Challenge: 50 Books discussion
Finish Line 2012!
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Susan and Raven's 2012 Reading List
Bummer that you didn't like it. I found it to be inspirational, that he rose above his parents & grandparents dysfunction to be in a solid personal relationship. Also, coming from a mixed and immigrant family, I found that I related to some of his insights.What's the next book on your list?
Susan wrote: "No. 35. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama (audiobook) **
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
TOTAL PAGES: 5,890 pages
TOTAL LISTENING ..."
No. 36 A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty: A Novel by Joshilyn Jackson (audiobook) ***** I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. The characters, with all their obvious flaws, are so likable, loving and triumphant. The author's reading of the audiobook was absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend it. I will definitely read more of Ms. Jackson's work.TOTAL PAGES: 5,890 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 238 hours, 6 minutes + 12 hours, 25 minutes = 250 hours, 31 minutes
Lillie wrote: "Bummer that you didn't like it. I found it to be inspirational, that he rose above his parents & grandparents dysfunction to be in a solid personal relationship. Also, coming from a mixed and immig..."It was hard for me to come up with a rating, because I was glad for the information, but (as if you couldn't tell) I was really put off by his parents.
I agree with your assessment of his parents :)Susan wrote: "It was hard for me to come up with a rating, because I was glad for the information, but (as if you couldn't tell) I was really put off by his parents."
No. 37 The Conundrum by David Owen **** Very informative. The title says it all about the environmental movement. This book points out that advancements in fuel efficiency merely increase our desire for it.My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
TOTAL PAGES: 5,890 pages + 261 pages = 6,151 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 250 hours, 31 minutes
No. 38 The Night Strangers by Chris Bojhalian (audiobook) **** My first Chris Bohjalian book. I enjoyed this because I rarely read this type of "otherworldly" book any more. It was a milder cross between Rosemary's Baby and The Shining, with perhaps a little Harvest Home tossed in for good measure. The plot had to do with tinctures, so the above is my recipe.TOTAL PAGES: 6,151 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 250 hours, 31 minutes + 14 hours, 7 minutes = 264 hours, 38 minutes
No. 39 Annie Dunne by Sebastian Barry ***** This book was like poetry.My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
TOTAL PAGES: 6,151 pages + 336 pages = 6,487 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 264 hours, 38 minutes
Lost my reading companion yesterday to heart disease. Rest in peace my sweet Raven. I miss you so much.
:( im sorry about Raven. Ive had to go through that twice. I think my last dog died of conjestive heart failure. its tough but hang in there and it will get better. Just imagine Raven laying in bed with u reading.
I'm so sorry for your loss :( RIP Raven
Not adding this to my list, since I did not finish reading it, but I attempted to read Fifty Shades of Grey and could not finish it.
No. 40 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (audiobook) **** I am always surprised when I like books that are insanely popular because I am, you know, better than other people. But I really enjoyed this book and will continue with the rest of the series.TOTAL PAGES: 6,487 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 264 hours, 38 minutes + 11 hours, 10 minutes = 275 hours, 48 minutes.
No. 41 Gellhorn: A Twentieth-Century Life by Caroline Moorehead **** I first became interested in Martha Gellhorn after reading The Hemingway Women by Bernice Kert, in which she seemed to me to be the most interesting of Hemingway's wives. She was wife number three. Gellhorn was a novelist and journalist who became a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War, WWII and Vietnam. Her need to live an unconventional life for a woman in her era and her determination and utter fearlessness in going by herself to foreign countries and wars is a fascinating story.TOTAL PAGES: 6,487 pages + 424 pages = 6,911 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 275 hours, 48 minutes
Oh, Susan, I'm so sorry for your loss. I have been in that place a couple times. I wish I could give you a big hug.
Donna wrote: "Oh, Susan, I'm so sorry for your loss. I have been in that place a couple times. I wish I could give you a big hug."Thank you, Donna. I appreciate that.
No. 42 Dog on It by Spencer Quinn (audiobook) **** This book gave me a lot of good chuckles during a sad time for me. Bernie and Chet are partners in the Little Detective Agency; Bernie is in charge of thinking and Chet is in charge of security. Chet also tells the story, and does very well for a dog. I listened to the audio book, and Jim Frangione does an excellent job with the narration.This was the book that my canine reading companion Raven was listening to with me when she died. Raven thought that the depiction of Chet was well done for a MALE dog. Raven herself would have been in charge of the security AND the thinking.
