Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
What Are You Reading Now (anything goes) 2024
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Koren
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Dec 31, 2023 07:33PM
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Hedge A Novel by Jane DeluryThe Tao of Wing Chun: The History and Principles of China's Most Explosive Martial Art
The Year without a Purchase: One Family's Quest to Stop Shopping and Start Connecting by Scott Dannemiller
Just a random bunch of summer reads. Hedge was a page turner and had plot twists but unlikeable characters. It was about a garden historian and there was some hanky panky in the bushes. But I didn't want to know about that but more the garden side of it lol.
I don't know much about the history of martial arts so that one was quite interesting...though I'm skimming some detailed of the descriptions of how to punch someone.
A year without a purchase is funny, typical North American well-off family tries a bit of frugal hedonism. But in a Christian way.
Mod
4 stars
Willie Nelson is a country music icon and will be remembered long after he is gone. He has written hundreds of songs. This is a large coffee table sized book, which has the lyrics to the song and a story about the song on one page and photography on the next page. I know a lot of Willie's music, but had never heard of most of these songs. Even so, it was interesting just to page through it, even if all you do is look at the pictures.
Yellowface by R F KuangA struggling young white female writer steals an acclaimed Chinese American writer's unpublished manuscript and passes it off as her own after she dies. From choking to death on a pandan pancake.
Diversity, the next big thing in publishing? Throughout this tale there is zero mention of...Memoirs of a Geisha! American Dirt! How Green was my Valley? James Frey?
However the satire on the scramble that publishing a bestseller is on point. I wanted the mother to come haunt the thief, or maybe the ghostwriter come back to wreck vengeance. The moral of the story might be...don't plagiarise, acknowledge your sources, or even just..beware...writers can be jealous narcissistic vampires/vultures too. There's also this whole white saviour/authenticity thing going on. But then there's no mention of Juniper Song's background either. What, she's JUST white? Not specifically anglo, irish, or even italian/german/hungarian american?
I thought the narrator would at least acknowledge her deceased 'friend' in the dedication. Or..in the page long acknowledgements at the back that many first-time author books have. Anyway as a reader, I just wanted her to do the right thing and fess up instead of clinging to her 15 minutes of literary fame.
But maybe that's emotional manipulation of the authors part. Maybe what she's really getting at is all the people that were jealous of her success?
No Brainer by Jeff KinneyThis one is rivalling the Simpsons for longest running cartoon series.
Book 15 sees 12 year old Geoff Heffley in another pickle, no school camp/garage band/road trip this time, but on a more serious note, his middle school is set to shut down because of low test scores and er..embezzling funds. The school has to save money.
OMG this is too close to home and totally hilarious. You don't really want to think about children being shortchanged in education but...it happens ALL THE TIME.
Dork Diaries 15: Tales from a Not-So-Posh Paris Adventure Rachel Renee RussellDork Diaries catches up to Wimpy Kid. I think 14 year old Nikki Maxwell gets the better deal, her parents may not be rich as the rest of the Westchester County Day School pupils, but she seems to always get the breaks. She bags a trip to Paris in her summer break. Wardrobe mishaps and cliched Paris site-seeing ensues.
Mod
3 stars
This reminded me of that commercial on tv where the guy is teaching people how not to be like their parents. I could identify with most of the chapters and have probably thought of most of them. Many of the chapters reminded me of my parents or an elderly person I have taken care of and I'm sure I have thought to myself I hope I don't do that when I am old. I didn't think the book was really very funny, but did give us some reminders to not be annoying when we get old!
Severance by Ling MaI hadn't read a dystopian novel quite like this one. It was published in 2018 before the pandemic so its eerily prescient. The plague in this book is a fungal disease called Shen Fever and turns its victims into zombies, who keep on working, doing their routine while their bodies are being eaten up.
The narrator, Candace is a millenial office worker in NYC and she is somehow immune and gets taken to join a band of escapees to Chicago to start a new life again...they go round raiding or stalking places for survival. The interesting part of the story is her immigrant parents are from Fuzhou China and how she's grown up never really rooted in one place. Her job was to assist with publishing Bibles and sourcing materials from China, even if produced by nefarious practices - she continues even when the organisation is falling apart, everyone is laid off or not going into work and NYC on the point of collapse. The issues of globalisation, consumerism and job security come to the fore - and so does existentialism.
