calling into question the abilities of the Roosevelts to evaluate the character of the people working for them. This observation speaks volumes, imo.

I must say your note is also important because Benedict has become one of the better sellers in historical fiction in the last 20 or so years. Her topics are impressive but to feel the need for such fabrication is baffling.

[Rachel]

Truly, baffling, you are so right. Like FDR and Eleanor needed to have their lives perked up. Who could have had more exciting and impactful lives than they did?

[Alias Reader]

Rachel wrote: "Truly, baffling, you are so right. Like FDR and Eleanor needed to have their lives perked up. Who could have had more exciting and impactful lives than they did?"

Exactly. I'm a FDR and Eleanor fan and have read a number of books about them. I didn't really go into this in my review but their portrayal was so shallow. I won't bore you with more details from the book. I'll just say that is another thing that didn't sit well with me.

[madrano]

Rachel wrote: "Truly, baffling, you are so right. Like FDR and Eleanor needed to have their lives perked up. Who could have had more exciting and impactful lives than they did?"

Good points from both you & Alias.

I suppose this could be viewed as a way to introduce Bethune to those unfamiliar with her name & accomplishments. And this is a good thing. Perhaps i just need to look at it that way.

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote: "I suppose this could be viewed as a way to introduce Bethune to those unfamiliar with her name & accomplishments. And this is a good thing. Perhaps i just need to look at it that way.."

Exactly. That is why I rated the book 3/5 and not lower.

[Alias Reader]

Another prompt completed !

✅ 39- Myth, sci fi, magical realism, or fantasy
Under the Whispering Door

Fantasy is not a favorite genre for me. I listened to this one on Audio. Even at 1.5 speed it was a chore for me to get through.
I'll write up a review for the Book Salon.

[John]

Congrats on getting through it! I have a nonfiction title slotted in for this one.

[Alias Reader]

John wrote: "Congrats on getting through it! I have a nonfiction title slotted in for this one."

Thanks, John.