TOTAL PAGES: 6,911 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 275 hours, 48 minutes + 9 hours, 45 minutes = 285 hours, 33 minutes
No. 43 Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood ***** Grace Marks at the tender age of 16 had gained notoriety as a famous murderess in 1850's Canada. Spared from hanging she was at one point placed in a lunatic asylum, but several years later, incarcerated in the Kingston Penitentiary, she had earned the trust of her jailers and allowed to work as a servant in the penitentiary's governor's house. A young doctor, interested in modern lunatic asylums, interviews her to determine if she was insane, a criminal, or an innocent girl. Grace tells the doctor her story, but what exactly is insanity and what makes someone insane?This book by Margaret Atwood is beautifully written and interesting from beginning to end.
TOTAL PAGES: 6,911 pages + 465 pages = 7,376 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 285 hours, 33 minutes.
No. 44 Mistress Of Nothing by Kate Pullinger. **** Based on a true story, this novel follows the adventures of Sally Naldrett, the lady's maid who accompanied famed epistolarian Lucie, Lady Duff Gordon on her trip up the Nile. As fascinating as Lady Duff Gordon's journey, Sally's own journey takes a strange, life-altering turn. Very interesting and unexpected.TOTAL PAGES: 7,376 pages + 250 pages = 7,626 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 285 hours, 33 minutes.
No. 45 Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin ***** Excellent characterization and writing. I really loved this book.TOTAL PAGES =7,626 + 288 pages = 7,914 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 285 hours, 33 minutes.
No. 46 We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates (audiobook) ** My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
TOTAL PAGES: 7,914 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 285 hours, 33 minutes + 22 hours, 47 minutes = 308 hours, 9 minutes
I am not counting this one because I could not finished it. I listened to half of the audiobook Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. My half-review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
No. 47 The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty ***** I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave me a lot to think about considering the change in viewpoint from 1922 to now on marriage, family, adoption, sex, etc. It was also informative about life in 1922. I'm glad I was born after the time of corsets; panty girdles were bad enough.TOTAL PAGES: 7,914 pages + 371 pages = 8,285 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 308 hours, 9 minutes
im reading Blood Meridian right now and having the same trouble. ill finish it, but i dont like it at all.
Alison wrote: "im reading Blood Meridian right now and having the same trouble. ill finish it, but i dont like it at all."I could have listened to the same disc over and over and never known the difference. But, you're right to continue . . . I'm sure I'll be missing something BIG.
No. 48 A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson **** This novel is a bit difficult for me to rate. I ended up giving it four stars, but, after a decent beginning, it nosedived for me until it picked up again during the last third of the book. The book has two simultaneous stories, one in present day Britain, the other in 1923 that moves from Britain to Kashgar, which much to my surprise was in China. It sounded like India to me. The two stories alternate throughout the book until it all comes together in the end. For a while I was enjoying the present-day story more than the past story, which is unusual for me; give me the past any old day. I found myself to be a bit puzzled by the past story because at times in the middle I couldn't tell what was going on and what people's motivations were. But at the end, both stories picked up the pace and I found myself enjoying it. By the way, there is very little cycling in the story, especially in Kashgar, and i was disappointed that even though the map in the front of the book shows a little figure of a woman on a bicycle, Eva's journey is by local transportation.TOTAL PAGES: 8,285 pages + 370 pages = 8,655 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 308 hours, 9 minutes
No. 49 Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood **** Ha! Ha! The joke's on me! For years I have avoided reading this Margaret Atwood, mainly because I thought it was dystopian book. I guess the cover of the female figure suspended in midair holding a shining globe made me think of alien forms of life. Now I realize that I didn't recognize the figure as (view spoiler). Sister Marie Antoinette would be ashamed of me. Anyway, as the rest of the world knows, it is about a middle-age female artist -- excuse me, painter -- returning to her childhood home for a retrospective of her art -- paintings. It brings up memories of her childhood, good, bad and long forgotten. It addresses the need for us to confront where we came from and what shaped us, and the not always possible desire for the people who shaped our beginning to validate what we have become.TOTAL PAGES: 8,655 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 308 hours, 9 minutes + 15 hours, 25 minutes = 323 hours, 34 minutes
There are no good reasons to not read Margaret Atwood.