Anyway this bleak novel stayed with me for a long time and was a real page turner. It was another Goodreads choice book I found out later, have been reading a few of these...
Random Acts of Medicine: The Hidden Forces That Sway Doctors, Impact Patients, and Shape Our Health
Anupam B. Jena
4/5 stars
The title pretty much explains it all. It was a fascinating look at healthcare and poses questions that the researchers worked on. One chapter focused on who is a better doctor, a seasoned veteran doctor or someone who just graduated. Is it ever a good time to have a heart attack? Another chapter was why kids with summer birthdays are more likely to get the flu.
Completed Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency by Dan Abrams | read by Adam Verner A murder trial was the last thing Lincoln wanted to take on as there was talks at the time people wanting Lincoln to enter the political arena. Book appeals to those who enjoy the law, murder trials or true crime stories then this is worthy read.
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara | read by Peter Ganim
One of the most heartbreaking, incredibly sad book about cobalt mining in the Congo. Cobalt is the natural resource in the rechargeable lithium ion batteries for our phones, laptops, cars, and all everything battery operated. The devastation described exceeded my expectation.
The Unicorn's Secret (Onyx) by Steven LevyPsychotherapy of Schizophrenia: The Treatment of Choice
Sharks in the Time of Saviors
Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: The Treatment of Choice sounds very interesting. Do report back on what you make of it.
Mod
For the first half of this book I felt like I was back in Anatomy and Physiology class. For the second half of this book, I had some questions. The author tells us that we can live to be 150 or even 200 years old and be as healthy as a young person. I'm sure it won't surprise you to find out you need to cut out all junk food and eat mostly a plant based diet and some occasional meat and, of course, exercise as much as possible and take a ton of supplements (which he can sell to you). Then there are a bunch of tests and treatments you can do, which made me think you can only live that long if you have the money do these things. The author assures us that these things are expensive today but as they become more common, they will become cheaper. Hmmm. Not so sure about that. I also wondered about how an increasing population, mostly elderly people, would affect the economy and living conditions. The author assures us there is plenty of food and resources to go around. Again, I am skeptical. I also wondered if we live to be 150 or 200 years old, how long would we work before we could retire. Most of us would not be able to retire at today's normal retirement age and then have enough money to live another 100 years. I will say, though, there is some good advice in this book, and it helped me get back on track to a healthier lifestyle.
In the middle of:Joseph Keith and Nora Kifer: A Story of a Mysterious Disappearance and a Most Revolting Murder
Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free
Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out by Mike Gray
Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: The Treatment of Choice
The Edge of the Shadows
Elizabeth George
This is the third book in the Whidbey Island Saga. Becca is still hiding out from her stepfather on the island. However, now someone is setting fires! Who is it? There are couple of suspects. There is one more book left in the series!
Finished The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America by Victor Davis Hanson | audiobook read by James Edward ThomasStarting with humanity’s pre-citizen eras and evolving to nation states and therefore citizens, VDH warns of our current trajectory, enabled by elites in business and politics, of slowly dismantling our notions of citizenship and with it our foundational ideals of liberty - all in the name of globalization.
Schindler’s List
Thomas Keneally
4/5 stars
This is the fictionalized version based on the real-true life story of Oskar Schindler which was later made into a film. Schindler during WWII helped a number of the Jewish population escape from the death camps in Czechoslovakia. Lengthy but interesting!
Mod
3 stars
If you read history at all, there probably isn't much here that you don't already know. But it is interesting to see that some things have never really changed and history repeats itself. It is also helpful to know that many things became possible because people stood up for their rights.
The Edge of the Light Whidbey Island Saga, #4
Elizabeth George
4/5 stars
This is the final book in the Whidbey Island Saga. I enjoyed the series but I was disappointed in the ending. Becca/Hannah who was sent to Whidbey Island to stay with her mother's friend because she and her mother were on the run from her mother's husband Jeff Corrie. There was scant information about Jeff and her mother in this book. I would have liked to see what happened to them. Though everything seemed to work out for Becca/Hannah and she had a good support system regardless that she had not reunited with her mother.
Kit wrote: "Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: The Treatment of Choice sounds very interesting. Do report back on what you make of it."So far it's wonderful, in a fairly exhausting way. It's a real doorstop of a book. You also have to fish the desirable information out of the Freudian stuff.