Sorry. Except I really didn't like The Year of the flood, and it wasn't just because I didn't realize it was the sequel to Oryx and Crake and I read it out of order. I didn't like it because I hated it.
I have this one waiting for me at home to read after our vacation. Can't wait :)Susan wrote: "No. 48 A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson ***** This novel is a bit difficult for me to rate. I ended up giving it four stars, but, after a decent beginning, it nosedived for me ..."
No. 50 A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today by Kate Bornstein **** In this book you get two for one. Usually you would have to read two books to get a look into the Church of Scientology and some insight into the life of a transsexual, but this book gives you both. The author holds nothing back about both her experiences. Personally I found the Scientology part the most interesting. In my youth a friend introduced me to Scientology and I had a very brief but very memorable experience with them, so it is interesting to see someone else story. Both parts of the book made interesting reading. TOTAL PAGES: 8,655 pages + 258 pages = 8,913 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 323 hours, 34 minutes
No. 51 Letters From Egypt by Lucie Duff Gordon **** Having read Mistress Of Nothing by Kate Pullinger, a novel which purports to tell the story of Lady Duff Gordon's lady's maid who accompanied her employer on her travels in Egypt, and had her own life-altering adventure, I became interested in Lady Duff Gordon herself. The letters give an entirely different view of the lady's maid's adventure, but, or course there is much more to them than that. It gives a very interesting story of a reasonably happy woman whose life is completely altered when she becomes ill. She only finds some relief from her tuberculosis by travelling to the hottest, driest country she can find, leaving her beloved family at home. Yet, she turns this life sentence of exile into a true adventure, by accepting Egypt as her home, and accepting its peoples and culture -- an unusual viewpoint of British travelers in the 1840's.TOTAL PAGES: 8,913 pages + 226 pages = 9,139 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 323 hours, 34 minutes
No. 52 Lucie Duff Gordon: A Passage to Egypt by Katherine Franks **** http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...TOTAL PAGES: 9,139 pages + 361 pages = 9,500 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 323 hours, 34 minutes
No. 53 The Right-Hand Shore: A Novel by Christopher Tilghman ***** Since I live on the "right-hand shore" -- in Queen Anne's County, Maryland (and even know a Mason family who owns a peach orchard), I expected that I would be prejudiced in favor of, or extremely critical of, this book. The story starts out before the Civil War and ends in 1920, covering three generation of a family, two of them minutely. The story is told in flashback by an employee to a possibly inheritor of the farm. While not really identifying closely with any character, I found my interest in the story growing as the book progressed. This era of history and the depiction of racial relations has been done over and over, and there are better and more realistic representations of that time and place, but by the end I was captivated and sorry that the book ended. Perhaps I am just prejudiced in favor of the book.TOTAL PAGES: 9,500 pages + 355 PAGES = 9,855 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 323 hours, 34 minutes
No. 54 The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman ** Depressing and dark and, IMHO, meaningless.TOTAL PAGES: 9,855 pages + 336 pages = 10,191 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 323 hours, 34 minutes
No. 55 The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson (audiobook) *** Interesting characters, as far as the two sisters Laurel and Thalia were concerned. Important concept of happiness being different things for different people. But, I was saddened when the villain was revealed. Joshilyn Jackson reads her work so well.TOTAL PAGES: 10,191 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 323 hours, 34 minutes + 9 hours, 24 minutes = 331 hours, 58 minutes
Another book not to be counted because I couldn't finish it. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. I could not get interested in this. I kept falling asleep while listening to it and dreaming that someone just would not shut up.
No. 56 No Apology: The Case for American Greatness by Mitt Romney **** I found a lot of good explanations in this book, particularly the necessity of the United States remaining a strong global power. We are not by any means perfect, but, if not us, who? Also, I am in agreement with Romney's assessment of Obama feeling his role is history is to oversee the transition of America into a third world country.TOTAL PAGES: 10,191 pages + 336 pages = 10,527 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 331 hours, 58 minutes
No. 57 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (audiobook) ***** I really enjoyed this second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Even though this is a young adult book, I think it addresses thought-provoking issues, such as (and I'm combining THG and CF) what it is like to kill someone, even in self-defense; is it different from killing an animal; the roots of revolution; one group of people keeping another group in thrall; "give me liberty or give me death"; rampant consumerism; "Survivor" and reality television taken to its logical conclusion.Combine this small review with that of No. 56, and I see where some people get their "apologetic" ideas about America. They have just not followed the "if not us, who?" to its logical conclusion.
TOTAL PAGES: 10,527 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 331 hours, 58 minutes + 11 hours, 30 minutes = 343 hours, 28 minutes
Susan wrote: "No. 56 No Apology: The Case for American Greatness by Mitt Romney **** I found a lot of good explanations in this book, particularly the necessity of the United States remaining a strong global p..."i'm curious what evidence was cited proving that the president wants to "oversee the transition of America into a third world country."
thanks
Naomi wrote: "Susan wrote: "No. 56 No Apology: The Case for American Greatness by Mitt Romney **** I found a lot of good explanations in this book, particularly the necessity of the United States remaining a s..."His ignoring, insulting and alienating our strong allies. There is a lot about his mistreatment of Israel and other allies. His signalling to muslim countries that we are no longer a strong nation. Much of my own belief in that comes from Obama's book Dreams from my Father of how his father, stepfather and all his mentors were socialists and communists. How he is a member of Jeremiah Wright's church who said, "God Damn America." As many people think, like my dear nephew, we in america have no right to be strong and we should leave all these countries alone. Except that if we are not strong, someone else will be, and is China or the Islamic nations better than we are. I happen to think not.
Susan wrote: "His ignoring, insulting and alienating our strong allies. There is a lot about his mistreatment of Israel and other allies. His signalling to muslim countries that we are no longer a strong nation. Much of my own belief in that comes from Obama's book Dreams from my Father of how his father, stepfather and all his mentors were socialists and communists...."1. i've missed him ignoring, insulting, and alienating our allies. which allies are these and how/when has he done this? which allies have we lost due to his behavior?
2. how has he signalled to islamic countries that we are no longer a strong nation? we have the largest army in the world; we spend more on "defense" than any other country. we are currently at war with two islamic nations. this confuses me.
3. i read his book and he had no role models that were communists or even socialists. he is not a communist or socialist, either.
4. Jeremiah Wright is a jerk, but he is not Barack Obama
and the president has not agreed with that statement by Wright.
i also don't think any of this adds up to the US becoming a third world nation. that requires massive failure of infrastructure, wide-spread poverty, no social programs, etc. (think India.) England was the biggest empire in the world; they aren't any more, but they're certainly not a third-world country either.
I've read the book. And I agree with Naomi. Susan, have you ever been outside the US? We really are not the center of the universe.
Yes, no we're not, and who would you prefer to be the strongest world leader. Have you ever tried on a burqa? I have.
No. 58 - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce ***** This is a lovely book, especially if you are near the age (65) of Harold Fry. Harold sets out to mail a letter to a dying friend, and on an impulse decides that walking to her -- 500 miles across England -- will save her. As in real life, it is the journey that matters, not the destination. As for his wife, left at home, they also serve who only stand and wait. Harold's walk made me laugh, think, and cry, and nothing better can be said for a book.TOTAL PAGES: 10,527 pages + 320 pages = 10,847 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 343 hours, 28 minutes
Kathleen wrote: "I've read the book. And I agree with Naomi. Susan, have you ever been outside the US? We really are not the center of the universe."Okay, this needs to stop. Susan is entitled to her opinion of the book and her vote. This is not the forum for denigrating each others' political opinions.
Read on Susan, read on.
No. 58 The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters ***** My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
TOTAL PAGES: 10,847 pages + 322 pages = 11,169 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 343 hours, 23 minutes
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Round House (other topics)Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson (other topics)
The Time Keeper (other topics)
The Whiskey Rebels (other topics)
Illuminations (other topics)
More...
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
TOTAL PAGES: 5,890 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 230 hours, 59 minutes + 7 hours, 30 minutes = 238 hours, 6 minutes