Fishface wrote: "Kit wrote: "Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: The Treatment of Choice sounds very interesting. Do report back on what you make of it."So far it's wonderful, in a fairly exhausting w..."
Just took a look - 500+pages - that's long yes. I'm interested in psychological perspectives on schizophrenia. I read The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden(fiction) a few years ago and found them really empathetic perspectives.
The Burnt House
Faye Kellerman
4/5 stars
Decker and his wife Rina get involved in a mystery of a woman airplane employee who was supposed to be on a flight that crashes. Her body is not identified and Peter Decker gets the assignment to track down Roseanne when her stepfather insists that she was killed by her abusive husband. Great read!
Ham on Rye
Charles Bukowski
4/5 stars
"In what is widely hailed as the best of his many novels, Charles Bukowski details the long, lonely years of his own hardscrabble youth in the raw voice of alter ego Henry Chinaski. From a harrowingly cheerless childhood in Germany through acne-riddled high school years and his adolescent discoveries of alcohol, women, and the Los Angeles Public Library's collection of D. H. Lawrence, "Ham on Rye" offers a crude, brutal, and savagely funny portrait of an outcast's coming-of-age during the desperate days of the Great Depression." From the Good Reads Book Synopsis 1982
The Summer I Turned Pretty The CollectionTo all the boys i ve loved before trilogy box set jenny han complete collection
I binge read Jenny Han's YA novels after seeing the Netflix adaption of To All the Boys, which was a charming teen romance with fake dating trope. To All the Boys family was Korean American so it was interesting to read that part, though mostly its about the confusion of first crushes and high school at 16. I guess I regressed while I was reading this. I don't know if its true that every introverts fantasy is to score the most popular jock in school and make your peers jealous but it does seem the American thing to do to obsess over dating/attractiveness rather than worry about making good grades when you are a teen.
The Summer I turned Pretty is fairly similar except instead of 5 crushed boys its more 3 and two of them are brothers. They are fun 'coming of age' reads though I think I liked To All The Boys with Lara Jean more than Summer with Belly, who seems a bit more wild (and what's with the divorced parents??)
The Wasp Factory
Iain Banks
3/5 stars
This a very dark story about a family of all men. Frank Cauldhame is 16 years old and a murderer, but no one knows about it. 1984
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
I hadn't read Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere or seen the streaming adaptation. This one is her latest offering though and as she was at the Auckland the Writers Fest talking with other Asian writers I thought I would give this one a read. I'm not sure I liked it because its a dystopia and I've decided I am not a fan of dystopias I can never be in a good frame of mind after finishing one. This one posits that the US passes some racist legislation like the McCarthy witchhunts except it's more like a Cold War against Asian parents so they get separated from them and fostered out.
The story is of a 12 year old half Asian American looking for his Chinese mother (its not clear if she was born there or in China) who abruptly left him with his white dad when he was 9 but didn't exactly tell him why so he tries to look for her. It's not told from his viewpoint though and it gets quite political as the story progresses. It has shades of Handmaid's Tale and there is a Crisis which is blamed on China.
Mod
4 stars
This book was hard to read at times. This author is known for tackling sensitive topics. There is a baby that dies and an African American nurse who is accused of killing the baby by its white supremist parents. The afterwords at the end of the book details the research that went into this book that made a Caucasian author take on the voice of a black medical person who is accused of a crime. Not being an author, I thought authors just sat at a computer and typed whatever popped into their heads, but not so, at least in this case. The author interviewed and had the help of many people to make this story authentic. A few years ago, an English teacher at our school wrote to the author and asked if she would donate some books to her class. The author sent enough books for everyone in the class! I wish I could have sat in that class. I can't imagine high school students tackling the subject of racial supremacy. I'm sure it was an interesting class.
Koren wrote: "Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult4 stars
This book was hard to read at times. This author is known for tackling sensitive topics. There is..."
I also gave this 4 stars even though I'm not much of a Picoult fan--I think I rounded it up.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Patrick Süskind
4/5 stars
This is quite an interesting dark story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who was born in Paris in 1738. He has no smell of himself but has an absolute sense of smell. He has made as mission to identify and isolate the perfect scent of all - life.
This Is How You Lose the Time War
Amal El-Mohtar
2.5/5 stars
I was not impressed with this science fiction book in which a dying world which has two rivals trying to win a war. Science Fiction
Julie wrote: "This Is How You Lose the Time War
Amal El-Mohtar
2.5/5 stars
I was not impressed with this science fiction bo..."
Interesting. In the 25 GR friends I have who have read this, the ratings range from 2-5 stars with one DNF (and the DNF is a scifi reader). I'm not interested in time travel novels and haven't been for years, so it's not been on my radar although I've seen it quite a bit.
Karin wrote: "Julie wrote: "This Is How You Lose the Time War
Amal El-Mohtar
2.5/5 stars
I was not impressed with this scie..."
I do like time travel but I guess you can't win them all!
Started Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly today without realizing it is Anthony Bourdin’s birthday.
Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel
3/5 stars
This is a much darker fictional version of what we went through with Covid. Fortunately, we recovered. I enjoyed this book. Science Fiction
Julie wrote: "Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel
3/5 stars
This is a much darker fictional version of what we went through with Covid. Fortu..."
I first read this before Covid so gave it 4 stars. I like it best of the three novels of hers that I've read, even after I reread it during Covid (I read it in 2014 the first time.) I personally don't think of this as scifi but only dystopian. However, many people call all dystopian novels scifi :) :)
Recursion
Blake Crouch
3/5 stars
This is the science fiction story surrounding a New York City cop Barry Sutton and scientist Helena Smith. Smith wanted to have people to keep and remember their memories. However, her technology attacks the mind and changes the past and the world. Very interesting! Science Fiction
Julie wrote: "Recursion
Blake Crouch
3/5 stars
This is the science fiction story surrounding a New York City cop Barry Sutton and scientist Helena S..."
I liked this one the best of the 3 of his books I've read (4 stars, but it might have been rounded up.)
The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of al-Qaeda
by Yaroslav TrofimovHundreds of Islamic radicals led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaybi invaded the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Islam's holiest shrine, on Nov. 20, 1979. The intruders included men from all over the Muslim world and a handful of American converts. Tens of thousands of worshipers were trapped inside the compound. The battle for the shrine lasted two weeks, causing hundreds of deaths and ending only after the intervention of Saudi National Guard and French Special Forces.
In my opinion it is a splendid book! Although Non-Fiction, it's fast pace, engaging, thoroughly researched, every page is a page turner, and you can't wait what will happen next. It is like you are watching a thriller movie and keeps you tight in your seat. Trust me, if your start reading this book, you may never want to put it down. 5/5 infinity stars! Highly recommended.
The Berry Pickers
Amanda Peters
4/5 stars
A family from Maine who travel and pick crops find their four-year-old daughter is missing and it tears the family apart. Each chapter reflects one of the family members thoughts, feelings and actions. Very well written! Books Off My Reading List
Mod
3 stars
Bill has an opinion about everything political. Usually he leans to the left, but this time he criticizes both the left and the right and everything in between. It just seemed to be a lot of complaining. But he makes some good points and makes you think and sometimes it is pretty funny.
Koren wrote: "What This Comedian Said Will Shock You by Bill Maher3 stars
Bill has an opinion about everything political. Usually h..."
Interesting that he criticizes both sides, but I try to avoid political books.
Mod
3 stars
Bill has an opinion about everything politi..."
I totally understand that!
The Door
Magda Szabó
4/5 stars
This is the story of two neighbors in communist Hungary. One is Magda a writer and the other is Emerence, a peasant/housekeeper who will not allow anyone to come into her house. Slowly, Magda becomes a friend to her when Emerence becomes ill but will their relationship last? 1987
Mod
2 stars
I was tempted to quit this book in the beginning but stuck with it because usually Jodi Picoult books are so good, and I was thinking it had to get better. Her books usually tackle tough subjects, and I was surprised this book didn't tackle postpartum depression, which was obviously what the main character had, and yet, the words were never mentioned. I did not find the main character likable at all and the ending was entirely predictable, and the title is kind of cheesy.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai SijieI just read this a second time (first read it in 2018), but this time it's after I read a family biography set in China and a few other things about reeducation in China. This is about two young men sent for reeducation, and the author was sent to be reeducated in China as well (ended up in France in 1984 where he still lives.)
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
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